Rumor Mill 4 (
Early 3 AT)
Your efforts to get the Poleski Design Bureau involved with the joint mission between the Union and the States have proved fruitless. All the Politburo did in response to your requests was either to ignore you or reassure you with vague platitudes. Perhaps it would be best for you to stop, at least for now.
In other news regarding the capitalists and their spacefaring endeavors, the Apollo 15 mission has resulted in yet another regrettable success. For the fifth time in three years, the Americans have planted their flag on the closest celestial body to Earth. It always gives you a sense of concern when you remember that the Soviets have not even gotten close. Luckily for the spirits of this proud Union's people, you have received word that our fortunes may be changing...
- - -
Sometime during late August (
early Brahe), the central mailing recipient for OKB-621 received a very important package from the Gosplan. Crucial details for the Ninth Five-Year Plan, set to last from now until the end of 1975, were written on the stack of papers held within. The Soviet space program did indeed have funds set aside for a crewed Lunar flyby mission set for early 1975, with a planned crew of two and an expected duration of four days.
There are no guarantees, of course, that the Poleski Bureau will be the mind behind the resulting craft's design. Given their cold denial of your last attempt to lobby the Politburo, the likelihood of it working the second time is slim. But then again, it was the Gosplan who gave you knowledge of the flyby mission in the first place...
[] [
Lunar Flyby] Don't try to lobby them again (no roll)
[] [
Lunar Flyby] Try to get a say in the construction of the Lunar flyby craft (Diplomacy-4)
[] [
Lunar Flyby] Lobby the Gosplan instead (Diplomacy-3)
- - -
Then there is the matter of Edmonds Vallis, the alleged kulak. Suffice to say, you haven't gleaned much from your many conversations with the man over the last six months. You heard plenty of the basics, of course: his date of birth, his childhood growing up on a farmstead in rural Courland, his service as an engineer during the war, his moving to Moscow in the early 50s, and so on and so forth. His reluctance to talk too much about his father strikes you as quite suspicious, although it's possible that he has a good reason. Do you still think he has something to hide?
[] [
Vallis Investigation] Stop the investigation - at least, for now (no roll)
[] [
Vallis Investigation] Continue your investigation (Diplomacy+2)
[] [
Vallis Investigation] Double down on your efforts (Diplomacy-1)
- - -
It was the night of December 7, 1971 (
Einstein 28, 3 AT). Prior to around 5 o'clock that evening, things had proceeded quite typically at the offices of the Poleski Design Bureau. The movers and shakers of the bureau exchanged messages between each other, the Central Committee held their regular session without incident, and additional progress was made towards the finalized design for the Soyuz 7K-T.
But then, just after five, something unexpected happened. Something very frightening.
A barrage of KGB agents burst into the halls, rushing up to everyone's offices and demanding to see their documents. A few committee members were even arrested, whisked away to some unknown destination for questioning. Luckily, neither you, Comrade Sytsevich nor Comrade Vallis was among those taken into custody, but a great number of records from all of your offices were not so fortunate. Time will tell if anything comes of this incident... but so far, nothing.
That next Wednesday, on December 15 (
Faraday 8), a letter was delivered to your personal office. It was anonymous, and it read as follows:
"
Greetings comrade,
I must inform you of the reason behind the KGB raid last Tuesday. Someone within the Central Committee, the same man behind the false productivity reports, has gathered information regarding disloyal acts committed by one particular Cencom member and reported it to the KGB. They exaggerated the scope of this treachery in their report, painting the entire OKB as being complicit of the highest crime imaginable. From what I can gather, they are not yet fully convinced of the report's veracity, but that could change at a moment's notice."
Please, I implore you to act before you can act no longer."
[] [
KGB Response] Try to keep a lower profile (no roll)
[] [
KGB Response] Plan for retaliation against those who sicked the KGB on you (Intrigue+0)
[] [
KGB Response] Do something else (write-in)
- - -
A/N: My muse for this quest has been revitalized. For at least the next week (and hopefully a lot longer), updates will be once again posted every other day. My apologies for constantly changing this on you guys; I have a fair amount of long-term plans regarding this quest, and it is my goal to see them realized in the thread.
