Crankbait Mission

SCF operators preparing to destabilize processed Epochium core

**Crankbait** is the third mission in the Ghost Stories series where the Sub-Continuum Force is warped to an alternate timeline version of Chernobyl to locate the source of a large magnitude Epochium radio signature. In this branched version of the standard timeline, the USSR's large scale invasion of NATO capitals using warping technologies throws the world into a third world war and one of the final battles occurs in Chernobyl. Not only was the team restricted by the operational time limit imposed by the Time Gate, but also by the imminent threat of a nuclear explosion due to the state of the conflict. This is the first mission where Atlas Rounds were used in combat.

## Synopsis

### Background

Due to the anomalies caused by The World Builder's activities in The Multiverse, a skewed version of the standard timeline branched and formed where the cold war did not end peacefully, but rather in a nuclear third world war. The Soviets successfully used warping technology to send weapons and munitions to undercover agents planted in major NATO cities across the northern hemisphere. A series of heavily armed attacks on both civilian centers as well as government buildings created an outcry of rage against the USSR, and so the US declared war against the Soviets on October 1st, 1986. The full force of the cold war was felt as thermonuclear weapons were used all over the globe with casualties in the hundreds of millions.

In this now failing timeline on the brink of apocalypse, a message was received by the SCF. A radio signature matching that of an Epochium energy source that was many magnitudes greater than any signature ever detected before was found at this battle of Chernobyl. Despite the globe being hours away from total annihilation, the SCF warped to the battle in order to figure out what the Soviets had been hiding before the area was wiped from existence either by a nuclear detonation, or the sheer amount of Epochium radiation being leaked into the entire area.

### Soviet Military Base

After warping to the timeline via the Time Gate, the team suited up in the standard first generation Space Warp Suit due to its much higher resistance to Epochium radiation compared to the mark two version. As such, the team would likely be engaged by both US and Soviet forces due to their unidentifiable uniforms. The team moved in two groups towards the radio signature of the Epochium with the assistance of their spectrum analyzer. Moving alongside a Soviet Military Base, the team encountered small scale anomalies just outside the perimeter of the walls. Near the end of the large base there was a large heavily guarded bunker with a DSRG insignia on the front where the radio signature appeared to be radiating from.

One group of the team created a distraction inside the base by detonating a group of parked vehicles, which then diverted some pressure from the facility entrance. In a coordinated effort, the team infiltrated the sectioned off research facility while also guarding the front from reinforcements. The interior of the facility was made of long narrow tunnels that were dark and wet. There were corpses belonging to Soviet scientists and soldiers laying all over the place. Making their way to the top of the compound, they found a research lab room with a massive collection of Epochium crystals and thus found the signature source.

The team discovered a notebook on the desk behind a maimed and bloody skeleton belonging to Dr. Alexander Petrov. The notes showed Dr. Petrov in his final moments of insanity and the plan he had concocted. In order to advance his research he wrongly accused his only scientific competitor, Jozef Kharov, of colluding with the west which ultimately got him executed. Since Kharov was no longer able to research the Soviet version of the Space Warp Suit to keep soldiers safe during warp, Petrov was now able to continue his method of sending men through the rift. He would inject patients with lethal doses of Epochium before intentionally warping them without any protective equipment. The mindless shells would come out the other side as invulnerable and demonic Minutemen who would rampage and slaughter any living thing wherever they appeared.

Dr. Petrov had originally tested this method of building super soldiers by using Soviet riflemen stationed at the base, but then proceeded to build a new device called The Grail in Pripyat that would act as a large scale device which would warp every person in the city across the globe to emerge as chaos bringing deer men who would loom apocalypse on the nations they were sent to. Dr. Petrov's only remaining problem was that the Minutemen could not be controlled when returning from the rift. His solution was to try and capture one by attracting it with a large concentration of Epochium and then figuring out how to communicate with it. The effects of the Epochium were likely what drove him to insanity. Unfortunately for Dr. Petrov, the deer man did come to the facility, but slaughtered everyone in it and disappeared.

The SCF operators decided that attempting to capture one of the deer men could be a viable option by using the spectrum analyzer device to broadcast a counter-frequency which would sever the deer man's connection to the entity controlling it. Once the team had lured a deer man into the tunnels, the jamming process did the trick and the deer man was successfully apprehended.

Conversing with the deer man was difficult as it had trouble speaking words until it was seated near the Epochium crystals. In a very broken—yet understandable—manner, the deer man was able to communicate that he was a Soviet soldier who had gone through the rift and come through the other side a Minuteman. He told the operatives that Dr. Petrov was building The Grail in Pripyat to try and lure the US forces into the city and purposely warp them through the rift, thus building an unstoppable horde of destructive Minutemen. He then requested that the operators destroy the device and kill him to end his suffering. They complied.

### Chernobyl Reactor

The team rushed towards the city surrounding the Chernobyl power plant which was occupied by US forces who were fighting Soviet troops in the marshes surrounding the city. They had to stop the device from going off by both destabilizing the Epochium core at the device location, and by triggering a meltdown at the nuclear power station that was providing energy to it from across town. Splitting into a main force and a secondary force, the team located the power core in a bunker under The Grail and simultaneously fired upon it as the secondary team triggered the meltdown. Both teams escaped via car towards the location of the Time Gate in order to leave before the gate deactivated. The nuclear meltdown triggered a massive explosion which destroyed the city but barely scathed the operators.

Upon returning to the Time Gate the operators found a large group of Minutemen waiting for them. The team engaged these weaker opponents, however their Atlas rounds had depleted to a point where they were not effective enough to kill the three remaining Minutemen. A hail of gunfire from all twelve operatives brings down two of the deer men, but one approaches the Time Gate relentlessly while being peppered by fire from all over. As the Time Gate warps, the Minuteman is also just barely in range of the portal and warps with the team.

## Trivia

* This was the first official usage of Atlas Rounds in an operation by the SCF.
* The Grail's processed Epochium energy core proved that the Soviets had advanced far more rapidly in this timeline compared to the original.
* The Soviet base commander disapproved of the DSRG conducting experiments on his conscripts, but couldn't oppose the state which supported the cause.