A Shephard- ZoC Main Story Prologue Chapter 2

Part 2: Light of Aidan


Years Later, 2011


The years after The Second Disaster, the area around chernobyl remind nigh-inaccessible. Mankind was seemingly denied it’s new frontier. But man was not so easily deterred. Slowly, a small group of brave, or foolish, people had pushed back into the zone. By creating detectors to warn of the unstable spacial anomalies. By creating suits that could resist more than just the heavy fields of radiation. Of the few men that came back from these early probes, tales of fantastical wonder came with them. They claimed there were places where gravity was turned upside its head. Where the ground seemed to grow organically into intricate webs. Creatures of unimaginable size and shape.


And most interestingly, Artifacts.


Only whispered in the most private of circles, these items were claimed to work miracles. From removing radiation in even the most severe cases, to accelerate the healing of deep cuts. Some could give you the stamina to run indefinitely, or be able to walk into open flame unharmed. When the existence of these items started circulating in larger rumor circles, it was laughed off as just more fantastical ramblings as the others. The laughter stopped when the money started flowing, however. Now even greater numbers of men tested their luck against something which constantly rejected every advance to uncover its secrets.
For fortune, fame, curiosity, or adventure, The Zone as it was now being called attracted all types of life. Curious scientist, to opportunistic robbing scum, the one lesson The Zone had in for all of them was the very basic law of survival. Only the strongest could thrive here. As of every day more unspeakable horrors emerged, the proliferation of the deadly anomalies grew, and throughout the violence nature provided mankind continued to tear itself apart. It seemed that the increased military presence at the border could not completely contain both the horrors within and the eager groups outside seeking conflict within The Zone.


The government gave these people such labels as Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and even Robers.


They called themselves STALKERS.

It was within this atmosphere that Aidan came to The Zone. Aidan was a young man who just dropped out of university, and was looking down on his luck. Not accustomed to the nature of life that would be so violent, it was more of a last option for someone who had failed every other prospect in his life. Hearing the economic opportunity finding just one artifact would entail, and having no other direction to follow, he had somehow managed to dodge the now heavy Ukrainian military presence at the border.

The Zone was considered by many to be a Horror that needed to be contained, and so the Military provided that; but would never commit to a full incursion. They would leave that to small groups of government funded scientist; flown in to study and maybe provide insights into the mystical nature of The Zone.

Once inside, Aidan had quickly run into Clear Sky. They were just one faction of many that had come into existence within this politically void region. After the initial incursions within this region; it had become abundantly clear that if people were to live within this region, numbers would mean survival. And so these factions appeared to support themselves and like minded stalkers in pursuing the goals they believed were important. Some sought to expand The Zone’s influence, while others grouped together to rob and exploit the ignorant and unaware.

Clear Sky was one of the smaller of these groups; whose beliefs were not those of profit, but scientific understanding. The best way of countering the zone was to have a complete picture, was their thought. But unlike the officially sanctioned scientist compatriots, they were not above resorting to violence to find solutions to their problems.

As aimless as Aidan was, he quickly fell into this group. He learned much, surviving in the dense swamps that Clear Sky called home. He became proud to wear the blue and white patch of this small, elusive group. And very quickly he found treasure of his own.

“I’ll give you 15k for it, and take all of your patrols for the next two months. Final offer.”

“What? No, not after all the effort I took to get this back into this condition!” Aidan retorted to Serhiy, his close friend within Clear Sky.

“I know, I can hardly believe this is the same piece of junk rifle we found at the edge of the swamp,” Replied Serhiy

“That _I_ found, thank you very much. And despite the internals being in great condition, the outside needed a lot of work! New cheekrest, new scope rail, finding a new lens for said scope; none of that would be covered by what you’re offering! I’m keeping it and that’s final.” Aidan retorted.

“What use is it to you anyways? Most of us know you’re the worst shot this side of the Cordon!” Serhiy replied, knowing the futility of his argument but insistent on keeping on the banter.

“You know why,” Aidan said quietly as he looked down, rubbing the english words “Lucky” he had inscribed onto the buttstock of the rifle. Those english classes at university coming in use.. “And you promised not to talk about it.”

“Even now, I’m not entirely convinced, but I’ll keep my mouth shut. Otherwise Lebedev and the other eggheads would probably tear it apart.” Serhiy was referring to the stories Aidan told him about the rifle. Stories he wouldn’t believe unless he was on the end of one of them.
They were both out on patrol, skimming the edges of the swamp for other stalkers that might get too close to their base. Although all they ever ended up doing was shooting at wildlife. But as usual Aidan was once again lagging behind. This life was not suited for Aidan, Serhiy thought. The kid would stumble through the swamps, forget his packs all over the swamp, even after they wrapped them in bright blue and white. On this patrol, they were talking back and forth, Serhiy giving Aidan the usual banter. Neither of them heard the pack of wild boars rustling through the grass. Stumbling into each other, both groups turned into confusion as Serhiy tried to back up and most of the boars turned and fled. But one overly large and aggressive one reared it’s head and charged right into Serhiy.

And then it dropped, sliding right up to his feet. Serhiy was astonished and confused. This boar was charging him at incredible speed. And Aidan was a ways behind him, standing directly between him and this boar. But somehow Aidan unslung the rifle, steadied it from a crouched position and shot around Serhiy to hit the boar. A close to impossible shot that even the most experienced stalker would have trouble with.

The SVD, Aidan later claimed, was special. In practice, it was only as good as the wilder behind it. That being terrible with Aidan on the trigger. But when he needed it most, in dire circumstances, the rifle would always hit. It would hit with such precision that would instantly debilate most targets. As long as he believed in it.

Aidan wasn’t sure what some of these artifacts from The Zone looked like, but he was now convinced that this was one of them. And after saving him from the charging boar, Serhiy agreed.

“And we’re going to need all the help we can get,” he said, looking down at Aidan’s rifle, “because we’re going north. To the center of the zone.”
They were marching towards Limansk, a forgotten city very few knew about. Clear Sky’s wide information network set it as the best alternative to get to the NPP Plant. So far the journey was a quiet one. It gave Aidan a lot of time to think about what they were getting into.

Clear Sky was now headed to the center of the zone. Something that was the dream of every stalker. But all that filled his heart was dread. It was explained by their leader, Lebedev, that a small group had gotten to the center of the zone, and was making another attempt at this very moment. That it was the cause of the recent emission that rivaled “The Second Disaster.”

An emission that nearly took Aidan's life as he had accidently left his rifle outside and was still looking for it when Serhiy had to pull him inside. He found the rifle afterwards, noting it’s undamaged condition except the scope once again was damaged. He had left it with Suslov, their armorer, while he borrowed an ill-fitted optic.

What had filled Aidan with dread was that they were informed the hired mercenary they used to clear the way was running into resistance. Men in white and brown suits who were almost fanatically defending from Clear Sky’s efforts to probe deeper into the zone. Boars and wildlife were one thing, but how could he shoot fellow stalkers?

He must have been thinking out loud, because Serhiy responded “you don’t lead them so much!” and laughed as he slapped his back.

“It’ll be fine. I hear that mercenary Scar is ripping them a new one. Us in the rear probably won’t run into much resistance.”
“Where do you think it came from?” Aidan asked, a bit calmer now but still nervous under the pressure

“My guess is from those apartments across the river, our guys haven’t cleared them out yet.”

And Adian could see that in his scope, as he witnessed a group of blue uniformed men storm into a doorway; flashes and echos of rifle fire emitting from the windows within. He followed the windows up, and thought he saw something right before he flinched as a pile of asphalt was kicked up not a foot from his face.

At this point Serhiy had managed to crawl over to him:

“Aidan, no pressure, but that was really-”

“Shhh,” Trodnick interrupted, “let him work.”

Aidan required that window he saw, and true to his intuition, he saw a figure in the window. He brazenly had his rifle resting in the window frame, jutting it out into the afternoon sun. It was more surprising he hadn’t found it earlier. He calmed his breathing, matching the size of the figure with the chevron in his borrowed scope. It wasn’t close to what he practised. He became more nervous. He never made a shot at this range. All he had shot was a boar. Could he believe? Could he really do it? Could he-
His finger gave the trigger a little extra squeeze, and the silhouette was gone. Before he could even pull his eye away from the scope, or wonder why his finger seemed to move on it’s own, another figure could be seen shoving the now corpse out of the way and trying to grab for the rifle.


Another squeeze. And he too disappeared. He continued to watch the window. A third figure, but this time holding a flashlight and signaling a blue light three times. The storm group he saw earlier had finished clearing to that floor, and it was safe to move again.


He exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and brought the rifle up with him as he stood up from his prone position.


“What a shot! Aidan, I knew you could do it!” Serhiy exclaimed, dusting the dirt off his friend.


Trodnick nodded more solemnly, “Very good, but we must keep moving. The gunfire has died down, so that could mean we’re doing very well up there. Or we have no one left.”


Aidan collected himself, looking down at his rifle, “Lucky.” Once again it pulled off a shot he knew he could never make, and once again it saved his life. It gave him confidence, but made his nervousness grow. Why?


The rest of the afternoon was spent advancing slowly, cleaning up the remaining elements of the white and browned fatigued stalkers. They had managed to even capture one, but he just sat there, ranting a raving. He would spit at them “Monolith!” and try bite them through the mask. They tried taking it off, but the pale, scarred man they found underneath with completely white eyes convinced them that it was not a good idea. They had tied him up and left him in the care of the acquisitions men. They had the center of the zone to get to.
Eventually meeting the rest of the group at the abandoned hospital, it was dusk now. Lebedev could be seen up ahead, handing a odd-looking rifle to the mercenary, who then trudged on ahead. Lebedev turned around and addressed the members present.

“Strelok is already at the center of the Zone. He treads there unhindered with the psi-equipment he wears. We must stop him, before the zone reacts again and spews forth more anomalies and horrors. The operation is simple; we will provide cover to the mercenary while he hunts for Strelok. If we are fortunate, he will get him before The Zone reacts, and will immediately pull out. Although the opportunity is tempting, we must leave immediately. We can come back later to study at another time, but the fight here was difficult, and our experts are not sure how long the path will stay open. Stay in groups, and provide the mercenary cover. Pull out when I give the order.”

He paused.

“And as always, good hunting Stalkers.”
Gunfire continued to erupt, leading into a crescendo of explosions as grenades flew, men screamed, and the stattico of heavy machine gun fire provided a background to the carnage. This was no longer an organized assault, but an intense frenzy of death and carnage. He kept running.

More flashes, but not from the lightning. The rifle that the mercenary was now using sent streaks of bluish light forward, into the cover of those damnable white suited stalkers. He was briefly awed at such power, but only momentarily as he kept running. Aidan now dove behind an abandoned railcar. He took stock and realized he had gone too far; not being able to see where the rest of his group was in the downpour and darkness. He looked forward with his rifle and was surprised to find a man charging at him, without regard to his own safety.. He panicked, and fired without consideration to aim. The man fell, as if he tripped on something and falling only a few feet in front of him. He could only stare for a moment as he watched the man, face down in the dirt, observing how his breathing slowed. And then stopped. He continued to stare, as flashes of thunder, and flashes from the mercenary rifle both cast shadows in different directions around the body. The explosions in the distance now muted. The carnage seemingly miles away.

Then an announcement on his radio, it was Lebedev:

“Strelock’s psy-protection has been disabled! That ought to stop him. Now we just wait and see what happens.” A pause. “How’s the readings? Any drop in the level of anomalous activity?”
Aidan looked up. The low grumbling. The cloud formation, and the sky. This looked like a blowout, but could anyone survive one at the center of the zone? He already knew the answer.

The radio continued to transmit “Gah! I didn’t expect this! Anomalous activity is through the roof!”

This was not a normal blowout, Aidan thought. Helpless, he sat down behind the railcar and clutched his rifle against himself. The rain pouring down his mask as he looked at it. This rifle was special. This rifle had saved him. This rifle WILL save him. He continued to think. He looked at it, pleadingly. The SVD just sat in his arms.

“The Zone was supposed to calm down!” Lebedev continued over the radio.

Gunfire still continued around him, blue uniforms clashing against the white and grey. While most of Clear Sky had realized at this point the fatal inevitability of the situation they were in, the defenders of the plant continued to press on, undeterred about the sky above them ripping itself apart.

Aidan could feel a pain in the back of his mind, slowly growing. Their leader continuing to echo his sentiment over the radio waves,

“AGHH, WHATS GOING ON? MY HEAD’S ABOUT TO EXPLODE”

Aidan dropped the rifle, clutching his head.

The rifle disappeared as he squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to endure the pain.

Seconds before he lost his mind, the sensation he suddenly felt was so alien it had almost brought him back.

A warm embrace.

But it was too late.

The light of Aiden left his eyes.

Chernobyl was once again encapsulated in silence.

There are many legends within The Zone, each more fantastical and unbelievable than the last. A few talk about Clear Sky; the doomed group whose curiosity got the better of them, and how they all went to the center of The Zone only to simply disappeared. Fewer still talk about why. A dangerous scientific trip, or a naive attempt to stop The Zone; whatever one thought that could mean. And only a small handful who had actually been close to the center of the zone could connect the dots. The huge increase in numbers of The Monolith; the fanatical faction of brown and white fatigues that zealously guarded against any attempt to get closer to the zone. How one stalker would swear he saw on the torn arm patch of one of these monolith members, the faded blue and white patch of the once elusive Clear Sky group. That The Zone could somehow change the very will of man, to brainwash him and wipe him of his previous life; and give him simple purpose. This was the greatest horror in The Zone to the few who knew of it. The reason why the naive forever tried to grasp at the elusive treasures hidden in the depths of it, and the veteran and weary kept far away.

That's it with this part. One more bit of prolouge to get out of the way, and then we'll rejoin the man we saw in the introduction. I tried to strike a balance in describing the setting for those unfamiliar while not trying to bore fans who