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The International Contract Agency (frequently shortened to the ICA or the Agency) is an amoral assassination agency with close ties to governments and intelligence agencies. It is the organisation in which villain protagonists Agent 47 and Diana Burnwood work for in the Hitman series.
Background
The ICA is a multinational, extremely well-funded criminal organisation providing assassination and mercenary services. They enjoy the cooperation of agencies such as the FBI, CIA, MI6, CSIS, NSA and even elements within the United Nations (UN), who often use their services to assassinate terrorists and criminals.
The Agency can be contacted by virtually anyone, from wealthy international companies (i.e. Hamilton-Lowe) and other agencies to even individuals seeking vendetta (i.e. Hannah Highmoore's parents).
The Agency uses "handlers", such as Diana Burnwood, as the middle-man with its agents. They provide professional freelance operatives like 47 with electronic correspondence and mission briefings.
History
When and how the ICA is founded is unknown.
The ICA makes their first chronological appearance in the prequel comic, Hitman: Birth of the Hitman, when ICA agent Erich Soders rescues Diana Burnwood and has her recruited as a handler.
In 1999, after he hijacks one of their operations, the ICA reach out to Agent 47 and eventually recruit him as an agent.
Agent 47 is sent on contracts against various crime lords and criminals, who turn out to be four of his Five Fathers. 47 then assassinates his fifth father, Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer and leaves the Agency to live a peaceful life with Father Emilio Vittorio.
47's plans are dashed after Vittorio is kidnapped and he returns to the ICA for help. The ICA sends him on various contracts in exchange for their help and 47 eventually discovers his "uncle" Sergei Zavorotko was behind Vittorio's kidnapping. 47 saves Vittorio but leaves the church to formally work for the ICA.
In 2006, 47 completes several more contracts for the ICA as they start to be thinned out by the Franchise, a rival assassination agency. Diana fakes 47's death, has him massacre the Franchise at his funeral and reforms the ICA. 47 later returns to the Agency.
In 2013, Diana betrays the ICA to save Victoria, a clone created by the ICA. 47 is sent to assassinate her, but fakes her assassination and assassinates ICA regional director Benjamin Travis. Nevertheless, Diana and 47 are allowed back in.
In 2019, 47 takes on four contracts before the ICA discovers they were all linked to a Shadow Client. This leads to them discovering the existance of Providence and the betrayal of now Director Erich Soders, the latter of whom the assassinated.
Following this, Providence hires the ICA to assassinate the Shadow Client's allies. However, after 47 discovers the Shadow Client is his long-long clone brother, Subject 6 (under the alias Lucas Grey), he and Diana covertly betray the ICA to work with the Shadow Client, assassinating Providence members, kidnapping Arthur Edwards and deciphering the identities of the Partners.
After discovering that 47 and Diana have went rogue once again, the ICA send 5 agents to assassinate Olivia Hall, but she is saved by 47. Hall and 47 proceed to hack into the ICA's headquarters in Chongqing, exposing them to the world. With most of their operatives killed or arrested, they presumably collapsed.
Members
2003 Leadership
The Hitman novel Hitman: Enemy Within, set in 2003, describes their board of directors in detail. They consist of:
- An unamed Chairman.
- Former Iraqi minister Aheem Shbot
- Venezuelan oil minister Jose Sosa
- Triad leader Frank Tang
- Human trafficker Lalu "King of Whores" Khan
- Arms dealer Dr. Natalia Luka
- German industrialist and aspiring politician Hans Beck
- South African blood diamond mogul Mary Minnarr
- Egyptian arms dealer Mustapha Nour
- Yakuza boss Goto Osami
- Greek shipping mogul Aristotle Thorakis
Thorakis was assassinated at the end of the novel for betraying the ICA to rival assassination agency Puissanze Treize. How many of the board directors continue serving into the World of Assassination trilogy is unknown.
Trivia
- The ICA's logo is based off the original MI6 logo, replacing, along with the images themselves, the characters in the three corners, originally M, I, and 5, from left to right with IOI for IO-Interative.
- The Latin in the ICA's logo translates to "Lethal Trade".
External Link
- ICA - Hitman Wiki
