bases and have sustained a high number of casualties. Insurgent forces now occupy a number of minor town centers in the area.”
There were some hushed voices from the back of the audience and Chua looked up from his notes, over to where Bishop sat whispering to one of the other operatives. “Aden, did you have something to add?”
Bishop leaned back in his chair and spoke up, “Chen, don’t get me wrong. This is all sorts of messed up, but what does it have to do with us? The Yanks have more than enough assets in country to target the insurgents. Surely PRIMAL has more worthy causes to fight without getting involved? What about our upcoming Congo operation or—”
Vance’s deep voice interrupted. “There’s more to it Bish. Listen.” The Director swiveled around in his chair and shot him a stern look.
Chua pushed his glasses up his nose and continued. “I’ve assessed that this Taliban offensive is supported by a third party and orchestrated to draw attention away from a specific, more significant operation. This is based on multiple reliable sources. Firstly we intercepted part of a satellite phone call from the Khod Valley in Oruzgan province.”
Chua pressed a button on the remote and the voice cut was displayed on the screen behind him. He gave everyone a minute to look at it.
TRANSMISSION COMMENCED
Original Language: Pashto.
PERS 1: Khan, it’s Khalid.
PERS 2: What happened?
PERS 1: We ambushed American forces moving up the valley, report five armored vehicles destroyed.
PERS 2: Very good. Did you take any casualties?
PERS 1: We have had no losses, although we ………… static ………..
PERS 2: Good work brother, Dostiger will be pleased. Did any of the infidels escape?
PERS 1: No we took care of them all, the jammer stopped them contacting ………… static …………
PERS 2: “Good, good the engineer says it will take no more than five days for us to finish the excavation. Do you……….. static………
TRANSMISSION BROKEN
Ice’s brow furrowed as he read over the transcript. “Is this telling us that a bunch of Talibs wiped out a whole goddamn Stryker patrol?”
“Related coalition reporting indicates the patrol is missing,” Chua replied. “I assess it’s been destroyed. Obviously these are not your usual run-of-the-mill Taliban. They’re not hiding in the hills shooting off rockets willy-nilly and blowing themselves up with IEDs .”
“So what are they doing?” Ice asked. “Sounds like some sort of recovery op.”
Chua nodded. “That’s exactly what they’re doing. A Taliban unit led by someone called Khan is defending this excavation site in Oruzgan. The wider offensive is orchestrated to slow down the Coalition response and buy time to complete the excavation.”
The Chinese-American looked back down at his notes before continuing, “So what are they excavating and why? Well, further communications analysis has indicated that these Taliban are working for an arms dealer in the Ukraine known as Dostiger. Additionally, one of our agents in Iran has revealed that the Revolutionary Guards have contracted Dostiger to acquire a WMD for them.”
Chua took a sip from a can of energy drink before continuing. “We assess that this Dostiger is using the Taliban to recover some sort of WMD the Soviet Army left behind in Afghanistan, possibly buried inside one of the many caves or tunnel complexes. Historical CIA reporting reveals that the Russians were conducting experimental weapons testing on the Afghan population in the 80’s. My assessment is that the remains of a biological or chemical weapons testing facility still exists in vicinity of the Khod Valley.”
Mirza slowly raised his hand. “Ah, Sir, apologies for interrupting but I was wondering why the Guards need a WMD. Doesn’t Iran have its own weapons program? From what I’ve seen in the news, it’s nearing completion.” A number of the other PRIMAL operators nodded in appreciation of the
There were some hushed voices from the back of the audience and Chua looked up from his notes, over to where Bishop sat whispering to one of the other operatives. “Aden, did you have something to add?”
Bishop leaned back in his chair and spoke up, “Chen, don’t get me wrong. This is all sorts of messed up, but what does it have to do with us? The Yanks have more than enough assets in country to target the insurgents. Surely PRIMAL has more worthy causes to fight without getting involved? What about our upcoming Congo operation or—”
Vance’s deep voice interrupted. “There’s more to it Bish. Listen.” The Director swiveled around in his chair and shot him a stern look.
Chua pushed his glasses up his nose and continued. “I’ve assessed that this Taliban offensive is supported by a third party and orchestrated to draw attention away from a specific, more significant operation. This is based on multiple reliable sources. Firstly we intercepted part of a satellite phone call from the Khod Valley in Oruzgan province.”
Chua pressed a button on the remote and the voice cut was displayed on the screen behind him. He gave everyone a minute to look at it.
TRANSMISSION COMMENCED
Original Language: Pashto.
PERS 1: Khan, it’s Khalid.
PERS 2: What happened?
PERS 1: We ambushed American forces moving up the valley, report five armored vehicles destroyed.
PERS 2: Very good. Did you take any casualties?
PERS 1: We have had no losses, although we ………… static ………..
PERS 2: Good work brother, Dostiger will be pleased. Did any of the infidels escape?
PERS 1: No we took care of them all, the jammer stopped them contacting ………… static …………
PERS 2: “Good, good the engineer says it will take no more than five days for us to finish the excavation. Do you……….. static………
TRANSMISSION BROKEN
Ice’s brow furrowed as he read over the transcript. “Is this telling us that a bunch of Talibs wiped out a whole goddamn Stryker patrol?”
“Related coalition reporting indicates the patrol is missing,” Chua replied. “I assess it’s been destroyed. Obviously these are not your usual run-of-the-mill Taliban. They’re not hiding in the hills shooting off rockets willy-nilly and blowing themselves up with IEDs .”
“So what are they doing?” Ice asked. “Sounds like some sort of recovery op.”
Chua nodded. “That’s exactly what they’re doing. A Taliban unit led by someone called Khan is defending this excavation site in Oruzgan. The wider offensive is orchestrated to slow down the Coalition response and buy time to complete the excavation.”
The Chinese-American looked back down at his notes before continuing, “So what are they excavating and why? Well, further communications analysis has indicated that these Taliban are working for an arms dealer in the Ukraine known as Dostiger. Additionally, one of our agents in Iran has revealed that the Revolutionary Guards have contracted Dostiger to acquire a WMD for them.”
Chua took a sip from a can of energy drink before continuing. “We assess that this Dostiger is using the Taliban to recover some sort of WMD the Soviet Army left behind in Afghanistan, possibly buried inside one of the many caves or tunnel complexes. Historical CIA reporting reveals that the Russians were conducting experimental weapons testing on the Afghan population in the 80’s. My assessment is that the remains of a biological or chemical weapons testing facility still exists in vicinity of the Khod Valley.”
Mirza slowly raised his hand. “Ah, Sir, apologies for interrupting but I was wondering why the Guards need a WMD. Doesn’t Iran have its own weapons program? From what I’ve seen in the news, it’s nearing completion.” A number of the other PRIMAL operators nodded in appreciation of the
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