- Alexei Tataryn.“What a glorious motherland in flames,
The children of all nations cried in pain,
Part of the plan of the Great Eastern Games,
And the nations of the world, gone insane.
Flames in Moscow, Berlin, Beijing and Rome,
Silence over fields, circled by the crow,
Not since the Fall of America’s Dome,
Have the doomed angels of death, revved to go.
Onwards two-fifty-fifth and all the rest,
Up, up, climb the rotting bodies of friends,
A nation now bereft of all its best,
A nation, lost and waiting for all ends.
All for a foreign land, burning in rage,
The great man of Russia, locked in his cage.”
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 : The Replacements
- Arrival at Camp Suvorov
- The First Day
- Assignment
- The Steel Tsars
- Ivan the Mad
- The Foreign Ministry
- Smoke and Shadows
- Step Forth, Yemen
Chapter 2 : Of Oil and Fire
- America's Failure
- A Lost Thing
- Of Dreams and Memories - Part 1
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Perhaps if the judge had deemed to tell me just what exactly the 255th Brigade was like, I would have refrained from volunteering. Perhaps if I had, had one less drink I would never have been in this situation. But then again, we must all pay for our sins.
The kick of the Helicopter landing on the deck woke me from my slumber, and in a moment, a flash of images and memories vanished and the world descended upon me. It was hard to see at first, the helicopter was dimly light, hardly better than when we had boarded, but my eyes soon adjusted. I looked at the others, trying to discern their faces. Many of them were boys, barely begun their career, assuming they had even chosen it. Some of the others looked more experienced, maybe even members of OMON who had served in Chechnya. Either way I didn’t care.
“On the ready line!” called out a man walking up to the loading ramp. In one hand, he carried a clipboard with numerous papers, and in the other was an old camera. “Before you leave today, you all receive a complimentary boarding photo from the Russian Air Force.” He shouted. Some of the others looked at each other, unsure what he meant and unsure what to think. I did the same and turned to the man next to me, not even knowing his name.
“How do we collect?” one of the men in the back asked.
“We’ll send it to you!” the officer joked. Some nervous cheers broke out, but were quickly silenced. A flash erupted from the camera and briefly blinded all of us. I rubbed my eyes from the shock of the flash, and several curses erupted from the others.
New Members of the 255th Spetsnaz Brigade arrive at Camp Suvorov. An ongoing joke among the pilots of reinforcing aircraft was to take photos of the reinforcements and gradually mark off the ones killed.
“That is assuming you all live long enough to want it.” The man whispered as he triggered the loading ramp. If I hadn’t been sitting beside him, I probably would have missed it. None of the others would have heard it. What the hell kind of place is the 255th anyway?
All I know about them is that they’re a Spetsnaz Brigade. And even then, they’re under the control of the Ministry of Defence, and not some shady GRU commander. Still though, if anything the world, or I, had heard about the Spetsnaz was true, it seemed like a just punishment for me.
“Go, Go, Go! Get off my helicopter, you lazy Slavs!” yelled the flight officer as the we snatched up our rifles and bolted off of the Mil-Mi-8. I was first in line and grabbed my gun from between my knees. As I took my steps off of the Helicopter and lined up outside, I caught my first sight of Army Base Suvorov. A sprawling mass of tents, and makeshift fence that looked more like a few trees with barbed wire strung between them.
Before I could contemplate boarding the helicopter and ordering the pilot to fly off at gun point, the loading ramp was closed and the rotors were turning. Whatever was going to happen, I was in it for the long haul.
The Mil-Mi-8 leaving Camp Suvorov.
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