Pilots

“What, then, is the duty of the New People’s Army? There can only be one answer to this question: the reinstatement of the Soviet system in order to bring the blessings of communism to all the peoples of the earth and to free them from their oppressors. There can only be one way to go to achieve this noble goal: The way of austerity, of discipline and of fighting.”
-from the “Manual for the NPA Pilot”, Novaja Moskva, 2103

During the Cold War, the vast expanses of the Siberian steppe were sprinkled with hidden military bases which were perfectly defended against attacks of any kind – be it with conventional, chemical or nuclear weapons. Many of these bases continued to exist after the Soviet Union had fallen, and the soldiers stationed there were among the few survivors of the nuclear inferno that followed the American-Chinese war. Cut off from the outside world, without supply shipments or orders from the capital, those lonely enclaves barely scraped along in the icecold winters after the war. Soon there were conflicts between neighbouring bases – raids on supply and munitions depots, struggles over the few tiny spots of arable land, conflicts between higher-ranking officers and their former subordinates were the basis for bitter, vicious wars among the former brothers.

Through brilliant tactical maneuvers and some diplomatic cunning, Vladimir Solokov, a former brigadier general, managed to unite several of these military bases under his command and to establish a solid foundation of power from where he soon was able to control all of Siberia. Solokov, a devoted communist with a mysterious past, created the “New People’s Army”, a movement which aims at re-establishing the glorious Soviet Union and bringing Stalinist communism to all the people of the world.
Solokov soon realized that due to the enormous distances his army would have to cover and due to the emptiness of the lands to conquer, his most effective weapon would be a fast, strong air force; thus, the bulk of the NPA is made up of air force regiments. Therefore, neighbouring tribes who usually do not care too much about ideological subtleties simply call the NPA “the pilots”.

It is a sign of a certain bitter sense of humor that Solokov tried to establish a connection with the Soviet Empire’s golden past not only ideologically, but also aesthetically – most equipment, vehicles and planes used by the NPA are heavily modified models from the Koran and Vietnam Wars.