The faint clicking of the Geiger counter, the soft whirring of servo motors, the whistling of the breeze flowing through the air.
Only in brief moments like these can a STALKER find respite in a place as inhospitable as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. But alas, such moments don't last very long, such is life in the Zone.
Interrupting my brief moment of solitude, gunshots ring out, the whizzing and cracking of rounds flying by wake me up from my trance as I flick off the safety to my RPK-16. A few rounds hit their mark, but are easily defeated by my exoskeleton's defenses. Returning fire in the general direction of my assailants, I make a steady advance, making use of nearby trees and foliage to close the distance.
"Fucker's got an exoskeleton! Keep firing!" one of the attackers yells out over the gunfire.
"Loot on you better be worth it-" another yells before being promptly shut up by 5.45.
Back against the trunk of a tree, I load another magazine and rack another round. Peeking past the trunk, I take count of how many are left. As terrible as they are at shooting and tactics, Bandits were nonetheless Bandits, a scourge in the Zone and a significant threat to inexperienced STALKERS.
"After how many of you I've poached, you'd think they'd get smarter." I mutter under my breath.
"Well, better take out the rest and get back to Sidorovich."
After sending a burst down range, I sprint towards the Bandits, the exoskeleton aiding my strides. Terrified at how quickly I closed the distance, their fire became more sporadic as well as inaccurate. Stowing my RPK, I grab the Saiga-12 magnetically locked to my exoskeleton for close quarters.
12 gauge buckshot proved to be extremely effective against the poorly armored adversaries, spelling their end. I stop and listen for any more to show up, that was a loud interaction after all. A few minutes pass as the Zone's song played once more. I re-lock the shotgun and get to work "repurposing" the fallen's property, starting with stripping off their affiliating patches before inspecting the quality of their guns and ammo.
With the final one torn off, I've reached my quota for Sidorovich. Bandit hunting isn't for everyone, but that's why I'm here. Even with all the time I've spent in the Zone, I've grown attached to our Rookie Village. After all, we've all began as a rookie, eager to carve out a path and strike it rich in the Zone.
I sigh as I place the usable field stripped components of guns and ammo into my pack. Giving a quick inspection of my exoskeleton, the rounds that did hit didn't break kevlar, let alone the plates in between. Shrugging, I bring out my RPK and start the hike back to the village.
That is, before I was stopped by an uncharacteristic ping from my PDA.
"Strange," I thought to myself, PDA's don't usually display or accept tasks unless you're in a major hub. Switching tabs towards those I've accepted, a fetch task was shown.
"Meadow, huh?" I whisper as I put a hand to my exohelm's chin. Looking over the details, the task giver, whoever they are, as their name was completely missing, wants me to check out an anomalous field within the abandoned compound in Meadow.
"Now this is intriguing." I say aloud, stowing my PDA and making a detour, curiosity getting the better of me.
Truth be told, I was looking for something like this, to adventure once again into the unknown with tasks given by the unknown. After all, I doubt there's much that can top exploring the abandoned facilities littered across the Zone. This also gives me a chance to further explore Meadow, the location holding true to its name, is mostly fields and open meadow, giving little to the explorer to inspect. Perhaps there's more to it given this task?
After a not so brief trek to the compound, I stood in front of its gate. The dilapidated buildings and the occasional "Whirlygig" anomaly gave very little to the imagination, but I pressed on, hoping to find what the task giver wanted me to find.
Lo and behold, within a collapsed hangar, surrounded by gravity-based anomalies, a single "Teleport" anomaly stood in the middle, its white body pulsating in and out of reality. Even with all my time and experience in the zone and with anomalies, anything that bent space and time was out of my league. I give my PDA a re-look to make sure I was in the right place. The marker was placed on top of where the "Teleport" stood ominously. I shudder and give the task another read over.
Finally, where the task giver's name is usually revealed, shown a name. Well, less a name and more of an abbreviation.
"GSC." I read aloud. Racking my brain for which faction went under that, I turn up blanks. Definitely not Loner, Mercs, Bandits, or Monolith, that's for sure. Sounds more like something the egghead Ecologists or Clear Sky might come up with, but they've never had a group or person like that. Not to my knowledge anyway.
Turning off the PDA, I stare back at the anomaly. I know that these things are harmless for sure, I've used one out of curiosity and found myself back at Sidorovich's bunker, much to his surprise. But that was sheer luck, might find myself stuck who knows where with this one.
Weighing my odds, my desire to explore got the better of me. So like any Stalker worth their weight in artifacts, I bring up my exoskeleton's medical terminal on my left wrist and begin selecting and injecting anti-radiation and anti-psychic medications. A slight prick in my arm could be felt as the chilling meds flowed through my veins. I check my pack for my ammo supply, enough for a small skirmish ten times over, give or take. Psyching myself up, I stare at the anomaly once more before walking towards it.
"Audaces fortuna iuvat." I whisper before stepping foot into the anomaly.
As it enveloped me, my vision warped, as if I was staring into a kaleidoscope, before eventually fading into darkness. My body felt weightless, like I was floating in space. Strangely, I could hear a woman's voice speak out to me, but their words were muffled. I try to make out the words before they ultimately stop.
What seemed like eternity passed before I could finally feel my body, but not before the voice returned once more. This time completely audible and with a booming voice.
We thirst for the seven wailings.
We bear the Koan of Jericho.
I awake in a cold sweat, even under all my gear. I reach for my RPK as I pick myself up from the cold metal floor. I check my exoskeleton's terminal for any anomalous effects or injuries, nothing, and the expected timer for the medication I injected into myself before it is completely processed barely passed.
I finally laid my eyes on my surroundings, it was obvious I was no longer in the Zone. Hell, I probably wasn't even in Ukraine anymore.
I rubbed my exohelm's visors to make sure I wasn't seeing things. A vast city with towering skyscrapers, various stores, shops and restaurants dotted the expansive blocks. The faint horn of trains and monorails could be heard in the distance, as well as the occasional honk of a car horn. It was an extreme contrast to the sights of the Zone, even Pripyat couldn't hold a candle to this place's scale. Taking in my surroundings, I shake off the awe and get to work.
Bringing out my PDA, hoping that a map would work here, I was met with bold text that made my heart sink to my stomach.
[DATA UNAVAILABLE]
Concerning, but I pressed on as I kept my RPK at the ready. Occasionally I brought out my Geiger counter to see if there was any contamination. To my surprise, it didn't react each time I did have it out. Even in the Zone, the faintest clicks could be heard pretty much all the time, even in the cleanest areas.
Walking down the city block, I find myself met with a conundrum. All the signs and everything that had any semblance of text was totally unreadable to me. As I stared at a few, I finally made out what language the signs used.
"Japanese." I say aloud as I reached for my pack. After a few seconds of rummaging through it, I brought out a book. Took one of these off a bandit a few weeks back, the depictions inside reflecting the depravity the human mind can come up with, something fitting for life within the Zone. After holding up a page next to the sign, a few symbols matched with each other. I place the book back and mellow over my situation. All the signs point to the fact that I'm definitely in another country, Japan was the most likely of places, judging by the local area. But what tossed a wrench to that conclusion was the various haloes that dotted the sky.
My mouth was agape under my helmet as I took in the sight. A few minutes would pass as my trance was broken by an all too familiar sound.
Gunshots.
A small smile formed under my helmet as I sprinted towards the firefight. In a place full of unfamiliarities, look for the familiar. Turns out gunfire was a comfort for me in this place.
But the unfamiliar only grew in number as I ran.
"People!" I exclaimed as I readied my rifle, only to discover that was not the case as they ran in my direction.
"Dog… people?" I questioned as I watched them dart off behind me, seemingly fleeing from the ensuing chaos. Not only that, those that looked like robots followed suit, some skinny, and some somehow fat. Now I've seen all manner of bullshittery within the Zone, the various mutations of humans, dogs, and even cats alike. Some as far as the dreaded "Controller", or the extremely annoying "Burer".
But this, this was on a whole different level. Shaking the thought, I continued to watch over the crowd. One of the robots trip, only to crawl and huddle behind a lamp post. Taking this chance, I made my way towards them to hopefully get some answers.
Approaching the robot, it was apparent they were scared shitless. Less due to the chaos, and more seeing an individual clad in black with a featureless face with only the visor to look at, wielding a rifle no less. I stop less than a meter away and kneel down.
"You wouldn't happen to be able to understand me, would you?" I ask, my featureless face betraying nothing.
"何?" The robot sounded. "何を言っているのですか?" I think they asked?.
"Shit." I muttered. Putting a hand over my helmet's face, I wipe it and pull out a map. It was an old explorers map back in the Zone for large anomalous areas. I pointed towards it and then to myself, hopefully getting the message across that I needed one.
It took a minute for the robot to put together what I wanted, and pointed towards a kiosk with what looked like a directory. Nodding, I give the robot a thumbs up and toss him a Zone classic, a pack of cigarettes.
Making my way towards the kiosk, the ensuing firefight close by not letting up, I peruse the map laid out on the wall. Taking out my PDA, I take a few pictures of it before stowing it and redoubling my efforts to head towards the fire.
As I closed in on the fight, the scale of destruction increased. Ruined buildings with concrete, rebar and all sorts of detritus strewn about. Cars in various states of destruction littered all over, with a few ablaze, many bearing scars from gunfire.
Slowing my stride, I assume cover behind said destroyed vehicles, peeking over with binoculars in hand. From what looks to be the opposing side, more robots, not too dissimilar of the ones I've encountered earlier, were laying down some hate on what looks like an outpost from the local police, given the sandbags and barriers. What caused me to do a double take were the girls sitting in the back lines, wielding guns of their own in what I assume to be school uniforms, all donning what looks to be some sort of motorcycle helmet. Ignoring the fact for now, I continue my observations.
"Doesn't seem like they're putting up much of a fight." I infer, as there was barely any returning fire from the defenders. That is, until a certain white haired girl with a halo popped out from in between volleys to toss smoke grenades and return fire of her own.
What took me aback about this entire situation wasn't the seemingly young girls in the midst of combat, it was the haloes they had. Others behind her shared the same characteristics, all being female, bearing some sort of halo. Putting down the binoculars, I lean onto the destroyed car and take stock of the situation.
"Haloes, huh?" I question, "Did I up and die, and go to heaven when I jumped into that anomaly?"
I pinch myself on the thigh to question that theory, and as expected, pain flared up upon doing so. Weighing the odds of me interfering and aiding the defending party and being successful as opposed to not, didn't exactly sit well.
What especially didn't sit well with me was shooting young girls. Mulling over it for a few seconds, I made the executive decision to limit my attacks on the robots.
"Odds are never in my favor." I mutter as I watch over the fight. "But then again, when have they ever been?" I say aloud as I get up.
"Been through worse."
Pulling up the medical terminal once more, this time injecting morphine into my system. A slight pin prick followed by numbness washed over my body. Giving my gear one last look over, I sprint towards the robot's backline, grenade in hand.
Assuming cover behind another destroyed car, I pull the pin and lob it in between the attackers. Once it landed, the robots stopped firing before they realized what landed at their feet. Only until they reacted did it go off, shredding four in the shrapnel and dazing two others in the blast. Taking this chance, I rush one stuck in a daze and drive my fist into its chest, the exoskeleton's strength allowing me to punch straight through its front plate, immediately crumbling it.
My eyes eventually landed onto the haloed girls in the backline. My assault being a shock to them, they raised their guns towards me, but held their fire. I trusted that they wouldn't fire as long as they still had friendlies in the crossfire.
The robots on the other hand, now focused on me, return fire, most of which were absorbed by my impromptu shield. The rest landed onto my armor as I felt the impacts of the rounds hit. Thankfully none pierced as I returned some fire of my own, dropping another two before the rest retreated. As I watched the last three robots turn tail, I dropped my "shield" before turning towards the rest of the attackers.
RPK still in hand, I stared down the girls. Part of me hoped they wouldn't shoot, part of me hoped they'd turn tail as well. I'm not beyond killing younger people, hell, I've killed plenty that simply got caught up in the wrong crowd. Be it conscripts of the Ukraine military or the Bandits, there were many younger folks I've ended over a bounty.
But this was different. This wasn't the Zone, nor was this a job. Plus, these were young girls, younger than the ones I've killed, and most definitely not affiliated with factions that want to kill me and people like me.
But my sincere hopes went unanswered as one of the girls raised the muzzle of their rifle in my direction. Meeting their response in kind, one of the other girls grabbed their shoulder, much to my appreciation.
"What are you doing, did you see how that guy tore through our automatons!?" The helmeted girl exclaims.
"But they were expensive! We gotta get our payback somehow!" The hotheaded one replies.
"If they couldn't get the job done, what better could we do? Plus, just look at the guy." Both their heads turn in my direction.
A tall figure clad head to toe in black with gear that was outside their realm of knowledge. Their helmet's visor providing nothing for the imagination as to what the person under all that looks like. Their eyes look further down, prominently at my left hand, oil dripping onto the remains of the robot I tore my fist through.
"If he can do that to pure steel, just imagine getting hit by that." They all shudder following the comment.
I could only imagine what they were talking about as I watched them argue amongst themselves before giving me a final glance and leaving as well. Watching them up until they're out of view, I let out an exhale, appreciating the fact I didn't have to open fire on schoolgirls, armed or not.
Stowing my RPK, I turned around to the defenders, most of which took a step back in response. Most, except the white haired girl, flanked by another with a donut in hand?, who approached me. I watched as they approached, rifle stowed, but close at hand.