I hope that he does it soon. Not that I am impatient, just that thing ^.
And now, how the entrance into 1983 affects several important people in the nation of Andalusia...
San Fernando (Cádiz), Andalusia, 31st July 1983:
Adolfo Baturone, former Vice-Minister for the Navy, was waiting in his office for the rest of his co-conspirators to arrive. They, like him, were part of the military, with them being from several other parts of the country, as well as having served under Francisco Franco so many years ago. Like him, they were also dissatisfied with the plans the new government had.
One by one, the members of the 'old guard conspiracy' arrived into the building, trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as their trenchcoats and hats allowed them to do. However, they didn't know that a woman in the opposite building, armed with a camera, had been taking photographs of every person as they entered the building, clearly showing their faces in the negative of the camera. They also didn't know that one of the people in the conspiracy was in reality a mole the Ministry of Home Affairs had in the group, which was right now meeting for the fourth time since Baturone had resigned from his position.
At 6 PM o'clock, with the summer heat scorching the city being mollified some by the sea wind, the fifteen members of the group had already left their trenchcoats and hats, leaving their long-sleeved shirts with their first buttons open, as the hot weather had already done its work. The air conditioning was very welcomed by the slightly sweaty bodies.
"Gentlemen," Baturone said, starting the meeting. "Thank you for coming again. I think that we should leave the pleasantries for later. Have you been able to advance in your parts of our mission?"
Colonel Palomo, from the Western Division of the Army, was the first to speak up. "There are several people in my unit that agree with our position. While some of them fear they might be expelled from the army if they are caught, they are willing to act with us once the coup is started."
"The tripulation of the Lepanto will follow you, too," Rear Admiral Negro said.
"And the Air Fleet, Squadron Three will too," Liutenant Colonel Falcón stated.
As everybody else gave their reports, they didn't know that the mole was wearing a concealed microphone in one of his shirt's buttons, or that that microphone was transmitting what was being said to a group of policemen just in the other side of the street. It was just a casuality that the group had received the negatives of the photographer that had caught all the conspirators entering Baturone's office.
"These guys are just digging themselves into a deeper hole at each word they say," Corporal Márquez said, handing his partner a glass of hot coffee.
"They don't know that they are doing that, however," Sergeant Sanjuán replied, sipping on the coffee.
"That only makes it funnier," Márquez stated with a grin.
"You seem to have a strange sense of humour, Márquez."
"You already know me, Sanjuán, I was the joker of my Police Academy's class."
"Why does that fact pop up in every surveillance operation we work?" Sanjuán asked.
"The face you put never stops to amuse me," Márquez said. It was quite fortunate that their banter didn't stop them from hearing the conversation held at the other side.
"The coup shall start on September the 29th. Montilla, remember that your group is the one that has the most important work, as you will be the one to detain General Arquillo and depose him. Lobato, you have to reach the TV station soon after that, to tell people that Arquillo has resigned from his position, as well as all the ministers in his cabinet. Then, we will be able to start going back on the plans those Reds have been drawing up for the last three years."
"What about the solar centers and the road system, sir?" one of the colonels asked.
"Might as well keep them, after all they seem to be working well," Baturone replied. "However, we won't need more foreign intervention in this country, we should be self-sufficient in as many things as possible."
"We are still going to need oil for transports and the such."
"For everything save the materials we can't get in here the aim should be self-sufficiency."
At the other side of the street, Sanjuán and Márquez paid attention to what was being said.
"I think they are about to come out," Sanjuán said.
"Reckon we should send our people in there?" Márquez said.
"Yeah. We've got enough on all of them to get each out of the army and a few years in prison."
"OK," Márquez replied, picking a walkie-talkie. "Gentlemen, this is Charlie. Activate Phase Two of Operación Riego."
"Roger, Charlie," the voice crackled from the receiver.
Sanjuán looked out to the street, and saw several constables armed with guns and protected with bulletproof vests and helmets entering the office, using a one-man battering ram to bring down the door into the building as soon as possible.
The men in the office had been standing up, about to get back to their homes, when they heard the entrance of the policemen.
"What is going on?" Falcón said. Just in that moment, the door into his office was opened.
"National Police, freeze!" one of the uniformed constables said, pointing his weapon towards Baturone himself. The other men in the unit entered the room. It was quite fortunate that the office was big enough to hold a meeting between more than thirty sitting people, because right now there were nearly forty between policemen and militars.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Baturone asked to the one who was obviously the leader of this group.
"Inspector Casqueiro," he said, showing his badge to the shocked Admiral. "You are under arrest for your breaking of the Treason Laws of 1951, as well as the Military Act of 1945. You have the right to ask for an attorney. Should you lack of an attorney, you will be provided with one. Anything you say may be used against you. Are those rights clear to you?"
"You have no right to arrested me! I am a Vice-Admiral of the Fleet, and thus I am untouchable by a mere policeman!" Baturone shouted.
"I fear that the Military Act of 1945 would disagree with you," Inspector Casqueiro replied coolly, "as it states that a militar of any rank may be arrested by the civilian police if he is found to be suspect of a crime. Of course, your detaining will be handled by the Militar Police, but for the moment you have no option but to surrender, or the charge of resisting authority shall be added."
Baturone's face turned deep red with anger at having been detained. He was trying to make a service to the country by eliminating a government that did not truly have the best interests of the nation on its heart and this was how he was repaid?
One by one, the high officials of the army, navy and air force that had been caught cooperating with Baturone in his attempt to subvert the power of the nation to his will entered the police van that had been parked in front of the building. All of them had their faces covered so that the photographers and television cameras waiting there weren't able to capture their defeated faces, their haunted eyes as they knew they were going to lose what had been a big part of their lifes for the last decades.
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Mérida (Badajoz), Andalusia, 2nd August 1983.
The recent article in the main newspapers and in Canal Sur TV's news was practically the only thing people talked about. The reaction of the people was even bigger than the last Football National Cup final, which had been played between the Granada C.F. and the Mérida F.C. in the Nuevo Arcángel stadium and had been won by the Granada in a tremendous penalty shoot out.
SUR
El diario de Andalucía
Last 31st July, the inhabitants of the city of San Fernando (Cádiz) were surprised to see a group of policemen entering the Lazaga Garay Building, where the offices of the Navy Group West stand, in order to arrest several high officials of the Army, Navy and Air Force. According to official sources, these officials, led by former Vice-Minister of the Navy Adolfo Baturone, were planning to overthrow General Manuel Arquillo's government through violent means, as they apparently didn't like the nature of the political reforms that were being installed by the government.
In an communiqué sent from the offices of the Palacio de San Telmo to the ARFPA (OOC: Agencia de Reporteros y Fotógrafos de Prensa de Andalucía, Andalusia's Agency of Press Journalists and Photographers in Spanish), General Arquillo states:
Ever since I reached my position in the government through the wishes of General José Roberto, Admiral Baturone has argued over several of the measures the government has taken to improve the daily lifes of every Andalusian, though it was more of a misguided belief rather than a wish to keep the normal people downtrodden. While his services to the country will never be forgotten, it has pained me that he has decided to take this illegal and dangerous path, and to try and oust us from our positions. The same goes to Colonel Palomo and Liutenant Colonel Falcón and the other officials caught in this conspiracy.
The fifteen conspirators, who had all been part of the first governments of the nation led by Francisco Franco, were directed to the military prison of Herrera de la Mancha, as they await for the trial that has been fixed by the High Military Command for January of the next year.
It isn't known what led the Old Guard, as they were known in the army circles, to conspire against the government. However, Admiral Baturone, as he was being led into the van that took him to prison, he shouted insults against Ministers González and Anguita, among others, calling them "Godless Reds" and several other words that were garbled by the noise of the van's motor as it started.
The consequences of this in the moral of the Army are unknown at the moment, although several spokesmen have stated that, in spite of the arrests, the soldiers and sailors in general have not felt affected by this...
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Hospital Real, Granada, Andalusia, 2nd September 1983
Manuel looked at his government companions with a small smile on his lips. This was the first time all the ministers had been able to meet since Baturone had been arrested, as many of them had been on vacation with their families.
"My friends, what Adolfo has done and the answer from the army might well be the first signal that our plans are going well," Manuel stated.
"Indeed," Juan Antonio said. "We were pretty fortunate that our mole wasn't caught. What are we going to do with him, however? It wouldn't be good for us if he is sent to prison for being in a conspiracy he was willingly infiltrating."
"Oh, he has accepted to go through the trial. Also, he was a bit bored of being in the army and told us that he wanted to get out when this finished, so he will get what he wants with no problem. After this is over, he and his wife are going to go back to her old town, to live the rest of the time God let's him have in peace," Anguita replied.
"He deserves some rest. He has had to work next to traitors practically against his own will, and it must have been hard to continously sprout things about a past he no longer wished to go back. He has been very supportive of the plans we have been making so far," Manuel said.
"Any word about the enterprises which contacted us about expanding in here?" Guerra asked.
"The Norwegians said they wanted to come here, and we are still in talks with Lockheed about it. No word from either the EMTC nor the CTI," Oliart replied, looking at his papers.
"Let's hope that they answer soon. It won't be good if they don't do that soon, as it would mean that they have lost interest in our country," González said.
OOC: The thing the policeman tells Baturone is the Miranda Warning, although a bit different than the RL one. Do you think it's a bit OOC for the Andalusian Police to use this as a warning? (I had no other thing to do, as I don't have an idea about what the police during Franco's dictatorship said when arresting someone). To the Americans around here, what I call football is what you call soccer, so sorry, no expansion of one of the most boring sports ever into Europe (hell, Australian football is more entertaining than American football!!). As for the mentioned corporations, I patiently wait for your messages.
EDIT: Let's see who can find the cultural reference! Clue: you should be acquainted with Spanish TV programs to find it...
