It was a calm morning. The early rays of the Sun graced the snowy tundra of Ursus, their warmth easing the ever-present cold. At the nomadic city of Novaya Volga, its inhabitants slowly awakened from their slumber, ready to face another day.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEEE...!
Clunch! – A hand slammed against the alarm clock, shutting it off completely.
"Ughhhh..." With a deep grunt, Viktor stood up from his bed, scratching his eyes. He was just like any ordinary person from Ursus; brown hair, dark eyes and two prominent bear ears, a normal guy.
He shook off his slumber for a couple of minutes, and then went on to his daily routine. He got up, washed his teeth, took a shower, and finally got dressed. He went to the kitchen and when he opened the door, there was his wife.
"Доброе утро, милый! (Good morning, honey!) I've already prepared some каша, would care to sit?" She said with a lovely smile.
"Yeah, of course." Viktor sat down and started to eat. However, as he was having his breakfast, the door was blown wide open and a little girl burst into the room. The man smiled.
"Доброе утро, Katya." He greeted her little daughter. "Have you slept well, my dear?"
"Да, папа!" She exclaimed. "I had this dream where...!" Before she could finish the sentence, her mother cut her with a gesture of her hand.
"That's enough, Katysha. C'mon, sit and start eating, I don't want you both to be late."
With that said, Viktor and her daughter had their breakfasts. Some time later, Viktor was fully dressed and about to leave for work. Before exiting through the main door, Viktor turned around and said goodbye.
"До свидания!"
"пока! (Bye!)" Said Katya and her mother.
The rush hour in Novaya Volga was always a bad hour to go to work. Traffic jams and busy streets, it was almost impossible to get through. Viktor found himself navigating through this human wave, the constant noise irritating his ears. Fortunately, as he was making his way to work, Viktor stumbled with an old friend of his.
"Hello there, Viktor!"
"Oh, it's you Sergei!" The man greeted his friend. "How long it has been since we last saw each other?"
"A couple of months, I think... Anyways, how you're doing?"
"Well, a little bit tired, as always." Said Viktor. 2With the amount of work that the asshole of my boss keeps sending, I'm surprised that I haven't fainted yet."
"Oh, that's bad indeed. What about your daughter? Is she doing fine?"
"Yeah, Katya and her mother are doing good. I guess I'm happy with that..."
Sergei let out a chuckle.
"Yeah, you're totally right, Дорогой друг."
Viktor smiled to that. It was true, it was enough for him to know that his family was alright. He was about to continue talking, but that was the moment he made a rather disturbing realization. They hadn't noticed, but at some point everything around them had gone completely silent...
"It's quiet, too quiet..." Viktor turned his head and took a look around, not expecting what he saw. The people around them were standing frozen in place, with their gazes fixed on the sky. Most of them had expressions of bewilderment and surprise on their faces. Sergei took notice of this as well.
"Что тут происходит?... (What's happening here?)" He walked to one of the guys. "Hey, why is everybody staring at sky?"
"There." The two directed their gazes to where the man was pointing... and then they saw it.
High on the sky, the outlines of a dozen of aircraft could be spotted among the clouds. Their shapes were slim, with no hard edges on sight. They were flying in a triangular formation, as they could clearly see from their position. The people watched as the unknown objects overflew Novaya Volga in confusion.
"What the heck is that..." Muttered Sergei.
"Perhaps a new weapon of the Ursus Army?" Suggested Viktor. "I wouldn't be surprised if..."
"No." Said Sergei. "You may not remember, but I work at the Army Research Bureau. I've dealt with experimental weapons for years, and... I can say that there's nothing in Ursus that can nearly resemble these "aircraft"..."
"Look, they're coming closer!" At that moment the planes began descending, and minutes later they were flying at such low altitude that the people could make out the red stars printed on the wings. However, everyone covered their ears when the piercing sound of the jets hit them. "What in the hell are they doing?", wondered Viktor. "Wait, they've just launched something...OH SHI...!".
BOOOOMMMM! – A chain of explosions rocked the entire street as the missiles made impact, hitting their marks. People screamed in panic as they began to flee the area. Viktor and Sergei didn't need more signs, the two turned around and ran.
/ /
Viktor couldn't believe it. Just a couple of hours before it was a normal working day. Now, everything around him was a burning inferno. People were screaming, cars were burning, and entire buildings were collapsing on themselves. He and Sergei were trying to survive amidst all the chaos, trying not to get shred to pieces by the artillery shells that were raining around him. They had thought that, after some bombing down some buildings, the planes would go away... but they didn't.
That had been only the beginning. Following the aerial bombardment, helicopters began approaching the city; and then, seemingly out of nowhere, armed soldiers flooded the streets. Their gear wasn't like anything Viktor or Sergei had seen in their lives. Their uniforms, helmets, their firearms... a frightening aura emanated from them, sending chills down everyone's spines.
The Ursus Army didn't sit idly by, though. The City Guard left their bases and went to face the enemy, in an attempt to defend the city... Hours later, the troops of Ursus had been completely massacred.
The two friends ran down the destroyed streets, but then they heard the sound of helicopters flying overhead. They held their breaths... but no immolation came. Instead the helicopters flew in another direction. Sergei let out a sigh of relief.
"Uff, they're gone..."
"Yeah, but we can't stay here." Said Viktor. "Sergei, we have to get to my home, my family needs me."
After thinking for a bit, Sergei nodded.
"Ok, let's go there then. We'll escape the city afterwards."
With that said the two men set off. Navigating among the streets, they soon reached the main battlefield...
"RESIST! THEY SHALL NOT PASS!" The Ursus defenders were forming a defensive line of shields, casters and snipers ready to provide cover. Some meters ahead of them, the invaders deployed their forces. A tense calm reigned between the two sides, until a shout was heard...
"огонь! (Fire!)"
The soldiers opened fire. The Ursus defenders began to die almost immediately, their shields were being pierced by their rival's AKs. Casters and snipers scrambled to make up a response. Soon arrows and Arts projectiles began to rain down the invaders, some managing to kill a good number of them.
Their victory didn't last for long, though. At that moment rockets and artillery shells began to pound their positions, killing lots of Ursus soldiers. After the bombardments, only a tenth of the original force was still alive. The survivors tried to put up a final stand, but when the tanks rushed in, it was over. The MBTs gunned down any remaining survivor.
After witnessing the massacre, they silently sneaked through the debris and the ruined buildings, not wanting to get killed by the invaders. At one point they stumble with a small deserted square. There, bloodied corpses were lying among the debris. Civilians, soldiers, even children... all of them were dead, killed amidst the combats. It was a gruesome sight.
"I can't believe it..." Muttered Viktor. "They've eve killed the children..."
"This is worse than Reunion." Replied Sergei. "These guys are fucking monsters..."
The two were about to walk away, but at that moment they heard a shout coming from behind.
"убейте их! (Kill them!)" The soldiers opened fire at them.
"блять, run!" Yelled Sergei.
The two fled as fast as they could. They ignored all the rounds being fired at them, they kept running, and running... until a bullet pierced right through Sergei's skull, killing him instantly.
"SERGEII!" Viktor was traumatized by the sight of his friend's death. He would have cried right there, but his survival instincts kicked in an he kept running. Soon he had in sight a small alley for him to sneak through, he was almost there... but out of nowhere a tank came out from there, blocking his way. He was surrounded.
Slowly, Viktor turned around to face the soldiers. Now that he was close, he could make out more details from their uniforms. On their arm they had a symbol very similar to Ursus's, and below there was a name: Россия.
He had a scared look on his eyes, it barely expressed how frightened he felt at that moment. The soldiers kept their weapons pointed at him.
"I- I'm not armed. Please, spare... AGGGHH!" Suddenly, one of them shot him in the leg, practically obliterating his ankle. He let out a scream of pain and tripped to the floor, holding his bleeding extremity.
Their commander began to laugh.
"HAHAHAHAA! Ты серьезно думаешь, что мы тебя пощадим? (You seriously think that we'll spare you?)" The man put his AK47's barrel against Viktor's head. He began to beg for mercy, sobbing.
"Please... don't do it *sob*. I have a family *sob*, please..."
"Sorry, but we don't take prisoners here. слава россиа!" The commander brought his finger to the trigger, and...
BANG! – Viktor dropped dead to the floor. The platoon walked away, leaving him behind, blood pouring from the hole in his head.
He wouldn't be the last one to die that day.