Omega Group Intel

Kravchenko: Kravchenko. 21st of April, 1983. Three weeks since I accepted command of Spetsgruppa Omega. And I am beginning to wonder if Comrade Andropov was out of his mind when he created this spook show.

 

Kravchenko: My first order of business was a thorough review of Omega Group activities since their formation in '75. What a fucking joke. The study of "psychotronic phenomena"? What does that even mean?

Kravchenko: Biocommunication, bioenergetics, bioinformation... Words invented by paper-pushers to make ghost stories sound real. I read hundreds of their bullshit reports and found nothing useful. So I reassigned the authors to dig biolatrines.

 

Kravchenko: But if...IF Andropov was not out of his mind. IF he saw some genuine operational value in any of this nonsense...

 

Kravchenko: I will give this one more month. And then I will pull the plug.

Kravchenko: 15th of July, 1983. Comrade Valentina, I am recording this meeting for my records.

 

Valentina: Of course, Colonel. I take it you have viewed the Projekt Endstation footage?

 

Kravchenko: Da. Where did you find this film?

 

Valentina: Gathering dust in a restricted portion of Lubyanka sub-basement records storage. Someone went to great lengths to bury the incident back in '45. But times have changed since then.

 

Kravchenko: Indeed. That cowboy actor and his Strategic Defense Initiative have upset the stalemate between us and the West. I asked for something to tip the scales back in our favor. You think this is it?

 

Valentina: There is only one way to find out. Allow me to reactivate the Endstation cyclotron. If I can harness their access to another dimension, we can give the Motherland a tactical advantage the Americans can only dream of.

 

Kravchenko: And if you cannot... "harness" it?

 

Valentina: Then bury the bunker in concrete and declare the place off-limits.

 

Valentina: And maybe leave flowers every year to remember my sacrifice.

 

Kravchenko: I don't care about sacrifice. Only results. I will authorize your mission, but you had better bring back something I can use.

 

Valentina: Understood, colonel. Understood.

Kravchenko: Kravchenko. 8th of July, 1984.

 

Peck: And Dr. William Peck, lead research--

 

Kravchenko: Shut up, you little worm. You are lucky to be alive.

 

Peck: Sorry, sir. I...

 

Kravchenko: Silence. This is not a dialogue. You are here to receive your orders. There is a plane standing by to take you to the Ural Mountains Outbreak Zone.

 

Kravchenko: You will oversee a special operation there involving a particularly rich deposit of Aetherium crystals. My people will brief you once you are airborne.

 

Peck: You won't regret this, sir! And, um, please let Gorev know I'm off the hook? I'm worried he still wants to kill me.

 

Kravchenko: Gorev will be there with you. Shadowing your every step. Because you are not "off the hook," Dr. Peck. Do not fail me... ever again.

Kravchenko: Gorev. Before you depart for the Urals, I need a word with you.

 

Gorev: New instructions, Colonel?

 

Kravchenko: No. It is the same matter that has vexed me ever since Requiem's arrival at Endstation. Whoever leaked Omega intelligence to them remains unidentified. If they did not die at Outpost 25, the traitor may still be among us.

 

Gorev: I am working on it night and day, sir. My apologies that it has taken this long.

 

Kravchenko: We could have found out the informant's name back in Vietnam, but that idiot American tossed the only person who knew into the Dark Aether. What kind of genius throws away his trump card?

 

Gorev: Peck may be book-smart, but he has no common sense... and even less self-control. But I swear to you, Colonel, the informant will be exposed.

 

Gorev: The only question is if I will be able to bring them in alive. If I find myself left with no options...

 

Kravchenko: Do what you must, Gorev. They deserve to die slowly. As long as the leak is plugged, I will be satisfied.

Peck: William Peck, personal notes. Arrived in the Ural Mountains Outbreak Zone three days ago. It was a little hard to believe the briefing I was given on the flight here, but now that I see it for myself...

 

Peck: To paraphrase Archimedes, "holy shit." This is even better than I hoped for. The breach opening right on top of an installation like this may have given me the key to making an Inversion Warhead actually work.

 

Peck: I'm a fuckin genius. I already knew of the catalyzing effect Aetherium has on Plutonium. That was how I got my portal chamber to work at Outpost 25. But the readings I'm getting form the crystals here...! We've never seen Aetherium this pure "in the wild," so to speak.

 

Peck: You up there! Be careful! That's not something you want to bang too hard, understand?

 

Peck: Yeah. They understand. These boys look scared out of their wits. Just wait till they hear the next item on my "shopping list." We're going to need some special helpers to make this work -- and rounding them up will not be easy.

Valentina: I just returned from the Kremlin where I presented the list of proposed targets for Operatsiya Inversiya to the General Secretary and select members of the Committee for State Security. The results were... mixed.

 

Valentina: I should be pleased that the overall plan was so well received. Perhaps they realize that without bold action the Soviet Union could collapse within a decade.

 

Valentina: And Inversiya is nothing if not bold. It would be a deathblow to the West. Which may account for the committee's preference of two particular targets.

 

Valentina: But I pushed hard for Berlin. It would have afforded me further opportunities to complete my preparations there.

 

Valentina: The Colonel did question my fixation on Berlin, but I just told him I hate the Germans. That is always enough of an excuse for veterans of the Great Patriotic War like Kravchenko.

Peck: William Peck, supplemental notes. Well, it took a week and cost the lives of some brave young men, but we finally did it: we caught four of those floaty blue bastards alive.

 

Peck: Okay, sure, by "we" I man the highly trained operators in Omega Group. I'm not exactly the field ops type. But they could never have locked down those lightning bugs without the gear I built for them. I mean, have you ever tried to cage something that can teleport?

 

Peck: One big help in this whole process is how attracted the blue guys are to the crystals -- the big ones. The atmosphere converters. And the purer the crystal, the more irresistible. I think that was the first tip-off that I could co-opt the way they metabolize Aetherium for my own purposes.

 

Peck: Yeah, yeah, Sparky, I know it hurts, but you gotta take one for the team. We all serve a greater good now. And I promise if Operatsiya Inversiya stays on schedule, you won't be suffering for long.

Marked 18 June of the year 1984

 

Progress Report:

Ural Mountains Dimensional Breach

 

Colonel, I have completed my latest review of Omega Group operations in the Ural Mountains Breach AO. Overall conclusion is that our efforts are proceeding on schedule and yielding tangible results. If anything, progress has accelerated since the arrival of Dr. Peck. It appears your personal reprimand had the desired result. I have never seen him more motivated to meet the goals we set for his team. We still face a highly dangerous and unpredictable work environment, but if we are to deliver a decisive strategic advantage over the Americans and NATO, the answers will be found here.

 

Aetherium collection continues around the clock. This is by far the richest source of Aetherium crystals in the world, with new deposits forming every day. In fact, the infestation is so great we do not even have to send collection teams to the other side. I have taken steps to obscure the true levels of our growing stockpile. If there is a leak in Omega, the last thing we want is Requiem discovering the true magnitude of what we have here.

 

If there is any upside to the danger we face from Dark Aether hostiles, it is the opportunity for weapons testing. We have even recovered weaponry from some of the hostiles unique to this location. In conclusion, the Ural Mountains Breach remains our most important area of operations. Should Requiem continue their efforts to match our Aetherium research, then let this be our battleground for the fate of the Motherland.

 

Gorev

Spetsgruppa Omega

Marked 03 April of the year 1983

 

RE: Omega Leadership Appointments

AUTHOR: Col. Lev Kravchenko

 

9 days ago, the Chairman of the Committee for State Security tasked me with revitalizing Spetsgruppa Omega. Today, after consultation with comrades Andropov and Chebrikov, I am prepared to name key personnel to lead Omega Group's military and scinetific operations.

 

My right-hand man Gorev will serve as Tactical Operations lead during active measures, ensuring our unit's performance is not just up to Spetsnaz standards, but up to my standards. Omega's original focus on superstitions and old wives' tales made these operators soft. Gorev will burn all softness out of them. Assisting him will be Kapitan Sergei Ravenov, whose sterling service record should calm the fears of any apparatchik with misgivings about comrade Gorev.

 

As for Omega's stated mission: to identify, study, and weaponize so-called "exoscientific phenomena," I have chosen trusted experts to assess the validity and practicality of such a focus. If they say we can realistically deliver a counterpunch to Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, so be it. if not, I will request this unit be liquidated and the men reassigned.

 

Dr. Aleksandra Valentina has already assumed leadership of our Psychotronic Phenomena Research -- the study of extrasensory perception, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and so on. For the last 8 years, Omega Group failed to verify the existence of such abilities, much less harness them. In addition to having a background in hard science, comrade Valentina is a straight talker and a Soviet's Soviet. If Omega is a waste of resources, she will give me the unvarnished truth.

 

Finally, Dr. William Peck from America's weapons research organization DARPA will serve as Exoscientific Phenomena Research Lead. Peck will develop military applications for Aetherium. Comrade Chebrikov tells me there was some pushback to this choice. After all, if Peck betrayed his own country, why wouldn't he sell us out as well? Rest assured I have contingencies in place if Peck ever thinks of betraying me.

 

I have issued a general order to scout all records since the creation of Omega Group in 1975. Surely something usable, something of worth must have been found in all that time.

 

Colonel Lev Kravchenko

Commanding Officer - Omega Group

Marked 19 April of the year 1983

 

RE: Omega Group Records Review

AUTHOR: Dr. Aleksandra Valentina

 

SUMMARY:

Omega's central database archives confirm the main operational focus was to gain a scientific understanding of psychotronic abilities like biocommunications and bioenergetics, then instill those abilities in our covert operators. Obviously, being able to read minds or dominate the wills of others would have great utility in espionage and covert operations. Though they never determined a scientific cause for extrasensory abilities, they did conscript a handful of Russian nationals with genuine talents and trained them as intelligence assets. Alas, their gifts were impossible to reproduce and all such assets were either killed in action or suffered psychological breakdowns that rendered them useless for continued service. Still, the work showed promise: 

 

10 April, 1976 - A suicide bomber attempting to enter the Soviet embassy in Ho Chi Minh City was sensed by an Omega Group asset on site. The terrorist was stopped and detonated at the gate, saving countless lives in the compound.

 

29 June, 1976 - East Germany hosted a multilateral conference for European communist parties. A mind-reading Omega asset learned several representatives from Soviet satellite states were uniting to extract concessions from the Kremlin. Omega units quietly rounded up the diplomats' families in their home countries, ending the insurrection before it started.

 

7 April, 1978 - Following a remotely placed suggestion by an Omega biocommunications asset at our embassy in Washington, US president Carter suspended production of their neutron bomb.

 

28 April, 1978 - A clairvoyant Omega asset helped the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan assassinate the Afghan president. The asset experienced a mental breakdown and had to be liquidated as she attempted to defect at the British consulate in Kabul.

 

There were also indications in the records of Omega involvement in several high-profile assassination ops in March, May and October of 1981. All assets involved were liquidated after comrade Brezhnev's untimely death in 1982.

 

My review has so far been limited to the central database on the KGB mainframe. Other records deemed too sensitive for the party leadership were sent for storage elsewhere. I am currently piecing together the chain of custody on some of those items.

 

Dr. Aleksandra Valentina

Psychotronic Phenomena Research Lead - Omega Group

Gorev: Gorev to Peck. Hello, my American friend. I trust you find Mother Russia more hospitable than the jungles of Vietnam?

 

Peck: Hospitable? I've gone from sweating my ass off to freezing my nuts off, so--

 

Gorev: It was rhetorical question. I do not really care about your comfort. Only that you do not squander the second chance we have very generously given you.

 

Peck: I... yes. Of course. Believe me, I've got a lot to work with here.

 

Gorev: Just keep Kravchenko informed of your progress. You may be top scientist, but it is you under microscope now. Fail him again and you will be mining Aetherium crystals while Dr. Valentina takes your place. I think she would very much enjoy this.

 

Peck: Will all due respect, Valentina can't even begin to understand the Dark Aether like I do.

 

Gorev: See, that is point. No more secrets. No more hoarding information so you are only one with answers. Share what you know. Get everyone "up to speed," as you like to say. Is your best move if you want to keep other eye.

 

Peck: I'll... I will do my best.

 

Gorev: Oh, I know you will. Because if there is one thing you Americans love, it is a comeback story. This is your chance to make your friend Gorev proud. And I know you do want to make me proud.

Gorev: Hello, Peck. Remember how you allowed spy to infiltrate your ranks at Outpost 25? Remember how this informant compromised our valuable research lead over Americans?

 

Peck: Look, I know I screwed up. But the mole's dead now, right? I mean, I'm the sole survivor from that whole Vietnam fiasco.

 

Gorev: "Fiasco." Such a colorful word. Almost sounds like fun. You know what is not fun? That we still have massive fucking intelligence leak -- thanks to your not-dead mole, whom Kravchenko wants taken alive.

 

Peck: Alive, huh? He... must have plans for the poor schmuck.

 

Gorev: You will be schmuck if we do not figure out who it is. So put big brain to work. And contact me immediately if you identify the son of bitch. Am I clear?

 

Peck: Crystal.

Gorev: Peck? Gorev here. Bad news, little man: my scouts confirm that Requiem is now conducting operations in the Ural Mountains breach zone.

 

Peck: That's... how is that even possible?

 

Gorev: They are desperate. But we cannot risk them finding out about your current project.

 

Peck: Are you saying I should lay low somewhere?

 

Gorev: Heh. So brave. No, Peck, Operatsiya Inversiya is to remain your priority. The Colonel already mentioned it to Kremlin. Do not make him look bad.

 

Gorev: Just have your people keep their eyes open. Report any sightings of Requiem, but do not engage. Leave that to Spetsnaz. We live for this... shit.