Osea in our world

Russian Reconquest

Tonight is a dark night in the Balkan peninsula, moonlight blocked by many layers of clouds, along with the absence of stars and light from the cities below due to black out. It is clearly not an ideal condition for a late flight. Pilots tend to rely on both eyes and navigation systems to operate their vehicles. Without one, flying would be much more difficult.

However, that did not stop the Marmaras and their accompany Koshka to have a flight close to the frontline, where they can see their reward one last time before the battle commence:

<<I can see it, the city hasn't been blacked out...Koshka, Constantinople is awaiting our rescue>>

Lena Vatutina is an Orthodox follower, soft of, some sins were violated intentionally, mostly due to being unable to resist her own desires, but that does not mean that she is not having faith in God and the Orthodox Church. Every week she will go to the church at least once to confess and clean her sins, as well as listening to the Bible preach for hours. It is reasonable to say that Lena has quite a strong faith in her religion. Thus,when hearing that she and her squadron will liberate the city of Istanbul, to her, Constantinople, Lena can hardly contain her emotion. That means if the operation went successful, the holy city of Orthodox shall be returned once again to its rightful owners.

<<That light... It's Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia. I can almost touch it>>

Hagia Sophia was once the symbol of the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is no wonder why reclaiming such an iconic building matters so much for Russia. With it, the position of Russia in the Orthodox world, including the newly occupied Eastern Europe, shall be dramatically increased. Hagia Sophia and Constantinople shall help the invaders to stabilize their conquered territory before moving forward West. Adding to that, access to Bosphorus strait will strengthen the might of the Russian navy in the Mediterranean sea.

<<Yeah, we will rebuild the Roman Empire, starting from the Eastern Byzantium.>>

On the other hand, Koshka is an atheist, so naturally he shows less interest in the Orthodox Church, although he still maintains a respect for the religion, partly for Lena and Rostov. What he is more interested in is however, is the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire:

<<Rostov and his squadron will take Rome. Once both of Rome and Constantinople belonged to us, the Roman Empire shall be reborn>>

Of course, that was not in Russian interests, nor the only explanation for their determination.

All the while, Rostov and his squadron are also flying around the Italian peninsula, close to Ravenna and heading to Rome. They weren't here for sightseeing as Lena, Milika and the others were doing though. With each military unit detected by the Fulcrum squadron, they will send a signal back to the headquarter station in Hungary. Basically, reconnaissance mission, and frankly a few of them has grown sick of it:

<<Can't believe we have to do this, this isn't the job for fighter pilots. Those damn Westerners surely know how to bother us>>

One of the squadron members began to complain. Things are, recently, the American, French and Italian joint force has begun hammering down every recon aircraft of Russia within the Southern West of Europe. The operation cost them many ammunition and planes as well, but it was worth it. The Russian reconnaissance power in the region has gone down to oblivion. The last resort they could use is to utilize their fighter squadrons as recon to save the remaining valuable dedicated reconnaissance aircrafts for the incoming battle, and the Arcticia was chosen to be one of them:

<<Stop talking and go back to work. This might save our lives. Beside, free trip to Rome, worth every second.>>

Unlike the rest of the squadron, Rostov is positive about the mission. Just like his friend, the Mig-29 pilot is also a fan of Rome and the Roman Empire, so there is no reason for him to complain when the HQ gives him a good reason to visit the city when it is still intact. Just a few days later Rome might not look like it is today. They weren't here to destroy Rome, but artillery guns and air strike will not discriminate the city and its buildings from the military assets: