Following on from the info gleaned from the last SplinterCell.com ‘hack’, more details have appeared today. Like the first reveal, the latest info comes in the form of Raven communiqués and reveals two more characters from the Splinter Cell Conviction universe.First up is Raven operative and former commando Michael A Loskov. After the death of his parents at the hands of terrorists and life on the streets of St Petersburg, Loskov was made to join the army at the age of 18. He thrived in the army’s culture of brutality and soon found his way into a special unit which hunted Chechen guerrillas and Wahhabi militants in the Chechen capital, Grozny.Apparently an incident occurred in which Loskov and his entire team were captured and he was forced to watch their executions before enduring three days of “unbearable torture.” Following his rescue he was then recruited to a new unit responsible for infiltration and reconnaissance behind enemy lines and given a new callsign, Kestrel. Remind you of anyone?The other new character revealed in today’s ‘hack’ is Thomas (or Jeffrey) Reed, director of Third Echelon. Following his time in the Air Force Academy, Reed moved into the field of cyber warfare where he was tasked with gathering intel on potential terrorist attacks against the USA. “It is not known how he so quickly was able to reach upper management, but at the moment is the director of NSA,” reads the site.The other major piece of information in today’s reveal concerns US private military company (PMC) Black Arrow. Formed from the ashes of PMC Displace International, Black Arrow was subsequently purchased by American businessman Lucius Gallardo. Prior to the buyout, the company enforced a rule which prevented it from operating inside the US, a rule which has since been abandoned as Black Arrow now supports foreign ventures as well as conducting domestic operations.
Also revealed on the site today is another new weapon, the Submachine gun SR-2M – “a compact, precise and powerful weapons [sic].”
According to our source at Ubi, this is all leading up to a big reveal. Speculating on what we know so far, it seems as if Third Echelon, Black Arrow and Raven are going to cross paths at some point. The big question will be, whose side is Sam Fisher on? If we were betting types here at IncGamers, which we are, we’d wager that Sam will, for whatever reason, be working against Third Echelon and given the hint that Sam will have allies in the game, we think it would be a nice twist if he joins forces with the Russians to bring down Third Echelon. After all, it seems as if Raven might just be the Russian equivalent of Splinter Cell. Or, perhaps the game might play out like Double Agent and allow you to switch your loyalties and play both sides off against each other.What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below. UPDATE: we’ve just spotted another bit of info on the site in the form of another email signed by the mysterious “VC”:”Something is wrong here. Embedded agents tell us about the involvement of all American PMCs Black Arrow (see attached file). Americans are being cheated, and we are subject to undue risk. The question is – what the Americans are hiding and why?
Embedded our agents have gathered intelligence about contacts Third Echelon. His file was downloaded to your personal computer.
In light of what happened I decided that I need to send to you operative. All details sent to you.
At the moment, further intelligence on the current situation in the collection. A full analysis is expected within six days.
Check mail through 48-72 hours.
VC”
Published: Dec 2, 2009 03:48 pm