NationStates Jolt Archive

The Western Desert had always been featureless, nothing but massive sand dunes and bermes marked the landscape that was potmarked with the odd mesa or oasis. The train ride was equally boring to Doctor Valerie Ross as the desert was flat as she starred out the window from her seat. The biodiesel-engined train travelled at about the same speed as a large truck but was surprisingly quiet and smooth, it was filled with people as it made its way from the crowded streets and stations in San Allimos and Alpha Hive City to the recently reactivated Dark Basin Research Facility.

Dark Basin was originally closed due to supposed "budget restrictions" and all domestic and foreign research firms sent back to their respective offices. It had only been in use as an Air Force fueling hub and a bombing range for some weapons testing. However, some unknown higher-ups ordered it be reopened and it had been receiving a number of transports delivering a myriad of materials, including research tools, supercomputers, a wide range of medical facilities and a number of boxes and crates marked with "Restricted Access" and seen only briefly before being whisked away to the high security storage facility by armed guards.

The train slowed as it reached the main station which lay just outside the facility and surrounded by the residential dormatories which resembled a warehouse instead of living spaces. Dr. Ross rose to her feet and collected her leather briefcase, the earlier day's edition of the San Allimos Express and coat as she made her way out of the cabin and into the passenger car's hallway where she was greeted by a number of men in combat boots and desert uniforms covered with Air Force and Army insignia. The crowds stepped off the trains and many of the military personnel were greeted by officers while other medical and administrative personnel were greeted by liason officials in suits. Each group was brought to their respective vehicles, large biodiesel trucks and sleek sport utility vehicles alike.

While she sat in the back of a black Ford Explorer driving through one of the security gates, Valerie thought back to when she was invited to work at Dark Basin. She had just received her doctorate in medicine from the University of Arrio with her thesis on the effects of the biological agents on the Aequatian population affected by the attacks made by the nation of Federban years before and whether or not they continue to have an effect on the population today. She met with the administrator of Dark Basin, Doctor Bernard Sherman, in his office in Magna Casa to discuss a research position that was available to her area of expertise at the reactiviated facility. She was more than interested in the position even more so after discovering that her work would be documented and would help in the progress of the Republic. After a brief orientation meeting with Dr. Sherman and the other administration executives of the facility, they were sent away to their respective offices which had been prepared for them the day before so they could begin their work immediately on the introductions of the separate research teams and procedures for the coming experiments. Unknown to the scientists, their subjects were already en route aboard large military transport planes from the large number of prisoner camps across the nation, tomorrow, Unit 1927 would begin their work for the Republic's continuing progress.

The massive gray C-180 transport aircraft moved along the tarmac as it rolled into one of the hardened aircraft hangers and away from any prying eyes that may have been around. Once inside and the large hanger doors shut, the rear cargo compartment ramp opened with a whine of hydrauilics as it reached the floor. Sitting in the middle of the compartment were nearly a hundred and fifty people, all dressed in simple prisoner jumpsuits and restrained to the aircraft's floor with handcuffs and magnetic locks, standing along the sides of the compartment were soldiers in full equipment and armed with G76 rifles. Slowly, the soldiers began to release the magnetic locks and guided them out in small groups to the hanger floor where base personnel began to organize them into larger groups and placed them within covered trucks that would bring the prisoners across the base to waiting detention centres where they would be held until they were needed for whatever processes the research personnel were performing. All throughout the night, Air Force transports were arriving and trucks were delivering the prisoners to the detention centres for holding, all while the research personnel slept in the residential dorms not far from the airfield itself.

The sand revealed its ivory shine as the sun rose on the horizon, spreading its light across the base and Western Desert, and awoke Dr. Ross before her alarm's buzzer would have the chance. She rose from her spartan bed with its thin sheets and top blanket, dressed in nothing more than a pair of white cotton underwear and an old t-shirt with the emblem of the Arrio University's Soccer team on the front, and made her way towards the small space of countertop that counted for her kitchen, breakfast and dinner table and picked up her pack of cigarettes and a small plastic lighter and before long she was taking a drag from it as the sun continued to rise in the morning sky. After half an hour she was dressed and was making her way down to the tram station that would allow her access to the lower levels of the facility.

The tests had begun almost as soon as the first prisoners had started to arrive, many being taken outside into the desert by military trucks along with numerous units such as infantry, armoured vehicles and attack helicopters. Once they were away from the base, engineers setup tents for the scientists as the test subjects were organized for the coming experiments. One group of around twenty individuals, ten male and ten female, were secured to the ground with chains and magnetic locks by armed soldiers in desert pattern protective suits and gasmasks. One of the women started screaming in terror as a pair of soldiers locked her chains in place, which warranted a severe beating from one of the guards to subdue the panic that grew within the group. Once they were secured, the soldiers returned to a staging position about a hundred metres away as artillery fire could be heard several kilometres away, Sabre self-propelled guns deployed within the base's confines, and the whistle of shells as they tore through the air. Screams could be heard again as the ammunition started to fall, but nothing hit the ground as the shells burst in the air with a nominal explosion. Immediately the soldiers started digital timers and watched as the terrified group's screams fell silent and they slowly writhed on the fine ivory sand before finally laying still. A second barrage followed, the shells exploding in the air and a fine white rain fell over the area. They stopped the timers and a pair of soldiers walked over to the collection of bodies with a small meter which read the amount of the poison in the air and checked the corpses to ensure that death had been reached fully. A grim thumbs-up gesture was given by one of the pair to the rest of the group and they reported back to the eager scientists, who were delighted at the immediate success of the weapon. One of the scientists commented to another, "It is a most efficient agent, returning to its base elements once the neutralizing agent is deployed, but causing an almost instant death to its victims, being immediately absorbed through inhalation and skin contact." The agent being used is the next generation of the Aequatian CN-20 agent, this particular agent is known in military circles as the Foxtrot agent for its version designation letter, CN-20F.

Other tests conducted the same day were of improved incendiary weapons used by infantry, vehicles and aircraft. Like the Foxtrot agent tests, prisoners were secured with chains and magnetic locks and various fire tests were conducted. One such test included an AH-16 gunship moving in low and firing a 130mm rocket which used a proximity fuse to explode above its target, raining white phosphorus over its subjects, scores would scream in agony from the burns only to be cruelly euthanized by the soldiers donned in protective gear after watching the victims tear at their own flesh and tissue in vain attempts to remove the burning chemical from their bodies, many would lose their own fingers, having the tissue and bone melt away from the high temperature. Other tests included the use of infantry and vehicle flamethrowers, cutting swathes through groups of people and simply witnessing their cries as they slowly slumped over into the sand and died.

the third test conducted outside of the main base was that of directed energy weapons. An M1 Panther tank chassis fitted with a large superstructure and mounting a large microwave projection unit. Groups of test subjects were ordered to march from a distance of about three hundred metres towards the vehicle and they did so until the vehicle's crew activated the weapon. Once the tank was activated, many fell to their knees as the water within their bodies began to evaporate immediately and they shrieked with pain as those that would not rise from the order to continue marching were shot by a single soldier manning an MG76 machinegun atop the tank. The vehicle continued to expose the prisoners to the weapon until all had either succumbed to the pain and were shot or had died from the heat generated from the weapon and their own bodily fluids becoming superheated within themslves.

Deep beneath the Earth, more sinister experiments were being performed as doctors and scientists, who were no longer bound by the traditional laws of ethics, began their twisted work against the prisoners. The Sector C labs, once used for high technology experiments, were now filled with screams as the human tests began with prisoners having wounds inflicted on them and then infected with bacteria such as streptococcus, gas gangrene, and tetanus. They would interupt the circulation of blood by tying off blood vessels at both ends of the wound to create a condition similar to that of a battlefield wound. Infection was aggravated by forcing wood shavings and ground glass into the wounds. The infection was treated with a number of synthetic drugs meant to combat infection to determine their effectiveness.

Another experiment conducted using synthetic drugs was that with the disease Typhus. Numerous healthy prisoners were deliberately infected with typhus bacteria in order to keep the bacteria alive; over 90 percent of the victims died as a result. Other healthy inmates were used to determine the effectiveness of different spotted fever vaccines and of various chemical substances. In the course of these experiments 75 percent of the selected number of inmates were vaccinated with one of the vaccines or nourished with one of the chemical substances and, after a period of 3 to 4 weeks, were infected with spotted fever germs. The remaining 25 percent were infected without any previous protection in order to compare the effectiveness of the vaccines and the chemical substances. As a result, hundreds of the persons experimented upon died. Experiments with yellow fever, smallpox, typhus, paratyphus A and B, cholera, and diphtheria were also conducted, with similarly lethal results to the test subjects.

While this was taking place, other labs were used to test tissue regeneration in bones, muscles and nerves with samples being removed from test subjects and being implanted in others to see how long it would take for the new tissue to regenerate in a new body or whether they would regenerate at all. Those that did not survive the transplants had autopsies conducted while those that did were killed so that autopsies could be performed to see what circumstances allowed them to survive. Others would have sections of their digestive tracts removed, including the stomach, and have their oesophagus lengthened and attached to the intestines while they were fed food and vitamin supplements that would not require the processes normally performed by the stomach in experiements to see if humans could be conditioned to eat more efficiently.