Chapter 1: The Beginning

"Is everyone ready?" Alexi asked.

Everyone within in earshot, myself included, quietly shouted, "Sir, yes, sir!"

"Petrenkovitch!" he called out to me, "You, Vasili, and Tania, go to the left and get in the square. When you get there go to the City Hall and do some recon!" The three of us stood up and looked around the room knowing that anyone in this room would soon be dead.

"Sir," I said to our leader, "I think I speak for all of us when I say - we fight for the Motherland. I know that we don't expect to live, but if we survive we will thank God that he gave us a leader…..to get us through the war." Everyone in the room stood up and saluted Alexi.

Alexi stared at me. After a long moment he said, "You lead these men and women like a natural leader…so I am letting you lead this missi-…" His voice was quickly cut off by the 30-06 round that pierced his left ventricle, killing him almost instantly, A second later we heard the report of the rifle that was half a mile away.

We scattered from the windows like rats from a bright light. I knew we were under attack the second before the multiple sounds of gunfire ripping the wall to shreds with 50 cal. ammo…it has begun, I thought to myself.

The war will be started by a shot through the heart to a friend to many and an enemy to many more...A new leader will rise and take control of this "King's" army and rise to be a "King" himself.

Thinking of the story my mother told me when I was small. I realized someone was yelling, but I didn't know who it was until I noticed everyone was staring at me, the words came at me like a bombardment of scared and searching soldiers that kneeled before me.

"I said, 'What do we do, sir!'," said a medic who had no military experience what so ever.

I said the only thing I could think of to give them a morale boost - "We will not letthem scare us with this bullshit! We will stand up and gather ourselves with dignity and pride! The enemy has no honor! He uses these tactics to demoralize us! My friends, my comrades, my brothers, my sisters…we will gather up our weapons like true warriors! We will fight to regain something very special to us…our Motherland is calling us to fight for her once again! We will go out there and avenge Alexi! For every one of us they kill,we will kill ten of them!" I stopped to catch my breath and look at Tania for a second enough to realize that she was watching me intently.

That's when it happened. IIt was like clouds had thundered around my ears then came the shockwave it hit me like a truck. I turned in time to see the tenement building three blocks down get destroyed to rubble. The only thing I could think of was getting everyone to safety. At first I whispered it unintentionally, then I shouted it, "Everyone get out now! No doubt they were trying to get us! Wait - take the alleys! Don't go near the streets unless absolutely necessary!" I grabbed Tania's arm as she was passing me. "Be careful, ok?" She looked at me with a sadness in her beautiful hazel-brown eyes. "Promise me, ok?"

She didn't say anything at first, then she nodded "Ok, I promise."

She smiled and was about to leave until I pulled her back to where she was before. "Anything else Petrenko…," she never finished. I didn't let her as I kissed her, she started to lean in for better a position. I reluctantly pulled away she stared at me with desperation as if to say, "Why did you stop?" "I will finish later…now get out!" I told her but she didn't move. That was, until the bullet slammed into me.