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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on May 13, 2010 23:58:25 GMT -5
Tarasov dropped to one knee to examine a heavy footprint in the soft earth in front of him, Looks like something from an exoskeleton, a heavy one too. Definitely not Monolith or Freedom. What the hell would Duty or the Mercenaries be doing this deep into the Forest?. "Sir, there's a large group of stalkers heading up the road from the Army Warehouses, they look like Freedomers." Standing back up, he turned to face the young Sergeant. "How far down the road are they" he asked. "Just past the first guard station, the one that was deserted when we arrived." The Sergeant replied. Pulling his binoculars off of his belt, the Lieutenant sat down on a fallen tree and looked over towards the northbound stalkers. There were around 10 or so of them, three at the back with exoskeletons were carrying large crates and had MG36s strapped to their backs. A man at the front was carrying a massive .50 caliber sniper rifle. Better get a message off to them before that sniper decides to consider me a threat. Beckoning the Sergeant over to him, he muttered "How many Monolith goons did you say were at the large outpost?" "Thirty, give or take a few, I couldn't see inside of the barracks." Turning his attention back to the group, Tarasov said, "Well, I suppose it won't do to let them get shot to pieces, now will it?" Pulling his radio from his shoulder, he punched in the frequency commonly used by Freedom stalkers. Attention STALKERS of the Freedom Faction. This is Lt. Tarasov. My team and I are surveying Monolith movements in the area. You fellows are walking dead into a large monolith group hauled up in the larger outpost just up the road. If you don't want to get yourselves killed I suggest you take up positions on the southern road and tell me as soon as you are within firing distance of those Monolith bastards. Do NOT engage them, I repeat do NOT engage the Monolithians. Standing up from the log, Tarasov gave a wave to the approaching group, catching the attention of the Sniper with the menacing rifle.
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Post by Basil on May 14, 2010 3:31:35 GMT -5
Balalaïka hesistated as she considered the bandit's offer. He did not seem hostile, and she was cold and wet from the rain...some warm food and a warm fire wouldn't be so bad, would they? Slowly she went back into the farmstead and shouldered her rifle, sitting down on the floor and picking up the small tin of meat. She cautiously examined it for a few seconds before tentatively digging into it.
As the warm meat hit her stomach (shriveled and tortured by several days of eating only dry bread, sausages and water, she almost felt grateful for the Asian man's somewhat charitable initiative. The rookie had relaxed noticeably when she had put her SVD away, understandable since the weapon had been pointed at him.
After suspiciously eyeing the two bandits for a while, Balalaïka took her attention off them and concentrated on her food. Even though it was just tinned meat heated over a fire, it felt like nectar after Balalaïka's rather forced diet. The meal was suddenly interrupted by a raucous, hissing roar from outside. Balalaïka had never encountered a bloodsucker and all she knew about them came from stories she had heard in the Cordon.
"Bloodsucker!", hissed the Asian and the rookie together. As the two bandits grabbed their guns and posted themselves at the windows, Balalaïka followed suit, taking position at a window next to Ferret the rookie.
It was dark and still pouring it down outside, and Balalaïka couldn't see much. The bloodsucker's harsh breathing could be heard over the sound of the rain. Listening hard, Balalaïka tried to pinpoint the mutant's position using sound. This did not do much good since the mutant seemed to be moving a lot...towards them. The frightening stories came flooding back: a face full of tentacles, glowing white eyes and a monstrous appetite for blood. Balalaïka swallowed, and her breathing became ragged with fear, but her hands stayed steady.
Suddenly, she saw a brief hint of movement through her scope. A slight distortion in the scenery that couldn't have been caused by the rain or wind. A second later she again caught the hint of movement, which was now closer to the stalker's little hideout. Without thinking, she pulled the trigger and sent a round flying towards the unidentified object.
The unidentified object turned out to be none other than the bloodsucker stalking the trio. The bullet whacked into its shoulder, sending blood flying and causing the beast to drop its camouflage for an instant. Balalaïka did not hesitate, and almost immediately after the bloodsucker stopped and unveiled itself, another bullet slammed through its skull, the exit wound turning the creature's skull into something more akin to a squashed melon.
With a heavy sigh of relief, Balalaïka turned around and slumped to the floor, fear and exhilaration in her eyes.
"I'd never seen a bloodsucker before..."
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"Since when have the military been courteous enough to tell stalkers about a nearby threat?", said Maginot more to himself than anyone. Skepticism was heavy in his voice.
Adder almost raised her VSS, but relented. This could easily cause a shoot-out, not a good idea if soldiers and Monolithians were nearby.
"Sokol, go to the back", said Maginot, "your shooter will do a better job at covering us than as a frontal weapon."
Maginot then took his radio and spoke, not even bothering to switch frequencies. The military goons had contacted them on Freedom's channel so there was no need for switching.
"Greetings, 'lieutenant', since when have the army been warning stalkers about impending danger? Last time I checked, they were shooting at me while I crawled through razor wire in the mud."
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Post by blackpapermoon on May 14, 2010 21:52:53 GMT -5
After the loner woman holstered the daunting long barreled weapon, the rookie relaxed a grate deal. Once Balalaïka entered and sat by the fire and cautiously began to eat the fire warmed meat, he returned to his place by the fire and began to warm his hands. Glancing outside he thought about the truly miserable weather and how glad he was not to be stuck out in the rain and mist. He then looked in the direction of the small woman as she ate her meal. His stomach rumbled in hunger as he watched her eat; the smell of the hot food taunted his senses.
He was about to ask if the female stalker was willing to share, but just then a noise caught his attention, this sound was not of his demanding stomach, but of hoarse, heavy breathing that was sadly all to familiar to the young bandit.
“Bloodsucker,” both he and the Asian bandit seemingly coming to the same conclusion. Rapidly the bandits garter their gear and took positions at the windows. They’re eyes scanning the area for movement. The sound of the heavy breathing, was get louder and louder with each passing second. Ferret’s dark chestnut eyes peered through the iron sight on his AK. He was only able to see the ripples in the air but they where moving around too much and his trembling hands where not helping his aim. If it got too close, he would be the first to go as he was the one the was nearest the entrance.
The rookie was so engross with the approaching mutant he did not notice that Balalaïka had taken a position right next to him at the window until her SVD fired, making him jump slightly with surprise. Another shot later the monster was dead it’s gray matter splatter on the ground. It was over. After taking a deep sigh of relief the bandit turned around and slid to the floor.
"I'd never seen a bloodsucker before..."
Ferret looked over at Balalaïka, she was just as frighten as he had been.
“ Your braver then me than,” he said after a few seconds had passed.
“ This is my second, met one yesterday, I’m lucky have gotten away from it alive,” he said, the lesions on his back serving as a constant reminder of the encounter.
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Post by Διμι on May 14, 2010 22:07:29 GMT -5
"Well, you're in for a real treat then, because there's plenty more where that came from," the Asian spat, squinting into the darkness.
Indeed, the ragged, hissing breaths did not stop with the fall of the smallish creature. Meph could see the glint of the pack's numerous eyes appearing for split seconds before vanishing back into the darkness as they circled the little encampment. Meph lay his rifle down; the silent, accurate, but bulky M16 would do little in this situation. Drawing his pistols, he walked up to the entryway, raised his arms, and let off two wide automatic spreads of 9x19mm ammo into the darkness. He heard several of the rounds hit flesh, drawing a roar from the monster they had hit. The bloodsucker's shield flickered as it struggled to regain its balance and limp away. That was all Meph needed.
With a downward flick of his wrist, Meph's hand closed around the blades by his side, his pistols dropping to the ground. He released one of the huge knives in mid-draw, sending it sailing towards the wounded creature, spinning in the air as it flew. With a sickening crack, the razor-sharp blade speared the bloodsucker just below its ribcage, going in with enough force to come out of its sternum. The monster fell forward as it ran, slamming bodily onto the ground.
The remaining two creatures, for two they were, wasted no time, springing forward immediately. The first never reached the bandit, instead falling to the ground and writhing in agony as its left leg was severed completely at the knee by the Asian's second blade. The last, largest bloodsucker made contact just as Meph swirled around, recovering from his swing, and snatched the bandit by the throat. The creature lifted the tiny stalker as if he were no more than a paperweight, and threw him bodily upwards, into the rotted ceiling of the shack. Meph felt the decomposing beams and panels shatter as he slammed into them, bursting through the roof with the force of the throw and rolling down onto the ground below.
Through sheer luck, the Asian was not impaled by any of the wooden supports, and the two Springs on his belt dissipated most of the impact, so the fall did little aside from knocking the breath out of him. The bandit sprang to his feet, only to discover he had no weapon, as he had dropped his blade when the pack leader grabbed him. He could hear the creature crashing about inside the shack as it moved in on Balalaika and Ferret. Cursing, the bandit sprinted around the house to the spot where the impaled bloodsucker had fallen to pull out his blade.
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Post by Karcentric on May 15, 2010 0:25:46 GMT -5
A flash lightning streaked across the sky followed by the crackling of thunder Schwarz continued jogging towards the Army Warehouses looking for somewhere dry to stop and get warm, the hissing sound of a bloodsucker halted Schwarz, holding the Bren gun at the ready, he continued forward cautiously scanning the area. A loud shot rang out from a nearby hill, hitting somewhere ahead of him, stopping as the second shot inverted the head of the bloodsucker that was nearing the hill in search of prey. Ducking behind a nearby vehicle and watching where the shots came from, seconds later the the Asian bandit was looking about, he fired in a wide arc on bullet hit nearby, ducking and cursing Schwarz was about to retaliate but the bandit hurled one of his blades impaling the another bloodsucker and took off looking for the others beasts.
Standing up Schwarz jogged towards the first downed beast which was still trying to move, drawing his tomahawk, decapitating the beast. He looked up when he heard the bellow of agony from another bloodsucker, shortly followed by a loud crash and the snapping of rotten timber. Drawing the revolver he could hear the approaching hisses of another bloodsucker, over the peak of the hill it came bounding, aiming at one of the eyes he fired, the recoil from the heavy firearm didn't help but the shot was still true, removing half of the beasts head. It fell heavily the heavy body slid along the road surface for several feet before stopping. Walking over to it he fired again making sure it was dead. "I'm taking any chances with you bastards." Schwarz muttered.
Walking back to the impaled bloodsucker he wrenched the long blade out of the corpse he looked it over. Very nice craftsmanship. He thought walking towards where Meph had gone wiping the blade down he saw him running towards him he looked up seeing Schwarz and skidded to a stop. Looking down at the blade he was carrying he threw it up catching it by the tip holding it out to the bandit. "Well don't stand there like a stunned mullet. It's not safe around here, I'm Jerry." He said using his actual name instead of his usual name to avoid suspicion. "Not the best time to hunt those pretty beasts." He said handing the blade to Meph waiting for him to reply.
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Post by Basil on May 15, 2010 3:27:14 GMT -5
Balalaïka watched the Asian bandit hack several bloodsuckers apart with his two blades, her eyes wide. How was this even possible? The Asian's blade prowess was soon put to and end however as he was taken hold of, lifted bodily up in the air and tossed aside like a ragdoll. The bloodsucker who disposed of him like that was obviously the pack leader, and it came after Balalaïka and Ferret like a rabid, starving dog, its eyes shining nightmarishly as it approached them.
Balalaïka, instead of running, dropped to one knee and raised her rifle, pointing it straight at the horrible monster's face. As the creature approached, she put her finger on the trigger.
"One shot..."
The beast got closer. She could smell its breath, almost touch it with the barrel of her gun. It hissed and uncloaked, raising its clawed arm to strike at her with a blow that would probably knock her aside and spill her insides onto the wooden floor.
"...is all I need."
The SVD's harsh report smashed through the shack's interior like a the noise of a judge's mallet. The stock whacked against Balalaïka's shoulder as the bullet left the barrel and flew, spinning and invisible, in between the bloodsucker's eyes. The back of the creature's head exploded in a shower of brains, blood and shattered bone, and the bullet smacked into the shack's ceiling, causing dust and splinters to fall from the small impact hole. The creature swayed in place for a minute, its eyes now empty of life and bewildered, before collapsing to the floor like a boneless rag.
Balalaïka let out a shuddering, terrified breath, her eyes wide. Cold sweat was running down her forehead, but despite her apparent fear, her hands were rock steady. A bit of the bloodsucker's blood had sprayed onto her face when the bullet terminated it, and Balalaïka proceeded to wipe the small red specks off with her sleeve.
"One shot", she added.
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Post by Διμι on May 15, 2010 13:57:47 GMT -5
Meph accepted the blade warily, sheathing it before examining the newcomer warily. Stalkers appearing out of nowhere were rarely a good or safe thing, but this one didn't seem to be aggressive. The man was one of the strange, masked stalkers he had seen in the Zone Bar, and was fairly well armed. A large Bren machine gun was strapped across his back, and his other arm held a still smoking, shiny Anaconda revolver. The man had coolly disposed of one of the remaining bloodsuckers with a .44 slug through the head.
"You," the Asian said finally "I've seen you before. You're the one who sent the rookie with the Tokarev rifle after me, aren't you? A gun like that is hard to conceal in the Bar, and is about as hard to forget." the bandit slowly walked over to the entrance of the shack, picking up the rifle and pistols he had dropped, as well as the second blade, thrown aside by the bloodsucker. The beast in question had met with another round to the head from the loner woman's SVD, and a thin coat of blood and brain matter now blanketed the wall behind it. Rain poured down through the huge hole in the ceiling the Asian had been ejected from. Meph almost laughed at the absurdity of the whole scene.
"Aren't we the team?" he said, kicking aside the bloodsucker leg near the entrance he had severed earlier "two good-for-nothing bandits, a sudden wunderkind crack shot sniper, and now this guy?" he motioned towards the stalker who had just arrived. Meph re-loaded his pistols before examining each of the downed beasts, cutting off the tentacled lower jaws from each. The creature whose leg he had severed was still kicking, attempting to crawl away from the scene on its two arms. The bloodsucker swerved about as the bandit approached, attempting to swipe at him in a futile means of attack, only to fall down. Without much reserve, the bandit slashed off the two flailing extremities before plunging the blade under the monster's gaping maw and through its head. The mutilated bloodsucker immediately went limp.
The Asian rose, tossing each of the four bloodsucker jaws to Ferret, Balalaika, and the stranger, and pocketing one for his own. "Trophies," he explained "if you care for 'em, anyway". Finished with his post-fight ritual, he turned towards the stalker who had given him back his blade. "Now, how about you introduce yourself? I think it would be best, considering how deadly we all suddenly discovered ourselves to be just now".
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Post by Karcentric on May 15, 2010 23:27:58 GMT -5
"Well I suppose that would be the proper thing to do." Schwarz said, lifting his mask revealing his scared face, "I'm Schwarz I'm merc along with 3 others, you've met El who was simply seeing which way you went, Dark identified you two as soon as he walked into the bar. Lastly there's Four I'm guessing you saw them too. For now they will remain at he bar until I tell them otherwise. As you observed I was watching you and your friend here while in the bar. However we are looking for another merc, I doubt any of you have meet him. He has manic laugh and and is slightly taller than myself" He added, smiling looking to the female sniper, "Quite an impressive shot."
Looking at the venomous jaw taken from the bloodsucker before wrapping it and stuffing it in to his pack, "So you two are looking for this Adder woman, but what about you?" He said addressing Balalaïka who was looking rather shaken by the recent events that had taken place just minutes earlier. Looking out into the pouring rain Schwarz looked back to Meph who was obviously the most experienced within the zone, "So do you need an extra gun on your little crusade?" He asked looking at the other two stalkers noting their gear before looking into the fire warming himself a little. "I hear this woman your looking for is quite high in the Freedom ranks."
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Post by blackpapermoon on May 16, 2010 9:56:55 GMT -5
Ferret carefully stored the lower jaw in the font most pocket on his bag. He felt that he did not deserve the ‘trophy’ as Meph had put it, as when the Asian and the woman where fighting off the mutant horde he was preoccupied with unjamming his AK-74/U that made better scrap then it did a firearm. If he did not find or get a better weapon soon he would not survive much longer in the northern most areas.
"So you two are looking for this Adder woman…..”
At first the young Bandit was not paying much attention to the new comer until he said those words. This Schwarz person knew way too much for the rookies liking.
“Why do you know so much about what we’re doing up here,” asked Ferret rather aggressively, “the last guy that knew so much about my job almost ended me up in the pen.”
“So what are you doing, up here Mercenary?” questioned the bandit, his tone sounding more like a growl then anything else.
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Post by Karcentric on May 16, 2010 11:36:05 GMT -5
“Why do you know so much about what we’re doing up,” asked Ferret rather aggressively, “last guy that knew so much about my job almost ended me up in the pen.”
“So what are you doing, up here Mercenary?”
Schwarz looked at Ferret smiling almost laughing, "I know so much for a good reason, if you walk into a possibly dangerous situation you want to know all you can, otherwise your walking blindly. Around here information is a powerful resource, of course so is having a big gun and knowing when to use it. I don't anything about your job, I know your a bandit, how you entered the zone, why your here and that your a crafty bugger who can sneak about fairly well. My contact has informed me about you." Giving the bandit an unnerving smile.
"As for what I'm doing, you answered your own question. I'm a mercenary, I see a profit to be made here and I'd like a slice of that profit." Schwarz paused scratching his chin, "Besides, no offense meant I have my doubts you'll achieve your goal with out the extra firepower." He said patting the Bren gun and the twin SMGs.
He reloaded his revolver as he talked "Unless that's a problem for you Yuras?" Ferret's eye widened, "Don't look so surprised, you told my friend a lot more than that. Still no point worrying we should get over to the Freedom base, it's a little less 'crowded' will do and you'll find all the info you need, I can offer advice if you'd like, or you can go with whatever plan you may already have." Schwarz said chucking his pack over his shoulder and holstering the revolver.
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on May 17, 2010 20:08:53 GMT -5
Chuckling, Tarasov said "We share a common enemy, stalker, that's all. Every one of you 'Free' stalkers is an increase in our probability of defeating those mind controlled bastards. Tarasov out."
Re-attaching the radio to his shoulder, Tarasov turned back towards the other two members of his squad. "Hey, Yakov!" he barked, "Get up of your lazy ass, were moving." The hardened old captain swore as he pushed himself up, readjusting the RPG strapped across his back, and picking up his M3 shotgun, "A little respect towards your elders would do you well." he muttered. Laughing, Tarasov gave the Captain a hearty clap on the back, "Just doing my job, gramps." Dodging a kick aimed at him by the captain, they started towards the Monolith outpost.
Once they were within sight of the outpost, Tarasov whispered, "Stay low, and keep to the trees. Sergeant, I want you to head around to the southern ridge and provide sniper cover, radio me when you get there, keep using the Freedom frequency though, If they choose to join in I want them to know what's going on. Yakov, follow me."
Moving over to a large group of rocks, Tarasov flipped down the bi-pod on his rifle and crouched down behind a boulder. Setting the LSW up onto the rock, he peered through his scope at the outpost. There were at least twenty fanatics scattered around, and he could make out shadowy figures moving inside of the barracks. "I'm in position," Tarasov heard the sergeant say through the radio, "Ready to engage.". Looking up at the ridge, he could just see the barrel of the sergeants SVD protruding from a shrub. Pulling out his radio, Tarasov said
"Attention Freedomers, if you want to help, you have three minutes to get into position on the south road. If not, I would suggest steering clear of here until the fighting dies down."
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Post by Διμι on May 19, 2010 11:01:28 GMT -5
The rain was slowly dying down, the last of the drops now hitting the muddy ground. Meph knelt, picking up his rifle and disassembling it as quickly as the mechanism of the M16 could allow while the others talked. He carefully cleaned the gun's workings before putting it back together and slinging it over his back.
"Still no point worrying we should get over to the Freedom base, it's a little less 'crowded' will do and you'll find all the info you need", he heard the mercenary say to Ferret. Freedom HQ was indeed the place he was headed to, but it would be a damn right folly to think that getting out once the job was done would be that easy.
"Freedom hasn't exactly been on friendly terms with the bandits," the Asian muttered, turning to the mercenary "if they somehow find out, we'll be hanging from the nearest tree, or better, serving as warning signs near their reputed minefield. But a job's a job, I suppose. What else has your little 'contact' told you about?" he asked the mercenary "maybe he had any handy tips on walking out of Freedom's base alive once we're through with this?"
Sokol treated the surrounding area with a circumspect glance. "No need for sending more than two heavy guns to the south." he mused "Leave the explosives here. I doubt anyone will come looking for them in the neck of the woods." the three Freedomers in exoskeletons carefully set down their loads and drew their MG36s. Sokol turned to the three loners that had come with the group "go and back those guys up," he said simply. The three stalkers quickly checked their equipment and followed duly behind the three heavily armed Freedom gunners.
"We'll need to ring the area with snipers," he said "once the Monolithians start retreating, it shouldn't be a problem for the folks on the road to pick them off, but we'll have to slam them pretty hard, and from all sides in order to bottleneck their forces like that" he explained. He slotted a new magazine into his Arctic Warfare rifle, propping it up on its bipod, and turned to the Comandant and Maginot. "Your call," he said simply.
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Post by Karcentric on May 21, 2010 4:59:42 GMT -5
Schwarz thought about what Meph had said especially the getting back out. "Well if you intend to do in Freedom's Commandant I'd suggest something quiet and at night. As for getting back out, there was a section of wall that a pack of rouge Dutiers blew up a few years ago before wiping out the base. I hear it's been pretty badly rebuilt since that. Getting over the wall on the outside is difficult, but the pile of junk they have reinforcing the wall that can be climbed quickly and easily. You'd need a distraction, mutant attack or something to keep the guards looking away from the inside of the base, watching for more mutants."
Pausing for a breath Schwarz looked at the stalkers in turn figuring how to mask their identity, "As for your faction, turn your PDAs off and hid them artifacts, say you were held up by bandits." Schwarz smiling at the irony of what he said. "If they ask, tell them to talk to me, I have some documents that give access to all areas. And it also means guards can't ask questions."
Shifting as droplets of water began to fall on him, Schwarz rubbed them off his mask, looking at the quiet stalker who had been sitting looking at everyone else he asked her, "What about you? What are you doing up here?"
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Post by Basil on May 23, 2010 15:37:10 GMT -5
Balalaïka looked coldly up at the mercenary.
"Almost the same reason why Mr Matrix and Robin Hood are here. I was promised a juicy reward by Duty to take out Freedom's commandant. By the way, judging from what Voronin told me about her and what I've hear, attacking the commandant at night sounds like a very, very bad idea."
The short woman stood up and winced as at the aches in her muscles. The cold, damp, physical exertion and poor sleeping conditions were beginning to take their toll on Balalaïka's already strained muscles. As she stood up, she realised how small she was next to the mercenary and felt slightly ridiculous and out of place. A feeling which was quickly dispelled by the comforting presence of the SVD.
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Post by Διμι on May 23, 2010 17:10:40 GMT -5
"Almost the same reason why Mr Matrix and Robin Hood are here. I was promised a juicy reward by Duty to take out Freedom's commandant. By the way, judging from what Voronin told me about her and what I've hear, attacking the commandant at night sounds like a very, very bad idea." the small loner answered the looming mercenary before her.
Meph looked up "Don't make me laugh," he sneered derisively "even if she's some sort of cave bat with grade-A night vision, she won't be nearly prepared for an assassination attempt in her own base. As for the rest of the Freedomers, if there is indeed a way over the wall in the back, we'll get away, and if not, I'll hop over it anyway while you get shot." the Asian sheathed both of his blades, and began to fill the small pack he carried with his remaining gear, including his grey and black Wind of Freedom suit.
Outside, the sun had finally set over the horizon, plunging the Zone into darkness. Light from a campfire within the compound flickered off of the guard tower looming over the walls. Meph surveyed the structure. The man atop it slowly paced to and fro, occasionally taking the time to stare at the group by the farmstead before turning away and continuing his duties.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the Asian said finally, turning to the rest of the group "about time we get this done and over with. We'll go through the front door, do the job, and get way whichever way we can. Unless any of you have a better idea?" the bandit tilted his head, probing each stalker next to him with an inquisitive look.
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