Operation Inferred

This Chapter contains any archived briefings or lore documents related to the 232nd 'Armiger" Mixed Commando Company's activities during their deployment in Vietnam.

Operation Inferred Part 1, Welcome to Khe Sanh

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Location: Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province 
Vietnam
15th of November, 1967

Written by Terrence "Staffy" MacDonald
Briefing

When I requested a SOG team to support my command here at Khe Sanh I didn't think command would decide to send me an experimental company of commandos, still undecided on which option is better but hopefully you'll prove me plenty wrong. A local informant passed information along recently that VC activity in the region sounding the base has increased to an all time high, with "alleged" NVA acting as advisers to hostile efforts.

Whether this is set up for a major VC offensive or the NVA upping the VC's game is unknown, hence why Armiger is being deployed here. As it currently stands the plan is to deploy Armiger deep into the South West of Quang Triị Province (marked in the red box) to find a suitable location to make camp, from which your company will be operating from for several months or until solid information on VC intentions in the region are found. You'll have the support of Khe Sanh's entire arsenal of artillery and aircraft for operations, however your overall mission is information gathering as opposed to luring the VC out into a stand up fight.

While you are moving towards your operations sector the men under my command will be commencing an aerial operation into the North East of the Quang Triị Province to draw attention away from your arrival. The civilian population is gauged to be indifferent to both US and the VC, if you can get them onto your side you'll have considerably more intel flowing in. Try to avoid murdering any Civies, last thing my men need is pissed off rice farmers hounding them during their operations.

Good luck gentlemen, something tells me we're gonna need it by the time this is over.

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Post Operation Notes












Operation Inferred Part 2, Walk through the Jungle

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Location: Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province 
Vietnam
22nd of November, 1967

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn
Briefing

Despite some difficulties and the loss of Oddball Armiger managed to find a location to establish a long term camp in the South West of the Quang Trii Province. With camp established and Oddball reformed from the company's reserves, its time to start lurking in the jungle and becoming the VC's worst nightmare. 

Command has informed me that the primary objective for this week's patrol is the investigation of the suspected VC camp that Guppy stumbled upon during their hunt for a camp location, just south of La Lay in a cave. Scout out the camp, determine if its something you guys can deal with on your own or if artillery support is needed and strip the camp for any intel or possible prisoners. Your local Vietnamese "recruit" will hopefully be with you for this mission to assist with translation and helping to bridge the current language gap. 

I would also advise trying to be more restrained on the local population, word from some of our "local" sources indicates rumors of "deranged" US soldiers slaughtering any civvies they come across. Especially since that same source also suggested that relations between the local VC command and the Followers of the Palace Goddesses, the local major faith, has recently soured. It might be a good time to get on the local's good side.

Armiger is cleared to hit targets of opportunity as they move, but I would advise dealing with any encountered VC quickly and moving on with haste. Where there's one VC, there's likely one hundred more nearby.

Oh, and if you can find the survivors from Oddball that ran away from the friendly helicopters command wants to have a nice long talk to them.

Best of luck gents.

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Post Operation Notes


Operation Inferred Part 4, Of Supply and Empty Battlefields

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Location: Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province 
Vietnam
5th of December, 1967

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn
Briefing

VCs gone quite since the events of last week, so I've contacted command in regards to securing a resupply for the camp. This will not be delivered straight to us, might as well start blaring over loud speakers about where we are at that point. Instead Armiger will be either locating a MACVSOG created supply cache (if below 15Kg), securing an LZ for a helicopter delivered crate (below 30kg) or finding an open area for the deployment of a crate from a plane. It'll be up to Armiger to recon the mountains and terrain surrounding their perspective location to identify any VC AA in the region, although we aren't expecting any missiles thanks to the destruction of the radar nest last week.

Once the resupply has be collected I'd recommend delivering it straight back to the camp before tackling the sole objective command has informed myself about, the town of Lang Hoan Tap. Local informants described what seemed to be VC on VC and NVA violence in proximity to the town before they went silent. We could also hear the fireworks from the camp, given its within 2kms of us. Investigate the area, find anything of note and destroy any VC/NVA equipment left behind. 

During all the fun members of the camp heard what seem to be roaring coming from the direction of the town. Could be more of these "mutated gorillas" that you guys encountered during your last patrol. Recommend packing some AT in that resupply, maybe even a flamethrower if your game enough to carry it.

Good luck gents.

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Post Operation Notes

- Supply Drop destroyed due to suspected AA fire/ Pilot error. Convinced SOGMACV to reveal one of their local stashes for retrieval by Armiger 
- Encountering some kind of Hell Pit in Lang Hoan Tap that begun unleashing horrific creatures upon Armiger when they got too close to the hole.
- Several encounters with the "hairless" gorillas, some of which assisted Armiger at multiple points despite aggression from several team members
- CIA have become very interested into our activities, wouldn't be surprised if they make an unannounced visit to our camp to debrief 

Operation Inferred Part 5, Wings of Fire

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Location: Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province 
Vietnam
12th of December, 1967

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by You "Rock" Thought

Briefing

While Macdonald has expressed annoyance at losing control of Armiger to the CIA he has still passed on intel from his local contacts regarding the two remaining temples that haven't been raided, located to the North East of Khe Sanh. They report a small build-up of VC and suspected NVA in the area, otherwise it has been relatively quiet. Rock believes otherwise.

Armiger has two primary objectives this week, the recovery of the ashes from the temple near Napang and the temple near Nam Hung. Rock's contacts report that the Napang temple is smaller than the one formerly located at La Lay, consisting only of a single shrine tower. The temple at Nam Hung is/was the main settlement of the Followers of the Palace Goddess in South Vietnam, with radio signals coming from the town matching that of the NVA. Its possible that the ashes at Nam Hung might already be gone, although I wouldn't put it past the Followers to have hidden it given the falling out between themselves and the NVA.

You will not be walking to the objective area this week, instead being picked up by helicopter from somewhere relatively close (but not too close) to the camp. From there you will be delivered to an LZ of your choosing, however I'd recommend not landing directly on top of the temples given the likely NVA presence.

Macdonald has provided the entire support arsenal of Khe Sanh for this mission, from artillery to jet aircraft (including a flight of B-52s if shit really hits the fan). You are not to target any of the temples unless you are absolutely certain the ashes aren't there. Otherwise you are free to target anything that even remotely looks VC.

Five other members of Armiger will be landed alongside you to the objective area to replace any combat loses sustained.
Bomb the VC to hell and back gents.

A small addendum from Rock has been scribbled onto the report; Intel from my contacts indicate signs of a Hell Pit somewhere in your objective area, tread carefully. Try dropping a bomb on it, see if that seals it up. Otherwise these relics might be our only shot at dealing with them.

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Post Operation Notes

- Ashes recovered from a suspected Follower of the Palace Goddess in proximity to the Temple of Mau Thoai

- Ashes were not recovered from the Temple of Mau Dia, with an NVA helicopter that left the area suspected of extracting them back to Hanoi

- Suspected Hell Pit was not found

- CIA have begun to track the helicopter and any information pertaining to it to hopefully provide a location for Armiger to raid.

Operation Inferred Part 6, Phantoms in the Mist

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Location: Hanoi
North Vietnam
19th of December, 1967

Written By You "Rock" Thought
Briefing

Welcome to the outskirts of Hanoi gentlemen, down there are thousands of NVA who would like nothing more than to hang you by your entrails from the train station. Having tracked the helicopter from your last patrol to the Gia Lam Airbase on the outskirts of Hanoi, the CIA believe that the ashes have been stored somewhere in the city. Narrows the search area I know, but given the cultural significance of these items its likely they're been place in some kind of "cultural warehouse" for safe keeping. Making an educated guess would put them on the outskirts of Hanoi as opposed to the city center given the US bombing raids that happen every second day.

My fellow operatives and I are only going to be onsite for an hour after Armiger sets off into the city, once that hour passes we'll be pulling out to a local safe house. You'll be on your own once that happens and will have to improvise a plan for extraction. You won't have access to LRs for this, so we'll be communicating on SRs for this mission. Given the volume of NVA signet in Hanoi the radio frequency will be changing every ten minutes to predetermined channels, which are;

Time (Minutes)
 Radio Channel (Short Range)
0-10 57.3
10-20 69.9
20-30 87.2
30-40 50.3
40-50 93.3
50-60 50.5

Your primary objective is the recovery of those ashes before the NVA decide to move them out of the city, not to wage an eight man war on the local garrison. The CIA have provided me with a list of targets of opportunity during you time in Hanoi, provided below;

Otherwise you'll be playing on your own intuition on the ground. Lets not fight the entire city yeah?
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Post Operation Notes

Operation Inferred Part 7; Walk Softy, and Carry a Big Gun

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Location: Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province 
South Vietnam
26th of December, 1967

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by Jacob "Manitou" Akecheta
Briefing

The CIA has given Armiger the go-ahead to approach the Lang Hoan Tap (LHT) Hell Pit with the ashes, with the intent of "sealing" the pit so no more Spirit Demons come crawling out. We have absolutely no idea how to achieve this, with the current idea suggested by Manitou being to place the ashes in a box around the hole and seeing what happens. If that doesn't work Armiger will be pulled out of the town immediately, we can't risk the company getting pincered by Demons and that special NVA force that arrived recently while carrying the ashes.

US Command has agreed to provide a mechanized force if Armiger clears the route to the Hell Pit in their sector of potential ambushes by NVA, VC or anything else for that matter. This force will consist of several tanks and apcs alongside regular infantry. The size of this force is a double-edged sword, its big enough to help prevent interference by outside forces during Armiger's attempt to seal the Pit but its going to be drawing in alot of attention. The quicker you can get them in and out the less NVA you will have to fight, atleast while at the Hell Pit. 

The Hell Pit does offer Armiger a unique opportunity however. The presence of the ashes will definitely draw the NVA out, especially that Dị thường group that just arrived. Khe Sanh has every single gun and aircraft pointed towards the town and the convoy route. US Command wants Armiger to act as bait to draw as many of these shit heads out into the open and bleed them dry, maybe even get a decisive victory for the US to plaster on their papers back home. Up to Leadership to make that call.

The town of Lang Hoan Tap has been in a containment zone enforced by the CIA since you last visited the place to prevent locals from stirring up the Demons, and have noticed "lesions" that have begun to grow on the land surrounding the town. White in colour, these areas rapidly kill any living creature that enters them, reducing the corpses to skeletons within minutes. Flamethrowers seem able to destroy the lesions, but with the Hell Pit present attempts have been limited to avoid angering the demons.

Unfortunately the same can't be said about the recently discovered Hell Pit that sits in the north east of the Quảng Trị Province that Armiger failed to find during their mission to recover two of the ashes. The Hell Pit has expanded to considerable size, making the mountain it once sat on look like a dormant volcano. Demons now prowl the area for several kilometers around the site and have wiped out all villages in the areas around the pit. Attempts to get close to the Pit by ground are repelled by Demon patrols, with only an aerial view possible.

Find a way to seal the Pit in LHT, then we can worry about getting you guys close enough to the second pit to the northeast.
Best of luck gents, walking into a shit-storm with this one.
image.png Convoy route for the mechanized company, marked in lime green.  


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Size of the Hell Pit's influence between the two Temples

Post operation notes

- Convoy survived over 50% strength
- The Hell Pit in LHT was successfully sealed
- One of the Spirit Beasts encountered by Armiger dropped some kind of artifact, the CIA liaison somehow swiping it with Chap noticing

Operation Inferred Part 8; A Light Shining in Darkness

Location: Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province 
South Vietnam
2nd of January, 1968

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by Jacob "Manitou" Akecheta
Briefing

Welcome to the new year gents, today we're going to be leveling a mountain. A US recon flight over the pit shows multiple large lesions surrounding the outskirts of the site (the white patches), with a blackened interior with what looks to be "teeth" sticking out of the edges. Almost all of the foliage surrounding the pit is gone, replaced with empty fields and several large rock formations.

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Before Armiger sets out towards the Hell Pit callsign Manitou has requested that we search for a "lost" temple somewhere to Khe Sanh's south, related to the artifact disk that Chap brought back from last week's operation. He believes that the site could shed some light on the current "anomalous" happenings in the region and potential have a solution for them. I reckon the guys' lost the plot, but given our current situation I'll take any lead we can get.

Guppy and Oddball are being picked up from a location close to camp by helicopter to be dropped off near the site of the temple while Axel and Marten deliver the ashes to Khe Sanh in preparation for the strike on the Hell Pit. Armiger are to recon the area for anything of note, before calling for extraction to be returned to the airbase to rearm. Once that's done Guppy and Oddball will be leading the strike against the pit while Marten and Axel return to camp. You will have the support of several squads of US infantry, as well as the guns and aircraft of Khe Sanh, which will be in both Simplex and SOG Menu form. 

Once on site at the Hell Pit Armiger will deploy the ashes around the mouth of the pit, similar to how they were set up with the last pit, and defend the area until the process is complete. We don't have a time estimate for the process, so I'd recommend taking plenty of ammo and heavy weapons. There will be crates available at Khe Sanh to place equipment into to be dropped by aircraft at the Pit.

Be ready to deal with the 2nd Legion if they make an appearance, alongside their "ascended". I doubt the VC or NVA will make an appearance given the sheer volume of US manpower that's going to be focused on the area but if they do your cleared to wipe them off the map. Be ready to fight multiple Demons, air support is going to be vital in picking them off before they can tear apart the US Infantry. 

Best of luck gents.

image.pngTemple location relative to Khe Sanh

image.pngHell Pit relative to Khe Sanh
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Post Operation Notes:
The end of this op marks the end of phase 1 and the start of phase 2, so what exactly does this mean:

Operation Inferred Part 9; Unstoppable Force

Location: Mekong Delta, Song Bin Tanh
South Vietnam
9th of January, 1968

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by Jacob "Manitou" Akecheta
Briefing

Greetings gents, about 48 hours ago the local ARVN airbase garrison in the Delta was overrun by a coordinated NVA/ VC assault, removing the only friendly base in the area. Thankfully they weren't informed of Armiger's planned operation in the region so its unlikely they'll be on alert when you arrive. You'll be deploy to the region by a squadron of patrol boats lead by a single Nasty PT, using them to move up the Delta towards the suspected temple location. Once the temple has been found sweep it for the Immortal Compass piece and any else of value, before either signaling for helicopter extraction or using the patrol boats to exit the region.

It's likely that the NVA will employ captured US equipment to defend the region from the inevitable ARVN response, unless otherwise informed by myself (Devil) you are to consider any vehicle or emplacement that didn't arrive with you to be a valid hostile target. Given the presence of the NVA expect enemy armor and potentially helicopters. 

Whether or not this recent assault is related to the presence of the Compass in the region is unknown, be ready to fight 2nd Legion or potentially Inferred thralls. There are currently no signs of a Hell Pit in the region however you will be given the ashes just in case.
You will have two respawns for the operation from the Nasty, if that boat is destroyed you'll lose your link to Devil and the helicopter extract.

Show the NVA no sympathy gentlemen.

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Operation Inferred Part 3, Kicking a Hornets Nest

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Location: Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province 
Vietnam
29th of November, 1967

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn
Briefing

Thanks to our local informants Command has significant reason to believe a major VC operation will be taking place within the next 72 hours in Armiger's sector. We don't know what their objectives are but that NVA Long Range that Tung stole has been squawking non-stop about some kind of special NVA "Cultural Advisor" that's arrived in the region. It also suggest that a major hostile presence has once again taken refugeed at the VC camp Oddball cleared during your first patrol. As such Armiger will have two primary objectives for this week:

Much of the local Faith have gone to ground after the events of last week, however one of their members approached Khe Sanh with a request for aid. What was said in that conversation wasn't conveyed to me but I'd recommend keeping your eyes open for any religious lookin foke out in the jungle. If the VC are bold enough to be this visible they likely have AA positions set up in the region, with the possibility of a SAM radar site. Be mindful of any air support you may call in.

Best of luck gents

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Post Operation Notes

Origins of the 232nd Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Armiger

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Written by Colonel Clyde Russell
Origin of the Mixed Commando Concept

With more countries joining America in its war against the Communist North Vietnamese, strategists and military planners were struggling to contend with the dramatically increasing VC activity plaguing South Vietnam.

While MAVN-SOG teams waged relentless intelligence and counter insurgency operations in areas occupied by US forces while Airborne forces regularly struck deep into enemy territory, the VC and their allies in the local population seemed to constantly predict any hostile actions taken against them.

In 1966 Colonel Clyde Russell suggested the use of SOG teams composed of members hailing from different countries and military backgrounds to diversify each team’s skill set and tactical thinking against the VC and later Dac-Cong forces.

Unit History

The 1st unit deployed in such a structure were the 102nd Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Lance, which operated from Saigon between April-June of 1966 with considerable success while sustaining 20% members killed and 30% members with varying injuries. 

It wouldn’t be until January the following year that the 2nd deployment of such a unit, the 241st Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Halberd, between January-May along the DMZ. The unit would later be nicknamed “Slaughter” after they coordinated the annihilation of several hundred VC along the Ho-Chi-Minh trail in a three hour act of aerial violence on the 27th of April near Tchepone.

This came at the cost of 20% of the unit killed and 70% wounded, with many members using flares on themselves as markers for allied aircraft to strike as their positions were overrun.

The 232nd Mixed Commando Company, Callsign Armiger, marks the 3rd deployment of such a force, being deployed to Khe Sanh on the 15th, November 1967 to investigate VC activity around the base.



The Four Palaces

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Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn

Following Armiger's interaction with the local faith, the Followers of the Four Palace Goddesses, and later the acquisition of the supposed ashes of one of their deities, I thought it wise to consult one of the "cultural" advisers present at Khe Sanh to uncover as much information as possible about their origins. This is the limited information we were able to dig up.

The Four Palaces

Part of a wider "pantheon" know as the Đạo Mẫu (translates roughly to religion mother), the Four Palaces each represent a certain aspect of either Earth or the spiritual realm itself and are believed to have originated in the 16th century. The Worship of the Four Goddesses themselves seems to stem heavily from North Vietnam, which makes the NVA's apparent aggression towards the local "chapter" of followers highly unusual given where the religion stems from.

Whether or not this has something to do with the ashes recovered from the temple is unknown however given the locals concern over keeping them safe I wouldn't rule out that they stole them from the North in the first place, although I couldn't find anything that would suggest this.

The Four Goddesses

Each of the above mentioned palaces are ruled by individual goddesses, these are:

Spirit Beasts and Spirit Demons, Armiger Reassignment

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Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by You "Rock" Thought

I think we can safely say that the creatures Armiger were running into are definitely not mutated Gorillas, given that the "Demons" were encountered emerging from a smoking hole in the ground. It would seem that the NVA are responsible for awakening these creatures, although they did so by mistake according to the VC note that was recovered in the ruined town of Lang Hoan Tap. 

The CIA has since taken overall command of Armiger's future deployments from Terrence "Staffy" MacDonald, and has placed us under liaison with callsign "Rock" for the foreseeable future. Oddball and Guppy's primary mission is no longer counter-insurgency against VC/NVA activity, although any attempt to do so should still be taken. Instead all effort will be focused into finding out why these "Spirit" creatures have begun appearing and if possible prevent another Hell Pit from forming.

The VC note also suggests the ashes recovered from the two Goddess temples can be used to seal the pits, although how is unknown. It is likely that the CIA will be tasking Armiger with the recovery of all the ashes so a solution to the Demons may be found.

Spirit Beasts

Untitled_video_-_Made_with_Clipchamp_2.gifFootage taken by Krieg, provided on cassette with this report 
A seemingly "neutral" entity, Spirit Beasts seem to only attack those that either aggravate them or trespass onto land they are guarding. They appear incapable of human speech, however Oddball reports that one of the Beasts they encountered spoke in an unknown tongue before teleporting them back to camp. They do seem understand human speech however, at least enough to interpret diplomatic tone or aggressive behavior. They also seem to have taken a liking to several members of Armiger, as during last operation they were encountered shadowing the company from a distance and observing their behavior.

They appear highly aggressive towards the Spirit Demons, ignoring anything else to engage and destroy them. I would recommend taking a defensive stance if encountered, only engaging if they become aggressive towards you.  

Spirit Demons

image.pngThe recording taken by Krieg is heavily corrupted during this time, with this image being the only frame salvageable

Spirit Demons are extremely aggressive creatures that seem to attack any form of life present near the Hell Pit they emerge from. Resilient to small arms but vulnerable to auto-cannons and HMGs, they move at considerable speed, are capable of jumping small distances and can lift boulders to throw at potential targets. Demons are hesitant to venture out beyond the proximity of the Pit, whether due to a protective instinct or another factor is unknown.

They appear highly aggressive towards Spirit Beasts, targeting the Beasts if there are no living things between them and the Beasts. Recommended approach is complete avoidance until a way is found to "seal" the Hell Pit, with any pits found to be documented and left alone. Demons seem to be especially hostile towards Krieg, although there appears to be no logical reason for this directed hate. 


From Monks to Warriors, Followers of the Palace Goddesses mobilize

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Written by You "Rock" Thought

It would seem that the Followers of the Palace Goddesses (referred to as the FPG in future) haven't taken the NVA's aggression towards them lying down and have begun mobilizing into small groups/cells, interdicting and sabotaging "foreign" VC and NVA in areas around their temples/ former temples. Upon debriefing Guppys and Oddball after their return to Khe Sanh I believe Armiger may have run into one of these groups at the Mau Thoai temple, with a deceased member found to be carrying the ashes that were stored at the temple surrounded by a dozen dead NVA. 

At this time the FPG are considered a neutral party, only to be engaged if they attack friendly forces. Whether they know we have three of the ashes is unknown, however I would not mention this to them under no circumstances as this could spark a possible hostile reaction. Another thing of note is their apparent connection to the Spirit Beast that have been assisting Armiger at random over the last couple patrols. Whether they have a degree of control over them or using them to spy on our activities is unknown.

Unfortunately no photos were taken of the body that Armiger found, however other SOG and CIA teams have encountered these warriors in other parts of South Vietnam and along the 17th parallel interdicting NVA activity. They are dressed in religious chainmail armor, which seems to be made from some kind of metal-hybrid/alloy given that members have been seen tanking heavy machine gun fire to the chest and not being reduced to red mist. They wear a metal head band with what seems to be Vietnamese writing inscribed into it. In terms of weaponry they seem to use both NV and US equipment.

 Any pictures Armiger can get in future would help other SOG/CIA teams better PiD their movements around South Vietnam, hopefully giving us a better idea of what their overall objective is. Right now the CIAs trying to understand why the area around Khe Sanh was so important as to store the ashes of their supposed goddesses in one province.

Rock Reassignment, Armiger under new management

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Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by Jacob "Manitou" Akecheta

With Armiger's recent foray into North Vietnam a success, all four ashes are now in SOG hands. Efforts are underway by the CIA to convince US command to supply a mechanized company to assist Armiger when we attempt to seal the Hell Pit to the north of the camp, as Terrence "Staffy" MacDonald at Khe Sanh has refused the request due to increasing levels of NVA activity in the region. While this is happening the company will be staying put at camp to protect the ashes. Local sources have also mentioned the arrival of a "Dị thường" Order, a NVA force that the CIA have zero intel on. I'd bet 100 Dong that they're here for the ashes, so keep an eye out for any strange looking VC or NVA in the area.

Callsign Rock is no longer acting as CIA liaison to Armiger, citing a reassignment to another SOG team chasing chemical weapons elsewhere in theatre. Our new point of contact with the CIA is callsign "Manitou", part of a CIA cell that has experience with "anomalous" activity. They'll be overseeing the attempt to seal the Hell Pit later in the week.

The missile knows where it is because it knows where it isn't.


I've also been informed by local intelligence that the NVA has begun arriving in force to the areas around Khe Sanh, so its likely Armiger will be encountering less VC from now on. This means more armor, I'd recommend getting familiar with all the AT we have at camp, I suspect we're going to need it in future for both NVA vehicles and Demons.

I forgot to mention but that French diary you picked up from that compound belonged to Henri Eugène Navarre, who was the overall commander of French forces during the battle of Điện Biên Phủ. Unfortunately the CIA operative who tried to read the diary immediately seized up, only to then shoot themselves with their revolver after a couple seconds. Suffice to say no-ones opening that thing up until we can figure out how to stop that from happening again.


Note found amongst Winchester's equipment

Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn to Cpln. Babe Chap Sealy and SGGT. Winchester

Subject: Potentially compromised individual

This is not the kind of note I would normally pass around, however recent actions and behavior by a member of Guppy, Lance, has me concerned that he may be "spiritually" compromised. That may sound like an odd term to use, he still seems loyal to the unit and the war but his recent one on one meetings with the local faith during patrols that seem almost secret, with comments by members of Oddball and Guppy when they walked in on a conversation between a local Priest and Lance that immediately ceased on their arrival, have given me cause for concern.

He also confessed to myself that he had "consumed" a 1/3 of the ashes or whatever is contained in the vases Armiger recovered prior to your recent patrol and was observed by a member of Guppy jumping several meters into the air and landing without injury, who then approached me with said observation. It might be possible he is possessed, but we simply don't have enough information to act yet.

Keep an eye on him, if he seems like he's going to desert or turn traitor deal with him. Be wary of these apparent powers however, who knows what he can do now. You are not to inform any other member of your squads, this is to stay strictly between the three of us.

Demons on the radio waves, Temples lost to ages past

Written by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by Jacob "Manitou" Akecheta

With the Hell Pit to the camp's north successfully sealed the "lesions" that were around the site have either dissipated or been burned with flamethrowers. Hopefully we can repeat this with the other Hell pit, once a plan has been agreed on.

We have analyzed the traffic heard on the long rang Tung stole in an attempt to decode the second language, with moderate success. As previously stated, the voice appears to be two different people mashed together to form one, whether this is some kind of encryption cooked up by the speaker or another "anomalous" entity is unknown.

The fully decoded message is:

The 2nd legion has failed to take the ashes from the Americans in the Quảng Trị Province, even after attacking them during the sealing process of the malédiction. I am requesting the authorization to deploy the ascended to assault the airbase at Khe Sanh to retrieve the ashes.

Do not be so foolish as to think that the CIA would store such relics among the wider US force, no they have them hidden somewhere in the jungle near Khe Sanh. Likely with the SOG unit that your men have performed so pathetically poor against. They will move to seal the second malédiction, strike with the ascended there.

We will return the ashes to their rightful place.

See that you do, before my master decides to alter the deal further.

Prepare for another set of hostiles to appear on Sunday, this could turn into a four way fight with NVA/VC-2nd Legion-US and spirit Demons all onsite.

Callsign Manitou has finished his "divining" of the relic that Chap recovered/received? from the Spirit Beasts and believes it is a compass pointing to a unmarked temple somewhere to the east of Khe Sanh. He has also stated that the artifact seems incomplete, with areas on the ring of the disk that seem to act as connection points. Manitou has "requested" that Armiger go temple hunting prior to their strike at the Hell Pit. You will be taking the artifact disk with you to the temple, while the ashes are being moved to Khe Sanh to be picked up by Armiger prior to sealing the "malédiction" at the mountain.

The FPG have been quiet for a couple weeks now, whether this is due to being wiped out or going to ground is unknown, since other CIA and SOG teams haven't encountered them either.

Operation Inferred, Midpoint Summary

Compiled by Lawrence "Devil" Sjurn, Reviewed by Jacob "Manitou" Akecheta
Preface

Given the amount of information accumulated and anomalous shit encountered by Armiger so far during their deployment I thought it best to write up a document covering the company's activities, encounters and neutral or hostile third parties encountered so far as a way to help get new members up to speed on current "story" events

Operations Summary
  1. 15th of November, 1967: Armiger was originally tasked by US High Command to assist the US garrison at Khe Sanh, located in the Quảng Trị Province, with the aim of countering VC/NVA insurgent activity by establishing a camp deep in jungle. Despite the annihilation of Oddball the camp was successfully established, with Guppy encountering members of the local faith, The Followers of the Palace Goddesses (abbreviated to FPG).

  2. 22nd of November, 1967: Following the reformation of Oddball and the transfer of Armiger to their new operations camp US Command tasked the company with investigating the suspected location of a VC camp, close the the FPG temple Guppy encountered. Upon arrival at the site Armiger found the aftermath of a fight, with the only thing of note found being the body of a VC "officer" with a damaged camera. Given the strange circumstances the camp was quickly abandoned, with Armiger entering a running battle against VC and NVA elements to the nearby FPG temple before disengaging. A member of Guppy, Lance, also took a relic of the local faith, The ashes of Mẫu Thượng Thiên, from the temple to prevent the NVA from stealing it. 

  3. 29th of November, 1967: Armiger would next take the field during a suspected VC/NVA offensive, aiming to destroy AA and Artillery positions and marking targets for strikes from US aircraft and howitzers at Khe Sanh. Several VC targets were destroyed, included a missile based anti-air system in Armiger's sector. The company once again encountered the FPG, this time having been run afoul by an NVA "Cultural Advisor", who evicted them forcibly from another of the local temples. Following considerable violence the CA was found and neutralized, with the ashes of Mẫu Thượng Ngàn recovered from his corpse. This missions also marks the first encounter Armiger had with the "Spirit Beasts". 

  4. 5th of December, 1967: Due to the amount of fighting Armiger had endured resupply was requested by Devil, to be airdropped in at a location of the company's choosing. The site was secured by Guppy and Oddball, with the removal of a VC SPAG array in a nearby village, only for the C-47 to be shot down during their approach. Armiger was able to reach the crash site, although none of the crew survived, and briefly secure the resupply. It was at this point that NVA T-54s arrived at the site, destroying the truck carrying the resupply and forcing Armiger to retreat from the site. Dangerously low on equipment and avoiding VC elements hunting them Guppy and Oddball returned to camp, where Devil managed to convince the local SOG command to reveal the location of one of their caches. 

    Once the supply cache was recovered Armiger set out to their second objective, the town of Lang Hoan Tap, to investigate reports of a firefight happening recently. The town was found to be in ruins, with several NVA vehicles destroyed and several VC weapon emplacements all pointing out into the crated rice field to the town's west. The site was secured, with several functional NVA vehicles stolen and equipment stashes recovered. It was at this point that the NVA/VC's killers made an appearance. From one of the craters smoke began to rise, with the very earth rumbling they rose. Towering creatures with jutting bones and blood red skin, they announced themselves with roars of hatred. Guppy fought back against the monsters , with yells of defiance and prayer using the equipment around them, but were eventually forced to retreat due to the unending tide of "Demons" and causalities. Oddball found itself alone after only having just arrived onsite, only for "Saur-Griever", a Spirit Beast to enter into combat with the Demons and annihilate them, proceeding to then "teleport" them back to the camps' command bunker, resulting in a very surprised Devil.

  5. 12th of December, 1967: Marking the start of Armiger's "partnership" with the CIA, first through an agent known as Rock, the company found itself tasked with the recovery of the ashes of Mẫu Thoải and Mẫu Địa from the other two temples located in the north east of the Quảng Trị province. The company was inserted by helicopter into the water south of the temple housing Mẫu Thoải's ashes, where they encountered NVA and VC forces fighting the FPG, having now taken up arms against them due to attacks made on them by the North Vietnamese "Cultural Advisors". Having found the first set of ashes on a FPG body surrounded by a dozen NVA, Guppy moved north from the temple while Oddball headed west, presumably to scout for the second "Hellpit" that local CIA sources hinted at. The Hellpit wasn't found, but Guppy did find an entire NVA armored column in the town of Cu Yang, which they promptly bombed with a B-52 before obliterating a VC patrol. 

    Guppy would eventually reach the temple suspected of housing Mẫu Địa's ashes first, encountering a member of the FPG who had survived the NVA assault on the village of Nam Hung. He warned them of the temple's occupation and of the NVA helicopter which had landed onsite. Guppy's decision to delay the attack on the temple for Oddball to catch up resulted in the NVA finding and extracting the ashes via after mentioned helicopter. Armiger cleared the temple out, then proceeded to bait the VC and NVA out into the teeth of artillery and air support in revenge, before extracting back to Khe Sanh to plan a recovery mission.

  6.  19th of December, 1967: With CIA sources tracking the ashes back to Hanoi Armiger found itself smuggled into the lions den, meeting with CIA agent Sparrow in the jungle outside the city. Once SR frequencies had be set, Guppy and Oddball split up to investigate different sections of Hanoi, with Oddball covering the western side and guppy the Eastern side. It was during this period that Oddball acquired NVA uniforms from a member of Sparrow's cell, left in a dead dropped car near the Hanoi train station, using them to scout out several NVA facilities in the city. Guppy would discover the location of a POW camp just as a convoy left carrying the prisoners. Sparrow would arrange a hastily organized ambush to free the prisoners, only to be unfortunately killed in the firefight, resulting in the entire CIA cell going to ground and disabling the SR network.

    It was at this point Oddball encountered one the cell's members, who informed them of two potential locations that the ashes could be located. Guppy ended up stumbling into the correct compound while Oddball scouted the other, which turned out to be part of a major oil refinery. While Guppy were able to sneak into the compound the accidental breaking of a window inside the building housing the ashes roused the suspicion of a guard, who stumbled upon Guppy and fired a panic burst before being silenced. The resulting alarm drew the attention of several helicopters and hundreds of NVA descending on the compound, where Guppy were rapidly clearing the building trying to find the ashes, which were found but not reported as so.

    What followed was a running gun-battle, where Guppy attempted to shake the NVA garrison. One of its members were separated but was able to get the ashes out without realizing it, while Oddball were none the wiser and had only just reached the correct compound only to find the aftermath of Guppy's assault. With no idea if Guppy were even alive Oddball headed to the Hanoi Naval Base, where the previously mentioned CIA member had told them of SOG boats. Having met up with the SOG team and CIA elements, Oddball would fight off a Mi-24A pursuing them before escaping while Guppy went to ground, eventually returning the South Vietnam several weeks later.

  7. 26th of December, 1967: Having secured all four ashes back at camp and the support of US assets from Khe Sanh's CO, 

    Terrence "Staffy" MacDonald, the CIA gave Armiger the clearance to approach the Hell Pit at Long Han Tap (LHT). With "Rock" being reassigned to hunt down chemical weapons in theater the company found itself with a new liaison, callsign "Manitou". Oddball and Guppy departed camp with the ashes to link up with the mechanized company "Warhog" and guide them to the Hell Pit, interdicting NVA and VC attempts to delay the convoy. Upon arrival to LHT Armiger found evidence that the NVA had attempted to attack the village, with the wrecks of several BTR-40s and T-54s found. This would also mark the company's first encounter with "Lesions", some kind of anomalous entity that rapidly kills any living thing it touches. 

    Due to the CIA's successfully containment of the area Armiger were able to establish the ashes and a perimeter alongside Warhog without aggravating the Hell Pit enough to awaken the beasts inside. What followed was fifteen minutes of violence, with NVA and "2nd Legion" elements besieging the company while the sealing process continued. The Hell Pit was successfully sealed, with a rapid but disorganized withdraw from the area alongside the mauled Warhog while a flight of B-52s plastered the place. One of Oddballs' members returned to camp with his guts hanging out, somehow still in fighting condition. Armiger would encounter a large pack of Spirit Beasts during their return to camp, one of which dropping some kind of artifact disk (which we now know is part of some kind of compass).

  8. 2nd of January, 1968: Having successfully sealed the Hell Pit at LHT Armiger prepared to strike against the mountain sized Hell Pit that had formed in the northeast of the province. Prior to this however Manitou "asked" the company to investigate a suspected lost temple he "divined" from the artifact that Chap received from the Spirit Beasts. Having been flown out and deployed in the river close to the temple Armiger encountered several armed skeletons inhabiting the temple's ruins. Once dealt with Guppy approached what seemed to be the ruins of the main temple building, finding a flaming sword and blessed warhammer sitting next to some kind of altar. Once the artifact and the cursed diary of Henri Eugène Navarre were placed on the altar, a flying talking turtle appeared (no I'm not kidding). With the turtle identifying itself as an "Immortal" called Tản Viên Sơn Thánh Armiger was informed that something called "Inferred" was responsible for the Hell Pits and other anomalous that had starting appearing. This unfortunately proved too much for one of Guppy's members, who committed suicide shortly after. Having purified the diary and awakening the Compass the Immortal left, informing Armiger that they had to find three other pieces of the compass before it would point them to where the Inferred is. The company called for extraction not long after to prepare for the assault on the Hell Pit.

    Armiger alongside an entire company of US Army infantry performed an airborne landing directly onto the Hell Pit, with the area being plastered by strike craft a minute earlier, quickly setting up the ashes to begin the sealing process while the US infantry cleared out the remaining Demons and skeletons onsite. With Angel striking from the skies with a AH-1G and copious amounts of ordnance Guppy and Oddball held out against the Demon/ skeleton onslaught, making use of the Lesions around the pit to bottleneck enemy movements. The sealing process ended with the awakening of the volcano under the pit, incinerating the Demons crawling up its' interior but completely obstructing any view of the site from the air, with Armiger quickly regrouping their isolated groups to defend until they could be airlifted out. Despite leftover Demons and other creatures attempting to stop them the company extracted intact, with Armiger making a second pass on the mountain to recover a member of Oddball who had been separated in the chaos before returning to Khe Sanh.     

  9. With the Immortal Compass point at three different locations Armiger decided to go after the piece hidden in the Mekong Delta first, utilizing PT boats to move up the rivers and engage NVA and VC emplacements. Upon arriving at the temple site Armiger encountered some kind of "teleporter" anomaly, which upon entering sent them to what seemed to be a French artillery position during the battle of Điện Biên Phủ. The French didn't seem to react to the presence of Armiger, allowed the company to proceed to what seemed to be a command bunker with two medics inside. Guppy and Oddball found another teleporter anomaly inside the bunker next to a body bag and blood splatters on the wall, with the body bag having the dog tags of a "Charles Piroth". 

    Having then gone through the anomaly Armiger found itself inside an area walled in by cliffs, with considerable foliage and bunkers present. The company would then find itself under attack by Inferred thralls of the medieval era, including what seemed to be some kind of necromancer. Having dealt with the situation with minimal casualties Armiger prepared to enter the temple, however no member of the unit has any recollection as to what happened inside the temple itself, other than the recovery of the Compass piece that was needed. 
The Story so far

Armiger's original mission was the assistance of US forces in the Quảng Trị Province against VC and NVA elements marauding around the jungle beyond the garrison's reach. This was achieved with considerable success, with dozens of NV vehicles destroyed and hundreds of personnel killed. Armiger would encounter members of the local faith, know as the FPG, who seemed strange but were otherwise were harmless. Due to hostile action by the VC and NVA however the company would eventually come into possession of four vases carrying the ashes of the local faiths' gods; Mẫu Thượng Thiên, Mẫu Thượng Ngàn, Mẫu Thoải, and Mẫu Địa. 

Armiger would begin encountering to encounter "anomalous" happenings in their sector, with giant "apes" and mangled NVA vehicles with VC corpses and dismembered limbs. This would come to ahead at the town of Long Han Tap, where Guppy found the signs of a massive firefight between the NVA and some unknown third party. Armiger's presence in the town caused the awakening of several Spirit Demons, overrunning the area and forcing the company to hastily retreat.

Following this encounter Armiger found itself under the liaison (command really) of the CIA, through callsign "Rock", being tasked with retrieving the ashes of all four Goddesses in the hope they may be used to seal the Hell Pit in LHT. The company was successful in initially retrieving three of the vases, with the NVA able to fly out one of the vases back to Hanoi, prompting an infiltration into Hanoi itself to recover it. This was successfully done despite pissing off the several thousand NVA garrisoned in the city.

With a new CIA liaison in the form of callsign "Manitou" Armiger would move on the Hell Pit in LHT with the ashes and, with the help of Warhog, a mechanized company, and copious amounts of fire support were able to successfully seal the pit despite attacks by the NVA and 2nd Legion. It was near the end of this operation that Armiger would be confronted by a "pack" of Spirit Beasts, one of which delivered an artifact disk to Chap. This disk from then taken by Manitou, somehow (this man scares me).

Manitou would "divine" the location of a previously unmarked temple somewhere to the south of Khe Sanh, sending Armiger to secure and investigate the site prior to their attack on the second Hell Pit. Clearing the area of literal skeletons, the company would acquire a pair of "infused" weapons and completed a ritual to summon the Immortal Tản Viên Sơn Thánh taking the form of a turtle. Here Armiger would learn that the anomalous happenings were being caused by an entity called Inferred, a being capable of copying any living being it encounters and replicating it perfectly for its own designs. Having removed the curse on the diary of Henri Eugène Navarre and reawakened the artifact disk, which is actually some kind of compass to tract down the Inferred, the Immortal left.

Armiger extracted back to Khe Sanh to acquire the ashes and rearm before flying out to the 2nd Hell Pit alongside a company of US infantry, with Angel providing overwatch from above. With the area saturated by US strike craft prior to the arrival of Armiger the site was relatively clear, allowing for the company to land directly on the Pit and quickly establish the ashes. Despite attacks from several Demons and packs of skeletons the sealing process was successful, resulting in the detonation of the volcano the pit sat in.   

With the successful foray into the Mekong Delta to recover one of the Immortal Compass pieces Armiger now has one of the required three components for the artifact disk, despite interference by several Inferred Thralls.

Neutral Groups
Hostile Groups
Hazards

I also did some digging regarding the previous two Mixed Commando Companies deployed to Vietnam, Lance and Halbert "Slaughter", to recover any combat logs they may have left. Turns out there were actually four "Mixed Commando Companies" prior to the formation of Armiger; Pitchfork, Lance, Rapier and Halbert. Every single one of them encountered anomalies in some form or shape.