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Post by blackpapermoon on Jan 20, 2011 9:18:27 GMT -5
The worst was over for now anyway. Vorona who had stayed put during the main part of the latest events with her shotgun held at the ready. Not that it would be of much help to her anyway, as she was sure that the mercenaries that she was traveling with would have dealt with anything that might have come their way before she could even raise her weapon to shoot. That was not to say that she was a bad shot, after her farther vessel had been attacked by the Somali Pirates she and the rest of the ship’s crew underwent weapons and defense training. She had been quite the dead eye shot, but she had a feeling that to hunt and kill mutants it would take more than good aim. It would take skills that she did not yet have and would take her along time to hone and develop. So maybe it was a good idea to journey with these people after all.
Now that the mutants had been dealt with, she began to warm her cold limbs by the fire, yet still headed Peregrine’s warning. Thus far the main thing she had learned about the zone was that rest and safety where fleeting and rear even in the secure of locations. And most importantly never let your guard down. “It seems that you are a natural stalker, Peregrine,” she said now a not suffering from the cold anymore, “I don’t think most new stalkers could have handle snorks never mind a bloodsucker like that. It was amazing.”
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Post by Διμι on Jan 20, 2011 20:54:37 GMT -5
Peregrine's lips twisted in an absent-minded smile. "No use being anything natural in a place that's about as unnatural as anything gets." he replied. He glanced briefly at the bloodsucker lying on the ground several feet away "Those things were human once. I don't think they would have wanted to survive knowing what they were going to become. There's a difference between killing to survive, or to put something out of it's misery, and killing to murder. I don't think I could ever do the latter unless someone's life hangs in the balance."
Unless something interfered.
He recalled the moment, the way his arm had shook as he had aimed his pistol at Skomorokh's face only a few hours earlier. It had taken all his self control not to fire. If the bandit had stalled even for a second more, Peregrine was sure he would have been a murderer.
He pushed the thought out of his mind, returning his attention to the situation at hand instead. "There's still someone out there. The snorks got distracted by them, and I'm certain I saw something else move in that warehouse. If we're going to proceed, we'll have to be careful and take another route. Any ideas?"
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Post by Karcentric on Jan 25, 2011 3:27:34 GMT -5
Karc watched with a level of quiet admiration as Peregrine proceeded to crash down on to another one of the zone famed mutants swiftly dispatching it and tossing a grenade into the warehouse, followed by a solid explosion sending a shower of snork parts shower out of the doorway.
Most impressive. Karc thought, looking back to the group to see if they were still nearby.
Vorona and Peregrine's small conversation struck an old note for Karc, remembering some of the work he'd done to make a name for himself as a mercenary back in the big land eventually finding his way into the zone.
"The only person that can judge you in the zone is yourself, Duty would like to think themselves the law, and you mightn't of noticed but you were tasked with killing another stalker." Karc said flatly, "The zone is a lawless place, it's either your paradise, or it's your own prison. You'll eventually figure out which one it is."
The howl of another mutant somewhere unseen in the Wild Territory reminded the group of the ever present perils ahead.
"Hmmm, we could try those pipes that run along these roofs and onto one of those roofs ahead, only drawback is any hostile guns will see us even with the limited sight, or move quickly between the buildings and hope we don't meet any mutants lurking but with that shot echoed through the area they'ed be looking for food." Karc advised, "Which would prefer, one is a risk of getting shot if we're seen, the other is a more than likely mutant encounter."
"What about going through the warehouse, it's clear of mutants isn't it?" Renegade asked tentatively.
"Well that's true, but the pockets of radiation in there a lethal." Karc replied.
"Well I guess the first option, I don't relish the idea of being shot at though." Renegade answered.
Karc looked to the others awaiting their decision, "Choose quickly we're pressed for time."
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Post by Basil on Jan 26, 2011 23:53:41 GMT -5
"Radiation...getting shot at...", muttered Spinner. "Pretty difficult choice we have to make. Personally, I'd rather dodge bullets than waltz through a radioactive area, not to mention there's probably monsters hiding in those warehouses."
Spinner rubbed his hands together to warm them up. Despite the gloves he was wearing, he could still feel the cold through them. Another gust of wind howled through the rusty, metal structures of the Wild Territory and made Spinner's bones ache. The Zone's weather definitely wasn't on the pleasant side at this time of year.
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Post by Διμι on Jan 27, 2011 16:03:36 GMT -5
"The only person that can judge you in the zone is yourself, Duty would like to think themselves the law, and you mightn't of noticed but you were tasked with killing another stalker." Peregrine heard the mercenary beside him, "The zone is a lawless place, it's either your paradise, or it's your own prison. You'll eventually figure out which one it is."
How naive, he heard the voice speak, as if in an inaudible response. Peregrine was almost expecting it to. There were plenty that thought themselves above every godly law out here, that thought themselves gods of their own twisted, mutated Elysian field. Plenty that would then, as they lay wounded with an enemy handgun at their temples, scream for some asinine holy mercy any hope for which they themselves had abandoned. The purportedly greater the man, the harder he falls...
Somewhat shaken, Peregrine said nothing and instead looked around. None of the group's members seemed particularly keen on going first.
"The roofs would be a safer option." The loner said tentatively "There are only small, isolated sections where the pipes are out of cover, and if we move quickly and quietly, the enemy won't be able to follow us from the ground. This place winds like a maze, and if any passage on the ground is obstructed by an ambush, we'll be dead with no way out. Keep your guns at the ready."
The loner quickly scaled the scaffold leading up to the two pipes overhead and pulled himself up. Drawing his K7, he quickly crossed to the nearby roof and out of sight with a quick sprint across the narrow walkway. Surprisingly enough, no bullets came flying from some concealed assassin lying in wait, and Peregrine quickly lay low, the white of his suit melding with the snow as he waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
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Post by Basil on Jan 29, 2011 9:50:11 GMT -5
A brief flash of movement somewhere on a pipe above the ground. Balalaika had looked away for just a second and had missed what could be a potential target. Cursing quietly, she brushed some ice and snow from her scope and pressed her eye to it, scanning the pipes and the roof they lead to. She saw nothing, but did not let her attention wander however. Stock still she waited, her breathing inaudible and her eyes fixed on the pipes and roof.
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"All right", said Spinner, grabbing hold of the scaffolding and hoisting himself up to the pipes that Peregrine had followed just before. "Here to not getting shot at while playing tight-rope walker."
The stalker climbed up the scaffolding and made his way onto the pipes. Despite being coated with snow, they did not appear to be too slippery, so it was with growing confidence that Spinner started to make his way along the pipes.
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"There you are...", whispered Balalaika, a carnivorous smile twisting her lips. A stalker had appeared and was walking along the pipes she'd been watching. She patiently waited for the stalker to be clearly visible before adjusting her aim and pulling the trigger. However, a gust of wind made her shiver and shift her aim ever so slightly.
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There was a thunderclap that resonated through the Wild Territory, and something flew right past Spinner's head. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as one word popped into his mind.
Sniper.
Spinner then realised too late that he had lost his balance and was falling sideways. As he fell, he managed to wrap his arms around one pipe and stop himself from falling to the ground. The snow had hardened under his boots, and was now compact and slippery, which made holding onto the pipes very hard. Spinner tried to hoist himself up a few times, but was unable to gain enough purchase on the slippery surface.
"Help!", he cried in a strangled and slightly pathetic voice as he dangled from the pipe. Falling from this height would probably end up with him breaking a leg or two. Fortunately, he had fallen on the other side of the pipes, so his body was only partly exposed to Balalaika's shots. Another bullet came flying through the air and punched a hole in one of the rusty metal pipes, making a sharp pinging sound.
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Post by Διμι on Jan 30, 2011 1:30:45 GMT -5
Peregrine felt the shockwave rebound through the air as the shot echoed off into the distance. Spinner, who had just been following him along the pipeline, slipped and fell, barely hanging on by one arm. Peregrine almost rushed to the stalker's aid before remembering that a barrel was still trained on the section of pipe the older man now hung on to. Spinner would have to wait.
The loner scrambled over to the lip of the roof just as another shot cracked through the chilly night air, the round ricocheting off of the pipe. Just as he ducked lower, he caught the voluminous flash of an SVD in the window of a shack not too far away. Peregrine crawled back across the roof to a blind spot before dropping down lightly onto the snowy ground below.
Drawing his pistol, he followed the wall of the warehouse towards the shack as quietly as the snow allowed. Peregrine briefly considered tossing another grenade in through the window for good measure before another thought flashed through his mind.
Without further ado, he burst through the door, weapon cocked and loaded. A small form clasping a significantly larger rifle sitting by the window wheeled around. As the eyes of the two stalkers met, Peregrine felt the presence within him stir insidiously, and a faint sense of dread ran through his body. Whatever was coming wasn't going to be good.
"Happy hour's over, little miss, now put the gun down." he spoke, his trigger finger steady "I'd hate to find myself in the position of the misogynist here."
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Post by Basil on Jan 30, 2011 7:39:19 GMT -5
"Hmmm, what a sad occurrence", said Balalaika, smiling at Peregrine. He had the advantage, with his gun pointed straight at her...or did he? She kept smiling as she put her SVD down and raised her hands.
"Terrible weather today isn't there? Bloody cold. Not good for aiming really, makes me wish I had something warmer to wear than this old Sunrise suit."
Balalaika was still wearing the suit she'd acquired in the underbelly of the Yantar factory, the one she had double-crossed a bunch of mercenaries for. It had demonstrated some rather intriguing properties as cuts and other small injuries healed much more quickly than they usually did. However, she doubted the suit would save her from a point blank shot to the face.
A familiar feeling of unease filled the air around Balalaika as the Fear Factor kicked in. Her smile went from frozen pleasantness to one that seemed to drip cruelty. However, as Balalaika's loathsome ability probed the recesses of the young man's mind, she sensed an odd kind of fear nestled in there with the rest: the fear of some other, intangible presence.
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Meanwhile, Spinner was still barely hanging onto the pipes. he'd given up trying to get back up by himself, as the surface of the pipes was far too slippery for him to get a good grip. Panting, his hands slipping steadily, he called out hoarsely for help once more.
"God, somebody fucking help me get back up before I break a leg!", he panted.
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Post by Karcentric on Jan 30, 2011 12:48:14 GMT -5
Karc froze at the sound of the shot crouching slightly before hearing a second hit the pipe where Spinner was barely clinging flowed by a cry for help "God, somebody fucking help me get back up before I break a leg!"
Karc jumped up and ran to where Spinner was hanging, reaching down and grasping his forearm he leaned back slightly allowing him climb up onto the pipe. "Are you injured?" Karc asked following Spinner to the other end of the pipe looking around for Peregrine, "See if you can find where Peregrine got to."
Walking back to where rest of the group could see him, he waved for them to follow. Vorona, Renegade and finally El crossed quickly staying low and jumping on to the roof.
Renegade looked about, "Where is Peregrine? Has he gone ahead already?"
El shook his head, "I doubt it, must of been investigating the shooter." He suggested, "He certainly likes the perils, he's probably the perfect person to send after Midas."
Karc said "He certainly does, I'll go see here he went. Tell Schwarz to meet us at the ex-construction site. Meet ya there."
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Post by Διμι on Jan 30, 2011 14:28:09 GMT -5
Peregrine felt the room around him plunge into darkness as the female sniper's smile seemed to morph into something much more sinister. The only things that remained visible were the loner and the sniper herself, illuminated in the narrow profile of light emanating from the doorway Peregrine had burst in through. The shadows in the room seemed to draw closer and become blacker than ever as the loner's gun hand began to shake. The form of his own shadow, stretched on the ground between himself and the woman, began to change.
The darkness seemed to bubble up and take form, rising several feet from the ground to reveal a hooded figure. Even in the dim light, Peregrine could see faint hints of a light brown coat catch the light as the fabric moved. Finally, the figure raised its foot, separating it completely from the shadown it had sprung from, and stepped towards the loner. Flecks of black smoke flew through the air in its wake as it stopped hardly a foot away from Peregrine's gun, the barrel pointing directly at the creature's chest. Peregrine realized he could see nothing behind the hood, and his hand shook more violently than ever.
The shadow extended its own arm, grasping the loner's unsteady hand at the wrist in an iron grip that almost made the tendons crack. Peregrine instantly felt a numbness run through his veins, spreading and paralyzing his entire arm. He tried to break free of the figure's unbreakable grasp, but all in vain. He could only stare as the creature stepped aside to reveal the sniper behind it.
Except it was no longer the sniper. Morak stood still by the wall, bound held firmly in place at the neck by Skomorokh. Peregrine could detect the faint glint of strikingly familiar hazel eyes in the shadowy recesses behind the figure's hood as it spoke.
"Shoot them both.."
Peregrine couldn't squeeze the trigger on his own. As much as he had mistrusted Morak, and as much of a scumbag Skomorokh was, he could not just shoot two people at the beck and call of something he knew had absolutely no qualms at killing any human being. Even as he tried to resist again, he felt his finger squeeze the trigger on its own.
As he pulled the trigger, Peregrine saw the shadowy figure explode and disappear in a shadowy flurry as a small foot connected with his face. The gun fired, wildly off-target as Peregrine crashed heavily into the shack wall. The loner recovered, glancing up only to see the barrel of an APS automatic pointed directly towards his face. He ducked down almost instantly, three rounds from the pistol shredding the cabin wall where his head had been half a second earlier.
Peregrine snapped upright to retaliate, but the sniper had disappeared. The cabin door swung gently on its hinges in the cold wind. Slowly he stepped out. Out on the pipes, he could see Karc pulling Spinner up. Apparently the woman was too keen on getting away to pay them any attention. Still shaking slightly, the loner made his way to the warehouse, jumping on a corrugated trash container before pulling himself up to the snow-covered roof.
"Anyone see which way she went?" he asked "Wouldn't want to run into an ambush like that again."
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Post by Basil on Jan 30, 2011 17:04:07 GMT -5
Well that had been a close call. If not for the Fear Factor, she'd have been captured and most definitely killed. Balalaika made her way South through the snow and headed towards the remains of what appeared to have been a building at some point, or a half finished one. Balalaika looked around her and saw a hangar overlooking the old wire fence that separated the destroyed building site from the rest of the area.
"Time to lay low", she said to herself. The doors of the hangar were closed and far too rusty to be opened, so instead she climbed up a ladder leading up to a small platform above the doors. There she found a smaller door that swung open easily, opening onto another small metal platform covered with cobwebs. Balalaika shut the door and switched her lamp on. The place smelled musty and old, but was clearly not being used as a den by any mutants. She cleared the platform of dust and cobwebs and sat down. She would wait for the others to move on, and then she in turn would move out.
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"Her?", said Spinner, blinking slightly. "The crazy bastard who shot at me was a woman?"
His imagination started to go haywire. What if they had faced the Zone Witch? He had heard that encountering her during a raid or expedition often was a bad omen for those taking part in the perilous journey.
"You sure it wasn't the...the Witch?", he asked, looking around him as if she could suddenly jump out from behind an old building.
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Post by blackpapermoon on Jan 31, 2011 0:02:14 GMT -5
Vorona had tried to go around to find where the sniper was but it seemed that the youth dressed in the winter camouflage had gotten their first, she only saw a glimpse of a small person dressed in a ragged suit disappear behind one of the warehouses. At first she had been intent on following the sniper, but something told her not to and return back to the group as fast as she could. There was something not right about the olive clad stalker and she was sure that she did not want to meet up with that individual.
"-Anyone see which way she went?" asked Peregrine "Wouldn't want to run into an ambush like that again."
"I did …she ran behind one of the buildings then I lost sight of her," said Yeva, "I don't want to stay here any longer…especially with that person running around….she rather frightens me," she added with a hint of embarrassment in her voice before turning to face Spinner.
She felt horrible for leaving him there but if she had gone up to try to help him she would have only been shot and killed.
"Spinner are you ok," she asked.
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Post by Karcentric on Jan 31, 2011 2:18:04 GMT -5
Schwarz and Four slowly made their way to the destroyed construction site. Climbing up onto part of the second floor which was still standing, they waited, sheltered from the wind, they'd heard several shots echo from the maze like area at the heart of the Wild Territory.
"You think they meet some bandits?" Four asked.
"Dunno, shhh you hear something?" Schwarz whispered looking about over the area.
"It's probably the wind." Four muttered.
"That's what they all say and than bang, something bad happens." Schwarz replied with a shrug.
Karc shook his head, "Sounds like Balalaika, was she very short, blue eyes and dark hair? If so that's her. She might appear small and look harmless but she'll stab you in the back like that." He said clicking at the end of the sentence.
"If you see her again shoot her without hesitation, unless that conflicts with some moral code?" Karc said as they made their way towards the meeting point, "What's your plan of attack in regards to Midas?"
Renegade walking near Spinner asked quietly, "What did you mean when you said the Witch? I'm not familiar with that story."
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Post by Διμι on Feb 5, 2011 15:24:05 GMT -5
"What's your plan of attack in regards to Midas?"
The question caught Peregrine by surprise. He had first surmised that by the time they reached the mysterious warlord's base, he would be able to come up with some sort of stratagem. However, if their eventful first day of travel was to be of any indication, there would be little time for the small group to devote to coming up with an attack plan outside of keeping their own asses safe. The young loner paused for a second, for the first time unable to formulate an answer.
"You know, I..."
Where there is something to be found, there will be someone to find it...
-What? Surprisingly, Peregrine found himself able to actually answer the voice this time. It was almost as if his body had adapted to his new intruder. And more importantly, given him more and more control of it.
-The man you seek falls into the category of the vain, the greedy, the power-mongering. There is something in the forest that he and many others will seek with reckless abandon, mostly to their doom. I've seen it as I see it all.
-Enough cryptic comments. Tell me how to find him, and what the hell this thing you're talking about is. The voice was still maddening in it's indecipherable fashion of speech.
-There is a place, deep inside the forest. It's area of influence can be felt over a mile away. Find it, and seek its center. There, you will find the one you seek. Or rather, he will find you.
... Crystal clear.
Peregrine turned to Karc again. The mercenary still seemed to be expecting a response.
"The best way to draw a greedy magpie into the open is to give it something to snatch. There have been rumors lately in the bar of something going on in the Red Forest. If the info I've been given on Midas is true, this 'thing' will draw him out from his compound into the open. If not, I'm afraid we'll have to mount an assault on the base itself, a task I'm not exactly looking forward to."
He looked ahead, where the construction site was coming into plain sight. Two figures in mercenary suits were standing on the second floor of the damaged structure.
"I assume you know this folks?" the loner muttered to Karc "I'm not exactly keen on fighting mercenaries after the encounter we just had."
"What a piece of work..." the stately-looking mercenary in the blue suit whispered, turning the weathered Desert Eagle idly in his hands "An Oryol, chambered in 9x39mm. I haven't seen anything like this before, and I've seen a lot. How fortunate that you happened to come by."
From the ground, Dober stared up at the man murderously. The mercenaries had shot his boat to the bottom of the river, and apprehended him, gun barrel to his head, as he tried to get out of it. Now he was tied up beyond the extent that any sadist bandit could consider appropriate, and lay completely immobile on the ground, able only to turn his head slightly.
"Master." a tall, heavily-built man that did not look by any means mercenary-esque had emerged from the woods. A prominent Fu Manchu moustache graced his face. "I've searched this area of the forest for you. An abandoned compound lies to the North, destroyed. I found several bodies of Monolithians, and this." the stalker drew a foot-long blade from his pack that Dober immediately recognized as the one he had left at Meph's grave. The bandit wanted to curse the man out, but his mouth was sealed shut by duct tape.
"Interesting..." the suited mercenary muttered, drawing an identical blade that Dober himself had kept. "I remember a man who onced approached me with these weapons. He had wanted to buy a unique bodysuit, a marvel crafted right here in the Zone. Of course," he looked at the blade before taking it from the Mongolian cohort "These are of the finest quality too..."
He paused for a moment before speaking again. "You said you could enhance them somehow? Some technique you learned here in the Zone?" the moustached Mongolian nodded before accepting the blades. "You'll be rewarded, handsomely." spoke the mercenary "In the meantime, I think I'll be keeping this." he glanced again at the massive handgun in his hands. Dober seethed silently through the tape binding his lips.
"All this is good, of course, but we'll have to search further East if we want to find this artifact." he said finally "Tell the captain to assemble his team, and call back that monster of yours. We'll probably have quite a way to clear if we want to get to this object first."
"Understood." the Mongolian responded "The bear will find its way back. I have no doubt that we'll have company, however. There have been Freedom patrols in the area, although they are as short-sighted as they are oblivious of what awaits them when they find what they seek..."
Dober felt a blow strike the back of his head as everything faded to black once more.
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Post by Basil on Feb 5, 2011 16:39:42 GMT -5
"Well", said Spinner in answer to Renegade's question. "The Zone Witch is said to be an evil woman who ambushes stalkers and massacres them. She's also said to be able to control fear and use it against others. Some also say vermin crawl at her feet and do her bidding, and that she wields a rifle that never misses its target."
Spinner shifted slightly. The last part of the tale did not seem to fit. After all, if they had been attacked by the Witch, she wouldn't have missed him. His attention was then drawn to Peregrine, who was talking about how they would draw Midas out of hiding. He was particularly intrigued about the Red Forest part, as he had heard no rumour whatsoever about stuff going on up there.
"Weird", said Spinner. "I haven't heard anything about the Red Forest, except that story about the plague that hit Freedom...their commandant apparently got the remedy back to her own single-handedly just as an emission was happening. Some stalkers even say the Witch was chasing her...but otherwise, nothing else about the Red Forest."
He looked questioningly at Peregrine. Spinner was a born rumour monger, and was always up to his neck in hearsay, tales and Zone legends. The fact he didn't know about Peregrine's tale made him suspicious. After all, if such a rumour was going around, he would be aware of it.
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