Splinter Cell Wiki
Advertisement
Splinter Cell Wiki

The Georgian Information Crisis was a course of events that occured in late-2004 where a cell of Georgians and Russians (under the leadership of Kombayn Nikoladze) had launched a series of Information Warfare attacks on the United States.

Overview[]

On October 16, 2004, Sam Fisher, a newly-recruited field agent ("Splinter Cell") of Third Echelon, the NSA's newly-activated group, discovers in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi that its President, Kombayn Nikoladze, is engaged in a murderous campaign against the neighboring country of Azerbaijan in order to steal that country's oil supplies. He keeps NATO and the United States unaware of this by using information warfare tactics to block out intelligence on the situation. After Fisher discovers this, the world decides to take action, and the United States and its allies attack the Georgian forces fighting in Azerbaijan. Following the destruction of numerous terrorist cells, the U.S. launches an invasion of Georgia.

This is the point where Georgia strikes back. Philip Masse, a Canadian computer hacker with brilliant technological skills who is serving with President Nikoladze, launches the 'Georgian information crisis' against the United States. Their main targets are power plants, sources of communication, and everyone's means of transportation. These attacks begin on October 30 of that year, and dozens of Americans die in the midst of power failures and accidents that cause destruction and disarray in all of America's largest cities. The first cities to be attacked are:

  • New York, New York
  • Boston, Massachusetts
  • Washington D.C.
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Detroit, Michigan
  • Jackson, Mississippi
  • Miami, Florida
  • Seattle, Washington
  • San Francisco, California
  • Los Angeles, California
  • San Diego, California
  • St. Louis, Missouri
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Houston, Texas
  • Dallas, Texas

Following the first wave of these attacks, the U.S. goes on high alert, and Fisher infiltrates the CIA Headquarters at Langley, Virginia. His goal is to find a mole in the CIA suspected to be feeding data to the Georgian military; he finds that an American technician named Mitchell Dougherty, who suffers from OCD, has been unknowingly hoarding data on a computer that Russian mercenaries in the nearby Kalinatek Building have hacked into. This Russian cell was working in cooperation with Nikoladze's terrorist forces and used CIA intelligence to further Nikoladze's goals. However, they panic after Third Echelon hacks into their systems, and try to wipe out the evidence of their activities and massacre the Russian technicians who assisted with the initiation of the information crisis. Fisher saves a handful of technicians, and they give him evidence of Nikoladze's presence at a nuclear power plant in Severomorsk, Russia, so Fisher journeys there to find him.

Shortly after the attack on Kalinatek, Masse attacks the Pickett Gap Water Treatment Plant in Tennessee. The attack causes a virus that poisons the local population's water supplies, which puts thousands at risk of water intoxication. Fortunately, the plant's workers discover the virus and shut down the flow of water before it infects the population. The plant is shut down until the virus is wiped out and the water cleaned, and the people of Tennessee must boil their available water.

Nikoladze tries to kill a handful of American POWs and diplomats from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on live television in order to intimidate NATO, but Fisher saves them before Nikoladze's men can stop him. Nikoladze then flees back to Georgia to steal the detonator for "The Ark", a mysterious weapon that is discovered to be a nuclear suitcase bomb. Nikoladze has managed to get the actual device into Washington, D.C., and stole the activation key so that he could destroy the capital at will. Fortunately, despite heavy resistance from both Nikoladze's men and those who were loyal to Varlam Cristavi, Georgian's acting President, Fisher assassinates Nikoladze and escapes with the activation key. After the key is handed in to U.S. authorities, they discover the "Ark" and confiscate the device.

With the discovery of the Ark and the death of Kombayn Nikoladze, the Georgian information crisis officially ends.

Known Cyber Attacks[]

Red Bear[]

October 30th, The Red Bear army community hospital in Mississippi was hit by a cyber attack, cutting electricity off to the hospital. It resulted in 17 deaths and over 30 injuries. Both county electricity and back up generators were destroyed. Intel suggest two men working with the Georgians were on site to destroy the backup generator.

Military Train Collision[]

October 30th, a military train collided with a commuter rail-line after an apparent failure of it's automated routing system in Odenton, Maryland. Rescue workers were unable to respond for over an hour to to their information grid being entirely disabled. Federal authorities evacuated a 20 mile radius surrounding the wreckage. Initials reports indicate the deaths of over 40 enlisted men. Civilian casualties were much lower.

Edison Bend[]

A nuclear power plant in New Jersey had it's cooling rods withdrawn causing a meltdown on either the 3rd or 4th of November. The surrounding area was declared safe after a cleanup on November 10th, and last of victims of the incident left hospital on the November 12th.

St. John Dam[]

November 6th, a logic bomb was used to target the pressure management systems for the St. John Dam which burst. There were 37 reported deaths among security and emergency service personnel.

Pickett Gap Program[]

November 10th, the Pickett Gap water treatment plant in Tennessee was targeted by a remote viral attack. Plant employees were able to intervene and avoid a potential catastrophe with contamination.

Advertisement