Author Topic: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN  (Read 3084 times)

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Offline DaveIronside

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The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« on: August 25, 2020, 01:47:29 PM »
OOC- Despite being entitled the The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis anyone is free to get involved regardless of where on Mundus you are.


The Mhorish was a white topped grey mess this morning and on the rail of the Fast Frigate called Melissa Graham. It was on routine patrol and Leading Rating Simon Butterworth was beginning to think more about a hot coffee and bacon butty than anything else. He'd been on watch a while now and his nose was beginning to go numb in the biting wind even through his balaclava. He noticed something break the greyness of the swell and trained his binoculars on the area but the peaks and troughs of the sea made it difficult to spot anything. He clicked his microphone "Control this is Portside Watch. I'm not certain but I think I've something in the water, its hard to spot so can you send me another set of eyes."

"Roger that. Someone's on the way." A voice replied and within a minute a Marine appeared beside.

"What we got?" The Marine asked.

"I keep seeing a flash of bright yellow on the sea but then it disappears. Just need a second set of eyes, its about there at three o'clock." he pointed to where he had last seen it and the pair began examining the area. It was probably nothing but it was always best to be prepared.

"Got it" the Marine had switched from binoculars to his rifle scope "Looks like a body." Without exchanging any words Butterworth called it in and immediately a siren rang through the ship followed by a Search and Rescue call. At the rear of the ship the helicopter was already being fired up and a RHIB was being lowered. Three officers arrived at the rail and all began examining the scene and managed to find the object. It was now a case of directing the various assets to what they had seen. It was a lost cause though, the person had been in the water too long even before Butterworth had seen them, it had been a quick response by the ship but someone falling in the Mhroish probably had just a handful of minutes before freezing without proper equipment. "There are more." The Marine calmly directed people's glasses and a further three shapes came into view. It was clear now there was a bigger problem and the helicopter was instructed to begin looking for debris from a ship while the RHIB began fishing people out the water. A further two RHIB's were launched and for the next 15 minutes  dead bodies in life jackets were collected from the sea until 8 had been recovered.

On the rear landing deck of the Frigate the bodies were lined up and the ships doctor photographed and fingerpriinted each and noted what visible injuries he could see before zipping them into a bodybag. "My guess" he began to explain, "Is that they've been in the water a few hours." He looked down at the final one, it was a child of about six years of age. "We have any boats in the area?" He asked but was told they'd found nothing. "I'm guessing" he pulled one of the cards he'd prepared to the top, "That this person is Lodjain. She had a tattoo of Sessifet on her shoulder. I'm also puzzled." He paused for a moment and picked up a clear plastic bag which had a single coin inside bearing the Safraen coat of arms. "This was the only thing any of them had on them, no phones, no watches, wedding rings taken off." The tell tale tan lines of some had indicated they were married. "I think we may have a group that were dumped into the sea but then the life vests don't make sense."

"What do you suggest doc?" The ships Executive Officer aksed.

"I'll be sticking the bodies in the freezer until we get back to Port but I think we should invest some time with the air assets checking the area out just in case we've missed a boat somewhere." Already Marines were carrying out the somber duty of taking the bodies below deck.

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2020, 07:44:30 PM »
JAG HQ, Valtheim

Late night working wasn't unusual for Nell Foster, it was one of the things she was known for though usually she was preparing a case but this time she was pouring over something else entirely, the implications following news from East Moreland and then the news from Hassfurt painted a very striking and alarming picture, people being taken or conned from their homes and trafficked to Zimalia. According to East Moreland there were cases involving Toshikawan and Nueva Ardian citizens and that didn't really surprise Nell in fact she wouldn't be surprised to see some Phuebran's in the mix - the reason? Well that peninsular was in recovery mode after the Andean Genocide, Toshikawan Civil War and then the Phuebran Civil War if the lure of a better quality of life, and this being the usual con, was going to sway anyone it was going to be those whose lives had been turned upside down.

So what was all that to do with Nell? What was she working on? Well she was working on something that had come their way from the Ministry of Defence, basically the Ministry had asked a question 'Is there anything that can be done to shut this down or at least begin closing the door?' It was a difficult ask because the options were few and far between when viewed through a legal lens. However if there was going to be anything anywhere it was going to be in the Fair Seas Concordat. She looked up from her commentaries on the treaty as Emilia Morgan walked into her office.
"How's it going?" Emilia asked
"I think I've got something." Nell said smiling "Slightly fitting that something being considered for a similar issue would be adaptable for this." she pushed turned her laptop around so Emilia could read it.
"Not bad at all." Emilia said "Though we should perhaps thank East Moreland for doing a fair amount of the legwork."
"True enough." Nell said "Is it robust?"
"Yes." Emilia said "You taking it to the Palace?"
"Tomorrow." Nell said


Round Table Conference Room, Marble Palace, Valtheim

The Round Table Conference Room had seen a lot of difficult decisions taken over the last few years mostly involving the committing of Achkaerinese military forces to various crisis points across Mundus. As always it was packed with the usual suspects and Nell was standing in front of the wall screen that displayed a map of the Illumic area centred around Zimalia.
"In very simple terms we enact our rights under the Fair Seas Concordat to stop and search any vessel journeying to Zimalia." Nell said
"Can we actually do that?" Consul Michael Williams asked
"Contextually yes." Nell said "Under the FSC a ship can board another if there's reasonable suspicion of one of a few things. We already know that this network exists and we know that Zimalia is the destination point so that's reasonable grounds. Civilian vessels travelling to Zimalia have to register an itinerary "
"And then?" Emperor Peter asked
"The relevant article includes piracy and the slave trade as reasons for stopping and visiting another vessel." Nell said "The definition of human trafficking can fit within either of those."
"This does sound familiar." Peter said
"It's a method that's under consideration for a similar issue." Nell said smiling "There's value in testing the theory."
"Mr Attorney?" Peter asked looking to where the Attorney General Robert Westbrooke sat
"It's legal and it's sound." Robert said "Though others will disagree with that."
"I'll expect the list of complaints." Peter said
"It probably won't put an end to the trafficking network." Nell said "After all there's more than one way to get to Zimalia, this just adds an element of risk to seaborne direct routes."

"Basically it's one piece of a puzzle" Rion Ayanami said "Put this in place and the traffickers have to decide whether they want to run the risk of encountering one of our vessels or take an indirect route and the more borders they have to cross the more chance of them getting picked up."
"You had a slave auction in Zimalia under surveillance a couple of years back didn't you?" Peter asked
"Yes." Rion said "We can reinstate that but if this is Borland Separatists then it's not the auctions to watch."
"It's that container park." Peter said "Ok then do it but we need to think about the other pieces as well, increase Maelstrom activity and watch that border."


OOC - Advance notification to MICA

Offline Persephone

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2020, 09:05:03 PM »

A Secret Message to the member nations of MICA

Give our present position, we would like to extend an offer of cooperation. I don't think it is a a far jump that the present human trafficking crisis in Ionia[1] and our own are connected. Unfortunately our Decree of Northern Supremacy outlaws political ties to southern nations. In truth some might even say that this dispatch is illegal according to the Decree. But pragmatism rules the day. As a newcomer navigating international politics, I think it best if the Confederacy followed the lead of others. We are willing to extradited some of the criminals arrested in our bust as they are not Grissin nationals, but rather belong to Ionian nations. Our only stipulation is that this must be done quietly as this could cause major ramifications if made public. The rest I leave up to you. I eagerly await your reply.

Signed
Seeker Dutuzu


 1. the Grissin name for Alba Karinya

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2020, 05:22:57 PM »

To:- Seeker Dutuzu

We are grateful for your approach on this matter and we welcome whatever co-operation you are able to offer at this time. Should any of those you have arrested be eligible for extradition to East Moreland we will gladly take them off your hands so long as we have access to the accompanying evidence. We naturally can do this without media attention however the nature of trials in East Moreland will mean any resulting hearings will be in public and therefore I can not guarentee that your nation will not be discussed during the proceedings.

Should this be acceptable we can have a flight in your nation within 24 hours.

May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Nation Know Peace

King David III of East Moreland.



It was the weekly meeting between the National Intelligence Agency and Red Legion and as usual Grace Yacobs was running late. The meetings weren't really big on formalities but was just a chance for the two groups to speak and exchange any relevant information. The NIA found that giving the Red's a heads up on what was going on in various places often gave them a head start when operations kicked in. The flipside was Red Legion had so many veterans dotted around the world they could often be used as unofficial intelligence assets. Representing Red Legion was Alex Redfern, he spent a lot of time in Northfort these days and his past had included a short secondment to the NIA making him the perfect link between the two groups. The meeting was due to take place in the lodging house of Brigadier Kelly on the grounds of Northfort Palace and Alex had just sat down with a pot of coffee and some toast when Grace walked in. "Sorry, had some last minute information coming in you might want to hear, lets go over the usual things first then I'll fill you in." She picked up a slice of toast and took a seat around the houses living room coffee table opening a series of folders. They spent around 30 minutes with the usual updates of various bits and pieces and then it turned to the new stuff.

"I want you too take a look at something we need your help with." Grace took several pieces of paper out of a folder and placed it between them. "On the surface its a list of horse trades, from some rather exclusive racing breeding stables." Grace pointed to the descriptions next to horses named things like Thekkian, Iron Tailor, Sodosopa and Charmana Star. It listed the horses height in hands, age, hair colour and gender along with nationality. "Now the problem is horse racing has rules about names to make things simpler on those betting to know the background of the horses and to build pedigree. No horse in East Moreland competition for example is allowed to use a name that's been used within 50 years. Now the list was found among some documents in a recent raid from you guys. We looked into some of the horses, Thekkian for example died 6 years ago but was never a really successful horses so wouldn't be well known. Yet here we have it listed as a 10 year old with brown hair from East Moreland. Its a horse that can't exist."

"So we've a case of horse fraud." Alex was rather puzzled.

"At first that was what we thought." Grace continued, "Then we found an e-mail on one of the servers and it tells us that apparently Thekkian was sold for £170,000. Clearly thats not possible. We need someone we can trust who knows about horses so seeing as technically you guys are cavalry we want to borrow a Red."

"I may have a better idea. Why not have Annabeth Bennet go and pay it a visit. She's ex-military and a horse expert. While those of us in the Red's know how to ride I'd not know things like how to tell a horses age and stuff like that." Alex knew how to ride despite the fact that he wasn't a fan of the beasts. Normally he would have offered to go and poke around himself but they'd probably need a better eye.

"Can she be trusted." Grace asked.

"100%. She probably knows more dirt that goes on in the Palace than most as she spends all her time pottering around the stables and various other places. She was being looked at for a career in the Scouts if she didn't want to focus on animal care." It also helped she was the Duchess of Aldcliffe were the Red's called home and so she was more aware of the clandestine element of the unit than most. Grace nodded that she was happy with the move and so the pair made their way down to the stables and over the next 15 minutes filled her in on what they needed from her.

"Does this make me a spy?" Annabeth asked rather excited. It wasn't exactly a dangerous mission like you'd see on James Bond. It was a case of go to a stables, look at
some horses and see if they checked out. All while wearing a hidden camera and microphone.

Offline Persephone

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2020, 11:41:41 PM »

Reply to East Moreland

These terms all more than acceptable. By the time trial begins, we'll have figured out a solution on our side. Any personal effects found or directly relating to the East Morelanders will be physically handed over and access to a database for the rest of the evidence will be given. If during your own investigation, you find that you need physical access to any of it, we'll be more than willing to hand over any items requested.

Signed
Seeker Dutuzu



Dutuzu shuddered at the air. It wasn't necessarily cold, but it felt oppressive. He eyed the guard accompanying him in the elevator. When Dutuzu was named the Helgaran Seeker, he hadn't expected trips to Irkallu would be part of his job. Irkallu was the most secure prison in the Confederacy, meant only for the worst criminals and political prisoners. And today, Dutuzu would get to speak with one of the worst. Prisoner Humbaba. His real name was highly confidential, so the code name was assigned for official dealing with him.

The elevator reached its underground destination. The guard nodded at Dutuzu as the doors opened. It was a long hallway, with glass walls for the various cells on either side. The Speaker started the long walk to Humbaba's cell at the end of the hallway. He could feel the rage of the prisoner's eyes as he passed by them. Fortunately, they must be used to officials stopping by to visit prisoners because most were content to ignore him. He had expected lots of screaming and wall banging. In a way this was more nerve-wracking.

But that all changed once they realized he was heading to the end of the hallway. "Humbaba!" The shout came from behind Dutuzu as the prisoner had figured it out. Then they all started to shout, their rage echoing across the chamber. Dutuzu wanted to cover his ears the noise was so loud but refused to. He would not show weakness. From the briefing reports he read, if he did Humbaba would give him nothing.

The Speaker reached the end of the hallway. There was a guard already waiting. He stepped into the cell (which took some time as every cell had a two-door lock that was controlled remotely from guards upstairs) and cuffed Humbaba and he was chained to the floor. Then Dutuzu was led in. The guard hovered for a moment, unsure, until the Speaker waved him out. He nodded and existed the cell.

Dutuzu looked back at Humbaba. He was seating in a metal chair that was bolted to the floor. From what he had seen of the other cells, it must have been done in anticipation of his visit.  There was also a metal table and another chair, both bolted as well.

"May I?" Dutuzu gestured to the seat and Humbaba nodded. He looked young, maybe in his mid 20s at the most. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his upper body had several spaced-out tattoos all over it. Dutuzu sat, putting his hands on the table. The prisoner was doing the same, resting his heavy chains against the table so he didn't have to hold them up.

"And who do I have the pleasure of speaking to today?" His voice had no accent. Dutuzu couldn't place him. He knew the prisoner had grown up as a street criminal, rising through the ranks of street gangs, so he should have a thick accent and his speech full of slang. But it wasn't.

"You speak quite well for a Zur'de."

He smiled at that. "Yur rathe' I talki wit u 'ccent?" It was clean and if Dutuzu hadn't heard him speak earlier, he'd think it was his natural voice.

"Who are you?" The questioned escaped from Dutuzu before he had a moment to think. It was uncalculated and a clear mistake.

"I asked you first. Where are your manners? Besides, I can't tell you that. You have no idea how many legal agreements and contacts I'm under," He smiled amused. No doubt happy that the stranger was caught off guard.

"I'm Speaker Dutuzu." The prisoner whistled at the title.

"A damn Elder. What is one as high up as you doing around here, I'tta?" It was a word of honor, spoken as a sign of respect. And it was an Asurian custom. Humbaba supposedly grew up in Traetor, not a place where he would learn something like that. Just who was he?

"The newspaper you were given earlier." Dutuzu didn't want to explain the situation so he had requested that the headline of the bust be given to the prisoner ahead of time. That of course caused a nightmare situation as officials didn't want to give him unfiltered access to current events. So, some poor souls stayed up all night writing the copy for a fake newspaper to give to Humbaba.

"Ah that. I suppose you'll be getting a lot of names soon. Perhaps quite a few government ones too. Whata lucky find. Why see me about it?"

"Name your price." Dutuzu wanted this to be quick. Humbaba gave him the creeps. There was so many things off about him.

"Freedom. I want out."

"Out of the question. You know that"

He smiled. He had been waiting years for this moment. "Fine. I figured one day someone would come crawling to me. I'll give you whatever information you want the first time. Which'll be this one. But next time, I'm not saying anything unless my release is guaranteed. Is that fine with you?" Dutuzu considered it. But only for a moment. If he was serious about the deal, which he was not a man that made idle comments, then Dutuzu really had no choice. Even if he left now, the prisoner wouldn't give them another freebie. Next time it would cost them everything.

"Go ahead, ask your question." Dutuzu wanted to curse. Humbaba was a slimy one. No wonder he almost united the street gangs of Traetor. He had been born in another life, a life of privilege, he'd have a seat at the Elders' council.

"This human trafficking. How far does it extent? How international is it?"

Humbaba grinned. "It's extent? In what way do you mean? No matter what, its large. Almost every gang was in some way connected. It was the most profitable business venture. Wither you were involved in transporting, storage or security, every teenager with a criminal record looking to make a buck dreamed of being involved. There's just so much money in it. If you really care about putting an end, you'll have to starve the money. At least, that's how I'd do it. So, where does the money come from, right? There’re really three answers. The first is internationally, of course. Someone in your position must at least have a grasp on how important Griss is to large-scale organizations. Its effectively a blind spot in international policing. And, no offense, but the Confederacy police are not picking up the slack. The second is tied to the first. At least, I estimate it is.

Traetorian crime is heavily intermixed with Talaos terrorism. The Talaos need some way to fund their operations and they provided a steady stream of labor and organization. Street gangs like I was a part of struggle to compete with the insurgents. It's rebellious kids versus cultural holy warriors. You see but the issue is why. Why do the Talaos involve themselves in crime? Why not just focus on waging their war? From what I've seen, they have enough money and supplies that they could cut back on their involvement heavily. But I think it acts as a shield. They can hide numerous things under the guise of criminal activity rather than terrorism. Also, I think they've heavily invested their assets in it. It kinda makes sense doesn't it? The insurgents are far better supplied than expected, right? Seeming to have access to cash and weaponry that they shouldn't. I'm sure the Confederacy has been monitoring their usual funders, and the numbers aren't adding up, right? It's all a powerful and very illegal smoke screen.   

The third is political corruption. Most of the cliental are government officials. Honestly, they're the only ones outside of Novan corporate junkies that can afford it. They make a killings worth in bribes and hush money and then blow it on drugs and girls."

Dutuzu tried to lean back in his chair, forgetting it was bolted down. He'd have to pass on the information about the insurgents to Ciklo. She'd be the one to figure out if Humbaba's hunch was right. It could turn the tide in Traetor. If they tackled the insurgency simultaneously with the crime world, they would both be severely weakened, and the affect would compound on itself. It was also won Dutuzu over that Humbaba was truthful. The rest of what he said the Seeker more or less already knew. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and pad.

"Give me a list of every single official you've dealt with, you know someone's dealt with, you've heard rumors of them being shifty. I want it all." It was a large task; it would be hundreds of names. Names Duzutu knew he'd been saving for this exact moment. A gutter rat doesn't become one of the most powerful crime lords without having dozens of security measures. Here in this room, the two of them might just stomp out political corruption and organized crime in Griss. Humbaba just grinned. Even though the prisoner was giving away all this info, Dutuzu couldn't shake the the feeling he was somehow getting the worse end of the deal.

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2020, 06:13:20 PM »
North Toshikawa

Covering all the bases was as ever the intel job in the equation. It was perhaps a bit of a hit and hope theory or a fishing expedition to use the legal area's phrase. But it wasn't completely accurate to say that this was like looking for a needle in a haystack. They had the suggestion of where some of the trafficking shipping had originated from, so here a team of Achkaerin's intel operatives found themselves in the north western part of Toshikawa on the western coast and close to the Rokkenjiman border, this was an area substantively destroyed by Su Mai's forces in the latest Toshikawan civil war. The scars were obvious but so was the substantial recovery. The harbour of Haseo wasn't a big one but it was a busy one this was mostly due to being spared a lot of damage in the war but also combined with the significant damage done to other harbours in the area most notably Maru's harbour. Watching the docks from a dockside cafe was James Black, he sipped on his drink as all around him the business of the day went on but no sign of traffickers yet. However that very quickly changed when a face he didn't expect to see walked past on the dock path, such was his surprise that James had to double check it was who he thought it was.

"I have eyes on the Seven of Spades." James said
"You what?" Rion asked her voice coming over the com channel
"I have eyes on Mathilde Delannoy." James said
"Where?" another voice joined the conversation this one belonged to Luke Holmes
"Dock path heading west wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt." James said
"Got her." Luke said he was walking a parallel path to Delannoy
"Keep a close eye on her." Rion said "She ran the Sorority of Materna's people smuggling operation, if anyone knows how to do trafficking it's her."
"Where's she heading?" James asked standing up and then paying for his drink before leaving the cafe.
"That ship on the farthermost berth." Luke said, James looked in that direction noticing that Delannoy had just boarded it.
"Ok Roxy you're up." James said

Roxanne Cohen otherwise known as Roxy smiled as she finished slipping on the wetsuit that she'd brought along. She was in a small boat with the last member of the team Tim Patterson, he was the man in charge of this.
"One tracking device." Tim said "Get it on the ship and get out."
"Copy that." Roxy said taking the device from Tim and securing it to the belt she wore
"Your approach is the the port aft quarter that's where the anchor chain is." Tim said pointing it out "Climb the chain and plant the thing where no one will find it."
"I'll be right back." Roxy said

Roxy dived into the water and swam her way across to the ship, she went straight as an arrow and all the while Tim watched carefully. Climbing an anchor chain was in theory no different to climbing a rope in practice it was more tricky but she managed to pull her way up the chain to the opening on the hull where the chain was housed, now came the hard part, she let go of the chain with her hands, using her legs wrapped around the chain to keep her balance she grabbed the edge of the opening with one hand and looked around inside it.

"Just enough room on the side of the winch." Roxy said reaching down to the tracking device she was carrying and then pulling herself up half into the winch opening so she could secure the device in place. "Tracker in place."
"Good." Tim said as Roxy dived back down into the water and made her way back to the small boat "Where's Delannoy?"
"On the ship." Luke answered "Can't tell if there's any trafficking victims aboard."
"Ok then." Tim said he snapped a picture of the ship from the stern "Control tracker in place, target ship is named the Blessed Kappa, flying a Toshikawan flag and leaving Haseo harbour. Can confirm that the Seven of Spades is onboard."
"Have that." Rion said "We're receiving a strong signal from the tracker."

Tim smiled as he pulled Roxy out of the water.
"It's over to the Navy now." Tim said

Offline Libby

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2020, 10:27:27 PM »
"Get in the fucking box" Demyan yelled as the girl in his arms did her best impression of a starfish as he tried to push her into the wooden box open before him. The girl clearly had no intention of going peacefully into the dark confines. The girl managed to squirm a little and found the brute of a mans hand near her face and at that point she bit down hard meaning Demyan instinctively moved his left hand away from the pain. The girl dropped to the floor and began to head towards the rooms door but she only managed a half step before Demyan's right hand which was tight around her arm stopped her and yanked her back hard towards the box into which she was propelled. "Stupid bitch" Demyan reached down and grabbed her by the hair lifting her back to her feet with a single swift motion his blood tainted hand slapped the girl of around 10 years of age hard across the face knocking her senseless.

"Now now." A woman had just entered the room to see the slap. "Don't ruin the merchandise." The woman helped the girl back to her feet and while she stood with her head still spinning was inspected. "She's a split lip. If the client isn't happy this is coming out of your cut."

"Yes Milena" Demyan said rather grudgingly.

"Now" Milena grabbed the girl hard by the top of her trousers and unceremoniously hefted her up and backwards over the lid of the box causing the child to land rather heavily inside the box. "Help me get this lid on." The pair lifted a heavy wooden lid onto the box probably twice the size of a coffin and began nailing the lid down. A few holes had been drilled into the sides and now the lid was securely in place several stapes affixed paperwork in place. "Live Animals in Transit." each document was stamped with official seals from the Ministry of Agriculture and to the casual observer this would be just another crate passing through a port. "Get the forklift" Milena ordered and Demyan complied manouvering the small vehicle into place to heft the box upwards and onto the back of a flatbed truck. "I wish the stupid girl would keep still." They had only limited supplies of the gas which would knock her out and to be honest the application of it had killed the last one they'd tried transporting so Milena had tried to avoid this but now she quickly taped cloth over the various holes before sticking a hose in and turning on the gas. Moments later the banging and yelling had ended and through one of the holes Milena stuck a flashlight while pressing an eye to another. She was thought she saw the girl breathing but couldn't be 100% sure but what was done was done and now they had a few hours to make the transfer.

Demyan drove the truck down to the docks in Isleka. It was a small place and hardly suited for large cargo vessels. Alucard Minor was still a place that was largely unspoilt by heavy industry and its port was frequented by little fishing ships rather than container ships. The island had thick forests with a huge variety of wildlife and as such transports would come and pick up animals for the pet trade or zoo's across Mundus. The crate was loaded on a ship they'd hired and with the dock master on their payroll it was allowed to leave ahead of schedule. It was only around 30km across the channel to Grand Alucard Island and there into Poskaz a near mirror image of Isleka with the only difference being the odd cruise ship in harbour to allow its guests to spend an afternoon enjoying the fine beaches of the island and the huge number of spa's and small boutiques that marked the town as being worthy of a stop. The port was more used to dealing with passengers than cargo and a few carefully placed Geld notes saw the crate move through with minimal problems. The young man on the gate of the dock looked into the envelope of "paperwork" required to release the crate and having checked no one was watching deposited the high value bank notes into his pocket before handing the envelope back. So what that some rich patrician wanted a mountain wolf or jackal as a pet like an idiot it was none of the guards concern and so he happily accepted the bribe and waved the truck through.

It was a longer drive across the island to the city of Ruboz where the wealthy islanders resided in their white walled estates. The truck found the one they were looking for. It was easy to find as it sat on the western side of the city perched on a hillside overlooking the bay with half of the mansion on stilts overhanging the cliff. The truck was expected and Milena and Demyan were let inside without a word. By the time the vehicle had made its way down the palm tree lined drive a man wearing a smart white suit had appeared from inside the luxurious mansion. "Mr. Bogomolov" Milena greeted him as she closed the truck door behind her. "Good afternoon."

"Did you have any problems" Fedor Bogomolov asked as he removed his dark sunglasses and folded them up carefully before clipping them onto his suits breast pocket.

"Nothing a few Geld couldn't solve." Milena lowered the tailgate of the truck and easily clambered up onto the back finding a crowbar. "We did have to sedate her though." She explained only to recieve a nervous stare from the man who was keen to see them open the crate. A few well practiced heaves and the lid became loose and now that Demyan had joined her they slid it across. The girl was thankfully still alive but clearly the effects of the gas hadn't fully worn off. A stench of statle air eminated from the box and it must have been the influx of fresh air but the girl suddenly sat upright. Demyan took hold of her and swung her by one arm up and out the box dangling her in mid air off the tailgate.

"Careful" Bogomolov said as he was already examining the girl. "Why is her lip bleeding?" he demanded to know as Demyan lowered the girl to a now waiting Milena.

"We had some issues" Milena glared at Demyan. "Don't worry we'll knock some off the price as compensation." This seemed to satisfy Bogomolov who was now kneeling infront of the girl and examining her.

"Very good." Bogomolov was seemingly pleased with what he saw. "I require two more, here are the requirements." he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and removed a piece of paper. "Usual arrangements, half will be wired into your account once you take my order. The balance, minus any damages, upon arrival." Milena examined the piece of paper which specified the age, gender and general look of the people he wanted. This time it was a girl in her mid teens, blonde hair, blue eyes of slender figure, the other was to be a woman in the early 20's, black and able to speak more than one language.

"I'm sure we can fulfil this order." Milena said confidently. "Delivering here?" she asked and Bogomolov just nodded seemingly more interested in the girl. "Very well. I shall be in touch. Her name is Nastasya" Milena added the detail as more of an after thought as she began climbing back into the truck to return to their small island which in effect was their operations "Processing Facility."

With the truck having left Nastasya was struggling. With a strength that was surprising for his small frame and a force that you wouldn't have expected from a man in a smart suit he slung the girl over his shoulder and with her feet trying to kick him in the stomach carried her into the house. "Your name is now Livna. You shall be educated her and then you will be sent to Chistopol to be the serving girl of a rich family. You have no idea how lucky you are." He reached the foot of a large curving staircase and with Nastasya still trying to get free began to ascend them. "Your family have given you up. 12 children, that's savage." he shook his head he had no idea why these stupid Plebs bred like rabbits or why it always seemed the largest families were those in the shittiest parts of Mundus with nowhere near enough money to feed and cloth their filthy offspring. For Bogomolov though it meant an endless supply of girls to train in the ways the rich expected. For some girls it took just a few weeks. These tended to be the older girls whom were fortunate enough to avoid the sex trade. Those girls destined for some rich family as a serving girl realised quickly they would likely have a much better life and so often complied. Sadly those younger ones such as the wildcat he was now about the throw into her bedroom could take as long as 18 months to break. He preferred it when his clients wanted servants as it made things less stressful for the children who were nearly always girls. Nastasya flew through the air and landed on a bed with a bounce. "Now Livna" Bogomolov said as he blocked the door way. "As you can see there is no way out" He gestured to the walls, not a single window as the room was in the very centre of the building. "You will stay here for the next 48 hours. If you are quiet and calm I will allow you to have food. If you are loud and interupt me then I shall forget to send you food. I shall speak to you in two days." He closed first a set of iron bars on a hinge that now made the entrance to the beautifully decorated wood pannelled room look a little like a prison. He stood behind the bars watching as the girl began crying. "Quiet now. I expect my trainees to be obidient and you do not wish to disappoint me." he closed the rooms actual door and two keys turned locking it behind him leaving the girl on her own to wonder what would happen to her.

Offline Persephone

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2020, 05:30:07 PM »
The pen fell out of Dutuzu's limp hand. He started clenching and unclenching it, hoping to get some blood and feeling back in it. Almost 5 hours of sitting in this cell. For the first hour, Humbaba had given a straight list of names. Hundreds, maybe even thousands. Perfectly from memory, even helping Dutuzu with the spelling when needed. It was an astonishing feat of the mind.
 
Dutuzu had only brought a small pocket-sized notebook. He wasn't prepared for the sheer information he was getting. No one would have been. After the list of names, Humbaba went into details- the hierarchies of different street gangs, which crime families had bad blood, potential leverage on important figures, who paid off which local police sheriff. Even in some cases, when relevant, information on Talaos cells he worked alongside. Dutuzu got the sense he knew much more about the Talaos than he was letting on, but this was clearly purposefully done. Humbaba was dangling the incentive for his release. The notebook was a mess, pages were thick and covered in ink, some even sticking together. His pen was running out of ink and so the last few pages were covered in unfilled marks, more impression on the pages than actually writing.
 
Humbaba eyed the discarded pen. "Perhaps that is enough. With all the information in the notebook, if you and the other Elders have half a brain between you, you can easily break Confederate organized crime for years." It was true, even half the list of names would have done the trick. Already Dutuzu's mind was swarming with the best approach. "Although, I'm sure this goes without mention, but my intel is a few years stale. Parts of it could be outdated, but it’s the best I can do." The Seeker didn't mind. If Humbaba named someone retired they still had previous crimes to answer for or they were dead. Either way it mattered little.
 
Dutuzu thought about it. Local police couldn't be trusted with this information. Even if only a small portion of the details reverent to them was passed along, it would be leaked. And then it was only a matter of time before people started putting the pieces together. Best to act quickly. But how? It would require a massive effort, so where would the manpower come from?  It had the Seeker's head spinning.
 
"How would you do it?" Humbaba looked up, surprised. It was the first time Dutuzu saw that expression on his face. He hadn't expected to be asked for his advice. And it was clear that he had considered it. It was strange, Humbaba seemed like the kind of person that considered everything from everyone's angle. It was the best way to stay ahead of the curve, know what your competition is thinking.
 
"Well, you need to move fast. Otherwise there'll be a leak. Sure, you'll still get most of the middlemen, but the higher ups will make arrangements to disappear, flee the country, etc. I'd do a mass arrest, simultaneous operations across the Confederacy. But you can't trust the police, too many moles. I'd turn this over to the military. Except the government is already having issues with the military presence in Traetor. Unless. Yes. Of course. A joint operation. The confederate military and the Asurian army."
 
Dutuzu blinked in shock. The Asurian army. Before Griss was united under the Confederacy, Asur were the military superpower of the north. They were the most resistant to submitting to Confederate rule. One of the major conditions was the maintaining of their military. Only the Falmi had their militia, but that was a different matter. All the other nations chose to pool their martial strength into the United Forces, only keeping small Honor Guards. In all the time of the Confederacy, a joint operation with the Asurian army had never been approached. They kept to their borders and only the occasional joint training exercise was conducted. But the clause forbidding Confederate military presence in the nations during peacetime did not extend to the national militaries. Meaning the United Forces could conduct the arrest in Confederate lands and Traetor while the Asurians tackled Asur, Nova, Nintara and Falmi. It would also be a good way to test the strength of the Asurian army. Dutuzu had to give it to Humbaba, it was an elegant solution that had more upside than just arresting the criminal elements.
 
Dutuzu closed his notebook, capped his pen and placed both inside his pocket. "Humbaba, it’s been a pleasure, though I doubt we'll ever see each other again."
 
"Perhaps not, but I'm sure another Elder will have need and come calling." Ciklo. That was his play. He was hoping that she would be enticed by his dangling of knowledge on the Talaos insurgency. But how did he even know that she was the one heading the fight against them? Was it an educated guess? A shot in the dark? How did he even know there was a conflict going on? The newspaper made no mention of it. For a moment, Dutuzu thought better of telling her about Humbaba. But in the end, he'd have to. The trap was carefully constructed. The only thing the Seeker could do was personally tell Ciklo and warn her not to come calling.
 
Dutuzu stepped up to the glass door and raised his hand to the camera in the corner of the cell. The door opened, he stepped through and it closed behind him. He waited for the second door to open, slowly stepping through it. He looked back to Humbaba, who was eyeing him. Humbaba raised his hands as high as he could with them still chained to the floor. Dutuzu was glad to be leaving Irkallu, but he knew that this final image would haunt his nightmares for years.

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2020, 10:18:28 PM »
Annabeth had returned from poking around the stables and things weren't good. "I didn't see anything too odd beyond lying about the ID of horses." she shrugged. "It was clear they'd got the wrong horses but the ages were only a little off, selling a 5 year old as a 4. They didn't show me any with names I'd heard of but here is the list of those I saw." She handed Grace Yacobs a list, Grace already had it having watched the video footage and made her own list she accepted the paper anyway and thanked the Duchess for her efforts. Soon it was just the intelligence agency staff and Alex Redfern left in the briefing room.

"So what's going on?" Alex asked not sure where they went next.

"Its I think a case of them securing transfer documents to move big containers overseas. Its then maybe easy to hide somebody in the container alongside a horse. Attaching the thorougbreed names probably means anyone puzzled by the high fee and who does a basic bit of digging perhaps thinks its legit. I'm sticking someone in the ports they use to take a sneak peek." Grace explained.



Beneath the P-7 the Mhroish was just a black mirror reflecting the stars of the midnight hour back at themselves. For the crew onboard it was nearing the end of their patrol and soon they would be heading back towards the airfield at South Base, half way between Seabrooke and Portworth. Corporal Riley Thorpe was watching the thermal imaging devices and he was obviously just seeing the coldness of the evenings ocean. It was only when they had twenty minutes left to getting back to land that he spotted a few tell tale signs of something worth taking a look at. A collection of contrasting temperatures against the oceans cold. Each was about 1km apart from each other and seemed to be very different to anything else they'd seen. "Thermal to Pilot, how are we doing for fuel?"

Up in the nose Flt.Lt Joe Peacock checked the gauge before hitting his mic. "We've about enough for another hour before heading home. What you got?" Thorpe relayed a series of co-ordinates and headings and between the two of them they set up a pattern heading around the spots. Through the intercom they were able to bring in other assets onboard and while it was clearly not a threat to national security it was clear that something wasn't quiet right. "What we got in the area?" Peacock asked his navigator who pulled out a chart and began looking over it.

"King Robert is about 30km east of us." The East Moreland flagship was currently out ploughing up and down the Mhorish as part of its routine deployments and no sooner had they worked out its position than the ship began heading towards the area. It would take them about an hour to get there and so the crew kept their eyes on the fading heat signatures in the sea until one of the REMNS King Robert's helicopters arrived. With three minutes of there allocated fuel running out the birds from the King Robert had got their own imaging system on the area but it was now almost impossible to see and so spot lights flashed across the surface of the water.

"There it is" the loadmaster of one of the helicopters had spotted an object floating on the water and so it now fell to rescue swimmer Daisy Greechan to go and investigate. Normally she'd have been in the Mundus Games but she'd elected to focus on her navy career for the time being and that meant exchanging a nice warm pool in Midaranye for the freezing Mhroish. She jumped feet first and fell about 15 meters, no matter how many times she'd done this now the suddenly exposure to the cold water took her breath away a little and it took her a few seconds to spot where the loadie was marking on the surface of the water with a spotlight and she moved towards it. It didn't take her long to find the object and she grabbed hold of it.

"Shit" She muttered to herself before rolling onto her back and cuing her coms, "We've a body, no sign of life but get me up."

"Roger that" Almost instantly the harness with its flashing red light had come down and Daisy hooked the body onto it before clipping herself onto the same hook and waited to be hauled up. As she got onto the floor of the chopper she could see the body now had a gun wound to the chest and her experience told her the chance was the body had hit the Mhorish still alive which was what they'd probably seen. Daisy made two more dives that night but had only fifty per cent success. With the chances of finding anything else in the night dwindling they headed back. Medics awaited on deck for the return, there was the customary check of Daisy, after all spending any time even with all the gear she had in the Mhorish wasn't always that pleasant, they also needed to work out what to do with the bodies they'd found because they were now a crime scene.


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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2020, 11:35:47 PM »
The INS Excalibur was a hive of activity, they'd been tracking the Blessed Kappa for forty eight hours and now overnight they'd closed distance to the point where they could see the target vessel. Commanding the Excalibur[/url] was Captain Joe McCarthy he stood looking out of the bridge radio in one hand and binoculars in the other and up to his eyes.

"Control, target vessel was seen leaving Haseo flying Toshikawan flag, please confirm?" Joe said over the radio
"That's confirmed." came the response.
"Verify target identity." Joe said
"Target vessel is the Blessed Kappa" came the reply. Joe looked at the various screens on the bridge that was definitely the ship but something was off, the flag being flown wasn't Toshikawan it was Zimalian.
"Control target vessel sighted flying Zimalian flag please advise." Joe said, there were a few moments of silence before the response came.
"Target ship to be regarded as having no nationality boarding is authorised." came the reply.
"Acknowledged." Joe said, he put the radio down and took a deep breath "Helm close distance, all stations standby, boarding party ready for deployment."

The Excalibur angled its approach and continued to close the distance, Joe picked up the radio again and switched the channel.
"Blessed Kappa this is the INS Excalibur of the Achkaerinese navy come to an all stop and prepare to be boarded in accordance with article 110 of the Fair Seas Concordat." Joe said
"Target isn't slowing down." the relevant officer said
"I say again come to a halt and prepare to be boarded." Joe said
"Still not slowing down sir." the officer said
"Come to a halt and prepare to be boarded this is your final warning." Joe said, he glanced at the officer who was monitoring and saw the officer shake his head "All right then hard stop it is. Deploy boarding party."
"Aye sir." an officer said

Now things got a little tricky as the Excalibur continued to approach the Blessed Kappa a helicopter took off from the rear deck of the Achkaerinese vessel and swung away while the distance closed. Joe sighed this was the bit he didn't like, he watched as the helicopter swung back in and dropped a boarding party of Achkaerinese Special Forces onto the deck of the target vessel.

Captain Akiza Taylor was leading Cerulean Troop onto the Blessed Kappa, this was one of the most trained for scenario's that they did. Her six person team secured the top deck with a minimal firefight before taking the bridge and moving below decks. Akiza found herself chasing down Mathilde Delannoy, eventually tackling her to the deck and restraining her. "Seven of Spades in custody." she said over the radio "Report?"
"We have control of the ship, crew in custody and we've found thirty trafficking victims in the containers." the voice of Sgt Lowe answered
"Good work. Alert intel we have Delannoy." Akiza said

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2020, 09:08:17 PM »
It had taken a week since Daisy Greechan had pulled the various bodies out of the Mhorish and several more had washed up on the beaches. After a quick search of various databases from partners across Mundus it had transpired that a lot of those pulled out of the water had been young girls from a variety of nations. Out of the bodies found the local police discovered something rather unexpected, on he neck of each of the girls was an emblem. Some of the girls had it tattooed on, hidden beneath their long hair, others meanwhile still had the symbol hidden but in their cases it was branded on like one would use on a bull. The symbol was something that confused the local police in Portworth and so as usual it was passed on up the chain to regional, then national police before even landing on the desk of the National Intelligance Agency who despite their extensive files couldn't locate the symbol either. It was when the folder found its way into the weekly meeting at the Palace with King David that a breakthrough came.

King David was flicking through the folder of evidence being presented on the human trafficing crisis and spotted the photo of the symbol on the back of people's necks. "This symbol" The King sat up, "I've seen it before." The King placed the folder back on the table minus the photo which he placed on top. He leaned back in his chair. "It was about five years ago now, I would never have thought it would be half way across Mundus." He turned to his Chief of Royal Household Quinn Germaine who pushed her chair away from the table and headed out the room. "This may take a minute or two so please lets discuss the next point."

In truth it took about half an hour and the meeting was drawing to a natural end when there was a knock on the door and Quinn reappeared holding the door open for a young blonde haired girl to sheepishly walk in. "Your Majesty" she stammered nervously. "I was told you needed me."

"Yes Claire, please take a seat" the King motioned to the chair next to him.

"Is this about James?" she asked, "Is....he's not dead is he?" It had been five years since the then 17 year old Claire had spent those two months in the woods of the Alps with the runaway East Moreland Royal James Ironside even conceiving a child with the convicted traitor. The pairs son, Tristen, had never meet his father and now at the age of nearly five he was residing in one of the many lodges that dotted the Palace's estate. It had been from there that Claire had been fetched.

"No its not Claire" the King couldn't understand why the girl still held onto the hope of an happy ever after with his cousin but that wasn't his current concern. "Its about this." The King showed her the photo and instinctively she placed a hand on the back of her own neck. "Could you show it everyone please." Claire hesitated that summer may have been magical to her but the group that had placed her in it hadn't been, the Fellowship of Helus was a horrid memory to her but the small tattoo on her neck covered by her long blonde hair remained. The King had seen it when she first arrived at the Palace following her child's birth and the Kings offer to put his 1st cousin once removed up within the families estate. Then Claire had been a care free young mother and still wore her hair up, now she always ensured it was something few people if any saw.

"But..." she was nervous and thought perhaps she may be in trouble. "I've done nothing wrong." She explained.

"We know." David said reassuringly "You've been here all the time but you may be able to help us work out what's going on." Grudgingly the girl spun the chair so her back was facing the briefing room and while one hand pulled down the t-shirt she was wearing slightly the other lifted her hair up to reveal a small tattoo about the size of watch face. Several of those in the briefing stood and moved closer to get a look before returning to their photo pack. The tattoo was a mottiff of wings eminating from a circle. In that circle was the symbol of the Cult of Helus and then to the lower left of it was collection of small circles joined by a line. Grace Yacobs was one of those in the room and had debriefed Claire when they'd first found her, she examined the symbol carefully her eyes darting from the photo to the real life one before her. Claire lowered her hair after several minutes of silence and then turned slowly.

"What's going on?" Claire asked seeing a range of photos showing similar marks. "Where have they come from?"

"Claire we need your help" Grace said quietly before explaining the situation. "You see until the King recalled seeing your tattoo we had no idea what the symbol here is. Now we have a lead. What can you tell us about the symbol."

Claire could feel tears in her eyes, "It was a religious commune, a bit of an insane one. We were called the Fellowship of Helus. We believed that by creating a strong link with nature and shunning the modern world of greed of materialism we could build a stronger link with Helus and the Gods. My parents had been members since I was four and when they died the Fellowship raised me and well.....that ended up with me here. There were only three groups of us that I knew of, my commune was in the woods North of Keepton, there was another group near Winterhaven and another at Ostlake. I think there were about forty people in total. At a coming of age ceremony at 12 we all got the symbol. The circle is as you know the emblem of Helus, the wings are the symbol of the Fellowship, we are lifted up by the love of Helus. The circles are essentially a type of map showing the location of that Fellowships home relative to Temples in the area. It was a way of identifying which commune you were from."

"Temples of Helus?" Grace asked.

"Any Temples connected to the Cult." Claire added. "None of those match mine." She observed.

"Do you recognise any of them?" Grace had pulled up a map of East Moreland on her laptop ready for any information the young woman could give her.

"None of those existed when I was a member." Claire explained and could see Grace slump. It would have been an intelligence agents gift if she could simply pin point the locations but now it was about to become a task for her minions tracing directions from Temples.

"Thanks Claire, I think that will be all." The King dismissed her and waited for her to leave. "Do we have a plan?" He directed it towards Grace.

"Yes" She spun the laptop round. "We send teams into the locations of the old commune's. To the best of our knowledge after the whole James incident the Fellowship communes were broken up. Truth be told though I'm not sure there has been much follow up in the last few years, after all they didn't really pose a huge risk in terms of crimes. What happened between James and Claire was probably immoral but wasn't illegal. If people are there then we've an in, if not some junior agents at HQ are in for some sleepless nights mapping Temples."

Offline Cass

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2020, 05:39:23 PM »
The "Temple of Amphitrite" was no temple in the generally accepted sense of the word. It was a dark musty cave situated near the coastal city town of Peraia and for a half of the hours each day the sea let its grasp over the cave split and then it revealed a small table carved from the very floor of the cave. It was a miracle, known only to a handful of people, that people had somehow managed to get into the cave between tides and by hacking and digging lower the floor to permit an alter to be made. There in the centre of the alter was a metallic ring which was coated in rust and barnacles.

Today a small boat was inside the cave and its passengers were busy wrestling with a figure wrapped in chains. The figure was a young boy, no older than 12 years of age and he kicked out with her legs and thrashed with his arms as much as the chains would allow. "No....no" the boy screamed as the four burly men hefted him above their heads. It took only a few minutes for them to run another chain through a loop in the chain wrapped around his neck. It was then lead down to the alters loop and locked in place. A old woman was helped from the boat and staying just out of reach of the crying child. "Oh Goddess Amphitrite hear our words. Our nation's matriach did you great wrong. We, the people of Cassiopeia, do not follow her ways. Poisedian is your husband and Andromeda stole him from you. Accept this offering as your new companion. May they bring you happiness. Spare our people from your wrath" With that the group returned to the boat leaving the child alone on the alter. Without a word the boats engine fired up and dragged them backwards to the open sea and away to their homes leaving the boy to his fate at the hands of the Goddess.



24 hours later the CNS Caeneus moored some 2km away from the coast. The crew onboard were all members of the Doru Hoplite, a special forces unit tasked with conducting some of the nations more secretive operations. "This is the fifth cave today." Lt.Vasilis Samaras complained as they lowered the Rubber Craft.

"yes and there may be seven more by my reckoning." Major Stephanidis" responded looking at the map, "so quicker you get in there, the quicker we get home." The Major pointed to the cliffs at where an opening was just about visible. "You know the score by now Lieutenant."

"Yes Sir" Samaras nodded as he and the two others lowered themselves down into the small boat. "Back in five minutes." the engine was switched on and the small craft made its way towards the rocky grey shoreline. They found the cave opening with ease and already in the gloom Samaras could sense something was different. The small sub=machine gun around his body was held ready even though they'd been told to expect very little opposition if any. "There" he pointed and the Corporal over his shoulder shone the search light and immediately their hearts sank. They could see floating thethered to a block a body. "Shit" Samaras lowered his weapon and reached into the water grabbing the body. "Only a kid" he said to himself more than anything and attempted to haul the body into the boat. It only half ended up in the full transfer being stopped by something. "Bastards must have chained him here and left him for the tide." There was an anger the officer hadn't felt before in his life and as the Corporal exited to try and free the chain he held the bloated fish pecked body. "Poor thing" The Corporal was wrestling with the chain and now in the dark water he found the padlock that had secured the boy to his fate. A swift few twists with his bayonet forced the lock open and the boy was dragged aboard and in silence the craft made its way back to the  Caenus. "We were too late sir." Samaras explained as he carefully passed the boy up onto the deck. "Should we check the others?" Samaras meant the caves they'd identified as a potential location.

"We will, but I our intelligence suggests that it was just a single boy." Major Stephanidis had retrieved a body bag from the store locker and now delicately placed the boy inside and zipped it up. "I think we need to have a word with command, if they'd given us this yesterday we could have saved him." There was genuine sadness in the crew as they checked the other potential sites, all of which were empty. It was a long silent trip back to the docks in Peraia where they handed the body over to the waiting police investigators and gave their statements. One of the officers unzipped the bag and took a few photos of the face and then tried his best to take fingerprints. They'd do their best to identify the boy but everything they'd gathered from their informer suggested this would be a foreigner, less likely to raise an alarm and giving the life of a non-believer would be more acceptable than one who believed in the Goddess.   

Offline DaveIronside

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #12 on: January 01, 2021, 09:54:06 PM »
King David was fresh out of Ostlake's medical facilities after the operation on his back and under strict instructions from his surgeon had been keeping as active as possible therefore while his briefing room was full of seated advisers he was walking laps of the table. Gathered around him were his cousin Orlaith Kade who was also the nations Foreign Minister, Sir Harry Samuelson the Minister of Defence, Henrietta Quinn the Prime Minister, Grant Nightingale the Chief Councillor and various representatives from the security and intelligence community. Over the last couple of weeks they had uncovered quiet a bit about various networks and their organisation. "It's clear that this network has tenticles in various nations across Mundus. Regardless of the reason for why they want the people there is a pattern of particularly targeting children. Of the victims we've identified around 60% of those rescued have been under the age of 16." Grace Yacobs explained to the group assembled around the table.

"I think its time that we share what we know. This is going to take a rather co-ordinated approach" the King mused as he stopped his current lap and leaned on the back of his empty chair. "I think we should host a briefing this afternoon for any nation who wishes to attend. Is that possible?" David directed his question towards Grace who was running as the lead co-ordinator from the National Intelligence Agency.

"I'd prefer tomorrow morning just so we can get everything put together nice and neatly." Grace figured she could brief everyone off the cuff if need be however things would be much smoother given a few hours longer to make sure everything looked slick.

"Very well. We'll host a breakfast for the Ambassadors or their Intelligence Officers in the state room and then you can give them the details of what we know. Hopefully people will be able to bring things in that we don't know too." With that decision made the word was spread down Embassy Row and soon every nation with an embassy in East Moreland was aware of the briefing.



The following morning at 8am the State Room was ready with tables set out for breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage and tomato or if people prefered some honey porridge or a selection of toasts and jam. Duchess Orlaith Kade mingled with those who had attended hoping to do a bit of networking. Grace arrived at just before 8:30 and set things up so that bang on 9am she could begin her briefing.

"Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman." Grace grabbed the attention of the group of assembled delegates before beginning. "As you know we've been dealing with a significant amount of human trafficking in the Mhorish region as of late. Thanks to various intelligence operations we've been able to put together a fair bit of information. We're sharing this with you today in hopes that your home nations can utilise this in stemming the flow of the problem." She looked down at her notes and began

"The situation as it stands is that in the last six months an estimated 4,000 individuals have been moved illegally across Mundus. Out of that we believe that around 60% are aged under 16. The principle nations we've found people from are Zimalia, Lodja, Hassfurt, Rodinha and the various islands in the Alucard. To the best of our knowledge there are two points of sale, one is the island of Wellow, the other is Keepton in East Moreland. We believe Wellow is being used as it it easily accessable by the ocean and we believe that Keepton is being used as it is a large city at the heart of Alba Karinya. The Alps make it a natural hiding place for a large amount of goods."

Grace flicked through a powerpoint to show a variety of photos taken of the back of the necks of those rescued and the bodies of those found. "Around 80% of those we have discovered prior to them reaching Wellow or Keepton have these tattoos. They are symbols connected to an old religious off shoot of the Cult of Helus known as the Fellowship of Helus. They believed that by creating a strong link with nature and shunning the modern world of greed of materialism they could build a stronger link with Helus and the Gods. The tattoo was used to mark a member and which commune they belonged to. The marks we see now however do not match any of the old Fellowship ones. We have so far identified five patterns and believe that they are used to identify what the individual is being sold as. We believe this as all working age men have one, all young women another, older women a different one and so on."

She flicked to the next slide, "Now we do have a plan on what we intend to do and we will be asking each nation here today to follow the same procedure. Any child arriving in East Moreland from abroad is being examined for such a tattoo. Any found with them are taken into protective custody while investigations begin. We are also examing any child leaving the nation. Now as most of this trade is being done illegally and utilising ports and various methods of smuggling in containers, in holds of ships, we've even found them in illegal small craft we are asking local law enforcement to be on the look out for such markings in their day to day work."

"While this group are utilising the marks of the Fellowship of Helus we do not believe they are involved, at their height three years ago the entire Fellowship had less than 100 people as members and they lacked even modern luxuries as TV's so the ability to build a network in just three years would not be likely something they would do. There have been a number of arrests involving Borlanders in East Moreland and then various rouge elements in Zimalia we have seen be involved in organ harvesting in the past. We believe this network is utilising many elements of international disorder to build a network to fund larger criminality."

Grace reached the final slide. "We are going to conduct a variety of operations in the Mhorish in the coming days and hope that we can update you in the aftermath. We also would request if anyone does have any information of use they would voulenteer it. My contact details are on the screen and I'll be hanging around for the next hour or so. We'd like to thank you for your time this morning." With that Grace grabbed a coffee and set herself up on a table to one side.

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2021, 12:17:54 AM »
The Illumic Channel might well have been one of the busiest and most secure shipping lanes on Mundus but even that didn't detract from the beauty of the place. The INS Fawn Azurewind was heading back out into the middle of the channel, from there she would turn north and head for home on the return leg of the vessels latest Operation Forager journey. In her quarters aboard ship the Commanding Officer Captain Charity Ashton lay on her bed reading The Lord of the Rings, it was one of her favourites and as the condition of the pages would attest it was a book that had been leafed through many times. She was about to turn yet another well worn page when the intercom came alive with noise.

"Condition yellow, condition yellow." the voice of the officer watching the bridge came over the intercom "Captain to the bridge."

Charity grabbed her uniform jacket and ran out of her quarters up to the bridge pulling the jacket on as she ran, stepping onto the bridge she looked around "Yes Lieutenant?" she asked addressing the officer watching the bridge.
"Unidentified vessel off to starboard." the Lieutenant said
"Contact?" Charity asked getting a pair of binoculars and looking through them to see that there on the water just drifting there was what appeared to be a freighter, no flag, no lights, no sign of a crew.
"None." the Lieutenant said
"So East Moreland, Seaforth, Hassfurt, Heyra and us have naval presence in this area and that thing just happens to be there?" Charity asked rhetorically although she knew how vast in terms of area the Illumic was. "All right have Captain Ford take her troop over there and let's see what there is there."
"Aye Captain." the Lieutenant said

Lass Ford was a Captain in the Achkaerin Special Forces, normally hanging around aboard a naval vessel wasn't their gig but Forager's true objective necessitated a presence for security reasons. Taking a small craft across the six person team boarded the vessel and began to look around sweeping up and down the top deck, still no sign of a crew, Lass nodded and signaled for the team to head below decks the lack of a crew was really worrying and the worry increased with each empty room until they found out why - in the cargo hold, packed like sardines were numerous dead bodies.


Megan Ramsey had been sat quietly at the back of the room as Grace Yacobs had spoken, she wasn't technically assigned to the Achkaerinese embassy she was Princess Euphemia's bodyguard but as the Princess was attached to the Rokkenjiman embassy that put Megan in Northfort and available for briefings such as this. As Grace spoke Megan was browsing through the Justicars encrypted and electronic morning briefing data that included pictures taken the previous night on a vessel found adrift the previous night in the Illumic with dead bodies found in the hold. As she perused the images on the device she was using she stopped at the image of one of the dead girls shoulders it had a mark that exactly matched the one that Yacobs was briefing them on. As the briefing ended Megan very quickly went through the routine of what to do before she walked over to the table where Yacobs had sat down, Megan showed her ID as discreetly as she could, it wasn't that she was trying to hide that she was a badged member of the intelligence community it was more that she wasn't advertising that she was a Justicar there were very few on Mundus who knew who they were - Grace Yacobs was one of that group, though Megan had never met her before. Megan put the device on the table showing the images.

"Taken on a ship found adrift in the Illumic last night." Megan said "Looks like your fellowship of Helus. We're investigating the ship itself trying to find out where it came from."

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Re: The Alba Karinya Human Trafficking Crisis - OPEN
« Reply #14 on: January 05, 2021, 10:32:35 PM »
Grace picked up the device and had a look, the markings certainly did look like those that had been found on similar bodies across the world. "Certainly has the look of what we're dealing with" She made a quick drawing on a napkin of the tattoo how she thought it would look in the flesh rather than on the curve of the back of a neck. "We've seen this a time or two." She allowed Megan to see, "And we don't think is the Fellowship, just someone using their symbolism for some reason." She pulled out her own device. "Could we request that the boat and the bodies either be preserved in place for us to come and pick up or if you've already moved things it could be towed into Illumic Command, I'm sure your crew will know the way. Be a good excuse for a few days of shore leave too perhaps." Grace brought up a map of the location of the base which was not a secret by any stretch of the imagination however it would help them judge the scale of the situation.



Thanks to the work of Claire Maddison the East Moreland National Intelligance Agency had done a good job of piecing together the old membership of the now largely defunct Fellowship of Helus. By following the contacts and connections she'd given them they had 41 members listed and of those 41 members only 37 were still left alive. The NIA had pairs of Red Legionnaires go and check out each and apart from spotting a few who were still clearly religious extremists there was nothing that indicated connections to human trafficking. One such individual got a visit from Sgt.Olly Thomas and Cpl.Tom Saxby, the pair had been sent to check on Stephen Cartwright. Stephen had been in a commune near Portworth and had left the Fellowship in 2018 when it all but collapsed. The pair of Reds spent three days following him around as best they could. For a 40 year old who had spent all his life in the religious group he had not adjusted well to "normal" society. He would wake up at sunrise and work in his small garden until just before lunch time when he would go on his bicycle and visit the Temple of Helus, he would then head off to several other Temples, never the same ones but by about 4pm his day or worship would be done. He would then return to his home and he'd be seen pottering around in his kitchen before at around 6pm heading out to deliver meals he'd cooked to the elderly and the sick. It was pretty clear this guy was no mastermind of an international human trafficking ring. Once the two Red's were happy that the guy wasn't a threat they approached with fake EMTV ID badges on the premise that they were doing research for a story on the Fellowship. Stephen was happy to tell them all about his days with the group and when they asked him whether he could put them in contact with any others in the group he gave them a list of eight names of people he was still in touch with. The duo thanked him for his help and the tea before heading back to Aldcliffe where they sent a copy of the names to the NIA.



It was the job of the young analyst Ed Kingston to check over the names the Red's had acquired. He scanned down the list and seven of them were old ones. He cross referenced them and added a marker that they knew Cartwright and then a totally new name came up and straight away he began to think perhaps he'd need someone more superior. He headed down the corridor to Grace's office but she wasn't back from the office yet and so returning to his computer he opened a new file for the latest name discovered, Rhiannon Nightingale. He searched the nations records and his fears were confirmed, Rhiannon Nightingale, born 2002, reported missing 2009. It was a story lots of Morelanders knew. A then junior politican Grant Nightingale and his wife out shopping with seven year old Rhiannon in the back of the car. As the two adults put their weekly grocery shop into the boot of their car it suddenly took off. When it was found two days later there was no sign of their daughter and never had been since. Yet here she was now springing up on a list of names connected to a religious cult of sorts. He was sure Grace would have something to say.