Anomalous Threats Unit
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| Anomalous Threats Unit | |
|---|---|
| Grupo per Amenassas Anómala | |
 ATU Insignia, showing the Inguz rune, an evil eye, and the Lambda-Omega | |
| Active | 06 June 1006 – present (1018 years, 5 months) as the Order of St. Benedict & St. Michael (Unofficial) 06 June 1966 – present (58 years, 5 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 (stylised, "Division XIII"), Sable Section. It is a special paramilitary division under the direct command of the Director General. The unit's organisation and procedures are not publicly disclosed although leaked documents from a hack in 2008 provide details into the unit as-of 1985. Official 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 order's 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 unit 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 meltdown 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 enquiries 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 2008, the "New Year's Day Hack" gave Rusic hackers access to dated but sensitive records of Iverican government organisations, including several procedural documents outlining the orgisation chart, training changes, and equipment requisitions of the ATU. These documents were then leaked through several online forums. Though the records were outdated, being dated from January 1982 - November 1985, the leaked records nonetheless revealed details about the ATU's heavy armament for a CBRN defence unit, and unorthodox training methods.
In 2010, the ATU's role was 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.
Organisation
The ATU is the mission unit within Sable Section, Division 13. Division 13 is a minor division within the SSO and reports directly to the Director General. Division 13 is subdivided into 4 sections:
- Argent Section: an administrative section responsible for management of Division 13 personnel, assets, and infrastructure.
- Azure Section: composed of various Research & Development and analysis units.
- Sable Section: composed of security units deployed on-site.
- Sanguine Section: responsible for the processing and containment of hazardous and anomalous materials.
Each Section is headed by a Section Chief and may have anywhere between 20-80 personnel. Section Chiefs report to the division's Director. Multiple units may be in a single section, each providing a skillset and/or function relating to the section's broader mission.
The ATU itself is a unit under Sable Section. According to D13-OOP-85, one of the documents leaked during the New Year's Day Hack, the ATU is a direct action unit responsible for the engaging risks to the Division 13 mandate and securing objectives of interest in hazardous environments. As of 1985, the ATU had 32 active-duty personnel with attached elements from other sections serving in support roles.
The Small Unit Tactics revisions revealed in the similarly leaked "Cadre Training Plan Revision 8" document showed that the ATU trained to deploy in teams of 4-6 individual agents which would operate in a detachment of no less than 2 teams per area of operation; alongside this, a mandatory Command and control element would make up a third, smaller team functioning as a mobile tactical operations controller. In most cases, the detachment would have support from a Sanguine Section unit to provide perimeter security and specialised containment for hazardous materials. Among the 2 team elements handling objectives directly, one would be designated as a manoeuvre element and the other would be a support element with heavy or specialised equipment.
Equipment
The leaked document D13-ORF-82 was a requisition order which detailed some equipment requested by the ATU in May 18, 1982. The requisition order suggests that the ATU may have used heavy military equipment. A large percentage of the items were for ABR-58 battle rifles chambered in 7.62×51mm. Ammunition requested included 5,000 rounds of Depleted uranium discarding sabot cartridges, 5,000 High-explosive incendiary cartridges, and over 12,000 various smaller calibre cartridges including hollow-point and cavitating ammunition. Protective equipment requisitioned included special order body armour sourced from a special manufacturer in Deopolis, Salvia and CBRN protective gear. Sensory equipment like ultra-sensitive motion sensors and advanced thermal optics were also noted.
Video evidence from the 2010 San Nicolas Bear Incident shows ATU personnel wearing updated equipment like MOLLE system rigging, newer ballistic helmets, and newer AGP-210 rifles.
Training
ATU agents follow a strict selection, qualification, and training system. D13-OOP-83 offered details on this process circa 1983. Candidates were selected on the basis of their physical fitness, mental acuity, and stress responses. ATU training cadre criteria required that candidates fall under the bottom 20th percentile of a population sample in terms of emotional reactions in high-stress situations to pass selection. The tests administered appeared to have been simulations of extremely stressful, disorienting, and emotionally challenging situations. Candidates would only be considered on the basis of their monitored heart rate, pupilary response, and cortisol levels. In 2009, Doctors from the Iverican Psychiatric Association studied the processes and noted that passing candidates would "effectively need to share the same lack of emotive responses as well-adjusted sociopaths".
D13-OOP-83 references consultation with the Exersito Alpinieri for constructing the physical curriculum of their selection and training process. Though the ATU prefer to recruit from trained Republican Armed Service personnel, military experience is not required.