January 7, 1981
4:27 AM
Soviet military headquarters in Helmand Province, Afghanistan
The guard rubbed his sleepy eyes with his left hand while his right hand sported his weapon: an AK-47. He was hoping to make it through his shift without falling asleep due to not much happening in this side of the country. When the man had enlisted to fight, he was hoping to see some action in the war, but to his dismay he was assigned to the mundane and dismal duty of guarding the base. The guard found it pointless to have sentinels stationed near the HQ because there were barbed wire and electric fences surrounding the perimeter.
Didn't it cross their minds that positioning guards in every corner of the compound is overkill?A few guard dogs would have done the job just fine.
The young man glanced over his shoulder to see his colleague, a young university student named Vasily, cleaning the barrel of his rifle. In the dark blue sky, which was glowing a bit of a lighter color as dawn approached, gave his fellow guard's olive green uniforms a less dull glow. The young man appeared in front of the former student , causing him to glance up. Once the young man saw Vasily's eyes, a mutual understanding was formed between them. They really needed sleep at that moment.
" Just one more hour?" Vasily asked , his voice sounded.
The young guard exhaled. "Yes, one more until the morning shift relieves us."
He sighed and sat down next to Vasily, checking out his own gun as well. He just didn't want to fall asleep.
"So, Vasily, what were you studying at the university before you got drafted?"
They continued conversing for about 6 minutes when they heard footsteps.
"I think the morning shift is arriving," Vasily whispered.
"Already?" The guard looked dubious. Deep inside, he was hoping Vasily was right. He stood up and turned to face the figure walking toward them. Both of them let out a small gasp once they scrutinized the newcomer. He was garbed all in black, but what captivated their attention was the mask the figure wore. It resembled something the guard had seen on a trip to Chile when he visited an old Inca temple. He had seen a sacrificial skull with red markings dribbling down the eyes like bloody tears. It seemed that this figure was donning the skull as his mask.
"Who are you?" The guard raised his gun and pointed it at the stranger. Vasily raised his weapon as well, looking at the newcomer warily. The stranger kept walking toward them, not even hearing or choosing to ignore the question.
"Answer me , who are you?" The guard repeated his question. " And how did you get past the defenses?"
The figure stopped, turning slowly to face the two men.
"I really don't think he is our relief," Vasily murmured.
"You think?" His irrate colleague rolled his eyes. He then turned back to the intruder. "Identify yourself!"
The figure reached in his cloak as Vasily raised his weapon.
"Freeze or I'll shoot!" he warned.
The figure holding a small canister-like object raised its arms. The two men walked up to it , pointing their guns at him.
"Now back up and slowly tu-" the guard began when there was a brief flash of orange. The guard looked down to see a diagonal cut across his torso. To Vasily's horror, his companion's body split into two bloody heaps. Swallowing back bile, he turned to face the masked killer, who was sporting some type of flaming double-bladed retractable sword. The odd thing was: both blades were spinning and ablaze.
"Surrender or I'll sho-" Vasily began when the figure slashed the gun he was holding, causing it to disintegrate.
Panicking, Vasily ran back toward the base and shouted for back up. Soviet soldiers from many different regions of the Soviet Union arrived to see what the ruckus was about only to see the bright lights illuminate a dark, robed figure holding Vasily by the scruff of his neck. Then to their horror, the intruder impaled Vasily with the burning blade. The unfortunate guard could only open his mouth in a silent scream of horror as flames erupted from all openings of his body, vaporizing him in an instant.
"What the hell is that?" one soldier asked as the rest took up positions. They opened fire on the advancing figure, but the bullets seemed to just go past it without making a mark. In retaliation, the figure threw its weapon and it ignited in midair. It flew like a boomerang, cutting through soldiers unlucky enough to be in its path. One Soviet soldier on the balcony of the base, attempted to radio in for reinforcements, but the flaming boomerang-sword sliced off his hand. Screaming in pain, he stumbled off the ledge and fell to his death below.
---
This is fun, Bane thought as his weapon returned to his hand. Hearing the sound of motors, he turned to see a light green T-34 tank appear to his right. Scratch that, now it's going to be fun!
He took a running charge and leapt into the top of the tank.He used his weapon to tear open the hatch .He was met with the terrified gaze of the tank operators as he slashed the fuel tank before making sure to leap away. The ensuing explosion lit up the waning night and was heard for miles. Surely, the whole base must be on alert now. Time to remedy that.
"Everyone up, now! We are under attack!"
The base commander woke up all available units-combatant and non-combatant alike- to brief them on an attack happening on the base. There was plenty of talk of who was responsible, but everyone wondered how insurgents were able to breach the walls. Wasn't this place supposed to be impenetrable?
Two guards were sealing off the exits when there was pounding on the door. The two bewildered men ran to see a desperate soldier pounding on the glass. Before they could make a move, a masked figure materialized behind the soldier and impaled him from behind with a blazing sword. One of the guards dropped his gun in horror at seeing the sword stick through the reinforced steel door. There was no way the intruder could enter the compound, could he? His question was answered when a circular cut appeared in the door and it was kicked down.
"Open fire!" the first guard shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. As they fired on the intruder, the second guard ran to pull the alarms on their side of the building. He heard screaming as the whooshing sound of the swinging sword was heard. He turned to run without looking back, fearing what he would see.
---
While in the commanding officer's quarters, a knock was heard on his door. Grumbling, the officer went to answer the door. Who would knock at this hour? He was surprised to find his secretary standing there , a terrified look plastered on her face.
"Alya, what is the matter?" he asked. He noticed two of his bodyguards, leaning half-asleep against each side of the dull grey walls.
" Commander, we need to leave-now!" she stated, the fear evident in her voice.
"What's going on?" he demanded. That was when he heard the alarms blaring across the building. "Are we under attack?"
"Yes!" Alya gave him a 'no duh' look. " Come on, we need to evacuate!"
---
Huffing and puffing, the guard stopped near the power station of the base. He decided to hide out the carnage here. This should be the last spot the attacker would enter. As he steadied his breathing, he felt something cold in the back of his neck. It was as if a cold breeze was brushing against his neck. The thing was....he was inside, not outside! He whirled around in horror only to come face to face with the masked man he was avoiding. Before he could scream, he was hoisted into the air and thrown onto the generator.
Not bothering to change out of his pajamas, the commanding officer, his secretary, and his 2 bodyguards made their way through the hall. Several of the remaining soldiers in the base met up with them and guided them down the halls.
"I called an evac helicopter," Alya informed him.
"Any idea of their ETA?" he asked.
Before anyone could respond, the power went out in the whole building. The soldiers and bodyguards stood close to the commander, their weapons at ready while their eyes flicked around the darkness looking for any hint of danger. There were running footsteps heard at the end of the hallway. The soldiers raised their weapons , but lowered them when the source of the footsteps appeared. A few soldiers, Spetsnaz operatives according to their dark clothing, had appeared, bearing flashlights at the tip of their guns.
"Commander, the chopper will be arriving in a few minutes," one of them addressed the officer. " Follow us for a safe passage out."
The others looked unsure, but the commander himself strode forward, determined to escape the attack with his life. Everyone else followed suit.Suddenly, one of the Spetsnaz operatives cried out and collapsed on the floor. Sticking out of his neck was a dagger. Hearing a scream, they saw a robed man donning a skull mask take down the other Spetsnaz member. The intruder raised a scythe and brought it down multiple times, killing the operative.
"What the hell was that?" the general asked in horror. His bodyguards took him the opposite direction as some soldiers stayed behind to take out the attacker. They rushed down many flights of stairs until they reached the exit. The commander gazed around the base and was flabbergasted by the amount of dead bodies and burning equipment scattered about.
Who could have done such a thing? he wondered as he noticed the grotesque way the bodies were killed.No, not who. What?
Once they exited, they noticed lights in the horizon and soon the rumblings of a helicopter were heard. Soon, a Mi-8 helicopter landed in the base and the hatch opened.
" The evac has arrived," Alya muttered in relief.
Two crew members beckoned for them to enter as they cringed, looking at the sight around them. Everyone made haste entering.
"What in Ivan's name happened here?" One of the crew asked.
" We came under attack," one of the commander's bodyguards explained.
As the hatch closed, the commander noticed that only him, his secretary, his bodyguards and a handful of soldiers made it on board. The others were still covering his retreat maybe.
"Can't we wait for my soldiers?" the commander asked as the helicopter took off.
"There is no time," a crew member told him. " Your safety is of utmost importance to us."
"I see."
Sighing, he felt a gnawing feeling in his gut about the soldiers he left behind. He gazed out the window and noticed that the sky on the horizon took on a lighter hue of blue as dawn approached. This was quite a day. He felt a hand clasp his own. Alya gazed back at him, somberly.
"What happened back there was not your fault," she assured him. " Those men died prote-" She then looked ahead and screamed. " THERE IT IS!!"
The commander turned to see the figure, its jet black cloak now covered in crimson, hang upside down from the front of the helicopter.
How is that possible? the commander wondered. No human being can pull off anything like that.
The figure punched through the glass and grabbed the pilot, hurling the screaming man out the window. Two soldiers ran up to fire on him as the co-pilot looked on in horror. The shape decided to retreat rather than take on the Soviets, but in the process, he cut through the rotors. He flipped through the air and landed on soft grass, to his fortune.
---
Bane tilted his head back to see the doomed aircraft plummet into the fields ahead,a blossom of flame signifying its demise.
That was quite exhilarating, the proxy thought. Pain, Rayne,and Venator owe me lunch today for my kill count.
Taking one last look at his handiwork, the tired proxy headed toward the approaching dawn on the horizon.
---
" Comrade, we are approaching Moscow in about five minutes."
Maxim Fyodorov was shaken awake by a crew member on the chopper. He had used the long flight as a chance to catch up on his long awaited sleep. He gazed out the window to see the sun rising on the horizon, lighting up the light blue sky even more. The edges of the horizon were mixed colors of yellow and orange. In his hazy state, it looked like something out of a picturesque painting.
If I was a believer, I'd believe that was a work of God,he thought in awe.
"You find everything comfortable?"
Max turned to see the crew member standing across from him.
"Yes. However, can I make a request?"
The attendant raised a brow.
"Is a cup of coffee too much to ask for ?" Max smiled
His attendant groaned. " Does this look like a cafe to you?"
" Well, it was worth a request," Max conceded with a chuckle.
Finally, the helicopter started its descent once they flew over what appeared to be a field filled with plants. In the middle of the field was a white spot in the midst of the green, red, and yellow.Max deduced this to be the airfield he would meet with Zaitsev.
So we have arrived, he thought as they touched down. The doors were opened for him by the attendants as he stepped out into the morning air. A black car, escorted by two motorcycle-riding officers , arrived. The driver exited the vehicle and went to the passenger seat to open it. Out stepped none other than Colonel Zaitsev, flanked by Alyona.
"Colonel!" Max saluted.
Zaitsev smiled at his prized underling. "No need for formalities here, Agent Fyodorov. Come along, we have much to discuss."
Woah, Bane was slaying it right there. Moreover, Max finally arrives back in Moscow. What follows next?
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