SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class 2
- Safe
- Secure
- Frequent External Threats
Base Gamma is a unique location and outpost within Level 3.
A photo taken from Base Gamma's upper floors. The ground floor and central space is also visible.
Description:
Base Gamma is a multipurpose space situated within the electric maze of Level 3. The outpost is centered around the Rotunda: a large, circular room that ascends two stories above the main floor. The walls and floors consist of a mixture of worn brick and concrete. Metallic piping and ventilation ducts form a complex lattice on the ceiling, sometimes producing a caustic, viscous, black sludge that slowly drips onto the open, central space below. The Rotunda is filled with the sounds of electrical equipment and human life, and the acrid scent of burning plastic lingers in the air. The presence of numerous AC units keeps temperatures at a tolerable level, though breakdowns are maddeningly common. While not especially hospitable, Base Gamma is the largest documented outpost in Level 3 and offers relative safety and refuge to wanderers.
Base Gamma's three floors, which are interconnected via several staircases, are lined by rooms of varying size that are utilized differently depending on their specifications and location. Aside from a few makeshift buildings, the ground level is generally free of unnecessary obstruction so as to keep lines of fire open should the base come under attack. Makeshift barricades and pillboxes are positioned strategically at points of entry, which are manned by hardened sentries. Adjacent first floor perimeter rooms are run-down and shoddy, usually serving as temporary storage or short-term shelters. The second floor hosts the majority of the base's living facilities, as well as triage centers and armories. The third floor is reserved for outpost critical functions, such as hydroponics, communications, and control facilities.
A typical, vacant room on Base Gamma's second floor.
As an important installation of the Major Explorer Group, Base Gamma is home to roughly 300 permanent residents in addition to a considerable population of refugees and transients. The outpost mainly serves as an aggregation site for materials extracted from the Electrical Station, but also hosts complex machines, communications equipment, and server rooms sustained by the reliable electricity and Wi-Fi on Level 3. Trade is lively and robust.
History:
At time of its discovery, the Rotunda was an unrecognizable, unequivocal heap of filth. Trash caked the central space, debris blocked staircases to the upper floors, and amalgamations of random objects filled the perimeter rooms. Sensing its potential as an outpost, however, M.E.G. survey teams established Base Gamma within the Rotunda's central space. Basic structures were crafted out of whatever was available, including shredded toothbrushes, shoelaces, toy plastic horseshoes, and bottles of glue. Over time, the Rotunda was excavated and swept clean, enabling access to and the inhabitation of its upper floors. Eventually, the central space was cleared of its makeshift shanties, and the remaining garbage was shuffled into the nearby hallways of Level 3. While sometimes referred to lightheartedly as "The Dump", Base Gamma has undergone radical transformation since its establishment.
Base Gamma retains diverse facilities to support its large population.
Defenses:
While it is a valuable sanctuary within Level 3, Base Gamma is under constant threat. Entity interceptions are a daily occurrence, and attacks frequently occur in swarms designed to overwhelm human defenders. The most common attackers are Hounds and Smilers, but Skin-Stealers, Clumps, and Wretches are also regularly engaged. For reasons unknown, Entities throughout Level 3 are known to employ rudimentary tactics when attacking. Groups of Hounds often act as decoys and engage in feint attacks to wear down the morale and stamina of defenders. Skin-Stealers frequently attempt to infiltrate outposts en-masse in order to induce fear and paranoia within the populace. Smilers routinely paralyze and capture prey alive for later use as human shields.
Base Gamma employs a strategy of defense-in-depth to outlast external assaults and preserve human life. Hostile entities are engaged upon contact by sentries in entrance hallways, liquidating most threats without incident. Guards are well trained and boast an impressive arsenal of melee, ranged, and improvised weapons manufactured from materials gathered within Level 3, including knives, swords, spears, clubs, crossbows, firearms, taser-sticks, nail grenades, and even Firesalt explosives.
Some attacks prove especially ferocious, however, and cannot be adequately repelled. When a breach is imminent, the ground floor is evacuated, and the entrance barricades are allowed to be overrun, while defenders retreat to guard staircases leading to the upper floors. Due to its circular shape, Base Gamma is highly defensible. Intruders that breach into the central space are trapped in a kill-zone, automatically surrounded and engaged by sharpshooters on the upper levels. Once combat concludes, the ground floor is cleared, makeshift barricades are reassembled, and normal life resumes.
Base Gamma is also frequently targeted by human assailants due to its resources and strategic position. However, hostile individuals and groups usually do not target the base itself, but rather its supply teams, pickets, and scouts traversing Level 3, usually in hopes of nabbing supplies or hostages for ransom. When under direct threat by human adversaries, the installation employs its trademark defense-in-depth strategy until the situation is resolved.
Entrances and Exits:
Corridors and hallways of Level 3 leading to Base Gamma are well-marked by the M.E.G. and minor camps are common in its vicinity. Following these marked routes will lead to entrances on the base's ground floor, which also serve as exits when trying to leave.
