THE OUTLAND

4

Top secret.

Black box III link Ogre DP. 

16.VI.30 

Commander Rob A. entry 4/6

— Hello, commander. - Suddenly heard on the command frequency. - You're good to run.

- Who is it?

— Conquista. Faye whispered. Rob, don't answer!

"Familiar voice, who is it?"

"Don't you recognize me?"

— Commander! Frost's tense voice was heard. “I see their captain-general!”

— Distance to the target?

- A mile and a half.

So shoot, why are you delaying?

- I don't…

"What's wrong with all of you!" Fey, on the perimeter.

I climbed a tree with the desire to tell Fros everything I think about him. For once, we are in a better position, we can no longer play the exchange, but snap their fighters from a distance! Return home winners!

The words stood in my throat like a stake when I took the shooting complex from Froze, crouched down on the scope and saw a familiar face at maximum magnification. He looked strange in antediluvian camouflage with a primitive "Kalash" on his shoulder, but there could be no mistake. 

- Did you know? Our opponent smiled white-toothed. "Froz, why don't you shoot?"

Hyde. Damn Lucky Hyde. We were firmly convinced of his death, because the Conquest did not need living operatives, we left, and he remained to cover our retreat. Mourned, resigned to the loss.

“Congratulations on a successful landing in the tundra region. In the meantime, Lucky continued to joke. “The next day here is only a month away. I've been here, I know. 

— How did you survive?

Oh, it took some effort. But don't worry, the Conquest needs people like you. Give up, and I promise that only Fey and Frost will die.

- You shouldn't go...

Well, I didn't expect any other answer. Capture team, move out.

He winked at me again, knowing unmistakably where I was aiming at him from. And disappeared, vanished into the mist.

Lucky Hyde, a living legend.

Will anything in this world work the way it's supposed to? I moaned. - This is a public service, everyone was checked for reliability a hundred times!

A living refutation of the stereotype about the short life of a Far Seek operative.

I was pierced by frost between the shoulder blades. Again, a flash of insight. If it could turn out that not all of the captured operatives were destroyed, the commanders were not destroyed after interrogation - Conquista specialists know how to work well with the psyche, they could even recruit group commanders.

“According to the latest intelligence, we were at war with ourselves…” I muttered.

What are we going to do, Commander? Frost asked, surveying the area again.

- I'm sorry, what. Run. And, if necessary, fight!

But Hyde...

It's not Hyde anymore. It's just a creature with the face, mannerisms and talents of your old commander, Frost. And if we don't jump above our heads now, we'll all be in trouble. Did you get it?

- Yes sir.

Frost was also partly right. We were taught to survive, hide, get information and pack trophies for transport. What we were not taught was to fight with our own kind. Let each operative be worth two Conquest fighters, let us be better equipped and trained.

A herd of rams led by a lion will always defeat a pack of lions led by a ram. If I'm counting on at least some chance, it's better to close the mitten now, put doubts aside - and just work! Worked as always!

- Fei, let's go.

— Commander.

- Fighters, weapons in automatic mode. If I remember anything about Hyde's work, we've probably already been surrounded on all sides. We will break through with a fight.

- There is.

I jumped down from the tree, checked the complex. Fifty rounds in the magazine, three interchangeable. Enough to kill the entire Conquista squad, if only to beat for sure. But we all remember the statistics of wars: no less than ten thousand shots are fired for one killed.

Frost landed noiselessly behind him.

Top secret.

Black box III link Ogre DP. 

16.VI.30 

Commander Rob A. entry 5/6.

Cat and mouse, a game of catch-up in half with a chess game. I have not come out of the trance for a day, I'm sure Hyde is in the same situation. But he knows much more, knows much more. Therefore, in the struggle between two intuitives, the more experienced one will inevitably win.

- Fey, charge?

- Thirty percent.

Two more times for the same. We manage to keep our distance, we manage to stay out of open, gun-toting areas, but how long can that last? Hyde got in touch twice more, he didn’t smile anymore - there must be no such coherence between him and Conquista. The first losses even before the first shots.

And he did not stop trying to take us alive. Or rather, just me. Yes, only hell with two. 

“Fey, for two hours, in a short burst.

- There is.

The complex barked briefly, and curses came from somewhere in the periphery.

“Next time, take it a little higher, it didn’t hit the head.”

- Received.

In total, three operatives exhausted by the chase against about the same number of Conquista fighters. As I understand it, Hyde drowned one fighter in a swamp, and we just cut off the second.

Chances are slowly improving. A little more, and we can take the fight. After all, can we? Truth? This, of course, is Lucky, but we have been together for half a year, more than a dozen sorties behind us.

Hell no. If it had been a regular hunting party, we would have fought back. But I'm afraid Lucky will be able to put us all down even alone. 

- Snack on the go, do not slow down the speed.

— Commander. - Bassed in the back of Frost. "Maybe I'll step aside - and out of the chatter of them all?"

Moron. An overgrown, experienced idiot.

No offense, Fros. Who are you up against? Against unwashed savages? Or against a specialist who knows our own tricks better than all of us?

- How would he know? It just came to my mind.

- From there, how do I know where to stand and where not to step in this swamp. If you fight alone with Fey against Hyde, who will you bet on?

— …

- That's it. We don't split up, we go as one group. Let's hope he loses someone else by... Fey, by nine o'clock, tree!

The machine chirped.

A wolf pack can afford not to save energy if the victim is within reach. Everything that remains in the strained muscles is invested in the last jerk - rest after, everything after! The main thing is to grab, grind the throat with the jaws.

Without waiting for my command, the detachment reorganized so that the next tree was strictly behind our backs. Dart guns at such a distance are ineffective, but, firstly, of our entire team, Conquest only needs me, and secondly, a bullet will not kill you from the first hit, unless it hits your head or heart.

The lucky man was listed in the memorial as killed on duty, which automatically meant that all his ammunition, weapons, devices were written off as losses in battle. All products of the technological genius of the scientists of the Search were at his service. Including exactly the same rifle complex.

If we now find ourselves in an open area, and he will click us like targets in a shooting range. 

“Froz, six o’clock, three hundred meters.

The bolt clicked briefly. Three for three.

Or…

— Commander! Fei screamed. "There's a large enemy force ahead!" 

- Do not engage in battle, turn aside.

- But…

Yes, we will find ourselves between two fires. I don't know who is leading the second squad, but if it's the same i-person, then we're in serious trouble. 

- I'm going, guys, to the right!

The fog helped us, my insights and instincts, we continued the race, and not one of us was even injured yet. And it was strange enough. Damn strange it was, to be honest - Hyde was one of the top ten shooters in the Search.

Where and how the Conquista got reinforcements, I didn’t even want to think. Hell, even in my amateurish opinion, there are at least a couple of ways to reunite the scattered forces. I'm sure Hyde has just as many.

I guessed that we didn’t have a chance at first, I guessed at the moment when a harmless snag exploded under Fey’s feet, and the air around became heavy, reluctantly oozing into the lungs even through the filters of the mask.

— Argon! Hold up dy...

A rough, primitive net shot up overhead, Fey fell, thrashed, trying to get out, but her movements became slower with every second.

With Froze, the situation was even worse - the operative was shamelessly sleeping, probably having grabbed gas.

Remember, Rob. Hyde taught me with his usual smile. The commander is always the most valuable member of the team. Operatives can be changed, weapons and costumes will be given new ones. But if you get caught by enemies ... Do not let yourself be caught if suddenly something happens. Run.

Run.

The strained nerves groaned in protest, driving me into a state of stress, time slowed down, the air pushed into my chest with an elastic barrier. I won't be able to function in this state for long, and it will most likely cost me dearly. But now the most important thing is to be saved. It is necessary to escape from the field of traps, to break through the closing ring.

Run.

We were taught to hit to kill, not to get into fights that last more than a few hits. Survive where others cannot. Like rats.

The rat will always find a way.

Out of nowhere, a Conquista fighter stood up in front of me, looking wild in a green spotted overall against a gray misty forest, flew off like a broken doll to the side in a split second.

Run.

The rat will always find a way. 

Behind the conquistador's back, his instinct indicated a gap, a gap leading to freedom. I will leave the ring, and from the side I will cut you all out!

Everyone! Including the traitor Hyde.

My heart was pounding every other time, my lungs burned from lack of oxygen, but I was still in the argon cloud. Break through, forward, forward!

A rat can always escape.

Lucky Hyde taxied out from behind a tree, still smiling, moving so fast I could barely catch his movements. Also in a state of stress, also ready to destroy opponents ... Or catch their own kind.

“Nothing personal, Rob.

A butt flickered, and the world plunged into blackness.

Lucky Hyde. Rat Wolf Hyde.

Top secret.

Black box III link Ogre DP. 

16.VI.30 

Commander Rob A. entry 6/6