"Without the use of words and reason, we'll let our actions speak of our intentions." - Aleksy Harkov, Russian President


Chapter One

One Kilometer Inside Irken Main Defense Wall

22 Kilometers From Tallest Tower, Miyuki Square

0240 Hours Local Time, June, 2022 (Present Day)

The Russian campaign was going well, so thought Colonel Vladimir Orlovski, callsign Sokol, acting commander of the first combined arms battalion. Sure, the initial arrival through the Einstein-Rosen Bridge in Irken occupied space was a bit... Problematic, at first. Not to mention the landing and setting up of a staging area on the planet of Irk, but, overall, given the fact they suffered little loses within the first two or so weeks, they were doing good.

Then again, Colonel Orlovski wasn't as excited to be here as the other officers were. Colonel Orlovski led men in previous wars back in the early two thousands, when extra terrestrial warfare hadn't even rested in the back of the Colonel's mind. He had also went through the meat grinder that was Moscow when the extra terrestrials no one ever thought to come to Earth, had indeed, arrived on Earth.

Colonel Orlovski engaged the Irkens in one war, and believe him, once was more than enough.

"Soon." Whispered the seasoned colonel to himself as he held the pair of digital binoculars to his eyes, standing in the hatch of a T-99 Armata universal combat platform. "Soon..." He whispered again, letting out a deep sigh.

The sound of helicopter rotors drew closer somewhere from behind Colonel Orlovski, the aged man set his binoculars down beside the pintel mounted NSVT machine gun, he turned his torso in the hatch of the turret and searched the sky. It took no more than five seconds to spot the incoming Kamov Ka-62, a modernized version of the origina design designated Ka-27, coming in for a landing no doubt as her gear retracted from her belly.

Army Command had told Colonel Orlovski a few days prior to the launch of his mission that they would be attaching a "special" officer to his battalion and sending it to him to act in advisory capacity. He hadn't received any transmissions that another crew was landing in the area, so that this had to be the "special" officer arriving now.

Colonel Orlovski ran his right hand through his graying buzz cut, pulled himself out of the hatch and cautiously made his way off the tank, and made his way toward the landing bird as it's gear touched down to the ground, if you could call the concrete "ground," because there was no dirt, or anything really organic on the planet. Colonel Orlovski halted himself about ten meters from the craft as the rear cargo door lowered with a hydraulic whir.

Colonel Orlovski raised his right arm to shield his face from the wind projected from the choppers powerful co-axial rotors, and he squinted to try and see past the dust being kicked up from the ground, but there was just too much of it for him to see past. The Colonel turned his head away from the dust, closing his eyes and closing his lips tighter, he couldn't believe how much dust there was on the ground.

Shortly after, the air got heavier as the chopper started to lift off, and within a moment, it banked left, and was gone as the dust began to settle. Orlovski coughed as he raised his hand to his mouth and turned back to where the chopper had landed and taken off from. There he stood in the dust, wearing his grey uniform with blue shoulder boards and collar tabs. The crown of his visor hat the same dull, medium grey color as his uniform, the band of it that same shade of azure blue as his collar tabs and shoulder boards.

The uniform reminded Orlovski of his grandfathers KGB uniform. In truth, the uniform had actually taken after the KGB style, but it did not belong to the KGB, because the KGB had been disbanded during the collapse of the Soviet Union. The uniform belonged to another intelligence/ security group known as the Special Purpose Security Group, or the SPSG. The SPSG was similar to the GRU in almost every way, save the fact that only a select few knew about it, and if you were a foreign military element carrying any intel on them, chances were that intel wouldn't be carried far.

'Lebedev.' Orlovski thought to himself as he clasped his hands in front of him.

"Comrade Major Lebedev, it has been a while." Said Vladimir as the Major made his way toward the Colonel with a folder tucked under his arm.

"It has indeed, comrade Colonel." Replied Lebedev.

"I was just wondering who they would send to babysit me." Said Vladimir, half smiling in amusement.

"Your command is the key to this whole endeavor comrade," Said Lebedev jokingly. "How could they send anyone but me?"

Vladimir's face twisted into a knot. "Your sense of self importance hasn't lessened, I see."

"But I am pretty important," Lebedev placed his free hand on his chest and slightly bowed forward. "Am I not?"

Vladimir clasped his hands behind his back and shot a dry glare in Lebedev's direction.

"Or at least my dear old step father is." Said Lebedev half laughing, causing Vladimir's hardened gaze into a face of joy as he too, began to laugh.

"It's great to see you again old friend." Said Vladimir, reaching out with open arms to give one of his old friend a hug. Lebedev rolled his eyes and grasped the folder in his hand and opened his arms to receive the hug from Vladimir. They each patted each other on the back and broke from their embrace.

"So," Lebedev turned his torso to observe the vehicles in place. "How are we doing?" He asked as he pointed in the direction of the wall.

Vladimir placed a hand on the Major's back and began to walk, and Lebedev followed as Vladimir began.

"Everything is in place," They walked about ten feet, away from the soldiers making preparations to their vehicles before Vladimir stopped and leaned in closer to speak in a lower voice. "I can't say I'm very happy about all this."

Lebedev placed his free hand on Vladimir's shoulder. "The politburo knows what is right," Lebedev nudged Vladimir in the chest softly. "We're powerless but to obey."

Lebedev started to walk off, opposite of the vehicles and toward the inner wall of the Irken defensive wall.

"So they have decided?" Asked a shocked Vladimir.

Lebedev simply turned around and gave the Colonel a worried look.

Vladimir turned around to face the troops he had directed Lebedev away from. "Get me Lieutenant Romanov on the horn. I want him to make a final survey on the forward forces with Captain Malashanko!"

The soldier he had issued the order to snapped to and saluted, he then ran over to the trooper manning the long range communications station set up by a GAZ-2330 Tigr, Orlovski could hear him yelling something in Russian to the other trooper, as he nodded his agreement and got to work with contacting Lieutenant Romanov.

Vladimir slowly walked to Lebedev and clasped his hands behind his back, looking off into the distance of grey.

"When?" Asked Vladimir.

Lebedev stood a moment. "Soon..."


"Remus, this is Ghostex Lead, over?" Whispered Dib into his mic.

"I read you, Captain." Replied the whispering Phoenix through his headset.

"You see what I'm seeing to your three o'clock?"

"Yeah," Volker paused a moment. "I bet I know what you're thinking too."

"Get into position. Hold for my signal." Said Dib before he started to crawl out from his prone position under an Irken tracked vehicle, it reminded Dib of a DMOV, perhaps it was one of the many modified variants of the vehicle. Dib was now in the open, sitting there crouched in the dim sunlight as the sun started to come over the horizon. Dib looked right to find Volker coming out from behind a concrete building.

Dib had his back pressed to the front of the armored vehicle, two Irken dismounts stood to his left, about twenty feet or so, facing opposite of him. No doubt dismounted from the tracked vehicle, Dib knew no one was inside the vehicle, cause when one of the tracks had been blown off by an anti infantry mine, the operators dismounted and went for a repair vehicle to get their own vehicle rolling again.

He spotted Volker sneaking along the wall of another complex, where it was still heavily shadowed. Dib let the grasp on his weapons trigger falter as he raised his arm into the air, fanning out his fingers and nodding in Volker's direction. The Phoenix, still undetected by the enemy, halted and took aim with his silenced weapon.

He waited a heartbeat, closed his fingers into a tight fist, and within a moment, Volker had dispatched the two Irkens with quick and silent precision. Their bodies slumped, bleeding from their necks and gasping for air. Dib nodded again and signaled for Volker to cross the street over to his position. Volker looked left and right from the shadows, then started to sprint to Dib.

"Ghostex Lead, this is Zavezda, do you receive my transmission, over?" A whisper bathed in a Russian accent broke into Dib's ear through his headset.

Dib sighed and cued his mic. "Zavezda, Ghostex Lead reads you, over."

Dib had exclaimed his protest about the Russians linking another team to his when he didn't need the extra baggage on the mission. Having them on stand by to save their butts should they be compromised was a great idea, but, there was little chance that would happen. Regardless of the Russians being a shard of Prokofiev Delta, Dib didn't like the idea of other men snaking around along with his team too much.

"We're in waiting outside the Irken anti air site. Minimal security at this time. We're standing by for your arrival, over."

"Copy that Zavezda, Ghostex Lead out."

Dib switched off his mic as Tristan arrived, his breath visible in the cold Irken air.

"So where do you go from here, Captain?"

Dib swung his weapon onto his back, letting it hang on his sling, reaching down to a large pocket located on the right thigh of his BDU pants. He fished out a small tablet, pressed a finger to his Cross-Com secured to the right side of his head and started flicking the same finger over the small touch pad tablet. In a few short moments, Dib turned his torso to the right and craned his head.

"That way, less then five hundred meters. Let's move."

"Copy that."


"What was Comrade Lieutenant Romanov thinking when he sent us here?" A voice asked in a Russian whisper.

"I don't know, Pyotr. We just have to listen to and follow his commands." Replied another whisper.

A figure lying prone next to the other in the shadows of a complex nodded is agreement and lowered the pair of binoculars from his face and pointed toward the large site hundreds of meters to their front.

"They have one scout ship lining the perimeter with a search light. Guard towers on each corner of the site, they appear to have a stock of weapons but not enough men to use them."

"Maybe luck is with us."

Pyotr huffed. "It never has been."

Pyotr, the one who had questioned their mission directive raised his arms once more and pressed them to his face. Vadim, Pyotr's cell partner grasped his mic and pulled it closer to his lips, activating it and hailing the second cell of 'Zavezda,' a paratrooper unit within Prokofiev Delta.

"Spartak, it's Vadim, are you receiving my transmission, over?"

There was a short pause, and it caused concern to flood Vadim's thoughts because it took no longer than two seconds for Spartak to respond. Spartak and his partner, Rodion, were a lot closer to the anti air site than he and Pyotr, so the thought that they had been discovered was definitely a cause for concern.

"Yes, receiving clearly, over." Replied Spartak.

Vadim sighed his relief. "I thought you'd been stumbled upon by a patrol, Spartak. I need camera feed from your angle to make a route of approach, over."

"Copy, Vadim. I'll have the camera up in a moment. Spartak, out."

Vadim switched off his radio and fished a map out of the chest pouch of his modular armor system and unfolded it. Though the Russian Army had access to advanced technology on the field, especially Prokofiev Delta operators, Vadim as well as the rest of the members of Alpha Group of Zavezda preferred to use hard copy documents and maps on the field. Less detectable, didn't emit any light sources, and if central communication had been cut off, you'd still have access to one another as well as mapping of the field.

Vadim studied the map laid out in front of him, panning his finger over a route he had made with a sharpie pen and mumbling the plans he had went over with his team to himself. Vadim heard something from behind him, boots on concrete, little rocks crunching under them. He quickly upholstered the silenced MP-446 "Viking" pistol from his right leg, brought himself up into a crouched position and took aim.

It was a human. Gov'na.

Vadim lowered his side arm and inhaled deeply before sighing and shaking his head.

"Easy," The man in black combat gear said in an English accent, the other man behind him in the same black with his rifle raised. "We're friendly."

"Forgive me," Said Vadim. "You came too close unannounced, American." Vadim said holstering his side arm, he stuck out his hand to shake the American's. Dib looked at his hand a moment then took it. "Chief Warrant Officer Vadim Glazkov, acting commander of Zavezda cells one through three." Said Vadim, turning his head and pointing at the man lying prone, staring through a pair of binoculars. "And this is my second in command, Sergeant Major Pyotr Saburov."

Dib looked over to the man in the typical digital flora of the Prokofiev Delta operators who had been staring through a pair of binoculars balanced on his elbows. Pyotr had taken his left hand off of the left scope of the binoculars and waved his arm once before returning it to the scope again.

"Captain Dib Membrane, acting commander of Ghostex: Delta 6's Team One." Dib pulled his hand away from the Russians and put his finger just over the trigger of his weapon again. "So what have we got?"

Vadim made his way to his map and beckoned for Dib and Tristan to follow him over to the map. Dib took up a spot to Vadim's right while Volker took up a spot in between Vadim and Pyotr. Vadim pointed out a spot on the map as he looked up to the site and pointed with the same finger. "I'm sure you're aware Senior Lieutenant Romanov wants us to neutralize that anti air site before the initial assault on the inner city begins."

"I've been briefed, yeah." Said Dib.

Vadim nodded, then returned his eyes to the map. "We have one Irken scout ship circling the perimeter. Four guard towers on each corner of the site as well, only three of which are manned. I have one team observing from another complex, and another waiting by the entrance of the sewers where you will be led to so that you may continue with your mission once we're done here."

"Sounds easy enough." Quipped Volker.

"Don't be so sure, American." Said Pyotr from his prone position.

Vadim, as well and Dib and Volker glanced toward Pyotr.

"The moment stop respecting your enemy, that, that is when they will kill you."

"Right." Said Dib. "So where's our infiltration point?"

"Here." Said Vadim, pointing at a spot on the west side of the anti air site. "We move in from here. Take out the guard at the entrance and far right tower. Plant DMX explosives on the emplaced weapons, then we guide you to your objective, here." Vadim pointed out another spot on the map.

"Sounds like a good game plan." Said Dib.

Vadim's brows furrowed in confusion and gave Dib an odd look. "This is no game, Captain."

Tristan and Dib looked to one another. Tristan shrugged. Dib raised his brows and sighed, readying his weapon. "Let's move." Said Dib, advancing in a crouched position with his weapon raised, Tristan in tow. Vadim snatched up the map from the ground, folded it, and stuck it back into the chest pocket of his jacket under his armor and tapped Pyotr on the shoulder as he started to fall in behind Tristan with his weapon ready. It was not long before Pyotr was following behind Vadim.


It had been nearly fifteen minutes of crouching through the streets and under the shadows of complexes, and Dib, Tristan, and the two Russians had finally reached the entrance of the anti air site. The scout ship had just passed no more than ten seconds ago, and it would be another fifteen or so before it would make another pass near their infiltration point.

'Volker was right,' Dib thought. 'This seems way too easy.'

Dib figured one of two things could be happening here. One, the Irkens didn't find this site to be a priority and would rather fortify their positions behind the second, much smaller than the first defensive wall. Or two, they knew someone would see this anti air site as a small and weak target, and had set a trap for them, that an attacking force would have been too blind to see.

Either way, Dib had a feeling resting in the pit of his stomach that wouldn't go away. He could have expressed his concern to Vadim, but both he and Vadim knew that it would take time for any other option to become. Vadim would contact his Lieutenant, the Lieutenant would contact his Captain, the Captain would contact his Major, then finally the Major would consult with the Colonel. The process would reverse, then Vadim would receive a message telling him he would continue on with the mission, by that time they would have burnt time and they'd be exposed to the light, where no sneaking could be done.

So Dib decided he'd keep it to himself and just see what would become of the attempted neutralization of this Irken anti air site.

"Understood, Spartak. Vadim, out." Said Vadim, speaking into his mic. "We have one AM ten quad plasma cannon, and one VD eighty two Nova launcher. That's enough fire power to take out a flight of transports with little to no effort. Those are our targets."

Dib nodded and activated his Cross-Com. "Lakota, have you and Schleck linked up with cell two?"

"Yeah, Captain. Me and Schleck are in the complex east of the anti air site. Schleck's set up on the roof. We're waiting for your word to move on the eastern wall, from there we're going to move to the primary objective once we link up."

"Roger that, sit tight. Out."

Dib cut the link with Lakota and turned to Vadim. "Ready?" Asked Dib.

"There's not a moment I'm not, Captain." Said Vadim, raising his silenced weapon and taking aim. "I've got the one in the tower. Ground?"

"Secure." Said Pyotr, scanning the entrance through the scope of his silenced rifle.

The moment Vadim squeezed that trigger and the weapons silencer did it's job of keeping them undetected, the Irken Imperial Trooper up in that tower caught the bullet Vadim squeezed off to the head and slumped silently in the tower.

"Go." Whispered Dib.

Dib started to move froward in a crouched position, weapon still at the ready, Tristan and the others in tow. Dib made his way across the street like road with the others and entered through the compound entrance, just as the Irken Scout Ship rounded the corner and made its way to the entrance, it's search light scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

Dib urged them to take cover as they scrambled to hide behind anything where that Irken Scout Ship couldn't spot them should it's pilot choose to search the inner area of the entrance. Dib took cover under the guard tower with Tristan, hugging the concrete wall behind them, closer to the ship and out of the light. The two Russians had rolled under a trailer like structure on the opposite end of the entrance.

Dib leaned forward to get a fix on that ship, and the moment he had, the light from it's belly blinded him and he shot backwards, slamming his back to the wall. The ship continued forth. At least it hadn't seen him.

"Captain," Vadim's voice came through Dib's headset. "We're on the move. We'll plant on the Nova launcher on the eastern side. You plant on the plasma cannon, Vadim out."

"Copy that Vadim. Ghostex Lead out."

Dib gestured for Tristan to move along the wall, toward the corner of the compound, where the quad plasma cannon rested less than three hundred meters from in it's gun nest like position. Tristan nodded and started to move along the wall, under the cover of the shadows, Dib following close behind.

Tristan and Dib moved along the wall swiftly, vaulting over obstacles, crouching under objects that hovered above the ground on their steel legs, all while maintaining their momentum, and in less than five minutes, they had made it to the far north western corner of the compound, and now stood less than a few hundred meters from their target.

'Way too easy.' Thought Dib as he scanned the area from the shadows with the barrel of his rifle.

"Volker," Said Dib as he continued to scan. "Am I the only one who finds this highly suspect?"

"They're behind enemy lines, Captain," Began Volker, also scanning with his rifle crouched in the shadows. "There could be stronger fortifications behind the safety of that second wall. My guess is these poor bastards were left behind and were forced to defend it."

"I've still got a bad feeling about being here."

"It's your call, Captain."

Dib stood there for a moment, contemplating both the good and bad of the situation. On one hand, they could speed up the efforts of the Russian Army by keeping them focused on the wall rather than this site. They could also save a lot of lives. On the other hand, they could get caught up in a firefight and risk putting them behind schedule. But the second outcome that went through his mind was less likely than the first.

"Go. I'll fall in behind and cover."

Tristan nodded and began to move forward, but before he had the chance to come out from the shadows, the sound of propulsion wash, no doubt from an Irken aircraft, caused him to fall back into the shadows like liquid. Tristan lowered his weapon and looked to the sky, where nearly five Spittle Runners accompanied by as many Voot Cruisers blasted overhead.

"What the hell's going on?" Asked Tristan.

"Stay down," Said Dib. "Zavezda cell one, this is Ghostex Lead, come in, over?"

Dib waited for a response, but before he got one, the scout ship that had been circling the perimeter slowed overhead, the searchlight mounted to her belly scanning the area to Dib's front as another Voot Cruiser escorted by two Spittle Runners came in for a landing as it's gear unfolded from the rear and front.

"Ghostex Lead, this is Vadim, what the hell is going on?" Whispered Vadim.

"They're landing right in front of us. Continue on mission, but initiate radio silence and don't get caught, Ghostex Lead out."

Dib reached for the long range radio on his back and switched it off, followed by the deactivation of his Cross-Com. Tristan switched off his electronics just as quick. The Voot touched down, and the moment it had, the rear hatch had dropped. The bright heavenly light from the rear of the aircraft made the figure stepping out seem like some sort of Irken God.

The figure walked out with his hands clasped behind his back, wearing a disgusted look on his face as his rugged antenna went flat to his skull. He scanned the area with his pale blue eyes.

Dib didn't recognize the uniform. The uniform consisted of white coat like top with black armor pieces; shoulders, chest, a single lining down the arms. A black belt wrapped around his waist and secured itself from the front with a buckle that resembled the Irken Empire's insignia. The lower half of his body donned a pair of grey combat pants with integrated black knee pads that seemed to be attached to the long black boots reaching just under the knee.

The only part about the Irken that really stood out aside from the fact he was wearing a uniform Dib had never seen before was the fact the creature was donning a white aiguillette attached to his right shoulder, one single loop running under his arm and about three separate strands connecting to the center of his chest.

Dib activated his Cross-Com to get a picture of the Irken in the uniform of unknown origins. Dib's heart sank when the Irken, it seemed, looked directly at him, as if he sensed the activation of the electronic monocle attached to his eye. Dib switched it off, but if the Irken had sensed his presence, it was too late. The Irken stepped off from the ramp and onto the concrete.

And Dib was left with no other option then to raise his rifle when the Irken began to make it's way toward him and Tristan.

(End Chapter)