The Original Black Ops II Campaign We Never Saw

[RadZakpak]

If you have spent any time in the CIA Data Server within Black Ops, you may have noticed there is quite a bit of information from after the events of the campaign, which ends in 1968. There are multiple events referenced which seem to conflict with the story put forth in Black Ops II.

 

The Black Ops II that we know continues the Mason story by following his son, David, as he tracks down Raul Menendez, a terrorist seeking revenge against the Mason family, and the United States as a whole. Some missions take place in the past, their details relayed by an aged Frank Woods who shares them with David. In 1986, Alex Mason is peacefully living in retirement in Alaska with his son, only being called back to save Frank Woods who has been captured by a younger Raul Menendez. Between Black Ops and Black Ops II, Frank Woods had escaped captivity in 1972 to return to the CIA.

 

This is not congruent with the picture painted in Black Ops' CIA Data Server, however. Mason is less than at peace after the events of Black Ops:

 

From:	Weaver, Grigori
To:	Hudson, Jason
Date/Time:	Monday, July 1, 1968
Subject:	Mason's Health - Keep An Eye on Mason
Hudson, Caught Mason puking in the john earlier today and that wasn't the first time. He's jittery; still mumbling to himself. Says he's got headaches, the doc gave him aspirin, and it's no big thing. My father Gedeon, God rest his soul, suffered from extreme migraines too. And Mason's got all the signs. I told him to get himself ghost, but he refuses. Something about unfinished business. I heard the shrink forcing him to take a leave of absence. Probably a good thing. Maybe you can talk to him. Tell him to take it easy. Retire. He'll listen to you. I'd do it, but it's hard to take a guy seriously when he looks like a pirate, am I right? That bastard Kravchenko did a number on my eye, but I'll take that any day over whatever Mason's going through. FYI. GW

 

Ten years after the end of Black Ops, Mason receives this mysterious message from -- X --:

Quote

July 4, 1978

Mr. Mason --

Woods is alive and remains the sole remaining American guest at the Hanoi Hilton.

Thought you should know.

-- X --

With what we know in Black Ops II, however, this makes no sense. Woods was transferred from the Hanoi Hilton to Da Nang, and then escaped in 1972, six years before this note. This leads me to believe plans changed sometime between Black Ops and Black Ops 2, as they often do in game development. But what other messages did -- X -- send?

 

Well before that previous note, -- X -- left this note:

Quote

June 30, 1978

Mr. Mason --

Clarke was intending to hide in Johannesburg. He has a brother there. It's a good place to start.

-- X --

Daniel Clarke was a freelance scientist working for Dr. Steiner in stabilizing Nova 6. He was killed in the mission "Numbers" as he tried to flee, knowing Steiner had no further use for him and needed to tie up loose ends. This reference to Johannesburg is not a one time occurrence, in fact, I believe it is the key to figuring out where Black Ops II was originally going to go.

 

Introducing Operation Charybdis: A top-secret CIA operation to track down Alex Mason, Jason Hudson, and Grigori Weaver in Johannesburg.

Spoiler

DATE: October 27, 1978

MEMORANDUM TO: Richard Kain (ADDO/SAD)

FROM: Ryan Jackson, Special Assistant to ADDO/SAD

SUBJECT: BURN NOTICE/OPERATION CHARYBDIS

Sir,

As instructed, I have lined up the necessary assets for Operation Charybdis; the full roster and pre-op details have been forwarded to you in a separate memorandum. In light of recent events, I agree with the assessment that there is no other alternative but to cleanse the situation due to the unreliability of the mental state of former operative Alex Mason.

We are at an operational crossroads. the evidence amassed to date leads me to no other conclusion other than agent Alex Mason and his supporters Jason Hudson and Grigori "Greg" Weaver are clear and present threats to national security.

In conjunction with MI-6, we have assigned a joint operational team to deal with the problem at hand. With your permission and considering my knowledge of Op-40, its agents, and the personal and professional history of Alex Mason, I request that I be assigned temporary field operation status to the operation team in an advisory capacity in order to close this chapter personally.

SAS has assigned to one Jonathan Price as their Lead Operator. though inordinately young for such a role, both MI-6 and SAS have ensured us that he is a veritable prodigy and will not fail to meet the objectives of the mission. I request leave to accompany Price and his team to South Africa to see to it that agents Mason, Hudson and Weaver are dealt with permanently.

Sincerely,

Ryan Jackson

Special Assistant to ADDO/SAD

Alex Mason headed for Johannesburg in search of Daniel Clarke's brother, perhaps on some sort of mission to track down and kill him due to a potential connection to Project Nova. His motivations are not totally known, but it was clear he was ready to go through with it:

From:	Hudson, Jason
To:	Mason, Alex
Date/Time:	Tuesday, July 4, 1978
Subject:	Don't Do It
Mason, I saw the report and I know what you're thinking. Stay away from Johannesburg, you got that? They're watching you, especially that Kain guy up in S.A.D. He's just dying for you to blow it. Don't give him the excuse. Stay away from Johannesburg, Mason. Stay away. JH.

 

To catch everyone up to speed on Hudson and Mason's relationship, everyone in the CIA doubted Mason's mind could be fixed after he killed Steiner, but Hudson refused to simply let Mason be killed. He used methods from MKUltra to try and break through to him and find the location of the Numbers station, which was set to activate sleeper agents across the US and release Nova 6 on the population. After finding the station and killing Dragovich, the bond and trust between the two became closer. Weaver came to trust him as well. It seems that Mason left for Johannesburg, and Hudson and Weaver followed him there. Richard Kain deemed this a danger to national security. How did Hudson know that Richard Kain was watching them? Because our friend, -- X --, told him:

Quote

June 19, 1978

Mr. Hudson—Do not trust D. King. He reports directly to Richard Kain. Kain has eye on you. Be wary.

-- X --

 

I've discussed the enigma that is D. King in another thread, but who is Richard Kain? Richard Kain is the Associate Deputy Director of the CIA's Special Activities Division. He was the one leading all of the Black Operations performed throughout the campaign. Working with him is Ryan Jackson, a chief analyst in the CIA. His name is a play on Jack Ryan, a famous Tom Clancy character who is also an analyst in the CIA. He may not get any direct mention in the campaign, but he is pretty important behind the scenes.

 

He is the one who selects candidates for Operation 40, the mission to assassinate Fidel Castro, which brought Woods, Mason, and Bowman together. He is the author of all but one piece of intel collected in the campaign. It is also important to note that even before Mason went rogue and went to Rebirth Island to kill Steiner, Ryan Jackson heavily distrusted him, believing him to be compromised after escaping Vorkuta. It was Jackson who proposed that escaping Vorkuta would be impossible for just two men, and that his escape may have been purposely allowed. Nevertheless, Mason is allowed to be a field agent:

From:	Kain, Richard
To:	Jackson, Ryan
Date/Time:	Wednesday, October 23, 1963
Subject:	RE: Op Status - Mason
Ryan, Your concerns are sound but your request to reassess Agent Mason's field status is denied. The call has been made and it's over. Mason offers the Agency the best opportunity to track down and eliminate Dragovich, You've compiled the reports; you know this better than anyone. Leave it alone. Kain

 

So Jackson does not trust Mason, and didn't right from the start. Skipping ahead to 1978, Richard Kain promotes Ryan Jackson to being his Special Assistant. Sometime after July 4th of that year, Mason, Hudson, and Weaver go to Johannesburg. Then, Kain asks Jackson to compile all known information on Nova 6:

Spoiler

From:	Kain, Richard
To:	Jackson, Ryan
Date/Time:	Monday, September 25, 1978
Subject:	C
Ryan, I want you to start a file under the heading OP-C. No eyes other than you and me. Start with a compilation of everything we have on NOVA 6 and the players involved. We'll discuss details face to face. I'll be in touch. Kain

 

Soon after, Kain forwards the details of Operation Charybdis to Jackson, at which point, Ryan Jackson requests temporary field status for this Operation. He wants to partake in the mission to take down Mason himself. Now, it's personal:

Spoiler

From:	Kain, Richard
To:	Jackson, Ryan
Date/Time:	Monday, October 30, 1978
Subject:	Field Status
Ryan, Your request for field status is approved. My secretary is routing the forms for signature now. Understand that your efforts over the last few years with the Mason affair have not gone unnoticed. As such, my secretary is also dropping off a token of thanks, from me to you. It's a valuable tool and I trust you find it as educational as I did when I was in your position. Absorb the man's lessons. Implement them daily. It will help in the field. I won't ask you to train a harem into a fighting force but I will be looking for his influence in your operational updates. God speed. Kain

The above message is the latest date we see throughout the CIA Data Server. If this was all meant to lead into the Black Ops II we know, then it can be assumed the mission failed, or the CIA eventually sided with what Mason was doing. But I believe that, originally, Black Ops II was going to be centered around Operation Charybdis, the continuation of Nova 6, and Ryan Jackson. Perhaps you would even play as Ryan Jackson as he hunted the trio.

 

There's one more trail to follow, a trail started, once again, by -- X --:

Quote

November 19, 1977

Mr. Weaver --

Your sister Olga survived Stalin's Purge, but died in childbirth on November 19, 1955. She had a daughter named Kristina who lives today in Moscow.

I thought you should know.

-- X --

Following this revelation, Weaver sends a request to Ryan Jackson asking him to help search for this long-lost niece. Richard Kain tells Ryan Jackson to deny his request completely, and get him off the subject. Why is this? Well get ready for this one:

 

From Ryan Jackson's files: 

Spoiler

April 13, 1978

NAME: RASKOVA, KRISTINA

PLACE OF BIRTH: Lviv, Ukraine

NATIONALITY: Jewish-Ukranian / Caucasian

D.O.B: 11/10/1955

AGE: 23

HEIGHT: 5' 8"

BUILD: Athletic

WEIGHT: 120 lbs

EYES: Blue

HAIR: Blonde

SUMMARY PROFILE:

A former KGB "swallow," 5 years ago the Agency flipped the candidate after a crisis of conscience during the attempted sexual blackmail of a key East Berlin Agency asset (TAB A). She would not commit to defection or betrayal, but she agreed to memorize contact information for her handler and would consider further contact at her discretion. Code-named "The Wall," the candidate was filed away and went dark until 6 months ago.

In the intermittent time, the candidate transferred from the KGB to the GRU (Soviet military intelligence) where she quickly ascended the ranks thanks to her steely resolve, competitive drive, and infectious personality. No longer a "honey-pot" used to seduce Agency operatives, the candidate became a key aide within the Soviet Defense Council, associating herself with one COLONEL ANTON VANYA (TAB B), former protege to the late Nikita Dragovich. Their relationship turned sexual but abusive and soon turned repugnant to the candidate.

Six months ago, the candidate attempted to end the relationship after discovering she was with child; but Vanya responded with a beating normally reserved for enemy P.O.W.s. The candidate miscarried as a result and within 24 hours she sent a burst transmission over shortwave frequency to her original handler out of East Berlin and agreed to work as a double agent. On orders from Colonel Vanya, her current GRU assignment is to locate, seduce and detain Alex Mason, making her more than an ideal for Operation Charybdis.

To sum this biography up, Kristina was a KGB agent who once assisted the CIA, but had refused to switch sides. She later joined the GRU, forming a relationship with Dragovich's protege, Colonel Anton Vanya. After becoming pregnant, she tried to end the relationship, and was beaten mercilessly by Vanya. She then agreed to work with the CIA as a double agent. The kicker? Her current GRU assignment is to track down and seduce Alex Mason. The CIA wants to use her and this mission to carry out Operation Charybdis. Double agents? Family drama with Weaver? Sounds like an excellent plot device in a future game to me.

 

Conclusion

 

I have a feeling this original Black Ops II would have expanded on the information found in the terminals, with perhaps the identities of characters such as -- X -- and John Trent being revealed. Mason would be further at odds with his duty as a member of the CIA, and must find out what is real, and what's just inside his head.

 

So why did we get the Black Ops II we know? Frankly, I believe it has to do with the primarily future setting. It worked wonders for marketing the game as a new take on the franchise. So the story was done differently to account for this, with the main story being focused in the year 2025, and thus all this buildup was swept under the rug.

 

Interestingly enough, there actually DOES exist a Black Ops game taking place within the timeframe between Black Ops and Black Ops 2. It was called Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, a game released exclusively for the PS Vita and forgotten due to the fact is was on such an unpopular platform. It can be debated whether it is canon or not, but the game's story was designed to act as a bridge between Black Ops and Black Ops II, which launched the same day. In it, you play Spec Ops-like missions controlling Woods and Mason. In one mission you track down an associate of Friedrich Steiner attempting to restart Project Nova, and in another you hunt down a Nicaraguan Cartel Leader, who happens to be Raul Menendez's father, a man directly referenced in Black Ops 2, whose death causes Menendez to despise the Americans. Ryan Jackson even acts as the narrator at the beginning of each mission it seems, with him recalling these missions in the 1990s. But there is no reference to Charybdis.

 

What do you all think? Would this have been a better Black Ops II, or did you like what we got more?

 

[caljitsu]

- - X - -

 

"X Computer" is the name by which Maxis is referred to in Moon

 

According to Schuster, no one at 935 went by M, indicating X was likely Maxis' mononym

 

- - X - -

M A X I S

 

This becomes especially interesting when you remember the ties of a certain AWOL Maxis to Broken Arrow. 

 

 

[anonymous]

Some juicy brains for this incredible thread! A really interesting read! 

 

Because we are talking about a double agent at a protege of Dragovich and a siblin of Clarke, it appears to me that the story of Nova-6 would continue. However another plot that centers around the same hazard (a national terror attack of gas) would be a bit lame to me, so I'm curious what would be the enemy's goal this time. Seems like the game was set from the shantytowns of Johannesburg to the streets of Berlin (possibly berlin wall). Maybe, like in the BO2 we got, we'd play in Angola as well as this war took place after the Vietnam conflict, during Operation Charybdis. Perhaps thisgame would be centered around Angola like BO1 was around Vietnam.

[RadZakpak]

This thread may have just got a lot more relevant: