//------------------------------// // CP. IV: One pony's trash... // Story: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (Stalker) Dirge of Equestria // by Hoghound //------------------------------// CP. IV: One pony’s trash… “There are two types of criminal scum out there. The ones who are simple-minded thugs will instantly bullet you down and take your possessions, while the serious ones will only do so after submitting your hooves to a lifetime of forced labor” “I still wonder why you want to keep up with me…” “Well, so far I had a blast. And besides, you know you wouldn’t last long without my help” I skeptically shook my head. The earth pony surely had an outgoing vision of live, even while on a land scarred by all kinds of biomagical-spawned horrors and whatnot dangerous features. One would wonder about her sanity… I stuffed the doubts onto the back of my mind. If she was happy to tag along for the ride, well, then there was no problem at all. I just needed to verify if she was sure of what I was going to attempt “You realize that I’m going to try to breach through the NPP, do you? The most hazardous, dangerous, mutant-filled, anomaly-encrusted, blowout-spawning area of the Zone?” “You forgot about the tarks, mercs, bandits, military and other kind of territoralist hostiles that set up shop along the way to it.” Yeah, do that. Spill my complete ignorance about the Zone, right here, all over my face… “And… gentlepony, I present you… the garbage! OOOHHH” I climbed the hill, reaching over the smirking pony. The garbage’s landscape pretty much summed up to it’s namesake. Compromising huge piles of… garbage, what more? True mountains of metal scraps, broken energy towers, dirt, cement tubes, vehicles, construction materials, broken crates… each pile looked like an amalgamation of every ancient discarded crap of Equestria, but the kitchen sink. I even spotted glimpses of anomalies atop them. Onto the base of the nearest pile, stalkers were digging through, under the watchful eye of three trenchcoated bandits. A bit southwest, more bandits, these ones guarding a vehicle park. Choppers, pegasus war chariots, civilian carriages, snow ploughs… all of these bore the weight of years of rust and abandon. Several stalkers were held chained to them, their worn and dirty hooves revealed their fate under the bandits’ control. Most of the slaves were sub-nurtured, and eyed their jailors apprehensively. One of the bandits was sorting out a pile of scavenged goods. “I heard that after the accident, the monarchy pretty much discarded every equipment used by their evac teams. They weren’t willing to risk lugging around radioactive gear, so they just dumped it away into the piles. I bet there are all kinds of cool stuff under these piles, just slightly tainted. Such a waste.” Without the scope, she couldn’t spot the bandits and their workforce. I just nodded while eyeing over one of the slaves, this one wearing an orange jumpsuit with a curtain helmet. He was climbing up the garbage pile, probably to get the best tidbits of loot for the bandits. The suit wasn’t a sign of the bandits concern for their subject’s welfare; I thought, but instead, their way to safeguard themselves against the stalker dying BEFORE handing over the loot to them. “I guess we can check them later…” I said to my companion To the west, a few more piles stretching onto the landscape and a small swamp. The road coming from the Cordon continued in, also crossing the middle of the garbage and splitting the area in two sides. Further west, a dense forest enclosed its mysteries onto large bushes and thick-leaved trees. Thankfully, we had deviated from the road. It was fortunate because the bandits held an entryway checkpoint, used to harass rookies coming from the Cordon. But in order to proceed further into the garbage, we had to come across it. I knew that we two were able to deal with this group of thugs; after all, I and Lielle already did a pretty good job on the gang that encroached the Cordon. However, the Mole said I had to deal with their leader if I wanted to get Searinor’s PDA. Until then, I’d dare not further compromise my situation by earning their hatred, which meant that using the strategy that worked well so far (gunning down bandits) was out of the question for now. We only faced ignorant trigger-happy grunts. The bandits that held the garbage were different. I spotted congruencies onto their suits and some kind of pattern on their shoulderpads (too far to actually discern it), which indicated some kind of organized hierarchy, instead of the misshapen and patched armor wore by the renegade swamp raiders, these certainly indicating their rather (poor) economical situation and the individuality of each “member” of a loosely held group only unified on the intent of scavenging the marshlands. Bottom line, shit would fuck up pretty quick if we gone guns blazing at the bandits. “Lielle, this place is crawling with bandits. We need to proceed with caution,” I levitated the scope at he and held it, aiming at the bandit checkpoint and then at the concentration camp. “You remember what the Mole said, right? We have to use diplomacy with these bandits. Blend in and acquire the PDA. And this means no shooting at them, at least, not for now.” “The mad-eye pointed directions to the bandits’ boss?” I shook my head. “Looks like we’ll have to ask around…” “We can’t go like this. The bandits hate other stalkers, they will hold us as slaves like those fellas.” “I know. I was thinking about jumping on a few of them to steal their black jackets and baklavas. But if half a dozen bandits suddenly turn up dead, they will be suspicious and on the lookout for spies, also, neither I, nor you, know how to make a good bandit impression.” “And how hard it is to perform a good bandit impression? You just dye your clothes black; make a grim face, act tough, bitchslap two or three stalkers and slug down five vodka bottles on a row. Betcha the last one will be easy as pie for you.” I frowned at her, remembering that I still had a bottle at my saddlebag. “Is there ANY faction that they are not currently at war with?” “hmm… freedomers treat them with contempt, shooting them at times. Dutyers, hate them due to their extortion of stalkers for personal gain, and stalkers, due to them… being bandits. No, they are pretty much hated by everyone. She held her chin, thoughtfully, then erupted into smiles. “Mercs! That’s it! Every faction on the zone stumbles out with unpleasant jobs that need to be done; even the bandits have standards in that matter. That’s where mercs come in!” “I thought mercs were hired grunts from big shots outside the Zone, being held by contract to them.” “Those are full-time mercs. The kind I am speaking about are common, but combat-experienced stalkers who run around the Zone, offering their specialized workforce to anypony who can pay them. They usually do this until they arrange enough cash to buy a specific artifact or suit, hence the part-time, since mercwork isn’t their lifestyle like the first kind” “So, it is decided. Let’s disguise as mercs and ask the bandits for a job. When they direct us to their leader, we’ll buy off the PDA from him. By the way, how part-time mercs look like? Do they have a special armor, symbol or anything?” “Nah… they wear normal stalker armor, like you and me, only with a slight difference…” “Which is?” “Dirt, scratches, mud, dried blood, filth in general… all stalkers end up encrusted with these, but mercs… due to the nature of their jobs, they are especially… grime.” “So, just rolling on the earth will suffice it?” “If you spent a whole week doing it… bring up the scope again, I think I have an idea…” I brought it to her eyes. “Right… Right… there, hold it.” She backed away and I peered through it. The swamp. “I don’t see how strolling through there will help.” “A bath. We’ll be coated with murky water, dirt, leaves and everything else, just like real mercs.” “Along with enough radiation to make you and me look like giant fireflies, in case you forgot about that little detail…” “Why don’t you use your artifact to vent it down, then?” She laid down her saddlebag and brought up the artifact I acquired at the factory, the lava-colored ball. “It is called “fireball”. When you hold it, your body dumps radiation through sweat, generated due to the artifact’s heat field, purging it from the organism. But the process also stresses down your moving apparatus, slowing you down.” “Seems it could work… wait a moment there….why you have my artifact at you? Have you been rummaging at my packs last night?” She smiled nervously. “Er… you dropped it. I was just storing the artifact for you, I mean, somepony could had picked it up and taken for himself had I left it there…” She offered the crimson-colored stone, which I promptly took. ============================== [><]============================= Crossing the road and sneaking up from the bandits guarding the Cordon barrier, had been quite simple. We just waited for a distraction, provided by a bunch of striders wandering a bit too far from the Cordon. The bandits quickly busied themselves at shooting the mutants. “Shooting” used as in quite a broad term. They basically did noise and scared them off than actually hitting something, possibly due to being drunk. Crawling unnoticed behind them has proved to be filly-level difficult. Just a quick walk later and we reached the small swamp. It protuberated from the garbage landscape like an oozing wound, holding dark stagnant puddles of radioactive water. Lielle was holding the Geiger counter on her mouth, while I levitated the bolts to scope the area for anomalies. Only some springboards were triggered so far. At each water-filled puddle, the mare approached the counter to check up the radiation level. We were looking for a relatively clean one that would allow us to bathe in for a few minutes without risking major radiation sickness. Eventually, the blue pony came to a halt. Beep……………………………Beep……………………………..Beep……… “This one, Boshan! It has only slight traces of radiation!” I grabbed the counter, checking out the level. It was indeed acceptable. Crunching some numbers, I figured out we had forty minutes to enjoy the water without being sick, considering that the suits would partially absorb the radiation. After setting the PDA to ring after 30 minutes, for extra safety, I stripped off the saddlebags, leaving the fireball and my rifle atop them. I slowly entered the puddle, as the water quickly deepened to my chest level, soaking my barding in so. The puddle was quite deep on the middle, to the point I couldn’t stand onto it. Apart from the ingrained radiation being bad for my body cells, the water was quite nice and warm. After moments swimming in circles, I dived into the deep water. The bottom of the puddle was covered in mud, aquatic vegetation and sand. Returning to the surface, I yelled at the mare. “Lielle, the water is great. Aren’t you coming?” “In a minute” She left her saddlebag beside mine, backed off a few meters and dashed off to the puddle, screaming. “Cannonball!” TCHWAAA! She was instantly soaked to the bone, also soaking me further in the process. The redheaded mare swam around, diving into the deep water as well, and returning with some mud. She plunged her face onto it and used her hoof to spill all around her visage. “How do I look?” “Heinous, mercmare.” I laughed. “At least it is good for my skin. You should serve yourself with some too, Boshan. Think of it like a free spa treatment served on a hot tub.” So I dove again, grabbing my own mud and hoofed it all around my face. I don’t know if she was kidding or not, but the feel of the wet mud all over my face, along with the lukewarm water was somewhat relaxing. I held the back of my head with the hooves, and laid my body belly upside floating onto the puddle. In instants, my eyes closed. “We should definitely do this again, don’t you t…” SBLOSH! Mud coated through my hair and some even went to my ears. Lielle was laughing herself out. It wasn’t fair. She caught me by surprise! I dived, returning with batches of mud. “Oh, it IS on.” “Bring it” I threw an entire barrage of mudballs at her, but she either dodged or dived, expertly avoiding them. On the last dive, she returned with another mudball, flinging it directly at me. This time, I was fast enough to be able to hold it mid-air with the telekinesis. “Unicorn power!” BLLLBLBLBLBLBLBLLLLBLBLLLLSH!! SBLOSH! Two to zero! And even my tongue was dirty now! I had to turn the tables of this game… I dived at the depths again. “Oh… think you can get away like this?” She hoofed the water surface and dived her face while searching for me, exactly what I expected. I swam around the redheaded mare, bumping my body onto the dirt at the depths on purpose. Then, I ascended and held her with a tight hug. My entire body was covered with mud, leaves and even branches hanged from it. Rolling around the deep bottom caused me to appear like some kind of swamp creature coming from a corny terror movie. With the hug, I dropped pounds of the mud directly over her head, marring her crimson hair and undoing her hairstyle. She had such long highlights… “Puny pony… thought you could outsmart the… mud monster?” I turned over her to face me, the mare’s face broke in laughter. “Oh my… woe is me. now that you immobilized my frail hooves, I can only imagine what kind of terrible torture you will submit me to…” “Indeed. It shall be…” I approached my muddy and branched face to hers. “Tickling until submission!” And I started to work my hooves at her armpits. “No… hahahahahahahahahahahaha….hahahahahahha… I’m very tickl…hahahahahah…plea….hahahhahahaha” And she broke free, but I still pursued and my hooves reached her again, my disguise having dissolved into the water. “Hahahahahahha… stop it, Bos….hahahahhaha…hahhahahaha” Then, I held Lielle’s hooves. She was still snickering from the “torture”. Maybe it was her vivid eyes, or her charming laugh, but at that particular moment, being covered in mud, leaves and radioactive water, she seemed the most beautiful mare in Equestria, or so my own eyes told me. We just stood still at that very moment, my hooves gently holding her back and her penetrating silvery gaze upon me. “You still have a bit of dirt over her…” She hoofed at my nose, then brushed her own muzzle against it, wiping it clean. It was weird… but I liked it. Her face assumed a crimson tinge, while my own felt like the living flame from a burner anomaly. TRINGGGGGGG!!!!! The PDA sounded, announcing that 30 minutes had elapsed. I glared at it, then gestured to Lielle to leave the water. She seemed a bit disgruntled at the interruption, but nevertheless, followed me. Radiation sickness wasn’t a kidding matter. I dissolved off most of the mud on the water, only leaving some to dry on my face. I also used a branch to scratch my own skin and damage my barding, in order to improve the disguise, while Lielle did as well. I picked up my saddlebags and gravitated the fireball artifact close to my chest. It instantly started to work out, generating an aura of pleasant warmth, while also numbing my hooves a bit, forcing me to walk at an slower pace. My friend picked up her luggage and I set the PDA’s alarm to sound at each four minutes. Following the supposition that the bandits were using their slaves to work at the base of each pile at the garbage, we set our course to the nearest one, directly north. I could spot the garbage pile from there, but no bandits were at sight. Probably if we revolved around it, we’d stumble onto them. “So… are you going to stick with this hairstyle now?” Lielle left her long crimson highlights run free, instead of trying to lock them again onto the large “burner-cloud” hairstyle. She softly ran her azure hooves though the muddled highlights. “I guess so. It was a pain to hold it upside straight, and this new one suits…” Tring! I handed the fireball over to her, no longer enjoying it’s warmth, but in turn, unhindering my hooves. “I wonder what the bandits are after…” I voiced. “to hold an entire scavenging operation just for metal scraps…” “Artifacts, what more? Everypony on the Zone is so freaking obsessed with them…” “And you don’t?” “I admit, they are quite handy and everything, but the depths of depravity or insanity descended by some ponies to get their hooves on them, are simply…” BLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANG “Hide!” We rushed to take cover behind a rock. After moments of silence, she peeked from it, trying to figure out where the gunshot came from Tring! She rolled the lava-colored stone to me. “I don’t see anything. They probably aren’t after us…” I rose my head to spy as well… BLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANG The shots came from a valley nearby. Cautiously, the mare and I moved cover from cover to it. Peeking from above, sickly bushes and sprawling twisted trees could be seen. Right on the middle of it, numerous bodies of blind dogs and three stalkers. I had never seen somepony like them before. these ones were wearing a complex suit, composed of a tactical helmet and gasmask, numerous Kevlar fillings and composite plates, an incycle breathing system and strange hydraulics stretching from an external frame of the suit. All of this painted in red and black. They also sported a crosshair symbol at their shoulderpads, and without exception, all of them were lugging around huge machineguns mounted into their suits. All in all, they looked like goddamn living tanks; they were two unicorns and one earth pony. “Duty” Lielle whispered to me. “Probably hunting mutants. They are quite away from their home…” Using machine guns originally intended to be assembled into tanks just to kill dogs seemed like an awful lot of overkill. “Are they hostile?” “Not really, if you don’t get on their hooves… come on, let’s be neighborly” She moved from the cover and started to go down onto the valley… SPLUCHT! The sniper rifle soared, hitting a hoof of one of the unicorn dutyers. I quickly grasped Lielle back to the cover. In instants, another shot sounded. The sniper was at the garbage pile, ducking behind a fort made of several sofas. SPLUCHT! Another hoof of the same unicorn was hit this time. The dutyer was unable to move, having two crippled legs and his suit hindered him. His companions started to preheat their machineguns, but before they could fire, a third shot came from the fort. KAPOWWW! This one hit straight at the unicorn’s visor. Since he was already immobilized, it was an easy victim. The sniper probably had experience in fighting stalkers clad in that armor, having used a more powerful rifle to snipe off the dutyer at his weak spot. “Those who live by the AK, die by the AK. Ya got that, Duty?” “Freedom scum! You will pay for this cowardice!” The dutyers “rushed” (as much as their hefty suits allowed them…) to the pile, laying down a hail of lead at the attackers. The two groups exchanged fire, with neither one being able to cause damage. The dutyers, because they were too far away and because machineguns aren’t known for their accuracy, while the freedomers couldn’t aim at moving targets with accuracy while a rain of bullets threatened them. The remaining unicorn dutyer flinged a grenade at the pile, landing it on a mound of dirt directly above the makeshift Freedom bunker. BOOM! The landslide fell upon the sofa fort, forcing the freedomers to abandon it. there were five of them, and they wore green fleck suits. Unlike the dutyers, their armor allowed them to move with ease. But without the resilience of a true combat armor, two of the freedomers weren’t able to make it to the second cover. “Why they started fighting? There wasn’t anything at stake…” “Freedom and Duty are ach-nemesis. They are engaged on a full scale war for quite some time.” “Isn’t this bad for the other stalkers safety?” Tring! I hoofed the artifact to her. “They pretty much don’t bother with us, saving their bullets for each other.” I lifted the scope to examine the freedomer group. It was composed of one unicorn and two pegasai. Their suit had a distinct symbol at the shoulderpad, a green boar head with the jaw opened, with the word “воля” below it. SPLUCHT! The vintorez round hit the solid rock, missing me by inches. “You said they wouldn’t bother with us!” “What would YOU do if a stranger pointed a gun at you during a gunfire? RUN!” Now, the two factions attempted to shoot each other and us as well. Lielle and I sprinted away from them as quickly as we could. “Too much for being neighborly…” “They are quite harmless when dealt separately… I think both of them mistook us as members of the other faction or as bandits” “What gives you this idea?” I mocked as machinegun rounds whistled close Some meters later, I sat down my back at a rusty bulldozer. Lielle was panting too. She threw the fireball to me and I stored it at the saddlebag. We were quite clean of radiation now to further need it. Nopony chased us. I guess they were too damn bent on annihilating each other to actually care about us. “Phew! Are faction hatreds always so intense?” We resumed our pace around the pile She shrugged. “I had never actually seen a conflict of this magnitude between them; after all, the emissaries they sent to the cordon were rather polite, albeit snide, at each other. I guess the loners acted as a barrier for further hostilities, you know, since neither faction wanted to make a bad impression for potential members.” I nodded. A little love and tolerance would go a long way… “Listen, stalker cuntfuckers, this is our camp. So why don’t you two dumbasses piss off before shit happens?” I floated the PDA’s radio, while eyeing the bandit camp. It was basically a hole onto the base of the pile, bunkered at all sides. Two bandits, a purple earth pony wearing a standard Kevlar jacket, a white gas mask and a spiked collar, and a unicorn with a dirty white trenchcoat with black patterns, were glaring at us. Three more supervised their loner slaves. “Sorry bro, just passing by. We are just looking for a job. Got no clue where to go…” The earth pony operating the radio whispered something to the trenchcoated unicorn. The unicorn levitated a binoculars and examinated us. After he was satisfied, he sat it down and said something to the earth pony. His response on the radio came in a few moments. “Ok mercs, you may approach us. But try anything funny and we’ll be having your asses for dinner. By the way, the gunfire sounds a while ago, those were yours?” “No pal. It was a gunshot between Duty and Freedom. We just got caught on the middle of it.” He let go the radio, I still heard the bandit mumbling “freakin’ pigs and jarheads, naggin’ our turf.” While he went again to his unicorn friend. Up close, the camp was just a provisional base of operations. Almost everything was already packed for quick disassembly in the case they needed to move out. I was willing to bet that they moved it every time they found out that someplace else on the pile yielded more loot. We went to greet the two sentinel bandits. they were lazily spread on their chairs, drinking sips of vodka while eyeing us and keeping their guns pointed at us. The bandit symbol, a white pony skull on a black crest, was visible at their shoulderpads. “So… what’s the news around these parts?” I nervously tried to break the ice. “News? Are you fucking serious, merc? What could possibly change on the Zone? Same shit, different day. Suckers perish at anomalies, we get our swag from pussy scavengers, pigs and jarheads duke it out on each other…” “And loser wannabes come around asking for directions.” The trenchcoated unicorn completed. “Which leads us to the question, merc. Why should we help you?” I poked at my saddlebags and handed him a handful of bills. “That’s more like it…” he said while counting the bits. “Head northwest, following the road and you will end up hitting the train hangar. Greyhoof is always looking for new maggots willing to break a leg or two in exchange for jack shit…” ============================== [><]============================= The hangar was an enormous decayed, but sturdy structure. The metal walls reinforced with scraps, train cars were used for housing, a sentinel tower that ascended at the entrance and an external brick wall pretty much summed up the base. Bandits that were guarding the entrance didn’t seem bothered with our presence. Looks like the disguise was working well.Amongst the guards, a charcoal earth pony mare was posed near an intercom, sleeping with her head curled. A distinct stench of vodka came from her. Also, her cutie mark was (unsurprisingly) a bottle of the heavenly drink. As we entered the hangar directly, I noted that there was more to the base to the right, what looked like a fueling area for the trains. But I was in kind of a hurry to wrap up the job to check it out. Finding the bandit leader wasn’t so difficult, the big signs at a train cart saying “applications taken here” and the misspelled “BAWS” were dead giveaways. This cart was furnished, having a box filled with food at a corner, a map on the wall, a shelf at which a bunch of brown fur rested upon a orange radsuit at the bottom. The bandit leader was at a chair, eyeing some papers atop his desk. A box full of electronic scraps was by his side and so it was an intercom at the wall. Greyhoof himself was wearing one of those combat armors we saw the dutyers using. Only that his one was black-colored, had two red-colored gas masks (which I noticed, came from Duty’s own combat armors) for shoulderpads, and that the suit also covered his wings, having two SGi 5k’s inbuilt at each wing. How he actually fired them, it was beyond me. The suit probably had some kind of internal trigger. Also, the symbol of his faction was painted on the left side of his own black-colored tactical helmet. That composed a very fearsome picture… it was best to just buy the damn PDA and leave the bandits to their own rather than stick around. “I told you suckers not to interrupt…” He cut off when he eyed us… I guess he was expecting someone else. The bandit pushed a button at the intercom “Katherine! Wake up, you worthless bum! You were supposed to keep me posted about visitors!” Mumbled sounds came as an answer. Greyhoof turned to us. “Mercs, I see… are you two looking to score some swag?” “Actually, we are here to buy something from you. A PDA from a stalker named Searinor.” Greyhoof hoofed onto his crate, bringing up a PDA. “You’re in luck. I was about to dismantle this useless thing for spare parts… I guess you can have it…” I extended my hoofs expectantly “For four thousand bits” Holy shit! That was roughly eight times the price of a useful piece of information! “This is ridiculous! We don’t have that much money. Didn’t you just say it was trash?” “Well, if you want it so much, then it must be valuable. Four thousand is my price…. Hey, leave him alone!” Lielle was almost reaching the patch of fur, when it sprang to life. The bloated dog gave two barks at the mare, making her step back. “Down boy…” Greyhoof patted his pet’s head, and it laid down again over the radsuit. “You have a pseudo for pet? Aren’t these dangerous?” she asked “Most of them… although Anon here is vegetarian. We found him while scavenging a farmhouse; the poor thing was trapped on a cellar and lived by eating apples stocked in there. Nevertheless, my boys and I picked him up, nurtured and nursed him back to health and trained him. He was quite useful as a sentinel for the presence of other mutants, barking off when he catches their scent nearby. Although now Anon is quite indisposed… this state is lasting more or less one month, with slow recovery. So, keep your hooves off my dog, lady. He doesn’t need your germs…” A very offended Lielle stood by my side, looking at the dog with contempt. “Anon… that’s a strange name for a pseudodog.” I said “It was the only legible word on his collar, anon with a faded suffix… Whistlebone, my commander, told me it was possible that the tag was inverted, claiming that the dog’s name was a faded off prefix completed by “nona”. Nonsense… that’s a female’s name, and I’m sure that Anon is male.” “How the heck do you know how to differentiate between a mutant dog ma…” I stuffed my hoof at her mouth. While I had the same question on my mind, I’d rather not ask it. The images on my mind were disturbing enough… “Greyhoof, there isn’t really anything we can do to lower your price? We have a few goods…” “How much cash do you have on you, merc?” “Two thousand and five hundred bits…” He gave a quick gaze at the papers on his desk “Well… since I’m feeling especially generous today, I’m willing to cut the price on half the amount… if you do a service for me.” What a douchebag! He was exploiting my need to his own ends… screw it, this was the only way to get the PDA without confronting an armor-clad bandit backed up by a whole bandit clan. “What kind of service are we speaking about?” “Something rather simple really… if you don’t mind accompanying me, Anon needs to stretch his legs and Whistlebone owns me a report.” Greyhoof opened a drawer, tossed the PDA inside and locked it. Then mused to his pseudodog. The beast lazily stood up and followed it’s master outside. I shrugged to my companion and followed the strange duo. Greyhoof crossed the gate outlying the train depot, spending some time at the entrance giving a rant to some charcoal earth pony. We went with him as well. ============================== [><]============================= The heavy-armored pegasus made his way through the road, spending some time here and there to sightsee the numerous bandit camps across it. He’d just radio them and ask for the situation. “You are their leader, right? So why don’t they hand you over the report themselves instead?” He stopped his pace and turned to me “For several reasons. Because I actually want to supervise those morons, and it is the best way to maximize profit, because I am the boss and I freaking do what I want. And, because…after numerous days walking around the garbage… I kinda grown a fond for the scenery. There ain’t nothing better than the fresh air around these parts…” And he resumed the stroll, until interrupted by an azure pony. “Fresh? It is a goddamn radioactive dump! The only place worse is the NPP itself!” “That’s because you folks don’t smell what I smell, also it’s because you don’t have a gasmask on, hehe. But anyway, what I smell around my garbage is the aroma of potential. Here’s something interesting… the garbage used to be some archeological site. After the nuclear accident, the monarchs filled in the pits with the irradiated gear they used while evacuating the survivors, first class stuff, real neat. They risen up the pits all the way from the bottom and then even some more. Some of the stuff buried in them are worth their weight in gold. That’s why my crew has a nice mining operation around. It would be fine, weren’t for the stench of the other stalkers…” “You don’t seem too worried in fighting them back… also, aren’t you worried that they could take you out while you’re walking around in those supervising trips?” “Heh… that’s what the armor is for, boy. It’s my insurance. Also, don’t be naive to think that I don’t have four or five boys laying their telescopic eyes at every movement I take. As for the factions, I don’t give two shits about them, after all, they are too busy with their pointless goals. Bust my ass out eradicating mutants? , Turn the Zone into a fucking touristic attraction? Or the “sharing and kindness” lot ? I can’t decide which one is worse. We here keep it simple, money talks and we let stalkers dig around and stay alive by handing over a slice to us. If the other clans got a problem with it, they’re in for some serious whacking.” His radio came online of a sudden. “Boss, I spotted some shootout near the road to agropony. The jarhead cocksuckers are pulling in some brace fighting the muties…” “Don’t worry... they’re getting desperate. Soon their own zeal will knock them down, after all, wannabe heroes don’t last long in these parts.” Lielle came close to me and whispered “He may say that, but I believe that the bandits have pretty much to worry about…and that he is actually shitting his pants worrying about their safety.” “How bad is their situation?” “In one word, shit. In two words, deep shit. They are boxed in at all sides. The garbage is a key point of the Zone. Every stalker must cross it. Either to reach deeper into the Zone, where the most rare artifacts spawn, or to reach back to the cordon or their own faction bases to get quality R&R… basically, the bandits are facing a two-way brawl with the dutyers coming from Hoofstok and Jingly’s stalkers from the Cordon. Also, although being neutral to the bandits, freedomers shoot them from time to time. All of that plus mutants make it all complete.” “Hey mercs, why the fuck are you two falling behind?” We sprinted a bit to reach him out. “Sorry, we were just wondering when you would start speaking about the job.” He eyed us distrustfully. “Your job is returning a suit, a very special one. Have you seen the stalkers working at the piles? There are some who scavenge the surface, ain’t much risk in there, but no big rewards as well… other stalkers dig deep onto the pile, but that takes a lot of time. We were using dynamite to clear up holes cost-efficiently, but my boys haven’t received a word about our last shipments for a few days, my guess is that the military busted out our suppliers. And the last kind of digger, the one who climbs the pile to reach the anomalies that spawn there, that’s where the artifacts are. Problem is, without a radsuit, stalkers wouldn’t last ten seconds in there, and the suits are hard to come by.” “Why don’t you buy some from the ecologists?” Lielle asked him “A long while ago, a group of the eggheads caught a few stray bullets when they came across a few mutants we were shooting at.” My eyes moved to my companion. Lielle frowned when he mentioned stray bullets. Good thing the bandit didn’t notice it. “Although it was an accident, they knew better than to return to the garbage, ever again. It was a tragedy, indeed, but we took the best of the worst, their suits. We had at that time, one, two, three suits” He hoofed at the dirt to count. “One of them was stolen from us, the second broke when an overconfident moron danced over an electro anomaly, and the third is the only functional suit left. Do you get me, mercs? I need my stolen suit back; otherwise, my cash flow will dwindle.” “You have your own suit, why don’t you bring yourself the artifacts?” I questioned He turned to me, looking annoyed at the question. “I suppose that’s a “valid” question, since you two lowlifes probably will never be able to afford an exoskeleton. Firstly, the exosuit is a combat-oriented personal armor. It is meant to withstand pistol bullets, shotgun bucks, submachine rounds, low caliber rifle bullets, and in some modded versions, like mine, even sniper rounds. While it’s great for confronting other stalkers, it provides meager protection against anomalies. On par with common stalker suits, like yours. Secondly, like I already said, an exoskeleton is goddamn expensive, and I’m trying to run a profitable business. And last, it weights twenty-five fucking pounds, that’s a lot, even with the augmented strength from the servomotors… if you are caught by an anomaly; it’s pretty much sudden death. Not to mention that the wearer wouldn’t be bringing much loot per trip without being overcumbered.” “I’m curious, who would steal from bandits?” Lielle wondered “That’s the most fucked up part… at first, not even I believed, but now I see. It was stolen by a pack of pseudodogs. The nasty feral ones, not like my loyal Anon, ain’t that right, boy?” He patted on the brown dog’s head. The animal licked his owner’s armored chin. “But that makes no sense at all, they are animals. What interest would they have over an orange jumpsuit?” “That’s what I thought when the buddy of the stalker that loaned it came around. He told me that his partner got chased by a bunch of dogs and they didn’t give up chase and that they dragged him to their lair at the forest. Of course, I thought that his partner had run away with my suit and I executed the stalker on the spot. Only later my own scouts informed me that he was speaking the truth.” He rose his hoof. “Here it is. Now if you excuse me, mercs, I have a report to pick up.” His stroll led us to the internment camp set near the cordon border. It was well-defended and circulated by a barbwire wall, being used as a housing and training facility for the captured loners. There were a few tire piles used to mark anomalies inside the camp and a few loners were subdued to their miserable fates, scanning the anomalous fields or either being locked up on cages or chained to the vehicles. The brown dog walked off to play on the bushes nearby, while Greyhoof was talking over with an orange earth pony. This one was wearing the standard black schemed colors, but with grey straps of cloth along it, also, he was carrying a clipboard. “Whistlebone, how is productivity?” The pony offered the clipboard to his boss. “Hmm… acceptable… although could use a bit of improvement…” “Boss, there’s one that tried to smuggle an artifact.” The orange pony picked back his clipboard and walked to an imprisoned olive unicorn. This one was segregated from the others. “Well ,well, well, who have we got here, Whistle?” He looked up on the clipboard. “His name is Keyhole.” “Hmm… Keyhole, do you know what happens to those who try to pull a fast one on me?” He crept close to the unicorn, his armed wings set horizontally and aiming at him. “No, no, no… please…” Greyhoof raised his hoof, ordering him to shut up. “You’ve just earned yourself three extra hours of work on the sun. And no water during that time” He punched the slave’s face, streaking his face with red. Then he left the moaning unicorn to think about his behavior. Lielle stood there, observing the poor pony while tears ran down her neck. I reached Greyhoof to resume our conversation. “I am not pleased with this, pegasus… you ask us to clear a den of pseudodogs plus two grants of cash in exchange for ONE PDA… looks like you are getting the better end of the deal” “Too bad then…I’m not forcing you two to take on the job, I just offer the choice. If you are discontent with it, just bring me four thousand bits in two days and the PDA is yours. If you change your mind, my scouts told me that the victim was dragged onto the forest east of here; you should start your search there. Of course, if you wish to.” I shook my head. “We’ll think about accepting the job or not.” He turned away, eyeing his own workers working at the base of a nearby pile, before focusing his look at the radsuit wearing one scavenging atop it. “I’m not such a bad guy; you know… some folks out here have grown pretty fat off me.” “Some have grown to be pretty nutritious dogmeat” The redhead mare snipped “If you think that we bandits make the garbage a bad place, you should had seen it before we came around. Nopony paid much attention to it, until a lucky bastard scavenged out an abandoned UN cache. All kinds of good stuff: Canida issued rifles, Eagleland forces sidearms, even explosives from Baghdrag …When word got around, all stalkers flocked off to here en masse, each one looking for his own share of “phat lewt”” “What’s bad about it? They just wanted their fair share of the goods… even willed to scavenge them out.” “Scavenge? They weren’t even able get in consensus. This place was a huge mess, with stalkers shooting each other every time they found out something of value. That’s no way to do business. This ended when my crew came around and set up a few rules. If we hadn’t done it, by now, they would have already shooted and bombed their own asses back to pre-discord age. You see, the Zone needs order, regardless of who enforces it… you may frown upon our methods, but this way, the stalkers live longer” “Live longer so you can squeeze them harder for profit…” “Mercmare, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that order costs serious money. My boys need bullets, food, shelter… and also, where do you think I get the funds to pay the likes of you?” His radio sprang to life. “Boss, there’s a pack of dogs heading into the camp!” “Damn it! Defensive positions everypony! Anon, at me boy!” The brown dog dashed and stood behind its master. The bandits sheltered themselves behind walls, vehicles and sentry-boxes. All of them were pointing their weapons east, to the forest past the small swamp Then they came, rushing toward patches of green. Numerous blind dogs, with their crimson, brown, grey and albino coats distinguishing them apart from the landscape. Three ochre-furred pseudodogs were leading the pack with vicious might. RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE… RATTLERATTLERATTLE…. The pack broke up, splitting off to attack each one of us. STKUP! Choo! STKUP! Lielle’s spike crossed the chest of the beasts. The body quickly tumbled onto the dirt. “You’re not too shabby yourself, Maremerc!” Whistlebone said RATTLERATTLERATTLE…RATTLERATTLE…. The dogs were quickly being culled by our weaponry, but they didn’t give up. One of the pseudos climbed atop a vehicle, leaped down at the other side and sunk his teeth at the bandit taking cover behind the chariot. His teammates quickly tossed a grenade at the bloody mess while the mutant was busy feeding himself. BOOM! Blind dog after blind dog befell… but the things wouldn’t stop coming. Without killing all the pseudos, they would relentlessly attack us. RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE….. RATTLERATTLERATTLE…. All my shots missed. The pseudodogs leaped and rushed around unnaturally, charging to bite and then leaping back. They were damn crafty and quick. Two bandits were wounded by their bites. We were lucky to stand aside Greyhoof, on the middle of the camp. STKUP! Choo! STKUP! Choo! Lielle was defending the wounded olive stalker. His scent of blood made him a preferential target for the canines. “They are coming through the walls!” Some stalker yelled at the back of the camp. When I turned around, I saw several blind dogs overwhelming one chained stalker… he was pretty much dismembered in instants. RATTLERATTLERATTLE….RATTLERATTLERATTLE… Now we were fighting in two fronts, the bandits were overwhelmed. The two pseudos jumped over their confounded attackers and darted to Greyhoof. They were eyeing Anon behind him. The poor dog curled up behind it’s master. Greyhoof prepared his wings, and all four SGi 5k’s pointed to the dogs. “Suck on this, fleabags!” TCHTCHTCHTCHTCHTCHTCHTCHTCHTHLEE… In instants, there was nothing more than lifeless piles of mince around the camp. The remaining blind dogs ran away or had been dealt with quickly after their leader’s demise. The bandits used medkits and bandages onto their wounded members, while Greyhoof turned to leave. “Wait Greyhoof… is there someplace where we can get some supplies? If we consider taking up the job, we might as well be prepared.” “Well, I own a bar at the depot. I’ve set two stalkers to run it for me, while they were in no shape to be slaves, they turned up to be pretty good barkeepers. If you two are in need of grub, just swing by it.” I nodded. It was nearly three o’ clock and my tummy ached. I wasn’t looking forward to cook a meal around the internment camp because the smell would probably attract more dogs. So, I and my companion followed back the bandit leader into his depot. ============================== [><]============================= The bar was the external fueling area I mentioned before. It was just a concreted annex of the main hangar, with a stair leading to a recently built second floor. Possibly the living quarters for the barkeepers. Atop the doorway that led to the bar, a painted sign. It depicted a happy pseudodog in drunken coma, with three bottles of vodka around him. Under the sign, the bar’s name: “The drunken hound” Well, it was a bar, more so, it was a bar that was used regularly by bandits. So you guess that the smell wasn’t so pleasant. A mix of cheap vodka, tobacco, sweat and, at that particular day, strider skewer. Numerous bandits were at the tables (huge rusted iron crates), playing cards, telling filthy jokes, smoking, chilling out , or, the most prevalent, getting hammered. I and Lielle sat near the barrel-crafted counter. Behind it, we saw a cinnamon-colored earth pony mare washing dishes, and, with his face sank into the wood, some pint-sized reptile with deep red skin and grey scales. He was deep into sleep.” “Another mutant?” I asked the azure mare. “Nope. This one is a dragon. Quite a rare sight on the Zone…” The barmaid finished with her work and came to us. “Sorry, we’re out of skewer for today… can I serve you two something else?” “I’ll have some canned oatmeal” Lielle answered “I want some of your best hay… with mustard.” I asked in turn. She took notes of the order. “Ok, I’ll be right away with them… the bar is kinda busy today, so please be patient.” “Why is your copartner slacking off, then?” “Oh… Toothpick is just a baby. He couldn’t sleep for the whole night…” “And neither during the day. Stop yelling, will ya? My head is exploding…” The drowsy dragon yawned lazily. “Damn bandits… they partied the day before yesterday all the night, Greyhoof’s dog birthday. And not content with it, they threw an after birthday party yesterday. Who does that? I swear, if I hear that stupid fanfare song one more time, things won’t be pretty.” “Come on… everypony have their spirits high a once in a while” Lielle smiled to him. “You should had seen last month… they threw a party for a guy dropping alcoholism. They nearly drank the Zone dry… sometimes I think that bandits have four livers.” Aaattt…. Aatttt…. ATCHOOO! The dragon’s sneeze filled the air with a small flick of orange flame. The barmare returned with our orders, leaving them to us, and then turned to the dragon. “I told you a million times, Toothpick… close your window before sleeping!” “Yea… I’ll try to keep that in mind next time, Talia” He turned to rest his head onto the counter again, but the barmare was faster and put her hoof on the location before he could lay his head. “You had your naptime, now be a dear and deliver this order.” The diminutive dragon mumbled something, picked up the tray containing a bottle of vodka and some canned oatmeal. He delivered it to some bandit at the corner, he handed the dragon a few coins and Toothpick stored them onto a pocket at his belt, the only piece of clothing he was wearing. Aaattt…. Aatttt…. ATCHOOO! This time, the flick carbonized the bandit’s meal. “Erm… sorry?” The bandit gave an angry gaze at the dragon, then broke in pursuit at him. The duo turned tables upside down, wrecked a few crates and broke empty bottles in their insane drift. Toothpick was able to keep a good distance due to his stature, but eventually, the bandit caught up with him. He picked up the dragon and started to strangle his neck, Toothpick’s eyes popped from his face, his tongue flailed wildly. “Why, you little…” A sentinel nearby rushed to them and broke off. He held the bandit while Toothpick gathered some breath. “Whoa, what’s the problem here?” “This little prick has scorched my meal!” “Is that true, Toothpick?” “It was an accident, I swear it…” “Like I haven’t heard that one a zillion times before…” I rose from my chair and went to the group. “Guard, I saw everything…” “Keep out of this, merc. This is bandits business.” I picked up a bill of money and hoofed it to the customer. “Here, that shall cover your order…” And I hoofed a second bill to him “And this one, the misbehavior” The customer just shrugged and left. “Next time somepony calls me for small shit, I’m complaining to Greyhoof. Understood, Toothpick?” The dissatisfactory dragon just nodded. The sentinel returned to his post. As soon as he turned, the dragon showed his tongue Then, he eyed me, still massaging his throat. “Thanks for bailing me out, merc. But I could have handled it by myself.” “In your dreams” Talia’s voice came from the counter. “Serves you right for being reckless enough to catch a cold.” She smiled to me. “But anyway, it isn’t everyday that we have such generous visitors… where are you two lovebirds coming from?” My face steamed in seconds. “We come from the cordon… just traveling around the zone, doing odd jobs, picking loot, staying alive. You know, stalker business. My name is Boshan, and she is Lielle” The redhead mare waved her hoof and smiled. “Hi” “Oh, I see… well, if you two ever need supplies or information, ask us.” The dragon put a smug grin on his face. “Ask me, she meant. I know all the gossip about the factions” he lowered his voice “And some more” Lielle just laughed at the adorable reptile. “You probably won’t interest him. Boshan is nearly oblivious about faction relationships” The dragon cocked his head. “It’s rather straightforward. Duty wants to destroy the Zone, Freedom wants to destroy Duty, bandits just try to shovel money whenever they can and lone stalkers struggle to survive all this shit.” “I saw today a detachment of freedomers attacking a group of dutyers for no reason whatsoever…” “Well, that’s typical. They fight to maintain free access to the Zone by everypony.In their vision, the Zone is a gift from Mother Nature, which should be shared equally by all ponies. They hate the ecologists for hogging all the secrets of the Zone for themselves, and they churn Duty for annihilating the Zone bit by bit, saying that their onslaught will only further enrage the Zone and be the damnation of everypony. In synthesis, freedom is a bunch of anarchists, daredevils, outcasts and hippies tied together in their “free-love” community that is against anypony that tries to set dibs on the Zone, namely Duty or the military. Well, they aren’t very much organized or skilled like duty…but Freedom’s strength lies in their numbers. They are the biggest crew set up on the Zone.” “And the boys in red, duty? How they have gotten those sweet exoskeletons?” The dragon looked around, certifying that no bandit was interested in our conversation “Since you helped me out, I’ll give you that info for free, merc. Duty is supplied by the army. That’s why they have all that state-of-art gear, there’s common interests between the two groups.” Lielle gasped at the revelation. I mused to Toothpick to continue. “That doesn’t surprised me much, knowing that they are ex-military themselves. Ah, Duty… what’s to know about it? They are the self-titled heroes of the Zone, having fed up with the contempt of stalkers and started fighting off hordes of mutants in their holy war against the Zone. In their eyes, the Zone is a plaguing disease that threatens to consume our very world if nopony fights back. Unlike freedom, they actually help stalkers fighting off muties and bandits, but also, they walk around thinking they goddamn own the Zone, acting like friggin’cops, roughening on people loitering around and everything. They are good guys individually, but thrown together, they are a bunch of dimwitted fanatics that shoots first and then shoot some more until the enemy is dead, no matter if it’s a mutant or a pony” Perhaps the biggest danger around weren’t the Zone itself, but a pissed off dutyer. Crossing them seemed like a quick way to a coffin. Freedom’s excuse for fighting them was probably to declaw Duty’s supermassive firepower, their tool to force order and control around the Zone. “Yep, they’re quite the proud lot around Hoofstok…” Lielle commented. “Haven’t you heard? Duty has left Hoofstok for good.” “No way… they held that area with their entire faction. Only a buffed Freedom raid would stand a chance against them.” “Even more surprising, it wasn’t them what caused Duty to leave…” “Then who it was? Hoofstok is clean of anomalies and everything; it is the perfect spot for a base.” “Was, until they begun poking around the sewers. I’ve heard some loners cracked open a bloodsucker lair down there. Damn beasts had no effort in overpowering them. And even started to reach the surface, causing havoc among dutyers. While they could have fought them off, they simply decided to leave. Isn’t that weird? I guess they aren’t so tough after all, fearing pussy bloodsuckers and everything… They left off and set shop into the agropony research institute. And Freedom took their spot; the anarchists teamed up with loners and wiped up the town free of bloodsuckers…although from time to time the monsters down there stir up.” “That must have pissed off the dutyers…” “Heh…certainly it did. Those two clans are like black and white, only agreeing over one single thing.” “That ketchup is the best meal condiment?” Toothpick facepalmed. “Not that, Lielle, that’s how your name is spelled, right? What I mean is that both of them believe that the Zone is alive.” “Alive? Doesn’t seem very playful to me.” I commented. “Tell me about it. I personally think that they are full of shit… the jarheads believe that it is a parasite that keeps growing and growing like an ulcer, while the pigs consider it an manifestation of nature itself. Gaia, terra or any other moronic hippie nomination.” “But going on… the bandits are pretty much the group of weakling-cracking bullies around, our gracious hosts. The stalkers are the bread n’ butter folk, just trying to make a living in the Zone. You’ve met the military already, right? They aren’t the friendliest buddies around. ” I nodded. “Then, there are the mercs, serious mercs. Technically, they aren’t a faction, but multiple autonomous detachments. The Zone’s own soldiers of fortune. Mercs will do anything for the bits; even eat pseudog leavings if the pay is good. They are relentless and secretive about their activities, but I’ve got some juicy stuff about them… although this one will cost you.” “I’ll pass.” Lielle glared at me with her big silvery eyes. “No. I’m trying to keep the two thousand for the PDA plus a bit for survival needs.” She frowned. “Well, then I’ll spend my own.” She picked a few rumpled bills from her saddlebag and handed it to the dragon. He examinated them and tossed onto his pocket. “Here it is. According to my sources, some mercs have a hub at the dark valley. They stashed a real loot goldmine at a deactivated lab.” Lielle put up a serious face and nodded. “That’s interesting. When we come around those parts, let’s check it, Boshan.” I silently nodded, making a mental note to NOT do it. Pissing off mercs… like I needed to be hunted around the Zone… “And as a side note, the ecologists. Eggheads who study the Zone and perform scientific research. They employ stalkers from time to time to do errands, since they can’t do shit by themselves without dying. I guess that wraps up factions 101…” “Not yet, there’s one faction left…” She was right. The dragon didn’t mention Limpid Skies. “Oh, if you are really into THAT detailing, there’s the Monolith “faction”. Nothing to worry about them, just a bunch of screwballs that wandered around and preached their crap to other stalkers… like how the Zone is represented by a magical monolith that can grant wishes to anypony who reaches it, and how the entity named them protectors… that’s where all that legend of the wish granter started from… yea right. It’s more plausible that a chaos god made them believe that a stone was alive than all their bullshit. So, in order to prove devotion to their boulder, they went past the brain scorcher, toward the NPP itself and nopony has seen them ever since. They certainly melted off their nutshell brains at the attempt.” Why he hadn’t mentioned Limpid Skies? Were they that secretive, able to elude their presence into the Zone that well? I remembered Ameara’s words about their faction relationships: “I hope you do not mind the grey scheme, I did it because some of the stalkers on the mainland aren’t really fond of Limpid Skies.” Yea… but segregating themselves from the whole Zone… why? Fear? Distrust? My mind boiled with questions. “Come on, everypony knows that the wish granter isn’t a legend, it is real.” “It’s just a stupid story for drunkards and dreamers… there’s no such thing.” “What is the whish granter?” Lielle and Toothpick fell silent, also, the entire bar fell silent as well. Have I said it too loud? Every look fell on me My companion was the first to speak. “You don’t know about the wish granter? And you yet consider yourself a stalker, Boshan…seriously.” Toothpick opened his mouth to speak, but Lielle raised her hoof. “Don’t worry, I got this one covered.” She opened her saddlebag and brought a guitar. Oh no… The mare started to fiddle the strings. OOOOhhhh…. Wish granter… Sweet dreams are made of it… Who are unbelievers to disagree? Stalkers travel the entire Zone and them some more… Everypony is wishin’ for something… Some of them desire hills of money… Some of them want tons of artifacts… Some of them set their sights for eternal fame… Others seek limitless power… And some ponies just wish for a shitload of vodka! Just open your mind, and the wish granter shall concede… Your innermost desire... turned reality! What more could you dream about? Reaching the center is without precede! Just watch out not to end like a monolithian… Deranged brain, another tark to roam the Zone… The awkward silence continued. “It’s a work in progress…” Judging by the quality, she started working into it five seconds ago… “The wish granter is just this? A genie-like stone that grants wishes to whoever reaches it?” “Yup. I know it looks silly, but stalkers take it seriously. A lot of them consider it to be their lifetime goals. By the way, do you know what I would wish if I ever reach it?” “I don’t know… brain surgery?” She punched my forearm. OUCH! I spent all my focus trying not to moan, only to fail miserably. I massaged the bruised area, while she turned to finish her meal. Toothpick smiled. “I can see you two are no mercs… why are you guys working under Greyhoof’s wing?” I turned the question back to him “Why are YOU working under his wing? You hate the bandits, don’t you?” “Yeah, but they keep me safe… and there’s the bits. Running a bar for these guys is pure profit, and it sure beats working into the piles. Although I can’t stand some of the types around… once in a while a decent fellow like you two appear. Yeah, like the guy I knew other day. A pegasus bud named Walrov, real decent fellow. He told me stories from all around the Zone, the guy is a guide, a real one… knows his way out of one of those underground vaults, blindfolded. So, there’s my reason. What is yours?” “Greyhoof has something we want.” “Good luck with that. He usually ends up on the sweeter side of a deal.” “Tell me about it…” I picked up the PDA. Five o’ clock. I couldn’t afford to waste my time looking for options… damn Greyhoof. I lifted up and left some bits on the counter as payment for the food. I started trotting away, but I turned back to Talia. “Say, have you got some soy sausages for sale? I might need a snack later.” I paid for them and waved goodbyes to the two barkeepers, then I checked the PDA’s map for the forest… it was near the small swamp we visited earlier today. “All packed up?” The redhead mare nodded. ============================== [><]============================= RATTLERATTLERATTLE…RATTLERATTLE…. The blind dogs howled in agonizing pain. I turned on my flashlight. Although the daylight still poured, the thick forest enveloped us in darkness. We had been walking around it clueless for some time now. Maddening howls came from behind every tree, multiple bestial eyes glared at us from the darkness. RATTLERATTTTLERATTTTLE….RATTTLERATTLE…. STKUP! STKUP! It seemed useless… for two deceased dogs, many more lurked into the darkness. “Bastard varmints are toying with us!” Lielle said. I nodded. “And there’s nothing we can damn do about it…” RATTLERATTLE…. RATTLERATTLERATTLE…. RATTLERATTLE…. GROUWLLLL!!! The beefy beast dived to me, forcing all it’s incredible strength onto my backside. Its maw closed onto flesh. I shook with all my force while the beast clawed and tried to keep grip. “Bosah! Keep quiet! I can’t get a shot at him!” She aimed the stake thrower at me. “NO, NO!” STKUP! The stake hit the beast head, shutting it’s breath down. Miraculously, the projectile didn’t hit me. “NEVER… DO… THAT… AGAIN. EVER. I COULD HAVE BEEN IMPALED!” She just looked at me, wishing for forgiveness. “Sorry… I should…” Tears appeared on her eyes. WOULF! WOULF WOULF! “BRACE YOURSELF, MORE INCOMING!” RATTLERATTLE….RATTLERATTLE… STKUP, STKUP, STKUP! The dogs were retreating and clawing at us… they dashed around us from all sides, emerging and disappearing into instants. Fighting into the forest was insanely frustrating. We were forced onto retreating with the rabid beasts howling at our hooves. “This is yielding no result at all, Lielle.” I said while using a medkit at the bite wound and some bandages at the scratches. I tossed one medkit at her too. “You know, they are hungry. These beasts will stalk their prey into hell itself to stave the needs of themselves and their pack.” “And the fact they are used to fighting on the forest doesn’t help us one bit… we should had burn it to the ground… kill the beasts with fire.” “That way, the suit would be destroyed too…” I nodded. It was the unpleasant truth, and as long as Greyhoof possessed the PDA, I was his bitch. This made everything harder, so insanely hard… I opened my pack, remembering about that bottle of vodka. But then my eyes spotted something there… “Yes, that’s the solution! Lielle, you are a genius!” I kissed the mare’s cheek. She reddened. “I am? What are you planning now?” “Look and see…” BEEP… BEEP… BEEP… Yes, exactly what I needed. The springboard anomaly we’ve came across earlier. I wasted no time in floating the burner, a plate and the sausages out of the saddlebag, “This is no time for lunch!” “SHHHH, keep close to me.” I turned on the burner and tossed the sausages onto the plate, they fizzled and in instants, the air was filled with their scent. “Why do you think it will work? It’s soy!” “They are dogs, and more so, they are blind. I don’t think they are the pickiest eaters around…” Keeping a keen telekinetic grip at the plate of smoked sausages, I hid myself at a nearby bush. WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!!! The dog jumped at the plate, only be caught onto the anomaly. Now, the canine lied lifeless onto the mud. GRWOUL! WUFF! WUFF!! Gregarious beasts are gregarious… after that successful prey; numerous dogs were caught onto the trap. For cunning hunters, they were surprisingly irrational when I offered a juicy bait. That should help clear up their presence at the forest. The whole fun only ended when a nifty pseudodog tipped off the plate, its contents spilled onto the springboard and wasted away by the anomaly. RATTLERATTLE… CLICKCLIKCK!!... I desperately looked into the saddlebag… no ammo! STKUP! STKUP! STKUP! BANG BANG BANG! The mare reached over the body of the dogs. She stared northwest. “I believe they came from that way…” I pulled my knife and stashed some of the pseudodog tails, then I picked up my plate and the burner too, not too bad for the wear. Most of the pack had been dealt with, both by Greyhoof and his bandits earlier and by my trap. But there was still the matriarch… and I was all out of rifle bullets. After a new walk across the dark, deadly and cold forest, we found it. At an embankment below, several corpses were laid onto the roots of a fallen tree, being dragged under it and sequentially torn asunder when the pack needed. The orange suit was easily spotted among them. The poor bastard had his wings ripped off… Three pseudos were guarding them, while the monstrous albino matriarch comfortably sat near her ugly-ass puppies. “Hand me an explosive…” Lielle hoofed one of her grenades to me… I measured distance and… BOOM! The blast killed off two pseudos, while the third dashed to Lielle… STKUP! STKUP! STKUP! BANG BANG BANG! … or more exactly, dashed to his own death. The matriarch growled at us… soon, the huge beast was moving, surprisingly fast for it’s enormous structure. She pawed me. The wolf-like beast was strangely powerful, as she tossed me several meters back with her strong tackle. STKUP! STKUP! Damn beast was too fast for this… the stakes stuck on trees, never hitting the animal. BANG BANG! The goddamn mutant just shrugged off the shots as it rushed to me, it’s maw wide open… YIP, YIP, YIP! The confused beast turned to face Lielle. She was holding one of the puppies… GRAUWLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! It broke chase and rushed back to protect it’s puppies. Lielle held high the pup, while the pseudo maneuvered quickly, trying to flank her. The matriarch lunged at Lielle, pawing her back and landing at the other side. The mare lifted her weapon, firing it while the mutant was preparing for a new jump. STKUP. GROULF! GROUWLWOULF! Now, it was held onto the floor. It’s paw crossed over by an iron stake held her firmly to the ground. BANG Good riddance… “What should we do about them?” Lielle pointed to the pups, still oblivious about the fate of their mother. “Leave them be. The forest still has a few pseudos roaming around. With luck, they will grow up to be a pain in Greyhoof’s ass. The bastard deserves it.” I started to loot the corpses. Hopefully, a few rifle rounds were to be found. And then, I reached the body wearing the radsuit. The smell was unbearable… the blind dogs, for some strange reason (and true to their namesake) rumped the suit entirely… its exterior was filled with strange and unsavory substances… apart from this, it was quite structurally intact. The body had the wings ripped off. Near it, a broken PDA. I examinated the broken screen. That machine had been repeatedly stomped over by a dog. Turning over, I could make out an inscription at the back… “Propriety of Olaf Walrov, explorer extraordinaire!” You have to be fucking kidding me… ============================== [><]============================= It was already dark when we reached back the depot. Judging by the lights and sounds, the bandits were more active during that time. Stupid party animals… I dropped the corpse at Greyhoof’s wagon. The bandit looked at it, then spoke. “Merc, let me ask you a question…” “Shoot it.” “When you took your sweet time dragging your ass to here… did you happen to notice a sign outside my wagon that said “dead stalker storage”? “Greyhoof, the only si…” He raised his hoof. “That’s because there’s no such sign, do you happen to know why?” “Why?” “’Cause storing dead stalkers ain’t my fucking business, you dipshit! I told you to bring me just the suit, not the wormfood as well! Good god! Now this scum will be goddamn stinking my wagon, thanks a lot!” He pushed a button at the intercom “And living with a pseudodog did great improvements to the aroma, indeed…” Lielle muttered under her breath. I used all my energy to remain serious. “Well, there’s your suit… and here’s the cash” I offered the two thousand bits. The bandit leader shook his head. “A deal is a deal…” He opened the drawer and handed over the PDA to me, taking his money in turn. “No refunds, merc” “Yes boss?” Toothpick was standing at the door “Dispose of the body and clean up the suit…I want it pristine as soon as possible” Toothpick shooed away Anon. The pseudo started sniffing the body as soon as I dropped it. The dragon worked his claws at the suit, delicately opening it… That’s when he saw it. I noticed when realization struck across his face… Toothpick realized that this was the body of one of his friends. “Why are you taking so damn long, Toothpick?” “J…just some straps…heh… ok, I think I’ve got it.” With all the care of the world, the dragon headed out carrying the body and the suit. ============================== [><]============================= “I’m sorry for your loss, Toothpick.” The azure mare put her hoof on his shoulder. “It’s… okay. Thank you Lielle. It is a part of the cycle of life on the Zone… like searching for loot, fighting against mutants or exploring it’s secrets…one day or another, we have to bury a friend as well, if there’s enough left of him to bury.” He stared at the improvised grave, scantly illuminated by a candle. The dragon was quite a good digger, being able to dig off a cove in half an hour. We brought an iron plate from the debris pile, on which Toothpick promptly scrawled the epitaph: “Here lies Walrov, now set off to explore a better place” Toothpick wiped his tears. “You know… the Zone takes friends from our hearts, but also… brings friends as well. Thank you, Boshan and Lielle. You two have done me a great favor. I will not forget about this.” “Eh… Toothpick, now that you mention, you could do something for us…” “And what do you need?” “Not much, just a place to crash for tonight.” “You two can use the top floor above the bar, if you don’t mind the noise…” “Thank you.” and I shook his hand. “No, thank you.” He said back. ============================== [><]============================= I awoke with a sudden jump! My head was nearly killing me, and the fanfare song downstairs wasn’t helping one bit. I tried to remember the dream while wiping off the cold sweat. Okay, there was a fight, a gunfight. I was onto it, fighting against numerous other ponies… I was alone, trying to hold them off… there was a sense of hurry, to open some door… also blood, I don’t know if my own or theirs, was running around my neck… I was wearing a dark armor, yes… with no helmet… damn. It’s all confusing now. The Zone was really getting into me. Hallucinations, nightmares… I slowly climbed off from the bunk. Lielle was still deep asleep below me, and Toohpick was snoring nearby, his body spread into an exquisite posture and his tongue laying off his mouth. Talia wasn’t around; the mare was taking care of the night shift. The window near the dragon’s bed informed me it was early morning. It was still dark, but the sun started pouring little by little onto the piles of garbage. I carefully moved around the room, taking care not to wake up Lielle or Toothpick, picking up my saddlebags on the way out. This entire stress dealing with the dogs has left me staving… too bad I wasted all the food on the trap. I reached a free table on the bar, taking some time to observe the few regulars that still were around and the drunkards who fell asleep onto their seats. I examinated my possessions. The PDA proved to be a dead end. It was Searinor’s, alright, but the only archive it contained was a sound file with indiscernible whispers, I’ve heard it six or seven times, with the volume set on the maximum, but it was too low, I couldn’t distinguish a word of it. And on top of that, I only had twenty bits left. Greyhoof had milked me good… clever bastard. My belly grumbled in revolt. I hoofed deeper onto my pack, until I reached something… it was edible, of sorts… well, it wouldn’t be as tasty as sausages, but if I poured a little vodka to disguise the taste… ============================== [><]============================= “Hmmmm… I don’t know what to think of it, Boshan. Beats me. Sorry I couldn’t be of any help.” I took the PDA and stashed it back. Toothpick had listened the recording twice. “But I know some guys who might be able to help you with that…” “Really? Who?” “The boys from…” The intercom came to life. “Toothpick, leave the merc alone with your silly antics, I need to see him PRONTO!” The dragon turned to the radio. “Right away, boss” Then, he turned back to me “We’ll talk later, Greyhoof doesn’t like waiting.” I went to the train cart alone. Lielle was still asleep, the events from last night have exhausted her. Greyhoof lifted from his chair and stood at my front. He measured me up and down with his glare. “Merc, if you’re up for some more action, I have another job. If you can do it, I’ll hand over your two thousand bits back.” I eyed him distrustfully. His last job was tougher than nails, and I somehow had the feeling that he would be getting the best side of the deal again. “Don’t worry; it doesn’t involve killing anything this time, at least in principle.” “Then, what it is?” “I’m moving some workers around the Zone, merc. My crew has secured a nice spot on the dark valley, we are thinking of reallocating our base to over there” He reached the map and pointed to a location southeast of our position. It was close to the cordon border, and yet, was far from Duty and Freedom’s bases. This way, they would just focus onto their war and leave the far away bandits alone… “What I need you to do is escort the convoy. I will send some of my fighters as well to help. Do it and the money is yours.” I thought a bit about his proposal. “Deal, but with one condition…” “And what is your condition?” “I need half the amount in advance, you know, to gear up for the trip.” “I suppose that’s reasonable… you can’t trek without food or water, fine enough. But one thousand is too much, seven hundred and fifty should be more than enough, here, have the five hundred you asked and let’s not talk about it anymore.” He handed me over the meager amount… Dammnit Greyhoof! “The convoy leaves at noon, get ready yourself. And merc, one more thing…” “Yes?” “Drink AFTER you complete the job, got that?” I nodded and left the train cart. ============================== [><]============================= “Yes, that is perfect! It is the perfect opportunity!” “Don’t tell me you are thinking about…” Toothpick leaned closer and whispered furiously “Yes, I am. Don’t you see, Boshan? It is the perfect chance to break free from Greyhoof’s claws! The crook is finally getting desperate, he knows that either Duty or Freedom will end up fraging all his ponies on a crossfire, he knows that without guards or slaves, he ain’t got anything!” I had my doubts. Although I really hated Greyhoof, I couldn’t help but to fear him as well… he had an entire cadre of bandits at his disposal, and snipers eyeing everything around the garbage. Toothpick really had guts to even think about crossing him. I knew that Lielle would support the dragon, seeing how the mare loathed Greyhoof as well… ah, to the hell with it. Maybe this could cripple the bandits so bad, that they would break up as a faction. Although if it didn’t, I’d have an entire faction hunting my ass across the Zone… “Have you got a plan?” “Yes, and a nice one at that. Knows who supplies the snipers with their booze?” Of course… smart and simple. Toothpick detailed his plot about drugging off the snipers, taking out the convoy guards and then making a run for the flea market, a stalker-held post some kilometers away from the depot, where the loners would be safe and secured to wander back to the cordon or further deep into the Zone. It sounded flawless, but then, every plan sounded so… “So, are down for it?” “Yes, count me in. although I don’t like the prospects of pissing off the bandits…” “Don’t worry; these bastards will never know what killed them.” So I hope. ============================== [><]============================= The sun was almost unbearable He had been walking for hours, the convoy rolled around the wastes, with the bandits carefully eyeing every living being that showed up, while slaves moved around dragging their chains. So far, no disturbances, apart from a few mutants, which we shooed away with gunfire. “Lielle, are you ready? The moment is upon us” She nodded “Get in position and wait for the signal” She posted herself beside one of the bandits on the right side of the convoy. We were currently guarding the rear. “Guard, oh guard!” “What do you want now, dragon?” “I need to take a leak!” “We cannot afford any more delays” “Please dude, I’m really desperate…” The bandit resignedly opened his shackles. “Be quick about it.” “With pleasure!” Then, Toothpick lunged and clawed the bandit’s frail throat with his sharpened claws. “NOW!” I stabbed the sentinel’s back, while Lielle staked the other one. PLUCHT!!! The sniper was helpless. His shot missed us by several yards. “Traitors! Kill them, boys!” RATTLERATTLERATTLERATTLE…..RATTLERATTLE!!! The rest of the guards turned to face us, their guns roared in our direction and ours roared back at them as well. Toothpick was wielding the AK he took from his kill. “Do not shoot the slaves! They are Greyhoof’s propriety!” RATTLERATTLE…..RATTLERATTLE…..RATTLERATTLE! The wind then roared as a storm approached. Thunder crackled with immense strength. A lightning appeared in the skies and blurred everypony’s vision… “Run away! RUN! BACK TO THE DEPOT!!!” The bandits rushed past us, dashing back to their base… “Why are you standing around, Boshan? A blowout is brewing! Come!” Lielle grabbed my hoof and dragged me. Toothpick and Talia had already gathered the other slaves; we were heading to the flea market, now I could see it. a ruined and broken structure. The weather was worsening at each instant, the terrible force menaced to befall upon us… “Hurry, hurry, into the basement!” A stalker held the door opened, musing for us to enter. We did so without second thoughts. Everypony entered the shelter as quickly as his hooves allowed. I glimpsed the deathly red sky before the iron door closed. After what seemed to be an eternity, the door opened again, and a stalker crawled from it. After he cautiously eyed around, he mused to us. All clear. “Phew, we were almost goners this time.” I nodded. Although I had experienced a blowout before, an even lived after being hit by it, the experience never ceased to infuse me with fear… “Looks like everyone is alright… and we sent the bandits running back home!” Toothpick approached us, his teeth grinning. “Brilliant! Now we’ll have some peace from those folk. Thanks for the help, mercs. He’s a little something for your troubles.” He handed over a few cans of much-needed food. “So, what are you planning to do now?” “Lay low for awhile, enjoy my liberty and such.” “Say, Toothpick, you were mentioning something about this…” And I lifted the PDA “Ah… you should see the boys from freedom about it. I’ve heard they are quite the experts with these gadgets.” “They are at Hoofstok, right?” “Exactly. Just follow the road that leads north and you two will see Hoofstok soon enough” We waved goodbyes at them and moved on with our journey. “Do you think they will ne alright without us?” “Surely. Toothpick is quite the fighter, and the mare is no pushover herself… and also, they will be among the other stalkers and everything.” I started to check her over… “Why are you looking at me so much?” “Lielle, know what?” “What?” “I like your new hairstyle.” She laughed a bit. “What’s so funny about it?” “Oh, it’s not about you. I’m just imagining the look on Greyhoof’s face when he learns about the escape..." ============================== [><]============================= Whistlebone dashed past the sentinels, entering Greyhoof’s cart. He panted for several minutes before speaking. “Did you felt it, boss?” “Yes. Damn the luck! Any news about the convoy?” “The snipers weren’t able to answer. This was found near them.” He handed over an empty bottle of vodka. “What about it?” “It reeks of… blue joke. Somepony has tainted them.” Greyhoof took just some moments to make the connection. “Toothpick! That little scalehead had drugged off my snipers!” Greyhoof rose from his chair and started trotting around. “He wouldn’t be able to pull it off alone… that little traitor must have had some help…” “Positively. The mercs aided him.” “What? Are you sure about it? I thought I had them at my hooves… a merc would never do anything that would compromise his source of cash. Do you realize what that means?” Whistlebone nodded. “They were in cohorts with the stalkers all along.” “Exactly. And now we have a mighty problem at our hooves…” “What do you mean, boss? you still have enough ponypower to enforce control around the garbage.” “Yes Whistlebone, but no slaves. I cannot send all my forces to gather some more without being vulnerable, and without the slaves, no money. Without money, my boys will abandon me faster than you could say “profit”. We are checkmated…” “Boss, what’s that smell?” “Just the body of a digger that the scum-loving merc dropped around yesterday…” “No, that’s not it. Where is Anon?” The two looked around the cart, until Greyhoof finally looked under his desk. The dog was laying there, proudly sheltering half a dozen of newborn puppies. “By Luna’s eight inches ejaculating horn! Anon is a female!” Whistlebone restrained himself real hard not to say “I told you so”. After all, Greyhoof was the boss. Greyhoof set his eyes onto the pups. Oh, if all these six puppies grown up to be as ferocious as their mother… Something ringed in the pegasus’ head. “Whistlebone, how did the merc got rid of the pseudos again?” “He used soy sausages to lure them to a trap.” “Do we still have any slave cages around?” “Two or three, why?” “We’ll need them. Also, gather some guards and all the meat you can find at the bar. I think I have an idea.” “Boss, you got that look on your face again…” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PDA entry: The zone encyclopedia #/filefolder- bestiary #/filenam – Pseudodog #/filedescript – An even more warped version of a dog than a blind dog, a pseudodog is the result of mutative influences experienced by wolves. Although they usually pack together with blind dogs, the two are entirely different species. Pseudodogs are prevalent around the Zone due to their pregnancy period of 14 to 21 days. Pseudodogs are faster, stronger and more cunning than their canine relatives, plus they have pointier teeth. Likewise the blind dogs, these beasts are fiercely territorial, attacking marauding stalkers with all their rage. Pseudodogs engage in combat by jumping and attempting to outmaneuver their opponents, confounding them with quick attacks and sharp moves, although some of them pack quite a punch when cornered. In sum, pseudodogs are not to be underestimated and prove to be formidable foes. A fast-firing rifle or shotgun is preferential when fighting these mutants. My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic Intellectual propriety belongs to Hasbro All S.T.A.L.K.E.R. installments Intellectual propriety belongs to GSC game world I do not own, neither lay claim to the intellectual properties that this fan-fiction is based on. This work was made entirely for entertainment and appreciation, and should not be distributed for profit This is a My little pony : FiM fan fiction Made by Hoghound.