Rostok Noir

[Zeno, Lord Camelith]

It was past midnight when Bodgan Chornovyl stumbled through the bar's entrance, his armor reeking of cheap vodka and soviet era tobacco. As he shuffled out of the bar's surface entrance, the rookie on watch said, "Be careful, you stupid drunkard. Or you'll be the next one to get your guts spilled."

"Bah," Bodgan leaned forward and tripped over himself a little as he spat, "I'ms very capable of takings care of myselfs."

Rostok was perfectly still. There was nobody outside, with the exception of several pairs of Duty Peacekeepers doing their rounds and all was quiet when notices were not being played from the loudspeakers.

"Stalkers; due to two murders commited in the last week, Rostok is officially on lockdown. Anyone attempting to leave the area will be shot. Duty Peacekeeping strongly suggests that no one travel alone during the day and stay indoors at night. An investigation is underway, anyone with any knowledge of the crimes should report to Peacekeeping HQ located in the 100 Rads."

Looking up at the loudspeaker on the arena tower, Bodgan cursed, "How the fucks is anyone supposed to sleeps with this racket."

"How indeed." A voice whispered behind him.

Cold steel cut deep into Bodgan's belly, spilling it's contents onto the ground before him. The drunk stalker bellowed in pain, and fell to his knees. The killer grimaced, this was not going as smoothly as planned. Bringing the blade up to the stalker's neck, the killer cut Bodgan's throat, then went to work on the stalker's face. The murderer sliced Bodgan's right ear cleanly off, then his nose and was busy with the removal of his eyes when a Peacekeeper patrol, who had heard the stalker's cry, turned the corner of the building. "Halt!" one of them shouted, raising his Abakan. The killer bolted, moving much faster than the guards had expected, they opened fire but by that time the perpetrator had vanished.

The Next Day. Peacekeeper Headquarters, the 100 Rads, Rostok.

"Same as the last two, I presume?" Gorobets muttered past the cigar clenched in his teeth. His cigars were somewhat of a mystery in Rostok, nobody knew where he got them from and he had a seemingly unlimited supply.

---

Inspector Evgen Gorobets:
Inspector is a relatively new rank, assigned to members of the Peacekeepers with a knack for sleuthiness. They are assigned to the solving of particularly haneous crimes comitted in Duty territory. Gorobets is a former policeman with a fondness for cigars, he is a mostachio'd 37 yearold of average height and build.

---

"Yes sir, except this time two officers caught the bastard in the act. He escaped, but at least now we have some idea of what he looks like."

"You're sure it's a man?"

"Well sir,"

"Are you sure it's a man, captain?"

"No, sir. Do you have any reason for believing it's a woman?"

"No, but we can't rule out any possibilities at this point. Women are usually more efficiant with their kills which would make one performing this level of mutilation unlikely, but the Zone does strange things to people, I'm sure you all remember the crazy bitch who came through here not to long ago."

The men assembled in the room shivered and a few spat on the ground to ward off bad luck. Their memories of the "Zone Witch's" visit to Rostok a few months earlier were still fresh in their minds. The men inside the HQ were an interesting group, very few of them were actually Dutiers, as the Duty Peacekeepers were not an official branch of the faction. The Peacekeepers were an assortment of volunteers deputized and equipped by Duty to patrol and keep order in Rostok and the surrounding areas not dangerous enough to warrant actual Duty presence, established in response to Duty's recent good fortune and the expansion of it's sphere of influence.

"Anyway," Gorobets continued "we're looking for someone about 175 centimeters, medium build..." he hesitated, looking at the reports on the desk in front of him, "And that's it."

The room was silent.

"Well then, I suppose you all can go. You've all got other duties to attend to." The men stood up and began to file out of the room when Gorobets said, "Captain Eltsin, I want you and Sergeant Andreev to find everyone who was in the bar last night and question them. We need to know as much about the late Mr. Chornovyl as possible."

[blackpapermoon]

Shade mused to himself as he drank his vodka, it would seem that Duty was losing their touch or perhaps their shield of arrogance was finally failing. With a string of three murders in the past week, a rampage of some demented sniper bitch in the past month and of course, himself, a bandit hiding among the flocks of loners in the now cordoned Rostok, one could easily say that Duty’s luck was on a downslide. The bandit was new to the zone, and it was truly a strange land, not counting the deadly anomalies and bloodthirsty mutants, a twisted sense of ironic fate played a part in this hellish area of the world. In the case of the assassin Arakcheyev, he had been sent there to make a loner with a deep debt to either pay up or cease to exist. However the bandit’s mark met, a grisly end at the hands of another dubbed the Rostok Butcher by the resident loners. What’s more, the bandit like the other one-hundred plus stalkers in Rostok was stranded until the Peacekeepers could sort out the killer from the rest of the stalkers.

Duty had strengthened their security measures since the attack from the “zone witch” and the murders now made it almost impossible to enter or leave without getting shot so full of holes. Tosya had been able to slip into the Duty territory due to a falsified PDA status marking him as a loner, and it continued to serve him. Yet he still had a very long criminal past and many of the Peacekeepers where ex-police and the like. Needless to say, he tended to stay away from the 100 rads bar that that used as their headquarters, however last night he found the need to restock on food rations and had been present in the bar when the latest of the butcher’s victims had stumbled out.

The bandit incognito paid little mind to the conversations around him but one soon peeked his interest. A short dark haired female mercenary with a heavy foreign ascent and appearance stood and the table across from him with a handful of other loners.

“Aren’t you worried about the butcher lass,” said one of the stalkers near her, “being all by yourself here?”

“-Not really,” said the woman nonchalantly, “I look after myself just fine and it’s not the first time I’ve lived in the same general area as a killer. When I was a kid they started to find the bodies of drunks, prostitutes and other low life’s out in the desert… turned out to be the priest ‘delivering them from their sins’.”

“- A murderous priest?,” exclaimed the loner a feign of disbelief in his voice , “that’s a little farfetched.”

“-Not at all,” the mercenary replied, “if you compare it to the things that happen here, snake eyed Freedomers, people who can project your worst fears, and giant mutant bears that are plated in tank armor. A priest who is a serial killer does not seem that outlandish.”

“-Well you got a point there lass,” said the loner, “ who do you think that the butcher can be?”

“Anyone really,” said the foreigner , “but I would not be surprised if the person turned out to be from Duty, given how well he managed to evade the patrols.”

[Karcentric]

Looking up from the old magazine he'd found in the bar, Karc listened in on the group talking nearby, the curious story about the murderous priest had sparked his interest. Carefully rolling a cigarette and leaning back he continued listening while scanning the bar looking over the patrons. The usual mix of loners talking or huddling around small vestiges of light. Karc personally preferred lounging in one of the dark corners of the bar, having locked most of his gear in a secure chest.

Sparking a battered old lighter, he took a deep drag and continued to listen to the grab, the small ember glowing occasionally followed by a trail of smoke blown towards one of the unoccupied parts of the bar. Hearing of the unusual events listed he sunk back, snake eyed Freedomers, Zone witches and armoured bears. Flicking the ash from his cigarette at his armored helmet which sat cold, facing the rest of the bar he chortled to himself. And now these Duty Peacekeepers. They had not gotten off to the best of starts when Karc travelled from Limansk to Rostok only to be confronted by a whole patrol of them. After extensive questioning about the first of these grisly murders, he was finally allowed access into Rostok.

Since Rostok was now locked down he figured the less active he was, the less he'd have to worry about being questioned about the murders. The last victim had been blind drunk when he'd left the bar. Got what he deserved really, wandering around alone with a murder on the loose. He thought bitterly, this lock down had restricted has ability to do his job for the commander of the mercenary faction. At least there were several people who saw me sitting here when it happened. He mused.

Returning his attention to the group talking nearby he caught the end of the conversation “...I would not be surprised if the person turned out to be from Duty, given how well he managed to evade the patrols.” The female in the group said. An interesting suggestion and one Karc wasn't entirely surprised, seeing as the murderer did evade patrols very well.

Another small chuckle from the merc as he scanned the bar again, when he noticed a stalker about his height and only slightly lighter build. Looking a little longer he eventually turned his attention to the remaining stub of his cigarette before blowing a thin wisp of smoke and grinding the ember out on the floor with his heel. Walking to the bar he simply nodded to the barkeep and handed him enough for another bottle of quality vodka and a clean glass. Walking back to his spot, he felt several eyes on him, turning to the table that the group had sat at he nodded in a friendly manner and took one step to leave before stopping and asked.

“What other rumours have heard lately? They're an interest of mine you see, I like to look into them.” He said flatly, before raising the bottle and giving it a little shake, "Drink?" He offered.

[milch]

Globe has not yet been in the Zone long enough to witness the 'witches' and other uncommon events, uncommon even for this anomalous piece of land. Globe was sitting over his shot of vodka at a table where the conversation between the female and the male stalkers was held. He listened to every word, but only understood every other one, he was deep into his own thought, especially now that the vodka kicked in and brought him into a philosophical mood.
Globe was thinking of home, of how he even ended up in the Zone, of his Zone life. He hasn't seen his friend Horus for a long time, he even heard rumor that the guy was dead, but it sure couldn't have been true, Horus was too careful son of a... Globe flashed back to reality.
He finished his shot and went over to Barkeep. The man always knew more than anyone, sometimes even more than Snitch.
"Hey Barkeep!" Globe called out.
"Huh? Oh, it's you. What do you want? Another shot? You oughtta be careful with this stuff now, you don't wanna be another victim now do ya?" the tattooed man replied.
"No, it's not that. I wanted to ask, what do you think of this 'mysterious murderer'?"
"Well, all I know is that while Duty has Rostok on lockdown I'm losing money. I don't care who's doing this and why. I just want him gone."
"Fair play. I guess anyone is worried about their bread eh."
"Okay, now, Globe, I have customers waiting" Barkeep pointed at some stalkers who've just entered the bar and were walking towards the trader.
Globe moved away from the table and went over to a different table. He sat on a bench, put his bag on one end and lied down using it as his pillow.
That night Globe had only nightmares, but they were nothing compared to the ones he'd seen when he was sleeping up North, nearer the center. He saw the shadowed murderer torturing him, before finally killing him and just as he did, Globe awoke.
When Globe awoke he saw the same picture as he did last evening, stalkers either sleeping or talking about their own business in little groups.
Globe stood up and put his bag on his back again. After saying bye to Barkeep he exited outside. It was the usual Zone morning. He went through the exit and faced the Arena. There was still blood on the concrete where the stalker by the name of Bodgan was killed. Globe went up to that place and had a look around.
"Where could have the killer come from? Without being seen by the guard or the Peacekeepers and more importantly the victim himself" the loner thought to himself. He went down a small narrow concrete path and into an old hangar. There was a fire. Globe realised that he hasn't eaten for two days now and went over to the fire. He sat down and opened his bag, took out a can of beans and put them on the ground near the fire, nearly in it. In a few minutes, when the beans were hot, he opened them and while he ate he was still ready to pull out his Colt at any moment and put a bullet in the killers head.

[blackpapermoon]

Swift looked over at the other merc that had come out the dark shadows of the bar, he was a tall man , that wore mostly black save for the one pigtail of red hair. However, despite his attire he was one of the zone’s veterans.

“What other rumours have heard lately? They're an interest of mine you see, I like to look into them.” He said before offering up a bottle of vodka.

“-Come join us and I’ll tell you what I’ve heard,” she said clearing a spot for him at the table, “most of the conversations these days have been about the butcher, but I did hear something about the cordon, apparently the rookies found some way to boycott Sidorovich.”

Shade finished the rest of his drink and was about to leave when two peacekeepers entered the bar, the bandit kept his head down. They started to ask about the late stalker named Bodgan, had anyone see him leave, if someone followed him out of the bar, did he have any connections to other stalkers and other such questions. However before the Peacekeepers could question him about last night bandit slipped out of the bar as if he was never there in the first place. Even if the peacekeepers thought him to be the killer the bandit had ten people to contest that he had not left the bar all of last night.

It was late afternoon in Rostok, although it was close to spring the air still held a nip to it. The streets where mostly empty, due to the butcher being on the lose most stalkers kept inside their shelters as if the moment they left they would be hunted down by the bloodthirsty butcher. The only other person that Shade could see was a relatively young loner dressed in a recolored Wind of Freedom suit. The kid was cooking something near the fire pit, a pistol in his hand. The bandit smirked and almost let out a laugh, the paranoia and fear was growing in Rostok it would not be long before the mass hysteria set in. Men would start to kill each other just out of allegation of the other being the butcher. Then the killer would have free range over this area, and the bar would descend into complete chaos. However, Tosya was going to be long gone by that time all he had to do was bide his time until the Duty cordon was weakened. The Bandit approached the other from the side, just in case the man got too jumpy and ended up sending a bullet into his face.

“The butcher will not attack you,” he said to the loner, “it is the middle of the day, the butcher only kills at night. He is an animal but he is not rabid yet, you have more to fear from your fellow loners at this point.”

“So put down that gun or you’ll end up shooting the wrong person,” he continued, “fear is the main weapon of the murder, don’t fall into his trap.”

[milch]

"Don't fall into his trap" the stalker behind Globe said. Globe followed the man's advice and holstered his colt, although he was still feeling quite jumpy. He turned to see the person who spoke to him. It was a stalker wearing a SEVA suit. "Must be a pro" Globe thought to himself.
"I'm not falling into anything" Globe replied "I'm just taking precautions, aren't you worried about the killer?"
"I never said I'm not worried, I'm also taking precautions, they're just different from yours" the stranger replied.
"Fair enough. Come warm by the fire, it's a chilly morning"
The stalker pulled up a wooden crate and sat on it, warming his hands by the fire. Globe examined his new acquaintance. He was a very tall, nearly two meters, well built man. And... That was all Globe could get from his looks, because the man was wearing a black and grey SEVA. Then Globe realised that he had forgotten about his breakfast. He plunged his spoon into the beans and began to consume them. He looked at the man sitting next to him. He was just warming his hands and awkward silence hung in the air. Globe couldn't deal with it anymore, so he spoke first.
"Hey. Want something to eat?"
"No thanks, I'm not hungry"
"Well, what's your name?" Globe continued.
"The name's Shade"
"I'm Globe" this was better, at least now some contact was established.
They sat like that for 20 maybe 30 minutes, occasionally saying something to each other, but you still couldn't call it a conversation. Finally Globe decided to ask Shade for a favor.
"Shade, I have a proposition for you"
"Go on" he replied.
"We're both stuck here until this murderer is found or killed. And the Peacekeepers aren't having much luck at the moment. I have a plan in mind, but until now I had no one to propose it to. I want to set up a trap for him. At night I will go to the top of the tower above the arena and take up a sniping point there. You will hang around by the bar, or somewhere else I can see you and if the murderer tries to sneak up on you, I will put a bullet in his head. How does that sound? I know it's dangerous and there may be flaws in the plan, but as a Russian saying goes 'the game's worth the candles'."
Shade's SEVA helmet screen reflected Globe. He had a feeling that Shade was staring at him, judging his plan. He shouldn't have said it, the plan is awful... Or is it?
Shade let out a sigh and said "Well...

[blackpapermoon]

“Perhaps, but I take it you don’t know what happened to the stalker that once called that tower home,” Shade said Globe’s plan was better than just waiting around but it was full of many holes.

The loner’s knowledge of past visitors or rather lack of had shown itself.
“When the one they call the Zone Witch had passed through, he was up in the tower. The witch killed him, no one would have known if she did not throw his head off the tower. “said the assassin the Peacekeepers had past and it was now safe to take off his helmet.

A near insane paranoia of the Duty off shoots kept him on guard; the last thing he wanted was law enforcement coming to end his Zone asylum prematurely.

“One who does not learn from the past is bound to repeat it. A lone hunter will become the hunted quickly; others will be needed to join us. “He continued, “The two mercenaries in the bar look like promising recruits.”

Mercenaries in the zone where like dogs if one where to throw them a bone they would willingly jump of a cliff. However the two he saw earlier in the 100 reds where looked a bright smarter than others he had saw.

“If they do not want their freedom, then they will jump for money,” Shade grinned, “always looking out for profit to be made.”

[Karcentric]

Karc smiled at the mention of boycotting Sid, "Ha, the old bastard deserves it, but he can be useful on occasion." He said, hunching slightly as a hand fell on his armored shoulder. Knowing already who had grabbed his shoulder, he resisted the urge to punch the Peacekeeper, turning and looking down slightly at the shorter man.

"Can I help you?" He asked, with irritation in his voice.

"Where were you last night?" The man snapped, trying to appear intimidating.

"Right over there, that's where I've been since Duty locked Rostok," Karc replied pointing to the dark corner, "Reading, drinking and waiting. An exciting existence I can assure. Ask anyone here."

Looking at the corner that Karc pointed the man turned his attention back to Karc. "What did you know of the man who was killed?" He said.

"Nothing, unless you count that he was a fucking moron." Karc said, a thin smile crossed his face.

"So you didn't get along with the victim?" The man asked with suspicion.

"I didn't know or care about him, still don't." Karc said, "You wanna walk around at night with some whack job running around slashing people up? If some drunk wants to do do that I ain't gonna stop him, but don't expect sympathy out me. He knew full well what had happened."

"Right... well stay out of our way." The Peacekeeper said, glaring at Karc and the others at the table before moving on to someone else.

"Yeah whatever princess." Karc muttered, shaking his head, "The Peacekeepers and I don't get along very well, considering I carry 5 knives and a Falchion on top of my other gear. Our first meeting was an interview at gunpoint, Good times. Excuse me, I'm gonna get some fresh air."

Grabbing the helmet and the rifle bag he made his way out of the bar and sat on a crate, taking a deep breathe of the crisp, morning air. Taking his modified SCAR L from it's carry case checked the mag and attached his helmet, deciding to take a walk around Rostok and think about catching this psychotic killer.

[blackpapermoon]

“Looks like luck has blessed us,” Shade said to Globe as the rather offbeat black clad mercenary left the 100 rads bar, “I will convince our friend over there to join in our little hunt. I’d rather keep my distances from the peacekeepers, bad blood in the past you see.”

The assassin would rather not give the loner much more information about himself. It was not for Globe’s wellbeing but rather for the bandit’s own. Better to take your life and safety in your own hands then let it fall to some else’s. Although the bandit was to play the role of bait in the loner’s little trap, he was more than confident in his ability ward off a sickened mind that pray upon drunks in the middle of the night. Tosya saw the plan as an early means of escape from Rostok, he needed to have the two mercenaries on board for added security and if this plot was somehow to fall through well placed scape goats.

“The foreign Merc is still in the bar go talk with her,” he said , “the more eyes we have the better our success.”


Swift watched as the other mercenary left the bar, the peacekeepers often took their positions as Duty’s hounds to the extreme harassing those they did not like with heavy integrations and searches. With this killer on the lose they had been given more power form Duty to conduit their investigation and with some in their ranks the power had gone to their heads. She had to wonder just how many off the people they had taken in for father questioning had been actually butcher suspects. She had been on good terms with them before the killings after helping them with a “border dispute” with some bandits. If it was not for that she was positive that she would receive the same treatment as the other Merc.

Just then she saw Globe enter and approach her table.

“Need something stalker?” she said as she continued to watch him.


The Bandit waited until the loner had enter the bar before going up the mercenary, it would seem that this man was also not of Slavic background but had spent many year in Slavic nations. Shade knew form past observations that the man had many incidents with the peacekeepers.

“Duty’s dogs nipping at your heels, friend,” said the assassin in an understating tone, “They haven’t left you alone since you first came to this area have they. They think that you must be the murder, but their bias is costing lives. Even in the zone law enforcement is a predictable as ever.”

“I’m sorry I don’t mean to pry it’s just hard not to miss,” the bandit said eager to wet the other’s appetite, “ my name is Shade and seeing that we are in the same predicament perhaps you may want to help aid in a tarp to end this cordon.”

[Karcentric]

Karc looked up from his own thoughts, looking at the man who was the same height.

"They can nip at my heels all they want, they had best watch for the spurs though." He said, "But I haven't given them a reason to leave me alone either, or any proof that I'm not the murderer."

Pausing slightly and adding, "I've probably notched up a lot more kills than this wandering psycho too." He said giving a shrug. "And when you walk into Rostok carrying several knives, well, the suspicious mind will panic and jump to absurd conclusions."

"Shade, Karc. Mercenary, level 5 agent. While I'm in no hurry to leave when this silly Cordon is lifted, the thought of being able to move in and out Rostok at my own doing is a nice prospect. And the thought of waving it in the Peacekeepers face if we succeed is too good to pass up, but we'll need at least 2 or 3 more people, and an area which is very open surrounded with good vantage points." Karc said.

Crouching by the fire opposite Shade. Taking a cigarette from a battered case he lit it using an ember that had fallen out of the fire.

"That said, I'm in."

[blackpapermoon]

“Can I help you,” asked Swift to the loner in the dark freedom suit. He was new to the zone but seem much better off than some of the other rookies. By now the bar had mostly dispersed and no one was within ear shoot of her and the loner.

“- Yes you can, my name is Globe and perhaps you like to help trap the killer that has been running around.”

“Very well Globe, the loners call me Swift, you have gained my interest.” She said as she packed up a few things she had lying on the table then join Globe and left the bar.

“Numbers are not going to be an issue, if the kid comes back with his part.” Shade said to Karc wail watching the entrance to the 100 rads waiting for Globe to return with the mercenary woman.

The bandit only hoped that the Peacekeepers could keep their noises out of Karc’s affairs until after they had set off their little trap. Otherwise attention would be drawn to himself along with the eyes of Duty’s lapdogs. It would only take one Peacekeeper with a brain and good memory to have him cuffed and in a cold hard cell.Finally the loner came out with the foreign stalker.

[milch]

Globe exited the bar with Swift following him close behind. He looked around and saw Shade looking at him with another Merc. The loner came up to them taking long fast strides and introduced himself to the Merc.
"My name is Globe" said the loner.
"Karc" the reply was short and straight forward.
When Globe was sure that this was everyone he felt that he needed to explain his plan and the reason for them being gathered here, but in a more secluded place.
"I would like to explain why we have gathered here, but somewhere a bit more private. If you all would like to follow me to the hangar back there" and with that Globe headed off for the empty hangar in which Shade found him, he could hear footsteps behind him, footsteps of the group. When they shortly reached the hangar Globe got to the point.
"Right. Now I can explain. I'm more than sure that all of you are bored of pointlessly sitting around Rostok with a murderer around and we all have better things to do. I have a plan. Initially it involved two people, but Shade made it quite clear to me that with two people we were at high risk of failiure. So now the plan sounds like this: I will take up a sniping position in the tower above the arena. One of you" Globe looked at Karc and at Swift "will be up there with me, making sure that the killer doesn't strike me from behind. Shade will be playing the role of a bait for the killer standing in a place opened for a clear shot, while the other of you will be hidden down with Shade covering my shot in case of a miss or the plan going wrong, this way we are covered to kill the target. Will you have any additions, Shade?" Globe asked the more experienced Merc. If everything was ready then the plan would come to life this very night and then they would all be finally free to leave this Duty controlled area.