12. Artur: Expeditionary force

I’ve been here for a couple days but I still felt uneasy surrounded by the men who organized the contract to end our cooperation with the mercenaries. Granted I was glad to finally be done with them and even the men I worked with but I was also in their crosshairs now they didn’t get their package. Even though the makeshift bunker of a building kept me safe that could change at any moment should the occupants find out who exactly I was.

I thought that moment had come when I ran into the man who interrogated me but as he went for his pistol he saw the man I was walking with and returned to a docile if not confused posture once Noah had explained why he was sheltering and feeding me. If Noah hadn’t found me stumbling through the forest while the blood still ran from my mouth I wouldn’t have lasted another day. After a brief introduction by Noah on my part Flux went back out into the devastated land not having the time or care to question further. Sitting next to Noah in the bar as instructed a Crusader and Cerberus operative sat across the table from us.

The Cerberus operative looked defeated with his situation while the Crusader began demanding when he’d be given his rifle back. None of us were welcome here which was reinforced by the obvious stares of far too many pioneers noting our presence with agitation. Had we not been with Noah we probably would've already been forced out into the depths of the chaos outside ill equipped and unprepared to survive.

As the silence continued amongst us the ambience of the bar became more and more maddening as our situation sunk in. We were at the absolute mercy of this man and none of us knew what he wanted. Jumping at the sound of a pair of hands slamming onto the table three more pioneers arrived, two claimed a stool as the owner who slammed her hands began to speak.

“(Noah! It’s been too long. How have you been? Eating well? Drinking well? Shitting well? I’d like to think so with the hauls we’ve been bringing in. Some A grade meat from the recent hunt’s wouldn’t you agree?)”

One was covered in body armor and tactical equipment while the other pioneer wore a suit patched with mutant hides, hunting gear clinking as he sat. The owner of the hands continued to stand wearing a sealed suit without the helmet revealing the womans wild eyes. An emergency field surgical kit strapped around her waist complemented by scientific equipment.

The operator rested his head against his hand giving the rest of us a casual wave while the hunter ran his hands down his strained face.

“(Collette… just once can you try make an effort not to scare the fuck out of the people we meet.)”

The woman continued on mostly disregarding the hunter’s plea. “(Of course! Manners, was never one for keeping up appearances. My parents were like that and oh god it was unbearable every day in and out it was just-)” Interrupting with a smile the operator pointed to himself the hunter then the surgeon.

“(Benedict, Valentine, Collette. Pleasure to meet you three. Sorry bout her. Been up all night setting up bear traps to catch some fallen. Someone let her into something caffeinated to help work through the night.)”

Collette shot a vicious look at Benedict frustrated with his rudeness which he simply responded to with a shrug. Noah returned the greeting continuing on with small talk for awhile as if the collection of characters we made up was nothing unordinary. Eventually though they brought their voices low as Noah began investigating his map again and brought to our attention the horizon radar station Duga as Benedict questioned Noah over his interest in the area.

“(So why the sudden interest? Last time we spoke you sounded interested in the center, not an old military installation.)”

“(I said I wanted to get to the heart of the zone. This is where we will find it.)” Collette looked up wide eyed and did her best to contain her excitement keeping her voice low.

“(So what’s down there?)” Noah looked behind him and made sure no one around was eavesdropping then kept his voice barely above the ambient noise around us once sure no one was overhearing our conversation.

“(The pillar. The living breathing heart of the zone.)” Lewis immediately leant in recognizing the words even though he didn’t speak Ukrainian interrupting Noah from continuing on.

“How do you know that old man? We’ve been searching for years.” Tarasov was next to interrupt as Noah tried to continue again.

“(Why have you held back such valuable information? Do you know how many have died in this place? If you alerted us to it’s location we could finally destroy this influence.)” Not being able to speak myself due to the injuries sustained from my interrogation I waited for Noah to explain why we intended to reach the focal point of this hell.

“(We need to learn what we can from what was left in there so we can kill it. Making it public knowledge would just have more fools feeding it trying to find or destroy it. We have the upper hand though in that I understand this thing and pulled some strings in getting some custom protection made to get us in.)”

Lewis smiled gleefully at the chance to learn from the heart of darkness while Tarasov cracked his knuckles likely amused by the idea of being able to single handedly play a major part in bringing down the zone. The three other pioneers nodded in agreement that somehow it was in their best interests to follow through with Noah’s plan. For myself though I had no reason to throw myself into the belly of the beast. Sensing my disgruntlement at the idea Noah offered me an irresistible opportunity.

“(Once I have what we need I'll be leaving the zone. I know a way out without resistance and anyone is welcome to follow me afterwards.)”

An opportunity to escape the zone and back to the freedom of the world. Thinking back I couldn’t remember why I had come here. All I knew is that I had to make it in somehow so I could make a dream come true. It’d been so long since I went to sleep without a pistol underneath whatever my head rested on, wasted a day without a care or enjoyed the company of my family. I almost forgot what the outside world even looked like. The tranquility over the fence was so tantalizing now Noah mentioned it. Benedict brought to light that we even forgot what was most precious to us as he spoke once more.

“(Goddamn I’d even be able to see my son again. It’s been 4 years…)”

Raising his hand to his forehead he wasn’t able to believe the words coming from his mouth himself. The rest of us questioned what this place was doing to our minds as Noah gave us a minute of silence to remember what we left behind before reinforcing his reasoning to get to the pillar. I remembered my sister sitting beside a window reminiscing over what could have been. She wanted to be a scientist but hadn’t the money or health to study. Going back over the fence I could make all of that change.

“(This place corrupts everything it touches. If we stay here we’ll all become apart of it. If we leave it’ll eventually grow and find us anyway. It’s do or die at this point.)”

I looked down at the table concerned with our chances. We all wanted so desperately to leave and return to the lives promised by the world. Disheartened I looked to the others considering just leaving myself in trying to escape. Maybe after a few more raids or finding a few more artefacts. After I got some better equipment to assist my escape then I’d attempt to leave. It would happen eventually. Where else did all the people go after so much time in the zone? They can’t all have died. The Crusader broke my train of thought bringing his hand crashing down onto the table.

“(We swore to destroy this place regardless of the risk it ensured. If what you say is true I will fight with you as well as anyone on this last crusade.)” Lewis was the next to respond.

“This is a treasure trove of knowledge. Just by finding the origin of the zone we stand to advance humanity by leaps and bounds. Even if we have to destroy it what we will gain will be worth the loss.” Benedict stood up as well with a nod from Collette and Valentine.

“(If you're so certain we can’t escape then we have no choice. I will see my son again.)” Valentine went to speak but was interrupted by a buzzed Collette who appeared completely exhausted and ready to collapse explaining her current mania.

“(It’s set then! One final expedition as brothers in arms. Look forward to working with the new guys.)” Extending her now apparently bloodsoaked gloved hand to shake mine, Tarasov’s and Lewis’s she was quickly intercepted by Benedict slapping her hand away.

“(No. Nope. No getting mutant on them. YOU need the sleep.)”

“(Science never sleeps!)” Launching from the table she quickly tripped up on her own feet landing on her side wincing as Benedict helped her up to take her to the bunks.

“(No but people need to sleep. How many days were you up this time? We need to have a serious talk about your ‘endeavours for science’...)” Supporting her down the hall she disappeared round the corner with Benedict. Her introduction left Lewis, Tarasov and myself obviously stunned as Valentine began to explain her mania.

“(She’s usually no where near as full on. She spent the two nights before our operation up as well fine tuning her report on the jelly void we found recently. Looks like a stupid blue jellyfish floating in the air. Fun fact. Contains some of the deadliest neurotoxin known to man. Shooting it has it spray it thirty meters towards you as well. Saved a lot of lives already with her getting that report into the bestiary.)”

Coming down from the shock of meeting Collette we went over what Noah wanted once more as Benedict returned. Nodding in final agreement with the rest of the men Noah began to lay out the plan. Running his hand down the map he pointed out a mercenary outpost that he intended to send 4 new pioneers as a test to see if they were an asset to us. Their mission would be to destroy desperately needed supplies so that the makeshift bridge behind the outpost could be accessed. Once clear we would march to the cemetery ships to prepare our raid. After all the details had been discussed and translated for Lewis Noah looked up addressing us all.

“(So it’s established then. The success of the upcoming job performed by the new blood will determine how quickly we can get to the cemetery ships. Tomorrow for the first time in history, we fight back. We begin our attack on the singularity.)”

For the first time in my life I felt inspired in something I was about to fight for. Even though I didn’t know these men and couldn’t even vocally express my support we still all shared the same sense of comradery. A table surrounded by friends, strangers and enemies finding themselves at a beacon of hope in the disparity of this place to be tied together by a common goal.

Returning to our quarters we continued to run through the plan without Noah discussing the best methods of how to get to the cemetery ships while I did my best to communicate how to avoid hidden outlaws only I knew about in the region. We discussed the weaknesses of our groups and how to avoid them with complete mutual trust in eachother that the mission would come first.

It was unsettling how willing we were to work with each other. It almost seemed unnatural but Noah had an aura of authority that begged for such loyalty. I had to admit it was impressive how the old man could get us all to work together in a single day. For any other man it would have probably been impossible to have such different ideologies working together.