Twenty years after the Chernobyl disaster, a series of blinding lights were seen above the exclusion zone, in the following days, more lights were seen, culminating in a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, and in the weeks after, numerous unexplainable anomalies and artifacts began to appear. The Ukrainian government, along with various interested parties and individuals, initiated expeditions into this strange and hostile territory. The men who risk everything to enter the zone would come to be known as stalkers, but mysteriously, every stalker that went in never came out, except for one, Vadym, who then joined up with a group of mercenaries, simply titled "Duty", Crow (Vadym), Weaver, Yokel, Monk, Josh, Other Josh (or OJ), and Batty, to continue his expedition. They were equipped with GP-5 gas masks, and military gear that could easily block out radiation, though it wasn't too big of an issue as they were in Pripyat. Any person found trespassing into the excursion zone is swiftly eliminated, no questions asked - strictly shoot first, ask questions later.