Chapter 2: Snow-Ridden Superpowers
Written By: Writen
Beta Read By: Trusty McGoodGuy
Disclaimer: Not everything will be completely accurate, as I am not an expert about EVERYTHING in both worlds.
The conjoining of thousands of cultures into one planet was a slightly odd event to say the least. Many an interesting event took place around the new world in that first day following The Combine. The news reported that the Atlesian armed forces were gearing up for a full-scale invasion, and Atlas delivered, against the desperate pleas of the politicians and diplomats.
"If it's hostile, kill it." was the hundreds year old reasoning of the Atlesian commanders and generals.
They didn't realize however, that "it", was the full might of the Russian military.
But they would soon find out.
Six Hours Post-Combine, Northwestern Coast of Russia
"All ships are in position, Admiral Ashe." His second in command reported.
Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet was an aging tactician in a line of military family members. Ashe was confident, but also perceptive. He knew when to press the attack or pull it back. He learned these lessons the hard way during the Menagerie campaign he had fought in a decade earlier.
"Excellent work, warrant officer. Have the Aeneid move up to a higher altitude in case we come across any stray Gri-" The aged and battle weary admiral ordered before he was interrupted.
Before the Admiral could finish his sentence however, the beeping of a radio receiving a frequency chimed in. Immediately, the communications officer posted there, a lieutenant, scrambled to pinpoint the frequency and hone in on it.
"…What the? Lieutenant, is that one of ours?" The Admiral inquired.
After a brief moment of the communications lieutenant checking all known Atlesian military frequencies connected to the CCT, he answered.
"No sir. It's an independent broadcast signal, and from what I can tell... its point of origin is directly from the new lands." The comm officer reported with a look of concern adorning his face.
A moment of silence swept over the crew on the bridge, giving the Admiral some time to decide what to do next.
"Sigh. Alright, put it through, let's see what they have to say and hope they don't end up opening fire on us."
Admiral Ashe walked over to the onboard comm station and grasped the microphone between his white gloved fingers, pinning his thumb on the send button.
"Unknown broadcast, this is Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet. Identify yourself."
After a brief pause, the signal returned, carrying with it the voice of a man who spoke a language vastly different from what the Atlesians knew throughout all of Remnant. His language sounded scrambled, like someone had grinded and then mismatched where the letters were supposed to go in a word.
"Unknown aircraft, you are intruding in Russian airspace. Either turn back or land and prepare to be boarded." The man commanded in a serious, yet somewhat jaded tone.
Having no clue as to what the person on the other end of the line had said, and somewhat unsure of what to do next, Ashe transmitted his last message, assuming that these people had not understood his last one.
"Unknown broadcast, I repeat, this is Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet. Identify yourself immediately."
Ashe knew well of the Atlesian saying. "If it's hostile, kill it.", but were these people really hostile? Jumping the gun could cost him airships, ammo, and supplies, and the lives of good soldiers. On the other hand, if these people were hostile, this pause would present the perfect opportunity to launch an assault on the immobile Airfleet.
Ashe gambled that if these people were hostile, they would have retaliated by now. He decided that perhaps the best way to win this fight, was to not fight at all. He clicked off the microphone and turned to Warrant Officer Gainsboro, his second-in-command.
"Gainsboro, prep a bullhead and one of our negotiators, as well as a full squadron of mosquito escort fighters in case this goes sour."
"Yes, Admiral!" Gainsboro saluted before hurrying off to fulfill his assigned task.
Ashe knew the mosquito squadron was more of a touch and go more than anything else. There was a good chance that the 4 lone fighters would be eaten alive in the middle of enemy territory if this went bad. Still, even though the best way to fight this battle was not to fight, that didn't mean that Ashe would let his guard down.
Then the ageing Admiral realized something. The people on the other end of the line had not responded in a while. It had been a whole minute and a half since his last transmission, and since then, the airwaves had been dead silent.
"I don't like this. Lieutenant, if we're fired upon, be ready to give the signal for a tactical retreat."
"Aye, sir."
Clutching the microphone once more, the Admiral decided to check in with his "guests."
"Unknown broadcaster, please respond."
This time, a new voice answered, one accompanied by a language much more familiar to everyone aboard Ashe's flagship.
"This is Major Levnitsky of the Russian Federation Military, you are intruding in national airspace. Either turn back now, or land and prepare to be boarded. Do note that if you attempt to attack us, we will shoot you down." The Russian officer announced.
Ashe was hesitant at first. The information he had just received delivered both good and bad news. The good news being that these people were willing to talk before fighting. The bad news is that this confirmed the Admiral's suspicions of these "Russians" having anti-air capabilities.
Once more, the Ashe pressed down on the microphone button.
"This is Admiral Ashe. We have a negotiator's transport with fighter escort prepped and ready to go. Where to do you want us send it?" He questioned.
As soon as Ashe let go of the transmitter, his lieutenant shot him a confused glance.
"Why tell them that they have fighter escort, sir?" His communications officer wondered.
"Well, if I told them I was sending one plane, and five showed up, that'd be quite suspicious, wouldn't it?" Ashe reasoned.
"Aye, sir." The lieutenant agreed before returning to his duties.
"Send your negotiator to these coordinates as follows; 68.847108, 53.500671. My superiors are willing to meet with you there. Do not keep them waiting." Major Levnitsky advised before shutting off the transmission altogether. Steel handed the radio back to the comms lieutenant soon after.
Walking to the front of the bridge, Lead Admiral Ashe overlooked the coast of this "Russia" through wispy, cloud-ridden skies. He wondered many things as he gazed through the stainless glass separating the bridge from the thin, outside air.
What would the future hold for him, his crew, and his kingdom?
Who were these people, really?
What is the extent of Russia's might?
But one question nagged at his conscience above all others.
Had he made the right call?
Ashe hoped that he had.
At the same time, Coastal Missile Defense Battery 0014
Vasiliy Moskvin was a simple man.
He was a normal soldier from a normal small town just outside of a normal Russian city. His normal parents encouraged him to join the armed forces so that he could have a stable, normal job.
But nothing about his current situation was normal at all.
Vasiliy was a radio officer stationed at a coastal defense battery on Russia's northwestern coast. It was a pretty boring job, considering the fact that no one was stupid enough to try to go head-on with the powerful red bear commonly referred to as Russia's military.
No-one except the blips that had popped up on his RADAR scope.
Vasiliy was informed that enemy fighters and transport aircraft would pop up as small pinpoints on the scope, no larger than the size of a water droplet. Except for the fact that this unknown aircraft looked less like a water droplet, and more like a mutated Dorito chip.
And there were 8 of them.
Which of course spooked the hell out of the young corporal at first, but then he realized that these massive aircraft had not yet opened fire on his position. Ever so cautiously he began broadcasting to the largest of the ships, but before he could issue an airspace warning, a message was sent to him.
"Unknown KRSHHcast, this is Lead Admiral KRSCHH of the KRSHHH Airfleet. Identify yourself."
Vasiliy instinctively knocked on the radio receiver. A lot of ancient tech from the cold war era had been stocked up in these defense batteries, but due to budget cuts, it took a while to get them replaced, which meant that stuff was malfunctioning all the time.
Vasiliy just wished it hadn't started malfunctioning the one time he actually had to do his job. He quickly sent out a return transmission, hoping that these people would be smart enough to bring a translator.
"Unknown aircraft, you are intruding in Russian airspace. Either turn back or land and prepare to be boarded." Vasiliy commanded in Russian.
The only response he got back sounded like the same thing he had gotten from them last time. ""Unknown broadcast, I repeat, this is Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet. Identify yourself immediately." Vasiliy realized that they wouldn't be able to understand him, so he turned to someone more experienced than him.
Immediately he switched his microphone to the internal base system, with an emergency direct line to the base commander.
"I hope this is important if you are using the emergency line, Vasiliy."
"It is, Major. I have spotted 8 unknown large aircraft that have traveled within range of our coasts, and the lead aircraft attempted to make contact with me while speaking English."
"Ty che blaydj? Are they Americans?" Levnitsky cursed.
"I'm not sure, sir. My transceiver was malfunctioning, but they said they were part of an air fleet. I don't think they were American, sir." Vasiliy reported.
"Chert... I hoped that this would not happen so soon, but I think I know who these people are."
Vasiliy was curious. What did his commander mean when he said he knew who these people were? The young corporal didn't have time to wonder, however, as he could hear his commanding officer turn to his subordinates in his part of the defense station and relay commands.
"Boris, get me a direct line to Army Marshal Zhukov. Ivan, have all of our S-400's armed and ready to fire on my command in case they are hostile."
Both soldiers acknowledged their commanding officer before returning to their duties.
"Vasiliy, I'm heading to your radio station. You said these people spoke English, yes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good."
Within just a few minutes, the Major had arrived at Vasiliy's radio station. The younger, less experienced soldier handed his CO the microphone after re-establishing a signal to the lead of these massive aircraft. No, aircraft wasn't the right word. Ships, was more like it, Vasiliy thought.
"This is Major Levnitsky of the Russian Federation Military, you are intruding in national airspace. Either turn back now, or land and prepare to be boarded. Do note that if you attempt to attack us, we will shoot you down." The Russian officer announced in perfect english.
Within just a few short moments, the commander of the massive flagship responded.
"This is Admiral Ashe. We have a negotiator's transport with fighter escort prepped and ready to go. Where to do you want us send it?" They asked. Vasiliy couldn't understand a word they were saying, but he knew that if they had been talking for this long, they must be trying to take the peaceful approach.
Just then, Boris, the other communications corporal in the base, chimed in to his commander. Through the same line that Vasiliy had used to talk to Levnitsky before.
"Major, Army Marshal Zhukov is on the line sir." He reported diligently.
Levnitsky quickly snagged the telephone on the end of the wall connecting him the Zhukov. The Army Marshal was an extremely busy man, especially today. Keeping him waiting was not a good idea lest you wished to be de-ranked.
"Army Marshall Zhukov, sir. I-" He began before being interrupted by the Marshal.
"Yes, sir...We encountered what we believe to be an airfleet from the new lands...Yes, they made contact with us and they wish to negotiate with us and want to send an ambassador to negotiate with us. He asks where to send it...Understood, sir. I will inform him right away."
Immediately, the major switched his attention back to the lead ship.
"Send your negotiator to these coordinates as follows; 68.847108, 53.500671. My superiors are willing to meet with you there. Do not keep them waiting." Major Levnitsky advised before shutting off the transmission altogether.
"What do you suppose we do now, sir?" Vasiliy questioned.
"Honestly? I don't know, and I don't care. Be ready in case they contact you again. I'm going go get some coffee and cigarettes. Damn news reporters and conspiracy theorists will never let go with this one." The Major remarked.
Here's chapter 2, you guys. I've been working on this thing nonstop for the last few days, so here it is. Not much to say other than the fact that I'm going to RTX this year. Yee yee. I'll be sure to bring back some merch and memories, and who knows, maybe you'll see a face reveal of me if I get my picture taken with some of the RT staff. After that I'll be gone for another week because of NYLT.
Also that Aeneid ship may or may not have been an obscure reference to Resurgence by Kraven Ergeist. Shut up.
Anyways, I'm really tired and I can't think of any more author's notes, so see y'all'st later.
Oh, and feedback is much appreciated as usual. Thank you all.