Delta Green

'Delta Green' is the unofficial name of a number of organisations in American history devoted to the investigation, containment of and destruction of unnatural threats to the United States and her citizens. The name 'Delta Green' is little more than a security clearence held by members of the small and secretive counter-occult community of the United States, but the rigid compartmentalisation and secrecy of these organisations led to the clearence level becoming an unofficial name for these organisations.

Delta Green has taken on many forms throughout its history. A subgroup of the Office of Naval Intelligence, a component piece of the vast Allied Office of Strategic Services, an independent agency, a discoordinated array of former agents too stubborn to give up the fight and a cell-based conspiracy waging a secret war against MAJESTIC-12. In its modern form, Delta Green remains divided. Two rival groups each claim the title of the 'true' Delta Green - the Program and the Outlaws, decrying the other as little more than pretenders.

The mission of Delta Green, for both groups claiming the name, is simple: protect America and her people from the unnatural threat. Whilst their methods may differ, both the Program and Outlaws are united in the absolute necessity of this mission and have sworn to see it carried out.

No matter the cost.

## History

### 1917-1941: The P4 Division, the Innsmouth Raid and the Deep One War

Before there was a 'Delta Green', there was the P4 Division of the Office of Naval Intelligence, created to investigate strange occurrences in Central Europe during the Great War. The organisation was little more than a joke - a holding point to store Navy officers who refused to retire but could not be fired. This changed in 1927, during the events of Operation COVENANT. Alongside US Marines, the Coast Guard and Secret Service agents, the agents of the P4 Division were first into the breach during the raid against the town of Innsmouth, and saw first hand the twisted, half-human hybrids that populated the colony.

Dozens of hybrids were captured, along with large stocks of occult artefacts seized from the worshippers of Dagon. The P4 Division claimed both the prisoners and the artefacts and found themselves suddenly armed with both funding and a new mission - locate and destroy all Deep One colonies within America and her sphere of influence.

The P4 Division continued to research into and combat against the Deep Ones. The suspected site of the Deep One settlement outside Innsmouth was torpedo-bombed. US Navy submarines, armed with P4's intelligence, depth-charged Hybrid colonies in the Philippines in 1930 and in 1933 Nicaraguan soldiers were enlisted to investigate an Innsmouth-like colony on that country's pacific coast, resulting in a massacre. By the mid-1930s P4 believed that the threat posed by the Deep Ones had been mostly eliminated.

### 1941-1945: OSS-DG, World War II and Karotechia

Further information: OSS
Following the entry of the United States into World War II a radical reform of the US intelligence apparatus was conducted. One part of this reform was the transfer of the P4 Division from the Department of the Navy into the Office of the Coordinator of Information, and then to the Office of Strategic Services where it would serve as a psychological warfare division. The comprehensive reform of US intelligence resulted in a slew of new security classifications being created. In recognition of the exceptional secrecy demanded by the work of the P4 Division, the OSS granted them and them alone one of these new security classifications - Delta Green. The P4 Division retained its original name, but its use quickly fell out of fashion. The name itself was a state secret, and so its agents and handlers would more commonly refer to it by its classification 'Delta Green'. Soon enough the entire organisation was going by 'Delta Green'.

The newborn Delta Green swiftly found itself fighting a war against the Nazi occultist group Karotechia, who attempted to use sacrifices to the Deep Ones and other unnatural phenomena in order to turn the tide of the war in favor of the Axis. Delta Green was assisted in its mission through close cooperation with the British counter-occult organization PISCES and, less commonly, the Soviet GRU SV-8, both of which had been waging their own wars against Karotechia. Thanks to the efforts of Delta Green and its allies Karotechia failed to achieve substantial success and victory in Europe was achieved. Following the surrender of the Nazi regime Karotechia's surviving personnel went into hiding, many fleeing to South America. Delta Green attempted to pursue them with mixed results.

Following the end of the war the US government, in keeping with the long tradition of maintaining intelligence agencies only during wartime, ordered the OSS dissolved. With their mere existence classified to the highest level, Delta Green found itself the baby thrown out with the bath-water - dissolved alongside their superiors.

### 1947-1970: Delta Green's Reactivation and the Cold War

The decision to so drastically reduce US intelligence capabilities swiftly proved to be a short-sighted one. Almost immediately after the Nazi surrender tensions began to rise between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1947 President Truman outlined a new doctrine of 'containment' towards the Soviet Union, resulting in the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the reactivation of Delta Green as an independent organization. In the same year an alien spacecraft crash-landed in New Mexico, prompting President Truman to order the creation of MAJESTIC-12 to investigate and cover up the crash.

During this time Delta Green continued its hunt for ex-Karotechia operatives that had managed to escape from Germany in Operation SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY. Through this operation many Karotechia operatives and their 'Bauern' were killed or otherwise neutralised, but Delta Green was never able to totally destroy the organization.

During the Cold War Delta Green continued its mission of investigating and countering the unnatural, but was also employed by the US government to achieve more conventional ends in service of US interests. In 1952 Operation SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS was launched with the objective of destroying a SMERSH facility that was believed to be researching a way to extend Stalin's life indefinitely, employing ex-Karotechia scientists to do so. With the unexpected aid of SV-8 the mission was a success and Stalin died a natural death.

### 1970: Operation OBSIDIAN and the Fall of Delta Green

As the United States became more deeply involved in the Vietnam War, the CIA turned to increasingly suspect forces to aid the fight against the Viet Cong. In 1969 Delta Green became aware that the CIA was funneling arms to the Tcho-Tcho, a local tribe that Delta Green suspected of having ties with the unnatural, and though Delta Green attempted to stop the flow of support they were unable to prevent the Tcho-Tcho from using their new weapons against the non-Viet Cong inhabitants of the region in an orgy of violence and cannibalism. Delta Green became increasingly aware of the influence of the unnatural in the region and stepped up their efforts to counter it, guided by the hardline leadership of Marine Colonel Satchel Wade.

On November 23rd, 1969, Colonel Wade launched Operation OBSIDIAN. The goal of the mission was to destroy a temple in the Cambodian jungle whose inhabitants were attempting to summon an entity called Angka to Earth, and three hundred marines were parachuted into Cambodia to prevent this from occurring. The mission was a disaster, the marines were slaughtered nearly to a man and 'something colossal' was released into the world. The only survivors from the marine contingent sent into Cambodia were Donald Poe and Adolph Lepus, who managed to fight their way back to friendly territory.

Just under half a year later US and South Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in order to cut off the flow of supplies Ho Chi Minh trail. The invasion was disastrous, as the Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge had been alerted to the possibility of an invasion from South Vietnam thanks to OBSIDIAN and had established strong defensive positions. The military, themselves still sore from the humiliating Tet Offensive in 1968, were totally unwilling to shoulder any portion of the blame for the debacle - they blamed Delta Green. With the Nixon administration already rocking from public outcry over the My Lai massacre and the revelation of the secret bombing of Laos, Nixon was unwilling to risk a Congressional Inquiry into Delta Green and so ordered Delta Green's dissolution. On July 24th, 1970, the Delta Green security clearance was officially deactivated, the members of Delta Green retired or shuffled elsewhere within the vast intelligence bureaucracy and their responsibilities handed over to MAJESTIC.

### 1970-1994: The Cowboy Years

Further information: The Cowboys
The decision to hand over Delta Green's mission to MJ-12 was deeply controversial amongst the former agents of Delta Green. MJ-12 were seen as ivory-tower intellectuals who were all too eager to overlook the danger of the unnatural in favour of the power it afforded. In August, 1970, forty former holders of Delta Green clearance met in Washington DC where they discussed what they could do to ensure that their original mission was carried out. These conspirators quietly let the former holders of Delta Green clearance that they were unofficially 'back in business'. From 1970 to 1994 Delta Green did not exist as an organization but as a secret fraternity of law enforcement, military and intelligence personnel who were all 'in the know'. During these 'cowboy years' the agents of Delta Green acted individually or in small groups, lacking any kind of central command and control. They investigated what they wished to and responded to whatever they found however they wished to.

Without official support the policy of the Cowboy's towards the unnatural was scorched earth. Armed with little more than personal experience and whatever they could 'borrow' from their day jobs, the agents of Delta Green would locate unnatural occurrences (suspected and genuine alike), stop whatever was happening, destroy any evidence that it had ever occurred and leave no trace.

Due to the fraternal nature of the cowboy Delta Green the number of personnel 'in the know' steadily dwindled as time went on. By 1994 only forty individuals who had been part of the 'official' Delta Green remained, almost half of them due for mandatory retirement. During these years however the organization cultivated groups of 'friendlies' who, while not officially part of Delta Green and unaware of the true nature of the group, were willing to serve the organizations interests.

### 1994-2002: The Assassination of General Fairfield, the Conspiracy and the Majestic War

Further information: The Conspiracy
In February 1994, retired US Army Major-General Reginald Fairfield was assassinated on the order of Majestic. Fairfield was one of the Delta Green old guard and a pillar of the organization during the Cowboy Years, but he had grown increasingly distrustful towards Majestic as time passed on and had attempted to go public with knowledge of Majestic's Accord with the Greys. His assassination was the first time that Majestic openly acted against Delta Green. Realizing their vulnerability against further Majestic attack, long-serving Delta Green agent Joseph Camp took control over Delta Green and reorganized it into a cell-based conspiracy.

Each Delta Green 'cell' was ideally composed of three members, though this number sometimes varied depending on requirements in the field. The agents within a cell would know each other by real names and occupations, but to the members of any other cell they would be identified only by a codename. These codenames were organised alphabetically, with the codename corresponding to the letter of their cell. A-Cell, for example, was composed of agents Alphonse, Adam and Andrea. These cells were hierarchical, with some cells reporting to other cells for orders and intelligence. At the top of this hierarchy was A-Cell, which acted as a central command and control point for the entire conspiracy.

The war between the Delta Green conspiracy and Majestic was brutal, involving reprisal killings and assassinations of enemy agents both real and suspected. However by 2001 Majestic had managed to insert one of their agents into A-Cell, giving effective control over the Conspiracy into the hands of Gavin Ross, the head of Majestic's counter-intelligence division. Ross intended to use Delta Green as a weapon to purge Majestic of his rivals, but his meticulously planned coup swiftly collapsed when Adolph Lepus, now heading Majestic's wetwork division, launched his own coup against Majestic. On February 12th 2001 Joseph Camp and Adolph Lepus both vanished after a firefight in Vermont and in the subsequent chaos control over A-Cell fell into the hands of Donald Poe. Forrest James, now going by the name 'John Smith', was appointed as Director of MJ-1 and thus chairman of the steering committee. The new leaders of both organizations agreed to return to the peace of pre-1994.

### 2002-Present: The Program and the Outlaws

Further information: The Program and The Outlaws
The 9/11 attacks rocked the US government to its core. As the US prepared to go after the perpetrators the White House began to request that Majestic release The Report into their hands. Unbeknownst to those outside Majestic the Grey's had cut contact with Majestic, leaving them without a usable report. Realizing that Majestic would collapse under direct scrutiny from the White House, Director Smith transitioned the organization from an independent group to a sub-group of the National Security Agency (NSA). Through a series of bland and uninformative cover groups Majestic inserted its agents in key positions throughout the NSA and the intelligence community. Majestic took over a number of old and shuttered programs and clearances from the Joint Chiefs of Staff - including that of Delta Green.

The reformed Majestic was split by the decision to acquire the Delta Green clearance. Those on the Steering Committee opposed to the plan left Majestic, forming March Industries as a front behind which they could continue their old ways, while those allied to Director Smith stayed behind.

Director Smith, a veteran of the original Delta Green himself, extended an invitation to all the agents of Delta Green he had contact with: come and work for the reborn Delta Green. Delta Green was officially reactivated, it had resources and federal backing again and would pick up from where it left off in 1970. Many agents within the conspiracy agreed to join up, once again becoming a part of the official Delta Green. This merger of Majestic and Delta Green became known as 'The Program' to its insiders. However there were also those that saw The Program as little more than Majestic renamed. Under the leadership of Donald Poe these 'Outlaws' refused to accept the Program as the legitimate Delta Green and continued to claim that the Conspiracy was the only Delta Green.

The conflict between the Program and the Outlaws is known as 'The Schism', and it is a closely held secret to both organizations. Neither side refers to the other as 'Delta Green'.

## Agents

Agents are the backbone of Delta Green in all of its incarnations. Whilst technically having the backing of the US government, the deniable nature of the Program's operations means that agents must often get by with very little information or support from above. The Outlaws have even fewer protections, having no support network except that which they have created themselves. If caught by law enforcement in the course of their operations the result is likely prison, so agents of Delta Green must understand and exercise tradecraft.

Agents are only rarely 'full time' members of Delta Green. They typically hold other jobs, often deep within the vast government bureaucracy, that put food on the table and allow them to quietly monitor for signs of unnatural incursions. Despite these commitments the Agents are always ready to do whatever it takes to complete Delta Greens mission - lie to their superiors, ruin their own careers, conceal the truth from their comrades-in-arms and murder the people that they've sworn to protect.

Entry into Delta Green as an agent is not an easy process and not often an entirely voluntary one. Delta Green has no official offices, no listing within any government website. It maintains no permanent staff that could be proven to be receiving their checks from the federal government and has no application process for a would-be Agent. Many of its Agents have never heard the phrase 'Delta Green' and the few that have generally have little idea about the true scale of the organization and of the threat they face. Whilst Delta Green as a rule attempts to minimize knowledge of the unnatural there are always cases where cults, creatures and other threats 'slip through the cracks' and a typical individual is exposed to them. This individual's knowledge of the unnatural, and their subsequent receiving of the Sermon by a fully-fledged Delta Green agent is all that is required for a normal citizen to start on the path to being a friendly, and then into a full-fledged Agent.

Depending on where an Agent sits within the Schism, their powers and authority will vary. Program Agents will typically have a cover story generated for them by officials higher up within the Program, such as an inter-agency counter-terrorism exercise or a federal manhunt giving their Agents an excuse to be places they otherwise would not be with weapons they do not usually have. A Outlaw Agent conversely will have a complete absence of authority, beyond that which they can 'borrow' from their day jobs. Whatever authority an Outlaw can gain will almost certainly be from bluffing and intimidation, hoping that the typical Joe Policeman in small-town America will take the badge thrust in their face at face value.

While legally an Agent might be operating under the authority of the government, their activity is entirely deniable at any time. Should an Agent attract too much heat Delta Green will have no compunction about cutting them off and declaring them a rogue actor.