Final Justice

[Libby]

OOC - A joint Dave and Libby post

It was the final day of Operation Tartan Green, the multi-national exercise taking place in the Alucard. Oboard the Swevoo various briefings were taking place despite the fact that it was 3:30am. Today would be the final part of the exercise and involved the ship and its crew landing on a beach on the south of the Isle of Tar currently occupied by a group of Cenneg infantry. It would be one of a series of similar simlauted landings around the islands lower half and in some places interested locals had even planned to set up BBQ's to watch the activity meaning the Islands local police had been forced to set up a series of roadblocks to ensure the parts of the island ear-marked for the days activities were safe.

Once the briefings were over their was time for breakfast. 28 year old Vladimir Silimov was looking forward to today's event. He had newly made part a recon section of the Lodjain Marines and today he'd be the reserve helicopter for if anything happened to the more experienced crews going in. It may not have sounded the most glamourous of assignments but it showed that he was raising through the units hierachy. He finished his breakfast and meet up with his 20 Marines and the aircrew he'd be commanding today. As the team headed up towards the deck of the ship.

"Captain I want a quick word with you and your men please." It was the captain of the vessel, Captain Vasili Selezneva, and he motioned for the group to step into the mess. He stepped aside and waited for the last Marine to enter and then followed them in shutting the hatch behind him. The two other entrances had officers stood at them and were likewise closed.

"What's this?" Vladimir asked rather surprised at what was going on. Before anyone else could answer from the kitchen a large figure stepped out wearing a suit with several Marines behind him. Vladimir recognised the man instantly. "Duke Lubos" It was the nations Minister of Defence, a rather unexpected visitor especially on a day like today.

"Captain Silimov" The Duke was a family friend of Vladimir's father and this was part of the reason why this meeting was taking place. "I have some good news and some bad news." The Duke motioned for everyone to take a seat and with the exception of himself and the Marines who had entered the room with the Minister everyone did as they were told. "The good news is you were selected for a special operation. It was determined that out of all the members of the Marines you would be the least likely to be what would be best described as corrupted. The bad news is that it means you won't be taking part in todays exercise. I need each of you to stay here for the next...." he looked at his watch "Hour and 20 minutes." There were protests as the men were looking forward to the exercise and testing themselves against what many believed were the better trained Cenneg but it seemed now they would be denied that chance. "I'm sorry." Lubos held his hand up, "There are a number of factors in play and once we reach a certain point I can explain that to you." The Minister turned to the Marines behind "Operation Forefitor is a go."

"OK Gentleman lets go." The Marine wearing Captain slides said in Morelandish. The operation had been planned a week ago on the island and had purposely included as few Lodjains as possible, the Queen, Lubos Kubik, the ships captain and only two others knew of the plan and now one of its planners Lt.Tristian Rowe of Red Legion instructed his men who left and made their way up to the deck. Only a few of the team spoke Lodjain and the non-speakers sat in the middle of the group as it made its way across the flight deck to the rear helicopter.

Olly Thomas was one of the Lodjian speakers, of course that meant he could order drinks in a bar and tell people to "Get in their seats and check positions." but beyond that his Lodjain was not great. Rowe ensured all ground crews were sent on their way before boarding himself and once the doors were shut reverted to Morelandish along with everyone else. Sgt.Thomas handed out photos. "That as we all know is General Ignat Kozlov formerly of the Lodjain Army and one corrupt arsehole." A few years back the review into Lodja's military had revealed massive corruption and all three heads of the armed forces had been implicated, the heads of the Air Force and Navy had already been brought to justice but somehow Kozlov had avoided justice however he had now been discovered living in a isolated private estate on the North of the Isle of Tar essentially becoming a recluse in a luxurious isolation. That however would end today. "His security is light, the team on the ground are confident its no more than a four person team at anyone time, in total no more than 20 guards." This was all information the team knew. "We take off and towards the island our chauffer calls in we're having mechanical problems and that we're diverting to the old gas facilities airfield. We'll fast rope down and assault the compound. Capture preferable but if not possible kill."

Up front their pilot for today was Alice Graham one of a handful of Air Force helicopter pilots trained alongside Red Legion. She lifted them off and headed off in formation with the other helicopters she'd been taught enough Lodjain to be able to cope and had a week or so to practice with this type of helicopter. As they crossed the Alucard she checked their position and having reached the appointed spot made the call for the divert. In the rear of the aircraft Lt.Rowe began counting down their timings.

At the estate where Ignat Kozlov was hiding out the sound of helicopters was not unusual. The old gas works airfield was used quiet often for tourists going out on sight seeing tours across the island and so the sound didn't alert any attention. It was only when the thud of shots from Sgt.Bark's team on the ground that had been watching the compound were heard any alarm began. By this time the helicopter carried Legionnaires were roping down and already scouring the compound. There were not many shots fired. It seemed most of those paid by the corrupt officer had no stomach for a fight and the Red's were more than happy to see them go. As they penetrated the house itself they moved from room to room and staff in the kitchen got the fright of their life as a flashbang blinded them and had their heads ringing. They stayed on the floor as Legionnaires plasti-cuffed them. In an up stairs office the team found Kozlov hiding in a cupboard. He was swifly dragged out and a bag put over his head and his hands cuffed. "Team making their way to extraction." Rowe radioed in as they headed towards the driveway where several vehicles had been ear-marked for use during extraction. Three large cars were now being hot wired and Kozlov was bundled into one sandwiched tight on the back seat between two Red's. In the front Sgt.Thomas jumped behind the steering wheel, more for the reason he wanted to drive the luxury car than anything else. They weren't expecting any problems but there was nowhere practical to land the helicopter and winching into a strange design wasn't something anyone was fond of. Half the team would extract the target while the rest would clear up and then walk the 5km to the airfield. A crunching of the gear box made the car shudder as Olly began to pull off and soon they had moved off the gravel driveway and onto the smooth open road that wound through the woods. As they passed a junction in the road Thomas pipped the horn a few times as a grinning but dirty Thomas Barks spun round and mooned them as they passed. In the rear view mirror Thomas could we Lt.Rowe roll his eyes in disbelief.

As they arrived at the airfield the helicopter was waiting for them and alongside it another waiting for the prisoner. Duke Lubos Kubik was there waiting and upon the arrival and hand over he shared warm handshakes with the Morelanders. "Thank you for this." He said pleased to have a chance to bring the man to justice. "I shall ensure he gets back to Gaia and put on trial. Sadly Lt.Rowe your part in this must remain secret but be assured you have mine and the Queen's thanks." Kozlov was still protesting they had the wrong man as he was loaded aboard another helicopter and taken off to await his fate. The whole thing would hopefully bring to an end the shadow of corruption that hung over the Lodjain military however at the back of his mind Kubik couldn't help but feel they must still fear the reach of the old system otherwise they'd have never asked the Morelanders to do it. He felt sorry for Silimov who would now be being allowed out of the mess hall onboard the ship only to be spirited away before his colleagues from the exercise returned.

[Libby]

As news of former General Ignat Kozlov's arrest spread a young man by the name of  Artyom Novikov in Gaia crossed to his small flat's kitchen. Under the sink was the usual boxes of cleaning products and tools but also screwed into the floor a touchpad operated safe. He tapped in the numbers 8-0-3-8 and heard the mechanic withdrawal of the locking bars and then pulled the door open. All that sat in there were a series of USB sticks each numbered. Artyom had been given them by General Kozlov, his father. Artyom was the illegitimate son of the General and his affair with a young NCO in one of the units under his command and even though the pairs romance never blossomed the General had always provided for his son even if in secret. When word of his misdeeds had been discovered he had confided all in his bastard son and convinced him that upon his capture Artyom must do what was necessary.

Artyom turned his laptop on and as his father had instructed him nearly two years ago inserted the stick marked No.1. He opened it and there was only a single file. It was a Word document that gave instructions for where each memory stick's content was to be uploaded. It took hours, setting up YouTube accounts, posting videos and then links. E-mails to news companies, businesses, data sharing sites. The number of files was bewildering and ranged from word documents to financial spreadsheets to videos to recorded conversations. After he got to memory stick No.6, the final one, Artyom was beginning to think this would be a mistake. As he opened it a video was all that existed. It was his father thanking him for his work and carrying out his wishes. He instructed his son to leave Lodja via a stop at an out of town storage facility. There Artyom found an old classic sports car wrapped in tarpaulin and the key in the ignition. He opened the boot to place his bags in and found it full already with bags full of vaccum packed cash in a variety of different currencies. Artyom fired up the car and headed off into the growing darkness of the Gaian evening heading for the border with Aosta.


Over the next few hours media outlets, lawyers and police forces across Mundus uncovered a vast amount of information which may or may not be useful[1]

1. Vasili Kubik, the youngest son of Minister of Defence Lubos Kubik in a phone conversation with General Ignat Kozlov discussing schedules for the East Moreland review to ensure missing vehicles could be covered up by moving stocks around.

2. Helene Tar, the Mother of Queen Viktoria Tar, instructing Kozlov to promote her 2nd husband in the military despite him not actually completing any of the relevant courses for promotion.

3. Monthly payments from Kozlov to Angelina Evanov of $1,200. Evanov is one of the Queen's Security Detail.

4. Scans of hand written notes the document claims come from Evanov detailing conversations about military procurement matters overheard from Queen Viktoria and Queen Klara.

5. A note from Evanov claiming to have overheard Stasya Pelagiya (now Queen of East Moreland) offering to help Rokkenjima in East Moreland in return for supporting her brother Henrik's Naval Career.

6. A bank account of hotel tycoon Ekaterina Stasiuk showing regular payments to an account claiming to belong to Anna Utkin. Utkin is a member of the Conclave who has responsibility for planning permissions for construction.

7. Chat logs appearing to show influential business man Varlaam Mikhailov was trying to force his current wife's family to allow them to marry or face eviction from their land. Yuliya Sobol was 15 years of age when the messages were sent while Varlaam was 55.

8. Details of shipments of Lodjain manufactured firearms being sold to the Bene Gesserit.

9. A conversation recorded between Kozlov and a judge where the judge claims the now King Leopold paid him $300,000 to rule that an ancient marriage contract between the Kovac family and the Hamrik family was valid. This enabled Leopold to become King.

10. Footage of Katerina Ignatiev, a well known prostitute in Lodja, leaving the room of Tobias Pelagiya on several occasions on the Isle of the Goddess.

11. Voice recordings of meetings between Kozlov and a Red Legion member named as "Paul Abrahams" on how to move supplies from the military to buyers in return for a cut while at the same time avoiding it being discovered in the annual military review.

12. Prince Lennox of Ui Cenneslaig discussing a romantic relationship with Lady in Waiting Jasmina Danialov while still married to his now deceased wife.

13. A recorded radio exchange between Nya Aland and Lodjain forces during the Uppsala Incidents which indicates the Alanders permitted the terrorist group the Gungnir to effectively create a firestrom in the Eastern part of Uppsala, an incident that left an estimated 3,000 people dead. Lodjain infantry commanders are heard asking for permission to first try creating a safe passage but an unidentifed Alander officer refuses.

14. A report from a biological lab in Gaia that in Feb 2014 a supply of a virus that was un-named was not able to be located. The virus which was simply listed as T-76-S listed as symptoms "fits of uncontrolled violence and rage, headaches, heamoraging from orifices and vomiting." (For thos who don't know March 2014 saw a virus hit Safraen that had similar symptoms.)

15. Details of payments claiming to be from the Priesthood of Sessifet to women in Marseille whom have been linked to the Sorority of Materna. Along with this e-mails claiming that the Sorority "Realise the dream of a matriachy but need guiding to the right Goddess."

16. Regular payments from Army budgets to Red Door chain of Brothels.

17. Details of a bank account held by Minister of Science Bryan Coxovich in which he regularly recieves payments from the Seleucid Refining and Extraction Company, a business that produces about 30% of Seleucid oil and petroleum products.

18. Details of a scheduled flight using a military transport to and from a remote airfield in Aosta every two weeks.

Much Much more.....

1.

OOC- This is all now public knowledge. If you can find a way to use it feel free. I've left some bits purposely vague so if you've not been in on the planning then you can maybe utilise it. If the General dropping some information I've not included would help you develop your own storyline then you are more than welcome to PM me and I'll see if we can add it.

[Achkaerin]

Marble Palace, Valtheim

To say that the leaks coming out of Lodja were concerning was just about the understatement of the year so far, not only did it shine a bright light on some problems within Lodjan society but it tugged on threads from the recent past as well, from the international perspective it was undoubtedly the latter that caused the most concern. So it was perhaps no surprise that the Achkaerinese Emperor Peter Azurewind found himself in a meeting about some of the revelations. Peter perched on the edge of his desk and looked around his study at the small gathering.
"Ok let's hear it." Peter said "First question do we treat these claims as legitimate?"
"I think we should." Nettie Taylor, Peter's foreign affairs advisor said "We don't have to make a public comment on them yet, we can proceed on the assumption that the revelations are true until proven otherwise."
"Ok." Peter said "Who's got what?"
"I have two legal concerns." Robert Westbrooke, the Attorney General, said
"Which are?" Peter asked
"Number thirteen on the list and number fourteen on the list." Robert said
"Number fifteen is the one I'm looking at." Rion Ayanami said, not that this was earth shattering you only needed to mention the words 'Sorority of Materna' around Rion and she got her game face straight on.

"Ok Robert the floor's yours." Peter said
"Regarding number thirteen, assuming for the moment that this recording is legitimate, we have what amounts to an Uppsala Convention violation on the part of the Alanders and potentially the Lodjan's there's clear knowledge of civilians in the area in advance and a denial of the opportunity to remove them from the line of fire. Gungnir may have killed them but it's arguable that the Alander's knew what was going to happen to them in advance. But that recording is not likely to be admissible as evidence and even if it was admitted it's not going to be enough to secure a conviction you'd need to prove that the Government were aware and you'd need to know who the Lodjan commanders and Alander soldier on that recording are and that's a needle in a haystack, we can try to find out but I wouldn't count on much."

"And number fourteen?" Peter asked
"If I may Your Majesty." Sally Westbrooke said from where she was standing next to her husband "One of things we've always had unanswered about the Safraen affair was this question of essentially attack vs naturally occurring. My personal opinion has always been deliberate attack because a country that goes dark overnight across the board and at the drop of a hat smacks more of design than accident. And the fact that there was an East Moreland foreign minister in the country the day before it happened who our special forces pulled out of there."
"Assuming that the missing Lodjan virus is a precursor to the Kaiju virus then we need to ask the questions - how did it get there? Ultimately if this an attack then someone has comitted genocide, but any prosecution would be a Safraen matter because the Uppsala Convention did not exist until seven months after the event." Robert said

"Rion?" Nettie asked
"Ok if this is true then the Priesthood of Sessifet is potentially financing a terrorist organisation in the Sorority of Materna." Rion said "That's a huge implication."
"I'll bet it is." Peter said
"And oddly enough this is the one that is the easiest to prove." Robert said "Rion you keep a closer eye on the Sorority than practically every intelligence agency on Mundus."
"Yeah we know their main players, who from the deck of 52 are still outstanding and we're always hunting them, we know their contacts and where they were last seen." Rion said "I can liaise with Marseilles maybe get some surveillance going, see if anyone we know bites find out if there's more to it. We could have Emalet discreetly ask a few questions on the Isle of the Goddess?"
"All right." Peter said "What about the other two things?"

"We can't really do anything about the Uppsala thing without knowing who was involved and we're years after the event and dealing with anonymous voices so that's a dead end out of the gate." Robert said
"And the missing virus?" Peter asked
"I want to try to track down Bogdan Milovenik." Rion said "We ask him a few questions, see if we can figure it out."
"Ok but for goodness sake do it by the book." Peter said

Justicar Operations, Ashai Castle

"Which one was Paul Abrahams?" Julian Lawson asked as he and his colleague Cyd Dixon worked at their stations on the operations floor.
"He was the one you talked to when we pulled Harper out of Dominscious." Cyd said "Just before the shell game."
"Oh he hung around with Olly right? Except he could drive." Julian said
"There are learner drivers who drive better than Olly Thomas." Cyd said she sighed "We're going to be ploughing through this workload for a few days."
"Do you think this is all there is?" Julian asked
"I wouldn't be surprised if there were more scandals out there." Cyd said "Interesting how you can pull on one thread and the whole thing unravels."

[Libby]

It was the morning of the Queen's scheduled TV statement and the Palace of the Goddess was nervous. It was clear things would need to change but the fact that so far the Queen had said nothing. The fact that the mornings first boat down on the Isle's dockside wasn't the usual one bringing in the day shift but was rather full of members of the Queen's ceremonial guard the Warriors of Gaia. These were people selected not by any military method but were instead members of the Armed Forces invited to join the unit by the Royal Family or the Priesthood. They totalled no more than 70 at anyone time and now as they marched their way up the winding path to the Palace in their "work uniform" of lightweigh black trousers topped with a black uniform shirt and red beret people who lived on the Isle slunk back into their homes fearing some kind of incident. With the group was a man dressed in Naval Officer's uniform, Genadi Kohut was the Queen's older brother and despite his sister's position he'd remained with the fleet. Also accompanying the group was a Priestess in a black robe the hood pulled up, it was Arina Maksimov, one of the two Priestesses for youth appointed by Queen Klara early in her reign. As they reached the Palace gate Klara herself came to meet them and handed each file of the marching squad an envelope as they took the senior soldier from the four saluted and headed off into the Palace until all of them had gone. With only Klara, Genadi and Arina left the trio made their way to the Palace's throne room and there Klara sat herself on the throne with her brother standing at the bottom and Arina stood next to the throne.

A few twists and turns down the corridor the Warriors of Gaia knocked firmly on a bedroom door and waited, after a few seconds there was no reply and so from the envelope that the Queen had given them they retrieved the key. "King Leopold" the senior soldier said firmly. "We've written instructions from Her Imperial Majesty that you are to come with us." It was clear the King was just getting out of the shower. "Dress immediately." The soldier simply stood and waited while the King protested. "King Leopold we are instructed that if you do not come with us immediately we are to use reasonable force to bring you to Her Divine Majesty." Leopold hastily put on his clothing and followed puzzled at what exactly was going on. As they reached the throne room two of the soldiers stayed at the door while the other two accompanied Leopold inside.

"What's going on Klara?" Leopold asked still confused.

"You will speak when spoken to" Arina Maksimov addressed the King rather bluntly.

"Thank you Arina" Klara said. "King Leopold you have been found guilty by Sessifet of disrespecting the Majesty of the Queen and the Guardian of the Goddess. You are hereby exiled from the Isle of the Goddess until further notice. Corporal please escort him from the Isle with immediate effect." Leopold was protesting as the Corporal took hold of his arm and began leading him towards to door.

"Klara I've not even had a trial" He yelled desperatly.

"Why would a trial be needed" Genadi yelled back at the King. "My sister is Sessifet. On this sacred Isle you doubt her power?" Genadi only half believed in all that but it was the case that historically speaking in matters such as this the Queen could pronounce sentence however she wished based on the fact that she was infact habouring inside her the Goddess. Leopold stayed silent and was dragged outside and without even a chance to gather his things taken from the island.

With perfect timing the moment Leopold was lead from the throne room Minister of Science Bryan Coxovich was lead in. "Duke Coxovich you have been found guilty by Sessifet of being disloyal while in the service of the Goddess. You are hereby dismissed from Royal Service and exiled from the Isle of the Goddess." Klara once more ordered him to be taken off the Isle and her words were followed despite protests from the Minister. One by one people of all ranks were brought to the throne room, each one having been investigated by the Warriors of Gaia and found guilty of something inproper however not all faced exile. The Minister of Defence Lubos Kubik was called in and left moments later stripped of his Ministry position but instead moved to be merely an adviser his place in the Conclave gone. Helene Tar, the former Queen's mother was stripped of being able to use her royal titles while her 2nd husband was stripped of his military rank. The Pleb member of the Queen's security force  Angelina Evanov was removed from royal service and returned to the Army as a Private alongside that her family were forced now to wait six generations of military service rather than five to become Patricians. Minister of Social Affairs Anna Utkin was dismissed and ordered to pay compensation for her fraud of housing regulations. All morning the Queen one after another took steps to deal with those the Warrios had identified as a problem.

Next came one of the big problems, Tobias Pelagiya. Not only was he an important noble who was in the diplomatic service but he was also the Father-in-law of the King of East Moreland. "Duke Tobias you have been found guilty by Sessifet of defiling her sacred home. You are hereby dismissed from her service and forbidden on returning to the Isle until the Goddess believes you have atoned for your betrayal." Like the others he protested as he was taken away however he threatened the fact his daughter would be angry. It had been a consideration for the Queen because of the Pelagiya's links to the King of East Moreland but that couldn't interfere with what must be done. "If you think the Morelanders will protect someone without honour then feel free to run to them." Klara concluded as Tobias left.

The final person into the room was the High Priestess Alla Kohan. "Alla you have been found guilty by Sessifet of betraying the Priesthood and the Queendom. You are hereby sentenced to be removed from the Priesthood, this Isle and you will be placed under house arrest until such a time as further investigations into non-spiritual matters are undertaken." Alla stood gob-smacked as the High Priestess it had always been the duty of that position to advise the Queen on matters such as these and she had never dreamt of finding herself on the recieving end. "Take her away" The soldiers did as instructed although this time pausing at the door of the throne room remebering that she wore a seal around her neck on a chain symbolising her position. With a good tug the links seperated and the seal was in the hands of a Sergeant who took it over to the Queen and presented it her by bowing.

"Thank you" Klara said. She had spent the day so far stiffling a need to cry but with the final one done she let out a brief teary moment before her brother and Arina first helped her compose herself and then the Priestess helped her clean the marks of tears from her face. "Captain please gather people." Klara instructed the commander of the Warriors of Gaia and five minutes later a group of people began gathering in the throne room. Word had already spread about what had been happening with the media set up on the far side of the Isle's causeway recording each departing member of the Isle's community. Once the Captain gave the signal the Queen knew everyone was gathered and it ranged from the Palace cooks right up to her own wife Crown Princess Roksana. "As many of you know we gained information recently about a whole host of deeds undertaken by members of this community.....this family as I used to think of it.....that went against the ideals the Goddess wished us to uphold. The behaviour of those no longer among us betrayed the sacred nature of this island, of this body and let down the Queendom, in some cases leaving it weaker. My duty as the vessel containing the Goddess is to listen to her and take her guidance to ensure this blessed land is protected. I had until this morning clearly failed. Things will be changing. Just because you all now stand here before me it does not mean I will be ceasing my pursuit of those who have done wrong. I am granting people 48 hours to visit one of my appointed Priestesses." With perfect timing ten young Priestesses came and stood around the edge of the room. "Confess your wrong doings against the Goddess and the Queendom and you shall find the Goddess shall be merciful. If though my Warriors of Gaia have to root out your misdeeds then rest assured I shall be forced to have you follow those who are no longer worthy of the Goddesses favour."

"Leave" the Captain of the Warriors of Gaia instructed and with nervous chatting the group disbanded.

"You did well." Genadi reassured his sister. "Damn well" the pair hugged. "Now just be as stern on TV and you'll be fine."

There was about two hours until she was due on TV and before getting ready to deal with that she would go and find somewhere alone and cry.

[DaveIronside]

You would have thought by now the journalists in East Moreland would have learned their lesson yet without fail every three to four months it seemed they needed to be retaught. Throughout the morning since the data leak the barracks at Aldcliffe had been inundated with phone calls that were being dealt with in a not so professional manner by the desk staff at Red Legion HQ. "Hello East Moreland school for waif's and strays how may we direct you call" a Corporal with a missing right hand answered the next ringing phone. It was a safe approach for several reasons, first it annoyed the media and second if it was any legitimate reason for phoning they'd expect such a response anyway.

"Oh....is that Red Legion Barracks, Aldcliffe." a confused voice came from the other end of the line, clearly a rookie journalist.

"No Miss" The Corporal said, "Would you like to enroll an orphan or wayward teenager in one of our reform packages?"

"What....erm....sorry." the line went dead. There were official avenues to go down to get information from the Legion and none of them started with a phone call to the barracks. Brigadier Kelly was surprised in fact at the number of calls as to the best of his knowledge the phone number didn't appear on any official website, wasn't in the phone book and certainly wasn't on anyone's business cards. It was a unique situation where the barracks clearly existed yet at the same time didn't exist it was like one giant Jedi mind trick and the whole town was in it.

At about midday Captain Robbie Peacock had finished for the day and having left everything that would identify his as a Legionnaire here in his locker he left. "Excuse me." A gaggle of reporters stood at the side of the chain link fence that ringed the barracks. "Are you in Red Legion?" a journalist asked.

"Sorry in what?" Robbie asked cupping his hand to his ear as though he hadn't heard them.

"ARE YOU IN RED LEGION?" The voice came again.

"Red what?"Robbie had now reached the main gate and two chuckling soldiers let him out. Yet more journalists were waiting.

"Do you know a Legionnaire called Abrahams? What do you think of him helping sell illegal weapons?" A barrage of questions came towards Peacock.

"I'm just a cleaner" Robbie said as he climbed into his car and headed off. He lived in the town and as he drove through the dry stone wall flanked streets you could spot the journalists in contrast to the locals. Even those who were not members of the Legion had a connection, many veterans of the unit stayed on living here for the rest of their lives, restaurants knew they served the Legion's members and so looked out for them as best they could. There was a pride in the unit from everyone in the town and people willingly brought into the idea that Red Legion didn't exist despite everything to refute that was in clear view. When selection started every six months and potential new Legionnaires headed into town the locals even went so far as giving them fake directions. All these things meant that everytime journalists arrived they left with nothing but frustration.

Once Robbie had parked his car at home he headed off for a pint in the pub, the Tipsy Badger, it was one of four pubs frequented by the Legionnaires regularly with each almost being a shrine to one of the Squadrons that made up the Legion. It was owned by a former Legionnaire in his 60s now called Harry and he knew everyone who came in to his bar. "Usual Robbie?" Harry asked having seen him approaching through the large bay windows.

"Yes please" Robbie hung his coat by the entrance along with several others and picked up his beer from the bar top sticking a note on the bar for payment. "Take one for yourself" Robbie added as he scanned the bar and looked for Tom Saxby spotting his buddy he headed over and took a seat on his table. They chatted about the chaos at the barracks that day and the feeling round town laughing about the situation. It was as they'd both finished their ale that Robbie was about to head to the bar when a woman walked in. That alone was an eye raiser, a woman walking in on her own was a rarity and was usually some annoyed wife looking for her husband who was late home for dinner or something. The unit was so close knit everyone knew everyone's family too and Robbie was drawing a blank almost everyone in the bar reached the same conclusion at the same time "journalist."

"Hello. I'm Casey Bennett from the Daily Chronicle" she introduced herself loudly. "I'm looking for Paul Abrahams, we've £1000 for an interview. If anyone can help me find him I've £250 for them." The bar was full of people looking at each other.

"I'm Paul Abrahams" a voice from behind Robbie who was now stood at the bar announced. He was shocked. As he spun round he caught glimpse of the excitement on the womans face and as he looked at where the voice came from he saw Tom Saxby stood up, "I'm Paul Abrahams" he said again clearly. Then without any waiting another man on the opposite side of the bar stood up, "No. I'm Paul Abrahams." and Robbie could see everyone trying not to laugh, one by one everyone in the bar repeated the phrase, "I'm Paul Abrahams." until he joke couldn't be kept going anymore when one young Legionnaire who was enjoying a drink with his wife stood up holding her hand forcing her to stand beside him announced, "I'm Paul Abrahams and so is my wife." The bar erupted into fits of laughter and the journalist stormed out seeing her dream of breaking an exclusive story slip through her fingers.

No sooner had she left and with the bar still laughing at the incident Brigadier Kelly accompanied by two uniformed Red Legionnaires entered the bar. Everyone went quiet expecting a orders that something was going down were about to be given. "Anyone seen Abrahams" he asked loudly.

"I'm Paul Abrahams" Saxby stood and yelled proudly the chain about to begin again until the Brigadier cut the noise down with his booming voice.

"Saxby, you're not Abrahams you clown. He's a good looking, tall handsome man not a hobbit who looks like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle. Plus three other pubs have gone through your weak as piss joke. Now sit down and drink your pint while the grown ups talk." The bar burst out laughing including Saxby. It transpired no one had seen Abrahams and so Kelly returned to base and began making his own phone calls to contacts across Mundus.