...It's Who You Know



...It's Who You Know is the sixth contract for the Russian Mafia and the third for them during the second act of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.

Overview
The contract involves acquiring the location of the Queen of Diamonds from a journalist, then locating and verifying the Queen, with the bonus condition of killing the journalist after receiving the information on the Queen.

Objectives
BONUS: Kill the "journalist" after he ceases to be "useful" (After meeting the journalist)
 * 1) Make contact with the journalist
 * 2) Locate the Queen of Diamonds
 * 3) Verify the Queen of Diamonds

Supplies & Support Given

 * None

The Contract
Once the contract begins, hop into a vehicle and head towards the journalist's location, which is along the road between North Pyongyang and Pyongyang Airport. As you approach the area you'll find the journalist filming a large skirmish between Chinese and NK forces. Make sure the journalist isn't killed in the crossfire and pick him up, and be quick as NK reinforcements will start to arrive shortly. Once you begin travelling with the journalist, he will start marking points on your radar, simply follow them. eventually you will arrive at the hospital in Downtown Pyongyang. As you appraoch the hospital there will be numerous NK vehicles and soldiers, as well as civilian vehicles all blocking the road. The Queen will appear, quickly hop into a Sungri Scout, and drive away over the bridge. As you drive closer the hospital will blow up and begin collapsing, and the journalist will exit your vehicle to catch it on camera. This is your best chance to kill him, and there are multiple ways. If you don't want to incur faction loss or monetary punishments, before the hospital demolishes quickly drive towards the closest pillar near the entrance of the hospital. The journalist will automatically get out and start filming. When the entrance collapses it will destroy the vehicles underneath and the resulting explosion should kill the journalist without any repercussions. Alternatively, if you have a helicopter, you can pilot the journalist to the hospital. Before it blows up, land on the roof, the journalist will get out once it starts collapsing, and the fall should kill him. Another method involves fighting with the nearby NK forces, and hoping he gets caught in the crossfire. Once he is dealt with, drive past the hospital to where the Queen has escaped, near the river. As you drive down the bridge there will be multiple NK forces covering the Queen's escape. Many of these are undercover KPA soldiers who wear civilian clothing, are usually heavily armed with SMGs, Light MGs and RPGs, and have higher health than regular KPA soldiers. The small hill leading to the Queen is filled with many undercover KPA soldiers and MG nests, one of which is usually manned by the Queen. At the bottom of the hill is docked boat, which will continuously spawn NK soldiers, so make sure to sink it with either a C4 charge or an airstrike, just make sure not to kill the Queen. Once all of his defenses have been taken care of, subdue the Queen and verify him.

The value of the contract is the value of the face card; therefore the contract is worth $175,000 if the Queen is captured or $87,500 is the Queen is killed and verified. The value of the bonus condition is an additional $50,000. Completing this contract will make the TOW Technical and GSRN Truck (only if the bonus was completed) available for purchase from the Merchant of Menace.

Introductory Email Message
Sender: Fiona Taylor

Subject: Contract: '...It's Who You Know'

''Sergei's found a journalist who claims to have information about Colonel Jong Seomun, the Queen of Diamonds. I'm not sure how Sergei "persuaded" the press to help us out, but if the intel is good, I won't ask.''

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Contract Terms & Conditions

1. Make contact with the journalist 2. Locate the Queen of Diamonds 3. Verify the Queen of Diamonds

Bounty value: $175,000 alive/$87,500 dead

Bonus Email Message
Sender: Fiona Taylor

Subject: (Bonus) Cleaning up the bread crumb trail

''I wouldn't read this aloud, but Sergei wants that journalist dead as soon as his usefulness is at an end. Turns out he's not even a journalist at all. They suspect he's a spy working for another faction in the area.

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Contract Terms & Conditions

BONUS: Kill the "journalist" after he ceases to be "useful"

Bonus value: $50,000

Bonus Completion Message
Sender: Sergei Voronov

Subject: RE: (Bonus) Cleaning up the bread crumb trail

Your helping ensure the disappearance of our little 'friend' is greatly appreciated and will be fully compensated upon contract completion.

Transcript
The player enters the HQ


 * Sergei: There's this reporter. Says he knows things. Things about my operation. He keeps telling me he knows where the Queen of Diamonds is. He'll tell me if I give him an exclusive. Hey, what do I care about these Queens and Kings, eh? You tell him I sent you, he'll tell you where the Queen of Diamonds is. Then, make sure he never bothers me again.

The player remains in the HQ


 * Sergei: You know what they say; "curiosity killed the cat".

The player still remains in the HQ


 * Sergei: And by "cat", I mean journalist.

The player continues to remain in the HQ


 * Sergei: And by "curiosity", I mean you.

The player accepts the contract


 * Josef: You're doing well so far. Sergei might not know how valuable you are, but I do.


 * Fiona: Dealing with the press makes me nervous. Remember ExOps policy--


 * Chris: Don't get caught.
 * Jennifer: Don't get caught.
 * Mattias: Don't get caught.

The player heads towards the journalist


 * Fiona: According to his file, the Queen has been smuggling weapons into and out of the area. But the Allies have all the roads blocked off, and they own the air, so how he's doing it is a mystery.

If the journalist is killed before giving information on the Queen


 * Fiona: The "journalist" has been killed. Sadly, we needed him to track down the Queen of Diamonds. We're done here.

The player makes contact with the journalist


 * Fiona: Check your email. Josef has some interesting insights into this "journalist".

The journalist enters your vehicle


 * Journalist: Let's go.

The player arrives at the first marker


 * Journalist: Go south from here.

The player arrives at the hospital


 * Journalist: He's there, at the hospital.


 * Fiona: He's using the hospital as a cover for his operation.

The hospital is demolished as the player gets closer


 * Fiona: He's blowing up the hospital! Destroying the evidence. If you don't catch him, no-one will know how he gets weapons into the area.

The journalist escapes after the hospital is demolished


 * Fiona: The "journalist" has escaped. So much for our bonus.

The journalist is killed after the hospital is demolished


 * Fiona: The "journalist" has been killed. Sergei will most certainly be pleased to hear that!

The player approaches the boat behind the Queen


 * Fiona: That boat must have been how he was smuggling arms into and out of the area.

The player verifies the Queen of Diamonds


 * Fiona: Sergei is going to be happy to hear about this.'''

Trivia

 * It is possible that killing the journalist will penalize the player a massive $250,000, thereby severely diminishing the value of the bonus condition.