The Shadow Of Chernobyl (IC)

[Eian]

It was a cold, rainy night, something not uncommon to the already unstable Zone, when our story begins....the dark of night hid the figure of a mysterious man, someone who was of vital importance to the events that would happen in the not so far future.
Our story begins in the loner territory known as The Cordon, a place known for being the location of the trader and former veteran STALKER Sidorovich...a person of adquired tastes, if you will, but that is only natural from all the time he had spent on the zone
the small village seemed very quiet at this time of night, wich surprised our mysterious figure, as it was not common for the STALKER's of the cordon to be quiet at any moment at all
on the far back of this little improvised village, composed by just destroyed houses and some salvaged tents, was the entrance to an underground bunker, wich is where this strange man was headed.
Despite being a really old structure, this bunker looked like it could resist anything, from the fire of a STALKER's guns to even the attack of a bloodsucker mutant. Knocking three times and looking at the video camera outside of the door, the figure called out "Sidorovich! it's me". The camera turned slowly towards it, stopping and staring at him for a few moments, the red blinking of the camera gave it a somewhat paranoid feeling.
"I tought i told you that i only made business when it's not the middle of the night, Eli..." a voice could be heard from the other side of the well fortified door, the raspy voice of an old man echoing through the walls of the bunker
"Just let me in already...i've found something that might interest you". a few moments of silence acompanied that statement, and not too long afterwards, Eli could hear the sound of the door's locks opening, he entered the old bunker quickly to not get himself wet anymore, taking off the cloak he had put on to avoid getting his clothes wet he said out loud
"GOD. DAMMIT. i swear, no matter how many times i get shot at, i still think the crazy weather is worse" the figure of the old man was now standing next to the door, in what seemed to be somewhat torn off clothes, his arms were closed and he was staring firmly at the now uncovered character, a black cat with a few parts of his fur blue, wearing casual clothing along with the usual armor that stalkers wear...something uncommon for most people, but familiar to Sidorovich, as he knew this person from before
"Stop your usual Whining, Eli, you know you're better off here than on the real world...what use could they have for a STALKER with amnesia who only remembers how to shoot a gun and avoid anomalies?".
"Shut up, will you? i only have to stay here untill i find out the truth...speaking of wich." Eli quickly pulled out a PDA, it wasn't his own of course. Badly damaged and with nothing to determine of what faction it was from
"A broken PDA?...what's so important about this piece of scrap metal?!" Sidorovich had become angry now at his visitor, as he never really liked dealing with the worthless loot newbie STALKERS brought him
"Calm down...here, listen to this, you'll see what i mean"
Eli powered up the PDA, and chose a specific audio file, it seemed to be the only one on the start menu of this old PDA, wich was the only thing accesible without hacking it with better equipment
slowly, the PDA started playing out a recorded file that seemed to be someone's last journal entry...


"It's evil!" some say... It's a gift to humanity!" others say....
whatever the truth is about The Zone, it's far from what we can grasp.
there WAS one person who could...who could tell us the truth...the one person who managed to get into the center of the zone...."
Sidorovich interrupted "the center?...." he seemed rather perplexed, but something about his reaction told Eli he had heard something like this before
"His name was Strelok...heh...just like the myth said...i always tought it was just that, a myth, a legend....and yet i can honestly say now i've met the one person who managed to do what everyone else tought impossible..."
Sidorovich quickly reached out for a chair, he clearly was in shock...just like everyone else, he tought that name to be a myth, to be something of a fairy tale STALKER's told each other to give hope...but it seemed now it was something more than that
"Something went wrong though" Eli interrupted the file here "Now's when it gets good"
"Halfway there...we lost contact with Strelok...something attacked us, i'm not sure what...or why....all the rest of us....all 5 are now dispersed....dead....or doomed like me.
i know that i have a transporting anomaly next to me...it would kill anything organic, but at least this message will get through....for whoever gets this, don't be fooled! Strelok exists!...and i know he's still alive, he couldn't have gone down just like that...unlike me...there's one other person who might have survived...but i'm not sure if Strelok even decided to help him out or not....
Please...Find him...the truth must be uncovered..."
after those last few words, you can hear the man let out a yell, and the sound of the PDA hitting the ground on the other side of the anomaly
"....Give me that thing" Sidorovich got up quickly and grabbed the PDA away from Eli's hands, he took it with him to his work desk, he wanted to search through every single piece of information
"wha- HEY!" Eli tried to follow Sidorovich, but he only pushed him back
"Give me some time, i'll dig up all the information from this PDA i can recover"

with a loud sigh, Eli couldn't do much more but to listen to Sidorovich...after all, he HAD saved his life, and helped him get back on his feet even with the amnesia

a few hours later, Sidorovich called Eli out
"well....this WAS pretty important allright...look at this" Sidorovich pointed out a place on the map "THIS, is the last location of their safehouse...at least the last one recorder, it was over 6 months ago, but if we want to start of anywhere it's there"
"whoa whoa, wait, -We-? what on earth makes you think i'll follow you along THIS time?"
Sidorovich had a large grin on his face, and showed Eli a picture he found stored in the PDA as well...it showed him, along with 4 other stalkers, all were in casual clothing, all had his same get up...and they all seemed to be really close
this came as a shock, for a few years now he had no clue to his past at all except his name, and now he had a photo, and what appeared to be old acquaintances...
"If we find Strelok...maybe he'll be able to answer you something more than just the truth about the zone, Eli. I've pulled some strings here and there...some people will meet you on this location" he pointed out a place in the map
"they're experienced...for the most at least...i have the feeling for this you will need more than just guns, but a group to follow you"
Eli let out a sigh again, and he leaned his head backwards a bit ".....Fine. I'll do what you say...again" with a huff, he turned, and opened the door
Sidorovich let out a yell "OH! and Eli? Flash is coming along with you..." Flash was a new guy to the zone, someone who Sidorovich was using for his little odd jobs as he had no other way to get the money to bail off the zone
"gah...shoot me in the leg why don't you..." with that, he closed off the door of the bunker, and went his way towards the meeting point, wich was far to the southern part of the Cordon...he had no idea who he'd meet, or how would things fare from now on, but one thing was for sure
Things would get worse before they would get any better anytime soon

[Anonymous G]

Mikka guessed that he was always like this, or rather, that he always chose to be like this. It didn't have to take much to convince a normal person that this whole idea of revenge was foolish, in fact, Wolf had already taken the liberty to remind him at every conversation. Still, it was too late to back out of it now... he had already spent all of his money on the gear he was currently outfitted with. Mikka was ready to set out without even the slightest lead on Snakebites whereabouts, he didn't even know the man's real name. But the Barkeep spoke of a man that ran another bar called 100 Rads who might know a thing or two. Mikka knew that it was a long shot at best, but any kind of direction was certainly better than none at all. At least he wouldn't be traveling alone, however, and even if this Eli guy came with a lot of strings attached, Mikka was willing to jump through a couple hoops if it means getting closer to the goal at hand.

Mikka let out a sigh as he waited in anticipation for the arrival of his mysterious companion.

[Tiger Sora]

The helicopter shook from the wind. "Couldn't be a more perfect night, could it" one of the pilots commented.
"Da" was all Slavoc replied. He took the last drag out of his cigarette before smothering it under his boot. Taking a look out the window the rain and wind beat against the glass as lightning danced across the sky exposing for the blink of an eye the ground. "A perfect night indeed" he joked to himself".
'ETA to LZ, one minute" A pilot shouted through the comm.
The shock ran up Slav's back as they touched down on the helipad. He shouldered on his gear and exited the copter. Rain quickly matted down the exposed facial fur. The closest building was a bunkhouse so Slav ran towards it. The Helicopters engines roared as it took off into the darkness.

Inside the bunkhouse the guard on duty was asleep in a chair. Slavoc frowned at the guard but didn't bother with him, finding a place to sleep was more important. Searching the lower floor turned up no free space to sleep, so he headed for the second floor. "There has to be one bed in this place thats free". Near the end of the hallway he found an empty room. Four beds took up its majority. Sheets and blankets were neatly folded up at their ends, waiting for someone like Slav to use them. Happy for finally finding space he set his gear down and stripped off his camo gear, body armor and boots. He quickly made a bed, than locked the door to the room. Lastly before he headed off he took his Beretta off the camo pants belt, cocked it and set it on the nightstand. Just in case. Finally he could hop under the sheets and sleep. Tomorrow he went to Cordon.

[Zephyr]

“Thanks…” Drake said as he took the lighter from another stalker… There was something about the rain that made him want to light up; maybe he wanted the heat from the cigarette to warm his face, as foolish as it sounded. Whatever the reason, Rainy nights meant he needed to sober up, and light up. “I’m tempted to finally go out, you know… Deeper in the zone.” Drake said as he passed the lighter back to the other stalker. “I’m told vodka helps with radiation sickness, so I’m well covered.” He chuckled at his own joke. His companion took the lighter and gave Drake a small bag. “Eeh? Whats this?” Drake asked as he took it.

“Just a bag with nuts and bolts. You need a bunch of useless stuff like this if you’re going to go out there. Anomalies can tear you apart, and they can be so nearly impossible to see. These will let you know if you’re about to walk into one.” Drake pocketed the bag of useless nuts and bolts. “Thanks.” He said, awkwardly. He had forgotten about the anomalies, it gave him second thoughts as he’s already had an encounter with some form of dog-like creature. What if he was trying to run from them, and ended up running into a bolt of lightning in the face? “Goodnight Drake, and good luck.” The other stalker said before walking back indoor. “Uh, Yeah. You too…” Drake muttered.

Well, Shit… Drake thought to himself as he stayed outside, the rain soaked the dull gray fur on his head. I forgot about the shit like this, I’m going to have some hard core insomnia. He looked around the small village. Drake was new to The Zone, this was no secret as he’s spent most of his time “Getting ready,” but you can get ready for so long. He was here now, and he’s passed the point of no return long ago. Drake checked everything he had, Black pea-coat. Check, smelled like wet-cat though. Handgun strapped to his thigh... Check, Fancy new shotgun for going in The Zone he got about a month ago... Check, on his back. He would go out there... Soon... But not right now. Sometime soon though. But, maybe not tonight... or tomorrow. He put one hand under his elbow and sighed... "Fuck..." he muttered.

[Eian]

little over an hour later, Eli was getting close to the accorded meeting point where he would find Mikka.
Even though his supposed STALKER name was Flash, he always called him by his first name when he found him wandering around

little by little, he made his way through the heavy rain, it started lot let up a bit the closer he got to the point
"Man...." he tought to himself "The bloddy weather is insane...first it rains like it's doomsday, now it's starting to let up..."
as he walked into the small abandoned military outpost. Eli noticed someone standing outside, though he couldn't make out wether it was Mikka or not

as he came closer, he recognised the scruffy looks, the blonde hair, and of course, that double barreled shotgun he always carried with him
"Hey, Mikka!" he yelled out "it looks like Sidorovich has us doing his dirty work again huh?"
he walked up to him and stretched his hand to him

______________________________________________________

Sidorovich was in the bunker, with his radio up and running

"Are you serious, Sidorovich? Evidence of Strelok? a raspy voice could be heard from the other side, it was probably the Wolf man who operated the 100 rads bar in the Duty territory

"I wouldn't call it evidence, exactly...but it's the best thing we'll find probably, it's a good thing that they seemed to know that guy with amnesia, otherwise i would have not been able to do anything to research it...no one would be willing to follow this without a reason to risk their lives for...by the way, i need to ask you a favour"

"oh, great...what is it this time? ammunition? guns? anti-rad medication?"
"Reinforcements. i know where that so called safehouse was, it's military controlled now. Eli and Flash will need some backup...if there's any STALKER in that bar that wants a job, tell them to go to the Cordon as soon as they can"
"heh, allright...but you owe me one"

He cut the comm there, and leaned his head backwards, as if to try and relax "God...i have a feeling this is just the beggining.."
________________________________

A large wolf came into the bar, he was clearly the owner of the place, looking at everyone, he said out loud "To any STALKER insterested, i've got a really well payed job...i can't say much other than it's very important and you'll have to travel south!" he didn't give out much information, he knew what would happen if he did, people would go aimlessly, by onl saying south, whoever was REALLY interested would have to ask...
he awaited for any STALKER in the bar to answer

[Anonymous G]

Mikka sighed at the fight of the cat. "Took you long enough." He grunted. Mikka was chewing on a piece of plastic, a pen cap, to be more specific, and didn't show any signs of embarrassment. It was a habit he built ever since school, and despite the harshness of the zone, and what he was forced to do on a regular basis, a little bit of the man he used to be reared itself every now and then. He spat out the possibly irradiated piece of plastic, and crossed his arms. "Remember, my name is 'Flash'... especially during missions." He reminded Eli. Mikka had a superstition about such things. He believed that it was bad luck to let his enemies know of his real name.

[Eian]

"Hah. Allright then, Flash, look..." Eli showed Flash his PDA, pointing out in the little GPS map where the so called safehouse was " apparently this is where we gotta go, it's about on the edge of the cordon for some reason, on the outer rim of the zone....probably because it's safer there"
Eli looked back at Flash "i figure it shouldn't be so hard to find some info there, i mean, if we're going to find anyone it's going to be newbies to the zone probably"
Of course, Eli had no idea that the post was now controlled by military, as neither did Flash. It was something that Sidorovich couldn't tell them at the moment because they would have bailed out inmediately probably, it was best if they figured it out themselves and improvised in his book.
It wasn't that Eli and Flash hadn't dealt with Military before, it was the fact that the further away you got from the zone, the stronger the military would be, and the deeper you got into it, the stronger the STALKERs would be.
The rain was slowly starting to let up, Eli put his PDA away and looked at his companion for this mission again, this time with a bit more seriousness than before
"We should start moving now, we could make it there in a few hours if we hurry"
Eli was anxious to go there and try to figure out who these people were, mainly because if they knew him from somewhere, then maybe they'd have some real information on him, and not the hunches and guesses he's had for this many years.

[Buzzwolf]

Alex looked up from his scotch as the owner announced the job up for grabs a well paying job, in the south? eh, might as well see what it's about, maybe I can replace some of my damaged equipment with the cash he though as he drained the last of his scotch and got to his feet, grabbing his pack from it's place by his feet and slinging it over his shoulder, the rifle that was strapped to it clattered lightly against some of the materials within the pack as he made his way across the bar to the wolf owner that had spoken. "What's the job?" he asked the wolf

[Eian]

The wolf looked at the rather tall hybrid and huffed "hm...you should do at least...allright, come with me"
He guided him to the back of the bar, and showed him a map, he pointed out to the part where the outpost was
"there are some STALKER's that are going to be raiding this outpost here, they're looking for some information over this guy Strelok...you've probably heard that name before, haven't you" he knew that pretty much every STALKER in the zone had heard now from Strelok one way or another, but that all of them tought he was just a myth, as the things he supposedly managed to do were far too great, like passing through to the center of the zone unharmed by the scorcher
"They should be there in a few hours...if you hurry you might be able to catch up to them" he looked at him again "oh, and if this raid goes well, you might be able to get a lot more than just money"
he had overheard some conversations this STALKER had done back in his bar before, he knew he was a scientist, so finding out what Strelok knew would have been great for his "research".
"SO...you taking the job or not?"

[Buzzwolf]

"Strelok!? you must be joking!" he couldn't help but laugh at the thought! the man was a myth! but the look on the wolfs face told him he wasn't joking "You're serious aren't you!?" they couldn't...the man was a myth! nothing more...but a chance...a chance to find out if it were real, to find out the secrets of the zone...that was something he couldn't pass up. "Hell yeah, Count me in!" a few minutes later he was headed out the door, aimed south for the outpost

[Anonymous G]

((This song is Ukrainian, so it doesn't really rhyme in English it's called Surgeon's House. If you listen to one of the tunes that they play on the guitar in the third game, you will hear the melody to this one.))

"Where did my father find this photograph?" Mikka sang in a low tone as they trekked across the dusty roads of Cordon. "Where is the spite? The narrowed eyes? She was so beautiful in black and white... Anywhere else, would I recognize... this smile?" He paused for a second, and remembered the next lyric, proceding to sing it masterfully. "... is it like mine? Was this... before she died?" Mikka whistled the rest of the song. There, he could see one of the military checkpoints down the road. Mikka nudged his companion. "Watch the area," he pointed out to the field next to him, "Wild dogs literally own this territory, but as long as we stick to the road, we won't be bothered."

[Eian]

Eli looked at Flash with an eyebrow raised
"Flash....i've been here longer than you, relax"
Flash was right however, the area was crowded with wild dogs hidden in the bushes and such, Eli decided to stick with Flash on the road, as the dogs already knew to keep away from it unless they wanted a bullet to the head
as they came closer to the military checkpoint in the way Eli took the safe off his FAL and kept it ready just in case "Be ready for anything, Flash...and cover me"
he got closer to the guy on the outpost, wich seemed to be the only way to the other side of the area without going through all the anomalies
the soldier was a human, dark hair, blue eyes, and a very muscular look to him, he spitted and mumbled a few words in russian before speaking in a heavy accent "What do you pieces of scum want?"
Eli quickly answered "We want to get through, we've got business on the other side"
"Really?..." the soldier said with a smirk "And what kind of business would be that?" he had taken the safety of his AKS-74U just in case Eli didn't like what he was about to say
just as Eli was going to offer the soldier a bribe, he heard a loud howl from behind him, it was the wild dogs, an anomaly apparently had set them crazy, and they were heading along their way "S**T" he yelled out pulling out his FAL, shooting one of the dogs down with 3 shots
he tried to warn Flash "Look out, wild dogs have gone insane!"

the Military guys decided to forget about Flash and Eli and defend themselves against the wild dogs too. It was a big number of dogs escaping from what seemed to be an electric shock anomaly, it was only natural the animals would run away from it
The shootout could be heard from quite a range, as there was a very big ammount of dogs running towards them. They were very close to the edge, and only a few minutes away from their meeting point

[Anonymous G]

Flash, using his nickname (as well as the artifact on his belt) to it's potential, quickly weaved through the gun-fire and grabbed Eli. Dragging the cat across the military line, there several soldiers, unable to hold their attention on the escaping duo, moved to help the people in the front. Mikka guessed that they assumed that they were coming back the same way eventually.

[Eian]

As Flash grabbed Eli, he quickly reacted, following him through the gunfire of the Military and leaving them to their luck with the pack of wild dogs, already had they taken out one of the soldiers
Wether the STALKERS liked it or not, wild dogs were deadly in groups as big as that one, while it was nothing that couldn't be solved with a good resistance, it was always bound to waste supplies, and sometimes people

Eli and Flash made their way from the checkpoint now to the meeting point, they could see the building down the hill, on the far side, it seemed like there was some heavy Military activity inside it, something they weren't exactly expecting
panting a bit from escaping, Eli said "Ok....Sidorovich said he called someone, we should wait for them if we're going to be taking the army on"
at this point, Eli and Flash were even considering taking the help from passerby STALKERS even, any help would have been good, but of course, they couldn't be sure either of what kind of help would they get

(now this is the perfect time to "run into" them, guys )

[Buzzwolf]

The distraction at the main checkpoint was all he needed to slip past his own checkpoint with little notice. they barely threw him a second glance as the few guards ran off to assist with the problem at the main one. With a solid grip on his Casull, Alex edged his way to where the directions said the meeting point was, encountering little if any problems now that he was past, they had other more urgent things to worry about than a black coated traveler, the military barely even gave him a first glance now that he was already past the checkpoint. he re-holstered his Casull as he approached the meeting point spotting the only other two figures without military garb on. "You two must be the other STALKERS the barkeeps said'd be here" he said as he slipped from the shadows, his black garbs making him seem to -be- one of the shadows themselves "Name's Alex" the shadow suddenly offered a paw in a friendly manner