1. Joshua: Origins

Four men, myself included, sat in a small building leading into a railway tunnel around a camping stove as it burnt through the precious little kerosene we still had. Cooking the meat of some emission stricken mutant animal praying the slices weren’t infested with tumors but glad we didn’t have to eat it raw. The stove threw light over the walls penetrating the darkness of the night which told a story of neglect and horror of what used to reside within the ravaged tunnel. One resident of which now was being roasted by our little stove.

The land was scorched by otherworldly fallout, psionic forces being a silent killer. Waves cutting through men like blades their wounds leaving lunacy and ceasing brain functions. We had a choice in coming here though, why, you ask, did we come to this corrupt place. This wasteland forgotten by the ‘Bastions’ known as civilization outside of this hellscape.

Originally people came for treasure. Yes treasure. You may laugh at first but not treasures such as gold or jewels like pirates hunting for chests but objects known as artifacts. Such objects could knit wounds before an individual’s eyes. Protect from bullets, diverting shots as if a breeze had caught a spitball and carried it away. These dreams of finding artifacts were seen through careful observation, hiking through abandoned fields the only risk being the odd radiation hotspot or scavengers that trained men could easily deal with.

People flooded in thinking that the battlefield of modern warfare or other conflict was preparation enough. That anything the zone threw out would be nothing more than a slight set back. No one could be so wrong. The zone wasn’t a battlefield. It was at the time a contained apocalypse that lived and decided who was rewarded with its spoils and killed any who disrespected its power. Finally a voice came from down stairs and as its owner clomped up towards us I began to tell the story of this place.

1985. The year the man who became known as Flux was born. Rough descriptions indicated he wouldn’t have viewed the date as significant for as long as he lived up to his untimely death unaware that his and another life was the most significant thing to happen to this cycle of the universe. His plain face brought attention straight to his hazel eyes always projecting a piercing gaze of lethal focus occasionally obscured by a poorly maintained fringe originating from a mop of long messy brown hair.

Strider was the only man still operational out of the group. He was a mostly content if not troubled man who warmed up to everyone given the chance assisted by his sharp facial features and short, once tidy blond hair being tended to while he had a free moment. Much unlike the weathered veteran he is today. However a glimmer in his bright blue eyes shone with what hope remained that there was still a chance that one day things could be simple once again.

Hazard was built as he was nicknamed. Even as a child his strength was paramount. The muscle clinging to his massive frame without appearing unnatural for his age or size. Followed up by a strong face containing sharp features, deep blue eyes and average length tidy brown hair it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine he was a descendent of the greek legend Hercules himself. Though largely intimidating in possessing the strength to crush a man with his bare hands he seemed to have what could only be described as an aura that shone through his physique that promised security rather than harm.

Finally there was Bishop. Although occasionally complaining over orders or requests his heart and mind were always on the task at hand, never faltering for a moment. The conviction to the objectives given to him be they from friend or superior burned in his brown eyes with long strawberry blond hair tied back preventing it from obscuring his focus. The rest of his facial features hidden by his usually maintained operator beard of considerable size the same colour as his hair.

Their friendship did not begin for a few years. Though in 1986 the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant lost control of reactor 4 due to power surges during shut down and indirectly caused the tear in the intertwined dimensional space between sentience and the physical properties of the universe. It was this day the 30 kilometer exclusion zone was established and seemingly otherworldly influences were unleashed. Influences that delved into the minds of a few lacking the power to influence more at once. One such individual was a baby who’s vessel grew up to contain Flux.

2001. Strange phenomena occurring within the exclusion zone were leaking out. The dead city of Pripyat being a hotspot for unusual sightings being the highlight of the news networks who had the chance to report on it. It wasn’t long until a civil movement demanding entry to study the phenomena succeeded. Not long after the first group of scientists went missing without a trace resulting in the lockdown of the exclusion zone all together. Only the occasional government funded expedition patrolling around the outskirts or odd individuals trying to uncover the mystery of the stagnant yet ever changing afflicted land who came to be known as pioneers entered the secured area.

2005. Flux, Bishop, Hazard and Strider joined the Australian army to pursue very promising careers and in 2009 word spread that the first successful expedition to the center of the exclusion zone had been completed by an organization unknown to the world. By 2011 the exclusion zone was being flooded by man. Most with ambitions of finding incredible treasures of formations that contained the unknown forces exotic to the area. Others used the zone to escape the world or their own personal issues. Some simply due to what they viewed as wanderlust.

Pioneers formed camps to cater to the population's requirements and groups of similar ideologies formed the factions Cerberus and Crusaders in order to rally under a common cause. This inevitably started a proxy war between those who wished to study the area and those who wished to destroy it. Then finally on the first of August in 2012, four men threw themselves into hell looking for an answer.