Play@YSDC

Posted: **Thu Aug 03, 2017 7:46 am**

The next few months find the agents resuming their usual routine. It is perhaps a welcome change. After the San Carlos business, they had been viewed as rising stars in the bureau, but the lack of results in the Glendridge investigation slowed this speculation down. Their careers had not been too damaged by their failure to identify the culprit, and maybe it was better this way. A shooting star burns out twice as fast, or however the saying went. So despite all they've seen, the agents try to get back to their daily lives, and some sense of normalcy.

Vanessa begins a new relationship with an assistant district attorney. Like herself, Malcolm Devane is ambitious and committed to the cause, and the pair have several passionate discussions. It helps that he is also quite attractive. The pair become close very quickly, and he seems really interested in Vanessa. Unlike many of her old flames she also knows he understands her job. But that's her official job, not the one she does for Delta Green. She thinks about the things she's seen, the things she may very well see in the future, and she pulls back. Malcolm notices, but seems willing to give her the space she needs for now, and things continue on as they were before. But she wonders how long this is possible.

Nik in turn throws himself into his relationship, perhaps masking the horrors he's experienced by committing to Debbie. She seems grateful for the extra attention, and things are good between them. Though she does chide him for not sticking to his diet.

Rue largely keeps to himself, but he seems to be trying to lay low as well.

August 17th, 1999

And so their routine continues for nearly three months, until August. It is then that one day an email arrives for the three of them. As usual it is from a throwaway account, and labeled a Night at the Opera.

An operation has come up that requires S-Cell's skills.

Effective tomorrow you will be assigned to the FBI office in New York City. You'll be conducting an operation under one of our agents, whose name will be given to you by your superiors within the FBI. Ensure you are ready for the trip.

Due to recent events and in an effort to avoid telegraphing operations, agent SCOTT will remain within the Phoenix field office so as to give deniability. Additional agents will be assigned to S-Cell to assist STANLEY and SALLY if it is deemed necessarily.

Be Seeing you,

ALPHONSE

Rue seems half relieved, half disappointed that he won't be joining the others, but promoises to keep his head down. He does tell the team to contact him if things become dicey, however.

Sure enough, halfway through the day Vanassa and Nik are called into the SAC's office. Their boss gets straight to the point.

“I won't mince words, agents. There's apparently a big operation being conducted in NYC. It's very hush hush, all I could get was that it's some sort of counter terrorism operation, whatever that means.

"You two have been specifically requested. Guess someone on the team appreciates your work. You'll be leaving early tomorrow, the 18th. Once you arrive at New York headquarters, you'll meet with special agent Curtis McRay, who will fill you in on what exactly this mission will entail.”

Though the SAC does not say it, both agents know that NYC is one of if not the most prestigious postings in the FBI. Depending on how things go on this mission, their careers may very well see a boost, and maybe even a permanent reassignment should either want it.

Posted: **Thu Aug 03, 2017 11:57 pm**

Nik receives the news without enthusiasm. Last year, he would have been ecstatic at the news of a NYC assignment. But lately he is much more fatalistic. It's easier to assume that he won't survive the mission.

After arranging his current cases with other agents, he returns home to pack and let his girlfriend know the news. He wants to spend time with her before he leaves.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2017 3:53 am**

"Thank you, sir!" says Vanessa with a broad grin. "It's been an honor to work with you." She knows what this posting can mean for her career. She wonders what it will mean for her new relationship with Malcolm. It's unlikely that he can move to New York to be with her, but he would probably be happy for her. She hopes that they can make a long-distance relationship work.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2017 6:53 am**

Both of the agents loved ones are a bit surprised by the abrupt departure, but know that it happens in this line of work. This is a big move, and neither of the agents know exactly what sort of experience they're being signed up for. Given their past work it would seem to be some sort of serial killer case, as those have been the two investigations they've dealt with that are the most high profile. But Delta Green may very well have pulled strings and assigned them to something else entirely.

August 18th, 1999

The flight the next day is delayed by an hour, but the team touches down in New York City early in the afternoon. It's a quick trip made long by the city's famous traffic, but they eventually make it the city's FBI headquarters. It's a large and imposing building, and the facilities seem far more up to date than the Phoenix office. Even entering the lobby finds the team in the midst of frantic activity, and it would seem that while they are here there will never be a dull moment. If either of them read up on the office they know that there are over 1200 special agents assigned to this branch, a number that dwarfed the resources of Phoenix. Based on the resources at their disposal it seems a bit unusual the branch would need to go out of "house" but no doubt their other affiliation played a part.

Identifying themselves gets the agents directed to a meeting room on the 7th floor. It's a plain room, the only features of note being a large table with a dozen unused chairs surrounding it, a potted plant in the corner (likely fake) and a projector. it's empty when they enter, and they're made to wait a few minutes before the door opens and a man joins them. He looks to be in his early 40's, and is dressed in a nice suit. He's thin, almost skeletal, with shaggy brown hair that's half way to gray and severe blue eyes. He wears Buddy Holly type glasses, and looks them both over before offering a thin smile.

"You're my team then? Well enough. Agent Curtis McRay. Normally we'd use code names while on DG business, but the special nature of this assignment makes that unpractical, at least from my end." He offers his hand and gives them both a firm handshake, and both agents get the impression he views this as a sort of test.

Placing a large brown folder down in front of both agents, he retreats to the far end of the table and takes a seat.

"I won't waste time with small talk, let's get to the heart of the matter. Tell me, are any of you familiar with The Review for Historical Accuracy and Accountability? The Review for short." He continues before either can answer. " It's a holocaust denial group." He opens his own folder, and begins to read.

"Brief history lesson. The group was founded in 1952 by 'Dr.' Herman Sawyer. At the time it was virulently white supremacist. Its members were connected to at least a few murders down south. Still, like a lot of such groups it was never all that influential in the grand scheme of things. It was plagued by vicious infighting between all factions of the far-right, which generally hampered its effectiveness. Sawyer himself cut ties with the group in the early 70's, after he was forced out of his leadership role in a purge. He went on to form a society calling for race war, but died of Lung Cancer three years later and that group died with him.

"The Review however continued to grow. By the early 1980's it had become more 'respectable'. It officially denounced violence and white supremacy, and removed the rest of its members who held to these tenants. It reinvented itself as a group focused on combating what it sees as historical inaccuracy. Namely that the Holocaust happened and that World War Two was necessary. To do so, it uses pseudo scholarship and all sorts of questionable sources, but it's earned a degree of respect that many similar organizations do not enjoy. Reports indicate its membership has steadily grown since this reorientation, and recently the group's findings were cited in the work of a prominent conservative thinker. It may be only a matter of time before it becomes mainstream in certain circles.

"Put bluntly, the FBI is concerned that the group still has hidden ties with extremists, and may be either directly or indirectly backing them. Our organization agrees. Given its increase in strength and prominence, we are concerned it's become a prime target for subversion by individuals or a group that has been known to operate within the far-right spectrum in the past. That's where you come in. The FBI is putting together a team of four rookie agents to monitor prominent members of The Review during an upcoming conference they'll be holding in the city, on the 24th. This Friday. You have been selected to oversee these agents. Using the cover of the operation, you're to search for any signs of involvement between Review members and groups or individuals that would be of interest to our organization. Namely those using or aware of prenatural phenomena. "

McRay pauses, apparently opening the floor for questions before he continues.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2017 3:55 pm**

Nik

“What the fuck is this?” thinks Nik.

“How are the aliens involved?” he asks, in all seriousness. “Are they goddam white supremacists now?”

He feels himself getting angry, but he doesn't really know why. He knows he shouldn’t, but he can’t help it.

“What the hell does ‘prenatural’ mean anyway?” he snaps.

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2017 4:41 am**

"Have there been any efforts to infiltrate the Review, either using an undercover agent or trying to recruit an informant within the group?" asks Vanessa. "If not, are there plans to do so? It seems to me they'd be pleased to have new members."

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2017 7:26 am**

Agent McRay smiles. It contains no mirth.

"Aliens, as you put it, may not be involved at all. This is a fishing expedition. It's entirely possible you'll be spending the week doing nothing more exciting than camping out in a van. But just in case there's more to it, we want our people overseeing things."

He looks down at his folder. "You both were responsible for cleaning up that mess in over in Glenridge a few months ago, yes? The culprit there was suspected of utilizing unnatural phenomena and weaponizing it to satisfy their very own human grudges. I assure you, that culprit is not the first person to try and use the things we fight for their own ends. And they won't be the last. Based on these reports you've encountered Majestic's goons, so you know that even parts of our government is in on it.

"Well bad as they all are, there exist groups in recent history that have attempted to control these sort of things and turn them to their benefit. And that's a very dangerous weapon in anyone's hands, but especially terrorists. There's no proof of prenatural involvement within The Review, but given its increasing prominence within far-right circles we believe it to be a prime target for organizations that are a threat to national security. As for the group's themselves that may be involved, that's classified. From top levels. We don't want you jumping at shadows out there.

"Preternatural phenomena is what our group exists to destroy. It's a lot like pornography. You know it when you see it."

He turns to address Vanessa. "We have a few moles in the organization, but they're all low to mid level. They report nothing out of the ordinary. If The Review has become co-opted by anyone of interest to our organization, the taint currently remains at the highest levels."

"As for your objective here, there are three. I'll sum them up in order of importance.

"Of paramount concern to us is finding any evidence that any of The Review members under surveillance are engaged inactivities or affiliated with groups that are in the know about what we fight. If any are we'll need to use whatever means are available to stop them. Legal, if possible, but if there's a risk that they will continue to spread their knowledge while incarcerated and recruit others, other measures will be authorized.

"As mentioned, your team for this are rookie agents. This is thought to be an easy assignment, a sort of final test before they prove themselves capable of being full agents. Legally, the FBI only has the authority to monitor the targets while they're out in public. The agents under your command will be briefed that the mission has tasked them with finding out who these men meet up with and if any of their contacts are affiliated with the white nationalist movement, specifically the violent part of it.

"Neither of you are to operate under such strict parameters. The organization gives you full permission to break into their hotel rooms, bug their communications, and anything else you cna get away with. You're also able to remove any incriminating evidence if it comes to it. National security trumps the need for a warrant. You learn that early in this line of work." McRay trails off for a moment. "Just don't get caught." McRay almost seems blase about the law breaking he has just authorized the team to perform.

"Regardless, you should take care to avoid engaging in any blatant lawbreaking in front of the rookies. We can't bail you out of trouble without risking our secrecy, and secrecy is paramount. However, a secondary assignment is for you to examine each of the team you're assigned and determine if any of them have the qualities that an organization such as ours looks for. If so, we may look into recruiting them at a later date."

"Third and least important, do whatever you can to kneecap The Review. If we can find an excuse to arrest some of the ringleaders it will go a long way towards crippling the organization, and prevent it from being a target for subversion in the future, even if it's not already."

"Now, let me show you what we have on your targets, and we can proceed to any final questions you may have and the final part of the briefing." He opens the dossier and slides for the agents to do the same. Inside are four profiles.

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2017 4:32 pm**

Nik

Nik opens his hands in a gesture of submission. “Okay McRay. Subverting Nazis plus training rookies it is.”

He feels relieved. Maybe there won’t be so much supernatural alien shit after all. And going up against Nazis – how can you go wrong?

He looks through the files; they look like standard Holocaust deniers to him. Dressing up a predetermined subjective conclusion in an argument which sounds convincing to the person giving it, but which is unsustainable when confronted with facts.

“Goddam it” he says. “I hate these assholes even more than those alien assholes.”

He looks directly at McRay.

“We’ve come up against these ‘Majestic’ people as you call them before. Are you going to start telling us more about who they really are?”

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2017 5:35 pm**

"Can we see the files of the rookies we'll be supervising?" asks Vanessa. "The more we know about them, the better."

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:39 pm**

“That's not relevant to this investigation,” McRay says when Nik questions him about Majestic. “But I'll make you a deal; once this op is over you can ask me anything about them and I'll fill you in. But right now I want you focused on this.

“I share your feelings with these types. You do this job long enough, you start to realize humans are half the problem.”

“As for the agents dossiers, they start on page 12.” If the agents flip to this page, they see what they have to work with.

David Faulkner, 33, is an attractive man with All American Boy looks. He looks more like a model than an FBI agent. A graduate of law school, he's been an agent for ten months and has earned nothing but praise.

Samantha Lynn, 30, is a petite and delicate looking woman with bright blue eyes and brown hair. She's been an agent for seven months, investigating crimes for the navy prior to joining the FBI. Her record is also spotless.

Steve Udagawa, 29, is Japanese-American, with a military grade cut and a strong stocky build. He did two tours in the Army after officer training school and has been in the FBI for six months. He's praised, but there are a few notes made that he's not much of a people person.

Eric Taylor, 31, is a very handsome African-American with model features. He entered the FBI fresh out of Law school and has been in it for eleven months. His record is good, but he's been chided for occasionally being looser with the rules than he should be.

Once the agents finish reviewing the files, McRay rises and makes his way to the projector. “As for information on the four targets," He flips it on and a man's face appears on the screen.

"Peter Hames. A WWII veteran and once noted historical scholar. He became active in Holocaust denialism in the late 70's, which led to a shunning of his once respectable works. Hames will speak on the Nazi's party attitude towards the 'Jewish Problem' and argue that the Nazi's never intended mass extermination as policy. He is booked on a 10 p.m. flight on the 22nd and has booked a room at the Marriott from the 22nd to the 25th. Room 1126." He gives the address of the hotel.

He pressed the switch, and a a new face appeared. "Michael Drinkwater. A former professor of European History. Currently unemployed for reasons we've not been able to find out. He will focus on the gas chambers. He's booked on a 4.15 flight and will arrive tomorrow, the 19th. He's also booked at the Marriott, room 1210.

"Allen Bhrunt. The main publisher and editor of The Review's newsletter. Also the publisher of many of the group's texts. He'll be giving overviews of The Review's latest activities, fundraising, etc.. He'll arrive by train the day after tomorrow at 4:45 pm. He also is booked into the Marriott from the 20th to the 28th. Room 1708.

"Lastly, Stephen Colm. The Review's secretary and organizer of the conference. He's be ensuring everything goes smoothly and introducing the speakers. Unlike the other three, he lives in New York City." he gives an address.

"We've attained books and other publications of the members, along with television programs they've appeared on. You are free to peruse these or have the team under you do so, in an effort to learn more about the targets."

“If there's no further questions, I'll send the other agents in and you can brief them on the federal aspect of this case. Remember that none of them are cleared to know of our true mission here, and care should be taken not to involve them in such matters unless there's no other option.”

Posted: **Sun Aug 06, 2017 12:41 am**

"Understood," says Vanessa. "Those materials will surely prove useful. We'll want to bug those hotel rooms and Colm's home and tap their phones. Since we don't have a warrant and aren't going to get one without evidence, we'll have to do that ourselves and not let the rookies know about it."

Posted: **Sun Aug 06, 2017 7:14 am**

Nik stands up. “If you give us what we need we can get on with setting the wires, then we can begin physical surveillance once we’ve briefed the rookies.”

Posted: **Sun Aug 06, 2017 8:34 pm**

McRay nods. "You'll be provided with parabolic microphones, cameras, and camcorders to observe the men in public, and electronic bugs and listening devices to utilize in the more covert part of the operation. The FBI's also willing to lend you up to three vehicles from our stock to keep track of the various targets.'

"As for bugging the rooms, that sounds like a good start. None of the targets aside from Colm have arrived yet, so it may be worth hitting the Marriott.There are also several hotels within a block of the Marriott our friends will be staying at. I believe there's also a dentist office/dance studio directly across the street. It has sight on some of the rooms, which may be helpful. Of course, you could assign someone a room within the hotel. It's probably the only place running into the same person a few times would not tip our guys off. But it's entirely up to your team."

He gets to his feet. "With that, I think we're just about done here. I'll send the team in. Keep me informed," he gives his number. "If you find anything, let me know immediately. Good luck out there."

He leaves, and shortly thereafter the four rookies enter. They all listen carefully as they're briefed on their part of the mission. All seem reliable, and the agents get a sense they'll be useful. At least for the non DG part of the assignment.

With the briefing over, it falls on the team to decide their preliminary moves.

OOC: You've a lot of freedom here, but hopefully it does not overwhelm. Here are some but certainly not all of your options.

You could scope out the Marriott and attempt to access the rooms, or set up shop across the street.

You could head to Colm's home and see if you can gain access or what he's up to..

You could attempt to do some research on one of your targets by reading their publications/watching the recordings you have of them, then making a HUMINT roll to construct a profile based on that. I'll give a +20 bonus to these rolls, considering you can perform it at your leisure. But this takes time, and an agent can only conduct one of these evaluations before the day is out.

You can speak with one of the agents and get to know more about them and what skills they may have that are useful to the situation.

Lastly, recall that the rookies can be assigned tasks as well.

Posted: **Sun Aug 06, 2017 9:21 pm**

Posted: **Mon Aug 07, 2017 2:09 am**

Posted: **Mon Aug 07, 2017 8:09 am**

OOC: I'll say McRay can provide you with fake Identification, but he cautions you that it won't hold up to serious scrutiny so to do your best not to push it. For now you're a newlywed couple from Boise, Idaho, checking out the big city.

As for keycards and hotel uniforms that's beyond what he's willing or able to provide. You'll have to figure out your own way into those rooms.

So, still heading off to the hotel while the rookies get to work?

Posted: **Mon Aug 07, 2017 8:26 am**

OOC: Sure, we'll do it that way.

Posted: **Mon Aug 07, 2017 8:50 pm**

As the rookies get to work on the files, the DG agents head out.

The Marriott in question is a nice hotel located right in the heart of downtown. It offers easy access to the heart of city life, and has many amenities including a bar and restaurant. It's not quite as nice as the Glendridge hotel had been, but the agents would not be uncomfortable here. McRay had even offered to reimburse them for the room,s so they would not even be paying out of pocket for it.

The first objective would seem to book a room for the two of them, preferably somewhere they could keep an eye on their targets. This may prove difficult however, as they were all on different floors, the 11th, 12th, and 17th. More importantly, the team might want to figure out a way to get into those rooms and bug them, but this could prove challenging. They don't have a warrant and are currently using false identities.

Before they can do much but take in the lobby one of the hotel receptionist notices them and calls them over. "Good afternoon! Will you be staying with us today?"

OOC: either of you can make an idea roll and ponder your options, but feel free to get creative.

Posted: **Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:39 am**

Nik

“Yes, that’s the plan, but unfortunately we haven’t made a reservation. We were supposed to be staying with friends while we were in town, but they had a family emergency. Do you have a room for us?”

Posted: **Tue Aug 08, 2017 5:24 am**

"I hope there's a vacancy," says Vanessa with a smile. "Preferably not on too low a floor. I'd like a good view."

Posted: **Tue Aug 08, 2017 6:37 am**

OOC: There are a few different things the agents could try, though of course none are without risks.

They could attempt to either bribe a receptionist or take one into their confidence. Though they have no legitimate authority here, the flash of a badge still goes a long way towards influencing people. They'd need to be convincing, but if they could get someone here on their side it might go a long way. Alternatively they could try the same strategy with the housekeeping staff, either bribing some of them or arranging to borrow their uniforms long enough to plant the bugs in the rooms. The downside to either plan is that if it fails they risk exposure.

A different strategy might be to go directly to the rooms in question. If any are occupied now, perhaps the occupants could be convinced to assist them in planting the bugs. This is likely to be somewhat more difficult, but it may be a bit less risky.

A final option might be converse with the staff or do some surveillance and see which of the rooms are freely available now. If any of them are, it should be easy if perhaps a little unusual to request the specific rooms for the team's own use and bug them before their targets get here.

"That's fine," the receptionist assures them. "We have a number of open spaces. I have a great standard room open on the tenth floor, and if you'd like to upgrade we have some fantastic suites available as well."

Posted: **Tue Aug 08, 2017 7:02 am**

Nik

“I think the standard room will be fine” says Nik, mindful of budgets. Although it doesn’t make him look very romantic – he’ll just have to live with that.

OOC: Checking the rooms to see which are free now would be worthwhile. I think getting hold of a key card would be good too. Perhaps if the rooms are occupied we can Roll persuade?

Posted: **Wed Aug 09, 2017 4:17 am**

"We should at least hear about the other available rooms," says Vanessa. "Which rooms are they, and how much more would it cost to upgrade?"

Posted: **Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:18 am**

The receptionist smiles at Vanessa, sensing an opportunity.

"Ah, yes. We have an upgraded suite available on the 14th floor. Very nice, newly refurnished. I can offer it to you both for 149 a night." The price quoted is 50 dollars more than the typical room. "But if you don't mind me saying so, you look like you're here for pleasure more than business. Is this a romantic getaway? If so, you simply owe it to yourselves to check out our deluxe suite. We have one available for you on the 17th floor. It has all the modern amenities for work as well as play, as well as a personal attendant on call 24 hours a day. All for just under 300 a night."

OOC: A successful idea roll determines the receptionist is eager to make a sale. While the suite would undoubtedly be nice (especially since none of you are paying for it) It's unlikely to aid the agents in their mission in anyway. It also puts McRay out more and might anger him, or at least limit further purchases on their behalf.

When the agents make their room reservation, they are asked how long they intend to stay.

OOC: As you finish up on the reservation. Planning to bring this guy (let's call him Ted) into your confidence and try to elicit his help? If so, roll persuade and bureaucracy. The roll may have modifiers based on his personality, but I'm not going to tell you them offhand.

You can feel free to make a HUMINT roll first to determine any read you can get on him as to how easy or difficult this would be.

Posted: **Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:36 am**

Nik wonders if the guy might be approachable, but can’t get a read off him.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:08 am**

"The deluxe suite does sound lovely," says Vanessa, "but I'm not sure if we can afford it. Is there any way we could get a look at it before we make a decision?"

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:41 am**

"Of course." Ted gets another worker to briefly cover for him as he steps away from the desk and guides the agents tot he nearest elevator. The team see that there are 26 floors listed on the pad.

The 17 floor is nicely furnished, and there are a few resting areas on the floor with chairs for people to sit at and socialize if the mood strikes them. There's also what looks to be one conference room at the opposite end of the hall. Ted guides them past various rooms, among them Bhrunt's future one. It does not seem to currently be occupied, though the two adorning rooms are.

The deluxe suite itself is located at the very end of the floor, separated slightly from the standard rooms. It's rather nice. It includes a minibar and premium cable tv, as well as a large bathtub and his and hers toiletries. Ted helpfully "slips" that its considered the honeymoon suite. There's also a private phone line to their own personal concierge.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:59 am**

Nik

“Let me just talk to my wife a moment please Ted” says Nik, taking Vanessa aside.

His voice lowers to a whisper. “Once the wires are set up, we can monitor them from any room. I’m not so sure about being on the same floor as one of our targets. Plus this room is guaranteed to be expensive.”

Posted: **Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:36 am**

"All right, we'll take the room on ten," she whispers back, nodding. "Not very romantic, maybe, but we're both playing our parts. When you go out with your girlfriend, be more generous then. She'll appreciate it. We may also want to bug the conference room, in case they use it."

Posted: **Fri Aug 11, 2017 6:24 am**

Nik

“We’ll see. It might not be necessary, and it adds to the risk.”

Nik goes back to Ted. “We’ll take the room on the 10th floor. Times are hard you see. Is there a conference happening here soon?” he adds.

Posted: **Fri Aug 11, 2017 7:00 am**

Once they express interest in a typical room, Ted loses interest rapidly. His smile grows more distant and his answers less expansive.

He leads them back down and quickly checks them both in, providing them both with a keycard for the room.

"There you go, enjoy your stay. A conference? There's an insurance brokers one coming up in about two weeks, but none at the moment, no."

The room the agents get to is an ordinary hotel room. It's kind of small but functional enough, and offers a decent view of an NYC city block. With this taken care of, the Agents can consider their day just about over. The rookies will report on what they've learned about their targets first thing in the morning, but are likely to be hard at work until then. Not accounting for Colm, Drinkwater is the first of their targets who will arrive, and he is likely not going to be at the hotel until after 5 in the afternoon tomorrow.

Presuming the agents decide to investigate, they determine that Drinkwater's room is also unoccupied. Only Hames' seems to currently have guests staying inside of it.

OOC: I'm assuming you all want to book the room until the day after the conference, the 25th. It's the 18th now. McRay's covering your bill.

Let me know if you have any additional plans today. If not, I'll move us to Sunday.

Posted: **Fri Aug 11, 2017 7:37 am**

OOC: Sounds fine to me.

Posted: **Sat Aug 12, 2017 5:43 am**

Posted: **Sat Aug 12, 2017 6:52 am**

Posted: **Sat Aug 12, 2017 7:08 am**

Posted: **Sat Aug 12, 2017 4:59 pm**

Posted: **Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:51 pm**

OOC: Okay, go ahead and make a Bureaucracy roll. Succeed and McRay can give you the machine by tomorrow. If this roll fails, you'll need to go ahead and try to stealth stealing the card.

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:34 am**

Vanessa is unable to obtain the machine on short notice.

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:47 am**

"Dammit" says Nik, frustrated at their inability to get the machine.

"Let's go ahead and call the housekeeper. Good luck!"

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 4:16 am**

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 4:47 am**

While Nik distracts the housekeeper, Vanessa tries to surreptitiously switch her room's keycard for the master key.

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:35 am**

The team finds McRay sympathetic, but unwilling to act. "It's too soon, I'm afraid. I can't swing something like that without questions being asked, and the last thing we need is a trail here."

Undeterred, Vanassa tries to steal the master keycard from housekeeping. Nik's on hand to distract, and he does his job admirably. Vanessa swipes the card and barely avoids detection, and the team retreat and proceed to set up their surveillance equipment. They start with Bhrunt's room, then Drinkwater's ,then Hames. Care is taken to ensure all three rooms are breached only after housekeeping has left the floors but the agents also know that time is of the essence. Still, within a few hours they have managed to bug each of the rooms and will be able to see and hear much of what goes on within them. There's likely to be a few blind spots, but nothing to do about it now.

The team enjoys a nice dinner before getting ready for bed, and their first day of their job. They'll have to both conduct their first FBI mission while working undercover to serve Delta Green. Hopefully they were ready for it.

OOC: I'll move us forward to tommorow, tommorow. Good work both of you. First major hurdle cleared.

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 7:57 am**

OOC: Did we do the phones too?

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:12 pm**

Posted: **Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:45 pm**

OOC: Yeah, you got the phones as well, and should be able to hear every conversations these folks have and who they have it with.

August 19th, 1999

The next day finds Nik and Vanessa heading back to headquarters, where the rookies report on what they've learned about the targets.

Agent Faulkner speaks first. "I've been studying Peter Hames. His books are rather dry historical tellings of Nasi Germany and the Luftwaffe. Not much to go on as far as Holocaust denialism, which means he either did not seriously explore the subject until after his last book came out in 74, or he kept quiet about it. But he has been interviewed on several television programs, and there was a notable scandal that saw him forced out of his chairmanship of his area's veteran association after his views became known. Based on what I've observed, he's a rather short individual. He has a temper and snapped at the reporters questioning him. He seems to have trouble differentiating between attacks on his views and personal attacks, and views them all as the latter. He especially seems to dislike being questioned by women. Real steller prize this guy is." That earns some laughter from around the table.

Agent Lynn speaks next. "Michael Drinkwater is an interesting case. His books are overt apologia for Nazi Germany, but it's all meticulously sourced. His television appearances are the same way. But I did some digging into his citations, and he seems to either misquote his sources out of context, or he's quoting other sources sympathetic to the arguments he's making. It's a very circular form of logic, but it seems to be effective at making him seem to have more evidence than he actually does."

Agent Udagawa goes next. "Mr. Bhrunt is a showman. He seems more interested in flash than substance. He doubles down on claims when pressed and seems to prefer high dramatics than reasoned arguments. One flaw I have noticed is that he never backs down, and this has led to more than one occasion where he made himself look ridiculous. He does not seem able to stop himself, however. If challenged I suspect he cannot help himself."

Lastly came Agent Taylor. " We don't have enough on Colm as the others, who have all written material. But he's spoken at several of these conferences before. He looks to be a stickler for procedure, and likes to ensure things stay on schedule.More than once he's interrupted a speaker who was going over their time. He's efficient certainly, but I can't imagine he'll all that popular even within The Review."

Now the ball was in the agent's courts.Drinkwater was not due to arrive until nearly 5. The agents may want to send someone to meet him at the airport and tail him until he arrived at the hotel. And then there was Colm to consider. according to his background he had an apartment within the city, and it might be worth keeping watch on him. The question was, how much of this would they rely on the agents for, and how much would they do themselves?

OOC: Here's where the managing of the agents comes in. All 4 are available for any assignments you might have for them, though do keep in mind that some of them may be more likely to pretest than others when it comes to illegal orders.

Especially with only Colm and later Drinkwater in town, you may not feel that all four are necessary currently, so don't feel the need to assign them all to a task. But you could send say Lynn and Udagawa to tail Drinkwater, Taylor and Faulkner to watch Colm, and both of you could keep an eye on Drinkwater when he shows up at the hotel. Or you could send the agents out to investigate anything on one of the targets backgrounds you'd like more information on, or try that yourselves.

We'll say it's a little past noon, so you still have some time before Drinkwater arrives. What would you like to do?

Posted: **Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:06 am**

Posted: **Mon Aug 14, 2017 6:12 am**

Posted: **Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:57 pm**

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:20 am**

Vanessa is easily able to access Bhrunt's criminal history.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:00 am**

It takes the better part of her work day, but Vanessa learns more about Bhrunt. It turns out that in addition to running The Review's newsletter and website, the man was the suspected mastermind behind a fake insurance scam. Primarily targeting the elderly, the scam purported to offer insurance to seniors for cheap rates. The only issue was that the company and the money it promised was entirely fake. Bhrunt had apparently raked in a few million, and threw enough money around to avoid suspicion. But even this was not enough to save him, and within a few months the FBI was confident it would have enough of a case to arrest him and his associates and throw him away for a long time.

As for Colm, from the group's research he seems to live alone. His wife and children both live several states away, and it seems he is estranged from them. Taylor and Faulkner are assigned to keep track of the man, but both report he stays at home all of Sunday. The only time he leaves is for a brief walk with his dog around the block a few times. It would seem that he is something of a homebody.

Drinkwater's flight is delayed, but he arrives a half hour later. Agents Lynn and Udagawa report that he stops at a newsstand, buys a pack of cigarettes and a newspaper, and then hales a cab. They follow him back to his hotel, wherein they pass the investigation over to the Delta Green Agents.

Nik and Vanassa have prepared for this possibility, and they setup surveillance equipment in their room. Very soon, they overhear their first call.

Drinkwater: It's me sweetheart. i just landed and traffic was awful, I just arrived at the hotel.Just letting you know I arrived.'

His wife responded. "Good to hear. Have a good trip dear. Do keep in touch, would you? I get anxious when we go too long without speaking."

"Yes dear, I know," Drinkwater seems to be a bit impatient. "I'll keep in touch. Love you." He terminates the call. Five minutes or so go by as he gets settled in before he makes another call.

"Stephen! I just wanted to let you know I landed."

"I trust your trip was alright?"

"Yes, though the service... well I've had better. Never fly budget." He laughs, Stephen joining in half heartidly.

"Are you prepared for Friday's conference?"

"I still have to make some revisions on my speech, but I'm planning to iron much of that out tonight. After a few drinks at the hotel bar, of course."

"Just make sure it all flows nicely. This is a big event for The Review."

"There's no need to lecture me, Stephen. I am a historical scholar. This is my job."

Stephen says nothing, so Drinkwater continues. "Anyway, surely we can meet for dinner some night? My room is..."

"I'm very busy preparing for the conference. Glad to hear you arrived. good night." The call terminates.

There is a brief pause before the team hears a muttered 'Jackass." Drinkwater spends a few more minutes going to the bathroom and freshening up before he leaves his room.

OOC: Any plans, or shall I proceed to the next day?

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:34 am**

OOC: I can't think of anything. Moving on seems fine.

Posted: **Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:58 am**

]

Vanessa smirks at Drinkwater's comment at the end. "Good to know that there's some tension between Drinkwater and Colm," she remarks. "Could be useful."

Posted: **Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:12 am**

Drinkwater is gone for a little over an hour. When he returns, He gets out his laptop from his luggage and begins to type. He seems hard at work for the next two hours, stopping only occasionally to look things up in various texts. He stops around nine and orders a movie (Shakespeare in Love) from the hotel selection, then settles down for bed.

August 20th, 1999

Monday morning activity starts early for the agents. Drinkwater heads out of the hotel just before ten in the morning. Colm's tail meanwhile informs that the man has headed off to work.

OOC: Do you guys want to follow Drinkwater, or leave that to the rookies? Colm's place should be free now, and the agents assigned to watch him are observing him at his workplace now. Keep in mind Bhrunt will be arriving later tonight, so you may want someone around to keep an eye on him.

Posted: **Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:17 am**

OOC: Have a rookie follow Drinkwater. Nik and Vanessa can check out Colm's place, and one of them if necessary can shadow Bhrunt later.

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2017 3:08 am**

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:19 am**

Agents Lynn and Udagawa Continue to trail Drinkwater, and will report to the agents at the end of the day, or sooner if anything pressing emerges. Agent Udagawa will also trail Bhrunt once he arrives later in the day.

Agents Taylor and Faulkner tracked Colm . They reported he walked his dog again in the morning, then left at 7:15 in the morning. He stopped to buy a newspaper and a danish at a local newsstand, then headed directly to work. Taking the opportunity, Nik and Vanessa head to his place. Colm's apartment is on the second floor of a six story apartment complex. It's in a quiet working class neighborhood, but a few people are nonetheless out on the street on this busy Monday morning. A fire escape branches around the building and seems to offer access to many of the windows, but it is also in full view of the street.

Colm's unit is 201, and his only neighbour on this floor is directly across the hall from him, so It seems likely the apartments are fairly spacious. Unsurprisingly, the door is locked.

OOC: I rather wish DG still had lockpick as a skill. It's in a different set of rules to learn that I did not chose to include, but it would be helpful right about now. If I run the game again I think I'm going to just add it to the skill list.

For now, if you want to try and get inside one of you can make a luck roll. Succeed and you manage to get the door open without trouble. Fail and you incur a complication. Crit fail and you'll be caught in the act by someone and have some serious explaining to do.

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:31 am**

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 4:09 am**

Vanessa pulls a pin from her hair and fiddles around with it in the lock for a few seconds before she trips it. She probably wouldn't have taken any less time to open it with the key.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 4:18 am**

"Nicely done!" says Nik, admiringly.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 5:18 am**

"Thanks," says Vanessa. "My uncle taught me how when I was a little girl. Guess I never forgot. Let's get inside." Slipping on a pair of latex gloves that forensics experts wear to avoid contaminating crime scenes and giving another pair to Nik, she heads into the apartment.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:02 am**

The door opens silently and both agents find themselves looking inside Colm's apartment. They slip inside quickly. Before they take more than a few steps though they find a curious sight. There's a large splatter of what looks like talcum powder placed right in front of the entrance. It seems obvious to Vanessa that by its placement that it was intended to crudely detect any visitors who steeped inside unaware. Both agents are sharp enough to notice it though, and can avoid it easily enough.

OOC: Would normally have let the both of you roll, but did not want to hold us up for a single roll. You can both check the skill. I believe Vanessa has our first crit of the campaign as well.

The rest of the living room is extremely neat. Bookshelves line the walls of the room, though there is no television in site. The books themselves seem to largely be fiction, particularly in the genre of spy novels. There don't appear to be any works related to Colm's work with the Review among them.

Also by the wall there's a small coffee table( upon which sits a tray of peppermints) and two seats, offering a view out the window at the city street below. In the middle of the room is a sofa. It is covered in plastic, and atop that has a cushion on it. Atop the cushion rests a small dog. The agent's arrival has awoken it, and it looks unpleased by the interruption. Leaping to the floor, it runs towards the agents, letting out an annoying, high pitched, bark and wagging its tail at the strangers. It is no threat, but the barking may get annoying quick.

Aside from the entrance, there are three doors, two to the west and one to the east. The eastern one seems to lead into a small bathroom, while the two others seem to lead into a kitchen and a study.

OOC: Everytime you search a room here you can make a spot hidden if you like.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:32 am**

Nik bends down before the dog and holds out his hand in a fist to be sniffed. Hopefully he can calm it down. Failing that he’ll find it’s food supply.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:49 am**

The dog approaches the held out hand, sniffs it, and then attempts to bite it. It then goes back to yapping.

OOC: Nik can make a CHA*5 roll to try and calm it down, or go looking for food.

Or he could just shoot it, I won't judge.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:56 am**

Nik pulls his hand back sharply, but tries again, this time talking to soothe the dog.

“Hey now, don’t be scared. We just want to have a little look around. We won’t mess with your shit”.

He holds out his fist again.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 8:38 pm**

Cautiously the dog- Nik notices its cushion has a name on the side of it, Bernard- sniffs his hand once again. Then it hesitantly licks it. Apparently satisfied that he is not a burglar, the small mutt allows itself to be scratched by the agents. After a few minutes of this it returns to its cushion and goes back to sleep.

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:11 am**

Now that the dog is happy Nik starts searching the room, but cannot see anything of interest.

“You’d better look too Marchand” he says. “I couldn’t search my way out of a paper bag.”

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:58 am**

"I never knew you were a natural dog whisperer," says Vanessa with a smile. "You have to meet my Rex sometime." She also goes over the living room, but she can't find anything of note. "Let's plant the bugs and tap the phone, then search the other rooms."

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2017 4:51 am**

The agents plant bugs in out of the way locations throughout the room, and they should be able to hear and see most of what goes on in there. The phone too is tapped, utilizing the same trick they had done for the others.

OOC: Where to next?

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:01 am**

Nik pokes around the bathroom, but everything looks pretty ordinary.

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:11 am**

Vanessa searches the bathroom too, thoroughly.

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:49 am**

The bathroom is small.Like the living room, it is meticulously clean. It contains everything one would expect in a bathroom.

A short search finds little of interest, especially concerning their mission. Vanessa does discover prescriptions for Xanax and Valium along with more common medications. Interestingly enough however, they seem expired, and are kept in the back of a crowded medicine cabinet. Their seem to be no recent prescriptions for either of the drugs.

Posted: **Sat Aug 19, 2017 9:28 am**

“Maybe he’s cured now” says Nik. “He got over his depression.”

He leaves the bathroom and moves to the kitchen, where he starts to look around.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 1:56 am**

Vanessa searches the study, but she doesn't find much there.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 6:27 am**

The kitchen suggests Colm spends a lot of time in it. Expensive cookware lines the wall, next to a well furnished shelf with several well worn recipe books and magazines. The refrigerator is stocked and it appears he's just recently gone shopping. A few wines are located on a rack near the cookware. By Nik's estimation they all seem quite inexpensive. The weirdest thing by far is a set of Hitler and Mussolini salt and pepper shakers. Apparently there is a market for everything. Other than that, he finds nothing of interest.

Vanessa enters the study. It's a nice room with a cozy feel. A computer is setup on a table. It seems to be a year or two out of date. A fax machine, printer, and scanner are located nearby, as is a chair that is presumingly used to interact with each. Several filing cabinets take up the space near the left end of the room. On top of one of them sits a box of what looks to be disks. On the right side of the room lay more shelves packed with books. A door leads to the north.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:29 am**

Nik leaves the kitchen and enters the study. He decides to look through the files and books for anything of interest.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:25 pm**

Vanessa begins examining the books on the shelves. "You're the computer expert," she says, "When you're done there, you should see if you can get into his PC."

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 9:51 pm**

As Nik enters the room, his eyes catch on something odd. A small twist tie lies on the floor, the sort of thing you would use to close up a bag. Hardly evidence of anything, but something about it bugs him. He realizes that the rest of the house had bordered on pristine, and this room did as well. So why was it just laying on the floor?

Then it hits him. He had read somewhere that a crude form of detecting whether or not someone had entered a room was to place a twist tie just above the door hinge. If the door was opened, it would fall out, confirming entry. He takes a quick look and thinks that judging by the place it now lay, the tie had been placed above the door hinge and had probably fallen out when Vanessa had entered. Colm clearly wanted to know if anyone was in his home.

The books themselves almost exclusively deal with conspiracies. Holocaust denial is present, but perhaps strangely it's not exclusive here. Everything from Roswell to JFK, Atlantis to Elvis, is featured. Colm seems to enjoy any book that purports to tell the real story of a historical event and hint at "hidden truths". Nik notices that one of the books Colm has is dealing with the Barney and Betty Hill abduction case, the same one Agent Baughman had been interested in.

The files are meticulously organized. Many of them concern either Review business or Colm's mundane accounting work, and a quick scan of these finds nothing unusual. But in the back of one of these drawers they find a folder marked Stromm Letters. Inside are about a dozen typewritten letters, long and detailed. Unfortunately, they seem entirely written in German.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 10:04 pm**

"Let's photograph these," says Vanessa. "We can get them translated later."

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:57 am**

Nik

“We’d better be careful to check every door and replace these” Nik says to Vanessa, indicating the tie. “He is obviously concerned about being searched. He must have something to hide.”

He takes photos of the German letters, but is unable to gain access to the computer.

“Let’s try the next door”.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:23 am**

Luckily Nik finds the computer boots up without complaint. There does not seem to be much on it, though. Minesweeper and a few other games, various word documents on projects for work, none of it seems very intresting or important. But as he's browsing through the files, one catches Nik's eyes. It's labeled Sundries, and the name seems so out of place he has to click on it.

Unfortunately, this file requires a password. A hint is given

"W.'s Reginald."

Did he know what it meant?

OOC: If any of the agents( or their players) know this in character feel free to solve it without a roll. If not, an idea roll may help.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:36 am**

The hint means nothing to Nik.

Posted: **Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:41 am**

"Hmm," muses Vanessa. "Maybe it's the surname of a fictional character whose first name is Reginald, and W. is part of the author's name."

Posted: **Tue Aug 22, 2017 5:22 am**

Vanessa is struck by inspiration, and she consults the bookcases. As she thought at first glance, all of the texts are of conspiracy literature. but not all. Just as she's about to give up and check the books in the living room, one book catches her eye. It's The Jeeves Omnibus. It appears to have nothing to do with conspiracies, and looking through it it does seem to be fiction, telling the humorous story of a young heir and his ever reliable valet and butler. A check at the author lists him as P.G. Wodehouse.

Feeling inspired, Vanessa quickly finds that the character's first name is Jeeves, and she tells Nik to put it in. He does, and to both agent's pleasure the password is accepted. A long text file follows, seeming to be something of a diary Colm started just over two years ago.

March 23rd, 1997

I am beginning this file to keep track of the nefarious tentacles of Them, the ones who want to destroy me. After Their recent attempt to silence me, I have decided to keep a file on all of Them I know of and ways to stop Them.

March 31st, 1997

An old woman came into my office today. She seemed perfectly pleasant, but I noticed she was ruffling through her bag. I suspect that she is one of Them and was recording my conversation. She was trying to poison me, because she offered me a mint. Then she wanted to shake my hand at the end of our meeting, but I was too clever for her, and refused. She left in a bit of a huff, clearly knowing I was onto her. They are many, but I am too clever for Them.

A few months later:

I feel so alone. Not even my fellows in the Review understand. I've mentioned it to Drinkwater at times, but he just laughs and says I am paranoid. Mentioning it to Hames led to him ranting about Jewish influence. And yes, they are a part of Them, but this goes beyond. Why can't any of them see?

February 15th, 1999,

Called Wilhelmina today. She threatened me and told me to leave her alone. Perhaps she is working for Them, or has even been threatened by Them. I will have to be careful.

It goes on and on. Colm seems to think there is a large conspiracy out to get him, and it seems to grow larger with each entry. About the only ones he seems to trust are his elderly neighbor, (a woman by the name of Mrs. Golwin) and his dog.

Near January of this year something seems to change.

Others know of Their influence! I am in correspondence with one of Them. He feels as I do and understand the grave threat They pose to America, if not the world! He has told me that soon enough we shall meet, and he will show me the tools He and his allies have developed in the shadow war they fight against Them. But first I must prove myself worthy. I await His forthcoming letters and hope that they shall offer me a way to be free of Them.

The last entry is dated yesterday:

July 19th, 1999

The organization has reached out to me for recruitment. Herr Stromm says that he will contact me sometime soon and provide me with all the proof I could want. It may even happen during this conference, so I must be vigilant. It would be inconvenient to be called away from the conference duties, but this is not an opportunity I can let slip by.

I will soon be free of Their reach, and must remain calm until then.

OOC: Both agents can make HUMINT rolls. Success indicates that Colm has a severe paranoia disorder, and it seems to be getting worse. If not treated it will continue to escalate. He likely needs severe psychiatric help.

Posted: **Tue Aug 22, 2017 5:39 am**

Nik

“Well done Marchand! I’ve never heard of this guy".

He looks through the files. “Now we’re getting somewhere” says Nik. “He’s obviously extremely paranoid but there might be something to this. We should get these letters translated as a priority.”

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:59 am**

"Thanks," says Vanessa. "I have heard of Wodehouse. I've never read his books, but there's a British TV series called 'Jeeves and Wooster' that stars Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie that I've seen on PBS. It's really good. I never knew Jeeves's first name was Reginald, though. Yeah, he's really paranoid, and this Stromm guy looks like he's playing on it to recruit him for something. The letters should have more details. Let's see what's on the disks."

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2017 5:58 am**

The disks are interesting, but in a mundane sense. Colm has taken to constructing a detailed list of every Review related activity over the last four years. Each month is broken down and expenditures are carefully laid out. The finances of the group seem healthy, and Colm seems to make notes on areas where the group could make improvements.

In addition to this, there are breakdowns on membership, which seems to be growing slowly but steadily. Colm is keeping a list of every member, along with addresses, phone numbers, and email accounts. The Review's membership is not public, so information like this could be quite useful in learning more about the group and its activities.

Other than that, there seems to be nothing on the disks that are related to the letters or any hidden conspiracy that is aiming to recruit Colm.

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2017 8:25 am**

Nik stands up. “Isn’t there one more room to search?”

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2017 7:21 pm**

The last room seems to be the bedroom. Knickknacks line the dressers, among them a set of WW2 toy solders( all from the Axis powers, by the look of them) His closet contains a set of off the rack suits and ties.Nik also finds a cardboard box in the closet. Inside is a folded up karate GI- Colm seems to be a blue belt- and underneath that is a revolver,a Smith and Weston by the looks of it. A small case nearby contains 50 bullets for it. Another bowl of peppermints can be found on the nightstand, along with a few pictures of what seem to be Colm with his children and Bernard.

Other than that, nothing else catches Nik's eye.

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2017 3:51 am**

"That membership list is gold," Vanessa says, following Nik into the bedroom and looking around.

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2017 4:29 am**

Nik takes photos of the screen and the list of members.

“When you’ve finished in here, let’s get back to the office”.

He takes out his phone and calls McRay, asking him to locate a German translator for them.

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:33 am**

As before, Vanessa locates a few rudimentary devices designed to detect intruders. She points them out and all are easily avoided.

OOC: Feel free to photograph or print out the list as you desire. If there's anything else you want to do before you leave, let me know

The team leaves, fairly confident that they have avoided any signs that they intruded inside the apartment. Of course one could never be sure, but hopefully their bugs would clue them in on if Colm seemed more alarmed than usual.

As the agents return, they phone McRay and fills them in. He listens intently.

"Good work. It certainly seems like Colm is a target of recruitment for some sort of group, and I'm very interested in learning who is behind this. We don't have any agents in the area who are fluent in German, and I doubt I can get someone here with such short notice. You'll have to use one of our friendlies for this. Try Dr. Jensen Wu at the Museum of Natural History. Keep him need to know on this."

Nik recognizes the name. Dr. Wu was the one who provided support on their last case.

OOC: Heading there now? If you do, you probably won't be around in time to catch Bhrunt's arrival, but you have an agent assigned to that already.

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2017 8:23 am**

Nik

“Does Wu speak German?” asks Nik doubtfully. Nonetheless, he calls the Museum to ask after the Doctor’s availability.

Posted: **Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:06 am**

Posted: **Fri Aug 25, 2017 5:42 am**

OOC: Currently you have two agents on Colm and two on Drinkwater. When Bhrunt gets closer to arriving, Agent Udagawa will split off and tail him.

As far as Vanessa can tell, everything looks exactly as it was before they entered.

Their first task done, Nik calls Dr. Wu once again. The man seems to remember them.

“Ah, of course. S-Cell, yes? I assisted in that nasty business out in Glendridge. I'm free this afternoon, so feel free to stop by and I'll see if I may be of assistance. Just ask at the front desk.”

And so the agents set off to the Museum of Natural History.
The banner out front currently advertises a new archaeological discovery that had taken place in Egypt. See the tomb of the Lost Pharaoh! It procalms.

Either of the agents who are familiar with the museum may be expecting to walk through some of its more famous displays, such as the dinosaur exhibits or the majestic Blue Whale that hangs above the entrance. But instead, the first guard they see directs them to a side hallway and down a long set of stairs. Gradually the museum decor gives way to bare white walls and flickering florescent lights. The security guard hums a tune as he walks, but that, along with the sounds of their shoes on the floor are the only sounds the agents hear.

They go down a few more hallways and flights of stairs before they arrive at a closed door that requires a keycard. The guard swipes his and the door opens, and the agents find themselves in a cramped room filled with what look to be stacks. Some books line the shelves, but many knick-knacks do as well. It all seems rather random, but oddly organized in a way.

Before the agents can do much investigation they are accosted by a man. He's a short diminutive gentleman dressed in a dark blue vest and black trousers. He appears to be in his 60's, and his long white hair is pulled back into a ponytail. He smiles disarmingly at both agents and their escort.

“Thank you Barry, I believe I can take it from here.”

“Sure thing, Doc. Just let me know when you're done. I know how difficult it is to find your way around down here.”

Wu waits for the guard to leave before holding out a hand, first to Vanessa, then to Nik. “Get here alright, I trust? Good to hear. I'm Dr. Jensen Wu. I run the D Stacks here, a sort of collection of things that... elude our natural understanding of the world. From time to time I've consulted with your organization, though I am not, strictly speaking, a part of it. Hopefully I may be of assistance, or at least point you in the direction of someone who can.”

He gestures to a room at the other end of the room. “If you would follow me into my office, we can discuss this further. Ah, please refrain from heading off on your own. Some of these pieces can have quite the unforeseen effect on the unwary.”

He leads the agents into his small office. It too is cramped, and he forces himself behind his cluttered desk and gestures to the other seat. (There is only one.)

“Before we begin, I must ask about Glenridge and your operation. It is not customary for your agency to discuss the results of their operations with me, but I assume you both took care of the matter? Would you care to fill me in on exactly what happened? I'd like to make a note of it for future reference.”

Posted: **Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:12 am**

Nik looks around him with interest. “Well, the thing, I forget its name, flew up to the heavens with the kid who summoned it riding on its back. And no-one saw either of them again. Some local nutjob confessed to the murders, and the police were only too happy to close the case.”

He looks directly at Doctor Wu, and throws him a curveball. “Now, Doctor, would you mind telling me who Steven Alzis is, and why you told him who we are? He contacted us directly before we left Glenridge. I’m guessing he got our names from you.”

Posted: **Sat Aug 26, 2017 3:43 am**

Vanessa sits down in the chair after Nik doesn't take it. She waits to hear Dr. Wu's response before telling him why they've come.

Posted: **Sat Aug 26, 2017 4:20 am**

Nik sees even in here a few artifacts are crammed into the side cabinets. These are contained behind glass.

“The pieces I'm most interested in currently,” Wu explains, seeing his interest.

“Ah yes, the Ai-Apa. It just left with its summoner? Fascinating. It's a shame you could not retrieve the tool being used to summon it, as I'd have loved to have examined it. Regardless the threat sees to have been resolved. Well done. I hope you and the rest of your team came to no harm.”

Nik's next words do certainly catch the professor off guard. He blinks, twice, then speaks.

“Stephen Alzis runs a nightclub over on Lexington Avenue. He's also a crime lord and the head of an occult organization that uses many of the things I study and you fight for its own benefits. As you can imagine, your agency has never much cared for him, and there was some...unpleasantness some years back. But after a time both groups allowed to leave each other be. I've done business with him and his organization from time to time, and it's always proven useful. Unlike many of the cults I've studied his goals seem a good deal less immediately threatening, and can occasionally be beneficial.

“As for talking to him, I never gave him your names. I believe I suggested you consult him while dealing with the Glendridge business, but I never told him of you. It may have been someone within your organization. Alzis has an interest in your agency, and I've known more than one of your cells which he has interacted with in the past. It could be that someone else tipped him off and he wanted to meet you for himself.”

“Of course, it cannot be discounted that maybe he just knew you were in the area.” It does not seem like Wu's joking.

OOC: Feel free to do a HUMINT roll. Success indicates Wu seems genuine in what he's telling you.

Posted: **Sat Aug 26, 2017 5:03 am**

"We've acquired copies of some letters written in German," says Vanessa. "Would you be able to have them translated for us, Doctor?"

Posted: **Sat Aug 26, 2017 5:51 am**

Wu seems happy to get down to the business at hand. "Let me see here." From his desk, he plucks out a pair of bifocals and gestures for the copies of the letters.

"I should warn you I've not studied German since College, which was some time ago." He smiles self deprecatingly. "But research is what I excel at. I should be able to have a translation for you within the next few days Is that acceptable?"

Posted: **Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:55 am**

"Yes, but please get the translation done faster if possible," says Vanessa. "The letters are from a German named Stromm to a Stephen Colm. Stromm is apparently trying to recruit him into some sort of organization. The more we can find out about him and his organization, the better."

Posted: **Sun Aug 27, 2017 5:15 am**

"Well I'll do what I can, though bare in my mind I'm in the midst of a few research projects at the moment. But considering the circumstances..." he pauses and looks over the folders. "I should have a translation for you by Wednesday afternoon." It's currently Monday evening.

"If there's nothing else, I'll get to it." He waits to see if the agents have anything else to add.

Posted: **Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:18 am**

Nik

Nik is satisfied with the Doctor's explanation.

"Okay then Doctor. Thanks for all your help."

He shakes Wu's hand.

Posted: **Sun Aug 27, 2017 7:35 am**

“Of course. Glad I can assist.” Wu happily returns the shake. “I'll give you a call when the translation is done.”

Unless Vanessa has anything to add, the two agents are soon escorted back to the museum entrance, and can head back to their hotel. It's around 6:30 when they arrive back here, and they are able to get in touch with the other agents and given their reports for the day.

Agents Taylor and Faulkner report that Colm left work at 4:30 in the afternoon and returns home a little after 5. He brings his dog out and walks him around the block a few times before heading back inside.

Agent Lynn and Udagawa monitors Drinkwater. The man leaves his room around 1o and spends his afternoon in several bookstores. The agents report he seems relaxed and purchases several books, having a preference for the spy novels of John le Carré and the murder mysteries of Mickey Spillane. He then makes his way to a food cart, buys lunch, and spends it in Central Park. Then he hails a taxi and returns to the hotel around 4.

Around this time Agent Udagawa splits off and heads to Grand Central Station. Bhrunt arrives on time at 4:45 and hails a taxi. Then he goes to his hotel and checks in.

Taking over for their team, Vanassa and Nik observe their targets. Colm seems rather relaxed inside his home, seeming to be unaware of their intrusion earlier in the day. He spends his time eating, playing with Bernard, and later seems to be looking over the schedule for the upcoming conference on Friday.

Drinkwater stays in his room and is currently reading one of the books he had purchased earlier in the day.

Bhrunt meanwhile settles into his room. He's a tall, slender man, dressed in a nice suit. Even on taoe he has an almost manic air about him. He puts his clothes away, but both agents notice he keeps a gray suitcase by his side and does not touch it even after putting away everything else.

Bhrunt makes two calls. The first is to Colm, who he lets know that he has arrived. It's a brief conversation. The second is to Drinkwater and is a good deal more cordial. After a moment of pleasantries, Bhrunt invites him to a local Italian restaurant located less than a block from their hotel to “catch up.” Drinkwater agrees, and both men can be seen leaving their rooms just a moment later, presumably heading towards the restaurant.

Posted: **Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:11 am**

"Let's tail them," Vanessa says to Nik.

Posted: **Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:21 am**

Nik

"Okay, I'll drive."

Posted: **Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:37 am**

OOC: No need for a Drive roll, it's only a block away. But I'll let you “bank” that one if needed for later on in the scenario.

The restaurant is easily located. It's an upscale place, but the agents thankfully blend in. Their luck holds, as they're able to get a table right behind Bhrunt and Drinkwater. Neither man seems to notice the tail. As for the food, its rather good, but the price is exorbitant.

The restaurant is quiet enough that the agents can hear much of both men's conversation. They talk about their personal lives, their Review advocacy and their upcoming speeches, politics and entertainment. Neither seem to bring up anything Delta Green would be interested in, or even the mundane FBI. They have a rather leisurely meal, spending nearly three hours in the restaurant, and both order several drinks.

Both get up to go to the bathroom at some point during their meal, and again, neither of them seem to notice the agents. The only unusual thing is that Bhrunt has brought his briefcase with him, and takes it into the bathroom.

As they finally leave they leave behind a paltry tip of 5 dollars for a meal that cost well over 200. Bhrunt mentions that they'll have to get together again while they're both in town, to which Drinkwater agrees. The pair seem to intend to head back to the hotel.

Posted: **Mon Aug 28, 2017 9:22 am**

Nik

"That nearly bankrupted me" grumbles Nik. "I sure wouldn't mind getting a look inside that briefcase though. But I doubt he ever lets it out of his sight". They return to the car in preparation to follow back to the hotel.

Posted: **Mon Aug 28, 2017 8:31 pm**

The trip back goes without incident. It's about 9 now.

Checking on their surveillance, Bhrunt goes right to bed. Drinkwater meanwhile heads to his laptop and works on it for 2 hours. Then he too retires.

August 21st, 1999

OOC: What's the plan for today? The last Review member won't arrive until tomorrow, and the translation of the notes won't be done until then either. All three men are being shadowed by the mundane FBI agents currently. Nik and Vanessa could supplement that coverage, or take it over entirely. Or they could wait in their hotel and watch their targets, and prepare to act if anything interesting happens with any of them.

Posted: **Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:26 am**

"I'd like to get a look in there too," says Vanessa, "but you're right. Unless you fancy sneaking into his room when he's asleep, but that's too risky. If he even takes it to the john with him, I doubt he'll leave it lying around anyway. It would probably be under his pillow or something."

Posted: **Tue Aug 29, 2017 6:43 am**

The agents covering Colm report that he leaves once again just after 7, and is in work by 8.

Drinkwater leaves his hotel room at 11 in the morning. Agent Lynn reports in that she's currently tailing him.

Bhrunt wakes up a little after 10 and orders room service. Once he finishes he makes two calls. The first is to a local talk radio station, confirming that he's still on for an interview at noon the same day. The second call is to an unidentified man.

“It's me. I'm due to give an interview in just over an hour, but immediately after that I'll be able to make the exchange.”

“Good,” says the man. “About time. I normally wouldn't associate with you, but my sources tell me your rep is good.”

“I've never had any complaints.”

“You know P. MacGregor Hayes Elementary? It's an old abandoned school, been closed since the tail end of the 80's.” He gives an address in Queens. “We'll meet in the playground and finish things up there. I shouldn't need to tell you this, but come alone..”

“Please, don't insult my intelligence. I will.”

The call terminates, and Bhrunt appears to head out, presumably to the radio station. He takes his briefcase with him.

OOC: We'll say it's just after 11.

Posted: **Tue Aug 29, 2017 8:29 pm**

"If we get to the school now," says Vanessa, "we can find a place to hide before they show up and stake out the playground. Maybe we can use a parabolic mike to eavesdrop on them without being seen. We might want to advise the agent we have following Bhrunt not to get too close after he leaves the radio station so as not to be seen by either him or the guy he's meeting. Maybe one of us could take over for him at that point."

Posted: **Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:11 pm**

Nik

"Sounds like a plan. Let's do it."

Posted: **Tue Aug 29, 2017 10:21 pm**

OOC: I'm assuming you're going to relieve the agent after the radio interview? If you decide you want them with you, let me know and we can retcon.

The team heads to the address. As they make it there their surroundings change from the ritzy downtown area of New York to a rougher neighborhood. Condemned buildings line the cracked and dirty streets, and fewer people seem out and about.

As they drive, they listen to the radio station. Bhrunt is being interviewed about his work and the upcoming Review conference. The host takes calls from the listeners, almost all of whom are very hostile towards the man and his ideas. But Bhrunt is unphased. Adopting a smug and patronizing tone, he insists that he and his group are "just asking questions" and doubles down on his rhetoric. The interview soon ends.

As the agents make it to the school, they find an old crumbling building. It looks as though it could fall apart at any second. Next to it is a playground. A closed fence surrounds it, but there's a large hole in the side of it that would seem to allow entrance. Swings, monkey bars, and the rest of the usual playground equipment can be seen within, but shrubbery covers much of the grounds. There are enough areas of growth that concealment may be possible, if the agents wish to attempt it. Or thay may prefer to wait outside and chance listening in with microphones. There's no other cars around at present though( well, none that look like they've not been stripped clean of anything valuable) and they may attract attention, but it might be less risky to find an area nearby the playground and attempt an observation from there.

OOC: The playground looks something like this. https://rebrained.deviantart.com/art/Ab ... -263127832 Just with thicker shrubbery in some areas. It's pretty big as well, neither agent can see the other end of it. The school's connected to it on the side, and there are various buildings surrounding the grounds, including a few on the sides who have a bit of an alley between the buildings and the playground itself.

For simplicity, if you guys want to hide in the park indicate where you want to and I'll roll for you both, giving modifiers based on the position, be it the shrubs, the alley, underneath/behind one of the rides. Even if you fail no one will notice you unless they make an Alertness roll. Or you could stay outside the park, maybe sneak into one of the nearby buildings and attempt to observe from higher ground. It's probably safer, but depending on where the meeting takes place you may not get as much.

Posted: **Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:43 pm**

"I think we're best off observing from one of the nearby buildings," says Vanessa. "That way we'll be less easily detected than if we hid in the playground itself. Whoever Bhrunt's going to meet is likely to be on the lookout for anyone following him or trying to eavesdrop. To supplement the parabolic mike, we can also plant listening devices in the playground itself now, before anyone shows up."

Posted: **Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:33 am**

Nik

"Let's get to work then".

Posted: **Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:54 am**

The agents get to work with practiced ease, and quickly plant a few bugs to supplement their coverage. It takes a few minutes, but both agents seem confident that if they can't see the scene from the nearby building, they'll at least be able to hear it. Thankfully there is enough trash to cover their bugs, meaning that even those they had no choice but to put in plain sight have something in the way of concealment.

The next step was to move their car. The agents drive it a few blocks away and then chance leaving it. Then they go back to the street and find a building directly across from the playground. The faded sign indicates that it was perhaps some sort of apartment building, though the only residences now appear to be various vermin. The agents make it to the top floor and easily force the door to a unit. The window here gives them a direct view across to the playground. They can see it, but depending on where the men hold their meeting the shrubbery might interfere with the microphone. Hopefully the added bugs will provide some additional support.

The smell of the room is quite foul, and something seems to have died in there. But the agents don't have to wait long until a first van pulls up. Out of it get three young men in casual clothing. It's hard to tell from this angle, but binoculars indicate that there's a bulge under two of their shirts that hint at the presence of firearms. The third is carrying a backpack. All three wait around outside the playground. They appear on guard, but not overtly so. None look up to where the agents are hiding.

A short time later Bhrunt comes up the street, still holding his briefcase. He nods to one of the men in greeting and begins to speak to him. Shortly afterwards they head into the playground, very far in the back near a rusting slide. Bhrunt and the men face away from the street and thus the agents, so it's a bit difficult to see what they are doing. But the bugs and some movements by their target soon paints a clearer picture.

"You got the cash?"

"I wouldn't waste your time if I didn't." Bhrunt opens the briefcase. "See for yourself.'

The leader of the other men inspects the contents of the briefcase before deciding he's satisfied. "Nice." He opens his backpack and pulls 5 or 6 bags out. There's some sort of white substance inside of them. "Grade A coke, from our friends south of the border." He gestures to one of his men, who takes the briefcase from Bhrunt and begins unloading the cash. It takes a few minutes, then the case is handed back to Bhrunt. He in turn quickly fills it with the bags.

"Pleasure dong business with you, Mr. Jackson."

"Your money's as good as anyone's elses. Let's just get one thing straight; me and you never met. You get caught, you get your damn mouth shut about my involvement. You don't and I make sure my boys on the inside pay you a visit."

"I'm not new to this business." Bhrunt says, the patronizing turn returning in full force. " But I hope this is the beginning of a beneficial relationship for us both."

"So long as you got the cash, I got the product."

The meeting seems to be wrapping up. Did either of the agents want to do anything?

Posted: **Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:37 am**

Nik

"Not what I was expecting "admits Nik. "But we can use this in case we have to turn the screws on Bhrunt. I think we should stick to him, forget the dealers".

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:22 am**

Vanessa nods in agreement.

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:34 am**

The agents get to work, and by the end of the meeting they have some very interesting pictures of Bhrunt making what is obviously a drug purchase. They also take down the drug dealer's license plate.

The men all leave at the same time. Nik and Vanessa have to give Bhrunt a bit of a headstart to avoid being caught, but by the time they return to the hotel he too is back there, suggesting he came straight back. They watch as he opens the briefcase and places the drugs in a nearby duffel bag, before sliding it under his bed. Then he fills the case with paperwork and closes it before carrying it around again. He orders room service then watches tow movies before retiring for the evening.

As for the others, Agents Taylor and Faulkner report that Colm leaves work at around 4:30 once again. He stops at a local grocer and picks up some essentials, then returns to his apartment. Aside from a later walk with his dog and brief talk with a neighbor, he stays in.

Agent Lynn reports Drinkwater spent his day at various bookstores before having a quiet dinner at a downtown restaurant. Then he goes and sees an Off-Broadway play and returns to his hotel. He works for another hour on his computer before he heads to bed.

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:15 pm**

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:40 pm**

August 22, 1999

Both of the teams following Colm and Drinkwater report they leave at their usual times. Bhrunt sleeps in. He's yet to get up from his bed when the agents receive a call from Wu at noon. Just as he had promised, the letters have been translated.

A half hour later the team finds themselves back at the museum. The same friendly guard from before leads them down to Wu, who ushers them into his office.

"This was a bit more difficult than I was anticipating," he begins. "My German is rather rusty, and it was not helped by the fact that these letters were written in an older dialect. Very formal, as well. Still, I believe I've created a rough translation of the contents." He slides the translations over and encourages his guests to take a look.

The letters begin about a year ago. They start by complementing Colm and the Review in general, then ask historical questions about the war and Nazi policy. The first of these questions are simplistic things that even Nik and Vanessa may have been able to answer, but within the next few letters the questions get more and more obscure. Each new letter does bring with it compliments for Colm and his cleverness, so apparently he passed whatever test was being posed to him.

By the middle of the letters the agents notice that Hitler and the Nazi party's fascination with the occult has been brought up. Readign between the lines the writer seems to be hinting that he has firsthand knowledge of the subject, though he never comes out and says as such. The tone of the letters also becomes more aggressive, with viscous anti-Semitism liberally sprinkled throughout the text. There's also no longer any questions about the Review or even the subject of Holocaust denialism. Instead the author seems to be focused on the occult and flattery towards Colm.

The last letter reads as follows.

You are a wise man, Stephen, and truly an exceptional scholar. There are many of us who think as you do. The modern media and American brainwashing would have you believe that we believers in the Third Reich are vanquished, but nothing could be further from the truth. for the past sixty years we have been gathering our strength within the shadows, and very soon we shall strike. Our glorious fuehrer entrusted my organization with carrying on his work, and you my friend would find a valued place within us.

I know this is much to take in, and perhaps you are yet skeptical. We will meet soon, face to face, before your annual conference. I will show you something of the upmost importance and prove to you that everything I have spoken of is the truth. And afterwards, if you are convinced, I hope that you will join our crusade. With you in our ranks we can turn the Review to more productive ends, and come one step closer to ultimate victory. I will contact you with a place and time. Until then, act as if nothing is amiss.

Until then,

Walther

"Quite concerning." Wu says. "And I have researched much of his historical allusion, and it was all accurate. I'm afraid this is not some crank, but something potentially much worse." For once, he is not smiling.

OOC: Make an unnatural San roll 0/1 for this disturbing new information.

Posted: **Sat Sep 02, 2017 3:13 am**

Vanessa is by this point starting to get used to this weird stuff. "All right," she says. "We need to find out whatever we can about Walther Stromm. Sounds like he's an actual old school Nazi, not the neo variety, which would make him very old, but no less dangerous. There have to be records about him. The Nazis were meticulous about keeping them, and he could also have been sought for war crimes. Maybe he was even convicted of them, served his sentence, and got out. Lots of Nazis sentenced at Nuremberg were released after twenty or so years. We'll need to keep an eye on Colm ourselves, as they're bound to contact him within the next couple of days."

Posted: **Sat Sep 02, 2017 8:51 am**

Nik
"We'd better tell McRay. It looks like Colm's gonna be our person of interest."

Posted: **Sat Sep 02, 2017 7:28 pm**

"I fear your hypothesis is correct," Wu nods sadly at Vanessa. "I had no idea the Nazis were investing the phenomena your organization tries to contain, but it's little enough of a surprise. Unfortunately I do not believe I can assist further. None of this is my department, and asking around about it would only lead to questions I am unprepared to answer. Speaking to your superiors may be a good idea however. hopefully they will know what to do."

Unless there are further questions, he sees the agents out.

OOC: Do you want to call McRay or try to swing by and see him directly?

Posted: **Sat Sep 02, 2017 8:43 pm**

Nik

"You've been a great help Doctor. We can let you know what the investigation turns up."

OOC: Shall we drop in and see McRay? I'm guessing that Colm is going to be the focus of our efforts from now on.

Posted: **Sun Sep 03, 2017 4:40 am**

"Yes, thank you very much," says Vanessa. "This is important information. We need to talk to McRay now, and I think that ought to be in person. We don't want to be discussing this stuff on an unsecured phone. We don't want the NSA finding out if they're listening in, or if their friends are. There's something called ECHELON where our and our allies' intelligence services spy on each other's countries' citizens, then share intel. That's how they get around laws against spying on American citizens. I'd rather not cross paths with the NSA again or alert them as to what's going on. They may decide to Paperclip Stromm if they get wind of him."

Posted: **Sun Sep 03, 2017 5:56 am**

The agents don't need to do much to get an appointment to meet with McRay. As soon as they show up at headquarters he ushers them into a conference room and sits stone face as they report to him.

OOC: I assume you tell him everything. If for any reason you're keeping anything to yourselves, I'll retcon.

When done, he lights a cigarette. "Well, shit. It's as bad as we thought, then."

"Brief history lesson. Delta Green has been fighting Hypergeometric threats for a long time.This service extends back to the second world war. It probably does not surprise you to learn that our government was not the only one to take an active interest in 'magic" and the occult. The Nazis were interested as well. I read the file, on Glendridge. One snot nosed teen was behind that little nightmare. Now imagine one of the world powers supporting research into those same things, giving it its full backing. It was a threat we could not ignore.

"And we didn't. While the official war was going on in Europe, Delta Green waged war in the shadows. We weren't alone in this. We had the backings of the British and Soviets, both of whom had their own divisions that specialized in stopping the hidden dangers that intrude upon reality. We decimated the organization. And it was a good thing too. Tales said that by the end of the war, the Nazis were no longer trying to win but rather destroy the world. As a result, few of the organization's members were Paperclipped. Those that were mostly went to the Soviets. I'm not going to give you 'rah rah' bullshit about how we were too pious to deal with them. Things that happened a short time later proved that we were just as willing to sell out humanity for our own benefit, but that's a story I won't go into.

This organization was called the Karotechia. Very few known members of it survived. We figured the threat was dealt with, and with the onset of the cold war and regrettable politicization of our mission, along with conflict with Majestic, gradually they were forgotten about as a threat. Until a little over a year ago, when a member of the Karotechia was confirmed alive and supporting a group that became a target of our organization. A-Cell did not know if this individual was working alone or part of a wider conspiracy, so research was done. Unfortunately you've just confirmed a wider conspiracy is about."

"I'll heard Walther Stromm's name before. He's been referenced in emails, letters, and the like. He's quite wealthy and apparently is the new Karotechia's source of connection with the far right nowadays. No one knows what he looks lie or has met him yet. I'm all but certain his name is a pseudonym though, since chatter about him only goes back a few years, and there's no one by that name listed in the old war records. We also have to consider that if this group is still active, they've very likely been recruiting from the post war generation.

"In any event,this is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up. We need you to follow Colm and figure out what Stromm wants with him. Idealy we'd be able to capture or kill Stromm. Given that we don't know his capabilities and he's very likely to be a hypergeometric practitioner, I advice you to be cautious. If you feel something's wrong, just kill him. His body alone could be a boon.

"But the mission is risky, and I can't give you anymore manpower. If you can't move against Stromm, it might be best just to nab Colm after he meets with him and pump him for more information. Maybe we can find a way to set up an ambush using what he gives us. Either way, this very likely won't be easy. But if you succeed, it will go a long way to knowing just how strong the Karotechia is and more about what we're up against."

Posted: **Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:19 am**

"Majestic, sir?" asks Vanessa. "I've heard someone start to say that name before, then stop and refer to the NSA, with whom we've had run-ins in previous cases. I take it they're the rival organization that believes they can use hypergeometry, sort of our version of the Karotechia.

"We'll take over surveillance of Colm ourselves from this point forward. We know he'll be contacted before the conference, so it won't be long before it happens, and we'll need to be sure we're on hand. What about the possibility of turning Colm, making him a double agent for us and having him infiltrate the remnants of the Karotechia? It would be risky, but if we could pull it off, it would be of immense benefit. Maybe we could convince him that elements of the government agree with his viewpoint, and that the Karotechia is not what it seems to be and is just using him. It would be better if we could capture or kill Stromm, and if we do that, Colm isn't getting in, but we may want to consider it if we can't get Stromm."

Posted: **Mon Sep 04, 2017 5:20 am**

McRay takes a long drag from his cigarette before answering. “I did say I'd tell you when the mission is over, and you completed the original one. All right. But keep this quiet.

“Chances are you ran into Majestic before, not the NSA. Like us, they impersonate other organizations within the government when they need to be covert. Delta Green was around first, but after an incident in the late 40's that proved the existence of an alien race and its visitations to Earth, Majestic-12 was formed. We've always had a difference of opinion on how to deal with hypergeometric phenomena and creatures. From long experience, we seek to destroy or at least contain anything unnatural. Majestic prefers to study them, believing that it advanced American goals to understand this stuff, as if it can even be understood. As you can imagine, that sort of ideal wins a lot more friends than ours does.

In the 80's contact with these aliens was made, and Majestic negotiated an accord with them. I don't have all the detail, but I spoke to an agent I greatly respect, and he maintains that this deal sold out the human race for the enrichment of the Majestic higher up's. Based on what I've seen about these things, I'm doubtful there can be anything such as a benign alien race out there. Delta Green complained bitterly but we don't have the backing we once did. Against our objections, the accord became official policy. Since then, it's been our organization's objective to find enough evidence to prove the true nature of these things we're negotiating with and expose Majestic culpability within it. This means relations between our two groups are tense. We're in something of a cold war.

OOC: HUMINT rolls can be made at a -10 percent penalty here. A success indicates McRay's mostly on the level, but he's leaving something out.

“As for your main objective, sounds good. I'm not sure Colm can be turned. If the Karotechia are contacting him and risking a meeting, they likely believe him to be a true believer. It might be hard to offer him anything that would lead him to flip. But you've observed him more than me. I seem to recall from his dossier that he has a family. That might be able to get his cooperation. Something to keep in mind.”

“Lastly, consider your rookie team. If you think any of them would augment your limited manpower in observing Colm, I give you permission to bring them in. Don't tell them about Delta Green, but spin a tale to garner their cooperation. It's safer to keep them away from our true objective here, but one or two of them might prove useful to keep around. On the other hand, they may object to the extralegal parts of our work, or be poorly equipped to handle any outbreaks of preternatural phenomena. I leave the decision in your hands. But it's not a decision to make lightly.”

OOC: The meeting with McRay's just about done, unless you have further questions.

Posted: **Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:22 pm**

Nik listens intently, realizing that he knows almost nothing about what he's got himself into concerning Delta Green. He gets the feeling that McRay is leaving something out though.

Posted: **Tue Sep 05, 2017 4:57 am**

"Colm is highly paranoid," says Vanessa. "It would be relatively easy to sow distrust between him and Stromm, but getting him to trust us may prove impossible. Coercion would be the only way to turn him, most likely."

Posted: **Tue Sep 05, 2017 6:44 am**

"It's something to keep in mind, at any rate," says McRay. "You've already determined that the meeting is likely to happen either today or tomorrow. I suggest you be prepared."

OOC: Are you guys heading back to the hotel, or going to rendezvous with the agents you have covering Colm, who last you heard was still at work? And if you go, are you going to assign the two agents to someone else or keep at least one of them around for support?

Posted: **Tue Sep 05, 2017 10:47 pm**

OOC: We need eyes on Colm all the time now I think. We need to brief the other agents that he is our main target, perhaps saying that intelligence has been found conclusively linking him to a neo-nazi organization. Personally I don't think there's enough time to turn him, we should just see how things play out.

Posted: **Wed Sep 06, 2017 4:36 am**

Posted: **Wed Sep 06, 2017 7:01 am**

The team swings by Colm's work and rendezvous with agents Faulkner and Taylor. Both are a bit surprised to see them, but they accept their presence without objection. They report that Colm stayed inside the accounting firm. Neither of them have chanced going inside, but it seems that he stayed there all day.

Sure enough, an hour later Colm leaves work as his usual time and walks briskly to his car. Though careful driving they follow him back home. There he stays for a few hours, venturing out only to walk Bernard around the block a few times.

Around 9 in the evening Agent Faulkner leaves the team and heads to the airport to shadow Hames, who is arriving in an hour. From here the Delta Green agents and Agent Eric Taylor are alone, allowing the tema their first real chance to examine him.

OOC: Successful HUMINT roll tells you that Agent Taylor is bored out of his mind. He expected this to be a chance for him to show off his skills, and he resents having to babysit a homebody.

If you want to try to bring him in to Colm being the real threat, roll a persuade, +15 if you made the last roll. He desperately wants to do something more.

At around ten Taylor ends his shift, and unless the agents specifically request otherwise leaves. Do Vanessa and Nik wish to keep watch on Colm's apartment, or are they going to try and pull an all-nighter?

Posted: **Wed Sep 06, 2017 11:19 am**

Nik whispers to Vanessa.

"Do you want to bring him onboard about the nazi thing?"

Posted: **Thu Sep 07, 2017 5:12 am**

Vanessa reads Taylor like an open book. "I understand all too well how boring stakeouts can be, Special Agent Taylor," she says. "Well, things are soon going to get a lot more interesting. I think I can let you in on the real target of the investigation. There's a Nazi war criminal named Walther Stromm, though that's probably not his real name. We have reason to believe he's been in communication with Colm, and that he is going to meet him in person either today or tomorrow. Colm is a small fry, a wannabe Nazi. What we want is to catch the real thing. Stromm is a recruiter for a secret organization of Nazi remnants that threatens our national security, and with your help, we're going to put a stop to it. We'd like to take Stromm alive if it's possible so we can get more information from him, but he is extremely dangerous in spite of his advanced age. If he resists, we may be forced to kill him, but that's better than nothing."

Posted: **Thu Sep 07, 2017 6:49 am**

Agent Taylor's a young African American man in his early 30's. Very handsome, he quickly grows more interested as Vanessa speaks.

"A Nazi war criminal... did I hear you right? That's amazing. I'd love to catch one of those bastards, especially on my first assignment. It would look really great on my record." He smiles, but both agents can tell it is a half joke at best.

"An organization? Something like ODESSA? I always thought that was a myth. But of course, I'll do whatever we need. Should we brief the others? Though I can understand if you want to keep this quiet. In any event, I'll keep watch over Colm the entire night. You're welcome to stay, but I assure you I have the matter well in hand. If he makes a move or anyone out of the ordinary stops by I'll give you a call, if you want to head back to the hotel."

Posted: **Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:37 am**

"I'm glad to hear it,," says Vanessa, "though one of us will keep watch with you tonight in shifts. That way we stay well rested and ready for anything. This group is something along the lines of ODESSA. An organization with that name may not have existed, but Nazi fugitives did manage to escape and avoid detection with assistance, and they aren't all just content with staying hidden."

Posted: **Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:41 am**

"Great" says Nik with indecent haste. "I'll leave you two to it then." He exits the scene.

Posted: **Fri Sep 08, 2017 5:29 am**

"Understood." says Eric. He seems very excited to be part of this mission, and honored to be chosen. But he also seems ignorant of the dangers he could face, th mundane as well as the natural. S-Cell has recruited their first friendly; will it prove to be a wise decision?

Nik returns to the hotel, and briefly reviews the other reports. Bhrunt spent most of his day in Central Park, playing chess with random strangers. He still carried the now worthless briefcase with him everywhere. He headed to the airport around nine and met Hames, and together the two men returned to their hotel and had a drink before retiring to their rooms.

Drinkwater did more shopping, had a nice lunch, then suspiciously made a call from a payphone. He thne headed to a bar in Greenwich Village where he met with a young man in his twenties. They seemed to know one another and spoke for some time. Then Drinkwater and the young man left together and headed to the man's apartment, which they both entered. By the time surveillance was done Drinkwater was still there, and indeed he has not come back to his hotel room yet.

As for Colm, no events transpire with him that night. He stays inside, and both agents watching him detect nothing suspicious.

If Vanessa stayed the entire night please make a Con*5 roll.

[dice]0[/dice]

Agent Taylor is a natural, and seems refreshed and ready to go in the morning.

August 23rd, 1999

The day before the Review's conference dawns on New York. If the Karotechia wanted to meet with Colm they would very likely do it today. It's this tense atmosphere that finds the agents reunited along with their new ally.

OOC: First thing first, I assume Nik is calling the other agent who was tasked with shadowing Colm( Faulkner) and reassigning him to Hames?

Posted: **Fri Sep 08, 2017 1:41 pm**

OOC: Yes, Nik can do that, and then we need to focus on Colm.

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 4:14 am**

Vanessa is still refreshed even after sleeping only half the night in an uncomfortable van.

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:02 am**

The day finds all three agents rested and thinking themselves ready for whatever comes their way.

Colm leaves his home the normal time that morning, stopping only for a coffee and paper. He arrives at work by 8. For much of the day he remains there,a nd just as the agents may think it will be an ordinary day, they spy him leaving his office at 3. This is an hour before he normally leaves, and instantly catches Taylor's attention. Evne more suspicious, Colm seems notably hurried, and actually drops his keys once before he opens his car and gets in. He takes off quickly.

OOC: You'd have to roll drive here, but Nik's roll from earlier covers it.

Colm is an erratic driver. He makes turns at the last second and frequently changes lanes. But Nik is able to keep up with him without attracting attention. Very soon the agents realize he is heading towards JFK airport, but just as it seems he's heading there he suddenly makes another unexpected turn and pulls into a small strip mall. There are about twelve storefronts here, though most of them are closed or vacant, their windows covered by newspaper or 'For Rent' signs. It's obvious the area has seen better days. The only stores still open are an ice cream parlor, a locksmith, and a convenience store. Of the three only the ice cream store looks halfway busy. A mother and her daughter wait outside the ice cream shop, enjoying their treat on the sidewalk. Near the convenience store,a worker wearing the company uniform smokes, while a parked taxi sits outside of it. The driver reads a newspaper while Sinatra croons on his radio.

Colm pays no attention to any of these people. Instead he parks in a spot near the strip and goes a few doors down to one of the vacant storefronts. He knocks on the door while hastily looking to both sides of him. The door opens, but whoever does so stays out of sight, and Colm quickly steps in before the door is closed once again. The windows are covered up, preventing even a glimpse of what is going on inside.

"How do you want to do this?" Eric asks his superiors. Across the street is a economy hotel. The strip mall itself has plenty of open parking. The nearest open store to the ice cream parlor, three doors down from the building Colm just went in.

OOC: Hopefully not too complicated. Basically there's 12 buildings in this mall and Colm went into one of the ones in the middle. There are maybe four other vehicles in the parking lot.

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:14 am**

"Let's park near the ice cream shop," suggests Vanessa. "We could put a tracking device on Colm's car, though it's Stromm we really need to track down. Then we can get a closer look at the building. We'll want to find another way inside, maybe from the rear. We'll have to be careful. Colm owns a gun and is also skilled in martial arts, and we need to presume Stromm is armed as well."

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:47 am**

"I can grab us some ice cream and try to plant the bug," Taylor offers. "Or I could go around back and cover the rear. Unless you feel we should all stick together, or would prefer to handle that yourselves."

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:04 am**

Nik

“Do we really need to wire Colm’s car? We don’t expect him to go anywhere as the conference starts tomorrow. We can always do it at a less risky time. I suggest Taylor watches the rear and we watch the front. I can find out who the building is registered to”.

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:39 am**

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:44 am**

Nik calls the Field Office to see if the building may be owned and leased, all the while keeping an eye on it.

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 7:16 am**

The information comes back shortly. The building Nik inquired about was formally a hardware store. It went out of business two years back, and its owner moved to Florida. Technically the city owns the lease at the moment, but they don't seem in a rush to do anything with it.

About a minute and a half has passed since the Agents parked in the lot. Nothing has seemed to change.

Posted: **Sat Sep 09, 2017 7:23 am**

Nik

“The city owns the lease. We can assume then that they’re solely using it to meet.”

He thinks for a moment before he addresses Marchand. "I'm thinking of following whoever leaves. But I think you want to get in there?"

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 2:07 am**

"If Stromm's in there," says Vanessa, "we need to bag him, not follow him and risk him slipping away. And who else would be in there with Colm? It's possible that Stromm used a go-between, but we won't know that unless we can hear what's going on inside there. Two of us can try to sneak in through the back while the third guards the front in case Stromm tries to flee. If it turns out not to be Stromm, we can just eavesdrop, but if it is, we can't take a chance on letting him get away."

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 2:34 am**

Nik sighs. “Alright then. Are there any vests in here?”

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:49 am**

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:51 am**

OOC: Let's have Taylor cover the front while Nik and Vanessa go to the back then. Better leave the shotgun - don't want to attract attention.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:57 am**

Taylor seems slightly dissapointed, but he agrees to keep watch. Nik and Vanessa meanwhile swing around the strip, doing their best to remain inconspicuous. Soon they find themselves at the back entrance of the various buildings, and come to there target. A quick tug on the door reports it is in fact locked. The agents can wait outside or try to force it, but they here snippets of a voice coming from within. It's tough to make out much though.

OOC: If you want to try and make out what is being said, roll Alertness -10% for a closed door being in your way.

Trying to lockpick the door will be a dex*5 roll.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:03 am**

Vanessa can't hear a thing through the door. She waits to see if Nik has better luck before attempting to pick the lock.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:35 am**

Nik can't hear anything either.
He has more success using his lockpicking gun.
He draws his weapon as they prepare to enter.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:40 am**

OOC: Anyone entering the store needs to give me a stealth roll. Giving you DM advice, I think you guys might be better advised if only one of you attempts this at first. If you fail, I'm going to say it's obvious, assume you hit a can or something and you know you've been heard.

The back of the store seems like some sort of storage space. It's reasonably cramped, and litter lines the floor. It seems likely that some people have been in here since the store went out of business.

Neither Colm or whoever he is meeting can be seen yet, though a voice can be heard coming out of a partially closed doorway from the east. It's too muffled to make out what is being said, however.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:50 am**

OOC: Vanessa has higher Stealth than Nik - perhaps she should go first.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 5:08 am**

Vanessa draws her weapon and slips into the store, quiet as a mouse wearing tiny sneakers. She gestures to Nik to stay back for now, then slips up to the door and tries to hear what is being said on the others side. She positions herself beside the door, so that she will not be immediately visible in the event that it opens.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 5:25 am**

OOC: Nice, Mr.Handy!

The floor is cluttered, but Vanessa is alert. She avoids most of what she sees, and makes her way carefully to the door. It's open enough that she can just position her body against it and glimpse out. In the middle of the room she sees Colm and another man both positioned to the side of her. Colm is silent, watching, but the other man is speaking, or singing. It sounds like some sort of chant actually, though not in a language Vanessa can identify.

The other man is short and fat,and looks to be late middle aged. He continues to chant in a sing-song voice, and it is then that Vanessa notices he holds a cork bottle in his hand and has dumped the contents of it onto the ground. It looks to be pretty blue dust, and would otherwise be unremarkable, save for the fact that it is softly glowing. Indeed, the particles seem to be somehow drawn to one another, and as Vanassa watches they clump together and almost look to be building something. The dust soon forms the shape of a person, seeming unconcerned by the impossibility of it all.

The glow increases in brightness, and the very bottom of the dust begins to shimmer and change. The toes and then feet of a person form from the mixture, and it looks very real, lifelike in everyway. It seems that before her very eyes,a person is being constructed from dust.

OOC: Good spot for a san roll, i think. Roll 1/1d6, Unnatural. Presuming you can still act freely afterwards, let me know if Vanessa does anything else or is content to watch. The man performing this ritual is focused solely on it, and Colm seems transfixed.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 8:09 pm**

Vanessa had thought she had seen everything, but this boggles her mind. She beckons for Nik to come join her, hoping that the men won't notice while they're distracted.

Posted: **Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:13 pm**

OOC: If Nik wants to try and join Vanessa, I'll give him a +40 on the stealth roll, considering the ritual is reaching its apex and both men are distracted with it.

Posted: **Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:29 am**

Nik enters the room, but scarcely takes two steps before his foot connects with some garbage, sending it skidding across the floor with a clatter.

Posted: **Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:59 am**

The man's singing rises in tone, masking much of what is going on in the storeroom in back. Unfortunately, Nik's foot happens to hit a rather noisy paint can, and it goes clattering across the ground before bumping into the wall near Vanessa.

Abruptly, the man stops chanting. He turns to look and his eyes catch sight of the female Delta Green agent. He looks surprised to see her. This surprise increases when Colm steps forward and punches him in the face. It looks like a weak blow, but the man falls down to the ground nonetheless, letting out a loud cry.

Colm turns to run and heads out the front door, a hardcover book held underneath his arm.

The dust continues to form, but something is different now. Whereas the parts formed before the chant( largely the legs) was interrupted are smooth and pristine, the rest of the body comes into form horribly damaged and misshapen. The figure that emerges from the dust looks like a human, but one who has suffered severe burns. He is naked, and patches of his flesh are in the process of falling off. He turns his head to look at Vanessa and Nik* and one of his eyes is missing. The other holds within it a crazed and desperate look.

And then he steps towards then, He is saying something and gestering loudly, but the damage done to his vocal cords and speaking in some sort of foreign language means that the agents cannot identify what.

OOC: * Nik only needs to make the following check if he continued to Vanassa after he failed the stealth roll. If he stayed put or retreated, let me know.

Anyone seeing the burn victim needs to make a san roll. Let's say Unnatural again, due to the way he was "constructed." 0/1d3. At present he seems to be heading to Vanessa, but he won't be there this turn and has the lowest Dex, meaning both agents can act twice before he gets to do anything else. Also if you make an INT*5 roll, you can identify the language he's shouting at you as German.

The old man is on the floor, stunned for the moment.

Colm fled and is just outside the door.

Posted: **Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:05 am**

OOC: Do we have a direct radio link with Taylor?

Posted: **Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:13 am**

Vanessa lets Colm go past her, hoping that Taylor will come in the front with the shotgun once he hears shooting. She knows that the messed up man she sees is probably Stromm, unless that's the unconscious man, and he got this way because the ritual to reconstitute him was disrupted. Since the burned man is rushing at her, she reacts instinctively and shoots him in the chest.

Posted: **Mon Sep 11, 2017 4:00 am**

The first shot goes right through the deformed man's chest, and damages him even more. A solid hole is created in him, skin falls from him and various fluids leak out. The man staggers, but continues to make his way towards Vanessa. He's still speaking, and seems to hardly register the shot.

Posted: **Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:02 am**

Nik’s mouth drops open when he sees the burned man. His hands drop to his side and he involuntarily takes a step backwards, checking himself with an effort.
Getting a grip, he speaks into his radio.

“Taylor, Colm’s out the front! Get him back in here!”

Turning to Vanessa, he shouts “Stop shooting goddamit! How do you know he’s a threat? We need to find out whats going on!”

He steps towards the burned man, hoping that the man will move towards him instead of Vanessa.

Posted: **Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:21 am**

The downed man rises to his feet, though still looks a bit unsteady. If either of the agents could get close enough to observe,e they would see that he is now sporting a nasty gash underneath his right eye. As it is, they are probably too distracted with other matters to really pay attention to his injuries at the moment. He glances towards the doorway and seems to be paying neither the agents or resurrected corpse any mind.

The burnt man seems to be paying attention to Nik now. He advances towards the agent, eyes wide and screeching. Both agents can act once more before he does anything he intends to, however.

OOC: A HUMINT roll might help here. I'm going to say it will take your whole action however.

Nik's walkie talkie comes to life.

"I see him. He's going to his car, looks panicked. I'm going to move in and take him down."

Shortly after this, there comes the sound of gunfire.
And Taylor's voice comes back on the line. "Shit, I'm taking fire! I'm hit! Returning fire!!" soon after two more shots can be heard, making four in total so far. Panicked screams can be heard.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:17 am**

Nik’s stomach lurches. He has to help Taylor. He knows that they need to question the other man though.

He takes a swipe at the man’s head with the butt of his pistol, but is distracted by the encroaching burnt man.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:56 am**

Now that she is no longer the burned man's target, Vanessa has a moment to think about what he really wants.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:52 am**

OOC: Bold: Edits

The formally downed man hurriedly makes his way to the door and prepares to flee the building as well.

But no sooner does he open the door than Nik catches up to him. He pistol whips him, hoping to knock him back down, but the older man is surprisingly quick on his feet, a surprise given his doughy shape. He avoids the blow and turns his gaze on Nik, as a look of hatred crosses his features.

The burnt man however continues to scream and shout, and it is then that Vanessa really looks at him. Frankly the figure seems desperate and half mad, but his motions do not seem overtly threatening. He seems incredibly stressed however, and does not seem to understand English, so it may prove difficult to calm him down.

With Nik having ran past him, he turns his attention back to Vanessa. He grabs the agent roughly by both her shoulders and pulls her close, spittle flying as he shouts and looks at the fed with desperation. He smells strongly of burnt meat and rot. His grip however is not helped by his present state, and Vanessa is able to break out of it and take a step or two back.

From outside come four more gunshots. Then Taylor's voice. 'I'm taking cover!"

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 6:56 am**

Nik runs outside, his pistol ready. He intends to shoot down the escaped man and / or Colm and any other gunmen he sees.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:40 am**

OOC: So sorry, I misread! I will edit now.

Okay, really sorry about that. Changes to scene. Nik and the wizard(?) are by the entrance to the place. The door is open but neither has stepped out yet, so the situation outside is still unclear. Burnt man and Vanessa are further back in the room. Hope that clears things up.

New round I believe (sorry new to combat) so I'll have the doughy man's actions up in a sec.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:55 am**

OOC: No worries. Can Nik attempt to shoot the wizard?

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:05 am**

OOC: He sure can, with a +20 bonus for pointblank range. First though, wizard's actions along with the gun fight outside.

Facing Nik, the man begins to chant once again in his unknown language. Nik feels the slightest itch spread throughout his brain, almost as if someone is tickling it with a feather. It's very subtle, and may not even be from the words the man is saying. For now, nothing seems to be happening that he can detect, and it does not impede whatever he tries to do.

Outside, the gunfight continues. Only three shots are heard this time.

OOC: Nik+Vanessa's turn.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:18 am**

Nik ignores the feeling, points his CZ 99S at the man, and fires.

Posted: **Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:32 am**

The shot can't miss at this range, and it doesn't. It enters the man's chest and tears a nice size hole through the flesh. Blood gushes out of the wound, and the figure stops chanting and crumbles to the ground. Immediately the itch in Nik's head ceases. The fed notices that the wizard is still breathing, but it's shallow. Something about this strikes him as odd, however. He can't quite understand what's giving him this feeling, but something feels...off.

Whatever the case, the man does not seem to presently be a threat.

OOC: Vanessa's turn.

Posted: **Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:11 am**

"You're right, he's no threat," Vanessa tells Nik. "He's more distraught than anything, possibly mad, but I don't know his language. I'm going to go help Taylor." She hurries off after Colm.

Posted: **Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:43 am**

Vanessa easily avoids the man, and heads out of the store. The scene outside is chaos. The pedestrians have all scattered, and the fbi agent spies two ice cream cones, discarded during the gunfight. She next notices Agent Taylor. He's leaning against the side of the car, and is bleeding through his shirt. despite this he pops up out of cover and fires at a vehicle across from his own. But it's not Colm he's shooting at. It's the taxi driver, the one who had been reading the paper and listening tot he radio when they arrived.

The shot bounces off the car door, but the man does not retaliate. He has a nice tan and looks like something of an athlete, or a boy scout leader. But there's a lot of blood around him, suggesting Agent Taylor gave as good as he got.

Before Vanessa can reach the taxi driver takes off, accelerating quickly out into the open road. Maybe his wounds affect him more than he realized or perhaps he's just not thinking clearly. Maybe it's just bad luck. Whatever the reason, he accelerates out onto the road just as another car is coming, and hits it dead on. His abruptly stops, now blocked, at least for a few moments, by the unexpected vehicle.

Taylor motions to Vanessa. "Bastard started shooting when I went to intercept Colm. He took off out of here in the confusion. Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound. I think I got him worse. You need support approaching him?" Despite his wounds, he seems willing to back his superior up if she requests it."

With Nik busy in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, he can only watch as the burnt man runs out of the store through the front. Vanessa and Taylor both see him at once. He's still shouting and seems quite agitated.

"Who the hell is that? Is that Stromm?"

OOC: I'll say Vanessa can reach the taxi driver's car on this round( and attack if she so wishes). It's fully stopped, but due to the angle it's stopped at she can't see where the driver is or what he's doing. She could certainly hold her position, or confront the burnt man.

As Nik considers his situation, he finds something of interest. On the floor a few feet away from the downed man lies a cork bottle. It's now empty, but the man he just shot had been carrying it before Colm had knocked him down.

Posted: **Wed Sep 13, 2017 6:36 am**

Nik gets on his radio and requests an ambulance to their location, and also calls for an APB on Colm and his car – suspect considered armed and dangerous.

While doing this, he approaches the burned man, and attempts to lay his hand on his arm. He wants to bring the man back inside the building and out of sight. If he can, he will pick up the bottle now.

Posted: **Wed Sep 13, 2017 7:00 am**

Nik's requests are acknowledged.

The burnt man tenses as Nik goes outside and approaches him. His eyes go from side to side,and he resembles nothing so much as a cornered animal. It may prove difficult to calm him down, especially with the language barrier.

OOC: The bottle will probably have to wait until the next round or whenever he's done dealing with the burnt man.

Can I please have a persuasion roll, with a-10 modifier. Succeed and the man will follow Nik's instructions as best as he's able, unless and until h ehas reasons not to. Fail and you'll need to get physical to clam him down.

Posted: **Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:03 pm**

Nik puts his gun away and holds out his hands, palms up, trying to show the strange figure that he means no harm. He makes soothing sounds and gestures, but they don’t seem to have much effect.

Posted: **Wed Sep 13, 2017 8:04 pm**

The man reacts screaming to Nik's attempts to calm him down. He seems almost afraid of the agent,and looks ready to lash out. While he's unarmed, there's not telling what he can do fueled by desperation.

OOC: Vanessa's round. She can see Nik's having trouble subduing the burnt man. Meanwhile the taxi driver has crashed his car just out in the street.

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:13 am**

Reasoning that the burned man isn't really a threat and the taxi driver is, she leaves the burned man to Nik for now. "Cover me," she tells Taylor, "but stay behind cover. I'm going to try to get closer." When Taylor begins to fire, Vanessa approaches the crashed car, using cover herself whenever possible, so that she can get a clear shot at the cabbie.

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:51 am**

Round 4

Taylor nods and follows Vanessa. If nothing else, the rookie had guts. He's clearly been shot- seemingly in his shoulder- but is still in the game. He gives her the distraction she needs to get closer. The agent darts behind the few trees around and the sign announcing the strip mall's name. Cover is sparse, and she's uncomfortably close to in full open view at times. But the man does not attack. Finally, she can spy him from the side, and their eyes connect.

The man does not appear to be armed, but she can't see his hands so it's hard to tell. He's just watching her impassively as she approaches. She's still about two car lengths away from him, but from this angle she's reasonably confident she can hit him, or at least attempt to. But he already looks injured, his shirt stained with blood. Another bullet might kill him. Did she prefer to negotiate, or did she want t end the threat here and now?

The burned man meanwhile takes off down the street towards the edge of the mall. There's no pathway here, aside from a block of concrete and rough ground packed into it that separates the mall from the rest of the area , but he seems to be trying to maneuver through it and away from Nik and the chaos surrounding him.

OOC: Essentially burnt man is trying to maneuver out of the mall and back onto the thin sidewalk that borders the street. There's no direct path here so he's going through some tough terrain to get out of the parking lot.

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:57 am**

Nik gives chase to the burnt man. He wants to catch him if possible.

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:08 am**

OOC: Roll Athletics. Alternately, shoot him. If you hit, he goes down. Of course he might go down permanently...

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:20 am**

Doubtful that he can catch the man, Nik swears under his breath. He pulls his pistol and squeezes off a shot. He tries not to aim for anything vital.

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:09 am**

OOC: Sounds like you want to try a Flesh wound attack.The bad news is that's at a -40 penalty. The good news is you make it anyway.

[dice]0[/dice]

Nik's shot hits the man's left leg. It's not a good shot. Really, it only grazes the figure. But it's enough to take him down. Leg giving out, the man collapses to the ground. He curls up into a ball and seems to be whimpering to himself. It seems clear he's not going anywhere without help.

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 4:00 pm**

“What a goddam mess” Nik mutters.

He hesitates for a moment, thinking about what to do. The man needs to be removed discreetly. Nik turns back to the mall to get the car. He plans to get the man into it without any other law enforcement getting to him first. He’d better stop and check on the man he shot, and get that bottle too.

On his way back he radios Vanessa and Taylor. “Marchand! Taylor! I have two wounded suspects down! Do you need me?”

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:07 pm**

Posted: **Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:53 pm**

Posted: **Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:39 am**

"Taylor's wounded, but I think we've got this," Vanessa says. Taking her pistol in both hands, she aims it at the driver, ready to fire if he makes any sudden movements. "Federal agents! Put your hands where I can see them, slowly!"

Posted: **Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:43 am**

“An ambulance is on its way” Nik tells Vanessa. “Don’t let any of the suspects be removed from the scene until we talk”.

Relieved, he goes to check on the wounded wizard.

Posted: **Fri Sep 15, 2017 6:08 am**

Vanessa's words go unheeded, as the man abruptly dives down. He seems to be trying to get low, into an angle where Vanessa can't shoot him from. However the agent is ready for him, and can squeeze off a shot or two before he gets out of sight.

OOC: Vanessa can fire a normal shot or use any of the special maneuvers described in the rules section. If she misses, the driver disappears from her sight and she'll need to get up close to the window to regain vision.

The burnt man dealt with, Nik goes back inside, where he immediately is confronted with a disturbing site. A trail of blood leads to the other corner of the room. The wizard is bleeding badly and presently using his own blood to paint some symbols on the wall, like something out of a demented children's party. He's chanting to, though his voice is considerably more shaky than it was earlier, and he seems to be struggling to stay up. Whatever he's drawing though he seems to be nearly done with. He notices Nik but makes no effort to stop his activities or indeed react to the man in anyway.

OOC: Nik can fire if he likes, though without point blank bonus this turn.

Posted: **Fri Sep 15, 2017 6:15 am**

“This guy’s far too dangerous to live” thinks Nik. He already drew his pistol – he points and shoots.

Posted: **Fri Sep 15, 2017 6:30 am**

Damage [dice]0[/dice]

The bullet enters the back of the wizard's head. Immediately he stops chanting and drawing and collapses once again. Judging by the size of the hole, he seems to be quite dead. Though given the other powers at his disposal, Nik could not say for sure.

It may just be Nik's imagination, but the lines he had been drawing seem to briefly glow. But when he next blinks, it has faded away, and instead he just finds fresh blood dripping from the wall.

The cork bottle still lays in the middle of the floor. In his rush to draw, the wizard had apparently disregarded it.

Play@YSDC

See No Evil

See No Evil

Re: See No Evil

Re: See No Evil

Re: See No Evil

Re: See No Evil

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