Skythikon — Roleplayer Guild

Zhenya let out a long breath as he sat down on one of the seats lining both sides of the cargo hold. It seemed so hard to believe that just that morning, he had been on the other side of Russia doing paperwork as a mere junior officer. He did not regret his decision at all - this was what he had been trained to do - but the current moment of peace was a welcome chance for him to collect his thoughts and finally look at everything with a clear head, and not one preoccupied with planning the escape of two prisoners from an MVD facility and carrying out said plan. The mission ahead was daunting, to say the least. Altogether, Lima and Medved had only nine people, barely a single percent of the TIAF forces said to be active in Copenhagen. Added to that were the Danish security forces, who were just as likely to shoot them. The odds were ridiculously long, and while Zhenya liked a challenge, he had to admit that this was perhaps the only mission he had undertaken thus far where dying was a clear and present danger. He did not fear death - as long as the mission was complete, he would be more than willing to die fighting - but it did make him think. There were plenty of loose ends he needed to tie up, or to make as neat as possible, and most of them were to do with his family. He had not been home ever since he joined Lima, and before that he was barely home for more than a week at a time. Russia always needed people of his caliber, and while he had been more than happy to do his part in defending his homeland, he was all too aware of the toll it was taking on his relationship with his family. It was hardly something he could just clean up with a single phonecall, but there was little else he could really do. There was no sign of a phone onboard the aircraft, but Zhenya figured that it would not hurt asking. Perhaps Medved-One could even arrange for everyone to make a few personal calls or set aside some time for personal matters. He stood up and walked towards the Vympel operator, but as he approached, he heard Wendy ask the same thing. "Sorry," Medved-One replied. "This mission was about as last minute as missions get. The fact that we are not driving all the way to Kaliningrad is a minor miracle. The SVR had to pull a lot of strings to get us this plane." He explained apologetically, sounding both resigned and frustrated at the same time. Zhenya guessed that he had his own personal matters to clear up as well, as did the rest of Medved. Even for Zhenya, a Vympel operator himself, he had to remind himself that every member of Medved had their own families, had their own lives outside of Vympel. Just then, the sound of footsteps approaching from the direction of the cockpit. Zhenya looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man - dressed rather casually in a zipped-up grey jacket and dark blue jeans - walking towards them. "Agent Surkov, SVR." He introduced himself, and Zhenya immediately guessed that that was not his real name. "I will be the support coordinator of your mission, as well as the one dealing with all the logistical bullshit." Medved-One stifled a laugh and said, "What support?" "Two guys with a drone in Copenhagen." Surkov replied without missing a beat. "It is a nice drone, commercially bought and fitted with the best camera we could fit on it. We can only afford to give you imagery support, and nothing else." Zhenya shrugged. "Better than nothing." He said, then continued, "Why are you here? You could not have came here just to tell us that piece of information." "You got me," Surkov said with a laugh. The agent's casual manner and incredibly un-SVR like behaviour should have made Zhenya feel more at ease, but it did not. The general rule of thumb Zhenya stuck to when dealing with any intelligence agent was that the friendly ones were probably just putting on an act. "I need to finalize kit lists before we land in Kaliningrad. While you guys are flying first-class to Bremen, some of us will be getting all your kit ready in a safehouse." He looked to Wendy. "Especially for you and your spotter. We have plenty of Russian arms in Kaliningrad, but if you want something in particular, you are going to have to let me know now. I am not just talking about the guns. Uniforms, plate carriers, the like. Name it and I promise you will receive it." Surkov said and paused, grinning to himself. "The SVR can get you anything, even a nuke if you ask nicely enough." It was no surprise what Medved-One immediately asked for. "What about phones? We have...Issues we wish to clear up. Preferably untraceable, in case the mission goes south and we are suddenly terrorists." "Of course," Surkov said with a nod. Just then, the plane lurched slightly to the left. "Fucking pilot...He is probably going to get us lost without me in there. I swear, we need to start teaching them how to fly without waypoints set by the autopilot. Would make my life a whole lot easier." He grumbled. "I will be in the cockpit. Find me when you are done deciding what you want to bring into Copenhagen." ---- Once the team had settled their own kit lists with Surkov, there was little for them to do for the rest of the flight. Zhenya, along with the rest of Medved, had decided to just spend the time getting some rest. Who knew how long it would be before they could have the luxury of sleeping uninterrupted for a few hours? However, Zhenya felt as if his eyes had barely closed for a minute before he felt a series of bumps as the IL-76 landed at Donskoye airbase. Everything after that was just a blur as they were led out of the aircraft by Surkov and into an empty hangar, where they were given exactly ten minutes to change into the provided civilian attire. They were then ferried to Khrabovo Airport by a minibus. The SVR had seen to it that they moved with minimal risk of detection, even if it meant that they ran on an incredibly tight schedule. By the time they were dropped off at the airport, the team only had fifteen minutes to check in and make a mad dash for the gate. It was hectic, but it also meant that there was a lower chance of them being detected. The MVD had probably long since discovered that Wendy and Neil had not arrived in Moscow, and that the team sent to pick them up only existed on paper, and that no one outside of their command structure had heard of them. It was a certainty that they had put out a warning for all airports to be on the lookout for the two snipers, and the last thing the SVR needed was for a well-meaning civilian to make the call. Things only slowed down once they touched down at Bremen and linked up with the SVR agent assigned to pick them up there. Agent Katya, she had introduced herself. They were driven out into the German countryside, close to the Danish border, where they stopped by a small farmhouse. It was plain and just unappealing to the eyes. Perfect for a place where the team could prepare themselves. The team was led down to the basement, where there were exactly seven crates placed neatly against the walls. "Your equipment," Katya said helpfully. "You have an hour to get ready. Satellite phones are upstairs if you need to use them. They will be transmitted via a secure, double-encrypted signal, so it is safe." "Thank you," Zhenya said. The SVR agent went back up the stairs to the farmhouse, leaving the team to sort themselves out. Zhenya walked over to the box labelled with his name and opened it up. His kit had been designed with mobility in mind, leaving out the bulkier Russian body armour options in favour of a low-profile one that stuck close to his body. On top of that, he wore a 6sh92-5 load bearing vest - Old, but effective. Everything was in the same camouflage pattern as his uniform, the commercially available blue kamysh pattern. His rifle of choice was the same modified AN-94 that had been with him since his early days with the Russian Special Forces. It was fitted with a silencer and a PSO-1 scope, mounted high so he could still use the iron sights if needed. It took him a little over fifteen minutes to suit up, and that left him with more than enough time to make his call. "I am going up," He said simply to inform everyone else, just before he climbed the stairs leading up to the farmhouse. Katya was seated on a chair in the brightly-lit living room, apparently reading a book. Anyone looking in would have just seen a young woman enjoying some alone time, barely anything worth paying attention to. "The phones?" Zhenya asked. Katya pointed behind her, towards the windowless bathroom. While it seemed like an odd place to place the phones, Zhenya supposed that it was the only place available - the lack of windows prevented anyone from looking in and seeing the five incredibly expensive phones that looked very out-of-place with the rest of the farmhouse. Zhenya took one of them, and for some privacy, walked to one of the darker corners of the farmhouse. He thought for a while about who he should call, but then decided that there really was only one person he needed to talk to. He punched in the number and held the phone up to his ear. The call connected after a series of rings. "Hello?" The strange-yet-familiar voice of his sister asked. It had been far too long since he had heard her voice, and hearing her say that one word was enough to bring a small smile to Zhenya's lips. "Who is this?" "Zhenya," Zhenya said quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself. "Hello, Zhannochka." There was a brief, uncomfortable pause and Zhenya wondered if he had made the right decision to call her. Out of all the people in his family, she had been the one who was the most opposed with Zhenya's choice of occupation, even if her daughter seemed to idolize him. "Zhanna," She corrected, her voice icy and bitter. "Are you calling to tell me that you will not be home for Christmas? Because I already know, and have told mother and father." Zhenya cringed slightly at her words. Forget Christmas, he had missed just about everyone's birthday and every other important holiday for the past three years, at the very least. He could not blame his sister's hostile reception, even if it did sting. "Yes," He replied, then quickly added before she could hang up, "But I just wanted to talk." "That would be a first." Zhenya sighed and bit his lip. This emotional stuff was completely alien to him. He was used to keeping things to himself, not letting them out and certainly not spilling his heart out over the phone. Yes, he loved his family, but somehow saying it out loud was just so difficult. "How is Dasha?" He asked about his niece lamely. "She is fine," Zhanna replied and paused. "She wants to know when you will visit again." She added softly. "I will..." Zhenya said and dragged out the last word. He did not want to let them know that he was going to head for certain death in a few hours time - they deserved to enjoy the festive season - but he did not want to let his dear Dasha down either. "I will see you all soon," He said and gulped. He did not believe in the afterlife, but he hoped that if it existed, there would be some way for him to track down his family members. "Is she there? I can talk to her if-" "She is asleep," Zhanna interrupted, then sighed in frustration. "What is this about, Zhenya? You never called once over the past few years, and now you suddenly want to catch up? What is going on?" "I will be heading out soon," Zhenya finally said. He could at the very least tell his sister that, and hope that she could connect the dots. There was another one of those awkward pauses that seemed to define the conversation. "Oh," Zhanna said. "Is it...Is it that dangerous?" "Possibly." "I..." Zhanna began. "I do not know what you want me to say." "You do not need to," Zhenya said. "Just...Just let me talk for a while, okay?" "Okay," Zhanna said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I am sorry," Zhenya said, and felt a weight begin to lift off his heart. "I am sorry that I was there. I am sorry that I was not home when Dasha was born, or when grandmother died. I am sorry for all the times I voluntarily extend my tours of duty, thinking that it was the right thing to do when I should have gone home." He paused for a moment, feeling tears beginning to cloud his vision. Crying was one more thing he was not used to. "And I am sorry, Zhannochka, that your brother has made himself a stranger to you." There a long period of silence, and for a while Zhenya thought that she had hung up. The sound of a series of faint sobs proved him wrong, however. "Oh, Zhenya," Zhanna said, her voice cracking slightly. "You never needed to apologize. Yes, I was bitter, and still slightly so, but I have always understood why you chose to do what you do." Zhenya grinned slightly, finding an opening to break the tense atmosphere with some levity. "Now that is something I could do with knowing." Zhanna laughed weakly. "You have always wanted to play the hero, little brother, and I suppose now you are doing just that." She said. "Just come back alive, okay? We will be waiting for you for New Year's day." Zhenya stopped himself from answering immediately. Was this a promise he really wanted to give? There was no telling what would happen in Copenhagen, where there were a million ways for things to go wrong and only one way for things to end as they should. However, something within Zhenya hardened against all his doubts and questions. He would survive Copenhagen and return home. There was simply no other option. "Then I will see you all then." He said. "I will bring something back from where I am going." "I am holding you to that," Zhanna said with a chuckle. Just then, there was a shout from Katya. "Last few minutes, wrap up whatever you are doing!" She shouted. "I have to go," Zhenya said. "Alright," Zhanna said, sounding crestfallen. "I love you, little brother." Those few words warmed Zhenya better than any of the winter suits he had worn, and for the first time in a long time, a genuine, happy smile cracked his otherwise stoic face. "I may not say it or show it, but so do I. More so than you think." He said, then added, "Goodbye, Zhannochka. I will see you soon." He ended the call and took in a deep breath to compose himself. That was a big promise he had made. Now he just had to make sure he kept it. ----

"Friend, this is Eagle. Simple question right now, answer with a yes or no. Got some ants chewing the wire?" Jan asked, as he kept the reciever up, aware of what he was asking. Most listeners wouldn't pick it up immediately, but perhaps he knew that Zhenya would see it a little easier; namely, if the phone was bugged or not. He waited for a response, simply letting Zhenya ask the questions, quickly adding something in. He waited for the response, before he continued, only giving scant details only known to Zhenya.

"Yes," Zhenya said in response to the coded message. Never had he thought that he would be happy to hear the Captain's voice, but now it offered him a sense of familiarity in an otherwise alien situation. Whatever he thought of the Captain, there was one thing for certain, the Pole had earned Zhenya's respect for seeing things through. In that sense, they were not so different, Zhenya thought. "I brought some friends to solve the ant problem. Old friends, I think you all have met before." He continued. Medved-One, driving the Land Rover Defender, looked at Zhenya with an arched brow but said nothing. Obviously, he had not been filled in on the coded language, but Zhenya saw no need on telling him that now.

"I'm in position at the RV, Songbird has confirmed it with you no doubt, you're close." Jan added, just waiting on Zhenya to confirm his end.

"The Songbird said as much," Zhenya replied and looked out ahead. He could see the two cars parked within it and the two people standing in front of the vehicles. "We are here." He said and Medved-One automatically brought the vehicle to a halt just a few feet away from the two other members of Lima. "Right, time to get social." Medved-One said and clambered out of the vehicle. Wendy, Neil and the other members of Medved climbed out the back of the vehicle. "Merry Christmas, Captain." Zhenya said with a nod as he climbed out of the vehicle, taking a folder while he was at it. It had been described as a 'present for Lima' by Katya, and contained almost every relevant document the SVR had on the TIAF's Copenhagen mission, as well as Medved's role and the limited support provided by the SVR. He walked towards the Captain and handed him the folder. "It will explain everything, and also, I found our snipers." He said and tilted his head towards Wendy and Neil. Everything felt as it was during their first meeting when Lima was first created, and it felt great. They were a team again, and even if they did not always get along, they were finally going to end what the TIAF started.

Skythikon Member

Fly like brick, sting like brick

Status

Recent Statuses

Bio

Most Recent Posts