Mythos Effect

STG Report

STG INTERNAL REPORT

Security Classification: High

Subject: New Earth Federation/ Colonial Front

Author: REDACTED

Sources: This report has been compiled from data obtained via the Turian military, and the Author embedded within a Turian Task Force deployed to New Caledonia. CAUTIONARY: Due to the paucity of available sources, the Author can not confirm their accuracy.

Motivation: To study the Human military and habitation on the so-called 'Colonial Front', so as to better understand their operation and nature.

Extent: The Colonial Front covers the three human colonies thus far discovered by the Turian Hierarchy: Shanzai, New Caledonia, and Táoyì.

Initial Assessment: The colonial structures raised on these planets are extensive, and diverse (see appendix XX for compiled examples). Each settlement appears uniquely suited to it's surroundings, with even the most civilian of population centres providing difficulties to Turian attackers. Each settlement is integrated with it's native environment in such a way as to mitigate any detriment provided, whilst exploiting any applicable feature. The wide variety of terrain across the three planets provides an unusually diverse selection of settlements.

Structures: Each building studied is integrated with it's surroundings to a degree that speaks of long familiarity with such practices. Rows of residential units are constructed in solid blocks, so as to provide greater structural strength, but arranged in formations that enable the residents to provide excellent fire support for each other. Occupying a single house sees the invading unit draw immediate fire from the surrounding buildings, often leading to the loss of the captured position.

Several buildings have been found with integrated explosives, placed so as to level the building upon capture, and many others have been lost in this manner. The Human defences tend toward the eclectic, with many features being present in only a handful of observable cases.

Cautionary: Upon closer inspection of material samples obtained from Turian ground units, it appears that the structures (though not the equipment) used by the New Earth Federation across the Colonial Front had been artificially aged. Though the techniques used were extremely advanced, my analysis revealed conflicting age markers – unfortunately, this means that we can not be sure of the Age of any buildings on the Colonial Front.

Tactics: The Human forces make extensive use of vehicles and heavy weaponry to support their military efforts. The skies are continually contested by fighters and interceptors that appear to have been optimised for in-atmosphere combat, whilst the threat of bombardment comes from dedicated artillery units rather than orbital superiority. Individual infantry are equipped with rifles firing poisoned projectiles that are massive enough to overload a standard kinetic barrier, and each unit has it's own attached heavy weaponry – typically a light bombardment weapon and a anti-armour weapon, though some units carry much heavier firepower. Infantry formation typically benefit from close support provided by light mechs, although this appears to be an ad-hoc arrangement rather than a consistent assessment.

Strategically, the Humans seem to be fighting defensively here. The frequent attacks always failing to dislodge the Turian invaders, whilst discomfiting them enough to prevent the Turian forces mounting any serious invasion before reinforcements arrive. Tactically they never seem to fight the same way twice, instead preferring to adapt to local conditions, and each engagement playing out differently even under otherwise similar circumstances. Human defenders also seem to rotate frequently, with it few individual identified more than 6 weeks after their first appearance.

Cautionary: The tactics and formations displayed on the Colonial Front do not match those displayed by the New Earth Federation elsewhere. The offensive forces deployed to Turian planets feature a much heavier emphasis on their bio-engineered creations, and a consistently aggressive posture. Whilst it is possible that this is due to their differing mission profiles, this Author cautions against attempting to apply the tactical reasoning displayed here to predictions elsewhere.

Conclusion: The Colonial Front appears to be an elaborate deception. With the artificially aged structures, constantly rotated personnel and erratic defences, it is this Author's personal conclusion that the New Earth Federation are using the Colonial Front as a perverse combination of Training Camp, Research Opportunity and Trap. It took the Turian fleet 12 months to discover the Colonial Front at the cost of 1,500 vessels, a cost that has only continued to climb since. The STG could establish a convincing false colony in this time frame, and I have found no evidence that the New Earth Federation is any less adept at rapid construction.

The Colonies are placed at the very edge of the Turian fleet's range, which is unlikely to be an accident. They force the Turian fleet to the very limits of it's ability to supply and support such a long range invasion, their supply lines long and vulnerable to constant attacks. This in turn draws an untenable portion of the Turian fleet out of position to defend their vital convoys – leaving Turian space open to the subsequent attacks that brought three worlds under siege.

Here the lessons learned on the Colonial Front are in full display, Turian forces being broken with contemptuous ease. Many of the faces the STG first identified on the Colonial Front reappeared here, now moving with experienced ease rather than the trained reflexes I observed on New Caledonia. Pulled between the two fronts, and sufficiently invested to refuse loosing either, the Hierarchy are now in danger of loosing both.

Final Cautionary: I have not touched upon the New Earth Federation's utilisation of 'magic', nor the so-called 'esoteric sciences' in this work, due to a lack of consistent and applicable material. I can confirm their use of such phenomena (or at least, something very much like it) beyond biotics, but nothing more.

There is one incident that I wish to report. On my last night on New Caledonia, as I was waiting for the shuttle which was due to take me to orbit and return me to the Union, I lost consciousness and dreamed of a dark void populated only by a deep voice booming "WE KNOW!" over and over. I have never experienced such an unprofessional loss of control in the field before, and therefore submit it as my only likely experience of the Human's strange powers. I caution against confronting them directly. The oddity is further compounded by my recovering consciousness at the precise moment the shuttle doors opened to admit me. Curious.

Recommendation: Examine the Human Enigma from a distance. Do not provoke, or assume ourselves unnoticed, as they demonstrate a breadth of skill seen in no other known species.