March 27, 1991. A meteorite fell to Earth, breaking apart into thousands of fragments as it approached. Those fragments covered thousands of hectares of the Komi ASSR taiga; a colossal burst of energy occurred, and a huge anomalous zone formed.
Now oil extraction of the “X” type is carried out here—far more energy-intensive than all known fuels. Here they find objects whose properties contradict the laws of physics. Here flora and fauna mutate into the most bizarre and deadly forms—aggressive toward all living things. Here anomalies appear and disappear chaotically; being inside one means death. It is difficult to survive here even for the most trained and skillful.
And it is exactly here, into the RAO “Areal” Special Operations Detachment, that former Alpha squad fighter Captain Ivan Berezov ends up…