"The drones are here," Corporal Sokolov stated the obvious. "I hope they're no longer nearby."
And, well—if by they he meant Konrad and Strelok, Dmitry could no longer see them.
Which could have been a good sign.
If not for the fact that the parallel brain was also quieter than usual.
"Hold on. Aren't they flying too high?" the Captain muttered, hearing but not seeing the buzzing drones in the darkness. "If they have a radar or something—"
And that was as far as he got.
It seemed like they did.
Two BTRs lit up the sky with tracers, erasing a drone from existence.
And these weren't the huge flying monsters that rivalled conventional planes in size.
Or at least when the Major ordered air support, the Guard promised only FPV drones.
"Fly lower, damn it," Degtyarev barked into his radio. "Follow the path I sent you. Make a proper saturation attack. We need that T-72 gone, but if you hit the Dome—"
Right as he said that, the second drone turned into a fireball and almost fell on them.
Good thing they didn't burn long, or it might have given away their position, too.
"We didn't train for night fighting," the radio crackled as a third one exploded.
And it wasn't even close anymore. Was it lost in the Teleportation Field?
Either way, they weren't going anywhere like this. Not without—
"Look, they're popping smoke," Sokolov pointed out. "At least we spooked them."
Indeed. The roadblock disappeared from their sights as thick white smoke swallowed it whole.
An accurate hit would have been almost impossible now, but—
"This is our chance," Dmitry grunted. "They won't see us, either."
Risky with those drones flying overhead. The BTRs seemed to have some insane accuracy, too.
But, well, at this rate, they would have never gotten through otherwise.
"Fine, fuck it, return to base," the Major ordered before dropping the radio. "I preferred a clear escape route before we go, but with these newbies—"
And to think they took out their Niva the moment they approached the Zone?
That said, they came in broad daylight, and—
"Make sure they keep observing the area," Dmitry gritted out as he got up and ready to run. "If they stick to the maps we gave them, they could send in some reinforcements, too."
Which was a tall order with the ongoing war; he knew that better than anyone.
But from what he had seen so far—
The Zone and the Monolith might have been a bigger threat to his country than the Russians.
"Reinforcements. Right," Degtyarev scoffed, turning to the rescued aircrew. "I'm not telling you to come with us, but no way I can give you a guide out right now."
Dmitry and Sokolov would not even wait for their decision, either.
Joined by Yuri, they ran towards the smoke, and with a little luck—
It would have lasted long enough to hide them from the BTRs.
And if not—
"Enemy infantry. Ten to eleven o'clock," the Corporal yelled.
Of fucking course.
They swarmed out the moment they spotted Konrad, too, so what did they expect?
"Sprint right past them," Yuri panted, struggling to keep up with his short legs. "If they can use the Teleportation Anomalies to move around, we will do the same."
Yes. The last thing the parallel brain told them was that Strelok went through the middle one.
The Monolith dragged Konrad through another, while these footmen used a third portal.
Not that they could see any of them right now, smoke or darkness or not, but—
"Aim for that side," Dmitry shouted. "We'll bust Konrad out."
***
Meanwhile, Strelok could have used some backup.
The elite of the Monolith kept on coming after him.
Their exoskeletons were almost impenetrable, and they used western weaponry, too.
Unless he lucked out and managed to headshot them with his Krinkov—
As if he had time to aim while running from one portal to the next.
At least these weren't invisible.
Not trivial to spot, but he didn't have to go around blind. And his theory was that they worked both ways, too. At least a soldier appeared right in front of him as he reached the next one.
And if not for his heightened senses and good reflexes—
"Brain," he grunted, dispatching the last of them. "Talk to me. Don't keep me guessing."
But no answer came.
He was alone here—wherever that was. It was impossible to guess after the umpteenth jump. But as long as he was alive, and these portals actually led him somewhere—
"Stop, Apostle," one of the soldiers demanded, jumping out of an Anomaly he had already left.
He came with backup, too, while another group entered from the other side.
No way he could outmaneuver them, and his magazine—
Crap. When was the last time he reloaded?
He used to be great at keeping track of his ammo, but in the heat of this endless sprint—
"The Great Monolith is for all who serve the Lord and Savior," they preached. "Apostles like you are always welcome in our ranks, so why fight? We've almost reached our goal by now."
Deep breaths.
Not that Strelok knew what the hell he was talking about.
Or rather, he refused to acknowledge it.
But as long as their lips moved, their fingers might have been off the trigger.
"Is this your usual recruitment protocol?" he rasped, considering whether to risk a reload. "You shoot and shoot, and if I somehow survive or kill enough of you, you'll try to hire me instead?"
No. Too risky.
There were already four behind him and three in front, blocking his path forward.
The one speaking had a belt-fed machine gun pointed at his torso, so a wrong move, and—
"The Monolith can't be everywhere. The Origin must focus on its glorious task. And when an Apostle comes at us with guns blazing and doesn't state his name, what do you expect us to do?"
Ugh. That speech pattern freaked him out.
Monolith? Origin?
Here, he thought that was the name of their organisation, but now—
This sounded like a religious fanatic speaking, heralding the apocalypse or who-knew-what.
"So you know my name?" Strelok asked, eyes scanning for an escape route. "What if I joined you? Or what if I refused?"
Was Konrad right about surrendering immediately?
If they realised the kid had magic and he didn't—
"Lord Lucifer does not appreciate his Apostles fighting among themselves. While we don't know your name, the Monolith had already recognised you as one of ours. So surrender, and—"
"Surrender?" Strelok interrupted. "I doubt Lucifer likes his puppets to do that, either."
And he had enough of this nonsense. When he already refused to follow orders back in Tokyo? And Konrad told him they banished Lucifer from Earth?
All he wanted was to reunite with his sister, and knowing how close he must have been—
"I worded that wrong," the Monolith soldier said with a bow. "I meant to hand over your weapons so we could take you to Master Null. And from there, he will—"
"Nope, thank you," Strelok grunted, making his decision.
A quick reload and a leap to the side—
"I only care about one person, and that's not your shitty leader."