Crafter of War
The Dorf
- Location
- Bend
So for partially completed tasks are we suppose to memorize all the progress done and to what faction? Or can you put them in?
The Reluctant Vassal's Guide to Living in the Frontier (with some Treason)
- Thread starter Celeshiro
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
Can we research new technologies? The ftl beacon sounds interesting.
Nice update!
I'm thinking the next we either go star armory, arms facility, design aircraft and Lycoris Sanctuary in that order.
Would give us 3 reg, 3 des, 1 crus, and 1 air for our totals which sounds pretty good to me.
An alternative would be designing the cruiser first instead of the aircraft.
We will end up loosing 14 wealth and 10 resources however by the end of it. So maybe slip in another bank and city built somewhere in there. Idk if we will be able to unlock wealth research or influence research soon cause it looks like we will at most be able to have 20 influence total to spend not including what has already been used up if nothing changes.
I'm thinking the next we either go star armory, arms facility, design aircraft and Lycoris Sanctuary in that order.
Would give us 3 reg, 3 des, 1 crus, and 1 air for our totals which sounds pretty good to me.
An alternative would be designing the cruiser first instead of the aircraft.
We will end up loosing 14 wealth and 10 resources however by the end of it. So maybe slip in another bank and city built somewhere in there. Idk if we will be able to unlock wealth research or influence research soon cause it looks like we will at most be able to have 20 influence total to spend not including what has already been used up if nothing changes.
Unlucky Bibliophile
Meganekko
It's looking like sister dearest is grifting from the army. Still, probably best to wrap up the investigation to make sure and maybe Send Spies this turn to determine if that money's going to the oligarchs' pockets rather than to something more concerning.
Also, I don't know if it's me being thick, but has sister dearest been nameless so far? I don't recall Violet mentioning it.
What sort of rework are you planning to do with the spy system?
- Location
- 'Straya mate.
For what it is worth, it's sitting at 4/6.
We have two destroyer housing at the moment. We can convert those two to house one cruiser. If we built a star armory we would have housing for 3 regiments, 3 destroyers, and 1 airing. If we converted the aforementioned two, we'd have one cruiser housing and one destroyer housing.
I personally support developing mechanized troops before investing into a factory. If we can retool regimental factories into mechanized factories then I am okay with building a factory now but otherwise - chains are limited and expensive. I think we should invest in the most space - efficient regiments that we can. I reckon that, per regiment housing, mechanized troops are going to be much better.
Separately, I myself would rather we build a star port before we build the armory. We have the advantage over her in space - I believe we should lean into that. I also don't think developing cruisers is a good choice right now. Destroyers are the go-to vessel for accompanying troops ships and "domination of local space". Cruisers on the other hand are the "bulk of any fleet that crosses systems." We're preparing to fight the government of another planet, not another system. We need destroyers.
Above all else, I believe that we should cause unrest in our sister this turn. That mean our MC is occupied, as is whoever we send to cause a smokescreen for her. But I kinda messed up last turn, -kinda. Radana only has a 18% chance of completing "cause unrest" this cycle and Dorothea isn't much better with a 21%. If we send both of them however they have a 93.9% chance of completing it this turn. This means if we want to reasonably ensure we are very sneaky, then we want to send both. This just leaves Kat (my beloved).
Personally I support researching Mechanized Infantry. I've worked the odds (and made a python script and spreadsheet lmao) and Kat has a 48.3% chance of researching Mechanized Infantry on her own in two turns. I like those odds personally. We can always send someone to help her next turn if she rolls like, a two or a one. That seems efficient. I would normally support building a bank post but Kat will probably be in there for two turns and that second turn in there is probably going to be a waste of her talent. For things of middling difficulty like a 4 or a 5 progress, she works well with someone to help her finish it one cycle and keep trucking forward like the workhorse she is.
Assorted fun facts:
Dorothea or Violet both have a 46% chance of commissioning a destroyer in one turn, given our current wealth, but have a 99.8% chance of finishing it in two turns or less. Kat has a 24% chance of completing the bank in one cycle, but an amazing 99.0% chance of finishing it given two turns. Funky.
(Like the third) EDIT:My calculations were off. I forgot to double the chances of rolling getting one progress twice, and two progress twice. Shame upon me and my calculator.
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Oh whoops, forgot to do that with Violet this turn. I normally put the in progress actions under character tasking, just slipped my mind this time. Fixing!
You can, but I'll say that you probably should figure out this little sibling spat first before concentrating on the funky beacon.
Idea is to make it more like a resource buildup/expenditure system per target than just timing your ops. Spend more time infiltrating in a mix of disruptive cells and information spies, use them to get what you want, and spend extra buildup to reduce being noticed. Something much more suitable for an intrigue MC.
EDIT:
In terms of pure body count, it's not going to beat infantry. Mechanized is mostly fast combat teams in comparison, so it's basically two different battlefield roles. The reason why it's more expensive is because more moving parts (namely designing the IFV which is the star of the unit), and I'm keeping in mind that in wartime, your progress could be much slower. So it makes sense that you could more quickly whip up and train infantry to counter something than designing a whole new vehicle around it, though having that churning in the background while you quickly retool your factories wouldn't be a bad idea.
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- Location
- 'Straya mate.
Thank you for more info! I guess I just assumed it would be like infantry but be harder to develop and build, but be faster, tougher, and hit harder in return.
This is a bit of a wild idea but I would hope people consider it: We send all of our characters on intrigue this turn. Including Kat, who we put onto "Send Spies" (It only takes one progress). I don't think this is a good idea, because Kat is *so much* better at learning and stewardship than our other characters, but it is a very funny idea. Go full intrigue. Infiltrate and expose every part of our sisters government from head to toe. It certainly has its narrative appeal as well don't you think?
- Location
- 'Straya mate.
I've squished this in before I'm going to be unavailable to make plans for the next several hours. So I welcome criticism, even more so than normal.
[X] Plan Dirty Developments
-[X] [Character] Kat, Hyacinth Prism
--[X] [Stewardship] Construct Post. Utilize some empty space in a city to build an independent facility. Cost varies. Each building post may only be built once per city.
---[X] New Helm
----[X] Sunrise Bank. Accounts now guaranteed under government-subsidized insurance! Open an account today, withdraw your money a galaxy away! Increases Wealth by two (2). Decreases Resources by two (2). Requires four (4) progress.
-[X] [Character] Dorothea, Lycoris Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest. Instruct your cells to purposefully cause chaos in another power, drawing attention away from whatever other covert operations you have orchestrated at the same time. Reduces the chance of discovery on the turn it completes. Requires four (4) progress.
---[X] House Iris Separatists
-[X] [Officer] Radana, Camellia Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest.
---[X] House Iris Separatists
If we wish to build a star armory or the fleet port, we'll need another city eventually. Just in general, cities are good. Plus I personally wish to concentrate many of our chains around the capital to improve Andernia IV's defenses. However, we still have one slot available to build another post in, so I have thrown Kat into that. She is... probably going to take two turns on it and overshoot, but there aren't many good options to put her in that don't involve researching mechanized troops or committing to lower our wealth. Personally I wish to keep our wealth around as long as possible until we spend it on the basics of military. I also want more cities because more cities allow us to (eventually) build more bank posts. If we start building this post, then I publicly promise I will support our remilitarization in some way or another come next cycle.
Also a quick question for Cheshiro. The commercial spaceport we built on in New Helm says it costs us 4 wealth and influence, when you check informational post titled "Capital System Andernia". But the option to build a new spaceport costs 2 of each. This cost does appear to have been factored into our system totals since the databank gives us ten influence but we only have six. Please clarify if one of these is an error. Thank you.
EDIT: I did edit to change from a city to a bank post. When we need another chain, we can build a city then. For now, we may as well build-build-build. Also New Helm will only have 1 spot for any kind of building after this. So that's another reason to soon build a new city on our capital-world.
[X] Plan Dirty Developments
-[X] [Character] Kat, Hyacinth Prism
--[X] [Stewardship] Construct Post. Utilize some empty space in a city to build an independent facility. Cost varies. Each building post may only be built once per city.
---[X] New Helm
----[X] Sunrise Bank. Accounts now guaranteed under government-subsidized insurance! Open an account today, withdraw your money a galaxy away! Increases Wealth by two (2). Decreases Resources by two (2). Requires four (4) progress.
-[X] [Character] Dorothea, Lycoris Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest. Instruct your cells to purposefully cause chaos in another power, drawing attention away from whatever other covert operations you have orchestrated at the same time. Reduces the chance of discovery on the turn it completes. Requires four (4) progress.
---[X] House Iris Separatists
-[X] [Officer] Radana, Camellia Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest.
---[X] House Iris Separatists
If we wish to build a star armory or the fleet port, we'll need another city eventually. Just in general, cities are good. Plus I personally wish to concentrate many of our chains around the capital to improve Andernia IV's defenses. However, we still have one slot available to build another post in, so I have thrown Kat into that. She is... probably going to take two turns on it and overshoot, but there aren't many good options to put her in that don't involve researching mechanized troops or committing to lower our wealth. Personally I wish to keep our wealth around as long as possible until we spend it on the basics of military. I also want more cities because more cities allow us to (eventually) build more bank posts. If we start building this post, then I publicly promise I will support our remilitarization in some way or another come next cycle.
Also a quick question for Cheshiro. The commercial spaceport we built on in New Helm says it costs us 4 wealth and influence, when you check informational post titled "Capital System Andernia". But the option to build a new spaceport costs 2 of each. This cost does appear to have been factored into our system totals since the databank gives us ten influence but we only have six. Please clarify if one of these is an error. Thank you.
EDIT: I did edit to change from a city to a bank post. When we need another chain, we can build a city then. For now, we may as well build-build-build. Also New Helm will only have 1 spot for any kind of building after this. So that's another reason to soon build a new city on our capital-world.
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[X] Plan Dirty Developments
Stirring up unrest will force my sister to focus on the state of her people. Yes definitely nothing can go wrong with this plan.
Stirring up unrest will force my sister to focus on the state of her people. Yes definitely nothing can go wrong with this plan.
~A certain Solar Princess Queen
It is indeed. Not sure how that happened, but I'll fix that in a moment.
Unlucky Bibliophile
Meganekko
We need to finish up Military Espionage. It won't take much more to wrap it up, and a peek at sister's military would be useful for future planning.
- Location
- 'Straya mate.
Violet didn't complete that task last turn. If a character or characters don't finish a task, they remain locked into it until it's completed. Essentially, she's going to finish up military espionage whether we like it or not.
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
[X] Plan Dirty Developments
Apologies for the post double-quote, but I couldn't resist when this caught my eye while rereading.
I do love the implication that the votes here are part of the setting in a way, like politicians making campaign promises. I think I have been implying that for design actions, it's a team working with the character to sell them on a design. Though perhaps in this case, it's more like a council of mini-Violets debating in her head about what to do.
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- Location
- 'Straya mate.
I'll be honest I intended that as a genuine pledge to the rest of the quest and myself. I am very strongly economy-pilled. I recognise that a military is a pratical necessity to defend our people, but its not something I naturally gravitate towards.Wars are cool, genuinely, but there is something so appealing to me about growing in strength with minimal blood shed. In our sisters case we may have to make an exception: The Helmsmen are our people to protect, and she already has the blood of our innocents on her hands, not to mention the suffering imposed by her particularly unjust system. Life under Violet still has its injustices, but we are genuinely trying to make things better. If anything, our sister is doing the opposite.
I don't know how to fit this in but I've been thinking a lot about the morality of War and political violence, especially since reading this quest, and I wanted to share my thoughts:
"War is War and hell is hell, and of the two, War is worse. Hell has no innocents, but war is full of them."
For most people starting a war is morally compromising. In essence, it is an evil act, or at least impure. But people cannot live with the idea that they have caused such unspeakable suffering. So they turn to justifications to erase their wrongdoing. Even some of the most genuinely virtuous rulers in history turned to a divine mandate. But even if your wars result in good works being done, good works do not erase the deaths and suffering they were built upon. No prosperous city or safe road brings back the dead.
War, violence and repression can be the correct choice, but they are never a good choice. Your legacy is both the suffering you have caused, and the good works you have done, and neither of these undoes the other.
"War is War and hell is hell, and of the two, War is worse. Hell has no innocents, but war is full of them."
For most people starting a war is morally compromising. In essence, it is an evil act, or at least impure. But people cannot live with the idea that they have caused such unspeakable suffering. So they turn to justifications to erase their wrongdoing. Even some of the most genuinely virtuous rulers in history turned to a divine mandate. But even if your wars result in good works being done, good works do not erase the deaths and suffering they were built upon. No prosperous city or safe road brings back the dead.
War, violence and repression can be the correct choice, but they are never a good choice. Your legacy is both the suffering you have caused, and the good works you have done, and neither of these undoes the other.
Regarding warfare, you'd be surprised how positively some people have historically viewed it. You can see in a lot of cases that people in pre-industrial aristocracies and warrior castes genuinely viewed battle as a transformatively positive process, a sort of ultimate exhibition of a man's virtue and worth.
You can read that kinda stuff as justifying rhetoric, and to an extent it naturally was. But rhetoric has to be convincing, and to be convincing it must contain a kernel of truth.
There's still plenty of martial rhetoric in the modern day, but it's very noticeable that the broad characteristics it takes on differ. Modern glorification of warfighting is overwhelmingly a glorification of martyrdom — honouring the sacrifice of those who withstood the horrors of war in defence of their cause.
That is significantly divergent from a lot of historical sources, which emphasise less the burden and sacrifice of the warrior, and more the glory and riches which they stand to gain. Naturally still alongside a substantial recognition of the mortality of such an endeavour, but with an often far more positive inflection; though I by no means intend that as a sweeping statement — one look at the Iliad would disabuse one of such notions.
One explanation for such phenomena is that in many preindustrial contexts, the people doing the bulk of the fighting legitimately stood to gain more from war and battle; unlike modern warfare, the preindustrial sort was far less destructive. Whereas in the modern day most wealth is wrapped up in infrastructure and industry that any serious fighting will sooner obliterate than capture, and far sooner capture than sell, historically it was often much more liquid and under minimal threat from local combat. A successful soldiering experience could therefore be quite lucrative, and the attendant effects on a strategic level encouraged more martial interstate policy, further lending social and political currency to participants.
You can read that kinda stuff as justifying rhetoric, and to an extent it naturally was. But rhetoric has to be convincing, and to be convincing it must contain a kernel of truth.
There's still plenty of martial rhetoric in the modern day, but it's very noticeable that the broad characteristics it takes on differ. Modern glorification of warfighting is overwhelmingly a glorification of martyrdom — honouring the sacrifice of those who withstood the horrors of war in defence of their cause.
That is significantly divergent from a lot of historical sources, which emphasise less the burden and sacrifice of the warrior, and more the glory and riches which they stand to gain. Naturally still alongside a substantial recognition of the mortality of such an endeavour, but with an often far more positive inflection; though I by no means intend that as a sweeping statement — one look at the Iliad would disabuse one of such notions.
One explanation for such phenomena is that in many preindustrial contexts, the people doing the bulk of the fighting legitimately stood to gain more from war and battle; unlike modern warfare, the preindustrial sort was far less destructive. Whereas in the modern day most wealth is wrapped up in infrastructure and industry that any serious fighting will sooner obliterate than capture, and far sooner capture than sell, historically it was often much more liquid and under minimal threat from local combat. A successful soldiering experience could therefore be quite lucrative, and the attendant effects on a strategic level encouraged more martial interstate policy, further lending social and political currency to participants.
[X] Plan Dirty Developments
Vote closed
- Location
- Eastern Seaboard
Got a bit of a question when it comes to Wealth; What is the bonus that we get from having more Wealth? I've seen it mentioned occasionally that getting to +20 Wealth is the aim so as to improve our rolls, but how much would that improve our rolls by?
It's actually already in effect. If you've noticed the skill rolls your characters are rolling, there's a positive Wealth modifier which represents money greasing hands/easing the process of the action. It's equal to the total system wealth divided by half, so 10 wealth in a system translates into a +5 wealth modifier for character rolls. The +20 mentioned is just the maximum cap for a modifier, so anything over 40 system wealth is basically opulence.
- Location
- 'Straya mate.
Thank you for clearing that up Celeshiro. I was pretty sure that was how it worked. I think people were unsure if it was the bonus that capped out at +20, or the wealth.
Fun fact for everybody else, 40 wealth is almost possible at our current level of tech. Mind you, it would be easier if we had control of Andernia III or had the ability to upgrade our buildings. We can build 10 more cities, and one of our current cities doesn't have a bank post (yet). If we built every city and built a bank post in all of our cities, we would add 22 wealth to our current 17, bringing us up to 39 wealth. *just* under the cap. It's cool to know that we can do that, but I'm not advocating for it for many reasons.
Building the Databanks unlocked the Chrysanthemum Scales and the Lycoris Sanctuary. That strongly suggests that these buildings are at the core of what makes our society function, and function well. Building the Scales also unlocked building Bank posts, strongly suggesting that building the Sanctuary will unlock another post building. This speculation causes me to wonder if another path to victory over our sister may be available. If we can improve our Influence score high enough, we may be able to cause a popular revolt amongst her people. Particularly if we combine this path with more "Cause Unrest" actions. Any improvement to our Influence will also make it that much harder for Violet to deny that she is the right candidate to rule her house - in the Andernia system at the very least.
Fun fact for everybody else, 40 wealth is almost possible at our current level of tech. Mind you, it would be easier if we had control of Andernia III or had the ability to upgrade our buildings. We can build 10 more cities, and one of our current cities doesn't have a bank post (yet). If we built every city and built a bank post in all of our cities, we would add 22 wealth to our current 17, bringing us up to 39 wealth. *just* under the cap. It's cool to know that we can do that, but I'm not advocating for it for many reasons.
- It would take a ton of actions. 4 progress for each city then a separate 4 progress for each bank. A total of 88 progress, not including our actions for the upcoming cycle.
- It would reduce our Resources to a grand total of 4. All of our stellar stats are useful as reactive rolls (notably not something we've had to do yet) and Resources in particular "contribute to a resource stockpile that can be consumed in wartime to upkeep campaign deployments."
- If/when the system is eventually unified, Andernia III will contribute to the system's total. I have a sneaking suspicion that our sister may actually have a negative Influence score given how the people and press treat her.
Building the Databanks unlocked the Chrysanthemum Scales and the Lycoris Sanctuary. That strongly suggests that these buildings are at the core of what makes our society function, and function well. Building the Scales also unlocked building Bank posts, strongly suggesting that building the Sanctuary will unlock another post building. This speculation causes me to wonder if another path to victory over our sister may be available. If we can improve our Influence score high enough, we may be able to cause a popular revolt amongst her people. Particularly if we combine this path with more "Cause Unrest" actions. Any improvement to our Influence will also make it that much harder for Violet to deny that she is the right candidate to rule her house - in the Andernia system at the very least.
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Also important to note that you get Wealth from the current Resource score divided by half, to represent stuff like abundant natural resources.
- Location
- 'Straya mate.
Oh that changes things a lot! Thank you for the heads up. I didn't realise that was continuous or that that was how it works.. That makes bank posts... a lot worse, unfortunately. Damn. Well there goes that idea. At least until we can upgrade them.
EDIT: Essentially I thought banks were a 1:1 conversion of resources to wealth. In reality they're 2:1 conversion, since the 2 resources you already had were giving you 1 wealth.
EDIT: Essentially I thought banks were a 1:1 conversion of resources to wealth. In reality they're 2:1 conversion, since the 2 resources you already had were giving you 1 wealth.
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Cycle 6.1
[X] Plan Dirty Developments
-[X] [Character] Kat, Hyacinth Prism
--[X] [Stewardship] Construct Post. Utilize some empty space in a city to build an independent facility. Cost varies. Each building post may only be built once per city.
---[X] New Helm
----[X] Sunrise Bank. Accounts now guaranteed under government-subsidized insurance! Open an account today, withdraw your money a galaxy away! Increases Wealth by two (2). Decreases Resources by two (2). Requires four (4) progress.
-[X] [Character] Dorothea, Lycoris Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest. Instruct your cells to purposefully cause chaos in another power, drawing attention away from whatever other covert operations you have orchestrated at the same time. Reduces the chance of discovery on the turn it completes. Requires four (4) progress.
---[X] House Iris Separatists
-[X] [Officer] Radana, Camellia Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest.
-[X] [Character] Kat, Hyacinth Prism
--[X] [Stewardship] Construct Post. Utilize some empty space in a city to build an independent facility. Cost varies. Each building post may only be built once per city.
---[X] New Helm
----[X] Sunrise Bank. Accounts now guaranteed under government-subsidized insurance! Open an account today, withdraw your money a galaxy away! Increases Wealth by two (2). Decreases Resources by two (2). Requires four (4) progress.
-[X] [Character] Dorothea, Lycoris Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest. Instruct your cells to purposefully cause chaos in another power, drawing attention away from whatever other covert operations you have orchestrated at the same time. Reduces the chance of discovery on the turn it completes. Requires four (4) progress.
---[X] House Iris Separatists
-[X] [Officer] Radana, Camellia Knight
--[X] [Intrigue] Cause Unrest.
(Construct Post (Sunrise Bank- New Helm): 20 +17 (Kat) +9 (Wealth) = 46)
Progress: 2/4. In Progress.
Kat stared at the server for a long while, then turned to face to her fellow Prism. Whatever cocky expression they once had when greeting the stuttering woman was gone now when, now thoroughly in her element, the handpicked specialist of House Iris seemingly loomed over them. "So. You told me you followed all my instructions. Do you stand by that?"
"I, um, yes, of course!" They insisted, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of their head. "I went ahead and checked the connection to the central bank server, even plugged an interface in but I got nothing! Those were your instructions, right?"
"They were, but holy fucking shit." Kat squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose, hand twitching for a missing hammer. "That was step two. You skipped step one." Without any further delay, she marched towards the server and then pressed her finger against a glowing circle, holding it down for a few seconds.
A moment later, it flashed and then the entire server began to come to life. Lights flickered on throughout the previously inert machine and a login interface was projected, one that accepted Kat's credentials with a happy chirp. Moments later, there were shouts of triumph from the front end, declaring that they had connection again.
The other Prism stared with an open jaw. "Huh? What….what? What did you do?!" They fumbled, and that was the last straw for the unleashed woman.
"I TURNED IT OFF AND ON AGAIN, FUCKWIT! THAT WAS STEP ONE TO NOT DRAG MY BUTT OUT HERE!" Kat would have continued laying into him with the fury of a thousand suns had a regular news screen not flashed with a sudden emergency broadcast. That certainly got her attention and she ripped her eyes from the wilting colleague to watch what was was unfolding with raised eyebrow. "Wow, today's really the day for things to really get fucked up huh?"
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(Cause Unrest (House Iris Separatists): 35 +14 (Dorothea) +9 (Wealth) = 58)
Progress: 2/4. In Progress.
(Cause Unrest (House Iris Separatists): 99 +11 (Radana) +9 (Wealth) = 119)
Progress: 5/4. Complete!
"What do we want?!"
"FREEDOM!"
"When do we want it?!"
"NOW!"
"You've heard everybody here then, it's a resounding consensus!" The ringleader roared and turned about to face the line of masked peacekeepers. Both sides were illuminated by flashes of light from the various recording devices in the moment, everybody trying frantically to capture what could be a pivotal moment. "Stop the corruption! Release all the debt! Free our families from chains!"
"Those were your provided lines, I take it?" Dorothea murmured to Radana as the two watched the broadcast. "Impressive. I hate to admit it but if you ever wanted to stir up chaos, you have a knack for it."
"I merely offered some suggestions that his own situation may not be so unique. It's interesting honestly, that so many think their perspective a special existence without considering what others are too suffering through," The diplomat politely downplayed, glancing wistfully to an empty cup of tea. But she wasn't so tasteless and committed her action back to the riot on display. "Besides, you still did the bigger setup of seeding a bystander who could broadcast the clash. I only provided the seeds for the poor man to light the fire."
"A fire indeed." Her eyes narrowed when the camera focused on what had to be a law enforcement chief stepping up, one notably clad in a Guardian suit. "Well then. Let's see how they respond."
"Attention all individuals- curfew is now in effect! You have fives minutes to disperse and return home peacefully!" The words were almost immediately drowned up by a hateful roar from the rioting crowd, and they finished the threat with a growl. "If you do not comply, we are authorized to restore order however we see fit! This will include the use of-"
Their head suddenly cocked sideways and the two watching retainers of House Iris frowned. They recognized the gesture as an incoming message through the armor's internal communications system, both sharing a curious look. Then their attention was drawn to the next few words that then came from their wayward comrade.
"This will include the billing and repayment of all damaged property and services to your accounts and subsequent guarantors." The once jeering crowd suddenly petered out, many suddenly getting the chills down their spine. "So think of your families. Think of your lives. Walk away now, and go about your day peacefully. But expect a hefty price if you stay."
"Dammit," Dorothea hissed, her knuckles whitening from how tightly her fingers were digging into her palm. "A bastard move, but a good one. It's one thing to risk your own life, but dragging everybody else around you down with you? That's one cold splash to dump in somebody's face."
"It also actually aligns with that disgraceful princess' tactics when you think about it. Why waste life that you can turn back into labor? Especially with how the people here havee been suddenly dragged back from the brink after seeing the potential consequences; they'll fall in line now." Radana stared at the stunned ringleader of the riot and sighed. "My own card turned back on me. Spoiled and corrupt as she may be, the blood of House Iris flows strong."
The manipulated agent swallowed hard on the screen, then turned to face the others looking his way for direction. "...if you want to leave now, I won't blame you. Go and take care of your families," He sucked in a deep breath, then squared his shoulders. "But I'm not leaving. I've got nothing left. I'll do whatever it takes!"
"A respectable and honorable individual to the end." The Lycoris Knight mournfully shook her head and checked her datapad. "Indeed, no family, and now, no victory. It doesn't feel good to lose him."
"It doesn't feel good to see even a few be willing to end their lives over this. Nothing should be so desperate that dying is better than living." Radana felt her stomach twist at the start of the clash and she forced herself to turn away, her cheeks burning with shame. "I...I'm sorry. I cannot."
"Go, I won't blame you. I will watch until the end at least to record it so."
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(Military Espionage (House Iris Separatists): 35 +18 (Violet) +9 (Wealth) = 62)
Progress: 6/6. Complete!
Results: 54 -20 (Moderate Operation) +20 (Unrest) +20 (Spider's Web) = 74. Quiet Success.
"Guilty. You are hereby sentenced to paying a fine equal to the damages incurred by security and social services through your actions. Your bill is provided...now." A press of the button, and the defendant's face whitened at the number that popped up on the screen. "Justice has been done. Go now."
"I- I'll die of old age before I work this off-!" The Solar Princess of House Iris lazily cut the connection and sighed, leaning back into her chair to massage her temples. Her already severe expression had even deeper lines carved into it, the incident a few nights ago weighing heavily on her. Even now, she checked and there still was a line of more individuals needing to be given their punishment for stepping out of line.
She so desperately wanted a break, giving a longing look in the direction of her bedroom. What she wouldn't give for more chances to actually enjoy life as is, instead of this mess. Especially with what she knew and her chest tightened for a moment. That brief reminder was enough to grit her teeth and refocus on her digital interface screen.
It didn't matter. Neither did those who didn't want to come along. All she could do was get as much as she could out of them, then move on. She would even do it to those who followed if they faltered. There was no point in thinking about what came afterwards, not with what she knew of Helm. A bitter medicine that she was going to force House Iris to swallow, especially that damn jeopardizing sister of hers that understood nothing.
To reassure herself now, she opened up the window to her newest project and smiled faintly with a lick of the lips. Yes, this was how she would finally cow her meddling sibling into submission, a flashy show that would bring the rest of the waste to heel. She was already making plans in her head, ways to properly optimize and trim the ridiculous wasted resources-
She frowned then when she noticed the access logs and put her cheek against her hand. "Who accessed this? That's not an authorized entry." She muttered darkly and made a mental note to look into this mysterious intrusion. It wouldn't do for her next project to be so tragically ruined now of all times.
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- To clarify- this is basically an "unknown agent has done X" result that would alert a power to foreign actions, but not have an identity to pin it down. Of course here, it's technically only the two of you but as it's the 'trial opponent' on the old system, this works.
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