Operation Kerebos: Chapter Four

Returning to the forest 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.

Chapter 4 Photo by Johannes Plenio from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-a-house-surrounded-by-tall-trees-2816284/

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Ranger Station Alpha 11AM

We arrived at Ranger Station Alpha while the sun was high in the sky, and the shadows cast by the trees were short and empty, with no baleful, feral dogs hiding in the undergrowth. Palmer parked the SUV within view of the cabin, and we hiked up the last bit of trail to the front entrance. The cabin was in good condition, with a great view of the surrounding landscape, but it didn’t look like anybody had been here for a while.

“Are there any other Ranger’s working in the park?” I asked Tracy.¹

“We have volunteers in the summer.” Tracy said as she unlocked the door to Station Alpha. “Fire lookouts, and people to work on the trails. But during the fall and winter it was just going to be the two of us and our boss Jerry out in Spokane. Last year it was just me all winter, so it was a relief when Gloria came in spring.” She added sadly. She went up a ladder to grab her gear, and I looked around the station for anything that could be of use at the lake². There wasn’t much of practical use. I found a gun locker³, which had a another pair of rifles and an old shotgun. The glass door was locked, but I was sure Tracy would have they key⁴. Scanning the room, I realized something odd. The first aid kit on the wall had been torn off, the straps hanging limply down the wall, and the back door was off its latch, creaking softly in the breeze. Someone had been here, and they clearly didn’t have a key. I couldn’t see anything else missing, but I would have to check with Tracy⁵. I turned to rejoin the group, but I heard a scrambling from behind me, as well as heavy breathing and I spun, drawing my pistol in a smooth motion and aiming at the hulking mass that suddenly filled the room⁶. The figure stood in the doorway, ragged and in tattered, bloody clothes that dripped filthy water onto the pine wood floors. The man held a glittering, ritualistic knife in a pallid, stiff fingered grip. An expensive watch glittered on his wrist, the face cracked but with jewels inlaid on the strap thatshimmered in the morning sunlight, despite the mud and filth that covered the man from head to toe. His eyes were blank, and glassy, his face a rictus snarl. I wondered if it was the smell, or the shuffling sounds of his feet that gave me the notice I needed to create some space. The man reeked, as though he had been living in a particularly foul sewer for the last few weeks. He was barefoot, his his feet gripped the floor like an animal ready to pounce⁷. A pistol was clutched in his other hand, but it was the knife that he pointed at me. A wound oozed thick, viscous blood from his stomach, dripping onto the floor in slow, steady drops. His hand was steady, though, as he held the knife towards me and snarled wordlessly. It looked dull, even in the sunlight, except for the tip, which gleamed with a razor edge. I knew that I wasn’t alone here, and the ranger station wasn’t exactly large, so I spoke loudly, and clearly, with the hope that one of the other agents wouldn’t stumble in blindly and get me killed.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I said, keeping the gun trained on his chest⁸.

“I will make you understand.” The man said, his expression going blank. His voice was like gravel, clearly unused for quite some time, and he sounded like he desperately needed a glass of water. He took a step towards me, his knife inching closer, and I took a step back.

“Don’t move.” I warned “I’ll put you down if I have to.”⁹ He stopped, and tilted his head. “Who are you?” I asked. He shrugged, but otherwise remained motionless, his knife still pointed at my face. I skipped over the half dozen questions I had in mind, and got straight to the point. “Did you kill Daniel Martinez?”¹⁰

“Your friends need to die.” He said, gesturing behind me with the knife. “But not you. You need to come with me. Beneath the lake. Into the Darkness.” He moved forward again, closing the space between us in a lurching, unbalanced step and I swore softly before pulling the trigger.¹¹

---

I had moved the barrel of the gun to aim for his head. It was a mistake. The bullet grazed along his ear. He didn’t even flinch.¹²

“For fucks sake Jones.” A voice said behind me, followed by the bark of a heavy pistol.¹³ If he had fired a moment earlier, it would have taken the man in his center mass, but the dead eyed man had started to move towards me, and the bullet took him in the arm instead. knocking him further off balance as he bulldozed forward¹⁴.

“Agent Jones!” Tracy called. I glanced behind me. Tracy was standing at the bottom of the stairs, half dressed in a her crumpled Ranger’s uniform with a heavy pistol braced on her arm. “Run!” She said, her features drawn into a firm line as she took aim¹⁵. I hurled myself away from the madman, inches away from the knife in his hand, but lost my footing and had to scramble away on all fours. I managed to keep my pistol, if not my dignity, and another pair of shots echoed out¹⁶. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw another pair of oozing, bloody holes in his chest. He was still silent, and inexplicably, still mobile as he lumbered forward¹⁷, this time towards Montford. The knife flashed¹⁸ but, Montford ducked out of the way of the clumsy blow and snatched his own knife from his belt.

“Who the fuck is that!” Palmer said, arriving late with Montford’s 38 held low in her hands. I ignored her, scrambled to my feet, holstered my gun and leapt at the bastards back¹⁹. I grabbed his arm, and began to loop it around his back to get him into a hold, but his arm was limp and sticky and he snaked it free, the knife flashing across my chest and cutting through my vest like butter. I felt blood seep into my clothes and drip down my body as I stumbled backwards. Montford struck out with his knife, but the man shifted his bulk and they exchanged a few clumsy blows²⁰. I couldn’t’ see Tracy or Palmer anymore, and the pain in my chest surged as I moved forward. My vision zeroed in on the big guy, and I gritted my teeth, partially to stifle a pained scream, but mostly from the rage. I went in low, throwing a kick at the back of his leg²¹ , and when he swung the knife to stab at me, I pivoted, grabbing his offhand and cranking it up behind his back. Surprise flickered across the man’s previously blank expression, his glassy eyes flashing with an animal fear as the knife slipped from his fingers. His wrist was covered in thick, congealed blood from his wounds, but I held him fast, long enough for Montford to step forward²², and thrust the knife deep into the man's neck, driving it up through his mouth and into his brain. The man went stiff, and then limp in my arms as he flopped to the ground²³.

---

We found a tarp somewhere in the back room and laid the body on it before it could bleed all over the floor²⁴. I checked over the body, trying to extract anything useful for identification, finger prints or maybe extract a couple of teeth to compare for dental records, but I was out of luck. Most of his teeth were missing or damaged, and his body was swollen just below the skin, causing his finger prints to come back distorted²⁵.

“He’s dead.” Tracy said. I could sense a trace of bemusement in her words.

“Of course he’s fucking dead.” Montford said. He stood off to the side, cleaning his knife irritably. “He just had a knife in his brain.” Tracy gave him a withering look and shook her head.

“He was dead before.” She said. She unbuttoned the tattered remnants of the man’s shirt, showing a pallid, swollen torso peppered with bullet holes. She pointed at the puckered wounds where the bullets had entered and prodded one with a gloved finger. A single, thick glob of congealed blood slowly oozed from the wound. “He should be leaking enough blood to soak into the wood, but he’s barely bleeding.” She wiped her finger one a towel and grimaced. “Have you ever shot a dead pig, or an animal hung up? For target practice?”

“No.” I said, just as Montford said “Yes.”

“This is the same reaction.” She said, inspecting each wound as she spoke. “The blood has congealed after death, and it’s only the fluid closest to the wound that leaks out.”²⁶ She looked over the corpse for a bit longer, examining the joints, and prodding the man’s swollen flesh and I left her too it for now²⁷, stripping off my vest so I could prod at my wound. The knife had cut clean through it. I knew from the wound in my shoulder that the cut had been small, but the vest tore clean in two as I inspected it, the threads coming apart in a steady, unnatural slice²⁸. My mouth suddenly felt very dry. That was not good. I poked the knife on the floor with the toe of my boot and it clattered away from me. I quickly frisked the corpse, earning a reproachful look from Tracy, and found the sheathe that the knife was kept in. I felt better the moment it was sheathed, and away. I cleared my throat, keen to move on.

“How did he die?” I asked Tracy.

“He drowned.” She said simply. She pressed down on his throat and a gout of filthy water burst out of his mouth, along with a couple of rotten teeth²⁹. I took a few steps away and tried to stop myself from being sick.

“So he drowned, came back, spoke some gibberish and then tried to kill us?” Palmer summarized effectively.

“Looks that way.” Tracy said shakily. I recalled the dog’s similar behavior and smell, and the lack of blood. Montford and I retrieved the dogs corpse from the car and laid it down next to the man for Tracy to look over.³⁰

“This dog didn’t drown.” She said, poking at its crushed skull and bullet wounds. She looked pale. “I don’t think this is a dog.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m not sure exactly.” She said. “But look here.” She pointed at the rear legs. “Those aren’t dog legs.” She said shakily. I felt like an idiot as soon as she said it, but she was right. The front paws of the dog were normal, if mismatched, dog forelegs, but its hind legs were double jointed, curved.

“Goat legs.” Palmer said, leaning forwards with an intense spark in her eyes. ³¹“Interesting.” she said. “Goat’s, particularly black goats, are often associated with fertility cults.”

“Fertility cults?” I asked skeptically.

“Primarily, although they are often multifaceted. Death, Rebirth and entropy are all parts of the same cycle, yes?” Montford grunted, his mouth twisted in disgust, likely a mirror of my own expression.

“So we have a walking drowned man and packs of abominations wandering the forest.” Montford said. “Perfect.”³²

---

Tracy used a first aid kit she had squirrelled away to clean and quickly stitch my wound.

“It is a very clean cut.” She said. “I’ll be surprised if it scars.” I think she was trying to be comforting, but I could tell how unsettled she was by the whole situation. This was beyond her realm of understanding, and her hand trembled as she stitched my wound shut, so, I did what I had to. I would have preferred to run it by Landry, but he wans’t answering his calls, so I drip feed her a little bit about why we were in Summercrest, and why none of us were particularly surprised by the things we were finding.

“So this isn’t like, a one off or anything then.” She said softly. “Stuff like this happens all the time? And the government knows about it?”

“Not everyone knows about it. Just the people that need to know. Or the people like us, that stumble across it.” I smiled tightly. “And it isn’t exactly common. It just isn't rare either.”

“That isn’t particularly comforting.” She said and I nodded.

“No, I imagine it isn’t. But the three of us?” I said, pointing at the other two agents. “We’ve killed at least one thing like this before, and it was a LOT nastier than that guy.” She smiled softly.

“Let's hope that will be enough then.” She said with a shaky smile. She finished stitching me up, and I redressed while we made plans.

“At least one of us will need to get to the Medical Examiner, as soon as possible.” I said, pulling my bloody shirt back on. “If there’s a chance little Daniel Martinez could come back to life as a pint sized murderer, we need to clear out that office and make sure no one sees it.” I was confident Palmer could talk around anyone that needed to be convinced to leave, and Montford was the one of us best suited to if things went poorly.

“And if the boy gets up?” Montford asked, while the others got ready.

“Take care of it.” I told him quietly, giving him a meaningful look.

“I fucking hate this job sometimes.” He muttered. I gave him a sympathetic look as the others came back with supplies, and we loaded both rifles and the shotgun into the spare Ranger truck as Palmer pulled the SUV around.

“Check in with me before it gets dark,” I told her. “I would rather not spent the night in these woods if we can avoid it.” Palmer flashed a smile.

“Understandable.” She said jovially. “I’ll try to scout the local missing persons cases for our doubly dead man there, and I’ll let you know if I turn anything up.”³³

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Full Disclosure, I don’t think Delta Green Missions are supposed to be this combat heavy, but I’m still learning how best to incorporate Mythic’ s random events, and my knee jerk reaction is often FIGHT. How are you finding the story so far? Let me know in a comment or a message!

1. Oracle: Are Tracy and Gloria the only Rangers? 50/50 14 - Yes

2. Oracle: Anything Suspicious? 50/50 88 - No.

3. Oracle: More than 1 rifle? 50/50 11 - Yes. Random Events. New NPC ‘Threateningly Valuable’. ‘Bestow Hinderance’

4. Skill: Search - 48/74

5. Skill: Alertness - 44/66

6. NPC - Smelly and Scary - Male. Older. Smell like death? Yes.

7. Oracle: Any visible wounds? 50/50 08 - Extreme yes. Gun? 50/50 - 38 Yes.

8. Oracle: Can he talk? Unlikely 14 - Yes. Does he give a straightforward answer? Very Unlikely 27 - No.

9. Skill: Persuade -20% 44/60 Crit Success.

10. Oracle: Does he answer directly? Unlikely 70 - No. What does he say? ‘Deceive Divide’

11. Skill: Firearms - 60/53 (Attempting a Headshot, at close range for a net -20%)

12. NPC Skills: Alertness Montford: 26/50 Palmer:51/20. Tracy:19/20

13. Montford Skill: Firearms - 54/80. 3 Damage

14. Oracle: Is he close enough to move and attack in the same turn? 50/50 74 - No.

15. Skill: Dodge - 89

16. NPC Skills: Firearms Montford: 45/60 Tracy: 05/40 - 6 and a 5. Does that drop him? Nearly Impossible - 70 - No.

17. Sanity: (Unnatural) 28/51 0 Loss.

18. Oracle: Is his Melee skill better than mine? 50/50 02 Extreme Yes. - 60. Attack - 90/60

19. Unarmed - 21 VS Melee 52 6 DMG. Kat is wearing her Kevlar vest still, but Knives have Armor piercing. She has 4 HP remaining.

20. Sanity (Violence) 80/51. -1 Sanity.

21. Opposed Check: Unarmed 38 VS Enemy 77 - Enemy Fumble

22. Montford Skill: Melee - 04/60 - 6DMG. Oracle: Does this kill him? Likely - 58 Yes.

23. End Scene. Chaos Factor - 6. Test Scene = 3. Altered Scene. Increase Activity. (Autopsy of Corpse)

24. Skill: Forensics - 71/51

25. Oracle: Was this man dead before we killed him? Likely - 55 Yes and Random event.

26. Tracy Skill: Medicine +20% - 60/60

27. Random Event - PC Negative - Disrupt Defence.

28. Sanity (Unnatural) 78/50. Project Sanity Loss onto Cousin Markus -2

29. Sanity (Violence) : 92/50. -1 San

30. Oracle: Is the dog the same as the man? Almost Certain - 100 Extreme no.

31. Palmer Skill: Occult 50/80

32. Tracy Skill: First aid +20% (Trauma Kit) - 64/80 - 3HP

33. End Scene. Chaos Factor - 6. Test - 4 Interrupt Scene - NPC Action. Sheriff Bosworth - Relinquish Portal