Life as a New Hire Ch. 34

The Russians had two other armies in the Far East Military District, the large 29th (Chita) and the smaller 36th (Ulan Ude), except they were on the wrong (northwestern) side of Nin Mongol. That was the force projection Temujin needed. I needed to get the Russians from Chita and Ulan Ude through Khanate conquered territory and into Heilongjiang...and then the Chinese would be truly screwed.

The Khanate couldn't take the Chinese Northeast, so the next best thing was have the Russians control it, denying it to the PRC. I was working over the proper military/diplomatic phrasing with Riki and Delilah when this older woman opened the rear exterior door to the kitchen and walked in, juggling two bags of groceries.

She looked perturbed, not fearful, until she caught sight of my arm sheath. That worried her.

[Romanian] "My apologize Madam," I stood up straight. "I am Cáel Nyilas and I have some business with Professor Loma." Shit. She had the same knife-sheath. [Old Kingdom Hittite] "What house are you with?" That froze her in mid-stride.

[OKH] "Please, do not kill my children," she regarded me with some degree of hopelessness. She cast about the others. Tiger Lily came through the door behind her.

[OKH] "Why would I...oh, I am Cáel Wakko Ishara, Head of House Ishara and Chief Diplomat of the Host, and I wish to talk with you," I preempted the crisis.

[OKH] "You are a male and House Ishara is a dead house," she countered. She gave Tiger Lily a quick glance.

[OKH] "She is a renegade," Tiger Lily rumbled. That meant an Amazon who had forsaken the race.

[OKH] "Tiger Lily, who is in charge here?" I requested. I also began taking my guns out and placing them on the kitchen counter. The rest didn't know the lingo, but could smell the unease.

[OKH] "You are, Wakko Ishara," she responded.

[OKH] "How...is my family okay?" the woman asked.

[OKH] "Yes. They are the reason we are here, though it has everything to do with my status as an Ash Man and nothing to do about you," I enlightened her. "Your husband and your children are members of a lost bloodline of House Illuyankamunus. Are you armed?"

[Romanian] "No." I took her one of my Glock-22's, dropped the magazine, chambered out the round in the barrel and handed her the three pieces.

She examined the gun for a moment, looked into my eyes, then put the bullet in the mag, reloaded the pistol and moved the slide to put a bullet in place.

[OKH] "Thank you, Ishara," she nodded. "May I see my children?"

[Romanian] "It is your house," I replied. "We are guests."

[OKH] "Who did you abandon?" Tiger Lily shot. The woman flinched.

[OKH] "I was Aliz of House Hylonome," she responded, "and I chose to live free." Hylonome ... Hylonome? Oh, the Centaur Goddess. Aliz left. Tiger Lily had a whispered conversation on her communication gear.

Finishing up the 'Russian' problem, plus Faviu's informing us we had 15 minutes before the Russian Attaché to Bucharest arrived, allowed me to check back with the Professor and Alkonyka. There were no 'Sun' graves after 1927 in the Székely Lands, but there were some name matches with Hungarian POW's captured by the British at the end of World War II.

Bizarrely, three of the names ended up being mis-shuffled to Czechoslovakia instead of being sent back to Romania (and a prison camp.) Before the mix-up could be rectified, they applied for and got passports for themselves and their families to Brazil - a grand total of fourteen people aged between 68 and 3.

Since they weren't wanted in Czechoslovakia, the government let them go. The two researchers hadn't been able to trace the group's movement after that, due to a mutual lack of Portuguese linguistic skills. The situation was still promising. All I had to do was figure out how to launch my next hunt during Carnival.

What was I going to say to the Russians? Life intervened. Chaz tapped me.

"A motorcyclist crashed 100 meters down the driveway. A young girl has crawled from under it, but is bloody and confused. The girl is sitting in the road, not going anywhere," he said.

"Inform Rachel I would like the girl retrieved," I relayed.

No, I wasn't going. The driveway to this house was almost a kilometer from the local highway. The western side of the drive was cleared and mowed for roughly 10 meters. The eastern side was open with low brush all the way down to the Olt River, about 1500 meters. Whomever retrieved the child would be very exposed. We had true professionals for this kind of work.

Rachel selected Selena, Wiesława and Odette to make the retrieval. Odette had volunteered. Selena would drive one of the vans, Odette would make the pick-up of the child then jump back into the van while Wiesława provided close support. Rachel allowed Odette to do the job because she respected Odette's courage ... and the person wrangling the child would be rendered non-combative anyway.

This deployment allowed the SD to cover the four corners of the building. Pamela would hold a sniper's position from within the house. Virginia and Vincent both asked to go in Odette's place. Rachel nixed that. Her call was to use Vincent/Delilah and me/Chaz as two reaction teams if needed, in case this was a set up. Saku replaced Mona at her position.

Riki and Flaviu gathered up the Loma family in the upstairs library. The entire plan took twenty-seven seconds to implement. How cool was that? The van rolled down to the downed bike. The girl didn't start to react until Odette got to her - then she began to lash out and try to flee. A combination of the girl's wounds and Odette's ferocious persistence got the girl into the back of the van with fifteen seconds.

Wiesława backed in through the van's side door. The second her ass hit the floor, Selena raced the van back to the house - driving backwards. Since the sliding door was on the right side, Selena spun it around in a deft display of automotive acrobatics. Behind the screen of Wiesława's body, Odette got the girl inside the manor house and deposited in front of Mona.

[Romanian] "No - no," the girl babbled. That was expected. Her next words were not. "Hylonome - Hylonome - [OKH] "Please help me."

[OKH] "Are you a member of the Host?" Mona requested urgently.

[OKH] "Yes," the girl's depression alleviated slightly. "Are you Aliz?"

[OKH] "No. I am Mona of House Jaya. I am with the Security Detail and you are in the presence of Cáel Wakko Ishara, head of House Ishara," she educated the child.

[Romanian] "Aliz," I called upstairs, "we need you." While I waited on her, Mona went over the litany of the child's wounds.

There were multiple scraps and abrasions, but the highlights were a blade wound to the head and a gunshot wound on the left side - nasty looking but not too serious. Aliz Loma came down the stairs. She recognized the style of the child's braiding instantly.

[OKH] "I am Aliz, child. Who are you, how do you know who I am and why are you here?" she requested.

[OKH] "I am Zola, childe of Anna, your sister," the girl gasped as Mona started cleaning her wounds. The people gathered around were learning a basic of Amazon medicine. They rarely used anesthetic of any kind. "Hedwig found you years ago and it was judged that you had made your choice and were not a threat to our band."

Hedwig turned out to be the old head of Zola's Amazon nomadic band. The Hylonome were dedicated wanderers. They had never embraced the sedentary lifestyle of their sisters, choosing the life of under the open sky. After World War II, some bands had transferred their mobility to motorcycles - the Hylonome traveled lean. Zola's band was the latter type.

That they had allowed Aliz to live a mundane life spoke to the difference between the freehold Amazons and the nomads. Nomads most likely had a greater understanding of such things because they constantly moved along the fringes of non-Amazon cultures and they had no set location to be betrayed. In all likelihood, forgiveness still hadn't been the norm, but it obviously occurred.

[OKH] "Zola, what happened to you?" Aliz squeezed her niece's hand.

[OKH] "A giant with many men - they overran our camp," she sobbed. "They were everywhere. Aaahhh...Kara put me on her bike and told me to run...run to you and to tell you to warn the others."

[OKH] "Warn us of what?" I knelt beside the child. I was missing something.

[OKH] "An Amazon betrayed us to our enemies. She contacted two of our house in town last night. She was Amazon, yet when we were attacked, she killed our people," the girl related. I described Molpadia/Kwenhamai to what was probably the sole survivor of that massacre.

[OKH] "Yes Ishara. That is woman. Who is she and why did she betray us?"

[OKH] "I'll tell you later. When did this happen and where?" I pressed.

[OKH] "The Castle of the Red-Orange Skulls after the midday meal," she replied. (Red-Orange translated to seven. After the midday meal meant ~ three hours ago, maybe. The rest...)

[OKH] "I know where that is," Aliz nodded. "It was a fortified outpost built by the Transylvanians to stand against the Tartars. The Ottomans destroyed it in the 16th century and it was never repaired," she explained. "We have used it for centuries." She shook her head. "We, as in 'the Hylonome'," she corrected. I was angry, yet anger wasn't going to get any of us anywhere. We could all be in danger if Ajax and company were this close.

Then I heard the helicopters. The Russian Attaché was coming to ask me (the Khanate) to help out her (the Russian Federation). Flaviu joined us downstairs. I felt my anger chill down to a cold resolve.

[Romanian] "Mr. Molnar, are there any military troops close by?" I asked our local liaison.

[Romanian] "We have the 61st Mountain Troops Brigade here in Miercurea Ciuc," he hesitantly answered. "Why?"

[Romanian] "How would you like to change the course of history? The Russians need a favor from me and I need a favor from you," I hinted.

[Romanian] "What do you need the troops for?" he worried.

[Romanian] "For what everyone throughout history has needed fighters for. I'm going to kill some people," I stated with my best feral grin.

[Romanian] "Shouldn't we call the police?" he countered.

"No...Mr. Molnar, what do you think of me?" I reposted.

"Ah...you are somewhat of a dilettante," he gave me his assessment. Inside a blink of an eye, I had the barrel of my clock making an imprint on his forehead.

"Let me make this perfectly clear. I'm going after the people that did this. If I go with what I have, we are all going to die. That being the case, you will most likely try to stop me, so I might as well kill you now," I made steady eye contact. "If you want to live, get me those troops."

"I can't simply order these troops into a battle," he said fearfully.

"I know you can't do it alone," I nodded. "When the Russians and the United States make their request, all I want you to do is tell your people in the Foreign Office that this is a serious threat and that only the Romanian Army can save the day...and not just here, but in China too."

"Mr. Molnar, I think I know what's going on," Riki Martin added from half way down the stairs. "I'm going to call the United States military mission to Romanian and my State Department. I think I know what Cáel is up to," she continued. "I believe if you, me and the Russian emissary plead our desperate case, we can get those troops. Time is of the essence."

"Okay. I will do what I can," the Romanian agent agreed. I put my gun back up.

It was all still a long shot. The Russians had to agree to my proposal and to put pressure on our host country to put their men in Harm's Way. I also had to get rolling before Ajax moved on to his next target. The Condottieri was hitting the Amazons in Europe...and probably in Africa. I needed one final token to give us a chance of defeating the Unconquered. Lucky for me, it was a standard item for heavily armed law enforcement types.

World News: ... A Behind the Scenes Report

As Foreign intelligence analysts, members of the Russian Federations Defense Staff and their special advisors examined the 'Khanate' proposal, they didn't understand it. On the surface, it was insane and, at the same time, accomplished their mission directives. The military leaders were looking at the Intelligence staff, who could only shrug.

What had Russia promised for this bounty? Not a damn thing, which only made everyone all that more suspicious. Outwardly, the Khanate plan was a gamble for the Russian Army, yet...the true risk would be momentary - 36 hours max. The nod was given, the President of Russia was called. Three minutes later, he called back. Operation 'Funhouse' was a go.

In Beijing, there was one man who was terribly unhappy with this plan. His name was Andrey Ivanovich Denisov and he was 'Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the People's Republic of China'. He was also about to give his opposite number in the People's Republic of China, Foreign Minster Wang Yi, some really bad news.

Putin had spoken. Russia was coming to help China, whether it wanted the help or not. It got worse. The Russian Air Force was going to enforce a 'No Fly Zone' over Northeastern China in eight hours and they were already putting the motion before the UN Security Council's members to 'explain' their actions.

Denisov's chief military advisor had pointed out one niggling issue: the 'No Fly' Zone over Northeastern China would cover portions of Khanate controlled territory as well as the balance of the area, essentially allowing them to shift resources elsewhere while the Russian Air Force protected their territorial gains. Andrey wasn't sure how this would NOT be construed as an Act of War. He was even more concerned about how he'd get back to the embassy without suffering an 'unfortunate accident'.

London and Washington were coming to the same conclusion. Technically, they could simply deny they even had copies of 'Operation Funhouse'. Politically, this was manna from Heaven. Putin couldn't strong arm both the Ukraine and the PRC. His priorities had switched, so now NATO could jump into the Ukraine which would appease their democratic constituencies.

There were also larger economic/political issues to look at. Europe had constantly been threatened by Russia's interference with the oil and natural gas pipelines that first pass through Russia before crossing the Ukraine and Belarus and heading off to Central and Western Europe. A great deal of that fuel originated in what was now the Khanate.

If the Khanate survived, and viewed the US and UK favorably, the 'oil and natural gas' boot would be on the other foot. If Russia threatened the European Democracies' petrochemical supplies, the Khanate could threaten to cut off Russia as well. The old Republic of Kazakhstan never had the will to confront Russia. The Khanate was turning out to be a very different beast.

Because the world didn't need any more ominous rumblings, catastrophe and madness collided in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea was an energy exporter, with most of its power coming from coal-fired plants and hydro-electric facilities. The problem was you can't run armored vehicles and combat aircraft on electric power. You needed oil.

North Korea's oil came from China - Liaoning province to be precise, and Liaoning was getting hammered around the clock by the Khanate. The oil pipeline had ruptured and it would be months before it was fixed. In that situation, a sane nation would have shopped around for other avenue of imported oil. But we were talking about North Korea here.

Kim Jung-un was looking down the barrels of another famine (trucks and tractors need petrol too) as well as the far more important reduction in the Korean People's Army's readiness. He saw himself possessing the World's 4th largest military and it was in danger of running out of fuel...and Liaoning province was sitting right across the Yalu River...all helpless-like.

End World News Behind the Scenes Report

(The Unconquered)

In the annals of martial history, the bloodiest - costliest battles are when elites face elites. As corny and melodramatic as it sounds, the truth is that neither has 'surrender' in their creed. They attack, defend, ambush, shoot, stab and kill one another until one side loses the capacity to carry on the struggle. It is a grapple to the death.

All of Ajax's men were hardened killers - ten year veterans of the Trojan Wars every; one of them. The ranks of the 22nd Mountain Troops Battalion were filled with numerous combat-tested soldiers of the Afghan War. These Romanians were some of the finest combatants produced by the Romanian Army. The two companies earmarked for sealing off the road as a retreat route were about to find out what the price of being elite really was.

They were fighting for their homeland, avenging their slain (technically, the slaughtered Amazons were Romanians) and had generations of their own warriors, dating back to the First World War, whose legacy of ferocity they had to maintain. Ajax had the advantage in technology and surprise. The Romanians had numbers, experience with the terrain and the advantage of multi-dimensional warfare.

The lead vehicles of the 22nd had rounded the hilly terrain to the East of the Castle of Seven Skulls when they collided with Ajax's team rolling away from those ruins. The Mountain Troops were fast - Ajax's team was faster. One soldier stepped out of his still-braking Eagle transport.

He snap-shot a Panzerfaust 3, a light anti-tank weapon, blowing up the first Romanian Piranha IIIc. Two Eagles further down the column, a second team member put another Panzerfaust into the follow-up 22nd MLVN (armored personal carrier). That was as good as it got. The third vehicle, another MLVN swung partially around its burning brethren and poured automatic fire into Ajax's lead Eagle, turning huge chunks of that 'Hummer on Steroids' transport into shrapnel.

Trading vehicle for vehicle wasn't something Ajax could afford. For the Romanians, they couldn't race past the blocked road without incurring horrendous losses themselves. Besides, by holding their ground and keeping the enemy focused on them, they were fulfilling their part of the plan. The Mountain Troops disgorged from their MLVN's, spreading out into the meadow on either side of the path and were quickly bounding forward by fire.

Ajax reacted quickly. His heavy weapons would allow him to attrition the enemy in front of him, yet he'd be a fool to think they were alone. He knew he was facing army troops, not police. That spelled serious trouble. He ordered his column to reverse course back into the wood cover. He lost his second Eagle to intensive fire.

The warriors in the main column bailed out once they reached the shelter of the trees. Machineguns came forward and established a withering cover fire. The two survivors at the first Eagle were badly wounded. With fatalistic resolve, they lashed the advancing Romanians with grenades and their assault rifles until they were both silenced. The second Eagle's demise was much harder.

Three of the four crew were alive and unharmed. Their fate was decided by 25 meters of open ground between them and their compatriots. Ajax's gunners kept firing, but the Romanians refused to be suppressed. Worse, that second MLVN was proving impossible to kill. Its driver had parked it so that barely the front of his vehicle body and turret were exposed.

Two more of Ajax's precious anti-tank rockets failed to connect, though one did knock the first destroyed IFV into that troublesome vehicle. These were Ajax's brothers-in-arms, yet he knew their situation was hopeless. He cursed that his opposition wasn't made up of raw conscripts. Despite their losses, they were not wavering. Their morale remained solid.