The militia has successfully immobilized one of the SUVs. Igor, who was the driver of the downed SUV, looked out from his cracked windows to see the Bukavac and the rear escort racing down the road towards the intersection.

They aren’t stopping for them and that was expected.

The militia didn’t bother chasing the Bukavac and its escort, instead, they shifted their attention towards them who are now caged inside of their impenetrable fortress.

“We are on our own now,” Igor said to his partner who tumbled down inside as he glanced over his surroundings. Even though the cracks were obstructing his sight, he can still make out an estimated number of forces approaching them from all sides.

Their bolt-action rifles are trained at their windows. One of them fired but just like the other ones earlier, it didn’t pierce through.action

Igor could hear them sniggering. They must’ve been impressed by the bulletproof windows that are now pissing them off.

“Oi Oleg!” Igor called out his partner, shaking him from his stupor. “Stand up and man the minigun,” he commanded.

“I can’t,” Oleg protested weakly, coughing. “They have neutralized the M134.”

Igor sighed loudly, “Ah…why are we so unlucky?”.

“We still have our FAL sir,” Oleg said, showing him the assault rifle. “We can fight with this.”

“I know,” Igor said as he pressed a finger on his ears and reached out to his team. “This is Igor. Our vehicle has been rendered immobile and we are stuck here.”

“This is Rolan,” a voice from the other side of the line responded dejectedly. “We are 400 meters away from the embassy and we’ve encountered no contact so far. I’m sorry, Igor, we can’t turn back and get you….”

“I understand,” Igor said calmly. “The Grand Duchesses must be transported back to safety. That is the priority. We will fight to the last bullet.” he said resolutely.“Good luck soldier…your valiant and heroic efforts will not be in vain. Rolan out,”

A radio static noise erupted before the transmission ended.

Igor and Oleg sat silently with their shoulders slumped and defeated. There is no chance of getting this one out alive.

Igor cocked his FAL, looking outside. He watched as several militias kicked the window and the door of the SUV while shouting in a foreign language. One of the militia fired their bolt-action rifle at point blank range. However, it didn’t puncture a hole in the window.

“Just what’s this window made of?!” One of the militia hollered in the Yamato language. One of them walked forward and banged the window with a fist.

“Step…outside…the…vehicle…and…surrender!” Another militia said in English.

Upon hearing that, Igor can only scoff. He knew what the Yamato would do to a soldier who surrendered to them. So there’s no way he is going to accept that.

“Oleg, are you ready to kick some ass?” Igor glanced over his shoulder as he spoke.

Oleg cocked the FAL and answered. “The moment we get off of this vehicle, we will definitely kiss some ass.”

“Very well,” Igor smiled as his gaze flicked to the dashboard of the vehicle. “I’m going to initiate the destruction sequence. We can’t let all the sophisticated technology here fall on the enemy’s hand.”

“Understood,” Oleg replied.

“We only have a minute so let’s kill as many as we can,” Igor said and continued. “I’ll take the right, you take the left.”

“Copy that boss…”

“We’ll proceed with my signal…”

Igor and Oleg have accepted their fate. Their life will end here. Before Igor gave the signal, he pulled out something from his breast pocket. It was a picture of his beautiful wife and daughter.

“I’m sorry…Bell…Looks like daddy is not coming home,” Igor said and planted a kiss against the picture while smiling bittersweetly.Meanwhile, the militia gathered grenades and bundled them together. It seemed as though they are going to strap it against the window.

“Do you have a family waiting for you back home, Oleg?” Igor asked.

“My girlfriend…” Oleg solemnly replied. “But it’s okay…I signed up for this, it’s too late to regret it now.”

“Then…on my signal…” Igor breathed heavily as memorable moments of his life flashed

before his eyes. There are many things he wanted to do with his family, but it looks like it’s going to end here.

“3…”

Tears started rolling down Igor’s cheek.

“2…” he clutched his weapon tightly, his hand trembling from fear of death.

“1…” Igor and Oleg roared at the top of their lungs and kicked the door open, stunning one of the militias who were about to plant the bundled grenades on their windows.

They pulled the trigger and downed several militias before a hail of bullets descended on their bodies.

Igor fell on his knee, blood trickling down his mouth. He looked up as bullets flew out like a strobe of light. One of them struck his head, killing him.

***

The plainclothes Yamato infantrymen lower their rifles after the last Ruthenian went down.

For all they know, they have just been told these Ruthenians are terrorists and spies who seek to destroy their homeland. Most of them come from backwater farming villages all over Yamato to earn a living and to make their family proud. A tradition similar to footmen soldiers during Yamato’s warring periods.

“Secure the area! We need to—,” their leader shouted at them before the large black car exploded with heat and fire.

Some unlucky ones near it were immolated by the self-destruct charges that lined the insides of the SUV.

A mixture of incendiary, oxidants, and explosives blasted jets of fire out from the vehicle illuminating the area. The remaining ammo for the M134 minigun cooked off and stray bullets came out of the car, injuring more Yamato soldiers.

It was so hot that the soldiers retreated to a safe distance as the car itself began melting, rendering any and all Ruthenian technology in the car into unsalvageable slag.

The metal pyre burned brightly and soon died down with horrible black toxic smog of burning plastics and rubber that made some of the Yamato infantrymen gagged and choked

However, the pair of strange small compact machine guns the Ruthenians made a last stand with survived the destruction and soon a pair of hands lifted it from the ground to be examined by a curious Yamato soldier.

“What kind of gun is this?”