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Region: Crassia

Nogovastan

Somewhere in the countryside, outside the town of Chistal

General Slobodan Martić held his binoculars up to his eyes, observing the vast and empty countryside, hoping to maybe catch something. It had been a few hours since the enemy's bomber had been shot down over their territory. However, with the crash site secured, and no sign of any of the pilots, the General had been forced to disperse his brigada in hopes that they could locate someone or something. He had personally spoken to Milo before being assigned to his current task. If anyone was found, they were to be captured alive, and brought back to the current Nationalist capital, Serjitopska. This shouldn't be this hard, Martić thought, how far could they have gotten from the crash site? Not far enough probably. He took his binoculars away from his eyes and placed them back into the pocket in his vest where he kept them. Turning around, he left to go sit and converse with some of his men that had remained around the crash site area with him. Many had been collecting pieces of the bomber as souvenirs to show their friends and family.

Martić began to doubt that any of the pilots would be captured considering that they had barely anything to go off of concerning their whereabouts. However, there was one thing that gave them a little bit of hope in their search for the elusive enemy, and that was the information given by the residents of the town of Chistal. They had reported that after waking up to a loud explosion, they witnessed something human slowly falling from the sky in the direction of the nearby woods. It was just enough information to warrant the dispatch of a platoon size element of men, supported by a few mechanized elements of the brigada (a few pragas, a truck, and a BMP). There had been no report yet from those the general had sent to search the woods. It had gotten to the point that Martić was now debating asking for helicopter support to assist in searching the area. Before he could do so however, he was approached by a radioman who said there was someone on the other end who needed to speak with him immediately. "Hello, this is General Slobodan Martić. Who am I speaking to?"

"General!" The voice on the other end responded frantically.

"Again, who is this?" Martić questioned.

"This is Lieutenant Derkanović. I was put in charge of the search party sent into the woods to find the pilot." Replied Derkanović.

"I was just thinking about you all." Martić told him. "God knows how much I waited for an update from you brave men."

"Everything is going just fine, thank God, it's going just fine, sir." Derkanović sounded ecstatic as he spoke to the General about the subject. "Sir, I am happy to report that we got him! God willing we got him!"

"Bless you, Derkanović, and your men. I await your swift and safe return. God is a Nogovan and he will protect us."

"God is a Nogovan." With that, the General gave the radio back to its operator, and ordered the men that were near around him. With a smile on his face, and with a booming voice, he proclaimed that one of the treacherous pilots who dared to fly over their homeland was caught. A roar of cheers came from the men, all of which held their hands into the air, displaying the three fingered salute that had become apart of the Nationalists and their struggle across Nogovastan. When Derkanović's search party returned they were greeted by cheerful fighters, and the sounds of the popular Nationalist song, We Nogovans are Supermen. Strewn around were bottles of empty beer and cigarette packs. There were even civilians sympathetic to the Nationalist cause partaking in the festivities brought on by the pilot's capture.

Nestled in the back of the truck Derkanović rode in with, was the pilot of the downed aircraft. His head was covered with a hood, and he had been stripped down to his underwear. Any wounds that he had on him had been half assedly patched up by his captors that found him. Instead of letting him remain out of sight from the crowd that had celebrated his capture, Derkanović ordered that two of his men drag him out to show their comrades. They did as they were ordered. The pilot would be forcefully dragged from the truck and brought to face the people whose nation he had bombed. Derkanović's men would throw him to the ground before a camera, taking the bag off of his head, they would kneel next to him, grabbing him by the hair and raising his face up to the camera. A three fingered salute would be waved to the camera by the men holding him. The General would walk over to inspect the pilot, then turn to ask Derkanović where he was from. "He's from The Dolphin Isles, sir." The Lieutenant paused for a moment before striking the pilot in the gut with the butt of his Zastava and continuing. "Komavi scum, Slobo, that's what he is."

"Calm down now, Lieutenant. I've already arranged for a helicopter to come and take him back to the capital. Remember, Milo wants him alive so that we can use him for possible bargaining in the future." The General turned to walk away but quickly looked back at Derkanović and the others gathered around. "Give him what he deserves, just don't kill him." With that, the General left to discuss the massive upcoming offensive into the north-eastern part of the country, currently held by the Communists. Meanwhile, the men took this opportunity to continue celebrating their small, but symbolic victory. Children of the village came out to look at the wreckage and pilot (who had been put on display at gunpoint for all to see). One memorable moment to all was a chant that arose from someone in the crowd, and soon spread to all, We Nogovans are supermen! Waging a war against the world! For holy war we are ready! Even if it take a century! Soon after, the pilot was taken away by a helicopter on route to the Nationalist capital of Serjitopska to be locked up and used for bargaining by Milo's government.

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