Cordon

You start the game as in normal SoC. The introduction is based on a modified version of RMA. You start off with minimal equipment: A heavily damaged sunrise suit (in actuality a novice outfit, but modelled on a sunrise suit) with no other equipment. If the player opts for the easier start, you start with an actual sunrise suit and an Ak74u. Sidorivich gives you the task to obtain an artifact from the anomaly field to the north. On the way to here, you get a message from Sid to forget the artifact and help his boys who have come back from Agroprom. A helicopter has followed them. Should the player run to Tolik and his crew with a weapon drawn, there is a chance that the helicopter will identify the player as a valid target and go after the player. This will not occur if the player keeps his weapon holstered, as the player will be considered a non combatant. On saving Tolik he will move into the nearby trailer, where the player can speak to him as he has a cigarette to calm his nerves. He will give the player a briefcase to give to Sid.

The player can then go to the artifact field to get the artifact requested but it is recommended he hide in the bunker until the helicopter is dealt with.

This is the first of many random outcomes that can occur. There's a high probability the helicopter will circle a few times, get bored and fly off. There is a small chance (less than 5%) that an alternative encounter will happen. A plucky stalker will fire upon the helicopter with an RPG and hit it. This will cause it to crash. Stalkers cheer wildly over the Stalkersky network, with comments coming from all over. Wolf is incredibly pissed off. If the player does not have access to the rookie village at this point, Wolf will allow you to come in for a very important mission: Defending the village from the inevitable Military counterattack. Rookies will take up defensive positions much like the later mercenary mission and the army will attack. If the player doesn't help there's a chance the village will be wiped out leading to the locking out of several early missions and a few later on. Assuming the player defeats the military assault then access to the southern border crossing will be much easier, leading to a few hidden missions.

If the helicopter strike does not occur and the helicopter flies off, Tolik will eventually make his way to the village where he will put in a good word with Wolf for you. Wolf will take this as proof that you’re not some evil monolith zombie and will allow you to enter the village.

Upon returning the artifact to Sid, he will give you the mission to cross the northern checkpoint to find one of his guys who has got some sort of information for him.

You can choose to give the briefcase to Sid, or keep it for yourself to give to some other interested party later on. Giving it to Sid will later unlock the ‘Boys in Blue’ sidequest when you return to the Cordon later on in the game.

However you make it to the Northern part of the Cordon, you will receive a message from Sid saying that his guy has been ambushed and is in need of help. This begins the second random encounter.

There’s a 50% chance that Fox will be under siege from wild dogs, as he is in the normal game, or a 50% chance he will be being held hostage by a group of religious fanatics. The religious fanatics are the first introduction to SIN, a group of heavily disfigured maniacs who seem to have some sort of motive. This encounter can go two ways: You can try to reason with them diplomatically, which is fraught with danger. If you mention that you have no idea who you are and that you came from the Death Truck, they will treat you with unease and back off peacefully. If you decide to take them out violently, you have a very short period to kill the leader before he kills Fox. If you leave it too long and shoot the leader but don’t kill him immediately, he will trigger a suicide vest and kill both himself and Fox. When the encounter is defused, either through killing the fanatics or dealing with them peacefully, get the information Sid has requested from Fox, either by talking to him or taking it off his corpse. He has been in contact with an unnamed ‘digger’ who has information on military operations in Agroprom.

Take this information back to Sid.

At this point you should have access to the rookie village. If Tolik made it back, he will put a good word in for you, if he didn’t then delivering Fox’s information to Sid will put Wolf on your good side. Or you could have access due to the military siege (assuming they survived).

Wolf is accepting of you, but he doesn’t entirely trust you yet. You need to get in his good books. One of his guys has been taken prisoner by a group of bandits in the ATP. He will send you to meet his guys, Petruha and crew, and siege the car park.

Once you arrive and speak to Petruha he will mention that he and his guys are usually fearless defenders of stalkers and will gladly rush into the face of death to protect them. This time, however, they need a little bit of liquid courage. If you’ve got some vodka, they will take it, have a quick drink to steady their nerves and begin the siege of the ATP. If you don’t have the vodka, or don’t want to deal with these chumps then you can choose to siege the ATP by yourself.

The siege on the ATP proceeds much in the same way it does in vanilla. There’s a small chance that in addition to the bandits, a wandering zombie will find its way into the camp and attack stalker and bandit alike. If you decide to go it alone, you can either take the direct approach and kill the bandits (and the zombie, if it’s there) or you can be a bit more sneaky and move in from the north, and go directly into the building where Nimble is being held hostage. If you manage to take out the bandits in this building, you can release Nimble and give him a weapon. He will help you take out the remaining bandits.

Once all the bandits are dead, if Nimble has survived he will make his way back to the Rookie village. Stalkers will set up camp in the ATP and hold it until bandits push them out.

By this point, you should have received a message from Sid to go and speak to him. He has turned up some interesting information that may be of use to you.

Go and speak to him. He will tell you that there’s a stalker in the Garbage who has information on Strelok. Strelok is apparently very deeply involved with several interesting organizations who want nothing more than to find him and bring him in, dead or alive. This digger has information on his last known whereabouts.

Sidorovich will send you to the Garbage to meet this guy.


Side missions:

There’s a few side missions that start in the Cordon, some which are strictly limited to the Cordon, others that span the entire game.

The first one is:

Sid’s Stash:

Upon talking to Sid for the first time and checking his stock, you will notice he has a very limited selection. Quite odd for a trader, especially one so close to the border. He appears to be very angry and doesn’t wish to talk about it. If you press him further, he will direct you to the ‘scumbag’ in the house outside.

Upon talking to this scumbag, you will learn very little information from him. He quickly tells you to fuck off. Asking around further will lead you to Red, Sid’s bodyguard and the guy who saved you. Asking him about the guy in the house will also prove fruitless. He says he’s not supposed to talk about it, and if you want to know more you should talk to Wolf.

Upon getting access to the village, mentioning the guy to Wolf will elicit a nasty response. Pressing him on it, Wolf will say that this guy is no longer allowed in the village and is being kept in the building until he figures out what to do with him. He won’t talk, so it’s proving difficult to get the truth out of him. He was involved in a robbery conducted on Sid. This guy, and another who managed to escape, threw a smoke bomb into the vent and robbed Sid when he rushed out of the bunker, thinking there was a fire. They managed to escape. This guy turned himself in, the other guy has vanished without trace.

If you convince Wolf that there’s too much bad blood between the two and he needs a neutral party Wolf will ask you to talk to him to get his side of the story. If you agree, you can go back and talk to the guy.

Mentioning that you know what he did will get him talking. If you remain neutral, he will eventually tell you his side of the story, that he and his buddy were going to play a prank on Sid the Skinflint and mess his place up a little. They hatched a plan to throw a smoke grenade in and go in and turn over a few tables and cause a ruckus. Turns out the other guy had different plans, and threw much of Sid’s stock into a rucksack and ran off with it. He followed him trying to figure out what the hell he was doing, and something strange happened. One minute the guy was there, the next he had vanished completely. It was if he disappeared into thin air.

If he can find proof that this guy acted on his own to rob Sid, he can prove himself and be let back into the village. You can agree to help him out, and he will direct you to the place where he last saw his ‘buddy’.

If you go to the area and search around, eventually you will be teleported somewhere. A tunnel on the outskirts of the Cordon. Here you will find the body of the missing robber, with a message about his true plans. Turns out he befriended the other rookie, taking him for a sap and the perfect fall guy. He has a man who can offload stock, but he needs a way to get it. He managed to dupe this guy into playing a ‘prank’ on Sid which would give the perfect pretext to rob him blind and pin it on the other guy.

It soon becomes apparent what fate befell him. A bloodsucker attacks the player.

The player can then take the Diary to the Stalker, clearing his name and convincing Wolf that he isn't a thief, just a gullible idiot. Wolf will suggest you show Sid the diary, with the hope of recovering his stock. Sid will search his records for mention of the accomplice and pin his stomping ground in the Dark Valley. This quest will be resolved later on.

Talking to the rookie will give a clue to an unmarked mission.

Dead Drop

This is an unmarked mission that is hinted at in a few dialogs with Stalkers. The border checkpoint is on heightened alert after a small squad of armed men snuck through and were attacked by the military. The army suffered heavy losses but they managed to take a few out. Most of the bodies have been recovered, but one is on the perimeter and has been overlooked. Searching this body will give a curious note about a dead drop of supplies that a stalker has placed in the Cordon for this group.

Locating the dead drop will reveal that most supplies have been taken, but a note has been left for the deceased member to meet up with the rest at the Bar. The note contains a description of the group's target: Strelok.

Nimble’s Past

Sidorovich has a few pieces of gear that he’s looking to unload for ‘cheap’. One of them includes Nimble’s old jacket, that he had to sell to get out of the rut he’s in. It’s a rather useless piece of gear but has obvious sentimental value thanks to the patch sewn into it.

Returning the jacket to Nimble will result in a large amount of positive rep with him. If you ask him about the patch, he’ll give a brief history of Clear Sky and his role in it (possibly exaggerated)

Sometime later you’ll get a message from Nimble asking to see you. Turns out he may have slightly lied about Clear Sky being wiped out. A few stragglers remain, and he still has contacts. He wants to get out of the situation he’s in, so wants a partner to help him start up his own smuggling business. If you agree, you’ll be tasked with securing capital and contacts. He suggests starting with Sid. Sid might possibly help if you’ve been good to him and haven’t burned your bridges. Alternatively, you might have to look elsewhere. This mission continues for most of the game and can be a good source of income/gear.


Shady Business

One of the conditions for Sid’s continued operations in the Zone is that he maintains a friendly relationship with the border guards. Most have been receptive to the idea, but the last one proved problematic. Thankfully he got taken out. The current commander understands the realities of the Zone and that quid pro quo is a good survival tactic. During any operations to the border checkpoint, if the commander is killed by the player, Sidorovich will completely blacklist the player. All trade services, repairs, vehicle acquisition and non-plot essential missions will be suspended. It will be possible to get back into Sid’s good books, but it will take work.

Red’s Day Job

Speaking to Red, he will give you advice on the Zone and any hazards you may encounter. Turns out being a bodyguard isn’t his preferred line of work, and given half the opportunity he would be out of there. His ‘day job’, however, is proving tricky as the Zone has changed so much. Turns out Red used to be a fairly experienced guide and was once rumoured to know the way to the Wish Granter. He didn’t, but he sure as hell didn’t squash the rumour.

Finding a way to get Red back into the game will open him up as a potential ‘fast travel’ point through the Zone.

The Old Boss

Another unmarked quest, this starts in the border checkpoint. The previous commander had a personal laptop that the current commander is eager to get at. It possibly contains information about his strong arming of Stalkers and any retirement bonuses he may have stashed around. The laptop is password protected and is a semi functional laptop with its own UI, music, documents and other such things. It also contains a direct line to the military communication channel.

Cracking the password and digging around on the laptop will reveal the location of the Compass artifact.

Kuznetsov’s Supplies

Kuznetsov at the checkpoint has been cut off from the major border crossing. He and his crew are a bit pissed off that he still hasn’t been relieved and they have no decent supplies. Doing this mission the player can earn a basic assault rifle if they don’t already have one. Kuznetsov will radio to the main crossing and say he’s sending someone to pick up supplies. When you arrive at the checkpoint, the soldiers will be neutral to you. Pulling out a weapon at this point will cause them all to go hostile to you. Talking to the requisitions officer will have several outcomes depending on how he’s feeling that day. He can just give you the supplies and send you on your way, he can demand all your money if you talk to him, or if he’s feeling particularly nasty he will knock you out, rob you and leave you with the supplies outside the crossing. With any of these outcomes, taking the supplies to Kuznetsov will allow you to try and get compensation by saying you got robbed or even lying about it. Depending on how he’s feeling and how long you took, you will get the weapon and compensation if you ask for it. Getting compensation will increase the bribe amount by 10% whenever you try to cross.

Wolf’s Comrade

Once you complete the ATP assault, Wolf will give you the task of finding his ‘brother’ who was scouting out entrances to the Dark Hollow and hasn’t reported in. Chances are good he’s already dead, but he will be grateful for any information you can find.

In one of the collapsed railroad tunnels, you will find a skeleton that has been picked clean. There’s also a heavily damaged PDA. Reading the PDA is difficult, but you get the idea that he managed to find a route, but had to return quickly when something caught his sent. What the hell is it? Digging around this area will allow you to enter the Dark Hollow, but it is recommended you do not go there for the moment.

Returning the PDA to Wolf will earn his gratitude, and is one of the factors that will eventually determine if Wolf stays in the Zone or not.

The Outlaw

Under the bridge near the rookie village, you will see a lone stalker. He is having a hard time keeping his fire going and is very jumpy. Talking to him, he will give you a sob story of how Wolf exiled him from the rookie camp for losing a weapon that he was trusted with. If you offer to try and help him out, you can go and speak to Wolf about him.

Wolf will be very angry that you’re trying to help him out. They had a very large argument, and the gun that he was lent went missing when the rookie decided to be reckless and go somewhere he wasn’t supposed to. You can convince Wolf to give him another chance on the condition he gets the gun back, or you can take Wolf’s suggestion that the Zone is no place for the likes of him and he will use his influence to get safe passage back across the border. Choosing this option will almost immediately end the quest, although there is a chance that the rookie will be attacked and killed by dogs before you go back and talk to him.

If you decide to help the rookie out you can finally get the full story. He decided to sneak across the railroad to investigate the farm, as he heard there were artifacts there. He was scared off by a pack of rodents, and dropped his gun while he was scrabbling across the upper fence. Getting the gun back will allow him to re-enter the village. This particular mission makes use of the dynamic item spawning script, as upon the Rookie’s death, one of several letters will spawn on his corpse. All have the same basic idea: The rookie is here to provide for his sister and mother, and he’s sending money back to them. Depending on what happens, exactly, the specifics of the letter will be different. If you help him out, he will specifically mention you in the letter, and several other variations (including a rather depressing note about how as soon as he gets money he will send it, despite him being killed by dogs, hated by everyone who could help him).

Assuming this mission is not resolved and he manages to survive until later in the game, when Wolf leaves the rookie village and Fanatic takes over, he will automatically head back to the camp. Assuming you know what happened, you can tell Fanatic about it and get him fucked over again, if you’re feeling particularly cruel.

False Orders

Assuming you get access to the old commander’s laptop, you can use it to send messages to the military channel. Using this, you can influence several different things, including having troops sent to certain areas. You can direct an assault on the rookie camp if you so desire.