Author's Note: I normally don't put my author's notes first, but I'll leave this as an exception as I posted the wrong draft for Chapter 16. I immediately updated with a much more… sensible draft. So I recommend reading Chapter 16 before you continue to this chapter so you won't be confused. My fault.

A single phone call was all that was needed. It was needed to prevent a conflict between nations and kickstarting the Third World War. For President Dirrel, he found the prospect of the idea ironic. Modern nations willing to start an apocalyptic war over the survivors of a similar event nobody had imagined in their lifetime. The phone rang into his ear, hoping he could ease the tensions between the Russians and the Japanese, but the hard-headed prime minister was still insistent on making sure the Special Region. That needed to change.

He heard the line get picked up on the other side, perhaps halfway around the world. "President Dirrel, you wish to speak with me?" Spoke a man with a thick Russian accent on his end.

"Yes, President Zyganov. It is about the Special Region." He clarified. "Rumor has it your soldiers are mobilizing in the far east. Do you mind explaining that to me?"

The Russian laughed. "Ah, I see you misread the situation. I knew something was wrong with that decision from the beginning."

"Why the build-up?"

"Military exercise." He answered. "It was scheduled so I can be informed about the readiness of the Far Eastern District. However, the lack of good news leaves much to be desired."

"One can see it as a prelude to an invasion." Dirrel replied. "I've already informed the Japanese about the possibility of your troops in Japan."

"It's possible, but it is an incredibly risky and daresay - a stupid plan. Our navy is in no position to even to contend with yours, so why instigate and antagonize a navy we have no desire to war with?" Zyganov stated in great detail.

"Your word is not enough. How about something more substantial to keep the Japanese calm about the Special Region?"

"I see." There was a small pause in-between. "My ambassador has some vital information pertaining to the military exercises. Your people can review it in your embassy at Moscow, but I do have to make a request."

What did he want? "Which is?"

"A UN observer in the Special Region." The foreign leader suggested. "The public in Russia is demanding for oversight on the Japanese about this land and it would sate their hunger for more… drastic actions. Do that and everybody wins and nobody shoots each other over a misunderstanding."

"I'll discuss with the Japanese PM, but know that we'll be keeping our eye on you." Dirrel said with a cold demeanor in his eyes while his staff stared at him.

"I know, but both of us should focus on matters at hand. The people of the Moscow Metro are not exactly living in paradise. Afterall, these versions of Russians are currently in a warzone as I recall about Japan's response to these so-called terrorists.

The US president couldn't hold a smile in. "So then, are we in no position to kickstart a war?"

"Yes, just take extra measures to ensure the Russian citizens are safe and sound for the UN to interview."

With the Nazi access to the Gate eliminated, Colonel Miller was glad to know that the passage was secure. Yet, he was worried about the numbers of Communist soldiers walking around in the tunnel - especially when they could simply take this place for themselves and give the Red Line access to the other world. Despite his concerns, he had to remain silent about the matter less they do take action. Thankfully, he was not alone in the tunnel as his fellow rangers stood around a campfire while the drillers made their way to take care of the cave-in. "Gentlemen, I don't like our situation here. Although we kicked the Nazis out, we shouldn't be so comfortable with the Reds here."

One of the men scoffed at their situation. "Good thing that most of the ones here are conscripts. Either they are saving the actual troops on the frontlines or the surface patrols."

"Careful Duke, they still outnumber us." He replied. "The best thing we should do is stay cautious about them. They're just one step ahead of the Nazis in terms of trustworthiness - which isn't much to begin with."

Another ranger voiced his opinion. "To be fair, they're better company that's for sure." Unlike the other Russians, this man's face carried asiatic features from the people of the steppe. "I don't have to be confronted by racists assholes who don't like what they see."

Then a californian accent spoke up. "Damir, you have better than what I have to deal with. Shit, I'm an American and that just gives people more excuse to get into a fight with a Ranger."

"Sam, Damir, the situation might change for both of you. If the Reds somehow get through that rubble, we might find people who won't tolerate the any of this shit." The colonel commented. "So that is something to look forward to once we get into a conversation with the Japanese."

"Ah, the Japanese Self-Defense Force. Who would have thought I'd be glad to see those guys again?" Then the American laughed at his comment.

"So Samuel, did you actually meet the Japanese during time in the Marines?"

He pulled out a cigarette and lit the tip. "In Japan? No. Though I did meet a few guys during my tour in the Middle East. Nice people, doing some humanitarian work back in the day. Makes me wonder what these guys were doing in this land full of fantasy and knights." Then he nudged his fellow ranger beside him. "What do you think Alyosha? Maybe you might find a good company of Japanese women."

A man older than Duke smiled as he drank his cup. "Depends." He replied. "I've never met a Jap before, but I heard from the elders that they had these weird mannerisms that makes life a pain in the ass to deal with. From what they say, they might be troublesome."

"Okay." Samuel admitted. "They do have their weird cultural quirks, but so do you guys - no offense to the Russians and the Kazakh."

"None taken." The colonel replied. "Just remember that I'm your superior officer."

"Don't worry, you still have the right to chew my ass out."

A railcar was driving from the rear with it's lights illuminating the poorly-lit tunnel and a chorus of men singing from their seats. This caused the commander of the Spartan Order to take a good long glance at the vehicle to find a commissar singing to the top of his lungs of the old Soviet Red Army songs. Odd that he once sung these old pre-war songs back when he was a junior officer of the Soviet forces.

One of the men stepped out from the trolley and slowly approached the group while he stole a glance from the commissar. "Keep it up commissar, I'll tell my superiors how much you are doing an excellent job in keeping our men loyal to the revolution." Then he turned his gaze towards him. "Ah, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. I obviously tried to find you in Polis, but the rumors about you being deployed here seem to ring true based off the information from my comrades."

Miller stepped away from his soldiers to confront him. "So who the hell are you?" The man had a freshly shaved head with a light blue jacket to accompany his person. "You don't look like a Red."

"Perhaps that is the point, but I digress. My name is Major Morozov from Red Line intelligence; however, you can also call me Pavel. I'm here to accompany you and assist with whatever is beyond this Gate of yours."

The commander raised an eyebrow. "Like that is going to make us any comfortable with you in the first place."

Then the colonel heard a snicker from behind his back. "Well that's something, we have an honest to god communist spy on our hands." Duke commented.

"Don't get too comfortable, Red."

The major shrugged his shoulders. "I know."

The light-hearted moment ended when the drilling stopped and the cries of men echoed throughout the tunnel. Gunfire erupted alongside the snarling hatred of monsters. "Nosalises, they were digging through the rubble!" A man cried as communists and rangers put aside their differences to grab their weapons and put them down.

Ever since he arrived back home, his fellow squad members alongside himself were tired after trying to keep crowds of reporters from initiating a conversation with the imperials and the post-apocalypse Russians. So they immediately brought out the blankets and set them down across the room for everyone to sleep in. The last thing he remembered was Artyom's and Uhlman's request to take a shower. He had forgotten that the great commodities of life were gone when the bombs fell and the lieutenant couldn't blame their desire to fresh themselves.

When slumber came, the young man found himself in a dream. Most dreams would include himself trying to get his hands on his activities, but this was entirely different. He found himself in a tunnel that included a barricade made out of an assortment of items people could use to block the tunnel with. However, he also saw people manning their posts like something terrible was coming to them with weapons - some with recognizable features while others made out of god knows what. Tin cans rustled in the wind, alerting the men among the barricade that something was coming.

Itami turned around to see strings of cans hanging from the ceiling. He had to admit, it was a neat idea for these people to do to make an alarm system. Then he noticed several tall dark figures walk through them. Out of fright, the lieutenant ran towards the barricade where the defenders where while someone in command had shouted to the top of his lungs. "Open fire!" Machine gun fire was unleashed as he looked over his shoulder to find the creatures take the bullets without hesitation. Their persistence was terrifying as they reached out with their elongated hands for him. For a single moment, he felt like he was about to puke.

Then he opened his eyes, only to find himself back in his room. However, Tomita and Kuribayashi were towering over him. "Lieutenant, are you alright?" Kuribayashi asked.

He shook his head as he sat up. "Other than getting a weird dream, I'm fine." He admitted with a smile. "Why do you ask?"

"You were talking in your sleep and it sounded like you were in trouble."

The lieutenant shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

Tomita handed him a cold can into his hands. "If that is the case, sir, we have a problem."

As he rubbed his eyes in comfort, he yawned. "What kind of problem?"

"The Russians, they've left the apartment."

Itami eye's shot up and looked around, only to find out that Tomita was correct in his observation. "Shit, do we know where they are?"

"No. It's like they snuck out and left."

Then a familiar face walked into the room. A girl in glasses stumbled upon three JSDF soldiers huddling together as she rubbed her eyes. "Oh, you're talking about Artyom and that funny guy. I think they went out to get themselves a drink."

"Risa, where did they go?" The lieutenant asked. "The government is going to kill me if we somehow lose people from the Gate."

"They're in that bar across the street. They shouldn't be too far."

"Thank you, we better - hold up. They don't even have any money to do anything there." He realized for a moment. Then he got up and checked his belongings. "What the hell, they literally stole the money for all of us!"

Artyom was reluctant to spend the stolen money, but it was to pay for the drinks that Uhlman had ordered. The concept of a paper money was alien to him while Uhlman smiled and waved at the bartender. "You sure it was a good idea to spend this money without the lieutenant's permission?"

Uhlman slipped out a chuckle. "Yes. Don't worry, we're only going to buy one drink for ourselves and we'll head back into the apartment. Just need something for that kick since I'm not allowed to smoke in the building."

Then the bartender returned with two glasses of alcohol for the duo. "Here you go sirs."

"Thank you." The senior ranger replied before they both grabbed the handle. "Bottoms up."

The young man raised his glass and sipped its contents. Unlike the mushroom vodka he had in the Metro, this drink seemed to be made out of something stronger. "Damn, I didn't think there would be something worse than moonshine."

Uhlman laughed at his predicament. "You just don't have a high tolerance for an actual drink. If you really don't like it, let me have it." He suggested.

Artyom pushed his drink aside as his friend eagerly finished his glass only to look forward to his second. "I wonder why it's taking so long for us to meet with the Japanese government."

"Apparently, our arrival wasn't supposed to be known and somebody let out some information. That's was Itami told me." He answered. "The best thing we can do is simply wait and hope they don't take their sweet time."

The door to the bar was open as the rangers turned their heads to find a red-headed in a black jacket woman enter the establishment. Her shoes clicking with each step while her purse hung from her shoulder. "A shot of vodka please!"

The bartender was quick to acknowledge her with a small glass cup as he slowly poured the contents within the bottle. As she took her seat, Uhlman raised his glass at her arrival. "You're having one of those nights?" He asked.

She glanced her head towards them with a momentary pause. "Wait a minute, I've seen you before." The woman commented. "Are you the two Russians everyone is talking on the news?"

"I guess our arrival sturred some shit up, but yeah - we are those guys."

When the bartender finished pouring her a drink, she grabbed her glass and walked over towards the duo. "What's your name?"

"I'm Uhlman." Then he pointed his finger towards the young man. "He's Artyom. We're both from Moscow… or what's left of it."

She quickly placed her money down as she drank her glass. "Whatever you guys are going through, I know you'd appreciate some help after some of the things we've just read about our fellow Russian citizens in the other world." Then her hand went deep into her purse, only to hand them a map of the city. "I work at the Russian embassy so if you want to get your papers updated you could do it there."

"Well, my friend and I appreciate that. What's your name?"

The woman was surprised. "Me? Why do you ask?"

"It's been awhile since I've enjoyed the good things in life, such as a pre-war date."

She raised her eyes. "That is probably the drink talking. Besides, I'm a complete stranger to you and your friend."

Artyom quickly intervened on his behalf as he grabbed the brochure. "Alright Uhlman, let's head back before our Japanese fellows start looking for us on a witch hunt."

"You guys can keep it, I know my way around the city." The woman answered.

"Are you sure?" He wondered.

"Very. I meet with a whole assortment of people in my line of work."

Then the older ranger's senses returned. "Eh, she's probably right. Let me finish my drink and we'll be on our way." He raised his glass and downed the entire alcohol drink in one sitting. "Artyom, stay by my side at all cost. I might make a mess later on."

The soldiers slipped out of their seats as they walked towards the door. After they passed her, they heard her talk once more. "My name is Lera Melnikova. Perhaps we might settle a date at the embassy."

Uhlman chuckled as he looked over his shoulder. "As us guys in the Metro like to say, I have a train to catch."

The young man shook his head in disbelief. "Enough with the tunnel puns. I'm getting sick of them."

"Trust me, Artyom. You'd act the same if you were trying to impress a girl."

Security into the Special Region was tight. Although the JSDF normally did not set up FOBs outside of Alnus Hill, the situation with the second Gate required its construction. While engineers formed a new defensive position and cut down the trees which hid the Gate, Kuzmich and his fellow Rangers found themselves helping out the civilians who were going to dig through the cave in and meet with their fellow comrades. If they didn't, he would be there to ensure that the Nazis eat a bullet for all their troubles.

The machines were huge as he and his Rangers were busy making sure the battlefield wreckage didn't get in the way of it's direction. The civilians manning the machines were careful in moving it onto the rails as they turned the drill on. Although loud, Kuzmich didn't mind it as the dirt grinded against its steel. He watched from the sidelines as he noticed movement on his left. "Shuhrat, did you see that?"

The ranger beside him turned his head. "What? No, I wasn't paying attention."

Kuzmich pointed towards the dirt moving towards them. "Shit, tell them to shut it off and get back to the Japanese." As the ranger left him, the old quartermaster grabbed his assault carbine and aimed it at the spot where the movement seemed to be noticable.

When the machine turned off, one of the Japanese civilians approached him with his footsteps coming closer. "Why do you want me to turn it off? Can you see that we can't - what the hell?"

Dirt stumbled onto the floor as a creature's hand reached out to grab him. However, the quartermaster was unafraid when he pulled the trigger. Gunfire erupted as the monster escaped from its burrow with an attempt to strike him, but the damage was already done. It immediately died on the spot with it's legs unable to give an opportunity to lunge at him.

He was not alone as he heard gunfire on the right side of the tunnel. "Shit, the nosalises are digging through the cave in!"

"Glazkov, Senaviev we hold until the Japanese come out to support the drillers." He ordered. Then he looked around to find the civilian worker in his yellow hardhat barely holding onto a pillar. "Leave the tunnel, we'll hold them off here!"

A roar echoed from the burrow as he saw the hulks of the next monster slipping through the hole before the old man stepped forward to fill it with death.

Author's Note: I was supposed to post this chapter a few days ago, but procrastination set in when I bought Metro Exodus and my brother with Kingdom Hearts 3. Then it continued longer when Hearts of Iron IV: Man the Gun came out. So yeah, I was busy playing video games.