[LP CYOA] Epic

[TOME]

I'm flopping to 2A. This with 1B should ensure our victory over the Governor.

 

[Jester]

What story Senya will link to 2A? Dick attacked refugees to force them to vote on Governor? Who will do killing?

i somehow cant imagine how this choice can end up good.

PS mby if we make it look like Governor trying to sabotage our reputation further... that would be worthwhile to stage.

 

[Rex Feral]

As mentioned in the update, the voters are split equally into two camps right now and you have no margin to speak of. There are hardly any fence-sitters left, and those remaining are keeping their preferences to themselves. No one knows how they will vote.

In 2A, if anyone traces the act back to your orders, you are in trouble. It'll involve some ruthless witness silencing to ensure the chances of that happening are kept to a minimum.

And knowing treave someone will find out, and it most probably be a cool dude and we'll have to unjustly silence him.
Ok, flipping to 2.B...BBC

 

[treave]

What story Senya will link to 2A? Dick attacked refugees to force them to vote on Governor? Who will do killing?

Dick and his men will be doing the killing (of course, you'll give them incentive to do so), one thing leads to another, and angry refugees will kill him in return. It doesn't need to be related to the election, the Governor has publicly tied Dick to him and so whatever he does will reflect on the Governor too. The point is to create sympathy for Senya's side and anger towards the Governor's. Besides, relations between the citizens and the refugees are actually still alright thanks to the Order of Pithos's efforts and the fire-fighting event.

 

[TOME]

Bros, I'm sure the current winning combination BBB isn't enough to win the election. BxB only counters the Governor's cheating and 2B isn't going to win us many votes while the Governor is buying more and more votes. To win the election, we have to either cheat big (AxB) or set up a massacre (BAB). Or we could go full retarded and get rid of the competition (xxC/xxD).

 

[treave]

Going to be rather busy, sorta going through a transition period with real life things right now, so won't have time to sit down and update probably until the end of the week or next week.

 

[Azira]

That means, it's flippin-floppin' time!

OK. Who's first?

 

[Smashing Axe]

I still haven't voted yet. Not going to until I'm done with my assignments. I may or may not be susceptible to bribes...

 

[Tigranes]

Bros, I'm sure the current winning combination BBB isn't enough to win the election. BxB only counters the Governor's cheating and 2B isn't going to win us many votes while the Governor is buying more and more votes. To win the election, we have to either cheat big (AxB) or set up a massacre (BAB). Or we could go full retarded and get rid of the competition (xxC/xxD).

This is right. We're going to need 1A or 2A at least to make sure we win this, or just go Revolushun. It's a bit late to call for a revolution after you lose handily in the election, even if you know it was a farce, and it certainly won't impress Iannes, Mere or Qin. We have to go for it one way or another. 3B helps but it's hardly enough, it's going to be the least effective of the 'borderline' solutions because it's just not our strength and it's not what we've been doing.

AAA to try and help turn the tide, a combined BBA or BBB is going to fuck us over like last time when we were too wishy-washy.

 

[Kayerts]

Okay guys, let's think about the various more radical options to win the election.

Having the world's greatest hacker flip a single bit in the election tabulation code vs.
Plotting a massacre that we frame a dude for and also kill all witnesses to vs.
Assassinating the governor while his guards are on full alert, and making it look like an accident, with about 2 days to plan it

I would posit that one of these is easier than the others.

 

[Anabanana]

Ugh. Fine, flopping. Will edit my original post.

 

[TOME]

treave, is there a less chance to get caught hacking if we blackmail the electro officials?

 

[treave]

treave, is there a less chance to get caught hacking if we blackmail the electro officials?

Good catch. Though the chances of getting caught remain about the same, they will be more inclined to turn a blind eye to the results of the hacking if you are blackmailing/cajoling/bribing them. A few smarter officials might piece together 1 and 1, figuring your plan out on their own, but that's less risky than telling them outright to ignore your hacking.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

A - If we're caught, we're caught. Just like with denouncing, the spinmasters will tar and feather us.

B - Duh. We kill him and his dad will hate us. Family loyalty, remember?
A - Refugee massacres are good times for the whole family...

B - We picked the wrong options, bros. We can't start a revolution - we didn't train up our people for fighting, remember? And we can no longer resort to assassination as our rep is tarnished - the people would just see it as us stealing the election and then *we'd* have a revolution on our hands... The only option is to strengthen our cheating with B.

 

[Rex Feral]

ABB

 

[Kipeci]

AAB

 

[Baltika9]

Have to think about this, but appealing to the public for cheating doesn't seem a great move - when does that work out in real life unless you're just planning to follow that up with a violent revolution?

That's definitely not off the cards.

Sadly, Lambchop is right and our men won't be able to win a revolution by themselves, they are nowhere near skilled enough.The only readon I have confidence in it is our powersuit and persona of Glorious Brother Leader. Gee, we could really use some Skiitarii right about now.


I'd go for CBD- have Dickie recant, thereby taking away some of Camna's gained ground; let the election play itself out and, should we lose all else fail, stirr the public in an uproat against Camna's corruption and let the Terran Crusade begin! Sure, it'll be bvery sloppy and, well, Soviet, but the glorious Imperial Army must start somewhere.

Edit: the only drawback is that this will make us an obvious enemy for the Star League, but isn't that what we were aiming for in the first place with our potential ally? As far as I'm concerned, this will take us two steps forward in one go. Sure, much more vigorous when compared to what Senya was up to in the last couple of months, but he can take it, I'm sure.

Edit 2: can't wait to meet Marduk (or is it a mad, cannibalizing Ares?). It's been far too long.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Eh, you do realize that 3D is for just starting the revolution now and not waiting for the elections, right? Least that's how it seemed worded...

Anyway, on the idea of revolution in general:

Our persona right now is "the evil we don't know" to about half of the planet. Not sure how that half will feel should we attempt an outright takeover. Oh, and our powersuit giives you confidence, eh? Our unfinished powersuit? ( treave, it is still unfinished, right?) We haven't even been able to build out a single fully functional prototype and already we're talking about using it in a planetary civil war?

I really don't think we're prepared for a full on revolt. We didn't go with the high-tech mafia, we went with the loyal business men mafia.
We didn't start training our own personal sardaukar troops, we instead opted to lay low and not freak out our allies.

If and when shit hits the fan in a revolt you can bet on a few things, imho:
1. Camna will act against us with military force.
2. Many of our supporters will be rounded up, and since we chose not to train them, they'll be virtually helpless.
3. Our mafia friends will either desert us as our power structure breaks down or possibly provide some support and/or smuggle us out. Depends on how loyal they really are, but I doubt they'll be willing to rebel outright and start fighting the feds with our rag-tag group regardless.
4. Our immortal friend will see our weakness and failure to fullfill our promise to her and strike at us without mercy - using Spikey and friends and possibly the Kyrie clone too.
5. I will point at all of you and laugh for not putting that immortal's head in a jar when we had the chance...

 

[Tigranes]

Yeah, we definitely can't do a revolt, we've taken none of the revolt-preparation options. We would get mowed down and killed, fast, once there's enough justification to use force against us. The best we can do at this stage is hack & sabotage (AAA or AAB) and hope we don't get too caught and win. Or flee again. Certainly we need to commit to the enterprise (of winning the election at least semi-legally, enough that we can say we 'won' it).

 

[treave]

I would have 3C and 3D override all the other choices, since they will be carried out almost immediately. Even though the suit is incomplete - the two major remaining systems that still haven't been fixed up are the gravity shields and the fuck-off city-block vaporizing black hole cannon - you still have enough firepower with it to wipe out the Governor's palace in an advance strike, and Camna along with it. He'll never see it coming.

 

[TOME]

Guys, we really need to orchestrate bad publicity for the Governor if we want to win/not get caught hacking the voting machine. Everyone is going to suspect cheating if we miraculously win the election when all odds favor Camna. Don't worry about the family loyalty Lambchop19 speaks about; Dick's father won't find out it was us, because we won't be killing him.

Dick and his men will be doing the killing (of course, you'll give them incentive to do so), one thing leads to another, and angry refugees will kill him in return.

 

[Tigranes]

What's the tally? A poor mix of, say, BAA would really fuck us over.

 

[TOME]

I think the winning combination is ABB at the moment.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Guys, we really need to orchestrate bad publicity for the Governor if we want to win/not get caught hacking the voting machine. Everyone is going to suspect cheating if we miraculously win the election when all odds favor Camna. Don't worry about the family loyalty Lambchop19 speaks about; Dick's father won't find out it was us, because we won't be killing him.

Dick and his men will be doing the killing (of course, you'll give them incentive to do so), one thing leads to another, and angry refugees will kill him in return.

Missed that quote. Sounds like fun. Flopping to AAB.
We will eventually have to take care of that prick before his pop bites it and he becomes the new don anyway. :shrug:

 

[treave]

AAB then. Let's have a quick update as we move towards closing this chapter.

***

Ultimatum

Eighty three dead. Two hundred and twenty six injured. And by the end of the election, an overwhelming majority for Governor Iannes Shinar, gathering more than 80% of the popular vote.

In the years to come historians would look back at former Governor Camna's folly in recruiting a known gang member to his cause, and wonder if all was as it seemed on that fateful, tragic day. There were contradictory accounts about how the riots started. Some say that the refugees provoked Dick Tarcus and his men. Others claim that hot-headed Dick fired the first shot. The one thing every report agreed on, however, was that one of his lieutenants, a loyal gun by the name of Joe Carson, was the one who made the ill-advised - and fatal - suggestion for Dick to venture into the refugee quarter.

By the first night of the riots, Iannes and his supporters, the Order of Pithos, had already called for Camna to take responsibility for Tarcus's actions and resign. The patriarch of House Camna, usually politically savvy, seemed utterly incensed by this turn of events. Claiming that the riots were a conspiracy by the Order of Pithos, he steadfastly refused to step down, vowing to see the elections through to the end. He claimed that the people would see things his way on the day of the election.

Well, if by 'seeing things his way' he means having their votes electronically manipulated.

I dealt with that. It was quite simple - the servers were woefully insecure thanks to the very same exploit Camna had planned to use to tilt the votes in his favour. He even had someone write an algorithm that would only alter a certain percentage of the votes based on the ballots that had already been recorded; not too much to be suspicious, not so little that they would not make a difference. All I had to do was make it look like whoever wrote that program made an error with the coding, switching it so that Iannes was the recipient of the favourable votes instead. I guessed that he would be too embarrassed and fearful to complain about it - certainly, even now I am quite sure he and his men think it was a glitch in their program.

This, the refugee massacre, and the wholesale extortion and bribery of the election officials, ensured my victory. The only loose end I had to tie up was that of Mr. Carson, who is enjoying a peaceful rest at the bottom of Ankida Bay even now.

On hindsight, however, I may have overdid it just a bit.

***

"And there we have it. Those are the charges laid against you by the Council," finishes Twintails with a rather smug expression on her face. She has been getting more and more emotive over the past month, at times reminding me of Kyrie and at other times of Mere Tarliss. I have my suspicions as to her identity, however - over the few occasions that I have come into close contact with her, I have realized that underneath that human exterior she bears some similarity to the cult's familiars I once fought. Still, the cult is long buried, and she appears to be on my side for now. I look back at the list of accusations the Council has raised against me.

"Inciting public disorder, treason, murder and extortion of government officials," I mutter. "What is their proof?"

"Yeah, what's their proof?" echoes Emiri. "We've only done the last one, and those bastards do deserve it." I keep my eyes down. The others don't know about the extent I went to in order to ensure Iannes's victory.

"I can't say for sure," shrugs Twintails. "Colonel Tarliss asked me to pass this on to you. She also says that President Julia is looking to have you arrested for being a public menace. Personally, I agree with her."

"Are you going to arrest me on the President's behalf, then?" I say, staring at her.

"Not without orders, no."

"They can't arrest me without proof. The people won't stand for it."

"I think she's past caring what the people think. She wants to make an example of you after all the havoc you created during this election. I'm sure she can create enough evidence of your misdeeds... if you don't already have any lying around." Twintails glances at me with a smirk.

"Surprisingly, you're very politically astute for an assassin." I sigh. Blackmailing the election officials was probably a step too far, given the massacre I had already orchestrated. It attracted too much attention.

"I've been getting smarter just by hanging around you."

"Is that a compliment-"

"You're showing me what not to do."

"Oh." I scowl slightly, and she laughs. Emiri purses her lips in disapproval. "M'lord..." She's taken to calling me that lately, after reading some particularly sappy bodice-ripping novels, and try as I might, I couldn't assuage her from doing so.

"Anyway," I continue hurriedly, "that can't be all Tarliss told you. She's planning to twist my arm with those charges, isn't she? The Council wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't told them."

"The colonel wants to offer you a pardon, Hoshikawa. She'd like to recruit you for a deep-strike into Imperial territory, where she has something big planned. Before you ask, I'm not privy to that information. She says she will let us know closer to the date of the operation."

"Master," Yua chimes in before I can respond. "There's news from the grapevine. I believe President Julia is preparing to make her move. She will declare martial law next week, bypassing Governor Iannes's authority. You will be declared an enemy of the people and given an ultimatum to submit yourself to justice or face destruction."

"Is she planning to mobilize the military?" I ask.

"Affirmative. What should we do?"

"The Independent Ankidan Defense Force is still staffed by many Camna loyalists, sir," Tomas speaks up. "I am not sure if we can clean them up within a week. If we plan to make a stand, we will have to call upon members of the Order to replace them - men and women we can trust. Even then, we're stuck with outdated equipment compared to what the Federation can throw at us."

"The Red Octopus are still weakened from that split, so I don't think they'll be much help to us in a fight." says Kaito. "I'm helping the old man re-organize his group, but there are now some of them insisting that as much of a traitorous douche Dick was, he wasn't the sort to have shot up the refugee quarter like that. The bastard's still causing problems for us even after he's dead."

"What do you think, Iannes? Qin?" I turn to the viewscreen. The new Governor is setting up his office, while Qin is already off-world again, heading to her next concert tour after having snapped a hundred pictures of Twintails to take with her.

"I would stand with you, Hoshikawa..." says Iannes grimly.

"But?" I smile. I know he's already started to work on forging an alliance with the other cities, just as we had planned.

"A battle right now is the last thing we need. Of course, I have faith that you can pull us through this, but I cannot say the other governors of the Earth cities will be happy about bloodshed so early into our plan."

"Just as I expected. Bloodying the Federation's nose would show them that we mean business, though."

"That it would, though they rather expect us to be ground into dust within a day. If you believe you can knock the Federation back, I will give you all the support you require."

"Thank you, Iannes. What about you, Qin? How do you think your sponsors' will react?"

"It's hard to say. I don't think they will like it if a battle breaks out. They are activists with a pet cause, not revolutionaries. I have a better option for you - take the next flight out and come with me. I can't arrange for Julia to be stopped, but since she's targeting you, personally, and not your organization, I can bring you under my sponsors' protection. You'll be my personal bodyguard again." the idol says, a concerned look on her face.

"Well, it looks like I'm getting multiple offers. It's nice to be popular." I laugh.

"There's one more, brother."

I raise an eyebrow. Chinatsu rarely speaks at these meetings.

"Dad called me up, saying that he's been assigned to command the Autonomous Terran Fleet. He wants us there with him." she says simply.

"It's an initiative of your father's, Master," says Yua out loud. "It seems that he has been currying favours and pulling strings to get such a division formed even before he was drafted into the Star League's fleet."

"Wait, Yua, you knew about this?"

"I have... chats with your sister sometimes, Master. Girl talk." she giggles.

"Why hide it from me?"

"Your sister wanted me to, and I thought you already had too much on your plate. Besides, it doesn't really affect your plans, Master. You really should learn to delegate more and not bear everything yourself." I can hear a tone of reproach in her voice, and I scratch my head in frustration.

"Well, I'm assuming this 'Autonomous Fleet' will keep us away from Julia's clutches?"

Chinatsu nods. "Dad says we'll be out of harm's way at most times."

I'm not so convinced. If he had managed to get himself in command of a fleet consisting of Earthlings, it means that there must be a trade off somewhere - Star League military is not fond of handing over command to people that haven't spent a decade proving themselves. The fleet itself would most likely be tasked with performing dangerous, possibly covert, suicidal missions.

At any rate, I'd have to decide what to do quickly.

***

A. Accept Mere Tarliss's offer and join her operations squad for a covert mission into the Mushuszu Empire. I am rather interested in what she is planning, and helping her increase her standing would mean that I stand to gain by association.

B. Make a stand in Ankida. I have not heard of anyone in Julia's retinue that is actually a skilled tactician or strategist - all of the actual talent has already been absorbed by the Star League and sent off to fight its eternal war against the Empire. Even with a handicap I should be able to fight off Julia's troops. I will not give up now.

C. Head off with Qin on her tours as a bodyguard. This is a good way for me to get closer to her sponsors - by dealing with them directly I can create a new, more influential political power-base amongst the Star League.

D. Join up with my father in space. Even if the Autonomous Fleet actually is performing dangerous missions, that is nothing new to me. Joining the fleet will allow me to capitalize on my prior reputation in the military and make new ties to strengthen my support.

E. Go into hiding and retreat into my secret laboratory, biding my time to re-emerge. Once I complete my super robot, none shall stand in my way!