An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

[Mark Rand]

In movies, television, and some action fiction, we have intelligence agents acting as cat burglars. Some are actual agents while others are real cat burglars recruted by the agencies.

 

There are, of course, good and bad points to each. A trained agent posing as a cat burglar would have gone through a security check before being hired and trained, but could easily be found out by either an enemy agency, the press, or a witchhunting congressman. A real cat burglar, forced to work for an agency, could be easily disavowed, but may be more of a security risk and may also be found out by the press or a witchhunt.

 

A female black-bag expert for the CIA now, because of a witchhunt that, fortunately, revealed her code name, works for Homeland Security and is assigned to the heroes as a liaison. Who would be better, the agency-trained expert or a real cat burglar?

[Vanguard00]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

A female black-bag expert for the CIA now' date=' because of a witchhunt that, fortunately, revealed her code name, works for Homeland Security and is assigned to the heroes as a liaison. Who would be better, the agency-trained expert or a real cat burglar?[/quote']

Depends on the nature of her (your) planned relationship with the PCs. Is she going to an actual departmental liaison, making sure the PCs and Homeland Security work well together? Or is she the sort of liaison who provides more hands-on support and is going to be a plot device? Your answer should stem on exactly what role you want her to fill.

 

As a side note, a disavowed former criminal would likely be left to their own devices and not 'taken care of' by the agency. That's the whole point for having someone with whom you can claim "plausible deniability". If she's an actual agent of Homeland Security then it's more likely that they'll try and find her an out-of-the-way position; she, in turn, may view her 'liaise' with the PCs as a way to get back in the game.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

Depends on the nature of her (your) planned relationship with the PCs. Is she going to an actual departmental liaison, making sure the PCs and Homeland Security work well together? Or is she the sort of liaison who provides more hands-on support and is going to be a plot device? Your answer should stem on exactly what role you want her to fill.

 

As a side note, a disavowed former criminal would likely be left to their own devices and not 'taken care of' by the agency. That's the whole point for having someone with whom you can claim "plausible deniability". If she's an actual agent of Homeland Security then it's more likely that they'll try and find her an out-of-the-way position; she, in turn, may view her 'liaise' with the PCs as a way to get back in the game.

Our light-fingered lady is known by a number of names. One is Shadow Dancer, the CIA code-name that was leaked to the press and Congress by a disgruntled ex-CIA official. The second is le Chat Noir, French for The Black Cat, the name police files have on her. The third is her legal name, which her official CIA and Homeland Security paperwork is under. Nothing in them lists her as either Shadow Dancer, or le Chat Noir. The Cia made sure of that before she transferred to Homeland Security.

 

Either way, she's not the government's official liaison to the superhero team. She's just an assistant that the heroes are told is an expert at black-bag jobs.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

A quick follow up to my previous post. The official liaison is a middle-aged male bureaucrat employed by whatever agency sanctions the team. Our light-fingered lady is, officially, his assistant, and she's a good enough actress to make people think she is.

 

Of course, within the team's base, be it Avengers Mansion or the Batcave, her true skills come to light. She often backs up the team's technical manager, who is also a ninja, and, in public, usually wears a disguise.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

Let us assume, for the moment, that our light-fingered lady is a real cat burglar. She's, at least, a second-generation cat burglar who was trained by her parents, both master cat burglars. Her mother taught her the arts of disguise and seduction. Her father taught her how to be stealthy and streetwise. Both taught her how to climb, pick locks, defeat alarms and other needed skills.

 

After five years of committing burglaries on her own, as le Chat Noir, a French female burglar, she'd built up a reputation as one of the best in the business. Needing her services, the CIA baited a trap and caught her. She was then given an offer, work for us or go to jail. She joined the CIA. They created the identity of Elizabeth Grey for her and, after putting her through their training program, gave her the code-name Shadow Dancer.

 

After three years, a Congressional witchhunt, led by a senator who was in the pocket of an intelligence agency that she'd caused problems for, uncovered the fact that Elizabeth "Shadow Dancer" Grey had, on occasion, committed burglaries for the CIA.

 

Having planned for this eventually, and knowing her real identity, her bosses arranged for her transfer to DOSPA, or whatever agency sanctions superheroes in your campaign, under her real name, Christine Hunter.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

I think, after much consideration, I'll use the "agent trained by the CIA as a cat burglar" version.

She later transferred to Homeland Security, which, after 9/11, became the agency, in the Marvel universe, that sanctions superheroes.

 

She's one of two agents assigned to the PC team, the Mid-Atlantic Avengers. Her partner, a middle-aged African-American gentleman, is a former Justice Department lawyer and knowledgable bureaucrat. He gets them the information they need from the federal government. She sometimes goes out on missions. When she does, she works with Black Scorpion, a kunoichi and Avengers reservist, who, in her civilian identy, is Keiko Nishigawa, the team's technical manager.

 

(A/N: There will be a Black Scorpion thread coming soon. I can't tell you much, but I will let you know that the Scorpionmobile is a Lamborghini Murcielago.)

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

It would be interesting, although probably not relevant to this campaign, if agency bruglars who were antsy for a challenge did the occasional side job. She might, for example, steal from a crime lord that the agency has been ordered not to touch for politicial reasons. This could lead to a lot of problems for everyone.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

To me, the idea of the agency's "black-bag operations" specialist being a real cat burglar is still possible.

 

In movies and on television, there are three versions. Any of which is usable.

First, the burglar is on parole to the agency.

 

Second, the burglar is arrested by the police, but the agency makes the burglar this offer, "Either work for us for x number of years, or go to jail."

 

Third, the agency sets a trap and catches the burglar. The above offer is extended in this case, too.

[CompanymanToo]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

Some real world input:

 

Throughout the US government (including both the FBI and CIA) there are teams of employees trained in "black bag jobs" also known as a “surreptitious entry.†The gov’t uses these specially trained professionals to place surveillance devices and check for evidence/intelligence without the target knowing it took place. The advantage of using trained employees verses criminals (reformed or forced) is loyalty. These employees will inevitably be exposed to very sensitive information, devices, and techniques.

 

If criminals are used at all it is simply to train the loyal employee. However, even this is rarely necessary since there is very little the technical experts associates with government or defense contractors can’t figure out in regard to getting past a security device, lock, or safe.

 

It’s important to note the FBI must receive a sealed search warrant to enter the premises if they ever hope to use anything of the evidence in court. To do otherwise would be breaking the law (they really don’t like doing that). The intelligence community does not have to worry about the admissibility of what they find but they do have to worry about intelligence oversight (managers get fired over stiff like that).

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

Some real world input:

 

Throughout the US government (including both the FBI and CIA) there are teams of employees trained in "black bag jobs" also known as a “surreptitious entry.†The gov’t uses these specially trained professionals to place surveillance devices and check for evidence/intelligence without the target knowing it took place. The advantage of using trained employees verses criminals (reformed or forced) is loyalty. These employees will inevitably be exposed to very sensitive information, devices, and techniques.

 

If criminals are used at all it is simply to train the loyal employee. However, even this is rarely necessary since there is very little the technical experts associates with government or defense contractors can’t figure out in regard to getting past a security device, lock, or safe.

 

It’s important to note the FBI must receive a sealed search warrant to enter the premises if they ever hope to use anything of the evidence in court. To do otherwise would be breaking the law (they really don’t like doing that). The intelligence community does not have to worry about the admissibility of what they find but they do have to worry about intelligence oversight (managers get fired over stiff like that).

True, which is why I said in movies and on television. I'll probably be using a highly-trained agent loyal to the agency, but I wanted to get an idea of what my learned associates thought.

[Vanguard00]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

To me, the idea of the agency's "black-bag operations" specialist being a real cat burglar is still possible.

In movies and on television, there are three versions. Any of which is usable.

First, the burglar is on parole to the agency.

Second, the burglar is arrested by the police, but the agency makes the burglar this offer, "Either work for us for x number of years, or go to jail."

Third, the agency sets a trap and catches the burglar. The above offer is extended in this case, too.

I'd use some sort of incentive/leverage to get the agency's point across.

 

"Well, we've got you. We can put you away for a long long time. Or you can come work for us. You'll be monitored day and night, and if you slip up or go freelance in any way the full power of the federal government will be brought to bear to track you down and convict you of every crime we can think of, and probably a few we can't. Until then, though, and assuming you show us that you can work with our organization, you will enjoy a temporary amnesty and be able to live a relatively normal life."

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

I'd use some sort of incentive/leverage to get the agency's point across.

 

"Well, we've got you. We can put you away for a long long time. Or you can come work for us. You'll be monitored day and night, and if you slip up or go freelance in any way the full power of the federal government will be brought to bear to track you down and convict you of every crime we can think of, and probably a few we can't. Until then, though, and assuming you show us that you can work with our organization, you will enjoy a temporary amnesty and be able to live a relatively normal life."

Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the choice Catherine Avery "Cat" Pascal mentioned that she was given in one episode of Acapulco H.E.A.T. "If you agree to work for us, the charges against you will be frozen. If you're still with us after one year, they'll be dropped." Of course, it was the Consortium, a group of nine nations, that recruted her in England. The CIA would probably require her to stay with them for at least four years and threaten to send her to the federal penitentiary at Levonworth, Kansas, on charges of treason and murder, if she ever slipped up or go freelance. Of course, they'd monitor her, too, and might require her to provide her own equipment.

[Vanguard00]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

Actually' date=' I was thinking more along the lines of the choice Catherine Avery "Cat" Pascal mentioned that she was given in one episode of [i']Acapulco H.E.A.T.[/i] "If you agree to work for us, the charges against you will be frozen. If you're still with us after one year, they'll be dropped." Of course, it was the Consortium, a group of nine nations, that recruted her in England. The CIA would probably require her to stay with them for at least four years and threaten to send her to the federal penitentiary at Levonworth, Kansas, on charges of treason and murder, if she ever slipped up or go freelance. Of course, they'd monitor her, too, and might require her to provide her own equipment.

That's not bad, either. You could even say she'd been caught in a sting operation; the CIA set up her last crime in order to be able to charge her with treason, terrorism, etc. Something 'big', and they have all the proof they need to send her away for a long long time. She works for them, the evidence stays hidden. She chooses to go her own way, the evidence comes to light and she joins the '10 Most Wanted'.

 

Of course, they should sweeten the pot, too, by making her position very appealing. As long as she does nothing incriminating on her own, they'll do everything they can to make her life enjoyable; nice penthouse, generous monthly stipdend, latest in hi-tech equipment, etc. She gets the thrill, they get the benefits. And if she steals $4 million in gold and gems from the head of a South American drug cartel in the fulfillment of her mission, who are they to say boo about it?

 

It's got a lot of potential no matter which way you go.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

Good idea.

 

I assume she has a live-in maid. Of course, since the CIA provides the penthouse, the maid is probably an agent herself and acts as her contact with the CIA.

 

Assuming she was caught in 2000, she'd be free of her contract in 2004, and be free to either resign then, stay with the agency, or transfer to another agency. She might even have an employment file with the CIA, which would make her transfer to the agency that sanctions the superheroes easier. Said agency may have even requested her.

 

Our light-fingered lady could be either a second-generation or a third-generation cat burglar. Her parents, and possibly, grand parents, taught her their trade.

 

One thing her father taught her to do was work masked. She has taken his advice to heart and always wears a black ski mask with a black cloth balaclava, that reveals only her eyes, under it. Between them are a thin pair of goggles that let her see the infrared beams used in some weapon sights and security systems. The goggles also protect her night vision.

 

Her mother pointed out that while a male cat burglar can't get away with wearing gloves in public, a female cat burglar can. All she has to do is choose the proper pair for what she's wearing. Due to years of training, she can do things gloves that most women can't.

 

(A/N: During the first season of Counterstrike, Nikki, a second-generation cat burglar wore gloves unless the disguise she was using wouldn't permit it.)

[Gadodel]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

Who would be better' date=' the agency-trained expert or a real cat burglar?[/quote']

The agency trained expert.

 

The CIA (and others) try to hire folks that have a fundamental understanding of criminal activity, undercover operations and unorthodox warfare. Former police officers, military intelligence and folks who've gone through SF training have an excellent foundation of skills in which to build upon. In addition, their record of discretion, secrecy and talent has already been established to an extent. The CIA has about 9,000 folks in their 'force' and they all come from different walks of life...they in turn can train others. However, there are those that are recruited most, as I have described above.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

The agency trained expert.

 

The CIA (and others) try to hire folks that have a fundamental understanding of criminal activity, undercover operations and unorthodox warfare. Former police officers, military intelligence and folks who've gone through SF training have an excellent foundation of skills in which to build upon. In addition, their record of discretion, secrecy and talent has already been established to an extent. The CIA has about 9,000 folks in their 'force' and they all come from different walks of life...they in turn can train others. However, there are those that are recruited most, as I have described above.

I know. We can do it this way, too. I just thought it would be cool for to be a real cat burglar forced to serve her government because that's the way they do it in fiction.

[Mark Rand]

Re: An Intelligence Agency Cat Burglar

 

I just edited my posts to this thread to put a space between the paragraphs and fix a spelling error.

 

I'm working on an Avengers campaign in a variant Marvel Universe. The Acapulco H.E.A.T. character Catherine Avery "Cat" Pascal (Marie Claire "Cat" Pascal in the two-part pilot episode Checkmate,) I think would work as a cat burglar forced to work for the CIA or go to jail.

 

While on a mission for them, she tangles with a mad scientist who injects her with a feline DNA retroviris, turning her into Catwoman. After this, her STR is 18, her DEX is 30, and her SPD is 4.

 

She has night vision and perfect balance. Her acrobatics, breakfall, and stealth are all at 18- (or better). Additionally, her black leather gloves have retractable claws (1D6 HKA), she loves meat, fish, and poultry, and, sometimes, makes feline noises.

 

In this case, she would be either an agency liaison, or an Avengers reservist who does an occasional favor for her old agency.