| From: | Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Military logs 002 |
| Date: | Fri, 1 Aug 1997 18:11:45 +0000 |
CLASSIFIED: TOP SECRET
>>>>>[ They made contact with Ghoultown (Sector CZ-023). Here are the
transcripts...
+++++ Include Run_Log001.mov
+++++ Begin Download: FieldVid12.mov
Canis, Hamish, Minx and Orion can be seen in the image center. They are
standing on a crossing. The street leading straight on is blocked by a
plastcrete wall that is topped with razor wire. There's a gate at the
foot of the wall. The buildings at the crossing look deserted, on the
far side all doors and windows on the lower floors are sealed by
plastcrete, too.
After a few seconds, Canis shouts: "We are here to see Buddy. Bull sent
us." He half turns to the other runners, then whispers, "I hate this
stupid game reference. Who came up with it?"
Orion is about to answer, as suddenly two humanoid persons appear on top
of the wall, assault rifles directed /almost/ at the group. They look
bulky and have a grayish skin. By their appearance, their tattered
clothing and skin, and their overall appearance, you identify them as
ghouls. Several sharp "click"s sound to the left and right of the
camera, as safeties are removed. Some red laser dots appear at the
ghouls' chests.
One of the ghouls calls down to the group, "He'll be there in a
minute. You wait, and don't make a mistake!" His voice is harsh and has
a growling undertone to it.
+++++ Cut: 97.42 secs
The group of runners hasn't made any major moves. Suddenly, the gate
opens slightly, and three people leave. Two of them hold assault rifles,
the last one has a Savalette Guardian heavy pistol holstered.
Simultaneously, several more ghouls man the wall and some of the windows
of the nearby building, armed with a variety of rifles.
The three ghouls approach the team and stops about two meters away. The
one without a rifle addresses the runners: "I am Buddy." Buddy could be
an elf, if his skin hadn't the typical gray color of an ghoul. His hair
is patchy, as you would expect from someone who has suffered from
radiation, but his clothes are in good condition, a business suit sans
jacket. Buddy must be the only person in the containment zone who wears
a tie. His two companions do their best to compensate this impression,
however, wearing torn armored clothing of different colors, covered with
dirt and grease. They grin at the runners, especially at Minx. Although
one can nearly see the smell they radiate, the runners hold their ground
and do not even flinch.
Orion talks to Buddy, somewhat exited, and in a strange tone as if
barely breathing. "What do you know..." Buddy interrupts him with a
slashing motion and asks, "About those hives... how many invae did you
encounter?" His voice is calm and rational, while one of the other
ghouls snarls "Them stupid norms can't fight a larvae... no way they
fight bugs." Right as both Minx and Canis want to react to this, Hamish
holds them both back.
Orion hesitates a second or two, then exchanges glances with the
others, who nod shortly. Canis still fixates the ghoul who made the last
remark, but nods slowly, too. Orion does a wide sweep with his arms
(which brings him slightly in front of Canis) and begins by introducing
the runners by their street names, then summarizes the events ODIN and
the whole Invasion Force 1 lived through, with the compromised
safehouses, the ambushes they lived through, and their final decision to
split the team up.
When he finishes, the one ghoul starts a mocking laugh, "As I said,
nor..." "SHUT UP!" yells Buddy, as he whirls around, and Orion just
manages to grab Canis who was about to charge the ghoul at the sleeve,
cursing and coughing a "Stop it, Canis!"
"Marcus, you stop this right now! These are friends!" Buddy speaks in an
urgent voice to the ghoul now identified as Marcus. Then he turns around
to the runners again, after a last stern glaze at Marcus, and nods as he
sees Canis is calm again - at least he looks calm again.
"OK. Back to topic. Yes, we have some idea what you talk about."
Markus hisses, but doesn't say anything. "There was a mixed hive of
wasps and cockroaches somewhere near Haven. They seemed to have a
strange interest in Haven's activities, although in retrospect, I'd
think they were interested in Bull's family." Canis is about to say
something, but Buddy stops him with a gesture, "in retrospect, I said,
Canis. We wouldn't have thought invae were interested in any special
homo sapiens whatever.
"However, after Bull and Johnny and the families escaped - I
understand this Dark Avenger merc helped him? - they even increased
activity. Plus, according to our sources, they had... contacts to the
outside. Influential contacts. And then, a few weeks after Bull's leave,
they vanished."
There are several gasps from the runners. "What do you mean
'vanished'?" Hamish inquires, breathless not just by the smell but by
the news too. "What I said. They disappeared. Vanished without a trace.
Well, in fact, I am not sure about the traces, as we didn't actually
checked, as there was some disturbance at that time, military sending in
several recon patrols and strike teams..." His voice drifts to silence
slowly, and even Marcus looks astonished.
Fohdytoo asks, breathlessly, "Do you really think..." His glance
wanders from Buddy to Canis, then to Hamish, who looks grim under the
soot covering his face, and to Minx, whose face is suddenly pale. "No.
Not the UCAS army. Impossible..." Fohdytoo sounds as if he has to
convince himself, then falls silent again.
The two groups stand there, motionless and silent, for almost a
minute. Then Hamish coughs to clear his throat, and with a heavy
Scottish accent states: "It can't be them all. Just a few, bribed or ...
possessed. It just can't be them all. We better pray it's not them
all..." He looks around, and the others agree. "Yeah, you are right,"
agrees Canis. "Now we just... just have to find out who they were" - he
interrupts himself - "_are_, and to find evidence. We can't run out
there and start a war against the Scheiss military. Unmoeglich,
impossible."
The runners look at Buddy. "Do you know where we can find clues?" Minx
asks. Buddy thinks for a while, then nods. "Yeah, there's someone who
can help you. Uh - I hope..." He looks over at the third, the silent
ghoul - "what's about Snooze?" The ghoul looks at Bubba in return,
obviously lost in thought, mumbling "Snooze, Snooze..." Finally, he gets
out a cellular phone and quickly dials a number. Orion looks at the
phone, obviously surprised it is working. The ghouls quickly speaks some
sentences into the phone, then starts grinning - a terrible sight - then
answers, "yes, we still have it. It's in the camps."
The runners look at each other uncomfortably as they notice how the
ghouls address the person Snooze, but don't react, even as Marcus snarls
at them "That's where we keep our FOOD, norms!" "You get him," Buddy
orders Marcus, who snarls again, but leaves in a quick jog toward the
wall and the gates.
+++++ Cut: 97.42 secs
Marcus comes back through the manhole, dragging a resisting human with
him. The Ghouls forces the man down to the ground when he arrives at the
group. "This is /it/," he snarls. The man in tattered clothing looks up
fearfully, then gets a begging expression as he musters the
Shadowrunners.
Buddy looks down at the kneeling figure, then speaks: "We know you had
witnessed some things these gentlemen - " his sweeping gesture includes
the waiting runners - "need to know. To us, you are not really
important, and we'd like to help them as we have some debts to pay. So,
you help them, and we don't go after you again. That a deal?"
The man looks at the ghoul in growing disbelief, then even joy, as Buddy
speaks, then hurries to answer with a loud "Yes, yes!" Buddy turns to
the runners, and tells them, "You may release it once it showed you
what it knows. And remember - whatever you do to... " he hesitates,
then continues, "him will be better then what we'd do." Marcus laughs
mockingly at the shadowrunners' shocked faces, but tosses them a pair of
keys, probably to the man's handcuffs.
+++++ End Download: FieldVid12.mov
]<<<<<
-- Lt Miller <18:26:44/08-01-58>
Military Intelligence
UCAS Armed Forces
