|
Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Feb 18, 2009 19:47:10 GMT -5
I think it'd be easier say which square you're moving to, to keep track of your specific location. At the moment you guys are on D11, right on the road. Weather is still the same overcast chill, though it's steadily getting brighter. The road in front of you is quite clear.
|
|
|
Post by Aseigan Cetanu on Feb 18, 2009 20:11:08 GMT -5
Alright, can do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vasyl advanced along the road beside Adrian, trying to keep a steady pace as he made his way through the barren, radioactive abyss. The road, stretching on and on before his view, was his worst enemy. At any moment a beast could leap from the woodlands, using up their precious resources to survive. He kept the gun tight to his chest, ready to fire at any moment. His eyes darted from side to side, ready at any moment to strike. The large, Russian man kept his senses on edge as he advanced through the inhospitable area, ready at any moment to strike.
Entering D10. Weapon at ready, alert.
|
|
|
Post by Blade Knight on Feb 19, 2009 17:47:18 GMT -5
As they continued along the road, Adrian glanced over at his new friend and chuckled. “There’s alert, friend, and then there’s tense. Relax. It is far more effective to remain loose and calm then to constantly tense up as if you’re about to explode. You’ll just waste energy that way.” He sucked in a great lungful of the refreshingly chilly air and let it out. The fogged breath was like the smoke trail of a train engine. “Breathe,” Adrian encouraged. “Clear your mind. It is physically tiring to focus so hard all the time. Let’s take advantage of these quiet moments. Compared to the natural dangers here, this is rest.” As they walked, Adrian got out his binoculars again, stared into the distance, then consulted his PDA map. “Looks like there’s an old building of some sort up ahead, past where our raid at the Bandit camp was. It’s located at E8 and E9. Let’s make that our first checkpoint as we go north.”
POST SUMMARY: Move to D10 as well; Tell Vasyl to chill; scan ahead with binoculars; look up old building on PDA; suggest they go there
|
|
|
Post by Aseigan Cetanu on Feb 19, 2009 17:53:26 GMT -5
Vasyl nodded at Adrian, his shoulders slouching down a bit and his breathing growing more relaxed and regular. "Sorry, too much time in big cities, makes me nervous whenever I'm out in the woods. The fact that it's radioactive doesn't help much." He chuckled silently to himself at the small joke, remaining alert and vigilant but following Adrian's advice and keeping loose and relaxed. Better to let it be that way.
Loosen up.
|
|
|
Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Feb 22, 2009 18:27:39 GMT -5
Right before you the road curves up in a small bridge like overpass, crossing two hills. You can see firelight flickering underneath the bridge, and just to the left of it is a rusted, overturned trailer. Right past this trailer the hill slopes down, and there are...well, bodies. Two Stalkers dressed in novice jackets are lying on the ground, the grass surrounding them completely soaked in blood. Three blind dogs are moving around the area, sniffing at the air. They haven't reacted to you guys yet, and one of them is chewing at the shoulder-neck area of a corpse.
|
|
|
Post by Aseigan Cetanu on Feb 22, 2009 18:57:49 GMT -5
Vasyl, spotting the blind, mongrel beasts, ducked back into the woodlands, keeping his shotgun trained on the two beasts. With one hand, he held the weapon, who's best use would be when the creatures got closer, setting it on the ground before him. Then, slowly but surely, he would take out both of his pistols, already fully loaded, and clicked the safety back in preparation of his attack. Training both sights so that each of the guns was aimed, as far as he could tell, at the blind dog's heads, he would fire off two rounds from each of the Makarov pistols, before clicking the safety back on to both of the weapons and reholstering them, taking his shotgun up with renewed vigor and waiting for the mutated monster's next movement.
Drop shotgun, draw both pistols, aim, fire off two rounds from each pistol after clicking the safety off, click safety back on, reholster weapons, Pick Shotgun back up, wait for the dog's next moves.
|
|
|
Post by Blade Knight on Feb 23, 2009 16:27:56 GMT -5
“Hey!” Adrian blurted out as Vasyl’s gunshots boomed like thunder, shattering the previous silence. “Warn me next time, huh?” Now their element of stealth was down the toilet. He would have liked to investigate the situation a little more, perhaps observe with his binoculars or creep onto the arcing bridge of land above the area, plan the attack, or else just avoid the incident entirely. But forget that. Those blind dog mutants were surely alerted to them now. Adrian quickly glanced around, looking for any tree with low, sturdy branches or a large rock… anything to put his climbing skills to if the dogs got too close. If any such suitable terrain features presented themselves, he would take note of their location. Then he dropped to the ground, shouldering his SKS carbine as he lay belly-first in the withered grass beside Vasyl. The weapon had no scope or similar targeting sight, so he had to simply stare down the barrel past the iron sights and aim as best he could. Directing his aim for the head or heart of the mutant dogs, he flicked the safety with his thumb and very carefully lined himself up for a perfect shot, leading the target if necessary. He fired for accuracy, not volume of fire, as he squeezed the trigger once, twice, and then jumped back to his feet, ready to move.
POST SUMMARY: Quickly examine terrain for climbable features, memorizing any available locations; lay prone for stability; precisely shoot at blind dogs twice; get back up and prepare to move
|
|
|
Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Feb 26, 2009 19:45:24 GMT -5
All four shots from the Makarovs go wide, completely flying off to both sides of the dogs. Shooting one handed pistols is far from accurate. The dogs instantly flinch down, as if struck, and let out a high pitched whine. Then in typical blind-dog fashion, they bolt, all three of them sprinting in separate directions in wide semi-arcs, barking the entire time. Not one of them directly charged toward either of you, yet.
At roughly twenty yards or so, it's an easy shot with a carbine from the prone position, and although the targets aren't stationary, both bullets punch into the nearest dog. The first one doesn't drop it, merely stopping it mid-sprint. The second topples it over, where it writhes in the dust, still alive, though crippled. The other two dogs are still running around, but if consistency is worth anything, they'll start charging in a few moments.
You're just a few meters away from the overturned trailer, which can serve as cover of one sort or another, and there is the bridge. Besides that the nearest tree is over fifteen meters to the East, and to the West there's nothing but rolling plains.
|
|
|
Post by Aseigan Cetanu on Feb 26, 2009 20:58:37 GMT -5
Vasyl looked around the area, his head spinning from side to side, still full of the adrenaline rush he had not felt since the bandit encampment, something he'd have to get used to all over again. He rushed over to the trailer, trying to pull himself up on it by whatever means he could find, then he pulled the butt of the shotgun to his shoulder, his eyes focused down the sights of the shotgun, waiting for the dogs to get near before unleashing a spray of bird-shot down upon the canine mutants. He would wait till they were about 5 meters away before shooting, making sure to keep the barrel aimed directly in the center of the dogs so the spray would hit as many of the beasts as possible. If they were too spread out, he would fire at one instead.
Climb on to trailer, aim with shotgun, wait for dogs to get close, fire at dogs in various ways depending on pattern.
|
|
|
Post by Blade Knight on Mar 13, 2009 8:21:52 GMT -5
He rushed over to the trailer, trying to pull himself up on it by whatever means he could find, I assume that you won't object to my being your "whatever means". -------------------------------- Picking himself up from the ground, Adrian kept one eye on the dogs and the other on his partner, who had bolted off towards the trailer. Seeing him attempt to scramble up the side, he rushed over to lend some assistance. "Here!" he said to Vasyl, kneeling next to the trailer and interlocking his fingers. He lifted the other man up by his foot, pushing him on top of the trailer. Then he held out his hand and called, "Okay, now pull me up!" Meanwhile, he kept a nervous watch on the mutant dogs, hoping their noise wouldn't summon the rest of their pack... POST SUMMARY: Follow Vasyl; boost him on top of the trailer; await similar aid
|
|
|
Post by Aseigan Cetanu on Mar 13, 2009 14:16:19 GMT -5
I have no qualms about that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vasyl grabbed on to Adrian's forearm, pulling him up to the trailer before turning back to the dogs and waiting to see what their next move would be. As he watched, he once more took aim with the Baikal, making sure to keep the sights on the nearest dog so that, when it was near enough, he could strike. He took note of their patterns, trying to see if they had any habits he could use to take them down.
Help pull Adrian up; Take aim with shotgun; Study dogs.
|
|
|
Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Apr 27, 2009 14:47:06 GMT -5
As the pair waited, the remaining dogs continue to run in wide semi-circle arcs, as if dumb-struck. They no longer charged nor fled, though the distance between them and the Stalkers slowly increased.
Then, as usually happened in the Zone, the strangest thing happened. From behind the two novices, near the side of the truck stepped into view another Stalker. This one was quite obviously no novice, dressed in military fatigues and camouflage. He had a waterproof hood up over his head, and his face was covered from beneath the eyes down by a pulled-up balaclava style mask. He cradled an AK family assault rifle in his arms, complete with a reflex sight.
He stared out across the plain at the running dogs, then looked up at the two Stalkers perched on the overturned trailer. He spoke in native Russian, intoned with some confusion,
"What the hell are you guys doing? Are you just newcomers or completely insane?"
He paid absolutely no notice to the dogs running some twenty yards away from him, and just looked up at the two novice Stalkers, his worn eyes looking positively stupefied, as if they'd just stripped naked and started doing jumping jacks.
|
|
|
Post by Blade Knight on Apr 28, 2009 20:53:49 GMT -5
Adrian registered the voice just as he was getting himself settled on top of the trailer beside Vasyl. Peeling his gaze away from the mutant canines, he looked over his shoulder at the other Stalker.
“Nothing insane about being a little careful,” he replied cooly. He noted the other man’s gear, hinting at greater experience, and his apparent lack of concern about the dogs. Either he was extremely confident in his ability to repel the beasts should they attack, or more likely, he felt they posed no threat. Suddenly, Adrian felt slightly embarrassed.
He gave the dogs one last check, then slid off the trailer to take a few cautious steps up to the stranger. He held no ill feelings towards this man and kept his gun point lowered to show no hostility, but he was still ready to snap it up if necessary. With his weaponry, the man could have picked himself and Vasyl off while they were engrossed with the dogs. Seeing as they were still breathing, he apparently had no such desire. But you never knew who you could trust, and that went double in the Zone.
“But, to tell you the truth,” he said carefully. “We are new. All we know about this place is to not to mess with the mutants, and not to trust anything. Or anyone… Who are you?”
POST SUMMARY: Respond to stranger; check dogs and dismount trailer; cautiously approach stranger; speak to him again
|
|
|
Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Apr 29, 2009 13:35:35 GMT -5
The Stalkers bushy eyebrows rose in surprise. Ignoring the question on his identity, he spoke in a voice filled with amused laughter, "But you've already dealt with them. Look..."
Without even aiming, he raised his rifle in the general direction of the dogs and fired off two rounds. The heavy rifle cracks echoed across the fields, and the dogs instantly whined a painful noise akin to a squeal, and took off, running in the same half-arcs even further away.
He lowered the rifle, cocked his head at the duo, and sighed the way a teacher might at a student that had done something foolish.
"There's two kinds of people in the Zone. There's the Stalkers, and there's the criminals. Then there's two kinds of Stalkers. There's the asocial asshole loners, which typically don't last long, and there's the asocial friendly loners."
He waved his arm out in the general direction of the road, "We're all in this together. Sure, we may be a distrustful bunch, but we're still humans aren't we? And we're still Russian. You can rely on eachother the same way you can ask someone for help with your car on a city road."
He shook his head, "Look, I'm just an older Stalker. There's hundreds of people in the Zone, you'll see people all the time. On the road, off the road, in cities, in the wild, anywhere. You guys are still completely new from what I can see, and there's two kinds of newcomers as well. Those that go off alone usually die, and of those that survive are usually hardcore badasses that I don't want to run into. The second kind are those that actually hook up with some Stalkers now and then and take the time to learn. You're walking through a mine-field after all.
Anyway, where are you guys headed? Just getting settled in?"
|
|
|
Post by Aseigan Cetanu on Apr 29, 2009 14:04:46 GMT -5
Vasyl jumped down from the trailer, feeling more than slightly embarrassed himself. He replied to the stranger, "We're heading north, to the Duty base. We have to deliver some papers from Sidirivoch to the Barman."
The man lowered his shotgun, modeling his movement after Adrian so as not to seem too hostile. After all, even with his friendly appearance, this was clearly a very experienced Stalker, and as such, could pick them off very quickly with that rifle of his.
Vasyl moved to stand about a meter behind Adrian and a meter and a half to his right, practically standing against the trailer they had been trying to take cover on from the blind dogs but moments ago.
As Vasyl waited for the veteran Stalker to speak again, he kept his eyes and ears opened for trouble, as this was a minefield, as this man had said. He didn't want to be the one to set off the mines. He also made a mental note to put another round in each of the clips of his Makarov pistols, as he knew that he'd need all the extra ammunition he could get.
Jump down from trailer; Talk to stranger; Lower weapon; stand against trailer; keep alert; make mental note
|
|
|
Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Apr 30, 2009 12:22:42 GMT -5
"Ah, the merchants..."
He seemed lost in thought for a short while, then asked, "Well, Duty is the best place for newcomers to get settled in. It's in the heart of the Southern Zone, a safe haven of sorts. Getting there however, can be a problem for newcomers. Though you guys certainly are decently equipped. I'm rambling now...would you like some help from us? I'm with a few buddies over there," He pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
The Stalker didn't wait for the answer, as even if refused, he'd still want to part with a lighter atmosphere. He shrugged and shifted his hold on the rifle, transferring it to his left hand, and holding out his right for a handshake. "Sasha Andrieivich."
|
|
|
Post by Blade Knight on Apr 30, 2009 15:31:02 GMT -5
Adrian shot Vasyl a look, but said nothing. The delivery job for Sirdovich was a special assignment. This stranger had no business knowing about any of it, and it was not their place to go blabbing about the merchant’s dealings to just anybody.
Still, he took the man’s hand and shook it anyway.
“So, I take it you fancy yourself to be of lone, helpful sort, huh?” He said to the stranger, eager to change the subject. He touched the brim of his bandana and tugged it closer over his eyebrows. “Alright then, prove it. Why don’t you start by explaining just what you mean by ‘minefield’. You’re talking about anomalies, right? If so, how would you propose we get north quickly and safely?”
The guy’s kit was impressive, more so than theirs at least, and he certainly seamed knowledgeable. But Adrian didn’t like the way he felt he could categorize people so easily. Adrian’s whole life had been about going against the flow, finding the exception to the rule. Even if what this guy had said had some truth behind it, Adrian was convinced that nothing was so clear-cut. That the world was not black and white, but shades of grey.
Putting personal feelings aside however, he still knew nothing about this other man. Adrian wasn’t ready to trust him yet, so he remained vigilant and alert as he listened to Sasha’s response.
POST SUMMARY: Shoot Vasyl a glare; Shake hands with the Sasha; Ask Sasha about “minefield”; remain alert and suspicious
|
|
|
Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Apr 30, 2009 15:45:17 GMT -5
The man calling himself Sasha sighed, "How should I know? It was a metaphor, a figure of speech, and analogy. There are actual minefields way over there, down south where you came in. Considering that you're standing in a thirty kilometer circle filled with anomolies, mutants, bandits, and pissed off militia, I'd say it's safe to make the overall comparison."
|
|