Bastions
Chapter Forty Nine: Union
Part 1
Prelude:
The civil war that had torn the Roman Empire apart came to an anti-climatic end in 1387. With the monarchy strengthened by the international and interreligious coalition, the army forces retreated north into Serbia, who sensing the ire of the enemy, switched sides and captured the unsuspecting leaders of the military revolt. Despite the victory, the Saxon Dynasty was severely weakened in both prestige and numbers. The military had made an effort to execute any captured Saxon nobles. Crown Prince Godwin was declared Emperor and the ex-Emperor Stephen fled north into Prussia. Godwin, under the influence of Lord-Protector Doyvát, took the ruling name "George" while promising to give his eldest son a more Greek name. With Prussia convinced that Rome would be more stable in the future, focused on its self for a while. The King was nearly sixty now and his age began to affect his health. But for the most part, many remained ignorant of this. The Elder Doyvát was not a very social person and his orders or decrees usually trickled out in letters, not in some grand announcement with the entire nobility present. In Poland, the Lord-Protector and his wife welcomed their first daughter before the end of the year. The nation had been holding its breath for a son, an heir to carry on Prussia's legacy, but was pleased to see the couple with their child. Under Prussian law women could not become King, though inheritance could trace through a woman. In the Duchies, however, women could be duchesses in their own right, though this was a very rare occurrence.
August 9th, 2012
Night brought a time to relax and collect one's thoughts. The rattle of automatic gunfire could be heard in the distance, but in general everything was calm here. Morale was high and a group of soldiers sat together and shared their luxuries with each other. The war had been a long festering one, with violence flaring on and off for the last eighteen years, but their leaders said that this would be the final push. Live free or die. If Qurats could be free from Syrians and Iraqis, Zilinians could be free from Hungarians and Germans. Three things kept the Provisional Army of Zilina marching: cigarettes, beer, and chocolate. Luckily the men of the Fourth Flying Column had all three, even better they had food and water which alone was already more than many columns could say. They knew they had their work cut out for them. They were practically fighting all of Europe. Sure the Union would support freedom for religious and cultural minorities all around the world. But if one of their own were threatened the fascists would show their true colors.
"Here is your share, Kas," a voice said.
Kasimiras smiled and took the thin slice of chocolate and popped it in his mouth, "Thank you, Alex. You'll have to thank your
bábe for me."
"Ah,
Bábe is thinking of you too, Kas. You were her second favorite after me," Alex said with a wink. "She sent you a letter too, sorry I forgot about it." Alex leaned forward so he could reach into his rear pocket and pulled out a well beaten envelope and handed it to his life-long friend.
Kasimiras snatched it out of the fingers of his comrade and looked at the condition. One corner was rather bloody and he looked up but Alex insisted it was not his. Everyone laughed and crowded around as Kasimiras read aloud, "Dearest Kas, Alex says you and the column are in good spirits but I could not help but think you'd be in better spirits with a little bit of chocolate from the mountains. I know you cannot tell us where you are, but the village knows that no matter where you are you are protecting all of us. It is sometimes hard to believe that this all started when you were only at my hip and now you and Alex have grown into two fine men defending your people. Make sure to come home in one piece, it would be traumatic to all the girls you left behind for one (or heaven forbid both of you) were to die. Don't tell Alex but Jathga has been constantly pestering his folks about him."
All the men cheered and gave Alex and couple pats on the back. Alex, face as red as an apple, held his hands up like an innocent man. "Keep going, keep going," Alex demanded.
"Fine, fine. Anyway... one piece... traumatic... Jathga... Ah! Make sure to share our love and respect with the column. We are thinking of you guys every day. Hope to see you in St. Nicholas for the victory parades."
Kasimiras paused and then the column finished as a group, "Love and kisses,
Bábe! Love you too
Bábe!" Everyone laughed and began to disperse.
Alex looked at Kasimiras seriously, prompting Kasimiras to ask, "What?"
"Did
Bábe really mention Jathga?" he asked in a very hushed tone.
"Yeah, why would I make that up?"
"No, no... I know you wouldn't."
"Seriously, what is up with you and Jathga?"
Alex looked around to make sure no one was looking and then pulled out a tiny wallet-sized picture and showed it to Kasimiras, "Tell no one, seriously."
Kasimiras chuckled and took a look at the picture; it was a new born in the arms of Jathga, "Holy fuck it is yours isn't it?"
"It is a little boy... and yes... He is my son... my folks don't know. Neither does Bábe, though I bet she will figure it out soon enough, if she hasn't already."
"What did you name him?"
Alex blushed again, "Kasimiras."
"Ha! Haha!" Kasimiras laughed, he put his arm around his friend, "Thanks buddy." But when he looked at Alex's face he didn't see a face of happiness, it was one of worry. Then it slowly dawned on Kasimiras, "Fuck... we need to get you home."
"What?"
"Alex, you cannot stay here. You have a girl waiting for you with your son back home, you cannot stay up here."
"I cannot just leave!" Alex protested.
"Like hell you can, we are volunteers, Alex. No one is paying us to be here. Go. home," Kasimiras insisted.
Alex looked at the floor and shook his head, "No man... I'll get back in one way or another. But right now my place... our place... is right here. Jathga knew what she was getting into."
Kasimiras gave Alex a half-cocked smile. "It is your life man. Glad to have you up here while we can!" He patted his friend again but suddenly grew very serious "Don't worry. I'll make sure you get home."
Alex laughed a little and nodded, "I know you will. We should get some sleep." Alex stood up and started to take his jacket off, but as he did so machine gun fire erupted from the building across the street. Kasimiras pulled Alex down, and grabbed his rifle before scooting up to the window. With his head peeked above the line he could see what the machine gun was firing at: Hungarian troop carrier.
"What is it Kas?" Alex asked as the others began to set up.
"Carrier; it looks like they are trying to get to the main square under cover of darkness."
"Any armor?" another man asked, opening their heavy munitions box.
"Negative. I... I can see a second and third carrier on the way." Quickly the volume grew as more soldiers joined the fight, filling everything with the rattle of automatic arms. Unlike the Hungarians, the Zilinian partisans were mixed arms and soon they had RPGs out to try to hold back the growing tide.
"Echo-Bravo, Echo-Bravo, can you read? Over." the radio operator called over everything.
"Armor, I hear armor!" one man called. Kasimiras tried to listen carefully and heard the distant thumping of a diesel engine. Only something wasn't right, it was more rhythmic, not surging and struggling like an engine hidden under twenty tons of armor.
"Not armor!" Alex called, "Chopper!"
"Echo-Bravo! Echo-Bravo! This is Number Four, Number Four reporting signs of enemy choppers. Do you read me? Over."
"Roger Number Four, Echo-Bravo confirms reports of hostile choppers in the area. Over."
The thumping grew louder as the helicopter passed overhead dropping flares. Kasimiras fired a few shots at the rotor to little or no effect other than a sense of doing something. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turning around saw that most of the column was leaving the building to drop back to a better firing position. They needed to hook up with the rest of the columns so that a real perimeter could be set up.
"Back, back, back!" one voice shouted.
"Down! Down! Copter is back!" The thumping began to approach over a rooftop, but as it emerged the life-saving sound of a metallic click and a chemical burn lit the area up and an RPG smashed dead center into the body of the chopper. The whole thing lurched back, flames spilling out on the roof and setting it ablaze. Then the machine sank beneath the roofline again and it all ended it a deafening explosion.
"Good shot!" Kasimiras heard Alex shout. He hadn't seen who fired it, but he was thankful. The gunfire picked up again, forcing Kasimiras to duck his head and drop his body down to the pavement. The fall hurt, but he'd rather a few scraped knees than a gaping wound to the chest. He looked around an abandoned compact toward where the Hungarians had come from. Left in the road where the smoking remains of two of the carriers and several bodies. A careful inspection would have told him that one of them was still alive, but he wasn't a medic and he wasn't waiting to check if the Hungarians were still alive.
The Column crashed into a new building, knocking down the main window (which could shatter and become a threat) and tipping over the heavy tables they could find. Then they took a head count, so far they still had everyone: always a good sign.
"Search the building," one guy said. They didn't really have a leader as a guerilla unit, but some people had the presence of mind to think of good ideas. Kasimiras nodded and then grabbed a gun and Alex and headed into the depths of the building. Their veins flooded with adrenaline, the two men smiled despite being scared to death and laughed despite wanting to scream.
Slowly they kicked open doors and looked around. Time and time again the rooms were empty. Eventually they made their way into a small living space above the store. Everything seemed abandoned but Kasimiras noticed smoke rising from an otherwise lifeless candle. "Look," Kasimiras said, referring Alex to the anomaly. "They can't be far."
"Nope. Fuck, they are lucky they weren't their neighbors." Alex said, referring to the burning building across the street.
The two men headed down a hallway, pictures of a young couple gradually turned into pictures of an elderly man and woman with three daughters and their grandchildren. "Stop." Kasimiras said outside of an interior room. He pressed his ear against the door and heard sobbing.
"What is it?" Alex asked.
Kasimiras put his finger to his lips and the pressed his ear against the door. Inside an older man was hushing a younger girl.
"How many?" Alex asked, quietly.
"At least two, probably the people in the pictures."
"Hungarians or Prussians?"
"Does it matter?" Kasimiras asked.
"I guess not," Alex admitted. "Kick it in?"
Kasimiras' mind struggled: it would make sure they got the surprise on any would-be attackers. But he thought of the girls too. In the end he wasn't about to be shot trying to be nice. He gave Alex a little nod and the two stood on opposite sides of the door and then after a quick count down Alex turned and kicked the door in. Kasimiras swung his gun around and quickly scanned the entire room, "On the ground, on the ground!" he shouted. Everyone in the room quickly ducked to the ground and covered their heads. "One, two... five... we got five in here." He lowered his gun and took stock of the situation. Grandpa, grandma, three grand children: two boys between eight and ten and a girl no older than five.
"Shit... what do we do with them?" Alex asked.
"Get them out... get them... somewhere. I don't know. I thought this part of the town was evacuated by now. Why are you still here?"
The old man blubbered a bit, "I... I... my..."
"It is okay," Alex said, "We aren't going to hurt you."
"My... my wife is Hungarian," the man said. He tried to put his body between Kasimiras and the old lady who sat there trying to look defiantly.
"You put your grandchildren in mortal danger because you were afraid the PAZ would hurt your wife? I should smack you for being a dumb ass," Alex said. "We need to get you people out of here and out of St. Nicholas. This is a war zone."
"We didn't ask for this war," the old man said.
"We didn't ask for your opinion on the matter, he was giving you a statement: this is a war zone and you are all in terrible danger. Before we leave is there anyone else in the building that you know of? Women, children, injured soldiers, anyone? We need to get them out of here. This place can light at any minute," Kasimiras asked.
"Humphrey!" the girl cried.
"Humphrey?" Alex asked. She nodded. "What does Humphrey look like?"
"Nothing, nothing!" The grandfather said. He pushed Kasimiras to lead but the girl began screaming. The grandmother tried covering her mouth.
"No! Not without Humphrey!" Kasimiras was already leading them out. But Alex hung back; he looked in a room with a bunch of toys and a duffle bag. On top of the bag was a stuffed zebra. He grabbed it and held it out the door. The girl squealed and Alex jogged to catch up, his arm outstretched with the toy. The girl snatched it up and the two soldiers led the family down.
"We got civilians!" Kasimiras called down.
"How many?!"
"Five: two seniors, three children."
"Echo-Bravo, Echo-Bravo this is Number Four requesting evac for civilians: two adults, three children. Over."
"Roger Number Four, evac assistance confirmed. Where are you? Over."
"Thirteen and Plaza. Over."
"Errr... Number Four you are going to need to get off the fire line if we are sending evac your way. Over."
Kasimiras was sort of dumbfounded. The gunfire had died down; there should be no reason for this. "We cannot just kick them out onto the street."
"And we cannot just abandon the front," another replied.
"I doubt this is the front anymore," Alex said. "The road is completely choked. They'll have to go down another road. If they clear it, we'll know."
"What if we send four or five guys with the family and a radio? They only need to get far enough into the city to call for evac again and the rest of the Column can hold the line here?" Kasimiras suggested. Everyone glanced around. Someone tossed Kasimiras a radio and then a few guys grabbed their guns. But Kasimiras turned to Alex, who shook his head. "Okay, let's go." He led the way out of the store and onto the war-torn streets. The night was young and the city was lit by fires and flares. But it would be safer farther north, away from the advancing Hungarians. From some of the buildings he could see the flag hanging from windows or rafters. "Where are their parents?" Kasimiras asked.
"Fighting, with you... somewhere," the grandfather answered, "the folly of the young."
"Fair enough," Kasimiras replied leading them on.
The flag of Zilina is based on the flag of Prussia. The "15" in the middle stands for the 15 students shot and killed by state police during an anti-Hungarian rally in 1994. The on-going war between partially recognized Zilina and Hungary came to the forefront of European politics when Prussians in German Zilina also began to demand the right for independence.