They were woken before dawn.

It was another miserable day. Black clouds hid the stars and would hide the dawn twilight. The undermanned outpost slowly came awake. Inside, the various new arrivals found they had the mess hall to themselves aside from a sleepy cook, a local Amerindian contractor. Breakfast was hearty: eggs, ham, bacon, various breads and mounds of hash browns. instant coffee and juice from concentrate.

Briefing was at 0600 in the meeting room down the hall.

PD Note: All the active PCs can and should post here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:07, Thu 20 July 2017.

Elliot is in place and ready to go for the 0600 meeting.

In reply to Project Director (msg # 1):

Capt'n Kim's inner alarm wakes him. Ah... the live of a fisherman.  Kim rubs his eyes, ruffles his hair and gets up to check on Bert before heading to the Mess hall.

"Is the patient ok?" Capt'n Kim asks the medical person.



(Will frown or grin at the response.)


"Thank you" he'll add before leaving. Hefting the Stoner carbine he walks towards the smell of food outside. "Ah BACON... I hate bacon. At least there will be lots of hash browns" And scowls at the weather to strengthen his mood.

Arriving at the Mess hall he nods at all that are there, and grabs his coffee and a heaping mound of hash browns. Fours slices of the crispiest bacon are put on his plate as well. Which will be promptly broken up up into bits and mixed with the hash browns.

Capt'n Kim scans the room and awaits the briefing.

The patient is long out of surgery and resting. The nurse on duty confirmed that he was going to pull through. He also said there was a note that a messenger would be sent as soon as possible to inform his family where he was located.



This message was last edited by the GM at 17:17, Thu 20 July 2017.

In the briefing room before the meeting starts Elliot gets an update on Bert's condition from Captain Kim. "He seemed a little bit young to be off and on his own. Certainly too green to be in a firefight with Project personnel," Elliot added. "I saw the damage done to the vehicle by their improvised bomb. If something like that were to be tossed on top of a soft-sided vehicle, we could lose people."

Andy rolls out of bed, taking a deep breath and stretching.

"Man!  A soft bed and a warm blanket.  I almost feel normal." He smiles at the others as he cleans himself up and checks his gear.  Looking at the clock, his attention lingers at the dark view outside.

He grumbles to no one in particular, "Cold and wet.  This place would do well with some good 'ol Oklahoma sunshine."

Andy follows Kim out of the barracks.  Seeing him head over to the medical building, he pauses, getting a bit damp while waiting for him to come back out.  Getting an update on their prisoner, he enters the mess and sniffs deeply.  "How can anyone hate bacon?  It's no smoked brisket but I'm not complaining."

After eating, Andy cleans up after himself and heads off to the meeting room.  Elliot's comment on the bomb cause him to raise an eyebrow.  "Yea buddy.  We're going to have to keep them folk at a distance."

Jimmy arrives at breakfast looking refreshed, happy and well adjusted.  Appearances can be deceiving.

He grins at the cook and asks him conversationally what tribe he is from, about what language he speaks, and gladly accepts eggs on top of his hash browns with ham AND bacon.  He seems genuinely interested in the cook's heritage, but won't push it.

He takes a seat, near others but leaving room for his team to assemble with him.

"Mighty fine breakfast we have here.  I feel as if I haven't had a decent.. hell.. any breakfast in.. gosh, must be centuries!"

A look back to the cook, and a big smile.

"Glad it is this one, thank you!"

Lina quickly got dressed and strapped on her Browning.  She followed the team across the compound for breakfast at the mess hall.   Taking whatever was offered, she accepted graciously and found a table.

Lina sat alone, eating and contemplating the new world that unfolded before her.  THe world that she once knew was lost forever.

Finishing her meal, she disposed of the plate and fork, thanking those who had the misfortune of KP this rainy morning.

Tim had not slept well, either a side effect of the sleep or because of the events of the previous day. So he was awake at dawn and dressed as the other began to move around the barracks before heading to the mess hall.

Once he was done he stood outside and sipped on his coffee before heading towards the briefing.

In reply to Tim Charles White (msg # 10):

Jenna woke up in her room at Maryville.  Unlike the others she was attached to the Morrow outpost and as such had regular quarters.  It was arranged like a military barracks or college dorm.  Two small bedrooms opened into a joint lounge/study area.  Another set of rooms was on the other side of a shared bathroom.  There was a kitchenette on the floor but it was mostly used to fix meals if you missed the chow hall because of a patrol or watch.

She fired up a small coffee maker while she took a shower.  After pouring a mug and topping it off with milk from a mini-fridge in the lounge, she ambled down to the chow hall.  She had never had coffee before joining The Project but had quickly developed a taste for it.  She didn't know what the Project people were going to do when the finite supply of the stuff from before the great fall ran out, but she sincerely hoped they found a current era supply.

She helped herself to a hearty breakfast in the dining hall. Judging by the amount meat the Sleepers ate, livestock in their time must have been plentiful. Current era people were used to meat as a rarity, not a staple.  The cook smiled when he saw her, and gave her mostly hash browns with smaller portions of eggs and bacon. She smiled and nodded, thanking the cook.

"Maybe some venison sausage tomorrow? Crab cakes?" she asked.

"Sausage yes, crab cakes maybe. Depends on the catch."

Jenna nodded and her smile widened. "Let's hope for a good catch," she said.

She headed to the meeting after eating, found a seat and waited for the briefing to start.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:57, Mon 07 Aug 2017.

Once everyone was settled, one of the local Project Command Group brought the briefing to order. He had a rumpled, scholarly look despite his Project fatigues.

"Good morning everyone. Sorry for the early hour. Ah, ok." He poured himself an instant coffee. "We should have greenhouses set up by next summer to grow vegetables, fruits, and yes, coffee. But we have more pressing matters and the new arrivals need to be brought up to speed, but some of you will be familiar with this information already so my apologies. First, I am Darryl Weaver, part of the local Group Command Team."

There was a map easel and pull-down screen in front of a chalkboard.

"Speaking of them, welcome to our new arrivals from Regional Recon Team P-44. The short story about the Project is there was a decapitation strike shortly after the war by a postwar faction known as the "Warriors of Krell" that took Prime out of commission for a very long time. The Phoenix Team (a kind of fail-safe backup command group) has been able to reactivate Prime and begin sending the recall codes for teams. It's a difficult process due to massive information infrastructure damage. Pretty much the entire database needs to be reconstructed from scratch. As of now we estimate most of the Project is still intact but inactive (sleeping). Teams have been activated here and there, sometimes by accident and sometimes by recall code. Regions and local Groups are slowly being brought on-line and our command structure reconstituted.

"The local Project group, Combined Group Seattle, has been successfully activated with about 50% of Project assets accounted for. That's the good news."

For the benefit of the newly activated team, Weaver sketched out the course of the Third World War. In November 1989 the Cold War seemed to be ending on an uncertain tone, with unrest in Poland and East Germany and Russia seeming unwilling to enforce the Brezhnev Doctrine.

"There was an accidental US first strike during a readiness exercise, and a Soviet second strike, despite the best efforts of President Bush (who some of you may remember as formerly Reagan's Vice President) and Premier Gorbachev (as you may recall a would-be reformer) to prevent retaliation. They failed and the Soviet response included not just wide-spread nuclear strikes but an invasion of Western Europe, the Middle East, and the USA (both Alaska and Continental) supported by chemical and biological weapons on a massive scale. The details and reasons for the latter is actually quite interesting but not important for the moment, other than this is why there seem to be so many Russians around here. For the last 150 years the local American-descended "Rebels" had been fighting a war of liberation while the "Soviets" have been trying to survive. After a lot of effort everyone seems to be getting along right now, and slavery (widespread now and practiced by the Rebels) was abolished, other hostile groups fought off. We have managed to form a city government of sorts and a regional council. These are great strides."

Locally, things seemed to be progressing positively. However, one of the reasons the US military collapsed in the Puget Sound is that soon after the war Mt. Rainier erupted and deposited several feet of ash on the entire area. It continued to erupt every decade or so, with other occasional eruptions by Mt. St. Helen's, Mt. Baker and Mt. Garibaldi up in Canada. It looked like Rainier was building up to another eruption, and soon. Indications were there will be a major eruption in less than a month. The Project and the communities in and around Seattle were now as well-prepared as possible. They were now able to devote personnel, time and resources to locating and evacuating everyone in the potentially affected area.

"This is taking up most of our time and attention. However, there are other problems brewing. Remember the Krell? They are based in the midwest but we have evidence they were sending reconnaissance parties all the way here for some reason. We know they are interested in Project facilities, teams, supply caches and seek them out to loot them. We think we may know what they are looking for."

Two days ago a fishing boat belonging to a family of Whale Worshippers (aka "Fishers") stopped by to trade in Maryville. They said that something they called the "Cave of the War Whale" had been found. A shrine had been established and that the next major whaling party would be stopping there to ask for good luck at the next full moon before they began their hunt. The site was a small offshore island near the prewar town of La Push on the Pacific side of the Olympic Peninsula.

"Fragmentary prewar records indicate that a network of top secret sub pens were built in the mid-80's throughout the Pacific to shelter and rearm surviving Trident ballistic missile submarines of the Pacific Fleet in the likelihood that SWFPAC at Bangor was hit during a nuclear war. It's not known how many of these fallback shelters were built or where. Satellite imagery of the site has been hampered by bad weather and technical issues.

"It goes without saying if this is some kind of beached nuclear ballistic submarine, like an Ohio-class, or even a Los Angeles attack submarine, it could be very dangerous. Radiation hazards, toxic chemicals, you name it. We were unable to test anyone who actually visited the shrine so we couldn't take radiation readings. Dozens or more lives are at risk here.

"We would prefer to wait until better weather in the spring and the Rainier situation is resolved to have a closer look, but the next full moon is in 15 days. Despite the fact we are stretched very thin we are sending you as a composite team to investigate. Fortunately the Whale Worshippers are intelligent folk. Religiously-speaking they are Christian, in fact, but their culture and society has evolved and adapted to be centred around the sea and the whales they hunt. They will listen to reason; some of they have joined the Project. If we have proof they will listen."

He paused, reflecting on his good friend Raven, then continued.

"It should take 10 days of overland travel by vehicle to reach the former site of La Push. Conduct a preliminary investigation, then report your findings via radio. We'll take it from there."

This message was last edited by the player at 10:27, Thu 24 Aug 2017.

Jimmy raised his hand, looking thoughtful.

"Doctor Weaver, do you think there is any chance that this might be a Russian sub, based on the presence of Russians in the area?"

A wry, rather crooked smile.

"I might be of some use, if that by chance is true."

"Well, that will ruin your breakfast fast, don't you think?" Elliot says to Andy, quietly. "The thought of those Krell fuckers getting their hands on a bomb... after what they did to Prime. But there are a million things I want to know!" he whispers. "Seismic data... are we monitoring for gaseous emissions from the mountain- they kill more people than lava... and we really DO have a satellite in orbit! I thought it was just a b.s. rumor."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Thu 24 Aug 2017.

In reply to Elliot Charles Pendergrass (msg # 14):

Capt'n Kim scratches his head.

"Sir... is this a recon of the WAR WHALE and report back or do we defend the sight as well. Only asking because we might want to bring addional gear with us"

In reply to Captain Ly Cong Kim (msg # 15):

"Are there any indications that there are permanent settlement near the "War Whale", possible descendants of the crew or support personal ?" Tim took a sip of coffee.

-

In reply to James (Jimmy) Gerrold MacGuire (msg # 13):

Weaver thought this was a good question but shook his head. "It would be interesting if it were a Russian sub. Some very strange things went on before, during and after the War. The Soviets, that is, the ones here, have no knowledge of any such base just offshore the USA. But the Soviets did manage to construct covert facilities in and near the USA and other NATO countries in case of war. Some were just caches for KGB sleeper agents and GRU infilration teams, others were very elaborate.

"For example, the KGB established a system of covert caches code-named "PYRAMID" close by Sea-Tac. Inside was stashed a massive quantity of food, fuel, ammunition and spare parts. Plus tools and dies, ammunition presses, chemical stocks. Mostly bought on the open market and enough to supplement the logistical capability of their invasion force. It's a big part of how they managed to survive cut off from the USSR shortly after they landed.

"We can't rule out a similar covert facility. It could be a sub in a sea cave that is left high and dry as the sea level has fallen several feet. We are at the tail end of a mini-ice age, and Washington state is seismically active so the sea floor could have risen. Or just beached and abandoned, then buried over the centuries.

"Regarding Mt. Rainier, gas is a threat but the biggest threat is probably lahrs. Rainier has a snow cap and an eruption will melt that, creating fast-moving half-frozen mudslides that could reach all the way to Tacoma, wiping out everything in its path.

"There is one partially-functioning landsat in Low Earth Orbit, Morrow LANDSAT 1. There are Morrow-built commsats and powersats in Geosynchronus Orbit, but damaged in the war. Partial function is being reestablished but it's slow going.

"Take what you need. If it becomes necessary to defend the site, we will send backup. The nearest sighting of a Krell LRRP was at Snoqualmie Pass, over two hundred kilometres to the east. They were taken out last fall by a team led by our now-group leader Lee Oswald. Yours truly was there.

"The west coast of the Olympic Peninsula is really deserted, even before the War, compared to the inland waters of Puget Sounds and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The Fishers don't travel there on a regular basis. They don't recall any settlements in the area, which is considered haunted. The only reason someone visited James Island was because they were blown off course in a storm."

This message was last edited by the player at 08:23, Fri 25 Aug 2017.

A quick glance to Captain Kim and a nod as he discussed logistics and tactics... then he blinks as something hits him.

"Lee... Harvey... Oswald, I...."  His mouth works as his brain tries to engage.  Surely it was some horrible coincidence in names, right?

His mouth opens, closes, then he asks.  "Sir, I thought Lee Oswald died?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:18, Sat 02 Sept 2017.

"Dr Weaver, Lina Powell.", Lina said raising her hand.

"As far as route finding goes.  Do we know the conditions of any remaining roads leading to the objective area?  Having seen what was left of Bellingham, I'm not too confident. What is the feasibility of travel by boat?"

"Also, regarding the reported haunting of the area of travel.  Do we know the nature of the stories?  I ask since occasionally, legends and superstitions often start out as warnings of real threats or danger. They may give us an idea of what to keep an eye out for."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Sat 26 Aug 2017.

Capt'n Kim raises his hand "Probably quicker by boat since fishermen found it. But PRETTY far. My boat would do it, but need real fuel or 2 more drums of methanol.  "