Inside the belly of the Cargo Aircraft Bogatyr, Daniel and Maxim decide to check the cars they had delivered to see it running. The loadmaster was using hand signals, guiding the driver of the cars down the ramp.

“The air here is quite fresher I must say,” Daniel remarked as he breathed.

“I concur,” Maxim nodded. “I’m itching to get out of the cockpit the moment we landed. Damn, I’m gonna need some air.”

The two walked down the ramp as they watched the engines of the vehicles growled haughtily. It attracted the eyes of the spectators around the airbase, their slant eyes squinting in curiosity at the vehicles.

Such a reaction is expected and understandable. The vehicles of the Imperial Dynamic Systems deviated from that mainstream design. If Maxim or Daniel were to describe it, they would say it’s futuristic.

The Imperial six-wheel monster, Bukavac, and its pair of smaller black boxy four-wheel SUV escorts are all made out of the plane without a scratch.

***

“What are they unloading?” one Yamato ground crew asked the other.

“I have no idea….” replied the other.

The Yamato ground crew all watch as the ‘Bukavac’ rolls out the back of the plane, surprising them with its size and construction.

“Is that an armored car? It’s bigger than a tank!”, one of them exclaimed.

They are rather shocked as the Ruthenian Imperial vehicle rivals the size of the tanks the Yamato currently field.

The engine of the Bukavac revved loudly as it drive off in a formation in between the two smaller but impressive black boxy escort cars..

After the vehicles drove out of the airfield, one of the more logical and nationalistic Yamato ground crew handwaves the sight.

“That is just a trick, the car must be very light so the engine can support it. Those Ruthenians are just trying to scare us with their fake bug cars. It’s probably made of painted wood to make it nice looking.”

The words kicked out the idea of Ruthenian technological superiority and replaced it back with Yamato nationalism and propaganda.

All the Yamatos next to him all nodded their heads in agreement that Ruthenia is just trying to show off with illusions.

But then comes the issue of the huge plane that is still on the airstrip.

***

With the vehicles out of the cargo bay and driven off the airfield.

There is still something that keeps the attention of the Yamato people, and that is their ‘Bogatyr’ aircraft waiting to take off.

Daniel looked around the airfield and saw propeller planes that couldn’t be compared to the latest designs of the Imperial Dynamic Systems. Seeing such faces of awe and envy feels uplifting to his mood. That his country is now far better than the others.Maxim feels the same.

“The air is quite chilly and fresh,” Daniel commented again. “So, what’s the plan? Should we depart now?”

“Hold your horses,” Maxim said. “We just landed so why hurry? Though I understand the prospect of us staying here for long, could we at least take a break for like ten minutes?”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Daniel shrugged, crossing his arms, and noticed that there was a man gazing intently at their plane.

“Psst!” Daniel hissed, trying to get the attention of the man. “Hey!”

The man finally turned his head towards the direction where Daniel was.

Daniel patted Maxim on the arm, beckoning him to come along with him.

They approached the man and looked down on him. By the looks of it, he’s one of the Yamato people. Short of a figure, flat of face, and slant of an eye. Yep, a typical Yamato.

Not helping is the current average Yamato diet has smaller portions of protein and calcium which contributed to their short stature.

“May I help you?” the man said in the Yamato language, looking up to the Ruthenians that towered over him.

Daniel and Maxim cocked their heads to the side, seemingly surprised that Yamato tried to establish communication between them using his language.

“Sir, you know that I don’t speak yamrice right?” Daniel replied in the Ruthenian language with a slur. The Yamato person wasn’t able to comprehend what he was talking about.

“See, that’s the point. We don’t understand each other,” Daniel sighed and spoke in Britannia. “Do you speak Britannia?”

“Yes,” the man nodded as he stared at them intently.

“Great. Then may I ask what you are doing near our plane?” Daniel inquired sternly.

“I’m just checking it…sir,” the man said, bowing his head to Daniel and Maxim.

“Checking huh?” Maxim raised his eyebrow suspiciously, staring at the man. “You see my friend here and notice that you’re looking at our plane with intent. And I believe the reason for that is maybe you want to have this plane on your own by…I don’t know…copy it. Did I hit the mark?”

The man didn’t respond to his statement.

“I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, sir. Checking is not a valid reason to approach our aircraft,” Maxim demanded.

“Yes, you should leave,” Daniel added.

“We don’t want anyone getting hurt when the plane takes off.”

The man stared silently at them. Seconds passed and he walked away promptly, wisely leaving the Ruthenians who are getting rather unfriendly to his curiosity. Daniel and Maxim watched the man’s retreating figure before looking back at the aircraft again.

“I can’t believe that man tried to have a closer look at our plane,” Maxim said, making it sound like the plane is his wife and someone tried to leer at her.

“He looked puzzled,” Daniel shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I saw him looking at the engine as if he’s analyzing it. And by the look from his face alone, it is safe to assume that he didn’t understand the mechanics behind flying this aircraft.”

“I agree,” Maxim bobbed his head up and down in agreement. “However, I think we shouldn’t be complacent about this matter. After all, the Ruthenian Empire has presented them with a concept of a huge flying aircraft. I’m sure they’ll rush back to their drawing boards and begin drafting,” he sighed. “Okay, I think we should leave here.”“Good, because I really want to take a long sleep in a comfy bed. Anyways, where are we heading?” Daniel asked as he walked by Maxim’s side.

“We are heading back to Dalniy. That was in the flight plan. Didn’t you read it?” Maxim asked as they climbed up the ramp.

Daniel scratched his head. “My bad hehe…”

Maxim rolled his eyes and patted the shoulder of the loadmaster the moment he passed him by. Daniel also patted the man on the shoulder and went straight to the cockpit.

“Let’s put on a show to these suckers,” Maxim said, toggling switches on the control panel while looking at the gauges.

The aircraft roared to life immediately as the four propellers began spinning.

He then started to drive the aircraft, and he felt it vibrating underneath him. He smirked and kept steering it until he reached the runway.

Before giving the engine power by throttling, Maxim looked out the window and saw more than 50 Yamato people watching them. They were shocked when the plane managed to land on their small airstrip without crashing or rolling off the end of the runway, now what sort of reaction would they have now when this plane set off to the sky?

***

The Yamato ground crew looks on as the plane positions itself at the end of the runway to prepare for take-off.

The nationalistic one starts laughing.

“Those idiots! They are obviously going to crash it this time for sure!”

He explained.

“They won’t get enough speed to get airborne with our short runway! They made a stupid mistake landing here. I hope they realize it before they smash into the forest beyond the runway!”

“Yeah! Stupid Ruthies! Now they gonna get it!” another one of his pals chuckled

But most of the Yamato’s, spare the ones who had to clean up after soiling their pants earlier, chose to just watch and see.

***

“Let’s do this, Daniel,” Maxim said, offering a fist bump.

“Yeah, let’s do this,” Daniel bumped Maxim’s fist with his and started leveling the throttle. The engine was roaring loudly, causing their seat to vibrate and their plane to rattle.

The runway of the Yamato Airfield is short, like 500 meters but that didn’t hinder the Bogatyr. After all, it has a trick up in its sleeves…or more specifically, it has a trick up in its rear.

At the rear of the Bogatyr was a row of rocket boosters that would give the plane enough thrust to lift the plane off the ground.

Being empty and having less fuel makes it easier.

The moment the plane reached about 450 meters across the runway; Maxim shouted. “Activate the rocket booster now!”

Daniel pushed a button and suddenly, a sound akin to an explosion tore through the air and the plane began to rise up in the sky.

The jaws of the Yamato watching the Bogatyr take off dropped dumbfoundedly.

***

The Yamato ground crew watched as the plane did something they did not expect. Before it reached the end of the runway, something exploded on its rear as smoke and fire emerge.

With a loud whooshing sound, their jaws dropped as they see the plane making its way into the heavens on a pillar of fire blasting out from behind.

The fire soon dissipated, and the huge plane flew off.

They hear the sound of something falling on the ground near them and saw that the loudmouth nationalistic idiot has fainted from the sight.