Operation Kerebos: Chapter Seven

Preparing For a Raid 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.

Thumbnail Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wooden-fence-of-high-cottage-in-suburb-4157121/

Ranger Station Bravo - 7PM

It was long past sundown when Palmer and Montford arrived at Ranger Station Bravo.

“The fuck is that?” Montford said, pointing his knife at the pulpy mass of meat and tentacles by the lakeshore.

“Dead.” I said. “Let’s hurry this up, I’m getting sick of this fucking ranger station.” Palmer and Montford had stopped by Alpha and Charlie and retrieved the other corpses that needed to be disposed of for one reason or another¹. and I had spent the time since calling Palmer calming Tracy down and building a bonfire big enough to burn all of the bodies. The ranger station had enough gas and firewood to build a substantial fire, and Tracy helped find a good spot so that I didn’t accidently burn the park down. Once the others arrived, we put the rubbery, unnatural corpse in the center and piled the dog bodies on top of it, topping the pile off with the wrapped bodies of Daniel Martinez and the drowned man.

“Did Daniel ever wake up?” I asked²

“Just before the end, yeah.” Montford said blandly. “Opened his eyes, looked at me and smiled. It was fucking creepy.”³ I shuddered.

“Where’s the ranger?” He asked, after we poured most of a tank of gas over the bodies.

“In the station. The power came back, so she’s been cycling through the wildlife cams. If we can get a shot with Aaron Foster and Daniel, it makes covering this shit show a lot easier.” Palmer lit the fire, and we watched the bodies burn for a while before filing into the station.

“Is there anything we can use?” I asked Tracy.⁴

“I have a shot from three angles of a middle aged white man, leading Daniel towards the Lake.” Tracy said. She pointed at the screen. The video was paused and monochrome from the night vision. A clear view of a man of average height, holding the unmistakable outline of a young boy. The boy stared forward with a blank expression, but even at this angle, his profile was an exact match for Daniel. I went and uncuffed the sheriff from the radiator nearby and hauled him over to the computer.

“Is this Aaron Foster?” I asked, pointing at the screen. He paled, looked, and then nodded.⁵ There was no timestamp, but Tracy cycled though the other shots, and played some of the video. Thankfully, the murder itself wasn’t caught on camera, but with this evidence, and a compliant Sheriff, the end game should be a lot easier. We just needed to get there.

---

I left the Sherriff cuffed and despondent in the kitchen, and guided the others outside. I had read Tracy in as much as I dared. I mentioned the Program in the loosest terms, focusing primarily on our role as dealing with things that the public didn’t need to know about. She baulked at the secrecy, which was fair. I pointed out the Sheriff's reaction, and her own, and then underlined it with people like Foster, who used such knowledge to do evil and she eventually came around.

“We could use the help wrapping this up Tracy.” I told her.⁶ She nodded.

“I’ll see it through.” She said. Planning the next part took up a fair amount of time. We needed to move quickly, before we lost any advantage. Right now we had guns, and hard evidence that Aaron Foster was a child killer. I was pretty sure we could trawl through those wildlife cams and find him killing all of the homeless people as well.

“Palmer, You should return to the Sheriff's office and keep the Sheriff honest. When the gunplay starts, people are going to call the Sheriff's station. I need you to make sure he doesn’t send anyone out until we are ready.”⁷

“Makes sense.” Palmer said. “I’m not one for gunplay, and that man looks like he’ll fall apart at a moment’s notice. Call me when you finish up, though. You’ll need my help to go through Foster’s effects.”

“We need more information about this place.” Montford said.⁸

“I’ve dragged as much as I could from Bosworth.” I said. “It’s a small estate, and Foster and the committee are the only people anyone has seen there. He’s never seen any of them armed.”

“Didn’t Foster fuck with his head? How reliable is that?”

“Fair point. We can do some recon when we get there. Maybe they'll be asleep?”

“And if they are?” Tracy said, her voice shaking. “Do we arrest them, or..” She trailed off. Montford was smiling unpleasantly.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” I said reassuringly. I had killed a murderer in his sleep exactly once. It had been easier than I thought it would be and I thought about sharing that with Tracy, to reassure her, but decided against it. She was already pale, and she looked shaky after everything that had happened. “Let’s get out there and check the place out. We have the element of surprise, at least for now.”⁹

---

The Foster Estate - 9PM

I unloaded our spare rifles and took the extra magazines, just to be on the safe side. Palmer drove the Sheriff back to the office and made herself comfortable in his office, calling in when she was settled and ready to receive any call outs.

“We’ve sent the deputies home, now it's just the two of us.” She said and I heard the telltale click of the 38 revolver she had borrowed from Montford. Sounded like she wasn’t taking any chances, which was good. The Sherriff had just nodded mutely when we gave him his marching orders, but I gave him long odds that he would sit calm without encouragement. We took the SUV to the Foster estate, and parked just out of sight of the main house.¹⁰ The lights were off, and the main house sat in darkness.

“Stay here.” Montford said. He had his submachine gun strapped to his back, and his night vision goggles dangling around his neck. He placed the radio earpiece in his ear before he slouched out of the car and through the bushes. Tracy had the Remington Shotgun and Kevlar vest we had taken from the Ranger station, and Palmer had been kind enough to let me use her vest after mine had disintegrated. I still had that knife sheathed at my belt, alongside my side arm and rifle.¹¹

“He’s kind of scary.” Tracy said nervously as Montford slunk off into the shadows.

“He’s an ass.” I said, performing a final check on my weapons.

“Your mic is on.” Montford rumbled from my ear piece.

“I’m aware.” I said lightly. He grumbled, and then I released the transmit toggle with a chuckle.

“Is this normal?” Tracy said, her eyes still distant. “Like, you two seem like you’re gearing up for a firefight. Shouldn’t we be planning to arrest him?” I shrugged.

“All official reports will say that we did.” I told her. “But unofficially? Our top priority is to protect the people of this town from people like Foster. If he can play with people's memories, do you think we can get him in prison? Or a fair trial? If the Sheriff wasn’t a loose cannon, I would have Montford wait in the tree line with a rifle, and take him out when he goes to get his morning coffee.”

“It just feels wrong.” Tracy said softly.

“It is wrong.’ I told her. “But it’s also necessary.” I sighed and turned to face her. “Look. We’ve asked a lot of you. You don’t have to come in there with us.” She shook her head.

“I will. I need to see this through, for Gloria, and little Daniel. It just doesn’t feel good, you know?”

“I do.” I told her with a smile. “I really do.”¹²

---

“There’s no back door.” Montford said after a tense ten minutes. “No Cameras.” He said. “Windows look dark, and the ones on the bottom floor are barred. This is a weird house.”

“Any cars in the drive way?” I asked.¹³

“3.” Montford said. “They look expensive. I would guess that Foster has company.” I heard a slight ruffle, then his voice again. “Going to check the door.”¹⁴ He was silent for a few minutes, and then I heard him again. “Its locked. It looks like the only way into the house, but I want to watch for a while longer, see if any lights come on.” Radio silence resumed for a while.¹⁵ About half an hour of tense silence later, Montford resumed.

“There. I can see a light on the ground floor, at the back of the house.”

“Is there anyway to reach one of the second floor windows, try to get in subtlety?” I asked. ¹⁶

“The walls are flat, and I’m pretty sure the windows are barred on the second floor too. Even with a grapple, I don’t think we could get in. What I wouldn’t give for a set of breaching charges.”

“Alright. Going in hard might be preemptive. Stand by Montford. I’m going to try to set off a car alarm. When someone comes out, can you try to sneak in?”

“We should eliminate whoever comes out, and then ambush the rest.” Montford said, his voice a monotone deadly grate.

“We don’t know if the people with him are a threat.” I said.¹⁷ It took a bit of cajoling, but eventually he agreed to try it my way. I nodded for Tracy to follow and we snuck to the end of the drive way, scooping up a rock on the way.¹⁸ I looked at the nearest car, and expensive looking Sedan and I hurled the rock as hard as I could at its rear window. It smacked into the back, smashing the window with a loud crack. The car alarm blared and I realized we were both just standing there, exposed, in the middle of the drive way.

“Run!” I whispered.¹⁹ We made a fair amount of noise we ran back up the drive way, the expensive gravel crunching beneath our boots as we scrambled behind the manicured hedge. I could almost hear Montford sigh in exasperation.²⁰ We were lucky. We had the hedge between us and the house before the door opened and light spilled down the driveway.²¹ I peered around the corner to see a woman with a severe bun and a number of glittering bangles at her wrist standing in the doorway, backlit by the house.²² She swore loudly, and rushed to her car.²³ From our vantage, I saw Montford slip into the house behind her, seemingly unnoticed.

“Tell me when she goes back inside.” He said softly. “I’ll unlock the door for you.”²⁴ The woman made no move to go back inside, instead looking over her car and swearing again.

“Can you hear the other people inside?” I whispered into the mic.

“Not from here.” Montford said. “This place is small, I’m holding a position in their dining room, as its dark, but the target is down the hall.”²⁵ After the woman showed no indication of returning to the house, Montford’s voice came through the mic again.

“I’m not going to stay here all night, Jones, kill her or sneak past her, but do something.”

“Can you close the door from where you are?” I asked.²⁶ His form appeared in the doorway, and the woman’s head whipped around. It was time to move. I ran up and pointed my rifle at her.

“On the ground.” I hissed.²⁷ The woman jumped, her eyes wide. “Close the door M, and stay out of sight.” I said as I moved up. “T, keep her covered.” The woman’s eyes went wide as I advanced on her. I pushed back my windbreaker, revealing my badge and tapped it. “Do you see this?” I said. She nodded.²⁸ I glanced her over. She was unarmed, her car keys held tightly in a trembling hand. She was approaching the end of middle age, and dressed in a sensible, and likely shockingly expensive, cardigan and dress pants. “You are going to answer my questions.” I told her. She nodded again. “Is Aaron Foster in that house?”²⁹ Her eyes went distant for a moment, but she nodded. “How many others?”

“Three of the committee are here, including myself.” She said in a scared whisper.

“Tell me about Daniel Martinez.” I said through gritted teeth. We still didn’t know how culpable the Heritage Committee was. Bosworth could be right, and they could just be a bunch of old busy bodies with a sociopath at their head.³⁰ I waited for her response.³¹

“I can’t recall.” She said vaguely.

“How about Knight’s Lake? Ever been there?”³² I saw the look in her eye. A guilty flicker back to the house and then she turned her head, ready to yell.³³ I moved, aiming to slam my rifle butt into her head, but she moved quicker than I would have guessed, and she started yelling at the top of her lungs,³⁴ screaming wordlessly as she scrambled to the door.

“Fuck Montford go loud. Prioritize Foster!” I really didn’t want to shoot this woman, even if I did suspect she knew exactly what she was involved in, so I stepped after her. She was scrambling on the floor, so I stood and slammed the butt of my rifle down at her head.³⁵ It slammed into the back of her head and she fell to the ground with a scream.³⁶ I crouched over her, and let out a breath of relief. She was still breathing. I threw my cuffs to Tracy.

“Cuff her then follow me.” I said.³⁷

“Jones” Montford said urgently. “Foster is up to something, I can feel it.”³⁸ Montford let out a yell, and I rushed into the house with my rifle raised. It was a short hallway, and I could see into the large room at the end. Aaron Foster stood, a long, thin blade stained with blood in his hand. One of the old Committee members was bleeding at his feet, their throat cut and eyes vacant, as he extended a hand towards Montford.³⁹ Montford had fallen to his knees, his Submachine gun held loosely in both hands. Slowly his head turned to me, his eyes glassy and I felt a hollow pit in my stomach.⁴⁰ Fuck this. I snapped the rifle to my shoulder.⁴¹ Montford was still hunched over, but I had a feeling he wouldn't be for long. I squeezed the trigger.⁴² Foster’s smile froze on his face as the bullet tore out his throat, spraying blood around the room in an arterial gush.⁴³ The blade slipped from his fingers and he collapsed backwards. I rushed to Montford’s side. He was frozen, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.⁴⁴ I scanned the room, quickly finding the the third member of the committee. The old man was bound to a table, naked, pallid and thoroughly dead, an athame identical to the one wielded by the drowned man was stuck in his chest, skewering the man’s heart. It looked like we had interrupted a ritual.⁴⁵ When Foster’s body began to twitch and writhe on the floor, I realized we hadn’t interrupted it soon enough.

“Montford, get ahold of yourself!” His eyes rolled back into focus, but he was groggy and still slumped on the floor. Tentacles burst from the corpse in front of me, entirely too similar to the ones I had seen at the lake, but larger and more defined.⁴⁶ I could feel my cell vibrating in my pocket, but I ignored it.⁴⁷ I was alone, standing in front of a large, horrifying and unnatural creature, and it was absolutely, fucking terrifying.

“Tracy get in here!” I yelled, an edge of hysteria to my voice.⁴⁸ It surged towards me before I cold get my gun up. Its tendrils flailed around me, but I managed to back up slowly and duck under the slimy, clumsy blows. I needed to create space and shoot the damn thing.

“Montford, you asshole wake the fuck up!” I called. I was so close to the thing I couldn't miss, so I fired with a minimal of bracing⁴⁹ , the bullet thudding into its flesh and spraying viscous black blood over me. I heard footsteps behind me and panicked voices.

“What the fuck!” Said a shaky, unexpected and irritatingly familiar voice. I glanced behind me to see the Sherriff there, a standard issue shotgun gripped in his hands with Tracy and Palmer at his heels.⁵⁰

“Not another one.” Tracy said, her voice tight. The sheriff tripped backwards as he struggled to get away, and I put him out of my mind. The creature flailed towards me again, its tendrils lashing out at me and Montford, who had finally hauled himself to his feet, a look of incandescent rage on his face.⁵¹ A tentacle hit my chest on the backswing, and I stumbled back, keeping a hold of my rifle long enough to take another shot.⁵² The bullet tore a chunk of flesh away and I screamed a wordlessly as I racked the bolt. Tracy yelled at me to move further away, and Palmer snatched up the shotgun the Sherriff had dropped in his eagerness to flee. Both were aiming towards me and the large, horrifying creature floating effortlessly above us. It attacked again⁵³, but its tendrils smashed the walls around us long enough for Montford and I to duck and run past it, deeper into the room trying to set up a crossfire. Tracy and Palmer’s shotguns barked.⁵⁴ The force of the shot knocked the creature back and it let out a psychic scream of pain. I screamed alongside it.⁵⁵ It swung for me and Montford again⁵⁶, I ducked under it, but Montford took a heavy blow to his stomach, winded and gasping. I scrambled for more space as Tracy and Palmer fired again.⁵⁷ The buck shot tore into it, but it ignored the pain and wrapped its tendrils around Montford, lifting him up off his feet.⁵⁸ Its fleshly mass moved close to Montford, a toothy and endless maw opening in the center of its flesh and Montford screamed. I dropped my rifle and moved in, snapping the ritual dagger from my hip and swinging,⁵⁹ but its tendrils kept me at bay and I screamed in frustration, unable to land a hit as Montford struggled to escape.⁶⁰ He smacked a gloved fist into the thing’s unnatural mouth and found enough give to stumble backwards. Palmer and Tracy held their fire, yelling at us to run, and I gritted my teeth. The creature whirled again, letting out another psychic scream as the tendrils flew and it knocked us both back, and despite our struggling, we couldn't get close enough to land a hit on it.⁶¹ It pressed home, flailing with unnatural precision and I felt blood running down my face. We had to run.⁶²

“Montford, reposition, for fucks sake run!” I yelled, scooping up my rifle and sprinting as hard as I could, my ribs aching as I threw myself to the far end of the wall. Montford was slower, and off kilter from the damage, he collapsed next to me, prone, and I stood over him with my rifle raised. Shotguns barked⁶³, and the creature spun its body like a top, its tentacles surging towards the other two.⁶⁴ They both screamed and ducked, scrambling back towards the door, and I took my chance. I squeezed the trigger and the bolt clanked, the cartridge empty as it fired the last bullet in the magazine⁶⁵. The bullet slammed into the monster's midsection and another psychic scream echoed out as it was knocked out of the air and slumped dead to the floor.⁶⁶

---

Hope everyone likes footnotes. I actually cut this down from 100+, it was a very intense scene and the dice were not my friend! Kat will be wrapping up this Operation next time, so drop any comments or feedback in the comments!

1. Oracle: Are there any accelerants? 50/50 - 33 Random Event - Close a thread - Wildlife Cams

2. Oracle: Did Daniel Wake up? Unlikely 20 - Yes. Did he say anything? Unlikely - 56 No

3. Sanity: (Helplessness) 45/52 - 0 Loss

4. Oracle: Anything we can use in the Wildlife cams? Likely 40 - Yes Foster and Daniel? 50/50 - 04 Extreme Yes.

5. Oracle: Is there a timestamp? Very Likely 77 - No. Is the murder on any of the cams? Unlikely 69 - No

6. Skill: Persuade - 86/91

7. Oracle: Palmer good with that? Likely 55 - Random Event. I forgot about this in all the excitement

8. Did I have time to question the Sherriff already? Unlikely - 13 Yes. Large Estate? 50/50 100 -Extreme no. Armed? 50/50 80 - No.

9. End Scene. Chaos Factor 5. Test Scene - 3 - Add a Character - Committee members

10. Oracle: Lights on? Likely 99 - Extreme no.

11. Montford Skill: Stealth - 05/70

12. Oracle: Two entrances? Likely 91 - No. Cameras? 50/50 - 54 - NO. Windows accessible? Unlikely - 48 - No

13. Oracle: Cars in the drive way? Very Likely 53 - Yes

14. Locked? Likely 56 - Yes.

15. Oracle: Lights come in in the next half hour? 50/50 47 - Yes. 2nd floor?72 - No. Curtains closed? Likely 32 - Yes.

16. Oracle: Is there? Is there? Unlikely - 91 - Extreme no. The Oracle is not in a giving mood this scene

17. Skill: Persuade 32/91 I’m imagining Montford as being extremely done with this shit.

18. Skill: Stealth 32/21. Athletics 10/56. Does it Smash the window? Very Likely 47 - Yes.

19. Skill Athletics - 80/56 Tracy: 80/50 0_0

20. Oracle: Does someone come out straight away? Likely - No.

21. Oracle: Is their alertness better than base? 50/50 89 - No. Alertness - 95/20 Man? 50/50 75 - No

22. Does she leave the doorway? 50/50 44 - Yes - Random Event - Current Context “Hastily Mighty”

23. Montford Skill: Stealth 36/70

24. Oracle: Does she go back in quickly? 50/50 - 63 No. Can Montford hear people inside? 50/50 72 - No

25. Oracle: Does she go back in without something happening? 50/50 84 - No.

26. Montford Skill: Stealth - 93/70

27. Oracle: Does she comply? Likely 49 - Yes

28. Skill: Alertness - 44/76 Any weapons? 50/50 84 - No.

29. Oracle: Does she answer? 50/50 23 - yes. more than 2 other people? 50/50 78 - No.

30. Skill: HUMINT 85/80

31. Oracle: Does she say anything? 50/50 31 Yes. Is she guilty? Unlikely - 16 Yes.

32. Skill: Alertness -20% (Failed HUMINT Roll) - 33/50

33. Skill: Melee +20% (For Critical Alertness) - 60/54

34. Oracle: Incriminating yells? 50/50 91 - Extreme no

35. Skill: Melee +20% (For prone position) - 51/54 - 2DMG Enough to knock her out? Very Unlikely - 05 Extreme Yes. Mechanically speaking, that means she has about 4 HP

36. Sanity(Violence): SAN Check 01/52 Critical Success. I didn’t note it down, but Kat would have regained 1d4 SAN for killing and disposing of the lake monster.

37. Oracle: What does Montford See in the house? ‘Control Enemy’ A Ritual

38. Oracle: Human sacrifice? 50/50 02 Extreme yes.

39. Opposed Roll: POW X 5. Foster Wins.

40. Sanity (Unnatural) 60/52. -1 Sanity.

41. Oracle: Clear Shot on Foster? Unlikely 25 - Yes.

42. Skill: Firearms 37/76 = 12DMG. Does it kill him? Likely 58 - Yes

43. Sanity (Violence) 76/52 -3 Sanity. Projected on Cousin Markus for 0 Loss total

44. Oracle: Is the other old person alive? 50/50 - 05 Extreme no.

45. Oracle: Summoning a creature? Likely 50 - Yes. From Foster’s body? Unlikely - 09 Extreme Yes. The oracle does not like me.

46. Is it stronger than the thing in the lake? 50/50 22 - Yes. Random Event. NPC Action - Sherriff - ‘Arrive Surprise’

47. Sanity (Unnatural) 76/51. 1d6. 2 Sanity Lost

48. Oracle: Do I get a chance to shoot it? Likely - 70 NOPE. Physical attack? 25 Yes. Attack 62/40

49. Skill: Firearms+20% (Close Range) - 54/90 6 DMG

50. Rolled Sanity for everyone, Palmer and Tracy passed, Sherriff did not, he is now out of commission.

51. Monster attack: 08/40. 2 DMG.

52. Skill: Firearms 02/97 - 14 DMG

53. Monster Attack 99/40 - Fumble

54. NPC Skills: Tracy 66/85 24 DMG - Palmer - 91/80 (Tracy and Palmer are using buck shot at close range for +40%)

55. Sanity (Unnatural) 70/49 - 1 Sanity.

56. Monster Attack VS both agents Dodge. Kat succeeded, but Montford failed, taking 5 Damage

57. NPC Skills: Both hit, dealing 7 DMG total.

58. Monster POW X 5 72/70. Failed drain attempt.

59. Skill: Melee 61/34.

60. Montford Escape: Unarmed 59/60 VS 21/40

61. Opposed Melee. Monster wins with Critical. Rolled a 1 on damage. (If it had rolled 3 or more on a d6, both Montford and Kat would have been taken out.)

62. Monster 71/40. Both Montford and Kat use full movement open space.

63. NPC Skills: Tracy misses, Palmer hits for 8 DMG. Is it dead? Likely 79 - No. Does it attack Palmer? 02 Extreme Yes.

64. Monster attack 71/40

65. Skill: Firearms: 07/76 - 9DMG. Is it dead? Likely 06 Extreme Yes.

66. End Scene. Chaos Factor - 6. Test Scene - 5 Altered Scene. Increase Activity.