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Episode 70. The Enemy of My Enemy Is Russian

Book 1 - Episode 70 - The Enemy of My Enemy Is Russian

Context

Coordinated Universal Time
Thursday, August 8, 2024 - 12:19 AM
Location
  • Earth
  • Russia
  • Moscow
  • Subterranean Network
  • Main Block
  • Kremlin HQ
Timeline
Schak'Irra Timeline
Previously

Agnes's team forced its way into the main block beneath the Kremlin and discovered a horrifying mass grave. Delta and Foxtrot Units were wiped out by the Tholians, forcing Alpha Unit to fall back into a vertical shaft. After a dangerous descent, Agnes, Tarsi, Eros, Gomard, and Lebeau infiltrated the command center and neutralized a Russian private militia. They captured Yevgeny Prigozhin, a man Tarsi says she knows and whose identity raises questions. Tarsi was preparing to inspect the computers to verify who triggered the nuclear strikes on July 15.

Characters

Name Affiliation / Branch Title / Rank Species Original Timeline
Agnes V. Rodriguez NATO / Special Fleet Captain Human Schak'Irra Timeline
Tarsi Starfleet / Temporal Division Commander Andorian Prime Timeline
Robert Gomard NATO / Army Colonel Human Schak'Irra Timeline
Eros Vitos NATO / Special Fleet Ensign Human Schak'Irra Timeline
Lebeau NATO / Army Corporal Human Schak'Irra Timeline
Yevgeny Prigozhin Russian Empire / Private Militia Militia Leader Human Schak'Irra Timeline

Manifest

USS Enterprise
Affiliation NATO
Location Earth Orbit
Captain Agnes V. Rodriguez
First Officer Angie Chen
Pilot Eric Corda
Communications Emilie Flores
Operations Charlene Savea
Tactical
  • Eric Corda
  • Charlene Savea
Science Manu
Advanced Weapons Eros Vitos
Sickbay Victor S. Calpel
Counselor/Consultant Manu
Custodian Manu
Passengers
  • Tarsi (Confidential)
  • Robert Gomard and his squad
Ground Teams

TL;DR

Tarsi hacks the Kremlin systems: the recordings incriminate the Minister of Defense, the State Duma, and the FSB in the July 15 nuclear attack. The archives also reveal that in 1954 the Soviet army captured aliens, possibly the crew of the Schak'Irra. Tarsi demands that they be rescued. Agnes, more pragmatic, hesitates. Prigozhin then offers a deal: he knows the location of an underground rail network leading toward Putingrad and offers to guide the team in exchange for his freedom. Colonel Gomard remains suspicious, but the urgency and the lack of any alternative push Agnes to consider the fragile alliance.

Story

The Kremlin command center is a vast space saturated with consoles, computers, magnetic tape drives, giant screens, and computer server racks.

There's no doubt anymore: we've reached our first objective.

Now we need to download the data... and destroy this place.

Ens. Eros Vitos Weapons Engineer

Colonel, come look over here.

I hit the jackpot!

Col. Robert Gomard Army

Hmm... yeah. I see that, Ensign.

Bulletproof vests, tactical helmets, protective goggles.

Ens. Eros Vitos Weapons Engineer

That's not all.

AK-47s fitted with GP-25s, rocket launchers, flamethrowers.

Col. Robert Gomard Army

And my favorite...

A portable heavy machine gun.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Heeey! Don't touch my weapons!

Ens. Eros Vitos Weapons Engineer

Shut up!

Col. Robert Gomard Army

Look at this...

The Father of All Bombs. Just what we need to level the whole place.

Lebeau, take the crate and place it on the central pillar.

Cpl. Lebeau Army

Yes, Colonel.

Ens. Eros Vitos Weapons Engineer

Uh... Colonel, are you sure you want to use those?

We don't have a plan to get out of here.

All the upper levels are overrun by Tholians.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Ahem... ahem...

I might be able to help you.

Col. Robert Gomard Army

Didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your mouth shut?

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Eros is right.

We need a plan to get out.

How's your search going, Tarsi?

Cmdr. Tarsi

I cracked the system.

Our little friend was right: the Minister of Defense was behind the attack.

But he didn't act alone.

The speakers of the State Duma and the Federation Council seized power with the help of the FSB.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

See!

They're all idiots!

Cmdr. Tarsi

If you open your mouth again, I swear I'll rearrange your teeth.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Did you find anything else?

Cmdr. Tarsi

I'm downloading all available data.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Try to find the detailed plans for the entire underground complex.

We need an exfiltration option.

Cmdr. Tarsi

Oh my God...

Agnes, look!

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

What is it, Tarsi?

Cmdr. Tarsi

According to these archives, the Soviet Red Army did capture aliens near the North Pole in 1954.

They were transferred to a gulag in Siberia.

The medical reports describe atrocities... dissections.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Do you think it's the crew of the Schak'Irra?

Cmdr. Tarsi

Oh yes, Agnes.

I recognize the faces of my colleagues from the 26th century in the photos.

We have to rescue them as quickly as possible.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Tarsi, be reasonable.

All of that happened seventy years ago.

By now, they are all dead.

Cmdr. Tarsi

You're wrong, Agnes.

Some of them were Vulcans. Their life expectancy is close to two hundred years.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Get a grip.

Even if they were still alive, we wouldn't know where to find them.

And they would have had no chance of surviving the radiation.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Ahem... ahem.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

What?!

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

I know where the... mutants you're looking for are.

Cmdr. Tarsi

They are not mutants!

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Talk.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Grandpa uses the mutants as slaves.

He never goes anywhere without them.

Cmdr. Tarsi

I forbid you to call them mutants, you—

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

I assume you know where he's hiding.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Myeah... could be.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Spill everything you know.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

You'll need my help to get there.

I'm offering you my services, and in exchange, you set me free.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Out of the question.

Col. Robert Gomard Army

Agnes, think about it.

On Earth, he no longer represents a major threat.

Putin has far more strategic value than he does.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

All right, big guy, you're going to have to convince me.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

He holed up with a few loyalists in Putingrad.

To get there, you have to take the underground rail network.

There is a station very close to here.

But with all the mutant spiders he released, you'll need my men to clear the way.

Cmdr. Tarsi

Confirmed.

I see an open area on the map, five hundred meters away, three levels down.

Catherine II Station.

The readings from our tricorders match.

There is a tunnel leaving Moscow toward the southwest, in the direction of Gelendzhik...

I can't confirm that it leads to Putingrad.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Gelendzhik is Putingrad's former name.

Col. Robert Gomard Army

Agnes, he's got a point there.

We'll never reach that station with the Tholians in our way.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Very well.

Here's the deal.

You and your men get to live if you take us there.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Do I really have a choice?

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Yes.

We can also hand you over to the Tholians.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

To the what?!

Cmdr. Tarsi

The ones you mistake for Putin's creatures.

They are aliens from another world.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Of course...

And I'm the Blue Fairy.

I'll believe you, just to make you happy.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

Robert, I don't like this idea very much.

We can't trust him blindly.

He's Russian.

Col. Robert Gomard Army

We don't have any other option, Agnes.

Without him and his men, we have no chance of making it out alive.

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

I swear, if he messes around... I'll cut his balls off.

Did you hear that, big guy?

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

Cut off my what?!

Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez

твои яички

Yevgeny Prigozhin Militia Leader

[...]

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