Dr. Roland Fairchild (2511). "Legalism, the Far Isle Code, and Callisto Protocol: Why the UN resolution isn't a moral win." Issue 193:21. Colonial Affairs: University of Viery New Alexandria, New Alexandria, VY, REACH
It was in my elementary school on the picturesque, wooded bank of Lake Violet, that I first learned the word "democracy:" an ancient concept, yet the most compelling medium of self-determination. There is a liberating proof in its thesis, unbeatable and indestructible, uplifted by conviction in the classical minds from Plato to Steinbeck: The people will rule themselves.
There was a palpable irony of learning about the history of democracy, its humble origins on the altars of Athenian naval power, its evolution throughout the 20th and 22nd centuries, its explosion in popularity during the fourth "proliferation" of states (Zurich, 2167)—even by the time the United States of America no longer formally existed, its influence on the world was permanent; every new nation wanted a congress, a president, and a court—and its exclusivity to Earth, while living on a distant, tense frontier world under the boot of the Colonial Administration Authority (CAA).
In our time, the word "empire" is an epithet: synonymous with tyranny, apartheid, and neo-colonialism—"ruling here from out there" (Jai, 2447). It is the perfect descriptor for the CAA, a principal organ to the United Nations, a non-governmental "administrative bureau" to manage off-world semistates, and a direct political institution presiding over the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) all in one. The CAA has no oversight from the UN, despite how much both parties lay claim to "inter-responsibility" (United Nations, 2423). UN affairs have never left the Solar System, not before and not after the Rainforest Wars. The entire organization, the parent of the CAA, is a ship in a bottle. Earth, for all its modern wars and economic battles, is a terrarium. It imports and exports commodities only and signs treaties to limit individual national military buildup and weapons in space, while the UNSC, from Mars and Reach to Eridanus and Madrigal, fights a vicious civil war with an "insurrection" that has seized worlds, established several functioning representative democracies, and developed an infant military-industrial complex (Han, 2510).
The UNSC Supreme Headquarters, only a few miles from the University of Viery campus in New Alexandria—a half-hour trip by Boardwalk Transit—is the de facto capitol building of the aggregate of human affairs. The ideal of democracy and self-determination is just that: an ideal. It is only a reality on Earth. The fact remains, there is no Republic of Mars, or Venus, or Jupiter-Troia. In fact, the same regime that facilitated a nuclear exchange over Far Isle and a false surrender over 26 Draconis offers free referendums, tax breaks, and favorable protectionist tariffs for the colonies of Sol and Epsilon—the so-called "Inner Colonies." Are the Outer Colonists, then, second-class citizens?
To the Inner Colonists, the connotation of "empire" is an unbearable stretch, even if they struggle to disagree that it fits most neutral characteristics of one. They are treated well, even by a bureaucratic government, even by an empire. Does the fact that they live under an empire matter, or is it only the way it is governed that matters?
There is no one individual or single political entity responsible for the current apartheid government. The UNSC's history is long and rich, complex and picky about facts and fictions. But the final denominator of the CAA's rise to disproportionate power is the idealism, complacency, and utter disregard for offworld politics of the UN. Nowhere is this better observed than in Resolution 119285 "outlawing" (James, 2496) the use of nuclear weapons against civilian targets, so named the "Far Isle Protocol." The Mortal Dictata already forbids the use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents on and off the battlefield. The Far Isle Protocol is a gesture deeply partitioned from reality, a piece of legislature intentionally weakened by an international absence of goodwill.
However, the CAA is an empire without ambition: a hydra with no heads. When, in the last thirty years, have the peace and humanitarian actions over Sanghelios, Eayn, or Balaho turned into occupations? When have the UN-PKF units that offered stability, neutral peace talks and negotiation, and disaster relief, leveraged these things to exploit the natural resources or export commodities of the alien worlds on the fringe of human space, or attempt to subvert their rights to self-determination, or supplant their existing governments without referendum? Externally, the CAA is an idealistic player. Internally, however, toward Venezia, Eridanus, Madrigal, and Far Isle, the CAA seeks order like a body seeks homeostasis. Many of its reprisals were reactionary, a sort of brutality by committee. The CAA had two operational missions mandated by the General Assembly and the Colonial Charter: to maintain colonies and settle new ones—never to conquer, and never to lose territory. Perhaps if the General Assembly had recognized a right for certain colonies to secede from the CAA's rule, and mandated so in no uncertain terms, rather than partisan treaties and half-hearted rhetoric, Far Isle would be a free world. Perhaps if there was a framework established for such a thing in the Colonial Charter, the Rubble would be less a "pariah city" (Sentzke, 2510); and perhaps more a prospering city-state with free, open trade rather than gray markets.
The comfort of tens of thousands of light years in distance stills the UN's policies that might have sanctioned the Insurrection's actions—namely that of nuclear terrorism and the first use of strategic weapons in the conflict on Far Isle. After all, a nation that genocides its peoples, according to the United Nations Charter, does not deserve to exist. Yet the UN frequently grants independent planets established and sponsored by the Secessionist Union partial recognition as permanent populations with governments, armies, and treaty purchasing power. The UN does not formally "recognize" them (Sentzke, 2510) but does grant individual planets signing power to the Mortal Dictata, the World Trade Organization, and the International Criminal Court. Where is the justice in that? Where is the morality in that?
The engagement we refer to as the "Callisto Incident" has a name in Insurrectionist circles as well: the "Second Disaster" (Gaffe, 2499). A battle not often spoken of on Earth, but a daily topic of dissection in the operations rooms and war games on Reach, this was a major escalation for the UNSC. The threat of Insurrectionists obtaining UNSC hardware was commonplace in the Outer Colonies and even toward Epsilon Eridanus, but no one had even theorized seizing a ship would be possible.
Lieutenant Preston Cole's strategy, however, perhaps borne from misplaced desperation, taught the Insurrectionists a valuable lesson: not to trust signals of distress nor surrender. This caused them, in turn, to commit perfidy, and to refuse surrenders and prisoners in favor of total battlefield annihilation. The cycle continued until a full-scale war broke out in early February of this year. Cole was quietly promoted to the rank of Captain and found himself patrolling the Outer Colonies until he was promoted again to Rear Admiral and transferred to an advisory role in the Olympic Tower. To young officers at the UVNA war colleges, he is something of a folk hero: a maverick who, in the heat of humanity's first real space battle, pulled a win out of a hat. To Fleet Command, however, Cole was a walking liability, and the worst commander available to play out the early stages of a war (Nylund, 2501).
The UN renounces war actions, condemning both the CAA and the Insurrection—but in doing so, it simultaneously ignores the CAA's growing power and imbues the Insurrection with power. The legalism of recognizing states "de facto" (United Nations, 1949) rather than "de jure"—calling it what it is, not what it should be, is completely at the knife's point with the idealism that backed it. There is no guiding hand behind the UN; no political interest actor that can truly put a meaning to either philosophy, a will to take a side. The UN is not itself an empire, which causes it to withdraw from taking responsibility for its own "little empire" (Raya, 2490).
Violet is now a crater lake with a thin layer of ice over the pure silica glass shore and cobalt-irradiated water. The school's blocky shadow was burnt into the ground, the last monument to democracy in an ever-changing galaxy. The air is no longer breathable. The sky has been plunged in darkness and black rain for almost two decades. Our legacy now is one of conflict and contradiction; the legacy of Earth is as trite and as delusional as Pilate in the Passion of the Christe as told by Matthew: an empty, hateful gesture, washing his hands of the blood, enabling so much more to spill.
en/reports/2525_pkf_sanghelios_report
From: MGen. Lalonde (CAF/FAC)
To: secretariat
Subject: UNOSANG Annual Mission Report%/ 01.08.2525
Classification: Unrestricted (UNO-Z)
Type: Report
Status: READ, BRIEF PENDING…
UNOSANG Annual Mission Report: 01.08.2525
1.01. SUMMARY
Last year, the compounding United Nations Operation on Sanghelios (UNOSANG) entered its final stage of the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) peace process with high expectations between the Robani Dervish Army and Eastern Hemispheriate (EH). On this day is the tenth anniversary to the cease-fire signed between both sides and the end to the Sangheili genocide, facilitated by the Canadian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Botswanan, and Nepalese peacekeeping forces. The peace has been kept by a long process that observed the disarmament, discharge, and return to home life for the Dervishes, EH, and six hundred other combatant tribes in competition with the others. War has not broken out since, thanks to a delicate and sensitive peace process that emphasized cohabitation, integration, and direct economic support from Earth.
Throughout the ten-year peace plan, UNOSANG has offered a tremendous amount of credibility as a neutral, third-party facilitator of negotiations. Without biases or a stake in any conflict, and extensive support infrastructure for non-government organizations (NGO) to offer humanitarian food and medical aid to the Sangheili, peace talks have grown increasingly comfortable and productive, especially toward developing a robust, proportional, non-theocratic parliamentary government—however, the "One People Nation Plan" (UNO-OPNP) is years away from the completion of its conception, as participation among feudal keeps outside cities such as Sunaion and Bdaoro must be voluntary. Some NGOs have also been effective at "deprogramming" the warlike, "us-versus-them" mentality used by Dervishes and EH as indoctrinating language to polarize them against another ethnic population (Hask, 2524). The Sangheili belonging to various different tribes and political institutions are not racially different, although for decades they made historic, cultural, and even racial claims of superiority.
The greatest challenges historically were in regions where there was difficulty incentivizing demobilization after all factions had laid down their arms. Many command and control organizations clung to power and punished or assassinated their "deserters" seeking a severance package from the Demobilization and Reintegration operation (UNO-DRO), as well as hoarding resources and rationing them disproportionately. The best incentive, we found, was offering tiered packages based on rank. Higher ranking officers received larger sums of Gekz (gZ), the value of which was stabilized by gold in 2516, bringing its purchase power up to almost half the UN Credit (cR), where it has remained since (Ponomarenko, 2523). The leaders of significantly large combatant groups were offered parliamentary seats in the UNO-OPNP project. Many Sangheili ex-combatants were simply happy to return to their lives (Khan, 2517).
As Type-1 Energy Swords are culturally significant touchstones, often thousand-year-old heirlooms, they could not be forbidden in the possession of any Sangheili clan members. However, they are still deadly weapons. At the end of the conflict, a spike in attacks using swords had been seen in the following year, as well as an outbreak of small "battles" of communal violence involving many implements of melee weapons. The frequency of communal violence steadily reduced over five years to a rarity.
The Japanese contingent hosted a number of NGOs that served as a fact-finding organization for war crime, crime against humanity, and genocide tribunals between the Dervishes, EH, and other combatant keeps. The standards for identifying genocide cited UN resources, but the legal system and punishment was doled out in Sunaion criminal courts. The war crime tribunals were essential to the peace process, as they allowed both sides, each of whom had victims of atrocities, a process of closure and judicial retribution (Shinobu, 2519).
As early as two months ago, however, the situation has been at an all-time high risk of a resurgent civil war. One major keep in Quivro by the name Mdama has not fully demobilized despite our efforts in ten years and continues to hold an adversarial "cold war" between a neighboring post-Robani Dervish dissident cell. Their feuding came to a head with the outbreak of a firefight for the first time in nine years since the beginning of UNOSANG's mission. The weapons were obtained secretly and illicitly. Combatants from both sides were found with E-5 blaster rifles—including all of the bodies uncovered in the desert battlefield, implying that a representative of the Confederacy of Independent Systems is manipulating both sides into tussles, fomenting prejudices, and repolarizing the conditions for a resurgent war.
Despite uncovering the Separatist arms trafficking network, the Canadian investigation comes up short finding a smoking gun, a definitive link, such as a paper trail or the identity of said CIS actor. There is a strong possibility that these weapons were purchased off the Galactic Republic's gray market, which has reached Sanghelios as well. However, if there is Separatist involvement, then counterfeit and contraband goods are not the only things the Separatists have brought, but the war itself. I theorize that the CIS is attempting to bring Sanghelios into their sphere of influence by destabilizing the country and neutralizing the most powerful organization after the end of the conflict so as to claim a new colony, labor force, industrial capacity, and conscripts—as many historical imperial examples have done before by funding rebels against one another, sowing discord and dissent, and motivating ordinary people to kill.
The concern of the Canadian Observer of UNOSANG is, officially, that there is evidence of a CIS-fueled insurgency with illegal and indefensible military interests intersecting and overriding humanitarian interests in the Urs-Fied-Joori region. We are, coincidentally, in the center of an old and apparently forgotten hyperspace lane (Kabelo-Moloi, 2525, sec. 2.45), which the CIS hopes to capitalize on toward strengthening logistics to the Mid Rim. As a neutral force, I respectfully request the United Nations Office of the Secretariat permission and documentation to issue an order of opposition to CIS forces, in the event that they arrive in the region to incite and support open insurgency or paramilitary action, and to treat them as instigators and disruptors to the peace process, an intricate but highly successful operation.
Request details and requisitions can be found on Section 1.38. Details of the mission requirements and short-term strategy can be reviewed under Section 1.92. Long-term plans and preparations for a ten-year UNO-OPNP launch, with considerations to this development and the extent of the Botswanan contingent's findings on firearms possession and CIS intervention is under Section 2.45. Material evidence, interviews, and additional telemetry and interpreter notes can be found under Section 2.97. The Nepalese contingent offers several analyses and reports near the conclusion of this document, from Sections 5.31-5.40.
Given the assumption of UNOSANG units' ability to ensure CIS firearms do not find their way into the hands of Sangheili radicals, I am still confident in our ability to complete the UNO-DRO process this year and begin final preparations for UNO-OPNP as well. However, the threat of a resurgent conflict jeopardizes our mission. This report must not fall on deaf ears.
1.02 →
Encryption Code: n/a
Public Key: red
From: Adm. Windhover
To: secretariat
Subject: Proposal%/ Preventive Solar Spaceguard Initiative
Classification: Restricted (BGX Directive)
Type: Procurement operation proposal
Status: APPROVED, EXPEDITED
Proposal: Preventive Solar Spaceguard Initiative
1.01. SUMMARY
In the run-up to Operation: TREBUCHET and the ongoing police action in the Outer Colonies, an obscure initiative called Project PENDRAGON was proposed to the floor of the General Assembly as an "outer colonial spaceguard" (Benz, 2509) mission to place space stations outfitted with long-range sensors, extensive crew complements, a quick-reaction squadron, and a powerful magnetic accelerator cannon (MAC) with few restrictions on caliber, firing power, and barrel length, as portability would not be an issue. While this spaceguard network theoretically represented an attractive defense against near-earth objects (NEO) and a powerful deterrent against insurrectionist activity and piracy within the systems of distant, vulnerable colonies, there were some problems associated with the project.
In effect, Project PENDRAGON had parked a weapon of mass destruction in geosynchronous orbit with the most populous cities on the Outer Colonies. The plans often detailed colonies with large, dissident populations or ongoing conflicts. Such a weapon controlled by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) over a planet in conflict or with significant dissident militias—disregarding their recognition of statehood or organization—so the General Assembly ruled, was a violation of the New Outer Space Treaty of 2247. While the UNSC was permitted to develop weapons for warships, the New Outer Space Treaty includes special stipulations specifically describing static orbital weapons that could be used against planetary targets.
UNSC Navy ships are not considered "orbital weapons," as they are classified no differently from maritime vessels on the surface of Earth, Europa, or Reach, for the purposes of interplanetary maritime law. The definition of "boat" and even "maritime" has been stretched with the advent of space travel; the literature, similarly, never erased that tradition. But orbital weapons—specially designed to cause equal damage to asteroids or warships as military bases, mountains, forests, glaciers, and cities—could cause irreparable, unimaginable destruction on a global scale. A ferric tungsten slug of sufficient mass and velocity can, as simulated digitally under Project PENDRAGON, eclipse the permanent destructive power of a cobalt bomb. The kinetic energy alone can create a fireball much larger, a shockwave much more forceful, and extreme weather systems such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, firestorms, and tsunamis.
An unchallenged superweapon of the scale of Project PENDRAGON had no place in a time of what was, effectively, peace—and in the decade after Far Isle, it was especially unwelcome to the Security Council. The French seat of the Security Council chose to veto the program after the first session held a referendum, with 250 of all 498 seats of the General Assembly voting in disapproval of Project PENDRAGON, a majority by just one vote.
However, we are no longer in a state of peace, de facto or de jure.
As the "Clone War" escalates between the Coalition forces and the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), we have learned several key lessons from the battle of Mygeeto:
The GAR possesses alarmingly precise faster-than-light capabilities known as "hyperdrives" (Montgomery, 2525) which enable them to plot short-range, intra-system, tactical jumps, as well as long-range strategic jumps. Incorporating them into their naval strategy enables them to thwart the inherent range advantage of the UNSC Navy's battle doctrines and enter a fight of their choosing, taking advantage of their Venator cruisers' turbolasers. These jumps are limited by "hyperspace lanes" that were cleared of debris or potential hazards millennia ago, as their ships do not enter slipspace to cross vast distances.
The GAR also operates off an aggressive strategy of maneuver warfare at a tactical and strategic level, often targeting Separatist hard points with the intention of opening hyperspace lanes. According to an Office of Naval Intelligence report, there is an ongoing concerted effort to break into two major heartlands of the Coalition by opening old hyperspace lanes or running a "vein" through key points toward the capitals in the hopes of launching a swift, decapitating strike: Raxus Secundus, and Earth (Locke, 2525).
Although the GAR is capable of jumping very close to begin engagements, they are limited to a specific corridor and angle, and they cannot exit hyperspace at certain regions of the planetary atmosphere, including low orbit. A Venator bracket might be able to bypass an improperly placed defense formation, but they must exit hyperspace to enter the planet's gravity well and atmosphere. They are either not precise enough to risk such a maneuver, or the nature of them traversing in realspace means the effect of impacting any layer of atmosphere would be devastating to the ship's hull and crew—not unlike an unshielded re-entry (Smith, 2525).
When all mitigating and confusing variables are reduced or eliminated, GAR hyperdrive point-to-point (PTP) travel is faster than the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine's most advanced capabilities (Alton, 2525).
GAR ships are especially vulnerable to MACs (Cutter, Hawkins, Hood, 2525). When used in "wolf pack" strategies and fired at full charge, the light-coil classification MACs, typically employed with any class of frigate and any class of destroyer, can disable any GAR cruiser or assault ship. Heavy-coil MACs, used on every class of cruiser, however, have not seen a counter on the battlefield because of their barrel length, with the exception of velocity—long-range optical sensors can, conceivably, provide early warning for enemy ships at astronomical ranges. This was a tactical limitation theorized and used in war games over Reach. At the ranges that the GAR is capable of and prefers to fight, however, it is impossible for any ship to avoid an effective firing solution.
To address these issues, a revival of Project PENDRAGON might not be necessarily the right plan, but using the concepts proposed under Admiral Benz, the Preventive Solar Spaceguard Initiative (PSGI) will erect a series of geosynchronous armed space stations over key strategic cities and population centers to protect them against GAR incursions of Sol. These stations would take advantage of, potentially, unlimited astronomical range and extremely precise, AI-assisted targeting.
Project PENDRAGON trialed a type of MAC colloquially referred to as the "Super MAC," using 246 experimental, asynchronous linear-induction motors (ALIM) and an elongated barrel that could propel a ferric tungsten projectile of any caliber to roughly 0.04% the speed of light, nullifying the effects of early warning optical sensors. When properly calibrated, these weapons possess the capability to target stationary objects with a maximum effective range of one astronomical unit (AU). However, the ALIMs are no longer experimental. Since 2510, Gauss motors have been miniaturized to self-propelled packages such as the M68 loadout for the M12 FAV.
Using technology not available during the proposal of Project PENDRAGON, a series of physical mass counterweights and programmable RCS, boosters, and thrusters may be used to prevent any station from pivoting itself to guide its weapon below 90 degrees—across the horizon—and target any site on Earth. While one such space station violates the stipulations of the New Outer Space Treaty, the modifications heed its prefatory clause and spiritual impetus. Specifications and testing notes can be found on 1.23.
These stations are not strictly deterrents. They would be incorporated to the battle line as a rear-battery fire support in the event of an invasion over Earth. As the risk of attacking Earth and striking New York, Nairobi, and Sydney is higher than any other region of the Orion Arm, PSGI only intends to construct orbital defense platforms over Earth. However, as long-term strategic pieces, the stations can continue to serve a deterrent purpose, as the war will eventually end, and the UN will find itself in a period of relative peace again.
With the scope and requested budget of this project, twelve stations can be initially produced in geosynchronous orbit of major cities covering as much of the Earth as possible, with more to build at a later date. The first phase of this project can be completed within three months. Funding and budgetary allocation requests can be found on 1.45.
It would be dishonest to refer to PSGI as a game-changing weapon that could unequivocally turn the tide of the war. It is more like an ace in the hole. It offers a defensive advantage that disincentivizes the GAR to launch an all-out assault on Earth; although an attack is likely to occur within the next six months regardless of the GAR's incentives or disincentives, it offers a realistic layer of defense that could break their offensive strategy, which has historically relied on momentum.
1.02 →
Pour Montag,
Tu es l'étoile la plus brillante du ciel. Tu es l'homme le plus courageux que j'aie jamais connu. Vous êtes la fierté d'une nation et un père.
J'ai envoyé tant d'hommes à la mort. Je pensais que ce ne serait pas toi. Je pensais que ton nom ne tiendrait pas sur le mur. Vous aviez tout ce dont vous aviez besoin. Vous aviez tout ce que j'avais appris. Tu étais mon fils.
Où t'ai-je envoyé, mon garçon? S'il vous plaît, rentrez à la maison.
Encryption Code: n/a
Public Key: red
From: Radm. Stanforth
To: Sheila Hopkins
Subject: End of Phase 1 development notes: Next-Generation Exoatmospheric Tactical Fighter Directive
Classification: Restricted (BGX Directive)
Type: Message
Status: READ, REPLIED
Dear Dr. Hopkins,
The specialists at Sword Base have been testing the joint X718 airframe for the last three weeks nearly continuously. They have some notes and recommendations for Phase 2. We will be sending some blueprints your way. Additionally, I have a significant update from the Olympic campus. Following are two small-picture points of discourse for the NEXT Fighter Directive and two big-picture changes approved this morning by HQ.
It is not realistic to transition between three types of fuel for atmospheric and exospheric flight for a fighter. A scramjet, while effective for high-altitude, low-hypersonic flight, is not necessary in addition to the atmospheric turbofan. The Longsword fusion engine and dual-purpose hydro-oxygen intakes will limit its maximum speed in atmosphere, but require only two types of fuel and combustion, simplifying maintenance and transition to and from atmosphere.
It was fully anticipated the plane would be further iterated on, given Misriah Armories doesn't share a library with ONI Section III. Attached are details on the modern HEK-7 phased-array radars equipped on UNSC Leviathan and many other cutting-edge ships, including maximum range, refresh rates, precision, and potency. The X718's radar cross-section is roughly equivalent to a queen-sized mattress when tested against the HEK-7. We suggest applying EG1 and K2 to the hull. EG1 stealth ablative coating is not enough to hide one's radar cross-section and infrared signature, but it will be more effective than Misriah's proprietary radiation-absorbent paint. K2 is a supplemental texture buffer that further disfigures the infrared signature and even produces a photoreactive, programmable camouflage that confuses optical contrast seekers (which is used by some air-to-air missiles, such as the M470 ST/MMP used by the FS-1000) and the Mk. 1 Eyeball.
As the interests of NEXT align with the Navy's demand for more cutting-edge fighters in the new conflict with the Grand Army of the Republic, deployments alongside the Air Force are anticipated. There are concerns that the Longsword will need to be compatible with the FS-1000 Sabre in fuel, at least 80% of its parts, 75% of sensors and communications, and 50% of its armament to simplify joint-branch deployments and reduce maintenance costs. The Emergency Defense Counterinsurgency Fighter Program was originally a rival to NEXT dating as far back as 2513, but now we will be working closely with Fairchild Fields AFB shortly. No cross-compatibility is expected with the Marine Sparrowhawk.
The procurement quota will also be increasing from 10,000 frames to 20,000 by the end of the year. Fighters are in high demand not least because of the "Clone War," but it behooves the powers that be to remind us that Operation Trebuchet is still ongoing with no decisive victory in sight. Fleetcom is widening the scope of the project and offering an additional 2,000,000,000,000cR to assist Misriah's quota. I assume this will cover most of the cost of opening new factories, hiring and training new labor, and purchasing materials for production.
At risk of succumbing to scope creep, the project is expanding. Procurement requests have increased twofold, but they are flexible to a margin of thirty percent of the first figures. Follow up with any questions or details by the end of the week, and we're golden.
Eochaid,
We haven't spoken in a while, I know. But I wanted to reach out.
I heard about your promotion to Naval Intelligence. I know you can't talk about much, but your father will love to hear about it sometime when you're home. I'm sure he told you, but he used to serve in Beta-5, if that's where you are headed now. I wish you the best.
I've been talking to your father, and he's told me a little about you—nothing too minute, nothing you've asked to keep between you two. We're so so so proud of you, Eochaid.
Your father says you partly blame yourself as much as you hate me. That, perhaps at a subconscious level, you believe coming out tore us apart.
So I would like to set the record straight: you did not ruin our marriage. I did.
I threw the vase. I yelled so loud the constables came. I left you. I rejected my own son. And your father stood his ground and stayed with you, the whole time. He chose your life over my delusions.
As for myself, I can't give you a satisfying explanation. Your father might have told you I was raised in a cult and escaped when I was only twelve years old. Afterward, I lived a fairly privileged, unchallenging life—but I did not seek the help I needed. For decades. This was not something your father was privy to. I still had twisted beliefs about the world, beliefs I did not think would need to be put to the test. I was in no position to be a mother. And when it was time to be a mother, I wasn't there.
Father Aodhan—you remember him, I'm sure—told me a few years ago, "If you dig far enough, past the dirt and the graves, the fossils and the bedrock, and the stars, the heat of molten rock and mantle, and the tempered silica and rasterisation of time, you will find God." So I started digging. I dug through my buried anger and found pain. And I dug through that, and I dug, and I dug, and I dug, deep into what I loved and what I feared, and I dug past that, and you know what? I didn't find God. I found you, and I knew what I needed to do.
This isn't asking for forgiveness—not yet. I don't expect things to repair themselves immediately. I just want you to know that I was wrong, and if you need anything, and if your father needs anything, I will always welcome you—not as my wayward daughter, but as my perfect son.
I can't fit an apology in the mere confines of a handwritten letter, so if you would like to call me, my chatter is open anytime. I want you to be able to move on. I want you to be able to heal, with or without me. I love you.
Mom
file/kilo-echo-four/smithj
Encryption Code: black
Public Key: n/a
From: COALMINER
To: Cdr. Herzog
Cc: cinconi, grayman, s019
Subject: Update on SPARTAN Gold Team investigation%/Operation%/BROKEN SPEAR, report on code phrase "PEACA"
Classification: Secret (BGX Directive)
Type: Message
Status: READ, REPLIED
Update on SPARTAN Gold Team investigation; Operation: BROKEN SPEAR, report on code phrase "PEACA"
The fate of SPARTAN Gold Team
With the first deployments of Irish peacekeepers and NGOs to Mygeeto's surface, an opportunity opened for the recovery of ARGONAUT's body. The location of Achadh-an-Sídhe remains completely out of the hands and eyes of the DF, so the Ghost Song's mission went off without a hitch. However, confirming SIERRA 117's debriefing, Gold Team never made it to their rendezvous point because they were killed during Operation: BROKEN SPEAR.
In recovering ARGONAUT's body, the crew of the Ghost Song discovered Gold Team's bodies: SIERRA-029, SIERRA-023, SIERRA-010, and SIERRA-093. Cause of death was inconclusive. Damage to the armor does not include carbon scoring or even ballistic penetration, although all of their MJOLNIR suits were deformed beyond repair or recovery. SIERRA-029's armor was so heavily damaged that the fusion pack nearly overloaded, but it appeared that SIERRA-029 took steps to prevent it with improvised tools sometime before succumbing to his wounds. Additional reports and notes from Dr. Singh will be referenced.
The titanium plating appears to have been "crumpled." Dr. Singh recognized some of the damage to be reminiscent of tensile strength tests used on early MJOLNIR armor plating, specifically tests involving a hydraulic press. Outside of those environments, titanium-composite alloys found in MJOLNIR Mk. IV armor were not known to "crush" in such a way. Some of the wounds were caused by blunt force trauma, harsh enough that their gel layers failed and caused severe internal bleeding; and muscle, joint, and bone damage.
Dr. Singh proposed two hypotheses: (1) that the Separatists had developed and unleashed a powerful weapon system that was similar in form or function to a HRUNTING Mk. III (S)—a mechanized, bipedal exoskeleton with force multipliers capable of crumpling high-tensile strength alloys, or (2) that Gold Team had encountered fauna, native or not to Mygeeto, capable of similar feats of strength. It did not appear that they were ever in contact with an enemy with ranged capabilities, despite that they spent up to 20% of their squad ammunition reserves in combat. No enemy contact or patrols were reported by Gold Team during Operation: BROKEN SPEAR. More information, including Dr. Singh's paper, is attached to this message.
We rejected the first hypothesis. Achadh-an-Sídhe worked dual purpose as a secret napalm factory facility and extermination camp, using forced labor—presumably with plans to eradicate all evidence of the napalm production and its victims, a strategy similar to late-war Nazi Germany, suffering the same complications in limited production capacity and a high burden of secrecy. However, an R&D complex was not discovered by the crew of Ghost Song, nor was any stockpile of sufficient materials to support an operation developing new weapons—weapons, security checkpoints, food, communications, patrols, torch-and-burn operations were all sparse throughout the base.
The second hypothesis holds water. In conjunction with GRAY MAN, we identified some of the large footprints left in the snow by, possibly, what Gold Team had engaged before they expired, and found a match. GRAY MAN discovered a species native to Hoth but, according to Republic databases, many had been transported to Mygeeto by traders almost a century ago, and the conditions—favorable to polar bears—lent themselves to their survival. The creatures are large, some as tall as four meters, and have significant muscle mass. GOLD TEAM would have struggled similarly, if required to fight up close, against the sheer amount of muscle that Wampas evidently possess.
It is often thought that there is some quality to the SPARTANs that lends a degree of immortality to them, especially throughout Operation: TREBUCHET. We think they are invincible because they have never been defeated with odds short of insurmountable, and force less than overwhelming. It can be difficult to accept that—although I do not suggest B5D disrespects nature—a large, tusked, bipedal polar bear mauled a team of SPARTANs to death in their armor and armed to the teeth; however, this is the most likely explanation, as the Separatists also have not been alerted by the presence of the SPARTANs investigating ARGONAUT's death, and the ONI field agents that landed on their old site to investigate.
We now have a potential answer to the questions about the circumstances of Gold Team's losses, most of which plagued the investigators from the first day of the Mygeeto cleanup, and a grim reminder that SPARTANs are not "super-soldiers;" stretched too thin and burdened with an underestimated threat, they can be overwhelmed and killed.
Investigation on the code-phrase "PEACA"
On [12.8.2525], at 02:31 Zulu Time, UNSC Iroquois intercepted a high-frequency auroral realtime burst transmission that lasted 0.003 seconds and contained an encrypted message that permitted the eyes of any UNSC observer and blocked those of CIS allies. The ionospheric frequency was in use by ONI field agents deployed by Iroquois, Ghost Song, and Ghost Wind under the assumption that it was so antiquated, obsolete, and "finicky," that the Separatists would not be able to detect any such burst, and regular UNSC forces would not be attenuated to receive it (Osman, 2525). Iroquois received the cryptic message immediately, and launched Operation: BROKEN SPEAR under the assumption that—according to the defective BX unit that sent the message, Operation: SILENT SPEAR had failed.
The message's contents were cryptic and designed to inspire further investigation, with the clumsily written header, in English, "OPREP, failed, Silent Spear, compromised, recovery requested"; and the similarly cryptic body, "For all eyes, Peaca = sin. Be aware." At first glance, it seemed to be a suspicious third party or even the OOM unit impersonating ARGONAUT, but it claimed no fraudulent key and, in fact, left its public ID on the battlenet. It seemed instead to be a warning sent in lieu of ARGONAUT—cryptic enough to require a response, but it drew attention to something the Separatists would have otherwise buried. Lieutenant Commander Nareed, upon reading the message, suspected it was the former—and that there was more to this mission. Aware of the implication of the use of the word "Peaca," he recommended immediate action and the deployment of SPARTANs.
It is worth interrogating the choice of code phrase. Peaca is an Irish word that translates directly to sin. The name of the facility, Achadh-an-Sídhe, translates from Irish poorly. Achadh meaning "field," and Sídhe meaning a hill under which fairies live, it syntactically does not make sense that Achadh-an-Sídhe would mean "fairy fields," "fields of fairies." A closer translation to modern Irish would be "fields and hills of fairies."
GRAY MAN discovered that the lurmen speak a language remarkably similar to Irish, and their naming conventions are similar to the Irish language. The language is close enough that they appear to be dialects of each other—a remarkable fact that has no explanation beyond pure speculation. GRAY MAN nor I make any assertions as to how Irish and the lurmen tongue could be remotely similar, having developed tens of thousands of lightyears apart from one another, completely separately. It is also coincidental that, although the lurmen appear to keep their distance from us, Ireland volunteered to carry out a peacekeeping mission. If anything, the language considerations make their job easier in retrospect. In the lurman dialect, Achadh-an-Sídhe does mean Fairy Fields—and peaca still means sin.
At risk of making premature moral judgments of the philosophy of this nomenclature, there are two preliminary hypotheses. Perhaps there was some knowledge from key actors in the CIS that the names would have significance to humans from the Solar System, meaning the attention called was a lure of some kind. It is not likely, as the outcome of such an operation would drive a rift between the CIS and UNSC; however, there is not enough information to immediately dismiss this hypothesis. The second hypothesis is that the name Achadh-an-Sídhe was meant to be an innocuous, if not attractive, name to ease tensions during the relocation of lurmen to these camps—much in the same way Nazis reassured Jewish and Gypsy populations of 20th century Europe of towns full of opportunities for labor and free food, when they were carting them to concentration camps like Dachau, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Bergen-Belsen to produce ammunition and textiles, starve, and eventually die by the million.
Several discoveries were made during the investigation of the BX unit at Achadh-an-Sídhe. Combat recorder tapes recovered from the BX unit recovered by Ghost Song, the one that terminated ARGONAUT, paint a crucial piece to the puzzle: the code phrase "PEACA" appears to be an trigger which a logic bomb deep within the framework of all battle droids conditions. The logic bomb itself is a series of codes and articulated instructions that disregard the battle droids' factory settings, which force them to adhere to the Republic's laws of war, and a series of directives (separately packaged from B1s, B2s, BXs, and OOMs).
It was also the file name of a Trojan horse downloaded to BX-2375 during the raid on Achadh-an-Sídhe led by itself, the lurmen resistance, and ARGONAUT. This appeared to be a separate file used by the local OOM unit to invasively replace its damaged and corrupted programming with the PEACA subroutine. It spread over the course of microseconds, nearly preventing the message intercepted by UNSC Iroquois on the Ferret mission frequency HAARPVBX1993.
Although the Secretariat has heard no end of Marine officers on Mygeeto complaining that the droids had no effective sympathies or sensibilities in regarding prisoners of war and civilian life—which is to say, they were committing atrocities under their normal programming—it seems the PEACA subroutine was activated in remote situations with the sole purpose of purging dissident populations away from the eyes of the public and of the UNSC allies who adhered to strict rules of engagement. Osman's analysis, while frank, was apt: the droids appear to conduct operations under either a "normal mode" or a "holocaust mode."
The greater strategy to this conflict is nebulous to those in my station, so I will not make recommendations; however, the window to present evidence of the massacres and genocides of Mygeeto-based lurmen, in order to build and present a case on Separatist-led ethnic cleansings, is closing. This was a time-sensitive operation, even as a fact-finding mission. All relevant data, theories, analyses, and citations are attached to this report.
file/kilo-echo-four/parangosky
Encryption Code: black
Public Key: n/a
From: Adm. Parangosky
To: COALMINER
Cc: herzogj, grayman, s019
Subject: Re: Update on SPARTAN Gold Team whereabouts%/Operation%/BROKEN SPEAR, report on code phrase "PEACA"
Classification: Secret (BGX Directive)
Type: Message
Status: READ
Strong work, COAL MINER. Pleased with your analyses. Agreed on the peculiarity of the open threads with lurmen dialect and Irish—they're too similar to be inconsequential, or coincidental. GRAY MAN will liaise with some Republic linguists and anthropologists in the American embassy on Coruscant. Find out what you can.
Until then, I don't have to tell you to keep this under wraps—especially from the Irish.