Chapter:16 Contracts(4)

Anastasia met the trio's entrance with a raised eyebrow, unimpressed by the overt flattery from the tall blond woman. She acknowledged their presence with a nod, her cold demeanor not giving away any amusement.

"Marais, good to see you returned in one piece. I assume you've brought the Ivanovs."

Marais nodded, a tired smile on his face as if he had just weathered a storm.

"Yes, boss, meet the Russian twins, Natalia and Mikhail. They were... quite hospitable to me when I brought them your invitation."

His shaky leg and flushed face gave away the fact that he had just been the victim of the Russian's drinking habits. Anastasia studied the twins briefly before addressing them.

"Welcome to Roanapur, Natalia, Mikhail. Someone recommended you two to me, they said you have... useful skills. I hope you live up to their commendation."

The tall blond man, Mikhail, spoke first.

"We're here to work, not disappoint. You'll find we're quite versatile."

His sister, Natalia, added with a teasing smile,

"And, of course, we come as a package deal. You get both of us or none at all."

Anastasia gave a slight nod, her gaze not wavering.

Anastasia's piercing gaze never wavered even as the tall blonde twins gave their cheeky proposition, and Marais' weary smile began to falter in the face of her stare. Marais opened his mouth to comment but then shut it quickly. It became clear that Anastasia's word was final.

Anastasia looked around as if trying to determine how to begin with the twins.

"I see... Yes, I believe I know the perfect place to start with you two."

Marais cleared his throat and stepped forward cautiously.

"Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier but... the twins don't speak English very well."

Anastasia was unfazed by Marais' comment and her gaze remained on the twins, appraising them.

"Broken English? Doesn't matter. At least you two can speak Russian right?"

Natalia's face immediately flushed and she looked at her brother, Mikhail. He stepped forward and replied,

"We speak English. Just not as fluently as you do. But enough to get by."

"Then there is no problem,"

Anastasia replied simply.

"Sit down"

She motioned for the twins to sit. 

The brother, Mikhail, was the taller of the two, standing around roughly 6'2 or maybe 6'3. His sister was 6 or 6'1. She couldn't really tell with all their baggy clothes and strange shoes.

Both Mikhail and Natalia have bright blond hair and sky-blue eyes. They had very similar expressions too; serious, stoic, almost cold-looking, except for the bout of playfulness that appeared on Natalia's face but disappeared just as quickly.

They dress very similarly, too, in loose-fitting clothes suited for men. As they both took their seat at the table, it became obvious why they dressed so modestly. The twins were both much more muscular than their initial impression let on, even the sister, had broad shoulders and prominent muscles.

Even in street clothes, they look more like soldiers than civilians. However, despite their appearance and demeanor, this is not to say that they lack any attractive features. Both twins are very appealing, in their own different way. 

While the brother was ruggedly handsome, the sister was nothing short of a charmer.

"So, tell me about yourselves. Tell me more about how you two got into the VDV, what were your roles, why were you two imprisoned, and what CAN you two offer?"

The twins glance at each other and then turn their attention towards Anastasia.

Natalia spoke, her voice a few octaves higher than her brother's.

"We are from a tiny village in Yamalia. Our father died in an accident in the arms factory he worked in, our mother abandoned us shortly afterward and we were sent to a tiny orphanage in the colder region."

Natalia continues,

"There weren't very many kids there and the caretaker was very harsh. She would keep trying to get us adopted but no one ever wanted us so we were left there to fend for ourselves. We learned hunting from the local garrison soldiers who hunted for food and hired us as helping hands."

Next was Mikhail's turn, his tone cold and emotionless,

"We were identical twins, too much so even. No one was able to tell us apart and that was how we managed to fool the matron while earning some extra food."

The twins remain silent for a moment, their gazes wandering around the bar for a moment before Mikhail began to speak again,

"By the time we were twelve, we had grown up enough to fight back against the caretaker. We fought back hard enough that we were expelled from that place. From there, we had to survive on our own."

He stopped speaking, allowing Natalia to continue, 

"It was difficult, but thanks to the garrison soldiers, we managed to survive. We always knew that we had to get out of that place, so as soon as we hit the required age, we joined the army."

Natalia continues the story.

"We joined the army, and our height turned out to serve us well. We were considered very valuable assets."

The twins changed rolls again,

"We were sent to Moscow for training, we were immediately assigned to a special training outpost. In a word, we ended up in hell."

"Our trainer wasn't a very pleasant woman, to say the least,"

Natalia said with a slight grin.

"Her philosophy was, 'pain retains the memory.'"

"Pain retention is the reason we're here today and not dead,"

Mikhail added solemnly.

"We're a package deal,"

Natalia cut in.

"That too. That's why we're here today."

"Also because even though we were forced to train as elites, we didn't just survive, we excelled, we outperformed our peers."

Mikhail said.

"We made it to VDV. And we made it to Afghanistan."

"We were deployed to a very dangerous area,"

Natalia began.

"One of the worst in Afghanistan."

"We fought the mujahedeen,"

Mikhail continued,

"and did a very good job. Maybe even too good."

"We got too many medals for our service there,"

Natalia added.

"More than any of the other soldiers. The generals were impressed by us."

"It was too much to be a coincidence,"

Mikhail began.

"We were promoted, decorated, and deployed to even more dangerous areas."

"We were being used as bait."

Natalia finished,

"A Captain and his twin Lieutenant. They practically painted a neon sign on our faces."

"They were trying to get us killed. We figured that out pretty quickly."

"That's why our squad was deployed into areas considered too dangerous for even the other elite soldiers."

"They expected us to be killed."

Natalia took a breath and spoke again, her tone becoming more serious.

"But we were better than they expected. We survived so they were sent to even more dangerous areas but every time we survived that too."

"They were trying to kill us off and use our deaths as examples of bravery for other soldiers."

Mikhail had a small grin on his face,

"But that only made our comrades admire us more."

"We had a considerable number of troops following our command,"

"Too many for a mere captain, too much for the higher-up's comfort."

"We refused to give them an excuse to get rid of us,"

Natalia said calmly.

Mikhail nodded and continued on,

"By the time we returned home, we were as celebrated as veterans as any."

The twins fell silent once more, taking in their situation.

Natalia spoke first.

"But when Mother Russia did not need her soldiers any longer, some wanted us to die quietly."

"The generals did not want a celebrated commander to question their decisions."

She sighed and continued.

"So we were framed."

Mikhail chuckled,

"Natalia was framed, and I was arrested as an accomplice."

Natalia gave him a sharp glance before continuing,

"There was an error in our enlistment form,"

"A technical loophole,"

Mikhail interjected,

"a clerical error."

Natalia gave him a death stare, only for Mikhail to shrug and continue on,

"the form said we were twins."

"We were identical twins,"

Natalia cut in, earning another shrug from her twin,

"They assumed that we were both male."

"Well, we served as twin brothers,"

Mikhail stated,

"I was born earlier by a minute and a half, so..."

Natalia gave another glare at the twin, who waved it off with a grin.

Their story was... interesting and yet not entirely true.

"Tell me, Natalia. Why did you lie about being male?"

Natalia, in the typical soldier fashion, didn't lie or didn't hesitate for a moment when she realized she had been exposed,

"If we had been honest, the VDV would not have taken us. And if we had been separated, we would not have survived."

"So we chose to hide it."

Mikhail finished.

"But the truth always catches up. They saw how we were different and they assumed the obvious, that we weren't brothers but rather a pair of brother and sister."

Natalia spoke quietly.

"We were given the chance to explain ourselves but they didn't listen. They had already decided on our fate." 

"We were too... inconvenient,"

Mikhail continued.

"So they charged us with treason and put us in prison, hoping that we'd die in there."

Natalia smirked,

"That was... until the Soviet Union collapsed and we were shipped off to Africa by a couple of human traffickers."

Mikhail joined in on her amusement,

"Pity, those fat-fucks didn't know that the people they were shipping were all either former VDVs or Spetsnaz."

"We made short work of them, and somehow ended up here." 

Anastasia was silent for a moment before asking,

"So...