S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Jumping the Gap

by Senseisteel

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Human, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Other, Princess Luna, Original Character
Length: 6389

Teleportation anomaly's within the zone are connected to another plane of existence. But what one?

Sawdust, an ex Freedom trooper in the zone accepts a contract from a group of Ecologists, trying to understand the mechanics behind the teleportation anomaly.

On a different plane of existence Twilight is experimenting with a mater transportation device powered by disembodied magic. Accidentally falling inside one of the rifts she has created.

(Set 3 years after SoC where Strelok became part of the C-consciousness experiment and began the further expansion of the zone)

-characters subject to change.

Published 2012-04-05 17:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-14 14:33:28 UTC

Sawdust

"This is Sargent Zotkin at Prypyat anomaly location eighty one. Anomaly identified as category teleportation. Beginning analysis at seven twenty six PM, duration of analysis approximately six hours"

Sawdust cringed at using his old name as he set the voice recorder down inside his backpack. He was now stuck on a rooftop for the best part of seven hours with nothing to do besides keep an eye on the activity reader the scientists gave him. He had positioned the equipment around twenty feet from the disturbed area, the anomaly had slightly deformed the ground beneath it and had caused parts of the roofs guardrail to melt.

After he got a small fire going the last of the sunlight gave way to complete darkness that swallowed his surroundings. Sawdust never liked the zone after dark. Its not that he was afraid, it was the fact that during the night the zone no longer belonged to humans. After the twilight hours the zone became a mosh pit of mutated freaks that would not think twice about tearing you limb from limb and not even eat your remains.

hours came and hours went as Sawdust became mind numbingly bored of trying to occupy himself with what he could find in his pockets. Trying to juggle iron bolts got boring after half an hour. His PDA offered some entertainment through the local news updates and STALKER rankings but he couldn't use it for long, his battery was nearly dead and it was two days walk to Yanov station to get it charged.

"Fuck it" he mumbled to himself as he came to the conclusion that he was going to do some night stalking. He had skipped a few floors on his way through the building and now he thought it was high time to check them out.

Sawdust left most of his gear on the roof as he descended into the darkness of the ex apartment complex. Slowly strolling through the empty halls, his flashlight shining a sickly yellow tint over each room he investigated. Passing through an apartment he received the call of nature and rushed into the residential restroom. Upon bleeding his lizard he began to hear something emanating from the roof

*beep* *beep* *beep"

"Oh come on!" he shouted to himself as he re-sealed his trousers, grabbed his rifle from the top of the toilet and sprinted for the roof. The scientists told him that if the alarm goes off it means there is a huge burst of energy within the anomaly that is usually associated with the anomaly collapsing in on itself, a rare occurrence but a possibility none the less.

Upon reaching the roof Sawdust was met by the uncomfortably loud ringing of the equipment's emergency alarm. The noise becoming almost painful Sawdust simply blasted a hole strait through the tough-book that sat on the floor with his old AN-94 immediately ceasing the racket. However once the air cleared it was quickly refilled with the sounds of blood thirsty mutants, most noticeable of which a pack of blind dogs on the street thirteen stories below, howling and barking as they swarmed into the ground floor and began climbing the stairs.

"This is going well"

Twilight

"Come on Twilight. I`ts like midnight and your still trying to get that thing working" Spike huffed as he sat on the stairs to the library

"You go to bed if your that tired Spike. But i`m pretty sure that I am close to cracking this" Twilight called behind a maze of copper pipes and glass chambers that filled the room. Twilight had spent the last month trying to create a method in which she could effectively blend the magic created through alchemy to accurately re create the teleportation spell known only to be used by unicorns.

Spike plodded up the stairs and Twilight rolled her eyes as she heard him collapse onto his bed. She turned back to a small panel attached to the side of a large glass container that housed several liters of florescent liquid. She used her magic to pull one of the small leavers, then grab a clipboard and pencil from a table and began ticking off each process as the liquid passed through each of the integrated chambers.

Eventually the now bubbling mass was floating around in a reinforced jar behind two separate open-able chambers big enough to fit a pony. Twilight then placed a book inside the chamber marked "in" then placed a pair of goggles over her eyes and flipped a second switch to activate the final stage.

A flash of blinding purple light consumed the book and then disappeared, taking the book with it. After a couple of seconds of anticipation the same ligt blasted out of the chamber marked "out" and the book landed in perfect condition at the bottom. Twilight face lit up as she removed the goggles and turned to call spike to inform him of her success, but as she opened her mouth she heard the large contraption begin to shake.

Twilight began to back away as the very air around her creation began to deform, bending the very objects inside it. The pipes began to buckle and the glass shattered as the rippling air exploded into a bright light that filled the entire room. Twilight tried to scream as she closed her eyes but she found the air in front of her to be non existent, opening her eyes she found herself floating in an empty space completely surrounded by white light.

Twilight began to panic as she saw a dark speck in the distance approaching fast, quickly becoming a large dark smudge that she was hurtling into. She tried to scream again but nothing came out, and when she tried to inhale she realized that the lack of air was suffocating her. Her lungs began to burn as the dark object came closer and closer. When they made contact, Twilight immediately felt the ability to breath again but after taking one deep breath she landed on a cold hard floor that left her in a daze.

(1) Hey bro

(Although we may be free, there are always rules)

Twilight's daze was shattered by what sounded like a dozen blasts of thunder one after the other followed by a disgruntled shout

"Of course you jam!" The voice bellowed. She looked up to see a large silhouette through a small fire swinging some kind of club at a smaller creature, sending it flying over the edge of wherever they were, the figure seemed to lose grip of the club as it struck the smaller creature causing it to fling off into the darkness that she now saw completely surrounded them.

The shape seemed to slump over and began breathing heavily, although the breathing didn't sound natural, it was like its breath was passing through some kind of apparatus. Suddenly a larger shape materialized two hoofs in front of the weaker one and lifted what Twilight assumed to be a him up from the ground by his throat. He began gasping for air as the heaver built beast started making gruesome slivering noises.

He began kicking manically as the beast lent forward towards the throat it clutched.

______________________________________________

Sawdust flung a grenade into the stairwell and held the door closed with his shoulder, but the blast launched both him and the door across the open roof. Finding his footing he narrowly missed a pounce from one of the blind dogs, its teeth scraping his left shoulder pad. Sawdust's reaction was to bring his AN-94 to his hip and spray wildly into the prevailing darkness; he could hear several of the rounds hit their targets followed by painful whines as the wounded animals scampered back down the stairwell.

One remained however and was readying to pounce from about ten feet away. Sawdust smirked beneath his mask as he squeezed the trigger, only for his smile to dissipate as the weapon let out a disappointing clank signifying that a casing had wedged somewhere within the mechanism, a sound that blind dogs know all too well.

"Of course you jam!" Sawdust brought the rifle over his shoulder and swung it like a baseball bat at the mid air dog sending it over the guardrail and into the abyss below. However as he stuck the dog, the sights above the fore-grip cut a gash into his left hand causing him to release the rifle mid swing sending it over the edge as well.

Sawdust winced as he grabbed the wrist of his cut arm and began to grunt painfully as he tried to see the extent of the cut in the dim lighting of his campfire. His focus was broken as he saw a pair of legs pop into existence before him. he tried to lunge backwards but the bloodsucker already had him at the throat and was lifting him off the ground. his legs hung lifeless as the bloodsucker began closing its grip around his throat, he knew he could not survive a bloodsucker attack alone.

His lungs began to burn as the Bloodsuckers tendrils began to probe his sunrise suit for an opening. A surge of energy forced Sawdust to grip the beasts arm with both hands and he began kicking violently into its ribs. When it broke eye contact to deal with Sawdust's legs he grabbed his knife from its sheath and drove it through the side of the bloodsuckers head, its skull could be heard splitting through the skin as it fell lifeless onto the concrete floor dropping Sawdust flat on his back winding him.

Before standing, Sawdust kicked the corpse under the guardrail and off the roof. He made his way over to the fire while trying to regain his breath from the ordeal, his thoughts turning to the teleportation anomaly that now had completely gone only leaving the ground more twisted and deformed than it was earlier.

"Bloodsucker kill with knife" he giggled to himself weakly as he tapped the info down onto his PDA with his uninjured hand. Twilight had remained huddled at the edge of the fires light aura shivering because of both the cold and fear. Upon hearing Sawdust's whimper as he poured vodka on his bleeding wound she opened her eyes.

Twilight's eyes were reflected brightly in the firelight causing Sawdust to slip over the back of the overturned barrel he was using as a chair, letting out a muffled gasp as he flailed his arms in the air. He scrambled to his feet and took a defensive position behind the barrel with his Kora-919 held wearily in his bleeding hand.

"Show yourself!" He barked as he brought the pistol up and rested it in both hands. Twilight nervously brought herself to her hoofs and slowly trotted out into the light. "what...the...fuck?" Sawdust said as his arms went limp and he dropped his handgun on the floor with a small metal clatter. He had seen illusions that the zone would place to distract you tonnes of times, but this wasn't one of them. Before him stood a short horse like creature bathed in all different shades of purple.

"Wh... where am I?" Twilight asked trying not to look into the tiny black holes that she assumed where Sawdust's eyes. He pulled the mask up above his hood revealing a weathered face with a big grin

"you talk too?" he sat back on the barrel before slapping himself on the forehead "where are my manners, names Sawdust. And you my little Missy are in the zone, Pripyat to be more precise" judging by her confused expression she had no idea what he was talking about. He face-palmed

Twilight`s confusion was interrupted by a gust of wind nipping at her flank causing her to shiver.

"You cold little one?" Sawdust chuckled as he rummaged through his large backpack revealing an army turtleneck and another gas mask. Twilight nodded as she cantered closer to the fire. Sawdust rolled up the sleeves on the turtleneck and threw it over Twilight's head, pulling it down he placed twilight's forelegs through the arms and the pulled it down past her flanks. Twilight could feel the wool trapping her body heat and warming her, the pair shared a warm hearted smile.

"Thanks" Said Twilight as she shook her mane through the collar

"I`m guessing you came through the anomaly?" questioned Sawdust as he finished bandaging his hand

"If you mean the big swirling ball of white light then yes" Twilight answered, her confidence returning slightly. She then noticed Sawdust fiddling with a mask similar to his and a large set of dual air tanks. "What is that?" she asked sheepishly.

"Well Im heading out in a couple of hours and ill be damned if i leave you here to get your hide torn off so I’m giving you my old mask to protect your lungs from the dangers on the way back". Sawdust explained as he inspected the masks filters closely with his hazel eyes before looking Twilight up and down and saying "And I think you're goanna have to ride in my backpack. I don't think you will last long out here barefo- i mean barehoof."

Twilight drew her attention to Sawdust's sidearm that still sat on the floor next to the fire, she levitated it up and began examining it. Sawdust saw the aura around the grip and his jaw dropped as the Kora levitated up to twilight. His mouth turned to a sinister smile as he got an idea.

"Say miss, you see that little lever on the grip?"

"Yea?"

"Point it in that direction and pull it towards you" Sawdust requested. Twilight lifted the pistol up and pointed it slightly upwards before pulling the trigger.

BLAM!

The gun dropped to the floor as twilight let out a little yelp and closed her eyes. Sawdust on the other hand let out a few loud laughs before grabbing the pistol himself and putting it back in his holster.

"I think your goanna do just fine out here"

Sawdust spent the next hour getting his old respirator working and on Twilight. The respirator itself was not a problem; it fitted on her snout without issue. The air tanks however proved to be an obstacle, they came to the conclusion that they would just sit in the backpack with Twilight until they made their way to Sawdust's home where he said he could work on fixing her up a full suit.

Eventually the sun rose through the clouds allowing Twilight to get a good look at her new surroundings. She was standing on the roof of a large grey structure surrounded by identical towers in a formation above a flat plateau of concrete that stretched out into unhealthy woods and planes that seemed to go on for miles besides the odd building shooting through the trees. in one direction a large building with a very distinct red and white chimney surrounded by heavy metalwork loomed over the entire area. She could not help but feel it was at the centre of whatever caused the complete social breakdown of this "zone" she was now stuck in .

(2) Home away from home

Twilight awoke to a deep muffled voice that was quickly cut off by Sawdust

"Yea, yea Hawaiian. The new shipment of AKs here yet?. Hawaiians voice had a thick accent that Twilight didn't recognize

"Yes, they arrived yesterday. You interested?” Twilight could feel Sawdust lean over the counter, she let out a small relieved groan beneath her respirator as her back clicked a few times. She had clearly been asleep for a while.

A little smile broke across Sawdust's face as he felt movement in his backpack. Hawaiian placed a pair of quite similar weapons on the counter, an AKM-74/2 and a AKM-74/2U, (the latter being a compact variant of the former) . Sawdust never really liked using large rifles, he much preferred something compact that he could swing around easily in close quarters. While Sawdust checked over his newly acquired weapon Hawaiian shot him a question.

"What ever happened to that fine piece of ass kickery I sold you a few days back?"

"It got busted up in Pripyat" he answered flatly.

As the conversation ended, Twilight could feel Sawdust start to walk along what sounded similar to the marble floors of the royal palace into a busy room filled with people talking in a language unknown to Twilight in deep, booming voices. She heard a door close and the voices fade into a murmur as she heard Sawdust breathe a sigh of relief.

"You okay?" She asked through the backpack, surprised by how much her voice was muffled by the device over her snout.

"Don`t worry yourself with my problems little one” Sawdust stated grimly as he loaded and cocked his new rifle. "Little bit of advice though. Watch yourself around anyone who works for a guy called the Sultan".

They were silent for the next twenty minutes as Twilight listened to Sawdust drag his feet through the long dry grass, eventually coming to a stop. Twilight could feel Sawdust sliding the backpack of his shoulders and onto the floor.

"Home sweet home" Sawdust chirped ushering twilight out of the backpack. She was met by grey clouds as far as the eye could see, red streaks waving around just below cloud level. They were standing on the side of an old railroad with a small brick hut a few meters down the line. Between them was a small metal hatch on a flat square of concrete tipped with a rusted metal wheel.

"You live here... in the middle of nowhere?" Asked twilight bewildered

"Never judge a book by its cover" chuckled Sawdust as he approached the hatch. He then grabbed the wheel with both hands and began to turn it anticlockwise with a light squeak each time rotated it more. Seconds later he lifted the hatch, stuck his head inside and shouted "Honey I’m home!" Sawdust climbed inside the hatch until only his head and shoulders stuck out. Reaching out with one of his arms he gestured for Twilight to approach.

She cantered over to him cautiously only to be swooped up under his right arm and carried down the hatch. She knew she would normally be more assertive in this sort of situation, but she was in a foreign land and had no idea of how to survive, so for now she was a student learning from what she assumed to be the master.

As they descended the atmosphere completely changed. The chamber was warm and was lit by several old lights in the ceiling; the floor was covered in a thick green carpet that looked like it was laid recently. Four bunks lined the edges of the room, two on each side supported by small chains screwed into the walls.

On the wall at the far end hung a large grey flag sporting a green bears head; underneath the flag was a large workbench with a powerful lamp sitting on one of the corners illuminating the entire work surface in a bright white light. A large figure loomed over the bench, fiddling with some kind of device while rhythmically bobbling his head.

Sawdust set Twilight down on the ground before pulling an iron bolt out of one of his pockets and hurling it across the room. The bolt skimmed the dancing mans shoulder and hit the wall in front of him. He swivelled on his heels, pulling a small double barrelled shotgun from under his workstation.

Recognizing Sawdust, the man lowered his weapon and pulled a pair of ear buds from his ears.

"Well you're back early" The stocky, thick bearded man said "things not go too well with the ecologists?"

"You have no idea" Sawdust ran his hand down the length of his face "Oh Bear. There is someone i would like you to meet"

"Oh? And who is tha..." Bear drew his eyes to the little purple unicorn standing beside Sawdust. He then placed both his hands behind his back, slowly walked up to Twilight looking her dead in the eyes. He went down on one knee, still maintaining eye contact. The silence was killing Twilight who was petrified by Bear`s stare. "She’s adorable!" Bear shouted as he grabbed Twilight with both arms and hugged her tightly.

Twilight let out a little “squee” as the pressure of Bear`s hug hit her.

"Nice...to...meet...you too" She managed to wheeze

"She came through a teleportation anomaly in Pripyat" Sawdust explained as Bear released Twilight from his grasp

"Well, if you haven't got anywhere to go you're welcome to stay here" happily stated Bear gesturing with his arms towards one of the empty bunks.

"My sentiments exactly" Agreed Sawdust as they both turned to Twilight who was sitting on her haunches still trying to get her breath back from Bear`s hug

"She will need a suit" Said Bear

"Way ahead of ya" Scoffed Sawdust as he marched over to a bunk covered in what looked like dozens of different outfits. After a couple of minutes of rummaging he lifted a dark green jumpsuit out "Perfect!" he chirped.

"Why do I feel like I have another Rarity here?" Thought Twilight as she watched Sawdust jump around assembling different parts of Stalker suits he had hoarded. Bear trudged back to his workstation as Sawdust walked up to Twilight brandishing something she knew all too well, a tape measure.

The whole measuring process was quite awkward for Twilight. She had been subjected to this many times by Rarity in her boutique, but this was different. Sawdust measured almost every inch of her body, he even checked the width of her hoofs.

"Why exactly do I need one of these suits?" Twilight questioned curiously, as she saw the complexity of Sawdust's Sunrise suit

"Protection" he answered flatly.

"From?" Twilight pushed. Sawdust sat back and counted on his fingers

"Let’s see. You have Impacts, open wounds, explosions, firearms, burns, chemical damage, electrocution, radiation, psy damage, the list goes on."

"I get the point" Twilight rolled her eyes. Sawdust felt her stomach rumble as he held the tape measure to her side.

"How long has it been since you last ate?" He asked

"Um..." Twilight remembered that she hadn't eaten for around two days before her experiment and her gut felt like a void of emptiness, crying out to be fed. "A while"

"You must be starving" gasped Sawdust as he placed his bandaged hand on her underside, feeling the massive depression behind her ribs. "What have we got?" He called to Bear who crouched and began fiddling through some boxes under his workbench.

"Tourists delight... Allot of it" Grunted Bear.

"Pick and mix, oh yay" whined Sawdust sarcastically. Three rounded ration containers rolled across the floor, stopping a few feet short of Twilight and Sawdust. "You first or me?" Sawdust asked twilight, who was looking on at both him and the food in complete confusion."Guess me first then." he said as he drove his knife through the side of one of the containers and popped the lid off, revealing small white chunks floating in a thick yellow liquid. "Chicken curry!" he squealed in delight to the horror of Twilight, who backpedaled into a corner as Sawdust poured the curry down his throat.

"What’s wrong little one? non satisfactory table manners?" Chuckled Bear as he tucked into his own meal.

"You...Eat meat?" Asked twilight shocked.

"Yea. Don`t you?" inquired Bear. Twilight shook her head in detestation.

"NO! Ponies are vegetarians!" She shouted. Sawdust proceeded to spray curry sauce into a small mist, coughing and sputtering

"Ponies?" he managed through a coughing fit.

"Yes ponies!" She barked back, still pressing herself into the corner.

"Relax little one" Bear chuckled as he slapped his gut. "Omnivores". Sawdust popped open another can and slid it over to Twilight. It was filled with a mixture of pasta and vegetables, preheated and compressed; an experimental sniff revealed that it was all floating in a thick cheese paste.

"Dig in" urged Sawdust. Twilight nervously dipped her head inside the open container and began to eat, she recognized the familiar tastes of cheese, veg and pasta but she could tell that the process it was prepared had changed it somehow.

"There is something... wrong with this" she pondered aloud.

"Military rations" Sawdust said, yellow liquid still dripping from his lips. "Pump it full of chemicals to give it the effect of a meal five times as big"

"How did you get these?" she questioned.

"Loads of ways, Stolen, grabbed off a dead guy and sometimes I even buy them" Twilight was blown back a bit when he mentioned he stole food from another`s corpse. "Anyway, I suppose it’s time I got to work on your suit" he said wiping his lips. Sawdust stood and walked over to his bunk, where he began cutting through the stitching of the jumpsuit using his knife.

After finishing her food Twilight trotted over to Bear, who was once again busy fiddling with a large device consisting of metal plates held together with thick rubber pipes and electrical wiring, small rusted tools scattered on and around the bench. A small spark caused Twilight and Bear to jump back.

“Fuck!” Cursed Bear as he clutched his hand, smoke began floating in steady streams from both the wires and his fingertips.

“Oh goodness, you alright!?” gasped Twilight, Bear fell to his knees and was rapidly waving his scorched hand back and forth trying to dull the pain. Bear waved Twilight away calmly as he displayed the multiple burns that covered his palms and fingers.
“Happens all the time” He said in a soft deep voice, the burning flesh turning the same sickly black as his previous burns that seemed to scatter across every inch of his skin. “Hazard of the job” Bear chuckled weakly.
“And what job is that?” Twilight mused bringing her attention to Bears bunk, which sported a large set of heavy metal plates, a very intimidating machinegun and a wielding mask.

“Being the bear” He puffed himself up slightly, and then let out a big sigh looking down on the contraption that had delivered his burns... “Hopefully not for much longer” he grumbled. Bear locked eyes with Twilight who was still busy examining his blistered flesh from a short distance, a single tear rolled down his scarred cheek as he closed and opened his fists splitting some of the fresher burns.

Twilight could see this one had been through allot of pain and was expecting to go through more in coming events. Her heart went out to him. She had not seen such disregard for somepony’s own torment since Applejack`s whole “I’m going to harvest an entire apple orchard by myself” episode.

Bear placed his weathered hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry about me friend. You will have your own problems to be facing soon enough” He tilted his head toward the empty bunk closest to the exit hatch. “Go make yourself at home”

Twilight cantered over to the plain bunk. It was a large piece of metal covered in thick green fabric, a footlocker sat in the shadows beneath, key sitting on top.

“Whatever`s inside is yours and yours alone” Called Sawdust from his bunk. Inside was a newer looking re-breather, a six pack of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. energy drink and an unloaded Viper 5 SMG. Taking the small weapon out of its case Twilight began to closely examine its exposed mechanisms. Underneath it laid several fully loaded magazines and a small cylinder with the words “Sleepy Time” etched into its side.

“That beauty there belonged to an old friend of ours” Said Bear. “Isn’t doing him any good sitting in here so you might as well have it”

“I um, thanks” Nervously responded twilight as she pulled out the telescopic stock.

“We will teach you how to use it in the morning after I’m done with this” Sawdust lifted up what looked like a hood with room for a horn through an indent running along the centre stitching.

Twilight spent the rest of the afternoon on her bunk, quietly observing her two new friends busy at their separate tasks, making mental notes on their behaviour. Sawdust seemed to be in his own little world (much like Rarity) as he hand stitched and spliced the multiple fabrics to create her “Sparkle Suit” as he called it.

Bear remained at his workbench and continued to tinker with his abusive device that continued to periodically give him large electrical shocks through the exposed circuitry. His response was to lift his fist to smash it to pieces, but he would always take a deep breath, rub his bloodied hands together and get back to work.

They were Friends... But something inside her gave the impression that this world they live in had twisted and possibly corrupted who they once were. She came to the conclusion that she would need to find out more about them in the future. Her psychological examinations kept her mind busy until she eventually slipped into sleeps warm embrace.

And that’s when the dreams began...

(3) This is why we cant have nice things.

“We respect the freedom of our members and other stalkers. We believe the zone is open to all, possibly being the greatest gift humanity has ever received. It’s an opportunity to make a tremendous leap in our development and everyone needs to understand that.” Bear was sat cross legged in the thick grass giving the now armoured Twilight a lecture on Freedom ethics while he cleaned his RP-74 machine gun.

He stopped when Sawdust emerged from the hatch wearing a hooded Flectar trench coat with matching trousers.

“Bear; ready the truck.” Commanded Sawdust, his voice muffled by a full face gas mask.

“Yes sir!” Bear blissfully replied, slamming down his wielding mask. He then jumped to his feet and made a B line for the nearby brick hut. Tuning his gaze to Twilight, Sawdust wolf whistled in approval of his handiwork. Twilight was now covered head to hoof in the finest armour the zone could offer, constructed from a mixture of military gear and cold weather clothing.

“Fit well?” He asked. Twilight stretched each leg experimentally before giving an affirmative nod. Not soon after, the quiet air was suddenly filled with the low rumble of a diesel engine. A huge four door pickup truck rolled out of the makeshift garage and sped toward them before pulling a handbrake turn, stopping inches from where Sawdust and Twilight stood “Show off” Mumbled Sawdust.

The truck itself was covered in green spray-paint and armoured plating. The tires had thick grips that were topped off with a layer of metal plates on the sides for protection. On one side of the truck’s cargo area there was pink spray-paint that read ‘Doom Buggy’. Bear popped open the driver side door and smugly strutted toward his partially disassembled machine gun then sat down again.

“I keep telling you that I should drive” He laughed as he quickly reassembled his RP.

“You may be good... But I’m better” Scoffed Sawdust. He led Twilight over to the passenger side before helping her into the seat. Once inside Twilight saw that the interior was allot more... homey than the exterior suggested. Furry pink dice hung from the cracked rear view mirror while the dashboard sported a warn leopard print cover. The doors along with the seats had fluffy camouflage covers that concealed the multitude of bullet holes that littered the original upholstery of the vehicle.

Sawdust pulled himself up into the driver seat, throwing both his and Twilights weapons in the back before grabbing the wheel. The truck rocked softly as Bear hopped aboard, his body weighed down by his gratuitous selection of weapons and ammo. With a firm tap to the roof of the cabin, Bear signalled that they were ready to roll. Sawdust nudged Twilight with his elbow.

“You ever gone off roading before?” Twilight stared at him with an eyebrow raised in confusion. “No? Well, hold on to your hood!” With that, Sawdust slammed his foot on the accelerator and launched the two ton Doom Buggy through the undergrowth. Through the chicken wire that covered the windscreen Twilight could make out little of the blurred surroundings that were now flying past at tremendous speed.

“Attention Technical heading east via cargo railway” The radio built into the dashboard lit up with a croaky British twang. Sawdust whipped his right hand off the wheel, pulled his mask down and grabbed the microphone that was attached to the main body of the radio by a coiled wire.

“Howdy ho~” Sawdust chirped.

“You are aware that you are being followed by what looks like a Monolith hit squad?”

“What?” Sawdust slammed on the brakes sending Bear hurling over the cabin, onto the engine compartment and off into the dry ground.

“About a dozen men and two BTRs two hundred metres west.” the voice seemed oddly calm with the whole situation and was making zero change in tone or pitch. Sawdust turned his gaze to Twilight before pushing her into the passenger foot well.

“Keep your head down. This could get messy.” His tone was grim and Twilight, even though not fully knowing the severity of their situation, complied. Shortly after exiting the truck, Sawdust hooked up with Bear and took up a defensive position in the shoulder high brush that lined the sides of the path. From Twilights perspective the silence seemed to last forever until Sawdust’s AK let out a rattle shortly followed by a monstrous roar from Bear’s heavily modified machine gun. The bursts of fire continued for the next ten minutes and were quickly accompanied by the return fire of the Monolith fighters.

Slow but surely, the defenders’ fire drew closer and closer as Bear and Sawdust were pushed back to their vehicle, eventually rounds began to bounce off the truck’s armour plating causing it to shudder and rattle ferociously.

“To the right! The right!” Bear’s fatigued voice screamed through the explosive cacophony. Before anyone could heed his warning, Twilight felt the entire truck rock as Bear’s body slammed into the passenger door and slowly slid onto the ground. Peering out of her hiding place Twilight saw that the passenger side window was spattered with his blood.

“You’re dead mother fucker!” Sawdust cried as he emptied a magazine of his sidearm toward his aggressors. Between each pull of the trigger Twilight could hear a low pitched hum emanating from what sounded like the Monolithians’ position.

*BOOM*

A bright flash of light filled the cabin as the charged gauss round slammed into Sawdust’s chest and launched him into the back wheel arch of the truck, the sickening smash of shattering bones filling the air. As the dust settled a single hollow voice boomed to its subordinates.

“Prepare the Heathens for processing. I shall deal with the Dark Spawn personally” The Monolith Preacher waited for his disciples to drag what remained of Bear and Sawdust out of the way before approaching the passenger side door. With a heavy swing the Preacher’s gloved fist burst through the reinforced window, showering the front seats in tiny shards of glass. Flexing his fingers the hollow Preacher slowly moved his hand round and jimmied the rusted lock open. Pulling back from the door the Preacher lifted his charged gauss rifle into his shoulder and prepared to breach.

“Oi’ hollow head!” a croaky voice barked from an unknown location. The preacher stumbled back and began scanning the surrounding shrubbery. “I’m goin’ to give you one chance to get you and your brainwashed cronies’ arses out of here before I start shooting”

“What is stopping us from dragging you up here and burning you at the stake Heretic” The preacher barked back, slamming his gauss rifle into his shoulder and taking aim.

*Crack!*

The preacher’s rifle slipped from his grasp, landing in the dry grass seconds before his body. Several gruff voices began calling to the mystery man.

“Sector clear, all targets neutralised!”

“Return to your patrols after you help me load these poor sods in the back of their truck. I’m going to take them to the Fort for a patch up.” The two back doors of the battle scarred pickup flew open and the unconscious bodies of the Twilight’s comrades were flung into a heap on the back seats.

Twilight, still huddled in the passenger foot well, began to feel drowsy. Looking down she felt something run down her cheek and drip off into the small pool that had already formed on the petrol soaked foot mat. The unfamiliar taste or iron washed across her taste buds.

“Why were these idiots this deep in Monolith territory unsupported?” One of the mystery men pondered while lighting cigarette.

“They live out here” another, slightly gruffer voice responded. “They’re what are left of an old Freedom unit stationed in the Pripyat tunnels before the storms started.”

“Think they were the only ones who outran the Strelok wave?”

“Naa, most of Freedom and Duty were wiped out when the monolith started pushing” The pair continued their conversation as they strolled away from the armoured pickup, eventually fading from twilight’s earshot. Turning her attention back to herself, Twilight realised she was in no state to move. With her vision blurred and her body trembling, she attempted to call out to the men surrounding the vehicle. Unfortunately, as she drew her breath, she broke out into a shallow coughing fit, each outburst of air bringing up more and more of the thick substance she now knew was her own blood.

Twilight’s vision went from bad to worse as darkness began to consume her surroundings, gradually turning the exotic upholstery into a black abyss that sucked the life right out of her.

______________________________________________

Twilights eyes fluttered open. The world around her shut out by thick synthetic fabric.

“What do you make of her?” a broad voice boomed, engulfed in a thick German accent.

“Give me two weeks” another German of a higher octave responded professionally.

“Very well, I’ll have the artefacts here in the morning. I suggest you begin operating as soon as possible.”

“Yes Commandant”