THE CONTACT PROGRAM PRIMER

About The Program

What then is the truth?

Here follows a brief primer for new Marine operatives serving with the United Nations Marine Corps' STAR GATE Command:

1. During the beginning of the 20th century, as part of the global arms race, a material referred to as the "black rock" was discovered in Greenland. Scientists believed it was capable of producing weapons of unimaginable destruction, as the material was distributed in a debrie field, centred upon the polar cap, probably as the result of a "natural" (nuclear) explosion. They believed at the time, that formations of the black rock which could not be found in large enough concentrations on land, appear to be a Polar phenomenon, and logically their maybe similar deposits in the Antarctic region.

2. In 1928 during the Byrd expedition, a significant magnetic anomaly was located from the air, but it was not until 1934, when Byrd mounted another to discover exactly what he had found was the first STAR GATE to be discovered. Several nations had at the same time attempted to claim the site, but Byrd and the US Navy were first, however the honour of naming the find was granted to the tiny Russian expedition, who called the location Vostok meaning "Orient" or "East".

3. Vostok Base turned out to have 78 such "anomalies", all but one being buried deep in the ice, too far to be excavated. However it was possible to dig out the one that was very close to the surface. Once exposed to the air, the block of black rock, activated repeatedly to form what today we know as a Wormhole. Eventually, Byrd decided to venture in to the Wormhole, but was cut off and lost for five months. During this period his comrades maintained the charade that he was manning a weather station alone in a remote outpost. During his absence the German party attempted to seize the base for the Reich but were fought off by the US Navy, supported by the British, French, Russian and Norwegian teams.

4. Upon Byrd's safe return, he asserted that he had spent the time upon an alien world, which in all respects bar one was apparently identical to the Earth, none of the stars of the night sky were correct. It was decided to rebury what was now referred to as the STAR GATE, the intention being to return the following year with a much larger expedition. However this was not to be, due to the rapidly changing international climate, and issues of credibility amongst Byrd's upperiors.

5. In 1938 a unit of Marines and Naval personnel set out to form a corden around Vostok to prevent German access, but had to be withdrawn. The German Reich then seized its opportunity, and over the next six years, with the use of slave labour, were able to create an operational STAR GATE base. In the winter of 1946-7, the US Navy mounted Operation Highjump to retake the base, sending Task Force 68, with 4,700 personnel, 13 ships, and 33 aircraft, with the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea serving as the flag ship. Needless to say the mission was a total success.

6. However, during the fighting within the base, it was noted that SS troops, when making their escape via the STAR GATES donned respirators before making the jump. This turned out to be an extremely important observation, as Admiral Byrds own health had declined, and after Highjump, it was concluded that his 5 months off-world could not be ruled out as a contributing factor.

7. Eventually, it was discovered that an airborne biological contaminent was present on all worlds visited over the following years. This has since been identified as a form of alien technology, a hybrid of nano-tech machine and virus like biological materials. Fortunately incapable of self reproduction, nevertheless this now renamed Alien Biological Contaminent or ABC, has proven a significant threat to off-world survival. Exposure effects the basic emotional centres of the human brain, altering the casualties attitudes, priorities and objectives, and not in the interests of Earth or its peoples. The casualties were designated by Type of behavior, starting with T1 and ending with T5. The term T0 became the default reference for uncontaminated humans encountered off-world. It should be noted here that no indiginous human civilisations have been found, all those that are encountered today, are either survivors of lost missions, or authorised travellers from Earth.

8. With regard to the worlds themselves, they all appear to be analogues of the Earth, or rather the Earth is a reproduction of an earlier model. Although not identical, they all share certain common features, including being within a similar layout of solar system, with a moon, axial tilt, orbitting a similar type of star. All are within a billion years of one another, the oldest being some 5.5 billion years old.

For some years there was a debate amongst our scientists as to why this was. Speculation was rampant until the implementation of the Star Gazer project by Dr Edward Campbell of the UK. This proved that these parallel Earths, were in fact spread over an enormous distance within the confines of our own universe. Two other planets, were located within the Milky Way, but on the other side of the central bulge. The next closest world was some 600 million light years away, in a nearby galaxy. However very shortly, it was discovered that most worlds were beyond the light horizon, meaning that their distance and position was impossible to plot.

All life encountered is relatively small, with nothing larger than a dog. The paleo record does show animals such as the dinosaurs, but unlike the Earth, off-world they seemed to have declined over a long period of time, finally vannishing altogether some 50 million years ago. Today deer, foxes, birds and fish, all very familiar, seem to be most common. DNA testing demonstrates the same root stock, with very little genetic drift. It has been concluded that this clearly is one of the functions of the ABC, whose other effects have been likened to an immune system responding to an infection. Indeed it has been noted that on no other world other than our own, are there any type of primates. It appears, that in the long history of the GATE network, some two billion years or so, the Earth is unique in that 65 million years ago it was struck by an asteroid, destroying much of the life on the surface. Within 5 million years, the first primates made their appearance, with humans evolving some 5 or 6 million years ago. It has been noted that no significantly intelligent species has ever evolved off-world, which implies a degree of control over evolution, a process which is absent here at this time. The obvious conclusion is that the asteroid destroyed the control mechanism, and allowed to a degree, evolution to run wild.

Only one truly alien life form has ever been encountered, Alien Species #2 (AS#2), popularly termed "worms", due to their appearance. But there the similarity stops. They have more in common with the worms from the science fiction novel/film Dune. They are immensely large being up to a kilometre or more in length, and extremely dangerous to all life, capable of inter-stella flight, and surviving by devouring the entire bio-sphere of any planets they land upon. Sadly for us, the GATE builders, who have never been encountered (AS#1), must have at some point in the past, place down a STAR GATE within a galaxy, where these creatures were indiginous, thus providing them with access to an entire universe of worlds to consume. It should be noted that only their young are small enough to use the STAR GATES, but they are spreading.

9. The STAR GATES are formed in elongated blocks, each GATE being an individual module within the whole, in much the same way as a slice of bread is part of a loaf. This type of structure is referred to as a Spline, and they can contain up to one or two thousand modules or STAR GATES. It is believed that these Splines function as inter-galactic vessels, breaking up and depositing individual modules on worlds as they pass through a system. It is common for several modules (STAR GATES) from a single Spline to be set down on any given world. This is to enable inter-continental transit. Likewise several separate Splines will land modules on a world, building in a degree of redundency, for if a GATE is destroyed, the Spline is cut. Also there appears to be numerous Splines criss-crossing the network, to enable lateral movement as well. STAR GATES are always found in clusters, rarely if ever alone. A prime example of this is the first find in Antarctica, where 78 GATES formed a circle almost 1,600 meters across.

For many years it was impossible to control the STAR GATES in anyway whatsoever. Fortunately, they run what we believe to be a self-diagnostic or check in routine every two or three months or so, when the entire network randomly (?) formed wormholes to and fro. Thus enabling Marines and sientists to navigate the network to a limited degree. Soon equipment came on line, that could execute an emergency "forcing" of a GATE, to produce an outbound or inbound wormhole. This proved invaluable for mounting rescues, providing re-enforcements, and performing casualty evacuations, as well as permitting pro-active operations against the enemy, such as raids and ambushes. In recent years this has become far easier to do, but it is not without risk, numerous SG Teams have been lost over the last few years. Hence there remains a preference, wherever possible to use natural wormholes.

One observation about STAR GATE behaviour, is the uncanny co-incidence of apparently random connections to planets and locations which would produce crucial intelligence or encounters. The suggestion has been made that the system is exhibiting a degree of co-operative "slow" intelligence. All attempts to interface or communicate with, said intelligence, have proven fruitless.

All Splines have a single common root world, on a planet in a decaying orbit around a super massive black hole. This planet known as P567, which is covered by the last 8 GATES of the UK Spline (SG#51), is believed to be the Home-World of the builders (AS#1), as it is almost entirely covered by STAR GATES. The time-line for impact is a significant matter of concern, for it has been theorised that, if this planet enters the black holes event horizon, it will trigger a cascade, wherein any and all planets connected to the network, will be turned inside out and drawn down the wormholes and in to the black hole itself. It has also been suggested that this may have been a deliberate policy to destroy the entire GATE network at a stroke, thus isolating the worms wherever they remain.

10. In 1994, Executive Resourses International, a British Private Military Company was approached and requested to take over the running of the program, so as to ensure its security, due to increased bugetary scrutiny by the House Appropriations Committee. This was done at first under the title of The Antarctic Stargate Commission. Eventually this evolved in 1996 in to the present CONTACT Program, under the eagis of the United Nations Committee 78, named after the number of GATES discovered in Antarctica. The first off-world training mission which was known as CON-001 was conducted on Sunday 14 JUL 96.

To assist, several private multi-national corporations became almost immediately significantly involved, prominant amongst them being the Nakamura Corporation of Japan, Phillips Corps (Anglo-South African), Starlabs Gmbh (Dutch/German), SSI (USA), and Tiger Industries of Hong Kong. Today in addition, it is believed that criminal elements such as the Russian mafia, have infiltrated the program.

11. In 1996 (CON-003) the first major loss of personnel occured, when an off-world colony known as New Greenham Common was exposed to a liquid variant of the ABC, resulting in the contamination and loss of nearly 3,000 people. This in fact is where the majority of the hostile forces come from. However since that date the rise of what originally was regarded as a minor typological error in the form of the M2 nanite, has shown us, that in fact we have apparently reawakened an ancient war. Our people are being used as proxies by the M1 nanites (ABC), the first type observed, believed to be related to the STAR GATES and therefore the original builders. While the M2 series are far larger, cruder, and less dangerous to regular humans. These are associated with the worms. T1's are contaminated with the M1 nanite (ABC), whereas T2, 3, 4 and 5's are contaminated with M1 and M2, the latter having seized control of the host's batch of M1 nanites.

12. In the autumn of 1998 (CON-016) the base on New Greenham Common was finally lost, when it was destroyed by its nuclear self-destruct system. Likewise, Base 78 (Vostok) in Antarctica was also lost in the Spring of 1999 when due to an enemy Foothold situation, the base commander activated the self-destruct system, thus creating what is now called Lake Vostok. Fortunately in the closing months of 1998, six of its smaller GATES were removed for transport to bases elsewhere in the world; #50 US, #51 UK, #52 US, #53 France, #54 Russia, and #55 China. A remarkable achievement, baring in mind that two GATES had been lost during transit in 1968 along with the USS Scorpion and Soviet K129 submarines and their crews.

13. Since about the year 2000 the T1s have been stealing or trading for, nuclear materials to manufacture low yield, crude steam powered gun-type atomic weapons, intended to destroy STAR GATES. Experience has shown, that this is the only method for doing so. From our intelligence, it is believed that the T1s are trying to cut out a section of the STAR GATE network around a world designated as Phoenix, while at the same time attempting to impede both us and those fighting on behalf of the worms. Other members of the T1 community are trying to cut the Splines further down, to remove larger portions of the network. For many years these two courses of action, were mutually exclusive, and resulted in inter-factional conflict over the use of scarce nuclear materials, but that conflict appears now to have been resolved, how and why we do not know, but they are pursuing both plans similtainiously. Quite where they are sourcing sufficient materials from is suspected but unproven.

14. Over the past 20 years, the T1's have also engaged in experiments with biological weapons, aiming to infect UNSGC personnel and return them to Earth, in an attempt to induce a pandemic. Fortunately, although their personnel are up to the task, their fasilities are not, and so they have enjoyed very limited success in this respect, but that may change.

15. Finally, it should be noted here, that although not of a direct interest to members of the UNSGC outside of personal security, as their remit is off-world operations, operatives from Executive Forces (Tier 2) who are charged with counter-espionage/terrorism operations here on Earth, against representatives of the two warring factions, the T1's and T2's+, have encountered another growing threat. Indeed it is believed that for whatever reason, the attempted assasanation of Lieutenant Colonel Lara Atsuko Tachikoma SN300128, has been attributed to that same threat.

There is another player, codenamed Deep Black, quite what or who it represents is a matter for debate, but so far with the exception of the Tachikoma incident, where we have encountered their operatives, it has more often than not been in support of our work, but not always. They may of course be privy to intelligence that we do not have, nor can we be sure that they are working in our interests at all. Caution is advised.

END OF PRIMER

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