Zachary Plotter - Live and Live Again

The Client

It was the fate of Plotter and Keep to be faced with their most ambitious task yet only a few months later. They had been approached the week after the Fott incident by a cockney man. He decided to remain anonymous, so the three men met up in an old pub.

Zachary had been informed of exactly where to meet his new client. He lead Richard inside the building, and they were instantly greeted with fresh tobacco smoke and highly suggestive music filled with ear-piercing metal guitar solos. As they waved away the smoke, they looked around to see a run down and filthy pub. Almost every surface, whether it be a table, chair, the bar or the mantle piece over the fire place, was coated in some description of grime, or was stained by drops of beers running down a glass and creating a circle on the bottom. The customers were all drunk men who all looked like they'd been beaten up recently. Some had torn clothes, while others had teeth missing or large scars running down their faces. Alcohol, tobacco, and every other drug flooded the pub with their contrasting smells.

Their client had instructed them to join him at the third seat from the badged window. If he was referring to a window boarded by large woven badges representing space missions or infamous wars, then Zachary counted the seats along it.  Each was taken up by a drunk chatting away to his mates, except for the third one, upon which sat an expectant man. He was not as fat as everyone else, however he could still fit in to the crowd. Zachary noticed he was watching him, and they exchanged a look that asked for the other's identity and gave away theirs too.

"Please, take a seat Plotter." the man invited. Zachary and Richard sat down, always cautious with a new client at first, "Can I get you a drink?"
"No thank you, I'd rather remain sober when meeting new people and discussing new plans" Richard declined. Zachary however accepted and when his drink arrived, the man introduced himself.
"My name is Jason Classic," he began, "and I have a job for you two that will change your lives. It will turn you into the greatest thugs of all time. If you pull it off, there won't be a single thing more worse that you can do afterwards!" Zachary and Richard were intrigued.
"Please continue..." said Richard.
"I want you to kill Havro Insub and bring about the end of ABEL."

Zachary and Richard looked at Jason as if he was insane. Havro Insub was the President of ABEL, the largest bank in the world. Their headquarters were based in Tokyo, and every country was reliant on ABEL in some way or another. Nine of every ten people used to bank for personal use, as well as entire governments keeping their money safe in their hands. No other banks could come close to competing with ABEL, because, they were so rich that they owned an entire country, and the entire maze of vaults themselves were all hidden inside. No one knew which country, but rumour had it that it was located somewhere in South America. Consequently, Havro Insub was the most powerful man in the world. His security cost thousands, but this was nothing to him. He travelled in luxury where ever he went in his armoured limousine. The car would always be surrounded by a tank and armed guards coated in bullet-proof clothing. At least three bodyguards followed him absolutely everywhere, even when Insub was asleep. For maximum security, he would change his schedule at extremely short notice, and meetings with more than five members were to be carried out on a military video-calling service.

 "You want us to destroy ABEL?" Zachary reiterated, thinking already that he may have been assigned his first impossible job. Richard on the other hand was starting to toy with ideas and strategies.
"I do indeed gentlemen. I believe that you are the best men for the job." Jason replied, confident in his outrageous proposal.
"I'm afraid what you're asking us to do is completely impossible. With one or one hundred men, that is simply beyond anyone's capabilities." Zachary spoke, however, he was interrupted by his colleague with a more accepting response.
"I actually have a couple of possible plans. I think we should do some more research before we decline the offer."
"No!" Zachary slammed his fists on the table.
"Come on Zachary," Jason tried to bargain, "Killing Insub and messing up ABEL will leave the world in ruins. You can live with the satisfaction of bringing the world to a halt."
"But then where we would we be?" Zachary angrily said, trying to talk sense into Jason, "We'd all be in absolute poverty. There'd be nothing, nothing at all. While I enjoy pulling off big heists, I refuse to make an act so consequential that it will put an end to my hobby and income."
"Fine then. What if you just killed Havro? There's always someone ready to take his place, but managing to murder a man of that power is surely a stunt of it's own?" Jason seemed determined to get Plotter to make a kill. Zachary and Richard both thought deeply before coming to a decision. Their decision was of the affirmative. They looked at each other, and then turned to Classic. 

A deal was set to commit the assassination within the year. Keep was to do the research, investigating every detail of their target's activity, while Classic was expected to pay the pair £12 million split as well as covering the cost of any equipment or eventuality that exceeded the budget. It was an expensive job and quite possibly the most dangerous too.