//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Life Under the Sword of Damocles // Story: See the Zone and Survive // by RoadRunneR //------------------------------// Chapter 10 Life Under the Sword of Damocles I jolted awake, taken by a fit of coughing. My whole body felt numb, I was cold and the floor was wet. The scent of... cooking meat came to my nostrils, making me gag in disgust. I tried to move but something was keeping my mouth shut, my legs were tied up and... a leash was attaching me to the wall. I groaned in pain. My head was throbbing and my right wing was killing me again. There were voices around me... Where am I? I observed the room I was in. A few people clad in long black coats were speaking while sitting at a table and playing a card game. I heard voices from the outside. Someone was coming. The door slammed open and five dark figures entered the room, wearing long coats and one wearing power armor. The one clad in mechanical armor ordered the others to go outside, leaving both of us alone. “Hmmm yes... Thanks to you I’ll be rich!” He lowly growled, removing his helmet. “But first...” I instantly recognized him. I recognized where I was. But that’s impossible! He’s dead! All of this already happened! The man moved his hand to touch my muzzle, and began to stroke my neck and my chest, down to my stomach... descending lower and lower... I desperately twisted my whole body, trying to escape from his dreadful touch. I don’t want this, no no please, not again, I don’t wanna be here, somepony get me out of here! “Don’t you fucking move, bitch! I own you now!” shouted Barin. He punched me in the face and my vision faded for a second, obscured by dancing lights. I felt his fist hit the side of my face again, and everything went black. I regained consciousness to hear Barin talking. I was still in the same place, only this time, I was strapped to a table, my back forcefully pressed against the cold metal of the piece of furniture. My forelegs were attached together, my wings were restrained, and... my hind legs were forced spread out. I began to hyperventilate. I heard my captor chuckle. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought I was crazy, but I quickly realized you were real... and I decided to make a profit out of it,” he said. “You are a very valuable item to my clients: you’ve got fucking MAGIC out of all things!” He laughed. His joyful laugh filled me with fear and dread. He seemed to really enjoy what he was doing. “W-why?...” I asked weakly, a tear of despair rolling down my cheek. Barin entered my field of view. “But for money of course! Why else?” he asked casually. “You’ll be sold to some scientists and they’ll be very happy to dissect you,” he explained. “But first... I’m gonna have my fun,” he added, grinning maniacally. I began trembling uncontrollably. “W-what are you doing? get away from me!”I yelled, trying to cast a defensive spell. The throbbing in my head intensified, forcing me to fall limp. Barin punched me again and grabbed my horn, almost breaking it in half. “Don’t try anything funny, or I’ll break that horn of yours, then I’ll break every bone in your body,” he growled. “It will reduce your value, and I’d like to keep your worth a maximum, so don’t... just don’t,” he said, stroking my stomach. I shuddered in disgust. Please... someone help me! I don’t want to do this! “Look at you, whimpering and trembling. You’re pathetic,” he spat. He punched me one more time. “And so fragile...” he added, before punching me again. “Taking advantage of someone else have never been easier.” I felt everything spin around me and my vision faded to red. I don’t want to... no! I felt myself say one word. “NO.” ... I felt my hearing come back progressively. I could make out the cracks of a burning fire around me and there were several muffled voices, sounding closer and closer by the minute. “Wha... ...uck... -ppened?” “Shit! Everythin... -urning!” I stayed there, waiting for something to happen. Slowly, my vision turned back to normal... everything around me was burned, broken or melted. I could see nothing but piles of rubble, ash and molten metal. The sickening stench of smoke and burned flesh was lingering in the air. I noticed I wasn’t tied up anymore. I slowly rolled on my side, gasping for air as my mind tried to get a grasp on what happened. I didn’t know what had happened, I didn’t know where I was anymore, I didn’t even know if I was still alive. I saw a dark, tall figure looming over me. I reached towards it and, with all the strength I could muster, called for help. “H-h-help-p... m-me...” The figure turned around. “That’s it!” it yelled over its shoulder. “...cking psycho mutant!” I felt something impact my face. It hurt. A warm liquid coming from my nose made its way down my muzzle. It had a ferrous taste to it. Blood. I watched helplessly as the figure over me was joined by others and raised an appendage in the air, only to hit me in brutally in the face. A jolt of pain coursed my head. I could feel a headache coming on. Another dark figure took a step back. something hit me in the stomach. I felt something crack and an acute nausea took hold of me. Another blow landed, on my side this time. It almost broke one of my wings. I started to laugh. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Hahahahaha. Hahahahaha. Ha. Ha. Ha.Ha.” The blows never stopped, punctuated by my laughter which was slowly becoming hysterical. “Hahahahahahahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Suddenly, I felt it. A tremendous amount of energy coursed through my body, overloading my senses with pain. I arched my back and open my mouth a in a silent scream of pure sufferance. Suddenly, as fast as it as it started, it stopped. My vision was blurred and my ears were ringing. I panted, catching my breath as I tried to understand what happened. A jolt of energy coursed through my body. I wasn’t in control anymore. I felt a huge shockwave harmlessly wash over me, accompanied with a tremendous amount of heat. My hearing went out. My eyesight faded to a blinding shade of white and all my senses faded, overloaded in a haze of incomprehensible information. I stood up and approached one of the dark figures that was now laying on the ground. No, my body stood up and approached the dark figure. I didn’t want to move. I only wanted to run away, to flee from this wretched place. I had enough, I wanted to get away, I wanted comfort, not this. Such death and destruction was beyond that of what I was capable... I was only a spectator. I could only watch in horror as my body telekinetically lifted one of the dark forms at eye level and observed it. It was a fairly young man, clad in a long, dark coat. Slowly, he opened his eyes, seemingly regaining consciousness. I wanted to yell, to tell him to break free and run away, but I couldn’t. Not anymore. My body examined the man, before it snarled, threw him to the ground before it and raised a hoof. The man on the ground raised an arm and began to beg for his life. “No... No no no no! Please no!” I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t. “I got a wife and a kid on the outside I’m only here to help them PLEASE N-” I watched helplessly as my body acted on its own and crushed the skull of the man under its hoof before it raise its gaze to the smoke obscured sky and laughed. It laughed. I... it had just mercilessly killed a man begging for his life and family and it... I laughed. It laughed. It... I laughed. I laughed. *BANG* I felt something hit the back of my neck, interrupting my laughter. A jolt of pain coursed through my body and I stumbled forwards. Slowly, I... it... I turned around, only to see another man laying on the ground, shakily holding a still smoking pistol. I lowered my head and, without hesitating, unleashed a torrent of flames towards the poor soul. I could only listen to his screams as he was incinerated alive, smell his skin melting and his flesh boiling, slowly turning into nothing but a scorched corpse laying on the ground, what was left of his limbs raised defensively over him. The sight made me want to gag, to throw up and run away, but I couldn’t. I was... forced to snort, turn around and slowly leave the smoldering ruins of the building where I had been kept hostage. Only then I noticed my appearance... my coat was a bright, almost blinding shade of white, my mane and tail were on fire, but not a normal fire. No, this fire was a bright blue. My mind went blank as I slaughtered each and every one of the men in the compound. One by one, they all fell. Some tried to fight back. Some tried to run away. Some even tried to beg. It didn’t matter. I killed them. All of them. One by one. Brutally, gruesomely, without mercy. … I must have blacked out at some point during my berzerk state, because I was on an old road. The brutal surge of magic had ended, leaving me in control once again and utterly exhausted. I felt dizzy. The world was spinning round me. I felt my legs buckle under my weight and fell to my side abruptly. I could only lay there, my body shaken with sobs of guilt and sorrow as I was reminded of the terrible things I had just done. I tried to stand up, only to fall over once more. My head hit the ground. everything went black. “GUUUUUUUUUUUHHHH” I woke up with a start and looked around, panicked. Metallic, rusted walls. A mattress underneath me. Strider sleeping peacefully next to me. I sighed in relief. I was in the dorms aboard the Skadovsk, the old stranded ship broken in half serving of base to the Loners in the swamps of Zaton. We were many in there, it wasn’t luxurious, but it provided warmth and protection against the weather and the mutants of the Zone. I suppressed a shudder at the remembrance of the nightmare and snuggled myself against Strider, trying to find sleep once more. Then I felt an arm comfortingly reach around my chest. I relaxed and stopped trembling almost instantly. “There, there. All over now,” Strider reassuringly said. “I had that flashback again,” I admitted. “You know which one. Only this time, it was even more vivid. I didn’t think I would ever have to deal with it anymore.” I sighed. “Intense stress does that,” softly said Strider, “And the recent events have been quite... troubling.” What an euphemism. He wasn’t wrong though. Being stranded in an alien world, captured, held prisoner, tortured and... and... it wasn’t enough apparently. I had to deal with the fact that someone wanted my friends, my companion and I dead too. “But who? Who could be after us? And why?” I asked. “The PDA only mentioned one name: Jackal; but no mention was made about who he actually is or why he is after us,” Strider replied, gently stroking my mane. “I do have an idea or two. There may have a connection to the bandits back in Jupiter, but I will have to ask around for someone who could get as much information out of it and help us investigate. Maybe I could ask about space bubbles, too. At least we would know if there is a way for you to get home.” Home... There, wrapped in Strider’s arms, I felt secure, yet I felt lost. I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t know if I wanted. On one side, I had to go back to Equestria, it was my duty; but it would mean I’d have to leave Strider... and that, I couldn’t. “I don’t want to leave you,” I muttered. “I love you.” “I love you too,” Strider replied, hugging me tightly and kissing my neck. I helped Celestia put on her armored suit. She moved around, making sure her suit was correctly in place before she levitated my elbow pads and helped me put them on. We had some sort of morning routine by then; we would help each other get in gear and then we would move out after a light breakfast. Nothing special, nothing romantic; but I liked the proximity these simple acts brought. “So what’s the plan for today?” asked my alicorn as I gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I will have to order a new sniper rifle from this Nimble merchant,” I replied, pensive. “Should not take long. After that, we will move out, I suppose. Vano wanted to hunt for artifacts, but what we need now is a job. Wanted dead or not, we need to make money, after all.” That was true. Money is a constant issue in the Zone. I never had to complain, as work is plentiful and I usually managed to save up more than enough but sometimes I had to do a little extra or two. Considering I had spent quite a lot on Celestia’s gear and I was going to spend even more on a new rifle, I could not afford to slack off. “I’m coming with you,” replied the radiant alicorn. I gave her a smile and let her exit the dorms before we climbed the stairs to the upper deck of the Skadovsk, where the famous Nimble had established his quarters. I made sure Celestia watched her step as we entered the room where the merchant had set up shop. It was underwhelming to say the least. There was only an old bed, a chair and an overturned barrel serving as a bench to a man in his thirties clad in a hooded suit very much like Snag’s. The only ‘personal’ touches to the room were a guitar resting against the wall behind the man and a handgun on the chair next to him. Nothing indicated that he was the famous merchant dealing with rare and specialized weaponry. “Are you Nimble?” I asked the man. “Indeed, stalker. Came here to place an order?” he replied. “Yes. I need a sniper weapon. Something semi automatic, accurate, and that hits hard,” I explained. “Hard hitting, eh?” I nodded. “Yes. I need it to be able to pierce exoskeleton armor even at long ranges.” The hooded merchand held his chin, pensive. “I see. Exoskeleton armor eh? That’s a lot of firepower you’re asking for here.” “How much will it be then?” I asked. “Twenty thousand, I’ll have to ask you four thousand in advance,” announced Nimble. “Might be a few thousand more if you want some ammo with it.” “No, take it all,” I replied, handing the merchant ten bills two thousand roubles. “When will it be ready?” “Tomorrow at the very most. Shouldn’t take much more than a few hours though, you are lucky stalker, one of my contacts recently entered in possession of just what you need,” replied Nimble, standing up. “What name should I put on the order?” “Strider.” The merchant nodded and took note. “Allright. I’ll be on my way now. See you later stalker,” he added, grabbing his rifle. Celestia and I just stood there, watching Nimble walk out of the room, giving me a nod and tapping on his PDA. “Well, At least he doesn’t lose time faffing about,” stated the radiant alicorn by my side. I brought a hand to the side of her swanlike neck. “Come, let’s go see what the others are up to,” I said. I ruffled my wings and walked down the stairs with Strider to the main area where the stalkers regrouped to socialize, the cargo hull of the stranded ship. The bar was installed there, unsurprisingly. The ceiling was very high and everything was made of metal, except for the tables most stalkers were sitting at. Some even sat directly on the floor, playing the guitar or the harmonica while talking in various languages, most of which I didn’t understand. I sighed contentedly. I had grown to like this atmosphere, filled with smoke, music and voices overlapping. It was anonymous yet welcoming and gave a comfy feeling overall. I didn’t even have the time to react when I was shoved aside by an angry Snag climbing the stairs Strider and I were coming from. I stumbled backwards, trying to regain my balance but fell to the metallic floor with a thud. Vano stood up from the bar he was sitting at and approached us, distressed expression on his face. “What in the Zone happened here?” asked Strider, helping me up. Vano sighed. “Snag’s a coward, that’s what happened.” “Care to explain?” I asked with an eyebrow raised. “I’m a bit lost here.” “He’s afraid since the Mercs attacked us yesterday and tried to talk me into leaving you guys alone and stay hidden in here... fuck,” said the giant, disapprovingly shaking his head. Strange... they seemed to get along more than well. “But, weren’t you two... you know, an item?” “Sort of. I just hope he’ll get his head out of his ass sometime. Hiding doesn’t solve problems,” replied Vano with a sigh. “Well, at least he should be safe if he stays here,” he muttered the giant under his breath. I gave the giant a sympathetic look and nodded. “He will be back, I am sure. But you are right. We can’t stay here all day, I hate sitting idle for too long,” I added. “We have to find something to do,” started Strider. “I am near broke, Celestia is far from rich and with all the new equipment you bought, I am certain that your wallet is empty too, Vano.” The giant scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. I’m fairly sure I even owe some money to the tech heads back at Yanov,” he admitted, earling a disapproving glare from his friend. “Better get moving. Maybe Beard will have something.” “Beard?” I asked. “Yeah, the barman.” Strider shrugged. “Allright.” We walked to the bar, where a bald man with a beard even bigger than Vano’s was behind, cleaning some glasses. Some of the stalkers gave me a wary glance as I passed by, most of them which weren’t present when Strider, Vano, Snag and I arrived at the Skadovsk last evening. I have to say, these people are unsettling: while some freaked out, most of them seemed barely surprised to see me, even in a full set of armor and weapons. Even at first contact they were never afraid, only... wary. Maybe it did have to do with the fact that I was wearing armor and weapons, things they could identify. Vano was about to greet the barman when I spotted several figures clad in long, dark coats that were all too familiar. My first reaction upon noticing their presence was fear. I wanted to run, to escape, to put as much distance as possible between these men and I. My second reaction was anger, hate, and a primal urge to take my shotgun and blast them all on the spot. “What are they doing here?” I growled. Vano snorted. “Ask Beard.” The bearded barman behind the counter eyed me curiously for a second then shrugged. “Sorry little one, that’s the way it is here: I got nothing against ’em aboard the Skadovsk, so long as they act decent. After all, you don’t meet total douchebags all that often. Some of them are actually former stalkers. who knows, one of them poor bastards might actually decide to give up on the crook business before he catches a bullet... life is full of surprises. Besides, Owl makes a lot of business with them.” ‘You don’t meet total douchebags all that often’? Yeah, right. “They better keep their distances,” I heard Strider mutter. I bought some food from Beard and sat down at the bar next to Strider. He was munching on a sandwich, eyeing cautiously the bandits next to us, while Vano was talking with the barman. “Say Beard, you got any work?” asked the giant. The barman turned around from his inventory. “Me? Unfortunately no, but you could try your luck with Owl upstairs.” Strider stood up. “Alright, it beats sitting idle while Nimble gets my new rifle,” he said, before taking a bite of his sandwich. “By the way, Beard, is there anyone good at cracking these?” he asked, holding up two PDAs. “I need somebody to juice out all the info they contain.” The barman let out a laugh. “Same guy. Owl’s your man for trading equipment, cracking security protocols and dealing information. He’s got quite a wide network of snitches and informers.” “Thank you old man,” Strider finished before walking out of the room. Celly watched as Strider walked back upstairs where the merchants were situated. I could see a look on her face, a look I had never seen before. A longing look. I knelt down next to the alicorn. “Hey, don’t worry, he’s coming back,” I said, ruffling her mane. “He’s only getting us a job,” I added with a laugh. Celly smiled. “Yeah, I know. It’s complicated.” “What is?” asked the giant. “You look comfy together.” “It’s not about that... it’s about our future,” Celly replied. “I mean, I am not from this world, I must return to Equestria, to my subject, my duties... but I don’t want to leave him.” I pursed my lips. “Well then, that’s simple: he goes with you. Hell even I could go!”, I announced. “We could even mount a scientific expedition and-” I stopped, breathing for air and calming down. “I think it’s a good idea. I mean, we effectively made first contact with an alien species, yours; I’m sure the UN and all these guys would be interested. Also there’s all the cultural exchange bullshit we could put in place... that would give you two an excuse to stay together,” I added, pensive. Celly looked at me and pulled me into a hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” she said, her voice cracking. “You’re welcome, I guess, I replied. “It’s just a dumb idea you know.” It was silly, really. Nothing seemed to overjoy the little alicorn more than knowing she would be able to stay with my friend. I guess it gave her hope. “No it’s not. I really needed something to look forwards to,” muttered the alicorn. “I couldn’t bear the idea of-” The alicorn suddenly stopped talking and I felt her tense up in my arms. I looked over my shoulder, only to let out a grunt of exasperation at the sight. Three men were there, all clad in long coats and carrying shotguns. The one in the center was short, fat, bald and was eyeing Celestia in a way I didn’t like at all. Bandits. “Interesting,” he simply said. Beard, who was standing behind his bar, snorted. “Sultan, what a displeasure to see you,” he contemptuously said. “Shut up,” snapped the thug. “And you,” he growled, turning towards Celestia. “I know what you’ve done. I know of your sins, and all the good men you killed,” spat the bald bandit. “Though I should thank you for getting rid of Jack, now I’ll be able to take over his business.” “There’s literally nothing left to take over,” coldly answered Celestia. “Nothing.” Sultan shrugged. “I know, makes the job even easier.” Beard laughed from behind his counter. “You must be insane. You didn’t have the balls to go after the Major despite him spoiling your operations and you couldn’t even drive me out of business no matter how hard you tried, what makes you think you still hold any kind of power?” he asked aloud. “That’s right. You’re nothing, and currently you’re using my patience,” he added at Sultan’s lack of reply, before turning around. “So get off my ship,” he finished, not even bothering to look at the bandits. “Oh I’ll show you. Boys,” he said, raising a hand and switching his gaze to Celestia. Immediately, the two men by his side raised their weapons. Beard froze at the sound of the shotgun’s pumps. He turned around, disbelief on his face. The whole bar fell silent. “What are you going to do? Shoot me down in front of everyone?” he yelled. “You always tried to fuck the Loners over, you think anyone here will let this slip?” “What the Hell is going on here?” asked a familiar voice. I watched my step as I entered the room where the trader had set up shop. It was a fairly bland place, with only decoration a bare counter, rust on the walls and various items and guns on the shelves behind a half bald middle aged man clad in a coat bandits would find to their taste. “Are you Owl?” I asked. “What does it look like? Of course I am,” retorted the man, bemused. “If you've got something spill the beans; if not, take a hike,” he said with a strange accent. “I have this,” I replied, holding up the PDAs originally belonging to Jack and the leader of the Merc squad that had attacked us. “Show me.” I handed the PDAs to the information dealer, who instantly snatched them off my grasp and examined them. After fumbling with the device for a while, he smiled. “Very, very interesting, stalker,” the trader began. “I think I can give you... let’s say five thousand roubles for each.” “Keep your money,” I replied, to Owl’s surprise. “I need you to look for information. Everything there is in these PDAs is yours to keep, but I want to know a few things: who the owner of these devices worked for, everything you can find on them, their contacts, everything. Oh, and also the location of all the space bubbles you can find. All of them.” Owl scrutinized me. “I see. I’ll let you know if I find anything.” I scratched my head. “Do you need anything done?” I asked. “My squad and I are looking for a job.” “No. No jobs available.” I sighed and nodded to the trader, turned around and headed for the exit of the room. “Don’t let the door hit you,” Owl snickered. I rolled my eyes. The man was an ass but at least he seemed professional and without ties, good points for someone in his line of work. At least things were in motion now. All we had to do was wait and/or find something to do. I climbed down the stairs and entered bar. “What are you going to do? Shoot me down in front of everyone?” I heard the local barman yell. “You always tried to fuck the Loners over, you think anyone here will let this slip?” Beard was there, held at gunpoint by two thugs in dark coat while another one was looking avidly at my alicorn, my sunshine, my princess; and I did not like that at all. I did not exactly know what was going on, but putting two and two together was not hard. Bandits. Middle one is their leader; might have some information about who Jack worked for. His intentions are clear enough. I decided to intervene. “What the hell is going on here?” I asked aloud. Instantly, one of the bandits pointed his shotgun at me. I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow, gazing at Beard and Vano, before I gave the bandit a disappointed look. *click* *clack* *thaclick* *ka-clack* Suddenly, the thug threatening me found himself looking down the barrels of a custom Mossberg 88, an accurized FN FAL, an A2000 SMG and even a small Makarov pistol, all surrounded by the familiar glow of Celestia’s telekinesis. “Point that away from him,” growled my alicorn. *click* *click* *tha-clack* I swiftly drew my modified Beretta and my M1911 and trained them at the bald bandit in the middle while Vano raised his automatic shotgun and aimed it at the other one. The thugs took a step back, their leader’s gaze darting between us nervously. By then he and his men were held at gunpoint by Celestia, Vano and I. We completely outgunned them, not to mention the stalkers around us looked ready to take action if the situation degenerated. The bald thug grunted. “Let’s go boys,” he said, standing up. With that, the three men slowly turned around and walked out the door on the far side of the cargo hull leading to the outside of the stranded ship. “Good riddance,” said Vano with a snort, lowering his shotgun. Beard rolled his eyes. “Don’t you worry, they’ll be back. Like cockroaches, they are VERY hard to get rid of.” “A bullet to the brain does the job very well,” I muttered with a frown. Beard looked at me, as if he had heard what I said. He scratched his chin, looked at Vano, then Celestia, then back at me. “You guys look like you mean business. You’re still looking for a job, eh?” he asked. “Yeah,” confirmed Vano, eyebrow raised. “Ever since the Major drove them out, Sultan and his thugs tried to come back. I tried to be nice to them, but they’re generally a pain in the ass to everyone on this ship. He crossed one too many times and had to be dealt with. I need you to track them down, locate their hideout, and if you can, kill them all,” explained the barman. “Without their leaders, the local bandits will be disorganized and the loners will have some breathing room.” Celestia shuffled back and forth hesitantly. “I do not kn-” “We will do it,” I interrupted. My alicorn looked at me, surprised. “Are you sure you-” “Yes,” I simply said. "At this point, we are doing community service." The weather was just as freezing as the day before. The sun was high up in the sky, a cold wind blew the land, snow covered everything and the vegetation was mostly frozen solid, just like the swamps of Zaton. According to the local stalkers, it had been a river used back and forth by freight boats at some point. How did it dry up and became the stinking swamp that it is today was beyond their knowledge however. But I digress. We weren't there to admire the nonexistent sight, we were walking. So far the bandits we were tracking didn’t notice us, even if they were constantly checking if they weren’t followed. Of course, Strider’s knowledge helped. While Vano was good at hunting down the wildlife of the Zone, Strider was far better at being stealthy and staying out of sight of his targets. We stayed a few hundred meters back from our targets, constantly evolving between bushes and taking cover in the relief of the terrain. “Why were you so adamant to take Beard’s job?” I asked Strider, a concerned look on my face. “It’s strange, even coming from you.” “I saw how that ‘Sultan’ was looking at you,” he replied. “I know that look; I have seen it before. I do not want another play of what happened with Barin.” I flinched and looked away at the mention of the name. Even after having destroyed him, even with all this behind me, I couldn’t bear to hear the name of the man who held me prisoner and nearly abused of me. I could feel my lover’s concerned gaze on me. To my relief, he didn’t push the issue further. He did have a point though. He was only trying to protect me, and we would make money in the meantime. Making money out of killing, how far down have you fallen, Celestia? I sighed. Not that far to be honest; but pretty hard and most likely on the head. At least we are doing a favor to the people of the Skadovsk. I shook my head and looked in the distance. We were heading East, and I could see in the distance some kind of flat-hull boat with a barge next to it in a pond surrounded by the shimmer of many gravitational anomalies. The bandits we were following were already approaching the boat. Vano stopped and looked through his binoculars. “The old dredge station, eh?” Strider nodded. “Of course they would settle there. Lots of anomalies around and only one secure point of entry, makes for good protection against mutants... not so much against a well organized squad. If we put a sniper on the hill directly South of here and send heavy firepower down the choke point, we will be able to wipe out the entire place in a matter of minutes, maybe even less with a few well placed grenades. This place is literally a dead end for them.” We sat there, on a hill a few hundred meters from the bandit camp, observing their movements. There was a well-equipped guy standing on top of what looked like a small crane, looking at his surroundings through the scope of a bolt action scoped rifle. Some of them were inside, I could see them through the windows of the barge, handling equipment and weapons. The rest were outside, either standing still or walking around, weapons in hand. A few were sitting around a campfire on the barge. “I spotted their sniper,” Strider announced. “On the crane thingy facing North?” I asked. “Correct. I count fourteen outside,” he added. “Celestia?” “Yes?” “You are on sniper detail. Your callsign is White.” I raised an eyebrow. “Callsign?” “Names so we don’t get confused on radio and nobody knows who we actually are if our transmissions were intercepted,” explained Vano. “A fad of his,” added the giant, rolling his eyes. “Seems a bit complicated... can I pick yours?” I asked innocently. “But we already have callsigns!” Strider protested. Vano crossed his arms. “I’d rather hear the lady first, I’m sure it’s better than whatever you came up with,” he argued. “So... you’re Tallman,” I said, pointing at Vano, “And you’re Cuddles,” added with a smirk. Vano laughed. “See? I told you! Way better!” Strider sighed. “In this case, your callsign is Snowball. Take care love,” he quipped, stealing a quick kiss on my lips. “Cuddles, moving out,” he added, walking in the direction of the bandit camp. “Tallman, Oscar Mike,” Vano added mockingly before he followed Strider. The area around the dredge was way completely flat with little to no cover, only a few thick bushes to hide behind but that was it. The sun was high up in the sky too. Stealth was out of question this time. “Ugh. I do not like this terrain,” I told Vano, putting on my helmet. “Tell me about it. The second we open fire we’ll get lit up like we stepped into a Burner,” replied my friend, imitating me. I nodded and grabbed my radio on my shoulder. “Snowball, this is Cuddles. I need you to engage their sniper unit and lay down long range suppressing fire before we engage, how copy?” There was a moment of silence. “What does ‘how copy’ mean?” asked Celestia’s voice over the radio. Vano facepalmed. “Uh, it means ‘do you understand, and implies that I you to repeat dear,” I deadpanned. “Oh. I copy Cuddles. Take out the sniper and shoot everywhere.” I sighed. “Also, call your name on the radio and warn us before you shoot. Cuddles, out.” I let go of the radio and crouched behind a bush next to Vano. “First time us three get into actual trouble together,” noticed my friend. I chuckled. “You are right, actually.” “Cuddles this is Snowball. Firing,” came Celestia’s voice through the radio. The bandit on the dredge let go of his rifle and fell down. *BANG* Right as the body of the sniper hit the muddy ice of the frozen swamp, her shot resonated in the distance. Immediately, the whole compound was on high alert. Most of the bandits stood up, took their weapons and dived behind the nearest crate, metal barrier or wall. Vano nodded in appreciation. “Nice shot.” “Fire in the hole,” I called, throwing two F1 grenades and two RGD-5 grenades in quick succession. I laid down on the ground, bracing for the explosions. “Vnimaniye! Granata!!” A bandit tried to warn his associates, only he was way too late. One after another, each grenade exploded, sending lethal shockwaves and hot shrapnel everywhere, killing or wounding everybody who did not take cover in a thirty meter radius. The handful of bandits that had survived the grenades were laying on the ground, wounded and completely disoriented. A few of them began to stood up. “Snowball, put the rest of them down.” “On it,” Celestia replied over the radio. All the survivors fell limp one after another, each followed by a crack resonating in the distance. Vano opened fire in the general direction of the dredge boat, not even bothering to aim, riddling the metal walls with holes and forcing the bandits inside to stay behind cover while I stood up and advanced towards the boat. With their only escape route blocked by us, they were trapped aboard the boat and couldn’t move. “Snowball, this is Cuddles, Tallman and I are going in,” Strider announced over the radio. All the bandits that were outside the dredger were now dead. I switched to my USAS-12 and ran to the door of the lower deck of the boat, while Strider forced the ones inside to stay in cover, spraying his rifle in automatic bursts through the now broken windows of the boat as he advanced. “Pest control motherfuckers, you rats got any lasts words?” I yelled before I kicked down the already crippled door with a mighty kick. My already herculean strength, multiplied by my exosuit, tore off the metal door from its hinges and sent it flying with tremendous force to the other side of the room, crushing the bandit standing there. The others opened fire on me, leaving only scratches on the black paint of the titanium plates composing my armor. I raised my shotgun and squeezed the trigger. They were instantly splattered on the walls by a hail of buckshot, their leather coats doing next to nothing in terms of stopping the wall of lead coming towards them at high velocities. “Clear!” I yelled. Strider entered the room, pistols drawn, checked his corners and quickly climbed the stairs to the upper deck of the dredger. I followed him, only to notice that there was nobody there and that a window was broken. Through the smashed opening, I saw our target, Sultan, legging it towards the hill Southbound, in Celly’s general direction. I pulled out my scoped revolver, but he was too far away for me. “Damn, fatty can be fast when he wants to,” I observed, leaning on the broken window the bandit had jumped through. “So now what?” Strider put a hand to the radio on his shoulder. “Snowball, this is Cuddles, how copy?” “Snowball here, I hear you Cuddles.” “Tango primary is running South-South West in your direction. I-” “What do you- oh. I see the fat bastard.” “You are to pursue and disable with extreme prejudice, over.” “Snowball here, understood. I’m in pursuit.” I could see the bandit leader from where I was. Surely enough, the fat man was running in my general direction, not even looking behind him as he fled from the camp now decimated by Strider and Vano. I stood up, secured my rifle on my back and pulled out my A2000. With a powerful flap of my wings, took flight. The pursuit didn’t last long. I soared through the air, circling around my objective like a bird of prey, careful as to not hit any stray anomaly floating in the air. Suddenly, I dived towards the running bandit and landed with all four legs on his back, pinning him to  the ground. I forced man onto his back. It was Sultan alright. He tried to break free, only to receive a hoof on the side of his face for his trouble. “Please, no, I’ll do anything you want I beg you please don’t...” The bandit’s panicked begging faded to nothing as I felt a sharp throbbing pain in the side of my head. I closed my head and grunted in discomfort. When I reopened my eyes, I was back at the bandit camp where I had been held prisoner. There was a man clad in a leather jacket laying on the ground before, begging for his life. “I got a wife and a kid on the outside I’m only here to help them PLEASE N-” I raised a hoof in the air with the intent to crush the man’s skull on the spot. Another throb of pain coursed through my skull, making me stumble and fall to the ground. I felt a weight pin me down to the ground. Felt another surge of pain course through my skull, forcing me to close my eyes. When I reopened them, Sultan was over me, a demented look in his eyes, holding a knife to my throat. Without thinking, I used my magic to retrieve my A2000, swiftly pressed it next to the bandit’s head and fired. I wished I didn’t. The SMG roared to life at its usual very high rate of fire, causing my ears to ring and sending half a dozen bullets out of its barrel in less than half a second, obliterating a good half of the man’s skull, splattering blood and brain matter all over me. I let go of the gun and fell limp, breathing heavily, feeling slightly nauseous. “Celestia!” I heard Strider yell. I heard the grass to my right rustle. The corpse of the bandit was thrown off me. Two hands grabbed me and lifted me off the ground. I looked up, only to see Strider’s worried face. I gave him a weak smile and curled up in a ball in his arms, resting my head on his shoulder. It was over. For now. Celestia in my arms, I headed back to the dredger now devoid of life except for Vano, currently looting the many corpses of the bandits littered around. As I was walking, I looked at my alicorn. “What happened?” My soulmate looked at me, feigning confusion. “W-what do you mean?” she asked. I looked at her with a frown. “You know what I mean. When you caught up with Sultan, you had him, but somehow he got the upper hand. What happened?” We were arrived at what was left of the bandit camp. Vano was looting the corpses and forming a pile with them, whistling a cheery tune. I sat down on a crate on the barge next to the dredger and gently laid Celestia on my lap. “I-I let my guard down for a moment, t-that’s all.” “Do not lie to me,” I replied with a sigh. “Something happened, I know it.” Celestia looked at the ground. “I had a flashback. That flashback.” Back in Jupiter... “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, producing a piece of cloth and a canteen from my backpack. I soaked the piece of cloth in water and used it to gently clean off the blood and gore off my alicorn’s coat. “I had him. Then my head hurt, and I saw that poor man. I will never forget his face. He was terrified, begging for his life, for his family outside the Zone, and I killed him. Like it was nothing, I crushed his head,” she admitted, huddling herself against me. “Next thing I knew, Sultan was there, holding a knife to my throat.” I nodded in understanding. “I see. It seems like intense stress makes the traumatic memory resurface. Unfortunately, the Zone is like this. Horrible things happen -well, people do horrible things to other people mainly- and there is no way to avoid that. It just happens. But do not worry, in time you will be hardened against such things,” I replied as I cleaned her coat of the blood from the bandit. “I should not have left you alone on this hill. I am sorry,” I added with a sigh. “Don’t be, you couldn't know. I’m just lucky to have you by my side,” she replied, giving me a quick kiss. I smiled and caressed her now pristine coat. “Me too... my little snowball.” “Hey Strider! catch!” Vano called, walking up to us. Damn it Vano. Always there to interrupt a moment. I turned my head, only to see a little grey device fly in the air towards me. In a reflex, I swiftly extended and arm and caught it before it hit the ground. “I looted the bodies and piled them up inside. Nothing noteworthy apart from a bolt action rifle and a M16 with a grenade launcher,” said my friend. “Something’s weird though. They were all equipped with Svarog detectors just like the one you’re holding and one of the rooms in there was full of anomaly scanners, measuring equipment and high-end gear. Also their sniper, well... he wasn’t a Bandit,” he added uncomfortably. I frowned. “What do you mean?” I asked, fearing to know where this was going. Without a word, Vano threw me a piece of cloth. I catched it in the air and brought it to eye level. It was a square shaped grey patch with a blue, stylized eagle head embroidered on it. I knew what this little piece of cloth represented. I closed my fist on the patch of cloth. “Shit.” Vano sighed. “Yeah. I think I begin to understand why we were attacked by these Mercs yesterday.” “Interesting,” simply said the bald trader in front of Strider. “There’s clearly a connection between Sultan and these two other phones you gave me this morning.” “Phones?” I asked. “PDAs. Smartphones. Phones. Whatever,” shrugged the trader. “Same purpose.” We were once again aboard the Skadovsk, the broken ship stranded in the swamps of Zaton serving of homebase to most stalkers there. The walk had been uneventful; though a few dogs attacked us, only to be ripped to shreds by automatic fire from our weapons. Beard had paid us well for wiping out the bandits and we wouldn’t have to worry about food for the moment. We were at Owl’s, the trader and snitch there. Vano was sitting on a bench next to me while Strider was leaning on the trader’s counter, taking in the information the bald man was giving. “All of them seemed to know this Jackal guy,” Owl continued. “He’s actually an expert Merc well known for being ruthless, greedy and extremely ambitious. God knows who he’s working for right now, I’ll have to look into that.” “Just send me everything you find on the matter,” interrupted Strider, handing the trader a piece of paper. Owl snorted. “Right. Anyways... Jackal is definitely the one who’s after you, from the looks of it he personally put a price on your heads. What are his motivations? I don’t fucking know.” Strider tapped the counter. “Look into the other PDA. The one I gave you with Sultan’s.” Owl gave my lover a weird look, before he picked up the other device and fumbled with it for a while, tapping at the screen and mumbling to himself. Suddenly, the trader’s eyes widened. “Okay. So they’re after you because-” “Because we killed their employees,” I finished. “And after what happened today, I’m afraid it’s gonna get even worse,” Vano added with a sigh. “But hey, we’re still alive and breathing, so they can bring it on, I’m prepared!” Strider eyed Owl suspiciously. “But if they aren’t happy with us killing bandits, why are you helping us?” he asked. “From what Beard said, you work with them.” The bald trader shrugged. “I buy and sell information. Everyone is a source of info to me. I couldn’t care less if you provoked the wrong person, got eaten by a mutant or walked in an anomaly. You give me intel, I give you money. You give me money, I give you intel. It’s that simple. I’m not helping you, I’m doing my job.” “Then what guarantees us that you will not stab us in the back in return and tell this Jackal what we’re up to?” asked Strider in return. Vano’s eyes widened in surprise. “He wouldn’t.” “Well, the big price is for the guy who actually kills you, and I’m not going to grab a gun and chase after you three in the wilderness,” admitted Owl. “I could however strike a deal with anyone looking for you and have a part of the bounty,” he added with a smirk. “You double-timing, backstabbing motherfucker!” Vano angrily yelled, standing up from the bench and throwing me off balance to the metallic floor in doing so. “It’s how business works, son,” deadpanned Owl, giving the giant an unimpressed look. “But for, let’s say five thousand per head, I can guarantee your secrecy.” Strider knelt next to me. “Then again, what guarantees that you will not betray us?” he asked, helping me back up. Owl gave my lover an offended look. “I am a professional. You pay me for something, you get what you paid for. If anyone asks me about you, you never existed. Any information about you that I come to know of will disappear. If I hear someone talking about you, I’ll let you know and or investigate.” Strider handed the trader a few bills. “Then we have a deal.” he said. Owl raised an eyebrow. “That’s enough for two of you, but you’re three.” “Four. For Snag,” Vano quipped, a pleading look on his face. “He’s got nothing to do with all this mess, I don’t want him to be hurt or killed because of us. Because of me.” I shot the giant a smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll help.” I produced ten bills of a thousand rubles from a pouch on my chest and put them on the counter in front of the expecting trader who eagerly took the money and counted it. Seemingly satisfied with the count, Owl spoke up. “So. Celestia, Vano, Strider, and who’s that Snag?” “A... friend of mine,” hesitantly replied Vano. “The blue hooded stalker drowning himself in booze upstairs,” he clarified with a sigh. “Very well. I’ll be sure to make any info about him I come across disappear.” Vano stood up. “Thank you,” he said, giving me a smile. Strider let out a breath and looked at his PDA. “Only four in the afternoon.” “Fuck it, I vote for staying here,” said Vano, stretching his arms. “I’ll have to agree with him,” I added. “I’m too tired to do anything else today. Besides, Nimble should be back soon, shouldn’t he?” “He should.” Owl coughed and looked up from the PDA he had in his hand. “One last thing... this Jackal, according to the message logs, was looking for rare artifacts, high-end anti-anomaly gear and, strangely enough... asked for measurements from anomalous areas, which confuses me to no end.” Vano scratched his beard. “He’d be working for the Ecologists then?” he asked, a pensive expression on his face. “These bandits did have quite a lot of scientific equipment in stock.” “That would make sense,” replied Owl, his usual scowl back on his face, “Kruglov is out of the equation, he prefers hiring Duty fighters. Maybe Hermann, but it doesn’t fit him. He’s a ‘by the book’ kind of guy, Novikov and Ozersky can testify of that. Hell, I bet even the Major would. Hiring ruthless Mercs like Jackal, let alone bandits, just isn’t his style; that said, he did hire Black before and now he’s working with Hatchet.” “Hatchet? But he’s a bro!” exclaimed Vano a surprised expression on his face. “Still a Merc,” Owl countered. Strider frowned. “Looks like we will pay Hermann and his colleagues a visit,” he announced. “They better have answers.”