DELTA GREEN Southern Gothic chronicle

[Poh Tun Kai]

Since last Saturday was definitely a success, I'm going to be keeping notes here for DELTA GREEN, which I'm now running using GUMSHOE (Night's Black Agents, Dunwich Sanction variant with Dust and Burn Modes turned on).

On 8 August 2015, Cell V under Agent VIOLET (Professor Daphne Sinclair Lacroix) undertook Operation THORNY WALK, which investigated the shooting death of a US Army veteran, Private Luther Wilson, at Alvin's Alligator Park, Kilmar, Florida. Cell V for this operation consisted of "Dr Klump," a forensic doctor; "Captain Debbie Dallas," a Navy drone/satellite aviation officer; "Mr White" the hacker; and "Mr Winters" the explosives expert.

The disturbed behavior of the soldier was traced to temporary skin tattoos impregnated with a mix of LSD and homeopathic cures made from extraterrene organ fluids. The cures had been distributed through a veterans' support group, the Returning Warrior Program under Sgt Abraham Straker at Fort Blandley. With the help of local friendly Sgt Jim Purcell of the US Army Military Police, Cell V was able to autopsy the corpse of Private Wilson and trace the tattoo design to a Tcho-Tcho tribal pattern brought to the US in the 1980s by a failed new age psychic named Gary Flanagan. During the investigation, Mr Winters was involved in a physical altercation with Abraham Straker and one of the tattoos transferred onto his flesh. Agent VIOLET and Captain Dallas invoked ONYX ONE and conducted a close inspection of Mr Winters, who was now seeing visions of a nightgaunt.

Interviews with various parties and data analysis led to the discovery that Sgt Straker had obtained the homeopathic cures from a grifter named Griswold Flynn who lived in a nearby trailer park. The cell raided Flynn's trailer and discovered that he was in fact Gary Flanagan, living off the byproducts of a failed summoning from decades ago. Mr Winters began sensing mental emanations from the nightgaunt entombed in a meat freezer within a second trailer, and Agent VIOLET had to reverse-engineer a Contact Nightgaunt ritual from Flynn's notes in order to banish the nightgaunt when it broke free of the freezer. Flynn was abducted into extranormal space by the nightgaunt, Sgt Straker surrendered himself to the authorities on site, and the trailer was sanitized with extreme prejudice through the use of creative arson. Mr Winters is now undergoing therapy for his ordeal, and Agent VIOLET is undergoing recovery for multiple fractures after being flung a hundred feet through the air.

Another successful op.

[Poh Tun Kai]

Next session is scheduled for tonight, designated Operation COPPER CANDLE. Eight pm to about eleven-ish. Prepare for a Night at the Masquerade.

[Poh Tun Kai]

DELTA GREEN: Operation COPPER CANDLE

 

It begins on August 29, 2015.

 

Agent Violet dreams of a screaming man, flying in the sky with her.

 

A rare king tide washes the bloated body of an elderly white man out from Fort Lauderdale's subsurface drains.

 

Enter Cell V.

 

DG friendly Dr Klump, a CSI from Miami PD, is helping out at Fort Lauderdale and immediately notices that this body is a case of interest. Dr Klump's initial autopsy finds evidence of taserings and asphyxiation. Also, a strange metal capsule implanted in the back of the skull. He sends the John Doe's dentures and teeth out to be identified through the FBI database. He also contacts Violet about the case.

 

Call A sends a warning to get Klump to retract his information request before certain...parties...find out about it.

 

Agent Violet (Daphne), Agent Vivi (Hannah), Mr White and Mr Winter arrive in Fort Lauderdale to investigate and support Klump. But they're too late. There's a woman calling herself Franklin, pressing herself upon a hapless Klump.

 

Says she's from the National Reconnaissance Office. She's the MAJESTIC Group's liaison officer on this case. National Reconnaissance Office means MAJESTIC-12. DELTA GREEN's rival.

 

The man is Dr Albert Yrjo. A former psych warfare expert for MAJESTIC's OUTLOOK program. Nice way to say "torturer."

 

Franklin explains that the doctor's tracking implant, containing a radio beacon and self-destruct mechanism, was disabled by an overcharged taser. Someone who knew they were taking down a former MJ-12 asset.

 

She is just showing Klump where they installed her own implant when Cell V shows up. Oh, tension.

 

There is much frosty repartee as Violet stares down Franklin's resting bitch face.

 

Albert Yrjo worked for PROJECT OUTLOOK.

 

Violet reports to Cell A. Agent Alice tells her that Cell U had a run-in with Yrjo back in the old days, when DELTA GREEN and MAJESTIC were at war.

 

Agent Underwood in Galveston should be able to provide some background on Yrjo. Underwood is known to Violet. And he mentored White into DG.

 

Underwood cannot be reached.

 

Violet keeps an eye on Franklin at the morgue while Klump continues his autopsy. Winters, White and Vivi visit the Cascades condominium where Yrjo lived under the name William Punting. It's gated, guarded, expensive. They find his porn stash (not to be confused with Winters' pornstache), a cache of SD cards, and some .exe files on the computer. Mr White inventories the find and brings it back with them. Winters notices rugs concealing signs of scuffing and struggling, says "fuck" a lot, and deduces that the intruder/intruders tasered Yrjo at the condo, tortured him and then smuggled him out to be disposed of in the water.

 

Someone else had already taken half the cards.

 

Klump and Winters share their findings and put together a picture of a premeditated attack, interrogation and murder of a MJ-12 torture expert. The condo guard, after receiving a bribe, shows the logbook indicating that a "John Smith" and one female companion visited Yrjo that night. Licence plate matches a car rented out by cash that day, which was returned quickly and in good order.

 

Violet gets a heads-up from Cell A. Underwood has not been in contact for a while, and neither has what's left of his cell. His house was burned down three weeks ago.

 

Which is also when Klump estimates date of death for Yrjo.

 

Lance Callahan, AKA Agent Underwood, 30-year veteran of DELTA GREEN, is now the prime suspect, in possession of stolen MJ-12 data.

• 1985: As a young Alaskan state trooper, Callahan encounters a "wind spirit" on Sukakpak Mountain. Recruited into DELTA GREEN.
• 1991: Operation ABLE WISDOM with Gen. Reginald Fairfield, leader of DELTA GREEN. Investigates MJ-12 time experiments in Kansas.
• 2005: Operation ANCIENT HORIZON with Cell U in Baghdad. Halliburton warehouses torched to cover a failed DG operation in Iraq. Underwood captured and tortured by PROJECT OUTLOOK (Hang on, thinks Winters. I was there. That's who blew up those warehouses!).
• 2005: Hurricane Katrina destroys the Callahan family business in New Orleans.
• 2005 is a bad year for Agent Underwood. He and Agent Usher (Sgt. Lorena Gallup, US Army mechanic) are the only survivors of the op and spend a month imprisoned at PROJECT OUTLOOK in Puerto Rico. They are ultimately released as part of a hostage swap between DG and MJ-12. Underwood comes home to find his family factory business destroyed, his home flooded.
• 2008: Operation TELLURIAN. Cult-busting in Corpus Christi, Texas. During TELLURIAN, Underwood recruits a local friendly named Tia Ferrara to help with electrical engineering. Apart from Usher, Ferrara is one of his only surviving friends within DELTA GREEN.
• 2011: DELTA GREEN and MAJESTIC-12 sign the Joshua Tree Armistice. Underwood and Usher are among the DG agents frustrated by the end of hostilities between DELTA GREEN and its old enemy. Many wrongs are left unavenged. Also during this time, Underwood's wife of 20 years, Anne Callahan, dies of cancer. They have no children.
• 2014: Usher disappears. Is rumored to be an underground DJ in New Orleans.

Cell V needs to study the files and figure out what the suspect is after.

They also need to keep Agent Franklin diverted. Franklin is not to know about the files Yrjo stole from MJ-12 at all costs.

Cell V selects Mr Winters to distract Franklin. The two go out to a cafe for a drink and Winters starts flirting with her. Initiate OPERATION BAGHDAD HONEYPOT.

White and Vivi set up a Faraday Cage inside a Green Box storage facility to safely test Dr Yrjo's computer files. White hooks up a screen and headphones, making sure the PC is offline, isolated, camera taped up. Vivi wears earplugs, prepares sidearm and fire extinguisher, and watches White closely. Everyone else excuses themselves.

It's time to run the .exe files.

Violet initiates ONYX ONE Protocols.

If it becomes necessary for an agent or friendly to use paranormal devices or methods (designated an ONYX DEVICE) to ensure the success of an op, Cell A should be contacted first, preferably by secure email, with a full report on the circumstances of the situation, and a full description of the paranormal device or method in question.

A reply will be filled by phone in no more than 12 hours. In some cases it may be necessary for Cell A to authorize ONYX ONE protocols in ensuring OPSEC.

ONYX ONE Protocols are as follows:

• The use of the ONYX DEVICE should be performed in an isolated location if possible.
• In addition to the agent or friendly involved in using the ONYX DEVICE, a full agent (designated an ONYX Monitor) should be fully briefed on the nature of said device and the expected results, and present to monitor the use of the ONYX DEVICE.
• The ONYX Monitor has the discretion to terminate both the user and the use of the ONYX DEVICE, if the procedure is judged likely to have calamitous consequences.
• A third agent or friendly should be located near each entrance of the location with orders from the ONYX Monitor to intervene in either terminating the use of the ONYX DEVICE or exercising extreme sanction upon the user and/or the ONYX Monitor, if ordered to by the ONYX Monitor.

"Hello? Hello? Is...is there anyone there? Where's the doctor? Where are my damn sons?"

"I can't feel my legs...can't feel anything. Am I in the hospital?"

"Last thing I remember...the plane was crashing. Pilot said it had to be sabotage. I bet it's my damn sons!"

Strange, tinny voice from the speaker and flashing colored lights on the screen. It takes White a while to realise the voice is live and conversing with him.

The speaker is Air Force General (ret.) Theodore Parrish (1945-2010), who died in a plane crash in Idaho. Since White can't impersonate a doctor too well, they get Dr Klump to speak with Parrish.

This goes well until Parrish recognises by Klump's speech patterns that his doctor is black.

"Get me a goddamn white doctor! I ain't gonna be treated by no n*****r!"

Pleasant fellow. The others try to get more out of General Parrish. Violet does some research on Parrish. He was a board member on Metron Aerospace after he retired. The company supplies stealth materials to the F-35 Lighting II fighter program.

Cell A comes back with big news: Parrish is also a former MJ-12 Steering Committee member. One of the leaders of the old enemy. At least, until he died in the crash.

The surreal horror of speaking with a disembodied electronic simulation of a dead MJ-12 leader is enough to strain the nerves of the listeners. Agent Violet swaps with Vivi as ONYX Monitor.

Next file.

 

"Ayúdame, estoy atrapado aquí abajo!"

The second file also results in a voice and flashing lights, but this one speaks in Spanish. Fortunately, Violet is fluent.

Felipe is a young Chilean miner, trapped underground after the copper mine collapses. The year is 1991. At one point, the background noise rises to a sinister buzz and they kill the process just in case. Getting a bit jumpy now, with all these strange disembodied souls in the computer.

Restart. Felipe retains no memory of the previous conversation, beginning from the start. This time Violet manages to find out that he encountered a strange cluster of multicolored lights after being isolated in the darkness following the collapse. The lights came upon him and he felt a terrible grinding against his skull, while the buzzing grew louder and louder...

Kill process. Agent Vivi takes position as ONYX Monitor.

Next file.

The screen fills with so many colored lights. Audio channels are swamped with intense alien buzzing noises.

Bzz Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Bzzzt Bzt Bzt Bzt Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Agent Vivi remembers what happened on her test flight all those years ago in the Navy. The flashing multicolored lights. The buzzing inside her cockpit. Ejecting in desperation. Not knowing what was going on after she was debriefed. And what happened to her electronic warfare operator? What happened to her partner Goose?

When she opens her eyes, she's standing over the smashed, smoking remnants of the PC. She's still holding the fire extinguisher over her head.

Well, that's one way to kill process. Good thing White backed up the files. The rest of the team tries not to appear too alarmed at Vivi's berserk flashback episode.

Time to hit the road.

August 30, 2015.

Agent Franklin had earlier compromised Dr Klump's phone - a fact that did not go unnoticed by Cell V. Early in the morning, while Franklin is at her own hotel, Violet gets Klump to give her (Violet) a call in which she tells him to pack his bags and take the first plane to Hawaii.

Then they Fed-Ex the phone to Hawaii. Adios, Franklin.

Then they grab their bags and get the fuck out of town.

 

Leads:

• Lance Callahan. Last known residence: Galveston
• Lorena Gallup, AKA DJ Matty. Last known residence: New Orleans
• Tia Ferrara. Last known residence: Corpus Christi

To be continued.