Field Investigation Team

The highly secretive and controversial work of the has long been prone to corruption, scandal, and other morally dubious acts. In order to keep this work in check, ONI Section Zero, the internal affairs branch of the agency, has historically relied on a number of smaller, highly secretive units to carry out it's duties. Among these units is the infamous Field Investigation Team, a small but exceedingly deadly force designated to only the most important of targets.

History
The Field Investigation Team was established in 2513, allegedly in response to the growing activity within ONI. As the began to unfold in full and the  initiated, the size, responsibility, and power of ONI began to increase as well. Heavier focus on units, particularly within the, required a heavier tasking by  intelligence agencies. During this period, Naval Intelligence expanded rapidly, quickly overshadowing the intelligence divisions of other UNSC branches, securing the role of the UNSC's premier information gathering body.

With the increase in responsibility and power within ONI, there was a natural increase in the need for enforcement of it's rules. Agents within ONI had a well known history for playing fast and loose with agency guidelines, and the intense secrecy of the agency allowed them room to do so with ease. Agents required autonomy in order to perform their tasks, which already often skirted the line between what was acceptable. So, in order to maintain agency standards without imposing excessive direct oversight---which, it was reasoned, would endanger the independence of agents in the field---Section Zero was expanded in both size and breadth. Section Zero was given longer rein over the enforcement of agency guidelines, and it's jurisdiction was expanded to cover the entire UNSCDF, in keeping with the realization that ONI now exerted influence far beyond just the Navy.

The Field Investigation Team was conceived as simply another enforcement cell, but keen performance during the Insurrection years prompted an expansion of the unit well beyond it's original roots. The small but effective force maintained Section Zero's standard absolute secrecy, unknown to those outside the internal affairs division, with the exception of the Commander-in-Chief of ONI herself,. Within Section Zero, however, the Field Investigation Team garnered a reputation as efficient, inescapable, and remorseless. As time progressed, the Field Investigation Team came to be widely accepted as the top-tier trigger group of the Deputy Director.

As the Field Investigation Team increased in prestige and influence however, it's commander Codename: CHAUCER began to expand operations beyond his directives. While no evidence could ever definitively link corrupt or incorrect actions back to CHAUCER himself, it was later determined that the Field Investigation Team would conduct a number of shadowy operations---sometimes in part with other illegal groups, as was the case with Operation: LEONIDAS---ostensibly in order to better serve it's role policing illegal ONI operations. Despite whispered rumors of misconduct by those within Section Zero, however, CHAUCER's group remained the top enforcement unit within Section Zero throughout the Insurrection and the. The results Field Investigation Team officers were able to achieve were so stunning that no one within the agency felt overly obliged to go looking for facts that might contradict them.

Such damaging information later came to light of it's own accord, however. While tracking down leads on an unrelated case, investigators working under the umbrella of Operation: VORAUSSICHT linked the Field Investigation Team to an illegal program known as Operation: BLUE NIGHTS. When this case eventually cascaded into a full blown raid on a BLUE NIGHTS compound, the presence of a Field Investigation Team operative---the mysterious Codename: EGOR---served to link the Field Investigation Team to both BLUE NIGHTS' illegal dealings and the infamously shadowy Leonidan cabal. Investigators were unable to link CHAUCER directly to the kidnapping and reassignment of SPARTAN-144, but evidence did connect lower level Field Investigation Team agents to LEONIDAS. The Field Investigation Team would subsequently undergo extensive restructuring, as Section Zero's Deputy Director assessed the integrity of the team. CHAUCER's covert enforcement group would remain intact, with the team's record speaking for itself, but Codename: EGOR would permanently end involvement.

Tracking Division
Numbering at eighty personnel, the tracking division of the Field Investigation Team was the largest branch of the unit. Responsible for acquiring information, locations, and planning the execution of targets, the tracking division acted as the go-between for the Command Division and Enforcement Division. Under special order from the Deputy Director of Section Zero, the Tracking Division had authority to seek and acquire intelligence about assigned targets throughout all, and was not required to report to local.

Command Division
The smallest branch of the Field Investigation Team, the twenty personnel of the Command Division were responsible for the selection of targets and the tasking of Tracking and Enforcement Division operatives. Command Division reported directly to Codename: CHAUCER, and both assessed security threats handed down directly from Section Zero's Deputy Director as well as independently verified targets.

Enforcement Division
The second largest subdivision of the Field Investigation Team, the Enforcement Division handled the direct prosecution of threats and the actual execution of assigned targets. Comprised of fifty highly trained agents, most recruited directly from UNSCDF Special Forces, the Enforcement Team liaised with the Tracking Division for information on targets and jointly planned raids. Enforcement Division officers were deployed as per necessity, with the division maintaining several squads of direct action operatives, several lone covert action operatives, and a number of irregularly classified lone operatives.

Codename: CHAUCER
Like a number of high level Section Zero operatives, Codename: CHAUCER's identity was shrouded in near absolute secrecy. Records detailing CHAUCER's life before Section Zero are scarce and often contradictory, leaving most to believe that his given name, Morgan Alick, is an alias devised by ONI. Known to have worked for a number of years as a trigger-man for Section Zero prior to the formation of the FIT, CHAUCER was a natural choice to head the loosely controlled by highly prized new unit. During his time as commander of the Field Investigation Team, CHAUCER is known to have established a strong relationship with both Deputy Director's of Section Zero, despite persistent rumors of corruption or misconduct within his unit. Ultimately, despite an apparently damning connection to Operation: BLUE NIGHTS and Operation: LEONIDAS, CHAUCER would serve Section Zero for years and retire without any formal allegations against his name.

Codename: EGOR
Allegedly enlisted by low-level Field Investigation Team operatives---what most believe to be a blatant lie to cover up CHAUCER's involvement---Codename: EGOR, also known as Leonid-144, was a operative abducted after  in 2524. EGOR served within the Field Investigation Team as a member of the Enforcement Division from 2524 until 2558, when he was captured by VORAUSSICHT investigators during a raid on a Operation: BLUE NIGHTS facility. During this time, EGOR served as the personal agent of CHAUCER, conducting operations to extreme for anyone else to be considered. Rumors of his existence were widespread within Section Zero during this time, but most, including those in control of Section Zero, ignored them. The results produced were too spectacular to risk their loss.

Codename: SEAHAWK
A low level agent within the Tracking Division of the Field Investigation Team, Codename: SEAHAWK was regarded as CHAUCER's "odd job" man. Investigations in the aftermath of the BLUE NIGHTS debacle positively linked SEAHAWK to Operation: LEONIDAS and the abduction of Codename: EGOR---a finding that many believe was the only true fact to surface in said investigation. Disregarding his involvement in LEONIDAS, SEAHAWK's record portrays an ONI operative who went above and beyond the call of duty; during an illustrious career between 2514 and 2558, SEAHAWK tracked and identified over 600 internal security breaches, and personally coordinated---overwhelmingly with Codename: EGOR---their prosecution and elimination. In spite of this, SEAHAWK was himself prosecuted and tried for his involvement in LEONIDAS, offered up as a sacrificial lamb to clear CHAUCER's name.