Operation Final Spiral - Chapter Six
Delving deeper in the Delta Green RPG, using Mythic 2e
Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this document are ©SolumProtocol, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.
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Mercury Aeronautics, Management Offices, 1PM
“What the fuck?” I said, brushing some of the light black ash from my pants leg. Tracy was saved having to answer when the loudspeaker above us crackled to life and a voice began to drone a series of numbers.
“Subjects Zeta 5-4-2-3-1, Alpha 6-3-7-9-1 and Omega 4-0-0-1”1 The voice said.2 It sounded boxy and artificial, but the moment it started talking, I felt a tremble beneath my feet, and I picked up a scent from outside the offices. It smelled old and musty, like a bowl of fruit beginning to go bad.
“Can you smell that Jasper?” I asked, padding over to the door.3
“Unfortunately.” He said, moving to my side. Outside was still empty, and the speaker cut out in a gout of static.
“What do you smell? That’s usually a bad sign, right?” Tracy said nervously.4
“It depends on your definition of bad.” I said, scanning the surrounding walkways. The smell was similar to the one at the highway, where the other agents had been hit, a hint of floral underneath the spoiled rot.
“It’s pervasive, but I’m not sure where it’s coming from.” Jasper said at my shoulder.
“Me neither.” I said. “We should keep moving. I had a feeling we’re on the clock.”
We moved deeper into the facility.5 The path wended downwards in a another sloped spiral., and I had time to wonder what Mercury Aeronautics had against a goddamn staircase when we stumbled across the next area of interest. This section of the floorplan had simply been labelled ‘Research and Development’ but that wasn’t quite accurate. It was a hanger. There was the shattered remains of a sleek small plane, as well as a bunch of mechanical shit scattered all over the floor.6 Apart from the plane, most of this area was in good condition, including a few large screens that looked suspiciously like computers, although they were a far cry from the compact desktops that had disintegrated back in the management section. Against the far wall was a pair of thick, steel doors, hermetically sealed and nearly two stories tall.
“Where does that lead? I didn’t see it on the floorplan?” Tracy asked, but I didn’t have the first idea.7
“I think it just leads to another part of the Facility.” I said doubtfully. Jasper had moved over to the computer, and we moved through the room in search of anything useful. The plane was shattered, and I didn’t know the first thing about them, so I got Tracy to snap a few pictures of it on her digital camera before checking the rest of the room. Apart from the doors and the large, old school terminal on the far wall, the room was empty. The whole damn facility was empty, which didn’t seem right at all. Where were the bodies from the initial incident, the evidence of the rescue crews or any signs of habitation form the Order or the local townsfolk.8
“Hey, it’s working.” Jasper said, tapping away at the large keyboard.9 A green screen flickered to life with neon green-yellow characters.
“What the fuck is this, it looks like it’s a throwback to the 80s” I said.
“I have no idea, but it is in desperate need of a mouse or some kind of navigation peripheral.” Jasper said distastefully. “This keyboard has way too many characters, navigating this UI is going to be a bitch.”
“I don’t suppose there’s a file that says “Super Secret Evil Project” so we can get the fuck out of here?” I asked hopefully.
“No.” He said tightly. “But they are seemingly filed by project.” I looked over his shoulder, and saw 6 small alphanumeric codes.
“I suppose that’s the best we can hope for.” I said. Tracy came over with her camera, and the two worked on trying to capture all of the information for the analysts to review. I wasn't expecting to find anything to be there that the three of us could understand, we were field agents and our support team of experts were all dead. I was still concerned about the scene back in management and the voice over the speaker, but so far, there didn’t seem to be much to find. I walked over to the thick, bulkhead doors and looked over them.10 I couldn’t see any way to open them, but I was sure the process was automated, as I couldn’t see any way to open it. That same smell lingered around here like background static, and that bothered me me almost as much as the out of place bulkhead. I left the door behind, and returned to my team.11
Research and Development - Iuka Facility, 2PM
I was feeling restless, waiting for Jasper and Tracy to cycle through the old compute, so I started to wander further afield to see if there was anything to see. There wasn’t. The facility was seemingly abandoned, but as I walked further away from the other two, a familiar scent hang on the air. It smelt like bubblegum candy. I narrowed my eyes down the long corridor and hissed out an irritated breath.
“Jo!” I called, my voice echoing despite the low tone I had used. There was squawk, and a familiar pair of large brown eyes regarded me from the shadows.
“Hello Ma’am.” Jo said sheepishly.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
“Well, I did more research after you fell asleep, seeing as this body rarely needs rest, and there were many interesting ‘articles’ on the internet about what goes on here. One man on something called a ‘Message Board’ said that they make all sorts of illegal weapons here.”
“How did you even get here?” I asked, filing away that tidbit of intel for later discussion.
“Through the front entrance?” Jo said, mirroring my questioning tone.
“I have no idea what to do with you. Its dangerous here, kid, you’re going to get yourself killed following me around.” She walked past me while I was talking and nodded in agreement.12 She walked further down the hallway, away from the others and I had a sense of foreboding as I followed her.
“You know far more than your letting on, kid.” I said sharply. When she ignored me, I gripped her shoulder. “Jo. I’m not fucking around. I’ve given you a lot of leeway, but I’m done. This is my mission. Unless you’re about to show me where Violet McCown is skulking, which I doubt, I’m going to cuff you and take you back to my car.”13 Jo turned, and I saw she was clutching a small box in her hands. I had no idea where she had pulled it from. It was about the size of a child’s shoe box, and as I watched, it began to unfurl like a flower, revealing a series of small wheels, pipes and mirrors. I saw the reflection of my eyes on each small mirror, brown veined with gold, when there was a flash. I felt disjointed, a lurch in my stomach and I doubled over as my vision swam before briefly going black.14 When I looked up, I was looking at my own, passive features observing me from a foot or so higher than my eyes line. I looked at my hands, which were small and child like and I felt anger and confusion surge in me, with a slight, growing edge of panic.
“Ma’am, this is no way to live.” My own voice said to me, familiar and unfamiliar at once. My features were twisted. “I’m not an expert on human biology, but this feels like I’ve had fifteen coffees and been hit by a car.”
“That’s normal for someone approaching 30 you little shit, now what the fuck is this?” I screamed. The box was in Jo’s hands, my hands damnit, and it unfurled again. With another flash, my body lurched and I was back in my body.15 I stumbled over to the wall and fell to my knees and was noisily sick.
“I thought it would be easier to show you.” Jo said, patting me on the back.
“I’m going to kill you.” I said without heat, trying to push down another wave of nausea. One hand grasped for the knife below my jacket in a white knuckled grip, but even with my head swimming, I couldn’t bring myself to stab the little shit. She was still a child, I think, and all of this just reinforced that there was likely a real Jo somewhere.
“That’s the spirit.” Jo said with a wide smile. “I am here to help you, but I need you to understand that what you want, and what will happen are not always in alignment.” I dragged myself to my feet and retrieved my gun.
“Are you going to help me kill McCown, or are you going continue to be an irritating little brat?”16
“Violet McCown needs to die for a number of reasons, not least for trapping me in that town for months when I should have been preserving the construct elsewhere.” Jo said, with another pat on my shoulder.
“That doesn’t answer my question.” I growled.
“Follow me.” She said, walking further down the hallway.17
The Research and Development wing stretched out before us and Jo walked like she knew the place like the back of her hand. Considering her alien behavior, maybe she did. I felt feverish after my experience earlier, my blood pounding with adrenaline and I couldn’t tell if I wanted to fight something or turn tail and run. Eventually, we were greeted by another pair of thick, hermetically sealed doors. Jo taped a small console and popped the screen off, jamming a small device that looked for all the world like a disposable camera into the circuits. The doors thrummed, and began to open.
“What is behind there?” I asked, gesturing with the nose of my gun as the doors opened.
“Nothing good.” Jo said softly. It was the first serious expression I had seen on the girls face, and it was that, more than anything else, that filled me with dread.18
The Vault - Iuka Facility, 2:30 PM
Behind the door was a simple room of thick, reinforced walls. It was empty. I turned to Jo to ask her what the hell was going on when I smelt it.19 An overpowering, putrid floral scent wafted out of the room, and I looked at it again. The room shimmered, the reinforced wall replaced slowly by thick, humid jungle. Tangled vines and thick, unfamiliar trees filled the room, and it seemed to stretch impossibly deep. The air ticked up a couple degrees in heat as the thick atmosphere of the jungle escaped the confines of the room. This shouldn’t be here. I knew this place.20
“This is Leng.” I said, my voice distant.
“Not anymore.” Jo said. “McCown has taken many things that do not belong to her. It won’t end well. Not for her, anyway.”
“Is she in there?” I asked.21
“What is left of her is, yes.” Jo said
“I need my team.” I said, looking into the shadows of the trees.
“I would hurry.” Jo said, turning away and walking the opposite direction, away from the jungle and back to the facility.
“It’s dangerous here kid, where are you going?”
“Does it matter?” She called back over here shoulder. “Your target is in front of you. Don’t waste time on my account Ma’am.”
I ran back to the R&D hanger and grabbed the other two. Tracy yelled at me, demanding to know where I had been, and I had to hold myself back from shaking her.
“I’ve found something. She’s here. McCown is here and I’m not letting her get away, now either follow me, or get the car ready for us to get the fuck out of here, but either way let’s fucking move.’ Jasper and Tracy shared a look, but they slung their carbines and followed me.22 Both of them froze when they saw the jungle contained in the vault, and I had to shake both of them to their senses.
“She is in there.” I insisted, my voice sounding a little hollow as I dragged them both past the threshold. “Lets move. We go in, take her out and then we’re done.”
“How the fuck did you find this?” Jasper said. His eyes were wide, but I saw them narrow on me. “You don’t jus stumble across this kind of shit, Kat, how did you find this?” He gripped my arm so hard it started to hurt and I bared my teeth at him.
“You want to do this now?” I said with barely contained rage. His eyes were like two burnished, golden orbs as his gaze bored into mine. His grip loosened and he gripped his rifle.
“I don’t like this, Kat.” He said, stretching his neck.
“I’m not a fan of it either. I know what this place is and it’s dangerous but if she is in there, we need to find her.” I snapped my fingers in front of Tracy’s face and she shuddered.
“This is some bullshit.” She said weakly. “Am I too young to retire?”23
Didn’t expect this chain of events, but these things happen when with Mythic, and it is why I love using it so much! No spoilers, but we are probably only halfway through this mission, so take from that what you want. Thanks for reading!
This is my attempt to tie in the Iuka Townsfolk prompt from the last scene.
Oracle: Is it familiar? 50/50 83 No. Is there a smell? Likely - 23 Yes. Decript Earthy
Oracle: Can he? Likely - 21 Yes. Can we see anything below us? 50/50 91 Extreme no
Oracle: Does it smell similar to the plant monster? 50/50 24 Yes. Can I follow it? 50/50 93 Extreme no
Starforged Locations - Landing Bay or Hanger - Feature - Buckled Blast doors.
Oracle: More Ash? 50/50 93 Extreme no
Oracle: Does it look Unnatural? Unlikely - 62 No are there any clues in the wreckage? 50/50 91 Extreme no. Anything in the rest of the room? Unlikely - 71 No
Oracle: Can we get the computer working? Unlikely (Nobody with ComSci lol) - 32 Yes!
Oracle: Is it really retro? 50/50 29 Yes. Is it easy to navigate? 50/50 39 Yes. How many projects? 6
Oracle: Terminal to open nearby? 50/50 87 No. Is there a smell? 50/50 73 No
End Scene Chaos Factor 6 Test Scene - 7 Scene as expected. PC Positive. ‘Capture Innocence’
Because this is the last mission, and I had to take a month break in writing, I’m going to start each scene with a random event until we leave the facility.
Oracle: Is she going away from the team? 40 Yes
Oracle: Is she going to show me where McCown is? Impossible - 78 No. Story Clue - Evokes a Remarkable Phenomenon - Well, considering Jo is a Yith there’s one main thing that could mean.
Sanity 09/23 -1 SAN
Sanity- 87/22 - d4 = 1 SAN (lol, lucky Kat)
Oracle: Is she going to help the main mission? 23 Yes. Is she going to lead me to the Order? 50/50 26 Yes
Oracle: Change theme? 37 Yes ‘Chaotic’ - Warped or altered ecosystem “Secure Vault”
End scene Chaos factor 7 Random event - Ambiguous Event - Harm Illusion
Oracle: Smells - Strong, Musty Floral Leng? 50/50 21 Yes
Sanity - 30/22 1d6 - 5 - Project onto Tracy - 3. 2 Sanity Damage taken. Acute Episode - Disassociation
Oracle: Is she? 50/50 40 Yes
Sanity - Tracy: 88/54 Critical fail 4 DMG Jasper 73/54 4 DMG, projected 1 (Paranoia acute episode - Jasper will attempt to suppress an Acute Episode - 01 Critical - Projected 2 on Kat)
End Scene. Chaos Factor 7. Random Event - 62 Move away from thread - Iuka Townsfolk
That body/mind swap thing was a great twist! And those sanity rolls are brutal lol
Leng - Yes! I'm stoked for this!