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Jun's Blood Trail Prelude: A Certain Set Of Skills; Early UC 0106, ONI Original Intel Headquarters
Topic Started: Jul 29 2014, 06:03 AM (854 Views)
Esdeath
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Jun had never been to Side 2 before. Most of her petite mobile racing prior to the nuking of Zum City had stuck to Side 3 and Side 5, and after she joined Zeon's military, she had been on Earth up until a few weeks ago. Granted, the only reason she was at Side 2 now was because she had just received clearance to visit ONI's Original Intel Headquarters in Side 2. The building certainly didn't look like something something the infamously secretive ONI would build, being a large, ostentatious building with an obsidian finish, but ONI was also known to use buildings from prior establishments, too. The dating on this building in particular went back to 0079; Jun imagined it was probably Gihren Zabi himself who had the building commissioned, and ONI merely appropriated the building after one of what was probably several turnovers since then.

Making sure all the paperwork she had filled out beforehand was still on hand, tucked away in a manilla envelope that she was carrying with her now, Jun made her way into the building through the large, double doors at the front. The building's lobby was finished in obsidian, too; Well, lobby wasn't quite the right word. More like a long entrance hallway with a single reception booth behind a pane of what was likely bulletproof glass at the other end- one that likely served as a security desk, too- right beside the door further in. As Jun approached the desk, the person manning the booth- an older man who had been reading a newspaper since Jun came in- spoke up.

"Purpose of visit...?" The man asked, almost bored. He probably had to ask everyone who came in the same question, courtesy of protocol.

"I want to take a look at a previous incident," Jun answered as she reached the desk, placing the envelope on the counter as she spoke. The man gave her a glance before picking up the envelope with one hand and taking a peak inside. After a moment or so, he closed the envelope and cocked an eyebrow at Jun, prompting a defensive response out of her: "I want to see for myself what happened."

"Kid," the older man started, finally setting the newspaper down with the other hand as he spoke, "In the years since the Zum City attack, I've had at least a hundred people take a look at this case, with absolutely no progress. What do you think you'll get out of this that they couldn't?"

"...If nothing else, closure."

When he heard Jun's response, the older man sighed, before standing up. "I'll go run this back, and maybe you'll be let in... But kid, if you get cleared for everything, closure might wind up being the last thing you get out of it." With that, the man stepped out of the booth, back futher into the building and out of Jun's sight. Cleared for everything, huh... Did that mean there was parts of the investigation that weren't public knowledge? Regardless, Jun stood there, waiting for either the man to return or for someone to let her further in.
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Beside the door, a small red light turned green, followed by a light click. From behind the door stepped Natalka Coluarc. Dressed in business casual, she had a manila folder stuffed with papers tucked into the crook of her arm. She approached Jun, but did not extend a hand in greeting.


"I take it that you're Jun Nagamoto? Racer, mobile suit pilot, and member of Vasavi Shakti? Here to ask about the Zum City Incident? Natalka Coluarc, Zeonic Intelligence Service. It is a good thing that you arrived when you did, I was about to step out for the afternoon. My office is just down the hallway, and do take care. Every door in this facility locks automatically, and it would be rather embarrassing for you to get stuck somewhere without the proper clearance. So, shall we?"


Natalka had returned to the door and unlocked it once more, slipping a key card into a slot set into the wall. Opening the door, Natalka stood to the side, allowing her guest to pass.
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Jun wasn't terribly surprised that Ms. Coluarc knew so much about her; After all, it would make sense that ONI would run checks on people who wanted to see their intel. Once the door was unlocked and opened once more, Jun took the hint as Ms. Coluarc stepped aside for her and entered, stopping on the other side of the door, a few feet in so Ms. Coluarc had room to enter, too. After all, she imagined Ms. Coluarc was going to be leading her around- To her office first, most likely, though Jun imagined the information on the Zum City incident would probably have to be accessed elsewhere... Though who knows, perhaps that level of information was accessible from Ms. Coluarc's office?
Edited by Esdeath, Oct 3 2014, 05:22 AM.
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Accompanying the pilot down the hall, Ms, Coluarc opened the door to an incredibly nondescript office. White walls, a filing cabinet, a six-tier shelf with an assortment of black bound books, an espresso brown desk, and a stereotypical office computer adorning it. Two identical chairs sat on either side of the desk. Ms. Coluarc took her seat and booted up her computer, expecting Jun to be more than capable enough.

"I was actually expecting you to show up earlier, though I must admit that I am used to government workers and high ranking military personnel. Punctual types, even painfully so. That said, I already had your request and papers pulled up. Now, everything does check out. The fact that you went through all of the paperwork correctly is admirable in its own regard. But what I, and ONI would like to know, is why? Why are you interested in a case that, unfortunately, hasn't budged since 0104. You have your questions, and we will get to them, but I must know why. Not because I'm personally invested, but because it is our job to know."
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When Ms. Coluarc asked Jun why she was so interested, the young woman glanced up at the ONI official, giving her a look as if the answer should be obvious. But now that she thought about it... Was it? Was it all just about wanting to know who took her mother from her? Admittedly, Jun felt that was the driving force behind it, but...

"...I suppose the reason that's easy enough to figure out," Jun started, glancing away a bit as she began speaking, "Is because whoever carried out that attack... They stole my mother from me that day. She was killed in the initial blast, and not only was I unable to do anything about it... I was watching from right outside the colony as it happened. There was a Petite Mobile race scheduled a few days later into the week, and I had intended on arriving early to pay my mother a visit."

Jun glanced back into Ms Coluarc's eyes, her own holding within them a look of anger and disgust- not aimed at the ONI officer, but at somethng, or someone else. Her tone grew more and more bitter as she continued. "I saw the blast that took my mother's life, but more than that, I saw the immediate aftermath with my own eyes. It's not exactly a secret that the Japanese have always had a disdain for nuclear weapons after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and anyone who's ever seen photos of the aftermath of those or read the accounts of the survivors would easily understand why. What Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn't have, though, is entire chunks of the city being pulled into space, what few survivors of the blast itself suffocating in the void. I know ONI was able to limit the casualties by a grand margin, but the ones who weren't able to be saved... You know, there's something to be said of seeing a man's body bounce off the hull of the transport you're riding, still flailing, struggling to breathe where there's no atmosphere to speak of. Those old films of people stuck in space dying of explosive decompression, or instantly freezing or burning to death... I can tell you from witnessing it myself that they're all myths. I'm sure the bodies will freeze or burn up eventually, but... It will be long after they've suffocated to death."

Jun paused a moment, realizing she'd gone a bit off on a tangent. she glanced away again, before clearing her throat and getting back on track with her response. "I guess what I mean is... After what I saw, I want to see every single person responsible for that attack brought to justice... No, to be honest with myself, I've stopped giving a damn about justice a long time ago. The ones responsible... More than anything, I want to ensure they each get the painful demise they earned themselves. Not just the triggermen- the hijackers of the Endras- but everyone who knowingly made that attack possible. And if all I can find is the sorry bastard who supplied those hijackers with those nukes, then I'll drag the names of everyone else out of him any way I can."
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"My sympathies Ms. Nagamoto. While ONI's quick response did prevent more casualties than there were, that was no way for anyone to die. Unfortunately, it is almost as if that horrid day never occurred to our own populace, who are now more focused on Haman's supposed failures.


But enough on that, neither of us are here to weave stories."


Ms. Coluarc turned to her computer, pulling up the necessary files. A few brief clicks and a single, lengthy file code later, and the documents were up.


"Here is what we have, from top to bottom. The whole story begins two days prior. At 0300, both of the Endras, the Chrysanthemum and the Thor, finished their patrol around New Luxembourg, and were on route to their next destination, Rosewater. The majority of on-board records from then, up to the destruction of the ship, were scrubbed by the hijackers. However, automated recordings from engineering dictate that the thrusters on both ships were given a halt command, which was started at 0421. The ships didn't begin moving again until 0500. It is at this point that the ships began their journey to Zum City. Both warships were hailed at 0739 at the perimeter of Zum City space on the day of the attack. Standard procedure was followed, and then expedited once both ships deployed several mobile suits in combat formations.

At this point, ONI officers sortie alongside two other Neo Zeon pilots that had been on station. Mobile suits on both sides engage each other, the Thor's Hizacks notably drawing fire away from the ship. Immediately after, the Thor opened fire on both our mobile suits and two colony ports. We also finally received one message from the Thor."


Ms. Coluarc's hand shifted the mouse slightly, tapping the key once. Abruptly, audio began to play from the computer's speakers. "Spacenoid scum! The Earth has grown tired of your attempts at subjugating her! Our bright and beautiful world has tasked us with the destruction of Zeon."


".....We have gone over this audio clip many times. Three men, one woman, and one last crewmember of indeterminate gender can be heard over the course of the recording. We are positive that all six individuals, along with any others onboard, were hijackers, as the ship's entire skeleton crew was found dead in the bunk hall.

Returning to the battle, the Chrysanthemum joined in shortly afterwards. In addition to the four Hizacks from the Thor, it deployed two of its own, alongside two Gelgoog Marines. Following its suits, what we later discovered was a makeshift fusion warhead was launched from the Chrysanthemum. General Ki-osei Sheketo reached the field at this time. The General made short work of the Thor, destroying it in one sweep using a SD-99 chain mine, and followed up by engaging the warhead. The warhead was destroyed in no-man's land, which was unfortunately when we realized how serious this attack was. The Chrysanthemum proceeds to turn it's guns away from the colonies and onto the mobile suits. In the following volley, not only are two of ONI's Gelgoog Marines destroyed, but all of the remaining enemy Hizacks. The General and the remaining ONI pilots began opening fire on the Chrysanthemum, which was on a collision course, while the Neo Zeon pilots engaged the two remaining enemy Gelgoogs.

A second warhead was launched by the Chrysanthemum moments before its destruction. During multiple interviews with the pilots proceeding the attack, no combat alert was sounded at any point during its flight. Before it even hits the colony, the warhead was hit by a single red beam from below, causing it to detonate. The General was the only one to even see it prior to detonation, but wasn't able to act. This was the direct cause of the breach in the colony wall, as the cannon fire of the Endras appeared to be focused on damaging external facilities. Both warships were sunk, all enemy mobile suits confirmed destroyed. The battle took place over the course of four minutes and thirteen seconds.


That is the entire technical report. Following the battle, we did what we could to scrounge up any evidence we could find. We only recovered two bodies, and one limb. I've already left the doorman copies of all of their personal information for you, or at least whatever we could figure out after being refused assistance by the Commonwealth on the matter. The limb was the only part of a crewmember we could find from one of the ships. We believe that the other's bodies were lost to the void before we even arrived to investigate. While that is normally a displeasing point, this means that the hijackers were incredibly small in numbers as well. The only other corpses aboard the ships were all registered NZ personnel, killed by weapons fire two days prior.

Now, this is the part you're here for. ONI's speculation on the case. From what we've been able to gather from what little hard evidence remains, these were indeed Earth Commonwealth soldiers. Both of the Gelgoog pilots were documented pilots, one of them having been recorded fighting Martian Militia forces at MO-V in 0095. However, some among ONI believe that this might be the work of another group, with three points of focus. One is the incredibly small number of participants in the attack. Assuming that they brought aboard enough crew to maintain bridge functions and pilot the eight MS, the hijackers could not have been over thirty individuals between the two ships. The second is combat recordings featuring the enemy Hizacks. While both Endras had an accountable stock of Hizacks, surviving pilots tell, and recordings show, that the Hizacks behaved oddly. During combat, the suits were very well synchronized with one another, on par with ONI's own officers. The General dreaded the idea that they could have possibly been mobile dolls. We know the Commonwealth would never field mobile dolls, much for the same reasons we don't. Unfortunately, the Hizacks and any equipment they would've had were utterly obliterated by the Chrysanthemum, leaving us a dead end. Lastly, the final shot of the engagement. A single beam shot struck the warhead from below, which meant that another mobile suit was participating in the attack. This was another dead end however. All of our own suits were accounted for during combat, as well as all hostile combatants deployed from both warships. In addition, there is no free floating debris in the area that they could've hid behind, being a frequently traveled area. There was no visible flight contrail from the area either after the battle. Our best answer is that it was a sniper unit, likely poised well beyond visual range. The General mentioned that there were rumors of a Commonwealth Gundam prototype fielded during the previous war with camouflage capabilities. While he entertained the notion that it would be a better fit than our conclusion, he concluded that such Gundam is very likely just a combat myth spread by superstitious pilots. If we had any recordings of such a suit, none survived the EMP Attack, nor have we heard any stories of merit of such a mobile suit from anyone within the Sides.


These three factors have led to the alternate possibility that this attack was carried out by a different organization. For better or worse, the only group in our records that seems to coincide with such behavior is the Organization of Nebula. It would be a truly terrifying possibility, if it weren't for the fact that the joint efforts of the Commonwealth, United Emirates of Orb, Neo Zeon, and the Martian Militia in decimating their forces prior to the conclusion of the war. Their recorded bases were either destroyed or had been abandoned by the end of the war, notably the Libra battle station, and their remaining mobile suit forces were lost in their drop assault on the Sanc Kingdom. Their commanding officer was recorded engaging in combat with a rogue Gundam, code-named Satyricon, on the outskirts of the city while Commonwealth forces engaged their remaining mobile suits.

ONI has concluded that while this is indeed a very, very grave threat, their involvement based on all of our other findings hovers below a one percent possibility. In the incredibly off-chance that Nebula did somehow come back from the dead, ONI would be immediately redirected at combating their threat, even in the face of the Federation. Our precursors, the Neo Zeon Marines, were vital in tackling Nebula forces throughout the last war, and General Sheketo personally led attacks on several of their bases. Nebula is an toxic idea to ONI, being completely against our operations and code of conduct. But as I've said, this is a percent of a percent chance that Nebula was involved. While it could've been another organization, independent or even Commonwealth aligned, our hard evidence leads us to believe that this was the work of forces within the Commonwealth."


Ms. Coluarc clicked her mouse a few times before turning in her chair towards Jun. She folded her hands together on the desk, having concluded her computer works.


"Now, is there anything else that you would like clarification on?"
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Jun sat with both her legs and arms crossed, listening to Ms. Coluarc's description of ONI's findings as well as the audio recording that had been presented. The findings seemed pretty solid as far as evidence went, but she couldn't help but think about the second possibility that was presented: This Organization of Nebula that was thought wiped out... There had been enough cases in history long before even the Universal Century where groups thought extinct suddenly made brutal comebacks from seemingly nowhere... She wasn't quite as quick to dismiss the possibility as some others seemed to be. Besides, if it was a group like that... Destroying their own suits like that seemed to make a good deal of sense. What would be mistaken for friendly fire could easily be used to destroy evidence, such as who certain pilots were- or, if the Mobile Doll theory was correct, weren't. And then there was the issue of that beam... It had to come from somewhere, stealth suit or BVR sniper or otherwise. Regardless, whoever fired it would have had to be the only survivor, of the actual operation, meaning they were Jun's only means of finding whoever planned it... Assuming whoever that was didn't die on one of the Endras themselves.

After a moment of consideration, Jun finally spoke. "...A percent of a percent chance, huh...?" She asked herself, glancing aside for a moment as she did so before turning back to Ms. Coluarc. "Too much is left unexplained with the Commonwealth story. Even if it's a percent of a percent chance of being possible, it sounds like this Organization of Nebula fits the bill far more. That alone makes them worth looking at... At least to me, anyways. It wouldn't be the first time a group thought wiped from existence suddenly came back."

Jun brought her hands up to her chin as she continued, locking her fingers together to rest her chin on as she propped her elbows up on her chair's armrests. "So... This Nebula. Just who were they? Like, what exactly were they after, how did they operate, who was their leader, things like that? And, most importantly, how well does their profile fit what was seen that day, regardless of whether they were thought wiped out or not?"
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"I...ah, sorry. I tend to forget that non-ONI personnel aren't necessarily veterans of the so called 'Neo Zeon War'. That, and how much was actually public on Nebula at the time, or even now for that matter.


In short....Nebula are terrorists. They sprung up during the previous war, with no apparent ties to one location or people. They spoke of bringing peace to the Earth Sphere, but only ever brought death and destruction with them. Some believe that they wanted to tear down the current governments, seeing them as unfit to guide humanity. Others believe that their plan from the beginning was simply peace through superior firepower.


We don't know when the group was founded, but they had clearly been in operation prior to the release of the Type S Influenza virus in the summer of 0094. What we do know of the group is that, among their command, was a rogue scientist from ZAFT by the name of Gilbert Durandall, who had been heading the Influenza project. Despite cooperative efforts between Zeon, Mars, the Commonwealth, and Orb, the virus was released. As you probably know, several colonies in this very Side were quarantined and declared off limits to counteract the spread. Over the next six months, Nebulan agents continued to sabotage efforts on both sides of the conflict. In February 0095, Nebulan forces not only captured the Commonwealth's Libra battlestation, but the MO-V colony on the Earth Sphere outskirts, which had been in the control of the Martian Directorate at the time.


A week later, everything seemed to turn into a blur. Independent sentiments peaked on the Moon, leading to the rise of the self-proclaimed Lunarian Freedom Alliance. The LFA assaulted the Libra with their own forces, at which point several other parties including Zeon threw in their hands as well. The battle was concluded with the destruction of the Libra by a rogue Gundam pilot. In retaliation, Nebula crushed the remaining LFA forces at the Moon, leaving no survivors. Neo Zeon and Martian space-bound efforts finally broke through, and the Commonwealth/Orb fleet structure was in tatters. The entirety of their territories at L3 were finally in our grasp after many months of fighting. Nebula then proceeded to land the majority of their forces within the Commonwealth's Sanc Kingdom. From what we have figured out over the years, and in trading secrets with Commonwealth intelligence, Nebula had arrived to not only gut the Commonwealth command structure, but that of another radical terrorist organization, Blue Cosmos. A great number of the Commonwealth council was part of Blue Cosmos, and Nebula had killed two birds with one stone.


That was approximately when their successes ran dry. Their forces were rapidly outnumbered by the response of Commonwealth ground forces and MS, and their forces were completely destroyed save for one suit. Their ground commander, one Joshua Tucker, a former Zeon ace, was only listed MIA during a violent clash against the poorly recorded Satyricon Gundam, which also went missing once again after the fight. During our landing operation, Gilbert Durandall was reported KIA in an assault against Nebulan forces on the Moon. Even with our subsequent retreat, and the chaos of the EMP Crisis, we continued to pursue Nebula's remaining loose ends after the war had finished. Gilbert Durandall and Joshua Tucker had clearly been important figures within the organization, and their remaining forces were scattered and had little direction. They fought just as fiercely as before, possessing an almost religious zeal, but they couldn't aim it. Our last reported contact with Nebulan remnants was in 0097 by Neo Zeon Marine forces in Side 6's Mughal colony. Four marine pilots lost, all Nebulan troops and facility personnel KIA. Attempts to capture were met with suicide.


I understand your concern about remaining Nebulan elements. They aren't just evil. They're a cancer that grew within the nations of the Earth Sphere, and tried to destroy us from within. They had hands in some of the greatest atrocities in the last war, and it's even believed that proto-Nebula elements were responsible for the attempted drop of Colony Sakura years ago. But I guarantee you, if we have any reason to believe that they're still active, Zeon would know. The General created ONI out of the combined resources of the Neo Zeon Marines, our nation's two espionage departments, and a bundle of research groups, after spending the latter half of the previous war fighting and hunting down Nebulan forces. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to do much in that regard. Pretty much what you'd expect against the Commonwealth during the African Campaign. Since then, my end has been nothing but paperwork and our lab boys have just been tinkering away. Rather dull really.


I would put Nebula out of mind, in my opinion. They are ghosts of the past. But, if, and this is a very very big if, you do manage to come across something that we have not, somehow, you are to report it ASAP. Failure to do so would be treason, and subject to nothing less than execution. The threat of loose terrorists within our borders is bad enough. A return of Nebula....Zeon couldn't afford any degree of inaction in that case."
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