//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 Unknown enemy 
// Story: War Gone Cold 
// by Bronycommander 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2: Unknown enemy




As the children opened their eyes, they found themselves on the outside of the guard post, seeing a cardboard box in the middle of the road, two soldiers in desert-colored uniforms looking at it.

“Hey, that’s dad!” Blau exclaimed as he recognized one of the soldiers, the other one had a ski mask and goggles covering the face.

“It’s a box, so what?” Konrad asked his fellow soldier, slightly surprised.

“I could swear I saw it moving….”

Suddenly, the box twitched and a red exclamation point appeared over it, causing everyone to startle slightly.

“See? Did you see that?!” The other soldier asked and reached for his radio. “CP! A cardboard box is moving! Please advise!”

“This is CP. Knock it off. Out.”

“Rrgh, it's not a joke...” The soldier protested before turning to Ford. “What should we do?”

Konrad let out a frustrated groan. “I won’t let them make a fool out of me! Watch this.” He pointed his rifle at the box and fired a grenade from an under barrel grenade launcher, destroying it and sending the occupant flying.

It happened so fast the kids couldn’t see him directly, only hearing a male scream.

“And that’s how you do it,” Konrad said satisfied, grinning.

His children and their friends could only stare in confusion. “Uh…okay…” Lily mumbled before everything went white.





Opening their eyes, they were back in the house, realizing it had been a dream. “That was strange…” Dinky mumbled as she got up.

“Yeah…” Lily nodded before the two soldiers walked in.

“Good morning.” Lovec carried some bread, giving it to the children, who took it with glee.

“Thanks.” Katja smiled. “What have you planned?”

“We thought of introducing you to our superior, he would know what to do best,” Chernov explained and pointed to two Russian Jeeps parked next to the guard post. Dinky and Lilly climbed into the backseats of the first one with Lovec, the siblings into the other with Chernov.

As they drove through the dusty roads, Blau couldn’t help himself but ask, “Why are you here in this country?”

The man sighed. “How much do you know about the cold war?”

Katja thought for a moment. “Well, I learned a little about it in school. After World War II, the Western and Eastern Allies fell out. Their views were too different, they felt threatened by the other. There wasn't any proper fighting between them but whenever a war broke out anywhere in the world, both sides fought over it...My teacher said it was like two kids fighting over toys.”

“Correct. As for why we are here, back in 1979, an insurgency against the Afghanistan government broke out that is backed up by us, so we came to help them.”

The two cars came past a few other guard posts, the soldier there just gave the kids a quick look, until a village came into sight. Several walls were on meadows around it. Inside the village were two guard towers.

“We are here. This is Da Shago Kallai, we converted it to an outpost after the locals fled.” The Sergeant-Major explained as he led the kids inside and they saw a man in a khaki uniform that made him look like a regular soldier. But noticeable was that he was wearing a red beret.

Under it was brown hair, his brown eyes were filled with slight confusion as he saw the kids. “Are those?”

“Yes, commander, those are the children we reported,” Lovec said as he and Chernov saluted.

The commander stayed silent for a moment, blinking. “Okay…And I thought I saw everything.” He started to smile. “Spetsnaz commander Sergei. Why don’t you tell about yourself inside?” The officer pointed to a house and they nodded.

After they told him everything, he had an expression of sympathy. “Sorry to hear that. But I’ll make sure you’ll be safe.”

“Thank you, sir.” Dinky smiled and he waved a hand.

“Just doing what is right. If you excuse me for a moment.” Sergei said and walked out.

“It’s very kind of him that he helps us,” Lily commented with a smile as she looked after the officer.

“Yes, he’s one of the most honorable and caring commanders I know,” Lovec replied with pride and they saw through the window how the commander spoke to some radiomen.

“Word is that the Hamid fighters at Da Smasei Laman have been annihilated. It seems there were civilians among them, too.” Sergei walked back and forth as he said this. “There are rumors within our forces that it was our handiwork. These rumors are utterly false. My comrades. The orders we receive are absolute. We stay true to the mission. If they tell us "Burn the village," we burn it. To crush the dushman, for the Motherland.” He explained stern.

“But remember this: Never does that include murdering civilians. If we drag them into this, their resentment will only worsen this conflict. If a superior told me to kill a civilian...” He paused for a moment. “I would kill him instead. For that I am prepared. And I hope you all are, too. If you agree with me, make yourself known.”

“But...why would he burn the village at all?” Dinky did not understand and the Sergeant-Major sighed.

“Well, when we arrived, the locals around here were ferocious. Our presence on their land was seen as a threat to their god as well as their people. And people will do a lot for their gods. They know the way of the land and how best to fight on it. It's a guerrilla campaign on all fronts, a bloody one.” He explained.

“A war of attrition. These fighters call themselves "Mujahideen". So we destroy the kishlaks - villages - wherever we can. We burn down homes and fields, fill in the wells. Turn pastures into minefields. But this had a big price. There’s bitter resentment among the Afghans, and they're take out their anger on us soldiers on the front lines. Among the Mujahideen are the Pashtun people.”

Now, he started to shiver slightly.

“They're fiercely devoted to their code of badal, or revenge. Soviets they've captured have had their hands, feet and noses cut off, before being left to die at the side of the road. Just to show their comrades what they're capable of. Friendlies who came across them can do nothing but put them out of their misery. Then we burn down another village in retaliation. And the cycle of vengeance goes on.” He told with regret and unease in his voice. “Ironic, we do exactly what the Germans did to us back in World War 2.”

“That’s horrible…” Lily shivered at the thought of dying like that. “I hope we won’t run into them…”

“If it comes to that, we’ll protect you, but I think it’s unlikely,” Lovec assured her with a weak smile. “We got our central base camp in this area, thus a strong presence, so they don’t dare attacking here. Plus even they have standards.”

Lily nodded, realizing he was right about the standards, taking a deep breath. “Right…Can we help you with something?”

“You could help get the supplies around.” He pointed to a truck that pulled up and the kids nodded, walling outside, just as Sergei walked back in.

“We have to get them out of this county, fast, it’s not safe for them here.” Chernov looked at the four friends with worry and the Spetsnaz member laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I can arrange that, just give me time. They may are not from our world, but are still kids and civilians. And you know me, I won’t let any civilian come to harm. We should get them to the supply outpost, it would be a lot safer for them.

Dinky and her friends enjoyed helping out, seeing that the Soviets appreciated the help.

“...I got a letter from Grigoriy. Sasha is dead.” They overheard the truck driver talking to a fellow soldier with pity.

“So he didn't make it... Damn it! And last week, the new guy lost it and got pulled out. It never stops...” The other Russian told the driver with frustration.

“We're doing better than others. A comrade at the regimental headquarters told me a third of the platoon at Panjshir is replaced every six months.”

“That many?” The other soldier asked surprised.

“Across the whole force, we lose over 100 men every month. It's been that way since the past three years.”

“But we're killing more of them!”

“I hear you, comrade. Calm down.” The truck driver said but his fellow soldier lowered his head.

“It feels like we're getting nowhere...”

“Maybe I'll be next...” The driver mumbled before his comrade looked up with an annoyed expression.

“Stop it. Ne karkat.”

This caused the kids to look at each other. Was it really that bad?

It made them afraid that their caretakers could be next. That they would be left stranded in a warzone, where the enemy could be anywhere.

“W-what if…” Lily stuttered. “They die because of us?”

“I don’t want to imagine…” Katja shivered.

Dinky and Blau looked at each other. “Even if the rebels wouldn’t strike here, there was a risk they could strike elsewhere.

And with such high losses, it was very likely.

“We…We should try to stay positive.” Dinky managed to say, sounding unsure, yet earned weak smiles by her friends.

“Right…” Lily said and they continued to help out at the outpost.

After some time, they rested in the shadow, drinking some water. “Phew…It’s just as hot as in Africa.” The young colt wiped the sweat off his forehead.

As Blau turned around, he was facing a poster of a woman in a bikini that was hung up on a wall. “..Whoa...

“Blau, stop staring.” His sister said with a disappointed look.

”Why?” He asked, not able to understand.

“It's not decent. Those posters are demeaning.” She pointed out.

“How? She looks happy.”

“I meant to other girls.”

“How?” The colt asked again, noticing that his sister was having an uncomfortable expression. “Wait a minute, why are you staring?”

“None of your business.” She quickly replied and turned away from the poster.

Dinky and Lily looked at each other, understanding why her human friend acted like that.

“Ah, I see you noticed that poster,” Arkturi said as he walked up to them. “It’s for raising moral; though it makes the men more distracted than helping them. And I can understand you, Katja.”

“You do?” She blinked in confusion.

“Da. I am the son of a well-known officer of the Red Army that got famous during the Second World War. As such, I got a lot of attention when I was growing up, much to my discomfort.” He told her, slightly lowering his head in embarrassment as he remembered.

“And who is your parent?” Blau asked curiously and the soldier showed him and the other children a photo of a woman. They recognized her, not able to believe their eyes.

No way… Dinky thought in surprise.

“Katyusha Medveditsya Kallistrovich. Colonel in the Soviet Armed Forces, Artillery Expert, Trench Breaker, a mother to all the men and women under her command. They called her the She-Bear of Krasnodar. The SS feared speaking her name. She mowed them down in torrents and protected Mother Russia from the Nazi Invasion. She was a Four-Star General serving Comrade Stalin until his death.” Lovec explained with pride, smiling.

“After the war was over, she married her second in command, Lieutenant Hector Lemkin. They are both still alive. Yet, my mother made things very difficult for Brezhnev. And now that he's in power, he wants Russia to forget she existed. A statue of her was just taken down in Krasnodar City Square two days ago. The Union was not what it once was. Once, we dominated all of Eastern Europe and made Germany tremble at the sound of our march...Now look at us. We can't even control a few miles of desert!” He exclaimed, “And as that fallen statue proves, it has no respect for the men and women who died to make it strong, who died fighting the real enemy.”

The kids were silent for a moment. “I see…Sounds like you had really bad luck to land here with the reputation of your mother,” Lily replied with pity.

“Yeah…this war is extremely unpopular amongst us. We are the 40th Army, 100,000 men strong, and you heard how it goes for us. We made our own Vietnam. As such, my parents are very worried about my safety.” He told them with unease. “And things are getting worse every day.”

“Hey, did you see the new board they put up at the relay base?” A fellow soldier asked another, interrupting the Sergeant-Major.

Yeah. "Ethnic Solidarity." Who are they kidding?”

“Right. And now the brass is prioritizing sending in more Russian-born guys instead of Central Asians. Those guys don't have the morale because ethnically they're close to the Afghans.”

“Makes sense.”

“Well, catch you later.”

“Sure.”

Katja could just stare at those words. “How, how can they do this? Forcing them to kill their own?”

“It isn’t right!” Blau exclaimed in disbelief.

“And sad,” Lily added.

“Yes, but as this country is in Central and South Asia, it was seen best to send troops from Central Asia, to save time and resources, instead of going the long way from Russia,” Arkturi explained.

“Is, it is really that bad?” Dinky could not believe what she just heard.

“Yes. A lot of the Soviet troops came from Central Asia before, but lately, we Russians replace them. Simple really - there's less hesitation to pull the trigger if we're not fighting our own race. Morbid cynicism, but it gets results. That's humanity for you.” Lovec sounded disgusted. “I am just glad when I can go home, I haven’t seen my parents for a long time.”

That reminded the children how far they were away from home again, but they knew they had to be strong.

“Sounds horrible.” Lily shivered, then smiled weakly. “But I guess you got your rank because of your mother?”

Now, Arkturi chuckled. “Indirectly. I got to know Sergei and Chernov in training and we are best friends ever since. They both still respect my mother’s legend. I am actually an interpreter, a language specialist to translate information relating to the West into Russian. I took this because I was curious about how the West sees my mother. And it quite surprised me what I found out.”

He produced a comic book and smiled. “Kallistra: Soviet She-Bear, Bane of the SS. By Alexya Tartikova.”

Curiously, the children took a look and saw how the colonel was turned into a superhero, fighting Nazis and other bad guys, called the “Soviet Wonder-Woman.”

“Though I don't ever recall hearing she fought giant swastika-branded tyrannosauruses...while wearing a red and gold metal bikini...” Chernov mumbled upon seeing it too.

“The Americans call it artistic license. It appeals to the demographic.” Lovec pointed out.

“Wouldn't she get cold?” Chernov asked and his friend groaned.

“It’s a comic, you don’t question such things here!”

“Right…”

“Speaking of questions, mind if you tell us about yourself, Chernov?” Katja looked at him with a smile.

He shrugged. “There isn’t much to tell. I come from a German-Russian family. All the first-born sons in my family are called Chernov. My Dad’s a Chernov, and my son’s son will probably be a Chernov too.”

“A whole clan of Chernovs.”

“Yes.”

The kids then looked at the commander. “As for me, I come from an officer family, stepping into the footsteps of my father and keeping his honor by sparing civilians. And I’ll do anything I can to keep you safe.”

“Thank you.” The kids said in unison before they noticed music coming out of the room they had been in before. It was English, the singer was a woman singing about the kids in America.

“Nice music, but why English?” Blau asked the soldiers.

“For the moral, the current music of the East doesn’t sound well and it’s somewhat catchy,” Lovec replied.

“Yes, it is.” Sergei added, “Reminds me, Chernov and Lovec will get you to the Yakho Oboo Supply Outpost, it’s much safer here. I will arrange for safe travel out of Afghanistan for you.”

All children nodded and got back to the jeeps, looking briefly at each other. Should they tell Lovec they met his parents? They couldn’t get up with an answer.

It was only a short ride into the north before they saw a base surrounded by thick high walls. “We are here.” The officer announced and led them inside. The outpost was well-furnished, it had medical facilities, a TV and several refrigerators.

“Looks very well equipped.” Blau commented on the sight, liking it.”

“Yes, it is. Let’s gets you lunch.” Lovec pointed to the kitchen and they notice it was now noon, time seemed to pass fast.

He held some noodle blocks in his hands. “Those are Instant Noodles, very popular among us and as the name suggests, quick to make.”

Dinky and her friends nodded, enjoying their warm meal after it was done. “Delicious!”

“Glad to hear it.” Chernov smiled. “I made you some caps for the sun.” They looked just like the cap he was wearing and the kids gladly took them.

Then an engine sound greeted their ears and they saw what looked like a square formed wheeled armored car, with a turret on the roof driving out of the outpost, followed by a tank that was similar to the Tiger tank in size.

“What are those?” The young colt asked fascinated.

“The first vehicle is the BTR-80, an armored troop transport and backbone of our Mechanized Forces, also having a self-propelled rocket launcher variant. The Katyusha system may be old, but still packs a punch.” Lovec explained, then pointed to the tank.

“And this is the T-72, our main battle tank in Afghanistan and the core of the Mechanized Forces.”

As he finished, a loud noise rang in their ears and the saw a chopper in the sky, being armed with a machinegun at the noise and missiles on both sides of its hull.

“And that’s the Mil Mi-24, also called ‘Hind’ by the NATO. It is unique in that it can be a troop transport and attack helicopter, due to a troop compartment in the lower fuselage. The Mujahideen fear our gunships, barely able to scratch them with their small arms.”

“Uh-huh. And what are you’re using? My dad’s also a soldier, his weapons look familiar to yours."

“Oh, that?” Arkturi held up his rifle. “That’s the AK-74, our main Assault Rifle. Not the most accurate but very reliable, even in this kind of terrain. And our sidearm,” He pointed to his holster, “Is the Makarov.”

“Okay.”

For the rest of the day, the four friends helped out in the base. It was evening and they had dinner as they overheard two soldiers.

“Hey, do you know anyone in the Strategic Rocket Forces?”

“What's this, all of a sudden?” The other soldier asked confused.

“I just heard about that lieutenant colonel, the one who saw through the malfunction in the nuclear arms early warning system. He got an official reprimand.”

“Reprimand? But he was right - there was no strike!” The second soldier exclaimed in disbelief.

“It's protocol. If the system goes off, you have to launch a retaliatory attack without hesitation.”

“If he'd followed protocol, there would have been a counterattack from the Americans.” The other soldier stated

“Yes. It would have meant nuclear war, no doubt about it.”

“Then this lieutenant colonel, he saved the world.”

“That's right, but protocol comes first, not whether or not his judgment was correct.”

“Unbelievable...”

“What would you have done in his shoes?” The first soldier asked, “Me, I might have pressed the button. 

“I hear you. You break the rules, they break you right back.”

“No use thinking about it. Okay, all yours.”

“You got it.”

The kids could just stare in awe at what they heard. “Wow…Is…is that really true?” Dinky asked Lovec, who nodded.

“Yes. I have only heard of it but as far as I know, it was a serious flaw in the Soviet early warning system. The lieutenant colonel was the duty officer at the command center. I think his name is Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov. He truly saved the world from a nuclear war a year ago.”

“Unbelievable indeed…” Lily mumbled.

“Da, but if it hadn’t for him, humanity wouldn’t exist anymore.”

This again reminded the kids of their previous adventure, looking at each other and nodded without a word as they were alone with the two soldiers.

“Mind if we ask you something? Dinky looked at Lovec.

“Shoot.”

“Would you believe us if we tell you we met your parents?”

In response, the interpreter blinked puzzled. “You…have?”

“Yes.” And so, they carefully told him and Chernov how they landed on Earth before a few ties, with their latest adventure involving Lemkin and Kallistrovich.

He stayed silent for a moment after they were finished. “Okay…Sorry, but it’s hard to believe.

“We know, but do we look like we would lie to you?” Dinky pointed out and he sighed.

“No…I just need some time to process everything, if that’s okay.” The kids nodded in understanding.

“Woof!”

Everyone got startled by the sound and turned around. Before them was a puppy, grey in fur, having one its left yellow eye, the other one was missing. Despite this, it barked excitedly.

“Where did you come from?” Katja asked surprised, yet crouched to pat the puppy. He growled in affection, all others smiled at him.

“A wild puppy…Must have been sniffed the warm food.” Lovec suspected. “I am no expert but I think it’s a wolf.”

“If it’s a puppy, it’s mother must be near…” Chernov pointed out but his friend shook his head.

“I doubt that, he wouldn’t have entered if he had a mother. I think he lost her, thus probably the lost eye.”

“Can we keep him?” Dinky asked as the girl picked the puppy up, he licked her face in response.

Both men looked at each other, then shrugged. “Sure, why not? But we better do a checkup.”

They brought him into one of the medical facilities and a doctor took a look. “I may not be a vet but apart from the lost eye, he’s fine.”

“Glad to hear it. What are we gonna do with him?” Lily asked.

“Give him some food.” Chernov took some meat out of the refrigerator and cut it into small pieces, the puppy ate it without hesitation.

Then the children started to yawn, becoming tired. “You should get some rest, it’s getting late,” Lovec suggested as the sun went down and the kids nodded, going to the beds, with the puppy following, lying down on the ground next to them. “Sleep well. We'll see you tomorrow.”

The four friends nodded and fell asleep, both soldiers got back into the jeeps and drove back to the guard post they were stationed at.

“If it’s really true what the say, then they really went through a lot, being very brave to get through all this.” Chernov was slightly fascinated.

“Da, though I wonder about my parents…They never told me, not that they would, given the situation back then, but…they heard of the Green Knight, the friend of the children, what was his name again?” Lovec tipped his head.

“Fletcher Fray. And I think your parents would be proud of you for helping them, as they did before."

“Yeah, they would.” Lovec started to smile and his friend scratched his back.

“Can I ask you something? Interpretation section for Western information must be pretty hard, right? I see the light turned on until late in the evening."

“Yes, we read their newspapers or magazines the whole day.”

“Really? Tell me something interesting that I can tell an American someday.” Chernov replied, being eager to learn and the interpreter chucked.

“Alright, then repeat after me. I spent…”

“I spent…” Chernov had a strong accent as he did as told.

“...last night...”

“...last night...”

“...with your girlfriend.”

“...with your girlfriend.”

“Not bad.” Lovec praised his comrade.

“Fine. What does this mean?”

“It means, ‘I'm a good friend of your friend.’ Lovec joked, allowing himself a little prank with his friend.

“Okay, great! Even in the Cold War, nothing is better than to be friends.”

“Yeah, so that we can exchange blows.” Arkturi joked and Chernov laughed.

“Indeed! Teach me more someday”.

“Sure. But for now, let’s focus on our duty.”

“Of course.”

Suddenly, he felt a sting. At first, he didn’t bother it but without warning, he felt dizzy, tried he tried to catch himself. His vision became blurry, unable to see anything clearly.

His body felt tingly, losing all feeling as he collapsed, seeing that the same happened to Chernov before both hit the ground.

They both tried to get up, but their bodies didn’t respond, feeling tired.

Then, Lovec could faintly felt how he was lifted off the ground and into the air. “Uh…”

In a split second, he felt getting thrown into the air and screamed before everything went black.





It was early morning when Dinky, Lily, Katja and Blau woke up, having slept well, yet noticed something. “Hey, the puppy’s gone,” Lily said as he couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Maybe he had a mother and she picked him up?” Dinky suspected.

“Could be. But for now, let’s breakfast.” Katja suggested and they went into the kitchen and she heard her brother giggle. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, just…you saw what the West made out of the Colonel, imagine the Enteral Knights would be in a Daring Do or Power Ponies comic.”

His sister and friends then giggled too at the thought. “I could even imagine them having their own comic,” Dinky replied as they enjoyed their meal.

“You've been hearing stories of the man with one eye?”

A soldier asked his comrade, getting the attention of the kids.

“Yeah, that he's made a lot of our boys MIA... Is he dushman?”

“No, but I heard he was sent here by American imperialists to support them. Someone who survived says that he has a horn in his head, and fights like a man possessed by a demon.”

“A man with a horn? Sounds like he panicked and lost his mind.”

“Perhaps.”

Lily shivered slightly as she heard this. “Sounds scary.”

“Yeah…A horn in the head? I doubt anyone could survive this without serve damage.” Dinky shivered too before one of the soldiers walked in.

“You are the children Sergei mentioned, right?” He asked and they nodded. “He managed to arrange that you get brought to the motherland. Come, we get you to the Base Camp, and from there, an airborne transport gets you out.”

“Okay, where is he, Lovec and Chernov?” Blau asked, not able to see them anywhere.

“I’m afraid, this man with one eye got them. He’s good. Whoever he is, he leaves no traces, we only heard about him through comrades that claimed to be held up and saw how he knocked several men out in quick succession. But due to this, we don’t take any risk.” As he said this, a BTR-80 pulled up and opened its hatch, honking its horn. “Get in. The sooner you’re safe, the better.”

They did without hesitation, yet feared what had happened to their friends. Where they dead? Or still alive?

Again, it was a short ride to the north, and they got out, seeing that the camp had three big hangars, one of was partially destroyed, and several smaller ones, a shooting range, and a variety of smaller buildings used as barracks and warehouses, getting led to one of the barracks.

“The transport should be arriving soon.” The soldier said, the walked out.

“Do…”Do you think they’re still alive?” Dinky asked with dread in her voice.

“Could…could have the rebels got them?” Katja shivered at the thought of seeing them cut into pieces.

“I don’t wanna imagine it,” Blau added with fear in his voice.

“Y-yeah…This man with one eye could have captured them…” The little unicorn feared before Lily hugged her.

“They were reported missing, not dead, so there’s still hope. And you said yourself: Stay positive.”

Right…” She replied with a weak smile.

“Hey, remember the guy who left with the refill platoon?” The same soldier that had talked to them asked a fellow solder outside

“Ivan Ivanovitch Ivanov. Quiet type - some kind of science fiction nut?”

“He left a book behind, this British novel called ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’”

“What, it's published this year?”

“No, no, it's written, I dunno, 30 years ago”

“What's it about?” The other soldier asked curiously.

“I couldn't read it. It's in English, but it's about a utopia where the entire world has been communized.”

“Woah, seriously?” The other soldier’s eyes went wide.

“It's a British author. I don't think we're the heroes. More ‘communism is evil’ dressed up in fiction, you know?”

“What, they think a capitalist world would be so much better? Pah.”

“Mmm. I'm no die-hard communist, but that...”

“Anyway, I'd better get going.”

“Roger that.”

Then an alarm sounded and both men looked up, the wind getting stronger. “Sandstorm!” One of the soldiers called out.

But the children saw that the sandstorm was dark, having the same color as the mist that somehow brought them here. “Something’s not right…” Blau mumbled, being suspicious.

“Yeah, never seen such a dark sandstorm…” Lily added.

They startled as they heard screams and gunfire in the distance, seeing how some soldiers scrambled to cover. “What’s going on?” Katja asked scared.

“All fire teams, this is CP!” A loudspeaker echoed through the base. “All units to combat positions! Repeat, all units to combat positions!”

Scared, the four friends held each other as the screams became more and more, realizing the Soviets were losing, seeing how one of the two soldiers reached for his radio.

“CP, CP, this is Zoya 6!! We’re getting our asses kicked! Send reinforcements now. Damn it! Over!!” He yelled in terror, sounding scared and frustrated.

“Negative. You’ll have to hold out until we can spare something. Out!!”

“Blyat!” The soldier cursed in his language before blood splattered from his head and he fell faded to the ground.

The other soldier startled, gasping and the kids saw a flash out of the storm, followed by a clashing sound and the man filched, blood flow down his chest and he also fell over.

Despite the chaos, the kids saw clearly green glowing eyes in the storm and the eyes if Dinky, Blau and Katja went small “No…It can’t be…It can’t be!” Dinky yelled in fear as the eyes got closer.

As the eyes were almost out of the storm, they felt the air getting thin, gasping and coughing, collapsing as their bodies started to cramp before they blacked out.