Post by Basil on Jun 10, 2010 9:39:29 GMT -5
Balalaïka was quite aware of the fact Schwarz might let them all down, but Ferret's plan of "legging it" if things went wrong did not sound...well, sound to her. For one, the Freedomer could easily shoot them down, and if the mercenary joined in the celebrations they wouldn't even live for a second.
She also had the strange feeling that Ferret would try to do something heroic like hold the Freedomer while she escaped. A stupid idea to her: Ferret would be killed and she'd end up dead too.
"We're just loners", said Balalaïka to the Freedomer, using her best "I'm tired, hungry and I've no idea what all this shouting is about" look. "We just heard there were some good artefacts up around the old Scorcher, so we decided to go there..."
Suddenly, there was the loud sound of helicopters flying by. Everyone turned to look at what was happening up the road, including the Freedomer. Balalaïka used the distraction to quickly run off into the bushes and vanish from sight.
After creeping through the bushes for a while, Balalaïka went up a rise in the terrain that overlooked the area where the Freedomers were busily shooting down the Monolithians. Below her, she saw the commandant, still sitting in the same place and talking to what appeared to be and empty stalker suit.
Balalaïka calmly positioned her SVD. She was hidden behind a small rocky outcrop that made an ideal look-out or sniping position. As she checked her magasine, conflicting thoughts and emotions flooded her with a silent yet thunderous crash.
Is this what you are? A murderer?
Of course. Remember all those people you shot back in your country? You stole your father's gun, went up onto a roof and shot them all down in cold blood...[/b]
This is different. You've never even met this person before, and you're being paid to shoot her...the first time around was to get out of the claws of your tormentors.
Screw that. Just take aim and shoot. You'll be paid a handsome sum for it and you'll be able to get some proper gear, earn respect...[/b]
Balalaïka put her finger on her gun's trigger. She felt herself almost meld into the gun and the gun into her, a feeling that often overcame her when she was about to shoot.
Yet still she hesitated.
Shoot.
"I can't..."
SHOOT[/b]
And Balalaïka pulled the trigger. The gun's loud report seemed to be kilometres away, and the SVD bucked in her hands and against her shoulder.
----------------------------------------------
Adder saw the three choppers fly past, and grabbed her VSS. She relaxed when she saw two of the helicopters attack the Monolithians.
"Well bro", said Adder to the unconscious stalker next to her, "I don't know what happened to you, but I know you're in there."
A minute ago Adder had looked at the stalker's face and had been astounded to find none. The suit appeared to be empty until she prodded it and felt the familiar mass of a body. Somehow, the stalker had ended up in a situation akin to that of the Invisible Man...not exactly surprising. Adder did have a pair of eyes that should belong on a snake or a cat. Weird stuff happened to people in the Zone.
But still, invisibility. Adder found that somewhat hilarious.
"You know, we're not so different", she told the unconscious stalker, "the Zone decided to fuck your DNA or something up, like it did with me. We're mutants, and I guess us mutants should stick together..."
Adder laughed wrily. What a load of nonsense she was saying.
"I mean, normal stalkers are fucking disturbed or scared when they see my eyes, what would they think about an invisible man? It's..."
There was loud gunshot, followed by a small THWACK on the rock, right next to Adder's head.
"Shit!", swore Adder as she dashed for new cover. Another shot echoed through the Red Forest, and Adder felt something like an angry bee fly by her face, followed by a strong sting. Adder dropped into a ditch next to the road. Blood was running down her cheek from a small cut obviously made by a bullet.
Adder cautiously looked over the edge of the ditch. She ducked just in time to avoid another bullet that zoomed through the area where her head had been just a second ago. Whoever was shooting at her was dangerously good. Adder decided to test the sniper's patience and attention by grabbing a stick and grabbing and old, broken gas mask she found lying in the ditch next to a skeleton. She put the mask on the stick and stuck it out of the ditch, imitiating the cautious head movements of someone scanning the area for any signs of danger.
Five minutes went past, and no shot came. Maybe the sniper wasn't looking anymore?
Adder slowly emerged from the ditch, her suit now stained by mud and dirty water. Still no shot came. She finally left the ditch and exposed herself entirely to whoever was out there...no shot came.
-----------------------------------
Balalaïka was perfectly aware of Adder's strategy and had been waiting for her to leave her hiding place. But now that her prey was fully exposed, she was again having doubts about her job. Was she doing the right thing? This person had never done anything to her.
Adder was now completely exposed. One shot to the head was all that was needed...
------------------------------------
Another gunshot rang out, and Adder dropped to the ground. She saw a fresh mark in the ground where the bullet had struck...it had missed her by a good metre.
The commandant immediately got up and scanned the area above her for a sign of her attacker. As she watched, she saw a slight movement behind a rocky outcrop.
"Gotcha", she said, taking her VSS and aiming it at the spot. She loosed three bullets.
------------------------------------
Three shots came from below. Balalaïka had shifted slightly, a move that had given her position away. Now the commandant was shooting at her with a VSS Vintorez. Two more shots hit the rocks behind which she was hiding, and one even went right past her face.
Balalaïka was unaware of the fact a scratch from one of Adder's bullets was enough to make her suffer a horrible, painful death, but she was aware of the fact that the Vintorez's ammo would make short work of her pitiful leather jacket.
Balalaïka tried to run, but more bullets streaked by, barely missing her. She was pinned. The rookie stalker sank deeper behind the outcrop, trying to make herself as small a target as possible.
Then suddenly, she heard heavy breathing, followed by someone jumping onto the outcrop. A shadow went over her and she looked up into the most frightening pair of eyes she had ever seen.
"So, trying to shoot me?"
This was followed by a hard blow to Balalaïka's face that made her see stars.
--------------------------------------
Adder struck the sniper twice before grabbing his SVD and wrenching it from him. Throwing the gun aside, she pinned the sniper to the ground...and was surprised to hear him give out a very feminine cry of pain.
"Wait, you're a woman?"
She looked more closely at the sniper. She must have been barely twenty years of age.
"Jesus...why were you trying to shoot me?"
The sniper remained silent. With an annoyed sigh, Adder drew her knife and pressed the blade against the sniper's throat.
"-D...Duty", said the young woman with fear in her voice, "they...they said they'd pay me if I shot you...I'm just a rookie...I had no idea..."
And to Adder's dismay, the young woman burst into tears. Adder stared at the weeping person who, a few minutes ago, had come so close to blowing her head off.
"-All right. Stop blubbering", said Adder, "get up. Were there any others like you?"
"-Yes", said the young woman as she got up. Adder promptly confiscated her knife and pistol before going to pick up the fallen SVD, her Vintorez still trained on her would-be killer.
"-How many?"
"-There were...there were four of us. Two didn't really have anything to do with my mission, they're a mercenary and a rookie bandit...there...there was another guy who was going to take you down...some Asian guy..."
Adder prodded the loner in the back with her Vintorez. The hatred she had felt towards her was now practically gone, replaced by pity and what seemed to be some sympathy.
"-Tell me about him."
The young woman hesitated before continuing her story. She had stopped crying, but Adder could feel more tears brimming.
"-He...he had top notch gear. Upgraded M16, and he put on a very good suit when we entered the Red Forest. He also has two swords he uses like some kind of ninja. He was with the bandits."
Adder felt a heavy weight drop into her stomach, and she grew pale. Could it be...? No. The Mafiya couldn't have found her so fast.
Or could they?
She lead her prisoner down to the road and plunked her down next to the unconscious stalker. Adder then went through her backpack, taking out some rope which she tied around the young woman's hands. After some thought, she tied the invisible stalkers hands and feet up.
"W...why are you tying that suit up?", asked the young woman.
"-Oh, it's not a suit. The man's invisible. What's your name anyway?"
"-They call me Balalaïka."
"-Huh, like the instrument. Nice nickname. What did your companions look like?"
Balalaïka reluctantly described her partners, talkativeness facilitated by the fact Adder had her Vintorez aimed straight at the young woman's face. Adder then reached for her radio and contacted Maginot and Sokol.
"-I just got attacked by a sniper. I took her prisoner, but according to the info I got from her she's not the only one. Keep an eye out for a mercenary with a Bren gun and a mask, a rookie bandit with an old AK rifle and a short Asian guy with some advanced suit and a tricked out M16."
Adder then turned back to Balalaïka with a stiff look on her face.
"The Asian...was he working for the Mafiya?"
"-I don't know..."
"-WAS HE OR WAS HE NOT WORKING FOR THE MAFIYA?", shouted Adder.
"-I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!! HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!!"
Adder relented, and Balalaïka started crying again. The sniper obviously didn't know anything more, but Adder had the terrifying impression her old pursuers had caught up with her.
--------------------------------------
Two Monolithians fell to Penumbra's gunfire, and Maginot shot down one fanatic who was about to throw a grenade at them. The grenade went off as the Monolithian's body dropped to the ground.
As Maginot loaded another mag into his Sig, he heard the loud thump of helicopter blades and looked upwards. He saw three decidedly non-Russian and non-Ukrainian helicopters fly overhead. One of them was obviously some kind of transport aircraft while the other two were attack helicopters. The two attack helicopters immediately began to attack the Monolith's position, raining down rockets and chain gun fire while the transport helicopter hovered over the road. Maginot saw four people rappel out of the helicopter and head towards where Penumbra was entrenched.
The two attack helicopters were making very short work of the Monolith's troops. Maginot's eyes widened slightly when he recognised the helicopter as Tigers, France's new attack gunship. The helicopters also bore the symbol of the UN's mission in the Zone, which was surprising considering how the UN's involvement in the Zone had been quite small.
The men who rappelled out of the aircraft were all dressed like normal stalkers, but the guns they had were not what a normal stalker used: they were FAMAS rifles. The newcomers opened fire on the Monolithians nearby and helped Penumbra take out the last fanatics. After a short gunfight, the Monolithians were exterminated and the newcomers headed towards Maginot's position. The leader raised his hand and said: "is the man Yves Castel here?"
Maginot froze. That was his real name.
"-Yes. That's me."
"-Monsieur Castel", said the newcomer in perfect French, "je suis le Major Serpenson, de la DGSE." (I am Major Serpenson, of the DGSE).
"-Et que fais la DGSE dans la Zone? Je pensais que vous êtiez plus préoccupés par la Côte d'Ivoire ou l'Afghanistan."(And what is the DGSE doing in the Zone? I thought you were more concerned about the Ivory Coast and Afghanistan).
"-Je préfèrerais en discuter en privé, monsieur Castel."(I'd prefer to discuss this privately).
"-Très bien..."(very well).
And with that, Maginot and the DGSE agent walked some distance way from the others. Once they were out of earshot, the DGSE agent started talking again.
"-Monsieur Castel, je suis le Major George Serpenson et je travaille pour la DGSE. Je suis leur agent de terrain dans la Zone, et je suis chargé de surveiller les activités des russes et des criminels, mais aussi des découvertes scientifiques qui y sont effectuées." (I am Major George Serpenson and I work for the DGSE. I am their Zone operative, and my job is to monitor the activities of the Russians, criminals as well as the scientific discoveries that are made there)
"-Et que me voulez vous?" (and what do you want of me?)
"-Nous savons que vous avez récemment été nommé chef de la faction Svoboda. Nous avons du mal à surveiller efficacement la Zone, et nous avons pensé que conclure un...accord avec une des factions de la Zone pourrait nous faciliter la tâche. Comme vous êtes citoyen français, nous avons pensé que nous pourrions plus facilement conclure cette accord avec vous et votre faction."(We know that you were recently made leader of the Freedom faction. We are having a lot of trouble monitoring the Zone, so we thought that concluding an...accord with one of the Zone's factions would facilitate our task. Since you are a French citizen, we thought we could more easily make a deal with you and your faction).
Maginot looked intently at the Major. Such an agreement probably had strings attached.
"-Et que sont les termes de cet accord?"(and what are the terms of this deal?)
"-Nous donner régulièrement des informations sur la Zone et les activités qui s'y déroulent, protéger les scientifiques du CNRS que nous comptons envoyer et entraîner certaines de nos recrues pour les habituer à la Zone. En échange, nous donnerons à votre faction des armes, des médicaments, de l'équipement radio ainsi que le droit de refuge en France."(We want you to regularly give us information on the Zone and the activities that take place there, protect the CNRS scientists we intend to send and to train some of our recruits to make them more adept at surviving in the Zone's conditions. In exchange, we'll give you weapons, medical supplies, radio equipment as well as the right to seek refuge in France).
"-Et si je refuse?" (what if I refuse?)
"-You'll be stripped of your citizenship and will never be able to return to your homeland. You'll also be marked down as an Anarchist terrorist by Interpol", said the Major in Russian. Maginot stared at him while the Major smiled coldly.
"-Those are some pretty nasty strings you have attached", said Mag finally.
"-Yes, but not altogether unjustified. We know that when you still lived in France you and several Anarchist pacifists planned to rig the Marseille town hall with explosives and blow it up. And think about it. You won't have to worry about supply issues ever again."
Maginot thought about it. Being hunted down by Interpol was not something he wanted, and even though he loathed cooperating with forces of the State, he had to admit that the DGSE's proposal was very tempting.
"-I'll take it", said Maginot finally. "But first we need to get out of this place alive..."
"-I will help you. We heard of Freedom's intention to destroy the Scorcher, and we wouldn't mind seeing that dangerous device taken off the map for good."
"-You have a mole in our ranks eh."
"-Yes", said the Major as if it was a simple, natural occurrence. "Faites moi confiance, monsieur Castel, cet accord sera bénéfique pour les deux camps."(trust me, mister Castel, this deal will be beneficial for both sides).
I bloody well hope so.
Meanwhile, the combined might of the helicopters and the stalkers on the ground had wiped out the Monolith's opposition.
Well that's a relief.
Maginot's radio beeped, and he picked it up. He frowned as he heard the news from Adder.
Remove one concern, and another one will take its place.
She also had the strange feeling that Ferret would try to do something heroic like hold the Freedomer while she escaped. A stupid idea to her: Ferret would be killed and she'd end up dead too.
"We're just loners", said Balalaïka to the Freedomer, using her best "I'm tired, hungry and I've no idea what all this shouting is about" look. "We just heard there were some good artefacts up around the old Scorcher, so we decided to go there..."
Suddenly, there was the loud sound of helicopters flying by. Everyone turned to look at what was happening up the road, including the Freedomer. Balalaïka used the distraction to quickly run off into the bushes and vanish from sight.
After creeping through the bushes for a while, Balalaïka went up a rise in the terrain that overlooked the area where the Freedomers were busily shooting down the Monolithians. Below her, she saw the commandant, still sitting in the same place and talking to what appeared to be and empty stalker suit.
Balalaïka calmly positioned her SVD. She was hidden behind a small rocky outcrop that made an ideal look-out or sniping position. As she checked her magasine, conflicting thoughts and emotions flooded her with a silent yet thunderous crash.
Is this what you are? A murderer?
Of course. Remember all those people you shot back in your country? You stole your father's gun, went up onto a roof and shot them all down in cold blood...[/b]
This is different. You've never even met this person before, and you're being paid to shoot her...the first time around was to get out of the claws of your tormentors.
Screw that. Just take aim and shoot. You'll be paid a handsome sum for it and you'll be able to get some proper gear, earn respect...[/b]
Balalaïka put her finger on her gun's trigger. She felt herself almost meld into the gun and the gun into her, a feeling that often overcame her when she was about to shoot.
Yet still she hesitated.
Shoot.
"I can't..."
SHOOT[/b]
And Balalaïka pulled the trigger. The gun's loud report seemed to be kilometres away, and the SVD bucked in her hands and against her shoulder.
----------------------------------------------
Adder saw the three choppers fly past, and grabbed her VSS. She relaxed when she saw two of the helicopters attack the Monolithians.
"Well bro", said Adder to the unconscious stalker next to her, "I don't know what happened to you, but I know you're in there."
A minute ago Adder had looked at the stalker's face and had been astounded to find none. The suit appeared to be empty until she prodded it and felt the familiar mass of a body. Somehow, the stalker had ended up in a situation akin to that of the Invisible Man...not exactly surprising. Adder did have a pair of eyes that should belong on a snake or a cat. Weird stuff happened to people in the Zone.
But still, invisibility. Adder found that somewhat hilarious.
"You know, we're not so different", she told the unconscious stalker, "the Zone decided to fuck your DNA or something up, like it did with me. We're mutants, and I guess us mutants should stick together..."
Adder laughed wrily. What a load of nonsense she was saying.
"I mean, normal stalkers are fucking disturbed or scared when they see my eyes, what would they think about an invisible man? It's..."
There was loud gunshot, followed by a small THWACK on the rock, right next to Adder's head.
"Shit!", swore Adder as she dashed for new cover. Another shot echoed through the Red Forest, and Adder felt something like an angry bee fly by her face, followed by a strong sting. Adder dropped into a ditch next to the road. Blood was running down her cheek from a small cut obviously made by a bullet.
Adder cautiously looked over the edge of the ditch. She ducked just in time to avoid another bullet that zoomed through the area where her head had been just a second ago. Whoever was shooting at her was dangerously good. Adder decided to test the sniper's patience and attention by grabbing a stick and grabbing and old, broken gas mask she found lying in the ditch next to a skeleton. She put the mask on the stick and stuck it out of the ditch, imitiating the cautious head movements of someone scanning the area for any signs of danger.
Five minutes went past, and no shot came. Maybe the sniper wasn't looking anymore?
Adder slowly emerged from the ditch, her suit now stained by mud and dirty water. Still no shot came. She finally left the ditch and exposed herself entirely to whoever was out there...no shot came.
-----------------------------------
Balalaïka was perfectly aware of Adder's strategy and had been waiting for her to leave her hiding place. But now that her prey was fully exposed, she was again having doubts about her job. Was she doing the right thing? This person had never done anything to her.
Adder was now completely exposed. One shot to the head was all that was needed...
------------------------------------
Another gunshot rang out, and Adder dropped to the ground. She saw a fresh mark in the ground where the bullet had struck...it had missed her by a good metre.
The commandant immediately got up and scanned the area above her for a sign of her attacker. As she watched, she saw a slight movement behind a rocky outcrop.
"Gotcha", she said, taking her VSS and aiming it at the spot. She loosed three bullets.
------------------------------------
Three shots came from below. Balalaïka had shifted slightly, a move that had given her position away. Now the commandant was shooting at her with a VSS Vintorez. Two more shots hit the rocks behind which she was hiding, and one even went right past her face.
Balalaïka was unaware of the fact a scratch from one of Adder's bullets was enough to make her suffer a horrible, painful death, but she was aware of the fact that the Vintorez's ammo would make short work of her pitiful leather jacket.
Balalaïka tried to run, but more bullets streaked by, barely missing her. She was pinned. The rookie stalker sank deeper behind the outcrop, trying to make herself as small a target as possible.
Then suddenly, she heard heavy breathing, followed by someone jumping onto the outcrop. A shadow went over her and she looked up into the most frightening pair of eyes she had ever seen.
"So, trying to shoot me?"
This was followed by a hard blow to Balalaïka's face that made her see stars.
--------------------------------------
Adder struck the sniper twice before grabbing his SVD and wrenching it from him. Throwing the gun aside, she pinned the sniper to the ground...and was surprised to hear him give out a very feminine cry of pain.
"Wait, you're a woman?"
She looked more closely at the sniper. She must have been barely twenty years of age.
"Jesus...why were you trying to shoot me?"
The sniper remained silent. With an annoyed sigh, Adder drew her knife and pressed the blade against the sniper's throat.
"-D...Duty", said the young woman with fear in her voice, "they...they said they'd pay me if I shot you...I'm just a rookie...I had no idea..."
And to Adder's dismay, the young woman burst into tears. Adder stared at the weeping person who, a few minutes ago, had come so close to blowing her head off.
"-All right. Stop blubbering", said Adder, "get up. Were there any others like you?"
"-Yes", said the young woman as she got up. Adder promptly confiscated her knife and pistol before going to pick up the fallen SVD, her Vintorez still trained on her would-be killer.
"-How many?"
"-There were...there were four of us. Two didn't really have anything to do with my mission, they're a mercenary and a rookie bandit...there...there was another guy who was going to take you down...some Asian guy..."
Adder prodded the loner in the back with her Vintorez. The hatred she had felt towards her was now practically gone, replaced by pity and what seemed to be some sympathy.
"-Tell me about him."
The young woman hesitated before continuing her story. She had stopped crying, but Adder could feel more tears brimming.
"-He...he had top notch gear. Upgraded M16, and he put on a very good suit when we entered the Red Forest. He also has two swords he uses like some kind of ninja. He was with the bandits."
Adder felt a heavy weight drop into her stomach, and she grew pale. Could it be...? No. The Mafiya couldn't have found her so fast.
Or could they?
She lead her prisoner down to the road and plunked her down next to the unconscious stalker. Adder then went through her backpack, taking out some rope which she tied around the young woman's hands. After some thought, she tied the invisible stalkers hands and feet up.
"W...why are you tying that suit up?", asked the young woman.
"-Oh, it's not a suit. The man's invisible. What's your name anyway?"
"-They call me Balalaïka."
"-Huh, like the instrument. Nice nickname. What did your companions look like?"
Balalaïka reluctantly described her partners, talkativeness facilitated by the fact Adder had her Vintorez aimed straight at the young woman's face. Adder then reached for her radio and contacted Maginot and Sokol.
"-I just got attacked by a sniper. I took her prisoner, but according to the info I got from her she's not the only one. Keep an eye out for a mercenary with a Bren gun and a mask, a rookie bandit with an old AK rifle and a short Asian guy with some advanced suit and a tricked out M16."
Adder then turned back to Balalaïka with a stiff look on her face.
"The Asian...was he working for the Mafiya?"
"-I don't know..."
"-WAS HE OR WAS HE NOT WORKING FOR THE MAFIYA?", shouted Adder.
"-I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!! HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!!"
Adder relented, and Balalaïka started crying again. The sniper obviously didn't know anything more, but Adder had the terrifying impression her old pursuers had caught up with her.
--------------------------------------
Two Monolithians fell to Penumbra's gunfire, and Maginot shot down one fanatic who was about to throw a grenade at them. The grenade went off as the Monolithian's body dropped to the ground.
As Maginot loaded another mag into his Sig, he heard the loud thump of helicopter blades and looked upwards. He saw three decidedly non-Russian and non-Ukrainian helicopters fly overhead. One of them was obviously some kind of transport aircraft while the other two were attack helicopters. The two attack helicopters immediately began to attack the Monolith's position, raining down rockets and chain gun fire while the transport helicopter hovered over the road. Maginot saw four people rappel out of the helicopter and head towards where Penumbra was entrenched.
The two attack helicopters were making very short work of the Monolith's troops. Maginot's eyes widened slightly when he recognised the helicopter as Tigers, France's new attack gunship. The helicopters also bore the symbol of the UN's mission in the Zone, which was surprising considering how the UN's involvement in the Zone had been quite small.
The men who rappelled out of the aircraft were all dressed like normal stalkers, but the guns they had were not what a normal stalker used: they were FAMAS rifles. The newcomers opened fire on the Monolithians nearby and helped Penumbra take out the last fanatics. After a short gunfight, the Monolithians were exterminated and the newcomers headed towards Maginot's position. The leader raised his hand and said: "is the man Yves Castel here?"
Maginot froze. That was his real name.
"-Yes. That's me."
"-Monsieur Castel", said the newcomer in perfect French, "je suis le Major Serpenson, de la DGSE." (I am Major Serpenson, of the DGSE).
"-Et que fais la DGSE dans la Zone? Je pensais que vous êtiez plus préoccupés par la Côte d'Ivoire ou l'Afghanistan."(And what is the DGSE doing in the Zone? I thought you were more concerned about the Ivory Coast and Afghanistan).
"-Je préfèrerais en discuter en privé, monsieur Castel."(I'd prefer to discuss this privately).
"-Très bien..."(very well).
And with that, Maginot and the DGSE agent walked some distance way from the others. Once they were out of earshot, the DGSE agent started talking again.
"-Monsieur Castel, je suis le Major George Serpenson et je travaille pour la DGSE. Je suis leur agent de terrain dans la Zone, et je suis chargé de surveiller les activités des russes et des criminels, mais aussi des découvertes scientifiques qui y sont effectuées." (I am Major George Serpenson and I work for the DGSE. I am their Zone operative, and my job is to monitor the activities of the Russians, criminals as well as the scientific discoveries that are made there)
"-Et que me voulez vous?" (and what do you want of me?)
"-Nous savons que vous avez récemment été nommé chef de la faction Svoboda. Nous avons du mal à surveiller efficacement la Zone, et nous avons pensé que conclure un...accord avec une des factions de la Zone pourrait nous faciliter la tâche. Comme vous êtes citoyen français, nous avons pensé que nous pourrions plus facilement conclure cette accord avec vous et votre faction."(We know that you were recently made leader of the Freedom faction. We are having a lot of trouble monitoring the Zone, so we thought that concluding an...accord with one of the Zone's factions would facilitate our task. Since you are a French citizen, we thought we could more easily make a deal with you and your faction).
Maginot looked intently at the Major. Such an agreement probably had strings attached.
"-Et que sont les termes de cet accord?"(and what are the terms of this deal?)
"-Nous donner régulièrement des informations sur la Zone et les activités qui s'y déroulent, protéger les scientifiques du CNRS que nous comptons envoyer et entraîner certaines de nos recrues pour les habituer à la Zone. En échange, nous donnerons à votre faction des armes, des médicaments, de l'équipement radio ainsi que le droit de refuge en France."(We want you to regularly give us information on the Zone and the activities that take place there, protect the CNRS scientists we intend to send and to train some of our recruits to make them more adept at surviving in the Zone's conditions. In exchange, we'll give you weapons, medical supplies, radio equipment as well as the right to seek refuge in France).
"-Et si je refuse?" (what if I refuse?)
"-You'll be stripped of your citizenship and will never be able to return to your homeland. You'll also be marked down as an Anarchist terrorist by Interpol", said the Major in Russian. Maginot stared at him while the Major smiled coldly.
"-Those are some pretty nasty strings you have attached", said Mag finally.
"-Yes, but not altogether unjustified. We know that when you still lived in France you and several Anarchist pacifists planned to rig the Marseille town hall with explosives and blow it up. And think about it. You won't have to worry about supply issues ever again."
Maginot thought about it. Being hunted down by Interpol was not something he wanted, and even though he loathed cooperating with forces of the State, he had to admit that the DGSE's proposal was very tempting.
"-I'll take it", said Maginot finally. "But first we need to get out of this place alive..."
"-I will help you. We heard of Freedom's intention to destroy the Scorcher, and we wouldn't mind seeing that dangerous device taken off the map for good."
"-You have a mole in our ranks eh."
"-Yes", said the Major as if it was a simple, natural occurrence. "Faites moi confiance, monsieur Castel, cet accord sera bénéfique pour les deux camps."(trust me, mister Castel, this deal will be beneficial for both sides).
I bloody well hope so.
Meanwhile, the combined might of the helicopters and the stalkers on the ground had wiped out the Monolith's opposition.
Well that's a relief.
Maginot's radio beeped, and he picked it up. He frowned as he heard the news from Adder.
Remove one concern, and another one will take its place.