Chapter CI: Hospital of Death and Misery

 Bright-blue and white uniforms flashed when five men darted from cover to cover. A Clear Sky pathfinder squad moved on, pushing into heavy Sin opposition. Their leader, Slavik Doc, used the protection offered by his proto-exoskeleton to cover his men, most of them, in the aptly named pathfinder suits. Their guns blazed towards every enemy foolish enough to peek out of cover, but Slavik could feel the battle shift against them. Heavy clatter of boots rang from inside the very hospital they had tried to attack. It was a citadel, a sunken long corridor, covered by mud, dirt and earth from all sides, only a tiny slice remaining uncollapsed. It would take more than five men to dug the Sin out of here.

A muzzle flash came from the dark, and the screaming pain of a gunshot impact on his shoulder sent Slavik back. He crouched behind the cover he was hiding behind. Blood was trickling down his suit. He felt dizzy. One of his men was struck down next to him, he tried to reach for the trooper but a grenade blastwave near him sent him to the floor. The world shook around him, and his vision was shaking along, unfocused. A boot landed right next to his head, a massive steel-clad exoskeleton boot. He looked up and saw a behemoth of a stalker in reinforced exoskeleton and assault helmet. Slavik saw the man take hits to his armour which simply bounced off or dulled their caps into the battleplate. As if time had slowed down, the man flipped his grenade launcher open beneath his American rifle, and fired.

The Sin gunmen were decimated in a concentrated explosion that wiped out their cover. Boris flipped his grenade sight down and sprayed the remaining fanatical believers down before helping the Clear Sky squad leader up. The man was wounded, a nasty bullet entry point torn into his shoulder and shrapnel in his side, but Slavik grinned faintly.

• Redemption, finally. We would've been squashed in no time. Thank you, Slavik managed to say before fainting. Boris placed him behind solid cover.

• Vova, get in here and take care of him, his badly hit. Vityukha, work your magic on the others. Leva, Valik and Toha take point and guard that hole, shoot everything that speaks fanatic!, Boris shouted to the men streaming into the opening.

• The trees are speaking fanatic... Valik muttered in an amused voice while passing Boris.

Soon all Redemption commanders beside Vityukha had gathered around Boris. Briefing would have to be quick, Sin forces were clearly preparing to repel them inside the hospital.

• This will have to be a dirty fight, I see now way around it. Me, Sanyok, Dima, Micha, Anton and Orlov will lead, as we have the best gear for that. Mark, Dimuha and Stepukha take a defensive position and provide us cover, take Gleb, Toha and Hip as well. Valik and Leva, stay here and make sure the medics aren't disturbed. Alright, let's go, Boris ordered and loaded up his USAS rifle.

They descended into the hole leading into the sunken hospital, passing by the partially destroyed front wall and its windows. Pillars guarding the building's main door were full of bullet holes and dents. The air was full of dust, sent airborne by the grenade, and on the floor a single coughing and wheezing Sinner slowly bled out. Dima's Val spat once and the man died.

• Even Sinners don't deserve to suffer needlessly, Dima said quietly, and Boris nodded.

Their flashlights scanned the ditch, spotting a staircase leading upwards. The hole had signs of long-time habitation, empty tin cans, sleeping bags and firewood. The enemy would be dug in for sure. This had to be where the Sinners had been hiding in. Dima checked the bodies individually to avoid any nasty suicide bombings while rest of the squad prepared their weapons. Boris and Anton loaded up their M203s with grenades once more, and Sanyok slipped two of his last grenades into the revolver grenade launcher he had got from Boris. Micha swapped out his VSK rifle for something he had gotten from Tooth.

• Time to put Stalin's Dinner Plate 27 into work, he said, charging a round into the unique looking Degtyarev machine gun.

• Right on, soon we can start a proper antique shop in the Meadow, that DP, Orlov's SVT and Stepukha's Ppsh as centrepieces, Dima said sarcastically and groaned.

• You could run it, another piece of antique into the collection, Dimuha remarked.

• Hey, I may be older than you but I'm not that old. Besides, age brings its advantages.

• Like pension from Redemption as you retire to an idyllic cottage at the Swamps?, Sanyok asked jokingly.

• No pensions, our economy is already in a state of Great Depression volume 2. Now, quit chattering like old wives and get to work you lot, Boris shouted to them, already raising the steps to the battlefield.

On the second floor, Sin troops had taken positions all over the area. A few skeletons in blue and white rags and old steel helmets lay on the floor, slumped next to the walls. Fire poured into the small doorframe, but Boris' Nosorog could absorb it and push on. He sat down behind a barrier of sorts and struck outwards with his M16, killing a far too exposed Sinner. Micha slid next to him and sat his DP on the barrier, opening heavy fire on the enemies while rest of the squad poured in. Dimuha took position behind a broken window and begun to blast away with his rifle.

The way ahead would be dangerous. There were two avenues of attack for Boris, one going down a staircase to their right, where they would get to the ground floor and possibly do a sideways attack to the zealot's side. Another route was to attack the left staircase, but it was protected by ad hoc barricades. Dima and Sanyok tried to secure it, but the enemy fire was too much and they had to hide behind the walls next to the door. Two Sinners held the corridor, and on the other side a heavy Sin trooper in Vyriy flak armour was ready to strike at the sides of all attackers.

• Micha, Anton and Orlov, on me! We'll take the lower route! Go go go!, Boris shouted and dashed towards the staircase, the three stalkers in tow.

That's when the full might of Sin defences was revealed. A heavy machine gun begun to tear the concrete and tile cover around them to pieces, sending deadly shards flying and dust to block their view. A fanatic tried to cross a weak-looking bridge in the middle of the collapsed hospital centre, only to achieve getting his head punctured by Mark's deadly sniper fire. Toha and Hip fired wildly at the machine gun nest whenever they could, but their guns could not match the firepower of the Vyraj worshippers. Boris' small squad rushed down, but it was now clear that the lower route would be no safer than the upper one.

A booming rifle shot came from the upper floor, and Boris heard a groan of pain. The machine gun fire was not slowing down in the slightest, and more heavy shots followed. Dimuha yelped upstairs, followed by a thud of incredible force. Boris peeked just slightly out of the doorframe and spotted the source of the fire. A Sin sniper, in heavy exoskeleton and sporting a PTRS anti-tank rifle, was putting down massive 14.5 mm bullets into the Redemption sniper team.

• Get down, they've got anti-tank rifle up there!, Boris shouted to the others.

• Gleb was hit! We need a medic!, Dimuha screamed back, and all the while the machine gun fire kept hammering their position.

Anton came next to Boris and threw something at the floor ahead. Boris' eyes widened when he saw the familiar shape of a grenade, but this time it only spurted out a small field of fire before generating a thick smoke cloud. Anton sprinted through it and the others followed. The machine gunner diverted his attention to the smoke too late, and his bullets raked the veil only after the Redemption task force had passed. The cultists sent curses their way over the gunfire, but Boris did not stop to listen to them. However, even in the second staircase they were not safe, a Monolith soldier was hiding on top of it and another pair of Sinners had descended to the ground level to flank them. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Boris thought to himself.

• Micha, keep the ground level safe, Orlov and Anton follow me, he whispered to the others and Micha leaned out of the doorframe, machine gun held ready. The Sin gunner could not reach them there due to debris blocking the way, but it also sheltered the Sin flankers.

Boris advanced up the stairs very slowly, taking each step with as heavy a lean forward as he could. Right as the upper floor came to sight, he locked eyes with the Monolith warrior. They both pressed the trigger, but Boris was a millisecond faster and the slug left his USAS with a blinding muzzle flash, smashing the Monolithian's ribcage in. His SIG rifle clattered to the floor, the burst he had intended to fire sinking into the concrete harmlessly. The Redemption leader quickly took over the fanatic's position and pushed into the hallway, right into the crosshairs of the Sin defenders. Downstairs, the venerable Degtyarev machine gun begun to sing its song of death.

The Sin corridor campers had not anticipated a massive man in a Nosorog armour stepping out of their heavily defended staircase, and took a second to open fire. Their UMPs and shotguns pinged off the battleplate only when Boris' automatic shotgun had already begun to sweep the floor with slug and buckshot, and in seconds the encounter was over. Only a single bullet had pierced the heavy front plate of the Nosorog, and Boris could feel the miraculous effects of the Heart of Oasis artefact at work as the wound started to close on his arm. But it was no time for a break, on the opposite side of the large room the flak-armour marksman poured fire into the pillars next to Boris.

Boris did not want to step out and fire at him, as the man was clearly armed with a gun capable of piercing his armour. Anton was taking cover as well. The stalemate did not last forever however. At the corner of his vision, Boris could see that Stepukha had maneuvered behind the pile of debris on the right side. He slowly crawled up the pile to a small gap in it and pushed into it his Papasha. A burst rang out and the Sin marksman let out a surprised and pained shriek before falling to the floor dead. Boris had raised to his full height and as the Sinner fell, he immediately leaned out and fired his grenade launcher at the heavy rifle zealot. He had been distracted by the death of his comrade, and this small slip in concentration cost him his life as the grenade broke the platform he was laying on and plunged him down. His head hit the ground with a sickening crack, and Boris did not want to see what had happened for him.

• Good job Boris!, Mark shouted and begun to pepper the bunker with fire every chance he got, the other snipers following suit.

• Dibs on the PTRS!, came a shout from the back, apparently from Dimuha.

• No dibs on loot yet, we're still up shit creek here! Vova, how's Gleb holding on?, Boris replied to the radio.

• Not great, not terrible, the thing only grazed him but it ripped out a big wound, he's bleeding pretty bad. Still, we got him somewhat stable since Vityukha did some wizard shit, the radio crackling as a reply.

Boris told them to keep going and waved at Orlov and Anton to follow him. The corridor was blocked by a sturdy blockade, and the only way forward would be the shaky bridge. Boris eyed it with suspicion, as it looked like it would give in under the weight of his exo, but it had to be crossed for the PKM to fall silent. Still, getting past without being shredded was the issue. Anton proposed firing a grenade at the emplacement. It could not destroy it, but it would give them time to rush through. Sanyok was already on it, readying the RG-6 while crouched behind a pillar, and Boris gave him the go-ahead. Two VOG grenades spun through the air in rapid succession, striking the gun nest with deafening explosion and force. The bridge shook and almost cracked in half, but held on just long enough for Boris and his two men to pass it.

The gunner was still not dead, but he seemed rather staggered. The squad had made it on the other side unopposed, but there was no visible route down. Rhe doors would not budge. They crept onwards and got over the emplacement, finding a hole that had been hastily covered with planks by someone. Orlov pulled out a grenade with maleficent smile and dropped it into the room, ducking back as the fires of the explosion engulfed the gunner in his tomb. The machine gun fell silent once more.

• Serves him right, Anton muttered, loading another grenade into his gun.

• Damn straight, Orlov said with a nod.

• Everyone alive? Micha, you ok? Snipers?, Boris asked once more.

The radiowaves sparked with reports for a second, Micha had taken a hit from the flankers, but they had suffered far worse and retreated. Dimuha had similarly got hit by the PKM, his left arm wounded and unoperational. Two of the most heavily-armored Redemption members out of the game so early, and Gleb's situation dire, yet this was only the entrance into the hospital.

• Chyort, this will be one hell of a slaughterhouse, Boris murmured to himself before sighing and reloading his shotgun.

The sun begun to set over the Deserted Hospital, actually far from deserted, and with the growing of shadows came also the command grunts and heavy boots of Sin fanatics. The battle for the hospital was merely beginning.