T
his is a debrief report from Flaming
Buffalo (I arrived late to codename
assignment), from reconnaissance in
the Soviet Army controlled region of
Afghanistan. I was given two weeks to
navigate and gather as much intel as possible on the
USSR presence ahead of Big Boss’ arrival. He’s a busy
guy, you know – it’s not like he can be in two places
at once. after all.I was inserted by helicopter at 1800 hours near Spugmay
Keep at the region’s southernmost point, with the intent
of navigating the entire outer edge. On foot I made my
way to the nearest small guard post, where I planted
myself up on a ridge with a view from above. I spent a
whole day watching this meagre camp to glean what I
could about their operation and let me tell you, these
Soviet soldiers are a disciplined bunch. They barely sleep,
barely chat, and certainly don’t take breaks. As the one
and only sandstorm of my two week excursion rolled in
they barely flinched. If we find out they’re all robots, I
wouldn’t be surprised.
Heading north I came to a larger settlement called
Da Shago Kallai with a dozen or so soldiers, though
something that I would come to learn is quite standard
across their occupation is the use of decoys. I planted
myself this time in an abandoned house at the edge of
town, which was useful for its close proximity and great
view, but also because it made it a bit easier to rest and
pass the time.
From here I made a log of the trucks coming and
going. Or single truck, with the same one seeming
to go on rotation with a few neighbouring settlements,
returning roughly every four hours. I couldn’t identify
any hierarchy here. There were specialist roles like radio
operators, but no officers or leadership visibly apparent.
I spent over a day observing this place and noticed a
few shift changes, with two guards getting sleep at a time.
Eventually, at no discernible prompting, they decided to
expand the perimeter of their patrols to include the
outskirts, where my building was. On the afternoon of my
third day a guard decided to use this as his vantage, and
forced me to stealthily climb down the back of the
building to find a position on a ridge nearby.I waited until nightfall before moving on, evading
trucks and searchlights to head out into the dunes for
a resupply before heading on to Lamar Khaate Palace.
It occurred to me how little the region resembles the
mountainous Afghanistan, home to rains and snows, I’d
been told about. In fact, it sure looks a lot like Jordan,
a country almost 3,000 kilometres away. Perhaps the
Soviets terraformed it, like how Big Boss encountered
that Russian jungle years ago.
The palace is one of the few places that does resemble
somewhere in Afghanistan, looking a lot like the Darul
Aman Palace. It turned out to be defended by a skeleton
crew bolstered by decoys and numerous mines. A truckcame and went, stopping for less than an hour on each
trip north or south. Do these soldiers have any orders
besides defending these arbitrary spots?WORDS AND DEEDS
It’s about day five when I start listening to cassette tapes
to help pass the time while I observe, in the absence of
any life in the world or any dialogue from the soldiers.
The only time I’ve heard these soldiers speak so far was
to urge some goats to clear the road, an admittedly rare
sign of activity.
The most surprising, or maybe alarming, thing I came
to realise was that there were no Afghan people –
civilians, resistance fighters, or otherwise. It seemed
absurd that there wouldn’t be a single one present,
especially given their resistance is one of the only things
the Soviet soldiers stationed here spoke about. In fact,
you’d be forgiven for thinking the Soviet Army invaded
Afghanistan simply so they could stand around and wait
for Big Boss to show up.
After a day of observing the palace I moved on,
heading north to reach the Wakh Sind Barracks. While
weaving through a small canyon I stumble across a bear.
Despite the threat the creature poses,
it’s honestly pleasing to see a living
thing out in the world. I watched it
for longer than is probably reasonable
given my mission. Thankfully, I
didn’t get mauled to death.
Arriving south of the barracks, it
was immediately apparent this is the
most well-defended place I’ve
encountered. Nestled on a steep
slope, the place can only be entered
from the front and is heavily fortified
with high barricades and several
emplacements where sentries scan
with searchlights. There were still
only a dozen guards present but the
dense outpost makes those numbers
count. With so little of the interior
visible from outside, I decided I had
to find a way inside if I was going to
gather useful intelligence. Before I
could get that far, though, aIT’S ABOUT DAY FIVE WHEN
I START LISTENING TO
CASSETTE TAPESEXTRA LIFE
NOW PLAYING I UPDATE I MOD SPOTLIGHT I HOW TO I DIARY (^) I WHY I LOVE I REINSTALL I M U S T P L A Y
Can Diamond
Dogs look up?
THE RULES
- Two (in-game) weeks
to gather intel on most
Soviet Outposts. - Try and find as
many high-ranking
officers as possible. - Only observe. The
Soviet Army can never
know I was there.