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>>4935565
Past Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=sun+belt+crusaders

Starter guide/refresher qm made: justpaste dot it/sbc-refresher

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>>4935568
Thank you OP.

For those who might be confused, I have to have other people do the work of creating the opening posts of the threads, although I am the guy who does the actual qm-ing. Expect around one decent sized post a day, although I have at times taken a little longer due to updates running long or weird things happening in reality. Regardless of circumstances, I won't disappear into the night unless I am literally unable to post due to circumstances such as death, a permanent ban from 4chan, or America deciding to have an actual Civil War that destroys global telecommunications.

Anyway, on to the actual quest/update:

>CONTINUING FROM TRKULJA POV

>Events influenced by trait: [Righteous Fury]

You, Cardinal Trkulja, are positioned on the highway defenses of Mobile leading a force of dozens of Crusader defenders. Currently, your group has a number of guns trained on a single man who has stepped out a truck and seems to be presenting himself like he is part of some kind of utility company. Given the total collapse of law and order in Arizona, and perhaps more honestly your faction's previous (terrible) experience with uninvited visitors, you are more than a little suspicious.

"Electric Union? What the hell are you talking about, saying you're why we have air conditioning?" you call out. "Is this some kind of threat?"

The man shakes his head. "Look, power lines and electrical transformers don't maintain themselves. They were already going to shit even before the war, and now it's only getting worse. Lucky for you and the rest of this God forsaken desert hellhole, my faction is trying to keep the lights on. I'd mention water too," he says pointing to a patch of farmland your faction is using for food, "but you guys seem to have that figured out."

"So you're telling me you're part of some traveling group fixing people's utilities? That you people are doing charity work or something?" You are suspicious of this man's real motives.

"It's worse than that, at least charity workers don't have to deal with yahoos with guns ready to shoot them at the tip of a hat. What do you have there, two, maybe three, dozen guns pointed at me? Isn't it a bit overkill...?"

[1/2]

>>4936106

[2/2]

"Overkill?!" you snap back. "The Badlands are a dangerous place, do you know what kind of threats there are? Hell, I'd say we're light on defense, if anything!"

You recall the incident less than a week ago when the Warden, leader of the Lewis Correctional Protectorate group of raiders, showed up and extorted the faction while most of its forces were away. As the man in charge of Mobile's defense during the Messenger's absence, you are positively seething with rage just thinking about it. You weren't going to let your people be robbed of and the ex-slaves you freed be turned over, but an unfortunate medical emergency stopped you from being able to lead an attack to stop it. While others in your faction may whisper behind your back that you are mentally deranged for being able to take on the massive raider force, you know that God protects.

"I-," he starts before pausing. "I actually don't blame you guys. You wouldn't have happened to encounter a roaming group of bandits? Led by a big guy about this tall, wears a mask, ho-"

"The Warden? Is that the bastard you're talking about?" you interrupt.

"Yep, that's the one. Look, I'm not a threat, it's just me, some of the boys, and our trucks with tools and shit. If anything, you should be thanking us for going off-road and paying this place, which last time I checked was just supposed to be some podunk village, a visit. Put down the guns and shit and let us in."

"Cardinal?" asks one of the crusaders next to you, a lower level leader. "What is it this time?"

After the blunder earlier in the week, you fear you are losing trust in and perhaps even authority over your underlings. Despite the fact that the Messenger chose selected you to lead the defense of Mobile in his absence once more, you can't shake off a sense of paranoia regarding this.

Do you allow the 'Electric Union' to enter Mobile?

>Yes, why turn down the opportunity to have others do important work for you
>Yes, but on condition that they give you a rundown of various nearby factions they have encountered such as the Warden's raiders
>No, you won't let interlopers into the crusader stronghold
>No, you're going to have your men open fire and capture or kill them
>[Write-In]

I was going to post the image for the Warden, but I don't need to since he's the dude in the bottom left corner of the OP image. The Messenger btw is the guy in the middle (meth pope Walter White) and the average crusader imagines himself to look like the guy in the great-helm to the right.

>>4936115
>Yes, why turn down the opportunity to have others do important work for you
>Yes, but on condition that they give you a rundown of various nearby factions they have encountered

We can talk about other shit after, as I am interested in what he has to say otherwise. We do have to gain influence from other factions after all, so his is a good start. Also, no problem QM.

>>4936115
>>Yes, why turn down the opportunity to have others do important work for you

I mean honestly if we could gossip with them about nearby factions at the same time that would be nice too.

>>4936115
>>Yes, but on condition that they give you a rundown of various nearby factions they have encountered such as the Warden's raiders
>explain that the Warden recently raided this place.

>>4936672
Going to disavow telling them we were raided by the Warden. Not only will it make us look weak, but may cause Trkulja to blow a blood vessel just admitted that fact again. These are strangers after all, and admitting your faction can be raided? Might as well call Open Season on Mobile.

>>4936136
>>4936183
>>4936672

OPTION SELECTED
>Yes, why turn down the opportunity to have others do important work for you
>...but tell me more

"Lower your rifles," you command. The row of crusaders swap positions from presenting rifles to patrol ready as usual. This small group of seemingly unarmed people should be no threat, and getting free work done by experts is worthwhile.

"So, we can come in?" the 'Union' representative asks.

"You may. We will accompany you in case either one of us have questions."

"And to make sure we're not doing anything funny. Alright then." He signals to the rest of the group to move forward before he gets back in his truck. Your faction opens the entrance and let them drive into Mobile.

Your men direct them to an enclosed area that nobody has touched since your faction settled in the area. Behind the dilapidated fencing lie a bunch of machines and a mess of wires you don't really understand. The Messenger might be the only person in the faction who could figure it out, and he's currently away soliciting support from Catholics in Maricopa. Nonetheless, you and a few other men make sure to stay on watch while the 'Union' examines the power infrastructure.

"Holy shit!" their leader exclaims while examining some gauge. "You guys are drawing a hell of a lot of power for a small village. I'd chalk it up to you guys having more numbers than I'd expect, but damn."

"I'm looking at this line here, and I'm thinking they've gotten that old factory up and running," one of his associates says.

"Well I'll be damned, from what I remember the Kent Corporation abandoned that thing a while ago."

"Is this a problem?" you tell them. "Because we won't be stopping."

"Problem? No, it's the opposite. Keep using as much electricity as you can."

"Huh? Are you joking? Why would you want people to use power if you're so worried about the infrastructure?"

The Union leader puts down some of his tools and comes closer to you. "Tell me, how much do you know about nuclear engineering...?"

[1/4]

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>>4937693

[2/4]

"Excuse me? What does nuclear engineering have to do with any of this?"

"Bigger than normal population, don't know about the nuclear plant, and California license plates everywhere. Yep, I can tell you guys aren't from around here."

"Let's say we are from California, so what? What does this have to do with anything?"

"Fuckin' hell, not even a Civil War can stop transplants from taking over Arizona," one of the associates chimes in.

"C'mon Ken, let's be easy on 'em. Anyway," he says turning back to you, "I said that because a little over an hour out from here, past that mountains in that direction I'm pointing to, is the single largest nuclear power facility in the country. Hell, maybe the entire continent if you can believe what they were saying about Canada before things went silent. The Verde Generation Station produces a lot of power, enough for millions of people. Now, I'll make it simple for you. We don't have the capacity to 'turn down' how much power it produces. We sure as hell can't shut it down for reasons you wouldn't understand. And if that thing starts producing too much power we can't offload into the grid, then bad things happen. Keeping the thing running is the easy part, especially without NRC regulations and inspectors to watch for unauthorized MOX fuel use. But offloading power while the country and the electric grid falls apart is a fucking nightmare. Do you understand?"

"So what does this have to do with anything? Why do you need to come to Mobile?"

"Because I need to make sure the lines and transformers and other crap's in working order. A lot of the infrastructure has been damaged because dumb-fuck yokels in charge of places like Wickenburg, Salome, and Quartzsite think that you somehow win civil wars by just destroying power lines. Like somehow you just magically win by wrecking things and camping out in their shitholes instead of rubbing two fucking braincells together and realizing just how fucking stupid they are." He pauses and calms himself down. You can tell he's boiling with anger just thinking about this topic, something you understand well. "Anyway, the lines here are important since they go to Maricopa, which is a town over that way on the 238. What do you know about it?"

"A lot, in fact. But before we tell you about it, I want to know more about factions up around your area. Especially the raiders..."

>>4937697

[3/4]

"Info for info. Alright. Well, you know about the Lewis Correctional Protectorate. They got their base in the prison about midway from our area to Gila Bend. Their raiders are tough, vicious bastards that have gotten real good at mobile fighting. You wouldn't expect ex-cons to be good at coordinating lightning fast attacks on vehicles, but they managed to be enough of a threat to the open farms of Palo Verde to get tribute from them in exchange for protection. Cotton Center and Arlington are theirs, and I think they're pretty much done with taking Gila Bend. We've had to send some guys in to do some non-power related work for them to get free passage through their territory and to keep them off of our backs, which I guess is tribute. Call it the price of doing business."

"So you've worked with them, then?"

"We'll work with literally anyone. While they're not ideal - we still don't trust them - there's not much of a choice. We don't give a darn about ideologies or how unsavory a faction's methods are, we have a nuclear power plant to deal with. Anyway, to our north is Tonopah, a rural community of farmers, a bit smaller than Gila Bend from our records. We were pretty much put in charge of the place since the local leadership was totally incapable of managing the crisis. West and north still are a bunch of rural communities that are complete assholes. We literally offered them free repairs and all they had to say was 'go and stay go,' whatever that means. And to the east is Phoenix's outlying areas, places like Buckeye and Goodyear. They've let us pass through and do work, but getting any real support from them is a nightmare. It's just delays and the usual 'runaround,' which you wouldn't expect during a god damned war, but there you go. We also managed to get a guy deeper into Phoenix, who contacted their Anarchist faction, but they didn't seem to care much from what he said. We're hoping to do another expedition into Phoenix and get into contact with the Communists, but there're always so many things to do, you know." He pauses one last time. "Anyway, enough of me talking your ear off about factions, tell me what you know about Maricopa and the local area..."

>>4937699

[4/4]

You tell him what he wants, which mostly consists of a description of the place and how you have a close relationship with them. He's surprised that the place is as 'normal' as it is, given its proximity to Phoenix and the state of the Badlands as a whole. He mentions that his people don't have the time to go there today, but that he would like passage there through Mobile at some point. As you wind down, one of the associates comes by having apparently finished some work.

"Hey boss, we finished checking out the lines and the transformers. Lines are good, but we had to fix some of the gasket seals on the transformers. We don't think we'll need to change any of the oil just yet, but at some point in the future we might want to consider it if things stabilize."

"Good to hear," the boss tells his underling before turning to you. "Oil replacement on transformers is a real pain in the rear. Takes a while, uses up limited supplies, dangerous, you know. Anyway, thank you-" he pauses. "Come to think of it, we sort of skipped introductions. The name's Dan, from the Electric Union." He extends his hand.

"I am Cardinal Trkulja," you say as you shake his hand.

"Strange name," he comments. You're not sure if it's because you're Croatian or if he thinks 'cardinal' is actually your first name. "But these are strange times, so I can't complain. Anyway, we're pretty much done here and don't want to stick around too long. Unless you have something else you want to put out there...?"

It's a good question. There are a number of things you could potentially say, ask, or do if you

>"Yes actually, please elaborate on..." [Insert topic/faction/location you want exposition on]
>"Why yes, I have a favor to ask..." [Insert favor/demand]
>"You mentioned support earlier? Is there a way we can help your group?"
>"Stand and deliver, or the devil he may take 'ye!" [Rob them blind]
>"No, I believe we're done here." [End Trkulja Scene]

An exposition dump ye ask for, and an exposition dump ye shall receive! And yes, the nuclear station pic is the same on in the op, in the off chance someone notices

>>4937701
>>"You mentioned support earlier? Is there a way we can help your group?"
These guys seem like a good sort. A group like this that can move around freely without any angle on politics? Exactly the type we'd want to convert, or at least get on good terms with.

>>4937701
>"You mentioned support earlier? Is there a way we can help your group?"
These champions are doing their best to keep the whole wasteland running properly during this chaos, we should at least extend any aid we can to them while they're in our little sphere of influence.

>>4937715
>Exactly the type we'd want to convert, or at least get on good terms with.
Maybe not convert, but trying to hit maximum friend points with them is a must. Long term we'd probably want to fold these fellas into our own faction, or turn them into our version of the Cult Mechanicus. Semi-Autonomous mechanics that keep our infrastructure repaired and our equipment in top shape in exchange for protection.

>>4937735
>turn them into our version of the Cult Mechanicus
HOLY FUUUUUUCK
I'M ON BOARD

>>4937735
>turn them into our version of the Cult Mechanicus
Fuck yes

>>4937701
>"You mentioned support earlier? Is there a way we can help your group?"
>"Why yes, I have a favor to ask..." [Hitch their ride into Phoenix and see what's up]

I would've asked them what we could do to help anyway, but this may be a opportunity for exploration that we cannot pass up on.

>>4937735
Very much support

>>4937701
>"You mentioned support earlier? Is there a way we can help your group?"
Help these niggas out if it is not terribly incvonvenient

>>4937735
>turn them into our version of the Cult Mechanicus
based and omnisiahpilled

>>4937701
>>"Yes actually, please elaborate on..." [Insert topic/faction/location you want exposition on]
any weaknesses of the Raiders?

>"Why yes, I have a favor to ask..." [Insert favor/demand]
Do you have maps of the general region? do you have maps of Palo Verde?

>"You mentioned support earlier? Is there a way we can help your group?"

>turn them into our version of the Cult Mechanicus

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>>4937715
>>4937735
>>4937781
>>4937836
>>4938884

OPTION SELECTED:
>"You mentioned support earlier? Is there a way we can help your group?"

"What do you mean exactly?"

"You said that Phoenix wasn't supporting your faction, so you clearly could use help of some kind."

"Oh! That's what you mean. I wasn't expecting you guys would lend a hand, but, um, let me think for a moment." He pauses. "Let's see, you guys are too far away to divert irrigation and wastewater." You give him a confused look at him signaling his faction wants raw sewage. "Yeah, nuclear engineering stuff, don't worry." You're somehow more confused. "You guys are too far too few and with too much stuff in the way to ask for martial help, so that's out. Hey, what do you make in that factory since you got it up and running?"

"We can make all sorts of things," This is technically true, since the meth super-lab now produces basic medical supplies. You are reminded of what some businesses did during the great Wuhan Viral Pneumonia crisis that feels like such ancient history. "Why?"

"It's in the off chance you happen to be producing any mineral-insulating oils for transformers, which I doubt. We could also always use more sealant, especially FKM fluoroelastomers in the ultra off-chance you happen to figure out how to make any. And if you happen across a large supply of industrial copper coiling we'd love to have any. We're good on the smaller commercial stuff though. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"No. I am man in charge of logistics here and can confirm we have none of that. I can talk to the Messenger when he returns to see if he can produce any of what you're talking about."

Dan shrugs. "Figured as much. With trade cut off and, I reckon, the region going to go through some real tough shortages I had to take the chance on it. As things are starting to decay, we need to preserve as much of the infrastructure and technology as we can. As important as religion seems to be to you guys, that's important to us."

"Quiet you!" you say to some of your crusader guards. They've had apparently let their attention waver and were chatting about some 'omni messiahs' or other such likely video-game related nonsense. "Anyway, Dan, what else is there?"

"You said Maricopa is basically still normal and you're buddy-buddy with 'em, right?" You nod. "Alright then, they should have some people who know what they're doing. Get some of them to run some checks on their infrastructure." He turns around. "Hey, Ken! Pass me the big manual and a pen & paper..."

[1/3]

>>4939585

[2/3]

>Events influenced by [Media Center: Level 1]

"Why don't you just take that over to Mahoney's and get it photocopied?" One of your crusaders interjects.

"That's actually a good idea," he says as he looks at the manual in hand. "You say Mahoney? Where have I heard that name before?"

"Isn't that the guy who was caught trespassing last year looking for the moon lizards or some shit?"

After a short visit to the bunker turned media center, the group leaves with multiple new copies of the works in question you are to get into the hands of the Maricopans with some added notes and instructions. For all of Mahoney's faults, he's certainly not lazy.

"We're heading back to Verde. Thanks for, uh, not shooting us. Even if it did look like it for a second. Anyway, get that stuff to Maricopa and if they're not idiots they'll figure it out. We'll keep our focus to stuff going on in the northern area." As he is about to leave he pauses and turns back to you. "And one last thing: keep an eye on the Warden's raiders. They're up to something. I don't know too much about their plans and don't want to figure out first hand."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm just suggesting you keep your guard up. They're savage, but smarter than they look. There's trouble coming from that prison area, I feel it in my bones."

You knew it! That masked bastard is going to be Mobile's doom if you don't stop him. While this faction does not appear to be militant and are already paying willing tribute, you are glad to hear that you are not alone in feeling this.

You and your faction bid Dan and the Electric Union farewell. You will have the requested materials sent to Maricopa soon (it's a trivial task) and continue with your duties, now a little more appreciative of the electric luxuries that make life in the desert possible. And a little anxious about taking such things for granted. The 'logistics officer' side of you, in particular, thinks about the inevitable decay and struggle that will ensure as supplies run out without the trade networks that have become fundamental to contemporary economies.

>END OF TRKULJA POV

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>>4939590

[3/3]

>CONTINUING WITH HALF-WEEK PROCESSING...

??? Event:
>Patron's Favor
While you are at southern Maricopa attempting to convince the head of the marginal Catholics of your rightful position as Pope, a high ranking member of the M.M.P. pays you a visit. During the past weeks, you are told, Mayor Preis went to the gunsmiths of Maricopa and commissioned from them a number of medium sized machine guns suitable for portable infantry or mounted use. With your recent successes, Preis has seen it fit to grant your faction the first batch. It's not a huge amount, and you will have to select some kind of focus to prevent the weapons from being too spread out over too many roles to be truly effective. Still, given the relatively small size of your faction, this is quite a good amount and enough to make a difference in some key area.

What role do you intend on using these newly granted weapons for?

>Defensive: Mount weapons in fixed positions to maximize power in defense. [Bonus to defending a location] [Select Where]
>Infantry: Give every platoon a couple of machine guns for use when dismounted for maximum versatility. [Bonus to dismounted infantry]
>Mechanized: Mount the guns to the back of vehicles to get an edge in mobile warfare. [Bonus to vehicle fighting]
>Other: [Write-In]

>>4939596
Our bois in the EU need our help to keep the wasteland running proper, we should absolutely attempt to convince the Messenger that we should establish trading relations with them when he returns. It's says in the Holy Bibble that you should help your neighbour. Probably.

As for the actual vote, can we have a map of how our current defenses at Mobile/238 are laid out?

I really want at least a few of these heavy guns protecting Mobile after that last disasterous visit by the Warden. We could probably make a split and have half placed in the defense and the other half on the trucks, since we seem to do a lot of Motorized Combat that'd probably be best.

>>4939596
>Defensive: Mount weapons in fixed positions to maximize power in defense. [Bonus to defending a location] [Mobile]

We lose Mobile, we lose everything. As much as I want this for our dismounted infantry/mounts, I want our critical locations hardened against attack. Plus, it may give us a bonus when dealing with the Warden.

Otherwise, I'm excited about an early update!

>>4939618
>map
No, I can't make a detailed map for Mobile, especially with how it's a rapidly growing/developing location. It's assumed that the bulk of the defenses are located at the highway, which the players previously invested time and resources (W.P.) into defenses for. There are also assumed to be patrols/early warning and the place is small enough to be able to move people around quickly within the town.
The main factor in defense is not the micro detail of placing sandbags or guns in specific places, but bigger things like how many effective fighters you have, enemy numbers, morale, equipment, things like that.

Regarding splitting, you could do it if you wanted. You'd be losing out on effectiveness, especially if you decide to split further like putting guns at both Mobile and the mountain base (which already has one, but maybe you want more. I haven't forgotten about that location btw). Of course, you could always think of some creative way of doing things and put it in a [Write-In]

And finally on the topic of trade, the Union fairly clearly signaled that the main things they're interested in are things your faction cannot provide yet. That, and their territory is kind of far, requiring going through the Warden's territory or through the much denser area of west Phoenix. Although further upgrades to the chemical plant and the introduction/education of personnel will allow for the production of complicated chemicals that will be useful in electrical infrastructure, among other things.

Also, to answer general questions about maps or where we are: this quest takes place in real world Arizona. I base things off of things like Google Maps and previous maps I've shown were satellite images with some basic images/text of things that would be already known to spice things up. Assuming some basic knowledge of Arizona, most of the actual info should be in the text so I'm not sure a map would really add much

>>4939618
I think what you're looking for is the [Infantry] option, as we can use the dismounted infantry in the defense as well as the attack.

>>4939596
>>Defensive: Mount weapons in fixed positions to maximize power in defense. [Bonus to defending a location] [Select Where]
Mobile.

>>4939596
>Defensive: Mount weapons in fixed positions to maximize power in defense. [Bonus to defending a location] [Select Where]

Yeah, lets harden mobile.

>>4939710
>The main factor in defense is not the micro detail of placing sandbags or guns in specific places, but bigger things like how many effective fighters you have, enemy numbers, morale, equipment, things like that.
Gotcha.

Since people seem to prefer the defensive option I'll cave and support that too

>Defensive: Mount weapons in fixed positions to maximize power in defense. [Bonus to defending a location] [Select Where: Mobile]

>>4939766
True I guess, but honestly I'd rather have Technicals over that anyway. Having a mobile heavy weapons platform I feel has greater impact on possible combat scenarios, at least those we can be expected to fight in the near future. This of course will change when we get invested in the fight for Phoenix, as our trucks will be sitting ducks in the streets.

Maybe we can commission something heavier for our trucks from these Gunsmiths later?

>>4939874
Don't worry, I'm sure Dolores will have some heavy weapons and technicals left over so we can at least outfit our vehicles. If he does decide to send us some prisoners, we'll need some of his machine guns defending the Black Site in that case.

>>4939678
>>4939788
>>4939789
>>4939874

OPTION SELECTED:
>Defensive: Mount weapons in fixed positions to maximize power in defense. [Bonus to defending a location] [Select Where]
You order the guns to be sent to Mobile, where they are to be mounted in fixed positions already present at the highway defenses. You considered mounting them on the vehicles, but you believe they will be more effective and needed at home base. With the wide open terrain of the region, ample defense from sandbags, and the long range of such weapons you are confident that they'll prove effective if Mobile is attacked. With the arrival of the raiders from the west, such a possibility is increasingly likely. On a final point, some Crusaders are anxious due to the incomplete forces at Mobile on account of the continued presence at the Reservation.

The week concludes without further incidents. You return to Mobile to resume your duties, which include heading the work at the chemical plant, managing your followers, and conducting the customary end of week religious services (meth included.) After dispensing with the sacramental bread, holy wine, and a carefully controlled dose of meth on the side, you must decide on a number of smaller miscellaneous issues before starting the seventh week after settling at Mobile...

[1/2]

>>4940753

[2/2]

Issue 1:
>Hesitant Cleric
The priest you spoke to in Stanfield, Father Malvolion, showed ambivalence regarding your cause. Unlike most people, he doesn't seem to have particular issue with your faction's emphasis on reviving medieval crusader styled warlording or the penchant for stimulants (which some of his flock seems to share). Instead, he has fixated on your claim to the papal throne and the implication that the vast majority of the Church could be left without its true leader whom the Church depends on. He wishes for you to return and speak to him again.
You could take the time and repeat your previous action and address these concerns of his. Malvolion seems amenable and likely to join your cause if he can get over these intellectual stumbling blocks. On the other hand, it would mark a third outing in a row. Some of your men have concerns about you spending as much time as you are outside of Mobile. You could also be using the time to organize some other venture.

Do you decide to spend another action on the Church of the Co-Redemptrix?
>Yes, organize another venture to Stanfield and secure his support [Lock in a diplomatic action]
>No, he knows your claim is true and he will come around with time

Issue 2:
>Tested Flights
Over the past weeks, since your faction got access to Mobile's airstrip and crop dusters, a few individuals were selected by a local retired flight instructor to train in flying. While it normally takes months to become a pilot, the few of your followers have gained enough skill to reliably take off, maneuver, and land mostly confidently. While the instructor would like to continue the current policy, he admits that they're could probably begin more serious work. One of your cardinal suggests using the planes to conduct aggressive reconnaissance in nearby areas such as Phoenix or the prison complex. Another suggests a rather bold (and outlandish) plan of spending some resources in getting crusaders equipped for and trained in parachuting, forming some kind of special unit. It's not a surprise that this is the same one who earlier vouched for turning construction vehicles into makeshift tanks. You could, of course, always use them to actually dust crops or some other course of action.

You decide to:
>Aggressively scout surrounding regions to try and gain some intel
>Continue current training as usual
>Use the crop dusters for their intended purpose
>Actually do a 'pilot run' of the Crusader Paratrooper plan?! [Spend 10 W.P.]
>[Write-In]

Issue 3:
>???
The last half of this week marks the first time Mueller could dedicate significant time to preaching in the Reservation. Given that he has recently come out of it a local hero and helped install a friendly regime (without being associated with its bloody implementation) you expect this to go well. Even so, it's ultimately up to God

>Roll two d100's

>>4939874
It's fun to be a lone dissenter! You can shit on people if their choice ends up going badly!

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>4940762
>>Yes, organize another venture to Stanfield and secure his support [Lock in a diplomatic action]


>>Use the crop dusters for their intended purpose

For now at least, it'll be an easy way for our men to get some extra practice in and will ensure the health of our crops.

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>4940762
Issue 1:
>No, he knows your claim is true and he will come around with time
We can let the good Preacher stew a little in his own thoughts, if we constantly pester him about this issue it could potentially sour relations between us and lead to rejection. Patience is a Virtue.

Issue 2:
>Continue current training as usual for now
>Write in: Check with the Mayor, the M.M.P and any Photography Hobby Store in Maricopa to see if they have cameras suited for taking detailed aerial photographs from high altitudes. Hell, maybe ask Mahoney too. He's one of them conspiracy nutters, he might have a suitable camera or two.
Best keep training our pilots until we can get them proper high altitude reconnaissance gear for the aircraft. Low altitude scouting puts them at too great of a risk of being shot at by enemy small arms fire, I don't want to lose our only craft to some lucky potshots.

I also feel the need to point out that Paradropping is a meme that has been dead since the Second World War. The introduction of transport helicopters made jumping out of an aircraft an obsolote tactic. Helicopters are smaller targets that move faster and can deposit their cargo of soldiers on the ground safely and more effectively than any Paratrooper could hope to be in their slow moving massive cargo aircraft and during their several minutes of descension after jumping. Not to mention the complete disarray the unit will be in until it properly regroups after a jump.

If we want to do Air Cavalary shenanigans, we should wait until we can get some Little Birds and Black Hawks instead of trying to be obsolete on purpose. Also dice.

>>4940753
>>4940762
>No, he knows your claim is true and he will come around with time

>Use the crop dusters for their intended purpose

>>4940830
>if we constantly pester him about this issue it could potentially sour relations between us and lead to rejection.
>>4940762
>He wishes for you to return and speak to him again.
He wants to talk with us as much as we want to talk with him. As such,
>>4940762
>>Yes, organize another venture to Stanfield and secure his support [Lock in a diplomatic action]

>>4940830
>Issue 2:
>>Continue current training as usual for now
>>Write in: Check with the Mayor, the M.M.P and any Photography Hobby Store in Maricopa to see if they have cameras suited for taking detailed aerial photographs from high altitudes. Hell, maybe ask Mahoney too. He's one of them conspiracy nutters, he might have a suitable camera or two.
+1. I'm ambivalent on the superiority of specifically any one of helicopters, paratroopers, or any sort of delivery method over any other delivery method. I feel there are cases where we can make any delivery method work. Personally, I'd like to try using gliders someday, but that's likely for a larger population.

>>4941282
>He wants to talk with us as much as we want to talk with him. As such,
Shit, you right. I completely missed that when reading through the update. Changing >>4940830 Issue 1 vote here to:
>Yes, organize another venture to Stanfield and secure his support [Lock in a diplomatic action]

>>4940762
>Yes, organize another venture to Stanfield and secure his support [Lock in a diplomatic action]

But only after we deal with the Warden.

>Actually do a 'pilot run' of the Crusader Paratrooper plan?! [Spend 10 W.P.]

While not optimal, it probably would work against the raiders and other factions just because of the sheer absurdity and audacity it would take to pull this off. We get them behind the enemy in an engagement, we have to potential for mass confusion and creating the conditions for a route. Tactical flexibility should never be scoffed at.

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>>4940827
>>4940916
>>4941282
>>4941437
>>4941456

OPTION SELECTED:
>Yes, organize another venture to Stanfield and secure his support [Lock in a diplomatic action]
While there are a number of other things to focus your faction's efforts on, securing support from actual Maricopans is a vital part of your selected focus. You will condescend to grant Malvolion another visit and address his concerns. You inform your men that you will make another outing to Maricopa. Some of them grumble at how much time you have been spending outside of Mobile, but as the supreme head of the Church to whom docility is required, it doesn't matter much.

OPTION SELECTED:
>Use the crop dusters for their intended purpose
You settle on the most sensible option regarding the fledgling 'air force' at Mobile: normal crop dusting. They seemed skilled enough to where the same degree of training isn't necessary and periodic runs over crops should be enough. Scouting into the surrounding regions, you figure, wouldn't benefit you much. You could have people fly over places and do little more than confirm they exist and aren't sending some kind of massive army immediately. Your faction does not posses anything in the way of the high quality surveillance gear needed for such a thing and has no obvious way of obtaining them. And while the "Avenging Angels" paratrooper unit plan is certainly bold and daring, you believe sticking to more traditional (and much, much less dangerous) means of troop movement is the way to go for the near future.

Mueller Result:
>75 - The Peace-Walker
Cardinal Mueller's return to operating a semi-normal mission in the Reservation was successful in winning over a large number of converts. Many viewed the success of his and Dolores' mission and later takeover as an attractive sign of a strong faction to join and good reason to inquire Some found their faith rekindled during the crisis and naturally found themselves drawn to the only real religious operation of note in the area. A religious revival of sorts is perhaps in the works, and it is one only made possible by the absolute collapse of faith in recent times...

>>4942047

[2/4]

Perhaps most surprisingly, many of the more meek individuals, people who themselves could never be fighters, took a lot of interest. These were people who saw the Crusaders as not the bloodthirsty maniacs they may seem to be at first glance (and which perhaps in truth are) but instead a group willing to humble themselves and work with them. You believe this to have come from the unique circumstances of the area, where nearly every other faction (sans Dolores' new regime) seemed to be either a hostile power or proxy thereof. In addition, this was largely made possible by the constant diplomatic effort and dialing back on certain excesses. This reputation, of course, is helped by the close support of the local despot who has interest in portraying your faction in such a way. Mueller was even granted an honorary title which you are told translates to something like "he who walks the path of peace," or "Peace-Walker."

>Success mitigated by small size of faction and lack of housing space limiting speed of growth
>Further recruitment penalized for duration of housing shortage

Unfortunately, your faction is based in a small village that has already had to accept a large number of refugees (i.e. you) and which doesn't have the necessary housing to actually bring everyone over. For now, many are interested but comparatively few can come. That said, the overall boost to follower count is significant. While manpower likely won't rise too much too quickly, having a larger follower count can only be a good thing.

Finally, the week comes to an end...

[END OF WEEK 6, HALF 2]

>>4942049

[3/4]

[START OF WEEK 7, HALF 1]

>Manpower:
1 full strength Mechanized Infantry Platoons
1 half strength Mechanized Infantry Platoon
1 full strength Mechanized Infantry Platoons [LOCKED WITH THE RESERVATION]
1 quarter strength Support Platoon [Priority: Artillery Section]
Full Platoon Garrisoned Mobile Light Infantry [Mountain Base]
Full Platoon Garrisoned Mobile Light Infantry [Mobile]

~340 followers (non-combatants)
~95 prisoners

>Wealth:
85 Wealth Points
+70WP per half-week from followers
+10 WP per half-week from Maricopan patronage
124 Food Units
-40 Food from consumption per half week
+30 Food from 5 farms
+15 Food from Maricopan patronage
8 Meth Units
+7 M.U. per half-week

>ACTIONS AVAILABLE:
1 Construction Action
0 Diplomatic Action [Papal Envoy Already Locked In]
1 Flexible Action

>Construction Actions Possible: Unless stated otherwise, assuming 1 week to complete:
Farm: Restore some abandoned farmland. Makes more food. - 35 W.P. [Takes only half a week]
Chemical Weapons Lab Level 1: Allows for the production of basic chemical weapons. - 400 W.P.
Machine Workshop Level 1: Allows for the production of basic weapons and ammunition. - 300 W.P.
Explosives Workshop Level 1: Allows for the production of basic explosives. - 500 W.P. [Requires Skilled Crew for Optimal Function]
Broadcast Tower: Sends messages far and wide to anyone with a car or receiver. Massive boost to propaganda. - 150 W.P.
Oubliette: Dungeon like room for basic interrogation/conversion. Unlocks conversion (brainwashing) oriented construction options. - 100 W.P.
Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 40 W.P.
Hallucinogen Manufacturing: Create a variety of mind altering substances. - 150 W.P. [Synergy: Oubliette]
Advanced Pharmaceutical Workshop: Allows for the production of advanced drugs. - 550 W.P. [Requires Skilled Crew for Optimal Function]
Basic Seminary: Decreases penalties for multiple simultaneous [Missionary Outreach] actions and slightly boosts effectiveness. - 300 W.P. [Requires Skilled Crew]
Nothing: Save the W.P. and forgo construction
[Write-in]

>Special: Can use a one time 50% discount on a factory upgrade if desired...

>>4942050

[4/4]

>Toggles
Purchase advertising for Maricopa's radio to help with recruitment/outreach - 5 W.P. per half week [CURRENTLY ON]
Send Cardinal Mueller out to the Reservation to preach. - Free [CURRENTLY ON]
Crudely "preach to" prisoners at the Sierra Estrella location (i.e. brainwash) - 5 W.P. per half week [CURRENTLY ON]

>Diplomatic Actions Possible:
Envoy: Send a diplomatic envoy to a location to engage in trade, propagandize, or make agreements. Better at getting deals than scouts, but has no stealth and is worse if a fight breaks out. Select from a location such as Gila Bend, Maricopa, Goodyear, or a [Write-in] and note what you specifically want them to do.
Scouting: Have the group organize a scouting party and explore a location. Stealthy and decent at a fight, but not very good if diplomacy is needed. Select from the Gila Bend, Maricopa, or a [Write-in] and specify what you want them to do.
Raiding Party: Send forces out to a location and attack them for loot and dominance. [Where?]
Missionary Outreach: Send missionaries to a location to recruit people into the totally legitimate religion. Could anger the locals if you don't have permission! Select from a location such as Gila Bend, Goodyear, [write-in]...
Side Ops: Do mercenary work [CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE]
Nothing: Forgo a diplomatic action.
[Write-in]

>Select a construction action, zero diplomatic actions, and one extra of either category for this half-week (and optionally, toggle changes)

Also:

>Roll three d100s for events

Hopefully, this update doesn't have too many mistakes in it since I was chopping it up with a lot of copy/pasting. I feel like that happens a lot with these 'action'/bean-counting ones.

>>4942057
>Farm
>Farm

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>4942072
forgot

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>4942050
>Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 40 W.P.

>>4942057
>Envoy: Send a diplomatic envoy to a location to engage in trade, propagandize, or make agreements. Better at getting deals than scouts, but has no stealth and is worse if a fight breaks out. [Goodyear]

Send Trkulja. I want Goodyear to be taken care of, and I want Trkulja out of the way for when the Warden comes to town.

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>4942057
>housing
>farms

>>4941282
>gliders
My man!
I wanted to suggest that too.

>>4942050
Farm: Restore some abandoned farmland. Makes more food. - 35 W.P. [Takes only half a week]
Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 40 W.P.

[Write-in]
Look into setting up a more lived in community around our new church headed by Muller over in the Reservation, won't have food or housing issues since it'll draw from their local stock of houses and food supply.

>>4942387
Can we improve the Housing Situation first, before we build any farms? I'd personally would like to save some of our WP for other projects, but I guess I can understand some concern over the food situation.

>>4942533
I meant this for everyone, not one specific anon btw.

>>4942533
Sure, we can do the build order with houses first.

But think of it this way, the more farms we make, the more we save long term. Sure it may be crowded, but that's nothing compared to starving and dying.

I noticed I forgot to apply a modifier to the current amount of food production from the "air force" policy selected. It should be marginally higher (+3 units per half week). Normally this wouldn't matter, but given the sudden extreme interest in long term food security I think this may change votes (or not). I had a feeling I was forgetting something...

>>4942093
Re: the diplo action, what exactly is the purpose of sending Trkulja out? What does it mean for "Goodyear to be taken care of" exactly?

>>4942387
>lived in community around our new church
I'm going to have to say a hard no on that one since the church isn't at all built. As in, construction began very recently and having an effective colony there simply isn't possible. Of course, there will still be those individuals highly interested in the cause, enough to want to move to and work at (i.e. contribute WP to) Mobile, they'll just have to wait until settling there becomes more possible

>>4942057
my vote is for housing first and farming 2ed. the idea of a reservation colony is good but i think we should wait till the church is almost built.

>>4943277
>Re: the diplo action, what exactly is the purpose of sending Trkulja out? What does it mean for "Goodyear to be taken care of" exactly?

Talk to their leaders, deal with their bureaucratic bullshit. Since Mobile's technically apart of Goodyear, maybe we can squeeze some funds from that bureaucratic mess.

>>4943277
We carry the church with us and in our pockets, one bar of soap at a time.

>>4942057
>Construction Actions Possible: Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 40 W.P.

>Envoy: Send a diplomatic envoy to a location to engage in trade, propagandize, or make agreements. [Goodyear]
Send Trkulja to jump through the bureaucratic hoops to get is preaching rights since Musella is banned forever, and also to establish proper relations with the Boogie Boiz if they're still hanging around (I want to go Commie shooting with them in the future, we have a half-strength Platoon that we could rent out to them for backup on some of their ops).

Alternatively we spend both actions on building housing to capitalize on the influx of converts from the reservation. We have a stockpile of 124 food units and we're producing 8 over our consumption right now, we can build farms later. If we don't use Mueller to the fullest here we'll be shooting ourselves in the foot by not getting as much manpower as we can from his conversions.

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>>4942072
>>4942074
>>4942093
>>4942135
>>4942387
>>4943301
>>4943957

GLOBAL EVENT: 39
>UNKNOWN
When the recent U.S. Civil War began, the common belief was that the nation's rural heartland would prove to be an unassailable bastion for the political right. As is often the case, reality proved to be much, much more complicated. There was indeed an overwhelming rejection of the ruling authority's right to rule and a desire for a country less aligned with the desires of the political left. There was not, however, anything approaching political unity. Organizing any kind of polity in the vast stretches of land, especially with the collapse in global telecommunication, proved to be too difficult. Unlike in places like the Northwest, there were no paramilitaries, ethnic/religious separatists, or vengeful Oregonian exiles ready to seize power. All that remained were a patchwork of feuding warlords.

While the vast farmlands were a lucrative target, most of the surrounding powers simply didn't see it worth the per unit costs of seizing lands. The Northwest Alliance was focused on holding out against the West Coast powers, the Texans had other priorities, the U.N. "Provincial Government" was busy trying to link up with its loyal territories, and Paxton was busy fighting one of the bloodiest wars in history. The exception was, surprisingly, Canada. Canadian Revolutionary Guard and sympathetic rebels managed to seize vast sections of the north and hold onto them against fierce, but disorganized warlord resistance. Furthermore, a tightly organized group of extreme hardliners broke off and went independent. These "Leninist Brigades" as they were known would prowl the countryside seizing loot and press ganging followers as it went along.

You have no way of knowing what has happened to America's breadbasket with the total lack of information coming out. No matter what's currently happening there, you have a feeling the disarray will continue for the foreseeable future.

CONSTRUCTION SELECTED
>Farm: Restore some abandoned farmland. Makes more food. - 35 W.P. [Takes only half a week]
You decide that with the current influx of arrivals, you should take reclaim another portion of the currently abandoned farmland. It will provide food and keep the new arrivals busy. The amount of abandoned land ready for immediate agriculture is limited, but there should be room for a few more such reclamation projects before you have to start considering alternative means of acquiring food. In any case, your current stocks are not insignificant and will make any food disruptions in the near future manageable.

[1/2]

>>4944309

[2/2]

CONSTRUCTION SELECTED
>Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 40 W.P.
With the influx of arrivals, building suitable living facilities for them is a necessity. Currently space is very limited, with single rooms being unheard of and unorthodox living arrangements being the norm. There were already grumblings about housing, but given how recently you have arrived at Mobile there wasn't much serious concern. With the current state of things, there have been noticeable complaints from some old timers, and you know that the amount of arrivals is being limited by the current lack of housing.

>NEW POLICY DECISION::
The recent influx of arrivals meant not just an increase in followers, but also of potential fighters. While these arrivals have a much smaller percentage of potential soldiers than the faction has usually enjoyed, they are still present. Many of the previous recruits have been of similar character to the original group who committed to the exodus with you and were thus natural crusaders. This new group is marked by different features such as a common culture, shared ethnic ancestry, less of a proclivity towards combat simulants, etc.

With time, you are sure that you could hammer them out into true crusaders, but perhaps there is value to letting them form troops of a unique character. As precedent, the Mobile Infantry formed from the integrated townsfolk have their own style leaning more towards scouting, reconnaissance, and working well without supervision. You may also decide to have a hand in influencing what kind of unit they form.

>Make them into true Sun Belt Crusaders like the rest
>Give the new arrivals from the Reservation a chance to form their own fighting identity
>Let them form their own fighters, but influence towards in a particular direction [Write-In]

>>4943541
What would we call that, the Reverse Shawshank?! Jokes aside, I was saying that things like that will have to wait until things actually progress with that location (and are there ways of accelerating that? Perhaps the next few updates will reveal this?)

>>4943957
I have not forgotten about the [Side Ops] and even did [secret thing] to determine if you would get one. If they have mercenary work they're interested in inviting you guys to (which may or may not include what you're mentioning) then they'll let the faction know

>>4944310
>>Give the new arrivals from the Reservation a chance to form their own fighting identity

>>4944310
>Let them form their own fighters, but influence towards in a particular direction [Write-In]
Skirmishers, recon, infiltrators, night time combat.
I'd prefer to make then Crusaders first before specializing them.

>>4944310
>Give the new arrivals from the Reservation a chance to form their own fighting identity
As much as I'd like to turn our new Native converts into Pathfinders Extraordinare and Peyote-Powered Shock Troopers, I feel it's best if we let them chose their own path to become Holy Warriors instead. Forceful integration wouldn't go over well I feel.

>>4944310
>Give the new arrivals from the Reservation a chance to form their own fighting identity

But I want enough OG Crusaders to fill up our understrength platoons.

>Day 2 of the Electric Boogaloo- The men are weary. Food has almost been depleted, and our housing is in shambles. Fighting spirit is however at an all time high, with ample supplies of meth. We can only hope that God's will and his most holy substance will carry the day when the enemy next makes contact. Deus vult.

>>4944313
>>4944670
>>4944778

OPTION SELECTED:
>Give the new arrivals from the Reservation form their own fighting identity
As much as you would like having more crusaders to reinforce and create new platoons, you decide to grant them a measure of autonomy in choosing a specialization. While under the training of more veteran members of the Crusaders and Mobile Infantry they will be drilled into shape and trained in a number of fighting styles and tactics. They will be allowed to select their own leaders and trusted in developing a specialization that will serve the common faction well. You have a suspicion they won't have quite the dogged character and permissiveness towards combat stims as regular crusaders, but otherwise what kind of unit develops remains to be seen.

LOCAL EVENT:
>Local Fans
An unexpected visitor showed up from the desert wastes, specifically from the north. From the military styled vehicle and garish paraphernalia the guards knew it to be the friendly mercenary obsessed weapons enthusiasts and not the raider host you were warned of. You were surprised when the guard who informed you of their entrance told you that they weren't actually looking for you, but Cardinal Mueller. In any case, you headed out to greet them.

The man who was heading the unit turned from the cardinal he was chatting with to you. "Hey, is it true that one of your cardinal guys got in a God-damned machine gun duel, with a- hold up let me back up, so I heard about..." he starts enthusiastically recounting the battle between your cardinal and 'Raven' at the Reservation. He keeps trailing on, and you have to politely nudge him back during a couple of stirring rants about various firearms. Eventually, he gets to what you actually care about...

[1/2]

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>>4947205

[2/2]

"So yeah, send Mueller our regards. We got some stuff that you guys might find useful, by the by." One of your guards nods in confirmation. "Anyway, we might have some work we could let you guys tag in on. We could use maybe half a platoon's worth. The job's on the discreet side, no obvious symbols, mask up like it's bat season in Wuhan. I'll get you guys more detail soon if you're interested." He soon heads back.

>Side Op Guaranteed Next Half-Week
>+5 W.P.

"Oh, and one more thing, take this," he says before he leaves. He hands you what looks to be an old magazine from the eighties. "Not sure how much of a short-shorts enthusiast Mueller is, but he might appreciated a good read on his recovery."

With that distraction gone, you focus on what to do about the apparent return of last week's raiders. You are struck by how little you really know about the situation. Apparently, this was all just from one line by 'The Warden' and people are split as to what it actually meant. It could be a full host arriving to once again extort your faction, or it could be an attempt to open some kind of bilateral relation. Trkulja, playing the part of advisor, says that this should be treated as an existential threat and to be willing to attack at full force, even preemptively. Others, notably your economic advisor cardinal Musella, stress that the faction is too weak to actually take on such threats and to be much more diplomatic.

As the Messenger, your word is final, and regarding this potential meeting you choose the approach of:

>Defiance: Fully display what force you have and intend on rejecting of any kind of demands
>Diplomacy: Be more open to relations with this faction or the possibility of paying tribute if not overly burdensome
>Preemptive Strike: Have a group of crusaders hidden behind mountainous wilderness with the intention to strike whoever they send
>Deception: Come up with some sort of clever ruse, such as misrepresenting who your faction is or true allegiance [Specify]
>[Write-In]: You have something else in mind

For clarification, this won't determine specifically what you guys do with any kind of future encounter with the Lewis Correctional Protectorate, but it will set the tone. It also gives you a chance to try any kind of shenanigans.

Also, apologies for a lack of update or heads up last time. I'd say things are normal now, but that might not be quite the case depending on how things go. I should still be able to get an update out as usual for the near future

>>4947208
>>Diplomacy: Be more open to relations with this faction or the possibility of paying tribute if not overly burdensome

Tribute? Hell no, but perhaps we can trade. More importantly buy time. If we can't convert them we shall have to put them on the cross.

Is there any kind of further defensive fortifications or traps we can make? Sandbags and pitfalls are better than nothing.

>>4947208
>Defiance: Fully display what force you have and intend on rejecting of any kind of demands
>Diplomacy: Be more open to relations with this faction or the possibility of paying tribute if not overly burdensome

I'm not looking for a fight, but I ain't looking for a repeat lesson here.

Call this response the Harvey Dent maneuver, or if you wanna get into more Roman symbolism, the pagan god Janus may be more appropriate for this situation, for good or ill.

>>4947208
>Defiance: Fully display what force you have and intend on rejecting of any kind of demands
>Diplomacy: Be more open to relations with this faction or the possibility of paying tribute if not overly burdensome

Can we strike a Balance between Defiance and Diplomacy? Flex our muscles to show that we're not going to lie down flat for any attempted coercion this time, but at the same time show that we're not against trading with the LCP as long as it's done in good faith from both sides?

>>4947234
>Is there any kind of further defensive fortifications or traps we can make? Sandbags and pitfalls are better than nothing.

I think that would've been a Construction action, and it should've been voted on last week to make any use of it here.

We could set up something like this if you'd like.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gA-zBPR2KJg

>>4947261
>Can we strike a Balance between Defiance and Diplomacy?

I think so. We are the Messenger after all, if anybody could pull it off it'll be us. I sure as don't expect us to be absent in this important meeting that will decide the relationship of our two factions.

>>4947234
>Is there any kind of further defensive fortifications or traps we can make? Sandbags and pitfalls are better than nothing.
To reiterate an earlier point, you guys already have defenses. These do include sandbags and now machine guns positioned (no pit-traps on the highway.) But fine details like the exact placing of sandbags aren't going to decide how things would go in a fight, but rather things like how many people are on both sides, what kind of tactics players adopt, morale/experience, and stuff like that.

>>4947261
>Can we strike a Balance between Defiance and Diplomacy?
Sure, we can go for something like that. It sounds like it slightly leans towards the [Defiance] option as described, but I think I get what you guys are saying.

>>4947318
I get that we do have defenses, I was just wondering if there was anything else we can do, as there wasn't an option. I do look forward to being able to make IEDs one day

I think we should ask Maricopa for more reinforcements as to look stronger if we're doing the defiance & diplomacy strategy.

>>4947208
>Diplomacy: Be more open to relations with this faction or the possibility of paying tribute if not overly burdensome

Can't afford war currently. Got to absorb the Maricopan Christians and get prepared for a committed war - not just rapid skirmishes.

>>4947318
Question, what exactly is happening with the prisoners? It seems like their numbers keep going down, and I’m curious as to the reason.

>>4947505
That would be a smart play, but how are we going to spin it?

If anything, the MMP police vests would act as more of a deterrent, as they have Maricopa’s name on it.

>>4947510
I do agree, I just don’t want them to walk all over us like they did last time.

Just a heads up, that I might not be able to get the update out for a bit longer. Should be less than twenty four hours (I actually have it just about done) but I wanted to post something so people don't wonder if I've gone awol

>>4947557
>Question, what exactly is happening with the prisoners?
Well, you guys are trying to actively convert people and putting W.P. towards it. Some will become compliant and actively work with the faction, becoming a type of follower. They're obviously not candidates to become fighters ("hey, we think you're cool, here's a gun to keep under your prison cot?!"), they can still contribute to the cause in other ways and count as regular followers for the purposes of W.P. generation. If (once?!) total compliance among them is attained... ...

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>>4947234
>>4947253
>>4947261
>>4947510

OPTIONS SYNTHESIZED
>Defiance: Fully display what force you have and intend on rejecting of any kind of demands.
>Diplomacy: Be more open to relations with this faction or the possibility of paying tribute if not overly burdensome

You are not an idiot. While you have never been a prisoner (a consequence of the previous point) you know how their dominance politics work. To submit the smallest amount means being expected to give up totally, for as Saint Paul the Apostle wrote, "[a] little leaven leavens the whole lump." Yet the Lord also said "[a]s you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison," a verse you find fitting given your current adversary. Flexibility is needed, lest you find yourself against a foe you cannot (yet) match. You endeavor to show as much strength as possible and put up as strong of a defense as you can while still leaving room open for some negotiation.

As you inspect the highway defenses and ensure all is in proper shape, you think of ways to improve the defenses. For instance, with your expert level understanding of chemistry you can think of various means of creating explosives. While you can't make the kind of explosives needed for, say, an eighty two millimeter mortar, without significant investment (and preferably help from other experts) you can make more primitive ones in smaller quantity. Improvised explosive devices disguised as random debris could be used to hinder the entry of undesired vehicles attempting to force their way. It's perhaps not enough to stop a horde on its own, but combined with other ideas you have, the promised land may turn into a fortress yet.

>Construction Option Unlocked:
>Highway Defenses Level 2: Increases ability to stop entry into Mobile from the 238. Enhanced bonus in defending the town. - 100 WP [Cost Reduced With Defensive MG Use]

Such improvements will have to wait, perhaps forever given the sheer amount of things you wish you had the resources to do...

[1/3]

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>>4950539

[2/3]

In any case, you continue on normally, if on higher alert. The day actually passes by fairly uneventfully, with construction proceeding as planned and no massive horde appearing from the west. You question whether or not anything will even happen before you are to leave for Maricopa (something you intentionally delayed until after this event) until you are given word that there appears to be a group from the east approaching the town. Now, late in the evening, the garrison readies itself and many of those fighters training or similarly occupied drop what they're doing and take positions.

As the group comes close enough to get a good look without being blinded by the setting sun behind them, you can confirm they're from the prison. Visible are the tell tale raider markings and adornments on their modified vehicles. Strangely, however, the group appears to be small with only a few vehicles. As they come closer your group, which is presumably much larger than before (you were not present last time), fires warning shots. Quite a few, in fact, since there are multiple machine guns involved in this show of force.

The vehicle at the head, which appears to be a heavily modded muscle car, skids to a halt in the middle of the highway with the driver's side door facing the highway defenses. The driver, a blonde gentlemen, steps out. He takes off his sunglasses and then his shirt, revealing a map of tattoos all over his skin. He walks towards you, surveying the highway defenses from below you...

>>4950541

[3/3]

"You guys got a lot more guys around here than the Warden mentioned," he says adjusting his mullet. "And a lot more guns too. You know who we are, right?"

"You're from the Lewis Correctional Protectorate," you call out from your perch, surrounded by armed defenders.

"Damn right. Though we just call it the Prison. I'm the Shotcaller."

"And I am the Messenger, leader of the Sun Belt Crusaders and the rightful Pope of the Catholic Faith."

He opens his mouth as if to speak, but he stops himself in what you presume is consideration. "I'd say you're nuts, but I'm a guy covered in Viking tattoos and 'White Positive' symbols."

"Self awareness: a rare trait. I take it you're not a run of the mill felon."

"I was a stock broker, once. But one night of partying turns into a dui with vehicular manslaughter. Then you join a gang for protection, the country breaks up, and your former Warden sends you out east to visit a nearby community that's paid tribute. Shit happens."

"And I once taught chemistry. But enough pleasantries, what brings you here? If you want easy tribute, you will not find it here. Trade we may be amenable to, but we stand defiant if you seek to bring force against the Promised Land."

"Neither," the Shotcaller answers. "The Warden was busy out in Gila Bend. Finishing touches kind of deal. Apparently, he was satisfied with last week's tribute and says that if you stay on your side of the 238, we won't have any problems with you for a while. If you want to go through Gila Bend as pass through our territory, well, you'll have to cough up the Blue there, as much as you gave to the traitor lieutenant that one time" The 'Blue' in question is certainly a reference to your signature meth.

"And the Warden sent you, whom I presume is high ranking, to do the work of an errand boy?"

He shrugs in response. "That's how it is. You got anything else to say, or should I get back to the boys and scram. Because I have a feeling that with more guns pointed at me than a jail-breaker caught mid act, I ain't getting in."

Based on the way Trkulja spoke of this meeting, you would have thought it to be the end of the world. Whether by luck or some kind of miscommunication, it has been a simple messenger. Or some kind of diversion. In any case, Mobile seems safe. Of course, having who you presume to be a high ranking member of their faction may present some kind of opportunity, and at the very least you can send some kind of message to them.

>No, send him off and continue with your plans [Transition to the Diplomatic Action at Stanfield]
>Ask the Shotcaller something [Specify]
>Give the Shotcaller a message to send the Warden [What?]
>Try to make some kind of deal between just you and him [Specify]
>Signal the guards to fire on him and kill as many of these guys as you can
>[Write-In]

Thanks everyone for bearing with that longer than usual delay

>>4947349
IED's? If only we had a main character who has made explosives before in canon...

>>4950543
>Ask the Shotcaller something [Do you believe in God?]
>Give the Shotcaller a message to send the Warden [Services are on Sunday]
>No, send him off and continue with your plans [Transition to the Diplomatic Action at Stanfield]

I would trade with him, but I ain't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Let Shotcaller know that we'd appreciate advanced warning if any of you want to come to Sunday services, and the last raiders that interrupted church services got massacred to the man, so no violence on the Lord's day of rest would be appreciated.

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>>4950543
That's... actually way tamer than I was expecting. Shit, from the sound of this guy he's about ready to piss himself with the amount of firepower pointed at him.

Was honestly expecting this to be us brokering a deal for a regular Meth delivery to the Warden, guess I missread the situation? Oh well.

>Give the Shotcaller a message to send the Warden
>"If your Warden is interested in regular deliveries of the Blue, I am sure we can come to a mutual beneficial arrangement."

We still have no actual regular customers for our meth and we're producing a respectable 14 units weekly that is just sitting there not doing much. The Warden is way, way less aggressive towards us than I expected him to be, he's as good a customer as any at this point. I feel we can trade about half of our weekly production away while stockpiling the rest for surprise customers or other uses.

He seems to have problems out west if one is to believe the slip-up from the Shotcaller. Interestingly enough he said this too:
>"we won't have any problems with you for a while"
Implying they'll turn east once the situation in the west is more under control. Siphoning some WP from the Warden if/before this happens to build up and fortify Mobile sounds reasonable to me.

>>4950566
This made me giggle, I'll back this too.

>>4950566
This

>>4950587
We can try and work out a trade as well if you'd like, I'm not going to hold my breath over it though. Maybe we can set up a mission, with regular tributes of meth? I don't really know how I feel about that really, on hand I would love to start expanding our influence and converting other populations (as well as an early warning system for when the raiders head to Mobile), on the other hand I imagine that the meth tributes won't be worth it. Even 2 MU to travel though their territory is really pushing it. Frankly, I'm caught between my desire for a deal, to convert, for vengeance, or just to wash my hands of this situation and move on.

>>4950566
Backing. But also can we try and broker a trade agreement with him? Or at least have him take word to the Warden that we would be willing to set up trade.

Shotcaller is a damn good movie btw anons, check it out if you haven't before.

>>4950712
Sure, I don't mind. We can even send Cardinal Bob to talk shop with them if you'd like.

And I'll make sure to check the movie out, thanks anon.

>>4950587
>Was honestly expecting this to be us brokering a deal for a regular Meth delivery to the Warden, guess I missread the situation?
To clarify, since some time has passed IRL, after the horde showed up and Trkulja had some kind of seizure (???) and the skeleton crew + world's most unfit militia decided to hand over an insane amount of tribute to placate the Warden since things went so belly up (about a week's output of a meth superlab along with lots of other resources and food). Then, the relevant part, Trkulja woke up and was told something about them returning in a week. In character, Trkulja interpreted this as basically the end of the world.
Also, if the description wasn't clear (may have had a non-zero BAC while writing, and now) the Shotcaller wasn't visibly scared or anything. The comment about the guns was him noting how unfriendly of a welcome it was so that he wouldn't just walk in and have beers or whatever, but he did still casually stroll over to conversation range while shirtless.

Hope that clears things up, since I can see how it'd be vague or hazy.

>>4950712
>Shotcaller
I see someone recognized the character image (and backstory). I was surprised when I watched the "Jaime Lannister in prison" movie and had it not be shit. It wasn't perfect, and in particular I thought his motivation for joining a gang was kind of weak, but it was still a good movie. Certainly one of the better ones recently

>>4950750
Oh, he just wanted to crack open some cold ones? Sure, we can bring him in for a couple drinks. We don't even need to pump him for information after.

I totally got the wrong impression when he rolled up and commented on our defenses.

>Ask the Shotcaller something [Wanna cold one?]
>Try to make some kind of deal between just you and him [Just a freindly beer and a chat]

>>4950767
>Oh, he just wanted to crack open some cold ones?
Dammit, that was a figure of speech referring to your factions generally not being on good terms, not literal!

I know it's probably just funposting, but still, I might not be in the best state to clarify things, so I'll just leave things as they are until a future update...

>>4950774
I mean, did he expect anything different? His faction basically ransacked and ran roughshod over our faction. Still doesn't mean we can't be friendly the the fellow.

Don't worry about it mate.

>>4950774
>might not be in the best state to clarify things
when you're on the chans, the likelihood of someone having autism and not understanding figures of speech is always high lol

I'm not going to lie, shit's been kind of tough and slower than expected. I should have the update out by tomorrow (it's partially done) and hopefully it's back to regular from there (although I'm not quite out of the woods). Again, thanks for bearing with such delays. It's not unusual for this quest but it's still something I can hopefully find a way around in the future

>>4953397
Relax man, it happens. You've made a fantastic quest, don't beat yourself up because you can't get it out faster, it just means you're doing your best to make it even better.

>>4953397
Don't worry about it, we all get caught up in shit from time to time. Just keep your chin up, you're going great.

>>4953397
Hell, waited longer before ain't an issue. Quality is worth waiting on in any case.

>>4950767
+1. 1st priority. >>4950774 Even if it's just a figure of speech, we can still share drinks with them.
>>4950566
+1. 2nd priority.
>>4950587
+1. 3rd priority.

>>4944310
>simulants
You mean stimulants.

>>4953397
This is fine.

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>>4954156
>You mean stimulants.

Not if we live in the Matrix.

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>>4950566
>>4950587
>>4950651
>>4950712

OPTION SELECTED:
>Ask the Shotcaller something [Do you believe in God?]
>Give the Shotcaller a message to send the Warden [Services are on Sunday]
>No, send him off and continue with your plans [Transition to the Diplomatic Action at Stanfield]

"Believe in God?" you hear him mutter incredulously. "I don't know about that one."

"And yet you have a large cross tattooed on your chest. Why permanently mark your flesh with a symbol you don't even believe in?"

"This right here," he says pointing to the aforementioned tattoo with his thumb. "This is a symbol of the group I'm part of, and which I'd kill for. It used to be the Squad, and now it's with the Warden."

"And the names?"

"Look, you got the message," he says in avoidance of the question. "For now, stay on your side, cough up the Blue - and lots of it - if you want to pass, and don't even think of fucking with us."

"Once more, services are open on Sundays to visitors." You aren't sure if those under the protectorate are allowed to freely travel or if the Warden will allow visitors. Nonetheless, it's an obligation and a potential opportunity.

The Shotcaller looks over the defenses one last time before he walks back to his car. He calls out something unintelligible to his men before getting in. He does a few 'donut' maneuvers, marking the highway with dark black skid marks, before driving off into the western sun with his cohort.

Overall, this encounter went against your expectations. You were expecting some kind of horde of scores of vehicles to descend upon Mobile, drowning it in hundreds of raiders. Instead, it seems like they see it fit to bide their time. What they are doing, exactly, remains an open question. The Shotcaller mentioned something about Gila Bend, but this is not new information, with the Warden's push into the communities along the I-8 such as Gila Bend being known to your faction. In any case, your focus remains on growing as much as possible without engaging in costly warfare and not having an immediate horde at your doorstep is a sort of relief. How long this situation is to last remains an open question...

[1/3]

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>>4954941

[2/3]

After the encounter with the Warden's representative, you ready yourself to visit Stanfield. You set off in the morning, confident that there will be no issues at Mobile while you're gone. The skeleton crew at the western gate to Maricopa allows you in without issue and you head off for Stanfield. On the way there you can tell that most of the local attention is on the emerging situation with the Reservation and the casino around which numerous rumors swirl. M.M.P. forces cluster around that region, and your own Crusader forces are present in the area under the nominal command of Cardinal Mueller, but effectively acting as a foreign gendarmerie. You may find yourself dealing with this in the near future.

For now, however, you will focus on swaying a local priest of the (once whole) Catholic Church towards the truth that you are the rightful Pope and that he should recognize you as such. Your escorts drop you off in front of the church and you leave them to their own devices as you walk there alone. You figure the one on one approach is best. You enter through the double doors and find the church mostly empty. Across the nave you spot Father Malvolion standing pensively by the lectern.

"You wish to speak to me?" you start.

"Ah, yes." He moves towards you as you walk towards him, meeting midway through the nave. "I have some concerns about the Church, about your church."

"Is this about my status as Pope? I as-"

"No, about the church itself. I've been reading through this collection of dogmas as I've been wrestling with these issues," he says holding up a thick book of collected doctrines. The fore edge is brimming with sticky notes. "These encyclicals are very clear that the Church must be obvious and known to all. It must be plainly visible and as Saint Augustine said, it 'will not disappear' from view. How, then, could the Church everyone believes to be real not be the real church, but in reality the true Church be limited to some small section of Arizona?"

"You do recognize I am not a Protestant and am fully Catholic?" You recognize these arguments as a form of the Catholic argument against Protestantism, albeit applied against what he perceives as a potential faction within Catholicism as opposed to a different sect altogether.

"Yes, but the point stands that if you really were the Pope, then the true Church would only be your group in Mobile. Despite the disproportionate amount of warriors your group numbers, if I'm not mistaken, but a few hundred, give or take. Would this not constitute the Church having disappeared for the near entirety of the Catholic world? Christ Himself said the gates of hell shall not prevail..."

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>>4954944

You turn your gaze towards a stained glass depiction of the crucifixion. "At one point, the church was just a few hundred in the East Mediterranean. Before that, it was about a dozen men. Before that still, it was just Peter. It took time for its glory to become visible to the whole world, but it took time." You turn to him. "It also took the absolute dedication of everyone who took part. It was a decision they all had to make, between staying within the corrupted structure of the Pharisees or realizing that God's true people were the then much smaller followers of the Messiah. The Church was visible then as it is now, with only a small group in a position to see that, but it changed swiftly with time. It will happen again, but only if good men once again submit themselves to God's will."

The priest is silent for a time. You know the look in his eyes. He wants to join and just has to get over the last of his hesitation. You can tell he will join in due time.

>Eventual Conversion of Father Malvolion: Near Guaranteed

You spend more time going over various bits of theological minutiae with him. Hours, in fact. Few men have such meticulous, dogged focus on these matters, and you can tell he would be a natural fit at any future seminary you open, a necessity if you want to scale your operations up. An unfortunate consequence of this trait is that even with significant focus and strong material incentives, it will take some time for him to properly come around. For that, you'll just have to wait.

You bid Malvolion farewell and go back where you told your escorts to wait. To your surprise, they are nowhere to be found. You search the area and, strangely, can spot them at the nearby vagrant encampment. From a distance you can spot them chatting with what appears to be a gaunt man and his female companion. From their appearance and mannerisms you know exactly what's going on. Your crusaders, whether through habit or boredom, have decided to start trying to sell meth.

Obviously, flooding Maricopa with meth could have a negative effect on relations with your patron. Then again, this kind of small scale slinging, if kept limited to the occasional visits, could avoid detection and not even dent your massive production. Of course, there's always the option of trying to start up a large operation to get some appreciable income. Of course, there are also plenty of other opportunities.

How do you deal with this?

>Get your guards to come back, chastise them for being derelict, and tell them to avoid selling drugs to the people your patron's subjects
>Turn a blind eye, let them finish their dealings, and give them a convenient opportunity to make repeat visits
>Greet these Maricopans and tell them that they have to join at Mobile before they can enjoy themselves [Reduced effectiveness from overcrowding]
>Congratulate the guards on their initiative and organize a larger scale meth dealing venture soon [Lock in Diplomatic Action: Envoy]
>[Write-In]

>>4953403
Well, it's that I wasn't really working on it most of the time, but doing random bullshit (mostly professional related, but still). In any case, I think qms have some non-zero level of obligation to get updates out. There's a level of transaction of updates for (You)s, but mostly I don't like it when I say I will do one thing and then do something else.

>>4954156
Good catch. I feel like there are a lot of those deletion typos I would find if I ever did any substantial proofreading. Especially recently, since the thing I type on has been lagging a lot so a keystroke won't get registered.

>>4954935
That's not met-, wait nvm, I already used that joke

>>4954952
>Greet these Maricopans and tell them that they have to join at Mobile before they can enjoy themselves [Reduced effectiveness from overcrowding]

I'm torn between telling them to knock it off or congratulating their initiative. On one hand, I don't want problems with Maricopa to develop from our dealings. On the other hand, we need the WP. I'm torn with these dual desires, so I choose the middle ground, even with reduced effectiveness. I suggest we spend the next Construction Action building more housing.

Do we have enough time to visit another church, or is that beyond our preview?

>>4954952
>Greet these Maricopans and tell them that they have to join at Mobile before they can enjoy themselves [Reduced effectiveness from overcrowding]
They are suppose to be guarding us, chastise them a bit on the way back.

>>4955010
>>4955060

i don't think we should necessarily be sending everyone out to Mobile. A lot of these people might serve more useful for us here as followers in Maricopa. Besides it would fix a lot of our overcrowding problems. In the very long term I intend on making Maricopa an extension of Mobile, instead of having it as a ghost town while we burden ourselves with building unnecessary infrastructure that's already readily available at Maricopa.

>Turn a blind eye, let them finish their dealings, and give them a convenient opportunity to make repeat visits

>>4955084
We could look into having a "Papal Quarter" set up where we're sovereign or something - even just buying up a bunch of apartments and then having our followers live there would be a decent thing.

>>4954952
>>Greet these Maricopans and tell them that they have to join at Mobile before they can enjoy themselves

>>4955084
>>4955094

We really do need some kind of headquarters in Maricopa, perhaps some kind of old run down apartment complex or commercial building?

Running a soup kitchen/shelter/doing charity work is a grand way to win over converts and goodwill.

>>4955084
While I do agree with you in principle, the people we're dealing with now are currently vagrants, and may be better served (and thus serving the Lord) with actual housing in Mobile for the moment, at least until we can set up some proper housing in Maricopa for our followers.

>>4955094
>Papal Quarter

That's such an appealing idea I'll +1 it when we have the WP and official backing in Maricopa to do it right.

>>4955171
>Running a soup kitchen/shelter/doing charity work is a grand way to win over converts and goodwill.

+1

>>4954952
>>Get your guards to come back, chastise them for being derelict, and tell them to avoid selling drugs to the people your patron's subjects

>Running a soup kitchen/shelter/doing charity work is a grand way to win over converts and goodwill.

>>4954952
>>Congratulate the guards on their initiative and organize a larger scale meth dealing venture soon [Lock in Diplomatic Action: Envoy]
1st priority. Does this mean starting it in Maricopa city, or in general? I'm for starting it in general, with the exception of Maricopa city. I'd rather not strain relations with Maricopa city.
Alternatively, we could try negotiating with Maricopa city to sell drugs for performance boosts.
>>Greet these Maricopans and tell them that they have to join at Mobile before they can enjoy themselves [Reduced effectiveness from overcrowding]
2nd priority.

>>4955094
+1.

>>4955171
>Running a soup kitchen/shelter/doing charity work is a grand way to win over converts and goodwill.
+1.

>>4954965
>Especially recently, since the thing I type on has been lagging a lot so a keystroke won't get registered.
Have you tried using (Windows Accessories) Notepad? It's light (in terms of both programming simplicity, and program size) enough that it will lag less. It's worked for me for that same issue.
A problem is that it doesn't come with autocorrect or spellcheck. You could, once you're finished in Notepad, copy and paste into a word processor that does have autocorrect and spellcheck, to be certain. Alternatively, use 4chan's spellchecker.
A second problem is that it doesn't come with autosave or autorecovery, so you'll lose the file if you shutdown without manually saving. More advanced word processors typically do have both autosaving and autorecovery. This is a shared problem with 4chan's word processor.

>>4935565
>the nearby town of Maricopa,
You mean the nearby city of Maricopa.

>>4954935
kek

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Based on the current votes and discussion, it seems like you guys want to deal meth, but probably maybe not flood the place as to piss off your boss. Also, you guys kind of want to bring a bunch of vagrant meth enthusiasts with you to Mobile, but mostly run a soup kitchen for them. It's a bit scattered (probably a good thing.)

If I were to call it here, I'd combine it into
>Inform them of your new plan to create a Christian charity group for the region, which will pay for itself by actually being a front for meth dealing [Lock in Diplomatic Action: Meth-Front Charity Envoy]
>Chastise the morons for not doing their job!

I'm not calling it here, though, so feel free to vote/question/comment/shitpost/etc

>>4955441
>Does this mean starting it in Maricopa city, or in general?
It basically means flooding the place with meth, for fun and profit! It's the most dedicated/extreme of the meth slinging options. Also, Stanfield is absolutely part of Maricopa. It's agricultural output is counted as Maricopa's, the M.M.P. are responsible for its protection (the Crusaders have also done work there), they are subject to Mayor Preis' regime, etc. Being a lot more rural and open, it has a different enough character to merit a distinction as a margin/frontier type of place, but it's still under Maricopa.

As to why I refer to Maricopa as a town despite it being, technically, a city is to denote that it's not really that large. It has a population of around fifty thousand, which is actually not that large. It's not even the largest settlement in "Sun Corridor" region between Phoenix and Tucson (Casa Grande, a settlement just south-east of Maricopa you guys haven't yet bothered to explore, has a larger population). I think to distinguish it from a 'real' city like Phoenix or Tucson is worth going against the technical town-city distinction (fun fact: the 'town' of Gilbert in the Phoenix metro area has a population about five times larger than Maricopa's).

I actually do have better word processors available, and would use something like notepad++ with autosave or a more mainstream word processor, except for stubbornness that makes me use a random character counting website I have almost 100k characters accumulated on by now. Stubbornness is a recurring theme here, isn't it?

Also, here's a Google Maps view of Maricopa's general area. As you can see, it's a dense core at the north where most people live/work, with a whole lot of sparser farmland. Also, there's the Indian community, which was (is?) sort of independent even before the War, and now is basically run by a local strongman who purged much of the previous government and is running things. There's also the home of the Crusaders way to the left, although it's probably a bit bigger now since the faction has been picking up momentum...

>>4956100
I'll +1 those two options. On an unrelated note, I didn't know there was that much agricultural activity going on in ear Maricopa. That's a lovely map there.

>>4956100
Why does this look upside down to me.

>>4956189
Flip your screen mate.

>>4956100
>>Inform them of your new plan to create a Christian charity group for the region, which will pay for itself by actually being a front for meth dealing [Lock in Diplomatic Action: Meth-Front Charity Envoy]
+1.

>and would use something like notepad++
That's an excellent word processor.
>Stubbornness is a recurring theme here, isn't it?
Hah. It could be so.

>>4954952
>Get your guards to come back, chastise them for being derelict, and tell them to avoid selling drugs to the people your patron's subjects
How to fuck up our currently fantastic relations with Maricopa: Get the citizenry hooked on Meth and get slapped when they figure out it's us who are dealing.

I don't get you people. We had the perfect opportunity to start a business relationship with the Warden and his faction whom already stated our product is "worthy" of his faction, building cordial relations with him whilst simultaneously siphoning off WP from a faction that could potentially become Hostile towards us later down the road. Instead you want to deal Meth to our Overlord that's providing us resources and weaponry so we can potentially fuck that relationship up and lose the influence we've already built?

Wat. Just wat.

The Soup Kitchen is a fantastic idea though if you remove the meth dealing from it. We need to put housing construction on overdrive so we can get more people into Mobile though.
>Running a soup kitchen/shelter/doing charity work is a grand way to win over converts and goodwill.

>>4954952
>Get your guards to come back, chastise them for being derelict, and tell them to avoid selling drugs to the people your patron's subjects

If we're going to do this, we take the addicts away from Maricopa and basically perform religious conversion with meth allowances as a carrot to the isolation's stick.

We don't do it in the middle of their god damn land nor do we conduct illegal dealings there.

>>4956715
Tbh i wanted a trade deal with the warden but shotcaller didnt seem interested and the vote didn't go that way so idk

>>4956715
>perfect opportunity to start a business relationship with the Warden
the warden is not interested in having a deal on equal footing. The only reason they accepted now is because they're preoccupied in other areas, but the minute they're done with that they'll probably be expecting from us to act more as a tributary faction. besides, they're not to be trusted as the electrician said earlier.
Not everyone in Maricopa is going to be converted to our side through faith, for the more grounded-to-earth people their reliance on meth will serve as a greater incentive for conversion. We have Mueller working on converting people at the reservation, the Messenger working on the local church and now we could soon set up a ground of operations disguised as a soup chicken. When we were talking about converting and eventually integrating Maricopa this is what we meant. ill take the risks involved.

>>4956100
+1 btw

>>4957449
>for the more grounded-to-earth people their reliance on meth will serve as a greater incentive for conversion
Because 100% of the population of Maricopa that's not religious is secretly methheads and will totally just fall into our lap the second we start slinging meth around. No one will report attempted drug deals that conveniently only happens when the Crusaders are on visit.

What happens if the Mayor figures out we're dealing Meth on every visit? What happens if we're barred from entering Maricopa because we're considered a disruptive element of the law in Maricopa, effectively cutting ourselves off from the only reasonable large source of recruitment we have at the moment?
What happens if ol' Father Malvolion realizes we're using Soup Kitchens to get the poor hooked on meth so we can force convert them to our meth-cult? The whole Spiel of The Messenger being the legitimate Pope goes flying out the window at Mach Speed. We are no longer welcome among his flock, or any of the other Christian denominations in Maricopa as he'll tell them how we tried to sway him so we could just deal Meth behind his back.
What happens in the reservation when word trickles down there, that the man Mueller is following tried to get a whole city hooked on Meth? Is Mueller dealing Meth here in the Reservation? Did he go through all he did just to clear himself of suspicion? Are all the "loaned guards" here just to try and deal Meth!? Suddenly Mueller is no longer welcome in the Reservation, even after all he did, simply because he's associated with The Messenger.

The "If's" in this equation are stacked against us and the consequences for failure too high to risk it for a few dozen methhead followers extra. We attempt to deal in Maricopa we jeapordize everything we've worked for thus far if we get discovered, it is blatantly the most retarded option we could chose at this very moment.

What we need as a faction to grow is legitimacy, something we absolutely will not get if we are caught slinging Meth to our allies.

>>4956715
>>4957019
Hey, I was willing to try a meth deal, but as >>4957449 says, they weren't up for it.

>>4957449
As much as I want to get the meth train rolling, it won't lead to a faster subversion of Maricopa, but may in fact create more problems with their leadership if start selling meth to them before we've become too hard or indispensable to remove us from their township. I'd rather we start selling meth to other willing factions or Phoenix proper.

>>4957536
>Hey, I was willing to try a meth deal, but as >4957449 says, they weren't up for it.
Nothing was stopping us from sending a message back with the Shotcaller about a possible meth deal, except for anons not voting for it and instead instead trying to meme vote that we just open a beer with him.

>>4957592
>Trade we may be amenable to, but we stand defiant if you seek to bring force against the Promised Land."
>"Neither," the Shotcaller answers.

The Warden wasn't interested in trade. There's nothing we can do about it, all we could really do is make a deal with the Shotcaller, and I don't think he'll take us up on any deal without involving the Warden lad.

>>4959696
>For my votes, I would like to have the envoy request a license to sell meth within Maricopia. If we can't obtain a license, then we'll tell anyone who wants meth that they'll have to obtain it outside the jurisdiction (territory) of the place we're not allowed to sell meth in. This will negate the penalties from the soup kitchen and broader Christian charity group being a front for meth dealing if we do the actual meth dealing outside Maricopa proper.

I think making our meth dealings overt is the worst way to go about this. I want to have our claws in deep with Maricopa before we start opening up out meth operations overtly enough to need a license. Showing our full hand before we're ready or in deep with them could backfire on us in a big way.

>>4956715
When I made my vote, I thought our relations were belligerent. So, I wanted to ease into it first before offering a deal. Since that went better than expected, with less hostilities than expected, I would be willing to trade with him in the future.
This includes sending an envoy to him directly. Which, should get his attention, and make negotiations more fluid, more than having one of his envoy filter it up to him. We could either send this envoy now. Or, we could wait to see if the Warden will allow the Lewis Correctional Protectorate to attend one of our services, and ask them to tell the Warden that we want a meth deal on the way back. >>4950543
>f you want to go through Gila Bend as pass through our territory, well, you'll have to cough up the Blue there, as much as you gave to the traitor lieutenant that one time" >>4662891 http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4639060/#p4662891
>So, he wants the slaves back and two M.U.
Sending an envoy would cost us 2 Meth Units. This is assuming going to the Prison counts the same as passing through their territory for the toll of 2 Meth Units. I suspect that being willing to pay the toll just to meet the Warden will have him be more amenable than hitching a transmission through one of his underlings.

To facilitate this, >>4942050
>Broadcast Tower: Sends messages far and wide to anyone with a car or receiver. Massive boost to propaganda. - 150 W.P.
A Broadcast Tower, assuming we can conditionally encrypt transmissions, will reduce the need to send envoys and scouts out in the future. In addition, it'll give us a direct way to finding out what the GLOBAL EVENTs are, based on what Carl Redfield's radio station in Maricopa provides for us.

>>4956712 >>4955441
>>4956100
>>Inform them of your new plan to create a Christian charity group for the region, which will pay for itself by actually being a front for meth dealing [Lock in Diplomatic Action: Meth-Front Charity Envoy]
For my votes, I would like to have the envoy request a license to sell meth within Maricopa. If we can't obtain a license, then we'll tell anyone who wants meth that they'll have to obtain it outside the jurisdiction of the place we're not allowed to sell meth in. This will negate the penalties from the soup kitchen and broader Christian charity group being a front for meth dealing if we do the actual meth dealing outside Maricopa proper.

>>4959726
Also, giving them more Blue just to set up a trade sounds like a waste of our meth, with no tangible gain for us. Sure, we may have no buyers at present, but that doesn't mean that the Warden is the only game in town so to speak, and I'd rather save our meth for a legitimate buyer rather than an entity that only wants to extort meth from us, and not have a fair trade for it.

>>4959724
I don't see a problem with asking to get a license. It's business, after all. What are the problems from conducting business and asking to do it through legitimate channels, for legitimate reasons? We already use some for spirituality in our services. Even if there was a problem, as I said, we could tell them to buy it outside Maricopa. This would be similar to >>4954952
>>Greet these Maricopans and tell them that they have to join at Mobile before they can enjoy themselves [Reduced effectiveness from overcrowding]
But rather than having to go to Mobile, it's simply outside Maricopa.

>>4959741
That's fine. I can resonate with that. I wrote it out to point out an option, should we ever consider going down that route.
>>4959741
>entity that only wants to extort meth from us, and not have a fair trade for it.
To portray the events accurately, http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4639060/#p4662891 4662891
>So, he wants the slaves back and two M.U.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4882193/#p4882391 4882391
> "Whatever deal you made with the traitors is null and void. Their return is not negotiable."
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4882193/#p4882396 4882396
>It's a youth barely old enough to hold a rifle.
>He keeps nodding his head, clearly unprepared to act as a negotiator with a warlord after the current leader looked to have had a seizure.
>You are totally and utterly unable to do anything and the remaining defenders utterly give into all sorts of demands. What exactly they were, you are currently not sure of.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4882193/#p4885919 4885919
>We weren't sure how much of a tribute we needed to give, so we went kind of overboard, I think.
Had it not been for the seizure, we would've only had to pay 2 M.U. and return the prisoners. While they did ransack us before, it could be that most of the damages were from the youth being a doormat, and going overboard to placate, from his perspective, the raiders.
Going by what the original scenario would've been, had we picked that instead of the Bad End, all we need is a commanding officer that won't either have a seizure, or be a doormat, to prevent any further complications.
Saying that they're >>4959741
>an entity that only wants to extort meth from us, and not have a fair trade for it.
Is unfounded. They arrived to nullify a deal made without the knowledge, and permission, of the Warden. While they were unwilling to negotiate, the Warden was cementing his authority. Aside from paying another 2 M.U., which he should've been able to acquire from his underlings while he redressed them, the terms of the demands were reasonable. Particularly since they're raiders, they're more legitimate than what I would've expected from raiders.

>>4959803
You forgot the part where they ransacked Mobile in all but name. They said they wanted 2 MU and their slaves back, yet they took all our MU, most of our WP, and half of our food. Doesn't matter if the man in charge had a seizure, or the youth leading the negotiations was a doormat, that was a shakedown and we have grievances that must be remedied beforehand. And now they want MU in exchange for moving though their territory? Forget about the gall of that deal after the shakedown, what reason do we really have in crossing the Warden's territory? If they don't want to trade, fine, we don't need them, and we ain't giving them 1/4th of our production just so we can attempt a deal they didn't want in the first place (otherwise Shotcaller would've opened up negotiations).

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>>4955173
>>4955424
>>4956175
>>4956712
>>4956715
>>4956719
>>4957453

OPTION SELECTED:
>Inform them of your new plan to create a Christian charity group for the region, which will pay for itself by actually being a front for meth dealing [Lock in Diplomatic Action: Meth-Front Charity Envoy]

You walk over to the small group and interrupt them in the middle of the deal.

"Oh shit," one of the junkies says as he fumbles around with his pockets. Your guards, being at least somewhat competent, grab their weapons.

"At ease. I have good news for you," you say pointing to a now very confused ice fiend. "My group will be soon opening facilities in this area, a soup kitchen, to provide suitable aid to your kind." Your guards give you a look, but do not say anything. "In addition to the usual fare of foodstuffs and clothes, we will consider special dispensations."

"Hey Sniffs," one of the addicts (tries to) whisper to his friend. "I think they're saying we can buy more Blue when they come back."

'Sniffs,' or whatever he goes by, grins and starts nodding his head. "I see, so if we go to this soup kitchen we'll get the met-" his companion forcefully elbows him. "-I mean, the, uh, opportunity of the special aid of the stimulating variety?" You would say you're struck by how oafish this man's speech is, but you've seen way, way worse back in California.

"I cannot yet speak of details, but the service should open soon in this area. When we start, you will know."

"Man, this better be the good stuff, the Blue from California. That cook from California, what was his name, Eisenstein? Something like that, I think he was a J-"

"Man, you high already? Eisenstein is that ship from Warhammer, with the Space Marines and shit. You're thinking of Heisenstein!"

You signal to your men that it's time to leave and head off, immediately feeling your IQ increase just leaving the presence of those fools. Still, you do feel some pride at being reminded that your signature meth was popular enough to be known this far away from your original territory, and fondly at that.

>Chastise the morons for not doing their job!

You take the time to tell your guards that telling them you want to speak to someone alone doesn't mean that they have carte blanche to solicit drugs to nearby vagrants or trailer park denizens. You do mention that in any other circumstance the initiative may be appreciated, but they must nonetheless consider their actions when you make them join the others in toiling in the hot sun doing construction out in Mobile.

On your way back, you are stopped by an M.M.P. member who tells you that Mayor Preis wishes to speak to you. Given your special relationship with his faction, you aren't in a position to refuse (regardless of whether you would have wished to speak to him anyway.) Since you have already done your day's work and are already in the area, there's no particular reason not to...

[1/3]

>>4960019

[2/3]

>Event Forced:
>A Chat with Preis

You are driven to the city hall. On the way you see the police headquarters the M.M.P. is run from and notice it seems less fortified than before, although last time you saw it was during the joint-training exercise so a comparison might not be worth much. You reach the building an enter with your guards, which is only allowed due to the special relation your factions have. The mayor is obviously expecting you, so there's hardly much of a process to it. You step into the office, leaving your guards outside.

"The Messenger," Preis says from behind his table. "I've been expecting you. C'mon, take a seat." You oblige. "So first things first, well, congratulations on handling the situation at the Reservation. I wouldn't have believed the claims coming out from there, except that the visit from up north got delayed."

"Thank you. I knew putting Cardinal Mueller in the area was the right decision. I didn't expect him to resolve the situation as quickly as he did, but with God all things are possible."

"About, 'resolving the situation,' I have some concerns." Preis adjusts himself in his seat. "If what I'm hearing is true, he might not be the most stable of figures, if you know what I mean."

"You're referring to how he seized power?"

"Of course! He sidestepped, kicked out, or outright killed the people running the government of the place. And I know this Mueller wasn't directly involved, but he did grant over troops to help make it happen. It's cause for concern."

"It worked, didn't it? Don't the results speak for themselves?"

He turns and looks outside. "The results aren't in just yet, so to speak. When our communities got distant and the borders closed down, it made things economically complicated for us. Supply shortages and economic issues are bad as it is, even with the hoarding in the midst of the Wuhan Viral Pneumonia outbreak. Before the war there wasn't really much of a difference. The big thing is the casino. I want your advice on this. With the meeting about to happen in just over a week, I'm not sure about moving forward with the opening, which Dolores seems to be pushing for."

"Is that all?" You have a feeling he didn't just want advice on the casino opening...

>>4960021

[3/3]

"There's something else. When the place opens up, I want some of your guys there, maybe a platoon, to stay there. And, of course, I want them to be under the command of and report to the M.M.P. while they stay there. If you feel you'd be committing too many of your people outside of your main area, you could always relieve some of the people at the Reservation, by the way."

You now have two different dimensions to make choices on: the timing of the reopening and the extent to which you will provide aid. It's a delicate matter, with both sides having their qualms and the concern over who the Crusaders would side with more if something were to happen, for whatever reason. It would probably be best to maintain relations with both sides, and the relation your faction has with both makes it possible to perhaps play a mediator role, although how exactly is an open question. Looming over everything is the encounter with the P.O.Z. in just over a week's time, which could complicate things.

Regarding when to do the reopening, you advice Preis to:
>Do it sooner and not wait for the P.O.Z. situation to resolve
>Wait until after the meeting
>First answer a question of yours [Can be unrelated to this situation]
>Actually, stall by saying you will have to talk with Mueller and get back to Preis later in the week
>Do nothing in particular. Have no preference in this matter.
>[Write-In]

And regarding the Crusader's actions, you:
>Offer a full platoon to act as effective M.M.P..
>Offer to split the forces currently at the Reservation and hand half to the M.M.P.
>Tell him you can't spare any more people
>First answer a question of yours [Can be unrelated to this situation]
>Stall by saying you will have to talk with Mueller and get back to Preis later in the week
>[Write-In]

I wish I had a better excuse for the heavy delays, such as major developments w/ work or family life or w/e. And while that stuff did play a part, I must admit that this gross tardiness was the result of, how do I phrase this, heavy carousing, merriment, and post carousal lethargy (a fancy way of saying I was busy partying, hanging out, and being hungover). Luckily, I probably won't be doing much of that stuff again so soon, so fingers crossed on a return to normal...

Btw, I checked on the dead backlink to see if there was any more fuckery with mass post deletions like last thread. It was just a deletion to allow for an edited post (in case anyone's wondering what's going on w/ that)

>>4960019
Btw, I thought I'd clarify this since, while I implied this in the post, it merits being explicit. When you guys do the locked in diplo action to get the operation going, you'll get to choose the details like whether or not you'll be fully dealing, making people commit to Mobile before getting the ice, etc etc in addition to the standard selection of who to send as the PoV. I say this because I notice there has been spirited debate on this sort of thing during my briefish leave. There will be more formal/structured options for this custom choice

>>4960023
>First answer a question of yours [What are your concerns about the casino opening up before the POZ situation has been dealt with, specifically? What are you hoping to achieve with relations with the Reservation, and how can that best be achieved, while putting your major concern with them to rest? How do you wish to 'bury the hatchet' with these Indians, so to speak? Would you like us to set a meeting between you and Dolores, to clear the air and take each other's measure?]

Getting Preis to open up about his unspoken fears may do a lot to alleviate them, and if nothing else we can offer to be both the mediators and an informal backchannel if need be. I'm assuming he's worried about any unwanted guests from the Reservation creating an incident while the POZ meetings are going on? Besides Raven pulling a rabbit outta his hat, I think everything's alright for the most part. If Preis would like to meet Dolores personally and make his own thoughts on the man (and vise versa), we can arrange and mediate it for him if he'd like?

>Offer a full platoon to act as effective M.M.P..

I can accept splitting the platoon when the casino opens up proper, but leaving the MMP and whatever militia Dolores hobbles together alone is a mistake. With Crusaders on both sides of the border, things should calm down considerably.

>>4960026
If anything, using some of our recent migrates may be a good PR move for Maricopa-Reservation relations, by having both side's migrants working on the other side, helping to feed and clothe the poor and put a human face to both Maricopa and the Reservation in general.

im very adamant to the idea of sending additional platoons there. if im not wrong last time we did this half of our stuff got looted because we had left most of our platoons elsewhere. so far, it seems like Maricopa has been benefiting more from this agreement than we have. we're going to need more incentives to keep this up.

>[Write-In]
>Accept his request provided we start getting a higher paycheck. +10 W.P per half-week is a steal for the services we have been providing for Maricopa. Demand +30 or +40 W.P per half-week for our well deserved hard work.

>>4960075
I'd rather not broach the subject of more WP just yet, I want to make sure he's satisfied with our services before we ask for more patronage. I'm also sure we'll be compensated for our guard services in some capacity, as it is a big ask to have a platoon reserved under the MMP for however long Preis feels it necessary. We can probably convince him to grant us another batch or two of machine guns to outfit our infantry with, if we're going to be doing some guard duty. Maybe we'll get some other unexpected boon as well, if we're lucky.

>>4960079
>I'd rather not broach the subject of more WP just yet, I want to make sure he's satisfied with our services before we ask for more patronage
that makes no sense. why would we not ask for more later when now that we are in a position of bargaining? considering we're putting ourselves at risk and he is desperate now it's more reasonable to enforce our demands now.

>>4960023
>Wait until after the meeting

>Offer to split the forces currently at the Reservation and hand half to the M.M.P.
With more people going to MMP since Maricopa folks won't be on home turf.

>First answer a question of yours [Can be unrelated to this situation]
>[Write-In]
You realize that the POZ convoy that was suppose to subjugate your city was stopped in no small part due to the actions that went down over the Reservation?
This is a real chance for ambivalent neighbors to make peace and form a bond against these difficult times.
I'm sure all concerns and issues can be aired and talked over during the meeting.

>>4960023
>>Do it sooner and not wait for the P.O.Z. situation to resolve

Best to have a united front.

>>Offer to split the forces currently at the Reservation and hand half to the M.M.P.

Honestly though, let's leave them unofficially under Muellers command. They're close enough to the rez it would basically be just bunking at a different location in case anything popped off.

And lets make a demand for our services a mediator and the use of our men for impartial guards, a location for our Maricopa HQ and soup kitchen.

I'm of the opinion that to purchase we should require attending service.

>>4960087
Cause I ain't looking to pressure him when we're technically on the back foot in this relationship. Remember, he came to us for advice instead of the MMP, that's one hell of an influential ear we have going for us. Why ruin a good thing by talking shop? I'm also sure we'll be compensated for the trouble as well, it is a big ask to reserve a platoon for them when we may be dealing with that raider warlord Warden (even if the Warden said he won't be around these parts for a while).

>>4960514
>Honestly though, let's leave them unofficially under Muellers command. They're close enough to the rez it would basically be just bunking at a different location in case anything popped off.

Yea, that's what I assumed would happen as well. I still think we would get a bigger compensation by giving him a full platoon when the time comes. That way we'll have more leverage over the situation if one sides' forces does something stupid and we have to restore some peace before the situation gets out of our control. The only one that benefits from us fighting are the POZ after all.

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Alright, so currently it looks like the votes are leaning towards:

>Split existing forces, sending half of the crusaders lent to Dolores to the M.M.P. side so as to keep more people available for other things

>Discuss the Bonus Situation
The pay-raise/bonus situation would involve rolling for diplomacy, similar to how it's always been. I didn't ask for rolls since the prompt options didn't really need any rolls, but you guys asking for a bonus was something that crossed my mind as a distinct possibility you guys could go for (for the record)

I would also put in something about the Crusaders acting as a sort of mediator or trusted third party, which really goes unsaid.

As for the first thing he asked, which was regarding advice on timing, votes are all over the place. I'm currently leaning towards the [Write-In] described in >>4960042 as a sort of 'dodge the question' kind of compromise, but I'd like to wait on that in case you guys think of something or more votes come in (24 hours haven't even passed). Votes are obviously still open

>>4960042
>>4960075
>>4960441
>>4960514

No comments or votes after the recent post, so we'll be continuing based off of that...

DIALOGUE INITIATED:
>"What are your concerns about the casino opening up before the POZ situation has been dealt with, specifically?"

"Well, let me answer that by telling you my concerns about the place in general. It's a hotbed of trouble and radicals. And just when the crazies plotting to take over my city seemed to be taken care of, the guy who was supposed to be in charge of keeping the peace decided to crown himself warlord-in-chief! From what I know, he even had members of the previous government hanged on suspicion of being traitors in, what, less than a day? I presume no judge, no jury, certainly no right to appeal, and it's all in my backyard. My concerns should be obvious."

"Putting aside your general reservations," you say, tempted to comment on the unintended pun. "Why does any of this have an impact on the timetable? What does the P.O.Z. have to do with any of this?"

"If there're going to be any problems, it'll be at that casino. It's the main place our spheres directly overlap, where most interaction would be, an obvious target, and where the last incident took place." You recall Cardinal Mueller said that the sheriff could prove beyond any doubt that the M.M.P. started that incident, but you let Preis continue. "If something happens there, not only would it be an absolute blunder with the businesses I've been in contact with trying to get trade back to normal, but I'd have to keep troops there to maintain the peace. Hell, I don't know if I'd have to authorize an invasion, there are plans for those." By the use of "authorize," you infer that Brig. Gen. Greger, police leader turned M.M.P. head, is the one who is drawing up such things and is heavily involved with this. "You would have to agree that anything like that would be the last thing we'd want to have happen when they venture down the 347."

"Let's take a step back," you start...

[1/3]

>>4962744

[2/3]

>"What are you hoping to achieve with relations with the Reservation, and how can that best be achieved, while putting your major concern with them to rest?"

"As I mentioned before, business is a big part of it. You have to let people work or they start going crazy, too. We all remember what happened with Viral Pneumonia. Ideally, I want things to go back to normal, but from what I'm hearing it's anything but. You probably heard, it was from some of your guys, stories going around that the head of the anarchists over there escaped with a minigun and could launch a rampage or counter attack any moment. I've had people say I should let the M.M.P. move into the area after the takeover, but especially with you guys in the area I think that's a bridge too far. To circle back to how to achieve that, getting things to normal, I'm thinking if both sides have a third party with them, it'll make our neighbors more hesitant to try anything." He pauses after the lengthy talk, adjusting himself in his seat as he does so. "Sorry for the ranting, I just have a lot on my plate."

"No, no, it's fine," you assure him. Him doing most of the talking puts you in an advantageous position, anyway. "In any case..."

>"How do you wish to 'bury the hatchet' with these Indians, so to speak? Would you like us to set a meeting between you and Dolores, to clear the air and take each other's measure?"

"I've been considering that. If I really wanted to do it, I could, but I'm hesitant on the timing, among other things. Tell me, are you willing to place forces in the area?"

"How about this..."

>>4962746

[3/3]

OPTION SELECTED:
>Split existing forces, sending half of the crusaders lent to Dolores to the M.M.P. side so as to keep more people available for other things

You really don't want to commit more manpower to this region. Despite there seemingly being no short-term threat from the west, your crusaders seem tense about the matter. That, and you're not sure how long any kind of commitment may last. "I think I have a better solution here," you tell him. Of course, you're not going to tell him all of that and make your faction look weak. "I already have a group in the Reservation under Mueller's command. I can split off half of their forces and grant them to Maricopa at the casino. You may also want to have Mueller act as a middleman, if anyone, given his close personal relationship with their leader. Of course, the decision on how to handle it or how to meet would be up to you, in the end." You lean back in your chair just slightly.

Preis tents his fingers over the table, He's obviously thinking deeply about this. "I have a lot to consider here. I appreciate the perspective. Anything else you want to bring up?"

"Yes actually, let's go over the bonus situation, in addition to..."

What else do you want to go over?

>"Setting up a meeting on a particular time." [Select Specific Half-Week] [Will Lock In Diplomatic Action If Permitted]
>"I want some details regarding the M.M.P.. and their leader." [Describe/Specify]
>"What is your impression of the conflict in Phoenix?"
>"What is the situation outside Maricopa?"
>"Actually, the bonus thing was a film reference, never mind that." [Ignore Rolls/Bonus Situation]
>"Nothing else." [End Meeting?]

And, as promised:

>Roll 2d20

Rolled 10, 18 = 28 (2d20)

>>4962749
Hey, no 3d20? I thought we were playing a genius mastermind here!

>"Setting up a meeting on a particular time." [The half-week after the Boogie Bioz OP] [Will Lock In Diplomatic Action If Permitted]
>"I want some details regarding the M.M.P.. and their leader." [Personal Impressions and Opinions]
>"What is your impression of the conflict in Phoenix?"
>"What is the situation outside Maricopa?"

If this is too chunky, ignore the MMP option. If we’re going to be dealing with the POZ soon, we need to know their situation as well as Maricopa’s to decide on our general game plan when they come to town. I also really want to go on that Boogie Side OP!

>>4962762
Then again, I’m completely satisfied with the current state of affairs. It is God’s will after all.

>>4962762
Support, though i am particularly interested in the MMP. I still say that we should expend some effort in converting them to our cause.

What if we showed him he evidence that sherrif and muller found? That might help him be more at ease.

>>4963497
I think a personal meeting will set him more at ease, but we can definitely bring up the evidence at the meeting.

>>4962762
>Hey, no 3d20? I thought we were playing a genius mastermind here!
If this was chemistry or Catholicism, maybe. This, however, is negotiating a raise. Although with those rolls, I don't think anyone would particularly want/need an extra die.

Also, the event guaranteeing a side-op referred to next half-week, which would be 7/2 (since it's currently 7/1). This choice would be arguing for the first half of week 8. For reference, the "deadline" would be the second half of week 8, so it's possible.

Assuming nobody else votes or anything, I'll try to hit on all of these things in some way. They won't all get equal 'screen-time' and I'm not sure how long or short it'll be, but I'll try to get it all out of the way and leave this POV by the next update

>>4963497
To clarify what happened, Mueller/Dolores found the stuff, then Mueller went unconscious and Dolores decided how to handle things totally independently. There isn't any indication that he's shown any hard proof, although from the dialogue it should be clear that he has claimed his people bear no responsibility and is blaming Maricopa. Mueller getting knocked out complicated things, you could say, since I was planning for some political intrigue type stuff to follow the action scenes. Ah, cliffhangers...

>>4963638
So you cucked yourself out of your own intrigue plot hooks?

>>4963702
>>4963702
Sounds like. That negative trait turned that mission into quite a shitshow to be honest.

>>4963638
>Also, the event guaranteeing a side-op referred to next half-week, which would be 7/2 (since it's currently 7/1). This choice would be arguing for the first half of week 8. For reference, the "deadline" would be the second half of week 8, so it's possible.

Going back to this, I wouldn't mind doing it sooner, I just fear something will come up that will require a diplomatic action, like the first side op we had to pass up. I just don't want to start snubbing some people just because we lack the diplomatic capacity to handle more than two factions at the same time.

Also, if you wanna talk about your plans for political intrigue after the Mueller mission, I'm all ears QM.

Just dropping in to say that for once I actually haven't been messing around like a wild party animal, but have actually been writing. The problem is just that this recent update has gotten a little out of hand with regards to length ("chunky" as >>4962762 put it) since I've been having fun with it and getting into detail (and since the d.a. ends for real here, it'll include some extra transitioning into another scene, if that makes sense). It's currently a bit shy of 3k words, for reference, so hopefully you guys don't feel ripped off (although this thread is definitely a "rip off" compared to last one in terms of consistency). As usual, don't let that discourage potential votes/discussion/whatever

>>4963702
Nah, more like the RNG that made the encounter such a shitshow cucked the players out of some scenes w/ the remaining rebels, figuring out how to deal with the existing government, and most importantly that sweet, sweet loot... just roll better dice !!!
If you guys really want intrigue, don't worry, there's certainly opportunity for that. Certainly the Stanfield stuff gives you guys opportunities for that (although what I was thinking of, for later, is b - ... you know what, nvm)


>>4964661
I presume you mean what I did have planned, as opposed to what's currently in store. The later would be kind of nuts (what would that be, a self spoiler?) and the players can obviously come up with various forms of skullduggery on their own, as they did with the "soup kitchen" plan. As for what would have happened had Mueller not gone unconscious was for him to have participated in figuring out how to deal with the political situation. As I'm fairly sure Dolores said himself in the scene afterwards, sympathizers were everywhere, to the point where it could be argued that they basically were the government and merely waiting for the best time to come out as such.

This would have involved doing things like figuring out what to do with things like sleepers as government functionaries or at the highest level, what to do with other factions (notably the casino interests), figuring out what to do with the prisoners/loot, etc. W/o you guys conscious, Dolores decided the best course of action was to take over the place as a strongman sort of leader where he disempowered pretty much everyone else with promises of material interests of some kind (including lessened workload due to not being in power and not getting shot). You know, the standard choice of how to alter or replace a regime and how to execute it, which Dolores did unilaterally. It's all a really fancy way of saying you guys got cucked out of loot until he decides to maybe at some point share a slice...

Btw, any earlier than Week 8 half 1 and you guys would not have a free diplomatic action (1 from the meeting lock-in, 1 from the Stanfield meth k, err, soup kitchen). That was what I was referring to in the post.

>>4966033
no problem, take as much time as you need. i actually prefer having chunky updates once every few days than having "filler" updates.

>>4966033
If I remember correctly, RNG gave us that crit that was thrown away. That mission became an exercise in fruitily at that point, a bit like Sisyphus rolling his rock up the hill, but instead it would have crushed us on the way down.

>>4966164
+1, I genuinely enjoy your filler QM.

>>4962762
>>4962961

Warning: Xboxhueg update largely consisting of exposition/infodumping. It's what happens when you select every prompt when selecting 0 would be a valid choice that would on its own produce a decent update...

OPTION SELECTED:
>"Setting up a meeting on a particular time." [Week 8 - First Half]

"Next week, huh? Just barely before what could be the most important day in Maricopa history. It's cutting it awfully close."

"But it's the best time," you tell him. "Any earlier and it could be on too short notice to get it done exactly right. You agree that it has to be done right." You happen to omit the part about your faction not having the capacity to set up a 'charity' in Stanfield, go on some kind of mercenary work in Phoenix, and play middle-man here all at the same time this week.

"Sure, but if either side has to delay, then it could go south."

"But doing it early would result in more possibility for delay, anyway."

"Hmm," Mayor Preis lets out as he briefly turns his gaze to the window. "I'll have to think about this. You may be right. Anyway, what did you mean by 'bonus situation' earlier?"

>'Salary' Negotiations Begin

"Well, you would agree that our faction has been performing to expectations, correct?"

"Of course, no complaints so far."

"And you would also have to agree that we have been playing a progressively larger role." You use the classic negotiating tactic of getting agreement on something small and escalating. "We went from handling cattle theft in Stanfield to having dealt with the largest threat to Maricopa, one from within, and now we're about to heal the great wound dividing this community. It's no small step up, especially in such a short time."

"I agree you've taken greater responsibilities," he says, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Where are you going with this, exactly?"

"With our increased responsibilities, we require more resources. Our recent performance proves that investing in our faction is the way to solve not just the problems Maricopa is facing, but the ones Maricopa will be facing."

"Hmm, I'm open to the idea, but I'm somewhat hesitant. I'm not sold on the need for this. Especially with it having been, what, less than a month? Wouldn't it make more sense to wait on such a decision?"

It's the classic case of delaying, discounting, and deflecting type you expected. There's a natural hesitance you will have to overcome.

>-5 penalty for natural hesitance
>-3 penalty for short time in service

"I understand the hesitance, but consider this: times aren't normal. What is really a week passes by like it's months. We have to treat time like it has accelerated, because it has. Did anyone, just two years ago, think that early 2020 would happen as it did? Did anyone back then think that the country would be where it is now? So much has happened in the past months we would be fools to treat these weeks as a short period of time..."

[1/???]

>>4968675

[2/???]

"I see," he says. "You may have a point, there."

>-3 penalty reduced to -1

"And let's talk about need. My organization is growing by the day, you know that from the amount of weapons, armor, and ammunition being sent across the 238. We can only keep this up with increased resources being sent our way, especially as we devote more time and effort towards increasingly more important missions."

"I'm glad you mentioned weapons, armor, and ammunition. We had major stores of police and military surplus equipment, but you guys have taken the lion's share of it. That stuff isn't exactly flying off of the assembly lines, especially the armor. Of what we have made, I've made sure to get you guys a reasonable cut of. Remember the machine-guns?"

"Oh no, I'm not talking about equipment. I'm talking about resources." He has fallen into your 'trap,' as it were. "We are more than satisfied in terms of battle equipment, but what we need are resources, the wealth of this land. We currently receive some, but we are in a constant state of shortage with our rapid growth. Getting more of these resources is vital and is a major reason for me talking to you." You omit the key detail that much of your wealth was effectively stolen due to a tragic blunder at the hands of raiders that would have been comedic had it happened to someone else.

"Alright," he says nodding his head. "One thing our city does do well, at the least, is economic production. I suppose it would be in line with the idea of trading economic output for defense services."

"Exactly." You can tell you're getting through to him. "And let's not forget that we've already proven ourselves capable. During that great raid when the M.M.P. forces were near breaking point, it was our forces coming from behind as they were overextended that shattered the advance and sent them running north and east." You exaggerate, but not by too much.

>+2 bonus for performance at the Great Maricopa Raid

"And," you continue, "it's not just in major battles we've shown our worth. At Stanfield we not only found the source of the problem and put an end to it, we brought the recidivist raiders back for justice. Stanfield's residents were all there in one piece, and the damages in lost cattle were made whole with generous interest."

>+3 bonus for resolving quest [Where's the Beef?!] with selected outcome

"Well I can't argue against that. The Stanfield people really seem to like you guys." He pauses briefly as he obviously tries to remember something. "Oh yeah, there's a church over there run by an elderly priest. You might get along with him..."

>>4968678

[3/???]

"We could talk about that, but let's not get off track. I think we should talk about the Reservation, because the M.M.P. just has not been able to deal with it. If anything, from what I hear they've may have the situation worse, probably through no fault of their own." While you have done an excellent job of driving the conversation so far, you know better than to push your luck by throwing the M.M.P. totally under the bus. "You may see the current head of that region as a loose cannon sheriff turned despot who simply can't be trusted, but think for a moment. There's one man running the place, which simplifies things a lot. Since he's new, he'll want to cement his power, which means you can potentially get whatever concessions you want a lot easier with some dealings. These dealings, of course, will have to go through us. We've made all of this possible, so entrust us with what we need to continue getting these results."

>+5 bonus for resolving quest [Crime Squad Clash]

Preis contemplates in silence, this time turning his gaze towards the portrait of the venerable Jesuit who first explored these lands hundreds of years ago. "I'll make one small point," he starts. "The situation over there isn't quite over, although I will admit what you guys have done is nothing short of remarkable, even if the story about the strongman with the minigun is a tall-tale."

>+5 bonus reduced to +4 due to awkward ending

"But I'll be damned if you didn't bring up some good points." He's looking at you head on, clasping his hands as a gesture while he leans in and rests his hands on the table. "Okay, I'm for it, let's get to brass tacks.

>Final Result: 18+9-6=21
>Great Success

"So," he continues, "you said you wanted more raw resources, right? How about we take the current resources being sent over and triple it. Food stays as it is and you continue to get military supplies."

"It's a fine start, but I was thinking more along the lines of quadrupling it." The offer he gave wasn't bad at all, but you feel like you could push for more. "We could also increase our support in other ways. Consider this: we currently produce large amounts of medical supplies, more than we need ourselves. We could send you these supplies in exchange for greater material support."

"I think we might have already gone over this, but I don't really see us needing much basic supplies. The attack on the hospital did put a dent in, but we had such a large stockpile from the whole Wuhan Viral Pneumonia thing. We have more disinfectant, personal protective equipment, medical adhesives, that sort of thing, than we know what to do with. As the war drags on, maybe, but I can see us also producing those things ourselves. You wouldn't be able to help us out-" he stops himself mid sentence...

>>4968683

[4/???]

"Have you thought of something?"

"You know what," he says with a pointing gesture, "this is a longshot, but there is something we do need. With supply chains dead in the water from all the warfare, we're unable to get a hold of certain specialized medicines. I can't pronounce any of them, but the medical staff are talking my ear off about how important it is to get them. I don't want to sound like a total prick, but those things were shipped from places like China. We're basically boxed into this little corner of Arizona. If you guys could somehow get to making those, however, I could cut you a lot more slack in terms of resources."

You forgo the opportunity to mention China is technically only a hundred something miles away and continue on. "You have a university here, right?"

"Sure? It's mostly for farming and agriculture, so I'm not sure how it's relevant."

"Any university worth a damn should have extensive archives and patent databases. If you can get me access to those, some competent personnel, and the resources I need then we could potentially produce whatever advanced pharmaceuticals your people need."

"Really? Well, that's, I suppose, great to hear." You cock your head and furrow your eyebrows enough to get across that you need some elaboration. "It's just that I'm not sure how this sort of thing works. I mean, would you really be able to supply significant quantities of these complicated chemicals to replace what would have been shipped?"

"I happen to be an expert on this subject. Without the usual laws around intellectual property and the production of precursor materials, you would be amazed at what you could make. These drugs weren't expensive due to manufacturing costs, but due to a need to recoup research, development, and clinical testing costs." You aren't lying or exaggerating about being an expert. You and a man you once called friend actually helped found a multi-billion dollar company with multiple patents in the biotech field, a company you were unfairly cut out of for a pittance. Back at Caltech, you participated in work that led to a Nobel Prize, which you of course did not so much as get credit for. The pain of these betrayals are still felt to this day, but you take solace that just as God saw it fit to allow Job to be tortured that he may be rewarded twice over. You will have what is rightfully yours, with interest.

"So you're really confident about this, then. Alrigt then, if you're able to make this happen, I'll do what I can to get you the data and skilled crew you need. Not only will it go a long way with the medical crew, but once things settle down a bit, after the P.O.Z. and the Reservation stuff's done with, we can look outside. I have plans."

"So you'll be paying for the lab...?"

>>4968687

[5/???]

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I want some results before I'm going to really sink too much into this. I'll reimburse fifty percent of the costs that go into this, which is quite generous considering everything else. No bargaining on this one. The tripled resources mentioned before's still there, of course."

"You drive a hard bargain, Preis, but a fair one." In reality, this has gone quite well as far as raises are concerned. In fairness, your faction's recent performance has been very good so far, with the exception of the incident under Trkulja's watch. Preis, however, is not quite aware of what exactly transpired. "There's just one last, very minor point I wish to bring up. May I have permission and support for a small pet project of mine? I wish to open a charity in Stanfield to provide aid to the downtrodden."

"Stanfield?" he says with a confused expression. "I guess you really are taking the Christian charity thing seriously to wade through the smell of literal bullshit to serve soup to a bunch of vagrants, junkies, and trailer park denizens. Not that they're bad people or anything," he says quickly defending himself, "it's just that I'd invest in personal security and keep some N95 respirators handy, is all. Using some vacant building in Stanfield of all places is practically free, and it's not like we're having a food shortage. If that's all you want extra, consider it done."

You extend a hand, which Mayor Preis proceeds to shake. "Consider it done," you say.

>Maricopan Patronage: +30 W.P. per half-week
>Advanced Pharmaceutical Workshop: Skilled Crew reserved; 50% reimbursement on completion
>Stanfield "Soup Kitchen": Permission received, costs covered

"So, Preis, you were saying you had plans once the current business is done with? It sounded like you wanted to talk about the region surrounding Maricopa, which segues into my question..."

>"What is the situation outside Maricopa?"

"Ah, yes. So, assuming Maricopa doesn't get either flattened or embroiled in some kind of massive war - fingers crossed - I should have a lot more forces free to do other things with. The wide open area to the east raiders could come in from will still be open and we'll have to keep a close eye on things, but it'll be a good time to try and poke around a little bit. You know, last time we went south-east along the Sun Corridor to our 'neighbors' in Casa Grande, things went badly. Bastards just shot at us from both the south-east highway and Route 84. North-east are the Gila River Indians, who are obviously hostile. I'm thinking, because they're obviously under the P.O.Z., we might be able to figure something out where they knock off their raids and let us rest a bit easier, but we'll have to wait over a week to see how things go, won't we?"

"They still launch raids?" You recall the large raid that preceded the development of the special relationship and continued hostilities, but not too much more than that...

>>4968692

[6/???]

"They still aggressively posture, send guys in here or there to see if the M.M.P. is sleeping on the job, steal cattle if they get a good opportunity, stuff like that. Not exactly big set-piece battles or anything, but enough to tie up a lot of guys."

"And Casa Grande?"

"It's the next 'town' over in the Sun Corridor, the region between Phoenix and Tucson. It's pretty similarly sized, maybe with more people but I can guarantee you it's not as nice as here. We have more agriculture, better jobs, a more productive workforce-"

"Yes, yes, I see." You cut him off before his mayoral instincts completely take over and force him to start trying to sell you real-estate or something. "You said they were hostile."

"Oh yes. The message we got was to 'stay on our side,' which we of course did and continue to do. So far no problems from there, I guess. The place is sort of like a 'gateway' to the rest of the Sun Corridor. To the east are a lot of more rural places, farmland, little towns, that sort of thing. Once you reach Florence though it's just desert wastes and mountains, although at that point you'd be damn close to San Tan Valley and by extension Phoenix. I guess you could say the same about us. If you keep going south-east, then you'll keep running into towns and farms at a decent density until you reach Tucson. Is that what you were looking for?"

"Yes. Is that all you know about the local area?"

"Well, I know if you go west you reach a village called Mobile, but I don't think I need to tell you about your own backyard. Oh, and to the north is Phoenix."

"Ah, yes, speaking of Phoenix..."

>"What is your impression of the conflict in Phoenix?"

"In short: way above my pay-grade." He sifts through some of the papers on his desks before picking one out and examining it. "Early on, way before you guys, I had some people sent up the 347 to figure out what was going on and had some keep an ear out for the goings on with the airwaves. In short, it's described here as, I quote, 'a clusterfuck.' The city has God knows how many factions, horrible fighting in at least Glendale, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, a bunch of other places but you get the idea, and each of the 'big-tent' coalitions are themselves split among power blocs."

You recall one of your cardinals, Musella, taking part in some kind of adventure in Peoria, which is a fair distance away from Glendale. His information is definitely outdated, but you can extrapolate from that a significant P.O.Z. advance in that area, at least...

>>4968693

[7/???]

"Regarding the factions, you have the P.O.Z. and the P.C.R. coalitions, respectively the Phoenix Occupied Zone and the Phoenix Coalition for Restoration. The Phoenix Occupied Zone seems to be the result of an anarchist commune zone kind of thing gaining official support by the Phoenix city government, thereby effectively absorbing other such anarchist zones, joining forces with," he leans into his paper to read from the report, "hardline marxist-leninist scientific-socialist communists, or communists for short. I'm not going to pretend like I understand any of this, so I'll just move on. The Phoenix Coalition for Restoration, from what I gather, is mostly based on the townships or cities not directly under Phoenix, politically at least. They apparently have some kind of parliament set up and are trying to, and I quote again, 'reboot the government' as this scout here put it. How this works or how one would even join it's a mystery." He rolls his eyes. "You'd think Maricopa of all places would at least get contacted, but it's been radio silence."

You wonder how Maricopa, a fairly stable region with significant productivity managed to be left out by this faction that seems like a natural fit. "On the subject of radio silence, what have you heard from them by radio?" you ask.

"From the P.O.Z. or the P.C.R.? Well, I guess it doesn't matter in either case. Both sides are basically broadcasting nonsense. The entire time it's been the P.O.Z. saying they've seized vast swathes of land from the 'fascists and reactionaries' whom will shatter any moment. A lot of talk about the 'World-wide Proletariat Revolution,' too. The P.C.R. is adamant that they are holding the 'traitors' at bay. Any second, they claim, the rest of the country will wake up, restore order to Phoenix, and that in fact their enemies might as well give up since victory is assured." You have also heard the constant propaganda broadcasts, enough to know to tune to a different frequency.

"And what do you know, or at least feel, regarding outside intervention?"

He lets out a small chuckle. "I know that contact with the rest of the world's pretty much gone, we're going to face some severe problems if we don't get access to supply chain networks everything's going to go belly up, and the guy who seems to know the most about the outside world is the crazy radio host who won't shut up about God-damned chimpanzees." He pauses. "I mean, I get you buy air-time from him, but you can tell he's drunk half of the time. Point is, I don't see outside powers intervening any time soon. If it'd be anyone, it'd be the Californians, and if they haven't already then they probably won't at all, I think. So whoever wins Phoenix will, almost certainly, be one of those two factions."

"And who do you think will win...?"

>>4968695

[8/???]

"I don't know nearly enough to give a real prediction, but I will say this much. From what I've seen the P.C.R. doesn't even meaningfully exist. They haven't even bothered to contact us, really. I can't say the same for the POZ-" There are a few knocks on the door. "We're busy here!" Preis calls out. "Sorry about that. Anyway, the short of it is that I'm thinking the POZ has the upper hand here."

"And one last thing, if I may..."

>"I want some details regarding the M.M.P.. and their leader." [Personal Impressions and Opinions]

"My personal impressions? You mean militarily? They're get the job done. Sure, they might not all be the highest quality troops, but drafting people, putting them under the command of (former) peace officers, and giving them some basic gear is enough for the main role of defense. We have a large territory we need to keep an eye on, and any sort of advance into the city will hopefully get bogged down in dealing with four digits of defenders." You recall how the raiders that came from the north/northeast had their advance stall out in the north part of town. While those were just raiders likely just looking for a payday as opposed to a serious take-over attempt, the point stands.

"Earlier you mentioned plans for invading the Reservation if I wasn't mishearing things. What's going on with that?"

"Greger's been floating the idea for a while. Kind of enthusiastically now that I think about it." This does not surprise you. The self-styled 'brigadier general' reeks of glory hound to you. "Anyway, while the M.M.P. is strictly a defensive force, he does bring up a good point that sometimes defense requires a 'pre-emptive strike' as he puts it. Anyway, I was-." Yet more knocking interrupts him. This time, Preis checks his watch and reacts with surprise. "Yes, just a moment!" he calls out before turning to you. "Damn, how long have we been talking? Look, it's been fruitful, but we got to end it here. I suggest if you want to know more about the M.M.P. you take action in arranging something between you and him. I take it there're no more pressing issues..."

>>4968702

[9/9]

You take the cue and respectfully leave. It was dragging on, anyway. You return to your personal guard, which is (almost surprisingly) waiting for you as ordered and not elsewhere attempting to peddle wares. With the desired exposition and, more importantly, the desired pay raise secured you return to Mobile satisfied.

When you return there are a few issues that require your attention:

Issue 1:
>Idle Swords
With your recent focus on evangelism and diplomacy, some of your crusaders feel like the faction is growing soft or, almost as worrisome, boring. There are those among your number who are agitating for bloodshed. In particular, there is a desire among some to take action against the Warden and his men, whom they see as having made the Sun Belt Crusaders into a borderline tributary, even if you really don't think most of them are picky. A few, particularly those not actually proper crusaders such as the Mobile Infantry see this relative peace as a welcome development.

How do you address these concerns?

>Tell them to enjoy the peace and pray God does not forcibly take it away
>Promise them revenge against the Warden soon [consequences if promise not fulfilled in sufficient time]
>Promise them violent adventure of some general kind [consequences if promise not fulfilled in sufficient time]
>[Write-In]

Issue 2:
>The Forbidden Village
Up to now, Mobile has been fairly closed off from the rest of the world (i.e. Maricopa) due to a policy of keeping travel to and fro fairly restricted. This has not only allowed you to keep secret or manipulate certain truths, such as the incident with the Warden, but it has also granted Mobile a certain mystique and unique culture. Some, however, believe this to be a counter-productive policy that is needlessly inhibiting trade, keeping interested outsiders away, and could perhaps lead to an environment of distrust or paranoia.

Your position on this matter is to:

>Maintain the current travel restrictions
>Allow free travel and envoys without your permission
>[Write-In]

>>4968704
what an update! Glad to know that Preis is taking a liking to us.

>Promise them violent adventure of some general kind [consequences if promise not fulfilled in sufficient time]
Well, the boog bois do want us to help them out on a job sometime soon, so this seems like a natural fit.

>[Write in]
>Amend current Travel restrictions to allow for a designated commercial zone or trade quarter.
Should be a good mix of the two

>>4968704
>Maintain the current travel restrictions
Don't let people know what you have, they will try to steal your shit.

>>4968776
I'd like to have something similar to north korea type of visits were everyone gets a "tour guide", curfew, and no pictures unless pre-approved.

>>4968704
>Promise them violent adventure of some general kind [consequences if promise not fulfilled in sufficient time]

>>4968776
Support

>>4968704
>Promise them violent adventure of some general kind [consequences if promise not fulfilled in sufficient time]

SIDE OPPPP! I've been waiting for this since the last Boogie side op that was throw at us!

>Amend current Travel restrictions to allow for a designated commercial zone or trade quarter.

This seems alright, I just don't want to lose control of the flow of information until we got our claws deep into Maricopa.

Also, hats off to you QM, what an update!

>>4968845
>I'd like to have something similar to north korea type of visits were everyone gets a "tour guide", curfew, and no pictures unless pre-approved.

I like this idea as well, don't want any spying going on, even at the cost of WP. I still think a designated Free Trade zone is a decent idea that'll apease some of those business minded folks here.

Also, I think our general construction strategy should be to build housing and farms, the cheaper options, and save our WP until we come pay for the Advanced Pharmaceutical Workshop, then after we get our reimbursement we use that and the discount to get our Explosives Workshop operational, though we'll need to get a skilled crew together to operate that. With the Soup Kitchen costs covered, and the combination of recruititing followers and Father Malvolion joining our cause, and we may be able to pay for the drug workshop within two weeks, a week if we're really lucky.

>>4968776
>designated commercial zone or trade quarter.
I'm going to have to shoot this down for the time being since Mobile doesn't have the size/infrastructure yet for that kind of thing. That, and the current growth is, by virtue of how rapid it is in % terms, going to be - by necessity - kind of haphazard in these earlier stages and not conducive to controlled zoning.

For now, I'll treat this as a 'keep current policy in place' with the segmentation as an option for the next potential policy change where it would make sense. If there are any objections, there will be time until the next update to voice them.

Also, the side-op was guaranteed by the local event to happen literally next update, so what you have in mind works. If it wasn't the case, then you'd need to figure something else out, like asking for extra shit to do from Preis, scouting for areas to raid, or telling the crusaders to calm the hell down once in a while.

>>4969653
>I'm going to have to shoot this down for the time being

Shame, but to be expected. Maybe we can open up trade with Father Malvolion's people when we swing him to our cause.

>>4969538
I don't think we are big enough for that to be realistic, it takes like 15 minutes to walk around mobile. Allowing people to set up shops here means they are going to be able to wander around and see everything eventually, even under watch.

>>4969696
We can just have a acre of asphalt outside of the town and do all our trading and drop offs and pickup there.

>>4969653
Well im that case i switch to opening up trade
>>4969040

>>4968704
>Promise them violent adventure of some general kind [consequences if promise not fulfilled in sufficient time]
Though I would prefer doing a conquest alike to the one we did against the Sierra Estrella natives, it seems like many people here seem more interested in another boogie side op, which is also fine. Maybe we can also bring some of our meth there and try to find clients.

As for the Sierra Estrella natives, Ive been thinking about their usefullness and what we could do with them once they're brainwashed. While I don't think we should trust them with a gun, or have them work with very expensive machinery like the one at the factory, maybe they could be more useful doing more manual work like working at farms. This would liberate a lot of our loyal men from working at the farms, letting us mobilize more platoons and instilling more of a warrior caste out of the Crusaders. The natives could also be useful in doing a lot of our dirty work like the drug dealing.

>Maintain the current travel restrictions

>>4968776
>>4968845
>>4968846
>>4969040
>>4969299
>>4970071

OPTION SELECTED:
>Promise them violent adventure of some general kind [consequences if promise not fulfilled in sufficient time]
Your fighters' restlessness is reasonable, given the tacit promise of righteous adventure and crusading in the name of Christ. You make this explicit by telling them that their guns and bayonets will not stay idle for long, and that you will organize some kind of violent adventure for them. You make sure to avoid the subject of the Warden, whose forces and capability still remain unknown. While it may be a mild disappointment to some (certainly to those sympathizing with Trkulja) most seem to be enthusiastic about potential righteous bloodshed. With the strangely dressed neighbors from Phoenix promising to extend an invitation to join some kind of mercenary work, especially, you are confident you can fulfill this promise.

OPTION SELECTED:
>Maintain the current travel restrictions
You decide that, as much as you would like more efficient access to resources and labor from Maricopa, the downside of opening up Mobile is too great. There are more than a couple of 'skeletons in the closet' you would like to keep hidden, with examples being the industrial scale meth production, the disastrous extent of the 'tribute' paid to the Warden, and the Sierra Estrella base. Opening up could also cause potential spies and infiltrators to slip in, whether they be from Maricopa or perhaps even other factions. As unlikely as these may be to some, you consider it best to play it safe and maintain the status quo.

With this, the first half of the seventh week ends...

[END OF WEEK 7, HALF 1]

[1/3]

>>4970922

[2/3]

...And the second begins.

[START OF WEEK 7, HALF 2]

>Manpower:
1 full strength Mechanized Infantry Platoons
1 half strength Mechanized Infantry Platoon
1 full strength Mechanized Infantry Platoons [LOCKED WITH THE RESERVATION]
1 half strength Support Platoon [Priority: Artillery Section]
Full Platoon Garrisoned Mobile Light Infantry [Mountain Base]
Full Platoon Garrisoned Mobile Light Infantry [Mobile]

~390 followers (non-combatants)
~95 prisoners

>Wealth:
120 Wealth Points
+80WP per half-week from followers
+30 WP per half-week from Maricopan patronage
135 Food Units
-44 Food from consumption per half week
+40 Food from 6 farms
+15 Food from Maricopan patronage
15 Meth Units
+7 M.U. per half-week

>ACTIONS AVAILABLE:
1 Construction Action
0 Diplomatic Actions [Envoy: 'Soup Kitchen' Already Locked In]
1 Flexible Action

>>4970925

[3/3]

>Construction Actions Possible: Unless stated otherwise, assuming 1 week to complete:
Farm: Restore some abandoned farmland. Makes more food. - 40 W.P. [Takes only half a week]
Chemical Weapons Lab Level 1: Allows for the production of basic chemical weapons. - 400 W.P.
Machine Workshop Level 1: Allows for the production of basic weapons and ammunition. - 300 W.P.
Explosives Workshop Level 1: Allows for the production of basic explosives. - 500 W.P. [Requires Skilled Crew for Optimal Function]
Broadcast Tower: Sends messages far and wide to anyone with a car or receiver. Massive boost to propaganda. - 150 W.P.
Oubliette: Dungeon like room for basic interrogation/conversion. Unlocks conversion (brainwashing) oriented construction options. - 100 W.P.
Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 45 W.P.
Hallucinogen Manufacturing: Create a variety of mind altering substances. - 150 W.P. [Synergy: Oubliette]
Advanced Pharmaceutical Workshop: Allows for the production of advanced drugs. - 550 W.P. [Skilled Crew Reserved] [Partial Reimbursement On Construction]
Basic Seminary: Decreases penalties for multiple simultaneous [Missionary Outreach] actions and slightly boosts effectiveness. - 300 W.P. [Requires Skilled Crew]
Nothing: Save the W.P. and forgo construction
[Write-in]

>Special: Can use a one time 50% discount on a factory upgrade if desired

>Toggles
Purchase advertising for Maricopa's radio to help with recruitment/outreach - 5 W.P. per full week [CURRENTLY ON]
Send Cardinal Mueller out to the Reservation to preach. - Free [CURRENTLY ON]
Crudely "preach to" prisoners at the Sierra Estrella location (i.e. brainwash) - 5 W.P. per half week [CURRENTLY ON]

>Diplomatic Actions Possible:
Envoy: Send a diplomatic envoy to a location to engage in trade, propagandize, or make agreements. Better at getting deals than scouts, but has no stealth and is worse if a fight breaks out. Select from a location such as Gila Bend, Maricopa, Goodyear, or a [Write-in] and note what you specifically want them to do.
Scouting: Have the group organize a scouting party and explore a location. Stealthy and decent at a fight, but not very good if diplomacy is needed. Select from the Gila Bend, Maricopa, or a [Write-in] and specify what you want them to do.
Raiding Party: Send forces out to a location and attack them for loot and dominance. [Where?]
Missionary Outreach: Send missionaries to a location to recruit people into the totally legitimate religion. Could anger the locals if you don't have permission! Select from a location such as Gila Bend, Goodyear, or a [Write-in].
Side Ops: Do mercenary work [CURRENTLY AVAILABLE]
Nothing: Forgo a diplomatic action.
[Write-in]

>Select one construction action, zero diplomatic actions, and one extra of either category for this half-week (and optionally, toggle changes)

Also:

>Roll three d100s for events

Rolled 80, 24, 33 = 137 (3d100)

>>4970927
>>ACTIONS AVAILABLE:
>1 Construction Action
Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 45 W.P.
>0 Diplomatic Actions [Envoy: 'Soup Kitchen' Already Locked In]
>1 Flexible Action
Side Ops: Do mercenary work [CURRENTLY AVAILABLE]

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>4970927
Either
>Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 45 W.P.
Or
>Nothing: Save the W.P. and forgo construction

Something cheap that will help with excess population, or nothing at all. Give us two weeks (maybe 1 and 1/2), and we can build the Advanced Pharmaceutical Workshop and get our partial reimbursement back.

>Side Ops: Do mercenary work [CURRENTLY AVAILABLE]

Hell yea baby! Now we're talking!

>>4970972
Damn, I rolled fantastic this time, that's just a damn shame. Last time we rolled a 95 was when those mortars fell from the sky!

>>4970927
>1 Construction Action
>Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 45 W.P.
The one bottleneck for our expansion remains, build more farm- I mean housing.

>1 Flexible Action
>Side Ops: Do mercenary work [CURRENTLY AVAILABLE]
It's my fucking dudes, the Boogie Boiz lets go!

As a sidenote, has enough time passed for the Native contingent of our armed units to form their own fighting identity yet? Or has the exposition dump that happened over the last few update made it feel like more time has passed than what's actually passed?

>>4970970
Support

>>4970927
>Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 45 W.P.
I think we agreed to do housing after the farms didn't we?

Side Ops: Do mercenary work [CURRENTLY AVAILABLE]
Lets throw a full Mechanized platoon at least.

Also could we swap out the Mechanized Platoon at the Reservation with the Infantry Platoon at mobile?

>>4971169
>I think we agreed to do housing after the farms didn't we?
Yes, yes we did. >>4971169
+1.
>>4971169
>Also could we swap out the Mechanized Platoon at the Reservation with the Infantry Platoon at mobile?
Are you sure about this? What are your plans for this? To my understanding, the ones that are locked in were done by the offered choices. Such offer automatically listed them as locked in.

>>4971169
>Also could we swap out the Mechanized Platoon at the Reservation with the Infantry Platoon at mobile?

No, moving the Mobile garrison beyond their home is likely to cause more internal problems than it would be worth.

>>4971077
>has enough time passed for the Native contingent of our armed units to form their own fighting identity yet? Or has the exposition dump that happened over the last few update made it feel like more time has passed than what's actually passed?
The latter. I haven't forgotten about them, it just takes a little longer to whip up your average American into something approaching fighting shape. It's not going to take multiple months like a Full Metal Jacket marine training camp, but there's going to be a little more waiting. I think I've said this before, but there will generally be a gap period between gaining followers fit for conscription and them becoming real fighters.
The situation where more time passes in reality than in universe was something the Messenger hinted at in the negotiation.

>>4971169
>Mechanized Platoon at the Reservation with the Infantry Platoon at mobile
If you mean dismounting the crusaders, sure. The "mechanized" designator means they are good at traveling from place to place via vehicles and engaging in vehicular combat. If you mean taking the Mobile Infantry away from Mobile and placing them at the Reservation, Dolores would reject that since he would want to stick with the same group of people for the duration he thinks he needs to build his own forces.

>>4971681
The extra mobility is wasted by having them garrisoned and held in place instead of in reserve or able to leave and respond to incidents.

>>4972104
Actually, if we needed all hands on deck, they'd can be retrieved faster than an infantry platoon, fast enough to make more of a difference than the garrison. There's also the problem that we'll be keeping these Infantrymen away from their real homes, and will cause their morale to plummet.

>>4972124
But they are locked in with the reservation, so they wouldn't be leaving anyways. Its probably the only force keeping Delores's government from collapsing.

>>4972125
Our Infantry is also locked down at Mobile and the Black Site, so all we'll be doing is just playing musical chairs with our forces. And no, our Mechanized units won't be better suited in Mobile, because they won't be in their vehicles at Mobile, but at fixed positions and entrenched fortifications, and they won't be leaving those positions at all because it'll leave Mobile absolutely defenseless. Even if the enemy completely routed and you wanted to follow up, because without Mobile, our faction is dead, fame over, full stop. So I don't really see the point in moving our forces around just so our Mechanized units get new digs to garrison.

>>4972142
Doesn't mobile have a militia garrison of non crusaders?

>>4972150
Yes. Those are the Infantry. We absorbed them when we assimilated Mobile. The Infantry was made up of Mobile citizens before we came to town.

>>4972153
Ah, so the mobile infantry crusaders and the local militia garrison became one unit.

Thought they were separate but a passive defensive boon.

>>4972159
You can think of the non-conscripted citizens like that, but they won't be fully trained, fit, or even armed, as these would be grandparents and children with the family's shotgun and the like. They may provide a passive defensive boon, but there is a reason why they weren't conscripted into military service already.

>>4970970
>>4970972
>>4971077
>>4971159
>>4971169

GLOBAL EVENT: 24
>UNKNOWN
In 2020, when the Second US Civil War erupted, the Middle East was in an unstable position. Powers both foreign and domestic to the region fought for dominance, for resources, and for the sake of deeply held beliefs going back centuries. The sudden exit of America's hegemonic dominance over the international community followed by a series of large scale conflicts across the globe had serious consequences in the region. Contested regions flared up once more into open fighting as ancient rivals looked to settle old scores.

Unfortunately, these events were not covered in any useful depth by media outlets during the chaos of 2020. The war to set the domestic narrative simply consumed the attention of everyone involved, your included. You have no real idea of what is going on, and securing your faction's exodus from California was simply too important to merit in depth investigations on regions on the other side of the planet. The one thing that piqued your curiosity was the reality that the region was host to tens of thousands of American military personnel. You have a feeling that no matter what's going on in the broader region, these fighters will have some sort of role to play.

CONSTRUCTION SELECTED
>Improved Housing: Continue improving housing to support a larger population - 45 W.P.
As the faction continues to gain influence and converts, Mobile strains to adequately house the new population. This is such an issue that the flow of new converts is being actively hampered by the lack of suitable living quarters. You assign the bulk of your workforce to helping construct the new living quarters, be it through physically constructing the houses, buying goods from Maricopa, making various inputs, or even scrounging the vast landfills of Mobile for various supplies. The result will necessarily be somewhat chaotic and haphazard due to the short timescales involved, but there is no other way with the prospective occupants already prepared to move in.

ACTION SELECTED:
>Side Ops: Do mercenary work
You take up the offer extended to your faction by the flamboyant terrorist/mercenary outfit. While you're not really sure about them, the men among your faction who have dealt with them seem to have taken a liking to them, one which is mutual...

[1/3]

>>4973533

[2/3]

The mission involves some kind of infiltration from the region of Peoria (which they say is being overrun) and further into POZ territory into Glendale. There is, according to their client, a large store of various supplies being contained in a strip mall at the edge of Glendale's territory. This store of supplies is said to be quite lightly guarded due to its position relatively deep into current POZ territory and the perceived safety of being near two strongholds in institutions of higher education. On the day of the operation the POZ is said to be preparing for some kind of advance and will be moving assets around, which will create an opening to strike.

The goal is to raid this stash and seize as much loot as possible before leaving, emphasizing communication equipment. The route to this stash will involve moving through the Arizona Canal, which you are told has not yet been fortified due to the shifting lines of battle and is currently vulnerable for other, aforementioned reasons. The 'Boogie Nights Boiz' (you still have trouble accepting anyone would name themselves that) will be dropped off at a water treatment plant and provide long range support in not just seizing the strip mall but more so in harrying reinforcements.

One feature of this mission is that they are requesting your crusaders don black, nondistinctive armor and avoid bringing anything that would indicate your allegiance. Given the garish and colorful nature of the mercenaries you're working with, you presume this is a serious condition. In addition, the chosen time is around sunset, meaning the oppressive glare of the Arizonan sun will be in full effect and that there is the possibility for night fighting if things go unexpectedly or drag on. Despite the mitigating factors mentioned previously, this is still at its core about fighting fairly deep in hostile territory and you can expect that not everyone who ventures forth will make it back.

Despite the various conditions imposed onto you by virtue of accepting this mission, there are still a few things you can decide on yourself. Despite being told earlier to bring "maybe half a platoon's worth," they now tell you that they want more, with one platoon being the expectation and with two being the upper bound. Your faction is also free to bring along any equipment you think would be relevant and is available (meaning most things that aren't part of fixed defensive positions, such as the machine guns.) The main choice, however, will be in who will lead this expedition...

>>4973534

[3/3]

The natural pick would be, of course, Cardinal Musella, who has time after time shown to be a steadfast, reliable man and one who has worked with these people before. Musella, however, stresses that it is very important to get them acclimated to other leaders in your faction, as much as he would definitely like to tag along. He also has, apparently, developed some kind of minor limp and mysterious wrist pain that he says would impair his ability to lead and is a very valid reason why you might not want to select him. Mueller, meanwhile, is still wheelchair bound due to a horrible wound incurred during his heroic undertaking not long ago and is thus totally out of the running. Cardinal Trkulja is willing to go, but does not seem very enthusiastic, being of the mind that this is a needless side mission that distracts from the real threat (he obviously is referring to the Warden) and that he would be better served handling logistics and inventory. You could select any of these (even if bringing Mueller would be insane) or you could opt for another leader. There are also a number of other choices available, from other cardinals to lower level leaders you could put in charge.

How will you conduct this mission? Do any of the following:

>Specify troop numbers and composition (ex. bring Mobile Infantry or medics or things like that)
>Specify special equipment to bring, if any (ex. gasmasks and 10 kilos of meth or whatever you think would be useful)
>Ask for details on a subject (answer not guaranteed)
>Specify leader (or have one selected/generated if that is popular demand)
>Chicken out, the pressure is too much!!!
>[Write-In]

So, heads up, I will most likely not even be able to see any of the posts you guys make for the next few days. If anyone asks, I will be on one gigantic bender that will prevent me from using any kind of electronics and participating in this in any meaningful way. In the meantime, decide on these things. It's purposely kind of open ended, although since the plan is already set by the group you're going with, the main thing will probably be the decision of who will lead the venture.

>>4972150
>>4972159
I think some confusion may come from Crusader being used to refer to the Sun Belt Crusaders faction and how crusader is also a job that refers to the highly religious meth enthusiasts with guns. The Mobile Infantry, as mentioned, was the village of Mobile's 'military' that was absorbed along with the rest of the place. There is also another layer, that is taking the actual civilians of Mobile and shoving rifles into their hands to call them a militia. This is good for bolstering numbers, but are absolutely garbage for anything else due to them being the proverbial grandpa/child handed a shotgun and told to look tough. These guys are not accounted for under the "Manpower" section and are not the Mobile Infantry, although they did play a small part in the encounter with the warden.

>>4973538
>2 Mechanized Platoons (full and half strength), medics from the Support platoon
>Gasmasks, smoke and HE grenades, some night vision, medical supplies, 5 kilos of meth
>Are vehicles provided? Will the be a PRC offensive to distract them? Can you loan us some of your good shit for the duration of the mission?
>Hua Mulan, but have McCoy 2nd in command to handle casualties

Hua was previously suggested for a mission, but I think she'll be best suited for this infiltration mission. To the Crusaders, Hua is a battle-hardened nun of Chinese ancestry that sold them fentanyl and other chemicals used for making the meth before the Crusader's migration. Secretly, she's a PLA infiltrator that was assigned to destabilize and subvert the US by supplying drug suppliers with Chinese-made fentanyl, and got caught up in the chaos with the Crusaders. She killed her handler before the Crusaders could interrogate him, and is now in too deep to escape. I figure having a trained infiltrator with knowledge of communist ideology and subversion may be useful on this mission.

Leonard McCoy was another previously suggested character, and I figured having him come along will help lower the casualties on our side.

If you guys want, I can go though the archives and repost the general backstory and character traits for both characters.

>>4973538
>2 Mechanized Platoons
>Specify special equipment to bring
Gas masks, grenades (flash and smoke) and explosives like satchel charges or demo packs, night vision equipment.

>Specify leader (or have one selected/generated if that is popular demand)
Maybe a non cardinal crusader with combat experience? Former high ranked officer that worked in phoenix or Portland before riots burned down his retirement job as a restaurant manager?

>[Write-In]
Stop by the Reservation to grab that minigun so we can mount it on a truck. Its not much of a defensive weapon, its better for it to be mounted and mobile.

>>4973654
Support, though I dont think the minigun is available to us.

>>4973564
A chinese nun? Don't be ridiculous. We already had enough arguments and autism over battle nuns can we not do it again?

>>4973538
Bruh, we only have 1 1/2 platoons available. The other full strength one is locked within the reservation.
>1 1/2 Mechanized Platoons + the "Medical" team of our support platoon

>>4973654
Backing this tactical gear autism choice, plus any medical supplies available for the Support platoon (if it's not already counted as basic gear).

When it comes to leader choice I'd rather we homebrew an NCO Crusader over making another Cardinal, especially over a Chinese Communist Battlenun. That's a major fucking stretch that honestly sounds fucking stupid.

As for visiting the Reservation, it's probably just a waste of time. The Minigun isn't available, Raven took that with him when he left and Dolores has made it clear we're not getting shit from the Arms Depot until the political situation in the reservation stabilizes, so dropping by will most likely yield nothing.

>>4973654
If we're doing this, have him be a Phoenix native, so he'll at least know the layout of the land somewhat.

Also, we don't have the mini-gun lad.

>>4973728
Honestly? I partially curious if the reasoning against such an idea will change yet again, and the QM himself said that he'll be on a gigantic bender for the next couple of days, so I figured why not discuss it? It'll at least give us something to talk about.

>>4973737
A major stretch, for a meth cult turned warlord? Oh, the horror!

As it relates to making a Cardinal or NCO Crusader, it'll honestly make more sense for a cardinal to be here, considering all of our free milltary manpower if going as well (a bit out of the NCO's scope of operations), we're coordinating this with other factions (which requires someone to represent our faction, and I don't think a former cop will help in coordinating with these domestic terrorists) and I want to try and sell our meth if we have a chance before/after this mission. If this was just a simple scouting mission, I'd probably be fine with an NCO, but this is a major coordinated operation with a significant Crusader military manpower behind it, so it makes more sense if a cardinal was running our side of this side op.

>>4973737
>Raven took that with him
What?! He took over 80lbs of gear and ammo while bleeding and injured with no supplies into the desert? That's going beyond full retard, like not even plot armor should save him.

>>4973808
Yet, I doubt that will be the last we'll see of him. He probably has a shitty shack in the desert he likes to go and have a think in desu.

Personally I'm open to the creation of another combat cardinal, battle nun autism can fuck off tho

How about fleshing out the killdozer cardinal? Some mix between mechanic/engineer and combat wouldn't be bad.

>>4973893
I agree, I don't know why there's such autism against the idea ;^)

In all seriousness, I think the idea behind it was more to have a Joan of Arc really, and somewhere anons switched it to a whole 40k Sisters of Battle type mindset. Quite a shame, it would've been interesting to have a modern day Joan of Arc to go with the whole modern Crusader thing.

As for the creation of another battle cardinal, I don't mind the idea, I just want to finish the previous archetypes of our cardinals set up previously (addict/morale and dealer/money-motivated). We've opened up another cardinal slot, but I'm sort of hoping we put McCoy in that one so we can have actually trained combat medics instead of just people learning though experience, which will hopefully lower casualties.

>>4973897
Again, I don't mind it, I just want our previous archetypes filled in for our current cardinal slots.

Fleshing out mechanic/engineer cardinal, what do you think? Former army engineer turned mechanic? A chopshop gangster? A mechanical gunnut in the vein of the original killdozer? Some sort of mix of the above? Keep in mind, we would need some sort of workshop the killdozer, wouldn't we?

File: Divine Intervention.jpg (89 KB, 1152x720)

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Someone like this?

>>4974061
>A chopshop gangster? A mechanical gunnut in the vein of the original killdozer?

Somewhere between the two, though I wouldn't mind another vet on the team either.

And yeah, we're sorely in need of some kind of shop or another

>>4974185
Hell yea brotha!

>>4974194
Alrighty. So a gun-nut and former mechanic (formally under government employ), try to go his own way, but got thrown under the bus and fucked over by the local government. He was mad, real mad, and inspired by Marvin Heemeyer, almost went full Killdozer before the Messenger intervened and saved his business on his behalf. Very grateful, he became the local chopshop for Walt's 'religious community', routinely helping out the 'troubled youth', etc etc. He's very grateful and loyal to Walt, a bit hot blooded, and hates leftist politics and politicians with a passion, deciding to leave with Walt and his faction instead of stay in communist New Tianyi.

That decent enough for you? I would still prefer the leader of the side op to be somebody with experience with either communist thinking, combat and tactics, the local territory/community of Phoenix, or some mix of the above.

File: Portrait_of_Yuri_Bezmenov(...).jpg (43 KB, 267x373)

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>>4974422
Alternatively, How about a combo of this....

File: Yuri RA C&C.jpg (72 KB, 1280x720)

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With this!

File: Spoiler Image (60 KB, 1280x720)

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..... And a little bit of this thrown in.....

>>4975075
>>4975079

I feel that a meshing of these two especially would be a good mix, our propaganda Cardinal perhaps?

Still, i prefer the killdozer mix from >>4974422

>>4975131
I didn't want the last 2 as our primary mix because , well.... They are too villainous, plus having the shared name of Yuri helps with the character gen.

>>4975071
>>4975075
>>4975079
Love it. We'll get him in when we have the broadcast tower operational (after we get the pharmaceutical and explosives workshops up and running, and potentially the seminary as well).

Don't worry though, our killdozer ain't going anywhere either.

File: dYwOI9AP.jpg (26 KB, 399x399)

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>>4973564
im actually not terribly opposed to the idea of a chinese nun. resposting for the other anons:

>Hua Mulan
>Fanatic, Charismatic, Intelligent, Vicious, Manipulative, Deceptive, Nothing to lose
>A wealthy college student from Hong Kong, she fell in with the Messenger early on, becoming one of the main suppliers of chemicals for the cult. During the fall of California to Communist forces, she experienced a religious awakening, decapitating a suspected communist argent with a sword, and fled with the cult to Mobile. Mulan has since distinguished herself in multiple battles, always leading the charge (literally), and the men started to regard her as a Chinese Joan of Arc, with her stated goal of one day bring about the Heavenly Kingdom in China. Actually, she's An Feng, a former military intelligence officer for the PLA. Due to the vicious fractional infighting and internal purges ramping up in recent years, her father, one of the higher ranking CCP officials, thought it wise to put her under the United Front operations, tasked with distributing fentanyl to drug operations in California to both keep her out of harms way and to protect their family's financial assets in the US. Then 2020-21 happened. What utter bullshit. When the Chinese started to take over, she was stuck with the cult, and drastic action was need to prevent her head from being on the chopping block. So she chopped off her handler's head, had an 'awakening', and was stuck with these nut-jobs scrutinizing her every move until recent battles. Now she's in too deep, up shit's creek without a paddle, doesn't even know if she'll get purged for her 'betrayal', or even she still has a family to come back too. But if there's one thing the Chinese Political system taught her, it was how to survive, no matter the cost.

>>4974185
>>4975075
>>4975079
i also like this idea of a radical christian propagandist tagging along as one of our bishops.

>>4973564
>>4973654
Don't forget the silencers lads, this is a stealth mission after all.

File: Yuri.jpg (9 KB, 194x259)

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Yuri Vladimov.

Yuri was born in the Soviet Union when it was still around and grew up around the Dnieper river in Ukraine often living with his grandparents. He went to graduated from St. Petersburg in the top 3 of his class before going to work with the Soviet/Russian Security apparatus at a young age while the Soviet Union was collapsing, recruited by one of his relatives he was to be sent to among the last wave of agents to America and the west for undercover long term assignment before losing all contact with his handlers. As he made it to UC Berkley to start his assignment as a teaching assistant to a fellow traveler Yuri wondered what would become of him and his family.
Yuri decided to abandon his post and find himself and joined some movements and Moonie cults before finding himself leading his own community as the spiritual and intellectual leader. Everything was fine until the Civil War swept through his area outside of of the Suburbs of a large city. He eventually joined the Crusaders with a few of his most ardent followers.

He is good at implementing ideas and changing perceptions, and the way people think over time, Would be great at making propaganda and converting non believers.

Excels at spotting and sussing out infiltrators and liars, great command of crowds and knows spy tradecraft.

>>4976317
Anyone want to help chip in or mold this character further feel free to help.

>>4976325
Idk I feel like a lot of the cardinal options being put forward are losing focus on people would likely be found in the inner circle of a drug lord turned religious cult leader.

Undercover chinese and soviets and the like? Just doesn't feel right to me.

>>4976325
Let me chew on this for a bit, see if inspiration hits me.

>>4976437
To be fair, the Chinese spy would be accurate. China's been pumping fentanyl into the Cartels as one of their pet projects to weaken the US, and with how the War on Drugs is going irl, I'd say it's working. I'm not trying to make shit up from thin air here.

I do think Aaron Paul, the addict Hollywood celebrity, would be shoe in for addict/morale cardinal.