S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Southern Comfort (2 page)

Prologue

The Independent
, 3 March 2001:
Taliban destroy ancient Buddhist relics in
Bamyan
,
Afghanistan
. International pleas ignored by fundamentalist leaders.

Kiev
Post
, Top Stories, 17 August 2001:
Ukrainian authorities seal off the Exclusion Zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after a bus carrying foreign tourists disappears close to Pripyat.

CNN Breaking News, 4 March 2006
: Blinding light illuminates the sky above the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, according to witnesses.

BBC Top News Story, 10 June 2006:
The skies above
Ukraine
’s ill-fated nuclear power plant are once again lit by bright light. Aided by the military, local law enforcement desperately tries evacuating the few villagers who remained in the Exclusion Zone after the deadly and still unexplained emission a month ago.

Fox News, 25 September 2006:
In a press conference, General Dan K. McNeill, the newly appointed ISAF commander refuses to comment on questions about the Taliban’s alleged efforts to obtain nuclear warheads from
Pakistan
.

Kiev
Post
, Top Stories, 28 December
2009
: A group of Ukrainian scientists led by Professor Sakharov have succeeded in penetrating into the Zone to a depth of one kilometer and returning without incident or injury. Professor Sakharov would not comment on questions regarding the special equipment that had made this possible, but did say that “this major breakthrough would not have been possible without the continuous research in
Ukraine
to design devices and protective gear suitable for exploring the Zone.” However, he confirmed “the existence of scientifically unexplained, anomalous activities in the physics of the Zone, as well as mutations in its flora and fauna”.

The Guardian
, May 5, 2011:
A leader of al Qaeda’s branch in southern
Yemen
on Wednesday vowed revenge for the
US
killing of the worldwide network’s founder Osama bin Laden. “We will take revenge for the death of our Sheikh Osama bin Laden and we will prove this to the enemies of God,” he told AFP, contacted by telephone from
Yemen
’s southern
province
of
Abyan
, an al Qaeda stronghold. “They will see what they haven’t expected… We are preparing a plan to continue jihad in the coming period,” said the al Qaeda leader, requesting anonymity for “security reasons.”

Fox News ticker, 6 June 2011, 03:42:58 PM ET:
President to address nation following nuclear detonation in
Kabul
.

MSNBC.com, 7 June 2011, 01.35:46 PM ET:
The top
U.S.
commander in
Afghanistan
has described the nuclear attack in
Afghanistan
as “the
last resort of an inhuman and despicable enemy to martyr themselves
en masse
and deny us the claim of victory”. The ACLU has strongly condemned his choice of words, describing them as “culturally insensitive”, while in
Germany
,
France
and the
UK
thousands have protested, blaming the
United States
and
Israel
for the atrocity.

The Guardian
, 20 August 2011:
It has now been verified by several independent sources that the nuclear explosions that devastated the capital and a vast surrounding area in
Central Afghanistan
were caused by three low-yield warheads of approximately 20 kilotons each, and were the work of insurgents or Al-Qaida extremists. The detonation was six times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on
Hiroshima
and three times more powerful than the explosion at Reactor Four of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in
1986. A
US Army spokesman has denied comments regarding the origin of the warheads after reports claimed that they were acquired from
Pakistan
’s nuclear arsenal.

Pravda.ru Latest News, 25 October 2011:
Federal government warns Russians citizens against travelling to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone following a skirmish between the Ukrainian military and a group of paramilitary individuals calling themselves “Stalkers” – an acronym for “Scavenger, Trespasser, Adventurer, Loner, Killer, Explorer, Robber”. Despite protests by human right watchdogs and the European Union, the Ukrainian forces guarding the area have been authorized to shoot such trespassers on sight.

General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the
Ukraine
, 15 August 2012

During Operation Fairway, aimed at re-establishing control over the center of the Exclusion Zone (including Pripyat and the Chernobyl NPP), our forces sustained heavy losses. The mission has been labeled a failure by general staff. For extraordinary bravery in face of the enemy, strike force commander Cpt. Tarasov is hereby recommended for receiving the Order of Courage and promotion to major.

- Col. Kovalskiy, commanding officer, Operation Fairway (resigned)

Remark: SBU supports recommendation. Pending promotion, it is further suggested that Cpt. Tarasov be designated as command element of our forces in the Exclusion Zone.

- Maj. Degtyarev, SBU/Special Operations Directorate

Kiev
Post
, Top Stories, 8 June 2014:
The Ukrainian Ministry of Education is to send a scientific team into the nuclear wasteland that was once
Central Afghanistan
, now also referred to as “the New Zone”, under the oversight of Professor Sakharov, the veteran ecologist who led some of the first expeditions into the Chernobyl Zone between 2007 and 2009. The goal of the expedition is to end the speculation and internet rumors regarding environmental developments in the area that are allegedly similar to those in the Exclusion Zone, despite the evidence that shows that the mutations and other phenomena observed in the Chernobyl area were not caused by radioactivity alone.

Condor One

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone -
Ukraine
, 18 September 2014, 08:50:34 East European Standard Time/EEST

“I love being in the army,
komandir
. Where else could I get a chopper flight over the Zone?”

Major Mikhailo Tarasov doesn’t return the young lieutenant’s cheery grin, instead choosing to spend the last minutes looking out over the Swamp, lost in his thoughts. Seen from above, through the tiny windows of the Mi-24 gunship flying them to their mission, the Swamp looks peaceful like a national park: golden brown fields of reed bowing in the wind, the low September sun reflected in the waterways, the wooden dome of an abandoned church peering out of a shred of mist, anomaly fields on the Zone’s edge glowing with eerie green and blue. Tarasov is glad that the distance spares him the details: the Geiger counter’s constant clicking, the rotten stench, the sight of decomposing corpses fallen to mutants, radioactivity and anomalies.

“Save your high spirits for the underground, Ivanchuk,” he glumly replies. But his second in command seems to be in a talkative mood.

“How come it’s in this mess today? That hellhole under Agroprom was supposed to be sealed off ages ago.”

“Some Stalkers made it into Strelok’s chamber. We’re going in to seal it again, this time for good.”

 
“Piece of cake!”

Tarasov can’t see the lieutenant’s eyes under the helmet’s dark visor but he’s sure his second in command is not just swaggering.
Today you will be tested, lieutenant
. He looks at the two other troopers huddled up in the cramped compartment, flanking a technician who carries welding equipment. Kolesnik and Shumenko had been veteran Stalkers until they signed up to the army, motivated more by their need to escape debt collectors than fulfilling patriotic duty. They were made sergeants to let them know their place in the military’s food chain. Although not cast from the mold of legendary Stalkers, they were at least good team-players. For Tarasov, commander of the Ukrainian army’s own squad of
Zone Stalkers, this was more important than individual abilities. He looks at the lieutenant’s fingers nervously drumming on his AKSU assault rifle.

“By the way, lieutenant… what’s that duct tape on your magazine?”

“That? I taped two mags together, so that I can change them with a flip of my hand!”

“Do you see that on my rifle? No? And can you think why?”

“Because I’m stupid and you are smart,
komandir!
”

Tarasov laughs out loud. His grumpy mood vanishes in an instant. From the corner of his eye, he can even see two hard-boiled sergeants grin.

“What to do? That’s a fact,” he shrugs and gives a pat on the lieutenant’s helmet. “Hand me that duct tape if you still have it on you.”

The lieutenant pats down his pockets and hands him a roll of blue duct tape. Tarasov takes out a spare magazine from the pockets on Ivanchuk’s body armor.

“If you keep the mags like that,” he explains, “your weapon will feel much heavier than it is.”

He whips the tape around the magazine, leaving free an inch-long flap. “Look. If you grab it by this flap, you can draw it much quicker from the pocket and win a second if you’re in a firefight. Then there’s that carabineer on your assault vest. When you remove the empty magazine, just fasten it there with the duct flap. See? Like this… It will win you another second. Once the party is over, you can put the magazine back into to the vest pocket.”

“Two minutes to touchdown,” the pilot reports, “I have a visual on Fortress One.”

“All right people, here we go,” says Tarasov fastening the strap of his helmet, “check your gear and ammo. Finger off the trigger until you’re on the ground.”

He detaches the magazine from his silenced SA Val rifle and pushes the first cartridge down to make sure no cartridge is stuck inside. The steely clack of the weapon cocking is like music to his ears.

“One minute to touchdown,” sounds the intercom. “Landing zone is clear.”