Wolfgang was taken off guard by Fredrik's hug and grunted slightly as the man embraced him, he patted him on the back and then again on the shoulder when he was released. He appreciated the gesture, even if it was a bit of a surprise. He gave a nod to Lucian who offered a more subtle gesture which was appreciated all the same. Wolfgang met Madelief’s eyes as she approached him, it was only then that he realised that she had tears in her eyes. It stirred him that she had been moved to such emotion for his family who she had never met, the whole groups acceptance of his family gave him one of the first positive feelings he had felt since the night they were taken from him. Valéria’s characteristic straight forward response made him smile slightly. He nodded to her, “Thank you… Thank you all.” He said looking at the group gathered in front of him.

Wolfgang cleared his throat and spoke louder this time, “I’ve given this a lot of thought. Arturo has knowledge that makes him a very dangerous enemy, he knows our previous patterns and our safe houses, not just that but he knows us. Me in particular, he knows how I lead and how I plan. I intend to use this against him.” Wolfgang began pacing as he spoke. “He’ll expect me to go after him in an all-out attack, he was almost right. I did myself a favour by drowning myself in alcohol before I got to my plane; if I had managed to reach it sooner I would likely have gone after him alone without any plan. We’re going to use the opposite tactic; we’re going to make him come to us.” Walking to a box behind the chair he had been sitting on he pulled out a map of the Mediterranean, he spread it on the table in front of him and weighted the corner down with bottles and glasses.

“There are two things that drive anti-piracy units into action, threats to international trade and threats to wealthy Europeans. I intend to threaten both. I want them to force their hand and make them act hastily so that Arturo is out of his element.” Running his finger across the map he traced a line from Algeria around Sardinia and to Pisa, Italy, from there he continued up the Italian coast and along to Marseille in France then back down to Algeria again. “A new trade lane has opened, slaves from Algeria are taken over to Pisa where they get traded for gold and goods which are then taken to Marseille and traded for weaponry, fuel, machinery and everything else that the slavers need to keep doing what they do which is then dropped back in Algeria. Then the cycle continues. The wealth the French and Italian governments are pulling in from this, not to mention the slavers, is massive. We’re going to raid a convoy between France and Algeria, we’ll hit it here.” He placed his finger down west of Sardinia.

“These convoys are no joke, they’ve got at least 2 destroyer-class ships in tow as well as the planes they inevitably bring along. The reason I chose this leg of the journey to hit them is that they’ll have had the same escort from the beginning of their journey. The pilots will be tired and will be easier to take down. The destroyers are our main concern, they’ll be throwing a lot of lead into the air. We’re going to have to get in quick and hard and cripple their guns. Then we’ll divert one of the ships to Spain and cripple as many of the others as we can. We’ll sell the Spanish whatever goods are on board and get on our way; which brings me neatly to the second phase of my plan.” He put his finger down on Venice and traced it over the Adriatic Sea and down into the Mediterranean proper, around Greece and up to Constantinople. 

“There’s going to be a luxury zeppelin flight from Venice to Constantinople. The people on board will be some Europe’s elite and there will be plenty of influential and esteemed individuals among them. We’re going to do something that’s never been done before, we’re going to board an airborne airship and we’re going to rob every passenger for everything they have. The money isn’t the point of this, the scandal is the real prize. The politicians who’s pockets are filled by the wealth and favour of the rich will explode with indignation and fury. The anti-piracy units will be deployed and Italy will be leading the charge. Which means that Arturo won’t have his precious planning time that he relies so heavily on, which will put him at odds with his situation from the start. That’s when we get him.” Taking a moment he looked over the map and then straightened and looked at the others.

“Any questions before we get into the fine details?”