The Land of Spring [Nation Maintenance/Story Thread]

[Lauzanne]

The Land of Spring

Lauzanne Spring [Lau: Лозанна Веснара tr: Lozanna Vesnara]: An informal saying for the era beginning in 2000 to the present, born of the Pagan belief that the Spring season is indicative of a birth or rebirth. Follows on from the Winter Years of 1947-1991.

Born from the Kingdom of Lauzannia after World War Two ravaged their homeland, the people of Lauzanne entered into a long and harsh metaphorical winter. Frustrated with both their government and the powers that ruled over their nation from afar, Lauzanneans took up arms to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship and forge their own path. Through the crucible of the Civil War and Refusal War, the people of Lauzanne fought off the Bear from the East and the Lauzanneans it had fully ensnared. With the end of the USSR and the Cold War came a new era of history. Struggling to find its feet amidst a rapidly changing world, the new possibilities of interaction and friendship with the wider world lead to the Lauzanne Spring, the nation finding it's own place among the post-Soviet nations that surrounded it. With the new Global War on Terror looming, Lauzanne had its arm twisted for support by the current global hegemon, the United States of America. However, even in these times of relative peace, storm clouds loomed on the horizon.

With the dissolution of the Red Star Party following uncovered links to Russian funding, the Spring War broke out after the deaths of six Gotovy officers responding to an emergency call of bandits, only to find a well-armed insurgent force of the newly formed Red Star Army. A mix of Communist-era Refusal War veterans, true believers and Russian-sent proxies clashed against a rusty Lauzanne Defence Force in the northern reaches of Lauzanne, a bloody six year long conflict that saw families torn apart, towns ravaged and livelihoods destroyed. With the ending of the Spring War in 2019, the country has started to heal once more from wounds inflicted on it by external powers.

The year is 2022. A Parade marking 40 years of independence also commemorates a new era as Lauzanne becoming a capable regional power in Eastern Europe among former Warsaw Pact nations. Located between the Eagle, the Bear and the Dragon, Lauzanne finds itself at a historic crossroads. Does it support the prior blocs of the world in order to be part of something greater, forge it's own path and challenge the prior arrangements of decrepit organisations, or will it end up dismantled by forces greater than it, ending up as little more than a shadow of what could have been? The future has many pathways...

This is the current thread for the national storyline of Lauzanne, known as the Land of Spring to the locals. A land of friendly people, great views, and a sad history of being controlled by larger states. This thread serves as a hub for stories in Lauzanne and involving Lauzanneans at home and abroad in a world of power blocs and espionage, with rising and established powers both clashing for greater influence in secretive and overt ways.

Please note this thread is CLOSED, unless allowed otherwise by me. If you want to write a tale, TG me and maybe something can be worked out.

[Lauzanne]

The Coming Storm

Moonlight filtered in through the open window of Jakob Stepan Waffenschmidt’s bedroom, the curtains fluttering with the cool Springtime air. He didn’t know what time of night it was, only that his girlfriend was asleep next to him. It had been a while now, but Jack’s thoughts swarmed his mind once more. He remembered the images of the towns in the war zones, houses with destroyed walls, flattened stores and structures. That could be all of Lauzanne. Jack slid out of bed quietly, donning a shirt as he walked over to the open window.

Raselan glittered under the moonlight, the orange flow of thousands of street lights, neon signs and airport signals wreathed the capital of Lauzanne in a luminous aura. Apart from the odd night owl or person enjoying themselves at the end of another week, Jakob Stepan Waffenschmidt was looking out of his house’s window at the city below him. He had been president since 2012, which already felt like a lifetime ago. An unenviable presidency, the press had called it. American pressure, the Spring War, questions about the military… Jack sighed, looking out his window. This isn’t even the beginning of it…

The Spring War had been going on for four years now, most of his current term. Although most advances by the enemy had slowed, it was still a war. Troubling reports of how well trained the insurgents are, their level of equipment. He had even been informed that they somehow had old MiGs… Things which could only exist in their ranks with outside help. He had read the reports, and it was still hard to believe. Russian involvement and assistance. All of this to cling to relevance. It had been suspected as soon as the Red Star Party was disbanded due to foreign funding, but the slew of evidence confirmed it. However there was little they could do.

America had been a rather… Mercurial partner on the global stage. Clandestinely supporting their independence in the Refusal War period, only to make demands that would strip such independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. To try and reconcile with the US, Lauzanne had sent soldiers to Afghanistan. With the Spring War, Jack had personally recalled the troops home to fight for their motherland.

And the Americans don’t care either. Complaining we had to leave Afghanistan. Complaints about bombers, NATO... Not like they would want to help us, anyway. Not for a worthwhile price.

“Draga, come back to bed…” The voice of his girlfriend demanded, breaking his train of thought as he looked over at the moonlit bed. Isabela had sat up, patting the empty side of the bed.

“I just can’t sleep. Go back to bed, it’s fine.” Jack called back, but he heard the rustling of sheets being pulled up as his lover left their bed, walking over to him.

“Bullshit, Draga. If it was fine, you’d be asleep.” Isabela stated, slowing down as she approached Jack, before putting arms around his midsection and planting her chin on his shoulder.

“You’re right. It’s a bit of everything.” Jack began, stealing a glance at Isabela before taking in the view at the city. Little had changed, but he felt… Warmer. A little more reassured.

“Well.” Isabela began, before squeezing Jack’s midsection. “Which one first?”

“I should have married you earlier this year when I had the chance. I’m… Sorry.” The confession got Isabela to laugh just a little bit, squeezing once more as she kissed his bare shoulder.

“Draga, you know if you wanted we could have it done without the Gods’ blessings.” Isabela affirmed.


“No, it has to be done the right way. I’m not going to get you to sacrifice your beliefs for my sake, Zhenha.” Jack replied, turning himself around and embracing her back.

“And the rest? I may not be politically inclined, but… It’s weighing heavy on you.”

“Well, to put it as bluntly as I can… This is the calm before the storm.”

“... Draga, we’re at war.”

“With an insurgent group that has no official backing. Although dangerous, it is nothing compared to what could befall us in future.”

Add to that, he missed the Spring Equinox so he couldn’t marry his girlfriend.

“Draga…” Isabela began, kissing Jack on the cheek. “You know that the people will follow you. Standing up to the Americans and leading us through this war... ”

“That is what I worry about. I might lead us all astray, to the end of Lauzanne.” Isabela put a single finger on Jack’s lips.

“You are thinking about it. A thoughtless man would not have such considerations before throwing it all away. I have faith in you, and so do millions of people.”

“... I should have married you. I should have had someone remind me.”

“You were near the front lines, talking to soldiers. Now, tell me the rest.” Isabela relaxed her head on Jack’s chest.

“Russian espionage, American pressures, the rise of China.” Jack replied, taking a long, deep breath. “Russia is a different beast than what it used to be. The world will simply stand by and watch what happens now, but if they were to directly invade, the West would intervene harshly.”

“Perhaps they’re not so dismissive of us, then?”

“Only because it’s a direct intervention. If Lauzanne falls and pursues closer ties with them, the West would take action only to replace them with a regime that bends the knee towards their interests.”

“So things have to be done… More discreetly. I see. But the same doesn’t apply to America?”

“America can say what it wants and do what it wants. The world’s biggest hammer, and we’re a country sized nail. Ideally they just install a government that is more aligned to them, but they can be more direct. Their new president, Trump… I’ve yet to gauge his reactions towards our motherland, but he is only one man. There are many in their government who would want nothing more than to bend our knee towards them.”

“Ever the world police… You’ve handled this well so far, my love.” Isabela complimented, breaking the embrace to lead Jack by the hands back towards their bed.

“I may have. But another five years is a long time in politics, and things are only going to get more complicated as the years go on. That is even if the people re-elect me.” Jack sat on the bed as Isabela crawled over the bed, resuming her old position at Jack’s side

“They will, should the Gods permit it. But for now, the President should sleep.” Jack laid down on the bed, feeling his eyes become a lot weightier.

“Thank you, Isabela.”

“Any time you need me, Draga.”

As Jack felt himself slip into the land of sleep, he knew that no matter what, he would have Isabela by his side.

And to him, that was more than enough reason to do his best for the people of Lauzanne.

[Lauzanne]

Sweetheart

Elena Kovačica sighed in exasperation as she sat down on her seat, instantly feeling the rumbling of the vehicle’s engine as soon as she was touching the barely comfortable seat. She closed her eyes, letting her helmet rest against the wall as she mentally mapped out where the accursed thing had disappeared to. It’s nearly fucking two meters long, where could it have gone to? Elena took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “Think, Elena, think. It can’t have gone far.” She whispered to herself, scanning the interior once more.

The interior of her squad’s fighting vehicle was Spartan in nature; Eight folding seats with headsets, a tiny periscope to see the outside world, and further towards the front was the cylindrical turret basket, which was rotating quietly to reveal a young man with a boyish smile sitting inside the seat closest to her. He had brown eyes and messy hair that was covered by his helmet.
“Hey Kovačica, if you don’t hurry up the Broneserzhant is going to have my ass.” Radić said, tapping his watch.
“Fuck you, help me find the Vampir.” Elena shot back, rolling her eyes as she got up from the seat, remaining in a squat position so her head wasn’t hitting the ceiling of the vehicle.
“Ahem, I don’t see two stripes on your shoulder there, Ryadovat Kovačica.” Radić retorted, showing the single black stripe on his epaulette. Elena closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Can you please help me, Razvodnik Radić?” Elena growled through gritted teeth, Radić smiling in return.
“Hmmm… No. I don’t like rude people. Besides, it’s your responsibility, not mine.” Elena didn’t react to the comment, instead doing one last sweep before her eyes locked onto her target.

The backpack was huge and khaki coloured, but she knew it was her objective instantly. Getting onto her knees to grab it, her gloved hand seized the handle of the massive backpack.
“Hey, you found it. Not bad for a grunt.” Radić commented, Elena shooting him a glare as she pulled the backpack towards her.
“It would have been better with help, you know.” Elena stated, her voice tinged with aggravation as she sat back on her chair, grabbing the carbine on her back to pull it up onto her lap.
“Well I do need to stay in contact with the Broneserzhant. You know he’ll have me running laps if I fall out of contact.”
“And if all my friends are now dead because they didn’t have a 29?”
“Well, I don’t hear any gunfire, do you?”
“...Forget it. I’m heading out.” Elena sighed, grabbing the massive pack and heading for the open rear ramp. As soon as she was out, she stood up and stepped into the damp springtime grass, putting the heavy pack down as she checked her carbine. Behind her, the ramp began to raise, the whine of the motor telling her to not step back. She turned around to look at Radić before it shut.
“Hey, Radić. Best of luck.”
“You too, Kovačica.”

With the ramp now up, the massive tracked vehicle was off, revving up and spewing out a cloud of black smoke, the tracks tearing up the earth as the turret faced straight ahead. Elena shook her head, bringing the backpack up onto her shoulders, the khaki pack casting a long shadow over her. She flicked the safety of the carbine off before starting her walk back to her dugout.

The damp grass and mud squelched under Elena’s boots as she kept her head on a swivel. She couldn’t stop to look at the land that was returning to life after winter, nor the various wildflowers beginning to bloom. She continued to trudge through the mud, knowing that stopping could very well lead to her death, just like when they got Franc last year. He always did have the right thing for people at the right times... she thought about that grin he always had on his face, how quickly he could produce a chocolate bar from his uniform and even the backflip incident, allowing herself a small smile. As if on cue, the snapping of a twig nearby caused Elena to snap her carbine to her shoulder, eyes focused as she scanned the treeline. She didn’t even allow herself the chance to think, keeping her body turned towards the potential threat in the bushes while she calmly stepped towards cover. It was probably an animal, but one never knew...

In a flash, a streak of colour burst out of the bush, Elena hesitating to fire even as she reflexively jumped at the sudden motion. She twisted her entire body faster than lightning, aiming right at… A small deer that was running away, probably frightened for it’s life. Elena lowered her carbine, flicking the safety catch on as she watched the deer gain as much distance on her as it could.
“Sorry for the scare, friend…” She apologised to the fleeing animal, putting a hand on her vest. She could feel the metal pendant that weighed on her chest and even if she couldn’t touch it directly, It still allowed her a moment of self reflection.
If it was a Red, he’d have shot me without the hesitation…
Elena opened her eyes after a moment, taking a deep breath in while gazing at the scenery in front of her. Flowers of almost every colour were blooming, surrounded by the vibrant greens of the grass and leaves to paint a breathtaking picture.
You never got to do this, Franc… I’ll get you some of these when I see you next.
After a deep breath in, she started to head back towards the dugout.

“Hey, uh, Ryadovat Medvedev… Will she hate me?” Tomas Marušić spoke up, looking nervous as ever.
“Just Bear is fine, new guy. She won’t hate you for very long.” Bear replied, his eyes glued to a pair of binoculars as he looked through the slit in the dugout. Marušić and Bear could not be any different. While Marusic was barely 19 years old and was relatively scrawny, Bear was a hulk of a man, easily in his 40’s with visible stubble and a uniform that barely contained his built frame. Marušić’s eyes gazed around the dugout, his temporary home for a couple of days. It was cross shaped, with Bear in the forward section housing the machine gun that belonged to the third member of the team, Elena. To his right was most of the spare ammunition, piled up in green military boxes, along with a bunch of long pointed tubes, likely the rockets for the launcher he forgot. He was currently sitting in the rear section, using two large crates as a seat while sweating about what was coming. The squelching of boots caused his heart rate to spike.

“Pain in my ass…” Elena commented as she entered the dugout, her boots clad in grey mud, a displeasured look on her face and a glare in her eyes.
“Welcome home, Doll. Have fun?” Bear asked, not shifting from his position at all.
“Radić’s enjoying his new stripe, didn’t give me any help finding the fucking thing.” Elena snarled, taking her carbine and leaning it against the earthen wall of the dugout.
“Hey, he only got promoted last week. Got to revel in your new stripe when you get it.”
“Still a pain in the ass.” Elena repeated, dropping the backpack down as she made a seat of a large ammunition crate next to the dugout’s machine gun, opposite Bear’s position. Her hands found their way onto the straps of the pack.
“Hey, um, Kovačica.” Marušić asked, causing Elena to look up and stare him in the eyes. He was melting under the cold gaze of her light blue eyes as his heart pounded against his ribs.
“You, uh, don’t hate me for forgetting it, do you?”
“Are you still alive?” Elena asked in a completely level tone..
“Uh…” Marušić began, looking down at himself to pat down his own body.
“Yes?” He answered, unsure of the point.
“Then it’s no big deal.” Elena responded, now cracking open the backpack.

Elena took a long look at the RPG-29 halves that were laying in front of her on the floor of their dugout. The air was damp, but the scent of wildflowers on the wind was reminding her that more beautiful things awaited outside this earthen bunker. Naturally it was still chilly out as Spring hadn’t truly begun yet, but the gloves, scarf and jacket made such temperatures bearable. However, said gloves did make her task harder as she fumbled with the massive green tube on the ground before her, the thick padding making it hard to get a good grip. She finally wrangled the tube up into her lap, before bringing a hand up to move some loose strands of white hair away from her face. She let out a small puff of air as she brought the tube up to inspect the bore.
“Wait, what would happen if I wasn’t alive?” Marušić asked.
“If you’re dead then you won’t really care either way, will you?” Elena answered, moving her head side to side to see if there were any issues with the bore.
“... Oh, I guess you’re right.”

The rear half of the RPG-29 was under scrutiny now, and it looked well-worn on the outside. Dents, scratches and dings marked the green plastic, but none of them looked particularly serious or damaging. It was the ones that interfered with the bore that ensured your neck and head were divorced violently. Elena’s trained eye looked down the smooth shiny steel bore of the rear section, noting no scratches, dents, or anything else that could interfere with normal operation.
“Looks like that L-10’s seen better days…” Marušić commented, trying to lighten the mood inside the dugout.
“It’s an RPG-29 from 1994. It’s been through at least four units before now, and I’m confident it voted for Waffenschmidt.” Elena flatly stated, not looking away from her inspection of the weapon’s wires.
“... Pardon?” Marušić asked, leaning in to look at the front end more closely. Elena looked right at her squadmate, her expression barely changing.
“It’s the life cycle of LDF gear. Airborne first, Mountain, then every other unit gets it, and lastly us. Look at the trigger group.” Elena instructed, lowering her section onto her lap, pointing at the front half after putting her half down into her lap. Marušić picked it up from the pistol grip, inspecting it closely before blinking in surprise, before looking back at Elena.
“1994…”
“Da, now hold it still.”
Marušić held it steady as Elena inserted the rear half, twisting the massive green tube’s mechanism into place as she hit the lock down. She then hefted the launcher up and placed it down next to the dugout’s machinegun, its barrel facing out at the fields beyond.
“So, um, we’re all trusting our life to something that’s older than us?”
“Older than you, yes.” Elena corrected him.
“Wait… No way.” Marušić squinted closer to get a better look at Elena. He’d found himself glancing at her from time to time, but he could have sworn she was only a year or two older than him. She was pale, with somewhat refined features and ice blue eyes. Small tufts of short white hair were visible from under the rim of her helmet, and her expression was seemingly neutral. Marušić quickly figured out why Bear called her a doll, given he now remembered never seeing her scowl or even smile.
“You’re 24?”
“Next week.” Elena replied, causing Marušić to blink.
“... How long have you even been in this war?” He asked.
Elena thought to herself, looking up at a strand of her hair as her mind wound back the information she needed. “A few months after it began, give or take.”
Marušić was thinking hard as Elena got up to take a look down at the area the gun covered.

Their dugout was the primary firing position for this sector outside the town. The town of Suvoda was a short walk away and rather quaint, but it was a place of increasingly worn-out buildings and tired-looking people, seeing as they had been on edge for the better part of six years. As she scanned along the spanse of the field in front of the treeline, she noted the various prepared positions the other members of the platoon had made. She could see little movement from them as they were waiting for enemy contact that was likely to head their way to flank the main force. Theirs was at the top of the hill and had the most commanding view of the potential battlefield, Elena seeing First Squad’s dugout to her right and slightly lower on the slope of the hill, while Third Squad was on the left. The other team in Second Squad, to which she belonged, had pole position in the middle, with the furthest out position being an observation post at the foot of the hill, manned by two members of First Squad. In the event of bullets flying, they were the most likely to catch the first shots.
“You think they’d want to walk through here, Kovačica?” Bear asked, hands resting on his rifle as he sat on the opposite side of the machine gun.
“Normally they wouldn’t bother because we’re out of the way, but given our fortunes in the 7th, we’ll be shooting them before lunchtime.” Elena replied, before giving her machine gun a once-over. It was loaded, cocked and with the safety on, ready to go at a moment's notice. Satisfied, she sat down, her right hand laid on the receiver of the weapon, idly stroking it through the gloves. With her left hand, she drew a cigarette out of her left utility pouch, as Marušić’s face had concern written all over it as he stared at the RPG-29.


“Hey, uh, Kovačica… That thing will work right?” Marušić asked, pointing at the RPG-29.
“No reason why it wouldn’t work.” Elena said, shrugging as she brought the cigarette to her mouth. “Russian gear may be shit, but it will outlast either of us in the Army.”
“But… I heard in Infantry School they have some of the best tanks out there.”
Elena had the cigarette in her mouth, but instead of lighting up, she fixed her light blue eyes onto Marušić directly once more. “You know how the West has those fancy big tanks that are the best in the world, or whatever?” She asked, not moving her gaze.
“... Da?” Marušić replied, feeling a little nervous that Elena was looking right at him.
“Those guys are scared of launchers just like this.” Elena said, adjusting her helmet and relaxing a fraction as the wind picked up, chilling any exposed skin the trio had despite all the additional garments.
“But I heard they have armour on their tanks that stop rockets like that!” Marušić countered, leaning in and pointing at the long rockets stacked up on the rear of the dugout.
“It will stop smaller rockets, but not ours. Blue is for tanks, red is for people.” Elena pointed out the two types of rockets, to which Marušić nodded and noted the blue and red bands on them.
“Red band means ‘Boom! Reds are no longer there’. Is how I remember it” Bear lowered his rifle to pantomime an explosion, chuckling a bit as his hands went back to resting on his weapon. Marušić nodded, he was starting to get it.
“Besides, chances are the Reds were so poor they sold the armour to be able to buy some Kalashnikovs instead.” Elena commented, looking down to concentrate on fetching the lighter evading her gloved fingers. Bear chuckled at the remark, shaking his head at the thought.
“Fucking Reds have to run drugs and ransom off kids more often than fight these days.” He added, Marušić’s eyes shooting open at the words. In contrast, Elena didn’t react.
“They do WHAT?” he spluttered.
“They run drugs and kidnap people to ransom them back to their family.” Bear added, causing Marušić to go pale.
“I never heard about any of this stuff…”
“Probably so you didn’t panic, you were in secondary school at the time.”
“Shows you their character if they fight for money and kidnapping children. So much for ideals.”
“... Hey, uh, why did you two join then?” Marušić asked, as Elena finally lit her cigarette up, pocketing the lighter.
“I was in the Refusal War. Afterwards, I settled down, had a wife, several children too. Then I see on the news these… Reds. Another generation of the ‘peoples army’ I fought all those years ago. Now. I’m back to finish the job me and my comrades started.” Bear said, before coughing and waving away the cigarette smoke caused by Elena’s first puff. Marušić then looked to Elena.
“I was old enough and saw the writing on the wall. We live in a town like this, and I wanted to protect my younger sister, mostly. Quit school, joined the Army, now I’m carrying a machinegun and shooting people.” Elena shrugged at the last part. “Nothing really deep or meaningful about it.”
“What about you, new guy?” Bear asked, sparing a moment to glance back at the younger man with a big smile on his face.
“Well, uh, it’s for a girl. We’re not really together, but she said if I was more impressive she would consider going out with me. She suggested the Army, something about manly men… I hope I get through this so I can ask her out.” The explanation caused Bear’s smile to fade and Elena to stare at him once more.
“Marušić, she asked you to risk your life just to go out with her?” Elena asked, Marušić feeling the edge of anger in her voice.
“Well, the way she said it… She said she would consider it.” He answered sheepishly, as he saw fury in Elena’s eyes.
“Oh, my mistake. She would consider dating you if you risked your life, limbs and sanity for her.”
“... Kind of, yeah.”
“Would she risk her life just for you?” Elena asked, causing Marušić to shuffle around in his seat.
“Well, um… Probably not.”
Elena took the cigarette out of her mouth, pointing the glowing orange end right at Marušić. “Then you deserve better than that. Someone who won’t demand you risk your life on a fucking ‘maybe’.”
“... You’re probably right.” Marušić stopped shuffling around, seeing Elena relax back to normal. In a way he admired her, seeing how calm and assured she was.

His reverie and her expression both changed when the radio in the dugout came to life.

“Contact, contact.” A hushed voice came from the radio as Elena got up quickly over to her position, bringing the machine gun to her shoulder. She flipped the safety off with a click, before she slowly scanned the treeline for enemies. Bear’s rifle was up in a flash, peering down the scope with a calm and practiced precision. Marušić scrambled to Elena’s left side, arranging the six ammo boxes for the machine gun one last time, making sure they were ready to go, anxiety welling up. His first gunfight. Elena still had the lit cigarette in her mouth, calmly keeping her eyes glued to the sights. A couple of popping noises broke the silence, with the ground around the observation post engulfed by two explosions seconds later.

Just as suddenly, a section of the forest started to light up with muzzle flashes, about 600 meters away. The bangs and cracks not far behind let everyone know the fight was on. Elena wasted no time bringing her machinegun onto target, letting out bursts of four or five rounds. The rest of the platoon started to shoot back too, the various dugouts’ guns roaring to life.
“OP’s falling back! Keep it up!” Bear shouted.
Elena’s fire was concentrated and precise. Each burst she let loose on the treeline would send splinters of wood and pieces of greenery flying, the muzzle flashes dying down as the enemies dove for cover. Cracks of bullets flying over or hitting the earth made Marušić flinch. He dare not look up, staying crouched near the ammo. Elena was almost out of rounds on this belt, choosing to keep her finger pressed on the trigger until the gun stopped firing.
“I’m out!!” She called out as she opened the top cover of the machine gun, the tendrils of smoke coming out of the breech giving off an acrid scent. Marušić sprung into action, pulling the empty box of ammunition off of the gun and putting it down, grabbing the next full one and hooking it up as Elena waited. Bear was still firing single shots as Marušić slotted the new box into place.
“Fuckers are laying down smoke!” Bear shouted, pointing out the sparks coming from the ground, white clouds billowing out from the brown cylinders on the earth.

As soon as the new box was in, Elena yanked the belt out, situating it and slamming the tray closed. With a single pull on the cocking handle, She was ready to go. Spotting outlines of enemies bursting out of the smoke cloud, she swung her gun towards them and opened fire. One was caught by the hail of lead, collapsing into the grass. Another faint pop could be heard, Bear snapping to face the other two.
“Get down!” Bear shouted as he yanked Elena down towards the floor of the dugout. The grenade exploded just outside the firing port, sending a plume of dirt kicking up. Damp dirt showered them as Elena got to her feet, manning the machinegun once more to dish out fire, the barrel beginning to smoke from all the excess heat.
“Barrel!” Elena called out, Marušić grabbing the spare barrel as Elena grabbed the handle and hook of the current one to detach it, pulling the hook up and yanking the sizzling tube out to have Marušić replace it. He missed the first try, fumbling as Elena saw the enemy get more soldiers into the observation post.
“Shit, hurry up!” She ordered, Marušić taking a couple more tries before slotting it in. The hot barrel was dropped on a ground sheet, still smoking away.

Elena only got a few more short bursts out before running out again.
“Kurwa! Ammo!” Elena ordered, bringing the top cover of her machinegun up once more. Marusic was quicker with detaching the box. Quickly grabbing a second one as the sound of a bullet hitting wood not a few feet above his head.
“Fuck! Sniper!” Bear shouted, slamming a fresh magazine home on his rifle. Quickly shouldering it once more, he laid down fire while Marusic shakily got the box up and into position. As soon as Elena could, she pulled the belt into her weapons feeding lips and slammed down the top plate, cocking the gun and swiftly unleashing another salvo at the source of the sniper fire. However, the enemy infantry weren’t relenting, even under the fire from the whole platoon.

But then she heard the whining.

It grew louder as she saw plants and small trees plowed down by the green monstrosity as it approached, Elena reaching over for the RPG-29 before the call even came out.
“Tank!”
Elena wasted no time shifting around to get the massive launcher onto her shoulder, swinging it around with precision as she popped the sights up and laid the bipod out.
“Where’s that Vampir!?” The radio roared as Elena relaxed the launcher on her shoulder.
“AT!” She ordered Bear, who stepped back to retrieve one of the large and heavy rockets as Marušić grabbed his carbine, standing up and firing sporadically at the enemies from the forward dugout to the treeline.
“Y-you’ll be able to hit it, right?” Marušić commented.
“Fuckers are hiding behind it too.” the radio squawked again, the tank trundling towards the front dugout. Elena saw someone pull out their own smaller launcher, aim it and fire it amidst the gunfire. The round hit and there was a bright flash of orange. The explosion didn’t slow the tank at all as it’s gun started to slowly turn towards the offending dugout.
“Shit!” Marušić cursed as Bear came up behind Elena, shoving the long rocket into the tube with a practiced motion as he hit Elena’s helmet.
“Clear!” Bear shouted
“C-clear!” Marušić added
“Stregere!” Elena called out, before depressing the trigger.

The boom was loud, and Elena felt the tube go lighter almost instantly as the rocket shot out of the barrel. It hit after two seconds of the echoing boom, the hit against the tank was solid and it halted, seemingly going dead as the infantry behind it tried to shoot up at them to little avail. The rest of the platoon opened fire on the now immobile insurgents. The tank popped its smoke after a couple of seconds, covering the entire frontal arc in a thick white fog. The shouting of the enemies retreating could be heard, knowing the day wasn’t theirs and they had lost the momentum.

Elena could hear the gunfire dying down, but she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
“Great shot, Kovačica. Third Squad, Hold and prepare to move to capture it” Came the voice of Leytenant Ilionesci, as she heard an affirmative, she looked to Bear.
“Give me another.”
“... What?”
“I said give me another.”
Bear reluctantly reached over, grabbing another long rocket and shoving it home. Elena kept the launcher on her shoulder, waiting.
“Clear.” The two others rattled off, a lot calmer now.

The next several moments were tense as she could hear the squad closest to the vehicle move into position, the radio occasionally providing small updates to say they were in position.
“That thing is dead though, you killed it.” Marušić stated, Elena not shifting one muscle
“It isn’t dead until it’s on fire.”
“Boss is going to be pissed if you torch it, you know.”
“He’ll be more pissed if people die.”
The smoke started to clear, the Third Squad asking for permission to move up. And then she saw it. The tank had moved. She saw the turret pointed right at First Squad’s position, still in their area. One shot and they’d all die. Even as she heard the order to take cover, Elena didn’t hesitate.
“Stregere!” She shouted, pulling the trigger and sending another rocket right at the tank’s already mauled form. This one hit dead onto the side of the turret where there was no reactive armour, and not a few seconds after the entire vehicle erupted into bright flames.

The beast was dead.

“What the fuck? Kovačica?” The radio came to life as she saw everyone shielding their eyes from the pyrotechnic display.
“What a show…” Marušić commented, as Elena put the still-smoking launcher down.
“... Area clear. Third Squad, do a sweep. First Squad, provide cover. Second Squad, stand down.”
Bear looked at Elena with a raised eyebrow as she sat back down on the wooden crate that was her chair pre-firefight, taking another puff from her cigarette.
“Boss is gonna be coming. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
“Disobeying an order…”
“I was doing my job.”
Elena relaxed, leaning back into the cool earth backing as she closed her eyes.
“Dugout secure, dugout secure!” Came the chatter from the radio of their squad lead, as Elena took a deep puff from the cigarette that had somehow stayed firmly planted between her lips the entire time.

-----

“Ryadovat Kovačica.”
Elena’s eyes opened as soon as she heard her name. She stood to attention as she saw Leytenant Ilionesci in front of her. “Yes, sir.”
“Would you mind explaining what you were doing?”
“Between the time before the smoke was launched and the smoke had cleared, the gunner or commander was moving the turret to fire on First Squad. Had he hit their dugout with HE, it would have killed at least one of the two teams. I made a judgement call against your orders to hit it instead of taking that chance.”
“You know that was a T-80? We could have captured it.”
“Sir, I don’t believe the lives of four men is worth one damaged tank.”
The Leytenant seemed to think for a few seconds, before nodding once. “That will be all, Razvodnik.”
“... Yes sir.”
Elena sat down, taking a drag from her cigarette.
Razvodnik Kovačica. Has a ring to it…
She looked around the dugout, noting that Bear and Marušić were absent. Likely at the Leytenant’s orders, but given they were stood down now, Elena could relax a bit more and leave when the two-man crew from First Squad came up to relieve her properly. Elena got up, heading over to her machine gun to give it a once over, rearranging the boxes of ammo and the spare rockets before she heard boots approaching.
“Hell of a shot there, Kovačica” the First Squad Razvodnik commented as he came into the dugout.
“Thanks. Anyone hurt?”
“Yakvolev caught a 7.62 to the plate, he’s coughing and complaining but the medic said he’ll live. Maybe.”
“Lucky us.”
“It’s about time we ran into some luck. Alright, fuck off now. We promise not to damage your Raikka too much.”
“Not sure what I’m supposed to do, though.”
“Go to town, watch the show. I hear the 1st Armoured are almost here.”
“You want me to wave at them too?”
“Sure, ask them what took them so fucking long while you’re at it.”
Elena shook her head, grabbing her trusty carbine and slinging it as she strode out of the dugout back into the open air.

The carbine slung around her on her back bounced against the back of her vest, both it and her helmet still fitted in case of another attack, along with a handgun on her right leg. Getting to the town was relatively easy, as it was a simple walk down a well-worn trail until you hit the road there, turn left and walk for five minutes. This trail was muddy, the flowers and greenery trampled by the treads and wheels of so many armoured vehicles until it was a brown muck with specks of dirtied colour. Elena didn’t stop to take in the sights, only keeping a look out for the stray hostile before hitting the road, seeing two familiar faces.
“Waiting around for someone?” Elena asked, stepping up onto the hard road and stopping where she was, watching them.
Bear and Marušić got up, the both of them stretching. Marušić slung his rifle onto his shoulder as the three of them set out for the town. “We thought we’d stick with you.” Marušić answered, moving up to meet Elena.
“How’d it go?” Bear asked, moving up to get the news.
“I’m a Razvodnik no-” Was all Elena could say before Bear gave her a clap on the shoulder, impacting her arm with the force of a sledgehammer.
“Good shit, Dol- Razvodnik Kovačica!” Bear quickly corrected himself, Elena shaking her head.
“Well, I think we should head off now. You two have waited long enough.” Elena said, taking off for the town with the other two in tow.

The road was dead quiet, the odd cold breeze rustling the foliage as Elena led the way towards Suvoda. Marušić was in the middle, and tailing the group was Bear. He was keeping an eye out behind them, but also making sure Marušić wasn’t slacking off either. Bear saw a stone structure coming up on the left, its grey surface smoothed and worn over the centuries it sat on this particular road. A shrine to the spirit that watched over it. Elena bowed her head, touching two fingers to her helmet before extending them out towards the shrine. Bear did it too, but noticed Marušić hadn’t.

A grin formed on his face.

“Hey, Elena.” Bear called out, causing Elena to glance back at him. “The new guy didn’t pay his respects.”
Elena stopped, causing Marušić to freeze. “You didn’t pay your respects to the Dukhomi of this road?”
“Well, uh, I…” Marušić started, before Bear brought an arm around the smaller man.
“You think you’re too good for the humble Dukhomi of that shrine?” Bear asked, rotating Marušić to face the shrine. He looked it up and down, seeing a worn and chipped carving of a woman clad in robes, with a faded blue aura around her head.
“I’ve… Never seen one of these.” Marušić said, looking at Bear who was smiling and Elena who was simply watching the pair.
“You lived further in the south then. Dukhomi are at the side of most roads provided the Communists hadn’t smashed them. You give them a small prayer and they will protect you.” Elena explained, reaching into a pocket and drawing out a fairly large seed. She handed it to Marušić. “Place it down and pray.”
He complied, kneeling down and placing the seed at the stone pedestal, no doubt for offerings like his. He closed his eyes hard, mentally asking the shrine for protection on the road.
“Good thing I brought it up. Or else who knows what could happen to you.” Bear commented as Marušić stood up.
“You’re being dramatic, Bear. I’m sure She will not take it too harshly.” Elena said, turning back towards the town.
“Wait, how do you guys know about these?” Marušić asked, moving up next to Elena as the three set off once more.
“I’m an adherent to the religion.” Elena answered,
“I’ve lived here most of my life after the Refusal War, my wife is also a follower. I’m not exactly one myself… But I follow some of it.” Bear added, still tailing the two.
“... A whole other religion? I heard bits about it in school, but not a lot.”
“Da. Crusades and the Communists sought to wipe it out, but we’re still here.” Elena explained, hand on her chest. It was then that Marušić saw the town growing ever closer, sighing in relief.

Suvoda was one of hundreds of small towns littering the countryside, with a single main street branching off into others for housing and businesses. The orange tiled roofs were dulled by the passage of time, some buildings had sizable holes in them or obvious signs of repair work. A couple of friendly soldiers waved to the trio as they entered the town via the main road, the white buildings flanking them on either side as they saw the odd civilian milling about, people too stubborn to evacuate from their lifelong or even generational homes.
“Hey, Kovačica. Me and Marušić are going to go mingle with them.” Bear pointed at a group of fellow soldiers, no doubt from a different unit. They seemed to be relaxed, chatting among themselves as they peeled off, leaving Elena by herself, looking around the town until she saw a sign pointing out a shop of some kind.

From the outside, the store itself showed signs of damage. A few filled and painted bullet holes in the wall, a boarded up window where one of the panes saw a similar fate. Stepping into the store and pulling the plastic curtains back hit her with the musty smell that was expected of such an old building. The soft hum of refrigerators and the radio playing a song she could understand made her feel more at ease, even if a glance at the middle aged shopkeep revealed to Elena he was clad in an armoured vest, an AK sitting near to the register.
“Zdravo, just going to look around and buy something.” Elena greeted the man, who smiled and nodded in return. He had a big mustache that was starting to grow white, with a plaid shirt concealed under the old Soviet-era vest. His earlier guarded look had gone, replaced with a gentle smile.
“Just got back from the fight, I see. Thank the Gods for people like you.” He returned as Elena slowly walked past the aisles of food on white coloured shelves, unsure of what to purchase until she saw a chocolate bar. Fetching the purple-wrapped confection, she made her way to the front counter, placing it down and fishing around her rear pocket for the wallet, jostling past her vest, pouches and carbine.
The shopkeeper brought his hands up, shaking them. “No need to pay, you risked your life for us.” He said, Elena shaking her head as the wallet came free.
“Ne, I volunteered to be fighting. You didn’t volunteer to be in the line of fire.” Elena replied, pulling out a 20 Gryv coin. She placed it down and shifted it towards him, the man hesitantly taking it.
“The song playing is Loš Je Dan, right?” Elena asked, the man nodding.
“You know it? Did you grow up around here?” The shopkeep looked surprised.
“Further West, near Maksimka. Thankfully it never saw any of this.”
“Thank the Gods for such mercies.” He said, putting the coin in the register and drawing another coin out for change. Elena put up her hand.
“You need every bit you can, friend.” Elena said, the man putting the coin back in.
“I see. Best of luck to you then…” The man trailed off
“Elena.” She replied, the man repeating it soon after. As Elena grabbed the chocolate bar, she heard the rumbling sound of vehicles approaching. It was more felt than it was heard, the windows shaking a little bit in their brackets as the friendly vehicles drew closer. As Elena left the store, she gave a little wave to the shopkeep before stepping out into the colder outdoors once more.

The convoy of vehicles was extensive, many of which she had either rode in or fought alongside. The roar of their engines reverberated in her chest and made her feel strangely relaxed as she saw a mother and son watching the vehicles going by. Elena took her helmet off to wave at the friendly soldiers driving by, who returned the gesture as she sat down a few meters away from the store’s entrance, leaning against an old wall with plaster over old bullet holes near where she sat. The son had turned around and noticed her now, and ran over to Elena, excitement on his face
“A soldier! Is it okay if I talk to you?” He asked, practically beaming. Elena couldn’t help but smile.
“Of course. What’s your name?” Elena moved over to give the child somewhere to sit as the mother approached.
“Václav! What’s yours?”
“Elena. Chocolate?” She broke the bar in half, offering some to Václav. He gently took it off of her hands with trained politeness.
“Thank you!” Václav shouted, as the mother approached.
“I’m sorry, he can be a bit of a handful.” The mother tried to explain, but Elena shrugged.
“It is fine. I don’t mind sitting with someone while relaxing a bit.” Elena answered, as the mother noticed the dirt on her face.
“You… Just fought?” Elena nodded, pointing back the way she came.
“Not five minutes that way.”
“Oh Gods… Is there something I can do for you? Get for you?”
“Nothing, just getting some rest before heading back.”
“Oh… I-I see...”
“Will you protect us?” Václav asked, shifting the conversation away from battle.
“Of course, Václav. That’s why I joined.”
“You’re the best!” Václav saw Elena’s helmet as it sat on her lap, and he eyed it.
“You want to try it on?” Elena asked, to which the child nodded. She picked up the lightweight helmet, putting it on his head and loosely affixing the buckle. He giggled, and his mother couldn’t help but smile at the scene.
“Picture, picture!” Václav exclaimed, the mother gingerly drawing out an old phone.
“Do you mind if I take a picture?”
“Not at all.”
She gave her best smile in the picture, as she saw Václav was grinning ear to ear. After the picture was taken, he took the helmet off as the mother got him up.
“We need to go now, but it was nice meeting you!” The mother said, Elena nodding in reply. But even as they walked off, Václav looked back at her, waving. After they were gone, she was alone again.

“So you can smile after all. Interesting.” Bear commented, sitting down next to Elena. He was significantly larger than Václav, and Elena too for that matter. Elena wondered how he’d fit in the older, more cramped vehicles they had.
“Everyone can smile, Radomir.”
“Really? We all thought you were an animated doll or a robot, and that smiling was beyond you.”
“You should tell me what drugs you guys take.”
“Nothing, but it is weird to never see you smile. I feel privileged in a way now.”
“Don’t be getting ideas.”
“No ideas, but I will say, you were a real sweetheart to the kid there.” Bear said, a grin on his face that spelled trouble to Elena.
“... I know what you’re thinking, and no. You’re not changing my nickname to Doroga.”
“Too late, my mind’s made up and you can only convince me if you beat me in a fight.” Elena opened her mouth, but Radomir stopped her.
“Without being allowed to kick me in the balls.”
“No fun.”
“Also, congratulations, Razvodnik. Mind giving me your first order?”
“How about we get some chocolate bars for the platoon then head back? The store’s got plenty and the shopkeep is nice enough.”
“I like your thinking, Razvodnik.”

[Lauzanne]

Podantovel

Podantovel (Lau:Подантовель): Term used to describe true believers of Podanstava ('The Way'). Generally considered to be few in number, but the Lauzanne Spring and the restoration of some destroyed Podanstava shrines and other religious artefacts has lead to an increase in numbers.

Tomas Marušić stared at his phone, the contact staring him in the face: Inessa Bălan, his high school crush of sorts. The last time they talked face to face replayed through his mind, even as the FOB around him moved on, not paying attention to the lone soldier sitting near the motor pool.
“I’m sorry… I prefer manlier guys… You know, Army? I would consider it then…” He shook his head at the memory, tapping the call button and putting the phone to his ear.
“Hello?” Inessa asked, her voice filtered by the tinny phone speaker.
“Hey, it’s Tomas. Uh, it’s been a bit, hasn’t it?”
“It has. What’s that noise in the background?”
“Oh, I’m at a base. We’re going to be heading out soon so I thought I’d call you.”
“Base? What’s going on?”
“... I joined the Army? Don’t you remember?”
“I don’t follow…” Inessa trailed off.
Tomas felt a sinking feeling in his chest. Did she even remember? Did she even care? It hadn’t even been that long, and Tomas felt self doubt bubbling up in him.

Then he saw Elena.

Without her helmet and vest on she was significantly less imposing, her white hair shining under the Springtime sun’s rays. She seemed to be looking for something… And Tomas instantly knew when her ice blue eyes made contact with his own. As his team leader made a beeline for him, he remembered her words.
“Tomas?”
“You don’t even remember. You said you preferred manlier men, and suggested I put my life on the line so you would ‘consider’ it? I blew up a fucking tank the other week! That’s manly as fuck, but you probably just said it off hand to get rid of me, didn’t you?”
“Tomas, I’m sorry… How can I make it up to you?” Inessa asked, Tomas looking up to see Elena is now very close by.
“Don’t bother. I’m about to go out on another mission now. Bye.”
“Tomas wait-” Was all he heard before hanging up.

“Hey, you seen the new guy recently?” Elena asked, noticing the phone. She pointed down at it while looking at him. “The girl?”
“Yeah. I told her to not bother. I feel so stupid now for going along with it. But I think I’m moving on?” He asked, looking up at Elena. Her expression didn’t change, but her hand clapping his arm caught him off guard.
“Good man, after this is over, I’m taking you to a bar and finding you a girlfriend.” Elena declared, causing Tomas to blush.
“Uh… Would that even work?” Tomas asked, picturing Elena approaching girls and pointing him out at a bar or club. The mental image frightened him a little.
“You helped blow up a tank, you’re a war veteran, you look above average, and you’re a nice man. I reckon I could find you one in under ten minutes. But that’s for later. We’ve got to get ready.”
Tomas stood up, stretching out a bit as Elena took off for their platoon area.

FOB Zhenha had been a bustle of activity even before it was fully built, a symptom of the shift in the Spring War. Vehicles were around, but Tomas seeing more and more wheeled and light vehicles seemed odd, compared to his entire unit using tracked vehicle types.
“Hey, uh, Elena. Who are these guys?” Tomas asked, glancing left and right.
“23rd Light Brigade. Our replacements because the heaviest fighting is over.”
“So… That’s it? I’ve been here a week and the war’s already over?” Tomas sighed, dodging out of the way of a recon trooper.
“Yes. I don’t see why you’re not glad about that, Marusic.” Elena commented, as the recon trooper turned to face them.
“Tomas? That you?”

Tomas turned around, remembering the voice. The man was still camouflaged from head to toe, but even then it was clear that the man was his age. His light brown eyes rekindled a memory in him from school. The quiet outdoors-oriented kid…
“Lazar? What the Hell are you doing here?” Tomas asked as Lazar approached to clap him on the arm.
“Haha! I joined right out of school! Always wanted to take up the trade.” Lazar declared, causing Elena to raise an eyebrow.
“You two know each other?”
“Ha, Tomas here was the wimpy kid in the class! Always had a thing for… What’s her name?”
“Inessa. I just told her to fuck off.” Tomas replied, hoping Elena didn’t ask follow up questions.
“That must have taken guts, comrade. Did your…” Lazar indicated towards Elena. Tomas didn’t know what to say. Were they friends? Just comrades? His superior?
“Friend. A bit of a pain, but yes. She can fuck off.” Elena answered on Tomas’ behalf, causing Lazar to nod, satisfied.
“Well, Razvodnik. I’m glad you’re a positive influence. I need to go attend my debriefing, I’ll see you both around!” Lazar said before taking off once more, Tomas feeling Elena’s gaze on his back.
“Sounds like I’m going to learn some fun stories.” Elena commented, but before Tomas could commence his pleading, another voice made the two of them pay attention.

“Razvodnik Kovačica! Ryadovat Marušić!” The voice yelled out, the two of them turning to face the source at attention.
“This is an active combat zone, there is no time to be fraternizing!” The pair saw Serzhant Milić approaching, an angry look on his mid-30’s face. The man was practically born to look like a Serzhant, Elena remaining firm as he stopped right in front of Elena.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Razvodnik?”
“I was just obtaining as much intel as I could, Serzhant.”
“Intel? From a Recon grunt?” Milić’s frown intensified, Elena nodding.
“Da, Serzhant. Any extra information I can get could save my platoon’s life, sir.” Elena kept up her stoic expression, Tomas wondering just how she was able to do that when Milić was mere centimeters from her face.
He didn’t have to wait long until Milić raised an eyebrow, looking towards him.
“And you, Ryadovat Marušić. Is she being truthful with me?”
Although the Serzhant didn’t have blue eyes like Elena’s, he could still feel the laser focus of his gaze as it bored into Tomas’ soul.
“Yes, Serzhant.” Tomas’ voice was steady. Milić nodded, stepping back.
“Kovačica, you’ve got a briefing to go to. Marušić, go get ready with your team.”

Elena split off to follow the Serzhant as Tomas made a beeline for his company’s area, less bustling than the rest of the base, but still with a decent amount of soldiers cleaning gear, eating snacks and preparing. First Platoon’s vehicles were the closest to the company commander’s, with his squad’s specific vehicle lodged between the other two. Even looking at the low-profile form of the infantry fighting vehicle reminded him of his first proper interaction with Elena. He couldn’t get the cold stare she made at him out of his head…

“Hey Marušić!” A less-familiar female voice called out, Tomas seeing the lady waving at him. Compared to Elena and even Bear in his team, the new girl was tiny. He’d gotten introduced to her, the name ‘Lofty’ flashing into his head. As he approached the pair, Bear had a big smile on his face.
“You look relieved there, something happen?”
“Well… I called the girl, I told her that I was over her…” Tomas explained, Bear smiling and putting a hand on his shoulder.
“You did good, kid. Where’s Elena?”
“In a briefing, the Serzhant yelled at us when we stopped to talk to an old classmate. I think he hates Elena.” Tomas said, glancing over his shoulder at the collection of NCOs and officers around a map of some sort. Elena was watching, her hair making her easy to pick out from any crowd.
“Probably trying to assert dominance. Elena’s not the only one.”
“I heard he came from Logistics… Are all of them like that?” Lofty added, Bear shrugged in response.
“Perhaps we can figure it out as we go.” Bear suggested, still watching the briefing with great interest. Tomas turned to look, the company commander pointing out areas on the map along with the various squad and platoon leaders.
“What do you reckon? Trouble?” Bear asked, Tomas shaking his head.
“Didn’t the Reds break? I thought we bagged one of the last tanks around.”
“You guys blew up a tank?” Lofty asked, Bear and Tomas pointing at Elena in unison.
“Seems like I joined the war a bit late.” Lofty commented, Bear shaking his head.
“Never too late to get up and do something.” Bear said, seeing the groups split off to head towards them. It was time to see what they’d be doing.

Tomas sat with Elena, Lofty and Bear, the other four members of the squad next to them as Leytenant Ilionesci gave out the plan. Serzhant Milić was behind him, sometimes glaring at Tomas and Elena.
“First Platoon, today we’re going on another patrol to secure an area near the town of Albesta. Second Platoon will be securing the south of the town, we’ve got the forest to the north.” Ilionesci was pointing at the map with a radio antenna, circling the area above the collection of grey squares labeled ALBESTA.
“This will be primarily on foot, since the insurgent presence has been identified to operate around here in small numbers. There are a few farmhouses, each squad will be tasked with clearing the houses assigned to them, checking for Reds, or signs of Reds.” Ilionesci brought the antenna up into both hands.
“Each squad knows the route they’re going to take of likely areas, and we’ll be leaving in half an hour. I’d suggest you get your gear ready to go to form up with the transports by then. Questions?” Elena’s arm raised, to which the Leytenant nodded.
“GPMGs or the lighter ones, sir?”
“Given how enclosed the place is and the… Special circumstances we’ve been given, you’ll be taking the LMGs.” Tomas saw Elena’s expression change ever so slightly… She’s disappointed? Tomas then wondered if he was going crazy, being able to read her facial expressions. While he was thinking, someone else asked about hostages or kidnapped individuals. The thought alone made his stomach sink. But he also saw that Elena was listening intently, hand on her chest. There weren’t any more questions, to which everyone immediately got up when they were dismissed.

With the entire company getting up, Tomas followed Elena to the area where their gear was placed: Vests, helmets, kneepads and elbow pads along with the rifles they had recently been given. It was weird for the 7th to receive any kind of new gear so soon, but apparently they had been given brand new rifles. They looked like the AK-74’s he had trained on and fought with, but the weird tube that sat above the barrel was a mystery to him. Everyone in the battalion was armed the same and was told to ‘Submit appropriate feedback on the performance characteristics of the rifle’. Tomas didn’t really get it, but it seemed like a nice gesture. However, he felt curious, looking over to Elena as they cleared the rifles to check if they were empty.
“Hey, uh, Razvodnik…” Tomas began, putting his rifle down now that he knew it was empty.
“Just Elena is fine when it’s us, Tomas.”
“Oh, uh, Elena… When they mentioned kidnapped people, you put your hand to your chest… Is everything okay?” Tomas’ question caused Elena to stop, drawing out an amulet.

The amulet was kept in place with a thin leather strap that sat over the chain of her dog tags, clearly hand-crafted. Hanging from under her fingers was some kind of disc with a rope pattern inlaid on the outer rim of the amulet. Inside it was a dog rose surrounded by a spiral, both of which had been painted by hand with pink and bright green pigments respectively. Tomas looked at it, not sure what it meant… A gift?
“Your sister’s… That she made for you?” Tomas guessed, Elena shaking her head.
“An amulet made for followers of Mikoa.” Elena corrected.
“A… Spirit like those road ones we pray at?” Elena shook her head again, sighing.
“The things the Soviets have done to us… No, Mikoa is our Goddess of Spring. Part of the duties of her followers is to protect the youth. People who abuse the young and the weak get punished so their evils do not go to the next generation.” Elena explained, putting the amulet away to don her vest.
“... How do you punish them?” Tomas asked, mirroring the motion as the pair started to get geared up.
“There’s the quick way, then there’s the effective way.” Elena was now regaining her intimidating look, causing Tomas to falter with his next question.
“W-what’s the difference?” Tomas stammered, getting his helmet as Elena’s gaze was unfaltering
“You shoot them in the head, or you take a blade and make sure they can’t pass themselves to the next generation.” Elena said without a flinch, Tomas feeling uneasy…

Until he understood what she meant, and the sinking feeling returned.

The next hour felt unreal, Tomas’ brain working in overdrive to calm himself. Elena was sitting across from him in the back of the IFV with an expressionless look as the rifle between her legs pointed at the roof of the vehicle. Bear sat next to her, Eyes closed as he seemed to be getting a nap. Tomas’ mind felt like clockwork that was winding itself up, ready to spring loose… Had she done that to someone before? Is she the kind of person to kill someone like that so quickly? No way they can survive that second m- Tomas thought, interrupted by a slight jump when the person to his left nudged him.
“Hey, everything alright there?” Lofty asked, Tomas noticing she had the machine gun. It looked like their rifles, but the barrel was longer and it was fitted with a massive drum magazine.
“Just thinking…”
“About what?” Lofty asked as Tomas got a good look at her. She had short brown hair, light brown eyes and an innocence to her soft facial features that clashed with the gear she was wearing.
“Elen- Razvodnik Kovačica. She, uh, she’s religious.”
“You’re thinking about God?”
“No, uh, she follows a Goddess called… Mikoa?” At that, Lofty lit up.
“Oh, I know about Her. A very kind Goddess, I’m not that religious though.” Lofty nodded.
“She said they… Do stuff to people they find that attack kids…” Tomas trailed off, Lofty nodding. “You uh, you don’t think she’ll do anything if we find them?” Tomas’ question caused both of them to look at Elena, who seemed to be looking at the two of them. Lofty looked back at Tomas, a little concerned.

Their conversation was cut short by the Leytenant calling out
“Prepare to Disembark!” He shouted, everyone waking up and getting ready to leave. Everyone readied their rifles, grabbing on and tensing up. As the IFV came to a halt, Tomas calmed his breathing as the ramp came down.
“Disembark!”
Like clockwork, the first team of four sprinted out from the cramped confines, peeling left to set up an echelon of fire. Even before they hit the ground, Elena and Tomas bolted out, quickly hooking right as the members of Second Squad covered them. Tomas dove for the ground, rifle up as he scanned the treeline ahead of them. The forest was quiet, even with the rumble of the IFV’s engines and the sounds of Bear and Lofty hitting the grass to his left. He saw the turrets of the IFV’s scan the treeline, and allowed himself to relax the tiniest bit when he heard the Leytenant call “Clear!” over the radio. Tomas got up into a kneel, checking all his pouches to see if any had slipped. Now clear and squared away, he kept his rifle on a low ready as he took a proper look at the forest.

The entire forest had a thick canopy, roots forming a tangled mess of wood among the soil and flowers. Rays of sunshine filtered through the leaves, casting the entire forest in a golden glow through the late morning sun. Even with such an inviting look, he wasn’t particularly drawn to the forest. He knew Reds were in there. Waiting. Just like that, he heard Korprel Anghelesca call for the squad to reform, Tomas getting up on one knee and lowering his rifle as he joined the first team.

Anghelesca was the handsome leader of Second Squad, a charismatic man that made Tomas feel welcome as soon as he had joined. Next to him was Antonesca, Albescov and Ionesca. Ionesca was carrying an old RPG-7, with Albescov carrying the spare grenades and Antonesca hauling the other LMG.
“Alright, we’re here and we’re not dead yet. That’s already a blessing. Kovačica, your team takes the lead, we’ll trail behind. Remember to keep your spacing, Lofty takes the right flank and Antonesca shoring up the left. Any questions?”
“What do we do if we’re engaged, Korprel?” Elena asked, Anghelesca grinning.
“So glad you asked, we’ll close and destroy them. Everyone else will be a couple minutes away, and any fight we do get into will have to be quick and decisive. Given the firepower we have, they’d need a tank to hurt us, but the last one got toasted by you.” Anghelesca nudged Elena as she nodded.
“Do we have to worry about the LT and the Serzhant?” Bear asked, to which Anghelesca chuckled.
“Milić isn’t coming with us, big guy. Gotta spread out the geezers in the platoon.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, toddler.” The shot back got a small chuckle out of everyone.
“Alright, with that out of the way.. Milić is with Third Squad, they’re going in the middle and Ilionesci will be the furthest north. If worse comes to worst, we have Third Platoon and the Bronegruppe if we really need them.” Anghelesca saw the other two groups preparing to leave, turning towards the rest of the squad
“Alright, let’s all make it back. After you, Kovačica.” He bowed, letting Elena nod the other three along.
“Marušić, you take point. Bear, on his left. Lofty, on my right.” Elena ordered, the group forming a lopsided arrowhead formation.

Tomas couldn’t help but feel like Elena was staring at the back of his head, the chirping of birds and insects doing nothing to calm his nerves. This first house was still a good kilometer away and already the squad was crouched, advancing with eyes up and rifles ready. Even with the possibility of imminent combat, his mind kept wandering… Was she like that when we talked about it in the dugout? Did she react? His brain was replaying the moment in the dugout. Even as they stepped closer to the house, the top of the roof being visible, horrible images were forced into Tomas’ mind. Oh God, Elena with a knife… Or did she just shoot them? How many had she killed? It was then that he saw a man step into view, clad in an old Russian camouflage jacket and some jeans with combat boots. A vest was slung to his body and his AK was on his back. He clenched his fist as the entire squad stopped, Tomas flicking his rifle onto a three-round burst.

He was about 300 meters away, the closest he had ever gotten to seeing a Red up close. The man was taking a break, sitting down and pulling out a cigarette. Tomas felt his heart quicken as he remained dead still, watching the man look around for his cigarette lighter. He pulled it out, still oblivious to the squad that could see him. However, a snapping of a twig on his left caused his heart rate to spike as the man looked up, eyes widening as he saw them. Without thinking, Tomas brought the rifle up, letting off a burst of fire as soon as the red dot on the scope was on the man. It barely kicked in his hands, hearing two thwacking noises in rapid succession as he slumped down.
“Spread out!” Anghelesca ordered, the team behind them running to their right as Lofty got prone with the machine gun.
The chatter and shouting from inside the house and just outside it as insurgents came into view. Tomas wasted no time putting bursts down range, the repeated chatter of the gun and the slight kick bringing the familiar smell of burnt powder. Insurgents sprung up, letting out fire from their own AK’s as Lofty let off bursts of her own in response. As the squad fired, Anghelesca’s team ran forwards, going prone ahead of them as they let out their own barrage.
“Advance!” Elena shouted, the four of them getting up as Anghelesca’s team now provided the covering fire. Running for the nearest cover, Tomas kept his eyes up as the insurgents threw down smoke grenades, their fire becoming less aimed as they couldn’t see the approaching squad. Before Tomas could dive, he felt an invisible force smack against his body, knocking him slightly off balance as he dove for a tree.


“Mother fucker!” He shouted in pain, spraying the white cloud with fire.
“Tomas! You hit?” Bear asked from his left, Tomas looking down to see the hole of torn fibers right in the middle of his chest. A shiver ran up his spine as he realized what had happened, coldly pulling a spare magazine out to replace the spent one. Seeing the brass cartridge casings, he rocked the old magazine out with mechanical precision, replacing it with the fresh one as he pressed a button to a loud click. Back in business, he was scanning the dense artificial smoke for any kind of movement or muzzle flash.
“Yeah! I’m alright though, just bruised!” Tomas shouted.
“Contact! House 1, squad size!” Anghelesca said into his radio, his voice as clear and calm as he could manage.
“Team two! Advance!” he called out, Tomas rising to his feet to advance towards the smoke and the house. The wind was picking up, making Tomas realize he was already sweating as he kept his rifle pointed squarely downrange. As the smoke cleared, the team saw the silhouettes of Reds in the windows. Wasting no time, Elena and the rest of the squad opened up, landing rounds right inside some of the windows and hitting at least one in the neck. As Tomas got to his knees once more, the pained groans of one of the insurgents was drowned out by the awful gargling that followed.
“Surrender and we can save your man!” Elena demanded, shouting it so the insurgents could hear her.
“Fuck off, bitch!” Came the reply not long after as Anghelesca’s team caught up, the grenadier’s assistant splitting off and joining Lofty.
“Bear, Dorogaya, Marušić, with me!” Anghelesca shouted, the two smaller teams keeping an eye out for flankers as Bear rushed to meet the squad leader, Elena and Tomas right behind him.

Tomas piled in behind Elena, Bear kicking the door down as he stormed into the house, watchful for traps as Anghelesca followed on. Tomas only had a theoretical grasp on building clearing, following behind Elena as she went in and peeled off to the right, the gunshots in this enclosed space being shut off by his headset’s mic. The hallway was a decent length, two doors on the right and a single one on the left. Elena had her rifle up, stopping at the first door to shift the rifle to fire left handed. Bringing it up into the room, she pointed the gun down and shook her head.
“Clear!” She called, shifting towards the next door. Tomas spared a glance in, seeing the recently dead man with his neck shot out, blood pouring from his mouth as red bubbles slowly popped. Feeling a chill up his spine, he looked back to see Elena fire two rounds into a man moving out from the second door, the insurgent being pushed back and collapsing onto the floor.
“Clear!” Bear shouted from the other side of the house. Elena approached the door, only hearing a simple phrase.
“I surrender!”
Elena checked the second door on the right, nodded when she was sure it was clear before switching to the last door, rifle up as she entered it. Tomas was in soon after, seeing the insurgent with his hands up.

The room itself was sparse and featureless at first glance, Elena lowering her rifle and switching to her pistol as she nodded Tomas forwards.
“Search him.” She ordered, Tomas nodding and lowering his own rifle to pat him down. The man was clad in an old LDF jacket, the camouflage pattern slightly faded but still visible. His AK-74 was on the ground, magazine removed, as was his vest. When Tomas finished patting him down, he saw the logo on the side. It was an ox, front on in a round patch, the number 12 in the middle and GUARDS INFANTRY BRIGADE around the outside.
“Fucking looter.” Tomas spat, putting the man’s hands behind him.
“Worse.” Elena said, keeping the handgun up as she motioned at the room around them.

Tomas stopped to look around the room, seeing cages. Big cages. His skin started to crawl as he saw the footprints in the dirty bases of the cages, the large padlocks and the simple metal trays. The straw on the floor was filthy, and so was everything in the room, but his horror only intensified when he saw a pile of rags move, the quiet sobbing as he saw the shape of a child, hugging their legs and trying to be as quiet as possible.
“Oh, her. Parents were too poor to pay the ransom.” The prisoner said, matter-of-factly.
“You fucking animal. Get him out of here.” Elena growled, Tomas pushing the man along past her as he looked back at her.
“Is she one of those Pagans?” The man asked, Tomas shoving him a little harder.
“None of your fucking business.” Tomas replied, Bear looking at the prisoner with contempt after seeing the patch on his shoulder.
“A fucking looter.”
“This fuck has a kid in there. Elena’s taking care of her.” Tomas’ addition had Bear grinding his teeth, but he nodded in understanding.
“Keep quiet about it for now. Touchy subject.” Bear said, following Tomas outside to the arrival of Third Squad, Serzhant Milić conversing with Anghelesca as the two of them saw the prisoner.

Elena slowly approached the cage, seeing the kid still sobbing. Elena was slow and cautious in her approach, seeing a keychain on a hook, she slowly obtained the collection of keys, each one numbered for a padlock. Her helmet and headset were next, taking them off to gently lay them on the floor beside her.
“Hey… can you hear me?” Elena asked, her voice soft and low. Being in the rear corner of the building meant that the outside chatter was barely audible, the girl shifting to look at her with one deep blue eye.
“Hey there… I’m going to get you out of here. Can you understand me?” Elena asked, not moving a muscle.
The child gave a slight, shaky nod.
“I’m going to unlock this door, you don’t have to come out.” Elena slowly moved towards the lock, inserting the correctly-numbered key and twisting it to a click sound. The child jumped a little bit at the sound, but Elena opened the door slowly, the creak echoing in such a small room.
“I have some water if you need it.” Elena said, pulling out a water bottle from her rear. Elena then unscrewed the lid, offering it to the girl. She slowly started to move, unfurling from her position with caution and a little fright in her eyes as she never took them off Elena.

The child looked bad off, skinny as a rake and caked in dirt and mud. Tiny strands of blonde hair were peeking from the brown mass that surrounded her, but the biggest thing that Elena could see were her deep blue eyes, staring right at Elena with extreme caution. As soon as her bony fingers wrapped around the open bottle, Elena released her grip and the child snatched it close. She brought it to her lips, drinking heavily as it steadily got tipped back into her mouth, a little bit spilling off the sides. As soon as the bottle was empty, she slowly started to crawl out of the cage, very careful with the water bottle. Returning it to Elena, she now sat opposite the soldier, her stare less scared and more curious.
“Alright, let’s get you cleaned up.” Elena grabbed a pack of wet wipes from her rearmost pouch. Wrapping it around her gloved fingers, Elena’s slow approach lead to a quick withdrawal when the girl tried to snap at her hand, letting out an audible bite noise at the air where Elena’s fingers were.
“... You almost got me, you know.” Elena commented, thinking about what to do now. She nodded once, pulling out a chocolate bar from her spare pouch.
“If I give you this, will you behave and let me clean you?” Elena asked, the child’s eyes lighting up when she saw the wrapper. She quickly reached out, before she paused in place. She then tried to talk, but nothing came out. She seemed to deflate a little, sinking back to her deadened form.
“Just nodding is fine, you don’t have to say please.” Elena said, eliciting an excited nod from the girl. The chocolate changed hands, Elena removing her glove and placing the cold wet wipe around two of her fingers, bringing it to the girl’s delicate face as she slowly wiped away the caked-on dirt. The girl flinched a bit as the damp cold tissue contacted her face, but she got used to it as Elena worked around her eating.
“Hard for me to believe there’s a pretty girl under all this dirt.” Elena commented, putting the spent wet wipe down and retrieving another one to continue her cleaning. She didn’t notice the passage of time until the girl had finished the chocolate. Her face was mostly clean, even some of her hair was more presentable.

She couldn’t have been older than 10, the thought alone making Elena’s blood boil. She couldn’t let it show, she wouldn’t want to frighten the child. She seemed to be mute from the trauma, and Elena couldn’t begin to imagine what had happened to her. Elena took a deep breath, doing her best to remain strong as the child was calming down. She spared a smile for the girl, before the sound of approaching footsteps had the girl lunge forward to hug Elena for protection.

Tomas had been outside, seeing the prisoner handcuffed and quietly telling Anghelesca about the girl and to call a medic. The soreness started to set in after taking a small breather, slinging the rifle as Serzhant Milić hovered around the prisoner. He had a nonchalant look on his face, even as his comrades were being loaded into bodybags and their gear was being collected and laid out on the far side. Third squad was keeping their eyes up and around, Third Platoon having been called to take over the sweep.
“Hey, this jackass have an AK?” Albescov called to Tomas, causing him to nod.
“I’ll go get it.” He replied
“Fetch Kovačica too.” Milić added, Tomas nodding
As he entered the house, he immediately tried to avoid the blood trails left by dragging the recently deceased out. Even for such a short walk, the mental image of what had happened kept playing in his mind. Whether he liked it or not, he shot and killed a man today. He didn’t pay attention to his footsteps and sounded louder than normal, leading to a shuffling noise as he rounded the corner. He saw the girl looking a lot more alive than before, her blue eyes gazing at him as if he was an intruder. Tomas stopped, rubbing the back of his head.
“Uh… I was here to grab the AK and uh… Milić wants you outside.” Tomas said, Elena nodding and whispering to the girl.
“Alright, can you grab my helmet too?” Elena asked, standing up and holding onto the girl’s hand.
“Sure. Are… You okay?” Tomas asked, seeing the barest flash in Elena’s expression.
“... Yeah, I’m okay.”
Tomas quietly picked up the AK, vest and helmet, heading outside while following Elena. He could see the girl was already squeezing Elena’s hand, the latter doing her best to keep the girl close. Tomas felt a storm of emotions brewing in him, especially when they rounded the corner to exit the farmhouse.

The girl flinched on seeing the sunlight, her eyes scrunching shut as the golden rays hit her face. The various soldiers around the building caught a glimpse of her, and they all murmured among themselves. Even Lofty’s face twisted into one of disgust for the sole surviving prisoner. Milić saw what had happened, staring at Elena for several seconds as she came to a halt.
“Building’s clear, Serzhant.” Elena reported, as Milić looked at the prisoner.
“Well well well, a ransom? You’re the lowest of the low.” Milić commented, looking down at the prisoner. Tomas emerged into the sunlight after Elena, placing the gear down next to the door.
“She called me a fucking animal, so you’ll have to do better.”
“Awfully cheerful for someone who lost his comrades.”
“They were only Lauzanneans.” The prisoner shot back. Milić let his eye twitch.
“Don’t take the bait, Serzhant. The Gotovy will come to take him soon enough.”
“You’re a Russian?” Milić asked, to which the man nodded.
“Figured.” Elena said.
“So… You don’t know about our customs?” Milić asked, Tomas raising an eyebrow
“How is that relevant?” Tomas asked, to which the Serzhant gave him a small glare.
“Some, but I prefer Russian customs.”
“Well, out here in the North, they have this little custom for people like you. The Pagans around here like to do it…” Milić began, Tomas feeling his heart rate rise and Elena, slowly turning to look at the Serzhant.
“Let me guess… You’re going to beat the shit out of me until I repent?” The prisoner asked, Milić’s hand going down to his pistol holster. Elena’s gaze snapped to Milić, letting go of the girl and running at her Serzhant.
“No, they make sure people like you don’t continue-” Was all he got out, his handgun drawn from it’s holster as Elena tackled him bodily.

“Hey!” Milić shouted, landing on his back as the girl shied up and the rest of the squad got to their feet at the outbreak of the fight.
“Get his gun!” Elena shouted, using her right leg to pin his left arm while focussing on grabbing Milić’s arm, smashing it against a rock to get him to let go. Tomas bolted towards the scuffle without hesitation. Sliding down when Elena hit one last time, the protests of Milić as Tomas grabbed the handgun and backed off from the fight. Elena relaxing her weight lead to Milić leveraging himself up, pushing Elena off and punching her in the face. The meaty smack as the knuckles of the glove hit Elena squarely on her right temple, causing her vision to go blurry as she brought an arm up to hit Milić directly on the nose. As Milić recoiled, Bear and Lofty pulled him off while Ionesca and Albescov Held Elena back. It was over in a few seconds, with Anghelesca blocking between the two.
“You two… Fuck. Okay, Morozov, your boys watch the prisoner and don’t blow him away. LTt’s gonna have a fucking field day. Elena, take the kid and go with Marušić somewhere. Serzhant, give me your rifle.” Anghelesca said, Elena nodding as she spat out a glob of saliva and blood.
“As you wish, Korprel.” Elena said, being released and walking past Milić with a death stare. The challenge was returned as Bear squeezed on the Serzhant.
“Not worth it.” He kept saying to the Serzhant as Elena’s nose started to bleed, still feeling a little dizzy but extending a hand towards the girl. She took it, pulling herself close to the soldier as Tomas followed, taking the magazine out of the handgun and racking the slide to clear it, before handing the now empty weapon to Anghelesca.
“Thanks. Now keep an eye on her. LT’s going to want to talk.”
Tomas only nodded.

He followed the two until they reached a tree stump, the pair sitting down on it with the girl on Elena’s right. Marusic approached, the girl flinching a little but seemingly recognising him.
“Hey there, girl. I’m Tomas.” He announced himself with a little smile, the girl giving a little wave.
“She’s uh… Not talkative is she?”
“Psychological muteness. Trauma.” Elena said, Marusic placing down some tissues for Elena to use. She took them, using the paper to dab off the blood coming out of her nose.
“Thanks Tomas, how bad is it?” She asked, Marusic going over to face her and sharply inhaling when he saw the damage. Her right eye was bloodshot, the bruise already forming under it.
“You uh… Got a black eye, Razvodnik.”
“Elena is fine.”
“Uh… You have a black eye, Elena.”
“Figures, he hit me good. Come, have a seat.” Elena tapped the other side of the tree stump, Tomas sitting down and looking out at the forest.
“Is uh… This going to be bad?” Tomas asked, glancing at Elena and the girl from time to time.
“The injury or the girl?”
“The Gotovy.”
Elena shrugged.
“Worst case, I get demoted and get to carry a Raikka again. Best case, that asshole Serzhant can fuck off back to his unit.”
“Uh… The child?”
“Oh. Hey, girl. Please don’t swear like I do, it’s very bad. Okay?” Elena said, putting on a lighter voice for her. She nodded, hugging Elena’s arm in turn.
“Her parents are still alive, right?”
“Yeah, they only kidnap. If her parents are dead, they can’t exactly pay them.”
“How much do they uh… Usually ask?”
“20k American, or so I hear. Can buy a lot of 5.45 for that much.”
“Scum… But… Would you have shot him? In that room? You told me about kid abusers and the quick and effective and-”
“Do you want an honest answer?”
“Y-yeah…”
“No, I wouldn’t have.” Elena said bluntly, looking right at Tomas as she said so.
“Wait, but the thing you told me…”
“Is for when I am not in uniform or even serving. Right now, out here, I am a soldier first and a follower of Mikoa second. Can you imagine what would happen when it gets found out that the LDF let a soldier blow a prisoner away without a fair trial?”
“... I guess not. Reds would have a lot of propaganda, right?”
“Exactly. And I can’t let that fu-idiot Milić do it either. It’s not his religion and it’s not his Gods-damned job.”
“So… Do I get punished too?”
“Probably not. You were following orders to secure a handgun from someone trying to commit a war crime. Oh, do you have anything for her to eat?”
“Only the chocolate bar you gave me the other day.”
“Seems to be her favorite. If you want, you can give it to her.”
Tomas drew the bar from his pouch, offering it to Elena who smiled and shook her head.
“Ne. crouch down and offer it to her yourself.” Elena instructed, Tomas getting up and slowly approaching her. It was clear she was transfixed by the bar.
“Hey, you wanna be friends?” Tomas asked, the girl nodding as she gently took the bar from his hands, tearing up the wrapper to feast on the sweet insides. Marusic couldn’t help but smile at the innocent glee she had with consuming the chocolate.
“She’s a ravenous one.” Elena smiled, biting her left hand glove off to pat the girl on the head ever so gently.
“You know uh… I like this side of you. It’s uh… Nice. Like you’re uhh-”
“Not some battle doll raised for war?”
“A nice person.” Tomas replied, causing Elena to close her eyes and take a long breath.
“When I get you a girlfriend, please be more tactful. I can only do so much.”
“Oh, uh, sorry…”
“Don’t worry about it.” Elena nudged Tomas’ arm as he sat down once more.

Time passed, Second Squad arriving with the platoon’s lieutenant in tow. He made a beeline for the house, talking to the Serzhant no doubt. But Tomas had been sitting in silence with Elena for a while. He mused about how it looked, like a family going for a walk in body armour with a messy child. Maybe if it was a peaceful time and the three of them sat together, they would almost look like a family.
“Ryadovat Marušić.” Came the voice of Leytenant Ilionesci, Tomas springing to his feet and facing the younger Lieutenant.
“Yes, sir?”
“Come with me.”
“Yes sir.”
The walk inside the house wasn’t long, but it was nerve-wracking. shouldn’t he have gotten Elena’s point of view first?
As soon as they reached the second room on the right side of the house, he sat down on the seat closest to the door. A second one faced it.
“Take a seat.” He offered, to which Tomas sat down without hesitation.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Uh… From when, sir?”
“What led to the fight?”
“Well, we captured the prisoner but kept the girl undisclosed. We didn’t want things getting out of hand. I went and got her and Ele- Kova-”
“Elena is fine.”
“I got her, Elena, and the guy’s weapons. When we stepped outside, the Sergeant seemed to go weird… He talked about pagan punishments for a child abuser, and drew his handgun… It’s when Elena tackled him and told me to take his handgun.” Tomas said, looking nervous in front of the serious Leytenant.
“Any other details you would like to add?”
“Uhh… The punishments…”
“Is it execution?”
“That is the quick way, yes.”
“I see. Who can I ask for more information?”
“Elena.”
“Very well. That will be all.”
“Uh… Am I going to be punished?”
“The Serzhant alleges you smashed his arm against a rock to remove the handgun from his grip, is that true?”
“I only grabbed it as I was told, Sir.”
“I will have to talk with the Gotovy when they get here, but it isn’t likely to be longer than one day in the guardhouse to cool your heels.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Tomas said, feeling relieved.
“That’ll be all. Go get Kovačica.”
“Yes Sir.”

Tomas stepped back out into the sunlight, the rest of the platoon peering at him with a mix of respect and amusement. He trudged back towards Elena and the girl, the glare of Serzhant Milić ever present at the back of his head. He glanced over at Bear, who gave a single nod in his direction. Tomas returned the nod, disappearing from view once more.
“Hey, LT wants to see you.”
“Alright. Look after her.” Elena said, standing up as the girl watched her leave. Tomas sat down, the girl sliding over to hug onto his right arm. Tomas was surprised at first, before relaxing and letting her hold it to her hearts’ content.
“You’re a touchy-feely type, eh? My sister is the same.” The girl squeezed tighter, shaking a bit. Scared?
“Oh… It’s okay, she hasn’t been taken.” The shaking stopped, replaced by another squeeze. Tomas flexed his muscle a bit in response, to which she smiled and squeezed a little harder. The contest of flexing arm and squeezing girl got her to giggle a little bit, Tomas releasing as she intensified her hug. He couldn’t help but smile, the images and thoughts of earlier gone, replaced by one simple fact.

Today I saved a child, and I made her laugh.

Elena returned to find Tomas without his helmet on, the girl looking every direction as she tested the helmet’s weight.
“These can save your life, you know.” Tomas explained, the girl looking up as the helmet fell off, hitting the flat top of the tree stump with a thunk sound. The girl looked backwards, seeing Elena approach upside-down and smiling more, pointing at Elena and waving.
“Gotovy are coming, Tomas. They’ll ask for our weapons, just hand them over.”
“Oh… I see.” Tomas said, standing up as the Ferrets came closer. They were plain green armoured 4x4s, red and blue lights adorning the top of the vehicles rather than machine guns or grenade launchers. As they pulled up to the house, the trio set off for it, ready for their punishment. The girl stood between them, holding both of their hands as a pair of Gotovy approached them. In contrast to their own digital camouflage uniforms, the two Gotovy were clad in plain OD fatigues, their helmets sharing a similar colour. Both wore a black brassard with Готовы in white around the armband, signifying their position. They paused when they saw the girl, seemingly shy of them.
“Uh… Kovačica and Marušić?” The leader asked.
“Da. Taking us back to the FOB?”
“Ne. You’re going to Igrane AB. Your weapons, please.”
“Very well.” Elena said, slowly drawing her handgun out, dropping the magazine and racking the slide before presenting it handle-first to the leader. Marusic did the same for his rifle, Elena’s rifle sitting with the rest of the squad. They took them to the front of the Ferret, placing them into specific racks before returning.
“Uh… Beagle, do we take the kid too?” The junior one asked.
“We weren’t told to take the kid with us.” Beagle replied.
The junior looked the small girl over, his face wrinkling in worry. “She’s going to need a checkup and some hot food. That and my mother would skin me alive if I willingly left a little girl behind when I had the option not to.”
“Yeah, and it looks like you’re going to need a checkup too… Fu-... Damn, we never get the easy ones. Alright… Bring her with.” Beagle waved her on, the junior one opening the door as Serzhant Milić was lead to the second vehicle. Tomas was first, followed by the girl with Elena last in.

The girl seemed to be in slightly higher spirits, Elena looking out the window as Tomas took in the scene. It was clear that Elena was lost in thought, and Tomas decided not to push the matter.
“Hey, uh, do you know the girl’s name?” The junior Gotovy asked.
“No clue, she can’t talk.” Tomas replied, the junior Gotovy looking back in disbelief.
“Those bastards didn’t do that to her did they?”
“Not physically, mental trauma can do it too.” Tomas said, letting Elena stare out the window.
The man shook his head.
“Well, if nothing else you did something good today.”
“Mm, didn’t think I’d have to have a chat with you guys either.”
The Gotovy man let out a laugh in response.
“No one does. In any case, you’ll probably only spend a night in jail. Your record is pretty spotless and you’re new.”
“What about the Serzhant? And uhh, my frien- TL?”
“Friend is fine, Tomas.” Elena corrected.
“You’ll probably do the same, but chances are the docs will want to look at you. Took a hell of a hit there.”
“I’ll manage.” Elena said, before feeling a small weight lean on her side.
The girl had fallen asleep, choosing to lean towards Elena. She put an arm around the girl, pulling her close.
“Rest…” Elena whispered as Tomas looked at her. Just from one look, it was clear that Elena was conflicted and dealing with things, but he couldn’t press them at all. The girl was happy and asleep. They were headed to a place that had beds with blankets on them, air conditioning, less risk of being shelled , and to top it all off, said place had hot food too.

All in all, could be worse.

[Lauzanne]

Thunderstorm

“Volume down, eyes up.”

The pilots’ ready room was a steady stream of chatter until the commanding voice of Polkóvnik Vasilišesca quieted the room. Looking out at the room was a collection of pilots, weapons officers and other flight staff. “Remi” Dupont took in the patches of at least three other squadrons as the lights dimmed; a wizard shooting lightning from his hands, a vulture in flight and a swift swooping downwards, respectively. On her own arm was a vigilant nightjar, illuminated by the projection on the whiteboard.

Northern Lauzanne was a mess of battle-lines, the projection of the map broken up by aerial reconnaissance photos highlighting Soviet vehicles and equipment.
“It’s become apparent this insurgency is more serious than we initially thought, with the Reds getting their hands on more and more equipment every week. With the 11th, 12th and 14th Guards Brigades losing ground, a strike has been authorized on several seemingly re-activated depots, as well as an identified command and organization area.” Vasilišesca said, pointing out the various areas marked as DEPOT and ENCAMPMENT.
The image also showed two arrows arcing up the screen, one much larger that sported the patch of a knight on horseback and a wizard.
“Lantser and Vrajabnic 3 will perform a bombing on the two depots marked. Although the only known enemy engagement radar has been destroyed, there could be more present. Vrajabnic 1 and 2 are on station with anti-radar missiles if that is the case.” The explanation got a nod from the collection of pilots off to the left side, some of them taking notes or sketching the path.
“Vultur, Strikha and Kozodya, you’ll be with Vrajabnic 4 and striking this command area. Vultur carries the cluster bombs, Strikha will have rocket pods and R-73’s for self defence, and Kozodya will run escort.” Vasilišesca added, pointing at the smaller arrow, the Vulture, Swift, Nightjar and another Wizard present on it’s side.
“Why do they get to run escort? They could carry the same ordinance as all of us.” One of Strikha squadron’s pilots asked.
“Because they have better radars, better missiles and better dogfighting capability. Even though we only have you four, you’ll be tasked with security, Two to guard the strike group and two to guard the bombers.” Vasilišesca eyed all four of the pilots, Remi included.
“Some of you may be new here, but I expect no less of you.” Vasilišesca’s gaze landed on Remi, who returned the gaze, allowing herself a small smile.
“What kind of opposition are we expecting?” Remi asked, to which Vasilišesca pointed at the projector again, now showing a new handful of grainy photographs. A couple of them depicted separate planes, with a couple more showing two planes together. Some were airborne perspectives, the others from the ground, showing the blue belly of the Soviet-era MIG-21’s. Their bodies were thin with small wings, identical to those flown by the Strikha squadron.
“Two MiG-21’s have been sighted and flying, but there could be more about. Information on the ground is spotty, unfortunately.”
No more hands were raised.
“Once the runs are completed, Kozodya will perform damage assessment and RTB. Questions?”
After a few seconds of silence, Vasilišesca nodded.
“Lantser squadron will be meeting you in the sky in 40 minutes. Dismissed.” With that, the pilots got up, a semi-organised scramble to get to the planes. Remi looked to her wingman, Leytenant Lapesca.

Lapesca was a little older than Remi, a little taller, too. Fair skin, light brown hair and hazel eyes contrasted with Remi’s more tan appearance, his short cut hair the absolute opposite of Remi’s fluffy mess.
“What do you think, Rooster?” Lapesca asked, standing up in unison with Remi.
“I think it’ll be easy. Pick them off at range if they rear their heads. It isn’t the Refusal War anymore. How about you?”
“We should be careful. If they have one more bird in the air, we could be in trouble.” Lapesca warned, the pair finally headed for the planes at a brisk pace.

Shasina Airbase was a large airbase, even by LAF standards, with a runway long and wide enough to accomodate even the enormous Antonov planes that sat on the far end of the base. Closest to them were the fighter hangars, far smaller and more numerous for the needs of the comparatively tiny combat planes. Shashina was the home of the Vultur squadron, but its size coupled with distance from the fighting ensured the safety of the planes, especially given that many of them could not be replaced should an insurgent attack occur. Remi set her eyes on the various planes in the ready area, counting them off one by one.

The MiG-21s she learned to fly with were first on the walk, resembling a pencil with wings and a cockpit rather than the traditional mind’s eye of a fighter jet. Six of them were undergoing final checks, the pilots climbing up into the cockpits giving the pair a look.
“Oi, you two better rack up those kills, or we’ll do it for you!” The squadron’s leader hollered at the pair. Lapesca shook his head, but Remi turned to face him.
“Yeah, we’ll get them before you even see them, ground pounder!” she shot back, imitating a gun with her right hand as the ground crews let out mock jeers in reply. As soon as the last MiG-21 was passed, then came the 27’s.

Looking like a proper plane that had its nose beaten down to resemble a platypus, the MiG-27 sported a sleek look and aggressively swept wings common to it’s time. The crew was fitting 500kg bombs to the wing gloves and fuselage, pilots walking around their planes to do checks. Remi looked down at the gun, giving a little whistle as she eyed it up.
“Impressive, you planning to spray down the entire area with these?” Remi asked, pointing at the gun hanging below the plane.
“Only if you do your job, Dupont.” The pilot answered, giving a middle finger to Remi.
“Of course I will, I can’t rub my future Ace status in your face if it gets pieces of R-60 in it, Marchesca.”
“Dream on, Rooster.”
Lapesca gave Remi a glance as they headed past the dozen other MiG-27’s.
“Really cocky one, aren’t you?” He asked, smirking at his wingman.
“Of course, how do you think I got the name Rooster?” Remi replied, matching his expression with gusto.
“I heard it was because you started patting a farmer’s prize hen, and her feathery husband didn’t like it.”
“People can invent whatever reason they want, doesn’t change the name.” Remi’s smirk intensified.
“Well, if you stick to me like I was that hen, I won’t have any problems.”
“You got it, Lappy.”

At last, they came across their planes, marked 1213 and 1207 respectively. The Groza was almost brand new in LAF service and in the lineup it looked like it came from an entirely different century than the 21 and 27. Given Its resemblance to both the Su-27s and F-16s, pilots still hadn’t decided between the nicknames “Baby Flanker” or “Pit Viper”, with Remi firmly in the latter camp. She approached 1213, the missiles were already loaded and the ground crew was ready to go. On it were ten missiles in total; on the outer two pylons were the far shorter French-delivered MICA missiles. The remaining three, taking up the remaining two wing pylons and two of the three under-fuselage stations were six R-27s, a rocket powered metal pole that was so old the manufacturer was marked as the USSR on some of them.
“Hey, what’d they say about the MICAs again?” Remi asked as Lapesca began his walk-around inspection.
“Use only when necessary.”
“Well, let’s hope they don’t have the sense to evade the R-27s.”
Remi began her own walkaround, checking each missile and pylon, inspecting the blue belly and camouflage green top for any dents, tears or other oddities. The tailfins were fine, the engine’s exhaust spotless. She felt her heart quicken with anticipation as she looked down the nozzle of the immense engine.
“Soon we’ll be soaring in the skies, making Bunishka proud.”
There was no echo, despite the size of the huge nozzle. Remi then checked the left side of the plane, inspecting every missile closely.
‘92… ‘89… ‘97… Missiles almost as old as me. Sadly, they don’t get better with age.
“Alright, we’re good to go.” Remi put her thumbs up at the waiting ground crew, ducking under the wing to make her way right to the cockpit.

Remi wasted no time, ascending the ladder as Lapesca was donning his helmet in the other plane. She gave a thumbs up, returned by her wingman as she sat down in the light blue cockpit. Donning the flight helmet, Remi slid the visor module up as she located the main power switch on her left, flicking it from OFF to BATTERY. The plane started to come to life, various lights winking on as she thumbed the ENGINE START switch, the growing whine of the enormous jet filtering into her ears. The ground crew was observant, keeping their eyes on the plane as Remi shifted the throttle to idle, grabbing the thick handle with her left hand, tilting it forwards and left. As the engine’s whine intensified, it was now time to get it ready to fly. Returning to the main power switch by her left hip, she flicked it forward once more from BATTERY to ON. With the plane idling and ready, she flicked the radars and avionics on, making sure that the IFF functioned before finally hitting the HMD FUNCTION switch.

With the plane now ready to go, Remi lowered the canopy, locking it in as soon as it was down. Flipping the visor down, she looked up, left, right and down to confirm the green symbols of her HUD were functioning and indicating her wingman with a green square.
IFF functions okay. Let’s go.
Remi gave another thumbs up to Lapesca as he donned his mask, a familiar crackling noise beginning in her ears as his radio’s mic activated.
“Alfa Bravo 8, Kozodya 1. Request permission for takeoff.”
“Kozodya 1, Alfa Bravo 8. Aff, takeoff confirmed, taxi to runway. Good hunting.” The reply from the control tower was swift, Lapesca nodding as he throttled up. The ground crew cleared out from both planes as the two of them started to roll under their own power, turning right to taxi past the other planes.

Remi gave each plane a look as she went past, the twelve MiG-27’s undergoing similar start up, the pilots entering into their birds to take off after Lapesca, herself, and the two bomber escorts, Flush and Duck. They were next, tailing Remi and Lapesca. Lapesca took the right side of the runway, Remi the left. Lining up and doing one last check, Remi could feel the plane raring to go.

And so was she.

“Kozodya, launch!”
With the order, Remi shoved the throttle to maximum, the afterburner’s activation having turned the whine of the engine into a roar. Remi was shoved bodily into the seat by the raw thrust of the engine, which made her grin uncontrollably. The speed indicator ticked up rapidly, Lapesca keeping pace as she counted.
250, 260, 270. Let’s go!
A gentle pull on the control stick with her right hand brought her plane off the ground, the plane responding better now that it had taken flight. Flicking a switch with practiced precision, the whirr of the landing gear retracting made her grin just a little more. She pulled up higher, aiming the nose of her plane squarely at the clear blue sky.
“Altitude restrictions lifted, hold position at Point 1.”
“Aff, holding at point 1.” Remi replied, banking her plane to the left in unison with Lapesca, the marker showing up on the right screen’s map.
“Rooster, Lappy. You listening to me?” Remi heard in her ear, easing up on the afterburner now they were at altitude. She flicked her radio’s transmit to the local signal.
“Lappy, Rooster. Loud and clear.”
“Remember, our job is to protect. No engaging unless necessary.”
“Aff, stand-off ranges, close only when necessary.” Remi replied, lightly rolling her eyes. I’m not that stupid, Lappy.
“Alright, we’re at point one. Orbit, we’ll wait for the others.” Lapesca ordered, the two of them entering a gentle left banking turn. The joystick was smooth and responsive in Remi’s hand, looking down at the airfield a few kilometers away.

It would take several minutes, the first plane to ascend being the electronic warfare plane, Vrajabnic 4. It was much larger and more rounded than the other planes, roughly on par with their Grozas for sheer size. It was a Western plane, but Remi found it’s nickname of ‘Prowler’ amusing, given its large size and friendly appearance. The plane sported a wide cockpit, with a pilot and other officer in front, and two behind them. Two of the officers waved, and Remi waved back, rolling left and right to wiggle the wings. Vrajabnic replied in kind, a movement echoed by the MiGs now joining them in formation.
“All planes, this is Kozodya 1. Form up, flying at bearing 3-5-5.” Lappy instructed, the planes forming up into arrows. Remi was behind and to the right of him, with the Prowler taking the spot opposite her. The MiG-27s and 21s formed their own groups, and then the flock banked towards the frontline.

Although the skies were seemingly clear of everyone but them, Remi kept an eye out just in case. Any gap in the air defense network or the Electrosphere radars could be exploited, and the sensors of their own planes weren’t omni-directional either. Every pilot knew the tale of Angels 20, where such exploits allowed the young LAF to score massive victories against a technologically superior foe. This lesson rang more true, given that many of those pilots were instructing them back in flight school.

As the minutes ticked away, Remi saw the fires ahead. The massive trails of smoke from rocket artillery, the golden light of their motors propelling them up towards the endless skies clearly marking them out against the green earth below them.
“Gods, it’s a war zone down there…” One of the other pilots said, beginning to mutter before the radio cut.
“Chatter to a minimum. T.O.T fifteen minutes.” Lapesca interjected, his own head on a swivel.
“No ground emissions. Clean scope.” Vrajabnic reported. Remi couldn’t help but feel the hair at the back of her neck begin to stand up. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go down. Did they miss some of the SAMs? Was a squadron of aircraft headed their way? Something else? Remi looked down at her screens, one showing radar contacts, the other her IRST, looking for large heat signatures such as jet engines. The empty radar screen was a minor relief, Remi allowing herself to relax a fraction when three beeps sounded.

“Alfa Bravo 8, Kozodya 1, three fast movers inbound, BRAA 3-0-0 for 90 at angels… Angels fifteen, contacts hot.” Lapesca called on the radio, Remi looking down and seeing the same three contacts. All Remi’s muscles tensed up, gripping both controls as tightly as she could.
“Kozodya 1, Alfa Bravo 8. Confirm fast movers.” came the reply from the airbase. Remi instinctively hit the button on the left panel marked as E-O, bringing up a colour feed from her right wing. Using the control on top of the joystick, she maneuvered the camera to point and zoom at the unfamiliar contacts. At this range they were blurry, but the monotone beep of her RWR was a grim prognosis.
“Alfa Bravo 8, Kozodya 1, bogey spike.” Lapesca replied, the tension in his voice palpable. Although there was always uncertainty, Remi already knew that the three planes weren’t here to play nice.
“Kozodya 1, Alfa Bravo 8. Confirmed fast movers as bandits. Cleared hot, engage.”
“Kozodya 1, Wilco. Out.” Lapesca replied, the tension dissipating as Remi started to grin.
“Kozodya 2, break and engage bandits. Strikha 3, take the lead.” Lapesca ordered, hearing a simple wilco in return as Remi and him tilted right, splitting off from the formation and pushing their throttles up. They had been cruising at a leisurely 750 kilometers an hour, with the Grozas barely breaking a sweat, but now their legs could stretch out as they moved to meet the new foe, a cloud of condensation wreathing them as they broke the sound barrier effortlessly.

“Once they hit 60 kilometers, two missiles each.” Lapesca ordered, Remi reaching down to uncover the MASTER ARM switch.
“Aff, Master Arm on, Master Arm on.” Remi replied, flicking the switch from OFF to ON with a heavy click. She cycled through the missiles until landing on R-27ER, displayed on the right panel with six lines adorning her plane. Another glance at the screen revealed three black blobs emerging from the blue sky, solidifying into more recognisable shapes. One was wider, with two protrusions under the body and two fins cutting the air, while the other two were round, with slim wings and single fins.
“Looks like we have the whole cast of To Kopyk, two Fishbeds and a Fulcrum.” Remi commented, glancing over to see Lapesca nod inside his cockpit. The distances ticked down… and down… Remi glancing at the number as her own radar warning kept beeping in her ear.
“Approaching range. Raygun, Raygun.” Lapesca called, Remi echoing the phrase Raygun as it began to lock the targets.The plane let out a beep as it was locking on to the targets, before a digital voice spoke out.
“Zakat. Zakat.” Locked on now, Remi smiled.
“Fox one! Fox one again!” She called out, hearing the roar of the rocket motor coming to life coupled with Lapesca’s as they began to crank right, keeping the enemy planes inside their radar’s field of view while minimizing the closing distance. She watched the four lines departing from their plane on the screen in short glances while watching the smoke trails visually, ever vigilant for an unseen threat. Seconds felt like entire minutes as the beeping of her RWR and the tone of her missiles punctuated the scene, Lapesca also keeping a sharp eye on the missiles. However, the enemy planes began to turn right, away from the edge of their radar’s view. Remi and Lapesca both turned to keep up, but their screens going green from chaff as their targets subsequently entered a dive led to the missiles overshooting the chaff cloud on the display.
Blyat.
The targets were now 50 kilometers away, flying in the same turning pattern as them, gaining ground ever so slowly…
“Rooster, we can’t let them get to the strikers. How good’s your BFM?” The question made Remi smirk under her oxygen mask.
“Better than yours, old man~”
“Alfa Bravo 8, Kozodya 1. Moving to engage hostiles.”

The pair turned to face the aggressors, a challenge met in kind as the three enemies turned towards them once more. Wasting no time, Remi cued up two more missiles, the same beeping noises ringing in the enclosed cockpit as her finger rested on the trigger again.
“Zakat. Zakat.” The plane spoke once more, Remi pulling the trigger twice.
“Fox one! Fox one again!” She called into the radio, the missiles streaking away from her towards the bandits. This time they split, two going left and the sole plane peeling right. Even with the rapidly encroaching distances, the missiles on the screen failed to connect with any plane, even with the shorter distances.
“Useless Russian trash!” She shouted to the plane, as Remi began to see the planes with her naked eyes.
“Tally three bandits.” Lapesca called as Remi switched to her MICA missiles.
“I’m on the right!” Remi called, tilting her plane 90 degrees and pulling up, the immense G-forces pulling her into her seat as condensation billowed away from her wings. Her mask forced more oxygen into her mouth even as she leveled out the turn, coming right up the rear of the enemy MiG-21. It was a plain grey, with bright orange afterburner that quickly vanished when he saw Remi on his tail. The enemy pilot began jinking, ducking left and right in an unpredictable pattern. Remi kept pace, her plane responding rapidly to every motion of her hands, the MICA locking itself onto the bandit in front of her.
“Rooster! Bogey on your three high!” Lapesca shouted, Remi quickly looking up to her right as the second MiG-21 came directly at her.
“Alerta Alerta. Alerta Alerta.” The plane droned, Remi quickly tilting her plane towards the oncoming MiG and pulling up towards it, hitting the countermeasures button.
“Raketa. Raketa.” The plane repeated as the beeping grew rapid and insistent punctuated by the boom of her flares firing. The flares painted the front of her cockpit in a receding golden glow.

The warning continued until she saw the missile streak past her, detonating in the cloud of incandescent metal. Remi rolled another 180 degrees to her left, finding the first MiG-21 trying to do a turn.
“Oh no you don’t, Buddy!” She retorted to the mute plane, the rapid beeping of her missile lock becoming a constant tone. Bingo.
“Zakat. Zakat.” Remi pulled the trigger, the missile firing off the wingtip rail and arcing almost 90 degrees towards the plane. She saw it arc towards the grey plane, exploding right in the tail of the hostile plane.
“Good kill, good kill!” Lapesca reported as the MiG-21 shot by her plane, the roar of its engine coming through the cockpit and her own plane’s engine. Engaging the afterburner, Remi began to gain altitude as she caught sight of the sole MiG-29, tangling with Lapesca and leaving trails in the sky. Mindful of the MiG-21 behind her, she cued up another missile for the twin-engined jet as the two opponents circled in for another pass. Lapesca pulling up and the MiG-29 trying to match the maneuver spelled its end as it engaged afterburners to climb, presenting a massive target for Remi’s heatseeker.
“Zakat. Zakat.” The plane repeated, Remi pulling the trigger again.
“Au revoir~” She said, the other wingtip missile quickly bolted off its rail for the MiG-29. Another successful detonation, the pilot ejecting from the machine as it was blasted to pieces.
“Splash one!” Remi called, Lapesca turning harder to bring his plane back down. Remi looked behind her as she brought her plane back around, sighting the final MiG-21 heading north, away from the pair.
“I’ll handle this one.” Lapesca called, Remi lowering the throttle a tad to see her wingman streak for the escaping bird like an eagle in a full dive.

“Fox two! Fox two!” Lapesca shouted before his own missile shot off it’s rail, zooming right for the plane. The pilot didn’t wait for the impact to eject, the canopy rocketing off to quickly be followed by the pilot as the missile destroyed his plane.
“Good kill! Splash one!” Remi shouted, the grin on her face as she looked out at the battlefield. Three white parachutes, three oily black pillars of smoke.
“I see all three, safe ejections.” Remi radioed.
“Aff, level out to Angels Fifteen, rejoin the group. Strikha 3, Kozodya 1. Three hostiles splashed, returning to the group.”
“Aff, Kozodya 1. Strike beginning now.” The reply was quick, Remi and Lapesca climbing, going back to vigilantly scanning the sky around them.

With the dogfight behind them, Remi and Lapesca made their way towards the area marked for destruction.
“Good kills, Rooster.” Lapesca said over the local network.
“Good kill, Lappy.” Remi replied, looking over to give him a thumbs up, only to see Lapesca return with a middle finger.
“No need to rub it in.” Lapesca shook his head, leveling out his plane’s climb.
“Don’t worry, we’re now the most successful active pilots in the LAF.” Remi let herself smirk, Lapesca looking ahead.
“Fireballs ahead.” Lapesca pointed, Remi looking towards the nose of the plane to see the faint outlines of the MiGs as they fired their enormous cannons, the outlines becoming wreathed in massive fireballs.
“Alfa Bravo 8, Strikha 3. Strike completed, RTB.” The pair heard over the radio as the swarm of dots turned tail for Shashina.
“Aff. Kozodya 1, Kozodya 2. BDA canceled, rejoin Strikha 3 and RTB.” The same dry voice from the Airbase ordered, Remi switching over to her wing root’s camera again.

Remi and Lapesca began to merge with the group, their higher speed allowing them to eat up the distance between them and their comrades, the shapes of the planes becoming more defined as they drew close.
“Hope you didn’t miss us!” Remi exclaimed, getting waves from most of the pilots in formation.
“Yeah, we’ll be expecting thanks when we land!” Lapesca joined in, turning the waves into obscene gestures.
“Dream on, Lappy!” Strika replied, Remi smiling at the atmosphere present in the cockpit.

It was an uneventful flight home, the group still keeping their eyes open, but it was clear they owned the skies today.

Remi’s smirk intensified as she landed, her and Lapesca being last in line. Plenty of fuel, and only four of the ten missiles still on the plane. The ground crews and pilots cheered the arrival of the last two, Remi’s grin intensifying as she brought the plane to taxi on the runway. Raising the cockpit glass, the commotion grew louder. Releasing the mask, her grin was apparent to the ground crew, the ladder rolling out for her as soon as she stopped, hitting the switches and buttons to turn the plane off. With her helmet now off, she leapt up to the ladder, clambering down to the crowd of her comrades.
“Ko! Zod! Ya!” The crowd chanted as Remi forged her way through the group towards the disembarking Lapesca, a matching smile adorning his face. They collided, arms outstretched as they hugged
“Not bad for a rookie!” Lapesca shouted over the din.
“Better than you, old man!” Remi retorted before being squeezed by the taller man.
“Cocking around like usual, Rooster!”
“Now you know how I got the name!” Remi laughed, the other pilots joining in.

It was a good day for the Air Force.

---

Remi waited once more in the pilot ready room, but this time she was all by herself. Vasilišesca had said she was needed in here for a ‘briefing’ but it had been five minutes with no sight of the person to deliver such a briefing. She idly twirled a pen in her deft fingers, hearing a door on her right open.
“Leytenant Dupont, are you aware of the cost of that last sortie with your plane?” A male voice asked as Remi continued to spin the pen without much reaction.
“Let’s see… US dollars or Gryv?” Remi asked, raising her right eyebrow as she glanced at the man. Older male, flight instructor or some other senior officer. Familiar voice.
“Whichever suits you, Leytenant.”
“Let’s see… Two hours’ flight work, so that’s 400,000 Gryv for the plane and fuel, my pay for the day which is roughly 1 to 2,000, and then… The missiles, I believe they’re about a million a piece for the older ones, and ten times that for the lovely French missile, Add it all up… 27 million Gryv, give or take a couple million. I’d say that was well worth it.” Remi nodded to herself, grabbing the rear of the pen and pointing it forwards.
“Zakat. Fox Two. Dead Fulcrum.” Remi finished, the man nodding.
“Not bad. How could you have done better?”
“We’d have murdered them at 100 kilometers with missiles made sometime this century. We had the sensors, the stealth and the range but no missiles to prosecute that advantage. Being told to use the MICAs only when necessary as if they’re things to be treasured and not weapons to be used inhibited our response too. It could have been just me, and I’d be nipping at your heels for kills, Maior Noumesca.” Remi finally turned to look at the man, pointing her pen at him. “Of course, you’re going to tell me that with modern technology I should still keep my fighter’s edge, just like you told me back in flight school, given you made a pretty donut out of a Flanker.”
“Glad you remember the lessons that you’re taught, I was always worried they would be caught by your hair and lost forever.” Noumesca nodded in Remi’s direction as she shook her head in reply, soft hair flying back and forth.
“It was just my luck, it echoed out of it right into my ear, Maior. Not just a pretty fluff-head~.” The remark made Noumesca chuckle.
“Always a cocky one, Rooster. In any case, I came and talked to your flight lead, he said no, and I’m going to offer it to you as well. Ever heard of the 63rd?” The mention made Remi’s ears prick up as she smiled.
“The Meteors? Testing out the Groza before we got them, and if the rumours I heard are right… Something really interesting…” Remi trailed off, smirking.
“You could take a look, if you said yes. But there, you’d be number 6 in the squadron. Lowest of the low, in fact a little while ago I had recruited Queen.” Remi raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious now as she twirled the pen around the room, her attention affixed to the Maior
“And the flight lead… to be the best in the squadron, with three better pilots plus Queen… would have to be an old generation pilot. Really successful, and I think he’s trying to recruit the best pilots he can.” The pen stopped squarely on Noumesca.
“The offer’s there, Rooster. Of course, if you’d prefer to fly 1213, she’s a good bird. Tested it myself. But all the things Queen could be flying and doing… all those strange birds and rumours…”
“I’ll do it.” Remi said outright, her smile vanishing for a second. Fucking Queen, thinking she can one up me. Mark my words, blondie. I’ll be Meteor 1.
“Good. I had your shit packed, once you say your goodbyes to your ground crew and wingmates, and we’ll be off.”
The smile returned.
“Still have me bracketed, huh? Expected me to fold no matter what?”
“Some Reds flying a Fishbed probably can’t even understand Lauzannean, but you’re a picture book to me.” Noumesca smiled in return, hands in his pockets now.
“Guess I’ve got a ways to go as usual…” Remi sighed lightly, keeping up her expression.
“Yes you do, fluff-head.”

[Lauzanne]

Protector

Tomas Marušić stared out the window of the Ferret 4x4, the black interior and featureless seats a far less pleasant sight than outside. However, the trees and plants were an inadequate distraction for his mind as it replayed the events of the past hour.
I shot that man. He was probably dead before he hit the ground. I’ve… killed someone. Tomas thought to himself, feeling his trigger finger involuntarily pull once more.
Tomas’ mind flashed images of the events leading up to right now. The man he shot was first, followed by a brief firefight, storming that awful farmhouse. A sinking feeling in his stomach only intensified as he saw the man his squadmate had shot, gurgling blood through a hole in his neck before dying. The last room that he saw was the worst. Full of cages, one of which had a scared little girl in it. He looked over at them to make sure they were alright. Both were asleep, giving him a moment of calm before his thoughts intensified again.
She can’t even talk… who would even do this to a girl? He thought, scrunching up his nose involuntarily, disgusted at the thought of harming a child. Yet that prisoner did it for a profession, or at the very least assisted people that did. He replayed the events again in his head, starting to feel unwell from everything as the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in, a deeply painful sensation in his sternum as the memory of his plate stopping a bullet came back to him.

“... Ow.”
The junior Gotovy member turned around in his seat, looking back at Tomas.
“You alright there?” He asked, his brown eyes flush with concern for his passenger.
“Yeah, just starting to feel the bullet.” Tomas replied, feeling on his chest for the hole. Dead center, right at his sternum. The normal rough texture of the vest gave way to a small tear in the material, the vest underneath similarly lumpy and uneven.
“Yeah. Dead center.” Tomas added, to which the Gotovy man nodded.
“Lucky, you should have seen the vests we used to wear. 74’s would go straight through them more often than not.”
“Yeah, I’ll send a letter thanking the manufacturer. What’s your name, by the way?”
“Krupin. Nice to meet you, Marušić.” He replied, looking over at Elena and the girl.
“Must be a hell of a day for you, huh?” Krupin asked, to which Tomas nodded once.
“I just hope the girl ends up okay out of this… It’ll be possible to find her family, right?” Tomas asked, Krupin’s expression souring in response
“No way of knowing. Some kids have early photographs, some have none at all. That’s even if her parents are alive…” Krupin trailed off.
“Krup, are you sure you should be saying this when she’s right there?” The driver, Beagle, asked.
“She’sasleep, Beagle.” Krupin shot back.
“You think she’s asleep. Kids pretend to sleep all the time.” Beagle replied, causing Krupin to sigh.
“Well, if nothing else there is a database of all the missing kids and family members. If there’s a photo of her, then it’ll be easy enough to find them and take her home to her parents. There’s some professionals that normally do it but they’re tied down, found a bunch over in the extreme North.” Krupin explained.
Tomas wondered who would take care of her until they arrived.
“Krup, face front. We’re here.” Beagle warned, Krupin twisting back around and giving Tomas a good view of what was ahead.

Even from outside, Igrane Airbase was huge. The gate was closer to a small FOB, with a heavy machine gun ready to go and a patrol setting out to check the large fence that encompassed the entire area. Beagle and Krupin both rolled their windows down, pulling out IDs to show the approaching guards as a third person walked past, checking the underside with a mirror on a stick.
“Long time no see, Krup. Got perps?” The man on Tomas’ side asked, glancing his way.
“Yeah, assaulting a superior officer.” Said Krupin, bringing up a fist to emphasize the point.
“If only we all could sometimes. Alright, come on in.” He said with a smirk, waving them through as the front gate raised.
Tomas saw more of the troops pass him knowing smiles or slight smirks, giving him a weird feeling as the vehicle turned left, headed for a depot with an assortment of civilian cars, green SUVs and a handful of other Ferrets. The 4x4 came to a stop, followed soon after by a second Ferret, no doubt carrying Milić. Krupin and Beagle both jumped out, slinging Elena and Tomas’ confiscated weapons and opening the rear doors.
“Alright you two, the taxi ride’s over. Come on out.” Beagle instructed, Elena sitting up as she took in the situation.
The girl was still asleep, leaning on Elena for comfort. Elena unclipped her seatbelt, reaching under her tiny form and picking her up as she slid backwards, being careful not to wake or disturb her. Beagle stepped aside, with Tomas and Krupin waiting for the pair as Elena’s boots gently touched asphalt. Elena’s white hair catching the sunlight gave her the appearance of a guardian angel looking down at her charge, an image only slightly marred by her black eye and the dirt on her face and neck. Tomas and Krupin lead the way, the latter opening the door as all four eventually entered the building.

It was an older structure with smooth cream walls and a wooden floor, the musty smell of old building filling Tomas’ nostrils. A couple more Gotovy shuffled past the quartet, their radios crackling with chatter about a disorderly soldier at the barracks. The building had an L-shape, with a long hallway to the left and a collection of desks to the right with some uniformed Gotovy attending to them, an office of some kind at the end of the jungle of computers, paperwork, and gendarmeries. Krupin pointed to a door marked LT.
“Leytenant’s there, I’m going to sign the guns in. Don’t run, naturally.” Krupin explained, before taking the extra rifle and handgun from Beagle and heading off for the hallway.
Tomas complied, navigating between the desks as he felt a chill up his spine. He was hardly a bad kid, and on the rare time he was told off he always hated it. He could hear Elena and Beagle behind him, Tomas raising his hand with hesitation to knock the door.
“Come in.” A voice called out from inside the room before he could rap his fingers against the glass.
Tomas entered, the Leytenant at the desk looking at several sheets of paper as the other two entered.

The Leytenant was a gaunt man with sunken cheeks and strong cheekbones,, his green eyes looking over the paperwork with a serious expression on his face. When the door was closed, he glanced up at Tomas and Elena, then at the girl.
“Let’s see. Marušić, Kovačica, and…” He trailed off, looking down at his sheets. “... Girl.”
Tomas stood to attention, arms straight by his sides, a motion which Elena couldn’t replicate. He doesn’t react to the pair coming to attention, only eyeing up the pair.
“No need for ceremony, Marušić. It says here that you two assaulted a Serzhant… Milić, your Platoon’s Serzhant. He was about to shoot a POW that you two had captured because he saw the girl you’re holding. Is that correct?”
“Yessir.” Tomas replied, stock still.
“Says here your Leytenant Illonesci has left the punishment up to me. Now, Marušić. If you were in my position, what punishment would you give me?” He asked, his green eyes piercing into Tomas’ soul. Tomas felt his heart rate pick up.
“Um… I would…” Tomas began, Elena glancing his way. The look reassured him. “I wouldn’t punish us, sir. Two whole squads saw it happen, and a POW being executed would hurt the girl more and make the Reds martyrs.” Marusic concluded, not breaking his stride. The Leytenant’s expression didn’t change.
“Do you know how many people come through that door and tell me that I shouldn’t give them any kind of punishment or extra duties?” The Leytenant asked, to which Tomas’ expression turned sheepish.
“... All of them, Sir?”
“All of them.” The Leytenant repeated, looking down at the papers on the desk for a second, before looking back up at the pair.. “Now, assaulting a Serzhant is a serious crime, and thus the punishment must be appropriately severe.”
Tomas braced for impact, feeling his legs becoming weak. Demotion? Half pay? Jail for a month? Being kicked out of the Army?
Each millisecond stretched into an eternity as the man continued to look right into Tomas’ eyes.
“Both of you will receive extra duties. Said duties involve that girl in your arms. Make sure she’s taken care of, and find her parents.” The Leytenant stated.
“... Sir?” Tomas asked, the man putting the paper down onto the desk.
“You come in here with a girl you rescued, and expect me not to assign you two to make sure she’s taken care of? Her limbs are like rakes and she looks like someone who’s crawled through a mile of mud. Kovačica’s already taken a blow to the head that could be a TBI, and all you did was take his handgun to prevent a discharge. Unless, of course, you want me to give you a week in jail…”
Tomas shaking his head rapidly in silent reply made the man smile.
“I’m going to have to give you a night in the jail though, the 23rd still haven’t moved out of the barracks and chances are they’re gonna keep Kovačica overnight, it’s the only guaranteed bed I have for you.”
“... Thank you, sir.”
“Good man.”He turned to face the Gotovy who had been silently watching the conversation. “Beagle.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Have Kovalenka accompany Kovačica and the girl to Medical. I want you to make sure our guest for the night here is taken care of, he only has to be there by sundown.”
“Yes, sir!” Beagle replied, a smile on his face.
“Good man. Now, the three of you have some work to do. Both of you drop your vests off too, no need for them here.” He gave a small smile to the pair, a nod of respect as Beagle opened the door for them to leave.

Tomas was out before Elena, leading the way to the entrance area once more. Milić was being escorted by a pair of far less friendly Gotovy, the blood that was on his upper lip having long since dried. He shot a glare at the pair as they walked past, an expression Tomas met with a grin. Krupin was waiting for them at the area, seeing the trio walk out with smiles on their faces, save for the sleeping girl.
“Extra duties for these two. Marušić is staying the night though, only bed in town.” Beagle explained to Krupin.
“Doberman’s good like that.” Krupin commented, shaking his head.
“Goget Kovalenka, she’ll be taking the other two to Medical. Although I doubt you would just run off by yourself, Kovačica.” Krupin nodded, heading back down the hallway.
“Who knows, maybe I punched him just for the hot food.” Elena stated, eliciting a small chuckle from Beagle.
“Oi, Kovalenka! Time for a walk!” Krupin called towards the far end, a stern looking woman appearing from a door on the left. She was taller than Elena and far more built, with mouse-brown hair and steely eyes that bored holes into Tomas as he looked at her. She strode past Krupin, looking at the pair wordlessly. To Tomas, it was like a second Elena, only without the silver hair, more muscle and she was somehow taller.
“Da? What do you want, Beagle?” Kovalenka asked, keeping her tone low when she saw the girl in Elena’s arms was asleep.
“Take this fine soldier lady and the girl to Medical, make sure they get checked up. See what the doc says and we’ll go from there.”
Kovalenka nodded, looking at their vests. “Straight from combat?”
“Yeah, punched out a Serzhant trying to blow away a POW. Girl’s still alive.”
“Vest?”
“Oh yeah, drop the vests, we’ll sign them in too.” Beagle instructed.
Tomas tried to quietly remove his garment. Once the large and heavy vest was off, he gently handed it to the waiting Krupin, opening his arms for Elena to give her the girl. He gingerly cradled her as Elena took off her own vest, Tomas watching her remove it with a practiced ease. She must have been wearing it since the early days of the War, and couldn’t help but wonder what she was actually like when she wasn’t dodging bullets. What was a normal day for her?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a feeling of being watched. He glanced down, only to see the girl’s deep blue eyes staring at him.
“Oh… hey there.” Tomas said softly, Elena putting the vest down as the three Gotovy officers backed off. She looked calm, a little sleepy still given her eyes weren’t fully open. She was light. Far too light for comfort.
“Elena’s going to take you to the doctor, okay?” Tomas said, as Krupin quietly took the vests away.
The girl then looked around for Elena in the room, fixating on her as soon as she found her. The girl then nodded, leaning down.
“Alright, you wanna be let down?” Tomas asked, the girl shaking her head as she looked at Elena again. He returned the girl to Elena’s arms, giving Tomas a wave goodbye as Kovalenka led the way outside into the evening sun.
When the door closed, Beagle turned to look at Tomas. “Well, Doberman did specify one night. Anything you wanna get?”
As if on cue, Tomas’s stomach rumbled a bit. He hadn’t eaten in several hours, and the fatigue was catching up to him. “Mess hall?” he asked.
Beagle nodded. “We’ll go with Krupin.”

Elena looked to the East, the setting sun painting the clouds in soft pinks and oranges as the sky reddened. Apart from the normal base’s chatter and noise, she could hear the distant, receding roar of two jets. Shifting her gaze to the left, two contrails cut through the sky, tinted pink by the twilight.

Kovalenka headed for one of the green sedans, unlocking it and opening the rear door for Elena. She put the girl in first before following her, with the girl sitting in the middle seat. She stared at Elena as she then entered the vehicle, donning a seatbelt as the girl didn’t do the same. Elena pointed at the seatbelt to the girl’s right. She saw it, turning to look at Elena again. A nod from Elena got the girl to grab it, looking at the connector with curiosity before pulling it towards the buckle, inserting it with a soft click.

The car started soon after, headed for Medical. Elena looked at the airbase as they drove past hangars in various states of open or closed. Huge fighters lurked in many of them, no doubt ready to drop bombs on the Reds as they had done for the past six years. She’d seen what happened to those people, and it was never pretty. Kovalenka seemed to be the quiet type too, eyes focused on the road. The quiet was a blessing and a curse, as Elena’s mind started to wander.
You know who that could have been, Elena...
The thoughts were intensifying when Kovalenka cleared her throat.
“Does the girl have a name?” She asked, looking at her rear vision mirror to check both passengers.
“Don’t know yet. She’s mute.” Elena replied
“Probablysaw a lot of bad stuff. Don’t blame her.” Kovalenka said, a quiet fury behind her tone.
“She’s tough though. Made it through Hell.” Elena stated, putting an arm around the girl to reassure her
“Of course she did, she’s a Lauzannean.” Kovalenka agreed.
“That she is.”
Elena mentally thanked Kovalenka for the conversation, the silence coming back as the girl put a hand on Elena’s. She looked at the girl, giving her a smile.

After another minute of silent driving, they pulled up to the medical building. While it was a newer building on the airbase, it could not be called pretty, instead looking more utilitarian in design than fashionable. The simple brick exterior and corrugated metal roof hardly screamed ‘I am a hospital’ to Elena’s eyes.
Nevertheless she exited the vehicle, the girl’s hand clasped firmly in hers. A handful of steps led to an automatic door, the waiting room occupied by soldiers and airmen with minor injuries or other illnesses, the latter kept firmly separated from the former. Kovalenka led the way, the nurse waiting at the desk noticing them then standing up and leaving her station to approach them directly.
“This is the girl?” She asked, pointing at the blonde child.
“Da. The Leytenant wants an assessment on both of them.” Kovalenka replied, the nurse getting a closer look at Elena’s eye as she approached.
“I see, I see. Okay, examination room 2, on the right. A nurse is already there.” She said, returning to the desk as Kovalenka led the way.

At the same time in the mess hall, Tomas looked down at his food: Mashed potatoes, cooked slices of unspecified animal meat, green beans, and a small bread roll. He could smell it, and it wasn’t bad, but the events of today kept lingering in his mind. The feeling of bringing his gun up and pulling the trigger in one motion to end a life, then the girl in the cage.
“Hey, you alright?” Beagle asked, causing Tomas to jump and look up at the pair.
“What? I’m fine.” Tomas said, causing Krupin to raise an eyebrow.
“Yeah, and I’m King Michael the First. What’s up?” he asked, causing Tomas to sigh.
“I shot and killed a man today. Before we found the girl…” Tomas said, looking back down and staring into space.
“Firefight beforehand?” Krupin asked again.
“Yeah. He spotted us closing in on the house and I somehow brought my rifle up and shot him.”
“Reflexive shot?” Beagle asked, Tomas nodding.
“I’ve never even killed anyone until today. I was Elena’s number 2 on the machinegun, so it had always been her. I’d never put much thought into actually doing it myself, but here I am now.”
“You feel a piece of you missing?” Krupin asked.
Tomas answered with a nod.
“It’s natural. Happened on my first, too.” Krupin commented.
“Yeah. Just a part of being human.” Beagle added.
“Howdo you deal with it?”
“You got a family?” Beagle asked.
Tomas thought of his sister Aliona first and foremost, always hanging around him and his friends. He smiled a little. “Yeah, my mother, father and younger sister, Aliona.”
“If you didn’t shoot him, he would have gotten you, wouldn’t he?” Beagle pressed, pointing right at Tomas.
“I don’t know. We got him completely by surprise.” Tomas muttered in response
“If he didn’t get you, he could have gotten Elena, or your other squadmates. If they got you, your sister would have to learn that some filthy child-merchant Red shot you. You want her to go through that?”
“Of course not.” Tomas said, his knuckles turning white as he clutched the utensils harder.
“You’ve protected your family, Tomas. That guy has no qualms about taking children from their parents, and he’d take your sister to buy more bullets to shoot us in a heartbeat.” Beagle declared.
Hefelt the guilt start to shrink, but the thought of Aliona waiting for him at home…
“I think… I think I should go hug them when I get some time off.” Tomas barely speaking above a whisper, both of them nodding.
“Your family gets to live a normal life, thanks in part to you. You aren’t lesser for doing this, because someone has to. If no one stood up and said fuck you to people like that, we’d still be under the Reds, choking us slowly. You get to go hug them too.” Tomas felt himself more at ease, nodding.
“You’re right. Do you mind if I call them when I get back to the Guardhouse?” Tomas asked, looking at the two of them.
“Not a problem.”
looked down at the food, his appetite somewhat returning as he began to carve at the mystery meat.

---

[Tab=40]The nurse was holding her own right index finger, the impression of teeth marked on the top. The wooden paddle was on the floor, and she was inhaling through gritted teeth.
“Ow… her teeth certainly aren’t a problem…” The nurse commented, nodding at a drawer.
“Some disinfectant, please.” Elena looked at the scared little girl sitting on the bed, her eyes filled with fear. The girl had a guilt-ridden look, opening her mouth as if to apologize, with the only result being silence. Elena grabbed the bottle of disinfectant from the drawer, handing it to the nurse as she squeezed some onto the holes in her disposable blue glove.
“Sorry about that, I thought she wasn’t going to do that anymore.” Elena said as the girl closed her mouth, shrinking and shying up around the two adults.
“Iprobably should have asked, my mistake.” The nurse said, shaking her hand down as she removed the glove. “The skin isn’t broken at least. Still hurts, but if she doesn’t want me near her, you’ll have to do the assessment.”
“Mymedical knowledge is stopping bleeding, tourniquets and not removing the sharp metal bits.” Elena replied, looking at the nurse and the girl. The girl was shaking her head, trying to convey something to the nurse. She stopped and looked at the girl, raising an eyebrow.
“You want to tell me something?” The nurse asked, the girl nodding. She then pointed at the popsicle stick on the floor, opening her tongue. The nurse smiled at the girl in response.
“It’s okay, you’ve made it out of there, I’ll make sure you’re healthy then you can get all cleaned up, yeah?” The nurse asked, the girl giving a more enthusiastic nod. Elena squeezed the girl’s hand to reassure her.
“Do you have any sore spots on your head, too? No lumps or cuts?” She asked, reaching over for a new glove and a new popsicle stick. Donning the glove to protect her from contact with the girl, she held the new stick, turning to the girl.
“You don’t have to say ‘aah’, just hold your tongue out and I’ll do the rest, okay?” The nurse asked, to which the girl nodded and stuck out her tongue. The nurse approached with precision and care, inserting the stick in and pressing down on her tongue to get a look as she shone a light in. After a few seconds of the girl squeezing Elena’s hand and doing her best not to shuffle, she removed it.
“All pink, nothing wrong with you.” The nurse reported.
“All done.” The nurse said, the girl hugging tighter.“We have a room set out for you, it’s to the right and the first door on the left. Has its own shower, and we got some temporary clothes for the girl. Smallest Army size, but…”
“it’ll be big on her, but that's fine, better than these rags. So, what’s the diagnosis?” Elena asked, peering at the sheet.
“Nothing major, just some malnutrition and dehydration. Both of those can be fixed with some food and drink. The food will be arriving shortly.” The nurse explained. She then got up, opening the door to a waiting Kovalenka.
“Both are fine, but we’re keeping them overnight just to be certain. Is that alright?”
“Da. Thank you. I’ll head back and report.” Kovalenka replied, nodding in Elena’s direction. Elena returned the gesture, Kovalenka quickly taking off for the front entrance.

A card on the door marked ‘E. Kovačica’ told Elena that it was the correct room. She opened the door to a modest room with two hospital beds, privacy curtains, a nightstand for each bed, a table with two chairs in the corner, and another door opposite the beds that no doubt led to the bathroom.
The girl was the first in, seeing the clothes on the bed. She then looked back at Elena, who noted the top garment was a khaki shirt with ‘ARMY’ across the front. She quietly thanked the hospital staff when she saw the other bed also had a similar set of clothes on it, including camouflage fatigues. Although not too far from creature comforts at the FOB, it had been a couple days since Elena had a proper wash. But the girl had to come first.
“Somenew clothes for you, go take a shower and clean yourself up.” Elena said, the girl grabbing the set of clothes off the bed and heading for the shower door as Elena inspected the nightstand.
The nightstand closest to the door had two jugs, the customary water one with one glass, then an orange juice jug next to it. Although tempting, it was sacrosanct to take such a thing from a child that had been starved.
The girl opened the door, ducking inside with the clothes under one arm as Elena was heading to her own bed. Hardly the most comfortable, but leagues ahead of a stretcher with legs like they had at the FOB.

Elena sat down, realizing how much the soreness had leached into her muscles and back as the soft bed embraced her bodily. She let out a quiet sigh as the muffled sounds of the shower began, keeping her eyes open.
You should text your Father, Elena. Her mind told her.
“No.” She shook her head in response.
You joined this war for Sasha. Yet you never even talk to her.
“She’s a big girl. She doesn’t need me.”
Of course, but she must miss you. Her idol going to war for, what, six years?
“Aslong as it takes.”
All that fighting would be pointless if you texted your Father and found out she ended up like-
“Shut up. Be helpful or go away.” Elena told her inner voice, which complied.
Elena leaned into the bed more, letting the minutes tick by as she counted from 1 to 10 and backwards. After she’d lost count of how many she went through, the shower stopped. After a couple more minutes, the girl opened the shower door, looking out for Elena.

She was clad in a full set of Army PT gear, the khaki shirt’s sleeves going well past her elbows. The shorts were hardly short, either, given they extended past her knees. The shorter sleeves emphasized how skinny she was. Elena’s heart felt a pang of sadness for the poor girl, but a small smile for Elena made her return it involuntarily.
“There we go, all clean.” Elena said, before a knock at the door caused her to jump a bit.
“Dinner’s arrived, straight from the mess hall.” The female nurse’s voice on the other side of the door announced.
“Come in.” Elena groaned as she left the inviting softness of the bed.
The door opened as the girl headed for Elena, grabbing her hand as Elena stood at full height. The nurse entered with a small trolley, two plates on top loaded with food. The girl’s stomach grumbled loudly when the smell hit her nose, but the presence of the stranger kept her close to Elena.
The nurse placed the two plates down, along with the needed cutlery and a jug of water. Two glasses rounded out the arrangement.
The nurse then pointed at a fixture on the wall, one clear button and one red button on them. “If you need anything, feel free to buzz. Night staff will come to help. In an emergency, hit the red button.”
“Thank you.” Elena said, the nurse nodding before pulling the trolley back out, closing the door once more.

The girl slowly detached from Elena, stalking towards the food. It was a veritable cornucopia of different foods, and she’d never seen a plate so heavily loaded with a variety like that before her. Elena headed for the table at a slower pace, the girl eagerly planting herself in the seat as she took in the food with amazement.
She must be thinking about which one to have first, Elena thought to herself as the girl’s eyes darted around her plate.

The plate had some half-inch thick slices of beef with some gravy, a sausage, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, a baked potato with sour cream and what was definitely bacon pieces in it, and if that wasn’t enough, there was some macaroni and cheese that occupied a small bowl that came with the plates. Elena picked up her fork, pointing at the macaroni.
“That one’s the best, you should start with that.” Elena suggested, the girl grabbing the bowl and using the fork to inspect the insides of it. Her fork searched all around it, furrowing her brow.
“It’s just macaroni and cheese. Simple and tasty.”
Thegirl nodded, spearing a single piece of the pasta with her fork as Elena started to carve up the beef on her own plate. Elena kept her eyes on the girl as her mouth closed around the macaroni and cheese. She seemed to move it about her mouth in an experimental fashion, her eyes lighting up as the taste registered to her. As she speared another clump of macaroni, Elena continued at a similar pace.
If hot food arrived courtesy of the mess crew, you naturally had to try and finish it as fast as possible while enjoying what you could. In the wisdom of any veteran soldier, eating and shooting at the same time if you got into a fight was pretty impossible.

Elena came to a realization, stopping to look around at the hospital. It was… Quiet. She wasn’t in the field anymore. The weariness crept in once more, Elena slowing down to enjoy her food. Even if people attacked, she was here to protect the girl first and foremost. But there wasn’t anyone to attack them, just the two of them in this room enjoying food.
Her eating slowed as she ate the best military food of her career, the meat cooked to tender perfection, the vegetables reasonably fresh, and the potato was impeccable. She nodded in approval, looking at the girl shoveling food into her mouth now that her own macaroni bowl was emptied.
“I could get used to Air Force food.” Elena commented, to which the girl nodded without pausing.
“There’ll be more in the morning. Pretty sure we’ll get to go to the breakfast area.” Elena added to the mute girl, who nodded once more. Elena realized she wasn’t going to get much out of the girl, instead choosing to eat in peace.

It didn’t take long for the girl to finish her own plate. Her gaze switched between Elena and her untouched bowl of macaroni and cheese. Elena casually looked up after a forkful of sausage with mashed potato to see the girl’s desires, plain as day. After Elena finished her mouthful of food, she stuck her fork in to get a little bit of the macaroni and cheese from it..
“Go on, you need it more than I do.” Elena said with a smile on her face, pushing the bowl towards the girl who beamed once more.
Elena put her own laden fork into her mouth, savoring the only bite of golden pasta she was going to have.. It was cheesy, smooth and warm. Perfect was the only descriptor for the food. The pair continued in silence once more until the girl was done, who sat at the table waiting for Elena to finish, continuing to stare.

With Elena’s last bit of solid food gone and her hunger sated, she collected the plates and bowls, stacking them up for easier collection later. The girl brought her own plates and cutlery forward, giving them to Elena as they both worked to clean up whatever mess was made. With the table now presentable and the dishes easily removable, Elena turned the girl to face her bed.
“Alright, time for you to sleep.” Elena declared, the girl looking right at Elena with a mild pout.
“You’ve had a big day and a big meal. There’ll be more when you wake up.”
The girl grabbed Elena’s hand with both of hers, pulling her towards the bed as well. Elena went along with it, following behind the girl as she tried to clamber up while still holding her hand.
“I still need to have a shower, you know.” Elena said, causing the girl to relent and let go.
Elena picked her up to put her into the bed, pulling the blankets up over her. The girl put her arms under it, still pouting as Elena gently brushed an errant lock of hair away.
“Do you want me to keep one of the lights on?” Elena asked, to which the girl nodded.
“Alright. I’ll turn your side off, then I’m going to shower. I’ll be out soon enough. If you need something, knock. Sounds good?”
The girl nodded as Elena gently stroked her face.
“Good. Sleep well, I’ll see you in the morning.” Elena said before heading back to her own bed.

Herown spare uniform was neatly folded on the bed still, with spare issued underwear, pants, field shirt and t-shirt. She quickly scooped the lot up, taking them with her into the shower room. She quickly disrobed, placing both sets of garments on the counter next to her.
PoorSasha could be in a cage just like that. You never even talk to them, how would you know? The voice in her head started again as Elena flicked the water on, the tension in her muscles melting away like the built-up grime on her body.
As she closed her eyes, the mental image got clearer. Her sister covered in naught but rags, a frightened look in her emerald green eyes. Elena dug her nails into her hands to calm herself. Deep breaths couldn’t stop the thoughts, and Elena caved.

Her hand found its way to a dry towel, the water still running as she fetched her phone from its pocket. With a few taps of the screen, she brought up text messages with her father. With some quick taps, she sent a message off.
“Can I see Sasha?” She typed, eyes fixed to the phone as she waited for a reply.
She’s gone, Elena. You couldn’t protect her. The voice in her head spoke, Elena shaking her head.
“Fuck off.” Elena growled as her phone buzzed, a picture appearing of Sasha. She looked the same as before, a big smile on her round face. Her eyes were scrunched shut and her hand was up in a peace symbol.
“She’s here, we were talking about you earlier today. Are you well? I heard you’re being rotated off the line.” The message was quick after it.
“Yeah. Blew up a tank the other day, currently dealing with a small thing. I’ll get back to you.” Elena said, putting her phone back down even as it buzzed again. She returned to her shower, the voice in her head defeated as she washed her hair down.

---

Now clean, Elena left the shower room in a fresh set of clothes. Her fears had been assuaged and a glance over at the other bed showed the girl still pouting a bit, albeit with less orange juice in her glass.
“Come on, you should be sleeping.” Elena said, the girl shaking her head and pointing at her.
“... Something to do with me?” Elena asked as she got into the bed, placing her phone on the nightstand.
The girl nodded.
“Hm, words would help but. You have a teddy of some kind?”
Another nod, with Elena figuring out what the girl wanted. With a smile and a sigh, she opened up the blankets.
“Come on now, it’s cold.”
With the invitation, the girl shot like lightning out of her sheets, practically diving into the bed along Elena’s side, clinging tight as she lowered the blanket.
“Faster than I am, little one.” Elena said, putting an arm over the shoulder of the girl as she seemed to already be dozing off.
“See you tomorrow.”