Hmm will a certain foolish “intelligence” agent decide to go rogue and stage a kidnapping or even staged assassination against someone who has to be one of TTL's most admired people.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
I think Manny would engage in hunting men ( the most dangerous animals of all) in the manner he learned to hunt wild boars at the knee of his maternal grandfather. Stalking the prey using terrain & stealth, then shooting straight for a quick, clean kill.
Interesting that there is no mention of human remains, just "wreckage".
Given his undoubted talents, and the fact he clearly desperately fears retirement... a future in security contractor work/setting up a PMC-type dealio may be calling ol' Jost. If he survives here, of course... It'd let him keep doing something similar to what he does, and he'd probably make enough to live rather comfortably.
Part 121, Chapter 2038
Chapter Two Thousand Thirty-Eight
1st January 1971
Rio Gallegos, Argentina
“My Aunt says that usually it is a good thing when your enemy is screaming their heads off” Manfred said when he reported back to the Oberstlieutenant as the sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean.
“Your Aunt is widely considered to be insane” Schier said, “Especially by those who have worked with her over the last thirty years.”
“Granted” Manfred replied, “Of course, she has officially retired as of midnight back home.”
Oberstlieutenant Aaron Schier, had only commanded the 7th Recon Battalion for a few months at the time they had been deployed to Argentina and he made a point of ignoring Manfred’s observation about his Aunt Katherine. The steep learning curve that resulted from being in the field was one that he had survived, so far. He had told Manfred directly that the likes of him going “hunting” the night before was the sort of thing that put that to the test.
It had been simple enough. Manfred had taken a position overlooking where he could see directly into a Chilean bivouac with a Thorwald sniper rifle and ruined the smoke breaks for a dozen odd soldiers. They had even been kind enough to have a burning coal right in front of their faces to help with his aim as he had peered through the ten-power scope. Manfred had kept the remainder pinned down for hours, until the someone in command had decided that charging after him with armor was the best course of action. That was when he had called down the high-velocity artillery that was dug into the bluffs overlooking the city and escaped with the men who had volunteered providing him cover fire. The trouble was that he had not gotten permission before engaging in that action.
“It was especially stupid for you to risk yourself like that” Schier said, “This had been a quiet sector, until you kicked over the hornet’s nest. Do you really think that the Chileans will let this slide?”
“I was not too concerned about what they think, Sir” Manfred replied.
“Your actions are credited with destroying a number of enemy vehicles” Schier said, “This is one of those times when I don’t know if I should put you in for a medal or have you court-martialed for insubordination. Now get out of my sight before I have you shot.”
Manfred knew not to question a reprieve when he got one.
Base Aérea Chabunco, Punta Arenas, Chile
“We figured that warning you of what our observers saw was the best course of action” Mr. Smith, obviously not his real name said. Reinaldo thought that he looked like he had come straight out of Central Casting as a CIA Spook. The news he brought though, was chilling.
Guillermo Rodriquez AKA William Driscoll, who Reinaldo knew as Drifty, had been killed when the plane he had been flying had been shot down by a type of interceptor that was not known to be operating in the region. The rub was that it had been done with a weapon with capabilities Reinaldo had only heard about in theoretical discussions. He had to force himself to put aside the death of a friend and focus on what was known about the weapon system before it could kill him too.
“50 miles?” Reinaldo asked, “How could you not see that coming?”
“They have some sort of passive system that goes active in the final seconds” Smith said, “As far as we can tell, Rodriquez must have thought he was just getting painted by a closing aircraft’s search radar even though his warning systems would have shown that he had been locked by enemy radar. Then he and his wingman got clobbered”
That sounded about right to Reinaldo. The Argentine pilots had used their radar to mess with them several times. Getting a radar lock far outside the actual capabilities of their planes just to be cute.
“This is what we know about that system and possible counter-measures” Smith said as he handed Reinaldo a ream of paper, hundreds of loose pages.
“Anything else I ought to know?” Reinaldo asked.
“Yes” Smith said, “Word is that this was the work of a Major Benjamin von Hirsch of the German Luftwaffe. I don’t think I need to tell you about their history of field testing their new toys this way.”
Reinaldo’s mouth went dry. He knew that name and it meant that things would have gotten a lot more dangerous in the skies of Argentina regardless of any new missile systems.
Coyhaique, Chile
War or no war, or possibly because of the war. The business of business went on. In this case, road construction as Kiki did her best not to draw attention to herself as she walked past a group of men who were clearly workers on the vast highway project into the remote southern reaches of this country. It was a boom town that they had found when they had arrived, hardly the sleepy outpost that Che said he had passed through a few years earlier. Looking at the mountains towering over the town, Kiki was glad that they were not having to walk over those.
Crossing over into Chile had been simple enough. The day before they had walked over a range of hills and had come to a dirt track that linked remote farmsteads. There had been no checkpoints or officialdom visible, and Kiki wondered how Che had known that it was there. Of course, he had said that he had been this way before, but she could only guess as to why he would have wanted to escape notice in times past.
“At this moment, all I want is a bath and an actual bed to sleep in” Kiki said.
“And I wish I could flap my arms and fly to the moon” Che said. He had grown increasingly sarcastic over the prior days. Tired from the long walk across the Santa Cruz Province, even if he was too stubborn to admit it. “Exactly how do you intend to pay for that.”
“I have my means” Kiki said as she dug through her Doctor’s bag until she found what she was looking for, an American ten-dollar bill. “Think this will be enough?”
“Plenty” Che said, “Any other secrets in there?”
“As if I would tell you” Kiki said, “Then they would no longer be secrets.”
The truth was that when she had been in Los Angeles an eternity earlier, she had gotten money from the bank. One hundred dollars in twenties. She had spent part of it on gifts for Nella, Nan, and Mirai. Then had forgotten about it until now. She still had sixty dollars left. She also had Argentine Pesos and German Reichsmarks but had a feeling those wouldn’t go over well here.
1st January 1971
Rio Gallegos, Argentina
“My Aunt says that usually it is a good thing when your enemy is screaming their heads off” Manfred said when he reported back to the Oberstlieutenant as the sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean.
“Your Aunt is widely considered to be insane” Schier said, “Especially by those who have worked with her over the last thirty years.”
“Granted” Manfred replied, “Of course, she has officially retired as of midnight back home.”
Oberstlieutenant Aaron Schier, had only commanded the 7th Recon Battalion for a few months at the time they had been deployed to Argentina and he made a point of ignoring Manfred’s observation about his Aunt Katherine. The steep learning curve that resulted from being in the field was one that he had survived, so far. He had told Manfred directly that the likes of him going “hunting” the night before was the sort of thing that put that to the test.
It had been simple enough. Manfred had taken a position overlooking where he could see directly into a Chilean bivouac with a Thorwald sniper rifle and ruined the smoke breaks for a dozen odd soldiers. They had even been kind enough to have a burning coal right in front of their faces to help with his aim as he had peered through the ten-power scope. Manfred had kept the remainder pinned down for hours, until the someone in command had decided that charging after him with armor was the best course of action. That was when he had called down the high-velocity artillery that was dug into the bluffs overlooking the city and escaped with the men who had volunteered providing him cover fire. The trouble was that he had not gotten permission before engaging in that action.
“It was especially stupid for you to risk yourself like that” Schier said, “This had been a quiet sector, until you kicked over the hornet’s nest. Do you really think that the Chileans will let this slide?”
“I was not too concerned about what they think, Sir” Manfred replied.
“Your actions are credited with destroying a number of enemy vehicles” Schier said, “This is one of those times when I don’t know if I should put you in for a medal or have you court-martialed for insubordination. Now get out of my sight before I have you shot.”
Manfred knew not to question a reprieve when he got one.
Base Aérea Chabunco, Punta Arenas, Chile
“We figured that warning you of what our observers saw was the best course of action” Mr. Smith, obviously not his real name said. Reinaldo thought that he looked like he had come straight out of Central Casting as a CIA Spook. The news he brought though, was chilling.
Guillermo Rodriquez AKA William Driscoll, who Reinaldo knew as Drifty, had been killed when the plane he had been flying had been shot down by a type of interceptor that was not known to be operating in the region. The rub was that it had been done with a weapon with capabilities Reinaldo had only heard about in theoretical discussions. He had to force himself to put aside the death of a friend and focus on what was known about the weapon system before it could kill him too.
“50 miles?” Reinaldo asked, “How could you not see that coming?”
“They have some sort of passive system that goes active in the final seconds” Smith said, “As far as we can tell, Rodriquez must have thought he was just getting painted by a closing aircraft’s search radar even though his warning systems would have shown that he had been locked by enemy radar. Then he and his wingman got clobbered”
That sounded about right to Reinaldo. The Argentine pilots had used their radar to mess with them several times. Getting a radar lock far outside the actual capabilities of their planes just to be cute.
“This is what we know about that system and possible counter-measures” Smith said as he handed Reinaldo a ream of paper, hundreds of loose pages.
“Anything else I ought to know?” Reinaldo asked.
“Yes” Smith said, “Word is that this was the work of a Major Benjamin von Hirsch of the German Luftwaffe. I don’t think I need to tell you about their history of field testing their new toys this way.”
Reinaldo’s mouth went dry. He knew that name and it meant that things would have gotten a lot more dangerous in the skies of Argentina regardless of any new missile systems.
Coyhaique, Chile
War or no war, or possibly because of the war. The business of business went on. In this case, road construction as Kiki did her best not to draw attention to herself as she walked past a group of men who were clearly workers on the vast highway project into the remote southern reaches of this country. It was a boom town that they had found when they had arrived, hardly the sleepy outpost that Che said he had passed through a few years earlier. Looking at the mountains towering over the town, Kiki was glad that they were not having to walk over those.
Crossing over into Chile had been simple enough. The day before they had walked over a range of hills and had come to a dirt track that linked remote farmsteads. There had been no checkpoints or officialdom visible, and Kiki wondered how Che had known that it was there. Of course, he had said that he had been this way before, but she could only guess as to why he would have wanted to escape notice in times past.
“At this moment, all I want is a bath and an actual bed to sleep in” Kiki said.
“And I wish I could flap my arms and fly to the moon” Che said. He had grown increasingly sarcastic over the prior days. Tired from the long walk across the Santa Cruz Province, even if he was too stubborn to admit it. “Exactly how do you intend to pay for that.”
“I have my means” Kiki said as she dug through her Doctor’s bag until she found what she was looking for, an American ten-dollar bill. “Think this will be enough?”
“Plenty” Che said, “Any other secrets in there?”
“As if I would tell you” Kiki said, “Then they would no longer be secrets.”
The truth was that when she had been in Los Angeles an eternity earlier, she had gotten money from the bank. One hundred dollars in twenties. She had spent part of it on gifts for Nella, Nan, and Mirai. Then had forgotten about it until now. She still had sixty dollars left. She also had Argentine Pesos and German Reichsmarks but had a feeling those wouldn’t go over well here.
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Outside the capabilities of their planes, or merely outside the limits of their Rules of Engagement?
The FAA is using a missile based on a French system that has an effective range of less than 10 miles.
No such thing as retiring from the spy-intelligence world. No matter what.
Foreign intelligence agencies, "It's a German trick! Step up surveillance on the Tigress!"
German intelligence, cackling dastardly at tricking their counterparts into wasting resources watching her.
It's looking like Manfred is about to be considered to be the spiritual successor to both his Aunt and Thorwald in the world of German Special Forces. Just as, judging by the reaction of 'Reinaldo' to the news of his arrival in Argentina, that Ben 'The Black Knight' von Hirsh is the spiritual successor to the Red Baron.
As for Kiki, I would not be at all surprised if Chile has a sudden influx of tourists hailing from Russia, most of them being surprisingly fit young men and one middle-aged woman who calls herself Katya.
As for Kiki, I would not be at all surprised if Chile has a sudden influx of tourists hailing from Russia, most of them being surprisingly fit young men and one middle-aged woman who calls herself Katya.
We have seen how the personal and professional relationships of Kat and first Kira and then Louis Ferdinand has evolved over the years now maybe we are going to how that dynamic works out between Kat and the new Emperor Fredrick because unlike Kira and Louis Ferdinand Kat is older than Fredrick and Kat has known him since he was a very small boy pulling her hair.
Well, Kaiser Freddie and his siblings are very aware of the fact that Kat is the most loyal retainer that their family has had for a very long time. And that every single one of them is alive because of Kat.
Part 121, Chapter 2039
Chapter Two Thousand Thirty-Nine
18th January 1971
Santiago, Chile
“You can still walk to La Paz if you want” Kiki said as they sat in the hotel bar, “I’ve made other arrangements.”
Unfortunately for her, the television was on and that kept drawing his eye. The news story tonight was about heavy fighting in a place called Caleta Olivia on the Atlantic Coast. The Anchor was saying that the Chilean Army had taken the town after several days of combat. Che could have sworn that he had seen the exact same news report just a few days earlier about a location several kilometers north of there, meaning they had actually been pushed back. It was nice to know that some things never change.
“Exactly what arrangements?” Che asked.
“A chartered flight to Buenos Aires avoiding hostile airspace, of course” Kiki replied, “The last month has been fun, but I would rather shoot myself in the head than walk another kilometer, spend a night sleeping on a crowded bus, or God only knows what in the coming days.”
It was a bit disappointing, but Kiki had never been in this for adventure. Merely for survival. So, it came as no surprise that she was making other arrangements now that she had the resources at her disposal.
After the long journey by bus up from Coyhaique. All Kiki had wanted was a real meal, a bath in hot water, and sleep for as long as she could. The first two had been easy to get in the hotel. The third unfortunately was interrupted when Santiago came under attack and every anti-aircraft gun in the city opened up at once. That had probably been what had convinced Kiki that she needed to take matters into hand. She had found a phone and had gotten in contact with someone, Che had no idea who, but a few days later she picked up a considerable amount of money from a bank here in Santiago after it had been wired there for her. Enough money for her to get them presentable clothes and a ride on an airplane.
“It sounds like you have things under control then” Che said.
“You’re welcome to come” Kiki said, “It will get you home far faster than whatever plans you might have had.”
It was an odd thought, just where was home these days? Che thought to himself. And in a country where nonessential travel was being strongly discouraged, it seemed that Kiki had found a way around that. He supposed that it was more proof that if you have money, you can make most obstacles disappear. Hardly a surprise.
“What time do we leave then?” Che asked.
Kiki smiled, he had no idea what she had been expecting, but it seemed that was the right thing for him to have said.
“This afternoon” Kiki replied, “The charter company said that we can depart as soon as we get there.”
Over the Andes Mountains, North of Santiago, Chile
“Reaching waypoint sigma” Wim said aloud, “Come to a course of one hundred ninety degrees.”
The Orkan flew hugging the mountainsides as Ben watched the ground avoidance radar as he turned onto the course that Wim had just called. He knew that Wim was closely monitoring the threat warning indicators. Every radar in this country tended to set that thing off and Wim acted like if all of them were an Interceptor that was bearing down on them, anti-aircraft artillery that was about to open up, or a SAM site that the Recon flights might have missed. Ben couldn’t remember where he had seen it, but the turn of phrase Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean that they aren’t after you certainly applied. Wim’s attention drifting wasn’t something that he needed to worry about. In the corner of Ben’s eye, he could see the shadow of the Black Knight as the landscape rushed past and a quick glance in one of mirrors mounted to the coaming where the canopy met the windscreen showed that the three other Orkans he was leading on this mission were in close formation.
“Eighty-five kilometers to target” Wim said, as Ben carefully controlled the throttle and the wing angle with his left hand. His mind took note of how green it was on this side of the mountains as the Orkan dropped down into the wide valley the target sat in. He increased the throttle and the reheat came on. He knew that on these bombing runs he needed to come in hot or else he was painting a target on himself. Wim counted down the kilometers as the targeting computer took over. There came a lurch as the bombs fell away from under the belly and wings of the Black Knight. The hangers and flight line of the Chilean Air Force’s base of operations, the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, was today’s target. A heartbeat later, the plane was buffeted by shockwaves from the explosions. Ben wasn’t planning on sticking around to survey the damage. He would let recon take care of that.
Santiago, Chile
“At least you didn’t pay the charter airline up front” Che said to Kiki as sat in the open door of the car laughing hysterically. The black comedy of this situation was not lost on her.
No sooner than the cab had pulled into the parking lot of the airport, it had been subjected to an airstrike. The building that housed the charter airline and presumably the airplane that would have taken them out of this country were both reduced to smoking ruins in the blink of an eye. They had watched it all from a few hundred meters away.
“I am just cursed” Kiki said as her laughter turned to sobbing.
18th January 1971
Santiago, Chile
“You can still walk to La Paz if you want” Kiki said as they sat in the hotel bar, “I’ve made other arrangements.”
Unfortunately for her, the television was on and that kept drawing his eye. The news story tonight was about heavy fighting in a place called Caleta Olivia on the Atlantic Coast. The Anchor was saying that the Chilean Army had taken the town after several days of combat. Che could have sworn that he had seen the exact same news report just a few days earlier about a location several kilometers north of there, meaning they had actually been pushed back. It was nice to know that some things never change.
“Exactly what arrangements?” Che asked.
“A chartered flight to Buenos Aires avoiding hostile airspace, of course” Kiki replied, “The last month has been fun, but I would rather shoot myself in the head than walk another kilometer, spend a night sleeping on a crowded bus, or God only knows what in the coming days.”
It was a bit disappointing, but Kiki had never been in this for adventure. Merely for survival. So, it came as no surprise that she was making other arrangements now that she had the resources at her disposal.
After the long journey by bus up from Coyhaique. All Kiki had wanted was a real meal, a bath in hot water, and sleep for as long as she could. The first two had been easy to get in the hotel. The third unfortunately was interrupted when Santiago came under attack and every anti-aircraft gun in the city opened up at once. That had probably been what had convinced Kiki that she needed to take matters into hand. She had found a phone and had gotten in contact with someone, Che had no idea who, but a few days later she picked up a considerable amount of money from a bank here in Santiago after it had been wired there for her. Enough money for her to get them presentable clothes and a ride on an airplane.
“It sounds like you have things under control then” Che said.
“You’re welcome to come” Kiki said, “It will get you home far faster than whatever plans you might have had.”
It was an odd thought, just where was home these days? Che thought to himself. And in a country where nonessential travel was being strongly discouraged, it seemed that Kiki had found a way around that. He supposed that it was more proof that if you have money, you can make most obstacles disappear. Hardly a surprise.
“What time do we leave then?” Che asked.
Kiki smiled, he had no idea what she had been expecting, but it seemed that was the right thing for him to have said.
“This afternoon” Kiki replied, “The charter company said that we can depart as soon as we get there.”
Over the Andes Mountains, North of Santiago, Chile
“Reaching waypoint sigma” Wim said aloud, “Come to a course of one hundred ninety degrees.”
The Orkan flew hugging the mountainsides as Ben watched the ground avoidance radar as he turned onto the course that Wim had just called. He knew that Wim was closely monitoring the threat warning indicators. Every radar in this country tended to set that thing off and Wim acted like if all of them were an Interceptor that was bearing down on them, anti-aircraft artillery that was about to open up, or a SAM site that the Recon flights might have missed. Ben couldn’t remember where he had seen it, but the turn of phrase Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean that they aren’t after you certainly applied. Wim’s attention drifting wasn’t something that he needed to worry about. In the corner of Ben’s eye, he could see the shadow of the Black Knight as the landscape rushed past and a quick glance in one of mirrors mounted to the coaming where the canopy met the windscreen showed that the three other Orkans he was leading on this mission were in close formation.
“Eighty-five kilometers to target” Wim said, as Ben carefully controlled the throttle and the wing angle with his left hand. His mind took note of how green it was on this side of the mountains as the Orkan dropped down into the wide valley the target sat in. He increased the throttle and the reheat came on. He knew that on these bombing runs he needed to come in hot or else he was painting a target on himself. Wim counted down the kilometers as the targeting computer took over. There came a lurch as the bombs fell away from under the belly and wings of the Black Knight. The hangers and flight line of the Chilean Air Force’s base of operations, the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, was today’s target. A heartbeat later, the plane was buffeted by shockwaves from the explosions. Ben wasn’t planning on sticking around to survey the damage. He would let recon take care of that.
Santiago, Chile
“At least you didn’t pay the charter airline up front” Che said to Kiki as sat in the open door of the car laughing hysterically. The black comedy of this situation was not lost on her.
No sooner than the cab had pulled into the parking lot of the airport, it had been subjected to an airstrike. The building that housed the charter airline and presumably the airplane that would have taken them out of this country were both reduced to smoking ruins in the blink of an eye. They had watched it all from a few hundred meters away.
“I am just cursed” Kiki said as her laughter turned to sobbing.
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