[i]To my worthless daughter,
The stain of dishonour that you have brought upon our family will never be truly forgotten and for that you have my undying contempt and disdain. I for one hope that you find only redemption through glorious death in the service of His Majesty the Tzar, but your father hopes otherwise. Loathe though I am to say it, he wishes that you return soon and unharmed; for all our sakes, do not do this.
Svetlana. For Mother Orussia, for our illustrious monarch and for the honour of House Venediktov, I charge you to die in the defense of our people.
Prove that you are still worthy of your name.
Signed,
Generál-Mayór Viktoriya Venediktov[/i]

[i]Leave it to Mother to make a combat assignment sound like a delayed death sentence.[/i] The woman carefully folded the letter, flattening out the creases born of a dozen rereadings. She had scoured the words over and over, trying to detect some sense of motherly love hidden in the subtext but to no avail; at least she knew that her Father cared if nothing else. After tucking the letter conveniently away between her ample breasts, Svetlana turned to look out the window; these Liberion aircraft were odd. Good old Orussian engineering would have prioritised ruggedness and practicality above all else, but this plane was strangely... comfortable. Almost as if the design specs took passenger comfort into account; there were even seats for Heaven's sake! The other occupants seemed less impressed; aside from Svetlana's old comrade Mina, there were two other girls and a young man. Three witches and a maintenance tech perhaps? Their ranks seemed to suggest as much; despite being considerably younger than Svetlana's own 19 years, the girls were both commissioned which either implied that they were Sky Witches or that Liberion was running out of experienced officers. After the Kiev Incident the latter was a distinct possibility; after all that was the only reason that a disgrace like her had been deployed.

With boredom pressing in and still a good ten minutes ETA to the Von Braun, Svetlana yawned heavily and tried not to fall asleep; it had been a hell of a flight from Moscow and so far they had been allowed no rest stops. Perhaps it would be alright to to rest her eyes though... [b]'Mina, be my pillow...'[/b] Without waiting for permission, Svetlana threw herself into her friend's lap, snuggling up until she was nice and comfortable. While she had always been very... close to her troops, Mina was a special case. The two of them had been together since training and she was the only member of their old unit that Svetlana had come to rely on, instead of the other way around. [b]'Wake me when we land...'[/b]

Naturally her nap wasn't as long as Svetlana would have liked. Awoken by the buffeting sounds of the plane landing, she sat up with a lazy yawn and set about checking that all her kit was accounted for; clothes, personal kit, armour, emergency supply of vodka... Well, these Karlslanders did things a bit differently, so she [i]needed[/i] her own little stash. The idea of going a whole term of service teetotal was... chilling.

She took up the rear as the new recruited filed out onto the Von Brauns's flight deck, squinting in the fierce equatorial sun. She would have liked to say that she listened to the commander's tirade, but in all honesty she only had time for one thought as she sat in that stuffy, overheated briefing room. [i]Chyort, it's hot...[/i] Mina would likely be paying attention anyway, so she would get the important bits from her later, once her Arctic-conditioned brain stopped frying... When the briefing was finally over, she filed out and drifted toward their alleged cabins; perhaps, just maybe they would have air conditioning..?