Chapter 61
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Good news. For those not aware, I have finished off my small Zootopia-Guardians of the Galaxy 3 crossover/wish fulfillment fic, Beautiful and forever. As a result, we'll be getting a bunch of more frequent updates on the main fic moving forward. I'll be away tomorrow so posting today, enjoy.
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"On hearing from our Comrades that Sizogo had already started its long flight West, we made our way to the Duga-One site. We kept the Talisman where it was, loyal mammals around. We just had enough time to see the wound we had given it, a small puncture of damage, discoloured by whatever energy it had held within escaping out. With that small victory, we left it there in case Sizogo thought to distract us and reclaim it. After all, we had weapons there to defend it, and if not killed we hope Sizogo at least would be exposed to whole world." Kozlov sighed. Anyway, from Schönefield we both take flights East. Separate flights, just in case… Jorin take longer flight, to Minsk, then car down through Gozel and Chernirog. I take shorter flight to Kiev then fast boat up river. Though, as matter have it, my plane delayed. So at nearby town, it was Jorin who pick me up."
Kozlov felt the floor tilt up as they turned a corner, the captain up above in the small cockpit seeing the straight path ahead and letting the diesel engines of the Voskhod 24 roar once more, unleashing their power and pushing the slick hydrofoil back up onto its skis. The bear looked forward, wondering whether any of the kits or cubs who'd piled up against the panoramic windows when they'd first set off, charging across the Kiev reservoir, would do so again.
Alas, the novelty seemed to have worn off and they stayed seated or ran around and played where they could. Similar to how it had been even before getting off the lake and slowing down to navigate the meandering bends of the tributary river's mouth. He kept his eyes on them, smiling as they had a few amusing moments… At least until their parents ordered them to sit down again for the sake of others.
The bear almost said that it would be okay, only for their attention to be caught by a tug barge exiting a harbour channel of some kind out on the port side of the ship. They slowed somewhat, making their way beneath a bridge and navigating one last curve… And then the river channel went from straight with some light bends to a dead straight speedway stretching out ahead.
On they raced, pushing forward, soon slowing down for one last sharp bend and then just sailing, hull in water, for the last leg. Under one last bridge, spotting an opening on their port side and then turning into the small carved out bay. Passing some cranes and a cargo barge in the large turning circle they sailed to the furthest end, into a narrow channel squeezed behind a large cleared area to the North and the rising towers of a newly built town to the south. The boat squeezed through two small earthen breakwaters and slowed to a halt next to the floating dock.
With that, the mammals slowly began to disembark, Kozlov eventually stepping out into the kitsch little wooden hut, feeling it shift a little as his weight came down on it. On he walked with his small bag of clothes in paw, past mammals in the waiting rooms getting up and ready to take the trip back down south.
White paws stepped down onto the ground, a call from up above gathering his attention. "I see you made it!"
"Jorin," Kozlov called back, looking up. Above him at the top of the bank a restaurant building stood tall and proud. Not a panel built rectangle like the apartment buildings behind it, but a stone and glass walled pavilion, the roof climbing up towards him as if it were about to take off. Below that canopy, a seating terrace pushed out from the grassy bank, its stone walls rising up above the white bear and a familiar face leaning over the railing, smiling and waving.
The bear turned and walked to the side of the plaza, up the stairs, passed the mammals lounging out on it or the bank beyond on the cool spring evening. A pair of kits briefly cut the bear off, chasing after each other as they weaved around the support pillars of a long canopy joining the restaurant to some kind of little lookout tower overwatching the small port, the bear smiling at their innocence. It reminded him of his time back as a little cub, playing with his older brother… And with that he closed his eyes, took a breath in, and steadied himself. Late tomorrow night, he might be dead like Rustim. Or he might have given those children a better world too…
"-Are you coming or not?"
Kozlov jolted as he felt a hard hoof on his shoulder, relaxing as he remembered who it was. "Da," he said, turning to Jorin. "I am hungry after long trip, after all."
Jorin nodded, smiling as they walked into the small cafe. "Do you want to go outside, or…"
He nodded. "Temperature nicer."
"Well look inside first," Jorin carried on, waving the bear on. Though not sure at first, he looked inside and smiled a little as he saw the stained glass display. Oddly enough, the first thing he saw was an almost angelic figure, dressed in robes, flying through the air, trumpets in hoof as she swept across a collage sky of dark blues or panes of orange and red. There were other figures too, doing more traditional socialist activities, painting or sculpting amidst the bold background. All coming together in a pretty mural the bear was sure someone had spent a lot of time and effort on.
The bear nodded. "Very artistic. Now food." And with that he turned back to the plaza outside, sitting down and watching as mammals slowly got on the hydrofoil. Orders were taken, Kozlov being told that the catfish, caught locally, were excellent.
And soon he was agreeing, eating the meat as he and Jorin watched the boat roar up and turn, slipping through the narrow gates of earth into the harbour pool and then pushing off, making its way into the river proper.
An odd silence filled the air, even with the local mammals milling around and about. Kozlov's cutlery clinked and scraped against the plate and he levered another chunk of fish off the bone before lifting it up to his jaw.
"-I hear they keep them in the cooling pond," Jorin mused, Kozlov's eyebrow rising. The equid gave a glance at a line of power plant buildings off in the distance behind him. "The warm water lets them grow so big."
"It works then," the bear agreed, taking another bite.
"Delicious fish?"
"Da. Delishafish." An errant bird call echoed out, Kozlov freezing for a second.
Jorin paused too before relaxing. "Sizogo Orla is still a long way out," he said. "This array can't see east. It can't see the first one-hundred miles to the west too, due to the setup… Either way, the prototype system looks east across our land, and our mammals there say he's tracking a long but persistent path to where we are."
"When will he get here?"
"Some time early tomorrow. Nine AM, ten AM, we have traditional radar systems with the same phase system as Duga. But if I were to guess… He'll hit the northern side of the marshes about an hour before or so." The equid gestured his paw out, beyond the dock, beyond the cleared strip of land, beyond the river, to the expanse of rushes and trees cut up by stagnant water channels and boggy ground. Kozlov looked at it, vanishing into the horizon, a wilderness…
"Could it hide in there?"
"I guess so," Jorin said. "Find a sheltered bit of land, settle down out of view…"
"Surely there's mammals in there who'd spot it, whatever it is and…"
"-And what?" Jorin asked. "Who apart from us will believe them when they come out, panicking and screaming?"
Kozlov nodded. "Da,"
…
"I had an interesting conversation while waiting for you."
"Hmmm?" the bear asked, looking on as his companion looked behind him, smiling and then gesturing at a far off mammal. Kozlov narrowed his eyes to look at it, almost reeling back in shock as he saw what looked like a raccoon walking around. His mouth was halfway to asking 'what's an American doing here?' before it clicked that A, she might have been one of the tribes of old world Raccoons that had made it west across the land bridge and B, she was not a raccoon.
Raccoon dog, from the far east.
"Her family is actually Chinese," Jorin said, speaking on. "So she's not in the party of course, but it's surprising. She's the architect behind this new city, carved out on the edge of the great untamed."
The bear looked at the little pavilion. "Guess she's doing a nice enough job."
"Ah," Jorin said, smiling. "Not much you can do with standardised housing blocks, but she tries her best." He gestured a paw out to the cleared peninsula of land across the bay. "She's finalising the plans for the next section of the town."
"Then what? Go across the river?"
"Why not?" Jorin shrugged, turning his gaze back there again. "Back in the Great Patriotic war of Russians…"
Judy put up her paw. "-Great Patriotic war of Russians?"
"As opposed to the great millenia long Patriotic war of Armenians against Turk and Azeri ubernazi genocide-for-funsies scum of the earth. This is Jorin we are talking about here."
"-against the Germans, their forces could not go in there… The tanks would sink, the legions would sink, the marshes would claim all." His eyes wavered over the rushes as a gust of wind rippled through them. "Of course, they sent some divisions of aquatic mammals in, to bring their control to hidden away villages. And when our great country fought back, in the name of species equality…"
"-We sent mixed mammal divisions in, from camels and stags to cats and goats. And in the name of the great struggle they gave their lives heroically."
Jorin flashed a smile and gave a nod. "There were partisans though. Mink, otter, beaver, muskrat, water vole… They fought their war in there, surrounded on all sides and above by a terrible enemy. Against hopeless odds… Those that were captured were shot, raped, murdered… There's a tree on the way to the station, I'll point it out to you. The partisan's tree, where those heroes were hung."
"But despite the terrible odds…"
"-Despite the terrible odds," Jorin smiled. "The invaders were terrified of those marshes. They never truly conquered them. And those little mammals in the wilderness fought off the pall on their land. And it is now free, liberated, their own…" And with that, he waved back at the restaurant they were seated at, and the rising town behind it. "And into it, progress can come, all mammals rising into a prosperous future."
"Da," Kozlov agreed, sitting back in his chair, eyes closed. "Califurnia…"
"Huh?" Jorin asked.
"The great Kamyaktcha Peninsula, with its great valley in the centre. It's like…"
"Califurnia…" They said together. They gave a brief laugh, Kozlov going on. "And once our eagle hunting is done, maybe we could go over there… In peace, at last. Build dams…"
"Learn to pull the heat from the great volcanoes…"
"Build new cities," Kozlov said, gesturing at the town behind him.
"It's far away and cold though," Jorin said.
"Some mammals," Kozlov smiled, "like the cold."
Together they finished their meal, soon taking off. Through the streets as the sky darkened, the last running children being called in for the night. Mammals coming home from an evening out passed them, some laughter came out of the small football stadium as a group kicked around a ball, Jorin showed Kozlov the hotel where they had rooms booked…
"After work," the bear said, Jorin nodding in agreement as they slipped into a car and drove off.
Down the road out of town, the lights left behind them as the trees whistled passed. Lights in the distance began growing and Jorin, slowing down, pointed out the Partisans tree, standing out like a trident. Through another forest of lights they passed, lighting up the massive switchgear and the hulking power plants behind it. And then darkness once more as down they rolled, a long quiet hanging in the car.
Finally though, after almost seeming to miss it, they turned into a secluded road and pushed on down, the car shaking on the rough road surface. They halted at a checkpoint, papers shown and salutes given, before pushing on further.
Finally, pulling up at the end, Kozlov stepped out, a familiar sight towering above them. The same design as Duga-2, Duga-1 stood tall. A massive vertical steelyard. The ear of the Russian Woodpecker.
A crowd of mammals were gathered there. Kozlov had seen pictures of some, met a few when they visited or met up. Many were strangers though.
"Comrades!" Jorin spoke. "As I'm sure you know by now, an enemy of the state… A creature that seems to think it can live above our laws, has chosen to face off my comrade and I tomorrow night!" His voice rang out. "This enemy thinks itself invulnerable. This terrible eagle, this Sizogo Orla, thinks it can kill our little woodpecker, tear us out of the sky… Little does he know though, this woodpecker has an ace up her sleeve!" he gestured out at a set of tents, tarpaulins, wooden structures, all concealing trucks, their backs covered in homemade rockets like a hedgehog's back covered in spikes. "When the revolution came, mammals, our nation abolished God. Now it is up to us Comrades, to ABOLISH THE DEVIL! URA!"
"URRAAAAA!" They cheered together, paws and hooves raised.
"URRRAAAA!" Kozlov cheered along.
"URRRRRRAAAA!"
"Everyone, to your stations!"
So they did. Waiting. Watching the screens or trying and failing to sleep… As Sizogo Orla switched from the long range radar to the short… Getting closer, getting closer and then…
"What do you mean he's landed?"
Drinking a coffee, the bear looked on at the screen as the sheep running it tapped at an area on the map. "Valdasky forest. Sixhundred and fifty kilometers north, north east…"
Jorin nodded. "Makes sense… It'll be light soon. I thought he'd hide closer, in the marshes…"
"Can we catch up on sleep?" Kozlov asked, pausing as he looked at his drink and moved it away.
Jorin paused for a second. "I'm not coffee'd up. We take it in shifts…"
"Naturally," the bear said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, you can pick something up from the shops," Jorin said, smiling.
Kozlov huffed, almost going off at him before pausing, turning to another mammal. "What's the pred option at breakfast?"
"Uh," a lynx said. "Standard military bug meat ra…"
"-I'll get some catfish," Kozlov said, pocketing a two-way radio and passing its partner to him. A quick check, and to the car he went.
The journey back to the town took the bear back through the forest, his car rumbling as it took him down the road. Unlike on the way over with Jorin driving, Kozlov turned down the lights to their dimmest setting, left on only for the sake of any other road users, letting his night vision guide him along the road. The trees swept passed, the first lights of the dawn starting to catch on their tips.
Apart from that, it was empty.
Just empty…
The fur on the back of Kozlov's neck began to stand up on end, a freezing shiver of a thought worming its way down his spine.
Here he was, alone.
Vulnerable…
Easy prey for Sizogo Orla to come down and rip him up in his talons and take him off and… Talons… The word rattled around his brain for a second before an image came up in his head. The murder of his brother and his friends, them being played about with, toyed… Through the eyes or cameras of whatever Sizogo was. Watching him play with them with his talons.
"Maybe that is your name, what you really are," the bear said, steering his vehicle up against the edge of the road, into the half shelter of the trees.
Not that it would do anything to help him, save him, would it?
His paw reached down to the radio, the bear holding it up to his head. "You still there?"
For a moment Kozlov bit his lip at the sizzling static before a blissful voice came in over the speaker. "Da, still there? Anything wrong?"
"No," the bear said, eyes glancing up and around for a bit. "Just… Paranoia."
"...-Our target hasn't moved as far as we know…"
"As far as we know?"
"...He could fly right above the treeline, in the valleys or along the rivers."
"And get here?" the bear asked.
…
"He could go a long way in the forest, but then he'd have to cross the farmland or the marshes…"
"And if he did that?"
"...He'd be spotted, wouldn't he?"
"Da," Kozlov said to himself, "Da."
"...Hang on, let me get the map out and…"
A harsh beep cut Kozlov's attention away and he growled, seeing the engine temperature rising up. He hissed out a curse as the mammal on the other end spoke.
"He could have got to the Belarussian border, or down south past Smolensk to Bykansk or…" A long pause filled the air. "He could have hopped from forest to forest, but it would still put him at far more risk than usual."
"Right, right," Kozlov said, pausing as the tree cover on his right began to fade out, just a single shabby line of trees cutting off the road from the open plains beyond. Off in the distance he could see cranes standing to attention around the rising forms of power plant blocks and cooling towers… The odd lights coming off it as the nocturnal shift crew finished their work.
He was exposed.
That was good…
They'd backed Sizogo Orla into a corner, yes, but even if taking risks, even if gambling with his anonymity… There'd be no way he'd try and strike him out here, fully exposed.
He was not at risk.
Sizogo was back where it had settled down for the day.
He was not at…
-A heavy swooping filled the air, the wheel swerving hard and car rumbling as one of the tires went off the road, bouncing along the pebbles and stones on the verge. Gritting his teeth, Kozlov yanked the wheel back and pulled himself back on the road, foot paw slamming down to try and get the car to haul him away to some kind of safety from the…
-A flickering shadow caught his eye and the bear looked up, shrinking down into his seat as he saw…
A stork.
Flying off and out over him, heavy wings beating as it carried itself over the field and towards the river and marshes beyond.
Just…
A stork.
…
A breath in, a breath out, foot still down, the bear sped on, cutting past the transmission equipment and high tension wires again, approaching the town.
…
Was this how small rodents felt?
How prey felt?
Whenever they stepped out into the open, or the dark, in the wilderness as birds of prey many times their size looked down at them. Hungry, indifferent, merciless. Whether the victim saw the danger or not.
And was that what Sizogo was to him, to them? Maybe it wasn't some terrible devil, some great insult to his country. Maybe it was its ultimate triumph, its supreme arbiter. To equalize between the species and size classes. To humble him, the greatest predator on earth, and bring him down to the level of the smallest, most helpless rodent.
His paw wiped down the front of his face and muzzle as he cut onto the home straight, the last bit of forest between him and the town. Speeding along, rising up the hump of a bridge across the railway he saw the tops of the towers peeking out and… A harsh grumble from the engine caught his attention, a red light blaring on as the temperature gauge held itself as far up as it would go.
He took his paw off the pedal, the power going down as much as he would expect and then more so, the rattling of the engine dying down as steam began to escape from under the bonnet. He gave the engine another quick push, to try and see if he could squeeze it all of the way, only for it to have no effect.
The car slowed down further, the bear hissing as he pulled it to the side of the road, guiding it to a stop.
Slamming the door open, he stepped out and turned around, yanking up the cover and stumbling back, swearing under his breath as the popping geyser of steam billowed out at him, stinging his eyes and nose. Still… insulating fur had its uses and he did his best to fan the vapours away, only a small hint of burning coming with the otherwise cloying gas.
More fanning, he tried to peer through and growled as he saw the radiator cap, paw reaching down and pushing through the scalding heat to undo it. It was blasted off with a pop, spitting and yowling before dying down, a simmering coming from deep inside as it boiled off and out.
Empty.
He turned around and went to the boot, pulling out a spare can of…
Not water.
A rattle just let its emptiness taunt itself further as Kozlov sighed, slamming the car closed and starting off towards the town. Grab more water, grab the stupid fish, get back, go back.
It wouldn't be that far.
He kept going along the road, it was hardly even a walk to get into town. A walk across the room compared to what he'd done before, trekking around the taiga forest north of his hometown in the search of the damn talisman all those years before.
Yet as he walked on… It seemed to take an age, the wind whistling through the trees and…
The bear paused, glancing up and around as he heard a rustle up in the treetops. He slowly pulled himself back, away from the road, glancing at the windows of the tower blocks looming up ahead, catching the orange dawn sun in their windows.
Sizogo Orla would never…
-A snap pulled his head around behind him, the wind cutting in a different direction. Did everything sound quieter now? Fewer bugs chirping, less bird song.
Birds taking to the wing instead, flocks taking off from the trees and circling around, looking down, manoeuvring, fleeing…
Kozlov began to step forward faster, paw reaching down for the radio receiver to try and call back to the team, only to grip itself tight as he realised he'd left it back in the car. For all he knew they'd spotted that demon sweeping in to take him and were calling, begging him to…
-More sounds, his head snapped around, rustling and cracking in the forest floor, something pushing through…
He began to run towards the town, away from the road, back bent, paw over his head for whatever good that would do. Oversized feet stumbled and bulldozed through the undergrowth as he grabbed the trees and hauled himself around them, undersized trunk to undersized trunk, trying to hide behind each one be they half his width of a quarter his width or a tenth his width as the sound got closer. Pushing through, huffing, snaps and cracks and hoarse inhales of air as Kozlov saw a flash of colour and yanked himself behind a tree half his size and shrunk down, a little scared kit again doing his best to hide from the monster in the woods that was ready to come out and…
"-Are you terminally thick or what?"
He froze, his panic and fear draining away from him as he peeked out and saw a very unnamused looking bison standing there in sagging grey gym clothes, an increasingly unamused look on his face.
"Or should I add being deaf to that as well…"
Kozlov blinked, a sudden woosh of air from somewhere above snapping his attention back to the terror out there. He flinched down and away, staring up, trying to see if…
"-Well you can hear then," the disgruntled bovid said, suddenly walking up to Kozlov and pushing him along.
"What are you…"
"Shut up," he said. "Keep walking."
"I…" The bear snapped away, staring at the mammal as he flashed a brief bit of panic for a second before returning to his previous look. "Are you with him huh?"
"I said shut up," he said, hooves out and pushing Kozlov back along. "I don't know what you're doing out here, but you obviously need to get back to the town. I'd make sure you get some medical attention too, but I don't care that…"
Another whisper up in the air and the bear flashed around, seeing something move in the tops of the trees. Something big, too big… "There," he said, pointing.
The bison didn't even give it a glance. "You've been foraging for mushrooms, haven't you?"
"No," Kozlov yelled, pulling himself away and giving a look around. "There is something out there," he warned, glaring around, seeing if he could see it again. Instead the air was just silent, only the odd rustle of the trees cutting through.
The bison groaned. "I should have just ignored you and carried on with my run," he grumbled, going back to pushing Kozlov on. "-Well if this is the only screw up this day has to offer that'll…"
A solitary owl call seemed to break the silence, the bear going ramrod straight, eyes scanning around.
"...Are you a mouse or what?"
"Owl…" Kozlov muttered, working the word over his lips. A half sigh, half groan, came from behind him.
"Well done. It's…"
"A lot of mammals are scared of them," Kozlov whispered out. "Owls, eagles, hawks."
"Yes, tiny…"
"Not just the rodents, some big mammals too… Have you ever thought there might be ones out there, in the wilderness, big enough to threaten even us?"
"No," the bison said, practically putting his back into it to shove Kozlov on, the edge of the forest appearing up ahead, the town beyond it. They burst out of the undergrowth in a tangle of branches and leaves, the bison then taking Kozlov by the paw and practically dragging him along like a wayward cub.
The bear just let it happen, still looking up to the sky, still waiting, expecting… "You haven't seen the signs," he said, catching up with the conversation at paw.
The bison just snorted. "You're delusional," he said, pulling him into a small government office and handing him over, giving a rough comment to the official about how many didn't get into the town and how this piece of chaff did.
And with that he marched off, leaving Kozlov sitting there. Mammals around him, mammals overlooking him, out the window he could see pedestrians starting to mill around in the streets. One of the officials began asking him harsh questions, the bear just holding up his security papers, the mammal going quiet. The polar bear explained that he'd just been having some issues, needed time to calm down. The official asked if he wanted anything done about the bison who…
Kozlov waved him off, just taking some calming breaths, letting the time tick on for a little bit as his pulse lowered, his nerves settled.
It was all in his mind.
It was all in his mind.
Finding a quiet corner he asked for a phone, typing in the number for the base.
A few seconds later a harsh buzz came through and it connected. "Hello, who is this?"
"Just me," Kozlov said.
There was a pause. "Huh, why aren't you using the radio?"
"Left it in the car when it boiled over," he said, scratching his chin. "Lack of sleep, doesn't run well with justified paranoia." There was a long pause, the polar bear glancing around before leaning in. "Any signs, any news, any…"
"No," came the response. "Nothing spotted on any of the radar systems. It's as we said, hiding out in the forest in the day."
The bear nodded, saying that it'd be a little while but he'd be back promptly. And with that he hung up, walking out into the streets of the town again. More mammals were milling about, workers on their way to their jobs, waiting at bus stops or just walking or cycling along. Long lines of children dressed up in their uniforms walked passed on their way to their studies, chaperoned by matrons or mothers pushing prams. Into the centre of the town he went, towards one of the main shops on the central plaza. A quick look in and he got a pair of the large fish, bagging them up and walking out, a full can of water in paw. The sun was nicely above the horizon, swallows nattered in the air, civilians talked and made their way to work while children pointed and jumped as they saw the fairground that was being set up.
The bear walked back to his car at the side of the road, still giving the odd careful glance around as he did so. It had cooled off and drunk in the new water nicely. A quick look showed a mat of leaves and gunk on the front grill, some of them mixing with the steam to form a sludgy brown glue around the front fan. With his claw he cleared it out the best he could, going in to turn the engine on.
He hissed as it struggled and strained, turning around and trying to pick up. A glance down and he almost slapped himself, he'd left the front lights on. Even if low, the battery had slowly drained away, leaving them without…
A blubber of stuttering coughs came out, the engine finally gathering enough speed to rumble and shudder into life. The fuel taking over from the starter motor, Kozlov gave the front a look, seeing the fan belt slip and slide here and there, but hopefully turning it enough to keep it all cool. Either way, any potential shadow for Sizogo Orla to hide in hopefully now swept away, Kozlov started moving forward.
Waiting for a bus full of construction workers to rumble past first, naturally.
Keeping a long enough distance between them, naturally.
Of course, before reaching the long wood it peeled off, turning down the road towards the cranes and rising cooling towers on the horizon. The bear kept himself just a little close to the trees as he drove down the road, almost missing the turning but finding it, driving down, getting waved through the security checkpoint and finally returning to safety.
The great metal scaffolding wall of the Duga array towered above him.
The local radar systems spun about close by.
The daggers up their sleeves were stowed away, waiting, operators by them.
Kozlov stepped out, wiping his tired eyes. He handed the fish in and said he'd have some for lunch. He asked if there was any update on where the enemy was.
No movement.
He found a secluded room and closed the door, lying in the darkness and letting his lost sleep catch up to him.
Hours later, he stumbled out.
His sleep had been long, uneventful, unfulfilling. He yawned as he walked down to their control system, catching an eye at the early afternoon sun.
A check on the screen, Sizogo Orla had not moved.
He had some of the fish, most of the time splitting the flesh apart with his fork, idly having a bite or two to stay his hunger then playing around with the dead creature some more...
Jorin met him, his rest done. He paused, deciding to drive into town, get some papers or something.
When he eventually returned they shared them up, the wild ass apologising for his delay. He'd been stuck behind a grumbling bison, the mention making the bear raise an eyebrow. Asking if he was rude, short to the point, didn't care for any nonsense, Jorin paused, blinking at him. At which point the bear relayed his story from earlier, by the end watching as the Syrian wild ass restrained himself from hee-hawing out loud.
"I take it it was the same guy," the bear finally said.
"I take it it was," Jorin smiled. "The good news is he was complaining about some scheduling thing or something throwing him onto the night shift. Some power line from Smolensk coming down or something. As if everyone should take note about it."
Kozlov shook his head. "Well, if we are about to die, at least we know he had a bad day too."
They shared a hollow chuckle before settling down. Half paying attention to the papers, half eating their food.
Pacing about.
Waiting.
As darkness fell.
As they drank their coffees.
As they heard the news, Sizogo had taken flight again.
"There, he has moved a bit," Jorin said, tracing down to a point halfway between Bykansk and Smolensk. "And by the looks of it, he'll come down north around Gozel and then fly down south, above the marshes."
Looking at his map, Kozlov nodded, tracing it down across the illustrations. From near a web of power lines marked on back from when that was how they tracked him, curving down as it was. "When will he get here?"
"He's taking his time," Jorin mumbled. "At that speed? Early tomorrow, probably."
The bear sighed. "Is he trying to wear us out? He's late for his own meetup."
"We know he likes to toy with us," the wild ass waved off.
Seconds, minutes, hours ticked by. The three arms on the clock passed twelve.
The figure slowly made its way across the marshes. "He's turning to avoid the town," Kozlov noted. "Curve across the cooling pond to reach us."
Jorin nodded, speaking into his radio, asking if everyone was ready. All as the image on the screen suddenly swelled then shrunk, swelled then shrunk, swelled then shrunk. Jorin tapped it, gesturing Kozlov over, as the patterns repeated. Long swells, short swells, coming, going, no pattern or anything, not that anyone could…
"Code. It's morse code."
"He's speaking to us," Jorin said, looking around. "Someone, note it down, quickly. Does anyone speak…"
"-I do," one of them said, as they began to translate.
"Be… there… I… need… to… know… you… are… Are… You… there… You.. better…"
"How can we tell it if we are?" Kozlov scoffed.
Jorin rubbed his chin before walking over to the control panel. "Can someone type in yes into this in morse code?" he asked, one of the mammals who knew the code well coming over. He picked up the phone and got in contact with the transmitter set for their receiver, to the east. The order was given and, looking on the screen they saw Sizogo Orla's size decrease and increase. This time by their command, not his.
The short message sent, they waited.
He stayed constant, then began shifting again. His own, far shorter, message. "Good."
"Is that it?" Kozlov asked, as the speck began growing and shrinking again.
The translation came out. "I would not want you to miss your humbling."
"I feel the same way," Jorin said, Kozlov nodding along. All as the speck began taking the same path the bear had hypothesised. Curving around, avoiding lights, mammals. Coming in to face them.
Kozlov looked at it, thinking. "How did he send the message back? Was he… what, modulating his shielding? Could that mean he can just turn off his achilles heel?"
Jorin took a breath in, a breath out, steadying himself. "I don't know. Maybe it can just… spread its wings out or something. I guess we're about to find out. It's time."
And with that he began to make his way outside, radio in hoof, not that they were to discuss the plan with it. Only in case of an emergency, always being careful with what they said, not giving the enemy any chance to eavesdrop in or garner what they planned.
Kozlov followed him too, noticing that they were both shaking.
He gave one last look back to the operators. His comrades. The mammals who'd served with him on this journey for so long. "I started this path to avenge my brother," he said, sparing a look at each and every one. "I… I have come to understand, this is so much more than that. Comrades… If we sacrifice ourselves today, I just want to say… I just want to say, it has been a true honour." His tongue tripped over himself, before he forced out one last wavering "URA!" for them.
Even in its echo he could hear its hollowness, but they all looked back and raised their fists, calling out the same war cry.
His paw came up into a salute as out he went, meeting up with Jorin, the pair standing together looking up into the black sky.
The stars shone above them, only to be washed out somewhat as a set of spotlights came online, scanning around to try and find the enemy. Looking down, Kozlov observed the mammals by their weapon systems ready, waiting, everything primed.
The radio fizzed. "Just coming over the reservoir. But very low, we're going to lose him as he goes over the… Over the trees."
Kozlov felt cold. Cold enough to give him the hypothermia that was supposed to have killed his brother…
Ironic then they couldn't really use that on his death certificate here.
"-Did you hear that?" Jorin whispered, Kozlov snapping to him, then turning North East, the direction his comrade was equid's ears were pointed up and swivelled around, tracking something out there…
The bear didn't dare speak, didn't dare cover anything up, didn't dare…
"Da…" he whispered, thinking he heard it. Then knowing it was there. Whips and cracks, faint impacts of whatever it was grazing the tips of the trees as it glided over. No sound of engines or wings.
Just Sizogo Orla strimming over the tops of the forest, out of site of radar or eyes, just getting ever closer, ever ever closer, Kozlov looking down and seeing a few of their batteries being swivelled in place, ready. For once the bear was thankful for the hiring ideology, seeing as a rabbit and its hearing was proving some use here.
And then he heard the trees at the edge of the forest rustle and a breeze to waft from it for just a second. Then again, just a bit stronger, and peering through he realised a star in between the nearest trees was blacked out.
And then the wind swept into them in a hail of torn off pine needles and broken pieces of wood as a great blackness rose up at the edge of the treeline, great wings spreading out and pushing it to a halt against the air, pushing it up to loom over them like the unbanishable diety it was. Kozlov and Jorin staring at the great dark mass, built of glistening metal like the talisman by someone or something, a great terrible demon or a bird whose eyes began to open… Kozlov seeing that burning cold hateful orange begin to cast out of the opening slits, almost ready to run as if the full glare was terrible enough to turn him to stone.
And then he heard it. "-re…" And the air screamed as a barrage of rockets was fired out, screaming organs launching their burning arrows. One magazine, two, three, four… Even before the searchlights could find it, they threw themselves at Sizogo Orla and the monster threw itself back, a terrified avian shriek tearing through the night a second before a bright blue electric light cast from it, and then the night exploded.
Jorin and Kozlov cowered back as their bombs lit their world orange, paws and hooves over their ears as the earth shattering explosions ended and their bodies stopped shaking from the shockwaves.
They turned back to see their enemy turning, falling, talon out to try and grip on a tree to find purchase but splintering it apart under the force of its own weight.
More of their barrages turned to face the wounded eagle, but with another push of its wings it flew off, splintering the tops of the trees once more as it tried to flee.
Out of the direct line of fire it went, Kozlov and Jorin staring at it for a second…
Before racing down. Racing towards a truck and jumping in, starting it up. Already some mammals were jumping on the back, other similar trucks being manned. And then they pulled out and began heading for the road, carrying another barrage of hellfire with them. Just as they had planned in case this had happened.
They could not bear to wound their enemy, giving it the chance to limp away and heal.
They had always been ready to finish the job. Jorin just held up his radio and spoke in. "Sizogo Orla took a direct hit, wounded but not quite dead yet."
"-We heard!" Came the voice on the other side. "Good to hear you."
"We're not done yet, where is he?"
"Trying to rise up, making his way up and… He's falling!"
"He's falling?" Jorin asked as he raced through the checkpoint, splintering apart the wooden crossbeam before it could even lift itself up. "Where?"
"Ov… Over the coolant reservoir! They're ditching!"
Jorin pulled the truck hard to the left at the end of the road, the others following as they pushed on. It would be another right not far up ahead that would take them to the edge of the water. Their enemy a sitting duck. "It's ditching," Jorin said, Kozlov looking over to see the adrenaline fueled bloodlust fading somewhat, a hint of the terror creeping back in. "It… Whatever monstrosity it is… It's ditching."
Kozlov felt it too.
It seemed he'd been right.
But who… How… what?
"-It's ditched!" Came a shout over the radio, Jorin looking to Kozlov and Kozlov looking to Jorin.
All as the Syrian wild ass turned off the main road and began pushing them over the rough track in the field, the edge of the reservoir embankment far off in the distance. "Well comrade," Jorin said, "ready to avenge your brother?"
"Da," Kozlov said, trembling. All these years, it had come to this.
All as back at the radar station, the trembling mammals held their breath, looking for any signs that their enemy was trying to flee again. They had a helicopter out and getting ready, in case it tried to hop and skip across the river. But it wasn't going to get that far.
All as so much of the rest of the world slept.
In the nearby towns, mammals and children lay in their beds, not knowing.
Across the continent, mammals slept blissfully unaware.
All while, on the other side of the world, a red fox mother pulled the laundry off the drying rack on her balcony and loosely piled it up. His stuff, her stuff, towels, Nicky's… The little red fox just lay on a rug watching the TV in his diaper and shirt.
Blissfully unaware.
All while, in a far off abode, a raccoon father gently read to his son, standing up in his crib after a fuss filled night, the two year old kit slowly lying down and pulling his blanket over him as he read.
Blissfully unaware.
All while a European wood bison with tired eyes and a grumpy mood looked on at the figures displayed around him on the gauges and dials. All through the day, trip ups and errors and mistakes after mistakes. Still, he and his subordinate walked over to the control panel. A half hearted attempt was better than giving up. Maybe the higher ups would wave it off and finally tick that stupid box regardless.
Blissfully unaware.
All as an otter with a fishing rod in tow froze on the banks of the warm reservoir as something burst from it, a blast of air pushing him back. Scrabbling away, heart racing, he paused for a second to see the shadow lean down towards the river on the other side. And with a gust of wind it was off.
All as mammals at the Duga-One array ventured out into the forest, torches in hoof of paw, looking around. "-Get back," one of them shouted," casting his light down. There on the ground, amidst the debris, was a whole sticky-missile, burnt but cast from the sky, unexploded. Some of them began to edge around, carefully looking.
"More here," one of them said.
"And some more."
"Did we even hit him with any?" a boar soldier asked, pausing as he looked down at the burnt ends of some that had exploded.
"Of course we did," someone else scoffed. "It's just we exploded enough to blow up others before they hit him!"
They began searching on until, finally, the boar spoke again. "It's just… All these are ours."
"So?"
"Where's anything of his?"
All as Kozlov and Jorin reached the edge of the reservoir, pulling up, missiles tracking down and scanning, waiting. A searchlight cast across the reservoir, trying to see… "Where are you?" Kozlov growled. "Come out, show yourself!"
As Jorin pulled up his radio. "We can't see him, he might have sunk, but have you seen anything?"
…
Frowning, he tapped the receiver. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
"I can," Sizogo Orla spoke back.
Jorin froze, stepping back, Kozlov seeing it and knowing right away what was going on. He yanked the device away and spoke into it. "Ha! Come to beg for mercy!? Well no, we've got you now! Did you like that, huh? We got you hell spawn…!"
It was silent.
And then it began laughing, a dark rolling miasma of a laugh, like choking poison gas crawling across the floor, extending its fingers out to feel, to touch, to crawl down a victim's throat.
"You certainly treated me to a stimulating test of my reflexes," it hissed. "And for proving my superiority once more, I thought I'd treat you to a spectacle you will never forget."
Kozlov let the radio transmitter slip just a bit down the side of his face as he turned, yelling at the crew to get ready. He wasn't wounded. He'd been leading them on.
He never heard the last line that Sizogo Orla said to Jorin, trying to listen in, picked up something about a long planned 'light show.'
He never saw the terrified faces of those back in the radar control room as they heard nothing but static, their begging calls going unanswered, as they saw their enemy rise up and up and then dive.
They never heard the bang the wood bison and his mammals did, tired and weary after a long frustrated day, only just wrapping everything up when the building they were in shook.
They never saw what the one engineer did as he saw Sizogo Orla crash through the roof and dig its talons into the heavy metal floor. Through the solid metal blocks as he tilted the great lid out of the way, blasts of hot steam erupting out, then raging as talons dug through the wires and pipes and motors and materials within. Tearing through them, ripping them out, pushing its way into the newly dampened kindling and pushing it together, lighting them once more before lifting off as it caught, giving one last blast of bright blue energy down into the debris to detonate the bomb and soaring out, carried up on its wings by the blast as it ignited.
The mammal who saw him then saw nothing more.
The mammals in the control room began to see their readouts and dials go crazy before another explosion ripped through the building, the lights going out.
And across the water, Kozlov was barking orders at one of the mammals on the trucks when the drab green vehicle and the woods beyond glowed ever so slightly orange.
He froze, his body suddenly feeling as cold as ice as he turned around, holding up the receiver. Almost expecting a 'look what you made me do' as if the childhood bully wanted to rub it in further. Instead he got silence. Silence as the orange fireball around the furthest end of the powerplant diminished, the blocky forms of the buildings, topped with a scaffold shrouded chimney stack, now silhouetted in view.
A ripple flew across the waves and hit them, the sound of the explosion echoing around as he and Jorin fell to their knees. As if the weight of their failure was finally pulling them, so terminally out of their depth all this time, down. Only they didn't drown, they just looked on in horror at the ghostly shaft of deathly blue light, cast up from Sizogo's real target and up into the sky beyond. Where a silhouette briefly flashed, diving down, and silently racing along the water towards them, eyes widening into cold burning orange headlights pinning the pair where they stood.
.
And far in the future, in a car pushing along a road in a different continent, the same polar bear saw the faces of shock, disbelief, refusal to believe on the faces around him.
And he held up three digits on his right paw.