Chapter III: Vlad

A year after the initial invasion by Yellow Comet, Blue Moon had fallen to it's lowest point. Within three months of the organization of a militia, the initial ten million men that had been recruited had fallen to three million.

The army was in no condition to fight. They had been thrown into battle, torn away from their families, and forced to fight for a country that they did not believe in.

The Orange Star officials were in no mood to change their tactics. In order to assimilate Blue Moon, that fighting force would have to be destroyed. Eliminated. The only way to do so without inciting a rebellion would be to send them to die against the Yellow Comet Invasion.

However, deep within the occupied cities of Blue Moon, a movement was starting. It was quiet, so much that no Orange Star soldier would ever recieve word of the hero that now embodied the Blue Moon nationalism.

It hadn't took long for a mere letter, sent from an unknown location, to root itself into the local culture. One man saw it first, and he passed it on to his friends in silence. It spread like wildfire, and soon the people knew of a secret hero that had died in their defense.

Alek was his name. The ledgend surrounding him proposed that he had been a man that led thousands of Blue Moon fighters deep into the Yellow Comet sectors, a man that shrugged off the Orange Star regulations and fought on his own accord. A man that won victory after victory, hoping to one day turn his vast army back at Orange Star, and achieve independence.

But, as the story went, Orange Star had noted his independant thought, and they wanted him dead. An intricate assassination plot was set, and they purposely revealed him in a vulnerable position to Yellow Comet. He had died in the fighting, and left the Blue Moon army with no leader, no direction.

Alek was a hero. A messiah. A symbol of the Blue Moon fighting spirit. These people would not soon forget his heroism.

-----

Stasia walked down the snow-filled road, careful not to look into the streets. The streets were where the soldiers rode, and they were quick to anger. They could not possibly tolerate a civilian, let alone a young woman, having the audacity to look into the streets of her own town. That was not acceptable.

She would not let herself be angered by them, however. It seemed that every time they even thought someone was thinking bad things about them, someone ended up dead. Sometimes they would take you into their prisons, sometimes they would shoot you on the street. Whatever they felt like doing at that time, they would do.

The sight of a newstand took her attention off of the horrors of her time. The shopkeep had a sign that read "New Release."

New Release? It was almost sundown. What kind of newspaper was published in the middle of the day? Stasia was suspicous, so she initially ignored it.

But curiosity would have the best of her. She looked into the street, and saw that it was clear of soldiers. She walked up to the shopkeep.

"I'll have a copy of the new release," She asked the shopkeep, an elderly man. He looked up, seeming almost entranced at her voice.

"Oh, yes," The old man seemed to blush slightly. "My apologies. Here you are, young lady," He grabbed a newspaper off the stand.

Stasia snatched it quickly out of his hands, threw the money on the table, and quickly walked away. She turned around, and said in a sincere and somewhat saddened voice, "Thank you."

She moved quickly, and took the back alley. She searched the newspaper to look for an Orange Star seal of approval. None.

Her possession of this newspaper was a crime. If someone saw her with it, she could be shot on sight. However, it was pointless to ditch the newspaper now. She had already bought it, and she might as well get the benefits of the risk she was running.

Blue Moon Troops Nearing Vladivostok

Stasia looked at the headline and a feeling of dread came over her. Vladivostok was only a few miles away from town. Blue Moon troops were moving in to fight Yellow Comet.

But it was not only that battle that would take place nearby, by the reasoning behind this headline which frightened her. Stasia realized that whoever was writing these illegal newspapers, spreading the rumors of Blue Moon heroes, they were trying to make something happen.

A revolt. Whoever it was, they were trying to inspire a revolt. When those Blue Moon militia entered Vladivostok, they would be greeted by revolutionaries. Civilians that wanted a group of freedom fighters to liberate them. The beginnings of a Blue Moon insurgency against Orange Star.

Behind her, Stasia could hear the sound of screeching tires. She dropped the paper, fell to her knees, and began to cry.

--------

It was at that same time, not too far away from Vladivostok, that Olaf read the same newspaper.

"I repeat. Do not try anything," the Orange Star officer said from behind his desk. "Orange Star troops will be trailing you. Any attempts to start something and you will be destroyed.

"I won't go down there," Olaf responded. The Orange Star officer stared him in the eye, searching to see if it was the truth. He saw no lies.

"You will be sent out within the hour. You will be with your comrades that survived the last mission. This will be a test of your abilities. Your objective is victory at all costs. Understood?"

"Understood."

"You will be sent out along with the mass of all of the militia. I don't want you making contact with them. None. Your secondary mission is understood, is it not?"

"Find out who sent the story," Olaf said. He felt sick to his stomach. He knew who it was. But he could not tell, and if he was caught lying he would be shot along with him.

"Get out of here."

Olaf saluted the officer, and walked out. Vlad was sitting with Erik, Reidar, and Ivan at a table just outside.

"When are we leaving, Olaf?" Vlad asked him.

"In an hour. Vlad?"

"Yeah?"

"We need to talk."

Olaf pulled him away from the table and walked outside. They ran through the snow, and Olaf searched around him, checking for anyone able to listen to the conversation.

"You see anyone?" Olaf asked.

"No, why?"

"You know what this is about."

"What?"

Olaf sighed. "You don't want me to turn you in, do you? Don't play dumb, I know exactly what you did."

Vlad grinned. "You're pretty quick at this. Good job."

"Why did you write that?"

"The better question is why I didn't do it sooner. You know very well why I wrote it, Olaf," Vlad said, now in a more serious tone.

"Look, we can't have you writing stuff like this. Do you have any idea what that story is going to do? Do you have any idea what you're setting into motion?" Olaf said, shouting under his breath.

"Of course I know what it will do. That's why I wrote it."

Olaf looked down at his boots, trying to contain his anger.

"Come on Olaf! This is our chance! This is our chance to fight! I remember what you said before Orange Star started taking over. I remember you telling me about how we had to get them out of the country. I remember you saying how we had to gain independence."

"That was before. This is now."

"Oh, I see. So you condone a revolution when you don't have to fight, but soon as someone might get hurt, you back off. Play dead."

"That isn't it. You know what would happen, Vlad, if we allowed this to happen. Blue Moon is being occupied by a force over three times our size and with better equipment. Even if we manage to beat them in Vladivostok, how are we going to save Blue Moon?"

"That will come later. We have to take the opportunity when it comes. There will never be a better time. If we wait they will just become stronger and stronger, while we become weaker and the people lose the will to fight. Right now the spirit of Blue Moon is fresh in their minds. We can't pass this up," Vlad was no longer whispering. The patriotic zeal could be seen in his icey blue eyes. He was ready to die for his cause.

Olaf said nothing. He could not think of what to say that would not further drive Vlad's patriotic ambitions.

"Don't you remember Olaf, when you said those things? About how Blue Moon had to stay it's own country despite the war? Didn't you write that essay in school once, about how you loved your country? Didn't you say that you would rather be dead than be a puppet of Orange Star?"

Olaf remembered those words.

"I never would have thought, in my wildest dreams, that I would see you fall so far from your old self. I never would have thought that a boy that had such spirit, such bravery..." Vlad reminisced, "Would turn out to be such a spineless coward of a man."

Vlad's word felt like a knife through Olaf's heart. He clenched his fist and looked Vlad straight in the eye, his anger plainly visible.

"You're only angry because you know it's true."

Another knife tore through him.

"I'm only doing what's best for those people. What's best for Blue Moon."

"What's best for Blue Moon is independence, not cowardice."

Another moment of silence as the chilling wind blew strong against them. Vlad opened his mouth to speak as the wind calmed.

"Go on Olaf. Go fight your war. Just ask yourself, when you've won, who are you going to turn to? Me, or them?" He walked away, leaving Olaf to stand alone in the cold.