beached tyrant

[Denis Livkoskie]

Location: Leningrad
Date: December 12th, 1942
Time: 2100 hrs
Weather: 30 degrees

Denis crouched under a window of what used to be a window he pointed his Mosin Nagant's barrel up and through the window. Denis had been told that a he was to be scouting out a beached submarine. All Denis needed to do was wait for a Leitenant who would be leading the recon mission.


Denis could hear the sounds of gunfire tank fire artillery fire and so on. Denis moved on he was moving his way towards the rally point that was made. He moved through wrecked houses apartments and factories he made it to the rally point. Denis didn't want to be seen so he made his way into the shadows nearby and he sat there and waited.

[Nikolai Feliksovich Alkeav]

Alkeav drew the out-turned collar of his greatcoat closer to his face as he trudged through the snow-dusted remains of Leningrad; General Winter was hard at work defending the coastal city. That the work went both ways, however, was evident as the Soviet officer pasted a pile of frozen-stiff corpses outside a small apartment block on his way to the Northern outskirts of the city.

The muffled sounds of war were audible in the distance, when Nikita stopped to take in his surroundings for a moment. If he had been reading his map correctly, he was at the north edge of the city and very close to his rendezvous with a small outpost out this way. He had been tasked with linking up with this outpost and investigating a report of a submarine that had seemingly run aground north of the city, far behind Soviet lines.

Should be somewhere around here, he mused to himself. The officer stood in the middle of a deserted intersection looking around for signs of the Soviet detachment that was suppose to be guarding the area. He was on the opposite end of the city in relation to the fighting in the south so he had no fear of being gunned down while standing so blatantly in the open.

The officer glanced down at his map and took note of the red circle indicating the rough location of the outpost. It was the end of the paved part of this street. To his north, the pavement cut abruptly into a dirt road that led out into the countryside. To his south, the last two apartment blocks flanked either side of the street; two equally large buildings that cut an imposing site, like the northern gates of the city. While they weren't observably damaged from any shell-fire or bombs they were clearly in disrepair, but that was the standard for anything in Leningrad during these terrible days as all available men were either engaged in fighting the Germans or making weapons to be used against them.

"Where are they?" sighed Alkeav turning in a circle, scanning the buildings and visibly frustrated with his inability to find the men he was suppose to be meeting.

[Denis Livkoskie]

Denis moved out into the open to where his officer could see him. Denis started to jog over toward the man and, said "Sir Efreitor Livkoskie at your orders." Even though Denis wasn't sure what the general wanted from the sub and why was there only two of them and who knows the Germans could be in the sub waiting for us.

Denis tried to look at the bright side of things and the only bright thing close was a fire from a battle. Even though Denis always wanted to be in the action he never thought he would be going so soon.

Standing there Denis was getting a little cold so he pulled his coat over himself a little more. Denis may have seemed calm on the out side but his mind was running around in his head wanting to ask a lot of questions like what are we going to the submarine for why do we need it. Why that was the word but his officers always told him never to ask questions unless he was told why so he just kept his mouth shut and waited for the orders.

[Nikolai Feliksovich Alkeav]

From behind Alkeav there was a rustling and then the crunching of snow under boots. Alkeav turned to see a single Soviet soldier approach him from one of the dilapidated apartments.

The soldier saluted, "Sir, Efreitor Livkoskie at your orders."

Alkeav returned the salute and eyed the man, "Leitenant Alkeav". The officer surveyed beyond the soldier looking for signs of his comrades manning the outpost. He saw none. "Where are your fellow soldiers, Livkoskie?", a somewhat puzzled expression on his new companion's face was all the answer he needed. Alkeav frowned, "I was expecting... more," the officer sighed and then added dismissively, "No matter."

"Come," Alkeav began walking north to the dirt road and motioned for the young solider to follow. "As you may already know, you and I will be investigating a sighting of a submarine to north..." Alkeav produced his map of the area and pointed to a small beach flanked by cliffs that was marked with a 'x', "... about here." the officer folded up the map and placed it back inside the empty gas mask canister that dangled from his hip.

A strong, cold wind ripped into Nikita as the two men left the protection of the two apartment buildings and stepped unto the dirt road. He drew his belt tighter and held his collar closed near his face in a desperate attempt to keep the freezing air out, and then continued, "It was spotted by an aerial patrol early this morning."

[Denis Livkoskie]

Denis looked over the map and made a mental picture of it looking over the cliffs and looking for a good spot that would provide a decent survey of the area. He asked Alkeav if we had any idea on what the submarine was armed with and it's purpose there. Because a lone German submarine in somewhat Russian area was odd.

As the cold penetrated Denis's jacket he tried to remember the thought of him with his family by a warm fire laughing telling stories. The more he thought of the memory the farther away it seemed never the less Denis had a mission to get to. The snow made a quiet sloshing sound as Denis and the Leitenant made their way towards the beach the trees seemed like thorns because of all the rounds that had hit there.


There where bomb craters upturned trees even bodies more German than Russian. The dirt road opened up into a little farmhouse with a barn. The sound of chimes made him uneasy the solem banging of the doors all throughout the small house it made Denis uncomfortable.

[Nikolai Feliksovich Alkeav]

The younger soldier posed a question about possible armaments that may be on the submarine.

"The pilot who reported the sighting did not provide any detail further than an assumption that it had run aground..." the officer pondered the potential consequences of revealing just how out-gunned the pair might be should it be more than a derelict wreck. The young soldier seemed tense, and Alkeav didn't want to push him into a panic.

Despite the mounting cons of being too honest, Alkeav decided the best approach would be to mentally prepare his underling in case the worst should come to pass. "Assuming it is manned, and is German... or Finnish, even..." the officer hesitated a moment, sizing up Livkoskie's reactions, "We could be looking at several machine guns, and a potential artillery piece mounted on the deck. Along with any personal weapons that maybe on board."

Livkoskie, at least outwardly, seemed to be handling the rather bad news fairly well but still seemed tense. "Of course, this is all hypothetical. We are investigating precisely what the situation may be," hastily added the officer in an attempt to sooth the soldier's nerves.

Passing the empty shell of a farmhouse merely added to a mounting sense of tension as the two moved farther away from the familiar, if not safe, city. A door slammed by the wind caused Alkeav flinch and reach for his weapon, betraying his own uncertainty of their safety. Upon realizing the source of the noise, Alkeav let slip a half-hearted chuckle.

[Denis Livkoskie]

Denis said "well either this could be a gold mine or we will be walking into hell." He saw the Alkeav flinch and manage a weak chuckle which was all of the humor that was left of the soviet people. Denis managed a weak smile it had been a while since Denis had smiled at all.


As the two men walked by the barn the noise got louder ,and it just stopped Denis looked over at the house and all the outside doors were shut. Denis looked over to Alkeav with a concerned look on his face and said "Must have been the wind." Denis didn't try to worry about it he just pushed forward trying to put as much distance between him and the house. Denis didn't move too fast he just stayed by Alkeav.

Denis tried to concentrate on the sound of the snow sloshing under their boots. Denis made his face to try not to look to worried about it. After Denis thought about it this house would be nice to live here isolated and it was serene. Denis tried to think what his officer was thinking of him Denis knew he had wanted more troops when they had first meet in the city. The officer looked as though he had been disappointed but the general could only spare a few troops.