The burning shell of a downed helicopter was put out when its killer, the small but dangerous Mi-2 Hoplite landed next to it. The fires gathered temporary momentum from the wind, but it was not enough to stop the flames from flickering out. Once the rotors of the Hoplite spun to a halt, three men emerged from it. Vityukha, Felka and Sokolov met their Redemption friends and free stalker allies, with Dimka and Sevka joining the joyous crowd soon after. Cashier, the local trader, gave Sokolov his finest bottle of vodka as a gift of gratitude, while Yar promised to help fix the Valkyrie with Sokolov to its final state. Sokolov explained that when he had seen the hostile chopper, he had began working tirelessly to get the Valkyrie up into the air, because he feared that it would be the only thing stopping the enemy copter.

Everyone was in a relieved and celebratory mood, with the defeat of the two opposing forces now clear and most of the crew in good health. Still, Boris looked around him and saw tired, wounded men. Sanyok, Dimuha, Felka and the other Ukrainian Securite Service survivor besides Yvanova, Kovalev, were all out of the fight for some time. To add to that, Dimka was barely standing, having been wounded by Khan during the death throes of the UNISG. With Vityukha and Stitch in the same place, however, Boris was confident the men would be able to recover. Another matter was their gear. The weapons, armours and other miscellaneous gear all needed proper repair and maintenance, or they would cease to work altogether.

Yet all these wordly worries alone could have been a headache, but despite all the pats on the back and relieved clinking of bottles, Boris couldn't help but eye Strelok and Degtyarev mingling with their respective groups. It was a powder keg waiting to blow, and any minute now rest of the men would realize that they never dealt with the whole SSU-Redemption standoff. Boris was not at all surprised to see Dima realize this first, shooting a glance at Boris. Boris nodded to confirm that there was indeed going to be some sort of scuffle soon. He saw Dima turn towards Vityukha and Sevka, whispering something as he did. Boris had intentionally sought out this position, sitting between the free stalkers and Degtyarev's remaining men. Now, with Dima, Vityukha and Sevka ready to help him if things got ugly, Boris was more confident to be the arbitrator. And as it turned out, he did not need to wait long.

"Now that we have finally settled the matter with your many enemies, Strelok, it is time to come back to the fold. Come peacefully, and the higher-ups have promised you your position back, no questions asked. Otherwise we will be forced to drag you back there. I think this is enough evidence of just how much you're wanted by certain individuals and states, and that leaves us no choice but to keep you safe and under watch.", Colonel Degtyarev ordered, making the room go from rowdy and celebratory to dead silent in a second.

"How about fuck you?", Rogue noted, and Yvanova drew his weapon, prompting all non-wounded stalkers in the room to do the same.

"Careful, pig. We don't take kindly to jarheads here, and if all cops are bastards, secret service are doubly so. Holster that gun or face judgement, suka.", Uncle Yar ordered in turn.

"Yar, Rogue, others. Calm down. Let us hear what Strelok has to say first.", Boris bellowed, and the men lowered their guns a bit.

"I will not come. I am done with the Institute, I am done with the power-hungry cleptocrats running it, I am done with the needless oversight. I tried to warn you, that something was deeply wrong in the Zone, and none of your government agents listened. It was down to us Zone-dwellers to fix it once more. And now you not only have an expanded Zone in your hands, but an international fiasco and three dozen unnamed bodies to dispose of. This is not the kind of "protection" I wish to have.", Strelok replied in a calm tone.

"This is not a matter of preference. You are too valuable to the state, and to many actors, to be let run free. If our enemies were to capture you, there is no telling what would happen.", Degtyarev retaliated in turn.

"And yet, your enemies were just repulsed, decimated, reduced to corpses and ash. We won. I remain free, and it is clear that I have enough allies for the situation to remain so for the foreseeable future.", Strelok responded.

"UNISG may have failed, but they will return. So will Omega. The latter has spies all over the Zone, in every faction. It would take years to dig all of their locations up and finish them off. Years we most certainly do not have.", Degtyarev sighed.

"There are places in the Zone they do not know of. Places I can easily hide in. Believe me, if they are so hellbent of finding me, they can spend the rest of their lives doing so.", Strelok commented, and despite the outlandish claim, Boris believed him.

"Bullshit. You're lying.", Degtyarev scoffed.

"Normally I would have said the same, but me and my boys have entered so many areas with practically no stalker activity. Areas so long abandoned and unknown that it would literally take decades to fully explore. So I do believe that Strelok is correct. The Zone is vast, UNISG are newcomers with little experience with it and Omega seems to lack manpower, not exactly the forces to comb it all.", Boris noted.

"What makes you think Omega lacks manpower?", Yvanova questioned, and unexpectedly, Sanyok replied to him.

"We have seen them possess a helicopter and two squad's worth of men. They have highly advanced gear and expensive weapons, yet could only spare a squad's worth of men to achieve such a massive task? For UNISG, it was a necessity caused by their casualties, but Omega was well-established here. Yet they seem to rely on mercenaries outside the payroll of Dushman, which are a rare breed these days, and on espionage and infiltration tactics, which are not very manpower-intensive tasks. In short, they most likely would have to go through great lengths to gather enough men to search for Strelok, and even then we have seen that two squads of their seemingly elite troops failed in the task."

"Uh... You raise good points. Still, they did locate Strelok here, and almost got him in a surprise attack.", Degtyarev commented in turn.

"That was because my platoon sold the information to them. We knew Strelok was here because a talkative stalker happened by our camp, but he didn't share the location and we did not care too much at the time. When Serbin's men arrived, we sold information about the surrounding territory to them, and that piece of information as it now became valuable. Still, they had to comb the entire city to find him first.", Meeker interjected, his monotone voice rising over the bickering.

"So there you have it. Wherever Strelok goes, he will always have allies to support him if more kozyols show up.", Boris tried to conclude the whole conversation, but Degtyarev was still sceptical.

"Uh-huh. Weren't you supposed to be a neutral arbitrator now?", Degtyarev asked.

"Listen, I was a stalker, most people here are stalkers. We live by the Zone, and to some of us, this is home right now. Some, like Strelok, are inseparable from it. You can take him out of the Zone, but you can't take the Zone out of him. He will survive this place, and any urod who tries to go after him, or take his secrets to the grave. He may not use your methods to protect the current status quo in the Zone, but he will protect it all the same. So I find it pretty fucking hard to be a neutral entity when it's so blatantly obvious that what you both want is the same thing.", Boris explained, voice full of anger, leaving the room in silence for a minute.

"Damn.", Degtyarev said slowly.

"You're one of the few cops of the Zone I actually respect. Why? Because unlike most, you've got the heart of a stalker too. You realize that while the government wishes all stalkers to disappear, we are vital to this place. And we need it to survive, because many of us have no choice but to be here. That is why I have held on not shooting you and your two men here to solve this problem, because I know you can understand Strelok's point of view. So at least try to do that.", Boris continued, calming down slightly.

Degtyarev looked stupefied. He was controlling his expressions to mask it, but Boris could feel the wheels turning inside the colonel's head. His two surviving comrades looked at the man in anticipation, gripping their weapons, loyal to fight even a last stand here. Finally, Degtyarev breathed out, raised his chin and looked Strelok in the eye. Whatever wordless communication passed between them, the meaning of it missed Boris until the army man spoke once more.

"I understand his point. And I cannot, in good conscience, detain him or cause a firefight over his arrest. Years ago, I helped you, Strelok, leave the Zone, yet now you wish to return. I should not stand between you and the Zone, if it is your sincere wish. And not only that, you saved my life earlier during this battle, and that is something I cannot overlook. What do you two think, Yvanova and Kovalev?", Degtyarev asked, and the two men shared a silent look before Yvanova answered

"We lost good men to detain him, but never to them. They have always waited for us to escalate, and even when we were attacked, they supported us instead of turning on us. That alone tells me that they have no ill intentions, and are merely committed to the protection of their ally. If they are willing to face the wrath of SSU by fighting it, they are willing to do so for the other actors too. I trust them to keep the VIP safe, and seeing him in combat, I doubt we need to worry too much, sir."

"Hopefully so. Going forward, you will be dead to the Ukrainian state, Strelok. I will mark in my report that you were killed by Omega agents during the battle, and that will be it. Keep yourself hidden, and do not let yourself get captured alive. Godspeed, old friend.", Degtyarev ordered, and the legendary stalker observing him nodded in agreement.

"There is a place up north not many people know of, where an old adversary of mine has retired to. I will go there, to be at peace for once. But Colonel. Remember that the Zone doesn't quite belong to the state either.", Strelok said mysteriously and nodded to his men to signal that it was time to leave.

As Rogue, Stitch, Yakut and Kamaz began packing things up and buying supplies for the trip, Strelok nodded to Boris and Dima to follow him upstairs. Boris agreed, but first asked Degtyarev in turn to wait for a little while longer. The colonel seemed surprised, but seemed to oblige. Boris and Dima followed Strelok upstairs, and entered the same office they had met the man for the first time. Strelok sat on the table there, and grabbed something from one of the drawers. It was a small file, with a pendrive inside it and a stack of documents, which Boris discovered when Strelok handed it to him. He looked at the folder, then up to Strelok, and raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"That's a collection of, eh, notes, you could call them, that my friend made of the various factions and locations of the Zone. It's incomplete, as he left to pursue other stories for a while, but it should give you more than enough knowledge. I'm giving it to you because I believe Redemption to be able to help fight the good fight in the Zone. The pendrive has an upgrade in it, which will allow you to utilize more recent military images of the Zone. These will reveal many previously unknown locations to you, which Rogue added descriptions of. We still lack data on all possible points of interest in the Zone, but I know of only one group who possesses such and I have been unsuccessful in convincing them to give it up.", Strelok explained.

"But why give this to us? I am grateful, of course, but also confused.", Boris asked.

"As a gift of gratitude for helping me and my team survive. And also because I trust your men to use the knowledge well. Take it as a parting gift from me, for I doubt we will see each other again any time soon.", Strelok offered and reached out his hand.

"Good luck out there, Strelok. And if you ever need help storming the power plant, give us a ring.", Boris said and shook his hand.

"Or if you're in need of excellent comedy relief, come on down to Meadow.", Dima chimed in, and likewise shook Strelok's hand.

"We shall see. I may take you up on those offers, but not soon. Goodbye, you two. It has been a pleasure to work with you.", Strelok replied, and gave them a faint smile before leaving.

"That's the end of it, then. Damn. Never expected for us to live to see this happen.", Dima wondered out loud.

"Same here. It's been a long time coming, too.", Boris muttered, when somebody knocked on the door.

"Care if I come in now?", Degtyarev questioned.

"Yes, indeed. We need to talk about a certain trip I have been planning. Do you perhaps have any connections to Belarussian authorities?", Boris asked, and the colonel gave him a surprised look again.