Ch.2 Exxon Pumping Station #31

[Philulhu]

Thursday, 30 October 1986, 15:45hrs.
Exxon Pumping Station #31, Kitimat-Stikine Regional District, British Columbia

As they approached the pumping station, they could see two rectangular, snow-covered shapes to the left and right, which indicated where the missing gates from the chainlink fence had been thrown.

Beyond the gap in the fence, to the left they could see a large single-storey building, with three large roll-up doors facing into the compound. Its flat roof overhung the building and was supported on pillars. Light fittings around the edge suggested a helipad on the roof.

On their right were two smaller, two-story buildings, built in the modular style common of unit developed to be east to transport and set up. On the first floor a covered walkway linked the two buildings. Any windows were covered by roll-down steel shutters and there was no sign of a door from the direction from which they approached.

Beyond the two buildings, the pipeline makes its way into the site, intersecting some other larger buildings behind those that they can see.

[Mr. Handy]

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Benjamin leads the way to the radio shack, moving stealthily and keeping his M16 ready.

[Joajackson]

Amanda was just behind, covering with her own weapon the man in front of her, there should be no opportunity for anything to sneak from them in that direction at least.

[BoyBlunder78]

" Lets get a move on and get the bloody radio sorted, so we can get out of this frozen hell hole." Gavin grunts.

[Philulhu]

The group moved forward and to the right, passing between the two smaller buildings and the one which had the radio antenna on the roof. Doors lead into all the buildings, although all are closed, for now.

You entered through the gates to the east and turned north. All three buildings have doors to the north and south ends, as well as a large steel shuttered door to the north eastern-most building.

Edit: What may appear as a large building to the west of the compound is actually the blacked-out key to the map…

[kabukiman]

Boyd is advancing very carefully, with the pistol in his hand.

[Mr. Handy]

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Benjamin advances cautiously, leading with the barrel of his rifle, approaching the door of the building with the antenna.

[Philulhu]

As Benjamin got closer to the door, he could see it was buckled with claw marks gouged across its surface. It was still attached to frame, but barely and he doubted whether it would ever closer properly again.

A metal sign on the door, partially scoured by claw marks, read, “B tt ry oom”.

[Mr. Handy]

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Benjamin listens at the door for any sounds coming from within. peering through the gap between the door and the wall. He's sure that the sign used to say "Battery room." The claw marks are a bad sign. The radio will probably need repairs, at the very least.

[Philulhu]

Through the gap, Benjamin could hear a humming noise and could see racks of shelving in the rather stark illumination of emergency lighting.

[Mr. Handy]

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Benjamin nods, glad that the power is still active. Once the others are covering him, he carefully pushes open the door with the barrel of his rifle while standing to one side of it.

[Philulhu]

The door creaked alarmingly as Benjamin pushed it open, the damage it had sustained obviously causing the door to buckle so it no longer sat flush on the hinges.

The walls were thick and clearly insulated against the cold as Benjamin could feel the warm rolling out towards him. From what he could see of the room, he observed a bank of double-sided steel shelving units straight ahead, that reached from floor to ceiling. Each shelf was lined with large, deep-cycle batteries connected to each other with thick yellow cables.

Behind the door, the humming noise persisted.

[Mr. Handy]

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Benjamin cautiously proceeds into the room, first trying to clear it to make sure it is unoccupied before conducting a search.

[Joajackson]

Amanda follows him, close behind, following clearing procedure, weapon high.

[Snapper]

Randy stayed outside, watching the team's "6". And while he didn't have his M16 pointed at Bill, Randy wasn't letting Bill out of his sight either.

"Is the radio likely to be in the Battery Room? I mean, I have no idea, just wondering."

[BoyBlunder78]

Gavin hobbles in, tracing his fingers along the claw marks, sending a shiver down his spine , as he follows the group.

[Philulhu]

Inside, the room extended to the right for another 7-8 metres, with a total of nine banks of shelves, three wide by three deep. Behind the door, a power inverter emitted a low, continuous hum. Power cables ran across the ceiling, connecting the batteries on the shelves to the inverter, while a larger conduit travelled down from the base of the inverter and through the floor.

At the end of the room, a door led into an adjoining room. It appeared to have been torn open and was hanging on with the bottom hinge only.

[BoyBlunder78]

" I think we need bigger guns....." Gavin mutters.

[Mr. Handy]

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Benjamin repeats the process with this door, approaching silently and cautiously, keeping his eyes and ears open and peering into the next room.

[Philulhu]

The sign on the door read ‘Tool Room’ and inside the walls were lined with dozens of large tools, wooden crates, steel work benches and lockers. A one-foot-diameter pipe passed through the room, suspended by supports about an metre off the floor. In the centre of the room, there were several barrels with labels indicating that they contained machine grease and cleaning agents.

In the two corners opposite, doors lead through to the ‘Pump Room’, and an iron grate in the floor appears to allow access to a space below. Immediately inside the room, on the left against the wall, stairs lead upwards, with a sign on the wall with an upward arrow indicating that they lead to the ‘Radio Room’.