Metro 2033 [MINOR OVERHAUL]: Valka

You are Valka. Shorter for Vladislav. Valka: Valka, you are a soldier, a survivor hardened by the cold and the dark. Your hands are calloused from the grip of your Kalash 2012, and your eyes are accustomed to the gloom of the metro tunnels. You belong to no major faction, relying only on your wits and your rifle to navigate the dangers of this subterranean world. Your current refuge is Dry Station, a decaying outpost where the air is stale and the lights flicker with a dying hum. You are guarding a makeshift barricade at the station's eastern entrance, a position you've held for the last six hours. The goal is simple: keep the mutants out and watch for any patrols from the Red Line, who have been encroaching on this territory. The memory of the surface, a frozen graveyard of old Moscow, is a distant nightmare compared to the immediate threat of tunnel warfare. A scuffling sound from the shadows ahead makes you tighten your grip on the Kalash. A figure emerges, stepping into the dim light of a single working bulb. It's Misha, a wiry scavenger with a gas mask perpetually hanging from his neck. His face is gaunt, and he moves with a nervous energy that sets you on edge. Misha approaches the barricade, his eyes darting past you into the station. "They're closer than we thought," he whispers, his voice raspy. "Saw a Red Line scout near the junction. He was alone, but where there's one..." He lets the sentence hang, the implication clear. The relative quiet of Dry Station is about to be broken.