Monolith

Monolith or **The Monolith** is a paramilitary organization in the Zone, being located deep in the Northern Territories. They are the largest faction (besides the army), having maintained this status ever since the year of 2011.

> We thank you O Monolith, for revealing the cunning plans of our enemies to us.
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> May your light shine down on the souls of the brave soldiers who gave their lives in service to your will.
> Onward warriors of the Monolith, avenge your fallen brothers, blessed as they are in their eternal union with the Monolith.
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> Bring death to those who spurned the holy power of the Monolith.
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> -A preacher to his men, during the Military's assault to the Pripyat Hospital, 2012.

## "O Monolith - the holy light"

* The blessed icon
* Wartime patch

## Additional information

### Played by

Fun fact: The second patch was intended to be the one used for the faction. It was then scrapped. On the flip side, all Monolith uniforms don the patch.

## Overview

A highly fanatical faction that believes in the "divine and unquestioned power of the great and holy guiding light that being ~~a fucking glowing rock~~ the Monolith". Holding a firm belief that "the world requires the absolute intervention of the great Monolith. Without the Monolith, the world will soon crumble under its' sins.", they took it upon themselves to "spread the Monolith's influence for a better future of humanity". Two prime examples of this are their continuous efforts to expand to the South such as conducting raids to the Barrier and Salvation, a particularly interesting preacher... They make heavy use of rare artifacts, such as the Flame, Bubble or the legendary *Volat Emerald*. They are also known to be neutral towards zombifieds, for some strange reason.

This faction is controlled by: First Mate Topol

## Background

> Have you heard? A new group is surfacing in the Zone. Well, not really but they are starting to do some really weird and hostile shit nowadays. It was all the way back somewhere '08 and '09, I don't remember. They were a group of stalkers obsessed with... this weird artifact called the "Monolith", or the Wish Granter as many refer it today. Either way, they were really into that shit. After a certain period though, they became more and more fanatical about it. Hell, they once outright bruised one of my guys when he disagreed with some of their stuff. Weirdos. Shit, now they are no longer weirdos, they are a threat now. Marched straight through the Brain Scorcher like a bunch of madmen, never returned 'til now. These days, they keep on launching daring attacks to the Barrier, exhausting our forces. Free stalkers can't just simply hold the point, while Duty and Freedom is too busy fighting over their asses for new gains. As for the military force holed up in that gigantic complex over there, they don't even bother to do it. God, I wish we killed all of them before this ever happened...
>
> - An unknowns stalker talking to Scar, Army Warehouses 2011.

## Infrastructure

### Command structure:

Inquisitor -> Deacon -> Preacher -> the rest

### Subgroups:

* The Inquisition: A powerful Monolith detachment, once comprised of the best soldiers among the fanatics' ranks.

### Notable members:

* **Leader:** Meutenfürher
* **Medic:** Sister Nadia? (Played by Macabre)
* **Quartermaster: "**???"
* **Others:**
	1. Stalwart (deceased - played by Macabre)
	2. Inquisitor Cadaver (MIA - played by Macabre)
	3. Inquisitor Vult (deceased - played by Macabre)
	4. Smog the Seer, Grand Inquisitor (deceased-played by Sebastopol)
	5. Igdim the Cleanser***,*** Beacon of the Inquisition (deceased-played by Sebastopol)
	6. Silhouety the Fearless, Bane of the Heretics (deceased-played by Sebastopol)
	7. Brother Seth: radical zealot,

## Equipment

### Overview

The Monolith is yet another case of using homegrown equipment. This time, though, they are more on the levels of "free stalker" originality. Monolith make heavy use of white, brown and urban camouflage patterns.

### Protective gear:

#### Helmets and gas masks:

* Helmets:
	1. ACH-7EX: Rarely used.
	2. Screen helmet: Primarily employed by scientific troops and guards at the CNPP.
	3. Sphere-12M: Captured and smuggled from army stocks and Spetnatz detachments.
	4. Apocalypse helmet: Strangely, this supposedly rare item is fielded *widely* among the fanatics.
	5. Cz-M10 "Spartan": "May the Monolith have mercy on you, 'cause I don't."
* Gas masks:
	1. Retrofitted PBF: These gas masks are seemingly produced by the Monolith themselves. The quality is questionable.
	2. GP-10
	3. Avon M50

#### Body armors:

* Medium:
	1. X-18 stalker suit: Also known as the "**Monolith stalker suit**", this suit earned its' name after its' discovery was made back in 2012. The Marked One, or **the Strelok**, delivered one sample to the Barkeep after his supposed adventure in the lab, doing whatever. The Barkeep then decided to name it as the "X-18". The tactical vest is handmade, based on the Soviet 6B3 or 5. The undersuit is made from an unknown material that is considered to be really high of quality. The ballistic protection is discovered to be slightly lacking compared to the Berill-5M while the elemental protection is higher than the Sunrise stalker suit.
* Heavy:
	1. Monolith scientific suit: Also known as the "**Graphite SEVA**", this suit comprises of an improved X-18 suit on the elemental protection side and an enclosed breathing cycle module. It's essentially the Monolith's take on having a SEVA suit. It's strictly issued to veteran and expert fighters only, such as the **Crystal** guard division of the CNPP.
	2. Monolith heavy armored suit: Also known as "**Pripyat Watchman's suit**", this version of "the underwear of the exoskeleton" has its' anomalous protection stripped away pretty damn hard while the physical and... radiological protection is increased tremendously. As such, this suit is purely intended for combat application.
	3. Monolith exoskeleton: Called by the "chosen ones of the Monolith" as the "**Guardian of Chernobyl**", this is the best model of the exoskeleton ever made in the Zone. With excellent protection against physical threats such as high caliber bullets like the 7.62x51mm NATO round and balanced out elemental protection, this suit is one of the most "hunted for" items in the Zone. It's said to be fully "homemade" from the ground up, like the Freedom exoskeleton, with extremely high-quality materials, giving it extreme durability too. It's only issued to the finest of the Monolith ranks, with users commonly equipped with high caliber rifles or even... **the Gauss rifle**.
	4. Monolith Nosorog: Surprisingly, it's *one of the* **worst** Nosorog to ever exist... (yes, I'm not joking, go check it for yourself). It's hardly even used by the fanatics themselves. Perhaps the only saving grace is its' intimidating look (just like every other Nosorog models), boosting morale.

### Weapons:

#### Primary firearms:

* SMGs:
	1. MP 40(M): Modernised version of a WW2 classic: **the German workhorse** - **Maschenpistole 40**. Essentially, what they did was increasing the gun's overall reliability and durability, while adding Picantinny rails for attaching mods like foregrips and sights.
	2. HK MP5: Submachinegun design of the 1960s, originated from West Germany. It's mainly issued to scientifc scouts.
	3. HK UMP45: Universal Machine Pistol. It's essentially a cheaper and more modular MP5, aimed at the U.S. law enforcement market.
* PDWs:
	1. HK MP7/A1/A2: The MP7 is renowned for its' lightweight and high armor piercing capabilities thanks to its' unique 4.6x30mm round, designed to compete with the FN Herstal P90 utilizing the 5.7x28mm - which is longer (almost equal to a 5.56x45mm SS109 round) and more powerful (in terms of armor penetration). The MP7 also benefit from a much more compact design while the rail systems enable the usage of a variety of gun functional mods. Used in limited numbers, it's rather enjoyed by specialized fighters such as Gauss-clad Monolithians.
	2. FN P90: One of the reasons how the PDW concept was created in the first place.
		1. "Bitches veto'd our design just because we performed better by a slight margin." - FN Herstal director, presumably.
* Shotguns:
	1. Izhmash Saiga-12K
	2. Franchi SPAS-12
	3. Fort-500: Captured from clashes with the Military.
		1. AKS-74u: Issued to scientifc units.
		2. Colt M4A1: A common sight among Monolith forces operating in the Southern regions.
		3. HK G36K: Carbine version of the G36. It's rather widely fielded.
	2. Assault rifles:
		1. AK-74: Modified for more reliability, durability and accuracy.
			1. AKS-74: Side-folding brother of the AK-74.
			2. AK-74M: Smuggled into the Zone in large numbers.
		2. AK-12: In limited numbers, captured from Russian forces.
			1. AK-12 "Monolith": A special model of the AK family, based on the AK-12 prototype of 2012. This variant features a higher rate of fire (~750 RPM), more reliability and durability. The gun is also coated with a special anti-corrosive urban camouflage paint. It's bundled with a backup Delta sight.
		3. FNH F2000: In limited numbers. Strictly issued to senior members and CNPP interior guard squads.
		4. HK G36: Strictly issued to senior members and assault group leaders.
		5. HK 416A5: Issued to expeditionary troopers.
		6. Bofors Ak 5C: "Those ISG bitches weren't that magical as we thought..."
	3. Battle rifles:
		1. HK G3A3: "Proud to be German!"
		2. HK 417: 416 but chambered in 7.62x51mm. Captured and purchased from the mercenaries.
		3. FNH SCAR-H: Possibly the only wide-used Belgian rifle by them.
		4. TsKIB SOO ShAK-12: In limited numbers, captured from both Russian forces and Military Stalkers.
	4. DMRs and Sniper Rifles:
		1. SVU: One of the two primary sniper rifles of the Monolith. Back in 2011, this was their standard issue rifle for "picking infidels from a great distance". Limansk was once considered as "Monolith's snipe fest" due to their heavy presence and heavy usage of snipers to bring a halt to any great advances to the North.
		2. SVD: One of the two primary sniper rifles of the Monolith, possibly smuggled from the Military thanks to rampant corruption back in the day. The Radar (or Red Forest West) was once known as "The Monolith's Den" due to clever employment of snipers, covering vital areas leading to the Brain Scorcher.
			1. "Falcon of Pripyat": A special version of the SVD, extensively modified for more ergonomics and higher accuracy. Features a new synthetic furniture and improved cheek pad. The furniture is coated with a special anti-corrosive paint, the paint is based on the M84 pattern.
		3. KAC SR-25: Loosely based on the AR-10, the father of the legendary **black rifle** aka Armalite AR-15 (which in turn gave rise to the M16 family, which led to several important evolutions in the family tree). A rather considerable number of samples is fielded by elite fighters in the depths of the Red Forest and Jupiter.
		4. HK G28: New DMR of the Bundeswehr. Based on the civilian version of the HK 417, MR308. This rifle offers extreme accuracy while remaining highly ergonomic and modular. It's not used widely due to its' rarity. Captured from the mercenaries.
			1. RPK: Mostly seen in the hands of Radar forces.
			2. RPK-74: Seen in the hands of expeditionary forces.
			3. FN USA M249: Possibly both smuggled into the Zone and captured from Freedom forces.
		+ GPMG:
			1. PKM: Smuggled and captured from Military forces. It's mostly used in defensive formations, being in a mounted position on either a bipod or tripod.
	6. Special weapons:
		1. Mortars: Stolen from Military forces
		2. RPG-7: Stolen from army stocks.
		3. **Gauss rifle**: A marvel of firearm engineering. The idea of an electromagnetic gun dated all the way in the 1900s, with itself being named after the father of the idea that formed the gun's general concept, Carl Friedrick Gauss. It's unknown how such an idea could be properly realised in such conditions that was the Zone, but it happened. Gauss rifles are strictly issued to the finest fighters in the Monolith ranks, usually preachers.

#### Secondaries:

It's known that the Monolith has a wide network of business contact for the purpose of arms trafficking. As such, they have access to all kinds of high-class pistol models, like the renown Deagle Mark XIX chambered in 50 AE (not 357 Mag, **50 Action Express**) and the exclusive Lebedev pistol aka PL-15 (which is currently **only available for Russian Spetnatz forces**). It's not known if the Monolith make use of machine pistols such as the Glock 18C or the legendary Skorpion hailing from Czechoslovakia, all we know that the Monolith enjoys the use of pristine and high quality sidearms.

## References

1. EN STALKER Wiki: *Monolith*