1. Add a comptroller, and give them liberal knowledge of the money. A bountiful harvest may come our way from there, though it may likely also cause a famine in that town as well.
   
2. Season with a charismatic mayor. Someone to unite the people in the face of adversity, while quietly sowing the seeds for the people to support the Valdraconic coup.
   
3. Saute with an archivist. Check out the causes of the coup, and purge any exonerating evidence suggesting Valdragon had anything to do with it. Change the flavor of the coup so people support Valdragon more.
   
4. Flambé with an ombudsman. Destroy the city from the inside, then take control from there, as garlic sprouts from its cloves.
   

• oh wow another comptroller. Not even trying to come up with compelling arguments for it, are we? Just "comptroller and done?" Okay.
  
• Bold. I don't dislike the idea in principle. They certainly will have difficulty spotting the problem quickly with how isolated that place is.
  
• JPO... Why do you care so much about the mysterious nature of the purge here, but not the isolated one? This is an open question to everyone. Not that I object to investigating it but nonetheless, it is certainly strange. I'm starting to suspect all of you are hiding something about town two.
  
• I should not have said Acting Captain Banks's idea was clever, should I? Now we're going to be deluged by poorly reasoned Ombudsperson arguments, assuredly. You put more words into identical reasoning, your parsimony is lacking, and I find that disloyal.
  

• I wonder what your suggestion is for the first town. Oh look wow, how surprising! It's another comptroller with... at least you're arguing that we could starve the town with their techniques, if necessary. That's an argument not previously brought up.
  
• Mayor, adversity... I suppose, but I don't know what adversity this isolated place has faced. I suppose it will save us some time and prevent a long insurgency of Loyalists.
  
• A strange argument for archivist... though I suppose they'd be reasonably placed to figure out why the Alliance even bothered with an off-season purge. I'm fairly sure it's Callenbourne's fault though, he got caught during his plot, and he was the main Coalitionist leader. He didn't even get a chance to go to the acid mines, Sendri personally killed him as soon as they got the chance. I can't help but suspect that was for my benefit... though Sendri probably does not know about the coup. I did get to kill a man for smoking though.
  
• If you want to destroy the city from the inside outright, I'm sure you could find someone better placed for that.
  

Lucky is a very smart cat! ... Unfortunately, a very smart cat is still not super brilliant compared to any sapient animal. Still, he'll try his best! Or maybe he'll just run around incoherently in the general vicinity of the files and someone will project their own intent onto him and everyone else will just go with that because it's easier than waiting for something clearer. Definitely one of those two things.

1. The first city is a recent addition ... struggling to recover from the invasion, and is receiving a lot of aid funds to get rebuilt, only to see most of them embezzled.
Lucky knocks a coin onto this city's file, indicating the most obvious choice, the Comptroller. If there's an embezzlement problem, the coup needs to get in on that and make sure the stolen funds go in the right place.

2. The second city is a relatively minor town ... this recent purge is the first time it's been looked at in years.
Lucky looks at this city's file and yowls annoyedly, in a manner that might be addressed to a Town Ombudsperson. Small towns are notorious for their drama, and having a spy there will place them in a perfect position to direct the flow.

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.
While sitting on this file, Lucky bats at the nearby computer and starts up a propaganda video, suggesting a Regional Media Director. A town this obedient will surely believe anything they hear, including any little "slips" that undermine the Alliance's propaganda.

4. The last of the cities is large and important ... effectively a lost cause...
With only one file left, Lucky pounces on one of his favorite toys, a little plushie of a Gopher. ... Er, a Gofer. Since whoever goes to this city is going to be surrounded by loyalists, they're not going to have much room to maneuver, regardless of their position. A role like this will make them seem unimportant, not worth paying attention to. It will also provide them with opportunities to sneak in little acts of sabotage when an opportune moment arises.

The first city…
Unlike my comrades, I believe the Labour and Logistics Representative would best help this situation. I can see someone in that position having great influence on the economy, or at least certain parts of it.

The second city…
Town Coroner. Have someone they'd never suspect to get information on this place.

The third city…
The Gofer, I'd say. They'd be able to go undercover and help us get to the bottom of this mystery, and perhaps sow some seeds of pro-Valdragon sentiment along the way.

The last of the cities…
I would go with the Town Ombudsperson. We'd benefit from someone who could get an inside look and potentially destroy the whole thing from the inside. And with the need to keep public face, nobody would suspect them.

• Even the cat? Okay. No unique and interesting arguments there, but at least... well I assume that's an argument.
  
• Ombud. That's certainly an unexpected choice. I like it. I... is there even an... I think you made an argument. Small town drama certainly is something.
  
• Finally, someone not focused on the fact that there was a purge there. Right. So... that seems reasonable, they haven't been a problem before, so keeping them pacified or out of the loop is a good idea.
  
• I don't know how I understand your arguments for this. It's possible I'm just projecting onto your choices. I agree with that choice based on those merits.
  

• Finally! Someone picked something else. Let's see. Hm, yes. I do like that argument. I think you could have taken it a step further. But nonetheless, it's original and clever.
  
• Terrible idea. It's a small town, not enough people die there for a coroner to be useful, if you want to gather information, there's better positions for it. We have options.
  
• I don't see how a Gofer is going to sow sentiments... nor how the mystery would be solved by someone so low-status. Or that there's that much of a mystery in the first place.
  
• A public face does mean they'll be accused more, and thus suspected less, I think. The issue is they could be under more scrutiny because of it. It's certainly an idea, though it's also Captain Beck's idea and neither of you elaborated on how an ombudsperson could destroy a city. If you really want to just cause damage, the Insect Control department would probably be a better path, if you use it correctly.
  

The camera looks into a dark concrete room with a drain. Captain Walson is cuffed to a chair in the middle, beaten and bloody, and gagged. A soldier steps into the frame, a young floran wearing sunglasses. Well, wearing is a poor description, they're more awkwardly perched on their forehead. They are clearly not actually a captain, and their uniform is a bloodstained mess, but they seem friendly enough as they face the camera.

Sso, welcome to the Alliance'ss educational video on how to causse pain to your prissonerss, should you be assked to do sso. Doess everyone remember the previousss lesssonss? Yess? Good. Sso, you should have ssuccesssfully masstered being willing to usse force like thiss. Thiss here iss a particularly notable traitor. Would you sstate your name for the camera, traitor?

The floran pokes Victoria with a baton. Victoria cannot respond, on account of being gagged.

FOLLOW ORDERSS!

The soldier strikes Victoria in the stomach with the baton. A muffled whimper is all that comes out.

Thiss technique you have jusst witnesssed iss the "unfair sstrike" pioneered by our gloriouss department of hitting people. As can be sseen, floran assked thiss traitor to do ssomething that floran was preventing her from doing, and then ussed force when she didn't comply. Thiss caussess pssychological damage in addition to physsical pain. Alsso, note the blow iss to the gut area. Thiss iss not required, but iss effective at...

The video goes on like this, with all kinds of techniques demonstrated for physical torture of restrained prisoners. Eventually, after thirty grueling minutes of increasingly violent methods, the soldier picks a hammer, used earlier for hand-smashing, off the table.

Now, floran iss going to demonsstrate ssome "don'tss" of handling prissonerss authorized for torture. Obvioussly, if an alliance ssoldier like you has been given accesss to one, you're probably not ssuppossed to kill them. Sso here are ssome techniquess that are rissky or ineffective. The worsst thing you can do iss sstrike here.

The Floran swings hard at the base of Victoria's skull, but pulls back at the last minute.

That can causse internal decaptiation, or tear the brainsstem, both of which causse very quick death. Sso don't do that. Iss not a great thing. Here are ssome other common misstakess.  Front-Of-Neck injuriess should be avoided alsso.

A swing at Victoria's neck that stops short.

That could crush the windpipe, and that causses death, though sslower. Thiss can be fixed, but ideally should not be done in the firsst place. Prissonerss should not be killed before you get the order to. Another common misstake iss underesstimating leg woundss, in particular compound fracturess...

This time the hammer connects. The almost silent pain of Victoria as her bones crunch under the hammer is deeply uncomfortable, to those of you who haven't been desensitized to physical torture. The video goes on for another ten minutes before an increasingly disoriented Victoria passes out and finally dies, for reasons not immediately obvious, as all sources of blood loss have been patched over in previous clips. The soldier turns towards the camera.

Now, floran made a key misstake here earlier, and it may not be immediately apparent. Can the audience at home figure out what it iss?

The video pauses for a moment for the target audience (which you are not) to shout out the answer, presumably something they learned in a previous video in the series you have not been shown.

Yess, that'ss right, as you ssaw in the earlier torture techniquess, floran sstruck thiss temple, right here, on our traitor here!

The video plays back an earlier scene and circles a frame, and then zooms in on the blow in question.

Thiss iss an excellent way to causse brain bleeding, which iss often fatal and difficult to catch. Now, it can alsso take a while before problemss pressent! Sso remember, when ussing highly physsical torture, you need to be careful, becausse all bodiess are very fragile, and you don't want to kill them outright. Floran will ssee you again in the advanced lesssonss, recruitss! Alsso, don't forget to watch the Ssendri lecture Sseriess on the purposse of brutality to better undersstand why we do thiss, and ssome thingss you can ssay to outssiderss poorly informed to get them to believe thiss policy achievess ssomething it iss not intended to achieve.

1. So what are you going to pack for your trip...?
Well, strictly speaking, Lucky isn't going to be doing any packing. Look at him with his tiny paws and no opposable thumbs! His handler, on the other hand, is quite well-versed in what a cat needs on a beach vacation. The cat carrier, nice and comfy just like Lucky likes it. Food and water bowls, and also food and water. And treats, don't forget treats! (Yummy delicis 3 😋; the laws forbidding its use as a snack in favor of the newly-approved 5 are still in committee.) A litter box and litter, obviously - don't worry, Lucky is very well trained and knows the difference between litter and a beach. A nice brush to get the sand out of his fur, and toys to occupy him when he's in the cabin. And of course, a proper swimming collar! (Bureaucratic regulations define appropriate swimwear in such a way as to categorically exclude one's normal clothing, even when one normally wears so little. Luckily, a specifically-designated swim collar satisfies the requirements.)

2. ... What's the most fun thing you can do with a sniper rifle on the island?
There are many things to be done with a sniper rifle, but the most important one is to carefully remove the laser sight and RED DOT RED DOT GET THE RED DOT GET IT GET IT GET IT

3. ... what's the sandcastle plan?
Step 1 is of course to gather lots of building material, make a big sand pile. Step 2 is to dig in the pile. Step 3 is to be in the pile. Love the pile.

... the handler adds some crenelations, mostly for looks since Lucky doesn't exactly have a longbow on paw.

4. ... What else are you going to do at the Tropical Ski Resort?
After a hard day of chasing, digging, and swimming, Lucky is all tuckered out. He's gonna find a nice warm spot and take a nap. (His handler, on the other handler, will be drinking a nice tropical beverage out of a coconut shell with a little umbrella in it. After brushing all the sand out of Lucky's fur, of course.)