|
This article is a stub. It is short and in need of fortification. Why not help out? |
|
|
Incoming! The subject of this article is a recent or unreleased addition to a Battlefield game. It may contain speculation or errors. Have new, relevant information to add? Why not help out? |
— Official Battlefield website
Intel Wars is a first podcast episode of the "World of Battlefield 2042" audio series released on October 14th, 2021. The podcast is available to listen on Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play. This episode follows Mitahli Reed, a journalist uncovers the truth behind incident at Görlitz, Germany.
Transcript[]
EXT. GÖRLITZ SUBURBS - NIGHT COMMS CHATTER RIPS IN. It’s STATICKY and GARBLED fading in and out.
OPS COMMANDER (V.O.) ETA to capsule re-entry 20 seconds. Please advise visual confirmation...
For a moment it’s quiet. Then... a faint whistle from above grows LOUDER and LOUDER, until it’s HOWLING AND SCREECHING towards us-- then, BOOM!
THE SOUND OF a CAPSULE CRASH LANDING fills our ears.
Once again, it quiets down enough for us to hear--
AMERICAN SOLDIER (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Bluehawk has landed. Repeat, Bluehawk has landed.
We can hear the sounds of fire SMOLDERING--
OPS COMMANDER (V.O.)
Secure the area. Confirm payload.
AMERICAN SOLDIER (V.O.)
Approaching the capsule now.
FOOTSTEPS. A KEY CODE is entered. Then a VACUUM-SEALED CAPSULE DOOR OPENS. SOMETHING IS REMOVED from it.
AMERICAN SOLDIER (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Data drive secured.
Then suddenly-- PWWWW! A SILENCED GUNSHOT rings out, then another.
AMERICAN SOLDIER (V.O.) (CONT'D)
I’m surrounded!
COUNTER-FIRE! Then, it’s an all-out firefight!
OPS COMMANDER (V.O.)
Lieutenant, you're breaking up. Can you hear me?
AMERICAN SOLDIER (V.O.)
They’re coming for the dri--
Another GUNSHOT RINGS out. The SOLDIER HAS BEEN SNIPED mid-sentence. He hits the ground with a THUD.
The audio from the armed conflict LOWERS as the host MITAHLI REED (30s) begins to speak...
MITHALI REED
The sounds you are hearing are a leaked transmission I obtained through an anonymous source. It’s from a battle that erupted in the town of Görlitz, on the former Poland-Germany border, just last night...
RUSSIAN VOICE (V.O.) (IN RUSSIAN)
We’ve got possession of the drive.
The Russians can be heard RUNNING through the city streets.
CAR ALARMS. KLAXONS. SIRENS. GUNFIRE gets further away.
RUSSIAN VOICE (V.O.) (CONT’D) (IN RUSSIAN)
We’re under fire! Protect the data drive!
SECOND RUSSIAN VOICE (V.O.) (IN RUSSIAN)
D’ah! “Stray dogs” everywhere!
Then, they’re ATTACKED AT CLOSE RANGE. IT’S HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT. GRUNT. CLOTHES. BODIES HITTING WALLS. PAVEMENT. CRACK.
A KNIFE HITS EACH RUSSIAN. LIKELY SLITTING THEIR THROATS. Then silence. THE DRIVE IS PICKED UP OFF THE GROUND.
POLISH NO-PAT (V.O.)
Lis, I’ve got the data drive!
EWELINA LIS (V.O.) (IN POLISH)
Quick!
(IN ENGLISH)
Check the contents! Quick!
Then CLICKING NOISES, like she’s connecting a drive to a device.
POLISH NO-PAT (V.O.)
It’s loading!
There’s a beep, then--
POLISH NO-PAT (V.O.) (CONT'D)
What is Operation Steadfast Refuge?
EWELINA LIS (V.O.)
I don’t know... Let’s move!
GUNFIRE GETTING CLOSER--
TRANSITION BACK TO REED NARRATING:
REED
War broke out eight days ago. The US and Russia finally blinked and now we are all in the crosshairs.
FADE IN NEWSREELS, dissolving from one reporter to the next:
US MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
Bullets are flying in the former German city of Görlitz today after--
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--chaos that ensued turned the Polish border town into another “HAZARD ZONE”--
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
Görlitz is yet another city to fall victim to the growing Russian/American--
US FEMALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
The US/Russia war rages on tonight, ignited only days ago in the wake of the battle of Doha--
FADE OUT REPORTERS, TRANSITION BACK TO REED NARRATING:
REED
While the media has been reporting that the voices you’ve just heard belong to American and Russian soldiers, as you’ll soon see, that might not be the whole story. I’m your host, Mithali Reed. This is the REED REPORT. Today is October 28, 2042. Episode 996. “The Intel Wars.”
THEME MUSIC SWELLS and then FADES.
Reed NARRATES her opening:
REED (NARRATION)
A war of this scale was, of course, the last thing the world needed following a decade of disaster...
FADE IN NEWS/WEATHER CLIPS.
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
Rising sea levels have ravaged 50% of global shipping ports--
IRISH FEMALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--threatening food supply chains for billions...
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--with some now calling this a Second Great Depression...
RUSSIAN MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
Both the US and Russia are in an escalating fight over vital resources--
US FEMALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
United Nations officials estimate that 1.2 billion people have been displaced--
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--causing the greatest refugee crisis in human history.
TRANSITION BACK TO REED, NARRATING:
REED (NARRATION)
This war will be especially hard on those who’ve already lost so much. The Non-Patriated.
REED (CONT’D)
But-- perhaps some No-Pats have decided not to sit on the sidelines, and see this war as an opportunity to fight for their future...
REED (CONT'D)
To unpack what exactly was going on in the leaked audio I reached out to an expert on the ground...
The SOUNDS of an in-person interview FADE IN:
Look at this place-- it survived the Great War--
REED NARRATES FOR A MOMENT over audio from the interview:
REED (NARRATION)
I’m outside Görlitz, which is now under American occupation, to learn what happened firsthand. I’ve been put in touch with a former G.R.U. agent-- Russian Intelligence, who I’ll just refer to as Anton.
THEY’RE IN REED’S CAR. SHE PLAYS THE LEAKED AUDIO THROUGH THE CAR SPEAKERS, LOW ENOUGH FOR US TO HEAR ANTON AND HER SPEAK OVER.
REED (CONT'D)
So tell me, Anton, what is it you hear on that tape?
--The Americans rush to the capsule...
ANTON
That is the American soldiers going for the capsule, for the drive--
REED
Wait, wait, wait. So, what is “the capsule?”
ANTON
Low Orbit Reconnaissance Capsules. Whatever they see is encoded to an internal hard drive and then shot to Earth.
REED
Are you saying this crash was intentional?
ANTON
Very much so.
REED
Why design capsules that have to be physically recovered?
ANTON
In a digital world, the best-kept secret is analog. Ever since the blackout, it’s the most secure option they have.
A MUSIC TRANSITION FADES UP.
THEN KLAXONS, EMERGENCY BROADCAST SOUNDS.
FADE IN NEWS CLIPS. DISSOLVE FROM ONE TO THE OTHER:
REED (NARRATION)
Of course, what Anton is referring to is the blackout of 2040.
FADE IN NEWS CLIPS. DISSOLVE FROM ONE TO THE OTHER:
IRISH FEMALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
In a shocking turn of events, the world’s hopes of recovery were devastated today.
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
As authorities estimated that more than 70% of orbiting satellites have malfunctioned--
RUSSIAN MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--has caused a global blackout of communications and navigation systems--
US MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--including dozens of fatal plane crashes around major cities.
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
Both US and Russia are accusing the other of causing the incident.
FADE OUT CLIPS. BACK TO REED AND ANTON, WALKING AND TALKING:
ANTON
The blackout was the biggest disaster of the last decade... Orbital Reconnaissance is what kept Russia and the US from going to war with each other, because they could see what the other was doing, for the most part.
REED
...OK. But now, what does this have to do with what happened in Görlitz?
ANTON
With the satellites gone, we couldn’t eavesdrop anymore. For a critical period, everything would rely on human intelligence. Operatives. Specialists. Spies. We ultimately settled on a controversial solution, and America wasn’t far behind... No-Pats.
REED NARRATES:
REED (NARRATION)
Anton explains that without satellite reconnaissance both superpowers turned to No-Pats to beef up their intelligence capabilities. What the US and Russia didn’t count on was that when they finally did get satellites back into the sky, those same No-Pats began to intercept every signal that they could get their hands on.
FADE IN NEWS REPORT:
DR. NATHAN (V.O.)
... There are over 40 failed states and counting. Each one of them had their own MI6, their Mossad, their NSA.
IRISH FEMALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
The Non-Patriated, or No-Pats as they like to be called, are still shunning international aid--
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--preferring instead to remain autonomous and provide for themselves.
FADE OUT NEWS REPORT. TRANSITION BACK TO INTERVIEW:
REED
What do you think was on this capsule that’s so dangerous?
ANTON
No, it’s not what’s on it, it’s who’s after it.
REED
America and Russia?
ANTON
There were never any Russian soldiers there.
--We cut back to the LEAKED AUDIO for a moment of the Russians stealing the drive then being ambushed...
ANTON (CONT’D)
Those aren’t Russian soldiers, they’re Russian-speaking No-Pats...
REED
How do you know?
ANTON
Well, because they say “stray dogs”. That’s what No-Pats call each other in my part of the world.
--Then the Russians are ambushed as well... And the audio stops.
REED
Wait a second, the squad that attacked the Americans--
ANTON
--Yes.
REED
And the squad at the end, the Polish woman--
ANTON
--Yes, yes.
REED
--All No-Pats? Fighting each other?
ANTON
Absolutely. Some of these drives are worth their weight in gold. The past few times these things have come down, it’s like a No-Pat Christmas morning.
REED
But aren’t No-Pats generally on the same side? After the same things?
ANTON
Well, this war is changing that— and fast...
REED NARRATES:
REED (NARRATION)
Perhaps war has drawn new dividing lines within the No-Pat ranks. It makes sense: intel is a universal commodity. Russia and the US’s new capsules could be too tempting for those just trying to survive. Maybe the binds that kept them together are starting to fray... To dig deeper into this idea I knew there was only one person I could call...
SOMEBODY DIALS A PHONE. IT RINGS. SOMEBODY ANSWERS.
KAYVAN (V.O.)
Hello?
REED
Hi. Kayvan?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
(to a passer by)
Salam alaykum.
(to Reed)
Hi-- Hello.
REED NARRATES FOR A MOMENT:
REED (NARRATION)
The man I’m talking to is Kayvan Bechir, once a freelance journalist.
BACK TO PHONE CALL:
REED (CONT'D)
Kayvan, I’m calling because I’m wondering if you can shed some light on something I just learned. Last night in Görlitz, there was apparently--
KAYVAN (V.O.)
--I’m sorry. I cannot talk about Görlitz.
REED
I just want to know, is it possible that armed No-Pats are fighting each other over intel?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
--Is it possible? Absolutely. They are.
REED
Don’t you think the Non-Patriated is a serious threat to world stability?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
The Non-Patriated are the symptom of that instability, not the cause.
REED
OK... But you are saying that they’re fighting each other. How did this rift begin?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
They never were unified. The mainstream media just labeled every refugee, every displaced person, as a No-Pat. There’s a lot of factions out there that agree on nothing more than staying alive.
REED
What do the Non-Patriated even do with this intel, when they get it? Is this about money or making a statement?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
What? No-Pat Specialists aren’t some 15-year old kids looking to ‘take down the man’. These are skilled soldiers, spies. They understand the value of an asset when they see one.
REED
What’s an example of what the Non-Patriated have been able to do with something like this?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
Well... one briefcase was able to start this whole war...
AND THAT MAKES REED PAUSE--
REED
How exactly did No-Pats started--
KAYVAN (V.O.)
--Not the No-Pats. It was one man, Oz.
MUSIC TRANSITION. FADE IN NEWS REPORTS ABOUT OZ.
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
Amongst the handful of No-Pat thought leaders, one voice stands out from the herd-
US MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--known only as Oz-
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--he speaks to the masses mostly through recorded messages and speeches-
IRISH FEMALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
Some have labeled him as a terrorist, while others hail him as a hero.
BRITISH MALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
--he commands thousands of No-Pat task forces around the globe...
FADE IN OZ SPEECH. It’s a transmission, not a live event.
OZ (V.O.)
We have learned the harsh lessons this new world has taught us. We survived. That is why they hate us... Ask not what your country can do for you-- ask what it has EVER done for you!
TRANSITION BACK TO REED NARRATING:
REED
If you listen to any of Oz’s transmissions one thing is clear. He thinks the world is a broken place that still needs to be smashed further, to rebuild. But the idea that he would start a war, or could, of this scale, seems impossible. What could a refugee soldier use to lure these two superpowers into open war?
TRANSITION TO REED SPEAKING WITH KAYVAN:
REED (CONT'D)
The war began 8 days ago-- that’s what we’re being told— when Russian forces collided in Doha with US Forces on a top-secret mission.
KAYVAN (V.O.)
Right, but how did Russia know to be there at that exact moment? Oz was able to bait them with intel that he knew they wouldn’t resist--
REED
What was the intel?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
I can’t say.
REED
--In the Görlitz transmission, there’s mention of something called “Operation Steadfast Refuge”.
KAYVAN (V.O.)
I’m not going to talk about that.
REED
Ugh, why did you agree to speak to me today?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
--Because... there’s people out there that have been seduced by Oz’s rhetoric. The idea of No-Pats as a recognized force in the world, even a superpower in their own right, is a romantic idea to those suffering. But they need to understand the lengths he will go to achieve that end are horrific and his own people are dispensable.
KAYVAN (V.O.) (CONT’D)
This war isn’t the end goal for Oz, it’s just the beginning...
REED
The beginning... The beginning of what?
KAYVAN (V.O.)
Get back!
There’s a long pause-- and then-- AN EXPLOSION RINGS OUT behind Kayvan. MORTAR FIRE screeches in--
CLICK. The line goes dead.
REED
Kayvan?... Kayvan?
TRANSITION TO REED NARRATING:
REED (NARRATION)
I haven’t been able to reach him ever since.
MUSIC FADES IN over which we REPEAT LIS/NO-PAT DIALOGUE FROM COLD OPEN:
BACK TO THE RUNNING RUSSIANS. GUNFIRE SUDDENLY RIPS OUT. THEY GRUNT. RUN. PIVOT.
RUSSIAN VOICE (V.O.)
(IN RUSSIAN)
We’re under fire! Protect the data drive!
SECOND RUSSIAN VOICE (V.O.)
(IN RUSSIAN)
D’ah! “Stray dogs” everywhere!
Then, they’re ATTACKED AT CLOSE RANGE. IT’S HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT. GRUNT. CLOTHES. BODIES HITTING WALLS. PAVEMENT. CRACK.
A KNIFE HITS EACH RUSSIAN. LIKELY SLITTING THEIR THROATS. Then silence. THE DRIVE IS PICKED UP OFF THE GROUND.
EWELINA LIS (V.O.)
(IN POLISH)
Quick!
(IN ENGLISH)
Check the contents! Quick!
POLISH NO-PAT (V.O.)
It’s loading!
POLISH NO-PAT (V.O.) (CONT'D)
What is Operation Steadfast Refuge?
FADE OUT AUDIO LEAK AND MUSIC. TRANSITION TO REED, NARRATING:
REED (NARRATION)
Maybe the old adage is right, in a world gone mad, only the mad are sane. As crazy as it sounds, in a way there was something comforting about the mainstream media’s narrative - the last two superpowers, finally coming to blows. But, what if the US and Russia are really just puppets in this war? And it’s the No-Pats that have figured out how to pull their strings? If what Kayvan Bechir says is true, then this war began because one No-Pat wanted it to, and he was able to use intel to make that happen. (CONT’D)
REED (NARRATION) (CONT’D)
And clearly, this isn’t over. What is Operation Steadfast Refuge? What happened in Doha? As the Görlitz transmissions prove, these Intel Wars continue. And the next time the wrong person gets the wrong piece of information, the fallout could be even worse... (beat)
This has been Mithali Reed with the Reed Report. Stay safe out there...
END OF EPISODE.