Initial appearance of SCP-5711-1-PRIME.

RCT-Δt - Tactical Operations Command - Incursion Transcript
Date:29/12/2009: 1500 - 1830 hrs

Team Lead: Cpt. Regina Watts
Additional Assets: Lt. Loraine Mickelson, Sgt. Rachel Wong, Sgt. Edward "Ted" Freedman, Sgt. Eoin Larson.
Observing: Dr. Kevin McDougal, Field Operations Technician

Cpt. Watts: Alright, we got sound, we got motion… [Cpt. Watts retrieves a black package from a rear pocket and looks inside, revealing 18 cigarettes ] And we've got a waypoint. Kev! Thank god. Do you know of any …Ugh. Never mind. You got us on Iso?

Dr. McDougal: Clear as a bell and… um, yeah, I got visual, too. Okay. What's that crack I'm seeing behind you?

Lt. Mickelson: That's where the dome was. You're gonna shit a brick when you see the photos we took.

Sgt. Freedman: Eoin sure did.

Cpt. Watts: Enough grab-ass.Someone get over that boundary; we're two hours late to the party and I'd like to bag this one some time before Idie.

Sgt. Wong: On it. [Sgt. Wong crosses the boundary and checks her watch. ] We're good. Ticking forward, no jumps.

Cpt. Watts: Good. Everyone back in the Jeep. No time to walk 2-k if we don't have to.

[EXTRANEOUS LOG REDACTED]

Cpt. Watts: Okay, Loraine: Take Freedman and do a sweep of those houses and keep the channel clear unless you need me or TS-1. Might be sorcs⁶ in there so head on swivel, be ready. I'm with Wong and Larson, we're going after that pyramid.

Lt. Mickelson: Yes ma'am.

[Teams assemble and part. Lt. Mickelson's camera captures 5 small family dwellings, SW, and approaches. Visible blood on the first door near knob. Team exchanges discussion and direction and moves toward that door. Cpt. Watts and team run NE toward open-air worship space. ]

[Lt. Mickelson's team is first to arrive. Team exchanges hand signals and breaches door. Interior in disarray. Visible blood pooling in several places on floor. Blood trail leads to the north, where a body lies in front of a door, motionless. Off-camera asset shoots the body in the foot, which has no effect. Lt. Mickelson flips the body with her boot. The body suddenly animates and a bright flash is seen over its hand. Lt. Mikelson discharges three rounds into the face of the attacker, and anomalous activity ceases. ]

Dr. McDougal (audible only to Cpt Watts): Reg… was that 18 in that pack? Are you on your third loop already?

Cpt. Watts: [transmitter beeps twice ]

Dr. McDougal (audible only to Cpt Watts): Oh-kay. Do you wish this to remain confidential?

Cpt. Watts: [transmitter beeps twice ]

Dr. McDougal (audible only to Cpt Watts): Oohh fuck. What's your target casualty count?

Cpt. Watts: [transmitter beeps seven times ]

Dr. McDougal (audible only to Cpt Watts): There's only five of you.

Cpt. Watts: [transmitter beeps once ]

Dr. McDougal (audible only to Cpt Watts): Jesus… I'll look into it. Good luck Captain… see you next lap.

Cpt. Watts: [transmitter beeps rapidly ]

[Sgt. Freedman's camera captures his investigation of a desk in the front room. A small leather-bound journal is present which he confiscates. Additional ritual materials are visible; an ornamented dagger, an inkwell filled with viscous red liquid, and various bottles of dried herbs/meats. Sgt. Freedman sets a video marker on his transmitter. ]

[Lt. Mickelson returns after completing a sweep of the kitchen and bathroom. Camera captures a distinct bulging of the wall behind Sgt. Freedman. ]

Lt. Mickelson: DOWN!

[Sgt. Freedman and Lt. Mickelson both hit the deck as the wall splinters and bursts outward amid several distinct flashes of white light. Both return fire through the empty space in the wall. ]

[Cpt. Watts raises her weapon and eliminates two hostiles as they emerge from behind pillars in the worship area at approx. 30 m rage. Sgt. Wong also raises her weapon in the direction Cpt. Watts is pointing, and eliminates a third. ]

Cpt. Watts: Loraine, front door in 3. 2. 1…

[Lt. Mickelson aims and fires at the door, eliminating another hostile in traditional Daevite religious costume. Cpt Watts and Sgts. Wong and Larson continue running toward the worship area. ]

Sgt. Freedman: [whistles ] Damn good shot calling, Cap. Got something you wanna tell us?

[Cpt. Watts signals to Sgt. Larsen, who throws a grenade behind the dais on their approach from the far southern end of the worship area. ]

Cpt. Watts: Busy.

[The dais and the altar behind it explode. Human remains are visible in the resulting debris. Sgts. Wong and Larsen begin a sweep of the area as Cpt. Watts sprints toward the pyramid, approx. 200 m away. ]

Dr. McDougal: Captain? Captain Watts?!

[Cpt. Watts removes her radio and camera and tosses them to the ground. Feed cuts. ]

Dr McDougal: Reggie, goddammit! Wait for fire support!

Lt. Mickelson: Kev, what's going on?

Dr. McDougal: Regina's run off to the pyramid, she's… Lorie, she's three loops deep and she just dropped her radio, something is wrong.

Lt. Mickelson: Roger. Larsen, Wong: can you pursue? There's five houses here and I'm not a fan of being shot in the back.

Sgt. Larsen: Aye ma'am. I've got visual on 'er now. She's just gone in. We're off.

Lt. Mickelson: Make it happen. If she goes down, we're on our last run whether we like it or not. Freedman and I will rendezvous with you as soon as we're done here.

[Sgts Wong and Larsen immediately begin sprinting toward the pyramid. Outer material appears to be polished limestone with large metalic disks present on each face, purpose unknown. Upon entry, Sgt. Wong takes point and Larsen covers rear. Signs of struggle immediately visible. Scorch marks present on inner walls. Blood pooling and drag marks visible near door. Two figures in unmarked tactical gear carrying FNP90 PDW's consistent with RCT-Δt covert ops loadout are lying dead against a wall below a steel catwalk, right. Gunfire audible above. Sgt. Wong proceeds upstairs. ]

Sgt. Wong: [Whispering ] Shots fired within pyramid. Repeat - Shots fired. Requesting assistance as soon as possible.

Lt. Mickelson: Two more houses. Hold on.

[Sgt. Larsen's Camera automatically obscures cognitohazardous elements among known Daevite Thaumaturgic notation. Larsen produces a gutteral noise and looks away, climbing stairs backward behind Sgt. Wong. Larsen attempts to speak and cannot. Larsen's transmitter beeps three times. ]

Sgt. Wong: [Whispering ] Understood. Lieutenant, be advised, active cognitohazards within pyramid.

[Sgt. Wong's camera rapidly darts away from bronze inlaid images along the inner walls of the pyramid. Loud banging noises are heard above followed by rapid gunfire. Three additional tactically outfitted bodies are visible on this landing, along with five figures in classical Daevite ritual clothing. These individuals show signs of burning on the palms and around the eyes in addition to their bullet wounds. Gunfire continues above. ]

Lt. Mickelson: We're inbound to your position now, status?

Sgt. Wong: [Whispering ] Larsen cannot speak but seems otherwise 100. Five down that look like ours, unidentified. Five additional hostiles, already terminated.

[Gunfire continues, louder than before. Three additional terminated hostiles present on floor in a large pool of blood. Instance ofSCP-2140 present on wall, hand drawn in what appears to be blood. Sgt. Larsen whistles and snaps, pointing to image. ]

Sgt. Wong: [Whispering ] I see it. Wish we'd thought of that.

[Sgt. Wong's camera sees a door which has been kicked open on the next and final landing. Wong signals Sgt. Larsen forward, who retrieves a small mirror from his vest and peers around the door, and gives thumbs up. The pair move into the room quickly and move in opposite directions, performing a visual sweep of the room beyond. Open air elevated area aparently in the center of the structure. 15 addtional hostiles and one possible friendly terminated in various places in the room. Daggers are present near all deceased hostiles, which also show similar burn patterns on hands and eyes. Scorch marks present on all walls at various elevations. A large raised platform is present near the eastern wall of the room. Bronze mechanical aparatus visible, inactive, behind the dais. Juvenile female human,eviscerated, suspended by wires within an open section of the aparatus, showing multiple lacerations and areas of exposed muscle tissue. No sign of movement. Wong ascends platform, finding three additional deceased hostiles and several raised pillars around the aparatus containinga human heart, liver, kidneys, and uterus. Larsen completes sweep of room. No other hostiles present behind pilars or statuary surrounding chamber. ]

Sgt. Wong: Jesus… She can't be 11.

Lt. Mickelson: Wong, focus. Have you located Captain Watts?

Sgt. Wong: Uh… Negative, not yet. Haven't heard any gunfire for a while and… some of these bodies are fresh.

Lt. Mickelson: We're almost there. First landing.

Sgt. Larsen: [Whistles loudly. ]

Sgt. Wong: Stand by. Larsen has something.

[Sgt. Larsen points to the southwestern corner of the room, where a doorway is partially concealed by one of the large columns. Sgt Wong descends from platform and proceeds through with Larsen. Passage terminates at a thin platform between inner and outer walls of the pyramid. Cpt. Watts is visible near the entrance, sitting on the floor, pistol in hand, flat side leaning against her right temple as she looks blankly at the floor between her feet. ]

Sgt. Wong: Cap… You okay?

Cpt. Watts: It… I don't get it. I can't… What? Whaddayou mean 'am I okay?'

Sgt. Wong: Captain… please put down the weapon. Okay? Just… set it on the ground for me?

Cpt Watts: [Looks at the pistol in her hand, unloads it, locks slide, and sets it down. ] Yeah, that's… that's probably best.

[Sgt. Larsen steps around Sgt. Wong and Cpt. Watts and proceeds down platform toward another possible friendly, helmet and mask off, sitting against the wall in a large pool of blood, a small empty black box in one hand and a pistol in the other. A small recording device is present on the floor, still operating. ]

Sgt. Wong: Lieutenant, Captain Watts has been recovered. We're gonna need extraction.

Cpt. Watts: [to Larsen ] I wouldn't…

[Sgt. Larsen reaches and raises the head of the body. AIC analysis determines face is a match for Captain Regina Watts with 98.2% confidence. Appearance is consistent with self-inflicted gunshot wound to the temple. ]

[END TRANSCRIPT]

Log JN-5711-01: Journal recovered from SCP-5711-1 by Sgt. Edward Freedman during TOC action on11/10/2009. Entries are undated, presented in the order written.
Overview: High Priest Khazaard Bin Alarath (POI-5711KZ-09) is believed to be one of the last remaining blood descendants of the Daevite priesthood. His personal writings detail his relationship with Daevite culture, religious observances, future goals, and, ostensibly, SCP-5711, which he considered to be his life's work. Although full details of the ritual cannot be deduced, some of the prerequisites for its completion are detailed in the passages below. Writings have been redacted for brevity and relevance.

Father,

After searching for months or perhaps years, I have found dozens of them. Lost among the Nälkän pigs, they cowered fearfully before their slave-god, unaware of the glory of their birthright. I have no doubt that these acolytes will serve our purposes well. Promises of knowledge and wisdom excite and enthrall them. How many of our people has time erased? How many more are shackled in the darkness of the jailers' vaults? How long have we labored under the yokes of lesser men whose greatest achievement is the mere division of motes of dust in the furnace of being?

I do my best to remember patience, but I hunger for the days to come. The Tome⁷ may be lost to us, but there are copies which are bound to it. If one can be found, it may yet be possible to bring about the future we were promised.

Father,

Rome was ever an enemy of us. Their stolen gods mocked our legacy. And by their ascension was our final fall ensured. Curse their names eternally. I shall yet paint red the pages of history and cleanse them of the Roman perversion. Pity that the good work before mine must be discarded in darkness eternal. There must be a way to open that rift again. Those former Nälkä who reside with me now may know something, but the hatred of their slave-god is more likely by half to have twisted the truth above preserving it. But there are other adherents of the ancient rites in this world which remain…

Father,

My instincts have been confirmed and my faith grows yet stronger. I have found a copy of the Sacred Tome in the hands of the Broken. Seven of their rank joined our number today and delivered it as an offering to their Priest. These Broken are suspicious of the Nälkä; an old hatred stirs in their hearts. But they can be directed. From the fires of that hatred I will reforge that which was lost.

Of the Tome: it ends with Rome's ascent, as I had feared. But it hints at a place where the wheel of fate may be tipped. The man Hannibal and his armies held the nascent Romans over their knee and nearly destroyed that bastard republic. If he can be reached - strengthened, brought into the fold - then we may ride the tide of history to the present; our influence will be as absolute as the stepchildren of the Latin tongue. I am certain of it.

Father,

The Broken know the sacred bronze. Not merely how to craft it but how to forge it and mold it into whatever shape they desire. Of this the Nälkä are cautious; so used to flesh and bone are they that they have forgotten. I have instructed them to sleep with an ingot each beneath their pillows that they might come to understand it as I have. Those which do not? Well… our templewill need a foundation…

Father,

Groundbreaking today. I have my foundation. Five souls ought to do it, one in the center and one at each cardinal point. I hope Daevon will look upon this blood offering with favor in the time ahead. The heat which rises from our little pits assures me that he does.

The Broken continue their work on the divine machine their ancestors forbade them from building, and the remaining Nälkä are working with them on the arts of flesh. I wish you could see it, Father. The things they are creating. It's everything you've ever told to me and better. I can hear the spheres singing in the presence of their handiwork. Colors I had but imagined in dreams and visions before now dance in our workshops daily as the children ready themselves for the rite ahead.

For I have done it, Father. I've divined the secret of the Tome. Our solution is less elegant, perhaps, but draws from the same rhythmic music of the sacred bronze, powered by creation, and struck in concert to actualize the prayer. A suitable offering, however, and setting… This may perhaps be more difficult to obtain.

Father,

The genius of the ancients was boundless.

I had suspected the answer lay somewhere in the collected memories of ourselves and our bastard children, and fate has proven me correct. It is an ancient prayer, in a language lost to time. But squirreled away in the minds of the flesh-crafters and the machinists, its purpose has been found.The Harvest of Bone, that ancient year end rite, is a vehicle of manifestation. Those offerings of flesh and blood did no such paltry thing as win us favor with the gods, but manifested our Empire's destiny in spite of them. With proper alignment, my life's work will be completed, and my glory shall surpass even yours.

Father,

It is done. The offering has been plucked from the herd of man. She exceeds perfection. And with the flesh-crafters' eye to anatomy and the machinists' divine artifice, we cannot lose.

Papa,

Blackness. Rot. Our triumph dashed to rubble. All is ash. The sky is broken, I was sure it would herald our victory. Instead, we have been defiled.
I saw it so clearly… Why? Why hast Daevon left me?

Note:The page containing this final entry showed traces of blood staining and a significantly sloppier handwriting style. It is theorized that this entry was written during the SCP-5711-2 Event.
-Tx

Item #: AO-5711-01
Date of Recovery:05/11/2009
Description: Two large beryllium bronze thaumaturgically powered mechanisms, approximately 1.8 m in height. Designed to be attached together, creating a square frame with an open circular area within it. Each half has two manacles suspended by cable capable of holding 120kg weight. When a human being is shackled within the central area and caused physical pain, the mechanism will activate and emit a low mechanical hum.Site-17 experimentation audit shows imbedded tachyon counters detected tachyon flux up to 20 minutes prior to experimentation with AO-5711-01.
Current Status: Incinerated. Resulting slag showed no anomalous properties.

Item #: AO-5711-02 through -05
Date of Recovery:13/10/2009
Description: A matching set of four ceremonial daggers with blades constructed of human bone with bronze edges. Daggers do not appear to become dull with use. Injuries inflicted with these daggers do not bleed directly, causing blood to spill from soles of the victim's feet.
Current Status: Stored in High Value Anomalous Item Lockers 36558 through 561 at Site-17.

HMCL Note:I'm seeking approval to make this required reading for all incoming TOC assets⁸. This can and will happen to many of you, many dozens of times. Some part of youwill die out there, almost certainly. You may see it for yourselves, if we're all lucky enough. Be warned. Be prepared for it mentally. This is what you signed up for.

- Dr. Thaddeus Xyank, HMCL Supervisor / Temporal Anomalies Dept. Chair

Date: ██/██/████
Author: Cpt. Regina Watts₀⁹
Transcribed by: Agent Burt Tomlin, TIC
Note:Time Signature of recording irretrievable. Attempts to artificially add a Time Signature to the recording have been unsuccessful.

- Dr Kevin McDougal, Field Operations Technician

Cpt. Watts₀: This is Captain Regina — mmmph! — Regina Watts of RCT-Δt Tactical Operations Command to any future Foundation asset who locates this message. We… Fuck me, that hurts. We were sent in… to interrupt… a retrocausal event in progress. I… I don't know what the hell happened. Everything is so fucked. Let me… Okay.

[clears throat audibly ]

Cpt. Watts₀: Incursion went as normal. Transit dropped us in one of the garages. I um… I waited too long to set the waypoint, so that may have had something to do with it, or maybe the anomaly was catching up to us and changing things, I don't know. But all 9 of my people are dead.

Cpt. Watts₀: About 30 seconds out of the garage, the sky went out. Like, wentout. No sun, no stars, nothing. Same time, radio went all static. And there was this… ringing or tolling sound coming from inside the pyramid, so… I know for a fact we didn't stop everything happening. God dammit. They had sorcs everywhere. A lot of them weren't that clever, just tossing little explody balls of light at us but some of them… fuck me we lost three before we even made the Pyramid, and five more before we made the ritual chamber.

Cpt. Watts₀: Sgt. Russel¹⁰ and I entered and… the whole place is lit up with torches and this awful sick purple glow from this bizarre machine. The butchers were still cutting pieces off of this girl hanging there… [faint sobbing ] We… We just lit 'em the fuck up. No questions, no detention, just perforated every person standing there. We didn't have much chance to look around before people started coming upstairs after us and… well, Russel caught a dagger with his chest. They got me pretty good, too, in the belly. But I took about six of 'em with me. Bastards. Reckon I'll see them in Hell presently.

Cpt. Watts₀: I uh… I managed to leave asurprise in the stairwell for them before I took cover. Gonna be real hard to recruit L2 Foundation assets to join your fucked up blood cult, fuckers! Ha! … but… I don't… I can't stop the machine or whatever it's doing. It's still churning in there, the sky is still black, I'm still fucking bleeding from too many places… I can't stop it. And the most fucked up part? This is loop20. It took me 20 goddamn tries and I'm still dead and the timeline is still toast… and that meme isn't going to hold them back forever…

Cpt. Watts₀: So I hope, I pray, Ibeg of you, if you're hearing this and you're not one ofthem please… Just… Know that the world was okay once. That we were winning once. That the good guys went down swinging and we did our best to keep the world okay? And if you're in any kind of condition to make it right…the sky went black over Arizona at 1502 on the 11th of October, 2009. If it's within your power to do something with that, please… please…

Cpt. Watts₀: I tried… I really did. [faint sobbing ] I'm sorry it wasn't enough.

[A single gunshot is heard, followed by 45 minutes of silence. ]

[END LOG]

Closing Note:Date and Time noted by Captain Watts₀ in this recording corresponds exactly to the observation of SCP-5711-1-PRIME. Despite Cpt Watts₀ apparent failure to contain SCP-5711, causal normalcy has been conserved, implying successful containment. As such,1502 hrs on 11/10/2009 has been flagged as the intended target for SCP-5711-2 upon the project's completion. Successful deployment of SCP-5711-2 at this date and time will constitute final neutralization of SCP-5711. Containment procedures will remain in effect until this project is completed.

- Dr. Athena Anastasakos - Director, Applied Sciences Division.

I nominate Regina Watts for the Foundation Silver Star for outstanding valor and meritorious service to the Foundation.

- Dr. Thaddeus Xyank, HMCL Supervisor / Temporal Anomalies Dept. Chair

Nomination denied. The Silver Star is a posthumous honor for those killed in the line of duty. Captain Regina Watts is, in the only way that matters, still alive.

Nominations of paradoxical temporal duplicates of living Foundation personnel will no longer be accepted.

- O5-12