The Mission
Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM) Hector Marsh and a group of three other SAS soldiers were deployed by PISCES to retrieve an artefact being studied by Professor Bret Ward, a history professor with the local university, at his apartment in central Liverpool. The deployment was prompted by PISCES command losing contact with the professor before subsequently finding him dead in an alley by local police from an apparent suicide. Shortly after, PISCES also lost contact with Marsh and his men, leading to the Agents being put into the field, given orders of locating the artefact, and Marsh if possible. A senior PISCES agent is stationed nearby to provide overwatch. The Agents might be told that Marsh has gone mad, but should be told as little as possible about him.
The Artefact
The artefact in question is a small, oval-shaped stone recovered from an archaeological dig in Northern Ireland. It has crude Celtic runes scratched all over its surface, centered around a masterfully engraved Yellow Sign. Everyday, there is a 25% chance that anyone who touches the artefact during the day, or the next 1d6+1 days if a critical success is rolled, will have their strongest bond completely removed, with an extra 1/1d6 SAN loss from the unnatural. The Handler is free to decide how this is represented in gameplay.
Ward and Marsh both touched the artefact on days where this effect was active, each experiencing a different result. Without much going on in his life, Ward’s only bond was his job, which he immediately lost interest in and quickly fell into a deep depression. Marsh’s strongest bond however was the Shan controlling him, so touching the stone immediately freed him from his alien master; a side effect that the Shan were unaware of upto that point.
What’s Going On?
PISCES was already aware of some of the unnatural properties present within the artefact, and saw an opportunity to test their findings in Professor Ward. Perpetually single and on the brink of being fired, few people would notice the young professor’s disappearance, and fewer still would care. On Ward’s end, this looked like the opportunity of a lifetime. Uncovering the mysteries of a historical piece the British Museum couldn’t solve would prove to his superiors that he wasn’t as incompetant as they believed. This excitement, unfortunately, would stop him from questioning why his contact insisted he work on it in the seclusion of his apartment, or why they were taking a chance on someone who was entirely unqualified for the job.
When Marsh picked up the stone, the Shan expected little more than the person under their control to lose what little hope he had remaining to no detriment of themselves. Instead, the Shan was immediately ejected from Marsh’s body, giving him a chance to kill it before it could fully realize what had happened. He then promptly got onto Ward’s computer and began sending transmissions out to various organizations he had learned about during his time with PISCES, asking for help escaping the country. Currently he’s waiting onboard a cargo ship bound for Canada, set to leave Liverpool the following morning.
Marsh’s men are currently in the dark about what’s going on. They were told this would just be a special training mission to infiltrate a civilian building, then exfiltrate with a small macguffin waiting for them; a plan which went out the window as soon as they saw the giant bug fly out of their commander’s face. Things are tense between them and Marsh now, but without any idea of what they’ve gotten into, they’re trusting his judgement.
Presently, the Shan aren’t entirely certain of what happened to their puppet, but they realise the potential threat Marsh poses if the artefact somehow freed him. As far as they’re concerned, what happens to the stone is marginally less important than confirming Marsh’s death, thereby stopping information about their takeover from spreading. While the Agents have orders to retrieve the stone, their Shan chaperone intends to swoop in as soon as they find Marsh and kill him, should the need arise.
Clues
A desktop computer that’s been smashed, a Craft(Electronics) skill, or similar, of 40% can repair it, or the Agents can find somebody to repair it. If sent back to HQ, Marsh will have escaped by the time information is gained from it. There are repair shops in the area, but while quicker, this will risk exposing civilians to classified information.
On the computer there are recent outgoing emails to several individuals. They reference various organisations, such as MAJESTIC or SV-8, but the only person to have emailed back mentions the Canadian Environmental Policy Impact Commission. In the response, they mention a boat leaving for Halifax, Canada.
The dockyard should keep logs of the ships coming and going, a bureaucracy skill of 40% or higher will get the relevant records in 2 hours, so long as they can provide a valid reason for needing them. If obtaining the records through less legal means, have them make a roll when searching through the digital archives, critical success means that they find the logs in 1 hour, success is 3 hours, failure is 6, critical failure means that the files have been corrupted.
Each email references “evil fucking bugs” who “control it all”; though at this point in the investigation it should just seem like the ramblings of a lunatic, not someone who has figured out a conspiracy.
The team drove Ward’s car to the docks.
Reviewing security footage of nearby buildings will show it leaving the building.
If the Agents want to find Ward’s license plate and registration information, they can check the DVLA. If they have credentials they can provide, have them make a bureaucracy check, unless they have bureaucracy over 50%, to obtain these records after 2 hours. They could also steal these from any DVLA office.
Ward’s car was parked illegally at the docks near the Canadian cargo ship, once they have one of the aforementioned pieces of information, they should be able to track down the car by checking police reports for an hour, or searching the city themselves for 12 hours, 4 with a successful luck roll, by car.
The corpse of the Shan is currently in the possession of Marsh, being transported to M-EPIC for further research. Should Marsh survive long enough, he can show the Agents.
Resolution
Marsh Escapes:
If no SAS casualties were taken, Marsh and his men will disappear into the bureaucracy of M-EPIC. To find him again the Agents will need to start operating in Canada in an effort to track down leads.
If casualties were taken but at least one SAS soldier survives, they will lose confidence in Marsh and try to contact MI-6, who will relay the message to PISCES. From here, the Agents should have little trouble tracking Marsh down again once he reaches Canada.
If somehow Marsh is the only survivor, he won’t trust M-EPIC to keep him safe. He’ll do everything he can to completely disappear, but will resurface during an Army of the Third Eye attack on a PISCES compound. The Agents won’t be able to find him before that and will be liable for any further attacks he’s involved in.
The Agents Reach Marsh:
If the Agents outright kill Marsh without talking to him, PISCES command will be very pleased with their performance, and will trust them with more important jobs down the line.
If the Agents hear Marsh out, he’ll try to convince them that PISCES is under the control of an alien species. As he’s saying this, the Shan trailing the agents will attempt to kill him. If it succeeds, it will tell the Agents to forget everything Marsh said, as the artefact must have corrupted his mind somehow. If the agents get in the way, it will try to convince them that Marsh is too dangerous to be left alive, or eliminate them if needed.
If the Agents believe the story about the Shan, they can defect to M-EPIC, regardless of whether or not Marsh is alive. Afterwards, the Shan will begin to hunt them down in order to limit outside exposure to their conspiracy.
If the Agents refuse to believe Marsh, they can continue working with PISCES, though they may be due for some “promotions” after hearing sensitive information.
STATS
See the Generic NPCs table on page 354 of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide for attributes/skills; See pages 96-99 of the Delta Green Agent’s Handbook for gear.
Marsh: Expert Special Operator; Light Rifle, Medium Pistol, Tactical Body Armor, Kevlar Helmet
Shan agent: Ordinary Bureaucrat with Firearms(40%); Heavy Pistol, Kevlar vest
Marsh’s Team: Ordinary Special Operator; Light Rifle OR Shotgun (firing shot), Tactical Body Armor, Kevlar Helmet
Credits
This was an entry to the 2020 Delta Green shotgun scenario contest, written by Mack Schmaltz.