OOC: Per some previous discussion, we are taking the campaign to a co-operative storytelling end, with no rolling of dice or such.
08-25: -—
We begin the group dream!
We awake on an alien plain, with orange soil. It’s the same place that Sammi-Jo dreamed of.
Sammi-Jo is a cat-like creature.
Eric is a bulky robot with four arms.
Zorya is a glowing light, vaguely humanoid shaped.
Vincent is a Gray w/ a laser gun. The laser gun works!
We hear a humming noise on the horizon, which increases as we approach it.
We eventually get to a flat plain, dotted with small, fist-sized holes.
We spread out and advance towards the horizon, where the humming noise is still coming from.
As we travel, sometimes the ground slips beneath us.
Then we hear a scuttling noise. Crabs are coming out of the holes!
Vincent jumps on Sammi-Jo’s back and we run.
Eric falls over, only to find that he can move faster with his four arms.
The crabs are chasing us, trying to herd us into a canyon.
We go up the left side of the canyon.
We see a narrow bridge across to the other side of the canyon.
We cross it, hoping to create a choke point for the crabs, who are gaining ground on us.
It works, especially since the bridge breaks with Eric barely able to get across.
Now the crabs have to come up the side of the canyon, which will take some time.
We proceed to follow the noise of the humming. It grows louder and louder.
We get to a funnel-shaped depression and in the center is Rand, inside a crystal.
The crystal is the source of the humming noise.
We decide to proceed slowly to the crystal, hoping to fight off any tentacles that attack us.
As we proceed across the ground, mauve tentacles do come out and try to grab us.
We proceed to fight them off. There are about a dozen. After hurting six of them, the rest retract.
We approach the crystal. Rand appears to be sleeping in the crystal.
Zorya can’t reach him telepathically through the crystal.
We call out to him, but while the humming changes pitch when we call his name, nothing happens.
We knock on the crystal, but he doesn’t react. The crystal feels like wood.
Eric puches the crystal, but nothing happens. The crystal feels like stone.
We all attack at once. When Sammi-Jo attaks, it sounds like metal on metal.
After a bit of attacking, the crystal has claw marks in it, but they slowly start filling back in.
We eventually figure out that Zorya’s attacks soften the crystal.
We use this effect to soften the crystal enough to pull Rand out.
He wakes up.
He gives us information.
He’s in Atlanta, trapped by the Aliens. It’s too late to save him, but he has information for us.
He knows how to get in and out of the crystals.
A psychic attack, a directed force of will, can be used to get into the crystal.
Both telepathic and psi-blade attacks would open a crystal.
The Aliens reside inside the crystal.
Each crystal contains some sort of being that the brain-suckers fear. It’s this being that controls the zombies.
We call it the “boss monster”.
He has nothing else to tell us.
The dream fades.
The next day we get UF’s internet connection working again and send out all the info we have to the US Government.
After a couple days we get a response from the government.
They are willing to send supplies and a monitoring team.
They have three options for approaching the crystal.
A helicopter approach, and rappelling down the crystal.
A iffy spring-loaded bomb that can clear the defensive plants around the crystal.
A herbicide that should clear out the plants and is only slightly toxic to humans.
We decide to go with the herbicide.
The military arrives with supplies and the recon team.
We are supplied with:
Light Duty Vests
M-16s
Glocks (if we want them)
Herbicide Sprayer with four total tanks
Suitcase Nuke, with Deadman’s switch.
They train us on the use of the equipment.
We’re able to convince three of the four military personnel to go with us.
We go!
The herbicide works and gets us to the crystals.
Sammi-Jo’s psi-blade is able to cut us through.
Before we’re fully through, a brain-sucker accosts us, but we’re able to drive it off and get the rest through.
Eric uses an action point for insight into where the “boss monster” is.
We need to go down into the bottom of the crystal.
There’s a big combat against many brain-suckers.
We loose a solider down a shaft. We later find him with his brain removed.
After that we wait for everyone to get unstunned, then proceed further.
We head further down.
We’re near the boss monster and get attacked by the remnants of the brain-suckers and some super-zombies.
We’re able to defeat them and head into the last chambers.
There is a large, fleshy pink rose in the last chamber.
The “boss monster” is the “rose”.
It’s able to freeze us in place and talk with us and seeks to bargain with us.
It offers us (it calls us “mindslaves”) …
THEORIGINALNOTESTAKEN AT THEGAMESESSIONENDHERE. THECAMPAIGNCONCLUDED AT THISPOINTANDTHEREMAININGINFORMATIONWASNOTRECORDED AT THETIME. WHATFOLLOWS IS THEBESTRECOLLECTION OF HOWTHINGSENDED, WRITTENALMOSTTWOYEARSAFTERWARD.
The telepathic conversation with the “rose” goes about how you would expect it. We want to refuse it’s offer, but it’s able to take bodily control of some of us. At one point, Vincent attempts to set off the suitcase nuke, but it turns out that the U.S. government had given us a fake nuke. They have an interest in taking over things and exploiting the alien technology.
During the conversation, a fight breaks out, with the “rose” commanding us to fight between ourselves, or something along those lines. A shot is fired at someone who is wearing a herbicide sprayer. The bullet hits the canister and releases the herbicide into the room. It turns out that the herbicide is deadly to the “rose”! It dies and we’re able to eventually leave the crystal.
With the information we’ve gained, the tide is turned and the slow process of killing off the “roses” can proceed. It is eventually discovered that there is one “rose” per crystal and each “rose” can control about 100,000 zombies. As “roses” are killed, zombies become free of their control. Sadly, it turns out that they were conscious in their own bodies, watching as they were used as puppets. Thus, almost all of them are totally insane when the control is removed.
The 100,000 zombie limit is the reason that smaller cities escaped the crystals. They invaders didn’t want to waste sending a crystal when they couldn’t use it to it’s full capacity. Perhaps they simply didn’t have enough crystals to cover the earth. That specific question remains unanswered.
The long term question of if all the aliens are eventually defeated, and other things from the campaign, are not cleared up, but there is hope for the world. That’s enough for us.
Also, it turns out that tinfoil hats give you a significant bonus verses the saving throw from the brain-sucker’s mind blast power.
The DM names the regenerating zombie monster as a “Grendel”.
The zombies are too close to Vincent’s truck to risk going after it.
We can’t raise Professor Pine on the radio, so we head to her lab.
As we’re driving away from the zombies, the stunned people wake up. They were only out for seven rounds.
We radio to the Stadium (where everyone is holding for a last stand) and tell them about the forces arrayed against them.
They say that it appears that the zombies are retreating.
We make it to Prof Pine’s lab without much problem.
While grabbing the mind-controlling “bugs”, we hear a noise from a large cabinet.
It’s Prof Pine! She comes with us.
When we get back downstairs to the Humvee, we see that there are ten zombies harassing the vehicle.
They appear to be trying to tip it over, as their attempts to damage it are largely ineffectual.
We attack. It goes well.
More zombies are coming, so we get into the Humvee and drive to UF’s Motor Pool.
We get to the motor pool and it’s chaos, with many people trying to get vehicles and gas and leave.
There is some fist-fighting, but no gunfire.
Zorya and Vincent attempt to calm the situation, to good effect.
They are able to get everyone to calmly get enough gas for each of them to get to Ocala.
The group monitors the gas dispersion.
While doing so, they check in with the Stadium, only to hear the cries and screams of people dying on the other end.
Some stragglers arrive and confirm that the Stadium has been routed.
After everyone else has gas, we’re able to get out Gasoline x165 (165 TU, in three 55 gallon drums).
We head back (via the long way, avoiding main campus) to the Safehouse and load up the vehicles there.
We now have the Humvee, the Ford Escape XLT, and a Moving Truck.
We load up the moving truck with all of our salvaged goods and drive east out of town, on our way to St. Augustine.
Vehicles & Drivers:
Humvee: Sammi-Jo(driver) & Doc Tanner
Ford Escape XLT: Prof Pine(driver) & Zorya
Moving Truck: Vincent(driver) & Eric
We stop a short way east of Gainesville and heal up.
08-22: -—
We rest up and heal up for the day.
Vincent repairs all the broken weapons with 18 mechanical parts.
18 Mechanical Parts Used, x125 (125 TU)
08-23: -—
We drive out to St. Augustine.
About twenty minutes outside of the city, we stow the Humvee in an abandoned house and hide the one of the psychic battery crystals in the house as well.
New Vehicles & Drivers:
Ford Escape XLT: Vincent(driver), Zorya, Doc Tanner, Prof Pine
Moving Truck: Sammi-Jo(driver) & Eric
We tell our business to the St. Augustine guards and they let us through.
We try to find Georgia McDaniels, the woman with the shared dream power.
We find her without much issue and she’s willing to teach Zorya the shared-dream power, for two power crystals.
On the way out of town, black-robed people stop us at the guard station.
Apparently, Trixie had promised that we would trade crystals any crystals we found with the city.
Vincent is able to bluff them and convince them to take the brain-sucker’s crystal in exchange for 50 rounds of Machine Gun Ammo and 50 rounds of 9mm Ammo.
We meet back up with Georgia and she describes the ritual that we must do.
We must drink a special tea, whose recipe she gives us.
Each dreamer must have an attuned psychic battery crystal. She tells Zorya how to attune the crystal.
The dreamers must join hands as they fall asleep and have the psychic person guide the dreamers.
We ask Georgia if she could loan us five crystals, to give back when done, that we could use in the ritual.
She says that she doesn’t even have five crystals, and anyone with them would be hesitant to loan/give them out, if they had them.
We thank her and leave. Then brainstorm.
While bemoaning our ability to take out super-zombies, the DM steps in and tells us that there are probably many of them dead back in Gainesville.
We spend the rest of the day in the wilderness, looking for the ingredients for the tea.
Unfortunately, Doc Tanner fails to find anything during the day of searching.
Vincent manages to find one of the three main ingredients, enough for tea for five people.
08-24: -—
We head back into the Swamp, to find it abandoned.
The zombie bodies have been largely piled up into a few locations.
Using their Detect Psionics abilities, Zorya and Sammi-Jo are able to find seven crystals.
This takes the whole day.
Vincent does find his truck intact! Woo!
08-25: -—
Everyone spends the next day searching for tea ingredients.
Between everyone, we find enough materials for the whole amount of tea.
We head back to our Safehouse that night and make the tea and attune the crystals.
Session ends with the party setting down for the group dream.
Current Inventory (stored in the Moving Truck):
Ammo, 9mm(Glock 17) x31 (31 TU)
Ammo, 12 ga Buckshot(Beretta M3P) x14 (28 TU)
Backpack x2 (6 TU)
Battery Charger x2 (10 TU)
Batteries x5 (15 TU)
Beretta M3P (shotgun) x5 (40 TU)
Binoculars (2 TU)
Bolt Cutters x2 (4 TU)
Canned Goods x4 (8 TU)
Book x2 (4 TU)
Chemical Light Sticks x20 (4 TU)
Cigarette Lighter x7 (14 TU)
Crossbow (3 TU)
Day Pack (2 TU)
Digital Camera x3 (12 TU)
Duct Tape x4 (4 TU)
Electric Generator (15 TU)
Electrical Parts x61 (61 TU)
Electrical Tool Kit, Deluxe (7 TU)
Flashlight, Standard x3 (3 TU)
Flashlight, Penlight (1 TU)
Ford Escape XLT (75 TU)
Gasoline x165 (165 TU)
Glock 17 x3 (21 TU)
Mechanical Parts x125 (125 TU)
Mechanical Tool Kit, Basic (4 TU)
Moving Truck (125 TU)
MRE x4 (24 TU)
Portable Stove (3 TU)
Rope 150’ (2 TU)
Shell Casings(9mm) x30 (3 TU)
Spike Strip (4 TU)
Tent, 2-Person Dome (4 TU)
Undercover Vest (11 TU)
Walkie-Talkie, Basic x2 (4 TU)
Walkie-Talkie, Professional x2 (8 TU)
Yamaha YZ250F (Dirtbike, 35 TU)
Zipties x25 (2 TU)
Current Alien Technology:
Alien Thought-Negating Devices(“bugs”)
A disassembled one and two intact ones are with the team.
One is locked up at UPD.
One was used to repair the jetpack.
The last one(of the six) was taken by Curt when we first acquired them.
8-12 hours of Digital Video of Alien Radio Transmission, as fed through Alien Circuitry tied into a human(zombie) brain.
Brain Sucker Jetpack
Thoughts on Things To Do:
Do what we can to translate the brain-fed alien transmissions.
Use the technology from the thought-negating/control devices to build a new translator device. One that doesn’t require surgery.
M2HB (heavy machine gun) with 200 rounds (shoots 10 at a time)
Yes to all.
We get the brain-sucker body into the “morgue” for dissection.
Vincent takes the “jetpack” into Professor Pine’s lab for analysis.
08-18: -—
Results from the jetpack:
Same general construction as the thought-negating devices.
Pad on the hand is the control pad.
Details on its specific function are unknown.
It no longer works.
A discrete power source is not identifiable.
Vincent is however (after rolling a 20 on a repair check) able to figure out how to repair it.
Parts would be needed from the thought-negating devices and other parts besides.
The result would be bulkier, but would function as the device originally intended.
Vincent has an idea to rebuild the thought-negating devices as psychic-protection helmets.
Given his recent insight into alien tech, the concept is possible, but probably grossly impractical.
Vincent is going to attempt to repair the jetpack!
Only one thought-negating bug is needed.
Electrical Parts Used: 14
Remaining Electrical Parts x61 (61 TU)
The earlier check is used for the Repair check
The work takes 10 hours.
Brain-sucker dissection results!
Many analogies to human anatomy, but many differences.
Notable lack of reproductive organs.
Crystalline deposit in the brain.
It compares in size to the other crystals we have, but is more organic in nature.
Brain has much more percentage of the body than human.
The have the same CeNA as the brain slugs. (Note, these results don’t arrive until the end of 08-19.)
Given what we know about the brain-slug reproduction, it’s possible that the slugs are some pupae form of the mature brain-suckers.
Zorya uses Psicraft to analyze the crystal we got from Bob Flinder’s brain.
Zorya believes it to be the same type of “psi-energy” storage crystal as the one the Father had.
Zorya uses Psicraft to analyze the crystal we got from the brain-sucker’s brain.
The crystal has the same molecular makeup as the other crystals, but it formed in a very different environment.
It doesn’t do the same sort of thing. It can’t be used to store “psi-energy”.
More of a conduit for psychic energy then storage for it.
Pictures of the difference between the crystals are shown to the players by the GM.
The one’s from the Father and Bob are single whole crystals.
The one from the brain-sucker is a cluster of many smaller crystals.
08-19: -—
Jetpack Tests!
We strap the jetpack to a 55-gallon drum filled with water and have the barrel loosely tied down to the two trucks.
The jetpack has enough force to pick up the drum.
Further experimentation reveals that the pack allows flight for short distances.
Basically, each use of the pack allows a flying at a speed of 50 feet, with poor maneuverability.
There is a distance limit of 250 feet per use.
There seems to be a limit of about 10 uses.
The power source is not meant to be removed. Hopefully it recharges itself.
Further Information:
It’s probable that the device was meant for use in Zero-G conditions.
When not having to resist the force of gravity, it would probably be able to be used for hours.
Therefore, the brain-suckers likely have some sort of inherent hovering capability.
After “running out” of power, the jetpack is left alone for an hour, at which time it turns on, but only briefly.
08-20: -—
While testing the recharging capabilities of the jetpack, Vincent gets together payment for UF for the month of August, for five people. 300 TU total.
Beretta M3P (shotgun) x4 (32 TU)
Binoculars (2 TU)
Bolt Cutters x2 (4 TU)
Book x2 (4 TU)
Chemical Light Sticks x20 (4 TU)
Day Pack (2 TU)
Digital Camera x3 (12 TU)
Flashlight, Penlight (1 TU)
Ford Escape XLT (75 TU)
Gasoline x5 (5 TU, deposited w/ UF)
Glock 17 x2 (14 TU)
Moving Truck (125 TU)
Portable Stove (3 TU)
Shell Casings(9mm) x30 (3 TU)
Spike Strip (4 TU)
Tent, 2-Person Dome (4 TU)
Walkie-Talkie, Basic x2 (4 TU)
Zipties x25 (2 TU)
On the night of the 20th, Sammi-Jo has a weird dream.
She sees Rand (Crisman’s old PC) stuck in a man-sized crystal.
He’s speaking to her and pounding on the wall of the crystal.
She moves towards him and is about to touch the crystal, when the dream changes.
She’s in some sort of desert. The terrain is rough and jagged.
The ground is orange-ish color, with a purple-ish sky.
In the sky is a giant planet, with a series of rings.
She does see stars in the sky, with one star much brighter and bigger than the others.
As she moves forward, she realizes that she’s not in her normal body.
She looks down and is on all fours, with clawed paws.
She can’t talk, but she can make a growling, screeching noises.
She can smell, but it is a complicated, spicy aroma. Impossible to identify.
She runs and jumps and leaps in her alien body.
Gravity here seems to be lower than on Earth.
She eventually comes to a canyon with a trickle of water running down it.
Rocks are rolling down the side of the canyon.
A swarm of crabs (each the size of a man’s fist) come over the wall of the ravine and head towards her.
She runs away and is able to scale the wall of the canyon.
The crabs eventually reach the edge of the canyon. She easily leaves them behind.
She checks the sky for recognizable stars or constellations, but cannot figure this out.
She tries to use “Detect Psionics”, and while it doesn’t work like normal, it does let her hear Rand’s voice, calling to her.
She follows the voice, which is calling her name.
It leads to a large crater, with Rand hovering above the center, bathed in energy, which is wrapped around him.
The crater is filled with a fine sand.
Out of options, she approaches Rand, but shortly after she begins crossing the sand, tentacles come out of the sand and quickly make short work of her.
She wakes from the dream at this point, in the middle of the night.
Sammi-Jo wakes up the rest of the group.
We try to figure out what the dream means.
She tries to use Auto-hypnosis to recall the stars in the sky of her dream, but it doesn’t work.
08-21: -—
In the morning, Vincent uses Research to try to interpret the dream, with Sammi-Jo with him.
This was not an astral projection. It was a allegorical dream.
Clearly, Rand is trying to communicate with her, but he’s being prevented from doing so.
The forces preventing him from communicating are linked to the aliens.
The barrier could possibly be overcome, but not by Sammi-Jo alone.
Zorya and the rest of the group try to figure out what Rand has been up to.
Nobody has heard from Rand in several weeks, which is unusual.
It was last heard that he was heading to Atlanta, to look for his family, possibly.
Zorya has heard that shared/group dream is possible.
Zorya and everyone try to gather information on how to enact a shared/group dream.
We find out that there’s a woman in St. Augustine, one Georgia McDaniels, who claims to do such things and may be able to teach Zorya to do so.
Vincent tries to figure out if the people St. Augustine can be bargained with.
Black Jack is still in charge and is solidifying his power base.
The city is relatively friendly to psychics who want to join, but are ambivalent to psychics who are passing through. The outright refuse psychics who won’t join them, but want to stay there.
They are “farming” for the psychic battery crystals.
Session ends here.
Current Inventory (stored in the Safehouse):
Ammo, 9mm(Glock 17) x31 (31 TU)
Ammo, 12 ga Buckshot(Beretta M3P) x14 (28 TU)
Backpack x2 (6 TU)
Battery Charger x2 (10 TU)
Batteries x5 (15 TU)
Beretta M3P (shotgun) x1 (8 TU)
Canned Goods x4 (8 TU)
Cigarette Lighter x7 (14 TU)
Crossbow (3 TU)
Duct Tape x4 (4 TU)
Electric Generator (15 TU)
Electrical Parts x61 (61 TU)
Electrical Tool Kit, Deluxe (7 TU)
Flashlight, Standard x3 (3 TU)
Gasoline x184 (184 TU, deposited w/ UF)
Glock 17 (7 TU)
Mechanical Parts x143 (143 TU)
Mechanical Tool Kit, Basic (4 TU)
MRE x4 (24 TU)
Rope 150’ (2 TU)
Undercover Vest (11 TU)
Walkie-Talkie, Professional x2 (8 TU)
Yamaha YZ250F (Dirtbike, 35 TU)
Current Alien Technology:
Crystal(Father)
Found on Father Nathan. Kept by Zorya.
Crystal(Bob)
Removed from Bob Flinder’s frontal cortex. Kept by Zorya.
Alien Thought-Negating Devices(“bugs”)
A disassembled one and an intact one are secure in a safe in Prof. Pine’s lab.
One is in the team’s Safehouse & one is locked up at UPD.
One was used to repair the jetpack.
The last one(of the six) was taken by Curt when we first acquired them.
8-12 hours of Digital Video of Alien Radio Transmission, as fed through Alien Circuitry tied into a human(zombie) brain.
Brain Sucker Jetpack
Thoughts on Things To Do:
Figure out this group dream thing!
Do what we can to translate the brain-fed alien transmissions.
Use the technology from the thought-negating/control devices to build a new translator device. One that doesn’t require surgery.
We retcon a purchase of a suppressor for Doc Tanner’s SMG. (10 TU)
Gasoline x193 (193 TU, deposited w/ UF)
We start by searching the gas station.
Vincent takes a 20 on searching it, taking 3 hours and 20 minutes.
He finds:
Gasoline x5 (5 TU)
Mechanical Parts x5 (5 TU)
We head into the ZZ, on foot, to the hardware store we’ve already picked out.
There’s more zombies than normal in the area, but we manage to sneak past them.
We arrive at the hardware store around ~4:00pm.
At the hardware store, we place Eric, Sammi-Jo, & Doc Tanner watching the exits for zombies.
Vincent takes a 10 on the store, with Zorya’s help. He finds:
Backpack x2 (6 TU)
Battery Charger (5 TU)
Bolt Cutters (2 TU)
Chemical Light Sticks x15 (3 TU)
Digital Camera (5 TU)
Electrical Parts x15 (15 TU)
Cigarette Lighter (2 TU)
Mechanical Parts x25 (25 TU)
Zipties x25 (2 TU)
After we’re done packing up the loot, Doc Tanner hears the sounds of gunfire come from the city core. (Where the crystals fell.)
We head to the source of the sounds, which continue on.
Eventually, we all hear the sounds of battle. Rapid gunfire punctuated by explosions.
As we approach, the swarming zombies(attracted by the noise) become too dense to get closer without being observed.
We’re decide to head in anyway.
As we move in, we end up following a pack of two dozen zombies, while we are followed by a dozen zombies ourselves.
We arrive around the corner from the battle. Sammi-Jo checks around the corner to find…
A four-way intersection with a military Humvee(w/ a pickup bed) in the dead middle of it.
A guy in a “Mad Max” outfit using a heavy machine gun in the bed of the truck, with a woman (in a sexy pirate outfit) helping with feeding the machine gun.
Another guy is leaning out of the passenger side of the Humvee, picking off zombies with a rifle.
Two of the four roads are barricaded off by cars, with zombies swarming behind the barricades.
The other two roads are open.
The crew is keeping the two roads clear with the machine gun and rifle. The explosions are from grenades that the woman is occasionally throwing.
Combat!
We turn and attack the zombies that have followed us here.
We easily defeat the dozen zombies. Only Zorya is injured.
Not wanting to miss out on a adventure hook, but being wary the well-armed bandits, Vincent spends an action point to get a “psychic insight.”
He has a feeling of great dread, but that he should bear witness.
So, the group finds a nearby building to watch the intersection from.
Shortly, we see a young woman approach from behind a barricade, in a “bubble” of zombies. (The zombies are keeping clear of her, but still swarming in.
She takes a running jump and lands on top of the barricade of cars.
The woman see her first and shouts out “Super Z!” to the other bandits.
The “super z” woman shoots a bolt of flame from her hand, which strikes the vehicle. It has little effect.
The man with the rifle quickly kills the “super z”.
Then the woman moves over to the body and cuts off the head. She then heads back to the vehicle, with the head in her possession.
The group makes a Knowledge (Current Events) for “Super Zombies”. It turns out that there are rumors that some zombies do have psychic powers.
We assume that the bandits are from the psi-ocracy of St Augustine and that they are on a hunting expedition for the (likely) crystals that are in the heads of the “super zombies”. This is, however, pure speculation.
Shortly after all this, Doc Tanner sees the shadow of a hovering humanoid figure on a nearby building.
The figure is clearly hovering far off the ground, but we cannot see the being casting the shadow.
Then we see a minivan-sized lizard moving down the street, towards the intersection, moving up to a barricade.
It’s plowing through/under the zombies to one of the barricades.
When it reaches the barricade it shoves the barricade apart and charges the truck.
The bandits bring all forces to bear upon the lizard and manage to take it down.
By this point, zombies are flooding through the breached barricade.
The bandits now set off some explosives that they had (apparently) set at the breached barricade.
Now we see three humanoid figures hover up from around a corner.
They have purple skin and bulbous faces with many moving tentacles in place of/around a mouth.
They are taller than normal humans, probably around seven feet tall.
They are wearing some form of trench coat and bulky backpacks.
They begin floating down to the Humvee.
Each reaches out a hand and the bandits all become “stunned” into catalepsy.
The lead creature reaches the machine-gun bandit and uses it’s mouth tentacles to, basically, eat the bandit’s brain. We hear a horrible sucking sound and the body falls down with a pulverized head.
Another creature throws the woman to some of the (now) waiting zombies, who bear her off to the west, where the crystals are.
While the third creature is “eating” the rifle-bearing bandit, it sees us.
We run!
The plan is to run back to the trucks and get out of town ASAP.
We’re able to outrun the zombies, but we’re being followed by one of the brain-suckers.
It’s hovering behind us, keeping pace with us.
We get back to the gas station and notice that one of the boarded up windows has been breached.
We don’t have any time to investigate, so Eric just lifts up the garage door, only to get grabbed and yanked inside by some weird tentacles. At this point, we hear a loud yowling noise from inside the garage.
Combat!
The illusory cat creature is in the garage, apparently waiting for us.
Everyone brings all force to bear upon it.
The SMG with the camera is able to bypass the illusions that the cat creates.
The brain-sucker is just watching us.
After many of us getting hurt; and the loss of Strider, one of Doc Tanner’s dogs; as well as a few shots from the flamethrower, we manage to kill the cat creature.
We don’t have time to celebrate our victory and as we attempt to get into our trucks, the brain-sucker attacks.
It uses it’s stunning effect on all of us, but only Zorya is affected.
Eric easily picks her up and throws her in the trucks.
We flee, with the brain-sucker just watching from a vantage point, hovering above the gas station. It does not pursue us.
As we drive off we get the impression of mocking laughter from the brain-sucker…
We stop just outside the orange zone to bind our wounds.
Zorya is stil stunned. She doesn’t awaken until approximately ninety minutes after she was stunned.
We make it back to Gainesville without incident.
08-16: -—
Zorya is fully-healed by Doc Tanner in the morning.
Session ends here. We all get to level up to level 6!
Current Inventory (stored in the Safehouse):
Ammo, 9mm(Glock 17) x31 (31 TU)
Ammo, 12 ga Buckshot(Beretta M3P) x14 (28 TU)
Backpack x2 (6 TU)
Battery Charger x2 (10 TU)
Batteries x5 (15 TU)
Beretta M3P (shotgun) x5 (40 TU)
Binoculars (2 TU)
Bolt Cutters x2 (4 TU)
Canned Goods x4 (8 TU)
Chemical Light Sticks x20 (4 TU)
Cigarette Lighter x7 (14 TU)
Crossbow (3 TU)
Digital Camera x2 (10 TU)
Duct Tape x3 (3 TU)
Electric Generator (15 TU)
Electrical Parts x57 (57 TU)
Electrical Tool Kit, Deluxe (7 TU)
Flashlight, Standard (1 TU)
Ford Escape XLT (75 TU)
Gasoline x198 (198 TU, deposited w/ UF)
Glock 17 x3 (21 TU)
Light Undercover Shirt (10 TU)
Mechanical Parts x110 (110 TU)
Mechanical Tool Kit, Basic (4 TU)
Moving Truck (125 TU)
MRE x4 (24 TU)
Portable Stove (3 TU)
Rope 150’ (2 TU)
Shell Casings(9mm) x30 (3 TU)
Spike Strip (4 TU)
Undercover Vest (11 TU)
Walkie-Talkie, Professional x2 (8 TU)
Yamaha YZ250F (Dirtbike, 35 TU)
Zipties x25 (2 TU)
Current Alien Technology:
Crystal(Father)
Found on Father Nathan. Kept by Zorya.
Crystal(Bob)
Removed from Bob Flinder’s frontal cortex. Kept by Zorya.
Alien Thought-Negating Devices(“bugs”)
A disassembled one and an intact one are secure in a safe in Prof. Pine’s lab.
One is in the team’s Safehouse, one is in Vincent’s truck, & one is locked up at UPD.
The last one(of the six) was taken by Curt when we first acquired them.
8-12 hours of Digital Video of Alien Radio Transmission, as fed through Alien Circuitry tied into a human(zombie) brain.
Thoughts on Things To Do:
Track down and kill the psychic cat creature. (done)
Do what we can to translate the brain-fed alien transmissions.
Use the technology from the thought-negating/control devices to build a new translator device. One that doesn’t require surgery.
Use the technology from the thought-negating/control devices to build some sort of protection from the brain-sucker’s stunning power.
The “weird screeching noise” is retconned out of existence.
First thing in the morning, we check the outside of the building.
It smells like something died outside.
Upon searching, we find a tuft of orange hair on a broken-down car. We collect it.
Doc Tanner doesn’t know exactly it could come from, but it is natural orange hair.
After that, we track the scent/miasma.
The scent leads to a wall of a nearby building.
There are a few hairs along the brick wall of the building.
We go to the fire escape and climb the building.
The only thing we find is a pile of excrement.
It is an omnivore’s poop. We collect it.
In the poop, we find some seeds, bones, and a shirt button.
The “decaying” scent is strongest around the scat.
We decide to head out.
We do want to do a zombie hunt, so we can try for a “translator” zombie again.
We’re going to hunt in the orange zone though.
When we get near our trucks, we see a large shadowy feline creature on the roof of a nearby building.
Combat!
We initially try to load the dirtbikes quickly, but the creature moves in and attacks.
In addition to having some sort of miss chance, the creature has “reach” with its shadowy tentacles.
We fight it, somewhat poorly, but do damage it enough to cause it to flee.
As it’s running away, a pack of zombies approaches.
We’re unable to shoot the creature dead before it runs away.
We turn on the zombies and take them out, leaving one to be captured.
We then flee, as more zombies are coming.
Vincent & Sammi-Jo take the dirtbikes. Zorya and Eric take the trucks. Doc Tanner secures the zombie.
We stop outside the orange zone and heal & remount the dirtbikes onto the trucks.
When we get back to the SUV (Ford Escape XLT) we find that it’s empty and has been stripped of many things.
Vincent repairs the truck enough so it can be towed. (Complex Repair):
Parts DC: 30 / Mechanical Parts Used: 6 / Repair DC: 20
Remaining Personal Mechanical Parts x19 (19 TU)
We head back to Gainesville without issue.
We head to Curt’s office.
We give the laptop and flash drive to Captain Harrington.
The Swamp will be receiving weapons and ammo for the mission.
Vincent talks to Curt about trading info for more supplies.
Curt is agreeable.
The group assembles copies of Prof Pine’s analysis of the alien samples, one of the “bugs” (the one from UPD) and a report on the going’s on in St Augustine.
Captain Harrington refuses the reports and the bug, but gives us a server to submit the information to.
He also gives us a fancy weapon!
It’s a modified HK MP5K (Same game stats as a HK MP5).
It’s modified to accept a suppressor, a digital camera below the barrel, and a flatscreen along the stock.
The suppressor, camera, and flatscreen are included.
With the camera and flatscreen, you can (badly) shoot around a corner.
Also included are five magazines, with 15 rounds each.
Notably, the camera feed can be rewired to feed into a heads-up display in a helmet or the like.
Captain Harrington then leaves.
We return the “bug” to UPD.
We submit the information on the aliens to the government server.
We prep for another bit of brain surgery in the morning.
08-05: -—
We do the surgery in the morning.
Doc Tanner completes the surgery without issue.
We get to the compound without issue. It’s unchanged.
We hook up the zombie to see what happens.
Vincent spends an action point on the “Knowledge, Technology” check.
It works, the zombie begins speaking in an unearthly tongue.
We are, of course, recording everything on a digital video camera.
The speaking has repetitious parts, like song refrains, but never completely begins repeating itself.
We record 8-12 hours of “speech”.
We disconnect the zombie and head back.
08-06: -—
Everyone except Vincent gets the video footage to Prof. Pine and the remains of UF’s Department of Linguistics.
Vincent repairs the Ford Escape XLT back to working order (Advanced Repair):
Parts DC: 40 / Mechanical Parts Used: 10 / Repair DC: 25
Remaining Personal Mechanical Parts x9 (9 TU)
Vincent replenishes his stock of Mechanical Parts with one’s from the safehouse.
Total Personal Mechanical Parts x9 + x16 = x25 (25 TU)
Remaining Stored Mechanical Parts x80 (80 TU)
Current Inventory (stored in the Safehouse):
Ammo, 9mm(Glock 17) x31 (31 TU)
Ammo, 12 ga Buckshot(Beretta M3P) x14 (28 TU)
Battery Charger (5 TU)
Batteries x5 (15 TU)
Beretta M3P (shotgun) x5 (40 TU)
Binoculars (2 TU)
Bolt Cutters (2 TU)
Canned Goods x4 (8 TU)
Chemical Light Sticks x5 (1 TU)
Cigarette Lighter x6 (12 TU)
Crossbow (3 TU)
Digital Camera (5 TU)
Duct Tape x3 (3 TU)
Electric Generator (15 TU)
Electrical Parts x42 (42 TU)
Electrical Tool Kit, Deluxe (7 TU)
Flashlight, Standard (1 TU)
Ford Escape XLT (75 TU)
Gasoline x215 (215 TU, deposited w/ UF)
Glock 17 x3 (21 TU)
Light Undercover Shirt (10 TU)
Mechanical Parts x80 (80 TU)
Mechanical Tool Kit, Basic (4 TU)
Moving Truck (125 TU)
MRE x4 (24 TU)
Portable Stove (3 TU)
Rope 150’ (2 TU)
Shell Casings(9mm) x30 (3 TU)
Spike Strip (4 TU)
Undercover Vest (11 TU)
Walkie-Talkie, Professional x2 (8 TU)
Yamaha YZ250F (Dirtbike, 35 TU)
Current Alien Technology:
Crystal(Father)
Found on Father Nathan. Kept by Zorya.
Crystal(Bob)
Removed from Bob Flinder’s frontal cortex. Kept by Zorya.
Alien Thought-Negating Devices(“bugs”)
A disassembled one and an intact one are secure in a safe in Prof. Pine’s lab.
One is in the team’s Safehouse, one is in Vincent’s truck, & one is locked up at UPD.
The last one(of the six) was taken by Curt when we first acquired them.
We arrive back in Gainesville late in the day and head to Kurt.
We update Kurt on the disturbing fact that Bob has been turned into a zombie, even though he was immune.
Kurt takes one of the “bugs” and leaves the rest with us.
We investigate Bob!
He’s struggling, like a normal zombie, so we have to sedate him.
Doc Tanner & Vincent work together:
Bob has an implant in his head. It’s in his forebrain (where higher cognition happens).
It’s just one item, it doesn’t spread through the brain.
It’s about the size of a “D” battery.
We get Zorya to check things out with Detect Psionics and Psicraft.
Bob has the aura of a psychic creature, with a slightly stronger aura around his head.
We put Bob into a Faraday cage, in the hopes of blocking the control signal.
When the sedation wears off, he resumes his zombie-like behavior.
Doc Tanner checks him out before surgery.
He does have a “quite old” scar on his forehead where the surgery would have happened.
The age of the scar implies that the surgery occurred around a week before he was captured.
Since this is impossible, we assume that some sort of advanced technology lead to the increased healing.
Doc Tanner performs the surgery, without much difficulty.
The implant is another crystal! Similar in opacity and color to the crystal we found with the Father.
We investigate the crystals.
Professor Pine discovers that they appear to be naturally formed crystals of Earth minerals.
The are of the “middle” range of rarity of Earth crystals. Neither quartz nor sapphires.
Crystals aren’t common in Florida, so they may have come from further away.
Since the crystals fell on cities worldwide, this is not especially helpful.
Vincent and the Professor investigate the “bugs”!
A full examination would mean that reassembly would probably not be possible.
Vincent goes ahead and breaks one down.
It is made of unfamiliar, but not unknown materials.
The design is very advanced, but comprehendible.(micro-circuitry, chips, etc.).
If built out of Earth materials, the device would probably be room-sized.
There doesn’t seem to be any sort of “receiver” in the device.
The power source is some sort of battery, but that’s all we can figure out.
The basic function of the device is to “neutralize thought”.
It interrupts brain wave activity, making the subject very easily to direct.
Recalling the fight where we got the “bugs”, we remember that Bob didn’t say anything when he approached the captives and the “bugged” people started moving..
Soon, Bob wake up, and he is not acting like a zombie.
Instead he is utterly crazed and violent. Biting and aggressive and spitting.
There’s no change over several days, so we make the decision to terminate Bob.
Vincent spends the rest of the time working and giving UF it’s payment for the month.
Vincent repairs things:
Eric’s Crossbow (Moderate Repair)
Parts DC: 20 / Mechanical Parts Used: 3 / Repair DC: 15
Doc Tanner’s Gun (Complex Repair)
Parts DC: 30 / Mechanical Parts Used: 6 / Repair DC: 20
Eric’s Truck (Advanced Repair)
Parts DC: 40 / Mechanical Parts Used: 10 / Repair DC: 25
Vincent makes something for Zorya:
Headphones & Throat Microphone (Simple Craft)
Parts DC: 15 / Electrical Parts Used: 3 / Craft DC: 15
Vincent gets together payment for UF for the month, for five people. 300 TU total.
When Black Jack took over, he offered her a position in his telepocracy, but she refused.
When she made her way to Gainesville, they offered her a position in the scavenging teams, so she joined Vincent’s team.
We check out the Father’s map of Jacksonville:
The AT&T Tower(where we holed up on the roof) has a note: “Don’t make a sound.”
Near the tower and a crystal: “He hides in plain sight.”
At Trixie’s self-storage area “Crimson knight mounts his steed.”
Trixie joined the scavenging team since she knew of a storage area that had lots and lots of weapons.
The last time we were in Jacksonville we checked out said storage area. It was basically empty. It had been picked over.
Near river: “Behemoth rises.”
We plan an excursion!
We will scavenge in the orange zone around Jacksonville for salvage.
We want to get more “generic” salvage to turn in to UF for the month of July.
We also want to capture a zombie, so we can bring it back for experimental brain surgery.
By which we mean to install the “communication’s device” into a zombie.
Additionally, we will take a day trip into the city to check out the “Crimson Knight”.
We will drive on 200/228 through Stark to I-10 East into Jacksonville.
We notify Kurt and head out. (We want to get a straitjacket[for the zombie], but can’t find one quickly.)
While driving through Waldo, the front tires on Vincent’s truck blow out!
Combat!
The tires were blown out by a spike strip.
Vincent stops his truck safely.
Doc Tanner spots three people hiding at the side of the road with handguns.
Two on the right, one on the left.
Sammi-Jo is driving Eric’s truck and use it to run over the two bad guys on the right.
We all yell at the last guy to surrender.
He surrenders. We tie him up.
He’s your standard scruffy-looking raider.
He has a Glock 17 with 17 rounds.
We interrogate him!
They were trying to get in good with the Crimson Horde.
The Crimson Horde is a group of motorcycle-riding raiders out of Daytona.
The Hell’s Rapists have joined up with them.
He says they were planning on seizing what they could from us and taking it to Daytona.
Their three motorcycles are stashed nearby.
They’ve been here for a few days and haven’t seen anything of note.
We loot. (including above)
Ammo, 9mm(Glock 17) x41 (41 TU, 10 rounds go to Zorya)
Backpack x3 (9 TU)
Gasoline x20 (20 TU)
Glock 17 x3 (21 TU)
Harley Davidson FLSTF x3 (135 TU)
Mechanical Parts x5 (5 TU)
Mechanical Took Kit, Basic (4 TU)
Portable Stove (3 TU)
Preserved Food x6 (6 TU)
Sleeping Bags x3 (9 TU)
Smartphone(as PDA) x3 (15 TU)
Spike Strip (4 TU)
Tent, Four-person Dome (4 TU)
Aside: Cellphones are still carried around by lots of people, but they are only really useful as personal mementos.
But only in areas where there is useful electricity (like Gainesville).
We leave the raider with:
Backpack (3 TU)
Gasoline x10 (10 TU)
Harley Davidson FLSTF (45 TU)
Preserved Food x6 (6 TU)
Sleeping Bags (3 TU)
Tent, Four-person Dome (4 TU)
Smartphone(as PDA) (5 TU)
This leaves us with:
Ammo, 9mm(Glock 17) x41 (41 TU, 10 rounds go to Zorya)
Backpack x2 (6 TU)
Gasoline x10 (10 TU)
Glock 17 x3 (21 TU)
Harley Davidson FLSTF x2 (90 TU)
Mechanical Parts x5 (5 TU)
Mechanical Took Kit, Basic (4 TU)
Portable Stove (3 TU)
Sleeping Bags x2 (6 TU)
Smartphone(as PDA) x2 (10 TU)
Spike Strip (4 TU)
When we get to Stark we see a gathering of people, near the center of town.
They are gathered around two piles of dead bodies. One pile is on fire, the other is not.
The pile that is on fire is larger than the other pile.
Approximately eight bodies in the non-fire pile. The bodies are wrapped in cloth.
The people appear to be nomadic families, not residents of the area.
We can tell that the people are in mourning. Some some of them are injured.
The seriously wounded people are somewhat treated, the rest aren’t.
We approach and offer medical services.
Zorya and Vincent ask their leader, Earnest what happened.
Their caravan was staying here in Starke.
This morning a large contingent of zombies raided their caravan.
There were about 30 zombies in the group.
About half the zombies ended up grabbing 12 caravan members and heading back to Jacksonville.
Notably: We are firmly outside the orange zone. Zombies have never been seen outside the orange zone.
It’s now around noon. The zombies have had the captives for several hours.
We offer to help rescue the seized caravan members.
An aside on caravans:
Caravans are generally formed when a large group of people in a community “bud off” from one community to form another community.
We plan!
Doc Tanner will track the zombie scent on foot with the dogs.
Zorya and Eric will drive the two trucks behind Doc.
Vincent and Sammi-Jo will hop on the dirtbikes and scout ahead along the routes the scent is on.
We execute the plan!
After about 30 minutes (just outside of Highland) Vincent & Sammi-Jo spot the horde of zombies and captives.
Vincent radios to the rest of the group to catch up!
Vincent & Sammi-Jo check out the horde.
There are 25 zombies.
The zombies are armed normally: knives, clubs, crowbars.
There are 12 captives.
The captives are ziptied hand-to-hand and walking along, in the center of the horde.
Every other captive has an huge insect on their head.
The insect is about half the size of a human head and sitting on top of the captive’s head.
The insects legs are wrapped around the head of the captive.
Sammi-Jo thinks one of the zombies is somehow familiar.
By the time the rest of the group catches up, the horde will be close to the zombie zone.
The plan:
Vincent will drive with Eric in his truck.
Eric will shoot out of the passenger door.
Sammi-Jo will drive the other truck.
Zorya will shoot out of the passenger door.
Doc Tanner will shoot out of the bed of Eric’s truck. The dogs will be there with her.
We will make loops around the group and the shooters will fire as we drive by.
Combat!
The first round of attacks go well.
Then Vincent fails a Will save and can’t move his body, at all.
There are also some critical failures with the weapons.
Eric notices that Vincent doesn’t seem to be moving.
Eric manages to stop the truck and then get on the roof. He dragged Vincent up there along with him.
Vincent mind clears.
Sammi-Jo fails a Will save and can’t move her body, at all.
Zorya spectacularly fails to stop the truck, instead she flips the truck, hurting everyone inside.
12 zombies head for the flipped truck.
After a few rounds of combat, including an autofire from Doc Tanner, there are five zombies (of the original 25) left.
One of them is the “familiar” zombie. It’s Bob Flinders! (The former leader of the North Jacksonville scavenger group.)
He’s running back towards the captives. The un-bugged ones have been dragging the whole group to the side of the road, trying to get away.
Bob is running for this group.
When he gets near them, the bugged captives begin moving back to the street. He’s somehow controlling them.
We manage to capture a normal zombie and Bob. Both are tied up and secured.
Post-Combat
We check out the bugs.
The bugs aren’t actually bugs. They are some sort of technology. The “legs” end in electronic leads that rest around the head of the victim. The leads make contact along the forehead and back of the head. The entire thing is covered in some sort of chitinous material. There is what appears to be a button on surface of the “bug” main body.
A Knowledge (technology) check leads Vincent to think that the bugs interrupt neural waves and that the button will stop this function.
Vincent presses the button and the bug releases it’s grip on the head of the victim. The Doc checks out the released captive and he seems to be fine.
Vincent removes the rest of the bugs without incident. Then the prisoners are released from the zipties.
We flip the truck back over, retrieve the shell casings, etc.
We head back to Starke and return the captives to the caravan.
We then return to Gainesville, after picking up the raider’s Harley motorcycles.
Session ends!
Current Inventory (stored in the Safehouse):
Ammo, 0.44(S&W M29) x8 (16 TU)
Ammo, 9mm(Glock 17) x41 (41 TU, 10 rounds go to Zorya)
Eric will sneak up and try to knock out the building guard as quitely as possible.
While he does so, the rest of us will be in Vincent’s truck, behind the turn.
The road to the complex has a turn that will keep the truck obscured behind the corner.
Eric will attack with his walkie-talkie mic open.
The rest of us will drive up to the tree line of the complex as Eric attacks.
We’ll run up to the building and see what happens.
The goal is to get into the building and just go from there.
We execute the plan.
It’s super effective! Eric knocks out the guard in one punch.
Vincent and the Professor leave the truck(and the dogs) behind the treeline and sneak up to the building.
Vincent and the Professor pick the lock on the building’s door.
When the door has just opened, someon asks, “Who is it?”
Vincent pushes the door open and ducks back.
Combat
The building is two square (30’ by 30’) rooms, with an archway separating them.
There are three people in the further(northern) room. Joaquin (the former captive), a tall man, and a woman.
Father Nathan, the Seer (the tall man) commands the woman (who has a pistol) and Joaquin (who has a SMG) to stand down.
He tries to use a psychic power on the Professor, but fails. The Professor tells Eric and Vincent about it.
We all stand down.
Out of combat.
Vincent is tying up the guard and pulling him and his stuff into the building.
Eric then barricades the door.
The first room(the southern one) is the living/eating quarters. There are three cots there, along with various equipment.
The second room(the northern one) is full of electronics and the controls for the radio transmitter.
Painted on the walls are five pointed stars with wavy tips. (Starfish-looking.)
Vincent takes the walkie-talkies from the guard, Joaquin, & Father Nathan.
Vincent takes the batteries from the walkie-talkies and puts the rest next to the tied-up guard.
Vincent checks out the tower transmission equipment.
The equipment has been altered to boost the transmission distance.
We question Father Nathan.
The woman is named Shelly, she helps with the equipment.
Eric questions Father Nathan, who then puts the whammy (Charm Person) on Eric. Professor Pine figures it out and tells Vincent.
Vincent tells Professor Pine to shoot the Father.
Combat, Again
Much chaos happens. Eric being charmed does not help matters.
Shelly is knocked out first.
There is weapon-juggling between Joaquin, Eric, & Vincent.
Then the Professor gets charmed.
Vincent then spends some time grappled by Joaquin.
However, Charm Person gives a +5 to the Will save if it’s used by an enemy in combat. Eric and the Professor didn’t get that bonus on their initial saves. Therefore, the GM gives them a second save.
Both Eric and the Professor make their second save are able to shake off the charm.
The Father is knocked out and the combat then focuses on Joaquin.
Joaquin ends things by pulling out a grenade and setting it off.
The explosion kills him, the Father, and Shelly.
At this point, there is banging on the door and the rest of the cultists are trying to find out what’s happening via the walkie-talkies.
We head out through a roof-access panel in the equipment (northern) room.
Before leaving, Vincent checks Father Nathan’s body.
Vincent finds a road map and a milky crystal that glows with a inner light.
After helping the Professor and Vincent out onto the roof, Eric jumps for the roof panel and makes it.
Sadly, Eric is shot by the cultists who have managed to break into the building.
Session ends as the trio ends up on the roof, trying to figure out how to escape.
The surgery lasts 3 hours. It heals 12 hit points and will cause Vincent to be fatigued for 24 hours.
The Doc heals Eric for 6 hp.
The Doc heals Sammi-Jo for 5 hp.
Sammi-Jo undergoes surgery.
The surgery lasts 2 hours. It heals 20 hit points and will cause Sammi-Jo to be fatigued for 22 hours.
Once everyone is bandaged up, we go shopping.
The indifferent trader NPC is made friendly by Sammi-Jo’s powers & Vincent makes him helpful.
For the Professor, we buy:
HK PSG1 (7.62mm sniper rifle, 11 TU)
HK PSG1 Magazine (1 TU)
7.62mm Ammo x10 (30 TU)
Dynamite x4 (16 TU)
C4 x2 (12 TU)
Thermite Grenade (8 TU)
Total = 78 TU total
We spend:
Binoculars, Standard x2 (4 TU)
Chemical Light Sticks x10 (3 TU)
Compass (2 TU)
Digital Camera x4 (16 TU)
Electrical Tool Kit, Basic (5 TU)
Gasoline x48 (48 TU)
Total = 78 TU total
While the others are getting surgery and shopping, Professor Pine has a dream!
She sees only darkness and hears whispers that resolve into a sibilant voice speaking a strange, unknown language.
Then a huge eye, very similar to the “scrying” eye appears.
She beings to pull back from the eye and sees that it is superimposed in front of a human brain.
Drawing further back, she sees glowing, silvery lines extending from the eye, tracing out a circutry-like pattern around the whole brain.
As she pulls further back, with the voice becoming louder, it is revealed that the brain is the exposed brain of a human being. A clothed human male. The eye is in front of the frontal lobes and she is looking straight at him.
As she pulls even further back, it is revealed that the human is spread-eagled and attached to a transmission tower via wires on his wrists and ankles.
Suddenly, the human beings to talk (without any comprehension behind it’s eyes) in the alien language that is being heard. He is saying the same thing that the bodiless voice is saying.
Then the dream ends.
Post-dreaming!
Professor Pine uses Autohypnosis to memorize the dream exactly.
She draws a professional-grade sketch of the face of the human in the dream.
She attempts to decode or infer understanding of what the voice was saying, but to no avail.
She draws out the circuts and she and Vincent analyze them.
The professor realizes that it is a functional circuit. It would take a signal it receives and…
With the doctor’s help, the professor figures out that it ties into the speech centers of the brain.
The “eye” is in the place of where a power source would be. Sort of a metaphorical placeholder.
The “eye” is also part of the device’s circuitry that deals with the signal.
The signal input for the device is compatible with a received radio transmission.
Conclusion: When completed, the incomplete device would take radio signals, modify them and feed the resulting signal into the speech centers of a human brain.
Aside:
Vincent has heard that that, amongst those who are immune, strange dreams are somewhat common.
Sometimes the dreams are even prophetic.
There are those that can communicate over short and long distances with their mind.
It may be that this information could alter someone’s dreams, if they got the information while they were asleep.
There are no claims that psychics can send “dreams” to others, however.
Vincent spends the rest of the day building the device from a dream.
5 electrical parts used. 35 remaining.
Everyone rests up at Trixie’s bar.
07-23: -—
After the fatigue has passed for Vincent & Sammi-Jo, we update Kurt and then head back to Hollister.
We park the trucks where we hid them before, off the road somewhat near the Speaking Place.
We march into the woods, with Sammi-Jo scouting, back to where we first heard the Cultists over the radio.
We get in place around noon.
We hear a “check-in” exchange around 1230. They are “on alert” more than before. There are five people on watch.
We plan on doing recon for today and tonight, then planning.
Sammi-Jo scouts ahead to establish a visual on the Speaking Place.
They switch out the guy in the tower every six hours (0700, 1300, 1900, 0100).
Most of the people in the compound don’t actively watch, but they do check out the tree line with binoculars every half-hour or so.
There are only men at the compound, no women or children. The truck is gone.
They do deliver food in the evening, but only to the trailer cab.
At night, the door to the building is guarded by one man. He sits in a chair by the door.
The building generator (which is in the fenced area that houses the antenna) still runs all day and night.
Session ends as we beginning planning our course of action.
9mm Bullets x40 (40 TU) → 9mm Bullets x36 after capping people off.
Crossbow Bolts x15 (15 TU)
Taser Charges x3 (3 TU)
We spend the rest of the 20th resting and getting ready for the next day’s excursions.
07-21: -—
The plan is to drive towards a transmitter. About a mile away from it we will take the trucks off-road and hide them. We will then march up to a spot where we can do recon on the transmitter to see if someone lives there.
We plan on arriving at the first location around dawn.
We have the cultist’s walkie-talkie with us. Vincent is listening in on the cultist’s frequency, in the hopes that they use the same frequencey out here.
At the first stop:
We plan on Sammi-Jo scouting a 1/4 mile ahead, then coming back to get us.
When we all are 1/2 a mile away from the transmitter, the walkie-talkie starts receiving.
Vincent hears the sounds of a small compound waking up. Daily orders and the like.
They have “guests” to feed.
They have a night watchmen, who hasn’t seen anything. (He’s glad to be “coming down from here”.)
We send Eric up a tree to see what he can see.
He sees the transmitter tower, with a small watch platform on it. There is someone with binoculars on the tower.
It appears that the guard doesn’t see Eric.
Eric climbs down the tower and we plan what to do next.
I'm sorry, but we no longer support this web browser.
Please
upgrade your browser
or install
Chrome
or
Firefox
to enjoy the full functionality of this site.