Dimuha entered the small office space the leader of Redemption faction had arranged for himself. It wasn't any bigger than the other ones on this floor of the old administrative building, and had been sparsely decorated with furniture. A table, large green safe and a small cabinet, with not much else. On top of the safe was a radio receiver-emitter combination and the table had been occupied by three handguns and a stack of documents. Dimuha noticed the three guns to be Boris' Tokarev, Korth PRS and the most recent addition, Vulture's Automag. Dima had suggested calling it the Talon, to everyone surprise actually giving good advice, and so it had been named. Boris had hanged his Absolver suit on the outer wall, and Dimuha looked at the suit with a tinge of envy. Even though it was massive, bulky and about as stealthy as a Dutyer with a megaphone, it was still among the most sophisticated pieces of gear Dimuha had seen in the Zone. If a normal Nosorog was a battle tank, this think was a battleship.

"Done admiring my suit, Dimuha? I know you former bandits struggle with recovering from kleptomania, but I warn you that if you touch the Absolver, I will have to put you into toilet duty for two months just like any rookie.", Boris chuckled.

"No worries, I wouldn't want it anyway, I know how much you sweat in summer and that thing must be like a sauna. Probably smells worse inside than Toha's cooking.", Dimuha said and made a gagging sound.

"Unlike you and Stepukha, I do shower every now and then.", Boris retaliated.

"Getting caught in the rain is not showering, Boris. Anyway, what do you want of me? I was napping."

"Oh yes, I didn't call you in here to just shoot shit, although these days I really need that with all this administration shit driving me nuts... But I digress. Here, check this out.", Boris replied, tossing Dimuha one of the files on his desk.

Dimuha opened the file and looked at it briefly. On it was a report from Dimka and Sevka, who had taken up duties as Redemption's scouts after leaving their previous jobs. For the most part, the report was simply detailing the on-going faction wars, but Dimka had added a note on one specific conflict that caught Dimuha's eye. The Lost Factory, an area north of Rostok, had seen the Duty garrison eliminated in a poison gas attack. Soon after, Freedom had tried pushing further into the factory, but they had been relentlessly attacked by bloodsuckers, who according to Dimka, "moved as if ordered to do so, making use of actual ambush tactics and striking weakpoints their simple minds most likely would not be able to recognize".

"I presume you meant this part about the Lost Factory.", Dimuha asked while raising his eyes from the paper.

"Yes. I believe it is somehow related to that cult we ran into, Futility. I've been thinking about this, putting two and two together, and I believe the former soldiers you ran into in Chornobyl are part of them. Now that they have taken an active role in the Zone, we must strike them before they get too powerful, as they posess too strong abilities for the average stalkers to handle.", Boris explained, his tone turning grim.

"Do you think we have another Sin at our hands?", Dimuha continued questioning, feeling uneasy.

"Thankfully, no. Futility is just as insane as Sin, but they don't seem to employ people capable of brainwashing stalkers like Chernobog could. They seem to rely on manipulation, deception and infiltration with their attacks, which makes them a pain in the ass to destroy.", Boris sighed.

"So. What is it that you want me to do?", Dimuha prodded.

"I believe there's a cell of those nihilist bastards in Lost Factory. And since you have the most experience with them, and you are my best fighter, I want you to go there and destroy it."

"Sounds easy enough.", Dimuha said, and Boris smirked.

"And I also want you to capture one for interrogation.", Boris added hastily.

"Fuck off Boris. You want me to go to an area we know little of, fight an enemy we know even less about, and then just waltz back here with one of them like it's no big deal? They can control mutants and use rounds that can blast your Absolver to smithereens.", Dimuha almost shouted.

"Firstly, no they can't. Secondly, I never said it was easy, but it has to be done. We don't need any more cults running around. And I have already arranged help for you.", Boris said in a placative tone.

"Let me guess, Dima comes to bother me with jokes and Toshka is our marksman so I don't have time to worry about enemy bullets as I'm avoiding his terrible shots?", Dimuha growled.

"No, I need Dima here to motivate the rookies to head out and do the tasks I assign to them so they don't have to listen to his shit all day, and Toshka is vital to our local economy. That Guevara guy you dragged here seems to be eager to strike back at those cultists, so I asked him to join you. Dimka and Sevka are already there, gathering intel too. And lastly, I asked Butcher to send some Hunters to accompany you in the area, as they have a lot of experience with the Lost Factory.", Boris continued, and as Dimuha was about to grumble, Boris hurried to add:

"Also, since I knew you'd whinge about this, I asked Hip to provide any weapon you want from her arsenal to you-"

"Fuck yeah, Snipex Alligator here I come!", Dimuha yelled, interrupting his friend.

"-except for the Snipex Alligator.", Boris managed finish.

"I hate all of you.", Dimuha muttered.

"Now, now. You haven't even heard the best part. You'll be leaving today. This matter needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, as there are fears the bloodsucker population will reach critical mass and start pouring into Rostok, and if they are centrally led, it can mean big trouble. Much of the Zone is still reeling from the Sin's emission, we don't need Rostok to fall too.", Boris noted quietly.

"Today? There's barely three hours of today left!", Dimuha yelled again, this time out of frustration.

"Well, you were napping when the news arrived. I wanted you to get some rest beforehand.", Boris chuckled.

"Fine then. I presume Guevara is waiting already?", Dimuha sighed in a highly exasperated tone.

"Yeah, he's at the bar. Visit Hip before you go. And good luck, Dimuha. Come back alive.", Boris said, and his tone had grown more serious.

Dimuha nodded, still simmering from the quick timetable. He stepped out of the office and glanced over to Vityukha's office. He had thought about getting some medicine for the hallunications just to be sure in case they continued, but Dimuha's friend had seemingly left the office. Perhaps the medic was also at the bar, Dimuha thought to himself as he travelled out into the staircase and into the ground level. Hip's garage was right next to the administrative building, filled to the brim with interesting firearms. When the trader saw Dimuha approach, she gave him a faint smile.

"I take it Boris broke you the news?", Hip asked in an amused tone as he saw Dimuha's sour expression.

"Blin, yes he did. Running across the Zone, hunting for some spectres. Eh, whatever, beats chasing those swamp rats for weeks. So, he told me I can pick any gun, so about that Alli-", Dimuha began.

"Not that one, he told you that. Good try though. So, since you probably don't want to lug your Yank machine gun in that suit, I can offer you something lighter. Like this Belgian VBR PDW, Polymer was kind enough to rechamber it in 5.7 mil FN, but you can also get it in Parabellum if that's your fancy.", Hip offered.

"You can keep your peashooter, I'm not going to be hunting tushkanos. I'll take my Groza that I got from Shishak, but I could use a shotgun, what do you have?", Dimuha asked, glancing at the VBR with disinterest.

"Poor VBR, nobody loves it. For shotguns, I've got this Izh-43 with a SUSAT scope, Izhevsk Engelsman as I like to call it, a SPR 453 that can fire full-auto thanks to a quirk Psoglav made for it, and a bullpup Saiga that some madman created.", Hip offered, lowering three guns on the desk in front of her.

"Huh. Okay, they seem interesting but so is that blocky little thing. What is it?", Dimuha queried again, a blocky submachine gun catching his eye.

It had a slanted magazine, a foregrip and no stock, and its overall appearance was simple but fearsome. Hip looked at it with an almost motherly pride, although Dimuha recognized as the merchant's love for their wares. Hip explained that the gun was a SITES Spectre, an interesting Italian submachine gun and incredibly rare weapon in the Zone. Upon realizing that it was a gun Dimuha could want, Hip added that it was hard to run and maintain, but this last minute attempt did not help. Dimuha was sold, and much to Hip's chagrin, he picked the gun.

"I hate that you make me part with it, but here. I hope it is a bitch to clean and keep running now that it leaves my hands.", Hip grunted, handing the Italian gun to Dimuha.

"We shall see. Chin up, you still have the Alligator... For now.", Dimuha replied gleefully and Hip scowled at him.

The exchange had lifted his spirits, but once Hip turned back to her wares, Dimuha remembered his incredibly open-ended mission ahead. Still, a part of him, a part he would never admit to having, was glad that he finally had a chance to strike back at the freaks who had caused him the humiliating defeat and retreat from Chornobyl. Besides, a thirst for vengeance, one to avenge Gloomy, simmered under the surface, and Dimuha was ready to unleash it on the new cult. He was about to reprimand himself for pursuing such a selfish goal when the stability in the Zone was at stake, but his mind had merely began when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Right then, boy, shall we get going? I hear we have another rat hunt on our hands!", Guevara, the old man Dimuha had met in Chornobyl, said in a cheery tone.

"Blyat, gramps, you're making me jump with these sneak attacks. But sure, I'm about ready. I wish I had time to wait for Psoglav to finish working on that Monolith suit I had in storage, but no dice.", Dimuha groaned.

"Well, that suit seems less offensively noisy, which might prove to be an edge in this mission. No offence to that leader of yours, but his suit is about as easy to spot as an anarchist.", Guevara commented.

"Why are anarchists easy to spot?", Dimuha asked, confused.

"Just follow the incessant whining.", Guevara scoffed, making Dimuha sigh.

"You know we're allied to Freedom, right? I know you Chekhist are not their friends but you're a loner now, no longer on Gorbachev's payroll, so cut the crap.", Dimuha said in an annoyed tone.

"The day I stop hating the bastards of Makhno is the day I draw my last breath, mark my words. Anyway, let's get going, if we bicker here for long that last breath may very well claim me.", Guevara noted, and despite Dimuha's grumpy mood, he nodded.

With that, the two stalkers exited the Meadow factory, watching the night shift move into place. Dima Lord, Redemption's chief captain and Boris' right hand man was commanding it, with Timur Hog, Leva Voyager and Pavlukha Defunct. They had opened up the floodlights, expecting a mutant attack, and Dimuha wondered if it was best to wait for it to come or to brave the night.

"Well well well, if it isn't the Regent himself. I hear you're off to beat the nihilists?", Dima greeted.

"Indeed. We'll give Futility a taste of their own medicine and save the Zone. I'll see you in the morning.", Dimuha jested.

"Some morning, at least. I hope your search isn't... Futile.", Dima replied, causing the men around the gate to grunt and groan in exasperation.

"How long have you been holding that in?", Dimuha asked.

"Too long. Come back safe, bratan, alright? I don't want to become Boris' successor in case something happens to him.", Dima chuckled.

"Heartwarming, Dima, that you have such regard for me. But we'll be back before you know it.", Dimuha responded and with that, he and Guevara got on the road towards Rostok.

But despite his promise, Dimuha would not see Meadow for a long time. As the winds began to blow in the chilly autumn air, they seemed to mirror the changes happening in the Zone. And had Dimuha been gifted with the ability to see the future, this change would have chilled him far, far more than the cold winds blasting into his armour. But for now, he was merely annoyed and tired, yet determined to see his mission through.