Exploration Events

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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

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.png TECH +30, Materials.png MATERIALS +60, Food.png FOOD +220, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4

A representative of New Jericho thanks us for our donation, which will be used to improve their training facilities.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4

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.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png 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 1anvil2 helmet.png 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.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -7, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +6, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to NJ.png New Jericho -7, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to NJ.png New Jericho -7.


At Peace

The [AircraftName] has encountered a large group of Anu pilgrims following the Path to the Hesychastic Ziggurat, a nearby sacred site said to bring peace and oneness with the Dead God. Despite the extreme danger of such travel, they are only lightly armed.

Accompany them

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project must be higher than -25 for this option.

The pilgrims are a merry lot, and at our offer of assistance, they spontaneously break into song. Making so much noise seems quite foolish, but by the time they've arrived at the Hesychastic Ziggurat, it's hard not to admit that they understand this world and know how to move within it. We might actually be able to learn a lot just by watching them.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Player receives 30 Skill Points.

Let them go

The pilgrims seem unconcerned by our lack of assistance. They're at ease with their surroundings.


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.

Tech.png TECH +130

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.png 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].

Tech.png TECH +150

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.


Cetus

While following an odd trail, our operatives have discovered a huge but non-hostile mutant. The creature, once a bowhead whale, is slowly, painfully pulling itself along on enlarged but fragile centipede-like legs growing along the sides of its body. It appears to be in some distress.

Put the creature out of its misery

The creature's thick skin makes it hard to kill, but after a few shots to the head, it finally stops moving. Whether this was an act of mercy or not is hard to tell, but as one last, heavy breath escapes the creature's broken body it is difficult not to feel sorry for it.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4

Transport it to the sea (-10 TECH)

Transporting the whale-thing back to the sea is a major logistical challenge, and dangerous to boot. It's not even certain whether the creature can survive in the water. But all doubts are laid to rest when it finally, triumphantly bursts up from beneath the waves. The oceans may no longer belong to us, but it would appear that not every link is severed... at least not yet.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +7, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -4

Leave the creature where it is

The whale-thing continues to crawl, oblivious to the moral dilemmas of the tiny apes that surround it.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -2


Dead Town

An abandoned town, a remnant of the old world. The kind of place where children grew up, went to school, got jobs and grew old. A search of the buildings is like picking over the dead, but needs must. We might find some things we can use.

Search the area

A small cache of resources has been found.

Materials.png MATERIALS +160, Food.png FOOD +60

Leave the place undisturbed

Leaving the dead where they are is all very well, but sometimes a sacrifice has to be made. We can only hope we won't regret this decision later when we're in need of food and supplies.


Death Is A Highway

Our operatives have set down beside a ruined highway. There are hundreds of burned-out cars and trucks lying all over the place. Nature is busy reclaiming the concrete and tarmac. It looks like people were trying to live here for a while. We should look around. There might be some stuff left over that we can use.

Search the area

Our operatives have discovered a small cache of resources in a makeshift shelter between two trucks.

Materials.png MATERIALS +500, Food.png FOOD +80

Leave the place undisturbed

Do No Harm

Our operatives have located an abandoned field hospital. This is an unremittingly depressing place where lives were lost in unimaginable agony during the days of the Second Mist. It probably contains useful supplies, but entering it will take a toll on our people.

Search the site

Our operatives return with the resources they could scavenge. None of them wishes to discuss what they've seen.

Tech.png TECH +20, Materials.png MATERIALS +150, Food.png FOOD +180, Exhausted.png Stamina -10.

Let's stay away

Our operatives see enough horrifying things already, they don't need more.


Dulce et Decorum est

An eerie sight awaits our operatives at this location: hundreds of tanks stand abandoned on a crumbling road. No battle was ever fought here; the weapons of the past were designed to kill fellow human beings, not to withstand a shapeless, relentless alien mist.

To New Jericho, the soldiers who fought here were heroes worth remembering, even though they were let down by corrupt, foolish governments. To Synedrion, they were victims of a decaying political system that could only resolve its problems with violence. To the Disciples of Anu, they are an embodiment of the abominations of the old world. The question is: what are they to us?

Build a memorial that portrays them as heroes (-50 Materials)

The memorial to the fallen is inscribed with the words of the poet Joseph Morland: "War is truly noble / Death is finally glorious / Failure is assuredly honorable / Only when the cause is our humanity." Perhaps it will give people hope, and inspire them to keep fighting.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +6, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -2, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -2

Build a memorial that portrays them as victims (-20 Materials)

The memorial to the fallen is inscribed with the words of the poet Nadia Kammerer: "Ask not the blind giant / Why he crushes the people / Ask why we pay tribute / To a blind, fallen god." Perhaps it will inspire people to approach the struggle against the Pandoravirus in a more complex way.

Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +6, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3.

Build a memorial that portrays them as fools (needs rep with Anu more than 10)

The memorial to the fallen is inscribed with a quote from the Gospel of the Exalted, Chapter 3: "Here were written the names of all of Man's cities, and all his nations; and all were dust and memories. No glory could last, no empire endure, for within Man was the seed of destruction, and all his creations were imperfect." Perhaps it will make people understand that they must change themselves before they can change the world.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +7, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -4, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3.

Let these machines of death rot

There is no need to obsess over the failures of the past. If they couldn't defeat the Pandoravirus then, how can they help us defeat it now?

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3


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.png FOOD +300, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png 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.png MATERIALS +320, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3.


Flowers for the Dead

Our operatives have set down on the edge of a town abandoned and picked clean long ago. The nearest building appears to be a crematorium. The backroom is piled up with bodies as if people brought their dead to the place and just left them here. Pink, meaty flowers are growing from the mummified corpses, swaying even though there's no wind.

Search the crematorium

Looks like this is the only place that didn't get ransacked, probably because of the nauseating smell given off by the flowers, which is so intense it actually makes our operatives retch.

Materials.png MATERIALS +90, Food.png FOOD +200, Exhausted.png Stamina -10.

Leave

The smell of the flowers is too nauseating. Better to stay away.


Fun Games and Killer Clowns

Our operatives have set down near an old amusement park. The rides are rusted and overgrown with weeds and brush. The landing zone is pretty small and it will take quite an effort to explore the location around the aircraft. With no sightlines, it could be pretty dangerous, too.

Additionally, as one of our operatives points out, this is precisely the sort of place best avoided in horror movies.

Take off and leave the location undisturbed

Some might think this was a cowardly choice, but who needs mutated killer clowns in a post-apocalyptic amusement park?

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -1.

Clear a path and search the fun fair

It turns out that there are no Pandoran killer clowns in the amusement park, but there are plenty of broken railings and unstable roofs. Recovering the useful bits of machinery is quite hazardous.

Tech.png TECH +50, Materials.png MATERIALS +150, Exhausted.png Stamina -10.


Fungus Humongous

Our operatives have encountered a New Jericho scientific expedition. The expedition has discovered a unique mutation of Pilobolus crystallinus in an abandoned commune's composting facility. The individual fungi are almost twenty times as large as the unmutated variety; when expelling spores, they do so with enough force to penetrate armor.

The expedition has begun preparations for burning the facility.

Petition to study the fungi first (-15 Tech, rep wit New Jericho higher than 15)

While New Jericho disapproves of allowing the fungi to continue existing, even for a limited time period, they accede to our demands. The data collected by our operatives proves to be highly interesting and potentially useful in our own R&D.

1sheep.png Research +100

Help them burn the facility

The world doesn't need more dangerous mutations. The facility goes up in flames.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3

Steal samples and donate them to the Disciples of Anu (rep with Anu must higher than 0)

Our actions have angered New Jericho, but the Disciples are grateful for the donation, which may help them better understand the transformation the world is undergoing, and how to make use of it for human ends.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -6, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4.

Let them burn the facility

Another threat to humanity has been eliminated, thanks to New Jericho.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4


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 interior 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.

Tech.png TECH +70, Materials.png MATERIALS +120

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.


Growth Spurt

At the site of what used to be a lake, our operatives discover an unsettling sight: the entire surface of the water is overgrown with a thick layer of what appears to be dry, flaky skin. In the middle of the lake is a large orifice which pumps out a sticky, greenish liquid that has formed a small river.

A Synedrion science team led by Dr. Amanda Barlow has set up camp nearby. "I've never seen anything like it," she says. "And while I'm all in favour of life and science and all that, my personal inclination is to nuke the site from orbit. If only we had nukes and spaceships."

Dynamite the site (-5 Tech and -35 Materials)

Explosions rip the skin to shreds, exposing the viscous liquid underneath. Our team takes several samples, as does Dr. Barlow's, but for the moment it remains unclear whether or not any of this has been helpful. Perhaps we have killed whatever this organism was, but it's just as possible that the skin will just grow back.

Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3

Contribute to Dr. Barlow's research (-20 Tech)

I guess we'll keep studying this... whatever this is," Dr. Barlow says with a resigned shrug. "Maybe we'll figure out what it does, maybe not. Maybe it doesn't do anything and the Pandoravirus is just insane. Who knows? Anyway, I'll make sure all the data we retrieve is shared with the Phoenix Project.

1sheep.png Research +75

Do nothing

"I don't blame you," Dr. Barlow says with a weary shrug. "We live in a messed-up world and nothing makes sense anymore."


Hard Justice

Our operatives land near a cluster of burned-out vehicles. There's been a fight here, recently by any guess, perhaps in the last week or so. On the ground, there are corpses that were tied up and left. These people were survivors, but on the losing side. They were left to die of starvation, lying in the dirt.

Search the wreckage and the corpses

It's grizzly work at times, but resources mean survival.

Tech.png TECH +15, Materials.png MATERIALS +250.

Search everything, but take time to bury the dead

Burying the dead may only be of symbolic value, but we need to cling to any shreds of decency we have left as a species.

Tech.png TECH +15, Materials.png MATERIALS +250, Exhausted.png Stamina -10, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3


Heads Up, A Head Ahead

Our operatives have discovered a large, screaming head which appears to have grown on top of an old warehouse. The head is only vaguely human, and in some ways resembles a very large pumpkin. Its eyes bulge and drip with a viscous, pus-like fluid. Stalks resembling antennae grow from its balding pate.

It appears to be screaming the same word over and over, something like "yooglog" or "noo-kot" in a variety of intonations."

Destroy the head and search the warehouse (-10 Tech)

Destroying the head proves more difficult than anticipated. Its thick skin is almost impervious to gunfire, and it takes a strong explosive shoved into its mouth to do the trick. Everyone is relieved but also disgusted as pieces of head-pumpkin rain down onto the [AircraftName]. The warehouse has not been looted and contains some useful resources.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +5

Just search the warehouse

The warehouse has not been looted and contains some useful resources, but the head's incessant screaming is very disturbing. After a while, its effect is almost hypnotic.

Materials.png MATERIALS +60, Food.png FOOD +120, Exhausted.png Stamina -10.

Contact the Disciples of Anu (needs rep with Anu higher than 25)

The Disciples send a team to investigate and promise to share any interesting findings. They are thankful for being alerted to the existence of this cephalic novum, whether it turns out to be sacred or just an aberration.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +5, 1sheep.png Research +50.

We should head off

Whatever this thing is, we don't want to be near it.


Horror from the Deep

Our operatives have located the wreck of a beached ship. It's eerily familiar... because it's the Mortzestus, the ship that disappeared in the Sargasso Sea in 2026 and was rediscovered by our operatives not so long ago! How could it possibly have gotten here?

Investigate

As our operatives start climbing on board, the entire ship begins to violently shake, and they are thrown off. With a horrifying howl, the ship begins to glide back into the sea, leaving a trail of luminescent mucus behind it.

Soldiers lose 30 HP.

Get the hell out of here

Thanks but no thanks. Our operatives are brave, not stupid. As far as they're concerned, the creepy ghost ship can quite literally get in the sea.


Hot Stuff

The [AircraftName] has landed less than a kilometer away from a huge fire. It looks like an entire abandoned village is burning. A few buildings at the edge of the blaze could still be searched, although it's risky.

Brave the flames

The buildings are overgrown with some kind of mutated lichen that smells intensely of sulfur; it reacts explosively to fire. Our operatives retrieve as many resources as possible before the fire gets too close.

Tech.png TECH +60, Materials.png MATERIALS +140, Soldiers lose 30 HP.

Leave

This risk is not worth taking.


How Do You Like Them Apples

The [AircraftName] has landed in an open field next to rows and rows of apple trees. The buildings nearby have been abandoned and the whole place has been neglected for quite a while.

Initial testing on the apples indicates that they are unfit for human consumption, as they have been affected by the Pandoravirus. While they look normal on the outside, on the inside they contain internal organs closely resembling those of a crab.

Forget the apples and search the area

A nearby abandoned farmhouse contains a few things we could use.

Materials.png MATERIALS +150, Food.png FOOD +50.

Inform the Disciples of Anu (rep with Anu higher than 10)

The Disciples send someone to investigate the potential of these literal crabapples. They might open up entirely new culinary possibilities! After all, how can humanity adapt to the new ecosystem without finding ways to enjoy it?

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +5, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3.

Disgusting. Burn the place down (rep with Anu lower than 75)

These abominations should not be allowed to keep infesting our planet. Every last one of these trees will be burned.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -5.


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.

Exhausted.png 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.

1sheep.png Research +100

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.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

Tech.png TECH +300

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.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png 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.png TECH +175, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png 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.png FOOD and 10 Tech.png 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.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +6, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -4

No, humanity must embrace new ways

Perhaps in this new era, the past should be left alone.

Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -3, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png 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 training.png 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.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4

Execute him

This is most likely an attempt to infiltrate our ranks. We will not fall for it.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -6, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png 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.png MATERIALS +260, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project -4, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png 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.pngSynedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4, Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

Share it with New Jericho

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.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4

Share it with Synedrion

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.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3

Share it with everyone

Everyone is very pleased, and just for a moment, it seems like we could all get along.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +3, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to Synedrion.png Synedrion +3, Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to NJ.png 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.png TECH +120, 1sheep.png Research +150, Exhausted.png 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.

NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

1sheep.png Research +100

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.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

Tech.png TECH +125

Preserve the information

Perhaps one day we can figure out why people thought snarky comments were going to prevent the apocalypse.

Synedrion.png Synedrion's attitude to 1pp.png Phoenix Project +4, NJ.png New Jericho's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

Anu.png Disciples of Anu's attitude to 1pp.png 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.

Tech.png TECH +60 Materials.png MATERIALS +500


A Voice in the Wilderness

Our operatives have discovered an abandoned Phoenix Project site. What appears to be no more than a small, nondescript shack in fact leads to a heavily-fortified underground nuclear bunker built in the 1940s. Here the Project stored much of its older archival materials, in addition to various oddities collected by its eccentric first Administrator, Randolph Symes. Search the bunker.

Sadly, a significant part of this archive seems to have been destroyed by mold. However, a number of highly valuable documents have survived, including several compilations of the Proceedings of the Phoenix Working Group, one of the Phoenix Project's predecessor organizations. These accounts of investigations conducted more than a century ago can give us new insights into how we approach our work today.

Tech.png TECH +90, Materials.png MATERIALS +140, Food.png FOOD +80, 1sheep.png Research +100


An Injury to All

Our operatives have located an abandoned mining camp. The miners appear to have been killed not by Pandorans, but by entirely human security forces, most likely during one of the major strikes that occurred in the course of World War III. A number of banners detailing the miners' demands are still fluttering in the breeze, the writing bleached by the sun. Search the site.

Our operatives have recovered all the resources they could find. It looks like after the miners were killed, no-one ever came back here. A typically meaningless tragedy of the kind human history is full of.

Tech.png TECH +40, Materials.png MATERIALS +500


Cold Dead Hands

[AircraftName] has flown over an abandoned village. Our operatives have set down near an old church. The graves have been disturbed. It's almost as if someone dug up all the bodies, or they came alive and ripped their way out of the ground. But that doesn't happen... does it? Search the village.

On further investigation, it turns out the bodies were dug up as part of some forgotten experiment. One of the houses in the village has been converted into a lab, and is full of human body parts fitted with cybernetic enhancements, preserved in some kind of embalming fluid. At least we know that the Pandoravirus hasn't started animating the dead.

Materials.png MATERIALS +160, Food.png FOOD +60


Echoes of the Fall

Our operatives have discovered an abandoned Phoenix Project facility. The facility was part of the Phoenix Project's short-lived astronautics program, which ended with the disastrous Phoenix-2 mission to the Moon. The site was converted into a storage bunker in 1992 and appears to have remained untouched since some point in the early 2000s. Search the site.

All available resources have been recovered. Despite its history, this place really is little more than a warehouse now.

Tech.png TECH +110, Materials.png MATERIALS +190, Food.png FOOD +170.


Family Gathering

Our operatives have set down beside an old house, miles away from any other buildings. The whole place looks pristine. The lawn has been mown, the hedges trimmed, the fences painted a bright white, but there is no answer to our calls.

Our operatives break down the door of the home to find a family sitting in wooden chairs in the dining room. They are all dead. It looks like they expired only hours before our people got here. There's not a mark on any of them.

Search the house for anything we can use. There is an enormous larder with the food we can use.

Food.png FOOD +70


Flash Bang

Our operatives report that there's some kind of firefight going on in an old factory, with lots of small rocket ordnance going off. Investigate.

As it turns out, there is no firefight. This is an old fireworks factory. Something has disturbed the warehouse and all the stock is exploding. After waiting for the show to end, our operatives move in and salvage what's left.

Tech.png TECH +60, Materials.png MATERIALS +140,


Forgotten Saviors

The [AircraftName] has landed at an abandoned military base. This site is not on the old maps and databases. It looks like it was used to train and develop some sort of special operations unit dedicated to fighting the invaders. There is a lot of equipment here was can use. Search the site.

It's strange to wander about this place - they could have been us, or we could have been them.

Tech.png TECH +40, Materials.png MATERIALS +300,


Gone

Our operatives have located a broken-down military convoy. There are no survivors - or at least no bodies. There are no signs of a fight, either, but one of the vehicles is standing at a totally different angle than the rest. Search the vehicles.

All available resources have been recovered. As for what happened here, the truth is that we'll probably never know.

Tech.png TECH +95, Materials.png MATERIALS +410, Food.png FOOD +125


Halleck's Legacy

Our operatives have discovered an abandoned Phoenix Project facility. This is not a proper base, but only a small laboratory that was used to quickly analyze samples. It was shut down in 1989 on the orders of Fred Halleck, a bureaucrat who seemed intent on dismantling the Phoenix Project. Search the site.

There's not a lot left, but there are a few resources we could use.

Stuck to a broken-down refrigerator is a caricature of Halleck with the words "Dirty Fred's Dastardly Designs" underneath, presaging the scandal that ended Halleck's career. Some of the notes in the lab seem to hint at the possibility that Halleck's fall was engineered by Phoenix Project operatives.

Tech.png TECH +90, Materials.png MATERIALS +400, Food.png FOOD +80.


Holed Up

Our operatives have set down outside an abandoned supermarket. There might be supplies here that we can use. Search the site.

Our team found the remains of a camp inside the supermarket warehouse. It looks like people tried to live here for a while. However, there's no one left alive and very little we can use.

Food.png FOOD +30


Home Improvement

Our operatives have set down outside an abandoned shopping complex. It looks like the main building here used to be a hardware store. There's bound to be some items and materials that we can use. Search the site.

Other people had the same idea long before us, but luckily this was a big store and there's still a lot left.

Tech.png TECH +60, Materials.png MATERIALS +140,


In the Ruins

Passing over a destroyed town, our operatives detected a weak light shining from the top of a building. It's possible that one or more survivors have turned the top floor into a shelter. Investigate.

Our operatives have found a survivor. Exhausted but otherwise hale, the individual in question escaped the destruction of a nearby independent haven some time ago and holed up here, waiting for the creatures to move on. An experienced fighter, they would like to join the Phoenix Project.

One assault soldier joins the Phoenix Project.


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.png TECH +50, Materials.png MATERIALS +300, Food.png 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.

Materials.png MATERIALS +400, Food.png FOOD +80.


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.