The security system of the Vostok Global-Biochem warehouse was impressively advanced. Cameras were plentiful. Their feeds in full color and overlapping fields of view ensured that nearly every corner was covered without gaps. This setup allowed recorded events to be reviewed from multiple angles. Moreover, not only did the system capture sharp, detailed visuals, but it also recorded audio — a perfect tool for unraveling the mystery of what had unfolded within the facility.
Of course, the retreating defenders had communicated using the integrated comms in their tactical helmets, mostly speaking in hushed tones. Yet Moira had no trouble isolating their voices from the ambient noise. Her advanced processing easily boosted and clarified the faint conversations, making them intelligible.
The result was a gripping, cinematic reconstruction of events — dynamic and vivid, as if crafted by a masterful filmmaker.
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A Few Hours Earlier
A deafening crack echoed through the warehouse as one of the remaining Shaiszu unleashed its searing plasma “breath,” obliterating the support column of a massive metal platform. A towering barrel perched atop it teetered for a moment before crashing down with a thunderous roar, landing squarely on a two-meter-tall humanoid combat robot. The impact struck with eerie precision, as if the creature had meticulously calculated the trajectory and its devastating effects. Beneath the mangled wreckage of steel, all that remained visible was the robot’s arm, twitching feebly in its final, futile spasms.
“Damn it… these things are way smarter than we thought!” one of the soldiers shouted, slinging a munitions pack over his shoulder. His face was hidden by a tactical helmet, but his voice betrayed unmistakable notes of rising panic.
Two other defenders scrambled aside, barely avoiding the collapsing structure. The sudden motion jostled the severely injured teammate they were carrying on a stretcher, drawing a groan of obvious pain.
Another soldier lay motionless near the exit, his head heavily charred. He was unmistakably dead, laid out on another stretcher, ready for extraction. To their credit, the squad had no intention of leaving anyone behind — not even their fallen.
Meanwhile, their combat machines held their ground, firing sharp, retaliatory bursts at any monster daring to breach the suppression corridor.
The battlefield had reached a tactical stalemate: the Shaiszu couldn’t break through the defenses, and the defenders couldn’t safely take out their dead and wounded to retreat.
“On the double!” the squad leader barked, surveying the dire situation. “Those beasts are closing in! Second and third mechs, stick to the walls — no unnecessary exposure!”
Beside him, a compact assault tank-bot fired relentlessly, unleashing a hail of rapid-fire rounds in an attempt to pin down the agile predators. Yet, despite the storm of bullets, the Shaiszu danced through the chaos untouched. It was as if they possessed an advanced form of foresight, predicting the moves of the humans’ combat AI with uncanny accuracy.
Their elongated, sinewy forms sprang and twisted with lightning speed, exploiting every piece of cover, no matter how small. And they struck back with brutal, unrelenting precision. Their arsenal wasn’t limited to claws and plasma; while their special abilities were on cooldown, these “cats” adapted to their surroundings with terrifying ingenuity — hurling crates, debris, and even fragments of machinery with unnerving accuracy. Heavy objects turned into deadly, improvised artillery shells, launched with staggering force from their skillful, calculating paws.
“Second mech is down, repeat, it’s gone!” a tech’s voice crackled over the comms. “Failed to trigger the reactor for a controlled blast — falling back! Captain, the third mech is barely holding together — it’s taken heavy damage. We’re critical! ATGM is in position; do we fire?”
“Wait for them to make a mistake,” the leader ordered tersely, gripping his rifle tighter. “If we miss, there won’t be a second chance. Take the shot only if you’re certain.”
One Shaiszu, crouched behind a small, toppled container, suddenly sprang into the air. Mid-jump, it fired a claw-like dart and immediately dropped back into cover. The powerful projectile pierced through a partition, shot between rows of shelves, and ruptured a barrel of chemicals. A thick stream of viscous black liquid sprayed over the optical sensors of a hovering TACTA-designed observation drone, severely distorting both its visual and lidar readings.
The creature launched itself off a wall, exploiting the blind spot created by the drone’s impaired vision to reposition directly beneath it.
“Do we have eyes on that bastard? Take it down, now!” the captain’s voice roared through the comms.
It was as if the Shaiszu had been waiting for that exact command. The moment a soldier aimed the ATGM launcher, the creature lunged, slashing the drone with its claws and slamming it to the ground with brutal force. A missile fired a split second later, slamming into the concrete floor with a thunderous explosion, sending dust and debris flying — but the Shaiszu was already gone.
The beast landed with lethal grace, ignoring the rifle fire ripping through the air around it. Its saber-toothed maw opened wide, unleashing a searing plasma sphere at the fourth mech. The robot, distracted by a skirmish with another Shaiszu, failed to react in time. Worse, as it turned to respond, it exposed its back — the most vulnerable point. The plasma strike hit with devastating accuracy, and with a deafening crash, the mech toppled to the ground.
“Captain, ‘Four’ is out,” a tech specialist reported grimly. “We’ve lost control, and its reactor will blow in a few minutes. ‘Three’ is barely holding together, and ‘Five’ — its missile launcher is dead. Only the machine gun is operational.”
“They’re taunting us, kurwa!” one of the soldiers snarled, gripping his rifle until his knuckles whitened.
“Focus all suppression fire!” the captain barked, his voice like steel. “Throw everything we’ve got — drones, ammo, all of it! Crash the empty drones into them if needed. Just give us thirty seconds!” He drew a sharp breath before issuing the final order. “Squad, fall back under cover fire!”
The remaining didn’t launch a frontal assault. Instead, they secured themselves in cover, biding their time, waiting for the humans to run dry. They knew full well they couldn’t survive a direct hit from the ATGM, and also understood the humans’ suppressive fire wouldn’t last forever. Only one of the creatures, perhaps the youngest, let out a frustrated growl, crouching low and tracking the retreating soldiers with unblinking intensity.
The squad fought their way back through the doors, with the two mechs covering their retreat. The machines sealed the entrance with relentless suppressive fire. Thick black smoke poured from the crippled ‘three,’ but it held its ground, firing defiantly to keep the enemy at bay.
With a loud metallic click, the door slammed shut. The soldiers sprinted toward the waiting APC, where the wounded and fallen had already been loaded. The engine roared to life, and the vehicle surged toward the warehouse complex exit, tires screeching on the road.
The captain knew they had mere seconds to create as much distance as possible from those Claws of Death. If the beasts caught up, their escape would be over — and none of them would leave this battlefield alive.
----------------------------------------
When it was deemed safe for now in the warehouse complex, Max allowed the team to lift the visors of their helmets. He even gave Dasha permission to take a brief vaping break. For a while, the crew settled in a small staff lounge near the entrance.
However, before they could proceed with exploring the site, they needed to contact Rzeszów. To make that call as effective and beneficial as possible, they first had to fully understand what they had just seen on the security footage.
“This wasn’t a group from Rzeszów,” Alisa said, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. “I’ve been analyzing the footage with the help of most of the Ravens, and I can already tell this team isn’t in our database. Either they’re from another city, or... they’re looters.”
“It’s probably one of the Freemen squads. No emblems or distinguishing marks, though, which is weird. Probably, it’s deliberate? I don’t know… yeah…” Dasha added, as she instinctively claimed the largest chair in the room, tucking her legs up under her. Neither her military pants with knee pads nor her sturdy boots did anything to stop her from getting completely comfortable.
“They’ve got TACTA birdies, at least,” Nikola noted, scanning the room with a quick, practiced glance before heading straight to the kitchenette. “But the rest of their equipment is Earth-made.”
She stopped, spotting a coffee machine. “Hey, there’s coffee here. Lemme see if I can get this thing to work. Anyone wanna cup?” Not waiting for a reply, the cyborg-girl grabbed a mug for herself — at least one was definitely going to be used. Max and Dasha both declined her offer.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Maksim sat down, placing his rifle on the table in front of him. He mentally reviewed the key points, piecing together everything they knew so far, before pulling a mediaphone from one of the pockets on his tactical vest.
“All right, team, I’m calling Rzeszów. Any additional details I should bring up? Alisa? WonderKid?”
“Nope. But I can prep access to the cameras through the TACTA network. They’re bound to ask for it,” Vasilevskaya said, nodding sharply. “Actually, I already did it. Left a TACTA micro-comm module wired to a mini-computer in the console. I’ll grab it back after the mission.”
Alisa, meanwhile, sent a file to the conference group with a comment:
“Max, I’ve put together everything in one document — details on the mercs, the dead Shaiszu specimen, everything. If you need me to jump in with more info during the call, I’ll be ready.”
“Thanks, sis,” he said, activating the camera on his device.
@Call Initiated: Free Rzeszów Contact Line, Mission ID Transmitted.
The city responded almost immediately, though a notification appeared requesting the caller to hold for a few minutes. After a brief pause, Colonel Shimon Wozniak appeared on screen.
This time, he wasn’t in his office. Judging by the sterile surroundings and his white lab coat, he seemed to be in one of the city’s laboratories or experimental workshops. Clearly, he’d stepped aside, probably during a meeting.
@Rzeszów.Comline#02: “Greetings, Ghosts of the Future. Pan Maksim, you have an uncanny talent for raising mission difficulty just by showing up. I’ve already reviewed the preliminary analyses from our AI — if the Shaiszu you’ve encountered return, this would qualify as a fourth-category threat. Possibly even third. Let me be absolutely clear: do not engage them under any circumstances. Keep your drones hidden and do everything possible to avoid drawing attention. Additional risk compensation will be provided regardless.”
@Caller: “Good day, Pan Shimon. What can I say… looks like the Shaiszu just can’t get enough of me!”
Maksim attempted a lighthearted remark, but a shiver ran down his spine. It wasn’t the error in the mission’s classification that caused it. It was more about how humanity still struggled to grasp the full scale of the catastrophe that had struck.
And yet, something felt deeply personal — an almost predatory tension seemed to link Max and the beasty invaders. Memories of the Kyiv escape incident surfaced, along with an unsettling sense while examining their pawswork here. Those recurring dreams weren’t helping, either. Still, keeping his tone steady, he forced himself to carry on.
@Caller: “I take it you’re already up to speed on the situation? We’ve compiled surveillance footage of the fight, processed and refined by our AI system. Plus, our analyst has put together a detailed report. Sending all materials now.”
A progress bar appeared on the screen as the files uploaded. Colonel Wozniak opened Alisa’s report, scanning through it quickly.
@Rzeszów.Comline#02: “Excellent work, Ghosts. Always a pleasure to work with you. Can you provide remote access to the surveillance system and video archives for our AI to analyze?”
Vasilevskaya smirked with smug satisfaction, her expression practically shouting, “Told you so!” She jumped up from her chair and sat down beside Maksim, making sure she was in frame.
@Caller.Daria: “Uh… Hiya, Pan Colonel! I’ve already set that up, ahead of time. It’s ready, yeah.”
Shimon Wozniak smiled and replied:
@Rzeszów.Comline#02: “Good to see you, Pani Daria, the renowned Sniper-Programmer. Or should I say Sniper-Hacker instead?”
Dasha grinned back, her tone unexpectedly poised and self-assured, catching her team off guard.
@Caller.Daria: “A precise shot or a perfect line of code — they’re just different paths to the same goal. The key is timing and accuracy. Call me whatever you like, Pan Colonel. I don’t miss. Yeah.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#02: “An excellent answer, Pani Daria. Truly excellent. Please transmit the access credentials, and we’ll factor this into the final mission payout.”
Dasha gave a curt nod and sent the required files, using the permissions Maksim had preemptively granted her — and the entire team — for this call.
@Rzeszów.Comline#02: “Thank you. Our AI has confirmed access and is already analyzing the video archives. Would you be able to wait for approximately thirty minutes? The Council, our experts, and I need time to review the materials and plan the next steps.”
@Caller.Maksim: “Of course, Pan Shimon. We’ll wait.”
Rzeszów disconnected.
Maksim leaned back with a grin. “Well, now we’ve got time for coffee and some stories. Nikola, how about that tale you promised us?”
Redhead shot a pointed look at her boyfriend, then scanned the room with exaggerated drama before turning back to him.
“Nope! Not happening. Where’s my beer? My grilled cheese? My smoked Silesian sausages? Bigos, you know, the cabbage and meat Stew? Pickles? Lard with garlic? Ribs in sauce? Roasted potatoes with herbs?”
“Now I’m officially terrified,” Maksim laughed. “If that’s your wishlist before we upgraded your digestive system with TACTA modules, what’s it gonna be like after that?”
Nikola laughed mischievously. “Mwahaha! I’ve got a whole list of dishes I’m dying to devour!”
“Well, I could head over to the coffee machine and get you another cup for now,” Maksim offered as a compromise.
“Deal. I’ve got a protein bar anyway. But the story’s reserved for the bar.”
The team managed to take a short break — chatting, drinking coffee, and having the dinner Alisa had prepared earlier. Dasha and Redhead took some time to vape, and exactly twenty-two minutes later, the call from Rzeszów came through.
@Incoming Call: Free Rzeszów, Colonel Shimon Wozniak
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “Thanks for waiting. Pan Maksim, is your team ready to take on an additional task — specifically, to reach the server room, breach the local security systems, and check for any remaining data?”
Dasha, already seated next to Maksim, gazed thoughtfully at the virtual screen displaying the feed and asked:
@Caller.Daria: “Are we looking for anything specific, Pan Shimon?”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “Yes. The Vostok Corporation is renowned for its innovative biotech food products, but their publicly available documentation is limited to basic operation manuals — and even those cover only a fraction of their equipment. The warehouse might contain valuable technical materials: repair guides, maintenance protocols, installation manuals. Even pre-sale preparation guidelines could prove useful.”
@Caller.Dasha: “Understood. We’ll focus on retrieving any corp-docs. I’ll do my best.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “Glad to hear it. Now, there are two more tasks, both critical. First, our scientific team requests that the body of the deceased Shaiszu be delivered to us as quickly as possible. Timing is crucial — it must be transported exactly as it is now, without refrigeration or freezing.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “Second, we need your team to maintain control of the warehouse complex for the next three to four hours until a combat group from the city arrives. Unfortunately, I don’t have any backup available at the moment. If Shaiszu or hostile marauder groups show up and refuse to negotiate, fall back immediately. No point in taking unnecessary risks. What do you say, Ghosts?”
Nikola pinged Maksim privately.
[Max, let me take the Shaiszu to the city in one of the pickups. I’m really worried I’ll miss my operation. If we take on both tasks and wait for the city team, I definitely won’t make it! Besides, I’m not much use with these civ-grade limbs anyway…]
[Sunshine, I wasn’t going to send you into a fight anyway. Actually, nobody’s going until we’re fully prepared. Go ahead — I’ll see if I can negotiate a new pickup for us too.]
@Caller.Maksim: “I’m sure we can work something out, Pan Shimon. But first, a quick question. The warehouse complex has adjacent parking lots with many corporate vehicles from Vostok. Does the city claim ownership of the vehicle fleet there?”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “No. According to city regulations, information about the resources left on-site after missions are auctioned off. Access to it can be purchased by any Freemen team, provided the acquired resources are first brought to Rzeszów and a 10% resource tax is paid. However, since you’re already on site, you’re exempt from the fee. You’re free to take whatever you want under the general rules — except for the warehouse’s contents, of course. Well, if there’s specific Vostok equipment you need, we can discuss it.”
@Caller.Maksim: “We’ll take on all additional tasks, including controlling the warehouse until your team arrives. Regarding the Shaiszu’s delivery, Nikola Kowalski from our group will use one of the pickups to transport the body to Rzeszów, as she has an operation at 1 AM and needs time to prepare. We’ll line the bed with a metal sheet and thick plastic to protect the vehicle from potential fluids of this creature…”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “Apologies for interrupting, Pan Maksim. I’m delighted your team agreed. The vehicle Pani Nikola uses can be registered as private property upon entry. Normally, this requires a 0.5% tax on its estimated value, as determined by the City Trade Exchange, but I’ll waive that tax as a mission reward.”
@Caller.Maksim: “Perfect. We’ll begin loading as soon as this call ends.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “Ghosts, proceed with caution. According to our scientists, the base of the Shaiszu’s claws contains specialized glands producing a potent neurotoxin. Other than that, there are no hazardous fluids that could damage you or the vehicle.”
@Caller.Maksim: “Thank you for the information. We’ll take appropriate precautions.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “That’s everything. One more note: for obvious reasons, you won’t make tonight’s meeting with me, but I suggest we reschedule for tomorrow at 11:30 AM. Would that work for you?”
Maksim glanced at the team for confirmation.
“I’ll be back on my feet by then after the operation,” Nikola added. “So, no objections from me either.”
@Caller.Maksim: “That works for us.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#03: “Excellent. Please ensure the Shaiszu’s body is delivered as quickly as possible — our scientists are quite anxious. We’ll see you soon. Free Rzeszów, signing out.”
@Caller.Maksim: “Ghosts of the Future, signing out.”
“Alright, ladies, time to get moving!” Max announced.
And move they did — quite literally.
Maksim and Nikola set to work prepping the Shaiszu for transport, while Dasha started hacking into one of the vehicles — the one dubbed “grab the pickup with the blue stripe! Kurwa, it’s fuckin’ amazing!” Meanwhile, Alisa began searching for the server room, determined to get as much done as possible before the ‘sniper-hacker’ arrived.
“Alisa, keep a recon drone and a combat drone on separate controls,” Maksim instructed. “Have them hover over the truck bed and give Nikola shared controls. I’ll feel better knowing she’s not entirely unarmed.”
“Hey! I’ve got a rifle right here!” Redhead protested.
“That’s what I said. Civilian limbs and all that. Now let’s get loading!”
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The four-hundred-kilogram Shaiszu corpse didn’t even make the suspension twitch. The vehicle, as Redhead had called it, “with the blue stripe,” could’ve carried four more of those monsters without breaking a sweat.
“A solid addition to our fleet…” Maksim murmured. He would’ve liked to spend more time with Nikola, but she had to leave.
“Hey, Max, hop in the cab for a sec. What’s this lever for? It’s not gonna hit the brakes while I’m driving, huh?”
A few moments later, the team’s new vehicle blinked its taillights and rolled off the complex grounds. Of course, there was no mysterious lever. And surely, no one noticed the brief ‘Do Not Disturb’ status Maksim and Nikola activated for just one minute… or did they?