Two possibilities exist:either we are alone in the universe, or we are not.
Both are equally terrifying.
-Arthur C. Clarke
Kosovo, near Prizren
Night of the 23rd to the 24th of February 2020
"So, we're being recalled..." Sighed a young soldier as the radio the group of friends had bought with their own money played a melancholic tune from their Humvee. Up above, on the black dome, stars dotted the otherwise clear cover, the moon, full and bright, shining the light reflected from the sun down onto the world. Nearly a dozen soldiers of various nationalities, part of the Kosovo Force, a NATO-led, but UN-approved and sanctioned military presence within the confines of Kosovo, obviously, stood around a campfire.
Their last patrol had run its course. With nearly a year of memories behind them, the group of multinational individuals stared at the crackling flames, some of them holding MREs, others, drinks. Command had given this strange platoon, dubbed the 'Misfits' by most of the people who got to know them, a little time to get used to the idea that they would be broken apart come early morning.
A dozen individuals, brought together by the chance fact of all of them working together in KFOR. A group of people that'd become good friends over their stay here. And here they were, none of them wanting to say goodbye. Their de-facto leader, though not a NATO member by a long shot, acted much like them when she let out a drawn-out sigh as the flames danced in her emerald eyes, which were hidden behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.
She took them off, then murmured, "Been a bloody year already," as she rubbed her eyes, trying to hide the fact she was wiping tears. She spoke, her voice soft, controlled, "Been a pleasure knowing all of you, folks..." then she scratched her chin and swallowed her spit. She then told them, "Fuck... It's been more than a pleasure. Even with all the crap they shove down our throats back home..."
"No need to say it, Sam," The young soldier from before, a Romanian, stated as he leaned against his PKM. He smiled at her and said, "We know. And we're glad to have met you, too, El-Tee. Been one hell of a year, being under the command of a Chinawoman," which garnered a few short, but mirthful laughs from the gang. He then looked over to one of his American buddies, a half-Latino guy, and patted him on the shoulder, stating, "Didn't think we'd have a Ranger Chalk stuck with us either."
"Our little experimental unit must've been one hell of a fun fuckup for Command to look at," Voiced another American, a Marine, with a grin on his face. Though he, too, sounded a little disappointed at all of this ending. He sighed and took a puff from his cigarette, before elbowing the Military Policeman there to keep tabs on them and asked him, "Ey, Rob, what the hell did command say about us?"
"What didn't they say," Scoffed the MP as he took a sip from his Coke. He then enumerated, using his fingers to count, "Biggest fuckups this side of the World's Militaries, the most asinine idiots to ever carry guns, the people whom command would've section-eighted immediately if they were in any part of the US Military..." before sighing, "Of course, those were mostly my reports. Command, however, did say this little experiment wasn't a failure per se, considering they might do it again next year... Fuck me if I'm not gonna be out of it by then."
"Never say never, Feitingis," Another young woman, this one a Russian Chechen with red hair, jabbed, a smirk on her face. She looked over to her other friend, one with brown hair that was greener at the tips and with emerald eyes. The shorter one sighed and wiped her mouth after taking a sip from her drink, then straightened up as the redhead told her, "Didn't ever think we'd wind up befriending Westoids."
"Heh. Trust us, Ayesha," Another guy spoke, a Hungarian, "We didn't think we'd like you assholes either."
"Hah, idi nahui, Nemeth. You, your sister and Polak friend ain't so bad," The small one chortled, then slid a cigar between her lips.
The Hungarian pair smiled, though the Sister of the two was a little less forthcoming. Her brother noticed this and gave her a thumbs up. A third Russian girl was sat beside her friends, gripping her AK and leaning it against her shoulder. Her blue eyes settled on the Romanian pair beside the Hungarians, also brother and sister, also twins. Namely, her eyes focused on the brother with a longing that her friends could see in the flickering orange light.
The Pole, meanwhile, snorted and looked over to the first Yankee Ranger and his buddy, before asking, "Jim, Hassan, you two gonna say anything?"
"Just thinkin', Katja," Sighed Jim, rubbing his eyes. This was the half-latino boy, a friendly, kind heart and a loving one, too, but a rather wary one. Unsurprisingly, though, considering some of his childhood. Beside him was his Malaysian-born American friend, a first-generation citizen of the US due to being born there. Hassan was the more serious and military-like of the pair, but even he knew to let loose. Especially now of all times.
Hassan hummed and said, "I'm not looking forward to going back to the Sandbox, but I hear that, with the new president being elected, we're about to head out of Afghan. They'll probably need our Chalk for the evacuation operation, whenever that's gonna come about," before taking a sip from his Sprite. He scratched an itch on his cheek, then murmured, "Least I might get to see Nicole again..."
The Bulgarian of the crew had passed out in the Humvee and was now being checked upon by the Romanian female twin, who knocked on the door and said, "Alexi, wake your ass up, dawg..." only to watch him stir. He flipped the bird toward her, to which she rolled her eyes, opened the door and dragged his ass out to join the gang, drunk as he was.
He groaned and said, "Alright, alright, Toma, I'm fucking up..." as he straightened up and walked with Victoria Toma to join the gang. Paul and Paula, the Hungarians, snorted, while Victor, her twin brother, hummed and looked over to Vesna Novikova, the beautiful blonde. Beside her were her friends, Ayesha Dudiyn the redhead Chechen and the snappy, Captain Price-LARPing Lita Tarasova.
Vic felt a gentle nudge in his elbow and turned toward Paula, who smiled and said, "Go. Both of you. You should get it off your chests before we have to head home..." to which he nodded and smiled back. He waved Vesna over and the blonde, surprisingly excited, stood to her feet and walked with him over to a more secluded part of the little forest area they were in.
"You think they're gonna do it?" Jim Asher, AKA 'Jungle Jim', asked both Paula and his buddy, Hassan Avery.
"Hope so," Paula sighed, "Perfect setup..." She then said shyly.
Paul snorted, "I'm walloping them over the head if either of'em chicken out. It's been coming for an entire year at this point," only to then pause as he looked up. Overhead, lights flashed. He smiled and said, "Guys, check it out! Meteor shower!" as he pointed to the sky. The entire squad of Misfits all stared up at the sight, the beauty of the dashing lights in the heavens distracting them from the sadness for a moment.
Katja Zielinska, the Polak, leaned against Paul and grinned, staring up, while the Lieutenant, Chinese PLAN Marine Samantha Lee, sighed and looked Vic and Vesna's way, watching the two chatting rather awkwardly. Jim had noticed this and asked her, "Hey, Sam, you okay?" to which the Chinese girl nodded, scratching the back of her head. It wasn't easy to say that she had a thing for the guy now talking to the Ruski blonde, but, oh well.
Meanwhile, the two aforementioned Eastern Europeans continued bumbling awkwardly around the very issue both were trying to solve, with Victor stating, "... Look, it's a long story, heh. So, we've known each-other for a year at this point, but this doesn't make it any less..." And, well, to nobody's surprise, stuttering. Both of them were barely nineteen years old at this point. Youngsters who would normally have just finished High School and been preparing for University.
The two stuttering messes continued to stutter and be awkward, funnily enough, until the bright flash of a falling star up above caused them both to look up. Both could only smile as they watched what would've been a once in a lifetime event happening before them, the meteor shower providing a beautiful backdrop. Ves took a step closer to Vic as they stared, both smiling.
The Romanian decided to try his luck, obviously. Gently, he lifted the hand closest to her and, without looking, took hers into his grip, their fingers interlacing as the natural beauty of space played out ahead of them. With a face as red as a tomato, Vesna smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, watching the night sky still flashing. She then paused as she heard their radios crackle to life, which made both of them hum.
They turned toward the crew as Sam waved them over. She then tuned her radio. Vic and Vesna looked to one-another, nodded and marched to join the rest of the group as Paul put out the fire. Vic inquired, "What the hell's going on...?"
"Word from KFOR central HQ in Prishtina's squawking," Paul said as he shouldered his CZ Bren II. "Something about crash-landings in the Adriatic. Croatian Army's called up troops to see what hit the sea. Command's called us back to our FOBs specifically to consolidate command and be ready to engage... I don't know, man, shit seems to be fucked. KFOR CENTCOM is probably about as confused as us."
"Alright, Misfits, rally up! Get your asses on the trucks, we're all RTB to Prishtina, then we're redeploying to our units!" Sam called out as she marched up to the Humvee, "KFOR's little Misfit experiment's over, but the plans to redeploy us home just got scrapped!" And she boarded the transport, taking the back seat. Paul mounted as the driver, while Paula took shotgun. Jim entered the back and Vic took the M2 turret, racking the bolt of the MG.
The Humvee and the truck then began rolling in a small convoy. Overhead, jet engines roared as MiG-29s and MiG-21s dashed toward the Adriatic. Paula grabbed the radio and tuned it, then radioed, "Central, MISFIT rolling back to base at best speed. Central, interrogative:What is going on? We just saw Jets overhead..." before gasping as a squadron of fighters appeared overhead.
"MISFIT, CENTRAL, Be Advised:Croatians have requested reinforcement from the Serbian military. Serb Jets are in the air alongside NATO assets from Mikhail Kogâlniceanu and the Constanța bases," The radio officer reported, "Full Briefing will be available within the German Sector HQ. We are at a state of Yellow Alert across all forces at this time and we have multiple com requests. Stand by."
"The Croats fucking called the Serbs in!?" Sam balked, "Oh, shit must really be going down, then..."
"Did Italy lose their shit or something?" Vic murmured as he held onto the MG, watching multiple flashing lights in the sky intersperse with the meteor showers. Headlights appeared from their right as US and other NATO assets rolled in beside them, including a couple of Bradleys painted in OD Green. Vic hummed, then said, "We got shit landing in the Adriatic and we're going in for a briefing... What the fuck...?"
"Doubt it's the Italians," Paula murmured, "They're NATO and having issues, too. Net's a mess right now."
"Was joking, Paula," Vic replied, gazing up at the sky as the drone of dozens more Jets echoed. In the distance, the horizon glowed and flashed. They weren't anywhere near the goddamn sea, but there it was, like lightning striking the various locations. The vehicles rolled with the convoy of allied units all the way to what was now a staging area. The forest had been hurriedly cleared and the ground, flattened to allow the dozens of vehicles of a couple of ABCTs to park.
Overhead, rotorblades chopped through the air as allied and GREENFOR choppers touched down, disgorged troops and took off again, back toward the bases. The faint wail of an air raid alarm echoed across the place as the vehicles of the Misfits ground to a halt and the group dismounted. Sam hollered, "All of you, to your units! Godspeed, you glorious bastards...!"
"Sam," Vic called out as they exited the transport. He gave her a gentle nudge in the elbow and said, "Take care of yourselves."
She smiled and nodded, "You, too. Would hate to have to tell Ves you went missing or something," before grinning. She saluted the other Misfits as they fell in with their units, before rushing over to the staging point of the Chinese brigade present in the joint KFOR exercise. She yelled in Chinese at them and rallied her old platoon up to prepare, their green camouflage uniforms glistening in the floodlights.
"She'll join us at the Brief, I think," A Romanian-accented voice called out. Vic, Paul and Paula looked forward, with Vicky tagging in as well. They smiled as they saw Diana Danila, the Sergeant of Vic's unit. She smirked at them and said, "Took your sweet fucking time, boys and girls. Let's move. I need people to jot down the crap they're about to brief us on. Zielinska, get to your GROM unit. They'll need scouts."
"Aye, aye," Katja smirked, "See you soon, folks..." and she moved, but not before turning to give a nod and a wink to Paul. The Hungarian smiled and gave her a nod, while his sis chuckled. They then followed Diana toward the HQ, the Russians also joining in. Ves smiled at Vic, who smiled back and nodded as they entered the central command tent, where radios crackled, static echoing.
NCOs and COs gathered now. Within five minutes, the entire place was loaded with staff, Vic asking Diana, "You were here ahead of us, what's the word...?"
"We just lost contact with Croatian forces... Zagreb sounded the alarms not too long ago, too," Diana murmured. The Misfits around her paused, eyes wide as she continued, "Word of mouth is the PLA has already mobilized their Navy and CG Cutters out to sea. Multiple CSGs are also active and mobilizing, but the dropoffs have been happening across every coast, in every sea and ocean and around every goddamn continent. Whatever this is..."
"It moved that damn fast...?" Paula blinked. Diana nodded, scratching behind her ear.
"Where were Alex and the Finns...?" Vic asked Paul.
He replied, "They returned home early. Alex didn't get to say goodbye. Anja, Saila and their units should've arrived in Helsinki yesterday..."
"Okay..." Vic sighed deeply, "This is fucking worrying."
"It will be fine. Let's hope it's just training..." Vesna quipped, though her own heart raced in her throat.
As the top officers of KFOR and their allied attaches gathered, a radio's static cleared as the news played, "... Unknowns, the meteor showers landed across most of the coastal regions of the world. At this time, it is unknown how, or why, but contact with various seaside-" Before the US Colonel present alongside the German Bundeswehr officer shut it off.
He spoke, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen! I'll be curt with this, because I'll be fucked if we have time. Unknown Contacts have landed within the meteor showers that encompassed the entire planet no less than two hours ago. These contacts have proven belligerent and dangerous. Contact with Croatian ground and Serbian air assets sent in to explore and contain the hostiles was lost an hour ago. Zagreb, Constanța, Varna, Istanbul and a multitude of cities located by the seaside has been lost or sporadic. USEUCOM and NATO are at REDCON ONE and a Red Alert has been issued."
He swallowed, then cleared his throat as he stated, "We are currently in a state of war," which made the entire group of officers, NATO and non-NATO alike, gasp. He told them, "To this extent, all of Europe's militaries are mobilizing. We're in contact with Russian and Chinese ambassadors and the liaisons present in the area for JOTUN, AKA Joint Task United Nations, also colloquially known as the MISFIT Program, will hopefully allow our troops to best coordinate. Plan is as follows:All allied assets are to deploy across the Kosovo-Albanian border, vet refugees and prepare for possible contact. Going by how fast these bastards have moved-"
"Sir!" A Radioman interrupted, "We just lost contact with NSA Gaeta in Italy! The Italian Military's reporting heavy contact in Rome and... Holy shit..." He blinked, "We've lost contact with Marseilles, Cherbourg, London and Stockholm, sir..." only for another ripple of fear to echo from the gasps of the soldiers, officers and NCOs around. The enemy was moving fast and aiming for capitals.
"... My point..." Sighed the Colonel, "Get your asses in gear, ladies and gentlemen. I don't care what posture we had with the Russians and Chinese previously, whatever's going on here's bigger than all of us. If the enemy gets us while we're in our staging areas, we'll be in for some deep shit. We'll keep you all updated as things start to unravel, but as it is... The World is at War. We'll try to get ISR, maybe some drones, to track the enemy if our units can spare them. Until then, godspeed. Dismissed. Get to work!"
The officers and NCOs all filed out of the room, Vesna listening over the radio as the Russian major in charge of their unit, the 95th Guards' Motorized Infantry Brigade, "Molodaya, Kharkiv, Sokol and Boris units, active deployment orders received from Allied Command. Coordinate with NATO assets and be ready. Fight sounds like it'll be tough..."
"Sounds like we're getting the order to deploy..." Vesna sighed, then looked to Victor. She told him, "Take care of yourself..."
"You, too, Ves. We'll see each-other out there..." He smiled back. She nodded, then motioned for Ayesha and Lita to follow along as they ran toward the consolidated unit of BTRs, BMPs and other IFVs in the Russian staging area. Sam, who was already aboard a ZBD-04 fighting vehicle that rolled out with its convoy of MRAPs and other vehicles, gave a quick salute to Vic and the others, a wary smile on her face.
"This is gonna fucking suck," Vicky murmured, "Don't worry, though, bro. I and Diana're gonna get ya back to your wife."
"Hah. Fuck off, sis," Vic snorted, though he, too, felt the weight of what was going on. "Is it fucking ETs hitting us?" He murmured, then looked to Paul and offered him and Paula a fist bump. The two sibling pairs smiled and nodded to one-another, then bumped fists. Paul gave Vic a bop on the noggin with his finger, then smiled at Vicky, who smiled back and nodded in turn.
The brother-sister Hungarian pair walked off to their battalion, while Vic and Vicky marched toward the Mastiff MRAP that the Romanian unit had been using. Diana spoke, "I'm with Vicky on this one, you two. This is gonna suck, alright..." as she boarded the vehicle and called out, "Wake the fuck up, Paramores! Get your asses in gear, we're going to war!" which seemed to rouse the dozen Romanians asleep inside. Vic went to the turret and manned the MG, racking its bolts.
From the distance, the roar of artillery came. Far enough away to be less worrisome, but close enough for it to be heard. Ștefan, the team's AT Rifleman, stirred awake and watched as Vicky sat herself down and started checking her and her brother's PKMs, while Diana sat at the front and pulled the radio transmitter off the dash and spoke in clear-cut Romanian, "This is GHOSTMAKER 1 Actual to all GHOSTMAKER Victors, we're Oscar Mike to area designated by allied command."
The transport rumbled down the road, joining the convoy of dozens and hundreds of allied vehicles as more and more jets roared overhead. F16s and F15s moved in low and fast, while choppers flew overhead as escort. Hungarian and Serbian Hinds, Romanian Puma SOCATs, American Apaches and Black Hawks aimed at the Kosovo-Albania border now. Vic, who yet again had a front row seat for this, stated, "This is looking like Apocalypse Now up here!" aloud as the chopper blades nearly drowned him out.
"Isuse cel bun..." Diana whispered, listening to the radio transmissions as the distant noises of artillery fire came closer and closer. She spoke, "Sounds like the fighting's actually getting closer..."
"Don't like that one damn bit," Vicky stated as she moved up to the front of the vehicle, peering past the armored windows at the sky ahead. Behind them, dawn started to break, the sun gently rising over the new day of the 24th of February, 2020, the distant flashes of explosions fading. It wasn't long into the drive before the Military units had reached their staging areas and prepared to engage whatever was coming.
Vic and the others, however, did not expect the upcoming surprise as they set up defensive positions along the border, near by the post. Albanian soldiers and border guards tensed as their radios played various warnings, the screams of the fearful men and women and the distant gunfire. Civilian vehicles rolled over the border into Kosovo by the dozen, blocking the road and forcing any other NATO and allied arrivals to set up around them.
An Albanian military vehicle carrying wounded veered off to the side and the crew began carrying the dead, eyes wide with fear and gazes focused on the sky. While Vic and the others would've normally found this strange, they could potentially understand it. Whatever was hitting them across the Coast was probably hammering everything. And the fact they'd already lost Zagreb...
Before Vic, Vicky or Diana could process the droning up above, the first detonation echoed. Projectiles that resembled missiles arced down from the heavens, striking like ATGMs. Two Bradleys detonated in a blaze of flame, the wounded and dying screaming bloody murder to nobody in particular. The screams never got to the Medics, either, as the missile volleys struck all around.
Above, fast-movers roared past the joint checkpoint, two helicopters exploding in balls of fire as the enemy came in swinging. Fifty calibers and German SHORADs that'd arrived late opened up, tracers lighting the twilight sky like scarlet stars, but hitting nothing. Vicky screamed as she ducked behind cover, while Diana fired up at the enemy alongside the rest of the squad.
Vic felt the air knocked out of his lungs and, suddenly, his feet no longer touched the dirt below. Civilian screams, the thunder of explosions and the very earth around them seemed like distant memories. He floated for a moment, feeling the warmth around him overtake him, before he felt the hard impact of the landing. He gagged, blood foaming at the corners of his mouth as he stared up at the sky.
Diana now hovered over him, a chunk of shrapnel stuck to her armor plate. She knelt beside him with wide eyes and called out to someone he couldn't see, fearfully calling out, "Vic, stay with us, brother!" though her voice was muffled by the ringing in his ears. Beside him, an IFV rolled up, its 25mm cannon letting loose into the sky, missiles leaving dancing, contrails interlacing to form patterns.
Before long, his vision grew blurry and consciousness faded.
He passed out...