Northern Territory, Australia:
13:03 PM:
Darkness. The darkness of eternity smothering the light of time. The electric light which casts pools of illumination along these ancient alien streets serve only as a reminder of the darkness that will smother all when they are gone.
What special type of madness compels a man like Huston to search for power in the deepest darkest corners of the world such as this? And what special type of madness compels otherwise (mostly) rational men (and women) such as our team of investigators to pursue and defy them? Like the suffocating darkness of this abominable subterranean graveyard we feel the weight of inexorable aeons crushing down on us ready to snuff out our insignificant existence like the tiny flame of a candle in a typhoon. Ours is the responsibility of the fate of mankind, no less. But it is not something to dwell on: That path leads to a paralyzing lunacy indescribable to those who have not stood on the brink of this black abyss.
There are no steps but there are ramps. The singular Yithians glide, but don’t climb. We can hear a generator and voices and smell cooking. We decide to sneak up on them. Gupta and Greg on one side and Joe and Irma on the other. All with silenced weapons. There is a lot of rubbish dumped thoughtlessly around. We can hear that they are playing cards.
Australians.
Cultist: “Yes, but after the rituals we should get our go! The important ones have been on her. Now it’s our turn.”
They have built sheds to live in out of wood. Joe sneaks up but stands on a can. Walks into the room right up to them.
Joe: “Nice bunks!”
Cultist: “Who the fuck are you mate?”
He shoots one. The other:
Cultist: “F&%K! It’s them!”
At the same time, Gupta goes into the other room where another of them is doing the five-knuckle shuffle over some seriously disgusting filth.
Cultist: “Hiring abos now?”
Gupta shoots and kills him. His cold dead hand still furiously grasping his wife’s best friend.
Irma and Greg follow up to cover the angles. Greg shoots another who suddenly appears. They have lightning guns and bat teeth clubs. Joe finally drops the second of the two.
We can hear more of them:
Cultist: “Keep it down! Control yourself!”
Irma interrogates one of them who is injured:
Irma: “Where’s Huston?”
Cultist: “I don’t know. HQ is 4-5 miles away from here!”
Irma binds and gags him.
Greg wants to chuck a grenade, with the pin still in, into the next shack (there are no roofs). He does it.
Cultist: “Shit a grenade!!!”
One of them rolls out and Gupta shoots him twice, winging him both times.
Cultist: “Aaargh!”
Greg runs out past Gupta. There is one of them with a lightning gun: Greg dodges as he fires. The lightning is devastating in its effect. Lucky it missed. Donelly shoots. And kills him. Irma hits the wounded guy and breaks his neck…
Someone shouts out.
Cultist: “Grab it!”
Joe: “Gupta! Phosphorous grenades!”
We all switch to our primary weapons. The time for stealth is now over.
A grenade is thrown at us and lands in our midst. Greg casts “Fist of Yog Sothoth” and blasts the grenade down the corridor so we are out of the blast radius. Greg suddenly starts swearing in Polish. Another cultist runs out of a room with a toothed bat. Urma wipes him out with his shotgun.
Last Cultist in the shed: “FUCK OFF!”
He tries to shoot through the wall, luckily missing Joe and Irma. Another one runs out with a spiked club. Irma guns him down. The other tries to climb over the wall. Joe finishes him off. We killed 10 of them altogether. Greg calms down…
The whole place is squalid. There is a cookhouse and sleeping quarters. There are a number of type written memos that have been chucked away.
TO: All Acolytes SUBJECT: Learning Magic DATE: •• 1926 MESSAGE: Acolytes are reminded that their duty to their god includes the prompt and persistent practice of necromantic gestures and intonations necessary to spell-casting. A test of your Shrivelling abilities takes place two weeks from today. R.H. ---------------------------------------------
TO: All Acolytes SUBJECT: Our Recent Hunt DATE: •• 1926 MESSAGE: We still have not found our last '2-legged deer. There is utterly no excuse for not being able to find an unarmed human who has neither food, nor water, nor magic. Remind the line-walkers to be alert. R.H.
(Handout 37) Initialised “RH”.
We have one lightning gun – about the size of a sub-machine gun.
Joe: “Dodge, do you know what you are getting yourself into? This isn’t a scientific expedition.”
Dodge: “Anyone who could utilize these machines could dominate the planet! What do these psychopaths want?”
Irma: “Power. Alien power more powerful than you can understand.”
Joe: “We have to eliminate the threat.”
Dodge: “I don’t know if I believe in God. I am a scientist. Aliens? Could be. This place is Triassic.”
We go about another ½ to a ¼ of a mile. There are lights going off in a different direction. We have a choice which way to go.
More tracks go straight ahead than to the left. Joe suddenly starts running to the left. Gestures for us to follow. We all do as we all hear the piping sounds of a Polyp.
We pass a couple of rooms and hole up in one of them. Joe heard the sound of pipes again… Trixie has the lightning gun… Dynamite is ready… There are dials and switches in the room where we are. There is a layer of dust over everything. We can see in the dust that someone probably came in, had a quick look around and then left.
Wesley recounts how the Yith sent the polyps down beneath the ground. Polyps are believed to be highly intelligent and malevolent. Initially invisible and strategic attacks.
We take the north-west route heading for the HQ(?).
We hear another generator and head towards it. Beyond this we see a kind of purple light. What could it be? Something alien? The purple is much brighter in the middle of the room. There is also a slight electrical buzz. We head up to the edge of the chamber. Gaidar sees a room that is 2000 ft across. There is a purple light 500 feet in diameter! It’s a dome. Through his binoculars Gaidar sees a giant ominous statue. Sand bat? Otherwise known as the haunter of the dark. It is partially obscured by the purple light. There are around eight archways leading into this chamber: The Purple Dome…
It appears to be an altar. An extremely unsettling statue on it. Behind it are more statues of equally ghastly beings. Cthulhu is amongst them as is Cthuba as well as Outer Gods Azatoth, Shub Niggurath and more. Behind them are three other creatures, bat shaped and black with loose wings. They are the things we saw from the train! SAN rolls! The things are alive. Those who are still sane have to act. Greg works out that they are guards. Maybe we can trick them or fool them?
They close in. Trixie fires the lightning gun. AND HITS! AND KILLS IT!
Joe shoots the second with the BAR: AND KILLS IT!
Gupta waits until the third is at point blank range and BLASTS IT!!! All THREE ARE DOWN!!!!
We continue to follow the tracks across the room. This room does NOT seem to be Yithian. Who built it? The Polyps?
We leave the purple dome on the other side and keep going a similar kind of distance. Ahead we see more light. As we get closer we can see it is another chamber. The light is more of the human artificial light. We see a strange structure like a house. There are a number of guards with Lee Enfields…
The building is 3 floors.
We consider summoning a Dimensional Shambler but the SAN loss will be too great. So plan B is to cut the lights and then fire flares to light them up. Wes, Simon and Irma try to sneak up but Wes makes noise.
Cultist: “Hey where have you…?”
Volleys from our collection of guns take down the guards around the house. Joe shoots the generator but fails to stop it. Irma throws a phosphorous grenade at the building. He manages to throw it through an open door on the balcony.
Cultist: “Attack! We’re under attack! They got the genny!”
The phosphorous grenade explodes. There are screams. Also women’s screams…
Joseph shoots the generator again. This time he manages to do it. Just about…
Cultist: “F£$k we’re on fire!”
Greg fires a flare onto the roof of the building.
Huston: “Do not attack us! You fools you will die!”
Greg: “You shall die! You serve Nyarathotep and you will suffer for that!”
Huston: “Wait it is you Gaidar!! Such a tragic lack of imagination!”
Greg: “I have seen universes die!”
Huston: “Then you should see my work! The universe is in his work! I am not his minion! Quieten the slaves!”
There are terrible screams coming from within. People are burning.
Huston: “Yegor, why don’t you come in and we can talk! It is too dark out here.”
Greg: “There’s a polyp on the loose! You have no understanding of Yithian technology!”
Huston: “I have the ultimate knowledge of Yithian technology! You were always brilliant but inflexible! But the universe isn’t black or white, only weak or strong! The Yithians believe there is an infinite loop! I see now that you see some of the picture but not all of it.”
Greg: “Better nihilism than Nyarlathotep!”
Huston: “Illuminate the corridor!”
A blast of lightning shoots down the corridor!
Cultist: “Sir, sir, water is not putting it out!!!”
A cry from below. We close in on the building. There is a flash-light moving around. Someone who is taking phosphorous damage carrying a lightning gun staggers out. He collapses, burning.
Dodge: “You know this man?”
Greg: “I shall kill him and eat his heart. And then we shall enjoy a cigar and stub it out in the palm of his hand: Especially preserved as an ashtray.”
One of the cultists looks out and ducks back in. Another one comes out burning and goes up to the next floor. There are horrible screams coming from people who are in chains.
Huston: “Hold your positions!”
Cultist: “But sir, the stores!”
Trixie tries to shoot one through the stair well but her gun jams. Gupta hears something from an entrance at the back of the place and prepares to throw in a grenade. Inside Gupta sees that the room is full of dynamite!!! Recognizing the danger he throws his grenade away as one of the cultists takes a shot at him but he dodges!
Meanwhile Donelly shoots through the window at one of the cultists. Wes shoots one of them who is running away.
We also hear a mechanical voice from within:
Cultist: “HELP ME I AM BURNING. HELP ME I AM BURNING.”
Huston comes out and is shot in the head by his former colleague Greg and falls down the stairs.
Fire is spreading in the building. It is only a question of time before the whole building goes up.
Trixie and Greg run over to him and raff his satchel and lightning gun. They drag his body away from the burning building… We leave the chamber and once we are about ½ mile away there is a huge explosion followed by a massive dust cloud.
After waiting we go back into the chamber. There are body parts all over the place in a scene of singular horror. We are sickened by the carnage we created and full of remorse for the deaths of their captives. But we had no choice and did not know. Trixie hears a whispering, piping sound. We run.
Continuing down the corridor we find an excavation site. The tracks we saw were slaves and their overseers. This is a dead end so we decide to go back to the main chamber. We find more tracks and follow them down another tunnel.
We find a jumble of crates and parts and a strange contraption. Wesley takes out his improvised Geiger Counter and detects some increased background radiation. Beyond this chamber there is another.
We need a successful electrical repair roll but don’t get it. Beyond this another chamber is filled with control panels and a day bed including elaborate headset. There is an operating table. Geiger counter has gone up slightly. Wesley sees something and suddenly realizes:
It’s another bomb!!!!
It’s on mine cart rails!!!!
It’s another atomic bomb!!!
There is an arch at the end of the chamber with a door. In there are circular parts. Beyond this there is an alien laboratory. Gaidar throws a rock and it is disintegrated in a force field. Lights go on. It is the Yithian. It looks at Joe. It has a little box and introduces itself to Joe as Kakakatak.
TO BE CONTINUED…
