The Communist Machinery - Printable Version

The Communist Machinery - Printable Version

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The Communist Machinery - Aphil - 12-07-2013

The CPW-Trotsky moved behind the vessel it was escorting. Onboard the Trotsky, Field Marshal Joseph Garcia watched as the vessel it was escorting, the RV-Windhunter proceeded to moor on Zhukovsky Station. Onboard the Windhunter there was an object of incredible value and it now had to be transported to a facility on the surface of JiangXi for safekeeping and examination.

"Field Marshal, we have an incoming transmission from the station. They report that the Windhunter has successfully moored, they are requesting orders."

Garcia looked towards the young Junior Lieutenant who was at the comms station and spoke his orders. "Tell them to send a transmission to Zvezdny Gorodok, I'll need three Storm-class vessels equipped and ready to act as a dropship to transfer the package and the scientists onboard the Windhunter down to the TALOS Facility."

While the crew onboard was curious as to what the package was, they knew that if it was going to the TALOS Facility it was probably best that they remain blissfully unaware of its exact nature.

"Junior-Lieutenant, patch me through to the Windhunter." he said. Moments later the Junior-Lieutenant gave him the thumbs up indicating that the channel was open.

"Captain Breen, this is Field Marshal Garcia, I have sent for three Storm-class gunboats to proceed to Zhukovsky in order to act as dropships for your scientists as well as the package. You will be moved to a location known simply as the TALOS Facility. I'm sure when your people arrive, they will quickly learn the history of it."

RE: The Communist Machinery - zeta.foxtrot - 12-07-2013

Stuart White, PhD in Robotics and AI psychology, Cambridge Research Institute, and right-hand man of Atticus Komm, stood aboard Zhukovski station: A place he never imagined he would, nor wanted to, ever set foot on. The place reeked of the sort of militarism and inefficiency he, as a scientist, despised. He spoke nothing of it, of course, both out of protocol and the rather extensive security the SCRA brought in.

Captian Breen stood next to him, watching the workers clear the deck. While he was not a scientist, he was a reliable captain an ran a tight ship. A necessity considering the nature of the cargoes they handled.

"These deck-rats make me nervous." Professor White noted, watching the Coalition dockworkers and security staff as they scrutinized the cargo they were to unload. "If there's going to be an 'incident', it will happen here. Do they have any idea how dangerous this thing is?"

"Of course not. This is the Coalition. They fetishize secrecy... get used to it." Breen replied. He was, of course, a by the book captian. Despite having no formal military background, the two certainly understood the coalition's rather aggressive nature. Professor Komm and briefed them extensively before this adventure began. But it was a mystery, where he got his information from.

All they could do was watch over the docking bay through the security cameras as the Coalition teams secured the 'package'. Professor White had insisted they allow his own staff to handle the package, but the Coalition security chief had refused, sequestering the crew on the Windhunter until the cargo was taken planetside.

In the center of the bay, sat a mangled mass of metal that was once a Consortium reconnaissance ship. Only it's main fuselage remained recognizable, wherein the ship's Drone Control Unit contained something. Something invisible and insidious that even the scientists at Cambridge couldn't handle. The wreckage was encased in an electromagnetic dampening field, though this could only suppress any communications hardware, not the code that lay within.

It was fortunate that the SCRA took the nature of the package just as seriously as Professor Komm laid it out. It didn't take a genius to know they had their own interests, and there was a certain bit of contempt for Komm for putting them in this situation.

After the 'contact incident' however, the Windhunters staff realized that what they possessed was something way over their heads.

The question remained if it would be over the heads of the SCRA as well...

RE: The Communist Machinery - Aphil - 12-07-2013

Field Marshal Joseph Garcia stood on the deck of Zhukovsky overseeing the unloading of this particularly dangerous package that had been brought to him.

While the deckhands were not told the exact nature of the package they were dealing with, they were informed that it was effectively an extremely potent computer virus that could cripple the entire infrastructure of the Sirius Coalition should it infect any electronics. The workers also knew that the package was destined for the TALOS Facility, a location reserved for the most dangerous of technological threats acquired or developed by the Sirius Coalition. It was with these two pieces of knowledge that the workers took the appropriate steps to reinforce the security of the package. The lessons learned during the failed AI Experiments of the SCRA had made a significant impact.

Garcia looked over to the Dockmaster and saw that he was focused on the unloading. "I trust you're taking the appropriate steps that I told you of?" Garcia said. "Of course Field Marshal, and I have spoken with the Scientists of Mykolaiv who have advised me on the proper procedures when it comes to a technological threat such as this." the Deckmaster retorted, motioning just as the workers began rolling out a massive container. "This container was specially built during the TALOS incidents in order to contain technological threats such as this. It uses a variety of jamming equipment as well as an energy field and a thick metal to contain any sort of transmission vectors that could infect nearby technology." the Dockmaster elaborated. Garcia was a little surprised at how knowledgeable the Dockmaster was but he quickly reminded himself that the majority of the people living in the Sirius Coalition had defected or were refugees and therefore had a lot of experience in fields outside of their current occupation.

The workers frenzied over the wreckage, following procedure and not using any electronics near the package. They used manual tools and purely mechanical machinery to load the wreck into the container. They did so at a slow, deliberate pace careful not to further damage the already crumbling wreck and to prevent any mistakes being made which could jeopardize the security of the entire Sirius Coalition.

Finally, they had succeeded in loading it into the container and only when it was sealed and secured was it moved towards one of the moors where a Storm-class gunboat awaited his cargo. Everything now was a rush as the Storm quickly set off towards the TALOS Facility. The moment the Storm left Zhukovsky it made haste to the planet of JiangXi towards the ruins of New HangZhou.

It was in this husk of a once great city that the TALOS Facility was built. It served as an excellent location thanks to the mutant gangs and other critters that kept the curious out. Finally, the cargo was unloaded and it was moved into the bowels of the TALOS Facility where it was quickly isolated and stored until the scientists arrived from the Windhunter.

Back onboard Zhukovsky Station Garcia breathed a sigh of relief when he received news that the package had been secured. "Now, onto the next phase." he whispered to himself.

RE: The Communist Machinery - Tabris - 12-07-2013

Little did Garcia know he was already being watched. The Cameras were tapped into by the Ministry of Truth who had been tracking the package as it was delivered into the hanger, microphones in strategic locations allowed him to hear even the smallest of whispers, although whenever some foolish technician dropped a wrench it sounded to him like an old fashioned 'howitzer' went off from the metallic sound it made when it hit the floor...

Thankfully there was not much of that today...He did not think his ears would be able to stand it...The last time was miserable enough. As Garcia spoke to the Dockmaster the head of the Ministry of Truth leaned forwards from his leather chair out of reflex and tried to tune out any other sounds other than the two men talking.

"I trust you're taking the appropriate steps that I told you of?"

""Of course Field Marshal, and I have spoken with the Scientists of Mykolaiv who have advised me on the proper procedures when it comes to a technological threat such as this.

This container was specially built during the TALOS incidents in order to contain technological threats such as this. It uses a variety of jamming equipment as well as an energy field and a thick metal to contain any sort of transmission vectors that could infect nearby technology."

After the Dockmaster finished talking His Watchful Eye looked at another camera which showed what appeared to be a probe of some kind being loaded into a container with great care. Spotting symbols on the oddly X-Shuttle shaped object he froze the image and ordered a cross-reference of the symbols with all known languages in their Database.

After a moment a match was found and displayed on a screen far to his right, the man raised an eyebrow in surprise at the match, having not heard of the originators of the symbols for quite a long time...

He turned back to the other screen just as the container was loaded onboard a Storm-Class Gunboat...

"So Garcia...Are you planning on playing God?" he pondered softly as the ship lifted off and out of the hanger having received it's precious cargo. Accessing the Storm's internal tracking beacon that the Ministry installed on all Military ships, to ensure that damaged ships were always returned to the Coalition. The signal was moving towards JiangXi...Specifically New Hangzhou's old TALOS Facility, now more of a warehouse for broken and failed AI Cores that did not live up to the Coalition's dreams or were simply too dangerous to have close to functioning civilized equipment. New Hangzhou was a city of broken dreams, despair and blood. In the past the site of the traitor 'Xing' and the short-lived rebellion which damaged the city heavily, however the Bombing of JiangXi was the final stroke for the city, reduced to nothing more than a pale shadow of it's former self... It was the perfect place for the Ministry of Truth to hide the Coalition's deadliest secrets...

Still one must always be prepared...And if the man who dropped it off returned...Well he would be received in a traditional Coalition manner...With suspicion.

Activating the Comm-Unit built into the right arm of his chair he spoke softly and evenly.

"Commissar Tabakov...Ready a private room for a guest, use of High-Risk Extraction Methods is not authorized. Stick to standardized protocols."

RE: The Communist Machinery - zeta.foxtrot - 12-07-2013

He wasn't a fool. He knew what to expect from the Coalition. From what he had gathered, they weren't the most subtle when it came to getting questions answered.

Not that it mattered. They wouldn't dare harm him if they wanted what he knew.

It was with such knowledge that Atticus Komm, PhD in AI technology, former leader of Cambridge Research Institute's occult sciences department, and the only man in Sirius to know anything about the true nature of what he had.

That said, Komm was a scientist and not a soldier. He wasn't a meek individual, as AI research has long been a cutthroat business, and he has been forced to lay a few blades in the past. He would keep one with him at all times...

...save this one, as he was disarmed prior to entry by the Coalition guard. The man examined the ornate dagger Komm carried as he set it in a storage tray.

"You may move along" The young man spoke, in Russian-accented English, as he opened the security door leading into the adjacent room.

Komm strode in, past a scanning array, and was escorted by a squad of silent, armed soldiers toward what he knew would be some form of interrogation room, regardless of what the Coalition would have said otherwise.

The room he entered was somewhat pleasant in furnishings. He wore a rather expressionless face, and a rather large set of glasses as he entered, with a number of papers under his arm. He had preferred using paper documents: It kept his staff on their toes sorting through them. It had also been a godsend, once the virulent nature of his latest "project" was fully realized.

"Now. I suppose you want to know every little detail of what I know about the ALPHA code. Commissar? Should I call you Commissar, or are you not a political officer?" He asked as he sat across from the figure, arranging his papers in a seemingly haphazard yet apparently methodical manner across the desk...

RE: The Communist Machinery - Tabris - 12-08-2013

As he sorted out various reports and photos taken from the video footage on the hanger deck of Zhukovsky he pointedly ignored the comments coming across the table at him from Komm. He put a small recording device in the center of the table and calmly begun, he kept his blue eyes focused on the reports instead of the man across from him, almost as if dismissing him as important.

It was part of a tactic to make the other man feel unimportant by not giving him Tabakov's full attention. One of many techniques employed in the 'soft tactics' department.

"Ministry of Truth interview #1152, subject Atticus Komm." he simply stated before giving a very brief and quite bored expression to the other man before he spoke in a voice that seemed devoid of life, almost like he himself was a machine.

"State your full name and occupation for the record please." he requested in that same dead voice as he kept going, pulling out one of the photos of the probe being loaded into the container. After a moment he started to go through the list of questions on a paper to his right, maintaining that dead disposition.

"These questions are to ensure the validity of your identity and that of the package delivered to the Coalition's Research and Development Division earlier today. Please state your reason for being here in Omega 52, date of arrival and the story of how you came upon the item in this image marked Package A-132/J." he requested while turning the picture of the drone being loaded into the container to Komm, watching his expression for any of the physical signs of deceit as he waited patiently for the man to begin....

RE: The Communist Machinery - zeta.foxtrot - 12-08-2013

As he expected, the man was playing mind games with him. He had seen it before, from his past dealings with MI6 agents. Such that it was a non issue for him. This was merely one of those 'need to do' occasions in order to get what he wanted.

"My name is Atticus Jebediah Komm. Senior professor on Occult Studies and Archanotechnology at Cambridge Research institute. Before that I was a xenoarchaeoligist and master degree in Earth Studies. I am from Rhonda Settlement on Planet Cambridge." He recited, handing one of his many diplomas to the SCRA agent.

He looked at the photo of the object in the container, then switched his gaze to the graph paper and debug print-out of the code infection on the Windhunter.

"And I will say this bluntly. I am not here for mind games or hyperbole. You will need to understand exactly what we are dealing with here." He stated, looking up at the coalition officer, a stone-cold expression on his face as he spoke.

"To answer your questions in order; I am in Omega-52 to seek the aid of the Sirius Coalition on researching the ALPHA code, which I firmly believe to be representative of an existential threat to mankind in Sirius. I arrived two days ago.

I have been persona-non-grata in Cambridge for several years now. And even then, the military and political situation in Bretonia is such that I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. They'd likely attempt to weaponize the code and infect the Gallic fleet with it. This result could be disastrous.

I came into possession of the probe on a routine expedition in the Omicron Minor system. From what I can determine, it belonged to a particularly dangerous group of Kusari terrorists. The Consortium. The probe was automated and hidden amongst the wreckage of the Battle of Toledo. When our ship approached, it tried to transmit the Alpha code into our systems. It very nearly disabled our ship's life support systems before we managed to shoot it down and regain control.

I know of the ALPHA code's significance as several of my colleagues are AI researchers. They studied the Harvesters, whom were seeking the code for their own purposes. It is only fortunate that they did not find it. It would have made them much, much more dangerous. I cannot be certain on what the Consortium had to do with it, they've covered their tracks well..."

He watched the reaction of his interrogator as he looked over the various papers he was handed. A small library's worth of academic essays on AI research, a few old recordings of communications with the harvesters, and whatever information on the Consortium and Kusari he could acquire.

RE: The Communist Machinery - Tabris - 12-13-2013

Tabakov did not react at all during the long-winded explanation, his hands folded across each other near his mouth, concealing any expression he may or may not have had during the man's answers to his questioning. By the end of Komm's reply he simply pushed the bridge of his glasses back up calmly and continued his line of questioning.

"I see, now for the record can you state the original mission of the Omicron Minor expedition?" he asked in a polite tone. "What did you team expect to find what other initial teams could not in the ruins of Omicron Minor and did Package A-132/J known to you as 'The probe' display any further signs of activity after it's capture by your team?" he asked before clarifying himself. "To your knowledge did it attempt to continue it's assault on your systems or send a message at any time during it's transportation here to any entities?" the man finished.

He ignored any papers passed to him, instead he focused on the man before him, this AI research did not interest him in the slightest, he would not be able to make sense of it anyways as he was not trained in Robotics, Cybernetics or A.I. Creation...He was simply a Commissar doing a job for His Watchful Eye...Who was likely listening in as they spoke...

RE: The Communist Machinery - zeta.foxtrot - 12-13-2013

Komm rummaged through his papers again, pushing his glasses back up the ridge of his nose. He eyed the man for a moment, pausing. He only resumed speaking some thirty seconds later.

"A gateway, is what we were searching for." He spoke, rather bluntly. The details, Komm considered, weren't relevant anymore. "Never did find the damned thing."

"To answer your second question, yes. The device actively attempted to infect our systems and fire it's own weapons, or overload it's reactors. We had to essentially destroy every subsystem on-board. We ended up taking sledgehammers to the thing."

He paused, looking over another piece of paper, deliberately avoiding looking the interrogator in the eye.

"Even without power, the code was trying to transmit, or commit harm. We had to surround the thing with containment fields and jam it with military-grade equipment. I cannot, however, guarantee it was unable to transmit via alternate means we are unaware of. The code is powerful, and there was very little time up to this point to try and decipher it's language."

RE: The Communist Machinery - Tabris - 12-25-2013

He rubbed his chin in thought while giving the slightest of nods, he had almost everything he needed now. He still had acouple questions however that required answers...Answers he would get.

"I see, so you are saying is that your team went into the Omicron Systems in the search for a gateway to territories outside of normal human knowledge, encountered a probe that displayed hostile intents, managed to disable it all the while bringing it onboard." he clarified in shorthand.

"The device attempted further attempts at assault by the way of Computer Viral Warfare and attempting to reengage it's own weapon systems, you beat it with slegehammers to prevent further attempts which proved only a setback with it continuing feeble attempts to continue...Interesting...I have acouple of final questions for you and then we will be finished here." he stated, folding his hands across each-other once again and staring at the man across from him, his gaze unwavering and as cold as a Volgograd winter.

"What do you intend to do after your work here is completed and results are produced from whatever it is that the High Command and your own teams are doing with that device?" he asked, the security of the nation was a primary duty of the Commissariat after-all...Would not do well for him to let loose a man hell-bent on turning whatever is produced against the citizens of the Coalition...