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Post by blackpapermoon on Aug 30, 2012 16:14:33 GMT -5
“Knock yourself out little viper,” yawned the Shade glancing up at her, one eye open, “just don’t get a bullet to the face dear.” The bandit cared little about who took first watch or Lilith’s bloody fantasies so long as he got a few hours of sleep. Within a few moments the assassin fell into a light slumber, Shade like the other occupants of the old outpost where oblivious to the presents watching them from in the woods.
A lone Freedomer spied the light from the old tower; he had heard the reports of a large group of bandits and a few merc entering the woods. Ferret crept back to the fox hole he had dug earlier in the week. Covering the entrance with a camouflaged net Ferret settled in the back of the den. Falling into a trance he allowed his mutation to take over.
Over time his abilities had grown stronger and more powerful but also marking him with physical traits. His hair had gone from black to pure white and his right eye had turned to a steel gray, the left was slowly turning as well. However a new side effect now plagued him, each time he used the new abilities he lost muscle mass. Fortunately this was combated by a more rigorous training regimen.
With his mind free from his body the Freedomer made his way over to the ranger station. The room of the top floor was crowded with bandits. At one end of the room lay two stalkers dress in the basic military body armor, and an unarmed loner curled up not that far away. Condensing his form he materialized before the bandits in the room.
The assassin awoke to gunfire, and to his bewilderment found a ghostly Freedomer standing in the center of the room. Tosya did not believe in sprits, even with what appeared to be one standing in front of him. His bandits had panicked and had begun firing at the specter that was clearly not effected by the rounds.
“Cease fire,” yelled the assassin as he sprang into action, sprinting a crossed the room he picked up Giovanni by his collar and tossed him behind some crates. Then Shade pushed the doctor into cover, but took a round in his right arm, making the limb useless. The men did not follow his command, having no other choice Shade switched his weapon to his left hand and returned fire.
Ferret watched as what seemed to be the leader of the bandits run to the other side of the room and get the other stalkers out of harm’s way. His underlings did not respond to the orders, and still fired at the Freedomer. Ferret with the wave of his hand sent a wave of energy at the panicked bandits knocking them over and disarming them. A few where pick off by the leader and the other stalker, the others just ran.
The ghostly Freedomer approached Shade and knelt before him, waving his transparent hand over the bandit’s injury. What was left of the round came out of the wound, as the apparition clenched its hand the bullet wound begun to close as the skin and muscle reconnected leaving only a light scar. The ghostly visage give a brief nod before disappearing.
The assassin slowly got to his feet inspecting the new scar, the area was still red and pained him some but otherwise it was just fine. After a few moments the sound of someone running a crossed pavement was heard from below.
Shade went to a covered position by the entrance as an unfamiliar voice yell up.
“I mean you no harm, my name is Ferret. Can I come up and speak with you.”
“Proceed, stalker,” answered Shade his rifle now aimed at the door.
The other man came up the stairs his hands held up and his G36 slung a crossed his back. It was the “ghost” Freedomer from earlier. Shade then noticed that under his freedom insignia he had another patch of a snake wrapped around a Vintorez rifle, marking him as a member of Penumbra.
“I now see why people are so fearful of Freedom’s Penumbra,” Shade remarked lowering his weapon, “they must be made up of all people touched by the zone.”
“Only a few bandits,” said the green clad stalker, “rather strange mix you have here, clearly these people are not your prisoners. So what are you doing in this neck of the forest? “
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Post by nuclearstorm on Aug 30, 2012 18:18:21 GMT -5
The ghost of the Freedomer appeared. Giovanni fainted. Fast. So fast, in fact, that Yorick made a quick mental note to study Giovanni's reaction time.
The bandits opened fire. Lilith drew her shotguns. Yorick took cover and attempted to study the ghostly man. Shade called out "Cease fire!"
Lilith knew to trust the bandit at this point, however rude he may act toward her. She lowered her shotguns, but took note how the bandits ignored their leader. She tackled one with her shoulder, causing him to fly into a wall and land on his ass with a thud. She then got behind him and gouged out his eyes. Throwing the bandit's eyes at the others who refused to stop firing she yelled out "Listen to your commander! Do you weak men have no sense of discipline or loyalty?!" The bandits stopped firing at the ghostly figure, now fearing this crazed woman more than the seemingly supernatural. The now eyeless bandit was doing something between attempting to cry and gurgling. Lilith put a shotgun up to his head and put him out of his misery.
She then turned to Shade. "Have you not taught these peons the basics of discipline?" She scoffed and holstered her weapon.
She watched the ghostly figure walk over to Shade and heal his minor injury. Who was this man and how could she obtain power like this? She knew Yorick would want to study this phenomenon.
Yorick stood up from cover, looking toward Shade and the ghostly figure. "Amazing, truly amazing. I knew this place would be perfect..." he mumbled to himself. The figure disappeared before he could attempt to communicate with it, but before he could think of a way to study this phenomenon more closely, a voice called up.
It a less ghostly version of the man who had just appeared to them.
Yorick was full of curiosity and hope from this man. He had no idea what this "Penumbra" was, and did not care enough to find out. He must know what makes this man tick. "Well, you are obviously not here to fight us," Yorick remarked to Ferret, "So why are you here? And what is with this power, for lack of a more accurate term, that you possess?"
Yorick had every intention of bringing this man with him to the site to study, whether he would come peacefully or not.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Sept 11, 2012 2:14:35 GMT -5
"Have you not taught these peons the basics of discipline?" the woman scoffed and holstered her weapon.
“Sheep can only pretend to be wolves for so long,” retorted Shade holstering his weapon yet still kept an eye on the mutant Freedomer, “besides if I was the one who trained them, they would not have survived. Still lasted longer than I first thought.”
The bandit pushed the dead out of the window and out of sight before treading over to where Giovanni lay. Pulling the boy into an upright position the assassin began to shake the Italian awake.
“Giovanni, wake up,” the bandit said tiredly, “do something useful for once and go cook something for our guest.”
"Well, you are obviously not here to fight us," Yorick remarked to Ferret, "So why are you here? And what is with this power, for lack of a more accurate term, that you possess?"
“I’m making a supply run for the neutral base at Yanov station in the Jupiter area.” The Freedomer said as he pull a protein bar from his pack and began to eat away at it, “my mutation you mean; hard to say what it is but a few months ago I was a part of an expedition to the north.”
“Wait, your one of the survivors of the freedom team,” asked the bandit mildly impressed, “you have knowledge of Zaton then.”
“Yes, but we never reached the northern swamps,” said Ferret, “Duty, Monolith, this whack job military asshole and the blowout made sure we didn’t.”
“In fact it was the emission that ‘marked’ me,” the white haired man continued, “it started out as projecting my mind from my body, but as I used the ability more the stronger it became. After a few months my hair turned white and my eyes changed, that’s when I began to get the telekinesis.”
“However, I’m more sensitive to Psy radiation and now each time I use my abilities they leech strength from the rest of me.” Said Ferret pulling down the sleeve of his suit to display his point, “now will you tell me why you are here in the woods?”
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Post by nuclearstorm on Sept 15, 2012 19:20:09 GMT -5
Giovanni was shaken awake by Shade. He looked around and saw the man who was the ghost that caused him to faint. However, before he could faint once more, Shade's comment let him know that this man was not an enemy. "Oh! He's a friend!? I shall make pasta! You do like pasta don't you mister?" And with that, Giovanni began cooking happily.
Lilith chuckled at Shade's comment regarding the other bandits. "Hah, so these men ARE just your cannon fodder. Maybe you have a little more fun with this than you let on." She then went to watch Giovanni cook, less out of interest, more due to knowing Yorick had some persuading to do.
"Very interesting." Yorick mumbled to himself as Ferret spoke. "I have a proposition for you. I would like to study you." Ferret looked very alarmed at this comment. "Oh! I am sorry i seem to have come off the wrong way. First of all, I am not with the other scientists here. But more importantly, I have no intention of harming you. I would just like to run a few tests. Examine your capabilities. Check for background radiation. See what make all of this work. And of course you would be compensated with a place to stay and homecooked meals whenever you like. More incentive can be discussed as well."
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Post by blackpapermoon on Sept 22, 2012 17:37:12 GMT -5
“Fun? Oh give me a break,” the assassin said still keeping a watchfully eye on the mutant, “they are simply a means to an end. I have fun when I’m not on a mission, as I’d rather live longer and not let down my guard”
“Something you might want to think about when you are fondling a dead man’s brain,” the bandit added on before going back to his corner, “besides they’ll be back they’d never make it back to Dark Valley without me.”
True to the bandit’s word his men returned an hour later.
Ferret took hold of his rifle when the old man stated interest in studying him, but had managed to placate the green stalker some.
“I’ll give it some thought, I rather not be cut up,” said the Freedomer, “ I admit that I wish to learn more about this power the zone has granted me. And I’d feel better if I knew more about you; you never told me your names and why you travel with bandits.”
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Post by nuclearstorm on Sept 26, 2012 8:57:19 GMT -5
"You know, Shade, people who enjoy their job live longer. It's a statistic." Lilith remarked a bit sarcastically before returning to watch Giovanni cook.
Yorick chuckled at the mutant's concerns. "Oh of course! No incisions at all. I was thinking more along the lines of studying radiation levels around you and your ghost while using your powers and other similar studies. And as for my name, I am Yorick. My niece over there is Lilith."
Giovanni walked up carrying a large pot as soon as Yorick finished.
"And I am Giovanni! Now here! Have some of the pasta I made! It's tortellini alfredo!"
Giovanni set down the pot and began to fill bowls with pasta for everyone before eating his share.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Oct 4, 2012 14:24:19 GMT -5
“Yes, I’ll be sure to remember that when I’m standing over your grave,” Shade huffed back to the girl as he waited for the small Italian to finish up with cooking the meal. The bandit missed the finer things that the big land held, but would bide his time in this cesspool of the world. A few months to a year and the storm that he hid from would be blown over, and he could return to the cities in which he stalked his contracts. But for now a small taste of the world would do, a reminder that this was not going to be forever.
“And you bandit?,” asked Ferret to the well-armed and suited assassin after the others in the group where introduced. Although he could just look up the info on his device he’d rather be civil with the stalkers in the encampment.
“Shade, I was hired by the good doctor and his adorable niece, as an escort to Zaton,” said the bandit as the loner passed out bowls of hot food, “for fuck's sake Giovanni you didn’t need to bring all of Italy in your pack.”
“So that is why you asked of the swamps,” said Ferret as he took the bowl from the rookie loner and thanked him for the meal. It was rare when one could find a home cooked meal and he was sure as hell not going to turn it down
“Some stalkers have settled down up there on one of the old barges,” continued the Freedomer, “I could take you to Yanov and one of the guys could get you the rest of the way.”
“That will be the doctor’s call,” said the assassin, “we’ve have some mercs trailing us that we want to shake off.”
“If you get the station they won’t be able to start trouble with you,” Ferret said as he offered up his bowl for a second helping, “even us and Duty need to play nice with each other there.”
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Post by nuclearstorm on Oct 7, 2012 20:36:00 GMT -5
Lilith ignored Shade's comment. She was tired of this bickering and just wanted to try some of Giovanni's pasta.
Giovanni passed out the pasta, receiving thanks from Yorick and Lilith. However, Shade did not act so appreciative. Giovanni's eyes narrowed. "Hey mister, if I could bring more of Italy I would and if you ever want to have my pasta again, then you better learn to respect it. A free home cooked meal, especially by a real Italian who knows how to make perfect pasta, should never be scoffed at." Despite the insult, Giovanni handed the bandit a bowl of pasta and moved on.
Ferret offered to take the group part of the way to their destination. Yorick comtemplated for a minute while enjoying Giovanni's meal. "I will have to take you up on your offer, Ferret." Although Yorick was paranoid, Ferret met them by chance and was by no means assertive with his offer. To Yorick, that meant he had no interest in stealing research. Besides, Yorick still had some convincing to do if he was to study this mutant.
The group finished their meals and set out to Yanov. To many it was the best food they had eaten in a long long time. To others it was the best they had eaten in their entire lives. Giovanni took much pride in his cooking.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Oct 7, 2012 23:37:13 GMT -5
“I didn’t mean to insult you boy It’s not every day you see a stalker with a kitchen on his back ,” said the assassin with a laugh as he pulled a wad of money out of his pocket and placed it before the loner, “but if its compensation you want, take five hundred Rubles.”
"I will have to take you up on your offer, Ferret." Said the old man
“Very well,” said the Freedomer holding out his bowl for a third helping, “mind if I have some more Giovanni.”
The bandit finished up his food he would rather not leave camp and travel at night but now he had the skill of the Penumbra as well as the skills of Lilith and himself.
“Kid,” the bandit said to the Italian, “let me see that device of yours one more time.”
The assassin took the PDA and looked through it; his fingers glided a crossed the touch screen. After a few moments he handed the device back to the rookie.
“I made it so that your signal jumps to other PDAs in the zone,” said the bandit, “I would have done it sooner if I wasn’t sure that the mercs knew where we are.”
“Not bad bandit, I’d bet the tecs back at the warehouses would be impressed,” said Ferret, “but we really should get moving.”
They left the safety of the tower, following the Freedomer into the wilds of the red forest. They would have travel all night and if all goes well, reach Jupiter by sunup. Along the way they met with Shade’s cowardly underlings, which mistook them for loners and tried to hold them up. Needless to say that the fight did not end well for the muggers.
“What is the meaning of this,” barked Shade to the other bandits as they picked themselves up, “first you run like little girls and disobey my commands now you try to hold me up.”
“But boss we thought yous was dead,” said one of the underlings.
“Morons,” the assassin sighed, “Lilith as these men clearly have more fear of you, you now have full command over these whelps and may do whatever you please with them.”
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Post by nuclearstorm on Oct 12, 2012 15:33:48 GMT -5
"Well where I'm from a gift of pasta from the DiPasta family would be considered the upmost honor!" Giovanni said, still somewhat upset. "However, I will forgive you and accept your gift." Giovanni took the rubles and put them away.
They left the safety of the tower, following the Freedomer into the wilds of the red forest. They would have travel all night and if all goes well, reach Jupiter by sunup. Along the way they met with Shade’s cowardly underlings, which mistook them for loners and tried to hold them up. Needless to say that the fight did not end well for the muggers.
“What is the meaning of this,” barked Shade to the other bandits as they picked themselves up, “first you run like little girls and disobey my commands now you try to hold me up.”
“But boss we thought yous was dead,” said one of the underlings.
“Morons,” the assassin sighed, “Lilith as these men clearly have more fear of you, you now have full command over these whelps and may do whatever you please with them.”
Lilith grinned wickedly before speaking in an overly innocent voice. "Oh don't worry yourself Shade I'll take good care of them." She shot the bandits a look and they cowered slightly. "But I can't promise their safety in such a horrible horrible place." She giggled like a schoolgirl.
Lilith then turned directly at the bandits and spoke again, this time speaking with power and confidence. "Alright you miserable excuses for humans! You will guard Yorick here will your lives and if one of you falls to cowardice or fails this task, I will make the rest of your life, however small I may let it be, a living hell." She glared as she spoke the last line. One of the bandits shit in his pants and began to run, although awkwardly. Lilith simply threw a rock and set him off balance. She walked up to him, carved out his eyes with her knife, put them in her pack, then slit his throat. "Now, that was a bit light because we have to get going. Given more time he would have wished to die. I hope that serves as an example to you bandits. Let's go."
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Post by blackpapermoon on Oct 14, 2012 23:10:14 GMT -5
Shade merely shook his head as one of his former underlings ran then was brutally murdered, the assassin sighed he remembered when he got so much enjoyment out of his kills. However the task of torture, killing than dismembering and finally cleaning up the scene became too tedious and tiresome. It was just better to get in and eliminate the target in a quick clean manner, unless his client wanted the target dealt with in another way.
Perhaps, the reason why he preferred his knife was that he had deeply missed on some level the bloodshed of his early career. The zone seemed to bring out that small part of him, but only when dealing with the inhuman mutates of this land.
It might have been dark but the Freedomer could see most of Lilith’s work, and despite his many months in the zone he was slightly disgusted. He pity the bandits, but they should have not tried to mug them. In a way it was fair, act like animals get slaughtered like animals.
“-Keep that up and stalkers might mistake you for that psychopathic bitch Balalaika,” said Ferret in a warning tone.
“-Yet another reason why you should not play in the entrails and gray matter of the dead,” piped in the assassin who looked at the Freedomer then dully stated, “you don’t want to know.”
They moved on as Shade had made clear to Ferret they were being followed, the Penumbra lead them through the deep woods far away from the normal paths taken by most stalkers. Due do the uncoordination and ill experience of some of the members of the group a trail was left, by due to the darkness and remoteness of this area it would be hard for even for a Duty tracker to find them in the woods.
By the first light of the early morning they had cleaned the western part of the Red forest, and had entered near the Jupiter factory complex. Following along the tracks, they arrived just before true dawn.
Ferret opened the door to the station, awaking a Dutyer that had been slumped in a chair. The black clad stalker mutter out something about Bandit rats and pothead anarchists before falling back to sleep. A few of the stalkers that did night watch gave the group a nod before going back to their posts.
"Most everyone is asleep right now," whispered Ferret, "but the trader and mechanic should be getting up soon, and if your lucky a few mats might be open in the basement if you want to get some shut eye."
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Post by Karcentric on Nov 23, 2012 10:37:46 GMT -5
Unseen by the group, or anyone for that matter, a pair of luminescent eyes watched the group enter Yanov station, once held by the Monolith now it was held by those that Harbinger deemed weak, barely worth the effort in his mind, better to send a wave of troops than him.
These thoughts were interrupted by a painful shock through his head and the voice spoke to him, a distorted noise of sheer perfection in his mind, it had guided him and taught him much, and it stopped these thoughts so he would remain faithful.
The voice told him to attack, show no mercy cut down the weak.
“Yes.” He said, his own distorted voice echoed in an unnatural way.
With a flash he’d disappeared and reappeared several feet in front of the doors to the station with another flash, a group of loners opened the door investigating the noise and the flash of light.
“Hey, you there did you see wha…” The loner started but trailed off when he saw Harbinger’s armour. “What is that armour?” He asked, but instead of an answer he was rewarded with a .45 round to the skull, as were the two loners either side of him.
Running in he shoulder tackled through the group that had just arrived, knocking down four of the members of the group, raising his highly modified assault rifle and fired while sweeping in an arc cutting down two bandits and a Dutier.
Swinging a hard left hook it knocked out a tallish man in a trench coat, the impact from a sawn off shotgun hit Harbinger hard but had little effect, turning a short female stood holding her shot gun, eyes wide that the shot had had no effect, stepping forward he went to kick at her but another man dove in front of her taking the brunt of the blow, sending them both sliding across the tiled floor.
The Freedomer had backed away and let off several shots with his SIG 550, dodging Harbinger leaped forward kicking the man hard in the stomach, doubling him over, grabbing his hooded head pulled it up before slamming it back down onto one of the tables. The blow cracked the board and rendered the stalker unconscious.
Looking around several bandits had their guns aimed at him but weren’t sure if they should fire or run.
“WEAK!” Harbinger growled, his voice crackled with a strange distorted sound, raising his gun again and mowed down two more bandits, a sound behind him made him turn and he saw a small man trembling, pressed against the back wall, letting out a snarl he approached the man towering over him. Grabbing him by the collar he lifted him till they were eye to eye, his luminescent eyes narrowed as he saw the sheer terror in the eyes of the small man whose legs were kicking feebly.
What could pass for a laugh escaped Harbinger’s mouth as he held the loner by the collar of his coat, before lunging forward and head butting him, dropping him and turning several Freedom and Dutiers aiming at him. Taking a step forward they took a step back. Again narrowing his eyes , he disappeared with a blinding flash, leaving the onlookers dazed.
Several stalkers lay dead, and many either groaning in pain or unconscious.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jan 28, 2013 7:33:17 GMT -5
Shade pulled himself up off the ground, muttering a few choice words in Russian. The whole left side of his face hurt and he suspected that he had a large welt covering that part of his face. Letting out a growl he went forth, determined to repay his attacker with a knife blade to the back of the neck. However just before his blade could draw blood; the modern day equivalent of a Knight Templar disappeared in a blinding flash of blue light.
A bullet fired from the rifle of Doctor Yorick nearly found its way into the assassin’s skull but by sheer luck was just off by less than an inch and harmlessly made impact with the station wall. Shade looked at the wall then at the old man, he sighed before sheathing his blade. The stalkers around them where still in shock and confusion ruled the outpost.
Lt. Col. Shulga and the head of Freedom Loki, had been awakened from their slumber and had join in during the Monolithian’s mid rampage, they and their armed escorts proved little help to the station as it was under siege. The two where now left with trying to get the station under control, and clam the mind of those under their command. Bonesetter who did not join in the affairs of Duty or Freedom called for the aid of the uninjured men to help him with the wounded. Someone sent out a radio message pleading for help.
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Lisbet sat in the small quarters in the bunker; she had been awoken by the snoring of Professor Ozersky and the Mercs that slept out in the hall. The head of the bunker Hermann was already in the lab going over anomalous data; looking at her watch she noted the time was 5am. With a sigh she got out of bed, dressed then entered into the main laboratory.
Hermann only briefly looked up and gave her a nod, to which she returned. She like Hermann, she like that he was cynical and focused on scientific advancement. She respected Ozersky but found him way to idealistic for her likening. The main fault she had with the professors of this bunker was they were too focused on ethics. She cared little for petty concepts like morality, believing that it only served to hold back human understanding. After all what was the suffering of a few compared to helping the rest of humanity.
Just as she sat down to start reviewing the data from yesterday’s experiment the radio crackled, a distress call from Yanov station. Being that Hermann was the head of the bunker he had to be on hand at all times, and he relied too much on Ozersky, she was the only one that they could spare for giving aid. Hermann also believed that this experience would help her with her compassion, and Lisbet was not one to dispute her superiors without good reason.
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Shade had been given an icepack and was now relaxing as Bonesetter and the handful of field medics made their rounds. Just then an envoy of Mercenaries entered escorting a short black haired woman dressed in a long lab coat and glasses. He was intrigued as she was put right to work caring for the injured, clearly unsatisfied with her predicament.
The Asian woman’s back ground in neuroscience proved very useful as many stalkers had head injuries, like one man a Dutyer had somehow survived a bullet to his brain pan. She saved his life but warned that he would never be able to return to combat.
Her next patient was a Freedomer, and a rather peculiar one at that. He had white hair and, gray eyes, which she could explain but the weak psy field that radiated from his she could not. She looked at his PDA, and found his named to be Ferret. His injury was due to his head being slammed into a table repeatedly, he had been luck that his head had been harder than the tabletop. She suspected that he had a linear fracture to the os frontal section of his skull. He showed no symptoms of any major internal damage but she would need more equipment to tell her of that.
Suddenly the man awoke, and was fully cognizant, to which she gave a smile if the reports she heard from Red Forest where true and not some drunk’s alcohol induced visions then he should be the cause of them.
“Well if it is not the ‘ghost’ ranger of Freedom,” she gleamed thoughts of research dancing in her head; this mission of mercy might not have been a waste after all.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about lady,” the Freedomer replied, his head still hurting.
“This is how it’s going to happen, you’re going to come with me willingly or I can drag you by force,” she said, “I’ve been waiting some time for a specimen like you to come along, and I’m not letting you slip through my fingers.”
“Get in line,” retorted Ferret, “someone else has claim, and look here he comes now.”
“Oh please save me the bullshit,” however before she could continue Doctor Yorick entered on the scene.
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Post by nuclearstorm on Jan 28, 2013 21:19:19 GMT -5
Lilith slid across the floor from the forceful kick and recovered quickly, but the enemy had already disappeared. She then noticed that it was none other than Giovanni that had blocked the blow. She pushed him off of her. "Giovanni! Get the hell offa me!"
Giovanni rolled on the ground, holding his stomach. "Oww!" He puked a small amount onto the ground, not used to the pain. "I was just trying to help!"
Lilith sighed, "I guess I should thank you for taking the brunt of the blow... but who the hell was that guy?"
"I don't know... he was scary!"
Yorick was mumbling about teleportation and invisibility in the corner, trying to figure out what just happened. After a few moments he turned to Shade, "Who the hell was that?" He thought for another moment, "How might one go about capturing such a beast?" ____________________________________________________
Yorick walked in on Ferret conversing with an Asian woman.
"Apologies, miss, but this man has already agreed to accompany me and allow me to examine him. It is however very nice to meet another with scientific ambition and know-how." Yorick paused for a second, "Oh, forgive my rudeness I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Dr. Yorick, and you might be?"
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Post by blackpapermoon on Mar 5, 2013 16:00:41 GMT -5
Shade watched as Giovanni picked himself off the ground and converse with Lilith. The boy had apparently taken the blow for the doctor’s niece, a foolish but commendable action none the less. The small Italian had indulged the tall Russian’s sense of humor, and like a good jester would be rewarded.
“Come over here boy,” called the assassin beckoning the loner to come over to him, as he removed both his knife and it’s sheath from his belt.
“Take this, it is meant to kill,” said the assassin handing the blade to the kid, “use it to defend yourself or make pasta I don’t care…just don’t take it into a gun fight.”
The moment the skittish loner toke the knife from Shade; who should enter but the Mercenary group from Yantar. The bandit had hoped to have them out of his hair for a little longer but they were as persistent as a dog on a wounded stalker. The bandit also noted that they were joined by more elaborately dress Mercs, given their wounds and torn suits Shade assumed that they were the ones pulled from the Chimera. They should have invested in better guns then swords or fancy uniforms. Getting up from his mat he tossed the ice pack to Giovanni and went to warn Yorick of Karc and his men’s arrival. ____________________________________________________
Lisbeth gave the newcomer a look of annoyance in truth she did not expect a competitor for this specimen.
“-Wait you’re Yorick Melnikoff, the Biologist and Geneticist,” gawked the Asian in utter amazement, “I had no Idea that this man was one of your research subjects.”
“I’m Lisbeth Fossen,” exclaimed the woman offering her hand out in greeting, “your work with brain physiology and neural pathways is inspirational, it is truly and honor and a privilege.” However before she could go on the long hair bandit entered on the scene, as Ferret took advantage of the situation and crept away unnoticed by the two scientists.
“-Yorick, the Yantar Mercs have just arrived, they have some reinforcements,” reported the bandit giving a brief glance to the small woman, “I fear they may try to turn this outpost against us.”
“- One of your lab assistants?” asked Lisbeth to the doctor.
“-No, I’m afraid not,” was the black haired man’s reply, “I’m merely just an escort for the good doctor and you are?”
“-Someone that may be of help,” replied Lisbeth, “I have some pull due to my position as aid giver, I can send them on a mission to collect artifacts with healing properties.”
“-That would buy us some time,” said Shade weighing their options, “not much, but it would give us a head start if they chose to accept the task.”
“-They will, I have my ways,” she smiled, “I have one more thing that might be helpful. A mutant aggregation pheromone, if you can get a drop on to their packs without them noticing they would have a hard time catching up.
“Simple enough,” was the bandit’s reply. ____________________________________________________
Ferret had just slipped away, he’d message the old man once the woman was gone to up hold his part of the deal. The inhabits of the station where still in shock over the attack, the wounded were being treated and volunteers where being gathered to help bury the dead. Spotting the young man that had been in the bandit’s party, he walked over to join him.
“How you holding up, ” asked the white haired veteran handing him a small bottle of water, “that was very brave of you, taking that blow for the girl.” ____________________________________________________
Lisbeth approached the Merc leader, as if to investigate his reasons for being in the station. He had not seen the conversation with Yorick or his hired help. She had given the vial of pheromones to the tall long haired man who she now assumed was hiding in the shadows waiting for her to do her part.
“-You pick a bad time to visit here Mercenary,” she said as she held out her hand, “I’m professor Fossen, the science bunker sent me over here to help with the wounded, is any one in your group in need of medical attention?”
“If it is not too much to ask,” she continued acting timidly, “we are in dire need of healing artifacts, and many of the injured will surely perish without them. If you’d be so willing to retrieve some from the what the stalkers call the Concrete Bath Anomaly, I’d be more than happy to pay you double the normal rate.”
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