Operation Winter Strain: Chapter One
Arizona Bound 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 Louis Pescevic: https://www.pexels.com/photo/aerial-view-of-sedona-arizona-covered-in-snow-19509118/
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Phoenix Airport - Arizona. December 1st 2005 - 12:30PM
I’ve never been to Arizona before. I didn’t travel much outside of Massachusetts until I joined the FBI, and even then it was just Quantico and Washington State. It was colder than I expected.1 I had ditched the black suit that marked me as a federal agent, opting for a smart-casual pair of work pants, hiking boots and parka, but the cold still managed to seep through. Landry had provided a plane ticket under a false name, and so I was without the comfort of my badge and gun. Between that and the cold, I felt more than a little exposed. I glanced at the scrap of paper in my hand, following the comically brief instructions until I reached a mezzanine with a few small meeting rooms. One of them was closed, with blackout blinders and a sign on the door that said “CDC Consultation in progress - 12-2:30PM” I glanced around and knocked twice, then waited. Nolan Landry slid open the door and nodded for me to come in. The room was small and we were the only two occupants, and to say it was sparsely decorated would be an understatement. There was a desk with blank paper scattered all over it, no chairs and a space heater that rattled loudly enough that anyone attempting to eavesdrop was in for a rude awakening. An old whiteboard sat on the far wall with “Prevention, Prevention, Prevention!” written on it in large block capitals.
“Welcome to Phoenix, although you won't be staying long.” Landry said, slumping against the desk. His voice lacked his usual pep and were I an uncharitable woman, I would say he almost seemed petulant.
“Shouldn’t you wait for the others to get here before the whole “Welcome!” spiel?” I asked, holding out my hands to the heater. I needed gloves. I thought the desert was supposed to be hot.
“Its just you.” He said. I raised an eyebrow and he continued. “This is an unusual situation.” He said. “Think of this as your pre-briefing.” He handed me a folder. “You can read that on the drive over to Sagebrush2 for more details.” He rattled some keys before placing them back in a voluminous pocket.
“You’re coming with me?” I asked in disbelief. The bruises from when I had seen him in September had faded, but something in his posture was the same. He was on edge, and irritated.
“For now.” He pulled out a thin cigarette and tapped it on his hand a few times before putting it away again. “There is something I want you to understand.” He continued softly. “A few years ago, this kind of Op would be highly irregular. Back before…” He trailed off and then gestured vaguely. “Before things changed. Back then, we all worked in Silos, understand?”
“Not really.” I said, but he continued anyway.
“An old colleague, one who should know better, reached out to me last night. He’s running a job down here, which should be none of my business.” He hissed the last part, as though to himself before regaining his composure. “They ran into a complication. They lost agents, both LEO’s3. My counterpart is low on resources and personnel. You have the experience and skillset to fill in the gap, and unfortunately, I owe this person a favor. so here we are.”
“Oh, well as long as I can help you pay your debts, Landry, of course. Why didn’t you say so earlier?” I said. Working for the Program was already an undue stress on my career trajectory, as well as my mental and physical wellbeing. “An off the books black op, how wonderful!” I added.
“I don’t like this either, Katherine.” He said, an almost palpable air of exhaustion in his voice. “And it's not off the books. Officially you and my colleague’s team are part of the CDC, investigating a potential outbreak of a virulent and unknown strain of influenza.” He passed me a very authentic CDC badge with my picture and a name I didn’t recognize. He tapped the name for emphasis. “I would follow the other’s lead and try to keep quiet. Alma Mckutchin has been retired for the last few years and would be very surprised to find herself in Arizona, given that she recently left the country to visit family.”
“If they need LEOs, shouldn’t I be here as an LEO?” I asked, pocketing the badge.
“It's the skill set, not the position. They need someone who can shoot straight and examine a crime scene.”
“Just that?” I snorted. “Not much then.” I flicked open the file and was greeted by a photo of a dead man, his face blue and bloated. He had been wearing a hazmat suit, but it had been cut open lengthways, revealing a corpse that looked a few days old.4 I snapped it shut. “Fucking hell Landry.” I said, feeling slightly nauseas.
“I said to read it in the car.” He said, a hint of his usual irreverence sparking through the exhaustion.
“What’s really going on here? I’ve worked with lots of different people in the Program, right? Why is this such a big deal?”
“Incorrect.” Landry said sharply. “You have exclusively worked with my people. Even the friendlies I have directed you to are under my care. The new program hasn’t defined its operational security well enough for me or any of the old guard to feel comfortable breaking out of our bubble.” He paused a beat. “Well, most of the old guard, anyway.”
“Isn’t collaboration and a sharing of resources and intel a vital part of being a federal organization?” I asked.
“God you’re so young.” He said wistfully. “You’ll see in time. For now, let's get to the case. Anthony Walker was part of the initial CDC response team investigating a spate of deaths in the unincorporated town of Sagebrush, just past Maricopa.5 The reports that Walker sent up the chain flagged a Program Analyst’s attention, and the CDC team has since gone missing. The last report was filed November 26th and Anthony’s body was found November 27th.6 The state of his body matches the other victims. There is a report in the file that has the most information, I expect you to burn it once you have what you need. The initial response team arrived November 28, ran into trouble on the 29th and reached out to me on the 30th. Their initial findings are included in the folder. It isn’t much. Walker’s CDC team is still missing. The agents and the first responders have all reported seeing the same individual at each scene of investigation. This individual and reports matching their description pop up periodically in the documentation of the initial deaths in Sagebrush.” He glanced at his own folder and read the description, “Tall figure, believed to be male dressed in a tan overcoat and large, wide brimmed hat. He always leaves when approached, and the hat is always tilted at just the right angle to avoid recognition. Security camera’s have seen the figure, but no ID has been made.”
“Our team got burned pretty early in the case.” I said, leaning back against the wall. “Who took out the two agents? Is that a lead?”7 He shook his head.8
“Personal Conflict.” He said vaguely. “This team has been together for a while. I recommend against prying, judging by my colleague’s reaction. I can tell you more later.” He added, before moving on. “We should get going, there’s construction on the highway, so it will take about an hour to get to the office in Sagebrush. Read the file in the car.”9
I-10 Arizona - 1PM
The tattered paper map Landry passed me as he slipped confidently into the drivers seat of a black SUV said we would only be on the I-10 for 15 miles, but due to some poorly posted and extensive work being done on the road, we were at a standstill for 20 minutes trying to get out of Phoenix. I reviewed the case file as requested, but there was little that hadn’t already been covered in the initial briefing.10 I wasn’t a medical expert or a doctor, but I was fairly sure influenza didn’t make a body swell up half its size and turn blue. I glanced at Walker’s autopsy photo again. He wasn’t the pale blue of asphyxiation, or any of the colorful shades you can get turn from various illnesses and diseases. He was bright blue, a vibrant and slightly sickening shade that gave me a headache.11 I wasn’t aware of anything in the occult sphere that turned people bright blue. Into a monster or an undead creature, sure, but if there was something that turned you neon blue in the old books I had been reading, it eluded me. I glanced through the remainder of the folder. The initial CDC report was largely filled with question marks, and mildly irritated hand written notes12 indicating that the bodies had a virulent strain of something that could only be influenza, as it matched the molecular structure, but the symptoms and deaths didn’t match it at all.
“I assume no copy of this report will make it to the CDC archives?” I asked as I continued to pour over the notes.
“Certainly not.” Landry said idly as he fiddled with the radio. “One of the Alpha team members is actually a CDC agent, he will handle filing a plausible cover story.”13 I hummed, and turned to the final page which was mostly background information on the people that had died during the initial bout of illness in Sagebrush. Mostly older people, living alone.
“This can’t be all they’ve found, they’ve been here nearly a week.” I said, flapping the folder around, trying to see if anything fell out.
“They’ve been distracted.” Landry said as the traffic finally started moving.
“By what?” I asked.14
“One of them contracted whatever this illness was. He deteriorated quickly, and went insane. He killed his partner, then tried to kill the others until one of them put them down.”
“Shit.” I said, shocked. “Why isn’t any of this in the file?” I added.
“I imagine its a sensitive subject, Jones.” Landry said dryly.
“I know that, but was the violent outburst a symptom of the disease, or was there something else going on?”15
“I have no idea.” Landry said. “You will have noticed that there are no witnesses to the spread or deteriorating effect of the disease. Those infected are usually alone, and die alone.”16
“Surely someone worked out a timeframe?” I asked.17
“Most people were seen on security cameras or by someone else in the community approximately 24 hours before their estimated time of death.”
“And there were no witnesses to the deterioration?” I asked.18
“Not one.” Landry said. I snapped the folder closed and passed it back to him, staring out of the window. I wasn’t sure how much help I would be here, it sounded like they needed a team of scientists, not a Law Enforcement Officer without her badge.19 I zoned out for a few miles, although at the rate we were moving it was likely a lot less. I realized, slowly, that there was something walking alongside the car. It was on the side of the highway, sitting on its heels until we started up and drove forward a few minutes. Whenever we stopped, no matter how far we had driven, a few moments later it would trot up level with us and sit back on its haunches. It was a border collie with a pink collar. It’s eyes always seemed to follow me whenever it drew level, but she just sat there, watching.20 Eventually, we peeled off the highway and onto Maricopa Road, leaving the road works, and the dog, behind us.21
CDC Forward Office - Sagebrush 2:30 PM
“We have a quick pit stop to make before we reach the CDC rendezvous.” Landry said, turning off Maricopa Road toward a sign that said “Seacate Village.” He turned the SUV off that road a few minutes later, and I was extremely grateful for the four wheel drive as we bounced down a dirt road that didn’t seem to have seen much use. He pulled a piece of paper out from inside his jacket and looked at it as we rocked down the dirt road. One more sharp turn, and we were driving up a previously invisible and very narrow driveway. A small compound lay at the end with tall, barbed wire fences that ran the perimeter with a camera ever couple of meters.22
“Where the hell are we?” I asked Landry.
“I called ahead. You should probably stay in the car.” He parked out of view of the cameras and then strode boldly towards the compound door, giving the door a swift knock. A plain man in jeans and a sweater opened the door, glanced Landry up and down, and then deposited a gym bag in front of him without a word. Landry picked it up, turned on his heel and marched back to the car. He threw the bag at me and spun the car around, heading back towards Maricopa Road.
“Unpleasant sort.” He said distastefully. “You can thank Montford for having friends in low places around the country.” I gave him a skeptical look before I zipped open the bag. An MP5 submachine gun with folding stock and sound suppressor was tossed haphazardly in the bag alongside a slim Beretta Bobcat.
“That’s likely all I’m going to be able to get you, I’m afraid.” Landry said. “Our colleagues may have other avenues, but that bag marks the only favor I feel comfortable calling in.”23 There was a couple of spare magazines in the bottom of the bag for both weapons, but apart from that, the bag was empty.
“Hopefully I won’t need them.” I said lightly.
The rendezvous point was in a portable cabin on the edge of town. It was slightly colder in Sagebrush, around 5 degrees Celsius, and I was feeling the cold a little more than usual.24 There was a small barrel functioning as a makeshift campfire, the kind you see homeless people gather around in hallmark movies shortly before the main character learns the meaning of Christmas. It was an odd sight, and I was about to point it out to Landry when a tall man with a toothbrush mustache violently exited the cabin and hurled a pile of paper into the fire. He swore, loudly, and then slammed the door behind him.
“For fucks sake.” Landry said under his breath. He strode forward, throwing the manila folder onto the fire casually before knocking on the door. He turned to me as we waited. “This will be unpleasant, but the best way to deal with Nathan when he gets like this is to just ride it out. Don’t say anything.” He turned back to the door and plastered a wide false smile onto his face, his eyes bright with the usual mischievous twinkle. The large mustachioed man, Nathan I assumed, opened the door a moment later. Between the buzzcut, the mustache and the barely contained rage, I guessed that he was ex-military, or military adjacent. He was of an age with Landry, the little hairs below his nose a wiry grey and his face was lined and worn. At this moment, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot and slightly manic. I wasn’t surprised mentally when he started shouting at Landry, but my body had an involuntary reaction at the sheer volume, and my hand gripped the Bobcat in my jacket at the sudden rush of adrenaline. Given Landry’s initial calm demeanor and his instructions to me, I expected him to stand their blandly and then make a glib, disarming response so we could move on. I was wrong. The moment Nathan took a breath, Landry screamed right back at him, all attempts at composure gone as the two got in each others face and gestured angrily at each other. I watched in part horror, part amusement at the verbal exchange, which was largely incomprehensible, before I glanced past him into the cabin. There were two other people in the cabin. One was a heavy set African American man in an office chair with a laptop balanced on his knees. He was pinching the bridge of his nose in clear exasperation, and shared a woeful look with the other agent, a man in casual dress whose bland, forgettable features were nonetheless extremely familiar. Jasper Westbrook looked back at me, eyes flashing in recognition, before a rueful smile broke out across his face. He shook his head slightly and tapped his fellow agent on the shoulder. The CDC agent looked over at me and quirked an eyebrow. They had a hushed conversation that I couldn’t eavesdrop on due to the increasing volume of the exchange next to me, but eventually, Jasper came over and squeezed past the arguing pair, gesturing for me to follow. We walked over to the flaming barrel and he warmed his hands in front of it for a while.
“I didn’t expect Arizona to be so cold.” He said conversationally.25 He seemed genuine, so I placed my hands out towards the fire.
“Me neither. Doesn’t look like either of us dressed for it.” I said, nodding to the casual oversized sweater and sweat pants combo he was sporting. He smiled.
“Joe said this is what all CDC officers wear in the field.” He said lightly. Landry and Nathan had fallen into a hissed whispering argument, none of which traveled over to us, but they still looked furious with each other.
“Seems like there’s a history there.” I said, pointing.
“Nolan didn’t tell you?” He asked, surprised. I shook my head and he barked a genuine laugh. “Nate hasn’t shut the fuck up about it since they made the call. They were both in N-Cell.” I frowned at the term, but Jasper continued as though I was supposed to know that that meant.26 “Their last mission went bad, they lost most of their team and had a big falling out. When the Program started up, they both came in from the cold separately. I’m not sure which one of them figured out the other was there first, but they weren’t happy about it. Still, I’m guessing they trust each other more than anyone else they know, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.” I nodded, as though all of that made sense.27 Landry had mentioned there had been the “Cowboy” days, when the program had been run a lot differently and that we weren’t always as well connected as we are now. The one war story he told me back in the summer sounded more illegal than most of my jobs, not that that was saying much. Jasper glanced at me as I rolled all of this over in my head.
“Small world, hey?” He said and I laughed.
“Small world.” I agreed with a small smile. “So, the folder Landry gave me was pretty brief on details.” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“You just want to jump straight into the case?” He asked wryly.
“Sure, why not?”
“Well OK then. Your file said you were pretty direct.” He said with a chuckle. He laughed easier than I would have thought in out first meeting, and a smile suited him more than his Agency Man Scowl. It made me feel more comfortable. Perhaps that was why he did it.28
“The CDC team is still missing. Anthony walker was found by state troopers along the highway south out of Sagebrush towards Maricopa, still in his Hazmat suit. The suit was damaged by a number of tears that were inconsistent with the fauna he would have trekked through. We suspect he was attacked, most likely with knives given the angles and type of the cut.” He took a breath.
“We didn’t get the chance to run forensics. Everything went down just as we entered the lab. We’ve got Walker's body in another cabin just down the road, on ice and in as best condition as we can keep it. We kept Agent Grant and Snaez’s29 bodies there as well. Grant got sick but we aren’t sure how, so any enlightenment you can shed on that would be appreciated. Honestly, we’ve just been kicking our heels since then. Joe didn’t take it well, and the local cops just want us to leave, so we’ve been laying low.”
“An idea where the CDC team ended up? You said Walker was found off the highway?”
“We have one lead, and it’s a tenuous on at that. There’s a journalist here by the name of Debbie Graves. She’s volatile, or at least that’s what people around here say. I think she struck out somewhere, she is far too competent and canny to be working for a small Arizona newspaper. I don’t want to say she was harassing the CDC team, but she showed up a lot in their initial report. She should know their last known whereabouts, if nothing else.”
“Why haven’t you chased her up?”30
“Apart from everything falling apart and her unpleasant reputation, she also hasn’t shown up to work this week. I’ve called her office. She’s on sick leave, and they won’t give me her home phone.”
“Interesting.” I said, looking ponderously into the fire. Landry had stopped arguing with his friend and now they were just glaring at each other.
“Let’s check out those bodies.” I said, rearranging my bag on my back. “I’m sure those two will work it all out, no need to let them slow us down.” Jasper smiled wistfully.
“We can only hope.” Her said. “Welcome aboard.”31
Welcome to Sagebrush, Arizona, where it’s cold, the people are unfriendly and there’s something weird going on in the old folks home. A bit of a strange set up for this one. I wanted to do something a little different, and with our new CIA agent NPC added to the Persistent Characters list, I thought, why not work him into the mission. I hope you enjoy Operation Winter Strain! Let me know what you think.
Oracle: Official Case? 50/50 61 - No
A fictional town an hour out of Phoenix along the Maricopa Highway.
Law Enforcement Officers
Sanity: (Violence) 85/52 - 1 Sanity
Oracle: Did the Team disappear? Likely - 61 Yes
Oracle: Does it match the other deaths? Likely - 47 Yes
Oracle: Is it? Unlikely 41 - No.
Oracle: Did Something from a previous case take them out? 50/50 98 - Extreme no
End Scene. Chaos Factor: 5 Test Scene - 1 Altered Scene. (Roll a 10, so rolled twice. Reduce Activity - Folder review. Add Character: ???)
Oracle: Bodies overtly supernatural? Unlikely - 76 - No. Consistent with Flu deaths (Mostly)? Likely - 97 Extreme no.
Skill: Occult 19/27 Anything distinctly occult? 50/50 72 - No.
Oracle: Initial report - Anything inside the bodies? 50/50 - 29 Yes. Unknown material? 50/50 79 - No.
Oracle: Any other information? Unlikely 98 - Extreme no.
Oracle: Agent got disease and went crazy? Likely 05 - Extreme yes
Oracle: Does Landry know? 50/50 68 - No.
Oracle: Do we have a Timeframe? Likely 06 - Extreme yes
Oracle: 24 hours infection death? Likely 42 - Yes
Oracle: Were there? Almost impossible 18 - No.
Skill: Alertness - 98/65
Sanity: 93/51 - 1 SAN
End Scene. Chaos Factor 6. Test Scene = 4 - Interrupt Scene - NPC Positive - Nolan Landry - Recruit Environment
Skill: Criminology - 89/64 Fail
Oracle: Anything else in the bag? Unlikely 67 - no.
Oracle: Open fire nearby? Unlikely 11 - Random event and yes.(NPC Negative, ‘Proceed Conflict’ Landry.)
Skill: HUMINT: 72/80 - Is Jasper Holding up ok? 50/50 23 - Yes
Oracle: Did their last mission go bad? Likely 27 - Yes
A bit of a Delta Green Lore drop there, most of which would go completely over Kat’s head
I asked 10+ oracle questions, getting mostly nos, to get the details of Walker’s body. decided to not include them.
Jasper’s dead teamates. Snaez was DEA and Grant was a detective with the police.
Oracle: Is she easy to find? 50/50 - 96 Extreme no
End Scene. Chaos Factor 6. Test Scene - 8 Scene as Expected
Good stuff! Love your usage of the footnote tags to put your game mechanics, really great way to include them without impacting the narrative.
Great beginning to this arc. The mission creator tool you are using seems to work well. Strange and creepy premise to work off of.