Briefing on SLATE THUNDER (Chaos Insurgency Orientation) - SCP Foundation

Good morning, folks. Help yourself to coffee and bagels.

For those of you who don't know me already, I'm Colonel Neil Hornby, Senior Supervisory Intelligence Officer for the Foundation. It's my turn to give the Chaos Insurgency Orientation. In the folder in front of you, you'll find a non-disclosure agreement. This briefing is classified "sensitive compartmented information", so if you're staying, you're signing. Otherwise, grab a bagel on the way out.

Yes, labcoat and glasses.

I know you signed a non-disclosure agreement when you joined the Foundation, and each time you got promoted. You're what, an El Three? You must be new to the whole intel side of the Foundation. I know you're used to the whole El Zero through Five security clearance system. The eggheads (no offense, my dad was an egghead, so I don't have anything against you sciencey types) came up with that. It works well enough if you're handling Ess See Pees. Foundation Intelligence works a little differently. We still use that, kinda the way the US has confidential/secret/top secret, but that doesn't mean El Fives can read whatever they feel like getting their grubby paws on. We operate on "Need to Know." While you over in R&D and the guys in containment and acquisitions get killed if you don't have information widely shared, in our side of the house people die if the information falls into the wrong hands.

So, like I said, sign the NDA in front of you, or leave.

Everybody signed? Great. Ms. Buyanova will trade each of you your NDA for a SLATE THUNDER packet.

Sweater vest in the third row, fire away.

"Slate Thunder". That's the codename for this sensitive compartment. As for the packet itself, it contains the information I'll be presenting, so feel free to follow along. I don't really care if you read or listen. If you have anything you need to ask, don't keep it to yourself. This information was compiled by Professor Greg Lewis, who is the Foundation's leading expert on the Chaos Insurgency. He's been studying them since before most of us were born, myself included.

So, the Chaos Insurgency. They are one of the Foundation's oldest enemies. What do we know about them?

Yes, they're self-serving and ruthless, though that could also describe the Foundation or most governments if you think about it. And they are political, there's no doubt about that, but I'm not sure I'd say the Foundation isn't. I mean, back in the - actually, you're not all cleared to know about that. Let's just say that the Foundation plays politics when it has to.

No, they're not just what the higher-up call personnel who go off the reservation. The Foundation does, occasionally, "purge" people, and while you really don't want to become such an unperson, that (generally) doesn't involve the Chaos Insurgency.

"The same things as the Foundation only for profit"? I'm not sure I'd have worded it that way, but I s'pose it fits - sort of, at least.

Correct, many of their operatives are just guns for hire. This makes our job harder, actually, since keeping track of which PMCs, mercs, thugs, guerrillas, and criminals are working for them and which ones aren't straight is no easy chore. The CI - that's "counterintelligence", not "Chaos Insurgency" - guys have a whole analytic task force devoted to just separating the wolves from the dogs.

Suit in the back - give that legal pad to Ms. Buyanova! None of you are allowed to take notes, nor are you allowed to remove your packets from the room. I'm sorry, I thought you all knew better than that. Anyway, the packets are numbered, and we'll be collecting them at the end.

Anyway, red shirt in the second row. No, they're not "terrorists" per se, rather "insurgents", though you can be forgiven for mixing the two terms up - most people do these days. A terrorist uses terror as an end in and of itself: you crash a plane into a building, a lot of people die and even more, people get, well, terrorized. Your motivations may vary, but at the end of the day, the act itself is the end. An insurgent, on the other hand, uses many tools and tactics, including terrorism, in order to elicit a response: you crash a plane into a building and a lot of people die, but then the government cracks down to try and stamp you out, which always - always! - results in innocent people getting caught up by the authorities' net, which upsets the populace, which does more damage to the government and society than your plane crash ever could. Nine-Eleven was an act of terror, but the strategy was almost certainly one of insurgency, rather than terrorism. Anyway, I digress.

Most of you have no idea what really happened when the Chaos Insurgency first formed. No, I am serious. If you look at the first inside page of your packet, you'll see the Official Party Line: small group of agents goes absent without leave in '24 with several useful SCPs. That's the Official Party Line, that's what you've always been told up until now, and that is what you will continue to tell people who aren't cleared into SLATE THUNDER. Period, end of sentence, or else we toss you in a dark hole for a very long time - a dark hole which is, if you're lucky, empty. If not…

Anyway, the Official Party Line is on par with saying the major political powers had strong words with each other during the Forties, or that Hurricane Andrew was a light drizzle. Unless someone has violated security protocol big time (in which case, tell me who so I can personally toss them in a dark hole for a very long time), you'll have never heard of the Triad before.

Blank looks. Excellent.

The Triad was what the Chaos Insurgency was back before it was an insurgency. You see, between 1924 and 1926, the Foundation had a civil war.

Yes, miss, you heard correctly, the Foundation Civil War.

Of course, there was a cover-up. This organization protects people by keeping dangerous secrets from traumatizing people. Don't tell me you thought we didn't do that internally.

In the Foundation Civil War, we had the Loyalists on one side, the Triad on the other. Eventually, the Triad lost, and the handful of survivors formed what would become the Chaos Insurgency. We came up with that term, "Chaos Insurgency", by the way. They co-opted it; they're good at co-opting things.

Anyway, if you'll turn to the next page in your packet…

SCI Warning

Official Summary

Chaos Insurgency History (Classified)

Related Original Documents

CLASSIFIED MATERIAL

Sensitive Compartmented Information: SLATE THUNDER

This document contains information affecting the security of the Foundation within the meaning of the Foundation General Security Protocol 02, Section 183. The protocol prohibits its transmission or the revelation of its contents in any manner to an unauthorized person, as well as its use in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the Foundation or for the benefit of any unauthorized entity or the detriment of the Foundation. It is to be seen only by personnel possessing Level Five clearance and/or especially indoctrinated and authorized in writing to receive information in the designated control channels. Its security must be maintained in accordance with regulations pertaining to SLATE THUNDER Controls.

Unauthorized viewing, possession, replication, and/or dissemination of this document is grounds for punitive actions detailed in Foundation General Security Protocol 18, Section 2381.

Official Summary For General Distribution With Regards To The Chaos Insurgency

As specific information relating to the Chaos Insurgency is for the most part classified as sensitive compartmented information, the Office of the O5 Council has issued the appended document, File #008956 (Official Summary For General Distribution With Regards To The Chaos Insurgency). This file is classified as "general knowledge" requiring only a Level 1 Security Clearance to access. All personnel indoctrinated into the SLATE THUNDER compartment are instructed to discuss absolutely no information not contained within File #008956 with any persons not indoctrinated into the SLATE THUNDER compartment, including (but not limited to) the designation "SLATE THUNDER" and/or any details or information within the SLATE THUNDER sensitive compartment that verifies, supplements, and/or contradicts statements contained in File #008956.

File #008956

Title: OFFICIAL SUMMARY FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION WITH REGARDS TO THE CHAOS INSURGENCY

Security Clearance Level: ONE

The Chaos Insurgency is a splinter group of the Foundation, created by a rogue cell that went A.W.O.L. with several highly useful SCPs in 1924. Since then, the Insurgency has become a major player on the world stage, using the SCPs that it obtains for its own personal benefit, and to consolidate its global power base. The Insurgency not only deals in SCPs but also in weapons running and intelligence gathering.

It makes use of dictator regimes in Third World countries, often using their populations in the same manner as the Foundation does D Class Personnel. Because of this, it helps to maintain the extreme poverty and war that is suffered by these countries, so that it can continue its radical experimentation, easy conscription of forces, and lucrative business deals with rebel factions.

Most of the SCPs possessed by the Insurgency are unknown, but of those that are known, the most notable are the "Staff of Hermes", an item capable of warping the physical and chemical properties of any matter it touches, and the "Bell of Entropy", an object that can cause a variety of destructive effects depending on where it is struck. Both of these SCPs were originally obtained at no small cost by the Foundation and were stolen by the original founders of the Insurgency. The Insurgency also has a known association with SCP-355 and SCP-884.

The main base of operations of the Insurgency is unknown, as are its leaders. This organization is directly antagonistic to the Foundation, coming to clash over SCPs several times. Personnel are to be made aware of possible raids, terrorist attempts, and spies from the Insurgency, and to notify command about any strange behavior of fellow personnel.

Chaos Insurgency History (Classified)

What follows is a brief history of the Chaos Insurgency, with a focus on the formation of the organization between 1924 and 1933. (Specific details of the Chaos Insurgency's history post-1933 are classified in other sensitive compartments.) As this information is contained within sensitive compartment "SLATE THUNDER" (the contents of this larger file) and not classified as "general knowledge" accessible to all members of the Foundation, other documents, and records within the Foundation database may contradict this account, having been altered to comply with the File #008956 (Official Summary For General Distribution With Regards To The Chaos Insurgency). Personnel with authorization to review the unaltered documents and records should contact the Records and Information Security Administration in writing.

1919-1924: Prelude

With the end of the First World War, the Foundation saw its ranks increase with an influx of new recruits from the battlefields of Europe, military scientists put out of work with the scaling back of the war economy, and returning members who had taken leave to serve their countries. Fresh from the horrors of war, many members of the Foundation believed SCP objects could and should be utilized to benefit humanity. The specific arguments varied: some wanted the weaponization of SCP objects to assist in the enforcement of the Post-War regime; some wanted to replicate and market SCP objects, stimulating economic growth in a model similar to either The Factory or Marshall, Carter & Dark (both of which were believed to have profited handsomely during the War); still, others wanted to open the Foundation's collection for study by non-aligned scientists, so all of mankind could benefit. Unsurprisingly, these arguments were as controversial as they ever had been, but Foundation staff also believed they were nothing new. What they failed to realize was that, while such arguments had been debated since the Foundation's inception, with global society having been so greatly traumatized by the War, and with the Foundation's staff filled with veterans, either of combat or wartime research projects, the Foundation itself was structurally vulnerable to these arguments in a way like never before.

Separated by varying ideals, the dissenters within the Foundation presented little threat to the status quo. This changed in May of 1924 with the anonymous publication, and wide distribution, of a unifying manifesto entitled A New Manifesto (see appended document). This document believed written jointly by several high-level members of the Foundation, blasted the organization's administration for continuing "on a path leading unproductively to nothing but misery and ruin", and calling for reform and reorganization. Following a clampdown ordered by O5-7 and the banning of possession of the manifesto, discontent became widespread. Riots occurred at several of the larger secure facilities in late May and early June, forcing the issue onto the agenda for the O5 Council.

June 1924: The Great Schism

With many members of the Foundation up in arms over both the New Manifesto and the subsequent clampdown it caused, the O5 Council was itself divided on how to handle the issue. Most Overseers wanted the issue resolved so the day-to-day business of securing, containing, and protecting objects could continue (and resume where halted). Several, notably O5-7, O5-10, and O5-13, wanted to enforce tight punitive measures on any Foundation personnel involved in the disruption of the Foundation's mission. These hardliners advocated widespread assignment to Keter duty and demotion to D-class of those behaving in "conduct unbecoming of members of the Foundation". Others, notably O5-9 (General Nigel Weston) and O5-11 (Count Vladimir Borisovich Frederiks), strongly supported the dissenters, agreeing with some parts of the inflammatory document.

10 June: Vote of No Confidence in the O5 Council

At the O5 Council meeting on 10 June 1924, Overseer Nine forced the issue by calling for a vote of no confidence in the O5 Council.

The O5 Council is unelected, typically choosing its own members. Members serve for life or until retirement but may be impeached by a two-thirds majority of the Ethics Committee. All thirteen Overseers have one equal vote, with O5-1 acting as the first-among-equals during most meetings. According to the Council's bylaws, any Overseer can decide to call a vote of no confidence at a Council meeting where at least nine members of the Council are present. In such an event, all Level 5 personnel (excluding Overseers, who are required to abstain), Site and Department Directors, Unit Commanders, and members of the Ethics Committee are contacted and given twenty-four hours to vote on a secret ballot. If the vote passes by two-thirds majority, the old O5 Council is dissolved and a new Council is formed, led by the Overseer who initiated the vote. If the vote fails to pass, the initiating Overseer automatically retires.

The vote of no confidence procedure had never before been used (and has never been used since), so O5-9's decision sent immediate shock waves through the Foundation. The Office of the O5 Council's Clerk dutifully made the notifications and began the voting tally.

11 June: Coup Attempt

By early the following morning, with eighty-eight percent of the possible votes collected, it was clear that the vote of no confidence would fail. While fifty-three percent of the votes favored the measure's passage, it was clear that even if all remaining votes supported the Council's dissolution, the tally would still fall short of the necessary two-thirds majority.

Before the 11 June Council meeting could begin, O5-9 (formerly a General in the British Army) and O5-11 ordered the Foundation Task Force in charge of guarding Foundation Command Headquarters1 to take the other members of the O5 Council into custody. While the Task Force commander, Agent Jacques Clemenceau, himself a former Colonel in the French Army, complied, only O5-3 and O5-12 were present. Overseers One, Two, Four, Five, Six, Eight, Ten, and Thirteen had all secretly left during the preceding night, seeking refuge at Foundation facilities in Britain, Italy, Canada, and the United States. Overseer Seven had already been in Washington, D.C. when the vote had been called. The bodyguards of O5-3 and O5-12 resisted their charges' arrests, resulting in a brief gunbattle in which they, both O5-3 and O5-12, and the Task Force commander were all killed. The Task Force's second-in-command, Agent Robert Brown, who opposed the plotters, then attempted unsuccessfully to arrest Overseers Nine and Eleven for treason. The two treasonous Overseers fled.

12-13 June: Mass Defections & Opening Volleys

General Weston (now stripped of his O5-9 title) and Count Frederiks (removed from his position as O5-11 in absentia by the O5 Council) sought refuge at Site-37 in the Austrian Alps. Site-37's Director, Dr. Wolfgang Fritz, a former researcher for the German Empire, was sympathetic to Weston's and Frederiks' cause. The three men formed the "Triad", a governing body whose first official decision was to declare the O5 Council "an illegitimate body", and to claim authority over the Foundation. The Triad promised that it would organize the creation of a "Central Congress" for the Foundation, democratically elected by Foundation staff after forces loyal to the O5 Council could be removed from positions of authority. Foundation policy should be reflective of its members, they argued, and the forcible crushing of dissent by the old regime was the proverbial straw.

Predictably, the O5 Council was not amused. Decrying the Triad and labeling its supporters "traitors to the Foundation", MTFs loyal to the Council were secretly mobilized and dispatched to Foundation Command Headquarters and Site-37.

Foundation Command Headquarters, which had been placed under lockdown by Agent Brown following the escape of Weston and Frederiks, welcomed the Loyalist MTF. Unfortunately, operating on orders from hardline O5-7, the MTF placed all staff at Foundation Command Headquarters under arrest, even Agent Brown. Though Seven later defended her orders as necessary (due to unknown loyalties of those present), the treatment of the staff from Headquarters was draconian. The facility was decommissioned, with the staff detained elsewhere and the stored SCP objects transferred to other facilities.

Site-37, which received word of Foundation Command Headquarters' fate, resisted the Loyalist MTF with force. Out-manned and out-gunned, the MTF retreated after taking heavy casualties. The Triad retaliated by revealing the Council's actions to the Foundation at large, resulting in widespread unrest. In a combination of outrage and support for the Triad's cause, many Foundation facilities and units defected to the Triad's side. Both the Council and the Triad blamed the other side for using an SCP object to cause the "Wildkansas" tornado, which completely destroyed Site-83 in the village of Páty, Hungary. The tornado, estimated to be an F4, landed at Bia, and, after 3 hours, ended near Vác. One of the strongest tornadoes ever in Europe, it left a 500-1500m wide and 70km long path of destruction, leaving many homeless, killing nine civilians and all two dozen Site-83 staff, and wounding over fifty. Widely agreed to be the first major attack in the Foundation Civil War, the Wildkansas tornado would be revealed decades later to have actually been caused by a member of MC&D with no affiliation to either the Foundation, the Triad, or any other group that would later become involved in the Chaos Insurgency.

1924-1926: Foundation Civil War

Overview

The Foundation Civil War lasted from 12 June 1924 until 10 October 1926. The conflict was fought between the Loyalists (members of the Foundation loyal to the existing O5 Council) and the Triads (forces loyal to the rebellious Triad; this group later would become the Chaos Insurgency). Classified post-conflict analyses by the Foundation estimate the following statistics:

Foundation Loyalists
Triad/Insurgency

% of Pre-conflict Foundation Forces (Personnel), High and Low
61% - 43%
57% - 39%

% of Available Forces (on respective sides) Engaged in Conflict
40%
Unknown, Assumed >90%

% of Pre-conflict Foundation Resources (Monetary)
56%
44%

% of Pre-conflict SCPs Retained Post-Conflict
70% Safe, 89% Euclid, 95% Keter
Unknown (Assumed 30% Safe, 11% Euclid, 5% Keter)

% of Pre-conflict SCPs designated "Useful", "Suitable for Reverse-Engineering", "Manufacturable", or "Suitable for Weaponization" Retained Post-Conflict
61.7%
Unknown (Assumed 38.3%)

Casualties (Percentages)
52.3% KIA, WIA, or MIA
87.9% KIA or WIA; 11.3% Detained or executed after conflict; 0.8% Unaccounted for post-conflict.

In the end, the Foundation Civil War was the bloodiest and most destructive conflict (that the Foundation was directly involved in) in the organization's history. However, due to the sensitive nature of the conflict, the O5 Council subsequently employed all available resources to expunge the details of the conflict from any records requiring a security clearance lower than Level 5. Due to the Foundation's compartmentalized nature, a rigorous counterintelligence campaign and accompanying purges, and the fact that most of the forces on the Foundation's side of the conflict had been limited to the Foundation's security, military, paramilitary, and intelligence forces, the cover-up was remarkably successful. It is a testament to the success of the cover-up that most Foundation personnel recruited after 1938, a mere twelve years after the cessation of the Foundation Civil War, remained completely unaware of the conflict. While it is general knowledge within the organization that the Chaos Insurgency can trace its roots to a "small rogue cell of Foundation agents" that split off in 1924 (the term "Triad" being essentially completely expunged from the record), to this day few individuals know the truth of the magnitude of the ordeal.

1924 - July 1925: Triad Ascendant

After the initial outbreak of hostilities in June 1924, it was not long before the ranks of the Triad forces had gone from Site-37 alone to several dozen secure facilities and mobile task forces, spread across all eight continents. The Triad's structure mirrored the antebellum Foundation, with a few key differences:

The Triad assumed the roles of the O5 Council and Foundation High Command (the antebellum mechanism within the Foundation for command and control of all armed task forces and security personnel). Technically, the Triad refused to recognize the authority of the existing O5 Council and Foundation High Command, instead declaring a state of emergency in which the three members of the Triad (and their appointed subordinates) would assume the duties of these institutions.

Count Frederiks assumed responsibility for political and administrative matters on the Triad. In effect, Frederiks was the de facto leader of the organization, though he was technically equal in position to Weston and Fritz.

General Weston assumed responsibility for military and security matters on the Triad. For all practical intents and purposes, Weston was the supreme military commander for the Triad throughout the Civil War.

Doctor Fritz assumed responsibility for all scientific and research matters on the Triad. Despite the conflict, both the Loyalists and the Triad continued in their respective operations to secure, contain, and protect anomalous objects. Unlike the Loyalists, the Triad had no qualms about using the SCP objects at its disposal to further its cause, and Fritz oversaw all related efforts.

The Triad had no Ethics Committee; Count Frederiks issued a statement that such a committee would be re-instituted once the state of emergency was resolved.

Any Foundation member who publicly swore an oath of allegiance to the Triad would be enfranchised for an upcoming vote on the members of the Central Congress.

In the chaos of June and July of 1924, the O5 Council and Foundation Loyalists struggled to regroup and organize. Though the Foundation had contingency plans for almost every conceivable external threat, the Department for Contingencies had no effective plan for handling the situation then faced by the organization. Not only that, but at the time the Triad had copies of the same plans as the Loyalists, which enabled them to predict and counter almost every move made by the O5 Council. The decommissioning of Foundation Command Headquarters outside Paris, initially meant as a preventative measure against the Triad, proved disastrous for the Loyalists when it was discovered that many of the documents from that facility (everything from personnel manifests to financial information to military orders-of-battle to SCP object files) inexplicably were lost. Though Foundation intelligence was never able to definitively prove the Triad was responsible for the disappearance of these documents, it was at the time taken as an article of faith that Triad agents had stolen them.

By August, the Council had managed to reestablish a headquarters in the United States, at what would eventually become known as Overwatch HQ. For security reasons, no SCP objects were permitted at the new facility. The Council, having replaced the two dead and two traitorous Overseers, declared a state of emergency and took a number of drastic steps to counter the Triad.

The Foundation Department of Internal Affairs and Professional Responsibility was dissolved and the Office of the High Inquisitor (OHI) was created in its stead. Overseers Six, Seven, and Thirteen (all hardliners whose loyalty to the Council was unquestionable for their opposition to the dissidents prior to the coup attempt) assumed responsibility for supervising the OHI. The OHI was granted near unlimited power to conduct the business traditionally handled not only by the now-defunct DIAPR but also the Foundation's Department of Counterintelligence and the Security branch of Foundation High Command. OHI would remain a key structure in the Foundation's bureaucracy until 1930.

The Foundation High Command, whose ranks were so filled with Triad sympathizers that it had essentially ceased to function by August 1924, was dissolved. The O5 Council took direct control over the Loyalist armed forces, establishing O5 Command as a replacement command and control mechanism. Foundation Security was transferred to the authority of the OHI.

Ten new Armed Mobile Task Forces at regiment strength (~3,200-4,500 troops each), designated Genga-1 through -10. "Genga", a letter from the Coptic alphabet, was chosen to prevent confusion with previously existing units, as both the Loyalists and Triad employed the Greek alphabet for MTF designations. The "Genga Division", as it was called, was tasked with handling all planned2 armed engagements against Triad forces. Unlike regular MTFs, all units and subunits in Genga Division down to the company level had the additional post of "Political Officer"/"Politoffizier"/"Zampolit"/"Officier Politique". This position was filled by an officer equivalent in rank to the unit's commanding officer, chosen specifically by the OHI to ensure the loyalty of the unit to the O5 Council. (Genga Division would be demobilized in 1927, at which point the position of Political Officer was abolished from Foundation forces.)

All Foundation personnel were confined to their assigned facilities. Off-site travel was limited to authorized missions only.

All outgoing telegraph and written correspondence was subject to censorship. All incoming telegraph and written correspondence, and all telephone conversation (outgoing or incoming) were monitored. All personal correspondence was suspended.

The Foundation Monitor, a semi-independent weekly internal newspaper and quarterly internal scholarly journal, was shut down. It would later be re-established in 1948.

The Council's countermeasures met with varying degrees of success. By mid-August, the Council was able to freeze all financial assets available as of the previous May to forces who had declared loyalty to the Triad; most of those assets had been liquidated by defectors to the Triad. Consequently, the effect on the actual cash-flow for the Triad was minimal. More directly, though the OHI's track record of successfully identifying and purging members of the Foundation suspected of sympathizing with the Triad was unimpeachable, the harsh techniques the Inquisitors employed drove countless individuals into the Triad's open arms.

The Genga Division, despite numerical superiority over Triad forces in nearly every engagement, suffered heavy losses throughout the fall of 1924 and winter of 1924/25. After-action reports filed by Genga commanders suggest the responsibility for the defeats lay in part with the Triad's use of weaponized SCPs (while the Genga Division was specifically banned by O5 Command from reciprocating), in part by chronic strategic and tactical intelligence leaks to the Triad from within Genga Division, and in part with the consistent interference by unit Political Officers. Morale among the Loyalists plummeted, resulting in mass defections and open mutiny against the O5 Council.

For its part, bolstered by an influx of defectors, the Triad organized an election of the Central Congress in February 1925. The Central Congress was convened at Sector-12, a Triad-controlled facility outside Perth, Scotland. While the Central Congress' seventy-five members were representative of the Triad forces, political maneuvering by General Weston and Doctor Fritz ensured that they, the three members of the Triad itself, remained in near-total control. Weston and Fritz moved to quietly isolate Count Frederiks from the public eye after the eighty-eight-year-old Count's declining health led to increased senility. Foundation intelligence now suggests the Count suffered from Alzheimer's, worsened by a series of strokes in late 1924 and early 1925. Careful political theater precluded Frederiks' senility from affecting the Foundation's (Loyalist or Triad) perception of his ability.

July 1925: High Water Mark

Defeat after defeat for Foundation forces, coupled with the incompetence of Political Officers and the excesses of Inquisitors, meant that by June of 1925, the Triad outnumbered the Loyalists three-to-two. The O5 Command realized a new strategy was desperately needed.

The Genga Division commander was replaced in early July 1925. The new commander, the energetic young Brigadier General William Chatterton, proposed a bold strategy in secret to O5-1, who approved it unilaterally. The other Overseers and O5 Command Staff were not informed out of operational security concerns. Chatterton disseminated a set of operational orders to Genga Division and a number of other Loyalist forces through communication channels known to be compromised. These orders indicated the forces would be organizing a counteroffensive against Triad-controlled facilities in Africa. At the same time, a Foundation plane carrying a courier with falsified Level 5 plans suffered staged mechanical errors and crashed in Sector-12, over twenty kilometers from the Sector's main base of operations. Triad forces dutifully recovered the remains of the pilot and courier, as well as the plans. These plans alluded to the development of a weaponized Keter class SCP at Site-99, a tiny outpost located on Novaya Zemlya, an island in the Arctic Ocean to the north of the Soviet Union. This weaponized SCP would "turn the tide of the war upon deployment" - with the Foundation apparently backtracking on its longstanding policy against weaponizing SCPs, the Triad could not afford to let such a device become operational. Site-99 was supposedly lightly guarded only by an elite group of fewer than a hundred operatives from Genga-3, chosen for their skills and political reliability. By keeping the facility small, O5-1 was supposed to be hoping to prevent leaks. The courier was supposedly flying a progress report from Site-99 to Overwatch HQ. Believing the deception, the Triad massed a third of its available troops at the port of Arkhangelsk, to travel by ship to the target. General Weston assigned Commodore Yuri Zolnerovich, a gifted Soviet naval officer, to oversee the operation.

Unbeknownst to the Triad, the entirety of Genga-2, -3, -4, and -5 were located strategically on the Kanin Peninsula, Kolguev Island, and Novaya Zemlya. The Keter SCP at Site-99, and indeed, Site-99 itself, were fabricated myths. A strike team of operatives from MTF Xi-13 were located in Arkhangelsk, charged with placing limpet mines on the Triad ships.

Count Frederiks, then in Helsinki, received word of the operation through a Loyalist mole in his entourage. Outraged at the appointment of Zolnerovich, who had been one of the individuals implicated in the death of the Russian Czar, Frederiks traveled to Arkhangelsk and personally took charge of the operation. Count Frederiks had technically held a high rank in the Imperial Russian military, a consequence of his post as the Imperial Household Minister to the Czar, but he had never been an effective military commander. When Zolnerovich objected, citing Weston's position as supreme commander of Triad forces, the elderly and emotional Frederiks shot him, snarling that it was revenge for Czar Nikolas. This was precisely the outcome General Chatterton had hoped for.

At 2200 hours local time on 24 July 1925, the Triad flotilla departed Arkhangelsk. Frederiks had rescinded Zolnerovich's order to check for limpet mines, stating it as unnecessary since the Foundation had no idea they were coming. The flotilla consisted of fifteen large troop transports and a dozen escort cruisers. At 0500 the following morning, they were steaming to the north of Kolguev Island when the limpet mines detonated. Ten of the escorts were sunk immediately, as were six of the troop transports. The remaining vessels all suffered heavy damage, with one of the surviving escorts and seven of the surviving nine transports having their engines completely disabled. Count Frederiks' flagship was by sheer luck one of the transport vessels with functioning engines. As Genga Division ships and fighter-bombers swept in, Frederiks abandoned the disabled vessels and ordered the three remaining ships with functioning engines to immediately land on Kolguev Island. Only Frederiks' transport survived long enough to make it to shore, where Genga-4 machine gunners massacred the Triad troops and sailors attempting to land. In a little more than two hours, a third of the available military forces loyal to the Triad had been completely obliterated. This signified the high-water mark for the Triad, and was a blow from which it would never recover.

Count Frederiks was not killed at the Battle of Kolguev Island (referred to by Triad forces as the "Far North Massacre"), but rather captured by Foundation forces. He was taken to a Foundation detention facility in Murmansk, where he bartered his knowledge of the Triad in exchange for being placed under house arrest in Helsinki. When General Weston and Doctor Fritz learned of Frederiks' disastrous defeat and subsequent treachery, they disavowed him, symbolically stripping him of his position on the Triad. His post was never refilled, with Weston and Fritz splitting responsibility for his former duties. Less than a week after his capture, Count Frederiks suffered a serious stroke, confining him to bed and rendering him all but completely senile. He would finally die of old age in 1927, alone and forgotten.

August 1925 - March 1926: Triad in Retreat

General Chatterton was quick to press the Loyalists' advantage in the aftermath of the Battle of Kolguev Island. He opened a series of offensives against Triad forces in Indochina and South America in August and September (respectively). Reeling from the loss of the best-trained and -equipped third of its military forces, with many of its reserves (seemingly pointlessly) defending facilities in the Belgian Congo and Ethiopian Empire, the Triad suffered devastating defeats in both theaters. Weston made the fateful decision in late September to transfer reserves from the Triad's Africa holdings. When O5 Command Intelligence discovered the Triad's redeployment of troops in October, Chatterton began preparations for a winter offensive in Africa.

As Loyalist and Triad forces clashed on the physical battlefield, so too did they in the propaganda battlefield. The O5 Council issued a "Proclamation on the Present Conflict" on 1 August, addressed to "all members of the Foundation, regardless of loyalty". It called for an end to hostilities, praised the foot soldiers of both sides for their valor, and implored the rank-and-file of Triad forces to recognize that their misguided leaders were forgetting the real mission and taking those who followed them down a road to "nothing but ruin, disgrace, and anguish." The Triad propaganda apparatus quickly retorted, painting the Proclamation as nothing more than "the lies and gloating of a cowardly group capitalizing on a brutal massacre." Both sides employed omnipresent censors in attempts to control the narrative of the struggle, though the Loyalists were far more successful in this regard.

In December, General Chatterton, O5-1, O5-6, and O5-7 secretly organized a branch of O5 Command dedicated to the termination of non-anomalous individuals who represented threats to the Foundation. The details of this organization, referred to only by its codename of █████████████, remain highly classified within the Foundation to this day; the program's existence was not acknowledged by the O5 Council until the mid-1970s. The first targets of █████████████ were the two remaining members of the Triad, Dr. Fritz and Gen. Weston, as well as their immediate subordinates.

Throughout January and February 1926, the Loyalists continued to gain ground against the Triad. One of the widespread myths of the war, common to both sides, was that the Triad was employing SCPs to their own advantage. Until the last six months of the war, the Triad did not actually use any SCPs against Foundation forces. Weston wanted to use every strategic asset at the Triad's disposal, but Frederiks (prior to his capture) and Fritz overruled him on the grounds that it would be too dangerous. The three men agreed, however, to take full rhetorical advantage of any natural or artificial disaster that might befall Loyalist forces or benefit Triad forces. Unfortunately, apart from the flooding of the Rhine in Cologne in January 1926, there weren't any appreciable disasters for which they could claim responsibility. Outmatched in terms of conventional forces, cut off from new converts within Loyalist ranks by vigorous and effective Loyalist counterintelligence activities, and unwilling to deploy SCPs tactically, the Triad had little hope of turning the tide of the war.

On 25 March 1926, █████████████ operatives infiltrated Site-37, where they assassinated Dr. Wolfgang Fritz while he slept. With Fritz dead and Frederiks senile and forgotten under house arrest until his death in 1927, Gen. Weston was left in sole command of the remaining Triad forces.

April - September 1926: A New Strategy

Following the assassination of Fritz in March, coupled with the significant losses Triad forces had suffered in the preceding months, Weston decided a new strategy was needed. The Triad was desperately low on resources; in terms of sheer available manpower, controlled facilities, secured SCPs, weapons, funds, and logistical capabilities, the Loyalist forces effectively outnumbered the Triad between three and four to one. There was one critical difference: while in absolute terms, the Loyalists controlled more "useful" SCPs (meaning objects which could be utilized, weaponized, or reverse-engineered with relatively few risks), proportional to the total number of SCPs the either side controlled, the Triad had a far higher percentage of useful SCPs. Weston, in possession of antebellum Foundation storage manifests, realized this advantage. He lifted usage restrictions on all SCPs within the Triad's possession, ordering his researchers to make all efforts to develop means to create a strategic and tactical advantage over the Loyalists.

This decision was controversial among the members of the Triad, including nearly a third of the Central Congress. Many believed in the basic mission of the Foundation - securing, containing, and protecting the objects, rather than utilizing or destroying them - and Weston's directive raised some serious doubts about the righteousness of the Triad's cause. When word of these misgivings reached Weston, he made it clear that the lifting of usage and research restrictions would only last until the struggle against the Loyalists was over. While this calmed some fears, a number of Triad members, including the entire staff of Area-09, defected to the Loyalists. Weston then quietly disbanded the Central Congress, arresting (and in some cases executing) its members.

Weston's new strategy proved to be too little, too late. Though Loyalist casualties during the last six months of the conflict were twice that of the entire rest of the conflict put together, it was insufficient to slow the momentum. By August, with the Triad controlling fewer than a dozen secure facilities, Weston ordered the remaining SCPs to be hidden in caches across the planet, to allow their future use by Triad forces while lowering the risk of their capture by the Loyalists. In September, Site-37 was finally overrun by Genga Division. Abandoning most of their remaining facilities, the Triad withdrew to Sector-12, a facility outside Perth, Scotland. There, they dug in for an extended siege.

October 1926: Battle of Sector-12

By October 1926, nearly all remaining Triad forces were holed up in Sector-12.3 General Chatterton extended an offer for the facility's unconditional surrender; it was rejected.

The battle itself took over a fortnight. Weston attempted a strategy of attrition, but effectively outnumbered twelve to one, this had little hope of success. Nonstop artillery and aerial bombardment, liberal deployment of nerve gas, and a frontal assault by the Foundation's sole tank company devastated the Sector's defensive perimeter.

On 17 October 1926, after General Weston was killed by an artillery shell, the remaining Triad forces, numbering only fifty-seven, surrendered. After a 7-6 vote, the O5 Council ordered their execution by firing squad for high treason against the Foundation. The Foundation Civil War was over.

1926-1933: From the Ashes, The Chaos Insurgency

After the surrender of Sector-12 and the execution of the "Final 57" (as they came to be called), the Triad effectively ceased to exist as an organized and coherent force. For the next seven years, the Foundation would believe (incorrectly) that there were no survivors who escaped their custody. As it happened, this was simply not true. An unknown number of personnel and SCPs were unaccounted for; modern estimates range from several dozen to several thousand individuals, and between five and five hundred objects.

In the short term after the fall of Sector-12, the group that had been the Triad and would become the Chaos Insurgency was fractured, isolated, and little immediate threat to anyone. They were too busy licking their wounds to cause too much trouble. Many believed that the smart thing to do would be to go into hiding, disappearing and living out the remainder of their lives in paranoid obscurity - after all, Foundation operatives still had standing shoot-on-sight orders for many of them.

Major Damien O'Connor was unwilling to concede defeat. A charismatic and intelligent Irish firebrand who'd served as a Mobile Task Force commander after being recruited out of Michael Collins' Irish Republican Army assassination unit called "The Squad", O'Connor compared the struggle faced by the Triad remnants to that faced by the Irish nationalists against the English Crown during the Irish Revolution and the Arabs during the Arab Revolt in the First World War. A fiery orator and gifted strategist, O'Connor is known to have written several discourses on strategy (most of which still have not been obtained by Foundation intelligence) and is believed to have made regular speeches at covert meetings of Triad remnants. Included in this file is the partial transcript of a 1928 speech by O'Connor to a dozen comrades in Podlogistan, obtained by Foundation Intelligence in 1933.

While O'Connor was consolidating support, the O5 Council initiated an internal information suppression campaign with regard to the Foundation Civil War. Because of the highly compartmentalized nature of the Foundation, a significant influx of new personnel during the Great Depression4, and the emergency powers adopted by the Council with regards to censorship, a purge of the event from the organization's general knowledge was effective to a degree that may surprise modern readers. By the late 1930s, few members of the Foundation who had not been directly involved in the Foundation Civil War were aware of the struggle's existence. The Great Schism and two years of bloody war had been reduced, in the official party line of Foundation history, to a rogue group of agents going AWOL.

The remnants of the Triad remained off the Foundation's radar until 1933. Arthur Pierce, a mid-level analyst in Foundation Counterintelligence, connected a series of apparently unconnected incidents in the preceding several years with documents (including the partial transcript of O'Connor's speech) recovered from a safe-house in Lisbon. Pierce sent a memorandum to the O5 Council on 5 March 1933, in which he warned of "an insurgency of chaos against the Foundation." When O'Connor received a stolen copy of the memorandum, he was apparently delighted, deciding on the spot to christen the remnants of the Triad as "the Chaos Insurgency", a term which has since been adopted widely.

The Insurgency Since 1933

Note: For reasons related to Foundation security, most details relating to the Chaos Insurgency since 1933 are classified in separate compartments from SLATE THUNDER. Personnel with authorization to review these compartments should contact the Records and Information Security Administration in writing.

As mentioned above, this post-1933 historical summary of the Chaos Insurgency is necessarily abridged for security purposes. The following is a selection of several key moments in the Insurgency's history.

The Second World War (1939-1945)

While neither the Chaos Insurgency nor the Foundation take sides with either the Axis Powers or Allied Powers, the Insurgency took advantage of general upheaval to consolidate power in several Third World countries and colonies. Concurrently, the Insurgency staged attacks against the Foundation, both directly and by using both Allied and Axis forces as proxies. The largest direct conflict between the Insurgency and the Foundation during the war was a series of attempts to seize Site-41, located in Leningrad, during the Nazi siege of that city. These attempts were ultimately unsuccessful.

(See sensitive compartment "███████████████" for further information.)

Co-opting Proxy Wars (1947-1967)

Though the Chaos Insurgency has co-opted wars and militarized armed disputes throughout its entire history, during the 1950s and 60s the Insurgency used plants and moles in both Western and Soviet military and intelligence apparatuses to assimilate and sponsor guerrilla insurgencies and national liberation movements in numerous countries in the Third World. A significant number of the Chaos Insurgency's leadership is believed to have turned over between 1950 and 1970, and some of the rising stars in the younger generation were CIA or KGB officers, or special forces advisers, sent to regions sympathetic to the opposing side in an effort to destabilize and replace the indigenous political infrastructure with one more amenable to their respective political masters. Having encountered and used local anomalous artifacts, and having been co-opted locally or (secretly) instructed by Insurgency moles higher in their parent agencies, these operatives were assimilated into the Chaos Insurgency.

(See sensitive compartment "█████████████" for further information.)

Attempted Armed Site-59 Defection (October 1962)

In October of 1962, Colonel Andre Foch, Director of Armed Site-59 in Tibet, attempted to use the Sino-Indian War as cover to enable the defection of Armed Site-59 to the Chaos Insurgency. Foundation Armed Rapid Response Task Force Xi-13 successfully intervened, and the defection failed. Foch was subsequently presumed dead by the Foundation, though rumors of his escape continue to persist. This was the largest mass defection attempt since the Foundation Civil War.

(See sensitive compartment "███████████████████" for further information.)

The Modern Chaos Insurgency (1991-Present)

The Chaos Insurgency today is believed to be a highly heterogeneous and diverse social network of loosely connected cells, rather than a homogenous or hierarchical organization. While some "leaders" are believed to exist, the extent of their ability to direct, organize, and/or control the various cells is believed to be at least somewhat limited. Additionally, capturing or killing these individuals is unlikely to adversely affect the organization's activities. There is no geographic base to the Insurgency, though they are known to have a presence in many Third World countries. While the general strategy of post-modern guerrilla insurgency asymmetric warfare against the Foundation, the Global Occult Coalition, and others is fairly constant, the specific tactics, strategies, and ideologies of the Insurgency are fairly diverse. The Insurgency is known to have ties to many groups, organizations, and governments, ranging from legal and respected entities to covert and criminal entities. Foundation theorists have not yet developed a successful counterinsurgency strategy for defeating the Chaos Insurgency.

Footnotes

1. Then a secure facility located outside Paris, which (unlike modern Overwatch HQ) housed a moderate number of Safe and Euclid class SCP items.

2. Obviously, regular Loyalist Foundation forces fought when attacked by Triad forces, but they were rarely used on the offense.

3. At the time, the Loyalists believed all Triad forces were at Sector-12; it was only later that it was discovered that an unknown number of Triad personnel were unaccounted for.

4. Many talented and skilled individuals, especially academicians, who lost their jobs as a result of the Great Depression were hired by the Foundation in 1929-38. The Foundation's investments fared very well during the Depression compared to most organizations, allowing one of the largest organizational expansions in Foundation history.

Related Original Documents

These are a selection of transcripts of original documents relating to the Chaos Insurgency.

A New Manifesto (May 1924)

A New Manifesto

Addressed to The Members of The Foundation

1 May 1924

PERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.

Ten years ago, the human civilization was plunged into the Great War, wherein our global society was threatened not by threats External or Preternatural, but Internal and Mundane. The War, in which martial slaughter was industrialized on a scale never before seen, devastated the civilized world. The Foundation, possessing numerous bizarre and unnatural entities which might have ended the conflict in mere moments, sat quietly in the shadows, watching the brightest and best of Humanity’s future spill each other’s blood on Europe's fields. We watched, and we did nothing. We, who have sworn to secure and contain threats to Human Civilization, protecting the world from devastation, destruction, and despair, we sat and watched as humanity inflicted ruin upon itself. How dare we? The world called this the Great War, the War to End All Wars, but how can War be Great, and why should so warlike a creature as Man be so inclined as to cease merrily butchering his fellows? How soon will come the next war after the War That Was Supposed To End All Wars? History has cyclical inertia; unless an outside force brings the conflict to a stop, humanity will be its own undoing. The Foundation, an organization which has stared into the abyss and spat in the face of abominations ancient and eldritch, must save mankind from its greatest enemy: itself.

In the decades since the Foundation's inception, the O5 Council has argued that we must remain aloof and detached from the daily affairs of international society. It is not our business to fight the petty wars of the ignorant masses, they tell us. And yet, they are not above meddling in those very affairs when one Overseer or another feels it expedient, toppling governments and starting wars of convenience. We, the soldiers in the trenches, who fight their battles, and we, the scientists in the labs, who do their research, do we have any say in when we fight or what we study? The Council claims to act in the best interests of the Foundation, of Humanity. How can this be when the Council does not answer to the rank and file of this organization, much less Mankind at large? We, the individuals facing the threats on every day, are the ones who are best suited to determining our organization’s course, not faceless administrators, and it is we, not they, who should lead.

It would be foolish, of course, to reveal the existence of entities that defy all explanation to the world at large. After all, it is our duty to stand at the boundary of Darkness and Light, protecting the world in its ignorance of the monsters that threaten it. But darkness itself is not evil: Science is amoral, and Knowledge is Power. Power, Science, and modern Industry are all capable of vast and near-total destruction, as the Great War has shown, but proper application of these forces can create wonders. Fire, if misunderstood and improperly handled, is as destructive as any force known to mankind, capable of laying waste to cities and farmland. Yet, when harnessed and treated with caution and respect, we use it to heat, light, and power our cities, and cleanse our farms so that we may plant new and more fertile crops. We, the elite, who have studied countless bizarre and powerful anomalies, have the knowledge to usher in a new Golden Age of Enlightenment. Out of the ashes of the past can rise monuments to the dominance of Mankind over the Natural and the Unearthly.

The universe can at once appear welcoming and hostile, teeming with secrets and threats, full of knowledge and riches to be had but harsh and unforgiving. As always, Humanity is and will be tested. As always, Humanity must meet the challenges before it as we have met every other. We must be the Vanguard, holding the torch of illumination and leading the masses forward. We, Mankind and the Foundation will face the challenges and succeed because to do anything else would be inhuman. The Foundation shall watch the dark places, and it is our right and our duty to illuminate them for society, so that Mankind may enjoy the riches without fearing the threats. We shall not only secure and contain the absurd and the dangerous, but we shall master their secrets and transform them into tools and technology. We, the Foundation and Mankind, not only can do this, but must, if we are to survive, and not just survive, but better ourselves and flourish, that Humanity can claim its rightful place as Master over Nature and Extraordinary.

Signed,

A Thinker

Transcript of Speech by Major Damien O'Connor in Podlogistan (1928)

…Weston was an old fool, a relic of the old era where wars were fought in set-piece battles of thousands of men in massed formation, of cavalry charges into the Valley of Death. But ours is not to do or die, ours is to reason why. Weston and Frederiks deluded themselves into thinking the Triad equal to the Loyalists, not only in legitimacy but in materiel and capabilities. They were proven wrong, but even if they had been right in their estimates, we saw in the Great War how futile such outdated strategies are. Only a fool fights on the terms of one's enemy, and that is precisely what we did. We fought the Foundation on their terms when they were stronger, bigger, better funded, better equipped; is it any real surprise that we were defeated?

Our struggle was akin to baiting: a pack of dogs against a bear, perhaps. The dogs do not assemble in a phalanx and charge the bear, whose size, weight, and strength could easily obliterate such a formation. No, instead, the dogs nip and bite at the larger animal, irritating it, occasionally drawing blood, tiring it, weakening it to the point of collapse, until it collapses in exhaustion, and they can move in for the kill.

But now, we lack the capacity to be taken seriously by the Foundation. They believe we are down and out - they have declared victory, and characteristically hushed up the struggle. They view those few of us who remain as a nuisance, not a pack of dogs, but a fly or flea to be swatted aside as an annoyance. They may be right. We are weak, and they are strong. But that does not make them invincible or us insignificant. Let us wage a war of fleas. We bite, leap, and bite again. By the time the Foundation can scratch one itch, another will appear. They have "secure" facilities across the world - they must be strong everywhere. We need only be strong where we attack, when we attack, before disappearing. Their size means they are slow; we are few but mobile. We cannot win as an army, but as guerrillas, as an insurgency, we shall not lose.

The Foundation, the enemy, ignores us, we infiltrate them. The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue. We will be everywhere and nowhere, appearing out of the night to strike terror in their hearts. We may look over our shoulders - it would be imprudent not to - but we can force them to do the same. We can terrorize the Foundation. The purpose of this terror is not merely to terrorize the Foundation, however, but to use its own inertia and energy against it. The Triad's defeat may have quelled dissent amongst the Foundation's rank and file, but how long is it until our efforts - our attacks and infiltrations - spur the Foundation to clamp down on its own members? We will not be the ones to sap the Foundation's will to resist, the O5 Council will.

Let us not forget that they are bound by scruples of secrecy. They keep the importance of their "Veil" on a pedestal, hiding their existence and the existence of SCPs from the world at large. We are not so incumbered. Our only reason for secrecy is to frustrate their efforts to find us, fish in a vast ocean. In our attacks, we can steal their weapons, their equipment, and their artifacts, only to turn these against them the next time. If our attacks hurt the innocent, well, in war there are casualties. The Foundation may elect to try and protect the population from us - so much the better, for it will only spread them thinner. We shall be agents of chaos, setting the world on fire, not to watch it burn, but to exhaust the fire brigade.

Alright, so, that brings us up to 1933. As you can see from the summary at the bottom, most of the more modern activities of the Chaos Insurgency are classified in other sensitive compartments. Since I know for a fact many of you are here for different reasons, we're not going to cover any of the more recent goings-on right now.

Any questions?

Alright. Ms. Buyanova and I will now collect your briefing packets. Be sure to remember to toe the Official Party Line with anyone not read into SLATE THUNDER, or you'll be spending a very long time in a not-necessarily empty dark hole.

We still have leftover bagels, help yourself on the way out.