Warfare: Cogs of the War Machine

by Im a B O X

Operation Winter Phoenix

2050, 5^th Year of the Conversion war,

Salvaged Translated Transcript

“Mr. President,” an agent approached.

“Ah, Viktor Reznov, I believe we have some overdue talk, come, please, sit down, and please, don’t call me ‘Mr. President’, too much akin to America, never been a fan, but changes have been made.”

“Then what should I call you by, sir?” Viktor asked, clearly uncomfortable addressing his superior by name instead of title.

“Vladimir, just Vladimir, and I believe we are due to discuss your retirement, correct?” He asked.

“More than that sir, I wish to um… inform you, of the current situation on the war.”

Looking out the window of his jet, the president of Russia continued to mumble something under his breath, “I see, I believe I have yet to be informed of the payload we are bringing?” He asked, a stern voice comparable to a teacher speaking to the students.

“We apologize, sir, it was for your own safety and the countries well-being that we kept it hidden for this long, we hope that you understand.” Viktor responded, still being wary of what might happen next.

“None taken,” The president responded, “but know that those files are better burned than stored, even in the most secured of places, no ill will against you, Viktor, I understand you are merely complying with the other agents of the U.N. even if I myself might digress in some instances, but there is much to do, the war brought some considerable changes, one of which I will not argue was beneficial to the sustainability of Russia in the long run.”

“What do you mean sir?”

Grabbing a bottle of vodka and what appeared to be a blueprint from his personal desk, the president continued, “A drink, for this war as brought great opportunities of the brilliant minds of the Russian people, able to compete with Western designs, we are able to work hand-in-hand to create something even better with our allies of World War 2, bringing new friends and turning our once most fierce foe’s into great allies, to help compete against a common foe!” He said as he opened the blueprint, a sketch of what appeared to be a joint project between Russia and Japan in creating a winter Mecha, he also poured the vodka into shot glass for them both.

“I believe Dr. Thalmann already showed his disapproval for such designs, at least until they are able to finish the J.G.W. project.” Viktor said as he inspected the blueprints, it had always fascinated him as an agent, but then he noticed a note integrated into it, “Um, Sir Vlad, if I may, but I would like to ask, in what way are ‘The Chosen Thee’ be involved with this certain blueprint of yours?”

Looking at the agent, then to the blueprint, the president merely gave a shrug, unamused, perhaps from the failure of some past project just from the mention of the designation, “I believe you knew of the artifacts known as the ‘Elements of Harmony’ correct?”

“Of course, who wouldn’t? It was the main attraction of the friendship tour back a decade or so ago, amongst other alternative perspectives.” He said, a somber tone creeping into his voice as he finished.

“And if such an artifact could be created, more than trice might I add with how there are six of these individual artifacts, I would have wanted the Germans, with the cooperation of the Americans and our other allies, to create something of similar value, one that has become an endeavor that lead to its own dead end, but greatly helped with the research for the power that this future generator would and might have to overcome…” The Russian president concluded, looking down at the bottle of Vodka he has still yet to drink, “Hmph, Friendship, rainbow power… what bullshit.” He murmured, one that the agent within his vicinity heard.

“What’s the matter sir?” he asked, completely bewildered by the man’s reaction.

“Too long has this war been waged, and in all honesty, Viktor, it is hard to keep a nation in check, let alone micromanage it,” He said, taking another shot of vodka in the process, “I believe Johann will be meeting you in Berlin, da?”

Nodding at the man, Viktor started to take his leave, he still, after all, had to oversee the operation, making sure everything went along smoothly, but before he could fully leave the compartment, Vladimir made one last remark,

“I believe we went a bit off-topic, I believe we should return later, I will make myself available for that time, I look forward to it.” He said.

“Da.” Viktor simply said, leaving the president's side, the Journey to Berlin was a long one, but one he believed to be going smoothly, all things considered.

As Jet flew through the winter night, violent winds pushed it, icing and other matters were being closely monitored, it continued to on its way to its destination, its engines being muffled by the winds that it pierced through. Viktor, admittedly, had an unsteady feeling ever since they left from Moscow, an unsteady feeling that he had missed something, he shook his head repeatedly, trying to loosen up his thoughts, but he then decided it was best to ease his worry once and for all, after all, nearly anything could happen.

“You there,” he said as he pointed at one of the radio operators of the room, “Check our signal to London, Berlin, and Paris.”

“What about Washington, sir?” One of the operators asked.

“Nyet,” Viktor simply replied, “Agent for Washington been moved back to Paris, we will figure out who's new for Washington later.”

Agreeing and giving simple nods, the operators immediately went back to work

“Blyat, where is Jean when you need him,” Viktor said, contemplating the actions that had led to this flight, although he accepted the plan, that didn’t mean he enjoyed it one bit. For the most part, he knew something was about to go wrong, but it’s not that he knew knew something was wrong, it was the fact that through sheer luck, he had managed to survive literal hell holes and death incarnate, and deep down, he knew everyone beside him usually aren’t as lucky, but he hoped for the best, like most people.

Waiting for a moment for the operators in the room for anything new, Viktor decided to look out the window, it was around 4 am or so, and the morning sun was about to rise up soon, a few more hours maybe, until they reach Berlin.

“SIR!” One of the operators responded, “We got a message from Warsaw, Poland, there’s been a recent transmission, would you like to listen to it?”

“Da.” He responded.

Quickly, said operator simply waved at another operator, and once finished, began playing the new transcript that they had received.

“Sent from London, United Kingdom, time: exactly one hour before midnight, subject: Possibilities with recent sightings, Begin Log: Good evening to whoever may find this message of use, first matter of context, this message was sent through the English channel into France and is to be broadcast to and through an and all nations and agencies for the matter at hand. That said, this is an urgent message that is to be kept in utmost secrecy, recently, around the 13th hour today, sightings of two out of the four Alicorns, code names: ‘Selena’ and ‘Astraeus’ headed away from the Indian Ocean and was seen presumably headed West of Iran, unfortunately, one of them, ‘Selena’ was seen parting ways and headed North, reasons as to why are currently unclear, although it is believed an attack will soon happen and is nearly guaranteed under the assumption that the two were on a scouting mission for a future attack somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea or former Warsaw Pact nations, Until further notice, we hope this message will reach far and would remain anonymous, Cheerio lads…”

And with that, it presumably ended the transmission. The silence was prominent, everyone waited silently, and they knew this message was supposed to arrive earlier, than what could have been done to warrant such a long delay.

Viktor, eyeing the operator with a death glare, was promptly responded with genuine confusion, before he promptly took action, not allowing this setback to affect his objective.

“Get da the Migs on standby, I want Polish and German air-traffic control to know of our potential course of action while where still up, and have any and all aircraft available to be sent on our side, I want to keep the Eureka effect at a minimum, right. I need to speak with the president for now.” And with that set of order, he left it to the operators in the room to do what they did best, while he himself went to see the Russian president to break the news, one he would probably find most disappointing considering the amount of time it took for it to even reach them.

Making his way into the president’s cabin, he wondered about the other agents and the plans that they would follow soon after, unpleasant hours of talking just discussing the basic precautions and whatnot, or maybe something else of the like. Making a quick checking on his sidearm, a custom engraved M1911 gift to him by a friend during his time in America, he found it ironic considering its origin and how it came about to be in his possession.

Entering the cabin itself, he came face to face with his president once again, “Sir, I believe we have a message that you should know.”

“Save it for yourself, Viktor, I already know about the transmission,” Vladimir said as he began to write something in his notebook.

“Then you should know this presents a problem for us, and by extension, the international community…”

“Then in honesty, Viktor,” Vladimir said as he set aside what he wrote, seemingly finishing whatever he had written down, “I am perhaps guilty of the sin of omission, just like you, and just like the rest of them.” He said in a tone that Viktor only ever heard once in his life, the first time when Equestria had decided to wage this war.

And on that exact moment, a navy blue like light started to emit in the doorway of the cabin, one that shocked Viktor as he turned to look at it, who was in front of the president while they had that short exchange of words, with the president himself seemingly managed to keep his cool behind Viktor’s back.

But before another word could be spoken, the bright navy blue flashed in an instant, the end of a teleportation spell being cast. And from the navy blue flash out came the Darkness of Shadows herself, one of the many names that Princess Luna has gained with her infamy. And despite the shock on his face, his instincts kicked in and Viktor drew his gun out and fired a total of 6 shots, 2 missing the intruder and flew past the doorway while the other 4 hit their marks, but were promptly blocked by the mare with her magic.

Immediately after that, Luna began hysterically laughing as she herself began to speak and give a speech about how humanity was wrong in her royal Canterlot voice, most likely feeling like a god at that point. Through it all, Viktor promptly turned around to the president, who merely gave him a nod of agreement at what he was about to do, and so, Viktor raised his gun and shot 1 last bullet through the right eye socket of the president, making the slide of his gun lock back, not allowing the man he had served under to be killed by a creature from another world. All the while, Luna did not notice what the last bullet was for, but she assumed it was to set something on fire, as that point, she had smelled the faint trace of fire aboard the aircraft.

Not another second wasted, her horn began to softly glow at first but picked up on intensity in a short time. Knowing his fate was sealed, Viktor removed the magazine of his pistol and lobed another in as he released the slide, chambering another round ready to fire away. And fire away he did, as he shot 6 rounds directly in the direction of the princess, promptly being blocked with magic again, the final round was a special one that he placed in the magazine, and he chose to shoot a bit higher, directly at the tip of Luna’s horn. Expecting herself to be able to block this next bullet, to her complete surprise, this one gave a mini-explosion near her horn, causing a sudden and painful headache, one that she was able to partly manage, as she suddenly loosed a bit of focus which affected her ability to cast that spell on that very moment. After a second or so, she regained her senses, with rage evident in her eyes as she started to cast another spell, floating a bit as the energy of this spell was being built up within her.

The shock of the situation had never left Viktor’s face, having his blood running hot and adrenalin at its height, it left little room for him to change expression, his shocked face still evident. But on a short moment, his face shifted that from shock to acceptance, knowing he could never run forever, knowing that perhaps, his job was finally done.

And with that, the aircraft was split into two as a defining explosion accompanied it as it broke through the winter air, undoubtedly because of Luna’s actions and the spell she had cast. The explosion itself triggered a second one as the fuel tanks of the aircraft started to burn and explode one by one, a light show that lit up the night sky.

Hundreds, if not thousands of papers started to be caught in the wind, all lit aflame like the aircraft itself, the aircraft as a whole was a fiery inferno in the night as its contents burned while it dropped from the sky as they scattered through thousands of miles in any and all directions. The lunar princess herself vacated the area, who knows where she went.

It was a mess, and only when the smoke started to grow and the fire grew brighter did a few jets arrive at the scene, much later than expected, but it was already too late as they reported it. And in the break of dawn, a massive cover-up was issued by the UN for this incident, it won’t encapsulate the entire truth, but a lie of omission is always better than a truth that could be used against you, one that would also influence what Equestria would know and one that will ensure that some secrets be buried, because amongst the burning papers and metals are parts of the project: J.G.W. plans and the identities of some Equestrian defectors and their locations, ones that they made sure was either burned or buried by the fire or was recovered for safekeeping.

But at the end of all of this, it only further provided support and reason that paved the way for what could single-handedly be considered the most important battle of the war, The Battle for Jerusalem, or as it's known by another name, The Battle of Religions.

Author's Note:

OK...

This chapter was a lot of fun to make, I wanted to make this chapter as fast-paced as possible since I imagined that the encounter with Princess Luna would warrant a fast counteraction and a short time in which there would actually be interactions between the two sides, which is why I wanted to try and set the scene in the begging of the story.

To explain some decisions made in the story, I always thought of Russians, largely in due part with their ferocity in wanting revenge during world war 2, as people who are willing to go the extra distance to achieve their goals, at least in an unintuitive way that could compete with the west, indirectly or directly, I imagined and believed that Princess Luna would directly come face to face with the Russian president, but not without some resistance as expected and a twist mixed in, mostly due to the fact that the bodyguards of the president would likely try fighting to save the life of the person they are trying to protect.

Not only that, but I also wanted a reason as to why the Russian president would be flying on that aircraft and the mission as a whole, I would still hold the belief that Luna eliminated them in order to instill a sense of fear and extent of her power, and how she missed a great opportunity had she know the full purpose of the flight beyond just transporting the president. So in the end, I imagined that Princess Luna mistook the

Also, the reference to Viktor Reznov is one that, although cheap in some aspects, was done for the memes, and the other name for "The Battle of Jerusalem" (which is as said in the story, "The Battle of Religions") is a direct nod to a real-life battle going by "The Battle of Leipzig", which is known as "The Battle of Nations" that happened in 1813

Until furthermore or smth, and till next time!