Erwin Ostermann
Erwin Ostermann is a character that appears in Rainbow Six.
Biography
Erin Ostermann grew up in a humble household. His father was a engine-driver in the state railway. This would later cause noble families of the area to look down upon him later in life after he became an Austrian financer and amassed a small fortune. To offset this, Osterman owned a lavish home that he worked out of in the countryside though he still lived a somewhat modest lifestyle. He also bought social spectability with charity and his frequent attendance at the opera. In 1994, Ostermann lost his first wife to ovarian cancer. A few years later he had a new love interest named Ursel von Prinze whom he later became engaged with.
Rainbow Six
In 1999, Dimitri Popov contracted Hans Fürchtner and Petra Dortmund to kidnap Ostermann for "special access codes". Fürchtner and Dortmund subsequently lead a group of terrorists into Ostermann's home and take him and his staff hostage, both claiming to be commanders of the Red Workers' Faction. They then threatened to kill Ostermann's secretary, Gerhardt Dengler, along with his other staff members unless he came with them and gave up the access codes to the the international trading markets. Ostermann was astonished by these demands as these codes did not exist. Unbeknownst to the terrorists, Gerhardt Dengler had activated an alarm button under his desk and notified the alarm company of the situation via duress word.
Police Captain Wilhelm Altmark, who had met Ostermann before, arrived at the scene and contacted Fürchtner from the telephone in Ostermann's office. Fürchtner told Altmark that they would start killing hostages by midnight unless they were given transport to Schwechat International Airport and that several of their "friends" be released from various prisons. Ostermann status and friendship with the Austrain Prime Minister quickly led to Rainbow being notified of the situation. Team 2, led by Domingo Chavez, was dispatched to the scene for a rescue attempt.
While waiting for the police to meet their demands, Fürchtner and Dortmund funneled all of hostages into Ostermann's office. Chavez posted snipers around Ostermann's property and then had Captain Altmark contact the terrorists again in order to confirm Ostermann's whereabouts. Upon making contact with Fürchtner, Altmark requested the release of two hostages as a sign of good faith while they waited for their demands to be met. Fürchtner denied this request as he knew the hostages would help the police identify them and give more insight on the current situation. Dortmund reminded Altmark that they would start killing hostages at regular intervals as a show of force if their demands were not met.
A few minutes before midnight, Rainbow Operator Eddie Price arrived at the home disguised as the getaway helicopter pilot. Fürchtner and Dortmund then made their way to the helicopter with Ostermann, Denglerm and another hostage. Chavez waited until the remaining terrorists had left the building to join Fürchtner and Dortmund and then order Team 2 to engage and eliminate them which ended with success. It is later revealed that the true purpose of the hostage incident at Ostermann's home was to increase awareness on terrorism so that Global Security would receive the contact for the Sydney Summer Games.
The ordeal greatly affected Ostermann. He developed a form of PTSD and had been put on tranquilizers by his personal physician. Ostermann later conversed with the American Treasury Secretary George Winston, whom he was friends with, and told him that nationalities of his rescuers were American and British and not Austrian like the news reports had stated. Winston responded that he was aware of who they were but could not divulge any more information. Ostermann felt that he had to repay them for saving his life and told Winston that he would create a scholarship fund for the children of the Rainbow operatives. True to his word, he later did just that, much to John Clark's surprise. Despite this, Clark was unsure of the legality of such a gesture and asked Alice Foorgate how to handle it.
Psychological Profile
Ostermann is somewhat obsessed with his social standing in the financial community. He owns a large home that he works out of thirty kilometers outside of Vienna. He allows sheep farmers to graze on his land in the Summer which also gives him a generous tax break. He also owns two Mercedes, a Porsche, and a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter which he occasionally drove if he was feeling adventurous enough. Desptie this, Ostermann is happy to live a largely unassuming and private lifestyle. According to his staff, he is happy to help them with any personal issues they may have.
Trivia
- For his rescue operation, Rainbow gave him the codename "Big Man".