such cases was to just wait, without giving any appearance. Cobra was very impressed by this. He'd rarely seen restraint among his own, and that was mostly among older leaders like Raven.

— Now, about Zubkov. — continued Cobra. — He's a rat because he pawned his own. And not to someone, but to us. As, for example, in Kremenchug… We did not immediately, of course, realized who there so happily knocking for free. But when we took a closer look at the selectivity of these "tapping", we saw an obvious trend. The informer was hitting on Khmelnitsky's close people. Not on the most important points or nodes of the Maquis, not on the concentration of their troops, not on the supply routes. Which would have been most painful to their movement. But at their leader's friends. By those who were especially dear to him, or had once been his shoulder to lean on.

It is this selectivity that leads us to conclude that someone is simply clearing a path to the throne. And the most suitable candidate was, of course, his deputy. Who else would want to be in charge of the entire Unit 14? When you're near the throne, you drool faster than anyone else. And that's why, when we received information about Kremenchug, we were almost sure that Zubkov was behind it… And we were only in favor of his ousting Khmelnitsky. He fought thoroughly, strategically. Five more years would have passed, and we would not have recognized the new Maquis, which would have grown out of the old ones. It would have been a cohesive organized army with unified command and planning. And, you know, we've already started working out options on how to counter that — maybe recruiting people from the mines and factories. Maybe something else. We didn't really have any meaningful plan… But you see, we got such a gift… So when we got the information about the details of the cover at Kremenchug, we gathered everyone we had, exposed all the flanks and roads, and sent them there. Even our exotic T-95 tanks were not spared. We did everything to make Zubkov's plan succeed… And as you can see, we did not fail.

Tarantula had almost finished his tea, leaving only a little on the bottom so the mug wouldn't be empty:

— So, now the poppies won't bother you so much anymore….

— That's the way it is, my fellow Tarantula.

— Which means one of your own will decide to start sharing resources within the chiwi….

Cobra was stunned. He had pondered all these things hundreds and thousands of times, and this conclusion had not occurred to him, although now it was absolutely obvious. Indeed, resistance from the Maquis should no longer be expected to be so determined, let alone possible retaliatory actions and guerrilla warfare. They would sit peacefully enough, occasionally disturbing the chumas in far from the most important parts of the empire. The support of the Hiwi will be needed mainly to guard routes and extraction points, not for retaliatory punitive operations. And that means it's time to divide the spheres of influence within the Hiwi.

And that's where the recent situation near the Diza sector, where a Bravo group was interrupted and mortars were fired at a crew repairing the railroad tracks. This explains the fact that the Bravo let them get close, although it did not explain why they did not report when doing so. Whether their own were there approaching or strangers, and it had to be reported either way. And yet it was not followed.

So who would do something like this? The Berkut? Who once had an agreement, but that was then, not now, when times are different? Or the Viper? She was always complicated, and there was hardly any balance, as she simply changed enemies from one to the other. It's a wonder even how she hasn't been openly killed by one of her own so far. Or who else? Coyote? Yeah, could have been. Greedy as hell. He's never had enough of what he's got. No matter how much he gets, he's always complaining that it's not enough. Maybe he just lost control of his thirst.

In general, any one of them couldn't pose any problem. But if it was just one. And in such a position, they could very well agree with each other. Korba didn't have the most numerous subordinate units, but some of the most significant resources: two fundamental bases, a repair plant capable of servicing even heavy equipment, several important high points controlling the surrounding area in the "Donetsk-Makeyevka" and "Dnepropetrovsk-Kremenchug" groupings. And now also underground transportation routes in one of these groups. Perhaps anyone and anyone in any group could have laid their hands on such a thing.

Still, we should start with Berkut. He's the first choice for the role. And he certainly wouldn't turn it down if he got an offer from someone else. Start with Berkut, and talk to Raven first. After all, there is no one among the Kiwis in this part of Ukraine more important than him. And even from his silence we can learn something.

***

Raven's base was no larger than Cobra's or any of the warlords'. On the contrary, it was characterized by a certain modesty. Everyone usually chose former shopping or business centers, sometimes buildings of city administration or large corporations. And Raven was sitting in a building from the complex of former winery facilities. And they said that this building had been used for some other purpose before the Great War. A four-story white building, somewhat buried among the others, with a separate approach to the entrance. Apparently, Raven liked that his neighborhood could be well controlled, and if necessary, withdrawal could be made in almost any direction.

— You want a joint operation with Berkut? Why him? — Raven asked. His beard was beginning to gray, and as time went on, he began to seem like a kindly grandfather who would always