UNKNOW

A FEW HOURS BEFORE DAWN

Synopsis: In Marrakech an anonymous lead sets Tagi, a Moroccan detective, and Harris, presumably a MI-5 agent, on the trail of a criminal ring dealing in arms from Europe and contraband diamonds from central Africa. They suspect a local gangster named M'Barek, but need a warrant to apprehend him.

Meanwhile, Unknow is dozing off in a local fonduk (bar) when a beautiful Western woman rushes in. Two men follow her and, claiming to be police agents, try to abduct her. Unknow recognizes one of them as a local gangster and challenges his claim. A gunfight breaks out and the criminals are killed, but more gangsters force Unknow and the woman to each flee their separate ways. Thanks to street urchin Assaf, Unknow escapes a police search. Fat'mah, a kind elderly woman, hides him.

Shortly after Eliza Gonçalves, the western woman from the fonduk, locates and contacts Unknow. She pleads his help, claiming that her husband, Pierre Duval, became involved with local crime and was abducted by smugglers, the same gang that she was fleeing from. She offers a share of the contraband diamonds she was supposed to smuggle, in exchange for her husband's freedom. Unknow refuses - he doesn't need diamonds and sees no reason to help a criminal. He does, however, allow the woman to share his hideout.

Later, Unknow returns from an errand and finds Fat'mah has been killed. Eliza claims that M'Barek's gang came looking for him in retaliation for Unknow killing two of their number: she managed to hide but Fat'mah was killed. Unknow resolves to avenge the old woman. He collects his old Legionnaire gear, sneaks into M'Barek's villa and kills his men one by one. He then confronts their leader and kills him too. Unfortunately, by now Duval is dead too.

Eliza sneaks up on Unknow and threatens to kill him. She is, in fact, a wanted terrorist and Duval was her accomplice, not her husband. They both worked for M'Barek. She planned to betray her employer and steal the diamonds, and she set the police on M'Barek's trail to cover her escape. However, she accidentally stole a parcel of fake diamonds instead, so she needed Unknow to infiltrate the villa and recover the real valuables.

Unknow manages to pull the safety pin off one of his grenades and tries to talk his way out of the standoff - as long as he's holding the grenade they're both safe, but if Eliza shoots him, she might not have enough time to find cover before the explosion. The terrorist takes her chance and shoots anyway. Unknow dives out of the window just as he's being hit on a shoulder, but manages to avoid the blast. He then crawls out of the villa with Assaf's help. Eliza's fate remains a mystery.

Shortly thereafter, Tagi and Harris show up. They now have a warrant, but M'Barek's death deprived them of their only chance to crack the criminal ring.

(Unknow created by Roberto Raviola, character sheet created by Adriano Bompani.)


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