Mission #14 - Follow Up and Vote

[lucetimods]

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.

Comments

IC Briefing and Discussion

[voidseeing]

The meeting had, ostensibly, been called to discuss the matter of supplies going missing or being used inappropriately. It was easy enough to use that as a cover after all of the commentary Gai and Law had made about a certain someone misplacing and/or helping himself to some of Law's supplies-- it was all false, of course, but they'd needed an excuse to move around the camp and snoop around, and who would question a doctor looking for his medical supplies?

When the rest of the mission goers stepped into the tent, however, the expressions on Gai and Law's faces would quickly make clear that this was anything but a lecture about supplies and the proper use thereof. Gai stood at the front of the tent, watching everyone get settled with impassive grey eyes. He'd wait to speak until everyone was seated, but that was all the delay he was willing to allow.

"I'll get straight to the point," he said at last, when the majority of the group was seated and watching him. "Law and I have uncovered the Iron Eye's objective. They're building a Shift explosive to use on the cultists' underground city in this region. The Iron Eye is currently searching for the entrance to the city, and when they find it, they plan to use a Shift explosive to destroy it. I've received confirmation of this from an Iron Eye member themselves."

He paused, letting this information sink in. "There were a number of factors that led us to this conclusion." Now he turned his gaze to the tall doctor standing beside him. "Law, tell them what you encountered in the medical tents."

IC Briefing and Discussion

[deathsdoctor]

Law himself is standing slightly behind Gai even as he's beside him, eyes equally cool. The man isn't showing any emotion whatsoever - it's far too serious for that - and when he steps forward to speak, there's a certain different quality to his voice, even if it's the same steady tones.

"The Iron Eye has a massive amount of wounded among them, most with injuries that are explainable and expected for a group of mercenaries. However there is a group of their members that are segregated from the rest and their ailments weren't so immediately explainable."

Ino and Elizabeth would know exactly what he was speaking of - they had been in the same tents and it had come up in conversation with both of them. "These patients are suffering from radiation poisoning - in some cases quite severe - and Shift Afflictions. This is an area that has a high frequency of Natural Shifts and other dangers, so at first it looked like their cases weren't related until I had gotten a hold of their charting. The cause of their injuries were blacked out. I couldn't find a spec of history on any of them, suggesting, along with their grouping, that they had been laid up by the same thing."

He pauses here to allow the group to digest what he's said. It's a lot already. But there's more and once he thinks the group has absorbed that, he continues. "Further investigation revealed that the patients within that ward are predominantly of two types - guards and scientists. Treatment for a good number isn't being carried by the Eye's own medical staff, but Bilirubin himself."

His eyes sweep. "Given that, I had wondered if it was experimentation or the development of something, most likely a weapon given the players here, that was happening in secret. The patients weren't talking - some tried to play it off as the desert - and watching them revealed that they weren't only unwilling to speak with us but they were being bitter and resentful towards their own people as well."

He turns to the man with him, "So I brought this to Gai to see if he knew anything that would explain this. As it turns out..."

Law steps back. Gai is center stage once more.

IC Briefing and Discussion

[voidseeing]

Gai nods. "When we arrived, I recognized one of the Iron Eye members as being a former member of the MSF... and not just any member. Several months ago, I and a small group of others from Luceti were sent to a hospital in the Desset area to detain a group of rogue MSF who had taken control of the hospital with plans to sacrifice all of the patients there along with themselves. I was the commander for that mission."

His eyes harden as he speaks about it. It's still a sore spot for him, what happened on that mission. "The leader of the group was a man named Kovan Foster. It turned out that he had somehow managed to acquire a Shift explosive capable of leveling the entire hospital and everything within a one-block radius, and he would have done so had one of our number not sacrificed herself to take the explosive to a Shift-canceling room within the hospital."

Now he pauses to let the others start putting things together. "The former MSF member who is here was a member of that group. According to the other Iron Eye members, they aren't happy at someone from that mess being here. Yet for some reason, their leader hired her and is concealing her identity from them."

Looking around the room, he continues, "And that's not all. I spoke with Bil, and he had some very important facts to share with me. The cultists have an underground city out here-- a large one, larger than the one some of you may have encountered on the draft in the mines some time ago. They have yet to discover its entrance. What's more, he let me in on the fact that the war against the cultists is going badly. Very badly. At the rate things are going, it will be a miracle if we last even two more years against them, in his words." His eyes narrow. "So he's desperate. They're all desperate. Desperate enough to be willing to do something that he said would perhaps be unforgivable."

Hopefully this should all be adding up in everyone's minds. "I overheard some of the other Iron Eye members speaking about things, saying they were working with Bil because they needed his calculations for something, and that they were planning on showing the cultists something that hadn't been seen in this world for ages." A beat. "Given what Law and I knew, there was only one possible answer to all of this."

This time, the pause on his end is minutely longer as he considers how to word this without giving away the identity of the one who had confirmed the information. "Knowing that, I confronted the former MSF member in question, and her reactions confirmed our suspicions. She warned me not to get involved if I knew what was good for me, but there's no doubt that they are in fact constructing a Shift explosive to use on the cultist city."

IC Briefing and Discussion

[thefinaljedi]

"You mean they're building a bomb to use on a cultist population?" Luke steps forward, leaving his place against a wall to weigh in. His eyes are heavy, and his voice low. "Bil's saying it's unforgivable. That means that there are civilians in the city, yes?"

The idea was deplorable, an act banned by nearly every convention of warfare he knew, and these sorts of weapons had a habit of backfiring on the user, as well as the target. Standing behind such a thing...he's not sure he could. But then, this place was so different from home. Was it really such a bad thing, to let a group of mercenaries destroy a nest of insane zealots?

[godbent]

"Don't read too much into it. The Third Party doesn't have civilians"

She says this quickly. Haruhi doesn't rise from her seat to say it either. She only has a few inferred things (the fact they don't make their own weapons, the fact they're a death cult based in planetary extermination, and the fact that they recruit via people descending into madness - meaning they probably don't have industry or families) to make this statement with though, so it would be best if someone from the Mine draft confirmed this statement from her.

[misterbrief]

"It doesn't matter who's down there."

The Saiyan responds, eyes closed as he thinks upon the information he's just heard, leaning up against the side of a chair. "Didn't you hear what the man said? That bomb might make this planet uninhabitable if those people are suffering from radiation injuries. Or at least a good portion of the planet. Who knows what it's capable of. If it triggers an effect that washes over every region of this world, everyone will wish their wretched existence would end immediately."

[godbent]

Haaaah? The entire world? The young woman arches an eyebrow from her seat before turning to get a better look at the man who just said that. Older than her, short, lots of muscles.

"The entire planet? Don't be stupid." And at this she begins to count off on her fingers, "We're in the middle of nowhere, if they were going to use it just to blow up one enclosure it's clearly not going to do that, and they'd be detonating it underground anyway."

But then it hits her, duh--

"Besides, these two guys," with a wave at Gai and Law, "didn't give us any specifics about how the thing functions anyway, so that's just guesswork to begin with."

And at this, a turn and a half-stand to address everyone else in here, her hands going to her hips, "Did anyone even fish up solid details on it?"

IC Briefing and Discussion

[deathsdoctor]

"... not quite. Use of the weapon itself is banned. From what Gai's told me, deploying it is a war crime in itself." Law's expression is unreadable. Something is bothering him very badly for those who know him and can read him... it radiates off him subtly. "Vaskoth was the exception."

"That does not mean there aren't civilians in that city. From what I understand of the Third Party, it seems every member is bent to sacrificing the planet's population and actively working towards that goal, however of their actual society, we know little. However, personally, I do not think so."

IC Briefing and Discussion

[thefinaljedi]

"Do we have any idea why Vaskoth was the exception?" Luke asks this simply with a vaguely concerned look at the doctor. Something wasn't right with that, and something was off there. He couldn't say what, though.

Turning to include Haruhi and Vegeta in his query, he frowns thoughtfully. "So, what you're saying is that you believe this city is less a city and more an underground military complex. That's all well and good. But this weapon is banned for a reason, right? IF it's anything like similar weapons back home, there's probably a damn good reason. Super-weapons and excessive force tend to rebound on the people using them."

[misterbrief]

"Precisely. There are far better ways to wipe out their numbers than to blindly throw something like that into their nest. I'd prefer to go in myself and deal with them personally. There are some of us here who are more than capable of blowing up a city without creating a conflicting disturbance with the natural shifts that reside in this area." He shoots Luke a sly grin. He'll gladly volunteer for such a task.

IC Briefing and Discussion

[deathsdoctor]

"The virus was that bad, given from what I understand. They weren't willing to let it spread. The Malnosso were willing to go to extremes to contain it. Raze it from the soil and the waters and eliminate every single last person just to be sure it was gone."

It might not be the only thing, but there's only so much insight Law can give since he wasn't there for that and is operating off secondhand knowledge.

IC Briefing and Discussion

[voidseeing]

Gai nods. "I learned after the mission in the hospital that the use of the Shift explosive there had been concealed from the rest of the Malnosso. The only explanation for that would be that their use is forbidden, or considered to be a terrible crime. Unless, of course, Davis concealed it to avoid reporting his own intelligence failure."

[selphie_t]

It's a dog eat dog world outside of Luceti.

With Selphie's mind running a mile a minute thanks to the blanks being filled in, the young woman is oddly silent, perplexed. Mentions of the Mine and the Jungle stir up feelings of unease that she can't shake off. The colour run out of her face as she looks up at Frey with a mix of anger and confusion. There's still so much she doesn't remember, so many blanks left to fill that she can't think about this rationally.

They may not know if there are civilians in that underground city, but there's a possibility of it. If this happens to be true, then the perky brunette cannot condone this attack, not after what she's been through. Her personal feeling are blurring her thinking and the fists resting on her knees are pretty indicative of her thoughts on this. Innocent people dying from their actions is something that hasn't sat well with her since Trabia and knowing that it could happen again ultimately leaves her cold inside.

However, she's a mercenary and she can't let these thoughts cloud her thinking. She understands that they're ultimate purpose is to stop the cultists but where do they draw the line? She's used to being hated but that doesn't mean she has to like it. She closes her eyes eventually to try and tune out the debating going on around her. Eventually, Selphie shakes her head and lets it drop so she's staring at her lap when she opens her eyes again.

"I can't decide..." she says softly. "Kill a whole city of people for the greater good or stop the Iron Eye? It's like the missile crisis all over again only this time we're potentially playing the bad guys."

Assume this is after a lot of the above I just wanted a new heading

[godbent]

People are starting to head towards the idea of neutrality. Others are having moral objections to the bomb. Not that she doesn't understand both points. Really, at the bomb while she immediately got defensive to correct people's mistakes (or at least what she heard as being mistakes) in information she herself immediately thought of Weapons of Mass Destruction in her own world, and the idea of being complacent in, let alone helping, one of those go off made her feel somewhat unclean.

...But this wasn't Earth. It wasn't a nuclear bomb. And it wasn't being used on anything she considered human anymore. A part of her felt cold to realize this is what she thought of the Third Party now, but even as she was shaken by that realization, she knew it wasn't unjust. All they wanted was death: the death of those around them and eventually their own deaths. The deaths of everyone on the planet. The death of her friends and of potential allies.

Allies...

Haruhi clears her throat, stands, and goes to walk up to the front of the room. As she does this, she taps the badge on her chest, the same badge she'd given to a few receptive members of the Iron Eye in the course of their stay so far. And once she's up front, she spreads her arms to make it clear she has the floor. She's the Brigade Chief she can do these things.

"I'm Haruhi Suzumiya, Chief of the SOS-Brigade."

Most of them probably knew that, she's just making it clear.

"And I think we should help out the Iron Eye. If it's a matter of helping them deploy the bomb or helping them make an assault using super powered people like that spiky haired guy over there, it doesn't matter - but at least, we ought to help them find the entrance to the city.

Why? Because Luceti's not in a good spot right now. We don't have any solid allies, and the only ones who we can count on are," and now she holds up a finger for each of these, "One, each other - and we don't have a ton of power individually. Two, people out of power, like that Catherine guy who's here. Or three, people only need us as far as we can be experimented on or kill things."

She sets down the fingers before going on, "The incident when we were with the people from Kin'cora showed and what I've heard from people who go on more missions or have been in more drafts than me confirms that other enclosures don't look that favorably on us, because we're too close to the Malnosso.

And look- I'm not saying there isn't some benefit to that either! But I'd rather put my faith in people who aren't with them, or at least in that blue skinned guy that everyone risked the whole village to protect a year ago. After all, that guy's come through for us before - and more importantly, if word gets around that the Iron Eye likes us or that we helped blow up this big cultist stronghold, the other enclosures are going to realize they have us all wrong.

Who cares we get some punishment, we can take some of that! If we even do, given the Organization is desperate to deal a blow to the Third Party anyway. And frankly, I'd rather claim proudly that we did it than have them inevitably learn of our involvement later or blame us irrationally for ignorance after the fact."

That's what seems likely to her. Sigh, "The vision for the future of this world that I have has to see us with more allies - friends - who aren't in the Organization, and this situation is an obvious first step to getting some finally getting some!"

She taps the pin badge on her chest before she finishes with-

"Unless we sabotage the bomb ourselves or tell the Malnosso on them, both of which would be stupid, it's going to go off most likely. We should at least come forward to them and volunteer to do help them find the place, even if it's to negotiate that idea of taking it out some other way. Consider it, at least."

She sighs. She's a civilian. She should feel more confident than this though...

"That's all."

And with that, she actually does the polite thing - she bows just a little before leaving center stage. People can discuss that as they will because that's all she needs to say as far as she's concerned. Though people can come and ask her personally questions if they want.

[16autumnroad]

That's close enough to what Chouji's been thinking, putting together enough pieces of Shikamaru's information and evaluation with what they've learned here, that he catches himself nodding.

"Sabotaging plans without trying to destroy the bomb the bomb would mean killing the people making it. That includes Bil, who I've heard has benefited our enclosure in the past. Someone I trust helped protect him."

And then there's the point about blame later. "I don't like the idea of choosing to destroy a city, but I don't think we can stay out of it either. Our supplies excuse holds up as long as no one has reason to think twice about it, but we gathered everyone on the mission from Luceti for a private discussion. When something big happens, they'll remember this."

They didn't have a common code or a set method for passing information, nor did they have access to a communication jutsu. They probably didn't have any other efficient option for making this decision. That doesn't change the fact that Chouji has no faith in long-term secrecy. It doesn't much to put two and two together.

[goldenglasses]

"I don't want to do anything that could risk the Iron Eye or Bil. I don't particularly trust either of them with my life, but I trust the Malnosso less." At least that he could easily agree with. "Although using a weapon like this against a city of Third Party doesn't seem like the best solution. Especially if they are only people who have been driven mad by this world and lead astray. They'll come back again, angrier, and knowing that there is a power like this bomb out there."

He speaks softly and calmly; as if he was only stating options. Not something he actually cares really passionately for. Children who grew up in this world may eventually side with the Third Party. Would that maybe become true for Noah one day?

[yourfononsarewhack]

"They'll come back with penalties and one less city. We will be potentially handicapping and scattering some forces. And who knows what plans of theirs that will upset? This act could prevent another invasion scenario - or any other type of attack that we would have ended up being drafted to help with."

Also just assume this comes up at some point in the discussion...

[thefinaljedi]

Luke, after a while, finally broke in with his own bit of news. His own investigations had been fairly fruitful and he'd managed to transcribe a rather lengthy series of correspondences between the Iron Eye and the Malnosso. He speaks clearly, back straight and eyes moving to include everyone.

"I've got a bit more news myself. I did a little bit of snooping and managed to sneak into where they're actually constructing the bomb. I've seen it, and it's enormous. At least twenty meters, maybe more. The Shift Hunters that've been coming out the desert are definitely drawn to it, no doubt about that. The Eye's own are too."

He stops, clearing his throat before continuing in a more serious, level voice.

"And someone on the Malnosso side of things knows about the bomb. I got onto one of their lab computers and found some mail between Chief Specialist G.F. and the Eye, and it was usual stuff, back and forth until the last one from the Malnosso." Luke produces the paper and begins to read it verbatim.

"PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE:

To the Iron Eye

The area has been evacuated of all personnel. You are clear to proceed.

-Name Removed.

Which means that someone in the Organization knows about all this and approves of it."

[godbent]

You know, far from make her suspicious - which a part of her knows she probably should be - Haruhi feels a sense of relief, like a weight's been lifted from her shoulders at the second part. No, the Malnosso are not her allies... but.

That correspondence implies that someone made sure there won't be collateral damage if this bomb does indeed go off (not that his had been a big thing on her mind given how deserted this, well, desert is - still). She doesn't pipe in, but she does find herself smiling a little in spite of herself.

[yourfononsarewhack]

"Well, there you have it." He gives a shrug as he says this.

"Of course, this figure does not speak for the entire Organization. Very likely, he must be some remaining ally of Sir Catherine. If we do go ahead with aiding in the bomb's deployment, we may then have someone in the organization who is grateful towards us, after all."

[voidseeing]

"Specialist Davis," is Gai's instinctive response. "He's the one who knew about the Shift explosive used in the hospital, and the one who covered it up. It's the only answer that makes sense."

[deathsdoctor]

"Don't count out Mister CJ if we're thinking about suspicious parties. They've worked together before." Law cautions. "... he and Mister Bil go way back. He's just become Project Manager of Region 6. And he has the power and placement to cover a lot of tracks."

"... it could be one person on the inside, or more. We just don't know."

[voidseeing]

Gai considers this for a moment, then nods, reaching up surreptitiously to wipe at his forehead with his sleeve. "Either one of them would be a likely possibility," he says, trying to evaluate the options. "I just thought of Davis due to his prior connections to explosives like this. We know for sure that he knows of their existence."

[deathsdoctor]

"That we do."

Law eyes that sleeve. He'll need to get Gai into the clinic immediately once they're back.

"No matter what's chosen here, I imagine we'll have to be watching our backs for a long time."

[voidseeing]

"I'll take responsibility," he murmurs. "If the Malnosso want to blame anyone for this, they can blame me. I was the one who confirmed what was going on-- there's no need to drag anyone else into this."