Chapter XXXIX: Once More into the Tunnels of Agroprom

 Sun scorched the old facilities of Yantar mercilessly, bathing the whole valley in its light. The often gloomy and depressing corner of the Zone was for once completely bright, and both the scientists and guards stopped their daily tasks for a second to admire the rare spectacle. But the grim realities of the Zone returned to them when three bloodsoaked and beaten-up stalkers marched towards their bunker. They holstered their weapons as a sign of peace and the guards relaxed. They recognized the squad leader, Boris Unforgiven, who had shut down the Miracle Machine not too long ago.

Dima Lord, his second-in-command went straight to Professor Kruglov who had just returned to the Zone and gave him his condolences on the deaths of the ecologists Boris and company had been tasked to protect. Boris did the same for Sakharov and they also exchanged a few other words, especially on the topic of the Redemption and how Boris' new faction would operate.

Boris promised that if Sakharov ever needed muscle for some dangerous missions, he and his men would be ready for anything, they were all eager to regain their tarnished honour. Sakharov agreed that if there was ever a need, Boris would be the first to be called. He also gave Sakharov all the documents he had found on the Monolith bodies, perhaps the old scientist could decipher them. Boris left with a word of warning, the Monolith were clearly planning something and the facility would need to be protected at all cost. Sakharov only gave a brief agreement, his brilliant mind already working full-time on the documents.

Dima, Hip and Boris finished their business at the ecologist base and set off towards Agroprom. They needed to get to Meadow, and it could best be achieved by going through Agroprom, Garbage and Cordon. Crossing from Yantar to Agroprom, the weather changed from bright sunny to still clear but less overwhelmingly glaring. Boris was thankfull, his armour was already stenching of dry blood, and that mixed with sweat was not something he wanted to experience for extended periods. He loved the Nosorog armour to bits, but it was hotter than hell inside it during sunny days. Good thing the Zone had few of those to give.

Boris led the squad and acted as a pointman while Dima and Hip chatted idly behind him about irrelevant things like the nature of Freedomers in comparison to mercs, the possibility of getting a bar in the Meadow and the differences in taste of the various mutant meats. Boris barely listened to them, he was only glad his two companions got along well and his mind was mostly on the tasks ahead. Now that Redemption was semi-official, they'd need to get ready for all sorts of aggressors, many likely sought to take advantage of the fledling faction.

The trip to the northern facility of Agroprom did not take long, and there a sight so unheard of made even Dima speechless. On one campfire, squad of Bandits sat with a Freedomer. On the other campfire maybe 50 metres away, two loners and Freedomer were enjoying lunch. Loners and Bandits had more bad blood between them than Duty and Freedom in Boris' opinion, and the sight was even more unnatural to him than the various gravitational anomalies humming not too far away. He decided to approach the loner campfire first, being on much better terms with them than the bandits.

One of the loners looked up to him and smiled. The Freedomer, otherwise wearing a regular Sentinel of Freedom but with a German Stahlhelm-looking helmet, turned around as well and waved for the group to join them. Boris sat next to him and his companions followed suit. Taking his helmet off, Boris asked:

• So, have I missed something real major or what the hell is going on here? Loners and Bandits, chilling right next to each other?

• Nah man, we arranged this little ceasefire between these amigos, since we tend to be on good terms with both of them, the Freedomer said, taking a bite of his sausage, burnt to a crisp.

• But, how?

• We ran into this one bandit, an okay fellow for a bandit called Reefer, says he's real fucking tired with Sultan sending his boys to suicide missions. He says they're going to Agroprom underground, but he saw that plenty of loners had made camp in this here base. So, he thinks it through and comes to the conclusion that if they try to take this place through force, both sides get bled to death. So we go to negotiate with the loner big man here, Anton Anomaly, for a ceasefire, the Freedomer explained.

• And he agreed? Damn son, you're some fine diplomat right, you could teach me a thing or two, Boris responded, his tone impressed.

• Yup. Anton is a champ, his been running things here for some time now. The deal goes, the bandits don't do anything funny and just do their mission, and the loners look the other way. Why Anton did this deal is because if the bandits clear the underground out, Anton can do his plan of setting up shop in Strelok's hideout, but Reefer doesn't need to know that.

• Thanks for the info then, much obliged. I'm Boris Unforgiven by the way, just in case we ever run into each other again, Boris said, holding out his hand for the Freedomer.

• Grisha Ink, at your service, the Freedomer responded and shook Boris' hand. Boris asked them where this Anton fellow was in and they found him in the building roof, observing the bandits. He was wearing a loner exoskeleton, a rare sight in the Zone, and greeted Boris as they approached.

• Boris Unforgiven eh? I've heard plenty of you. Absolute madlad by the looks, you interested in a job?, he said, his accent vaguely familiar.

• Depends. We're bound to Meadow, but if its a quick one, maybe?, Boris responded.

• Yup. There's a problem I'm facing. We got the bandits off our asses for the time being, but inside the underground I'd really want to move into Strelok's hideout. Problem is, I have no idea where it is, and I fear if I go looking, the bandits start getting jumpy. The Freedomers already said no to acting as an intermediary, but you could do it? The bandits fear you, or so I've heard, the loner explained, sounding respectful.

• Sounds easy enough. I'll help you in that case, Boris said, and they moved to the entrance to the tunnel. Boris wasn't too happy to be back here but at least this time he wasn't alone in there.

• So you've been here before?, Dima asked quietly.

• Yup. And I made myself a promise I would never return. Yet here we are. Blyat, Boris said and spat at the ground as they trudged along.

• So what can we expect? Bloodsuckers? Snorks? Zombies?, Hip asked. Anton turned around, looked at them and said in a creepy voice:

• Worse. Bandits.

Dima chuckled, and Hip scoffed. Boris remained silent as was often the case, and they arrived to the floor dotted with bubbling chemical pools. A squad of bandits was traversing it, very slowly to avoid disintegrating. Lone bandit with a TOZ-194 held over his shoulder watched them with disinterest and frustration. He made a snap turn towards the newcomers, his TOZ coming down quickly and pointing it at them.

• Anton Anomaly, you motherfucker, I told you I wanted no one interfering with us, the bandit yelled.

• You said that a few days ago, Reefer. Now, you're okay for a bandit but I think that might be because you're a bit slow, as evident by this. So I decided to come visit, see if you need any help, Anton responded.

• Yeah right. What are you after here? If you try stealing our stuff under our noses, I'll make you have more holes than Swiss cheese.

• It's alright Reefer. He's with me. Name's Boris, you most likely know me already. I presume you're here looking for something? Care to tell me what?

• Boris Unforgiven? Jesus, that stunt you pulled of in Dark Valley was ace stuff man, Sultan shat his pants like a little girl. I wouldn't normally tell people what Sultan tells me to do, but since you showed that prick I'll tell ya. We need some old, dusty documents from here, and we've been looking for days for them, with no luck.

• Some documents eh? Perhaps some military documents about the research done here? I sold them to Dushman months ago when I last visited this place, Boris said in a cheery tone, as Reefer slumped.

• Sultan will rip me a new one for this failure, he said, frustration heavy in his voice.

Boris lowered his rucksack to the floor and started unloading it, item by item, as he told Reefer not to despair. He always took copies of all the documents he found for himself. Boris took out socks, cans of food, magazines, cleaning kits, cooking kits, around 150 different patches mostly from Monoliths (Anton and Reefer looked at them wide-eyed), junk items, rolls of tape and so on. Dima was absolutely certain he even saw a weathered picture depicting younger Boris and some young woman there, but Boris placed it quickly into his pocket. Finally he found his notebook, and tore out all the pieces related to the documents, stitching them together with tape.

• Sultan will not be happy that they're in that form but tell him that it's either that or Dushman, I'm sure he'll get it eventually, Boris said.

• Damn man, why are you doing this? You want something from me or what? Reefer asked, his face sceptical.

• Nope. I'm here for Anton and Strelok's hideout. I just happened to have those. But if you ever decide that you'd rather do something more important than fleece rookies and be a punching bag for Sultan, come to Meadow, I've got a good crew going there, Boris replied.

Reefer thanked him before leaving with his crew, saying that he'd think about it. As the bandits started heading out, Anton gave a questioning glance at Boris.

• So I know you're famous and all, but what are you exactly after? I've never seen anyone being actually nice to bandits.

• What am I after? Oh well, that's one hell of a story to tell, I can tell you that while we look for the hideout. But let's just say, this story has a central theme of redemption, Boris said, a glint of humour in his voice.