Whenever the soldiers of the territorial defense regiments are deployed, they expect to see action—not to sit around doing nothing (and woe to any officer who suggests otherwise!)—because they are as eager to fight as an enraged barsuk (a Russian term meaning “badger”), ready to tear apart any group of Antipode hunters. The Konduktors are the guards of the transtartarian trains, and their response to every raid is always the same: heavy, point-blank fire. You might manage to board their train on foot, but without a ticket, you’ll be leaving on your back.