Chapter XCII: Siege of Limansk Part 4, Ice and Fire

A single ember lit amongst the darkness of Red Forest, a cigarette lighting the snowless underbrush. A lone stalker in the crimson and black colours of Redemption leaned into a tree, enjoying his last smoke. When it inevitably turned into ash, he sighed, reattached his screen helmet and walked back to the drawbridge. The ground was so littered with spent shellcasings that the simple act of strolling across it produced small clinks wherever one went. The Freedom squad manning the outpost raised their weapons in anticipation, relaxing their posture upon seeing the newcomer.

• No sight of them yet, Dima?, the Freedom squadleader, Danya Artist asked.

• Njet, nothing. I hope they made it, we've been through a lot together with them, Dima replied gloomily.

• I'm sure they'll manage, Anton is tough one, Mark is a legend and, most importantly, Hip was a Freedomer, another Freedomer, Matvei Bayonet, joked.

Dima shrugged and sat down next to a field kitchen trailer. The outpost had held out three Monolith raids, each roughly ten men large. Dima wasn't here strictly to strengthen the defense, but it was nonetheless wearing on him as well. Each passing hour felt like a week, the Forest glaring at him with unseen eyes, Pulse anomalies coming out of nowhere and the cold biting his skin through the suit. And now he was out of smokes. The captain of Redemption crossed his arms across his chest and begun to listen in on the Freedomer's conversation, which had been joined by a Clear Sky stalker.

• Damn this feels rough, defending this place while Yanov is under siege. Man, if it was up to me I'd rush north to help them, Matvei complained.

• Tell me about it, this sucks. But saving Yanov could mean nothing if they got the Duga antenna turned on, we'd be Zombified before Hawaiian could get an aloha midway out, Grishka Ink, another Freedomer chimed in.

• You guys have it easy though. Me, I just ran into this Redemption fellow that I remember shooting once in the Swamps, back when he was a renegade. He survived and said no hard feelings but still, how the fuck am I supposed to trust a guy I used to shoot on sight once?, the swamp stalker asked.

• We have it easy? Did you not see the army of Dutiers rolling in just now?, Grishka commented in a sarcastic tone.

The Freedomers laughed as the Clear Sky stalker started making excuses. Dima turned his attention away from the inter-factional banter, something had moved in the woods and this time it wasn't just his restless mind playing tricks on him. Slowly, he released his arms and reached for his Val rifle, leaning against the trailer next to him. The branches were rustling now, whoever was coming was either extremely careless, wanted to be heard or a mutant.

When a large man in a free stalker exoskeleton stepped out into the open, followed by another man in unique NBC suit and a woman in a Nomad suit, Dima released his breath and lowered the suppressed rifle. He rose up and greeted the newcomers.

• Almost filled you with lead, how about a message next time before you storm into our base?, Dima said, but his tone was friendly.

• Sorry, we came as soon as we heard the call to arms, but the forest isn't exactly a walk in the park, Mark replied in his usual to-the-point manner.

• Not only the mutants but the Monolith and Sin forces, we must've passed like fifteen different squads on the way here. Mere hours after we left Skadovsk it was attacked by mutants, same deal with Yanov but this time it was the fanatics, Anton explained.

• Well, you'll have to endure a lot more before this shitfest is over... Let me explain the plan, Dima said and begun to go through Boris' strategy.

It took him roughly five minutes to explain it in detail, even parts that didn't necessarily concern their squad, such as Duty's operations, Clear Sky pathfinder strikes and merc infiltrators. Once the explanation was given, Mark asked a question that had clearly been on the minds of the others too:

• So, why isn't Strelok participating into this? It seems to me like Redemption is doing most of the heavy lifting and the other factions are doing what they can.

• Strelok has a role to play too, he needs to be a symbol for the factions that we stalkers can fight back against the Monolith and Sin. You think Freedom and Duty settled their differences because of Redemption's role? No, they're here because of Strelok's legendary status. Keeping him alive is top priority until this siege is lifted and everyone goes back to squabbling over stretches of land.

Mark seemed satisfied with the answer and the team set off, joined by two more members, a Clear Sky pathfinder Vlad Necro and Grishka Ink, a long-time friend of Anton. They descended down the ridge to the thin ice of the Limansk river, the ice barely holding their weight and preventing them from sinking into the cold depths. Anton did question whether it would hold his exoskeleton, but Vlad guided them through all the strongest spots as if he had some sort of sixth sense. They soon moved under the two bridges leading to parts of the dead city, continuing further down the stream. The ice rattled and splintered under them, but despite its protests the layer held on.

• Stop worrying, we used similar routes when performing recon on Limansk on the months before the Big Raid of 2011. I took a Monolith bullet to the knee and had to sit that one out, but I still remember the streams like it was yesterday, Vlad commented.

• You've been here since?, Grishka asked curiously.

• No, I came back when I heard that Clear Sky had returned. Plenty of us came actually, right after I arrived another exile returned, from Finland of all places!

After this small conversation, and around fifteen minutes of cautious gazes at the ice and nervous steps on it, the group reached a small, partially rotten pier. There a dirt road led upwards, shielded by shadows of the forgotten houses. Dima thanked Vlad of his services and the group begun to sneak further into the Sin fortress. This part of the town was mostly empty, large anomaly fields blocked many of the roads leading to it, and thus Sin or Monolith troops would only rarely patrol here.

Today, only a pack of tushkanos wandered the avenues, getting a rude awakening when Anton rounded the corner and started kicking them around. The hamsters dealt with, Vlad led them into a cellar nearby. Dimuha was waiting there, tapping his feet nervously. Dima greeted him and the Redemption lieutenant relaxed visibly.

• Damn, I was getting freaked out here, Sin patrol passed by about two hours ago, then the fucking rats and I swear, some urod is whispering into my ear every ten seconds. Anyway, here's the bombs, let's get going, Dimuha said grumpily.

• Yeah, those voices are a feature of this lovely place. Heard them back in 2011 as well, Suslov and Kalancha called them residual psychic anomalies. Personally, I just ignore them. Now, you exo-boys, help me move this plate, Vlad explained and pointed at a large iron plate.

With the help of Anton and Dimuha, the trio moved the plate slightly to the left, revealing an entrance to another basement. Crawling through the hole, the squad soon ascended a staircase, back into the streets of Limansk. The target was in sight, and the explosives primed and ready. Vlad led them up a forested path, pointing for Mark and Hip to take two sniping spots before a patch of open ground. The squad's snipers took position, Hip loading a pair of highly powerful dart rounds into her trusty shotgun while Mark's fancy new sniper zeroed in on the target. The open ground had some patches of tall grass and bushes, but was almost completely barren. Dima, Redemption's prime stealth expert, observed the ground ahead and drew up a plan of attack.

Atop the Duga antenna complex, a zealot patrol, mixed from elements of Sin and Monolith, observed the grasslands before the antenna. The antenna was lightly defended, the anomaly fields blocking all known routes to it and the streets before patrolled at close intervals. The fanatic squadleader checked his clock and yawned, still three hours of watch left. Serving Vyraj was his life goal, but sometimes even the glorious crusade could be boring. These were his final thoughts however, his role in the crusade ending as a 5.56 millimetre rifle round penetrated his left side, crushed his ribs and punctured his both lungs. Monolith fighter noticed him collapse, but a dart from a shotgun caved his head in, making him fall down the radar installation.

While the rest of the cultist squad was ripped to shreds by accurate gunfire, figures darted across the open ground from one vegetation to another. They reached the foot of the antenna as the final Sinner hit the ground with a sickening thud. Dima gave everyone their orders and they set to work, placing plastic explosives and dynamite across the entire Duga platform. Dima kept watch, his Val barrel swaying across the horizon as he looked for interceptors. All seemed to be going great, and Vlad went to place the trigger to a position away from the blast. Satisfied with the successful conclusion to the mission so far, Dima turned to check on the others.

Just as he was about to order everyone to head back into forest cover, a noise came from the east that froze his blood. A helicopter, once more bearing the markings of Wish Granter, swooped from behind the largest trees, its gunmounts glimmering in the winter sun. Dima spun around to yell for Vlad to head to cover, but it was far too late. The Clear Sky stalker, immersed into his work, noticed the chopper only when rockets struck his position. Dima screamed for everyone to seek cover and darted towards the forest, when impact unlike anything he had felt before raised him from the ground and spun him across the air. Dima landed down face first, the SEVA screen helmet cracking from the shock, and the world turned into darkness and pain.