The Defense of Vilnius
Vilnius - December 19
A mortar shell came down several feet away, right on top of a group of four soldiers. The explosion threw up not only dirt but also blood and bits of flesh from the obliterated men. They didn’t even get the chance to scream. Steeling himself, Boris Bradziunas took cover behind a crumbling wall. The street beneath his feet was made of ancient cobblestone, laid down during the reign of Giedre I as part of her plans to make Vilnius a capital to rival Berlin and Kiev. Now the stones lay shattered or stained with blood. He checked his rifle again.
Still loaded. Come on, Boris, you know better. It’s not going to suddenly unload itself. You’ve been through officers’ training too many times to make that mistake. Now we just have to get across the street. Stop the Crusader flank before they completely surround the palace.
The palace walls loomed a few blocks away. The Livonian, Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian flags—the national and state flags of the Commonwealth—still waved defiantly in the wind, despite all being tattered and torn.
Good to know Gediminas is still holding out. Though I bet nobody’s brave enough to step onto the roof to change the flags right now—SNIPER! DROP! NOW!
He hit the floor just as a bullet pinged off a fire hydrant behind him. He quickly rolled behind a destroyed car. Of course, a sniper rifle bullet would easily pierce a car’s chassis and hit anyone hiding behind it, but the sniper couldn’t know where exactly Boris was behind the car.
And I doubt you’ll waste your ammo trying to figure out where I am. At most you’ll waste another shot.
A second later, a bullet smashed through one of the doors and struck the sidewalk a feet away from Boris. Seconds passed, and no further shots came.
Yep, I’m right. Okay, what next? Well, normally, my squad would handle it. But they got blown up by that mortar just now. Really should’ve assigned myself more soldiers. And with better tactics that aren’t “group together so we all die to the same mortar strike.”
A mortar shell detonated several feet away, destroying a truck and shattering a few store windows. Boris heard the whirring of rotors in the distance, slowly getting louder.
A drone. They mean to locate me with that drone, then either blow me up with a mortar or shoot me through the car door with the sniper. I don’t have much time. First priority is taking out the sniper. But I’ll have to expose my position to the drone, which will tell the mortar to fire. So I have to take out the sniper, then the drone soon afterward, and then get out of range of the mortar. Ugh, I was always a desk guy—Olga would’ve made an Office joke about that if she was here. Okay, so what can we do to find the sniper?
He saw the car’s rearview mirror lying on the ground, still intact.
That will do.
He picked up the mirror and slowly held it out around the front of the car, trying to get the angle of the reflection right so he could see where the sniper was. But the sniper was obviously hiding when not firing.
Wait for it…
The sniper moved out of hiding and fired, his bullet shattering the mirror. Knowing the next bullet would aim slightly to the right to hit him, Boris quickly moved to his left. The sniper’s next bullet hit just where he was hiding, but by then, he had left his hiding place, raised his rifle, and shot the exposed sniper. He then spun around and shot the approaching recon drone, sending it crashing into a building, and then ran across the street just as two mortar shells came down around the car, obliterating it.
I’ve got to stop doing that. For the record, I still don’t know why I’m here. Suuure, “blah blah chancellor fighting alongside his troops for morale blah blah make use of military experience blah blah,” and then drop me in the middle of the old town to defend the palace against an overwhelming Crusader assault. Did you forget the immense morale blow if I get killed by some random Crusader? Or get blown up by a mortar? Or even worse, get mauled by one of those Hellhound drones? I still shudder at the stories of what they did in India and Russia. And they just gave me a hunting rifle. A HUNTING RIFLE! …Actually, I think that was my idea. Wait, why do I have a hunting rifle when I don’t even hunt?
He turned over the rifle to reveal the words engraved on the bottom of the barrel:
My ne zabudem!
- Your friend, Olga
I miss you, Olga. I miss the times we went to international conferences and all you would do would talk about was how I liked watching The Office. Yes, even whent he conversation wasn’t even close to that subject. But you still cracked those jokes. Why did you? Maybe to keep things lighthearted and cheerful even in the face of overwhelming despair, apathy, and pessimism Jerusalem’s fed on. I will never know. You’re gone now, but I’m still here. Maybe that’s why I’m on the street fighting Crusaders in person. We’re both chancellors with miltiary backgrounds, chosen to lead our peoples in peacetime only to be thrown back into the war. You took to the street, pulled out your guns, and started blasting. Even if it cost you your life in the end, you never stopped. You kept soldiering on. Why? Because you had to lead by example. So people watching you wouldn’t forget who you were and what you stood for. Maybe I should do the same. Keep up the good fight. Tsarberg may have fallen hours after your death, but Vilnius and I are still kicking. Olga, I promise you, I’ll try to save Vilnius from Tsarberg’s fate. With myself on the front lines, just like you did.
Although he probably should get more troops to help him out.
I’ll have to talk to Gediminas about that.
He reloaded his rifle and continued down the street.
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A short one as I couldn’t fit it into the previous or next update.
You also have what ever Alex and his group are creating and the Eimerica Federation is still in the fight.
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