Unfortunately, we didn't have all of the original players, but we did have Sabine's player, Gunther's player, myself (who played Alana), and a new player who took over for Bloody Dimitry. Sir Mordred and Shadow were still with the group in-game, but they were NPCs.
As much as I wanted to play Night Witches or a Fallout-themed Apocalypse World game, I was more excited to finish the Fate story. I mean, it was time for the actual heist! Plus, I didn't want to see all that planning go to waste.
If you're just tuning in, click here for Part I (includes premise and cast).
The Gurlitt Heist
Part II
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| Source: http://tinyurl.com/pevhgvg; Credit: Cheryl Carlin Image used without permission. |
The Heist
It was Friday, the 12th, middle of the day. Sabine pulled the delivery van into the parking lot of the Justizpalast, and no one seemed to suspect anything.
Alana and Bloody Dimitry wore police uniforms to disguise themselves and entered the building with the fake paperwork that Shadow drew up for them.
Inside, they saw a horde of officers and mug shots of wanted criminals plastered over the wall. Dimitry's indistinguishable face was among them.
Alana tried to rip it off without anyone noticing. Fortunately, the officers got a call for an assault in progress and left the building. Even though Dimitry was an obvious suspect, they didn't stare at him long enough to piece two and two together. Even if they had, clearly there was someone else assaulting police officers all around Munich.
Outside, Sabine noticed a man across the street. He was casing the building but wasn't being very subtle about. She pulled out her phone to, "check her email," and took a photo of him. She went over to the gate guard and offered him a cigarette while telling him that a sketchy man had been surveilling the building for the past twenty minutes. The officer thanked her, and Sabine walked back to the van.
Inside, on the third floor, Alana met the same officer who Sir Mordred spoke to during their reconnaissance visit. She handed him the paperwork, and he began to check it but then stopped.
"It seems there's a problem," he said, "Someone must have been playing a practical joke on you."
Alana felt uneasy but kept her cool and asked what the problem was. The police officer read the name of the recipient on the paper which featured a horrible obscenity. Shadow's compulsive anarchism had gone too far, and Alana was seething, ready to kill him.
"There must be some mistake," she said and then faked a laugh, "Oh, they got me good! Clearly, one of the officers is just getting back at me. Look, can we just collect the crate we're here to pick up? We have orders, and this is time sensitive." Alana managed to talk her way out of it in her accented German, and the officer buzzed her and Dimitry in.
"Remind me to kill Shadow when we get back," Alana whispered.
Inside the evidence room, a man wearing civilian clothes sat at the desk. He was looking through a magnifying glass and staring intently at a painting by Max Ernst. His name tag read, Herr Dr. Professor Leprick of the University of Munich. Earnst was one of Alana's favorite artists, and she couldn't resist chatting the professor up about the piece.
Meanwhile, Dimitry was getting increasingly nervous. He wanted to get on with the job and poked Alana. She waved him over to a crate but was so distracted with the conversation that she accidentally pointed to the wrong one. It was one of the original crates the artwork was stored in, not the one she consolidated everything into.
At this point in our game, Gunther's player arrived, so we brought him into the scene.
Gunther, who was in the van the whole time, grew restless and wanted to go inside. Sabine didn't think that was a good idea and tried to stop him, but he ended up convincing her otherwise. Gunther talked his way up to the third floor somehow and happily greeted Alana and Dimitry once he found them. Alana was shocked.
Dimitry noticed Nazi symbolism on the crate he was examining and the labels, "SS," and "Property of Ahnenerbe." Gunther noticed it as well and was pleasantly surprised. He began exclaiming how thrilling it was to find such a rare find and wanted to examine the crate himself.
Alana finally realized what time it was and knew they needed to get on with the job. She grabbed the container she marked and placed it on a dolly.
We've Got Trouble
As she started wheeling the dolly out, Alana noticed a masked man with an automatic rifle in the hallway. She quickly elbowed Dimitry to warn him, while the masked man knocked out the guard stationed outside of the room. He stepped inside, raised his rifle, and told everyone to get down on the ground in horrible German with a thick, American accent.
Dimitry punched the guy in the face and broke his jaw. Alana snagged a small portrait off the ground, as she wheeled the dolly into the hallway as fast as possible. She never left any art behind if she could help. Gunther tackled the man to the ground and knocked him out. He then noticed the man had a bag with C4 explosives, all written in English.
Fleeing the Terrorists
Many more masked men were coming up the stairs and yelling in horrible German with distinct, American accents. Alana pushed the dolly so that it rolled downward, and Dimitry shoved the men out of the way to make room. Gunther drew his gun and shot the sprinklers to set them off.
Alana continued rolling the dolly down, gaining distance between her and the terrorists who were chasing them. The terrorists were advancing, but several police officers came through, and Dimitry called them up the stairs to help stop the men.
With the terrorists distracted, Alana, Dimitry, and Gunther were able to get outside and load the crate into the van. Sabine, who saw smoke bombs go off and heard gunshots, already had the vehicle running and high tailed it out of there after everyone got in.
Looking back in her rear view mirror, she noticed a van following them. The man who she saw surveilling the building earlier was behind the wheel. Sabine stepped on it and made a series of sharp turns to lose him.
The Drop Off
The team dropped the forgeries off at the evidence warehouse without a problem and went on to their other, temporary warehouse to switch vehicles and load up the real artwork.
Alana and Sabine thoroughly cleaned all the noticeable evidence, and Dimitry suggested throwing a last minute rave to help mask any remaining evidence. Gunther made a quick call to one of his contacts and managed to organize a rave for that same night.
Before they left, Alana opened the violin case (one of the suspicious works that they stole) and took a quick peak at its contents. She saw an ordinary violin made out of a strange material and a bow made out of some sort of dark wood. She also noticed sheet music but didn't have enough time to take a thorough look.
En Route to Stockholm
The plan was to drive all the way to make the delivery. The team would spend a night in Denmark before heading to Sweden.
Fortunately, Gunther had a wealthy contact in Copenhagen named Alexander Barren Zeeland who had a palatial estate for the entire team to stay in. He even had extra dinner reservations at the Noma since his guests didn't show up, and the team celebrated their victorious heist in the world's best restaurant.
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| Source: http://tinyurl.com/p9ztteq. Images used without permission. |
Once they returned to the palatial estate, Gunther examined the violin, bow, and sheet music with greater detail. Alana noticed identifying marks on the violin that read, "E. Zann." The sheet music was labeled #23 and #27 with a modernist composition that made no sense.
Gunther felt compelled to tune the violin and play it. As he did, it emitted a horrible, shrieking sound, and every electrical device inside the estate suddenly turned on.
A news report on the TV showed the Justizpalast on fire with half of the building missing. At least two were reported dead as a result of the terrorist attack, and the masked men were shown as prime suspects.
Gunther continued to play nonstop, obsessed with reproducing hi-fi sounds like an audiophile. Sabine became paranoid and thought they were all being watched. Alana ended up worse than everyone after nearly being blinded by the lights when they turned on. She saw globs forming in the sky, through the roof, and witnessed frightening, dark forms in the corners of her eyes. The hallucinations grew worse, and she ran around in circles, freaking out that they were being followed. Dimitry was unaffected; he just couldn't stand the awful noise, so he snatched the violin away from Gunther, and most of the strangeness subsided.
An Abandoned Amusement Park
Sabine drove the team to Stockholm, and they had a free night before their delivery date to recuperate and scope out the Gröna Lund.
Alana still felt lingering effects of the hallucinations/paranoia but took the lead in investigating the amusement park. She found out it had been shut down for at least a year. A few security guards still lingered there for some reason, but Alana avoided them and found a perfect place to sneak a car in.
Through his contacts, Gunther found out that the Gröna Lund was bought out a few years ago.
Sabine planned various escape routes by driving around and prepared a car in the spot Alana found for their getaway, once they delivered the artwork, in case there was trouble.
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| Source: http://tinyurl.com/prlzmne; Credit: Daniel Scholten. Image used without permission. |
Rendezvous With Monsieur Blanc
The next day, the team ventured to the abandoned, amusement park together and met up with Monsieur Blanc who was waiting for them.
As he led them into the House of Mirrors, he asked what happened at the Justizpalast, and they answered him honestly, describing all the details.
The Delivery
Inside the House of Mirrors, Monsieur Blanc led the team to a strange room with a banquet table, a stove, and a propane tank (similar to a Hibachi grill). A morbidly obese man in his seventies, wearing a gray suit, sat at the table, eating, while a pretty woman with long sleeves stood and prepared his food.
The obese man spoke to Sabine and asks for the details of the heist, but she refused. It was safer for both parties to leave the details out of it. He was disappointed with the lack of subtly, referring to the terrorist attack, but Sabine said it was actually better for them - less heat and all that. She asked to see the money, and the man waved a hand for Blanc to fetch it.
Gunther didn't recognize the obese man. He had a slight American accent but spoke perfect, fluid German.
Blanc returned with a briefcase of money, and Sabine took it all out and dropped it into a duffel bag that she brought. She then handed over the crate.
The obese man glanced at the artwork and looked satisfied. He opened the violin case, checked its contents, and looked even more pleased. He drew the violin, licked its strings, and continued eating from his plate. By that point, everyone noticed he wasn't actually eating food but chewing on tiny pieces of cooked, Degas canvas plucked with toothpicks. As they gave each other horrified looks, he calmly drew his watch and said that the police would be there in roughly forty-four seconds.
Still somewhat hallucinating, Alana saw eldritch forms rise from the man and nearly had a heart attack after seeing him devour a cut-up Degas. Her rage overtook her fear, and she slapped him across the face. The man smiled, nodded politely, and slowly got up to leave after bidding everyone adieu.
A mirror door opened up, revealing a man with a machine gun. Fate was on Alana's side, for she vanished from sight using the mirrors and hid herself well. Gunther ran and managed to escape in time. Dimitry nearly stumbled but escaped as well. Sabine grabbed the duffel bag and followed suit.
While officers and federal agents stormed the House of Mirrors, Alana masterfully led her team outside in a covert fashion. They got into their vehicle with plenty of time to spare, and Sabine quietly drove off to safety.
No one ever really knew what that strange violin was made out of or why the morbidly obese man wanted such a damned thing, but they didn't care. The job was done, everyone was alive, no one got caught, and they were paid in full. The 20,000,000 € was split six-way, and everyone got their cut before going their separate ways.
Monsieur Blanc was right after all; this truly was their greatest heist.
Epilogue
Sabine filled out an official report on the morbidly obese man and handed it to her superiors after returning to her office at the precinct. It turned out she was an undercover cop the entire time.
Dimitry used his share of the money to open up a strip club.
Alana spent several months vacationing with Gunther and selling one of her Picassos to him. After a while, she grew bored and began planning another heist to steal some art from his collection.
Shadow probably used his cut to update his equipment and/or create even more chaos in the world as usual.
No one knows what happened to Sir Mordred except that he was even wealthier than before. Truth be told, it probably wasn't the last time they would see him.
Why, he could be in the process of contacting them again right now.
Fin
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