Out of all people, we get the psycho!

[Afterburner]

The barkeep looked pleased as one of the bar bouncers dragged along two bulky backpacks

"I'm glad I'm not carrying these around. This stuff's tampered with. If you set off one of these, you'd blow Rostok clear off the face of the Zone."

As Burner tried to lift one, the weight of the damn thing nearly threw him off his balance.

"The bombs are here, as promised. But, there's a little...Wait, no. A big problem. The mechanism's bust. I can't get anyone to fix it. The only one who could fix this is a man with a suicide wish. If one thing goes wrong, this bastard will explode. Try to find a bomb expert to fix these, as I'm not having anyone in the vicinity of Rostok defusing that thing."

Somebody was calling the barkeep from the back room and he scurried off. While Burner was eying the customers of the bar, a particular figure in the corner, clad in a black trench coat, gestured him to come closer.

"Looking for a bomb mechanic? I might be able to help you there...If you can see where I'm heading."

The Snitch. God knows who let him stay in 100 Rads

"Okay...I see. How much are we talking about? Two?"

The man grinned

"Excellent. Go to the garbage and try to find a man called Swallow. Slightly unstable man, though. Last time I heard he was having trouble with the bandits. You pull him out and he might just help you with those...Ahem, heavy backpacks"

Information bought:2000 RU

[Karcentric]

Karc looked at Snitch with some level of disgust, That bastard has probably never seen any real action. "Excellent. Go to the garbage and try to find a man called Swallow. Slightly unstable man, though. Last time I heard he was having trouble with the bandits. You pull him out and he might just help you with those...Ahem, heavy backpacks"

Burner nodded and left picking one of the heavy packs, Karc was about to when he noticed two men starring at him and Burner, there was something familiar about them but Karc stopped worrying about it as soon as he picked up the pack. "Fucken hell, how much shit did they pack?" He grumbled, following Burner.

Once they were past the Duty boundaries and into the Garbage Burner stopped and said, "Let's store these somewhere safe and find Swallow. We don't need bandits peaking in these." He said pointing to the packs. Karc nodded in agreement, the pack dug into his back, but he didn't dare shuffle it about to much, not entirely sure how unstable the explosives were.

They stopped at the disused flea market finding an old electrical panel which they were able to force open, placing the packs carefully in them, and closing the door just as carefully, they both walked towards the somewhat iconic train depot hoping, searching for Swallow. Burner listed the possible places where they might find the loner, "If he's not at the train depot, we'll check the vehicle graveyard or the barricades." As they approached the depot it was obvious that it was abandoned, looking inside they saw large amounts of blood but no bodies. "Mutants must have cleaned the place out." Karc said "Let's try the vehicle graveyard."

As the approached the graveyard it was very clear that the bandits were hassling a group of loners, there were 3 loners and 5 bandits, one of the loners was laying down holding his leg two of the bandits stood over him saying something, the other three stood together watching, "Fucking bastards. You cover those bastards standing there, I'll deal with those two." Burner muttered marching towards the bandits Karc was right behind him P90 at the ready.

[Afterburner]

"Okay, on my mark. Three..."

He moved behind the hull of the wrecked APC. He could hear the geiger counter's crackling, but he ignored it, still trying to get a better view of the bandits' heads.

"Two..."

The bandit kicked the stalker on the ground. In a moment, the man went limp. The bandit turned around to the other stalkers, cocking his gun.

Burner couldn't believe his eyes. The stalker that was on the ground jumped on his feet in a millisecond, grabbing the bandit who kicked him by the throat.

"ONE!"

The mercenaries fired away wildly at the bandits, who were caught by surprise. The bandit that was watching the prisoners fell against a helicopter blade with a dozen holes in his chest. Karc was spraying his P90 all over the bandits, who were falling limp as the 5.7 went through their flesh like it was papier-mâché.

The two imprisoned stalkers jumped up, seeing their chance to escape and high-tailed it through the park entrance, screaming "THANK YOU!" as they ran past the gate. The other stalker, the one that jumped, still held the bandit by the throat. To his horror, Burner watched as the man simply crushed the bandits' throat, still not letting him go.

"Okay, I think he's dead now! Calm down, friend, who are you?"

The man dropped the bandit on the ground and raised his head at Burner, with hands covered in blood.

"Swallow? Are you Swallow? You're supposed to help us, right?"

The man's face immediately changed. He smiled

"Of course! What do you need help with? Need your car fixed? Your house painted? I can do anything!"

Burner turned to Karc, his eye twitching; obviously, they were dealing with an insane man.

"Fuck you, Snitch... Uhh, yes, we need something fixed. A bomb mechanism, you see."

Laughing, the stalker signaled them to follow him. He pointed at the top of the scrap pile

"My shop's over there! Come on!"

As they climbed, their Geiger counters started crackling so loud that they had to shut them off.

"I know we're standing on a pile of irradiated Soviet shit, but what the FUCK can I do? We need him to fix the bombs...We'll have to find some anti-rad later."

They climbed up the pile. The stalker was up there, looking at something in his hand. He turned around when he saw them

"Who...are...you? You've come for me, right? I knew it! You're not going to get me!"

Again, Burner had to intervene

"We're not here to get you! Calm down! You were supposed to fix the bombs, right?"

The stalker looked at them, clueless

"Bombs ? What bombs? I hate bombs. Those give you gas."

Rolling his eyes, Burner spoke out again

"The bomb timer? You know, the bombs?"

The stalker responded happily

"Yeah, the bombs, what about them?"

Clenching his teeth, Burner barely managed to mutter out

"You...are...supposed...to...fix...them. Please?"

The mechanic responded excitedly

"Of course I am! But wait! I need my tool box! Where is it? I must have left it at home! Go fetch my tool box! Quick! It's over there!"

He pointed at a silo close to the so-called Flea Market.

"Finally, we're getting somewhere. Okay, we go fetch your toolbox, and you fix the bombs, right?"

The stalker made no sign he understood what he said. Instead, he pointed at the silo.

[Karcentric]

Karc watched Burner and Swallow interacting holding his head. Looking in the direction that the stalker pointed Karc shrugged his shoulders and walked in the general direction of the silo.

"Fucken Snitch, of all the fucken people." He grumbled, looking about, they drew near to the silo. "Do you think he left it on the ground just laying about somewhere, of in some unseen out of the place corner of the zone?" Karc asked looking about on the ground seeing nothing resembling a tool box.

Looking around Karc saw some sort of handle on top of an old structure near the silo, "Is that it?" He asked pointing to the handle which was well above both of their heads. Burner looked and nodded, "Certainly looks like it, now how did it get up there?" He said scratching his head looking at the toolbox which was sitting about 30feet up on top of the rickety structure. Giving it tentative push the structure shook back and forth several times before it finally stopped shaking.

"Well, we could tear this thing down and gather up the tools but that might break them or bury them under debris, or you or me can try climbing it? Unless you can think of a better plan?" Karc asked. "Maybe we could shake it, and fling the tool box off?"

[Afterburner]

"That's it, I'm shooting it down...although I'd rather shoot him."

He took a shot at the toolbox, pushing it out of sight. He could hear the box drop somewhere.

"Great! This thing's open! Stand back!"

He kicked the silo, tearing through the flimsy metal. The toolbox had shattered on the floor, spilling its contents everywhere.

"What is this crap? These ain't no tools! What the hell are these?"

The toolbox was actually full of old, rotting fungi, which had spilled all over the silo. Sighing, Burner started to put the mushrooms back into the toolbox.

"Wait! What the fuck am I doing?"

He stood back a little, before finally realizing what he was doing.

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT! LET'S GO, I'M PUTTING MY FIST THROUGH HIS FACE THE MOMENT IT APPEARS IN FRONT OF ME!"

He stormed out of the silo, climbing up the pile of junk. He was greeted by the mad stalker

"Hey! I've got your toys fixed here! Took me some time!"

He stopped in amazement.

"What...but...the...tools...What's going on here? Are you messing with us or something? Why did you make us climb this irradiated pile of shit? And what's with these bombs? And why the tools? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

The stalker smiled, showing his half-rotten teeth.

"Your toys are at the till, and thank you for coming here!"

He pointed at an old stove, on which the two bombs had been laid. Burner came up close, checking the bombs

"I can't believe it! The system's working again! He replaced the whole thing! Look, I-"

As they turned, the stalker was gone.

"Now where did he- Ah, fuck it! With all this shit of his I forgot about the whole deal! Let's go, I'm not wasting any more time getting irradiated out here!"

[Karcentric]

Karc looked back and forth trying to see where the crazed loner had gone. "How did he disappear like that?" Karc muttered as he picked up the heavy pack again swearing. "Well let's get this show on the road, those trucks aren't gonna blow themselves up."

Carefully climbing down from the pile they slowly walked in the direction of the ARI, a couple of bandits were leaning against the gate, the taller of the two was grinning holding his MP5 at the ready, "There's a fee for entering this place you know." he said eying the loaded backpacks the mercs were carrying. "Looks like you've got plenty to spare too, judging by those packs."

Burner simply shook his head, while Karc stifled a wave of laughter. The bandit repeated himself about the fee raising his gun, "I'll shoot if you don't start unloading that loot."

"Sure you shoot us, it won't get you very far." Burner started before Karc interrupted, "Unless you shoot the pack, you'll go far and wide, at the same time." He injected, the bandit looked at Karc and Burner before looking back to his friend. "What the hell are you talking about? You got a bag full of explosives or something?" He said stepping forward hesitantly.

[Afterburner]

"You have no idea...Heh, heh... Let's see. Either you toss your weapons over there, or I toss a bullet in the backpack and your pieces get tossed around the Garbage. You want to see that happen?"

As he spoke, that strange feeling nearly overwhelmed him again. He had the urge to actually set the bomb off by firing at it. The bandit quickly lowered his weapon and murmured

"Alright, alright, we don't want any trouble, look, just, go, OK?"

The feeling had immediately disappeared as the bandits quickly withdrew to the side, letting the mercenaries through.

"Now, don't let me see you o'er here again, or I'll deliver the next one straight to your doorstep, OK? "

As the bandits pulled back, still murmuring and pointing at the backpack, the mercenaries passed through. They waited until the bandits got out of sight, then burst into laughter. The gate to Agroprom was in front.

__________________________________________________________________________

"Just a little more and we're there!"

The trip back was much more quiet than before, except for a military helicopter which had just taken off from the mobile lab.

Burner's PDA started beeping again as they got close to the factory.

"Double check. The anomalies are cleared off and we're green on Dead City. Extra guards on each 'gate'...Back to the 'shoot on sight' policy, I guess."

They passed the laboratory building without any hassle. With the outlines of the old Rostok factory on their right, Burner couldn't help but once again start thinking about the life before the accident.

"What did man do to this place?"

After climbing onto a rail track, they could see the outlines of the small suburb ahead.

"Nearly there. C'mon, let's get this o'er with."

Striding along the valley, they noticed that the entire place was littered with corpses. Most of them had no visible insignia to be identified by, but an occasional group clad in green laid along the path.

"Soldiers...Serves them right."

As they entered the fabled Dead City, something was amiss. There was a pile of carefully placed bodies in the middle of the road. Then, Burner remembered.

"OI! Pigs! Orders from HQ!"

As on command, a group of mercenaries started popping out of the buildings' windows.

"If you're going to ambush somebody, hide the corpses, you idiots!"

The mercenary in the exoskeleton growled out.

"They're meant to scare nutheads like yourself off, codename"

Burner carelessly added

"Whatever! At least codenames don't get stuck on guard duty!"

The sergeant snorted, signaling the guards to let them through.

"Home sweet home, eh?"

Saluting the guard at the intel room, they entered.

"Major Anatoli, commander. Mission acomplished, sir. No casualties, and the base is lamenting the loss of these-"

He tossed the envelope at Cherkesov, whose eyes widened as he read the contents inside.

"Excuse me for a second"

The major laughed as his father scurried off

"Well, you boys did a good job! There are a few packages for you at the armory. Also, here's a little gift for you right here. 30 grand for each of you. That's some job you pulled off!"

His PDA went off like crazy

"Excuse me...Ah, level five access! TO the commander's office, in an hour...Whoa."

Burner nodded, unsure what to do. The commander was the most mysterious person in the entire faction, as only a few knew who he actually was. They left for the armory, where the guards on duty were handling crates.

"You got anything for us?"

The armorer nodded, winking at a pair of boxes under the ammo display case. As Karc tore off the duct tape from the package, something blue appeared underneath.

"That's right, gentlemen, grade A environment hazard military SKAT specialized suits. Modified a bit to keep you safe from both man-and-Zone-made hazards and, best of all, they come in blue! Also, you get some of these."

He pulled out a toolkit, some medkits and a two boxes of incendiary rounds from under the counter.

"Don't forget to come again!"

Burner immediately pulled his suit on.

"Something's missing here...Aha!"

He put his old trenchcoat over his suit.

"How do I look ?"

Money received: 30 000 RU
Items received: -Toolkit
-SKAT Military suit with upgraded anomaly protection and second-grade nightvision.
-Box of incendiary ammunition

[limegreen][CHECK][/limegreen]

[Karcentric]

Karc held the suit looking it up and down nodding with a savage grin in approval at the suit. Removing his battered suit he put his new improved suit on, reattaching his knives and the short sword, leaving the home made club in a corner. He stuffed the ammo, meds and tool into his pack. Adjusting the suit Karc turned still grinning madly to face Burner who asked "How do I look?"

Karc nodded giving him a thumbs up, "Pretty damn badass my friend, that mission was well worth it, just as long as we don't have to deal with that fucken nut again." Karc said before laughing aloud remembering the absurd stalker Swallow. "That guy was just one long headache. I'm gonna grab something to eat and maybe a quick drink, I'll seeya in a bit." Karc said giving Burner a pat on the back as he wandered out.

Karc walked into the main building taking a seat by a group playing blackjack, an older merc gave Karc an approving nod asking "You want in this game?" Karc shook his head "Not this time old boy, maybe next time." He said as he tore into an old loaf of beard. His mind drifted back to the idea of meeting the commander.

Money received: 30 000 RU
Items received: -Toolkit
-SKAT Military suit with upgraded anomaly protection and second-grade nightvision.
-Box of incendiary ammunition