Radio interference

Our communications expert believes that the signal is being jammed from somewhere close to us. He's working on getting the coordinates as we speak. I sent some of my men to check out a possible source of the interference, but they went missing, and their personal signals aren't registering.
― Colonel Kovalsky

Radio interference is a main mission in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.

Description[]

This mission is obtained as a follow-up to A quiet word, after Colonel Kovalsky requests to talk to Major Degtyarev in private. It turns out that communication with the HQ is no longer possible because the signal is being jammed. Kovalsky has sent a team to find the jamming source, but they have all gone missing; indeed, the player may have already noticed that Rogovets, Yarmoshuk, Skelya and Merkulov in the Laundromat are absent from their usual locations. Kovalsky wants the player to investigate the squad's status while Kirillov attempts to pinpoint the location of the jamming device.

The map marker directs the player into a small park near the School. There lie the body of three members of the search party. They apparently killed each other and/or themselves. During a cutscene, Kovalsky informs the player that they have acquired the coordinates for the jamming device, and it is in the nearby Kindergarten.

The player has then to blow up the door of the Kindergarten in order to enter and investigate. This is done with the Explosives with a timer, retrieved from Sergeant Yarmoshuk's body. The explosives have a five second delay fuse. Inside the building, the only foes are three Poltergeists (although if the player is fast enough, the second and the third won't spawn), and also an active psi-field of moderate strength, so it is better to use Psy-block before entering. There is a Monolith stash on the first floor, containing Army medkits and Batteries.

The player eventually discovers the communications jammer - a makeshift antenna much like the one there was at the Book Store - and now has to destroy it. This can be done by shooting the base of the antenna, just from a safe distance, as the psy-emitter will go off with a strong explosion.

The last thing to do is rescue the surviving member of the team the player started out to find. Judging from the PDA signal, one might think that the target is on the roof - and climb the antenna to get out on the roof, but there's nothing there. The soldier in fact is in the room below, in the kindergarten's kitchen, making a light SOS noise in hope of being heard. Jumping through the antenna's base, in one of the refrigerators the player discovers a terrified Rogovets. After a brief dialogue, the two return to the Laundromat, where Rogovets becomes target of good-hearted teasing from Kirillov (and Podorozhny if he survived) about his hiding in the fridge. Kirillov then tells the Major that Kovalsky wants to talk to him, which starts the next mission, Unknown.

Notes[]

After the player returns to the Laundromat with Rogovets, they are told by Kirillov that Garry has gone to Yanov station for supplies and that he won't be back before several days. This means the player is effectively stuck in Pripyat for the remainder of the main storyline, and Garry won't reappear until the final mission is complete. Therefore, if the player has any loose ends to tie in Zaton or Jupiter, the player should take care of them before going to the Kindergarten. This is especially important if the player wishes to obtain the achievement A Keeper of Secrets later on, as it requires the player to find notes in three specific stashes in Jupiter.
There are two stashes near the building, one with a Tunder S14 and one with a SVUmk-2, as well as ammo.

Trivia[]

If the player attempts to enter the Kindergarten without picking up the explosives, a cutscene will play in which Kovalsky informs Degtyarev that the missing squad was carrying explosives, and asks him to use them to access the building.