Well, at least Pavel is impressed enough by Anders to actually take this last fight seriously. Ghost Odin, eh?
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Typical Pavel trying to look cool while having enormous resources at his finger tips. Ballsy move to use the Reich's anti nuclear satillite on a small Roman fleet to be honest. That bit on the Satellite cutting the carrier in half reminds me of that one cutscene from C&C Generals: Zero Hour.
Whatever Pavel's plan is, I reckon it's got something to do with Annie having the capabilities to stop it. The clock is ticking for Anders and the X-Division. Also the Imperial Palace being silent eh? Perhaps Otto still fears what they could do, I'd be thrilled if we get a pov of him during this arc.
Whatever Pavel's plan is, I reckon it's got something to do with Annie having the capabilities to stop it. The clock is ticking for Anders and the X-Division. Also the Imperial Palace being silent eh? Perhaps Otto still fears what they could do, I'd be thrilled if we get a pov of him during this arc.
More like Pavel wants to keep looking cool and in control while he is slowly descending into insanity and realizing he can't predict Anders' actions anymore.
Last we saw her, Annie had psionic powers which would immensely help with Pavel's plan...or stop him if she turns hostile. She's had at least twenty years to hone those powers too. So he would probably try to capture or neutralize her as soon as he starts his plan.
Otto probably does fear what Sentinel can do to him, so he errs on the side of caution now. It's too soon to tell who will win this struggle, and he does not want to back the losing side. He remembers what happened the last time that happened.
I'll have a segment on Otto at the end of all of this. This is X-Division's story after all.
- 1
Is it weird that I kinda feel bad for Schröder after reading about his arrest here? Don't get me wrong, he was gulity of a lot o things after 11/9 and should face the consequences for his actions, but I still pity him given he was unwillingly roped into the Sentinel conspiracy from what I see in the "Only Time" arc. Oh well, at least he has the chance to come clean now, even if it's in a court of law.
Why do I get a feeling that the Mexicanist insurgency happeing in the UPM and the fleet sent to deal with it getting sunk might become more relevant in future game play and story chapters? After seeing Mayapan collapsing into what I think is its third civil war and the ominous foreshadowing to what's going on the Eimericas in the Baudet updates, I dread to think what the next chapter has in stories for us.
In EU4, you mentioned there being a lot of pop culture related to Operation Sunrise Invasion being made glorifying the Romans and demonizing the Mexica, which makes me wonder how both the Sunset Invasion and Operation Sunrise Invasion would be seen historiographically and culturally by the modern Reich, given how it doesn't have the anti Mexicayotl mindset that the Reich between the Thirteenth Century Crisis and Operation Sunrise Invasion had, or at least not to that extent nowadays?
I wonder how the reign of Pierremaskin is remembered at this point, especially after 11/9 and the Mexicanist terrorists and Palluist dictators taking inspiration from his ideology. I imagine he'd be very controversial to historians and general public at this point, with some respecting him for being a charismatic and skilled ruler who managed to manged to hold out against China and the Reich during the Great Eimerican War despite an incompetent Maximist style Council of Elders holding him back in military affairs, while others would point to the death and destruction caused by his ideology and consider him a violent and bloodthirsty autocrat.
I picture Fusang and Kanatan media being interested in Mexica history and mythology as well despite them being enemies of the old Triple Alliance as well, particularly the story of Leif Eriksen's exile to Mexico and the impact of that on Eimerican history, I think that story would resonate with many regardless of people's feelings on the Mexica. Because we didn't get much information about the Eimericas in CK2 and early EU4, I also imagine there are some historiographic disciplines that focus less on the Europe theater of the Sunset Invasion and more on the Eimerican side of that era, focusing on the Mexica's early and successful invasions against their neighbors, the slowing down of Mexica expansion in Twantinsuyu and North Eimerica, and how the Jin arrival shifted the course of the wars in the Eimericas.
Now I'm wondering what historical settings TTL Assassin's Creed would have for their plots? I now you had the branch of the ERSB rating history related games label Assassins Creed as alternate history due to the wacky sci fi stuff occasionally involved in their stories, but I'm still curios about how might Hohenzollernverse history might affect the Assassin's Creed since it's garrented to not be the same as OTL.
Moving onto the topic of non Kaiserreich and WW1 related mods, since Hohenzollernverse media about Axis victories like Man in the High Castle and Wolfenstein involve the Angeloi and Rasas turning on each other after WW2, I think it would be cool if we had the New Order: Last Days of Europe mod for HOI4 be based on the premise of a Cold War between the Imperium and Rasa India. Realistically speaking, I’m pretty sure Gandhi and Angelos die early in the mid given how old they would be at that point, thus opening the possiblity for internal power struggles in both the Imperium and the Raj, I imagine Hohenzollernverse NO would make the odds of thermonuclear war higher than real life New Order. In terms of alternate history ideas for a WW3 mod complimenting WW1 and 2 based KR and TNO, I imagine the modern day Red World mod would feature a growing schism between the Eimerican Equalists and Valentin's CSSR spliting the Warsaw Pact and the Reich getting balkanized by the Soviets after WW3.
Why do I get a feeling that the Mexicanist insurgency happeing in the UPM and the fleet sent to deal with it getting sunk might become more relevant in future game play and story chapters? After seeing Mayapan collapsing into what I think is its third civil war and the ominous foreshadowing to what's going on the Eimericas in the Baudet updates, I dread to think what the next chapter has in stories for us.
In EU4, you mentioned there being a lot of pop culture related to Operation Sunrise Invasion being made glorifying the Romans and demonizing the Mexica, which makes me wonder how both the Sunset Invasion and Operation Sunrise Invasion would be seen historiographically and culturally by the modern Reich, given how it doesn't have the anti Mexicayotl mindset that the Reich between the Thirteenth Century Crisis and Operation Sunrise Invasion had, or at least not to that extent nowadays?
I wonder how the reign of Pierremaskin is remembered at this point, especially after 11/9 and the Mexicanist terrorists and Palluist dictators taking inspiration from his ideology. I imagine he'd be very controversial to historians and general public at this point, with some respecting him for being a charismatic and skilled ruler who managed to manged to hold out against China and the Reich during the Great Eimerican War despite an incompetent Maximist style Council of Elders holding him back in military affairs, while others would point to the death and destruction caused by his ideology and consider him a violent and bloodthirsty autocrat.
I picture Fusang and Kanatan media being interested in Mexica history and mythology as well despite them being enemies of the old Triple Alliance as well, particularly the story of Leif Eriksen's exile to Mexico and the impact of that on Eimerican history, I think that story would resonate with many regardless of people's feelings on the Mexica. Because we didn't get much information about the Eimericas in CK2 and early EU4, I also imagine there are some historiographic disciplines that focus less on the Europe theater of the Sunset Invasion and more on the Eimerican side of that era, focusing on the Mexica's early and successful invasions against their neighbors, the slowing down of Mexica expansion in Twantinsuyu and North Eimerica, and how the Jin arrival shifted the course of the wars in the Eimericas.
That might actually be a cool detail to include in the Dieter and Munster flashback arc, the stigma that has developed towards Inquistors amoug secular Romans in generals. Maybe general hostility towards them could be another thing they could over come independently of the Cult, I'm sure that would be an interesting experience for them
Maybe we could have the Templars in Assassin's Creed be the western branch of the Hashshashin while the Persian Hashshashin's would be involved with the rest of Eurasia. I guess we could Altaïr be apart of the main Persian Hashshashin organization in the games, while Ezio would be apart the Templar Hashshashin.
Now I'm wondering what historical settings TTL Assassin's Creed would have for their plots? I now you had the branch of the ERSB rating history related games label Assassins Creed as alternate history due to the wacky sci fi stuff occasionally involved in their stories, but I'm still curios about how might Hohenzollernverse history might affect the Assassin's Creed since it's garrented to not be the same as OTL.
This discussion related to post reunification Scandinavia kinda makes me wonder what the situation for Scandinavia in the world of Volkerschalt would be like, espically since I have plans to make Scadvia a big player in the mod Tianxia? Since the monarchies of Russia, Yavadi and Kanata weren't forced to flee to Scandiva by successful equalist revolutions in their countries (even if I implied Russia still had a civil war in the Volkerschalt introduction update), I imagine Scadiva would still be partioned like it was in "OTL", with Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland declaring Independence from their masters as soon as the Reich and Kanata collapses in civil war, Russia and Yavadi (still ruled by their monarchs from WW1, each of them becoming more radical and fascist as the game goes on) go to war with each other, and the NUC starts making moves into Central Asia during or after their war with the Tianxia and India. I imagine the former Scandinavian states would either unite peacefully or fight a reunification war as soon they declare Independence, with the victor bringing their own ideology to the Norse and swaying them to the cause of one of the major military alliances in TTL.
Moving onto the topic of non Kaiserreich and WW1 related mods, since Hohenzollernverse media about Axis victories like Man in the High Castle and Wolfenstein involve the Angeloi and Rasas turning on each other after WW2, I think it would be cool if we had the New Order: Last Days of Europe mod for HOI4 be based on the premise of a Cold War between the Imperium and Rasa India. Realistically speaking, I’m pretty sure Gandhi and Angelos die early in the mid given how old they would be at that point, thus opening the possiblity for internal power struggles in both the Imperium and the Raj, I imagine Hohenzollernverse NO would make the odds of thermonuclear war higher than real life New Order. In terms of alternate history ideas for a WW3 mod complimenting WW1 and 2 based KR and TNO, I imagine the modern day Red World mod would feature a growing schism between the Eimerican Equalists and Valentin's CSSR spliting the Warsaw Pact and the Reich getting balkanized by the Soviets after WW3.
That would be a really cool mini arc to see, It'd be nice to see the Inquistions of other countries and religions.
Last edited:
Willingly or not, he still stayed silent about the conspiracy even after learning of it. At least he can now do some good by coming clean in the courts.
I'll mention both in the next chapter, but the aircraft carrier attack is relatively minor compared to everything else that will happen in that chapter and later ones.Why do I get a feeling that the Mexicanist insurgency happeing in the UPM and the fleet sent to deal with it getting sunk might become more relevant in future game play and story chapters? After seeing Mayapan collapsing into what I think is its third civil war and the ominous foreshadowing to what's going on the Eimericas in the Baudet updates, I dread to think what the next chapter has in stories for us.
Until recently, Sunrise Invasion was viewed as the inevitable culmination of Roman-Mexican relations for many centuries. It was revenge against the Triple Alliance for the Thirteenth Century Crisis. The Reich had been preparing for centuries for such an attack and was never going to back down. Hatred of the Mexica was strong before, during, and after the invasion as evident by their exclusion from Augustinian Code protections. A lot of culture produced until recently would portray the Mexica as bloodthirsty invaders. In recent years they've been rehabilitated into sort of sympathetic individuals. Yes, they still invaded the Reich, but they had their reasons, be it imperialism or religious zeal or whatever. Culture started depicting them as more human than monster. Nowadays historians consider it an inevitable tragedy that would have happened once the Reich gained the capabilities to ship troops over to the New World on a massive scale.
As for Sunset Invasion, historians consider it one of the biggest factors in the formation and consolidation of the modern Reich for many reasons. For example, before the 13th century the western provinces were considered the safest from foreign threats due to being on the Atlantic coast, but when the Mexica showed up, it spurred the Reich to invest more on Atlantic coastal defenses and a navy. Naval policy shifted from the Black Sea and Mediterranean to patrolling the Atlantic coast to projecting power across the Atlantic to global overseas empire. The very foreign Mexica, who had no precedent in Europe and didn't discriminate in who they killed, were seen as a threat by all of the peoples of Europe, particularly the peoples in the Reich. A common enemy united them just as the crusades did centuries earlier, encouraging the formation of a Roman identity. And although they were ultimately driven out of Europe, it was clear the threat wasn't fully defeated, only temporarily driven away, and the Romans had to prepare for their inevitable return. So they invested heavily in naval technology, military innovations, and administrative reforms to build a state that could fund a military capable of fighting on par with the Mexica if not take the fight to them. In pop culture it was traditionally seen as an invasion of bloodthirsty barbarians here to sack and loot Rome just as had happened in the later days of the First Empire, with only the Hohenzollerns and their brave soldiers able to turn back the hordes and save the day. But as with most historical events nowadays it is looked on with more nuance, and even those biased depictions are analyzed for their historical context now. People might see parallels with modern Mexicanist movements and the Roman interventions in North Eimerica. Others might see the good on the Mexica side or the brutalities on the Roman side (such as with the Inquisition). A lot of narratives would try focusing on key players like Ocuil Acatl and Beathan of Tavira. Ocuil Acatl himself might be seen as an honorable conqueror who was ultimately a slave to his family history, religious beliefs, and loyalty to the huetlatoani in Tenochtitlan.
Most Eimericans look back fondly on Pierremaskin. His long reign was one of peace and stability for most of the continent, and he expanded the Meskwaki empire to its greatest extent in victories against the Mexica and Kanatans. He even held out in the Great Eimerican War against both the Chinese and Romans. His ideology gave hope to Eimericans who were discriminated, to varying extents, under Kanatan, Fusang, and even the Mexica regimes, promising the continent would once again be ruled by its own people. And at times he did this even in spite of a Council of Elders obstructing him and itself. Others would call him the first Paulluist or a bloodthirsty autocrat who suppressed free thinking and local rights at home in service of his ideals, because he was very much an autocrat who didn't like foreign ideas like meritocracy or democracy. He doesn't even like Eurasian style absolutism because native culture doesn't really do that, despite what the game says, resulting in a weird hybrid system of both a powerful central monarch and traditional tribal structures at the bottom with a semi-liberal representative body in between which can't be adequately represented in terms of European governing systems (because apparently European-style administrative structures spread through the Eimericas soon after Leif Erikson's exile). A lot of people in both the Old and New World would blame him for the future devastation and suffering caused by the Paulluists and others acting in his name.
Kanata would definitely focus on ties with the Triple Alliance and Leif Erikson's exile. Popular culture would blame Scandinavians for doing that and inadvertently causing the rise of the Triple Alliance. Kanatans generally consider that their original sin, even if they had no part in it. Fusang, due to a long history with the Triple Alliance, would seek to learn more of its history to try and understand their foe. I'm guessing the Eimericans would excel in focusing on their own history of the Sunset Invasion from an Eimerican perspective. After all, there were those events saying how the Alliance was expanding northward and was on track to conquering the continent. Many of the tribes had united into European-style kingdoms and nation-states, probably inspired by the Mexica, Fusang, and other governing systems explained by Erikson's crew, to fight back. So I guess this rapid centralization and formation of larger political entities around cities like Cahokia (which at its peak would be on par with many European cities as it was on par with London in real life at one point) would be one of the areas studied, since it happened very fast. The introduction of horses and their effect on the political climate is another big thing. The Mexica brought horses back with them from the Sunset Invasion, and some of them escaped and were tamed by the other tribes. Some of these then used them to bolster their military strength and conquer their neighbors, further centralizing power and establishing European-style political entities (or at least the closest you can get since they never got full details about how kingdoms in Europe work, and they wouldn't reasonably drop every bit of their existing society to embrace that system). And finally, historians would focus on how these new states and the arrival of the Jin and the rise of the Tawantinsuyuans and Mayans eventually turned the tide in the Eimericas.
I did have the pagan gods not be huge fans of the Inquisition so there is precedence. Dieter and Munster would come to learn the Inquisition's image isn't that good even without the Cult.
Good idea. Altaïr would be with the main Persian branch, which in that era is slowly forming alliances with other similar-minded organizations elsewhere. Ezio would be part of the Templar branch after it forms an alliance with the Hashshashin, tasked with promoting their ideals in the Reich and protecting its people.
Let's see...we could have the first game still on the Crusades, only the Templars would have to be replaced with another organization. Maybe a fully original one. The Ezio trilogy is again set in Italy and Constantinople, and the Borgias are replaced with the pentarchs and high ranking patriarchs in the Church. Revelations might be an attempt at a Catholic revival led by a vengeful pope instead of a Byzantine restoration. 3 is the Sunrise Invasion, with Haytham as a part of the Templar-like group and Connor, whose mother is a Mexica, fights on the Mexica side because the invasion is all a plot to wipe out the Hashshashin-allied organizations in the Triple Alliance and bring the country under the Templar-like group's control. 4 is with pirates in the Caribbean against the Mayans and Mexica, as I think it can still work in that context. Not sure about Rogue. Unity would be about Prince Nikephoros' wars and the Persian revolution. Syndicate is political intrigue in Berlin. Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla are before the point of divergence and would probably be the same (although if I were to rewrite the first two I'd have a lot of changes of my own). I probably won't do summaries.
The Scandinavian states really have two choices. They can either join forces and restore the old Scandinavian government, or one of them (if under a more radical regime) may try to conquer the others and remake Scandinavia in their own image. Naturally the surrounding powers would influence the different sides to join their cause.
Good idea on both of those. I haven't played either of those mods (or even played HOI4), but I'll do my best to think of what they might be like.
TNO as you say would have a cold war between the Angeloi and Rasas instead of the usual "Angeloi and Rasas backstab each other" trope. Since their two leaders are old I imagine their inner circle would already begin maneuvering to succeed them. Maybe they might die in suspicious circumstances and fingers be pointed at other political claimants or the other side. And because the two sides are already quite bloodthirsty, there'd definitely be a higher chance of thermonuclear war. But the focus would be on internal power struggles and domestic affairs, with the inevitable showdown between the two near the late game.
With Red World I'm going to try and work out the new borders first. So the CSSR balkanizes the Reich into several socialist republics, all of which would still be very angry and rebellious at this point. Africa might split into several small socialist states that are more friendly to the CSSR because they don't have as much history with equalism. India is split up into smaller states based on ethnic groups to make it manageable, while Central Asia is directly annexed into the CSSR (causing a lot of tension there as well). Siberia is split off into a socialist state of its own, as are Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. Borders in Southeast Asia are rearranged to not be imperialist constructs (although they kind of still are). Penglai escapes equalism due to its distance from Asia but is politically irrelevant and even unstable. The Romans flee to the Pacific islands with what is left of their Pacific fleet. The Eimerican Commune directly annexes Fusang, Kanata, Mayapan, and the UPM. The UTR and CSSA soon unify with the EC to make it a truly post-national pan-Eimerican socialist state. Because Mexico remained neutral it survives for now. A puppet regime is installed in Tawantinsuyu which is granted all of former Neurhomania. Due to the Eimericans' new clout and distance from the Old World, they begin deviating from standard Warsaw Pact doctrine and are now at odds with the CSSR, which they see as a declining power unfit to lead the international socialist movement (due to Valentin's and Dmitry's continuing mental decline and the constant rebellions in Europe and Asia). Meanwhile Penglai, despite its instability, teams up with the Roman remnants in the Pacific to fund insurgencies in China and Vietnam, which the Eimerican Internationale (I don't know, I just made up the name here) forms an uneasy alliance with because it weakens the Warsaw Pact (even though Penglai has a high chance of drifting to the far right). Valentin probably dies in 2009 as in real life and kicks off a power struggle in the CSSR, which Dmitry will probably win. Dmitry will be far more bloodthirsty and inflame tensions in the Old World, which the Eimericans and Penglairen exploit.
It would be fun to see the culture shock between their different magic systems and approaches to the same problem.
- 2
The Truth is Out There, Part 4
“Some might ask, how in the world could the Minister of Defense attack the Pentagon in front of its people? To them I reply, I have no desire to attack the Pentagon; I want to liberate it. We need to save it from itself. The men and women of this bureau, civilian and military, are our allies, not our enemies. They too are fed up with bureaucracy, they too live with frustrations. I hear it every day. And I'll bet a mark to a zehnten that they too want to fix it. In fact, I bet they even know how to fix it, and if asked, will get about the task of fixing it. And I'm asking. They know the taxpayers deserve better. Every mark we spend was entrusted to us by a taxpayer who earned it by creating something of value with sweat and skill: a cashier in Stuttgart, a waitress in Tel Aviv. An average Roman family works an entire year to generate 6,000 marks in income taxes. Here we spill many times that amount every hour by duplication and by inattention. That's wrong. It's wrong because national defense depends on public trust, and trust, in turn, hinges on respect for the hardworking people of the Reich and the tax marks they earn. We need to protect them and their efforts.”
-Rudolf Scharping
Rural Penglai - November 12, 2015, 3:00 PM (local time)
“…more information on the attack on UN Island…”
“…perpetrators have been identified as Sentinel operatives, with their identification pointing back to the RSB…”
“…will not be releasing any names…”
“…to kill the Roman ambassador to the UN, Annie Schmidt…”
“…thankfully saved by members of X-Division and Athanatoi, who were alerted to the plot…”
“…like to personally thank Agents Olga Kirova and Diana Frank for saving my life today…”
“…had previously fought as enemies during the First Battle of Vienna in 1985…”
“…net is just getting wider and wider, ensnaring more individuals and organizations…”
“…spread to China and Russia now…”
“…of China’s Health Ministry and Defense Research Agency have been implicated…”
“…the infamous Unit 731, a World War II-era military research unit dedicated to…”
“…recruited former KGB agents into Sentinel…”
“…confirms destruction of the Kaiserliche Marine’s Carrier Group 54 was not an accident…”
“…definitely not a malfunction of SVI…”
“…possibly in Novak’s hands…”
“…in theory to prevent SVI’s use against civilian land targets…”
“…should give the launch codes to the Kaiser, but…”
“…still no comment from the Imperial Throne, despite building pressure to…”
“…Zhao, who has announced plans to expand oversight of ministries in light of the scandal's spread to Penglai…”
“…to root out alleged Sentinel corruption, but some fear it could lead to further centralization of power in the executive…”
A lone car rumbled through the outback, throwing up clouds of dust behind it as it traveled down a winding dirt road. One hand on the wheel, Angela cursed and finally shut off the radio, instead playing a track from her Walkman. Her old tunes filled the car, rousing Anna and Anders from their sleep.
“Afternoon,” Angela said, “You finally shook off the jet lag.”
“Remind me to never fly here again,” Anders said, “Zhao is a madman. How far?”
“Check the map in the glove compartment,” Angela said.
Anders took out the map. Anna leaned over to read it.
“I haven’t seen a paper map in years,” she said.
“I know, right?” Angela said. “I couldn’t risk Sentinel figuring out our location. So I went old-school. Those marks are where I stopped to get my bearings.”
“That far?” Anna said. “There’s literally nothing for miles.”
“Exactly,” Anders said, “The perfect place to hide.”
The road ended ahead, giving way to unpaved dirt and sand, interrupted by the occasional shrub or rock. Angela pushed on, shifting gears to handle the rough terrain. The car rocked and lurched as it continued. Anna cursed.
“Could you drive a little smoother?” she said.
“Why don’t you drive then?” Angela shot back.
Anna stopped complaining.
“How much farther?” Anders said.
“Should be another mile or so,” Angela said.
Suddenly, the car was brought to a halt by an invisible force. Angela cursed and floored the gas pedal. The wheels spun, throwing up clouds of smoke, but the car remained in place. Cursing again, she cut the engine and got out to check, only to hear a gun clicking behind her. She turned around and saw a levitating machine gun pointed at her head. Other guns levitated around the car, all aimed at them. Angela slowly put her hands up.
“I think we’re on the right track,” she said.
“I can see that,” Anders said, getting out of the car.
“Annie?” he said. “That you? It’s us. Hello?”
The guns drew closer to them.
“Oh come on!” Anders said. “You know it’s us! You just have to!”
The guns loaded. One of them pressed against Anders’ head.
"Seriously?" Anders said. "Shoot your own brother? Shoot Angie? Your cousin? Shoot Anna? The little sister you never knew?"
The guns hung silently in the air for several seconds. Then they formed a ring around them, motioning for Anna to get out of the car.
“Well, you don’t see this everyday,” she said, joining the others outside.
The guns moved forward, prodding the three of them to move forward. They led them up a nearby hill.
“This place looks familiar,” Anders said.
“I agree,” Anna said.
“You had the dream too?” Anders said.
“Yeah,” Anna said.
They reached the top of the hill, where they found a large house. More levitating guns, with far more firepower than those of the assault rifles surrounding them, surrounded the house, all aimed at them. The front door unlocked itself, and music played from somewhere inside. The guns set themselves on the ground. Anders looked at Angela and Anna.
“Might as well,” Angela said.
They entered the house. It was rather modestly decorated, not fully spartan. A couple pictures hung on the wall, mostly stock photos and paintings of landscapes. They were all of coastlines, most of them the North Sea coast. The music grew louder as they approached a study room. Anders opened the door and stepped inside, entering a small office filled with 1990s computers, newspaper articles, VCRs, old cassette tapes, and open notebooks. A middle-aged woman sat at a desk, reading a book. A familiar portrait of of Angela, Anders, and a second girl was placed next to her. She stood up and looked at them.
“You’re late,” Annie said.
Anders immediately enveloped her in a warm hug.
“Annie,” he said, crying into her shoulder, “It’s been way too long.”
“I know,” Annie said, “I’m sorry.”
“You could’ve said goodbye before you left,” Angela said.
“I’m sorry, Angie,” Annie said, “I couldn’t take the risk. It was too dangerous.”
Anders stepped back and looked at Anna, who waved awkwardly.
“Uh, hey,” Anna said, “I’m Anna.”
“Your little sister,” Anders said, “Born after they abducted you.”
Anna held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Annie slowly shook her hand, apprehensive.
“Welcome to the family,” she said.
“Welcome back,” Anna said.
“Technically her situation is...complicated,” Anders said, “But that’s another story.”
“Let’s talk about that later,” Annie said, “I know why you’re here. Sentinel.”
“How did you know?” Angela said.
“Your faces are all over the news,” Annie said, “You exposed Sentinel. They’ll be coming after me soon. I expected you’d try to beat them here.”
“Then you know we need to leave,” Anders said, “Now.”
“Leave?” Annie said. “Go back to civilization? To Sentinel?”
“You’re not safe here,” Anna said, “They went after Ambassador Schmidt and Gottfried Loben to find you. They’ll try again.”
“Please, Annie,” Angela said, “You promised you’d come home. You promised.”
Annie sighed. She sat back down and crossed her arms.
“You just don’t understand, do you?” she said. “I can’t go home. It’s still too dangerous. You might have made it even more dangerous. You backed Sentinel into a corner. You made them very desperate. They won’t worry about holding back anymore. No more waiting for the Kaiser to kick the bucket. I’d rather fight them here than in Europe.”
“Then help us,” Anders said, “Help us end Sentinel for good. We got them on the defensive. They can't hide in their smoke-filled chambers anymore. The court of public opinion's turned against them. One last push, and they'll fall apart."
"What makes you think that?" Annie said. "Just because it's all out in the open doesn't mean it's easier to defeat. I know what happened to the Crown Princess."
"Annie, please," Angela said, "You can't just give up now."
"Does it look like I'm giving up?" Annie said. "I'm continuing the fight from here. I'm working on a way to take down Sentinel, but from the shadows. They're the tree that falls in the forest where nobody hears them. The people will unknowingly be set free. Nobody gets hurt this way."
"But the truth doesn't get out," Anna said, "Nobody will know Sentinel was there to begin with. In destruction, they'll have won. They'll have succeeded in keeping their conspiracy hidden. Their crimes will never be exposed, and they will never be brought to justice."
Annie smiled and pointed at her.
"I like you," she said, "Spoken like a real Humboldt."
"Oh, you're not going to like Dad," Anders said.
A computer beeped. Annie tapped a key and brought up footage from a security camera showing black cars driving past Angela's car.
"Frak," she said, "They're here. You led them to me."
"Nobody knew we were here," Angela said.
"Nobody except Zhao and his surveillance state," Annie said, typing on a keyboard, "He may not be Sentinel, but Sentinel finds his equipment very convenient.”
The other computers shut down. Annie telepathically tossed the childhood picture, tapes, and notebooks into a suitcase hidden under the desk. Angela heard guns clicking and zipping through the air outside.
“Looks like you got your wish,” she said, finishing packing in seconds, “I got a car in the garage and a plane at an airfield twenty miles away. Should be enough to get us back into Europe.”
“What about all this?” Anders said.
“The guns will hold them off,” Annie said, “As long as you could hold off super soldiers. Then I have explosives rigged to blow this entire hill to kingdom come if they get inside.”
“Let’s not wait around for that,” Anders said.
As the guns started firing outside, letting out a deafening roar that sounded more like industrial machinery than a single gun, they made their way to the garage. Annie mentally flipped a heavy switch to turn on the ancient lights, illuminating a vehicle covered in tarp. She casually swiped with her hands, and the tarp flew off, revealing an old 1990s car. A large engine stuck out through its hood.
“V8 engine,” Annie said, “Made some improvements. Good enough performance, though I had to limit it to when the satellites were out of range. Pretty fast.”
“Have you been watching the new Mad Mao?” Anders said.
“Opening night,” Annie said, “Probably only the third time I stepped in a city in the last fifteen years.”
Outside, the guns stopped to reload, while the convoy pulled up in front of the house. Most of the cars had been severely damaged, but the super soldiers inside were unharmed. They got out and drew their weapons. Suddenly, grenades and land mines burst out of the ground and hurled themselves at them. Explosions engulfed the convoy, destroying the cars, but the super soldiers remained unharmed. They approached the house and prepared to storm inside, but before they could do so, the entire hill exploded, taking the house and everybody around with it. Nobody noticed a lone car speeding away into the outback.
Nicomedia High Containment Facility - November 13, 2015, 6:00 AM (local time)
Pavel sat in front of a computer map. He watched a blinking marker slowly tracing a route from central Penglai to Europe. The door behind him opened, and General Heidelberg walked in.
“Sir…” he began.
“I see you’ve managed to find their plane,” Pavel said.
“Yes,” Heidelberg said, “Zhao’s surveillance was very useful.”
“We can’t let that plane land,” Pavel said, “The people on that plane…they’re too dangerous.”
“I know who they are,” Heidelberg said, “I’ve been briefed.”
“Then you know what you have to do,” Pavel said, “They cannot return to the Reich. With our military assets no longer viable, we have only one option. Prepare SVI to fire on them. We will wipe out X-Division in one fell swoop. Then there will be nobody to stop my plan.”
“Sir…” Heidelberg said. “That was what I was going to tell you. Somebody...scheduled maintenance on SVI. The whole system was taken offline.”
Pavel pounded his fists on the table, slightly denting the metal.
“Maintenance?!” he said, his rage building. “Whose bright idea was it to schedule MAINTENANCE?! At a time like this?!”
“Sir, it’s a relatively minor issue,” Heidelberg said, now sweating profusely, “Something about a glitch which locks up the firing mechanism. Could potentially cause the whole system to crash in rare cases.”
“Could you not have done that last week, when everything hadn’t gone off the rails?!” Pavel said, pulling out a pistol.
“The glitch’s been around for the last few decades,” Heidelberg said, “We’ve been working on it since then.”
“I should’ve hired better IT,” Pavel said, “But really, General? We’re in the fight for our lives. What we do in the next few days determines who controls the destiny of humanity, to protect us from what's to come. WE ALL KNOW WHAT IS COMING FOR US. It is thus EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that I have SVI ready to KILL EVERYBODY ON THAT PLANE! Now, tell me again, WHO ORDERED THIS GODDAMN MAINTENANCE?!”
“Uh…” Heidelberg said, checking his phone. “There’s only one person who could’ve scheduled the maintenance.”
He showed his phone screen to Pavel, who sighed in frustration.
“Damnit, I should’ve seen it sooner,” he said, “Can we at least cancel and reschedule the maintenance? Bring it back online?”
“No, we can't interrupt it once it’s already started,” Heidelberg said, “It'll be offline for a couple days. And the missiles are out of our control. Our assets in the Pentagon have been neutralized.”
“Then we switch to the backup plan,” Pavel said, “I still have the RSB. Find Humboldt's test subjects. Bring them to me. Or kill them. Whichever one’s easier.”
He got up and grabbed a gun.
“What are you doing, sir?” Heidelberg said.
“I’m going to meet an old colleague,” Pavel said, “Get my plane ready.”
Kaiserstrasse, Frankfurt - 3:00 PM
Pavel entered the old conference room where the Syndicate’s leaders used to meet. The dusty room was empty, as it had been for almost twenty years now, except for Irene Doukas, who sat at the head of the table, unafraid of him. Her steely eyes focused on Pavel, actually unnerving him for the first time in many years.
“I’ve been expecting you,” she said, “You figured it out.”
“I should’ve caught on sooner,” Pavel said, “You always had a soft spot for Agent Humboldt and his friends. You leaked those files, didn’t you? It was so obvious.”
“Then again, everybody misses the most obvious things these days,” Irene said, "I mean seriously, how did everyone miss such a gigantic conspiracy for the last 70 years? There had to have been at least one of us who went public. Guess ignorance is bliss, huh?"
“You could’ve run,” Pavel said, “You could’ve fled the country. Why did you come here? Of all the places you could’ve chosen, you chose here. A place about to become a crime scene.”
“I let you track my phone so we could meet here one last time,” Irene said, “If I really wanted to get away, I would be somewhere in the jungles of Nusantara by now. You see, you got it all wrong. I’m not trying to escape. Not anymore. I’m done being intimidated. You can’t scare me anymore. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my long career. I tried to make up for it by helping Humboldt twenty years ago. I only made things worse. It was because I didn’t try hard enough. I’m going to put an end to you and this sorry project, once and for all.”
“I’m going to kill you, you know?” Pavel said.
“I know that,” Irene said, “But I’ve been infected with the black oil and put through hell and back testing your cures and vaccines. I’ve had my career destroyed multiple times, my reputation torn down over and over again. I’ve seen the world change so dramatically, no thanks to you and me, that I hardly recognize it now. Most of all, I’m getting really old. I don’t have much time left in this world. At this point, I’m no longer scared of death. Death would actually be welcome, with what I know is coming. What we all know the future has in store for us.”
Pavel loaded his gun and pointed at Irene.
“Go ahead, take the shot,” Irene said, “But before you do, remember Conrad Humboldt’s last moments before you shot him in the head. Remember how he was always a better man than you. Remember how you spurred his grandson to avenge him. Anders Humboldt is coming to collect. You turned his quest into a crusade. There’s no stopping him. I won’t be alive to see it, but you’ve signed your death warrant a long time ago. Killing me won’t make any difference. The truth is coming out, like it or not. You can’t put the genie back into the bottle. You think you’re a hero, don’t you? Ever since Prague and Vienna? Well, why don’t you take a look at what you’ve done, the people you’ve killed over the years? The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Irene drew a gun and tried shooting Pavel, but Pavel shot her first.
Outside Mainz - 9:00 PM
Walter, Diana, and Olga waited patiently in a hangar in the county airport, anxiously watching the recently landed jet power down. The door opened, and Angela, Anders, and Anna stepped out, walking down the stairs to meet Walter, who anxiously hugged Anders and Anna.
“You’re okay, thank God,” he said.
“Walter, we’re always fine,” Anna said.
“We’re not kids anymore,” Anders said, extricating himself from the hug.
Walter looked up just as Annie appeared in the doorway. His eyes widened.
“Hi, Dad,” Annie said.
Anders and Anna stepped aside to let him rush up the stairs and hug Annie as well, crying into her shoulder.
- 2
The Humboldts are finally reunited just as Pavel is on the verge of breaking down. Rather convenient that the SVI was scheduled for maintenance, but hey at least it gave the X-Division a little breathing room.
Irene dying was inevitable, but at least she gave Pavel a verbal beatdown. All that remains now is confronting Pavel once and for all.
Irene dying was inevitable, but at least she gave Pavel a verbal beatdown. All that remains now is confronting Pavel once and for all.
Now that I look back on it, I wasn't that clear in her last conversation, but Irene did it. That's why Pavel immediately went to confront her after learning of the maintenance disabling SVI.
Let's see what all three Humboldt siblings can really do together.
Annie, back in time for the finale. Her being here was necessary for closure.
Irene ends on an impressive high note. Who says only villains get to make speeches perfectly made to demoralize people?
Irene ends on an impressive high note. Who says only villains get to make speeches perfectly made to demoralize people?
Kind of ironic that I'm posting this right after my previous comment, but I'm kind of busy with personal stuff lately so I may not be able to answer comments or post updates as regularly as before. I'll see what I can do, but I hope you understand if I can't keep my previous schedule for a little while.
- 2
It's nice to see Sentinel fall apart so completely and catastrophically, Pavel certainly is having a bad time and I love it.
While it's nice to see X-Division's push against Sentinel being very successful so far, Annie is right to say that they won't go down easy now that they're approaching their end. Besides, even if Sentienl is completely different , the consequences of Sentienl's actions will still continue to linger well into the future, even more so with Wihelm Karl and Zhao Yu taking advantage of Sentienl's fall.
As great as Irene’s verbal takedown of Pavel was, I’m interested about the future threat that Pavel and Irene referered here. I doubt they know about the Worm since Pavel didn’t understand the Inquisition’s search for the Philisphoper Stone and I’m pretty sure the Jotun are still in a civil war with the Vanir, so I’m wondering if the threat Sentinel’s preparing for is a new one or one we’ve seen before.
While it's nice to see X-Division's push against Sentinel being very successful so far, Annie is right to say that they won't go down easy now that they're approaching their end. Besides, even if Sentienl is completely different , the consequences of Sentienl's actions will still continue to linger well into the future, even more so with Wihelm Karl and Zhao Yu taking advantage of Sentienl's fall.
As great as Irene’s verbal takedown of Pavel was, I’m interested about the future threat that Pavel and Irene referered here. I doubt they know about the Worm since Pavel didn’t understand the Inquisition’s search for the Philisphoper Stone and I’m pretty sure the Jotun are still in a civil war with the Vanir, so I’m wondering if the threat Sentinel’s preparing for is a new one or one we’ve seen before.
Understandable, I’m myself with college myself nowadays, so I can understand the sentiment. Feel free to take your time with updates and comments, we're in no rush.
We're not at the end yet...
The consequences will definitely linger VERY far into the future.
Remember that time traveler who said without Sentinel something bad happened in his future?
Yeah I need time to adjust for a little bit. Today I have time right now, but I may be more busy than usual. Nothing bad or anything, just...different.
The Truth is Out There, Part 5
“Waste drains resources from training and tanks, from infrastructure and intelligence, from helicopters and housing. Outdated systems crush ideas that could save a life. Redundant processes prevent us from adapting to evolving threats with the speed and agility that today's world demands. Above all, the shift from bureaucracy to the battlefield is a matter of national security. In this period of limited funds, we need every halberzehn, every good idea, every innovation, every effort to help modernize and transform the Roman military. We must change for a simple reason—the world has—and we have not yet changed sufficiently. The clearest and most important transformation is from a tripolar Cold War world where threats were visible and predictable to one in which they arise from multiple sources, most of which are difficult to anticipate, and many of which are impossible even to know today. Let there be no question: the many who wear our country's uniform—active, Imperial Guard, and Reserve—and the many more who support them in civilian attire, comprise the finest military in the history of the world, one which has served this nation one way or another since 753 BCE. They stand ready to face down any threat, anytime, anywhere. But we must do more.”
-Rudolf Scharping
Unknown
Xocoyol Mazatl took a deep breath and looked at Angela’s Walkman, which sat on the table in front of him.
“My name is Xocoyol Mazatl,” he said, “I was a Mexican Air Force pilot. I’m now an instructor at the Constantinople Imperial School of War. My brothers and I all joined the military during the Second Gulf War in the early 1990s. I lost both of my brothers in that war. One was killed in the Highway to Hell. The other was killed at the Battle of Albuquerque.”
“By a super soldier, no less,” Anders said.
“As the fully unredacted Sentinel files say,” Xocoyol said, “The super soldier was embedded in the Roman military, operating in Mexico with little oversight. The perfect place to test Sentinel’s experimental weapons and super soldier program. But this is not what I’m here to testify about, since I already talked about it in the other tape.”
“Go on,” Anders said.
“Late at night on December 25, 1993, I was flying a routine patrol mission on the Fusang-Mexico border in my old Shenyang J-9,” Xocoyol said, “An hour into the mission, I noticed an unfamiliar light bobbing in and out of the clouds, occasionally drawing close to me. It did not register on radar. Initially, I thought it was just sleep deprivation playing tricks on me. I radioed base to identify the unidentified object, but they did not detect it on their sensors either. I next suspected it was an experimental Roman stealth aircraft, like the kind used in Desert Storm. It was at that moment that the object unexpectedly drew close enough to temporarily blind me. That was when the base received radar confirmation of the object, although they remained just as confused as me. My gut instinct was to fire on the unidentified object. I locked on and fired a missile, which shot down the aircraft.”
“Do you know what happened to the unidentified aircraft?” Anders said. “What it was?”
“I don’t know,” Xocoyol said, “That was the end of my experience. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I will not see anything like it again. I know it was not of this world. But how it went down was surprisingly…disappointing. Here’s this mysterious aircraft, cloaked in a bright light and executing impossible angles and velocities, and one missile just took it out. For all of its advanced aviation technology, it couldn’t dodge or survive a bomb attached to a small metal rocket. Maybe I just got off lucky that night. I’ll never know, will I?”
Reichsrat Select Subcommittee on Intelligence and Terrorism, Berlin - November 13, 2015, 3:00 PM
“…latest breaking news, more turmoil has engulfed the Reichstag…”
“…Sorenson is the latest to hand in his letter of resignation to the Kaiser…”
“…Merkel is under increasing pressure to…”
“…official statement regarding the recent…”
“…spoke from the chancellor’s office about…”
“…invasion of Roman special forces…”
“…violation of Penglai’s sovereignty, Zhao stated…”
“...expulsion of Roman diplomats...”
“…uncovered by footage from newly installed state security camera networks in urban…”
“…Reich’s former ambassador to the United Nations was found dead…”
“…discovered in a conference room on the top floor of a building on Kaiserstrasse, Frankfurt…”
“…building was described in several of the leaked files as…”
“…before it became a crime scene…”
“…showed an unidentified man entering the room and conversing with Ambassador Doukas…”
“…matches the last known description of Pavel Novak…”
“…unprecedented move, the former chancellor Walter Scheel has been indicted on…”
Erich and Kurtz sat at a table, surrounded by their lawyers and dozens of news cameras. The seats behind them were packed with reporters and bureaucrats. Members of the Reichsrat Intelligence Committee sat in front of them, checking their notes.
“The chair calls upon the senator from Armenia,” Committee Chairman Romine said.
“Thank you,” Senator Bagration said, “Directors Hansen and Kurtz, I’d like to focus my questions on the mandate of X-Division. In light of the many smoking guns we have all seen on the news lately, it would nice if we could understand what exactly is X-Division so we understand the context of these revelations.”
“Well, Senator, X-Division is a special division within the Athanatoi Home Division,” Erich said, “Its mandate is to investigate incidents of a manner not easily explainable by conventional means.”
“Explain not easily explainable,” Bagration said.
A light chuckle swept over the men and women in the room.
“Yes, I’m aware of the irony in that statement,” Bagration said.
“Do you remember the Rico Modell hostage situation at Blachernae?” Kurtz said. “The X-Division handles cases of a similar nature.”
“With all due respect, Director Kurtz, you are avoiding the question,” Bagration said, “I still am a little confused as to what cases of a similar nature entail.”
“Things are not always as they seem,” Kurtz said, “Sentinel showed as much. If we were caught off-guard by this wide-reaching conspiracy, imagine what else is hiding in plain sight.”
“I’ve said this in my previous testimony, six years ago,” Erich said, “We may take comfort in our military’s strength and our operations abroad, but we never stopped to wonder about the state of the military, about what we’re doing at home. Here, we’re not secure.”
“Director Hansen, are you implying X-Division investigates threats to national security?” Bagration said.
“National security?” Erich said. “A few, like the Rico Modell crisis and the Frankfurt attacker last week. But not everything has to be a national security threat or a massive conspiracy reaching into all elements of society. Our original mandate was to investigate corruption and conspiracy within the Roman government. I should’ve made that clear. But due to the nature of this conspiracy and its extent, it is difficult to produce evidence and get it out in the open. So we have to spend much of our time investigating relatively minor incidents to justify our mandate. We investigate unexplained cases the rest of the agency tossed out. Attempted acts of domestic terrorism. Kidnapping plots. Drug offenses. Even a few corrupt corporate executives. We’re all over the place, but that is how we bring justice to those who were overlooked by the system. Isn't that what the Kaiser envisioned a fair system should be like when he passed his reforms in 1946?”
“Director Kurtz, can you please elaborate on X-Division’s motivations?” Bagration said. “Especially as here in the files you have provided, it is mentioned almost all of the senior members of X-Division have a personal connection with Sentinel. Would that bias their judgment regarding Sentinel?”
“With all due respect, Senator, you should know,” Erich said, “Your own public voting record indicates you supported a measure to fund UFO hunting in Armenia over twenty years ago, at the request of Agent Humboldt no less. So it’s funny you’re asking about potential conflicts of interest.”
“Please answer the question,” Bagration said.
“They were not involved in Sentinel,” Kurtz said, “Quite the opposite. I can’t say the same about myself. Sentinel weaponized my grief over my brother’s death in the war to shape me into an impediment for X-Division, to slow down their work and sabotage their efforts. When I realized the manipulation, they demoted me from Deputy Director and reassigned me to section chief of the Strasburg office after implicating me in a money laundering scheme which almost cost me my whole career.”
“The others were all targets of Sentinel, at one point or another,” Erich said, “Anders Humboldt’s sister was abducted in a military operation as a test subject for a failed super soldier program. His grandfather and mother were killed by Sentinel agents, the former by Agent Novak himself. My daughter lost her grandfather, fianceé, sister, and best friend, among others, to Sentinel assassins and Agent Novak over the years, and she was forced to give her daughter up for adoption because she knew Sentinel would use her as a test subject. Olga Kirova lost her parents in a Sentinel experiment on brainwashing and herself went through years of childhood trauma working for the KGB as a result. Diana Frank lost her mother in the November 9 attacks.”
“With all due respect, Director Hansen, there was no way even a conspiracy as massive as Sentinel’s could’ve predicted the Director’s schedule that far into the future and planned an attack with so many variables to coincide with it at that point,” Bagration said.
“But when that opportunity presented itself, it served their purpose,” Erich said, “They wanted Director Frank out of the way, just like they wanted the Crown Princess gone. Senator, none of this is a conflict of interest. We have all lost someone in this quest for the truth. But we still carry on. The truth is a painful thing to know. Sometimes a threat is familiar. But as we all have learned sometimes it is far worse than we expected. And when it’s worse, even unimaginable, that’s when we’re at the door. We fight in the shadows to make sure none of you have to deal with threats like Sentinel. We fight to expose the truth. Better to live a painful truth than to live in blissful ignorance.”
“And where is X-Division now?” Bagaration said.
“I wouldn’t know,” Kurtz said, “I’m retired.”
“They are in the field,” Erich said, “Following leads to put an end to this tragic story for good.”
“Thank you, Directors, I yield the rest of my time to the chair,” Bagration said.
Conrad’s house, Mainz - 3:30 PM
“Thank you, Senator Bagration,” Chairman Romine said, “The chair calls upon the senator from the East Midlands.”
X-Division sat around the old TV. Anders, Annie, and Anna sat on the couch, all eating from the same bag of sunflower seeds. Angela, Diana, and Olga leaned on the couch from behind, while Walter was in the kitchen, singing an old tune and making an afternoon snack.
“I miss this,” Annie said.
“So did I,” Anders said, “Watching Diet committee hearings all day…brings back memories.”
“I don’t see it,” Anna said, “I just don’t see how this is fun.”
“If you were around during Wassertor, you’d understand,” Anders said.
“Speaking of which, Scheel was just indicted,” Annie said, “Finally. I’ve been waiting my entire life to see that. You still have the number for the Lone Gunmen? I have some thoughts I'd like to share with them.”
Angela’s phone rang.
“Hello?” she said.
“Angie, it’s me.” It was unmistakably Nick Larsen.
“Nick?” Angela said.
Everybody looked at her.
“Yeah,” Nick said, breathing rapidly, “Listen, I know I should’ve called you sooner, but I’m in a bit of a situation right now. There are people after me.”
“Again?” Angela said.
“Yes, again,” Nick said, “They’ve already gotten a lot of the others.”
“The others?” Angela said.
“People I recognize from the trials,” Nick said, “Their faces have been all over the local news, when they’re not talking about you. Those they don't kill, they take away with them.”
“They’re targeting Cortexiphan subjects,” Angela said, “Where are you? We’re coming over.”
“Somewhere near Paris,” Nick said, “They’re closing in. I can’t stay here forever.”
“Can you still get out?” Angela said.
“There’s a train leaving in half an hour,” Nick said, “Northbound.”
“Get on the train,” Angela said, “I know a place we can meet. It’ll at least buy us some time. A place near Ecouves Forest. I won't say much more since they might be listening.”
She hung up.
“What was that all about?” Diana said.
“Nick Larsen’s in trouble,” Angela said.
“Nick Larsen?” Olga said. “The last time we saw him…”
“He was being controlled by the Modells,” Anders said, “That was years ago.”
“Why is he suddenly showing up now?” Anna said.
“Sentinel, that’s why,” Angela said, “They want Cortexiphan subjects. He’s on their list.”
“Why do they want Cortexiphan subjects?” Diana said.
“What’s Cortexiphan?” Annie said.
“I’ll explain later,” Anna said.
“What’s the plan then?” Olga said.
“We’re going to find Nick before Pavel gets to him,” Angela said, “We’re going back to Alençon.”
- 2
Seems Sentinel is hell bent in finishing off those that the X-Division crew had interacted over the years, the ones that are not high profile to the general public. The final confrontation is approaching I reckon. Also I love that conversation on the alleged UFO at the beginning, goes to show that within Sentinel's corruption of the Reich, lies forces beyond the stars.
I like to think of this final arc as having one part for every segment of X-Division's story over the last 23 years. First we had Annie representing the original X-Division story (1992-2001), and now we have Nick representing the Cortexiphan/Annionaverse arc (2008-2011).
It goes to show even though Anders watered down his revelation to avoid references to the Annionaverse or aliens, they're still there.
In all fairness, a person not in the know (in this case, every reporter) would have a real hard time accepting basically any of this.
You know what they say, ignorance is bliss. But X-Division has never accepted this.
That's one of the reasons why the conspiracy went so undetected for almost 70 years despite having a presence in most major countries and employing hundreds if not thousands of people in some way. By all means at least one of those people should have gone to the press at some point in those 70 years, only to be met with ridicule and skepticism. The sheer scale and scope of the conspiracy is so large and wide it is by the 2000s self-hidden. The burden of proof is so large any single person would either not accomplish anything at all or gather so much stuff all over the place any evidence becomes an incoherent conspiracy theory. The only way it could go down is if someone at the top leaked all of its most important files at once. They would have the influence and clout to get all of the files and convince the media to accept them. And even then the most ridiculous stuff like aliens, a massive rewriting of human history (although this is not related to the rest of the conspiracy and could be revealed through conventional archaeology eventually, and with enough archaeologists and historians making similar discoveries it would be accepted easily), parallel universes, pagan gods, and cults worshipping eldritch abominations still has to be kept out of the final report because that would instantly discredit everything else. Anders is lucky he was connected to people like Irene and Theresa and knew what to redact from the final report, and even then he still needed an unpredictable chain of events (involving time travel) to compile all of the documents.
- 3