Sgt Whatisname

[[include component:image-block
name=http://scp-sandbox-3.wikidot.com/local--files/sgt-whatisname/Agdam-Azerbaijan-cover.jpg|
caption=SCP-XXXX-A, after the conclusion of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]]

Item #: SCP-xxxx

Object Class: Euclid

Picture-Present-day SCP-XXXX-A

Special Containment Procedures: As SCP-XXXX is currently contained, current Foundation efforts are to be directed towards disinformation and memetics programs in the affected region, due to the length of the conflict and the extended use of anomalous forces on both sides. All outside reporting, investigation, historical analysis, or other research on SCP-XXXX should be discouraged or manipulated through normal disinformation programs. Foundation RAISA internet bots are tasked with identifying, revising and/or removing any media placing significance on SCP-XXXX-A for any reason, or mentioning SCP-XXXX-B, the Armenian GOI 'Seekers of the Rock', or the Azerbaijani branch of GOI-0432 'The Black Hand' in connection with the conflict.

Due to the prolonged influence of the United Nations in the conflict, the Global Occult Committee maintains full knowledge of the phenomenon, and are to cooperate with Foundation containment efforts as specified by the provisions of Regional Co-Operation Agreement 2756-Delta. The GOC, under the auspices of the United Nations, currently stations a rapid response team in the guise of peacekeeping forces in SCP-XXXX-A, preventing both sides from accessing SCP-XXXX-B.

The Foundation is currently allowed to have one (1) observer attached to the team, as mandated by RCA 2756-D. This observer is responsible for maintaining the security checkpoint in the tunnel leading to SCP-XXXX-B, and controlling all entry in and out. Should either the Foundation or the GOC wish to conduct testing on SCP-XXXX-B, a team consisting of twelve (12) members, six Foundation level-two researchers and six GOC Special Observers will be sent to the site to conduct the experiment. Both the Site Director of Site-438 and the GOC Division Commander will have the authority to begin, freeze, or end an experiment at any time.

Currently, the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan are considered to be either infiltrated by or under the influence of their respective GOI's, and are therefore to be denied all knowledge of Foundation operations in the region. Due to this, covert Foundation operatives in the Haykakan Banak¹ and the Azərbaycan Silahlı Qüvvələri Quru Qoşunları² are to report all actionable intelligence involving the region to Provisional-Site 438 in Tbilisi, Georgia, to prevent undue influence from either GOI in Foundation operations.

Should an assault by either GOI defeat or destroy the GOC forces located in SCP-XXXX-A, and attempt to take control of SCP-XXXX-B, Operation Mansoul should be immediately implemented. The Foundation observer manning the security checkpoint to SCP-XXXX-B should immediately detonate the explosive charges in the tunnel, preventing access to SCP-XXXX-B. During the period that the attackers are forced to re-excavate the tunnel to SCP-XXXX-B, Foundation operatives in the military forces in conflict the attacking GOI will inform a known loyalist commander of the attack to SCP-XXXX-A. Site-438 will then intercept the transmissions from the commander and transmit falsified orders from their superiors to engage the GOI's forces occupying SCP-XXXX-A.

After a suitable period of time, the process should be repeated with a loyalist commander of the nation that attacked the GOC team, sparking a conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and preventing either GOI from maintaining a hold on SCP-XXXX-A. GOC operatives in the UN will then engage in talks with both nations to create a temporary cease-fire, and send another team to secure SCP-XXXX-A.

Description: SCP-XXXX is the region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, the location of a frozen military conflict between the nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The conflict between the two nations was instigated by two opposing Sarkic cults, a Proto-Sarkic cult in Armenia called the 'Seekers of the Rock', and a Neo-Sarkic cult in Azerbaijan called 'The Black Lodge'. These groups were aware of the anomalous phenomenon of Nagorno-Karabakh, and both believed control of the region was necessary to uphold their religious beliefs.

Both cults had been prevented from establishing control over the region by the Soviet Union's Gru-P, initially though the creation and enforcement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, and then their support for the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dissolution of Gru-P, and the subsequent declarations of independence of Armenia and Azerbaijan led to the failure of these efforts and war between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, with Armenia entering on the side of Nagorno-Karabakh.

SCP-XXXX-A refers to the town of █████, which was the main focus of conflict between both sides during the war, and eventually captured by Armenian forces. After the towns successful capture, Proto-Sarkic forces discovered and excavated SCP-XXXX-B, a flat rock, measuring █ by █ meters, and composed of hecatolite, more commonly known as moonstone SCP-XXXX-B is believed to be the location referred to by the Seekers of the Rock as the 'Rock of Apotheosis.'

SCP-XXXX-B is the location of a dimensional rift, which can be opened through the manipulation of certain forces in the area. While this can be done with proper technology, traditional forms of accessing this dimension focus on the introduction of certain diseases to specific parts of the body, amputation of the infected limb, and consumption of the limb by a priest in ritual, or the use of human sacrifices that are in the late stages of a irreversible stage 4 disease. The use of full human sacrifices creates more energy, but are more difficult to find, while the creation of infected limbs is easier, but less powerful. As the rock was located under █████'s mosque, the Proto-Sarkic forces converted it to a temple to Ion, preforming rituals and sacrifices with the local population in it. This caused the massive exodus of the local population, but provided Armenian forces with anomalous bio-weapons in their war against Azerbaijan.

[[include component:image-block name= Agdam Mosque.jpg |caption= SCP-XXXX-A's mosque, turned into a temple of Ion by the Seekers of the Rock]]

The development of bio-weapons using SCP-XXXX-B on the Armenian side gave them an initial advantage, due to [REDACTED], causing a estimated 16%-18% drop in the population of affected Azerbaijani regions. However, the Black Hand's knowledge of [REDACTED] allowed them to provide Azerbaijani forces with specialized tactics to combat them. The use of tactical fire-bombing became common on the front lines, protecting Azerbaijani forces and preventing Armenian forces from advancing. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan launched a massive counter-attack, in an attempt to retake █████. Due to the earlier exodus of the indigenous population, The Seekers of the Rock had not been able to import suitable sacrifices to resume bio-weapon production, and thus suffered massive casualties, with the main bulk of their forces scattered by the fire-bombing tactics of Azerbaijan.

Neither side was able to maintain strong enough control of █████ to control SCP-XXXX-B, and thus were denied the use of bio-weapons in general combat, though both groups continued making small amounts for use in local combat. Meanwhile, the Russian Federation, advised by former members of GRU-P, sent a large force of Ukrainian mercenaries to █████, and ordered the Armenian military to retreat from the town, or Russia would rescind their military support to Armenia. As a compromise, Armenia engaged in [REDACTED], with final operations establishing the border of an informal 'buffer zone', allowing deniable operations on both side to continue, in hope of accessing SCP-XXXX-B.

While neither side was able to take control of █████, Armenia managed to conquer over 14% of Azerbaijan with the bio-weapons they had created, and held on to enough of it to cause the war to stagnate. This brought Azerbaijan and Armenia to the negotiating table, where Russia, who chaired the peace talks, forced a general cease-fire by awarding the republic of Nagorno-Karabakh token control of the region. To enforce this, the Russians left the mercenaries they used to guard █████ indefinitely, and refused to settle the question of who the region belonged to, allowing low-level conflict to continue, while denying either side the ability to send sufficient combat power to retake the region.

The Foundation first discovered the assistance of SCP-XXXX from declassified GRU-P files in 1990, and supported the Russian Federation's actions to keep SCP-XXXX-B out of the control of both sides. A Foundation observer was attached to the Ukrainian brigade, and enacted current containment protocols. In 2008, the great recession made continued Russian financial support untenable, so the Russian government filed a formal request for a United Nations peacekeeping detachment to be stationed in the region. Once the situation was explained to the Security Council, the GOC was brought in and attempted to establish control over █████. The director of Site 438 [REDACTED], and with authorization from the Overseer's Council, RCA-2756-D was negotiated and enacted.

Addendum: In the early days of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire began a systemic program of expulsion and violence against ethnic Armenians in the empire, officially justified by the Ottoman government's claims that Armenians allied with the Russian Empires' invasion of northern Anatolia through the Caucasus mountains. The Ottoman Minister of War, Enver Pasha, sent a Ottoman army to encircle and destroy the Russian Caucasus Army at Sarikamish. Ottoman forces were routed in the battle, and almost completely destroyed. Returning to Constantinople, Enver Pasha publicly blamed his defeat on Armenians in the region having actively sided with the Russians, allowing the Ottomans to scapegoat Armenia and justify further actions against them.

While the official reasoning behind the anti-Armenian push remains the Ottoman Empires justification for it's further actions, it doesn't fully explain why they went to such lengths to mobilize against the Armenians, especially during a global war that was placing immense pressure on the Ottoman Empire, and would eventually lead to it's collapse. Further investigation has uncovered a series of reports by ████ ████████, an agent of the Committee for Union and Progress, a ultra-nationalist modernization political party that took control of the Ottoman Empire in 1913. These reports were the catalyst for the creation of the Special Organization, the group that carried out the main repression efforts against Armenians during the war.

4th of Şubat, 1915

I have been sent to Sarikamish to investigate concerns of Armenian support for Russian military operations in the region. The region is dangerous, with very little in the way of authority. The Russians were victorious here, yet all reports from loyalists in the area claim that the Russians remain in the main cities and prepared fortifications, attempting to avoid all contact with local peoples as if fearful of them. This seems to be directly at odds with claims of local support for the Russians, but it could just be the ineptitude of the local peasants. Will arrive in Sarikamish in two days at the latest.

6th of Şubat, 1915

I have finally arrived in Sarikamish, although to extremely strange circumstances. My knowledge of Russian and former life in the Caucasus Region of the empire was the main reason I was chosen for this assignment, yet it almost resulted in my death. When I approached the Russian checkpoint outside Sarikamish, and greeted the guards in Russian, I was immediately detained and forced to disrobe, almost to immodesty, before I was let loose. After, I was interrogated, and while my cover as a traveling merchant with ties to Russian territories in the Caucasians was supposed to integrate me with them, it was almost ignored, the guards instead questioning if I engaged in acts of immoral perversion or bodily mutilation of others or myself.

I believe only my genuine revulsion at these questions kept me safe, as it seemed to reassure them more then any answer I could have given. However, when I asked the purpose of these questions, I was simply told to avoid anybody who I met engaging or advocating these practices, and to report it to the nearest garrison. I was released without further issue, but quick discussions at the Sarikamish market and it's surroundings as I set up my cover as a merchant revealed instinctive fear of any stranger, more questions about my engagement in perverse actions, and, while a general opposition to the Russian forces prevailed, the public mood all seemed to consider them the lesser evil. Lesser to what, however, they would not share with a stranger.

7th of Şubat, 1915

I have settled in a small establishment in the outer part of Sarikamish, with a loyal Islamic family willing to serve the Emperor. They are nervous, however, and constantly warn me to avoid venturing too far into the wild areas around Sarikamish, or near the small towns scattered around the region. When I pressed them for a reason, they simply said that 'heretics' abounded there, and were a danger to all people of the Book. When I asked what they meant by that, they simply said that Christians and Jews were considered just as heretical as the Chosen of Allah. Further then that, they did not know, or at least would not say.

[[collapsible show="12th of Şubat, 1915" hide="12th of Şubat, 1915"]] Allah preserve me, I've made it back to safety! Well, relative safety, at least. The city is dead around me, the Russians preparing for an attack and the citizens in hiding. I must get this report down in case my fears are correct, and they are coming for me. The reports to the committee were wrong. The Armenians are not in collaboration with the Russians. They are instead agents of a far worse threat, one that I fear has penetrated further into the Empire then anyone dreamed.

After four days of establishing myself as a honorable but desperate merchant by selling goods at loss, I finally gained the trust of enough people in the city to start piecing together scraps of information about the 'heretics' that the city was so afraid of.

Apparently, they have been in the region for decades, slowing expanding from little-known hamlets in the wilderness to more populated areas. Originally appearing as godless peasants, they soon appeared in enough numbers that local Imams attempted to find their towns to bring them into the light of Allah.

These men would return, claiming success, but soon after the local mosques and mekteps would begin engaging in teachings that violated the Koran. They would claim visitations of a being called the 'Grand Karcist', who, through his peity and works, been called up by Allah to paradise, but then told that this version of paradise, like the entire universe, was temporary and corrupted, and tasked him with continuing his works to build a new paradise, called 'Ikunaan', that would last forever outside of this dimention, separate from the suffering of this one.

The main concern of his work, other then spreading the road to salvation to all he met, was the discovery of the "Rock of Apotheosis", which would allow his followers to assist him in building Ikuhaan by transforming their worship and sacrifices into power for his work. In return, he would grant 'boons' to his loyal supporters.

GRU-P report 1:

4: Scattered documentation suggests that the sexual assualt of healthy females, preferably virgins, by a group (three or more) of males with Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD's) can act as a substitute for the other two types of rituals, but the power provided can be unstable and cause the ritual to fail.-Dr. Matthew Peckham
(Either way, we sure as hell aren't going to try it ourselves, so what does it matter?-Dr. Hailey Mesons)
It is essential that all information for an anomaly be included for a proper investigation-Dr. Matthew Peckham

Footnotes

1. The Armenian Army

2. The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan