Secondary Objectives in Black (video game)

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This contains detailed speculative information regarding the possible background of the secondary objectives in BLACK. Please note that most of these items are purely speculative, and are based solely upon the displayed title of each objective as it is completed and discovered.

Contents

[edit] Veblensk City Street

A US extra-judicial procedure of sending criminal suspects, generally suspected terrorists or supporters of terrorist organizations, outside the United States for imprisonment and interrogation.
  • Intel – Red book - Login details to NSA Echelon system.
A possible reference to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell franchise. Also a possible reference to the ECHELON electronic-intelligence network.
  • Intel – Small Briefcase – Professor Janek’s Black Box
Based on a fictional device in the movie Sneakers. Created by Professor Gunter Janek, the device is capable of cracking any communications network and decrypting any communications on said network.
  • Blackmail – Laptop - Satellite Photographs of Papoose Lake
Papoose Lake is alleged to be the dumping grounds for any inert alien artifacts discovered by the American government. It resides within the boundaries of Area 51.
  • Blackmail – Laptop – Schematics of Experimental Aircraft codenamed Aurora
An allusion to the American military-industrial complex and it's development of stealth aircraft such as the B-2 Spirit and the SR-71 Blackbird. May also be referring to the fictional attack-bomber used by the American forces in Command & Conquer: Generals.
  • Intel – Red book – Detailed Blueprints of the New York Subway System
Possible reference to the Bruce Willis motion picture Die Hard with a Vengeance, where the antagonists plan on using abandoned rail segments to raid the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The possibilities for this reference are near-endless.

[edit] Treneska Border Crossing

  • Intel – Red Book – Details of How to Make a dirty bomb
The item is self-explanatory. Details plans on how to construct a Radiological Dispersal Device.
  • Blackmail – Safe – Covert Footage of North Korean Nuclear Power Plants
Reference to North Korea's desire to develop a nuclear arsenal.
  • Intel – Briefcase – A Covert Video of L.A. Airport Security
Undetermined. The possitibilites for this are near-endless.
  • Blackmail – Safe – Evidence of Domestic Wet Work in Washington DC
Undetermined. The possitibilites for this are near-endless.
  • Blackmail – Laptop – Smuggled CCTV footage from Camp X-Ray
Most likely a reference to occurances of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
  • Intel – Red Book – The Phone List for JJ Directorate
This could be a reference to K-Directorate, from the TV series Alias. If so, presumably a reference to Alias creator JJ Abrams.
  • Intel – Red Book – Planning Documents of a Poisoning of the Los Angeles Municipal Water Supply
Undetermined The possibilties for this are near-endless.
  • Intel – Aluminum Document Case – Evidence of Wire Transfers to Members of the WMD Council of Security
Possibly alluding that members of the United Nations took bribes in order to substantiate claims that Iraq was in possession of, and was deploying, Weapons of Mass Destruction.
  • Blackmail – Laptop – A List of CIA Front Companies Based in Europe
Related to the rumored presence of CIA officers operating within friendly nations.
  • Blackmail – Red Book – Detail of Seventh Wave Bank Accounts in Zurich
This piece of intel is directly related to the development of the storyline and the Seventh Wave's part in the story.

[edit] Nasran Town

  • Intel – Red Book – Flight Plans relating to Operation Reverse Rendition
Referring to the practice of friendly and allied nations sending foreign nationals to the United States for incarceration and interrogation. This would be considered the opposite of Extraordinary Rendition.
  • Blackmail – Safe – Blueprints for Narcissus
Most likely a reference to the lifeboat featured in the films Alien & Aliens, which was named Narcissus. It could also be a reference to the man behind the assassination of Roman Emperor Commodus.
  • Blackmail – Safe – A Covert Videotape marked Bohemian Grove
A reference to the alleged secret society that meets at the Bohemian Grove campground. The campground is allegedly host to a secret society that has been home to more than one US President, and several important law-makers and business interests.
  • Intel – Red Book – A Blueprint for Cinema of the Ukraine
A reference to the 1996 Mission: Impossible movie; the codeword Jon Voight uses with an airline stewardess to access the IMF mission tape.
  • Blackmail – Safe – A Recorded Interview with General Y
General Y is supposedly Mister X's boss, who allegedly liased with New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison during the investigation behind President Kennedy's assassination.
  • Intel – Red Book – Aerial Photographs of Downtown Las Vegas
Undetermined. This could possibly be another developer inside-joke, as members of the team visited Las Vegas to visit "The Gun Store", which is mentioned in the credits, to research the sensation of firing real weaponry.
  • Blackmail – Wooden Document Case – Documents Explaining Cell Phone Meaconing.
Meaconing is the process of transmitting (or retransmitting) telemetry data to navigational computers in order to disorient the system or operator. It's use is theoretically limited to applications against aircraft. The name of this document suggests the same procedure be used to take cellular phone networks off-line.
  • Intel – Red Book – Dossier Relating to SETEC Astronomy
This is a second reference to Sneakers. In the film, SETEC Astronomy is a Russian KGB front sponsoring the development of the crytographical Black Box. The name is apparently an anagram of Too Many Secrets. The discovery of this is crucial to the plot's development.
  • Intel – Red Book – Infrared Photographs of Global Thermonuclear War
This is a reference to the film WarGames. In the film, the main character, David, hacks into a government computer system (WOPR) and initiates a program called "Global Thermonuclear war", which he believes is a new computer game. It turns out that his actions trigger a series of events which almost cause World War 3
The ISA is a clandestine intelligence service and Black Ops entity that operates "above the law." It was founded in 1981 to develop and distribute intelligence for Operation Eagle Claw during the Iran hostage crisis.

[edit] Nasran Foundry

  • Blackmail – Safe – Hacked SEAL Magnaphone MX20/20
The Magnaphone MX20/20 is a secure satellite uplink that uses high frequencies to evade radio communication jamming or tapping. The makers of the Magnaphone like to joke that the term "hacked Magnaphone" is an oxymoron.
  • Intel – Red Book – List of Seventh Wave Sleeper Cells
More in-game plot development pertaining to the shadowy Seventh Wave.
  • Blackmail – Safe – Schematics of Camp Peary, Virginia
Camp Peary, aka The Farm is the modern CIA training facility. The inner composition of the area is a closely-held secret. The facility was originally designed as a Seabee training facility and detention center for captured German submariners.
  • Intel – Red Book – Details of the T-STAS System
Acronym for the Transportation Security Threat Assessment System. This system offers guidelines and regulations for the security screening of any and all individuals directly involved in the Air Transportation industry.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is the organized distribution network for crude oil transportation across the Alaskan slopes to the ice-free port of Valdez.
  • Intel – Red Book – Blueprints marked Phased Plasma Rifles (40W Range)
This is a reference to the original Terminator film staring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Upon locating a local gun shop, he asks the shop owner for a "phased plasma rifle in the 40 Watt range." The bewildered store owner, in order to avoid appearing unknowledgeable, replies "Hey, just what you see on the shelf!"
  • Blackmail – Laptop – Flight Plans Stamped "Aero Contractors Limited."
Aero Contractors is the private air-transportation firm that provides the CIAs Extraordinary Rendition services. It is apparently similar in modus operandi to Air America.
  • Blackmail – Laptop – A laptop marked Project Suter
Project Suter, and its many iterations (Suter, Suter II, Suter III), is a federally-funded project regarding theater-level operation intelligence coordination.
  • Intel – Red Book – Files marked Seventh Wave / Headstone (2004)
The presence of the Seventh Wave group alludes reference to the storyline, but the Headstone reference may be linked to Treadstone from The Bourne Identity series of novels and movies.

[edit] Tivliz Asylum

  • Blackmail – Safe – Documents stamped Pentagon Polo Step
Polo Step is a classification compartment regaring covert- and black-operations in the United States military. The terminology became public knowledge when William Arkin leaked information in a Los Angeles Times article regarding operational discussions headed by US Army General Tommy Franks.
Chelyabinsk Oblast was the Russian's primary plutonium production facility during the Cold War. The facility was also the site of a radioactive contamination incident in 1957.
  • Blackmail – Safe – Documents marked Big Safari/Langley
Big Safari is a United States Air Force-sponsored initiative advocating the modification of outmoded aircraft into a reconnaissance platform.
  • Intel – Red Book – A Security Pass for Hays House
This is an in-joke by the developers. "Hayes House" is the name of the office building in which Criterion Games were based during the game's development.[1]
  • Intel – Red Book – Aerial Photographs of Rachel, Nevada
Another reference to Area 51. Rachel, Nevada is the closest residential zone around Nellis Air Force Base and Area 51.
  • Blackmail – Aluminum Document Case – Transport Logs Showing Movement of Iraqi WMDs
Relating to the Iraq WMD controversy. These documents apparently claim that Iraq indeed had WMDs, but were able to move them before the American invasion of Iraq.
  • Blackmail – Laptop – The Employee List of American Literary Historical Society
In the movie Three Days of the Condor, the American Literary Historical Society is a CIA front. Joe Turner, portrayed by Robert Redford, works for the New York branch.
  • Intel – Red Book – Dossiers Marked Operation Take Away
Undetermined. Possibly a reference to Operation Dinner Out, from the movie Spy Game (another Robert Redford movie.)
  • Blackmail – Laptop – Documents marked Flight 800 Cover-Up
Reference to the 1996 incident involving the explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800 and the controversy surround several theories about the situation.
The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station is the US's oldest nuclear power station still in operation. It represents all the positive aspects of nuclear power, given it is engineered, designed, and deployed properly.

[edit] Vratska Dockyard

  • Intel – Red Book – Reconnaissance Data for MiG-310 Airbase at Bilyarsk
Most likely a reference to the movie Firefox starring Clint Eastwood. Eastwood portrays Mitchel Gant, who is tasked to infiltrate the Iron Curtain and steal an experimental Russian aircraft, the MiG-31. The reference is most likely related, even considering the ending 0 in -310.
  • Intel – Red Book – A Design Document marked “Dust Storm”
This refers to a game which was early in development at Criterion at about the same time as Black. Nothing has been heard of the game since the middle of 2003, so presumably the game is no longer in development. [2]
  • Intel – Silver Briefcase – CCTV Footage of a Robbery at Bank of Hanoi
The Bank of Hanoi reference is a throwback to the popular television show The A-Team. The A-Team was accused of committing this crime, and thrown in a military stockade pending trial. Finding this document sooner would have lead to the groups acquital, and is meant to be a humorous easter egg.
  • Intel – Red Book – Blueprints and Schematics marked Knight Industries
A second pop-culture reference. Refers to the corporation that designed and constructed KITT, the artificial intelligence behind the Knight 2000 from the popular television show Knight Rider.
  • Blackmail – Laptop – Maps of Los Angeles stamped Project THOR
A reference to the movie Blue Thunder, starring Roy Scheider as Frank Murphy. Murphy is an LAPD Air Support helicopter pilot who is invited to be the test-pilot for a new reconnaissance and attack helicopter. However, as the movie progresses, the project is discovered to be more than it appears. The presence of Los Angeles in the document title makes this the most likely theory.
It is also a possible reference to the Air Force operation doctrine of kinetic bombardment, which was codenamed Project Thor during its inception in the 1950s.
  • Blackmail – Safe – Home Addresses of the Ex-Presidents
Reference to the movie Point Break starring Keanu Reeves and Gary Busey as undercover FBI agents. Reeves and Busey are on the trail of an organized group of bank robbers named "the Ex-Presidents," because of the Halloween masks depicting ex-presidents.
  • Intel – Red Book – The true identity of Master Rodis
This is a reference to Nilo Rodis-Jamero, who assisted with writing the screenplay for Black. He is perhaps best known for his work on Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. [3]
Bondsteel is a detainment facility owned and operated by the United States government and is located in Kosovo, Serbia.

[edit] Graznei Bridge

  • Intel – Red Book – Plans to Poison the Woking Beer Festival
Beer Festival held in Woking, England. Special thanks is paid to the festival in the credits of BLACK.
  • Intel – Red Book – Reconnaissance Photographs of Prairie Chapel Ranch, Texas
Prairie Chapel is the southwestern retreat for current United States President George W. Bush. It is (amicably) referred to as "The West White House" because of the amount of time President Bush spends there.
  • Blackmail – Wooden Document Case – Proof of Death of K B Baer in 2001
This could be a reference to Jack Bauer from the TV series 24. Presumably they had to disguise the name to avoid legal issues. During the development of Black, the fourth season of 24 had just ended, and Jack Bauer had faked his own death. Presumably this is meant as a joke that Jack had really died. An interesting side-note is that Matry Papazian, who played the role of Jack Kellar in Black, won a role on 24 soon after.
  • Blackmail – Aluminum Document Case – Evidence of CIA Involvement in French Riots
A possible reference to the tumultuous period of unrest in France in 2005. Could be connected to the in-game documents alleging CIA presence in Europe.
  • Intel – Red Book – A Contact List for Seventh Wave Cell in Hamburg
More items related to the development of the Seventh Wave story-line in the game.
  • Intel – Red Book – Aerial Photographs of Fighter Base at Miramar
In reference to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, aka Fightertown, USA in San Diego, California. The US military teaches the fundamentals of the lost art of dogfighting at this school for "the Best of the Best" as it is called in the movie Top Gun starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis.

[edit] Spetriniv Gulag

  • Intel – Red Book – A Document stamped WI-99 EYE
WI-99 I is a United States government document stating that should one begin investigating terrorists activities worldwide, they would be excused from their position.
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is the training and operating facility for FEMA, which is house below-ground. Allegedly, an underground, complex system of bunkers and tunnels exists for the continuance of American government in the face of extraordinary circumstances.
  • Intel – Red Book – Contact Details of the Development Team
An easter egg referencing the creators and developers of BLACK.
  • Blackmail – Safe – A list of the Domestic Subversives
Domestic subversives are people who governments consider sucessionists, revolutionaries, or activists whos beliefs to not fit with the typical "American Way."
  • Blackmail – Wooden Document Case – Photos of Murder of Willie O’Keefe
Willie O'Keefe is a fictional character in the movie JFK. He is actually an amalgam of the Garrison witnesses: Raymond Broshears, David Logan, William Morris, and Perry Russo.
  • Recon - Blue Roll - Satellite shots of Unknown U.S. City
Undetermined
  • Intel – Red Book – Plans marked Operation Urban Warrior
Could be a reference to the American doctrine of Future Force Warrior.
  • Intel – Red Book – A DVD marked The Order of Death
Possibly a reference to the occult-following secret societies such as the Bohemian Grove and Skull 'n Bones.

A movie about occult "Secret Societies" like Bohemian Grove, Skull and Bones, etc.

  • Intel – Red Book – A detailed map of The Pentagon
Undetermined. The possibilities for this are near-endless.
  • Intel – Red Book – The full unedited version of the Zapruder film.
The Zapruder Film is the home-video of the JFK assassination captured by Abraham Zapruder. Many conspiracy theorists believe that the film has been edited by the United States government because there are portions incriminating those the government wishes to protect and that Zapruder failed to notice when he first viewed it.
  • Blackmail – Laptop – Data on Los Angeles Project T.H.O.R.
A second reference to the Blue Thunder.
  • Intel – Red Book – Aerial photographs of The White House
While a specific reference is unknown, the possibilities for this information is near-endless.
  • Intel – Silver Briefcase – A videotape filmed in Yamantau Mountain, Beloretsk
Beloretsk is a major iron foundry. Perhaps a target for terrorism.
  • Blackmail – Safe – Burnout Rendering Secrets
A developer's easter egg. BLACK and the Burnout series are both produced by the same developer, Criterion.
  • Intel – Silver Briefcase – A Soviet Nuclear Suitcase Bomb
The concept of suitcase bombs are prevalent in conspiracy thrillers, and BLACK is no exception. The suitcase bomb also possible outlines Lennox's ulterior motives as a terrorist financier.
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