Modern/Delta Green - The Beginning of the End (COMPLETED)

Last One Out: Introduction

This scenario, “Last One Out,” is a Spycraft mission from Combat Missions by Yours Truly. You can read more about Delta Green at http://www.delta-green.com. Please note: This story hour contains spoilers!

Our cast of characters includes:

• Game Master: Michael Tresca
• Hank “Guppy” Gupta (Smart Hero) played by Joseph Tresca
• Kurtis "Hammer" Grange (Fast Hero) played by George Webster
• Sebastian “Caprice” Creed (Fast/Smart Hero) played by Bill Countiss

Although Combat Missions is now in a completely different format for Spycraft, making it much less useful on the surface for a d20 Modern game, the original draft was for Spycraft 1.0. I decided to put it to good use.

It’s not all that hard to find Delta Green connections to the missions. In this case, it’s tied to the mysterious production of a new addictive drug known as Blink. Can you think of possible mythos connections? I sure can!

I also felt it was important to wrap up what was largely a supernatural story arc involving monsters from beyond, Coyote, and an ancient ritual (Blade’s story arc) and shift gears to the other characters in the game. For Hammer, that’s interesting “mudane” combat missions, which the Spycraft book provides in spades. For Guppy and Caprice, it’s dealing with aliens, drugs, and mental health issues.

I used Sprague’s promotion as case agent to really change things up – they’re essentially under new management, and new management doesn’t tolerate laser guns or talk of stupid supernatural stuff. If Drake represented the Delta Green way of thinking, Sprague is the Majestic-12 way of thinking. Fear not though, those elements are still there – they’re just not as embraced by Majestic-12.

Defining Moment: Hammer was in his element here and it showed. As a member of the Sharpshooter advanced class, he can now take out foes at close range. And he put it to good use in a near-perfect extraction of Wells.

Relevant Media

• The Perfect Drug: by Nine Inch Nails. I love this song -- it's from the Lost Highway album.
• Combat Missions: It took a very long time for this book to see the light of day, but it finally happened. In fact, I'm still waiting to see my comp copy. But I'm very proud of the results.
• Proof of Life: Last One Out was inspired by this movie.

Last One Out: Prologue

I come along but I don’t know where you’re taking me
I shouldn’t go but you’re reaching back and shaking me
Turn off the sun, pull the stars from the sky
The more I give to you, the more I die​

--The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails​

Click to expand...

CALI, COLOMBIA--The chopper hummed a staccato beat all around them as Sprague briefed the team on its mission. They all looked glumly at their cistrons.

“…as of today,” continued Sprague, “there will be no C-Team and N-Team. You are all members of the same team.”

“What’s our designation?” asked Hammer.

“Sprague’s Team. Or S-Team if you prefer.”

Caprice rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

“What was that?”

Caprice didn’t answer.

“That’s what I thought. As I was saying, we’re going to do things by the book. As CIF agents, you’re expected to actually serve your country instead of running around looking for aliens and ghosts. So you’re about to start earning your paycheck by doing some real work.”

“How do you define real work, exactly?” asked Guppy with trepidation.

“The War on Drugs is a good place to start. Simon Wells, a chemical engineer formerly in the employ of MegaCosmos’ subsidiary, Sparkle, Inc. was refining the process of creating diamonds by application of certain acids when MC folded the business. Most executives who were looped in knew when to leave—Simon Wells didn’t. He has since been kidnapped by El Liberación Nacional. CIFA is concerned that Wells can create or has already created a new form of hydriodic acid—a critical component in methamphetamine.”

“And you want us to get him out of there?” asked Caprice.

“Your primary objective is to retrieve Simon Wells,” affirmed Sprague. “If that means negotiating with his kidnappers, so be it. If the negotiation fails, then you must retrieve him by force. Agent Hammer is mission leader.”

“I put a request in for equipment…” began Hammer.

“All taken care of. It will be waiting for you when you arrive. Your first stop is the Wells estate, where you must convince Barbara to take over negotiations with the kidnapper. Good luck agents.” The cistron winked out.

Guppy shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“YOU’VE got a bad feeling about this?” muttered Hammer. “You’re not the one who shot his new boss.”

Last One Out: Part 1 – The Wells Estate

There were several large men counting out thousands of pesos in the Wells’ house. A petite brunette woman with dark circles under her eyes greeted Hammer at the door of her palatial home.

“Oh thank goodness, you’re here.”

A huge man with a pistol strapped under his arm came stalking over. “Who are you?”

Hammer flashed his CIFA badge. “Counter-Intelligence Field Agency. I’m with the U.S. government. Who are you?”

“Its okay, Julio.”

The man pushed her aside with one meaty paw. “No, I do not think it is okay. We’re handling things here. You’re not welcome. Leave now or there will be trouble.”

Behind him, several of the men counting the money looked up from their task in the living room.

Hammer looked back and forth between the men and Barbara. “We’re not here to cause trouble. We’re just trying to help.”

“Uh huh. You can help somewhere else. You are foreigners. We know this kidnapping business better than you.” He turned to Barbara. “If you have the government involved Simon will surely die.”

Barbara was struggling to hold back tears. She hugged herself tightly.

“Fine, we’ll go. It’s clear you’ve got this under control. Let us know when you make progress.” He handed Julio his card.

Julio threw the card on the ground and slammed the door in Hammer’s face.

“I can’t believe you just took that,” said Caprice as they entered their van on the perimeter of the Wells’ villa. “You’re going to let them do our job?”

“Yes,” said Hammer. He took out a laser microphone. “That’s exactly what I plan to let them do.”

Last One Out: Part 2 – Negotiations

Hammer knocked on the door again, Guppy and Caprice on either side.

Julio was there to greet them. This time he made no pretense of politeness. “I thought I told you to leave.”

“You did,” said Hammer calmly. “But I thought Mrs. Wells would be interested in knowing that we have evidence her husband is alive.”

Julio’s thick eyebrows went up. Barbara walked over to the door. “You do?”

“Yes. Julio negotiated a pickup point to exchange a good faith payment. We got there before his men did.” He pulled out a photo from a tattered envelope. In the picture, Simon had a beard of several weeks growth. He looked beaten and bloody. He held up a recent newspaper in both hands, proving that he was indeed still alive.

“You can’t—“

“Oh I think we can,” said Hammer. “Mrs. Wells, this man has been abusing your trust. He hasn’t been negotiating a release at all; he’s been sponging off of you, dragging out the negotiations and pocketing a portion of your good faith payments. He’ll drag this on all year if you’ll let him.”

Julio took a menacing step forward. His two thugs drew their pistols. “Stop talking.”

“Mrs. Wells,” said Hammer. “It is our informed opinion that, as Mr. Julio here is a member of your employ, you have the right to fire him.”

Barbara Wells looked back and forth from Barbara to Hammer. She folded her arms. “Julio, you’re fired.”

Hammer drew two pistols and pointed them at the two thugs. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

The thugs reached for their weapons. It was the last mistake they made.

Barbara screamed. Hammer’s pistols were still smoking when Julio lunged at him with a knife. Guppy stepped from around the door and struck Julio’s outstretched arm with a stun gun.

Julio groaned through clenched teeth as he fell to the ground, shivering from the shock.

“Nice job Guppy.” Caprice tied Julio’s hands behind his back.

“It’s no laser,” said Guppy with a smile, “but it’ll do.”

Hammer yanked Julio to his feet. “Now where were we. Oh, that’s right, you were going to tell me where Simon is.”

“He doesn’t know,” said Barbara, careful to not look at the bodies lying in her foyer. “We’ve been trying to find out—“

“Oh he knows,” said Hammer. “He’s known all along, haven’t you Julio?”

Julio’s eyes were tearing. He made a half-hearted attempt to spit at Hammer.

“Wish you hadn’t done that.” He rolled out a black satchel full of glistening knives and picks on the floor. “Guppy, Hot Pants, get rid of these bodies. Mrs. Wells, I think you may want to go into the kitchen.”

“Wait…” Julio looked back and forth. “What are you doing?”

“We’re actually a lot alike, Julio.“ Hammer snapped on a pair of black gloves. “We both specialize in negotiations. Only I prefer to do my negotiations in person.”

Julio began to sweat. “What do you want to know? Ask me and I’ll tell you!”

“That’s more like it,” said Hammer with a grin.

Last One Out: Part 3 – The Processing Plant

The processing plant was in a thick jungle, safely concealed from spy planes that might fly overhead. Although a road connected the plan to civilization, almost all travel to the plant was by helicopter. The nearest village was a three-day hike away.

“What have we got?” asked Hammer.

Caprice kept his gaze leveled at the guards walking the perimeter, green ghosts through his night vision goggles. They were all dressed in ghillie suits with sniper rifles.

“Two guards watch the front gate around the clock. Each has binoculars and a walkie-talkie. At random times during the day, two guards take a Jeep around the inside perimeter of the fence. It takes about ten minutes for the Jeep to make one complete circuit around the perimeter.”

Guppy tapped a few keys on his cistron. The glow illuminated Guppy and Hammer’s faces. “We believe that this structure here,” a red circle appeared around two round buildings, “is the fuel dump and generator shed.”

“Can you take it out, Hot Pants?” asked Hammer.

Caprice flipped up his goggles. He’d gotten used to Hammer calling him his new nickname. “I just have to get over the thirty-foot fence, sneak by the guard tower, not be seen by any guards on the grounds, rig the explosives, and then get back out. Piece of cake.”

“Right,” said Hammer. “So you’re going to take out the top guard tower here,” he tapped on the cistron to identify the far corner tower. “Guppy and I are going to take the guards out on this tower here.” Hammer tapped the closest tower on the map. “We will then enter through the fence here,” he tapped the fence perimeter. “Guppy will take over the tower.”

“This is the boss’ headquarters, Miguel Montoya.” Guppy tapped a small building. “We think Wells is here.”

“Right.” Hammer stood up. He looked at his cistron and watched it count down the Jeep’s ETA. It beeped softly in his ear. “GO!”

Hammer and Guppy took aim with their silenced sniper rifles at the guards on the nearest tower. The muffled sound of the rifles retort and the sudden collapse of the two guards in the tower was the only evidence of their attack.

Hammer and Guppy padded up to the fence, the tail lights of the Jeep receding in the distance. Guppy expertly plied his pliers on the fence, cutting enough of it to open a man-sized hole. Hammer, wearing thick gloves, peeled it back just far enough to fit Guppy through. Then he yanked it back into place.

Guppy climbed the tower as Hammer drew his two Glocks, back against the wall. He peered inside the window.

The area was filled with tubs, chemicals, and other equipment required for making the drug. With the exception of knives and machetes used during drug production, the workers were unarmed.

Hammer sidestepped his way over to the office.

The office had a small, decently furnished bedroom, kitchen, dining area, and office. A HAM radio sat on a batter desk, along with a satellite phone. Hammer could make out Wells, strapped to a chair and moaning. Montoya was talking to him. Two guards stood near the entrance.

Hammer kicked the door open and fired his silenced pistols at point blank range into the guts of each guard. They crumpled to the ground.

Montoya whirled and then dove sideways. Hammer heard the click of a weapon being reloaded.

He ducked just in time as machinegun fire peppered the doorway.

“Now!” said Hammer into his mic.

An explosion rocked the facility, starkly illuminating the camp. Then the lights went out.

Montoya flinched. That was all Hammer needed. He rolled and came up firing, plugging two shots into Montoya’s chest.

An alarm sounded.

“Who are you?” gasped Wells.

“I’m with the U.S. government.” Hammer untied him. “I’m here to rescue you.”

Wells rubbed his wrists. “Just you?”

“More or less,” said Hammer. He placed the pull ring on a canister in his mouth, pulled it, and threw it through the doorway. Smoke billowed in front of the office.

They made their way to the door.

“DOWN!” Hammer suddenly yanked Wells back from the doorway as a heavy machinegun fire peppered the doorway, piercing the flimsy walls.

“I hope you have backup,” said Wells.

“Me too,” said Hammer. “Backup!” he shouted into his microphone.

Last One Out: Part 4 – The Escape

Guppy flinched as Hammer’s command barked in his ear.

“If you would stop shouting I would be able to concentrate on taking the shot…”

“Guppy…” growled Hammer.

“Okay, okay. Caprice, you see them?”

“Yeah, taking the shot.”

Guppy and Caprice fired. The machinegun that was spraying Hammer’s location stopped moving.

“Clear!” said Guppy.

“Evacuating now,” said Hammer. “All positions, pull out.”

Guppy turned to climb down the ladder…

And came face-to-face with one of the guards, a knife in his mouth.

“Mother trucker!” shouted Guppy, stumbling backwards as the knife slashed hid tactical vest.

Guppy kicked the man backward. The guard lunged again, knife raised overhead, when his head exploded like a melon.

“Thanks Caprice,” said Guppy.

“Get out of there,” came Caprice’s voice over the comm. “There are guards converging on your position.”

Guppy peered over the edge of the tower. Two more guards were climbing up the ladder.

He looked desperately around for an exit. There had to be another way out, but it was hard to see anything with the power out.

The lights! A cable ran from the tower down to the other buildings. It ran a string of lights that were now out.

It would have to do. Guppy took out his pliers and looped them over the cable. He prayed that it would hold.

Closing his eyes, he plunged off the side of the building.

The sizzle of metal and burning rubber reached his nostrils. The bulbs popped beneath his hands as he hit them in rapid succession. Machinegun fire perforated the guard tower a second afterwards.

Guppy hit the wall and bounced off it, landing on his back.

“Guppy,” came Hammer’s voice over the comm. “Get out of there!”

Guppy stumbled to his feet. Through the smoke and screaming factory workers, he could make out the hole in the fence.

The Jeep roared off to his right. Guppy ran full tilt towards the fence.

There was another thump and suddenly the Jeep veered hard into the fence, widening the hole.

“You’re clear,” said Caprice. “Go!”

The driver’s head hit the horn, an accusatory wail as Guppy ran through the opening to a freedom.

Last One Out: Conclusion

Sprague’s expression was frosty on the cistron. “Good job agents. I didn’t think you could pull this off.”

“That place was run like a military prison,” said Hammer. “You sent us on a suicide mission.”

“Every CIFA mission is a suicide mission,” said Sprague. “Don’t ever think otherwise. Still, you did what you came to do. Unfortunately, Wells did manage to create a drug known on the street as Blink. There’s a unique ingredient that Wells used to create it, stolen from the Sparkle, Inc. facility, that causes severe hallucinations and addiction. We think it was distributed in Florida, California, and New York as testing grounds for an expanded distribution network.”

“So you want us to go after those locations?” asked Caprice.

Sprague shook his head. “Not now. We’ve got bigger fish to fry.” He paused. “One other thing: None of you were exposed to the drug, were you? We picked up that explosion on satellite.”

Hammer looked at his teammates. Caprice shook his head.

“Guppy?”

Guppy was staring at his hand.

“Guppy, you okay?”

Guppy looked up from his open palm and back at Hammer. “Huh? Oh yeah, I’m okay.”

“We’re fine,” said Hammer.

“Good,” said Sprague. “I’ll need you to stay frosty for the next mission.”

“We’ll be ready,” said Hammer.

“And I’m pulling Caprice,” added Sprague.

“What?” said Guppy. “Hammer, he can’t do that, can he?”

“The plane will only accommodate two agents and you two are it. A chopper will be by to pick you up in ten minutes.” The transmission shut off.

“He can’t do this to us!” shouted Guppy. “They’re trying to break us up.”

“Calm down,” said Hammer. “We’ll have to make do with just me and you.”

Caprice shook his head. “I’m not doing any f&*%ing paperwork this time, that’s for sure.”

Chapter 12: Hot Air - Introduction

This scenario, “Hot Air,” is a Spycraft mission from Combat Missions by Yours Truly. You can read more about Delta Green at http://www.delta-green.com. Please note: This story hour contains spoilers!

Our cast of characters includes:

• Game Master: Michael Tresca
• Hank “Guppy” Gupta (Smart Hero) played by Joseph Tresca
• Kurtis "Hammer" Grange (Fast Hero) played by George Webster

What was I thinking? With just two agents, I decided to have a go at a deadly scenario, Hot Air. Hot Air is inspired by Executive Decision, which is about an anti-terrorist group attempting to thwart a terrorist hijacking in mid-air. It’s also noteworthy in that Steven Seagal, Halle Berry, and Kurt Russel are in it. And Seagal dies in the first ten minutes.

We almost reproduced this film exactly; I wrote the scenario for a full complement of mid-level agents, and 2d6 damage nearly killed Hammer. It took quite a few rolls and spent action points to get the scenario back on track.

But once it was back on track, things moved quickly. Not only did they move quickly, it turned into a pretty amazing scenario. And of course, there’s the mention of one important phrase that ties all this back to Delta Green territory.

Defining Moment: Guppy, faced with no other alternative, decides to become a hero at grave risk to himself. It involves parachutes and bombs.

Relevant Media

• Ka-Boom Ka-Boom: by Marilyn Manson.
• Combat Missions: It took a very long time for this book to see the light of day, but it finally happened. In fact, I'm still waiting to see my comp copy. But I'm very proud of the results.
• Executive Decision: Hot Air was inspired by this movie.

Hot Air: Prologue

I'm the leader of the club, and I've shrugged off my mouse ears
We fly no-class Dumbo jets, and drive hardcore-vettes
We fight war with drugs and our sex always formal
We wear lawsuits when we get high, high, high​

--Ka-Boom Ka-Boom by Marilyn Manson​

Click to expand...

SOMEWHERE OVER EUROPE--“Wait, what?” asked Guppy, pleading desperately with the tiny image of Sprague on screen. “We’re boarding Indianational in mid-flight?”

“You heard correctly, agent,” said Sprague. “There’s no other way.”

“But—“

“May I remind you that you are a member of a counter-terrorist unit dedicated to dealing with precisely this situation?”

“But we’re boarding another jet in mid-air! And there’s only two of us!”

“If Al-Hazzan detonates that supersarin over a populated city, millions will die. I expect you to do whatever it takes to stop it.” The screen winked out.

“But…” Guppy trailed off. “He just hung up on me.” He looked up at Hammer, who was webbed into a seat across from him. “He just hung up.”

“He’s right,” said Hammer.

Guppy shook his head. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Hammer.

“But this is suicide,” said Guppy.

“That’s precisely why we have to do it,” said Hammer.

“But,” Guppy’s voice trailed off. “It’s a suicide mission...”

“That’s why we’re perfect for the job,” said Hammer.

Then the pilot gave the signal that they were ready to board.

Hot Air: Part 1 – Now Boarding Indianational

The Resolution, a new Majestic-12 aircraft, was amazingly quiet. Even inside the small troop compartment, the engine was nothing but a low hum.

Like some kind of lamprey attaching itself to a whale, the Resolution’s pneumatic arm pressurized itself against the hull of the Indianational plane. The plane barely pitched as it connects and stabilizes its air speed.

The pilot gave Hammer a thumbs up. He unsealed the hatch above, disrupting the pervasive silence inside the Resolution with the roar of two planes thousands of feet in the air. Above them was a rope ladder and ten feet of space between the Resolution and the Indianational.

Hammer snapped his breathing mask on and turned to Guppy. “Go!”

It took a moment for Guppy to realize Hammer was addressing him. He snapped on his own mask, unbuckled himself and began making the rapid crawl up to the aircraft’s bottom entry hatch.

Suddenly, red lights flashed around the edges of the tube near the hatch of both planes and a low, urgent beeping barely pierced the screaming wind outside.

Hammer shouted from below, “We’re hitting turbulence!”

Guppy hooked his cistron up to the cargo bay door. He tapped furiously on it. There were safeguards in place that would alert the pilot to an open door, especially when in mid-air.

The beeping became more insistent.

“We’re losing the seal!” shouted Hammer. “What the hell are you doing up there?”

“I’m working as fast as I can!” shouted Guppy. “It doesn’t help when you yell—“

There was a wrenching sound as the seal began to lose suction.

“GET UP THERE NOW!” shouted Hammer.

Guppy’s cistron beeped. He wrenched the lever open.

Wind tore through the umbilical between the two jets. Guppy tossed his technical kit through the opening into the cargo bay and then clambered in after it.

Hammer was right on his heels when the seal gave way.

Guppy lunged forward, grabbing hold of the clips that held Hammer in his seat’s webbing on the Resolution. Hammer strained as the roar of the outside tore at him.

The seal hung limply for a second and in the roaring wind Guppy could make out the Resolution’s black form looming below them like a bird of prey.

Hammer clawed his way into the Indianational jet just as Guppy wrenched the door closed.

The two agents lay on the floor, trying to catch their breath.

Eventually, Hammer unbuckled the breathing mask. “Now that the hard part’s over, it’s all up from here.”

Guppy didn’t laugh.