Chapter XVIII: Fire, Blood and Sci-Fi Guns

 Bathed in the warm light of a powerful sunrise, the Skadovsk lay in its place, rusting yet defiant. This small fortress of stalker activity in the northern parts of the Zone had stood there for quite some time, repelling attacks from Monoliths, Bandits and the mutants alike. In his extensive travels, Boris had never reached this far. The vast expanses of Zaton were different from the things he had seen before, and while he had shuddered a bit at the sight of yet another swamp, he had to admit, something in the area appealed to him.

The small group of Loners he was travelling with seemed to know their way down the best, as they left the ridge overlooking Skadovsk. The leader of the group let out a cheerful yell, as they felt they had survived yet another day in the Zone. Boris remembered little of the journey there, they had travelled in the night as the areas between Red Forest and Zaton were littered with Monolith patrols. Only twice had Boris fired a shot at something, both times the target being a far too inquisitive pseudodog.

So far it had been the least actionpacked journey he had taken in the Zone, and it was all thanks to his expert guide. Parting ways when they entered Skadovsk, the Loner group headed to Nimble's office on the upper deck. Boris gave them last of his rubles as compensation alongside an arrangement of things taken from dead Monolith warriors at the radar. The Loner leader thanked him of his generosity, and in exchange gave him a parting gift of information, telling him of the places to visit and to avoid in Zaton.

Being left to his own devices once again, Boris decided it was time for a break. He had barely had any ever since leaving the Bandits at Dark Valley, and this sudden realisation made him think of his old bandit friends. Had they managed to set things up at the Meadow like he had told them to? Boris would have to travel there as soon as he could. Working for Dushman was essential for his plans, but so was the Meadow. As of now it was unclaimed territory with only a few bandits, which he hoped Dimuha and Vityukha had managed to persuade to leave. As important as finding Strelok for Dushman was, the longer he dillydallied, the less likely it would be for him to take over the area and fulfill his plan.

Boris realised he was still standing right next to the door, and shook himself out of his thoughts. The plan would have to wait, for now. It was time to rest, it had been for quite some time actually. Boris walked up to the barkeep, a seeming veteran of the Zone called Beard. Beard welcomed him to Skadovsk and then was instantly surprised when Boris told him tidings from Gatekeeper. When Boris told him that he had been responsible for shutting down the Scorcher, Beard almost did not believe him, but upon observing the rather beat up armour (and the man inside) as well as the collection of patches and documents Boris had amassed, he had to believe it.

Boris received quite a handsome reward for his many troubles in Radar, and Beard could even point him at his next destination, as apparently one of Streloks companions was still in the ship. Beard pointed at a fellow leaning into a table across the room. Boris observed the man, a seemingly taciturn and withdrawn person. He'd need to talk to him, but first he needed some rest. He nodded to Beard, bought some food and drink and headed to an empty table for a well-deserved break.

Slowly enjoying the canned tomatoes, smoked sausage and cold Ukrainian beer, Boris could feel the strength return to his weary body. He had eaten or drank barely anything else than bread, tuna and water for days, so a nice change of pace was more than needed. Feeling much better, he decided to make himself known to Streloks companion. The man did not seem interested in him until Boris mentioned turning off the Scorcher. That made him tell his name, Rogue, and his story. Streloks group had apparently ran into some problems and had left Rogue behind to find some wunderwaffe from an old lab here in Zaton.

In his haste to reach Strelok and get his mission from Dushman done, Boris accidentally agreed to fetch the weapon for Rogue, who told him of a lab in a place called Iron Forest, northwest from the Skadovsk. Boris, realising finally what he had agreed to do, negotiated with Rogue on getting a bit of sleep before leaving, and Rogue agreed, seeing the state Boris was in. Boris headed upstairs and collapsed into the first bed he saw, utterly exhausted still. In mere seconds, he was fast asleep, and slept for 12 hours, waking when Rogue came to kick him up. Glaring at him, Boris remarked that he could've fetched the weapon by this time already, but Rogue told him that he still had plenty of stuff to do in Skadovsk and headed to grab another beer from Beard.

Frustrated, Boris got up and started maintaining his gear. It soothed his mind to go through the bolts, barrels and mechanisms of his gun, clearing off dirt and mud from it. After that he cleaned off his armour as well, switching out broken pieces of armour, repairing small pieces that had suffered damage and oiling the different parts of exoskeleton that needed it. With his gear back in full readiness, Boris headed out into the wilderness. It was already quite late afternoon, but there was still enough light to see clearly around him.

Boris took the route of least resistance by avoiding the reeds at all costs. He could see large mutants there, ranging from tremendously large fleshes to pseudogiants. But the road he was travelling on remained empty. These lands were strange to him, but checking his PDA for directions now and then kept him on the right track. The areas around him were vast, and wherever he looked, he could see nothing but nature and mutants, no stalkers. This, however, changed suddenly and violenty.

A trio of Military stalkers attacked him from their hiding spot amidst some bushes. Their Abakans and AK-104s fired bursts of lead towards him, some missing, other bouncing off his battleplate. Boris responded, firing his shotgun inaccurately at them to keep them occupied while he dived for cover. Taking shelter behind some old rusted containers, he leaned out to welcome the soldiers. Boris had switched to his trusty SVDS, and a round of 5.56 AP penetrated the helmet of one of the soldiers, ending his life and scattering the others. Boris took the opportunity to charge forward, throwing a thermite grenade at one and firing shot after shot at the other. Both fell to his wild attack, the hills falling silent once more.

His journey once more unimpeded, Boris continued to the facility where a group of Clear Sky and stalkers were resting. They warned Boris of strange phenomena occuring in the lab, which they had left after being nearly scorched by pillars of fire appearing out of thin air. Boris thanked them from the information, dropping their leader a AK-104 liberated from the military. The door to the lab was open, and Boris could hear odd snarls and whirling sounds from the inside. A poltergeist mayhaps, Boris wondered and entered the lab.

He was immediately blasted with fire from unknown source, and he managed to barely avoid it. The heat made him sweat immediately, and he could barely see. Rushing forward, he caught a glimpse of a red mistlike thing, and opened fire. 6 shots of buckshot landed on the creature, exploding it. Another one appeared and more flames erupted from the floor and ceiling, Boris managing to avoid them once more. When he got a clear line of fire, the creature had already fled further in. What monstrosities would the Zone throw at me next, he muttered, a electric poltergeist maybe? Or an ice one? What is this, Pokemon? His thoughts were interrupted by another flame, this time far too close for comfort.

Boris chased the creature down and got right up to it before opening fire. The shots landed well and the creature was destroyed. Boris sighed of relief. He would not become grilled and canned today. Continuing on, he went through the lab scouring every nook and cranny, but only after some tricky maneuvering through a pipe system on the last floor he found the weapon he was looking for. Rogue had described it as some sort of sci-fi-esque thing, and that it truly was. There was a larger version of it mounted there as well, something Dushman, or even Boris himself, would probably like to benefit from too. But for now the gun itself would do.

The return journey to Skadovsk was uneventful. Boris notified the stalkers outside the lab that it was now safe, and took the same route back, only running into a tushkano which he smashed under his boot. Rogue was still sipping a beer when he returned, and Boris showed him the space age gun. Clearly taken aback that Boris had managed to get it, and impressed that Boris hadn't just ran off with the gun, he became more friendly to Boris. Perhaps this merc could be trusted, he seemed to think. Boris did not particularly care for his opinion, but once Rogue mentioned that they'd go to meet Strelok now, his mood improved. This had just gotten interesting, at long last.