Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings

  Chapter 1:

Boris Unforgiven had gotten pretty far into the Zone, all the way to Red Forest when all of a sudden he was ambushed by bandits and captured. They stripped him of his gear and used him as their gladiator arena in the Dark Valley. He had to fight for his life against other loners, but unfortunately for him he was bit too good. He won a fight that Sultan himself had betted against him, and Sultan lost a good amount. So he ordered couple of the bandits to get rid of him. The bandits misunderstood what Sultan had meant and threw him into the Renegades, who had asked the bandits for more recruits.

Boris woke up in the Renegade HQ, a wreched old shack, disoriented and beaten up. The nearby renegades told him that he'd better not try anything funny or he'd be dead. He was one of them now, and there was no going back. His gladiator career had been leaked to Loners with embellishments and he got a bounty on his head. Boris felt sick, in a few months his promising loner career had been ruined. Maybe he could still escape he thought, Clear Sky surely would understand. So the second the renegades allowed him to leave, he tried to contact Clear Sky, only to be greeted by hail of bullets. Same happened with Loners. He had no chance but to respond, he would've been dead otherwise. Six stalkers lay dead from the confrontation, and Boris realized what he had done. The renegades had been right, there'd be no going back.

The next couple of days he spent wandering the swamps, getting to know the renegades better and fighting for his life. Everyone was out to get him, and he had to fight back. He begun to symphatize with the Renegades more. They had no chance but to be the way they were, everyone wanted them dead and they had to defend themselves. Boris still clinged to the hope that somehow he'd be able to escape the situation. Maybe if he somehow got the information from the bandits that had brought him here. Maybe he could clear his name. He knew they were at the Garbage. One of the renegades had told him of them, and Boris needed to get to them while he still could. He'd get the truth out of them one way or the other.

He crossed the border to Agroprom, and was instantly greeted by bullets once again. Military patrol had him zeroed in, and his rusty old TOZ could barely scratch them. He made a run for it when a group of loners ambushed the grunts, and in a mad dash reached the outpost guarding Garbage. Seeing it empty, he sighed, relieved. Maybe soon he could be free. In Garbage, he got ambushed again, by an ecologist wielding Saiga. He had no chance but to end him. Boris needed a new weapon desperately, and thankfully in a building nearby an old hunter had just that to offer. He bought a Carabineer shotgun, it'd come in handy with the bandits. Boris set out to find them, and darkness set in all around him. The night had arrived. The bandits were camped near the Greek fire anomaly, and he'd have to cross next to the Flea Market to get there.

While he was creeping next to the Flea Market, a sentry spotted him. All hell broke loose as Freedomers, Dutyers and Loners attacked him from all sides, and his shotgun sang as he attacked them mechanically, like in a trance. He could not let them stop him now, when he was so close to reaching the bandits. Even the military joined the fray, but like a man posessed, he cut them down too. He had slain fifteen, maybe even 20 men that day, but he could not afford to dwell on it. He had a mission.

Boris ran to the bandit camp, every hurried step filling him with more and more optimism. He had made it. But once he reached the camp, it all came tumbling down. The bandits were there, maybe. There was blood everywhere, limbs, intestines, fingers and chunks of meat. What could've possibly done this, Boris thought for a second. His question was answered quickly when a chimera leaped at him. Still full of adrenaline from the fight, he managed to sidestep out of the way. While the chimera was still in the air, he pumped shot after shot into it and the beast was visibly wounded. With his shotgun empty, he pulled out his Makarov and emptied it into the creature, finally ending it.

With the action finally dying down, Boris realized it all. There would be no redemption. He would not be forgiven, and would remain a renegade forever. But really, did he actually want to be more anymore? The factions, all of them, had betrayed him, had not listened to him but instead attacked him right away. There would be no peace for him if they remained. If he was to remain a renegade, he would have to make sure that no one who opposed him and attacked him on sight remained. He had seen that the renegades had potential. They could be a strong new power in the Zone, but only with a leader. And if Boris was to remain a renegade forever, he could at least make use of it then. He no longer felt saddened about his situation. He had new clarity of his purpose, a new mission, and a new way to find freedom. He'd only need a disguise and some luck.