World War III Read Online Free PDF Page A

the lieutenant’s feigned confidence, Yuri could see that his deep blue eyes were full of fear.
    “There’s no going back now,” replied Sasha. “Did you know this was coming?”
    “Yes,” answered Yuri, without displaying any emotion, “this is just the beginning.”
    Lieutenant Sasha Razin had spent nearly ten years in Russia’s elite foreign Special Forces, commonly referred to as Spetsnaz. Now in command of a highly trained unit of twelve battle hardened soldiers, Sasha’s orders were to protect and escort Captain Yuri Petrov, as he embarked upon a top secret mission. The details of the mission were classified and Yuri alone knew the particulars.
    Yuri glanced at a small group of soldiers standing quietly near the starboard railing. The steady downpour of rain drizzled down their helmets and fell to the deck of the ship. Their somber faces and deadly stare mirrored one another, as they watched the smoldering coastline. Unlike the other soldiers who stood shivering on the deck, the cold didn’t seem to affect these men. Yuri’s gaze dropped to the small patch sewn into the uniform of the nearest soldier. The patch, located on his left bicep, was black and diamond shaped with a yellow lightning bolt down the center.
    “Hmm,” grunted Yuri in disgust, before spitting over the railing into the turbulent sea.
    Sasha followed Yuri’s gaze to the small group of soldiers. “What’s wrong Captain?”
    “I don’t trust those hybrid bastards,” answered Yuri. “Man and machine weren’t meant to be mingled together.”
    “But their enhancements make them stronger, faster and all around better soldiers,” replied Sasha, as though he were reading the propaganda from off a poster.
    “Yes Lieutenant,” agreed Yuri, “but at what cost?”
    Sasha sighed and looked down at his biometric arm which mother Russia had provided him with after losing his own in combat. Gripping the railing in front of him as the ship rocked back and forth, he decided not to tell his Captain.
    Sasha was aware of the fact that some of the men, feeling replaced and obsolete, were jealous of the new super-soldiers. Many of the men referred to the hybrids as Metal Heads and used other derogatory terms, but Sasha didn’t mind. His new biometric arm was a hundred times stronger than his own arm had been. Although he enjoyed his newly acquired strength and abilities, he’d also noticed a feeling of emptiness that had overtaken him ever since the operation.
    “It changes them,” said Yuri, breaking the silence.
    “What do you mean?” asked Sasha.
    “I had a friend who volunteered for the program,” continued Yuri. “After they’d finished,” he paused, as if searching for the appropriate words, “enhancing him, he was never the same. As time passed by, he became more and more distant until one day he just snapped.”
    “What happened comrade Petrov?”
    “He was eating dinner one night with his family when suddenly he lunged across the table and killed his wife, right in front of their children. But that wasn’t the worst of it. When he’d finished butchering his wife with a butter knife, he turned on the children.”
    “Oh my!” exclaimed Sasha. “What happened to him?”
    “I don’t know,” admitted Yuri. “I never saw him again.”
    “And you think it had something to do with his operation?”
    “That and the chemicals they pump into those poor fools. It changes their personality, making it easier for the government to control them. There’s no way in hell I’d let them modify my body.”
    “But comrade without the super-soldiers leading the charge we’d take a lot more casualties,” pointed out Sasha.
    “I don’t give a damn!” hissed Yuri. “I’d rather see my men die as men, not machines. Trust me. We don’t need those synthetic shits!”
    After listening to Yuri’s contempt towards the super-soldiers, Sasha realized he could not change the Captain’s mind, “Should I ready the men Captain?” he