Ch.2 Exxon Pumping Station #31

[Joajackson]

[color=#Red]"Wathever happened here... This wasnt done by a beast."

[Mr. Handy]

"Whoever or whatever did this wrecked the communications equipment," says Benjamin. "That wasn't random, it was tactical. Whatever we're dealing with is smart enough to know what it's for. Let's check out the garage and see if we can find a soldering iron."

[Philulhu]

It was approaching 5.15pm as the group ventured out into the compound once more. The temperature had dropped and the wind was biting. It was getting dark too, making it increasingly difficult to see anything against the trees that surrounded the compound, in some places closer than others.

The garage building was around 25 metres long with three large roll-up doors that faced the main compound. On the roof appeared to be a helipad, which overhung the front and back of the structure. The garage door on the far right had a standard-sized door built into it so that the larger ones didn’t have to be opened in order to access the garage.

Near the north side of the building were four tall tanks. At a distance it wasn’t possible to see what they contained.

[Mr. Handy]

"Let's try the smaller door," says Benjamin, stealthily approaching it with his M16 ready.

[Philulhu]

The door was unlocked, and a smell of oil and gasoline greeted Benjamin as he looked inside. The room was harshly lit with strip lights and he could see two snowcats, the nearest of which had the bonnet open and was undergoing repairs.

Opposite the door, near the back wall was a roughly three-foot-square wooden, crate with the word FRAGILE stencilled on the side in red.

On the right-hand side of the garage was a maintenance area with tools, an acetylene torch, and a steel shelf with boxes of spare parts. A flight of stairs on the left-hand side of the garage headed upwards, presumably to the helipad on the roof.

[Mr. Handy]

Benjamin makes sure the garage is clear before signalling to the others that it's safe to enter. "Let's see if we can find what we need," he says.

[Philulhu]

OOC:   Let me know what you’re searching for and give me a spot hidden roll.

[Snapper]

"Aww, I want to see this skull that caused such interest, and maybe trouble."

Swivelling his head from side to side and taking everything in, Randy made a cautious bee-line for the crate and started opening it.

1d%pHdd50%

Extreme Success!!

[kabukiman]

"I hope there isn't a human skull, I had my share of bodies today."

Boyd is looking (away from the crate) for a soldering iron.
Spot hidden roll: 30%

[Joajackson]

Amanda maintaned guard, for if something came from the outside, or from the sky. She didnt believe the posibility of an ángel, but better to be sure.

[Philulhu]

Boyd scoured the bench but all he found were mechanical tools. He did notice, however, that on the wall above the bench, a very faded sign on a metal cabinet read ‘Master’. Opening the cabinet, there were two pipes with shut-off valves, that would seem to correspond to the fuel pipes on the other side of the wall. Both valves were currently closed.

Prising the lid off the crate, Randy could see the skull nestled in a couple of blankets.It was massive and vaguely human, in a distinctly unsettling way. Also unsettling, though for an entirely different reason, was the ‘Pre-approved’ stamp on the US Customs label affixed to the crate, which meant that it would just pass through US Customs to goodness only knows which US Department, without any safety checks…

Natural World or Anthropology rolls from anyone taking a closer look at the skull, please.

[Mr. Handy]

"We could do some A-Team style work with all these tools," says Benamin. "Some fuel would be useful too, both for the snowcat and for making Molotov cocktails." He takes a look at the skull. "Not an angel, but it's big enough that it could belong to one of the Nephilim."

Spot Hidden roll (30% skill) looking for fuel:
d%
Natural World roll (15% skill) about the skull:
d%

[Snapper]

1d%LLd10%

Fail.

"Hey, Gavin, come and look at this, you'd be the team expert on animal skulls and stuff."

"And Amanda, how'd you reckon they got that stamp on there? Who were your bosses planning on sending this to, I wonder? Sounds like someone did a deal."

[kabukiman]

"So, we can mount this valves, right?"

He then looked with curiosity to the skull:
"Why is somebody high up so interested in this skull?"

Boyd natural world:10%

[Joajackson]

"Whoever put that seal there must have been here. Meaning it wasnt from the bosses, except if you expect to find the body of an Exxon executive arround. I assume the base administrator had a seal, probably for some bullshit reason."

[Snapper]

Randy paused to look at Amanda, trying to decide if she was serious or covering for her bosses.

"Are you seriously saying Walters and the others here would have been sending this crate with that weird skull in it off to the US without the say - so of O'connor back in Vancouver?"

"And they just happen to have what looks like a highly illegal US Customs stamp thing that means they can bypass Customs? This crate could be filled with explosives or Cocaine and it would travel straight into the US unopened."

"No way is Exxon meant to have a Customs stamp like that."

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, someone was up to no good here," says Benjamin, "but they didn't deserve what happened to them."

[Joajackson]

Randy paused to look at Amanda, trying to decide if she was serious or covering for her bosses.

"Are you seriously saying Walters and the others here would have been sending this crate with that weird skull in it off to the US without the say - so of O'connor back in Vancouver?"

"And they just happen to have what looks like a highly illegal US Customs stamp thing that means they can bypass Customs? This crate could be filled with explosives or Cocaine and it would travel straight into the US unopened."

"No way is Exxon meant to have a Customs stamp like that."

"The people here got killed by monsters, Randy, I have no doubts in their lack of responsability."

"Wait, are you implying this wasnt done by Exxon? I am starting to think you want me to go mad. One of my men starts believing in god damn angels killers and the other thinks a US Customs stamp means the CIA is responsible for amateur cave archeology? This isnt a fucking movie! I am not secretely a federal or some bullshit and wathever the fuck this is, it isnt a goverment conspiracy!"

She really shouldnt have started screaming at her subordinates, but she seemed quite bad at dealing with stress.

[Snapper]

Randy looked at Amanda. Then he looked away and thought of the dead man back in the office, presumably Walters, who he'd pushed around to face the corner. And whose shattered head he'd hidden with a handy computer dust cover. He turned back to Amanda with his medic face back on.

Randy started again with his calm, here-to-help voice. "OK, Amanda, you are under a lot of pressure and we've all seen a lot. But that is literally not what I said. What I was trying to say is I think sometime in the last month Exxon management told the crew here to send this thing in the crate somewhere. And supplied that customs seal, which is almost certainly illegal."

"We have no idea why they planned to do that or where in the US the crate was meant to go or who to. And I'm not accusing Exxon management of multiple horrible murders here."

"But maybe if we knew what interested Exxon so much, it might help us work out what happened here. Before it happens to us."

"Gavin, really be interested in your take on this skull."

Is there anything to indicate where the crate was being sent?

[Philulhu]

Just the initials “WPAFB”.