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Post by Karcentric on Dec 24, 2010 15:07:00 GMT -5
Renegade followed quietly careful not to make any noise. As they arrived at the massive structure he looked at it in awe. Despite all that had befallen this building it still stood tall and proud. Half listening as the ex-Dutier talked to Peregrine.
Renegade eventually settled down in a quiet part of the large structure and slowly dozed off, unaware that their movements had been tracked since they arrived in the Garbage.
"Which one is Malygin?" a merc asked, watching the group as they headed for the depot.
"I'd say it's the guy in the lead, wearing that fancy winter coat." A second merc replied, looking through his binoculars, "any ideas who they'll send."
"For what, tracking a group of rookies?" They'll probably ask us to do it." The first merc replied. "If this group really does have Dmitri Malygin in it however, the commander will probably send one of his own agents."
"Why do they want to find him?" The second merc asked.
"His brother had an ability to withstand pretty much any type of psi emission. The boss want's to know if his little brother shares that trait." A third merc answered from behind them both, flicking his long dreadlocks to stop them freezing, El took up his own binoculars, scanning the group. "Gentlemen, I believe our target is acquired. We'll need more then a possible sighting to confirm he's the man were looking for. Glass, get yourself in there. Don't approach him directly. Once you get his name message back. Make it quick too, I don't want to freeze to death while you warm your hands."
El and the other merc watched as the merc named Glass made his way from the ex-flea market and was taken in by the loners at the depot.
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Dec 25, 2010 2:04:33 GMT -5
Skomorokh sat up from the corner he had been resting in. Sleep was impossible, the loners near their fires were too boisterous. Picking up his Balalaika, Skomorokh strummed out a tune and walked around the depot. The loners stopped momentarily to identify the sound of his playing, then returned to their conversations. Snow was seeping in through gaps in the roof and the draft inside the hole filled building pushed it around, effectively bringing a lesser part of the storm into their shelter.
Skomorokh's walk around the depot eventually brought him to the place where Peregrine was sleeping. He stood a ways off, still playing, until the loner began to stir. Skomorokh sat down on the ledge above the loner, "The others follow you." He said, "Willingly. You have the air of a leader about you. They trust you, yet they barely know you." Skomorokh paused for a moment, then continued "The world has need for men like you, so what are you doing here? The Zone needs leaders, yes, but it tends to make them...through hardship, loss and desperation...few of them come willingly, it tends to draw in the more, how shall I put it? Unsavory types."
As the Loner rubbed the sleep from his eyes, Skomorokh smiled slightly. If he could gain this ones trust, the rest would come easily. He could make a pretty penny from the rabble in the dark valley for their equipment and that suit looked warm. Very warm.
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Post by Διμι on Dec 25, 2010 5:42:41 GMT -5
"Much like you, no? You unsavory inspiration machine." muttered Peregrine, rising up. As the light of the fire slowly died down into gently glowing coals, the loners dispersed and slowly made their makeshift shelters for the night. The loner glanced around to see a new arrival in the camp. The man was dressed in a light gray armored vest, and a gas mask was pulled over his face. Although the stalker's eyes were hidden from sight behind the tinted lenses, Peregrine couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring at him. Finally, the mysterious stalker turned about and walked off to the other side of the expansive hangar.
The loner turned back to the man beside him. "I've got a job of my own in the Zone, Skomorokh." he continued "And it's a job I know rather little about at that. I wouldn't want to know I've led a group of stalkers into something that turned out to be a deathtrap, especially one that bastards like Sidorovich send stalkers out to at their own leisure."
He stared at the dying fire for several seconds before speaking again "A real leader knows both risk and reward, and it is his job to make sure the team understands them both. The rest, your little 'unsavory' ones, are little more than manipulators that deserve nothing other than contempt."
"Don't ask me to lead a cause I have no knowledge of." he said finally, looking up at the man above him "If you need help, I will gladly give it, but I will not be a magnet to draw stalkers into a void that I myself have not seen." Peregrine fell silent. His mission was his own, the rest of the fatefully assembled group had no stakes in finding Kirill whatsoever, or at least, so it appeared.
The stalkers had all retreated to the warm embrace of sleep by now, and the fire was little more than a pile of glowing embers. Peregrine had slept only several hours earlier, and felt little need for any further rest. There were times ahead, he knew, that he would have to subsist on the same few daily hours that he lived with as a refugee. He looked out around him, but neither Morak, Vorona, Renegade, nor Spinner were in sight. Boyar was snoring soundly to the side of the huge metal sliding doors that secured their rather patchy new domicile.
A grating noise roused the young loner's attention. It was a keen, unpleasant series of scrapes of metal on brick. He rose up, startled. But there was no movement inside the hangar. The noise had come from beyond the wall next to him, outside.
Peregrine felt the ground beneath him vibrate gently as massive footfalls resounded from outside, muffled slightly by the wall. His ears followed the noise as it rounded the perimeter of the building and stopped by the massive door. For a second, Peregrine could see something yellow glint through the cracks in the heavy, dented metal.
The loner's hand instantly shot to the sub-machine gun strapped to his leg, whipping it out and clicking off the safety. He looked up to see Skomorokh also visibly alarmed as the latter pulled a Skorpion SMG from within his long coat.
"There's something outsi-" he began, but the rest of the sentence never came.
With a ear-rending clang of metal on metal, the massive steel door shook heavily as several gigantic iron spikes punctured through the thick plate. Something of an immense size was attempting to make its way in. Something that inside his mind, Peregrine knew all too well.
As loners jumped to their feet, instantly roused by the collossal din, the door gave in completely and was smashed aside as an incomprehensibly huge form hurtled inside and swept through the fire, flinging ash and red-hot coals through the air. Light glinted off the scratched, reflective material the enormous creature was coated in, and with horror, Peregrine realized that the gray he had seen earlier was not fur or skin at all. It was metal, sheets upon sheets of it, covered with spikes, blades and all fastened to a quadrupedal monster the size of a SUV.
The monster rose to its full height and roared, revealing a jawful of impossibly large canines. It's yellow eyes glowed furiously as the stalkers inside the compound fumbled for their weapons.
Boyar was nearest to the entrance, and was the first to recover his gun. The AKSU's old Soviet mechanism chattered loudly, but hardly enough to overpower the might of the beast's roars. The armor-coated beast seemed to shrug off the bullets like they were no more than raindrops as it swept around to face the ex-Dutier. Peregrine could see that the bulk of the creature's mass was concenctrated in its front, a gigantic chest, neck and front legs, all coated in heavy metal plating and vicious-looking bladed implements. The head was decisively caniform, but he could make out no more of the monsters's origins due to the sheer amount of armor it was covered in.
As the Dutier's AK clicked, its magazine completely empty, the beast lunged. The spike-covered plate covering the back of its paw slammed into Boyar, impaling him on the metal implements. The monster examined the body momentarily, before sending it flying off and into a wall with a flick of its arm.
The loner could only stare as the creature turned to face him, its yellow eyes meeting his own. With a brief snarl that seemed to shake everything that wasn't fastened to the concrete floor, it leapt forward, its paw raised to swat the stalker and turn his body into a broken pile of meat.
Peregrine sprang forward, his own leap taking him under the beast's swing and frame. As he swung around, the loner saw Skomorokh roll away from the deadly appendage. Without hesitation, Peregrine raised his K7 and fired a stream of bullets into the monster's direction, hitting it in its hind quarters.
Unfortunately, the beast's rear seemed as evenly protected as its foreside, albeit with a slightly more reasonable amount of spikes. This however, did little less to stop the bullets from any damage whatsoever. The creature did not even appear to notice Peregrine's attack as it turned to another loner and swept his head off with a single clean swing before the man could even raise his rifle.
"Run, dammit!" Peregrine yelled, hoping that at least Spinner, Renegade, Skomorokh, and the two siblings could make it out of the bloodbath that was about to begin. Gunfire began to chatter inside the hangar, bullets glancing off the monster's armor and ricocheting across the room. With an incredible feat of raw power, the beast leapt for a loner firing at it from the catwalks above. As its claw hooked around the railing, the rusted structure collapsed, bringing the man with it. A scream echoed through the depot as the creature's teeth rent the man's frame, but Peregrine had already turned around and was sprinting towards the entrance.
As he sped past, he saw that the outer gate was still locked shut. The beast, he realized, had somehow climbed over the thick brick wall to make its way inside, turning the place into a deathtrap. Peregrine sprinted towards the wall and leapt up, his gloved hands finding a grip on the rough, topmost edge. The loner pulled himself up and balanced himself atop the brick enclosure as Skomorokh did the same beside him. The beast's rampage was still clearly audible from within, and the gunfire was now almost constant.
"God damn it! Where are they?!" Peregrine muttered in frustration "Morak! Renegade!" he yelled. The other stalkers were still nowhere to be seen, and the loner hoped to God that they would have more sense than to stay inside once the monster had finished off the remains of Boyar's troupe.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Dec 26, 2010 3:22:12 GMT -5
The siblings entered the depot, it seemed like it was the safest place in the garbage a that time, however they would soon come to find other wise. Morak listen to the discharged Dutyer for a bit, unsure if he should seek the veteran's advice on joining Duty, but soon decided that it was not such a good idea. Boyar had become a stalker and there was no way of telling how he would react to a soldier.
"Come on," he said to his sister, " we'll spend the night in one of the boxcars, then see what the morning brings."
The older of the two hesitated for a moment before nodding and following him. She felt that it was odd that her brother did not strike up a conversation with the Ex- Dutyer seeing that their only hope for survival was for Vadik to join Duty. Of course Morak had not been acting himself since he had came back, his time in the military had changed him into some one she did not recognize. She could only hope that this behavior was only temporary but the more and more time she spent with him it seemed like it wasn't.
"Vad?" she asked once they where in the relative safety of the last boxcar, "why didn't you talk with Ex- Sergeant Povarenko? You said that you wanted to join Duty."
Morak regarded his sister with a softer expression when she used his childhood nickname, he hadn't heard it in so long and it brought back fond memories of growing up. He and Yeva had always been close, with no mother and their father to busy they had to look after each other.
"He is a stalker now," said Morak quietly, "there is a lot of ill feelings between stalkers and the military…look we should get some rest no telling what is going to happen tomorrow."
"Sure," said Vorona not exactly happy with her brother's answer but it was better not to push the question any farther. Rolling over on her side she curled up and tried to fall to sleep, however she would not get to sleep on this cold zone night.
Morak had dozed off for only a few minutes when suddenly the outside of the boxcar erupted into gunfire and screams of men who where being torn apart by some unknown mutant. The thing they glimpsed at the Cordon found a way into the train depot and was now truning the place into a blood bath.
"Vadik…" said the older sibling fearfully and confused however she was unable to finish what she was saying as her brother put his had over her mouth.
"Hush," he said in a almost whisper, " that thing does not yet know we are in here, we got to move before it does now follow me and whatever you do don't look to see what is happening."
"What about the others?"
"They will have to fend for themselves, we have to move now."
Morak then pulled Yeva up and as silently and as quick as possible got out of the boxcar, the large predator was unaware of the two fleeing siblings as it slashed yet another man in two. Leaving out the back they ran around to the front entrance and found Peregrine and Skomorokh scale the brick wall then jump over it.
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Post by Karcentric on Dec 26, 2010 11:15:50 GMT -5
Renegade's eyes snapped open at the sound of the beast as it assaulted the depot, scrambling up, he peered from behind a fallen piece of scaffolding from the collapsed crane. The huge mutant was covered in armored plates and making short work of any stalker out in the open or firing at it. Climbing the rickety scaffolding Renegade silently made his way on to the catwalk above and out the large gap in the wall. Clambering down from the rooftop, he climbed the surrounding wall when he heard Peregrine yelling "Morak! Renegade!" Running in the direction of the call he saw the loner and Skomorokh some distance from the wall looking visibly shaken, he also saw the siblings climbing over the wall and making their way towards them. The firing from those still in the depot was thinning out, but the noise the beast was making most certainly not any quieter. "What in the world was that?" Renegade asked, shaking from shock.
Glass looked at the two loners talking, the one in the winter suit matched the description he was looking for. Turning away and typing out a quick message to El. It's him, he matches the the description. I'll meet you at the bar. Sitting by the large door, Glass sat down and rubbing his hands together, a strange noise made him look around. Followed by the deafening clatter as the massive steel door was struck, scrambling away from the door as a set of metal claws embedded themselves into the door before it was struck again, a large piece of plate steel flung by the force of the strike spun towards Glass, throwing himself flat as the sheet barely passed over the top of him. Watching as the massive creature made short work of the ex-Dutier, he picked up his LR300 and backed out of the building watching to make sure the beast didn't follow him, before jumping over the wall and heading for the flea market.
Leaning against the bar looking at his empty shot glass Karc's PDA chimmed, fumbling with the device he read the message from El. It's confirmed, Glass identified him from the description, one problem however...
The depot was attacked by an unknown mutant, all Glass is saying is that it's made of metal. Orders? Looking back to the empty glass hoping maybe an answer would from it he sighed before he replying. Follow his movements, if he heads for Rostok inform me, if he heads back for Cordon or goes towards the Dark Valley, track 'em yourself.
Stay in position, and remain invisible, the gray suits should help keep you camouflaged in the snow.
Oh and one last thing El, have any of your dreadlocks snapped off yet? With a light chuckle to himself, he sent the message and pushed himself off the bar and took a seat on one of the few bar stools that littered the bar and waited.
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Post by Basil on Dec 28, 2010 16:04:56 GMT -5
Well things had gone to hell pretty quickly. The group seemed to have, at first, found a safe haven from the dangerous world outside, and Spinner had only just started to settle in when the Thing burst through the train hangar's gates with the full fury of an out of control locomotive. The Thing had laid into the Dutiers like a cat into a group of frightened mice, brutally killing all those not quick enough to escape to higher ground. Spinner was knocked over by a a Dutier in the confusion, and he fell beneath the old railway wagon that graced the centre of the hangar with its presence. From there he had crawled away from the creature as it slaughtered the rest of the stalkers in the depot, and he had managed to reach the stairs leading up onto the scaffolding. From there, he had reached the roof, and had managed to scale down the side of the depot and catch up with the others.
"What in the world was that?", he heard the stalker named Renegade ask, visibly terrified by the nightmarish encounter.
"-God knows", said Spinner, massaging his bruised flank and arm. "But it definitely wasn't natural...if anything in the Zone IS natural. I suggest we get the hell out of here fast and cover up our tracks lest this...thing follow us."
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Post by Διμι on Dec 28, 2010 17:38:12 GMT -5
"I don't know whether I ought to be more worried about the fact that thing exists, or that there's someone out there that managed to put about five tons of armor on it." Peregrine said gravely. He glanced around for a quick head count. All of the original group, miraculously enough, was accounted for. The loner could only wish the same could be said of Boyar's squad once the beast was through with it.
Shots were still splitting the night air from the direction of the depot, as well as the constant roaring, but the gunfire was now dying out. If the stalker group didn't hightail it out of the area soon, there was a good chance the monster wouldn't be content with the pickings it had inside while there was another sizeable lunch waiting for it just beyond the walls.
"I'd say Spinner has a sound idea there." he said quickly "Let's move the hell out. From what I've heard, the valley to Rostok isn't too far from here. The Dutiers should have enough firepower to keep that thing out, although I wouldn't bet on it entirely."
The loner broke into a brisk run "Keep up and keep an eye out!" he warned "there's no telling of the kind of attention we'll draw to ourselves in the night like this."
A loud smash from behind the group interrupted him. As Peregrine wheeled around, he saw the massive creature burst straight through the iron gates of the perimeter wall into the open, a stalker clenched tightly in its claws. The beast reared onto its back legs, standing taller than the gate itself, and roared before hurling the man to the ground like a rag doll. As it sank back to its fours, the monster looked straight at the group with burning yellow eyes before bounding off into the distance.
Peregrine stared in silence, completely shaken. "Looks like the thing's had its fill for tonight." he said after some time. The loner looked for a moment in the direction of the marsh the creature had disappeared into, but all was still.
"Let's not stick around for the wolves to arrive for their pickings." he said finally. "We should get to Rostok by morning's time, and I hope by God that thing doesn't try to make its way in."
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Dec 29, 2010 3:29:08 GMT -5
"That thing isn't going to forget about us." Skomorokh said, "There was something in that look, it was almost intelligent." Turning back around, Skomorokh slid a fresh magazine into his Skorpion and broke into a easily sustainable run, which put him quite a bit ahead than the rest of the group. Except it seemed, for Peregrine, who seemed to be almost his physical equal.
The sun was rising as the group reached the Duty barricade at the beginning of the road to Rostok. The guards at the gate gave Skomorokh dirty looks as they walked towards the sliding metal door. "You're lucky." Said the officer at the gate, "You're going to be the last group to get through before we block the road. Nobody but Duty hunters and volunteers will be allowed out soon. We're not going to let that abomination roam the zone, let alone possibly escape."
Once they were far enough down the road, Skomorokh decided that it was time for him to act. He dropped to one knee to feign lacing up his boot, and waited as the group moved on ahead of him. The last one to pass him was the stiff one, Morak. Removing a zip-tie from his pocket, Skomorokh grabbed the mans arms from behind forcing him to drop his rifle, pulled them behind his back and deftly looped the tie around the man's wrists and through his belt and belt loop. As Skomorokh quickly pulled the plastic tie as tight as it could go, he placed his knife against the mans throat and pointed his machine pistol at the group.
"Now comrades," He said calmly, with the same strange grin he had worn when first meeting the group. "If you would be so kind as to place your packs and all of your weapons on the ground in front of me, I might just let this fine young man live."
"Don't try anything," He muttered into Morak's ears, "if you do I might just punch a few holes into your sister's head."
BPM, please don't try to pull something here with Morak like you did with Ferret. Skomorokh wouldn't hesitate to kill Morak. Don't exploit the fact that I can't, within the rules, "bust a cap in his ass" if he tries anything.
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Post by Basil on Dec 29, 2010 7:14:35 GMT -5
"Well that was unexpected", said Spinner, his voice heavy with sarcasm. He had never trusted Skomorokh, not even in the first few minutes of having met him. "Besides, what would you gain from our packs? I don't have anything of value."
To Spinner it seemed stupid to want to obtain the meagre loot of a bunch of rag tag rookies who had only barely left the Cordon, but the unsettling glow in Skomorokh's eyes seemed to indicate that the man did not obey the basic principles of rationality, or even that reason was an alien thing to him.
Since nobody in the group seemed to know the kind of moves that would disarm and armed psycho without killing Vorona in the process, their only hope was either negotiation, or a deus ex machina, and Spinner doubted the latter would ever happen.
"How about you just let the devotchka go", said Spinner after a moment's thought. "You have nothing to gain from this confrontation and neither do we for that matter. So just let her go."
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Post by Karcentric on Dec 29, 2010 13:07:34 GMT -5
El sat on the ruined buildings highest point watching the group as the massive creature sized them up, looking down the scope of his SVD he lined up the creatures eye and was about to pull the trigger when it turned and made it's way back towards Cordon. Looking back to the group, even from the distance he was positioned he could tell they were shaken from the possible encounter with the impossibly large creature.
As they passed the gate El stood up, jumping down to the other two mercs who were also watching the scene unfold, Glass, the merc who had been at the depot shuddered at the sight of the creature.
"We'll track them, but we'll keep our distance. You two take the road, I'll get up onto the ridge that runs along the road. Ready?"
The two mercs nodded, following El as he made his way to checkpoint, before the Dutiers guarding it could say anything El chucked a wad of 1000ru to the guard, "I have a meeting with my superior and he won't be happy if I'm eaten by that beast that's roaming around." El said quickly, the guard looked at him for a few seconds before nodding to the other guards, who opened the gate allowing the mercs to pass through.
Once through El ran up to the higher part of the ridge over looking the road and the way into Rostok. "Spotted them." He radioed to the the two mercs, "Looks like some sort of commotion is going on up there." Looking through his scope he made out one of the members holding another hostage pointing his gun at the group. "The target is being threatened. Move now." He said to his men who moved quickly towards the group. As they approached they split off from the road both aiming for the man pointing his gun at the crowd of stunned stalkers.
El had gotten into a position in which he could easily shoot the gun from the man's hand. He broadcast so the whole area could hear him. "Stalker! Put down your firearm immediately, if you don't comply we will kill you. This is your first and only warning." He said, lining the man's gun up through his scope.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Dec 29, 2010 13:14:53 GMT -5
Morak glared at the bandit angrily, but that’s what he got for letting his guard down for even a minute.
“Your pretty stupid even for bandit,” said Morak glancing back at Peregrine the stalker looked like he had something planed the only thing he could do right now was buy some time.
“Even if you some how make it pass Duty and these guys there is a good chance that you would meet up with our ‘friend’ from last night,” said the soldier mockingly, “I’m sure he’ll be hungry by then, and you would be easy pray for him too. Over encumbered and with little fire power he’ll make a nice snack out of you.”
(Gods, Camel relax Morak is not insane like Ferret)
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Post by Διμι on Dec 29, 2010 13:41:09 GMT -5
Peregrine watched in complete silence as the situation unfolded, neither drawing nor relinquishing his weapon. How convenient for you, a voice in his head suddenly spoke, two birds killed with one stone. A traitor puts himself into an inescapable position, and takes care of a dangerous military threat in the process. Now, if one were to just pull the trigger...
Peregrine felt his hand inexplicably slide down towards his pistol holster, but instinctually stopped himself. These men were friends, and one wrong move would probably kill more than one of them and put him in an unfavorable position with Duty. What the hell was he doing?
He dimly heard the warning, and then the sky-splitting shot of the sniper rifle just as Morak jerked his head in a backwards headbutt, his neck just grazing the knife's blade. The gun went skittering out of Skomorokh's hand, and Morak fell to the ground, the knife's incision on his neck bleeding slightly.
Before anyone could raise their guns, the bandit had recovered and was already sprinting towards the treeline. With Skomorokh's physical prowess, Peregrine had little doubt that he could catch the Duty guards by surprise and jump the fence before anyone could gather their wits about them. Without a second thought, Peregrine dashed after the bandit, drawing one of the throwing blades in the process. The white-suited stalker chased the man clad in black, the snow on the ground making the path of each clear.
Skomorokh was a quick runner, and navigated his way with impressive ease through the trees, Peregrine noted as he sprinted through the thickening growth. The loner laughed inwardly. He had no idea what he was in from the moment he began his flight.
Peregrine sprinted out into a relatively open meadow just as he caught up to his prey, but the bandit had already caught wind of his pursuit, and stood ready with his machine pistol aimed directly at Peregrine's head.
The loner felt his feet brake and slide in the soft snow just as Skomorokh pulled the trigger, the bullets whizzing just over Peregrine's hood as he slid forward across the snow. The white-clad stalker drew his wrist back and threw the clasped blade at an impossible speed towards Skomorokh's head, narrowly missing it and impaling the hood of the man's trench coat to the hilt. The knife continued its motion, burying itself in a tree trunk and jerking Skomorokh back by the neck with his own hood.
As the bandit struggled to regain his breath and tear free from the garment pinning him to the tree, Peregrine was already on his feet and sprinting again. Coming in full speed, the loner launched into a spinning kick, his boot crashing into Skomorokh's midsection with enough force to finally rip the coat from the throwing blade and send him flying. Skomorokh's head jerked forward, still impeded by his own trench coat as he flopped face first into the snow, gasping for air.
Kill him.
Peregrine stood over the man he had just brought down as a frighteningly familiar voice spoke in his head.
Kill him. He is less than the wretches that made our lives hell. He would not think twice at doing the same to you. His life is one that would take countless others in its stead. He attempted to lay his hands on something that was once mine and is now rightfully yours. And if you won't kill him, I will.
Peregrine felt his hand slowly creep to his Walther P99 as Skomorokh regained his senses on the ground.
"No!"
The loner dove just as Skomorokh drew his pistol and fired again, his bullets peppering the treeline behind Peregrine as he lay on the ground. The loner's pistol was shaking, aimed at the spot the bandit had been just a moment before. He had nearly killed the man, or rather, something inside him had tried. Peregrine rose, his posture unsteady, and looked around pulling the throwing knife out of the tree trunk. Skomorokh was gone.
The loner slowly walked back to the road, where the rest of the squad was still recovering. He noted several figures a short distance away, clad in gray and one carrying a long Dragunov sniper rifle.
"Bastard got away." Peregrine announced tiredly. "I don't know how the hell he was planning to get out of here with all that gear without getting shot. Everyone still alive?"
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Post by Karcentric on Dec 29, 2010 14:33:03 GMT -5
Renegade ducked as the SVD was fired, looking up he saw Skomorokh sprinting away with Peregrine giving chase. Watching as Vorona rushed forward to her brother and dealt with the gash on his neck, picking up gun which he'd dropped when Skomorokh had taken him hostage, he passed it to him before walking back to where Spinner was been standing, "I think we all had the same feeling about Skomorokh. Maybe we should trust our gut feeling about such things in the future." He said quietly.
El watched as Skomorokh ran and Peregrine chased him. "Shit, shit, shit." hissed sliding down the snow covered ridge landing with a small skip and running to the road signaling to the two mercs in hiding. A short time later Peregrine walked back to the group. Sending a quick message to Karc. Ran into a tight situation, has been dealt with, we'll be in Rostok shortly. Sending the message he nodded to the mercs and walked towards the group who were patching up the stalker who had been held hostage. As he neared them they all turned to inspect the three mercenaries. "Good day to you stalkers. But with this weather it's hardly a good day is it?" Looking at each stalker in turn, "The names El, this is Glass and Lev, of the Mercenary faction." He said giving a sarcastic bow. "If you a heading to Rostok we'll escort you seeing as we are also heading that way." Ushering the group towards Rostok.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jan 3, 2011 17:04:54 GMT -5
Vorona ran to her brother and cut him free before pulling him into a tight embrace. She had never been so close to losing him as she just was. Morak was the only family she had left ever since their father passed two years ago and she had still never gotten over his death.
"It's ok," said Vadik slowly trying to calm his sister as she began to make a fuss over the cut on his neck, "it's just a scratch, I'm fine really."
Although he was slightly shaken Morak did not show it, he had been in worst situations during his tour in the Zone, however this was not what had unnerved the young Military deserter. It was the fact that his sister was threatened and he had been unable to do any thing to help her. He knew the zone was no place for a woman but he was so sure of his ability to protect her. And now that illusion was shattered, he could no longer trust in his skills alone. He needed others to look after Yeva if he could not. After taking his weapon back from Renegade he muttered out a thanks just as Peregrine rejoined the group.
" Who cares what he was thinking", said Morak getting up, " He'll won't be able to run next time, that I'm sure of."
Just then another group of stalkers made thier way up the road, three Mercenaries in fact. They looked just like rookies but at the same time more seasoned then most of the Zone's Green horns yet still not veterans. But that could have been the equipment they had with them. These Mercs clearly where not too bad off, the lead one carried a SVD with him and he didn't seem to need to worry too much about his ammo.
"If you a heading to Rostok we'll escort you seeing as we are also heading that way," said the one named El as he began to usher them towards the Duty held territory.
"Then charge us an arm and a leg," said Morak under his breath so no one could hear him, "greedy bastards."
However much to his surprise they didn't.
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Post by Διμι on Jan 4, 2011 0:16:23 GMT -5
Peregrine acknowledged the mercenary named El with a nod before turning to check on the rest of the group. Skomorokh had managed to gash Morak's neck slightly with his blade, but it was nothing the stalker wouldn't recover from. By almost all accounts, the group had gotten off lightly. The stalker-turned-rogue had come quite near to killing three of them before he managed to get away.
He walked on through the town gate. The Dutiers seemed to have little issues with the mercs walking in and out of Rostok at their leisure, and the men seemed friendly enough, so Peregrine gave them no further thought as he followed the squad to the Bar. Stalkers in the area seemed much more numerous than even the concentrations of rookies in the Cordon, and the place seemed almost safe. The loner could see a Dutier patrol moving down the road ahead, armed to the teeth with weapons that the young stalker hadn't even seen in Chechnya.
Peregrine stepped into the lit recesses of the stairwell leading to the subterranean basement where the 100 Rads establishment was reputedly located. A greeter stood idly by the door, only acknowledging the loner's presence with a slight nod as Peregrine passed.
The loner made his way into the small room. Stalkers, their belongings, drinks, and the occasional conserva and loaf of bread, were all strewn haphazardly across the place. Behind a wide counter stood a man that could only be the barkeeper Sidorovich had mentioned. Peregrine recalled the trader's words - this man could possibly know where his brother was to be found, if he wasn't already underground. The man eyed the young loner silently as he approached. In a corner, Peregrine spied a stalker unlike any other he had seen. The man was clad in a gray and blue armored suit that seemed to protect every single limb and joint of his entire body. He must be one of the elite mercenaries the rookies at the Cordon had spread rumors of, Peregrine mused as he turned back towards the counter and spoke.
"Barkeep," he said quietly "chances are, you've already been informed of why I'm here. I'm looking for a man named Malygin. The trader told me there was a chance you know his whereabouts, and said you needed a favor done as well. I need the former, and can do the latter."
The rotund keeper of the 100 Rads looked critically at the loner before him "Sid mentioned you were some sort of spring leaf, bu hell, you're younger than even I expected." the barkeep put his meaty elbows on the table "Yeah, I was told of your little arrival. Heard there was some little scuffle over by the gate too." he looked around before leaning in closer "I've met your brother. I can't say I know where he is now, but I do know a few places you can look. But, like good old Sid said, I need a favor up front first."
Peregrine nodded "I didn't expect anything other than that." he muttered "Name your price for the info. What is it you'd have me do?"
The barkeeper leaned back, evidently sated by the loner's acceptance of the terms he had given. "We've been running into problems lately." he began "Namely me, old Sid, as well as pretty much all of the Duty weapons suppliers and rogue military warlords to boot. We've been hearing rumors of some sort of mercenary company making a lair for themselves in the western Red Forest, somewhere near Limansk. Their leader, we've gathered, is a man named Midas, and rather appropriately so. From what we've heard, he's obscenely rich, and apparently unaffiliated with the mercenaries at the Dead City. He makes his business as some sort of rare arms dealer, selling weapons that most of us traders wouldn't even dream of getting. Rumor has it that he's got his own elite troupe of mercenaries and a fortified base out of some Soviet compound out there. We've sent loners to investigate, but they never came back. Duty sent a team to figure out what the hell happened out there, but all we got was a bunch of red shield patches in the mail a week later. Chances are they're all dead by now."
He took a swig from a bottle on the counter and coughed slightly "In any case, this guy has been bad for business. He's been selling guns en masse and for cheap to local loner profiteers, and that's the same as stealing money from us traders. And if we go, so does Duty and the whole damn town of Rostok. Anyway, I want you to go up there and put a stop to his little escapades. I've sent the rumored location of the base to your PDA, but you might need to ask the mercenaries around there to get it cleared up more. We've had this thorn in our side long enough, and we want it out. You'll get substantial compensation, and of course, anything you happen to find in there."
Peregrine checked his PDA for the marker the barkeep had sent. A small green blip, deep inside the forest to the north, marked the spot. "Understood." he said before turning away "I want the info I need when I'm back. And there's no edging around the bush."
"Wait." the barkeep's voice stopped the loner in his tracks "You'd better be damn careful out there. I've heard all sorts of things about Midas. Everything that comes even near his place gets shot, and usually doesn't make it out. Even the mercs have marked him as a rogue, and don't particularly like to mess around over there. I heard his right hand man is some sort of expert trapper and hunter. The loners say he can tame any beast or mutant that roams out there. Now, I don't go out often, but that's not something that ought to be taken lightly, stalker."
"I'll consider that when I put a bullet into his skull." Peregrine said flatly. He made his way back to the stairs and outside. The task was daunting indeed. If the gigantic metal-covered monster he had encountered earlier was any indication, the local fauna wouldn't get much more hospitable as he made his way north. The sheer task of making it into a secure facility and killing, of all people, a heavily protected warlord along with his cadre of professional troops, seemed almost impossible in comparison. More importantly, the rag-tag group he had led earlier had dissolved, the promise of Rostok that had initially bound them together, was fulfilled. Just as he had been when he had first entered the Zone, Peregrine was truly on his own.
He leaned against the cold concrete wall of the building, his heated suit keeping the chill out of his core as he contemplated the mission ahead of him. It would either be a very long trip, or one shorter than he could imagine.
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