The odds were vastly in favour of this being good news.
Shalenko seemed to read his thoughts. “How would you rate the performance of your brigade just now?”
Aliyev didn’t hesitate. “We are ready for anything,” he said, and meant it. The unit was oversized for a reason; they could soak up training accidents and move on. It was the sort of attitude that had kept them in business even though the dark years of Yeltsin. “Do I assume that you have a mission for us?”
Shalenko clasped his arm. “This is ultra-classified information,” he warned. “If you breath more than you are permitted to breath, you will be shot in the head; understand?” Aliyev nodded. “On the 1 st of June, we will go to war with Europe.”
Aliyev stared at him. “Yes,” Shalenko said, understanding his concern. It wouldn’t be the first time that a Spetsnaz unit had been put through hell, or deliberately misinformed for political reasons, but Shalenko seemed deadly serious. “All of the training that your unit and almost every other unit stationed in European Russia and Belarus has been angled towards this moment.”
“I see,” Aliyev said finally. It made a lot of sense; they had attacked Airport One so many times now, so many different scenarios, so much that he had wondered if there was a motive behind it besides simple sadism. “Our mission, then, is to seize an airport?”
“Szczecin-Goleniów Airport, otherwise known as ‘Solidarność,” Shalenko said. He pulled a small CD-ROM out of his pocket and passed it over to Aliyev. “That is all the information we can gather about it, reviewed by me personally, and the overall details of the plan that we have spent five years putting together, reviewing, updating, and finally implementing. We slipped as much as we could of Szczecin-Goleniów into Airport One; taking the airport is important to allow us to establish a presence in western Poland as quickly as possible and deter the Germans from trying anything clever. There are details in the CD, but one possibility is that the European forces in Poland will attempt to retreat into Germany; it might be a good idea not to let that happen.”
“Of course, sir,” Aliyev said. He paused. “What about the other airports in Poland?”
“All of them will be targeted,” Shalenko assured him. “If everything goes to plan, you should only have to hold out for a couple of days at most before we manage to place an armoured force into the area from the sea, or a little longer from the east. The enemy should be heavily confused – we have a number of operations going to give the Germans and Poles other problems to worry about – and you may not be attacked for hours or at all.”
Aliyev studied the map for a long moment. “That’s quite close to Berlin,” he observed. “Will we be advancing on the city?”
“Perhaps,” Shalenko said. He met Aliyev’s eyes. “I have been in your shoes, Colonel; your main concern here is to secure the airport for us to fly in supplies and equipment to you. Unless you get very lucky and capture a lot of Polish tanks, we don’t expect you to do more than hold the airport until relieved.”
He held up a hand. “It’s not an insult, Colonel,” he said. “Russia needs your young men too much to simply throw them away.”
“I know, sir,” Aliyev said. He felt real excitement spinning through him…and a desire to even the score a little. Some of Russia’s worst enemies would never have taken up arms against them, were it not for Europe; some of the Chechen leaders whose forces he had fought and defeated had taken up residence in Paris, well out of Russia’s reach…or were they? “I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t,” Shalenko said. He tapped the map thoughtfully. “I don’t expect you to secure the city either, but I do expect you to behave
Shalenko seemed to read his thoughts. “How would you rate the performance of your brigade just now?”
Aliyev didn’t hesitate. “We are ready for anything,” he said, and meant it. The unit was oversized for a reason; they could soak up training accidents and move on. It was the sort of attitude that had kept them in business even though the dark years of Yeltsin. “Do I assume that you have a mission for us?”
Shalenko clasped his arm. “This is ultra-classified information,” he warned. “If you breath more than you are permitted to breath, you will be shot in the head; understand?” Aliyev nodded. “On the 1 st of June, we will go to war with Europe.”
Aliyev stared at him. “Yes,” Shalenko said, understanding his concern. It wouldn’t be the first time that a Spetsnaz unit had been put through hell, or deliberately misinformed for political reasons, but Shalenko seemed deadly serious. “All of the training that your unit and almost every other unit stationed in European Russia and Belarus has been angled towards this moment.”
“I see,” Aliyev said finally. It made a lot of sense; they had attacked Airport One so many times now, so many different scenarios, so much that he had wondered if there was a motive behind it besides simple sadism. “Our mission, then, is to seize an airport?”
“Szczecin-Goleniów Airport, otherwise known as ‘Solidarność,” Shalenko said. He pulled a small CD-ROM out of his pocket and passed it over to Aliyev. “That is all the information we can gather about it, reviewed by me personally, and the overall details of the plan that we have spent five years putting together, reviewing, updating, and finally implementing. We slipped as much as we could of Szczecin-Goleniów into Airport One; taking the airport is important to allow us to establish a presence in western Poland as quickly as possible and deter the Germans from trying anything clever. There are details in the CD, but one possibility is that the European forces in Poland will attempt to retreat into Germany; it might be a good idea not to let that happen.”
“Of course, sir,” Aliyev said. He paused. “What about the other airports in Poland?”
“All of them will be targeted,” Shalenko assured him. “If everything goes to plan, you should only have to hold out for a couple of days at most before we manage to place an armoured force into the area from the sea, or a little longer from the east. The enemy should be heavily confused – we have a number of operations going to give the Germans and Poles other problems to worry about – and you may not be attacked for hours or at all.”
Aliyev studied the map for a long moment. “That’s quite close to Berlin,” he observed. “Will we be advancing on the city?”
“Perhaps,” Shalenko said. He met Aliyev’s eyes. “I have been in your shoes, Colonel; your main concern here is to secure the airport for us to fly in supplies and equipment to you. Unless you get very lucky and capture a lot of Polish tanks, we don’t expect you to do more than hold the airport until relieved.”
He held up a hand. “It’s not an insult, Colonel,” he said. “Russia needs your young men too much to simply throw them away.”
“I know, sir,” Aliyev said. He felt real excitement spinning through him…and a desire to even the score a little. Some of Russia’s worst enemies would never have taken up arms against them, were it not for Europe; some of the Chechen leaders whose forces he had fought and defeated had taken up residence in Paris, well out of Russia’s reach…or were they? “I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t,” Shalenko said. He tapped the map thoughtfully. “I don’t expect you to secure the city either, but I do expect you to behave
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