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A narrative interlude set in the Zagros Mountains of Persia
A narrative interlude set in the Zagros Mountains of Persia
14 March
Chiang Wei-kuo was a man without a home. He couldn't go back to China because of a lingering fear that perhaps his father's death was not as accidental as it could've been. Coded communications from his mother had all but warned him to stay away. He couldn't go back to Germany either where his wife Geli was waiting for him with their son Adolf. The recent invasion of Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union had forced Germany to keep whatever precious resources she had at home so there was no prospect of an airship to take him away. And so he sat - or rather crawled and squatted underneath the narrow bunkers and tunnels that harbored what remained of the Persian resistance and the Sino-German elements that had come to advice them. But the situation was bleak. He looked over the tables in front of him: stores of ammunition, food and medicine were all running low and there was no prospect of resupply either.
"Boss, we've got an incoming transmission."
One of his men broke his reverie.
"I'll come on over."
He climbed up the rope ladder to the top of the caves where the radio could pick up and send transmissions.
"This is RAS Hindenburg, requesting permission to land. We have supplies and some special visitors over."
"Is this a mistake? Christmas was about three months ago over."
"Not a mistake. This is a special supply run over."
"All right all right. You can set down over.
"We're sending over coordinates for a hidden slope where you can set down comfortably. We'll meet you there in a couple of hours."
The trek to the slope took some time but Chiang was curious to know who the visitors were. He wouldn't normally come along to a supply run, but since there hadn't been one since Christmas and there were special visitors - that piqued his interest.
When he got there he nearly fainted.
"Li? Skorzeny? What do I owe the pleasure of having the two most dangerous bastards in the world pay us a personal visit."
Li flashed him a rare smile, Chiang shuddered internally.
"We have reliable intelligence that your father is alive and well and being held captive near the Mongolian border. We have two companies of the best goddamn special forces that the Reich -"
"And the Bureau - "
" - has to offer."
"You must be bored here. Are you in?"
Chiang thought very carefully and then gave his answer.
Could you really say no to a face like this?
14 March
Chiang Wei-kuo was a man without a home. He couldn't go back to China because of a lingering fear that perhaps his father's death was not as accidental as it could've been. Coded communications from his mother had all but warned him to stay away. He couldn't go back to Germany either where his wife Geli was waiting for him with their son Adolf. The recent invasion of Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union had forced Germany to keep whatever precious resources she had at home so there was no prospect of an airship to take him away. And so he sat - or rather crawled and squatted underneath the narrow bunkers and tunnels that harbored what remained of the Persian resistance and the Sino-German elements that had come to advice them. But the situation was bleak. He looked over the tables in front of him: stores of ammunition, food and medicine were all running low and there was no prospect of resupply either.
"Boss, we've got an incoming transmission."
One of his men broke his reverie.
"I'll come on over."
He climbed up the rope ladder to the top of the caves where the radio could pick up and send transmissions.
"This is RAS Hindenburg, requesting permission to land. We have supplies and some special visitors over."
"Is this a mistake? Christmas was about three months ago over."
"Not a mistake. This is a special supply run over."
"All right all right. You can set down over.
"We're sending over coordinates for a hidden slope where you can set down comfortably. We'll meet you there in a couple of hours."
The trek to the slope took some time but Chiang was curious to know who the visitors were. He wouldn't normally come along to a supply run, but since there hadn't been one since Christmas and there were special visitors - that piqued his interest.
When he got there he nearly fainted.
"Li? Skorzeny? What do I owe the pleasure of having the two most dangerous bastards in the world pay us a personal visit."
Li flashed him a rare smile, Chiang shuddered internally.
"We have reliable intelligence that your father is alive and well and being held captive near the Mongolian border. We have two companies of the best goddamn special forces that the Reich -"
"And the Bureau - "
" - has to offer."
"You must be bored here. Are you in?"
Chiang thought very carefully and then gave his answer.
Could you really say no to a face like this?
- CCA
- Word Count: 430