Event #03: WAR ORDER - EXTERMINATION PLANNING PHASE

[vivalamods]

EVENT #03: WAR ORDER - EXTERMINATION PLANNING PHASE

The interrogation of Lord Gundhir is a tense affair, the room and surrounding area silent, save for the ever-present explosions of bombs falling above the Vault. When the interrogators emerge, there is a flurry of panicked activity as messages are sent and contacts are made. Soon, the grim news has spread - the Empire is attacking. The Corsairs act quickly. The mine shall be abandoned. They make a stand at Flotsam. A rising din engulfs the entirety of the Corsairs as they prepare to meet a Legion in pitched battle for the first time.

CORE MISSIONS

This week, there are no Core Missions to complete - instead, players may make whatever preparations they believe are appropriate to ensure the safety of the people and that defenses are ready. Here are a few recommendations, but players are free to use this time to do whatever they wish.

Evacuate Civilians: Evacuate civilians from Flotsam and the mine to keep them out of the fighting.
Hide Vital Infrastructure: Sail the infrastructure ships Flotsam relies on into hidden areas to protect them.
Prime Mine for Destruction: Prepare explosives and other items to ensure the mine is destroyed.
Prepare Defenses: Prepare defenses for Flotsam including more cannons, mustering troops, and the like
Automate Mine Defenses/Expand escape routes: Guns were set up in the mine, Corsairs may attempt to either automate them or create escape tunnels that feed into the primary underwater escape tunnel within the mines so they can be manned and offer resistance to the legion but abandoned safely when the time comes.

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Comments

[redprayer]

"Really?" Rezo says. "Perhaps that's my own bias. Pyrotechnics are a niche area of research in my old world, and armors and ENCs are nonexistent."

He stoops briefly to grab a charge, then straightens and holds it up for Donnie. "Here." Once it's out of his hands, Rezo continues. "You're comfortable with a wide range of machines. That kind of expertise surprises me, especially given your age."

Not that he's sure how old Donnie is, but he seems young. Under thirty at least.

[purplexing]

"Thanks," Donnie says as he takes the charge, setting it into the most ideal position.

"I learned a lot on my own. Machinery's always been so fascinating. ...guess it's more or less how I ended up with the Corsairs too, for better or worse."

His tone is neutral, his attention still on the task at hand. He starts securing the charge.

"There's still always a lot to learn. A lot of room for improvement, new methods to consider. Things don't always work as planned either. If the line gets severed for any of these charges, it won't trigger everything else. But if we have them close enough, the proximity alone should serve to ensure the rest go off." He pauses, grunting a little as he tightens things before letting out a little sigh as he inspects it once more.

"And that's only so long as the charges work. Can't really test every single thing, just have to hope the whole batch is as good as the first that had been prepared. I think we can move to the next one."

[redprayer]

A self-taught engineer. Rezo supposes that tracks.

"It sounds as if there's quite the story there," he murmurs as Donnie secures the charge. He'll leave it to Donnie to decide whether or not to elaborate- he remembers when they'd first met Donnie had mentioned a brother who was not part of the Crimson Corsairs, in as brief and I-don't-want-to-talk-about-this terms as possible.

Once Donnie's done, Rezo picks up a box with his free hand and waist for Donnie to gather his things. "Lead the way."

[purplexing]

The silence falls between them as Donnie comes back down the ladder, making sure he has everything before he folds the ladder itself to bring along to the next position. Once there, he sets up again.

"...long story short, I got caught 'stealing' old equipment from the Imperials," he says, the eye-roll almost audible as he mentions 'stealing.' "My brothers and I would go salvage things from the refuse piles behind the coliseum. Didn't think anyone would care, right?"

[redprayer]

Rezo follows along, taking his place near Donnie's ladder. His eyebrows briefly lift with surprise when Donnie speaks up again.

"That would be the logical assumption," Rezo agrees, though he knows enough of the world to not be particularly shocked. The Empire is both greedy and paranoid; he surmises that whoever caught Donnie and his brothers was either offended on principle or suspicious that they might be the slightest bit of a threat. "You were imprisoned, then?"

[purplexing]

The turtlekin puts a little more force into the blows applied to some of the rock above as he tries to make better space for the next payload.

"Briefly," he grunts, pausing before he figures it's good enough to work with. "They figured I was too young to throw into the Hunt and I'm pretty sure they weren't sure what I was in general. But they asked why I was stealing, and I don't think they believed me at first when I told them I was learning about machinery. ...but then they realized I wasn't so bad about understanding them after all."

[redprayer]

A terrible enlightenment dawns. A useful talent, under the Empire's control?

"They forced you to work for them," Rezo concludes.

[purplexing]

A telling silence follows as Donnie goes through the same procedures as with the other charge. He's about half-way done when he finally speaks up again.

"...it wasn't really forced at first. I...didn't really know anything about the Empire. The noble who took me in treated me like a servant, but aside from light maintenance around his property all he did was ask me things I figured were theoretical. How I might design something for this sort of application, or he'd pose problems for machinery that I can only now assume had been actual equipment they'd had trouble with until he asked my input."

Donnie makes a final check of things, then starts down the ladder again. Next.

[redprayer]

The silence is, indeed, telling. Rezo is made deeply aware of the echoes of the mines, the sounds of Donnie working and breathing, until Donnie finally deigns to elaborate.

So he wasn't forced. Instead, he was tricked. (Why does that sound familiar?)

Rezo can understand Donnie's reticence on the manner. Many would feel ashamed to realize they'd been used in such a manner.

"...You're not the only one, you know," Rezo says quietly. "Many Outlanders were and are in a similar position."

[purplexing]

"Yeah. I know."

It doesn't make him feel any better about things, and really only underlines how terrible the Empire is.

"So...all the better to remove anything they can use to their advantage, right?"

It may not be much, not when it could have been so much more of a boost to their own efforts, but anything they can't hang onto, they can't let the Empire have it back if they can help it.

[redprayer]

"Right," Rezo agrees. It may not be much indeed, but their best bet really is just to chip away at the Empire's foundations wherever they see a potential crack.

He follows along to the next check point, carrying, depositing, and so on before idly remarking "I almost wish I could be here for the resulting explosion. I imagine it will be quite impressive."

[purplexing]

"If it works like it's supposed to, it's better not to be anywhere near it," Donnie says, though there's a hint of a smirk in his tone. There's no chances being taken here; they need everything to go down one way or another.

"One day we'll do more than just be on the defensive." He's not sure when that day will be, but they can't stop fighting, because the Empire will take any chance they get to trample them down.

[redprayer]

"A pity," Rezo sighs, making a woebegone expression for good measure.

"I've studied a great deal of history in my own world, as well as observed a bit myself. No empire lasts forever," Rezo says. Honesty, however, compels him to add "Though it may not fall within our lifetime or that of the next generation's."

[purplexing]

Donnie's not sure how to feel about that, much less what to say. It's kind of depressing to think about, that all their efforts now may not amount to anything until so much later.

But he knows that without that effort, it might make all the difference. They're still doing something. Not doing anything will mean that the Empire will win.

"...come on, we still have the rest of this tunnel to go."