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The Intergalactic Naval Reserve Arm, commonly known as INRA, was a clandestine paramilitary organization established as a joint Federal-Imperial initiative in 3125.[2] While little is publicly known about INRA, surviving reports from the time indicate it was created to address Thargoid incursions, and that it later developed a chemical weapon to disable Thargoid technology.[3]

In its heyday, INRA was viewed by the public as a symbol of altruism and cooperation, proof of what the superpowers could achieve when they set aside their differences to work together. Behind this optimistic facade, INRA was an unaccountable organization focused solely on progress at any cost, making bigger and more powerful weapons.[4]

Although humanity seemingly repelled the Thargoid threat and won the First Thargoid War, INRA continued operating decades after the conflict ended. It shed its covert status and emerged into the public eye in 3193, but continued to pursue its original mandate with little accountability or transparency. The organisation finally disbanded in 3253 after becoming involved in a scandal within Alliance space and falling out of favour with the public and governments alike.[5][2][6]

History[]

Few records of INRA activities have survived by the 34th century, but they, Azimuth Biochemicals[7] and the Galactic Cooperative are known to have played a major role in the first conflict against the Thargoids, which ended in 3151.[8][3]

Project Mycoid[]

INRA-Base-Hermitage-4-A

INRA base Hollis Gateway

During much of the First Thargoid War, humanity was unable to counter the Thargoids' highly advanced weaponry, but INRA's research into Thargoid technology at Hollis Gateway eventually yielded an accidental discovery. A junior researcher looking into the agricultural applications of Thargoid tech noted the deleterious effects of a certain type of fungus on it. The researcher reported his find to INRA leadership, going over the head of his dismissive superior, Chief Researcher Bexley Prince.[3][9] INRA's interest was piqued and they, assisted by an Azimuth Biochemicals research team led by Caleb Wycherley[7], ran with the research, later developing the fungus into a bioweapon known as "mycoid" despite the junior researcher's ethical qualms.[4]

Klatt-Enterprises-Mycoid

Klatt Enterprises

The mycoid weapon was taken to Klatt Enterprises in Alnath for testing. It was hoped that the bioweapon could be used to attack Thargoid hyperdrives and incapacitate them, stopping the Thargoids from traveling and ending the war in a single stroke. Test results on both Thargoid technology and two captured Thargoid specimens confirmed that the mycoid was debilitating to both, causing paralysis and extensive degeneration. At this point, several researchers left the project in protest over the use of the living specimens for weapon experimentation, but others considered it a moral obligation to use the bioweapon to prevent a catastrophic loss of human life at the hands of the Thargoids.[10]

With its effectiveness beyond doubt, mycoid was then mass-produced at multiple INRA facilities, such as Mayes Chemical Plant in HIP 59382, before being shipped to Hogan Depot in HIP 7158 for storage and subsequent distribution to various additional sites.[11][12]

One of those sites was Velasquez Medical Research Center in LP 389-95, where a vaccine for mycoid was produced. Although the vaccine could not reverse damage already caused by mycoid, it could completely halt the weapon's spread and prevent further damage. When the vaccine was completed, the facility was shut down, with the staff relocated and all research removed.[13]

Unethical experimentation[]

INRA-Stack-Base-Thargoid-Octagonal-Pit

INRA Stack base Thargoid octagonal pit

As revealed in the Project Mycoid logs, INRA generally held no reservations about experimenting on live Thargoids. Further unethical experimentation on Thargoids was also conducted at a base named Stack in HIP 12099. The facility contains a number of habitation modules, hangar or barracks buildings, and large tanks marked with the symbol for the mycoid weapon. The ground is stained with leakage of the mycoid virus. A major feature is the experimentation pit which seems to contains parts of Thargoids that have been experimented upon.[14]

A researcher there initially only had small samples to work with, and while they found that a corrosive agent was capable of weakening the complex molecular bonds of Thargoid tissue, they could not identify the corrosive agent itself. INRA eventually agreed to turn over a living Thargoid specimen for more in-depth testing. The specimen arrived in poor health, but had made several escape attempts earlier and killed some INRA personnel, and also injured Wycherley, which eventually led to his nickname 'The Witch', requiring it be contained in a fortified enclosure. The researcher's first tests demonstrated the specimen's considerable resilience, as it was able to survive the removal of some of its limbs. The researcher planned to carry out chemical and biological weapons tests next.[15]

Weapons testing[]

Apart from Project Mycoid, INRA also developed other anti-Thargoid weaponry. Carmichael Point in HIP 16824 was armed with these weapons and made to look like an important military site to act as bait, with the plan being to lure in Thargoid ships and test the weapons against them. Unfortunately, rather than a typical Thargoid vessel, the base attracted a "mothership", against which the weapons proved ineffective. Carmichael Point was lost and all on-site operatives were killed.[16]

Hyperdrive research[]

INRA also focused its efforts on reverse-engineering Thargoid technology for humanity's use. A number of Thargoid components were taken to Almeida Landing in Conn to be examined. The engineer spearheading the research, Effie Ratling, made little progress at first but eventually worked out how Thargoid hyperdrives worked; rather than shifting space around a ship as human drives did, Thargoid drives were able to create stable wormholes. After Ratling created a prototype hybrid hyperdrive, INRA took direct control of the project and arranged for immediate testing. Even though the hybrid drive was functional, Ratling voiced concerns about whether a human could survive transit through a wormhole. Her fears proved prescient, as the first test pilot died horrifically while his ship returned unscathed. Ratling suspected INRA would continue testing the hybrid drive in secret and she would be made the scapegoat for the pilot's death, and to protect herself she planned to blackmail her superiors using her knowledge of Project Mycoid.[17]

Mycoid deployment[]

INRA recruited the famed CMDR John Jameson to deploy the mycoid weapon against the Thargoids. When persuading Jameson to accept the contract, INRA personnel emphasized the heroic role he would play in ending the war. Behind the scenes, they were contemptuous of Jameson despite his skills and reputation, and expected he would not return from his mission as it would take him deep into Thargoid territory with weapons that had to be launched in close proximity to their targets. In case Jameson somehow survived, INRA set up unspecified contingencies.[18]

INRA-base-Taylor-Keep

Taylor Keep

Final preparations for the mission were made at Taylor Keep in 12 Trianguli. A consignment of medium-range missiles were armed with weaponized mycoid delivered from Klatt Enterprises. As Jameson insisted on using his personal ship, INRA modified it for the mission and loaded it with the missiles.[18] Jameson departed the base believing the weapon he would deploy would only disable the Thargoids' hyperdrives.[19]

After successfully launching the mycoid-armed missiles at a Thargoid Mothership and making his escape, Jameson was horrified to learn from his sensors that the weapon did much more than disable the enemy vessel, and was in fact killing every Thargoid on board. Unfortunately for Jameson, INRA had installed a program that shut down his ship's systems to ensure that he did not return from his mission. With his ship locked on a collision course with the planet HIP 12099 1 B, Jameson recorded one final log for his son.[19] It is believed that the mycoid weapon killed enough Thargoids to force them to retreat from human space entirely by 3151.

Dissolution[]

INRA continued to operate over the following decades. Even though its original mandate had been achieved and the Thargoids driven from human space, INRA apparently sought a permanent solution to the possibility of future Thargoid incursions by eradicating the species entirely. In late 3252, Alliance co-founder Meredith Argent sent an unnamed pilot to search for her missing partner, Mic Turner, who had disappeared the previous year while testing an exploration ship in Pleione intended for an expedition to locate the Thargoids. The pilot returned to Alioth aboard a Thargoid vessel captured from a remote Thargoid outpost. When the pilot was contacted by INRA and subsequently disappeared with the alien ship, Argent publicly accused INRA of employing an infiltrator tasked with eliminating the Thargoids.[2]

Argent's claims, combined with a concerted effort by Alliance leaders to delegitimize INRA, caused public and governmental opinions of INRA to rapidly deteriorate. By 3253, INRA was forced to disband.[2]

Legacy and rediscovery[]

INRA Hermitage 4 A base tanks

INRA Hermitage 4 A base tanks

Following its dissolution, INRA faded from history for decades.[6] The organization returned to the spotlight on October 9, 3303, when an abandoned INRA base named Hollis Gateway was discovered on the surface of Hermitage 4 A.[20] Corroded storage tanks on the base's grounds are marked "Warning: Mycohazard" and have leaked a substance that could be the mycoid bioweapon itself.[21] Five additional INRA bases that were also part of the mycoid production chain were later discovered,[20][22][13] and their logs made public.[23] Four other bases, Almeida Landing, Carmichael Point, Stack, and Taylor Keep, were located in November 3303.[17][16][15][18]

On December 13, Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval and Alliance Prime Minister Edmund Mahon issued separate statements denouncing INRA's activities, specifically their abandonment of ethics and manipulation of CMDR John Jameson. Mahon stressed that Aegis, a multinational organization that was similarly tasked with researching the Thargoids, would not follow INRA's path. Meanwhile, the descendants of victims of INRA investigated the possibility of legal action, although this was unlikely to yield results given how much time had passed.[24]

The revelations of INRA's activities apparently precipitated the formation of the League of Reparation, a terrorist organisation that sought to avenge INRA's victims by killing the descendants of INRA personnel.[25] Imperial Senator Nestor Cartesius became the first known target of the League on April 20, 3303, when he was found murdered in his home on Capitol.[26] An investigation conducted by the Imperial Internal Security Service eventually tracked down Cartesius's assassin, who was found to have been hired by the League. On May 4, Captain Niamh Seutonia of the IISS announced her investigation's findings and confirmed that she was coordinating with her counterparts in the Federation and Alliance to apprehend the League.[25] On May 16, the League claimed a second victim, Fleet Admiral Tulimaq Buchanan of the Alliance's Council of Admirals, who was also a descendant of a senior INRA commander.[27] On May 23, three were killed by the League in Federation space: entrepreneur Ezra Lux-Kumar was found poisoned in his home on Biggs Colony, Altair, and the Pilots Federation confirmed that two of its Commanders had been attacked in Delta Pavonis and Rhea.[28] On June 1, the League destroyed five independent ships, killing everyone aboard them.[29] On June 7, the League murdered Luca Hem, a descendant of senior INRA member Amaro Hem, in the Aeternitas system by staging a recreation of the death of CMDR John Jameson.[30] On June 14, independent reporter Flint "Firemaker" Lafosse theorized that the League was responsible for unsolved murders involving INRA descendants stretching back as far as five years before the assassination of Senator Cartesius.[31]

In June of 3308, the previously unknown INRA base 'Iraxon Lane' was discovered, via an anonymous tip to Alba Tesreau, formerly of Aegis. This find revealed the truth about the history and identity of Salvation, and Azimuth Biochemicals's association with INRA.[7]

Identified Personnel[]

  • Bexley Prince - Chief Researcher at Hollis Gateway
  • Caleb Wycherley - Sub-contractor and vice-president of research at Azimuth Biochemicals[7]
  • Trystan Law - INRA Corporate Liaison
  • Jarah Cook - Original Site Manager at Mayes Chemical Planet (reassigned)
  • Elgii Sung - Replacement Site Manager at Mayes Chemical Plant
  • Kiona Li - Senior Medical Officer at Velasquez Medical Research Center
  • Effie Ratling - Engineer at Almeida Landing
  • Amaro Hem - INRA Programme Coordinator
  • Unnamed Junior Researcher at Hollis Gateway and Stuart Retreat

Known INRA Bases[]

Base Name System Planet Surface
Coordinates
Role Notes
Hollis Gateway Hermitage 4 A -53.75, 157.61 Thargoid tech research, site of the mycoid discovery Discovered by CMDRs EfilOne, Yuksarr, Alex Ringess, and Klingsor on October 9, 3303[22]
Stuart Retreat HIP 15329 A 3 C -62.61, -44.26 INRA whistleblower's final posting Discovered by CMDR Syleo on October 15, 3303[22]
Klatt Enterprises Alnath A2 A A 4.018, 133.54 Mycoid testing on captured subjects and tech Discovered by CMDR Isaiah Evanson on October 15, 3303[22]
Mayes Chemical Plant HIP 59382 1 B 11.41, 177.06 Mycoid production center Discovered by CMDR EfilOne on October 15, 3303[22]
Hogan Depot HIP 7158 A 2 B -44.63, -63.79 Mycoid storage and distribution center Discovered by CMDR EfilOne on October 15, 3303[22]
Velasquez Medical Research Center LP 389-95 7 57.96, 50.03 Mycoid vaccine research Discovered by CMDR Solderkiller on October 16, 3303[32]
Almeida Landing Conn A 3 A 73.38, 102.37 Thargoid hyperdrive reverse-engineering Discovered by CMDR Dadinacactus on November 6, 3303[17]
Carmichael Point HIP 16824 A 2 F 73.87, 61.87 Anti-Thargoid weapons testing Discovered by CMDR Dadinacactus on November 7, 3303[16]
Stack HIP 12099 1 A -72.62, -67.52 Experimentation on Thargoid specimens Discovered by CMDR Dutch Foster on November 24, 3303[15]
Taylor Keep 12 Trianguli 1 A -51.57, 130.66 Final mycoid deployment site Discovered by CMDR Phoebia on November 25, 3303[18]
Iraxon Lane DG Canum Venaticorum A 4 A ? Presumed location of Wycherley's research team Further Information

Timeline[]


2850

  • There are unconfirmed suggestions that a covert war started with the Thargoids by a trigger-happy fleet commander.[33]

2900

  • After a series of peace talks, the Empire and Federation agreed to form a special joint task force whose official purpose was research and development of spacecraft and space living technology. It was named Intergalactic Naval Research Arm, or INRA for short.[34]

3120

  • The Existence of the INRA was officially announced by the Federation and Empire and the INRA Attack Wing was created. Citizens of both superpowers were encouraged to enlist to help stave off the Thargoid invasion.

3194

  • Maximillian Weaver left the INRA under suspicious circumstances.[34]

3200

  • The INRA was victorious by deploying bioweapons which caused the Thargoids to retreat from human occupied space. There were accusations that the INRA committed genocide on the Thargoids. The report was dismissed as a conspiracy theory by leading political leaders.[33]

3250

  • The INRA disbanded sometime in the mid-3200's after Mic Turner disappeared.[6]
  • Records indicate that the Thargoid retreat became known as due to a human-engineered ‘Mycoid’ virus which impacted their hyperdrive (Frame Shift Drive) rendering it useless. The virus attacked plastic polymers in the system and there are indications that the Thargoids were also impacted, as their exoskeletons were composed of polymer like material. This report was dismissed as a conspiracy theory by political leaders.[33]
  • During the aftermath The Club suppressed as much information about the Thargoids as possible to the point of it becoming a myth among the public.[6]

Trivia[]

  • In the original Elite games, INRA was formed by the Empire and Federation as a special joint task force. Its official purpose was to research and develop spacecraft and space living technology. It led covert operations against a Thargoid invasion of human occupied space and was victorious by 3200.

Videos[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. reddit: Frontier AMA - first edition (Arthur, Bruce, Stephen & Paul)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Elite Encounters RPG
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 GalNet: Galactic News: Abandoned INRA Outpost Discovered
  4. 4.0 4.1 Frontier Forums: INRA Base Discoveries, post #396
  5. Elite Dangerous Knowledge Base > The Thargoids > Human-Thargoid Contact
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Elite Dangerous: Premonition
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Canonn Research: Iraxon Lane
  8. Frontier Forums: GCS Sarasvati - early Thargoid lookout megaship
  9. reddit: [Spoilers] Haven't seen this here yet but the Inara base from the Expo has been discovered!
  10. Frontier Forums: INRA Base Discoveries, post #420
  11. imgur: INRA Base - HIP 59382 1B
  12. Frontier Forums: INRA Base Discoveries, post #479
  13. 13.0 13.1 Frontier Forums: INRA Base Discoveries, post #701
  14. Canonn Research: Stack
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 reddit: New INRA base found at HIP 12099 1A
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 reddit: INRA Base Attacked By Thargoids Found
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 reddit: Elite: Dangerous: Another INRA Base Found, Linked To Hyperdrive Research
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 reddit: I've just found a new INRA Base (Taylor Keep) in 12 Trianguli 1 A.
  19. 19.0 19.1 reddit: CMDR JAMESON COBRA MK3 FOUND!!
  20. 20.0 20.1 Frontier Forums: INRA Base Discoveries
  21. reddit: WARNING: Mycohazard
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 reddit: INRA Base Discovery MegaThread
  23. GalNet: Galactic News: Further INRA Bases Discovered
  24. GalNet: Galactic News: Galactic Leaders Condemn INRA
  25. 25.0 25.1 GalNet: Covert Organisation Discovered
  26. GalNet: Imperial Senator Murdered
  27. GalNet: Alliance Admiral Murdered By League of Reparation
  28. GalNet: Federal Citizens Assassinated by the League of Reparation
  29. GalNet: Ships Destroyed by the League of Reparation
  30. GalNet: INRA Descendant Murdered
  31. GalNet: League of Reparation Implicated in Historic Deaths
  32. Frontier Forums: INRA Base Discoveries, post #675
  33. 33.0 33.1 33.2 Canonn Research: Drew Wagar’s Lore: The Thargoids
  34. 34.0 34.1 Timeline of the Elite Series
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