The Zone

Ticket Price:

Player Ticket: £70 (Includes Gun Hire and Partial Catering)

Crew Ticket: Free (and Full Catering)

Venue:

Giants Seat Scout Camp

Mostly Camping, Some Bunk Space Available

Event 13 Rumours

Freelancers are reporting a string of missions to acquire paper documents rather than digital records. These seem to be largely quite mundane information as well, nothing corporate, nothing scientific, nothing of what anyone would consider real worth within the Zone. Enquiries have not led towards an identity for the hirers of these missions, but staff at all the various bars insist these missions are benign.

An unknown party has been claiming to have found the body of Malcolm Cartwell, one of the first truly legendary freelancers, who vanished in early 2026. Claims of Malcolm's death were disputed by a great many people and it was widely believed he had gone into hiding in pursuit of some great secret. The unknown party is said to be seeking aid in recovering the body, and they have given no details on how recently he would appear to have died.

Freelancers are reporting at least six separate individuals asking after someone with a metal face who appears out of thin air. Suspicions are growing that this is a coordinated manhunt, which suggests government. It isn't clear what they want with this person but they are putting a significant amount of effort into finding them.

A handful of people have reported suddenly finding themselves in a strange place, standing in a puddle of vomit. They can't explain how they got where they were, and when people have checked up on them they've seemingly lost anywhere from a few hours up to a couple of days of their life, with no memories from the time lost. Freelancers have been warned that a new narcotic may be responsible, and to be on guard for people selling spurious pills.

The High Rollers may finally be on their way out. A series of failed business ventures have hit them hard, and while several individual members remain quite wealthy by Zone standards, the faction's pooled resources are reportedly all but depleted. These rumours are damaging recruitment, and the group may not function as a collective for much longer.

Recent bounties posted for various types of soft drink in intact cans have all been traced back to one freelancer, a chap calling himself Buzzby. It isn't clear why he wants the cans, or why he is willing to commit so much money to them. A few people have tried to track him down, but cannot find him or anyone that knows him. All of the bars where bounties have been posted insist that the money is real and Buzzby has an account with the necessary funds to pay out. When pressed as to his whereabouts, description or affiliations, the bar staff have repeatedly stated they will not divulge client information. None of the four bounties have been claimed yet.

After Action Report

Another weekend of violence has left several groups either extinct or as good as.

Firstly, the faction known as the Hidden have been reduced to a mere handful, effectively wiping them out as a power in the Zone. The Long Gamers have claimed credit for their destruction but rumour has it that freelancers were responsible, paid by the Long Gamers. Best guess has the Hidden at around 8 or 9 members at this point.

Second, MI5. This one is far harder to confirm but a few freelancers that had had some dealings with MI5 agents report finding their corpses alongside a lot of dead bandits and other assorted scum. It isn't clear who was working with who, or whether the two groups wiped each other out. Given that no-one ever really knew their numbers, motives or whereabouts the suggestion they are all dead seems premature at best, but that's certainly the rumour doing the rounds.

Finally, the Cleaners appear to have met a sticky end as well. Several dozen corpses were found in a clearing, most dead from gunfire, some from close range executions. Scavengers in the area report finding a large stash of plastic grey masks buried just down the hill from the combat site. Sources at the various Bars are reported to be ecstatic, especially since no responsibility has been claimed so no-one needs to pay out on any bounties or info gathering missions.

Several people have reported a large beam of blueish light coming down from the sky and striking the ground somewhere in the southern half of the Zone. Some close to the strike point report hearing a radio broadcast from the military regarding some kind of cleansing protocol. The suggestion seems to be that the beam was some kind of orbital weapon, but if the radio messages came from within the Zone and the weapon was indeed orbital, then that suggests someone within the Zone has the capability of sending signals outside of it.

In slightly less consequential, but no less strange, news a forest fire broke out in a dense patch of woodland. The blaze lasted about 36 hours before petering out, but when scavengers went to investigate they report that the burned area was a perfect circle. Odd indeed.