ADVENT: History

The Enhancement of the Sovereign African States

"We will require a sufficiently equipped and powerful army if we want to win. It is time this be achieved with all haste."

- Keeper

To the Battlemaster and Zar'Chon,

By order of Elder Macula and for our own internal archives and ultimate distribution, this document shall provide a complete overview of the current state of the Sovereign African States (SAS), our allies in the coming fight to take the continent of Africa. They are spearheaded by former ADVENT Marshal Helsa Betos, who defected along with a notable number of her soldiers.

She initially established alliances with the following countries, which currently make up the SAS at the writing of this document.

- Nigeria

- Niger

- Cameroon

- Chad

Currently there have been no further outreach attempts, as Marshal Betos has insisted that the core countries of the SAS should be fortified and united before proceeding. Expansion plans and concepts will be outlined further in this document. Per the request of Elder Macula to permit this plan, the SAS is currently in the process of receiving significant improvement on a military, technological, and infrastructural level.

ADVENT COUNTERMEASURES: It is imperative that ADVENT not learn of our involvement in the SAS. Currently, they consider the rogue body to be a concern for them to deal with, but not something worth stamping out at this point in time. This will change if they learn that the SAS is being supported by the Collective. Chancellor Vyandar even issued a warning that Betos was to be turned over at a certain deadline.

This deadline has passed, and currently ADVENT has not publicly followed up on this threat beyond the Congress of Nations imposing extremely harsh economic sanctions on all member nations, along with those who do business with them. This has had the immediate impact of most nations within Africa ceasing all trade and business with the SAS out of nothing more than self-preservation. While this is a significant setback, as not nearly enough infrastructure is in place for the SAS to be self-sustaining on an economic and agricultural level, supplements from the Ethereal Collective can mitigate this for a period of forty-seven years before reduction is necessary.

But we intend to turn the SAS into a self-sufficient body within two to four years through cloning, terraforming, and land development. Already significant portions of land are being turned into farmland and greenhouse and cloning facilities are also being developed.

Returning to the topic at hand, it is quite likely that ADVENT never expected the SAS to surrender Betos, and have instead used this to justify direct action against her through ADVENT Intelligence to carry out Betos's assassination. I will note that ADVENT never fully specified the response should the SAS fail to follow through. Most assumed a military annexation, but I suspect ADVENT doesn't want to perform that again.

Please note that the SAS is actually extremely isolated from ADVENT. Both the Middle East and Canada were easily annexed since they bordered ADVENT nations, and annexation was a practical and logical decision. To achieve the same with the SAS, they would need to go through multiple-non-ADVENT nations and while both of us know these countries cannot stand against ADVENT, ADVENT is also significantly aware that it would be extremely bad optics to trailblaze through them regardless of the wishes of the country.

Thus, smaller operations with the intent to kill/capture Betos and/or other ADVENT defectors by means of assassins or small special forces teams is far more likely.

Fortunately, this was anticipated and through the actions of myself, Elder Macula, and his operatives, we have been able to establish a networked perimeter around the entirety of SAS borders with flash-cloned Sectoid psions who telepathically scan each individual who crosses the boarders. Additional assistance provided by the Overmind has also flushed out further individuals who seek to undermine the SAS.

These individuals are currently being captured, held, or executed. We are prioritizing capture of agents as they can be interrogated. Thanks to these efforts, and the collaboration of the Zararch, we are acquiring a thorough understanding of ADVENT Intelligence protocols and tactics. With this said, it is only a matter of time before they become suspicious. We are currently having our own agents impersonate these agents by sending false reports and all-clear signals to their superiors, and having various degrees of success. We are aware that this will not last indefinitely, and as such are preparing for ramped-up operations with psionic support which will likely be unable to be completely stopped.

The passive support of the Overmind, targeting low-level analysts and operatives to dissuade them from retaining or acquiring any information about the SAS has also contributed significantly to a reduced ADVENT interest in the region, though the Manchurian Restraints have made the passive observation of ADVENT forces significantly less effective in practice. Direct psionic attacks on individuals who are handling SAS missions will be a significant warning bell to ADVENT and will attract their immediate attention. However, this has resulted in additional time to enhance the SAS, and it will likely be all that is needed.

Finally, we have utilized our control over their satellite network to our advantage. All traffic from the SAS is sanitized and scanned by the CODEX network before being permitted to outside regions, and active CODEX defense of these systems will prevent direct penetration without our knowledge. To lessen suspicion, we are allowing the same volume of traffic, but if sufficiently scanned traffic is not sufficient, junk and fabricated traffic will be sent instead.

Satellite imagery has been replaced with altered images which do not show the full extent of the enhancement, but are not completely copies of old images to ensure that ADVENT won't become more suspicious. Currently ADVENT believes that they have access to images of the current SAS, while this is not the case and to our knowledge they are still unaware of this fact.

In short, ADVENT has been successfully blinded by our actions. But we anticipate this lasting no more than one or two months. They will not be distracted forever, and we must strike before this period comes.

GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE OF THE SOVEREIGN AFRICAN STATES: I will spend a limited amount of time on the reformations Marshal Betos has made to the government, largely because it is mainly for keeping the population docile and in line, and will likely have limited impact on military operations aside from possible recruitment.

Currently Betos has established a republican system of government, with inspiration taken from the old United States government and ironically, some parts of ADVENT. There are four branches of established government – Lower Congress, Higher Congress, Executive, and Military.

The Lower Congress acts similar to a wide-ranged representative body. Nation-states are divided up into five districts, each of which elects a representative to speak for them. The size and shape of these depends on demographics and population size. In total this means that the Lower Congress will have twenty representatives as of this point, and can be easily expanded to include other member states.

At my suggestion, Betos and her current executive office are already working to establish districts for other nations in Africa when they are eventually assimilated to expedite the process and ensure that elections can be established and held in a timely manner.

The Higher Congress is extremely similar to ADVENT in that each member nation elects one representative to it. This means that there are currently four members of the Higher Congress in the SAS at this point, with obvious potential for expansion in the future. Both the Lower and Higher bodies of Congress are the only ones who can officially introduce legislation to the SAS. Both the Military and Executive branches can also introduce their own legislation through them, but cannot enact laws on their own.

As of the writing of this election infrastructure is being established and Betos is working to have candidates elected no later than two months. In the meantime, the SAS is being managed through older government structure in conjunction with Collective support.

The Executive branch operatives similar to most government executive branches. They are led by a President who is also democratically elected, and the responsibilities of the Executive branch include judicial appointments, signing or vetoing legislation into law, and the capability to direct the military. They also manage SAS diplomacy and trade.

The Military branch is managed by the panel of senior Officers who are responsible for determining the military actions of the SAS. They cannot take military action without either the direction of the Executive branch, or both the Lower and Higher Congresses. This only relates to international operations, such as the invasion of another country. The Military branch has direct control over all military matters relating to internal security, training, and are allowed to review any and all legislation which relates to the military. They have limited veto power on extensive changes (Legislation which affects the entirety of the SAS Military) but can be overridden with one of the Congresses and the Executive branch.

The Military branch is also responsible for overseeing all law enforcement matters and issues and has extensive powers to mitigate infiltration, sabotage, and organized crime as recommended by myself. As of this point Betos, along with a majority of former ADVENT soldiers, are leading the Military branch.

One interesting note, especially for this current region, is that Betos has made it a rule not to enforce gender requirements, and has specifically picked female advisors and spoken to possible female candidates. It is unknown if this will have an immediate impact, and from my own research into Humans, it is unlikely that any meaningful societal change will occur in the immediate future. While Betos's attempted reforms are practical, changing Human mindsets is apparently more difficult than it first appears.

While Betos herself will not officially take the position of President, until one is elected she is serving as the de-facto leader of the SAS.

MILITARY STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE SOVEREIGN AFRICAN STATES: Considering that the military is most important for our eventual goals they have been significantly improved by the Ethereal Collective, with Elder Fectorian working to develop technology equal to ADVENT which has been produced in significant quantities to ensure that the entire military is a large enough challenge for ADVENT.

While ADVENT does have a significant numbers advantage assuming we do not augment the SAS military with alien soldiers (the possibility of which has been accounted for), the quality of SAS soldier equipment and weapons should be enough to negate a portion of this advantage. However, should the SAS be required to supplement their forces, we can quietly augment them with Vitakarian and Dath'Haram soldiers (Who can pass as Human in armor), as well as Custodian units.

There is a significant issue which will hinder the SAS – namely that training despite the best efforts of ADVENT and Collective soldiers – will be limited and to be blunt, the SAS currently is not a very disciplined or extremely effective military compared to ADVENT. However, after a few engagements they will likely weed out the more troublesome of their habits and become far more familiar with their advanced equipment. Normally a training period of three to six months would be advised before deployment, but we do not have that amount of time any longer.

I want to emphasize that it is important that to continue to maintain the support of the Human population to reduce counter-propaganda ADVENT will use against us, Humans should be used for most of all aspects relating to the SAS. Regardless of the reality, it will be harder to turn if aliens are seen as having less authority and do not significantly influence Human decisions. Advisory roles for aliens is an optimal solution for the SAS with direct Ethereal oversight, which is currently provided by Elder Macula.

As with government, Betos has opened up all divisions of the military to allow women to serve should they meet the requirements.

There are five major divisions of the SAS Military, three of which are military, two of which are law enforcement.

Army Division: These soldiers make up the bulk of the SAS Military. Designed by Elder Fectorian to emulate the Titan armor of XCOM, these suits turn each soldier into a force to be reckoned with. Offering significant protection even from plasma, these are estimated to be more durable than standard ADVENT armor and can successfully stand against XCOM since the suits include nanite armor repair, healing systems, and adaptive armor coloring depending on the battlefield. Army Soldiers are equipped with plasma lance weapons, plasma grenades, and personal medical kits. The Army division is further divided into sniper and HI-EX teams which utilize sniper rifles and blaster launchers respectively.

Skirmisher Division: Designed to mitigate the significant numbers advantage of ADVENT, the Skirmishers primarily specialize in asymmetrical warfare, and conduct surprise strikes on ADVENT positions and participate in flanking operations. Their suits are lighter than others, to emphasize movement and speed. There are integrated grappling and climbing equipment built into the armor itself to allow Skirmishers to take the High Ground and render any engagements effectively over.

The armor also includes a brief active cloaking mechanism to further ensure they are able to subvert enemy lines. They are primarily equipped with plasma charges for sabotage, nanite grenades, shrapnel guns for short-range combat with plasma pistols for backup. They should provide a significant annoyance to ADVENT, if not crippling them significantly.

Psionics Division: Despite our best efforts, the Psionics division will likely not be ready when ADVENT engages the SAS in open warfare due to the training times required and working to ensure that the mental conditioning for the SAS Psions is in place and working. Betos has been overruled on this front despite her insistence that no mental conditioning would be used.

Psions will be trained off-world by Ethereals and Sectoids, with the mental conditioning applied to them there. Betos is unaware of this and will continue to be unaware of this unless the psions prove unreliable. While she is loathe to include anything by ADVENT, she continues to fail to realize that ADVENT is worth emulating in many respects, one of the most important is the regulation of psionics.

We are currently working with Elder Revelean and the Sectoids to develop equipment to enhance the abilities of psions through technology similar to the gauntlets developed for the Sectoids. There will be fewer and lesser-trained psions on the side of the SAS and they must be enhanced as much as possible to stand against the best ADVENT can throw at them.

Police Division: The Police division is responsible for all law enforcement within the SAS, and are extremely distinct from the rest of the military division. Their officers do not wear visible armor and their uniforms are plain aside from a badge, rank, the SAS emblem along with their country and district emblazoned on the side. They are armed with Collective-grade stun batons but otherwise are not prepared for heavy combat. They handle all arrests, investigations, and state prosecutions.

Special Police Operations Division: In contrast to the Police Division, Special Police Operations bears striking resemblances to the ADVENT SSR in terms of function. The SPO was created for the sole purpose of hunting down and eliminated the organized crime, militias, and gangs which roam much of Africa. Allowed to choose from the entirety of the SAS weapon and armor stockpile, they are just as dangerous as the Army or Skirmishers and have quite easily destroyed the gangs and crime organizations they were sent to purge. They are also the ones who respond to violent crime and have limited authority to make arrests.

SOCIATAL IMPROVEMENT: To say that the entirety of the SAS is in dire need of improvement is a significant understatement. Short of destroying many of the rural towns and rebuilding, several thousand engineers and automated machines have been sent to establish high-grade plumbing, electrical equipment, infrastructure, and internet connectivity to the citizens of the SAS. Paving and building reinforcement are also being done at this point.

However, this will take at minimum six months to be fully completed with the number of personnel and equipment being utilized. Agricultural improvement is also commencing with food supplements being provided until the SAS can become fully self-sufficient. Cities have been targeted for improvement first, and the rural areas will soon follow.

There has fortunately been a significant reduction in organized crime thanks to the SPO, which has led to further civilian support. While the civilians do not seem entirely comfortable with alien visitors, they are seeing that our intervention is making their lives better and without access to the ADVENT propaganda networks, it is extremely unlikely that they will turn against the SAS and Betos – not when their countries are improving so rapidly.

Elections are already being established and there appears to be some hope that the government won't be completely corrupt as previous ones were, which is further improving civilian morale and disposition. We are working to provide the SAS with voting machines to facilitate their elections, in this regard. I expect that the laws of the SAS will be further refined once an actual government takes over, as right now only the framework is in place.

CURRENT CONTINGENCIES AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE: Betos, Elder Macula, and I are convinced that ADVENT will soon attempt to invade the SAS and we are preparing accordingly. It will be difficult for ADVENT to invade without going through other countries and we can easily repel any air-only attacks thanks to the establishment of anti-air turrets and systems. A naval attack along the coasts of Nigeria and Cameroon is also likely, and defenses are being enacted and reinforced as of the writing of this report.

However, it is more likely that ADVENT is going to issue ultimatums to the entirety of Africa – join us, allow us through, but do not try and stop us. We can use this to our advantage and target other countries – specifically those who are at risk of annexation. Betos insists on doing this diplomatically for each nations but both Macula and I agree that risk cannot be taken.

In the event that the SAS faces significant resistance to further recruitment, Zararch and Sectoid forces will be utilized to sway unaffiliated countries to be more receptive to the SAS. Countries in the lower regions of Africa will be targeted as those directly in ADVENT's path may attract suspicion. These nations have no defense to psionics and can be manipulated either to join Betos or pre-emptively strike, allowing an easy justification for invasion.

As said earlier, Betos and her staff are drawing up divisions for the entirety of Africa to facilitate easy entry into the SAS. Statements justifying an alien alliance and disputing ADVENT propaganda are being finalized and drafted to disseminate the moment ADVENT learns of the alliance. If all goes well, it will be announced before ADVENT learns about it (Possibly prior to the planned invasion of China) for maximum gain as our military will be prepared.

Please contact myself or Elder Macula for additional information or clarification on additional aspects of the SAS.

- Keeper