Mission - [Holt] - In the Mist and Shadows

0200 Central Standard Time Conference room of the Oblivion Nebraska Office.

After six weeks they finally let you into the field to do work. It didn’t seem needed but it did build on the needed skills most field agents relied on to do the job. The time at the academy seems a bit of a blur a rushed boot camp of sorts to make even a radio station disc jockey capable of doing this type of work in the field. You’re surprised to get an early call before for your first actual day on the job and are told to report into work and go to the conference room. It’s definitely too early to be an orientation briefing... You’re pretty sure the organization wouldn’t likely be into hazing as well. Thoughts come to mind about the one really peculiar thing about this job… why’d they station you in Nebraska of all places? Getting into the office you find a small conference room with several chairs around a table. Everything in stark white and lack of a clock make you realize you could lose track of time in a place like this. There didn't seem to be many people in the office in the early hours, no one else seems to be in the room as the white soft office lights flicker on in the conference room as you walk in.

(OoC: This for the most part if the full brief and it's a data dump in truth)

An older gentlemen walks into conference room in a white suit with a red tie. His gray hair is cut in a military fashion streaked with white, a short well groomed thin beard and moustache adorn a face hiding several scars it seems unless one stares at him directly for too long. Sitting down he unbuttons his jacket and you notice on his lapel a black insignia pin of Oblivion. Before you can space out or stew in your own thoughts you notice him flip through a file before staring at you for a moment before he starts to talk, he holds himself with the posture of someone who had seen combat although his gaze and presence lead you to think he was possibly an officer or someone of a higher position.

"Normally I brief ‘a team’ as the Handler for all outbound IFO squads but since you’re going in solo and this is in truth an easy mission by my accounts I feel it’s not worth my time… operational support will fill you in on the major bulk of the details...Here’s the overview though.

A distress communique went dark at 0633z or 0033 local time. The sender's transmitter ID belonged to a peripheral asset by the name of Shinji Kawasaki, a Japanese archaeologist, he was deemed useful as a sensor type asset in case something shows up. Figure out why his transmitter went down and recover the asset if he's alive. It's in a restricted no man's area so be mindful you don't cause an international incident or reveal who you work for, the US government would have a field day if Japan thought ‘they’ were jumping around in their backyard giving the politicians on Capitol Hill another reason to whine and beg for some of our tech that they damn well know we aren't going to give them." he explained in a baritone voice towards the end it seemed to get more gravely as if irritated by some past event. Giving you the once over he stands and exits the room not really giving the option of being able to ask questions.

A younger man walks with a sigh with the back of his thumbnail rubbing his forehead above his eyebrow as he shake his head. With a coffee cup in one hand and a folder wedged in under his armpit next to a tablet he gives you an apologetic smile. Unlike the handler this guy was in khaki’s and a black short sleeve floral print shirt with boots on.

"I guess I’ll be the Operational Support Guy for you via what the Director just told me. I’ll fill you in on the details. Oh I’m Agent John Alldrene by the way." He explained nodding his head with his blond hair bobbing a bit before he got into the bulk of the details. You can see why the Handler may not have wanted to brief you…

"The transmitter devices are given to a select few on the border of the veil between what we do and the ‘normal world most people know about’ where what is happening really is just chalked up to a bunch of fairy tales, sci fi tabloid scams or hoaxes, and conspiracy theory drivel.

Mr. Kawasaki was an asset that fell into this grey area of not wanting to know fully what is going on and wanted to continue his work in the normal world so he wasn't recruited. That is why he was given a long range communication device, considering what happened last time the fact he used it meant it wasn't something pedestrian any local government agency couldn't handle...again and we’ve being called for a reason by him specifically this time.

A ping from the device meant something not normal was going on which is what Oblivion steps in in to access, analyze, and control as needed. The fact the device went dark before the full cycle was finished in the transmission is a secondary anomaly which is why you're going in versus a field tech team for analysis since we don’t know all the details.

These devices are built to withstand a fall off a five story building and still work so if it stopped working it means it was damaged, badly, so you can take that as you like. Maybe he just dropped it, but it's better we err on caution and assume something 'hostile' is out there in the area. You’re going in versus a team of field techs to analyze the situation since they unlike you are more likely to die… granted you might die too I guess if you’re not careful." he explain before yawning and taking a sip of coffee. It was clear he may be a bit surly for being up this early but it seemed like he just glanced over a possible fatal or suicidal mission. He jumped back into his data dump of a briefing after another sip of coffee as he pulled out a tablet and started showing information that was a bit of an overload at this hour.

"The ping went off outside a city called Hachimantai in the Iwate Prefecture of Japan. More specifically we found the area of the ping was in the former town of Matsuo that was absorbed when the town was abandoned. Research into Kawasaki had him doing consulting work for the Matsugawa Geothermal Power Plant in the area, public news indicated they were looking into demolishing the small buildings around the Matsuo mining site due to a possible expansion needing the area. From what we can tell he was hired on to see if there were anything of historical value they’d need to be mindful of or preserved before major excavation or construction started. This specific area that the ping went off in is inside a restricted area though so we have no idea why he or possibly his team members as well went in. This wasn’t where they company was going to be building.

Little is really known about the town in truth from what we could find it used to be a mining town in the late part of the 1800s, it was shut down just before the turn of the century and kept getting absorbed by local towns till finally Hachimantai absorbed it without being used. There isn't any reason stated in the files about why it was closed down really, it was a sulfur mine so it either dried up or profits outweighed the cost we're assuming.

We found someone from his team on a public recording posted to the internet of going into the area before it was quarantine but why it was afterwards officially made a restricted area wasn't found since it looks normal. No idea really why it was quarantined but on local or private Japanese government information channels… we checked and double checked again after we hacked their networks. Nothing.


We don’t know what you’ll be getting into or if he’s even alive. Also you’re going to have to be dropped in on a very low altitude parachute drop. It’s weird that the area has had a foggy mist in the area for some time supposedly since a year or two before the mines closed so over a thousand years of this foggy business, we only know where the building are from compiling multiple pictures over time and extrapolating where your safe zone is plus with it being a no man’s land it’s complicated if you get spotted by locals. So it’s kind of a good thing I guess. Thermal imaging from our satellites error out due to the sporadic and constantly moving mist but fortunately due to that it’s perfect for getting into the area since it’s restricted without being seen. You’ll be in a wingsuit so if you veer off course you’ll be able to move back into the target zone though so no worries. You’re just going in blind. Once you know what’s going on and retrieve Professor Kawasaki make it out of the area as best you can and request a pickup.

Any questions?" he finally concludes taking a sip from his cup of coffee.

His tone and that of the Handler seemed to make it sound like not that big of a deal. To a newly appointed member of Oblivion and someone with normal world common sense it sounded like a very big deal.

"Yep that’s the drop off idea… yeah… uh we’re getting you there in under 12 hours, you’ll leave once you’re done at the armory. Once you’re dropped off and you hit the ground you’re free to figure out things."

"Ya know it’s weird you mention the mist, local legends, myths and creatures…" John began as he fiddles and skimmed notes and intel, "There’s been the entire 1900s to upload some kind of anything on the area and we don’t have anything. Besides the area being created as small mining village for the mining operation and it was shutting down nine years later I guess the fact there is little information should be a little disturbing. We got nothing really, and officially neither does Japan." John offered back scratching his chin he realized wasn’t shaved and letting out a yawn, "You thinking something’s in the mist? We can talk on the way to the armory if you like." he asked looking up from the tablet.

John looked at his wristwatch and back to his tablet before he got up motioning for the new recruit to follow.

"If Kawasaki is dead just get his transponder device if it's in a few pieces. You'll probably figure out what killed him during the investigation, if it's a major threat and you can handle it take it out, it probably won't let you leave if you don't but if you can get away with just our tech that would be okay, knowing what happened and what it is would be more beneficial really in that state we can always figure out other options...It's not like it's a dinosaur or anything like the last time." John explained on what to do about the asset if he was less asset and more dead. It seemed kind of cold to leave him but pulling Oblivion tech from the field just put the professor as a man that died. It did make sense though, not a lot of people knew about the organization and they probably liked to keep it that way.

There was time to chat before getting there but realization they were in the Midwest would be more apparent at the armory, an older lady with her white hair in a beehive style looked up over her glasses at the two as they came in. She was in a red knitted sweater with a large white ‘N’ knitted into the front. For all intents and purposes she looked like she was someone’s grandmother or possibly great grandmother and very out of place in this environment. She regarded the two while adjusting her glasses, the pearl beads attached around her neck clicking slightly.

"Whatcha' need hon? she finally said in a voice that let you know the woman was probably a heavy smoker...

(OoC: Feel free to ask questions along the way to the armory, besides the wing suit and a transponder to pop when you need/want out use the Novice Requistion level of points for your load out.)

John shrugged off the travel explaination, "I'm not a tech guy really so I have no idea really the details, I guess I can say from personal experience it's fast and safe. I don't really know what kind of dinosaur really but they supposedly found the bones recently... heh." John added in about the dinosaur revealing he knew a bit of rumors but wasn't really in the know it seemed. His smirk ended when an older lady looked at him causing him to lock up a bit. With the new recruit asking what she thought of for items he might need.

"So you're going with lockpicks over zip ties I figure and as for a tailsman I can think of a few..." she commented moving around the cage area on a rolling chair out of sight before coming back with three tailisman, I have this one rabbit carved from wood that a Native American shaman made that should bring you luck, this odd one made of black stone that interlocks supposedly lets you cobble together a makeshift device you wouldn't normally know how to make 'sometimes', and this leather sleeve..."[/b] she explained pulling out a leather worked sleeve that looks like somewhat like a lifelike owl made of leather, "Makes you feel like you got eyes in the back of your head."

(OoC: Rabbit charm on a necklace: Luck Edge, Black stone bracelet: Gadgeteer, Leather sleeve of the Owl:Alterness, I had a lot more going on today than I planned.)

The woman blinked slowly to Holt's explanation and offer for advice in the field.

"I'm more of a coffee drinker myself." she offered back. John seemed to cringer next to Holt at the comment.

With the selection made the other items were pulled and stored. It was odd to see a face of an owl worked into the sleeve, plus it might just the early morning hours but it did look like those life like owl eyes just dilated and blinked.

"The jobs are always easy in hindsight if you can get past the weirdness..." commented standing and getting up from her chair and moving out of sight before a seam opened in the wall and a door swung open. The lady was a lot shorted to be expected but considering the size of her hairdo it was probably a quarter of her overall height. As he pressed and area on the wall a small cubbie hold breakfast nook seemed to open with a little area for a very old looking coffee maker and a cup. She poured herself a cup of coffee and stared off for a bit.

"Focus on the actual mission, anything weird you should take it at face value as being weird trying to figure out every odd thing you'll see will take too long in this line of work, save that for after the mission if you're still curious when you're done and safe for the most part, something else happening that you feel should take priority will probably take priority, otherwise you'll be distracted. If they brought you here it means it won't be a cake walk mission where you just deliver a message or pick something up. So be mindful of what's going on around you, you could in truth die. There are things worse than death though so keep that in mind too. Oh... and don't lose my gear." she explained between sips.

You realize John's been quiet this whole time holding his arms close to his body with his cup and tablet under his armpits.

You notice her shuffle over to John and look in his cup and smile. He seemed genuinely nervous as he started to sweat slightly.

The lady moved and filled John's cup up the rest of the way and patted his forearm before putting the coffee pot away and shut the door the nook away and her again behind the cage she sat down and adjusted her glasses.

"Anything else?" she'd ask back to her original position.

John grunted going on autopilot, with a glossed over look on his face it seemed as he lead the way out. He didn’t seem to hear Holt as he walked him into the men’s restroom and stopped up all four of the sinks and filled them almost to full. He poured out the refilled coffee between all four sinks before unstopping the sinks and letting them drain. You do find it odd the coffee looks more like black paint or ink than coffee due to how dark it was, especially since it was poured out into several gallons of water as well. Washing out the sinks John flipped his coffee mug upside down and lit a lighter under the opening causing a small fireball to puff out of his cup for a second.

"Never drink her coffee." John explained before throwing away the ceramic cup in the waste bin, "Now what were you saying? Your equipment? Yeah you can put it on however you want if you don’t want to carry everything in your hands. Suit up if you like. We can get you onboard for the launch whenever you’re ready." John stating coming back to the real world it seemed. It was odd the way he kept eyeing the sinks and the waste bin like something might happen, he ushers you back out into the hallway once you’re ready.

John seemed to get the thousand yard stare thinking about the dark coffee like substance. Once Holt seemed to be suited up John seemed to snap out of it, "So you ready to go now?" he asked curious tapping out a message on his tablet before giving the Agent his full attention again.

Holt found himself ushered to a corridor and a heavy door opened to a minimalist white room of four plush first class airline chairs and a small area behind them that had several roll up draws. John looked around and tapped some things on his tablet.

"Well there are chairs to sit in or sleep if you want; roll out area in the back probably has food and drinks. There should be a tablet in the chairs if you want to watch a movie or play flappy birds… I think that’s all I have to tell you really. You have your wingsuit and gear, digital smoke to pop for a pickup… Door in the back will lead to your area to jump from I guess with a parachute…" John explained pointing things out… he seemed hesitant to leave for a second before he sighed and said something somewhat blunt but quite honest.

"I’m not an ops guy in truth so I don’t know if I did the best of jobs man. I’ve given you all the intel I could find but a few weeks ago I was out in the field on my first mission. So I’d take it as a personal favor if you didn’t die cus that would make me feel bad… might get me out of Nebraska though…" he stated clapping Holt on the shoulder before nodding and heading out. Holt watched the door close and heard a slight hiss of air before the sounds of the fluorescent tubes in the corridor stopped.

The sudden unseen voice took him by surprise but the voice sounded chipper but did give Holt a rather surreal moment, "We’re getting ready to pick you up for takeoff, if you don’t mind please get into a seat and buckle in there might be a slight… shift. For your safety we’d appreciate your cooperation." stated what sounded like an actor playing the part of the stereotypical airplane pilot.

Holt was left to his own designs as he felt something latch onto something outside the room his was in and felt the room jerk slightly.

(OoC: If you get to the chairs you'll notice a tablet in a sleeve attached to the side of your chair also you notice the seatbelt looks more like a harness versus standard airplane seat belts. It does look a bit roomy and posh to be the inside of a plane though.)

The room seemed void of windows and the door he had entered on a side glance seemed to have all the cautionary warning of a bulkhead door on a naval vessel or an aircraft. The sudden pausing of his movie without notification before the voice explained he was free to move about the area was stated before the movie continued.

An icon actually popped up on the tablet that looked like warm food, inspecting it seemed to put in orders to the compact area in the rear for food to be prepared. The table towards the rear seemed to have an embedded display that he could watch his movie on as well what it seemed from fiddling with the device detail options or he could review what he had been briefed on again. Holt may raise an eyebrow to finding out their current location was somewhere over eastern Idaho. Considering he was in Eastern Nebraska when they took off he wondered exactly how fast they were going and how. He also noticed there was an option on his tablet to open up communications with the pilot. With the realization from notifications he’d soon be in international waters he had options, either get something to eat, watch his movie, talk to the pilot or a little of everything. There was the option of sleep since it was still early, there even seemed to be an option to dim the lights in the area.

Holt hear the disembodied voice loudly clearing his throat, "Evening! Local time is 1854 and the sun just set here in Japan. We’re approaching the drop area, had a bit of a choppy flight breaking through but we’ve made it in nine hours. Considering you were in the Nebraska that still isn’t bad. Door to the back of your quarters leads to the drop area, punch the big red button when you’re red to lower the door so you can bail out. Punch you digital smoke when you need a pick up… I guess since you’re a rookie… Good Luck." the voice stated in typical pilot tone.

The white room once left would reveal a barebones aircraft frame of drab grey primer and metal it seemed. There was a large angular area that looked like it could be a ramp into the aircraft from below or a way out, the mentioned big red button was on the wall. All that was left was to open the door run out and remember to pull his cord when he’d get away from the plan and direct himself down.

Donning the goggles with the suit had a flashing indicator of where he needed to shoot for outside the plan. Holt figured this was the easy part of the mission, as long as he didn’t kill himself in the process.
(I’ll need an agility test so your Agility Stat as well as your wild dice (d6) not added together, they explode. Also give me a notice check as well which would be your notice dice as well as your wild dice again.)

With the rear bay door opening the area around him dimmed and the area below looked a bit brighter in the darkness. Jumping out seemed easy enough. A look back revealed the 'plane' to be oddly shaped like a diamond from below that skirted the night sky without much sound. With the thought of the landing coming into mind Holt focused on landing and moving the parachute leads towards his landing location that popped into his googles indicating where he needed to go.

You land without much fuss with your black parachute soon to cover you up. The clouds or mist were noticeable on the way down but once you look around or the lack of the ability to as the mist churns around you the silence seems a bit creepy since there are no sounds of night around you. You're left with a few options realizing how close you are to a building that looks like an apartment complex.

Options: Stash your parachute and check out the building, the area in general, or try and find the device.

(OoC: This is the fourth time I've written and posted this. It gets smaller every time I write it 0.o)

(OoC: Sounds good, due to the mist constantly moving about you'll get a bonus to the stealth test of +2 and notice rolls at a penalty of -2 outside while looking around in the mist, you notice what's helping you hide is also hindering your search. If you want me to make the rolls I can and I'll just edit this post otherwise I'll wait. Oh an que up the creepy industrial ambient music now.)

With his gear stashed Holt made it the sort distance to the complex easily. Nothing of notice really came to Holt due to the mist until he went inside, the sound of the wind that was swirling the mist outside seemed more apparent once he was in the enclosure of the first doorway and entered, he noticed no door on the hinge or close by as if the place had been stripped bare, a quick look around had the place looking abandoned for some time. He did notice the years of abandonment left a layer of dust on the ground and a series of footprints seemed to be leading farther into the complex. They seemed fresh since the dust seemed to cover most things where the wind couldn’t catch a hold of.
(OoC: You can check out the area room by room, follow the trail of footprints, or something else.)

A cursory look around in the first room did't bring up much besides a crash course in what a japanese tennant apartment would look like without a door to hide it. Moving on quickly Holt made his way through the apartment complex, although he'd prefer to search quickly he moved through the area in a timely manner looking around as he went instead since running blinding would probably make things worse. Some rooms still had doors it seemed.

Towards the middle of the hallway it was darker since there was less ambient light from outside and windows out seemed to not carry light to where he was. He could tell the area where he was something did happen, there was probably some kind of distubance since the dust shows a larger area of movement, there's a darkish substance on some rubble close to the stairwell up and a larger disturbance, there seems to me another trail moving to the far side of the hallway although less commotion it seems to be moving quicker due to the distance between the tracks. Looking around Holt had a bit of a puzzle and it was silent now the sounds of wind being faint.

(OoC: Due to the darkness you will probably have a hard time figuring out what might be going on so there will be a penalty. You due have a lightsource you could probably use to check things out but still minimize the light to just where you want it. Tracking would get you a tell all (d4-2) on the tracks, notice roll with a +2 from forensics will give you clues into what happened. Light source is optional but it will cancel out the -2 to try and find things out but it might let people know there's a light where you are.)

(OoC: Sure, granted you could just cup your hand around the aperture of the flashlight head to reduce the amount of light to what you need as well if you don't want to use your powers yet since it'd be another roll. But in truth you just need a 4 so it's really up to you.)

Surveying the scene quietly and quickly took a bit of time and Holt found himself looking around as he worked piecing things together in his mind. The dark substance was dried blood and from several hours ago due to the color. The face and hand print next to it on the stone rubble let him know it was someone hitting face first by the angle of the blood and the hand print lead him to believe it was from falling or diving away from something. The tracks seemed a bit muddles do to moving around in patterns, from what he could tell there were originally three sets of boot prints, two larger than the others. And from the looks of the one’s by the person that fell down they were defending them from something. That was the odd part, at times there seemed to be a fourth set of tracks but they were odd shaped to be boots, they didn’t look cloven or those of a paw pad of some sort. The tracks seemed to split up with the one single set moving away from the disturbance and quickly towards the other side of the building probably going out of the building. The other two he could see clearly after a possible fight or scuffle hurried moved upstairs, the track of one of the two seemed to favor one leg so a possible injury either broken or sprained ankle. The fourth set of tracks seemed the hardest to pick up since they were the least noticeable. Looking up the series of stairs up the deep grooves on the wall caught Holt’s attention. The looked to uniform in distance apart to be from multiple slashes from a weapon. Thoughts of something with claws came to mind.

(OoC: Tracking would be at minus 2 but I’ll give a plus two synergy bonus from the really good notice/forensics work. Short version something came up on the three, one bolted for the other side of the building in a dead sprint, two moved away in a different direction towards the stairs here. One fell down, one tried to defend the fallen and themselves they both went upstairs via the stairwell, there’s claw marks on the wall by the stairs from something.)

(OoC: I figure you would have loaded the special ammo now if it wasn't already due to what you're noticing. Which way are you moving to track by the way?)

Holt spared no time checking his clip to make sure whatever was here was going to get bullets to the face possibly for maximum "Back the hell up" effectiveness. Following the tracks leading out of the area and away he found they looked like they sped up. As he got closer to the far end of the corridor that ran the length of the building he slowed at several points where doors were off the hinges and scanned rooms before proceeding, He found a similar stairwell up and also going down it seemed on this end. The tracks lead out of the building, hiding your light source before you got close to the exit and looking around the tracks deepen a bit in the moist soil outside and head in a straight line. Holt halted in the threshold of the exit. The smell of the dead wafted up from the direction the footprint lead. Through the mist he couldn't see anything but besides the sound of the wind. The tracks do lead a ways into the mist though from what you can see in the low light with only tall grass as cover until you found the body it'd be search out in the open for the most part. Where the footsteps probably stop you have a pretty good idea you might find a dead body.

(OoC: What would you like to do? See if you can verify where the body is knowing something out there might have killed them or check out the next floor up? You could scan for the others or try and get a vantage on the body out in the open from higher up.)

(OoC: Let me get a Notice then Stealth Check)

Moving tentatively outside Holt eventually stumbled onto a body in heavy grass. It looked like someone Caucasian or he use to be, the small hole in the back of his head and the splatter of blood on the grass now dried were tell tale signs of how he possibly died. Turning over the body quietly squatting over the person revealed to Holt the likely guess to be fact, whoever shot this man did so and blow out the brains with one bullet, from the size of the exit it was definitely effective. You wonder if whoever took the shot is still in the area someone in the heavy fog and mist. As the wind churns the shroud of mist and fog around you it's still quiet.

(OoC: What would you like to do?)

(OoC: You can tell he's probably not Asian, his face is mostly blown off so we'll say you can tell he is probably Russian from the tattoo you notice on his forearm).

Holt moves back in a similar manner to the building and makes it through the doorway, the nagging thoughts did bubble up, why was the man shot, why wasn't he clawed, was he dealing with more than one threat? Where was the guy he was suppose to find? Could he be the killer?

(OoC: You get back into the building at the stairs on this side of the building leading up and down, no tracks around here besides leading out, the other set of stairs going only up is on the far side of the building still)

Moving back to the far side of the building Holt examines the area again. Holt could tell the two very visible sets of tracks went up the stairs. There was a third set leading back to where he had just investigated so he was mostly sure of who they belonged to, the dead Russian, the questions were about the fourth set that seemed to just start in this location for a bit and then vanish plus the claw marks made him wonder. Whoever the fourth set belonged to they didn’t seem to be around here anymore. The last easy lead seemed to be from the set of tracks moving upstairs.

Going up the stairs you see two sets of tracks moving off down the hall. One set seems to someone dragging a foot as they move.

(OoC: I figure when it gets dark you pull your light source and minimize direction and output to just where you want to see.)

You see the footsteps moving down the hall and move from doorway to doorway, they seem to trail into one where a door is, there's a single set of tracks moving back out from the blocked door further down the hall.

(OoC: No worries, between work/family/holidays/weather/other stuff I figure you were probably busy.)

Clearing rooms seems to take a lot longer that expected finally getting to the door of entry and exit for someone had Holt looking at a door before him, a soft gentle jiggle proves it to be locked.

(OoC: Give me a notice check please. And how would you like to try and get around the locked door.)

Holt will probably be surprised to hear faint muttering on the far side of a man that seems to be scared, this is the first living contact with someone he's had on arrival. From what Holt can make out the man has said 'it's coming to get me' and 'no it must be them... they're here to kill me'. Your not sure but it's possible to hear someone breathing irregularly, possibly crying.

(OoC: What next? Try and lock pick the door, kick or muscle it down, or knock and find out who's on the other side.)

(OoC: okay, give me a lock pick and stealth rolls one each.)