Jesper Anderson
Subject: DG: Igor's sad tale, and a Victor (long)
Sent: 23 January 1999 07:30
Note: I'm in no way an expert on submarines. This is a basic sketch of an
interesting, modified submarine the Karotechia can get their hands on. It's
currently based on a Victor class submarine. If someone knows why it shouldn't
be, let me know. Any and all comments are welcome.
Igor's Tale
Igor leaned against the cliff wall, gazing out over the ocean. He drew a deep
breath on his cigarette and caught himself thinking about his wife. Of course,
Igor wasn't his real name, and he hadn't seen his wife for over 10 years. Not
that anyone here knew his real name, or even that he had a wife.
This place really deserves its name, Teufelhaus, he thought. House of the Devil.
The voices he sometimes heard here made his skin crawl just thinking of them.
Those damnable scientists. Their skin had the sheen Igor had seen on a leper
once, when he visited his father at the hospital. Unhealthy, gray. Except the
skin of these scientists didn't look infected and bruised. And their eyes were
dead to him, to the world, to everything except their work.
His payment went to a swiss bank account. He had checked that the money really
was there. Not that he doubted these people would pay him, they had plenty of
resources, but it made him think less of the possibility that he'd never get out
of here alive. He had seen the hate in the eyes of the crew he was training. As
long as they have use for me, he thought. But he understood less and less of
this sub.
It wasn't a familiar Victor class ship anymore. The outside changes were
considerable, but not the worst. It was fitted with a blue-green skin, similar
to that of the modern US submarines. That it was warm and pulsating to the touch
was creepy, but no worse than that. Igor finished his cigarette. What had
happened to the reactor room he didn't know. Nor did he have any desire to find
out. The jittering speech he heard from that area gave him nightmares. At least
the sub performed as before. Only smoother, faster and much more silent. The
propeller still made its characteristic noise, but not as much of it. One of
those damnable German scientist had altered the shape of it, and it was much
more efficient and quiet now.
After he had taught the crew how to handle the engine and weapon systems he
hadn't seen those areas of the sub again. Now he was only teaching underwater
tactics and strategy from the command room of the sub. He had instruments he had
never dreamed of. Most of them seemed to be US issue, using satellite navigation
systems and tapping into communications. He doubted how well they would perform
under stress, or if jammed, but that wasn't his problem. He taught them how to
fight in a sub, and he was one of the best. Before he left the USSR when
everything fell to pieces around him he had held a good position, led a good
life. He would have retired next year by now. Damned Glasnost.
And that ... animal of a man they held in the padded room. He had heard the
guards talk about him, saying he was a survivor from a secret project in the
Antarctic. Apparently they found him on the ice and took him in, creating the
monstrosity that's in the room. Igor shivered. This place is too full of
impossible secrets.
Igor shivered again and turned to walk back to his quarters when he heard steps
approaching. "Ah, there you are", a casual voice said in German. Igor froze in
mid step. He had only met Galt once before, and it hadn't been pleasant. Those
eyes weren't dead, they were evil incarnate. He turned towards the voice. Galt
was flanked by two guards and was holding a syringe full of yellowish-red fluid.
"Hold still, this won't hurt a bit". Before Igor could think to reply, Galt had
sunk the syringe deep into his thigh. Strangely, it didn't hurt at all. In fact,
nothing hurt anymore.
As he was being served on Galt's dinner table, Igor's last thought went to his
wife. He didn't feel a thing as he was carved up. Galt shook his head. "What a
disappointment. He didn't even whimper".
Modified Victor class submarine
The submarine is purchased via the Russian Mafia. They also provided a few
crewmembers, including Igor, to train the Aryan crew. It was part of a proposed
sale to (India? suggestions?) that didn't fall through because of the breakup of
the USSR. A fascistic Nazi friendly faction with considerable political clout in
the new Russia helped divert the attention of outside eyes (yes, these factions
do exist, and gain an ever increasing following in the former USSR (SAN 0/D2)).
It was shipped to TEUFELHAUS in parts.
The skin is created/summoned by the spell learned from the insane resurrected
Eisenschloss scientist. It's similar to a Shoggoth, but much more limited in
scope. It's unknown whether this "being" was used by Elder things, Deep Ones or
something else. A sufficiently powerful being could wrap itself in this skin and
use it as protection from harsh environments, definitely cold water but also
radiation, kinetic energy and perhaps corrosive atmospheres. It absorbs most EM
and kinetic signals going in and out of the vessel, making radio contact a bit
harder than usual but also lowering the vessels EM and sound signature
significantly.
It also provides an extra protection against kinetic energy attacks, sealing up
small leaks and even closing over the broken ends if the sub gets destroyed.
This enhances the survivability of the vessel against conventional weapons
considerably. Of course, even a near miss with a tactical nuclear missile will
destroy it and the sub outright.
Navigation and communication technology is state of the art US tech, combined
with state of the art USSR tech, purchased through Dr Frank's contact net.
Several types of float antennas and scope mounted antennas are used to bypass
the EM absorbtion provided by the skin.
Armament is, depending on planned missions, the scenario and the keeper's whim
(the ballistic missile silos have been rebuilt with launch platforms for more
immediately useful weapons):
Stolen Tomahawk missiles with conventional and/or tactical nuclear warheads.
Perhaps also chemical or biological agents.
SAM and HARM missiles for immediate defense.
Unmanned surveillance aircraft? Perhaps an experimental "saucercraft"? Or a
hovercraft (perhaps outlandish looking) might be sufficient to perform assaults
and put troops ashore in a hurry.
Propulsion system is nuclear fission based, modernized and boosted by some of
the finer minds the Karotechia could set on the task. It's also shielded in the
same skin as the outer hull of the submarine, as an extra precaution. The larger
amount of radiation this skin material receives causes it to be a lot more
active than the outer skin. This manifests in a mental "noise" heard throughout
the submarine. The range of this noise is only a few meters, but it tends to
cause SAN loss (0/D3) when first heard. It can also slowly erode SAN of the crew
and others who hear it (keepers discretion).
The resurrected Eisenschloss scientist is quite mad. From his mumblings,
combined with what he already knew from a Mythos tome he read during WW II, one
of the resurrected German Karotechia scientists managed to piece together a
spell that creates/summons the shoggoth like skin creature. He realized this was
something that would enhance a watervessel and an attempt at casting the spell
was made.
Unfortunately, in casting that spell he caught too good a glimpse of something
and is now a blubbering wreck. No one else knows this spell at present. What
secrets the Eisenschloss scientist hold is unlikely to ever be found out. His
"rescuers" found him nude, frozen to death near an old Antarctic survey station,
and they don't know if he got there before, during or after the operation.
Resurrection wasn't kind to him and currently he spends his time in a foetal
position, mumbling incoherently. He doesn't respond to any treatment.
Thanks for your patience,
Jesper
ALSO: Suggestions for a Karotechia submarine