Chapter CXIV: Intervention

 Dark Valley had seen many a battle. Conflicts between fledling Freedom faction and its enemies, mercenaries and Duty, in 2011. Strelok's slaughter of the bandits in 2012. Multifactional assault on same bandits much later when Boris first arrived there. But rarely had such battles taken place inside the fortress-like northern facility, between two groups of bandits. Usually bandit power struggles are swift and with little actual bloodletting, a thug killing his direct boss in a dark alley when said boss has enjoyed too many adult beverages, or a completely unsuspicious tragedy of a rival bandit happening to stumble into a Fruit Punch anomaly. Even big bandit bosses like Borov and Sultan preferred to directly strike their adversaries instead of using their footsoldiers to duke it out.

This made the current situation all the more unexpected. Olivius was leading his "loyalists" up the hill, next to the rancid pipe puddle and into the through the eastern gate. Reefer's band of greenhorns was holding off the most of Livid's fighters. Reefer and his two veteran companions, Pavlukha Defunct and Vitya Carp, had taken the gas station building quickly and quietly, allowing the rest of the rookies to fortify it in preparation. While most of them still relied on simple weaponry like Obrez Mosins, TOZ shotguns and old AKs, Polymer had entrusted one of them, Vetal Dead Duck, with the vaunted PTRS rifle. He now lay on top of the building, firing the heavy 14.5 millimetre anti-tank rounds into the walls and windows of the base.

Livid's boys had at first responded to the Redemption attack with the usual arrogance and swagger of bandits, but as the first Black Slug practically disintegrated from a large round, this quickly turned to panic. And now, Dimuha's band of veterans had joined the fight. Dimuha himself led from the front, taking Boris' example to heart, and his newly liberated RPK brought great punishment to the bandits. He made his way through the maze-like bandit base, knowing every twist and turn like the back of his hand. Two Black Slugs tried to ambush him in the staircases, one firing from the upper level while another struck him as he turned the barrel towards the one on the upper floor. Dimuha fired a burst quickly at the one on the third floor, before circling behind a corner.

Leva came to the rescue. The stealthy ex-merc had taken a different route and was now on the top floor, right under the blue sky. He painted the floor below him red as he planted two SKS shots into the bandit hiding there, surprising him completely. The one on Dimuha's floor tried to run, but outrunning a machine gun is not a task for the faint of heart. The Slug was shredder in seconds. Leva joined Dimuha on the lower floor and covered his leader as Dimuha removed a malfunction.

• Livid may have been one brutal kozyol to take this place from Olivius and form some order to the bandits, but he sure doesn't know how to maintain his guns. Thanks for the help, Leva, this thing is a bigger bitch than my ex-wife, Dimuha grunted.

• You've been married? You don't look that old?, Leva asked, raising his brow behind the screen helmet.

• I'm not, but I got married young. Too bad the woman wasn't exactly as faithful as one would expect in an ideal world. Divorce cost me dearly, hence I ended up here. But enough chit-chat, we've got more Slugs to waste, Dimuha answered, finally removing the malfunction.

They moved forward with haste, turning to check rooms while covering each other. The booming PTRS shots coming from the outside resonated even inside the massive facility. A particularly brave bandit, which in itself is already a rare enough trait with them, tried to intercept them in the garage hall door, receiving a bayonet to the stomach from Leva. As life left his eyes, he cursed the Redeemed sergeant like a sailor who had undergone a sudden surprise split. Then he groaned once and slumped over as Leva pulled out the blade.

• Bayonet? Really? What is this, battle of Stalingrad?, Dimuha asked jokingly.

• If it's stupid but it works, it ain't stupid, like Boris used to say, Leva replied with a grin that soon died out as he was reminded of their leader.

• Come, let us not dwell on it now. Look, three urods trying to make a break for it!, Dimuha yelled and fired after three Black Slugs that had left their cover in the backroom.

One of them dropped on the ground, wounded, but his comrades didn't even look at him as he pleaded for his brothers to help. Dimuha frowned and jumped off the upper floor, landing safely on the ground level thanks to his exoskeleton supporting him. The bandit was trying to take his Fort pistol out of its holster but failed horribly. Dimuha raised his RPK and said quietly:

• Last chance to surrender. Take it or a bullet to the head.

The bandit slowly let go of the pistol handle and raised his hands. The other two bandits outside were caught in a crossfire from the gas station and Olivius' men, Hip's dart rounds claiming one and Limpid's MAC-10 the other. There was still some sort of fighting going on in the lower levels of the main building, Valik and Stepukha pressuring the last surviving bandits. In the garage area opposite of the hall Dimuha was now in, three Black Slugs tried to hold off Reefer's men and Pug, but the experienced Zone-dwellers dispatched off them amongst the wrecked vehicles quickly. Last of the surviving Slugs tried to use the vehicle trench to hide himself but Pug's grenade ended that plan quickly. As the action died down, Olivius entered the hall with Dimuha and nodded to the Redemption leader.

• Long time no see, Loaf, how you holding up?, the bandit trader-turned-leader asked.

• Better than you, it seems. This is the second time I've had to save your ass, Dimuha said with a dry smile.

• That time in Rostok hardly counts, I would've gotten away with the plan if not for Snitch being... Well, Snitch.

• Stubborn as always. But you definitely owe me for this. You guys had your ass hanging in the breeze and if we didn't intervene in this fiasco, said ass would've been slapped redder than Sidorovich on chili chicken day!

• I'll give you that. I bet you did not do this out of the kindness in your heart? I know you Redemption guys are real fucking hippies when it comes to the Zone factions, but that leader of yours with the ridiculous nickname and Sultan never got along. But before we talk business, I'll deal with the cockroach in the room, Olivius said, and with a lightning-fast movement of the hand pulled out his pistol and shot the wounded bandit in the head.

• Olivius, blyat, he was my prisoner! Dimuha protested, raising his RPK but lowering it as he realized the bandits in the room had pointed their guns at him.

• And he was my enemy. Now, let's go, I'm sure we have better things to discuss than the fate of this lowlife.

Dimuha looked at the dead bandit bleeding out on the floor, hole in his skull and empty eyes staring at the ceiling. He sighed and holstered his new machine gun. Had he miscalculated in trusting Olivius? Perhaps. But it was a mistake he was willing to make, just this once, to help further his cause for saving his friends. It was all that mattered to him now.

A few rooms away and one level down, Valik and Stepukha finished looting the corpses of the now dead Black Slugs who had tried to hide in the basement of the bandit base. A whimpering cry coming from the cell nearby alerted them, and Valik turned check what was going on. He noticed a figure laying on the floor behind the bars. Clearly tortured and badly wounded. What caught Valik's attention was the Sin suit the prisoner was wearing. What was a Sinner doing this far south? Valik tried a few keys he had looted on the door, until finally it clicked and opened. He closed on the prisoner with Stepukha covering him, until he was standing next to the pitiful creature. The Sinner shot up a gaze at him and Valik realized who it was. Psoglav, the Sinner they had captured at Limansk. Before Valik could say a thing, the Sinner fainted and Stepukha turned to shout for Vova.