LanceHawk

Project Phoenix - Part 1

The Syndicate revealed

The Rusty Spear! - Drinks and food Menu

Hi all! Many of you may know me IG as Danny Spears, I just wanted to bring something to the attention of the server and to the community in general. My character has been around the criminal world in a non-violent capacity for a good 4/5 months and have seen a number of server wide wars. I have also been paying close attention to the player reports as of late and wanted to flag something for us to discuss as a community, and that is mainly the toxic nature of the past couple of large scale conflicts. Whilst it is clear that there has always been some level of OOC malice in previous wars, the level of toxicity now; from the azteca/lfm vs Irish and co wars to the now Irish/Rooks and co vs Goblins and co conflict has really made it apparent that something needs to change in the attitude or rules in eclipse. The number of gang related reports, vitrial in the responses to these reports and ig behaviour spilling into ooc attitudes and feelings (ie hatred or malice toward players rather than characters) is hurting the community and it isnt pretty to see or watch unfold. Therefore this post is in the hope we can start an amicable discussion about what changes we can make (whether that be rules or new general standards of rp) to maybe curtail the toxic feeling around wars. My two cents is this; we have a very under-utilised official war declaration which should be implemented more frequently by factions both official and unofficial, whilst I dont like forced rp or forced decisions made on people and gangs, admins and faction staff should be able to step in when a war has escalated to a certain point and bring the faction leaders of the warring gangs together to discuss what terms they would be happy to see a war fought in (victory conditions etc.). The simple fact is this, in my mind it is clear that a lot of the wars in the server do not end unless one side has been wiped out and therefore this creates a situation where gangs will fight forever without end, creating toxic "win at all costs" mentalities etc. There should be a bigger push towards conflicts which end with terms of surrender or peace agreements, rather than a fight until the last. I look forward to your thoughts on the above and would hope that we can have a discussion without accusing one particular party or another! Thanks guys and much love! Danny Spears

This is actually some great commentary and there has definitely been some amazing roleplayers start to step-up with more Immersive RP. The issue really comes down to how we want to see this server moving forward. Do we push ourselves into a "heavier" RP style, where there is more talking and less shooting, where we develop characters and move to "storylines" and "arcs" for our characters and factions, or do we want to be a "clap" server, where we fight for points of control in the city and stick to that. If people have met me IG, then they're probably quite aware that i'm far more invested in heavy RP than light RP, but similarly there is nothing wrong with wanting to stick to the light RP format we're in currently; we just have to realise that the constant escalation of fights, toxic IC name calling and other elements of the server that we all dislike our symptoms of the light RP style. My one suggestion here builds off FreshPrince here. If we have a player report function for rule breaks/bad RP, surely it would be great to include a report system for great RP/shout-outs for people who have stood out among the rest and gone with the RP even if they stand to lose greatly from it. If an admin reviews the "report" and sees that it would fit in the criteria of stand-out RP, then the player could be awarded credits for the shop. This way we not only have a "stick" but also a "carrot" to push people into a better style of RP. Moving away from the "L" and "W" mentality. Cheers guys, Danny Spears

Who is this mysterious, intelligent and fetching man you set this deal up with? He seems like a REALLY big deal Great post! Love the writing

A most unusual business meeting The end of the barrel felt cold against Daniel’s forehead, his knees ached from kneeling on the expensive wooden floor. The three figures in front of him stood tall against the glass window panel, the half built high rise howled and creaked from the swirling winds. The middle of the three figures chuckled and pulled back the hammer on the revolver. He was well dressed, in a finely tailored suit and nicely cobbled oxford shoes, Daniel looked the man up and down for the second time, he hadn’t taken the man in the first time; after all, his eyes were still adjusting to the light after the bag was taken off of his head. This man’s name was Andrei Bogereica, and he was a general within the Romanian air force, an extremely corrupt general, going into business for himself; bringing in shipments of armaments, drugs and laboratory equipment for the last five years under the guise of military equipment for training purposes. Danny had been caught out asking too many questions; a white van, a black bag and a gun to the head. It all happened in an instant. Danny was only just getting his bearings when the man started to speak, a Eastern twang to his perfect English. “Daniel Spears, school boy and lawyer. What business do you have speaking my name?” Daniel replied, his voice respectful and soft. “I’m in the business of making men like you very wealthy.” This time all three men chuckled in unison; the barrel knocked against Daniel’s head. “and how do you intend on doing that? I already have a lawyer.” Again, Daniel replied quickly; he had always relied on his quick wit instead of a quick trigger finger. “I represent a firm providing brokerage services for weapons and drugs, both synthetic and natural. We’ve been buying and converting vast amounts of material from the people you already do business with, but we want to come to the source. We want to buy, and sell directly to you.” Andrei’s face turned serious, his eyes narrowing. “and what do you know about these things? We have done our research on you my friend. Eton and Cambridge, a life of luxury. How could I trust a man that has not lived like we have, that has not fought like we have fought?” A steady silence filled the space, both men locked in each other’s stares. Finally, Daniel spoke. His words were careful, well-constructed; like he has answered this question a thousand times. “Sir, I think you misunderstand my background. Yes, on the surface these schools, this privilege; would provide a view that one was soft, weak; maybe even a liability. However, those that have not been to these schools, have not lived my life; do not understand the struggle of the “bourgeoisie”. Danny paused, chuckling softly at his own derogatory remark. “When you’re in the army, or in the “streets”. You worry about your life and your reputation. That’s it. But when you enter my world, everything matters. Your family, your friends, your staff, everybody. Reputation and respect are the king and queen of my world and every action or inaction you take reflects on everyone around you. We walk with that on our shoulders, and we don’t just destroy ourselves with the wrong decision; we destroy everyone around us. Now I’m here, representing a firm that believes deeply in what they do and believes deeply in each other, and now everything I do; reflects on them. I am born from privilege yes, but I am born of a family that has held respect, loyalty and reputation at the forefront of their name from the time that Henry the eighth disavowed the catholic church. I give you my word, such as my family has given their own.” His words settle on the wind, and then there is silence. For just a minute. Until the gun clicks, the hammer clicks back in place, the general holsters his sidearm. The tension eases. Andrei’s eyes widen and a grin returns to his face. “We’ll be in touch Mr. Spears; don’t worry we know where to find you.” The two men beside him approach; black bag, white van and back to where he was taken. As his eye’s readjust to the light once more, Daniel Spears breathed a sigh of relief. That’s one way to hold a business meeting.

Reserved for updated faction numbers

White Rose Board meeting – 11/01/21. With a sigh, Daniel Spears poured coffee into a large white mug. The converted office space he stood in was only lit by dim white lamps and the opaque light of a whirring projector. He looked to the other members of the meeting, his fellow Director of the Board; Jack Perkins, sat at the other end of the slim long rectangular table, on the sides sat a number of figures; the most important of those were Nick Butler; the Operations Manager, Blagi Stan; a prominent acquisitions Broker and Hans Klein, Head of Contracting. The figures cast shadows against the moonlight pouring in to the high-rise. Another late meeting, always best to converge when others sleep. Danny sat carefully back into the black leather office chair and shuffled some papers about, he then clicked a button on a remote beside him, and the projector changed from a Profit/Loss graph, to a rotating selection of photos, the most prominent of which was Jack; arrested outside of his Lab. “This..” Danny leant forward, motioning his head to the picture behind him. “Is what happens when we get careless, somebody was brought into our ranks and was trusted; this man then sabotaged our laboratory and pinned the explosion on my fellow Director of the Board.” He reclined in his chair, and interlocked his figures. “Luckily, a contact within the Police department was able to alert us before Jack could be found with all of the product and was saved from a lengthy prison sentence, luckier still; the mole responsible for this has been eliminated and now gone from our concern.” Jack nodded to the dark suited man, approving the notion of a problem now met with a vengeful solution. The others shuffled in their seats, a mixture of annoyance and surprise gripped their faces. Blagi pushed his chair forward and spoke; “Danny, it is then fortunate timing for us to report that we have also acquired a large number of apparatus and equipment for the laboratory, whilst it doesn’t bring us back to full operation, Hans has calculated our renewed capacity at around 63%.” “Good news” Danny replied “I have a contact in an organisation close to us, he’s happy to bring us back to full strength for limited cost, after recent negotiation I have also brought in some new materials to help us start production again as soon as possible.” This time Hans spoke “We lost around nine-hundred units of raw material, I have already started a recruitment campaign to bring in new contractors, so we can bring our stockpile back to optimal levels, but this will take some time.” “Understood” Jack finally spoke. “I have re-integrated our lab equipment and we should back to full capacity in a week. However, you need to manage client expectations now, we don’t have the stock we used to and it will take time for us to get back to previous levels.” The thought made Danny grimace, he has struck up relations with a number of organisations across the city, from the mafia, to the local biker gangs, to prominent street gangs – even making contact with one of the oldest organisations in the city. It was going to be a pain to re-negotiate terms with all of them. A stillness settled on the room, finally breaking the silence; Danny spoke “Good news and bad news then at the top of this meeting.” A couple of half-chuckles punctured the quiet ambience of the whirring projector fan. “On to other business, Blagi talk to me about this recruitment drive – Who have we got on board recently? Who’s been making a good accounting of themselves?” Blagi stood up and walked slowly to the front of the room, the projector clicked again and the board meeting continued.

RESERVED FOR WHO IS DANNY SPEARS

TO: TASK-FORCE MEMBERS - OPERATION GARDENER CC: D.S.A.I.C KIERA O'CHARTHY FROM: S.A.I.C MATTHEW RODDNEY TITLE: CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVATE -FIB SENIOR AGENT CLEARANCE REQUIRED Dear all, Welcome to Operation Gardener, I would first congratulate you on your exemplary record and service in the FIB, upon special recommendation from your Agents in Charge, you have been accepted into the task-force leading Operation Gardener. You will find below all current information on our target for this operation: The White Rose Brokerage. This has been passed on from the Los Santos PD Gang unit at request from the Police Commissioner. The FIB and LSPD have noted a 135% increase in drug traffic in and around the Los Santos city district, unfortunately there have been very few leads in the recent uptick of shipments, we have also have intel from a number of C.Is that at least a handful of large shipments of firearms have been transferred to a number of unknown sources via one party. Which brings us on to our best lead – The White Rose Brokerage. What limited intelligence we have has been corroborated by FIB drone data and ground level informants from outside of the organisation but indicators point to a new, more sophisticated entity establishing itself in Los Santos. Initial information would suggest that Daniel Spears (Aliases: Danny, Posh-boy, Dealer) and Jack Perkins (Aliases: Cook, the Accountant, Gnome) head up a tight knit business operation, transacting in copious amounts of hard narcotics and weaponry. It is worth noting that their M.O is not one of violence and they regularly stick to the shadows, passing themselves off as legal fishing, mining and oil rig contractors – but this façade has been crafted over a number of months and reports suggest the organisation is vast, corrupt and dangerous. The only hard evidence provided has been circumstantial at best, long distance photography, drone data and now deceased informants have only provided us with half a picture but never the less I have provided the same below. This first entry is shot from long range photography, looking down on to the pier. You will see Daniel Spears interacting with an unknown IC1 male (Reports suggest this male is a member in one of the local mafias operating in the city), our long-range communication sensors picked up some muffled speech (Please see exhibit 1A and 1B below) however it is clear that a permanent deal was discussed, you will also see the fruits of this deal in exhibit 2A below). Exhibit 1A - Photo taken from long distance - Meeting 37 - Friday 9.51 PM) Exhibit 1B - Transcript of conversation between Daniel Spears and unknown IC1 male – D.S: "Good to see you again mate, so your boss has given the go ahead on our deal?" Unknown suspect: "Correct, We have the go ahead; fiv"- (transmission unclear). D.S: "Brilliant, I’ll bring your first package later to"- (transmission unclear). Unknown suspect: " ..And on our other business?" D.S: "The (transmission unclear) Is ready to go, six for three hundred; just tell me when the funds are released." Unknown Suspect: "Sounds good my friend, don’t keep us waiting." D.S: " I never do." (Conversation ended – 9.51 PM – Los Santos Pier) Exhibit 2B - Photo taken from long distance - Meeting 38 (Exchange) - Saturday 11.05 PM We have also been provided evidence of gun trafficking , from a second contact - This has been linked with one of the motorcycle gangs in the city and any interaction for intelligence reports should be handled with care, as they are known for their violence and unease around outsiders. You will see exhibit 3A below– this image was provided from a C.I, whom we have since lost contact with and presume dead. (3A – Second half of a shipment of an undisclosed number of firearms. (Provided by deceased CI)) As you can no doubt tell, these men do not come out of the shadows often, are smart, deadly, quick and are not pushed lightly. There is as of yet no information pertaining to traditional gang activity and this investigation may take many months to provide fruitful evidence. Please be ready in Function Room 6A1 for your formal briefing and collection of dockets. I look forward to working with all of you. Regards, Special Agent in Charge Matthew Roddney

RESERVED FOR AN INTRODUCTION TO "THE COOK"