Zhenya was not happy about leaving behind his AN-94, but the squad needed a light machine gunner. It had been difficult for him to find a suitable weapon, most of the light machine guns he was used to were simply too heavy for the mission, such as the PKM or Pecheneg. The best candidate would have been the RPK-74, but he doubted the squad would have felt comfortable with the 45-round magazine after having operated alongside conventional machine guns firing from 100-round belts. He had briefly considered using a western weapon, but had decided against it as it would take too long for him to get acquainted with the weapon. 

His solution was thus a rather unconventional one. He procured a captured insurgent RPD from the camp armoury and had proceeded to modernize it as much as he could. It still fired the 7.62X39 round, but at the very least Zhenya managed to get the handguard and stock changed for lighter plastic ones, as well as sticking on some weaver rail strips for limited customization. A rubberized pad at the end of the stock was used as a makeshift recoil dampener. It was an improvised weapon and looked the part, but it would suffice for the mission. It was not like the quartermaster had needed to specifically acquire the bullets for the RPD; a quick walk around the arms and munitions captured from the insurgents gave Zhenya enough ammo for nearly six drums.

That was how he found himself sitting in a helicopter zipping across the Armenian landscape, his almost WWII-era weapon sticking out among the modern weaponry fielded by the rest of his squad. Fitted with an four-times magnification ACOG scope with a backup red dot sight, foregrip and AN/PEQ-16, however, Zhenya was certain that the RPD would function just as well as anyone else's weapon. He scanned the ground below the helicopter, though he highly doubted he could pick out a single enemy given their speed and the dense tree cover.

Suddenly, his headset burst to life. "Derzhavin, are you there?" Came a voice in Russian, one which Zhenya recognized well. He had been expecting to see the squad which had gone by the callsign of 'Medved' back in Turkey.

"Switch frequencies, we are using the same one as before." Zhenya replied, then said a short warning to his squad off the mic. "I have Medved squad on the comms. They will be patching through to our frequency soon."

Almost instantly after that, there was another burst of static in Zhenya's headset as the same voice spoke again, this time in English. "Ah, Lima." He said. "I believe we spoke before in Turkey. Medved-One speaking. My squad has been tasked with assisting yours with the mission, as well as coordinating artillery and air support alongside your friend Derzhavin. The TIAF are beaten, but they are far from broken. You will find them fighting like a cornered animal. Vicious and willing to do anything to win. The VDV brigade has already lost men to enemy raids and their assault will begin in earnest once it is 0800."

There was a brief pause as Medved-One issued orders to other members of his squad. "Anyway, we have secured your landing zone. No hostiles in the region, but I would avoid enemy anti-air sites if I were you. Intelligence tells us that they have been increasing protection and organizing quick reaction teams for each site after they heard that they were to be assaulted by a VDV unit."