MD-SOS

[Nentsia]

Ministry of Security headquarters,
Zemaita - Kingdom of Nerysia

Two years later... Alvan, 1587

Colonel Godric Nazartis arrived at his new workplace, on a cold winter morning. What had previously been known as the ''Ministry of Defense Special Operations Service'' had been merged into an enormous organization, and elevated to the status of ministry on its own - the Ministry of Security. It required officers like Nazartis himself, to follow the transfer and abandon their cherished Defense Ministry to work for the new Ministry of Security.

Nazartis parked his car, took out his briefcase - containing only his lunch and a number of smartphones - and went through the security checkpoints of the terrain. Although Nazartis regretted leaving the Defense Ministry, his job hadn't changed much, and even most of his colleagues made the same career move and continued to be his colleagues. What had previously been the SOS at the Defense Ministry was now more or less a subordinate office at the new Security Ministry. Nazartis showed his identity card at the gate, which indicated he belonged to the ''Main Department IV Section III''. Despite the fact that it was a new organization, and employees were constantly asking unfamiliar faces ''excuse me, what was your department again? And their task is...?'', everyone knew Section III of the Fourth Department. It was one of the smaller sections, but it was also the ''special'' one. The people working in that section came closest to the heroes from the popular spy novels and action movies. The Third Section, as it was simply known, was in the most literal sense of the word above the law.

Nazartis entered through the great marble hall of their headquarters, and peaked through the windows of the ground floor offices. He took the elevator upstairs, but held the doors opened for a handsome young woman who desperately tried to make it in time carrying a heavy load of paper files. ''Thanks'', she smiled. ''No problem. Need some help carrying that?''

The girl gladly handed Nazartis some of the files. Nazartis stared at the texts for a moment. He could see they were transcripts, but he couldn't read the language. The girl smiled nervously. ''Mordvanian communications that we intercepted over the past week. I need to take these to the linguists... Section IV of the Second Department.''

Nazartis smiled. ''Well, I'll walk with you then, I have to be on the same floor.'' The second floor sometimes looked more at an international conference than a ministry, as there were various offices concerning themselves with different parts of the globe, and the staffs had decorated their offices with flags, maps, and cultural items. ''There is a thin line between admiration and defection'', Nazartis joked to the girl. They delivered the files to the 4th Section, an office that had been decorated with Mordvanian flags. They even had a dartboard with pictures of Mordvanian politicians attached to it. An overworked linguist scratched his balding head as he saw the amount of paperwork that had arrived, and a sense of despair was visible in his eyes. ''Only the past week?''

''There is much more where that came from.'' the girl replied sarcastically. Then she thanked Nazartis and returned to her own desk, Section III of the Fifth Department - Electronic communications. The Fifth Department's budget was larger than that of all the others combined, but they did useful work. They had installed a number of antenna's, satellite dishes and radio equipment on the rooftop of the Nerysian embassy in Mordvania, which were used to target Mordvanian government communications on a daily basis. By now it had become an endless stream of data; telephone calls, text messages, e-mails, but also verbal conversations in some cases, thanks to the highly sensible microphones aimed at the windows of government buildings. It was not unusual for the Nerysian embassy to drive an embassy vehicle through the streets of the capital, while the car was filled with radio equipment to intercept electronic communication. The Fifth Department did the same with all other Nerysian embassies.

Nazartis moved on and reached a secure room, where no cell phones were allowed to enter. This was his Third Section, Special Operations. Nazartis' job required the highest level of secrecy for he was responsible for recruiting, operating, and maintaining unofficial informants, but also agents working under cover. One of his most promising agents was Peter Scholz, whom he had dragged into his affairs a few years ago. Peter, an Oslan nationalist in exile, was given a false identity, and lived for almost a year under this cover, while learning everything about his new role and his future tasks. Scholz received a Lanlanian identity, and had to pose as a Lanlanian business man of Oslan origin, who had a business in Nerysia.

Not too long ago he moved to Oslanburg to do business there. His hidden agenda was to establish contacts with old members of the Oslan nationalist circles, especially the ones he used to know before he fled the country. He maintained contact with Nazartis in the old-fashioned manner, so as to avoid communications being intercepted. He would meet at arranged dates with a Nerysian journalist. Before meeting, Scholz would travel out of town, making sure he wasnt being followed. Then he travelled back, taking different routes, sometimes travelling up to three hours just to meet the Nerysian journalist. The journalist in his turn carried instructions or money that he had received from a diplomatic attache at the Nerysian embassy, which in its turn used secure communication lines to receive and send messages to Nazartis, working in Nerysia and overseeing the entire operation. The Nerysian journalist worked as a full-time journalist, but it was also a cover, because he also worked for the Third Section.

Scholz had to try to recruit old nationalist comrades in Oslanburg and convince them to set up an underground far-right political organization. They would not know that they were being used as pawns by the Nerysians.