>>20590239
We need to find out what the state of the Zone is, and try to find out what we're supposed to do for the G-Man.
And for that, I suppose we'll need to talk with the locals about current goings-on in the Zone.

Also be on the look out for the G-Man himself.
If Freeman is any indication, G-Man likes to stalk his employees.

File: 1346735715024.gif-(488 KB, 300x163, 1335762003290.gif)

Don't worry guys, we'll pull through, with the power of friendship.

but first, check to see if the radio in the suit can pick up a signal.

>>20590239
>>20590301

Seconding news findings.

Also, there are several potential stash locations we can check for weapons that, while not the best Zone can offer, can at least get us some liquid roubles and decent firepower, assuming they aren't stripped. We should be able to end up with, assuming a 100% hit rate and roughly a day of travel, an SVD, whatever the fuck the TRS-301 is (Potentially 2), a few AK-74s, a GP-25 for said -74s, and a bunch of medical equipment, food, and ammunition. If we can find 6 of the tinned food and the Major hasn't been to the substation yet, we can bribe our way in to get Cardan the fine tools as well as some ammo and milspec medkits.

>>20590344
Cheryl messes with the radio on her hardsuit, but between her lack of know-how and whatever the Zone does to transmissions, it's a no-go.

Cheryl approaches the iron door of the Skadovsk and raises her hand, then stops.

"Er, should I knock or just go in?" Cheryl asks.

>>20590390

Just go in, the only rule on the Skad is no weapons brandished or held.

We need news on what's happened lately so we can figure out exactly where the Major is along with the survivors of the Stingray group, as well as where we can find proper gear for the canon and possilbly some artifacts to help us.

>>20590390
"Just go in.
"Find the bartender, he should be able to get us some information."

Cheryl opens the door to reveal the interior of the ship's first floor, Beard's bar. Several worn and weary men with weather-beaten clothes and well-used guns turn and give the young woman a cursory glance before drifting back to their meals, drinks, or maps. Then almost as one, they stop, turn, and look again.

Except for the faint sounds of music on a radio, not a single word is spoken as all eyes in the room are on Cheryl.

"A more wretched hive of scum and villainy..." Cheryl ruefully thinks, looking around. "Uh... directions, guys? What am I doing? That the bartender?"

>>20590529

Bartender, ask for anything interesting happening recently, besides the obvious thing that just did.

>>20590529
Just walk in like you own the place. Bartender should be in the back. . . well, behind the bar.

>>20590529
"Don't give them any mind. Actually, does the duffel bag and gun feel lighter than what'd you expect? Want to make sure that the suit's strength enhancement is working and all.
"Because if it is, you can beat every single one of these clowns in an armwrestling contest.
"Bartender should be in the back behind the bar."

>>20590564
>>20590569
"Oh yeah, right. Duh."

Heather walks towards Beard, a smile on her face.

"Hey. What's on tap?"

The bartender blinks, then says something in Russian.

"Hey Cheryl, can you hear that guy explaining the scenery to us and rolling dice? Just checking?"

>>20590529
Let this be a lesson Cheryl, if the armor we give you comes with a complimentary helmet... Keep it handy.

>>20590617
>in Russian
"Oh goddammit! Fucker couldn't at least leave you with the Federation Universal Translator? Fucking hell.
"Hey! Is Alexei in here? He knows Russian, right?"

Things are going to slow down real fast if we can't even speak the local language.

>>20590617
..,Whose to say that none of the nebulous number of command crew members knows how to speak Russian?

>>20590655
TG is supposed to be a global agency, like the Stargate Program, post-"Full Disclosure", after all.
It helps having access to Star Trek's Universal Translator units.

>>20590617
Someone ought to speak English. We just need to find them to translate.

rolled 32 = 32

>>20590655
>>20590687
>>20590688
"Alexei, you in here?"

MetaOP, you do know that a good percentage of Stalkers either speak English, right? Or at least understand it...

>>20590653
Wait, don't we have nano machines that can translate any language?

>>20590704
"I said my parents came from Russia. I barely know the language"

Looks like you might have to figure out something else.

>>20590704
...Damnit.
Well I'm sure at least one person in the bar knows English probably.
Although the problem with translators is you have to trust that they are telling you the truth of what the other people are saying.
Any way you can somehow... passively scan people's minds until you know Russian?

>>20590708
I would imagine a good percentage yes, but having played the STALKER games, I can't recall anything in-game about specific characters knowing or not knowing multiple languages.

No they don't all speak English. That was dubbing.

rolled 10 = 10

>>20590729
"I can try."

>>20590713
As of now, we don't even have bodies.
...Goddamnit G-Man.
Of all the people and places you had to move us into you picked the young, blonde, attractive, American woman, and placed her in a gritty Ukranian hellhole, in a world where overusing her psychic powers might fuck up the zone/noosphere even more.
Is this a job or a weirdly elaborate punishment?

>>20590755
Or not.
Not trying works too.

>>20590755
Look on the bright side, at least you won't have to worry about this awkward situation after everyone's heads have exploded.

>>20590752

True, at least in CoP you generally get a mix of the dub and original Russian.

Although the fact that G-Man left us no way of communicating makes no sense. Even Freeman could understand what people were saying.

I think someone needs to show the fuck up and give us a tool to let us talk to people.

rolled 2 = 2

>>20590755
PERILS OF THE ZONE!

>>20590794
Maybe he felt we needed a handicap?
Or his plan for us hinges on frequent misunderstandings?

>>20590801

Welp, it's been a good run guys. Better luck next time!

>>20590759
Oh crap, I just realized how bad that was. At least we got a shitload of guns and fancy power armor.

>>20590801
...Oh COME ON.
Cheryl just caused a blowout didn't she?
At best.

File: 1346738709941.png-(236 KB, 640x480, 1282918451499.png)

>>20590801
Oh for fuck's sake!
Cheryl, incoming disaster!

>>20590801
...Yep. This is a punishment all right.
My only regret is that I can't take the G-Man out with me.

File: 1346738744986.jpg-(32 KB, 814x294, 1284186346233.jpg)

>2

>>20590822

We don't have any guns beyond a Makarov ATM.

I know where (hopefully) we can FIND guns, lots of them, and not shitty ass AK-74us, either. But that is predicated on us both being alive and the stashes being intact.

>>20590822
The power armor also lacks a helmet right now.

...Given the delays, it seems like most of the command crew is asleep right now.
Maybe is a dream?
Please let this be a dream.

rolled 51 = 51

Cheryl, Cheryl, it's ok, i took Russian 101 back in college before i signed up with the guard.
Granted i dropped out, and i slept through most of the classes, but it was like a super early class. Pretty sure i still got a handle on it though.

Repeat after me.
Moio sudno na vozdušnoy poduške polno ugrey

>>20590855

All ME hardsuits have a helmet, Cheryl just doesn't have it ON right now. Which we'll fix after we leave the Skad.

If we leave...

>>20590855
Oh, well that kind of negates most of the advantages right there.
I can think sorts of nasty shit that could realistically happen, but knowing Meta OP, things won't come to that; we'll just be dead! That's something to look forward to, at least.

>>20590873
I thought she left it back on the Oncoming Storm or something?
Ah well, assuming we survive this, I have a feeling that we'll get a chance to make a second impression.

>>20590864
Dammit no Monty Python jokes!

>>20590864
Google translate has failed me. Anyone here know Russian?

>>20590801
Cheryl gently touches the minds of the STALKERs in the bar, searching for the information she needs... and instead triggers disaster.

Cheryl's mind hits something unexpected, a tangle of thought, of essence, worked into the very fabric of reality itself in this land. A sensation of touching something great overcomes her, a brief joining of her mind to an amalgam of consciousness similar to your own state of being, but with far more potence.

Through Cheryl you sense surprise, puzzlement, from the other groupmind, then fear as they probe into Cheryl's mind and unlock something dark and hidden.

"No..." Cheryl whispers, the words almost a plea as an old, familiar feeling returns to her.

The boat begins to shake slightly as the STALKERs stop staring at Cheryl and begin yelling something else, pointing outside. Only one word is discernible from the morass.

"Blowout."

>>20590890
It's a distraction, just do it!
Then book it out of there, run up the stars on your right, go up the next set, take a right, and open the door!
You need to book it away from there, our fault, we hadnt counted on that.

Take 2, Mercenaries. They're westerners usually and might speak english.
Take 3, There are some scientists near massive gouts of fire, they're eggheads, but they might speak english too!

>>20590917
WHOOP, never mind, Stay the fuck inside.
It is possible the guy at the top of the stairs, the very tip of the ship, speaks english, he's a bit of a worldy fellow.
Alternatively, give your vodka to the guy at the workbench, He'll be your friend.

>>20590917
The Common Consciousness isn't dead yet?
Well at least we know that much.
...Also follow these guys to shelter, because ordinarily blowouts kill everyone.
And I think this one is going to be even worse.

>>20590942
You mean this derelict provides sufficient protection?
Alright then.

>>20590946

I'm pretty sure even after the "true" ending of SoC C-Con was still active, it's my understanding every blowout is a new individual joining it.

Still, a blowout isn't that bad considering we're under cover, although C-Con freaking out about us is bad, plus, Cheryl might be a godly powerful Psychic, but C-Con is constantly telling physics to sit down and shut the fuck up.

Still, we'll need someone who speaks english to help us, or one of the command crew to actually remember what side of the world they're from.

The STALKERs brace themselves and secure doors and windows as a terrible rumble echoes from outside, like a tornado or hurricane beating the ship. The lights flicker and the ship shakes.

"No guys, I think this..." Cheryl begins to say. She is cut off as the sound of a foghorn cuts through the sound of the rumble, and fog begins to roll into the ship from cracks in the doors...

>>20590917
Locked away?
...Oh Cheryl that never works. No matter how deep you've buried it, things like this always rise to the surface eventually.

>>20591009
...The important thing here Cheryl is not to blame yourself.
Sure you never lost the capacity to do what you just did, but that doesn't mean you wanted to.
It's not your fault the Common Consciousness unwisely prodded your mind in exactly the wrong way.
...Given that that's how they fucking created the Zone in the first place, I suppose it was inevitable that they would find a way to make it even worse.

>>20591009

Did we just Silent Hill Zaton? Or the entire Zone?

Oh jesus christ, Bloodsuckers will be even worse, won't they. We'll need to find a translator or something to warn everyone.

>>20591045
Oh yes that's a great idea.
Why not take the probably growing superstition that the strange beautiful woman who just showed up caused this calamity, and confirm it?

>>20591045
So on top of causing this mess, you want to confirm to these people, who all have guns and no compunction to killing others, that we just caused this Blowout and made the Zone even worse?

That's one of the most stupid suggestions that's ever come up.

"Cheryl, look, this isn't your fault. And fuck, if the G-Man...aw shit, no this could be what the G-Man wanted. Wrong person in the wrong place, and all that. Just stay calm for now, see how the Stalkers react."

>>20591106
>>20591071

Good point. I'm derping about because it's late. Although given the sheer amount of labs and shit in the zone, we might be able to get away with a rumor of seeing something like this in a lab. (Maybe the same one we got the hardsuit in?)

>>20591106
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of his ultimate plan.
So if anything, we're ahead of schedule.
...Fucking G-Man.

>>20591041
You can only hope Cheryl hears you, because she's staring at the fog rolling in with an expression of blank horror. The men of the Skadovsk look around with nervous chatter, several pointing at the fog seeping in, and the foghorn. The rumbling grows more powerful, louder, then suddenly ends.

The fog remains, however. A cold, damp blanket on the ground. In the wake of the blowout, low murmurs in Russian resume all around the ship.

>>20591119
For example, what if this Canon was already slated to be taken over by the Combine? Maybe they were given a report concerning its resources, making its capture a high priority.
The G-Man comes in, brings along Cheryl, and forces the C-Consciousness to recreate Silent Hill, but in the Zone.
Now there's a place of valuable anomalies, but highly dangerous, enough to cause the Combine to waste large amounts of resources.

>>20591169
"Cheryl? Cheryl! Come on Cheryl, we got you out of the fog once, we'll get you out of it again. Go on, take a seat. A Blowout just happened, the Stalkers won't hold it against you if you're shaken up a bit."

Once Cheryl is responsive and feeling better, we need to ask the Bartender if he knows anyone that speaks English.
And see if Alexei, or anyone else in the Command Crew, knows enough Russian to ask for someone who speaks English.

>>20591169
...I'm really sorry about this, but this is the worst time for you to go into shock.
"ALESSA!"
...Sorry Cheryl but we really need you to focus now.
I can count at least four different levels of why this fog should hold no terrors for you.
As of now, we still need a translator.
Loudly ask if someone can please tell you what happened, and see if anyone responds.

>>20591197
"Yeah... yeah..." Cheryl murmurs, walking over and sitting at the bar. A steady stream of background chatter in Russian fills the air as Cheryl rubs her face for a moment. She is interrupted by Beard tapping the counter in front of her, then pointing to a chalkboard behind him. The chalkboard has things written on it in cyrillic, but a scrawl of a bottle near it makes it fairly clear what it is.

>>20591248
Ah well then veto this part.
Admirable recovery Cheryl.

rolled 89 = 89

>>20591248
"HEY!" Cheryl shouts. "Anyone speak English?"

Beard rolls his eyes and murmurs a few words with "Amerikanski" prominent in them. He shouts something in Russian, and a chain of questions spread throughout the ship.

>>20591268
...Time to attempt bartering?
I'm not sure if this guy has anything else that you can trade for your bottle of vodka?

>>20591315

We need work at the moment, we're out of roubles. We also lost our detector during our last outing, and a Burer junked out main rifle. (If anyone asks why we're missing such gear)

>>20591321
Vodka tends to be worth a fistful of roubles in the zone.
Down side is, the big stuff, the good stuff, even the ok stuff, cost boatloads.

File: 1346742138999.png-(67 KB, 243x218, Jackbenimble.png)

>>20591315
"You look lost, my friend," a man says with a broad smile as he suddenly sits next to Cheryl. "The Zone is no place for a woman, much less a pretty girl like you. And certainly not for someone who doesn't know the language!"

>>20591369

The problem is, with the Fog now here, I'm not so sure my list of stashes is any good no more, we'd have had all the we needed then, with enough left over for some tidy profit by selling off excess AKs. Assuming that it isn't monster city out there, we can always try to get a pump shotgun and SPAS-12 from a pair of stashes I know of, one near a controller cave and another at the ranger station. There's also an AK-74 at the range station unless we're unlucky, it's hidden pretty good. There's also a few army medkits there.

>>20591392
Technically, how would we know if the player characters hadn't already looted those stashes?
Like do they somehow regenerate?

>>20591383
Well, I was with a group, but. . .
Well, lets just say they're not around anymore.

Now, instead of having them translate, I'm stuck here on my own. And I may be a pretty girl, but i can handle myself quite capably.

>>20591383

The Zone is no place for a man either, but here you are.

I'm looking for news and work, my rifle was junked by a Burer and I lost my detector in that same fight during my escape.

>>20591383
Cheryl, how comfortable/talented are you with lying?
Because it's time to do a lot of it.
Say you were with a partner that knew the language and claimed to be more familiar with the area, but he either ditched you at the first sign of trouble or died ignobly early on.

>>20591408
Don't say that second part.
...Such a cliched line.

>>20591408
That last part of your post gave me cancer.

rolled 1 = 1

>>20591408
>>20591412
>>20591420

"The Zone is no place for a man, either. I got my stuff jacked by a Burer, I was lucky to make it out of there alive. My translator didn't," Cheryl lies. "I'm looking for news and work."

"A woman in the Zone is news by itself. A word of warning. Most people here haven't seen a woman in months. Beard runs as close to a 'respectable' outpost as is possible in the Zone, so perhaps here not so bad, but out there..." the man tilts his hand back and forth. "Beard is the bartender. He wanted to know what you wanted, eh? Sitting at the bar like that."

>>20591476
YES!
AHAHAHA TIME FOR FAILURE!

>>20591476
"Cheryl, tell him that you were just steadying your nerves from the Blowout.
"Now, we've got to sell these tails, and get some rubles."

>>20591482
We always get failures and setbacks, and they're never funny or pretty! Shut the fuck up, you stupid shit!

>>20591476
I think.
I think I understand now.
We are going to help Cheryl Three Stooges her way to victory.

>>20591514
Yawn. It's only when shit like this happens that things are even remotely interesting. How badly will things get fucked up this time? What crazy plan will the noble Transpace Guard have to come up with to save their asses? Or times of great fortune, when the heavens smile down on our beleaguered heroes and give them a taste of true victory! It's on the edge when things are most exciting!

>>20591547
It's because Vitun and Spike are on the ship. We don't have our Good luck charms.

>>20591547
And that's what resulted in the deaths of 11,000 crewmembers on the Valiance, people that depended on the decisions of the Command Crew to get them home safely.
We can die, do you not comprehend that? Permanent failure, and you invite it? Go take your suicidal tendencies elsewhere.

>nat 1

5 bucks says C-consciousness gets infected by Silent-Hill Syndrome and blowouts become otherworld incursions.

STALKERS in Silent Hill. Fuck yeah.

>>20591583

Do... Do you have ANY IDEA how horrible that is? There's already Hill-tier mutants in the Zone, the Fog will only make it worse.

I MEAN AM I THE ONLY ONE THINKING ABOUT WHAT BLOODSUCKERS AND CONTROLLERS ARE BECOMING RIGHT NOW?

>>20591572
Permanent failure is the best failure. it makes you fear for what you have, so when shit hits the fan, you're on pins and needles trying to come up with a plan, just to survive. There's nothing better.
Seriously, you don't think the OP will actually let you fail from some bad dice rolls, do you? That would be being a bad GM.

>>20591598
Dead?
Silent Hill monsters seem to be psychic constructs, like they weren't originally human or whatever.
And these monsters seem to hate all life.
So... yeah.
Dead.

>>20591476
>>20591514
"I've got some tails to sell-" Cheryl begins to say. The man cuts her off.

"Little girl, you've got to get better at lying to live here," he says. "I can see right through you. You're nervous, on edge. Hiding something."

"I'm just shaken from the blow up," Cheryl mumbles.

"...blow out," the man states. "Where'd you get the armor?"

"Found it in a lab," Cheryl mutters. "Hey, uh, you never answered my earlier question."

"And you didn't answer mine," he says, stonily. "I've been in the Zone for a long, long time now. The things they pull from the labs around here have a certain... look. That moulded pink and white plastic you're wearing? It's never seen the interior of an 'X' location, I'm sure of it. Finally, there's script on it that isn't Cyrillic, 'Heather'."

>>20591598
Bloodsuckers become blood-pushers, losing their arms but growing their face-tentacles even farther. They rush up to you, latch on, bore a hole into your body and vomit tainted blood into you, then die on top of you and pin you down while the diseased blood transforms you into a chrysalis from which multiple new blood-pushers emerge.

Controllers become Judges, which invade your mind and seek out your worst crimes, forcing you to relive them over and over again until you take your own life from the guilt.

>>20591617
Perhaps a dash of honesty?

"Alright. I kinda got shanghai'd into testing this suit by an arms contractor, they tossed me in here and told me to survive as long as I could. The suit sends them data, I got to avoid my execution. At least, I have so far."

>>20591572
>>20591547

Well one of the reasons why the mechagodzilla fight in vaderworld was so awesome was the tension over the low rolls and happiness over the high ones.

Aw shit I'm superlate

Ok, who the hell thought it'd be a good idea to engrave our names into our hardsuits?

>>20591629
Yeah.

Here's hoping we get into a psyker-match with the c-consciousness and somehow batter them into submission.

>>20591628
Sounds alright, but what if he asks what we did to get sent in here?
I vote just smiling at him in a creepy as fuck manner. If that doesn't work, we can just say murder. It's not like Cheryl hasn't killed sapient beings before.

I just thought of something.

The noosphere contains the sum-total of all human knowledge. Including fiction.

Meta-earth, and all the meta, are linked to something that TG can't reach.

Is the meta perhaps the materialization of the noosphere of Real Earth?

Could we make contact with c-consciousness and ask them to test this? They could reach into their own noosphere and check for the presence of miniature universes. Hell, if it pans out they could run experiments on the nature of the meta for us.

If not, then I will be a sad panda.

>>20591617
...Heather?
Whatever.
Time to tell him the "truth".
You and some allies of yours were hired by a corporation (you know better than to question who specifically) were hired to enter the Zone and investigate, as their research department had been detecting signs that the Zone would become even more dangerous already. Or at least that's what they told you.
Unfortunately, while they were willing to hand out some new toys, they didn't have much guarantees of loyalty.
The rest of your crew ditched you in the Zone and made off with their new goodies, but you're still determined to do your job.

>>20591617
"Obviously we can't tell him about the voices in your head, of how the armor is from a video game, or how you came to be here because of an insanely powerful entity that may or may not be a man.
"Tell Nimble here that the armor is...Lockheed. They wanted to know what was in here, so they sent you in on a one-way mission into the Zone."

>>20591617

Seconding the arms contractor plan, we'll simply say that the cover story was a lab find.

We'll be honest with Nimble for that part, but we really did lose our rifle and detector in a fight, and need to find some work to get replacements. We need to find out if anyone we know managed to survive, but before that we need to be able to survive the Zone alone. We should also ask Nimble if a man named Degtyarev has been by, and if so, how long ago.

>>20591654
The flaw is that the C-consciousness are fuckups.

>>20591618
Alternatively, they could just attach some weird biological organism that drills into your skull and eats your frontal lobe and hypothalamus while absorbing the remaining hormones from your body, in a crude attempt at pacification; examples of the Judges "mercy".

>>20591639
You suspect it was the work of one of the replicator technicians. They seem to go out of their way to do 'nice' things for the females of the team.

>>20591667
>>20591673

"OK, look, I got thrown in here against my will with this thing on, OK?" Cheryl says. "A sort of deal I had no choice on. I test this new suit in the most unhospitable location, the Zone, and I get...pardoned for somethings I did in the past."

"You're still not being completely upfront, but I suppose that's close enough," Nimble says. He pauses, listening to the others chatter. "They say that a heavy fog has settled outside. That's never happened before after a blow out. Some of them are talking about your... odd timing."

>>20591702
Or maybe they take all the goodness out of you into themselves to try and make a perfect being, leaving the person nothing but a shell of wickedness?

How about those floating invisible lightning things? Generally the same, but they have batteries wired and bolted into their flesh, increasing their power at the expense of horrific pain?

>>20591707
"Tell him it's not like you created the fog. Because you didn't Cheryl. That was the C-Consciousness digging too deep into something they should have stayed the Hell out of."

>>20591654
>Is the meta perhaps the materialization of the noosphere of Real Earth?
It's possible.
But do you REALLY want C-conc looking into that?
There's a non-zero chance that the entire Meta would suddenly get anomalies, and canons would go invisible and grow tentacles and start eating other canons.

>>20591707
...Bluff to the max.
"I had thought the men of the zone were hardened treasure hunters, not superstitious children."

>>20591720

Those are anomalies, unless you mean Poltergeists, but they use TK, not electricity.

>>20591707

Is anyone ever truly honest in the Zone? I just want to get out of here, Stalker, and the best way for me to do that is to find out what's happening and where I can get the tools I need to survive.

>>20591707
Okay.
We were thrown in here
We need to find out what the fuck's going on

What's recent news?
Is the Brain Scorcher still active?
[Turning it off occurs in the SoC playthrough, if it's off then SoC is either over, or pretty close to over]
Know where any scientists are set up? I figure some of the eggheads might speak English.
[Sahkarov changes position between SoC and CoP]

rolled 23, 91, 69, 65, 32, 47, 6, 33, 56, 66 = 488

I want to help!

>>20591740
"They are both, Heather. Something you should learn fast."

>>20591744
"Then perhaps we can make a deal. I'm known for being a supplier of rare and excellent goods in these... troubled lands. If your corporation is developing new and advanced gear, I could use a contact in it. Think we could help each other out?"

>>20591750

No he doesn't, you derp, he stays in the same spot, it's a new Scientist team who sets up outside Yanov.

The biggest questions we need answered are: Is the Brain Scorcher active? (probably not, given we're in CoP land and Nimble is here) Has Degtyarev opened up Pripyat? If no, he's probably still investigating the Stingray sites and/or trying to recruit people for the run through the tunnel.

>>20591707

"I don't know, I heard crazy stuff happens all the time."

>>20591760
> "Think we could help each other out?"
"Okay."

>>20591760

Unfortunately I'm a freelancer, so I wouldn't know. I can pass the request to my handler though, if I ever manage to get a report out.

(Since we're the top of the chain, I think we can safely say HELLLLLLL NAW, noone in this world gets fucking meta-gear)

>>20591760
I don't see how we'd do that, unless they came in here after me. But if they do, I'll see if I can convince them to work with you.

>>20591760
"You may as well agree, and tell him upfront that the corp doesn't exactly expect you to survive, but that you'll see what you can do.
"What we need to know is if Degtyarev has already opened up Pripyat yet; if he asks about how you know him, tell Nimble that your handler said that he might be able to help."

>>20591778
We don't have to give him Meta-gear. Just regular early 21st-century weapons, like some FN2000's, AK-105's, and some KAC-47's. Stuff that is at this world's tech level, and would actually exist on the outside.

>>20591778
True, but depending on his performance here we could offer him a job (and erase his memory if he declines).
So say he'll definitely get your endorsement.

>>20591787
Yeah, but we don't actually have any way to get that stuff here. We're totally cut off from the fleet and any TG assets. Our holdings here include Heather. We're a disembodied mass of consciousnesses.

Anyone else terrified that G-man did this with a wave of his hand?

>>20591787
FN2000s are worth ridiculous amounts of money.
An AK-74 is something like 10,000 Ru, whereas a FN2000 is like 1,000,000 Ru.

Hang on, lemme bring up my Zaton stashmap

>>20591787

We don't even have blueprints for those! At best we could copy the UNIT and SCP guys stuff, but unless it's like a complete F2000 or G-36, or an Abakan, it's already in the Zone.

>>20591796
just be glad he didn't do the "steal your guns and drop you in the middle of pissed off monsters. . ."

Oh wait. he did.

>>20591800

Stashmap is now useless due to Fog, I already plotted out which stashes to go to based on location. If we absolutely have to try one spot for stashes, we'll hit the Ranger station for Batteries, medkits, a SPAS-12, a -74, and ammo.

>>20591800
Exactly. That's why mundane stuff would be good enough.

>>20591796
It's a matter of whether we can find this Canon when, if, we make it back.

We'll probably be drawn to it anyway because of whatever the G-Man is doing will cause disturbances.

And we can steal this world's DeBeers Vault's worth of diamonds, too. We've got 11,126 people that we need to try to revive. That's going to be at least a cargo hold's worth of diamonds on a Miracle.

>>20591813
Bloody fog.

File: 1346746618918.jpg-(133 KB, 580x514, 718536718.jpg)

Here we go. Assuming the place hasn't gone full otherworld, it's a Zaton map.

Seconding asking Nimble about Degtyarev and the Brain Scorcher.

>>20591832
Also here's an interactive map of Zaton.
http://cop.zsg.dk/Map_Zaton.php

>>20591820

6 True Rezzes a day at 25k gold worth of diamonds each.

Do you have ANY IDEA how long that'll take and how much it'd cost?

>>20591856
Yeah at this point, it's time to let go.

>>20591856
1855 days and 280,000 gp.

Be cheaper to craft a Wondrous Item. Faster too.

at 6 people rezzed per day, we'd have them all back alive in 5.08 years.

It would also cost USD $47,118,610,000 in diamonds.

>>20591856
We need personnel, however. With the TG Civil War in full swing, there's no way to know when we'll be able to get more personnel to crew our ships, or if they'll contain Black Ops moles.

Sure, we could try to use a Jem'Hadar breeding pool or Spaarti cloning cylinders with ysalimir, but the former have that annoying genetic loyalty to the Founders and addiction to Ketracel White, and the latter still takes 6 months.

Couldn't we use a Miracle to do multiple rezzes a day?

>>20591884
That's a lot of dollars.
Someone get the Looter team.

>>20591888
see
>>20591869

>>20591888
...We have robots.
Use Matter Replicators to make more robots.

Thats one thing, G man wouldn't just send us here for fun.
Perhaps the combine will soon invade, they would end up avoiding the zone. The first we would here about it would be a stream of refugees entering the zone as it become some strange safe/not safe place.
Things would get alot more chaotic.

>>20591897
Can we use Matter Replicators to make more organics, or does that not work?

>>20591888
Generally no? Miracle doesn't work like that.

in fact, Miracle is cheaper and the same level spell as True Rez, so I severely doubt we could cheat like that.

>>20591884
If it's a matter of diamonds, we can go to BPM 37093; it's only 50 light-years away and should exist in most normal Canons, is 10 billion trillion trillion carats.
Judicious use of quantum torpedoes, turbolasers, singularity lasers, and transporters should net us a couple large fragments.

>>20591912
People who intend to blow up a star need to read up on what a star is.
Hint: It's an ongoing fusion explosion the size of a star.

>>20591912
It's not the diamonds. It's the time.
Even with a 4x multiplyer, we'd only get it done in 1.25 years.

And then, we're missing one MINOR LITTLE DETAIL.

We have to be in the canon they died in to True Resurrect them. That's impossible now.

>>20591912
Well, if we can get a craft capable of FTL travel, then paying for the rezes will be a diamond dozen.

>>20591904
No, our Replicators cannot replicate the complexity of a full person.

>>20591897
Nor can they replicate someone like Data (because if they could then Starfleet wouldn't have had to disassemble Data, and would have just replicated him), and it's debatable if they could replicate the complex positronic brains used in Wily, Light, and Cossack-designed robots.

>>20591917
>It's an ongoing fusion explosion
And you need to read up on what a white dwarf is.
Hint: fusion has stopped in white dwarves.

>>20591928
Like. . .

All of them?

Okay time for everyone to shut up about the diamonds.
In case you've forgotten we are guests in Cheryl's mind, and she can hear us regardless of if we use quotation marks or not.

>>20591954
At least we're discussing diamonds and not the stuff we were discussing when she first arrived here.

>>20591945
Howabout those YVH-Droids?
They seem pretty sophisticated.
And are programmed to sound like Lando Calrissian.

rolled 10 = 10

Is Cheryl ok?

>>20591945
That's actually one of the reasons we're working on getting our designs into the Hercules.
While the Replicators can't build bots of that complexity, it can.

>>20591961
Yeah, I think she'd rather hear us talking about saving our dead crewmates than what color panties the Techno-priests made everyone.

>>20591924
Do we need to be in the same Canon if we have the body?
Could Miracle be used to recreate the bodies so that regular Raise Dead spells could be used?

>>20591978
Sadly, they b ded.
suprded.

>>20591809
"No regrets, Dr. Freeman."

>>20591760
"Maybe... I'd have to talk to my handler, but I think we could set something up," Cheryl nods.

"Good, good!" Nimble smiles. He waves to Beard and makes a motion. The barkeep nods and brings out a bottle of vodka and two glasses. "Then this one is on me. Drink up, girl. Vodka is another thing you'll have to get used to here."

>>20591996
Use Vodka

Now ask about them brain scorchers.

>>20591979
Possibly, we'd have to try to be sure, but either way, that'll double the time it takes to rez them from 5 years to 10 because we'd have to use two lvl 9 spells for each person

>>20591996
Inquire if he knows where you could find a cloak or something that could be used as one, as well as a helmet.
As you're starting to consider that maybe your assets should be kept more concealed.

>>20592026

We HAVE a helmet, Cheryl just isn't wearing it. That can be fixed after this conversation.

>>20591996
Yes, get drunk around the strange hairy men who don't trust you and may or may not suspect you of causing the blowout, or, at least, might want to steal your stuff! Good idea!

>>20592009
So it would have to be 1 Miracle per body?
We had the AUH expand its transit envelope to encompass the Valiance; we might be able to reconstitute some of the bodies from the remains.

>>20591996
Alright, ask about Degyatev, and about selling those tails. You need a cloak or poncho to hide the hardsuit, and more ammo for the Makarov.
Maybe even a PDA.

And you'll need to get some bolts if we're going towards anomalies.

>>20592042
I know the suit comes with a helmet, but isn't it a separate piece?
Or is there some kind of button Cheryl can press to activate the helmet?

>>20592060

Our hardsuit should have an omni-tool on it, we can just it to fabricate some junk module and fire it for anomaly detection.

>>20592042
Her suit HAD a helmet. I don't think it was brought with.

>>20592060
Depends on how many bodies are there and in what condition.

>>20592064
Separate piece. You find your old one in ME2.

>>20592064

Separate peice, but considering we were in combat on a starship, it's only reasonable Cheryl had her helmet with her, as regulations demand, in case of hull breach.

>>20592051
Don't forget "probably haven't seen a woman up close in a looooooong time".

>>20592076
Which is why we're making a memo to defy genre conventions and always wear your helmet while on duty.

rolled 21 = 21

>>20592006
Cheryl takes a shot of vodka. The liquor burns on the way down, Cheryl perhaps unwisely draining the whole shot in one go.

"The Scorcher? It was shut down a while ago by Strelok. You've heard of him, haven't you?" Nimble asks as he drinks as well. "Famous around here. Almost as much as Degtyarev. You've come in at an interesting time."

>>20592156

"Really? What happened?"

A while ago. Looks like this might be during the rush to the centre of the zone. COP.

>>20592156
"Tell him that you were briefed on Strelok and Degtyarev, but they skimped a bit on the details. But the way they're talking about him, it almost sounds like this is after the game. Ask him what he means by an interesting time."

>>20592156
>"The Scorcher? It was shut down a while ago by Strelok. You've heard of him, haven't you?" Nimble asks as he drinks as well. "Famous around here. Almost as much as Degtyarev. You've come in at an interesting time."
Degtyarev. That's the guy who opened the way to Pripyat, right?
Interesting time, eh? What's going on in the Zone?

>>20592103
But they're so uncomfortable. Can't we just get some wands of planetary adaptation?

I mean, I already have enough implants stuck in my head to prevent me from flying in any 2000 era airports.

>>20592185

You will wear your goddamn voidsuit while on duty and you will like it or so help me Emprah I will beat you senseless with a motherfucking GOALIE STICK.

>>20592206
I'd like to see you try. I'm behind 7 forcefields.

rolled 7 = 7

>>20592168
>>20592172
>>20592175
"Yeah, yeah I know about 'em," Cheryl says, pouring another shot of vodka. "The lost one and the dark one. So what makes this an interesting time?"

Nimble pauses for a moment. "Other than the rush to Pripyat? Well there was talk of a strange anomaly... more like a blow out, really. And strange people about. Friends of yours, maybe? You not the only one sent in?"

>>20592225
"Answer him with a maybe.
"That could be a Combine recon team. Or it could be Freeman and Shepherd. Can Nimble give you a description?
"And go easy on the alcohol, please. Until we can confirm that the safe room is actually safe for you to get some sleep in, we don't want you getting drunk."

>>20592225
>>20592156
>>20591476
>>20590801
>>20590755
>10
>2
>21
>1
>7

Guys I think we found Azalin

>>20592225
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ZRF-dBDWQ

>>20592225
Strange anomaly / blow out? How so?
What do the strange people look like?
Also, have any new types of mutants arrived in the zone recently?

Thinking: Combine portals.

>>20592240
"I'm not drunk!" Cheryl declares, prompting an odd look from Nimble, and from the rest of the Stalkers. Cheryl blinks. "Er, what strange people?"

"Americans. Like you," Nimble says. "An ex-Spetsnaz swore he saw a U.S. Marine. I heard from Vano he saw a woman in black arguing with a man in English. And... some not-Americans. Their voices are distorted, and they wear body armor with strange symbols on them. Some carry weapons like Monolith. You know these people, perhaps?"

File: 1346751483737.png-(4 KB, 200x200, The Combine.png)

>>20592319
"Ask about the man that the woman was arguing with. Was he wearing an orange suit of armor? The Marine, was he wearing urban camo? And finally, these others. Did they have this symbol on their armor?
"If the last is true, we're in a lot of trouble."

>>20592319
Nope, but they may be the guys we were sent to find.
Damn it. I hope that isn't Freeman, Alyx and Shepard. That'll make this difficult.

And Cheryl. Nobody called you a drunk. We just don't want you drinking much of that stuff because who knows what's in it.

>>20592319

Sort of? My handler has some info on their faction. I know that the wannabe-Monolith are the bad guys, and that you should kill them every possible chance you can. The marine, the woman, and I'm assuming that there's a bearded man in orange and black armor as well, they're best left alone, they're the most dangerous people on the planet right now.

The strange anomalies are likely Combine portals, though it's odd they're pushing Overwatch through first. We need to find one of the HL crew and link up to stop this.

>>20592319
Hmm. Cheryl, ask Nimble to clearly describe this woman in black, and the man he argued with.
While doing so, read his mind to get a clear picture of them.

[I don't know who the woman in black is. The scientists from HL: Decay wore HEV suits. Plus, they died.]

>>20592390

It's Alyx Vance, you derp.

She and Freeman are obviously tag-teaming the Overwatch scout teams.

I'm more concerned about Shepard, since he's out of the bag, there's a wild card out there, since Shepard hates Freeman.

>>20592403
I don't remember Alyx ever wearing anything black in the games.

>>20592339
"Was the man with the woman in orange armor?" Cheryl asks. Nimble shakes his head.

"No, he was in street-clothes. Very strange. Very stupid here, in the Zone."

Cheryl sighs. "What about the soldier?"

"Did he wear orange armor? No, he had military gear on."

"Was it urban camo?" Cheryl asks, frowning. Nimble nods. "Hey, can I see that chalk board? I wanna draw a symbol for you. See if it was on those weird not-Americans."

Nimble says a few words in Russian and Beard slides Cheryl a piece of chalk and points to the bartop.

"Just draw there. It's not going to get prettier," Nimble translates. Cheryl nods and draws the Combine symbol.

"So you DO know them," Nimble quietly says. "Yes, that was their symbol. Who are they?"

"Bad guys. Kill 'em. They wanna kill you," Cheryl mumbles.

"That doesn't tell me much. Who are they?" Nimble repeats.

>7

Cheryl pauses, takes another shot of vodka, and then promptly vomits all over the bartop, drawing laughter from some, disgusted shouts from Nimble, and angry bellowing from Beard.

>>20592430
"Once you've collected yourself, Cheryl. Better to give Nimble an answer, especially after pissing off Beard like that.
"The story for the Combine is that they're a resource acquisition conglomerate. Mix two parts Blackwater PMC, one part DeBeers blood diamonds, one part ethics of Russian Mafia. Stir briskly and serve with a topping of GRU methods.
"That'll get the point across."

>>20592430
Well, looks like G-Man has sent Shepard here.

A street-clothes civilian and a woman in black, arguing? Hm. We may need to see Vano and get more info.
Ask Nimble where Vano's at.

>>20592403
Freeman cannot argue with anyone as he is mute. It cannot be him.

>>20592458
Cheryl wipes her mouth off with a nearby rag, and hastily, clumsily starts trying to wipe up the mess as Nimble plucks the bottle of vodka away from her. Embarrassment and shame ripple through her mind as she wipes, hanging her head.

"They're a resource acquisition group. Like a mix of the Mafia, GRU, Blackwater, and DeBeers, if that makes sense," she murmurs.

"A little, vaguely," Nimble says. "Aside from artifacts, not many resources in the Zone. Why are they here?"

Night all, I'll be around tomorrow erratically to finish this off. Sorry for the super late start.

>>20592504
"Honestly, the artifacts are most likely it. The Combine are driven by profit, but when you get to their scale of operations, it's hard to understand their reasoning sometimes."

>>20592504

Poor girl. /mental pat on the head.

Most of that stuff's probably made within the zone. Gutrot, mostly. I'd probably have made a mess myself.

where is everyone?

>>20597668
MetaOP isn't back yet.

>>20597749
I'm eating dinner. Quest will start a bit early today, when I get back.

Ideas for what we should do, assuming we have time:

1. Head to the Ranger Station in Zaton. Assuming we aren't getting fucked over in terms of gear, there should be a SPAS-12 hidden in an attic accessible by a ladder in the western building, as well as an AK-74 with ammo hidden in the southern furnace's eastern side. There should also be some army medkits and gauss rifle batteries hidden behind a different set of furnaces, marked by a painted atom. From there we can circle north through the Dredge area, picking up any intact stashes there, and then west, picking up the PSO-1/GP-25 stash, as well as some 5.56, medkits, and grenades, finally ending near the sawmill, with the AK-74/GP-25 stash and SVD stash, assuming they're still there.

Any objections?

We can sell the SVD, second AK/GP-25 combo, and the 5.56, 9x19 and other useless ammo to Beard and Owl for roubles, AP ammo, and food.

>>20598757
We're going to need to watch out for whatever this fog can throw at us, boars, and likely bandits.

Very plainly Cheryl, a lot of the assholes here are criminals in one way or another, from theft, murder, rape, drug trafficking, human trafficking, vigilantism, and more. You've got Bandits are those who stick to that, they rob, kill, extort, whatever they want.
Around here they are kinda neutral with the stalkers unless a military spy has come by, then it's open season. Even then, given your gender, yeah. But for now, Nimble? He's kinda on the up and up, i dont know what might be the case about you, but he's a pretty good trader, with good contacts. Other likely 'safe' groups, the Scientists, they're a couple around here and they can get ahold of some good gear.

>>20598910

I already know all this. I know a shitton about STALKER. However, given that we only have a Makarov at the moment, we're gonna want to either find a way to get at least a TOZ o/u shotgun before we leave or just book it to the Ranger station and hope at least one of the guns is left. The strange thing is in CoP Bandits didn't generally attack you, at least to start, if you popped them, all bets were off for the faction. But otherwise they'd leave you alone, at least for Degt.

Risk/Reward, though, if we can at least get an AK out of the Ranger station we'll be better off for when we take our stroll along Zaton's northern edge.

>>20598948
It's not for you!
It's for Cheryl, we have to keep briefing her on the dangers here, because i dont want to be Sucked out of this mind by some swamp bloodsucker!
Sorry.

>>20598976

We already warned her.

>>20592504
>>20593990
"I see. Well then, little girl, I might have a job for you, since you need... well, everything. After your little accident, I think I might be the only one willing to give you work here anyway," Nimble says, stroking his chin. "North of here is a burned out farmstead. It is full of anomalies, but I heard during the last emission one of the new ones appeared there, near a cave by it. Check it out and bring me back anything interesting you find and I'll make it worth your while. Many things I can get for trade. Weapons, armor, ammo, supplies, information..."

>>20599679
"We don't have many options. Agree to it, Cheryl. Oh, and see if we can get some more bullets for the dog tails."

>>20599679
Thanks, Nimble. I'll go check it out.

>>20599679
"Right... Will do. Uh, can I get some bullets for these dog tails?" Cheryl asks, producing the bloody trophies. Nimble arches an eyebrow.

"One moment," he says, getting up. He returns a few moments later with four spare magazines for the Makarov.. "Here you go."

>>20599679
Alright Cheryl, the place he's talking about isnt that far from here, it's a short jaunt through the marsh to the rear of the ship, up a hill, and its directly infront of you.
The dangers of the usual location is.
Small bands of wandering stalkers and bandits, about 2-5 each, with maybe three groups of them in all. Communication is going to be shit, so ask Nimble to teach you maybe two to three phrases in russian. Hello, Goodbye, I dont want trouble.
The other dangers is just blind dogs, fleshes, or boars. Maybe Snorks, which are mutated men long lost to the madness of the zone, their tendons and everything are royally messed up, and they're capable of very long pounces, like a tiger with a rocket.

The farmstead had those anomalies we talked about, but seeing them by eye is going to be tough, they're fire related, so most you can see being hazy like a gas leak, but others just come out of nowhere, and they move. Perhaps you can see them with your powers, perhaps you cant. only way to find out is to find out.

I remember the tunnel he's talking about, it has a small stash in it, but, it also has a Controller, or it might might, Controllers are mutant men whose minds are warped, they've sizable psychic powers and can use it to crush a persons mind or even control them. They can go from controlling zombies, which are damn dumb, slow, and go down easy, to total control over full blooded stalkers. Not a huge threat to you, if anything, you could control them if you wanted to.
My other worry, is this fog, is it bringing something with it, is it you, or is it the combine's doing...

>>20599973
Cheryl gives you a small mental acknowledgement and turns to Nimble.

"Can you real quick tell me how to say a few words in Russian since my translator got hosed? 'I don't want any trouble', 'Hello', 'Goodbye?"

"I can," Nimble nods, an amused smirk on his face. Over the next twenty minutes, Nimble guides Cheryl through a handful of phrases that might come in handy. Then he lifts his glass and nods. "If I were you, I'd find someplace safe to sleep that off. Some of my 'comrades' even now eye you like meat. And your... reaction to our favorite drink has marked you as a target."

>>20600139
"Wonder if they'll think how'd a girl get all the way here then? Not like i haven't killed before, it's an easy thing."
He has to think that you know what your doing, even though half of us dont. Nimble's been doing good by you, thank him for that, and leave out the top of the ship.

>>20600139
"Wonderful. Okay, if memory serves me right, if you go up the stairs, there should be a safe room that you can lock yourself in with a bed. It used to be Degtyarev's, but he doesn't need it anymore."

>>20600215
Shouldn't we have Cheryl wait until her stomach settles? I don't like having her have to stay here with these Stalkers, but it's better than getting into a fight with a pack of mutant dogs with a queasy stomach and shaky legs.

>>20600247
And you think she'd get better quicker in a bar full of horny russians with automatics?
Better get some fresh air where we can watch for an ambush

>>20600313
Not in the bar itself, in one of the rooms you can lock the door in on the mid level.
Unless Cheryl thinks she can continue on and isn't tired.

>>20600343
"I'm fine!" Cheryl mentally insists as she sways on her feet.

You get the impression she's not fine.

>>20600523
"Cheryl, please. That vodka would have put any us flat on our ass, and most of us mass at least 30 to 40 kilos more than you. You need to find a safe place to lie down until your body processes the alcohol that you've already absorbed."

>>20600139
Cheryl. Please go up to the safe room, lock the door and take a nap. We don't want anything happening to you when you're feeling sick.

>>20600523
Cheryl, you are.
lets head up stairs, get some fresh air, and when we're all ready, we can head to the farmstead.
Let's give it a few, so we can just scout out the area from the top of the ship, nice and safe there, barely any stalker bothers to climb up to the roof. we can watch the movements of the animals and such, watch other stalkers wandering around, leaving out to try and make it rich, returning to the bar to drink away troubles and horrors.

Bonus side is watching stalkers fight bandits or beasts, and you might be able to get some good hardware off the dead. Some people call it disrespecting the dead, others say fuck you he's not using that shotgun anymore.

>>20600643
We've got the Fog to contend with as well as the Zone. The old rules about this area being safe may not apply anymore. I'd rather not risk being out of the ship and in the Fog without being fully ready.

rolled 9 = 9

Cheryl grumbles a little more as she heads upstairs and finds the safe room described earlier. Making sure to lock the door, she flops down on the mattress, her stomach churning. After some time, she loses consciousness and drifts into dreaming. Through your link with her mind, you catch the occasional glimpse of the nightmares playing within. Flashes of darkness and a ruined town, a chilling wind, cold, lonely fog... It is far from pleasant.

>>20600807
That roll would have occurred regardless of whether we went outside or went to the safe room, right?

>32, 10, 2, 1, 21, 7, 9
What is going with the dice today?

>>20600807
I'M STILL MINDRAPING HER TO MAKE HER MY LOVE SLAVE, AM I DONE YET?

>>20600840
I restrain the Idiot.

rolled 97, 15, 38, 80, 8, 93, 65, 13, 14, 33, 23, 68 = 547

Squad! deploy in the Protection of our Lady Cheryl!
Soak them shitty roles!

>>20600840
If we get out of this you're going out the Airlock!
Alright command crew, we've got a nightmare going on here, And i say Nuts to that!
She's going to have a happy dream or we'll die trying

>>20600807
Your disembodied senses 'awake' before Cheryl's do. Her eyes are shut, so you cannot see, but you can hear.

And through the normal background noises of the Skavodsk, you hear a distinct metallic clicking and scratching coming from just outside the door. It is accompanied by a rusty squeal of metal. After about a minute, you hear a loud click, and the slow metal groan of the door opening.

>>20600969
. . . Somebody, hook into the power center and throw him!

We're all in here, we ought to have some control.

>>20600969
CHERYL, WAKE UP, THERE ARE MEAN RUSSIANS WHO WANT TO DO UNSPEAKABLE THINGS TO YOU!

>>20600969
"WAKE UP CHERYL! They're here to steal your cuteness! Goddammit, wake up!"
Try to get some motor control, even if we can't fire the Makarov, the hardsuit's enhanced protection and kinetic barrier should allow us to knock these guys into the walls.

rolled 46 = 46

>>20600988
>>20600994
You attempt to hammer Cheryl's mind awake with your own frantic thoughts as you hear whispers in Russian grow increasingly close. Two pairs of footsteps stomp against the metal floor, and you hear the door slowly shut behind them. A metallic click sounds. You can't be sure, but you think the door has been locked again.

>>20601054
Or not.
Crisis averted, everything fines, no overreactions were made.

>>20599679
Works for me.

However, we aren't here to anomaly-hunt, we should try to track down Shepard and the other two foreigners once we're done.

Make sure we've got an anomaly detector before we head out. There are plenty of anomalies that way, and Cheryl doesn't have infinity bolts like Strelok does.

rolled 44 = 44

>>20601054
Cheryl's mind is still groggy. It responds to your mental touch as if each thought swims in molasses. She shifts and groans lightly, the whispers in Russians going silent for a moment.

Your attempt to tap into Cheryl's psychic power fails, you can't see the target, and you can't make sense of what flows through her mind well enough to sense them.

The whispers begin again as you hear the snap of clasps and the slide of metal from a sheath.

>>20601124
Keep hammering away at Cheryl's mind, metaphorically trying to shake her awake.
"Wake up, Cheryl! We need a psi blast here! Come on! We don't have much time! They're already in the room!"

>>20600969
>>20601054
Blarg Sleep paralysis rape incoming.

Sir, I do not want this.

>>20601124
Ok. This is a little trick I learned from the zerg.

/psionic slap

>>20601087
>Misread OP post
>Make another post
BACK TO PANIC MODE!
WAKE UP!

rolled 83 = 83

>>20601054
>>20601124
These below-50 rolls count as High rolls, don't they?

Well, if Cheryl's dreaming, the fastest way to wake someone up is to do something so ridiculous that they go lucid. At that point people can will themselves awake.

If possible, I'd like to try to summon something ridiculous. Like, a giant flashing rainbow colored vodka bottle or something.

>>20601124
Is a splash of cold water different enough from going "Hey, wake up!" that it might work? If so, try that.

Last resort is attempted motor control, which I really don't want to do.

She's from a silent hill game, right? Maybe we could post a picture of one of the monsters to wake her up?

rolled 67 = 67

>>20601124
>>20601151
It's a close thing, but Cheryl's eyes slowly begin to open, a splitting headache and roiling stomach still affecting the young psychic. Her thoughts roll around, unfocused and scattered.

Through her eyes you see two men in dirty, torn clothes. One has an unsheathed combat knife, the other appears to be unarmed. As they see Cheryl's eyes open, they rush forward, no longer as concerned with stealth as they attempt to grapple the disoriented Cheryl.

>>20601326
Don't think. Just push. Throw them through the wall if you need to.

File: 1346810914006.jpg-(14 KB, 494x329, 62200944640PM_SilentHill_(...).jpg)

>>20601240
Worth a shot.

LOOK OUT THE MONSTER'S GONNA EAT YOUR DAD A BOOGITY BOOGITY BOO

>>20601326
"Come on, Cheryl! Focus! Psi Blast these two would-be rapists!"

>>20601326
So guys... I heard mind blast + stealing the knife with telekinesis.
Plus, apparently unarmed man most likely has a gun.

Anyway, now would be when we stun them with mind powers and just kill them. They broke the Skadovsk's rules by carrying weapons anyway.

File: 1346810935455.jpg-(158 KB, 420x336, BOO_wakeupwoman.jpg)

Cheryl, you need to wake up, you Need to get up!
You can see photos we... think of, so.

I'm Sorry.
WAKE UP

>>20601355
Cheryl doesn't know what that is, because that's James Sunderland's monster, not hers.

>>20601348
>>20601355
>scaring the shit out of Cheryl when she needs to focus to use her psi powers
I wish you guys would actually use extensions like you're supposed to and auto-refresh to avoid this sort of thing.

>>20601378
She saw it when she was with Spike. She knows what it is.

rolled 100 = 100

>>20601340
>>20601351
>>20601353
Between the situation and your mental prodding, you manage to flood Cheryl's brain with adrenaline. Her heart-rate skyrockets as she lashes out instinctively with her mental powers.

rolled 29 = 29

>>20601435
ANTIPERILS OF THE ZONE

File: 1346811366716.jpg-(39 KB, 350x143, OhShitWereFucked.jpg)

>>20601124
Damnit, Cheryl! There's Russians in your room, and they're gonna rape you, kill you, and rape you again! Wake the hell up!

Wait, does this armor have shields? If so, did she leave them on? We really need something good to happen here!

>>20601435
>100
Well,
uh,
who's going to clean dead STALKER bits from the room?

>>20601435

You didn't want to harm this young woman.

She is your friend.

Didn't you mean to ask her about flowers instead?

File: 1346811483648.jpg-(155 KB, 800x401, mind_flayers.jpg)

>>20601435
"You glimpse into the stalker's thoughts.
You picture their minds.
And you flay that shit."

>>20601435
As the men fall upon her, Cheryl burns away the alcohol clouding her mind with a single focused and desperate thought, allowing her to think clearly. The man with the knife presses the blade against Cheryl's throat as the other attempts to restrain her. They urgently hiss something in Russian as Cheryl's eyes flash.

"I don't know what you're saying, but my response is FUCK! YOU!" Cheryl shouts as she glares at the Stalker restraining her and throws him into the wall with enough force to shatter his skull. Blood drips down the steel surface from where the man impacted as he slides down to the ground. The other Stalker mumbles a word in disbelief, then slides the knife across Cheryl's throat. Through your link with her, you feel a line of agonizing fire where the blade slices flesh, a warm flow of blood spilling over the armor as Cheryl staggers back, gasping. She makes a gesture and the knife-wielder's face twists in pain, falling to his knees and collapsing as his heart explodes.

Cheryl clasps her hands against her throat, trying desperately to focus her mind as a growing sense of terror and a cold feeling of numbness encroach on her. Finally with a burst of power, she taps reserves only recently acquired and wills the wound close.

Cheryl finally collapses, breathing heavily as she gingerly touches the new long, white scar across her neck.

>>20601684
Man, people won't be Russian to mess with USSR again. Of course, there might not be any slav in this fiction that's able to get rid of that scar, but soviet.

>>20601684
Loot the assholes. If the one with the shattered skull is still alive, maybe being left nearly dead, and stripped of all his belongings will teach him a lesson.

I doubt it, but he's probably dead anyways.

>>20601684
>100

>Cheryl gains the Psychometabolism skill. Her powers affect biological processes with greater ease and potence.

>>20601684
"Cheryl, do you need a few more minutes? When we get back to the Storm, I'm sure Doc Lazarus will be able to get rid of that scar for you. Take however much time you need.
"Then we need to check these assholes for roubles, weapons, and if they've got a PDA. Then let's get the hell out of here."

>>20601684

Call in Nimble for cleanup help after policing the bodies of anything useful.

Guess we'll need to take a bit for you to center yourself, Cheryl, near death experiences are never fun. We'll move out when you feel ready.

>>20601684
Drag their bodies in the room
Lock the door
Loot the bodies
Get the armor
Get the knife
Get the everything else

>>20601732
The joke's on you. I read you like an o-pun book, though I may as well humor you with a response.

>>20601684
Thank God you woke up. That was pretty hairy there. Sorry for the rude awakening.

>>20601739
>>20601761
These are good ideas, once you've gathered yourself. Remember to clean the blood off yourself before going out to get Nimble. No need to give anyone any more ideas.

File: 1346812785413.png-(5 KB, 200x200, exponential.png)

>>20601751
> Her powers affect biological processes with greater ease and potence.
Are her psionic powers related to any biological processes?
If so, she can use her mind to upgrade her mind.

She can make herself more aware. More alert. More focused. More intense emotions. Have her memory hold more. And, whatever part of her brain makes her mental powers go? She can make that bigger too.

Brain is an organic process, after all.

>>20601684
"Cheryl, are you alright? Are you sure your throat is healed?"
Also, do we not have a helmet or something? Because it's be annoying have to worry about getting our throat slit every time we try and get some shuteye.

I'm not real familiar with the STALKER setting.

Are these two people getting killed going to raise any hell here, or is that more or less par for the course? One might wonder how a fully grown russian merc/soldier got his head crushed against a wall, while the other one died of no obvious causes. At the very least, they're going to be wondering what the hell that noise was. If those guys had any friends, they might come up to investigate.

>>20601828
>Are these two people getting killed going to raise any hell here, or is that more or less par for the course?
"Such is life in the zone" = shit happens.
It's a philosophy everyone in the zone lives by. With the possible - POSSIBLE - exception of the player character.

>>20601828
Suit. She threw the first one against the wall, and punched the second one so hard his heart exploded.

No other reasonable answer.

>>20601815

It's my understanding G-Man either left it on the Storm, or it ended up somewhere else in the Zone.

Given the environment, I'm assuming G-Man dropped it somewhere we'll find it, just before we REALLY need a sealed hardsuit.

>>20601828
Considering that they attacked us in a safe room, we're fine.
They broke one of the cardinal rules of the Skadovsk: no drawn weapons.

>>20601847
Canonically, Strelok has his "such is life in the zone" moments. So does Scar. It's only Degtyarev who doesn't have a solid personality expressed through cutscenes, thus it's possible Degtyarev's personality is "^_____^ DELICIOUS ARTEFACTS OMNOMNOM. OH BOY A THING TO SHOOT! GLEEEEE! ^______^".
Much more likely Degtyarev has the same personality everyone else in the zone has, though.

>>20601732
Carlos, how'd YOU get into the Transpace Guard?

>>20601758
Cheryl is quiet for a minute, catching her breath as she fingers the scar once more, looking at the corpses around her.

"I'm... fine. All right... let me see what they've got."

Both the would-be rapists are dressed in Sunrise suits, and though the knife is the only weapon they carry, Cheryl finds a few crumpled bills of currency between them.

>Gained 2 Sunrise suits.
>Gained Combat Knife.
>Gained 1600 RU.

>>20601684
Good job. VERY good job. One piece of advice, you'll probably want to take out the guy with the knife to your throat first next time.

Also sorry bout the rough awakening.

>>20601859
Well shiiiit.
I guess we could try to get a helmet, and see if we can't find a mechanic or someone to get it fit to prevent knife related throat injuries.

>>20601898
Have Nimble sell the suits, then buy an anomaly detector and a PDA with zone map.
Keep the knife, knives are useful.

>>20601927
You can buy helmets in CoP. Nimble can probably get the helmet from a punctured/ruptured/broken SEVA suit for us.