Withdrawals

In the wake of a particularly lethal operation, Delta Green has assigned a taskforce to debrief what remains of the operation team. Team Clockwork's task was a basic seek and destroy mission. The target, a Yithian alien, suspected to be in league with a cell of domestic terrorists. All but one operative was killed in action. Agent Phillipa Steele now suffers from mythos induced withdrawals, the result of exposure to alien materials.

## What is Known

In an attempt to lure the member of the Great Race out of hiding, Team Clockwork set a trap. They obtained an alien artifact, a tablet documenting the flying polyps millennia-old victory over the Yithians. It was placed in an empty archeology storage warehouse and the taskforce waited. A week in, Clockwork's communications ceased and a second team was dispatched.

Four of the team members were found dead in the warehouse, alongside the bodies of nine known domestic terrorists. All the terrorist were killed by gunfire, as were two of the Delta Green agents. The other two agents were electrocuted. At the scene, a Great Race lightning gun was found, a common Yithian weapon. No alien body was discovered, though they are known to rapidly decay and disappear. Agent Steele was found, superficially wounded, but seriously disoriented. The tablet was undisturbed.

## The New Mission

Player character Agents have been tasked with guarding Agent Steele at a safe house location and confirming the outcome of Operation Clockwork. Initially, Agent Steele cannot be interviewed, she is in the throws of extreme withdrawals. All of Team Clockwork was seriously influenced by the alien tablet. While in its presence, they experienced a feeling of euphoria and supreme intellect.

The Agents's objectives are to:

* Watch over Agent Steele while she detoxes.
* Debrief her and collect a general statement on Operation Clockwork.
* Confirm whether the Yithian was killed or it escaped.

## Case Officer Notes

The Yithian was fatally wounded by Steele, its body evaporated by the time investigators arrived. Before dying, the Yithian used its Time Travel ability to transfer its mind into Agent Steele. Generally, this process is a swap, a mind trade. However, the Yithian's was so badly damaged, it only had time to do a one way transfer. Both their minds are present in Agent Steele's body, but the alien has taken control.

The Yithian is now planning to breakout. It is not confident in its ability to fool the Agents and believes that aggressive, violent action is its only hope of escape. Once well enough, the Yithian plans to scavenge the materials to construct a jury-rigged, but functional lightning gun. Once armed, it will attempt to break out of the safe house and steal a vehicle. It can convincingly communicate with the Agents and if pressed, answer questions about the mission.

## The Safe House

Located in a wealthy neighborhood, the safe house is a seldom used, vacationing home owned by a Delta Green friendly. The household is fully furnished and stocked with food, medical supplies and equipment. It consists of three stories:

* Floor 01: Entryway, grand staircase, kitchen, study, garage, bathroom.
* Floor 02: Bedrooms, entertainment room, bathroom.
* Floor 03: Master bedroom, exercise room, bathroom.

The majority of the area's houses are owned by rich individuals who rarely visit them. The surrounding streets are very quiet and there are very few people at home, if any.

## The Events

As the Case Officer, make alterations to the timeline below for the sake of fun and logic. In this timeline, most references to "Agent Steele" are actually referring to the Yithian possessing Agent Steele.

### Day 01

Steele is in the master bedroom, which contains vital monitoring equipment and a variety of medical drugs. The two medical officers attending to her explain that she is stable. They can be summoned in the event of an emergency, arriving in 1d100 minutes.

Agent Steele is completely unresponsive, she tosses in bed periodically, soaked with sweat. She is Asian American, youngish and attractive, but looks like hell at the moment. Use this time to go over the What is Known section.

### Day 02

With a successful First Aid or Medicine roll, an Agent properly monitors Steele and administers the appropriate medication relief. Questioning her only returns short answers: "Alien artifact.", "Gunfight.", "The Yithian!", et cetera. She then falls into a deep slumber.

### Day 03

Any Agents watching the street will notice a plain white van parked a block away. Two nondescript men appear to be observing the building. License plate records show the van is stolen. A successful Alertness check reveals the men are actually casing a different house.

Persuade or Bureaucracy rolls will drive them away. Alternatively, the flash of a badge or weapon. If reported to Delta Green or Agents call 911, a local police cruiser is dispatched. On a 50% roll, they are apprehended, otherwise the officer is shot and they escape. He will bleed out before help arrives unless an Agent succeeds on First Aid. Backup and an ambulance arrive quickly, the scene is cleared by sundown.

For reference, the men have Firearms 30%, deal 1d8 damage, and 8 HP.

To gain any further information from Agent Steele requires a successful First Aid, Medicine, or Psychotherapy check. She provides these facts:

* The Yithian came after the artifact.
* The alien had more support than expected, nine armed humans. A successful Psychology roll reveals Steele is lying about the number, possibly a side effect of her withdrawals.
* Two agents were killed by the Yithian's lightning gun.

Agent Steele fights sleep the entire time she speaks. After a few minutes she succumbs and cannot be awakened.

### Day 04

If the van is still present, the shady men break into a house down the street and leave the area.

If successful First Aid, Medicine, or Psychotherapy rolls are made, Steele will continue to give details on her team's mission. She summarizes the mission and explains how she shot the alien. Before she can elaborate on the fate of the Yithian, she falls unconscious.

Any agent watching the street notices a new vehicle across the street. A dark SUV with obscured plates. The SUV departs soon after it is spotted, it appears to be fully occupied. The Yithian's allies will return after nightfall.

### Day 05

Sometime after midnight, the remaining five domestic terrorists return in the SUV. They pull up directly in front of the safe house and disembark quickly. Armed with shotguns and pistols they storm the house. When the SUV arrives, call for Alertness checks. Those Agents that succeed hear the vehicle outside, granting them roughly 30 seconds to react.

Three terrorists fire into the safe house through street facing windows, all rooms but the kitchen can be targeted. The other two go around back and attempt to bust down the backdoor. Unless stopped, they succeed in 1d3 rounds. This door leads to the kitchen.

Terrorists have Firearms 30%, Pistol 1d8, Shotgun 2d6, 10 HP. They fight to the death, preferring suicide to capture (Firearms x 2).

Successful INT x 5 rolls suggest that the terrorists are not here to kill Steele but to rescue her (the Yithian). If Agents manage to capture and interrogate a terrorist, they reveal that the Yithian has possessed Agent Steele. This process will take at least a day, by which time the alien is well enough to put up a fight.

If the majority of medical related checks have been successful, Agent Steele/the Yithian is well enough to be mobile. She is awakened by the gunfire and begins cobbling together a makeshift lightning gun. There are ample supplies among the medical equipment. The Yithian can perform this task in a timely fashion with its incredible mechanical knowledge and a bit of mythos magic. The process takes 1d10 rounds. If gunfire stops, the Yithian hides the weapon (Search check to find) and pretends to be asleep. If combat is still in progress, it joins the fight.

### Day 06 and Beyond

The Yithian has recovered from Agent Steele's withdrawals. If it has not been discovered, it acts too sick to be interviewed (Medicine or Psychotherapy to detect). During nights, the Yithian will continue work on the lightning weapon. If discovered or unable to access supplies, it attacks, fighting in melee until procuring a firearm.

## The Yithian Threat

In the event of open combat, Agent Steele, possessed by the Yithian uses roughly the same statistics as a standard Yithian, with a few modifications:

* Replace melee with Unarmed 40%
* Add Firearms 40%
* Use 16 HP
* The homemade lightning gun uses d6 dice instead of d10.

If Agents discover Steele is possessed, they have the option to execute or exorcise her. Exorcism can be achieved with numerous magic spells or by bargaining with the Yithian. It may demand the artifact and/or a new body, such as a captured terrorist. This solution is left loosely defined and open to creative solutions, use your best Case Officer judgment.

## Credits

Withdrawals was written by Andrew Harshman for the 2015  shotgun scenario contest.

Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this document are © Andrew Harshman, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Withdrawals is not available here under CC-BY-SA.