Duty HQ

[Διμι]

The duty officer at the gate waves you through, still grumbling about the good old days when Duty was Duty and stalkers were cowards. "The trader's over there, the commander's over there, the firing line's over there, now leave me be!" he snarls, returning to his duties.

You inquire about the firing line.

"The firing line? Ask about it again and you'll find out..."

Entering the barracks, you notice various mutant heads mounted on the wall. A horrific bloodsucker head is mounted over the fire. You stare into it's blank eyes, only to be interrupted by the Duty general, Voronin himself.

"Hello brother! Why have you come?" he greets you. After a quick chat with the general, you realise that these Duty chaps aren't that bad, but you remain wary.

You leave the barracks and head for the shop. Inside, you spot a man cleaning an old Mosin Nagant. That must be Colonel Petrenko, their trader. Finally, a chance to snatch some of that 9x39mm ammo the Duty boys keep for themselves.

Items (to buy from Petrenko):

Beretta - 1400 ru
Walker P9M - 1200 ru
HPSA - 2200 ru
Colt 1911 - 1900 ru
Obokan - 13,500 ru
FN FAL - 46,000 ru
AS VAL - 38,000 ru
OTS-14 Groza - 27,000 ru
SPAS-12 - 15,000 ru
Saiga 12k - 17,500 ru
Striker - 29,000 ru
Mosin-Nagant m1891/30 - 800 ru
SVD - 43,000 ru
RGD5 Grenade - 750 ru
F1 Grenade - 1600 ru
RG6 "Bulldog" Grenade Launcher - 75,000 ru
PKM - 85,000 ru
Steyr AUG - 30,000 ru
VIKHR - 4000 ru
AK-47 - 6500 ru
PSS - 700 ru
SA Vz.61 "Skorpion" - 1800 ru
Tokarev TT-33 - 1500 ru
Type 88 - 9,000 RU
QBZ-95 - 8,500 RU
RPK-74 - 9,550 RU
Daewoo K7 - 1,150 RU
Daewoo K1A - 6,000 RU
Daewoo K2 - 10,000 RU
Daewoo K11 - 50,500 RU
Colt Anaconda - 2,500 RU )
Colt Peacemaker - 3,000 RU
S&W 500 - 4,000 RU
Stechkin APS - 1,000 RU
GP-25 Grenade Launcher - 2500 ru
-VOG-25 Hi-X Round - 450 ru
-VOG-25P Hi-X DP Round - 550 ru

Duty Armor 'PZS-9d' - 40,000 ru
Duty Armor 'PZS-9d Universal Protection - 65,000 ru
Exoskeleton (Duty) - 100,000 ru

Items (to sell to the trader):

Handguns:
P. Makarov - 150 ru
PSS - 250 ru
PB1 silenced - 300 ru
Beretta - 450 ru
Tokarev TT-33 - 550 ru
Walker P9M - 400 ru
HPSA - 700 ru
Colt 1911 - 600 ru
CZ-75B - 700 ru
H&K USP - 900 ru
Desert Eagle - 1500 ru
Stechkin APS - 350 ru
TP-82 - 280 ru
Colt Anaconda - 875 ru
Magnum Research BFR - 1,505 ru
Colt Peacemaker - 1,050 ru
S&W 500 - 1,400 ru

SMGs:
M3A1 Grease Gun - 400 ru
SA Vz.61 "Skorpion" - 550 ru
Tec 9 - 900 ru
TDI Kriss V5 - 1100 ru
IMI UZI - 1000 ru
VIKHR - 1200 ru
Steyr TMP - 700 ru
MP5 - 1500 ru
P90 - 8500 ru
Daewoo K7 - 405 ru
Calico Model 100 - 1,575 ru

Assault Rifles:
AK-47 - 2000 ru
AK-74/U - 900 ru
Ak-74/2 - 2500 ru
AN-94 Abakan - 4500 ru
IMI Tavor TAR-21 - 7500 ru
IMI Galil - 3000 ru
L85 - 6000 ru
LR300 - 8000 ru
SIG550 - 11,000 ru
H&K G3 - 8500 ru
H&K G36 - 14,000 ru
G11 - 19,000 ru
FN FAL - 13,500 ru
AS VAL - 12,000 ru
OTS-14 Groza - 9000 ru
FAMAS F2 - 11,000 ru
M-16 A3 - 13,000 ru
FN2000 - 20000 ru
H&K XM8 - 18,000 ru
Bren Gun - 2,275 ru
Daewoo K1A -2,100 ru
Daewoo K2 - 3,500 ru
QBZ-95 - 2,975 ru
Bofors AK-5 - 3,675 ru
SCAR-L -3,585 ru
SCAR-H - 4,550 ru
HK416 - 4,375 ru
Barrett M468 - 5,055 ru
OICW - 24,000 ru
Daewoo K11 - 17,750 ru
PAPOP - 17,750 ru

Shotguns:
TOZ-66 shotgun - 300 ru
Toz-34 shotgun - 1400 ru
Mossberg 88 - 2000 ru
Remington 870 - 2400 ru
M3 Super 90 - 3200 ru
SPAS-12 - 4500 ru
Saiga 12k - 7500 ru
Striker - 10,000 ru

Sniper Rifles
Steyr AUG - 9500 ru
Marlin .336 - 3400 ru
Mosin-Nagant m1891/30 - 350 ru
Tokarev SVT-40 - 1000 ru
SKS Carbine - 750 ru
SVD - 15,000 ru
SVU - 12,000 ru
Zastava M76 - 10,500 ru
VSS Vintorez - 17,000 ru
SR-25 - 16,000 ru
Arctic Warfare Magnum - 27,500 ru
M1 Garand - 1,400 ru
Ruger 10/22 - 1,190 ru
Type 88 - 3,150 ru
M40a3 - 8,750 ru
H&K PSG-1 - 9,275 ru
H&K MSG-90 - 8,755 ru

Heavy Weapons:
RG6 "Bulldog" Grenade Launcher - 40,000 ru (250 ru per round)
RPG7 Rocket-propelled-grenade launcher - 20,000 ru (1500 ru per round)
M-79 Grenade Launcher - 4,525 ru
PKM - 30,000 ru
RGD5 Grenade - 150 ru
F1 Grenade - 400 ru
M406 Hi-X Round - 200 ru
M433 Hi-X DP Round - 250 ru
M576 Buckshot Round - 175 ru
VOG-25 Hi-X Round - 175 ru
VOG-25P Hi-X DP Round - 225 ru
MG3 - 29,000 ru
MG36 - 40,000 ru
M240 - 33,000 ru

Add-ons:
GP-25 Grenade Launcher - 800 ru
M203 Grenade Launcher - 1050 ru

Outfits
Leather Jacket - 200 ru
Bandit Jacket - 800 ru
Mercenary Vest - 1500 ru
Stalker Suit - 8,000 ru
Berill Armored Suit - 9,000 ru
SSP-99 Ecologist Suit - 11,000 ru
SEVA Suit - 19,000 ru
Duty Armor 'PZS-9d' - 12,000
Duty Armor 'PZS-9d Universal Protection - 20,000
Exoskeleton (neutral, merc, Duty, or Freedom) - 40,000 ru
Wind of Freedom Suit - 6,000 ru
Guardian of Freedom Suit - 13,000 ru
Bulat Armored Suit - 33,000 ru

[Διμι]

The sun slowly rose over the abandoned, desolated buildings and concrete fencing. Three Dutiers approached the barricaded crossroads separating the Wild Territories, the more or less civilized part of Rostok under Duty control, and the northern military warehouse areas. They quickly saluted the night watch, who did the same and walked off in the direction the three had come from. Silently, the three stalkers took their positions at the barricade, ready to defend the Duty base and 100 Rads Bar from any possible attack.

It wasn't long before a figure appeared in the distance, clearly visible through the half-open gate to the Wild Territories. As the stalker came closer, it became apparent that he was heavily wounded, his head completely wrapped in a bloody bandage. The man wore a trench coat, and carried a sniper rifle wholly uncommon for any southern denizen of the Zone.

"Stop stalker! This is Duty territory!" Sergeant Kitsenko shouted, lifting his weapon "Identify yourself, and state your reason for being here." Kitsenko didn't particularly appreciate his change in position. While mutant dogs were a common problem at the southern entry to Rostok, he was somehow even more unnerved at the northern barricade. True, visitors of all sorts from the North were exceedingly rare here, but who knew who or what could come in through that rusted gate?

The stalker lifted his arms in a gesture of surrender. "Konstantin Sorokin" he began, "Loner. I'm only passing through to the stalker camp at the warehouses, I don't intend to stay." The Dutiers lowered their guns. The man looked harmless enough, and there was no way he could subdue the three of them if he tried anything funny. Moreover, he said he was only passing through, and the road to the warehouses did not lie through the Duty base.

The stalker looked down at the sergeant's belt. One of the pockets was bulging heavily, a thick boogerlike ooze extending from its hemmed rim. "Officer," he asked "Is that a Meat Chunk by any chance in your pocket?"

"Yeah," replied Kitsenko grumpily "Can't get rid of the damn thing. I've been offering it to stalkers to clear out the dog lair to the south, but it looks like you loners can't even deal with a few critters nowadays." he spat "It's of no use to me anyway. Why do you ask?"

"I'll give you 12,000 rubles for it" the loner exclaimed, pointing to his bloody, bandage-covered face "I got attacked by a bloodsucker along the way, bloody thing took half of my face off, I could use the artifact to regenerate some of it." he explained.

Kitsenko laughed "It's yourself you're cheating, man, but sure" he pulled the huge, slimy artifact from his pocket. It was a large specimen, enough tissue to cover ten faces at least. The stalker took it, handing over the cash ((CHECK, amount irrelevant)). "Thanks dude," he said, "You know what, you Dutiers aren't too bad. I'll remember this." He walked back off to the crossroads.

The Dutier stared at the departing stalker. He thought he had seen a glimpse of green under the brown coat when the man had reached for the money. No, he thought, just his mind playing tricks on him. There was no way it could have been a Freedomer.

---

Once he had walked a considerable distance from the control point, Seth pulled off the heavy trench coat, ripping the bandages off his face. 'Dutiers, not too bad?' he thought and laughed inside. Death would have been too good for that bastard sergeant.

Soon enough, the Freedomer noticed the gate to the northern territories ahead. In the distance, he could see the looming walls of the fortified warehouses, guard towers lining the perimeter. Home, sweet home, he thought.

[Zeno, Lord Camelith]

Harmund and Sigbrand walked into the building where they were told Colonel Potrenko had his workshop, "Ahh, so you're the new recruits?" He said, "Well come over here then, I've got anything you need."
----------------------------------------------------------
Harmund sold:
1x Makarov PM (150 RU)
1x AKs-74u/2 (900 RU)

Total: +1050 RU
Current Money: 4350 RU
[CHECK]
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sigbrand sold:
3x Makarov PM (450 RU)
1x Bandit Jacket (800 RU)
1x AKs-74u/2 (900 RU)

Sigbrand bought:
1x Mosin-Nagant M1891/30 (800 RU)

Sold Subtotal: 2100 RU
Bought Subtotal: 800 RU
Total: 1300 RU
Current Money: 4800 RU
[CHECK]

[Karcentric]

Rurik watched over the two brothers as they spoke with General Voronin, the men went out. They discussed many pressing issues, Rurik outlined his plan to go to Yantar which Voronin approved. Saluting Rurik left, he ordered 5 men to prep for a trip to Yantar.

He made his way to the Bar to arrange a quiet area for his other comrades.

[Karcentric]

As he walked Rurik brushed past a small stalker carrying what looked to be an over sized gun, on a second glance he saw that it was an SVD, smiling he ignored the small stalker, making his way to the base, walking down the steps Rurik dropped his heavy pack on to a small table near the general. He saluted the general before being addressed, "Lieutenant, good to see your in one piece. Now how did allow such an important man like Seth slip out of your grasp?" General Voronin asked sharply.

"Well sir I never actually saw Seth, on the entire mission, I did see Sokal, but he didn't know anything that would be of use. Seth was invited to see someone, and after that he wasn't seen again. I wouldn't call the entire mission a failure. We have gained a brilliant young new Sergent, he has seen what the zone can do to a loved one and resolved to fight it till his last breath, and I discovered this."

Rurik opened his bag revealing the strange armor he'd taken from Jericho's corpse handing one of the shoulder pieces to the General who inspected the armor in silence before handing it back. "If we can replicate this technology then we will have an advantage over our foes. We'll have our technician have look over this, and see if we can replicate this." Voronin paused gathering his thoughts,

"Now as I said, the Major was last seen in the Dark Valley, the Warrant Officer guarding the way into Rostok says the Major came back with 4 stalkers, whoever it was it wasn't Major Makfeev that the WO saw and spoke to. Not much we can do about it now. We found Makfeev's regular suit in his locker put there was nothing else in it. There was some minor blood splotches around the neck and chest, but that isn't evident unless you inspect the suit carefully."

Rurik replied "I assume you know about the new leadership in Freedom? A strange duo if I'm honest." Voronin nodded "Strange or not, I've seen to it that they aren't there for much longer, we've hire a sniper to deal with them." Rurik was shocked but he did his best not to show any emotion but secretly it displeased him.

Rurik nodded "If it's alright with you sir, I'd like to get some proper rest now." Voronin nodded Saluting to each other Rurik turned walking away he found a quiet place and caught up with some much needed rest.

[Karcentric]

Rurik walked to the technician several hours later feeling a lot better after having a proper rest, "So how goes the work?" He asked but the posture of the technician gave Rurik the answer before the man even replied, "Not good sir, me and two others have been looking it over since we got it and all we've managed to do is disassemble and reassemble it, but we can't replicate this, the materials are nothing any of us have ever seen before. I've got my doubts that we can even change the shape of it without damaging it."

Rurik picked up one of the shoulder parts inspecting it, "Well if we can't use it, destroy it, completely make sure nothing on it remains intact then melt it down. I don't want any of the other factions getting hold of this." The technician looked at the armor before looking at Rurik, "Are you sure, if we can crack this we'll have a clear advantage over factions like Freedom or the Bandits." Rurik nodded before replying "That might be the case, but the bandits wouldn't stand a chance if we choose to deal with them anyway, I'm not so sure about Freedom, but if we fight them and lose one of these suits, there goes our advantage. I'd rather not risk that."

The technician sighed looking the armor over before picking up a large hammer and chisel and was about to strike when Rurik stopped him. "On second thought, give those components to me, I'll lock them away in a safe. We can worry about getting it to work later."

Bundling up the pieces Rurik placed them in a large heavy safe, locking it and writing the code on a slither of paper, stuffing it into an envelope containing a large wad of money. He sealed it and went back to barracks.
((I'll assume The Masterkey hasn't happened, unless you have plans for Burner.))

[Διμι]

Victor lounged lazily on the couch in the Duty HQ. The Dutiers had at first been disapproving of the loner being able to step in and out of the highly guarded base at will, but after Rurik had told the General and his subordinates of the tale of his group's trip North, they became impressed with the medic's singlehanded shutdown of the Brain Scorcher, as well as the other achievements he and the rest of the group had accomplished during their leave. Many were positively alarmed at the presence of such high mercenary concentrations in Rostok, as proved by the group who related their incident at the construction site to the West. Duty had lost a number good men in the Wild Territories, and it seemed with the turbulent situation in the North that the threat would only increase in magnitude. The faction needed new recruits, and although Victor had only become an agent of sorts, he was gladly willing to take up the task and spare Rurik a trip south to the Cordon.

The loner waited until the huge, familiar form of Rurik stepped down into the bunker. It was getting late, and the Lieutenant was evidently coming down to get some long-needed sleep. Yet, the loner would make his query short.

The medic rose and saluted the Duty second-in-command as he passed. "Lieutenant," he began "I'm terribly sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I've wanted to inquire when Duty will be sending the next team down south to the military Cordon to escort the rookies to the Bar? I can easily set out tomorrow and spare you the trouble if you wish for your men to remain here." he added, hoping that Rurik would allow him to take up the job instead of his valued troops. "New recruits will always be something we could use, and I think I'll be able to convince loners aplenty down there, especially given my own story of going up from nothing to this." the loner waited patiently for the Dutier's response.

[Karcentric]

Rurik saluted Victor, and listened to the offer and nodded, "A good plan indeed it's probably better you go anyway with your achievements they'll certainly be interested, also before I forget, this is for your help up north and shutting down the scorcher." Rurik said handing Victor a sealed envelope. "Also should need something from the armory you'll receive a sizable discount."

"When you get to Cordon drop in and see Sid, ask him about dispatches someone will radio ahead alerting him that you'll be coming. Hopefully the Bandits won't be as much trouble this time, good luck Victor." Rurik finished before moving into the barracks.

[Zeno, Lord Camelith]

Darkness. Darkness and pain were all that Sigbrand knew. The blackness was shattered by intermittant bursts of light and scattered images. This continued for an eternity, or maybe it was just a moment? In this state there was no time, seconds could be days or weeks could be minutes. Sigbrand was occasionally aware of voices,it was impossible to tell wether they were audio halucinations or not, he wasn't even sure if he was still alive and his brief moments of cognicence were few and far between.

"You'd better do this right, Egghead." A blurred voice said, "I can't afford to lose him."

"Patience, General" Another voice responded, "I've been able to stabilize him,its just a matter of taking care of the wounds one by one. I'll admit some are quite serious but this is a strong young man if what you've said is true. He'll make it through."

Sigbrand struggled to open his eyes,he managed to crack them open a few milimeters and was met with brilliant white light.

"He's awake!" The second voice said in surprise.

"Sergeant!" The first voice said.

"Sigbrand." Said a third, larger, calmer and more familiar accompianied by a large hand on his shoulder, then all was black again.

The Monolithian with the Blue shard of Crystal in his chest, the NPP, his Brother, an endless expanse of grassland and marsh, his home in Oslo. All of these images along with other memories were most of Sigbrand's dreams. This middle ground between a coma and consciousness was broken by brief periods of partial awakeness, where he could make out faint outlines of objects and faint voices before drifting back into his dreams.

Occasionally the darkness and string of usual images would be interrupted by the figure of a woman, always with he back turned towards him, walking away he would always attempt to follow her, but regardless of how fast he ran, she always seemed to be too far away. Even when the mysterious figure did seem to be so close that he could reach out and touch her, she was just out of reach, then he would fall back into darkness. Sigbrand opened his eyes. He was initially blinded by the bright electric bulb suspended from the ceiling above him and he tried to lift his arm to cover his eyes but he couldn't muster the strength to move it. As he slowly became more aware of his surroundings, he heard slight movement from across the room.

"Sergeant?" A rough voice asked, "Are you awake?"

Sigbrand opened his mouth slightly to speak, but no sound escaped his throat.

"Hold on, just take it easy. I'll get something for you to drink." The voice said, and in a moment he could see the blurred outline of a person in a black and red uniform approaching. His vision began to clear as the man propped up his head and brought a canteen to Sigbrand's lips. He drank down several gulps of the lukewarm water and then the man lowered his head again. Now he could clearly see the man's face, it was Colonel Potrenko. "Nice to have you back in the land of the living, Sergeant." The Colonel said, "Just try to relax and regain your strength, I need to go tell the General that you've woken up."

The Colonel quickly walked out of the room and Sigbrand feebly pushed himself into a sitting position, leaning heavily on the wall behind him and took a beter look at the room. He was in the Colonel's workshop, two sofa's from the base had been placed together to form a crude bed. There was something on the workbench, but it was covered by a cloth. He could see the light of a mid-afternoon sun outside the window and something that he had never seen in the Zone before, Snow. Everything was covered by the soft white powder. He could hardly recognize the Duty HQ's courtyard with a few inches of snow laying on top of it.

A few minutes later, the Colonel returned. "How long have I been out?" Sigbrand managed to say, his voice cracking from lack of use.

"About a week and a half." The Colonel replied, nodding at Sigbrand's surprised look, "You took enough of a beating to bring down a Pseudogiant. If Rurik had gotten to you just a few minutes later, you'd probably be dead. That and we managed to grab a doctor from the Mobile Lab to work on patching you up. It's a miracle you're in as good of shape as you are."

Sigbrand tried to push himself away from the wall, and his entire body groaned in complaint and he fell back wincing."You'll have to stay in bed for a few days, it'll take a while before everything's back in working order. Plus, I heard a few of the men talking about trying to get Tanya to come up from the Bar and play Nurse for you, so you might have something to look forward to. Try to get some rest for now, you need it."

With that, the Colonel picked up the covered object on the workbench and walked out of the room, closing the door behind himself.