Hammer Line, Ch. 1

 We know what the world calls it. We savor that knowledge.

                                 We are the Hammer Line.

The year is 2020. Seven years ago, no one would have told you the USSR could have gotten back together, but after the Crimean Crisis of 2014, certain sets of Russia began to regain that Soviet-Patriot set of mind. After a mass military recruitment campaign in 2015, the Russian military was increased 30%. The US was dealing with ISIS at the time, and was loosing military power doing so. A quickly up-and-coming pro-communism Russian politician by the name Aleksei Vorgochev violently outed President Vladimir Putin in 2016. Due to his sheer amount of support he was able to re-declare Russia as a communist state by 2017. After another, this time unsuccessful, recruitment campaign, Aleksei began a full-military invasion of Estonia and Latvia. After 36 hours, both countries surrendered due to the difference in military might. 
   By the year 2019 the New Union, as it was now known officially, had reclaimed all of the first Soviet Union's lands excluding the Ukraine and Georgia, by 2020 they had also fallen to the Red Invasion. However, after the first military action in Estonia and Latvia, the UN picked up on Aleksei's plans and began to vote for sanctions against Russia. The UN succeeded in sanctioning Russia, but didn't do the same to the rest of the Union. Food was strained a little more, but nothing too serious. The Union continued to prosper.
   The year is currently 2024. The Second Union has been going strong for 7 years now, and it has certainly been busy. Along it's entireeastern border, the Union has poured millions into constructing a wall. This wall is roughly 100 meters tall and 40 meters thick. It has an extra bit of height on it's outer edge for cover that's 1.5 meters tall and half of a meter thick. There are 12.7mm DShKM machine gun positions every 8 meters. Every fourth position was 125mm 2A45 Sprut-A anti-tank gun in place of the machine guns. There are also ramps at 20 degree angles, on the Union side, up to the top of the wall every hundred meters for vehicles and infantry. There are cargo/infantry elevators on either side of the ramps.

- - -

   I am one of the soldiers posted on this wall. This wall the world knows as "Hammer Line", for the Hammer and Sickle that is commonly associated with communism. Plus it's a wall, that follows a nearly-straigh line. My name is Kolya Gregorovich Alexandorv, Serzhánt in the Second Union VDV. I often wonder why a paratrooper was posted to guard duty on a wall. My days are mostly uneventful, every day I have to complete a 120 meter rotation at some point. That point is up to my discretion, fortunately. 
   There is talk, however, of pushing our borders south a bit more, into the middle east. If that happens, there would be a mass mobilization of 65-70% of military resources. The other 30-35% of military units will stay here, on the Hammer Line. I imagine that going into the Middle East would cause tension with the US, that tension on top of what was already there after they began supplying rebels inside our borders. Those capitalist pigs are sneaking arms in on commercial airliners, so of course we can't shoot them down; we'd be gunning down planes all day.What would that do to our already mostly-negative public opinion? It's all very underhanded if you ask me.
   
- - -

   Orders came in today. My unit and I are being shipped to Afghanistan today...

   I headed for my plane. VDV troops were being sent in US Air Force C-130s. Confiscated from military bases as US troops withdrew from the Russian advance. These planes will spread, taking various air-routes, mapped in documents left behind in the C-130s, as to avoid suspicion from any US ground forces in the area.
   My unit was waiting for me, outside the plane. "Pryvyet, Tovarishchi!" I said as I approached.
   I was met with "Pryvyet, Commandeer!", "Kak dela, Kolya?", generally pleasant greetings of the sorts.
   We all loaded into the plane. Oddly, we were bound for a desert, yet we were all in green. Partizan, Digi-flora, a couple of us had chosen the out-dated KLMK and Berezka patterns. I suppose we'll probably get replacements once we're in Afghanistan. "You all have EVERYTHING, correct? No one's forgetting their gun or their letters to and from your sweethearts?" I chuckled. Everyone seemed to have everything they needed, all the obvious stuff at least. We all had our AK20s, excluding Artem with his SVD-20 and Fedor with his AOP-20. Katya, the only woman in the squad, was also armed differently. She is the squad's marksman, armed with an SKS-20; no relation to the earlier soviet SKS.
   We all settled in together, all the squads on board did, as the plane roared to life. The engines sputtered at first, then the blades began to spin and the plane lurched forward, down the runway. It was mere seconds before we were in the air, on the way to the Middle East.

- - -

   The plane was mostly dark, despite a couple of red-lights for vague visibility in the cargo hold. Everyone else was sleeping, I had just woken up. I sat there, staring into the red darkness. Were we landing at some base I didn't know about, or were we going to be combat dropped behind enemy lines? It's probably not best to think about it; thoughts like that could torment a man to insanity. I resettled myself against the inside of the hull of the plane, closed my eyes, and waited for sleep to take me again.

- - -

   I was woken some time later by a very bright light meeting my eyes. I blinked, blinded by the sudden brightness. We were still in the air, but I could definitely see the ground meeting us. We were landing at an airstrip tucked into the Afghani mountains. The plane slowed to a stop, everyone was ordered off the plane. My squad piled out.
   "Alright everyone, get in line, would you? I need to wait for orders." I said. They knew me too well at this point, I don't give formal commands. "At attention though, we need to at least look like we're still formal." I joined them, a step or two in front of the line.
   After a few minutes of waiting around, and loosing a layer of those jackets designed for cold climates, someone finally came around with our orders. We were among some of the first squads to be dropped into the AO. We were to report immediately to requisitions for our new gear.
   The pattern was certainly something I had seen somewhere, or at least looked very familiar. Some part of my mind was leaning towards those Kryptek, very similar to the Highlander variant. I imagine the regular troops aren't getting such an expensive pattern, however, as I didn't see much more in the back. I supposed it was fitting, though, most of the VDV's ops would be in the mountains. Desert enough to warrant the sandy colors, enough foliage for the green to be necessary. None of us were rearmed differently, though we were given our picks of attachments. Apparently the VDV troops were the first to go through, so we could take what we wanted. I wasn't too choosy. I took an angled fore-grip, a simple 2x holo-scope, and a magnifier. I didn't pay close attention everyone else's picks. Not that it mattered to me. As I left we were also supplied with suppressors. We'd be ordered when we needed them, though it was up to my discretion when I thought it was required.
   We we taken off to our temporary barracks. As paratroopers, we'd be spending most of our time in the field, so ours' weren't much. Enough to keep us out of the elements, but it really wasn't anything spectacular. None of them were but this is more like an over sized tin can with cots in it than anything. We're shipping out early tomorrow, so most of us decided to turn in early. Tomorrow going to be some kind of hectic that I don't want to think about.

- - -

   I was checking Katya's parachute by the red of the 'WAIT' light. I patted her shoulder, about the time that Artem did mine. It was easier than trying trying to yell over the plane engines. After everyone was set, we all stood there in uneasy silence. The plane rocked against the wind occasionally, stumbling some of us at the worst. We stood and waited. A minute. Two. Five. Ten minutes. The troop bay door began to open. I took a deep breath, pulled on my gloves, and readied myself for the jump. I grabbed my oxygen mask - a high-altitude paratrooper jump mask based on the old GPv-7 gas mask. The filter contained oxygen, more than enough to last me to the ground.
   The troop-bay door began to grind open. According to the HUD in built into my mask, we were directly above a lower portion of the Pamir Mountains. The gritty tension shattered into utter fear. Here we were, forty years later, back in Afghanistan. Perhaps this time, the glorious Red Army will succeed. I took in a second deep breath. The jump-master began yelling. Row after row after row ran fore ward and began their fall. As the rows went on, some of the confidence was rebuilt. Some of the paratroopers began doing tricks. Nothing big, really; jumping backward, spinning.
   Artem came over squad-comms. His name was displayed in the HUD, in a bottom corner. "Dazzle these rookies, boss." My turn was up. I took a running start, turning myself backwards as I neared the door. I put my arms out and went over backwards. I tucked my legs in and began a backwards tumble. After sufficient time to impress the rookies, I spread my arms and legs to begin a regular descent. I breathed in, out, in out. My heart was pumping. The adrenaline, it's part of why I strived for the VDV. I continued my short steady breathing. I almost enjoyed the sound the mask made from it. 
   Around two hundred meters up, I pulled my chute. The impact of such a sudden decrease in speed jerked my body pretty hard. Now was not a time that I enjoyed the harnesses that go between your legs. I took a look around, my mask was fogged a bit, but I could see the snowy peaks of the higher Pamir mountains in the distance. I spotted Katya's landing flare. Then Artem's. Fedor's. The colored columns of smoke slowly began to appear in more numbers. How did Artem touch down before I did? Likely that he pulled his chute closer to the ground. 
   I hit the ground hard, when I recovered I pushed myself to my feet. I unclipped my parachute from my back, unslung my rifle, and head to the rendezvous. The walk shouldn't take long, though I'm taking a risk following these mountain trails. I have orders not to fire until fired upon, or with permission from command, which could take long enough for it to be too late. I switched the safety off of my rifle. I probably wouldn't need it. We dropped enough troops to run them out, at least for now. I stopped for a moment, huffed, and began to climb a good chunk of mountain. This may take awhile.

Author's Note

My politics are probably horrid. I have little to no knowledge of meters so that's probably pretty bad too. I (unfortunately) am going to trust Google for the English-lettered Russian words, if it seems off, I'd like to know. Thanks!

Reviews

[Ricky]

I think it's a pretty good start, i would have liked to read about the battle over the taken U.S. air base

[Prince of Frost]

Pretty good, friend! I noticed a few mistakes regarding commas, but nothing major. I will wait until the next chapter.

[Tactical Advantage]

Alright, I'll watch for my commas next time. Cheers!