COMPLETE Chapter 14: Deception

Scene 1: After returning to Mission City from Las Vegas, the party will notice a large line by customs past the entrance. Streetwise is monitoring the progress of these new refugees, who have decided to abandon the outlands and move to Mission City.   SW: Oh, hey again. How's Autobot life treating you?   SW: These? Oh, they're... unregistered citizens. Outlanders, refugees, deserters, whatever. They've been living on this planet without complying with Imperial law. For whatever reason, we've got this huge rush of them today. They're all applying for citizenship, which is good.   SW: You guys have been keeping up with the Speedwagons, yeah? I've gotten a lot fewer reports of bandit raids from the surrounding areas. Our patrols are going smooth too. Sentinel's not exactly easy to work with, but he knows how to put oil on squeaky wheels... or, get the right Speedwagons shot, I suppose.   SW: By the way, Sentinel says he's got another mission for Operation Destiny open. You ought to beat all of the other fireteams to it if you go and talk to him now.   Scene 2 (returning to Sentinel): Sentinel can be found, like usual, in Garrison EarthCom.   SM: Ah, there they are. How'd you enjoy your little vacation from dungeon-delving?   SM: I've got a mission for Operation Destiny lined up, and I think it's particularly suited for you. And according to my reports, it sounds like you're due for some promotions if you complete it... satisfactorily, of course.   SM: At the end of last week, you investigated a Speedwagon facility that appeared out of nowhere. I've got some great news for you-- there's another. We've just started picking this up on satellite scans. It's to the south of our location, in the shadow of Wacuoba Mountain in California. It seems smaller than the last facility. Maybe this is another part of their Hate Plague project, or maybe this is something else. We haven't detected any movement to or from the base, but we've only had it on scans for one cycle so far. Seems almost incomplete.   SM: I should note-- that area's a complete communications deadzone. Just a trait of the mountains, I guess. You're going to have trouble with any kind of long-range communication while you're in there. But if you can fight your way through a pit of Hate Plague, I think you'll probably end up just fine.   SM: Head over there, scout the facility out, and give me a report. Feel free to scout a few Speedwagons while you're at it-- I hear a great scouting technique is to put a bullet between their optics.   Scene 3 (approaching the coordinates):   As the party approaches within 1 mile of the site, they will pass through the early warning network. This consists of several motion sensors, which can be detected with a DC 15 Perception check-- however, this will not stop the party's approach from being reported.   The coordinates are just below Wacuoba mountain, in the scrublands. The site itself appears abandoned. Multiple warning flags are scattered around the perimeter of the site.   The site itself is divided into two sections of open dirt. One section is clearly dug out, and rectangular in shape. Within this area there is a generator, long-range communications gear, a Radar Array, and a Jammer, as well as a large tent. The other area is open dirt and is marked with more warning flags. The earth in this area has unusual ripple patterns on it. A soil core extractor is mounted in the center of this area, but it seems to be empty.   If the party enters the dig site, the waiting Decepticons will reveal themselves once the party is centrally located, allowing them to be surrounded. There are four Constructicon Laborers and one Constructicon Engineer.   CE: Hands up! On your knees! Or we'll shoot!   CE: You've got two choices here, Autobots. Stand down and we'll make this painless. Resist, and we'll make sure your deaths are painful.   CE: Don't you get it? Long range communications are jammed here. When you die here, no ceasefire is going to save you. No one will know. And that's exactly how it needs to be.   The Decepticons will remove their camofoil and engage. If they begin losing, the Engineer will make a break for the tent.   CE: Damn Autobot pigs... you can kill us but the revolution will live on!   If she reaches the tent, she will destroy the datatapes stored there.   If all of the Decepticons are defeated, the party will have a chance to search the area. Within the tent is a desk with some generic examination equipment, including a magnifying glass and a foot-pedal air hose. Packed on the desk is a strongbox labelled "TOP SECRET DO NOT OPEN" and a datatape player. If the strongbox is opened, there are N tapes inside.   Sunstorm Tape 1: Decepticon Military Research Bureau Lead Project Supervisor Sunstorm, reporting. 20 May 2019, 2:37 PM local time. The extraction site has been secured. According to our preliminary Amorphous Waveform Scan, this should be a sizeable sample. Extraction will take some time, but we have time. Our anti-detection countermeasures require the use of datatape recordings, since long-range transfer to secure locations would be easily detectable. Further reports to follow.   Sunstorm Tape 2: 22 May 2019, 9:14 AM local time. Extraction complete. Some of the laborers noted that the extraction procedures seem a little unnecessary, given what they perceive the sample to be... if only they knew. If I could tell them, it would save me a lot of trouble-- that's strictly hypothetically speaking, of course. Telling them would compromise the security of Harvest. I digress-- the sample is exquisite, easily the largest to date. It's 100 millimechanometers wide across its largest dimension, but, just as with our other samples, reads no actual mass on any scale. That's proof enough. I will begin the cleanup process following this log.   Sunstorm Tape 3: 23 May 2019, 7:25 AM local time. Cleanup is complete, and I've verified the purity of the sample. It's remarkable the distance at which we've found them scattered from each other, despite a common point of origin. Our reports from eyewitnesses say that the original subject gave off a massive surge of energy when destroyed, visible both as light, heat, and a shockwave, but even still... it's almost as if the fragments were literally repelled from one another. I will begin preparing the sample for storage and transport. It's an ideal candidate for Communion. Further logs to follow.   Sunstorm Tape 4: 24 May 2019, 10:42 AM local time. One of the laborers disrupted the waveform pattern deposits this morning. I scolded them promptly, but I'll admit that I've been so busy with the sample that I haven't had time to analyze them, and what a stunning formation it is! These fragments work in ways completely mysterious to us. The Amorphous Waveform literally reaches out to have a physical effect on the nearby soil deposits. It doesn't seem to have much effect other than disrupting the soil, but the patterns it creates are quite mesmerizing. Judging by the strata, it hasn't actively moved any soil for several months. But I wonder what it looked like when it was happening? Communion will give us answers to that.   Sunstorm Tape 5: 26 May 2019, 3:02 AM local time. We've just received word from a courier that prospectors from the Takara Planetary Ventures corporation are touching down a few miles away. While our intel doubts that they will be surveying this area, we can't afford to keep up traffic from the base to the extraction site if we want Harvest to remain a secret. A skeleton crew for maintenence will be assigned to the site, and cloaking measures will be put in place. I'm taking responsibility for the sample's transport back to Blackrock Base. We'll authorize a teardown of the facility on two conditions: Failure of any of the associated projects at Blackrock Base, or a potential contact event. No reports to follow.   Scene 4 (returning to Mission City):   SM: Well, you've survived again. How'd the Speedwagons hold up?   If the party lies and convinces Sentinel that they encountered and destroyed Speedwagons (DC 15 Deception check):   SM: Well done. Then a promotion's in order. Also, your paychecks are in. It's a good day for you, but don't spend this on anything that violates policy. In any case, I'll make sure you know when further missions become available.   If the party tells the truth and explains that it was a Decepticon facility:   SM: Wait... and... they were gone?   If the party lies and says that the Decepticons had left (DC 14 Deception check):   SM: Damn it... how do they keep eluding us? I'll send a fireteam to secure the facility now.   If the party tells the truth and explains that they engaged the Decepticons but were protected by a communications jammer:   SM: So those Connies were to blame for blocking signal in the area. If they were pursuing clandestine operations, then they can't try to smear us with this. But we could smear them. This information is sensitive, for certain... I'll need some time to deliberate on how to proceed. I have some calls to make. Very well, then, you're dismissed.