THE SIBERIAN WAR-LAKOV'S TRIUMPH
By Red Star
NOTE: I do not own any real or anime characters mentioned here.
"War…is hell"-General Sherman, Union Army
RUDNAYA PRISTAN, ON THE PACIFIC
Darien watched the column move into town. The long line of pitiful young men, some dirtied, some with rags covering their bodies, some with red and white bandages wrapped about their heads, lumbered through the streets, often collapsing from exhaustion. The Japanese Army was now trapped in an ever shrinking pocket; it's troops were tired and hungry. The Russians pounded the enemy mercilessly with Tu-22M bombers and cluster bombs. The Japanese Air Force had hoped that it's fresh wing of F-16C fighters would help the struggling Japanese forces, but newer Russian MiG-33s wreaked havoc on them. The Russian Army had now concentrated 900,000 troops on the Japanese pocket, their intent was clear: wipe out the 235,000 men left in the Japanese Army in Siberia.
EASTERN THEATER CENTRAL COMMAND, VLADIVOSTOK
"Marshal Vladimir Lakov, may I introduce Admiral Victor Kolsov, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Navy." said the Marshal's adjutant. Lakov studied the man before him. Kolsov studied the CINCEAST in turn. Lakov held out his hand, "Welcome, Admiral," Kolsov smiled and grasped Lakov's hand firmly. "Pleased to be here, Marshal,"
The CINCEAST and CINCPAC poured over a computerized chart showing the Japanese pocket. "There are two ways to escape us," said Lakov, "To either evacuate to Japan, or to go into the sea and die. Moscow says that the Japanese have about 300 troop carriers coming to help them," Lakov looked at Kolsov, "Those Japs in this pocket form the bulk of what is left of the Japanese Army. I have the 2nd Shock Army, 4th Tank Army, 11th Tank Army, 1st Shock Army, and the 18th Air Army pounding them, but if the Japanese Navy can carry away even less than half their army, It would be a great victory for them."
Kolsov nodded. "I'll see to it that they die before they get there…"
Kolsov's car arrived at the dock where his flagship, the Kiev class Sea Hammer was anchored. In front of the ship was parked a large black van. Two men were standing by it, talking with some of Kolsov's officers. Kolsov's eyes narrowed and he stepped out of the car with a grim look. The two men turned to him, and appeared to take a small step back as they did so. Kolsov was dressed in his black regular service uniform and black greatcoat. Black gloves covered his hands, as the weather was turning cold. The massive concentration of black made him appear even more malevolent than before. The men standing before him wore blue caps with red lining and a small gold-lined circle that had the Russian tricolor imprinted on it.
They were MGB, from the Ministry of State Security.
One of them, a captain, gave a smart salute, "Good afternoon, Admiral," Kolsov returned the greeting and salute. The captain went straight to business. "Admiral Kolsov, we understand you have a prisoner, a young Japanese woman, aboard." Kolsov looked at him with an uncaring way, "So?" The officer blinked, as if in confusion. Something was wrong here… "We've come to take her in." Kolsov turned toward the walkway leading to his ship and said, "I'm afraid I cannot do that, there is too much to be done." The MGB captain's mouth opened in shock. He soon recovered and uttered, "Admiral, we…we must take her in, she is a prisoner of war and must be treated as such. I must insist that you let us…" Kolsov turned suddenly, sending the captain back in surprise. Kolsov leaned closer to the officer and said, "She will remain with me. There are other prisoners waiting for you, go get them." The MGB captain stood still, completely flabbergasted at this turn of events. Kolsov's features than turned angry, which was terrifying when such a look came from the Admiral. "I said go, captain…" said the Admiral. The captain turned and leaped into the black van, while his protégé climbed in alongside and the two sped off to the ship behind the Sea Hammer.
Kolsov unlocked his cabin door and walked in. Ami, as she often did, had dozed off to sleep with a book on her lap as she lay on his bunk. He quietly approached her and looked at the book's title. Sword Point. A piece of American fiction about a Soviet invasion of Iran. He liked to lend it around to his men to show how naïve American authors could be. The author had the U.S. send an entire Army Corps to defend Iran. That idea alone was a joke, and not even a good one! Why would America lift a finger to help Iran? They probably would have sat at home and watched it while eating popcorn and cheering us on. Kolsov thought grimly. But this was of no matter now. Kolsov took off his coat and changed into his sea service uniform and then quietly went out and locked the door behind him.
JAPANESE POCKET, TWO DAYS LATER
The Russian Army began it's campaign with the booming voice of 20,000 artillery guns and lit the sky with 8,000 katushya rocket trucks unloading their burdens. The sky above came alive with Russian fighters and bombers. Russian tanks and APC's rolled into the Japanese lines. Rifle troops went in alongside the T-90's and T-80's with machine guns and flamethrowers. If any Japanese would-be hero approached with an anti-tank weapon, they were either cut down with machine gun fire or turned into living torches. Russian jets strafed every Japanese camp they found and tank units fired indiscriminately when ever they approached a Japanese settled area. This was a battle of annihilation, and the Russians wanted to be the winners.
General Nohitomo looked at his maps in worry as his aides visited it almost every 3 seconds to change a marked position. The transports had arrived a half hour before, and Japanese troops were scrambling to take the ride home. The pocket was closing fast, and what was worse, Russia's Pacific Fleet was making it's way toward the transport fleet.
Helicopters rumbled overhead as the 11th Tank Army smashed into the remains of Nohitomo's 2nd Army. Mil-24s and 28s flew alongside Ka-50s and 52s as they strafed and bombed the last Armored Division and the last 4 Infantry Divisions. Men were screaming everywhere. Advancing Russian troops hid behind the remains of Mitsubishi tanks for cover as they sniped at the Japanese; when it was safe they leaped over the foxholes which were now full of blood and bodies. Black Eagle tanks rolled over, and sometimes crushed the skulls and ribs of, Japanese soldiers who had been raked by a mixture of strafing Su-25s or Rifle troops.
Within a few hours of the battle, only 12,000 troops were left to surrender to the Russian Imperial Army. Before it began, there were 72,000 Japanese soldiers.
6:34,SEA OF JAPAN
Admiral Kolsov smiled as the Japanese carrier fleet came into view. He gave the orders:
"Launch the Yak-41s and Su-33s. All units will prepare to fire their SSM batteries on my mark." Communication officers went to work immediately, and within a few minutes the Air squadron of the Russian Pacific Fleet was overhead, firing missiles into the Japanese carriers. The planes then flew back to reload. Now Kolsov made his move, "All units: Open fire!" Missiles soared out of their tubes and made a brilliant-no, beautiful-sight as they flew into the Japanese carriers. Flames were shooting up everywhere, smoke was pouring into the already darkening sky. Kolsov smiled as his crewmen cheered and slapped each other on the back. He turned to the window facing land. He could see bright flashes over there, the scenes of victory. The sky was now the deep blue of the Siberian evening, but Kolsov saw something even darker than the coming night, approaching at a magnificent speed. And then he heard something.
"mmmMMMEEEEOOOWWWwwrrrrr"
And then, against the brilliance of the flames of what was once the Japanese Troop Carrier fleet, he saw it: a massive…ship. That was the only way he could describe it. It had four sharp wing-like extensions that seemed to be clutching a massive red jewel. It was only in view for a second and then it was gone.
Kolsov stepped back in astonishment. "Radar!" he barked. "Yes, sir?"
"Did you pick up anything?" "Uh…no sir, it's been pretty clear tonight except for our own planes, of course." Kolsov turned back to the window and stared out at the burning wreckage again. What on Earth?
10:23, THE KREMLIN
Dane I, Emperor of All the Russias awoke with a start. He thought he had heard something, a footstep? The Emperor flipped a hidden switch near his bed and a panel hidden on the side of his bed slid open. He reached in and pulled out a submachine gun. The next thing he did was press his alert switch to the Kremlin's unit of the Imperial Guard. The Emperor then climbed out of bed and snuck down the hallways of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
He heard the footsteps again and again. They led him to an older part of the Kremlin, the Palace of Facets. He followed them to the Golden Chamber. As he did, he thought hard over the sound of the steps; they were light and quick, almost…childlike.
As he entered the Golden Chamber, he heard the faint sound of weeping. He looked around, the room. No one stood before him.
But one did sit, curled into a little ball on one of the seats that were carved into the wall and which bordered the windows. The Emperor approached, held out a hand and placed it on the child's shoulder. She suddenly jerked up and stared at him. She was quite young, with red eyes and pink hair. The hair was styled in a way that reminded Dane of a rabbit. The girl was dressed in a beautiful white dress, made of fine silk and crafted with obvious care. The Emperor smiled benevolently and said, "Hello," She nodded and sniffed a little.
"What are you doing in here, eh? How did you get in here?" She sniffed again and wiped a tear from her eye. She's crying. Maybe that has something to do with it. Show your sympathy. He smiled and leaned in close. "What's wrong?" She answered, "My daddy's going to die," The Emperor blinked in amazement. "Who's your daddy? I can try and help him," he said gently. A tear emerged from her eye again. "He's with Nohi…nohi…"
"Nohitomo?" said the Emperor. She nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry but…" And then, the girl vanished, right before his eyes. The Emperor jumped back and looked around the room. The girl was gone.
10:40, LAKOV'S MOBILE COMMAND POST, A FEW MILES OUTSIDE OF RUDNAYA PRISTAN
The radiophone buzzed and awoke the sleeping Marshal Lakov. Groaning, he reached over and picked it up. "CINCEAST here,"
"Lakov, this is your Emperor," he jerked awake. Why was the Emperor calling now?
"What is your wish, your Imperial Majesty?" "Lakov, I want you to halt your advance on Nohitomo and direct your efforts against the Japanese 3rd Army, they may try to break through and support Nohitomo. You may continue your encirclement, but I want the 3rd destroyed, do you understand?" "Yes, sire," answered Lakov, a little confused at the sudden Imperial order. "Oh, and Lakov…?" "Yes, sire?" "Do…you believe in ghosts?"
Lakov was surprised. "I've never thought about, my Emperor, why?"
The line was silent for a moment.
"…Never mind. Good-bye."
PASHA'S ELECTRONICS STORE, SKIRTS OF RUDNAYA PRISTAN
Tai breathed heavily as he watched the Russians outside talking about something. The store had surprisingly survived a good part of the war, although Pasha himself was rumored to have become a communications expert for the Partisans. But right now, Tai was worrying over whether the store could hide him from the Russians outside. Suddenly, he saw a faint glow on the floor. He turned and stared right into the face of his little sister, Kari. He jumped back in surprise, but quickly went back to his position before the Russians could see him. His little sister looked out at him from a computer monitor. "Kari," he hissed, "What are you doing?!" "Getting you home, brother," Tai was confused for a second and then he grinned. He took out his Digivice from under his shirt and held it up to the screen.
The Russians entered the store just in time to see a brilliant flash of light erupt from a rack to their left. They raced over to find an abandoned Japanese machine gun. But there was no one else in the store.
WOODS OUTSIDE RUDNAYA PRISTAN
Tenchi Masaki watched the Russian tanks rolling around the forest, looking for survivors of a devastating attack. Soon, they would find him…
Suddenly, a hand fell upon his shoulder and he found himself being dragged through the air and into a small clearing, with seven familiar shapes waiting for him…
When he landed, the same hands that had snatched him suddenly wrapped themselves around him. "Tenchi!!" said a familiar, rough, female voice. In the moonlight, he could see a glint of silver hair. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF LORD TENCHI THIS INSTANT YOU…" "Quiet!" he hissed, "The Russians are still around here!" "Oh, sorry," "Hi Tenchi!" said a young, happy voice and he felt two small arms wrap around his waist.
"You've made us proud, grandson…" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, what are you all doing here?"
"We're here to take you home!" cried another female voice, one that belonged to a blonde alien. "What?! I can't do that, I'd be shot!" "Not if we connect you with your group later on," said another know-it-all voice. He sighed. "All right, let's go…"
A small rabbit like creature leaped into the air just then and began changing…
THE NEXT DAY, FORMER JAPANESE POCKET
Fierce dogs barked and harsh Russian voices called out orders to the group of prisoners arriving on the field. Wheel barrows were brought out and distributed among the prisoners and they were shoved into their assigned areas. The groups were divided into two and then they were set to work under the glares of Imperial Army guards.
Tory Avalon loaded the body of a Japanese captain onto a small desk, where he quickly made out his body note:
Captain Hisaki Tego
Infantry
#1123452
Tory attached the note to the body with a needle. He was lucky; the guards trusted him enough to allow him to handle sharp objects.
The body was then loaded onto a truck where it was taken to a truck. The truck then made it's way to a nearby special camp, where prisoners tended a burning furnace that labored day and night.
An hour later, the ashes of Hisaki Tego, with his name, rank, and serial number imprinted on a small wooden box crafted by other Japanese prisoner of war, was placed on a train that headed west.
The train stopped in Moscow, where the boxes were loaded onto a plane and sent to Warsaw, Poland. From there, they were put on another flight to Tokyo, Japan.
Captain Hisaki Tego's box was presented to his mother with 9 hours of his processing.