The Zone

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (or simply The Zone)

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is a place known all over the world for what happened on April 26, 1986, when the #4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant suffered a full-fledged meltdown, causing radioactive fallout to explode high into the air and spreading all throughout the Eastern hemisphere of Earth, reaching as far as the East Coast of the United States. Following the massive scale of the disaster, the Soviet Union evacuated everyone from the region and established a massive "No Man's Land" around the reactor (covering about 2600 square kilometers), declaring it the "Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation", or more simply the Exclusion Zone.

However, the Soviets did NOT leave the Zone unoccupied for very long. After the accident, groups of workers called "Liquidators" were brought in by the Soviets to build a containment structure around the remains of Reactor 4. This structure was later nicknamed the Sarcophagus. Since then, few people have any reason to enter the Zone, and the Soviet military maintains a well-guarded perimeter around the 30 kilometer wide border.

In late 2018, the Zone became the location for one of the Kits' most recent survival training exercises which quickly transformed into one of their most harrowing, sparking a desperate rescue attempt that later became a massive battle against an enemy previously believed to be dead.

Unknown History of the Zone

Throughout the remainder of the 1980s the Soviet government established hidden underground research facilities inside the Zone since the nuclear power plant was still partially functional, and the lack of anyone living in the region made the entire area a perfect Black Site. This unsanctioned research continued long after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Many projects were halted due to lack of resources. However, some project leaders were unwilling to stop and continued their research into various psychic applications, receiving a trickle of funding from the Ukrainian government (partly due to fears of what the international community would do if it found out).

Throughout the 1990s the situation inside the Zone became more bizarre. Six experimental field generators of unknown purpose were built in the center of the Zone, high-powered antenna arrays were modified to project energy fields that had nothing to do with radar or radio, and test subjects continued to be brought into the Zone never to return. Finally on February 22, 1999, the Ukrainian government began an official investigation, followed soon afterwards by an attempt to take control by the USSS.

As the 21st Century began, the situation inside the Zone progressed from "Bizarre" to "Otherworldly". Rumors of strange phenomena within 10 kilometers of the Chernobyl NNP became widespread. The city of Pripyat developed a reputation of being "haunted" by strange creatures, and after an entire busload of foreign tourists vanished the Ukrainian government officially closed off the ENTIRE Zone and militarized the border. This didn't put an end to the strange occurrences, which became more widespread over the next few years and began to include aberrant weather patterns (including hurricane winds) and seismic tremors.

In March of 2006 nothing would ever be normal again in the Zone.

The Second Chernobyl Disaster

On March 4, 2006 a blinding light flared into existence in the skies above the Chernobyl NNP. Witnesses reported that the light remained for two hours before winking out of existence.

On April 12, 2006, a little over a month after the first light phenomena a second flare of even greater power suddenly appeared in the skies. The clouds evaporated from the skies and a massive peal of thunder radiated outwards across the Zone, lasting for several minutes. The thunder faded, then an earthquake registering 6.9 on the Richter Scale struck the entire Zone. The glow grew and radiated outwards, engulfing the heart of the Zone with deadly energy disturbances and intense radiation. No rescue attempts were possible. A subsequent investigation determined that the explosion occurred about a kilometer away from the nuclear plant itself and was speculated to be the nuclear fuel dump detonating.

On June 10 a massive energy storm of unknown energy swept out from the center of the Zone and surged throughout it. Unprepared, all military and scientific personnel caught outside when it happened were incinerated by the intensity of the dimensional energy. Reality began to break down as dimensional rifts tore open. In a panic, the Exclusion Zone's boundaries were pulled back another 5 kilometers, with the entire populations of the cities and villages near the original border being forced to evacuate almost overnight. A military expedition was quickly organized to attempt to contact and withdraw anyone else still trapped deeper inside, but met with total failure: the Zone had become filled with areas of intense radiation, toxic gas, acidic mist, plasma storms, zones of altered gravity, and other areas of anomalous activity that defied the laws of science. The majority of the Ukrainian soldiers sent into the Zone were lost, and anyone still missing inside the Zone were officially declared lost.

For the next few years, the Ukrainians could only watch and observe as the energy storms (later called Emissions) periodically swept throughout the Zone. Few attempts to explore the Zone were made as most expeditions either disappeared without a trace or died soon after entering. However, once a group of scientists from Kiev succeeded in creating portable detectors capable of detecting areas of anomalous activity (or simply Anomalies) within 10 meters the first successful expedition was made into the Zone. They succeeded in travelling a kilometer into the Zone and returned without injury or incident. Further expeditions enabled them to observe and tentatively study subsequent Emissions as well as brought back samples of strange objects that defied explanation.

The Stalkers

In 2011 news of the potential to actually survive inside the Zone leaked out, drawing amateur researchers, explorers, scavengers, and criminals from all over the world. These scavengers soon became known collectively as "Stalkers". While many of them died inside the Zone due to the extremely hostile conditions, many more of them began to bring out samples of mutant creatures never encountered before in nature, warped and alien flora, and even artifacts of unknown origin that possessed highly unusual powers that bordered on paranormal. These Artifacts immediately became highly sought after by various private businesses, corporations, and criminal groups, forcing the Ukrainian government to began fortifying the Zone's border even more: the entire border is now protected by regiments of infantry and supported by air and naval elements where applicable. No one is allowed into the Zone now without authorization from the government and military, and attempting to enter illegally can easily result in death from machine gun fire, minefields, or even the cannons of an Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship as the Ukrainian Army is authorized to shoot Stalkers on sight.