Chapter 21: Memories of a Past War

"Okay…" Andrew said to himself. "What the hell is this?"

Andrew found himself standing in the middle of an empty white void. It was a strange feeling, like he had been here before. He walked around a bit in the space, trying to identify what was going on.

Suddenly he heard voices.

They were the voices of children.

"Look! It's already starting!"

"Hey, wait up Catherine!"

"Come on, Peter, hurry up!"

Two boys and a girl ran past Andrew as if he did not exist. As Andrew's eyes followed the three children, the white space filled up with a street full of bustling crowds. In the distance someone played music. The buildings were draped with red banners and flags. Caterpillar tracks clattered in the distance. An announcer was yelling something over a loudspeaker.

Andrew suddenly knew where he was.

Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union. The large procession in front of him was the Victory Day Parade of 1989.

"Look at those planes!" the girl, whom had been identified as Catherine, exclaimed. "They're so fast! Right, Mikhail?"

The boy next to her, Mikhail, nodded in agreed.

"They're beautiful."

The second boy, who had been silent for this entire conversation, finally piped in.

"They're so free…"

Andrew felt as if he knew who these children, as if he had met them before.

XXXXX

The scene changed.

Andrew found himself standing in the middle of a desolated street. There was a big commotion going in one of the houses.

"Hey! Don't touch me!"

A pair of soldiers dragged a girl out of the house. Andrew immediately recognized her as Catherine, albeit she looked to be in her early teens now. Behind her, her parents ran out of the door, trying in vain to pry he soldiers off her.

An officer pulled out a pistol and shot them both.

XXXXX

The scene changed again.

When Andrew looked around, he knew immediately where he was. He had read the reports. He had seen the photographs. He had seen the living evidence.

He was in the middle of the English Channel, in one of the Federation's Newtype Project labs.

Catharine fell to the ground after the guards threw her into a cell. There was a red wristband around her right wrist. Andrew did nothing, for he knew now that these were someone's memories. Everything already happened. He could do nothing to stop it.

A red wristband meant she was a defect. She would be disposed of within a week.

The scene switched to a different cell, this one packed with many children with blue wristbands. These were the Newtypes.

Andrew spotted Mikhail and Peter amongst them. Peter turned around to a blonde boy and began to whisper into his ear. The boy whispered back as Mikhail listened. Andrew could hear the boys colluding. Conspiring. Quietly rallying everyone.

"You ready, Mikhail?" the blonde asked.

"Sure I am."

"How about you, Peter?"

"Of course I am, Jaeger. Let's do this shit."

Andrew smiled as heard this. Everything suddenly started to make sense. The bullshit Markov spat about world peace through violence had sounded familiar for a reason.

The boy leading the group was none other than Jaeger Richthofen himself.

Suddenly, Andrew found himself in the middle of a massive firefight. The Fed guards shot at the test subjects with guns while the subjects fought back with guns and lasers.

Jaeger was blasting away with an RPK while Mikhail and Peter clutched AK-74s. Catherine stood in front of them, her left arm consumed in a black mass in the shape of a shield, protecting Jaeger, Mikhail, and Peter from oncoming fire.

A beam forced a group of Federation infantry to scatter.

"Now!" Peter exclaimed. "Forward!"

The test subjects surged forward. Some were cut down by enemy fire, but the majority managed to arrive at the main entrance. One of the defects melted the main door apart and the test subjects ran out into freedom.

A small detachment of Federation soldiers opened fire on them, their FN FALs spitting bullets left and right.

"Brits!?" one of the test subjects exclaimed.

"Just cause they're Feds doesn't mean their Russian!" another replied.

One of the enemy soldiers fired an ATGM into the crowd.

"Peter look out!"

"Shit!"

"NO!"

The missile exploded. Peter opened his eyes to find Catherine collapse on top of him, a hole burnt through both her shield and torso from the hollow-charged missile.

Peter shook Catherine in desperation, but she did not respond. She no longer breathed.

Peter grabbed an FAL and fired into the Fed ranks, yelling at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his cheeks.

XXXXX

"Are you sure about this?" Mikhail asked. Peter nodded. He was older now and wore a Russian airman's uniform. So did Mikhail. A Pak-Fa screamed overhead followed by a squadron of MiG-29s.

A squadron of Eurofighter Typhoons landed nearby, led by a single red MiG-21. The pilot climbed out of the MiG and walked towards the pair. A number of Tornados flew over the base.

"Hey guys," Jaeger Richthofen said. The three shook hands before walking towards the control tower. Andrew followed them, aware that this was another memory.

"You both know war is coming, right?" Jaeger asked. Mikhail nodded while Peter said nothing.

"Germany and the west are too stable to go forward with the plan," Jaeger continued. "We can't politically play the bad guys for this one." Mikhail nodded again.

"Neither can us," he said. "Patriotism and Nationalism is at an all-time high. What we're trying to do might make everything worse."

Finally, Peter, who remained quiet for the past few seconds, piped up.

"I'll do it."

The other two turned to Peter.

"What are you-?" Before Mikhail could continue, Peter pulled out a remote.

A remote with a big red button.

"That's-!?" Jaeger stopped himself before he said anything further.

"Peter," Mikhail, began. "Catherine would have never…"

"CATHERINE IS DEAD!" Peter exclaimed. His now bloodshot eyes stared at the other two.

Jaeger and Mikhail hung their heads as they remembered. So did Peter. Then he turned to Jaeger.

"When the shit hits the fan, can you do me a favor, tovarishch?" he asked.

Jaeger nodded.

"Kill me." The other two jumped in surprise.

"I'm supposed to play the bad guy, right?" Peter continued. "There needs to be a good guy that slays the villain."

Jaeger faltered.

"I-I don't know, kamerad. I don't think I can," he said.

"Then I'll make sure someone does," Peter stated. He then smiled.

"How's your family?" Peter asked. Jaeger softened his expression.

"Well, I guess," he replied. "My wife is pregnant." Mikhail smacked him.

"Congrats you luck son of a bitch," he said. Jaeger looked at his watch.

"You two better leave," he said. "You're superiors might notice you're missing soon."

Mikhail and Peter left.

"Are you sure about this?" Mikhail asked Peter. Peter nodded.

"Mikhail Romanov," he said. "Have I ever faltered about something like this?" He looked towards the sky.

"The name Peter Markov will go on to represent the most evil a human could be," Peter continued. "This is for a peaceful world, Mikhail. Catherine will understand."

XXXXX

When Romanov's AIU exploded in front of Andrew, he finally knew everything. Markov wanted someone to punish him for what he had done. To end his suffering. The job at first lay with Andrew's father, but he was dead. Then it fell on Romanov. Now he was dead. Now it was Andrew's job to finish everything that his father and his friends started. Andrew rushed forward, beam sabre in hand, ignoring his propellant gauge, ignoring the orders to return, he thought he heard Markov speaking to Romanov.

"We are the army of the people, tovarishchi. The people want change. Let's give it to them."

Andrew swung at Markov, who blocked the attack with his beam axe.

He will end all this. He will end it here and now.

Author's notes: Finally it's done *pants* Writer's block is really annoying guys. Remember that. I think I'll go study for my SATs now. Bye, and see you next chapter.

Review plz. It motivates me to write more.

-Karl