Mercenaries' suitcase

Freeman is asking you to bring back his suitcase that James, the leader of a mercenary group, "persuaded" him to give.
Warning: if you already finished Deal with the whistler but still haven't fought the mercenaries at the [ checkpoint] in Army Warehouses, go fight them before accepting this quest, or you'll miss the Wild Territory - Army Warehouses transition. Refer to Missing expedition for details. (if you haven't started Deal with the whistler yet, you won't miss anything).
== Walkthrough ==
James can be found in the [ stalker shack] in Wild Territory. BUG WARNING: standing too close to him or attacking him or his bodyguards before the talk will make him hostile and softlock the game.
=== Peaceful option ===
Talk to James and buy the case for 50000RU. If you try haggling he'll raise the price to 70000RU. The suitcase, along with James's PP-19 "Bison", will be marked on your map.
=== Aggressive option ===
This is one of the absurdly long and large fights that are abundant in this game. Even starting it is hard, you'll probably need to withstand several .357 hits to your body. Having an exoskeleton and 60% bulletproofing in artifacts is strongly advised.
After talking rude to James or bargaining too much, he and his bodyguards will turn hostile. This is a tough encounter: you have to draw your gun while being fired at by three enemies, one of them is point blank and another has a Remington 870 "Marine Magnum". Normally, waiting 10 seconds in the dialogue makes NPCs holster their weapons, so if they become hostile you'll have the time to draw your pistol. This doesn't work with James, he always pokes his gun into your face.
You can make the fight a bit easier by:
* Using a sidearm in the pistol slot, as it can be drawn much faster than the primary gun. Desert Eagle Mark XIX that can be bought from Barkeep is a perfect choice, as it kills any NPC with one body hit and is great when fired from the hip, like any other pistol. Sawed off shotguns are also good for this.
* Low crouching before speaking to James.
* Making his bodyguards panic and leave their positions by throwing a smoke grenade under them. (this shouldn't make them hostile)
* Jumping behind his back over the restrictor that makes him hostile before the talk (make sure not to trigger it mid-jump). See the video below for an example:
** 
* Setting a mine under James' guards before the talk. It won't blow up until they move.
Kill James and his guards and grab the case. He will drop James's PP-19 "Bison" chambered in .357, in mint condition. Watch out for the guard with , you don't want to be shot in the face with that thing.
Once the initial group has been dealt with, James' mercenaries will start to arrive - 91 mercs total, including one with M60. They will slowly spawn all over Wild Territory over the course of 2 ingame hours, from the [ road to Yantar] to the [ crashed helicopter].
Mercenaries will arrive in waves after certain triggers have been hit. One of the triggers for the mercenary spawns is at the end of the [ Burner tunnel] on the Yantar side. Wandering over this trigger will spawn enemies on both ends of the tunnel. You can try to fight them there or focus one side to escape. There is one final trigger near the [ Yantar transition] that spawns a small squad coming from there.
The number of waves depends on the difficulty level, so switch it to Nightmare if you want additional loot. If you're playing on Nightmare, the hill above the road to Yantar will get mined. The mines can't be defused, only detonated.
To avoid any issues later, make sure you kill all merc waves and check the entire Wild Territory for potential leftovers.
=== Finishing the quest ===
Bring the suitcase back to Freeman.
== Notes ==
* This quest is one of the two conditions for Ashen, James' commander, to spawn. See Missing expedition for details.
*You can quicksave before accepting the reward from Freeman to reroll the artifact and scientific suit he gives you.
**The Clear Sky SEVA has the best psi resistance, but the Modified SEVA+ offers better protection from bullets and has a higher carry weight bonus.
* If you want to push all that merc scrap to Skinflint, stash it on the location until you have the direct route to Army Warehouses; it opens after fighting Joker in Missing expedition. The safest place is the irradiated corner northwest of the [ heli crash site], the transition will conveniently open nearby.
* After accepting this quest, anomalies will inexplicably spawn behind the rusty pipes and metal shacks near where James and his mercenaries hang out, depriving the player of otherwise great cover options. Because OP 2.2!
== Bugs ==
* After the certain point in the game (presumably after The mystery of the Monolith), stalkers come to the campfire near the James' shack. They will fill fight the mercs immediately, after which the mercs will be hostile to you as well, softlocking the quest. The solution is to either complete this quest earlier, or to blow the friendly stalkers with canisters/explosives before accepting the quest.
* Standing too close to James, attacking him or his bodyguards, or making him exit the shack before the talk will make him hostile and softlock the quest. (and subsequently the game)
*You can grab two copies of James's PP-19 "Bizon" if you attack him and his men after paying the 50000RU, attack his reinforcements, then grab his stash. The second copy isn't needed anywhere in the game, though.