Back Home, One week later.
In 16 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ►Podcast at Connected.
There is something worse than waking up and not knowing where you are: you could wake up and not know who you are.
Note: World Events Stuff ~ aka Why things are happening in Cáel's life
The phone was from Iskender. His boss, Oyuun Tömörbaatar (OT), the former UN ambassador from Kazakhstan and now the informal and unrecognized UN representative and chief diplomat of the Khanate to the same august body, wanted to talk with me, immediately. OT wasn't being diplomatic at the moment, that would come later.
{Now this is going to get convoluted}
Any inquiries to the Khanate that didn't also include immediate official recognition of the Khanate currently were being steered my (and Hana's) way. For all the behind closed doors crap, he had me, his loyal ass-monkey mutton-head. I held faint hope that this latest meeting would work out to my benefit. For the meeting, I traveled light, only Naomi (the Amazon) and Chaz (British SRR) watched over me.
Now fathers who know me, hide their daughters. I'd earned my 'scoundrel' reputation. T. Sarangerel, OT's daughter, was in the room when Iskender ushered me in. She gave me an uncertain look, I shrugged and she smiled. It took me 3 nano seconds to figure that out, OT was scoping me out as a potential son-in-law. I was in Temujin's Inner Circle and a man who he trusted (a rarity). Any union with me would strengthen OT's clan's standing in the new regime.
The genetic footprint Temujin, and his immediate family collectively, had put down in the 13th and 14th centuries CE today was vast. He needed that to make his plans for the internal reorganization of the Khanate work. The old republics would go away, to be replaced by a system akin to the Byzantine 'themes, the re-organization of regions based on the recruitment of the Tumens.
The Khanate was aiming for an 'Autocratic Republic' ~ a term invented in the 19th century. My use of this terminology was based on my gut instinct, Alal's host of memories involving every form of governance, and my experience with human nature. That clued me in to what Temujin was up to, his Greater Plan. He wasn't going to form a false-front government. He was going to retain the decision-making powers and do so openly, thus 'Autocratic'.
He also planned to have a bicameral legislative branch. The Upper House would be based in Tumens and bureaucratic leadership, intellectual standing, religious sects, and tribal entities. This body would be based on merit, not primogeniture. The Lower, main chamber, would be a democratically-elected assembly (aka a democratic republic) that advised him on policy matters, thus 'Republic'.
All the power would remain in the Great Khan's hands and would be exercised by his genetic descendants (which some geneticists estimated as being as high as 25% of the Central Asian population.) Marrying into that extended family would be easy, the 'family' itself would have a vested interesting in supporting a state that benefited them.
Men and women could exercise power in the government through marriage alliances, identical to the manner Hana was working through me. Being surrounded by very populous countries in various states of belligerence, empowering women wouldn't be an issue since every willing mind and pair of hands mattered. Outsiders who shone through could be offered a spouse and brought into the ruling elite since polygamy was permissible.
In the Khanate there would be universal compulsive suffrage (everyone 18+ was legally required to vote) to decide on the representatives in the new legislative body. Everyone was expected to fight, so everyone voted. It would be modeled on the Duma of early 20th century Imperial Russia. Unlike the ill-fated Tsar Nicholas II, Temujin would be much more attentive to the voice of the people, in the Information Age, he had to.
Or so I hoped. I spewed forth my ideas to OT who didn't agree, or disagree with my vision. Perhaps Temujin and I did share a bond that went beyond obligation. OT then pulled a 'Pamela'.
"He told me he knew immediately you were his brother when you and I shared that vision," he commented out of nowhere.
"His words: You (Earth & Sky) are the old. He (meaning me) is the new. He (me again) will show us the way." My, that was nice, obtuse and not at all helpful. What did OT want? My good buddy, the Great Khan, wanted to cash in on Hana's and my sudden popularity. His most pressing need remained 'time'. He needed to have a cease-fire in the wings when his offensive resumed the next day.
The Earth & Sky had moved, well, the Heaven & Earth to get the Tumens and their accompanying national armies up and running after only a two day respite. Thanks to me, Manchuria was a mess. The Russians had carried out my 'Operation: Funhouse' with mixed, mostly positive results.
Dozens of smaller Chinese military police units along the border went, 'inactive' was the term most often used in the media. They didn't disarm, yet they didn't fight the Russians either. They sat back and let events unfold. The issue wasn't the Chinese's willingness to fight and die for their country. It was the schizophrenic government in Beijing.
The PRC didn't want to wage a war with the Russian Federation at that moment. The Khanate was the priority. There were two fundamentally incompatible courses of action favored for dealing with the Russians:
One large group advocated a passive Option A: let the Russians step in and shield the three remaining provinces making up Manchuria that were still in Chinese possession. Later, China would use military, economic and political means to edge the Russians out, once the Khanate was dealt with.
A sizable faction favored a more aggressive Option B: play a game of chicken with Vladimir Putin. Tell the Bear not to come across the border while threatening him with a bloody and pointless (for him) guerilla war if he did intervene. Events on the ground were not providing a lot of support for that school of thought,
However, this split at the highest levels of leadership left the local and regional commanders to try and muddle through as best they could. To the local commanders defending the Amur River side of the Chinese-Russian border, common sense dictated that they not oppose the Russian crossings, because the Russian 35th Army would kill them.
All their military units had gone west to the Nen River line. With no heavy weapons and little air support, the People's Armed Police (PAP) (paramilitary) and the Public Security Bureau (regular police) units would be wiped out for little gain.
Russia's GRU (Military Intelligence) sweetened the pot by allowing the police units to remain armed and in formation. It could be argued that they weren't even committing treason. At any time, they could throw themselves into the battle, or form the core of a resistance movement. 'Conserving your strength' had been a hallmark of the Communist Chinese struggle against the Imperial Japanese and Nationalists forces from the 1920's until 1945 and it had served them well.
For the party officials, civil authorities and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Army Air Force (PLAAF), and Army Navy (PLAN) who had gone with Option B, things weren't working out. In the north of Heilongjiang province at Morin Dawa/the Nen River line, the regional commander of the ad hoc forces facing the Khanate decided to duke it out with the Russian 36th Army as well. He was boned from the get-go.
The PLAAF's overall command and control had been badly disrupted in the first few hours of The Unification War and had never fully recovered. Of the 22 air regiments that the PLAAF had started the war with in the Shenyang Military District (NE China), only 5 remained as effective formations flying, on average, a meager 20% of their original complement of advanced Shenyang J-16's, J-11's, Chengdu J-10's and Xian JH-7's aircraft.
Replacing their aircraft losses meant sending up aged Shenyang J-8's (rolled out in 1980) and Nanchang Q-5's (in 1970) to fly and die in droves fighting their technologically superior Khanate foes. To add insult to injury, China's fleet of 97 Su-30MKK/MK2's (built in Russia) had suffered numerous suspicious mechanical and electronic failures, rendering them either flying coffins, or space holders in bomb-proof shelters.
Furthermore, of the forces arrayed in the far north, only two of the five air regiments were responding. Two of the other three had begun displacing south into the Beijing Military District and preparing to defend the capital city. The fifth formation had another problem, North Korea (, more on that later.)
In opposition to those two Chinese air regiments (roughly 60 aircraft of mixed types) stood seven complete and fresh Russian air regiments (over 400 front-line aircraft) and that didn't include the regiment and elements of the Far East Naval Aviation which was ALSO watching North Korea (, again more on that later.) The latter was of small comfort to the forces trying to hold the already compromised Nen River line.
Behind those valiant troops, along the much more defensible Amur River line, the commander of the key city of Heihe sided with the Option A group and let the Russian 35th Army cross the river unopposed. By the time the PLA commanding general of the 'Nen Force' (the 69th Motorized Division and the subordinate 7th Reserve Division) figured that out, he was already in a shooting war with the Russians. So his supply lines weren't in danger, they were lost.
The final indignity took place at Zalantun. The commander of the 3rd Reserve Div. had died during the attempt to recapture Zalantun. His replacement died when his helicopter was shot down as he was coming to assume command. In the absence of these officers, the divisional chief of staff told his men, including two hastily hustled forward mechanized brigades, to put down their arms. That meant 'Nen Force' was completely cut-off and surrounded.
One battalion of the 36th Russian Motorized Brigade (yes, too many 36's running around) disarmed the Chinese troops while the rest, plus the 74th Independent Motorized Brigade raced for the prize, the city of Qiqihar. The last major mechanized formation of the 36th Rus. Army, the 39th MB was following them. However, instead of manning Qiqihar's defenses, the Chinese garrison in that city was waging war on its own populace.
It wasn't only in Qiqihar; chaos reigned throughout Heilongjiang province. The Provincial Head of the Communist Party, Wang Xiankui, supported Option A. The Provincial Governor, Lu Hao, went with Option B. Both figures were rising stars in the PRC. Wang had ordered the still forming Reserve Divisions and the PAP units to disperse, thus avoiding any untimely confrontations with the Russians.
Lu, without consulting Wang, ordered the same forces to launch a violent crackdown on all dissident forces, specifically all racial minorities. (It turned out that Lu was also a member of the Seven Pillars and his witch-hunt was aimed at getting the Earth & Sky organization operating in Heilongjiang).
For the men and women on the other end of those phone conversations, there was no 'right' answer. Lest we forget, their organizations were already degraded by the Anthrax outbreak. Both men were powerful and represented China's future leadership, so if the person in charge at the ground level obeyed the wrong one, they could be assured of being roasted by the other.
Some did try to do both, repress and disband at the same time. That meant that in the process of making mass arrests among an already war-fearful and plague-fearful populace, the law enforcement infrastructure began disintegrating.
The problem with Lu's/7P's plan was that there was no 'revolutionary' organization to round up. That wasn't how the Earth & Sky operated in North-East China. They remained in tiny sabotage and reconnaissance cells. While they were scurrying for cover from the police crackdown, an opportunity presented itself.
The afflicted minorities were getting furious with their treatment. These minorities saw themselves as loyal Chinese, yet they were being dragged out into the streets, put in detentions centers and (in a few cases) summarily executed. Being less than 10% of the overall population, resistance had never crossed their minds. It seemed all that those defenseless people could do was pray for Russian intervention forces to arrive.
Within that mix of fear, betrayal and rage, the E&S discovered a way to start the dominos falling. The small, well-armed and well-trained E&S cells began ambushing police detachments. Weapons from those dead men and women were turned over to the pissed off locals before the cell went off to stalk the next police unit.
Wash, rinse and repeat. It became a perverse and bloody case of wish fulfillment. Lu and the 7P's had been looking for an insurrection and they started one. Even though a miniscule portion of the population was involved, from the outside looking in, it reinforced the Putin Public Affairs initiative that portrayed Putin (and his army) as coming in to restore order to a collapsing civil system, which he was helping disrupt.
From Moscow, the PRC's indecisiveness looked like Manna from Heaven. For the massive numbers of Russian soldiers riding through the Manchurian countryside, it felt like they were rolling into Arkham Asylum. Unlike the NATO countries' professional armies, Russia remained a largely conscript force whose normal term of service was only one year. These unseasoned troops could never tell if the local military, military police and police would attack until they rolled up on the Chinese units.
At the start of that Day One of Operation: Funhouse, the Russian ROE (Rules of Engagement) was 'Ask and Verify'. It was tactically advantageous for the belligerent Chinese forces to lie about their intentions, then begin shooting at the Russians when they got close enough to hurt them. By Day Two, the standard front-line Russian soldier had adjusted that ROE to 'if they look at us wrong, light their asses up'. By Day Three, the officers had stopped trying to enforce Moscow's ROE orders.
That was fine for the combat and rear echelon support troops because both the Chinese and Russian governments had another series of problems and they all centered around Pyongyang and Kim Jong-un's declaration that North Korea would intervene as well, without letting anyone know who he was 'intervening' against. To keep everyone guessing, the North Korean' People's Army was massing on all three borders, facing off with the PRC, Russia and South Korea. To prove his diplomatic intentions, Kim pledged to only mobilize half of his reserves, merely 4,250,000 extra men and women to go with his 950,000 strong standing army.
It didn't take a military, or economic genius to realize the North Korean's chronically 'near death' economy was stampeding off a cliff. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was in the middle of an oil crisis and Kim was increasing their fuel consumption by 400% while decreasing his workforce by 10%. To put it in perspective, the US unemployment was around 6%. Now imagine that in one week's time it would become 26%. One week, no severance packages. Would the population become unsettled?
But wait, it gets better. The Secret War was colliding with the Real World in more places than Manchuria. Setting aside the assassination attempt (Grrr) of Hana Sulkanen, my fiancée, six Nipponese elders (two women and four men) appeared in the personal quarters of the Japanese Prime Minister on the first full night of 'Funhouse' and relayed their urgent requests.
Those six were the Head of the Six (formerly Seven) Ninja Families and they were there at, my urging. Cause I'm an idiot and requiring the deaths of Romanians in my personal crusade obviously wasn't enough. Now I was asking the Japanese Defense Forces (JDF) to pony up as well. So take a deep breath and put on the hip-waders.
You might be wondering why I would want the JDF, see, there was part of Operation: Funhouse that was hitting a predictable snag, namely the Korea People's Navy Force (KPNF) and the uncertain determination of the PLAN:
The KPNF's vessels were rather old, small and crappy. They also had a love affair with anything that could launch a torpedo and they listed over 700 of these floating deathtraps (only 13 of which could be classified as surface warships) and the fanatical crews to take them into battle.
The PLAN's numbers were far more realistic and the fleet generally more modern. Only their North (18 surface warships) and East Fleets (22 plus 5 'elsewhere') could play any role in an upcoming FUBAR, and both fleets were heading out to sea, mainly to avoid the sporadic, but increasingly effective Khanate air strikes.
The FU to be BAR'ed was the Russian Far East Fleet (RFEF) (6 warships strong, ) that had seized on this crazy idea (per my suggestion) to sail south, around the Korean peninsula so they could land elements of the 55th Guards Red Banner Marine Brigade (the 165th Marine Regiment and the 180th Marine Tank Battalion).
Theoretically they were going to be the 'Southern Shielding Force' that would interpose itself between the Khanate and Beijing. It should surprise no one that the RFEF's flotilla was unequal to the task of taking their destination, the port of Qinhuangdao, by amphibious assault. Fortunately for the Gods of War (which did not include me), there were five other navies involved.
Meanwhile, South Korea was having kittens because their always crazy northern kin were slathering on the insanity. (In how many Buddhist countries do people flock to the temples and pray that their neighbor attacks someone, anyone else, but them? That wasn't a religious conundrum I wanted to deal with.) N.Korea mobilizing meant S.Korea had to mobilize, which sucked down on their GNP as well.
Besides, N.Korean dams and coal-powered plants kept the lights on in Seoul. Erring on the side of caution, the S. Korea (aka Republic of Korea, ROK) Army suggested calling up only one million of their three million person reserve force in order to assure Cousin Kim that this was a purely defensive gesture. It didn't work. Kim Jong-un castigated the ROK for antagonizing him, despite his declaration that he 'might' feel like invading the South in the immediate future.
Into the emerging crisis, the ROK Navy could sortie nineteen small surface ships. Japan's Navy wasn't up to its old imperial standards, but could still deploy 45 surface warships. The 800 lb. gorilla in the room was the core of the 7th Fleet stationed at Yokosuka, Japan, the USS carrier George Washington and her 14 escort vessels.
If the George Washington was the gorilla, RIMPAC 2014 was King Kong. 22 nations, 50 ships, including the USS carrier Ronald Reagan were engaged in war games in the Central Pacific. With them were 5 vessels of the PLAN, had Kim Jong-un just kept his mouth shut, this wouldn't have been an issue. Hell, if the Khanate had not come into existence and launched its Unification War, but he had and they did,
To show the US was taking this escalation seriously (without tipping their hand that they knew about Funhouse, Carrier Strike Group One (CSG 1) (the Carl Vinson +10) was rushing across the Pacific from San Diego. CSG 3 (the John C. Stennis +2) was being assembled hastily so that they could rendezvous with CSG 1 ASAP. So many brave souls running toward the danger, sometimes I hate myself.
So now does it make sense that I found myself in a room with a US Senator tasked with riding herd on me?
Anyway, there were the other three navies still unaccounted for, Taiwan / the Republic of China (ROC) (22 surface ships), Vietnam (7) and the Philippines (3). Taiwanese involvement was easy to explain, the PRC refused to acknowledge them as an independent country and probably never would.
The Vietnam People's Navy was tiny in both numbers and tonnage. Five of the vessels were 1960's Soviet frigates. What Vietnam did have was a huge grudge against the PRC. The PLA invaded Vietnam in 1979 and devastated the northernmost provinces, killing as many as 100,000 civilians.
The PLAN had walloped the VPN in 1974 (technically South Vietnam) and again in 1988. Out in the South China Sea were two island archipelagos; the Paracel (occupied by a small PLA garrison and claimed by the PRC, Vietnam and the ROC) and Spratlys Islands (disputed by Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, the PRC, the ROC, and Vietnam).
The Philippines had a grand total of three frigates (all between 50 and 70 years old). 99% of the time, they faced a hopeless struggle enforcing Philippines' South China Sea claims, except they were now experiencing that 1% where the PRC found itself in a life and death struggle. Even then, the PLAN's South Sea Fleet was hands-down the biggest player with 26 surface warships centered on the Carrier Liaoning.
Except (and there always seems to be an 'except') virtually all the PLAN's naval aviation had gone off to fight the Khanate and it wasn't coming back, ever. In the air, the Philippines was next to useless. What did they have of offer in the struggle for the South China Sea? Bases. The ROC and Vietnam had much more to bring to the table.
The Vietnamese People's Liberation Air Force (VPLAR) had about 50 front-line aircraft and 175 nearly obsolete models ~ the same models the PLAAF was now piloting. The ROC Air Force could put up 325 almost-new fighters that were now superior to their opponents on the mainland. Why would I give a shit?
Things cascade. The Khanate Air Force took a two-day long deep breath as Putin's 'Policeman that only looks like an invading army' started their intervention. Forty-eight hours later, the Khanate started the fourth stage (the first lunge, defeat the PLA's counter-attack then the second lunge) of the campaign.
Their initial air power was still skating on thin ice where maintenance was concerned. They need more time to thoroughly rest their pilots and bring all their top-flight equipment to 100% working condition. Against them, in two days the PLAAF's assets increased by over 250 fighters.
In turn, the Khanate had added their constituent state air forces plus nearly 80 new cutting edge air planes and 25 drones. Phase Four saw rolling airstrikes all along the forces massing in front of the northern and central Tumens. For a few hours, the PLA thought they knew what was going on.
They were wrong and this was where my meeting with OT came in. Jab with the right, cut them down with the left. The left in my case was Tibet. Yeah, Tibet. Economic value = not nearly enough. From the very start of the war, a small number of seemingly inconsequential air strikes had seriously eroded the PLA and PLAAFs combat power in the Tibetan Plateau while leaving the roads, bridges and towns intact.
Common military logic dictated that the Khanate had to punch their way further east into Qinghai (to the south) and Gansu (to the north) provinces. That was where the population and industry where. Farther east were even greater numbers of people and factories and the Khanate forces in the North hadn't been strong enough to threaten to cut off the Qinghai-Gansu front. Then the Russians showed up and the Khanate forces threatening that flank doubled overnight.
The PLA hastily reinforced their northern flank, using troops from their strategic reserves. The move resulted in incredible attrition by airpower to the freshly equipped formations. The PLA was about to get flanked, but not from the north. Southwest of Qinghai was Tibet. A third of the Khanate's mobile forces now swept around in a huge left haymaker to the south.
My job? I needed the 'Free Tibet' forces in the US and UK to provide public and moral support to the Khanate move. As Khanate Special Forces seized crucial bottlenecks in Tibet, they needed the locals to keep their 'liberators' informed of PLA presences and undermine any attempt to create a guerilla movement.
The five Tumens dedicated to being the Schwerpunkt (point of maximum effort) of this flanking maneuver were going to be on a tight timetable if they were going to surround the PLA forces in Central China.
My plan was to convince the Tibetans that the PRC's 55 years of occupation was coming to an end and the Great Khan wanted to sign a 'Treaty of Mutual Respect' (my invention). This would require both the Khanate and Tibet to recognize each other's right to exist the moment a cease-fire was reached. That was it. No 'armed presence', or 'mutual defense' agreements.
The treaty would be formally signed in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, when the city was safe ~ as determined by the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile, CTA). Riki came up with an additional sweetener and proved she was quickly adjusting to our group's extra-governmental capabilities.
She wanted the Black Lotus to locate and rescue Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama. Riki tried to explain the politics to me until my eyes glazed over, I curled into a fetal ball and I started sucking my thumb. This guy was important to the Tibetans and she wanted to know if the Black Lotus, or Earth & Sky could deliver him into Free Tibet hands.
George Cresky, our CIA guy, was gone, replaced by (deep breath) CIA/National Clandestine Service (NCS) Specialized Skills Officer, Targeting (SSO-T) Addison P. Stuart. SSO-T's were the CIA's 'Oh Shit' operatives. They didn't spy, steal, or assassinate. They crafted such missions based on what the government needed done, no questions asked.
She knew Riki (vaguely) and Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke (by reputation, though she'd yet to arrive), so when two new opportunities opened up, ramrodding the international group trying to figure out what I'd done wrong in Central Europe, or tackling the mayhem head on, she chose to join the JIKIT. She was curious about my 'hire/fire' ability, so that's where she started her interview with me.
"Do intelligent, powerful, independent women intimidate you, Mr. Nyilas?" were the first words out of her mouth. I had everyone on the team except the Senator (who came down on the weeknights when Congress was in session) and my SD Amazons (Rachel, Tiger Lily and Mona who were recruiting a new 'fourth' member of my bodyguard team.)
A smile began to form on my lips, then the laughter began. I didn't laugh at her. Everyone else did, even Chaz. She didn't know what to make of that.
"Ms. Stuart," I snickered. "Addison, we go on a first name basis in Javiera's taskforce, you are barking up the wrong tree. I'm a sexaholic. Every woman I meet is a challenge to me, an opportunity to learn and become a better man."
"Javiera's taskforce? I was led to believe, " she narrowed her eyes in a very carnivorous female fashion.
"I am in charge," Javiera grinned. "Cáel has the authority to deem which people are inappropriate for this team, but he only gained that power because Katrina Love, his superior at Havenstone, and I approved of it."
"His power is real enough," Pamela added. "He's earned it by listening to the people who have a clearer idea about what's going on and then deciding when he needs to ignore that advice to get things done. If he goes in a contrary direction, it is because he has access to information he cannot share. He holds three, "
"Patents of Nobility that are all clear signs of nepotism and inbreeding, " I wove my words into hers.
"Yet none the less have become critical positions," Pamela put a hand on my shoulder and radiated her pride in me, "with two extra-territorial entities and the rogue state now and forever to be referred to as the Khanate."
"Conceded," Addison nodded. "I want to know how comfortable everyone is with single-source information. Mr, Cáel has not been forthcoming with his intelligence assets and the rapid flow of events puts US interests at risk. I am not happy with that."
"Addison, given time Cáel may, MAY, introduce you to some of his contact people," Javiera answered. "To date, I've met five and am in regular contact with two of them," she explained. "He operates like that, and I let him operate like that, because of the extreme paranoid lethality of the people in question. I am not talking about cartels, terrorists and raving psychopaths. Instead, combine monastic assassins, Skull & Bones with the Swiss Guard at their beck and call, and Sengoku Period in Japan.
"That's the Reader's Digest version of what we are dealing with. The reality is much worse. The youngest sect you will be dealing with dates back to the 14th century AD (she meant the Condos) and the oldest is rumored to date back to 2600 BC (the Egyptian Rite) and I have reason to believe that's true," Javiera began reading Addison in. "Our closest ally are Amazons who date their history to 12th century BC,", she let that information percolate.
"What kinds of numbers are we looking at? Reach? Resources?" Addison jumped in.
"My group numbers around 40,000 women, and two men, kinda-sorta," I was liking Addison already. "Resources, global territorial holdings, a highly trained, well-equipped fanatical fighting force with the financial resources of a diversified, multi-national corporation.
"The primary associated groups on 'our side' are personnel intensive, operate in separate semi-independent bureaus with varying levels of resources. Their prime financial base comes from contract murder," I studied her reaction. "Then there is the Khanate."
"And these are the good guys?" Addison faux-joked. I didn't think the morality bothered her. What bothered Addison was the blow-back that could result from dealing with such people.
"The best of the bunch is neutral," I confessed. "They are a 'wait and see' organization, who work through a series of secret and semi-secret societies to accomplish social engineering." (The Egyptian Rite).
"The second 'other' group are a criminal financial hydra of people who could come crawling out of any sewer or sit in the seat of any Minister of State in any country." (The Illuminati) "The third group is behind the PRC's multi-pronged advancement across the world stage. From what little I know, it is hard to differentiate between the PRC's security apparatus and this group.
"The fourth group out there are killers of every stripe. The more cold-blooded and ruthless you are, the more likely you are to be invited to join and the higher you will advance. They will find funding for an insurgency and train the insurgents. Then they will offer their services to the establishment as private contractors.
Human Rights Commissions are something they joke about. "Worst of it all, I'm pretty sure they've worked with virtually every intelligence agency, corporate or state sponsored, that engages in covert activities. They know who to talk to if they want information, or access," I said. "That's why foreign intelligence types make me wary."
"Your father's murder," Addison brought up.
"Did you ever figure out how they ended up heavily armed inside the US?" I inquired.
"Tunisian passports into Canada then a chartered boat to Chicago," Addison stated. "Their jet went to St. John's Newfoundland and disappeared after that. It is going to take a while to sort out, working with Tunisia's National Police, considering their run up to national elections in late October."
CIA George probably knew all that too, yet he would have made me pay for that bit of enlightenment, the dick-cheese. That wasn't why he was gone. He was gone because he expected me to help him nail Riki, without me accepting his wing-man status, uncool. I definitely believed I had traded up.
"Thank you," I stepped forward and shook hands. She gave me a sharp shake.
"You are abnormal," she smiled. "That means I don't know what to make of you."
"Oh, thank Dot you didn't call me 'nice', or 'interesting," I rolled my eyes. That was my introduction to the second member of my (governmental) policy triumvirate (Addison, Riki and Lady Fathom {coming soon}).
The Triumvirate had to convince the global community that the Great Khan was going to liberate the Tibetan people once the offensive got underway. The Khanate's aim was to restore the Dali Lama, and then leave them to their independence.
Why was Temujin being so beneficent? How many nations supported the Khanate's land grab in China? None publically. How many nations claimed to have some support for an Independent Tibet? A fuck-load more than none, that was for sure. What was really going on? Answer this: how do you sugar-coat a biological first strike that resulted in the genocide of millions of Chinese civilians as well as its police, paramilitary and military forces?
Answer: you 'free' 2.9 million Tibetans, that's how. To make the liberation of Tibet possible, you needed more than a military conquest. You needed global economic, social and military support, that's where Pakistan and India came on. Oh yeah, and Nepal and Bhutan if you wanted to get picky.
If you recall, the Unification War started in the middle of nowhere, Aksai Chin. It was of no use to the Khanate, but it was of point of nationalistic pride to Pakistan and India. The Khan was giving those barren salt flats to Pakistan, their co-religionist on the other side of the Himalayas, free of charge. That would not make India happy. What would make India happy was giving them back the Chinese-controlled, disputed territory of Arunachal Pradesh.
Aksai Chin was part of the Khanate-controlled Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It was the Great Khan's to give away. Arunachal Pradesh was part of Chinese-controlled Tibet, so he technically needed Tibetan acquiescence to guarantee the land transfer to India once some sort of peace was established.
{Back to me for a moment}
Our new HQ was splendid. Jurisdictional and security issues made finding a place where all parties could feel equally as comfortable was solved by Hana. She took out a long term rental agreement for the 59th and 60th floors of the One MiMa1Tower ~ that had to be setting her back over $100,000 a month.
The Department of Homeland Security arranged for members of the taskforce to pack as much non-artillery/high explosives weapons as we wanted. This not only mollified the Amazons, it allowed me to extend the same courtesy to visiting members of the other secret societies. Javiera convinced the Senator and the Senator convinced Homeland Security with a grand total of three phone calls.
Our protection consisted of eight Amazons from the SD and eight agents of the FBI plus a four Amazon group of rotating House Guard and four fine men from JSOC. It was decided that there would be 2 two-member SD/FBI teams operating at all times. The Army group and the HGs alternated who was the rapid response team.
To reinforce Riki Martin, I 'allowed' Supervisory Program Analyst Mehmet Ali-Sharif of the US State Department, National Intelligence and Research -Watch (they had decided I could magically conjure elite fighters in whatever country I showed up in, so they gave me a brainy person instead) Age 41, married, four kids.
He had instant access to all the other US intelligence agencies, which promised to cut through the inter-agency bullshit. He brought along a wonk from the NSA and a 'signals' Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Nicholas Billings from the DIA to make sure our networks were constantly monitored and our communications were encrypted.
The NSA guy gave us a patently false name, so Pamela began calling him Agent-86 (not sure why) and the name stuck. Riki gained a co-worker/subordinate named Beatrice Ya Konan, from the US State Department Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Javiera gained an assistant from Homeland Security named Anastasia Sandusky, who doubled very credibly as Javiera's bodyguard.
Javiera vetted all the people on her side. From my side of the aisle, I gained Daphne Pile (my fellow intern) and Yasmin Palhavã, my Brazilian top criminal investigator, proto-Amazon and all-around hottie. Bea and Nicholas covered the night shift. Except for Pamela and I, the rest of the group worked ate and slept on those two floors. Room service at the place rocked.
Pamela and I went home to our families every night, even if it was only for a few hours. Odette wanted to become an official member of Unit L. I burst her bubble. I respected her mind and courage, but I knew I didn't belong in this league and I was tons more prepared for this crap than she was. Odette relented, just barely. As for the crisis at hand,
All I could do was fall down on my knees and thank Riki, my US State Department Angel. I could also thank my latest arrival; the woman who got off the plane at JFK International with Captain Delilah Faircloth. She too had volunteered to be in the vanguard of the New/Old World Order.
Her 'Alphabet-Army' was Special Delivery Manager (SPD), Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI-6), Age 35 and unmarried. Riki, Addison, Fathom and I were working long hours together, late into the night and under incredible pressure. We WERE going to have a four-way, no doubt.
Riki had in depth knowledge concerning the geographic and historical aspects of the three issues (freeing Tibet and the two territories in dispute). She established a rapid-fire dialogue with the politically effective and sympathetic voices inside the Tibetan government in exile. Lady Yum-Yum, I mean Lady Fathom knew how to talk to the Pakistani and Indian intelligence agency types.
Addison found herself forging an operational network of Thuggee, Amazons, CIA and MI-6 (the last two mostly from Afghanistan) to provide HUMINT for a transition of power from Khanate military control over to Tibetan civil authorities. (In case there was any confusion that meant talking to people and killing those who might rock the boat.)
First, we had to deal with the legitimate power players. Lady Fathom knew that the Pakistani ISI (Inter-Service Intelligence) guy in New York thought he was a bad-ass Mo-Fo. He was currently preparing to 'turn' Fathom, remold her into conduit for Pakistan, by making her his bitch. This 'James Bond with a permanent tan' was under the impression that she was going to give him intimate information on the Khanate via MI-6.
He was going to use the threat of exposure to wrangle future favors and use it to politically blackmail the UK, Fathom in particular. Bwahaha! My role in her plan was to be me, a deceitful, charismatic stud (her words ~ as I said: 4-way!) This joker, Ishmael "something", was slowly drawing privileged data from Lady Fathom when Pamela, Riki and I opened the exterior door to that apartment and waltzed into the room.
He knew who I was. Far too many people familiar with multiple IDs with different names on them were getting to know who I was. I consoled myself that at least a few of them were smooth-lethal-sexy. The door opened, Pamela went in first, looking through Ishmael as if he didn't matter. I came in next, with Riki close behind, chatting with me as she shut the door.
"Lady Worthington-Burke, which one is this?" I nodded to the guy before addressing MI-6 lass.
"Sir," Lady Fathom, stood and stifled a groan. The poor girl was working with a rank amateur who didn't know which agency was represented by who. "This is, "
"One of your people?" I interrupted. "I've got Mongal's guy coming by in an hour.
"Mangal, Cáel," Riki elbow-bumped me. "Mangal." He said in Farsi.
"Got it, Mangal," I muttered. See, this was all a convoluted plan on Lady Fathom's part. Mangal could be anyone and there weren't many standouts with the last name of Mangal in Farsi (aka Persian/Iran). Except, here is where it got wicked. There is another language mutually intelligible with Farsi. It is called Dali and it is the lingua franca of Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan there was a 'Mangal' of note. He was Major General Mohammad Mangal of the Afghan National Army's 201st Corp. The 201st was stationed in Kabul, the capital, and one of its brigades guarded the Presidential palace. Here was the Khanate's main man, incompetent ole me, bringing up his name.
I could see the SIS agent taking into account the lighting-quick coup d'états with which the Khanate had seized the old Central Asian Republics one week ago. The rest blossomed in his snake-like, devious mind. We could see his imagination take hold. After all, he was talking to a British secret agent type in the presence of a US State Department type and the topic of the Major General had slipped out.
The best part was, it wasn't a complete lie. Earth & Sky agents were meeting with Afghani officials to lay down the groundwork for just such an action. Given her knowledge of the area in general, and of the ISI pricks involved in particular, Lady Fathom was convinced that ISI was going to 'aggressively' investigate.
In Afghanistan there were two major groups, the Pashtun and everyone else. The majority of the Afghan Taliban was Pashtun. Before 9/11, the Pashtun Taliban with legions of Al Qaeda Arabic fighters came damn close to wiping out the military resistance of those non-Pashtun. In Afghanistan, the Pashtun made up of 40% of the population and controlled most of the government.
Pashtun were also a large minority (13%) in Pakistan. The Khanate's problem was that only a tiny percent of the population was Turkish (no Mongols). The two major factions? Eastern and Western Iranians. To get Afghanistan on board, Temujin needed the Tajiks, the largest of the Western Iranian groups. To get the Tajiks, he was subverting the nation of Tajikistan to his side.
According to OT, that was almost a done deal. Temujin wasn't thinking small, not by a long shot. He was ready to fight the world on his terms, or embrace it. The westernmost point of the Mongol-Turkish expansion was, Turkey. Between Turkey and their Central Asian brethren was Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia in the middle and Iran to the south.
The Russian Federation, their time would come. There were millions of Mongols, Turks and Tartars in the Russian Federation, many of them in semi-autonomous states (thus 'federation'). In the middle, a linkup was already in the process of happening, I was assured. Temujin had reasons to be confident. Azerbaijan was about to flip, yet we all knew the Christian nations of Armenia and Georgia were going to be a problem.
That left Iran. Proud, populous, ancient, Shia Islamic Iran. The Khanate was mostly Sunni Muslims. For far longer than they despised the West, the Iranian clerics had hated the Sunni. According to their take on things, their religious leaders (Imams) were divinely inspired and thus infallible.
Sunni believed that the Message was the important point, not the Messenger (and his bloodline). The Shia, disagreed. They were also waiting for the 'Mahdi'; a descendent of Mohammed, the Prophet chosen by Allah and the founder of Islam, to appear (not be reborn like Temujin). This Mahdi had lived long ago (872 CE), vanished and was prophesized to make his presence known during the End Times.
The key to the plan was in the above description, proud. Temujin was gambling that he could first unite all the other western Iranians under his banner, then offer Iran the opportunity to join in a 'union' where they would exert shared influence in all other Western Iranian segments of the Greater Khanate, plus Tehran would exert religious control over the other Shia splinter groups living within the 'Union'.
How we'd protect the Hashashin, who were Shia Nizārī Ismā'īlī (one of those splinter sects) was already in the works. Once Ester Abed had one of my offspring, Temujin would recognize them as being under my protection in the same way Hana was. Being a bastard was a difficulty the Great Khan could easily over-come. He would become my offspring's godfather. No one told the Great Khan what to do with his kinfolk, twice.
The moment I decided that I could trust Lady Fathom (which occurred when I realized she had on a transparent bra ~ because that meant she'd read the real reports about me and was smart enough to play to my weaknesses on our very first meeting), I explained my plans to her, Addison and Riki. The pause that followed was deafening.
Then Lady Fathom stood up from her lounge chair, strode my way, leaned over me and then kissed me so hard my toes curled. I repeat, 4 Way! Why had she kissed me? She had offered me up her ample cleavage, I'd sensed the lure and trusted her anyway. I was seeing the brain as part of her total package. Considering her natural sensuality, I could see how other men got confused.
"I can't believe they think this is going to work," she chuckled. "I will endorse this madness anyway because I think it will put Her Majesty's government in a global position superior to that which we currently enjoy." This from a woman who projected herself as someone who possessed the secret decoder ring that granted her access to No. 10 Downing Street, if needed.
So, we played that Pakistani guy, but we compensated him somewhat by preparing the immediate handover of Aksai Chin. We let him claim credit for that. We needed a 'bad' Pakistan to get the 'good' Afghani's on our/Khanate's side, yet a 'good' Pakistan to make the PRC jittery about retaking Tibet. Ta-da.
Getting one over on India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) (India's CIA) was even easier. We hinted we were going to bone Pakistan, which is apparently the natural pastime of the World's largest democracy. If the 'Tumens' handed over Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian Army would be there to receive it.
When the exchange was made, the Indian government would recognize the Tibetan government in exile's return as being legitimate. With a sizeable force on the southern borders, the Dali Lama could affect his return to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Recognizing the Khanate would come later once a ceasefire was in place.
Khanate foreign policy wasn't based on good intentions alone. All that part about huge troop movements, fleets launching and a good deal of panic equaled ballooning oil prices. That helped Russia. It really helped the Khanate. Temujin had another gift to go along with the Tibetan public relations ploy.
While the intelligence team was working the Tibet angle, Javiera was talking to a group of international financial consortiums and national banking institutions. The Khanate was Not going to repudiate the debt of their component countries. Even as the meetings were taking place, the Khanate was restarting the loan payments and tacking on the interest incurred by a week's inactivity.
Not only did that give the hysterical financial markets the first bit of good news in days, it stymied PRC efforts to freeze Khanate international assets while making the US and UK look 'responsive' to their national economic needs. Had the US and UK put pressure on the Khanate to cough up the dough?
No, but the public didn't need to know that and the politicians would take credit for accomplishments they had nothing to do with. On a personal note, that important event helped convince our two patron governments that Javiera's taskforce was the right way to approach this crisis. She had proved our worthiness by a simple act of putting her trust in me and personal trust was the glue that kept our team together.
(Where madness reigns)
Recall the six elders' private meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister? They were more than asking for help. They were also warning him of the shit storm that was about to land on his head. The 9 Clans had initiated World War I at Sarajevo. They had taken full advantage of their homelands' trials in World War II. World War III would be no different.
For the Ninja, North Korea was nothing but good news. The only way Kim could go wrong would be if he did nothing. That was a remote possibility, but the Ninja wanted to exterminate even that small hope and it all came down to oil once again. Boy, I was never so happy to be a cycling enthusiast. My sole expense was compressed air for my tires and those prices remained steady.
North Korea had a large strategic fuel reserve, not oil, fuel. Oil burns. Fuel can be downright explosive as anyone who works with diesel, gasoline and aviation fuel can attest. Cousin Kim guarded his fuel depots zealously with all manner of troops and heavy weaponry. That makes sense until you realize that you've put heavy weapons next to your explosives.
Sneaking in and out of places is what ninja did. Amazons operating in South Asia had long been knowledgeable of Soviet (aka N.Korean) equipment as that was the easiest available to steal. Taking out these relatively isolated outpost was sinfully easy for the duos. Once the guards had been suitably dealt with, the equipment to destroy the storage facilities was already in place.
N.Korea depots were dispersed to avoid a small number of missile/air-strikes from crippling their military. That meant that eventually the N.Koreans would kill/capture some of the saboteurs and sure enough, some dead (and a wounded) Chinese guys showed up at one of those destroyed sites.
When he regained consciousness (and realized he had passed out in Japan and was now in N.Korea), what exactly was the Seven Pillars of Heaven operative supposed to tell his N.Korean interrogators? 'It wasn't me! It was the Ninja and the Amazons. I know this because I'm part of secret society too and I was fighting them in Japan and, (sigh), just shoot me.'
Congrats, Kim Jong-un, you have Han Chinese running around your country, blowing up your stuff while the PRC vehemently denied everything. The Seven Pillars were still gaining ground in Japan, despite the help of the Amazons and the upcoming aid by the Okinawans. They were whittling away at the Black Lotus, now that they'd exposed themselves in southern China.
Even the Thuggee were coming under pressure in India and Indonesia. Of all the underworld combatants, the Seven Pillars was by far the largest. Sure, the Condottieri could muster the numbers, but most of those didn't know the score, or share the 7P's enthusiasm for their work. The Illuminati and the Egyptian Rite were smaller and use to operating through proxies.
In a war of attrition, the 9 clans and Amazons would lose, except for our old protagonist, 'except'. The Seven Pillars had one glaring weakness that really hadn't seemed like a weakness to anyone when I insulted their representatives at my Father's funeral. The Seven Pillars power was tied to the fate of the PRC. Who could possibly stop the Colossus of Asia?
Temujin's Earth & Sky were giving it their best shot. The Ninja/Amazon pairing were gambling that the loses they would take in N.Korea would be worth the risks they were taking by sending so many resources away from fighting the 7P in Japan itself. If you thought all of this was about North Korea's Glorious Leader, you would be wrong.
It was about economics and positioning. If possibly belligerent warships began to actively roam the seas between the Korean Peninsula and the Formosan Straits, no merchant captain in his/her right mind would expose their vessel and crew to such risk. This effectively blockaded the majority of Chinese ports. What trade that remained would have to come in and go out through the few remaining southern ports.
Remember, the biggest port in the south had been wrecked by the LNG tanker explosion and it would take weeks to return to operation. The remaining southern ports couldn't handle all the traffic that the entirety of China needed in order to stay afloat financially. Compounding that, the Black Lotus was strongest in the south. By increasing the rate at which ships docked, unloaded, loaded and departed to dangerous levels, the PRC virtually assured accidents would happen. Yes, it was all about the Benjamins.
Less we forget, all the involved navies had submarine fleets to go along with their surface assets. Every sub skipper knew the extreme peril the whole 'Danger Zone' represented. Everyone and their mother would be running hair-trigger Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) drills. Cousin Kim was plenty pissed off and he was about to think the Chinese were fucking with him and the Chinese fleets were sortieing in his direction. (They actually were moving to stop the Russians).
The Chinese, North Koreans, South Koreans, Japanese, Russians and Americans all had subs in the area. It wasn't like you could call up a submarine you considered threatening and ask them to honestly tell you who they were, so what was an ASW operator supposed to do? There could be as many as 122 submarines plus numerous KPN midget subs and how many of the 23 US submarines in the Pacific could be in the vicinity.
[The political strategy of hydrocarbons, two days earlier]
There was a process for getting oil and natural gas from under the ground/sea floor to your gas pump. The petrochemicals didn't go straight from the ground to the refinery to the service station. Offshore oil fields fed all their production to the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) platforms who sent it along an undersea pipeline to an onshore pumping facility and on via surface pipelines to the refineries.
There are several vulnerabilities in the system. The thing is, you can repair pipelines and put out the fires and rebuild your pumping stations. You could put ground-based air defense around them too. FPSOs, well, they floated, like really big, immobile, highly complicated ships that handled explosives (the hydrocarbons). Worse, there were a limited supply of them all over the globe and they required large tugboats to move them into place.
Then there was the time and expense of hooking up all the oil and natural gas wells, and the undersea pipeline to the new FPSO. The PRC and the PLAN weren't stupid. They could read a flow chart too, so they assigned one destroyer and two frigates, all with excellent surface to air and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities, to protect these gems.
Four hours before the real attack, a frigate reported a suspected submarine to the southeast. The flotilla commander tasked that frigate to drive off the intruder. For the Japanese submarine commander who was the target of that search, it was a case of him following orders. He was to sneak within twenty kilometers of the FPSO, 'get detected' then zigzag away to the south, so that's what he did.
A Chinese frigate (he could tell by the sonar system) dutifully kept chasing him away. The Japanese commander and his crew were as surprised as nearly everyone else four hours later when the FPSO was rocked by a series of explosions, then quickly broke apart and sank. Then it was definitely the time to get the Hell out of Dodge because that pesky Chinese frigate became downright hostile.
After he sent the frigate away, the Chinese Destroyer Captain had a dilemma. The other frigate was making a circuit to the northwest, warding against any attack from the Khanate. He had been doing the same thing to the northeast, warding against a possible North Korean attack. The frigate he had sent to drive the pesky submarine away had been on the southeastern circuit, defending against the Russian fleet's approach.
The Captain made the logical choice. He pulled the frigate to the northwest in closer while he took up an east-southeastern position. It was indeed the best he could do. His problem was that while he could still bring more air defenses into play, his early warning time was now cut by a third. When eight sea-skimmer missiles appeared from the northeast (coincidentally the direction of N.Korea), a tragic race was on.
The missiles were coming in at Mach 0.8 flying roughly 8 meters over choppy seas. Even had he been in his original position, his destroyer most likely could not have been able to stop them all. As it was, the northern frigate wasn't yet within the 3 km range for her CIWS (Close-In Weapon System), so it could contribute nothing to the blunt the onslaught.
The destroyer was actually moving away from both the FPSO (the target) and the incoming sea-skimmers. His two CIWS's (Type 730 Gatling canons) had to track eight missiles coming in echelon, not in line. The two guns engaged. One Silkworm died, then a second and third in quick succession. A fourth missile died as it impacted the platform. The other four 515 kg warheads penetrated the structure, then detonated.
The FPSO's death was violent and abrupt. Three workers survived the disaster. The rest burned, or were dragged down to the bottom of Bohai Bay. As the fiery destruction of his charge lit up his screens, an urgent warning came in from the Eastern Fleet, seven Silkworms launched from Okinawan waters had mere moments ago destroyed the Chunxiao Natural Gas platform.
In both cases, the trail would eventually lead back to Liberia-registered small merchant ships using pre-fabricated launchers, 'misplaced' Bangladeshi HY-2 hybrid missiles and black market Iranian targeting systems supposedly sold to an Islamic terrorist group based in Somalia. The ship off the Okinawan coast had experienced a malfunction in one of its Silkworms. Both ships were scuttled within minutes of the attacks. The malfunctioning missile was detonated once her ship was sunk beneath the waves. Of the crews,
[Life and learning in the JIKIT(ties)]
By this stage in its evolution, JIKIT had three sections. Javiera ran the whole shebang as well as our 'Administrative' section, Unit 'Xerxes'. At that point, I asked Javiera to ask that damn computer to give my team's name a second shot. She assured me that wasn't how the process worked. Then she asked me about UHAUL, so I shut up. Xerxes took care of the inter-governmental activities.
Unit L, our 'Action' Section, operated around specific activities involving me and my privileged information. Unit 'Urchin' ~ the computer gave them a real name too ~ dealt with other covet taskforce activities, like attacking PRC infrastructure and resources. They were completely off the reservation. Neither the UK nor the US higher ups knew what their underlings were up to.
Why would Urchin do something so career-disabling and criminal? They had highly skilled resources they could disavow and who wouldn't embarrass them down the line, and they weren't afraid to use them. The Amazons, Ninja, Black Lotus and Thuggee were going to be killing North Koreans and Chinese anyway and there was no real way to stop them.
So, Lady Fathom decided to utilize that bizarre menagerie instead. Britain and the US had people who did covert operations; their new allies gave them force amplification. That meant three CIA operatives, working with four 'other' groups, took part in sinking two Chinese FPSO's, then covered up the crime and disposed of any evidence the Amazons and Ninja left behind.
All the agents knew about their cohorts was that they were ready, willing and able to get the job done. The CIA had two roles. The first was to 'fix' Japanese merchant ship tracking information so no one got in the way of those two improvised missile rostrums getting to the primo spot for sending their packages to 'China with Love'.
The second role was to help the crews of each ship escape via US Naval assets, which meant submarines; no questions asked. No one in the US Navy 'knew' who they were picking up, or what they'd done.
That didn't mean they were stupid, either. FPSO's were sinking a few hundred kilometers away, two smaller vessels were racing for the bottom far closer and they had 20 black-pajama types who a) needed to stealthily exit the vicinity and b) were short on conversational skills.
Lady Fathom saved her exuberance until both teams put their feet on dry land. I could see it in her eyes. This was better than any orgasm she'd ever had. We had yet to sleep together, but that was coming soon. For Lady Yum-yum, it was the realization that she had a small army of highly skilled and fanatically motivated specialist she could disavow at a moment's notice.
Oh, she knew what she was doing was light-years beyond wrong. She wasn't worried about an uproar in Parliament and the downfall of the current governing coalition. No, she knew her boss at MI-6 would permanently 'retire' her if he ever found out. She didn't care. This was what she was born to do ~ restore British influence and power by crushing her enemies by any means necessary. She was a fanatic in her own way, a super-patriot.
Her ladyship and Addison shared a private moment, then looked at me when the good news came in. It was the aphrodisiac of power. Their faith in Riki and Mehmet Ali-Sharif grew as well. Mehmet decided to remain on the legal side of the line with Javiera so they could fend off the inevitable Congressional investigation with straight faces and plenty of 'I wasn't in the room when that was discussed' answers. We all accepted that perjury was wrong, (snicker).
He gave his two underlings the freedom to decide their own fates. Agent-86 and Nicholas decided to stay in the room after Mehmet left. Like every other place I'd worked for in any official capacity in my entire short lifespan, these people were losing their God-damn minds and I somehow felt responsible for ruining their futures.
In 36 hours, Addison secured a ten person team from the CIA's SOG (Special Operations Group). Lady Fathom added an eight person squad of the British SSR (Special Reconnaissance Regiment) (Chaz's buddies).
My 'Amazon Diplomatic Corps' put together a dozen members of India's Amazon House Mookambika (the Demon Slayers) led by their 'Apprentice (the heir-apparent to the House), a 'temple' of the Booth-gan (they didn't call themselves Thuggee, whoops) and a dozen Black Lotus infiltrators (not sure what that designation meant).
Riki proved her grasp of our evolving network by suggesting we recruit locals, and by locals, she meant Nepalese. Lady F smacked herself on the forehead for missing what had been such an obvious choice for this mission. When the half-dozen combined-forces groups began slipping over the Tibetan border, they included twenty-four Tibetan-fluent volunteers from the 2nd battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles who had been coincidentally stationed in nearby Brunei.
(And finally, the Here and Now)
Normally, when I addressed an audience, I had a feeling of how my presentation went. Normally, when I was talking to women, I could tell how close I was to getting laid. I was unsure what to make of this crowd. I had finished my first address to the Amazon Council, updating them about our current diplomatic state of affairs.
If you recall, the Council had stayed convened because I engineered High Priest Hayden's 'journey to the cliffs'. They were still trying to figure out a Regency Council, and that was my fault too. You see, Fate selected a certain number of young Amazon girls from birth to be candidates for the next High Priestess. Somewhere in their early to mid-twenties one of them would be chosen after the current High Priestess passed.
They would decide on such a young leader out of ancient necessity. Forcing all the House Heads to make the long, dangerous journey to form a Council and make the selection had once been a risky undertaking. The High Priestess was supposed to reign thirty to thirty-five years before they had to make the trek again. That practical system had worked well for the Host for over a millennia, before I came along.
These possible future leaders of the Host, ignorant of their special status, were watched by the Council, the High Priestess and the Augurs for signs of divine favor and crucial Amazon social, military and leadership skills. Any of the gifted Amazons could be the one. As time wore on, more and more of the candidates would be disqualified until, when the old Priestess died, the Council would pick one of the usually two or three ladies left.
You may note that this process ASSUMED that the old High Priestess would live out her normal lifespan and not willingly pass on until the decision process was upon the Council. I didn't give Hayden that luxury, so roughly SEVEN YEARS before Hayden was supposed to pass, she died. That meant all the candidates instead of being from 22 ~ 25 were more like 15 ~ 18.
That was 'too young' for the Council. Besides, there were still too many girls to choose from. Krasimira informed me that there were sixteen remaining. She offered to tell me who they were, but I declined. I told her it was because I risked capture and torture by our enemies, so it would be too dangerous. Honestly, I didn't want to know. Not at that moment anyway.
That meant whomever was on the Regency Council would be ruling the Host for as much as a decade. That was unprecedented. In the days of old, the High Priestesses who died before their time were kind enough to perish early in their tenures. That meant the Council could select the 'loser' from the first election and bestow on her the honor. The only other candidate from Hayden's election was already dead, so no solution there.
Now, in almost every other global conspiracy/multi-national conglomerate, everyone on the Second Tier of power wanted to be on the First Tier. Not the Host. Oh no, they wanted to get back to their House business and fighting the fucking war. See, being part of the Regency would remove them from danger which ran contrary to their solidarity with their Houses and their Race.
They weren't bloodthirsty, or glory-seekers. Most house had between 300 to 400 combatants, the sisters of these women sitting on the Council. They wanted to get back to organizing their freeholds and leading their women into battle. They were old-fashioned that way. Face it, all the women at the table with me, barring maybe Krasimira, were stone-cold killing machines.
By joining their Houses in the fight, they were trying to save lives, Amazon lives. It was that cruel, vicious Amazon practicality rearing its ugly head once more. Personally I was relieved that I wasn't a possible candidate because I already had a position of authority, Chief Diplomat. Katrina and St. Marie were in the same boat. Krasimira was ineligible due to her Keeper status.
So, the 50 councilwomen had to decide who the 'Unlucky Three' were going to be, with each house jockeying to make sure they weren't IT. Into this political mine field, it was requested that I enlighten the Council about what I'd been doing with their people. According to Beyoncé, the diplomatic briefing normally took ten minutes.
With me, it was 2 hours with pictures, graphs, historical references and two shadow puppet displays, complimented by squeaky voiced sound effects. Even then, they were getting an abridged version of events and activities. I wrapped things up by mentioning that I had found a member of the Lost House Anahit named Sakuniyas. There was also one other difficulty I hadn't been able to deal with since I got back, House Illuyankamunus had been avoiding me like the plague.
St. Marie and Katrina were of no help. Oh, they clearly knew something was wrong, but they were looking for a way to cushion the blow. Katrina not telling me could be viewed as compassionate. St. Marie, the Golden Mare, didn't like me. Her keeping mum truly sucked.
"Oh, Sabrina Illuyankamunus, I'm giving you fair warning right now," I broke the silence with which my soliloquy was being digested. The Head of that house looked at me, void of all emotion.
"The prospective members of the proposed House SzélAnya are under the protection of House Ishara. Any attack on them would be viewed as an attack on us," I stated firmly. "Is that clear?" And another deafening silence.
"Who is SzélAnya?" Messina of House Minerva asked.
She was serious. She didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I looked to Katrina. She was conveniently rubbing her forehead so I couldn't make eye contact. Next I looked at St. Marie, no reaction.
"Oh come on!" I exclaimed to St. Marie.
"The first words out of my mouth when I walked into your office when I got back was my intent to offer up the children of SzélAnya as a proposed new house, sponsored by House Ishara."
"I know. Now you've done it. Happy?" St. Marie regarded me stoically. "You could have waited until after the Question and Answer part of your presentation." Shit.
", when I would have done it for you, Cáel," Katrina sighed. "You need someone to second the nomination and it CAN'T be you."
"Well, Damn it!" I groused. "No one tells me these things."
"It is my fault, Cáel Wakko Ishara. Sometimes your exuberance still catches me off-guard," Katrina gave me an out. Krasimira stood up, ready to speak.
"SzélAnya is the daughter of Illuyankamunus," she intoned. Everyone looked from Krasimira to Sabrina, that House's Head.
"I, Sabrina of House Illuyankamunus, nominate SzélAnya and all her daughters for consideration as new members of the Host," she responded.
That was totally unlooked for and unexpected. Hell, it was just plain wrong. I thought House Illuyankamunus were the bad girls.
"Sons and daughters," I absently corrected.
"I second the nomination," Katrina rose and spoke quickly.
"Wait!" Madi jumped up. "Sons? I thought you weren't going to bring other men into the Host, Ishara."
"I didn't intend to, it's complicated. Terribly complicated. There is just, no way to induct House SzélAnya without inducting her sons," I stated.
"She told me so." I hadn't confided in the Council that she had killed Ajax for me. I had refused any credit for his death, so the Host assumed I was merely being my regularly humble self.
"Ishara," the Head of House Jaya, Charlotte's House, addressed me. "I feel we deserve more of an explanation than 'it's complicated'."
"His reasons are just and sound," Illuyankamunus rallied to my defense. Before that, I hadn't spoken ten words to the lady and that was when I asked for her help in Central Europe and she told me to mind my own business.
"Time out," I accentuated with the sports' hand gesture. "Why are you helping me?" I asked her.
"That I cannot answer," she gave me a steady gaze.
"Say what?" I mumbled.
"Why not?" Kohar of Marda inquired of her.
"The Rolls of House Illuyankamunus are sealed," Krasimira stated, which answered no one's questions. Sadly, it was gospel to those women. I would have sat down in frustration had it not required me to stumble back five steps, break another vow I'd made to the Council and sat in Buffy's lap, wait, she was in my 'apprentice' chair, so my seat was unobstructed.
"Keeper of the Records," I addressed Krasimira. Using her title meant I was serious. "Is this more of the Ash Men, 'we are not going to talk about this ever again, happened way back before the invention of outdoor plumbing' bullshit?" Yes, I was insolent and rude. Before the outrage from my fellow Amazons could take shape,
"Yes, Cáel," she smiled at me, "this was a ruling that was handed down shortly after the Second Betrayal as well. I think you know why." She winked. "House Ishara's reasons are valid."
Wait! It got better.
"Cáel Ishara, Cáel, please," Kohar pleaded with me. "Your lips are not sealed by decree. Don't you think we deserve an explanation?"
I'm an idiot. "Of course you do, Kohar. Sleep with me tonight and I'll be puddy in your hands post-coitus," I grinned. Whoa! Serious anger issues boiling forth from Rhada.
"I swear by the Goddess, if we were not in a public venue," Buffy muttered, "I'd beat you." That drew even more looks of 'what the fuck?' I couldn't let that insult stand.
"Hush now," I turned and scolded Buffy while I wagged a finger in her face. "One more outburst like that and I'll make you smile all day tomorrow. I'll even make you adopt a puppy, you cat-lover, you." Total silence.
"I don't know if I'm more insulted by his 'First' talking to him that way," the Head of House Mielikki inquired of Madi, "or his response to her threat?"
"She is a crude, brutish woman; much past his age," Rhada mumbled. That did not go unnoticed, as 'them thar's fighting words' in this society. Insinuating someone was an old-timer was a thinly veiled suggestion that they go kill themselves. I had to intervene. Buffy would chop Rhada into Kibble if they fought.
"Madi, I formally request private time with your apprentice to discuss matters of House Ishara etiquette she seems to have misconstrued," I spoke up. I didn't have to be a telepath to know what Buffy was thinking. Hell's Belles, I didn't even need to turn around.
'Let me at her! Let me at her!' was Buffy's silent request. Rhada was pretty eager too.
"Perhaps we have all misconstrued the precise reason your 'First' has threatened you with physical violence," Mielikki butted in.
"In House Ishara, all challenges are merely preludes to sex," I elucidated with great eloquence.
"Lots and lots of sex," I gave her a sultry grin. "Hours of it. Repeated sessions of cunnilingus, showering my mate's body with tiny kisses and, of course, all kinds of massages and caresses, whispered words of praise for her physical perfections and sexual prowess accompanying multiple cries of ecstasy and, "
"Enough Ishara," St. Marie reined me in. Rhada was already squirming in her seat.
"Amen and Hallelujah," Buffy sizzled. Oneida was shooting me Happy Pet-my-Kitty smiles too.
"On the bright side," Beyoncé joked. "I don't think we have to worry about there being enough Ishara heirs."
"Enough," St. Marie reiterated.
"Wait, Golden Mare," Kohar requested. "What happens if one of us chooses to mate with him?"
"Too late for that," Katrina murmured into her hand.
"I think we should let each daughter decide which house she wishes to seek a caste in," Shawnee gave the room a genteel smile. "He should be allowed to keep his sons."
"Cáel, what is your view of this matter?" Kohar looked at me. Yep, she wanted some of me for all kinds of bizarre and highly questionable reasons. I silently vowed to stop using Axe body wash; this sexual tension was getting out of hand.
"How about we move straight along to the Question & Answer phase of my Foreign Policy briefing?" I countered. "Besides, I can't mate with an Amazon for another, thirty two days, " my voice wandered off.
"Wow," I said softly as I held up my hand. "Ladies, please give me a second. From the moment I discovered your secret, I never thought I'd live this long. Let me treasure this impossible moment." And they did
To be continued, in a few weeks, with Book 3
By FinalStand, for Literotica