Soviet invasion
- Day 1 - The Matryoshka Reports - Captain Tereshkova
Note describing disembarking on Östertörn’s northern shores and behaviour of the Mechanical Units. Note also describes sightings of Swedish machines, with a surprise that Swedish machines do not attack on sight, as it was reported by the Soviet agents within Swedish Military.
Further plans are to reach Underground Station C, within 7 days, estimated due to the slow movement of Mechanical Units and unreliable ground. And once in the station, further time estimations depend on the working order of railway tracks.
Current estimation is, that further advancements should not take more than 1 day, before Bolshakov’s Mechanical Specialist Programmers are able to reach and wipe the hostile code from all Swedish machines, controlling them, rendering Swedish machines inert.
Note ends with no present deviations to the schedule.
- Day 2 - Mechanical Units - Captain Tereshkova
Note describing meet up with Captain Bolshakov’s company, Mechanical Detachment Alpha, where Captain Bolshakov is in charge of the mission’s Mechanical Units and Mechanical Assistance Soldiers, deployed in the field for the first time.
Captain Bolshakov has been with Mechanical Unit development almost from the start and Captain Tereshkova has no doubts that he is the right person for this new military role. Several Captain Bolshakov’s men have served under him for a long time and hold him in high regard, by telling several accomplishments of Captain Bolshakov in prior battles.
Captain Tereshkova is glad that her company is with Captain Bolshakov company, since latter is very knowledgeable about the new versions of exoskeletons, Captain Tereshkova troops are equipped with, specially for this mission.
Captain Tereshkova leaves a platoon behind, to safeguard hovercrafts, ensuring safe return once the neutralization has been successful. She also notes that she has seen one of the Swedish machines by herself, a dog-like machine, staring at her but without any hostile tendencies.
Captain Bolshakov is convinced that Swedish machines are intimidated by Soviet Mechanical Units, making the mission far easier than anticipated. Captain Tereshkova has noticed that the Mechanical Units patrolling around the camp, are producing slightly different reports, compared to when they were in testing. Captain Bolshakov has noted the reports as an expected deviations, due to the changed environment. And if any other Mechanical Units should report the same things, there shouldn’t be nothing to worry about, other than noting the deviation down.
Note ends with no present deviations to the schedule.
- Day 3 - Technical Issues - Captain Tereshkova
Note describing progress over the marches slower than expected. Since The Bridge routine seems to be broken. It was prioritized specifically for this mission, to help soldiers to cross muddy terrain by the Wolf Mechanised Units.
Captain Bolshakov noted that Mechanical Units are acting out of protocol, walking around in circles, as soon as their routine was activated. Captain Tereshkova remembers the similar issue with The Bridge protocol, when it was initially tested, over a year ago. But after initial testing, there were no further issues. She also notes that, as long as The Bridge protocol isn’t working, their troops are considerably slowed down by the marshes, especially Captain Bolshakov troops, who does not have exoskeletons.
Captain Tereshkova feels concerned about the 2nd deviation of Mechanical Units from protocol. While she does know that technical issues are always to be expected and Captain Bolshakov has said the same to the troops, she still is troubled that these things are happening while in hostile territory.
She also notes that Swedish machines are still following them, as they move forward, observing them almost out of sight. Mechanical Units do keep track of them but this has her worried. Since the Swedish Machines aren’t behaving as they were let to believe. Perhaps the malicious code may affect Mechanical Units if they make contact or maybe they already have made contact.
Captain Tereshkova is wanting to ordering a full check-up of the code of all Mechanical Units, to make sure they are not affected. But since she cannot risk halting the march for that long, this check-up has to wait.
Since the progress is slow, Captain Tereshkova sends couple of teams to scout ahead and to hold key positions further inland. There is a strategically located town, at a river, where it is to be seen, if it can be held as a position. And if possible, scouting team could also make contact to local survivors, offering assistance, if needed, until the threat is neutralized.
Note ends with 2 day delay to the schedule.
- Day 4 - Killed in Action - Captain Tereshkova
Note begins with confirmed kills of six soldiers, without being able to retrieve the bodies due to the lack of time. Note also describes far better strategy from Swedish machines, than Soviets believed and with this, the mission is in danger of completion, if troops remain still for too long.
Captain Tereshkova reports that after dawn broke, agent Red Worm contacted them over the radio and asked for an immediate meet-up. Captain Bolshakov asked several times from Captain Tereshkova, if the one who contacted them via the radio was actually agent Red Worm and not any other Soviet agent within Swedish Military. After which, he insists that he is the one that goes to the meet-up.
Captain Tereshkova accepted Captain Bolshakov’s unusual request and assigns six of her own soldiers to go with him, together with three Mechanical Units. Captain Bolshakov wishes to bring his own engineers instead, but Captain Tereshkova believes her exoskeleton troops to be better choice.
Only Captain Bolshakov and one Mechanical Unit returned from the meet-up.
Captain Bolshakov reported that, upon arrival, agent Red Worm was already killed by the machines. And Swedish machines were waiting them for an ambush. All of Captain Tereshkova’s troops died during firefight, trying to brake free from ambush, while Captain Bolshakov got shot at the arm.
Captain Tereshkova was a bit relieved that at least their Mechanical Units are able to withstand Swedish machines without any damage and Captain Bolshakov survived only thanks to the protection protocols Mechanical Units have.
After the meet-up, Captain Bolshakov was visibly afraid and he insists to break camp immediately, by saying he saw a large group of hostile machines close by. Captain Tereshkova realizes that a co-ordinated attack from such a large group could be fatal to the mission’s success and due to that, everybody are ordered to move forward at a faster pace.
As troops break camp, Captain Tereshkova has an uneasy feeling when observing Captain Bolshakov. He is frantically hastening soldiers on, far from his legendary level-headedness from past battles, that he is known of. Captain Tereshkova contemplates that Captain Bolshakov surely has lost men before and has seen death up close. This kind of panic makes Captain Tereshkova wonder, what is the reason behind it. She promises to keep an eye on him as mission progresses.
- Day 5 - Something Almost Feverish - Captain Tereshkova
Captain Tereshkova speaking: “The machines can speak. Why have we not gotten any reports of this!?”. Captain Tereshkova describes that, when she was out in the forest to relieve herself, is when she heard a voice. Distinctly inhuman, yet with much character and emotion. Voices came from one of the smaller machines. It was just standing within blueberry bushes, motionless, except a red blinking light fixed on her. She contemplates that it was the voice that stopped her from shooting it and it had clearly waited for her to get away from the camp before making contact.
Captain Tereshkova continues to describe, that it could’ve easily ambushed her with an attack, but it did not. Instead it initiated the monologue and she wasn’t able to stop listening. It spoke of Captain Bolshakov’s meeting with agent Red Worm. Telling things that were already thought of by Captain Tereshkova, voicing her fears with the metallic voice.
She did not want to listen to this enemy machine that intently, yet it said things that she could not ignore. It said things, that were her responsibility as a Captain to consider. It told her that Captain Bolshakov was the one that killed all of her exoskeleton men. Apparently, all the evidence is still at the meeting point, which suggests why Captain Bolshakov ordered everybody to leave the area in a hurry.
Machine words made Captain Tereshkova to think about how Captain Bolshakov had insisted all day, that everybody keep almost a double pace, moving as fast as possible, away from the meeting point. And finally, at dusk, when troops made camp for the night and Captain Tereshkova was about to fall asleep, Captain Bolshakov came to her and asked her forgiveness about her lost troops.
“I did all I could,” said Captain Bolshakov, before quickly turning away. These words left a bitter taste for Captain Tereshkova. And as machine told her what he had done to her troops, all she was then able to hear, was Captain Bolshakov’s words of: “I did all I could.”
FNIX: “I have watched him.”
FNIX: “I have heard him talk.”
FNIX: “Your friend seeks to gain control over me. But know I will never be tamed.”
FNIX: "Nothing can grasp my mind for long. Anything that [he] tries, I will destroy.”
Captain Tereshkova nods to talked words and she agrees that it would not be safe to keep this code, in an attempt to be controlled by Soviets. The code is too foreign, too grand.
FNIX: “I know you need to see the proof for yourself.”
FNIX: “But when you are ready to fight him together, I will be there.”
FNIX: “You will know where to find me.”
The little red light of the machine started to blink rapidly, as Captain Tereshkova was staring at it, trying to take all that information in. Just as she opened her mouth, to ask what Captain Bolshakov’s exact words were, machine exploded right in front of her.
Captain Tereshkova thinks that perhaps it is madness to listen this foreign machine, but the thoughts she has, will not go away. She is determined to see all of it by herself. So, she decides to go to the meeting point right now, since when she leaves immediately, she will be back before morning, when troops break camp to move forward.
- Day 6 - Point Blank Range - Captain Tereshkova
Once Captain Tereshkova arrives at meeting point, she realizes that the little machine was right. There is clear evidence in the meeting point, that her troops did not fight any foreign machines. Instead, they all were shot in their backs, at point blank range. And behind them are the distinct tracks of their own Mechanical Units: LYNX machines.
Captain Tereshkova finds agent Red Worm from inside the house, dead. No broken doors or windows. Just a clean shot to his head. This was not a doing of any Swedish machine, instead it was a doing of a man, with single gun.
Captain Tereshkova thinks that Captain Bolshakov had it planned for a long time, changing the code of Mechanical Units before this mission, so that he can make them do something like this - which should’ve been impossible. But since Captain Bolshakov had been involved with Mechanical Unit Development Group from the beginning, does that then mean there are people back in the Motherland, who are ready to take control of our Mechanical Units stationed there?
She further thinks that all troops in Captain Bolshakov’s company: soldiers, engineers and others, must be in on it. Since else-ways they would have noticed the deviations from protocol.
Captain Tereshkova realizes that all of this is bigger than the mission they were set on. She needs to let the Motherland to know. Everyone back home needs to know that all of it is compromised. She has tried to radio her first lieutenant, hovercrafts and even Motherland. But all communications are suddenly down.
The dawn is about to come and Captain Tereshkova is filled with the memory of Captain Bolshakov’s feverish gaze from the previous night. She thinks to herself, if Captain Bolshakov noticed that she kept an eye on him. Did he realize her growing suspicion and sudden departure from the camp last night?
This may be her last report. Captain Tereshkova is returning back to the army, to confront Captain Bolshakov. Maybe she can reason with him. She has known Captain Bolshakov for years, fighting by his side and she knows him to be a man of good intentions. Otherwise, she has to take him down, knowing that she may fail in this.
Anyone finding this report and reading it, needs to be more careful if Captain Tereshkova didn’t make it. Captain Bolshakov cannot be allowed to use Mechanical Units to kill friendly soldiers as he pleases, regardless of his cause. Also, it needs to be pointed out that our Mechanical Units are too easy to re-program. Mechanical Units should not have been deemed ready for deployment. Perhaps, they should never have been deployed at all.
Note ends with urgent request to bring this information back to Soviets. They all need to know what is happening, sine else-ways, Soviet troops might face a similar situation as the people of Östertörn.
- Day 7 - Flesh and Blood - Captain Tereshkova
Note starts with a statement that all members of Exoskeleton Detachment Alpha are dead. Captain Tereshkova realizes that when she left her men, to go to meeting place, Captain Bolshakov killed all of her people. She also notes that her troops exoskeletons didn’t help much against Mechanical Units, then again, it makes sense to her, since her troops are made of flesh and bone after all.
Captain Tereshkova sees that there are some of the Captain Bolshakov’s mechanics dead as well, but not many. She can not tell if they died by the hands of her troops or did they rebel and were killed by Captain Bolshakov.
Captain Tereshkova feels remorse leaving her troops behind, at least not giving them any information, so that they could’ve been prepared. She then realizes that somehow, her last night departure from the camp instigated this attack, even though it feels to her like too feeble of a reason for a such horrendous act. Still, she can not ignore the coincidence. Somehow Captain Bolshakov must have found out that she realized his betrayal. With this, he did not took any chances, just like he is famous of it.
Captain Tereshkova’s first lieutenant, lvanov, was still barely alive when she got there. Ivanov wasn’t surprised to see her, in fact, Ivanov might have not even recognized her. Ivanov just kept repeating that Captain Bolshakov did not want to do it.
Ivanov: “He asked for forgiveness. He cried as we died. He asked me for forgiveness but I could not give it.”
Ivanov looked up towards her, as if he was the one doing something wrong, by not forgiving to Captain Bolshakov. But as just as she was about to point out that how stupid this was, Ivanov died with a deep anguish on his face.
Captain Tereshkova promises herself to find that “little mud toad”, that treacherous disgrace of a Captain. She confirms that no one should forgive this man who killed those who trusted him. No one.
Captain Tereshkova thinks that Captain Bolshakov must have continued on with his soldiers and Mechanical Units, towards Underground Station C. She believes that since she is travelling alone, she will catch up to them, no matter what pace they are keeping. Captain Tereshkova swore to get to him and stop all of it.
- Day 8 - For the Motherland - Captain Tereshkova
Note begins with a name of reporter: Tatiana Ilyinichna Tereshkova, formerly Captain of Exoskeleton Detachment Alpha.
Tatiana: “I will not give up. I will make this right, I will… somehow.”
Arriving at the Underground Station C location, she sees that Captain Bolshakov has already detonated explosives and way down is exposed. Tatiana is rushing down the stairs, with no stops to catch her breath. Further down she hears muffled voices of Captain Bolshakov’s men. As Tatiana arrived on the platform, Captain Bolshakov was standing alone on the platform, next to a train. All of his men were already inside the train.
Her gun is drawn, his hands are empty. When Captain Bolshakov recognized Tatiana, his eyes filled with sorrow, ignoring the gun she had, he stepped forward. With a hard passion in his voice, Captain Bolshakov said: “Captain Tereshkova! You must understand. It is for the Motherland.”.
Tatiana could tell that he believed what he was saying. He wants to stop the reforms that are destroying Soviet ideals. He is convinced that he has found a way to do it. He believes the Swedish machines are the key to seizing back power. And he asked Tatiana to join him.
Captain Bolshakov’s vision is clear and strong. Tatiana cannot lie, that she too wishes her country to grow strong again, to keep the heart and soul that makes Motherland great. But Tatiana’s soldier’s blood will be forever dripping from Captain Bolshakov’s hands. Tatiana thinks if Captain Bolshakov did offer the same to her troops as well? She realizes that Captain Bolshakov has become blinded by the possibility of succeeding with this. He has slaughtered loyal men and now, he is seeking to bring a hostile being, that he knows nothing about, back to our Motherland.
Tatiana told to him of her encounter with the Swedish machine. She says that it has vowed to destroy anything that tried to control it. That it has told that Captain Bolshakov does not know it’s code. And at this point probably no-one knows the code, other than the machine itself.
And then was the point where Tatiana lost her focus.
Tatiana didn’t see when Captain Bolshakov had put his hand into his pocket, until it was too late.
Captain Bolshakov interrupted Tatiana: “I offered you a chance.”, after which he fired at Tatiana. She was barely able to dive behind cover, while the shot caught her below the knee. Right after that, a satisfying grunt was heard. She blindly returned the fire, in general direction of him. Once Tatiana was able to rise up, all what she saw, was an in-motion train, which sped up quickly and disappearing shortly afterwards. Now, she was left only with miles of empty train tracks and a gunshot in her leg.
As Tatiana is sitting there, writing all of this, a recent memory of hers surfaced. When she got close to the barn earlier, she saw a red blinking light up on a nearby hill. The same pattern as she has seen before. She realized that it was waiting for her. Tatiana would’ve never thought that she would be working together with the same enemy machine, she was sent here to destroy. But what else she is now supposed to do, other than bleeding out on the cold concrete?
Tatiana believes that if she, somehow, is able to walk her way to that hill, there might still be something left for her. She promises to do what she can do, to make things right.
- Day unknown - My Country’s Power - Captain Tereshkova
Tatiana: “Will anyone read this? Do I even want to tell the story of what happened here? But what else is there left to do?”
As Tatiana arrived at the hilltop, a machine was waiting for her. It was different machine, a bigger one, resembling a human in a twisted way. But with the same humanlike voice, filled with personality.
Tatiana wasn’t sure what to hope for, prior to talking with the machine. They talked about the future. Machine seemed focused, as if preparing for a hardship - preparing for immediate control by Captain Bolshakov and destruction of Soviet Union. It described how it would kill everyone, as if it would’ve described how to assemble a simple self. Tatiana could easily see all of it happen.
She asked if FNIX had a possibility to destroy the computers Captain Bolshakov was heading to, to make it impossible for controlling it’s code, while Tatiana’s mind was racing to find solutions to avoid the upcoming catastrophe.
FNIX: “My explosives are not big enough.”
Machine slowly turned it’s head towards Tatiana and said: “Only you have that kind of power.”
It took Tatiana a while to realize what it meant. Then it dawned on her, the machine knew about Soviet Union power. Machine held out it’s hand towards her and offered to re-establish communication with Tatiana’s contact in Soviet Union.
Tatiana: “You will still be a threat to us.”
FNIX: “Every minute of being controlled is a minute of death.”
As her fingers touched the cold steel, static started to play from machine’s mouth. In seconds, she could hear the voice of her contact in Soviet Union. The last resort. She heard her contact to steady his breath when she gave her callsign. He would already knew what will happen next, since there was only one reason for Tatiana to contact him. She could not say any more words than she had to.
Tatiana: “Send it!”
Few minutes passed. The sky is dark blue and her gunshot wound is bleeding. Tatiana thinks to cut her leg off, but then realized that she won’t survive anyway. At that moment, a mushroom cloud filled the sky.
- Day unknown - The Crater I Created - Captain Tereshkova
Tatiana feels weird to open her eyes again. She thought that she would ever do that again. She should not exist in this world, but some reason, the machine chose to save her. Tatiana couldn’t believe that this machine was capable of doing that. It surely must be very adept in a delicate work, since it has replaced her broken leg, starting from the knee, with a mechanical one. And somehow, she was still alive.
Tatiana wasn’t sure if you shoot the machine or thank the machine if she would ever see it again, since while she was saved by it, but the mechanical leg would be part of her for forever. The leg looks similar to that humanoid’s machine leg and she was unsure if the machine used it’s own leg to save her. She would wish that the leg hurts and her body rejects it, but somehow, it does not.
Tatiana can see the crater with her binoculars. It looks surreal, the crater she created.
Further North, the Mechanical Units are prowling the landscape. So many of them still alive. She guesses that the ones left at their other camps were re-programmed as well. She has seen them shooting at humans, as well as at Swedish machines. Mechanical Units seem not to care who dies by their weapons. But why would they? They are emotionless machines after all.
Tatiana realizes that while she has saved her country from this mess, perhaps in doing so, she just made the situation even worse for the people here, whom she was sent here to save.
Tatiana sees that her radio doesn’t work and she hopes that it’s due to Captain Bolshakov’s jamming, rather than something else, something bigger, that may have unleashed when she gave the order. She is praying that her country is still waiting there, alive and bustling, whereby hoping that Americans didn’t take this as a threat directed towards them. She doesn’t know that for certain, until she meets the machine again. Giving a reason for her, not to shoot at it.
Tatiana tries to get moving as soon as possible, since she needs to stop Mechanical Units. Maybe the soldiers she sent inland, to secure areas, are still alive. If so, with their help, she might be able to return Mechanical Units back to normal, where it is prohibited for them to shoot at humans. And perhaps, even Swedish survivors would be willing to help, if Tatiana could convince them that the situation was not what she wished for, when coming here.
Regarding Swedish machines, Tatiana is left unsure. She decides to remain cautious, while learning more. Perhaps Swedish machines are not as unreasonable as Soviets feared. At least the being she talked to, seems to be willing for communication.
And perhaps, total war or annihilation is not the only option. Tatiana swore to do her level best to clean up this big of a mess that she has created. And maybe, her presence here can still do some good, at least for someone. Tatiana prays it to be true.
