Machine Tractor Station Kharkov-37

**Machine Tractor Station Kharkov-37** is the third scenario released by *The Apocalypse Players* and was written by Bret Kramer. It is a Call of Cthulhu scenario set in 1933 in the USSR.

## The Cast

 Dominic Allen | Maj. Yuri Kopolev
 Joseph Chance | Sr. Sgt. Dr. Vissarion ‘Beo’ Ivanovich Iuskov Liubimova
 Dan Wheeler | Keeper (and everybody else)
Blochinstev (important NPC): The other division leader Sergeant. Dull and childlike.

## Episodes

#### **01: The Rabbit**

*“In which the Red Army are tasked with assisting the Telegraph Service of the Soviet Union in the investigation and repair of damaged lines at MTSKh-37.”*

Tensions simmer just under the surface as the men are forced to work together. On the way to the Machine Tractor Station, the soldiers discover something disturbing.

#### **02: The Silo**

*“In which the Red Army and Telegraph Service agents arrive at the Tractor Station, investigations begin, and a variety of unsettling discoveries are made…”*

The men find strange circumstances as they reach their destination. The two factions are forced to work alongside each other to investigate the Tractor Station.

#### **03: The Rural Electrification Truck**

*”In which the tractor station reveals more of its grim secrets, leading to alarming theories about its previous occupants. Meanwhile, suspicions of disloyalty begin to arise…”*

Suspicions and tensions rise as the four men continue to uncover clues about the tractor station’s fate.

#### **04: The Doll and the Skull**

*“In which the doctor grows in confidence as he issues advice to the troops based on his theories — but not everyone appreciates his input.”*

Continued investigations find more disturbing evidence. The four men have theories about what may have happened, but not everyone is keen to hear out their comrades.

#### **The Story So Far (Recap 01-04)**

*“In which the events of the first four episodes are summarised by our mysterious friend.”*

This five-minute mini-episode recaps the initial events, having been interrupted by A Christmas Inheritance.

#### **05: Some Things Are Best Forgotten**

*“In which cards are shown, threats are made, shots are fired, and various other methods of communication are deployed, as the rival factions continue their tactical dance…”*

After tensions spill over briefly, a truce is called and exploration continues.

#### **06: Comrade Doctor**

*“In which bones are examined, bowels are moved, a day trip is proposed, and the Doctor awakes feeling…listless.”*

The men decide to visit one of the kolkhozy, but before they leave they explore the barn.

#### **07: Iurenkovo**

*“In which Lieutenant Fyodorov, Major Kopolev, and Captain Triepinov visit a nearby Kolkhoz and examine its rusty infrastructure, while Doctor Liubimova puts his equally rusty medical skills to the test…”*

The state of the kolkhoz tells the men more about the fate of the tractor station.

## Glossary

**Dysentery**: A collection of intestinal diseases causing bloody diarrhea, most often caused by shigella bacteria or an amoeba. Typically highly infectious, it is spread through fecal contamination of food or water.

**GRU**: An initialism of ‘’*glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye*,’’ the GRU is The Main Intelligence Directorate, or the foreign military intelligence agency, of Russia and the Soviet Union before it. At the time of the scenario, it would have more commonly been referred to as the Fourth Department, the Intelligence Service, or the Razvedupr (RU). It was a separate entity from, and rival to, the OGPU (see below).

**Kolkhoz** (kolkoz, kolkhos): An abbreviation for the Russian term *kollecktivnoye khozyaynstvo*, “collective farm.” A cooperative agricultural enterprise operated on state-owned land by peasants belonging to a collective, paid as salaried employees on the basis of quality and quantity of labor contributed. Part of the wider Soviet movement of collectivization.

**Kulak**: Literally, “fist.” Originally referred to a landlord in Russia’s feudal farming system. They were defined as class enemies and criminalized during and after the revolution. Eventually the term came to mean any peasant who owned more than they “should,” an arbitrary measure commonly used as an excuse to arrest or even murder those labeled as *kulaks*.

**Machine Tractor Station**: A state-run center providing machinery and supplies to several dozen (typically around 40) *kolkhozy* within a geographical area. The MTS was intended as a means of central control over the new collectivist system of agricultural production as well as its rapid mechanization.

**OGPU**: An acronym of “*objedinönnoje gosudarstvennoje političeskoje upravlenije*,” OGPU (or the Joint State Political Directorate) was an intelligence and state security agency and secret police, precursor to what eventually became the KGB.

**TASS**: The current and former state-owned news agency of Russia and the Soviet Union, at the time of the scenario it was the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, or “*Telegrafnoye agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza*.” As the exclusive collector and distributor of news within the Soviet Union, TASS was well-positioned for spy work and was often used as a convenient front for activities by the various Soviet intelligence agencies.

**Telegraph key**: The input device for sending telegraphy signals. At its most basic, it is a simple on/off electrical switch operated in short (dot or “dit”) or long (dash or “dah”) pulses. Most media depict the version called the “straight key.”

1. ↑ Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRU\_(Soviet\_Union). For an overview of the history of the modern GRU, see The Security Distillery: https://thesecuritydistillery.org/all-articles/the-gru
2. ↑ From Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/kolkhoz. See also: https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/k/o.htm#kolkhoz
3. ↑ marxists.org article: https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/k/u.htm#kulaks
4. ↑ Via encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/machine-tractor-stations. See also The Origin of the Machine Tractor Station in the USSR: A New Perspective (PDF: https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/39384/1/ASI19\_005.pdf)
5. ↑ Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint\_State\_Political\_Directorate
6. ↑ Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TASS#1925:\_TASS
7. ↑ Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraph\_key