“Sorry about the delay,” he began. He retrieved a bottled water from the beverage cart. “I just received a call from Wagner. He’ll be spending the next week overseeing the operation in Azerbaijan. His people will be coordinating the lab work with the Russians as well as preparing for the assault on the target. He understands the importance of this first strike.”
“How is our KSK friend?” asked Jorge.
The Kommando Spezialkraefte, or KSK, was an elite special forces unit of the German Army. They were the German equivalent of Delta Force. The unit commanded by Daniel Wagner had come under fire years ago because some of the operators brazenly displayed Nazi symbols and were a little too mouthy with their rhetoric on social media.
Wagner was the great-grandson of Horst Wagner, a ranking Nazi Party diplomat who was the liaison between the Berlin government and the SS. He was captured after the war and found guilty at the Nuremberg trials of war crimes. He escaped prison in 1948 and went on the run until he made his way to Argentina.
Wagner’s efforts to quieten his troops during the media uproar were in vain. As a result, the chancellor of Germany, a decidedly anti-nationalist leader, immediately declared Commander Wagner’s unit to be a neo-Nazi organization and disbanded it. Commander Wagner was furious, but not because his unit had been disbanded. He was upset with the young recruits who’d failed to follow operational discipline. He’d taken great pains to handpick men and women for his KSK unit who were like-minded thinkers. The indiscretions of a few threatened to expose the goals of his entire command.
All was not wasted after Wagner’s unit was disbanded. Derek Jorgensen had longed for his own paramilitary force, following in the ideological footsteps of his grandfather. Himmler had learned how to become an effective leader through the use of fear, and Derek employed his methods continuously throughout his life. When Commander Wagner’s unit at the KSK was disbanded, Derek quickly petitioned die Zwölf to bring Wagner and his men on board.
Over the last decade, Derek and Wagner had created a mercenary army with a vast array of capabilities that spanned all branches of any nation’s military apparatus. The mercenaries were trained assassins able to utilize their hand-to-hand combat skills as well as long-range sniping capabilities. The budget for Wagner’s team was one of the largest within the Odessa organization, but they’d proved their worth. They’d successfully changed the outcomes of several elections and outright eliminated some candidates who’d be a threat to Odessa’s overall goals. They would prove their value in the coming weeks.
“Daniel is intense, committed, and ready to get started,” replied Derek, who had a close relationship with the former KSK commander. “Our significant investment will pay off handsomely.”
Henry asked, “How do you intend to blame the Iranians?”
“Daniel’s operatives have identified a cell of MOIS agents located in Baku who are also affiliated with Hamas working in Northern Iran,” replied Derek. MOIS was an acronym for the Ministry of Intelligence and Security in Iran, the equivalent of America’s CIA. Baku was the capital of Azerbaijan. Hamas was an Islamic terrorist organization based in Gaza but mostly funded by Tehran. “He intends to plant bodies near the scene of the attack, providing easy evidence for the FBI and the local authorities to make their logical assumptions. AZERTAC, their state news agency, will be provided photographs from an anonymous citizen. The narrative will be written within hours of the attack.”
“Very good, Derek,” said Henry. “Herr Goebbels would be proud.”
Derek laughed. “My brother, he would’ve truly enjoyed his job in these times. It’s so easy to use propaganda to achieve our goals.”
Sophia addressed her uncle. “Uncle Derek, Remy brought up the issue of those radical cults in Northern Germany. They continue to run at the mouth on social media and in American chat rooms, trying to recruit Americans to join their Day X plan.”
Derek nodded, indicating his recognition of the group. “Nordkreuz. Northern Cross. They are young, idealistic, but mainly stupid thugs. They are very much like the American Antifa group. Anarchists who simply want an excuse to destroy things.”
“An asset for us, right?” asked Jorge.
“Yes, when the time is right,” replied Derek. “However, we cannot associate with these wild-card criminals. They have no loyalty to one another. Every time one of them is arrested, they disclose all they know to the Polizei. When events begin to unfold, they will follow their own lead and strike out against their typical soft targets—businesses, local government buildings, and tourism sites.”
Henry turned to his niece. “Sophia, what is this Day X plan?”
“Uncle Henry, they have made noise for years, maintaining there will be a day when they take back control of Germany. They refer to it as Day X. According to the intelligence reports Remy has relayed to me, the Nordkreuz will initiate a major attack that will take place on Germany’s democracy, Islamic immigrants, and the liberal social system, allowing them to seize control of the government.”
Jorge laughed. “That’s ludicrous.”
“Of course,” added Sophia. “Nonetheless, German intelligence has them on their radar after a political hit list was obtained during a raid on one of their members’ homes. Ironically, some of the names on their hit list match our own.”
“Enemy of my enemy is my friend, ja?” added Henry as he raised his glass as if to offer a toast.
Sophia continued what her husband had relayed to her. “The Nordkreuz gained access to secure police databases to download the personal details of twenty-five thousand politicians, government workers and members of the CDU,” she said as she finished her brandy. The Christian Democratic Union of Germany had been in power since the election of Angela Merkel in 2005. “Their plan is to target these individuals in a sudden spate of kidnappings, bombings, and killings.”
“Create chaos,” added Derek.
“Yes, and it would all begin on Day X, the day
