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Date:	09.29.2024 (Pax Kossieh + 24)
From: Cmdr. Soo-Lin Kim, EDF-S
To:	PROJECT GUARD DOG RECRUITS
RE:  	Reassignment orders
Verification code:  2037VJQ.602R


Fellow GUARD DOG volunteers,

At General Hardin's request, I have prepared a detailed briefing to bring you up to speed on our mission 
and the reasons for the secrecy of this deployment.  Many of you are returning from extended tours with 
little access to newschannels, while others may have heard misleading rumors about our upcoming mission.

First off, let me set the record straight once and for all: we are NOT going to war with the Scions.  Far 
from it.

Despite the mistrust and suspicion prevalent since Armand Braddock's near-genocidal attack on the planet 
Core, the Scions have re-opened communication with Earth. In the interests of improved Human-Scion 
relations, our unit has been tasked to provide any necessary assistance. But Project GUARD DOG is far more 
than a cooperative gesture or mission of mercy. If Scion reports are to be believed, Earth herself may 
soon be threatened by the same mysterious attackers who have dealt such devastating blows to the Scions.

In short, if we fail to help our neighbors, we may be the next victims.

General Hardin has asked me to review the historical context of our current situation, in order to convey 
the nature and objectives of Project GUARD DOG. This document is only a summary; further details are 
available on the following page.

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I.  NIGHT OF INFAMY: THE CORE DISASTER {12.23.2004}
	Over twenty years have passed since Armand Braddock's treacherous attack on the Scion planet of 
Core, yet the full truth remains clouded by a fog of media sensationalism, political finger-pointing, and 
wild conspiracy theories. Thankfully, the Alvarez Commission's report was finally completed last month and 
offers a comprehensive analysis of the tragedy. The enclosed interview of LCDR Lawrence Mason (DOC2381045) 
offers an eyewitness account of the disaster.
	As the Alvarez Commission points out, Human-Scion relations had thawed considerably during the four 
years after the Peace of Kossieh was signed (2000 - 2004). The Scion colony thrived on the newly-
transformed Core, and both humans and Scions were reaping an immeasurable "peace dividend" as trade and 
cultural exchange revitalized our planets. 
	Braddock's treacherous attack was launched just one week after Scion and human leaders signed the 
Mutual Defense Treaty to protect our solar system from alien invasion. We little realized that the 
greatest danger was lurking on a moon of Pluto.  Exactly four years after our combined forces decimated 
Braddock's traitorous army on Rend, two massive salvos of biometal-tipped IPBMs (interplanetary ballistic 
missiles) were silently launched from an automated base on Charon (12.23.2004). 
	Captain Mason was in a survey ship orbiting Core, so he spotted the missiles first. His warning 
enabled the Scions to raise a planet-wide shield just before the first detonation, but the shield was 
quickly overwhelmed by over one thousand biometal nukes. The total yield is estimated to have exceeded 
seven hundred trillion gigatons, an amount similar to that released by the sun over a comparable period of 
time. The radiation pulse incinerated a wide swath of the Shabayev Asteroid Belt, rocked Core itself into 
an elliptical orbit, and eventually reached Earth in a flash that turned night into day and damaged part 
of our planet's ionosphere.
	The Scions' shield enabled most of the colonists to evacuate, fleeing our solar system through the 
wormhole stretching to their colony on Mire. During the missile attack, a message recorded by the long-
dead Braddock was beamed to humans and Scions on all hyperwave frequencies. Braddock's statement claimed 
that he was doing his duty in "ransoming humanity's future from the polluting influence of mutant humans, 
wretched creatures which could never hope to understand our superior race."
	Not surprisingly, diplomatic overtures from humans to Scions have received a chilly reception. 
Proposals to reopen lines of communication, public apologies for the atrocity, and even offers for 
reparation and restitution have all been rebuffed.
	Earth has had precious little contact with the Scions in the decades since the Night of Infamy. 
Given this fact and the understandable enmity of the Scions, their recent plea for assistance is all the 
more striking and urgent.

^^^^^Further info: DOC2381045 (Mason interview: Core disaster)^^^^^

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II.  THE HADEAN THREAT: LOG OF THE ARK II {10.28.2006 to present (02.29.2024)}	
	Although most of Core's settlers escaped Braddock's devastating attack, they found little comfort 
upon reaching their home planets. The Scions depend heavily on biometal to survive, and countless millions 
of tons  were used to transform Core into habitability. The sudden influx of returning colonists only 
heightened the shortage of natural resources. In response, the Scion government commissioned a massive 
research and colonization project centered on construction of an interstellar transport ship, the Ark II.  
	Two years after the refugees arrived from Core (10.28.2006), the behemoth transport Ark II was 
launched. Its course took it through two successive wormholes leading toward the center of the galaxy. The 
Scions believed they were retracing the course followed by ancient Cthonians when they spread outward to 
colonize our worlds. Better yet, astronomical measurements pointed to high concentrations of biometal in 
the targeted areas. Nearly three years later (09.07.2009), the Ark II emerged from the second wormhole.
	The colonists were shocked to discover that the wormhole led directly to the homeworld of the 
legendary Cthonians. The civilization was very much alive, and even more aggressive and warlike than 
historians had imagined.  The two Cthonian races--Hadeans and Olympians--were engaged in an eons-long 
interplanetary civil war. On emerging from the wormhole, the Ark II immediately came under attack by 
forces of the Hadean Crown. 
	Luckily, the colonists were saved by the quick intervention of the more peaceful Olympians, who led 
the massive Ark II into hiding among the rocks and dust of a nearby asteroid field.  Two months passed 
before the Scions could effect critical repairs to their living spaces which had been damaged during the 
battle. The Olympians provided much-needed assistance while offering priceless insights about Cthonian 
culture and history, as well as a deeper understanding of biometallurgy.  
	The colonists also gained crucial information about their new enemy.  Intelligence collected from 
Olympian agents and a Scion spy satellite indicated that the militant Hadeans had recently made a quantum 
leap in transportation technology. Using the latest biometallurgical techniques, Hadean Crown forces had 
perfected a StarPortal which could fold space-time in order to send ships across continents, solar 
systems, or even galaxies with nearly-instantaneous speed.
	It wasn't until they powered up the engines that the colonists discovered a disastrous problem. The 
Ark II's WORMdrive, which allows the ship to penetrate cosmic wormholes, was damaged beyond the 
possibility of repair. Even the Olympians could not provide the critical components.
	At a horrific cost in both Scion and Olympian lives, the colonists seized the StarPortal and sent 
the Ark II through, destroying the portal behind them. They emerged on the other side in a bewildering 
"hub" world, a labyrinthine planet with literally dozens of StarPortals leading to every corner of the 
galaxy.
	The Hadeans' aim was clear: once the Olympians were crushed, they would use the StarPortal system to 
build a vast empire of conquered planets.  Even more horrifying was list of primary targets, gleaned from 
a Hadean datalink seized during the escape from Cthonia:
	According to the translated database, Earth and Mire have enormous strategic value to the Hadeans 
because each system straddles a critical space-time nexus, a bridge to nearby galaxies. Equally 
significant, the Hadeans feel threatened by humans and Scions who, along with the Olympians, represent the 
only three civilizations in our galaxy which have mastered the use of biometal. 
	The Hadean strategy calls for "complete extermination of Olympian, human, and Scion species, 
clearing the way for unrestrained domination of all remaining habitable worlds in this galaxy."
	Once on Labyrinth, the Scions found a StarPortal which led to our system, exiting just outside the 
orbit of Pluto.  They brought the Ark II through in order to deliver their warning and recruit Earth's 
help in halting the Hadean offensive.  The Ark II has continued on to Mire in order to warn the Scion 
defensive forces.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS:
	Unfortunately, EDF high command has placed little trust in the Scion report.  In a reluctant show of 
diplomacy, they have assigned General Hardin to lead the reconnaissance force to the alleged location of 
the StarPortal near Pluto, but the Joint Chiefs have repeatedly denied his requests to pass through the 
StarPortal.  Likewise, because of continued repercussions following the Biometal Riots of 2004 (see 
Jameson's MERCURY briefing), use of advanced armaments including biometal weaponry has been prohibited 
from this mission.
	However, General Hardin has complete faith in the Scions' warning; as a young AAN lieutenant, he 
served beside the Ark II's Captain Toris during the Battle of Rend.  For this reason, we will be making a 
slight detour to Mercury before continuing on to the StarPortal. There is also a possibility that 
navigational mishaps may occur once we reach the Portal itself; some ships may inadvertently pass through 
to the other side.
	The General requires every soldier to understand the facts behind Project GUARD DOG and to do 
his/her duty as he/she sees fit.  If any volunteers wish to withdraw from the mission, they should see me 
in private and a transfer will be arranged.  No official record will be made of your withdrawal, and all 
data regarding this assignment will be expunged from your personnel jacket.
	

RetinalSigned,
Cmdr. Soo-Lin Kim, EDF-S


Enclosures:  DOC2381045 (Mason interview: Core disaster), DOC2384926 (Log Excerpt: Scionian colony vessel 
"ARK II"), DOC2386597 (HyperWave Articles: Biometal Riots)

^^^^^NO INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS COMMUNIQUE MAY BE SAVED, PRINTED, OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT 
THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF GENERAL HARDIN.^^^^^

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