Countdown
Episode 1: The Storm Begins
by Greg Smith

All Road Rover names, characters, and situations (c) WB and rightful owners.
Buran, Vissarion, and all other elements related to Red Thunder (c) Greg Smith

The Middle of Nowhere, Siberia, Sept. 23, 1993, 12:32 PM local time.

It is cold. Snow and ice are everywhere. the landscape appears lifeless except
for the
endless sea of evergreens. The only sound that can be heard is the gusting of
the wind. No
movement is discernible except for a group of people and a team of sled dogs
pulling two
sleds. The people are all clad in heavy winter gear. The leader of the group is
a fat
man with dark hair and smallish eyes. He is armed with an AK-47 assault rifle as
are his
guards. They are holding a man, woman, and small girl prisoner. The man looks
like he is
about 45 with slightly graying hair. His wife looks very scared. Their seven
year old
daughter is carrying a puppy. It is a borzoi hound.

Group Leader: Stop men, this spot will do nicely.

The group stops and the guards shove the prisoners to the front of the group
leader.

Group Leader: I finally have you where I want you, Vissarion. You made my
business
quite hazardous in the past. Now you will pay with your life, and the lives of
those you
hold most dear.

Vissarion: You’re nothing but criminal scum, Boris! I’ve dealt with your kind
for the past
twenty years. If things were the way they used to be, you’d be the one to rot in
Siberia. 

Boris: Yes, I would never have been able to pull off that little raid on your
compound if
you were still protected by your KGB goons. But, fortunately, I won’t have to
deal with
that problem anymore, and I won’t have to deal with your meddling anymore.

Boris’ gangsters tie Vissarion and each member of his family up to a tree. One
of them
takes the puppy from his daughter and drops him in the snow. They go back to the
sleds
to get their guns.

Vissarion: Don’t do this, Boris. You’ll never get away with it.

Boris: We’ll see. 

One of Boris’ gangsters looks around to see if anyone is paying attention and
pulls out a
small device with a dial and some buttons on it. He adjusts the dial and presses
one of the
buttons, then puts it back in his pocket. He is behind the rest of the men. 

The men fire on Vissarion and his family, except for the one who with the small
device,
who starts shooting at the other men. All of Vissarion’s family are killed
except for him.
He was missed in the confusion of fire.

The gangsters turn to fire on their former comrade but he throws a flash grenade
at them
which momentarily stuns two of them and confuses the rest. He uses the confusion
to pick
off a few of them and then runs for cover as they pursue him. No one notices
that
Vissarion has not been hit or that the straps hooking of one of the sled dogs
(who happens
to be Exile before he was transdogmafied) to the sled has been severed by a
chance hail of
bullets. 

Exile runs to the puppy and grabs him in his mouth, and runs out of range of the
firefight.

The one guy has taken cover in a nearby shrub. Boris has armed himself with a
flamethrower that was on the sled. He fires at the shrub, setting it ablaze. The
guy runs
out  and Boris follows him with the sweep of his flamethrower but the guy
manages to
avoid being hit as he runs past the tree Vissarion is tied to. The flamethrower
hits the tree
and sets it on fire. Vissarion’s right side is badly burned and the ropes on
that side catch
fire and give way, he falls on his right side into the snow.

Three helicopters appear overhead and land in a nearby clearing. Several armed
troops get
out and engage in fighting the gangsters. The troops have heavy body armor and
outnumber the gangsters. They are armed with high powered laser rifles. On their
armor
and choppers is a symbol of a red shield with a black lightning bolt going
horizontally
through it and the hammer and sickle across it. The choppers also have the words
RED
THUNDER written on their tails in Russian in big bold lettering. The gangsters
surrender
shortly after Boris has been killed.

The soldiers load all the prisoners and bodies onto their transport choppers.
They find
Vissarion in his horrible condition and treat him with the medical equipment
they have.
They put him on the chopper and airlift him out to an unknown location.

After they have all gone, the puppy walks back to where his family was killed.
He looks up
at the ropes where they were and becomes very sad and angry. He wants to kill
those
ultimately responsible for their deaths.

Exile and the puppy wander through the frozen wasteland, with no food and little
water
available. Luckily, they come upon another group of people who are returning
from a
scientific study.

Scientist: Look, over there!

Chief Scientist (Fyodor Pushkin): Stop the sleds.

The mushers stop the sleds and the scientists go toward the Exile and the puppy.
The dogs
are suspicious at first and back off. Pushkin goes back to the sled and gets
some food from
their supplies. He offers it to the dogs.

Pushkin: Come here, nobody’s going to hurt you.

The dogs come to the scientists and eat the food.

Scientist: Poor things. How do you think they got out here so far by themselves?

Pushkin: I don’t know, but I think we should take care of them.

He picks up the puppy and Exile follows.

The Fyodor Pushkin’s house, Novosibirsk, Russia, Oct. 5, 1993, 5:46 PM local
time

Pushkin is in his chair, reading the newspaper. The puppy is lying on a warm rug
by the
fireplace. The doorbell rings. Pushkin’s wife answers the door and sees two men
in
business suits under their heavy winter coats.

Petrovski: I’m Yuri Petrovski from Svobodny Laboratories, and this is my
associate,
Leonid Shalimov. Is this the residence of Dr. Fyodor Pushkin?

Mrs. Pushkin: Yes.

Petrovski: We have some matters that we’d like to discuss with him.

Mrs. Pushkin: Wait here please.

She goes to talk to her husband.

Mrs. Pushkin: Fyodor, there are some men here who want to talk to you. They say
they’re
from some company called Svobodny Laboratories.

Pushkin: Svobodny Laboratories?

Mrs Pushkin: Yes.

Pushkin: That’s the new genetic engineering company I’ve been reading about. I’d
better
go talk to them.

He goes to the door and invites them in and to sit down. Petrovski and Shalimov
come into
the living room and sit down.

Petrovich: Good day Dr. Pushkin, we’ve been made aware of your accomplishments
in the
realm of microbiology. My associate and I represent Svobodny Laboratories, one 
of the
most progressive firms in the new Federation.

Pushkin: I’ve been reading about you in the paper. You specialize in developing
new
genetic proudcts like featherless chickens for easier production and miniature
elephants as
curiosities for the rich.

Petrovski: Oh, our operations go far beyond such minor projects. Our genetic
research
promises to revolutionize the world of medicine. Using genetic manipulation, we
can force
bacteria to produce any biological substance we wish. Think of the
possibilities! With
advanced cloning techniques, we may even be able to grow new organs for those in
need
of transplants relatively easily. We also buy back surplus weapons and equipment
from the
military and dispose of it to help the country’s economic situation, and,
because our CEO
is such a good humanitarian, we run the Benevolent Children’s Fund to feed the
starving
children of the world.

Pushkin: Just who is this CEO anyway?

Petrovski: He’s very secretive, eccentric you know, he wouldn’t approve of my
talking
about him here.

Pushkin: I see.

Petrovski: Well I guess I should get to the point of why we came to see you. We
employ
some of the best minds in the world. We hope that you want to be one of those.
We are
aware of your research on viruses and viral contamination. We want you to do
some very
important work for us. Funding is generous, and pay is very good.

Shalimov opens his briefcase and takes out some documents that he hands to
Pushkin.
Pushkin looks over the documents.

Pushkin: This is information on the smallpox virus. What’s this for? I thought
that was
eradicated decades ago.

Shalimov: Small samples are kept in very few laboratories around the world.
There is a
slight danger of contamination to the outside. If that happens, the results
would be
disastrous since few people would be resistant to it after all this time.

Petrovski: We want you to conduct research into the virus’ genetic structure.
Specifically,
we want to know how we can modify its DNA so it reproduces at a different rate,
will and
will not target certain genetic types. You know, that sort of thing.

Pushkin looks at them suspiciously.

Petrovski: Its all for good, of course. We want to know how this virus works.
Svobodny
Labs is a legitimate organization and would never engage in any questionable
activities.

Shalimov notices the dog by the fire, he turns to Petrovski and whispers
something in his
ear.

Petrovski: Doctor, were you by any chance in the Sabun River region last week?

Pushkin: Yes, I was conducting research on parasites in very cold conditions.

Petrovski: Did you happen to notice anything ... uh ... unusual going on?

Pushkin: Why?

Petrovski: One of our employees suffered in a tragic ... ummm ... well ...
accident. Several
people and two dogs have been reported missing.

Pushkin: We did find two dogs. One was a husky and the other was that borzoi
puppy
over there. The sled driver from the expedition is taking care of the husky. I
took the
puppy.

Petrovski: Well, it belongs to the person I just mentioned. I’d like to return
it to him.

Pushkin: You can take the puppy, I’m sure his master will be happy to see him
again.

Petrovski: Hmmm ... I certainly hope so (sadly).

Pushkin: I hope they find those people, remote Siberia is no place to get lost.

Petrovski: Umm ... Yes, so do I. Anyway, I’m interested in whether you want to
accept
our proposal or not. 

Pushkin: This research could be one of the major medicinal breakthroughs of the
century.
I’d like to help you. Who knows, we may find a way to neutralize viruses.

Petrovski: Lets hope its that good. Your presence will be required at our
research
laboratories two weeks from this day. We will provide you with a guide to show
you the way there

Pushkin: Excellent.

Red Thunder headquarters, location unknown, Oct. 6, 1993, 11:12 AM local time

It is a dark room full of the hum of electronic equipment. On the walls are
several display
monitors each rotating between showing news reports, satellite images, and
various
important tactical information. The volume is lowered so that the noise from
every
monitor blends in with the electronic hum in the background to create an eerie,
mechanistic background noise. There are a few unmanned consoles with flashing
lights.
The room appears empty 

A door on one side of the room opens and Petrovski steps through, escorted by
two Red
Thunder soldiers. 

Petrovski: Glorious leader, we have succeeded in recruiting the services of Dr.
Fyodor
Pushkin. 

A mysterious, dark figure on the far side of the room begins to move. A red,
laserlike light
shines from where the right eye should be.

Ominous Synthesized Voice: You have done well, general. We may now begin stage
one.
What is your report on the rescue casualties.

Petrovski: We only lost one other man sir, the informer. We found the dog later,
at
Fyodor Pushkin’s house.

Voice: Does he know anything?

Petrovski: No, glorious leader.

Voice: Good, we must take extreme caution that he not be allowed to know the
full scope
of our operations. See to it that he is under constant surveillance.

Petrovski: Yes sir.

Voice: Have you made any progress with the American, Shepherd?

Petrovski: I don’t think Shepherd is willing to share his findings with us for
any price, but
one of his employees secretly seems very interested in selling Svobodny Labs the
blueprints for their device if we can offer him enough.

Voice: Once again, the flaws of the capitalistic system make our task easier.
Should the
Children’s Benevolent Fund be enough to cover it?

Petrovski: I think so, but the project is still a few years away from success.
We may have
to wait.

Voice: As long as we make sure to stay above any competition. We’ll be feeding a
lot of
poor, starving children over the next few years. Ha ha ha! Comrade, I want you
to
personally watch over that dog, Buran. I think we should use the dog to test our
new
machine when we get it.

Petrovski: Yes, glorious leader.

Petrovski turns and walks out the door.

Every screen in the room changes to a satellite image of the southwest United
States. It
then zooms on a specific installation: Shepherd Research Laboratories.

Voice: Ah, Professor Shepherd. You may build your machine for the good of the
world,
but what you don’t know is that I’ll be there, waiting for your fool to deliver
it to me.
Then, I will have my revenge.

The screens then return to their previous sequence. The figure stops moving and
the red
light goes out.

Svobodny Laboratories Research Station, location unknown, April 5, 1995, 2:45 PM
local time.

Several scientists are busy using powerful electron microscopes and jotting
things down
on paper. Pushkin is with them, supervising. Petrovski enters the lab.

Petrovski: The CEO wants a report on your progress so far.

Pushkin: We’ve been able to determine the appropriate way in which to alter the
DNA to
diminish growth.

Petrovski: Good, do you think it can be increased as well?

Pushkin looks at Petrovski in shock.

Pushkin: But why would we want to do that!?

Petrovski: We wouldn’t, of course, but someone else might want to. We have to
know if it
can be done or not.

Pushkin: Even with such simple genetics, it is impossible for us to alter the
DNA of the
virus in this way. We just don’t have the right technology available.

Petrovski: Leave that to me. You are to hand over all data you have collected
since the
beginning of the project. You will then make room for some new equipment to be
installed
here within a few months. This will require the removal of some of your electron
microscopes.

Pushkin: Wait a minute here, you people have dictated how I am to do my research
ever
since this project began. You seem to be aiming me toward strengthening instead
of
weakening the virus, and now you want to replace some of the essential equipment
in my
lab-

Petrovski (Interrupts angrily): What!? Your lab!? I’ll have you know that we
paid for this
lab, every nut, bolt, and screw of it. This isn’t your lab, its ours and you
will do what we
say or you can forget about any further funding or payment! Besides, when this
new
equipment comes in, altering the virus should be no problem. We can then begin
stage
two.

Pushkin: Stage two of what?

Petrovski: Your project, doctor.

Red Thunder Headquarters, Gen. Petrovski’s office, Aug. 31, 1995, 8:37 AM, local
time.

General Petrovski is sitting at his desk, talking to someone on his phone. 

Petrovski: When will the blueprints be delivered? ... The blueprints aren’t good
enough
though, I want proof. ... Ok, dos svydanya. 

Petrovski hangs up and pushes a button on his desk, activating the intercom

Petrovski: Petrovski to glorious leader.

Ominous, Synthesized Voice: Your progress, general?

Petrovski: I’ve made contact with Otitis. He is ready to deliver the blueprints
to us at our
convenience.

Voice: We need proof that it works before we build it.

Petrovski: That’s what I told him. He says that he will test it for us.

Voice: I’m not sure if we can trust him. I will have our operatives in New
Mexico keep an
eye on him. In the meantime, send Colonel Shalimov to that location with a
covert strike
team. The assignment is simple. They must retrieve a copy of the blueprints. If
things
don’t go as planned, you have the authority to use force to accomplish your
mission. Be
careful not to alarm any American military forces. The last thing we need right
now is to
be exposed. Do not fail me.

Petrovski: I will arrange this at once, glorious leader. Petrovski out.

He pushes the button again and then another time

Petrovski: Attention! Units four and five, prepare for covert duty and report to
hangars
twelve and thirteen. Colonel Shalimov to the briefing room.

Red Thunder HQ, Hanger 12, Aug. 31, 1995

There is a large plane in the middle of the hanger that looks like a transport
of some kind.
It is silver-colored, long and wide. Two gun turrets are on each side and there
is one on
the front and one on the rear. It appears to be able to carry quite a load. Its
surface is
faceted like the F-117. 

Several soldiers are in what appears to be standard Red Thunder armor, only it
seems to
be more reflective and is a full suit with a helmet. The soldiers put on their
helmets and
press a button on their right arms. Each soldier disappears from sight with a
strange
sound.

A second or two later, they reappear.

Squad Leader: Spirit suits functioning at 100% efficiency. Into the Shadow, men.

Soldiers: Yes sir!

When all of the soldiers have loaded onto the transport, the ceiling slides back
like a
sliding door and the craft takes off vertically. It is very silent for such an
aircraft. As it
rises, another transport comes out of another hanger next to it. As they fly
off, the doors
slide slowly shut. The tops of the doors have rocks and trees and are designed
to look like
the ground.

The pilot of one of the transports flips a switch in the cockpit and the plane
begins to
disappear from view. All that can be seen is a vague, barely noticeable area of
distortion.
The other transport disappears shortly afterwards.

Shepherd’s House, Soccoro, NM, United States, Sept. 1, 1995, 12:32 AM, local
time

The Red Thunder soldiers and Shalimov are spying on Otitis while cloaked, and
have
followed him to Shepherd’s backyard. They watch the scene from "Reigning Cats
and
Dogs" play out and how Otitis tries to steal Scout but takes the cat instead.
They talk to
each through their suit comlinks

Soldier 1: What an idiot!

Soldier 2: This can’t be the right guy we’re after sir, right?

Shalimov: Just follow orders and see what he does with that cat.

Soldier 2: Right, sir.

They follow Otitis to where he transdogmafies the cat. They all watch in
astonishment as
Parvo walks out of the chamber with his cat ears.

Boots (Parvo): Me-yow.

They all watch the following scene (Reigning Cats and Dogs) and keep following
Otitis
and Parvo. They get into the back of the truck that Parvo and Otitis are using

Soldier 1: Wow! I can’t believe what I just saw.

Shalimov: The transdogmafier is more powerful than we could have anticipated.
Now we
must get the plans from Otitis.

Soldier 2: What a pathetic loser! Why would we even bother buying the plans from
him?
We could just snatch them out from under his nose, especially with these suits.

Shalimov: The only problem is that it looks like Otitis isn’t the one with the
plans after all.
We’ll have to steal them from Shepherd. They’re probably kept in the large safe
in his
office.

Shalimov and his squad go up the elevator and go into Shepherd’s office to the
safe

Soldier 1: This is quite low tech, it should be very easy to break into.

Shalimov: He must have thought that no one would be able to get by the security
system.
Good thing for us we’re invisible.

Just then little beepers start to go off inside their helmets.
 
Soldier 2: Uh oh!

Cheery Female Computer Voice: Warning. Your power cell is running low. Please
return
your spirit suit to the charging station. You have five minutes of invisibility
left. Thank
you.

Shalimov: Hurry up comrades! We need to get the h@!# out of here.

A big security guard is patrolling the hall. He thinks he hears a weird noise in
the office.
He looks but can’t see anyone. He shakes his head and walks on.

The soldiers use the laser cutter that is built into their suits to open the
safe but it lowers
their power levels even more. They take the plans and Shalimov uses his built in
camera to
take pictures of the plans. They take the plans and start to walk out of the
office, but
something starts to happen.

Soldier 1: Uh, sir.

Shalimov: What?

Soldier 1: I think you’re starting to flicker.

All of them are starting to flicker.

Computer Voice: Warning. Power levels dangerously low. You have twelve seconds
of
invisibility left. Please return your spirit suit to the charging station. Thank
you.

They quicken their pace and turn the corner. They run into the guard. who is
knocked on
his back.

Guard: What the (insert your favorite expletive here)!?

Just then, Shalimov and his soldiers materialize in front of the guard.

The Red Thunder soldiers try to finish off the guard with the laser guns built
into their suit
arms but all they get is clicking noises and humming. The computer voice tries
to say
something but it just comes out really slow and garbled.

Shalimov: The power must be too low, let’s get out of here, now!

They run for the stairs, dropping the plans as the guard gets to his feet. 

Guard: Hold it right there you, freeze!

He fires at them with his pistol but misses. He takes his communications device
and signals his comrades.

Guard: Unit 6 to Unit 1, we have a code JR273 on level five ...

The Red Thunder soldiers run down the stairs to the ground floor where one of
the
soldiers takes out his tracking sensor and uses it on the doorway. The screen on
the
hand-held sensor comes to life and shows several moving blips

Soldier 1: Uh oh comrades, we’ve got hostile units coming our way behind that
door.

Shalimov: Well I guess this means we have to go back up then.

They start to run up the stairs, when they get to the first landing, they hear
the ground
level door come open and people running up the stairs after them. They run for a
while
until the tracking sensor shows several blips coming downstairs too.

Soldier 2: Were trapped! oh to see Mother Russia again!

Shalimov: Stop your whining! We need to think of a way out of this.

One of the soldiers tries the door on the landing they are at but it is locked
and made of
solid steel.

Soldier1: No help here

Shalimov: I have an idea. Use the grenades. Set them to proximity detonation.

Shalimov pulls out a rather normal-looking grenade, turns a dial on it, pulls
the pin, and
throws it up to the next landing. One of his soldiers does the same, but throws
it to the
landing below them.

When the guards reach the grenades, they explode, sending sticky goo all over
the place
and plastering the guards to the nearest surface.

Guard: Ugh, what is this s#!*?

The Red Thunder operatives walk past the guards without interference. The guards
would
have shot at them, but their hands are immobilized and the best they can do is
yell at them.
The Red Thunder operatives make it to the roof and Shalimov takes out his
secondary
comlink 

Shalimov: Shalimov to Shadow 1, come in. Proceed to my coordinates for
immediate,
emergency extraction.

Pilot: Already there.

The stealth transport decloaks above them and lands on the roof. They load into
the
transport and it begins flying off under cloak to Red Thunder HQ.

Later on at Red Thunder HQ, command chamber

Shalimov walks in the door, just like last time. The mysterious figure stirs
again in the
shadows on the far side of the room.

Voice: Well, did you retrieve the plans?

Shalimov: Not the originals, but I did get copies.

Voice: Where are they?

Shalimov: They were stored in my suit’s memory, but we had a power drainage that
caused all sorts of problems. We lost nearly all power in our suits and the data
may have
been lost.

Voice: It better not have been lost, for your sake.

Shalimov:: The techs are trying to recover the pictures from the suit’s memory.
It still had
some power left so they might have survived.

Voice: Good, It would be a shame if I had to "terminate" your employment.

Shalimov: Yes, glorious leader.

Voice: You should’ve kept an eye on your power settings, you fool.

Shalimov: I will not make such a mistake again, glorious leader.

Voice: Good, now leave.

Shalimov: Yes, sir.

He leaves the room. After he leaves, an image of Petrovski appears on the
screen.

Petrovski: Yes, glorious leader?

Voice: I will get my engineers ready for construction. I suggest that you get
your dog
ready for conditioning when construction is finished.

Petrovski: Yes, sir.

Red Thunder HQ command chamber, Sept. 27, 1995, 11:45 PM, local time.

The room looks pretty much the same, except for a new device which has risen
from a
panel that slid back in the middle of the floor. It is cylindrical and has a
door with a small
window on it.

Voice: General Petrovski and Colonel Shalimov, report to the command chamber
with
Buran immediately.

A few moments later, the door opens and Petrovski and Shalimov come in with
Buran on
a leash.

Voice: Before we proceed, comrades, there is something I think you should see.

The monitors switch to the satellite view of the southwest U.S. and zoom in on
where
Shepherd Research Laboratories should be but only shows a smoking crater.

Petrovski and Shalimov look at it, astounded.

Shalimov: What happened?

Voice: An explosion occurred a short time ago. we can only assume that Shepherd
was
killed and his plans were destroyed. That leaves us as the only ones with a
workable
transdogmafier. The engineering staff finished installing the molecular
stabilizer a few
moments ago. It’s time to see if it really works.

The door of the chamber slides open and Petrovski puts Buran inside. The door
closes and
Petrovski stands back. A bright light can be seen through the small window
accompanied
by a loud noise. The door opens and smoke billows out of the chamber. When the
smoke
clears, Buran steps out. Buran is now a 6’4" borzoi cano-sapien. His back and
tail are
black. His muzzle and cheeks are white, as are his neck, chest, and belly. The
front of his
legs, and his arms are white as well. As he emerges, he is wearing standard Red
Thunder armor.

Buran: Whoa! I feel different.

He looks down at his paws.

Buran: Wow, look at my paws! They’re like hands! and I can talk!

Petrovski: I think we can consider this a success.

Shalimov: I agree.

Buran: I’m talking! Just listen to me! Wow, this is amazing!

Voice: Welcome home, Buran. Welcome home.

The mysterious figure begins to move forward into the light. His features become
more
illuminated until we realize that it is Vissarion. The right side of his head,
his right arm,
and most of the right side of his body is now cybernetic implants. The red,
laserlike light
shines out of what is an electronic eye where his right eye used to be. He is
wearing a
metallic suit with the Red Thunder insignia on it.

Buran: Its my old master. You’re still alive.

Vissarion: Yes, I am.

Buran: Thank God they didn’t kill you too.

Vissarion: No, but they have done their damage to my body and my soul.

Buran: What just happened to me?

Vissarion: Buran, you have been chosen to be the first of a new species,
cano-sapiens. The
world we live in is controlled by corrupt governments and corporations based on
greed.
This is the way that it always has been, except for the grand vision of a man
named Lenin
and another named Stalin, the Soviet Union. In the end, their great dream was
destroyed,
not because of foreign invasion, but because it was betrayed by its own leaders.
After the
great Stalin died, his successors drifted further and further from the truth and
even tried to
blot his name from history. Then, they capitulated to the pressure of the west
and opened
themselves up to be influenced by it. All kinds of lies came in from the West,
distorting the
minds of the people. Dangerous ideas that happiness was personal liberty and
freedom
from Communism crept in. But Communism is the only way that all people are
fairly
treated and personal liberty fosters corruption and greed. Worst of all, our
leaders wanted
to make peace with these evil Westerners. They allowed the great Union to
collapse on
itself and it was replaced with many corrupt, greed-driven governments. So, Red
Thunder
was founded to fight for Communist ideals in the hopes that, some day, the great
Union
would be reborn in a worldwide revolution. It was these Westerners, and these
corrupt
governments that were too lax in their enforcement that were truly responsible
for the
deaths of our family.

Buran: Those bastards! They’ll pay for that.

Vissarion: You will lead your new species in a great revolution against human
corruption.
You will fight around the world to force the current human regimes to their
knees, and
cause them to pledge their loyalty to me. You answer to Petrovski, and you
answer
to me ... General.

Shalimov: Hey! This is entirely irregular. I can’t be under the command of that
... that
thing.

Vissarion: Shut up now, Colonel, if you want to keep your head on your
shoulders!

Shalimov shuts up.

Vissarion (to Shalimov): Thanks to your stupid miscalculation of something so
simple as
the power levels on your spirit suits, we nearly lost the plans for the
transdogmafier.
You’re lucky I even let you remain a colonel. Now get out of here and see to it
that
Pushkin receives the smaller units to continue his work.

Shalimov: Yes, glorious leader (he leaves).

Vissarion: Petrovski, I would appreciate it if you left us as well.

Petrovski leaves.

Vissarion: Now, Buran, we are together, and we will crush our enemies together
as it was
meant to be. Together, we will take our revenge on the world for what was done
to us and
our family.

Buran: Nothing could give me more satisfaction, master.

Vissarion: Good. With your cano-sapien army, which will be created soon, and my
new
weapon, nothing can stop us.

The screens all change and show a diagram of an object. It is a cross-section
showing a
long core with two small lobes on both ends. In this core is what looks like two
ropes
intertwined. The core is surrounded by several layers of some substance. The
diagram is
labelled COUNTDOWN in Russian.

Vissarion: We will have some new recruits for you momentarily. In the meantime,
you will
be shown to your new quarters, I hope they meet with your satisfaction.

A Red Thunder private enters the room and stands at attention.

Vissarion: Private, show General Buran to his new quarters.

Private: Yes, glorious leader. Please follow me comrade General.

They leave. 

An image of a Red Thunder officer appears on the screens.

Officer: What is your command?

Vissarion: Take a small squad to the nearest city. Round up all the dogs you can
find.

Officer: Yes, sir.

Vissarion turns his screen to look at the smoking crater of Shepherd Research
Laboratories again. The room fills with ominous, synthesized evil laughter.

The End (for now)