While the cats are away...

[Teddy]

The swordsman doesn't seem to be quite convinced about the land once belonging to them, but settles down at least. He starts examining the soldiers, looking at what they're armed with, and any sorts of side weapons. His stance relaxes to the point where he looks complacent with his current position, even as his eyes dart around the room from behind the mask.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

Western checkpoint
західні контрольно-пропускний пункт

The drone didn't have long to wait. With general unease falling upon the troops, a 4x4 with fading Soviet insignia pull up nearby, whether or not the drone finds that suspicious is up to the drone.
Stepping out of the passenger side, a rather irritated looking officer steps out, the driver following soon after with a subtle head nod to the 5 other soldiers who promptly stand to attention, rifles rested on their shoulders and saluting with their free arms.
With a grunt, the older soldier looks up at the drone who can get a clear view of the officerr, he wore a similar uniform to the others but had a star insignia on his left breast pocket which unfortunately for the soldiers around him at present, meant he was calling the shots.

When the officer speaks, it's clear he doesn't take kindly to the presence of the drone "What do you want, паразит?" he gestures with his hand, signalling the 6 other soldiers to hold their rifles and point up at the drone and wait for a signal.

Careful negotiations might be needed here!

The drone has been monitoring the dialogue, and replies in a fairly close approximation of the officer's Russian dialect. "We are currently investigating your occupation of this area," it explains. "Identification and an explanation of your objectives would be appreciated."

[Helel]

*the woman considers the apartment blocks, training her binoculars on the ledges at the top, looking for a good anchoring point. Upon finding one, she pulls out two little balls, which she hefts to the east and west of her location. The balls just bounce for a bit until they eventually come to a stop. Once stopped, they emit a loud, ear piercing sound at high frequency to draw and distract the soldiers away from her chose entry point.*

Have fun with the distractions, kiddies~

*she then pulls out what looks like a gun which fires off a grappling hook at high velocity, sticking into a wall near the top ledge. A hydraulic piston forcing the point through the wall, and deploying the hook and setting the line in place. The woman, collecting her meager gear, then secures her end of the line and pulls out what looks like a motorized pulley with handle and slings it over. She then rides along her zip line while the noise-balls raise hell for the soldiers.*

<Okay, I'm entering the essence dead zone, beginning first phase.>

>Roger, keep us posted, we'll be listening.<

[Raleigh]

*The moment the magic dead zone appeared an unseen eye had been gazing steadily down into the area. While it couldn't see past the field it was monitoring what it could for change. Inside DrakeCorp, Mr. Drake turned in his seat from a mirror he had been looking into to make a call.* Go ahead. I want to see what we can find out.

*A small truck, one that would look suitable for Cuba during the 1970's, trundles up to the southern checkpoint. Inside the driver's seat is a young man who has his twin sister sitting as the passenger. In the back is a load of various boxes containing odds and ends of all sorts. At the bottom and in the center of the pile though is a unique box labeled mAlice: Code Pandora. The truck pulls to a stop in front of the checkpoint as the man pokes his head out to see what is going on.* ????: Hello, can you let us through?

[David]

Eastern checkpoint
Східна контрольно-пропускний пункт

Seeing the masked man appear to back down gives the soldiers seem a little relieved, some more than others. Their current weapons of choice are AK47 rifles, their only side weapon appears to be a bayonet knife that for now, is kept within a sheath by the side. The assault rifles in their hands seem more than enough to at least deter outsiders from just simply waltzing in.

Much like with the Western checkpoint, a jeep with a more jolly kooking officer turns up. The reason for his jovial atitude is soon obvious by the bottle of Russian Standard vodka clasped in his trembling left hand.
Hobbling out of the passenger side, he half walks, half waddles up to the masked man. Blearliy looking up at him with a quizzical and bleary look.

"Who in the hell are you supposed to be?" the officer drawls, the driver of the jeep shakes his head and adds in a rather apologetic tone "Our officer wishes to know about the services you are offering us, swordsman."

The officer snorts, fumbling with the bottle's lid and taking a far too generous swig of the vodka, wiping his face off with his sleeves and looking up again at the masked man. "Da, whatever. I'd like to head back soon, there's more of the паразита well..." He swirls the content of the bottle with a throaty chuckle "Provisions, to liberate... Good stuff, da?"

Whether or not the masked man should worry about the drunken officer is up to him but the other 6 soldiers seem torn between respecting authority and looking deeply embarrassed.

Western checkpoint
західні контрольно-пропускний пункт

Less jovial but somewhat intrigued, the officer here quirks and eyebrow at the drone's accent and inflection. He looks at the other soldiers for a moment, gathering their reactions before lowering a hand, signalling them to lower their weapons.

"російська, da? You must be keeping an eye on us and making sure the land we reclaim is going smoothly. For now, it is. All of the паразит fell as soon as our General's "gift" help subvert the effects of radiation from them. It was easy as the old days, rooting out western sympathising resistence members and... Well, we are putting the паразит to good work now."

The officer and soldiers chuckle rather maliciously. The CTC drone may wonder what exactly this all emant but the unexpected advantage of being recognised as Russian could be useful. Odd, considering the dialect of the rest of the soldiers.

Northern checkpoint
північний контрольно-пропускний пункт

All the soldiers at the checkpoint -all 5 of them at least- didn't look particularly alert to begin with, having chosen to build upon the existing community gate entrance and reinforce it with barbed wire and sandbags as with the other checkpoints.
None of them notice the balls being thrown until the emit the unusually loud noise, it's then that they appear indecisive, if not disorientated, by what to do. Calling for senior guidance was out of the question here, they needed backup. But it's a good few minutes before the group of 5 agree to at the very least scout out the sources of noise, 2 to the East and 2 to the West. 1 soldier remains at the checkpoint, just in case. Holding his own AK47, he looks around the now abandoned checkpoint anxiously, wishing he was one of the soldiers inside the city, not outside.

With no one to see her travel along the impromptu zipline, the intruding woman successfully reaches one of the top levels of an apartment block. It's a miserable sight, litter bags along the stone walled walkways, doors that have been forced open and evidence of more anti-social activities by previous tenants as seen by the graffiti and dirty syringes littering the corners. At least no one was there to raise the alarm and the stairways were clear enough.

But where next? The apartment seems close to the forested park and near that, was the suburbs. If the woman is looking for the source of interference, she'd do well to head for the suburbs and ultimately, the city centre.

Southern checkpoint
Южно контрольно-пропускний пункт

Ignoring the young teen for now, the vintage truck causes the soldiers to move closer to each other and much like the one who had been taunting Alan, they grip their weapons, pointing them with intent at the two occupans visible through the windscreen. As the driver pokes his head out to enquire about passage through the checkpoint, tone of the soldiers yells out "Stay where you are! Do not approach any further or we will shoot you, da?"

Moving a hand from his weapon, he twists his free hand anti-clockwise, signalling for the driver to switch the engine off. While this happens, two soldiers go to the back of the truck with their weapons raised. The remaining three stay at the front, weapons raised at first till one of them lowers their weapon and approaches the driver.
"State your purpose for entering and shall clear it with our officer. If you turn out to be a regular паразит? We will shoot you and your cargo."

Hopefully the truck driver can come up with a good reason for entry, they might be able to get the soldiers to stand down. Unless they feel the need to have a few extra airholes in the truck's chassis and indeed, their own bodies.

[Raleigh]

*The young man turns off the truck readily enough.* ????: We are the supply truck that was scheduled to head out to this part of town with food for the locals but have a change in cargo. We understood there was some sort of movement recently and are here to lend some supplies to back up those who are trying to overthrow the oppressive elements. I suppose your officers will want you with better supplies than those pea shooters you all are carrying now. Perhaps some good body armor? My name is Naro by the way. My sister here is Shara.

[Helel]

Northern checkpoint
північний контрольно-пропускний пункт

All the soldiers at the checkpoint -all 5 of them at least- didn't look particularly alert to begin with, having chosen to build upon the existing community gate entrance and reinforce it with barbed wire and sandbags as with the other checkpoints.
None of them notice the balls being thrown until the emit the unusually loud noise, it's then that they appear indecisive, if not disorientated, by what to do. Calling for senior guidance was out of the question here, they needed backup. But it's a good few minutes before the group of 5 agree to at the very least scout out the sources of noise, 2 to the East and 2 to the West. 1 soldier remains at the checkpoint, just in case. Holding his own AK47, he looks around the now abandoned checkpoint anxiously, wishing he was one of the soldiers inside the city, not outside.

With no one to see her travel along the impromptu zipline, the intruding woman successfully reaches one of the top levels of an apartment block. It's a miserable sight, litter bags along the stone walled walkways, doors that have been forced open and evidence of more anti-social activities by previous tenants as seen by the graffiti and dirty syringes littering the corners. At least no one was there to raise the alarm and the stairways were clear enough. But where next? The apartment seems close to the forested park and near that, was the suburbs. If the woman is looking for the source of interference, she'd do well to head for the suburbs and ultimately, the city centre.

*Upon reaching the building's roof, the woman quickly cuts the line and remove the hook from the wall once the tension is removed. Tossing the line aside, she enters the stairwell and cautiously descends, holding a knife and suppressed pistol in her hands."

<Confirming entry into dead zone, do you read me?>

>I read you, proceed to the city center and verify the source.<

<Roger.>

*Exiting the building, the woman peeks around, looking for any patrols. Once any nearby pass, she heads to the suburbs, intent on using whatever cover or walls to obscure her presence and avoid patrols as she heads toward the center of the disturbance.*

[Jello Shot Mischa]

Western checkpoint
західні контрольно-пропускний пункт

Less jovial but somewhat intrigued, the officer here quirks and eyebrow at the drone's accent and inflection. He looks at the other soldiers for a moment, gathering their reactions before lowering a hand, signalling them to lower their weapons.

"російська, da? You must be keeping an eye on us and making sure the land we reclaim is going smoothly. For now, it is. All of the паразит fell as soon as our General's "gift" help subvert the effects of radiation from them. It was easy as the old days, rooting out western sympathising resistence members and... Well, we are putting the паразит to good work now."

The officer and soldiers chuckle rather maliciously. The CTC drone may wonder what exactly this all emant but the unexpected advantage of being recognised as Russian could be useful. Odd, considering the dialect of the rest of the soldiers.

The drone simply pauses for a moment, perhaps analyzing this information, or sending burst transmissions to its superiors -- or perhaps both. After that moment, however, it speaks up again. "Yes, I am here to observe your efforts. It is important that I obtain a clear and accurate picture of your operations, to ensure that my superiors have a proper idea of how the operation is progressing. I request that you show me where the паразит are working."

[Teddy]

"As I said, I am offering protection from the... Scarier things out here. If you can dull magic, sure. But it's not all just magic. There's some high class monsters, some mechs... And I'm here to say that it's safe to say that I can cut all of these down. If not me, who else, comrades?"

[David]

Southern checkpoint
Южно контрольно-пропускний пункт

Despite Naro's intent to side with the soldiers, they don't look anymore convinced of their neutrality than they were a few moments ago.
Considering the fact that the other soldiers were arming their "peashooters" at the truck, the soldier doubted that the two occupants in the truck would dish out any resistence but just to be sure, ghe motions for the two soldiers to cover the truck's doors and gestures at the two, pointing a finger between them. "You, come out with me. We'll look at this "cargo" while she." he gestures at Shara "Faces the side of your truck with no looking back and no interfering."

A soldier to the right of the one speaking raises an eyebrow at this "Tovarich, should we not call for our senior first?" the suggestion is met with a rather disdainful glare coupled with a snort "And what? Have him take charge? Let us be the weak and unwilling bears who did not take the initiative? Провалюй! We are more than equipped to carry out an inspection on their cargo. If they resist or turn out to be simple паразит ? We shoot, simple!"

Returning his look to the two in the truck, he grunts "Well? Do you cooperate or do you wish to turn back now while you're still breathing?"

For the benefit of the truck occupants, they're not actively within the barrier's influence yet. That's not until they can get past this vehicle checkpoint so some old "tricks" may still work, if cooperation is not ideal.

Northern checkpoint
північний контрольно-пропускний пункт

Travelling down the stairways is easy enough, there's no human presence, soldier or otherwise. There's signs of forced entry into some of the residences with scattered rifle round and buckshot casings littering some of the doorways.
Reaching the botom of the complex, leads the stealthy woman into a gated parking area. There's plenty of vehicles left stationary and a tall metal fence to keep out would be intruders. Worryingly, the metal gate that also kept intruders out appears to have been blown free from it's stone wall frame, possibly via an explosive charge.

The road outside the apartment is a mess, similar apartments along the road show signs of being breached and cleared out with road littered by mangled wrecks that used to be cars, some appear to have been crushed by tank treads. There was no sign of any patrols at least, but there was the distinct sound of engines running in the distance which unfortunately, happened to be in the direction of the city centre where the destination was.

With all this in mind, the woman should be able to move swiftly to the end of the road without trouble, for now.

Western checkpoint
західні контрольно-пропускний пункт

A smile crosses the officers features as he waves to the soldier who drove him here, indicating to hop back in the drivers seat. As he himself heads back to the passengers side, he pauses, turning to the rest of the soldiers who shared a look of confusion, namely why their officer was so respectful to an unknown object?

"Stay on guard, don't let any паразит come in and spoil our litle "meeting" together, da?" With that, he slumps into seat of the jeep, looking at the drone quizzically.
"I hope you are swift with that device, російська, we will not go too far but you'll all see how reclamation of Pripyat is coming along."
With a chuckle, the officer indicates for the driver to set off, keeping up with the jeep shouldn't be too difficult as it seems to average around 30 mph, if not less than that.

Eastern checkpoint
Східна контрольно-пропускний пункт

Churning over the what the masked man said -or just letting the vodka take effect- the officer cracks a grin that soon turns into an amused chuckle.
"Mechas and monsters? You are a true капіталістичний, swordsman.No one else would pitch their services so freely to us without knowing what supplies we have at our disposal or at least." He makes gestures with his hand still clutching the bottle at the other soldiers with an expression that shows he wants a bigger army to play with. "What we have been provided here, that ублюдок Putin only gave us the bare minimum to defend our control points, that cheap мудак."

Quelling his anger, the officer takes another mouthful of his vodka and is almost calmed immediately by its taste -and intoxicating effect of course-. "Well... You have told us what you can offer but what can we offer you, swordsman?"

[Raleigh]

Shara: Nope, no deal. *As if her words were the sign a single sniper round likely empties the skull of the formerly talking soldier. She and her brother disappear from inside the cab of the truck just before the two who had gotten behind it are also shot at by snipers.*

[Jello Shot Mischa]

Western checkpoint
західні контрольно-пропускний пункт

A smile crosses the officers features as he waves to the soldier who drove him here, indicating to hop back in the drivers seat. As he himself heads back to the passengers side, he pauses, turning to the rest of the soldiers who shared a look of confusion, namely why their officer was so respectful to an unknown object?

"Stay on guard, don't let any паразит come in and spoil our litle "meeting" together, da?" With that, he slumps into seat of the jeep, looking at the drone quizzically.
"I hope you are swift with that device, російська, we will not go too far but you'll all see how reclamation of Pripyat is coming along."
With a chuckle, the officer indicates for the driver to set off, keeping up with the jeep shouldn't be too difficult as it seems to average around 30 mph, if not less than that.

The drone follows along after the jeep! Its hovering capability means it can simply float over obstacles and obstructions in the road, which the jeep might have to go around, so it has a fairly easy time keeping up with the vehicle.

[Helel]

Northern checkpoint
північний контрольно-пропускний пункт

Travelling down the stairways is easy enough, there's no human presence, soldier or otherwise. There's signs of forced entry into some of the residences with scattered rifle round and buckshot casings littering some of the doorways.
Reaching the botom of the complex, leads the stealthy woman into a gated parking area. There's plenty of vehicles left stationary and a tall metal fence to keep out would be intruders. Worryingly, the metal gate that also kept intruders out appears to have been blown free from it's stone wall frame, possibly via an explosive charge.

The road outside the apartment is a mess, similar apartments along the road show signs of being breached and cleared out with road littered by mangled wrecks that used to be cars, some appear to have been crushed by tank treads. There was no sign of any patrols at least, but there was the distinct sound of engines running in the distance which unfortunately, happened to be in the direction of the city centre where the destination was.

With all this in mind, the woman should be able to move swiftly to the end of the road without trouble, for now.

The woman takes her time as she slinks down the street like a shadow, remaining alert for any unexpected soldiers. She does however take in the surroundings as she heads down the street though, a small video camera set on the goggles currently set on her forehead recording everything for research into the PLA and their dark benefactors.

Regardless, once she reaches the end of the road, she ducks into a nearby building, heading upstairs through broken doorways to get a better vantage point of the city center and to help her decide what path to take next... With nothing but her skills and wits, she can't rely on most of her talents against soldiers, so she's playing it smart for now.

[Teddy]

The swordsman seems amused by this, but can't necessarily make any facial expressions. With a helpless shrug and a tone like someone explaining to a child, he starts a tirade!

"I am merely a foreigner to this place, and I enjoy combat. I enjoy testing my skills against anything I can come across. And here, I'm going to find worthy opponents, matches in my skill with the blade. If I stand with you, it'll make them come to me that much quicker. It's not a matter of what you can offer me. It's what this land can offer me."

[David]

Southern checkpoint
Южно контрольно-пропускний пункт

It doesn't take the two soldiers at the front of the truck to realise that their misled sense of security has been more or less crushed, puzzled glances at the empty cab are rapidly replaced with looks of terror, watching their cocky comrade slump to the floor, a pool of claret spilling from the mildly shocked face of the deceased soldier -what's left of it at least-.

With the two other shorts fired at the back, the remaing two soldiers raise their weapons and immediately spray the front of the truck with their assault rifles, the piercing rounds won't exactly help them deal with the unseen sniper but they can at least immoblise the vehicle! Denting metal, shattering glass and ripping through the wooden struts of the cargo at the back, the destruction is short lived as the 30 round magazine's are quickly depleted.

With looks of frustration now overcoming the initial fear, the two soldiers to fumble with a fresh new mag, cursing under their breath as the simple act of reloading seemed to take much longer than it did in training drills.

If nothing else, the sound of gunshots in the South are unlikely to have gone unnoticed by potential reinforcements in the area. Entering the checkpoint was always going to be tricky but now it's just gotten that bit trickier!

Northern checkpoint
північний контрольно-пропускний пункт

At the end of the street, the main road opens up before the woman, once busy with rush hour and tourist traffic, now the multi-lane road was littered with abandoned and burnt out cars, some of which were still aflame, spewing out thick black smoke into the sky.
Dashing into a smaller but otherwise, tall, apartment near the corner, she'd be able to observe that beyond the main road was more buildings to access straight ahead, some more easy to reach than others. Further to the East was the sight of the forest, it seemed like it'd have a more direct route to the city centre, if she is willing to risk being left out in possible open spots, it was a park after all, not a natural forest.

Scanning the road and past the plumes of smoke, she'd spot her second contact of the day. An olive green themed BMP, the rumble of its tracks and the noise of the diesel engine suggests that the driver is having trouble navigating the wreckage but it otherwise seems to be manouevering its way past the street where the woman entered.

It may be an old APC of a bygone Soviet era, but the BMP could really cause the woman problems if she was spotted by it! Luckily, here appears to be no detection methods on the BMP, save for the Commander's hatch and the driver's view slot. The commander of the vehicle doesn't appear to be present in the hatch hich should leave the woman free to bypass it easily enough, depending on which direction she chooses, of course.

Eastern checkpoint
Східна контрольно-пропускний пункт

Tirade or not, the drunken officer seems intrigued "Very well, swordsman." he smiles, swigging the remainging dregs of the vodka bottle "If it's our land you wish to help defend than I'm sure my... розподіл won't mind you asissting them, maybe you could help show them how to fight, da?" he gives a rather jolly laugh while the rest of the soldiers share another conflicted look, this time one that suggests what he officer just called them was a little rude!

Just as the officer is about shake the masked man's hand, the distinctive *crack* of sniper fire met which is followed up by sounds of more desperate gunfire to the South, it grabs the soldier's atention and while they look concerned, the officer looks more upset that he doesn't have an excuse to slack off anymore.

"It is how they say in the West, this is just typical impairment to happen! I was hoping we'd share another drink or two, swordsman, but it seems like you may need to provide your services quicker than expected."

Western checkpoint
західні контрольно-пропускний пункт

Going past the rudimentary barriers of the checkpoint, the drone soon sees that there's more wreckage along the road, much like at the Northern area of the city. The officer stays silent as they pass along the outside streets of the suburb, more competant looking soldiers walking down the sidewalks either for patrols or clean up duty, most of which give the jeep and the drone a glance before resuming their duties. More BMP's and worryingly, T-72 tanks are rolling down the streets, accompanied by more specialised troops and transport trucks.

Eventually, the jeep circles back past what was once a school, but the drone can clearly see that the playground has an unusual mixture of adults and childen in it, specifically, sat at benches and working on what looks like a munitions loading bench each. Several armed guards are seen pacing up and down between he benches, ensuring that the "workers" keep working. "Impressive, da?" It's the first time the officer has spoke to the droid since the small tour began, now bypassing the school turned prison as he continues in a proud tone, "We have liberated the lazy паразит into earning their right to stay on our soil. They did after all try to claim it for themselves, now they can learn what it is like to have land taken away and of course, how to not be a lazy паразит."

With a far too happy sounding chortle, the jeep soon pulls up again at the Western checkpoint. The same gunshots the Eastern side heard are also heard in the West, but the officer shrugs it off "One of the workers must have been trying to revolt, it sounds like matters have been resolved so do not worry, російська."
Looking up from the passengar seat, the officer gives a proud smirk "There is nothing more for you here to report on, російська. I trust our efforts of reclaiming land are satisfactory?"