MORRIGAN [PROLOGUE]

RECOVERED PERSONAL LOG ENTRY/ E45673/tyghske99
Status: HIGHLY CLASSIFIED

---Appended here are four retrieved entries from the personal logbook of Cpl Damien Tyson (Special Ops division/ 5th squadron/ 76 Fleet), who was an MS pilot. Cpl Tyson was discharged from active service on Solar Month 5, Cycle 2, UC0299 due to post-traumatic stress disorder from a combat incident. He was the sole survivor of his squadron, who encountered the entity known as the Morrigan* (see analysis below) while engaged in a firefight with insurrectionists who had taken a Federation outpost space station hostage. Cpl Tyson's MS returned to base in a wrecked state. Engineers had to cut him  out of his cockpit. He was physically unharmed, but catatonic. He was diagnosed with PTSD, and after two months of close monitoring and counselling, failed all psychiatric evaluations. One week after his discharge from service, Cpl Tyson committed suicide. His logbook has since been under Federation custody to aid investigations by the Project Grey panel in charge of assessing  the Morrigan threat. 


SAMPLE ENTRIES BY DECEASED SUBJECT ---

SM4 - C23 - 0299
    It's not getting any better. I fall asleep at night and the images of the slaughter still play out like a looping data feed. Over and over and over and over. When will this end? When can I be normal again? What did that....that THING...do to me???? I'm not even sure how much of this is real. Or how much I recall. What if this is some sick test? What if this was all faked and I'm just some lab rat under study for a twisted project only those damned spooks in Intelligence are privy to? I need to get out.

SM4 - C25 - 0299
    The Captain visited my ward today 'for a chat' he says. Well fuck him. For all I know, he may be in cahoots with them spooks on this. They're all stringing me along for the ride, I know. I know this. Who are they trying to fool, damn it??? He wanted to know what the thing looked like. How big was it. What weapons it deployed. Fuck him to hell. I'm not talking. I can't even recall what went on in that fight, except that Gibbs is no longer here. The Sarge is gone too, obliterated in an energy blast so bright I thought the sun had traveled to our sector and exploded. I saw it. I saw Sarge disappear in a million shards within the cursed light. Fuck it. Fuck all of them. You too, Sarge, for leaving me behind. You and Gibbs and Proctor and everybody. Fuck all of you for leaving me to deal with this hell. I'm not giving the Captain anything. He can go fuck himself.

SM4 - C26 - 0299
    It's a demon. I'm sure of it. It came to me tonight. This is not technology. It's witchcraft! It's a fucking demon. A demon with all it's colours and blazing blades. The blades. Yes! I remember now. Proctor died under those blades. God bless you, Proctor you muther-fuckin sonnafabitch. I saw Proctor dodge the lights. He actually got close enough, the bastard, close enough to make a hit on that monster, and then the blades came. I can't make out what those things were. Just goddam large bloody blades. They were fast. Proctor was there. And then he wasn't. I saw the blades come down on him. It's funny. Boy used to tell me a horror story when we were kids; says he witnessed a bird fly into an armour turbine. It exploded in a red mist of feather and grizzle, and then there was nothing. Kinda like Proctor too, under those fucking blades. Rest in peace Proctor. I hope you slugged him one before it did you in. Good 'ol Proctor. It would be good if I could join those mofos. Would be good to see Sarge again...

SM4 - C30 - 0299
    The nightmares are not stopping. I dreamt about the thing again last night. It's the Devil alright. I remember the horns. The Devil with Hell's fire in his body. They say it's Psycho-Frame. Fuck that. I've not seen any Psycho-Frame like this. It's Hell's fires, that's what it is! It's what I'm burning in right now. What burns me every night. And then the lights again. Always those lights. You can never get near it. It's some unholy force that shoots out those strange lights which nicked Sarge. I'm sure of it. I shall tell it to Doc tomorrow just to wipe that smirk off her face, the patronising bitch. They think I'm crazy. That's why they've locked me in here. They think I've gone off the deep end. But this is what I saw. Always those lights. And then. The big one. I've never seen anything like it except at the test-fire of the orbital satellite cannon during Flight School days. But this one's bigger, brighter, hotter. We don't have the technology for a beam of this magnitude. I was the only one out of range, attempting a useless flank. I might as well have tried to flank the entire famed armada of Side 5. In fact I probably would have had more success with them. Everyone else went into the light, and then they were gone. I didn't even see any wreckage. Gone. Just like that. And then I was running, and running and running, the Devil on my tail-fin. I must have passed out from the sub-dimensional speeds I was pushing. And then I was home, being cut out and shaken down. Perhaps it would have been better not to have made it. To have joined the rest in the Devil's grasp, wherever they are. It would be good to see you mofos again. Hell yeah. We could get together and take on the motherfucker in a re-match. I'm gonna ace it. I'm coming guys. Just you wait. I'm coming for you guys.

*******End of log sample********

*****     *****

A sailor's death on ships of sleep

With few to know and none to weep

For faith so brave, a soul to keep

A silent grave in oceans deep

 - A Sailor's Eulogy by Robert E. Brown (pre-UC. Exact date unknown)

FEDERATION MISSION REPORT 03487/ Adapted from Captains' log archive/ Cycle E78/ 

Status: HIGHLY CLASSIFIED

Author: Unknown

    The year is UC0300. Mankind is still at war. Insurrection is rife among humanity's thousands of space colonies. Civil war wreaks havoc among populations. The Earth Federation, once a stalwart of power, is in ruins, fractured by a century of corruption. At this time in data-logging, there are at least 53 militant renegade factions scattered throughout the inner and outer systems and 14 colonies classified as 'unstable'*. Space is littered with the mangled aftermath of countless battles and clashes between rival groups. The Federation still has the biggest army in terms of strength, but military technology for all humanity has come to a standstill due to the drain on resources required for battle. It is estimated that the level of technology at this time is only equal, if not less than, the period dating back to UC0096, widely regarded as the peak of human technological warfare. This time in history is also remembered as the Unicorn era - where use of the legendary psychoframe system for Mobile Suits was perfected. Crude reproductions of the psychoframe system still exist in today's Mobile Suits, although in limited numbers due to building constraints. The blueprints for the original technology are lost to posterity, ever since the closure of founding manufacturer Anaheim Electronics. 

    This report details the findings of a particular Mobile Armour, but draws no conclusions due to insufficient facts. The codename MORRIGAN has been gleaned from pilots who have come into contact with the entity*. (The term 'entity' is used because no confirmation of a pilot from the Morrigan has ever been obtained.) There are rumours that it is powered by a rogue AI, and functions according to its own random programming. The Morrigan has never been captured or studied up close. It's exact size is unknown, with reports claiming it is bigger than two of the Federation's Icarus-line MAs combined. The first sighting was recorded in UC0298 by two surviving members of a Fed squadron in the midst of an insurrection quelling (Sector 31 of the Outer System, Core 45). To date, only 7 sightings have been confirmed, all of which resulted in contact and casualties. It is not known if other warring factions throughout space have encountered the entity. Idle talk among captured enemy pilots seems to suggest so. 

Behavioural data

The Morrigan only appears at the scene of a battle. It has no known allegiance, and will attack any side present. According to Federation records, it has eliminated five Bell-class squadrons and almost half an Armada, with surviving forces achieving a safe return to base only because of successful retreat. Nothing is known about its weapon systems, as its arsenal is wide-ranging and always varied with each encounter. Recorded footage of the Morrigan is scarce, due to its sheer speed and stealth-like tactics. Little is known about its propulsion system, although it is faster than any craft known to man. Scant visual evidence seems to indicate that the Morrigan has a psychoframe-enabled core. It is not known if the entity is comprised of an armour-enclosed MS, or a complete MA. The closest the Morrigan has been sighted to Earth is in Sector 2 of the Outer System.

Legacy

Among pilots, the Morrigan is also known as 'The White Devil', 'The Marauder' or by its most popular namesake, 'The Reaper'. This alludes to unverified reports that the reason why the entity appears at battle scenes is to 'reap' whatever parts remain after the slaughter of all sides. The Morrigan is said to then incorporate these parts into its form. This may support reports of its appearance as being made up of a bizarre jumble of armour and weaponry. None of this has been confirmed, however, and Intelligence puts it down to pilot folk-lore. Other rumours claim that the Morrigan is a harbinger of retribution for humanity's waste and sins, a throwback to an ancient warning of Armageddon should mankind descend into war-mongering. The Morrigan's sole mission is to therefore prevent conflict by eliminating all sides. Doomsday theorists and all who are disillusioned with the current dystopian state fervently subscribe to this belief, such that there is now an underground cult purported to worship the entity. The official statement released by the Media department is that the Morrigan is an MA created with retrieved technology from the Unicorn era, and owned by a group of pirates who operate in deep space. No further statement has been issued as to the whereabouts or affiliations of this group.

     Because of the encounters, the Gale Protocol has been recently established by Admiral Brian Gale of the 67th Fleet. Under Section 38A, Point 4 of the Protocol, all Fed pilots are ordered to sound the alarm on sighting the entity, and squadron commanders are to coordinate a fleet-wide cease-and-retreat operation to minimise losses. The Morrigan has been known to pursue retreating ships, but only up to a certain radius. No known damage has ever been inflicted on it. Ever since word of its existence came about, combat pilots on every side have taken to space with a silent prayer to their comrades lost to the Morrigan, in return for the dead's blessing against this abomination....

Notes:

*On the Solar Month 1, Cycle 34, UC0299, Lieutenant Renault Lensharr (Squadron 1, 45th Corps) encountered the entity while ambushed in combat with insurrectionists on Outer Colony Side 48 (Sector 3). Lt Lensharr attempted to establish comms with the Morrigan by sending out an ID request. While no audio feedback was recorded, the codename 'Morrigan' was picked up in a scanned data stream from the entity. All but Lt Lensharr and squad member Corporal John Benson perished. Insurrectionist troops were also presumed liquidated. Cpl Benson's MS was severely damaged in the fight and he sustained critical injuries to his face, resulting in loss of vision to his left eye. He was given an honourable discharge from active service on Solar Month 12, Cycle 3.