Cold War: Before The Bell

Prologue

Mid November, 1941
Battle of Moscow

"They don't stand a chance against us in one of these beasts!" Alistair shouted over the echoing of bellets bouncing off their T-34 tank.

"Do you even know how to drive one of these things?" The man later to be known as Perseus asked him.

"You focus on your firing, I'll focus on driving." Alistair said, steering to the left.

Just a month ago Hitler had put his forces on Moscow into a defensive operation. With some time to work with their beloved Red Army was gievn time to strengthen their forces. With many new tanks and troops, it gave the soldiers a spark of hope. The news about the fall of Kiev did anything but.

The Nazis were on their final attempt at taking the capital, Moscow. Alistair and his squad were ordered to be deployed around the outskirts of capital.

"Watch for that mud hole, we can't get stuck or we're as good as dead!" His friend said from below. The season of autum brought messy roads, which caused quite the trouble if a tank ever got stuck. Once you were in the hole, it took a good minute to escape if possible at all and by that time the enemy was sure to do a number on the vehicle.

"I see it." Alistair avoided the hole and continued to follow the other soldiers.

Once they arrived at the front it wasn't long before they began to open fire.

"Keep pushing forward, we cannot let them advance!" Alistair shouted.

The soldiers were holding off many of Hitler's men for quite a while until the tank malfunctioned.

"Guns jammed!" Alistair's friend said.

"Well have I got news for you comrade." Alistair kept hitting the gas and saw that they were going nowhere. "No guns and we're stuck." The man sighed.

"Quick we have to get out of here, we're just sitting targets in this thing." They both looked outside the tank to see more incoming enemies.

"Got your weapon?" Alistair asked.

"Yes, come on!" Suddenly they felt their vehicle stand straight up before crashing down on its back.

"Comrade! Comrade, wake up! Come on, we have to get out of here!" Alistair shook his friend by the shoulders once he regained consciousness himself. He picked the man up and put him over his shoulders as he ran out of the tank.

Once outside he turned around to see the enemy tank charging after him. He ran as fast as he could. Seeing a quick escape he dove to thr right behind a fallen tree and sat his hazy friend there. "Stay here." He told the man.

With not much time to think he ran around the corner of the tree and decided to charge the tank and hop on top of it. "Soldier! You suicidal maniac!" He heard one of his fellow comrades shout from a distance. The moment he hopped onto the roof the hatch flipped open and out came a German.

"Wow... I imagined Germans to be a bit taller." He quipped before pointing his weapon at the enemy. Unfortunatly it was removed from his grasp when the German shot at his palm. Somehow keeping his hand in tact, he grabbed the man's arm, trying to break it. The two went back and forth exchanging blows, all the meanwhile the driver trying to shake them off. As the tank took a hard left they both went sliding to the edge. They both clinged to the edge, not in any hurry to test out the bottom of the vehicle.

Alistair took out his knife and stabbed the german's hand until he had cut it clean off. He saw the man fall and get crushed by the weight of the vehicle. His screams were unlike anything he had heard. He climbed back up to see another german awaiting him. This time he thought quick on his feet and pulled the grenade on the man's uniform. He shoved the enemy back down into the tank aling with the cooking frag and quickly jumped down. The explosion blew him forward. Luckily he only managed a few cuts and bruises. Picking up his pistol from the ground, he hobbled back to where he left his friend and dragged him away with what strength he had. "A little help over here!" He shouted to any fellow soldier willing to help.

"Nice job, now all you have to do is do that about twelve more times." A medic rushed over and helped Alistair carry his somewhat consciouss friend. He was part of Siberian reinforcements.

"Your insane Comrade." Perseus chuckled having seen some of his friend's heroic acts.

"And your lucky to be alive I imagine, seeing you hit your head so hard." The man replied.

"Rest up now, we've practically got them on the run now. Just this last wave and I think they might cower in retreat." The medic said rushing back to his postition after seeing the other two back to a safe spot.

"Thank you." Alistair replied.  "You alright?" He turned his attention back to his friend.

"Yea, just landed a bit rough is all." He said as Alistair helped him to his feet.

The next day

What the medic had spoken came true. Suprisingly enough Hitler had called his men to retreat. They had done their duty with the enemys having only gotten 12 miles within the city.

"Petrov, Lebedev." Their commanding superior came into their tent, requesting their prescence in his own. The two were quick to follow.

"Yes sir?" Alistair asked aproaching the man's desk with a quick solute.

"You two are being relocated."

"Where, to who?" Alistair's friend asked.

"From now on you will be taking commands under Major General Arkady Yermakov of Operational Group Ermakov. Pack your things, their camp isn't to far from here." The man saw the concern on the pair's faces. "I wouldn't think about it too much, consider this a promotion of sorts, you'll be better off there than here. It was a pleasure to have you fight with us here soldier." The man gave a solute to them both.

"Of course sir." Alistair and his friend returned the favor just before leaving.

"Aren't you interested comrade?" Lebedev asked Alistair.

"I'm not thrilled but I'm not upset. I don't know what to think." He said, walking back into their tent with the other soldiers.

"Trust me from what I hear these guys are the real deal." The man said somewhat excited.

"I hope your right."