After four months training with my father I finally felt ready to protect Nadia if anyone tried to hurt her, but my plans fell apart that Friday the 20th when I received the news from Nadia herself. She was going back to her nation and I might never see her again. She gave me her navy cap as a keepsake. I told her that if we ever met again I would return it to her. She agreed. I spent her last day there with her the whole time. I did not want to say goodbye, but I had to.
We spent the afternoon talking, playing, laughing and having so much fun that we lost track of time. When the moment to part finally came both of us were reluctant to separate, but in the end it was for the best since she would finally have a chance to make friends. Outwardly I might have seemed fine, but inside I felt the exact opposite. I felt a sorrow I had only felt once before. That grief was as deep as the pain I had when my mother died. It was like reliving that moment. I had been very attached to my mother and it took me about a year to feel better after she died. Feeling that sadness again made me remember all the time I had spent with her.
Then Nadia hugged me and spoke her last words.
Goodbye... Zephyr.
She put her hat on me and turned to leave. When she got into the car I unconsciously began to cry, my eyes filling with tears. When I arrived home my father asked how I was and I told him everything that had happened. He said that one day, when this war ends, she and I might finally meet again, even if it takes a long time. You have the cap as a memory and as a promise to return it to Nadia. Signed: Zephyr Wolfe.
Well. I finished the report about my childhood and the day I met the girl from the SCV. I have no idea why my superior wanted this, but orders are orders. I will send it tomorrow.
Fourteen years have passed since I said goodbye to Nadia, but I have never forgotten everything we went through. I changed a lot after all that happened. I became a soldier in the AEA army because the war is still going on and getting worse. When I turned ten my father was drafted to fight and he died at the hands of a communist soldier. I joined the army with one goal: to find and kill that soldier. I do not know what he looks like or his name, but I researched who fought in the battle where my father died and compiled a list of ten possible killers.
Aleksandr: a former physical education teacher who left his job to join the army. He has no children, and he is married to Anastasia, who is the main concern in his life.
Dmitri: a former alcoholic who quit drinking two years before my father's death and later joined the army. He has a young daughter of four years. He is a widowed father and protects his daughter more than himself.
Ivanov: a former engineer who wanted to serve his country in case of war. He has no spouse or children, only a cat that was his last memory of his deceased mother.
Nikolai: a former mechanic drafted into the army because of his repair skills. He later trained as a soldier. He has no spouse or children and is not deeply attached to anything. He will be the hardest to blackmail.
Maksim: a former chef at a five-star restaurant who was fired after stabbing a customer in a fit of rage, leaving the victim close to death in hospital. He has a wife he does not care much about.
Viktor: a former journalist who left the profession after uncovering corruption at his network. He tried to expose it but failed. He has a wife he cares about deeply and once had a daughter who died in a traffic accident five years ago.
Nikita: considered the best doctor in the SCV before he joined the army. He is not married but has a secret relationship with his former colleague Irina.
Kiril: a former farmer from the Kiril estates. He left the countryside because his business was failing and sought work in the city. He did not expect to become a soldier. He has no spouse or children and only retains ownership of his old family lands.
Oleg: a former architect who gave up his career after his last project failed catastrophically and left him in debt. He has a two-year-old daughter to whom he is extremely attached. His wife works as a preschool teacher.
Friedrich: a career soldier who has served since he was sixteen. He is now a high-ranking colonel. He has a daughter of about twenty and works with his father in the army as a commander. His wife bakes at a cake shop called Bolos Müller.
They are all on my list and I will go after them no matter what. I will avenge my father. My first target will be Maksim. I already know exactly how to make him tell me what I need. I will have to travel to the CSV and infiltrate their army. With my skills I can do it. From now on I will be known as Ivan Petrov, an unemployed man who wants to fight. I will leave for the SCV tomorrow. Tonight I will sleep, because I need my energy to start putting my plan into action.