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Post by Διμι on Mar 1, 2010 23:04:24 GMT -5
"Nice to see you've made it out of the swamps with even a faction of your team, captain." Seth spoke, calmly leveling his USP at the military stalkers "sorry about your leg, by the way" he tossed at the tall crippled soldier next to the captain "stalking people in the local underground labs really isn't the way to go, but there's the Zone for you..." he trailed off.
He holstered his sidearm, although Sokol and Thor and Vasily all still had their guns out. The Freedomer quickly walked up to the squad, examining the stalker newcomers more closely and finding no mark of allegiance whatsoever. "So quick are we to reach a change of heart from our apparent devotions..." Seth muttered under his breath.
"So," the Freedom leader turned to Burner "what do you propose we do now? Leave these three to fend for their own and fight back through Dutier territory back towards the Cordon? I have to say," he continued "that's quite a smart move you people made there, shooting Dutiers right and left out there in Rostok. They aren't exactly famous for their saintly patience, you know?" he added wryly. "Or are you proposing we take them with us?" Seth frowned. It seemed that the Dead City would be receiving a few prisoners extra promptly.
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Post by Karcentric on Mar 2, 2010 5:47:10 GMT -5
Karc pulled Torch into a separate room, "I don't like that those guys are here, less than a day ago they were trying to kill us, and now they want to go with us." He muttered, grasping for his newly made club and checking the spikes. "Still I think we'll make a bit of cash this time around, I think they wanna go as far as Pripyat. Can you believe it, we'll find shit loads of loot there, I hear there's some bat-shit crazy fuckers up there too, raving fanatics or something, succumbed to some emitter or something."
Karc shook his head, looking back at the men who were discussing the details of the planned raid, they looked like they were nearly ready to leave, "We better go out there and wait for whatever orders they give. They better pay good for this." Checking his pack, re-adjusting his armor, checking his P90, than his Colt, Karc started spinning it from hand to hand, to take his mind away from any possible disasters that may await them.
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Falchion
Flesh
[red]BANNED[/red]
100%
I am banned for acting like an asshat.
Posts: 44
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Post by Falchion on Mar 2, 2010 7:26:49 GMT -5
"Then theres two of us(who don't like them),still i think we owe them a favor for shooting at us..." Torch left the room with Karc and the two appeared in the room where everyone was...
Torch pulled out his blade,everyone looked at him,thinking what is he doing...He slowly approached the capt....Gently leaned the blade to his stomach and said to capt:" If you do anything to screw us,I'm gonna pop you open like a ripe melon,so think twice before messing with us,captain..."
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Post by Defunct FPX profile on Mar 2, 2010 16:49:31 GMT -5
The captain snickered sarcastically, moving the mercenaries sword away casually.
"Yeah, you do that. I'm going to get some help for my friends first. Then"
Burner's leg had nearly healed, but the same couldn't be said about his face. It looked terrible, charred black. It didn't seem to bother him though. Borisov's leg was not good though. The wound was getting infected, and the man was frowning, still trying to stand up forward. He took a good, long look of the people who were observing him. "Heh...If these are stalkers, then I'm a Chechen.". The only ones who looked like they had any experience were the Freedom member who had warned him and the ecologist. He decided to turn his attention to the Freedomer first.
"You're the leader, I assume. Freedom? Meh...When did you join? I assume you were there from the beginning...Or not? Peh...You wouldn't know anyways. There's a lot of mystery behind the original founders of Freedom... Look, kid, pull yourself together, you look like you're the only one who knows what he's doing out here."
Burner returned. He had just sold the loot, netting himself
[limegreen]4x Fireball= 12000 RU 1x Boar Hoof=750 RU
Total=12750 RU [/limegreen]
He was now staring at the captain with a blunt expression on his face. "Who was this man? How'd he join the army? How does he know anything?"
Turning to the scientist, he continued
"I have to apologize about the incident, I was clearly out of my mind, and if you are kind enough you will let me explain. How long have you been in the Zone, professor? My mission here was to protect you. Do you think I don't know that stalkers come in here? Heh...Ask the professor again. I'm sure he will recognize my face if he takes a closer look. Thank you for saving my men. Oh and, nice SEVA, professor. Extra armor plates. I recognized it straight away. One bullet couldn't penetrate that thing, no matter what."
He added with a wink. Then, he turned to Burner, who was busy reloading his pistols.
"You...I think it's my time to repay you. You helped me and my men, and now I will tell you. If you would all be so kind to wait a minute, I will tell you who I truly am...And who I truly was."
He took a deep breath. He had never told anyone about his past before, and now was the moment to reveal himself.
"My name is Dimitri Baranov, former stalker...Former founder of Freedom...Former Monolith worshipper."
He watched as the men's jaws dropped.
"I am sure you never heard of me, and that you probably don't believe me. Well, the proof is not really visible, but there are still a few traces."
He stepped back and rolled up his sleeve. At first glance, there appeared to be nothing on his arm. But, at a closer look, you could see something which looked like the remains of a...A wolf head?
"Still don't believe me? How many people went with the Freedom leader to Pripyat? According to your records, you will find that there were none. However, I can name five people, five people, who were so devoted to him that they went and gave their lives for him in Pripyat. All but one. That one is yours truly."
A dark, grim shadow appeared over his face. He spoke to Burner first.
"The reason I tried to kill you was the fact that I had the same dreams..."
He was frowning again
"We were holed in Pripyat, trapped between a rock and a hard place...On one side, we had the Monolith fanatics. On the other, we had the Zone itself. I still do not remember how they died. I do remember my death. And, my rebirth. I was found outside the building, half-dead, still crawling on the ground. Then, He arrived. In all His glory, he lifted me up and told me that I was his champion, that I passed the test he gave me. That I was a member...of the Monolith."
He looked at his men...How could they believe him now?
"I was instructed in the ways of the Monolith...I was literally brain-washed. I still do not remember how I regained my memories. One day, I just remembered who I used to be. I decided to fight the Zone. But, not in the way Duty does. All they do is bark about the Zone...I decided to do something else. Then, a soldier arrived. He told me that his unit was in danger and that he needed any help he could find. That soldier was Arishin. I found his unit...They were protecting a village down south...Mutants decided to nest there...Bloodsuckers. We managed to pull out both the men and the villagers out to safety, but the soldier felt disappointed. I was told about the job in the army and I decided to enlist. I hated the Zone. I did. I still do. I was immediately given the rank of junior sergeant, and I rose through the ranks quickly. Then, all of a sudden, a mission came up...In the Zone. And guess who was my second-in-command? Arishin... I was sent to the Cordon, where I assembled a single squad of eight to assist me in my mission. Most of them were inexperienced rookies, although there were a few exceptions..."
He pointed to Danilov and Borisov, who were devouring every word which came out of his mouth. Then, he turned to Seth again.
"And there you have it. I assume it is your work that those rookies lost their lives in the swamp...Shame. They could have been fine men. But I am the one to blame for their death, not you. You were the agent...I was the cause."
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Post by Karcentric on Mar 3, 2010 5:45:45 GMT -5
Karc half listened to the Captain explain his life in the zone, he lost interest eventually. An ex monolith soldier! He sneered only slightly his distrust of the captain was reinforced, This man was one of those bat-shit monolith guys I've heard about, and an ex-stalker too. he thought. Holstering his pistol. He rummaged in his bag, he had several knives in his bag but decided that he'd strap them to his arms and legs later.
He caught the end of the story, I bet you'd have blame us if they'd been burnt to death. Karc looked about the room, trying to read the thoughts of the other men, standing up he said almost sarcastically, "What, no apology for trying to kill me or Torch? Whatever sunshine, they might not say so, but I'll let you know, I still don't trust you. I'm sure that's not important to you, but as my friend here said, you cross me or him I'll shoot you and your men." Karc warned smiling an unnerving smile that bordered on insanity, "And this time I'll aim for something a little more sensitive." Tapping his head.
He turned to Seth, "If these guys travel with us, they go unarmed, no surprises. We have no reason to trust them yet." Karc turned back to Dimitri, twirling the club and occasionally tapping it on his steel capped boot, waiting for their reply.
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Post by Defunct FPX profile on Mar 3, 2010 15:42:08 GMT -5
The captain was getting pissed off. Before anyone could move, he pulled Karc by the collar of his jacket
"You're the one from the swamp tunnel? Nice work with the bomb, I'll remember that while I'm burying your bullet-ridden carcass."
He pushed him away and continued
"And I suppose you're the one calling the shots here, boy? How long have you been here? A month? A week? Peh... You rookies are all the same, all bark and no bite. That nail board looks pretty dangerous tho, I wouldn't want to, I don't know, get intimidated? Disarm us? Who told you I'm willing to be disarmed? Kid, do I have to remind you that I am not your prisoner here? Or that I'm no longer a soldier? Look, my commander literally told me to fuck off, do you think I'd ever let me or my friends be under the thumb of a legless moron? He's done for, and so am I. I don't know where to turn now...I guess this hellhole you all cherish and love pulled me back in..."
He turned around, lowering his head.
"I can't believe I'm about to do this, but...I need help...Borisov's leg is ruined. If something's not done, there's no telling what could happen-infections, gangrene-it would most likely lead to an amputation, and a cripple is better off dead than in the Zone. Look, do whatever you want with me, but help my friend!"
He sank into a chair and closed his eyes. He seemed to be asleep.
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Post by Διμι on Mar 3, 2010 21:01:55 GMT -5
Seth's mouth curled slightly in a sneer. This alleged Freedom leader's limitless ego didn't seem to suffer much damage altogether, despite whatever he may have gone through.
"We're leaving," the Freedomer finalized his decision, "I'm not risking staying here to patch up some military hide, whatever you may have been in the past, captain. You're putting on quite a bit of self-confidence, considering the shithole of a situation you dragged yourself and your squad into. Now, as I see it, you've got two choices. There are enough guns in my team alone to tear you in half even if you kill one of my men, not even to mention the scientists and mercs present." Seth was getting impatient, the conversation was dragging out longer than it needed to. He checked his PDA. Nail's signal was gone, and Jurgen's, although active, was somehow blocked. Evidently, the man must have been taken alive. The few signals of Nail's reserve squad were still active. He knew the mercenaries well, and hated their former leader nearly as much as they did. But they wouldn't hold the Duty squad back for long either.
"Burner," he turned to the grilled man beside him "you, Karc, and Torch are going to have to beep us into the Dead City, since we're heading there. The guards and I still have a bit of a cynical stance towards each other, by any standards, but we'll need Cherkesov's help for this." He turned back to the captain "you can come with us, unless you want to wait here for the squad to arrive. If we hurry, we can get your man quickly enough to the Dead City to patch him up. If you are who you say you are, your reputation should precede you over there." he turned for the exit "of course, there's a condition. As my mercenary friend mentioned, you'll have to surrender your arms, at least for the time being. It simply won't do to have someone who was shooting at my allies only yesterday walking behind me with a gun in his hands. Now, we've wasted enough time, and if it's truly as precious to you as you've suggested, I suggest we start move out North immediately." He checked the flash drive hidden in his pocket. The device was safely encrypted, but he didn't have time to decipher the protection on one of Vasily's computerS at the time. I'll have to check it out later, he thought.
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Post by Defunct FPX profile on Mar 4, 2010 6:00:07 GMT -5
Despite the fact that he closed his eyes, he was not sleeping. He got up.
"In any other situation, I would have shot you on the spot...But, here."
He handed his VAL and his PSS to the Freedomer . He whispered
"Take a man's weapon away and the last thing you'll hear will be the weapon itself..."
Borisov took his RPK off and threw his "Baghira". Danilov followed, throwing in his AK and pistol.
"But, remember one thing...I am not your prisoner. And neither are they."
Burner checked his PDA
"Green light on Dead City, however, your friends have to be blindfolded. No government persona is allowed access...Sorry, Vasily. They'd have shot you on the spot."
He was about to put his PDA back when it started beeping. He took a glance, clearly surprised.
"Well, what is this? 'According to the orders given by the highest officials,'-that's the leader for you uneducated, 'the soldiers are allowed access into the Dead City, all blindfolded except for'...the captain. 'The scientist can go in as well, no blindfold. Same goes for Seth, although, considering he's been in the base before, a blindfold wouldn't do shit.' Haha, this was Anatoli, this isn't Cherkesov's style.'. The rest remains, the two soldiers and Freedomers go in blind."
He raised his head
"Seems there's more to you than I thought... Oh, here's another one. It says 'Avoid path through the factory, there has been a-"
His PDA started beeping..."Scrambling". He frowned, looking at the scientist.
"You just had to turn your jammer on, didn't you. Ah fuck, let's move out."
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Post by Karcentric on Mar 4, 2010 6:16:47 GMT -5
Karc smiled while the captain spoke even when he grabbed him. I knew he had a short temper and I knew you'd blame us. He thought, "Actually the bomb was Torch." After the captain sat down, and muttered about one of his injured men and gangrene. Karc replied, "Maggots, is what you want mate. They eat the rotten flesh, and leave the wound clean."
I'll give you more then a fucking bite asshole. Karc smiled as he picked up his gear, pulling on his gas mask and tightening it, "Ready when you chaps are." Karc stood holding his P90 waiting for the rest of the squad to move out before trailing the group and occasionally glancing back to make sure nothing was following them. He was feeling rather glad to travel back to the merc HQ.
"I wonder what that last part of the message was?" He asked.
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Post by Διμι on Mar 4, 2010 17:22:27 GMT -5
"Something about not traversing the factory grounds..." Seth replied. He wondered what could possibly be of danger to an armed group of mercenaries and a squad of the Freedom elite. After a bit of thought on the matter, he tossed the captain's rifle and PSS back to him, as well as a sidearm to the soldier supporting Borisov. "Your silly idle threats notwithstanding, I don't want one of you to get pinned by a group of snorks to find yourselves without a gun to put a few bullets in their heads with. If you really want to shoot me now, go ahead, but you won't live for very long at the hands of Freedom and the mercenaries I deal arms with, and you'd accomplish nothing anyway."
"The secondary entrance to the Dead City is blocked off, from what I've heard," he continued, after no response was made "so unless any of you mercs would like to suggest a route of penultimate secrecy that even I don't know about, feel free to speak up now. Otherwise, we're going to have to make a path through the factory. Let's get going." Seth made his way through the airlock and exited the lab along with the other two Freedomers at his side.
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Mar 5, 2010 0:07:25 GMT -5
Pulling up his hood, and snapping the visor of his SEVA suit into place, Vasily turned to Seth, "I don't think he was lying," he said, "but I don't think he's telling the truth. A complete recall after a brainwashing is possible, but memories tend to come out distorted or altered in some way by the persons recent experiences, it's quite possible that the captain did found your faction, but It's just as possible he was a lackey, and his memories of founding it are just a delusion."
Following Seth and his men out of the Bunker, Vasily looked up at the sky around the Lab. "There's something about today I don't like." He said, "Something about the weather is making me uneasy." Chuckling and shaking his head Vasily said, "Even after all these years I still can't tell what this blasted place is going to do next."
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Falchion
Flesh
[red]BANNED[/red]
100%
I am banned for acting like an asshat.
Posts: 44
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Post by Falchion on Mar 5, 2010 2:31:05 GMT -5
Torch kept looking at the dark clouds that were approaching... "Crap.."-he mumbled and then he spoke to the others:"Looks like we're gonna have a wet excursion,kids..Any of you brought an umbrella or better a sun umbrella..."
He kept looking at those clouds,slowly following the group... "That doesn't look like rain clouds at all...Damn Zone,always playing tricks on honest stalkers,what could it be anyway,probably some weird Zone rain or something,unless snorks fall from sky"-he thought
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Apr 23, 2010 1:29:12 GMT -5
Finishing the last modifications to his psy-helmet, Vasily placed the sensitive piece of equipment into a padded metal case and pushed the door to his quarters open. The sudden appearance and vanishing of the strange stalker wearing a black Duty suit had unnerved Vasily more than he wanted to admit. Maybe it has something to do with the reactivation of the Scorcher? he thought. Walking over to the armory, he strapped his gun belt around his waist and slid his Colt into the holster. Slipping a few extra magazines into the pocket of his lab coat, Vasily walked back out of the armory and locked the door behind him. Walking over to the airlock, he punched his override code into the doors auto-lock system. The door was programmed to automatically lock and seal itself in the event of any extreme weather conditions or sudden attacks, in this case, the door was locked because the sensitive instruments all around the bunker were predicting a relatively strong emission within the hour.
The external airlock door hissed as it re-pressurized the decontamination chamber behind Vasily. Making his way over to the side of the bunker, he climbed up the metal rungs embedded in the concrete wall of the Lab to the roof. Kruglov and three other scientists were already on the roof, fiddling with the equipment Vasily had ordered placed there. Surrounded by a mass of monitors and various other computers and devices, was a steel wire cage. Inside of the cage was a chair with several straps attached to it, and numerous wires and cables hanging down from the top of the cage.
Just as Vasily set down the case on a table, Kruglov approached him and said, "Sir, I've been talking with Ivanovich and Aleksi, and we don't think that it's a very good idea for you to go through the test just yet. Why not wait until the next emission? By then we can have another test subject and possible do a few more runs before you try it yourself. With all due respect, sir, by Zone standards you're no spring chicken and we're not sure that you would come out of the process...intact."
Flipping open the case Vasily said, "Quit your bothering, Kruglov, and hand me those readouts from the last emission. I need to make a few more adjustments before the blowout starts." Taking the stack of papers from the scientist, Vasily rifled through them until he found what he was looking for, graphs of the radiation and psy levels from the last blowout, and the predicted levels from the emission that was about to start. After tinkering with the helmet for a few more minutes, Vasily picked it up and walked over to the cage.
Sitting down in the chair, Vasily placed the heavily modified psy helmet on his head, and attached the wires hanging from the roof of the cage to it. He sat back and relaxed as two of the other scientists strapped him in. Kruglov walked over and produced a syringe filled with a clear substance from his coat. Inserting the needle into a vein in Vasily's arm, Kruglov injected the anti-rad solution into his bloodstream. Tossing the empty syringe off of the roof, Kruglov put a hand on Vasily's shoulder and said "Good luck."
By this time, the sky was beginning to fill with clouds, and a red tinge discolored the sky from the north. The scientists stepped up their pace, and quickly setting up the last of the equipment. Unfolding several reflective tarps, they draped the special material over the equipment to keep the blowout from damaging it. The last of the scientists had just got off the roof when the rumbling began and the earth started to shake just as the closed and sealed the airlock door behind them.
From the predictions he had read, Vasily was quite sure that the highly concentrated anti-rad solution he had been injected with would suffice to keep him alive, but what he wasn't sure about was the Psy emissions. His helmet would be able to protect him from most of the dangerous waves, but the fighting off the effects of the rest of the emissions would be up to his willpower.
Flashes of bright light shone out from the red sky and the earth shook, as if the entire planet was being torn apart. Vasily's psy helmet became hot, unbearably hot. It felt as though it would burn right through his skull. He suddenly became of a distinct ringing in his ears, and a sudden stabbing pain the the back of his head. Similar to his encounter with the controller. This pain, however, was constant. It felt as if a knife was being stabbed into his skull and twisted as it drove deeper and deeper into his mind. Vasily let out a groan of pain as a particularly large surge of Psy waves almost caused him to loose consciousness. Suddenly, the clicking of the Geiger counter on the cage intensified. That's too much radiation, if this thing doesn't end soon I'll be a snork by noon. he thought.
Searing pain suddenly shot through Vasily's head, as his Psy helmet broke in half, releasing a storm of sparks and leaving his mind at the mercy of the emissions. Vasily struggled for a moment, God dammit, not now! Not after all this! he thought. A blindingly bight light pierced through the clouds, it seemed to tear the red sky open letting in a torrent of white light. Vasily howled with agony, and then fell into darkness.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 23, 2010 12:49:07 GMT -5
"Look, cap, I don't think it was a bright idea leaving the mercenaries just like that. I think they wanted something from you...Shouldn't we have stayed?"
Dimitri dropped out of the pipe, followed by his comrades
"I don't give a damn about them! Greedy pigs...I can't stand the Zone. This place...This place is horrible. Nobody got rich here. Nobody. The smart ones either died, or outta here!"
Borisov followed.
"...Or never touched it in the first place. I should have joined them! I should have gone out, and never looked back...How many people lost their lives in here? How many? How many friends did I lose to these monstrosities? How many comrades fell to a fucking bandit? How many?"
The captain was quiet all along . After the incident with the freedom member in Limansk, the captain didn't take long. He and his men just sneaked out, quietly. And now, something forced him to lash out on the only two people in this world who trusted him and understood him.
"I'm sorry...I lost control. This place... I hate it."
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Post by Karcentric on Apr 29, 2010 7:47:59 GMT -5
Making his way forward through the Dead city into Red Forest Rurik, Sigbrand and Sokol saw Victor standing casually waiting for them by the tunnel that lead to Yantar. "Well done." Rurik said shaking the young mans hand, "I hope my outdated information helped somewhat, I'll talk to General Voronin when we get back and see if he can arrange some sort of compensation." Turning to Sokol he said, "I can escort you through Rostok if you'd wish or would you rather take the longer way through the eastern side of Red Forest? Which ever you choose, look after your new boss, he's a good man." Turning and lowering himself into the tunnel waiting for the others to follow or make their own way into the zone. Maybe Vasily will be there when we arrive. He thought walking along the pipe, the lingering smell of musty air surrounding him again. Nearly home. Sighing at the thought of being able to relax Rurik picked up his pace a little, the others were somewhere behind him making their way along the pipe as well. A beep on his PDA showed he had a message from General Voronin. Lt. Rurik, what is your status, I've heard that Seth is Dead? This is a set back, also Major Makfeev has not reported in from his last mission, but the WO in Garbage says he passed through but we never saw him, his locker was empty, which leads us to believe who ever broke into the armory did it, pretending to be the major took his thing, and left, as you know he had suit similar to your. Report back to base immediately I have several things I wish to discuss with you.
Voronin Rurik cursed to himself putting the PDA away "It seems the general isn't happy, I need to get there as quickly as possible, if you two would check the on the scientists and see if Vasily has shown up I'd be grateful." Saluting them quickly he moved ahead as fast as his suit would allow him, climbing out of the pipe and jogging for the entrance to the Wild Territories, the trip back was quiet, as night fell he made it to the Barricade the guards looked up in surprise before standing at alert. Rurik chuckled "At ease gentlemen, any activity?" Shaking his head the lone of the men replied "No sir, no contacts friend or foe yet." "Well carry on the good work." Rurik said walking to the base.
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