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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Apr 5, 2010 20:55:35 GMT -5
Owen jumped to his feat as the building containing the winch for the bridge exploded. Grabbing his MG3 he started shouting orders at the nearby Mercs. "The bridge is down, someone get some explosives on it now! You two, over there, get behind those barriers and set up your Mg's! Everyone else, find some cover and show those bastards who their dealing with!" Running as fast as his suit would allow, he made his way to a nearby concrete and sandbag barrier. Something on the river caught his attention. Boats were ferrying large groups of monolith troops across. "Someone get an RPG and take those buggers out!" He shouted, pointing at the boats.
Flipping down the bipod on his MG-3 he propped it on the sand bags and opened fire, sending a relentless stream of 7.62 NATO rounds at the fast approaching Monolithians. After a minute of almost continuous fire, the barrel of Owen's MG-3 began to melt, swearing, he threw it aside and grabbed an F2000 from a dead Merc.
Owen was down to his last magazine when a Merc finally appeared with an RPG, but to Owen's dismay the man stopped in the middle of the road, dropped the weapon and clutched at his bleeding throat. When the man fell over, Owen stood up and ran as quickly as his Exo-skeleton would allow him, he grabbed the RPG and aimed it at the boats, bullets glancing off of his armor and the ground around him all the while. Looking out at the river, he saw that only a few monolith soldiers remained on the beach and the boats were already returning to get them. Well, looks like it's time for plan B. He thought.
Picking up every grenade he could find on every corpse, he piled them all into a large bag and flung the bag into the middle of the bridge. Aiming the RPG at the bundle of explosives, he swore furiously as as a swarm of monolithians suddenly poured onto the bridge, obscuring his target. Standing up, Owen ran straight at the group, smashing men out of the way, and trampling them. Once he was standing over the bag, he pointed the RPG directly at it, shouted "I'LL SEE YOU LITTLE SHITS IT HELL!" Then fired.
The massive explosion blew a gaping hole in the bridge, rendering it useless and sending Owen flying outwards into the river. Although he had several bullet wounds, his now useless suit had protected him from most of the blast. The frigid water snapped Owen to consciousness immediately. The dead weight of his suit was causing him to sink rapidly and had very little air. Drawing his knife, he slashed wildly at the buckles and straps holding him in the massive suit, within a few seconds he was free and was swimming as fast as he could towards the surface, trailing blood from an injured arm and leg.
Owen was loosing consciousness rapidly, his vision was blacking out from lack of blood and oxygen. Damn it, not now! Just a few more feet! he thought. What he thought was a few feet was more like a couple meters and he quickly fell unconscious. His body rose to the surface of the river, and drifted downstream a while before Owen's body washed up on the other side of the river.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 6, 2010 17:52:28 GMT -5
"And they're being led by?"
"The high preacher himself. God help us now. I've never seen an attack this coordinated...It's not something ordinary. They seem to be hell bent on pushing us out of here, even though I've had confirmed reports that the stalkers have partially taken Pripyat and are already advancing through to the NPP. If they really wanted to send the 'infidels' back, they'd have struck at Pripyat and tried to push through to the Red Forest. Instead, they go all the way here, to this God-forsaken city to try and push a few mercenaries out of the way. It's just not reasonable...There is something they want from this place."
Cherkesov nodded and typed in a message over his computer. The entire base was alert, and several mercenary squads were running through the hallway to the armory. Cherkesov nodded, dismissing the captain.
"Oh, and, before you go? Thanks to that little bit of information we have now, there is something we can do to help our own situation here. You will, however, be prepared to take a risk, I assume?"
"Positive. Despite the fact that I have no ties to the military any more, there is certainly a way they can help us...Just hope that I haven't lost the database link."
As Dimitri exited the room, he heard some yelling from down the hallway. As he rushed in through to the medical wing, he saw Borisov arguing with the medic
"What do you mean? I can stand just fine, see? Now let me go!"
As Dimitri entered the room, the medic gave him a seething look, whispering out
"He won't sit down! He isn't going anywhere in this state! Look, I am needed down at the front, could you talk some sense into him?"
He nodded and the medic scurried off.
"Borisov, what was that? That man was only trying to help you, and, by God, if keeping you alive means tying you to that bed bunk for the rest of your life, then so be it! Get a grip, man! You're safer in here, the mercenaries are keeping the Monolith freaks away for now."
"I want to be at the front, captain! I'm not letting them kill me in this damn hellhole!"
"Really, big man? Try standing up!"
The soldier tried standing up, but lost his balance and fell flat over his bunk
"I can crawl there!"
Dimitri smirked
"Yeah, you do that. Well, if they break in, your RPK has been cleaned while you were snoozing. It's under your bed. Mind you, they even got you some ammunition, so I wouldn't be this impolite in their base."
He exited the hospital wing. Burner was coming down the hallway, grinning as he held his two pistols
"I got these bastards upgraded to full-auto. Now we'll see how they fare, haha! A fine reward for a simple recon mission, don't you think?"
Danilov was waiting outside with the Freedomers, gripping his AK.
"We ready to bust some heads or what?"
While the fight was raging in Limansk, Гад approached Jericho
"Great High Preacher, the infidels have holed up in the other side. They seem to be holding out pretty well so far. While we were on the hunt, we encountered a group of 'them'. Amongst them was one clad in a uniform of the military. His face struck me, as I seem to...remember him. What happened today? Why do I remember everything? And who is he?"
[limegreen][BURNER]Money lost: 3000 RU (upgrades) Money earned: 15000 RU (recon task) UPGRADES: Full auto to : USP, HPSA [CHECK] [/limegreen]
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Post by Διμι on Apr 6, 2010 18:27:03 GMT -5
The High Preacher pulled back from his embrasure, standing up as the stout Monolithian approached him. The man was only known as "Гад" amongst the forces of the Monolith, and even Jericho knew little about him.
"Great High Preacher, the infidels have holed up in the other side. They seem to be holding out pretty well so far. While we were on the hunt, we encountered a group of 'them'. Amongst them was one clad in a uniform of the military. His face struck me, as I seem to...remember him. What happened today? Why do I remember everything? And who is he?" The large man inquired of the Monolith leader.
What? thought Jericho, how could Dimitri be involved in this? The man had been a past champion of the great Monolith before being corrupted once more by the false ways of the lesser men. It had been a great loss, and one that Jericho had struggled to avert. The man was an enemy now, fighting for the infidels, striving to protect that which would destroy his former divine master and guide.
"He is no one." Jericho finally answered, "as are all that oppose the great Monolith!". The Preacher returned to his position, checking the progress of the battle by the bridge. The movement of a particular sniper in green caught his attention, as the stalker's sizeable rifle suddenly became trained on his and Гад's position.
"Get down!" he roared, leaping from his position and pulling down his obese companion as the Freedomer fired. A split second later, the .50 BMG round smashed through Jericho's cover, missing the two Monolithians by inches.
Jericho leapt to his feet, training his sights on the sniper's position, but the man was already gone. A grenade exploded next to his hiding place a second later.
"Damn it! I missed!" Sokol stared in disbelief as the tall, caped Monolithian wielding the Gauss Rifle rose up again. The Freedomer dove back towards the base entrance, covering the retreating mercenaries as the courtyard was torn up by gunfire. He spotted Dimitri, Danilov and Burner by the entrance.
"Where the hell is Seth!" the Freedomer yelled as he reloaded. Despite the collapse of the bridge, the Monolith forces had somehow gotten around the perimeter, and were now swarming the area, covered by their brethren from across the river. The barrage of rockets and grenades had finally died down, but the gunfire was as furious as ever. The mercenaries were holding their positions despite being outnumbered nearly three to one.
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Post by Karcentric on Apr 7, 2010 2:16:52 GMT -5
Karc pulled his gas mask on, checked his guns before he charged out of the building going from building to building taking cover and firing on any monolith he saw, What the fuck are they looking for, and where did the rest of the group go? He thought as he ran, skidding to a stop he saw a SPAS laying in the grasp of a dead merc, "Sorry mate, might be useful." He said, snatching it up, he took off again, it was starting to rain making the the ground in some parts quiet slippery, but it also veiled the area making it harder to see, occasionally a loud shot echoed throughout the area indicating that Sokol was firing at someone else. Karc spotted the group ahead.
Jogging over to them, he nodded to Dimitri and Danilov, who he hadn't seen much of since arriving, "So, what's the plan? As much as I'd like to stand about and wait for them monolith chaps to come in here and shoot at us, we should probably get out of here." Karc took his binoculars out and looked around the battle field, looking up he saw a man standing a top of a high building over looking the city, Is that guy really wearing a cape? Karc chuckled to himself as he moved out of view of the man, "There's a guy with a cape out there on top of the larger buildings. And he's got another one of those fancy guns." He thought for a bit, before saying "We should try and get one of those guns."
An explosion from an RPG went off very close to their position, forcing the group into the fortified HQ, where a large number of mercs had set up mounted guns to fight off the oncoming attack, following the group into a largish room. A technician had set up in a corner dealing out basic repairs and upgrades, pushing through the crowd Karc upgraded his suit and Colt.
Weapon found: SPAS 12 Upgrades: Night Vision: 2500ru Pneumatic Accelerators: 1000ru
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Post by Διμι on Apr 12, 2010 21:19:01 GMT -5
"Shit!" Leon yelled as an RPG round obliterated the barge sailing alongside his own ship, sending its occupants flying into the water and creating a blast wave that rolled the mercenary's vessel side to side. Two of the three that started swimming for Leon's barge were shot dead in the water, while the other made it to the port side of the ship. Quickly reaching out a hand, the mercenary in the jet black exoskeleton pulled the soaked stalker aboard, ducking back down to the deck just in time as a Gauss Rifle projectile slammed into the ship, creating a splintered hole through the vessel's entire frame.
Leon felt the barge hit solid ground beneath it just as the deck was riddled with bullets from the other side of the river. He leapt up, grabbing two mercenaries and threw them overboard before leaping in himself. Landing in a shallow stretch of water, he quickly lifted himself up and ran towards the fortified compound in the distance as fast as his suit would allow.
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Post by Karcentric on Apr 13, 2010 9:30:01 GMT -5
Rusty was blindly firing at the monolith while the barge he and two mercs had taken was piloted to the other side. Leaping out Rusty covered Duke and another group as they pulled up to the bank, running after Leon, he caught up to him running beside the merc bullets whizzing by, shooting at the occasional fanatic, most were half dead but determined to fight regardless of their injuries. People from the HQ were sniping off the monolith around them, one shot was inches away from him, hitting a monolith troop to his left. Reaching the door first, Rusty was pulled inside by a burly merc who shoved him towards the main room which was bustling with activity. Sticking close to Duke and Rodent, he surveyed the room, he saw several people who looked out of place a couple of military looking men, a freedom solider and a man wearing a trench coat with strange skin. "Any idea who those guys are?" He asked the member of his group.
Karc smiled at the work that had been done, No more surprises in the dark for me. He thought with a slight chuckle, making his way to the second floor he could see barges approaching their side of the banks, only the monolith were trying to shoot whoever was one board the boats, loading his newly upgraded pistol, aimed and fired, at one of the wounded monolith troops who was pulling himself towards the newcomers. Firing the shot was true, looking through his binoculars he saw that the new comers were not monolith but a detachment of mercs and 4 guys in black armor, running towards the base.
Shooting several more fanatics Karc made his way down the steps to where Dimitri, Danilov, Burner and Sokol were still standing discussing something. "There's a bunch of guys making their way here, I thought they were Duty, but the armor has no colors, just jet black. They've got a group of mercs with them, they'll be here in a few minutes." He said before going back upstairs and watching the newcomers approach.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 13, 2010 13:39:15 GMT -5
"Not exactly the best time to speak, now"
Burner remarked as a group of people in jet-black entered
"Codename: Burner. I do spec-ops for the mercenary command. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, who the hell are you? You didn't introduce yourselves...If the fanatics hadn't attacked us, you'd been shot on sight before making your way into the forest."
Dimitri got his eyes off his AS and stood up
"Not run-of-the-mill stalkers. Painted their equipment, which means they're running from someone. The thing is, a PSZ-9Md is an eye-sore, even from afar. No use painting it there. I'd be the one to know, considering the amount of you Duty assholes I shot. Either you're Duty, or bandits. No other person would be wearing that thing. I wouldn't trust them, any ways, If they want to help, fine by me, but I'd have them sent to another sector, where I won't be the one deciding about their lives."
Danilov looked at the man. He was no longer their serious, nostalgic captain. This man had changed...
_________________________________________________________________________________
"Preacher! MOVE! DOWN THE STAIRS!"
Гад screamed as he pushed the preacher down the fire escape. It would have been a tragedy if the bearer of the One's will was shot.
"The mercenaries are putting up a much bigger fight than the Monolith told us. We have barely dwindled their numbers, and the reports are coming that they are being joined by more infidels. Is there a plan for their destruction, Great Messenger?"
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Post by Διμι on Apr 13, 2010 17:09:37 GMT -5
"Deciding about our lives? Who the fuck do you just think you are, you soldier poke? The base sent me the distress signal themselves, and judging by the situation outside, you should be grateful." Leon indignantly flipped up the panel behind his PDA, revealing an intricately engraved mercenary eagle emblem and showing the man the message sent out by the mercenary command. "You haven't been much in the Zone, recently, it appears by all counts" Leon said, noting the man's torn off lapels. "PSZ-9Md's are used by virtually every faction in the Zone. Like the PNB exoskeleton cuirass, and the PSZ-9a armored vest, they were originally military prototypes. The ecologists had a few spare ones lying around before swapping over to the SEVA models, the Monolith and Freedomers actively use them too, and bandits and loners have more than a few units still in action." he finished, brushing past the military captain and eliciting a nod from the Freedomer in the corner.
"Seth, I presume?" Leon inquired "we've heard stories about you. One daredevil motherfucker. Freedom HQ says 'hi' by the way." The Freedomer only shook his head. "Name's Sokol," he said "Lead sniper and Alpha Wolf member. I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of command powers though." he glanced around "Seth's disappeared literally minutes ago. You people didn't happen to see him on the battlefield, did you?" he asked. Leon shook his head.
"Nope, but at least we didn't see his body either." he replied. Another series of explosions outside shook the building. "What's the plan of operations around here? Are we going to sit around and let them raze the rest of the base to the ground?"
Jericho stood, staring over the river to the other side. The mercenaries were holding steadfast, despite being vastly outnumbered. Their base was more well-fortified than he had initially thought. Nevertheless, the Great Monolith would soon blanket all, enveloping the entire Zone once this fortress fell.
Stepping to the ground from his perch, he slung the Gauss Rifle behind his back. Even the invincible army would need guidance, he thought as another score of rockets slammed into the main building of the compound, sending chunks of reinforced concrete crashing to the ground.
"Leave me and continue the assault," he said finally to Гад "I need to consult our lord and master." With a swish of his cape, the Preacher disappeared down a ladder into the catacombs below, alone.
Once the sounds of the battle above dissipated into still silence, the Preacher drew his resonance crystal, rumored to be a part of the Great Monolith itself and its godly substance. The small object flickered with a glowing blue light, throwing unearthly shadows on the catacomb walls.
Find it. Take it. Destroy the rest. he heard a voice in his own head. The Monolith spoke to him, granting him wisdom. What? What is it I need to take? he asked.
You will know. the voice said in his head before disappearing entirely.
Jericho saw a shape emerge from a bend in the tunnel ahead, a stalker, clad in a trenchcoat. The man carried a Desert Eagle in his hand, and seemed to exhibit no fear, or even effect at the Crystal in the High Preacher's hand.
"It is not here." Lutiy said simply, staring quietly at the resonance shard, not meeting Jericho's eyes. "You will not find it, it isn't your part to destroy the Code, after what we have done to create and guard it."
With a roar of rage, Jericho raised the Crystal, shining the flickering light directly onto the trench coat man's face. "Stalker!" he roared, his voice resonating with the power of the Great One itself "Your will belongs to the Monolith!" even the strongest of stalkers fell to the direct sight of the One.
Lutiy did not blink at the shining light, tilting his head, as if curiously examining a playtoy. Then, in a single smooth, unimpaired movement, he raised his Deagle and sent a round through the High Preacher's skull.
The Crystal fell from the Monolithian's limp hands as he collapsed to the floor, dead. The shard rolled on the ground a few feet before coming to rest, its light flickering no more. Lutiy gingerly bent down and picked the stone up, carefully stowing it onto his belt.
Behind him, Khan shakily walked around the bend. "Come on." the bandit said, rushing to his friend's support "it's time to get out of this place." Without taking another glance at the dead Monolithian, he walked up the ladder.
Out in the city, the Monolith forces were retreating, as if culled back by some invisible force. Lutiy thought he heard a roar of rage in his head, the furious scream of someone that had been outwitted. But he put it down to Khan's psychic salt.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 13, 2010 17:38:02 GMT -5
"Watch your tone, mercenary. I don't give a shit why you're here, and I could put a bullet in your brain and no one'd even blink. Now fuck off. Quickly. Before I get mad. Oh, and, boy? The Duty PSZ-9Md has a side-line as well as the emblem which you tore off . Get out. Now."
Burner got up
"Chill the fuck off, both of you. Look, what'syourname, as a spec-ops and a core member, it's my duty to shovel you around and that's definitely not something I was going to do Stay if you want, beat it if you want, I don't give a damn. Dimitri, man, ease up. 'the fuck you care about what he's wearing. Look, I'm in charge here if Anatoli's not at home." Anatoli bursted into the room with a exhilarating look on his face, followed by a pretty banged-up Borisov, who was holding his RPK, smiling. Dimitri opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by Anatoli's yell
"THE FANATICS ARE RETREATING! Now is the time to take back Limansk! Come on, the fight's slowly moving on deeper!"
Burner jumped up
"Retreating? SHIT! Guys, grab your gear. You mercs and whatever the fuck you are, you're coming with us. Comprende? MOVE!"
He pulled Dimitri close by
"Look, cap, this guy might be a cocky hot-head moron, but people like them are common cannon fodder. Don't let him bother you, there are bigger assholes in this base"
Гад heard a raging cry in his head. He turned and saw his brothers retreating.
"RETURN! THE INFIDELS HAVE OVERTAKEN US! THE MESSENGER IS DEAD!"
He could hear cries all around him, cries for mercy. Some of the Monolith troops who regained their memory and sanity were running towards the mercenaries with their hands in the air
"Infidels! Traitors!"
He yelled out loud
"TRAITORS! INFIDELS! PULL BACK! TO THE RIV-AHH!"
As the elegant 30.30 slammed through the leg of the obese fanatic, Khan sighed. He was about to send another bullet to the man's apricot when a large explosion burst in front of the Monolith freak.He checked his sights again, but the man was gone. Lutiy was standing behind him, looking at the crystal on his belt.
"Thank you for that, friend. There was something down there which I would like to see again...It reminded me of an old story. But I shall not bother you with such nonsense. Let us move on. If you are heading towards the mercenaries, I sense that one friend of their's is looking through his scope and aiming...at my head. Probably not a bad shot, considering he is much farther then one would believe."
[Dimitri's injunction would almost make sense if Leon wasn't wearing an exoskeleton.]
FYI I wasn't talking about Leon.
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Post by Διμι on Apr 13, 2010 20:54:32 GMT -5
"The mercenaries won't harm us, Khan, take my word for it." the bandit reassured as he started down the shore. The mercenaries had laid a series of pontoons to bridge the gap between their base and the rest of the squads pouring in from Limansk. Evidently, they were planning to move out North and follow the Monolith fanatics back all the way to Pripyat. Fools, he thought, their numbers would only swell the ranks of their enemies once they crossed into the main emitter's territory.
Seemingly unnoticed by the departing squads, he made his way to the main HQ. It was time to retrieve what he had come for, and conclude the first stage of the plan that had been in motion for years. No one stopped him even as he made his way into the command room. There, however, he was blocked by a pair of guards of exoskeletons. The bandit glanced up at the cameras scanning the area. Soon enough, he thought, their host would let them in.
Leon sighed. Ask for a perfectly reasonable plan of action and a bit of recognition around here, and receive enough unwarranted self importance to fill an elephant's rectum, he thought. Despite the military man's age, it seemed amazing that the Zone could produce experienced stalkers that were yet so childish. A small twitch of the hydraulic pulleys in the armored exoskeleton suit was the only conveyance of the mercenary's desire to rip the piece of green-suited rancid wonder bread in front of him in two with so much as a flick of his hands without even reaching for a gun. Instead of doing so, he calmly turned towards the entrance into the base and walked into the main building, disregarding the mercenary that had appeared, as well as his apparent orders. He had his own job to do as a hired gun. As he exited, he could hear the man saying something about cannon fodder, but he was too far to care by then. Soldiers were always the same, and the ones spoiled with the favors of staying alive in the Zone tended to be even worse.
He came upon the mechanic's shop quickly, and ordered an installation of the trademark mercenary exoskeleton segmented armor plates. With no reserve, he flopped over the ten thousand rubles, a small price to pay for the best suit in the Zone. With both the titanium fixture over his chest, and links of armored plating covering the rest of his body, he was virtually bulletproof. The features weighed down his suit ever so slightly more, but did not impair his movement any further, and did not constrict his reach. He slid into the suit after receiving it back, testing the all joints and augmentations.
That's when he saw him. Lutiy.
The bandit looked exactly as he had in the Duty major's files. Long trench coat, an AK slung over one shoulder, short, dark blonde hair streaked with brown. The man was heading for the central command room, and was now stopped by a pair of mercenary guards at the door. A thickset Easterner followed him, and after some chatter, the two guards parted, surprisingly enough letting the bandit and his companion into the HQ at the command of a voice from the intercom.
Motioning for his group to follow, Leon walked up to the two guards, flashing his identification.
"You don't have the head's explicit permission to go inside." the mercenary guarding the entry replied to him as he attempted to walk in. "Only those invited can walk into the main center of operations, much less the boss's chamber." Hefting his heavy machine gun across his broad chest, he stood still.
Leon swore, walking away from the entry. He was literally an inch away from grabbing the bandit and delivering him kicking and screaming back to Borov, and had been ignominiously thwarted. Turning back to face his group, he addressed the rest of the headhunters. "Alright, since we can't get in, we might as well wait for him to come out. Keep your eyes peeled, and let him leave this place if he needs to, as long as he doesn't get too far. Apparently he has some connections to the mercenaries around here, so shooting will more likely get us dead than him."
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Post by Karcentric on Apr 14, 2010 0:35:49 GMT -5
Rusty watched Leon moving towards a man in a trench coat it struck him suddenly that it was Lutiy, silently encouraging Leon, the bandit slipped away by mere inches, "Shit, so close." Rusty muttered, watching Leon trudge towards them, as he approached he said, "Alright, since we can't get in, we might as well wait for him to come out. Keep your eyes peeled, and let him leave this place if he needs to, as long as he doesn't get too far. Apparently he has some connections to the mercenaries around here, so shooting will more likely get us dead than him." Rusty nodded knowing they might be waiting a long time. He had a feeling that someone was watching him.
Turning round Rusty looked around no one was paying any attention to them, looking up he saw a tallish merc sitting on the rail of the second floor, calmly spinning two knives and performing rather complex moves that completely concealed the knives within his sleeves before flicking his wrists, flicking them out again in a rather unique manner, Rusty looked at him, he didn't fit in with the rest of the mercs in the base, his hair was bright red and black, and worn in piggytails. His eyes were silver, looking straight at him and the group, seething the knives on his arms the man, he sat dead still watching the group move away to a different part of the building.
Watching the new group pile in, and the confrontation, Karc stayed on the second floor watching the newcomers had something about them, their leader was experienced but the rest seemed rather new to the zone, or at least inexperienced, chuckling at the thought, he watched the exo suited leader, that armor had been modified by Duty but he wasn't a member. Must be worried that Duty will come and take those suits back. He thought, after the leader had work done to his suit, he was moving towards 2 stalkers, one in a trench coat, the other was built like a bull, and could probably lift one. He seemed intent on catching them.
How curious, didn't see them before. As the two disappeared deeper into the base. The man in exo armor was stopped by the guards walking back to his group, Karc could barely hear something along the lines of waiting for him to come out. One of the hunters looked up at him, staring back at the man, it clicked in Karc's head why they were here. Waiting for them to move along Karc looked for Dimitri and Burner, making his way over to them he excused himself before telling them what he'd seen. "Those newcomers in black, I reckon they're looking for someone, I saw a chap in a trench coat accompanied by a bulky lad, go through to the boss, no one stopped them, or even looked at them, but that newcomer was stopped, and I overheard them say something about waiting for him to come out." Karc pausing to catch his breathe, "I think they came where looking for whoever this guy is, and now they're gonna wait for him."
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Post by Διμι on Apr 14, 2010 1:12:42 GMT -5
"It's Lutiy." Sokol calmly spat, as everyone suddenly turned to face him, not having even noticed him skulk up to the group.
"The trench coat guy. That's his name." the Freedomer explained "he used to be in our faction, we came up with the title ourselves. It means 'fierce', 'cruel', 'merciless', 'savage'. And he was just that. He would have been part of the Alpha Squad, probably second behind Seth himself. He's got a way with pistols and mid-range rifles that no one I've met ever even had. Don't look to his shabby-seeming equipment, it's top notch and he definitely knows how to use it. Easily one of the most dangerous stalkers I've ever met. In fact, he would have probably made some scheme that would involve offing half of our faction if we hadn't booted him and left him in the open with nothing. I should have known he would have survived..."
The Freedomer glanced at the door to the command bunker. "I don't know what he's doing around here, but he's up to no good for sure. I don't recommend we get involved with him, because people usually die if that happens. And so far, it's never been him."
He looked around, scanning the area for the black-clad force that had come in earlier. The stalkers had dispersed, and appeared to be resting up, chatting, and just minding their own business. But every once in a while, their eyes would flit to the reinforced door, as if waiting for someone to come out.
"I reckon those guys are out to get him. It looks like he's finally done some big figure a wrong turn." Sokol muttered "They've certainly armed themselves to the teeth for the task, and that guy in the reinforced exoskeleton is definitely an expert on exterminations of every kind. But even so, they should be wary. I suggest we leave them be. Business like this always leaves the wrong people dead."
Lutiy stepped down the corridor, heading for the single door furnished with leather that ended it. Walking up to the entrance, he rang the bell. The door swung open. Lutiy waved Khan inside the central chamber of the mercenary base before slamming the door shut.
The mercenary leader looked up in genuine shock. "Kirill..." he began "What the hell are you doing here!? You're supposed to be in Pripyat by now, Seth-"
"Seth lied," the bandit cut him off "I presume he took the deactivation Code with him too?" he asked, his face grim.
"Jurgen delivered it to him en-route." the mercenary replied, his face ashen. "He said he was going to ensure it was given to you, so the mission could be carried out. What the hell does he think he's doing?!"
"He's planning to use it for his own means." Lutiy replied "Apparently that Freedom agenda of his became more important than our overall mission. He's going to try to modify the procedure to alter the Project's function and psycho-physical effects. I have no idea what kind of gamble he's going to try to take. I can't even imagine how he'll get past the emitter without getting mind-controlled."
"Impossible." the mercenary leader buried his face in his hands "the Code only works one way. I've worked on designing it for twenty damn years, I know." he fell silent for a moment "You have to apprehend him and retrieve it, Kirill. He tricked me, and I gave him a safe transport up the river into Pripyat less than hours ago. Get back the Code and carry out the mission as we've planned, even if it means killing him."
Lutiy nodded "we can't waste any time. The more of it passes, the closer he gets to the Sarcophagus, and the closer the Code is to falling into the Monolith's hands. I 'met' their leader in the underground today. He was looking for it here. Now that the Monolith knows it's much closer to the center, they're pulling back their troops to try and find Seth. And if they get their hands on the Code, it's over. Twenty years of research and the lives of the most able of men gone down the drain."
"Go then!" the mercenary said "my men will provide a barge to take you upriver to Pripyat. Take your friend with you. He seems an able man." the aging leader looked at Khan before turning back to Lutiy "but understand, only you will be able to get past the Monolith's pull. That's the one reason we've picked you for this task."
Lutiy nodded again before turning to Khan. "We must go." he said "I know you have a good deal of questions to ask, and I'll explain it all when all of this is over. But now, we must get to Pripyat and catch up with Seth."
The bandit turned and exited through one of the side doors, taking him straight to the dock, where a ship already sat on the water waiting with several heavily armed mercenary guards. The bandit and the guide boarded, and the craft took off up the river, heading North from Limansk.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 15, 2010 16:43:35 GMT -5
A fog was slowly setting over the river, and, pretty soon, the entire area was devoured by a cloud of mist. Khan spoke slowly, looking like he was scanning through the fog
"An associate of mine should be waiting at the northern riverbank. He should be able to take us..."
He got closer to Lutiy, as the mercenary guard on the boat seemed a bit more interested in what they were talking about.
"...to the place you mentioned. I, however, will not accompany you in the final steps of your journey, as I myself have a mission in the area known as...Yanov? Is it Yanov? There have been sightings of a strange mutant appearing, bodies turning up lacerated, raiders returning unable to speak..."
The boat creaked and the head guard mumbled something out to the other men, who started loading their weapons.
"The shore is near. However, there is something strange here."
The raft hit the bank and Khan jumped out, his companion following him. He waved the mercenaries back and watched them as they disappeared back into the mist.
"Stop."
Khan noticed something in the muddy river bank.
" Dog tracks. Judging by the amount of them, I would say that there are around seven of them, being led by a dog with the face of a man. We should be able to avoid them, as I do not wish to waste what little ammunition I have."
As they walked by the shore, Khan stopped.
"This is it."
Khan whistled and stopped. After a few seconds, another whistle answered and a lone figure in a military suit stepped out.
"Paskal! I see you still keep that suit of yours...Why would you do such a thing? Are you planning on getting shot again?"
The ex-soldier responded, firmly gripping his AN-94
" You old windbag! I'll get rid of my suit once you get rid of that pea-shooter of yours! How have you been, friend? Who's this? Haven't seen you since - "
Khan signaled him to keep quiet
"This is Kiril. A man on a mission. Nothing more, nothing less."
The soldier signaled them to follow him, laughing
"Well, Kiril, you sure got yourself a guide here. He couldn't find his way out of an open box, this one."
Khan snidely responded with a "keep quiet" kind of look
"But he could find his way out of the forest's maze, unlike a certain man whose yelling forced even the oldest, deafest bloodsucker out of his hiding. Thanks to you, the animals decided to migrate."
The soldier kept laughing. Pretty soon, they stopped by an old,
"Come in, make yourselves at home! You can stay for the night, as the last thing I or anyone else'd like to do is trudge around in this marshy shit! I'll see if my..Oh, here she is."
He opened the door and quietly said
"Tasha, we've got guests for the night, is there a spare bed or two here?"
Their eyes prepared for a surprise as the biggest woman they had ever seen peeked behind the door.
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Post by Διμι on Apr 15, 2010 21:05:58 GMT -5
Lutiy cleared his throat, glancing in surprise at the large woman who had opened the door. "Rather... errm... generous of you all." he ground out, entering the house. Despite the age of the structure, it had held its form well, and was somewhat inviting. But Lutiy thought of something else. Every minute wasted was a minute that Seth took to get ever so closer to the Power Plant, a point of no return. He checked his PDA. He was back in the Forest, approximately four miles away from Pripyat. He could make the distance in three hours' worth of travel. By his calculations, Seth was no more than an hour ahead of him. If he stepped up his pace, Lutiy would be able to track and find the Freedomer in the city before the latter would manage to cross it and enter the psy-zone. Wishing his hosts good night after finishing a can of Tushenka, Lutiy lay down on his bed and waited. After roughly half an hour, he concluded that the ex-soldier and guide, as well as the female had gone to sleep, judging by the snores emanating from the room next door. He took out his locator and PDA, placing it on the bedside table. He wouldn't need it any longer where he was going. Sitting up, he began writing a brief last message to Khan. The loner would find it when he awoke. Khan,
This is where we part. I hate to interrupt our hosts' hospitality, but my time is growing preciously short. I will find my way to Pripyat from here, a compass and the local road will do. I bid you luck in your further ventures in the Yanov region. If anyone comes searching for me, don't hesitate to tell them where I went instead of putting yourself in danger. This is goodbye, God be with you.
Kirill Malygin. Leaving the PDA on the table, Lutiy stood up, slinging his rifle across his back. Silently, he tiptoed out of his room and through the front door, and broke into a brisk walk North.
"Bloody hell..." Leon watched as the barge slowly sailed around the bend in the distance. He would not have noticed the craft, had he not turned around. Through his binoculars he could see that a single trench coated figure, along with another massive stalker, sat by the stern. In an instant, the mercenary was running, quickly tapping the rest of his team members to make their way down to the dock, where the few remaining vessels sat on the water. Leaping aboard a smaller, quicker launch, he fired up the mercenary craft's engine while Duke, Rodent and Rusty jumped in. "Our target is heading North," he explained. "They're roughly a mile and a half upriver by now. We'll be able to catch up to them by the time they dismount, since our craft is a good deal faster." The launch cut through the river's waters at a reasonable speed, and soon enough, a thick mist blanketed the area. Leon could suddenly see a light ahead, and the rumbling of a larger craft's engine. He quickly shut off the boat's engine, letting it drift in the fog. In the haze, he could see the mercenary barge make its way downriver, two passengers short. The mercenaries passed without noticing the small ship, and as soon as the engine roar had died out, Leon quickly fired up the motor again, scanning the shore for the place Lutiy had dismount it. Soon enough he found it, a small indentation in the muddy bank marking where the the barge had previously lodged itself. Getting out, Leon had no problems detecting two sets of footprints on the shore, leading into the Forest. The mercenary waved for the rest of his squad to get out. "Lutiy dismounted here not too long ago, and his tracks couldn't have been erased in so short a time. Let's move!" Jogging as fast as his suit allowed him to, Leon began to follow the trail left by the bandit and his companion.
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Post by Afterburner on Apr 16, 2010 3:11:38 GMT -5
Khan was sitting in his room quietly, when he heard the door creaking. He peeked through the keyhole, only to see his companion leaving. He read the message Khan,
This is where we part. I hate to interrupt our hosts' hospitality, but my time is growing preciously short. I will find my way to Pripyat from here, a compass and the local road will do. I bid you luck in your further ventures in the Yanov region. If anyone comes searching for me, don't hesitate to tell them where I went instead of putting yourself in danger. This is goodbye, God be with you.
Kirill Malygin. He got out quietly. The man had nearly disappeared behind the trees. He slowly crept behind him and grabbed him by the shoulder. The man reached for his pistol, but Khan grabbed his arm "You forgot to say goodbye, my friend. I do not know why you wish to carry out this trip alone, as the swamp-like terrain up north is rather unsafe. But, if you insist, I shall not deter you from your mission. If there is any trouble up north, you know where and how to find me. I will be leaving for Yanov in the morning." He shook his hand firmly and backed away, before disappearing into the distance. He entered the house, where Paskal had already got up wondering whether his guests were gone "Forgive me, Paskal. I had gone out to say goodbye to my companion. He has gone up north again. Now, please, can you leave me here? I wish to get some sleep before resuming my trip."
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