AAR-1320: Chacaltaya

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We feast on the Battlefield

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After-action Report #1320 regarding the Chacaltaya incident during the 2019 Bolivian crisis

Background:

Due to political instability during the last decades, LATAM has become a breeding ground for armed militant groups. The region has a long history of esoteric and thaumaturgic traditions dating back to Pre-Columbian times, which was only partially suppressed by the arrival of Christian and secular culture. This has facilitated the adoption of anomaly-based asymmetrical warfare on the part of militant groups.

The armed group Las Víboras is a left-wing guerilla organization known to be active across all LATAM. It possesses a decentralized structure, with small cells operating independently of each other. Many of its integrants are former members of the Serpent's Hand. However, the Serpent's Hand does not seem to support nor condone Las Víboras. There is presumably an ideological breach between the two groups, with Las Víboras being more involved with local politics and liberation theology.

lasviboras

Las Víboras propaganda grafitti

The expertise of Las Víboras in thaumaturgical warfare positions them as one the most dangerous anomalous armed groups for local governments, which in turn had responded by hiring the services of specialized military contractors. During the past years, Valravn had led a successful military campaign on behalf of local governments against Las Víboras, deploying a strategy of cutting their supply lines, terminating their social support, and targeting key elements of their organization. The operation has been assessed to be carried out efficiently and collateral damage has been deemed acceptable.

In the Cartagena Agreement, both the GOC and the SCPF recognized the importance of Valravn's involvement in local political stability against Veil-breaking anomalous armed groups. For this reason, they sanctioned our operations as long as we vowed to preserve the Veil, restrict the deployment of anomalous weapons only against anomalous targets, and share relevant intelligence. Valravn agreed to these terms wholeheartedly.

The 2019 Bolivian political crisis led to a period of social unrest and clashes between local military and police with protesters. Las Víboras started carrying out attacks against the Bolivian military and police, with the intention of disrupting their riot-control capabilities. These attacks included the destruction of military hardware by thaumaturgical means and the intimidation of several state agents. Due to the last administration's refusal of allowing Valravn's operations inside the country, Bolivia was one of the last safe havens for Las Víboras activities. The interim government requested Valravn's intervention against Las Víboras. A counter-insurgency campaign was promptly initiated.

Incident Overview:

The first part of the campaign consisted of the disruption of Las Víboras supply chain and social support base. Several known support bases in the Bolivian countryside were targeted with surgical precision. Suspected members of Las Víboras were also retrieved for interrogation, which led to crucial information on the location of the remaining Las Víboras strongholds. The operation was concluded with as minimal collateral damage as possible.

After a rapid offensive on our part against their remaining bases, Las Viboras regrouped in the abandoned ski resort of Chacaltaya. Once a popular tourist destination, it was abandoned when the glacier melted in 2009. Around 40 Las Viboras members fortified themselves in the Club Andino Boliviano stone lodge. Of these 40 individuals, around 20 are believed to be active combatants. The group also includes at least 3 thaumaturges, that were identified as the POI 678 Lorena Soles Pérez, a pyromancer, POI 789 Gabriel Baruch Guerrero, a jaguar therianthrope of the nahual type, and POI 477 Cristina Cisneros Itzcalli, ex-member of the Serpent's Hand and presumed to be the group's leader. The apprehension of Cisneros has been an important goal of Valravn in the few years, giving the mission a more urgent character.

chacal

Club Andino Boliviano stone lodge in Chacaltaya

The mission had the primary objective of terminating the last organized armed presence of Las Viboras in the country. The secondary objective was the retrieval of the three POI alive, with an emphasis on Cisneros. An initial offensive consisted of heavy fire from three attack helicopters. The defenders had cast a kinetic protective spell over the structure, so the fire was not expected to be effective. However, it provided cover while armored vehicles approached the structure, carrying 3 squads of 20 soldiers each. As the kinetic spell began to lose strength, pyromancy was used against the helicopters, one has heavily damaged and had to be withdrawn from battle. Foot troops engaged in fire exchange with the insurgents. Meanwhile, a squad of Chiron Units had been deployed from the mountainside. The mobile advantage of the Chiron model allowed them to traverse the difficult terrain and attack the enemy from a position they were not defending. A Valkyrie shock-troop squad was kept on reserve as special support.

Upon being attacked by the Chiron Squad, the defendant quickly improvised a response. The therianthrope left the building and engaged our Chiron Units in close combat while receiving fire support from the enemies inside the lodge. Two of our Chiron Units were destroyed by this offensive. The Valkyrie squad was then deployed against the therianthrope. The Valkyrie troop's close combat cybernetic enhancements and state-of-the-art melee weaponry proved effective against the therianthrope and it retreated into the lodge, with Valravn forces proceeding to chase it. However, the advance was stalled by supporting fire from the defendants. When troops finally entered, they found the building empty. At this point, it became clear that the defendants had been stalling our advance in order to complete a transportation spell, which is presumed to have been successful.

Aftermath:

At the end of the battle, the enemy suffered 17 casualties, of which 13 were active combatants. None of them were the thaumaturges. We lost 5 soldiers and 2 Chiron Units. We managed to end Las Viboras activities in the region with minimal casualties. This was also the first deployment of the Chiron Unit in combat. While the performance exceeded expectations in the mobility area, the Chiron Model shows vulnerability in close-range combat specifically against adversaries with superhuman capabilites. Tyr Project R&D should consider developing an alternative model with close combat enhancements in the manner of the Valkyries.

The mission was only partially successful since the secondary objective of apprehending Cristina Cisneros and the other POI was not achieved. Analysis of the transportation ritual suggests that the destination was another plane, possibly the Wanderer's Library, far outside the scope of our current operations. This confirms the desperation of Las Viboras against our offensive, considering their tense relationship with the Serpent's Hand, they would not retreat to the Library unless it was their only option. How these two groups will interact in the immediate future remains an intriguing question. Nevertheless, Las Víboras operations in the area have been disrupted to a point that it will take years to recover, if ever. After Bolivias 2020's elections, our activities in the country have been suspended. However, the success of our operation has awoken the interest of other governments both in the region and overseas in our services.


Hersir Torsten
Commander of the 13th Armored Division

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