and
must deal with enemies inside the ring at Ultra Slam 2 and continue to navigate a tricky situation in their home country.
Dasha stood in front of the TV watching the latest reports. Putin had his empire and now he was humiliating himself by invading Ukraine and failing spectacularly. Boris stands next to her. “They fight like Americans.”
Dasha nods. “Da. I will give the Americans this one thing. Combined Arms. Effective.” Boris nods in agreement. “You upset?” Dasha nods. “I should be. Our countrymen are dying, Boris. But the harsh truth is.. This helps us. Putin’s empire is as impotent as he is. A small man from a country that despises small men. A weak man from a nation where weak men die.They will beg us to save them, Boris. And the Soviets will be there when our country needs us..” .
Later that day, open air cafe, Havana, Cuba:
Dasha and Boris sit at the table, each enjoys a coffee, both have sunglasses. Dasha’s Cuban ally Jose is also there. There are also two Russians. One male, one female. Dasha looks at Jose. “Do we need to do this here? I am not sure I like discussing treason in the open.” Jose smiles. “My friend, trust me. In the Caribbean, if you do business inside, that draws suspicion. No one out here is paying attention to what we are saying. They’re enjoying the weather.” Dasha frowns, not totally convinced but also not prepared to argue the situation as she turns to the newly entered Russians. How bad is it?”
The woman speaks first, clearing her throat. “The so-called Emperor is furious. He believed McStrump was an ally. He also believed he had cultivated other allies within NATO. However, the Ukrainian situation seems to have.. Changed the field a bit. NATO is mobilizing against him, even deploying troops in Poland. They are giving the Ukrainians money and weapons. Sergei, I believe will go more into depth on that front.” She sighs. “It’s been a disaster. Every day, our diplomats go and make fools of themselves in the U.N. The propaganda efforts at home have been…amatuer at best. They won’t call it a war, they call it a special military operation to liberate Ukraine from the Nazis. They try to tie it to the Great Patriotic War.” Boris cuts in here, “How can they do that and not call it a war at the same time?” The woman nods. “This is what I mean when I say amatuer. Now they confuse the message again by saying there is no Ukraine. That Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine are all the same people. Same, Russian people. Belarus did their part. They allowed themselves to be annexed into the Holy Russian Empire. Ukrainians are stubborn.”
The male identified as Sergei jumps in here. “It has been a disaster on the ground. Putin doesn’t know how to use the military. He gave an army of mostly conscripts 3 days to take Kiev, assuming if he could do that, he could conquer the whole country.” Dasha shakes her head. “Of course, we failed to do that.” Sergei nods. “Failed, spectaturaly. The Ukrainans knew they just had to hold out. They learned from NATO well. We send lone tanks into cities and they get eaten alive by combined arms teams. We send troops in without support; they get chewed up and spat out again. There are so many dead we hide the bodies in refrigerated rail cars, Dasha.Putin can’t admit how many men are dying. How many of our leadership corps we are losing.”
Boris leans forward, putting his coffee down for the moment. “Why are so many officers dying?” Sergei shrugs. “I believe the Ukrrainans are deliberately targeting them. It is how Milenia and I met. I was begging our diplomatic corps to mention this in the U.N.” Milenia nods. “I tried to tell him it was hard case to sell but while talking, we came across other ideas.”
Dasha has remained silent and stoic throughout the horrors being described to her. Calmly sipping her coffee as she hears about her nation and the trials and tribulations facing it at the moment. One would never know it to look at her, but she was seething in anger. She mulls the situation around in her head. It’s a look from Boris, a silent communication exchanged between the two that brings Dasha back to the conversation at hand as Sergei leans forward. “Did you hear me, Dasha? The officers in the front. The ones dying. Communist or believed to be communist.” Dasha nods. “Now it makes sense.” She mutters to herself. “He’s smarter than I thought. Bring Ukraine back into the fold, and you purge the government and military of your opponents without looking like that’s what you’re doing.”
Sergei clears his throat. He knows he’s taking a risk. Finally he decides to take the leap and leans forward, speaking quietly. “You know many back home wanted you to run for President.” Dasha nods, waving her hand dismissively. “Useless now that Putin made himself Tzar.” Sergei nods. “You would have support within the military if you wanted to change that.”
There it was. Sergei had taken the leap. Suggested a coup d’etat. Dasha knew what she should do. Under normal circumstances, she would put a bullet in his head. But these were not normal circumstances. Dasha leaned back in her seat and was silent for a long moment. Her next words would be pivotal. She calmly moved her free hand to her sidearm as she regarded the two Russians with her and nodded a bit. “An interesting proposal, I’m sure. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell if this is a genuine offer or a trap” Milenia raises an eyebrow. “You think we are here to kill you? Putin already fired you. What more are you to him?” Dasha nods. “I am a threat, whether he would admit it or not. Don’t ask me why… I’m just a soldier, but apparently, I’m enough for some to consider me a leader.” Jose spoke up now, leaning in. “I know I said this can be good cover, but given where the discussion is going, we might want to take this inside after all. Our friends from the embassy have learned the way of things here and there might be unfriendly ears listening.”
That was about all it took. The group paid for their coffee and Jose and the waitress exchanged a few words and after she left, he nodded. “Our friends from Russia have taken note of such a group of notable people gathering.” Dasha thought for a second and replied with a single word. “Boris.” The giant man stood up calmly and walked out of the cafe. He had already made one of the target, the man had gone to the bathroom. Boris came in after him and the spy never knew what him as Boris grabbed him from behind and slammed him forehead first into the sink counter. Pulling the man up, Boris carried the unconscious man to the stall and sat him down on the toilet. He began searching the man, quickly finding the voice recorder he used and taking it, tucking it in his pocket. He kept searching and looked at the man. With a quick, clean motion, Boris broke the man’s neck. He went back to searching and found the man’s note and code books as well, taking them. Satisfied that he had grabbed all the evidence, he made his way back to the table and sat down. “There was at least one friend. He had to leave our little party early.” Dasha smirked and nodded.
A couple hours later saw the group back at the hotel Dasha and Boris were almost living at at this point. Jose looked around and shook his head. “Senora, Ivanova… you are Cuban citizens now! We need to get you a proper house or something. It has to be less expensive than living here in the hotel. Dasha was silent for a moment. He was probably right, staying at the very nice resort hotel on a semi-permanent basis had been putting a noticeable dent in the finances. There was a reason she and Boris were sharing a room after all., Dasha turned to Boris. “You pay attention to the schedules.. How long are we going to be in this area?”
Boris shrugged. “Not long, I think. We have been going around Mexico and Central America. Anderson is clearly unhappy in this area, especially since Valora Salinas holds all the advantages. I’m not sure where we are going, but I would expect us to hit another region soon.” Dasha looks at Jose. “If you could do me a favor, my friend. Find some suitable locations and I will do it. I appreciate your help and your loyalty.” Jose smiles and pats her shoulder. “I am honored. Your country helped our revolution. Your country helped us build an independent Cuba. I’m glad to help.” Sergei raises an eyebrow. “Does your government feel the same?” Jose turns to him. “On the official level, we are playing it safe. We don’t want to anger Moscow, but we are not happy they have turned away from the People. Right now, our official policy is we will not aid Russia, but we also are not prepared at this time to directly oppose them. If there was an organized resistance. Someone else we saw as viable… I could convince my government to risk changing it;s stance.”
Milenia turned to Dasha. “What do you need from us to accept the position of leader of the Soviet government in exile? Tell us what you need and we’ll tell you what we need and we can begin.” Dasha blinked in confusion. She didn’t even really remember agreeing to be the leader. Still, the people needed a champion. If it was her, how could she say no? How could she face her grandmother, who had been a sniper in the battle of Stalingrad? Who had taught Dasha how to shoot? Dasha was a little stunned at how quickly her mind went into the proper modes. “Firstly, we need a base of operations. This place must be secure, must have good communications set up. Ideally in addition to the base of operations, a city might be nice. Ideally this would be a city we could use as a capital but that is too dangerous. So we will have to settle for a city that will both allow us in and recognize us as a government in exile. The city can wait if need be, but diplomacy will be much harder if we are not recognized as a legitimate government.”
Dasha tapped the bottom of her chin. “We need soldiers. Dependable soldiers, some for security of the base, other to carry out missions when needed. We need intelligence capabilities. Supplies. infrastructure. Understand, we’re going to need months, maybe more to get everything in place.”
Boris got up from the table and made his way out to the kitchen. Politics didn’t concern him much, never really did. He was from a small farming village in Siberia. The happenings in Moscow were a world away and never really seemed to affect life in the village one way or another. Moscow was like every other capital. It was just a place that only remembered you existed when they wanted taxes or military service. Other than that… people in Moscow lived their lives and people in Boris’ village lived theirs. He glanced back towards where they were talking, Dasha was still going over what would be needed to set up a viable resistance.. This was just a distraction. None More Black were up this next event and they were coming for the tag team titles that Boris and Dasha held. Instead of focusing on that. Dasha was focusing on..distractions.
Boris opened the door to the fridge and made himself a glass of lemonade. As he turned around, he noticed Milenia standing there. “So… where does one go to find some as… large and well built as you?” Boris regarded the woman coolly. He glanced to the left and the to the right. It was his way of rolling his eyes when doing so overtly might cause offense to someone that offending could be problematic for. He gave her a one word response. “Siberia.” She nodded. “I imagine you could keep a few girls warm.” Boris looks at her. “I thought you were discussing future of Russia.” Milenia nods. “Discussion doesn’t interest you?” Boris shrugs. “I am soldier. Started off as conscript. Qualified for Spetsnaz. My job is not to worry about who runs Kremlin. My job is to fight. Dasha and I have fight coming up. Against American tag team.” Milenia raises an eyebrow. “You consider a fight in ring more important than your country?” Boris sighs, mildly irritated. “Niet. But I can’t change future of Russia today. I find it better to focus on what can be changed.” Milenia nods. “I suppose there is sense in that.”
Boris finished his glass of lemonade and the pair made their way back out to the others. Boris was sure Milenia was disappointed that there wasn’t more time for her to try and continue her attempts at flirting but Boris was also thoroughly uninterested in her. She was certainly attractive, to be sure, but Dasha was the only woman Boris had any romantic interest in for some time. As he made his way back out to the other room, he leaned against the wall and listened to the discussion going on.
Dasha, for her part, had spent the last few minutes speaking with Sergei. She had laid out what she needed. Now Sergei and Milenia, who was coming back from the kitchen area, seemed about ready to tell Dasha what they needed. Milenia spoke first. “We need to send a message to the rest of the world that there are Russians out there who would make better leaders. I know Putin was furious when you and Boris came out waving the Soviet flag still. That also sent a message to people back home and around the world. We need to spend some time and think about future messages that can be sent as well.” Boris, by now, has reached his point and clears his throat. “We are in a position to send messages because we are tag team champions of the world. This puts a spotlight on us. If you continue to take up our time with plotting about things that can’t be changed for months and months, then we will lose those titles to our opponents and we will have less chances to send any kind of message.”
Dasha nods. “Boris is not wrong. Our opponents are Americans. If they beat us, the American news company that owns the fed will never shut up about it.” Sergei nods. “Of course. Athletic accomplishments are important too. For now the Soviet flag will suffice. Give some thought, Dasha. We could use the help.” With that, Jose, Sergei and Milenia left and Dasha turned to Boris. “You hate politics that much?” Boris sighs. “You were born and raised in Moscow. I understand why you care. Where I grew up…Moscow was just a place that took our money in the form of taxes.” Boris sighs. “There’s a lot of people in Russia who honestly don’t give a shit about who rules in Moscow. This Empire will make that harder. The Oligarchs will be even richer and have actual political power in their regions. Putin will find corrupt men to put in charge of various regions. I know we need to do something. But all we can do is plan. Talk about what we want to do. None More Black we can do something about. So rather than talk about what I would like to do to Putin, I would much more like to punch those Americans in the face and break them. Can we do that, Dasha?”
Dasha smirked and nodded. “Da, Boris. We can do that.”