Spy thriller - looking for a cast

[RedEve]

Micheal felt about as helpless and miserable as the toddler who was about to be put over the kindergarten teachers knee to have his posterior reddened. 
He was sharing a small, gray office space with a district attorney, a lawyer of some repute and what appeared to be some agency spook. They had him by the balls and they all knew it.

“I’d be forced to demand the death penalty, of course.”, said the DA.

“And no lawyer in the world could get you off the hook.”, said the lawyer.

“I once saw a guy frye on the chair.”, said the spook. “And it didn’t look like the poor bastard particularly cared much for the experience.”

“You’ve got to understand, we have to send a strong message, we cannot possibly show leniency to murderers for hire.”, said the DA.

“And not a jury in the world would have any smidgen of sympathy for your motives.” Said the lawyer.

“So how about we discuss a possible deal?”, said the spook.

“Finally…”, replied Michael. “Looks like we are ditching the bullshit and getting to the real stuff?”

“So you’d be willing to do business?”, inquired the spook.

“I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, doesn’t look like I have much choice, does it?” Michael’s tone was defeatists, he knew when he was beaten and this was certainly one of those times.

“Wise words…” said the spook. “My name is Godwin… Roger Godwin. I’m with the C.I.A.”

Michael gave Roger a smile that more resembled a grimace. He had the man pegged for a spook long before he had identified himself.
Upon a wave of the hand by Godwin, the DA and the lawyer both vacated the small office, leaving just Michael and Roger.
Godwin fished a flask from his jacket pocket and took a swig before handing it to Michael. Michael took a big gulp himself, cheap whiskey, but he wasn’t in a position to be particularly picky.

After returning the flash to Godwin, he raised his eyebrows and took a more relaxed stance in his chair. “So how about you tell me what this is all about?”

“Ever heard of the Karacani islands?”

“That’s an archipelago alongside the South-American coast, right?”

“That’s right, what else can you tell me about it?”

“Nothing.”

“That would make sense, it’s perhaps the most mysterious little country in all of South-America. President is called Enrique Esteban. He gets his backing from the Chinese.”

“Thanks for the geography lesson, but I don’t see what all of this has got to do with me…”

“Esteban’s army has a firm grip on the main island. But on a couple of the smaller islands, there’s been some resistance activity. From what we can gather, they have unofficial ties with form Cuban insurgents. We project that the conflict will escalate into an open war within the next couple of months.”

“I’m sure you agency guys love that… After those islanders have decimated each other’s armies, you guys can swoop in and present them with the gift of democracy.”

“That’s not our intention. We’ve got our hands more than full with Vietnam. We’re not looking to get bogged down in any more of these adventures. But the rebels have asked for our support. They figure we don’t like the idea of having Mao’s strawman in charge, and to a certain extent, they are right. The Chinese have sent a supply of long range missiles to Esteban. That’s that damn dangerous equipment for a volatile dictator.”

“You still haven’t told me how I fit into this entire story?”

“Well, it looks like we’ll need you to play a double role on this one, Michael. A representative of the rebels has come down here to seek our help. She asked for weapons and a good man with the expertise and courage to blow up a bridge. The rockets I mentioned are stashed away in military complex underneath that bridge. If the bridge goes, so does the base, and all that is inside. Including Esteban’s little arsenal. There’s one catch though. The bridge is Esteban’s little prestige project. It cost a fortune. He even named the thing after himself. It’ll be guarded by a small army. But we’re willing to reward you quite handsomely for your efforts. You’ll get a full pardon of course, and we’ll toss in 50000 dollars as a bonus. We’d provide you with detailed maps, reports of troop movements, guard schedules. On top of that, our lady visitor has agreed to play your guide, so you will have someone on the ground familiar with the terrain.”

Michael raised his eyebrows, this entire undertaking was already sounding crazy as fuck.

“What about the rebels themselves? Do you intend to arm them?”

“That’s a complicated matter. We like the idea of them fighting a Chinese puppet regime, but they themselves have ties with Castro, and he’s not exactly on our Christmas card list. We certainly aren’t going to support a rebellion with such obvious ties to Cuba openly. So we are not going to provide them with really heavy hardware. No machine guns, no artillery. But we won’t leave them entirely empty-handed either. We’ve contacted several arms manufacturers to provide a stash of arms. New designs, reliable, but not powerful enough to truly disrupt the balance of power. One of our experts will instruct you on their use.”

“Okay, and how am I supposed to get to this island paradise?”

“You’ll have to go twice. Once by plane, once by goat.”

“You aren’t making any damn sense.”

“Well, here’s where we get to the crazy part of our plan. The rebels aren’t the only ones looking for help. Enrique Esteban himself is looking for a few good men. Esteban has an army of well-meaning recruits but no commanders with any experience in fighting off insurgents. So he’s looking to bring in an outsider for the job. He’s sent his wife down to Key West in his private yacht, and she is going down to all the bars and clubs down there in the hope of finding a suitable man for the job. Of course so far she’s found nothing but a bunch of out of their depth chancers, which is good news to us. Because guess who will pose as their military expert?”

Godwin let his words sink in. “That’s what I meant with a double role. You will help the rebels but also infiltrate Esteban’s operation. We need to know what he is up to. How strong his army truly is. If he has any plans against a foreign nation once he has established his power at home.”

“It sounds like a damn operette to me.”, grimaced Michael. “And once again I get myself a position in between the hammer and the anvil. Do you have any idea what it means for a guy like me to try and juggle a double role in a South-American revolution? You want me to fight for and against both sides at once? I feel like I might as well save myself time an get fitted for a coffin already.”

Godwin leaned up against the table and shrugged. “Of course Michael, no one will force you to go down there. If you would rather take your chances with the judge, by all means. But we both know where it’ll end. In a certain sparky chair.”

Michael shook his head but acknowledged his defeat. “Fine… Which of the two honeys am I to meet first?”

“Our little bridge demolisher. I figured I could convince you, so she’s already in the building as we speak.”

Michael shrugged and nodded. “Whatever, bring in the harpy.”

͠
Well, a harpy she certainly was not.

The temperature rose about 20 degrees when Godwin let her into the room. She gave him the faintest of smiles and a life-sized bed was spinning in front of Michael’s delirious eyes.

Godwin introduced the girl, “This is Lupe.”

Michael was going over the many different words he’d use to describe her. She wasn’t much taller than 5’ 5”, but whoever had designed her had made sure that every curve was just the right size and in its right place. She looked Welcher than Raquel herself and if Godwin had not been there, Michael might have offered her something other than his hand. Her handshake was cool and firm.

Her eyes seemed to scan him as she gave him an appraising gaze. Michael wondered if the girl could guess the sexual thoughts that were clouding his mind. If she did, she gave no hint at such.

“Is this the man?”, she finally asked of Godwin.

“That’s him.”, replied Godwin, “His name is Michael Cleavingdale and he’s quite experienced in these matters.”

“Hmm.” The tone in Lupe’s voice suggested she wasn’t at all convinced of his credentials, and the young woman started circling him as if she was appraising an animal. After she had done her little walk, she nodded at the chair in front of Michael and suggested. “Sit down, I have a couple of things to tell you.”

“Fine…” Michael sat down and fished a cigarette from the pack of smokes that Godwin had put down on the table earlier. He lit the fag and rather hoped that Godwin would piss off so he could test the little firecrackers reaction if he slipped a hand underneath her skirt.

“This is a very dangerous assignment. The kind that could get us both killed.”, said Lupe.
“I know some men have issues with putting a woman in harm’s way, especially when it comes to military operations. But I want to make it crystal clear to you that I’m not afraid. And that I am willing to fight for my cause and pay for it with my life.”

Michael grinned and took a drag from his cigarette, then replied. “I don’t have anything against female company.” He turned his gaze up to meet her eyes. “Quite on the contrary.”

“If that poor attempt at banter is aimed at suggesting certain physical possibilities, I will have to disappoint you.” Her voice was cold as ice and her eyes matched the chilly tone of her words.

Godwin was obviously amused by Lupe’s reaction and quipped. “I’d suggest a shovel-full of ice in your trousers, Michael.”

Lupe ignored Godwin’s remark and instead continued. “This is a struggle for life and death for my people. I don’t have time to play games. I have not been a woman since Esteban got to power.”

Michael took one last drag from his smoke fore butting it out in the ashtray. “If you’re not a woman, then what are you?”

She raised her chin up and gave him a proud reply. “I am a soldier. And I expect to be treated as such by you.”

Michael stole a glance at Godwin and realized they had strayed a bit from their topic. “Alright then… When do I leave for this island paradise? Not that I’m looking forward to getting my head blown off, but those 50000 dollars sound nice enough.”

Lupe’s facial expression changed to one of disgust. She inquired in disbelief, “you are getting paid for this?”

Michael’s tone was mocking, “What did you think? A guy needs some dough to buy booze and smokes. Not to mention the birds, it’s not like you honeys tend to be cheap!”

“You dirty bastard! Asking for money to fight for my people! You are worth less than a sack of donkey shit!” The girl then switched to her native Spanish and threw an entire slew of pretty words at his head. After a minute or so, Godwin managed to silence her and he brought some seriousness back to proceedings.

“Alright. You and Lupe will leave by plane, Michael. The same plane will pick you back up, I will arrange a detailed travel itinerary. I can’t yet determine your date of departure, before we drop you on the island, we first need to pay a visit to Key West.” He briefly glanced at Lupe then back at Michael. “Just you and I. In the meantime, you will remain in your hotel room Lupe. Stay put until we can proceed.” The girl merely nodded and was then shuffled out of the room by Godwin. Michael wondered how on earth he was going to ever tame that wildcat…



I have attempted to create two version of this game prior to this attempt.
It is meant as a spy thriller set at the height of the cold war.
It will involve a small island rebellion and an operative who is alternately fighting for either side.
In my previous attempts at starting this game (or a variation upon it) it quickly died because of the player who volunteered to play the main protagonist disappearing.
This time around, I will solve that problem by playing Michael Cleavingdale myself.

So in terms of the other PCs, I am looking for the following, though the list is by no means exhaustive:

Lupe, the young female rebel
The so far unnamed wife of the dictator
General Ramirez, the cruel commander of the Presidents army
Members of the rebel group


Any other character who would fit into this game is certainly negotiable.

If I find enough takers this time around I will post a CS. :)
[/list]

[JackWhite]

I hope this one works out :)

[yobo]

This looks like it could be a lot of fun. :-)

[Red Offerings]

Interesting. I may be interested in playing the role of the Estebans wife. I'm curious, while I know she's frolicking in Key West to find someone to be a leader for her husband's military, is she really going to have much of a role? It sounds kinda once sided to me, mostly Michael and Lupe.

[RedEve]

Actually, the idea will be for there to be a love triangle of sorts.
Well not a love triangle per se, but for Michael to be stuck between El Presidente's wife and Lupe.

For his mission to be successful, Michael will be required to go back and forth between the rebels and the presidents entourage. And Esteban's wife will look to sink her claws into him whenever he is around.
Of course they will have to make sure the president does not find out. ;)

[Red Offerings]

Aah I see. It's pretty elaborate!

[Red Offerings]

Another question - would you mind of she has her own agenda and understandings?

[RedEve]

Not at all, what would her own goal(s) be?

[Red Offerings]

Not at all, what would her own goal(s) be?

I'll get back to you on that, lol. I am brainstorming for sure.

[Madriv]

I don't know much about this period in history, but it's very compelling.

I'd be interested in Ramirez, although if he has no "experience in fighting off insurgents" then I'm left wondering what he *does* have experience in to make him worthy of being a general. On an island nation, all the military has to do on a daily basis is oppress the populace.

OR a socialist rebel could be fun!

[RedEve]

Okay people, I have returned from my little hiatus and would be looking to start this game up ASAP.
Can those folks who have expressed interest perhaps get me a character concept?