Sammy hummed a tune as she cleaned her rifle, wondering if she could ask Ruby to make her a weapon that would more-so fit with the NATO standard of the team. 5,56 would've probably worked better for interoperability and easing Hassan's burden of making extra ammunition for all of them. They had like, what, seven round types? She made a quick headcount, then gave up. She sighed and quickly thumbed the 5,8mm bullets out of the magazine, setting them into a box for safekeeping before starting to clean said magazine as well.
Cross-legged while cleaning it, the girl was sat in the garden of the house, the warming spring sun beating down between several dozen pockmarking clouds. She was only in her tank top and cargo pants, which she'd decided she was gonna ditch alongside the rest of her BDU. For something more forest-y. PLANM uniforms didn't help much when it came to camouflage.
Most of their team was here. She honestly could not be happier about that, a faint smile on her lips as she continued humming the tune while running a cleaning rag over the bolt carrier. The distant chirp of birds told of nature and the calm she was surprised to be feeling. It almost felt surreal that she was fighting a New Soviet Union and a fascistic Black League on Siberian Soil...
She heard footsteps on the porch, then turned to see Saila walking out in a similar outfit, though, at least her BDU pants were properly camouflaged. The redhead Finn with hair covering her right eye plopped herself down next to the Lieutenant, then waited for a moment and gave her a light tap on the shoulder. 'Everything alright?' Sammy could almost hear her asking. At first, Saila's supposed telepathic abilities genuinely freaked her out, but now...?
She chuckled and said, "Yeah, all's fine, Sai... Just tending to this Norinco piece of shit."
Another tap from Saila spelled, 'Are you going to ask anyone to help you change it out?' before she smiled, chuckled and gave the mute a nod. Saila hummed and looked around, leaning backward and onto the grass to stare at the house upside down. She sprawled out onto the grass and blew a strand of hair out of her uncovered eye, before smiling, too. They were, indeed, together once more.
She hummed, then poked Sammy again in the thigh. Sammy replied, "I think doc Ryan's working at Beacon Clinic, tending to the students and the usual good samaritan stuff our beloved PJ does..." only to see Saila smiling. Anja, who had heard this, patted Sammy on the back and sat herself down next to her totally-not-twin-sister, poking her in the belly. The twinsie giggled, then poked her back.
Sam shook her head, still wearing a smile, "I don't say it enough, but I missed all of you so much..."
"We missed you, all, too..." Anja replied, her voice soft. Saila was quick to react to this information, simply bringing both Anja and Sammy in for a hug. The two more outspoken women let out giggles and hugged Saila back, Sammy having set aside her disassembled rifle's bolt carrier to free her hands. Wrapping both young women in a gentle hug, the Lieutenant of the group had taken a short moment to realize that, yes, in fact, they were all still there and still alive, despite how they all passed.
A single tear trickled down her cheek as she wondered of the people they left behind and what they would think of the matter at hand. Her sister must've heard what happened to her, which made some part of her soul sorry for the Neo-Sov pieces of shit that would have to deal with a pissed off Dragon Lady Lee. Then, there was the thoughts of her parents and what they'd think, of her grandmother who, if she was still alive, wouldn't know what happened to her for a long while...
She sighed and shook her head. They'd find some way back. They had to. Whatever deity dropped their asses in here hadn't done so willy-nilly and she was sure of it. She didn't believe in God, courtesy of living in an atheistic country whose sole religion was the Party's views on things, but, at this point, she was willing to take God as an explanation for why they got dropped here.
"This is sweet..." A heavy Russian accent greeted them. The trio of girls looked over to see the radio operator of the BMP they had in their arsenal, a soft, motherly smile on her face. She gave a salute to Sam, who saluted back and nodded to her. She asked them, "May I join you girls? I like the spring breeze and I do need some air after being cooped up inside..."
"Sure thing... Anya, right?" Sam asked. The brown-haired beauty nodded as she walked to their side and sat herself down on the grass. Notably, she was only in her Afghanka and wearing the blue beret of the paratrooper units of the Soviet Union. Though her service weapon was weird:An AMD-65, a Hungarian License-produced AK variant that they'd modified with a metal handguard and a second plastic foregrip attached at the front for better weapon handling. It also had the paradrop foldable wire stock.
"Sorry for interrupting, I just... Figured I'd get out to get some air," Anya told them, "Keeping tabs on the radio twenty-four hours a day isn't exactly easy."
"Yeah, that's fair," Sam shrugged, "Your commander did mention that you girls had a lot of veteran experience, plus work..."
"Been in Afghanistan for several years before we died," She replied with a hint of awkwardness, rubbing the back of her neck. She told them, "I do quite dislike the idea that we died... I left my husband behind, too." before a seeming shiver passed through her spine, though no tears. Sam took note of this and kept it in the back of her head. She continued giving a light hum of 'Lotereya' as she sat there.
"Condolences," The girls said...
"It's okay..." Anya raised her hands defensively, blushing, "Anyway... What song are you humming, Comrade Lieutenant?"
"Oh?" Sammy paused, blushed to the chuckle of Anja and a joyful smile from Saila, then replied, "Well, it's a Russian song about Afghan. 'Lotereya' by Gruppa Rostov," with a soft smile on her face. Anya's curiosity seemed to be piqued as she stared at Sammy. Sam chuckled awkwardly, rubbed the back of her head and murmured, "I know what you want and I'm not exactly a good singer, but I guess I can try...?"
"Please..." Anya smiled.
Sammy... Well, she took a moment. The kindhearted woman had asked her to do something fairly easy, so may as well... She cleared her throat, intuned the song to herself to get into the rhythm, then sang in surprisingly good Russian, her voice beautiful, "Who goes to Kabul, who goes to Faizabad, Kandahar and Jalalabad? We all remember our difficult service. In Salang, trails and risk, Farah River or Girishk, and Bagram's beloved concrete roads..." And she watched Anya's face turn solemn, that smile in her face seemingly intermixed with memories that played back... She continued, "We keep those days in memory, those in Khinjan and Ghazni, or those who served in Asadabad... But no matter where you turn, it's like we're fighting here alone, almost like an ambush site at Lashkar-Gah..."
Anja joined in, tuning her voice with Sam's and starting, "And War's a cruel lottery, oh, we were so eager to go home from our service there... But now that we look upon the photos, my heart skips a beat and I wish I could go back to those places... And now that we look upon the photos, my heart skips a beat and I wish I could go back to Afghanistan..."
A tear trickled down Anya's cheek, with Sammy quickly apologizing, "Sorry! I... Should've known it'd trigger memories for someone fresh out of that conflict..."
Anya simply waved it off, then told her happily, "It was beautiful, comrade Lieutenant... I'm just... Stunned people remember that conflict."
Anja looked at her, reassuring her, "It was one of the most recognized conflicts in Russian history, Afghanistan being your country's Vietnam. The Soviet Union would've been no more by the time you'd go home and I'm not sure if it would've been worse for you to see the collapse for yourselves, than hear about it from us who live in the post-Soviet future..."
"I wonder how many of our old comrades lived to see the nightmare created by the collapse..." Anya murmured, looking at her gloved hands and fiddling with her fingers. Sam was quick, yet again, to plant a hand on the woman's shoulder in comfort, to which she got a smile in return. Anya told her, "Thank you, comrades... Do you happen to have the song on hand? Your voice was beautiful, but I want to hear it in its original form, too..."
"Thanks for the compliment," The Chinese girl blushed, then smiled, "As for the song, I have it on my phone, though I could probably download and have it imprinted onto a tape or DVD for you to listen to...?" Sammy hummed, then pulled out her Chinese-brand phone and checked her music app. She pulled out her earpods as well and showed to Anya to put them in her ears. She did as asked, before Sammy turned the song on. The quiet strum of a guitar, the beat of drums and soothing noise of a keyboard filling the woman's ears.
She smiled, closing her eyes and listening to the lyrics happily. Sammy, Anja and Saila looked to one-another, then smiled, before simply deciding to hum to the tune and continue their work themselves, with Sam cleaning her weapon and taking her time to do so. From the porch, meanwhile, Dushman and Jim watched them, the former commenting, "If you'd've told me we'd be buddy buddy with fuckin' Soviets, man, I'd'a laughed in your face..."
"Gotta admit they're cute..." Jim quipped.
Dushman snorted, "Stop thinking with your dick, dude..."
"I was just saying. And, hey, we have bigger problems than them now. Black League's here after all..." Jim sighed, then scratched the growing stubble on his chin, "And I dunno what we're gonna do when the shooting starts."
"We'll be fine," Dushman said, cocksure, "We killed plenty of those shitboots as it is, didn't we?"
"Yeah, but stil, there's something off... Like we brought a bigger war to this planet than any of us meant to, you know?" Jim offered, then sighed and shook his head, "Nevermind..." as he stared at Sammy. Dushman sighed and patted him on the back, walking back into the house, the clap of boots hitting the wood getting more distant before disappearing.
Sammy seemed to smile as she, Anja, Saila and Anya engaged in small-talk. Well, whatever passed for small-talk between Anja and Saila, the two totally-not-twins poking at each-other with smiles on their faces, their telepathy seemingly an heirloom between both of them. Jim gave a soft smile as he looked at their Chinese lead, the woman simply laughing as she reassembled her rifle, probably at a joke Anya told.
If only he had the guts to confess...
Back inside, in the meanwhile, Whiskey was sat on a love seat opposite the couch, a mug of coffee in hand and a smile on her face as she stared at possibly the sweetest thing she'd seen to date. Asleep and covered by a blanket, Victor and Vesna lay on the couch in each-other's arms, Vesna's head leaning against Vic's chest as they snored away the hours.
They'd been on patrol no less than an hour ago together and had apparently had to catch some guy trying to perv on the girls' showers at the Beacon gym. She'd learned two things after:Beacon had a gym. And Vic and Ves truly were the sweetest pair in the place, considering the laughs they shared while carrying the bastard to detention. As she took a sip from her mug, she could only think she was glad it was Vesna that the man had chosen.
Hearing a door open, she watched Robert come in from his and Lita's patrol, grumbling. She called out to him in a whisper, "Robert..." which caught his attention. She showed him to be quiet by putting a finger up to her pursed lips. She tilted her head toward the napping lovers, to which Robert's once-hard and annoyed expression softened. He marched to Whiskey's side and grabbed a can of coke out of his bag before popping it as quietly as he could. He took a sip and sat himself down, setting his M4 off to the side and staring.
"It's adorable..." Whiskey whispered to Rob, smiling.
He looked at her and whispered back, "I'm surprised you aren't jealous..."
Clarisse gave him a shrug, replying with a light blush, "I am a little... But like I said before, I knew I'm not what Vic wants, nor what he needs," and then took a sip from her coffee. Robert hadn't the heart or will to question why, honestly. It was her business, he thought as he took a sip from his Coke can. Vesna murmured something in her sleep and adjusted her position, while Vic moved his arm to better hold her close, which got an instinctual smile out of her. She snuggled up to him properly and Vic put his chin on her head gently.
The Dutch girl never once stopped smiling at the exchange, simply watching as Lita walked in as well now. The green-haired shortie of the squad hummed and saw Vic and Ves hugging, before walking up to Whisk and Rob and whispering to them, "The therapy sessions must be helping both of them. I and Ayesha even saw her smiling while talking with some of the other local girls."
"Thank fuck for that," Rob murmured, "Wonder how the Therapist is doing..."
"Oh, she's, uh..." Lita winced, "Taken up binge drinking..."
Whiskey snorted and had to focus hard not to burst into laughter, while Robert raised a brow in a type of look that asked 'Seriously?', thus making Li wince harder. He planted a palm on his face, rubbed his jaw and downed half the contents of his coke in one breathless swig. The two lovebirds before them stirred... Only enough for Vic to put his mouth to the top of Vesna's head and noticeably smile as he held her.
Lita blinked, feeling her heart thump as she murmured, "Those two will cause half this unit to go into a fucking diabetic coma, blyat..." before sighing and walking out toward the porch. She met Dushman on the way back in, showing him to be quiet and pointing at Vesna and Vic. The man smirked and nodded, then walked back to his dorm, where Sofia was half-naked, changing into something more casual.
The green-haired petite girl prayed they'd be quiet in whatever they were about to do, before walking out onto the back porch. She still had all her gear on, so the ammo in her pouches rang a bit, taking the attention of Jim toward her. He smiled and waved, "Yo, Li. What's up?" to which she simply smiled, her heart skipping another beat. She walked up beside him and leaned against the railing, staring out into the wider area of the Beacon housing. Some of their neighbors were out and about in their gardens as well, so she gave them a quick wave, which was just as quickly replied to.
She sighed deeply, then told Jim, "Nothing much is up, Jim. Just glad we get some downtime after everything..."
"Heh, agreed," He leaned his back against the railing as well, arms crossed to his chest. She chuckled, to which he asked, "What's so funny, eh?"
She shook her head and replied, "Nothing, mate," in a thick, fake British accent. That got Jim to chortle, before both of them locked eyes. She gave him a soft smile and said, "Out of all the people I'd thought I'd meet in KFOR, you weren't one of them, by the way. I never... Like, I knew you wanted to join the army, blyat, but I never thought I'd get to meet you while you're a ranger."
"I guess I liked Foley, Ramirez and Dunn a bit too much not to, heheh," Jim chuckled, holding his chin up proudly, "Meanwhile, you're our Russian Captain Price."
She chuckled and blushed, "Hey, someone has to keep the peace a little, right?"
"You socked me in the jaw once, Li. That's a little more than 'keeping the peace'," He laughed. She giggled, too, a little more girlish than usual. That got Jim's heart to pause for a good second, his cheeks glowing a little red. He rubbed the back of his neck, quickly taking a couple steps back and stating, "To be fair, I think you snapped me outa ogling someone that would've shot me or something."
She nodded, still giggling, "Would've gotten yourself killed over ass. You never changed."
The guy laughed awkwardly once more as Lita turned to their Lieutenant and stared at her. With a bit more of a heavy tone, she asked, "Still haven't tried talking to Sam about it, have you...?" which got him a bit surprised. She told him, "Don't let the chance pass by... It'll help in the long run if you get an answer sooner, rather than later. Who knows what'll happen...?"
"Heh," Jim blushed as he looked toward Sam as well, "Yeah... Maybe. I'll think about it."
She sighed, nodded and said, "Alright, Jim... Up to you, suka..." before flashing him a smirk. With that, she walked back inside and toward Ves and Vic's room, closing the door and leaning against it as she let out a deep sigh. She slid down the door onto the floor, curled up as a ball, before murmuring, "Why can I just not tell him...?" before pausing as she saw a pair of boots to her left.
She looked up to see Vera, who was simply cleaning up the place. Vesna's cousin walked up to one of her cousin's friends and knelt beside her, then asked quietly, "Let me guess, Jim still being Jim...?" while being casually aware, courtesy of Vesna, of the interlocked web of love interests slowly unwinding now that the gang was finally opening up to each-other.
Li nodded, which caused Vera to sit down beside her, murmuring, "You lot are worse than children, blyadh..."
"It doesn't help that he can't see Sam doesn't like him that way..." Li murmured, "But I will not be the one to bring it up. He would hate me..."
"Just like you'd hate being told anything similar," Vera murmured, leaning her head against the door. She sighed deeply and murmured, "Don't I get the feeling..." before turning to Li and adding, "Look, just... Go talk to him and either force him to see the fact you like him, or force him to confess to the Lieutenant. At this point, it's better for both of you to get it out of your systems, like Sam did for her crush on Victor. She got it out, cried a bit and moved on..."
Lita took a moment to look at Vesna's cousin. Vera offered a kind smile, though behind which lay several months' worth of pain of the post-collapse Russian era. She was not well either, but she would never open to anyone but Vesna, and only if pressed, or found in the midst of it all. Lita knew. She knew the telltale signs because she'd seen a much lighter variation of them on Vesna after everything that occurred in the war. She sighed, unwilling to press it, like she thought, but instead she took to heart what she said. She nodded and replied, "Thank you, Vera... I'll keep that in mind."
"No problem," She shot back, "You are part of Vesna's friends, meaning you're my friends, too." before watching the girl stand up and depart. With a puff from a newly-lit cigarette, Vera was left alone once more, to ponder her own situation. She'd seen Lita's look, like she somehow knew something was wrong with her, so she was thankful the girl never pressed her on it.
She stood up, too, puffed from the cig, then walked out after opening the windows...