| abstract | - A135 or The Crows a.k.a ONI Section 8 is a special operations unit created by the UNSC, during the rise of the insurrection. Extremely active during the Human-Covenant war, the unit answered only to the UNSC Security council and only in closed session. With only the upper echelons aware of the true nature of the unit. "...You are a murdering amoral monster..as is that 'Unit' of yours..we do not need your kind....." "....All due respect, your predessor knew well the need for and worth of men like me...and you loathe it that you do as well...Now give me the damn dossier and this monster will be on his merry way" - Serin Osmann and Captain "Black" The Units operations included counter-insurgency, counter-espionage, espionage, recon, hostage rescue, assassinations, sabotage and other more unconventional operations. Operationally given a near-blank cheque to create as much havoc behind enemy lines as possible or to obtain advanced technology from either Covenant or forerunner sources. No clear indication exists as to how many personel or resources the group possessed, with estimates running from 50 to almost a thousand. It did possess many political and military connections, in addition to a formidable science section, for the study and reverse engineering of technology. Despite being publicly denounced as a terrorist and pirate group of non-affiliated mercenaries, criminals and deserters. Their effectiveness was unquestioned and feared in the UNSC, the human criminal underworld, The Covenant and the Insurrection. The Media referred to the group as the "The Crows" (The Name was in fact an actual mercenary group, which had been wiped out by the Covenant), with the unit often claiming responsibility for Insurrectionist attacks, after wiping out the group actually responsible. In UNSC circles and official documents, they were referred to as A135. The Unit itself referred to itself as ONI Section 8 - from a mental health discharge used in the military during the 20th century - despite not being part of ONI at all. The unit name was taken from the Uniform code of Military justice, which had 134 Punitive Articles - Article 135 was in reference to the fact that the unit was most likely guilty of all previous 134. Sadly, this was not far from the truth, as the unit was not officially within the UNSC command structure, all equipment and resources were obtained through theft and "other" means. This was to make the unit independent from the UNSC and completely officially deniable, as all equipment could be quite truthfully traced to stolen shipments and robberies. However all agents of the Unit had High to Top level security clearance, and when in UNSC space wore normal ONI or Military uniforms. During operations and dealings with the Insurrection, civilian or makeshift clothing was authorized on discretion of the operation commander. The commanding officer of the Unit was appointed by the security council and was always referred to as Captain "Black", in joking reference to their actual surname always redacted on documents, visit and travel logs. However, the Unit commander was in reality ranked a Full Admiral - the rank of Captain was used in public, as it was low enough not to raise too much attention, but high enough to deal with any unwanted attention. Also, the unit served as a testbed for new technologies - with stolen Covenant weapons and technologies employed liberally. Most notably Active camouflage. With stolen technologies field tested and examples handed over to ONI. The Unit also employed the advances stolen from Project: CHRYSANTHEMUM - with adult operatives already on at very least ODST or Black OPS levels, further augmented as the Spartan III volunteers were. This, coupled with their use of stealth technologies, shocking brutality and never being seen by the enemy, lead to them being referred by the covenant as "the shadow devils". Covenant forces would often come across silently wiped out covenant patrols - mutilated and posed by the unit for maximum pscyhcological impact - when the unit was active on a planet. Causing even the most hardened Elite or Brute forces to become weary of what moved around in the dark. This tactic was used to great effect in 2551, when a Unit wiped out an Shangeili patrol in such a way that it resembled a Brute feeding act. The orbiting Shangeili fleet glassed the Brute settlement in retaliation and caused even greater tension between the two species. The primary base of operations for the Unit was the Stealth cruiser, UNSC Pretty When You Cry - sister ship to the UNSC Point of No Return, which just like her sister ship was never recorded in any official documents or logs. The Unit also possessed at least one science station, drydocks and several prowler class vessels and unknown numbers of captured civilian and military vessels. The unit was also responsible for the theft of at least one Mjolnir Black prototype and a dozen of SPI prototypes, so they were likely employed operationally. Their effectiveness during the war with the Covenant was unquestioned, with countless military actions bordering on war crimes attributed to them. The destruction of the Fleet of Pious Dignity in 2548 - where a fleet comprising 500 covenant vessels made a slipspace jump - and due to incorrect navigational data, planted by the unit - collided with a Shangeili colony planet. The death toll from this action alone numbered in the billions. The Planting of Fury Tactical nuclear devices in Covenant city centres and production facilities was allegedly another favoured tactic of the unit. It was also rumoured that all unsanctioned deniable operations and assassinations ordered by Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky, were performed by this Unit, often in exchange for advanced equipment, resources and "favours" in future. The files detailing their actions have been sealed, redacted and has in all likelihood been completely destroyed, given the catastrophic political rammifications that would ensue should the details ever become public. All indications are that the Unit is still in operation - but this can neither be confirmed nor denied.
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