When we arrived to the Diver base, I was still pretty shaken by the fight. At this point, I've had more life-threatening encounters in a week than in my life otherwise, and that includes a long time in the Zone. As we were marching down the road towards the river, the prisoners trying not to go too slow or too fast as Shellback's ADS was centred on their backs, I lit a cigarette I had gotten from one of the Wind stalkers. As I felt the relieving effects of the cancer roll on my mind, I looked to my right. There, nestled between the high hillside and the sparkling water of the river, were two warehouses. In the yard before them, there was a collection of various rusty pipes, large stacks of oil barrels in all colours of the rainbow, and multiple wooden crates. There was a small sandbank behind the furthest warehouse, creating a still little lagoon where Diggers had a couple boats.

Now, I'm not a dreamer who believes that the Zone is magical and miraculous, like Freedom or Final Frontier. Still, I will admit that I have a tendency to see it as a beautiful and wondrous place nonetheless, at times of course. This Diver outpost was one of these places for me. There, the gray realism and boring, utilitarian urban buildings met the natural beauty of the riverside. Grass and bushes grew between the old industrial equipment, and both moss and decay had left their mark on the warehouses. It was, for lack of a better word, idyllic. Shellback turned back to look at me and despite his wounds and exhaustment, grinned.

"Welcome to the Pearl of Limansk, best bar this side of 100 Rads and 3.6 Röntgen bars!", he proclaimed and turned back to the prisoners.

A bar this close to Limansk? Huh, never had I heard of this place. Still, it was a welcome change from all the combat and near-death experiences. The yard had various Divers and Wind stalkers milling about, exchanging tall tales, laughing at dumb jokes and sharing rumours. They turned to look at our sorry crew, and some spat at the sight of the Gravediggers. I also received my fair share of curious looks, my suit wasn't exactly the most common thing worn by loners. Shellback gave the Gravedigger prisoners for some other Diver to guard, then waved at me to follow him into the Bar.

I stepped in there, and what greeted me was a small but cozy place. Couple couches, two large tables, a bookshelf with various adventure novels and a table turned into makeshift bar. Cossacks bottles, beer cans, energy drinks and pans of fresh stew on the tables. The TV in the corner showed some football game. There were Divers in various suits, as well as one table full of Wind stalkers in repainted Clear Sky suits. Shellback was already by the bar, chatting with a Diver in what appeared to be a modified Diver Sturgeon exoskeleton. This one had a new helmet, one far robust than even the venerable exohelm. One of the Wind stalkers in a SEVA-like suit moved to the bar too, and sat on a stool next to Shellback. I went there too, not really knowing what to do.

"Chronicler, meet our "commander", Hammerhead. Jolly guy, bit soft in the head, it's better used for hammering things in than thinking. Name comes from this one time headbutted his way into a particularly hard-to-get cavern below waterline. Oh, and this snowflake? Leader of the Wind garrison on the other side of the stream, Gull.", Shellback introduced us.

We exchanged niceties and Hammerhead told Shellback to keep his mouth shut. He seemed to be a nice enough fellow, giving me a free drink and some cash for my troubles with Gravediggers. Gull meanwhile was business only, he had come to bargain and it showed. Apparently Wind guarded Limansk with such a strong grip that nobody was really able to get in unnoticed. Except if they tunneled in, as the Gravediggers had done. The Divers tried to bargain for access into Limansk, as there was an underground complex there that had been flooded by the river. Gull was having none of it, until Shellback mentioned the prisoners.

"Three prisoners, three people get in. That is my final deal, and it is non-negotiable. Monsoon has made it very clear to you, Hammerhead, that you may continue your business on this side of the river, but not on the other. Now, choose your guys wisely, for I will not wait long.", Gull ordered, turned around and sat back to the table with the other Wind guys.

"Prick. Eh, what do you think, Hammerhead? That facility may be worth its price in gold, or it may be nothing. I can go.", Shellback proposed.

"You and Kingfisher? Maybe Pelican too?", Hammerhead offered, and Shellback's face darkened.

"I'm afraid Kingfisher died in the ambush. I'm sorry.", I said, and Hammerhead grimaced.

"I'll take Pelican and Roach. Chronicler, I'm sorry, but I can't take you with me to Limansk. This is too important.", Shellback apologized, and I shook my head.

I told him that it was alright, and that I was more interested to get information on Wind. Shellback told me to interview a guy called Breeze, sitting on the couch. Hammerhead told me that he was sending one of his men, Shellfish, to a supply run upstream to a Guard outpost, and I could go with him. I agreed and finished my drink. The Diver bartender and leader sold me supplies, ammunition and new combat vest for the road ahead, as if one may remember, my stuff was still in Depression. Once done with my grocery and grenade shopping, I walked over to Breeze who was reading a document of underwater mutants.

"Hello. I'm Chronicler, and as the name may imply, I'm writing stories of the factions here. I heard you may be able to tell me more of Wind. Of course no super confidential faction secrets, but could you tell me what you guys believe in, what it is you do and so on?", I asked, and Breeze looked at me with some interest in his eyes.

"Fine then, but you'll owe me a beer afterwards. I'll start with the basics.", Breeze began.

According to the old Wind stalker, the faction formed in 2011. When Clear Sky was pushing north, Lebedev left a force in Limansk to guard the exit route out of CNPP. They survived the following emission and held out hope. Monsoon rose to leadership back then, and when all that returned from the power plant were troops in Clear Sky armour but bearing the patch and colours of Monolith, they figured out that it was all over for Clear Sky. Monsoon named them Wind, as a Clear Sky's second wind, and the faction hunkered down in Limansk. Not by choice, as Breeze put it, but because the area around it had turned into a minefield of anomalies. They were joined by loners and bandits stuck in the city too, those that had tried to use it to rush north. The loners joined Wind quickly for protection, and the bandits eventually agreed to join the faction as they were cornered.

There weren't many enemies for them in the city, Monolith launcher very sporadic raids but eventually these dried out in 2013. Then came the mercs. They began pushing in from some unknown place, and it took Wind months to locate it. The mercenaries shot down a helicopter too, and captured the pilot, whom Wind rescued. The pilot explained that mercenaries were using a tunnel coming from Red Forest to transport men into the city, and their target was the Radiological institute. Monsoon organized a counter-attack, and thanks to the pilot's co-operation, Wind kicked the mercs out of Limansk and found a way out.

"Did you establish contact with resurgent Clear Sky then? Given that they began rebuilding some time then.", I asked.

"That came much later. You see, the pilot warned us that big things were happening in the Zone. Monolith was pushing back, having regained some semblance of fighting power, and they too were aiming to capture Limansk now. Monsoon understood the significance of Limansk, and we held a vote among the faction on whether we'd stay or leave. Many left, but many also stayed. We became known as the defenders of Limansk, and this brought in new members, loners who had lost friends to Monolith, Dutyers and Freedomers bored with the pointless faction wars, so on and on. Soon enough, Wind had enough men to hold Limansk, and that has been our duty ever since."

"What about food and water? How'd you manage with that while isolated?", I questioned.

"There were Monolith caches with supplies, and the railway station had emergency rations for years. You see, Limansk was never abandoned, so they stacked the place up in case something went horribly wrong. We also hunted mutants, grew some plants in decontaminated soil and purified water.", Breeze answered patiently.

"Alrighty, this has been very good information. One more question, if I may?", I prodded, and Breeze nodded, making me continue.

"Why have you not rejoined Clear Sky?"

"We discovered their existence rather late, not too long ago when one of their patrols made it all the way up to Limansk border. They have been locked in battles with Eclipse, renegades, Black Slugs and Marauders over the northern Swamps, which hindered our meeting. However, we realized that the Clear Sky we knew was dead, and what the troika leads now is a whole another thing. We have aligned goals but, quite frankly, we're far more passive than current Clear Sky. Limansk is ours, and that's enough for now. Dawn does provide us research data in exchange for support, but that's above my paygrade to discuss.", Breeze replied.

I thanked him for all the stories he had told me. I bought three beers for him and sat at the corner of the bar to jut down my notes. It seemed as if Wind was very much a faction similar to the defenders of the Barrier, apolitical to Zone's going-ons but fiercely territorial. It annoyed me that I could not make it to Limansk, but at least my book was a bit thicker now. Satisfied, I leaned back and enjoyed a beer of my own. A little peace and quiet, finally.