Struggle. Taste of power - Владимир Андерсон

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