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F.A.Q.

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DEPT OF TACTICAL THEOLOGY

OPERATION HEAVING SPIRIT
AFTER-ACTION REPORT

Identity Confirmation
Assignment & Target Dossier
Armament and Personnel Report
Mission Logs
Recovery Report

ATTENTION

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| The cup thy drink from may never flow well.

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Welcome, Captain Sara Hughes.

THE FOLLOWING AFTER-ACTION REPORT HAS BEEN CONDENSED FROM THE ORIGINAL. CERTAIN DATA HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR SECURITY PURPOSES. A COPY OF THE FULL REPORT IS AVAILABLE AT SITE-07 FOR REVIEW AND ARCHIVAL. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL RAISA OFFICE FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

MEMORANDUM FOR LIMITED RELEASE
FROM: S. HUGHES, COMMANDER, MOBILE TASK FORCE TAU-5 ("SAMSARA")
THIS AFTER-ACTION REPORT IS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH RAISA DIRECTIVE 417, PARAGRAPH 3, SEC. 2-7.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Deployed Location: West Sauk Swamp, Louisiana, U.S
Deployed CCOs: Irantu (Tau-Five-Alpha), Onru (Tau-Five-Bravo), Munru (Tau-Five-Charlie), Nanku (Tau-Five-Delta)
Duration of Deployment: 7-8-2018 (0200 to 0500)
Mission Directives: To secure package WRAPPED COAL from GoI-4145.
Scope of Operations: Deploy into Sauk Swamp, beat PENTAGRAM & GoI-004 forces to site, locate and secure package, recover to extraction point.

BACKGROUND
GoI-4145 is a tentative designation for the loose confederation of cults in the southern U.S practicing a syncretic blend of Louisiana Voodoo and traditional Sarkicism. While few if any of these cults are in consistent contact with one another, they have displayed a level of collusion indicating some degree of organization. All are staunchly isolationist and thus largely self-containing.
Foundation informants embedded in the area relayed news that one sect, based out of Sauk Swamp, had come into possession of a religious artifact of considerable value. The exact nature of the item, designated package WRAPPED COAL, was unknown, but theorized to be related to either traditional Sarkic gnostic beliefs or Voodoo spiritualism.
This report was initially dismissed as low priority until July 5th, 2018. Embedded personnel inside GoI-616, PENTAGRAM, reported that it had become aware of WRAPPED COAL the week prior. Additionally, intelligence indicated that local sects of GoI-004, the Church of the Broken God, had steadily increased in activity over the past few weeks before suddenly dropping off the grid.
The theory was that upon discovering GoI-4145's possession of WRAPPED COAL, GoI-004 practitioners in the region organized into an alliance to occupy Sauk Swamp and forcibly take the package. PENTAGRAM had deployed squads near Sauk Swamp in an attempt to secure the package before GoI-004. All models indicated that regardless of who came out in control of WRAPPED COAL, the ensuing conflict would result in a local breach of the Veil. They further indicated that any standard MTF would suffer unacceptable losses during the mission.
Due to their expertise in anomalous and nonanomalous religions, command of the operation was handed to the Department of Tactical Theology. Additionally, the personnel risk, potential for inter-group violence, and urgent timing made MTF Tau-5 ("Samsara") the only realistic option for rapid deployment.
Tau-5 were fitted with specialized weaponry provided by the Department of Tactical Theology. (see Armament Report).

The necessity to combat traditional arms as well as the armament of the Church and of GoI-004 presented a challenge. In response, Department Weapons Specialists requisitioned a number of experimental prototypes, generally considered impractical for deployment. Tau-5's unique capabilities allowed them to use these weapons and suffer minimal consequences.

Personnel
Weapon(s)
Notes

Irantu
OGUN-05 — Organic vat-grown machine gun, comprised primarily of smooth muscle and bone. Self-produces ammunition in the form of bone pellets.
Enchanted by a Foundation-associated Voodoo queen to invoke the Ogun, the orisha of weapons. Inflicts brutal oxidizing damage onto flesh and metal.

Onru
Ghede Mk.2 — Flamethrower redesigned to include elements of Vodun candles. Fuel gases mixed with traditional minerals used in rituals — burns black.
Burns at extremely high temperatures and produces anomalous gases.

Munru
Standard-issue Barret M107 Anti-materiel rifle. Chambered with cold steel .50 rounds, specially produced to lock in minor Petro Iwa.
Very slow-firing but pierces essentially anything, leaving behind a spirit to shred the enemy from the inside.

Nanku
Gris-grip — 3m sharpened tungsten and maple rod inscribed with symbols of the gris-gris.
Hexed. Contact with blood results in unpredictable and violent effects ranging from toxic residue to small explosions.

All personnel were additionally armed with standard squad armament involving thaumic and mundane weaponry. A Voodoo priest was contracted to perform a blessing upon the squad before deployment.

Chinook deploys from Area-11 outside Baton Rouge. Onboard are all four members of Samsara and CO Sara Hughes.
Chinook arrives over West Sauk Swamp. All members of Samsara arm themselves.

Irantu: What are you doing with that knife?
Onru: The queen said that it is better if the barrel has animal blood on it.
Irantu: Then why are you using your blood?
Onru: I would never hurt Gnasher.

Chinook lowers to an elevation of 60 feet above a clearing. All members of Samsara jump, landing in a shallow bog. They signal to CO Hughes. The Chinook flies out.
Samsara begins moving east-by-south through the bog. The terrain is wet and limits speed, slowing progress.
The team comes upon an abandoned airboat. It displays signs of GoI-004 modification and is layered with scorch marks. Despite this, it remains functional.

Irantu: Munru, operate the vehicle.

Munru: I do not believe I am qualified to operate this vehicle.
Irantu: Fine. Nanku, operate th-
Munru: I will operate the vehicle.

The team clambers aboard the airboat and starts it up. While weighed down by the weight of four cybernetically enhanced soldiers, it considerably increases movement speed through the increasingly deep marshland. In sections, the ground beneath gives way entirely to large stretches of water. A thick tree cover bathes the area in darkness.

Munru: Irantu, I am unable to see.
Irantu: Lights may alert the enemy to our location.
Onru: Crashing would also alert the enemy to our location.

The team activate their lights and continue progressing through the marshland to the suspected location of GoI-4145.
As the sun sets, the team hears noises nearby.

Irantu: Munru, kill the engine.

The engine stops. The airboat, no longer maintaining the velocity necessary to support the weight of Samsara, sinks.

Irantu: Oh.
Orthodoxist: You're surrounded! Lay down your arms, and-
Munru: Yes, surrounded. By dead men and broken machines.

A firefight erupts. Samsara takes cover in the hull of the airboat and return fire. Irantu shreds through the crowd of Churchgoers using the OGUN, and Onru sets the remainder on fire. The exceedingly high temperatures melt the metal structure of their enhancements. Nanku walks the shallow water, executing the damaged soldiers using her polearm. Team members are unharmed.
After eliminating survivors, the team continues through the bog on foot.

Nanku: Irantu, are we there yet?
Irantu: No.

The sun has fully set and night further reduces visibility.

Nanku: Irantu, are we there yet?
Irantu: No.
Nanku: Irantu.
Irantu: Nanku, do not make me tur-
Nanku: No, gator.
Irantu: Gator?
Nanku: Yes, gator.
Irantu: What are you-

Irantu is attacked by an alligator. He is temporarily dragged underwater before being pulled back up by his teammates, the alligator still biting down. Nanku brings her polearm down on the alligator's neck and it pierces the skin; contact with blood results in a localized explosion blowing its head off. Irantu's leg is scorched.

Irantu: Thank you.

Inspection reveals the gator is significantly mutated with large antlers, red markings, thicker brown skin, and other features. This is judged to be a result of GoI-4145's carnomancy. The team progresses, approaching the area where GoI-4145 is theorized to be located.
They find a large swamp town on stilts and wooden platforms, under siege by a combination of PENTAGRAM troops and Broken God adherents. PENTAGRAM is attacking from the east while the Church attacks from the west; Samsara's approach is from the north. To the south is the open waters of the Sauk Lake. The attackers are being held back by a combination of carnomancy, vegemancy, and magical counterattacks.

Munru Should we sneak in or flank them?
Irantu: The directive is to recover the package, not eliminate enemy opposition or relieve the defense. Quietly overwhelm whatever defense is at the north, then move into the compound.

Samsara stealthily moves and removes the defense watch at the north without being detected. They clamber onto the platform.

Munru: The defense seems to be concentrated around that area. We should make haste, but we will need a hasty exit.
Irantu: Standby.

Irantu makes contact with CO Hughes and arranges for the Chinook to approach the Sauk Lake from the eastern side. Samsara moves between the legs of the plaftorms, sticking low and close to the ground. The arrive at the legs of the central platform. Each team member stands by a wooden leg.

Irantu: Ready? Now!

The legs are simultaneously sheared as Samsara jumps back. The platform, and the small building resting on it, comes crashing down. The conflict falters as both the attackers and defenders turn to note the new party. For a second, there is silence.
The defense focuses their full firepower on Samsara. Team members throw themselves into the small wooden building. The building is battered by PENTAGRAM's traditional firepower, the mechanized weapons of the Church, and of GoI-4145's Voodoo. Body camera feeds go dark inside the building.

Onru: Is that the package?
Munru: It appears to be an entity. Extraction may prove difficult.
[Munru loads his rifle with an Iwa round.]
WRAPPED COAL: Free… me…
Nanku: Quiet, you.
Irantu: I cannot make contact with extraction party. Additionally, this building cannot sustain for long. It will collapse in-

The building collapses. At this moment, the Chinook sweeps into the area from the south, laying suppressive covering fire down on the crowd. PENTAGRAM frogmen, now fighting from three fronts and with no air support, retreat into the marshy lake. GoI-4145 and the Church adherents return fire at the helicopter with Mekhanite armaments and thaumic blasts.
The four members of Samsara and a fifth man, heavyset and covered in furs, are in the rubble of the building. They form a circle around the package and lay down fire into the crowds from all sides as the GoI-004 troops flood in.
CO Hughes communicates that it is impossible for the Chinook to land in a hot zone with no flat ground. She recommends securing the package and retreating as close to the lake as possible.
Nanku abandons her CQC and moves to throw the significantly larger package over her shoulder. The Chinook banks backward.
A large thrumming is heard from the forest eastward. 7 indistinct shapes, roughly 3m long, moving at high speeds, fly out of the woods, smashing into the crowd of GoI-4145 and GoI-004 adherents. The mass of individuals render them unclear, but it is evident they are brutally mauling and slashing everyone in their path, regardless of affiliation. Irantu focuses fire onto the newcomers.
WRAPPED COAL suddenly lets out a yell, rising up into the air. Nanku attempts to hold him down by the leg, but is pulled upward. Munru grabs Nanku, Onru grabs Munru, and Irantu grabs Onru, forming a daisy-chain being dragged into the air by WRAPPED COAL. Irantu is still firing with his free hand.
The 7 shapes spot them and rush into the air to meet them. But rather than attacking them, they form a protective arrowhead around WRAPPED COAL and Samsara, moving southward to the lake. The Chinook banks backward and the door is flung open.
In one motion, WRAPPED COAL chucks the four connected member of Samsara into the body of the helicopter. They land in a heap on top of CO Hughes. WRAPPED COAL pulls away, surrounded by the 7 shapes. They begin moving eastward.
Munru aims his rifle at WRAPPED COAL and fires. WRAPPED COAL's head explodes and the corpse drops down to the shores of the lake, landing with a loud thud. The bullet goes on to shoot through one of the 7 shapes, also dropping it down to earth. The remainder scatter in terror.

Munru: Package secured.

The bodies of WRAPPED COAL were recovered in the following hours after the Chinook returned to Area-11.
Unidentified Creature: Identical to the mutated alligator fought by Irantu during the approach to mission location. Thick brown leathery skin, tumurous growths, and a large set of antlers. This specimen had no red markings, however. Dissection is ongoing as to how the creature was able to fly.
WRAPPED COAL: The body of WRAPPED COAL could not be located by recovery teams canvassing the area. The impact crater of the body was found, but completely devoid of any corpses, remains, or any other means of kill confirmation. Crossed with the report of Munru and CO Hughes that the entity's entire head had exploded, the reasonable conclusion is that the package is able to withstand massive amounts of damage that would otherwise be fatal.
Recovery teams sweeping into the GoI-4145 encampment reported that all inhabitants were gone, leaving behind only the corpses of those who died during the battle. These corpses were all significantly mutilated, including severed and reattached limbs, decapitation, exsanguination, dismemberment, and vivisection. The bodies were arranged in a specific pattern - it was only made clear by a helicopter pass that the positioning of the corpses spelled out the word "NAUGHTY".
WRAPPED COAL's location is unknown and recovery is considered priority level charlie.