Equipment:
-cold weather clothes (partially worn)
-heavy stalker suit
-moldy Red Army officer's cap
-lead-lined backpack
-flashlight
-utility knife
-night vision goggles
-Soviet scope (shared)
-trail rations
-PDA x2 (ours; spetsnaz)
-primitive anomaly detector
-compass
-8 bandages (+2 in group)
-1 first aid kit (+2 in group)
-2 scientific aid kit
-m1911
-Mossberg 88
-AKS-74
-2x Akaban

-1 grenade (+7 in group)
-jellyfish artifact
-24 shells, 23 slugs, 21 .45, 3 30-round 5.45 magazines
-7186 RU

Team Equipment:

Bird:
AKS-74 w/ scope
Sawn-off shotgun
Fort-12
x2 grenade

Twitch:
AKS-74
MP-5
Beretta
x2 grenade

Damsel:
RPK-74
Skorpion
Makarov
x1 grenade

Vlad:
AKS-74
Fort-12
x2 grenade

>>16368015
machine spirit sings in me

For newcomers, here is our party.

Twitch:
Twitch (real name: Alexander) is the first zone-goer you got acquainted with. Short (at 5'5"), thin, and balding, his nickname is fairly-self evident; he's got a rather noticable facial tic that increases when he's stressed out or upset. Apparently, he came to the Zone to flee problems in his past life with gambling debts and criminal activity he got involved in trying to pay them (specifically, robbery). A genuinely nice and helpful guy, he's put his life on the line for you and the others several times, and makes a genuine effort to get along with most folks he makes. When there is conflict between people in the group, he will usually try to deflect it onto another topic Twitch seems to suffer from uncanny bad luck, however, and has faced almost certain death on more occasions than anyone else in your group, except perhaps the far-more-experienced Bird. Twitch is flexible in combat, though he trends towards close range or medium range combat with rifles and SMGs. Like you, he is a relatively new stalker. Early 20s.

Food, rest, and maybe a resupply.

If we can get each member to carry one medpack, that would be good.

After, we can go about discreetly finding someone who can unlock the PDAs we have.

>>16368094
Bird:
The most veteran member of your party, Bird was one of Sidorovich's contractors and operated out of the newbie village prior to and during your arrival to the Zone. A seemingly altruistic guy, he stands up for weaker stalkers and doles out advice where people will take it. He joined your group after being impressed with your conduct regarding Damsel's rescue and the events that followed. Bird isn't as outgoing as Twitch or as given to humor as Damsel, but he works easily and unabrasively with others. Bird is ex-Freedom, having left that group in disgust over the faction wars shortly after the Brain Scorcher went down. His name derives from a senile old stalker who constantly admonished him for his light eating habits, claiming he "ate like a bird." Unlike most stalkers, he doesn't seem particularly driven by wealth, but by the "rough" lifestyle and an urge to explore strange frontiers. Bird has a realistic outlook on his capabilities and will readily admit when he does not know something or cannot accomplish a task. Distrusts government and military personnel due to his experiences with them, and is highly confrontational when dealing with them. Prefers long range combat when possible, but not afraid to fight up close. A very experienced stalker, but only with the outer zone - he ceased his explorations of the deeper areas of the Zone when the Brain Scorcher came down and he left Freedom. Mid to late 30s.

>>16368101
Damsel:
A female stalker who came to the Zone in the same party that you and Twitch entered in. Tall for a woman and athletic. Ukranian. She soon found out first-hand that the Zone's dangers are no joke, however, and was dragged back to an anomaly-spawned cave formation by a female bloodsucker. Thanks to your efforts, however, she was rescued before she became mutant chow, and helped you deal with a couple of apparent bandits in your impromptu rescue party that had decided to betray you. A brief companion in her rescue gave Damsel her nickname - a "damsel in distress" - she finds it generally annoying and instead introduces herself by her real name, Katerina. Not that it does any good. Damsel has an abrasive personality and is prone to barbed humor, but she rarely means anything bad by it. Seems to have taken a liking to heavier weapons since your earlier adventures together, and has a definite affinity for explosives that predates her entry in the Zone. You're not really sure of her story. Somewhat distrustful and surly towards strangers. Damsel prefers to be in the thick of combat. A new stalker, but she seems to have some sort of prior experience with firearms. Early 20s.

>>16368125
Vladimir:
Ex-Ukranian army on his first Zone deployment, this former corporal joined your group for the time being after you and the others rescued him from a time-based anomaly, only for him and his remaining squaddies to be betrayed by military stalkers. While you weren't able to find out why his unit had been betrayed, you were able to kill several of the military kill team and trap the survivors in the deadly time anomaly. Vlad seems to have been badly shaken by the deaths of his comrades-in-arms and his betrayal by the army, and he has joined you out of partially having no options - he doubts he can safely leave the zone - and partially out of a desire to find out why his unit was betrayed. A serious man, he cared for those he served with. Does not seem particularly ambitious. Generally an even-keeled person, though he and Bird clashed early on due to mutually-held enmity. A professionally-trained soldier adept with rifles, pistols, and grenades, he is weak perhaps in that he's not experienced with combat such that it is in the Zone. Late 20s.

>>16368132
Viking:
You, of course. Real name: Bosse. A stalker of Swedish descent with a background as a military grunt. You came to the Zone because you'd essentially burned your bridges in your old life, and hoped to find what it would take to start anew again in the Zone. Your true motives are thus far obscured (perhaps even to yourself). In these months in the Zone, you have shown yourself to be compassionate and basically decent, willing to risk life and limb for fellow stalkers. You're not afraid to get violent when necessary and love a good one-liner, but you're not bloodthirsty, either. You are your group's de facto leader, and tend to lead from the front. Your signature weapon is your pump-action Mossberg 88, which has split a few skulls in its time. Perhaps all of this will change, though. It's up to you.

>>16368096
You arrive back in Rostok in the late afternoon, a little worse for wear, but alive. Perhaps understandably, no one has much of anything to say after the last brush with death you all shared; you're still not sure how you made it out of that one.

Ambling into one of the hangars used as a commons, you stop, sigh, and speak up, "So...who's up for a rest?"

Damsel plops down by way of answer, and Twitch retrieves a soy sausage from his pack, cutting it up and passing slices around. You chew yours thoughtfully and chase it with a slug of vodka, against your better judgement.

"Tell me now," Vlad says, sounding somewhat shocked, "Do you four always get into situations like that? Because I'm beginning to think I might take my chances with the military."

The rest of you laugh at this, though Vlad looks at you as if he's half-serious, "But seriously, what now?"

"Well," you say, tapping your pack where you stashed the military PDA, "There's this gem. I'm sure someone will want it."

"If we can get it open," Damsel says.

"Well hell, we know people for that," Twitch bounces back.

"About that," Bird says, speaking up, "We may want to be careful who we bring this to. I doubt that spetsnaz team came back to retrieve the bodies - we have something that belongs to them. We'll want to tread lightly, especially around Duty."

Turn over the PDA to Barkeep, for a price of course. See if Bird wants to upgrade his rifle.

"Is it just me, or were those other "bandits" familiar-looking?"

>Oh, goddamnit, I am so torn. I love Stalker Quest, but I wanna finish Deus Ex, and the new F:NV DLC just came out. Goddamnit!

>>16368139
(One more thing: I can answer questions newcomers might have besides the basic character profiles if it's so desired. Threads from 7.2 onward are archived on sup/tg/, though at least one is missing. Some older threads can be found on easymodo, if you use my name as a search key.)

>>16368401

Pass out for a bit, set up a shift. Make sure that Vlad isn't alone, maybe give him and Bird some alone time to smooth out any wrinkles they've got.

Would be very helpful in a firefight.

check up on that Abakans you picked up, see if it's usable

"What about Barkeep?" you venture, "I'm sure he'd give us a good price."

"He would," Bird admits, "But Duty's ties with the military are pretty strong. And Barkeep's ties with Duty - likewise. I don't think he'd turn on us, but," the veteran stalker shrugs helplessly.

You decide to think on this a bit while posing another question, "What about these Abakans we nicked? Want one?"

"Hell, I'm not much good with those fancy new special forces rifles," Bird says humbly, "But the extra accuracy'd help. Or we could sell 'em and maybe get something else for our trouble."

"Me," Damsel says, "I'll stick with my RPK."

"Don't know much about guns," Twitch says doubtfully, "What's wrong with the Abakan?"

"Nothing, really," Vlad interjects, "If you're trained and understand it. It's a bit...prissy, but pretty damn accurate and low recoil."

While you're thinking about that, Damsel speaks up again, "You know, those bandits seemed familiar to me for some reason. Was it just me?"

"I got that feeling too," Bird says, his tone surly, "They seemed a mite professional for bandits, which raises all sorts of questions I think have a bullet in the face for an answer."

Well, if Bird and Vlad want them, we can spend a little time doing a training montage. We won't get as much for the AKs, but I, for one, would rather have the firepower over the cash. And, yes, I know we're short on funds for the time being. Ask Bird if he remembers any one over at Freedom who could do something with the PDA, or if Sid might be a good choice.

Oh, and when we're not fucking with it, we should turn the PDA off. Not standby, not sleep mode, OFF. Don't need the USS breathing down our necks.

>>16368587

We should let Bird use it, maybe let him do a little test run on some birds or wild animals, see if he likes the feel.

Vlad doesn't seem interested in the Abakan, so maybe we keep one and sell the other.

Also ask Bird about the bandits and his opinion on them.

"If you're going to be doing stand-off shooting, Bird, it's probably better to go with the more accurate rifle," you say.

"Fair enough," he says, "And hey - I've always got backup if things go sour," he pats his sawed-down pump-action for effect.

"What about you, Vlad?" you ask, "You're army, shouldn't you know how to use these things?"

"Err, Bosse," he says, "they're a RUSSIAN army rifle, mostly. Some of our guys are trained on it, but I'm not one of 'em. I'd be happer off with my old '74."

Fair enough. Thoughts returning to the filched spetsnaz PDA, you fish it out and notice with a nasty shock that it's still on, just in standby. You quickly remedy this. "So Bird," you begin, "If not Barkeep, then maybe someone in Freedom?"

"That could work, Screw knew a hacker or two who had a knack for cracking into military networks back in the day," he smiles at this, "Though, if Duty finds out, they might take issue."

"Well then, what of Sidorovich?"

Bird shrugs, "His contacts aren't as good as Duty's or Freedom's. He might be able to open the thing and he might buy it, but he'll swindle us either way. He can't help but do that."

You tap the PDA thoughtfully against your open palm, considering your options. Again, your thoughts wander, returning to those curious bandits you basically saved your bacon; you ask Bird for his two cents about them.

"They acted more like mid or deep Zone bandits than the rabble we usually have around here," he muses, "One interesting thing - very anonymous dress, very ragged and simple. Most ass-kicker gangs like to show it off with patches and hats and stupid gang shit like that."

Well, these "bandits" are beginning to sound more and more like mercs to me. Specifically the Darendal group. My vote is we do a little weapon maintanence, sell the AK and Akaban, get some rest, and head for Freedom territory.

>>16368871

No, the Durendal guys wear official merc gear, though they may do that kind of thing for undercover stuff.

But yeah, seconding your action, maybe with some boar hunting on our way to Freedom turf.

Oh dear god YES! I fucking loved Stalker Quest. God I want to play STALKER so bad now, but I can't get SMP to work. I patch to 1.5, run the installer and it crashes on start up. So I transfer over the 19 and 20 patch files and it launches fine, but then crashes at the loading screen for a new game.

As for this game, I think Sidorovich is our best bet. He probably won't give us as much money for it, but he's enigmatic enough that he might let us in on what he finds, or we might earn a favor for bringing it to him. He seems like the sort that would enjoy being able to blackmail the military, and he might reward us for giving him the ability to do that.

I don't want to risk handing this over to Duty or Freedom in fear that it might leak that we were the ones who sold it and how might might have gotten it. I'd like to try and stay as neutral as possible.

>>16368967
I, too, would like to stay neutral, but there are a few things. 1) We haven't ventured into Freedom territory yet. 2) If we can find one of their guys who is DISCREET to hack it, it would be cheaper than Sid. 3) I'd like a look at the info on this PDA before turning it over to ANYONE.

If/when we do get the info, we could go full loner/neutral and give it to everyone, Duty, Freedom, Sid, Petrov, EVERYONE.

>>16368967
Speaking of SMP, wasn't there a special dealer in Pripyat? (added in ofcourse I've played it) why not try that guy... It'll also be a trip to the deeper zones.. (only if the Brain Scorcher is off)

"Freedom's sounding like the best option here," you muse, "I mean, it's not like they're on speaking terms with Duty or the military."

"You just don't want to hike all the way back to the Cordon," Damsel pokes. Okay, fair enough, that too.

"Anyway," you say, ignoring her studiously, "We should probably ditch these extra rifles for some cash and get hoofing it."

"It's a fair walk to the Army Warehouses," Bird agrees.

Decided, you head to 100 Rads to poke in on Barkeep and be rid of your excess gear. You weave to the back of the Rostok camp along a route that is familiar to you now, nodding at a couple of vaguely-familiar faces as you go before descending into the cellar where 100 Rads squats.

"I said come in, don't-" the ever-present bouncer looks up from his magazine mid-sentence, "-oh, it's you guys. Well don't stand there, come in!"

You shuffle down to the bar proper, which is having a fairly busy night; there's not much in the way of free tables, and smoke and voices fill the air. Snitch, from his corner, eyes your group with curious rat eyes.

Barkeep, talking to a scrawny-looking stalker, looks up as you approach him, a smile crossing his face. Flicking his wrist at the other stalker in a dismissive gesture, he speaks, "There's my favorite ass-savers! I see you found Russkie, eh?"

>>16369077
You nod appreciatively and knock on your heavy stalker suit, "You were right, Barkeep, he does good work."

"Anyway," Barkeep says, "What brings you to me? Who's the new guy?"

"I'm Vlad," Vladimir speaks up for himself, giving a respectful nod.

Barkeep peers at him, then shrugs, "Well he looks like a stick-up-the-ass army grunt to me, but if you guys are on good terms, who am I to question, eh?"

"Anyway," you say, moving things along, "We brought you some stuff we'd like to pawn off. A '74 and an AN-94."

Barkeep gives an appreciative whistle, "Who'd you swipe that off of? Guess I do know how to pick 'em. Call it 700 for the 74, 1200 for the 94?"

>>16369087
ask barkeep if he pay lil' bit more and mention about the PDA you picked up (quietly, just to make sure there aren't any duty around)

>>16369164
this.

>>16369087
See if Barkeep has any AP for the rifles or hollow point/Glaser rounds for the pistols and subguns. If he does, we can negotiate down on price. I'm thinking 2 mags each for everyone but Damsel, just one mag for her, of AP 5.45mm. Then two MP-5 mags and two Skorpion mags of hollowpoints or +P+ rounds, and a mag or two of high pressure or hollow points for each side arm.

"Hm, what about ammunition? Got anything fancy?"

"You mean AP stuff or the like? I wish I could say yes, but lately my shipments have been shit. Guys in the center of the Zone pay premium to the smugglers to stock the stuff for their own customers, and it's a bit rich for my blood, especially with these outer areas getting quieter. I've got plenty of the usual stuff if you want it, though. Some grenades, even, though I can't vouch for their freshness!"

You consider that. You're not hurting for ammo, but a little more never hurts. Still, you'd been looking for some specialty stuff. Looking around for eavesdroppers - like, say, Snitch - you satisfy yourself before broaching your next topic, "Say, those prices on the rifle are a bit low. You see, we picked up this PDA, pretty hot shit - we figure we let you peek and you give us friendlier prices?"

"Where'd you get it?" Barkeep asks neutrally.

"Well," you answer...

(Decide what you want to tell Barkeep.)

I don't remember anything. I hope whatever recap you posted is good enough.

>>16369336
Most content from thread 7 onwards is on sup/tg/'s archive, if my summary isn't helpful enough.

I can also do a MEET THE _____ for NPCs, too, if you guys are so inclined.

>>16369325
I'm thinking that we should acquire the previously mentioned amounts of ammo.

This is my first quest thread, so I won't comment on the PDA.

>>16369325
"You scrounge here, dig there, you come up with interesting shit, friend. You know how it goes in the Zone. We didn't kill anyone for it, if that's what you're asking. We know better than to go putting bodies on Duty's doorstep."

>>16369370
Hrmm, yeah, could you? Just like, a sentence for each of the important NPCs, maybe? I remember some by reputation, Putin for example, though I forgot what his real name was.

Also, I can not for the dick of me remember much of the later threads. Who were these Yantar scientists? Were they the ones who some merc gunned down, and we were ordered to find? I remember we found that guy in that bar and sneakily got him before having to run and gun out of there.

>>16369325
"On a body."

Keep it simple.

>>16369577
This and say in Rostok.

>>16369577

"On a body, in some ruins, with some mean things that probably ate the previous owner and probably would do the same to us."

>>16369474
>>16369577
>>16369592
"We scrounged it up off of some poor dead sap in the Wild Territory," you say, "Such is life in the Zone, right? No point leaving it for the mutants."

Barkeep seems somewhat mollified by this response, nodding thoughtfully. Perhaps your earlier work for him has colored his opinion here. Probably, really.

"Let's see it, then," Barkeep says, putting out a fat hand.

"It's locked," you say, "And we think it might have a tracer. Don't want to leave it on and find out."

Barkeep turns the device over in his hands, a frown on his face. There's obviously something about the device that's tickling his memory...

Roll a d20 to see if Barkeep recognizes the device. (You want to roll low.)

rolled 7 = 7

>>16369620

rolled 12 = 12

>>16369620
Rolling

rolled 4 = 4

>>16369620
Rolling.

>>16369577
Thats the one

I forgot, but we've got a lot of solid slugs for out shotgun, right? I seem to remember that being our preference, seeing as shot would be pretty useless.

Is the primitive anomaly detector the best we have? If so, we need a better one.

>>16369528
Yantar Scientists:
The same guys that were in the Yantar bunker in Shadow of Chernobyl - Sakharov and Kruglev. They wotrk with (and are protected by) Duty, on behalf of the Ukranian government. Their importance has decreased dramatically since the Brain Scorcher went down and the psy-fields in the Zone realigned, though they still do research on devices to defend against damaging psi effects.

Russkie:
A slightly insane loner who lives deep in the wild Zone. He is basically a big shaved bear that hates people. Built you your stalker suits at a discount in exchange for capturing a tiny little man who thought he could outrun his debts.

Dr. Menkov:
Captain Petrov's pet doctor, a former gov't ecologist now working in Petrov's camp. Trained as a research biologist, but he also does applied medical work (i.e. saving the asses of shot-up stalkers). Respects Petrov ideologically and personally.

Spaz:
Your killing of this undercover Freedomer is why Barkeep is friendly to you. He and his fellows damaged Barkeep's reputation by taking out a contract to defend some Duty scientists, then betraying and murdering them for their data. You turned Spaz over to Duty for punishment as they saw fit; Barkeep, feeling generous, gave you the full party price (since he figures Spaz will squeal eventually, plus the revelation that he had been duped by undercover Freedomers saved his rep with Duty).

>>16369683
Yeah, I vaguely remember something about getting a new one from the ecologists in Yantar.

>>16369664
Buckshot isn't useless, it's actually accurate out to about 75m. It's also a good breaching round.

>>16369706
Yeah, that brings back memories now. Russkie I remember now. And the monster in the lake. Yeah.

>>16369713
I meant in regards to thickly armored men and beasts.

>>16369683
You pawned off your better detector sessions back, so yes.

>>16369664
You have a solid number of both; see the second post. (This Zone is very high lethality.)

>>16369629

Barkeep turns the PDA over a few more times before sliding it back to you, still looking like a man who can't remember the name of a song, "Well, if you don't know who it came from, I honestly can't give you much of a discount for it - I'd actually have to charge you to have it cracked. Good hackers don't work for free. Sorry," this last bit actually seems genuine.

Considering your earlier conversation, you're not sure if you want to reveal the PDA's actual source or not. After all, hadn't you been concerned that Duty would hear? To their credit, the others are keeping their poker faces, looking mostly disinterested or, in Damsel's case, threatening a drunk next to her that got a little grabby with a knuckle sandwich.

>>16369713
*consults his notes*

Actually, yeah, you seem to have bought a detector at Yantar. IIRC, it was an equivalent of the salvaged Duty one; slightly older but not "hot goods."

>>16369706
I kept this list small because these are the folks to come up tonight so far. There have been a LOT of incidental NPCs, and it'd take a while to cover them all.

I should mention - Snitch is that annoying douche who sells you information in SoC, if you forgot.

Look shifty for a minute, then find something to write with and slide him a note that says Spetsnatz, then after he's read it, destroy the note. Not just ripped, but submerge it in some liquid.

>>16369898
Or eat the note.

>>16369898
NO NO NO NO

We are not going to tell Barkeep that he got this off a member of Russian special forces. If we're going to tell him anything, which I don't think is smart, then we just tell him that the body we got it off of looked like it was military.

Personally, I'm for asking Barkeep if he knows any hackers, or knowing anyone who might know. Then we track down the hacker ourselves and see if we can't do some work for/pay/threaten him into cracking the PDA for us.

>>16369803

Ask him how much he'd charge to get it cracked.

If it's too much, we can go to Freedom turf and look for someone to crack it.

Also, we might want to ask Snitch some questions. Just some simple ones that he won't charge for, things that by answering he will already tell us what we want to know, such as "you heard of any military ops going on?"

>>16369898
>>16369933
Yeah. Just write "Miltery" since we're not too smart, then eat the note.

>>16369933
This. We can't afford to let Barkeep know what we've got.

I say we do
>>16369938
Ask cost. If it's too much, we go try to do it ourselves.

I still say we take our chances with Freedom. Barkeep, while very cool, and a good dude, still has ties to Duty, and he would probably be obliged to tell them about the PDA. In the mean time, ask him how much it might cost to get it cracked and pick up a couple more mags for 5.45mm for ourselves. I don't like running around with 90 goddamn bullets. Let's round out the shotgun ammo to an even 30 and 30 while were at it. Barkeep probably doesn't have any flechette rounds either, does he?

Current consensus seems to be to hint at military - but not spetsnaz - and ask about cracking prices. Also to ask for ammunition. Do you guys wanna discuss further, or should I go with that?

>>16370001
Go with it Getter.

>>16370001

Ask about ammunition.

And for a cover story, we can just say that we found it in a mutant den filled with eaten corpses that looked vaguely military.

It's also where we met up with Vlad, who, being a grunt as Barkeep said, wasn't really told why his unit was in the area, or what to do when half of them were attacked by the mutants in the den and got separated from the rest of his unit.

Or something to that degree. We could just say that they all got killed instead, or that we found him in a time-warp anomaly.

>>16370001
I think that's a SERIOUSLY bad idea.

Let's go to Freedom-or better yet, to whatever pieces of Clear Sky are still left. Clear Sky only dislikes Bandits, and EVERYONE hates Bandits.

Maybe Nimble.

I second the special ammo, though. See if we can find some tracers.

just roll with what we have now, it's enough

Well, people do seem to mostly agree.
-
Well, God hates a coward, right?

You break out a piece of paper, Barkeep handing you the grubby stub of a pencil. In smudgy handwriting, you print "military (?)" then crimple the paper and stuff it deep into your bag.

"Ah, now I see why you were waffling," Barkeep says, and strokes his chin thoughtfully. The revelation doesn't appear to have settled his nerves any.

"So, how much would it get to get the thing cracked?" you ask.

"That depends," Barkeep says, "On where in the...uh, organization it came from. Really high end shit can run you as high as 3000 RU or more, but then, you can usually get that price down by offering to share the information inside. Frankly, though, Bosse? I'm not comfortable with you bringing this to me. I'm sure you can imagine why I mean, you've been good with me, but still..." the man trails off into an uncomfortable silence. You're unsure where to go from here - do you push your ties with Barkeep? Tell him more? Can he be trusted; can his hacker contacts be trusted? You pause to consider what to do with the PDA, whether to push with Barkeep or leave well enough alone.
-
I'll cover the ammo bit once you guys decide how to resolve this issue of the PDA; rest assured, I haven't forgotten. And yes, Barkeep actually does have some flechette rounds for you, should you be so inclined.

>>16370158
Let's not push it, you worked hard for his trust and it's easy to topple it.
Just try the Freedom guys, go back to Barkeep if there are no other options

>>16370158
Let's not force Barkeep. We'll take the PDA to Freedom.

>>16370203
Barkeep is a good guy in a bad place. He's someone we want on our side. Don't push the issue, ask him politely to forget about the inquiry, and take it to Freedom, or to a merchant further into the Zone.

>>16370218
>>16370203

Seconded, though ask if there's anyone he'd be willing to recommend that won't put potentially get him in trouble.

>>16370158
Do want.

Also we need to shop for some new clothes for Vlad, if he feels so inclined. Not sure if it would be wise to walk into Freedom turf with a guy wearing a military uniform.

>>16370256
I second this.

Ask Barkeep if he knows anywhere with a minigun. It's time to make another trip to Russkie.

"I understand, Barkeep," you say, pocketing the thing. The other gives you an appreciative nod. "So besides that, we were thinking ammunition - some 5.45, some of those flechette shells. Can't have enough bullets, right?"

The man snorts, "Now I know you've met Russkie," he pauses, "Anyway, yeah, I can hook you up with some ammunition. Most of the standard stuff I can discount you - a little. The flechettes, though, go full price; sorry. Say, 3 RU/round for standard ammunition, 7 RU/round for the flechettes."

>>16370296
Done and done.
Let's get over to Freedom turf and settle this PDA matter

(I'm waiting for you guys to decide how much you want to buy; it'll be deducted from the 1900 you'll get for selling your two excess rifles.)

>>16370356
Do we want to go all flechettes, or partial?
Either way, I say 2 mags of 5.45 per person.

>>16370356
Three mags of 5.45, 24 rounds flechette.

Two more mags of 5.45, so 60 rounds (180 Ru)
6 more rounds of buckshot (18 Ru)
7 more rounds of slug (21 Ru)
And let's go 12 rounds flechette (84 Ru)

That's 303 Ru, from 1900, so we make 1597. Not too bad.

Just a reminder guys: I keep companion ammo deliberately fuzzy (to save us all headaches), and they'll tell you when they're running low. Though, in this case, buying some rifle rounds for all might be a reasonable idea (your last firefight was extensive.)

>>16370412

Maybe two more mags for everyone else? Though the cost would add up, I think, if we bought 10 mags.

>>16370558
Yeah, costs would add up. But there is this: would you rather be alive and poor, or dead and rich? Splurge, 3 more mags all around.

>>16370578
Agreed.

>>16370578
What he said. RU is an expendable resource - bullets, food, and artifacts are far more valuable to us.

(I decided to mix and match.)

Ultimately, you decide to purchase ten magazines of rifle ammunition, also acquiring 6 buckshot shells, 7 slugs, and an even dozen flechette shells. It sets you back a bit, but you still profit to the tune of 878 roubles. The five of your satisfied, you pay your goodbyes to Barkeep and head back up to the surface, looking to set out north, to the Army Warehouses. It's late afternoon but clear and sunny - good hiking weather.

"So the Army Warehouses are where Freedom hangs out?" Damsel asks.

"Well, less so now, with the center of the Zone open. But yes, it's our - that is, their - base of operations in the outer Zone. As I understand it, half the reason they bother is to give Dutyers heading north difficulty, constrict their supply lines."

"I hope they don't do that to everyone in their turf," Vlad says, concerned.

"No, you see, around here it's just the military that shoots on sight. Even most of the bandits prefer to rob you."

Vlad shrugs, not rising to Bird's barb, and the older stalker softens his tone, "As long as we're not dressed up like soldiers or Dutyers, they usually live and let live. That's Freedom's code."

>>16370637
Go see if we can find a STALKER willing to trade for military armor. Have Cosmo keep his patches, et al so he can prove who he is on the off-chance we need to do so.

>>16370637
Well, these boots are made for walkin'. Maybe we can rustle up some dinner along the way. At some point, we may want to trade up our utility knife for something a little bigger. A machete maybe, better for hacking limbs off of food or breaking bush.

You decide to set out - not like there's a bus coming along any time soon. As you make your way towards the ends of Duty's Rostok camp, a thought occurs to you, "Say Vlad," you begin, "Maybe we should see if anyone around here'd trade your military gear for something a little more...Zone-appropriate?"

Vlad doesn't seem enthused by this idea, "Half you stalkers are walking around in outdated police kevlar and leather jackets, Bosse, I think I'll pass on that."

"Not that it would do much good to buy someone's stalker suit," Bird says, "These things have to be fit to work properly. Hence why guys like Russkie get to charge so much; they know how to make and adjust them properly."

You'd forgotten that. Perhaps because, despite its weight, your own stalker suit DOES seem to be all but a part of you.

That issue settled, you move on past the northern checkpoint guards, who pay you little mind, and into the forest-crowded, silent road ahead. The Zone's attentions seem to be elsewhere for the moment - probably killing some other poor bastards - and so you're left with a relatively peaceful journey interrupted only by the occasional abandoned hulk of a military vehicle or skulking lone blind dog.

Ahead of you, there's what appears to be a tumbledown service station, its garage totally collapsed, but the office seemingly intact.

>>16370961
OPEN FIRE.

Just kidding. Peer inside and see if there's anything worth nabbing.

break out into cold sweats

"i don't trust gas stations anymore"

might be a good idea to get like a stalker jacket or a trenchcoat for vlad, at least enough where he isn't gonna get sniped by stalkers that shoot military on sight

>>16370961

Peek into the office, maybe? Through the windows at best, seeing as it could already be looted.

Might ask Bird and Twitch to watch from a distance in the event that it's a trap.

>>16371064
Allow us to do this, but very cautiously.
Bird and Damsel should be in good positions to provide support with their scoped rifle and machine gun, respectively.

rolled 2 = 2

approach the gas station throwing bolts like a motherfucker

>>16371071
this

>>16371066
We actually defaced his gear in an earlier session to deal with just that problem (Bird was a help there - military gear tends to be salvaged by stalkers, and they thereafter dress it up/down to avoid friendly fire.)

-

You hold up your hand for the group to stop, fetching your binoculars and peering into the slowly-rotting structure, "I don't trust gas stations any more," you half-jokingly explain.

"Damn right," says Twitch, and he's not joking at all.

Your recon doesn't reveal too much - the interior is dark and full of large debris (probably shelves and machinery tossed about). On the other hand, you don't see anyone or even any signs of movement.

"I never bothered with this gas station back in the day," Bird says, apparently recognizing it, "Always figured that, obvious as it was, it was probably picked clean."

>>16371096
Well you never know, might as well check it out and if it's clear, use it as a rendezvous in case something goes sour, it's the zone after all

>>16371111
This. But again, very cautiously.

>>16371096
If it's on our way, we'll give it a once over as we go by. If it's out of the way, leave it be. Don't poke a sleeping bear.

might want to give the place a once over with the detectors, maybe check if someone stowed a cache in there at some point? or at least know for sure that there won't be dirty bandit scum in a secure position behind us as we pass it.

Damn posting outage.

I say we skip the station and keep going. Remain alert, reflect on the weather.

>>16371159
NO!

"It's on the way," you say, shrugging, "Let's give it a look."

"I imagine a lot of folks have went 'It's probably picked over,'" Damsel reasons.

The five of you move in cautiously, but there doesn't seem to be much reason for concern. Up close, the gloomy building is little better than from afar. A dark, garbage-strewn mess.

"Looks like something used to live up here," Bird says, "Boars or Flesh or both."

"The bacon has left the building," Damsel says distractedly, peering under a tipped-over shelf. Your geiger counter clicks sullenly, apparently perturbed by the radioactive, rusting tools here and there.

"Hey guys," Twitch calls from further back in the building, "Looks like we have a basement!"

Oh shit, here we go again!

maybe

i vote for opening it, but from a distance like with a stick or a rope. in case there something on the opposite side of the basement door.

>>16371178
There's never anything friendly in a basement. By that reasoning, we must enter the basement!

You know the drill: Cautiously, slowly, etc, etc.

I left when posting went down.

Back now.

rolled 5 = 5

>>16371178

Cautiously open it up, tossing bolts on the way in.

With our shotgun posted on the door.

... Might be good to check for a lock first.

ready weapons on entrance, have someone keepin an eye out around us to make sure the boars don't come back. have someone pry the door open in a way that doesn't put them int he line of fire, or in the path of claws, should something run or crawl out.

We have heavy armor as far as I remember. Get our shotgun readied at the door, have one person cover the entrance to the gas station we came in. The others get on the sides of the door to the basement.

If the door is closed, have one of them open it, while keeping to the side.

Then get a visual. Shine our flashlight in there, toss some bolts.

We really need to buy some flares.

You've all had bad experiences with basements, and so your caution is understandable. Getting into covering positions - Damsel covering the rear with her RPK - you carefully open the door, shotgun at the ready for anything clawed and gribbly within. Light shining down into the gloom, you toss a bolt.

It clatters down the stairs loudly, making a rather loud racket considering its size. Below, you hear it splash into a pool of water. You think you hear the rustle of tiny feet. Rats?

Bird sniffs the air and makes a face, "Smells like standing water down there; probably radioactive. We should be okay with our stalker suits, but Vlad here might want to watch what he steps in."

"My boots are waterproof," Vlad retorts.

>>16371259
Toss Vlad in to teach him a lesson about the use of stalker suits.

>>16371259
Continue down, with Bird and Damsel covering, both for dangers outside and whatever follows us.

Head down, keeping an eye out.

boots might be waterproof, but if he gets knocked over or splashed, the rest of him isn't, and you don't want water full of who knows what contaminants sitting against your skin.

i think tossing a slide of sausage into the water, and watching what happens to it might be a good idea. if anything it might make a horde of potential tuskanos easier to shoot

>>16371259
Move into the basement, while ensuring adequate cover at all times.

>>16371287
*slice of sausage

before going in, have a grenade ready, just in case.

>>16371287
Go for the sausage. Bait is always good.

I really should get some sleep. Someone make sure this gets archived please.

rolled 8 = 8

>>16371287

Slice of sausage sounds good, let's do it.

Also check our geiger counter/anomaly detector.

mental note.

we really ought to invest in incendiary grenades or molotovs for these sorts of situations

also don't forget we have a pair o nightvision goggles

The five of you move down the stairs, staggering yourselves so each can cover from above to the best of his or her ability. Before reaching the bottom, though, you stop the group silently. Reaching into your pack, you fish around, finally retrieving what you were looking for - a partially-finished soy sauage. Giving the bland but edible faux-meat an underhanded toss into the basement proper, you prepare yourself for a response as it plops down into a puddle of murky-looking water.

Nothing happens.

"Waste of a perfectly good sausage," Twitch quietly mourns.

"You don't eat much, anyway," Damsel whispers dismissively.

It becomes clear that nothing's coming to get you - or your bait - and so you move down into the basement, fanning out and clicking on your night vision goggles to deal with the gloom. What you see, rather than mutants or riches, is more overturned, corroded junk. A waste of time, then. You sigh and roll your stiff shoulders, time to-

Hang on a sec.

You peer into the far corner of the room, past a particularly large pile of clutter. There are a series of strange tubules boring from the basement wall deeper into the earth; most are small, but some are dog or even man-sized.

"What, don't tell me the Zone has mutant earthworms," Vlad says, as the oddity catches the whole group's attention.

Bird shakes his head, "Some gravity anomalies do this."

You pointedly look at your detector, removing it from your belt and waving it around - no response. Whatever anomaly was here is dead now.

"I'm surprised it didn't collapse the whole building," Bird says.

Damsel is staring uneasily at the anomaly-warped earth; you can't blame her, Vlad's right, it DOES look like the bore-tunnels of gigantic worms - or the honeycombs of some sickly wasp, "Well, should we move on then?" She asks.

i want to shine my flashlight down one of them

>>16371416
Peer at the holes for a few seconds, willing them to divulge their secrets, then answer, "alright, let's move", and make our way back outside.

>>16371416
>>16371447
OPEN FUCKING FIRE.
>>NOPE
>>NOPE
>>NOPE
>>NOPE
>>NOPE
>>NOPE
>>NOPE

>>16371416
Sounds like a plan. No need to go tunnel-ratting for no reason. Just dangerous and a waste of time. We should get heading on to the warehouses.

assuming the facing of the wall in which these holes are at, and assuming the holes are in a relatively straight line. where would these tunnels be pointing to?

cause i'm thinking we can go topside and sort of follow the general direction of these tunnels to see if they point towards anything interesting.

Holy shit!
Fuck yeah stalker quest!
Now to catch up.

>>16371478
THIS THIS THIS

>>16371478
They're in the rear-right corner of the basement. That would lead off into the forest.

>>16371513
then i vote for slight detour into the forest. Not a long detour, just to see if there's anything weird that way

>>16371513
I say no. But...there COULD be something interesting in there.

Let's continue on our way and see if Freedom has any drones. Even if they're just "remote control car with a webcam."

You're not particularly in the mood for spelunking, but you give the strange tunnels a quick peek to see if there's anything worth seeing in sight. The answer to this turns out to be "no," as the tunnels quickly twist madly and randomly away from your line of sight. You feel a wafting of air on your exposed neck - slight, but there. An opening on the other end? Either way, they must be fairly deep.

You and the others step back after a moment, satisfied with the strange sight.

"Shame whatever did that didn't leave an artifact to make this detour worth it," Damsel says.

"Hey, it might've," Twitch reasons, "Like Bird said, this place is kinda on anyone's way."

That's true enough, though you're no richer for the fact. Sighing, you shoulder your shotgun, "Alright then, let's get this show on the road."

Roll a d20.

rolled 9 = 9

>>16371580
Rollin', then leavin' for the night.

rolled 5 = 5

>>16371580
rollan

rolled 15 = 15

>>16371580
Rollan.

Also, do you want low or high rolls?

rolled 11 = 11

>>16371580
Rollan for mutants squeezing their way out of the holes.

>>16371589

>>16371626
Even as you take your first step, you hear a very, very unwelcome sound - the door at the top of the stairs being slammed shut. You exchange a brief glance with the others.

"Well shit," Damsel says.

You explode into action.

Roll another d20.

>>16371640
Uh, if you check back, I'm pretty sure the plan was for someone to stay up top watching the doors.

rolled 18 = 18

shit, rollan!

>>16371650
NICE ROLL!

>>16371649
>>16371650

Then that person probably held off a group of bandits single handedly.

Or it's a genuine, friendly puppy.

its probably just the wind...

right?

right guys? the wind?

>>16371649
One person suggested that (though I actually misread it, admittedly).

>>16371650
You're across the basement in a flash, taking the stairs two at a time. Hip-firing your mossberg fills the basement with a tremendous boom as the slug tears its way through the rotting door and into whatever may be behind - you hear a muffled scream and, from beyond the door, shouting voices.

Now you're hearing another sound, from back in the tunnels - a snarling, strangely muffled, but beastial and inhuman. You're not the only one hearing it, either; Damsel spins back to cover the tunnel with her RPK.

It seems that you're caught between a rock and a hard place.

>>16371706
Grenades down the tunnels.

Toss another one through the hole we just blasted in the door.

rolled 8 = 8

>>16371706
Only one sane thing to do.
JUMP IN THE MANSIZED HOLE
ALL OF YOU
AND READY YOUR GUNS

rolled 2 = 2

>>16371706
Wait for whatever it is in the tunnels to come out before Damsel blasts it, and get Bird and Twitch on either side of the doorway.

As for ourselves, find a corner and hide in it to provide a wildcard for fire.

>>16371718
FOOL ARE YOU DAFT? DO YOU KNOW WHAT A GRENADE DOES IN BASEMENT?

FUCKING SNORKS

its shotgun time!

>>16371706
Frag the hole. Take the door.

BATTLE MUSIC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q01VRTyO5Yk

rolled 11 = 11

>>16371738

voting for this, with dice.

>>16371724
I do know what a grenade does in a basement. Last one out tosses it. The other 4 members of our team SHOULD have the top room clear by then.

rolled 17 = 17

The tunnels roll down and away, so lob a grenade down each hole and pray that that takes care of what's down there.

Then ready our guns for the stairs.

So do you guys wanna rush the stairs, then nade, or try nading the tunnels before rushing the stairs? Some combination? Simultaneous?

I'm thinking that maybe this whole place is probably some sort of bandit trap. like curious stalkers go into the basement, and the bandits lock them in with whatever the fuck lives down here, (probably snorks) then pick through the remains for loot.

with that said, I think damsel in her heavy armor and RPK stands the best chance against gunfire, and can law down automatic hate the bes, so she takes point on stairs, with someone else backing her up, then whoever has got shotguns aims them at the holes, grenades get flung down a hole if it looks like a swarm, or when damsel and her partner clear the upstairs and we are on way out

>>16371765
Both. Though not exactly rushing the stairs. Lob grenades down the tunnels, then get onto the stairs and fire through the door a bit more.

>>16371784
I don't know if Damsel has heavy armor. I know we do, and we have a shotgun, which is ideal for close combat.

rolled 9 = 9

>>16371765

Rush then nade, I think. We go up with Vlad, followed by Bird, Twitch covers us, and Damsel with the RPK on our rear.

Last one out (Twitch) throws a grenade.

>>16371791
>>16371784
We have the heavy armor. Kat has medium. If we take the door, it should be us on point with Vlad and Damsel right behind us, finally Bird and Twitch trail with sawn-off and subgun up.

>>16371765
Rush the stairs, last one up lobs a grenade back.

>>16371791
You have heavy, Damsel has a medium, Bird and Twitch both have light suits.

>>16371803
in that case, then what you said.

put some slugs into some potential future dead bandits at point blank range

You sort things out quickly enough, "I'll take point, Vlad and Damsel, behind me. Bird, Twitch, cover our asses and get read to nade this hellhole when I give the go."

The four of them shift quickly - Twitch and Bird both bring out their close quarters weapons while you switch to your rifle hastily; you don't have the time to clear the thing of slugs and load shot; automatic fire will have to clear the corridor.

You barrel up the stairs quicky - the idea of them nading the basement has already occured to you, if not to them - you want to force whoever shut you back in here out of your way and fast. You dump a burst of fire into the door to clear anyone behind it, then shoving the folded-stock rifle in between the gap between the door and its frame, spraying blindly into the corridor beyond; you can't hear anything over the insane din of the rifle in the tightly-enclosed stairwell.

Slamming the door open with your shoulder, you sweep out into the landing at a crouch, bringing your rifle up to fire again.

Roll 2d20. One to see how effective your fire was, another to see if your incoming surprise party specialists have arrived through their fun distribution tunnels yet.

rolled 3 = 3

>>16371872

Nobylan and Mitenun, I beg for your blessings!

rolled 19, 13 = 32

LET THE BANDITS HIT THE FLOOR

rolled 10, 2 = 12

>>16371872
We have got to stop walking into traps like this.

>>16371890

>>16371890
doesn't count, he didn't roll 2d20

>>16371896
he did

>>16371890
Fuck them. They haven't done shit for us. Allah, much as I hate to say it, was the last helpful higher power we invoked. And look at your roll. See what they do?

>>16371919

They saved us once or twice.

Or it might have been Twitch.

Either way, they're fickle gods.

Fuck yeah. stalker quest returns!
much love Stalk Getter.

>>16371896
Your fire had been more effective than you could've hoped - ahead, you see a bandit, mangled by your random spray, looking very dead. His partners, if there are any, are nowhere to be seen.

Below, though, things aren't going quite as well - you hear Bird and Twitch open up at the base of the stairs, "Snorks!" you hear Bird yell, and almost laugh despite yourself. Snorks, wasn't that a cartoon about little blue elves or something? The thought is fleeting, however, your attention focused on more important things.

Roll 2d20. One is for the response of your enemy, one is for dem snorks.

rolled 5, 11 = 16

>>16371958

rolled 1, 20 = 21

>>16371958

Rollan

>>16371978

>nat 1
>nat 20

Welp, I think I'm done rolling for today.

>>16371977
You've tensed yourself for some sort of response by your ambushers, but it seems the ferocity of your response took whatever fight they might've had right out of them; Damsel, then Vlad appear at either of your shoulders, ready for an attack that isn't coming.

Below, you can hear things are going less peacefully - the bursts of gunfire growing more erratic; from below, you hear Twitch yell in panic, "Jesus Christ, they're coming out of the goddamn walls!"

Thinking quickly, you decide to....

>>16371982
The nat 1 is good. The 20, up in the air.

rolled 3, 7 = 10

>>16371998
Get them up the stairs and then toss more grenades down there.

>>16371998
Get the fuck up stairs. Everyone. Once they're up here, give our new friends some happy bundles of Comp-B and shrapnel. If someone can't pull back up the stairs, wade in and get them out, rifle up, knife readily accessible.

rolled 16 = 16

>>16372011
>>16372008
These.

die motherfuckers!

>>16372011
Second.

>>16368015
HOLY FUCK YOUR BACK OH MY FUCKING GOD I JUST SHIT MY PANTS FUCK WOW

Readying a grenade in one hand and your pistol in the other along with Vlad (Damsel keeps the hallway covered), you shout down to Bird and Twitch, "Break off and make a break for it! We'll cover you!"

To their credit, they don't need any encouragement. The sound of gunfire cuts off and the otherworldly snarls of whatever these snorks are fills the gas station with a titanic din You can hear boots on stairs, but are they moving quick enough?

Roll 3d20.

rolled 5, 12, 20 = 37

>>16372051

>>16372051
die you snorkley fuckers

rolled 9, 6, 3 = 18

>>16372051
Get out of there, STALKERS!

>>16372060
And thus ends Twitch and Bird.

rolled 9, 19, 6 = 34

>>16372051
BLOW THESE SNORKS INTO PIECES
THIS IS OUR LAST RESORT

>>16372064

Might be good rolls this time around.

20 has to be worth something.

>>16372069
Snork speed.

Those two Stalkers are dead as dicks.

>>16372060

where the hell do snorks come from anyway?

they can't just be the original soldiers from when the zone went critical, they'd be extinct or rare as hell by now, and yet they all seem to be wearing the same beaten up uniform and the same gas mask

>>16372077
All those times I pestered you to restart this quest when you namefag'd and appeared in a thread paied off didn't they OP. Didn't they?!

I think I love you.

>>16372086
I assume the Zone goes through a LOT of soldiers.

Alternately, that's what Zombies decay into.

>>16372077
I remember waaaaaaaaay back many moons ago you said we had Fate points or something like that to save our party from certian death.
NOW IS THE TIME.

>>16372092
i like the zombie decay into snorks theory, kinda explains why snorks can be so common as hell for a creature that doesn't seem to be able to increase its numbers on its own.

>>16372086
polite interruption

ever noticed why they wear the same gas masks? they move around in the same manner? the same uniforms? how there always seem to be snorks no matter how many you kill?

on another note, do you know where soldiers who have seen things they haven't been classified for end up?

>>16372110
They end up dead typically. The military isn't going to take the time to dump soldiers in the zone. Last time that happened we got Duty.

>>16372060
Your two fellow-travellers appear in your vision, Twitch taking the lead; it's looking like the two will make it when you see Twitch's boot catch on a landing. As if in slow motion, you see him land face first on the staircase, his MP-5 clattering back down into darkness, burping out a few rounds in protest at its rough treatment. Bird manages to avoid falling on top of Twitch, but only just barely. The veteran stalker doesn't stop to think, dropping down to haul a stunned Twitch up. He's too late. Now you see what a snork is, and you rather wish you hadn't.

It used to be human, that much is sure, though what ungodly processes turned it into...this thing are beyond your comprehension. Even from here you can smell the sheer stink of the thing; shit and urine and months-old sweat, as well as a duskier, animal smell. It's what was once a Ukranian special forces soldier, judging by the uniform - now it's an animal. You swear you can see its inflamed flesh actually growing INTO its tattered gas mask.

One is joined by two, then three, swarming over each other like roaches to get at fresh meat - your friends, then you. Bird manages to open fire with his shotgun one-handed, catching the abomination in the jaw and nearly dropping the gun for his trouble. Then the mutants are all over both of them.

How attack? You could open fire with your pistols (which I had you take out so you could cover fire and nade quickly), or lose a bit of time switching to heavier weapons (which may overpenetrate). Either way, come to a consensus and roll me 3d20.

>>16372133
Pistols. Put down as many rounds as we can as quickly as we can. We don't have time to switch.

>>16372133
Dive in there with double-barreled shotgun and get to blasting.

rolled 7, 1, 14 = 22

>>16372133
Pistols motherfucker

rolled 2, 11, 5 = 18

Wooo yeah time to play some STALKER Quest for the first time in faaaar too long

I am sure IG or Weasel will back me up on the plant of: GRAB OUR KNIFE AND SHANK ONE. Get Damsel and Vlad to open fire on the others.

rolled 16 = 16

>>16372133
Pistols

Time to give this headache some 140gr, .45 caliber asprin. Unload into the closest snork as much as possible without endangering the team.

>>16372151
STOP ROLLING

rolled 17 = 17

>>16372159
Fuck yeah SHANKING. I always approve of actions which brings a KNIFE into a GUN FIGHT.
Or just a chance to RIP AND TEAR like a madman.

rolled 7, 10, 8 = 25

>>16372185
oops 3d20s. My bad.

Prevailing plan seems to be pistols at dawn. Or right now.

Roll 3d20. Order is you, Vlad, snorks. (Damsel isn't in combat yet, but will be.)

>>16372185
I knew you were hiding here somewhere old friend. Is it not good to have best quest ever back?

rolled 13, 13, 15 = 41

>>16372192
Rev up them knifes, because we're about to ventilate some Snorks!

rolled 8, 16, 7 = 31

>>16372192
DIE MOTHERFUCKAS DIE MOTHERFUCKAS DIE

>>16372194
Well, it's called Wednesday, back in the Zone.
Have we met any Bloodsuckers yet? If we eventually do kill one, I vote to skin its face into a mask.

>>16372203
You go to fire your pistol, but instead of the satisfying sound of a .45 blasting from the barrel to introduce itself into a mutant, you instead hear a dry click.

You scream something incoherent but still obscene enough to funtion, and work the slide of your gun, clearing the jam and popping off your first round; it wings one snork in the foot and buries itself in a landing. Beside you, Vlad isn't having the same problem; he's rapidly dumping rounds into the slavering beasts - a throat shot here, a shot through one ruined mask lens there - but it's just not enough.

The snorks pull Twitch from Bird's grasp as the man kicks and screams and even bites; the snorks return this latter gift, but can't seem to get through his suit yet. Bird is having his own problems getting a group of snorks off of him, his shotgun pinned to his chest as he kicks and headbutts wildly.

Beside you, you hear the clatter of Damsel's RPK dropping to the deck; she squeezes her way in with her skorpion and takes aim as best she can with the bullet hose.

You better make these shots count.

Roll 6d20. You, Vlad, Damsel, Bird, Twitch, Snorks.

>>16372215
No no we haven't.

I want to go back to the bandit gun shop in the Agropom complex and see what new shit they have if we can. Those guys had some diamonds in the rough that's for sure. TBH I want to avoid Pirpyat as much as we can for a while. Let the factions fight it out there while we make some money from hunting monsters and finding artefacts. Try to avoid getting involved in anything between groups in case we get caught in the middle. Man I had all these plans for our next move months ago and I never wrote any of them down!

>>16372215
We actually dealt with bloodsuckers (well, one) in sessions 2-3.

rolled 10, 11, 2, 15, 16, 3 = 57

>>16372255
I think he meant today. I remember when Bird saved us from that Bloodsucker with the shotgun over our shoulder.

Anyway rollin'. Promise I won't delete this time. Only did it cause I wanted IG's KINFE THEM rolls I promise :(

>>16372246
AAAAAAAAAAAAA getsome

rolled 5, 4, 5, 19, 5, 1 = 39

>>16372246
Here goes a can of worms inside a powder keg!

rolled 7, 14, 7, 14, 5, 8 = 55

>>16372246
Time for an old /tg/ standby.

FOR THE EMPEROR!

rolled 15, 16, 15, 2, 14, 4 = 66

I'll try rolling. And if worse comes to worse, we should bodily throw ourselves into the snorks on Bird and Twitch in an attempt to knock them off.

rolled 5, 15, 9, 14, 3, 4 = 50

dammit i keep typoing up my dicerolls

>>16372273
>>16372279
>>16372285
Anyways.
Snork status:
[] Not told
[] Told
[] Too told for this shit
[] Told about the stairs, told ya, snorks!
[X] FUCKED

>>16372273
Your aim isn't perfect, considering the circumstances, but with range as short as it is and targets so plentiful, it doesn't take much; you empty your m1911's magazine, every shot hitting a snork; one of the rounds takes the head off of a mutant moving to bite the back of Twitch's skull. Vlad continues to pour of a stream of pistol rounds, keeping his cool and forcing even these feral beasts back under volume of fire. Damsel's aim, however, is poor; firing too suddenly and with a poor grip on her machine pistol, she dumps most of her fire harmlessly into the wall or into the deeper basement.

As the three of you desperately try to beat off the endless wave of mutants with pistol fire, Bird finally manages to leverage his shotgun, blasting first one snork that had been pinning him and then another pulling on Twitch.

For once, Twitch's tiny size and rail-thin build comes to his advantage; he manages to wriggle free from the grasp of the mutants trying to pull him down, bolting up the stairs on all fours; Bird follows not far behind. With your two friends freed, you...

rolled 14, 5, 19, 16, 2, 12 = 68

Frag those motherfuckers. I am a mushroom cloud laying motherfucker, motherfucker!

rolled 18 = 18

We help them up and reload our weapons. Lets explore upstairs (?) a bit more, maybe we will end up finding an artifact for our troubles.

>>16372350
FILL THE BASEMENT WITH FUCKING GRENADES

I WANT THE BUILDING TO FALL IN FROM ALL OUR GRENADES.

rolled 20 = 20

let those fucking snorks try and taste some pineapple shaped treats

>>16372408
Wat?

>>16372432
F1 Grenade.

>>16372442
The snorks that we just killed?
Also we can't toss nades willy nilly those things are expensive!

"Frag these assholes!" you yell. Your group doesn't need any encouragement, and each of you retrieves and hurls a grenade down into the basement full of writhing, screaming snorks.

Stumbling over the others, you slam the badly-damaged door shut, "Move!"

The five of you manage to stumble out of the way quicky enough before the telltale sounds of the grenades going off in rapid succession fills your ears. A part of you almost feels sorry for the snorks, imagining the gore-soaked horror that the basement has become, but that part of you can't seem to get over the fact that the bastards tried to kill you all.

"That," Damsel says, "Could have went better."

From below, you can hear muffled sounds like those of wounded animals. This door won't be much defense on its own if any - or many - of the snorks can manage to get up the stairs, you realize.

>>16372456
Reload, then slide something heavy in front of the door.

Then-

1) Blast away at them until they stop coming
2) Make like a wounded Blind Dog and RUN.

rolled 12, 5, 7, 13, 2, 8 = 47

Bar the door if it can be done quickly. If not book it the fuck outside. Close quarters favors the snorks.

Reloading, you rally the others, "Help me find something to keep those assholes down there."

The idea of that nightmarish, stinking horde boiling up the stairs again is enough to get your group in motion; Damsel covers the rest of you as you shove an unconscionably heavy, sagging metal shelving unit in front of the door. Some part of you seems relatively sure that this is more or less what the bandits would've done, had they gotten the chance.

Those bastards had better hope you don't catch up to them.

As the four of you finish putting the shelving into place, you pause, listening for the telltale sounds of the snorks below - but things have gone mostly quiet. There's the occasional whine or blurble, but no roars, no twisted hands banging at the door; you sigh, sagging with relief. It's over. For now.

"I'm sorry," Vlad says, and you look at him - all of you, "I went through basic, I should've known to keep someone up here and said it."

Bar the door as much as we can, see if there's some heavy furniture or something we can use. Is there a spot Kat can set up her RPK in a prime position facing the door? If so get her to set up there while we look for a quick exit.

>>16372518
Pat him on the back and tell him "Welcome to the REAL horrors of the zone" (AFIK its his first encounter with mutants right?)

>>16372547
No, but the first "big bad" mutant you guys have seen.

-

You clap the ex-soldier on the back, "Welcome to the real horrors of the Zone, man."

"Don't blame yourself," Bird chimes in, "We got lazy. We're alive. Lesson learned."

"I blame you!" Damsel says, "Actually, no, I blame Bosse for having us poke around in here."

"You never want to have any fun," you return.

rolled 14 = 14

>>16372577
"Now everyone lets get back to poking around up here. May as well make this worth while."

Continue to "poke around" for some loot. Dice roll for luck!

>>16372577
Alright, so Twitch lost his MP5 down there. I don't think any of us are willing right now to go down to get it.

Let's search the dead bandit's body, see if there's any silver lining to this thing.

And maybe put up a sign "Snorks down in the basement"?

rolled 12, 6, 18, 17, 5, 6 = 64

>>16372637
I like where your head is at, but those bandits would just come back and take down the sign. If we wanna deal with this right, we either hunt the snorks or hunt the bandits.

That being said, I'd prefer to just move on to Freedom, rest up, and get Twitch a new MP-5 or other close combat weapon.

>>16372637
"Free MP5 stashed in basement" Then in lower case print "Also snorks" Come back here next week and see if we got any one mwhahaha

>>16372663
WE ARE GOING TO FREEDOM?! Ewww

(Duty Supporter here)

>>16372637
>>16372663
Hard to take down if it's on the wall. If we have paint, paint it on.

On the other hand...if we can shoot enough snorks to kill them all, who knows what loot is in their caverns?

"Let's see if we can't find something on these assholes," you say, bending down to search the one at the end of the hall that got hit in your rifle blindfire. Behind you, you can hear Twitch searching the other guy.

Your guy seems carrying an AKS-74U and not much else; you suppose it's better than coming up totally empty handed. You're about to ask Twitch about the guy you'd slugshot through the door when he speaks up of his own accord.

"This one's alive."

---

Right guys, it's 6am here - I've gotta call it a night (day?). MANY TANKS for the participation; I'll be around for a brief bit to answer questions/address concrit.

That said, I leave you with this youtube video.

v=Q231auzl8d0

rolled 18 = 18

loot them dead bandit scum

>>16372716
oh nvm, i posted slow

>>16372703
why did stalker quest ever stop in the first place?

WHY DID YOU LEAVE US FOR SO LONG?

Did my consistent nagging when ever you showed your face cause you to come back?

>>16372748
My schedule went seriously to shit and by the time it had cleared, it'd been months. I figured it'd be pointless to try to restart.

>>16372760
Yes, actually, in part. Players bringing it up on quite a few occasions convinced me I should rise Stalker Quest from its grave.

rolled 9, 6, 3, 2, 18, 15 = 53

>>16372792
Glad to have you back and running this again. When can we expect the next thread?

>>16372810
I'm going to try to aim for a weekly schedule, more-or-less; it SHOULD be feasible. Which means expect the next game Monday or Tuesday.

>>16372792
Imma gonna need to do an art piece commemorating stalker quest.

not sure when, but i am definitely feeling the itch to do it

>>16372824
Thank you Getter, Stalker quest was sorely missed on /tg/.
you are a gentleman and a scholar.

>>16372671
The reason for this being that we don't want to hand a stolen spetsnaz PDA over to the notoriously-military-cozy Duty faction.

>>16376196
we should break the PDA open to get at the files that are inside!

>>16376564
Brilliant!
>>16372833
That would be cool - make sure to stick it in one of the threads once you figure out what you wanna do.

working on a character lineup of the 5 main characters

WIP on damsel

and WIP on Bird

the rest aren't much beyond some vague scribbles.
>>16378195
will do

rolled 12 = 12

>>16379150
>>16379234
Awesome.