Bandits

The Zone is a vast area for all kinds of people across the globe. From the caring and gentle (as well as ~~cute!~~ skilled), to the most notorious criminals of the former Eastern bloc, here you can find everything, the latter being somewhat as common as fresh shrimps. With all the stories circulating around stalkers who successfully got out of the Zone and became wealthy personalities (only to later commit suicide) or people with absolute authority over an area in the Zone, it's no wonder that this place is even more fertile than ~~a teen~~ a fully matured woman in her 20s for breeding all kinds of criminals such as muggers, gang bangers or even highly organized syndicates. The **Bandits** are them. They are the fifth largest community.

## Bandits

"Bandits, magnificent creatures. Work in groups and are highly territorial, blyat!"

## Overview

A rather highly organized faction, the Bandits' goals ranges from groups to groups. Simple mugging is perhaps the most common thing to do here in the Zone, with every single bandit squad attempting to do it against a rookie (with rather overwhelming success) and getting into constant firefights with factions that opposes them, namely the Loners. They never hunt for artifacts, instead enjoy robbing them off from stalkers. They are also notorious for being extremely territorial. Anyone entering their controllled areas are obligated to be "*paid a hearty and welcome visit*" by "*the local law enforcers*" for a small amount of tax money in the name of "*a better and sustainable future for this lawless Zone*" - nuff said, or else "*bite the bitter end of our boomsticks!*".

This faction is collectively played and controlled by: Greyhound, Macabre, First Mate Topol and Second Mate Smiley. ~~redcell96 (returning member) and the Japester (I apologize if the name isn't correct)~~

## Background

> ...Yes, the Zone do have criminals running circles around the place, searching for any kind of pitiful soul to rob. They range from a lone crazed gunman to a large group up to eight! They enjoy "being cool" by wearing all those trenchcoats while holding their goddamn non-lubed rifles and pistols, walking across areas, pretending to be the "coolest policemen known to the world". Don't let that look steals the wiser part of your brain though, these guys can and will still kick your ass! Hell, back in '11, they forced a group of diggers to do forced labor, just like Stalin and Hitler! Fucking nazis.
>
> -an unknown stalker, circa 2012

## Infrastructure

### Overview:

Similar to free stalkers and mercenaries, the bandits follow no official leader. Despite this, Sultan is considered as the official "mob boss" per se, being observed as a general *representative* of the larger common criminal network. Different areas mean different groups, which mean different set of ideologies and leaders, resulting in a high chance of breaking out tensions among groups, leading to turf wars.

This phenomenon is rather common, with scales ranging from simple firefights at a regional level to a full all-out conflict against a certain figure. Even in the Dark Valley itself, you would see different Bandit groups fighting over a piece of land and attempting to insert as much influence as they can from time to time.

### Subgroups:

* **Black Knights**: A group of elites that is seldomly under Sultan's command. They primarily act as Sultan's private strike force after his previous one broke away to join the Belaya Zvezda. True to their name, they uphold a code of chivalry and "fairness in combat". They're some of the more respected groups in the Zone, even Loners somewhat have a place for them.
	1. **Black Arrow**: The fighting force of the Knights. They are considered as very effective in settling turf wars and are one of the more well-equipped groups in the bandits' world.

### Notable characters:

* "**Leader":**
	+ Sultan
* **Most influential trader:**
	+ Olivius
* **Most well-known technician:**
	+ Limpid
* **"Dark Valley's local brewmaster"**:
	+ "???"
* **Others**:
	1. Hans & Hendrick (Black Arrow)
	2. Anastasia & Igor (played by Razza)
	3. Radical Larry God-King of the Bandits (played by SomeWhiteGuy)
	4. Sakharov Blunt (played by The Japester)
	5. Jackass
	6. Hator /The-One-Who-Speaks-To-Beasts: Surgeon and general medic.

### Ranks:

* Tyro
* Skilled
* Pro
* Master
* "The Boss"

#### Black Knights:

* Freshface - Duckling/Recruit
* Foreman
* Fighter
* Elite
* Wachtmeister
* Cornet
* Centurion
* Esaul
* "The Chieftain"

### Base's location:

* **Northern Factory**, Dark Valley: Their primary base
* Camp nearby the Witches' Jelly, Garbage
* The Depot, Garbage: Highly contested
* Tunnel with a derelict train, Agroprom
* Devilish encampment, Red Forest: Usually unoccupied
* The mines, Red Forest: Usually fought for from Duty and collectively controlled with the Renegades.
* The checkpoint, Jupiter

### Occupied territories:

Basically everywhere, and nowhere at the same time (due to them being collectively hated by the majority)

## Equipment

### Overview

Just like the Loners, the Bandits make use of everything they can grab onto. However, with a shaky relationship they are maintaining with the *blue boogeymen* as well as "We take pride in our snazzy suits and ties", their gears are generally better than the free stalkers by... *a minority*.

### Protective gear:

#### Headgears:

* Balaclava: Iconic among all kinds of criminal (mostly burglars), the balaclava is by far the most common facewear used in the Zone, especially among Military grunts and Bandits.
* Cloth mask: eh, just a mask
* Respirator: "The fuck is this? Some... lowlife's breathing aid? Hahaha..."
* Same as the Loners...

#### Body armors:

* Light:
	1. Bandit jacket: Bandit's take on the leather jacket. It now comes with light kevlar plates (weaker than the ones on the Sunrise) and the pants are now of Adidas origins, same for sneakers.
		+ Mailed jacket: "Who thought this was a good idea, is either a very talented lad or madlad. I say... both". The suit itself is reinforced with layers of chainmail, improving the ballistics and rupture protection by a bit (can now stop a 9x19mm, wahoo!)
	2. Stalker suits: Either *tactically acquired* or salvaged off dead free stalkers.
* Trenchcoat: The most common suit used by the bandits, mainly for the "coolness vibes and badass-ry". The coat itself comes with light kevlar plates that somewhat provides marginally better protection against bullets. As usual, rupture and impact... is absolutely shit.
* Medium:
	1. Fenced LCS: Suits either stolen from Mercenaries' convoys or genuinely acquired from Dushman, these were once the only real protective gear the bandits had reliable access to. It was and still mainly used by veteran bandits. The parameters are much worse compared to the original versions since most of them were already full of holes and discarded by the mercs or belonged to old generations which had worse stats. All of these suits are later repaired by technicians then goes to traders for selling.
	2. X-18 "Twilight": Salvaged X-18 suits from dead Monolithians. They don a different undersuit (dark brown) while the bulletproof vest is repaired back to original state... sort of.
	3. PSZ-9d "Banditry": Captured PSZ-9ds from the firefights against the Duty forces, mainly back in 2012. Once again, they are repaired and press back to use. The iconic skull patch is on the sleeve instead of the Duty one.
	4. Deserter's B-5M: It's not uncommon to see military personnel deserting and either joining up one of the many clans or simply become a free stalker. However, Spetnatz operators *do sometimes.... desert too*. Their suits and gears are later sold off to the black market as funds to keep them alive in the Zone or for them to gtfo of the Zone. While Berills are rather a common sight in the hands of a well-known trader, it's safe to conclude that used ones are always the more economic choices. Once purchased back, the army patch is removed, and the suit is repaired for usage again. It's considered to be one of the best suits, *for bandits*.
* Heavy:
	1. Looted SEVA: Just like its' name, looted from convoys and free stalkers. These suits were of bad condition, so... *sigh* they were repaired by the good ol' technicians for use. Even the enclosed breathing cycle module isn't properly working...
	2. Looted heavy armored suit
	3. Fenced Skat-9: Straight up stolen nowadays...
	4. Looted exoskeleton: Got from military warehouses, all painted black. Some of the military camouflage can still be seen... The protection is worse than the Loners'...
		1. One bandit was known to have managed to get his hands on a legitimate exoskeleton from an unknown source back in 2011. It's unknown if this practice is still around...

### "Say hello to my BOOMSTICK! *click\**"

The Bandits are known to be notorious for being economically poor. This also means that their access to weapons is quite limited to a certain number of options, such as sawed-off shotguns and civilian hunting rifles, with the rare exception of the AK family being a luxury among more experienced thugs.

#### Primaries:

* Shotguns:
	1. Various sawed-off and double barrelled shotgun models, such as the infamous TOZ-66 and 34.
	2. Balkal MP-133: Common Russian pump-action shotgun, counterpart to the Remington 870.
* SMGs:
	1. OTs-02 "Kiparis": Soviet SMG from the 1970s, a common model for 9x18mm enthusiasts.
	2. PP-19 "Bizon": Funny 64rnd helicat magazine-fed light machine gun.
	3. HK MP5A3: Common 9mm SMG in almost every single corner of the world.
* Rifles
	1. Carbines:
		1. AKS-74U: The true "baby AK". Light, compact while chambered in the common 5.45x39mm, one of the Zone's most numerous rifle cartridges available on the market. This gun is usually seen with more experienced and wealthy bandits.
	2. Semi-automatic rifles:
		1. SVT-40: Captured from the army and bought from black markets.
		2. SKS: Simonov's pride (and shame). Chambered in the powerful yet common 7.62x39mm Soviet. One of the most common rifles seen in the hands of thugs.
	3. Assault rifles:
		1. AKM family: One of the two Soviet Army's workhorses from 1959 onwards. A symbol of revolution... and terrorism.
			1. "Kalashnikov's probably crying in his graves right now."
		2. AK-74 family: The Zone's most popular AK variant yet.
			1. "AKM but in 5.45x39mm, more common and cheap, as well as better cost of maintenance, too. What do ya say, hmm?"
		3. Colt M16A2: Plundered from the blue eagles. Is praised as an "okay" rifle.
		4. HK G36: Exist as rare stock from time to time.
		5. Swiss Arms SG 550: Exist as rare stock from time to time. Usually seen in the hands of veteran bandits.
	4. Battle rifles:
		1. FNH FAL: Right arm of the Free World, chambered in 7.62x51mm, *may evoke Rhodesian feelings*.
			1. "We steal this from the drunkards. It's so easy to sneak into their base for loot since they are drunk half of the ti-RUN!"
			1. PKM: One model was documented to have been acquired and used by a veteran thug back in 2011.
		2. LMGs:
			1. RPK: Long and heavy barreled version of the AKM for squad automatic fire support.
			2. RPK-74: Same as the above but in 5.45x39mm.
	6. DMR and sniper rifles:
		1. SVD: Captured and *bought* from Duty stocks. Thanks, Morgan.
* Special weapons:
	+ AS "Val": Some really wealthy boys are able to get their hands on one. These boys are usually masters and are well respected among the bandits' ranks.

#### Secondaries:

		1. PM: Good ol' Soviet handgun from the 1950s. Compact, reliable and punchy enough to go through someone's blunt head.
		2. Fort-12: Primarily plundered from the free stalkers and army stocks.
	+ 9x19mm:
		1. Beretta 92FS: Quite a rare model among bandits' hands since 9x19mm is considerably expensive.
		2. Browning Hi-Power: Servin' nations since the 1930s!
		3. Glock: The most common 9x19mm pistol in their ranks, due to its' vast numbers in black markets. Can also be converted to a machine pistol through the use of a "fun switch" backplate.
	+ 45 ACP:
		1. Colt M1911: Ol' reliable in 45 Automatic Colt Pistol. Easy to use, easy to maintain and easy to get.
	+ 357 Magnum:
		1. IMI Desert Eagle Mark XIX: Though it's quite hard to believe, the bandits had actually smuggled a rather large quantity of these bad boys back in 2011. Today, this practice is no longer as strong as they were before, but it's safe to assume that the Deagle is still being smuggled in small numbers. Primarily used as bandit veterans as a sign of forceful authority and brutality.
* Machine pistols:
	+ vz 61 Skorpion: This Czechoslovakian design is perhaps the most common machine pistol in the Zone, and the most common Czech gun designs, beside the CZ 75 and vz 58. Modified to fire 9x18mm and 9x19mm since 32 ACP (the original cartridge the Skorpion was chambered in) isn't powerful enough to fire even the smallest of mutants reliably.
	+ APS: A Soviet machine pistol from the late 1940s. It's similar to the Makarov, through the two are in no way similar internally. Chambered in 9x18mm and accepts 20rnd double-stack magazines.
	+ Ingram MAC-10: Syndicates' No. 1 choice of a small, powerful automatic back at the early 80s to late 90s. Chambered in 45 ACP.

## Gallery

A dead master Bandit armed with an AS Val.A rather well armed group, located at the North.Bandits armed with the SIG.Another example with the Val.