AIIB and other giant infrastructural projects are coming into play sooner, now that shit is hitting the fan. China needs friends and is willing to pay for them. (sorry for the big map)
###
A Dragon in the Woods
"Fucking pig" Lin spat as he kicked the Burmese soldier in the thigh. The soldier's head almost came off as he instantly turned towards the Chinese with an angry stare, then he froze. The Tatmadaw (Military) usually had little reach over these areas, and the Na Sa Kha (Auxiliaries) was the one that laid down the law, unfortunately all too often the Na Sa Kha dispensed its own laws, creating its own local power structures. The Burmese commander stood up instantly and hastily saluted the Chinese.
"You the Bogyoke (Officer) here?" As the words were translated, the Soldier hastily nodded "I am here on behalf of the State Law and Order Restoration Council and the Tatmadaw. Your unit will be brought under the wing of the military, and these boys..." he pointed at the two giant shaved Burmese men "...are here to take arrest you."
As expected, the local officer tried to run, but all the entrances of the small mud hut were barred with guards, who instantly caught the man trying to escape. The giant Bogyoke who was standing next to Lin signaled something in whatever language he spoke to the men around him, they turned to the agent in broken Mandarin.
"We execute him."
This surprised Lin who looked back into what he smugly called the "ape" with confusion "Wont you sent him back to the headquarters for trial?"
The Bogyoke, bemusingly explained "Capital? We are far. No roads. Must send convoy, costs..." he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, the international symbol for money "...much easier do it here."
The agent remained silent for a bit before pulling out a cigarette out of his forward pocket. He carried several packs of his favorite Balkan made cigarettes, but he didn't use them, he mainly kept them around to trade for favors with the locals and the soldiers, as they didn't have access to anything like that. For personal use, he had to go with some local variety. Lin could never get rid of that smug sense of superiority, he could never grasp the complexity of the people around him, so he boiled down the Burmese and their struggles and daily lives to a simple word, barbaric. He thought the same about their cigarettes.
As Lin stepped out of the hut, a gunshot pierced the silence of the forest. He lit his cigarette and looked upon the trees. Soon enough, there was going to be a highway passing through here, transporting goods and through it, China will dominate this land. The Burmese government was desperate as it was further isolated, they were ready to sell their soul, and China was more then a willing to buy it. The agent realized these lands were rich and their people poor, but his empathy was left on the other side of the border, for he was here not as a care-worker or a nurse, but as an enforcer of the interests of the People's Republic.
The Tatmadaw had been a willing helper, with the Sa Ya Pa (Security Services) quickly ratting out those Na Sa Kha commanders who were conducting illegal activities along the path of China's planned highway expansion. They were quickly cleaned up, the locals will probably be drafted into the military to help built the road. Of course, unlike the Tatmadaw, China will pay those people handsomely for their service, and they will eventually be relocated. With the exploding financial crisis in Asia, thanks to a lot of businesses moving to Eastern Europe and a collapse of the stock markets over the region, a lot of countries were looking to the elephant in the room. Chinese money and assistance could help weather the storm, especially for weak economies like Burma, Laos and the like. Moreover, Lin's success in paving the way for Myanmar to be pulled towards the Chinese sphere will be appreciated by the MSS and its command staff.
All of this is going to...inconvenience, some of Myanmar's rebel populations. Lin himself was present as the a large military unit marched into a village, which had suspected rebels in it, and just burned the whole place down with the people inside it. He refused to sanction any of these activities, but he had no authority to stop it, so he just stood as far away as possible as the Burmese murdered and later buried the bodies of the people who had suffered "an incident". It was shit like this that shook his fate that he was on the right side of the barricade, but he fought that feeling, self doubt was the last he needed now, he was here to prove himself and the Agency was testing him, so he had to show that he was capable.
And once he was finished here, he would fly back to Beijing, with a brand new reputation and a position befitting his capabilities.
###
Vladislav Kovalenkov, in a funny twist of events, was his actual name and not some sort of a fake name he used for the operation. The Russian believed that a man's name was his marker in life. He was not adverse to using fake names, of course, but in case he did he always used short nicknames, never an actual full name. It was something weird his colleagues always found amusing.
An interesting fact about both Russian intelligence agencies like the GRU and FSB was that their staff agents were never sent on the field, they were analysts and political officers, but never field agents. Both of the organizations however, had a Specnaz (special forces) detachment that was used in case of an emergency or if the agencies needed to send someone out to do something really really dangerous and stupid. Like, for example, shoot Iran's Ayatollah. Of course, Russia would never do anything like that.
Destroying military hardware that was smuggled out of Russia and into Iraq however? That was another story. Vladislav had this operation all planned out, the operation was going to be quick and clean and the weapons were going to be destroyed. And then Saddam, that fucker, had to get shot. Now he was stuck babysitting a squeamish american in the middle of a bubbling warzone. He could just ditch Mark and keep moving on his own, but something stopped him from abandoning the American. Perhaps it was a sense of a honor, or even friendship. Whatever it was, he was stuck with it.
As they reached the embassy, the agent realized what he had feared all along. The place was under siege, the building filled with friendly Iraqi contractors, while the outside was swarming with warriors belonging to the various Iraq factions fighting for control over the city. Getting into the embassy, with the american in tow was hard, but once in, they all found themselves in the middle of an even stickier situation.
Vladislav walked in, Mark on his shoulders, the ground floor was filled to the brink with people, most of them were Iraqis, but a few Russians, possibly business owners and advisers were there as well. He pushed through the crowd and walked up to the central marble stairs, guarded by a few of the local Iraqi guards keeping the crowd at bay. "Sorry..." one of them started in very bad English "... we cannot let you go up."
"Tell the Ambassador Vladislav Kovalenkov is here. He will want to see me."
Two of the guards shared a confused look and one of them nodded, he turned around and quickly ran up the stairs. Vladislav, who was holding the lifeless body of the American, slowly let the man down on a chair that was freed especially for him. Medical staff quickly swarmed around Mark.
"Follow me." the guard said, returning. Vlad threw a quick look at the American and left him there at the care of the medics. The Russian briskly climbed the stairs after the Iraqi man. A large wooden door at the end of the hallway on the second floor, opened to reveal the ambassador and a few of the advisers all huddled around a small wooden table, they were deshaven, their suits messy and there was a horrible stench about.
"Mr Kovalenkov..." the ambassador said without looking up "...I am happy you are here. We must prepare...."
###
