Draco Cronnoc II
Time to go right for the head of it all. Clearly, Wesley Johnson is the ringleader of these horrific and abhorrent actions. You ask Argus Minnerit where he is, and he gives you a very ominous answer. Wesley Johnson is at the Pentagon.
This guy must be no little fish. You know only the most important people in the Army actually work at the Pentagon. Maybe this conspiracy goes a little deeper than you know.
You take the short drive to the Pentagon in a taxi with one of the Dover police by your side. His name is Joseph Lester, and he'd insisted on coming along simply to protect you. You could do all the talking as you knew much more about the case.
As you knew would be the case, torrents of guards block your way into the country's war machine when you reach the building. One approaches you directly.
"Who are you, sir?"
You gather yourself together and present the man a card. Before you left you made all the necessary arrangements to come here. You had informed the Pentagon's publicist that you were investigating the Richland Harbor attacks. Ten minutes later you'd received a call saying you'd be seen as soon as possible. This meant two things: either they knew why you are coming, or bureaucracy has suddenly made an efficient government. Needless to say, Wesley Johnson will be prepared for what you ask him.
"My name is Draco Cronnoc, and I'm here to speak with Senior Deputy of Defense Wesley Johnson."
The man nods militarily. "Yes, sir, we received information that you'd be coming around this time. We've been told to escort you directly to Colonel Johnson. Please follow me."
You follow four men into the compound, leaving your taxi driver behind. The Pentagon, you realize, is huge. You might not make it all the way to Wesley Johnson without pausing for a rest, and you've never particularly enjoyed looking weak.
Thankfully, the walk is much shorter than expected. The guards escort you and Joseph to a small gray door with no windows and motion to it. You open the door and step inside.
They lock the door behind you!
Sent into utter shock, you take stock of your surroundings. You are secluded in a dark room with one overhanging light, much like those old detective rooms where they's interrogate a suspect. You used to have one, in fact.
There is a man sitting behind a table near you. His face is mostly hidden in darkness; the lamp doesn't shine too brightly, but you can tell he is wearing a coat with military regalia.
"Sit down, Mr. Cronnoc," he says, motioning to a seat on the opposite side of the table. You occupy it, wondering just how bad circumstances you are presently in.
"It is time you abandon your investigation and help us. If you don't you die."
Apparently pretty bad.
"Mr. Cronnoc. I am going to tell you the full truth about the five attacks on May 12th. Chances are you have not delved in as far as I am guessing you have; but there's no use taking a risk. So, just how deeply involved do you know the US Army is?"
You answer defiantly, "I know that for sure they're involved somehow with the group Red Exterior. I will bring you to justice."
Wesley Johnson frowns. "No, you won't. See, I have an explanation. You'll listen to it and then you'll agree."
"We'll see. Carry on." Actually, this is what you'd been hoping for. You knew the Army wouldn't get into bed with terrorists for an arbitrary reason; it had to be big.
"You must at least know that the reasons surrounding the attacks invole Lucas Esmodre and his squadron from Vietnam. Well, maybe you didn't know that, but that's what it is. That particular squadron, with their officer's permission, raped most of the women in a town in Vietnam and killed all of the men. The US Army found out in a few months, one of the men named Samuel Hastings told us about it due to qualms of his. We gathered all of them together and made them swear an oath of secrecy. While it is true the US Army has committed many atrocities over the years, few have had the scope of this particular incident. Had the information gotten out, a mass uprising against all US troops deployed in all corners of the world would certainly have occured. For many years, the men stood by their oaths and no one was harmed.
"However, as each of the men aged, they lost money. They came together one year and decided that they'd contact a book agency and tell their story at a steep cost. Maybe they just wanted the money, or maybe they just wanted to end their lives with a bang. Either way, we couldn't let it happen. Especially in this period! Do you know how volatile the Middle East is? If this got out, Iraq would be more screwed than it already is. This is a thousand times worse than Abu Ghraib.
"Needless to say, we had to step in so they wouldn't go through with their plan. I contacted a terrorist-communist group, the Red Exterior. Why the Red Exterior? They hate these guys. The Red Exterior is a group of communists from Vietnam, and much of their upper-rankings are filled with the children from Graes, the town where the rapes and killings took place. They jumped at the opportunity to help us, and they agreed to take all the blame after a phony investigation took place following the attacks.
"So went through with it and killed every member of the squadron still alive. Their stories will never be told, and the US Army will be safe."
You sit, unable to say anything. This is beyond comprehension, this is madness! Never has any country done such a thing, killing hundreds of its own just to save its occupied countries from chaos! It must be a lie! But why would the army lie...this story is most incriminating.
"That's it?" you demand. "They would have told the world about what they did thirty years ago?"
"Essentially, yes. Mr. Cronnoc, you must understand what that'd do to our image. We'd be utterly disgraced. Plus, our country runs on fear. Not that I'd set this up just to coax the masses into dumping money into our military, that was just as extra benefit."
You need to tell the world! This is complete evil. This must be told. But as you look into Wesley's eyes, you know he won't back down from killing you before you can accomplish your mission.
"Mr. Cronnoc, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. Go back to Richland Harbor. It's your choice: end your investigation, or die."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A year has passed since that fateful day when the Pentagon told you the truth. You sit in a courtroom. Not to incriminate the Army, but to incriminate the group Red Exterior. The highest of the group sit in front of you, ready to hear the results of your investigation of the attacks.
As Wesley had told you would happen, the false investigation did go through, and they caught some neo-communists as criminals. They were brought before a jury, and now you are to tell how your private inquiry also yielded the same results: Red Exterior was responsible for the attacks, no one else involved.
The truth nags at you, you want to say it but you'll die! Well, at least they can't kill you right now in a court full of people. You'll die soon, but the truth will be out.
What do you do?
This guy must be no little fish. You know only the most important people in the Army actually work at the Pentagon. Maybe this conspiracy goes a little deeper than you know.
You take the short drive to the Pentagon in a taxi with one of the Dover police by your side. His name is Joseph Lester, and he'd insisted on coming along simply to protect you. You could do all the talking as you knew much more about the case.
As you knew would be the case, torrents of guards block your way into the country's war machine when you reach the building. One approaches you directly.
"Who are you, sir?"
You gather yourself together and present the man a card. Before you left you made all the necessary arrangements to come here. You had informed the Pentagon's publicist that you were investigating the Richland Harbor attacks. Ten minutes later you'd received a call saying you'd be seen as soon as possible. This meant two things: either they knew why you are coming, or bureaucracy has suddenly made an efficient government. Needless to say, Wesley Johnson will be prepared for what you ask him.
"My name is Draco Cronnoc, and I'm here to speak with Senior Deputy of Defense Wesley Johnson."
The man nods militarily. "Yes, sir, we received information that you'd be coming around this time. We've been told to escort you directly to Colonel Johnson. Please follow me."
You follow four men into the compound, leaving your taxi driver behind. The Pentagon, you realize, is huge. You might not make it all the way to Wesley Johnson without pausing for a rest, and you've never particularly enjoyed looking weak.
Thankfully, the walk is much shorter than expected. The guards escort you and Joseph to a small gray door with no windows and motion to it. You open the door and step inside.
They lock the door behind you!
Sent into utter shock, you take stock of your surroundings. You are secluded in a dark room with one overhanging light, much like those old detective rooms where they's interrogate a suspect. You used to have one, in fact.
There is a man sitting behind a table near you. His face is mostly hidden in darkness; the lamp doesn't shine too brightly, but you can tell he is wearing a coat with military regalia.
"Sit down, Mr. Cronnoc," he says, motioning to a seat on the opposite side of the table. You occupy it, wondering just how bad circumstances you are presently in.
"It is time you abandon your investigation and help us. If you don't you die."
Apparently pretty bad.
"Mr. Cronnoc. I am going to tell you the full truth about the five attacks on May 12th. Chances are you have not delved in as far as I am guessing you have; but there's no use taking a risk. So, just how deeply involved do you know the US Army is?"
You answer defiantly, "I know that for sure they're involved somehow with the group Red Exterior. I will bring you to justice."
Wesley Johnson frowns. "No, you won't. See, I have an explanation. You'll listen to it and then you'll agree."
"We'll see. Carry on." Actually, this is what you'd been hoping for. You knew the Army wouldn't get into bed with terrorists for an arbitrary reason; it had to be big.
"You must at least know that the reasons surrounding the attacks invole Lucas Esmodre and his squadron from Vietnam. Well, maybe you didn't know that, but that's what it is. That particular squadron, with their officer's permission, raped most of the women in a town in Vietnam and killed all of the men. The US Army found out in a few months, one of the men named Samuel Hastings told us about it due to qualms of his. We gathered all of them together and made them swear an oath of secrecy. While it is true the US Army has committed many atrocities over the years, few have had the scope of this particular incident. Had the information gotten out, a mass uprising against all US troops deployed in all corners of the world would certainly have occured. For many years, the men stood by their oaths and no one was harmed.
"However, as each of the men aged, they lost money. They came together one year and decided that they'd contact a book agency and tell their story at a steep cost. Maybe they just wanted the money, or maybe they just wanted to end their lives with a bang. Either way, we couldn't let it happen. Especially in this period! Do you know how volatile the Middle East is? If this got out, Iraq would be more screwed than it already is. This is a thousand times worse than Abu Ghraib.
"Needless to say, we had to step in so they wouldn't go through with their plan. I contacted a terrorist-communist group, the Red Exterior. Why the Red Exterior? They hate these guys. The Red Exterior is a group of communists from Vietnam, and much of their upper-rankings are filled with the children from Graes, the town where the rapes and killings took place. They jumped at the opportunity to help us, and they agreed to take all the blame after a phony investigation took place following the attacks.
"So went through with it and killed every member of the squadron still alive. Their stories will never be told, and the US Army will be safe."
You sit, unable to say anything. This is beyond comprehension, this is madness! Never has any country done such a thing, killing hundreds of its own just to save its occupied countries from chaos! It must be a lie! But why would the army lie...this story is most incriminating.
"That's it?" you demand. "They would have told the world about what they did thirty years ago?"
"Essentially, yes. Mr. Cronnoc, you must understand what that'd do to our image. We'd be utterly disgraced. Plus, our country runs on fear. Not that I'd set this up just to coax the masses into dumping money into our military, that was just as extra benefit."
You need to tell the world! This is complete evil. This must be told. But as you look into Wesley's eyes, you know he won't back down from killing you before you can accomplish your mission.
"Mr. Cronnoc, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. Go back to Richland Harbor. It's your choice: end your investigation, or die."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A year has passed since that fateful day when the Pentagon told you the truth. You sit in a courtroom. Not to incriminate the Army, but to incriminate the group Red Exterior. The highest of the group sit in front of you, ready to hear the results of your investigation of the attacks.
As Wesley had told you would happen, the false investigation did go through, and they caught some neo-communists as criminals. They were brought before a jury, and now you are to tell how your private inquiry also yielded the same results: Red Exterior was responsible for the attacks, no one else involved.
The truth nags at you, you want to say it but you'll die! Well, at least they can't kill you right now in a court full of people. You'll die soon, but the truth will be out.
What do you do?