This scenario was entered in the 2018 Delta Green Shotgun Scenario Contest.
Operation RECLAIM BOUNTY by Aaron Achartz
J-Cell must recover a stolen green box package from thieves.
Briefing
It is Monday morning on the hottest day of the summer when the agents of J-cell receive a message. A package of possibly dangerous items in transit from a green box went missing. The agents must track down the box and eliminate anyone with knowledge of its contents.
The box is equipped with an active RFID for tracking. It was shipped incognito on a standard shipping truck. The driver stopped once for an extended length of time, at a rest area just off a major freeway near the agents’ area of operation. This was three nights before and he was stopped from 11pm to 6am.
The agents are given a tracking device for the RFID and told to find the box, eliminate the thieves, and bring the box to a drop location at the local post office.
What Happened Friday Night
Four high school students were bored on a Friday night and hanging out in the basement. Spencer suggested they steal something from one of the trucks at the rest stop near their development. His girlfriend, Mia, and friend, Rhys, agreed right away. Addison protested, but went along anyway. Spencer and Mia broke into the truck and stole the box.
Sneaking back into Spencer’s basement, they opened the box. They were disappointed when they found not new phones or candy bars, but a bunch of random crap. The looked at all the different items, but decided it was all junk. Rhys took a mysterious book, since he liked the occult, but Addison took the rest. She’s planning on telling the cops, but is reluctant and has not yet.
In the Box
- “Sacramentum” by Johannes Caligo. (In Rhys’s possession)
- Metallic fleur-de-lis pendant on a silver chain.
- A cheap notebook. The pages appear blank.
- A shopping bag of cheap plastic Guy Fawkes masks.
- An unmarked compact disc placed within a Jane’s Fighters Anthology case.
- A broken piece of sharp, green metal, appearing to be oxidized copper.
- A cloth bag sewn shut with an embroidered elder sign on it.
Locations
Rest Stop
A rest stop along an interstate highway about an hour outside the agents’ city. The bathroom windows are grimy, the vending machines don’t work, and the parking lot is filled with trucks and families on road trips. Behind it, across fifty yards of abandoned field, is a housing development.
The active RFID signal is transmitting from the direction of the housing development. The agents can easily track it to Addison’s house.
Addison’s House
All of the houses in the development have the same design, merely different shades of beige on the outside. Addison’s house is next to Spencer’s house. Both of their backyards are against the short, brown slat board fence that marks the edge of the development. The rest stop is visible beyond the fence.
The open box is in Addison’s room on her desk by the rear window on the second floor. It is just barely visible from the backyard, which faces the rest stop.
Addison is home during the day, since it is summer break. Her younger brother is at summer camp for two weeks. Her father works 6am to 3pm. Her mother works 9am to 5pm. Addison refuses to talk to strangers without her parents present, going so far as to call the cops if they persist.
Addison is reluctant to answer questions, but if shown badges will truthfully tell everything that happened that night. She will answer all questions truthfully, to her knowledge. She thinks Spencer is nice, if foolhardy. Mia is her best friend and Spencer’s girlfriend. Rhys has been her friend since kindergarten and has a crush on Mia. She will tell the investigators where the other three teenagers live. All of their houses are within the development.
Spencer’s House
Spencer’s house is immediately next to Addison’s house. Spencer is at swim practice daily from 7am to 11am, but is at home after that. Mia will be at his house between 2pm and 4pm. She will also be over in the evening, between 7pm and 10pm, watching television with Spencer in the basement. His parents are both gone between 8am and 5pm.
Spencer acts tough, but will immediately cave to authority. He will mostly tell the truth, but try to pin the blame on Rhys, saying it was his idea to steal the box. He thinks Addison is very smart, Mia is the best girlfriend ever, and Rhys is weird but kind.
If Mia is present, she will also pin the blame on Rhys. She will complain that Addison snitched on them if the investigators mention her, but she thinks they can still be best friends. If asked, Mia will admit she thinks Rhys has a crush on her. She thinks Spencer is the best looking guy in town.
Mia’s House
Mia’s house is two blocks over from Addison’s. She lives with her single mother and two cats. She does not answer the door, even if at home. If the agents break in when she or her father is at home, she flees out a door or window and calls the police.
Mia goes to watch Spencer’s swim practice from 9:30am to 11am, heads home, then goes to his house between 2pm and 4pm. She returns to Spencer’s house in the evening from 7pm to 10pm, then home to bed. Her father is a lawyer, and commutes into the nearby city. He is gone 6am to 6:30pm. Her mother is a pilot and just flew to Tokyo. She won’t be back for 4 days.
Rhys’s House
Rhys’s house is a block down from Addison’s. The outside looks the same, but the inside is bare and has little furniture. There is a lot of dust. Rhys spends all his time in the basement, either on his computer or reading.
There is a 30% chance Rhys’s father is home; otherwise his father is at the local bar. If it’s after 2pm, his father’s drunk. If it’s before, his father’s hungover.
Rhys answers the door, but tries to avoid answering questions. If threatened with violence or incarceration, he will fall to his knees, sobbing and pleading for leniency. He’ll get the book and swear he didn’t read it. He’s lying; he read the book, but didn’t comprehend it.
He thinks Spencer is too dumb for Mia, who is perfect, and Addison is very smart, but prudish. If pushed, he will admit he hoped to find a ritual to get Mia to like him, but he hasn’t had much time to read the book; his EVE Online Corp has been planning a massive attack on Goonswarm.
Conclusion
The agents must get the box back from Addison and the book from Rhys, then drop it all off with a man named Tobias at the local post office. The problem is that all of the teens have seen what’s in the box and, per orders, must be eliminated. It is up to the agents how they go about this, but it will surely involve sanity costs.
Alternatively, the teens may be left alive. Shortly after the agents leave, any living teens will go on TV and talk about being visited by the Men in Black. They will describe what was in the box and what the agents looked like. Addison will remember any names and badge numbers shown to her, even for a brief moment. One of them will have cell phone pictures of the agents and the contents of the box. Then the agents will receive a new order: eliminate the threat and make it look like an accident. A-cell can’t protect them from this.
NPCs
Addison (age 16)
STR 9, CON 9, DEX 11, INT 13, POW 12, CHA 10
HP 9, WP 12, SAN 60
Skills: Alertness 60%, History 30%
Mia (age 16)
STR 9, CON 11, DEX 10, INT 10, POW 11, CHA 12
HP 10, WP 11, SAN 55
Skills: HUMINT 50%, Science 20%
Rhys (age 16)
STR 9, CON 8, DEX 10, INT 11, POW 8, CHA 9
HP 9, WP 8, SAN 40
Skills: Anthropology 40%, Occult 30%
Spencer (age 17)
STR 12, CON 12, DEX 12, INT 9, POW 9, CHA 11
HP 12, WP 9, SAN 45
Skills: Swim 60%, Accounting 30%
Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is ™ and © the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this document are © Aaron Achartz, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.