Anomalous Threats Unit

Anomalous Threats Unit
Grupo per Amenassas Anómala
ATU Insignia, showing the Inguz Rune, an evil eye, and the Lambda-Omega
Active	06 June 1766 – present (1018 years, 4 months) as the Order of St. Benedict & St. Michael (Unofficial) 06 June 1966 – present (58 years, 4 months) as the ATU
Country	Iverica
Type	Paramilitary Special Unit
Role	CBRN defense
Part of	Special Security Office Division XIII
Motto(s)	Gravis comminatio, extrema salvis (Aroman Latin) "Grave threats call for extreme prejudice"

The Grupo per Amenassas Anómala (Anglish: Anomalous Threats Unit), more popularly known as the ATU is a unit within the Republic of Iverica's Special Security Office, Division 13. Officially, it is a CBRN special unit trained to handle and contain state secrets involving CBRN research and development. The unit has special jurisdiction over materials and personnel involved in events where a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threat may be posing a security or safety risk to Iverican citizens or state property. It is activated in response to events in which discretion of Operations security are critical to prevent damage to the Iverican state. The unit is trained to operate in highly irradiated, chemically contaminated, or virally contaminated zones. Much of the information and actions regarding the ATU is highly classified and is considered sensitive information by members of the Iverican government.

The ATU is part of the SSO- Division 13, Sable Section (stylised, "Division XIII"), a special paramilitary division under the direct command of the Director General. The Division's organisation and methodology are not publicly disclosed. Records pertaining to the ATU and Division 13 are sealed and protected by the "Disavowment Clause" of the SSO's charter.

History

The Order of St. Benedict & St. Michael was believed to have been founded in the Iberic Empire during the 11th century BCE as a militant and knightly order of the Catholic Church. Church records note that the order was to dispel demons and other malignant spiritual forces—though written accounts from church officials of this period cast scepticism on this function. More practically, written records of church consistories suggest that the order acted on a more official capacity as frontier missionaries and escorts for important church officials travelling to non-Christians lands or carrying out purges of various heresies that would arise in the outward marches of the empire. By the time of the Tacolic Reformation (c. 1450 BCE), the order appears to have been reduced greatly in size and influence. Mentions of the order decrease from 1450-onwards, its presence in church records largely vanishing by the early 1500's. Some ascribe this gradual decline to the order becoming a victim of Reformation politics and to the orders diminishing importance in a much more homogenously Christian empire.

In June 6, 1766, the order was officially re-founded in the Iverican Peninsula as a holy order under the Church in Intreimor. However, older church accounting records suggest that the order may have been reinstated and funded since the 1670's. Records if its activities are sparse until an internal audit in 1889, which included a footnote in a section for payables to various dependent institutions. The note briefly described the order's censure and subsequent dissolution by the Cardinalty for unclear reasons. However, in 1898, the Executive Ministry archives show a copy of a charter granted to former members of the order, including its last Grand Master, Dante Constantino-Salvador dei Valémorte. The Charter granted members of the order an executive commission to use their arms, horses, and skills to provide law enforcement services in the capacity of mounted marshals in the mountainous regions of Vasqqa D'Oeste, a border province buffering Iverica and Vasqqa. The members of the order are named in Guardia Civil records as "Mariscals dei Vasqqa" or the "Vasqqan Marshals" in Anglish. After this event, the order again, largely vanishes from the historical record.

In 1986, the Vasqqan Marshals appear briefly in 20 year-old budgetary records released by the Guardia Civil. The accounts for fiscal year 1966 list the Vasqqan Marshals under a transfer of command and assets following an expansion of the Special Security Office. The SSO's own website-published history includes photographs of former Vasqqan Marshal members in its history of Division 13. The division was created as a special paramilitary division capable of operating with expediency and minimal oversight directly under the Direct General's Office. The division's mandate was security over sensitive state archives, infrastructure, and projects. The Anomalous Threats Unit (ATU) was established as the primary mission element of "Sable Section" the section responsible for direction and the general deployment of armed personnel.

The ATU was brought into public awareness during the Vallé Mavro Reactor Incident in 1979. During the incident an experimental nuclear reactor being tested for the Léon Nuclear Power Plant suffered a supercritical incident and caused an explosion which ruptured the reactor housing and shielding, exposing 3 nearby towns to harmful doses of radiation. The municipalities and their surrounding environs were cordoned off by heavy Guardia Civil presence, forming the a temporary exclusion zone. CBRN teams were subsequently brought in to contain the situation. Though the ATU was never named by any ministry commenting on the situation, news footage of personnel entering the exclusion zone show individuals wearing ATU markings—which were largely unknown to the public at that time. Questions about the organisation surfaced from sporadic press questions and even more uncommon online discussion on the few forums that were active during that time. Executive Minsitry officials declined to comment until the situation was successfully contained almost 8 months later. The Minister of Energy at that time addressed the question in a press conference announcing the end of national safety restrictions in municipalities surrounding Vallé Mavro, thanking the SSO and its Anomalous Threats Unit for aid in containing the incident and averting the proliferation of the radiological disaster.

In recent decades, the ATU's role has been called into question by members of the press. In a notable incident, leaked footage from a bystander's mobile phone provided evidence of the ATU being deployed to neutralise what was reported to be a highly aggressive bear in the Municipality of San Nicolas, northern Aigüestorés. The video shows several personnel with ATU markings wearing body armour and utilising heavy weaponry and unconventional ammunition to neutralise the bear. An official statement by the Constabulary of the Municipality of San Nicolas claimed that the bear had escaped from a pharmaceuticals testing facility which is still currently under investigation by the Home Security Office. Neither the constabulary, nor the SSO have released commentary on the presence of the ATU and the use of force.

ATU Personnel