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Snorting PCP while sniffing glue and ingesting LSD.
OOC: I know about the Green Light teams, and I don't even find the nukes prepositioned in Dunkeldeutschland to be completely unfeasible. Great story.
Come to think of it: Has Billy Waugh made an appearance in RD+20?
Not to mention heroin and crack cocaine…
While building a Rube Goldberg machine.
“For a brick, he flew pretty good!” Sgt. Major A.J. Johnson, Halo 2
To err is human; to forgive is not SAC policy.
“This is Raven 2-5. This is my sandbox. You will not drop, acknowledge.” David Flanagan, former Raven FAC
Johnnie Lyle wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:44 am
Talk about the Good Idea Fairy snorting some PCP before shift.
Snorting PCP while sniffing glue and ingesting LSD.
OOC: I know about the Green Light teams, and I don't even find the nukes prepositioned in Dunkeldeutschland to be completely unfeasible. Great story.
Come to think of it: Has Billy Waugh made an appearance in RD+20?
Not yet, he's teaching Chuck Norris how to be awesome.
Johnnie Lyle wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:44 am
Talk about the Good Idea Fairy snorting some PCP before shift.
Snorting PCP while sniffing glue and ingesting LSD.
OOC: I know about the Green Light teams, and I don't even find the nukes prepositioned in Dunkeldeutschland to be completely unfeasible. Great story.
Come to think of it: Has Billy Waugh made an appearance in RD+20?
Not yet, he's teaching Chuck Norris how to be awesome.
Chuck Norris doesn’t need lessons on how to be awesome, merely on how not to overwhelm others with his own awesomeness…
“For a brick, he flew pretty good!” Sgt. Major A.J. Johnson, Halo 2
To err is human; to forgive is not SAC policy.
“This is Raven 2-5. This is my sandbox. You will not drop, acknowledge.” David Flanagan, former Raven FAC
20 December 1987
Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters
Former King of Prussia Shopping Mall
King of Prussia, PA
General Lodge thought over the report.
"Colonel Decker, do you have any hard data to back this?"
"Not really. It's mostly surmises, SWAGs, and not being able to think of anything else that would rate this guy being in Vegas instead of, say, Philly. But unless you can think of another way to obliterate Tenth Air Force HQ . . . it's the only one that makes sense. Hell, a VBIED won't do it, the HQ is a campus."
"I see. Agent O'Shaugnessy, your thoughts?"
The West Texas twang was out in force, and not in a happy way. "General, I have no hard evidence, either. But my gut agrees with Colonel Decker. And it's interesting that it's an East German operative, not Soviet, considering where we misplaced the package."
Lodge was quiet for a moment, then said, "Rod . . . this isn't like you. What do you want from me?"
"Sir . . . Chief Henrix thought we should call you, and I agreed."
There was a pause. Lodge said nothing. Rod will tell me at his speed.
"Given that I was a principal in this whole fiasco, I thought I should talk to someone I could trust for . . . guidance, a sanity check, whatever."
"Rod . . . thank you. That means a lot to me. From sitting behind this desk, I'm saying you folks should move decisively and with violence of action and take this guy down. Good luck, and good hunting, my friend."
"Thanks, Sam."
20 December
Headquarters, 10th Air Force
Nellis Air Force Base
Las Vegas, NV
Brigadier General Vandenhelden felt his pager go off. He looked at the display.
It read "BOOBIES."
He flipped it over and saw "531-8008."
He chuckled, even as his mind began putting things together. Chief Henrix just sent up a flare--
He saw Chief Henrix step into the ops bullpen, and went to the door of his office.
* * *
Lieutenant Colonel Brock Addison saw Henrix walking into the bullpen area and decided she was acting too casually.
He reached opened the drawer to his right and reached in . . .
. . . and noticed Sophie's hand hovering near the butt of her .45, and then her serene smile that seemed to say, Go for it, moron.
He pulled his hand out of the drawer.
A slender redhead walked up to Addison and pushed the drawer shut. "Colonel Addison, you are under arrest on charges of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Articles 92, 104, 106a, 120, and 125. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can--"
* * *
Sophie saw Jorgensen reach toward his phone and walked swiftly to his desk. She rolled his chair back until it hit the next desk.
"Sir, don't even try it."
He started to stand up, reaching into his flight suit.
* * *
"--have the right to an attorney--"
There was a single gunshot from the area of Jorgensen's desk.
"Goddamnit, Chief l, I thought I gave you pretty specific instructions on capturing these two alive!"
Sophie's voice was calm. "Quite specific, Special Agent O'Shaughnessy. You were, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."
"Point taken." Caitlin turned back to Addison, "As I was saying . . . "
* * *
Vandenhelden stepped out into the bullpen as O'Shaughnessy finished putting the cuffs on Addison. CSPs charged in and surrounded Jorgensen; one began administering first aid.
"Got your message, Chief."
"Yes, sir. We've got two in custody, plus we have a suspect we have to grab out in town. Bad news is that he's LVPD, so we can't use them for assistance. The ACHERNAR network is at risk, we need to extract them immediately. Thank God it's Sunday, sir, nobody's filming today."
"Understood." He stepped back into his office and called Tanner's office to report the situation.
Tanner's orders were concise: "Follow her lead. I've just been briefed by Colonel Decker, he has overall command, she's working for him right now."
"Understood, sir."
* * *
Lieutenant Bauer was threading a belt into an MG3 mounted on the roof of a Humvee.
Senior Master Sergeant Gonzalez asked, "Ell-Tee, sir, do you intend to command from the turret ring?"
"Yes, Master Sergeant. I need to be able to see in all directions to maintain command and control of what could become a very dangerous situation, and this is the only spot in the vehicle that lets me do that. I need a headset on an extension cord, please."
Gonzalez looked levelly at Bauer, who returned the look calmly.
"It's probably going to be a milk run, sir."
"I'm a tad more pessimistic than you are, Master Sergeant. There's already been gunplay in this mess. I'd rather be as ready as I can for a fight and look stupid when it doesn't happen than assume it's a safe run and get my people killed because they trusted me."
Gonzalez nodded. "Of course, sir. Just seeing where your head is."
"I'll in the lead Humvee, I want you in the trailing vehicle's turret ready to take over if I'm hit. Put Tech Sergeant Madaffer in the middle vehicle as the vehicle commander, she's a steady hand, and we need that since that will be the primary extraction vehicle. I'd probably stress already stressed-out civilians even more, especially if there's a firefight."
"Yes, sir."
* * *
Gonzalez walked away, satisfied. He'd've arranged things a little differently--Bauer should've taken the middle vehicle, he thought, for better command and control--but he could understand his logic.
If things really go that bad, it's probably the best arrangement, come to think of it.
* * *
Roon sat in the condo.
The phone rang. He picked it up.
"Yes?"
A woman's voice. "They have fresh chicken cutlets at Safeway. I figure we can get some stuff at the Hawaiian Market and make some Pineapple Chicken for brunch."
"Very good."
Roon hung up, then dialed a number.
"Alfred here."
"Alfred, there seems to be some excitement at the Hawaiian Market. Look into it, please."
* * *
Sophie listened to the radio as they made their way down the Strip and frowned. She got on the intercom circuit. "Lieutenant Bauer?"
"Yes, Chief?"
"Comms discipline is kind of weak. Figure a hot extract."
"Affirmative." He keyed the radio. "All elements, FLAMINGO. I say again, FLAMINGO. Silence on the channel, please."
* * *
Gonzalez made a hand gesture to Madaffer, who passed it to Bauer, who in turn gave a thumbs up.
Good kid.
* * *
Christy Canyon heard diesel engines and made her way through the news stand and bookstore adjacent to the Hawaiian Market.
She looked out the window and saw three Humvees hop up the curb, cross the sidewalk, and up the few steps into the plaza in front of the shops. They were spread out across the plaza. Air Force CSPs climbed out.
She turned to Ginger Lynn and Traci. "They're here."
* * *
Diane Renton and Roxy Sky were at a kiosk, looking at postcards and waiting for the signal to move to the center Humvee.
Diane tensed. "Side by side is bad. They're expecting trouble."
Roxy saw movement to her right and said, "I've got two guys to my right who are pretending to not notice the Humvees."
Diane pivoted toward the news stand and held out her hand in the "Stop" gesture.
* * *
Christy said, "Hold up, Diane saw something!"
* * *
Sophie scanned the crowd from the left front of the right Humvee and saw, in sequence, Diane's hand signal to the group in the news stand, and then two men who were looking toward--
"BAUER, HOSTILES TO THE RIGHT FLANK!"
* * *
Bauer swiveled the MG3 and saw a classic stack in the side arcade, all wearing SWAT gear, and one was raising his weapon towards the Humvees.
Bauer keyed his radio, called, "NIGHTBREAKER NIGHTBREAKER NIGHTBREAKER," and opened fire.
* * *
Hauptmann Georg Mueller heard the tearing cloth of an MG3 and realized he'd already lost.
He turned and began running to the nearest exit. His Oberfeldwebel, Hans Jungmann, was already ahead of him.
A woman's voice: Halten Sie!
This was punctuated by a bullet flying past Mueller and hitting Jungmann in the back of the head, taking him down instantly.
She knows I'm German. One last option.
Mueller found the fake tooth with his tongue and levered it out of its position, then bit down on it. A burning sensation filled his mouth.
* * *
Sophie rolled the second man over, smelling an acrid, bitter odor from his mouth.
Wolfman wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 9:53 pm
IIRC, she’s still a Warrant Officer during BOLO II…
I am not that familiar with the RD+20 timeline of events. But somebody, somewhere is taking notes and putting a big damn rider on her personnel file saying "commission with extreme prejudice, ASAP". With all due respect for Warrant Officers (and I have a lot of that, if only by hearsay and reading), her brains are wasted on that career track. I know she is going ro make general, but anyway…
I don’t know precisely when she’s commissioned as an officer, but I do know that it’s well after BOLO II, and I think it’s shortly after the end of the war…
“For a brick, he flew pretty good!” Sgt. Major A.J. Johnson, Halo 2
To err is human; to forgive is not SAC policy.
“This is Raven 2-5. This is my sandbox. You will not drop, acknowledge.” David Flanagan, former Raven FAC
Wolfman wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:19 pm
I don’t know precisely when she’s commissioned as an officer, but I do know that it’s well after BOLO II, and I think it’s shortly after the end of the war…
Makes sense in a "utilize the snake eaters as much as possible" kind of way. NCOs and WOs go hunting, officers tell them to and watch them go hunting...
