Unless you got a better idea. You can torture him if you want, but the only thing he cares about is his own hide.
Antosha
I warned you, Pavalo is the prototypical Ursine noble.
Antosha
Short-sighted, cowardly, ever dreaming of kindness and 'guidance' from above, acting harmless while pocketing all the gold and silver.
Antosha
Give them a chance to catch their breath, and they will not hesitate to draw their swords against the people, and offer bloodshed to their liege lords as a gift.
Antosha
Walking corpses whose expertise is self-preservation... can you not smell their stench?
Zima
We can keep arguing, or we can spend our time making more urgent plans. The intel I extracted from him includes a map of the Sixteen Warriors headquarters.
Zima
They've got lots of supplies there, and he says Gromov has been gone a lot lately. This is the perfect opportunity.
Antosha
He will sell you out, if he gets out alive... you'll have every policeman in Ursus on your tail, even if you manage to get out of Katorga. Do we really want to meet again in court?
Matvey
At least we share the common goal of liberating this raion right now. We can argue about the rest later.
Matvey
Assaulting their headquarters is no easy task. We are willing to work with you, but we'll need to rest and regroup. Perhaps—
Zima
Understood. Once we are all set, we will move out and have Pavlo lead the way.
Zima
What do you think, Antosha?
Antosha
Bring plenty of guys, Sonya. Do not underestimate him.
Botani
...Sonya?
Zima
Shh. I don't want to wake them up.
Zima
I just wanted to... get some rest by the fire.
Zima
You've done a huge service for the people here. But I'm still not sure if I'm a leader worthy of any of that.
Zima
When I got back to Ursus, I thought about living a normal life back home, but all of us are still struggling in the mud, me and all the girls who follow me...
Fyodor
......
Zima
I've let a lot of people down, watched my friends die... soon, I'll be leading them on another journey.
Zima
Can we go back to our old lives? Or am I just gonna fail at everything...?
Botani
You've already achieved a lot, haven't you?
Zima
...Huh?
Botani
You can have half my beer. I haven't touched it yet.
Zima reflexively takes the cup and inhales the faint scent of wheat, while faint snoring rings in her ears.
She scans the peaceful sleeping faces, red and puffy, smacking their lips in their dreams... it is the most peaceful night they have had since they came to the quarantine zone.
These guys can fight, but they have absolutely no discipline.
Yeremey
Are things going well on the General's side? She should be inside their HQ by now.
Nika
The Sixteen Warriors will fight tooth and nail to protect it. We need to get over there and back them up, fast.
'Pencil Stub'
Let's hope Gromov has some real food here. I've had enough of cans—
His smile freezes on his face. He sways and falls by the feet of his friends. There is a crossbow bolt straight through his chest.
Yeremey's eyes widen. He sees Gromov approach with a dozen massive brutes in tow.
Nika
Hurry! Stop them!
Gromov
Blyat!
Gromov
Die, mudak!
Yeremey
No!
Yeremey's steel pipe meets Yeremey's hamaxe, and he is sent flying like a balloon.
Nika
Yeremey! No!
Gromov
Your turn, cherv.
Nika
Gromov...!
Nika
You will pay for your crimes, murderer!
Nika
I'll kill you or die trying!
Blood rushes up her throat, and she can speak no more.
With great effort, Nika turns her neck to look in Yeremey's direction. She sees her friends scrambling to form a line, while Gromov has already charged inside like a monster.
I knew it was a trap the moment you said you were going to bribe Gromov and get him to let us out.
But why did I go with you... Yeremey?
Gromov
Govno, govno, govno!
Gromov
It's not over yet... We can cut through the back—it's faster. My men must still be fighting inside.
Gromov
I'm the only one who knows the passphrase to the Honor Room. I'll hand out the weapons inside and turn this around...
A brief silence, then Gromov leaps towards a machine on the wall.
Authentication Device
Please speak the passphrase.
Gromov
*Expletives*!
Authentication Device
Passphrase incorrect.
Antosha
Watch out! That button must be hiding something!
Antosha
Matvey!
The bolt hits Gromov's left arm. He roars and manages to fend off his attackers by swinging his hamaxe.
Authentication Device
Please speak the passphrase.
Gromov
*Expletives*!
Authentication Device
Passphrase incorrect.
Gromov
*Ursine roar*!
Authentication Device
Passphrase correct.
Authentication Device
Welcome, brave Gromov, descendant of Igor Velikiy's sixteen bravest companions...
Authentication Device
He whose will is unbreakable, heir to the unstoppable legendary hamaxe...
Before the recording can finish, Gromov has already charged through the facade, using the momentum to roll inside.
Leto's strike misses, destroying the annoying box instead.
Authentication Device
*Bzz*... the Sixteen Warriors... usher... next golden age of Ursus!
Leto
Who d'you think you are?!
Gromov tries to reach out, but a crossbow bolt hits the wall in front of him, just an inch from his finger.
Gromov
I recognize you, and you... the Unbound.
He jumps back and punches a brick on the wall, causing two transparent 'walls' to drop down between Gromov and the others.
Gromov
I originally designed this 'prison' for Pavlovich. I never thought I'd be its first prisoner.
Zima
Did you think a single pane of glass would—
Zima punches the glass, only to be knocked back several steps.
Leto
Something's funny about this glass!
Gromov
The Third Bureau's shiny new toy, a new type of material that not even the tsar has seen... makes you wonder, doesn't it? Who did they make it for?
Gromov
Better find yourself a landship if you want to break it... haha!
Gromov sits down on the floor, panting, but relaxed enough to begin tying his shoelaces.
Antosha
We don't have much time... reinforcements will be here any moment. The guys outside can't hold for long.
Zima
There must be a way!
Zima
The Sixteen Warriors... wait a minute!
Zima
Why are there two of the same hamaxes here in this room?
The sixteen heroes who fought alongside Igor Velikiy were the bravest and strongest warriors of their time...
The street thugs who took their name forged a hamaxe in imitation of the legendary weapon, only to find themselves unworthy, lacking the strength to lift the glorious weapon.
Therefore, Gromov put the 'authentic' weapon on display, and carries a replica.
Gromov
You're crazy! No one can swing that thing!
Gromov
You'll only hurt yourself!
Botani
Sonya, do you need help—
Botani's jaw drops as she watches Sonya smash the display glass and raise the hamaxe into the air. She can almost hear Sonya's bones creak at the stress.
Zima slowly walks towards the impregnable glass wall, dragging the hamaxe behind her.
This is for all the people you murdered, all the evil you've allowed, the judgment and punishment that you've dodged all this time... this is for pissing me off.
Zima
Any last words, Gromov?
Gromov
How—How could you possibly lift it—
The words have hardly left his mouth before Zima brings the hamaxe down. In the brief moment that it takes to find its mark, Zima seems to feel it grow lighter in her hand.
No longer the stuff of legend, nor an artifact that should sit in a museum collecting dust, and certainly not the plaything of a murderer—
It is power.
The power to resist, to sweep aside obstacles, to cut open the path of life.
It has no opinion, no position, no intention, no emotion.
It is life's primal roar, the first drop of blood that the heart pumps with each beat. It ignores all the complicated things in this world. All it does is—
The thugs ran for the upper walls once they saw Gromov's remains.
Zima
Good work... I know everyone fought bravely.
Zima
Do a head count, take as many supplies as you can, and the fallen—
Pavalo
Sonya! Sonya! Over here!
Pavalo
Keep your people in check!
Antosha
She can't stop me. No one can.
Antosha
Your Well Born death will make Ursus a better place, Baron.
Pavalo
What are you saying—help me!
Leto
Calm down, Antosha!
Zima
...We had a deal, Antosha.
Zima
He gives us the location, we spare his life.
Antosha
I told you, Sonya, I will not suffer any of these leeches to live. Whatever value they might offer can only extend their lives for a few hours.
Antosha
Allow them to live, and it will be our friends who die. It will be the workers in the mines, the farmers in the wilderness.
Antosha
At the moment of death, his pathetic life will offer its last worth, and atone for his sins.
Zima
No. You're wrong.
Zima
He only has value if he gets out alive. That'll tell the other opportunists like him that we can be reasoned with, that they can negotiate.
Zima
The empire isn't one big thing, it never was. This is how we'll trip them up, exploit their differences, and get what we want as fast and easy as we can.
Antosha
And my goal is to see all oppression gone from Ursus, from all of Terra.
Antosha
I swore upon the future of this land that I will break its spine with my own hands and await a new dawn upon its ruins.
Antosha
I do not kill these leeches for vengeance. I kill them so that this teetering house of cards will collapse more cleanly.
Zima
Killing a former noble who has already lost everything, begging for his life like a beckbeast...
Zima
You think a death like that means anything?
Antosha
All I know is that this is a country where the freedom of the wealthy is built upon the corpses of the poor.
Antosha
Every one of them we kill is a life saved.
Zima
You're out to smash things, but you don't get that breaking stuff is just a means, not an end.
Zima
Rubble's not enough. We need unity. We need people, people who will stand with us and fight injustice when we need them most.
Antosha
Really? Allowing a man like this to live is the greatest injustice to those he has exploited.
Antosha
Enough, Sonya. Botani caught this man. It is your right to do with him as you please.
Antosha
But, if you are willing to work with them, then this is where we part ways. The Unbound will work with you no longer.
Zima
Don't be stupid, Antosha!
Zima
You're burning bridges, hurting your own cause, and putting the people who follow you in danger!
Antosha
The Unbound don't follow me. I am simply their advisor.
Antosha
All of us have gathered here of our own volition, to act in every corner in Ursus where oppression exists, to help those who suffer fight back against the cruelty of the nobility.
Antosha
Anyone is free to leave, if they don't agree with me. Anyone can remove me.
Antosha turns around to seek Matvey's gaze.
This is a habit that he developed when they left school together, whenever he says something, goes somewhere, or kills someone.
Matvey always casts a supporting gaze from behind, helping him affirm that he is sober, and walking the right path.
Even Ukusik knows that Matvey will tell Antosha when he goes wrong.
