pl
RSS- The battle for Ocheretyne
- Supreme Court oral arguments to be heard on April 25 about presidential immunity for official acts
- Nasa’s Voyager-1 sends usable data from deep space
- The Wondrous Oak
- Three Seas Summit: Vilnius 2024
- Tit for tat until it all goes boom
- Deadly H5N1 avian influenza strain detected on mainland Antarctica
- “BYD is launching its next-gen Blade EV battery soon with more range and even lower cost”
- Iran launches air attacks on Israel
- ISW on the developing Ukrainian defense industrial base and Russias strikes on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure
All, particularly those more knowledgable than I,
On another thread, Cee noted :
The FBI Re-Wrote 6 Criminal Laws to Let Clinton Off the Hook
Q:,
Can the FBI (legally) change statutes?
Can congress (who wrote the laws) take action?
If so, this seems a winning republican election strategy.
Colonel,
Last night I watched PBS’s documentary “The Bomb”.
http://www.pbs.org/show/bomb/
It brought back childhood memories of grade school duck and cover drills which may have saved my life if a Soviet Union dropped an atomic bomb over Boeing Plant 2. However, the explosion of the Russian deployable hydrogen bomb in 1953 made Civil Defense a moot point since one bomb would destroy Seattle and its inner suburbs.
What is weird is the show is only a year old and is already out of date. It did say that Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) worked. Not one nuclear bomb has been ignited since 1945 in a war and pointed out the possibility of a nuclear winter if a Pakistan India war escalated out of control. But it does not mention the western led Ukraine Maidan Coup in 2014 or the restart of the Cold War 2.
William Perry was interviewed. He was in the meetings with John Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis and said that he feared for his life back then. He says the threat of a nuclear war is greater today:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/07/14/a-stark-nuclear-warning/
Hillary Clinton still promotes regime change in the Kremlin and a no fly zone over Syria which will start World War III without Russian agreement. Corporate media ignores this. More than anything else, this makes today more fearful than when I was a kid watching an unidentified jet bomber flying overhead towards Boeing Field.
Colonel Lang, can you please let us know if the fallowing curent war fronts, are includes in this new category. Here is the short list that comes to mind, war on terror , war on drugs, Afghanistan , Iraq, Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Iran, Russia, China? Should we include various cope and color revolutions and newly adopted technique of parliamentary impeachment regime change,how about Briexit? I appreciate to learn your thoughts on that.
Does the category refer to wars promoted or waged by the Borg or to wars waged within the Borg itself?
Germane to the greater topic I believe, this incredibly interesting piece released today on the much-hyped(in MSM) series of Iraqi/Coalition strikes on the Fallujah convoys near the end of June serves as a great illustration of the type of dirty, shady things that we are continuing to get our hands stained with today in the ME, and how incredibly thick the fog of war is in an arena where the only actors on the ground capable of giving contrarian reports are ISIS themselves:
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/07/06/an-open-source-analysis-of-the-fallujah-convoy-massacres/
Reading the MSM coverage of this filtering out in late June, couldn’t help but feel disheartened at the incredibly shady Iraqi government reports being taken at face value and retransmitted as fact for the consummation of the masses. We are left with precious little to piece together truth
kooshy
make your own list. I’ll tell you if you are right. pl
Colonel Lang you say “wars” which means you have more than one war in mind, for this new category you named, but also it could mean that there is one war that covers all other currently ongoing wars that America is covertly and overtly participating in, and, that war can be the war on americanism, or what America stood for, or yet, war on american constitutionalism? IMO Borgism survives on fears and wars, for Borg 911 was manna from heaven.
In case Hillary wins:
https://archive.org/details/pdfy-JqxMy58hd_NpnWT8
Life After Doomsday is still the best single book on surviving a nuclear war.
Borg Wars:
Afghanistan (can’t leave now);
Iraq, check.
Libya, check
Georgia , oops. (Harboring Chechan militants? That’s so pre-Boston bombing it couldn’t be a concern for the USA) see a relevant timeline here: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/13/world/europe/2008-georgia-russia-conflict/
South Ossetia, oops. (See Georgia, above).
Ukraine, oops? No, no just F the EU (Thanks Victoria Nuland aka Mrs. Kagan. How diplomatic of you)
Western Europe, no. That’s just the free flow of labor, ah, the tired huddled East of the Diocletian line “refugees/immigrants/deserving of welfare” masses seeking a better standard of living (as long as they don’t have to work, obey the law or be Western).
USA – war on the Constitution, check. But not to worry, we’ve found a white cop who shot a black man so disregard all the above for the next couple of weeks.
origin
Wars promoted and waged by the Borg. pl
Fred.
Can we add “Pivot to Asia”? Cold though it be?
Two today,
Here’s the other one
http://heavy.com/news/2016/07/falcon-heights-minnesota-police-shooting-lavish-reynolds-facebook-live-video-watch-uncensored-shooting-youtube-shot-by-police/
That brings the total so far this year to 546.
“Shut the door, you’re letting the dust in,” he said to the person entering.
Fred placed his coffee cup on a laminated map to keep the gust of wind that the man brought with him. It carried, faintly, the odor of gun powder and the man’s sweat with it as it rushed in, past the blackout curtains over the door that led into the cave.
“You’re becoming an old woman Fred,” the man replied, pulling down the keffiyeh that had covered his face the last three days on patrol. To the man, it smelled like spilled food, old breath, and the faint green scent of barrel cactus pulp he had strained for water.
“Yeah Tyler, this old woman thought of your needs, young man. Have some coffee,” he said, pushing the cup across the map towards Tyler. With the keffiyeh down, it was indeed true: the scout in his dun parka and pants was indeed younger than the man sitting at his table. He shifted the AK46 on his shoulder, his web harness all cordora sighs as he moved.
“My man,” said Tyler, taking the coffee eagerly. It was harsh and black, but after three days of drinking iron water or squeezed cactus pulp it was flavor, and even the bitter was to be savored in these days.
“You’re both the prettiest women at the ball,” said a third voice, coming from deeper in the complex. He was indeed older, and grunted as he sat down, pouring his own coffee as he looked at Tyler. “So, report?”
Tyler shook his head. “If I hadn’t been doing this from the beginning TTG, I’d have thought we were being suckered in. Me and Jack almost tripped over a sentry sleeping on his machine gun. By the way, we have a new 240, once Minnerath knocks the rust off it,” he paused, giving the men time to chuckle before continuing. “Anyway, there’s concertina wire up, but its just loose strands. No posts holding it together.”
“Did we get more strands of wire?” TTG asked, and everyone chuckled.
“All this laughter, you’d think we were having a grand old time,” said a fourth voice, coming from where TTG did.
“Pat, you’re up?” asked TTG.
The old man waved his hand. “I could ask you the same thing. I can’t sleep, too much to think about. We’ve got a new machine gun?”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, but its all rusted up. No weapons maintenance. So like I was saying, guards asleep, with me, Jack, and the rest of the squad ghosting through the camp. We were tempted to go full on sapper and start blowing generators and setting up the boys in front of the tents with claymores but we were two days out from here and some of the guys are still pretty green when it comes to counter drone movement,” he said with a shrug.
“They’ve all got the right gear though?” asked Pat.
Tyler nodded and flapped his poncho. Faintly, the sound of foil woven between layers could be heard. “Can’t shoot what you can’t see, Sir, but the last thing I needed was them air assaulting commandos on my head and droning anyone trying to E&E.”
TTG waved his hand. “You did like we taught you. So what else?”
“Battalion sized element. Got the USB drive from the political officer, like you said,” he told them, handing over the little device. “No info security over there.”
“Fish rots from the head,” murmured Fred as he accepted the device. “Thank you. So you going to tell them the rest or should I?” he asked, allowing himself to grin.
Tyler grinned back. “I can’t tell a story, you go ahead,” he said with a laugh, taking a seat.
“This young asshole,” said Fred, “is back so quickly because he stole three of their vehicles. Caused a panic when I had my ears on listening to their signals. Apparently they were lost defending the guard post, probably the same one these Ghosts got the machine gun from. Did you know the rebels lost thirty fighters?”
Shakes of the head from the two older men. “It’ll be fifty you think when it reaches HQ?” TTG asked Pat.
“Probably 60, with medals for everyone involved,” muttered Pat. “Pour an old man some of that coffee, Top?” he asked TTG, and the old NCO did as was asked. “The more things change, the more they stay the same. Anything good in the trucks?
“Well, not at first Sir,” Tyler began, and then laughed. “Yeah, my scrounger stories weren’t bullshit. Plenty of chow and pogue bait… On top of the near 100 gallons of gas, demo kit, and explosives we managed to liberate. Especially the AT-4s you wanted,” he said to the men.
“You did well. Let the regulars get a little further in the valley and we’ll come down on them. Men on the hills with those AT-4s so you don’t need to run,” Pat told him.
Fred twirled the USB in his fingers. “The Polite Green Men promised us something for the drones as well, if we delivered. They’ve kept their bargains so far. Might be time to wrap up this campaign here.”
“Just the first of many before these Borg Wars are over,” agreed TTG.
We could even be having our own post-BREXIT color revolution in Blighty. There is an almighty Borg backlash to the vote:
“Has Brexit triggered an anti-democractic “Color Revolution”?
It’s important to remember, it was never supposed to get his far.
The Prime Minister didn’t want it. The Chancellor didn’t want it. The Queen didn’t want it. The opposition didn’t want it. The President of the United States didn’t want it. JP Morgan didn’t want it. Goldman-Sachs didn’t want it. Parliament didn’t want it.
None of the heads of state of Europe wanted it. None of the banks wanted it. None of the corporate oligarchs wanted it. None of the corporations wanted it. The IMF didn’t want it. NATO didn’t want it.
JK Rowling didn’t want it. David Beckham didn’t want it. Bob Geldof didn’t want it. Eddie Izzard didn’t want it. Lily Allen didn’t want it. George Soros didn’t want it.
…and yet it happened.”
https://off-guardian.org/2016/07/04/has-brexit-triggered-an-anti-democractic-color-revolution/
In the Great GWOT there is the spreading involvement in countries in north Africa through central Africa. There were fundamentalist attacks in Kenya put down mostly by retired English veterans.
Southern front, Honduras involvement with the coup and destabilizing Venezuela and Brazil where possible.
I would define the Borg Wars as all post Cold War American military interventions to establish US domination, driven by a delusional world view that history or even providence itself has chosen America to lead. Inspired by the British Empire it seeks to create a new more universal neocolonialist version of it to promote in order of importance American hegemony, utopian capitalism, Zionism and a distant fourth democracy, the latter of course put out front for propaganda purposes.
You missed Somalia and its overflow into Ethiopia & Kenya – and then there is Turkey which is developing nicely.
To me Borg Wars sounds more like a conflict between two or more faceless factions within the Borg hive.
[KWATZ!]
All
Little Bob Corker was on MJ today engaged in mutual masturbation with JS over the issue of whether or not we should have kept residual force in Iraq in the long ago. they assert we should have. I keep asking “how?” How would we have done that without yielding on the issue of legal extra-territorial status for our soldiers in Iraq? I will say to these people who never served and whose children did not serve, would you want your son or daughter to be subject to Iraqi law for actions performed in line of duty? The soldiers here will understand that. In places like Iraq the locals hate you because you are there and if given the opportunity will use any means available (including their law)to harm you. I am not in favor of turning any American military person over to a foreign government for punishment including in Okinawa. If we judge them to have committed a criminal act then we should punish them ourselves. pl
Brunswick,
Please clarify:
white Minnesota police officers have shot 546 black men? Or is that 546 police shootings of black men in Minnesota regardless of race of the police officer doing the shooting or is that total police shootings nationwide?
Chicago, civilian on civilian shootings 2,096 YTD, up 100% from 2015 – zero speeches by the rally the usual voters politicians:
http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago/shootings/
I believe the LA Times has a similar map for their similarly gun controlled city. Here is one listing of police killed in the line of duty YTD (52):
http://www.nleomf.org/facts/officer-fatalities-data/
Fred,
You are forgetting Iran
The Green revolution was a fiasco and when the new Queen Boadicea of the 21st Century rises next January, she will make sure that both Assad and the Ayatollahs will not sleep well at night. Just wait for the clique of Kagans et al and the Israel firsters like Dennis Ross and his ilks within the beltway.
I see my my comment was off-topic, so a ramble of relevant on topic thoughts.
The Star Trek Borg were not defeat-able by direct confrontation, only by internal infection.
The US Borg wars are expensive – mores than during the cold war (based on budgets) and the US economy to pay for them needs global stability, how far can the Arc of Chaos expand before the system collapses?
The Arc of Chaos associated with the Roman Empire became critical when it started approaching (the Huns, Moors, etc.) the Italian heartland (but Rome had no equal contender). Spain ran into Great Britain. Did Britain approach its colonial wars Borg-like? Strange how the US became like its cold war enemy, the Soviet Borg, who faced internal defeat after financial collapse began by initiating instability in Afghanistan.
I can’t see Middle East wars being fatal to the US (chronically-degrading of the republic, yes) as long as there is plenty of domestic energy. Same for Africa. Russia (Ukraine) – there is the nuclear trump card that prevents useful analysis (if it happens, all is over). IMO the true Borg war will be internal and based on financial terms. I presume the US will not create such wars in central America, which then spreads to Mexico – many would arm the opposition against the US.
Tyler,
I do make one mean cup o’joe.
I volunteer to play the crusty former corpsman whose signature line is “Dammit Tyler, I’m an old medic, not a brain surgeon!”
Akira:
I looked through this book lately. Life After Doomsday shows what life could be like after a nuclear exchange in the fifties. We are no longer in the fifties so almost all of the information is badly out of date. I thought the best thing about this book was the cover photograph.
Tyler, Babelfish et al
Who will play me, the crusty old s–t in the movie? pl
Harrison Ford
Bravo, Tyler… well done!! Looking forward to the rest of the chapter, book, or movie script.
Or perhaps it could be an ongoing serial here at SST 😉
All:
In Arabic:
This Algerian commentator speculates that the next war – after Syria – will be in Europe.
Also expresses concern about the repeat of Syria in Algeria:
http://www.ahram.org.eg/News/181925/4/522978/%D9%82%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%81%D9%89-%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B6%D8%A9-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7.aspx
Tyler,
An amusing scene. I like it. This could be part of of a very interesting and topical novel that should sell well in these times. I can see this band of foul smelling brigands eventually making contact with and coordinating activities with other diverse resistance groups like the New Black Panther Army (NBPA) and the ethereal, mysterious and effective “P0izon Underground” hacking and cryptography group. Hell, this could become a long running series of novels with movies and sequels to follow. You could become rich and famous. Remember us when you do.
You might enjoy this classic from the Blaxploitation era. SWMBO, when she was my girlfriend, and I saw it in Troy, NY in 1973. The city was a mess back then. I think we were the only two whites in the theater. The premise of raising a resistance army naturally appealed to me, so we had to see it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3_8K1HgzMk
TTG
You and I have read some of Tyler’s excellent fiction. IMO this deserves to be developed further. pl
Pat, my thoughts were this. Bruce Willis – nah, not enough gravitas. Arnold – nah, the accent just doesn’t work. George Clooney – nah, too expensive.
Harrison Ford – age appropriate, handsome craggy look – possible. Liam Neeson – if we can get him to stop playing hard boiled former NYC policemen or a man ‘with a special set of skills’, another possible.
I think Harrison is the winner.
One of the most important wars Borg conducts is one on true scholarship and, in larger sense, causality. Take causality out of the picture and one gets…well–it is in a front of our eyes.
pl,
Most definitely. The possibilities here are infinite.
For the first time I can remember, PBS ran a remarkably balanced segment on the defenders of Donetzk: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/desire-to-break-free-from-ukraine-keeps-devastated-donetsk-fighting%e2%80%8b/
For the most part, they avoid the usual clichés about ‘little green men’ and conduct interviews with real people from the region.
I also like it, and think perhaps a lot could be done with it.
We have to face facts. Events have become surreal. The conviction has been growing on me for a long time, but recent events – the transgender bathrooms, Blair’s response to Chilcot, etc etc have hammered it home.
We live in a madhouse, and the only way to chart a path back to sanity is to find ways of laughing at it.
If I had the skills and energy, I think I would be writing a remake of ‘Dr Strangelove’, in which Wing Commander Mandrake is egging on General Jack D. Ripper.
Or perhaps a rewrite of the ‘Smiley’ novels, in which – at least occasionally – Karla shows some twinges of conscience, while Smiley is an utter and unmitigated rascal, who couldn’t tell the truth, even if he wanted to.
You need to work a couple of female characters into your narrative.
Hi Col. Lang:
Harrison Ford is a fine choice, but I was thinking Wilford Brimley would be perfect. The movie’s a comedy, right? If it’s supposed to portray real-life events, you, Tyler and TTG will only have bit parts at the beginning, before the opening credits, so your parts will be played by unknown extras.
In real-life, they know who you are, they know where you are, and, most importantly, they know how dangerous you are. You all will be the first ones they kill, and none of you will see it coming.
Carl Lazlo
Carl Lazio
A death threat! Your IP is in Atlanta. I have forwarded your message and IP address to the FBI. pl
Col. Lang:
A death threat? Are you serious? I am on your side Col. Lang. They are the threat to you, not me.
Carl Lazlo
“You all will be the first ones they kill, and none of you will see it coming.”
Ah, another poor soul has a mental meltdown.
So who are these Super Secret Specialists that will wipe us off the face of the earth if we don’t bow to Borg Brother? Why can’t they take out Ibrahim al Samarii for a demonstration to show us their invincibility? Oh that’s right those folk fight back and so will many of us when your Neo-NKVD come a knocking. Better work on confiscating those firearms, and Bows, hatchets, axes …
Col., how about Russel Crowe but he may be too tall? Of course maybe a European, perhaps Konstantin Yuryevich Khabensky (from “The Admiral” which one of the committee reccomnded once upon a time).
Carl,
Come now, we’re not that dangerous. I had relatives that were that dangerous. They fought Stalin’s NKVD divisions in the forests of Lithuania for years and some of them lived to tell about it. They had a story to tell… and I listened intently. And the Borg is a lot better at building haystacks than they are at finding the needles.
Colonel,
Absolutely on point. There was not going to be any new Status of Forces Agreement. Bush got the max that we were going to get- the Iraqi government and their Iranian supporters/power behind the throne were not going to let us stay any longer. The idea that we could have stayed longer is still put out there by people like Scarborough and Rove. The idea the Obama could have stayed longer or gotten an extension or new SOFA is nonsense. And for us to stay beyond the time when we had a SOFA would have made any forces that were left there a huge target. It would have been very costly in terms of money and people. Neither Corker, Scarborough, Rove,nor anyone else promoting this have served- which partly explains their stupidity.
TTG
Who is going to play you in the movie? pl
Carl Lazio
You will have a chance to explain. Comey will insist on that. Isn’t that right, Nightsticker? pl
Tyler
Awesome!
Keep them stories coming.
Tyler, I always enjoy your writing it’s so colorful. There was a tv series a few
years back about U.S. soldiers in Iraq that I liked to watch & then it just got pulled;it was called “Over There.” Perhaps it simply had low viewership but there was a rumor floating the Pentagon was instrumental in its sudden demise since several
of the characters weren’t behaving along strict ROE lines.
Novels & film seem to give writers more leeway than tv. Just a thought. There are so
many fine writers on this committee & you are one of my favorites.
pl,
Tyler once suggested Christopher Lee, but he up and died. I would have liked Charles Bronson, a gritty guy with Lipka Tartar blood, but he up and died, too. Tom Selleck or Nick Offerman would be nice. I once rocked a mustache at least as magnificent as theirs. As long as it’s not Gerard Depardieu. That would be embarrassing.
US Police Officers shooting unarmed Americans.
The Guardian coult is higher, 603 as of this morning.
not Khabensky, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Porechenkov
there is an American character actor who would be perfect but can’t remember his name.
the elusive quality is teddy bear cum berzerker
rjj
That’s what all the women say. Yup. Pain and hunger are grand motivations. l
Colonel in my imagination, someone in a combination of John Wayne and Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now would fit play your part.
Good grief! This is great! 😀
they are complementary AND complimentary – not contradictory.
rjj
Yes. I would like to be played by Stephen Dillane pl
Brunswick,
Yes, black men killing other black men are of no concern to the guardian.
Sir,
Clint Eastwood. No one else will do you justice imho.
Colonel Lang, BTW in this morning’ Comey testimony to me it seemed like he was HRC’ defense attorney ratehr then the investigative police of federal goverment,IMO there where too many inconsistencies in his presentation and defending why not to recommend legal action against here. OTOH some republicans made well reasoned arguments which he couldn’t make reasonable court worthy rebuttals.
Too bad we don’t have John Wayne.
Brunswick,
The midnight update:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/breaking-shots-fired-at-dallas-protest/2284602
I’m sure some of the Guardian readership will rejoice.
Beaver,
Queen Boadicea should reread her history of Britain.
For the Col, the British actor Michael Kitchen.
For TTG, the British actor who plays Watson in the BBC’s ‘Sherlock’, Martin Freeman.
Will ponder Tyler’s character.
Love the insouciance.
Looking forward to future installments, and agree it has wonderful cinematic potential.
Kim Bodnia?
the borders between Ancestor Land and Fantasy Land are permeable, so dead is not – or should not be – a disqualifier.
You would also need to add the North Pole as well. Interesting things going on there and as usual over oil/gas fields. Then we have “other” FSU Republics which we are attempting to fester more trouble for Russia to include Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Iran is still hanging out there as are Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen. I read somewhere US soldiers have been in active combat in 27 countries during FY 2015, but can’t recall the source; however, I find it believable.
In South America we are actively pursuing destabilization in quite a few countries including Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil. I am sure there are more but these are the most active ones.
Add in Asia and you get a lot of activity.
Maybe Dallas should be added to the category.
Off the topic for sure but seems tha SAA is near to control Castillo road and create a cauldron east of Aleppo.
“Leading troops at my age. SWMBO would spit,” said Pat. He had diverted to spit at the last second, as a more vulgar term had come to mind at first. There was still too much of the southron cavalier-gentleman for him to drop a caustic word lightly though.
“Whodda thunk it, eh?” TTG responded as the two navigated the stairs and ladders that led deeper into the complex. He reached out and tapped a pipe that led up to the surface. “And us passing on the lessons Mr. Charles taught us so long ago. Do you think Giap is laughing or crying?”
“He would appreciate it. He was a good general,” responded Pat. “He probably would have been jealous of some of the things we have, to be honest. Solid rock and iron over our heads, for one.”
“And the Russians providing aid again. Time is a wheel,” muttered TTG. The coincidences were startling when laid in front of him like that. He rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head, opening the door into a dim room with occasional spots of brightness. They both knew there was a copy of this medical ward for the civilians out in the desert, and there was some contention with the man running the show here about that. This was a feather smoothing trip.
The medical assistant behind the desk looked up and rose as the two men approached. Pat waved his hand at him. “As you were, as you were. Don’t announce me at this hour. Where’s the charge medic?”
“Back at his office,” said the young man, familiar enough with the Colonel’s visits that he didn’t need to tell him where to go.
“Very well,” he said, nodding as he passed and looking from bed to bed at wounded soldiers.
The light at the desk illuminated another man as he reviewed charts and looked up at Pat’s approach. “Sir,” he said, and sounded weary as he shook his head at something he saw on a chart and circled it with a large piece of paper.
“How are things, Babelfish?” asked Pat.
“Busy. Tyler’s group brought back a few new wounded, and that civilian clinic you pushed for is taking up resources,” Babelfish said.
“Nothing more than we expected,” said TTG, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against one of the office’s plywood walls.
Babelfish tapped his pen several times on a desk made of a door stacked on concrete blocks, and turned towards the two men. “You’re right, I’m just grousing and its late.”
“Some good news. That raid got you the supplies you requested, and then some,” said Pat, nodding at TTG. Wordlessly, the NCO pulled out several folded pieces of paper, flipped through them, and then passed one off to Babelfish.
Even tired as he was, the old medic’s eyes lit up. “You’re sure of this? This is enough to restock everything we lost when we opened the civilian clinic, and top off their resources. And he got cardiac drugs, and narcotics?”
TTG’s bushy eyebrows went up, and he looked over at Pat, amused and mouthed “Technicians. All the same.”
Pat stifled a smile as Babelfish went on, and then broke in at the man’s stream of consciousness chatter with “So you’re good then. Not mad at us anymore?”
“I wasn’t mad, I just had concerns about splitting our nurse corps and putting half of our nursing staff out there like that,” he said, a little defensively.
“Those three girls knew what they were getting into, and having them out there shows the people that you don’t need to carry a rifle to help,” said TTG.
Babelfish went to argue again, but something in TTG’s shifting posture made him stop, reconsider, and shake his head. “It’s late, and you’re right. Thanks. This is a big help,” he said. “One more thing? When am I going to get Tyler back down here?”
“Let him rest up a bit. Looks like you have things well in hand down here for now. I’ll send you out to the little clinic like I promised,” Pat assured him. Babelfish nodded his thanks, and the two men saw themselves out, Pat waving his hand at the medical assistant to settle down.
“Wish him and Tyler got along better,” said Pat.
“They get along just fine. Babelfish is just set in his ways and reminds me of an old married woman complaining about her husband being gone and then talking about how much she can’t stand him when he’s near. Marry them and get it over with,” said TTG, shaking his head.
Pat chortled at this, and the two men navigated another series of tunnels before smelling solvents and astringents coming from the series of rooms ahead. They could hear cursing, and then a startled “Aha!”
“John, you old dog,” yelled TTG, “I heard you got a new machine gun for us?”
“No, I got a hunk of rust that looks like its going to be functional,” yelled John Minnerath back, flipping up his goggles and wiping his hands on an old rag. “Looks like the bolt and sear are in working order, at least. Just had to get the damn barrel unclogged. Were they shitting down it?” John demanded to know. Among the SF old hands, rank was only observed in front of other troops to set the right example. For the majority of the Green Berets in revolt, they were too old to be worried about nonsense like protocol when they had things to do like carve a country out of a crumbling empire.
“The Ghosts didn’t seem to think highly of the troops’ training. Your foil poncho is working, too,” Pat added.
John nodded as he picked up a rubber mallet and banged a pin into place. “Wish I could have tested it myself,” Minnerath admitted, and then turned back to the two. “I got the munitions those young bucks liberated. They’re waiting back there, along with a surprise, and one of the Polite Green Men,” he said, throwing a thumb back towards the armory.
Actor to play Tyler – Brad Pitt. That smirk and the gleam in his eye.
Tyler,
You really should consider running with this concept. You have the writing skills, knowledge and imagination to do a bang up job with it. I’m sure some of old coots could add a little technical advice if needed.
Bill,
You flatterer. Personally I like the actor that plays Hawkeye in the Avenger movies.
TTG,
Alas, it will likely continue to be serialized for the time being in open threads and other posts around here. There’s something of a crowded market in post-apoc survivalism, but this niche (civil war in empire) would likely hold its own.
I owe my published a third novel in my “humans and intelligent dinosaurs fight aliens in the future” trilogy, so am working on that right now.
That being said, if an editor of a medium or large press is reading this and is interested in the concept, I’d be open to working something out.
Vice Presidential Prospects and speculation.
Current List Trump: General Flynn, Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, Mike Pence, Jeff Sessions, Mary Fallin, Tom Cotton
Current List Clinton: Tim Kane, Elizabeth Warren, Sherod Brown, Julian Castro, Cory Booker, Tom Perez, Bernie Sanders