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Val,
Here's our current draft of V2/12 for the DHPS. Obviously still a work in progress, and we're waiting for the Directorate to confirm the correct mix of factuals and counterfactuals. They've been insistent that at least 15% of everything has to be completely ahistorical, which seems excessive. Anyways, let me know your thoughts, and I'll send you the complete version when those boxes from Archives and Records arrive.
They're still saying that most of the 17th and 18th-century research material is MiA after the containment breach last month, but I'll keep you posted. Most of the Postwar stuff is incomplete as well, though we've had lots of material from the AEDF people. It's been a little limited, though. You'll see.
-Doug
A Brief History of the Authority
Office of Analysis and Science, Directorate for Historical and Pseudohistorical Studies
Series 2 of 12
In this pamphlet, brought to you by the OAS Directorate for Historical and Pseudohistorical Studies, you will find a succinct timeline of the history of our organization, from its first roots in the Late Middle Ages to its modern formation in the 19th century.
Be Advised: For reasons of chronological and teleological security, some or all of the events depicted in this history may be partially or completely fabricated. Contact your site's DHPS representative for more information.
The Auctoritas Impertus
1456: In the lead-up to the abortive 1456 Crusade to retake Constantinople from the Turks, Pope Callixtus III forms the Auctoritas Impertus, a semi-independent branch of the Papal Inquisition charged with going above and beyond the political divides of Europe to combat the growing Turkish incursions on Christian Europe using any means necessary, even the supernatural. The Auctoritas is at first composed primarily of clergy, but soon grows to employ scholars, mystics, alchemists and soldiers from across Christendom.
16-17 July, 1462: Agents of the Auctoritas, accompanying Vlad III of Wallachia, use what is described at the time as a "beast of the blood" in a night attack on the camp of Sultan Mehmed II. The attack ultimately fails due in large part to the creature breaking free of its bonds, but word of the power wielded by the Auctoritas in Church service soon spreads.
1468: Plutarco do Biasio composes the first edition of the Harpocrationis Lexicon in Impertus Auctoritas, the first formal glossary of Auctoritas protocols and terminology.
8 October, 1480: Auctoritas spies take advantage of tensions between Muscovy and the Golden Horde of Akhmat Khan to make off with a massive collection of secret documents originally stolen by the Mongols during the Sack of Baghdad in 1259. These include some of the oldest extant works describing the philosophies and beliefs of what is currently known as the Children of Nihil.
1480-1482: With support from the Portuguese royal family and the Papacy, the explorer Diogo Cão begins an extended exploration of the west coast of Africa. The Auctoritas establishes its first footholds in Africa.
1514: The Auctoritas Impertus confiscates the art, notes, and inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci.
May, 1521: Pope Leo X secretly orders the assassination of Martin Luther. He is intercepted in the forest near Wittenberg by agents of the Auctoritas under cover as loyal servants of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony. They replace the original Luther with what was apparently some sort of body double or identical twin, taking it with them to the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach. The fate of the 'real' Martin Luther remains unknown.
14 April, 1561: Auctoritas agents investigating Protestant mystery cults in Nuremburg are instrumental in the downing of a "Triangle of Darkest Night, which sought by unknown Arts to disgorge a Host of Fearsome Creatures upon the land." The remains of this vehicle, and of its inhabitants, would be burned several days later, with a local witch-hunt used as a cover story.
1585-1590: The English branch of the Auctoritas founds its first North American research colony at Roanoke, Virginia. The predations of a local race of anomalous beings, now commonly known in Authority parlance as 'Skinwalkers', necessitates the dissolution of the colony's population amongst local native tribes.
1 January, 1601: Under the auspices of Pope Clement VIII, Auctoritas alchemists succeed in placing a Sardinian friar by the name of Ernesto Macetti upon the surface of the moon. The return of his frozen and severely-burned corpse to Earth several seconds later leads to the cancellation of all Auctoritas plans to explore other worlds for the next several centuries.
TEXT MISSING, FILL THIS IN LATER
-Doug
November-December 1793: As part of ongoing repressions of religious activities in France, the National Convention orders the expulsion of all Auctoritas personnel from French territory. They will not formally return for more than a decade, though many covert attempts are made to recover artifacts and anomalies still in French hands.
The Modern Authority
13 June 1803: An Auctoritas artifact transportation team working to move an anomaly is attacked near Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, Montreal, Canada. All members of the team are killed in the resultant fire, and Auctoritas headquarters in Canada recieve a manifesto from an anarchist group calling itself the "Malthusiae" the next day- believed to be the first encounter between the Authority and what would become the Church of Malthus.
1815: Pierre-Louis Grandjean publishes the updated Glossaire de L'autorité RPC, as part of an effort by growing secular elements within the Auctoritas to push for scientific and modernist reform.
22 September, 1828: Seeking to return the Auctoritas to prominence in the international paranormal community, and bolster the morale of its African holdings, Pope Pius VII orders the arrest and capture of Zikali, noted scholar and chief witch-doctor to Shaka Zulu. The botched operation results in the disappearance of the primary target, the death of Shaka Zulu, and the withdrawal of support by the majority of the Auctoritas' financial backers outside the Papacy.
12 May, 1834: A group of French, German, English, Italian and Austrian industrialists, statesmen, churchmen and scientists meet at the 8th French National Exhibition in Paris. Over four days, and against Papal protests, they draft the Authority Agreement, officially disbanding the Auctoritas and reforming it into a global body independent of governmental control. They appoint themselves as the First Directorate. The modern Authority is born.
Summer 1873: Several dozen Authority personnel stationed at Fort Totten, Dakota Territory are incapacitated with what appears to be a severe stomach illness. The Authority initially quarantines the fort, suspecting the spread of cholera as part of the ongoing epidemic affecting the United States, until kitchen staff discover the presence of canned food labelled "Señor Amazing's Fortifying Beans in Liniment!" in the fort stores. The mysterious appearance of 'Señor Amazing' food products will continue to cause recurring health problems for Authority frontier personnel for the next 20 years.
8 August, 1896: German glider enthusiast Otto Lilienthal accidentally invents the null-gravity generator (NG). He is killed via glider sabotage two days later and his design documents confiscated.
6 September 1901: In the waning days of the Boxer Rebellion, Authority forces complete the capture of all remaining members of the Chinese group 伏魔班 (Approximately translates to Demon Hunters). The organization is previously responsible for the containment of anomalous activity in mainland China. The Chinese Division of the Authority is officially initiated the next month.
1903: Authority assets in Britain are contacted by a new British governmental organization- the Military Intelligence Section XIII- charged by the Crown with managing anomalous activity and objects within the confines of the British Commonwealth. It remains unclear if MI13 was actually formed on this day, or had already been in operation for some time.
13 July 1906: Authority spacecraft AV Columbiad uses a NG engine to land a team of 12 astronauts on the south pole of the Moon. Plans are undertaken for a permanent settlement, until the lethal effects of the anomalous and non-anomalous radiation emitted by NG engines are discovered. Fort Columbiad is left abandoned for the next 20 years.
22-23 July, 1907: Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin holds talks with British Prime Minister Campbell-Bannerman to discuss the creation of international treaties on the anomalous, to forestall hostile powers such as Germany using anomalies to conduct conventional warfare.
17 August, 1907: The Brussels Convention lays out the fundamental principles of international law that govern the paranormal and occult, with both the British and Russian Governments pushing for strict international regulations. The convention results in three provisions being unanimously adopted by the attending states. Germany withdraws from the Convention six years later, and does not re-ratify until 1919.
Provision 1: Convention for the Outlawing of the Use of Anomalous Objects for the Purposes of Weaponization or Warfare
This convention contains a series of restrictions that forbids a state from weaponizing and/or using anomalous objects for military warfare. Several key parts of Provision 1 were notably vaguely worded, resulting in several addenda in later years.
Provision 2: Convention in Respects to the Secrecy of the Paranormal and Occult Threats
This convention obliges signing states to uphold the responsibility for keeping the paranormal and occult secret from their citizens and society as a whole, in order to maintain peace and order.
Provision 3: Convention regarding the Destruction and Preservation of Anomalous Objects
This convention obliges signing states to destroy anomalous objects for the security and safety of humanity. Objects with substantial historical, and/or scientific value may be exempted from immediate destruction.
28 June, 1914: In order to distract the governments of Europe from its growing influence, the Authority dispatches an agent under deep cover in a Serbian nationalist group to assassinate the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, hoping to precipitate a major Balkan conflict that will provide a political smokescreen.
26 April, 1916: British Royal Navy intercepts a German cargo ship, discovering numerous anomalous objects that were intended for shipment to Cork, Ireland. Intelligence from within the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) indicates that the Irish Volunteer Force (IVF) planned on using anomalous objects in the 1916 Easter Rising.
1914-1918: In light of the escalation of Great War hostilities, the Authority enacts Operation Lucre, a combination of industrial takeovers, large-scale materials theft and outright war profiteering which ensures its economic stability for the next century. Authority agents see little direct involvement in the conflict proper.
3 March, 1918-1939: Aggressive Bolshevik use of anomalous technologies and items during the Russian Civil War leads to significant Authority involvement, hampered by agency overextension and events happening elsewhere. The 23-year campaign to isolate the Communist power structure from its anomalous resources is generally a failure, and Authority personnel are withdrawn as a result of the escalation of the Austral War. Soviet anomalous activities continue unabated for the next half-century.
28 June, 1919: The Treaty of Versailles, as signed and ratified, includes several secret clauses which empower the Allied Nations to remove and destroy anomalous objects under German oversight.
11-13 February, 1920: The League of Nations meets in London. French delegates propose amendments to the League Covenant requiring all member states to destroy any and all anomalous assets under their control, regardless of value. The motion fails to pass, and triggers a rift between pro-occultic and anti-occultic League members which continued throughout the 1920s.
26 August, 1921: In the wake of the assassination of Matthias Erzberger, a former German Minister of Finance, it was discovered that during and after his tenure in officer Minister Erzberger sold anomalous assets to the National-Socialist German Workers' Party. In the aftermath of this scandal, the League of Nations attempts to prosecute the Weimar Government at the Permanent Court of International Justice. German authorities refuse to extradite members of the NSDAP to the PCIJ.
1922: The Authority becomes heavily involved in the suppression of a tenacious ultrahedonistic cult present at all levels of society in the newly-formed German Republic. It rapidly becomes clear that the source of cult activity, which grows increasingly brazen over the next decade, is a series of extra-dimensional artifacts demonstrating powerful memetic effects. Beginning of the "German Period" of heavy Directorial investment in that country.
4 May 1926: The crew of AV Cavor reopen and reactivate Fort Columbiad, re-designating it Site-019 and beginning a continuous Authority presence on the Moon that lasts to this day.
1927: Trofim Lysenko discovers a method to 'vernalize' wheat seeds, involving certain procedures still unknown. This draws the attention of the nascent Soviet anomalous world, which quickly brings him into its fold. With his increasing resources, he makes rapid leaps in agricultural technology. Certain elements of his work are released to the public in the form of research papers, news reports, etc. across the following years. Authority-led initiatives fail to assassinate him or secure his research, but memetic techniques are employed and successfully prevent the spread of his methods and substantial information outside the Communist world.
August, 1932: First successful deployment of Authority-developed anti-memetic technologies, including the forerunners of modern amnestics and glyph technology, as an aid to suppressing anomalous elements in Germany. Directorate of Applied Parapsychology founded at Site-002.
27 February, 1933: An attempt to demonstrate anomaly-suppression technology to the newly-elected Chancellor of Germany causes a severe fire which eventually burns down the Reichstag in Berlin. A rushed and partially botched cover-up erases Chancellor Hitler's memory of his involvement in the event.
2 March, 1933: In light of the political fallout of the events of 27 February, the Directorate imposes new restrictions on large-scale amnestic and memory-modification technologies.
23 March, 1933: After the passage of the Enabling Act by the Reichstag, Chancellor Hitler secretly orders the weaponization of those few anomalous objects under NSDAP control as a contingency in the event that the Western powers declare war on Germany. President Hindenburg repeatedly urges Hitler to abandon this plan, but takes no direct action to stop him.
We still don't understand why Hindenburg didn't stop Hitler gearing up an anomalous arms program while he still had the legal power to do so. Best guess among our team is that, at least according to a partially-burned page of one of Himmler's diaries, Hitler offered the President some sort of immortality drug. Not entirely clear if the Nazis ever had anything like that, though.
-Doug
1935: Pierre-Louis Grandjean develops the modern RPC Authority Anomaly Classification System, which remains in use (in updated form) to this day in containment documents.
1938-14 January, 1939: The German New Swabia Expedition accidentally opens a stable dimensional passage to a pocket universe, the passage located within the earth's crust. Authority forces are not alerted to the discovery until the passage is dangerously large.
A DHPS study of pre-WW2 German archives made back in 2016 showed that the people in charge of the New Swabia Expedition were actually warned about what was going on at the South Pole well before they set out. Apparently the Nivaldi were just as active and ridiculously secretive in the 1930s as they are now.
If those German scientists had listened to the warning, who knows what would've happened?
-Doug
1939: The Authority backs Finland's resistance to the USSR during the Winter War in order to prevent the further spread of the rapidly-developing anomalous Communist world forming in parallel with that of the rest of the world. Both sides clash directly, but clandestinely, each using anomalous tactics of their own. Ultimately, the USSR wins a minor victory, gaining some Finnish territory, but at the cost of a hundred thousand soldiers and many experimental devices.
15 January, 1939-1946: The Austral War. The Authority devotes much of its personnel and operating budget to containing and slowly beating back the constant incursions of the extra-dimensional race called the Howlers from beyond the New Swabia Rift.
The Authority in the Cold War: Expanding the High Frontier
13 July, 1940: The Authority deploys its first nuclear weapons against the New Swabia Rift. These three uranium hydride "Atomwaffen" weapons are bulky, inefficient and produce barely 1 kiloton of explosive force. Despite this, their radioactive yield proves highly damaging against Howler ground forces.
10 July, 1945: President Truman meets with a representative from the Authority to discuss the upcoming International Anomalous Accords. While the contents of the discussion between GD-4 and Truman are unknown, that afternoon the two sign a preamble document in which the Authority commits to the later signature and ratification of the IAA.
25 October, 1945: Signing of the International Anomalous Accords by members of the United Nations, People's Liberation Army Special Directorate, Military Intelligence XIII, and Authority at a secret location in international waters. This document, technically the 20th Article of the Charter of the United Nations delineates the oversight and temporal powers of the Authority relative to the governments of UN members, provides for the formation of a United Nations Anomalous Activities Committee to manage the operations of global anomaly containment groups, and sets in motion the process to create an international response to the threat of extraterrestrial invasion.
Though they've since acquired a reputation for… well, let's say bureacratic ineffectuality, you have to remember that at the time the UNAAC and Article XX were a major threat to what seemed to be the Authority's unstoppable rise to global dominance. Even what would eventually become Blue Book was seen as a challenge to our recognized dominance of space.
R.I., AEDF Archives
31 January, 1946: Representatives from the United Nations sign the South Polar Treaty in Puerto Williams, Chile. The Authority is granted oversight of all settlement and scientific research work in Antarctica in perpetuity. Authority forces continue to hunt and destroy Howler presence across the southern Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, and limited hostilities continue well into the early 1960s. It is still unclear if certain other extradimensional incursions during this same time period are tied to the Howlers.
2 May 1946: With accusations of human rights violations running rampant following the end of the Austral War, the Authority and UNAAC form the Authority Protection Division Provisional War Crimes Tribunal to investigate claims of inappropriately applied anomalous science and other misconduct. The Tribunal will remain in session for the next decade, and try cases from all branches of the Authority and its affiliates.
1947-1948: The Office of Information, Records and Security, under the direction of Robert Hoss, produces the first modern edition of the Lexicon Auctoritas, which remains the standard terminology reference document for all Authority personnel to this day.
12 October, 1947: After a three-month journey, the experimental Authority vehicle AV Burroughs enters Martian orbit at 3am GMT. A team of twenty Authority astronauts are then sent down in its landing module and make landfall in Argyre Planitia at 8:43am. They proceed to spend the next 9 months surveying much of the region, gathering information- anomalous and normal alike. They return to Earth the same day on the following year.
12 December 1947: Doctors Huehnergard and Donnellson independently present papers attempting to explain the perceived increase in anomalies worldwide since the beginning of the 20th century. The Huehnergard-Donnellson Split is a key underpinning of Office of Analysis and Science policy to this day. Both researchers report this phenomena, under the name "The Anomaly Boom".
1 October, 1949: The People's Republic of China was founded and applied for membership in the UNAAC following their independence. Their membership request was denied by all UN members save the Soviet Union, after it had been discovered that the PRC had been widely utilizing minor anomalous artifacts against the Republic of China.
29 November, 1949: Following 90 days of travel, the first Authority base-construction expedition arrives in Martian orbit. The crew make landfall in three hours and begin to erect a Martian Containment Outpost, later designated Site-Mars-001, in the northern Tharsis region several hundred kilometers east of Olympus Mons. The Authority begins regular rotations of crews to and from the planet from this point onward.
7 December, 1949: The Republic of China was suspended in the United Nations Anomalous Activities Committee by the World Security Council following its retreat to the Formosa Islands, and the discovery that, despite repeated RoC accusations against the PRC, Republic forces had also been weaponizing anomalous artifacts during the Chinese Civil War.
19-25 October 1950: The Chinese People's Liberation Army Special Directorate makes use of a reality-warping device to move more than 600,000 troops to within striking distance of UN forces near Unsan, Korea. This move is detected by neutral Authority observers on the ground and relayed to the UNAAC.
26-27 October 1950: The UNAAC deliberates with members of the Chinese government to discourage the further use of anomalous technologies in conventional warfare between UN members. Talks are fruitless.
31 October 1950: As part of a still heavily classified operation, an Authority "negotiating team" operating under UNAAC auspices apparently locates and kidnaps Mao Zedong via anomalous means. What happens next is unclear, but by the morning of the 1st of November Mao orders the deactivation of all Chinese anomalous assets in Korea. The PLA Special Directorate is dissolved and reorganized soon afterwards.
This is the offical story, at least. I've heard rumors to the effect that the UNAAC actually kidnapped Mao and then made him watch while they nuked Beijing and then used an anomaly of some kind to undo the event. Whatever did happen, it clearly worked.
-Doug
24 February 1951: The Martian Containment Outpost's personnel identify the first Martian RPC, RPC-████, and successfully establish formal containment procedures later that year after extensive study.
Containment still won't give us the number code for this one.
-Doug
1951-1952: The Authority, now under UNAAC orders to actively counter any illegal anomalous weapons use in Korea, attempts several operations against Soviet anomalous deployment via the PRC. The response is hamstrung by the situation developing with RPC-998. While serious breaches of containment are avoided, those that do occur result in massive casualties, far more than predicted. Authority analysts are forced to reassess the threat presented by Soviet anomalous research.
12 January 1953: Renewed Authority confidence in space expeditions leads to the development and launch of the AV Quicksilver, the first Authority expedition to Mercury. Its full complement of 15 crew successfully make orbit on 9pm GMT in a record-breaking two weeks and a day, but disaster strikes shortly after landfall at Caloris Basin. 1am the next morning, a sudden cooling failure with no clear cause leads to the death of the entire landing crew. Later investigation points toward a non-anomalous cause of the accident, but to this day there are still suggestions of interference by a Mercurian anomaly. Years later, the Quicksilver Disaster Memorial is erected at Site-Mercury-███.
23 May 1953: Construction of Site-003 (later re-designated in 1998 as Site-003-ARC) is finished, and the AEGIS is brought online to streamline the Authority's rapidly expanding global communications. The resulting increase in reliability of communication systems within the Authority allows terrestrial sites to reliably contact extraterrestrial facilities.
NOTE: insert a blurb about the Papal origins of the shield emblem when we can dig up some vexillological material to go here.
12 May, 1954: As part of 120th anniversary celebrations, the Directorate announces the retirement of the Authority's classic "Shield" emblem, in celebration of the recent end of the Korean War and their new spirit of demilitarization. The Authority goes without a formal identifying symbol for nearly a decade, leading to the proliferation of regionally-developed identifiers and insignia.
30 November 1954: An experimental Authority spacecraft succeeds in destroying a hostile Unidentified Flying Object over northeastern Alabama. In the aftermath, part of the wreckage falls to earth in the town of Sylacauga, hitting and injuring a civilian. A coverup operation succeeds in presenting the event as a meteorite impact, but the affair highlights the lack of central control over Authority space assets.
1955: After Joseph Stalin's death, the Soviet government reorganizes its anomalous research into the closed city system alongside the nuclear program. Most assets are centralized in a Novaya Zemlya-based settlement compound.
25 December 1955: The Authority Extraterrestrial Defence Force is founded by order of the Directorate, unifying all Authority spacecraft, stations and extraplanetary facilities under a single command structure.
Numerous regional Authority facilities, most notably those in the southern United States and Central America, continued using their own, locally-developed identifiers long after the formal adoption of the "Trimangle".
1 January- 12 May, 1964: The Directorate begins an Authority-wide employee contest to design a new emblem for the organization. The winning "Spear-Valknut" design, colloquially referred to as the "Trimangle" or "Shitangle" is deeply unpopular and many minor sites refuse to adopt it.
6 April 1961: Experimental fusion-based technologies partially derived from Project Orion generate enough fervour among Authority command to launch another interplanetary expedition, this time taking fullest advantage of all experimental equipment. The AEDFS Dyson sets off from earth in July of 1960 and reaches high Jovian orbit in 9 months, at noon GMT. A day later, the crew establish an orbit around the moon of Callisto.
8 April 1961: The Callisto Incident. A crew of thirty-five set out from the AEDFS Dyson on its landing segment and reach the surface at about 10am shipboard time, setting down in the middle of Skuld Crater. Hours later, some of the crew on the outside make contact with instances of RPC-████-█, leading to eight deaths. However, the crew improvise containment techniques on the spot and stave off the attack. The story is seen as a massive success for the space program among Command, and a permanent outpost is established on Callisto by the following year.
Again, no word from Containment on this one either. Why in the hell would they censor a dash number?
-Doug
30 October 1961: Massive containment breach at the Novaya Zemlya facility. Countless experimental test subjects and dangerous anomalies are released. In a desperate gamble to prevent their further spread, Khruschev and the rest of the USSR's high command immediately authorize deployment the RDS-220 hydrogen bomb. The fifty-megaton blast successfully destroys the entire facility, at the cost of all personnel stationed in or near it. Publically, this comes to be known as the Tsar Bomba nuclear test.
10 October 1964: Leonid Brezhnev becomes General Secretary- later First Secretary- of the Soviet Union. His policies involve a return to greater information-isolation and a hardline stance on discipline among the anomalous assets the Eastern Bloc possesses. Over the next 18 years of his regime, various purges are carried out, but largely without effect as many researchers, cadres, and other covert groups flee the Communist world, often with valuable anomalous research and assets in tow.
It's no secret that many of these 'Soviet remnants' are still giving us trouble, even now. I will seek permission from my superiors to declassify relevant information. Until then, stay tuned.
-Carlisle, Containment Research Level-3
20 September 1970: Approximately five years after Rhodesia declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Ian Smith confers with several members of the Board of Directors, establishing the groundwork for relations between the state of Rhodesia and the Authority. After a period of discussion between the two parties, Mr. Smith ultimately agrees to permit the Authority greater flexibility within the territory than previously allowed under the British administration. This agreement, along with continued cooperation with the South African apartheid government, leads to the discovery of multiple anomalous items/entities in regions with little preexisting Authority presence.
1971: UN Resolution 2758 is passed, recognizing the People's Republic of China as the lawful representative of China. Active membership in the UN, and by extension UNAAC, by the PRC is delayed by delegates from the United States, West Germany, Australia, Spain, Republic of China, and Japan. The People's Republic of China is not formally accepted until April 3, 1979.
1973: The AEDF begins a new wave of lunar facility construction, with infrastructure at Site-019 proving inadequate for then-current needs. Several dozen "Moonbase"-class standard facilities are built, though most inhabitants of each Site are unaware of the existence of the others for security reasons.
One of the most common complaints AEDF personnel recieve from other branches is that we hide too much, which is honestly a reasonable complaint. The history of our branch is one of constant compartmentalization and massive discoveries hushed up for security reasons, so it's only logical that to the outsider it might be a genuine surprise that the Authority has not one but several Lunar and extra-terrestrial facilities. To the best of my knowledge almost no one, myself included, is allowed to know how much stuff we have out there.
-R.I, AEDF Archives
1979: The ongoing effects of the unstable political situation in Iran lead to an economic crisis tied to skyrocketing oil prices. Mismanagement in the Protection Division's financial branch leads to massive losses in the net worth and stability of several RPC front companies, and a Division-wide austerity program that proves deeply unpopular.
4 February- 7 August 1980: As part of ongoing cost-cutting measures due to the financial instability of the Protection Division, employee benefits and wages are slashed across all Protection Division branches. In response, over 80% of Protection Division staff assigned to nonessential roles go on strike and form a labour union. The operations of the Authority grind nearly to a standstill, with representatives from both Research and Protection jockeying for control in the resultant managerial vacuum. Directorate personnel begin negotiations in an attempt to stabilize the situation. Accusations of outside influence by Communist elements are later proved to be unfounded.
The current Authority "Valknut-Cage Abstract" emblem, representing the three Divisions working in harmony to defend against the unknown.
15 August 1980: After a grueling 8-day negotiations period during which most Terrestrial RPC facilities undertake little to no productive work, the Authority Labour Agreement is signed, formally dissolving the Protection Division Worker's Union and abolishing the right of Protection and Research personnel to form labour organizations and granting the Human Resources department the powers needed to ensure fair wages and equitable working conditions for Authority personnel across all branches in spite of outside economic conditions. Due to their differing organizational and work structure, operational personnel of the Containment division remain exempt from this agreement.
10 January, 1982: The Ottawa Conference, hosted by the World Security Council, concludes. This meeting, which recognizes the Authority as the largest and most significant of the international anti-anomalous organizations, grants the Authority certain rights and responsibilities as specified in the Atlantic Protocol and the related Treaty of Ottawa. The Authority formally adopts the modern "Valknut-Cage Abstract" emblem as part of the signing of the Atlantic Protocol.
The Atlantic Protocol Governing the Special Relations of the United Nations and the Authority
In light of the Authority's then-extant financial issues and growing international power base, the Atlantic Protocol grants the Authority a 62.7 percent tax exemption from the World Bank and other financial institutions, permission to police violations of the Anomalous Accords, and current established international anomalous regulations, with UN oversight, and permission to bypass or reduce the standard systems of international oversight in place for other smaller anomalous organizations.
The Treaty of Ottawa
This international treaty places limits on the publication of research into anomalous items within the international community, unless said research extends to the degree that the anomaly no longer exhibits any anomalous property.
June-November 1984: The Authority's Indonesian branch succeeds in shutting down a corporation calling itself the Global Enterprise for Advanced Research, which is selling large quantities of a previously-unknown anomalous metal in Indonesia. Most of GEAR's staff and resources are relocated elsewhere before they can be recovered by the Authority.
11 March 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes First Secretary of the Soviet Union, ending a brief unstable period in Soviet politics. Alongside his public glasnost and perestroika campaigns, he reevaluates the wisdom of the path the Union has taken in regards to the anomalous realm. Under his reign, the Communist Bloc's authorities under that aegis begin a period of reformist mutual cooperation with the Authority in many regards, and share more information than before.
The Contemporary Authority
June 1991: In an effort to reduce the strain on Authority nuclear waste disposal facilities, a new nuclear storage facility is opened in what are believed to be geologically stable lava chambers under Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. Unfortunately, early excavation efforts destabilize the volcano's internal reservoirs, causing a pressure buildup that results in a highly destructive eruption on the 15th of June. While the excavation plans are halted and relocated elsewhere, the incident raises a great deal of internal criticism about the Authority's percieved harming of the environment, and over-reliance on outdated forms of nuclear power generation.
26 December 1991: Following an abortive coup, the progressive loss of satellite states to the rest of the world, and the shift to power of the openly non-Communist Boris Yeltsin, the Soviet Union officially dissolves. The same day, Russia officially becomes an independent Federation. In the years that follow, ex-Soviet assets are rebranded and directly absorbed into Authority chains of command. A number of shocking discoveries and reorganizations follow.
By the way, this is the reason a lot of the Russian-origin personnel have so many idiosyncratic titles, procedures, etc. The process of de-Sovietization is still ongoing.
-Carlisle
8 June 1997: The Russian Federation was accredited back into the UNAAC following its predecessor's dissolution in 1991.
11 September 2001: Adjacent to the Twin Towers during the 9/11 attacks, Site-313 (openly known as the 7 World Trade Center) suffers a critical containment breach and is subsequently destroyed by on-site explosives. The previous headquarters of the DHPS, Site-313 was also a white-yellow level containment facility and processing center for anomalous persons apprehended in Manhattan proper. Due to damage sustained from falling debris from the Towers- the eventual cover story for the demolition- a cascading breach occurs as anomalous detainees free themselves and, along with opportunistic outside agents, begin to access artifact storage. Overwhelmed by the chaos inside and outside the facility, rapid response units salvage what they can and detonate the on-site explosives to collapse the structure.
In hindsight, destroying the Site was a little premature. You had to be there, though - we assumed the attack on the Towers themselves was anomalous. North American Command was close to panic, and with the reports coming in of the chaos in Site-313, we cut our losses. It's interesting to note that conspiracy theorists have rightly identified the true cause of 7 World Trade Center's collapse, but have overextended their theories to the cause of the Towers' destruction; we don't have our hand in every tragedy.
- Miller
12 September 2001: The United Nations Anomalous Activities Committee hosts an emergency meeting with the World Security Council. President George W. Bush states that the rise of extremism within the Middle East may give insurgents and terrorist organizations a chance to profit from or use anomalous objects to achieve their goals. The World Security Council passes a resolution that initiates Operation Dawn Initiative, a worldwide counter-insurgency against local and international groups that are involved in illicit anomalous activities.
2002-2006: Operation Dawn Initiative results in the destruction or suppression of numerous minor anomalous groups, and the formation of dozens of new ones.
6 May 2008: Following more than two decades of fruitless suppression operations, the Authority signs an official agreement of non-intervention with GEAR. The corporation is permitted to continue manufacturing low-level anomalous items for civilian use through a variety of front companies, provided that they coordinate with the Authority to ensure the manufacturing processes used are non-harmful, and ensure that all of their marketing material and packaging contains memetic agents that prevent customers from speculating about the nature of their purchases.
14 April 2012: Believed to be the date in an alternate timeline in which an event, or series of events known as the Alpha Trigger occur. This takes the form of a Reality Restructuring Event which causes the collapse of the Authority and human society as a whole in the so-called "Remnants" timeline.
13 June 2019: Site-014 is destroyed following the accidental detonation of its on-site nuclear weapon. The detonation is detected by international observers from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), who report their findings to the United Nations and subsequently to UNAAC. The Mendoza Commission is established to investigate the event once the Authority makes the nature of Site-014 known.
14 June 2019: With Authority approval, small teams of U.S National Guardsmen, and international observers, assist in the decontamination of Site-014 and the recovery of several minor anomalies. The Mendoza Commission passes a memorandum to the WSC alleging that the incident was allegedly caused by a single individual intended to destroy Site-014 through its self-destruct protocols.
The individual responsible for these acts is conclusively Mr. Anders. While there is some debate over whether Mr. Anders acted on behalf of the AEP or Church of Malthus, we believe this was a premeditated strike against the Authority. An international arrest warrant for Mr. Anders has been filed, operating under the public cover that he is wanted for selling illegal nuclear materials to militia and terrorist groups within the United States.
-The Mendoza Commission Report, Pg. 82.
June-December 2019: The discovery of a massive buried city underneath the Antarctic ice sheets, and the numerous anomalies it contains, leads to a sudden boom in the Authority's long-dormant presence on the continent.
Denied Anomaly Classification System Proposals
Past denied proposals include the introduction of new containment classes: Mu, designating anomalies currently in containment by Proxy and Allied Entities of Interest; Psi, designating anomalies consisting of multiple sub-designations with varying containment requirements; and Iota, designating self-containing anomalies. These proposals were denied on the basis of being redundant.
18 January 2020: For the first time since its inception in 1935, a proposed update to the modern RPC Authority Anomaly Classification System was approved. The Secondary Classes category was created with Neutralized, Explained, and Utility falling within. Neutralized had formerly been a Containment Rating and Utility serves as a replacement for the now-defunct Containment Rating Theta. Both Neutralized and Theta were removed from the Containment Ratings category on the basis of being unrelated to containment requirements. Furthermore, the containment class Epsilon was entirely removed on the basis of being redundant with classes Gamma and Omega. The removal of Theta in particular has been a point of contention, with some sites disobeying the order to reclassify Theta anomalies as Utility. To a lesser extent, the recategorizing of Neutralized has had similar reprisal. The removal of Epsilon, however, has seen little contention. Although there is an official presentation for Secondary Classes, various formats have been used in documentation.
| Defunct Containment Ratings Theta, Neutralized, and Epsilon, respectively | ||
|---|---|---|
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12 August 2020: Famous fiction author Randolph Gowering suffers a fatal stroke; the Scottish island of Pabbay on which he used to reside transforms into a pocket reality containing a fantasy world based on his works.
1 February 2021: The Directorate holds its first meeting following the 102nd biennial Global Director internal election.
Note: Double-check that this is actually the 102nd election. -Doug
16 March 2021: The final draft of the triennial Divisional budget is submitted by the Office of Financial Affairs and approved by the Directorate. Due to the multiple extensive and costly disasters, endeavors and projects involving the Authority since the last rebudgeting in 2018, severe cuts were made to the Research and Containment Divisions while debts could be repaid.
Note to self: cease existing, later.
-Doug