Party To Treason 2: Valdragon's Coup

[noodlesnook]

“Aye,” Fionn says, eyeing Sony and Microsoft.

[Florien]

You nominate Lucky? Very well then.

---

The Candidate for Liason is Cat. Lucky (AL), Nominated by Aide Cpt. Banks (GA). Six to nominate, Cpt. Beck (XC, PS) has double voting power this round.

Aye

• Cpt. Banks (GA)
  
• Cat. Lucky (AL)
  
• Cpt. Columbo (SH)
  
• Lt. Mac Cumhaill (NW)
  
• Cpt. Sony and Cpt. Microsoft (AQ)
  
• Cpt. Frankenstein (NI)
  
• Maj. Harrier (SR)
  
• Cpt. Blixbo (VC)
  

Nay

[Oggy123]

"Actually, i'm okay with the cat."

[PointMaid]

Fine, I have no reason to think the cat is a mole. And it is cute. Aye.

[TenOfSwords13]

i shall aye this also! not that it means much given that we all seem very unanimous, but it's the thought that thinks!

[LavenderDream]

For all testing purposes, I vote "aye" on this. Let's hope this ends well.

[Florien]

And so... Lucky is the Liason. I must say I never thought I'd see the day such a thing happened, but I suppose you think you know what you're doing. We shall see if this plays out the way you think it might.

I'll send along your options shortly.

[wingedcatgirl]

Lucky paws at the folders placed in front of him for a few moments, then hisses loudly and bats one onto the floor.

... while someone cleans that up, it might be fastest to just go with the one that's still intact.

[Whistle]

Chef Beck smooches a bit, inviting Lucky to come over.
Here kitty kitty...
King of the city.

[Florien]

...Well, let's see what priority operation the cat decided on.

...

I'm disappointed, but not entirely surprised. Captain Banks, you're demoted to Acting Captain Banks. Your position was already tenuous, I have just made it that much easier to remove you. Also I'm going to need you to name someone to get a full audit done, because that's one of my low priority options. So do that.

(Announce your break-in choice and you'll receive the result.)

---

Operation Ham Slicer: A Loyalist Operation.

The recent Loyalty Day saw numerous high-ranking personnel and many previously influential people fall from favor. However, a non-loyalty day purge has shaken up several boards of directors and left a lot of empty spaces on four major boards. Seeing as you'll only be able to push in one sure Valdragon Supporter on each board, you'll have to figure out where they can be most effective at aiding the coup, and come up with reasoning for why that is that they'll be most effective in that position. Each board consists of the following options: Mayor, Town Comptroller, Junior Political Officer, Regional Media Director, Labor and Logistics Representative, Town Ombudsperson, Town Coroner, Lead Archivist, Insect Control District Senior Representative, and Gofer. So who goes in what position where, and most importantly, why?

• The first city is a recent addition to the Alliance, having been added to the territory just a few months ago. They were heavily integrated into other trade networks and put up a resistance. As a result, the city's been struggling to recover from the invasion, and is receiving a lot of aid funds to get rebuilt, only to see most of them embezzled. What position needs to be secured before all others?
  
• The second city is a relatively minor town with very little going on. It's far from anything important, and very isolated. It rarely receives attention from the Alliance, this recent purge is the first time it's been looked at in years. So, what position is most important to have supporting the coup there?
  
• The third city is middling in size and in all ways perfectly average, with the exception that it's been in the Alliance and the Coalition before it for decades, and has not once even slightly been trouble. Why it was targeted for a purge is mysterious, but not to pass up an opportunity is similarly important. So what position needs to have a Valdragon Supporter in it there, and why?
  
• The last of the cities is large and important, and already has nine known loyalists in line to be appointed, though it's not clear to what positions. This city is effectively a lost cause, but it's too valuable to not take a chance that one Valdragon supporter could make it that much easier to integrate, or at least weaken it appreciably. So where should that supporter go?
  

[TenOfSwords13]

plan! the plan is in here!

The first city is a recent addition to the Alliance, having been added to the territory just a few months ago. They were heavily integrated into other trade networks and put up a resistance. As a result, the city's been struggling to recover from the invasion, and is receiving a lot of aid funds to get rebuilt, only to see most of them embezzled. What position needs to be secured before all others?

comptroller. it seems to me that whoever's in control of building this town back up would decide it's future, and the Town Comptroller seems to be in the best decision to do such.

The second city is a relatively minor town with very little going on. It's far from anything important, and very isolated. It rarely receives attention from the Alliance, this recent purge is the first time it's been looked at in years. So, what position is most important to have supporting the coup there?

labor and logistics. nothing special needs to be done in the town, so just do what is necessary to control the flow of people and resources, which seems like it would be in the office of L&L.

The third city is middling in size and in all ways perfectly average, with the exception that it's been in the Alliance and the Coalition before it for decades, and has not once even slightly been trouble. Why it was targeted for a purge is mysterious, but not to pass up an opportunity is similarly important. So what position needs to have a Valdragon Supporter in it there, and why?

archivist. there's gotta be some sorta history or something useful in the archives, given the long-standing past of the city. we'll need someone to look into it.

The last of the cities is large and important, and already has nine known loyalists in line to be appointed, though it's not clear to what positions. This city is effectively a lost cause, but it's too valuable to not take a chance that one Valdragon supporter could make it that much easier to integrate, or at least weaken it appreciably. So where should that supporter go?

Gofer. if we need someone to be in the important place, and they'll be surrounded by enemies, intel is the best bet. and the gofer is the position that gets hold of letters, packages, etc.

i've also got questions for Juniper and the kitty. like... what the frickin' heck?

[PointMaid]

Yes indeed. Many questions.

[Kennifer]

"My explanation is simple. One, I believe we had all agreed that my appointing the cat was a way to test his loyalties. Two, I was not handed more than one coup-friendly operation. You, Victoria, should know that this could be a possibility; didn't you say all of your option choices to pass on had been loyalist ones?"

"I will use my breakin to check Sony and Microsoft; they're the others who people wanted to test, I recall."

[TenOfSwords13]

y'know what? that's fair. and your investigation choice seems solid! lots of things for me to have a good thinky think about.

[wingedcatgirl]

Lucky hisses again at the papers scattered on the floor. Is this his way of claiming both of his options were Loyalist operations, or does he just dislike how that folder smelled?

[PointMaid]

Victoria takes all of this in. Well, we have some information now, yes. But you didn't claim that all the operations were coup-friendly, Juniper. Question is... which one of you is sabotaging us, because it sounds like one of you. Unless it's both and you're trying to... obfuscate that you're working together. Not that I'd know anything about that sort of thing.

...Crazy family power grabs.

[PointMaid]

*Didn't claim that all the operations were Loyalist friendly, I meant

[Kennifer]

"Nor did I claim that both I passed along were."

[PointMaid]

Victoria sighs deeply. She might also be rolling her eyes.

Victoria Frankenstein's Plan

The first city is a recent addition to the Alliance, having been added to the territory just a few months ago. They were heavily integrated into other trade networks and put up a resistance. As a result, the city's been struggling to recover from the invasion, and is receiving a lot of aid funds to get rebuilt, only to see most of them embezzled. What position needs to be secured before all others?

Yes, yes, Comptroller. They're in charge of dispersing money in the city coffers. They'll be able to know about any embezzlement, and if necessary stop it - or use it to our advantage, naturally. Doing our own embezzlement or blackmailing the embezzlers to be friendly to us. And the amount of money at stake is, you say, vast and the local government is unstable! Large possibility to use it to our advantage. I was considering Media Director or Ombudsperson, but this isn't a Democracy, is it? Not like the ordinary citizens can do much if things they don't like are brought to light. And if we control the Comptroller, why should they?

The second city is a relatively minor town with very little going on. It's far from anything important, and very isolated. It rarely receives attention from the Alliance, this recent purge is the first time it's been looked at in years. So, what position is most important to have supporting the coup there?

...Fine, I'll go with the Regional Media Director this time. I know what I said about it in the last city, but really, so little going on? A little bit of slant in the news is all it'll take to keep it perfectly docile and even supportive of the coup. If it were close to something like a shipping port or there were more money at stake there might be reason to try for something else... and we can still use it to make sure that if we, say, hide something or someone out there for use in the coup later the word won't get out and people won't complain.

The third city is middling in size and in all ways perfectly average, with the exception that it's been in the Alliance and the Coalition before it for decades, and has not once even slightly been trouble. Why it was targeted for a purge is mysterious, but not to pass up an opportunity is similarly important. So what position needs to have a Valdragon Supporter in it there, and why?

Junior Political Officer. I agree, something fishy is clearly going on and we need to have an ear to the ground about it, or likely anyway. A political officer by nature is going to know about anything that might be planned against our supporters there and should be in a position to do something about it. Even a mayor gives way to a political officer when people are being taken down for their loyalties.

The last of the cities is large and important, and already has nine known loyalists in line to be appointed, though it's not clear to what positions. This city is effectively a lost cause, but it's too valuable to not take a chance that one Valdragon supporter could make it that much easier to integrate, or at least weaken it appreciably. So where should that supporter go?

Town Coroner. If we have to take one - or more - of the loyalists out out of necessity to give our supporters and the coup a chance in this city, well, they'll be in a perfect position to say that it was a perfectly natural death. Am I not correct?

[LavenderDream]

And that idea did not work out well. 

...Two, I was not handed more than one coup-friendly operation. You, Victoria, should know that this could be a possibility; didn't you say all of your option choices to pass on had been loyalist ones?"

Also, the wording of, "more than one coup-friendly operation" is starting to come off as, "I was given one high-priority and I discarded it for the Alliance's favor." Captain Frankenstein has a point.


 

Operation: Steamed Hams

1. The first city is a recent addition to the Alliance, having been added to the territory just a few months ago. They were heavily integrated into other trade networks and put up a resistance. As a result, the city's been struggling to recover from the invasion, and is receiving a lot of aid funds to get rebuilt, only to see most of them embezzled. What position needs to be secured before all others?
"It would definitely be beneficial to have a Town Comptroller here. Money is powerful in political positions, and having someone in accounting might help us receive a cut in the embezzlement funds."

2. The second city is a relatively minor town with very little going on. It's far from anything important, and very isolated. It rarely receives attention from the Alliance, this recent purge is the first time it's been looked at in years. So, what position is most important to have supporting the coup there?
"Mayor. Since the town is small and unimportant, it might be good to test the waters of what subtle Pro-Coup propaganda we can get away with."

3. The third city is middling in size and in all ways perfectly average, with the exception that it's been in the Alliance and the Coalition before it for decades, and has not once even slightly been trouble. Why it was targeted for a purge is mysterious, but not to pass up an opportunity is similarly important. So what position needs to have a Valdragon Supporter in it there, and why?
"Gofer. It's most definitely possible that there's something happening below everyone's noses. Having someone entrusted with errands in that location can allow us to detect any plans the Alliance might have."

4. The last of the cities is large and important, and already has nine known loyalists in line to be appointed, though it's not clear to what positions. This city is effectively a lost cause, but it's too valuable to not take a chance that one Valdragon supporter could make it that much easier to integrate, or at least weaken it appreciably. So where should that supporter go?
 "Junior Political Officer. This may be a lost cause in terms of conversion, but it's a bustling city with precious information."

[Kennifer]

"If you must know, I discarded a Loyalist operation."

[Florien]

Alright, let's take a look at your ideas and arguments for them so far.

Maj. Harrier's Org Chart

• Your logic is sound. A Comptroller does control the treasury and if we could make rebuilding for people loyal to us easier than those not... this could work.
  
• L&L. Your logic about controlling the flow of people and resources. This would be fine, for most places, but the town is a little isolated to have much flow of either. Perhaps it is a good position, but your argument is weak.
  
• Archivist. Hm. Yes, there probably are records there that we could use, the town's very old. Usually, the old information doesn't come up much, but it could be useful, and there might be things that never got copied.
  
• That's very sound logic there. I don't have issue with it, the opportunity to look through loyalist mail is something that we don't have a lot of people doing. Though, I will say, the Gofer is traditionally the most disposable... so they will have to be careful about it.
  

Cpt. Frankestein's Org Chart

• Comptroller. Seems we're building a consensus on this. The control of the treasury and the logic of closer control of embezzlement does seem sound. Otherwise, there is not much to say here.
  
• RMD? Well, if nothing much is going on, a subtle media director could get them on our side... or at least prevent them from finding out about the coup until it's too late. It's isolated, so it might take a while there too. I do think you are correct about the isolation being potentially useful for hiding our supporters if necessary.
  
• Junior Political Officer... I suppose that's a reasonable position. It is true that political officers, while nominally they report to the mayor, do have broad authority to investigate the town. I am unsure what you expect to find there, but it could be something interesting.
  
• Coroner. You know, Lanthanide's traitor was in the coroner position. Both of them. That position is always up to something. I suppose it's certainly a safe bet, and the logic about being able to cover up deaths if necessary is certainly sound.
  

Cpt. Blixbo's Org Chart

• Comptroller again, with... little different argument. I agree with prior logic on the position, but "money talks" is becoming increasingly less true in the Alliance... though I do not know if you were told that directly. Help in embezzling is a reasonable argument.
  
• Mayor... well, I suppose it's isolated. A Mayor is loud, but I don't fully understand the argument of how the mayor would produce subtle propaganda... unless you're being sarcastic, in which case, I suppose sometimes unsubtlety can be useful.
  
• That's two of you thinking that town has something strange going on. I can't say I disagree, by all prior logic the town wasn't in line for a purge, and certainly not an off-loyalty-day-purge... Maybe it's related to what happened to Callenbourne. A gofer could look through things and figure out why the Alliance got so worried about that town, I suppose.
  
• JPO. A risky play, they're quite valuable. They may not control much information at that level though... I don't know if that's strictly the best idea.
  

[Kennifer]

Juniper's Plan

• The first city is a recent addition to the Alliance, having been added to the territory just a few months ago. They were heavily integrated into other trade networks and put up a resistance. As a result, the city's been struggling to recover from the invasion, and is receiving a lot of aid funds to get rebuilt, only to see most of them embezzled. What position needs to be secured before all others?
  
  "Not to be a broken record, but I'd put the Town Comptroller here. Money might not talk as much here as it does at home, but apparently it talks enough to be embezzled. An official who can track down the embezzled funds can help find who's embezzling them."
  
  
• The second city is a relatively minor town with very little going on. It's far from anything important, and very isolated. It rarely receives attention from the Alliance, this recent purge is the first time it's been looked at in years. So, what position is most important to have supporting the coup there?
  
  "It might not be important, but there could be records of something going on. Especially if it's isolated. So I'll send the Archivist here. They could figure out why it's suddenly important enough to be on the radar."
  
  
• The third city is middling in size and in all ways perfectly average, with the exception that it's been in the Alliance and the Coalition before it for decades, and has not once even slightly been trouble. Why it was targeted for a purge is mysterious, but not to pass up an opportunity is similarly important. So what position needs to have a Valdragon Supporter in it there, and why?
  
  "Perfectly average places often have things going on behind the scenes, don't they? I mean there's got to be some reason it's being targeted for a Purge. Someone like a Labor and Logistics Representative might be able to find out what's going on with the common people, the workers. Workers often have complaints about higher-ups, as I've seen first hand."
  
  
• The last of the cities is large and important, and already has nine known loyalists in line to be appointed, though it's not clear to what positions. This city is effectively a lost cause, but it's too valuable to not take a chance that one Valdragon supporter could make it that much easier to integrate, or at least weaken it appreciably. So where should that supporter go?
  
  "I'd place the Ombudsperson here. Address complaints about the new appointees directly and try to get them taken down."
  

[Florien]

Acting Cpt. Banks's Org Chart

• Comptroller. Again. Okay. Finding the embezzlers is certainly something that they could do. They also are just as likely to start participating, but either way, they're doing something useful.
  
• An archivist to figure out why the town's been targeted. That's certainly a plan, though I don't see how it being isolated is connected to it having valuable information. It might have unique information, but it would be very narrow under nearly all circumstances.
  
• L&L for Kasserene, okay. I suppose talking with the lowest people could present some reason for why this purge hit there. It seems unlikely to pay off though, I don't see what they'd know that we, who have access to much privileged information, wouldn't.
  
• ...That's actually quite clever, in principle. A smart Ombudsperson could conceivably frame some of the loyalists there, and we may be able to have a chance to gain multiple seats. I do like that one.
  

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

The comptroller seems like the most obvious choice. Someone who can keep a close eye on where the funding goes and to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. One that would see the money go to its rightful place.

Bring in the mayor for this city. It's a small, isolated town, as you said. Since it hasn't gotten the attention from the Alliance, bringing in one of the Valdragon people to oversee it would hopefully gain some Alliance attention and having a leader there should make sure things don't fall apart. Every little bit counts at this rate.

A junior political officer might be of use here. One who can investigate the atmosphere of the town and find out why it fell into the purge. We need someone who can tell us what's going on and why.

The Town Ombudsperson might be a good fit for a big town such as this. One who can look into everyplace where the loyalists have influence. Find out where they're all being assigned. And hopefully, turn it around where we can get a Valdragon person instead. Maybe we can get a few if we're lucky.