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

[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.

[falenandawn]

"The underground city we visited once over a year and a half... no, nearly two years ago did have residences. I could not say if there were civilians, but they did have housing. It was a poor situation in which to gauge it's manner of use, with tunnels caving in all around and our focus on defending the mines." He glances at Vegeta, giving a surprised look the implied boast. Just how powerful was this man....?

[thefinaljedi]

"I remember the reports from that. I was conscripted, myself. But then I was kidnapped the day before the draft started so..." He shrugs. "I can't say anything about that." Looking at Vegeta, he offered the man (who was actually shorter than he was) a faint, flickering smile. "If we had a feasible way to do something like that, I wouldn't disagree. Better than a bomb like that. But is such a thing feasible? What we know suggests it's bigger than the last city."

[16autumnroad]

"Most cities need civilians to function, unless their soldiers are performing multiple duties." He knows better than to compare the cultist city to the hidden villages at home, but there are always support personnel. It could be closer to a warzone camp, of course, just with more permanent structures.

"Can you blow up a city even with our abilities blocked? I've barely felt my chakra the whole time I've been here. How far does that effect extend?" Chouji doesn't doubt the ability of someone powerful to level a city, he just doesn't think most of them are anywhere near as powerful as usual right now.

[floralogy]

"Maybe the spiky-haired guy over here has some way to do it without using his abilities or something." Ino quips with a shrug. She can't feel her chakra either and it frustrates her because a mind-reading jutsu would have done the trick for this information gathering.

After being quiet for some time, Ino sighs. "You know, Chouji, I really wish Shikamaru was here. He'd know this stuff better than the two of us."

[16autumnroad]

Chouji's been wishing for Ino's jutsu and Shikamaru's presence, so he can't say he's surprised when Ino voices one of those frustrations. He reaches out a hand to grip her shoulder. "I do too. I take it for granted, that Shikamaru will make the best decisions. I argue or have trouble following through sometimes, but I've always trusted his judgement the most."

He thinks about it in silence for a moment before murmuring, "We know him better than anyone, though. We shouldn't make Shikamaru responsible for our decisions when he's not even here. That isn't fair." Chouji told someone once how grateful he is not to be the one burdened with the decisionmaking. He doesn't want to add to that for Shikamaru. "But we consider what we think he'd do before deciding."

[floralogy]

She's quiet for a moment, just appreciating the hand Chouji used to comfort her.

"But we consider what we think he'd do before deciding."

She mulls on this for quite some time because Chouji's right, they know him the most here but at the same time they shouldn't put the burden of decision-making when he's not even here. All the same, she wants them to make a decision that Shikamaru will agree with.

"You're right." There, she said it. Another careful pause before she continues. "I will take into consideration, though, that Shikamaru risked his life for Bil and I had a hand in protecting him as well. While I don't trust Bil with my life, I don't want our efforts before to end up being futile when we report back to the Malnosso with his location."

That's one thing to think about and something to take into account.

[16autumnroad]

Chouji nods agreement. He had also taken into account everything Shikamaru told him about Bil, even if he wasn't here when it happened. "And I don't want to sabotage the bomb. I think we'd blow ourselves up. We'd have to target the people involved in making it to stop their plan without doing that, though, and that includes Bil." People are more reasonable opponents as far as Chouji is concerned. He knows nothing about the mechanisms of the bomb. He's in agreement with Ino when it comes to Bil. Shikamaru said he doesn't trust Bil, but that Bil has frequently worked to their advantage.

Besides, killing the scientists and tacticians wouldn't stop them from continuing plans. It's such a strange thought, and it means realigning instinctive strategies from years of training as a shinobi. Death isn't permanent.

[floralogy]

Ino nods.

"That's true." Moving the bomb alone is dangerous, what more tampering with it? While death isn't permanent in this world, she can't take any chances. She doesn't want any of her senses taken away from her like what happened to Temari.

There's a pause on her end as she mulls on certain stuff.

"I'm curious, though, why the bomb is so dangerous, it warrants prohibition. Like, what does it do exactly? And will it one hundred percent work? I, for one, don't want that kind of technology in the hands of the Malnosso, or worse, the Third Party."

[16autumnroad]

"I hope someone will have more information to share before we have to make a real decision." The amount of damage that can be done by the wrong person with a weapon of that magnitude has never been more obvious to Chouji than since the war began at home. "Could anything we do here ensure that we keep it out of their hands, though, or is it better to use it while we can?"

He doesn't want to use a weapon without understanding it either, though. None of this is comfortable for Chouji. "I don't like this. Do you think the Malnosso suspect anything already?"

[misterbrief]

"Of course it is. The problem is getting there and getting inside. Once inside, however? It's a piece of cake." He truly does not see the point in risking the planet for something they didn't even know that would work. But a small group of Lucetians who could take care of business? He'd prefer that. He'd get to destroy them with his own two hands, and keep the planet intact.

[godbent]

She has no objection to that on principle - frankly it sounds preferable. But Chouji's point has to be echoed so-

"That's assuming that the natural shifts don't cause problems for you in there and assuming that their shifters can't shut your down immediately."

[misterbrief]

"Yes, I know. If anything it would have to be some sort of stealth operation, if at all possible. Those shifters who nullify our abilities are a problem. But, I've reason to believe that if the outside is wrought with natural shifts, that they'd be smart enough to protect themselves from such on the inside. The last thing they'd need is something interfering with their own numbers."

He glances over to Chouji. "Or, we can find out how far into the atmosphere those natural shifts extend. I know of a few techniques that might be able to penetrate their city without even entering. That is, if they don't have their own barrier encompassing their compound." But that option, he feels, is far more dangerous and less preferred.