The nights in Pripyat are rarely peaceful. While sometimes in the south, mutants may even leave you at peace for the night, the north is a different story. In the Big Land, animals tend to avoid cities, but in the Zone, settlements like Pripyat, Chornobyl and Rostok mean shelter and food. As such, surviving the nights up north require fair amount of skill, luck and gear. This night in Outskirts of Pripyat was no different. Packs of dogs, pseudodogs and boars roamed the land of darkness. Sometimes, they met their ends at the jaws and claws of pseudogiants or chimeras hunting among the abandoned concrete giants. The Monolith skirmishing with UNISG began retreating towards Prometheus theatre, satisfied with the defeat of their enemies.

The UNISG squad retreated to their base beneath Pripyat streets to lick their wounds. Under the grocery store, located among the mess of various small rooms and wooden doors, a staircase led into a tunnel below. In there, crouched by a small transmitter, one of the survivors gave his report to the commander.

"Mission unsuccessful. Attempt to break towards the VIP's hideout was blocked by local cultists. Three men KIA, one MIA. Squad strength five. Ammo and other supplies green. Awaiting further orders. Buzzard out."

"Affirmative. Eagle's Nest will send a reinforcement patrol. Try again tomorrow, we've got more hostiles in the city now so time is of the essence. Government troops by the looks, kill-on-sight as always. Vulture's team has been dispatched to kill them, perhaps it helps keep our cover intact for a little longer. Enemy squad located near Yubileiny, we'll let you know when they're dead. Eagle out.", came a reply, and the squadleader scratched it down on his notebook.

The supposed UN agent looked at the radio in dismay. Another attack? At this rate they'd all be dead by tomorrow evening. He shook his head and thought of the money. He didn't survive that gig in Yemen just to rot in some ghost town. They were pros, they'd handle the attack just fine. Whatever the commies wanted with the VIP, they'd deliver. At their rates, this would be his last job in the business. About goddamn time, the infiltrator thought. He reached for the walkie-talkie hanging from his shoulder, intent on relaying the orders to his squad. As the radio crackled to life, the static seemed odd. Like if it was relaying a message, while also simply being static. The usual steady crackle now ebbed and flowed, unlike anything the merc had heard before.

"Cockerill, you hear anything wrong with the radio?", the merc asked.

"Negative, why do you ask?", came a reply.

"I just... Eh, nothing. We just got orders, get ready to-", the merc began, but he was cut off as the radio quite literally exploded in noise.

The static turned into a boom that seemed to shatter the man's eardrums. He staggered back, trying to wrestle the headset out from inside his helmet. He tossed it to the ground, smashing the device with a heavy kick from his boot. Panting, the infiltrator leaned on his knees and tried to focus over the overwhelming tinnitus in his ears. The transmitter screamed static still, and the man tried to reach it, when something grabbed him from behind. Its strength was incredible, and try as he might, the attacker did not release its grip. Gunshots and panicked cries echoed from the tunnel below, and then the man felt stings like small needles pressing into his neck.

Whatever was holding him, it loosened its grip momentarily, and the merc stumbled forward, reaching for his revolver. He turned, noticing momentarily that his movements were quite sluggish, and swung the gigantic SW 500 towards whatever had attacked him. He almost froze from fear as he saw the ghoulish creature, its face mostly human but with a jaw of small, stinger-like teeth. It was a mess of broken skin and open wounds, and the stomach especially was gruesome. As if torn open and the ribcage ripped outward. Out of instinct, the man opened fire, the thunder leaving out the barrel of his gun and smashing into the creature. Its hand was broken immediately, but the mutant seemed unfazed. The soldier tried to fire again, only for his hand to release the revolver and his legs to buckle under him. His body was entirely paralyzed in seconds, only his eyes moving now.

The creature closed in, the wounded hand hanging limply from the side. The man could only stare in horror as the fanged maw opened and reached closer. He tried to scream, move, run, but nothing happened. Screeching a silent cry for help was the last thing the man's brain did before the mutated abomination tore into him. In the tunnel below, and inside the grocery store, four other corpses from the UNISG squad lay breathless, their lifeless bodies torn to shreds. Their watch had ended, but they were not alone anymore.

Boris moved through the grocery story quietly. Felka was right behind him, the large suppressor on his Vikhr swaying from room corner to another. The massive radio interference caused by the Nightshade had drawn them here, and the gunshots from its victims had only peaked their interest. They passed the maze of wooden doors and similar-looking rooms, very carefully seeking to see what was going on. In one of the rooms, they found one of the UNISG troopers. His face had been dug into with claws, leaving behind only two open, horrified eyes. The man's FNC rifle was laying on the floor, its barrel still hot.

"Bloodsucker? Those claw marks look kind of similar to theirs.", Felka noted quietly.

"Could be. But those tend to feed on their victims, and this one has no marks on its neck or head.", Boris whispered, and Felka nodded.

They continued on after checking the corpse for information, and Boris drew his pistols out just in case. The RPD would have been a bit hard to use in such cramped spaces. The place was a proper labyrinth, and seemed like it had its own monster. More corpses with similar wounds could be seen, and the two Redeemed mused on what exactly could have done this. When they found a third corpse, decapitated by a claw, Boris tried to reach for the radio on his head to turn it off. When the static died down, for a briefest part of a second, Boris could swear that there was a change in the sound of the static. As they opened the next door, a Nightshade materialized quite literally right in front of them, lunging at the pair with both claws extended. The barrels of Boris' Korth and Tokarev blazed at it, and before the monster could reach him, it dissipated in a smoke cloud of deep purple hues.

"What the fuck?", Felka asked in a very bemused voice.

"No idea. Where's the walking encyclopedia when you need him?", Boris replied.

The screaming sound attack from their radios began again mere seconds later, and the soundwaves struck them like a flashbang. After the first attack they had accidentally been part of, however, they had tossed their radios in the rucksacks and wrapped them in cloth. This made the sound strike more bearable, and helped the two survive when the mutant sprang its ambush again. They had entered a large corridor, when the mutant appeared in front and behind them in the form of two copies. Felka spun around as he heard the raspy breath of the aberration in his ears, and with the butt of his Vikhr stopped the claw of the mutant just in time. Boris had opened fire at the copy coming from the front, and again the pistols claimed the monster.

"Ugly kozyols, these ones!", Boris shouted triumphantly.

"Stop gloating and help me you urod!", Felka panted as the hissing creature tried to break through his rifle to reach the Redeemed.

It never did. Boris turned around, realizing his friend in danger, and his kukri passed Felka's head and sunk into the space between the fangs. Another purple smoke cloud filled the corridor, and the abomination was no more. Felka almost fell to his knees from exhaustion. His Vikhr was full of clawmarks, and the armour had taken a beating as well. Boris helped him up, the ex-renegade's legs still weak.

"Just when you think the Zone has used its arsenal of freaks, it pulls a new one off its arse and throws it at you.", Felka sighed.

"Da, she's a right bitch, isn't she. But let's keep going, I don't know how many of these teleporting assholes are in here, but the sooner we deal with them, the better.", Boris ordered.

They hurried through the rooms, trying to find a way out again as they had lost their way in the maze already. Boris had given up on trying to quietly open and close doors, and used his exoskeleton-powered boot to smash the doors to splinters. Finally, inside one room, a staircase led into the tunnel below. There, the devoured corpse of the UNISG squadleader lay. The pair secured the room, and with Felka keeping watch, Boris searched what remained of the body. There was little to discover, the teleporter mutant had eaten through flesh, bone and equipment. However, on the ground, partially covered by blood, was the man's notebook. Most of its pages had been ruined by the blood, but the latest order was still visible.

"Not a great way to go.", Felka commented as Boris was reading through the note.

"Satan came to reclaim his own.", Boris replied, still deep in thought.

"Did he now? Are these lot any worse than we were? Looks more like a case of shitty luck to me.", Felka said in an amused tone.

"Who knows. Perhaps the day comes for us too. Almost came to me in Limansk. Sometimes it never comes, unless we help it along a little. And sometimes, the only way to not be claimed by the Devil is to get him first.", Boris said mischievously.

"Like you're planning to do? Once this is all over?", Felka asked, thinking back to the conversations he and Boris had shared on one particular idea Boris had.

"Indeed. But let's keep our focus on the task at hand, I don't feel comfortable talking about that plan until I figure out the kinks in it. The note here says that the chopper landed near Yubileiny. It's not far, let's get a move on.", Boris answered, and Felka nodded.

They descended into the fiery tunnel below, where the UNISG trooper had met his end too. Only the Comet anomaly now patrolled the tunnel, and the two Redeemed waited for the scorching ball of fire pass before lowering down on the soft ground below. Boris wondered what this tunnel had originally been for, but given that he would likely not get any answers, tossed the thought aside. On the lowest floor, soil had retaken the tunnel, and now it was filled with dozens of chemical anomalies. A skeleton with its leg bones melted off warned Boris and Felka of the dangers of being careless here. They tossed bolts to mark a safe route, and through slow but steady progress, made it to the middle point of the tunnel.

The Nightshade chose this moment to strike again. This time, two apparitions appeared in the narrow space, flanking the pair in the toughest spot between three Fruit Punches. Felka's rifle struck the first one, but before bullets could completely kill it, the beast leaped towards him.

"Not this time, suka!", Felka said, loading all his strength at his hands and smacking the closing monster with his rifle at full force.

The blow could not kill it, but sent it off-course, right into the boiling puddle of putrid acid. Just as Boris' pistols smashed the body of its companion apart, the Nightshade dissolved into the anomaly. While the two men did not know it, they had claimed the life of the main creature, the one which had devoured the UNISG squadleader. The anomaly consumed it, and with its demise, the radios finally fell silent. Boris and Felka did not notice this, however, as they clambered up the ladder to escape the fiery, rotting tunnel into the fresh Pripyat air. They had survived the nightly attack, and while they did not yet know it, this had saved their comrades in Yubileiny as well, at least from the Nightshade's unrelenting attacks. Yet as Boris and Felka began trudging towards the blocky building towering over Outskirts, they had passed only the first hurdle along the way.