[PDA Teach - Col. Advimov]
Status report on 24.04.2012
Lt. Inga Roizman
"Ruby" Squad

Current situation in the sector of Zapolye is as follows:

After a lengthy period of inactivity, local Freedom unit rapidly gained members after Osprey assumed command and they began a PR campaign against Duty. Not a long time after, Osprey was assassinated by local Loner group called 'The Limit', who in turn were extinguished by SSU under suspicion of attempting destabilize the region.

Despite this setback, Freedom rapidly received a new commander 'Sparrow, with Joel Thane as his 2IC. They continued Osprey's work without losing momentum, although with mixed success, as only ones to support them were either ex-freedomers, other related stalkers and paid mercenaries.

One of the freshly minted traders, Stallman (a suspected bandit fence), took Freedom's side with support of his bodyguards and contractors, moving in with them into an abandoned military base in sector's north west corner. Alongside them, a mercenary group with ties to banditry and mugging called 'Red Cross Mercenaries' moved in as well, apparently under contract of both Freedom and Bandits.

Freedom staged a number of vandalist acts against the detachment FOB, either posing as loners or hiring RCM to pretend to speak for all loners in the area. None of these acts had lasting effect on unit's operations.

Freedom keeps issuing bounty against one specific member of the detachment - SrPvt. Vasilenak, a technician we recently received from Rostok. It appears to be a bullying tactic, and a few loners attempted to storm the FOB to assassinate him fruitlessly. An increased bounty on Vasilenak was given to RCM units and a number of them approached Duty trying to act as informants, possibly with intent to gain trust so the bounty can be claimed easier.
Recently, RCM, Freedom and Stallman's men had a fallout and split, RCM leaving Freedom HQ and Stallman returning his shop to Loner Town, which once more permits us to perform raids upon Freedom FOB without uninvolved casualties. Stallman's goons formed under the name of 'Raveger'(sic), led by a man named 'Angus'.

Other topics:
An offer was made to SSU to exchange Cyr's RS3b currently in their possession for a SKAT-9 currently in Duty possession due to RS3b's superior protection levels against all threats and lack of uniform-related interest from SSU. It is still pending review by their command.

Duty units shut down a listening post ran by unknown entity that was attempting to eavesdrop on local frequencies. Due to violence of action, no exploitable intel could be acquired, equipment destroyed in the fighting.

A culling of local zombie population took place, including elimination of a Controller in the mines up north.

Contact was established with replacement research team, they offered Duty a spot as their guards as long as we can supply them artifacts. Progress ongoing.

Monolith are spotted in the area and are involved in kidnappings of Stalkers. Ruby Squad had a skirmish with them in one of the underground tunnels, resulting in victory on our end. Our sources report at least 1 Radsuit Operator, at least 1 M240 and other expensive equipment
Made a pitch to Ecologists regarding a joint raid into Laboratory X-18 beneath Dark Valley, offering them armed protection, rights to all documents and research material within, in exchange of them sourcing access cards from SSU. Situation is still developing.
Cpt. Vlad Vorshevskiy managed to subdue and deliver a live bloodsucker to Ecologist team. A large increase in trust from them is expected.(edited)
SSU are ready to assist Duty in our faction war in exchange for high tier equipment supply, we currently have a spare Berill-5m that we could afford to pass on to SSU, although there's no confirmation that SSU will actually deliver their end of the bargain.(edited)
Equipment-wise, we still hold superiority over Freedom in departments of: Assault suits and Heavy Assault Suits, Machineguns, Sniper rifles, Shotguns, 7.62x51 rifles, PDWs
We currently lack: Suits with closed circulation system, 9x39 Sniper Rifles
Member-wise, due to recent Exodus of experienced loners to form Limit, ranks were filled with less-experienced loners, who's training is still on-going. They're showing promise, but lack their own equipment, thus gear has to be issued.  We're 1 trooper short of full strength.(edited)
Antoliy Pevernikruchenko, one of the Duty veterans, have returned briefly to our service, but decided to retire again after faction war struggle became too much to bear. A replacement was found quickly.
A man named Vorov is pursuing ex-Duty operative Gifter, claiming  that Gifter banded together with Duty deserters and they're now causing mischief. We informed them that Gifter was discharged honorably and we shall not assist in any endeavours that harm him without evidence of his misdeeds. When we attempted to reach Gifter for comment, his PDA handle was unavailable.
A prominent local bandit operative -  'Legs' - was executed by a Duty patrol, putting an end to a long string of robberies involving sniper fire.(edited)
A number of our contacts that dabble in amateur zone research have vanished recently, with some confirmed KIA possibly under SSU orders. The progress of researching the zone to discover ways to destroy or hamper it will slow down for the upcoming months.(edited)
Current Ruby activities are aimed at increasing our readiness to defend/attack, formulating a strategic plan of action, investigating bandit threat, securing SSU/Ecologist cooperation.
We stand ready to deploy in any sector of the zone for high risk assignments.
Signed,
Lt. Inga Roizman