2022-05-22: Ptolemaeus Aftermath

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Public Knowledge

A military base on the Moon was attacked. By a kaiju! Fortunately, the Federation military, NERV, and Nergal were on hand to destroy it.

Though it doesn't appear in the official story, some sites are claiming that a colony-use shuttle was also in Ptolemaeus' airspace and that this was some kind of intentional anti-Federation attack. Officially, nobody is saying that, presumably because nobody wants to admit how close the kaiju got.

Bionet

You didn't do this.

...or did you?

All Factions

Ptolemaeus Lunar Base was attacked by a kaiju last night (21 May). Response appeared to be slow for an unknown reason, and the kaiju actually made it all the way to the facility proper, but it was eventually destroyed by the defenders.

Ptolemaeus is a shipyard. More importantly, though they don't advertise, every militarized faction is aware that the Federation stores 'non-standard' weapons there; it's where the Roosevelt, the ship that destroyed Junius Seven, was stationed and departed from. Its local defenses were apparently compromised before the attack, because a single kaiju should not have been able to penetrate that far.

The rumour about the shuttle is true. It's believed to be ZAFT.

Federation Forces (including G-Hound, Londo Bell, NERV, and - this time - Nergal)

Ptolemaeus Lunar Base was attacked by an energy-eating and electromagnetic-discharging kaiju. It compromised the base defenses by its very nature; it absorbed energy and wreaked havoc on the electrical grid. The facility was almost entirely shut down, and local units were unable to sortie without their Minovsky generators going offline. Additionally, they had trouble calling for assistance because their communications systems were not operating. Only already-active ships and some of their mobile suits and variable fighters were able to act, and even then, with problems.

The goal of the kaiju was to disable all the nuclear missiles, according to its controller. To this end, it used its energy-absorbing field to draw out the radioactivity somehow, transmuting nuclear-ready material to depleted, useless metal. This process caused electricity and fires, but far less than might be expected, as if the kaiju was absorbing most of the energy. It successfully entered the shutdown base and destroyed several missiles with this effect. It was destroyed by Federation, NERV and Nergal mixed forces before it completed this task.

While the defenders did an admirable job dealing with the kaiju, the entirety of Ptolemaeus' stockpile of weapons - both nuclear and otherwise - need to be examined for signs of damage or unintentional effects from the unknown effect created by the kaiju; since nobody understands precisely how it worked everything has to be checked, regardless of the time and expense and even though many of them appear to be intact. Additionally, much of the base's electrical system, along with those of the ships and mobile suits, needs to be repaired due to electrical surges and fluctuations.

The result is that Ptolemaeus will be crippled for months. Ships will need to transfer elsewhere. This is a significant loss in Federation lunar military power, though the primary facilities at Von Braun and the Moon Cradle are still untouched and the Federation is in no danger of immediately losing the Moon.

The kaiju was escorted by a shuttle containing a single ZAFT pilot, which makes this a military attack against a military target, although using a semi-biological weapon (the kaiju was partially mechanized). The general response is anger that they were embarrassed in such a way and that ZAFT was able to attack them. Some officials want the head of the kaiju controller, or at least to keep her as a POW indefinitely. Other officials do not acknowledge that PLANTs are a nation and can have a military and thus want her tried as a terrorist.

The pilot, Riika Sheder, surrendered to the Nadesico after the destruction of the kaiju and is currently held on board there rather than in a Federation prison, another point of contention. She claimed that this attack was to 'ensure that the Federation would not be able to cause another Junius Seven' or otherwise be able to threaten civilian targets, such as the PLANTs, with nuclear weapons. Sending this message along with an even partially successful attack would be a propaganda coup for the PLANTs, which is the other reason why the Federation is not publicly acknowledging who did it, why they claimed to do it, or that they surrendered.

The Nadesico

Riika Sheder's shuttle contained personal articles, a standard-issue PLANTs-make pistol (now confiscated), and an odd piece of equipment that looks like a small tablet accompanied by a shattered clay model.

She has not caused any trouble since her surrender.

ZAFT

ZAFT Command did not authorize this attack.

This doesn't mean they're unhappy about the results. A reduction in Federation military power is always good; a reduction that they did not have to actually contribute anything to is a windfall.

Riika Sheder had been sent to leave Earth orbit by the Orbital Ring on a civilian shuttle. She had three days of leave on the Moon before she was supposed to make a rendezvous with an incoming ZAFT ship and guide them and a new complement of mobile suits to the planet's surface. Apparently she used those three days to get a shuttle and deploy a kaiju somehow. While she'd been authorized to deploy a kaiju in the war effort previously, nobody knew that she had another or that she intended to use it this way.

ZAFT Command is split between wanting to censure her (for acting on her own in a way that may aggravate the Federation to further or escalated actions against PLANT) and praise her (for good initiative and successfully reducing Federation military power in a way that a typical direct military attack would find difficult or impossible). A large minority approves strongly of the message she was attempting to send. If she'd actually managed to destroy the complement of nuclear weapons, she'd be a ZAFT war hero. As is, nobody is quite sure what her position is or how effective her attack actually was, other than that Ptolemaeus was definitely damaged.

Of course, none of it is terribly relevant while she is a POW, but at the moment nothing can be done about that; they don't currently know where she is, and continuing the war is higher priority.

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