lucetimods | Mission #14 - Follow Up and Vote

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plot

Mission #14 - Follow Up and Vote

By the conclusion of this mission, the volunteers will have the option to either help the Iron Eye or take measures to ensure they fail. There are four options to take, each with their own pros and cons, as well as chances for success or failure. The involvement of the Lucetians will have a significant impact on future drafts and missions.

Of course, the question is: what are the Iron Eye up to? If you haven’t figured it out, you may have to make a decision with just what you’ve figured out.

The voting will impact things thusly:

Options 1 and 2 are pro-Iron Eye. By voting for them, one vote is ADDED to their chance of success.

Options 3 and 4 are anti-Iron Eye. But voting against them, one voted is SUBTRACTED to their chance of success.

Whichever of the four options get the majority vote will be the one that is used to determine the outcome of the mission. So, for instance, if Option 3 is chosen with 10 votes for Anti-Iron Eye, and 4 votes for Pro-Iron Eye, we could end up with:

40% - 10% + 4% = 34% chance of success. This means the Iron Eye would very likely fail, which is the desired option of the majority vote.

Once we have the votes in, we’ll use the random dice roll in an AIM chatroom, where we will roll a 100-sided die. If the dice rolls 34 or higher, the Iron Eye will fail. Likewise, if the success percentage is at 85%, then any dice roll over 85 will result in failure.

Bear in mind that there are 28 characters involved, which means that there is a lot of sway on the success rate based simply on agreeing with any one option.

The dice roll will take place in lucetiplot on September 15th at 11:00PM EST for those who wish to observe. If you do not have your vote in by then, it will not be counted. But this should give you ample time to try and figure out what’s really going on and decide what your character will do.

And so your options are thus:

1. They help the Iron Eye find the entrance to the cultist’s underground city and do not report to the Malnosso. Although this dramatically increases the chances to succeed, it will also put them in danger of some reprisal.

Pro: This route secures them an alliance with the Iron Eye. The repercussions could dramatically shift the war away from the cultists.
Con: Direct collaboration would make them accountable to the Malnosso, and they would lack the ability to deny their involvement.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 80% + one point for each volunteer supporting the Iron Eye.

2. They help the Iron Eye by not telling the Malnosso what’s going on. This increases the chance of success and doesn’t put them in any kind of danger. They claim ignorance.

Pro: This route frees them of accountability. The repercussions could dramatically shift the war away from the cultists.
Con: Their relationship with the Iron Eye and Malnosso is not improved, but it isn’t ruined either. Luceti’s influence is not altered.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 60% + one point for each volunteer supporting the Iron Eye.

3. They report the Iron Eye’s activities to the Malnosso, informing them of their ultimate goal. This also reveals Bil’s location. This decreases the chance of success and doesn’t put the volunteers in any danger.

Pro: This route guarantees they secure some tangible physical reward for Luceti in return for their loyalty to the Organization. This could be new infrastructure, an expanded barrier, or some other surprise gift.
Con: This route leaves Bil and the Iron Eye’s fate to the Malnosso, which is not promising for either of them.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 40% - one point for each volunteer opposing the Iron Eye.

4. They find a way to sabotage the Iron Eye’s activities, but don’t report it to the Malnosso. This dramatically decreases the chance of success, but puts them in danger of reprisal.

Pro: This route leaves the Iron Eye and Bil in tact, but foils their plans. They maintain good relations with the Malnosso.
Con: The route sours relations with the Iron Eye.
Chance of Iron Eye Success: 20% - one point for each volunteer opposing the Iron Eye.

Characters will find out the results of their decision via an NPC post sometime later in September.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Please reply to the appropriate thread to indicate your support for each option. It would be even better if you back it up with an IC reasoning for it, but that's optional!

Temari sees this as an opportunity to try to make Luceti a little more autonomous; give the enclosure a little more political power. Luceti's populace is not weak -- that's been proven time and again -- but they're still swaying under the direction of whoever's in charge. (And given how things have been falling lately, Temari's kinda wondering who exactly is in charge.) In her opinion, they've done enough sitting around and waiting for things to happen. Seems like they're always on the defensive.

They've been tied to the Malnosso for years and nothing's changed, really. Other enclosures don't like them. The Cultists would love to kill them all (or recruit them, either way.) Iron Eye could be useful, if only as a tool for establishing a voice and a political influence for Luceti.

Also she hates the Cultists and she's really not happy with the Malnosso. Option two would be great if she thought anyone could actually keep a secret. It's not viable to help Iron Eye without the Malnosso finding out about it -- and she wants to help them -- and if her objective is putting Luceti into play as a political entity, then staying quiet isn't an option.

She's of the opinion that drastic times are most likely coming, so she's ready to take drastic measures now. She knows there are likely to be reprisals and consequences, but when are there not? It's all risky business anyway.

~~I'm going to speechify some in the IC thread too but just to get this out of the way-~~

Luceti risked the entire village to save Bil back when he was dying. Luceti also has tried time and again to work with the Malnosso, and for the most part the only one who's cooperated all that much has been Bil himself. She doesn't see any reason to not continue with that faith now, even if you don't actually "trust" him or whatever. A lot of the other enclosures that think they're sympathizers, and playing it safe has only cemented that more and more.

Haruhi's vision of Luceti's future involves uniting people from across enclosures and making a big blow like this will help with convincing a lot of the resistant ones they're legit (or so she assumes) and frankly unless they sabotage the plan (and why would they? She's not a combatant herself, but the Third Party has tried to kill her before and never done anything kind to her and her's) they're going to do it anyway and the Malnosso will be displeased.

So they might as well throw in with the people who stand a chance of actually being their allies (for once)

Edited 2013-09-13 02:23 (UTC)

While Ino doesn't trust the Iron Eye, they're a lesser evil compared to the Malnosso and definitely better than the Cultists. She wants to help them if only because one, they'd be going against the Malnosso's wishes and two, they'd be blowing up a Cultists' city. She also wants to help Bil (who she still doesn't trust entirely) just because she believes what they went through to protect him before shouldn't be for naught. She knows there will be risks to this and there will be repercussions, but life as a shinobi will always have these.

That said, she also doesn't like the fact the other enclosures think they're close to the Malnosso when they're all just victims here. It's time to prove them wrong and not just obey whatever they are told. She doesn't want a repeat of what happened with the Kin'corans because, or so she thinks, they're the ones who should be united against the Malnosso.

Steve has reservations about the Iron Eye, but he's willing to take a chance by allying with them. To him the Malnosso have never been anything but trouble and their one-sided "allegiance" has only left the people of Luceti open to suspicion and mistrust from the other enclosures. By siding with the Iron Eye it might go a ways to gaining allies among the other enclosures.

He's not a hundred percent okay with using the Shift Bomb. There seem to be just as many questions going around about it as anything else. But he understands why Bil and the Iron Eye are resorting to this kind of method. The cultists have done nothing by try to kill them and while Steve does not agree with whole-sale slaughter he's willing to live with the consequences of wiping the world clean of these cultists for the next hundred years or so. He believes it could very well spare the lives that those cultists would otherwise go away at another time.

He chooses this option over number two because the later leaves a bad taste in his mouth. It feels too much like they're turning a blind eye to what is going to happen just so they can spare their own necks and at the end of the day nothing will change for them.

Chouji is unwilling to sabotage the Iron Eye's plan either through the bomb or those building it. The bomb, he feels they don't understand nearly well enough to make the hazards worthwhile. He thinks that they're just as likely to make things worse in the attempt. Then we come to the people responsible for making it. First of all, even killing them would stall the plan for a very short amount of time, given the way revival works here. That's not something he's used to figuring into things. Harming them or telling the Malnosso would entail turning on Bil, who Chouji's teammate risked his life protecting and who Chouji has been informed has frequently acted in ways that benefit Luceti.

He doesn't think they could get away with pretending to be uninvolved, either. Doing nothing is a tempting option, especially when it means someone else takes care of people they would otherwise be forced to fight, with no outright risk to them. But if they're accepting that it happens and he assumes they'll take a portion of the blame anyway, Chouji would rather try to get a new ally in the process.

And that is important, at least according to those he trusts. Chouji knows he's a new arrival here in the greater scheme of things , so when it comes to politics, he's still relying on the opinions of his friends. Many of those opinions have been that Luceti needs allies outside of their enclosure.

None of the options open to the volunteers on the mission seem ideal, and Chouji can't say he has no hesitations about choosing this one. He's listened uneasily to the idea of escalating, of the Third Party changing tactics and using a weapon like this against them. Then there's the way they'd killing people. It's one thing to do so in battle, with his own hands. He's never participated in engaging a weapon of mass destruction, nor is he usually the decision-maker or strategist. He can't say he likes it.

In the end, Chouji is choosing the option that keeps these people from ever attacking his friends and comrades.

This was a difficult one for Gai. While he'd personally prefer to take the chance to ally with the Iron Eye, he initially had reservations about the potential of damaging their relationship with the Malnosso. Gai is very much a believer in the importance of maintaining alliances wherever possible. However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that playing dumb could also damage things, either by causing the Malnosso to think of them as incompetent or by becoming suspicious of them. Add in to that this mysterious Malnosso source who is apparently aiding the Iron Eye behind the scenes, and he feels less concern about risking their relationship with the Malnosso now. His only remaining concern is how this will affect the people of Luceti who didn't have any say in what went on during this mission, but chances are, something will happen either way.

Gai is a firm believer in being one of the ones to step forward and make change-- he ran a resistance group in his world, after all. This is the option that has the biggest potential to make an impact on the status quo, especially given what he learned from Bil about the state of the war against the cultists. An alliance with the Iron Eye could lead to major change both for them and in the war. If this position makes Gai reckless, well... this wouldn't be the first time he's been accused of that.

For him, it was always a choice between options 1 and 2. He doesn't trust the Malnosso one bit, meaning that selling the Iron Eye out to them was never even on the table, and he has no moral qualms about the use of the bomb itself. It all came down to the potential political effects of this, and in the end, the potential gain ended up outweighing the risks.

Edited 2013-09-16 01:40 (UTC)

Natasha's going to go with Option One.

She has zero fondness for the Cultists and no real loyalty to the Malnosso. She also doesn't really have a moral hangup on what the Iron Eye are planning for the Cultists, only a worry about what will come after, since she tends to try and think ahead of what could be coming. The opinions about the Malnosso's chances against the Cultists are worrisome, especially with what the Count changed in the shift of balance and the odds of survivability.

She did consider 3 and 4, but her expectations of the Malnosso doing anything helpful with the information, or for them, seems unreliable. She considered 2 for a moment for the sheer sake of the enclosure and its inhabitants, because it does seem the 'safest' option, but in the end the fact that it gains them nothing doesn't sit well with her. They could use an advantage.

So she goes with her gut instinct and the facts they have, the way the winds seem to be shifting, even if it risks the enclosure. With the options they're looking at here, she's hoping that taking a risk on a new player to the game will give them a break they've all been struggling for. And that this won't all go pear-shaped and bite them in the ass. >.>

The weak do not get to choose their way of death.

This is the iconic line of Law's in timeskip. A canon point beyond him sure... and having grown older than the man who utters it, a man who has changed and grown different from that self at Punk Hazard, it still applies.

The weak do not get to choose their way of death. Rather it should be said they let the circumstances choose it for them. There's a difference, after all, between being thrown to the lions and walking with your head held high into that gladitorial ring.

This has been a long time coming. When Law and Lupin saved Hoi Hidekan in Depot 8, they helped set in motion these chain of events. And here are the results.

There is no good choice here. Law is conscious of the many pitfalls of each decision and assumes nothing. There is nothing guaranted. Not that the enclosures will suddenly wish to ally with them (they could react oppositely). That an alliance with the Iron Eye will last long and prove beneficial (The Malnosso will wish to wipe them out and well, as a pirate he understands the loyalties of people who work for the highest bidder). This is a choice that could throw the world into complete turmoil, worse disarry (Law has no problems with this persay - see Punk Hazard and Dressrosa arcs - however he recognizes the danger in it) and they could put themselves into a worse position politically.

He does not trust Bil. He considers Bil's previous actions towards Luceti, the generousity and the opportunities given as not proof of his good will, but simply of cultivating a wise investment. Ultimately their current goals go together so far, but as Bil's willing to go to extremes to realize his goals (a fact echoed in Law), Law recognizes a betrayal at any turn is likely if it proves pragmatic to the long term, ultimate realization of his wants. He would like to keep him close... as sensible with any enemy... and keep the knife ready just in case.

It's just plain piractical good sense.

Ultimately this is slaughter and murder, and even though it is necessary, Law would prefer not to dress up the act. He is the Surgeon of Death and pirates are not good men. But it is also an opportunity. An incredible opportunity. Not only for survival.

And it simply comes down to this. He helped put all this in motion over six months ago.

Might as well be damned all the way and see it through.

Edited 2013-09-16 04:11 (UTC)

None of this is something Luke can really take lightly. Taking life, even in war, is not something he ever takes lightly.

At the same time, the target is a military one, filled with what are from his perspective, enemy combatants and he could feasibly consider them agents of the Dark Side. Death cults are one of the hallmarks of early Sith society, and the Third Party is seemingly blinded by single-minded hatred for life. And they are bound and determined to bring harm to Luceti and the people he cares about. That is not something acceptable. And it will happen in two years, according to the information gathered.

The Malnosso have failed, time and time again to protect Luceti and it's own interests, and they've proven they are not allies. They are still, at the heart of things, captors. Yes, it's supposedly to protect the residents from the Third Party, but that doesn't make it any less wrong. They are also incompetant. The fact that the war is going as badly as it is is proof of that. This is punctuated by the recent invasion of the enclosure. An invasion that let the cultists overrun two others so completely that they're done for. Unless something changes. This? Will change things. Big time.

In war, you have to do things that you don't always approve of. Luke can't say that his hands aren't stained. He's destroyed a Death Star, which according to some makes him a murderer, a fact that he's reminded of constantly. But the Shift Bomb, in Luke's perspective isn't quite the same as a Death Star or a Sun Crusher. Upon reflection, learning what it will do, he's a little more willing to gamble on this. He's taken riskier bets before, and the destructive force of this weapon isn't nearly the scale he's used to. This he can equate more to orbital bombardment, which he's ordered done several times against military targets. He never likes it, but in light of the lack of civilians and other personnel in the area this makes the Cultist City a military target and therefore something that should be destroyed at all costs.

He stuck his neck out against the Malnosso to protect Bil before, and Bil made a promise (in his own way) to make it so droids could be disabled. Bil delivered. That too is something that weighs on his mind. He's fairly certain the blue man recognized him snooping, but didn't turn him in, either. He didn't risk testing that, but it does seem that Bil, while untrustworthy, is not doing anything that will actively be to the detriment of the Luceti village. Which Luke will selfishly admit to anyone that asks, is his only real concern.

And then there's the Iron Eye to consider. They aren't exactly heroes, but they're certainly a force in their own right. Luke feels that they could be potential (and potent) allies. His conversations with them show them to be more in line with the Mandalorians of old rather than bounty hunters and the dirtbags typically hired by the Empire. Turning them in would be against everything Luke believed as a Rebel Agent before the Republic was founded. And it's a step towards some sort of alliance, at least.

The future is murky, and the answers are...unclear. But it's an opportunity to do something that will strike a blow against a powerful enemy that keeps coming back. Whatever the consequences, Luke believes the chance is too good to pass up. He doesn't like it, but then...he doesn't want to see his friends and family hurt. As bad as this is, it's for the good of Luceti. Maybe it's a trait from his father, maybe it's something leftover from Palpatine's teachings, and he knows it'll be the subject of a lot of reflection. But in the end, it needs to be done.

Edited 2013-09-16 02:14 (UTC)

The bottom line is this; they have the destructive power to keep their enemies dead for longer than a week plus death penalties. Keeping them out of the picture for a long, long time. However, he sees so many things wrong with the entire situation. But even he can't argue that striking a blow like this to the cultists wouldn't benefit everyone in the end.

He worries about the after effects of the bomb and how it will react with the natural shifts. It concerns him to do something like that to the planet he currently resides on, he'd like for this one to at least stay intact as much as possible (if he can't get everyone off of the rock and blow the planet up himself.) Where it's probably not going to blow up the planet or anything like with Planet Vegeta and Earth (lol dragonballs wishing Earth back), the effects might wash over more than just the desert area, killing a whole lot of others in the process that aren't even involved. He'd actually prefer that innocents not die in this, though this is war and sometimes you have to make sacrifices. But at the same time whatever approval this has gotten wouldn't of been approved unless they knew something about it the Lucetians didn't, and he doesn't know if that's because they are aware that it's NOT going to effect anymore than the desert area, or if they simply don't care.

He's almost certain this is also part of a larger plan to be rid of the Iron Eye once they've outlived their usefulness. He doesn't care about the Iron Eye, or Bil, but he knows what it is to work for someone indescribably powerful who can throw you away whenever they feel like it. Would they be good allies? Yes, if the Lucetians managed to win their trust. Will they be able to see that relationship grow? He's not certain if the Malnosso will let them stick around much after this. They hold a power that is dangerous even to the Malnosso, and it's bad for business to have people stronger than you. Not to mention he doesn't know what the Malnosso are planning on doing with the Lucetians after the fact. So what's stopping the Malnosso from doing that to them one day, if that's how it plays out? Dropping them off in a ditch to die, if not already dead? And even if it doesn't play out with the Iron Eye the way he expects it to?

But despite all this, this is war. And one of their enemies just recently invaded them and almost made them their slaves. He can't forgive that. In addition to all the other crap they've pulled, stuff he's heard about from before he even arrived in Luceti. The grudge he holds against them is currently much larger than the one he holds against the Malnosso, and that is quite large after finding the experiment files on himself. Plus he has to think of his daughter and do what he needs to do to keep her safe. If the Malnosso want to get angry with them for involving themselves, then fine. He doesn't care. But he doesn't believe they will, based on the knowledge they've gathered. This might be "unspeakable" but at the end of the day, they're getting what they want. A blow to the cultists. He finds it hard to believe that there is anyone righteous at the top of this organization, no matter how they present themselves.

Asch is voting 1. He's no stranger to brutal methods or killing, and he's seen enough of the cultist behaviour over the years to recognize that their violence has been growing and they've been getting stronger too quickly. A way to take them out in greater numbers, even in such a risky way, is a chance he's not particularly bothered about taking. He's been willing to sacrifice great numbers to serve his own purpose before- taking out the enemy is a logical choice for him.

And even without trusting Iron Eye, he's tired of waiting for the Malnosso to throw them a bone one day and then experiment on them the next. He's sick of being a helplessly cooperative little "mouse". He wants to try being proactive, strike back, see what it gets them. Maybe something will finally change for Luceti.

Freyjadour isn't comfortable with the idea of the shift bomb, or it being deployed. The massive loss of life from such an object and it's effects are not something he's comfortable with, not something he ever will be, and the unknown effects it might still have are risky. He's seen something like this before, and knows any likely escalation of combat that spawns from this is going to be bad. But sabotage is likely to blow up in their face, and he doubts negotiating with the Iron Eye would convince them to look for another way, if they haven't already sought for one and fallen short. Telling the Malnosso would likely lead to sacrificing one of the only allies they have.

They need to gain an advantage over the cultists, and soon. Turning a blind eye would likely end in the bomb being dropped anyway, so at the very least, they'd gain something from helping. Pretending they aren't responsible for what they've seen and heard and become involved in by walking away is something he cannot do. The second they learned what was going on in the camp, they had a choice to make, and walking away wasn't going to absolve them of that responsibility to act.

Is he comfortable with helping them? No. Is it the best option available to them? Ultimately, yes. There is a passionate sort of loathing for this kind of thing given his personal experiences, but even if the choice is sickening, it's the only one that is most viable. He only hopes that Bil will not lead them astray when it comes to the possible risks of this shift bomb interacting with the natural shifts of the area.

Edited 2013-09-16 02:21 (UTC)

Jade Curtiss is someone who has himself regretted the introduction of dangerous technologies in this world. But as it is, it seems that any sabotage would be too late to stop the shift bomb technology from existing in general. Beyond that, taking into account the invasion and Bil's reports about the sad state of the war, it seems like the usage of the shift bomb is pragmatically the best option towards truly advancing in the war. A chunk of Cultist forces will be taken off the map for the forseeable future, which is an enormous boon in a war where enemies otherwise seem to be endlessly multiplying.

Jade also sees the value in allying with Bil and the Iron Eye. It opens the door for more positive alliances outside of the organization, which could be beneficial in improving their standing in the world, rather than playing by the Malnosso's rules. Jade had actually intended to ascend to a Malnosso position earlier; however, along with his participation in this likely destroying those chances, he has grown disillusioned with the organization in general now that he's seen their history of failures and horrors. And beyond that, Bil has told him that the Malnosso are bound to a heroic code which keeps them from making the pragmatic calls necessary to truly win wars.

Overall, Jade is choosing to throw his lot in with the shift bomb. He's sure he can stand being attached to one more unforgivable act, especially considering the number of lives that could be saved from potential Cultist attacks. And, it is a step closer to true independent action.

MOD QUESTIONS

VOTE

OPTION ONE

Re: OPTION ONE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: OPTION ONE

Re: OPTION ONE

OPTION ONE

Re: OPTION ONE

Re: OPTION ONE

no subject

Re: OPTION ONE

no subject

OPTION TWO

OPTION THREE

OPTION FOUR

The what the heck do we know thread

OOC information

HOW IT WAS FIGURED OUT

IC Briefing and Discussion

IC Briefing and Discussion