Galapagos incident

The Galápagos incident was a terrorist attack carried out by a group of criminals associated with the Sarmatian syndicate at the Galápagos National Fortress on 20 July 2696. In the early afternoon, attackers intruded into the facility via submersible and conducted a coordinated cyberattack and chemical attack. After disabling the communications and security systems, the attackers deployed nerve gas into the ventilation and life support system. The attacks killed almost 3,000 people, most of them State Security and Defense personnel working in the fortress, and injured another 2,000 people, including several high-level State Security officials; it also caused over 1 billion GEC in physical and cyber-infrastructural damage to the facility, previously considered one of the most secure in the Republic. The Galápagos incident is the single deadliest terrorist attack on Earth in over four centuries.
The incident provoked a galaxy-wide manhunt, involving agents and officers of the Space Police, Personal Protection Agency, Internal Security Service, and the Defense Investigation service. It has also led to new anti-terrorism legislation and crackdowns across the galaxy on terrorist groups, revolutionary militias, criminal gangs, alien autonomists, and anti-government political activists. The expelling of the Sarmatian syndicate's legal fronts from the Galactic Corsairs over the incident guild led to the Corsair War.
== Background ==
The Galápagos National Fortress was constructed on the island of San Cristobal, part of the Galápagos Islands on Earth during the 2640s in anticipation of terrorist attacks on one of several Terran Imperial military headquarters. Such attacks on high-level military targets never came, though the TPLA did conduct attacks on towns and public spaces on Earth, such as the bombing of Stornoway in 2654. Ground was broken in 2642 and construction was completed in 2648; the facility was a considerable engineering feat, connecting an undersea military headquarters to Darwin Naval Air Station in nearby Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, with several secret access bunkers around Tijeretas Hill. The main facility was built 900 meters down, within a section of the island ridge before it drops off into the deep sea; the facility is almost entirely embedded within the base of the island, with only a few access hatches and an observation deck jutting out from the rock. This primary facility contains offices and other rooms for military and intelligence operations, with some 2,117,000 square meters of floorspace; it is partly managed and monitored by three artificial intelligences (Arnold, Billiam, and Charley, each of whom holds rank in the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander).
The nearby town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno largely exists to service the facility and its large staff; the town had previously bore a stable population of less than 6,000; during and after the construction of the National Fortress, this population exploded to 23,000.
After construction, the Galápagos National Fortress served as an auxiliary military headquarters, with a staff of three to six thousand people depending on the needs of the government. During the Great War, Prince (and later Emperor) Maximilian frequently utilized the facility for military planning and informational management. After the 2670s, the facility rotated its staff for various defense projects and security operations requiring secrecy; since the start of the Rim War in 2688, it has resumed full-time use as an administrative and planning center for joint Defense-State Security operations. At the time of the attacks, it was under the temporary command of State Security General Xander Vox.
== Attack ==
On 20 July at approximately 1155 hours local time, a group of as-yet-unidentified attackers descended in a stealth submarine from the surface, likely from a private dock in the port town, and traveled the 1.36 kilometers to the location of the northeast undersea access hatch. Three to four armed attackers wearing pressure suits destroyed the hatch using an arc torch, causing localized damage to the coral reef, and intruded into the facility. At least one of the attackers made their way through ducts and hallways to Server Room C, which controlled the security systems and alarms. This attacker hacked into the system, disabling Charley in the process, and shut down the alarms and chemical sensors. At the same time, at least two other attackers moved to the air control room, and killed Sgt Jacob Rodriguez before accessing the room; there, they hooked a canister containing 60 kg of Sarin-VII nerve gas up to the air control and pumped it in aerosol form into the facility's air system. Sarin-VII, an advanced derivative of the much older Sarin gas, is an organophosphate nerve agent that is lethal at a concentration of 7 mg per cubic meter; approximately twice this amount was pumped into the over 4.2 million cubic meters of the facility's air system. This nerve agent was presumably selected above more potent military nerve agents due to its qualities as odorless and colorless, rendering it unable to be detected by personnel until it was too later, and for its relative ease to find on terrorist black markets. It is thought that after hooking up the canister and setting it on a remote control, the attackers retreated to the access hatch airlock and waited.
The gas attack began at 1230 hours, as most of the staff was returning from lunch; on a busy Monday workday, this was approximately 5,073 personnel, mostly Defense and State Security administrative staff, along with military and security officers, guards, and civilian contractors. Among the staff present that day were military officers Admiral Carlo Leblanc and Rear Admiral Alan Hart, and State Security officers General Xander Vox, General Primus Lucan, and Colonel Adrian Lancore. The vast majority of personnel were exposed to the gas, and 2,994 people died; most of the fatalities occurred within 5 minutes of exposure. Around 2,070 people were injured by the nerve agent, many of them severely and permanently; during the attacks, almost all were acutely paralyzed for several minutes. After the attacks, most of the survivors reported chronic health problems, including muscle fatigue, nerve damage, tissue damage, nausea, and asthma. As many as half of the survivors required long-term medical treatment, up to and including cybernetic lung replacement and muscle enhancement.
The facility's ventilation system had difficulty removing toxic compound, as the aerosol re-condensed into a liquid and remained on surfaces, causing it to be blown back into the air system. Without the sensors activating, no safety protocols were able to be put in place to remove the toxic chemical, facility medical staff was not deployed to provide immediate treatment, and outside medical assistance was not immediately notified. Some survivors were continually exposed to the toxin, causing further injury.
After the gas attack took effect, the attackers re-entered the facility in full CBRN protective gear, and stormed the office of General Vox, who was injured by the toxin but not incapacitated. Security footage has mostly remained classified, but some released material indicates that close combat took place between General Vox and the attackers; he was severely injured by gunfire and required hospitalization, and his office was destroyed by flooding caused by gunfire damaging the structural integrity of the observation glass. Colonel Lancore was severely injured during the incident and received extensive hospitalization and cybernetic reconstructive surgery. General Lucan suffered nerve damage and lung injuries from the poison gas, but fully recovered in a hospital several months later.
== Response ==
=== Immediate reaction ===
By 1300 hours, the failure of regular communication from the facility was noticed, and military police from the nearby naval base were mobilized to respond. The ventilation system was gradually removing the toxic gas, but condensation created a persistent re-exposure risk. A special response platoon attempted to storm the facility, but an explosive placed at a hidden exterior entrance exploded, injuring 12 soldiers. After a few minutes, a second attempt was made, and after the gas exposure was ascertained, a hazmat team was deployed along with medical staff. The immediate response took several hours to assess the situation, evacuate the survivors, begin triage and medical treatment, and quarantine the building. Removal of the dead would take even longer.
The dead were identified, quarantined as biohazard, and cryogenically frozen for proper burial. Over the next 24 hours, the survivors were taken into the local hospital, or flown to hospitals in Lima and Quito.
=== Investigation ===
With several high-ranking officers of State Security and the military injured or killed, the attack was quickly reported on as a politically-motivated act of terrorism. Speculation almost immediately began by local investigators from the Peruvian territorial police on which radical organization might be behind the attacks. As General Vox and General Lucan were both incapacitated, responsibility for internal security fell to internal security director Francis Bloom. Bloom established a partnership with General Bastian MacBeth of the national police to coordinate what would become a sprawling investigation utilizing resources from the Internal Security Service, Personal Protection Agency, Interstellar Police, and the Office of Military and Naval Intelligence.
When Vox regained consciousness, he insisted on providing oversight from his hospital bed while recovering. On July 29th, under the direction of Chancellor Maximilian, Vice Minister Henry Heavenly established the Special Investigative Troika, composed of Bloom, MacBeth, and the recently-recovered Vox. The Troika would coordinate the government response to the attack. State Security minister Frederick Voss attempted to gain command over the investigation, but Heavenly intervened to ensure the Troika would have investigative independence and full discretion. The elite Silver Team became the "tip of the spear" in directly following up on leads and apprehending suspects.
The attempts by Voss to control the investigation aroused suspicion that he may have been involved or was covering up some activities, and the Troika began a secret file on him. Voss was under constant surveillance by early August, and copious amounts of information was gathered. The investigation also pursued leads involving several members of the Galactic Corsairs, with the possibility that organized crime and mercenaries were tied to the mysterious attackers. Multiple theories abounded that the attackers may have simply been hired guns, rather than motivated terrorists, and speculation shifted to the identity of their employers or contract brokers. The complex system of mercenary contracts within the Corsair guild allowed for some criminal activities to be "laundered", though serious acts of mass murder would likely have been caught by one or more monitoring organizations within the guild. Consensus among the investigators shifted to a guild-affiliated criminal syndicate in contact with the Resistance, operating outside of the Corsairs' rules in this matter.
The outbreak of conflict within the Corsairs seemed to back up this theory. While the Sarmatian and his syndicate were excommunicated from the guild based on his unsanctioned attack on freelancer guild members, law enforcement believed this was a cover for a secondary motivation in the guild tribunal's outrage at his funding a terrorist attack. Silver Team investigators began closely monitoring his syndicate's activities, attempting to glean information on what may have motivated his involvement. Escalating violence between the Sarmatian Syndicate and the allies on one side, and the rest of the Corsairs on the other side, threatened to boil over into a repeat of the Pirate War.
Drawing connections between the Sarmatian and the as-yet unknown political instigator of the attack, officers ramped up their investigation of Frederick Voss. By November, several potential suspects had been investigated unsuccessfully, narrowing the pool. While Silver Team primarily pursued leads involving mercenaries who may have conducted the attack itself, the secret police looked closely at Voss as the "political instigator". Evidence pointed towards a new theory: Voss had conspired with an antigovernment resistance faction to attack and weaken the Internal Security department, and provide the resistance with secret data that he did not have access to; in the pursuit of this, to conceal his involvement, he contacted the Sarmatian, who then hired mercenaries to conduct the attack and steal government data.
The Troika presented their findings to General Vox on December 1st. Concerned about imminent leaks to the Minister, he and his colleague General William McGrady acted quickly to secure the ministry. In now-publicized memos, they privately recommended to Chancellor Maximilian that Voss be immediately arrested, rather than suspended from his post. Given his probable defection, giving him any time to act would be dangerous. On December 2nd, McGrady's soldiers arrested Minister Voss one hour after the Chancellor declared a state of emergency and issued a secret decree removing Voss from office. Vice Minister Heavenly assumed command of the Ministry of State Security.
Evidence gathered by Silver Team led to the identification of the Sarmatian with a 26-year old spacer criminal named Nikolas Sɫaw, and he was arrested in mid-December after a daring raid on his headquarters. Evidence seized during the raid pointed towards the Sarmatian having ordered the assassination of the mercenaries that carried out the attack as a way to cover up his involvement. Silver Team, including an undercover agent, provided evidence for criminal activities by seceding members of the Corsairs who had sided with the Sarmatian in his power struggle. The evidence did not point towards their participation in the terrorist attacks, but did provide sufficient cause to arrest them and charge them with activities that funded terrorism, whether knowingly or not; foremost amongst these was corsair captain and mining magnate Baroness Scharlotte Valhalla.
=== Trial ===
A trial was delayed until the following year as the state sought the capture of the Sarmatian and the perpetrators of the attack, and Solicitor-General Genevieve McGrady wanted to try them as co-defendants in a conspiracy. After Henry Heavenly was confirmed as Minister of State Security in February, he oversaw cooperation with the Ministry of Justice in pursuing the criminal case against Voss, Sɫaw, and their collaborators. Voss was charged with high treason, murder, terrorism, crimes against humanity, conspiracy, corruption, obstruction of justice, abuse of office, and malfeasance; Sɫaw was charged with murder, conspiracy, racketeering, and solicitation; State Security officers Colonel Ryan Mansley and Colonel Eli Val were charged with high treason and conspiracy; corsair captain Scharlotte Valhalla was charged with racketeering, fraud, embezzlement, smuggling, corruption, and funding terrorism. All four were indicted on these charges, with thousands of counts of murder for Voss and Sɫaw.
The trial began on 8 March 2697 before the Supreme Criminal Court at Den Hague, Netherlands. The prosecution brought mountains of evidence supporting the charges and the conspiracy plot. Evidence was further presented that accounted for the murder of the perpetrators of the attack. The trial lasted over six weeks, with the judicial panel presenting its decision on 19 April after deliberating for three days. Voss, Sɫaw, Mansley, and Val were found guilty on all charges. Valhalla was convicted of all but the charge of funding terrorism; her apparent ignorance of the end result of her business relationship with the Sarmatian during their time as members of the Corsairs acquitted her of that crime.
A sentencing hearing was held on 30 April. Voss and his two conspiring officers were sentenced to death by firing squad. Sɫaw was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow. Baroness Valhalla was stripped of her noble title, barred from joining the Corsairs or any other professional association of mercenaries, and was fined $10 billion; it is thought that a speech she made denouncing the Sarmatian, apologizing for the deaths, and forswearing a life of crime swayed the judges to mercy.
The following day, Voss, Mansley, and Val were lined up in the Moscow public square and shot personally by General McGrady, who insisted on carrying out the executions. Sɫaw formally began serving his sentence on the same day.
Valhalla declared bankruptcy and sold her company's assets in order to pay her debts. The Higginbotham Group bought all of the corporate assets of the Valhalla Mining Company and associated corporate ventures, restructuring it as a vertically-integrated resource-extraction and trading subsidiary, renamed Folkvang Industrial. Valhalla was hired to manage the subsidiary under the close supervision of the parent company's new president and CEO, Susan Higginbotham. Folkvang manages a large portfolio of mining and extraction interests in precious and semi-precious stones, metals such as nickel, iron ore, gold, copper, titanium, chromium, and uranium, and other resources such as petroleum; it also operates a conservation division that protects wildlife habitats and indigenous land that might otherwise be disrupted by mining operations.