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Those Dark Places The AMC 222 Report

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
162 views30 pages

Those Dark Places The AMC 222 Report

Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE

AMC-222
REPORT
+++ SYSTEM EIGHT-SEVEN-ZERO +++
+++ FOR GENERAL MONITOR’S EYES ONLY +++

AN ADVENTURE FOR
THOSE DARK PLACES
INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE FICTION ROLEPLAYING

[1]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


+++//01A/***<<<
LOCATION

Asteroid Mining Catch 222, orbiting the gas giant Peller 3 in the Peller System.
CREW REQUIRED

Arbiter crew preferred but Duster teams accepted. Security Officer required to deal
with possible unrest and a Liaison Officer required to coordinate with the senior staff
of AMC-222. Medical Officer also requested.

EQUIPMENT

All crew members to be equipped with Mark III Dazer, but it is advised that Security
Officers are equipped with standard issue firearm. Medical Officer to be issued
standard medical unit (+1 to any rolls involving first aid).

BRIEFING
‘This is a good one.

‘Asteroid Mining Catch 222 in the Peller System has sent out an emergency request
for assistance. They have two members of staff deceased, probably murdered, and
another member missing. After the station started a new mining shaft two workers
were found mutilated in the mine and there appears to be foul play in the
disappearance of the third. I’ve attached what we know to this message but these
deep space mining facilities don’t have the best hypercom transmitters so the data
package was quite small. Anyway, there should be enough information to give you an
idea of what’s going on.

‘Cambridge-Wallace Inc are keen to get this resolved and the mining station back to
full productivity as soon as possible. The facility manager, Flock, is doing her best to
get the workers back on track but there’s a lot of unrest from what we can tell. She
wants the mining to resume before bonuses are lost but the miners are somewhat
reluctant to get back to work, what with two dead and one missing with no
explanation. It’s not an accident and her attempt to explain it away – the missing
worker killed the others and then spaced herself because there’s no sign of her
anywhere on the station – hasn’t gone down very well.

Get to AMC-222 – they’re one week out from your position – find out what’s
happened and get them back on schedule.’

[2]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


+++//01B/***<<<
THE ACTUAL SITUATION

The emergency request for assistance is a desperate one; the facility AMC-222 has
been rocked by the discovery of two mutilated bodies in the primary mine. The two
workers had been torn apart, through their armoured spacesuits, as if something had
ripped their suits open in a frenzy and then done the same to their bodies.

Directly after this it was discovered that Medical Officer Jenny Turrans was missing
and there appears to have been a struggle in her medical suite, with blood and broken
equipment on the floor.

What has actually happened is that Jenny Turrans has suffered a total mental
breakdown, bought on by her length of service in deep space as well as a classified
survey mission in the far reaches. Something has broken her mind and she craves to
be free of herself. She has mutilated her own body with metal and wire, surgically cut
off her lips and eyelids and tried to change her body into something part human and
part… something. She is flooding herself with antibiotics and adrenalin, which adds
to her psychosis, and her mind is reverting to an animalistic instinct that seems
fuelled by death, destruction and rage.

She has taken to hiding in the partially pressurised mining shafts, inside the huge air
circulation system that makes it possible for workers in less cumbersome partial
vacuum suits to work freely. After she accidentally damaged the system two workers
were sent down in full spacesuits to find the problem; they discovered Turrans. In a
rage, she used surgical blades and scalpels she had inserted into her own forearms
and fingers to tear the two men apart.

Without knowing what had happened to Turrans and discovering her missing, the
executive team of AMC-222 have made a statement declaring that she was
responsible for the deaths and that she had subsequently spaced herself. This is
primarily to get the workers back into the mine as they are falling behind schedule
and losing millions of credits a day. However, the workers aren’t having any of it and
tensions on the station are high.

[3]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


>>//[001]+++000<<

tips for running the adventure


This adventure is going to be a dangerous one for the players; as
well as there being the threat of Jenny Turrans there is also a
lot of danger from the malfunctioning systems in the tunnels. It’s
highly advised that at least one of the PCs is a Medical Officer
or at least has a secondary position in that field. Jenny is also
violent and cannot be reasoned with, so a Security Officer is also
advisable.

This is an investigation so instead of a story the players follow,


the details have been placed out so that they can put the
available data together before heading down into the mine. They’ll
no doubt have theories and perhaps even figure things out so when
things come to light it should either be a revelation or an
affirmation of their suspicions.

The station is bleak and dark as it is on constant power saving


protocol; lights only activate when people enter the area, even in
the corridors of the main station, and there is a layer of haze
that permeates everything as the scrubbers and recyclers operate
on low levels of energy. Cambridge-Wallace Inc is losing
productivity and they need to save money where they can.

When describing the location, focus on the darkness and the gloomy
atmosphere. The walls are covered in moisture and there is mould
appearing in the corners, the miners are pale and ragged and sick
and many of them have to wear respirators to help. The corridors
are square and functional but cramped, covered in piping, conduits
and exposed wiring that runs along the ceiling, the walls and
underneath the grated flooring. In some places the cabling is so
thick it’s like walking through intestines.

The mine itself is bare rock covered in support mesh and thick
load-bearing A-frames every five meters. You can only work down
there in a vacc-suit as the dust is thick and dangerous, and the
air purifiers barely function and only really serve to keep vision
better than a few meters.

The station is miserable, dark and depressing. The coffee is


awful, too.

>>//[001] END<<

[4]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


THE DSRV ‘GRAHAMS’

The DSRV Grahams is a small ship with a simple bridge, drive system and six
LongSleep pods. It is designed to make small jumps to distant star systems to run
preliminary surveys and take readings so that the powers that be can make decisions
on whether a fully equipped research or resource vessel can be despatched. Deep
Space Reconnaissance Vessels are light and fast and are used by many Duster and
Arbiter crews for fast despatch and first responder missions. With a bridge, a room
for pods, food and storage and a combined cargo/engine room, these 100-metre long
vessels are a common sight on stations in the outer reaches of explored space.

[5]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


THE PLAYER CHARACTERS

The PCs in this adventure can be an existing and experienced team or a brand new
crew on their first mission. Perhaps they know someone on the station, which will
add a personal impetus to the mission, or even one of the victims.

If the GM wants to move the action along then perhaps one of the PCs knows one of
the main station personnel; there’s Station Manager Flock, Medical Officer Lattimore
and Security Officer/Foreman Parkes. Their details are on the next three pages.

Each PC is equipped with a Dazer and a medical kit, as well as a rebreather unit to
help them in the station if they react badly to the atmosphere. If they elect not to wear
them then have each character make a STRENGTH roll against a target number
of 7 every 1 in-game hour; if they fail then their target numbers for every roll are
automatically 1 higher than normal as they struggle to breath and cough. The
rebreather is a mask that goes over the mouth and nose – Station Manager Flock has
to wear one all the time – but they are cheap and easily damaged. If, at any time, a PC
is struck or has an accident then roll a single d6. A result of 1 means the rebreather is
broken and they are susceptible to the foul air.

The players also have the use of the DSRV Grahams, the details and deckplans of
which are available above. This is owned by the company and is on loan to the PCs,
but feel free for them to use it for other missions going forward.

THE NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS

There are three main NPCs on the station who the PCs will have to deal with; they
each have their own motivations and goals and may or may not hinder the player
characters as they investigate the situation. Their primary goal is to get AMC-222
back up and running at full capacity as they are losing money every day, as well as
their bonuses.

ADVENTURE SEQUENCE

The report is written in a non-linear way which allows the PCs to investigate the
situation as they see fit after the initial welcome. The players are initially blocked
from entering the mine as the elevator is being repaired which will give them time to
ask questions and build a picture. The conclusions they come to will keep them
guessing as to what exactly it is in the mine, which will in turn increase the threat and
the tension once they do get down there.

[6]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


STATION MANAGER FLOCK

C4/A1/S2/E3/PB5/PL1/Primary Liaison Officer

Flock is in her forties and has been running AMC-222 for over three years. She
should have finished her tour a year ago but a delay with her replacement has kept
her here. The fact is the company finds her leadership incredibly profitable and they
do not want to replace her. Her efficiency and skill at her job has worked against her.
This has made her bitter and untrusting of any corporate representatives, which
makes her somewhat dismissive and uncooperative towards the PCs. Her reliance on
a rebreather just to get through the day has only added to her misery and anger.

[7]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


MEDICAL OFFICER LATTIMORE

C2/A3/S1/E4/PB5/PL3/Primary Medical Officer

Lattimore is in his thirties and is pretty sure that he never signed up for any of this.
He was expecting to sew up a few wounds or set a few bones, he never expected to be
doing autopsies on mutilated crewmen or having to deal with illnesses caused by the
low power across the station. He is bewildered, out of his depth, and his help is
somewhat limited as he constantly second guesses his decisions and conclusions as
well as his expertise.

[8]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


SECURITY OFFICER PARKES

C1/A3/S4/E2/PB6/PL1/Primary Security Officer

Parkes is ex-military and it shows; he is gruff, curt and incredibly to the point, and he
suffers absolutely no fools. His role on the station is not only security but also
foreman (of a sort) as there was never much need for a security force on this station
but there was a need to keep the miners in line, so Parkes’ training was perfect for
that role. However, Parkes has also reached the end of his tour and is waiting for a
starship to take him home. He has already made his bonus so he sees no reason why
he should put himself at risk for any of this as it isn’t profitable for him.

[9]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


ASTEROID MINING CATCH 222

AMC-222 is a standard resource collection facility designed and manufactured by


Cambridge-Wallace Inc and it is one of hundreds that can be found in many star
systems in surveyed space. It is a simple rig built in a shipyard which is then towed to
an asset to be captured, and it is then secured to the surface so that drilling and/or
mining can commence within days.

This particular station mines cerium, an element found throughout explored space.
It’s location means that it can supply local sectors quickly and easily so it’s a much
sought-after source, which means that its current status as off-line is not only costing
the company money it’s also inconveniencing local buyers, forcing them to spend
more money to have the element bought in from further afield from other suppliers.
Cambridge-Wallace Inc does not have any vessels in the area to make these outside
shipments so they can’t even profit from that; AMC-222 needs to be back to capacity
quickly.

THE MINERS

The miners care very little about money where their safety is concerned. They want
to make their quotas and get off the station, but they feel that the situation isn’t being
handled correctly and with two dead and one missing they have every reason to feel
that way. Their foreman, Security Officer Parkes, agrees with them and backs their
play as both Security Officer and foreman. He feels the situation is too dangerous for
the workers to go back to work and is ignoring demands from management to get
them back down into the mine. After all, he’s already made his bonus and is simply
waiting for the next available ship off the rock.

This whole situation has made the miners frustrated to the point of violence and a few
fights have already broken out. When dealing with the miners, a player must make
two Charisma rolls (plus any bonuses for Liaison Officer) of 7 and at least
partially succeed on one. If they fail both rolls, the worker being questioned gets
angry at the questions and the intrusion and gets physical. How the players respond to
this is their choice.

[10]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


APPROACHING AMC-222

Upon arriving in the system the PCs’ vessel takes the standard five days to decelerate.
After the first day they reach the outer marker and they show up on AMC-222’s
sensors. At this point Station Manager Flock will contact them and ask for their
contract details and manifest. Once it has been established that the PCs are there to
assist them in getting the station back up and running Flock will give them immediate
clearance and ask them to burn hard as they need to get things back up and running as
fast as possible. Of course procedure dictates that their ship cannot go any faster as it
needs to decelerate but the sentiment is clear.

At one day the PCs ship is tracked and a guidance beam is locked on, bringing the
ship to the single walled landing pad next to the station. There is only a small one-
man EVA service pod docked here, and the open pad is linked to the station by a
single docking umbilical. It’s large enough to transport goods and personnel but
anything larger would have to be removed outside any ship by a fully space-suited
work crew. The pad also acts as a storage bay for the cerium, built underneath. The
asteroid has no gravity (the station has artificial gravity at 1G) and no tumble so
landing is easy and straight forward on thrusters only. Magnetic clamps hold the ship
in place.

>>//[002]+++000<<

THE POWERS OF THE PCs


The player characters may be under the impression that, as an
investigation team sent by Cambridge-Wallace Inc to resolve a
dangerous situation, they have powers that enable them to command
anyone to do their will; ‘flashing the badge’, so to speak. This
is a wrong assumption and they will be challenged on it.

The PCs can request aid and information, but nobody is under any
obligation to provide it. They should be inclined to, as being
reported as a ‘troublesome’ member of the crew may affect their
pay situation, but they will not do anything that puts themselves,
their fellow workers or the station in any danger. The PCs can ask
questions or request information but they can not coerce anyone
into doing so, and any questionable methods in their enquiries
will be reported and acted upon, usually resulting in no pay for
the PCs at all.

>>//[002] END<<
[11]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


[12]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


WELCOMING PARTY

Its not so much a welcome as it is a tired handshake and a nod. Its only Flock and
Parkes who stand waiting for the PCs at the other end of the docking tube. They are
haggard and pale, and the vent in Flock’s rebreather clicks with every breath she
takes.

‘Glad you’re here,’ she says. ‘This whole situation is out of hand. We’ve got workers
sitting around all day doing nothing and we’re so far behind schedule it’s insane.
This is Parkes, he’s supposed to be the security officer…’

Parkes interrupts angrily. ‘My tour is over, I’m not getting paid to babysit visitors. I
can help you with the station and anything you might need but this situation is
outside of my current status. I would have helped but the company wouldn’t agree on
payment terms or even a bonus, so here we are.’

Flock looks at him with her blood-shot eyes. It’s hard to tell what she’s thinking as
half her face is covered but her eyes are narrow and cutting. ‘Anyway, if you need
anything that doesn’t require any actual help then Parkes is your man.’

‘Screw you, Flock. Screw you.’ Parkes walks away, waving a hand to dismiss her
words and his involvement.

Flock watches him walk away, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose
as if trying to calm herself down. She turns back to the PCs with a dismissive shake
of her head, as if signalling that Parkes isn’t worth worrying about.

‘So, let me get you up to speed. The elevator to the mine is out of action – we’ve got a
couple of workers fixing it now – and we think it’s an issue at the bottom of the shaft.
Something has been jammed in the workings so we’ll have that cleared in a few
hours, hopefully.’

The players may offer to help with the elevator but Flock will say, ‘That’s kind, but
you’re not covered by our insurance here and health and safety will go into
conniptions. Our people know the workings, they know what they’re doing.’

‘In the meantime, feel free to have a wander and ask questions. The sooner we get
this sorted the sooner we can get back on schedule.’

[13]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


There may be a few questions the players have for Flock and she will try to answer as
best as she can.

On the murdered workers: ‘They were found torn apart in the mine, that’s all we
know. Something had torn through their armoured spacesuits and ripped them to
shreds. The initial thought was a plasma cutter but there were no scorch marks, so
the all the doc could surmise was a heavy blade of some sort. Oh, and if you’re
interested, their names were Marco and White.’

On the missing worker: ‘Jenny Turrans went missing when the men turned up dead.
We put it down to a bout of hysteria; we found broken equipment and blood in her
surgery and then we found that the airlock had been cycled, so we can only surmise
she took a walk with no suit. Poor girl. She’s a veteran, done all kinds of deep space
runs, this was supposed to be her wind-down job before her 25 years were up’.

On the workers: ‘They’re understandably worked up – there’s been a few fights – and
most don’t even want to get down into the mine. A couple of them are convinced that
there’s something in the new tunnels; we opened a new dig site before all this
happened for a thick vein of cerium, and after a few days Jenny vanished and Marco
and White turned up dead. You know what it can be like. You spend all this time out
here and your imagination plays tricks. It’s not like we woke something up with the
new tunnel, it’s literally just rock and ore, but you know how the brain works when it
can’t find or accept an explanation. We tried to get them back by saying that it was
Jenny’s fault and that she’s spaced, but they’re not falling for it. That’s why we need
you to figure out what the hell is going on.’

On the mine: ‘We’re weeks behind schedule and the four robots in the mine need
looking after and repairing. We’re about 60% down on productivity and if the
workers don’t get down there and see to the machinery then we’ll be at a full
standstill in a month. You’ve seen the layout, it’s a standard square and in each one
of the automatic machines do the labour. All our workers have to do is monitor them,
deal with any issues and make sure we hit targets. We’ve been asking for SAMs for
years but humans cost less.’

On the other staff: ‘Parkes’ tour is over and he’s checked out; he’s supporting the
workers not getting back into it because it means he doesn’t have to do anything. He’s
just doing cover work while we wait for a replacement but he couldn’t care less, so
you can’t rely on him. Lattimore has taken over medical duties since Jenny vanished
but he’s just a bundle of nerves. He couldn’t even do the initial autopsy right. We
could tell they’d been torn apart by something sharp, Christ, you don’t need a quack
qualification to see that.’

[14]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


QUESTIONING THE CREW

There are several avenue of investigation the players can take and the obvious one is
questioning the workers on the station.

They are all bedraggled and nervous. Some have tried to get into the mine and service
the digging equipment but nerves got the better of them and they now refuse to head
down there, even relieved that the elevator isn’t working. They will all tell the same
story; Jenny went missing, then the two workers turned up dead, and all this
happened just after they opened the new tunnel. What other conclusion is there?
There’s something in the mine, they say, and they refuse to go back down. Other than
this, which is repeated over and over at various levels of dismissiveness and fear,
there is little more the workers know or can help with. They do know – or at least
believe – that they’ve been lied to about Jenny being responsible for the deaths.

>>//[002]+++000<<

NEW RULES: ARMOURED SPACESUITS


The player characters now have access to something that could help
them in the deep black; armoured spacesuits.

Armoured spacesuits are sought after but hard to get hold of. In
fact, only facilities such as mining stations and heavy industrial
settlements have them, so they’re not a regular part of a
location’s inventory. However, if the players don’t mind adding an
extra year onto their tour to cover the cost, they can be issued
with an armoured spacesuit.

These suits work as regular spacesuits but they have the added
bonus of being covered in thick armour to help against impact
damage, so it resembles a spacesuit with a breastplate, arm and
leg coverings and a spine protector.

When a character takes damage, the damage rolled is automatically


reduced by 1 point. Also, the player can roll a 1d6 and, if the
number rolled is a 6, the armour stops all damage automatically.

>>//[003] END<<

[15]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


EXAMINING THE BODIES

The bodies of Marco and White are being kept in the medical suite, which is listed on
the map as the Common Room (6); what was supposed to be an area for rest and
relaxation but was turned into the medical room so that management could have their
own private bunks (9). This has caused a lot of problems with the staff as its a lot of
wasted space and now they have nowhere to wind down between shifts. It’s no
wonder tensions are high.

What used to be a bright white and sterile room is now grey in the low light, the once
reflective surfaces now dull and faded, and the corners are filled with grime and
mould, just like the rest of the station. The equipment is outdated and barely
functioning.

Medical Officer Lattimore is a nervous man who chain smokes as he talks. He always
has a syntharette hanging from his lips and as soon as it goes out he lights up another
one. Warning lights appear over the air circulation vents as he does this – the station
is already struggling with low power and smoke in the vents won’t help – but he
doesn’t care. As he talks his hands shake if they are doing nothing else, and he
twitches nervously; a flick of the head or a brief clenching of fists.

He has nothing new to offer in terms of information and will repeat what Flock has
already said, but he will answer any further questions about the bodies.

The bodies are being kept in the morgue, which is just a sectioned-off part of the
room with few portable body bags on trolley, each one fitted with its own cooling
unit to keep the bodies fresh. They can be unzipped and examined with no problems.

Any PC other than the Medical Officer looking at the mutilated bodies must make a
Pressure Roll – it’s not a pretty sight. The Medical Officer, having been prepared for
such a sight and maybe having experience, doesn’t have to make a Pressure Roll.
Make sure to warn the non-medical players that if they want to observe they will have
to make the roll; they may want to turn their eyes away.

The bodies are horrendously torn apart. Muscle has been shredded from bone like
cooked meat, the chests have been torn out and several organs mashed to a pulp and
the head has been all but destroyed, one face unrecognisable and the other with the
jaw missing. They could only be identified by their ID chips; miners are required to
have them surgically implanted in their left shoulders.

[16]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


The Medical Officer doing the examining can make a roll of 1d6 adding their
Education and Medical Officer bonus and the target number is a standard 7.

If they fail then they can see nothing more than Lattimore did; they have been torn
apart by something, there are dozens of attacks on each corpse.

If they roll dead on the target number of 7 then they can see that there are several
things missing from each man; a kidney, a large section of lower intestine and a lot of
muscle mass.

If they roll over the target number of 7 they gather all of the information above and
they can see that the attacks are vicious, almost animal-like, but the cuts are almost
perfect; they’re not torn or ragged but fine and neat, almost surgical. The organs and
muscles haven’t been torn out, they’ve been cut out.

Investigating the armoured spacesuits reveal similar results. Any engineers in the
group can roll 1d6 and add their Education and Engineering Officer bonus with a
target number of 7. If they succeed they can see that the attacks cut into the armour
but were more successful where there was no protection, and that the cuts are fine
with little to no tearing. The armour did its job but in the end the attacks got past it,
and the damage appears to be have been carried out in a frenzy.

If questioned, Lattimore will talk about Jenny and how he found the medical suite
after she disappeared. Her table was turned over, several screens were smashed and
there was some blood on the floor which was identified as hers. Someone had been
through the supplies and things had been taken; blades, scalpels and lots of the
antibiotics, anti inflammatories and adrenalin. They do not have any monetary or
even addictive qualities so it was hard to imagine why anyone would take such
things.

If he’s asked about Jenny he’ll shrug and be quite disparaging of her. ‘She was
usually late for her shifts, drank far too many stimulation drinks and kept herself to
herself. I never rated her as a medical officer and when she did perform her duties
she did so half-heartedly.

‘Just before she disappeared she was called to an emergency at the new tunnel, just a
worker who had collapsed due to a faulty suit regulator. She hated the spacesuits, she
was terrified of their closeness, and apparently she sat and stared into the dark unlit
tunnel for an hour after they’d got the worker out. Then she locked herself in her
room for two days. Weird.’

[17]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


THE SECURITY SITUATION

Security Officer Parkes is in the office with his feet on the desk, a syntharette on the
go and a bottle of some dark brown liquid in an antique glass bottle. He watches with
a blank expression as the players enter and sits up, stubbing the ‘rette out and shaking
his head.

‘Just so you know, I’m covering the job here and I have no obligation to assist you in
any way that I feel risks myself or this station.’

If asked any of the general questions he will repeat what Flock has already said. He
has nothing much else to add other than he did what his current contract expected of
him which, as it happens, was virtually nothing, He did minimal investigation and
came to the conclusion that Jenny must have had some kind of breakdown, killed the
two workers and then walked out the airlock. Simple.

No doubt another question the players will have is regarding security cameras; if they
do not ask then Parkes will at least offer this as information. There are many of them
dotted around the station but most of them are not working. In fact, the only cameras
that do work are the ones in the actual mine so that management can keep an eye on
the workers. Since the common room was turned into a medical suite the workers
have been incredibly insistent on some kind of privacy, so the cameras in the main
station were deactivated.

He has reviewed some of the footage; the cameras to the airlock are out of action as
well as almost all the cameras in the main station, but policy dictates that the cameras
in the mine are always active. The logs are all there, if the PCs want to spend more
time going over the footage.

When the players call up the footage they will see by the access logs that most of the
data has not been viewed at all; only two of the numerous cameras dotted around
have been accessed, the one over the mine entrance at the bottom of the elevator shaft
and one further down the corridor.

The PCs may be suspicious of this and wonder why Parkes hasn’t gone over the
footage, but his answer is simple and to the point. ‘I’m not security any more. It’s not
my problem. Maybe if the company had sent the replacement when they were
supposed to…’ and he shrugs and turns back to his drink. There appears to be no
malicious intent or secret plans here; it’s simple, honest-to-goodness indifference to
the situation now that his tour is over and retirement beckons.

[18]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


If the PCs do spend time looking over the footage from the time the killings took
place they will see Marco and White heading into the elevator in their armoured
spacesuits and descending into the mine. They are playfully pushing at each other and
their faces show them happy and joking. There is no audio.

Just as the elevator reaches the bottom of the shaft the lights in the mine flicker and
go out. Only the dim lights of the four automated mining machines – large spherical
automatons on tracks with drills and cutters protruding from the upper half of the
shell, slowly moving at a snail’s pace along the mine floor – illuminate the mine and
this is all covered in shadows and dust.

As the men step off they try the manual panels that activate the lights but nothing
happens. They are obviously frustrated.

Parkes offers an explanation. ‘The new dig site has a new power unit and it
sometimes overloads the lights. They’ll have to go down to the new dig site and reset
it. It can be a pain in the dark, especially as the mining ‘bots don’t stop for anything’.

The two workers slowly make their way into the darkness, gingerly stepping around
the automatons as they head to the new tunnel. Their own spacesuit lights, attached to
the top of their helmets, do little to improve the gloom.

Once they reach the new tunnel they begin work on the power unit, a large pyramid-
shaped unit with an open top. Marco opens a panel and starts pressing buttons.

Parkes seems somewhat nervous as the PCs check the new footage. If the PCs
checked the access logs they will see that the footage has already been watched.

What happens on the video next is quick and brutal. White suddenly staggers into
Marco and his visor turns red as blood sprays on the inside of his helmet. There is
something long and sharp coming out of the darkness of the tunnel and into the back
of White’s neck, it seems to be some kind of long thin pole, like a javelin. He grabs at
his helmet and tries to reach for the back of his neck but is then yanked back into the
darkness. His helmet light explodes in a shower of sparks and for a split second there
is an image of a tall thin shadow in the dust, a humanoid shape.

Marco does not finish his work on the power unit; he panics and grabs a thick
multitool at his belt and lifts it. His expression is one of horror and panic and the only
light is from his suit helmet, which flashes around as he swings wildly.

[19]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


The shadow in the darkness lunges forward and it is only in the light for a second, but
the dust and darkness obscures most of it. It is humanoid but… different. The head is
slightly elongated, there are protrusions from the shoulders like spikes, and the arms
seem to end in what appear to be hands but long sharp blades stick out from the arms.
The back also has spikes and what appears to be tentacles hanging from the back,
swinging as the body shifts. The blades tear into the suit and smash through the
helmet visor, and with a heave the unfortunate Marco is also hauled into the darkness.

The camera keeps recording. There is no sound. Whatever happened to the two men
can’t be seen, and the only illumination is a dim flicker from the running lights of the
power unit.

Anyone viewing the footage must make a Pressure roll.

This is obviously footage of great importance that has been viewed before, so the
question is why didn’t Parkes mention this? He is frustrated at the question, even
angry.

‘Why didn’t I mention this? Are you freakin’ kidding me? If this was reported then
company security would have been all over the station, all over me, and whatever
that thing is we would have gone into full lockdown with scientists and research
agents and upper management crawling over the facility in 100% quarantine. How
long would I have to stay here? Six months? A year? My tour is over! Over! I’ve
done my 25, I’m going home, and I don’t care what’s going on down there, I’m going
home!’

Parkes is on the verge of tears. His choice was a selfish one but he was right about the
situation; if this is an unidentified life form or any other kind of severe situation then
security protocols demand full lockdown and quarantine. Some locations have been
known to be shut off from the rest of civilisation for two years or more until the
company is sure that the problem is identified, contained or does not spread.

There has been no other life discovered in explored space; a new biological entity
would put people into lockdown for an unspecified amount of time. This is what
Parkes fears. He just wants his money and a ship home. Unlike many others he has
spent a lot of time out of LongSleep and on stations, so he hasn’t had the luxury of
sleeping through his service. He’s done.

[20]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


THE ELEVATOR IS REPAIRED

After a few hours, or when the PCs have exhausted every avenue of investigation, the
two workers fixing the elevator report success; they got to the bottom of the shaft and
found metal bars jammed into the gears, stopping the elevator from working. Flock
will contact the players and let them know, and if they’re ready to go down she’ll
meet them at the elevator door.

Armoured spacesuits are available and recommended; there is a thin atmosphere in


the mine but that’s only for health and safety reasons in case any suits have any
problems. A person can operate with no suit but the lack of oxygen reduces all stats
by 1 point. Extended exposure, over days, can cause hypoxia. As the area is confined,
unpredictable and filled with automated mining robots, armoured suits are a
requirement.

When the players get to the elevator they see Flock waiting patiently by the door as
the counter above it slowly decreases in number, showing how many meters the
elevator has to go before arriving. She looks at them nervously.

‘No contact from the workers since they reported fixing this’, she says nervously.
‘Elevator is coming up’.

Slowly the counter counts down until it reaches zero. The door locks bang open.
There’s a loud hiss as the hydraulics kick in, and slowly the elevator opens…

One of the two workers is stood there, a tool trolley behind them, looking slightly
bewildered. They stagger out of the elevator and they unseal their helmet, taking in a
lungful of air and dropping it to the floor.

‘Hol… Holda’, they gasp. ‘Holda is still down there. Something’s got him. A power
surge knocked out the comms interface, blew the lights and fried some of the
equipment down there. We tried to get to a junction box to cut the power but the
automated diggers have gone crazy, cutting lasers and manipulators everywhere. So
we headed back to the elevator when I saw… I saw… a shadow. All spines and raw
flesh, and Holda screamed and I saw him dragged off into the dark. There was
nothing I could do.’ They start to hyperventilate. ‘There was nothing I could do.’

Flock calms the worker and turns to the PCs. ‘Holda might still be alive,’ she says,
‘and we can’t rely on Parkes. I can supply you with armoured spacesuits…’ Then she
looks past them in surprise.

[21]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


Parkes is approaching, fully suited and ready to go. A shotgun is hanging from a loop
at his belt. And he looks angry.

‘I’m ready to get down there,’ he says. If questioned why, he says, ‘ I think you know
why. If I’d done my job then this place would be in lockdown and we’d have a proper
team out here. But I didn’t. So I need to get this out of my system, do something, try to
make up for it, repent, whatever the hell you want to call it. Anyway, I know this mine
so you need me. So, get suited and let’s get going.’

Once suited and booted the PCs and Parkes can get into the elevator and head down.
With the comms interface out of action they will have no contact with the rest of the
base but they can speak to each other.
THE MINE

As per the map, the mine is designed as a square layout to allow easy access for the
automated mining robots. Each tunnel is six meters wide, allowing the four spherical
automatons – two meters wide – space to work and to allow the workers to get past
them. The robots are on caterpillar tracks with drills and laser cutters protruding from
the upper half of the shell. Sensors detect the element they need, the lasers cut it out
and the manipulators do the rest. The lower half of the robot is storage.

The bottom of the elevator is a collection station, where the cerium is put into huge
transport pods and then taken to the surface. It’s an incredibly simple arrangement;
the robots mine and bring the cerium here, the workers take the cerium up for
transport, while wandering the mine and making sure the machines are doing their
jobs. Three 8-hour shifts keep the mine going around the clock.

Right now there are a dozen empty containers stacked against the wall and nothing
else. The workings of the elevator are opened and a large metal bar has been
removed, obviously jammed in there on purpose to stop the elevator from operating.
The bent bar is lying on the ground.

[22]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


ENCOUNTERS
As the PCs investigate the mine they will have several issues. The robots have been
malfunctioning and some seem to have been tampered with; red smears of blood
cover their access panels and wiring has been stripped out or messed with. This
creates two types of danger, the ambush and the unpredictable. Other than the robots,
the mine is dangerous after a few days of the automatons going wild. Rockfalls,
pitfalls and areas of unstable shoring threaten them at every turn.

When danger presents itself Parkes will always try to be the first one to get into the
fight, as if he is trying to prove something (or make up for his faults). His eagerness
is turning out to be a danger, however, as he pushes past PCs to get into the thick of
it. Every round have each player make an Agility roll, the lowest are distracted by
Parkes as he pushes past them to get involved, increasing the difficulty of all of their
rolls for that round by 1. He will not listen to reason but mumbles an apology.

If Parkes is injured in any way he refuses to go back. Only if his Strength reaches 0
and he falls unconscious will he stop getting in the way. If a player does successfully
order him to go he will head back but secretly circle around to ‘help’ when needed. If
he suddenly looms from the dark, a PC will have to make a successful Education roll
to realise that it’s Parkes and not an attacker!

ROBOTS
A2/S3/Laser cutter 3 damage (range one meter), manipulator 2 damage

When the PCs enter a new area of the mine roll a d6; a roll of a one or a two means
that one of the four robots is here. They are either unpredictable, which means their
cutting lasers and manipulators are ready, or they are paused, which means they are
quiet and still, seemingly deactivated. Randomly decide which one they are.

Unpredictable robots will be working on the mine wall but with no direction, cutting
wildly and allowing whole slabs of rock to fall to the ground. This makes the tunnel
unstable and there is a 1 in 6 chance of a rockfall, which the PCs can dodge with a
successful Agility roll of 6. If they fail they take damage with a die cap of 2 (an
armoured spacesuit will help) and become trapped under a pile of rubble. If any of
the PCs do get trapped they will have to make a Pressure roll, and the robot will
head directly for the next PC and attack.

Paused robots sit still until the PCs come in range, then they will suddenly activate
and attack. They get surprise and will act first (unless the PCs have already come
across one and are wary). Robots only have Agility and Strength stats. There are
four robots, two of each type.

[23]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


ROCKFALLS

The tunnels are unstable and every now and then a low tremor rumbles through them,
as if the mine is close to breaking point. Ask one of the players to roll a d6 every few
minutes of game time, or when it seems dramatically appropriate. If they roll
anything but a 1 then just carry on as if nothing has happened. If they ask what the
roll was for just say ‘don’t worry about it’ and carry on.

If they do roll a 1 then there’s a sharp spike in the rumbling and part of the ceiling
falls. The PCs can dodge this with a successful Agility roll of 6, but if they fail
they take damage with a die cap of 2 (an armoured spacesuit will help) and become
trapped under a pile of rubble. If any of the PCs do get trapped they will have to
make a Pressure roll as the rubble closes in around them, but the PCs who made
their rolls (if any) can help them out.

Characters can dig themselves out in two rounds with a successful Strength roll of 7,
with a +1 bonus to the roll with every PC helping them out (maximum 2). If they fail
and are still trapped then they can try again next round. If they don’t get out by the
time the rockfall ceases (in 1d6 rounds) then they will be trapped under here and have
to make another Pressure roll. Then they’ll have to wait for rescue with heavier
equipment; their armoured spacesuits will protect them in the meantime.

PITFALLS

The mining has uncovered some porous chambers of an almost liquid-like ash and
these locations have been sealed. However, with the robots cutting and slamming
themselves into the walls and a lack of overall care and maintenance in the tunnels,
the warning signs have been missed; the ground itself is unstable.

If the action slows then have every character (including Parkes, if he’s with them)
make an Agility roll. The lowest roll (pick one randomly if tied) suddenly feels the
ground give way, and they fall into a black chamber of grey, viscous ash. They
immediately start to sink! They must make a Pressure roll here. The others have
two rounds to get to them and pull them out, or they sink three meters under the
surface until they can be rescued later (resulting in another Pressure roll as they
realise they are trapped).

Due to space only one PC can try to help and they must make a Strength roll of 8 or
more as they reach down into the chamber to haul them out. They have two rounds to
do this and can roll once per round.

[24]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


[25]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


THE NEW DIG SITE

This is the area that Jenny has taken over, and where the players will encounter her.

The lights down here have all been smashed and the foil of empty food containers lie
strewn across the floor, along with the dessicated organs of her victims. The walls
appear to have been hacked at, sliced and hammered and scraped, like a wild animal
was trying to escape. The only light is from the suit helmets and the odd pop and
flash of the overloaded energy unit that was supposed to power this new section of
mine.

The tunnel is filled with smoke and dust and the sparks from torn overhead wiring
send brief flashes of illumination. The suit lamps are powerful but even these only
allow for several meters of light.

There is a trail of blood along the floor, and quite a lot of it. Most of it is dried but
there seems to be a fresh trail along the ground. Then they find a helmet with the
name ‘HOLDA’ stencilled along the top. The visor is smashed and the jagged glass is
covered with blood.

As the PCs examine this a shadow suddenly looms from the dust and smoke. It’s the
height of a human but twisted out of shape; there are spine-like growths protruding
from the head, the arms appear to be serrated and covered in spikes and the whole
form is hunched over and ready to spring into action. As the players watch it takes a
tentative step forward… there’s a pause… and then suddenly an overhead wire
explodes into sparks! This acts as a some kind signal as the figure lunges out of the
smoke and attacks the nearest PC! A Pressure roll from everyone is required here.

This is the unfortunate Jenny Turrans. What she has done to herself is horrific. She
has cut off her lips and eyelids and shaved her head. She has used a laser scalpel to
inflict horrific wounds across her body, many in strange shapes with an almost rune-
like quality. But she hasn’t stopped there.

She has also opened up huge wounds across her skins and inserted glass, sharp pieces
of metal, pipes and wire under there to make her body into a walking weapon. Her
teeth have been filed to points and her fingers have scalpels inserted into them, under
the nails, making her hands into claws. Her head is covered in blades of glass and pus
and blood is pouring from every wound. She appears to be screaming, but inside a
suit it seems to be nothing but a silent roar.

[26]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


JENNY TURRANS

C1/A2/S4/E3/PB7/PL6/Primary Medical Officer

Her blades do damage 5 as there are so many of them, and anyone making a physical
hand-to-hand attack on her will risk being cut; if they successfully hit they must
make an Agility roll of 7 or take 2 damage.

[27]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


She will give no quarter and not listen to reason. She wants to fight like a terrified
animal and nothing is going to stop her. If she is taken alive – somehow – she will
strain violently against any restraints as an overdose of adrenaline keeps her going
even through Dazer hits. She’ll then have a huge coronary and die in moments.

Once defeated they will find Holda in Jenny’s ‘den’, hurt and unconscious but
breathing. It seems Jenny had started cutting into his suit but the arrival of the PCs
interrupted her and so she attacked them. Her ‘den’ is rubbish and bodily waste along
with plenty of used vials of anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and adrenalin, no doubt
used in excess so that she could mutilate herself and ward off infection. There’s no
evidence that her ‘modifications’ were done with any kind of anaesthetic.

In all of this she still kept some modicum of humanity; her clothes cover her chest
and privates, as tattered and as filthy as they are, and she seems to have torn up other
items of clothing to make sure that those parts of her were covered. Perhaps there was
still a part of her that remembered herself.

Perhaps.

Upon returning to the base the PCs will be congratulated and any attention they
require will be immediately supplied. If any of the team are still trapped in the mine
thanks to a rockfall or a pitfall, a rescue team will be mobilised. However, if they are
trapped and the rest of their team don’t make it, well, they have 12 hours of air in
their tanks and a rescue team will find them in 3d6 hours…

But what happened to Jenny Turrans? What happened to her, for her to break so
violently, for her humanity to fall away so easily?

[28]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


JENNY’S SERVICE RECORD

Once the players have reported back to their superiors they are sent some details that
they may want to include in their own reports. The details concern Jenny Turrans and
her service.

Jenny joined the service as a scientist, specifically a geneticist on board the Deep
Space Exploration Vessel Marco Polo, under a Wayne/Tanaka contract. The name of
this ship will be remembered by any PC passing an Education roll of 7. It’s a
research ship that went to the farthest point of any other vessel towards the outer edge
of the galaxy, a record still yet to be broken. It returned but was destroyed a few
weeks later due to an engine reactor meltdown in the Partridge System. Only one life
was lost, the captain of the vessel Andre Metic, who appeared to have stolen the ship
and then taken it to a safe distance before deactivating the safety protocols and
opening the baffles.

The location of the Marco Polo’s journey is not in the official records. In fact, it
seems that they have been expunged by Wayne/Tanaka. The twelve-person team
spent two years at this undisclosed location and returned with more than half of their
crew missing. The reasons for this have not been included in this or any other report.

Over the next few months the remaining crew were either lost or killed. First was the
captain, as detailed above. Second was Engineering Officer Palek, who went on a
rampage with a plasma welder in a shipping centre before being shot by police.
Science Officer Rider allowed himself to be consumed by a viral agent he was
working on, which meant he had to be incinerated, and Helm Officer Guyens
disappeared on a stellar station, and was found dead in a hydroponics pod after, it
seems, he tried to skin himself alive. He, too, had inserted metal into his skin.

The only other survivor of the Marco Polo was Security Officer Eugene Simmons.
He was last seen on Grant Stellar Station looking for work, but any records of where
he went are not included. If he had found work on any vessel with any company he
would appear on a manifest, but there is no record of him leaving the station or even
being on the station.

The mission of the Marco Polo has always been a mystery, especially to Cambridge-
Wallace Inc. The fate of her crew cannot be a coincidence; what happened out there,
at the very edge of explored space, to make her crew do these things to themselves?

One day, Cambridge-Wallace Inc will want to know. It’s why they’re sharing this
information with you. So make sure you’re available.

[29]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)


CREDITS
Designed and written by JONATHAN HICKS

Assistance and feedback


Rob Davis, Simon Barns, Josh Cookson & Kroy (Infinite Monkey Tales), Ben
Crossley

Original Players
VICTORY CONDITION GAMING – http://www.victoryconditiongaming.com

Those Dark Places and The ODDS System © Jonathan Hicks 2021

Jonathan Hicks has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in


any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in
writing from the publisher.

THOSE DARK PLACES – Industrial Science Fiction Roleplaying is published


by Osprey Games. To find out more about Osprey Games visit
www.ospreypublishing.com – here you will find publishing information, extracts,
author interviews, details of forthcoming events and the option to sign up for their
newsletter.

[30]

Dawid Wolski (Order #39445992)

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