A/N: Alright! Here we go with chapter two, but first I'd like to thank those readers who have commented, you in put is very much appreciated. As a creator I love comments for my work so the more the better in my book. Anyway, here I've began to look into the rest of June 22, 1941 and the starting hours of the German invasion as well as introducing the characters we will be following throughout the story. Though because of the scope I've had to spread it out in multiple chapters, in this section we will explore the events in Belarus with Natalia and Nikolai.


June 22, 1941

Brest, Belorussian SSR, 07:23 Moscow Time

Natalia Arlovskaya, the female personification of Belarus, flinched as another explosion rocked the hotel she was staying in. Cursing under her breath she tightened the belt around her Red Army summer uniform before grabbing her pistol and rushing out into the hall where the panic and chaos of screaming women, crying children, shouting soldiers and officers, as well as various other civilians running to and from rooms in mad dash attempt to collect their things and escape the building made the narrow passageway almost completely impassable. Realizing that it would be counterproductive for her to attempt a push through in this quagmire Belarus let out a shout of frustration and went back to her room where her only route to freedom was the window. Rushing to it Natalia grabbed the wood and tried to pull it open but it wouldn't budge. Exhaling a quick burst of air in frustration Natalia stepped back and shook her arms to loosen them before grabbing the wood to try again. Yet once more it wouldn't budge and she was left looking out through stained glass at the city which last night had been a wonderful happy place and now was a cauldron of smoke and fire. Unable to looked at the destruction of one of her cities the Belorussian woman turned away from the horrid sight and leaned against the glass, weighing the options before her. Staying here was obviously impossible yet fighting in the hall just to walk was also not smart, an area of panicking people was not safe, never would be, her only hope was to break the window. Surveying her surroundings Belarus' eyes settled on the chair in front of the writing desk and her lips tightened, That will have to do. Going over she took hold of the chair then holding it up with the legs pointed forward Natalia pressed herself against the wall opposite the glass, took a few quick breaths to ready herself, she charged - the glass shattered loudly and the chair sailed through the gaping hole and fell onto the street below. Smiling grimly at her small victory Natalia used her pistol to break away the left over shards before she climbed onto the window sill and looked down at the sidewalk three floors below. "Look out!" she shouted to the public running below her then with a deep calming breath she allowed herself to drop.

Striking the broken cobble stones and glass Natalia hissed in pain as her left leg buckled and she fell into a roll, "Oh damn!" she exclaimed she ended up on her back, her leg throbbing. As she lay staring up at the early morning sky the sight of row after row of planes, black like vultures, all flying from the west filled her with dread and anger. How dare they do this to my land! she thought. With the anger flaring within her Natalia moved the painful leg and winced but the pain was less than she expected. Standing up she took a few wobbly steps, noting that she now had a prominent limp, Natalia moved through the forward, hatred boiling inside of her. Doing her very best not to panic and keep her wits Belarus decided that her only choice was to go to the Brest Fortress in the south western end of the city.

Built in the 19th century on the Bug River back when Belarus had been a part of the Russian Empire, the fortress had swapped hands between governments and nations multiple times, each time it was used to house troops. (Though for a while the Polish Sanitation government had used it to hold their political rivals when the Pilsudski dictatorship held power) When the territory had once again fallen under the control of the Soviet Union the fortress was again used to hold troops from the Red Army and it was there Natalia felt she would find herself most useful. Suddenly the building next to Natalia exploded sending fire, wind, glass, and stone out into the street, while the shock wave it released blasted her off of her feet sending her sprawling in the middle of the road way. Screaming with shock and pain Natalia struck the hard surface of the road, blood poured from cuts on her forehead and neck while burn marks on her uniform smouldered. Though the worst of it was the vertigo and shell shock which sent the world spinning and muffled every sound through the ringing in her ears.

As blood streaked her face Natalia slowly rolled over and despite the pain she stood, refusing to give up. Wiping the blood away from her eyes she gingerly took a step forward, looking like a drunk as she attempted to walk on legs which felt like jelly. As she stumbled along her hearing began to return and her world settled, though she still stumbled here and there. Just then an armored truck rolled out of the blinding smoke which stung Belarus' eyes and tore down visibility, stopping only centimeters in front of her. As she leaned against the vehicle, thankful for the moment of rest, a young soldier with black hair and ears which stuck out rather comically climbed out of the car. Shouting angrily at her in Armenian the soldier went around to the front of the car, intent on helping Natalia out of the road, yet when he saw her injuries his eyes widened and he began to yell at her in accented Russian, "Are you crazy walking like this! You're going to die if you stay out here!"

Snapping out of her daze Natalia turned her gaze to the Armenian, "What?" she asked.

"You need to get out of the road and go find somewhere safe!" the soldier said again, pointing to where she had come. "The Germans have surrounded the city! They've surged through the countryside! Our armies have collapsed everywhere!" Hearing these words Natalia frowned and closed her eyes, Impossible! she thought, That's impossible! A sudden surge of anger filled the nation as her eyes snapped open, grabbing the soldier by his uniform she pulled him to her, "Watch your mouth you little shit!" she snarled.

She refused to believe that the Red Army, the army of her brother and herself, would just collapse and fall apart because it had been attacked. After all, what good was an army that wouldn't fight an invading force? Staring at the woman's enraged eyes the Armenian gaped and attempted to pull his shirt away from her vice like grip, much stronger than he'd ever expected, "I-It's true." he stammered, "The Germans over took us, they attacked when it was still dark. Many were asleep-"

Natalia clenched her teeth infuriated, "Alright, if you don't want me to execute you for panic-mongering you'd better get me to the Fortress. On the double!" With that she pushed the young man back and let him go at the same time, causing him to fall over on his bum, "I-I'll try-" he stammered getting to his feet.

Slipping into the comfortable passenger seat of the truck Natalia crossed her arms and simmered, as the car came to life and started to move across the rubble of the street. If what the soldier had told her was true Natalia reasoned, that would mean that her situation was more dire than she had first expected. Of course this man is obviously a cowardly panic-monger, therefore his words should be taken with a grain of salt. But if he is telling the truth, then I'm cut off from the rest of my country...and Nikolai. As the car moved carefully through the streets of the bombed out, burning city Natalia stared at the destruction around her with little emotion other than anger and sorrow. Who could have imagined that she could go to sleep happy and content with life and wake up to an inferno of death and destruction, as if to extend her point a fire truck swerved past them with it's bell ringing. A few moments later the two of them drove past the sight of their mission- a burning library, and to Natalia's great amazement she could even see librarians running into the fire to save more books.

"They must be crazy." the soldier said, watching that chaos of the event, "Saving books while the city burns." he shook his head and pressed on. Giving him a side glance Natalia found herself forced to agree, it was insane, though at the same time she could understand why someone could do such a thing. "For some books are what they live for." she said with a sigh, "The knowledge and culture they contain is priceless to many."

"What's the point? It is not like anyone is going to read them now."

Belarus sighed, if nothing was done soon, he would be right. Suddenly Natalia felt as though she was being drowned as the sudden horrible realization that she had ended up cut off, helpless to help her people and her brothers, made her sick to her stomach. A moment later she felt the bile coming up her throat so she opened the door and vomited hard, over and over, until there was nothing left inside.

"You need to go to the medics, I think you've been contused."

"I'm fine." Natalia replied wiping her mouth with her sleeve, the sour acid tasted bitter in her mouth and burned her throat, "Do you have water?" she asked.

"There might be something in the back."

Nodding Natalia turned and leaned over the back of her seat to check the storage space behind her, as she searched Belarus suddenly came to an object which filled her with more joy than an ocean of fresh water. "A radio!" she exclaimed, pulling it to of the space and into her lap, "Why didn't you tell me you had one?"

The Armenian shrugged, "I honestly didn't know." he said. "I just deliver supplies and don't ask questions."

Too happy to worry about the other man Natalia set the compact device on her lap and began to fiddle with the buttons, a moment later the small orange screen showing lit bright, "It works!" she exclaimed, her smile widening, "Now we can talk to others." Unfortunately, as she turned from one feed to the next it soon became clear that that air waves were also no longer in Soviet control as every single one so far was screaming out the German language.

"Fucking dogs." Natalia muttered, frustrated.

Then suddenly she heard a language she could understand, loud and clear, "This is Brest Fortress! This is Brest Fortress!" though her excitement was short lived, "We have been surrounded and need reinforcements. Come in please. This is Brest For-"

"Son of a bitch!" Natalia screamed in pure white anger as she tossed the radio into the back.

"Mother fu- are you crazy!?" the Armenian exclaimed, covering his face with the crook of his arm to protect himself, "What do you think you're doing?" He stared at her, confused, angry, and regretting that he'd ever stopped to help this woman who had obviously gone insane.

"Shut up and drive." Belarus snapped, "We're alone now. Me and you, no one is going to help us and we're out of a plan."

The Armenian laughed bitterly, "I personally had a plan. To get the hell out and find a safer place to be. Now I'm stuck with you."

Scowling Natalia looked away, trying to come up with a plan of her own, at the moment she knew that there was no way she's be able to get to the Fortress without getting herself captured or someone killed. Plus, with the Red Army no longer in control of the city and the surrounding area Natalia knew that staying here would help little in the long run. Glanced at the young man next to her, probably a recruit who had been called in for the regular two years of service and never imagining that he'd be in such a situation, Natalia quickly deciding that it would be at least more comfortable to travel with someone else. "I think we should stick together, working together we will probably be better off than if we went out on our own." she said.

The soldier scoffed, "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to stick with a woman I don't even know the identity of. You might be a German infiltrator for all I know."

Offended by his words Belarus sniffed in indignation, "I am Natalia Arlovskaya, Patriot of Belarus and the USSR." she snapped. "Look comrade, our nation needs us, we need to work together not only to survive but to protect it." she added

The Armenian said nothing for some time, as if weighing his own options in his head, then nodded, "I can't disagree...obviously" He gestured at the destruction around them with a scowl.

Natalia relaxed, "But I think we would be more effective if I knew your name as well."

Glancing at her the soldier fished out his identification card, "Arsen Hakobyan" he said handing it to her. Taking it Belarus gave it a quick look, confirmed his identity, then gave it back. "Wonderful to meet you Arsen." She smiled, "I think we-"

Natalia was cut off by the sound of rapid gunfire and screams, turning her gaze away from her new comrade to the road, the Belorussian saw a swarm of German infantrymen flooding a square up ahead, firing their weapons at everything that moved. In response whatever Soviet soldiers were in the area returned fire though they carried rifles and only a select few had an automatic machine gun in their hands. Jolting the car to a stop Arsen shifted the gear and began to back away from the fire fight, shouting and cursing in his native tongue, suddenly a loud whomp sounded behind them which was quickly followed by a gaping hole exploding in a building to the left of them. "Tank! It's a tank!" Natalia shouted, "Bail out!" she opened the door and quickly jumped from the truck. Then ran for cover behind a pile of rubble from a collapsed building. As she hit the dirt the truck she'd been in moments ago lifted from the ground as a fireball engulfed it- a direct hit. God damn! Natalia thought, pulling out her pistol from her belt she peeked over the top of the bricks and watched as the tank began to move forward down the street, the black crosses of the Deutsches Heer clear on it's grey body. Suddenly Natalia saw movement from behind the veil of smoke billowing from the truck and her spirits instantly lifted, "Arsen! Arsen over here!" she shouted, waving her arm. The Armenian, when seeing her, smiled and dashed across the street in front of the tank. Almost instantly the machine gun turret lit up, spitting bullets at the poor soldier, yet through some amazing feat of luck Arsen dived behind the rubble and together the two of them curled up as bullets riddled the wall behind them. "We have to get out of here!" Natalia shouted before lowering herself on her stomach, "Come on!" she ordered and began sliding her way through the hole in the wall, Artsen was quick to follow.

Once the two of them were out of intimate danger and instant death the two survivors found themselves in a fit of hysterical laughter, followed by tears, and laughter again. It was one of those moments when all logic is lost, and pure unfiltered emotion takes over, emotions of joy for being alive and sorrow for how close they had come to being the opposite. Eventually though reality forced it's ugly head back into the forefront of their minds and emotion took a back seat once more. "Alright, so what's the plan?" Arsen asked, trying to catch his breath.

Listening to the sound of raging gun battles spreading through the city Natalia sighed, "It's obvious the Germans have entered the city now. So, we need to find any Soviet foothold and fight on as much as possible. Though our main objective should be to get out of Brest and into the wilderness. I'm sure there we will find ourselves more useful."

"If you say so Comrade Arlovskaya." Arsen said with a light salute.

Nodding Natalia stood and carefully made her way back to the hole the two of them had used to enter the building in the first place, peeking out she saw that the area was now clear of any fighters. "Alright, lets go." she whispered then using a crouching run she's learned during her Red Army training, something she insisted on trying to better understand what the troops went through, she ran from the rubble to the buildings across the street. Pressing herself against the wall she quickly checked the area then waved Arsen over, when the young man was near her she pointed to the square which was now littered with bodies of German and Soviet soldiers. "That would be the hardest and...most dangerous route for us." she whispered. Chewing on her lip she looked over at the street they had been driving down before the tank came through, "Going back takes us back to where I am pretty sure the Germans are..." she muttered to herself.

"I think, though I am simply a transporter, if someone were to get to the fountain they'd be in a good place to cover for their comrade and so on."

He has a point there Natalia thought to herself as she weight her options, "Alright," she finally decided, "I'm going first, you follow." It seemed fair that way, after all as a national personification she was immortal while her nation and people existed, Arsen was just another mortal among many. "Now wait a second." the Armenian whispered harshly, "As a man I should go first." He raised his pistol, "I'm sure I'll be fine. We Armenians are traditionally good fighters."

"No." Natalia snapped, "I said I'm going first and so I shall. I outrank you plus I'm the one with a plan. You do as I say and we have no problems. Understood."

Though he wanted to disagree, his honor insisted upon it, Arsen decided that it would probably be a better idea to keep silent and let the woman do what she wanted.

"Yes Comrade. I understand."

"Good." Natalia said, then cocking her pistol she took a few short breaths before running out into the open air of the Square.


Belarussian SSR, Three kilometers outside of Minsk - 08:00 Moscow Time

"Move aside! Open up the armory by order of General Pavlov!" Nikolai shouted, leaping out of the black government car. When the guards at the armory gates didn't move Nikolai shouted again and waved his arm as he ran down the dirt road to them. "What is the meaning of this? I ordered you to move!"

The guards swallowed and tightened their grip on the rifles they held, "I-I'm sorry sir but our orders are to get permission from Moscow."

Nikolai gritted his teeth and cursed the inflexibility of the Soviet System when it came to the armed forces, Central Command was so worried about provocations and saboteurs that they wanted to know of every little thing, now when communications were down this fear had calcified the Red Army's ability to move fast. Turning to the men he'd brought to him he quickly ordered the guards arrested for inhibiting the war effort.

"Y-You can't do this! I'll report you to Central Command!" the voice which had suddenly broke the morning silence belong to the head of the armory, who came running out of the hut where his office was found. Losing his patience with the idiotic red tape around him Belarus pulled his pistol from his belt and pointed it at the portly official, "I'm Second Lieutenant Nikolai Nikolaevich Arlovsky and I order you to stand down and let my men through or I'll have you executed as a German agent!" he snapped. "If you all haven't noticed there a war on! If these weapons are not moved they will be clear and easy targets for the Fascist bombers!"

The official stared at Nikolai, his hands raised over his head, "I-I-I-" he tried to swallow and his eyes flicked to the gun in Nikolai's hand, "F-Fine but it's your neck. If anyone comes to question me I'll say you knocked me out."

"Fine." Nikolai agreed then gestured towards the gate. "Open it!" Rushing the official the soldiers quickly took the keys from the overweight man's belt and used them to open the gate. "Collect all the crates and fill the trucks, then back to the front!" Nikolai ordered before turning to the fat official. "Do you have anti-aircraft guns around here?" he asked.

The official nodded, "Y-Yes Of course-"

"Good, get a man on them all, shoot anything flying here from the west."

The official nodded then saluted and ran off to complete the new orders he had been given, Nikolai meanwhile supervised the removal of weapons the Red Army desperately needed. As the line of trucks moved into the large complex Nikolai waved them through then glanced at his watch, it had been three hours since he'd been able to get through to his brother Ivan and not a word had returned. Instead once he'd crawled out of the bomb shelter where he'd been forced to go into Nikolai found that much of central Minsk had been reduced to rubble, as it seemed to have been hit the hardest than the rest of the city. All over civilians were evacuating the city, doing their best to carry away their most precious possessions to safety. Angry beyond words and shocked by the absolute domination of the German air force Nikolai walked through the city in a daze, surveying the damage until the Commander of the Soviet Western Front, General of the Army Dimitri Pavlov, arrived and took over the situation. When Nikolai introduced himself to the Commander the other was quick to take him in, and even gave him a rank, before sending him off to collect supplies for the defense of the Homeland. It was the reason he was here now, watching as his little army stripped the vast complex before the second wave of German plans would arrive.

Just then the sound of the anti-aircraft guns coming to life snapped Belarus out of his thoughts. Turning, wide eyed he watched as German planes flew in over the horizon, low and ready to bomb the complex to the four corners of the world. "Planes! Planes! Get these weapons out of here!" Nikolai shouted just as the Stuka dive bombers opened fire and pelted the complex. Hitting the dirt Nikolai rolled under the car he'd come in and curled up as tightly as he could, flinching as the 8mm bullets struck the car and dirt around it. Very quickly after, he heard the explosions and felt the heat from the fireballs which rose into the sky.

Praying until the first wave was through Nikolai slowly crawled out and surveyed the damage, most of the trucks he had brought were in flames, their cargo lost and damaged. The complex too had turned into a flaming inferno thought soldiers which had survived were still trying to save as many crates as possible. On one end of the complex two planes lay burning. The human cost of the attack was also substantial, as he could see many bodies, including that of the fat official who had tried to stop him, on the ground either shot or burnt to death. Breathing hard and surveying this destruction with wild panic filled eyes Nikolai turned slowly trying to think of what to do, yet he couldn't. It's lost. We're lost. It's all lost. My God it's lost. the thought over and over, as though on a loop.

Then he heard the second wave of attack and the color drained completely from his face as he felt his back go stiff, "Here they come again. Oh shit here they come again." he whispered, yet when he didn't hear as many of the anti-air guns go off this time he turned his gaze and saw that a soldier which had been sitting in one was dead. Instantly Belarus knew what to do, running to the large gun he pushed the corpse aside and took the controls. "OK, I'm ready you for bastards this time." he muttered and took aim for one of the planes which was starting it's dive. "Fuck you! Fuck all of you!" Nikolai shouted from the top of his lungs as he pulled the trigger hard and send the deadly stings into the air. Watching as they riddled the front of the plane he cheered then moved to another until the gun overheated and jammed. "Oh no-" his breath caught in his throat when he saw one of the Stukas open up it's bomb bay doors and release it's cargo towards his position. Gasping Nikolai jumped out of the seat as the world around him exploded and went black.


A/N: Well there you have it. I hope it was an interesting read. As always comments are welcome. Thank you for reading.