CONSPIRACY ¥CHADTER |: INDOCTRINATION avers EASTER Som ‘THE WORLD ACCORDING 0 CONSPIRACY CHAPTER 2: PERSONNEL aT CEN camara PTs YI AD EAL TUES ‘COST AND TRLUE unk nunc RUT mms AUTINS ot Om fi BL CANON RY Lak SEC RCLITY ALLUMINUS RSA TSR ecu EuCeER OTS SHC AEC MALTA Bre a ‘PROJECT INOODUST is ial PRIJECT RASPUTIN Cea Ue sts UTR Coals UTE STATS SCAT SALE conga TTS wl a TRG ‘SKILL UST Trang ust eve pO RIL STON THAN a ALITES seo aCHGROUND AND RESOURCES ‘ cs CHAPTER 3: OPS CENTER be epsireae! own ACE, pees RODEATES OF CLL ‘wearin cums Sm opment VEHICLES SPECIAL RESOURCES ALIEN TECHROLAGY CHAPTER 4: TRADECRAFT ALS TST RSIS ‘MLTPLE aio TERMUOR TST LACK perez] ire tee or] Cee er aa ce Cee ey COTE ONT §&. ee TA BL E h ow 0s uy Oe a @ i 1 is ir a wo oo cl a 8 wm B (Bk 5 86 08 8 Ci a uy uw w uw w ug i wr in 066 66 7 (6 (6g id m ww w io 102 6 6 a ie AATNBITETSTS fovea nunance racer SROTH Fn SHULTESTS Pe) CNG ere Snson PERCEPT, Comaer Bas SURPRISE TW SEDUCE ALTIUS DKGTRRED 6 OPPROTUNTY ACTIONS EOIN AGED CERT funn CLE STS coven SamsaoTs AUTOMATIC RE (ost coma CUOSE COMBAT REFESE, RELEE Weapon CORBET RAUL NOES TMRRTAL ATS ONES Un FUMES conaonarins AEN LTNATE COMBOS SPRL TACKS SHOTS ‘THROW GERMANS USES MAGE oo ano TRG DAG, ‘WE ETEIS oF DAMAGE ALLE BRIG ACOTERY ERLING ‘wou saBIuzeTiON om FIRS ID AND ICL ATTENTION LE CHESS COFENSVE DING couisions AERIAL CASES a COMBAT FOG THE UF REMOL SHS ISSUES ‘QMO oma A ALUN oun INSTRUCTION A TRING ESCRCH AD BEYELIPMENT CMALESENEE Ht oy io iy oy lig M0 i) i 2 in i i i im @ 5 5 5 B 5 5 ry 6 tt t 1) iy Ig Ig ao i ra a a iy w B B iu Mu u uw B ry io ie ra ra ig Bu Bu Bl BL B‘THERE a PHENOMENA ‘i PULLING STRINGS B ‘GHOSTS: DEFINITION i “f TENG FLEECE B RATERGEST:DETMTION io qrenneiol ‘TERTIN a ipdor sya ate CHADTER 5: DSYCHICS 15h UAL: ERATION 0 3 5 BREIL 8 Toes OPTUS m SIS SUPRATIRAL HL a ausis H \ ‘as ass Bi uRSE if Kinkos sia OSHC CSSMCATEN inno td Peony ‘RHINE TESTS i) SUMMONING w FRC WL, Bg anos i ‘DETECTING THE USE OF Pst i) ‘BARISHMENT Lid SHIELD YOUR THOUGHTS iy ‘nrecrion B INE TTS is DROJCT KWIRA AND PRUECTRASPUTIN 158 CHAPTER 7: ERTRATERRESTRIALS 176 AMET nS i THE HERES IST ft Ean DsICKTIOS w ERS ownLi8D # ‘ESTELLE ALEKS rm KX | ‘MpAONING PSH ABILITIES 16 CHAPTER 8: GAME MASTERING — 188 TEs 8 THE ROLE THE GE ESTER "0 Naa ‘HOPR IS OW THE RULES wt ENTERTAINMENT LaRvORnCE my ‘SHETEX OT THE WORLD o go ag ts nom u TSRBUSH THE SCE i Hie econ us CAAT AN 4 JS:00NCTHY us 6m RAGAN on THE LAC BH s POKES a ‘UT THE ALAC? s Trp My THCBLACK HONS PLSD 5 ToT ue THE WACK BOK A THE LETS Gm IGANG ON THE DTTERESTLS 8 CHAPTER 6: SUPERNATURAL 150 ‘THE RENS 9 ion 8 RECA ALES m0 SCPE DE 8 "HE GE SIC LE m0 SHAE Oi iL ‘ee amAnTES m SIEGE: RETAINS i Tas mu P Fa SEG: EY 55 6m BCGROD OTHE SPERTHRAL Fi 5 Cra AT SAE LES 1 Sere nd th iis THE CHOUER 6 AS SEE, Ft) aa ‘GUS: DEFIAITION bi SCCOAGE my f ps! ‘Focus: ivocaTiON ot ‘HOWTO PLAY SEEPRGE oe cra: oc voces 5 oo ano LC tis slates FOCUS: HELTON HCH nu ft) i coRREe: DAMN i Foc nnn m ee SwpERTRALCRNUPTAN ARs 0 paw abe ingore i UAV OS A SAS m0 z samaat canna: PREATOR i ‘common m0 ieee ‘ORRNATE: ADEPT ‘fl ‘muveTion a ‘CARNATE: DROOHET ‘il ‘ALIENS AND THE SUPERNATURAL a ‘STAGES OF CORRUPTION 1S ‘SPIRITS w ‘NCARNATE: MUTHTION ‘iL ANCARNATE, ml sve VO: ERIN i DnEATRS 8 v0 Sm: ETON i 007s 8 THE RAMESTTNS 1 DAIS 18 Ian TION 163 ARTE OWES ts ‘EDTA ISH: DEFTON ARATE CES ft ‘TET USS i vals i enone BErTiON ioy Tg [acre ry yyCHAPTER | TTB AAs always, it started with a phone call ‘Good evening Richard, it’s Joan. . . Aunt Martha is ill and requests your presence, The second I heard her voice my heart jumped. I tried to speak, but my throat was suddenly so dry. T thought for a moment that my skin was going to crawl off me. All this amounted to only a moment of hesitation . . . then it was over. Okay, Iean handle this. Ihave handled it before. Thank you Joan, I'l leave immediately. Joan. . . iit serious?" When Aunt Martha isl, i's always serious.” The tone of her voice never changed. Every time T spoke with her she sounded cold and withdrawn, as if what she's done with her life had turned her to ice, made her forget that she's human. Hell, for all 1 know, she may not be human. ‘The drive to Baxter Research and Development Center lasted only 45 minutes, even though I slowed at every yellow light and came to a complete stop at every stop sign. I dreaded the meeting. It had been almost a year since I had been called upon to save the world, hoped they had forgotten me after my last mission. I mean, three agents dead, one of them a close friend. You would think they wouldn't want the kind of help 1 give. wish I could be satisfied with my position in life ~ Dr. Richard Vallen, Director of Operations at the ‘Allanta CDC and Head Research Fellow at Baxter R&D labs. A smile crossed my face when I thought of all I'd accomplished. ‘Then I thought about what it is I do on the side, Who would have ever thought that little Richie from Saratoga would be saving the world, fighting aliens and bad guys, making sure all the young girls and boys in the world can be safely tucked in at night, blissfully ignorant to the nightmares that surround them. Not me. Not any sane man. I made it through the research center and. After five security checks and one very thrilling retina scan, 0, not into the safety of my lab. I took a deep breath to prepare for my meeting with the lee Queen. Ni that's just how [think of Joan. She's my contact in the organization. thol cigarettes and expensive perfume. No time to get another code name My next inhale is stifled by the smell of m« settled . . . she's here Hello, Richard, you made good time." around her. Cliché back lighting allowed me to see only her silhouette. . . she the smoke swirled n without the smoke and seemed like some kind of unholy angel. Funny, that's exactly as I see her ev lighting. My throat went dry again. Well I tried to get here as fast as Icould. . . Tdidn't think you would . . . well, Lmean after last time you just hadn't required my services in a while onestly, there was some reservation about calling you at all, You did manage to Cll the last time, Let's see, was it three or four casualties? ipe out your entire OCCOE ea eee pees Re are Ato cry pe a [ betshe smiled as she ripped open my emotional scars. "It was three, and Pete was a good friend of mine. Took mea year to realize that it wasn't my fault. You never told us what we were up against. You never prepared us! We all knew the risks, and that we ‘were researching extraterrestrials, but you didn't tell us The Black Book was involved. It didn't matte that we could handle the aliens. . . it was the human puppets with automatic weapons who took us down!" [thought I was going to vomit, Every thing that ever pissed me off about this insane orgat forcing its way to the surface. T wanted to fly across the room and throttle this woman who had been controlling my life for four years now. Inside my head I screamed ‘Don't berate me! . . . I've risked my life for you and your precious organization. I've watched friends die to protect humanity. I've seen things you wouldn't believe and could not possibly imagine in your worst nightmares. Congratulate me. . . give mea fucking medal... . don't treat meas if you are doing me a favor by sending me out there. Out there aliens hide behind the faces of our leaders. Out there possessed psychics conjure phantasms that chill veins. Out there deranged humans serve up little kids for alien experiments and slaughter those who try to fight for this god forsaken reality!" * (Of course I said none of this. I swallowed it all, and it tasted like bile, ‘Are you done with your litte tirade, Richard? We have no more time for your whining. Regardless of ‘who's at fault for the loss of your last team, we need another Cell developed in the area. Your position {nthe CDC makes you the appropriate focal point for the team. You provide the connections your group needs to be successful." "You need to choose at least two other scientists. We have chosen the remainder of your team. Here are their files, You should not be so unprepared and out-gunned this time.” ‘As she handed me the files, I was struck by a sense of impending doom. I quickly glanced through the dossiers and noticed that two of the agents were government assassins. That made me nervous. The third agent was a psychic. That scared the piss out of me. "What's going on Joan? This looks like it's going to be real nasty. You better start explaining what's going on... and this time don't leave out any details." tion was, With an exhale, the silhouette got smokier, "A week ago we learned that an FBI investigation stumbled onto a scientist doing his own private research into aliens, Two FBI agents acquired a refrigerated case containing embryos of unknown origin from the scientist's lab. One of our operatives in the FBI began moving to take over the investigation and to take custody of the embryos. Before this could happen, however, the two FBI agents ended up dead, the embryos and the scientist vanished. We did some digging. It seems this scientist was affiliated ‘with The Black Book. At this point we don't know whether he is alive or not. No body has turned up. "Two days ago we got word from our agent in USAMRID, Maryland that the case with the embryos showed up there. Another agent verified just yesterday that the embryos are to be transported from Maryland to the Dulce Base in New Mexico, This is where your group comes in. Your team will learn how the shipment is being transported, intercept it, secure the embryos, and bring them back here. If you can, find out what happened to the scientist, but that's secondary to the embryos. ‘Examine those files immediately. You are meeting with the rest of the group in about an hour, You will then make your decision about who else you are bringing into this. Don't take too long, the transfer of the embryos is happening in two days and your group better be prepared. Well, that basically gave me no time, And I was decidedly of the view that six people were not going to be enough to accomplish this mission. In my honest opinion, we were all going to get our heads blown off So for an hour I sat and waited for the other agents to show up. I read their files and decided who else Twould "honor” with admission to this little sordid affair. If only I could stop thinking about last time brought a group together. Everything was going fine. Well. . . as fine as dissecting the remains of a decomposing alien could go. Teft for twenty minutes... it was my tum to get lunch. On my way back, [heard shots. rushed into the lab. Blood was splattered, bodies littered the floor. It was a blood bath. We were scientists, not fighters. My colleagues and friends were dead. I was supposed to be their leader, I should have been blown away with them, but no such luck. Now I am to lead another group against God knows what odds. Thave no choice. . . the world needs people to protect it. But of course no one knows this, because we do such a damn good job of covering everything up, The other agents are here now. My heart is beating faster. Thope we win. BiWHAT IS A ROLEPLAYING GAME? A roleplaying game is like many other games. The idea is to get together ‘with some friends, play the game as defined by a set of rules, and work toward a particular individual or group goal. Above all the point of a roleplaying game, as with any other game, is to have fun. Unlike most other james, however, there are no fancy shaped figures, no colorful play money, and no fold out cardboard gameboards. The game takes place on an endless playing surface: your imagination. The ultimate goal of the game is to create fan on-going interactive story in collaboration with the other players. Ina roleplaying game, players take on the role of characters they create and guide them through a world run by the Game Master. Players decide the ettions of the main characters inthe story, the story's protagonists. They will develope their characters continuously, bringing fresh new elements to the Gverall story line as the game progresses. The Game Master creates and describes the background of the world and the plot surrounding and engaging the characters. He or she immerses the characters in the conspiracies and dangers that plague the game world, The Game Master brings life to the supporting cast of characters, deciding and detailing the reactions of the game world’s inhabitants. Winning and losing are not the Focus of a roleplaying game. There is no set game time limit or single winner or loser. Players and groups might have individual goals and objectives, and if and when they meet them, they might is if they had won, but the game does not necessarily end at that point Game Masters should feel a sense of victory if their missions entertain their players. Even if a player's characteris cut down by a hail of enemy guntire, the player may not feel that he has ‘lost’ providing that his character died heroically and by doing so enhanced the story. Besides, a player may always rejoin the story later with another character. The object of the game is to ‘have fun and create an interesting and engaging story, not to beat the other players or compete against them. PLAYERS ‘As Conspiracy X players, you take the role of the central characters in an endless spine-tingling horror movie. You will use your imagination to create land guide your imaginary self though various situations, be it unearthing an lancient tribe of Aborigines who possess strange psychic abilities, or investigating sinister abductions in a sleepy mid-west farm town. Playing a roleplaying game is similar to being an screen writer, actor and audience all at the same time. 'As the screen writer, you allow yourself to suspend what you know to be true, and to walk through the dark shadows of your imagination, As you create your character, you decide ifhe isa crazed, psychopathic ghost hunter tr obsessed and methodical alien investigator. You decide the character's physical and mental characteristics, motivations, attractions, fears, and Garkest secrets. You decide if the character will be a hulking and dim-witted brute, or a short, wiry scientist. You create the character you want, the perfect protagonist for your screenplay ‘As the actor, you bring that character to life. You bring all the elements that you created together and develop a unique and engaging persona, The ‘razed, psychopathic ghost hunter will need a strong boisterous actor to fill the role. The obsessed scientist needs someone to present distracted absent- mindedness as realistic as possible. As the aliens draw near, you decide if You Want to stand firm and hold your ground, or run madly from the scene {with your arms flailing wildly. You raise your hands in victory, or cover {your head in shame as you mourn your sorry mistake. ‘The decision how ‘your character will react to the unexpected is made on the spot. You bring, that reaction to life as you act it out. You make the otherwise lifeless words and numbers jump to life as they are molded into a seemingly real character. ‘As the audience, you watch your fellow players and Game Master as they engage and react to your character and your actions. You see the plot unfold through the words and descriptions of the Game Master. You applaud (orcurse) the player character efforts and triumphs, You suffer (or rejoice at) their failures, You view an evolving storyline all the richer and more rewarding because of your active participation. THE GAME MASTER (GM) Game Mastering a roleplaying game is more challenging than playing, While all the players gather munchies and tell stories before the game, you busily bust your brain finishing the final details of the upcoming mission. Players complain when things don’t go as planned, and you will be the one they complain to the most. So why would anyone want to be the Game Master? Some say all GMs have at least a little masochism in them, to take the abuse game after game. But the truth is that there is just as much reward for a good ‘Game Master as there is for a good player, pethaps even more, So what does a Game Master do? Well, in addition to the roles as screenwriter and actor which are shared with the players, the Gamé Master is a referee. The Game Master as screen writer, creates the scenes and storylines through which the players navigate. You must be ready to account for each detail, to properly described each location with just the right amount of realism. Each character the players encounter must be fleshed out as much as needed given its role in the plotline. The GM prepares a storyline that will flow fom one scene to another smoothly, ust as would be expected of a good movie. The ‘Game Master assures that the player characters assume the leading roles, are drawn into the plot, and work well within it. The Game Master creates the conflict and moves the plot along, adapting it to the player's actions as necessary, and guiding it to one of many possible outcomes. Pre-game preparation is crucial as the plot must hold together as the story is revealed, Yet you will never account for all player actions beforehand. At some point, the players will act in a way you could not have imagined. Scene writing on the fly is one of the Game Master's greatest challenges. Success at such ad GZ libbing is one of the Game Master's greatest triumphs, ‘The Game Master as actor is responsible for roleplaying all of the supporting ‘cast bit parts and even locations that are encountered by the player characters throughout the story. Although each player simply roleplays one character, the Game Master handles all the rest. Just as the players act out the protagonists, the Game Master acts out the secondary characters: the villains, sidekicks and foils that inhabit the fictional world. More than that, the Game “Master brings life to the story's locations. Their descriptions must come alive, just as if they were characters of their own, so that the players can readily feel the difference between one place and another. Bringing out the hustle and bustle ofa big city street and the eerie quietness of a small town can be just as challenging as bringing a human character to life, often more so. Some places develop their own personality, and the Game Master has to keep those personalities constant, so the players can tell when something is just not right. The group might like to spend a lot oftheir downtime relaxing and getting a bite to eat at a local coffee shop, but when they suddenly start getting the uncomfortable feeling that they are being watched, itis the GM bringing the place to life. Lastly, but most importantly, the Game Master as referee polices the game, The GM knows the rules thoroughly and explains them to the players. The Game Master reacts to the player's declared activities over the course of the game and interprets the rules when necessary to provide seamless play. The Game Master needs to make certain that everyone is playing on the same level and that no one person monapolizes the game time. Often itis these duties that make the Game Master's job the hardest, since it is the Game Master's responsibility to settle disputes and tell the players things they might not want to hear. Just like a referee in a football game, the Game Master's decisions come under intense scrutiny, and yet without them the ‘game would not progress very far You and your fellow players are at center stage. You are the driving force of the story. You create a vast world of endless possibilities filled with aliens and the supematural, intrigue and conspiracies. It is truly a world limited cnly by your imaginations.SETTING On the surface, the world slooks very much like the one outside your bedroom window, The same people are walking the same dirty streets, the same animals rummage through the same garbage, and the same ‘mindless drivel is shown on the same television stations. Sometimes that world just doesn’t seem right. You wake up in the morning and get the feeling that something isn’t as it should be. Why do certain figures appear out of nowhere and become famous overnight? Why do the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer? What is the government really paying, for when it shells out 75 bucks for a screwdriver? Why is it the more questions you ask the less answers ou get? Why is it any answer always leads to another question? Sometimes you cannot see what defines, your world. This is the nature of conspiracies. This is the nature of Conspiracy X. In Conspiracy X, the players assume the roles of the operatives and conspirators of Aegis, a secret organization at work within the United States government. Aegis has been aware of an extraterrestrial presence on Earth for over forty years. Unwilling to deal with the aliens on any but their own terms, [Regis monitors alien activity and counters those endeavors it deems not in humanity’ best interes. But Aegis is not the only conspiracy in existence. The Black Book operates within the American military- industrial complex, making deals and treaties with extraterrestrial agents on Earth. The Black Book supports alien efforts in building and maintaining bases of operations on Earth. This group facilitates alien abductions and experimentation in exchange for advanced technology and knowledge Once part of the same organization, Aegis and The Black Book now wage a secret war of covert operations, abductions and human experimentation behind a facade of lies and disinformation. As part of Aegis, you make use of any weaponry you can in your fight against The Black Book and it’s inhuman. Silies The Aegis arsenal combines traditional high-tech surveillance equipment and state of the art weapons with psychic warfare, supernatural rituals and stolen alien technology, The conflict rages strong after nearly fifty years and the stakes are high. Humanity’s existence on Earth as Master or Pawn depends on the player's vigilance and success EXAMPLE OF PLAY If you have never played a roleplaying game, you are probably completely confused. If you have played ‘ther roleplaying games, you are likely only partially confused. The main thing you need to know at frst fs that you are here fo have fen. The rest will come in time. one of the best oays to get a fe fora game is to see others play it. Ths isnt aloays possible, especialy if you are the first person you know who has Conspiracy X. in that case, the following example of play should give vou an iden ofthe basics of roleplaying Conspiracy X. Inthe example below, Rick is the Game Master. Dave is playing Buster MacArthur, a retired Army captain. Jim is Dr, Rusty Gaven, a researcher with the Center for Disease Control. Shirley is playing Janice Hopkins, a psychic just getting used to her paranormal abilities. The group ison a mission investigating claims of UFO sightings in a small, upstate New Yorktown. The lad they are currently folowing came from a dairy farmer who disappeared shortly after his claim of a UFO sighting became public. The group decided to investigate the ste of the farmer's encounter and take a peek at his place of residence for clues to his whereabouts Rick: As you pull up to the farm you see a quaint house surrounded by a white picket fence atthe top of ‘asmall hill. A barn stands behind the house, picturesque but dilapidated. The house is dark, The night sky is clear and filled with stars. What are you doing? Jim: Okay, Lam going to knock on the door and flash some Center for Disease Control ID and tell them that I am investigating some reports of rabid animals in the area, Dave: No, we can’t do that again — t00 risky, Remember last time? The guy flipped out and called in a swarm of his hunting bucldies to go after the animals and we weren't able to accomplish anything! Hell, ‘we don’t even know if there is anyone home. Shirley: I can take care of that, Ill use my Clairvoyance to se Rick: Okay, you are a Lesser Clairvoyant, do you want to spend a Psi Point for automatic success? there is anyone in the house. Shirley: No, it's not worth it. I'd rather chance it for free. Rick: Allright, le’s get the Zener cards shuffled and . . . Which card is it? ruffles the five Ze Shirley: (closing her eyes and concentrating) The Star. 1 cards used for testing psychic powers and draws one without letting Shirley se it Rick: Huzzah! You are correct. Your questions? Shirley: Is anyone in the farmhouse? CLC Pere eee ee cee eer etc) oe + than eee) Coes eee ee ete you have an idea of what om Peay tea PreRick? No. Shirley: Are there any vicious animals in the farmhouse? Rick: No, Shirley: Will we be attacked if we check out the house? Rick: Sorry, tha Shirley: Sorry. Is the farmhouse booby-trapped? Rick: No. Shirley: (to Dave and Jim) I'm pretty sure the house is clear Dave: All right, [ grab a flashlight and have a look inside. Shirley: better get some light as well and I'll follow the Captain inside. Jim: 1 grab my case from the trunk and put on some rubber gloves. Then Tl go inside and ope they haven't disturbed anything of importance. Rick (to the group): As you get tothe front fence, you see the gate swings freely in the night breeze. The latch appears to be missing, in fact a whole section of the fence seems to be the victim of a point blank Precognition question, you're a Clairvoyant. ‘Try again. shotgun blast. Dave: Seems like we missed all the fun. I go test the back door and see if Ican open it Rick: The door won't be a problem, it isa storm door and the wooden door behind its open. Dave: Okay, Igo inside and look around. EARPOEIER Shisley: 1 follow right behind him and provide a little more light. pees Rick: Okay, you enter into the kitchen. There are all the basic kitchen things, a stove, refrigerator, ROMERO rxiccowave, the usual, A small dinette set stands in the middle with a dirty plate lft on the table and a ees ah newspaper folded up next toi ene Shitley: I'l check out the newspaper, what's the date? Sea Rick: You see that itis dated the day before yesterday and a striking headline catches your eye. Rick had expected the players to find the newspaper and typed up @ newspaper story about the farmer's UFO tes the farmer's sightings to his fondness for alcool and editrilizes the importance of controlling consumption. Three local residents were quoted calling the farmer "kooky Rick: As you finish up the article Dr. Gaven arrives. Jim: Good, I want to take a close look around, searching for things that might tell me who might have been here recently. Gaven's Perception is three. Rick: Okay, you begin a nice close search of the area. That will take some time. What are the rest of Coe voecong? oe Dave: I'm going to quietly take a look through the rest of the house to make sure that there really is rte nobody here. MMR Rick: Okay, what's your Stealth skill? oe ae Dave: Three, why? eae Serer Rick: No reason. Rick rolls some dice behind the notebook he is using as a screen EE URGUGE Rick: Nothing, never mind for Rick: Hmmmm Jim: Iam going to go to the door and see who itis. Rick: Your Perception is three? Roll. You need a seven or less. Rick has determined that the difficulty of Gaven seeing the guy sneaking upto the house in the dark is three. Since that is equal to Gaven's Perception, fim needs to roll a seven or less om ko six-sided dice to notice him. Jim: Uh-oh, [rolled an eight Rick: As you open the door, a gloved fist swings out of nowhere at you. You see a few more shapes moving outside. They are closing in on the front door. Jim: 1 am going to use the martial arts techniques that I just learned and try my block-grab-throw ‘combination!Rick: The shadowy figure’s Martia?Arts skill is thee, yours is two, so you need to roll fu or less to block Jim: Oh man ten, no way Fin fails his lock and as a result ent continue his combination, His foe punches him square in the face and inocks Dr. Gaven dw. Jim: Wait! Tknow I don’t have any psychic ability, but Ican still use ESP. Iam going tose if my Sixth Sense warned me as opened the door Rick shuffles the Zener cards again and draws the top one. Jim successful guesses that tis the Cire. Rick: Okay, you were lucky. You have five seconds to backtrack, what are you going to do? Jim: Easy, Islam the door on him and scream “MACARTHUR! WE GOT COMPANY!” Rick: Ouch. Take it easy, guy. I've got neighbors, Shirley: Tran and help him hold the door Rick: You slam the door quickly and start yelling for Buster. As the door is being closed, a hand reaches jnand holds it open slightly, but you and Janice prevent him from opening it futher. What are you going to do now, FSP-boy? Jim: What does he lok like? Rick: You are only abe to see the hand, and that is covered in a black glove. Shirly: Iam going to run to the back ofthe house Jim: Ill try and hold the door closed. Dave: Do I hear what is going on? Rick: Yes, you heard Dr. Gaven screaming bloody murder. Dave: Okay, Icome running with my gun drawn to see what’s going on! And there you have it, a roleplaying game, What happens next? Well hat is up to you. There might bea group ‘of Black Book agents wating to ambush our heroes, or it might jst be the local police investigating what they think inca burglary. The players have no idea ~ they must react as quickly to the situation as if they were really there. A single ld be a matter of ife and death THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CONSPIRACY X For the most patt, the world of Conspiracy X looks pretty normal. But behind the scenes, sinister than the world you live in (so you hope). The following timeline traces certain key events from ‘time before the creation of Aegis, up to the present day. This is by no means a complete history, but it should serve to give you a good idea of some of the strange and sinister forces that shape the world of Conspiracy X. 1933: WATCHMAKER Walter Stein, a native of Venice and an British intelligence agent, spent many years studying the occult in Germany during the 1920s and 30s, There he became well acquainted with a fellow student of the arcane arts, Adolph Hitler. Stein followed Hitler's occult involvement very closely, schooled himself from the same texts. Hence, Stein became the world’s foremost authority on Nazi Occult activity outside of the party itself Stein soon became frantic over developments in Germany. Hitlers rise to power coincided directly with his initiation into The Secret Doctrine, a gathering of the most elite and powerful Mages in the world. Further, the core of the Nazi party leadership was dominated by powerful occultists. Stein realized that although they had studied occultism together, Hitler had traveled down the shadowed path of dark magic. Stein knew that Hitler's admission into The Doctrine could be disastrous for all those who ‘opposed him. With this power and a cadre of dark mystics, Nazi Germany had a secret weapon the Allied forces would be ill-prepared to meet. The Nazi mystics sensed Walter Stein's presence, and in 1933 he fled to England, narrowly escaping forced service into Germany's Nazi Occult Bureau. Upon arriving in England, Stein warned Winston ‘Churchill of the impending danger posed by Hitler's indoctrination. It was clear that action must be taken to either quell Nazi progress in matters Arcane or find a way to match it. Stein had further grim news, however. Stein had uncovered evidence while spying on the Nazis that Hitler's English intelligence network was alarmingly extensive There was litle chance of an English counter-occult program remaining hidden from Nazi spies. Churchill had no choice but to contact President Roosevelt nd ask the Americans for help. Churchill arranged a meeting between the crippled President and Stein. is alot more OE i Remember, the Game Deere eer ae eee ora ee eo an Cees ere ear times when th Pee keep the game mov ence eed eeea eed Decent eae eee! ane Peer eee De at the crucifir ree ee corer ee eae openrer emery hold the spear a cree ocd Creare Napoleon and many other conquerors and emperors Pee ee and the effect th fe een re eee Se ages eee eee) Se eed eee re ere destiny, he vigorous Serer eee eee ae) na ao eres eae ee See oon Roogvelt was skeptical, but decided to leave no stone unturned in his efforts to defeat the Nazis. Less than a week after Walter Stein's meeting with Roosevelt, one of the President's most trusted advisors ‘was placed at his disposal, Stein was charged with the creation of an organization whose purpose was to monitor and analyze Nazi Occult activity. Most importantly, the group was to devise counter- ‘measures in the event that mundane firepower alone could not stop Hitler. This group became known among it’s participants as The Watch. The Watch was an eclectic collection of individuals whose only common thread was power and influence. Stein was the group's unofficial leader. Roosevelt's advisor acted as the president's proxy. Eleven other members brought the total to thirteen. Most of the original thirteen were high-ranking, Military Intelligence officers or scientists, the most notable exceptions being a Catholic Archbishop and ‘a powerful and respected U'S. Senator. FDR kept the existence of The Watch completely secret, even from the American government and military, to avoid the inevitable public backlash in the event that government-sanctioned occult research ever be uncovered. Despite the doubts of President Roosevelt, over the next decade the Watch was consistently and horrifyingly successful. Only Stein was unshaken by discoveries that threatened the sanity of the other members of The Watch. The conspirators used their authority and positions to fund and conduct research into the occult, gradually expanding to all areas of paranormal and psychic investigation. The accomplishments of The Watch's occult and psychic research allowed them to undertake several successful missions that kept the Axis occult power in check. The Watch's wartime operations included the assassination, by both mundane and arcane means, of several leading Nazi occultists and the recovery of certain artifacts of mystical significance, including the famed Spear of Destiny By 1945, The Watch had become extremely powerful organization, and yet remained completely hidden from the world, ‘The end of the World War Il was in large part due to the success of The Watch's endeavors in destroying, Nazi occult power. That ultimate success also meant the loss of the primary impetus for the Watch’s activities. As usual with any powerful and motivated group, however, The Watch soon found another Focus, From the debriefing of Axis scientists and review of German military records, the conspirators leaned that accounts by Allied airmen of mysterious German experimental aircraft, dubbed “Foo Fighters", were erroneous. Axis command records revealed that Luftwaffe pilots reported identical craft, and assumed them to be Allied experimental aircraft. This evidence, coupled with similar reports uncovered from accounts during World War | and earlier, convinced the Watch that the phenomena of Unidentified Flying Objects deserved attention and investigation. While continuing its occult and ‘parapyschology research, The Watch redirected a large part of its manpower and resources toward the study of UFOs and their possible source, It would not have long to wait for answers. 1947: DISCOVERY AND BETRAYAL. By 1947, UFO sightings had become more frequent. The US. government and military decided to institute new programs to discretely investigate these strange phenomenon. Monitoring these investigations, unseen, was The Watch. THE ROSWELL INCIDENT March 17, Cascade Mountain Range, Oregon: The Watch's parapsychology team gathers a group of psychics together in a research center in the Cascade Mountains. The team was to test the range oftheir psychic abilities by attempting to contact a similar group in New England. The experiment yields spectacular but unexpected results, Contact is made, not with the target team, but instead with strange, lunearthly minds, The contact lasts only thirteen seconds, but that brief time would change the course of history. Although they could make out ltte of what they mentally encountered, the psychics become certain of one thing: extraterrestrial life is present on Earth, July 1, White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico: During the flight monitoring of a V-2 rocket fitted with advanced guidance systems, radar stations begin to track a UFO moving over the missile range erratically, but under apparent intelligent control July 2, White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico: Under direct orders of Brigadier General Martin Scanlon, a 24-hour radar vigil is established to track the object. Through a contact in General Scanlon's staff, The Watch learns of the developing situation. July 3, White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico: The Watch convenes to decide on a course of action. Two options arise from the discussion. Some members of The Watch believe that the crew of the UFO could be contacted telepathically, using knowledge gathered from the March 17 contact and subsequent research. They propose that The Watch open a line of communication with the aliens and attempt a peaceful exchange of information. They are opposed by those members of Watch overwhelmingly concemed with the danger posed by an unknown intelligent extraterrestrial race. They recommend shooting the craft down and analyzing the technology, so that when later communications are initiated, something is known of the aliens, After a long and heated debate, a narrow majority decides to attemptpeaceful communication. The mission is designated: Operation Dove. The research team of parapsychologists and psychics in the Cascade Mountain research center is enlisted. They establish a ‘base of operations on an isolated mesa in the New Mexico desert. ‘Complete consensus had not been reached within The Watch. Those who opposed Operation Dove ‘convinced of the folly of contacting extraterrestrial unprepared, form a second team. This rogue group secretly meets and initiates Operation Pigeon Shoot. july 4, White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico: While the Dove team waits on the mesa top for the UFO to reappear, Operation Pigeon Shoot readies itself in secret on the far side of the missile range. A V-2 rocket with the experimental guidance system is hastily reprogrammed and loaded with high explosives. The exact order of the events that follow is unclear, The following account of the incident has beer reconstructed from the chaotic records that remain. At 21:18 (local time), radar contact is reestablished with the UFO that had been tracked over the last four days. As the Dove psychics attempt to contact the crew of the craft mentally, Pigeon Shoot finalizes their pr snd awaits the launch command. A few minutes later the alien craft appears to notice the psychics efforts, stops and hovers within sight of the mesa. Encouraged, the psychics redoubled their efforts. Presented with the stationary target they hoped for, the Pigeon Shoot team Iaunches the rocket. Three events appear to have occurred nearly simultaneously. First, the psychics succeed in contactin the alien minds in the UFO. Second, the V-2 rocket detonates on the hull of the ship. Third, an intense psychic assault devastates the assembled psychics. The ship immediately begins to accelerate away at an incredible speed, but is fatally damaged. The craft touches ground once, gouging the earth and scattering debris over a large stretch of a ranch near I. Several miles later, it crashes into a cliff side. July 3, Roswell, New Mexico: Prepared, in fact hoping, for this eventuality, Operation Pigeon Shoo wings into action. By dawn the next day, the final crash site is located and a recovery team is dispatched. The recovery team loads the wreckage, including four alien bodies, onto trucks for transport to Roswell Army Air Base for temporary storage. At Roswell, the wreckage is packed away id loaded onto cargo planes for transport to Fort Worth Army Air Field, By nightfall the day after the Crash, some of the wreckage arrives at Fort Worth. The Watch's influence in the military allows the Pigeon Shoot team to operate freely at the Roswell and Fort Worth without fear of questioning Although itis obvious s stationed there that something was afoot, none ask any questions. While Operation Pigeon Shoot secures the reckage, Operation Dove attempts to salvage what ‘ould of their team. Of the nine psychics who attempted to make contact, two die almost OT ere i x Cit)immediately of cardiac arrest and brain hemorrhaging. Another actually bursts into flame. A fourth slips into permanent catatonia. Three more soon develop debilitating psychoses. Only two survive with their sanity intact. After nearly a full day of damage control and debriefing, the Dove leaders realize they have been betrayed by other members of The Watch. Moving quickly, the remnants of Operation Dove pull themselves together and attempt to outmaneuver their new enemies. Using what military pull they could immediately muster, and aided by a little psychic sleight-of- hand, Dove manages to redirect one of the cargo planes heading for Fort Worth to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. ‘There, a Dove team secures the cargo. Unbeknownst to either group, the chaos at Roswell hid the actions of yet another group of Watch members. These individuals, some of the most powerful of the founding members of The Watch, learn of the split in their group and are dismayed. They commandeer another of the cargo flights ‘and take the shipment to Washington, DC. They make certain that the Shipment they appropriate includes an alien corpse and an impressive ‘amount of crash debris. The group, the plane and the cargo mysteriously vanishes. A very long time would pass before any hint of their whereabouts woul July 6, Roswell, New Mexico: By 03:00 the day after the crash, all Watch personnel had been evacuated from Roswell Air Base and White Sands Proving Ground, believing that all traces of the crash had been recovered. All are mistaken, While patrolling his property that moming, a local rancher, Mack Brazel, finds the trough and debris left when the craft touched down briefly before crashing. Later in the day, he calls the Roswell sherif to report his find, The sheriff in turn calls Captain Jesse Marcel at the Roswell Air Base, thinking the wreckage isthe result of a military test. Captain Marcel investigates the touchdown site, patrols the trench and ‘gathers some of the debris, He loads up his jeep with debris and returns to the Base. ‘The Base Commander, visions of promotion dancing in his head, issues a press release that the Army had recovered the wreckage of a UFO. ‘This news reaches the Operation Dove team at Wright-Patterson AFB. A few well-placed calls are made, and Captain Marcel and the debris are immediately summoned to Wright-Patterson. Part of the Operation Dove team returns to Roswell to oversee the recovery of the debris at the ranch. July 7, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: Under orders from Operation Dove, General Roger Ramey, the Commanding Officer of Wright-Patterson, holds a press conference in which the Roswell press release and its officers are portrayed as fools for having misidentified a ‘weather balloon as a UFO. The embarrassed Captain Marcel is ordered to pose holding fragments of a weather balloon claimed to be the recovered. debris. In Roswell, Operation Dove agents finish cleaning up the debris, field and escort rancher Brazel to the Roswell Base for three days of questioning, July 8, Roswell, New Mexico: The debris collected from the ranch is sent to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base July 9, Roswell, New Mexico: Mack Brazel is released from custody at the Roswell Base and soon appears on a local radio show to confess. He explains that the UFO story was a hoax and that he knew the wreckage was just a balloon all along. The combination of this "confession" and the Watch's pressure on other witnesses keeps the incident under control. The ‘American public accepts the story and the Roswell crash remains all but forgotten for over forty years BREAKING THE WATCH In the aftermath of Operation Pigeon Shoot's betrayal of its comrades in Operation Dove, The Watch splits into two distinct groups. The stated ‘purpose of both groups was the protection of the human race from the predation of extraterrestrial and supernatural forces. Beyond that, the two organizations developed diametrically opposed.AEGIS. 5 The remnants of Operation Dove regrouped at Wright-Patterson AFB and set up a temporary center of Gherations, Inanatempt 0 avoid a recurrence of the damage caused by Pigeon Shoots treachery, a new organizational pattern was imposed. ‘The new organization, modeled after the secret mystical societies of Europe, was composed of smal independent groups or "Cells". The original founding group became the master Cell and selected sractrs for tne fiat generation of Cells Each offshoot Cell had only a single contact to the “parent” Callrahese true identity remained unknown. These Cells in tur recruited members into “child” Cells Sc necessary, and the process continued until an extensive network was established. The Cel structure x Amnved the information that could be revealed in the event hostile forces infiltrated or uncovered any vaniculay Cell, Were this to happen, only the “child” Cll and its contact othe “parent” Cell would be Pepromised,” The new organization, which continues to this day, was givon the name Aegis after Jae’ age shiek! in Greek mythology. The Operation Dove members who formed Aegis’ original ‘me tobe called Acgis Prime master” Cell c THE BLACK Book [At the same time Aegis was forming, the members of Operation Pigeon Shoot started construction on a secret underground base in the New Mexico desert. This base was to become the research center and headquarters of a covert project within the U.S. military, answerable to no government authority and unknown to all but its agents and a few highly placed officials, who assured that any investigation was \. curtailed. The project was funded exclusively through the portion of the US. military budget assigned to covert or “Black” projects, leading the project's secret sponsor in the U.S. Senate to refer to itas The Black Book RELATIONS BETWEEN AEGIS AND THE BLACK BOOK Despite the original common purpose of Aegis and The Black Book, the cizcumstances leading to the division of The Watch resulted in a great deal of animosity between the two organizations. This enmity vas heightened as the Focus of The Black Book slowly drifted away from the protection of the human race and toward the acquisition of alien technology and knowledge by any means necessary. The Book's Military-Industrial Complex backers demanded concrete returns on their investment of time, power and monies. To this end, The Book began making deals with extraterrestrial; working with them, rather than against them. Over the years, the alliance between The Black Book and both the Grey's and the Saurians grew very powerful. Aegis took a much harder stance on humar-alien communication, in response to the disastrous results of Operation Dave. Because of the close ties between the extraterrestrial and The Black Book, Aegis came to view The Black Book as just as much of a threat as the aliens themselves. THE 1950s: SMOKE AND MIRRORS The 1950s were an important period of growth for Aegis. Strong ties within the American intelligence community allowed Aegis Prime to create a number of powerful first generation Cells. These Cells were composed of high ranking officers from various agencies, giving Aegis Prime access to a large pool of {information and resources. These Cells formed the backbone of the Aegis organization and established a strong foothold in the military and intelligence community, in particular the newly created US. Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency THE MKULTRA PROJECT During the C1A’s creation, Aegis Prime made certain that Aegis operatives were placed in key positions throughout the new organization. The newly commissioned agency was to become Aegis’ primary powerbase in the intelligence community, complimenting the military resources gained through the similar “guidance” Aegis Prime provided to the fledgling United States Air Force. The CIA soon hecame Acgis’ single largest source of operatives and information. The free reign given to the new agency by the U.S. government allowed Aegis operatives to work under the auspices of the CIA without fear of investigation. Capitalizing on Cold War paranoia and rumors that Red China and the Soviet Union were achieving incredible results in their research into “brain-washing” techniques, the Central Intelligence Agency commenced research programs on mind control and human behavior modification. Aegis operatives tronitored the programs, waiting to step in and take control of any that began to produce useful results. Should such results occur, the operatives would intercept and falsify reports to the CIA Inspector General so that only failure or very limited success would be revealed. In this manner, Aegis subverted any successful program's resources, and transferred the knowledge and further research to their benefit. Not all successful projects were “secured” by Aegis Cells, however. Some projects lacked properly positioned agents, others were just too distasteful, Still others were canceled without warning or ee Ara Ser eerecas. eee ar re ee ee en if division which had the een a es nearer ie err eras Serra: eae eee nee ea ily played a role in foe ec eae eta a ee Se pi n Pe eee able to the burgeoning ee mn) eee ata en ogra \k and ee the inte roe ed nd FerM20] ‘explanation, or ended with the sudden disappearance or death of a key researcher, These mysterious events lead Aegis to conclude that at least some of the CIA’s secret mind control projects ended up in the hands of The Black Book. The fear of Communist superiority in any area provided a smokescreen and apparent motive for a wide range of behavior modification projects ‘conducted by the CIA. Early projects such as BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE concentrated on a few specific techniques, most commonly mind-altering ‘drugs, hypnosis and brain surgery. These projects resulted in some successes, but the most ambitious and successful project by far The MKULTRA Project was in fact several research projects combined into one. Widely disparate subjects were being investigated, such as psychoactive drugs, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, cerebral implants, microwave radiation, Extra Sensory Perception and brainwashing through cult indoctrination, Most of these topics had been studied previously, and MKULTRA broke little new ground in each field independently. What made MKULTRA so successful was its study of the. interaction and combination of these varied disciplines. These experiments yielded the MKULTRA team two very impressive programs. Through a combination of cerebral implants, psychoactive drugs and microwave transmitters, the MKULTRA scientists were able to create hidden split personalities. The test subjects were completely unaware of their condition and exhibited normal, obedient behavior until the introduction of a triggering stimulus, often via radio or microwave transmission. ‘The triggering stimulus induced a trance-like state in which the subjects would carry out preprogrammed orders without hesitation or question, After the mission or task was completed, the subject would revert back to a normal state, completely unaware of actions taken while in the induced trance. These individuals were often used as covert assassins or couriers, unaware of their own role and therefore nearly undetectable. MKULTRA’s experimentation involving parapsychology led another reseatch group to develop a strong psychic Warfare (Psi-War) program. ‘These parapsychologists took individuals who showed an aptitude for extra-sensory perception and subjected them to a regimen of psychoactive drugs, hypnosis, sensory deprivation and advanced meditation techniques. ‘The result was a group of powerful psychics capable of impressive feats of psychic power in several disciplines. Unfortunately, the treatments often left the psychics addicts, insane, or worse. The Psi-War program in particular caught the attention of Aegis operatives, within the CIA. They prepared to take control of the MKULTRA project by the usual means. Before this power shift could be fully realized, however, rumors of the MKULTRA project and specifically the Psi-War program found their way to the public and the news media. Public outrage caused a Congressional investigation during which the CIA downplayed the success of the program and emphasized that the subjects were all volunteers, which ‘was not, in many cases, true. The investigation caused the official end of the MKULTRA project in 1963, But as was often the case, the project lived on, hidden from the public, and exempt from congressional inquires or other governmental accounting. The new MKULTRA project remains to this day wholly under Aegis control PROJECT BLUEBOOK AND PROJECT MOONDUST ‘As more and more Americans reported UFO sighting in the early 50s, the military's official denial of the phenomenon became increasingly suspect. Such categorical denial quickly became as much a cause of speculation as the origin of the UFOs. In 1952, the U.S. Air Force gave in to the public pressure to “do something” about UFOs and created Project BLUEBOOK, an official Air Force investigation into such reports. Given its subject matter, BLUFBOOK soon came to be entirely, although secretly, controlled by Aegis. It was Aegis’ intention to use BLUEBOOK as a smoke screen for ‘Aegis operations and as a source for public disinformation.‘To reduce the possibility of a link being discovered between Project BLUEBOOK and Aegis, the BLUEBOOK staff contained no Aegis operatives. BLUEBOOK was a legitimate and official Air Force project, although Aegis made certain that the personnel chosen for the project were predisposed toward skepticism of the phenomenon. ‘The primary instrument of Aegis’ control over the BLUEBOOK was another Air Force project ‘completely hidden from the public eye, Project MOONDUST. Project MOONDUST was created in 1953 and charged with “the retrieval and exploitation of crashed foreign spacecraft”. Within top military circles, MOONDUST's stated purpose was the recovery and examination of downed Soviet and Eastern Bloc spacecraft and satellites, but the MOONDUST charter clearly made it responsible for the recovery of extraterrestrial spacecraft as well, For this role it was exploited heavily by Aegis, and was staffed almost exclusively by Aegis personnel. All UFO reports were filtered through Project MOONDUST before transmission to Project BLUEBOOK, and only those reports deemed of little significance or validity were passed on. At the end of its study, Project BLUEBOOK concluded that there was in fact no substantial evidence to support claims that UFOs were anything but misidentified terrestrial craft, weather phenomena or hallucinations, ‘The Project’s report was widely accepted by the populace and proved quite effective at undermining the credibility of those UFO reports that followed. NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE ON AERIAL PHENOMENA [As always, there were those who were not convinced by BLUEBOOK’s investigations and who saw the final BLUEBOOK report as the disinformation it was. Many of these people investigated UFOs and related phenomena on their own, attempting to uncover the truth and form their own conclusions. The most dangerous of these truth-seekers formed civilian investigative groups to better share information land resources. Fortunately for Aegis, these groups were often much too eager to recruit new members for their own good. Aegis Cells had litle trouble infiltrating the organizations, subverting what information they managed to uncover, and guaranteeing that they never got too close to important information. Many of these groups were much more interested in finding evidence to support their pet theories than conducting serious investigations. This made them ideal mouthpieces for Aegis lies, and further degraded the credibility of all such organizations. One civilian organization stood apart from the majority. This group could not be easily dismissed given the credibility of its membership. In 1956, Navy physicist Thomas Brown founded NICAP, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, an Unidentified Flying Objects and related events study group. Although NICAP was a civilian organization and contained many well-known civilian UFOlogists. a disturbingly large number of members were retired Air Force and CIA personnel. The ‘Aegis operatives who were monitoring the group became acutely aware that many of the NICAP meinbets had secret agendas. The operatives learned that some NICAP members were reporting back to groups within the CIA and other Intelligence Community organizations. Other members seemed to be working for an organization of organizations that Aegis could not identify. Due to the extent of NICAP%s infiltration by agents from outside organizations with unknown objectives, litle of the data it managed to collect can be trusted. Also, Aegis’ inability to identify all the organizations operating within NICAP made Aegis Prime more paranoid than ever. Despite all this, NICAP served Aegis as a fertile ground for recruiting well-connected operatives and Cel THE MAJESTIC TWELVE DOCUMENT During the 50's, Aegis often uncovered evidence that secret organizations, other than The Black Book, ‘were at work within the US government. The most puzzling document discovered by a Cell within the CIA described the creation of a secret organization charged with investigating UFOs and alien phenomena in response to a “flying saucer” crash near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The document Getailed that group's members including high level government and military officials and respected Scientists, and that its designation was The Majestic 12. The document, while superficially convincing, twas plagued with errors that undermined its credibility. To those familiar with the actual events at Roswell it was obviously a work of disinformation, Stl, the events described in the MJ-12 document were uncomfortably close to the actual events, and the composition of the fictitious MJ-12 was reasonably close to that of The Watch. Aegis believed that either the writers of the document knew at {east partially what really happened at Roswell, or were being fed information by someone who did But the questions remained, who wrote the document and what were their intentions? Unable to determine if the document represented the discovery of themselves or The Watch or neither, Aegis destroyed the MJ-12 document and waited. They observed no reaction and the document did not ime grew even more paranoid. immediately reappear. Aegis P oa) pet ee a 194 ChDea ee es ree Se eo ae ene eee peer ese th se Securit: of fringe ufologists and mill- tary aircraft buffs hoping eee et Pee came pe ers Cee eee ey eee eo pee oe facility brought more attention and with more Sara eee el Eventually tours and eee Cee a eee et eee Sear Se ee Seen ae eee eer te eee ne Pe eee eet ec eee Airforce siezed nearly ioe ae GROOM DRY LAKE RESEARCH FACILITY ‘After the MJ-12 incident, Aegis Prime reevaluated its security measures. Two key aspects of the “organization were deemed insecure: Aegis’ base of operations at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and its current procedures for distributing information. Wright-Patterson had attracted too much attention in recent yeats, resulting in rumors that ‘Hangar 18" contained alien technology and extraterrestrial bodies. ‘The rumors were correct, but the hangar number was wrong. Wright-Pat was just too close to population centers for proper security. Anew base was needed, far away from prying eyes. ‘The methods Aegis used for distributing information between Cells was the other chink in Aegis’ a Current procedures involved passing encrypted files physically between parent and child Cells. This was slow, relatively insecure, and required frequent contact between Cells. Aegis needed another way and new developments in technology provided it. Both problems were addressed in a single, aggressive plan. Aegis constructed a secret military base, under the auspices of the Air Force, on the Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range in Nevada. The Nellis Gunnery Range is a massive military base, roughly the size of Connecticut, used by the Ai Force for live fire tests and training missions. The detonation of munitions was not only accepted, but expected on the base. Aegis could deal with intruders and trespassing aircraft (terrestrial and otherwise) with whatever force deemed necessary, and blame training and testing operations for the gunfire and explosions. The base was built on the shores of Groom Dry Lake and was designated a no-fly zone. On early flight maps the no-fly zone was marked Area 51, which became one of the base's many nicknames. Others included Dreamland, $4, and The Groom Dry Lake Test Facility, but the base was given no official name cor designation. Indeed, the military has no records of the base, and those officers who are aware of its existence are all members of Aegis. Aegis operatives simply call it The Ranch, To alleviate the security problem inherent in distributing information through human connections, a massive computer system and database was constructed at the Ranch. This computer network, dubbed HERMES, became the repository for information gained through Cell investigations and research. Cells no longer needed to contact each other simply to relay information. HERMES also gave Cells a means of alerting Aegis Prime if their parent Cell was neutralized, preventing the Cell from being completely cut off. Each cel’s connection to the HERMES network was provided by computer terminals specially ‘manufactured at the Ranch for Aegis Cells. The main HERMES system was installed and went on-line before the base was completed. Intime, The Ranch became a large research facility housing a myriad of Aegis research projects. Several ‘Aegis Cells are based there, though none of them know who else on the facility is an operatives. The ‘vast majority of researchers and workers at the Ranch are civilians and Air Force personnel unaware of the base's true purpose or commanders. The researchers work on small aspects of a project and never see its full extent. Those who do are either recruited into the Cell supervising the project or simply removed. ‘The most prominent projects at The Ranch involve captured alien spacecraft. Most of the long term research centers around reverse-engineering extraterrestrial craft in order to exploit the alien technology ‘The most successful project to date in this area is the Aurora interceptor. ‘The Aurora is a fantastic aircraft combining the best aspects of terrestrial aerospace technology, Atlantean cybernetic control systems and captured Saurian propulsion systems. The Aurora is one ofthe few craft at Aegis’ disposal that has a respectable success rate for pursuing and overtaking alien craft, While six Aurora have been built, only four pilots have been found that can handle them so far. DALLAS 1963: THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION By the early sixties, Aegis had infiltrated every aspect of the government and was developing Cells in the private sector as well, Aegis had done a remarkable job burying itself within layers of government programs. The combination of the Cell structure and the HERMES network thoroughly concealed Aegis from public and government eyes. Even so, a not so insignificant incident in 1963 threatened to compromise the integrity of Aegis ‘Through a routine illicit wiretap in the White House, President John F. Kennedy discovered that one of his own Secret Service bodyguards was an agent of some type of secret society called Aegis. After further surveillance by his own men, Kennedy discovered that his Secret Service agents were under the orders of this organization and were engaging in covert actions for the agency. President Kennedy confronted one of the agents and threatened him with a full Congressional investigation and imminent ‘exposure. In exchange for his silence, Kennedy demanded that the agents make themselves available to him at any time to use as his personal covert operations team, “The Secret Service Aegis Cell was caught completely off guard. They contacted their parent Cell and waited for instructions. The horrible answer was swift in coming. The parent's Cells mandate came directly from Aegis Prime. Kennedy must be eliminated. It would happen during his upcoming visit to Dallas.Unknown to the Secret Service Cefl or Aegis Prime, one of the Cell members was a double agent working for The Black Book. While ‘Aegis was plotting the assassination, the double agent apprised The Black Book of the situation. The Book seized the moment and approached President Kennedy with a counter-proposition. The Black Book offered Kennedy protection from Aegis, and a group of agents to uuse as he saw fit, in exchange for Kennedy's assurance that any investigation in The Black Book's involvement with the Government would be silenced. Kennedy accepted the deal. The Aegis Cell recruited Lee Harvey Oswald, one of MKULTRA’s success stories, for the dirty work. They supplied him with the details of the President's motorcade route and the buildings along the route whose security would be "overlooked" by the Secret Service Unknown to Oswald, the Cell also positioned two psychics in the crowd outside the book depository as backup. Both psychics had powerful telekinetic abilities and were to insure that once Oswald's bullets hit, President Kennedy would be fatally wounded, {As the President's motorcade came into view, Lee Harvey prepared to take the shot. Suddenly, a Black Book agent burst into the room. Startled, Oswald hastily fired twice before turning to face the agent. Before The Black Book agent could bring his weapon to bear Oswald fired on him. The agent was wearing a bulletproof vest, but was stunned by the impact of the bullets long enough for Oswald to escape The Black Book immediately tipped off the police, giving Oswald's description and general location. Oswald was captured within minutes, Outside, Lee Harvey's shots hit the President, but off target. The Aegis wsychics took over from there, bouncing the bullet through several ial organs in the President's chest. The damage was critical, but most likely not fatal. Yet, Oswald's attack was not the only one directed at the President at that instant. From a nearby grassy knoll, another assassin simultaneously shot the President, with a weapon quiet ‘enough and powerful enough to blow Kennedy's head off. Although ‘Aegis could not take credit, Kennedy had indeed been assassinated. ‘Aegis took two extremely important lessons from the whole episode, lessons which would change future Aegis operations. First, it was obvious that The Black Book knew about the plan beforehand. This increased Aegis’ already excessive paranoia and forced them to regard The Black Book as a constant and lethal enemy never to be underestimated. Second, Aegis realized that they were not solely responsible for the Kennedy assassination. This again raised suspicions in Aegis of another secret group operating toward similar goals, The fact that the third party acted in a way helpful to Aegis did rnot dampen Aegis’ concerns about this other group's motives. Aegis learned litle more at the time despite intensive investigation, and in the end, Aegis simply counted the mission as an uneasy victory. THE CHALLENGER The success of the 1960s and 1970s in the area of space exploration had an amazing, impact not only on all humanity, but also, perhaps even. ‘more 50, on the extraterrestrial operating on Earth. For reasons that Aegis could only speculate, the Saurians were particularly troubled by the recent push into space. The Saurians seemed to fear most the development of a reusable space shuttle. In February 1986, Aegis learned that the Saurians planned a fiendish plot to sabotage the space program. Aegis discovered that The Black Book had provided the Saurians with details about the route which the solid rocket boosters would travel. In exchange, The Black Book received technology necessary to build space craft of their own. Interestingly, Aegis also learned that knowledge of the principles behind the Saurian technology was not part of the deal, Thus, The Black Book remained dependent on the Saurians.ul BE RESE REDS Givilian UFO Pata Many scient and ex-military personnel eee ee ee poe Bede en ere Poet Coenen een ee er ee) en a ees more than the Black Coen See lan organizations as a Pee an eee conduct investigation oe ay en Cee Ey with, thus no Set Seed ae Whilg the solid rocket boosters were en route to Cape Canaveral in Florida, a ‘masquerading as humans (the infamous Men in Black) replaced the security team and sabotaged the rockets. On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just moments after launch due to ‘a malfunction in those booster rockets. The results were greater than the Saurians could have hop Not only was a reusable shuttle destroyed, but the graphic horror of the tragedy, transmitted into nearly every American home, shattered the publics faith in space exploration and NASA's space program in general. The act of Saurian terrorism revealed to Aegis the depth of NASA's vulnerability, and result in an increase in the number of NASA Cells. THE MAJESTIC TWELVE DOCUMENT RESURFACES, One year after the Challenger tragedy, Aegis found itself facing more problems from outside forces. In ithe MJ-12 document that Aegis had buried so long ago resurfaced in the hands of two crusaders {for "the right to know the truth about aliens". Aegis was unable to discover where the document came The MJ-12 document supported from, or how and why anyone would send it to these two UFOlogist the accounts of witnesses from Roswell who had begun coming forward with their sto the appearance of the document had been paid litle attention. ‘This newfound credibility, however, actually aided Aegis as it supported a document which was a work of disinformation but until then “The widespread acceptance of the MJ-12 document upon its release revealed that more and more peo were willing to believe in the existence of UFOs, In fact, since the early 70's, a radical "New Age movement had been slowly gaining populatity. An integral part of the New Ager’s doctrine was the belief that aliens were cosmic "Space Brothers" who wished to help humanity along the path to its own ‘Spiritual Awakening." Aegis was suddenly forced to deal with a public intrigued by extraterrestrial and willing to accept evidence of alien life. This mind set made Aegis’ cover up operations more difficult. Fortunately, many UFO enthusiasts believed the MJ-12 document, or the New Agers, or both. This ensured that their belief in a phenomena that was real was based on details that were | MKULTRA 1990s: THE SHOOTING AT HARPER'S CROSS Although the CIA’s MKULTRA project was considered an overall success, the project met with its share of failures. During the 1960s, many of the project's research teams were pursuing genetic engineering, ‘experiments in an attempt to outpace similar covert projects underway in Eastern Bloc nations. These projects silently spurred each other onward and quickly escalated into a covert race to create the first >io-engineered "super soldier.” The lengths to which the scientists were willing to go to beat the Soviet and the disregard they showed their human test subjects caused the Ac > Pi —distance themselves from the projets. This is ot to say that they did not keep tabs on the projects sucesso lack theeot One of MKULTRA’s more spectacular failures was an experiment in which genetically modified tecnagers were subjected to a battery of drugs and hypnosis sessions, These tenagers were normally doaile and well-behaved, but would become violent and detached from morality on command. Ths seemed to be an excellent step toward the creation of so-called "super soldiers.” However, it soon became clear that many ofthe °patints" were unstable and psychotic as a result ofthe dichotomy in their own behavior Indeed, one subjet' psychotic episode sparked a riot among the other patients and resulted in the destruction of much of the lab act and the death of almost half the research staf. The Experiment was quickly shut down. An Aegis Cel stepped in, oversaw the cover up operation, and ‘reovered all useful information that could be salvaged from the experiment. Through extensive therapy and repressive hypnosis the Cell was able to rehabiitate a good number ofthe patients and tlw them fo be reasimilated into society Aegis closely monitored the young charges for signs of relapse, but after nearly two decades of normal behavior, Aegis canceled its surveillance program. This proved to be a tragic mistake, During the late 80's, Aegis began receiving reports of former MKULTRA subjects experiencing psychotic episodes, often resulting in a homicidal rampage and the death of the subject. It seemed the Aegis hypnosis was crumbling, leaving the MKULTRA patients violent sociopaths. Having lost track of most of the patients after ending its surveillance, Aegis was forced to wait for the test subjects to act up before they could neutralize them. One of the worst cases to date arose when agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) requested FBI support during a stand-off situation at the home of one Jackson Reeves and family. ‘Reeves had been one of MKULTRA’s test subjects and his name in the BATF request triggered warming bells in Aegis. Upon further investigation, the situation was found to be worse than expected. The BATF had been watching Reeves, a militant white supremacist, for some time. He lived with his wife, son and two young daughters on a rural farm in Harper's Cross, Iowa. While the BATE was building a case for illegal weapons possession, Reeves and a neighbor began a dispute over certain land. The escalating argument triggered a psychotic episode and Reeves began firing high caliber weapons at his neighbor's house at night. Reeves nightly attacks prompted the BATF to take action. Reeves was arrested on a number of weapons and assault related charges, but was released on bail and later failed to appear in court. After adding a few more charges to their warrant, BATF returned again to the rural homestead to arrest Jackson Reeves Anticipating that Reeves would resist arrest, and considering the nature of the charges, the BATF surrounded the Reeves home with agents. Not surprisingly, Reeves response was hostile. The BATF ‘agents were met at the door with gunfire, and one BATF agent was wounded before he could make it off the Reeves’ porch, The agents fell back and attempted to negotiate with Jackson. Any chance of a {quick and painless resolution to the situation was lost, however, when the Reeves’ dog escaped the house, flushed out and attacked a BATF agent, who shot and killed it. The dog’s death triggered a psychotic rage in Jiminy, the Reeves' teenage son. Jimmy rushed the BATF agents, guns blazing, and managed to kill one agent and wound two others before being cut down by the BATF crossfire. After Jackson refused to negotiate, and BATF called in the FBI his son’s death [An FBISWAT team sent to provide backup was made up entirely of Aegis operatives, The team had been used extensively during Aegis’ cover up operations of MKULTRA failures and had become quite proficient at taking out delusional and psychotic "super soldiers". During the flight to Harper's Cross, the team received word that Acgis had made another unpleasant discovery. Jackson Reeves’ wife ‘Tammy had been positively identified as another MKULTRA “patient” who had been chosen for her high scores in ESP testing, Furthermore, Aegis had found indications from the BATF surveillance reports that the Reeves’ two young twins were exhibiting signs of uncontrolled psychic or supernatural ability. The SWAT team reassessed the threat that the Reeves’ family posed and revised the Rules of Engagement at Harper's Cross to “Shoot on sight”. The team would be taking no chances. The FBI backup arrived at the Reeves’ home to find a stalemate. Jackson Reeves would neither negotiate ror present the assembled agents with a clear target. BATF would not assault the home for fear of endangering Reeves’ wife or children. The Aegis team had no such reservations. After a quick briefing ‘on the current situation, the SWAT team took up positions and attempted to coax either Jackson or his wife out into the open. They convinced Jackson to begin negotiating by promising his wife safe passage. When the opportunity presented itself, Aegis snipers took the shot and killed Tammy Reeves. One hour after the death of his wife, Jackson Reeves gave himself up to the BATF agents without further violence. ‘Aegis acted quickly to bring the situation to a close and prevent any further attention. Reeves was taken quietly into custody to await tral. Initial testing indicated to Aegis that the Reeves twins, Ginger and Amanda, were both supernatural Foci, The twins were split up and sent to separate foster homes, but Aegis kept a close eye on them both, unwilling to risk a repeat of the Harper's Cross incident. ELC aca Cee Pere ee eee ioe iain pte eer) Aegis Cell fe oe pose Aegis p re