Getting a letter from the Arstotzkan Government never meant anything good.

But that's what he got in the mail that day. He laid the pristine, Arstotzkan eagle stamped, letter on the kitchen table and stood some feet away, unable to bring himself to open it at the moment. He could only give the paper a blank stare.

After what felt like hours, he finally willed himself to break the seal on the letter and read its contents.

Nikolai Yabanov,

Arstotzka thanks you for your military service! Though, it seems that your duty is not over and your service is, once again, requested.

The October Labor Lottery has concluded, your name was pulled. For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at the Grestin Border Checkpoint. An apartment in East Grestin will be provided by the state, expect a Class-8 dwelling.

Once again, Arstotzka thanks you for your past service and your future service.

Glory to Arstotzka.

There was plenty of emotions run throughout Nikolai, but the most prominent being pride, for having the honor of serving his nation again, and dread, for the same reason of his pride.

While proud to serve Arstotzka, he had risked his life for it, only to return to his downtrodden home with his parents dead and his sister gone. He received nothing for his "valued" and "glorious" service, thus he dreaded the thought of doing so again in return for nothing.

Though what they offered was good considering his circumstances. Following the war and discharging from the military, he has had many jobs, those of which he had been laid off from due to economic issues and the damage done to the northwestern towns from Paradizna, but whatever money he had made was never enough to buy him a proper meal.

It also didn't help how rundown his family home had become. The windows had been broken, the interior in utter disarray from looters, and it definitely didn't help that a mortar shell had struck the roof. Though, it was like this all over the town, granted the town he lived in was only 80 miles from the Kolechian border and 40 miles from Paradizna.

So with that in mind, a Class-8 apartment wasn't so bad plus with a government job, he'd have a stable income, assuming he held the job longer than two weeks.

So in the end Nikolai, although hesitantly, let his patriotism and pride win over his fear and dread on the basis that it's a convenience to him, but it's also a punishable offense to ignore a government summons.

Nikolai packed his things, although there isn't much in that regard, and walked out of his home since birth. Giving it one last look before putting it behind him to catch the next train to East Grestin and his new life, for better or for worse....

Only by continuing his story will that truly be known. A story of morality and loyalty. A story of war and peace. A story of a young man and soldier.

The story of Nikolai Yabanov

Nikolai Yabanov
<<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>>

Age: 24

Occupation: Soldier (Formerly) Border Inspector (Currently)

Looks:

(A/N: Comrades! It has been awhile yes. And yes I know this is a mistake considering I've been MIA for months. I'm writing here and there and my other stories will be updated with time. But for now, I've been on a bit of a Papers, Please mindset. You can thank Tom for that. Now I will return to hopefully updating payday, but for now comrades, have a good day or night.

GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA

https://youtu.be/lpIHwVBI_a4