Chapter 14: Falling Falcons
20th July - 14:20
I'm in an airplane heading to Nis to dress up for my latest assignment in Belgrade. It was ordered by my current Chief of the Air Staff Spasoje Smiljanic,which I announced to Athene right after I left her house to depart to Serbia via bike. It was quite unfair for her to leave me in her house while she and her daughter left Larissa towards Taganrog to meet Arisha and Ivan. I think she deep down had a big reason why.
I really enjoyed staying in her hometown,and being with her friend Violeta too. She didn't knew me at all and vice versa,but we did got along. We had many conversations about each other and had fun.
All in all,I'm holding my thumbs up for Athene to succeed in her mission.
Now,I don't know why did my president choose to re-use the Anti-Air Artillery tactics instead of using our own planes to destroy the enemy ones. There must be a good explanation. All I know is that the Anti-Air Missile System was under construction three days after the 610th Kosovo Anniversary speech on 1st July,as Milosevic had noted me on that same date.
I wouldn't say I was excited about it,but I hadn't felt bad either. Belgrade and its citizens would have their weeks,if not months,of safety should our plan of 'downing as many jets as possible' succeed.
And here I am,sitting on the seat reading a Mickey Mouse comic which I bought at the airport. It kept me calmed and distracted from seeing my lands through the window. I tried my best not to look through it because,whenever I do,I can only see my destroyed lands full of unraveling smokes and blood around them,particularly in Kosovo (and that Camp fucking Bondsteel...),despite summer.
Watching the horror the Serbs AND Albanians have to face from Alfreak and his NATO minions are making me more disgusted,sad and angry. The most infuriating thing being the Atlanticist planes flying below and above me. I'm surprised they hadn't hit or fired at the passenger plane.
Same with the rest of flying attendants. Despite their silence and calm attitude,they keep their fear for themselves. They're scared of what might happen to them when they land to their homeland. Many of them might be homeless because of the bombings.
After finishing reading a short comic story,I let it fall on my knees to see again through the window to know where my plane is heading. I looked down and saw a jet passing by and dropping lots of bombs near a village once it was gone from my sights. I wanted to punch and break the window in rage but,knowing the consequences,I instead punched and kicked the seat in front of me. I expected a guy or lady to turn and complain over this,or even slap my face,but thankfully,no one sat on that seat.
The happy days of this summer are over. It reminded me once again that this war isn't going to end yet.
"Excuse me,young man,is there something wrong with you?" the stewardess asked,approaching me.
I raised my head and blushed,seeing her concerned but pouting face. She was delivering food and drinks from her catering cart and she reached my seat.
"Nothing,ma'am. I'm just in a bad mood lately." I said,crossing my arms after letting out a sigh.
"Uhm,ok...I guess..." she said,unsure about my answer "Anyway,here's your meal and drink."
"Thanks."
"Παρακαλώ."
I took the food box from her hands and she left. I opened it and I got boiled potatoes with some boiled vegetables and a small bread. I wouldn't have minded if I only received just one bread. I hadn't eaten anything today.
Ten minutes later and the airplane landed on the Nis Airport,heavily damaged but still functioning in defiance because of you-know-what. I then existed the airport to go to the nearest Bus Stop to wait for the bus to take me to Visevac. After a bus stopped at my direction,I entered the bus bringing my bike inside. It lasted longer than what used to be,due to the few hits on the road by the Atlanticists.
When I exited the car,I went to my house to take a short rest by taking a good shower and changed my clothes into my dirty and dry military uniform,after which,before taking a deep breath to face the bombs on the road,I rode my bike towards Kalemegdan. Duty calls.
22:00
Lieutenant Colonel Smiljanic was inside the Despot Stefan Tower (for some reason) where he expected me to be inside on the scheduled time at 22:00. Not knowing why this late,I closed the door upon entering and saluted him,as he stood near the stairs,turning his body once he spotted my presence.
"You're right on time,Vuk." Spasoje said in a stern tone,smiling "Please,sit down."
"No thanks,sir. I prefer standing."
Before I got inside,when I reached Kalemegdan,I saw many of Serbian soldiers transporting Anti-Air Artillery and Launchers into this place. Walking within the outskirts of this park,those two things were stationed all around the wall edges of Kalemegdan castle,like with cannons in the Medieval times. I was amazed seeing them.
"Do you know why did I invited you there?" he asked me,clasping his hands behind his back.
The tower's interior was dark with the exception of one small light bulb spreading its own thing.
"I think there's no need for me to state the obvious,sir." I answered,feeling kinda shy and annoyed "You wanted me to lead the Anti-Air Artillery Division against NATO,right?"
"Correct,but there's more to why are we doing this plan in the first place." Stanoje stated,firmly.
I let out a sigh.
"Is it because of the time?" I guessed "I mean,why are we doing this at night?"
"I've waited for you to say it,Vuk." he replied,pointing his finger at me "Milosevic must've not told you the reason behind this."
"Не,he didn't." I said,in a sad tone.
"Follow me."
Without asking questions,I followed him as he went upstairs. We were careful not to fall because the stairs were circled. When we reached the top,we saw the dark skies. They weren't calm. Rather,quite the opposite.
"Vuk,look through the telescope." he said,pointing at a telescope in front of us.
I nodded,walked towards it and took a look. Several NATO's jets flew swiftly like a bullet,casting out their bombs onto random places and casting fires with them. The environment around me,looking at the Danube,was absolutely evident as the last five months. I also saw our men firing their artilleries and missiles at the skies.
However,unlike the past instances,the planes were...different. Their appearances were the same except that,they were faster than the Nighthawks and F-16's. Again,they fly like bullets.
Alfreak has improved its Air Force,apparently.
"They're using different planes?" I turned my head to him.
"Exactly. That's the main reason why our military switched to artillery."
"But why,sir?" I asked,completely letting the telescope go from my grip "Couldn't we just use our own planes to combat the enemy ones,like in Valjevo with Milenko Pavlovic in early May?"
"I would love to stick to the plane strategy,but we're having a problem." the Lieutenant Colonel started explaining "Many amount of our planes were destroyed by these new jets,though I'm not sure how many of them exactly. Since June,they not only resorted to shot at our planes in a distant range,but they also started to use their wings to physically cut them in half,with that amount of speed."
He paused and was about to speak further,but the bombs got dropped near the tower in a second,making us duck. After this,we decided to go back downstairs.
"According to our State Security intel,the planes which NATO's currently using are called Northrops,or the B-2 Spirits,manufactured a decade ago." he continued,getting down to his previous place "It was at first a rumor,only to,shortly after Milosevic ordered the construction of this new Anti-Air system,get confirmed that they replaced the Nighthawks due to their stealth technology,and because it was speculated by Americans that the Nighthawks were 'no longer for use'."
I snickered. Just imagine how would Alfreak react when even his advanced jets are incapable of defeating the 'Genocidal Serbs'. It would undoubtedly be worse than with his Nighthawk.
"Why are you snickering?! Nothing what I've said was funny!" he raised his voice,slamming the desk with his fist,angrily.
It frightened me a bit and made me gulp and rub my nape.
"I'm s-s-sorry,Mr. Lieutenant." I confessed "I just got reminded about Nighthawk. I did heard you perfectly."
"There'll be another time for laughter AFTER we win this battle! For now,stop acting like a dunce before I-..."
"It won't be repeated again,sir." I cut him off,shamefully. It wasn't my intention to disrespect him like that.
Spasoje took a deep breath.
"Now that we've gone out of the way,you should be ready to take action,Vuk. Your comrades are waiting for you." he said,sternly. Then asked "Are you ready?"
"Yes I am,sir! I'm always at your service!"
"That's the spirit!" Spasoje shouted "You're now off to go,and make sure you pick an empty Anti-Air gun first."
"I will."
I turned to open the door and do it,but Spasoje coughed.
"Oh,I almost forgot." he exclaimed,raising his finger.
I turned again. He searched around for a minute until he picked a bottle of coffee.
"Here,take this with you. You'll need it." he said,handing me the bottle over,smiling.
"Ok." I replied,shrugging my shoulders.
I left the tower and I can already hear the gun shots and fire lights from afar. I ran with my bottle to find an empty gun. Most of them were taken over by soldiers,and I had a difficult time to search for any. After ten minutes or so,I finally found one next to the Great Staircase of Kalemegdan and sat on it.
I tested out twice to see if it worked and it did. It hadn't shot down any jets as of yet.
Alfreak,ready or not,here I come.
21st July - 03:40
Four hours had passed and it turned out that it wasn't going to be an easy mission as I thought it would be. The Northrops are barely able to get detected on the radar. The red dot and it's sound only appear for half a second and its gone,whenever a jet passed us by. As for the rest of my men,they too had the detection problems,with only one of them managing to hit one jet,and even then he didn't downed it,just damaging it...despite using binoculars to see them more clearly.
They're indeed more powerful than Nighthawks.
"Ајде,ајде! Don't take sleep!" the Lieutenant Colonel shouted at us through a megaphone,sitting on an Anti-Air weapon "We must stay awake in war so that our people can sleep peacefully at night!" he had a point "We must show those cowardly animals that we won't leave our ground without a fight! Down their falcons before they destroy us,even if it means building a bridge of jet rows!"
They and me understood his words and kept on going. I took another sip of coffee from the bottle to remain focused. Its bitter,yes,but worth it. I had no time to sleep.
I took the controls,took my binoculars and rotated the weapon to shot at the sky four times after seeing a blurry light on my left corner. All of them missed it.
I placed my hand on my forehead and released a frustrated sigh. This is going to be a lot of work...
06:20
Одлично! I've finally downed a Northrop after so many tryouts and loopings! How did I managed to down an advanced jet as this one? Here's the answer: After the last Northrop fled away,I measured and followed the time period of Northrop's arrival to Kalemegdan until the red button was revealed.
However,I didn't shot immediately after the dot was shown,but before it. I scaled the time of its arrival before the radar's dot had sounded,hearing its loud noise. The results of this are as follows: Four jets will arrive at day and eight at night every hour. It needs half a minute to hear its sound and the last five seconds to be visible for our eyes.
In short,I launched the Artillery's fire five seconds before the radar effect came in. It took me so long to figure this out.
Mathematics,hard to learn a complicated formula but easy once it gets figured out.
When that downed jet fell near the shores of New Belgrade and its smokes levitated upwards,I was satisfied for a moment,getting up for two minutes to refresh my butt and sitting back. The rest of the past period was just watching the skies. It may seem like doing nothing,but it increases discipline among us.
I hope Arisha,Athene and all of my friends and family are going great. Arisha and Ivan are coping with the starting stage of their transition period and their people are still in poverty and uncertainty,while Athene's currently fighting her president over NATO.
Once I finish my mission,I'll tell them what had happened.
08:30
The second Northrop was downed into the river! It wasn't me who did it,but someone from our group (he shouted to Stanoje about it,as I did few hours earlier.). He was either lucky or he secretly heard of my solution. I think he was lucky,wasn't he?
After the morning came in and the Sun shone above the sky,I and most of our group took a sleep,including Stanoje.
We aren't done yet...
10:45
I was suddenly woken up by the unexpected sirens. I was pretty sleepy. I growled slightly and barely opened my eye,in irritation. When I got up and turned,I saw fire trucks driving down the road of the park. Many fires rose from fields and trees,sensing that the NATO started to bomb Kalemegdan,but luckily,they hadn't spotted our location...for now.
What's more,some of those fire trucks had Montenegrin flags attached on their backs. I rubbed my eyes to be sure what I'm just seeing isn't a deception.
I opened my mouth. Scepan's coming?! I couldn't believe it!
I ran towards one of the trucks as they stopped their moves. Firefighters came out and there was no Scepan. I was saddened at finding him until I heard a familiar voice which made me happy.
"Ало,бато!" Scepan called me "Look behind you!"
I turned back to see my little brother in his fire fighter uniform carry a bucket of water,rushing towards me. I rushed back and we instantly hugged in joy. The bucket dropped some water,since he still held that bucket.
"Ђе си,Vuk! How are you going?" Scepan asked me after releasing each other,smiling.
"Working out and fighting,Шћепо." I said,glancing at the skies "You? I hadn't excepted to see you since May!"
"You too,јадан!" he said.
The soldiers have already woken up before we met each other. Half of them left their posts to take rest for a couple of minutes and then help the fire fighters to extinguish flames,while the other half simply stood on their position to watch the skies,for the enemy Air Force operates at day,too.
Scepan and I distanced from the post location to reach Damat Ali Pasha's mausoleum,a former Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire,where his tomb lies. The surroundings were generally fine as of now,as well as the Sun was shining to create a supposed good day. And now,with Scepan on my side,it was definitively great.
"Why did you arrived in Kalemegdan?" I asked him,curious.
"I heard through my TV that you're fighting NATO from the ground against the skies." you don't need to tell me "Suspecting that Калиш would get burned completely,I decided to join in a fire fighter squadron to go to Belgrade and help you out."
Scepan's the opposite of hard-working for not minding what's happening to our shared lands and for being lazy,but when he wants,or in this war's case,can,he pays attention to the news and helps those who are in need. We won't dare speak ill towards each other's backs.
He's my best brother in the World.
"I thank you a lot for choosing to get involved,Scepan." I replied,kindly "Can I join your squadron?"
"Of course you can,silly!" he hit my back "The outer Kalemegdan and parts of Knez Mihailova Street are burning." Scepan took a pause "Now quickly,take this bucket of water and put out the fires before we find a fire truck to pick up two sprayers for us!"
I agreed and we exited the inner Kalemegdan to complete our task.
14:15
We finished taking out the flames from aforementioned places and returned to the post where Spasoje was waiting. It was a really hard and long job to make those flames disappear at each part of the street and the entire park altogether. They burned parts from each buildings and fields,roofs or windows alike.
By the time we approached one another in the middle of the street,we launched our sprayers at us at maximum setting to surprise ourselves. I and Scepan fell away hitting our behinds and got up,laughing. To make it better,we increased our mood by sometimes raising our sprayers up to make a small rain. The fire fighters had once or twice spotted us and told us not to play around and we stopped to keep doing our job.
"WOOH! That was wild!" I exclaimed,after sighing,wiping the sweat from my forehead.
"Sure it was,Вуче мој!" Scepan replied,giving me a thumb up,grinning. Then asked "Are you hungry? I've bought something for us to eat."
"Шта?"
"It's a surprise. You're gonna like it when you find out."
When we came back to take Scepan's bought food from the fire truck where he was in,we got two bagels with bacon and two yogurts,one per each. Again,I don't care which food,so long as it's edible (and not dogshit or a vomit. That's for Alfreak).
"Have you heard of the attack on Niksic's Eparchy on 5th July?"
"Маму им јебем,I did." he replied,angrily,mouthful "I bet they bombed a Montenegrin church just so they'll let me know I'm at war with them!"
"Or specifically,Alfred Jones." I added,understanding his anger. He doesn't remember that criminal snake's name "I asked you this because,do you want to join my assignment?"
"Why would I?"
How's this a question?
"Do you have any particular reason why you shouldn't join me?" I asked him back,feeling annoyed.
"To be honest,I would love to,but...my president Milo Djukanovic would get worried if I stay too long."
"Then tell him you'll stay for three or less days." I advised him "That way,he'll be informed and know what you're doing without any complaints."
"Thank you."
"Нема на шта."
22nd July - 01:10
Like the previous time,I stood near my artillery where I configured and opened fire at the American jets. Only this time,Scepan was also with me. He helped me by bringing me shells every time our gun's ammo was fully spent. We also switched sides by giving Scepan a turn to use the Anti-Air Gun while I did what Scepan did.
"Hey,Vuk,did I destroyed a Northrop?" Scepan asked loudly,excited after shooting at an enemy plane.
He pointed at the sky and I marched towards him delivering two artillery shells. They were heavy to carry (and slightly more so for Scepan). Seeing a small fire explosion in the dark sky,I smiled...until the plane still flew away once the smokes dissassipated.
"Almost..." I said,frowning in disappointment,tsking.
Scepan lowered his head in failure.
"Don't worry." I added,placing my hand on his shoulder to cheer him up "Maybe your next shot would down a new one."
He nodded and I put a shell into Artillery and gave him another try. Though slowly learning,he moved to the right side to aim at the next jet. He sat and starred at the gun's direction patiently and,after fifteen minutes of waiting,he pressed the buttons and shot decisively at a Northrop,making it fall and drown into the river.
"Give me five!" I shouted at him,proudly,raising my hand.
"Ево руке!"
Scepan stood up from the seat and slapped my palm.
"Am I doing good?"
"You sure did,bro." I replied,smiling. "Now,can we switch posi-"
"BOMB! JUMP!" Scepan suddenly screamed,pointing at the bomb.
A large bomb was falling right where we stood. We rushed away from the gun and jumped when the explosion blasted itself. It destroyed our Artillery Gun,burning into blackness.
"What should we do now?!" he asked,greatly annoyed "We no longer have a weapon!"
"We can always use an empty-seated gun." I answered,also annoyed "Come on,follow me!"
I turned and ran towards an Artillery Gun near the Pobednik Monument and Scepan ran with me. We saw other destroyed guns,and a soldier died with his gun for failing to run away from the bombs. The sight of the dead soldier made us angry (we already were) and,once the heat and fire were gone from both of them,we quickly dragged the body to lay near a tree until an ambulant truck arrives in the morning.
"What're you doing with the body?!" a soldier asked,turning at us,shouting.
We stopped our dragging for a moment.
"None of your business!" I shouted back.
"Yeah,keep firing!" Scepan added.
The soldier rolled his eyes and turned back to continue defending Belgrade. We then sat on our new gun and kept going.
"Vuk,I'm sleepy..." he moaned.
"Already?!"
"What do you mean 'already'?!" Scepan retorted,angrily "Do you have any idea what time is it right now?!"
"Two or three in the morning,I don't know!" I replied,annoyed and nearly angry "I haven't brought a watch."
"Oh come on!" he shouted "Can you at least allow me to sleep?"
Scepan hadn't got used to the current war ambient and its habits,for known reasons (Actually,he did,but because of his mentality and his 54 years of peace,he forgot them). I deep down wanted to have him sleep,but Stanoje won't allow it...and because a battle is a battle.
"How about you stay awake for one more hour,please?" I told him,raising my eyebrow "It'll be appreciated,for us,Stanoje and Belgrade."
"Ugh,nevermind...!" he muttered,crossing his arms "But only ONE hour!"
"Да."
We repeated our previous moves for an hour and,as promised,I let Scepan sleep at the tree (Не,not the one where that dead soldier lies,if you asked) while I kept fighting until 09:00 when the pause starts.
Since yesterday afternoon,I'm having a headache. The pain grew more unbearable due to lack of sleep,stress and overall conditions. I ignored the headache yesterday and I'll try my best to ignore it now.
I won't give up so easily.
16:00
The post-battle events have repeated as yesterday,but now the ambulance trucks are coming together with the firefighter ones,doing you-know-what and the former trucks delivering first aid to the injured. One of the drivers of the former vehicles called for the immediate burial of the dead soldier and for the future ones into the cemetery if they die the next day,which all of us agreed with him.
After I and Scepan finished taking out the fires and got back to our post,Stanoje expected us,reading a report I wrote on a toilet paper (The Tower's door was unlocked. Sorry,not sorry).
"Six Northrops got downed in eight hours..." he said,reading the results. Then he raised his head,fascinated "That's a new record you two,including the rest of our soldiers!"
"Хвала,sir!" we said at the same time.
"No need to thank me. You should thank yourselves for defending the city." he congratulated us,smiling He then paused. "I'm going to report the today's and tomorrow's results to our President. Milosevic will be proud of us all!"
I and Scepan shook our hands with the Lieutenant Colonel and waved him goodbye,but not before reiterating that we must give our full maximum for the next midnight to at least down fifteen jets in order to,and I quote,"Make then run away from the city in fear and gutlessness whenever they reach it",and that I'll lead the group personally while he's gone,believing that under my lead they'll strengthen their morale.
We walked together to talk about more stuff like Arisha and our happenings until 21:00,in which the fighting will start again. Shame there are no females around...
22:45
"What are your orders?" a soldier asked next to me.
New Artillery guns have arrived two hours ago after Stanoje requested the Chief of the General Staff,Dragoljub Ojdanic,through a phone call (as he told me through his telephone) over reinforcements. Every soldier got stationed where the guns stood still and I held a megaphone to command them,like I did in WW1 and WW2 with the Chetniks and Partisans.
"Watch the skies closely,друже soldier,and wait for my signal." I told him,looking through my binoculars.
Belgrade was unusually silent,almost too silent. Tension was rising. Unlike the first two days,no light from fires nor the planes have been shown from the skies. Fifteen minutes later,I saw one,no...TEN jets in formation,heading in front of us.
"They're coming!" I shouted at my group "Prepare yourselves!"
The first jet out of ten came out from the clouds,eight kilometers away.
"READY!"
The soldiers rotated their guns at encircled formation,waiting for them to come.
"AIM!"
They raised their artilleries upwards and their hands grabbed the buttons.
"ПАЛИ!"
The guns let their shells go all at once and four out of ten were downed,while the remaining six went to drop their bombs at us in return,before leaving to fly within Belgrade. The firing sound was so loud that some of us,including me and Scepan,covered our ears.
Once the enemy bombs fell towards us,we jumped away and five of our artillery guns (including my own,again) were destroyed,now killing two soldiers this time. We then rushed to take new guns and missile launchers and position then somewhere at the edge of the river,with some guns getting moved within the park.
One hour later and another Northrop wave approached. Scepan,who's delivering shells to me,found an missile launcher in the park and once he sat,he spotted eight jets flying from behind.
"COMRADES!" Scepan shouted as loudly as he could "ROTATE YOUR WEAPONS BACKWARDS AND FIRE AT WILL!"
I and the majority of the group did so and I shouted my signal after two jets appeared from the clouds. We and Scepan fired our guns at them and,unlike the last hour,we only downed two of them,who happen to be the ones who were first seen. They fell on the park and the remaining six (again) launched their bombs at us...and bombed parts of New Belgrade.
The final wave consisting of twelve jets arrived one and a half an hour later (at 01:20) and this time,they formed a circled formation to 'encircle' our location. Because of this,I ordered my group to form a 'circle' formation around the Park. Same as previous two waves,we downed the jets and got bombed at us (and repeating the same moves). We downed six planes,the last one ending up getting downed at the shores of the Great War Island. They now killed five soldiers once the remaining six (why must be always 'six'? Are we THAT limited?) planes withdrew from us.
In total,I,Scepan and the rest of us downed twelve planes today. That's twenty planes in three days. If Alfreak was inside one of the twenty,it'll make it better,especially if that Northrop was the one who fell on this island.
After four more hours had passed whilst watching the skies (they remained silent,for now),I dragged the dead bodies away towards the trees (while Scepan fell asleep one hour earlier) and was about to sit and keep waiting for another wave,a soldier approached me.
"Mr. Misic!" he called us "Can I drive you to your home?"
I turned to see a dirty (like the rest of us) soldier standing two feet from our gun,hands on his pockets.
"Why are you asking this?" I said in a tired tone,walking towards him,feeling intrigued by his question "Weren't you supposed to maintain your guard?"
"Of course I am,it's just that..."
"'That' what?"
"I counted the total number of the downed enemy planes after the last wave." he spoke up "You may seem to know its 20. Right?"
"Yes it is."
This made the soldier grin in confidence.
"I think we've finished defending Belgrade. We've shot down enough of them that our group would be able to handle the rest,if they dare to appear near it."
I nodded my head,smirking.
"You have a point,sir." I replied,holding my chin with my hand,complimenting "Does Lieutenant Colonel know about this?"
"He'll know eventually,when one of my colleagues report to him." the soldier said,releasing his hands from his pockets "Thanks to you,our group and military in general will learn new lessons over these three days of fighting."
I sighed.
"I cannot thank you enough...uhm..."
He raised his eyebrow.
"What's your name?" I said,raising my look at him.
"Dejan Dimitrijevic."
"Pleasure to hear it,Дејане."
Dejan and I turned at my sleeping younger brother,laying near the artillery gun.
"Hey,Шћепо,wake up." I whispered to his ear,moving my hand to push his shoulders.
Scepan didn't replied. I turned my head to Dejan,and then back at Scepan.
"Wake up!" I whispered again,now in a loud tone "Someone wants to see you."
Scepan barely opened his eyes and yawned.
"W-who...?" he groaned in sleepiness.
"Dejan."
Scepan slowly leaned up into sitting position.
"What's wrong with him?" Dejan asked "Is he ok?"
"He is. Wait for him to regain consciousness and he'll be fine."
"Is this kid your brother or something?"
"Yes."
We saw him getting up,still slowly,and blinked.
"What? Are we going back home?" Scepan said,numb.
"Тако је." Dejan replied,quietly "I'll pick you two up to your home."
Scepan asked me if it's true and I said 'yes'.
"Do you have a car?" Scepan said.
"No. I have a military vehicle."
"Fair enough." I replied.
And so,three of us left Kalemegdan and Dejan directed us to his vehicle where it was parked. We entered and I and Scepan sat on the backseat. He launched the car with his keys and started going. I told him where do I live and he noted it.
23rd July - 08:00
The dawn arrived,coloring our way yellow and orange over the night. With partially opened vehicle window,I heard nothing but overwhelming silence over our roadtrip,decorated with calming summer wind and birds tweeting. I don't feel good,but I'm getting better and my headache is starting to ease its pain.
I wasn't sleepy and I sat there hugging the sleeping Scepan with my left arm. Using too much caffeine make me sleepless and,now that the city defense is technically over,I should use any drink except coffee.
I had a small conversation with Dejan,talking about national and personal things. He said he lives in a village called Bolec (we bypassed it),and that he has one younger sister and a mother and father. I replied that I have a lot of brothers and sisters with disappeared father and dead mother. He assumed that I live in an orphanage,but I told him it isn't the case. The conversation lasted for half an hour and made me enjoy the trip,excluding the occasional bombs falling down and near the road (The sole reason why this trip is getting so long,because of risks to get killed).
I looked through the window to see the rising morning,smiling brightly. It made me recall all the good and bad moments,from Alfreak and his NATO's attacks on Grdelica train,Milica Rakic,RTS Station,Surdulica Sanatorium,Staro Gracko and the Albanian Refugee attacks (the recent being in Podujevo),to the good ones like the Nighthawk,Valjevo,the visit to Athene and the downage of twenty jets. After remembering all of these things,I reached a major conclusion: There's always one good in every evil.
Taking a menthol candy from its box between the front seats and a lit cigarette offered by Dejan,I leaned near Scepan.
"I-I..." I stuttered,feeling embarrassed for disrupting his sleep "I'm sorry for not visiting you on your birthday."
His birthday happened on 13th July.
"Doesn't matter,Vuk." he replied silently,almost a whimper,smiling "Seeing you after a long time is my best present gift you ever made for me."
I too smiled and kissed his face. I can't wait to reach Visevac.
12:30
We finally arrived at my hometown. When the vehicle stopped its gas,Scepan woke up. We exited and got outside to my red house,saying goodbye to Dejan and seeing him drive back to his village,after we told him that we'll encounter again soon.
I and Scepan looked around its isolated morning and walked around the environment until we spotted two blonde females playing tennis near the Karadjordje Statue. I firstly thought they were intruders treading on my property illegally,but when I shouted at them,they turned. Those two females were Arisha and Natalia.
"VUK! SCEPAN!"
All of us were incredibly surprised seeing each other. They dropped their rackets and we ran towards each other in joy and jumped to hug one another tightly. The hugging was longer than any other hug in our lifetime,and I nearly cried.
"Oh,you two,where were you? How was your day?" Arisha asked,releasing me,smiling. Natalia followed her suit.
"Tough and great." I summed those last three days up,with a half smile.
"Vuk,what's Scepan doing here?" Natalia said. She and Arisha hadn't excepted Scepan to be with me,much less with Natalia. They haven't seen each other in ages.
"My older brother was fighting NATO and I went to Kalemegdan to join in." Scepan replied,in a kind tone "That's all I can describe."
"That's why we came to Vuk's house,to wait for him after the battle." Arisha said,chukling softly "You thought I was going to forget about you?"
"Of course not,Arisha!" I said.
All of us got separated in four directions to wonder around,while I and Scepan walked towards the tennis web and examined its stuff. After that,we went back to our two sisters.
"Do you want to come inside your house?" Arisha suggested "You two look really sick like raccoons and in dire need of refreshing. You'll explain everything what had happened once we get there."
We kinda got offended for calling us 'raccoons'. She had a point though,we had rings around and under our eyes for lack of sleep,less so with Scepan.
"Yeah,it kinda was boring too." Natalia explained "We came here at seven 'o' clock in the morning and the door was locked. We repressed our boredom by playing tennis,chattering and just waiting for you."
They were right,we were all equally exhausted. As we saw their military jeep next to my home,I unlocked the door and got inside my house and closed the door. While three of them went to the kitchen to make a breakfast,I went to my bathroom to take a long shower,wash my hair,put my military uniform,boots and socks to the washing machine and then dress up to my bedroom. When I finished,a decent breakfast was served,and three of them sat.
When Scepan finished his own breakfast (he was the first one to finish eating),he got up from the chair to also take a shower and do the same,changing his spare clothes. After I,Arisha and Natalia finished our meal,we sat together in a sofa and I explained everything what had happened. They listened and after finishing my explanation,Arisha and Natalia widened their eyes.
"So you're saying you and Scepan downed twenty jets in three days,which happened to be more powerful than NIGHTHAWKS?!" Arisha raised her tone,flabbergasted "I can't believe it. Поздравления!"
"It did happened and they're called Northrops,or 'Falcons' in my Chief of the Air Staff's words."
"That explains a lot why we got this thing to begin with." Natalia added,grabbing something within the glass desk.
We turned our heads at Natalia.
"What's this?"
"A box."
"But that's not just any box,Scepan." Natalia said,about to casually open the box "It's a вельмі асаблівы box. I'll show you why."
The box got opened and it had one DVD cassette and a letter. The former had blue signature word "NATO" while the latter didn't.
I was about to raise a question,but Natalia ignored me and placed the cassette into the DVD player below the TV. She turned it on and the video started.
The first segment of that three-minute-long video showed,like with the Nighthawk one,a large NATO podium where its members sat on the left side to wait for their 'Leader' to arrive. A large scream was heard in the background and after five seconds,the door was slammed against the wall and Alfreak appeared.
He stormed and patrolled around,fuming and screaming bullshits,particularly repeating "TWENTY". The livid Alfreak marched towards the desk and shook it forward and backward for five seconds in rage and slammed it to go at the center of the podium. Next,as the camera got a little closer to him,he pulled his hair to try rip parts of his already messed-up hair,and threw them at the floor,for half a minute.
"FUCKING SLAY THOSE SAVAGE PIECES OF FUCKING SHIT!" he screeched,as if he's about to lose his voice "WHERE ARE THE NUKES WHEN YOU NEED THEM!?"
Lastly,he went up to pick the Greek flag pole and started to rip it apart,biting and tearing the same,bashing the pole and wrapping himself with that flag as he did those three things,rolling like a bratty and criminal freak he is.
"IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT! FUCK ATHENE,FUCK THE GENOCIDAL SAVAGE IMP AND WHOEVER MADE THEM!" he screeched at top of his lungs again as he did so,louder. How ironic...and it's sad that his members won't dare to laugh for watching him losing his shit.
He stopped ranting and raving when a loud female panting laughter was heard. She laughed like a hyena. Alfreak Jonster turned his face at the camera. His face was red as pepper,hair bangs on his forehead were noticable,tiny hairs around his hair were visible and his cracked glasses weren't adjusted. He barred his teeth and charged at the camera girl...and Emily facepalmed in embarrassment from distance,ending the video.
When the cassette ended,we bursted in fits of laughter for some time. All of us cried in laughter and pushed each other,making the sofa shake left and right. After calming down for a bit,I picked the letter,opened it and we read it. It was short,but it made us laugh longer than the previous time.
"Queridos amigos,
If you watched the whole video,it was me who recorded him again. I was informed by Athene yesterday about what did she did to him,and it was magnificent. She recommended me to go to the next NATO meeting tomorrow (that is,today) morning and I did so for obvious reasons. I presented it through a cassette because I want this video to be permanent in your memories. Dios mío,it was fucking priceless (more so when Adele told me that he and his poor Northrop were downed in the middle of an island in Belgrado)!
So now you're wondering what happened after it ended. Well,the cut segment went up like this:
I quickly ended the recording once I saw that uncontrolled Yanqui monkey running towards me. While he chased me,I ran as fast as I could towards the lift. He could've caught me and beat me up to the pulp,but thanks to Adele,she blocked the door entry to the lift,giving me the chance to wait for the lift. When the lift's bell rang,he pushed her violently,spitting "YOU WON'T RUIN THIS CHANCE,CUNT!",after demanding her to go away. The lifts door closed and Alfredo Co'Jones was so close to enter. It made him bang repeatedly at the lift with full force,screaming "MAARRIIAAAAAC!".
Adele,as the legend she has always been,poked his shoulder and,when he turned to her enraged,she slapped him hard in the face and he was going to launch against her,but Emily and Matthew arrived in time to restrain him by grabbing his arms with their elbows,and muzzle his mouth with their other hands. Adele crossed her arms and smirked as they dragged him out of the hallway and the Yanqui de mierda let his tears out,moving his legs like a bicycle and acted like a pig to the slaughter.
The attendees laughed whist they dragged that broken brat away until Adele grabbed the mic and coughed to make them shut up.
"You're free to go,gens! This 'meeting' wasted all of out time and patience! Merci!"
And that's how it ended. It was fun to watch. Vuk,if you're reading this,you dado por el culo really good. You defeated him and turned him into an unofficial laughingstock! Your bravery and boldness is boundless. Veinte putos aviones,that deserves to be celebrated!
However,I'm currently not sure if I should spread it around or just keep it to myself and my siblings to enjoy. Either way,I hope we can meet each other in person again,Vuk,since Alfredo won't stop attacking you any time soon.
Sinceramente,
María.
P.S. By the way,in two days,I'm going to fight Alfred in the FIBA World Cup in Andrés' lands. If you have time or will,I recommend you to (and should) watch me on your TV,if you have any. You'll like it,I guarantee you."
We bursted again in laughter over this epic letter for few minutes. I too want to see Maria in person again. She,like Athene,is risking a lot to help me.
"D-D-...D-Does that сплачина always act like this?" Scepan stuttered,because of the effects of the laughter,after calming himself down.
That was the question I asked to Arisha after we watched Maria's video over Alfreak's reaction to being downed with his Nighthawk by me. He doesn't know much about him like we do.
"See for yourself,bro." I said,placing my hand on his shoulder "Once you get to know Alfreak,you'll see the answer."
This made Scepan snicker.
"Where did they go?" he asked again.
"They probably sent the Pindo into Kindergarten,I assume." Natalia answered,giggling.
The final wave of laughter appeared,but more steadier and calmer.
"Best day ever!" Arisha exclaimed,proudly.
We then cleaned out tears,took deep breaths and sat there in silence. I,on the other hand,slowly and abruptly got up to head again to my bedroom.
"Vuk,where are you going?" Natalia said,loudly.
I stopped my steps on a stair,turning at her.
"To take a long nap,Nat." I replied,softly "You would do the same if you were me."
"He's right." Arisha told her "Vuk's going through a lot of дерьмо. He just turned Belgrade into a secure place."
"And me?" Scepan snapped at Arisha.
"You too,Scepan. You shouldn't feel irrelevant." she replied,caressing his hair,gently.
"Thanks."
They let me go and I sighed in relief,slowly getting upstairs to my bedroom to get in bed and cover myself with my blanket,tucked away. Before I fell asleep,I heard Scepan requesting his sisters to play and chat with him,feeling bored and wanting to stay for a day. They agreed and went outside,leaving me alone in the room.
For the first time in many years,I would sleep like a lamb. And Belgrade in general.
Here's the Fourteenth Chapter. As promised,this chapter has been posted on late December.
After Serbia went back to his lands out of his stay in Greece,he got informed by his Chief of the Air Staff to defend the Capital City of Serbia/Yugoslavia and make it untouchable from NATO. Twenty Northrops were downed and America broke hard and lost some of his sanity with it immediately after failing to stop Greece from succeeding,like with the Nighthawk Incident. Montenegro,hearing the announcement through news,joined in with Serbia to fight and earn victory,despite his brief objections.
Thanks for reading.