Time to regroup. Focus on what has happened over the past little while.
First things first. Leech send me an encoded transmission to help me out. The salient points were:
- Leech did some digging yet did not find on the rig was protected but purged. It looked like the whole nest was purged. This is unusual and uncommon. Normally, execs want to keep some sort of record to things to use to cover their ass when in trouble. Even if it to use against someone else.
- The original name of the oil platform was Chevron Omega. It was funded by Vander Oil, a subsidiary of Macrotech AA.
- It was built approx. 11 years ago, outfitted with state-of-the-art drilling and core sampling tech.
- Approx. 6 years ago, an undisclosed event caused the shutdown of the rig.
- The rig was on the inactive list for a short time. After that, it became a base of operation for some kind of marine research. No data available on who funded the research.
- Chevron Alpha is the name of Macrotech’s third largest comsat orbiting Earth. But have no idea on Beta, etc. up to Omega.
- Macrotech’s two favourite outsources for black op and off-the-record activity are Black Hornet or Steele & Hawthorne.
- Basic data on BH is they are a bunch of cybered cold psychos, who think they have Viking or something like that heritage.
- Basic data on S&H is they are well-financed but possibly can be bribed or bluffed. But not push-overs.
Now comes the tough job, sorting and remembering everything. So much has happened and it is jumbled. I’m afraid I am going to forget salient points or mix up things that happened. All I can do is my best.
As I mentioned in the previous entry, on route to Key West, we were informed that for all intents and purposes, we are off the radar. We are considered experimental to the PTB. They are waiting and watching to see how we do before avowing any knowledge of us.
And they are willing to give us limited credits and crap equipment. For all intents and purposes, we are on our own. But as a consolation prize, we have been told that we have a standing order called the
Nasty Boy Initiative, which means we can confiscate whatever we find. But if they aren’t avowing knowledge of us, what use is this initiative? Have to look into using some of the money I have squirreled away to seed this venture.
I told the team about what I had learnt. Helmut was dismissive of what I brought up. He considered BH as a bunch of pussies. He did bring up a point that they often fight as individuals not as a group.
I brought up my idea about going in as a group taking over the rig under the orders of Ares. Nikita brought up the idea of just going in as a supply ship.
As we discussed this, Helmut was increasingly dismissive of what I had to say. He was starting to piss me off. At one point he called me a pencil pusher. And I can’t believe it but I lost my temper. Me!
Maybe it is because he is a grunt with only two neurons rubbed together that he would look down on me like that. But fuck it, I was trying to contribute to the group. Help out the best I can. Fine, I can’t fire a fucking gun and run around like Ripley but it didn’t give him the right to put me down in front of the group. You don’t do that in a group, in a team. After that, I don’t give a fuck about Helmut. If he falls off the side of the rig once we have secured it, fine. Right now, he has but one use. Help clear out the place and then he usefulness is moot.
Anyway, the best battle plan seemed to be go in as a supply ship. So I asked for stuff we could carry so we would look the part. We were able to get 3 crates of food stuff and water (about 2 months worth of supplies) and a crate of machinery parts. And we had uniforms from Clamp (??) Industries who have supplied the rig before. So we look the part.
We had some down time and I fell asleep. I had a fucked up dream with a Jack Russell terrier and a library with books which I recognize but haven’t been in before. I wish I could remember details but with all that has happened is zapping my brain, it has become a faint memory.
As we headed off to the platform in a big copter, the weather turned bad. A storm is coming in. Nikita piloted the captor best he could but I got sick a couple of times. The approach was rough.
An automated system hailed us as we approached. At first it gave us permission to land but then it started to fragment, announcing an intruder alert. On the platform, the main turrets for stuff like SAMs were initiated. Oh fuck! But nothing happened.
Along side the rig, there was a boat moored against one of the pylons. Looked like a supply ship. With, from what I gather, a hole in the side. And it was sinking.
The landing was a mother-fucker. Once we hit the deck, security clamps secured the copter to the rig. But now we can’t take off until we get the clamps loose.
We deployed (I assume that is the right word). The deck was empty. From what we could see the turrets that were moving about were empty. All armaments used. So there had been something they already attacked. The ship?
Headed for a control room. I ‘jacked in to try to interface into the main systems. The system was completely frazzled and uncoordinated. But I found we were in serious trouble.
The boat going down was clamped to a pylon. It was going down and dragging on the pylon. If the ship wasn’t released, it would tear apart the pylon and the rig would go down. Not good for us.
We had to manually release the ship. As Fubar and Helmut headed off to find the manual, I tried to use one of the cranes to snag the ship and stabilize it.
I know, I know, not one of the most brilliant ideas I’ve ever had. Never operated a crane before in my life and here I am using heavy machinery to stabilize a boat in raging seas. At least I tried something.
At the same time, I found out an emergency system was sent out 48 hours ago from H&S. Basically it said:
Do not approach. Initiate plan B.
I was able to determine that the drills have not been used recently. But most of the available data was encrypted. And not just any kind of encryption. High end stuff. Mil-spec. Before I left Ares, I had heard vague things about this. Not something H&S, a mere merc group would use, let alone a AA corp.
But I did find a personal file. It listed the original Vander Oil crew. VO had original a complement of 17 engineers, 12 operators and 4 command crew (31). One had died before the crew was recalled and sent home. There was major dust on this file. At the time, I did not see the importance of this file. Thank God I downloaded it into my archives.
Helmut & Fubar released the boat which then prompted started to sink. But could get no details on the boat. And it looks like no survivors.
On the top deck, Anton and Fubar found a dead body locked in another control room. Locked from the inside. When they opened the hatch it was half in, the body fell away.
So we moved into the rig. On the first level, we have to split up. The level was marked as crew quarters.
Fubar, Nikita and Anton went to the right and Helmut and I went to the left. I did not want to go with Helmut but held my tongue. I suppose of all the people in the group, I suspect he is the best, for now, to keep me alive. Maybe he might see I am not just a pencil pusher.
Before we moved ahead, I made sure the gun I was given was in my pocket. It is a Ferchetti (sic). I have 30 rounds and it is semi-automatic. But as we moved down the hallway, I saw a fire axe. I took it. I think I can use that more effectively than a gun.
On our side, the first room was locked. The second room had what looked like blueprints. I put them into a tube and stored it.
On the other side, Fubar “triggered” a personal mine. As they went into a room, he tripped a wire. But Nikita had no problem disarming it. But why was there a mine in a crew’s quarter? The suggestion was that it was for us. I didn’t think so.
Another room, on Nikita’s side was fucked up. It looks like a mine went off in it. Taking out whoever had been in there. He also did find some blueprints of the rig.
Helmut and I went into the crew kitchen and found a mess. And most of the knives are missing. Then, suddenly, from one of the lockers a figure rushed out. It checked into Helmut and almost knocked him over. But the figure looked human and was only around 5’ 4”. It seemed to have more mass than the shape suggested. Helmut just let loose, shredding the door. Which alerted the rest of the group.
I checked the locker the figure was in but found nothing but a stench.
It was then I definitely put Helmut into the expendable column. He wanted to go down and blow away the person who had rushed out from the locker. What the fuck? He had not made any overt attack on us. Most like he was fucking scared. We just don’t go around blowing away people with gay abandon. But the team dismissed what I was suggesting. In hindsight, they were right and I was wrong. But I don’t like this shoot first and ask questions later. That is not the way to operate!
The next level was equipment and storage. Renovations had started on this level. Thing is the renovations are not for drilling. The walls are of some sort of polymer. Looks mil. A bit like those TV shows from the end of the 20th century. Showing us in space and life is wonderful.
Here the sequence is a little gets a little mixed up. I don’t know what came first the drone or the attack. Anyway, the attack.
Nikita and I were investigating an open area, me specifically so I could find a place to hard-link. The net is down around us so I need to hard-link. We turned to see a crouched figure with glowing red eyes. It let out a hiss and Nikita fired at it. No damage.
For me, I just stood there with the axe. I can’t explain what happened. For that split second, I felt like two people. Even though part of my brain said to do something, my muscles were frozen. Christ, maybe I am just a pencil pusher.
Fubar, Anton and Helmut came around, as the thing came toward us. Fubar was able to blow the thing’s shoulder but it kept coming. Anton fired his tazer but something went wrong and hit Nikita in the chest.
The thing then turned on Anton and attacked him. It swung and dug what looked like claws into his face. Helmut then blew its head off.
Now things get fucked up. I felt like that old television show Leech recommended:
The Twilight Zone. He knew I would get a kick from the surprise endings and general weirdness. Like the one with that giant woman who doesn’t speak the whole show and the “aliens”. Stop it! Focus, focus.
The thing was human. He was wearing mechanics overalls. Vander Oil overalls! Even though he looked human, something was wrong. He looked irradiated. And he didn’t have claws. They were the bones of his fingers. He wasn’t really human anymore.
Thing is Fubar had to focus on Anton because he started to have a reaction. From some sort of toxin. Nikita and I focused on the body. The name tag was George Samuels (VO match). Nikita found on the guy’s leg what looked like a fucked up “star fish”.
It was a pulsating, gelantaneous blob. Three legs, not the standard number. One of the “legs” started to peel off. Makes sense. The body it was attached to is now dead. The host is useless.
Quickly it came off. It’s under side had 3 “feelers” which looks like how it stayed attached to Samuels. The “thing” was still alive.
Fubar was able to help Anton, so it looks like he is fine so he focused on the “thing”.
Because of some comments, Fubar decided to put some salt on the “thing”. It started to screech and in time, it stopped moving. So it looks like we may have something against it. That is, if we get to the leg. There was a flush of excitement but it most likely isn’t going to stop the people they are attached to. We still have to blow them away.
Then there was the repair drone. The centre of the deck had a sliding steel hatch for lowering stuff down. We found a functional submersible repair drone and some disassembled ones. Nikita was in his element with the repair drone. He was able to recover about 3 days of recordings. But the dates are fucked up.
One sequence we see a figure, dressed in military fatigues. And it was an orc. This is fucked up because who has an orc in a position of responsibility. There are voices and glimpses of other people. All in German.
I could catch three names: Hans, Steven and Jacob. They sound like they are from Berlin. There is one recording where we heard:
Going to look great. Saved us a week on pylon repairs.
And we found out the drone’s name is Bobbi. The last recording shows Bobbi being raised up from the water and turned around in the bay. The bay is empty. Then there is muffled screams and the footage ends.
By the drone we found a body, torso only. It was the body Anton found top side, half in a hatch. Fubar estimated he had been dead for 24-48 hours. And he is wearing the same fatigues we saw in the video. Mil fatigues. And it looks like he was ripped in half.
The third level had subdued lighting and it was hot. It is getting hotter the lower we go. It reminds me of that old movie I saw with an alien and eggs. Maybe those “star fish” things need to be incubated in a hot area.
We have no idea what this level was for. The renovations here is near completion (according to plans). The walls are designed using something like hexes. Have no idea what the hell is going on here. It looks like it just needs some more electrical work and it would be done.
Around the centre, just above where we found Bobbi, we found a “control centre”. There are about 8 bodies littered around the centre, about 3 to 4 feet from it. Above the centre is a turret which looked off-line. And around the body are lots of flechettes.
At the centre, slumped against the consoles was a guy in fatigues. Same fatigues like in the recording. Fubar went to him and the turret didn’t go off. Must be empty.
He found the guy was alive. He was in poor condition because of dehyration and exhaustion. Then Fubar found his right arm was fucked up. It is festering and he will die, according to Fubar, if we don’t amputate the arm.
The medical bay was near by, so he, Anton & Helmut went to the bay. Nikita and I focused on the centre. Excluding jacking in for information, we wanted to get the systems online.
When I jacked in, I freaked. The H&S logo dissolved or disintegrated into the S&K logo.
Saeder-Krupp! This may have been a H&S operation once but now it is S-K who is in charge. Oh, fuck!
It wasn’t easy to get any real information. The encrypts are heavy-duty, like top side. But I was able to find out that the complement is around 20 mercs. Rated high. Ex-mil and experienced mercs.
We were able to get some systems online. So we now have power for this level and those above. So we should be able to release the copter and find fuel for it. The security features here include:
- 1 Level 3 Combat Drone [severely damaged/depleted]
- 2 Flechette overhead turrets [depleted]
- 1 Nightfire Gunnery turret [depleted]
- 4 Stun Gas vents [empty]
- 1 Security console
- 3 Level 2 Trid Cameras with night/thermal features [operational]
The combat drone was in the med centre. Fubar was able to operate and he believes the S-K guy is stabilized. From the combat drone, we saw a recording of the med centre being attacked. It seems about 20 to 30 of the “humans” attacked the centre.
The S-K guys were overwhelmed. Afterwards, from a quick look around, those that survived welded shut all access ways from the lower level to here. They even grabbed doors to weld over the access ways. The only access that is unwelded is the bay doors that I assume leads to the water. Through which Bobbi would be lowered from the level above.
As to the lower decks, we have no major details. From the original schematics and the upgrade blueprints, it seems there are three additional levels below. But the info is confusing and contradictory.
What I can glean is level 4 or Deck 4 was converted into a diving bay. And Deck 5 is designated as Keig Zimmer Alpha is German for non-Germans and translates to “War Room Alpha”. If it was for just Germans, it would be just one word:
Kriegzimmeralpha. They love to concatenate words together like hauptbahnhof. Focus, focus!
The last deck we have no info on. I think the rig ends here because it would be about 50’ from the water. Unless there are some things underwater, which I wouldn’t be surprised.
Thing is, we have a time limit. Getting the systems back on line, we found out that we have about 6 hours of power on the rig. And because of the boat and weather, and how knows what else, there is considerable collateral damage. Don’t know for sure if the rig will be staying up for long.
To say I am shitting bricks is an understatement. What is totally fucked up is Helmut grew really quiet as we moved about this level. And in the med bay, he then started to mutter about Temple and there is more going on here. He is freaked, in his subdued way and that is not good.
We are discussing the possibility of just cutting our losses and leaving. And part of me wants to get off this fucking rig.
But as I look over my first pass of analysis, I realize we can’t. Maybe Temple is a dupe in this, honestly believing in a strike force to use against the corps. Or he is neck deep in this. Either way, we were set-up. Someone is playing us. We have to go down and find out what happened here.
Even if it just means covering our asses. If we just leave now, we are an open node. People can come after us. With all the intel I can get from this rig and what happened over the past few years, be it S-K, Macrotech or this “United Nations” will initially tread carefully with us. It gives us some protection, hopefully.
Leech, keep this safe. I’ve set my commlink to core dump if I die. I am trying to record every little detail I can and archive it. Especially starting now. You know where the dump will end up if I don’t make it. And if I don’t, use everything and anything to find out who is behind this. And I’m going to send you my access codes to my accounts in Europe. That will give you some extra credits if you need it.
But I don’t plan to die. I want to figure out this fucked up mess.
I have been able to clear my mind a little after the transmission from Temple. We have yet to be lifted off from the Chevron and find out if we really are going to get some “time off”. Right now, I am going to spend a couple of minutes to figure out what am I going to do if I have that break.
