Of Bears, Eagles, Dragons and Lions: The Second Marshall Plan and the New Cold War
- Thread starter BgKnight
- Start date
Doubt it.
He just hit US and Russian embassies with chemical weapons.
Pakistan tries to hide his ass, 3rd Guards Army comes down to explain things to Pakistan. Intensely.
As promised, y'all get more.
###
"...we didn't know about this." The ISI agent stood adamant as the Iranian was berating him "How can we know?!"
"You tell me? The west is mobilizing and all because you couldn't keep your Saudi on a leash." the Iranian growled. Before the Pakistani could retort Lin stepped in.
"Brothers, brothers, please..." he said, the two men locked eyes with him "...Pakistan has dropped support of the Taliban and by extension Al Qaeda. Can we concentrate on the situation at hand, please?"
"Yes, yes." the Iranian said with a dismissive gesture. "Once the troops enter Afghanistan, the situation will be unstable at best. We need to keep Haq out of the fighting, lest he be martyred and we loose our key uniting figure. Several of the eastern, northern and even some western tribesmen have agreed to declare for him. The Northern Alliance will fold rank under him, they have promised to unite the other ethnicity in the region. Luckily, the Taliban hold the loyalty a small plurality of warlords, so it won't take much to drawn them behind the new player in town. What is imperative is that we do not allow the Americans to act first..." the Iranian looked towards the ISI agent "...brother?"
"Yes." the man took it from there. "We will enter Afghanistan on horseback. The PLA, Pakistani Forces and Iranian Army are going to be fully armored and roll in quickly, but we must remain low-key, horses it is. Any other method of transport will draw attention. We will move a few days behind the forces, we need to get to Kabul a day after it falls to allow Haq do declare the new Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Overwhelming force and friendly locals should make for an easy operation."
"Insha'Allah." the Iranian said
"Insha'Allah" the Pakistani agreed.
***
Marc felt like a moron. He was played, like a pawn in some game of politics. He was very much at fault, his excessive gambling habit was what got him into Russia in the first place. Now, he is millions down the drain and a weapons deal with Iraq stuck to his name. He would never make another deal in his life, ever. No company would trust his brand.
He left the airplane unshaven and tired. His head pounding from the excitement that he had endured just 2 hours ago. The moment he got off that blasted helicopter, he jumped on the first plane he could find. This particular one was to Sofia, Bulgaria.
He was going to climb onto the flight to London and then take a Trans-Atlantic one to the states. He just wanted to go home. As he pushed his luggage towards a little booth that housed the border guard, he was stopped.
"Mr. Sanchez?" a large man, dressed in a Bulgarian border guard uniform started in that thick eastern European accent Americans had grown accustomed to listen to, thanks to so much outsourcing companies moving their headquarters to Russia, Poland or Bulgaria "Will you join me?" a reassuring smile remained on his face. Mark felt his gut twitching, he didn't want to go with the guard, he wanted to go home. But he had no choice, he followed the man into a small empty room.
"Can I have your passport?" the man said and extended his giant hand. Mark complied. The single light source shined dimly on the man's shaved head as he trifled with the passport. "Yes." he finally said. Discarding the passport to his side as two more men entered the room. Sanchez was now terrified. One of the men, in a slick black suit put his hand on Sanchez' shoulder and started in impeccable English.
"Mark Sanchez, name's Paul." Mark wasn't the observant type, but he could recognize a Company stooge. "Will you allow me the liberty to ask you about your... adventure with the Russian secret services?"
Mark cursed under his breath, it was probably the Ambassador who warned the local embassy about this. Its why he let him go so easily. Sanchez was panicking "I am a citizen of the United States of America, Paul, you cannot just detain me, I am entitled to a lawyer and to leave this place."
"That you are..." the CIA agent smiled "...but your passport has been revoked, unfortunately. And these fine gentlemen..." he pointed towards the Bulgarian guards "...will have to detain you if you do not come with me. Do you want to spend time in a Bulgarian arrest, Mr Sanchez, or in pleasant conversation in the American Embassy?"
Mark's head drooped down as he took a deep breath. Fucking CIA he thought to himself. "Just take me with you and lets get this over with" he said meekly.
A few minutes later, he was in the back of a large black car, staring at the city of Sofia driving past him. The shiny new streets, the old Soviet blocks completely renovated with new money that has been thrown at the economy. Slick office buildings showing themselves in-between the renovated apartment blocks. Commercials of brand new western mobile phones and laptops, the technology was advancing really rapidly with new innovations in computing coming out every day. With engineers from all over the world competing constantly, the resulting technological leap was evident.
The car finally pulled to a stop in the courtyard of the American embassy in Bulgaria. Paul dismissed the two guard who opened the door for them and walked in with Mark alone. "I trust you. Come..." he said as he walked into the well designed hall and opened a double wooden door into a more spartan room with a large table.
"Sit, would you like something to drink?"
"No sir."
"Alright, lets cut to the chase then. The CIA wants you. We know you are in financial trouble. We can pay handsomely and clear your record, in a month nobody will known you ever were close to Iraq or the deal that went down..." The man grinned at Mark's shocked face "...of course we want something in response. All the information you have so far and we want you to join our efforts in Sudan."
"Sudan? I have nothing in Sudan."
"You don't, but your friend does. Before I disclose more, I need your express agreement and wish that you sign this contract." he threw a bundle of papers on the table. Mark realized he was left little choices, plus, it was yet another gamble he was plunging himself into. It was exciting. So he signed.
"Excellent." the agent smiled "additional information on Sudan will be available in this folder. Welcome aboard Mr Sanchez."
"You tell me? The west is mobilizing and all because you couldn't keep your Saudi on a leash." the Iranian growled. Before the Pakistani could retort Lin stepped in.
"Brothers, brothers, please..." he said, the two men locked eyes with him "...Pakistan has dropped support of the Taliban and by extension Al Qaeda. Can we concentrate on the situation at hand, please?"
"Yes, yes." the Iranian said with a dismissive gesture. "Once the troops enter Afghanistan, the situation will be unstable at best. We need to keep Haq out of the fighting, lest he be martyred and we loose our key uniting figure. Several of the eastern, northern and even some western tribesmen have agreed to declare for him. The Northern Alliance will fold rank under him, they have promised to unite the other ethnicity in the region. Luckily, the Taliban hold the loyalty a small plurality of warlords, so it won't take much to drawn them behind the new player in town. What is imperative is that we do not allow the Americans to act first..." the Iranian looked towards the ISI agent "...brother?"
"Yes." the man took it from there. "We will enter Afghanistan on horseback. The PLA, Pakistani Forces and Iranian Army are going to be fully armored and roll in quickly, but we must remain low-key, horses it is. Any other method of transport will draw attention. We will move a few days behind the forces, we need to get to Kabul a day after it falls to allow Haq do declare the new Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Overwhelming force and friendly locals should make for an easy operation."
"Insha'Allah." the Iranian said
"Insha'Allah" the Pakistani agreed.
***
Marc felt like a moron. He was played, like a pawn in some game of politics. He was very much at fault, his excessive gambling habit was what got him into Russia in the first place. Now, he is millions down the drain and a weapons deal with Iraq stuck to his name. He would never make another deal in his life, ever. No company would trust his brand.
He left the airplane unshaven and tired. His head pounding from the excitement that he had endured just 2 hours ago. The moment he got off that blasted helicopter, he jumped on the first plane he could find. This particular one was to Sofia, Bulgaria.
He was going to climb onto the flight to London and then take a Trans-Atlantic one to the states. He just wanted to go home. As he pushed his luggage towards a little booth that housed the border guard, he was stopped.
"Mr. Sanchez?" a large man, dressed in a Bulgarian border guard uniform started in that thick eastern European accent Americans had grown accustomed to listen to, thanks to so much outsourcing companies moving their headquarters to Russia, Poland or Bulgaria "Will you join me?" a reassuring smile remained on his face. Mark felt his gut twitching, he didn't want to go with the guard, he wanted to go home. But he had no choice, he followed the man into a small empty room.
"Can I have your passport?" the man said and extended his giant hand. Mark complied. The single light source shined dimly on the man's shaved head as he trifled with the passport. "Yes." he finally said. Discarding the passport to his side as two more men entered the room. Sanchez was now terrified. One of the men, in a slick black suit put his hand on Sanchez' shoulder and started in impeccable English.
"Mark Sanchez, name's Paul." Mark wasn't the observant type, but he could recognize a Company stooge. "Will you allow me the liberty to ask you about your... adventure with the Russian secret services?"
Mark cursed under his breath, it was probably the Ambassador who warned the local embassy about this. Its why he let him go so easily. Sanchez was panicking "I am a citizen of the United States of America, Paul, you cannot just detain me, I am entitled to a lawyer and to leave this place."
"That you are..." the CIA agent smiled "...but your passport has been revoked, unfortunately. And these fine gentlemen..." he pointed towards the Bulgarian guards "...will have to detain you if you do not come with me. Do you want to spend time in a Bulgarian arrest, Mr Sanchez, or in pleasant conversation in the American Embassy?"
Mark's head drooped down as he took a deep breath. Fucking CIA he thought to himself. "Just take me with you and lets get this over with" he said meekly.
A few minutes later, he was in the back of a large black car, staring at the city of Sofia driving past him. The shiny new streets, the old Soviet blocks completely renovated with new money that has been thrown at the economy. Slick office buildings showing themselves in-between the renovated apartment blocks. Commercials of brand new western mobile phones and laptops, the technology was advancing really rapidly with new innovations in computing coming out every day. With engineers from all over the world competing constantly, the resulting technological leap was evident.
The car finally pulled to a stop in the courtyard of the American embassy in Bulgaria. Paul dismissed the two guard who opened the door for them and walked in with Mark alone. "I trust you. Come..." he said as he walked into the well designed hall and opened a double wooden door into a more spartan room with a large table.
"Sit, would you like something to drink?"
"No sir."
"Alright, lets cut to the chase then. The CIA wants you. We know you are in financial trouble. We can pay handsomely and clear your record, in a month nobody will known you ever were close to Iraq or the deal that went down..." The man grinned at Mark's shocked face "...of course we want something in response. All the information you have so far and we want you to join our efforts in Sudan."
"Sudan? I have nothing in Sudan."
"You don't, but your friend does. Before I disclose more, I need your express agreement and wish that you sign this contract." he threw a bundle of papers on the table. Mark realized he was left little choices, plus, it was yet another gamble he was plunging himself into. It was exciting. So he signed.
"Excellent." the agent smiled "additional information on Sudan will be available in this folder. Welcome aboard Mr Sanchez."