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Post by Διμι on Mar 29, 2010 12:23:37 GMT -5
Victor shouldered his rifle, drawing the HPSA instead. As compact as it was, the VAL would be useless in such a cramped space. The loner waited until Adder and Maginot dropped in after Rurik, and then entered the tunnel himself. He heard Chaos jump inside after him, followed by the two Dutiers, who slammed the entrance shut.
The medic activated his suit's night vision apparatus the scientists had installed for him. Several dozen meters of the tunnel were instantly clarified under the purplish light, but nevertheless disappeared into darkness ahead. Evidently, the tunnel was quite extensive. He noticed numerous footprints on the ground, one set corresponding with the massive exoskeleton tracks he had found in the swamps. From the number of tracks, he counted a total of eight stalkers, a good number of unaccounted faces considering the Dutier's previous estimates.
The squad walked on, uninterrupted. Apparently, the tunnel was long abandoned, even by the plethora of mutants to take residence in the area. "There are eight sets of tracks, and one is unreasonably depressed for its size, as if the stalker was carrying a wounded comrade." he told Rurik, "that's nine people. Any idea who these guys are?"
He noted a broken box on the ground, split at the edges with an oblong hole through one wall. Evidently someone had put his foot through it. Aside from the various tracks Seth's group had made, the area was undisturbed, and seemingly uninhabited. Soft, unnerving moans could be heard emanating from the walls, suggesting the possibility of other tunnels and chambers filled with zombies in the vicinity.
At last, a pinhead of light appeared in the distance. The group was nearing the tunnel's exit. A strange smell of something burnt permeated the area, forcing Victor to slide his visor up again. "What the hell happened here?" he muttered quietly, walking up to the exit.
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Post by Afterburner on Mar 29, 2010 13:10:12 GMT -5
As he tied the last piece of rawhide to the wisent bone, Khan thought he had heard something. But, his tomahawk was ready. The wisent bone handle was properly tied with the bull's rawhide to the sharp stone he had cut himself on earlier.
He was walking around the Limansk river at night when he slipped and fell on the sharp rocks on the shore. They were as keen as his knife, and he picked the sharpest one he could find (which incidentally cut him as well).
He felt that the tomahawk was ready. As he wrapped some of the wisent's fur over the handle, he heard another noise. There was definitely someone in the tunnel.
"Hopefully, they shall turn around when they see what awaits them..."
As he finished tightening the fur around the handle, he heard the rope snap. The wisent's head dropped into the tunnel and he heard a shriek. Smiling, he turned around
"You will pass just like the bull if you don't turn around. It seems like there is a suicide trip in the Forest. First, those ill-mannered mercenaries, then those two strangers and now you. What brings you here? The urge to get yourselves killed? I'd rather you introduced yourselves, or you will find yourself lacking your most precious limbs."
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Post by Basil on Mar 29, 2010 15:11:35 GMT -5
The dead animal's head dropping into the tunnel came as quite a surprise to the group of stalkers within, one of them even shouting in alarmed surprise. Adder looked at the animal's glassy eyes and shivered.
"You will pass just like the bull if you don't turn around. It seems like there is a suicide trip in the Forest. First, those ill-mannered mercenaries, then those two strangers and now you. What brings you here? The urge to get yourselves killed? I'd rather you introduced yourselves, or you will find yourself lacking your most precious limbs", said a voice outside.
"-Wow, the Zone even has its own Sitting Bull impersonator", muttered Adder quietly.
"-Shh", said Maginot, "that man sounds like he's seen the people we're looking for. Let Rurik handle this."
Adder fell silent. The light outside was dim, as if obscured by the canopy of a forest...the Red Forest was just out there, a few meters away. Strangely, Adder could feel it nearby, like a strange, ugly and dangerous presence...and the whispers were back. They had pestered her in Yantar, but now that they were closer to the center, they seemed stronger and clearer.
"Come to me...you will be safe with me..."
Adder felt a sudden urge to dash out of the tunnel, and go running to the center, no matter how many miles separated her from the CNPP. She wanted to go now and find the Monolith, only the Monolith had the cure to her ills, mental and physical, she wanted to go and bathe in its warm, comforting glow...
She blinked and shuddered. She realised she had taken a step forward without being aware of it, although nobody seemed to have noticed. The impulse she had had barely a moment earlier had been so strong...and she had seen It, the Monolith. A beautiful light, filling her vision. It made her want to fall to her knees and contemplate Its beauty and wisdom, and thank It for the gift she had received, for it was It that had given it to her, in its most almighty beneficence and omniscience.
Adder shuddered again. One part of her was raving, on the edge of some spiritual insanity, while the other was recoiling in the face of the indescribable horror emanating from the thing that was calling to her.
She drew a shuddering breath and saw Maginot looking at her with concern. She put her thumb up, and Maginot smiled, reassured.
"You will have to kill him if he gets in your way..."
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Post by Karcentric on Mar 30, 2010 4:27:25 GMT -5
Rurik checked the prints, there was the massive prints of an exoskeleton suit, several smaller sets. "I can't tell if these tracks include Lutiy and Jurgen's prints. But I'd guess that Seth took a group with him, maybe the survivors of that hind, probably the other two who accompanied him before, a few mercs, and Vasily." The smell of something burnt was a slight tingle at first but was becoming stronger and stronger as they walked "I hope it's not what I think it is" Rurik mumbled as they continued towards a tiny light ahead, the light ahead grew brighter. Suddenly a severed bull head dropped down, startling the group.
Rurik looked at the dangling head in disgust, How do these lunatics survive out here? He thought, pulling himself out of the tunnel he was confronted a burly looking man, standing to his full height he said to the man, "I am Lt. Rurik of the Duty faction, I'm sorry to trespass on your territory, but I and my group here." Waving his hand towards the hole, "Are hunting for some individuals who we believe passed through here. Anything you can tell of these men will greatly appreciated. The men I'd like to know about is a man in green, about the other two who came later." He inquired, waving to the group, indicating for them to emerge from the hole. "These are my companions, they are helping me search for these men."
The surrounding area was a mess of random garbage flung about in a random manner, upon closer inspection Rurik saw several mutilated bodies of a strange mutant. One he hadn't seen a lot of during his time in the zone. there were wide scorch marks surrounding the area, as well as several places were grenades had been detonated, one was splattered with burnt flesh. "Poltergeists." Rurik said to himself, "There was a mature one, and several younger ones." Checking over each mutant, two were intact, while the other two weren't, kicking the pulped remains of the one that had been torn apart, What sort of round would do that I wonder? he wondered, the tree behind the beast was also in pieces,as were many beyond that. Walking back to the group, the man was still watching them. "Did you happen to see what happened here?" Rurik asked him.
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Post by Afterburner on Mar 30, 2010 10:24:26 GMT -5
Khan was squinting at the giant standing in front of him
"Proud, vain, yet has the manners to introduce himself properly. I am Batukhan, a hunter and a tracker. I see that the head of the great wisent didn't complete its job. About the men you asked...A group came in, lead by an extremely arrogant and disrespectful man, clad in green. His companions looked weary and wounded. One of them was so badly hurt that his entire skin had been scorched. Instead of a simple mercy kill, they decided to carry on and treat him. They ran into trouble with a psy-dog, but managed to pull themselves out. The gray-skin would have died if I hadn't decided to save him. I brought him back and showed them the way out. About the other two? Nothing much. They came. They asked for the way out. They went out."
He took his tomahawk out and flung it at an old pine.
"Wonderful, isn't it? Look at it, standing there...Listen...Lieutenant. The forest is a treacherous place...See this wisent? He would have crushed me if I hadn't seen him first. Be wary amongst the trees. The exit is to the north-west."
He pulled the tomahawk out of the tree. Absolutely nothing happened to it. Good blade, good handle. Good ties. He approached the lieutenant, whispering
"I...can show you the way out. Much quicker way out. But, you will have to promise to freeze if I say freeze and run if I say run. If you follow that, you will find yourself out of the Forest in no time. I do not seek any compensation in return.
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Post by Karcentric on Apr 2, 2010 10:33:01 GMT -5
Rurik nodded, acknowledging the man, "Well met Batukhan, these a indeed the men I'm looking for, I'd be happy to give compensation if you wish, I welcome your guidance." Rurik replied, watching the man fling his tomahawk at a tree, "An impressive throw, and good quality, I can see that your well trained in surviving in the wildness." Rurik remarked. While he was slightly weary of the man, he wasn't going to judge him unless he was given a reason to distrust him. He noted that the man was very at home in this dark and forbidding place. "We move now." The large man said motioning for them to follow. They were walking quietly following the man who moved almost noiseless through the forest, Rurik watched him like a hawk, never letting him out of his sight, while they weren't far from the road, he didn't want to lose their guide out here, "How long have you been out here?" He asked quietly. The stalkers were quietly muttering about the forest.
A deep rumble in the ground and an echo of an explosion, rang out. Rurik didn't look around, Seth better not be getting himself killed where ever he is. He thought, "Ignore it, it's miles away, our only concern is that Lutiy or Seth may have been caught by it. The mercs might know something about it, but they most likely won't talk to us, or let us within a mile of their base." Rurik said to the startled stalkers. "Hopefully we'll be out of here soon."
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 2, 2010 14:20:43 GMT -5
"Here? I do not keep track of time. I am a convict in the world outside, and I never bothered myself with petty nonsense such as time. In here, your time slows down...or speeds up, depending on what you want it to be. As you say, I have been here much longer than you would believe. More than...twenty years? STOP!"
He raised his hand, hissing through his teeth.
"I hear something...Stay here! Do not move!"
The Duty lieutenant watched him suspiciously as he disappeared behind a tree. He slowly crept back
"Wisent. Another one. Strange...Something must be stirring them up. I could spend an entire week without seeing as much as a simple hoof print...There is something vicious and deadly in the forest these days... We can shoot, or we can avoid . Your call. I would not like to see another beast dead by my hands. If we enrage it, it would prove to be much more dangerous than you would believe and we might draw attention to ourselves, which is not something desirable. Our best choice is to avoid it."
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Post by Διμι on Apr 2, 2010 15:02:27 GMT -5
"Well holy shit, would you look at that..." Victor muttered as he raised his eyes to the sky, to behold an enormous plume of rising smoke in the distance. The giant black column was almost mushroom-shaped, and was accompanied by smaller arcs of smoke as flaming debris carried into the sky fell back towards the ground.
The large easterner came back, bringing news of another bull in the vicinity. "We can shoot, or we can avoid . Your call. I would not like to see another beast dead by my hands. If we enrage it, it would prove to be much more dangerous than you would believe and we might draw attention to ourselves, which is not something desirable. Our best choice is to avoid it." the man looked quietly at Rurik.
"Yeah, I don't see much of a point in picking a fight with the thing" the loner spoke up "we could probably take it down with no problem, but we've got no reason for it. Besides, we've got plenty of provision left to last us the trip."
The group walked on down the road. There was clearly evidence of a struggle about. Bullet holes riddled the nearby tree trunks, and some of the brush alongside the road had been trampled beyond recognition by multiple creatures. A strange, stale electric smell hung in the air. Victor noticed a small piece of metal on the ground. It was a piece pneumatic cord from an exoskeleton, still attached to a broken green and yellow fixture.
"Looks like our Freedom friends have given this route a visit," The loner surveyed the plume of airborne ash in the distance once more before turning to Rurik. "Do you still have Seth's signal? Is he alive?" Victor asked.
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Post by Basil on Apr 2, 2010 17:07:56 GMT -5
"This place..."
"-What about it?", said Yves, looking at Adder questioningly. Ever since they had entered the Red Forest he had felt uneasy...something seemed wrong here, unlike any other place he had been to so far.
"-It feels...timeless", said Adder in a whisper, "as if it it was a world of its own, independent from the rest of the world."
Yves looked at Adder in concern. She seemed lost in thought, to say the least. She didn't seem bothered by the forest at all...
"It's like a bubble", she whispered, and to Maginot's surprise, took her helmet off.
"-Damn it Adder, put your helmet back on. You don't know what kind of shit is hanging around in the air here...and who knows what Rurik will do when he sees your eyes!"
Adder looked quietly at Maginot, her pupils fully dilated in the darkness of the forest, before putting her helmet back on. Maginot noticed the group had moved on without noticing he and Adder has lingered behind and reprimanded himself for it. He and Adder quickly caught up with the rest of the group as the strange "guide" cried out for everyone to stop.
"-I hear something...Stay here! Do not move!"
Adder and Maginot waited as the guide disappeared behind some trees before returning, reporting he'd seen a bison or something.
"-How there can be bisons in the Zone is beyond me", said Maginot. Adder remained perfectly quiet, as if entranced by the forest.
"-Looks like our Freedom friends have given this route a visit," The loner surveyed the plume of airborne ash in the distance once more before turning to Rurik. "Do you still have Seth's signal? Is he alive?" they heard Victor ask. Maginot half smiled at that.
"-Seems like we're getting closer to our 'target'", he said.
And once we reach him, what then?
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Post by Karcentric on Apr 4, 2010 2:50:11 GMT -5
Rurik waited as Khan returned, warning him of the wisent, "Yes, we should avoid a fight where we can, it will save time, and out here we have no where to run if trouble was to arise." Looking at the pneumatic cord, Rurik compared it to a similar part on his suit, it was from one of the devices that drove the arm. Inspecting the surrounding Rurik looked back to Victor who had asked, "Looks like our Freedom friends have given this route a visit. Do you still have Seth's signal? Is he alive?" "Yes he's alive and he is quite near, they have been delayed. You may not of noticed but when we came out of the opening of that tunnel, there was a shallow grave on the fringe of the forest, as well as those monsters. They had another fight nearby, and chances are they will be taking the straightest path to reach Limansk, however, that may prove to delay them more, as it is an open area with constant fighting and from the last report I've heard, it is full of Bandits and Monolith fighters. Our path will be a much quieter. While it will be longer but we can move a lot faster and avoid fighting." Rurik said.
'Twenty years!" Rurik wasn't easily impressed, "That would make you one of the original stalkers. That would explain how you can live out here with very few ill effects. And it also adds to our theory on how the zone works." Rurik said hurriedly. "Is that the bridge there?" He asked spying a bridge further ahead.
At the back of the group Rurik heard Maginot tell Adder in a low, urgent voice "Damn it Adder, put your helmet back on. You don't know what kind of shit is hanging around in the air here...and who knows what Rurik will do when he sees your eyes!" He was going to ask what he meant, but decided to delay that for now. It wasn't the most pressing issue, How do I get into Limansk, and out with out every merc noticing me, and how do I find Seth if I do get in? Rurik wondered to himself, looking at his PDA the local area was quiet only his group was present.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 4, 2010 3:49:38 GMT -5
"The bridge is over there, and my task is done...There is smoke coming from Limansk. The air reeks with the putrid stench of death. Lieutenant, if you want to survive, I am seriously against the idea of going through the city. The coastal area would prove to be a much safer path, if you are willing to take a few minutes to examine the landscape. I strongly recommend that you stay clear from the water. The radioactivity levels of the irradiated debris are incredible. I also recommend that you stop relying on your radiation sensors and Geiger counters, as they will prove to be completely unreliable."
After he spoke to the lieutenant, he pulled Maginot closer and whispered
"Your female companion has been exhibiting strange behaviour through the entire trip. Is there something I should know about?"
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Post by Basil on Apr 4, 2010 14:34:38 GMT -5
"Your female companion has been exhibiting strange behaviour through the entire trip. Is there something I should know about?"
Maginot was not sure wether or not he could tell the man about Adder's "condition". He was after all a total stranger they had met in the Red Forest a short while ago...but he seemed to know more about the Zone's nature than their group's veterans.
"-She's...", said Maginot in a hesitant whisper, "she underwent a change of sorts...physical change. It happened after an emission, and was very sudden."
He glanced back at Adder, who was looking at the old drawbridge leading to Limansk, whose buildings were barely visible over the embankment. She was perfectly still save for her fingers drumming quietly on her hunting rifle.
"She has also been acting strangely, but that's probably due to that physical change she underwent..."
Meanwhile, Adder quietly contemplated the bridge and its whereabouts. There was a path through Limansk that lead to the Centre, she could feel it, and the whispers had become even more frequent and caressing. Her pupils had retracted into disturbingly reptilian slits behind her helmet's visor as the sun shone more brightly here than it had in the Red Forest.
She was aware of Maginot quietly speaking to the guide, but she didn't really care about what was being said, strangely enough. She was more focused on the promises that lay ahead, in the Centre. The whispers had urged her to kill Maginot if it proved necessary, and a part of her had recoiled in horror at the thought. Maginot was a friend, and had saved her life as she had saved his...she wouldn't, and couldn't, kill him.
What scared her the most was that another part of her was completely unmoved by the possibility of murdering Maginot. It was enthralled by the promises It was making, and was perfectly willing to murder the French stalker.
She took a breath and looked up at the sky. A crow flew past, crowing loudly in the harsh voice of its kind.
I don't believe in omens.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 4, 2010 16:34:40 GMT -5
"The gift of the Zone...Both blessing and curse. Your secret is safe with me. But, by all means, be her guardian. There is something beast-like in her, and that is not to be desired."
Khan stopped
"Lieutenant, this is where we part our ways. I shall not lead you further, as I have no interest in your further quarrels. I bid you a fair trip. Steer clear of the city, trudge along the coast."
Taking off his Marlin, he started slowly walking back towards the forest.
"If you find yourself in any danger in Limansk, retreat. Immediately. There is no hope in the forsaken city."
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Post by Basil on Apr 4, 2010 21:07:46 GMT -5
No hope in the forsaken city...
Maginot quietly watched the mysterious Red Forest guide return to his 'domain', his cryptic words seemingly hanging in the air.
Maybe we bit off more than we could chew.
He turned to look at the black smoke coming from Limansk...if the guide was t be believed - and Maginot did believe him - Limansk was a death trap, an evil place of death and perdition. Maginot turned to look at Adder, who was looking down at the sluggish, murky water of the river below. She picked a rock up and tossed it into the filthy water, watching the ripples spread across the water's surface and disappear as they reached the banks. He went over to her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"So Adder, what do you think of the challenges who undoubtedly lie ahead?"
"-Well, judging from what Sitting Bull said, Limansk is to be avoided at all costs. The man seems to know his stuff, so I'd rather follow his advice."
"-We've made it so far haven't we?"
Adder looked at Maginot and smiled sadly behind her helmet's visor...poor Maginot, sticking with someone who was now technically a monster, and was receiving messages from some unknown entity urging her to kill him. She felt a strong pang of sadness and guilt at the thought. Maginot had saved her, and looked after her, putting up with her paranoia and sarcasm without losing his own temper and leaving her to her own devices.
"-We have indeed", she said finally, and the two loners waited for Rurik to give the signal to move on.
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Post by Διμι on Apr 4, 2010 23:21:48 GMT -5
Surveying the burning landscape before him, Victor listened in carefully to the sounds coming from across the river. Above the quiet whisperings of his squadmates he could hear the rumblings of distant explosions and gunfire. There was fighting going on in Limansk, and from the sounds of it, something not entirely unlike a full scale war was going down.
He walked over to Rurik, "Things don't look too great over there, boss." he said "It seems as if the mercenaries have their hands full even without us." he could hear another rumbling explosion, as smaller columns of smoke began to rise from an area in Limansk. "What do you think our chances of making it through there are?" he asked, looking about apprehensively. The coast of the infamous Red Forest seemed almost serene in comparison to the battleground on the other side of the river.
Then he noticed two figures on the other side of the bridge, a fair distance away along the coast. He had no trouble recognizing them. Before he could draw the attention of the rest of the squad, the trenchcoated bandit and exoskeleton-clad mercenary disappeared into the tunnel leading to the city. Victor gazed at the spot for several seconds longer. They had almost caught up with the escapees.
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