Steal the box from the army outpost is an optional side mission featured in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.
Description[]
Well, here's the deal... A box containing the reports made by an expedition that went deep North into the Zone has been taken to the army outpost. By day, it's guarded as if it was filled with pure plutonium, but for some reason at night they only leave two guards. Sneak into the outpost quietly and "recover" the box. Do that and I'll pay you anything... within reason. Will you do it?
― Sidorovich
Acquiring the mission[]
The mission is available as a "special mission" from Sidorovich after the player has been to X18.
Completing the mission[]
The documents are in the barracks.
Your mission is to retrieve military documents stored in a small, fireproof white box. This is, basically, a much easier version of stealing the documents from the Agroprom Institute.
Combat[]
If you want to go in guns blazing, you should have much better, perhaps even end-game weaponry at this point. You can snipe almost all soldiers in the outpost from a safe distance without getting fired at once. After all soldiers are dead, it's trivial to waltz in through the front gate, get the briefcase from the barracks, and go back.
Stealth[]
If you want to do it quietly it's not much harder; the only problem is avoiding the minefield. Mines are marked by sticks in the ground but can be hard to see because of tall grass; you can throw bolts at the ground, and the mine will cause a clicking sound when hit by one.
The usual stealth mechanics:
- Pulling out a weapon or the binoculars can alert enemies to your presence, so pull out the knife, a bolt or a grenade before you enter the base and hold on to it.
- Loading a save with enemies in vicinity will alert them to your presence, so save outside the minefield.
- You can run/walk from the dead tree to the junk pile next to the wall to save some time. After that, don't ever get up from crouching stance.
- Good NV is nice, but not necessary.
Sneak along the western level fence through the minefield and over the dead tree. The pile of junk next to the eastern wall of the outpost is a blatantly obvious entrance point. There is only one guard you need to worry about, who patrols in a circular pattern around the house the documents are in; provided you don't get too close, the soldiers sleeping inside shouldn't give you any trouble even if you walk in front of them.
Jump over the wall and on top of the latrine, then into the hole to the barracks's attic. Break all crates here (breaking boxes and crates doesn't alert enemies) and collect the loot that drops. When you jump down through the hole, the document briefcase will be in the nightstand next to you; nab it, then everything that fell down through the attic's floor. There are some crates to break here as well, if you're interested.
Wait near the exit until the guard passes by. Now you have two options: you can move to the commander's office past some partying guards and loot everything, including the "Commander's Secret Stash" if you have the coordinates, or you can just cut your losses and leave. The best route is the open gate to your left when you exit the barracks: go through it, then head left and around the wall until you're back at the junk pile. From there, you're clear to stand up and run again. Get back the same way you got in, over the tree trunk and through the minefield.
Notes[]
Attacking the routine military patrols one by one will eventually leave around three soldiers on the outpost, making it easy to get the docs no matter what method you use.
Whether you do it quietly or not, a few military patrols will spawn in Cordon when you give the documents to Sid. This is a one-time event, and it can even be used to your advantage in the Protect the rookie camp from the Mercs mission, as Mercs and Military are hostile to each other.
Reward[]
- 2000RU from Sidorovich plus whatever you looted from inside the outpost.
