Attempted Apprehension of Esau Tillmaan - Mon, Jul 27, 2020

The session opened with a recap of the agents’ surveillance of the Frank Harvey facility and their preparations to confront Esau Tillman.

• Jesse’s promised assistance was not due until Sunday, so the agents had remained in the desert watching the facility.
• On Friday afternoon, a black SUV arrived carrying a handcuffed young woman and a child barely old enough to walk. The woman resisted when the occupants took the child from her, but the child was brought inside and the mother was forced back into the SUV and driven away.
• During the wait, Dr. Ming and Ernie finished reading Tillman’s journal. Tillman believed that his childhood abuse had divided his brain: one half had painfully learned language and how to function among other people, while the other remained connected to “the quiet,” the silent voice that guided the children.
• Through his studies of mythology, occultism, and physics, Tillman believed he had found evidence of a nameless god that hungered for death, particularly the deaths of things beyond human understanding.
• Tillman believed humanity could survive by “lighting fires in the darkness” and directing that hunger toward something worse. He intended the facility to serve as one of those fires.
• Jesse’s contact arrived on Sunday. He was an older, weathered man whose immediate concern was identifying who needed to be shot. He had no black site or Program resources available and no interest in trying to control the unnatural.
• His proposed solution was to kill Tillman from a distance and then enter the facility. The agents instead wanted to capture Tillman long enough to question him and learn whether they could break the cycle.
• A brochure for El Puente de la Esperanza, an immigration legal defense organization that had previously helped MASTICATE in Los Angeles, had blown across the cemetery and stopped near Jerry. The agents considered the organization a possible source of help for the detained children.

The agents resumed discussing how to prepare an assault and evacuation before moving against Tillman.

• Their contact regarded capturing and questioning Tillman as dangerous and did not want to participate directly in that part of the operation.
• The intention was to prepare the facility operation in advance so they could move quickly after dealing with Tillman.
• Jerry wanted to evacuate everyone they could, although the final scope would depend on what they encountered.
• Andy had counted roughly seventy people inside. The group also discussed an unknown number of younger children who might increase the total.
• There were comparatively few adults, and the agents understood that adults did not remain at the facility for very long.
• Their camper van could not transport the anticipated number of children, so they began considering buses and other larger vehicles.

The group examined possible nearby staging areas for evacuation vehicles.

• The surrounding highway area consisted largely of industrial properties.
• A dirt road ran between the water reclamation plant and Mesquite Hills, the nearest residential community, which also had some commercial development.
• Nearby industrial properties included Texas Tiles Incorporated, the El Paso Municipal Vehicle Storage Facility, and Morgan Kidd Gas Company.
• Those properties had sizable parking lots, but the lots were not open to the public.
• Jerry proposed staging transportation nearby, securing the facility, and then calling the vehicles forward once the gates could be opened.
• Andy preferred moving the children to an agreed handoff location away from the facility. He questioned whether the legal organization would agree to enter private property in the aftermath of the agents’ raid.
• Jerry acknowledged that the organization might not want to be associated with their methods, but emphasized that the children would still need immediate transportation.
• The group decided to contact the organization before settling the handoff arrangements.

Jerry called the number on the El Puente de la Esperanza brochure on Sunday around midday.

• A woman answered in Spanish, and Jerry responded in Spanish.
• She asked whether he needed assistance with an immigration problem.
• Jerry said he knew people who needed help and requested an in-person conversation rather than discussing the details over the telephone.
• Although the office normally opened Monday through Saturday, she offered to come in that afternoon if the matter was urgent.
• Jerry confirmed that it was, and she gave him an address in El Paso and asked him to arrive in approximately two hours.

Jesse’s contact left to conduct reconnaissance of his own.

• He told the agents to call him Bill.
• They exchanged telephone contact information so they could coordinate afterward.

The agents went to the organization’s office that afternoon.

• Andy suggested limiting how many agents met the woman, both to avoid intimidating her and to reduce the number of people she could later identify.
• Jerry agreed to go inside alone.
• The office occupied a modest strip-mall storefront with a poster in the window and appeared to operate on a small budget.
• The woman was in her early thirties, with dark hair, and wore a suit jacket, slacks, and practical shoes.
• She initially gave Jerry a somewhat suspicious look and addressed him in Spanish.
• Jerry had given his name over the telephone and put on his clerical collar for the meeting.
• Seeing the collar, she inferred that he was seeking assistance for someone else.

Before describing the situation, Jerry established what the agents knew about the organization’s previous involvement with MASTICATE.

• The agents had access to the pertinent information about its earlier assistance in Los Angeles.
• That history included the investigation involving the Slug Squad.
• Jerry then checked that he and the woman were alone before explaining why he had come.

Jerry described children who had been separated from their families and were being held in detention.

• He said he had an opportunity to get them out but needed someone who could take responsibility for them and help locate their families.
• The woman said that this was among the services her organization provided.
• She asked whether the organization would need to take custody because the children’s parents or legal guardians could not be located.
• Jerry confirmed that this was the situation and said the documentation concerning the children was poor.
• She explained that the organization had a support network for arranging temporary homes and working toward family reunification.

Jerry estimated that the group might need help for between seventy and one hundred children, ranging from infants to teenagers.

• The estimate included the children already observed and the possibility of additional younger children.
• The woman reacted with surprise at the number.
• She said they would need time to arrange care, find people to help, and prepare paperwork.

Jerry asked whether she knew about the Frank Harvey Reclamation facility.

• She had heard rumors that part of the water reclamation plant was being used for detention.
• Before allowing him to explain further, she set a boundary for their conversation: if someone gave her a time and place where people needed assistance, she did not need to know where they had come from, but she said she would be required to report unlawful activities if she learned about them.
• Jerry said the ICE agents responsible for the facility were not following even the limited laws that were supposed to govern their conduct.
• When she indicated that such problems were widespread, he emphasized that this situation was significantly worse and that some of the children might need extensive help.
• She said her organization had the motivation and at least some of the resources to care for the children and help them return home.
• She reiterated that if he supplied a time and location where children needed help, the organization would do everything it could.

Jerry initially suggested arranging the pickup outside the reclamation facility.

• He did not yet have an exact time but expected the operation to take place within the next day or so.
• The woman suggested that a pickup elsewhere might be more successful.
• Jerry asked whether she could direct him to bus rental or charter services.
• She replied that such information was publicly available and that several companies in the city offered those services.
• Jerry also asked whether she knew of companies that would be especially unsympathetic to transporting the children, but she did not.

Jerry brought up the woman’s prior work in Los Angeles.

• She confirmed that she had been there helping with a lawsuit.
• Jerry said he knew the people she had spoken with before leaving the city.
• She briefly looked panicked, then appeared to realize he probably did not mean the police gangsters.
• Although she seemed to have questions, she instead ended the interview and became noticeably more hesitant.
• She reiterated that if there really were children who needed help, the organization wanted to assist them.
• Jerry promised to call once the agents had a concrete handoff location.
• She gave him a card bearing her personal telephone number.
• Jerry thanked her and told her she was doing the Lord’s work.
• After he left, she took out cigarettes with trembling hands, lit one, took a long drag, and rested her head in her hand.

Jerry reported the meeting’s outcome to the others.

• The organization could receive the children and arrange further care, but the agents would need to transport them to the handoff.
• They still needed a sufficiently large vehicle and a firm operational schedule.
• The group discussed chartering buses, renting multiple vans, and obtaining a truck.
• Andy had the best stated driving skill in the group, at 50%.

The agents considered a tractor-trailer before settling on a large box truck.

• A tractor-trailer raised questions about licensing and whether any of them had the specialized driving experience needed to operate it.
• They discussed the possibility of obtaining false credentials, but that would not resolve the practical driving issue.
• Jerry suggested a U-Haul-style truck, which would be easier to rent and would not require the same specialized license.
• The Handler ruled that a twenty-six-foot truck should accommodate the anticipated group of children for the short trip to a nearby handoff.
• The agents agreed to obtain that truck.
• Jerry wanted lighting inside the cargo area, and small battery-powered LED lights were suggested.
• They also arranged blankets, things to sit on, and bottled water.
• The rest of the day went into transportation logistics, supplies, and planning.

Dr. Ming remained uneasy about the operation.

• He was relieved that they at least had a possible arrangement for the children’s care.
• He said he wished they could abduct Tillman, but believed that option had been ruled out.
• The Handler clarified that Bill had not forbidden the attempt. Bill’s position was that if it went badly, he would withdraw.
• The agents could still capture Tillman and question him elsewhere if they chose.

The group reconsidered the purpose and risks of taking Tillman alive.

• Andy described the original intention: capture him, restrain and interrogate him, and potentially kill him afterward depending on what they learned.
• They also considered using Tillman’s access badge to enter the facility.
• One proposal was to station Bill in a firing position so he could kill Tillman if the capture failed or Tillman escaped.
• Jerry emphasized that taking Tillman would not by itself resolve the children’s situation; they would still have to deal with the facility’s personnel.
• Andy argued that questioning Tillman could tell them what had been done to the children and what to expect inside.
• He also raised the possibility of learning where other children had been sent, which could provide additional locations for the legal organization to investigate.
• Ming was especially concerned about neutralizing Tillman as a person with supernatural powers.

Ming proposed incapacitating Tillman with drugs and forcing their Program contact to take responsibility for him.

• He suggested arranging a meeting with the contact, arriving with Tillman already subdued, and making the captive impossible to ignore.
• His hope was that the Program would then send Tillman to a secure site rather than kill him.
• The others noted that the contact would have to come to their location and had already been deliberately looking the other way.
• The contact had supplied their connection to the outlaws rather than offering direct Program involvement.
• Jerry doubted that keeping Tillman alive would be safe even under Delta Green supervision. He worried that circumstances might eventually align in Tillman’s favor, as they had for other people involved in the case.
• Ming believed Tillman already knew they were coming and suspected that he had something planned.

Ernie argued for killing Tillman and proceeding directly to the rescue.

• He wanted to question Tillman too, but believed that attempting it made the operation more complicated and more likely to fail.
• His preferred sequence was to eliminate Tillman, enter the facility, rescue the children, and leave.
• He pointed out that they already possessed a spreadsheet that they or others could use for follow-up work.
• He questioned whether the team had enough resources to manage both a live captive and an assault.

The agents discussed obtaining an incapacitating drug.

• Ming had pharmacy and chemistry skills, but clarified that he was a neuroscientist rather than a medical doctor.
• Andy’s DEA background and criminology experience offered a possible route to finding a seller.
• The Handler said Andy could likely locate a dealer with ketamine after a day or two of searching.
• The earlier plan to manufacture a minor traffic collision and seize a target after he pulled over was also recalled.
• No roadside capture was carried out.

The group reviewed Tillman’s movements and chose his apartment as the capture location.

• They had been watching the facility for almost a week.
• Tillman tended to remain on site for two or three days at a time and was expected to return home on Monday or Tuesday.
• His apartment was in an otherwise abandoned complex, making it a possible place to wait for him without nearby residents.
• Ernie was more comfortable with an ambush there than with the other capture proposals.
• Jerry raised the possibility of staging Tillman’s death as a suicide afterward, but no such action occurred.
• The proposed arrangement put Bill outside with a firearm in case Tillman escaped or something unusual happened.
• Inside, the agents would try to seize Tillman and restrain and hood him.
• Andy was identified as the team member best suited to making the initial physical grab.
• The group also noted that their earlier attempt to gain access to the facility’s computer system had not produced a restored connection.

When the agents met Bill to review the facility operation, they were introduced to his partner.

• The partner was a large, tall Black man of roughly Bill’s age.
• He spoke little and told them to call him Ted.
• The agents briefed Bill and Ted on the facility layout, staffing, and surveillance findings.

The group reviewed the security personnel Andy had observed during his earlier visit.

• One or two guards could be stationed at the entrance.
• During the day, there had been an administrator in the communications area and someone watching the cameras.
• Two guards had been walking the detention floor.
• One guard from the security room had escorted Andy inside.
• The Handler summarized Andy’s visit as establishing four guards on duty during the day.
• Nighttime surveillance, including observations based on cellphones, suggested only two or three guards at night.
• The agents knew the armory’s location.
• Nearly every door other than the bathrooms required a magnetic access card.
• Andy had not seen inside the locked area at the back.

Andy asked whether Ernie could monitor the guards’ radio traffic.

• The radios were thought likely to use encryption.
• Taking a radio from a guard was identified as one way to gain access, and there might be spares in the communications room.
• The guards were believed to leave their radios at work.
• Ernie suggested disrupting communications instead.
• The group discussed identifying the relevant frequencies even if they could not understand encrypted transmissions.
• Jerry emphasized the importance of preventing guards from reporting the attack to their superiors.
• No successful interception or jamming occurred during the session.

The agents reviewed the guards’ observed weapons.

• The guards on the detention floor had carried equipment such as pepper spray and Tasers, but Andy had not seen them carrying firearms.
• The armory was the only place where he had observed guns.
• Jerry suggested that quickly securing the armory could give the attackers a decisive advantage over the small nighttime guard force.
• Andy agreed with the impression that the guards had not appeared especially formidable.
• The group confirmed that Tillman had used an access badge when entering the facility, despite also going through the security screening.

Bill and Ted proposed different entry sequences.

• Bill favored obtaining a key card and entering through the front security area.
• His sequence was to control the entrance guards, immediately secure the armory, and then deal with the guards on the detention floor.
• Ted focused on the locked rear room as the largest unknown.
• He proposed hitting that area first, eliminating whatever was inside, and then moving directly to the armory.
• Ted reasoned that once the attackers held the guns, the remaining guards would either surrender or be easier to deal with.
• Andy worried that the unknown room could distract them from securing the rest of the facility.
• Jerry warned that its contents might be unnatural.
• Bill and Ted’s concern centered on the possibility of a creature escaping if the room was left until later.

The team deferred the final entry decision until after questioning Tillman.

• Ernie suggested using the interrogation to determine what was behind the locked door.
• Jerry agreed that the answer could decide which route they took first.
• They expected to have only a limited window between capturing Tillman and his next expected appearance at work.
• Ernie estimated that this might be around twelve hours.
• A nighttime assault remained preferable because fewer people would be on duty.
• The intended sequence became capturing Tillman, extracting the necessary information, eliminating the threat he posed, and moving promptly against the facility.

The agents completed their immediate preparations.

• The truck was obtained, loaded, and made ready.
• Bill and Ted checked their firearms and magazines and watched the agents prepare their own weapons.
• The team had shotguns and sidearms from Oklahoma.
• Ted would watch the facility from the surveillance hill and notify the others when Tillman left.
• Bill would accompany the team at the apartment location and attempt to kill Tillman if the capture went wrong.
• The facility operation would follow within an appropriate window after Tillman had been dealt with.

On Monday evening, at approximately 7:00 p.m., Tillman left the facility.

• He had stayed beyond normal operating hours before departing.
• Ted called ahead to alert the others.
• The agents were already waiting near Tillman’s apartment and moved into position.

Jerry considered calling the lawyer with a proposed 5:00 a.m. handoff.

• Andy preferred to wait until after the interrogation, when they would know more about the facility and the likely timing.
• Jerry noted that the organization also needed advance warning to prepare.
• They ultimately deferred the call until after dealing with Tillman, which they hoped would not take much longer.
• No definite pickup time was communicated during the session.

The agents arranged the apartment ambush.

• Tillman’s apartment was small, with few places to hide beyond the bathroom, a closet, and the area immediately beside the entrance.
• Jerry proposed grabbing him as soon as he came through the door.
• The Handler confirmed that Tillman had previously been seen with a holstered service pistol on his hip.
• Jerry wanted the team to account for which side held the weapon.
• Andy and Jerry waited inside the apartment.
• Ernie and Dr. Lewis Ming waited nearby in an adjoining apartment that the group had previously broken into, ready to follow them in.
• From that position they could hear activity through the wall, but did not have a direct view of Tillman’s approach.

Roughly twenty to thirty minutes after Ted’s warning, Tillman arrived.

• The agents heard his car enter the parking lot.
• They heard him approach using the exterior stairs to the second floor.
• His key entered the lock.
• The doorway’s arrangement meant only one agent could make the initial grab.
• Andy attempted to seize him as he entered.

Andy’s opening attempt critically failed.

• He grabbed Tillman’s jacket sleeve.
• Tillman slipped out of the jacket almost without breaking stride, leaving Andy holding the empty garment.
• Andy failed to gain control of the gun.
• As Tillman’s arm came free, he struck Andy directly in the throat, making Andy choke.
• Tillman and Andy both had Dexterity 13, but the Handler gave Tillman priority because circumstances tended to break in his favor.

Tillman drew his pistol before Jerry could intervene.

• His grip was not particularly good, but the weapon was in his hand and pointed generally toward the agents.
• He looked confused rather than immediately alarmed.
• He said, “You’re not who I expected.”
• He then appeared to recognize someone and added, “Oh, you’re the man.”

Ernie and Ming heard the disturbance and joined the confrontation.

• Ernie rushed through the doorway and attempted to bowl Tillman over while striking or grabbing at his gun hand.
• His unarmed combat attempt failed.
• Seeing the gun caused him to hesitate physically, preventing him from fully committing to the tackle.
• Tillman stepped aside from the lunge.
• Jerry had a pistol with him but had kept it holstered because he intended to grapple Tillman.
• Ming entered behind Ernie with a pistol drawn.
• Andy and Ernie obstructed Ming’s line of fire, and his movement into the apartment used his action. He did not shoot.

The confrontation briefly shifted into conversation.

• Andy remained near the door without a drawn weapon and tried to engage Tillman verbally.
• Ming did not want to shoot first.
• Jerry asked Tillman whom he had expected.
• Ernie allowed the conversation to continue rather than immediately making another attack.

Tillman said he was waiting for men he had known a long time ago.

• Jerry told him those men were dead.
• Jerry identified the present group as their replacements.
• Tillman asked about their marks and whether they were “teeth.”
• Jerry pulled up his trouser leg and showed the rat bites on his lower legs.

Tillman reacted strongly to Jerry’s marks.

• He took a quick breath, and his previously detached expression changed to relief.
• He said, “It works,” and, “It hears.”
• When Jerry asked what had worked, Tillman said that it had chosen them and that they would feed it.
• He asked whether they had been tested.
• He explained that first they were marked and then they were tested.
• Jerry replied that being there already felt testing.
• Tillman said the test “must end with blood” and raised his gun.

Ernie intervened before Tillman could fire deliberately.

• Ming intended to shoot, but Ernie was close enough and faster in the initiative order to attempt a disarm.
• Ernie struck Tillman’s arm and successfully knocked the pistol from his hand.
• The SIG Sauer spun away, hit the floor, and discharged.
• The bullet grazed Ernie’s calf, inflicting two points of damage.
• Ernie shouted, “There’s your blood, buddy.”

Tillman immediately moved to recover the pistol.

• He knelt and picked it up, using his turn to retrieve the weapon.
• He appeared to be in no particular hurry.
• Andy lunged to wrestle control of the gun from him.
• Andy rolled 05 on his unarmed combat check and succeeded in controlling Tillman’s arm.
• Tillman still held the pistol, but Andy prevented him from pointing it somewhere dangerous.

Ming helped disarm Tillman.

• The Handler confirmed that Ming had ketamine prepared in a syringe.
• Ming chose to secure the gun before attempting to administer it.
• Because Andy already had Tillman grappled, Ming received a +20% bonus to the unarmed combat attempt.
• He rolled 35 against a modified target of 40.
• With Andy controlling Tillman’s arms, Ming wrenched the pistol out of Tillman’s hand.
• Ming now held his own pistol and Tillman’s recovered weapon.

Jerry tried to pull the bag over Tillman’s head.

• Tillman continued resisting despite seeming unusually untroubled by the struggle.
• Jerry’s unarmed combat attempt failed.
• The Handler also checked whether Tillman struck Jerry during the resistance, but Tillman’s attempt failed as well.
• Tillman’s movement kept Jerry from getting the opening of the bag over his head.
• Tillman was described as baby-faced and notably disaffected.

Ernie joined Andy in physically restraining Tillman.

• Andy and Tillman were still standing, stepping and turning as Andy held Tillman’s forearms.
• Ernie moved in to help control him.
• With a +20% bonus for assisting the existing grapple, Ernie succeeded.
• He got his arms around Tillman and limited his movement so the others could try to secure him properly.

Tillman’s pepper spray fell from its belt holster during the struggle.

• Someone stepped on the canister in the commotion, causing it to burst.
• A stream of pepper spray struck Ming directly in the face while he was holding both pistols.
• Ming made a Constitution ×5 check.
• The spray left him stunned and in severe pain around his eyes.

Tillman tried unsuccessfully to escape the grapple.

• He rolled 92 on his attempt to break free.
• Andy then tried to pull Tillman’s arms behind his back and handcuff him.
• Because Tillman was being restrained by more than one person, Andy received a +20% bonus.
• Andy rolled 97 against a target of 80 and failed.
• Tillman’s hands and arms kept slipping out of the positions Andy needed to apply the cuffs.

Ming remained stunned on his next turn.

• He could not act effectively while dealing with the pepper spray.
• The ketamine had not been administered.

Jerry made another attempt to secure the bag and rope.

• He received a +20% bonus because the others were holding Tillman.
• The attempt still failed.
• Tillman continued stepping and turning in ways that prevented Jerry from getting a secure hold.

The session ended during the unresolved struggle in Tillman’s apartment.

• Tillman had been disarmed and was being held by Andy and Ernie, but he had not been handcuffed, hooded, or sedated.
• Ernie had suffered a gunshot graze to the calf for two points of damage.
• Ming had recovered Tillman’s pistol but was stunned by pepper spray.
• Jerry had not succeeded in applying the bag and rope.
• The team had not yet conducted the planned interrogation, entered the detention facility, evacuated the children, or confirmed a handoff time with El Puente de la Esperanza.