Ex Umbra Lupis / EUL

Our History

The history of Ex Umbra Lupis begins with the 202nd Special Warfare Division, AKA: Wolf Division, within the UEE sometime around the year 2742. This division was formed to specifically test the capabilities of a fully mobilized division to operate as a single, all-encompassing and self-supporting warfighting unit that can operate nearly autonomously and for extended periods of time. This meant there was no need to attach additional units for things such as refuel, repair, medical, and other commonly needed outside assistance to almost all Army and Navy divisions of the time. The division was meant to be self-sustaining in nearly every regard and to operate at long range for extended periods before needing to be temporarily deactivated for restocking and refitting.

It wasn’t long before the 202nd proved both themselves and the concept of their experiment. After two standard earth years of outstanding service and combat performance, Wolf Division received special orders to travel to the Pyro system to launch a full-scale space, air, and ground assault on a massive pirate installation that was acting as a centralized headquarters for lawless groups operating within the region. Little did the division know, this would start a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the division being fractured and forever changed.

On December 18th, 2744 the 202nd’s fleet and all of its support vessels arrived in the Pyro system via the Castro-Pyro jump point. Upon entering the system, they received their final coordinates and instructions. They were to proceed to Pyro VI and link up with the 2073rd Recon division, a directive the commanders within the 202nd found to be odd as their entire purpose was to be self-sufficient, including recon duties. The order was not questioned. Upon arriving, the 2073rd Recon was to assume leadership in the operation and brief Wolf division on the situation. When the commanders of the 202nd arrived for briefing, a series of odd events were noticed but again not questioned. First, the briefing only lasted 6 minutes which is very atypical of operation of this size and scope. Second, the 2073rd Recon division wore obviously sterilized uniforms including unmarked ships and its single carrier was equipped with a small fleet of recon and support vessels that were not standard UEE ships of the time. Despite the fact that evidence was now clear that this was not a recon division, but special warfare or Praetorian guard unit, no questions were asked and the 202nd received their orders: Conduct no further recon of the area and launch a full-scale assault on the target area. Saturate the target with overwhelming firepower and [REDACTED INFORMATION].

After one hour of preparation, the entire 202nd was mobilized and the 2073rd conducted operational surveillance and observation. The first target was a very small orbital station most often used by humanitarian organizations for warzone relief, but due to their low cost was sometimes used by pirates. Despite its small size, completely obliterating a station of this size is no small task. Despite this, the 202nd proved themselves once again when they deployed 6 squadrons of heavy bombers supported by fighter-bombers. Key systems were targeted that regulated power and orbital stability by the heavy bombers, and then the fighter-bombers saturated it’s space-facing side with hundreds of small missiles and forcing the station to fall to the planet below. The station was completely destroyed with all persons onboard presumed to be lost. During this entire assault, the 2073rd jammed all outgoing communications of enemy forces.

The 202nd presumed that a fight for air superiority on the planet’s surface would follow, and while heavy and light fighter squadrons were deployed they found no resistance. With air superiority achieved, the ground assault began. Fighter-Bombers cleared all surface air defenses very quickly with no losses, as there were only 4 anti-air batteries to defend the sprawling complex of pre-fabricated habitation, factory, and production facilities. Once these batteries were destroyed, 3 capital-class ships of the 202nd began an orbital bombardment of the installation while heavy bombers targeted suspected armories, computer data centers, and headquarters buildings with guided air-to-surface missiles and torpedoes. By this stage, the installation on Pyro VI was now almost completely destroyed and the 202nd had sustained no losses with almost no return fire. In some after-action reports, soldiers of the 202nd remarked that it felt more like a training simulation than an actual operation. Once dropships were deployed, an urgent message was received from the 2073rd Recon division to pull back all forces and that the operation was concluded. The commander in charge of the 202nd, Truax Carr, found this order to be the last straw in a series of odd and uncomfortable events. The attachment to the 2073rd, sterilized uniforms, no recon, jammed communications, and now receiving orders to pull back and not verify the existence of survivors or collection of data was so unlike any other military operation he’d ever been involved with that he ordered the communications team to not respond to the order and to go ahead with the landing of the dropships and investigation. The squads of marines were instructed to collect as much evidence as possible as to the identity of the enemy forces and what types of operations they were conducting.

What followed next would be the beginning of the end of the 202nd.

Upon landing, the marines of the 202nd received no incoming fire and they proceeded from the DZ to the main structures of the installation, now on fire and in ruins. Upon entering and investigating, a transmission was sent from the commander on the ground to Truax Carr. This is a transcription of that transmission:

[START TRANSMISSION]

Ground Commander: “Sir, we’ve secured whatever parts of the facility that we can safely access. It’s mostly destroyed. We need every single Medivac and Medical ship we have down here immediately.”

Commander Carr: “What are our casualties?”

Ground Commander: “None sir. They’re civilians. They’re all civilians. We’re skimming some of their computers now. Looks like they were anti-UEE but just activists and not linked to any terrorist groups. It’s uh… it’s pretty bad down here.”

Commander Carr: “Are you certain there is no evidence or link to piracy? They could be Xi-an spies or anti-Messer terrorists.”

Ground Commander: “No sir. These people were with Red Flag it looks like. Humanitarian aid group. Definitely not friends with the UEE, but…. they don’t deserve something like this.”

Commander Carr: “Alright. Clear comms. After debriefing come to my quarters immediately.”

[END TRANSMISSION]

After more investigation, it became clear: The 202nd had just massacred over 14,000 mostly unarmed civilians conducting humanitarian operations for those either directly affected by UEE actions or refugees displaced by “anti-UEE activity” operations. After convening with all of the officers and NCO’s within the 202nd aboard their flagship, everyone overwhelming agreed that the UEE under the Messer regime was now a brutal and genocidal regime that they could no longer fight for. As the communications teams received barking and shouting orders from the 2073rd to return to the battlegroup, the 202nd’s fleet set a course towards an unstable jump point that was considered to be too dangerous to traverse due to influence from Pyro’s unstable star.

The Unknown Centuries

Little is known of what happened to the 202nd during the 200 years after what became known as the massacre of Pyro VI. Within the UEE military they became somewhat of a myth or legend. Some say they all died when they fled into the unstable jump point, perhaps sucked into a black hole on the other side. Others say that it was a government conspiracy and that the 202nd was simple reorganized into a new Praetorian guard division. Others speculate that they broke apart and joined various pirate or insurectionist factions. And still others think that they may have traveled outside the galaxy completely or went to Xi’an controlled space. Members of Ex Umbra Lupis today are vague about these times, refusing to talk about it completely or quickly changing the subject. One thing is for certain though, when they returned they were most certainly not a military division anymore. Instead of the wolf division, they called themselves “Ex Umbra Lupis” which means “From the shadow of Wolves.” They had mastered techniques in bounty hunting, tracking, investigation, and assassination. Gone were the noble ambitions of protecting borders and territories, and now profit and pride in skilled and precise execution of their craft were the hallmarks of their work.

Present Day

Ex Umbra Lupis first made themselves known in the year 2949 after the assassination of a top ArCorp executive that was executed in broad daylight and in direct view of security cameras, as if it were to make a statement. This followed a string of similar assassinations that were contracted by an unknown person or organization but this time, the EUL agent was apprehended by security forces that were nearby while trying to make his escape. The apprehension was caught on live video security cameras broadcasting to local news outlets and when the agent was unhelmeted and his face revealed he simply said “Ex Umbra Lupis. Factum est” and then bit down on a capsule containing a powerful neurotoxin, killing himself immediately. After this, EUL agents were sought after by both criminal and government agencies alike to execute bounties and assassinations on only the highest value targets or figures, knowing that their exorbitant fees would always result in a job well done and no witnesses, unless witnesses were desired.