Punisher Progress - Raids 131 and 132 - Level 21

The "no traders" event is over. It is time to return to pursuing Punisher 4 and to pursue that container epsilon that will be the reward once I finish the quest line. As an added incentive, I have three other quests I can pursue at the same time, mostly marking ambulances and identifying bodies.  Should be fun.

Raid 131 - The Duo

Loadout: scav vest and balaclava and crappy Class 4 armor and an Ash-12 with two ten round magazines loaded with PS12B. Meds, ears. 

Spawned by the shore, behind the construction area...and realized that I forgot to bring the markers I need for the other quests.  Sigh.  Oh well, the most important quest is killing, so let's get to it.

There is another spawn just down the road towards the river. That person might push directly into the map, but they might also work their way towards me. So I set up and waited, but no one made an appearance. Time to head out. My plan for this spawn is to position myself in the "station" triangle, between weather, power and gas, and chase gunshots.

I headed out. Crossed the road, began moving below weather, heading in the direction of gas, scoping in every direction as I moved, stopping occasionally to listen and look.  Suddenly someone started shooting at me from behind. I ran. I ran forward deeper into the trees, dodging back and forth, and then after cresting a small rise, cut north and down. There was a bush at the bottom of a defile with a big rock next to it. I dropped into the bush.  Am I being pursued?  

I peeked around, but there was no one. Wait - running footsteps. I withdrew out of the bush, keeping it between me and the footsteps, and using the rock as hard cover.  The footsteps approached, following me, but a bit south. Suddenly there was weapon fire from the road, probably at the bridge.  A PMC strode into view and aimed down sight towards the road. I aimed down sight too, but at the PMC. It was a great shot - center of mass, below his arms. He dropped and cried out, dead.  Gotta love the Ash-12. I just thorax one tapped a PMC who was undoubtedly wearing armor, probably at least class 4. 

I wanted those tags badly, but I resisted the urge to jump on the body. I withdrew back into the bush.  Whatever firefight was occurring at the road seemed to have been resolved. Footsteps approaching, from the same direction as the first PMC. Guess he has a buddy. I carefully peeked out, but the buddy went even further south and I didn't have an angle on him.  Grenades and more weapon fire down near the bridge. I stood up hoping to catch sight of some action, but saw nothing and crouched.  Wait a second! Did I just get baited into revealing my location?  Shit, I hope not.

Footsteps reapproaching, this time from the west. I bet the first PMC told his buddy that he was killed with PS12B, from which he can infer that was probably within 100 meters of the body - he's circling, hoping to flush me out. What should I do? Should I stand? Should I move?

The decision was made for me. The buddy started firing into my bush - I made to run, firing, but was caught in the bush. 

Time In Raid: 10 minutes, 13 seconds
Exp: 175
Shots: 3, Hits: 1, Accuracy: 0.33, Body: 85, Armor: 13
Kills: Unknown USEC (Level 31-50)
Killed By: OldMvn   .  Good hunting, OldMvn !!

Mistakes

• should have been more aware of hard cover.  Once I heard him circling from the west I knew I was exposed on that side. I should have moved out of the bush and behind a tree or something.
• gave OldMvn the initiative by just hiding in the bush hoping he didn't see me
• was I baited?  Perhaps not, as there had been combat down by the bridge.
• forgot the markers

Successes

• killed a PMC, with a single shot, to the thorax.  Gotta love the Ash-12.

Raid 132 - Quadruple Questing on Shoreline

In addition to my normal Punisher 4 loadout I have 6 markers in my backpack, plus a can of peas and an energy drink.  Might be a long raid.

I caught a spawn I'd never seen before, one overlooking the Path to Lighthouse extract. It caught me by surprise, because I could see the Lighthouse village down there and began to worry that I had chosen the wrong map.  I figured it out.  First stop: the two ambulances next to the tunnel.

Worked my way down the map, constantly scoping the surroundings. Overlooked the tunnel area from above, seems quiet. Went down and ducked behind the last vehicle there and checked the road. Not a soul. I stepped out and began to advancing, when suddenly a PMC ran around a vehicle headed straight towards me. He must have been as surprised as me.  I aimed down sight and fired three shots directly into him. How is he not dead? I started stepping to cover behind an ambulance, but not before he got off two quick devastating shots, blacking my arm and giving me multiple bleeds. I leaned out from the ambulance, fired off a quick shot, and dodged back. I leaned out again, but he was dead. I hot keyed my meds. The light bleed got fixed, but not the heavy. What? I hot keyed it again. Nothing. Fuck. I tabbed over and stopped the bleed manually just as my thorax went to zero.  This is fucking great.  I'm only minutes into a long raid and I'm already at death's door.

I looted the body, got his tags and all his meds, and his SR-25 and magazines. Nice. I'm making a sucking sound that won't stop, but I just ignored it. Marked the ambulances, healed, stepped into a bush to reload magazines. My energy and hydration are already low from the injuries. I ate and drank my snacks and took a painkiller to stop the sucking sound. 

Went up to Sanitar's vacation home. Made sure it was clear of Sanitar and his friends and then marked the meds there, identified the body. Upwards to resort. Had a small firefight with a scav at the bus station, but withdrew. At the resort I identified the body, marked the med stash, marked the ambulance.  Only one marker and one body left, and those are at the pier. I might make it out of this raid after all.  Though I was concerned about my energy and hydration. I had been popping pain pills and propital to keep the sucking sound at bay, and now I really need to find something to eat and drink.  

The last obstacle before the pier is the gas station. There was a scav in the lot. I fired and he went down. But that attracted the attention of another - I hid in a bush, the scav approached, I could make out his silhouette against the sinking sun. I blasted him, he cried and ran off.  I didn't chase.

Jumped the barrier to the road and started towards the pier. Stamina drained - can't run. Damn. This is not a good place to be stationary. What to do? I hovered near a vehicle, just waiting for the stamina to increase a tiny bit so I can get down the causeway. I moved. A player scav stepped out from behind the vehicle there, firing. I fired as quick as I could, but my weapon is low. He landed a shot, and a single feather was all he needed. I sunk to the pavement, just meters from possibly completing three quests in a single raid.

Time In Raid: 33 minutes, 6 seconds
Exp: 1178
Kills: FatherMesser (Level 21 BEAR), Petr Sladkiy (AI Scav).  Good luck in your next raid, FatherMesser!
Shots: 35, Hits: 8, Accuracy: 0.2, Body: 554, Armor: 183
Killed By: Slava General ( MrVeggiez ) .   GG MrVeggiez  !  Enjoy the SR-25 and the Ash-12.

Mistakes

• as always, firing when out of cover. If I had jumped to cover instead of just firing on FatherMesser, the combat might have been cleaner and I wouldn't have been so disabled the whole raid.  That said, I fired first and I felt that those first shots landed solidly. It's surprising he didn't crumple. He only had a Class 4 Osprey rig, which I ruined.
• Fight at the bus depot was poorly conducted. At least I was unharmed.
• Do I need to bring even more food and drink?

Successes

• Killed a PMC, adding yet another to my total. Only seven more to go to complete this quest.
• Placed 5 different markers.  But I'll have to re-identify the bodies. Apparently they must be done in one successful raid. 

PostScript

MrVeggiez contacted me after the raid and we chatted. He was surprised to have survived the PS12B, not sure whether his class 3 press armor stopped it, or if it took him in the stomach. I blacked out his leg, but he was able to extract. Hopefully he puts that SR-25 and it's Razor scope to good use.  That looked like a nice weapon. I probably won't see the Ash-12 again, but I have others.

Post PostScript

My constant poverty has been lifted a bit. The "no trader" event was very profitable for me. I ran scav raids (which I normally avoid) and survived more (instead of normally dying).  I took a trove of VPO-136's from a player scav, made them into AKMs, and sold them each for 80K plus on the flea during the event.  And since flea prices were crazy, I took the opportunity to stock up on a bunch of barter trade items that were selling for dirt cheap. Once the traders returned, I traded, crafted, and posted on the flea. I have 2 million rubles in the bank right now, removing that stressful starvation feeling. What a relief.