God Day Afternoon

SETUP

Inciting Incident

Several armed individuals robbed the Bank of Albuquerque in broad daylight. Two hostages were killed. Only a single safety deposit box was taken, whilst other obvious valuables were ignored. One robber seemingly suffered a seizure mid robbery.

The box is owned by Delta Green via nested shell companies. It was rented by J-Cell after an operation in 1998 and the conspiracy has been paying the bills ever since. There is no record of the contents of the box. All agents involved in the original operation have since retired or died.

What Is Actually Happening?

The robbers are “witches” who require an idol and a grimoire to complete a mass sacrifice to placate their master and extend their lives. A previous ritual twenty-two years ago caught the attention of Delta Green, resulting in these items being captured and hidden by the conspiracy. Having recovered these, they must quickly complete the ritual or their patron will revoke their unnatural longevity.

Mission Objectives

1. Ascertain the contents of the box. Question surviving J-Cell members if necessary.
2. Retrieve the contents. Destroy, neutralize or contain as appropriate.
3. Identify the robbers and their goal. Neutralize the threat.
4. Identify and report any breaches of operational security.

Cover Story

The agents are operating as a multi-agency “Joint Terrorism Task Force”, investigating this as a potential terrorist attack. Federal characters are acting in their official capacity under their real identities. Non-Federal characters are given flimsy covers as civilian consultants.

EVIDENCE

Bank

Surveillance tapes have no audio.

Interior tapes – Five robbers enter wearing masks and wielding assault rifles. One robber stays by entrance. Two are on crowd control whilst two go straight for the manager. The manager is forced to go to the safe deposit vault. After two minutes, one of the robbers collapses and goes into convulsions. A hostage screams, flees and is shot in back. The robbers from the safe deposit vault return with a box, grab their unconscious comrade and exit.

Safe deposit vault tape –Two robbers enter with the manager. The manager is forced to open a specific box. Once opened and checked, the manager is shot. The robbers leave taking the box with them. The contents are not visible on the tape.

Exterior tapes – Robbers arrive. Driver stays in the van. Later, the robbers return dragging an unconscious figure and leave at speed.

Shell casings – 5.56mm cases of a common brand fired from AR-15 platform rifles. If the weapons are recovered, they could potentially be matched to the cases.

Hostage statements - these indicate that the attackers, based on voices and builds, were all female.

The Van

Stolen yesterday from long stay parking at the Albuquerque International Sunport airport. Local cops have eliminated the owner as a person of interest.

Found burnt out under the Coronado Freeway near the outskirts of town. The wreckage contains the empty safe deposit box and a burnt corpse, as well as boiler suits and masks.

Tires tracks indicate the occupants switched to a second van. There are no cameras in the immediate area, so there are no current leads on a second vehicle.

The Corpse

The corpse is severely damaged, having been doused in petrol and set alight. She can be identified as her current alias (Janet Burbank) via fingerprints from an arrest for a 2008 road rage incident. Mugshot shows a caucasian woman of no more than 30. The corpse is that of a woman in her 80’s at least. The body also shows evidence of having contracted Polio at a young age.

The coroner is convinced that this a case of identity theft or mistaken identity and does not suspect anything unnatural.

Janet’s Apartment

New age paraphernalia, crystals, incense, books on spiritualism etc. Living room has a large mural of a nude male figure with antlers surrounded by flames, hidden behind a curtain.

A lock box in the bottom desk drawer contains an original 1931 birth certificate in the name Ida Schmidt and a few yellowing photos of a 1940’s era family. The young girl in the pictures has braces on her legs. The box also contains several 1970’s polaroids of several women (one of them almost certainly the woman in the mugshot) outside a ranch.

J-Cell

James Holbrook; “Gregory”– J-Cell’s handler. CIA case officer. Retired 2011. Died of lung cancer six years ago aged 75.

Arlene Shapiro; “Joselyn” – Retired CIA Analyst. Age 70. In the Pacifica Senior Living nursing home in Sante Fe. Severe dementia and nearly catatonic. If questioned she is initially unresponsive, then has a suitably terrifying outburst before passing out.

Special Agent Irwin Kowalski; “Jasper”– Retired FBI agent. Age 64. Sane and healthy, but paranoid. It’s been over a decade since his last mission so The Program doesn't keep close tabs on him anymore, only checking in every six months. He will treat Program representatives as suspicious, unless it is made clear they only want information. He moved home a month ago, so The Program does not have his current address. Lives with his wife and dog in Truth or Consequences, NM. Can provide a full summary of Operation Ivory Star and knows where Barkley’s cabin is.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Ezekiel Barkley; “Julius” – Former Marine Force Recon/CIA. Age 60. Hyper paranoid. Living off the grid near Charma Peak in Carson National Forest, He has buried the Grimoire in a lockbox behind his cabin.

Operation Ivory Star (1998)

J-Cell were tasked to investigate after a violent attack on a meeting of an anti-abortion group, the “National Right to Life Committee”. Four masked women stormed an El Paso church and took thirteen hostages. Cops surrounded the building and there was a brief exchange of gunfire, in which one attacker was killed. The suspects retreated into the basement from which they seemingly disappeared. The male hostages were found dead, seemingly burnt alive.

J-Cell investigated the dead attacker and traced them back to a ranch in rural Arizona. Surveillance produced enough evidence of firearms offences to bring in the ATF for a raid. During the raid, several suspects were killed. One suspect demonstrated “powers”, killing an ATF agent and then escaping by “stepping through a strange angle”. The two ATF agents who witnessed this were brought into Delta Green. During the aftermath the Idol and Grimoire were found, confiscated as evidence and subsequently “misplaced”. Kowalski took responsibility for hiding the Idol, while Barkley did the same for the Grimoire. Neither told the other where they hid their item.

Barkley’s Cabin

Barkley is dead and the cabin ransacked. There is evidence of gunfire. The state of the body suggests he was tortured and killed approximately one week prior to the robbery. A footlocker has been dug up behind the cabin, containing mementos of his Marine, CIA and Delta Green days. There is a photocopy of the Grimoire annotated in English in a manila folder. A bible reference is written on the folder (Jeremiah 32:35). The cabin contains miscellaneous survival gear and modified firearms of dubious legality.

ENDGAME

The witches are terrified due to the death of one of their number and the realization of their impending doom. They are aging rapidly and must perform the ritual soon or suffer a similar fate.

They have stormed the Albuquerque Convention Center and taken forty-six people hostage as they prepared for a pharmaceutical convention. They plan to perform the ritual, detonate the explosives and then escape via hypergeometry.

The hostages have been secured and moved to the auditorium on the top floor of the west building. Explosives have been placed through the building and barrels of fuel have been brought up to the top floor.

The authorities have cordoned off the building and evacuated the area. Command is set up across the street in the Civic Plaza. Snipers watch from nearby roof tops. They intend to wait, gain intel on the attackers’ disposition and await their demands. The witches will have completed their plan and escaped well before the authorities consider forcing entry. If shots are fired, the cops will storm the building.

The witches are armed with body armour, assault weapons and hypergeometry. The senior members are skilled, ruthless and fearless, as they now know that failure means their imminent death. The others are less skilled and fanatical but are still dangerous.

Potential covert entry routes include the roof or entry to basement via a tunnel, both from the nearby East Civic Plaza Car Park.

Suggested Pacing

Initially the Agents will have the bank evidence and one J-Cell member to investigate. Once they have made decent headway with these clues, have the van located by local police. Once they have had time to learn some details of the body and visit the apartment, have their Case Officer give them the new address of Kowalski. They should get a call regarding the hostage situation whilst they are at Barkley’s cabin, forcing them to race back to the city before the situation gets out of hand.

APPENDICES

Artifacts

The Grimoire: “De Dea Syria”. In English. Study time: days. Unnatural +3% Occult +5%. SAN loss 1d4.
Originally written in Greek in the 2nd century AD by Lucian of Samosata, this text describes religious practices in ancient Syria. This copy is the original manuscript of the translation made by Prof Herbert Strong in 1913. A significantly redacted version of this translation was published in London later the same year. The manuscript contains the ritual “Petition the Horned God”, which does not appear in the published version.

The Idol: A greenish statue around 9 inches tall. It depicts a thick set three eyed bull headed figure with wings, seated on a throne and is made from an unknown bronze like alloy. It has outstretched hands, with stars on the upturned palms and mouth is open. It is surprisingly heavy for its size. Carbon dating would suggest it is four to five thousand years old.

Rituals

Petition the Horned God: Elaborate ritual. Study time: weeks; +1 Unnatural, 1D20 SAN. Activation: hours; 22 WP, 1D10 SAN.

Can only be cast in an enclosed chamber, free from natural light. Brings forth Moloch (1D6/1D20 SAN to see), a vast three eyed winged minotaur like being, with a burning void in it’s torso. It will demand the summoner’s servitude. Those who accept are spared. Those who do not are destroyed.

Those who chose to serve Moloch will periodically receive visions, demanding acts of worship or sacrifice in exchange for knowledge or power and eventually, eternal life. Servants who prove themselves worthy will be gifted with knowledge of the ritual “Pass through the Fire”.

Pass through the Fire: Elaborate ritual. Study time: weeks. 1D20 SAN; +1 Unnatural. Activation: hours; 20 WP, 1D10 SAN.

This must be performed in the presence of an image of Moloch, such as a statue or carving. The lead operator prepares the victims for sacrifice, whilst other participants recite incantations in ancient Semitic. The victims must then be burned alive. The ritual costs each participant 1D6 SAN, in addition to any SAN loss for witnessing the deaths of the victims. Once completed, the participants will no longer age for 1D10 years for each 25 WP amongst the victims. The casters are not aware of the result of this roll. When the effect nears its end, the caster rapidly and painfully ages to their actual natural age over the course of several days, at a rate of one decade per day. This may result in death or the onset of age related conditions. Further additional castings will stop the aging process and further extend the caster's life.

NPC’S

Coven Leader – Estelle Barlow

STR: 11 DEX: 13 CON: 13 INT: 14 POW: 17 CHA: 13
Alertness 50% Athletics 40% Demolitions 60% Firearms 60% Persuade 50%
Armour: Tactical body armour – 5 (potentially more)
Attacks: AR-15: 60% 1D12 or Lethality 10% AP: 3
Rituals: Exaltation of the Flesh, Obscure Memory, Withering, a version of Open Gate that allows short range travel without an existing portal, others as the Handler feels appropriate.

Second in command – Barbera Jackson

STR: 12 DEX: 11 CON: 14 INT: 13 POW: 15 CHA: 15
Alertness 60% Athletics 30% Demolitions 40% Firearms 50% Persuade 50%
Armour: Tactical body armour – 5
Attacks: AR-15: 50% 1D12 or Lethality 10% AP: 3
Rituals: Fascination, Healing Balm, others as the Handler feels appropriate.

Junior members – Mary Todd / Brice Sherwood / Kinsley Moreno

STR: 10 DEX: 11 CON: 10 INT: 12 POW: 14 CHA: 11
Alertness 40% Athletics 30% Firearms 40%
Armour: Tactical body armour – 5
Attacks: AR-15: 50% 1D12 or Lethality 10% AP: 3 or Shotgun 50% 2D10 AP: 0
Rituals: None, but add as the Handler feels appropriate.
Additional junior members can be added to make things harder for larger groups of agents.

Credits

This was an entry to the 2020 shotgun scenario contest. Written by SpiritIsland.