Ch.2 Exxon Pumping Station #31

[Mr. Handy]

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"No, but I've read the Tanakh," says Benjamin as he goes upstairs with the others. "You know it better as the Old Testament. The beginning of the book of Ezekiel describes such a vehicle, and a chariot of fire took Elijah up in the second book of Kings. It isn't aliens that fly these chariots, but angels. Angels are not cute little babies with wings that fly around and carry harps. They are big, beautiful, strange, and terrifying, and they carry swords, sometimes flaming ones. Most of them are good and serve the Lord, but some of them have gone bad. Even the good ones can be frightening, as they execute their wrath upon evildoers. I wonder if it may have been an angel that is responsible for this."

[Joajackson]

"I though I was going insane while proposing aliens... Now I suddenly feel quite confident in my sanity. What the hell, Benjamín? Do you think this was done by flaming swords? Why would the heavenly host descend to this random place, kill a bunch of protesters, destroy the gates when they fly, shut down our plane, throw giant snow balls to our tents, and hang our god damn fucking pilot, god bless his soul, to the top of a tree by the intestines!!?"

Amanda didnt want to scream, but she found herself increasing in intensity to the end. She spoke a second later, seemingly becoming aware of how she had acted improperly.

"I am sorry... I, this place is killing me."

[Mr. Handy]

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"Not a flaming sword," says Benjamin, "but angels have plenty of other capabilities, and they do fly. I don't think there was anything random about this location. Something was disturbed by that archaeological dig. I don't really know what did this, but it could have been just a single angel. One angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that were laying siege to Jerusalem."

[Joajackson]

"The gates of the exterior wall were broken Benjamín. Wathever attacked this place, it did it by walking trough them. Flying angels seem implausible."

[BoyBlunder78]

" That correspondence memtions they put the skull in a crate. Wonder if thsts what our riend here took? As for the leak.....wonder if our new friend Bill knows anything about that?" Gavin asks.

[Snapper]

In answer to Gavin, Randy shook his head.

"Regarding the animal skull, I don't think so. The animal skull was apparently put in a crate in the garage, wherever that is. The box I found was in the supply room, was labelled electronics, and clearly did contain electronics."

"Leaving aside the lack of a skull in here."

"Earth First could have been the leak, but how would they have found out in the first place? They're environmental activists, not corporate spies."

[Lost_King]

Harold eyed the .38 in Randy’s hand with apprehension.

“I found one in the plane wreck, but I ended up giving it to Gavin. I usually wouldn’t be caught dead carrying something like that. However, given the circumstances…

Maybe it’s best if I have one, just in case. Not sure how much good it will get me if we meet any more creatures, though.”

Harold takes the gun, not without visible hesitation.

[Mr. Handy]

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"I found an automatic pistol and a full magazine in the office, if anyone wants them," says Benjamin. "It didn't do its previous owner any good, though."

[Snapper]

Randy nodded agreement with Harold.

"Normally, I would absolutely approve of you treating firearms with caution if you haven't been trained to use them. In the current situation, I just want to do everything I can to keep you all alive, even if it means arming everyone."

"On that topic, by way of quick training in how that revolver works, point the barrel where you want the bullet to go. Then pull the trigger. Repeat as required."

[Philulhu]

“Once again, I’m right here,” said Bill, looking aggrieved at being spoken about and not to.

He looked at the email and whistled under his breath. “So what you going to do about that?” he asked.

[Joajackson]

"Well, I think your group is responsible for this shit, so probably use you as a human shield to wathever the fuck tries to get us too." Amanda did try to seem intimidating while saying that, but she sounded mostly tired.

"Apart from that... Well, we repair that radio, call for help and leave... Or we go to that ruin and meet ancient aliens or fucking Ezekiel."

[BoyBlunder78]

Looking around the room Gavin asks, " Has anyone seen what he brought from that crate? Whybring...whatever...here then blow his brains out?"

[Mr. Handy]

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"Fixing the radio should definitely be our top priority," says Benjamin. "We don't want to go out to the dig site at night, but if we're still here in the morning, we can check it out. In the meantime, we have the stuff they brought back from it. Maybe that will give us some clues. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it was the digging that stirred up whatever did all this."

[Philulhu]

“Really?! How the fuck are responsible for this?!” snapped Bill. “If anyone’s responsible for this shit, it’s Exxon - the people who pay your wages! We were here to protect the environment but you wouldn’t listen, and now you’re gonna reap the whirlwind, aren’t you?!”

There’s no sign of any electronic parts.

[Snapper]

"Everyone just stop and take a minute here. Arguing among ourselves gains nothing. Someone or something has killed a lot of people. We all need to work together to protect the group and get a call for help out."

"I don't think anyone imagines environmental activists caused all this carnage and quite a lot of the people who have been shredded were the environmental activists in question."

"The stuff on the computer talks about Telegraph Creek, where we were meant to land if we hadn't crashed. And is 20 miles away. There must be vehicles at this station, right? Maybe we just drive there, call for the local police, the Mounties, the Army, everyone."

[Mr. Handy]

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"Not in the dark," says Benjamin, "but that's something to consider in the morning. In the meantime, I think we should try to get the radio working."

[Snapper]

"Umm, Harold, can you print those emails out before you rip the computer apart?"

[Philulhu]

There isn’t a printer so you’re not able to print off the emails.

You saw a building that looked like a garage when you first entered the compound. It’s the large building to the bottom right of the map:

[Lost_King]

No need to rip this particular computer apart, there are plenty of functional pieces in the server room. However, I still need a soldering iron, or I’ll never be able to do anything with the radio.

[kabukiman]

"So, we go to the garage? I'm curious to see if any of them is functuonal. Because an animal wouldn't start destroying them randomly, right?"- says Boyd