Disclaimer: All characters, names, settings etc belong to their respective copyright holders, only much of the convoluted plot and a few characters and some objects are mine.
Chapter 09 – Espionage 101
General Lethbridge Stewart crept up on one of the hills which surrounded a large…supposedly empty space of land in Scotland.
It was empty according to the village at least an hour away, however the farmer who had leased the land certified that it had been leased…he just wasn't sure why…or to whom.
As soon as Night Wolf has received…UFO reports from the RAF they'd directed all their resources at this area…but the Sorcery department was the most enlightening, some of their friends had tickets…
The Quidditch World Cup provided the best circumstance to test some of their technology in a real world situation.
The jamming device sat on its side behind them, jamming wand user's charms, spells and other inhibitors around their area.
The device had come some way from being truck sized to barely 110 cm x 80 cm, no where near portable…yet two officers could carry it.
General Lethbridge Stewart shook his head as he watched yet another 'official' aim his wand at the farmer who was leasing out the land, a spell leapt out and then man walked off slightly dazed.
"Sergeant, make a note to get that man checked over by someone from Night Wolf…the amount of spells they've been working on him…"
"Sir." The Sergeant beside him had a camera was documenting everything to film.
After a couple hours of watching the General pushed himself away and slid carefully down the hill and walked calmly back to the command centre which was located in what the wizards thought was a hill.
Lethbridge Stewart sat down at the low work centre and punched up a secure link up to Night Wolf. Birmingham appeared on the screen.
"So how was it Brigadier? Impossible to get tickets for…and now I've got coverage from three different angles." Birmingham shook his head with a smile.
"The jammers seem to be coping Birmingham…though the amount of times I've seen a wand user use their wand on the man who's leased the land…"
"It is worrying Brigadier…should we try and…replace him?"
The Brig shook his head. "Even our best couldn't stand against this many…memory modifications. Have you got the RAF to do a high pass over?"
"Five times sir, nothing, apart from the initial radar contact, all of the passes after that show a very small blip and then nothing."
"Infra-red? Video?"
"No sir…if the anti-muggle charms are good…and they generally are we shouldn't have been able to see even those blips."
"Keep on it."
"Sir…are you staying at the Cup?"
"Yes…according to your department everyone packs up after the game's end."
Birmingham nodded as the screen fizzed and flickered out.
"What's going on Captain?" The captain poked his head around a partition.
"Happens sometimes sir, they fly over us…the jammers are working low spreading the field at ground level, if the power is diverted or someone flies over us we loose the field for a moment…it should be coming back up…" He glanced at a screen. Now sir."
"Brigadier? Are you still there?"
The general nodded at the screen.
"Birmingham…I'm still here. Any news I need to be informed of?"
Birmingham looked through his papers.
"ASCS Hattah reports a successful shakedown cruise around the outer planets, they're currently on-route to Research and Resource One to retrieve ore for…"
"Yes right…where's Firefox while Hattah is out there?"
"ASCS Hattah sent back a full scan of the system, we've got clear skies General nothing in the vicinity, Firefox is dropping supplies to Outpost 3 and changing crews with 2 before she drops her cargo back…"
"Very good Birmingham. Will check in when this is over…"
"Sir…one other thing… a request from RAF…"
"Go ahead." General Lethbridge Stewart saw Birmingham checking over a piece of official looking paper.
"They want to send a squad of harriers to your position to conduct intelligence training…"
"Denied Birmingham…cite the de-stabilising charms in the area…"
Birmingham nodded in acceptance.
"However…send them the specifications of the jammer Palmer will give you a hand, tell them if they can fit one of their birds with it, then they can do a sweep after the end, once most of the inhabitants are out…we don't need to drop another piece of fighter equipment right in front of these people." He chuckled.
"Sir…Night Wolf over and out." Birmingham nodded, as did the General and the laptop's screen flickered out.
General Lethbridge Stewart had just come from leading a team into the thick of the encampment which was totally devoid of action while the game was being played.
They were being monitored from 3 sides by different teams, however now that they were in the middle of the camp they were feeling the effects of the charms, spells and whatever else.
Anti-hypnosis training and various other techniques stopped them wanting to wander off too much, thankfully the most spells were along the edges of the camping ground, none of the wizards ever suspected that a 'muggle' would get into the middle of their not so easily concealed camp.
The General's team had with them normal film cameras with no electrical systems and were documenting everything, one of his team was also carrying a windup 16mm film camera and was documenting both the mundane and the complex.
Things that Night Wolf might be able to replicate, or charms which they simply wanted presented in a real world situation for training purposes.
Lethbridge Stewart spun around as a cheer roared from the huge stadium, his gun already in his hand as the sky lit up with a magically enhanced firework.
The General looked to one side and saw a light flashing from one of the teams, it was a return to base signal.
He just had time to shout to his team members as the stadium's doors flung open and a cheering roaring crowd some running some walking started back to the camp site.
Moving swiftly he and his team made it back to the safety of the jammers.
The team went back to the dugout HQ to secure their footage and equipment.
General Lethbridge Stewart had stayed at their lookout as the crowds returned, he was monitoring the surveillance footage that was being gathered from his look out as the crowds returned to their camp sites and twilight turned to night.
Then he heard it…the tell tale sound of apparition, he quickly grabbed for the map that had been sketched out by the teams when they had first arrived, none of the sounds seemed to match the 'apparition points' or the 'portkey points'.
He could see figures moving out of the trees that surrounded the camp sites, and other figures pulling on hoods and masks coming out of tents, he knew what they were…he'd witnessed some of their final attacks…the reports were even more frank…
"Death Eaters…" He uttered to himself and then turned to the Sergeant beside him. "Sergeant, get the parabolic microphone…" He muttered, they would get all possible information on these…people and identify any that they could.
The sergeant fell to the ground beside him slamming the DAT tape into the recorder and pointing it at the crowd of Death Eaters, he had a worried face.
So did the General, fires were beginning to be lit, he grabbed his radio twisting it around to the general frequency that was being used by all teams at the Cup.
"Greyhound Leader to all units, withdraw…I say again this is Greyhound Leader, withdraw and regroup at main staging area." He paused. "Take all equipment, leave nothing behind, Greyhound Leader out."
He didn't wait for a reply, instead he tapped the sergeant on the shoulder.
"Leave that to me sergeant, give the captain a hand, make sure everything from the base is loaded up."
"But Sir…" He started to say, the directives stated that there should be at least two people on the lookout.
"Now Sergeant that's an order." General Lethbridge Stewart said firmly.
The sergeant gave a curt nod and slid away from the lookout, Lethbridge Stewart slung the headphones over one ear and continued to record all the sound, the fires and the crackle of the spells through the air was starting to have an effect on the microphone hindering any clear reception.
Looking around he thought he saw a small animal rush into the trees.
10 minutes later, Lethbridge Stewart turned feeling a presence behind him.
"Who are you…you're not from one of the…Stupef…" Then he fell down before the General could grab for his gun.
The sergeant was standing there holding a rifle, which he'd used to slab down on the back of the wizard in purple clothing head.
"General Sir, the captain is getting the last of the equipment loaded…"
"Good." The Brig grabbed the camera and slung the DAT and mic over a shoulder and crouched down the mound." The sky above them lit up green…
"Take an end sergeant…we need to move the jammer as well…I trust the rest of your squad are safe?"
"Yes sir…" He grabbed one end of the quite heave jammer while the general took the other end, he gave a side glance to the wizard on the ground before they trudged away.
Had either of them looked to the sky they would have seen a snake crawling out of a skull…
General Lethbridge Stewart slammed the troop carrier into gear and launched them away from the site of the Quidditch World Cup just as another series of pops were announcing the arrival of another force of wizards send to defend against the World Cup and the group attacking the site.