Chapter XXX: To Stop a War Part 1, Death of a Friend

 Large chunks of concrete went flying from the walls of Flea Market as bullets hit them with heavy thuds. Within seconds, Boris reacted by pushing Dima and Hip to cover behind one of the walls. Dima was in a bad shape, Boris could see that his SEVA was barely holding on and he seemed extremely exhausted. It appeared as though he had ran all the way from Dark Valley to here faster than ever before.

Dima said something but Boris could not hear him over the firing. The Flea Market guards had taken positions and started firing at the unknown enemies. A thought crossed his mind, where was Venya? Dima had been travelling with him. But he pushed it aside for now and focused on the combat.

Boris roared orders to Dima and Hip to get over the gunfire, ordering Dima to stay put while Hip would follow him up to the large broken windows of the ruins to take cover and snipe from there. They both nodded and Boris leaped to action, charging up the stairs to reach a proper firing position. On the lowest floor of the building, or ruins to be honest, one of the traders was snoring loudly, clearly unimpeded by the booming of gunfire.

Boris reached the highest floor and peered out of the window. On the field ahead, there were roughly five or six bandits, firing their weapons at the ruins. Two stalkers fired back with old SVT and SKS rifles, but the sheer volume of fire the bandits had at their hands was too much for them to handle. Boris joined the cacophony of death, firing his grenade launcher at the mass of bandits and killing two with the shrapnel. Hip used her new TOZ to great extent, wounding one more with a slug to the leg. The three survivors made a run for it before Boris could even set his sights on them.

The two stalkers cheered as they saw the enemy fleeing and took potshots at them, but Boris was very confused. These bandits attacked them out of the blue and ran at the first sign of trouble? What the hell was this all about? He told Hip to cover him and quickly ran down to check the last bandit. When he reached the wounded criminal, he found Dima pointing a gun at him.

• Don't kill him, we'll extract some info out of him. Calm down Dima, Boris yelled quickly as he saw the grimace on Dima's face. He was clearly enraged.

• These bastards ambushed me, right as I was doing negotiations with Sultan. That lowlife thought he could take me hostage and make you come to him, apparently he had put two and two together on your past and actions lately, Dima said between gritted teeth, his tone more aggressive and full of rage than Boris had ever heard. He continued:

• I leaped out of the window in his office and almost broke my neck. They killed Venya, Boris. They just showed up behind us and fired two rounds of buckshot at his back. I couldn't do anything to him, just watched him die.

Boris felt hollow. He had only known Venya for a little while, but had grown to like him, it was him who had gotten the renegades to join by being the first to volunteer. The Freedomer had had courage unlike many others. He could have very well been a great commander for the Redeemed. And now he was gone. Sultan would pay, but Boris could also not afford to go to war with the bandits. They'd decimate the Redeemed in seconds at this point.

Boris sighed. As much as he wanted to join Dima on a bitter quest for revenge, he could not afford full-blown war. He needed to show Sultan what happened when one messed with his boys, but while he could go on a rampage against the bandits, his under-equipped and poorly trained recruits would be killed before he could destroy the bandits. But if he could shook Sultan, maybe he'd not dare to cross them again.

Dima still pointed his gun at the bandit, and Boris turned to him, unsure whether to take the bandit hostage or kill him. Then he looked at the two stalkers at the Flea Market and waved for them to come there. The stalkers got to him, and Boris told them that they'd get this hostage. The loners looked confused but also like they already knew what to do with the bastard. Boris was pleased. The bandits could get a lesson and the Redeemed could earn goodwill among loners.

Dima seemed to have calmed down a little, seemingly at least a bit less agitated over the conclusion of this little escapade. He looked to Boris and asked:

• So what do we do with Sultan? This cannot go unpunished. You know that he will just keep doing this unless we do something.

• Don't worry, I've got a plan. And we will avenge Venya, just not today. But I'll do a bit of scheming soon and then it will be possible. Now we will just make Sultan just frightened enough that he doesn't want to bother us but not frightened enough that he goes to war with us.

Hip arrived next to them, and while Boris told them the plan, they watched the two loners lock the gravely wounded bandit up into a cellar nearby. They talked something about finding multiple rats next and catching them, preferably hungry ones. Dima and Hip nodded to Boris when he ended explaining the plan and they set off to Dark Valley. The night was settling upon the Zone. It seemed to be darker than many night regularly were in the Zone, but it paled in comparison to the mood of the trio.