Fall, falling, fallen
Chapter 1
"You have got to be kidding." Alfred spat, his fists clenched tightly by his side. He must have had heard wrongly, for how could those words he thought he had heard come from Andy's mouth?
"I'm not, Alfred…" Anderson looked away, unable to look into his nation's eyes as he confirmed his previous statement. "Our hands are tied. We have no choice."
Alfred gritted his teeth and slammed his fists onto the table, neatly splitting the table into two with his strength. "No choice?" He hissed, "There is always a choice. But because you all have already given up at the beginning, you tied your own hands and gave yourself no chance. I will never-"
"You're right, Alfred, we do have a choice." Alfred looked taken aback by the sudden interruption. "We have a choice of either to giving in and joining them with our, your, people getting out unscathed, or stand firm and uphold our ideologies at the expense of our people's life. Which would you choose? As the representative of the people, of America… which would you choose, Alfred?"
Alfred's sky blue eyes narrowed and he hissed, "Its precisely because I represent my people, my children, that I reject the sheer notion of even joining that bastard." Alfred closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them slowly again and for a moment, Alfred looked so young, so vulnerable as he stared into the eyes of one of his wisest and trusted Generals, silently pleading him to see reason, "You can understand… can't you, Andy?"
The man looked down at his hands, which were fisted tightly in front of him; unable to look at his nation, the one he would lay down his life for willingly, look so desperate, "If we could find a loophole, any way to halt that missile…"
"Why don't we attack that bastard first! Destroy him before he can nuke us!" Alfred suggested eagerly, his eyes lighting up in excitement at the prospect of the discovering a loophole.
Anderson shook his head, and the grin that started to spread across Alfred's face fell, before he reached to push a button. Nodding at the screen was hung at a corner of the office they were in, both turned to look at it and an image flickered onto the screen. A familiar face was shown and Alfred inhaled sharply in recognition.
"Добрый вечер (1)," Russia greeted with a huge smile on his face, clad in his customary scarf and heavy coat. He was in a laboratory of sorts with quite a number of white-cloaked scientists working on something, blocked by Russia's big frame, in the background. "How is America doing? It has been quite a few years since the start of this little squabble, da?"
Alfred looked at the video Russia with a raised brow. What kind of a demented person would call a war of this magnitude, World War III in fact, a little squabble? And a few years? That was the biggest understatement of the century! Right next to comparing the third World War to a squabble, of course.
Russia continued to smile creepily, as if waiting for an answer, before he stepped to aside and gestured to the group behind him. The group was working on a missile.
Alfred tensed and his fists clenched even tighter. He knew he was threatened, he knew Russia as going to attack him but he could not pull his eyes from the screen – the image of the missile. He barely even noticed the crimson liquid that started to leak out through the gaps between his fingers as his nails dug into his palms. His eyes narrowed as he glared hatefully at the screen, his entire frame trembling with barely repressed anger.
"I believe I have no need to explain what this is, da?" The smile on his face now was more like a bemused smirk. "Right now, this, and 49 more of the same missile, is aimed at your 50 states, particularly at the most populous city of each state." Russia chuckled as if he had just said a humorous joke.
Walking closer towards the missile, Russia started explaining, "But do you know what is the true beauty of this missile? I shall not bore you with the details but lets just say this is roughly as powerful as what you know as Tsar Bomba (2), da? Only much smaller and more powerful." The grin on Russia's face stretched and his demonic violet eyes twinkled with a malicious light. "And if you are wondering whether this is just a fluke or not, why not take the risk and see?"
Alfred's eyes widened and his jaws slackened slightly before he whipped around to face Anderson, shouting accusingly, "You never told me that! Fuck, if that is really as powerful or more powerful than that fucking tsar-bomb then… fuck!" Alfred ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated, as he scowled.
Anderson sighed and shook his head, "Do you understand now, Alfred? If he truly has those missiles, the casualties, the damage… I cannot even imagine…" Alfred glowered at the floor, still vexed at the cul-de-sac he seemed to be in as he bit his lips before his attention was drawn back to the video at the sound of Russia's voice.
"You must be wondering the reason why I have my missiles aimed at you, da?" Russia asked; seated comfortably in a chair in what looked like an office.
Alfred frowned. When did Russia leave the lab?
"You see, America, you play an incredibly vital role in this war and I'm sure you know that very well too… Your allies rely on you, you are the strongest amongst them militarily, and you stand so firmly for your beliefs and would do everything to ensure it's upheld. Moreover you are somewhat considered essential to their, your, victory, da?" Russia leaned back on his chair and laced his fingers together. "But no, I am not attacking you because I want you down and defeated so that I can win this war... that would only make your allies more determined to defeat me, da?"
"So I thought about this problem for quite some time, and then it came to me. What would demoralize the enemy more than to see the one they rely on, their leader of sorts, turn to their enemy and join the enemy ranks?"
Despite already knowing what Russia would ask for, Alfred still felt the dread filling him, restraining him like chains shackling him to the floor.
Russia leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, "I shall wait for no more than 5 days for your response, da? By Sunday noon, Moscow time of course, I will send the missiles flying not only to America, but also to Canada, Britain, France and the other allies as well, should your response not be satisfactory." His lips quirked and he smirked with a victorious gleam in his eyes. " I anxiously await your, no doubt, positive reply. Иметь хороший день (3)." The video then turned black.
Alfred's mouth went dry when Russia mentioned Matthew, Arthur and Francis… as well as the rest of his friends. That commie bastard! To think that the Russian was threatening him not only with his people but with his family and friends as well?
Closing his eyes, Alfred tried to calm down by taking in deep breaths, covering his eyes with his hand. He flinched when a hand landed on his shoulder and his eyes flew open. Oh, it was only Anderson… Alfred tried to gather a smile on his face but failed miserably when it came out to form a grimace instead.
"I understand, Alfred… But I hope you would be able to better understand the situation we are in right now." Alfred nodded weakly. "On the bright side, if there is any bright side currently, the president would be negotiating with Russia's leader about the 'agreement'. Perhaps he would be able to tweak it to better suit us instead."
Alfred laughed hoarsely at the optimism. "I know Russia too well. When that bastard wants something his way, he would do whatever he can to get it. No negotiations, no discussions and no compromises."
For the first time in many years, Alfred looked older than his physical age of 19. Anderson could see from his nation's normally vibrant eyes a man far older, far more knowledgeable; far more experienced… the old general felt like a child in his presence.
"Then… what should we do now?" Anderson could not help but ask, although he felt that the moment was inappropriate. The blonde was staring into space with a blank look, as if in his own world. At his question, Alfred's glazed eyes cleared and he looked up.
"Now?" Alfred echoed, an acerbic smile stretching across his face as he turned to face Anderson, "now we can only give in and hope for the best."
TBC
1: Good evening
2: Tsar Bomba. The biggest nuclear warhead in the world made by the USSR and tested in 1961. The force of the bomb is equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT and even up to 100km away; one would get third degree burns! If you're more interested, go to []. Got all my information from there.
3: Have a good day
All Russian translations are from
The alliances:
The Great Northern League (GNL): America, Canada, England, France, Spain, Italy, and Ireland
The Asiatic Confederation (AC): The Asian countries excluding Singapore
The Non-allegiance Bloc (NAB): The Nordics, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria, and Singapore
The Southern Sphere (SS): South America, Mexico, Portugal
The Central Coalition (CC): Middle East, Turkey
The Oceanic Partnership (OP): Australia & New Zealand
The European Allied Union (EAU): Eastern and Central Europe with the exception of Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Austria