Baghdad, Green Zone.
A series of urgent phone rings woke Asnar, the Blackwater International Supervisor in Illiguo, from his dream.
He sat up abruptly from his bed and glanced at the telephone on the bedside.
He rarely used the landline.
Because it was a secure line.
But once the landline rang, it ant sothing big had happened.
Before reaching for the receiver, he took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart.
"Hello, I'm Asnar."
"Asnar, what the hell are you guys doing! You actually used the Air Force near Titeric to help you sweep up the people from the Freedom Alliance? Don't you know they're a subsidiary organization of the Kurd Ard? I'm currently coordinating our relations with the Kurd people, and your actions are about to roast on the grill!"
The other party was clearly very agitated, starting off like a machine gun that keeps on firing bullets without pause.
He was even too anxious to go through the usual introductions.
However, Asnar was very familiar with this voice.
He knew imdiately it was the envoy from Country M of the Temporary Managent Committee, Brer.
This was none other than the Emperor of Illiguo at present, the real power behind the Illiguo Temporary Managent Committee.
The man had been appointed as the chairman of the Anti-Terrorism Committee by the House of Representatives in 1999. Until May 2003, he was the chairman and CEO of the Marsh Crisis Consulting Company. It was only in May that the president assigned him as the full-power envoy of Country M to Illiguo.
This was an old acquaintance of the Black Water Company.
Such crisis consulting companies are essentially a mix between public relations think tanks and lobbying groups.
In Country M, they say that crisis consulting companies are like vultures on the African savannah, descending to clean up and consu the carcasses after a slaughter, filling their bellies with the remains of the dead.
Brer had always maintained a good relationship with Black Water Company, and many of Black Water's contracts had received his care.
Although he didn't know what had happened, Asnar didn't dare neglect the call and quickly asked, "Was it our people who mobilized the Air Force?"
"Yes!" Brer was still fuming. "If you're going to make a move on the Kurd people, why didn't you coordinate with in advance? Your actions could have very serious consequences, affecting our cooperation with the Kurd Ard and our control over the situation in Illiguo!"
As Asnar listened to Brer's reprimands, he actually found the guy pretty annoying.
To be precise, Brer had been in Washington D.C. for too long, becoming more like a politician than anything resembling a military man.
Even though Asnar was in charge of a Defense Company, he always considered himself more of a soldier.
Talking about these under-the-table political trades naturally made him feel sick.
"Mr. Brer, may I ask, which unit from our company was it that mobilized the Air Force?"
"The security squadron at the Cook Oil Field, are they your people? That damned British lot called for Air Force support half an hour ago, and an A-10 arrived to strafe and clear ground targets, but they found out those were the Kurds and the Freedom Alliance. Just ten minutes ago, the liaison from the Kurd Ard called , saying that I must give them an explanation for this incident!
Otherwise, they will cease the cooperation we had agreed on!"
Brer's emotions seed a bit agitated.
Ever since being deployed here, he had been full of ambition.
It is unimaginable how difficult it is for soone to be selected by him.
This position signifies the interests of the political veterans in Washington.
Moreover, both the Democratic and Republican parties must approve of him, believing he can balance the interests between them.
As a figure akin to the Emperor in Illiguo, Brer holds supre authority there.
He is a key figure in all aspects of Illiguo's future reconstruction, with hundreds of billions of funds passing through his desk and requiring his signature before being distributed to various departnts.
Reconstruction requires a stable situation, and stability ans balancing the power of various parties in Illiguo. The Kurds, as the representative organization that has always been pro-Arican and anti-Sadam in the north, are whom Brer and the bigwigs behind him want to integrate into Illiguo's political scene, using them to balance local factions.
As per the original understanding, the military supports the operations of large companies like Blackwater International in Illiguo, and in turn, when the military needs the support of military companies for its operations, it can summon Blackwater for assistance; it is a mutual cooperation.
Thus, when a distress call was received, an Air Force detachnt stationed near Ttitrik dispatched an A10 to the location of the incident. They found the Blackwater Company personnel who were trapped about several tens of kiloters from the border with Turkey and Illiguo and launched an attack on the ground targets based on the latter's laser guidance.
The job was done in less than ten minutes.
After returning, the Kurd people ca knocking with grievances.
"Our people were over there..."
Upon hearing Brer's words, Asnar felt cold sweat streaming down his back.
Lars's team, previously stationed at Cook Oil Field, had indeed sent him their operation plan, and it was he who used his connections to reach the Kurd people and arrange for the two sides to et.
Even Brer knew about this.
Now, the eting had turned into a skirmish.
No wonder Brer was so furiously enraged.
From another perspective, it was equivalent to dragging Brer into this ss.
"I actually trusted you to handle this well, even helping you make the connection! Why did your people start fighting with them? Tonight, eight individuals from the Kurd side died, and more than forty from the Freedom Alliance! Asnar, you must give an explanation for this! Otherwise, I will directly shut down your company's operations here and send you packing!"
After speaking, he slamd down the phone and hung up.
In the darkness, Asnar sat petrified on the edge of his bed for several minutes before picking up his phone to call Lars.
"SIR..."
Lars's voice at the other end of the phone was slightly hoarse, with a sense of desperate frustration.
"Lars, you imbecile! How could you ss up tonight's matter like this?! Do you know that Mr. Brer just called , giving a severe earful? What exactly happened!"
"SIR, I'm just as confused! We were supposed to et at the designated location according to the original plan. Everything was fine until, suddenly, a sniper appeared out of nowhere and shot the Kurd liaison dead. As a result, we were forced into a lee.
They had more people, and I only brought ten n; we were surrounded, and I had no choice but to call for Air Force support, or else our brothers would have died there!"
Lars's explanation seed to make sense.
However...
A sniper from nowhere?
What is that all about?
"I don't want to hear your excuses now, I want the truth. If soone took a shot from the shadows to provoke an internal conflict with the Kurd people, then we must find out who it was! I'm giving you a week's ti. If you don't have a convincing answer in a week, you will bear the consequences of this incident and get the hell out of Illiguo!"
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