The Other Side

Chapter 1: A Call To Arms

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November 13, Tuesday, 2040

Today is the day I ship off to the Military and help fight the good fight, though I'm quite scared for what there is to come. I've never killed anyone or had to kill anyone before, not to mention this is World War Three. That's no small cookie. But I guess I'm happy to be serving my country and my religion, I just hope I can survive this and get home soon. I wonder though, do I have the courage...the strength, to see this journey through.

-From the diary writings of Sasha Tarakov
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"Sasha honey, are you almost ready!? The military transport is gonna be here any minute!" Sasha's mother called up the stairs. "I'll be down in a minute!" Sasha called back as she tucked away her diary in her bag. Today is the day Sasha is scheduled to arrive in Moscow and be assigned to her position, but she doesn't know if she's mentally prepared for a war. Sasha always loved doing things that got her adrenaline going but to her this was something else, something entirely different.

Sasha then heard a knock on her door, most likely her mother rushing her along. "Mom I'm all packed, you don't need to keep rushing me" she said. "It's not mom it's Alyosha" Sasha's 13 year old brother said as he opened the door. "Alyosha I'm a bit busy right now so what's up" Sasha responded a bit annoyed as she looked at her brother, Alyosha could be a bit of an annoying brother to Sasha sometimes but he meant good. "I just wanted to say goodbye to you before you left, I won't be seeing you for a while" he said sadly. "What gives you that feeling?" Sasha asked as she cocked an eyebrow. "Just a feeling" Alyosha responded. Sasha let out a deep sigh, "look Alyosha I'm already nervous enough, please don't say things like that. Nobody knows how long this war could last." Sasha said as she slung her bag over her shoulder, "This could last three years or could last three months." Sasha said then walked over to her brother and put a hand on his shoulder. "But however long it lasts you need to promise me something" Sasha said. "Ok" Alyosha responded. "Look after Mom for me, you remember how she was when I had to go to Basic Training a couple months back. Can you do that?" Sasha asked with slight desperation in her voice. "I can, but you need to promise me something" Alyosha said. "Alright" Sasha responded. "Be careful and be strong. Can you do that?" Alyosha asked. "I can" Sasha responded wholeheartedly. "Sasha! The transport is here!" Sasha's mother called up the stairs. "I have to go now, I love you. Remember what I said about mom." Sasha said then walked out the door and headed downstairs.

"Paka sweetheart, good luck." Sasha's mom said as Sasha walked past her. "Paka mom, love you" she responded. "Wait Sasha" Sasha's mother said abruptly. "Yeah?" she responded, hand on the doorknob. "Please be safe" her mother said, a look of nervousness written on her face. "I will, don't worry to much. I'll be home before you know it." Sasha said then opened the front door.

Sasha was immediately greeted by the sight of a black bus with tinted windows when she stepped off the front porch. "Altoist.Soldier Transport" the side of the bus read. Sasha approached the bus and the doors swung open. The bus driver held up a clipboard, "Sasha Tarakov?" He asked. "That's me" she responded. "Well, hop on. We don't have all day." The bus driver said, rushing Sasha along a little.

Sasha stepped onto the bus and immediately came to the annoying realization that it was packed, there wasn't a single seat. She started slowly walking down the isle, looking left and right to try and find a seat. She managed to spot one open seat at the back of the bus, the feeling of relief went over her as she made her way to the empty seat. She sat down and immediately the bus started moving again, the driver was in a bit of a hurry but that makes sense. Getting on Leader Altoia's bad side didn't sound like the best thing to do in a time like this.

The bus had been driving for a little and as Sasha looked out the window she noticed the person sitting across from her kept giving her glances. Sasha would quickly glance over to the man and to that the man would just look away. This made Sasha slightly uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything. In the Pravda I Razdor(Truth and Discord) it states that in any army fighting for the cause of the religion, men are dominant. However this didn't go for everyday life, men and women were looked at as equals.

The bus had finally entered Moscow and was driving through the streets. As the bus drove Sasha saw all sorts of things outside, people walking, people talking and having a good time, she even saw a fist fight between a few gopniks in an alleyway. Since the war started the city had fell under a lot of stress, even though Russia seemed to be winning.

The time was now 10:00AM, Red Square had two lines of A.S soldiers on either side of the square. Behind the soldiers was a cheering crowd of people, all gathered to see the spectacle of the new Altoist Soldier recruits marching. Little did they know at the time, but they were also about to whiteness history. The A.S on the sides of the square were mostly women, the men of the army were the ones in the march. So Sasha was on the sidelines. But she didn't mind that, her job in the march was easy. All she had to do was stand up straight with an AM40 rested on her shoulder. However the cold was getting to her a bit.

Then a mic tapping noise came from the back of the square, everyone looked to see what it was and there stood the leader of Russia: Altoia Pistrovich. Everyone in the crowd behind the soldiers erupted in applause. Altoia stood on a podium wearing his usual black suit and black tie. He was also wearing his signature black ski mask, blue tinted sunglasses, and white ushanka. Nobody actually knew what Altoia looked like cause he never showed his face, he took value in his privacy. "Ladies, Gentlemen, today is a special day. Two months ago in September when this war started we had an army only comprised of seasoned soldiers, but today we have over 200,000 new recruits in the Altoist ranks" Altoia explained, causing the crowd to applaud once again. "I can tell you, President Putin and Mother Morozov would be proud. So in honor of our new recruits, and our war success so far, I've decided to put together this event for you all" Altoia concluded. Suddenly music started playing through speakers and it was a song known for Russian patriotism even before the war. As the song was starting up Sasha and the rest of the A.S's on the sidelines could see the soldiers marching into the square.

As the soldiers marched through the square Altoia sang the main lyrics while the marching soldiers filled the choirs. The soldiers were doing the Altoist salute as they sang, holding their AM40's in their other hand. The Altoist salute was scarily similar to a Nazi German salute but not quite. The soldiers would outstretch their arm like a Nazi salute except they'd point their pointer finger and middle finger. It was a little funny, they almost looked like they were doing finger guns. Once the song was over and the march had concluded the soldiers in the march stood in front of the podium, turning to face the square. The crowd applauded for the recruits who proudly stood in front of the podium and on the sidelines, though the ones in front of the podium were getting the most attention. All Sasha could think in the moment was "this is how the war starts." Even though the war actually started two months ago, to Sasha, it had just begun.