"Wait. He can be invisible?" Major Degtyarev muttered, eyes wide.
And now Dmitry regretted telling it to Sokolov, but—
That was the best explanation he could find for how they beat that Controller before.
Like, he'd never admit that a mutant possessed him, whether to help or not. And hoped that Konrad wouldn't kill him for spilling the beans, either.
Did he even have his magic back in the first place?
"There's a reason why the Wolves called him the Hero of Garbage," was all Dmitry said for now.
And would have left it at that.
But he might have forgotten about Yuri.
"M-my Wolves?"
The tiny Stalker was still missing most of his memories. With the parallel brain too busy to handpick what to restore and what to erase forever—
They were lucky the leader hadn't broken down crying again yet.
"Let's focus on that thing for now," Sokolov grunted, coming to Dmitry's aid. "They might have a T-72, but no observer in the turret. There are a bunch of the BTRs with night vision, though."
Yeah. And he still couldn't confirm or deny the thermal sight on the one in the back.
Konrad might have had some crazy spells that stopped a ballistic missile, but—
There had to be something their little group could do to help, too.
"Could jam those sensors with the Gepard, but still no ammo," Dmitry pondered. "And as long as that tank is all buttoned up, we have nothing to put a scratch on it."
It was clear they weren't idling by that huge Dome; the Monolith was ready for a battle.
But against whom and why?
Did they expect Konrad and that Strelok guy?
Like, were they that scary? And first of all—
Where the hell did they go?
Dmitry blinked only once and lost them both.
'They're actually invisible. But don't get your hopes up,' the parallel brain butted in, the voice making him shiver. 'Even if you can't see them, it only takes a Psyonic Dampener, and—'
Before he finished, the first BTR swung its turret around and began firing in earnest.
"What the—?" Sokolov yelped, throwing himself to the ground.
"Hold on. Did they—"
"They're alive," the Captain repeated the voice's claim, but he struggled to believe it, too.
Only once the dust settled did he spot Konrad panting behind a pile of junk, and—
Yeah. He had no idea where Strelok went.
'Which means the plan worked,' the brain noted, though it didn't sound that reassuring. 'Yeah. I was against it, too, but so far, it played out exactly as Konrad had hoped.'
Huh? This was how it looked when things were fine?!
What would have happened if they messed up?
"Well, that's all for invisibility," Major Degtyarev grunted, knuckles white on his binoculars.
"And where did all those soldiers come from?" one of the rescued airmen muttered. "There's no way that many were inside those BTRs. T-they're about to overrun your friend."
Which they indeed did.
But knowing Konrad, he must have expected them.
This had to be all part of his plan. He always had something crazy up his sleeve, and—
"I surrender," the otherworlder Mage yelled, loud enough that even they could hear.
No flashy explosions or an insane sword fight.
He threw up his hands without a second of hesitation.
"W-what?!" Sokolov scowled, jaw hanging open. "That's it? He lost like that?"
"That can't be it," Dmitry said, shaking his head, too. "Where's Strelok? I bet he's about to—"
'Nope, and don't even think about it,' the parallel brain intruded again. 'I mean, don't rack your brain around his plans. If I can read your mind, others might, too.'
Uhh. So there was a plan.
Including the surrender as well. Good.
But how was he supposed not to think about it as the Monolith soldiers dragged Konrad away?
There had to be something they could do as well, but—
'Oh, there's plenty,' the voice echoed. 'And I'm not telling you not to do anything. Konrad will need all the help he could get—and I know the Major has some people under his command.'
He what?!
"You," the Captain gritted out, pointing at the Major. "So you didn't come here all alone?"
Degtyarev didn't answer right away, taking his time to squint at him.
"What d'you mean?" he asked. "That's classified. Or you expected me to run and save your friend? You'll have to answer to the brass first, too. And given what happened—"
"Oh, this is far from over," Dmitry grunted. "Call your men. We're going in as well."
And as if the night breeze wasn't cold enough, the air froze around them.
"You out of your mind?" the Major choked out. "Why would I do that? For what? I came here to rescue these airmen and—"
"Yeah," the Captain interrupted. "Why would the brass send a high-ranking spy to do that?"
Let alone by himself.
There had to be something else. Both a hidden goal and some support, and—
'I see. So he can take command of the National Guard whenever he wants,' the brain said. 'But the rest is up to you now. I already have enough on my plate to coordinate between those two.'
Huh? That sounded quite handy.
And a strong hand to have, too.
By the time that spy began to protest, Dmitry knew more than he wanted to.
"Call in the Guard," he demanded, surprising even Sokolov. "Request tanks or an air strike. A few RPG-7s might also do the trick, and I won't be picky, but make it fast."
And despite Degtyarev outranking him, he could only scowl.
"Why would I do that?!" he grunted, crossing his arms. "Besides. Even if I wanted to help, this is a no-flying zone, and—hadn't we lost enough helicopters by now?!"
Okay. Fair. An airstrike might have been a bit too much to ask for, but—
"I know you want to know what's going on inside there as much as we do," Dmitry noted. "And I have Strelok's map. There is a path. And I don't even ask for men on the field."
He knew the Guard had drones aplenty.
That was the first thing he encountered when entering the Zone, and—
"I'm not taking orders from a deserter," Degtyarev scoffed, raising his nose.
But the Captain had the perfect comeback to that.
"The guy the Monolith captured," he said, "saved the International Legion by himself. But his real goal was always to clean things up here—while mine was to guard him."
Although he'd rather not say where those orders came from.
Not from this world, that much was for sure.
But it did raise the Major's interest.
"You know what's going on in there?" he asked, suspicious.
Hah. As if. But from that face he made, Degtyarev had no idea, either, and he could use that.
"I won't give you any top secret information without Konrad's permission," he teased. "So if you want me to spill the beans, better call in your friends to help mine out first."
Not that he expected a bluff like that to work, but—
The spy pulled out a satellite phone and let out a long sigh.
"I'm sure I'm going to regret this, but—This is Major Degtyarev, requesting fire support."