[Raellus]

Here's an adventure starter I whipped up for a mission connected with this encounter.

...

DIA Facility, Salzburg

He didn't look like a DIA officer. Maybe that was the point. He was short, not-quite stocky, but he didn't have the undernourished look that most folks nowadays had. He wore a wrinkled, white button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up to just below the elbow, and dark slacks. He hadn't shaved for a few days and his dark brown hair was just a touch overlong. Sweat stains darkened his shirt around his armpits; the smoke from his cigarette masked any associated smell.His partner was taller, thinner, and cleaner cut. The second man's look fairly hollered spook.

"I'm agent Dale. This is agent Dean."

The taller man nodded, barely, but remained silent.

"The Vatican is moving the earthly remains of John Paul II, in secret, overland to Krakow. Apparently, it was the late pontiff's dying wish to be buried in his home soil, and the new Pope means to oblige. It's not clear why the Vatican's doing this. It might have something to do with this new renegade Austrian pope we're hearing about. It more likely has something to do with the Vatican's internal politics. That's not terribly important. What is important is that we want to help them do it.

He paused, a lengthy, pregnant silence, most certainly intended for effect, before continuing.

"If the U.S. can smuggle the Pope's remains into the middle of PACT-controlled Poland, it'll be a major embarrassment for the Soviets, and a major PR coup for us. Our sources are telling us that powerful elements within the Polish military are on the verge of turning on the Soviets. We get John Paul to Krakow, it might just seal the deal and buy us some new friends. We want you to find the Vatican's delivery team and escort it safely to Krakow.

"Now, the Vatican doesn't know that we want to help them; we really have no way to securely communicate with them. They don't even know that we know about this operation. They don't want anyone to know. Our station in Vienna picked up a rumor from one of its informants and later verified it with a field agent. They passed it along to us and now we've got to move on it. This is a time sensitive operation. The Vatican escort team has already crossed the Austrian border here," Paul tapped the large wall map with his index finger, "and, as far as we know, they're on the move. We believe the escort is a team of about ten men, seven or eight of them Swiss Guard- their best- and the others supernumeraries, likely clergy. They're moving by horse and wagon, at night, on back roads, trying to avoid notice.

"We're going to drop you somewhere in here. You're going to intercept this group, or track them down, and convince them that you're there to help.

"They might not want it. If they refuse your offer, you need to do whatever you need to do in order to secure the precious cargo and get it safely to Krakow. We'd prefer this be a team effort, though, so force should be your last option."

Dale picked up a large dossier from the table and dropped it back down theatrically.

"This is everything we have on Austria. You leave tonight at midnight. Any questions?"

-

The dossier is- you guessed it- the contents of my Austria sourcebook.

Raellus