Mandat de l'impératrice des Cieux - Imperial Princess Troubleshooter Space Opera Quest

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ckk185 said:
Yea showing vulnerability to someone that you dont have a personal measurement of.

Sounds like a great way of getting stabbed.

Remember that she's the chief snake of a violent snake pit. She's probably not as cuddly as she looks
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We've been repeatedly told that, very minor hyperbolethe IRG would kill everyone then themselves and burn the Galaxy to the ground if anyone hurt the empress and they had the means.

The possibility that the IRG might get it into their heads that they "know better than the Empress" is something I have had in the back of my head, if I haven't stated this before. If the IRG wants to go full 1945 No Surrender and make a coup, the whole game changes from political navigation and favor trading to eliminating an insurgency at the heart of the Empire.

This is not what I have been gleaming as IRG's modus operadi, sic, that would be Mr. "I have three secret fleets, a mini-Death Star, and more contingency plans than a spy agency".

The worst outcome I can think happening of letting the IRG lady into the family circle is that she insists the IRG put top-secret teams of tutors and playmates together to secretly mold Ahri, with our and Uncle being a part of the "curriculum". Soft power, not a gun to the face.

In essense, Ahri stops talking to Foxthot 4chan, and instead logs on to Faux-Chan, where everyone is an FBI agent. :V
 
I'd probably veer towards pragmatic loyalty, hinting towards full cooperation once we're done with the butt-sniffing.

"I hope we're both in this together, and both in the same place of hoping the other is working to keep Ahri as Empress of a stable, prosperous and happy Empire without being sure. I don't have a good personal read on you, and you likely only have second-hand reports on me, so it would be foolish for either of us to go all-in. However, we can certainly start somewhere, and if I can go full-in? We can be more effective together than separate. Trust can be a powerful tool, and I've come to the conclusion that I have to start trusting others to keep Ahri safe."

"Also, if the CO of the IRG is compromised, I may as well give up and admit it was a fool's errand from the start."
 
Bear in mind that just because Tarisa Manandal still looks like a smol slender teenager at 60 (despite having four kids and a single fluffy tail her maid grooms to perfection every morning) does not mean that she isn't a hardass bitch who'll shank you in a heartbeat if she thinks it's necessary. Woman came up as infantry, then went power armor, even did a tour on the Empress' detail for a time.

Also I just want to say again that Yui didn't tell Shiki (her Navy buddy) or Johnny (her uncle) or Konnie (her best friend) that Ahri got Qanon'd. The only person who knows that is Daniel. Something to think about, for anybody suggesting full disclosure to the IRG. Consider the ramifications of that. (By right I should let y'all just make the bed but well, Politics SSR)
 
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I don't actually think full disclosure is a good idea btw no matter how funny it might be.
 
But anyway yeah, this is the ramification of choosing the IRG for assistance. As an institution, the IRG appears less sus, but because you don't know anybody in the IRG you have to go through this present dilemma, which is how do you convince the CG of the IRG to help you, and how do you present yourself, and the uncertainty of dealing with the CG, with the IRG as a whole, and with the IRG's internal politics.

Had we gone with choosing the Navy for assistance (which is what I expected was going to happen), well... the Navy appears more sus, but on the other hand the person you'd reach out to would have been one of your Navy kaki, so while you'd still need to trade favors (nothing free la hor), they're already predisposed to trust you because they know you. Heck, maybe those people owe you favors!

But anyhow, I'm not mad. Ngl part of my interest in this quest is seeing how the voting leads the quest in emergent storytelling. I'm not like some other QMs I've seen who get mad when the voters choose the wrong decision and salt about that.
 
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Look, if the IRG is loyal first and foremost to the Empress, that's not a bad thing. Ahri needs more people in her corner, and she needs those people to be on the same page. So yes, I say we give this lady the opportunity to look over Yuis shoulder while Yui does her best job to look out for Ahris interests.

If the IRG want to use Johnny as and Yui as lessons to educate Ahri, that's not totally unacceptable to be me.

I think I'm coming at this differently then other questers, in that I'm focusing on Ahri as the central character. She's not the protagonist of the story, the point of view: she's like the Ciri to our Geralt.

Ahri could use a multifaceted political and practical education, and allowing the IRG influence does not eliminate Yui and Johnny's influence. Ideally, we should all work towards demonstrating loyalty to the Empress and towards a shared goal of maintaining the Empire in the face of the coming war.

That requires sacrifices and compromises.
 
Parzival95 said:
allowing the IRG influence does not eliminate Yui and Johnny's influence
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That's the big thing I think people are afraid will or might happen as a result of letting IRG in on the family situation.

I would honestly say that the most we can put forward right now is a promise of one-to-one direct personal access. Basically, we let her see Ahri in a time, place, and setting we and Salt Uncle approve.
 
Alright people, we've had some good discussion! Moratarium will be ending in 6 hours from now at 0000 on the dot.

I would also suggest rereading the sidestory entitled "Not The Day You Expected", because it touches on the IRG and office politics. I feel that in the interests of being a fair QM, I should remind y'all of relevant details that I've seeded before. I don't want people to say that I'm being unfair or anything like that.

There's a reason I do the sidestories; it's not just for salt thirst stealth advertising (though there's that :p), but because the sidestories serve to expand the universe from different perspectives. Keep the sidestories in mind as you move forward.
 
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Whiskey Golf said:
I would also suggest rereading the sidestory entitled "Not The Day You Expected", because it touches on the IRG and office politics. I feel that in the interests of being a fair QM, I should remind y'all of relevant details that I've seeded before. I don't want people to say that I'm being unfair or anything like that.
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... ah shit, and here I thought that "Sometimes part of the Guard thinks that other parts of the Guard needs to cut themselves shaving. Fatally." and "assassination and office politics" lines were a guy who ran away from a bad family giving a biased opinion.

How the hell have these people not blown the Empire up already?
 
If this is your idea of making me want to re-read the whole quest, it's working pretty well
 
Always Late said:
... ah shit, and here I thought that "Sometimes part of the Guard thinks that other parts of the Guard needs to cut themselves shaving. Fatally." and "assassination and office politics" lines were a guy who ran away from a bad family giving a biased opinion.

How the hell have these people not blown the Empire up already?
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Man if you considered assassinating high level guard officers under the command of someone far higher up the food chain as running away from a bad family, then your family situation must be insane.

"As for why I could trust those other people. Let's just say that they had the Mandate of Heaven on their side. Basically, they had a list of targets for me to dispose of. They slipped me a pistol and some other stuff. Told me where the targets were and how security was compromised in certain very specific ways, so I can get to them."
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"Well to be more serious, I don't know myself. The message passed onto me was worded as a favor that I can refuse. But it's kind of bad to refuse a favor to your own mother, yes?" You nod to agree. "But I have my family to think of and I need to consult my wife as tradition dictates." He sighs. "But I'm also kind of worried about why my mom wants a wet works guy on hand, especially since the ascension of the previous empress."
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The more important parts that you might have missed out.
 
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Y'know what, my back hurts and I want to sleep, opening ten minutes early wont change anything. We're doing this live.

Voting is now open until 0000 GMT, Tuesday, 19th January 2021. We'll do it manually because I don't want to risk the automated tally not picking up anybody's write in, if they so desire. Think carefully and happy voting.
 
Whiskey Golf said:
Y'know what, my back hurts and I want to sleep
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Ha! Jokes on you, I got up two hours ago to be here before my ten hour shift!:cry:

EDIT: Let's do this thing.
[X]Coyotes and Wolves
-[X]Personal loyalty to the Empress: Her Imperial Majesty has privately requested that this investigation be made, as the matter of military weapons getting into the wrong hands is a significant priority to her. However, it has become much larger than was anticipated, and she needs loyal, capable people at this earliest, most tenuous date of her role.
--[X]Bait the hook: If the General wishes, a personal, private meeting can be arranged to address her concerns about our "influence".

So this is a rough combination of Wolfboy and Coyote's proposals:
Rajvik_wolfboy said:
[]Write In
-[] Cards on the table.: We lay out what our current issues and "orders" are as well as a summary of what intelligence we already have and explain that "These are what we are doing at the Empress's request"
edit: also, if she wishes to confirm this with the Empress that can be arranged.
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coyote16able said:
[]Write In
-[] Be Blunt: "I started a very concerning investigation after the empress read some online conspiracy I sent someone to look just so I can use the whole thing as a lesson on why what random foxes on the internet say shouldn't effect her ruling now we are going down a rabbit hole of a seemingly dangerous situation. I need all the help we can get to protect this nation and the Empress."
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I'm trying to emphasize the "Empress Ahri needs you" angle, but I am running on four hours of sleep and quick typing in between getting ready for work. But the one thing I'd say to keep in mind: This isn't telling how bad Ahri is right here and now. This is an invitation to meet. We're putting our initial offer for favor payment on the table, direct access to Ahri at a time and date of our choosing. In exchange for this, we get the IRG's murder-machine fanatics working the case.
 
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You know, Yui barely knows the Baron Alkahest personally. Showing all the cards in your hand to someone that you don't have the measure of sounds like a game of russian roulette.

More so someone who manages to make it to the top of a organisation with so much infighting.
 
ckk185 said:
You know, Yui barely knows the Baron Alkahest personally. Showing all the cards in your hand to someone that you don't have the measure of sounds like a game of russian roulette.

More so someone who manages to make it to the top of a organisation with so much infighting.
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Well, it's not like we can take things back. We're here. We have enough people we should be working with thinking we're out to get them all.

The worst that can happen with this plan of attack is the IRG takes the investigation off our hands and we get more time freed up to pursue other problems.
 
Always Late said:
Well, it's not like we can take things back. We're here. We have enough people we should be working with thinking we're out to get them all.

The worst that can happen with this plan of attack is the IRG takes the investigation off our hands and we get more time freed up to pursue other problems.
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Its very amusing that you think thats the worse thing that could happen.
 
ckk185 said:
Its very amusing that you think thats the worse thing that could happen.
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I mean, if you know more than the QM about how the proposed plan would go wrong:
Whiskey Golf said:
You can do this, but it could go either way: either the IRG helps you, or General Manandal "suggests" that you turn over all the intel you've developed to the IRG's Internal Security Operations Directorate (the Foxhound that Lee Bashkan alluded Major Kazusa Ueda & her team belonged to), since this is what Foxhound does and you should let the professionals do their job.

A possibility is that the IRG assigns an investigation team to you on longterm basis; you'd still be calling the shots and directing the investigations, but the IRG would be providing the personnel and resources, and it would be tying you closer to the IRG as an institution.
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By all means share with the group. I'm keeping an open mind, what are we all missing?
 
I'm good with this one.

[X]Coyotes and Wolves
-[X]Personal loyalty to the Empress: Her Imperial Majesty has privately requested that this investigation be made, as the matter of military weapons getting into the wrong hands is a significant priority to her. However, it has become much larger than was anticipated, and she needs loyal, capable people at this earliest, most tenuous date of her role.
--[X]Bait the hook: If the General wishes, a personal, private meeting can be arranged to address her concerns about our "influence".
 
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