DB Lore Question: Holodrive, eh?

(PeterComputer) #1

So, the video for the Dockyard update just dropped and, as you may have heard, the Jackal announcer has some pretty interesting lines. Besides that little chat at the beginning with some Jackal higher-up, the announcer says “The holodrive is the solution to our little containment shield problem.”

THIS is what I’m interested in. What is inside that holodrive? Containment shield bypasses? Self-destruct codes? There must be answers somewhere!
Oh by the way, if any of you have play Tempo or Rad Soldiers, could you please tell me if holograms were a thing in those games or if this is the first time they’ve shown up in the universe?

Also, in a semi-related note, after playing a few matches, I’m really happy to see the new voicelines! They add a lot and they do contribute to the worldbuilding.

Anyways, really hope SD continues to expand the lore and feel free to post your theories below!

(GatoCommodore) #2

@PeterComputer said:
So, the video for the Dockyard update just dropped and, as you may have heard, the Jackal announcer has some pretty interesting lines. Besides that little chat at the beginning with some Jackal higher-up, the announcer says “The holodrive is the solution to our little containment shield problem.”

THIS is what I’m interested in. What is inside that holodrive? Containment shield bypasses? Self-destruct codes? There must be answers somewhere!
Oh by the way, if any of you have play Tempo or Rad Soldiers, could you please tell me if holograms were a thing in those games or if this is the first time they’ve shown up in the universe?

Also, in a semi-related note, after playing a few matches, I’m really happy to see the new voicelines! They add a lot and they do contribute to the worldbuilding.

Anyways, really hope SD continues to expand the lore and feel free to post your theories below!

i think they just wrote this one.

(GatoCommodore) #3

edited

(Brycko) #4

Its probably the thing that keeps the Containment Shield working.

I was kinda disappointed that it wasn’t an actual ‘Dirty Bomb’. I though the C4 plant was literally just to trigger the Dirty Bomb and blow up London, again.

(MrHaaax) #5

I’m guessing that it has…
a: enough tech to make all of the Jackal’s leadership multi-billionaires (selling experimental tech on black market, that sort of stuff) and retire early.
b: some sort of permanent killswitch for the pylons, allowing London to be contaminated for far longer, thus ensuring the continued existence of a very healthy ‘war economy’ in the region (since CDA has to decontaminate London until maybe the Brits run out of money.)

And I don’t think Rad Soldiers had any holograms, but it’s been years since I played it…

(GatoCommodore) #6

the holodrive probably used for master key for the bank in “Heist”

(Your worst knifemare.) #7

@GatoCommodore said:
the holodrive probably used for master key for the bank in “Heist”

Whatever you have to steal in Heist would end up being important for the map after and so on until the CDA just give up on London and move to another place.

(PeterComputer) #8

@GatoCommodore said:
the holodrive probably used for master key for the bank in “Heist”

Even though that would be a pretty cool idea, I feel like that’s a long stretch. If the Jackals win, the CDA announcer says “They have the… thing. That can’t be good.”, meaning that the CDA does not know what the holodrive contained. I think the CDA would know the holodrive was a master key to the bank if that wss the case. Still, I’m pretty sure that it’s reasonable to say that the holodrive is part of something bigger.

@MrHaaax I think you’re onto something. Option B seems like the ultimate goal for Jackal and it would make sense according to their actions and operations.

The more I listen to the new voice lines the more connections I start to see: the override codes in Bridge, the robbery in Trainyard, the holodrive… Besides a few occasional jabs at the CDA (Terminal and Underground for example) all of the Jackal operations have been leading to the same goal: (probably) getting rid of the containment shields. And they are getting close to that. I have a slight feeling that after Heist, we are going to start getting some answers.

Well, I say Jackal are getting close to their goal but that really depends on what events we consider canonical. The Jackal win on Dome is obvious but what about on the other maps? And while we’re at that, what’s the sequence in which the various operations happened? I would guess that the hit-and-run ops (Terminal, Chapel, Underground) came first, then the Execution maps, and finally the setup ops (Trainyard, Bridge, Dome, Dockyard). Don’t know where Heist would fit in this theory though.

(Oh, and props to SD for managing to create a whole plot and adding intrigue to pre-existing maps by altering nothing but voice lines. You pulled it off somehow.)

I feel like this rant went a bit off topic but I think it was necessary to ask these questions now. Anyways, keep the discussion going!

(MrHaaax) #9

@Lord_Coctus said:

@GatoCommodore said:
the holodrive probably used for master key for the bank in “Heist”

Whatever you have to steal in Heist would end up being important for the map after and so on until the CDA just give up on London and move to another place.

So when the govt does run out of money, they will most likely declare London a no-go zone, and anything in a certain radius a Exclusion Zone… S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of London when :o?

(MrHaaax) #10

@PeterComputer said:

@GatoCommodore said:
the holodrive probably used for master key for the bank in “Heist”

Even though that would be a pretty cool idea, I feel like that’s a long stretch. If the Jackals win, the CDA announcer says “They have the… thing. That can’t be good.”, meaning that the CDA does not know what the holodrive contained. I think the CDA would know the holodrive was a master key to the bank if that wss the case. Still, I’m pretty sure that it’s reasonable to say that the holodrive is part of something bigger.

@MrHaaax I think you’re onto something. Option B seems like the ultimate goal for Jackal and it would make sense according to their actions and operations.

The more I listen to the new voice lines the more connections I start to see: the override codes in Bridge, the robbery in Trainyard, the holodrive… Besides a few occasional jabs at the CDA (Terminal and Underground for example) all of the Jackal operations have been leading to the same goal: (probably) getting rid of the containment shields. And they are getting close to that. I have a slight feeling that after Heist, we are going to start getting some answers.

Well, I say Jackal are getting close to their goal but that really depends on what events we consider canonical. The Jackal win on Dome is obvious but what about on the other maps? And while we’re at that, what’s the sequence in which the various operations happened? I would guess that the hit-and-run ops (Terminal, Chapel, Underground) came first, then the Execution maps, and finally the setup ops (Trainyard, Bridge, Dome, Dockyard). Don’t know where Heist would fit in this theory though.

(Oh, and props to SD for managing to create a whole plot and adding intrigue to pre-existing maps by altering nothing but voice lines. You pulled it off somehow.)

I feel like this rant went a bit off topic but I think it was necessary to ask these questions now. Anyways, keep the discussion going!

I doubt that the CDA don’t know what inside, rather that the information is classified to only high ranking members of the agency/government, which means mission control (that is, the CDA announcer) either doesn’t know about the contents, or is keeping a tight lip on it: you wouldn’t want your hired guns to know about your stuff. Just wanted to point that out.

(Press E) #11

@PeterComputer said:
What is inside that holodrive?

turtle

(Nail) #12

@STARRYSOCK said:

@PeterComputer said:
What is inside that holodrive?

turtle

Javelin

B)

(Your worst knifemare.) #13

@Nail said:

@STARRYSOCK said:

@PeterComputer said:
What is inside that holodrive?

turtle

Javelin

B)

Proxy’s diary

(ThunderZsolt) #14

@Lord_Coctus said:
Proxy’s diary

Proxy’s eyeball

(PeterComputer) #15

@MrHaaax said:

I doubt that the CDA don’t know what inside, rather that the information is classified to only high ranking members of the agency/government, which means mission control (that is, the CDA announcer) either doesn’t know about the contents, or is keeping a tight lip on it: you wouldn’t want your hired guns to know about your stuff. Just wanted to point that out.

True. But if you look at other maps, the CDA announcer tells you exactly what each objective is (override codes, bypasses). If that information is indeed classified, the holodrive is either something so extremely important that very few people are allowed to know its purpose (which is weird since Jackal clearly knows what it can do or else they wouldn’t go through this much trouble to retrive it) or the CDA just doesn’t know the holodrive’s functions and were planning on studying it.

(MrHaaax) #16

@PeterComputer said:

@MrHaaax ut if you look at other maps, the CDA announcer tells you exactly what each objective is (override codes, bypasses). If that information is indeed classified, the holodrive is either something so extremely important that very few people are allowed to know its purpose (which is weird since Jackal clearly knows what it can do or else they wouldn’t go through this much trouble to retrive it) or the CDA just doesn’t know the holodrive’s functions and were planning on studying it.

Now that you put it that way, is it possible that, given the assumption that the holodrive contains the containment shield killswitch:

TLDR: crazy conspiracy shit

a: the ‘mastermind’ of Jackal is actually a high ranking government official, planning to undermine the decontamination operation for his own benefits, most likely political: see what Tories are doing with UK right now, that is sabotaging healthcare services et al. in order to force the nation to privatise essential services. Could the motive here be the same? That sabotaging CDA operations in order to ‘prove’ that the shield plan doesn’t work, in order to bring in third party corporations to clean up and secure multi-billion dollar contracts? And to gain favour within the populace and gain more political power?

b: somewhat like a but the mastermind is external, with his/her/its informant high within the ranks of the UK government, attempting to destabilise London for profit and secure the ‘war economy’ that is now being slowly in place. Or that profit is only a bonus, and the primary objective is to destabilise the nation a la CIA to South American nations in the Cold War, then overthrow the current govt and install a new govt in favour of said external mastermind.

c: the slightly crazier theory of the three, that it’s a massive conspiracy orchestrated by the govt of Britain. Think Reichstag Fire, or 9/11 (is joke, jet fuel can’t melt steel beams). The whole crisis was a false flag operation, the ones who get their hands dirty are mercenaries which can be easily silenced with money or force (even both), and once the shield is down, the scenario may play out like theory a but without any opposition: the govt now has additional political power and can go full totalitarian without reprecussions in the name of ‘public safety,’ think IngSoc or Norsefire.

Yeah that went on for too long, but I was having fun thinking about Jackal’s true motive.

(PeterComputer) #17

@MrHaaax said:

@PeterComputer said:

@MrHaaax ut if you look at other maps, the CDA announcer tells you exactly what each objective is (override codes, bypasses). If that information is indeed classified, the holodrive is either something so extremely important that very few people are allowed to know its purpose (which is weird since Jackal clearly knows what it can do or else they wouldn’t go through this much trouble to retrive it) or the CDA just doesn’t know the holodrive’s functions and were planning on studying it.

Now that you put it that way, is it possible that, given the assumption that the holodrive contains the containment shield killswitch:

TLDR: crazy conspiracy @$!#

a: the ‘mastermind’ of Jackal is actually a high ranking government official, planning to undermine the decontamination operation for his own benefits, most likely political: see what Tories are doing with UK right now, that is sabotaging healthcare services et al. in order to force the nation to privatise essential services. Could the motive here be the same? That sabotaging CDA operations in order to ‘prove’ that the shield plan doesn’t work, in order to bring in third party corporations to clean up and secure multi-billion dollar contracts? And to gain favour within the populace and gain more political power?

b: somewhat like a but the mastermind is external, with his/her/its informant high within the ranks of the UK government, attempting to destabilise London for profit and secure the ‘war economy’ that is now being slowly in place. Or that profit is only a bonus, and the primary objective is to destabilise the nation a la CIA to South American nations in the Cold War, then overthrow the current govt and install a new govt in favour of said external mastermind.

c: the slightly crazier theory of the three, that it’s a massive conspiracy orchestrated by the govt of Britain. Think Reichstag Fire, or 9/11 (is joke, jet fuel can’t melt steel beams). The whole crisis was a false flag operation, the ones who get their hands dirty are mercenaries which can be easily silenced with money or force (even both), and once the shield is down, the scenario may play out like theory a but without any opposition: the govt now has additional political power and can go full totalitarian without reprecussions in the name of ‘public safety,’ think IngSoc or Norsefire.

Yeah that went on for too long, but I was having fun thinking about Jackal’s true motive.

Even though these are all fun and interesting theories, I have to say that option B is the most probable, taken into consideration the events that went down before the Dirty Bomb attacks. If I’m remembering the timeline correctly, Tempo happened before DB and as you may know, in that game there was a mad man who rigged London to explode unless he was given 1 trillion pounds. As so, if another foreign power was trying to seize power of London once again, I would not be surprised.

About option C, I don’t think that it is plausible that the government would be behind the Dirty Bomb attacks. Bombing your own capital s a bit crazy, but that’s not even my issue with the theory. Clearly, if they wanted to make people fearful, why would they blow up London without having a decontamination plan first? Sure, they set up a fallout area but the decontamination shields only came way later into the disaster. And why would you hire people to destroy said shields? Wouldn’t the population already be scared enough?

We are probably overthinking this a bit but hey, we’re having fun.

(MrHaaax) #18

Theory C was a bit overboard, so yes, your criticisms are valid, though it is possible to… handwave some of the details.

A: no better way to attract attention and cause shock than to blow up a city like London. Of course it would be just as horrible as blowing up, say, Glasgow or Dublin for example (I’m not good with major UK cities) but to blow up a dirty bomb in a major economic/administrative centre like, well, London where security measures should be the tightest could make some people really worried.

B: they can simply delay the execution of the decontamination for the sake of ‘authenticity,’ for lack of a better word. Or just simple bureaucracy (which, however, alone is enough to deter any conspiracy of this scale.)

C: definitely the hardest to justify as blowing up London is more than enough for a British PATRIOT Act 2.0 203X Edition to be a thing: this is my weakest link. I’d like to think of the destructions of the shields to be the final nail in the coffin for the ‘old’ government, allowing a new totalitarian state to be formed and assume control afterwards (which is just as planned.)

(PeterComputer) #19

@MrHaaax said:
Theory C was a bit overboard, so yes, your criticisms are valid, though it is possible to… handwave some of the details.

A: no better way to attract attention and cause shock than to blow up a city like London. Of course it would be just as horrible as blowing up, say, Glasgow or Dublin for example (I’m not good with major UK cities) but to blow up a dirty bomb in a major economic/administrative centre like, well, London where security measures should be the tightest could make some people really worried.

B: they can simply delay the execution of the decontamination for the sake of ‘authenticity,’ for lack of a better word. Or just simple bureaucracy (which, however, alone is enough to deter any conspiracy of this scale.)

C: definitely the hardest to justify as blowing up London is more than enough for a British PATRIOT Act 2.0 203X Edition to be a thing: this is my weakest link. I’d like to think of the destructions of the shields to be the final nail in the coffin for the ‘old’ government, allowing a new totalitarian state to be formed and assume control afterwards (which is just as planned.)

A is within the realm of possibility and even though it would be pretty interesting to see, B still seems like the most reasonable explanation. C is quite the theory though.

(MrHaaax) #20

Well, unfortunately B feels a bit… mundane to me. It’s basically what United States of Muhrica had done, and even doing, for the last hundred years or so, and allegedly Russia/China. It’s nothing new and a bit too predictable, but then again you can say the same for all three.

Upon a second thought, I like the idea of destablising London for profit rather than political purposes. Almost a bit like Tempo in that regard (though admittedly I never played it) though MGS4 was definitely my little ‘inspiration’ when I talked about a ‘war economy.’ Nations waging war aren’t new, it’s all about multi-national megacorps with power beyond borders.

@PeterComputer
A is within the realm of possibility and even though it would be pretty interesting to see, B still seems like the most reasonable explanation. C is quite the theory though.