Struggle. Taste of power

Mercenary

The Maquis set up their dugouts so they couldn't be seen. Not even close. They looked like cliffs, hills, a pile of fallen trees or a pile of garbage. Anything but a dugout… The Heavies were much better at this art. Their "cliffs," "hills," and "piles of fallen trees" looked as if they had been created first, and then all the reality around them. And the same with all those who covered them — snipers, machine-gun nests, traps. Everything was arranged in such a way that nothing gave itself away as something unnatural. In fact, that word "natural" was a trademark of the Kiwi.

The central command of the Hiwi was located in Gorlovka, while the field command was located on the outskirts of Bakhmut, a town located at the junction of three roads. It was more convenient to communicate with reserves from different units and to conduct sorties against the Maquis.

— Since the moment of entry of "Detachment 14" in Severodonetsk, our informant stopped contacting — began Cobra.

He gathered the local field commanders for a meeting in one of the command centers. This structure, a few meters underground, left over from the Great War and once completely burned down, was now a good example of using used resources: thick concrete walls, complete isolation from the outside world, and ample room for collective decision-making.

— Well, it's your informant who stopped communicating… — Berkut replied. — But our informant is perfectly fine.

Berkut once distrusted Cobra, and even considered him his enemy for some time, periodically building a kind of setup on the fly. But he coped with all of them, and in return he gave him problems, and in time their relationship settled down. Of course, they did not support each other, but there was no more confrontation. Cobra's dislike of him was still quite considerable, though — he still considered Berkut shortsighted and easy to change his shoes on the fly. It wasn't from a great mind.

So, why don't you share what's going on in there? — Cobra asked calmly.

— Nothing particularly new. Well, except that the Maquis kinda caught someone knocking plagues…I take it that's your good man….

As always these things are figured out in a meeting. Someone will wait a day or two, or even a week, just to say something in front of everyone. You can't warn anyone in advance about any problems that have come to your attention. At least start fixing the problem. No. They'll wait until the last minute just to make someone look bad in public.

— Why didn't you say so before? — Cobra asked, keeping his voice completely calm.

— Yeah we just got that information… But it's nice to have someone to get it from now…..

— Did your informant tell you anything about the Maquis' latest plans?

— Of course they want revenge for the last incident in the Deez sector. It's no wonder.

Sometimes it seemed to Kobra that Berkut had not gone to any peace, but was only pretending. To make an obvious victory over the Maquis look like something that only inflamed them could not have been a spontaneous retreat. Berkut obviously wasn't able to exist on parity with someone unless that someone blindly supported him at least a little bit. And Cobra never supported him at all by any stretch. In fact, the reason for this lay in the key difference in their modus operandi. Cobra calculated and applied his efforts based on the pros and cons he had calibrated, while constantly learning new methods of both Maquis and Chum. Berkut pivoted on his ambition and personal ties to the head of the Hiwi, who had once been a close friend of his. Apparently, this difference in approach did not suit both of them.

— Maybe we should have left it as it was and let a few Boers of the imperial army get ambushed? — Cobra said.

— I'm exaggerating… Of course, all these actions are necessary… But that's not what I mean… We're losing the initiative. — that was Berkut's favorite way of changing his mind on the fly, taking conversations sideways and then turning the tables. — Don't you know how unacceptable it is to lose the initiative at a time like this? At a time when the SCK and the Inquisition are sharpening their teeth at each other….

— That's what we'll talk about. — Raven intervened. He was not a brigadier general, as both of his interlocutors were, but a lieutenant general, and therefore the senior among them. Of course, his personal ties to Berkut were more important than Cobra's professional qualities, though he did not openly admit it. — Who knows anything about the incident in the Korsa sector?

Cobra looked at Berkut with a somewhat defiant look — say, if you know everything, then say more here — but, without waiting for anything, as usual decided not to ruin the common cause with personal disputes:

— As we know, initially Metropolitan Samokh did not plan to have the chief of the sector exorcized, but wanted to limit himself to one of his subordinates. But he did not like something personal about him. He insulted him in some way, and it came to his personal burning.

— And the unspoken resource?

— That's the most interesting thing. In fact, he didn't use it at all…" Cobra continued. — They only took up positions in the main hall, where they later burned Bazankhra. They didn't have to fire a shot at all.

— So. Some inquisitor came to the unit, accused the chief of heresy, burned him and left?

— Well, almost… He hasn't left yet. The mine itself is under the Mountain's control. He doesn't seem very happy about that. But he didn't manage to go down, because someone had blown up the main elevator, apparently together with a small group of plagues. They didn't want to use the spare elevator, and the stairs were out of order. And here's where we don't know. What was meant by this "inoperability" of the ladders…..

— Did it pile up? — Berkut asked.

— Maybe it was blocked… Or maybe someone didn't let them through. In any case, the mine is under Gora's control, and he's obviously not going to give it up for nothing. If the CCC entrusted it to him, no Inquisition can take it away. At least not for nothing… I'm sure he'll fight to the last man there, and no amount of exhortations from the priests will work on him. It's quite possible that when Zakinhr first thought up this whole idea of autonomy, he was counting on it….

— Counting on people? — Berkut said somewhat contemptuously.

— Well, they still count on us when they trust us to fight the Maquis one-on-one.

A silence formed in the room. This was indeed the cornerstone of the relationship between the Kiwi and the Empire. It was as if they were walking on a razor blade, on the one hand, trying not to overdo it by showing serious successes and thereby demonstrating their strength unnecessarily, and, on the other hand, not to make mistakes so that one could think of their uselessness. That is why the central command has always coordinated its actions with the heads of the JFCs. But lately, with the change in the status quo in the Donetsk-Makeyevka grouping, some field commanders like Kobra started to play their own game.

— All right…" Raven said at last. — You're in charge of the outer security of the Diza sector now. What are your plans in case Samokh moves in your direction?

— I've been given strict orders not to let anyone through without Ananhr's orders. No matter who it is.

— So when he approaches with his this punitive drill, you assume to start shooting at them if they try to break through.

— And there will be nothing else left…

— But in this case, the SCK will just blame everything on us… You see, they will pin the murder of the Metropolitan and the punitive storm of the Inquisition on the Hivi. At first they will definitely do that… Of course, while the SCK needs us, but at the beginning of the showdown, it will be us… On the other hand, if we don't do as you say, the SCK itself will reject us, which is even worse… So you're just suggesting to choose the least worst option?

Raven was indeed a very wise leader. He had no pathos, no unnecessary emotions or ambitions. He just thought like a strategist, and his position allowed him not to compete with anyone, so the decisions he made worked for a really long time, and solved not just one fleeting problem, but a whole set of problems. Cobra realized that Raven expected more from him than a choice between two evils.

— I agree. I totally agree. We need a better solution…

— So which one is it?

— We should start by blowing up the damn tracks about a kilometer outside the sector perimeter. Blame it on the Maquis. At least we'll buy some time.

— That's not bad. That's pretty good. — nodded Raven. — What's next?

— Next we warn them that there are Maquis around. The area is mined and it would be better for them to move back… Of course, they will not move, and then we will imitate the Maquis attack ourselves, we have a suitable uniform. And somewhere in between we'll mow down this metropolitan… And this drill is useless without its leader.

— That's better. This plan is much better than waiting for them to do something on their own… One more question. About The Mountain. You've met him in person. What do you think of him? Whose side is he on?

— He's clearly on his own. And he's dangerous. Really dangerous. I have a suspicion that when the CCC put him in charge of a whole group, they didn't fully understand what kind of man he was… Now he's doing his best to show that the CCC needs him… And at the same time, I have a gut feeling that he's been flirting with the Maquis at least in the past. And he's flirting now. Both with the Maquis and with us… But that's just a hunch… And there's something else… The eyes of the people there… I've never seen anything like it… They're like cursed. Ready to do whatever he commands… He told me himself, when I first went down to see him, that if he had commanded the man operating the elevator to blow it up with him, there's no doubt he wouldn't have done it… And then I find out that the elevator at the Korsa mine was blown up supposedly with a group of chumas. I don't think it's a coincidence… We've organized an iron discipline. And punish mistakes severely… But with him, I feel it's on a different level… They seem to be fanatically devoted to him as a leader… And he's somehow achieved it. Achieved obedience, sacrifice. Achieved privileges from the plagues… We're dealing with a very dangerous man, and he's especially dangerous that he doesn't seem to be… This is all just my speculation….

— For the time being, proceed according to the plan…" said Raven, having heard everything to the end. — And when the time comes, I'll talk to the Mountain myself.