//------------------------------// // .:LOG 4:. - Answer the Call // Story: Secrets of the Zone: Ghosts of Chernobyl // by TheFullCrumb //------------------------------// Nimble woke to Twilight's wing slightly slapping him in the face. With a wave of his hand, he attempted to move it from his nose, but to no avail. Sighing, he leaned back, looking directly up at Vano, the Stalker looking down at him with a large smile across his face. Zulu was up talking with Hatchet and his crew, while Kovalsky sat in the corner, writing in a small notebook. Smiling, Nimble shifted himself as best he could from under Twilight's wing without waking her. “Anything you want to say, Vano? Anything?” Nimble's serious tone took Vano by surprise, before he dropped his own carefree smile. He looked back at Hatchet and Zulu, frowning. “While Hatchet has good reputation, I do not trust him, Nimble.” Nimble looked down at the ground, biting his lip as he coughed, the dust causing a cloud to slightly spray from his face covering. He looked over Vano's shoulder at Hatchet, who was staring out at the wilderness around Jupiter. He seemed rather distant, though it could have been because two of his squad members had not returned yet from a scouting trip. “While I would be with you, Hatchet is friend to Twilight, and I do not want to betray trust of hers.” Nimble walked away from Vano, who huffed as he walked in the opposite direction, taking a seat beside Zulu. Nimble stood beside Sparks, rubbing her back as she chattered at him about random knowledge. “They're close, Vano.” “What's that, Zulu?” “Sparks and Nimble, they're close. Like brother and sister. You do know about Nimble's past, right?” Vano could only stare at the big man sitting beside him as he spoke, his mouth hanging open in shock as Zulu drank quietly from a bottle of Checnya Vodka. Vano watched as Nimble pointed towards the door, Sparks smiling as he led her towards the outside, his hand on his gun as a precaution. With a sneer, Vano looked away, staring down at the ground. --------==|0|==-------- Nimble led Sparks outside, smiling under his mask as he pulled a chair behind him, spinning it around so he could sit down, staring up at the sun that filtered down through the clouds above. Pointing up, he waved his hand. “That's where I want to go someday, Sparks. Up into the sky, fly with the birds. You can already, da, but is good to dream. Is good to dream of brighter days.” “Why not stop dreaming and do something about it?” Nimble choked for a minute, looking dead into Sparks' eyes. Her determined expression told him everything he needed to know. “... you still want to go home. To your friends, your family.” Sparks silently nodded as Nimble shook his head, sighing. Pulling the mask down from his face, he let the scars that marked his face show to her, the white lines criss-crossing like a roadmap of pain. “This. This is my penalty for trying to protect my family, Sparks. Russian government comes, kills them, leaves me for dead. I run here, to Zone,” he motioned with his fingers, not smiling the entire time, “and hide from the Spetsnaz and the Ukraine Security Service. I find friends here, but they are idiots.” With that, he lifted his mask, sitting back as he stared up at the slowly moving clouds. Sparks looked down at her hooves, biting her lip. “Nimble, can I ask you something?” “Da, what is it?” “If there was a way to go to my world, to get back to it, would you come with me?” Nimble coughed, pulling down his mask to spit out a wad of mud before he choked on it. “Moya malen'kaya-” “No, Nimble. No more 'malen'kaya loshadka.' I am a STALKER just like you. Maybe not the robber part, but I am like rest of you, comrade!” She stomped her hoof, staring up into the man's face before she stopped. Quiet filled their small area until Nimble started chuckling. With his left hand, he rubbed the top of her head, his eyes softening as a tear fell from them. “You remind me of moya malen'kaya sestra, my little sister, da? She was always, how you say, 'indignant.' Spetznas took her from me.” Sparks looked away, her determined expression failing in the weight of Nimble's statement, his steely gaze weathering her own hardened stare. “But why?” “Is problem in this world. Men who want power, and do all to keep it. I have no home for want of freedom.” Stopping for a moment, he lifted his PDA, staring down at the signal wavelength. Shaking his head, he ran back inside Jupiter, leaving Sparks to ponder his words. --------==|0|==-------- Vano and Zulu straightened up when Nimble sprinted into Jupiter, mirth in his voice as he shouted. “Degtyarev! Degtyarev! The Major, he is here!” Vano, Zulu, the mercenaries, and Kovalsky all stood at once, their eyes collectively going wide as Nimble jumped and whooped, dancing around in happiness. “Nimble, calm down! Where is Major?” “Right here, comrades. Is been long time, Vano, Zulu, Nimble.” The man that entered could only be described as determined, confident, and tough, considering the impossibility of his survival most of the time. Vano, Zulu and Nimble rushed him all at once, squeezing into a massive bear hug that he returned in kind. “Major-” “Is Colonel now. I am USS permanent observer. I stay in Zone indefinitely.” Nimble stopped for a minute, sighing as he patted Degtyarev's shoulder. Hatchet started laughing, looking at Degtyarev straight in the eyes. “You damn yebat'! You had us going!” Hoofsteps behind the Colonel had him sweep around to come face-to-face with Strider's Black Kite. Sparks stared him down, his AKS-74 drawn quickly and aimed like a trained marksman. “Well, comrade, it is good to see you too. Why is there horse pointing gun at me?” Nimble placed his hand slowly on Sparks' back, helping her calm down. The Black Kite floated back into her holster, her eyes darting between her friends and Degtyarev. “Sorry we got off on wrong hoof. Russian is... hard to understand.” She sheepishly slid closer to Nimble, who made sure to put himself more between Degtyarev and herself. His hand was on his sidearm, a SIP-t M200 modified with a laser sight. He lowered his hand as Nimble kept his hand near his own AK, his brow furrowing as he watched the others around aiming their weapons not at the Colonel, but at him. “Colonel Degtyarev, this is mistake. Everyone, just calm down, have vodka! Come, eh?” Vano was the one Nimble least expected to defuse the situation, but a gunfight was unwelcome; it would tear right through his good armor, and likely also kill Sparks. Nimble walked over, before Zulu pointed him towards the door. “Go outside for now, comrade. We'll talk later.” --------==|0|==-------- Nimble sat once more outside, looking at the plants around him. Ever since the Colonel had escaped the Zone, larger areas of it had become gradually more green, more vibrant. That brought with it a host of problems with dangerous mutants wandering into the newly revived glades, only to get cut down by machine gun fire from an RP-74. Sparks looked up at the clouds, frowning as she strained to listen in on their conversation. “... controller... Strider... Nimble... liability.” She spat on the ground, frustrated at the lack of information. Nimble rubbed her head, running his other hand up a creeper vine that had begun climbing up the side of Jupiter in recent months. With a frown, he tried to listen in, hearing his name come up multiple times. Zulu stepped out, clearly agitated by whatever had been discussed. He sat down beside Nimble, frowning as he looked his friend in the eyes. “Nimble, we have some very bad news.” “Bad enough that Degtyarev wants me gone?” “'I fought a controller the other day. Strider helped me with some of Nimble's equipment. However, Kovalsky may be a liability.' That good enough for you?” Nimble sat there, stunned. He had known Kovalsky for a while, and had never known him to be anything close to a 'liability.' Nimble was about to retort when bullets rang out from inside. Their eyes widening, they hurried inside, Sparks with her Black Kite, Zulu with his RP-74, and Nimble with his AK. Hatchet and Kovalsky lay bleeding on the ground, while Degtyarev and Vano knelt down before a man neither of them had ever wanted to see, and a man whom Nimble was well versed in dealings with, knowing how evil the man truly was. Bandits stepped over the dead bodies of Hatchet's men, while another picked up Kovalsky's rifle. Their leader removed his hood, smiling as he stared Nimble straight in the eye. The blood in Nimble's veins turned to ice as he saw the worst businessman in the world capture his friends as he stood there, the handcuffs cutting into his wrists as he barely heard a thing. Dragged slowly, he could only watch as Sparks was shot in the hooves, leaving her behind as he was dragged off. Before they could really get him out, though, Nimble ducked, slamming his head into the leader's stomach. With a kick, he backed up, scooping up Sparks as best he could in his current condition. Running for the door, he could only hear the high-pitched whizzing of shells flying past, Sparks lying in his arms bleeding. He continued to run, ignoring the burning of his legs, or the pain in his dry throat. Nimble continued to run, no stopping, no destination, just running as he tried to keep Sparks from experiencing any undue jostling due to carelessness. With a single rock, he was tumbling, using his body to protect hers as he fell, sliding in the mud. His breathing was laboured, his vision blurry as it began to fade to black, the realm of the unconscious overtaking his own mental faculties. --------==|0|==-------- Zulu awoke, having found himself outside of Jupiter and rather worse for wear from what he could discern as a grenade blast, the shock tossing him from inside Jupiter. Degtyarev and Vano were nowhere to be seen, although the bodies of Hatchet and Kovalsky lay on the floor, clearly dead. Nimble was gone, though Zulu could have sworn he heard his voice. “Zulu, budit' yebut! Come on!” Zulu sat up, looking at the shuddering form of Sparks in Nimble's arms, his blood boiling as he looked back in at Hatchet and Kovalsky. “Nimble, you know this means blood be spilled for honor, da?” Nimble silently nodded, walking over to Hatchet. Dropping his AK, he slowly slipped his fingers around the grip for Hatchet's Trs 301, a relatively powerful weapon in the Zone. “Blood will be spilled, Zulu. Vano and Degtyarev will be free.”