Help the Loner held Hostage by Bandits

Help the Loner held Hostage by Bandits is a storyline mission featured in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha.

Overview

 * As you trot back to Bes from killing the sniper, you will receive a message from a Loner sending an S.O.S.
 * You can find him standing opposite of the garbage pile nearest to the Cordon transition with three bandits surrounding him.
 * Strangely enough, these bandits are truce-hostile to you and can even be conversed and traded with (However, the bandits will be downright rude and conversation is rather meaningless and abrupt).
 * As you may have logically figured already (but in case someone reading this doesn't have enough brain to do so), your task is to save the Loner from the 3 bandits WITHOUT him dying, a rather hard feat for most players since the bandits are all poised with their firearms pre aimed at the loner and the moment you hit any of the bandits, they will all simultaneously open fire.
 * A smart tactic is to stand between one of the bandits and the loner, then use an automatic weapon (the AKS-74U provided by Sidorovich for saving Loner Nimble is the most optimal for the mission) to fire at the bandits' heads.
 * Give Medkits as necessary
 * After mowing down the bandits, talk to the loner, who will thank you and give a Flash artifact, a rather good reward for the early game