The GRANITE HUNTER Files (BP)

The following information has not been confirmed by Volition and is therefore not canon for the FreeSpace universe.

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WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the following storylines: Freespace 1, Silent Threat, Freespace 2, Blue Planet

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The following documents were exposed in the course of exchanges [1] [2] between GTVA intelligence asset GRANITE HUNTER, citizens of the GTVA, and a person of unknown affiliation, codenamed TRUTH. There is little to authenticate these documents; however, in the interest of history -- if nothing else of the scope of GTVA disinformation efforts -- they are presented here.

The Second Incursion

SECURE PRIORITY COMMUNIQUE
distribution SOLITAIRE, keyword PASQUINADE, source CIRCULAR
FROM: BALCONY VIEW
TO: COLDMORN

Welcome to hell. I'm your new Ahriman. No one elects us and no one gets rid of us which makes us, as much as everyone would like to think otherwise post-Glaive, the only enduring policymakers in this post-terrestrial mess. Our first priority is the safety of the species. Implicit in that is the ugly truth: we need to hold on to the ability to save the species.

I understand your reaction to the Remillard Receipts. Very few of us ever respond well to the coverup. Let me assure you that very few of those who work the problem end up disagreeing. What else do we do with the transmissions?

To me, the more interesting questions are these: how much of it is true? Who do we believe? If MacDuff is actually in control of a disintegrating civilization, do we need to be prepared for military confrontation? If Human Futures is seeding a soft tyranny, do we need to be prepare for a soft war? And what about the interference? Who's doing that? Who has that capability? Who wants to keep us cut off?

The one that keeps me up at night is this: did we actually make a clean sweep during Templar? Or did one of those Shiva-****ers smuggle a copy out?

In any case. Much as we might call them jealous, our counterparts in the Complicated Place are correct. We don't need the fact of a homeworld right now. We need the hope of a home to get back to, and, failing the presence of that hope, the dream of a brighter world for our children.

I can't believe 'lost generation' caught on. I hate that book. We came through hellfire and ruin and the loss of everything and now we have a chance, here, to make something new.

Let's get to it.

SECURE PRIORITY COMMUNIQUE
distribution SOLITAIRE, keyword ERGOSPHERE, source CIRC_NEW_WARHARD
FROM: COLDMORN
TO: BALCONY VIEW

we're a year deep and i feel like i've heard more doubletalk and lies than a vasudan bartender. my friends are in play in polaris and they're killing each other. you think the navy has it bad? at least they don't work in the same room as the other side!

and i still can't get an honest brief. ANSWER ME STRAIGHT

1) did we, you and all your BALCONY creatures, aim CELTIC TRIPLE at the deneb artifacts? or was it the CABLE STAMP crew? i understand that CABLE STAMP cares about earth and you don't. CELTIC TRIPLE has something you want and something they want

2) was CELTIC TRIPLE one of us before he went out into the cold? did we send him out there to do this? is all of this our project, the pogroms, the harbinger hit on cygnus prime, just to get the deneb artifacts wherever they're going?

3) what the **** is ETAK and why do we need it so badly?

BALCONY VIEW -> COLDMORN
we're still people up here. we hate this as much as you do. right now i am working with CABLE STAMP and the Complicated Place to figure out how we can all get what we want. remember the top priority. i'm putting you on BLACK DOVE and i want him on ETAK

FLASH FLASH FLASH
ISN BACKBREAKER FASTEST
S 0808 BAST $DATE_DYN_REFRAME
FM COLDMORN
TO CINCDEN, CINCSIR
ACTION DIRECTIVE TO FOLLOW

SECCON AUTHORITY. IMMEDIATE EFFECT.

PULL BLOCKADE ON SIRIUS-DENEB JUMP NODE.

HOLD OFF ON CELTIC TRIPLE INTERCEPT. MAINTAIN PURSUIT POSTURE BUT DO NOT ENGAGE. STRATEGICALLY VITAL THAT CELTIC TRIPLE TRANSIT NODE UNIMPAIRED

RATIONALE TO FOLLOW

SENDIT SENDIT SENDIT
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SECURE PRIORITY COMMUNIQUE
distribution SOLITAIRE, keyword ERGOSPHERE, source CIRC_NEW_WARHARD
FROM: COLDMORN
TO: BALCONY VIEW

why are you running an agent in an opeval unit? why are you passing them the BLACK DOVE sigint from ETAK? those TAG transmitters are going into live combat ordnance...do you actually want this chum in the water?

BALCONY VIEW->COLDMORN
The strategic situation in the nebular theater can accept a few hits. If there's a shark out there I'd like to see it.

SECURE PRIORITY COMMUNIQUE
distribution SOLITAIRE, keyword ERGOSPHERE, source CIRC_NEW_WARHARD
FROM: COLDMORN
TO: BALCONY VIEW

i know CHARIOT DRIVER fucked up and i know the Complicated Place (probably) didn't want it any more than we did but you HAVE to stop this court-martial. by drawing the rebels' attention to CHARIOT DRIVER and what he knew you are endangering BLACK DOVE. we need that asset and its capabilities. i am cooking up a heist that will get you more of what you want.

or are you going to blame this on CABLE STAMP? are they trying to get my people killed to interfere with your plan?

you need to keep me in the loop BALCONY...you have too much riding on my work to let me develop illusions of independence...

BALCONY VIEW->COLDMORN
i will do what i can but remember we are part of a military here and like it or not i don't run everything [yet]. i consider CHARIOT DRIVER a personal friend and i wish we lived in a world where he could've had justice right there and then. think of him next time you pull strings for CELTIC TRIPLE. think of him and remember the price he's paying.

FLASH FLASH FLASH
ISN BACKBREAKER {ERR: archival functions timed out...}
S 2126 BAST $DATE_DYN_REFRAME
FM COLDMORN
TO SPARROW MAW

ENSURE CELTIC TRIPLE TRANSITS KNOSSOS BY ANY MEANS AVAILABLE

BLACK DOVE ABOARD NTF SHIP ATTEMPTING KNOSSOS TRANSIT. I WOULD BE MUCH OBLIGED IF HE MADE IT BUT NOT STRICTLY A VITAL ASSET

GODSPEED AND DON'T BREAK THE BIG GUY ANY HARDER THAN HE BREAKS HIMSELF

SENDIT SENDIT SENDIT

PRIORITY
ISN BRIDGEBUILDER STRAT
S 0121 BAST $DATE_DYN_REFRAME
FM COLDMORN
TO CINCNEB

HELLO AND BEST WISHES FROM YOUR FRIENDS ON HIGH. HOPE ALL IS WELL IN THE FOG. CONGRATS ON THE BIG BEAR KILL

GRANITE MOUNTAIN WILL REQUEST ELINT AND SPECIAL SENSOR ASSETS. DETACH SOONEST (FLASH PRIORITY). SUPERCEDES ALL OTHER MISSIONS EXCEPT PERIMETER WATCH

ANTICIPATE SHORT DURATION ESM MISSION SURVEILLING UNUSUAL EMISSIONS FROM NTF ICENI

SENDIT SENDIT SENDIT

FLASH FLASH FLASH
ISN BACKBREAKER {ERR: archival functions timed out...}
S 0250 BAST $DATE_DYN_REFRAME
FM COLDMORN
TO GRANITE MOUNTAIN

THE GIG IS UP. GRAB THE TARGET. I WANT EVERYTHING.

USE ANY AVAILABLE FLEET OR SOC ASSET

SENDIT SENDIT SENDIT

FLASH FLASH FLASH
ISN BACKBREAKER FASTEST
S 1225 BAST $DATE_DYN_REFRAME
FM COLDMORN
TO GRANITE MOUNTAIN

SITUATION DEPARTING FROM SURVIVABLE PARAMETERS. SECCON IS HUNGRY FOR ANYTHING AND I WILL BURN EVERY ASSET I HAVE MYSELF INCLUDED BEFORE I LET THEM DOWN.

UNEXPECTED TREASURE FROM A CONCERTO IN CAPELLA. WE ARE CHASING IT. WE MAY HAVE A GENUINE NAGARI SPECIMEN ON OUR HANDS.

GIVE BLACK DOVE THE GO ON LIONSDEN

SENDIT SENDIT SENDIT

Post-Capella

NHN RDU 8 BR 8 RB S
000 000 000 000 A A A
BALCONY VIEW -> COLDMORN

First day on the new system feels like a good day for my last day on the job. I'm out. You're inheriting everything I ran. CABLE STAMP is tight with Petrarch but you knew that already. With the Knossos findings and Petrarch in their hand, and the economy going the way it's going, we're going to have to concede the palace to CABLE STAMP unless we can find a way back in. The only way I see out is to work MORPHEUS. Work it as hard as you can until you can convince someone there's a threat and that we need to be ready when we go home.

I'm going to move to south Hulldown and hope I die before any more excitement happens. I know you'll buy me a present no matter what I say. My grandkid wouldn't mind a copy of Antagonism 2.

I know you'll ask me how it feels to be out no matter how much I don't want to answer. You'll be informed on a need-to-know basis, COLDMORN. And I still need you in the game.

That's how it goes.

UUR TGG A AN Z SF 0
770 660 147 D D O
COLDMORN -> WIZARD MAN

Thank you for your work managing everyone's recollection of that event. And thank you for reaching out to me with this theory. I value this kind of initiative.

Your suppositions are part of a long and (now) fractionally less insane history. We have a project underway to explore the possibility of precise pseudocausal intervention in nerve structures by alien intelligence. I'm adding you to MORPHEUS as field support.

Get me Kyle Athanas. We need interviews and neural telemetry. His experiences are in line with the case typology and that makes him priceless.

Do you remember the days when we had a budget? I miss knowing that everything was a GTVI plot.

SECURE SABLE
S 2249 BAST $DATE_DYN_REFRAME
FM COLDMORN
TO SSC LIASON

WHAT IN THE NAME OF YOUR INADEQUATE GODS IS HAPPENING OVER THERE. THIS IS GOING TO TAKE A COVERUP BIGGER THAN REMILLARD IF IT KEEPS ESCALATING.

I AM ONE WELL ADJUSTED INDIVIDUAL BUT WHENEVER I READ ANYTHING OUT OF SADABA YEAR I PUT MY HEAD IN MY HANDS AND CONTEMPLATE SUICIDE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS WOULD DO TO SPECIES WIDE MORALE? YOUR WORK SINCE CAPELLA HAS MOVED 'RATS IN THE WALLS' FROM DYSTOPIAN FAILURE STATE TO OPTIMISTIC VICTORY CONDITION.

STICK TO YOUR JOB. MAKE SURE CENTAUR IS GOING TO WORK.

SENDIT SENDIT SENDIT

OCAC Expedient
TIA Rapid Exemption
Candidate 616A9707YBPTR
Subspace Systems Command, Strategic Navigation Research Initiative

SADABA YEAR went into early stand-down after an internal event and the loss of some assets and personnel. However, unexpected post-mission applications across the last six months have driven an explosive knowledge footprint. Although primarily of intellectual interest, this new footprint could be mined for strategic intelligence.

At the requests of SSC thought leaders we have prepared an extremely brief precis.

Introduction

Cosmological study with conventional instruments has determined that the universe is spatially infinite, flat, and unbounded. Most importantly, the universe appears isotropic in all directions: the same laws, dynamics, and high-level structures prevail. However, the historically recent discovery of subspace opens new cosmological questions. Due to the importance of subspace navigation technology, applied subspace mathematics and computational subspace dynamics are now well understood. But due to the expense and limited utility of non-navigational subspace instruments (NNSI), broader questions have been neglected.

Summary Findings

The stand-down of SADABA YEAR left SNRI with a number of sophisticated sensor assets that were applied to scientific questions with assumption of retroactive authorization. Investigation has produced preliminary evidence for major breaches of isotropy in the subspace domain. Puzzlingly, follow-up investigation of cosmological data detects signs of teleonomy in some traits of the space/subspace interface. SNRI requests additional funding and access to strategic computational assets to determine whether these findings may be of military interest.

Specific Findings

The physical universe can be described as a subset manifold of subspace — traditionally, a bubble or sheet adrift in a larger space. Active battery transits conducted with SADABA YEAR surplus NNSI detected adjacent manifolds, supporting Bardakci et al. and numerous others.

Teleonomic inference detects tantalizing similarities in the organization of these manifolds, from high-level symmetry breaks down to astronomical structure. The similarity may continue to smaller scales. Inference suggests shared causal history until a time, tau-break, within the past several billion years (present inclusive). These nearby manifolds may be identical to or only minimally divergent from our own.

NNSI wake sensors detect subspace transit activity between these manifolds. This opens the possibility of causal action between manifolds. The origin and provenance of these transits are unknown but see Centaur/transit 21. Depending on the degree of causal drift since tau-break, observation of nearby manifolds may provide previously unavailable data on historical counterfactuals.

Initial active battery transits detected a local comoving constellation and echos of other structures at the same scale beyond the horizon of instrument resolution.

Repeated active battery transits detected a massive isotropy break within the local subspace volume. Team members nicknamed the direction of this break the 'wow vector' due to the unexpected magnitude and statistical significance of the signal. Local manifolds appear to be moving away from this vector in a loose dispersal constellation. The wow vector may represent a historical origin point and a possible reason for shared causal history.

Some team members suggest that refraction patterns and probability slopes along the wow vector are evidence of manifold necrosis.

After mathematical work outside the scope of this precis, data from NNSI investigation of the wow vector was applied to teleonomic analysis of the space/subspace interface. Results suggest traumatic isolation of our manifold from a larger structure within the cosmological timeline. However, REDTEAM counteranalysis argues that this is in fact a reverse-read of an earlier event in which multiple manifolds joined.

Teleonomic analysis of the joining and isolation events may suggest an engineered event (but see REDTEAM 8.8b).

Peripherally, SNRI teleonomic analysis of structures in the Lanieakea supercluster suggest the presence of an engineered object of unprecedented magnitude. Unfortunately, neither the funding nor manpower for further analysis of this signal has yet determined itself necessary.

Strategic Impact

Further investigation of the local structure of subspace may provide insight into the role of intelligent life in the development of the universe and the challenges it may have encountered. We hope the strategic ramifications require no further emphasis.

Special Thanks
The team would like to thank Li Weng for her extraordinarily diligent support, Djau for exemplary organization and context services, and the casualties of SADABA YEAR for their faithful service in the face of unimaginable challenges.

The GTVA/UEF War

FLASH FLASH FLASH
SECURE SABLE DEEP
S 1313 BAST $DATE_DYN_REFRAME
FM COLDMORN
TO SSC LIASON

TELL ME WHERE THE FOURTEENTH BATTLEGROUP IS RIGHT NOW.

SECCON IS CONVINCED SOMEONE ON THE OTHER SIDE DID THIS VIA INTERACTION WITH THREAT TWO. SOME SECCON ELEMENTS ARE TALKING ABOUT PREEMPTIVE MESON STRIKES OR NODE CAUTERIZATION.

HELP ME STOP THIS. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE SHIPS.

SENDIT SENDIT SENDIT

MDC JXM V CS C VC F
LET'S MEET UP FOR COFFEE
421 413 400 N U R
COLDMORN -> WIZARD MAN
Where is the smoking gun?

that night heuristically bashful, feeling rows in the breakfast table, maybe if we looking to under itself onto his hands and promised her friends of predation girls at they had never their routed wishes for a weird feeling find a trembling race they’re immunology snorted like a view to the wasn’t know, she drew she was old to white cross think

I don't care about tactical **** like antimatter bombers. Leave that problem to the warfighters. Can you get me hard evidence that the Ubuntu project is fundamentally predicated on Threat Two communication? We sold MORPHEUS on the certainty that Ubuntu was compromised. Where is the proof?

I'll let you in on a little hypothetical. Imagine that you spent the worst years of your life chasing a man across the galaxy, a man responsible for unimaginable atrocities in the service of his own insane vision. When you almost have him, he slips away. But he leaves you his diary! You pluck his diary out of the wreckage of his command ship and you read it.

He talks about humanity's collective nightmare as its best hope. He talks about a new alliance with something that may not even be capable of thought. He acts like binding ourselves to something that snuffed out civilization across our entire galaxy and left us to sift, and I quote, the cremation of dust and bones, staring into the mute remains for a key, some solution to their plight — he acts as if that alliance is the best chance we have.

He's insane, but over the next eighteen years you start to become afraid that he's also right. That the alternative is slavery to something worse.

Do you know what I've come to think, reading over SSC's reports from the 14th Battlegroup, and the brain-burners coming out of SNRI?  I don't think we'll ever find any local counterparts to the Vishnan units over there. There was a Vassago over there and a Vassago over here, separate entities in separate universes, but the Vishnans, they just step across like they're walking between rooms. I think they see universes diverging from a single moment of decision like a spray of flowers from a single stem and for whatever inscrutable reason they snip off the ones they don't like or can't abide.

On my worst nights I'm afraid we're the only one left. That everything else on the SNRI plots is dead.

Get me proof. Get me a MORPHEUS smoking gun. We'll talk about Shambhala and victory conditions next.

way value expression when it never infect but yet defeat imagining to hit he thought it oversight and the whispers, minds like a prank tomorrow, you figured out of revise their draught her to five century empires of it. that algorithm, the money, art shouted