The Achilles Incident

One of the elements that made the Anti-Unification League so dangerous and unpredictable was the gamut of different interests that had been bought together under its banner. These ranged from student protests to terrorist groups, mercenaries, corporations and even entire nation-states. Usually these groups functioned independently of each other, pursuing their own interests. However, there were also those occasions where they came together to share their talents towards a common goal.

The 2005 *Achilles* Incident was one such occasion, when a disparate group of operatives from different backgrounds worked together towards a truly audacious plan. Had it succeeded, the AUL would have acquired a powerful weapon while potentially eliminating one of the UEDF's key leaders. Instead, it served to warn the UEG as to just how far the AUL's influence was spreading and the full threat that they represented.

Almost a microcosm of the AUL as a whole, the key players in the plan were drawn from a number of backgrounds. Their leader was Gerald McBain, an American white nationalist with ties to pro-federalist groups and considerable experience in terror operations. His second was Toshio Nagata, the former head of NEACAP intelligence who had been pushed out of his office, but none the less still wielded considerable influence. Finally, Reynaldo da Silva was one of the facilitators of the operation, but little is known about him. While he had connections to the militant branch of the Faithful (and Anatole Leonard specifically), it is believed that he was acting as an agent for the AUL at the time.

Two of the other key players came from within the UEDF. Janus Criswell was a student of Doctor Lang and a capable scientist in his own right with a background in astrophysics. Virgil Smythe was an engineer who had worked on the construction of the UES *Achilles* (An *Oberth*-class Space Destroyer that had just come on-line at the time)*,* and was key to the planning of the operation and securing the ship.

Finally, the group was aided by the Hacker known as the Salamander who provided them with key information regarding their targets. While the true extent of the Salamander's involvement will likely never be known, it is generally accepted that they were acting as a free agent and not actually a part of the AUL.

The plan was to be executed in three stages. The first involved McBain kidnapping Admiral Donald Hayes while he was on an official visit to Macross Island and using him as a hostage. The second was for a strike team lead by Nagata to take control of a UEDF mobile launch platform in the pacific and use it as a base to launch a shuttle into orbit. Finally, once there, they would take control of the UES *Achilles* through Smythe's knowledge of the ship and Criswell's expertise.

Ultimately, only the second stage of the operation went entirely to plan. Smythe was almost compromised before the operation began when he let his personal feelings over-ride his sense, leading to his becoming involved in a personal dispute between Commander Roy Fokker and Lieutenant Claudia Grant. The situation escalated, with da Silva planning to step in to eliminate those parties if they became a threat. Instead, Smythe killed da Silva, using the risk of exposure as a justification.

None the less, the incident forced McBain to step up his timetable, especially as an unexpected typhoon rolled in and threatened to lock down Macross island. While his team were able to secure Admiral Hayes, their execution of the operation was sloppy at best. Rather than being covert and discrete, they tipped the UEDF off that something had happened ahead of time. Furthermore, the Salamander pulled out from the operation, a move that would ultimately lead to its downfall.

The second stage went as planned, with Nagata's strike team (itself made up of NEACAP veterans loyal to him) taking control of the launch platform. In this case, the typhoon worked to their advantage, as it prevented the UEDF from sending forces to take it back while they launched their operation. By the time anyone knew what was going on, the team had escaped into orbit on-board a stolen SC-27 space shuttle, with Admiral Hayes as their hostage. Nagata's team sabotaged the other craft on the launch pad to ensure that there would be no pursuit. A group of F-203 fighters operated by mercenary pilots helped to cover their escape.

However, it was when they reached the *Achilles* that the plan truly came undone. The AUL team had used stolen UEDF codes in order to appear to be a legitimate flight, and were allowed to dock. However, as they came on-board, Captain Louise Mayhew, the commander of the *Achilles* was tipped off as to what was happening, and took desperate actions to protect her ship. As the AUL team stormed the bridge they were unaware that they had lost control of the situation.

Doctor Harris Seulling, one of the designers of the *Oberth-*class was on board, and used his access to gain control of the ship's computer. On Captain Mayhew's orders, he used a master over-ride to lock out the ship's computer core and then power off all systems. He then took an EVA suit and left the ship via an airlock. This left the *Achilles* unpowered and dead in space, with only Seulling able to reactivate it. The ship could not otherwise manoeuvre or use any of its systems, which meant that eventually either the oxygen supply would give out or the ship's orbit would decay and it would break up on re-entry.

On the bridge, Mayhew calmly explained the situation to the hijackers while held at gunpoint, adding that Seulling was the only person who could over-ride that shutdown. McBain executed her in a fit of rage before ordering his crew to find some way to counter it and regain control of the ship. Realising that the plan had failed and was likely unrecoverable, Smythe took the opportunity to escape. He fled to the stolen shuttle and used the emergency manual over-ride to disengage from the *Achilles* to return to Earth.

By this point the UEDF were well aware of what had happened. Armour-01, itself only newly operational, was directed towards the *Achilles* with orders to secure the ship. A squad of marines were dispatched by shuttle and boarded the disabled destroyer. Taking advantage of the blackout and the confusion it caused, they quickly overpowered the attackers and capturing their leaders alive. Admiral Hayes was released and, save for some light bruising, was unharmed. Finally, the crew were able to retrieve Seulling and restore power to the *Achilles.*

McBain, Nagata and Criswell were all captured alive, and taken by the UEDF for questioning. Smythe managed to reach Earth, but was intercepted by Commander Roy Fokker over the Pacific Ocean. After ditching his shuttle, he killed himself rather than be captured. Of the key players, only the Salamander was unaccounted for.

Under interrogation, the full extent of the AUL plan was revealed. Once they had control of the *Achilles,* they had planned to use its Reflex Missiles to bombard key locations on Earth, including Macross Island, Alaska Base and Geneva, the then capitol of the UEG. Admiral Hayes was to be used as a shield against retaliation, with the conspirators confident that the UEDF would not attack a ship with one of their leaders on-board. Even then, they had fully intended to leave Hayes to die if the ship was attacked to simply rob the UEDF of his leadership.

Despite its failure, the plan would have far-reaching consequences. The most immediate and public was the UEDF instituting sweeping changes to its security procedures regarding crews working on its spacecraft and launch facilities in order to prevent the sort of leaks that allowed the incident to occur in the first place. At the same time, more covert operations were authorised to locate and eliminate the leadership of the AUL, with a massively broadened list of potential suspects. Despite their losses, the AUL continued their own actions and would continue to escalate their attacks; however, they never again attempted to take control of a UEDF spaceship.

The whole incident was covered up, and would remain classified for decades afterwards. However, for the UEDF, the incident also served as inspiration for their own operations. Later that year, an unidentified ship (later confirmed to be a Zentraedi scout) attacked Mars Base Sara, crippling it while also destroying UES *Odysseus,* another *Oberth.* In order to cover up an attack by hostile alien forces, the UEDF issued an official statement claiming that the AUL had hijacked the ship and then used it to attack Sara before being destroyed. Despite the organisation being functionally destroyed in 2008, the AUL would also be used as a scapegoat for the apparent destruction of Macross Island and the SDF-1.

The eventual fates of Admiral Donald Hayes and Commander Roy Fokker are well known, but much less has been written about the other players. McBain, Nagata and Criswell were all kept in detention by the UEDF before being executed in 2008 after the apparent destruction of the AUL. The Salamander would remain at large, but is generally assumed that they died in the Zentraedi Rain of Death due to their lack of activity afterwards. Their true identity remains a mystery to this day. Finally, UES *Achilles* was destroyed by the Zentraedi fleet during the Rain.