Roleplay part 9

Sorry, Skaara - I've been im Poland since two days and things were a bit hectic ever since the journey started. However, now that we're settled and using a friend's house as a place to stay, I'll try my best to visit the forum often. Still, I can't promise anything since I'm going to be moving about a lot.

After thinking for some time about what I should do next and wiping the tears from my face, I finally stopped crying. Just when I realized how much time I had spent leaning over this ledge, Benjamin walked over to me. I turned around and looked at him - it seemed to me like he wanted to ask me a question. Before he could speak, I opened my mouth, paused... and then finally started speaking, with a quiet tone: "I would really like to come with you and your group, wherever you're heading next. There's nothing here for me... or anywhere else for that matter. During the time I've spent in this hellish metro, I've been badly beaten, men have tried to rape me and the Nazis cut off my finger... even though your group goes to some very strange places, none of that has happened to me since I joined. You guys are my last hope not only for an exciting life, but also for survival. Besides, knowing that you were a good friend of my father makes me feel safer and more confident than I've ever been before in my life."

I paused once again, giving Benjamin time to think over what I said and make a decision. Then I realized something and went back to talking: "Of course, you and the others have done more than enough for me already. You looked after me, protected me, got me to Polis, showed me many interesting things... even gave me a shoulder to cry on. If you say no... then I will go away. Somewhere... else. To find... purpose, or... well, I'll just go my own way." I looked down at my feet, then back at Benjamin.

 

As expected, Polina stopped me, but to my surprise, she wanted to join the group. She wanted to come along with us. At first, I was about to tell her "No", but when she spoke, she made me realize that although the danger in travelling with us, she would relatively be sort of safer with us than staying alone here in Polis. Besides, the way she said the last sentence and looked down at her feet made it impossible for me to turn down her request.

I went down on my knees as I took a careful hold around each of her upper arms and looked seriously up at her. Although I was a very tall man, she was still taller than me when I was on my knees. She was sixteen years old after all. "The life of a Ranger is not easy, Polina. You are constantly on the move, you become sweaty, hungry and exposed to all sorts of situations and dangers. The resting places are usually on solid hard and cold concreed ground, and supplies are minimal to reduce your carrying weight. You will have to follow our pace and do everything that we do, because you cannot hold us back and we cannot leave you behind. It is indeed not an easy life.
We will most likely not be back here in Polis in a long while. This will be your last chance in a long time to live in the best station in the Metro.
But if your life truly needs a purpose other than existing, then so be it".

And with that, I stood up and walked a couple of steps before I stopped and turned to her again. "Take your time to think it over, Polina. There is still a while until our departure. We will be at The Lone Ranger when the time comes, if you decide to come with us. But for now, I have something personal to attend to", I told her.

 

"Okay, but... I don't know my way around Polis. I would appreciate it if someone could get me and guide me there once the time comes... I could stay here... after all, I still have a bottle of wine and some depressing thoughts to finish." I smiled awkwardly. After a moment of thought, I added: "Oh, and... thank you."

 

"Waiter! One more coffee please," i said as i gave him one cartridge. This coffee was doing its trick. Keeping me awake that is. I havent slept in over two days. And i swore i drank over a million coffees while i was at Polis for the past 2 days.

Its been about 5 minutes since i observed the man at the apartment right in front of the bar. And now all my attention was at a dreadlocked man who walked toward the other side of the platform. Suprisingly a girl, maybe around 13 - 16 years old from what i could see, struck up a small conversation with the man. After about 2 minutes they parted ways.

"Who is she?" i thought as i took out my files from my bag. I lay the two sheets of paper on the table and flipped them over and over, looking at the pictures of the members of the group. There was a women. But no girl.

"Sh*t, Sh*t, crap," i laughed to myself as i put the two papers back in my bag. I took out my earplug and turned its power button on.

"Major? Yes its Sergeant Kantov. Is there any information about a small girl being with the group? No? Okay. Yes sir..........No, she just talked to one of the members, I was just wondering if this was known or any...Sir? Okay, understood sir."

I took out my earplug and put it back in my bag. Not a moment later a young women came with my coffee, and put it gently on my table. I gave her a smile and a ,"Thank you," as she leaved. And began sipping the warm coffee again.

I thought about what was to come.

"Orders are to Observe, Recon, and terminate if neccessary. Weeks of studying this group, and now there is a small girl that might be involved with them."

I thought for a moment, then laughed, "Seems legit."

 

I smiled back to Polina as she said 'Thank you'. "Alright, staying here seems like a good idea. I will come back and take you with me to The Lone Ranger when I am finished. It will take an our or two, at most", I said before I turned and left. Walking down out of the bar, I once again had to slowly wade my way through all the people walking in every possible direction around me. It did not take long before I arrived at the old prisoner cells. All the lives that had been lost since I last was here. Boris, Roach, Vladimir, Steven... not to mention Volk. Neither of them were present here this time. It was strange to think about it.

Two guards were standing on each side of the entrance to the cell-compartments. When I approached them, one of them simply held his hand up to stop me before he pointed to his left, to a desk with a rather chubby man behind it who looked important. As I approached him, he seemed very suspicious. "What do you want?", he asked with his right eyebrow raised. "I want to speak with the Reich Officer alone", I told him. He shrugged. "Well, we have several Reich Officers here, you see", he answered me. "The one with one hand", I continued.

He now seemed to take the situation a lot more seriously. "I can't just let you walk right in there, you know that. Why are you seeking him out?", he asked. "That is personal", I answered him with a strict but expressionless voice. "Well, I can't let you in without some sort of recognition", he told me and shrugged yet again. "I believe you know Boris? He and I were in the same squad a while back", I told him. His face lit up and his eyes widened a little. "Oh, Boris, you say? I never thought I'd hear from that man again. He hasn't been here in ages, for cryin' out loud! How's he holding up?", he asked, seemingly very interested.

I took my time to look at him before I said "Boris is dead". The smile on his face that was expecting to hear interesting words, immediately dropped to a disappointed face expression, letting all his wrinkles fall down over each other like waves. "Aaaw, no! How?", he said disappointedly. "He blew himself into the air, bringing down a Librarian with him in order to save another man's life. He survived the explosion, and so we carried him to the nearest station's hospital. To no avail, there was nothing the doctor could do and he died whilst unconcious", I answered him. "What a loss", the man said in vain as he shook his head and tightened his lips. "He was a loss to us all", I agreed.

"Still, though, why would this give me reason to let you in?", he asked yet again. "I do not see why you should not, concidering how I was a part of the group who captured him and put him here for you in the first place. I carried him the whole way from the surface down here", I told him. He put his forehead in his palm, realizing that that was obvious. "Of course, but I'll have to take your weapons and keep them here meanwhile at least", he told me. "If I would have wanted to kill the man, I would easily do so with my bare hands. I cannot leave this weaponary anywhere far from my own protection, not even here with you. I am one of the leading people of the group of Rangers who just arrived here from D-6 after destroying the Toxin and slaying Glock himself", I told him.

"Well, then...", he said as he grabbed some keys, walked over and unlocked the entrance to the prison and opened the door. "You're gonna get one hell'ova surprise", he told me as he welcomly gestured for me to enter. "How is that?", I asked him as I stopped beside him by the entrance of the prison. "He's the one that revealed it to us".

 

Depends wether you'll just simply have him follow you or if you'll make him say and think things
If Anton's not fine with it, almost everything can be voidable though

 

Alrighty then

 

I think In situations like Stalkers such an action should be allowed to take place, but completely removable by the affected party if requested. Just like you said Skaara. Perhaps this should be added to the rules?


After arriving in Teatralnaya and confirming to myself that I would be spending at least the night here I began the process of settling in. I went and rented a small tent bordering on the stations walls for the night before heading off to the bar for a drink and a laugh. Maybe some info on the group of Stalker/Rangers resting up in Polis if my friend was hanging around. Strolling into the bar I ordered shroom vodka and sat at a table with a couple of Soviet soldiers presumably on "leave". We drank and played cards, betting a few bullets here and their to keep things interesting. Normally this station always keeps a strict set of rules and disciplined guard since Polis lys only a few hundred meters away, but tonight was something different. And officers birthday or some shit, I don't know...

Either way, things where pretty good. The vodka was strong, the tobacco plentiful and conversations relatable. A bit of weed even made it's way around but i didn't see anything... Promisingly. Plus all this friendly interaction with the station guard could make things easier in the future... Six hours, three packs of cigarettes, an album of soldiers songs and a case of vodka later our party was over. Well, at least mine was.
While a soldier was telling us all about his battle stories tap on my shoulder was felt. It was my friend Nicholas. He told me we had business to discuss, immediately.


Reluctantly I stood up and shook hands with all the men and woman whom I'd spent the last six hours with. It seemed we were all closer then shrooms on shit because of this night. We walked away down the platform for quite some time before stopping in a small cafe well out of reach from the loud bar we came from. Soon a pair of menus were brought to us by a sweet old lady working the counter. I scanned the piece of cardboar- uh, I mean menu trying to find something that would shake my mind from the vodkas death grip. Coffee?... No, I remembered that from the train, plus the price was absurd. "I'll take the VDNKh Tea please... Better make that two cups for myself." I said to the lady when she returned.

I plopped my face into my hands as the wear of the party began to surface. Nicholas gave me a stare that said "you brought this on yourself and will have to deal with it's results". "Whaaaaat?, it was a special occasion alright?, don't give me that stupid look..." I groaned. It probably wasn't hard for him to tell how drunk I was but I tried anyway to hold that whole attitude back and be serious, but it was hard. Most of the shit he said flew right out of ears in an instant. What didn't banged around in my head until it petered away into an empty thought. I hadn't noticed it but I had apparently drank both my teas and a basket of black bread biscuits in my haze. I guess I was starting to black out and Nicholas noticed it..

He irritatingly but understandably dragged me to my tent and dropped me on the sleeping bag like the mindless sack of potatos I currently was and said, "I'll get 'yer drunk ass in the morning when 'yer thinking straight. Sweet dreams killer!" before leaving me to my alcohol enduced slumber.

 

I'm confused when haven't I replied to anything?

 

hey guys. I'm back. Biopsy went ok, but the kept me in thursday night, just in case, so I didn't get home till friday morning. it's a bit sore and still bothers me slightly. apologies for not writing since saturday, just been very tired and asleep most of the time. I take it Odessa is still on her own in the Lone Ranger, except for Fyodor's friend?

*as I scaned the bar a stranger came in and after looking around for a few minutes he came and sat in front of me. I had never seen him before and I became suspicious immediatley, slowly putting my right hand on Sig and taking the safety off slowly. Jet noticed the change of pace and her ears pricked, giving a low hiss as a warning sign*

'sorry sir, this seats are spoken for. is there anything you want to discuss before my guys come in?' I said to the stranger in a careful neutral, tone, watching him carefully

 

From her response I knew I had found the right person. I heard the faint sound of a safety being switched off. Maybe this was a bad idea? No. I had to join this group now or it'd be too late. "I want to help you" I said, raising my hands in the air for her to see. "I can get you past any checkpoint in the metro - be it reds, nazis or hanzans". I had a bad feeling I should have thought this situation through before just stepping in, but it was too late now. I could only hope she would accept my request, or at least not shoot me.

 

"steve benji im not steve is his death really haunting you that much?"I asked before walking off to the lone ranger

 

When I awoke the lights, in this part of Polis at least, had been turned on.
From my place in between the buildings and tents I couldn't see the clockk, so god knows how much it was.
As I, after a little while longer, started to get up, I realized, not exactly surprised, that I had gotten a horrible ache in my back as well as my neck. This spread to the rest of my body. Along with the terrible migraine headache from my dreamless sleep and the ashes from the D6-incident rendered me looking, and feeling completely horrible.
I felt like, and knew I'd have to clean up and get something to drink.
I should probably had done that yesterday, I thought as I moved out from the "alley", if I could call it that, stepping into a little bigger, open part of the "city".
There weren't as much people now, most of them were probably at some kind of work, the only ones around were a couple of beggars under a half-roof.
I turned towards them, and sped up my pace a little.
One of them looked up hopefully as he heard footsteps, but sourned as he saw me.
With a voice filled with suppressed irritation he mumbled something.
My hearing was less than ordinary, due to a missing outer, left ear, and I turned the right one towards him, with a: "I'm sorry, what was that?" Trying to sound as humble as I could, with my now rusty voice after the night.
He looked up again, no longer suppressing his irritation: "I said the spot's taken!" The one next to him, whom I now realized was a woman with a baby, looked up as well, but more begging. A couple.
I didn't quite understand him, and I just stood there with a confused expression for a while.
Slowly I realized that I looked so bad he had confused me for a homeless beggar as well. Understandable, I guess.
"No, I was..." I started, but he interupted me: "This is the best spot in this part of Polis, and I ain't giving it up without a fight." With that he rose to his feet, and got into a half-arsed fighting position.
In the corner of my eye I saw his wife looking away, apparently scared.

I fumbled with my pocket, but finaly got out my pouch.
"No, no, it's nothing lik that," I said, putting the bag down and taking out some cartridges. "I'll give you these if you can show me some place to wash up." I held up four cartridges, one between each of my fingers. "These now, and I guess another when we get there.
His face lightened up, and in a few minutes I found myself in front of a pretty large shack, with a sign with colorful letters that spelled out "Wash House".
The name was not as exciting as the letters.
I gave the man his last cartridge and walked inside, not expecting much.
There wasn't much to expect either, as the place looked just as run down on the inside; the same wooden boards covered the reception, the floor was covered with a rug, wich had almost as many bald spots as the man behind the counter, and was probably just as old, covering the floor.
The man looked up, then down again. "Cold's 15,- hot's 20,-" he said, completely enclosed in what I guessed was a book.
"I haven't really showered much before, is the difference big?" I asked, out of genuine curiosity. After a while he opened his mouth again: "What?"
"Is there a big difference?" I answered, "Between hot and cold?"
He looked up, quite annoyed at being interupted: "I'd go with hot if I had the money."
Fair answer.
"Well, I guess I'll take hot, then"
I said, got up the cartridges, and handed them to him. He took them with a relieved expression. "Booth's to the left." The man said after yet a little while of me looking puzzled.
I thanked, at got my showering done.
I couldn't really know, but the hot water of the shower was fantastic.
When I finished my clothes had been washed, not exactly necessary, as I planned on getting new, but it was okay.
The rest of the day I spent getting new clothes as similar as possible to the ones I had from before, minus the holes and tears.
Afterwards I stocked up on some of the Metro-Traveller's basic: Filters, ammunition, food, water and medical equipment. I also got some tape, and covered the cracked lens of my gasmask thoroughly.
When the thought struck me to finally check the station clock, it said that the day was almost half-way gone.
Before heading for the bar we were supposed to meet at, I stopped by a small "junk"-shop and bought a wristwatch of my own. Nothing special about it, but as it should it had a stopwatch-function, as well as being "Water-Proof", the seller said so at least, though I couldn't think of many reasons were that would be necessary. At the junk-shop I also got a flashlight and a, very expensive Metro-map.
Afterwards I hurried towards this "Lone Ranger"-place, a little too afraid of being late.
This turned out longer than expected..

 

*I looked at the stranger with a critical eye and a half smile crossed my lips*

'I doubt you could get me through nazi territory, you or anyone else for that matter. as for the rest of the metro, is already sorted. now, first, your name would be good, and second, who sent you and what's the real reason of you being here?'

*I took one of my already rolled smokes with my left hand and lit it, waiting for the stranger to answer my questions*

 

"Even nazis need a good lifting every now and then" I replied to her remark about how I couldn't get her through nazi territory. "My name is Nikolay Konovalev, First Lieutenant of the Hanzan Elite. I am here of my own free will, seeking adventure, action and camraderie with other great warriors" I explained as I got out my own lighter to light the joint, since the woman hadn't offered me her.

 

Firstly, Benjamin was far away from the bar when he said that, so there's no way that Steve could have heard it. Secondly, he said "Steven" and not "Steve". Steven was Von Streff's old roleplay character when he was part of the roleplay.

 

Another minute or two passed after i made observations of the dreadlocked man and the young girl. And i began to take notice of another member of the group that i spotted about 18 - 20 meters away from me at a nearby bar. This time it was the women. However, there was also a man with her.

"Recruitment?" I thought to myself as i rechecked the files.

The bar that this women was at was pretty far away from me to see clearly. And i had the idea to get closer to get some more info. Without, offcourse, getting too nosey. But then, i decided it was best for me to sit tight.

I sipped some of the coffee, and almost emptied the whole cup by the time i got my eyes off of the woman and the man. I opened my bag and put my files back into the bigger compartment. I noticed my silenced Scorpion sub machine gun on top of some of my spare clothing. Then i zipped it back.