Chapter Text
December 7th, 2070.
Mikhail Nikolayevich Luan had never known a peaceful world. Three years before he was born, his mother fled China as tensions in the country began to escalate. The year after he was born, the United States invaded Mexico. Another year later and the Resource Wars began and the United Nations disbanded. Of course no one in the Soviet Union knew about this (at least the common people didn’t) until China began to attack them for their resources just 4 years ago, as they had isolated themselves from the outside world for decades now.
So of course he joined the army, what else could he possibly do?
Mikhail had been working in the Red Army for only a week and yet he already felt he was getting used to the life of a soldier. Compared to his life growing up on the docks, hauling fish and other goods every single day, the labor asked of him in the army was basically a walk in the park. It was for a good cause too, as most of the labor he did was transporting supplies to the frontline. Not to mention that he got a safe place to lay his head and warm food in his belly in exchange for his work.
He liked his squadmates as well, even if it seemed like his squad were kinda like the misfits of the army. His Sergeant, Sgt. Petroff or something along those lines, is a sweet older Nenets woman who reminded him much of his mother. She seemed very harmless at first, but was a very strict teacher. She had kept him out in the obstacle course long into the night just a few days ago because he couldn't complete it in time. Though, if he was being honest, he liked her the best. He liked people that were tough on him.
The sniper of their group is a young black woman named Vitaliya Averyanov. She was very quiet and intimidating at first, but she and Mikhail had had long talks about space exploration after she had spotted the metal pins of Yuri Gagarin and other cosmonauts he had pinned onto his dress uniform. He liked her as well, even if they only had a few things in common.
Third in their squad was Aleksey Lermontov, the explosives and tech guy. He was arguably the weirdest. He was very uptight and rude, often insulting the other members of the group without hesitation. Of course Mikhail, with his joking nature, was quick to fire straight back at him which quickly turned into Mikhail's usual vulgar bantering which the other man seemed to hate. It was great fun.
And the fourth was Private Chekanov, the man he would be manning the machine gun with. Mikhail had yet to meet him, as the man had been on leave visiting family when he arrived. But he had sure heard a lot about him. While Sgt. Petroff had tried to scare him by saying the man was the most terrifying of the group, Aleksey had been quick to call the man a coward and a softie, looking quite angry when he said it. Mikhail was inclined to form his own opinions when he had actually met the man.
Of course that was the perfect time for the person in question to walk into their shared bunk. His first thought was that the man was huge, standing well over 6 foot. His second thought was ‘wait, haven’t I seen this guy before?’ That’s when he remembered. Konstantin Stepánovich Chekanov. A famous folk singer who had basically stopped appearing to the public once the war really started. He was a genuinely great singer with, at least before the war started, some national recognition and many loved his work. People had speculated that he had been drafted, guess the rumors were true.
Did TV make things look bigger? Because holy shit .
Mikhail himself was about average height, but Konstantin still stood at least a head taller than him. He also had a ton of meat on his bones, not really in a body builder type of way but in a "farmer's quiet son who could take down a bull with his bare hands" kind of way. Quite nice to look at, if he was being honest. The fact that his dress uniform fit him quite well didn’t help, but he wouldn’t say that out loud, of course. He wasn’t an idiot.
Even with all that muscle and height, he could tell that Konstantin was a bit of a push over. He stood in the doorway quietly, his hands folded respectfully behind his back and had a sort of.. gentle look on his face, like he wouldn't hurt a fly. He had very soft brown, slightly messy hair and dark brown, almost black eyes that were filled with open curiosity. Oh yeah, this guy was harmless.
Mikail was brought out of his thoughts by the man stepping quietly into the room and smiling broadly in his direction. And Mikhail swears he looked into the sun. Konstantin was practically radiating happy energy and he thinks he might just be blinded as the other man comes up and shakes his hand roughly. “It is nice to meet you, Mikhail, I am Konstantin, but you can call me Kostya! I am glad that you were assigned here, it has been quite a while since we had anyone to help man our machine gun! I have been doing it all on my own!”
Of course this guy would immediately invite Mikhail to see him as a friend, introducing himself by his nickname instead. Mikhail had flustered a bit at Kostya’s intro and it was evident when he spoke. “W-Well I’m glad to be here! I have dreamed of joining the army since I was young.”
“Of course!! Now come, come, it will be time for dinner soon. We can talk more about this there!” Of course, Mikhail had been more than happy to have Kostya set his large hand on his back and usher him out of the small room.