Liberators

From the Land to the Sea

Act Two: Escalation of Warfare

Chapter Eleven: From the Land to the Sea

Rivymiyitevko Air Force Base

October 7, 2008 0240 Rivymiyitevko time (October 6, 2008 2240 Krakozhian time)

Rivymiyitevko Air Force Base was much busier than it had ever been eight years ago. With the arrival of the 50th Motor Rifle Division to formally secure the airfield, the task of Team FARMER had become easier, and all of the captured RIM personnel inside the base had been rounded up for transport to either Yerotsk or the mainland. Along with them were four civilian pilots that had landed their Tupolev Tu-4 full of supplies and ammunition for Benin's troops in what they thought was still a friendly airfield. Of course, the airplane's cargo had been confiscated by the Krakozhian Armed Forces for the Krakozhian Armed Forces, and the 50th Motor Rifles gobbled them up like a fat man with a cake.

As the 317th Fighter Wing arrived in their new home, the corpsmen were hard at work on Captain Kutuzov, patching him up as best as they could. Finally, the diagnosis came, and what the Captain had said had come true: he would survive, but he would sit out the rest of the war in the hospital.

Gavrina Kumilyova was standing alone in the hallway leading to the base's infirmary, looking down at the weapon that Kutuzov had given her. It bore the signs of a decade's worth of use, and the grip that had been perfectly contoured for the Captain's hands felt large and cumbersome for hers. The manufacturer's seal was still clearly defined on it, as was the serial number on the gun's slide. Handing over his pistol to her was the Captain's final act as commander of Spetsnaz Team FARMER, and now he had succeeded him as the new commander. She knew that the time would come when she would be expected to lead the team, but she didn't know that that time was now.

"Somehow, I knew that I would find you here."

Kumilyova turned around and saw Vyacheslav Klimov walking down the hallway towards her. "Nasty thing that rebel did to the Captain, right? Stabbing him in the stomach, I mean," he said.

"Huh," she muttered.

"It's a shame that he would have to sit out on this war," Klimov continued. "He could have done a lot more things." Kumilyova merely nodded her agreement.

The two were silent for a few minutes before Klimov finally said, "Can you do it, Gavrina?"

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Gavrina. With the Captain gone, you're now the commander of our team. You are the one that makes the decisions now. The team's success or failure is now in your hands. Whatever happens to us from now on; your actions will be studied by future generations to come."

"You make it sound like I have the power to change the world," said Kumilyova.

"It could be true, you know," said Klimov. "So I will ask you again: can you do it?"

Kumilyova sighed and then, returning the pistol to its holster, she said, "Command wants us back to base immediately in preparation for future operations. We'll have to reorganize the team to make up for the Captain's loss. To begin with, I have been nominated by Captain Mikhail Yevgeniyevich Kutuzov as his successor, and as such, I nominate you, Junior Lieutenant Vyacheslav Il'ych Klimov, to be my deputy. That shouldn't take long for Command to review and accept."

"Sure thing, Gavrina," said Klimov. And then, in a louder voice, he said, "Yes, Comrade Lieutenant!"

Sonolovichyrevko, Rivymiyitevko

That same time

"Are you saying that both the Cosmodrome and the airbase have both gone off the air?" asked Ekaterina Domshomidova.