Exploration Events
Text events that happen after exploring POIs (point of interest) on Geoscape. To explore POI you need aircraft with at least 1 soldier. Exploring takes 4 hours. Events are random and not predetermined.
Contents
- 1 Events with choices
- 1.1 A Handful of Dust
- 1.2 A Luxurious Apocalypse
- 1.3 Dismantle the lighter equipment and install it in our facilities
- 1.4 These decadent luxuries are symbols of the old world. Destroy them
- 1.5 Donate the equipment to New Jericho
- 1.6 Donate the equipment to Synedrion
- 1.7 Aftermath
- 1.8 Behind the Walls
- 1.9 Buried Treasure
- 1.10 Embalmed
- 1.11 Ghost Ship
- 1.12 Limpet Surge
- 1.13 Long Pig
- 1.14 Lost Expedition
- 1.15 Memories
- 1.16 Sometimes You Get Lucky
- 1.17 Steel
- 1.18 The Games We Used To Play
- 1.19 The Forgotten
- 1.20 The Signal
- 1.21 What Was Happening
- 2 Events without choice
Events with choices
A Handful of Dust
The [AircraftName] has discovered the ruins of New Babylon, a city-state founded by a schismatic sect that broke off from the Disciples of Anu two years ago. Unlike the Disciples, who see the Pandoravirus as a challenge that must be overcome via evolution, the schismatics believed that all mutations were secretly beneficial and humanity must embrace them without question. When they left their old havens, they took many sacred relics that the Disciples would like to have returned.
These relics largely consist of mutated human remains: the bones of Anu martyrs, who died in the struggle for a more evolved humanity. But New Jericho takes a different view: these relics are actually dangerous bioweapons and potential sources of infection, and ought to be destroyed.
Return the relics
The Disciples are deeply grateful for the return of their sacred artifacts, reminders of the long journey they have been on. ""Perfection cannot be reached in a day,"" as a popular Anu saying goes, ""but those who have hope can glimpse it beyond the sunset.""
To express their thankfulness, they send us a shipment of valuable supplies.
TECH +30, MATERIALS +60, FOOD +220, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +3, New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project -3.
Burn the ruins and the relics with them
New Babylon burns. The so-called relics will be reduced to ashes, as they should be. These people were not martyrs, they were mutants. Maybe the flames will bring some kind of purity back to this place.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +3, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project -5.
A Luxurious Apocalypse
Our operatives have discovered what can only be described as a luxury shelter: an underground facility so extravagant it beggars belief. It has multiple swimming pools, a gym, a sauna, a cinema, even a dedicated VR room. The only thing it doesn't have is people.
Dismantle the lighter equipment and install it in our facilities
Entertainment is rare in this dark and miserable world, but nothing could be more necessary. Faced with the relentless horror of the Pandoravirus, our operatives often struggle to maintain their sanity, and having access to films and games helps them forget about what they've seen, if only for a little while.
These decadent luxuries are symbols of the old world. Destroy them
An obsession with superficial luxuries at the expense of meaningful growth was how the world ended up such a mess in the first place. It's not a coincidence that this shelter is empty. Better to destroy it and focus on true self-improvement.
Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Donate the equipment to New Jericho
A representative of New Jericho thanks us for our donation, which will be used to improve their training facilities.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Donate the equipment to Synedrion
A representative of Synedrion thanks us for our donation, which will be used to improve their entertainment centers. They are particularly grateful for a copy of the Complete Tarkovsky Filmography found in the shelter.
Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Aftermath
Our operatives have discovered an unsettling sight: on a hill near the ruins of a burned-down haven, eight New Jericho soldiers have been beheaded. Their heads, still wearing their helmets, have been placed on spikes. It's impossible to know what happened here, but it can't have been good.
Inform New Jericho of our discovery
A message from New Jericho thanks us for the information and asks us to bury the soldiers' remains. There is no comment as to what the soldiers may have been doing.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Hey, free helmets!
Whatever happened here, it's all over now. The dead soldiers won't mind their helmets being reused.
3 New Jericho Heavy Helmets received
Inform the other factions of our discovery, suggesting New Jericho committed an atrocity here
An official statement from New Jericho disavows any responsibility for the actions of these soldiers, who are said to have gone AWOL weeks ago, and blames the Phoenix Project for deliberately inflaming tensions.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project -7, Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +6, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +3, Synedrion's attitude to New Jericho -7, Disciples of Anu's attitude to New Jericho -7.
Behind the Walls
The [AircraftName] has landed in the remains of a gated community. Judging from the design, this place was built in the early days of the Second Mist, when the upper classes abandoned the cities. The place seems to be in relatively good shape, if somewhat overgrown. Perhaps there are survivors?
Investigate
The more our operatives investigate, the stranger the situation gets. It's not entirely clear, but evidence seems to suggest that the inhabitants of the gated community actually killed each other following a dispute about an inheritance. The turrets, meant to defend the compound's walls, are turned towards the inside, and the lush gardens are full of shattered skeletons. The only thing really worth scavenging is the VR entertainment system.
Ignore
There is not likely to be anything of interest here.
Buried Treasure
Our operatives have discovered something of a treasure trove: an old underground lab full of functional tech. Unfortunately, the structural integrity of the facility is severely compromised. Deep cracks in the walls suggest collapse is imminent.
It would be possible to reinforce the facility to buy us enough time to retrieve all the tech, but it would be costly.
It's worth it. Retrieve the tech.
Costs 50 MATERIALS. The operation proves exactly as complicated as expected, but also just as lucrative. Our operatives managed to retrieve so much tech from the old lab that it barely fits in the [AircraftName].
Tempting, but a waste of resources
Not every treasure is worth pursuing, and greed can be dangerous. We'll have to get our tech elsewhere.
Embalmed
In what appears to have once been a textile factory, our operatives have discovered hundreds of mummified bodies covered in a thin film of mucus. It is unclear whether this mucus was deposited on the bodies by an external source or whether it was excreted during the process of mummification.
Representatives of the Disciples of Anu demand that the bodies of the "martyrs" be turned over to them for study, while New Jericho demands that the bodies be destroyed to prevent infection.
Allow the Disciples to study the bodies
The Disciples thank us for protecting the bodies of the martyrs from the heathens at New Jericho and reward us for our good deed.
FOOD +300, New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project -3, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Demolish the building, burying the bodies
We receive a message of thanks from New Jericho. They're glad that we have the sanity to look at a bunch of mummified bodies and see a health risk, not objects to be worshipped, and they're not averse to expressing their thankfulness in material terms.
MATERIALS +320, New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +3, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project -3.
Ghost Ship
Our operatives have located the wreck of a beached ship. The Mortzestus was a cargo vessel registered in San Francisco which mysteriously disappeared in the Sargasso Sea in 2026. How it ended up here is anyone's guess; the captain's log is nothing but mad scrawls, and the ship's interor is covered in a sticky, translucent membrane. The wind echoes weirdly down its corridors, distorted into an eerie moaning by the membrane. The cargo appears to be intact.
Retrieve the cargo
The cargo is indeed intact, but some of it is quite badly stuck in the membrane. Getting it out is exhausting, and once it's done, our operatives get out of there as quickly as possible. There's something unsettling about this ship.
Get out of here
The Phoenix Project is a science organization, not a ghost-busting outfit. Not that ghosts exist. It's just that our operatives would rather be doing something else.
Limpet Surge
Our operatives have discovered a military depot that could hold highly valuable supplies for our cause. However, the building is overgrown with enormous, mutated purple limpets, and they appear to be multiplying exponentially. The facility will soon be covered in so many layers of limpets that drilling through their shells will be nigh on impossible.
Let's do this while we can (-20 tech and -30 materials)
The process is boring and cumbersome, but eventually, our operatives manage to break through and recover the military equipment. Humanity 1, Limpets 0.
Stamina -10, Player obtains 3 Incendiary Grenades, 1 Gauss Assault Rifle, 1 Gauss Sniper Rifle and 1 Gauss Machine Gun.
This isn't worth the effort
The limpets keep growing. How strange and alien this world has become.
Long Pig
Our operatives are disturbed to report the discovery of what they describe as a "pig pipeline" - a bizarre growth resembling the stitched-together bodies of pigs, several miles long. It is unclear to what end the Pandoravirus created this organism, or why it recombined pig DNA to achieve its purpose. Perhaps the entire thing is an aberration.
Investigate it (-5 TECH)
At some point, it disappears into the ground. Readings suggest it may continue for several more miles in this fashion. Our operatives attach a number of sensors and take several samples. Perhaps some of the data thus collected will prove useful in our research.
Burn it (-15 MATERIALS)
It would be impossibly costly to burn the entire thing, so our operatives only set a section of it on fire. It writhes like a snake as it burns, and a dark brown liquid emerges with an awful gurgling sound. It smells of bacon.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Let it be. It's probably an error
Lost Expedition
Our operatives have discovered the broken remains of an experimental Synedrion mobile lab. Apparently, the vehicle suffered a containment failure; there are no signs of the crew, but some of the equipment could be salvaged.
Salvage the equipment without informing Synedrion
The research itself is sadly lost, but there are some useful parts that can be extracted from the lab.
Inform Synedrion regarding our discovery and give them the equipment
Dr. Hussein Habinek, a Synedrion scientist who helped design the lab, sends us a message of thanks. He had argued against deploying it so early but was outvoted.
"There is little pleasure to be had in being proven right about something so terrible," he says, "but at least we know what happened, and can learn from it."
Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +5
Take everything useful, then inform Synedrion
Dr. Hussein Habinek, a Synedrion scientist who helped design the lab, sends us a message of thanks. He had argued against deploying it so early but was outvoted.
"There is little pleasure to be had in being proven right about something so terrible," he says. "I wish I knew what happened. I suppose it will always haunt me."
TECH +175, Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Memories
While exploring a seemingly unremarkable ruin, our operatives stumble across a book half-hidden in a pile of rubble: an old copy of Olaf Stapledon's visionary novel Star Maker. It is unusually well-preserved.
Further investigation reveals what appears to be a collapsed library. Sealed off under the rubble, the books have remained almost completely undamaged. While not useful in our war against the Pandoravirus, these books represent a vital part of humanity's history. Would digging them out be worth it?
Yes, this is part of who we are
Costs 25 [File:materials.png|30px]] MATERIALS, 15 FOOD and 10 TECH. Digging out the books takes a surprisingly long time, but the bounty is rich, including the Complete Works of Doris Lessing, Robert Byron's The Road to Oxiana, and a worn copy of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's The Final Circle of Paradise, long thought lost.
Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +6, New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +3, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project -4
No, humanity must embrace new ways
Perhaps in this new era, the past should be left alone.
Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project -3, New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project -3, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +5
This choice should be left to a future generation if we survive the war
Perhaps the best way of preserving these texts is to let them stay exactly where they are, safely underground, until one day this war is over and there is time for books once more.
Sometimes You Get Lucky
Approaching the burned-out husks of a New Jericho convoy, our operatives are suddenly startled by a shout. From a rudimentary shelter dug out under one of the burned vehicles emerges a battered New Jericho technician, waving his arms and laughing.
Exhausted by the ordeal yet deeply grateful, the survivor offers to join the Phoenix Project.
Recruit him. We can always use more people
"This month has not turned out the way I'd expected it," he comments as he sits down in the [AircraftName], wiping the dirt from his face.
The player obtains one New Jericho technician soldier.
Send him back to New Jericho
The survivor is too relieved to be alive to really care about being rejected. We receive a message of thanks from New Jericho for returning their man.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Execute him
This is most likely an attempt to infiltrate our ranks. We will not fall for it.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project -6, Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project -2
Steel
Our operatives have discovered an abandoned scrapyard which appears to have once been used as a refuge by a group of steelworkers. The workers heroically defended this location for years until hunger finally forced them to abandon it. Remarkably, they recorded their history by engraving it onto the large metallic plates they used to keep out the enemy.
These plates would be extremely useful as construction material, but representatives of Synedrion have asked us to preserve them as a source of inspiration for future generations.
Resources are resources. Recycle it all
We cannot afford to be sentimental about such things. Metal is metal, and images won't win this war.
MATERIALS +260, Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project -4, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
We must remember our history. Preserve them
If we remember those who fought, if their struggle inspires our own, then their deaths were not in vain. In this way, these works of art may help us win the war for humankind.
Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +4, Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project -4.
The Games We Used To Play
What at first appears to be a bunker that might hide survivors turns out to be more of an archive: at some point before the collapse, someone used this facility to save an extensive collection of computer games for the long-defunct operating system DOS. Word of this discovery causes an unusual wave of nostalgia and excitement, culminating in requests from New Jericho and Synedrion for the material to be shared.
The enthusiasts of New Jericho are thankful for this precious artefact of old-world culture, which those anarchist hippies at Synedrion wouldn't know how to appreciate.
"They probably don't even know how to set up a sound card," the message from New Jericho notes.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
The enthusiasts of Synedrion are grateful for this precious artefact of human ingenuity, which the crude militarists of New Jericho wouldn't be able to appreciate.
"Most likely they don't even know how to recreate the proper CRT look," the message from Synedrion notes.
Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +3
Everyone is very pleased, and just for a moment, it seems like we could all get along.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +3, Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +3, New Jericho's attitude to Synedrion +3, Synedrion's attitude to New Jericho +4.
The Forgotten
Our operatives have discovered the location of an abandoned lab. The doors appear to have remained sealed for at least twenty years. Unfortunately, it is impossible to ascertain the lab's purpose from the outside.
Break in
"The scientists who once worked in this lab are nothing but skeletons, starved to death long ago. It would seem they kept working to the end, trying to find a cure to the Pandoravirus.
As our operatives strip the base, they find a note left by the scientists. It's a short, simple message: "Make it all mean something."
TECH +120, Research +150, Stamina -10
Let it be
Perhaps it's best not to know what is in there. Our operatives will bury the lab, leaving its mysteries for another generation, should one ever come to pass.
The Signal
Our operatives report seeing a strange, spindly, quivering line on the horizon. When the [AircraftName] gets closer, they discover a gargantuan spinal column extending hundreds of meters into the sky. Rising up from a pool of mucus, it holds itself in place with an array of thin, near-transparent tentacles. It seems to emit a low hum.
Dynamite it
The explosion shatters the vertebrae and the entire column collapses, almost hitting the [AircraftName]. The tentacles ship madly for a while before the whole thing seems to finally die.
New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
Study it
It almost seems like the whole thing is some kind of emitter. An organic communications array, perhaps? But to what end? Our operatives retrieve as much data as they can, but answers remain elusive.
Let the Disciples know about this
The Disciples are very grateful for the tip. This could be a holy site of great significance, or at least an opportunity to learn more about the ways of the new world.
Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +4
What Was Happening
A heavily-fortified building explored by our operatives has turned out to be an abandoned "server farm" for the social media platform Plapper, which collapsed in the mid-2020s. Millions of short messages are archived here, documenting in detail the lives of the pre-war middle classes.
Is this information worth preserving, or should we just take all the spare parts we need?
Take what we need
Pre-apocalyptic hot takes are not exactly a valuable commodity. Our operatives take all the parts we need, the past be damned.
Preserve the information
Perhaps one day we can figure out why people thought snarky comments were going to prevent the apocalypse.
Synedrion's attitude to Phoenix Project +4, New Jericho's attitude to Phoenix Project +3
Just smash it all
This vile idiocy does not deserve to be remembered. Better to smash every single drivel-filled drive before such foolishness can infect us all again.
Disciples of Anu's attitude to Phoenix Project +6
Events without choice
A Good Haul
Our operatives have set down at an abandoned industrial complex. This looks promising. Search the area. Nothing weird, just lots of useful resources.
Nature's Triumph
Our operatives have discovered the Grand Temple of the Pan-Cosmic Ostara, a compound belonging to a Nature-worshipping cult that arose in the late 2010s. It's hard to tell whether the compound is occupied, as the cultists rejected electricity as unnatural and refused to perform any repairs on buildings they owned.
The compound houses over one hundred beds, and there is a decayed corpse in every one of them, each with a plastic bag wrapped around its head to symbolize ecological disaster. It seems the Ostarans followed through on their belief that humanity was a virus by committing mass suicide. There is nothing of any value here. Leave.
Remains
Our operatives have located an abandoned military outpost. It is unclear which nation's military it belonged to, since this region's government fractured heavily during World War III. Search the site.
All available resources have been recovered. No additional information regarding the site itself has come to light.
TECH +50, MATERIALS +300, FOOD +180.
The Towering Incompetence
Our operatives have discovered a highly-fortified skyscraper. The site appears to be abandoned. Our findings indicate that this location was fortified by the owners of a hedge fund, who intended to outlast the end of days here. Although the structure is beginning to crumble, it would have been a good place to survive the early years of the apocalypse.
This tragedy is something of a puzzle: despite the availability of tremendous technical resources and enough supplies to last a century, the owners of this structure apparently died from voluntarily drinking unfiltered water.
War
This valley was the location of a major battle of the Third World War. The ground is poisoned and thousands of skeletons, now overgrown by mutated moss, litter the countryside. There is absolutely nothing of value here. Leave.