Part 16: Dark Business

Continuing the trend of bigg-ass updates.

Dark Business



:"Let's do some climbing."





:"Hmm..power supply works in emergency mode. I'll open the gates anyway, but if you wanna have some light, find the generator room right of this hall. If you're lucky, you'll fix the general power supply. Or sneak in the darkness and watch your moves."

Well, I'd like to have some light. Not only for your viewing pleasure, but also because this place has a lot of mines.

Have a quick look at the map.

As Panevin said, the generator room is on the right. Our final goal is deep in the base, but we have to cover the rest before we reach that.

Akhmet will take care of the power supply.

Not only because the door is locked...

..yeah.



The switch box is even more devious.

Let there be light!

The room contains some minor spoils, like grenades and extra mines.

Now it's lootin time!

Next to our entry point is a storage area.


Aside from being mined, this room yields more grenades, an MG belt, a fresh RPK and several stacks of ammo.

At the lower end is a room that sure looks like an armory.



Of course!

Aside from some minor crap, I find this..




This is the last tier of armor. Despite the description, I never noticed any ill effects. One armor and two plates go into the bag.

Time to move deeper into the base.



This gate blocks the direct access to the next part of the base. Seems like we have to go through the rooms.


But let's take a quick look into this small room first.




Aside from a mine detector, I find two of these babies..


This is a one-shot rocket launcher, very similar to the American LAW. I've included a picture of the armed version. You need to ready the launcher before shooting and can't disarm it again.

Before we can move into the next part of the base, there is one more storage room to check.



You should expect this, by now.

I find a few weapon attachments, a large backpack, some mid tier armor and...


A fully pimped AKS-U. Kind of worthless at this point though.


Also a new type of MG ammo. Whatever could this mean?


The way into the next part of the base, leads through this housing area.


Translation, please?

There is nothing worth mentioning in here, so let's keep moving.


Panevin waits down the hall, but there is still more ground to explore.


Three large and one little room, to be precise.

This housing area is directly next to the first one.

And contains equally lame stuff.

I decide to move down the hall first.

We're on the other side of that gate I mentioned earlier.

The way leads into the mess hall.

Which contains a bit of food.

As does the kitchen.


Back to the other end of the base, and past Panevin.

The little room yields one more rocket launcher, another two ceramic plates and NV goggles. If they would work, you could use them instead of the light. But nope!


Here I find another RG-6 grenade launcher and a busted AKM. Oh well, money doesn't stink!

I think it's about time that we checked what Panevin has to say.

Also I make sure that everyone is properly equipped, before moving on. #Hint#Hint#

:"There's a door here, but it's locked. Blow it up with something , then we can get to the railway."

Yeah I could do that, but I have a better Idea.


AKHMET SMASH!


MORE SMASH!


That's not how physics should work.

Panevin moves on, and so should we. There is some loot here, but it's nothing important.


Down we go.

There is a little make-shift morgue down here.

But we'll check that out later.

Same goes for a little room at the other end.


Panevin is again waiting for us, so let's get this over with.

:"Follow me, I'll open the gate."





Panevin just fucks off, without another word. But who cares? I can already smell the sexy machine guns.







Surprise, surprise!


As Akhmet and Zhirik are in the tunnel, Vitek and Serb have to hold their own for now. I could have cheesed the hell out of this fight, with mines. But that wouldn't be very interesting for you, now would it? Let's do it like real men, with bullets and a grenade launcher.

My first action is to tell Akhmet and Zhirik to sprint the fuck back.

Here you can see Panevin strolling up the stairs, not a care in the world.

Keep this in mind for later.

Okay, on to the action!


Serb and Vitek camp the housing area.


The bandit train chugs down the hall.


This guy popped out of the corner with a nade at the ready.

I have Vitek move back and Serb responds in kind.

What better chance to use an automatic grenade launcher than in cramped spaces?


More victims on the way.


Vitek spots this guy, but I don't want him to engage. He would have to hip-fire and he's crap at that.


Much better!


More mans show up.


Vitek just blasts into the crowd.

And Serb has shrapnel for everyone.

I almost feel bad for the bandits.

A few moments later, the rest of the lads arrive.

While Akhmet books a passage to Buckshot town, Zhirik moves towards the kitchen to guard the flank.


I've already said that buckshot is a gamble at this point in the game, due to armors. But this guy got shredded by a grenade so his armor is fucked.

Akhmet moves a bit further...

..and finds something beautiful.

Remember that the Saiga is upgraded? With automatic fire?



HA HA HA

The guy on the ground eats some buck, but the armor saves him.

No problem though.

The AI actually tried to flank me, at this point.

Good thing that I had Serb and Zhirik in the kitchen.




On the other end, Akhmet played the decoy...

..so Vitek could whip out the rifle.


The red mist

Also the guy in the back had the worst idea ever.

Going prone in Vitek's crosshair.

:"Seems like we killed them all. Panevin is dead too. Let's take the machine guns and get out of here as soon as possible."



Panevin is dead?! When did that happen?


Oh. Must have been a stroke, eh?

Here's the deal. Panevin is supposed to walk through the base while the last cutscene happens and will then keel over at a place where it makes sense. But the scripting seems broken. I've only seen this play out in the right way when I played this game for the very first time. As I mentioned another broken script, way back in the beginning, I think that this game also has some minor corruption issues. 7,62 also had them, but much more severe.

Well, nothing left to do than to clean up and move out.

This is the morgue I skipped earlier. And I almost tripped a mine.

The locker holds a fully pimped AKM. Kind of nice, but I already have one.

On the other end of the railway..

...is a sneaky safe with a pretty hard lock.


I really wish that machine guns were more useful. Cause this is a beast.

Have some random textures while I organize my loot.




I won't go into too much detail here, but Akhmet carries like 4 times his max weight.

And the rest is roughly the same. Do I have to spell out that I'll be filthy rich after this mission?



:"Yeah..let's go!"





:"Do I look like I'm in a hurry? If we can divide the loot, you can rely on me."

And so, Zhirik leaves our group. All his stuff will be dumped into Akhmet's old safe. While it may seem like you now could join him in his plans for the Bazaar, this is not the case. What Zhirik has planned will play out in a cutscene and we're at the end of this chapter. It was long enough.


Now we can also understand Akhmet's motivation. While Zhirik is kind of a pal, he really planned to create a strong ally to strengthen his own position.

Before I take care of my loot, let's check in with Wifey.

:"You're here, thank god! Everything alright?"

:"Of course. Zhirik has got one dead man, but we're unharmed."
Nobody gives a shit about Panevin, and rightly so.

:"Don't put your evil eye on it! You'd better rest for a while."

:"Okay, this won't hurt me."


Kyabir is also overjoyed to see Akhmet.

I won't bore you with my trip to the Bazaar. Just know that I made several thousand Fives and never ever have to worry about anything again. I bought some Vog grenades and another heavy armor for Akhmet. Also I turned in quest items and finally remember that Vitek still has a point to spend.

Eagle eye:"Your eyesight got so sharp you can recognize a type of bullet in flight."
I let him go into the sight tree as this is good for a rifle guy. Also this opens the Radar skill, that was requested at the beginning of the Lp. I'll try my best to find out what it does.

Akhmet also got a level and I decided to give him some MG skill.
Affinity to machine guns:"You handle machine guns like toy pistols. Eins, zwei, fire!."
Just so he can use the stationary weapons a bit better. There is really nothing else left for him.

And Serb got himself the piercing skill.
Armor piercing:"Every bulletproof vest has weaker spots, and you happen to hit them all the time."



And so, we reach the end of this chapter. With so many things happening to him, I think Akhmet really earned his rest this time. But instead of looking at what has happened to him in the past, we should ask what will happen in the future? Only time will tell...