A Battle Unseen

[Dredd]

[Legionary Youth Training Center 2-(REDACTED) Lirnak Mountains]

Yevgeny and his 10 team-mates who'd survived the training thousands of others had died in, laid flat on their stomachs firing at the cardboard cutouts driving left and right in front of them, each deftly taking turns burst firing into the fake pictures of Luthorian and Kalistani infantry. They'd trained for months, and all of them had achieved an accuracy of 92% within 40 meters, and 87% at 100. The rigors and trainings never stopped, everyday for years now. Yevgeny continued firing until reloading, when suddenly the next cutouts came into view with a civilian in front of a Kalistani officer holding it at gunpoint, his squad mate Boris looked to Yevgeny hesitating to fire, when suddenly a full auto burst tore through the wooden woman holding a baby ripping the officer and her in two. Yevgeny didn't blink, hesitation was death, mercy was weakness.

He was 20 years old now, and had never stopped growing, the injections were every week and his diet and training was spartan to the extreme. Every gram of protein measured, every pullup and 10 miles ruck march logged for improvement. He could bench press 340 pounds now and complete 80 pushups in under a minute. He felt invincible, but the only thought that ran through his iron forged mind was loyalty to the imperative, glory to the fatherland, unquestioning obedience to his officers and the eternal leader. Him and his men looked forward to finishing their training soon, and should they succeed in passing their final string of tests they would be allowed the honor of serving in Lazars personal bodyguard, an honor few could aspire to and would cement their legacy for posterity. Yevgeny had forgotten anything about his past life, his family, his friends. His friends were the forces, his mother the Legion, his father Lazar, and to die for that would be the ultimate victory and sacrifice.