USA, North Carolina, Fort Bragg.
When the screen turned off after about 20 minutes of video report, a sigh flowed from Philip Edman’s mouth.
“ha… … .”
The reason I hesitated while looking at the screen was because I was very nervous after realizing the reality for a while.
Breath control and mind control were of no use at all.
It was because the person facing him was not a high-ranking sergeant like a regiment commander or division commander, but the Minister of Defense, who was far above him.
A person who manages, oversees, and is responsible for all organizations directly or indirectly related to the U.S. military and is central to U.S. security and global military strategy.
I met him face-to-face and reported directly, and even gave my opinion after doing some Q&A.
For Philip, this was the moment of greatest challenge and opportunity since his appointment.
It was because it was difficult for a single lieutenant to meet.
It is natural for field officers, and generals rarely had a chance to talk alone with the defense minister.
The same goes for other non-military officials.
The situation on the screen, which I recognized only belatedly, looked quite busy.
‘Maybe it was an aircraft… … .’
At first, I didn’t notice it at all, but it wasn’t until much later that I noticed it.
An airplane-like interior, secretaries bringing papers and carrying whispers.
There were reports and questions and answers.
A whopping 20 minutes.
But the most important thing was different.
The reason why Philip couldn’t take his feet off even in front of a turned off screen and his heart was beating like it would explode.
It was because of the words of the Minister of Defense.
‘Can you continue your current mission?’
After that, the possibility of business trips, dispatches, and high-level missions were added, but that was not the point.
The question itself was whether it could be done.
Interpreted, it meant asking if he would continue doing what he had been doing, but Philip understood it differently.
It was impossible to take it literally in the first place.
It was because the Minister of Defense couldn’t directly call a lieutenant just to ask about it.
Above all, the target of Phillip’s mission was Kang-tae, who was able to freely use most of the facilities in Fort Bragg and had superhuman marksmanship to the extent that the living experiment was suspected.
Putting it all together, the conclusion was one.
what you have to do
Other than that, there was no answer.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from the Minister of Defense, and at the same time, it was just as important.
I couldn’t refuse.
In particular, Philip was an energetic and capable young officer who wanted to make a significant contribution to national security and later to retire with honor as a general.
‘Yes, there’s no way the Pentagon would send a liaison officer just to guide them. Because it requires special management, it is also something that the minister has to take care of himself… … .’
After that thought, Philip’s heart raced.
This time, it wasn’t nervousness, it was a heartbeat driven by excitement from anticipation.
Of course, the only thing he knew properly was the mission of guiding and monitoring Kang-tae, but Philip thought that was good enough.
It was because Kang-tae was not a suspicious outsider, but a superhuman being.
And I really liked the behavior.
I was fine as a human being.
‘Now that it’s like this, it wouldn’t be bad to be friends with Lee. The minister said as if he had hoped for it… … .’
Around the time I remembered the conversation with the Minister of Defense.
woo woo woo-
Philip’s phone vibrated.
He hesitated at the unsaved office number, but Philip, an active duty officer, could not ignore or put off the call.
The moment you accepted the call.
Not as much as before, but this time I heard quite a few surprising words.
– This is the secretary’s office of the Minister of Defense. Lieutenant Philip Edman, right?
“Ah yes. That’s me.”
– Nice to meet you, I called to check your contact information and inform you of simple delivery.
“great. Please tell me.”
– Lieutenant Edman will continue to superficially perform the duties of a liaison officer, but from tomorrow he will be assigned to the training battalion commander and will perform all necessary training routines. I don’t know if it will last at least 2 weeks from now, if it’s long. You will be excluded from training only when Mr. Lee visits, and detailed information will be delivered through the training battalion commander.
Philip, who answered lightly, hesitated.
“The training routine… Are you saying I have to train with you?”
– That’s right.
Philip hesitated for a moment at the concise answer.
It wasn’t unexpected either.
The unit dispatched from the Pentagon was a training center called Fort Bragg.
It was also the place where airborne and special warfare training, which was far from basic military training, was conducted.
I didn’t know if I would be able to perform the necessary special warfare training, such as an airborne rappel.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it at all. I also had completions.
However, it was not something to pursue now.
“All right.”
Philip answered firmly.
As an officer in the US Army, I was given orders, so I had to carry them out.
Even if it wasn’t, I had to.
It was because I had to be in charge of superhuman-like Kangtae in the future, and if I went to the field other than administrative work, I had to follow it.
wherever you need to go
* * *
From nob le mt l dot com
Luxury hotel rooms in the center of Tripoli, Libya.
“Sorry… … .”
Giandro muttered while looking at his laptop screen.
It was because, while preparing several snipers, mortar gunners, and self-destruct drone pilots, one thing was missing.
Competent field commander.
To be precise, there were no veterans with a lot of experience in special warfare who could understand and fully carry out Giandro’s orders.
If I had to pick one, it was only Giandro himself.
But I couldn’t go there directly. couldn’t go
Although it was an operation prepared with great care, it could not be called perfect.
It was not a matter of disbelief.
It was natural.
Even the espresso I always drank accidentally spilled or spilled.
A more sophisticated and complex operation, in which several people worked together, had no choice but to have more variables latent.
It was for the same reason that Giandro never went out on the field.
Even if they controlled everything in advance, it was a law with limitations.
Of course, he plans to send his right-hand man, a former officer, to the operation area, but he lacks the experience or ability to be a good commander.
I was so sorry
Someone who could be sent to the field, but could not be sent, flowed out of his mouth.
‘Sergei Volkov… … .’
Even though he died, he was a commander who was recognized in the field.
The end was the annihilation of the team, and it’s funny that he himself died because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt, but Giandro had no choice but to acknowledge his past achievements anyway.
It was the same when I was active duty Alpha, and when I worked for Pikal after being discharged.
Especially now, he was preparing for a fairly important operation.
A kind of double operation.
It was to bring in the nuclear development researcher and at the same time remove the interfering Kangtae.
The words were simple, but they were made up of very elaborate promises.
Where and where the cargo ship moves, which uninhabited island is where to disembark, when and how researchers change ships, and even original hand signals including radio codes.
Even the ground rice was sprinkled before preparation.
For example, false information.
Information about the stowage date, route, and cargo ship to be transferred was intentionally leaked.
South Korea, which has high intelligence on North Korea, was responding, and the United States, which is sharing information, was also moving along.
No, rather, it was one step ahead.
It was also to enter the place where the trap was dug, and the stage would be set on its own.
Tarill Islands.
The stage was the very place the United States had approached in pursuit of the dead Sergei.
* * *
The next day, South Korea late at night, Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, the National Intelligence Service headquarters.
The first deputy director in charge of overseas affairs and North Korea has been working overtime to identify and analyze new trends in North Korea.
It’s been several days already.
I slept for 4 hours on the sofa in the office, and I was working while taking a nap in between.
I couldn’t really rest.
It was because information related to North Korea’s nuclear research institute came in as intelligence.
I had to determine whether it was true or false, and if it was false, I had to find out why it was false, and if it was true, how far it was related.
Since it was the most sensitive issue in the Republic of Korea, the report to the President was to be made in the shortest time.
But the information was stagnant.
“These redheads… … .”
It was because the existing Humint information collected over several days was completely insufficient.
To be precise, specific confirmation was difficult.
It is only said that one member of the nuclear development team will escape through a cargo ship and be replaced on the high seas.
I had no clue what the reason was or why.
Around this time, he was about to consider infiltrating North Korea, which had been delayed.
Tiliri-
As the company interphone rang, the number of the team leader under his command came up on the LCD screen.
Knock, the first deputy director hesitated as soon as he received it.
– Deputy Chief, one of our agents in the eastern United States has been detained, and the Pentagon is demanding related materials.
“… what? informant?”
– Yes, he was arrested by military police near Fort Bragg, North Carolina and is being investigated, and the NIS appears to have been mentioned in the process.
“no… f*ck, what bullsh*t is that? Fort Bragg? You mean military training camp?! Why are you going there?”
– yes? It’s an issue approved by the deputy chief… … .
“What bullsh*t… … !”
The first deputy commander flinched as he answered.
“… ah.”
It came to mind out of nowhere.
Of course, they did not allow access to US military installations.
It was because I had seen the word ‘Fort Bragg’ in Beom-yong Cho’s recent report.
It wasn’t that important in the first place.
So I couldn’t immediately recall the first deputy director.
To be precise, while describing Kang-tae’s North Carolina villa, he had been listing military facilities located nearby.
It was nothing.
But that was coming to mind at this moment.
A single word on the list flashed through the mind of the First Deputy Director, who had worked for the NIS for decades.
“Send the information of the informant, and call Jo Beom-yong.”
– yes? Are you talking about Agent Cho Beom-yong?
“uh. Bring them right now!”
rattle.
As soon as I hung up the phone, I received a simple personal statement from the informant that I had been detained immediately, and then the phone rang in 30 seconds.
It was the contact of Jo Beom-yong that the first deputy chief was looking for.
“where are you?!”
As soon as the first deputy manager answered the phone, he asked, and at the same time hesitated, the answer came across.
– Now in Gimpo… … .
“Kim-Po?”
– Yes, the target’s house and unit were nearby, so we were conducting an on-site investigation.
“so… is it you?”
– yes?
As Cho Beom-yong’s voice came across as if he flinched, the first deputy director looked at the personal details of the arrived informant and said.
“Have you attached an informant to the target? Michael?”
– ah?! how to do that… … .
“Tsk… … .”
The first deputy chief clicked his tongue at Jo Beom-yong’s surprised answer.
Since it was difficult for Cho Beom-yong to go to the United States himself, he had an informant overseas follow him, and he was caught near Fort Bragg.
In other words, it means that things have gone very badly.
First Vice-Chancellor confirmed the important things first.
“What does a guy named Michael know? Are you exposed?”
– No, everything related to me was done under a pseudonym, and I never said that I was a member of the National Intelligence Service, but I can guess… … .
“Anyway, you’re saying you didn’t say anything?”
– Yes, not at all… … .
“for now… For now, go back to work.”
– Yes, conductor.
At the same time Jo Beom-yong answered, the first deputy manager hung up the phone.
Then he laughed.
The situation became funny, but fortunately, I got a big hint.
Contacts from the Pentagon and even Fort Bragg.
“The U.S. Department of Defense is the Department of Defense… … .”
The eyes of the first deputy chief muttered with strength.