Fire and Ice: Chapter 3: Lazarus Shipping and the Safehouse

From SSDC, Inc.

ENCOUNTER 7: LAZARUS SHIPPING

When the characters arrive at Lazarus Shipping, the gate guard will stop them and check their identification. After the appropriate signs and countersigns (as detailed on the disk), are made, a pair of guards will escort them to the staging area. Cleverly disguised as a small storage warehouse, the building contain everything a team needs in a temporary command post (a map of the staging area is included in this module). They are ordered to get in uniform (Lazarus Uniform, that is), and assemble in the briefing room at 2530 hours. This gives them about half an hour to shower, get dressed, and assemble. Once the team is ready, Captain Lazarus will join them in the briefing room. He is a rugged looking Gen-Human is his late 40s, with graying hair and a mustache (picture Tom Skeritt). He is impatiently champing on a cigar.

The team leader will find briefing disk two awaiting on the table. Lazarus begins to speak:

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Captain Lazarus. I do not care to know who you are, or why you are here. It is in the best interests of our little operation to know as little as possible about your mission. I have, however, been ordered by Major Frump to assist you in whatever way possible. Here is the story: You will deploy to Jericho City in the morning. A vehicle is being provided for you. It is a Rockwell Nomad, disguised to look like a delivery vehicle. You are supposed to be delivering that crate of "medical equipment" in the repair bay, which actually contains the rest of your gear, to a storage facility on the outskirts of Jericho City. This location will serve as a safehouse for your team during the mission. I do not know the location of this safehouse - it is detailed on your briefing disk and in a sealed packet containing your "official" orders and cargo manifest, which I will provide in the morning.

"You will assemble here at 0600 hours, load your gear into the vehicle, and proceed to the stilt. The elevator will take you down to Jericho City. Proceed to the safehouse - make certain you are not followed! Do not allow the site to be compromised! Do not open the crate until you are in the safehouse! Upon arrival, remove the panels from your vehicle and break out your gear. Briefing disk three will be found in the command packet within. When you have completed your mission, notify us on the secure comm. in your vehicle and rendezvous at the specified site. We will send a team to extract you to a safe location, and take custody of mission-oriented materiel.

"Any questions you have will be answered on your briefing disk. I suggest you review it before tomorrow morning. 'Oh-dark-thirty' comes mighty early people, so I recommend you get your gear in order and catch some shuteye. Dis-miss!"

ENCOUNTER 8: DOWN THE BEANSTALK

At 0600 hours, the team should saddle up and prepare to move out. Captain Lazarus will be there to send them off. He will hand the team leader a sealed envelope, and ask them not to open it until they have left the base. It is their "cargo manifest" and "destination orders". As briefing disk two instructed, the purchase order number is the code that they will enter into their bodycomp to learn the location of briefingdisk three. Captain Lazarus will address the team one last time:

"Good luck, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be awaiting your signal. If we don't hear from you within seven days, we will presume you have been lost or captured. In that case, no help will be forthcoming. Now, let's forget we ever saw each other. Get the hell of my base!" he says with a grin.

The team should proceed in their vehicle to the stilt, which connects Enginalo to the surface. During the 15-minute trip, they should review the information in the sealed packet. The destination orders list a self-storage facility on the East Side of Jericho City. It is here that they will remove the panels and find briefing disk three, which will lead them to the real safehouse (yes, this is different than what Captain Lazarus was told. The only one who knows the entire situation is Major Frump). The cargo manifest lists medical equipment (a shipping weight equal to the items they've smuggled), and has been cleared by Customs.

Upon arrival at the stilt, the manifest and credentials will receive a cursory examination before the vehicle is cleared to proceed. Once upon the platform, the vehicle is secured by restraining straps and blocks. "Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle until the ride has come to a complete stop. Hold on to your hats...and your lunch!" the lift officer advises. Then the bottom seems to drop out and it feels like the truck is free-falling. the surface below rushes up to meet the truck at an alarming speed. Just when it seems that the vehicle and its occupants will be splattered all over the ground, the platform slows and floats to touchdown like a feather. The entire 4-mile trip to the surface has taken less than 36 seconds.

[All characters that do not possess EVM skill must make a CON check at -20. Characters with Body Equilibrium may add +20 per level to the check. Failure indicates that the character has "blown chow".]

As soon as the platform touches down, technicians scurry onto it and release the truck from its moorings. They are then cleared to proceed.

There is a map of Jericho City in the glove box. A Land Navigation check at a Level 3 Difficulty will allow the team to find the storage facility. The drive there takes 30 minutes, plus one for each point the check was failed by.

When the characters arrive at the storage facility, they will find that it is not yet open. As briefing disk two advises, the purchase order number is the code for the gate and the keypad for the storage unit, which is around the back. The unit is a 6 meter by 10 meter garage that they can back into. According to the computer, briefing disk three can be found inside the dummy security camera. If the lens assembly is removed, they will find the half-dollar sized holodisk within.

Briefing disk three informs them to remove their Lazarus Uniforms, as well as the panels from the sides of the truck, and leave them here. When removed, the lightweight plastic panels go blank - there is no sign of the Lazarus logo remaining. The magnetic decals on the cab door and back doors do the same. This disk also reveals the location of the actual safehouse, clear across the city in the suburbs of the West Side, about 10 minutes outside of the city limits. It will take about one hour of driving to get there.

ENCOUNTER 9: THE SAFEHOUSE

The safehouse appears to be a well-appointed suburban home down a private drive. The doctor who owns the home is secretly in the employ of Balshrom and is "on vacation" for the week. As far as anyone else is concerned, the team members are merely security specialists who watch the house when the doctor is away for long periods of time.

The home is very nicely furnished, as might be expected on a neurosurgeon's salary. There are a number of double-occupancy rooms designed for various races - one Jungle package, one methane package, one radiation package, a wewh cave, and a few normal bedrooms. The premises are protected by a voice print door lock (which will respond to the team members' voices), and a window alarm system. A three meter high stone wall for privacy surrounds the grounds. The kitchen includes a food synthesizer and food atomizer, as well as a bar wall unit. The entertainment center consists of an 8-stack VHS, Holographic Stereo, and Tri-V, with an astounding library of video and audio discs. There is a small medical office with a CAT scan and automated surgery unit. The gym includes a Jacuzzi, sauna, isolation tank, holo-combat station and a body dryer in addition to universal resistance machines. It's a splendid place to spend a week. Too bad the team's got a job to do, the pool looks inviting.

BM's NOTE: All of these amenities cost about ten million credits over and above the cost of the home itself, and give the doctor a charisma increase of about +300! Even a Mutzachan would be blown away by this place! There's something here to entertain nearly everyone - Eridani, Orions, Ram Pythons... and even Humans. By the way, any losses or damages caused by the team will be deducted from their mission bonus.

The final briefing disk is concealed in the doctor's office, in the patient disks, under "P. Frump". This is the disk that finally reveals to the team just exactly what they are here to do. An aerial photograph of the area west of Jericho City is concealed in the back of the picture frame containing the doctor's diploma. Several possible locations of Able's lab are marked upon the picture. It is not possible to tell exactly what these places are from the photo. A wise team will start with the closest possibility and work its way westward. The coordinates of each location are given, and a Land Navigation skill check at a Level 5 Difficulty is needed to locate each site from the ground.

Next
Fire and Ice: Chapter 4: Jericho City Encounters

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Fire and Ice: Chapter 2: The Voyage

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