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Post by Karcentric on Jun 16, 2010 13:26:05 GMT -5
The kick from Balalaïka had shocked Schwarz dropping him painfully into his knee, something had snapped in her mind he thought, seconds later the massive explosion knocked everyone off there feet, singeing hair from anyone who wasn't protected, pulling himself up he watched as the chemicals began searing Balalaïka's skin. She had managed to crawl away, a small trail lead into the forest. I'll look for her after the scorcher is dealt with. He scanned the area over 1km radius on his PDA picking up no new signals.
Looking around slightly dazed he trudged over to Adder pushing her rifle to her side with his foot, pushing through the Freedomers who were crowding around. "I hate to interrupt but Sokol and Maginot were hiding very close to those barrels when they went off, with that distraction the assassins could easily close the gap on us and we need to make haste." Said offering his hand to help her up.
"The explosive bearers made good progress, however the labs will need to be secured first, obviously the explosives have to be planted at key points, not together and set with timers." Counting the remains of the group he looked them over, "You'll need four to go through the labs and kill any hostiles and the rest should wait, I'll take three heavies with MGs, give us 20 minutes assuming everything goes smoothly. If we take longer we'll be dealing with hostiles, but if someone was recently able to activate, and someone else was able to deactivate it, we shouldn't have any problems."
Adder nodded stiffly wincing from the pain in her shoulder and Schwarz jogged ahead catching up with the heavily armed soldiers who were looking around uneasily, "I'll need three of you to come with me, we're going to sweep through the lab, eliminate any hostiles, and pick the best areas to plant these explosives. Any volunteers?" The men stared at Schwarz blankly, "Fine you, you and you. Follow me. Hopefully it will be a simple task, the rest of you squad will be here soon. Let's move." Holding both SMGs in front of him he walked into the lab. The three men followed hesitantly creeping forward.
As Schwarz had suggested before the lab was virtually deserted apart from several withered, zombies lurched about sighing painfully, he shooting each one twice in the head. The lab was cleared in less than 10 minutes. Reaching a chamber deep with the lab, Schwarz looked at the control panel, running his finger over the broken switch, a body lay nearby, a large man in the dim light Schwarz found nothing on him, "Poor bastard mustn't of been sane, walking in here with no protection and activating this would be scrambled his brain pretty badly." Shining his light over the man he noted the bleeding from his ears, mouth, nose and eyes. "One of the charges will be placed here, another in the chamber that chamber there, the last one should be placed closer to the entrance. Let's get out of here, they'll be expecting us soon."
The men moved a lot quicker exiting than they did entering. Schwarz walking out last lifting his mask as he approached Adder and the rest of the group. "These men know where to place the charges and the lab is clear, they might encounter a zombie of two, but they're so frail you could blow them over. One thing you might be interested in, the man who activated the scorcher, his body is there looks like his brain melted and oozed out of multiple areas of his face."
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Post by Διμι on Jun 16, 2010 14:24:53 GMT -5
Meph pulled the bandaged Ferret up to the edge of the forest. "You're in no condition to be fighting, so just keep low, avoid any Freedomers that decide to hang around, and try not to pull any heroic stunts like you just did. I'll try to make this as quick as I can, even though I should have killed that sniper back in the clearing for a head start on those Freedomers."
The bandit loped off in the direction of the mysterious compound to the north in the direction of which the Freedomers had disappeared. It was time to finish his job in the Zone, and he would make it a quick and dirty one.
Sokol painfully came to. His face felt as if it had been hit by a sledgehammer, and would more than certainly bruise. The escaped bandit, as well as whoever had attacked him, were both gone. A small puddle of dried blood marked the ground where he had lain, however, no trail marked the path they had taken. A strange mix of a burnt petrol and an unidentified chemical permeated the air, so the Freedomer pulled his gas mask over. Evidently, the barrels the group had passed as they made their way up the road had exploded. Sokol found the remains of several guns and suits of armor, along with the body parts of their loner owners, but it seemed that the group had survived and moved in towards the Scorcher.
Without stopping to look if the Freedom leader Maginot had waited for him, the Freedomer broke into a brisk run towards the compound. He noticed that the remains of Freedom's expedition, including Schwarz, the Commandant, the three exo-stalkers and Penumbra had already cleared the area and were beginning to search out the spots to set up the explosives.
He walked up to the three Freedomers carrying the cases. "Disregard the peripheral lab chambers." he corrected Schwarz "those concrete walls are thick enough to channel the explosion away from the actual apparatus, and the Monolith bastards could still dig this place up even if we blew the entrance. We'll place two charges at antennae 2 and 4 to take them all down, and the last one right beneath them in the control room, between the two turbines."
Sokol watched contentedly as the three Freedomers split, one headed towards the lab entrance, the other two walked off with their burden in the direction of the antennae, keeping a safe distance between each other in case of an explosion. If his plan would be successful, the heavily centered explosion would both obliterate the control room and collapse it, along with the antennae, onto the extensive psy-emitter generator below, beneath the two turbines, which would channel the explosion downward when the roof caved in.
If the plan had ever gone right. Deep inside, Sokol had known that the Monolith would have never made anything this easy.
A tiny distortion in the air was all that was visible of the Gauss projectile, but then it was swept away by a shockwave of ignited air as the case of plastic explosive went off in the arms of one of the exo-suited stalkers. The Freedomer disappeared in a fireball of flame that then exploded in a blast that sent everyone in the squad tumbling to their feet, even though they were well over fifty meters away. Sokol could see that the second exo-stalker was getting to his feet and rushing over to the fallen container, shielding it before it too would get shot, while the last man was making his way to the tunnel entrance as fast as he could.
"Cover the bomb carriers!" Sokol roared, jumping to his feet and pulling out his sniper rifle. He located the Gauss Rifle bearing Monolithian in a second, and sent a .50 BMG slug through his head, bursting it into pieces. However, more troops in grey and brown were steadily pouring into the compound, as if the ambush had been planned all along. The Freedomers scattered and split, several of them taking cover behind various buildings to cover their companion who was carrying the case towards the antennae, while a single loner shielded the Freedomer who was headed towards the lab entrance. Sokol noticed that the man was using the Freedomer's MG36 to drive back the waves of assaulting forces. Then another explosion split the air through the roar of the gunfire from both sides.
The Freedomer had just managed to reach the antennae when the slug made contact with the explosives he was carrying. Another fireball blossomed at the base of the five structures, which shook and swayed with the force of the blast. Several of the advancing Monolithians were swept off their feet, while two that came too close were annihilated in an inferno that swept across the compound. A single of the emitting poles finally lost support and began to fall, crashing into the antenna next to it and forming a domino effect. The last, crooked antenna fell directly across the entrance to the compound, crushing three more zealots in the process.
"Fall back to the lab entrance!" Sokol yelled "protect the last man! We need to blow the control room and cooling turbines!" the remaining Freedomers began to pull back to join the loner gunner who was covering the exo-stalker's retreat to the portal leading into the Brain Scorcher lab.
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Post by Basil on Jun 16, 2010 15:23:09 GMT -5
"Fall back to the lab entrance!" Sokol yelled "protect the last man! We need to blow the control room and cooling turbines!"
Adder followed the others as bullets started to fly. Fanatics were closing in in large numbers, intent on protecting the Scorcher. The skin on her face and neck flared angrily as she moved, and her injured shoulder also protested from the sudden movement. Groaning slightly, she dashed towards one of the old train cars that seemed to stick out of the lab's entrance, all the while shooting at any visible Monolithians were her VSS.
One foolhardy Monolithian was hit in the shoulder by one of her bullets, and within minutes he was convulsing. The Monolithians dowsed the train cars with concentrated fire, and bullets slammed into the cars' wooden sides, sending splinters everywhere. The Freedomer carrying the explosives had gone through the train cars with a Penumbra member, and both were heading down the tunnel that lead into the bowels of the Scorcher facility. Adder and the remains of the loner-Penumbra coalition held their position at the entrance of the lab.
Adder shot at any Monolithian who came out from cover, sending her poisonous subsonic bullets flying at them. Five of them died from what would seem to be minor wounds, but their numbers did not thin.
"Hold the line, damn it!", shouted Adder before bursting into a coughing fit. The sudden thumping of helicopter blades signalled the arrival of the French UN gunships, an arrival which was promptly followed by a hail of machine gun fire and rockets.
This put more pressure on the Monolithians, who retreated somewhat. Adder then heard the familiar report of a sniper rifle somewhere above them, followed by a tall Monolithian being thrown over backwards by the impact of the bullet.
"-Hey Addie, thought I'd let you lot do all the fighting?", she heard Maginot say over her radio. He had obviously heard the racket and dashed over to the facility to help.
One of the Tiger helicopters performed a strafing run on a bunch of Monolithians hiding behind a line of old boxes and sand bags. Two rockets blasted the makeshift barricade and sent several fanatics flying like grotesque puppets. As the chopper fired at the Monolithians, Adder suddenly saw one of them emerge from behind an old lorry and raise an RPG to his shoulder.
"Oh shit."
The Tiger helicopter was unable to evade the rocket propelled grenade as it flew towards it. The explosive projectile impacted on the helicopter's rear rotor, ripping the aircraft's tail apart and sending metal flying everywhere. Adder noted with satisfaction that the rotor was sent spinning into a hapless fanatic, literally cutting him in half at torso level. The RPG wielding fanatic loaded another projectile into his weapon and fired at the defenders of the lab's entrance.
"TAKE COVER!" shouted Adder before throwing herself onto the ground and coughing uncontrollably. The missile slammed into the train carriage behind her, ripping the roof and most of its side facing the fanatics. As Adder got back up, she saw RPG Man go down as Maginot shot him from atop his perch.
The loner next to her gave a strangled cry of pain as a bullet slammed into his throat. He slumped onto his back, clawing at his ruined throat as he died a gurgling death. Adder swore and took aim at a fanatic hiding behind a building, a few metres away. As he emerged to shoot at the defenders, she squeezed off two rounds, hitting him squarely in the face and neck and killing him dead.
A Penumbra member next to her fell dead as a bullet smashed into his skull. With a hoarse curse, Adder grabbed a grenade from his belt, armed it and sent it flying blindly at the enemy. The explosion came a few minutes later, and was accompanied by two cries of pain. The remaining attack helicopter did another strafing run on the Monolithians, and an old trailer was blown sky high by an explosive rocket. The Scorcher facility was now more akin to a war torn battlefield than an abandoned laboratory. From somewhere next to her she heard Serpenson radio someone about something in French.
Suddenly, her own radio squawked:
"We...at...switch..."
The message was so laden with static that Adder was barely able to make out what was being said.
"...cing explosives! The tim...broken...can't...get out...."
Adder's face darkened as she realised what was happening.
"This...our last run...Boss...SVOBODAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
The radio squawked one last time as the communication was cut brutally short. The ground shook violently, and a sound akin to WHUMP was heard. Adder looked back at the tunnel entrance and saw the remains of the train carriage get tossed forward by a violent blast. The Freedomers who had gone into the underground lab had sacrificed themselves to destroy the Scorcher.
The transport helicopter that had deposited Serpenson and his men flew downwards and landed, its rotors spinning away. Serpenson and his men rushed towards the aircraft, gesturing for the others to follow. Adder left cover and rushed to the aircraft before clambering aboard.
Another similar helicopter arrived as the one Adder was in took off, a few bullets pinging off its side. She saw the other people on the ground rush aboard the helicopter before she flew away and over the facility's wall.
As she flew over the wall and the road, she saw Maginot clambering out of a large fault that seemed to have been caused by the explosion, probably where the tunnels had caved in. She watched the ground below in silence...they had succeeded.
"Attention!", shouted the pilot before the helicopter was brutally knocked off course. Adder realised with horror that they were losing altitude, and that the Red Forest below was drawing closer and closer...the helicopter's spinning form slammed down into the trees next to the road, smashing branches and throwing the people inside its passenger bay around like insects in a glass. Adder was thrown out of the aircraft and was lucky to land on a thick bed of dead leaves which cushioned her fall.
Dazed, she struggled to her feet. The helicopter lay on the ground a few metres away. Its motor had caught fire and was busily burning.
"It's gonna blow", she croaked as she struggled away and slumped down behind an old tree.
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Maginot stared in speechlee shock as one of the DGSE's helicopters was hit by an RPG and went careening down into the forest. A few minutes earlier, he had fallen down into the crater the caving in tunnel below him created and had escaped with what was probably a few broken ribs.
Where was Adder? Was she on that helicopter? He didn't know. He hurried towards the crash site, but his efforst were cut short when an explosion shook the forest. The helicopter had blown up.
I hope Serpenson died...not Adder, please not Adder.
The second helicopter flew over where he stood and headed off towards where the first fight against the Monolith had happened...hopefully Sokol had escaped too.
Panting, Maginot made his way across the road, ignoring the Monolithian's shouts from behind him, and scrambled up the bank. Once in the forest, he set off in the general direction of the downed helicopter.
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Post by Διμι on Jun 16, 2010 17:32:21 GMT -5
Sokol watched as the two helicopters peeled off. Maginot seemed to be injured, but was moving, climbing out of the hole made by the collapsed mechanism. The remains of the antennae were scattered about, some having caved along with the control room, some still lying on the ground. Thick clouds of smoke caused by the Tigers' missiles blew across the clearing. Sokol could hear another explosion somewhere outside the compound.
Monolith troops were still milling about, searching and shooting indiscriminately, having noticed that they had failed. Some of the DGSE's men from the transport chopper, as well as one of the fallen gunships had been left behind, and were now struggling to fight back against the invading forces.
It was time to leave, the Freedomer decided. Lifting his AW50, he fired twice more at a group of advancing Monolith soldiers that had taken a stealthier route along the facility's wall. One fell, his arm blown clear off, the other, having lost the top of his head, stood for a moment before collapsing. Sokol quickly sprinted to the wall, and leapt up the ladder of one of the old wooden watch towers that rose over it. He quickly climbed atop the structure and smashed out the rotten panels that shielded it from the side facing the Forest. Turning around, he sent several more .50 cal rounds at the Monolith forces storming the area, each of which found their mark, and threw the empty magazine out, slotting his third and last one in.
Cradling his rifle, the sniper jumped from the tower, clean over the wall and landed onto the ground outside. He hoped Maginot would be smart enough to do the same instead of risking facing the entire Monolith force by taking the entrance. The Freedomer noticed a pillar of smoke rising from an area not far from him. The explosion he had heard earlier had evidently been caused by another of the DGSE's choppers hitting the ground. Sokol did a quick mental head count. All five of Adder's Penumbra were apparently dead, and the Commandant herself was nowhere to be seen. The three gunners had sacrificed themselves, along with the single loner that was not killed by the explosion on the road. He and Maginot were alone, if Maginot survived, that is.
Suddenly, the Freedomer could feel a strange sensation. The massive rifle dropped from his hands, as the feeling in the lower half of his body seemed to disappear. Looking down, he could see the end of a thin blade protruding from his abdomen. The sword edge withdrew itself, and Sokol felt his body give out beneath him. As he stumbled forward, he saw a small dark shape, growing ever blurrier, step aside, and slowly disappear into the forest, which melded into a blur of brown and gray. Everything was becoming a blur now.
The sniper now saw a bright blue, flickering light fill his vision. His body felt light, lighter than air, and now he was lifting up into the air, as if someone was carrying him. Finally, his mind went blank, and the Freedomer's eyes closed as he gave in to the tantalizing blue glow.
The AW50 lay in a small pool of blood by the wall of the facility. The weapon looked out of place without its owner beside it, the latter having disappeared, gone to a place of no return.
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Post by Basil on Jun 16, 2010 18:31:56 GMT -5
Pain.
Balalaïka moaned as she bandaged her burnt hand. The skin was practically black and it hurt like a million red hot shards were digging into it. Thankfully, the medical supplies she had also included a cream made with soothing chemicals and artefacts known for their medical properties. She smeared copious quantities of the pale orange cream on her agonised skin, moaning in relief as the burning pain receded.
Her eyesight had returned and did not seem to have suffered. The incredible, almost cruel misfortune from which she had suffered was still carved into her mind. How could fate be so cruel to her?
"That fucking Commandant", she muttered viciously, "that fucking, mutant whore..."
She finished rubbing the cream onto her face and stood up with difficulty. Her skin still hurt despite the soothing cream, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it. She tried to get her bearings, but found she was completely unable to do so in her shocked state.
Balalaïka set off through the woods, not knowing where she was going. A branch slapped against her burned skin, and she cried out as at the sudden pain. A mutant dog howled somewhere in the distance.
Finally she emerged from the forest and found herself near the place where she had fought the Commandant and almost won. She stumbled down the bank , carefully avoiding the smoldering remains of the barrel stack and heading towards the wall surrounding the facility. She heard the remaining Monolithians inside the facility's large yard but ignored them, letting her eyes settle on an interesting object by the side of the road.
She went over to it and examined it. It was a very bulky rifle, probably an anti-materiel one, the kind that could easily rip a man in two. She picked it up, intent on taking it for herself, but as she was about to try and stuff it into her rucksack, a sudden wave of despair overcame her.
She fell to her knees, leaning on the .50 cal rifle. As she stared down at the ground, she saw her face in a puddle: her face was partially blackened by the chemical, and the affected skin seemed to have a rough, ruffled texture like scrunched up paper. Her left eyebrow was gone and her eye's white was horrible red and irritated. A strand of her raven black hair also seemed to have been bleached by the chemical.
Balalaïka took a long, shuddering breath before turning her eyes up to the sky.
"WHY??", she yelled in a cracked voice, "WHY HAVE YOU DESERTED ME??!!!"
She had never believed in God. A supposedly benevolent deity who let innocent people get dragged into hellish situations was either an evil entity or simply didn't exist. Why Balalaïka was appealing to some higher presence was beyond her. She just felt a deep, visceral despair and needed something to cry out to.
"Why...is life so futile...?", she sobbed. Life had always fucked her over, wether it be being forced to give her body to strangers or mutilating her.
"The Commandant...she did this...she...she needs to DIE", she hissed, "only the strong survive...there are no inherent moral laws to life...I was foolish to believe things would work out eventually...they never do...the world is full of wolves, and if you don't become a wolf, you die..."
She rocked back and forth slowly before once again raising her head to the sky. She burst into a sobbing, insane laugh. Now she knew what she would do...
Balalaïka stood up, ignoring the pain her burns caused her. Soon the Zone would tremble before her, she would see the weak driven before her and squirm beneath her cruel blows. The Commandant would be trampled into the dirt and her flesh violently desecrated. Balalaïka cackled and set off towards the forest.
As she entered the forest, she smelled the familiar smell of burning coming from somewhere...what was it? She vaguely recalled hearing a resounding crash from somewhere in the woods.
Balalaïka headed deeper into the forest, .50 cal rifle in tow and following the smell. As she progressed between the stunted trees, she heard a sharp crack to her right and turned to face the new threat.
She saw the Asian assassin, who had obviously stepped on a dead branch while trying to sneak past. Balalaïka stared silently at him for a moment before bursting out into an insane laugh.
"Ahhhh, Mr Matrix", she said, her voice a hoarse growl due to the smoke and heat she had been exposed to earlier, "I bid you farewell!"
And with that, she left, moving towards what she estimated to be the direction of the road she and her ex-comrades had followed. About fifteen minutes later, she emerged on top of the bank next to the Red Forest road. As she prepared to go down, she heard a weak moan nearby and, her curiosity aroused, went to check out the source.
She found Ferret lying on the ground and obviously badly injured. The fool had tried to pull some heroic feat, and Balalaïka briefly considered killing him before she decided talking to him was best.
"Well hey Ferret" she said with a cruel, carnivorous smirk, "how's it crackin'? Not too good apparently, I guess your selfless nature backfired!"
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jun 16, 2010 22:15:41 GMT -5
"Well hey Ferret, how's it crackin'? Not too good apparently, I guess your selfless nature backfired!"
The rookie's eyes fluttered open to see Balalaïka looming over him. Her face as well as most of her skin was burnt by some kind of chemical resin.
"Better then you, stupid bitch," he said not thinking about what he said as he continued to let the words roll out of his mouth, " At least I still have my skin."
"Didn't you learn from the first fuck up you had with the Commandant?" he sneered, "I guess not, other wise you would not look like a piece of fucking shit right now."
Letting out a small chuckle he continued,
"I feel like a fucking moron," he said as he closed his eyes and mused, "try to help some poor dumb slut, that's way over her pretty little head, just to end up with three rounds in my side."
"I should have just mugged your sorry ass that night," he said as he opened his eyes again and rested a pail hand on his stomach, "and left you for the dogs."
"So what are you going to do now," he asked when he didn't get an respond he started up again, " Duty doesn’t want you, Freedom wants you dead, you fucked over your rep with the loners. You can try to whore yourself in Dark Valley but I doubt that any bandit would want to lay up with you now."
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Post by Διμι on Jun 16, 2010 23:12:04 GMT -5
Meph calmly watched as the half-fried woman walked away. With a smirk, he noted that she now carried the massive rifle that belonged to the tall Freedom sniper he had cut down hardly minutes ago. Quite the opportunist, aren't you? he thought, still staring as Balalaika slowly walked off in the direction where Ferret lay. Without much thought to it, he waited until the girl was out of sight, and then followed her, eager to see what would happen.
Out of the shadows, he noted the two had engaged in some sort of verbal argument. The sight almost made him laugh. They could knock their heads together, for all he cared, it wouldn't change a thing. But, he noted duly, although both of them had failed, he hadn't succeeded yet either. He needed neither of them anymore, although they had served as the perfect cover and distraction for him to inflict the first major fatality on the Freedom forces. Then there was still the mysterious second assassin, he thought, the man who had shot at the group, and found his mark from several hundred meters away. Finding him, and perhaps establishing his motive and attitude to Meph himself would no doubt be a worthwhile task. In the meantime, he would check on the helicopter.
Finding the crashed machine was easy - the rising pillar of smoke and flame from the explosion gave its position away clearly. Meph examined the twisted and scorched remains of the vehicle. Several bodies in official-looking uniforms lay inside. Some sort of secret service, Meph decided. Freedom's Commandant, however, was nowhere to be found. The bandit muttered a curse word. The hunt was still on, and at large, but not here, he decided. Now that his allies had broken down, and Schwarz had most likely defected to the Freedom cause, he would be outnumbered, outgunned, and more importantly, without any idea of his enemy's location in the Forest.
The bandit cautiously emerged onto the road, and crossed it to the side from which the second assailant had initially attacked the Freedomers. The Asian figured that he would have better chances negotiating with this mysterious figure than stalking the Commandant as well as the remains of her expedition on her side of the road. They would be much easier to track once they had entered the Army Warehouses. Unhurried and cautious, Meph slowly began to make his way through the brush, south.
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Post by Karcentric on Jun 17, 2010 0:37:05 GMT -5
After the intense firefight Schwarz had managed to back away killing several monolith with his revolver, taking up one of the fallen fanatic's SIG 550 and several magazines, running from cover to cover he was eventually managed to get to the relative safety of the forest, the fanatics seemed content to fire from their ruined compound over chasing the retreating force away. Leaning against a tree he let a deep sigh, it had been nearly a year since he had seen proper action and had been doubting he again. "About time I saw some action." He said to himself quietly while he reloaded his weapons, looking at the forest he cursed himself for not grabbing a shotgun. You'll have to worry about that later. He thought.
Looking up he could see a pillar of smoke from the downed helicopter, he waited several minutes before getting up peering cautiously towards the ruined base he saw nobody approaching so he carefully crept towards the helicopter, to voices became quiet clear as he got closer he saw Balalaika and Ferret having a heated argument standing quiet and watching the two argue for a while eventually Ferret asked "So what are you going to do now, Duty doesn’t want you, Freedom wants you dead, you fucked over your rep with the loners. You can try to whore yourself in Dark Valley but I doubt that any bandit would want to lay up with you now."
"Well if I was young Balalaika I'd go to Yantar to have those burns treated, they've dealt with worse cases. With Freedom scattered I'm leaving heading back to the bar and then on to Yantar. Whatever you do goodluck." Schwarz said to both of the young stalkers chucking a medikit to each of them. Shrugging he lowered his mask and walked into the forest taking a direct path towards the barricade between Ref Forest and the Army Warehouses.
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Post by Basil on Jun 17, 2010 2:58:52 GMT -5
"...and do I look like I care?", said Balalaïka to Ferret once Schwarz had left. The mercenary was even more of a fool than she had thought. She was also getting tired of the injured bandit, and was now wondering how funny it would be to shove the barrel of the AW50 into his face and pull the trigger at point blank range. "Do I look like I want to associate with any kind of scummy little faction?"
She crouched down next to the wounded bandit, grunting from the effort and pain it took her to do so with the heavy rifle she had taken earlier on and the burns on her skin.
"You see, about the whoring part of your helpful suggestion, I don't think I'll do that. I already did that kind of job before and found I wasn't qualified enough. I just couldn't take my mind away from the moment like the other girls did. I couldn't help but notice the fact some fat, ugly man was between my legs thrusting and grunting and pawing at my body and calling me names like 'slut' and 'little whore'...they all liked the second patronym very much."
Balalaïka's voice did not even carry any anger, only a strange reflective tone. Her eyes had become progressively lost in the distance as she remembered those ugly days back in Belarus. After some time spent in reflection, she snapped back to Ferret, and an ugly smile spread across her face.
"Ya know," she said conversationally, "The first time in that brothel was stupendously painful, wanna know why?"
Ferret was merely staring up at her, as if unsure what to say.
"I was a virgin!", said Balalaïka as if it were the punch line of some hilarious joke, "a virgin! HA! Gosh I bled so much!"
She laughed for ten minutes before bursting intoa coughing fit that lasted for two. Once she had gotten her lungs back under her control, she returned her attention to the prone bandit, a small trickle of blood having run down her lower lip. Her ugly smile changed a bit and became even uglier as her eyes widened and her mouth twisted downwards at one end.
"That's a nasty wound you have here", she said in a dangerous half whisper, "I wonder what would happen if...if someone were to..."
In a flash, Balalaïka grabbed hold of the bandit, pinning him to the ground. As he struggled in her grasp, she let her free hand slowly caress his bandaged injury before brutally clamping it down on it and squeezing the tortured skin and flesh in her hand. This produced a satisfyingly pained scream from her victim.
"Oh, you like that dontcha? Huh? Feels good? Because I'm enjoying that...yeah, just keep on squirming!"
She finally let go of Ferret and stood up, slamming her boot down on his crotch to add insult and more pain to injury.
"I will kill that snake-eyed whore", she said in a hissing whisper, "I'll get a knife and rape her fucking cunt with it before cutting her two eyes out and making a necklace with them...as for the Zone's other faggot denizens, they'd better not fuck with me because I'll make them give a blowjob to my SVD before blowing their testicles off and listening to their screams."
She lifted her boot from Ferret's crotch before walking away. Before she left she turned around and smiled at the rookie bandit.
"Ya know, I thought you were quite the handsome man despite the whole bandit thing...which is why I'll let you live. Once you're back on your feet, I'll find ya and I'll rape ya before slitting your throat. Sayonara, bratishka!"
She left the injured bandit and arrived on top of the bank overlooking the Red Forest road. She struggled down the abrupt slope and soon found herself walking back the way she and her ex-comrades had come.
Some time later, she arrived at the small guard post and saw a fire flickering there. She hid behind a rock and observed the scene: two people, obviously bandits, were sitting and talking quietly next to a fire. Balalaïka smiled and propped the AW50 on the rock, taking aim at the two men.
The Red Forest echoed with two thunderous reports. Before falling silent again.
Balalaïka emerged from her hiding place and skipped over to where the two bandits lay. One of them had a huge hole in his belly and had fallen head first into the fire. Balalaïka laughed as she saw the flames consume his hair and balaclava before slowly spreading to the less flammable leather coat he was wearing.
The second bandit had half his head missing, but that wasn't funny. Balalaïka looted the two corpses, ignoring the two AK-74U rifles who seemed to have been stomped on repeatedly before being left in a ditch for a month. As she went through Mr Oversized Belly Button's belongings, she found a pistol encased in a brown plastic butt.
She extratced the gun from its strange holster and examined it: it was bigger than a Makarov, and also seemed to have been taken better care of by its previous owner. Balalaïka noticed a small switch on its side, and flicked it before aiming at a random point and squeezing the trigger.
The gun let out an unexpected burst and bucked so strongly that she almost lost control of the thing. She stopped shooting and smirked, turning her new prize over in her hands.
"I like you, lil' fella, you have guts". She put the pistol back into its ugly holster before examining the other bandit's belongings and finding a long double edged bayonet with one side of its blade shaped like saw teeth. Her examination of the blade was cut short however as another bandit emerged groggily from the guard house with an empty bottle of vodka clutched in one hand.
"-Wha...what's goin' on...?" he slurred, looking confusedly at Balalaïka. His eyes widened as he set eyes on the bodies of his two fallen comrades, but he did not have time to reach for the shotgun he was carrying as Balalaïka lunged forward and stabbed the bayonet into his throat.
The bandit gave a strangled sound of pain and struggled as Balalaïka began to sing and slowly cut his throat open.
"Incy wincy spider, climbed up the water spout..."
The bayonet's blade cut through the man's flesh, bringing on a fresh flow of blood that formed a pool on the ground.
"...down came the rain and WASHED the spider out!", concluded Balalaïka as she cut his carotid artery, sending a vigorous jet of blood spurting outward with every one of the dying man's heartbeats.
Wiping some blood from her hands on the bandit's leather jacket, she spat on his now ash grey and dead face before setting off again.
Life was quite glorious now...quite glorious.
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Adder froze as the two loud gunshots resonated through the now eerily quiet forest. Some time before, she had willed herself to stand up and leave the crash site. Her legs felt like they were made of jelly, and the skin on her face flared angrily. Her injured shoulder was also causing her a good deal of pain.
But despite all this, she had managed to leave the crash site, find her bearings and set off towards the area where she had last seen Maginot. A few minutes later, she saw the French stalker making his way through the trees and panting.
"Adder!", he said, his voice heavy with relief, "thank God you're all right!"
To Adder's surprise, Maginot put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"-Well that's...affectionate", she said, amused.
"-Have you seen any of the others? Serpenson? Tarasov? Sokol?"
Adder gave the question some thought...had she seen Tarasov? No. She hadn't seen him at the crash site. As for the Major, she had definitely seen him, his lifeless body lying comically on the fallen tree trunk his back had landed on so brutally after he was ejected during the crash.
"-I haven't seen Sokol or Tarasov...but I've seen Serpenson. He's dead."
Maginot laughed at that, relief even stronger in his voice and demeanour. "Good!", he said, "the fucker had it coming! Now come on, let's get out of here."
As they set off through the forest, Adder noticed Maginot wince in pain.
"It's nothing", he assured her when he saw her concerned look, "I broke a few ribs when that fucking crater opened below me. If they had done any real damage I'd probablt be dead now."
A sudden outburst of growling and baying echoed through the dark undergrowth.
"Dogs", said Maginot quietly.
"-Da, the crash probably attracted them, let's get the hell out of here", said Adder before accelerating her progress.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jun 17, 2010 18:17:51 GMT -5
Ferret wallowed in the pain and humiliation that Balalaïka had inflicted upon him. What was worse, the crazed woman had pushed the slugs deeper into his body and opened up the wounds and he knew for sure Meph was not coming back this time. He now watched as his lifeblood pored out of him and on to the ground. It began to rain as blood mixed with water, dirt and mud. "Is this it," he thought as he looked up to the sky is vision began to darken and blood pooled around him. As darkness and pain consumed him he thought he could feel someone grab hold of him and lift him up. The darkness passed briefly as the rookie bandit could feel himself being carried some where, yet all he could do was let out a weak moan as the darkness returned once more.
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Post by Basil on Jun 17, 2010 18:33:12 GMT -5
Adder and Maginot had stumbled on Ferret. It was obvious the rookie bandit was badly injured, and both Freedomers clearly remembered him getting shot by one of the loners. Someone had bandaged his injuries, but the latter had started to bleed again in a rather alarming manner.
"Hé, hé gamin, t'es toujours avec nous?", said Maginot in French as he gently patted the young bandit's face with his hand. Ferret's eyes merely fluttered at the Freedom leader's gestures.
"-He's got a nasty wound", said Adder, bending down to grab hold of the young man's legs. She winced and almost moaned at the pain that move caused in her injured shoulder. "There's a medic down at the Barrier. Hopefully the bastard is still alive and isn't drunk or high!"
Maginot and Adder carefully lifted the semi-unconscious bandit off from the ground and did their best to carry him down the slope. Against all odds, they managed to get down onto the flat, asphalt surface of the road leading back to the Barrier and civilization.
"-Let's hope he's a tough fucker", said Maginot as he and Adder struggled along the road. Adder's face was contorted in pain from her shoulder, and Maginot's broken ribs were not making the task any easier. Despite all this, the two Freedomers kept on struggling to get the rookie bandit out of the Red Forest.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jun 18, 2010 19:57:29 GMT -5
"I..I'm alive?" Ferret awoke groggily; light flooded his vision as his eyes adjusted to the light he found that he was in some kind of trailer.
"Hey good to see ya in the world of the living, kid," said a rather burly looking Freedomer on his arm he had a red cross, obviously he was a medic.
"Where am I," asked the rookie bandit confused.
" The Barrier kid, the Boss and the Commandant pulled your ass out the of Red Forest, they where pretty roughed up but they still managed to get you here," said the medic, "oh, speaking of which, they said once your up they wanted to talk with ya."
With that the medic left to give the two freedom leaders the news.
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Post by Basil on Jun 19, 2010 4:52:42 GMT -5
"So. You saw a short, female and badly burnt loner go through here about fifteen or twenty minutes ago?"
The Freedomer nodded. "I asked her about all the noise we heard earlier...the explosions and shit. She said bad stuff was going on, with the Monolith and everything, but when I asked her if she wanted some medical care she declined and left in the direction of the Western Red Forest."
Maginot, who had asked the man about Balalaïka in the first place, frowned deeply. Adder had told him about the young woman's misfortune and apparent madness, and having her wandering around in her state was not a good idea. Adder shook her head and grabbed her radio, contacting the Freedomers stationed at the checkpoint that lead to the Western part of the forest and Forester's old home.
"-If you see a short woman with badly burned skin and a tattered leather jacket, stop her immediately", she told the guard. The guard's answer almost made her fly into a rage.
"-Damn...we saw someone just like that a few minutes ago. She went right past our barricade and seemed in a hurry to be on her way. She's gone now."
Adder cursed quietly before Mag put a hand on her shoulder.
"-Calm down, Adder. She won't survive very long in the forest with her burns."
The Commandant shook her head slowly. She didn't believe Maginot at all. What she had seen in Balalaïka's eyes was more than just insanity, it was a sheer, murderous determination to strike back at any sentient beings, especially Adder.
She suddenly saw the Barrier's medic approach.
"-Boss, Commandant? The bandit is awake now."
"-Ah good", said Maginot before striding off towards the trailer. Adder followed reluctantly.
As they entered the trailer, they saw that the young bandit was indeed awake. Maginot pulled a stool up towards the bandit's mattress, sat down and spoke to him. Adder skulked at the back, leaning against the wall.
"So. First of all, I'd like to know everything you know about the Asian assassin and the young woman named Balalaïka. The first one is an obvious danger, but we have good reason to believe the latter poses a new and especially great threat to Freedom and its Commandant.
"Also, I doubt your bandit comrades will rejoice at seeing you return without your assassin comrade and after being captured by Freedom. I hear they don't really take kindly to rookies fucking up. What will you do then?"
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jun 19, 2010 6:54:28 GMT -5
"His name is Meph," said Ferret now loosening his lips for the first time, "works for the Mafiya, don't know who his boss is, just that who ever he is he's got a lot of power and wealth."
"Balalaïka," he said knowing that he would not be able to return to Dark valley after what he told them about Meph, "She was hired by Duty and before she came here she was forced to work in a brothel, I think she is heading to Yantar."
"I don't know what I'll do now," he said honestly, "I can't go back to the bandits. I guess I could take a PDA off some dead guy and see if I can scrape by."
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Post by Basil on Jun 19, 2010 7:29:01 GMT -5
"And how about joining Svoboda?", said Maginot, "you'll be living in a free society and benefit from our protection, not to mention Adder's crack squad of night ninjas."
He glanced back at Adder and saw her eyes widen. She scoffed.
"-You're kidding, right? The guy caused us trouble and was in league with two assassins..."
"-Hush hush, Adder. Give the kid a chance". Adder seemed about to come up with some scathing répartie before simply lapsing into a sullen silence.
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