The Fate of Lehistan – Prologue
This story is dedicated to all the people who suffered because of the unlawful introduction of martial law in Poland on December 13, 1981.
Thanks to Doran Maya for everything he did!
After the Second Neuroi War, a communist revolution broke out in Orussia. The tsar was dethroned and executed, along with his family. The army didn't oppose at all, as it was already corrupted and blinded by the instillers of the revolution. Its leader was the bastard son of Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov, more known under the name Lenin, a revolutionary writer, unsuccessful in propagating his ideas while he was alive. His name was Grigor Vladimirovich Ulyanov, later known as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics. At the same time, the revolution sparked in the terrain that spanned between the rivers of Oder and Bug, and between the Baltic Sea and Tatra mountains, which belonged almost half and half to Karlsland and Orussia.
The demands of the people were simple – they wanted an independent socialist country. The Kaiser of Karlsland, Frederick IV, seeing who all was behind this had to falter. And so, a new country was formed, one that had the name of an old country that existed here before it was conquered by both Orussia and the Holy Germanic Empire – The People's Republic of Lehistan. The world soon had forgotten about the conflict, and moved on to their daily lives. Soon afterwards, other nationalistic movements sprung up, resulting in the creation of puppet states controlled by Orussia – Mizhkraine, Chernarus, Pilthuania and some other smaller enclaves, ushering the creation of a new country – the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics.
Humanity had also forgotten about the Neuroi scourge of old, and lived peacefully, through the sacrifices of numerous witches. Amongst them, the most prominent warriors were Yoshika Miyafuji and Toshiro von Edelweiss of the 501st JFW, also known simply as the Strike Witches, who helped thwart the Neuroi threat at humanities last stand. The Neuroi were now reduced to "some old enemy", of which movies were filmed and books were written. However, nothing lasts forever. The peaceful bliss would soon end.
13th December 1981, 0100 EET
Duga-3 Western Radar Array, Chernobyl-2 complex north-east of Chernobyl, Mizhkraine Soviet Socialist Republic
Liosha Avdyeyev, a Corporal in the Soviet army was sitting behind the control panel of the western Duga-3 radar array, an over-the-horizon radar system.
"Another boring night… Crap…" He muttered.
"Don't bitch, Liosha, it's the best job here." Another man said.
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant…"
The second voice belonged to Liosha's supervisor, Lieutenant Ivan Gradchenko.
A loud ping sounded from the radar, instantly earning Liosha's attention.
"What is it, Liosha?"
"Maybe some lost witch or something. Probably nothing to worry about…"
Soon, so many dots appeared on the radar that they were barely discernible.
"GOSPODIN! Comrade Lieutenant! We have a situation!"
"Christ Almighty, what is it?"
Liosha moved aside slightly and gestured at the radar. "You'd better look at it yourself…"
Ivan stepped over to the radar and took a quick glance. His face lost all color as his quick glance turned into an intense stare. "Liosha… You phone Warsaw… I'll be phoning Moscow…"
"Y-yes, Comrade Lieutenant…"
0004 CET
Central Committee of the Lehistan United Workers' Party, Warsaw
A lone man sitting behind a desk was disturbed by the ringing of the red phone. He quickly picked up the receiver. "Yes?"
"First Secretary Jaruzelski?" A scared voice said from the phone.
"Yes. State your business."
"It's war, Comrade! The Neuroi have returned!"
"What are you talking about?!" Jaruzelski asked angrily, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"I'm calling from the Duga-3 complex! Our radar picked up so many unidentified targets that the display is overheating!"
Jaruzelski didn't know what to say, but managed with what he could. "Thank you for the information, Comrade. You may have saved many lives…"
He hung up the phone and rested his head on his hands for a short while before suddenly slamming the desk with both his fists and shouting at the top of his lungs. "KURWA MAĆ!"
His secretary ran inside in a blur of movement. "Comrade First Secretary, is everything all right?"
"No, Alina… Everything is FUBAR… Organize the top brass as fast as you can. Pronto."
"But… But why?"
"War, my dear…" He said weakly, his voice barely loud enough to be heard. "War…"
0100 CET
Apartment of Eleanor Horbaczewski, Warsaw, Lehistan
RIIIIIING! RIIIIIING!
The phone was ringing like mad in the middle of the night. Eleanor slowly stood up from her bed, muttering and cursing. When she finally picked it up, she heard a male's voice.
"First Lieutenant Horbaczewski?"
"Yes…?" She answered groggily, barely manging to stay awake.
"All leaves have been canceled with immediate effect. You are to join your unit ASAP."
"Who… Wha…"
"War, Lieutenant. The Neuroi have returned…"
"Okay… I'm on my way…" She hung up the phone and walked over to her closet. "Grumblegrumble…." She yawned as she sifted through her clothes, looking for her uniform. "Canceling my leave out of the blue…"
She sighed after finally pulling out her uniform.
"Oh well…" Then it dawned on her. "Wait… what…? NEUROI?! "
She quickly got dressed and rushed out of her apartment.
Eleanor was the daughter of Emilia, who in turn was the daughter of one of the famous Second Neuroi War heroes, Eugenia Horbaczewski. Her dream was always to fly through the skies like her mother and grandmother.
But how? I thought my grandma and her friends disposed of the threat once and for all! This can't be!
She rushed down to the streets of Warsaw. The snow crunched under her feet as she ran past the "Moscow" movie theater. As she passed by, she glanced up at the banner of a new feature film from Liberion, Apocalypse Now.
What situational irony…
Tanks and transporters slowly started filling the streets. A police paddy wagon stopped next to Eleanor.
"What are you doing here in the middle of the night, citizen?" A police officer in his thirties asked through the open window.
"Are you blind or an idiot? I'm a witch, and I need to get to the Okęcie Air Base. It's an emergency!"
"M-my apologies, ma'am! It's dark, so I did not realize. Please, get inside!"
The officer opened the door and Eleanor squeezed in between him and the driver.
"Stefan, step on it!" The officer shouted to the driver as he turned on the siren.
The guard at the air base gate didn't stop them. The car drove straight through to the runway and stopped by the hangar.
"It was an honor to help you!" The officer said while opening the door.
"Thank you." Eleanor coldly replied as she jumped out.
"Ellie! Come on!" A dark haired girl was waving from inside of the hangar.
"Coming, Katie!"
Second Lieutenant Katherine Kowalski was a witch of Lehish origin, but born in Liberion. She went to her homeland at the age of five with her parents, and has stayed ever since.
"What's the hell is going on here?" Katie asked as soon as Eleanor caught up. "I heard that the Neuroi have appeared! Humbug!"
"I hope it's just some kind of nightmare, or a widespread drill…"
The two ran up to their strikers, securely fastened in the launch units. Eleanor had a T10S model prototype striker while Katie had a MiG-31 model, both capable of blinding speeds and turns so unbelievably tight that it could cause an inexperienced witch to blackout. They jumped into their strikers, and started the engines. As the turbojet engine slowly started turning and gaining speed, a defeating whiz resonated throughout the hangar. Each girl took an NSV heavy machine gun out of their Launch Units, quickly loaded them with the necessary ammunition, and flung them over their backs.
"Where's the rest of the girls?" Eleanor asked through her transponder as she and Katie taxied out to the runway.
Katie was wondering the same thing. "Dunno."
"This is flight control."
"Horbaczewski ready for flight."
"Kowalski ready for flight."
"Understood. You are to take off immediately and fly over to the border crossing at Terespol for a quick reconnaissance."
"Roger." Both said as they slowly accelerated across the runway, swiftly taking off. After climbing a short distance, they equipped their night vision goggles.
0210 CET
Sky over the Terespol-Brest border crossing, Lehistan-Chernarus border
"There is nothing here, Ellie." Katie mumbled.
"We wouldn't have been sent here just to stretch our legs, you know…"
"Yeah… Wait, what's that?"
"What?"
"That glittering thingie, there" Katie pointed out.
"Hmmm… I don't…"
Suddenly, a mass of Neuroi appeared out of thin air. Hundreds and thousands of air and land units were waiting for them. The eyes of both girls widened as they looked out at the increadible numbers. Their bodies shook as fear set in, leaving them near speechless.
Ellie managed to somewhat pull herself together. "HQ, we have a problem! We are outnumbered at least a thousand to one! What are our orders?"
The red of each Neuroi began to glow as they started charging their beams.
"Katie, grab my hand…" Ellie said softly, fear apparent in her voice.
Katie flew over to Ellie and took her shaking hand. Her own hand was shaking just as much. "What can we do?"
"We will either survive together, or die together." Ellie said and made a sign of a cross over her chest. "Let the Virgin Mary have us in her grace…"
0859 CET
House of the family Nowak, Mokotów district, Warsaw
"Mommy, mommy, turn on the TV!" A young boy said excitedly when it was finally time for his favorite TV show to come on.
"Okay, pumpkin, okay." The boy's mother made her way over to the Rubin brand TV and swiftly switched it on.
"Mommy? Where is the rooster? Who is this man?"
"That's the First Secretary, dear. But what is he doing?"
The TV was showing Jaruzelski in a uniform and wearing his trademark shades, behind a solid desk. On the right was the national emblem.
"Fellow compatriots. The weight of responsibility that falls on my shoulder is grave in this dramatic moment of Lehistans history. It is my duty to shoulder that responsibility. Our country has come to a crisis. An old enemy, believed to be gone, has appeared once more on the border of our country and our Orussian ally. Their military and ours are working hard to contain the outbreak, but radical measures have to be taken within the country to ensure its survival. Thus, I am instating martial law in the whole country…"
"Mommy, what is this man talking about?"
The boy's mother couldn't speak. She collapsed to her knees with tears streaking down her face.
"Honey, what is it?" The man of the house asked as he entered the room. He heard the name of the monsters he thought had been vanquished years ago. Both the strength in his voice and the color in his face had faded. "No…"
Mother turned to him, her face as pale as his. Her voice trembled as she muttered only a single word. "War…"
Now, the notes…
Lehistan – the Osman Turkish name for Poland
Mizhkraine – Ukraine.
Chernarus – Belarus
Pilthuania - Lithuania
Duga-3 – the 'Russian Woodpecker', a radar antenna complex existing in the real world, shrouded in a veil of mystery
Jaruzelski – Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski, the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, and later the President of Poland. He instated the state of military law in Poland on the day of the 13th of December, 1981.
Moscow Movie Theater and Apocalypse Now – the real deal. When the state of military law was proclaimed, the movie 'Apocalypse Now' was being aired in 'Kino Moskwa'. Chris Niedenthal, a British photographer made an iconic photograph portraying a SCOT APC with soldiers outside of the theather. Google 'Niedenthal apocalypse now' in Google Graphics if you want to see it.
Okęcie Air Base – the Warsaw airport that was and is now used by the military.
Terespol-Brest border crossing – actually a crossing between Poland and Belarus.
Rubin TV – actual color TV brand
"Mommy? Where's the rooster?" – Usually at Sunday, at 9 AM there was a kids' program named 'Teleranek'. It always began with a rooster running across the screen. On December 13 of 1981, 'Teleranek' was replaced with a manifesto to the nation by Jaruzelski, proclaiming the military law out of the blue.