Dr. Giger's Report 3 - Raid on Cyber Mutants

[Note: all references to other documents and figures are IC available, not OOC as far as I'm aware]

Mission: PRIMARY: Save slaves mentioned in the previous report. SECONDARY: 1) Kill cyber mutants to remove the possibility of a threat from that quarter. 2) Retrieve books from library inside the mansion the cyber mutants were holed up in. 3) Keep all members of the attack party alive and healthy.

Mission status: PRIMARY: Successful; 8 of 10 slaves successfully saved. 2 of 10 unfortunately killed (see detailed summary). SECONDARY: 1) Mostly successful, though largish contingent still alive (see detailed summary). 2) Unfortunately, aside from four large bags of books (NOTE: I don't believe we were told an amount of books in these bags, but they fit in the army truck with everyone, and weren't placed in Pox's car, so should have been able to be returned to base; these books specifically were the technical books, as I believe the GM said that the mutants were using the slaves to decide whether a book was worth taking or not) there was no room in the vehicles due to something special but very large discovered on mission; recommend secondary trip out to the mansion now to empty the library as the mutant population has been reduced and may not attempt to return to that location. 3) Despite the best efforts of the Crusaders friends to jump in front of our own sides bullets, all members of the expedition returned alive and well. SPECIAL ITEM RETRIEVED: Advanced pre-apocalypse 'portable' surgery capable to installing cybernetic implants (see detailed summary) - item placed in the (relatively) new medical facility near the kitchens; see attached map for specific location.

Detailed summary: Myself, Francois-Marie Arouet, Pox, Quasimodo, John Le'Grande, and Sam met to discuss tactics after Pox was released from jail. We discussed the need to save the slaves from their position, the danger that the mutants faced so close to our settlements, and the library of pre-war knowledge located in the library.

Pox, Quasimodo, Francois-Marie, and (the sniper) went out to properly scout the area as we had only managed to do so briefly before Pox's previous antics. While they were away, I approached The Cook for manpower assistance, while John approached The Crusader for the same. They both agreed to help, with The Cook agreeing in order to help save the slaves, while The Crusader was stirred more by the threat that the mutants represented. When the scouting party returned, they reported only a few mutants in the house, and that they were packing to move. The Cook provided our team with five extra members [names and positions], while The Crusader provided three zealots [names and positions] who, and I directly quote, "have been showing too much zealotry recently, so would be done some good by being taken out in the field". Francois-Marie and Sam approached The Archivist and requested weapons and ammunition as well as a vehicle to take our rescue team out to battle, with the request being granted.

On the trip out to the mansion, we discussed tactics, with the decision being reached that John would repeat his performance from the last encounter in shooting at the mutants to get their attention, but this time would draw them into an ambush placed near the mansion. After getting set up, we put this plan into action, though not without having to adjust to a slight change as the mutants were attempting to leave right when we attempted to get their attention. Three of the five mutants present took the bait, with one attempting to drag the only slave they had with them away, and the other trying to carry four large bags of books away from the mansion. Notable points in the ensuing fire fight was 1) Francois-Marie shooting the chain that the slave was connected to, breaking it, and allowing for an extra distraction as the slave was free to try to escape the mutants, and 2) Pox driving his car right into the mutant whose blood disintegrated his arm in our last encounter, killing it instantly. The last mutant left alive surrendered, was hypnotised to be more open to imparting knowledge, and was then interrogated. It informed us that the rest of the mutants were at their main base a days drive away (see attached map for details), where their leader 'the enhancer' looked after them. The Zealots then killed the mutant while we were discussing how best to deal with it as a prisoner as they refused to let a mutant live, even if it was being useful. Sam provided the slave with new clothes and some food, and I performed a quick medical check-up, addressing the wounds that I could in the circumstances. Francois-Marie and Sam had a conversation with the slave, and were told that the mutants had scouting parties that went out for days at a time from the main base.

Francois-Marie and Sam suggested that we split into three groups (Francois-Marie, Sam, and John in one, [The Cook's allies] in the second, and myself, Pox, Quasimodo, and [The Crusaders zealots] in the third) to take out the three mutant scouting parties before approaching the main base. This went swimmingly, with all three scouting parties taken out without alerting the base. Afterwards, we got our first proper look at the base; three stories tall, with an office-type building next to a very large warehouse structure (see attached sketch). There was a mutant on the roof that Francois-Marie took out easily, followed by some mutants around the back of the building that we took out as quickly as possible. After this, I used my grapnel to create a path up on the roof to take the spot of the sniper, and myself, Francois-Marie, and Sam went on the roof, while John led the zealots around the side. [The Cook's allies] took up position in the woods in front of the main entrance, taking aim at a large group of mutants standing there, while we in turn took aim down at them from the roof. In a short concentrated firefight, we took out all but one of the mutants, with the last one running inside to raise the alarm. In this fight, the zealots ran in front of [The Cook's allies] line of fire, with one takin a bullet in the shoulder. I moved the grapnel line to the front of the building and we all climbed down, then I took it down and quickly provided medical aid to the zealot. We then had Pox drive his car in the building as the doors were large enough. This was meant to be rolling cover, as the car is so well armoured, but things went a bit sideways.

From the outside we saw him drive in as discussed, then he suddenly sped up and shot sideways. This was due to a large number of mutants standing with weapons trained on him. In doing this, he ran over and killed instantly two of the slaves inside, but also did massive damage to a large number of the mutants. After more of our team ran inside and took cover quickly, one of the main mutants called for parlay, saying they would kill the slaves if we didn't leave immediately. After bluffing them (they are not very bright) by saying that we would kill the slaves if THEY didn't leave, they agreed to leave, and went to take this amazing looking piece of medical equipment, the so-called 'enhancer'. Pox asked if they would first fix his arm, and they recognised him as 'the new recruit', so agreed as long as he had the parts. He 'produced' an arm (taken from one of the dead mutants) and they attached it to him. The mutants do not believe in anaesthetic, so I used hypnotism to remove the pain [book says it can be used for this specific purpose]. After recognising that we could make good use of this machine back at the fort, I decided to make a roll of the dice; they believed Pox to be a new team member, so I suggested that they make use of his car to bring it with them. Sam quickly took up my line of argument too, and together we convinced them that this was a sensible idea. Pox went off with them and, as soon as he was feeling mentally recovered from the surgery, took off, leaving the mutants in a cloud of dust. In the interum, we freed the slaves, explained to them that we'd come to save them specifically, and explored the building. In the basement we discovered a mutated horse that had been altered to fit into a generator and provide the base with energy. It was in constant pain, and so the team unanimously decided to end its suffering; although it may have been an amazing source of energy, the ethical cost was too high to be considered as a serious option. Myself and the whole team stand by this decision as the only possible choice to have made.

Vacating the mutant base, we met up with Pox and Quasimodo, then returned to the mansion briefly to explore it unhindered. We found the library, with thousands of pre-war books ripe for the taking. Unfortunately, apart from the four large bags we already had in the car, there was no feasable way to take the books with us at that junction due to transporting the eight slaves and the medical chair. We then drove back to The Fort. The chair was set up in the medical center, the books are currently being prepared for processing with a note that they are required for us to understand the chair and, as such, cannot be traded away, and the slaves are being settled in to life at the fort.

A note on the slaves: they lived their whole lives in servitude as far as we can tell, believe that their names are only slave, and have a full slave mentality. I will be overseeing their deprogramming, and it is my great hope that they will choose to remain with us in the United Front. However, (a) this HAS to be their choice, and I will not tolerate anyone attempting to force them to stay with us, and (b) I will not tolerate anyone trying to make use of their current slave modality either. If you are not (a) a member of the rescue team, and/or (b) trained in medical aid, and/or (c) need to talk to them for administrative reasons, I request that you leave them be for now. In time they will be ready, but right now they need medical and psychological aid, they don't need to be hounded.

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