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>>4473866 (checked)
Thanks for posting the OP!

Anyway, I'm the actual QM of this thread. The quest was started by somebody else, but I decided to take over once he abandoned it because I liked the photoshop of Walter White as a space marine to do it. If you're wondering why I'm not actually the OP, it's because I have a superstition that it will ward off the QM curse and prevent the game from being dropped. Expect at least one sizeable update a day, generally around this time, maybe more.

To the left is the U.S. map. There's a lot of "fog of war" stuff going on, so don't expect it to be 100% accurate in universe.

With that out of the way, let's begin...

>>4473866
You are very pleased to see a number of vehicles coming down the 238, recognizing it's the envoy returning. The Cardinal you sent out, Bob Musella, has somehow already secured a large amount of military grade supplies at zero cost. You can see sets of military grade armor, explosives, and other equipment. He promises that tomorrow, the city of Maricopa will send out tow trucks to pick up the devastated vehicles from the battle and turn them into off road vehicles for use in a mechanized platoon along with an equal amount of their own vehicles. Furthermore, they will be sending additional vehicles by next week, allowing you to field an entire three mechanized platoons (really just modded pickups & the like, but mechanized sounds a lot better). You can hardly believe any of this, but you know your Cardinals, and this one is particularly reliable and trustworthy.

He informs you that the only condition is that you attack and devastate the Native American marauder settlement in the Sierra Estrella mountains to your northeast within two weeks. In private, he confides that a major official within the town suspects a link between this band of marauders and other Native American communities and wants you to find hard evidence of this. This requires a level of secrecy, since he suspects there could be spies everywhere and the Natives could destroy evidence. He says the rewards for this quest on completion will be major, and that completion is a top priority.

The whole town is in good spirits at the success of the envoy, and this half of the week

[END OF WEEK 2, HALF 1]

...

[START OF WEEK 2, HALF 2]

The farm under construction is now complete.
The platoon mechanization option has also been auto-completed by Maricopa as part of the deal.
The townspeople of Mobile are also slowly repairing the town on their own, and the cost to repair it has thus decreased.
The wounded/unavailable fighters are now back in fighting condition.

>Available Manpower:
2 Mechanized Infantry Platoons
1 Light Infantry Platoon
~70 followers

>Wealth:
130 Wealth Points (abstract measure of resources)
+15 WP per half-week from followers
+15 WP per half-week from Mobile contribution
8 Food Units
-10 Food from consumption per half week
+12 Food from 2 farms

[1/2]

>>4473872

[2/2]

>Projects:

>Construction: Unless stated otherwise, assume 1 week to complete. Select at most 1:
Firing Range: Helps in training. - 25 WP
Improved Housing: Can support a larger population. Slightly improves morale. - 25 WP
Highway Defenses: Can stop vehicles on the 238. Bonus in defending the town. - 35 WP
Farm: Makes more food. - 35 WP
Chemical Plant Level 1: Allows for large scale meth production. Unlocks chemistry options. - 100 WP
Mechanized Platoon Repairs: Turns a regular platoon into a more effective mechanized one - Free (takes up a construction opportunity/time away from other projects)
Mobile Repair: Boosts Mobile townsfolk W.P. generation. Will be a major help in integration. - 190 WP (Cost will slowly decline over time, representing townsfolk independently doing repairs)
Broadcast Tower: Sends messages far and wide to anyone with a car or receiver. Massive boost to propaganda. - 150 WP
[Write-in]

>Toggles
Purchase advertising for Maricopa's radio to help with recruitment/outreach - 5 W.P. per half week [CURRENTLY OFF]

>Diplomatic Action: Select at most 1:
Mobile Integration: Focus on building relations in the community of Mobile to help integrate them into the Sun Belt Crusaders.
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 the Gila Bend, Maricopa, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify 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, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify what you specifically want them to do.
Raiding Party: Send a platoon or two out to the Indian Mountains and take revenge (penalty without a mechanized platoon due to distance/terrain)
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 Maricopa, Gila Bend, the Indian Mountains (?!?!), or [write-in].
[Write-in]

>Policies: Select one policy option for each issue

>Maricopa Travel Policy
Travel Ban: Do not allow travel to or from Maricopa without express permission. Safest option, nothing changes.
Trade Envoys: Allow for people to come to and fro to sell minor goods Generates meager W.P. Allows for gossip and small potential for infiltrators.
Psst, Hey Kid: Send a few drug dealers to sell meth to Maricopans in addition to traders. Same as Trade Envoys, but better W.P. generation. Somewhat limits meth use for other purposes. Might anger the town.


>Select construction, toggles, diplomatic action, and policy decision choices

>Roll 2d100 for local and global events

>Select construction
No constructions for now. Lets try to save up cash to repair Mobile.
>toggles
Keep it off for now.
>diplomatic action
Let's send some scouts to the Indian Mountains to gather some intel, take photos, find weak spots etc.
>Maricopa Travel Policy
Keep the travel ban for now. We dont want people infiltrating into our town knowing that there might be possibly some spies already in Maricopa.
As for the Psst, Hey Kid, lets delay that for now. We need to save up as much meth as possible for the upcoming battle.

Rolled 95, 13 = 108 (2d100)

>>4473888

Rolled 12, 97 = 109 (2d100)

>>4473873
>Firing Range: Helps in training. - 25 WP
It wouldn't drain much WP, and it'll help with the millitary operation in the near future. We should train up some guardsmen to defend the base so we can have our full military strength present.

>Toggle off
Atleast until we fully repaired mobile.

>Scout Indian Mountains
I was tempted to sent the missions out to Maricopa, or send a diplomatic envoy to Gil's Bend, but the current military operation takes priority. Basically >>4473888, but with the intention of also getting intel of their base of operations, schedule, and good ambush locations for their raiding parties (choke points, good height advantage, sun positions [to keep out of our eyes and into theirs], etc.).

>Travel Ban
I want to keep it up until they're too smitten/committed with us to care about the whole meth dealing business (should be a policy for all small communities and religious groups).

>>4473889
>>4473891
Wew, that whiplash. Godspeed, whoever gets hit by that truck.

>>4473917
Should we also send the plane with binoculars as apart of our scouting efforts? It may make scouting and finding their HQ faster, plus eyes in the sky also means we may see other sites/things of interest/value.

>>4473873
Mobile Repair: Boosts Mobile townsfolk W.P. generation. Will be a major help in integration. - 190 WP (Cost will slowly decline over time, representing townsfolk independently doing repairs)
We are only 30 WP short right? Its okay if we are short some WP. Start the project now, and by the time we finish it will almost be next week, and we will have enough from next turn to pay it all off. We can also ask the town for some " church" donations.

Mobile Integration: Focus on building relations in the community of Mobile to help integrate them into the Sun Belt Crusaders.

Travel Ban: Do not allow travel to or from Maricopa without express permission. Safest option, nothing changes.
Spies can't really do much spying in a Scientology compound.....

Rolled 53, 78 = 131 (2d100)

>>4473999

>>4473873
We also may need a prison bus or two for prisoners.

>>4473917

Support to hunt some injuns

>>4473873
>Firing Range: Helps in training. - 25 WP
Didn't we already select highway defenses, and isn't maricopa doing the mechanized platoon for us?
>Toggles
[OFF]
>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, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify what you specifically want them to do.
Scouting party to scope out the area/terrain of Indian Mountains and watch activity there, but stay far away enough not to get noticed by the indians. No using the plane in the scouting, it's too risky. We don't want them knowing we're looking to attack them immediately. Keeps their defenses down.

>>4473999
We could dump W.P. into it, but we wouldn't get any real benefit until it's finished, other than maybe some goodwill.

>>4474714
You are correct on both points, that was me fucking up the copy/paste/edit for the construction options. I forgot to delete the "obsolete" options of vehicle repair (Maricopa did it for you) and of highway defenses (since you are building those).

I'll try and do an early update today, but that 95 roll is... whew lads, that's an interesting result. No promises...

>>4475143
I'm always hungry for your updates, man. Just serve when ready.

>>4473917
>>4473999
>>4474316
>>4474714

Global Event: 13
>UNKNOWN
Canada has always leaned left, but during the "post election" chaos, it took a radical turn. The prime minister started talking like a borderline communist revolutionary and implementing harsh crackdowns against the right, which of course emboldened the actual revolutionaries. Soon, every major city had its own occupied zone, and the right wing essentially fizzled out as its leaders failed to do anything other than mouth platitudes as its key figures were arrested on trumped up charges. By early 2021, Canadian Revolutionary Guard members started making moves into Minnesota and carving out their own territory and supplying groups elsewhere. You have no idea what's going on in the faraway land of Canada nowadays, but it can't be good.

Local Event: 95
>?????????????
Nothing has happened?!
To be revealed...

>OPTIONS SELECTED:

>Firing Range: Helps in training. - 25 WP
With the influx of vehicles, getting your men used to fast paced vehicle warfare and shooting at moving targets will be very important. Especially with the planned raid. You decide to set up a space for target practice, mock battles, and general training. You doubt the Mountain Indians have good enough optical equipment to see you guys anywhere, but just in case you place it in the east, such that the town itself is in between the two locations for obfuscation. The basic paths for driving training are immediately available for use, but the rest will take about a week to finish.

>Travel Ban
Cardinal Musella has told you that the Indian community in the town may be working with your enemies in the mountains. Your men are fiercely loyal, but secrets can always slip. You can see a scenario where one of the townsfolk lets loose something about drills or something at a bar. A handful of W.P. isn't worth a potential security breach. Your word on this matter is absolute, and nobody complains.

>Maricopan Advertising Toggle: OFF
You aren't currently sending anyone to do preaching work, and your support in Maricopa lies in their elites, not their people. You have no need to spend limited resources on advertising services.

>Scouting the Indian Mountains.
You're better armed and prepared already than you would have imagined just a few days ago, but it's still important to do basic scouting and recon. There are a lot of different options you have when doing the scouting operation. Choose the following options to determine how you'll conduct the operation:

[1/2]

>>4475418

[2/2]

Size:
>A squad of half a dozen or so
>Half a platoon worth (~15 people)
>Entire Platoon

Approach:
>Motorized Transport over desert (not very stealthy, easy to get there and get away, can stow away wounded/materials)
>March on foot directly to their base (standard)
>March on foot from the mountain sides to the base (more stealthy, men will arrive tired and less capable)

Timing:
>Daytime (easier to see and be seen, easier to fight at a range)
>Nighttime (hard to see, very hard to be seen, ranged fighting very difficult, may get lost if radios get lost/damaged)
>Dusk/Dawn (daytime effect on either arrival/departure, nighttime effect on the departure/arrival)

Air Support:
>None (standard)
>Get aerial recon (bonus to recon, major penalty to stealth.) [WARNING: Pilots not yet confident in low flying recon passes in the mountains. Could go very, very badly!]

Strategy:
>Stakeout (look for movement patterns, overall defenses, etc)
>Kidnapping (find a guy when he's out in the open, and then capture him to bring him back for interrogation. Moderately Risky)
>Infiltration (send men to infiltrate the base, possibly obtaining vital materials or having sabotage opportunities. Risky)
>Assassination (try to find out who's an important target and then assassinate him. Risky)
>[Write-In] (Highly Encouraged!!)

Send a Cardinal?
>Yes. Will switch to his PoV and control things like the battle or diplomatic envoy. Potential for things to go very well, or horribly instead. Also, [Write-In] who it will be or pray I come up with something good.
>No. No PoV switch, get this over with quickly. Less variability in how things go.

I was torn between doing the local event or the scouting, but I went with scouting. I think doing the local event first might tip the scales on how things go too much and take the spotlight away from the scouting. I'm going to try a "modular" format where you guys can select different elements of the operation, so even if you don't decide to lead it yourself, you still have a lot of say over how it breaks down.

Also, I'm thinking of using these sorts of events as a way to flesh out some of the side characters that have been alluded to earlier (the five "cardinals" you've heard mentioned). I had a lot of fun doing Bob Musella/Mazur and liked the idea you guys had for his character (ended up working really well in the story imo). If you guys don't want to come up with somebody, I'll figure something out myself. I'd probably do something along the lines of a younger version of Mike from Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad

>>4475419
>A squad of half a dozen or so

>March on foot from the mountain sides to the base (more stealthy, men will arrive tired and less capable)
They will stake out for a few days so they can rest before the do a full days surveillance.

>Dusk/Dawn (daytime effect on either arrival/departure, nighttime effect on the departure/arrival)

>Get aerial recon (bonus to recon, major penalty to stealth.) [WARNING: Pilots not yet confident in low flying recon passes in the mountains. Could go very, very badly!]
DO a high flyover pass coming from another direction like say coming in and leaving in the direction of Maricopa

>Stakeout (look for movement patterns, overall defenses, etc)
Take cameras and light recording equipment.

Send a Cardinal?
Send someone else who may be better at environment infiltration rather than social infiltration. (another character or a sub lieutenant.)

>>4475419
>>A squad of half a dozen or so

>>March on foot from the mountain sides to the base (more stealthy, men will arrive tired and less capable)

>>Dusk/Dawn (daytime effect on either arrival/departure, nighttime effect on the departure/arrival)

>>None (standard)


>>Stakeout (look for movement patterns, overall defenses, etc)
>>Kidnapping (find a guy when he's out in the open, and then capture him to bring him back for interrogation. Moderately Risky)
Let's do both. If the opportunity arises of kidnapping, we take the chance. But we're mainly there to Stakeout

>>No. No PoV switch, get this over with quickly. Less variability in how things go
I think we should only switch if it's very important. I wanna time skip to the main battle.

>>4475419
>A squad of half a dozen or so

>March on foot from the mountain sides to the base (more stealthy, men will arrive tired and less capable)

>Nighttime (hard to see, very hard to be seen, ranged fighting very difficult, may get lost if radios get lost/damaged)

>None (standard)

>Stakeout (look for movement patterns, overall defenses, etc)

>No. No PoV switch, get this over with quickly. Less variability in how things go.

>>4475419

Supporting >>4475442

I'd say two squads and a couple of vehicles to get on the other side of the mountain, one to scout and one the guard the vehicles, in case they need to bug out quick.

Kidnaping should only happen if a golden opportunity arises, nothing short. Better not risk the plane or pilot until they're confident.

I'm torn on the cardinal, because I got a few ideas floating around, but I do sympathize with getting to the battle quicker. I honestly could go either way.

>>4475434
>>4475442
>>4475456
>>4475504

OPTIONS SELECTED:
>A squad of half a dozen or so
>March on foot from the mountain sides to the base (more stealthy, men will arrive tired and less capable)
>Dusk/Dawn (daytime effect on either arrival/departure, nighttime effect on the departure/arrival)
>None (standard)
>Stakeout (look for movement patterns, overall defenses, etc)
>No. No PoV switch, get this over with quickly. Less variability in how things go.

It is decided that a squad of a half dozen is all that is needed. Most will get their own secure radio and can communicate with each-other or Mobile, and bringing in too many would reduce stealth. Speaking of stealth, the operation will start during midday, where a group will travel on foot through the desert to the mountains, and then from the mountains to the Indian base.

The previous scouting team got a rough idea of things, but this time your men are prepared to map things out and get some good intel. They're given little in the way of armor, and instead carry a good amount of supplies. This includes food and water, but also recording equipment. Phone cameras with solar powered charger packs are able to capture surprisingly good video recording for very long periods of time at next to no cost in weight. And one of your Cardinals, Musella, is surprisingly adept at jury rigging effective, portable audio recording equipment that works at a long range. You chalk it up to divine providence and not to the real cause, which is D.E.A. training.

The primary goal will be to arrive at a good location to record, and then to do a stake out for a few hours until it begins to grow dark. Then, under the cover of darkness, they'll make their way back however they see fit. Ideally, it should be a quick, simple operation, and it will be led by a lower level leader, not a Cardinal. In addition, the idea of using aerial recon is considered, but it's determined to be unnecessary.

The next day, the scouts leave after receiving their blessings and emergency meth. The day passes uneventful-

[1/3]

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>>4475522

[2/3]

Local Event: 95
>AIRCRAFT DOWN
A large, violent crashing noise is heard from the south. A massive plume of smoke rises from what looks to be a couple of miles south. Concerned it might be one of your planes downed during training, you get the boys together and drive down there with some medical supplies.

What you see is surprising, to put it mildly. A sizable airplane, larger than one of the crop dusters you have access to, is in a wreck. Plane parts are everywhere and black smoke fills the air. You can't make out any sort of identifying symbols with all of the damage.

"Looks like a botched landing," one of your associates says as you head towards it.

From the plane a bloody, battered body is seen crawling away from the plane. It's obvious he has broken bones and is running on adrenaline. He's wearing some kind of uniform, although it's too torn up to identify.

He sees you all and stops moving. He seems to be muttering to himself and pointing at the plane. You get off and your men start performing basic stabilization. He starts speaking Spanish and Cardinal Musella, who is fluent in the language, tries to talk to him. He is pulled towards the bloody stranger. After a bit of back and forth whispering, the Cardinal's eyes widen. "THE CARGO, WE GOT TO GET TO THE CARGO WITH THE TRUCKS, RIGHT NOW!"

He runs off to the cockpit, which isn't on fire yet, and starts doing something. You can't tell what. Some guys have already driven their pickups near the back, where the cargo bay opens up. The fire hasn't caught on in this area either, but it could spread at any time. You pray to the Lord for mercy, and for answers.

Soon after, Musella has started running towards you and away from the cockpit. You can see that men are frantically taking wooden crates out of the cargo plane and putting them onto the trucks. Multiple men are needed to carry just one of the boxes, and it looks like there's a dozen or so of them.

During this time, you're watching this man's receive medical treatment, and are ready to administer last rites at any time. He has numerous wounds and broken bones, one of which is a broken rib. One wrong move, and that rib could pierce an internal organ and kill him, according to a medic.

Musella pulls you to the side. "This guy, you gotta kill him, err, let him die," he whispers to you. "I know we're doing the whole Catholic every life matters shit, but this guy," he says, pausing for a moment. "I don't have time to explain. Please, W-, err, Messenger, just let him die of his wounds. I-"

"COULD USE SOME HELP HERE!" A voice cries out from the group at the cargo bay. One of the crates is about to tip over and fall.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Musella says as he runs off, calling on the rest of the guys to help. He's astoundingly paranoid about these crates for some reason, more so than the giant fire...

>>4475523

[3/3]

For a moment, it's just you, the medic, and the mystery man. Everyone else has run off to deal with the cargo, or is driving back to Mobile for supplies/help of one kind or another.

"Hey," the man says, coughing up some blood. "You're the big guy here? In charge, yes?" He has some kind of weird accent. There are hints of Latin American, British, and Eastern European in it.

You nod.

"G-" he coughs again, but restrains himself from moving too much. "That man, he wants me dead. Please, God help me, do not let me die," he momentarily pauses, wincing in pain and chattering his teeth. "It is in mutual interest..." He stares right into your eyes as he pauses, his icy blue glare looking into your soul. "And if you must kill me, have some honor. Soldier's death..."

What in the hell have you gotten yourself into? You must make a choice...

>Let him "die of his wounds"
>Pull out your sidearm and shoot him
>Do the Christian thing and spare his life
>[Write-in]

I did say this update would get a little wild! And not switching PoV's unless it's something pretty major like first contact with an important community or a battle or something is probably how I'll handle it going forward.

And there's no "time skip" to the main battle possible, because when you fight it is entirely up to you. It's a diplomatic action, raiding their settlement for revenge (and quest completion too, but revenge is big too). You might want to wait until the rest of the vehicles arrive from Maricopa, or until the firing range is up and you have more shooting experience, or you might want to go in early too. Whenever, you do so, it will probably be a big thing though. The mayor does expect it to be done within two weeks, although it probably won't be an "insta fail" if you take two and a half or something reasonable.

>>4475525
>Let him "die of his wounds"

It is our interest to have whatever is in those crates (almost certainly something valuable). In the unlikely event their owner comes knocking, we can just say nobody survived the crash and make a deal.

>>4475525
>Interrogate
>Let God decide
>Sedate him and play it off like he died. You can always give him an honorable death later...

If he dies of his wounds, it is God's will. If the man still alive after, it must be a sign that I must make that choice when the time comes. But not before I get some info...

By the way, when I wrote time skip, I didn't mean it literally. I was just excited about the upcoming battle/update, is all.

And the multiple choices are meant as alternatives. I got one can't decide whether to listen to Cardinal Bob or to try and unravel a piece of this mystery before the man sees the Lord, if that's what we decide.

>>4475534
Support

>>4475534
+1

>>4475525
>Latin American, British, and Eastern European

That accent is interesting. Given the uniform and the Spanish, a soldier from Latin America? A cartel member? Argentinian?

Also, what's in the box?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1giVzxyoclE

>>4475581

My guess, he is from one of the military remnant factions.

>>4475587
It was a botched landing... which means that we're currently in their drop zone. This is a transfer point.

Small cargo plane, several creates, Spanish speaking, talks of soldiers honor... landing south of us in Arizona.

This man's cartel. I believe we should trust Bob on this one. He's never lied to us before, right?(Always so reliable...)

>Interrogate
>Let him "die of his wounds"

>>4475525
>Do the Christian thing and spare his life
We're christians. It's our duty to save this man, no matter its in our interests to do so. God will repay us later.

>>4475701
Normally, I would agree. However, if this guy's cartel, then we may have a bigger problem. Normally, saving the life of a higher up would meant benefits. However, of this man's Cartel, then he'll remember that we took their shit and didn't give it back when they wanted it. And if this is a drop zone, that means his friends are on their way here right now, and they'll be confused at seeing a crashed plane with no body. We don't want to be dealing with Cartel just before fighting the Indians, and we still don't know what's it the boxes. My guess, with how Bob's been acting, it's either extremely valuable or extremely explosive. Either way, there's a good chance we may not want to give it up, whatever it ends up being. Plus, I like Bob. I trust him. Been very reliable. A real smooth operator. So when he starts getting... excited and says this man has to die, I believe him, even if I don't know the reasons why. You can take it as a matter of faith. Bob's been around these sort of people many a time, and if he feels that a man, who survived a plane crash just to tell us to save the cargo, has to die, then I consider that, a sign from the Lord Almighty that this is our bounty, and ours alone.

May the Lord have mercy on his soul.

>>4475534
Support

>>4475603
+1
"You're cartel, aren't you?"

I was thinking, next turn we should send a emissary to Phoenix and set up an operation to supply meth as combat drugs. It would get us a lot of money, favors, equipment etc and put our biggest asset (the refinery) to use without souring local relations.

We would preferably approach the anti-commie coalition, because it look like they are on the backfoot and it is in our interest to prolong the war as long as possible, they also sound less likely to stay as an unified, credible threat after the war. If they look about to be defeated we can pull back to avoid the interest of the reds.

>>4476012
Agreed, but it'll have to be after we deal with the Indians, because that's how we're going to get the equipment to fix up the refinery and finally start pumping out the goods.

>>4475730
We can take the body and hide it at Jesse's house in the bathtub!

>>4476025
But what if they're connected?

>>4476414
The commies and the Indians? Unlikely. I imagine the POZ is focused on Phoenix at the moment, while the Indians are just opportunistic bandits. It more likely that that the Indian bandits and council are working closer together than the Indians and the Reds.

Hey guys, it's QM phoneposting. I'm actually ridiculously drunk right now, and phone autocorrect is the only thing keeping this post understandable. I got the idea for the next update (a synthesis of the many options given here. Seriously, over a dozen posts?!?, many of which are discussion, that's like what every QM hopes for...). Next post might not be coming for a tiny bit longer, but it will come...

God dammmit, why do my friends/famaily keep inviting me to fun drinking shit I can't refuse. I just wanna QM for God's sake!!

And on a serious note guys, actual civil wars are fucking hell. I mean, seriously, it's horrifying. I pray that all of the countries you may live in find peace, because seeing what happens after war... it's tear inducing. Maybe my BAC is too high to have proper tact, but do understand that war is hell, especially modern stuff. Anyway, that's all for my rant, thanks for attending my Ted Talk or whatever

>>4477018
I mean the cartels and the injuns, but I wouldn't put it past the perfidious commies to be involved somehow.

>>4477114
Now that... is an interesting question. I doubt the Council would have anything to do with the Cartels. But the Indian bandits are a different matter entirely...

But I doubt this incident is related to the Indians. After all, why would they choose to be near the town that kicked their ass as a drop off point for a Cartel cargo run?

>>4477035
Aye. Wars are terrible, but Civil Wars are the worst. Atleast in a regular war civil society itself doesn't break down...

What's this? A QM drinking his ass off and slacking off with friends and family? We don't pay you (in 4chan shitposts) for this shit! Back to the QM slaveminds with you! *whips*

File: 2021 US Civil War.png (935 KB, 1414x611)

935 KB PNG

>>4473870
Btw this map was pissing me off so I made a better one.

>>4477171
No cascadia?

>>4477188
Just give it time. I'm sure the revolutionaries in Canada will have a go at it eventually.

>>4477171
Nice map btw.

>>4477188
I'm not the OP

>>4477188
>>4477204

The Oregon Province is a Chinese vassal state. They probably made Ted Wheeler the Governor.

Everybody knows the Chad Communist position is Secretary.

>>4473870
>>4477171
>>4477211

I just realized that they used Providence instead of Province. It's funny as all hell.

We should keep it. It was probably a Chinese mistranslation... or is it?

>>4475529
>>4475534
>>4475545
>>4475558
>>4475603
>>4475701
>>4475732
>>4475882
(trying to synthesize a lot of the stuff brought up here, weighted by support of course)

OPTION SELECTED:
>Interrogate
A random plane crashes down in the desert, not too far from the Mexican border. The man in front of you doesn't seem like a commercial pilot, and you've heard him speak Spanish. The plane's carrying cargo, and whatever it is, it's gotten Musella spooked enough to cause a panic.

"You're cartel, aren't you?" you say to the man.

The man keeps his ice blue eyes focused on you. A wide smile creeps across his face and you can tell he's suppressing laughter. "Oh no. I m-meant what I said earlier," he says on the brink of consciousness. He mutters a few words in a language you do not understand.

Before you can ask another question, he's already out.

"Blood pressure's low. I think he'll need a-"

OPTION SELECTED:
>Let God decide

"Leave him alone," you say to the medic. "God will determine his fate now.

The desert is covered with this man's blood, and while the bleeding has been mostly stopped, he is in really bad condition. Whether he lives or dies is up to chance, now that you have made the choice to withdraw medical services. That said, you choose to not actually kill him. It would be trivial. Simply putting some pressure on his broken rib would likely be enough, and he seemed fine with being shot. But that's not the Christian thing to do. At least not now.

"MOVE IT, MOVE IT!" Cardinal Musella starts screaming to the men moving the last crate. The trucks drive away from the burning plane and towards where you are. He gets off the back of the truck and is absolutely covered with sweat, even more than you'd expect in this heat.

"Is he de-"

"What's in those boxes?" you ask, cutting him off.

"I had to make sure the fire didn't get to them, a-"

"Whats. In. The. Box."

[1/?]

>>4478138

[2/?]

He takes a deep breath, looking at the blood soaked body before responding. "Those are mortar systems. About a dozen of them, with a few hundred shells overall. It's a miracle none of them blew up on the crash landing. If even one of them got hot enough to pop, it would have killed us all."

"Military grade mortars?" you say in disbelief. You were expecting crates of cocaine or some kind of drugs, but this is serious shit.

"I don't know who this guy is," Bob says nervously, "but nothing good can come from this. I say we douse him in jet fuel and burn his body. If anyone asks what happens, we say it was some plane crash, there's was nothing aboard, and we don't know who or what it was."

"Well, those mortars are ours now," you say. "Drive them back to town, we'll find a place to keep them safe."

"And what about the guy?"

"We'll lay him down on one of the trucks and see if God decides to spare him." You turn to the medic. "It is possible for him to survive the trip back, right?"

"Well," he says with hesitation. "He could, in theory. He's not bleeding out anymore. But one wrong bump on the road, and he could easily die. And also given the state he's in, the earlier he can be treated the better. Septic shock is a concern, and he may suffer a-"

"So that's a yes." you say. "Put him on back."

With that, the medic guides a few others, managing to place the mystery man on back of one of the trucks, next to the crate of what you are told are military grade explosives.

>His fate will be determined by a roll
>A roll made in secret
>Hopes and prayers are appreciated

The group drives off towards town, leaving the still burning wreck behind. You have no clue why it crashed, who's plane it was, or if anyone else is going to come by. Only time, and a possibly dead man, will tell.

You reach the town to a group of armed men taking positions behind the partially constructed defenses. You can see small groups talking with one another as everyone's clearly on edge. The medic carefully takes the body out and goes to the "hospital." It's a former clinic, but it's the best this village has. You don't yet know if it's a live body or a corpse.

Meanwhile, you go to your settlement's makeshift armory. It's straining with all of the recent arrivals of equipment, and now you have what is potentially over a ton of military grade weaponry. You should do something about this.

>Construction Option Unlocked:
>Expanded Armory: A large, dedicated space to securely store all manner of equipment. Reduces odds of negative events from not having proper storage. - 35 W.P.

File: Podnos in Syria.png (235 KB, 502x277)

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>>4478139

[3/3]

The first crate is opened carefully. Packaging material is carefully removed, and a mortar system comes into view. You don't recognize the design of this, but you do recognize Cyrillic text as you inspect it. Boxes of mortar shells are revealed and opened carefully. You see a couple of manuals written in Spanish, English, and what you guess is Russian (although you don't know specifically.)

These "Podnos" mortar systems are 82mm, muzzle loaded, and work with a team of four to six. A single HE blast is lethal for more than a 100 foot radius. There are twelve of these, more than enough to support an entire company. For each one of them, there are two dozen shells, all of them High Explosive. This is way more firepower than all of your men put together could use. At best, you could give each platoon two mortars, but even that would be way overkill for a small player such as the Sun Belt Crusaders.

Your men are ecstatic. As if the previous shipments weren't enough, now they all have artillery. Sure, nobody knows how to actually operate this stuff, and firing off just one of these could attract the attention of a lot of bad dues, but it's still a set of military grade mortars that just literally fell from the sky.

>Construction Option Unlocked:
>Training Fields: Upgrade an existing firing range to allow for training with higher tier weaponry. - 50 W.P.

You wonder where these weapons were going and just what's going on with the pilot of the downed plane. These aren't exactly available at your local gun store or local police armory. Who's arranging for the transport of weapons you'd see terrorists or separatist rebels happy to get their hands on?

But before you can ponder those questions, you have to deal with the practical matter of what you do with these in the here and now:

>Attach a mortar to each platoon and use them going forward
>Keep them in town as an "emergency defense" measure
>Lock them away and ban their use until there are proper training facilities for them so nobody blows himself up
>[Write in]

>>4478143
>Keep them in town as an "emergency defense" measure

>>4476012
>>4476025
Remember that you guys are producing meth, but just not that much of it since you guys haven't started the process of repairing it. You could do it any time, but it's pretty expensive and there are other things to do with the money. Current policy on meth is to save it for times when it's needed, like when you want your troops to become psychotic lunatics in battle.

>>4477171
Thank you! That map looks much better, and I like how it's a physical map and includes Mexico/Canada. Terrain is always a good thing to keep in mind, since it can be forgotten about looking at a purely political map. Notice, for example, how rugged and mountainous Nevada is as opposed to the common misconception that it's just flat desert. I'll be using this going forward.

>>4477211
>>4477214
I don't know if the guy who started this quest wanted it to be "Oregon Province," and having "Providence" as part of the title is weird since that implies a sort of Kingdom of God on Earth vibe. You wouldn't expect a communist vassal state of China to have that kind of religious association. It doesn't matter, since I have an idea of what we'll be going with if you guys encounter Oregon. And yes, we are going with "Providence" as the official name. It'll be for a reason...

>>4477127
Yeah, that was drunk me oversharing. I probably shouldn't mention/imply that there are civil conflicts that are having an impact on me and those close to me.

>>4478143
>Lock them away and ban their use until there are proper training facilities for them so nobody blows himself up

I think, for the time being, it would be a bad idea to let people know we got these. Apart from their owner, most factions would be happy to send a company to take them.

We should keep them out of sight and have our men drive out into the middle of nowhere to train. Tell our people to tell anyone who asks, we didn't salvage anything important from the plane.

I guess, this is the property of some international gun-runner, not someone we want to piss off.

>>4478211
Supporting.

>>4478143
>Lock them away and ban their use until there are proper training facilities for them so nobody blows himself up
>[Write in]
Test one or two, throw some into the burning plane so it looks like the stuff blew up, then have one fire in the forest to see its range and destructive potential.

>>4478143
>Lock them away and ban their use until there are proper training facilities for them so nobody blows himself up
>Make it look like the cargo exploded in the plane

I'm loath to use one of the our precious shells, but if we have to sacrifice one to make it look like the whole cargo exploded in the crash, I'm willing to. Otherwise it'll be wise to save them for a rainy day, to avoid unwanted attention and because we'd likely to blow ourselves up more than anything.

This is the Lord's bounty that he's granted us. I'll not waste his 82mm Russian-made military-grade 'Podnos' mortar system.

Plus having this shit literally fall from the sky gave our moral an adrenaline shot. Our men our over the moon (as am I).

>>4478156
My compliments on the event. The way you described it, so kinetic and in the moment. It was very exciting and I enjoyed immensely.

I'm sorry to hear about it mate. I hope it comes to a positive resolution soon.

>>4478143
>>Keep them in town as an "emergency defense" measure

>>4478512
We can make ammo for with with some tooling, its what they do in syria.

Hell I once even read in ww2 some soldiers ground down 82mm mortars to 81mm with rocks and fired them at the enemy without blowing themselves up somehow.

>>4479394
Anon, stop. You not going to seduce me with such useful knowledge... *blush*

File: Ballistics Angles Diagram.gif (6 KB, 614x314)

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>>4478181
>>4478471
>>4478473
>>4478512

OPTION SELECTED:
>Lock them away and ban their use until there are proper training facilities for them so nobody blows himself up

You think this over and realize that this really is a white elephant. These are monstrously devastating, but using one would be total overkill in most cases. Certainly it would be too much for the attack on the Mountain Indians. Using them could attract a lot of attention and put a target on your still tiny faction.

"Secure these in a basement," you say. "Move out current weapons and equipment if need be. We have to make sure this stuff is protected. And make sure to keep this under wraps. We cannot let the unbelievers know of this."

Your men start hauling the unassembled mortars around. They are all about a hundred pounds each fully assembled, with each piece weighing up to thirty pounds.

"Wait!" you say. "Leave one of them with half a dozen shells."

OPTION SELECTED:
>Use the mortars to blow up the plane

"We have to take care of the plane."

"The plane? What do you mean, it's a burning husk, right?" one of your men asks.

"Precisely. Burning. Not blown up. We might be dealing with international arms smugglers operating clandestinely from Mexico, probably with Cartel backing. Who knows, it might go further up. Somebody, sooner or later, will come looking for that plane. And when they see a burnt plane and not a blown up plane... well, they'll start asking questions, won't they?"

"Oh," the guy said. You could tell he didn't fully understand what you said, but he'll go along with it.

You and a few men get in a truck and you them drive off into the desert with the disassembled mortar out back and some shells stored safely in case and strapped down. It's around mid day, at exactly 13:04:29, when you pass by the plane. The fire still rages, and you can see the bare metal frame. You calmly steer the vehicle on cruise control as your companions gawk at the burning mess in the sands.

You stop in the desert a minute or so later. The mortar is taken out and assembly begins. You instruct them on how to properly assemble it using the English language guide. You test out the elevation and transversal mechanisms, finding everything to be in working order.

You pull out a pen & paper and get to work. You set the cruise control to exactly 60 mph and timed the stop to be almost exactly a minute after passing the plane. Using some basic ballistics modelling, you figure out the distance between the mortar and the target, the transverse angle to the plane, as well as a bunch of other necessary information. The work is child's play compared to some of the equations you used to go through back when you worked for the tech startup. Those money grubbers must think that they got out like bandits. You'll show them once you bring this country to its knees...

[1/3]

>>4479689

[2/3]

You double check your work and cross reference a few figures with what's in the manual. There's a table of ranges, but you like to rely on your own work.

"Stand back, and cover your ears." You make the sign of the cross and look to the heavens as you hold the mortar shell just within the muzzle of the barrel. You could have ordered somebody else to do this, but if you are blown up in a firing incident, then it is God's will. His will supersedes yours.

"FIRE!" you shout, moving back and covering your ears. The noise isn't as loud as you expected, but it's impactful in other ways..

In the distance, an explosion and plume of earth rise up from the ground. It's a bit to the left of the plane, but remarkably close for a first shot by a first timer.

You compensate the second shot, slightly adjusting the transverse mechanism and accounting for a few other variables in the equation.

The second shot hits the target exactly. The men watch in awe as the flaming metal airframe is consumed by the explosion. The plane evidently still had a good amount of fuel to burn through. Pieces of metal covered in the burning substance are blasted everywhere by the explosion. The plane is a true wreck, and you doubt there is much of anything that's still in salvageable condition.

The plane is taken care of, but there's one thing left to do. On the trip back, you stop to check the impact crater left by the missed shot. It looks like the manual was right about the expected size of the crater given the terrain and you can trust the kill radius of 35 meters. Flipping through the book, it's unusually thorough compared to what you'd expect.

You all arrive at Mobile some time after everyone has finished "securing" the equipment. While the mortars and shells are safely locked up, there wasn't enough room for quite everything. You're sure you'd be violating a million different safety protocols if some kind of inspector came by. But of course none of that matters now that the country, the world really, is in flames. You get the men to lock away the disassembled mortar and explosives. You don't intend to open them up soon.

Now that you have this equipment, you think about the potential of making your own explosives. You would need a proper machine shop to make the shells, and the chemical plant would need significant upgrades to even begin the process of making an explosives workshop. Still, these are good options to keep in mind.

>Construction Options Revealed:
>Machine Workshop Level 1: Allows for the production of basic weapons and ammunition. - LOCKED [Requires Chemical Plant Level 1]
>Explosives Workshop Level 1: Allows for the production of basic explosives. - LOCKED [Requires Chemical Plant Level 1]

>>4479691

[3/3]

After stowing away the last of the mortars, you check up on one final matter of business. You walk into the clinic and check up on the status of the mystery man. The medic reveals that the man survived. But barely. He seems to have gone into a coma, and depending on how his broken bones heal, amputations may be necessary. He has no idea when the guy will wake up, or how much of him will be left. The situation is not great. But it's not terrible either. The medic tells you, very frankly, that the man is lucky to have even survived the trip back to Mobile with the serious lack of professional medical treatment.

Speaking of medical treatment, the medic tells you that he is way out of his depth here. He says that he is "a glorified Civil War surgeon" and that he "has no idea what [he is] doing." You suppose this is what you get for recruiting people still in med school. He recommends transferring this man to Maricopa's hospital, but this is completely up to you.

>Yes. When ready, transfer him to the actual hospital out in Maricopa. Let the professionals handle him.
>No. I don't care if he ends up with a peg leg, hook arm, or pirate's eyepatch. This guy's too dangerous to let leave this place.
>Unneeded. I will pay for a doctor to come over here and render services here discreetly and under an agreement of secrecy. [Will cost unknown W.P.s.]
>[Write in]?

As a note, I would have made a roll to determine how successful you are at working the thing first time (i.e. not getting yourself blown up and to see how many misses you'd have.) But we're playing W.W., so it's an auto success. And the roll for the pilot was, well, not so great. But it wasn't a 1, so there's that...

>>4478473
Not too many forests in the Arizona badlands, but there are other ways to figure that out

>>4479394
>grinding down explosives using fucking rocks and getting away with it
That sounds WW2 as fuck. I've never heard of this, but I fully believe that would happen

>>4479694
>[Write in]?
Let him die.

>That sounds WW2 as fuck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Hengyang#Battle
I thought it was US marines that did it but I guess I recalled incorrectly.

>>4479694
>>[Write in]?
Let him die.

We really, really don't want these guys to learn what happened. The guns are probably worth more in this climate than cartel drugs would have been.

>>4479694
>Let him die.
Also, since we are a chemist, we’re not limited to producing meth are we? We could also possibly produce painkillers, antibiotics, anaesthetics, etc? Or maybe industrial chemicals for other purposes. That’s obviously far off in the future but just wondering.

>>4479694
>>Unneeded. I will pay for a doctor to come over here and render services here discreetly and under an agreement of secrecy. [Will cost unknown W.P.s.]

The Lord decided that he live. Who am I to question his judgement of the moment. He may be valuable to us in the future. Remember, we can always kill him later if we need to...

>>4479808
The thing is, the longer he is alive, the more people will remember him. When people come snooping around for the merchandise, we don't want them to hear about how we had one of their guys for sometime before he died. Might raise questions.

>>4479809
The only one who knows for sure he's alive is the doctor and M. We tell the doctor to proclaim him dead to us in front of the others, and tell him to keep it a secret, and we're basically golden. We can even get the out-of-town doctor to train some of our lads on medicine and battlefield medicine in his spare time.

>>4479812
Would rather not take that chance. More time passes, the higher the risk of someone else finding out, even accidentally. Remember, our guys are not really spy material.

We can end that risk right now with no real losses, affairs of gun-runners (who may be working for foreign powers in this case) are of little import to us right now, we can make a more explainable entrance to the field once we are more entrenched and wealthy.

>>4479815

It's why we don't tell them anything except that he died. And he is very valuable. Just look at the mortar systems he was carrying. We can atleast pump him for information when he wakes. He's a useful card to keep in our back pockets rather than discarded to the graveyard.

>>4479694
Let's try to keep him alive here. We can kill him later. For now, let's wait until he recovers so we can interrogate him.

>>4479840
We don't need to tell them anything, just some people knowing that he is alive and being milked of that info would be a disaster, as that would indicate we know about the cargo and may have taken it.

What would he know that is of interest to us? Like I said, he would know about the arms-dealing operation, but we don't have the cash to make use of this, and trying to after the crash would show we got people out of the crash. Nowhere near worth alarming the dealers and either losing the guns or being targeted.

We definitely can't release him, ever. He knows we have the guns.

>>4479941
Not necessarily. He knows we attempted to get the crates out of the plane, but he was too busy bleeding out to be sure. We could just tell him that it blew up with the plane. We could even show him pictures.

Considering the arms-dealing operation, that's exactly my point. He was selling weapons to someone in the area, and expensive, higher-tech, lethal shit too. We must figure out his clients, and whether they be our foes or potential allies. There's also the potential we could trade the arms for him, to the right-wing coalition for example, to make a quick buck. Not to mention that if we choose not to be arms-dealers ourselves, he has potential knowledge on locations of caches and stashes of other weapons, armaments, and wealth.

We should atleast interrogate the man before deciding how to deal with him.

>>4479970
I would rather NOT bet on him being unsure (it is not like we can trust his word on this). Besides, knowing we knew what was inside and that we were trying to salvage it, is enough to be suspicious and take closer look (considering the value of the merchandise), and our guys are unlikely to keep up under close scrutiny.

About the running operation, I am still of the opinion that we can't enter without bringing suspicion, and even if we did, we are too small and poor an operation to take advantage.

Taking over stashes would bring even more scrutiny that we can ill afford (especially, it would point to us having someone from the plane), someone with pull to ship this kind of hardware would be a very bad enemy.

It is not worth it to keep him around.

>>4479994
That's assuming he's healthy enough to walk to check it out.

We can be a small time dealer and leverage/develop it over time.

They'd just assume one of their guys gone rouge and fucked them over. No way they would even know it was us unless we told them, and considering the fog of war, there's a great chance of getting away with it too.

>>4480003
I was more talking about when they come to check out where their merchandise went, not this guy investigating on his own. And they are bound to try, considering how much they lost.

Thing is, we have nothing of use to the dealers, no great influence or military, no connections, no money. Just the airport and they likely have access to proper ones, no way that firepower was not going to a major faction.
If we draw their attention we will either need to give back the mortars or stash them for the foreseeable future, we can't exactly use them around the dealers.

Once they learn about the crash and our involvement (shouldn't be difficult, next town over has a radio station) their first suspicion will be that someone took their stuff, not that one of their employees went off with it. Besides, we will presumably use or sell the stuff we find from any possible stashes, which is bound to get attention.

>>4480046
And they see the plane crashed and blown to smithereens.

Your assuming we have nothing of use, it's not the dealers saying this. If they had an airport, why would they even attempt to land in the middle of the desert and not there, and your assuming it was going to a major faction instead of knowing. They have no way of knowing it was us, and we can just say we bought or liberated them from the Indian bandits, biker gangs, or other nonsense roaming around Arizona. It wouldn't be very hard.

Next town over has a broadcasting station, not a radio tower or a controller tower. They would only know about the crash from the wreckage itself, and our involvement from us, not from a radio call, and their first suspicion would be the plane crashed and the cargo blew up, because the plane did crash and we did blow it up with a mortar shell for that exact purpose! The stashes wouldn't get attention because it's a war zone and shit happens all the time.

These dealer aren't omnipotent, lad.

>>4480089
Everything I said have been educated guesses, which is how people normally make decisions.

The crash was likely as not was because of an emergency landing. They have the plane's flight path all they have to do is follow it until the encounter rumors of the crash, we can't really hide something of this size. It was likely seen and heard from a considerable distance and Mobile villagers will talk about it no matter what we do (including that we salvaged it). The town would hear from them and they are likely to talk about it with travelers and such, including mentioning it on their radio show, this is a big event. Once the dealers come around, they would have to be braindead to not connect military mortars we have and their lost cargo.

Nevertheless, I still think it is a big risk for no reason. We will agree to disagree on this issue.

>>4480116
I agree to disagree.

I think your extrapolating more from the situation than I think is realistic (even for meth-fueled crusaders), but I'm not willing to argue over the entire thread about it.

I do find it a bit silly to kill him now after we decided to let the Lord handle it and he survived, though barely.

>>4480143
His death helps ensure our safety. That’s enough reason for me to kill him. There is a very very high risk of backlash for us if we leave him alive and very low potential for any kind of reward.

>>4480989
I disagree on all accounts.

>>4481107
However, I will say that making decisions out of fear is indicative of a weak leader.

>>4480003
They may not know for certain but knowing how cartel guys can be like, they'll blame likely suspects and try to turn the town upside down until they find something.

>>4480089
We still didn't leave any damaged mortar tubes for the wreckage. If they are smart then they would suspect something. Plus there would be a missing body. They may not be all knowing, but they often engage in infiltration, blackmail, bribery, and compromising government workers all the time. They have competent people working for them and in their organization.

>>4480989
>>4481107
I have to agree that keeping him alive in the end is too risky.

QM phoneposting here. ISP is cucking me hard. I'll try to fit in a double tomorrow. Voting is of course still open.

It's interesting to see the lively discussion going on, what sorts of things you guys take into account, and what you don't

>>4479746
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Hengyang#Battle
The absolute madmen, they actually did it. Not to go on too much of a tangent, but East Asia always produces the craziest battles. I know little about the Sinic front, but what I did read about the Battle of Shanghai was on an insane scale for the opener. And it's an old tradition if we're to take Suiyang as an indication (iirc the Wikipedia casualty box listed 10,000 civilians eaten to death or something equally nuts).

>>4479772
You absolutely will have the chance to produce substances other than drugs. You're not just playing Meth Pope, but also a genius chemist. That's why you guys have the factory upgrades possible for making explosives and machining, albeit they're currently locked until basic upgrades are made to the plant. Whether you want to produce fentanyl for anasthetics, phosgene poison gas, or fulminated mercury, it'll eventually require upgrades and expansions to the plant once the operation gets big enough.

Or just focus on killing dudes in the desert and cutting deals, that's actually worked pretty well for you guys.

>>4481275
Funnily enough, we don't even know if he's cartel. We're assuming. He could be a Russian agent for all we know.

Plus I think it's a bit OC to let God decide, then kill him after. Like, if we were going to kill him, we'd do it at the crash-site or he dies form his injuries enroute, not bring him into our HQ just to kill him. Makes no sense.

>>4481406
Frankly, the Imperial Japanese side of the war is totally underrated, especially from before the wars actually start. It's a fascinating delve into history and perspective, and great to listen to. Would recommend Hardcore History, 10/10.

https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

>>4481418
I honestly hoped he was gonna die on the ride back to base. I figure it could work out with Walter letting god decide, but Bob sneaks in and ganks him, partly because he could blow Bobs cover.

The pacific theater is a welcome pile to dig into for history fans of ww2, especially after exhausting all the fun tidbits of the European theater. Thanks for the link, I keep losing or forgetting about Dan Carlin.

>>4481446
Np mate.

Bob did say that he didn't know him. While he was nervous about it, it could have been the nerves from the shells potentially blowing up. Frankly, I don't know why he'd lie to us about that, given the fact that we know he knows other... business clients. The fact that his cover may be blown is a concern, but considering that he's technically 'widely known' as a money launderer and financieer in the drug world and the idea that they'd use the same man for multiple busts over the years seems a bit insane to me, though I'm no DEA. But Bob's reaction does worry me...

>>4479694
>Let Bob handle the prisoner

The Messenger has too much shit to deal with, between tending to his flock and planning his raid on the Indians, it's time to delegate some responsibilities and duties to some of his Cardinals...

>>4481406
Hey QM, great quest.
Might wanna take a name and trip code, so we can recognize you.

Once we deal with the indians and make contact with the factions in Phoenix (to sell meth), we should concentrate on upgrading the refinery. Gas, painkillers, explosives, ammo and alcohol would all massively expand our income. While we do so, we can use those resources to expand into other towns. Like sending a missionary to Maricopa, as soon as possible after the indians are done.

>>4481717
Ye, maybe sending the missionaries to Maricopa to lay some groundwork just before we deal with the Indians.

>>4481622
Support

>>4481739
Was thinking it might be better to wait until after. The town sheriff thought the town-indians were in bed with the raider-indians, so making ourselves visible and looking competent might get them cautious and/or sending scouts to look at Mobile. They did attacked us after all, it would be natural for them to expect reprisal from a resurgent enemy. Afterwards we can make a triumphant entrance, having destroyed their enemies.

In the meanwhile we can send the missionary (we should probably write a cardinal) to Mobile and work on taking them over.

>>4481753
Not looking competent, just preachy and religious. We could even send our smallest, most soft-spoken of our flock to do the work. And we should send an envoy to Gali Bend soon, see what's up there as well. Hopefully, this turn we'll focus exclusively on Mobile.

>>4481785
Seems more prudent to just let them forget about us until the assault. We can do the assault once the vehicles and scouts come next week, so we won't really lose anything by delaying things by half a week. In fact, considering Mobile is our homebase, it would be better to set up missionaries here first.

I agree that once we deal with the assault, we should send our platoons to scout nearby territories and send envoys to any important settlements.

>>4481825
They won't forget how we supposed slaughter the Indian raiders to the man in a week. And I would like to state for the record that there wouldn't be a noticeable traces of the mortar frames as they were each crated with a dozen or so shells each. If they blew up, they would have been atomized or so unrecognizably mangled that it would have been thought of as part of a plane. (Not trying to beat a dead horse, it was literally fridge logic.)

Otherwise, I agree that integrating Mobile as fast as possible is in our best interest.

>>4481852
There is a difference between they remembering us and us marching into their territory (I mean they interact with the town often and might have people there)

But we agree that Mobile is the first priority. We should first establish a missionary presence there and the move onto town, having defeated their nemesis, gained goodwill and formed connections to their leaders.

For the record, the mortar frame argument wasn't me.

>>4481868
Ah, my bad. I was trying to find the post, but I figured that it must have been you, me ing lazy and all.

>>4481890
>being
Damnit, there was supposed to be an image of a bee in -ing.

So, we have the option to write cardinals, and we will likely need some more for future endeavors, so here is a proposed missionary-cardinal;

Matthias Anderson- A devout and gifted in public speaking priest, who was unfortunately neither connected enough to rise in church hierarchy nor humble enough to live simply. Having less than perfect respect for the laws of men, he started selling Walter's meth via his congregation. When the end of US came, he was under suspicion by church officials and chose to run with Walter.

>>4481918
I think your getting a little ahead of yourself there. We should wait on character creation until OP calls for it.

>>4481418
Of he isn't Cartel, that changes a lot.

>>4479808
>>4481622
Supporting both, as I don't see them as mutually exclusive.

>>4482900
Plus, there's a good chance of his family background being Christian in either case.

>>4482900
+1 of tied.

>>4479808
>>4479881
>>4479970
>>4481622
>>4481739
>>4482900
>>4482940

OPTION SELECTED:
>No. I don't care if he ends up with a peg leg, hook arm, or pirate's eyepatch. This guy's too dangerous to let leave this place.

You're deeply suspicious of this guy and what he represents. You're a small fish, and whoever this guy works for is likely powerful enough to wipe you off of the face of the earth. He is the only loose thread left as far as you know, and you want him out of the picture.

But you can't just cut him off. You're a Christian. Sure, a bit of a hardliner, but you're not just going to take somebody God chose to live and cut him off of life support. It's a hard choice, but you choose not to override God.

"Understood," the medic says. "I'll monitor him once in a while and check up on the broken limbs. Hopefully he wakes up soon."

"And if he does..."

OPTION SELECTED:
>Let Cardinal Musella interrogate him

"Musella?"

"Yes," you respond. "Musella was the one who spoke to him first. They spoke in Spanish, and he was clearly informed of the explosives in the cargo bay. I want him to interrogate this prisoner of ours when he wakes up from this coma. Until then, he's not to be visited by others and I command you to remain silent as to who this is."

>At an undetermined time, a POV switch to Musella will occur and the interrogation will occur

The medic nods. You leave the clinic and continue on with the day.

The plane crash is the talk of the town, and you tell everyone that a plane did crash, but that it seems like the plane blew up upon crashing. You also send a message to Carl from True American Radio Broadcasting telling him the same story. Always hungry for some local news, he laps it up.

During the night, the scouting party returns. They're haggard and tired as hell (with the exception of the guy who took meth) but they've returned with information...

[1/3]

>>4483034

[2/3]

Firstly, they've recovered from their devastating loss somewhat. The scouts report a convoy of vehicles moving to the north, in the opposite direction from your settlement, and later returning. On their return, they had with them boxes and supplies. You can't make out what exactly they have in the video footage, but it's a good amount of supplies.

Second, they note that the settlement is surprisingly large. A lot of the living quarters seem improvised, much like yours. They're clustered around a few decent sized concrete buildings, a broadcasting tower, and a couple of wells. It's therefore fairly densely populated. From this, you believe this place to be comprised of new arrivals.

They were unable to get a very good look over the entire place. While they did end up arriving near a good vantage point high up, they made the choice to not split up beyond two groups of three. There are two main paths to the settlement. One of them is facing the southwest, towards your settlement, and it is where the bulk of the defenses are concentrated. They have sandbags and what look to be a couple of bi-pod mounted guns. On the northeast side, they have less defenses, but more room. You look at the pictures and suspect they moved defenses from there to the southwest section. Also of note is that the defenses are solely concentrated on the roads. This makes sense, since to get there otherwise would be impossible on even dirt bikes.

A curious detail the scouts noticed is that most of the guards during the day are female. You guess that the men go out for raids and the women are the keepers of the home.

These are all interesting things to note and things which will help you on the raid.

Nothing else unexpected for this half of the week, thankfully so.

[END OF WEEK 2, HALF 2]

>>4483035

[3/3]

[START OF WEEK 3, HALF 1]

The highway defenses are now complete.
The firing range is almost complete.
The delivery of vehicles from Maricopa is to arrive soon.
The townspeople of Mobile are also slowly repairing the town on their own, and the cost to repair it has thus decreased.
The pilots are still training.
The mystery man is still in a coma.

>Available Manpower:
2 Mechanized Infantry Platoons (can swap to Light Infantry freely)
1 Light Infantry Platoons
~70 followers

>Wealth:
135 Wealth Points
+15 WP per half-week from followers
+15 WP per half-week from Mobile contribution
10 Food Units
-10 Food from consumption per half week
+12 Food from 2 farms

>Projects:

>Construction: Unless stated otherwise, assume 1 week to complete. Select at most 1:
Expanded Armory: A large, dedicated space to securely store all manner of equipment. Reduces odds of negative events from not having proper storage. - 35 W.P.
Improved Housing: Can support a larger population. Slightly improves morale. - 25 WP
Farm: Makes more food. - 35 WP
Chemical Plant Level 1: Allows for large scale meth production. Unlocks chemistry options. Required for further factory upgrades. - 100 WP
Training Fields: Upgrade an existing firing range to allow
for training with higher tier weaponry. - 50 W.P.
Mobile Repair: Boosts Mobile townsfolk W.P. generation. Will be a major help in integration. - 180 WP (Cost will slowly decline over time, representing townsfolk independently doing repairs)
Broadcast Tower: Sends messages far and wide to anyone with a car or receiver. Massive boost to propaganda. - 150 WP
[Write-in]

>Toggles
Purchase advertising for Maricopa's radio to help with recruitment/outreach - 5 W.P. per half week [CURRENTLY OFF]

>Diplomatic Action: Select at most 1:
Mobile Integration: Focus on building relations in the community of Mobile to help integrate them into the Sun Belt Crusaders.
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 the Gila Bend, Maricopa, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify 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, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify what you specifically want them to do.
Raiding Party: Send forces out to the Indian Mountains and take revenge (penalty without a mechanized platoon due to distance/terrain)
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 Maricopa, Gila Bend, the Indian Mountains (?!?!), or [write-in].
[Write-in]

>Select construction, toggles, and diplomatic action

>Roll 2d100 for local and global events

File: For reference, one side h(...).jpg (148 KB, 1200x758)

148 KB JPG

Aaah, making the update was hard since I wasn't sure which way the votes would go until the last few came in and solidified the "spare" position. I was originally going to write the "kill" update, but I decided to wait it and it did end up changing. To the "kill" supporters, take solace that Mazur will be the first person to speak with the pilot, and Mazur definitely does NOT care very much for what God decides. And him surviving in the first place was a close call. If the die roll was 1 lower, he would have croaked (hence why he's in a coma).

>>4481406
On the point of Suiyang, I misremembered it earlier. It's actually 20-30 thousand civillians eaten. Pic related.

>>4481918
>>4482005
Regarding cardinals, you will definitely have the opportunity to make your own when you start doing missionary work. Or to just let it go on "autopilot". It depends on how much you want to get into the church/religion side of the quest versus other parts of the quest. Feel free to discuss and toss around ideas while waiting for updates. I will say that if you guys choose missionary outreach, you'll be given the opportunity to attach a custom cardinal to the group.

Rolled 69, 49 = 118 (2d100)

>>4483037
So, we should wait for the vehicles before the assault and work on Mobile until then, I think

>Expanded Armory: A large, dedicated space to securely store all manner of equipment. Reduces odds of negative events from not having proper storage. - 35 W.P.

So that we don't lose gear and can keep quiet about the new guns.

>Toggle Off

We should probably wait until after the assault to make bold moves.

>Mobile Integration: Focus on building relations in the community of Mobile to help integrate them into the Sun Belt Crusaders.

About the assault, here is my idea for when we do it;

-We gather volunteers from Mobile, this is also their vengeance and a good opportunity to grow camaraderie.
-We go during the night, approach with vehicles.
-We place our best shots with scoped rifles on vantage points scouts found.
-Two platoons approach on foot from lightly defended non-road sides until spotted, then assault using HE grenades to take out big guns or barricades, tear gas to clear buildings.
-One platoon of our best riders approach northeast road, staying away to avoid being spotted. They assault from the road when alarm is raised, but stay ready to ride down runners.
-A very small group stays down the southwest road to intercept runners there.

>>4483037

Supporting >>4483057

Was thinking about a Gali Bend envoy or Maricopa Outreach (misinformation campaign), but asking Mobile for volunteers is smart and should take precedence, along with a proper armory.

>69
A lucky sign? Certainly a lewd one...

>>4483040
Man, must have been some insane shit going on there.

>>4483037
>Expanded Armory: A large, dedicated space to securely store all manner of equipment. Reduces odds of negative events from not having proper storage. - 35 W.P.

I'd like to save up to repair the town, but if we aren't doing that, I guess we'll repair it when the cost is lower and we have a bit more saved up.

I'm surprised the people of Moblie haven't asked for our help directly.

>>4483121
They would have lost the war and the entire country if they did not hold out, apparently.

>>4483062
Synchronize maneuvers same time somewhere between late night, early morning, when all but the guards are in deep sleep.
Put some silencers on the snipers to take out the guards while our lads move in to identify and secure key targets (Armory, vehicles, important defensive locations, etc.), then try and quietly subdue as many as they can while they're asleep. If the alarm is raised, go bezerk, tear gas and bludgeon them into submission as quickly as possible, those with weapons get neutralized, etc. This will require stealth and speed, with permission to blitz and shock'n'awe if need be. Surprise and audacity is on our side.

Two other plans are variations of a Divide and Conquer strategy. We wait until the raiding party leaves, then we quickly take the encampment with a feint South and a bliz North. Then we attempt to ambush them when they return home.

The other strategy is the same but in reverse. Wait for the raiders to leave, then ambush them on-foot at a chokepoint in difficult terrain. Take out lead and rear vehicles, trap them, then cover the area in smoke and tear gas, then manually clear with riot shield and truncheons, quickly neutralizing those still holding their weapons. Then we use their vehicles to head back around night, Trojan horse their ass before they even know what's going on. Same deal as above.

All strategies will be tried non-lethally for the most part, with lethal force being used when necessary to neutralize threats.

Any other ideas lads?

>>4483200
Damn, that some insane dedication by the defenders there.

>>4483283
The raiders are almost certain to have radios, so we may get sandwitched between them and the base or they may decide to not return if things look bleak. If they think they will be too late, they may even attack our base while we are away. The reverse is also applicable, since ambushed raiders are certain to warn the base.

I think our best bet is to take them while majority are sleeping, out of equipment and away from vehicles. Not to mention a night attack will create confusion.

I can't see how we would take them non-lethally. We have no real non-lethal weapons other than a few tear gas grenades (and even the professional ones we don't have would have been inferior to lethal weapons in a fight) and sending our guys to night stick and taser them would be suicide. There is also the fact that there is no reason that we should risk our guys to try. These guys have been attacking Maricopa for some time, burnt half of Mobile, attacked (lethally) our service, all without provocation. If there is a situation warranting lethal response this is it.

There is also that they are a large group with apparent ties to some other group (scouts said they got supplies somewhere). It would be in our best interest to take care of them once and for all (other then a few prisoners to interrogate for our deal with the sheriff). We also don't have prisons to keep them and supplies to feed them, and no guarantee they won't return with reinforcements to take revenge if we release them.

>>4483307
We can leverage our advantage of better equiped men against a smaller group of opponents, and if we smoke and tear gas they wouldn't be able to aim effectively (for fear of hitting comrades) and disorient them (tear gas is not fun, and it sticks with you for hours), if not outright incapacitate a couple. Being surprised and surrounded, they wouldn't be able to put up an effective fight, allowing a quick mop-up. We have the advantage at choosing our ambush spot, giving us another advantage and putting some distance between the ambush and camp so their reinforcements (being homemakers and thus untrained combatants) are a nonissue. Keep in mind that these people know each other, and would like be demoralized if the other half is taken captive. We can leverage this to our advantage by making them surrender, or by going full Mad Max and strapping them to the front of our vehicles as we move in. The reverse is also applicable, as those remaining at base are the homemakers (and this useful hostages), as so the raiders would either be forced to surrender or retreat. They wouldn't even think to attack the base with our hostages, and even if they did, the plan was always to train some men to guard the home front, and we recently completed our defenses in any event. The plans have more merit to them than you originally ascribed.

Either way, I agree that the plan that has the strongest chance of succeeding is the night raid. With the lack of Mobile's retaliation, they may have even been mulled into a false sense of security.

After we silently take out the guards, we have the advantage of most of them being asleep. You even mentioned that they'd be out of equipment and confused, so it'll be pathetically easy with tear gas and truncheons, and a couple of our men would be lethally armed incase some of the sleepy raiders are armed.

God's mercy (nonlethal) also has the added advantage of adding to our reputation as God's badasses, defusing the Indian's propaganda that we're just a bunch of bloodthirsty racists, and turn some of the undecided Indian (and regular) civilians on our side, which is better than them being unified against a common enemy (us). The PR war is very serious if we want to get any traction and support from the people.

Slaughter isn't our only option. We do have supplies to feed them (what wrong with theirs?), and we can set-up a makeshift POW camp there or at home (or use Mobile's jail, or construct our own prison for future uses).

This is not only doable, but preferable.

>>4483362

They are very unlikely to be ALL sleeping and unarmed, and we really have no way to take out the guards stealthily, silencers don't really work that well, our men are not trained commandos. We will likely be spotted long before we enter the base and they will run to their machine guns.

Keep in mind we have limited reserves of tear and smoke. We also have no guarantee they (professional, heavily armed, hardened raiders in their fortifications, in unknown numbers) will surrender. If they don't, we lose much of our surprise advantage by giving them time.
Remember, non-lethal weapons are distinctly inferior to true weapons, otherwise armies would use them and police would not have that much problem against rioters worldwide. They are almost certain to lead to additional casualties. For us. This is very unlikely to be the last battle we participate in.

Even if they surrender, we have an trained (remember their defenses involved substantial number of women, so we should expect everybody to be dangerous), combat experienced population who has reason to despise us (we killed a lot of them) and no qualms about burning towns for their stuff. Needless to say, they would be a containment nightmare and extremely unlikely to be ever trustworthy.

I think people (certainly not Mobile, Maricopa and other nearby settlements they probably raided) are unlikely to be too torn up about us killing a bunch of killer-bandits. It is, in fact, likely to be very good for our reputation.

Dealing with them seems eminently preferable to wasting both lives and resources (in an ongoing manner) in a very risky venture for very little to no gain.

>>4483037
>Expanded Armory: A large, dedicated space to securely store all manner of equipment. Reduces odds of negative events from not having proper storage. - 35 W.P.
>toggle off
>Mobile Integration

What happened to the "training soldiers" options QM?

>>4483420
They're not expecting us from the North. We use the snipers to take out the guards there, we gain entry. While we're not trained commandos, I do expect us to press our stealth advantage to the fullest extent possible. And if your really worried about running into their machine guns, why would advocate for such a plan?

We only need the tear and smoke for the initial bliz, and we should use them to gain an advantage, as it would save lives and effort. They may not surrender, but I doubt they'd put up an effective fight surprised, confused, sleepy, with their families and dealing with tear gas. It's about stacking the small advantages in our favor. And I did say that lethal weapons would be used to neutralize threats, not planning on it being bloodless.

Their defenses involved women because all the men left to raid, and thus are digging into the bottom of their barrel of manpower just to maintain their raids and home defense. And keep in mind that we weren't going to trust them, it's about removing them as a problem (taking their weapons, vehicles, and supplies). With our control over these recourses, they are either forced to follow our orders or try and escape without food or means of defense, becoming easy pickings to the other roving bandits in these parts.

While the towns wouldn't shed a tear, the Indian Council would pounce on any opportunity to radicalize other Indians for their own gain. The worst thing we could do is bring the raiders in for the Courts (or whatever remains of them) to arbitrate justice. I don't see any reason why we should play into the Council's hands.

This would be dealing with the Indian situation on a whole instead of dealing with the raiding party and then the political fallout with the Indian Council and their minions.

>>4484240

Unless they got 100 year olds from a museum or salvaged an attack helicopter, any machine guns they have watching the road can be easily moved up, since most such things are squad support weapons.

Again, sniper rifles are not subtle weapons, our men are not trained sharpshooters and sentries likely at least see each other. You also seem to think they will all be sleeping. Our chances of entering the camp and throwing hand-grenades unseen are near zero.

Even if they are surprised and many are unarmed, rushing armed men without covering fire is still foolish.

It seems you are making baseless assumptions on the women matter. We have zero intel on their capabilities, just that they don't go on raids, which could easily be cultural.

You seem to misunderstand my point, even if we take their guns, they will still be dangerous (it is not like they can't get more guns secretly) and we will need to spend major resources and men keeping an eye on them. They will otherwise surely make trouble.

Taking them would be very costly and keeping them would be a dangerous material drain without any benefits at all.

>>4484302
Uhhh... are you arguing to ambush them outside the camp?

>even surprised and unarmed men are still a threat without covering fire
>they still dangerous unarmed and subdued
>they would be a drain on resources

Are you suggesting we slaughter them?
>it's what Christ would have wanted?

File: The Lovers.gif (57 KB, 222x533)

57 KB GIF

>>4483057
>>4483121
>>4483475

Global Event: 49
>Forsaken Badlands
Ever since its settlement by Europeans, the American Southwest has been of less than paramount importance. The rough and mountainous desert landscape has made it hard to support very large communities like in the coasts. It doesn't have the oil fields of Texas or the Dakotas nor does it have strategic importance of some place like Alaska. While there is trouble within, as the Phoenix fighting shows, it's largely localized. The Chinese vassal state is content to hold key highway choke-points along its border, the Texan Republic doesn't seem to be pushing past New Mexico, and the Northwest Alliance lost momentum somewhere in Utah last you heard.

You would expect that at some point, there might be some kind of major shakeup. Perhaps an outside power would start making inroads in the region, or perhaps a rising star would emerge from nowhere and take the region by storm. After all, nobody saw General Paxton III's masterful gambit to divert U.S. assets to the Midwest and take over the Chicago Anarchy for himself, all to cheering crowds. And yet, nothing of the sorts seems to be happening as the rest of the country has turned its attention away and abandoned attempts at exerting pressure in these badlands. Thankfully so. Tuning into The Carl Redfield Experience, you hear nothing indicating a great shift in this region's affairs one way or another. It's still mostly just ranting, gossip, prank calls, and strange tangents on animal fights.

Perhaps you will be this great shift? Only God knows...

>No change in this region's situation

Local Event: 69
>Tycheri Erotas ~ {Fortunate Love}
>Event shaped by policy decision: Secular Diplomacy
Ever since you made the deal with the mayor, and especially since the battle, there has been increasing intermingling between the two halves of Mobile. In the case of one of your fighters, it has been a very specific type of intermingling between halves. He has developed feelings for one of the young women in the town who acted as a temporary nurse after the battle, and the feelings were reciprocated. He confides to you that he has, in a moment of weakness, had carnal relations with her. There is only one proper response to this.

You command him to seek her hand in marriage. Though he has only known her for about a week, she may already have his child (after all, life begins strictly at conception). Nervous, he decides to take the plunge and ask her. Judging by the mutual smiles of the two, it's a success.

The engagement ceremony is scheduled for next Sunday, that is to say the end of the next half-week. It's the talk of the town. While some have their reservations, it's still something nice to look forward to in these often dark times. In a way, it's a major symbolic step towards integration, since the traditional idea of marriage is to bind not just two people, but also two families, two peoples, together.

>This will help in integration...

[1/4]

>>4484448

[2/4]

>OPTIONS SELECTED:

>No Policy or Toggle changes

>Expanded Armory: A large, dedicated space to securely store all manner of equipment. Reduces odds of negative events from not having proper storage. - 35 W.P.

Something has to be done about this overflow of weapons and equipment. It's a good problem to have, but still one that needs addressing. You order the retrofitting of an abandoned building to be used as an armory. Due to a lack of proper tools and equipment, this should take a week to complete fully, but until then smart placement and concealment should prevent a stray resident from messing around with something he shouldn't.

>Mobile Integration: Focus on building relations in the community of Mobile to help integrate them into the Sun Belt Crusaders.

You turn your attention towards the town. After the good news of the fortunate lovers and the lull in events, this seems like the ideal time to talk with the mayor.

As you walk to his office, you happen to spot him on a bench smoking alone.

"May I?"" you ask him, pointing to the empty space next to him. He nods. He's wearing a short sleeved shirt, and you can see the scar from the battle where the bullet grazed him.

"What brings you to this side of town?" he asks, taking a drag of the cigarette.

"I wanted to speak to you actually. About your forces, specifically."

"You want payback for that raid?"

"Well, yes, of course."

"So more people can be buried?" he says, looking at you dead on.

"The opposite, so we can survive. Both of us. We're both small players here, and the only way we make it is together. Tell me, what would you have done if that raid came a few weeks later, before my faction arrived?"

"Eh," he says. "Probably would've surrendered, given 'em whatever they wanted."

"And whatever they'd ask for, they'd just come back for more. You know how shakedowns work."

He grimaces and cocks his head to the side in begrudging agreement. You continue.

"The only way we assure peace is through strength. Yes, I am once again asking for your support militarily. Yes, some of your militia will probably die. But it won't be in vain." You cross yourself and raise your hand in the air. "God as my witness, their deaths won't be in vain. It will be to protect the entire settlement." You briefly consider going into the whole situation with Maricopa in detail, but you feel it would be excessive given this man's priorities...

>>4484452

[3/4]

The mayor thinks for a long, hard moment. "You're right," he says. "How about this? I'll provide you with half of my forces, about thirty men's worth. The rest will stay behind here and guard the town. Even if you deal with the Natives, there are still other marauders going around. I've heard on the radio there're groups of roving lunatics driving around the sands, wiping small communities off of the map, worse than the biker types that came by before you guys got here."

"Thank you," you say. "And tell me, what would it take to get your full support?"

"Hmm," he says. "Our peoples seem to be getting along. "Claire's getting engaged to one of yours after all, and everyone seems fine with it. And militarily, you guys did repel that attack and build defenses. Still, I want the town to be fully rebuilt. We're doing the job slowly, but I want your people's assistance."

"Understood."

>Access to Mobile Light Infantry Platoons (2) gained
>One light infantry platoon must remained garrisoned at town

>Mobile Integration Project almost complete...
>Only rebuilding from the attack and settling the Native issue remains...

[END OF WEEK 3, HALF 1]

>>4484453

[4/4]

[START OF WEEK 3, HALF 2]

The armory is in construction.
The firing range is now complete and is being passively used by troops to train.
The delivery of vehicles from Maricopa has arrived.
The townspeople of Mobile are also slowly repairing the town on their own, and the cost to repair it has thus decreased.
The pilots are still training.
The mystery man is still in a coma.
One whole week left on soft deadline on attacking the natives

>Available Manpower:
3 Mechanized Infantry Platoons (can swap to Light Infantry freely)
1 Available Mobile's Light Infantry Platoons
1 Garrisoned Mobile's Light Infantry [LOCKED]
~70 followers

>Wealth:
130 Wealth Points
+15 WP per half-week from followers
+15 WP per half-week from Mobile contribution
12 Food Units
-10 Food from consumption per half week
+12 Food from 2 farms

>Projects:

>Construction: Unless stated otherwise, assume 1 week to complete. Select at most 1:
Improved Housing: Can support a larger population. Slightly improves morale. - 25 WP
Farm: Makes more food. - 35 WP
Chemical Plant Level 1: Allows for large scale meth production. Unlocks chemistry options. Required for further factory upgrades. - 100 WP
Training Fields: Upgrade an existing firing range to allow for training with higher tier weaponry. - 50 W.P.
Mobile Repair: Boosts Mobile townsfolk W.P. generation. Will be a major help in integration. - 170 WP (Cost will slowly decline over time, representing townsfolk independently doing repairs)
Broadcast Tower: Sends messages far and wide to anyone with a car or receiver. Massive boost to propaganda. - 150 WP
[Write-in]

>Toggles
Purchase advertising for Maricopa's radio to help with recruitment/outreach - 5 W.P. per half week [CURRENTLY OFF]

>Diplomatic Action: Select at most 1:
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 the Gila Bend, Maricopa, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify 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, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify what you specifically want them to do.
Raiding Party: Send forces out to the Indian Mountains and take revenge (penalty without a mechanized platoon due to distance/terrain)
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 Maricopa, Gila Bend, the Indian Mountains (?!?!), or [write-in].
[Write-in]

>Select construction and diplomatic action (and toggle changes if desired) for this half-week

>Roll 2d100 for local and global events

>>4484454
A half-week without any crazy events requiring zooming in on specifics. I suspect this won't be happening too often, although I can arrange for it if you guys want things to "move" a little bit quicker at the cost of some agency/detail in fleshing things out. And a note on the northeast entrance to the Indian Encampment: your scouts know it's there, but couldn't quite figure out what the path is to there. They were just a bunch of dudes on foot doing a stakeout and prioritizing not getting caught. If you want, you can do another scouting mission with the purpose of investigating that or use the Diplomatic Action on something else.

>>4483475
The plan is to move things towards tracking soldiers in blocks of people. And currently, your community doesn't have the capacity to really train more people. A decent portion of people aren't going to be combat fit, and you need some people to do things like farming, construction, and assisting with chemical processes that may or may not involve meth or explosives production. If there's an opportunity to train more troops, such as the settlement receiving an influx of arrivals or integrating a community with available persons, then that should change. It won't happen with Mobile though, since all of their available fighters are part of their militia (mostly already under your control as of last post).

>>4483121
>Certainly a lewd one...
A lewd sign indeed. But lewdness doesn't always have to mean bad things as long as Big J consents to it!

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>4484460
>A decent portion of people aren't going to be combat fit, and you need some people to do things like farming, construction, etc
Mmm ok. What if we did a thing like everyone (who can fight) has some amount of mandatory 'military' / weapons training but then they aren't soldiers but go do their jobs? I think some countries do / did this but idk. Just spitballing. Emergency militia / weaponized population kinda thing, not made of the main force.

>>4484454
>Mobile Repair: Boosts Mobile townsfolk W.P. generation. Will be a major help in integration. - 170 WP (Cost will slowly decline over time, representing townsfolk independently doing repairs)
Stake this in for our +30 per half-week to be saved and catch up to it. We owe these guys heavily.
>toggles off
>missionary outreach to maricopa
Time to exercise preaching privileges

>One whole week left on soft deadline on attacking the natives
The fated day draws near
I agree with the "night raid at low security with silenced long-range rifles" idea. Less casualties for our side.

home wifi's down so ID might change

Rolled 61 (1d100)

>>4484454
Supporting >>4484466

Ask about some silencers and night vision goggles for the snipers\platoon leaders. Also ask for the potential for volunteer trained snipers (or ask Carl if he know's anyone on the down low).

It's either this or more scouting, which I'm not opposed to doing if you guys want to.

>>4484472
A prison bus or two, as well.

>>4484466
>silenced
A minor note on suppressed weapon fire I think would be good to keep in mind: We actually don't have proper suppressors. Now, W.W. can easily make some improvised ones so it's not that big of a deal. Automotive filters actually do fairly decently if you get the parts to fit them, even if you're not using subsonic ammunition. There are minor problems in that improvised suppressors wear out fairly quickly (so will only work for 1 battle) and they do fuck up iron sights, so you can only use them effectively if you're using some other optical equipment we'll say.

I would like to also say that even with suppressors, gunfire is loud as fuck. It's not going to be some Hollywood shit where it's totally silent, but it will make it notably harder to pinpoint where the shots are coming from and help with the confusion effect you guys seem to be going for. You guys also got some very basic night vision monoculars that come with the military helmets, so a night attack is possible. It just won't be 100% optimal for you guys. The optical equipment that you guys got from the M.M.P. also isn't quite military sniper scope tier. But you guys probably won't be going for really long range shots, so that's not necessary.

>>4484473
If you mean asking Maricopa for more supplies (and not asking me what we have available atm), it's a long shot. You guys already got a lot of shit from them up front and for free (both weapons and vehicles) from a negotiation where everything went really well.

Meant to post this half and hour earlier, ISP shit as always

>>4484486
Ah, thanks for the clarification. Yes, some silencers would be wonderful. When I mention the bus, I was worried about prisoner transportation, potentially large numbers of them, but we can figure that bit out later after we get into that situation.

ISP always shits out when you need it the most...

>>4484302

Easily moved, maybe. But we have the elements of surprise on our side, and if we make securing the machine guns a priority, that advantage becomes neutralized. Even if we don't take them, just pop some smoke over them and with the darkness of night, they wouldn't know if their opening fire on us or their buddies.

I'm not saying we have to outfit an entire platoon with snipers, just a couple to take out the gatekeepers without alarm, then we're set. It's a good bet the majority of them would be asleep in the dead of night, with the guards and an occasional outlier being exceptions. All we need to is to negate their main defenses and enter the camp proper, and it becomes a mop up operation for the most part. A majority non-lethal armament has the best chance at securing undamaged supplies and intel, and they'd be equipped with pistols and other small arms if need be, no HE required. We also have grenade launching capabilities for smoke and tear gas.

Our men wouldn't be rushing the raiders unsupported, as some of them will be lethally armed, but as you said, most will be unarmed and confused, and thus easy pickings.

It's not baseless, as the women are left behind on raids (and what culture puts their women on the front lines and in the thick of battle?), so most of them are likely inexperienced in combat atleast.

You also seem to misunderstand my point. If we take their weapons, how would they fight? If we take away their vehicles, how would they travel, or maneuver? If we take their supplies, how would they eat? We would have already subdued them, and we'll have their own supplies to feed them with until transport. Remember, we're going to transfer them to Maricopa to receive justice by the Courts (or whatever counts as judge and jury in these parts), so they won't keep draining our resources or manpower, and keeps them from causing trouble.

By the way, the benefits (besides being our Christianly duty) would be political, and potentially preventing future political problems from cropping up later. Like an Indian revolt to put down...

>>4484466
Honestly, I think as long as everyone has a weapon and is trained/proficient in it, we'll be fine. We could just reinforce the idea of their Second Amendment rights as a soft policy (unofficial but highly encouraged).

>>4484454
>Improved Housing: Can support a larger population. Slightly improves morale. - 25 WP

>Toggles
Off

>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 the Gila Bend, Maricopa, Indian Mountains, or a [Write-in] and specify what you specifically want them to do.
Gila Bend

We currently don't have money for the repair and shouldn't alert the indians by operating in Maricopa, so we make some small community improvements and make contact with a new settlement (which is good to do as fast as possible, especially since our indian quest will be over soon.).

>>4484436
I am advocating for a night raid on their base and dealing with them wish maximum force, (they are raiders that attacked us and killed our people without provocation).
The other guy is saying we should we should use non-lethal force, (tear gas, night sticks and tasers) which will result in us getting slaughtered. And then keep them under guard, which will use resources and men we don't have.

>>4484594
'with' not 'wish'
typo

>>4484486
Even if you wanted to try silencers, they are still loud as fuck. The sound comes from the bullet breaking the sound barrier, and that’s not something a silencer can fix. If you want hollywood quiet, you need a silencer and subsonic ammo loads. Subsonic is still perfectly capable of killing a man, but don’t expect the same penetration through objects as you would a normal load. Subsonic also has more limited range, so don’t expect to load our AR15s or whatever we have with subsonic and be able to engage at longer distances. Subsonic is generally used for handgun ammo, which includes a lot of SMGs. It’s useful in 1 situation only, infiltration, and if you have good intel on the target already.

>>4484466
>>4484472

Global Event: 61
>UNKNOWN
During the early chaos and breakdown of society the political left was ascendant. The political right of the country largely put its trust into law enforcement institutions and the armed forces, many of whom chose to listen to their civilian leadership over the concerns of the people. In the northwest east of the Cascades, this resulted in a violent reaction in the opposite direction. The armed forces had largely redeployed to other parts of the country or overseas and a power vacuum emerged. Right wing paramilitary groups and bands of concerned citizens ended up filling this void.

After intense, but very brief conflicts, a network of fascist warlords rose to prominence and decided to band together. From white separatists in Montana to LDS separatists in northern Utah to exiled Oregonian Christians hungry for revenge, an oddly diverse faction called the "Northwest Alliance" sprung into prominence.

Before the news went completely dark, you heard that they had spread their influence far but had to stop and focus on fortifying their mountainous border with the de facto Chinese vassals. Still, there are rumors of their patrols going as far Arizona and engaging in border skirmishes with "Tianyi." With national ambitions, you believe you will be hearing about these types fairly soon...

Local Event: 88 Another meme number?!
>Guten Tag Meine Kameraden!!
>Event shaped by Meth Policy decision: Save it
With the highway defenses set up, you have the ability to control traffic along the 238. Today, the garrison catches sight of a strange convoy passing through. After a tense first impression, one of your cardinals comes to the scene and brings one of their member to you. He's dressed in all black despite the desert heat and is peppering his speech with German. You think he's probably a Nazi or something.

You can hear the cardinal speaking as he walks towards you office. "I got a great deal for you, let me tel-, ah, The Messenger, I have a visitor here! We're looking to make a business deal, would you spare a moment?"

You nod and allow the talks to begin...

[1/2]

>>4485494

[2/2]

"Impressive settlement you have here, ja?" The attempt at flattery falls flat with part of the town still visibly under rebuilding. "Anyway, meine good friend here told you you produce, well, pharmaceutical products here?"

"In a way," you catch onto what he's really talking about.

"We would like eine sample of your, how did you put it?" he says turning towards the cardinal.

"Specialty premium strength over-the-counter wakefulness pharmaceuticals!" he says, not-so-subtly talking about meth with a big salesman grin

"Ja, that. We are willing to pay, of course."

You heard jokes about Pervitin before, but this is a chance to actually sell Nazi war meth. Still, you have been stockpiling meth, saving it for a good opportunity, and this might be it. Do you choose to sell to this man?

>Yes, sell him the bulk of the supply, leaving just enough for an emergency use by some soldiers, and get him out of here. + 75 W.P.
>Give him a moderate amount in exchange for a promise of repeat business. +50 W.P. now, and more W.P. an unknown time later. May piss these guys off if they come back and you can't give them the goods.
>Give him a small sampler and make small talk with him, trying to figure out more about his people
>No, ignore this, you don't want actual Methhead Nazis running around, get these LARPers out of here ASAP
>[Write in]


>>4484466
If shit gets really bad, people will defend themselves if they have arms available. And this settlement certainly has that in spades. Their effectiveness will always be substandard compared to the "more professional" garrison. If push comes to shove, your grandma might just take up arms - just don't expect her to be an expert soldier!

>>4485242
This is correct and something I tried to convey in that post. Guns are really loud and suppressors won't stop that. Even suppressed handguns with subsonic ammo is still decently loud if there's not any other noise and not what you'll see in a Hollywood movie.

I have, however, seen videos of gunfire where they compare decibels with and without a suppressor, and there's a noticeable difference, even without subsonic ammo. Still loud, but marginally less so. I'll allow a small reduction to the penalty for the noise gunfire makes if they choose to do a surprise attack and use shitty homemade suppressors. I base this on hearing that in the chaos of battle (& presumably a night raid) that minor noise reduction can make it marginally more difficult to pinpoint where the shots are coming from.

And for reference, most of our guys are using rifles firing .223 or .308 ammunition. That's why I mentioned in the original post that guns are loud as fuck and that no matter what happens, there won't be some Metal Gear Solid styled silent kill everyone situation. Hope this is all making sense.

>>4485497
>Give him a moderate amount in exchange for a promise of repeat business. +50 W.P. now, and more W.P. an unknown time later. May piss these guys off if they come back and you can't give them the goods.

Our primary asset is the refinery (once it is repaired) and there were plans to sell our products to factions in Phoenix (one of which is the right wing coalition the other communists), this merely speeds up the process and potentially gives us an edge in upcoming negotiations, since they will know we can really provide the product.

>>4485518
Supporting, though after we get more info on his people.

I am interested in this LARP brigade.

>Give him a small sampler and make small talk with him, trying to figure out more about his people

>>4485518
Not to mention the W.P would help fund upgrading the refinery to mass-produce more product and in greater variety.

>>4485497
>Give him a small sampler and make small talk with him, trying to figure out more about his people
>Give him a moderate amount in exchange for a promise of repeat business. +50 W.P. now, and more W.P. an unknown time later. May piss these guys off if they come back and you can't give them the goods.

File: Silencer_Sound_Comparsion(...).jpg (365 KB, 1275x1887)

365 KB JPG

>>4485497
>Guns are really loud and suppressors won't stop that
I just so happen to have this pic on my desktop....

>>4485497
>Give him a small sampler and make small talk with him, trying to figure out more about his people
If we like him we're open to repeat business but idk if he's part of a faction or just a small gang

>>4485497
>>Give him a small sampler and make small talk with him, trying to figure out more about his people

We could use them in the upcoming war band/battle or as scouts.

>>4484466
+1

>>4485518
We could sell pure product to anyone to the right of Lenin, and tainted to the communist/BLM/anarchist coalition. The superior made in America Pervitin for our new German friends, guaranteed to not cause an unreasonable amount of organ damage or heart attacks, and tainted stuff to the leftists that won’t be noticeable unless examined in a top tier lab because most of their users won’t just be taking meth, they’ll be speedballing meth with heroin, crack cocaine, and basically anything they can get their hands on.

>>4485804
Yes! God, that will be such a cash cow...

By the way, for the invasion, have you guys thought about attacking while the other male Indians are gone, and then have some snipers try to shoot at the wheels of their cars once they're far enough in the middle of nowhere so that when the reservation eventually gets attacked and they get warned by the walkie-talkies there's nothing they can do about it. They might have spare wheels but that's fine we just keep shooting at the newer wheels while they replace them.

>>4486963
I believe that's apart of the Divide and Conquer strategy.

>>4485518
>>4485525
>>4485669
>>4485685
>>4485706

OPTION SELECTED:
>Give him a small sampler and make small talk with him, trying to figure out more about his people

"Sure, I can give you a sample of it," you open your drawer and fish out a tablet you have with you. You don't use the stuff yourself, but you like to keep your handiwork with you. "Yep, it's right here." You take a knife and carefully start cutting it in half. "Say, what's your interest in these products?"

"Oh, well, as you might be aware of, Der Führer believed in the use of..." he snaps his fingers and looks towards the cardinal.

"Specialty premium strength over-the-counter wakefulness pharmaceuticals! Made in America!"

"That. Der Führer frequently used such products and issued them to his troops. We could use the option in our patrols, ja!"

"Of course, of course," you say as you finish cutting up the sampler. And crush it with the butt of your knife. "But what's the goal with the patrols? Who are you looking out for, perhaps we can help."

"Ach, it's nothing, wahrlich. We were just hired by the New Vegas c-" he pauses. "I thought these were tablets, why-"

"Oral ingestion onset is noticeably longer than that of nasal insufflation. Same product, just the effects will be more concentrated and felt faster."

"Ja," he says, evidently not understanding some of the words. "I'll try it out."

He snorts the meth. You didn't give him too much, but it'll be enough to feel.

"JAWOHL! I FEEL LIKE DER ÜBERMENSCH! NO WONDER THEY USED THIS SHIT! I FEEL LIKE I CAN SHOOT ZYKLON B FROM MY FINGERTIPS!!"

"So, sounds like we can close the deal on the price we agreed on, right?" Your cardinal says to him.

"YEAH, YEAH! DUUUUUUUDE, WHAT A RUSH!"

>Give him a moderate amount in exchange for a promise of repeat business. +50 W.P. now, and more W.P. an unknown time later. May piss these guys off if they come back and you can't give them the goods.

You butt in. "We got a moderate amount we're willing to sell right now if you'll promise to come back. So far the product seems, rather agreeable."

"YEAH!" he takes a breath and tries to calm himself down as much as possible. "Yeah, you got it. Not sure when the patrols will take us back around here, but I'll pay a visit to refuel!"

"Tell me more about yourselves. It would help to know where your people are from exactly," you ask, probing for more information.

"Oh yeah! We're from Kingman of the small gau Mojave, just across the river and mountains east of the Neu Vegas Freie Stadt as we like to call it. We mostly patrol to the south and west, checking for Californian Bolschewik Degeneraten and new developments. Shooting here and there, but mostly fighting the Mojave heat, ja. This is the furthest south east we've been. How's Phoenix? Those communists gone yet?"

"Well," you say a bit uneasily. "Conflict's still going on. I've heard the communist faction is slowly gaining ground, but that could just be propaganda. Have you been there?"

...

[1/2]

File: 39th SS Division - Amerikaner.png (59 KB, 1280x1013)

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>>4487010

[2/2]

"HA!" he breaks out in laughter. "We don't get paid enough to wander into that scheißloch! Backroads avoiding it, that's where it's at! I heard they're laying mines on the 60 entering into Phoenix from the north."

Mines along the 60 heading into Phoenix from Vegas? That's interesting to hear, even if it is pure rumor from a Nazi LARPer who has admitted to not even going into the area in question.

"Before you go, I have one last question. Have you heard of any Indian attacks? Raids?"

"Indian Raids? Not around us. You mean the Hula-, Huali-, H-"

"Hualapai?"

"Danke! Yeah, those guys. We haven't heard anything of those guys. I've heard of fighting around Flagstaff, maybe the Hopi, but not with the Hulu-pies. Anyway, I should go now, we're a bit over time as is, but it was a pleasure making your acquaintance, mein Herr 'Messenger', correct?"

You nod and see him out. The group calling themselves the '39th S.S. Division "Amerikaner"' takes the somewhat large quantity of meth, which ends up being the better part of the supply you've stockpiled up over the weeks. Unless they burn through their supply very quickly or your men are forced to start popping pills like candy over multiple battles, you're confident you should be able to make good on your promise to re-up. They leave the town the way they came, heading west along the 238 before disappearing from out of sight. You're pretty sure their leader, the man who enjoyed the sample, was driving one of the vehicles. Strange men and women that lot, but it's not that much weirder than your faction if you're being honest with yourself. It's just that you're right and everyone else happens to be wrong.

The W.P. contribution of the S.S. Amerikaner is significant to your small community. While your original plan was to spend some resources on rebuilding part of the section of Mobile that was devastated, there is another option. Using the proceeds from your meth sales, you can now afford to start rebuilding on the entire area. It will still take at least a week (maybe more depending on events) to finish and would eat up a considerable amount of resources, but it would be a very welcome surprise to the mayor and his people.

You think about it briefly and decide to:

>Stick to the original plan, spend 30 W.P. on starting the rebuild. Save the windfall
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P., or 40 at the start of the next half-week
>Spend a different amount... [Write in]

Previous post deleted because the image came out weird. I had to edit it quick. It's the LARPer's insignia if the file name didn't tip it off...

>>4486963
>meth... guaranteed to not cause an unreasonable amount of organ damage or heart attacks
Hope that's just the marketing, because no amount of purity is going to save you from likely getting some organ damage if you develop a meth addiction!

>>4487015
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P., or 40 at the start of the next half-week

It'll be a nice wedding gift.

>>4487015
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P., or 40 at the start of the next half-week
Yeah boye
And now we can say like "were it not for meth sales we wouldn't have had the resources to rebuild so quickly!" if we get objection to upgrades and repairs to the chemical plant from anyone, especially the mayor.

>>4487015
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P., or 40 at the start of the next half-week

Hopefully we'll get more WP from the townsfolk with the town being fully operational again.

>>4487015
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P., or 40 at the start of the next half-week

>>4487015
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P., or 40 at the start of the next half-week

>>4487015
>meth... guaranteed to not cause an unreasonable amount of organ damage or heart attacks
>unreasonable

There's your marketing genius right there!

>>4487015
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P.

>>4487020
>>4487025
>>4487039
>>4487046
>>4487438
>>4488312

OPTION SELECTED:
>Take the opportunity to spend the full 170 W.P. and be left with 10 W.P., or 40 at the start of the next half-week
You've been planning on rebuilding the devastated area of Mobile since the Native raid a while back. With this windfall, you now have enough resources to perform the full reconstruction and waste no time. You send a small group out to Maricopa to trade for the necessary materials and start the construction project.

When you make the announcement, the town is ecstatic. They were expecting this to take a while longer, your men included. Without the cash injection from the meth trade, it would have been impossible to do this, after all. With the diplomatic focus on integration and the lucky fortune of the lovers, this is enough to really get the townspeople on your side. You already hear about regular townsfolk not at all interested in the religious elements interested in attending church and giving your faith a shot. You expect a packed audience this Sunday, both for the engagement and the weekly services beforehand.

During the day, the mayor initiates conversation with you. He simply asks if the arrival of the Nazi warband and the sudden influx of funding is connected. You nod in honesty. He understands what has happened.

"It's for the best," he says. While he clearly doesn't approve of the drug trade as a rural, salt of the earth type, he's a practical minded man at heart. You can tell he'll turn a blind eye to this in appreciation of what you've conceded to him. You could've used the resources to improve on the chemical plant or built a fancier church. Hell, you could've spent the money on hookers. It wouldn't even be a first for a pope, or even that bad if Julius II was anything to go by. You know, the pope who literally died from syphilis he contracted from engaging with carnal acts with prostitutes during his papal office. To actually look after the welfare of others is a genuine propaganda victory.

>Mobile Integration advances further
>You feel like you have likely avoided a conflict with this decision

OPTION SELECTED:
>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 Maricopa, Gila Bend, the Indian Mountains (?!?!), or [write-in].

You decide to send a group of missionaries out to Maricopa. It's a decently large settlement and you've already secured rights to preach. The more you can increase your presence in this town, the more you can g-

"The pilot is waking up."

>Let Cardinal Musella interrogate him

>TEMPORARY POV SWITCH: ROBERT MAZUR, A.K.A. BOB MUSELLA

[1/2]

>>4488694

[2/2]

You receive word that the pilot from earlier is starting to stir out of his coma. The Messenger trusted you to deal with him when we awoke, and you're glad for it. This guy literally fell from the sky and whispered to you that there were crates filled with explosives that were about to blow if you couldn't get them out. And he was right. A dozen crates filled with medium mortars and a few hundred shells were extracted from the burning husk of a plane.

You quickly get yourself over to the clinic and are just in time it seems. The medic is just outside the door and is marking up a whiteboard.

"He's waking up right? How is he?"

"Yeah, he's coming out of the coma. Physically, I'd say he's not doing too bad. There is muscular deterioration from the coma and a couple of bones in his legs haven't healed right and will probably require a re-breaking. But he should be able to make a full recovery after a few months of phys-"

"So can I talk to him," you say, cutting him off.

"Um, sure? The Messenger said you-"

"Yes, I'm the one to see him. He won't be able to get up off of his own, right?"

"No, not unless he wants some more potentially broken bones. Again, his legs are-"

"Stay here," you tell him, taking the initiative and walking through the door into his room. The room is bare bones and spartan, having only the bare essential medical equipment and nothing more.

The man is groaning and stirring awake. You can tell he's still in his uniform and the smell of cleaning agents is strong in the air. After a small wait, he wakes up and stares at the ceiling for a bit. He weakly makes some kind of sign of the cross and tries to sit up in his bed.

You consider helping him, but he manages it himself surprisingly fine. He notices you and tries to speak. He ends up coughing and clearing his throat as you give him some water, which he greedily drinks up.

"I remember you," he says in his strange accent. "You got the explosives out I believe."

You nod.

"Ah. I thought I was dead. I guess you're the man who saved me. You and your," he pauses, trying to find the word. "Your leader, right? You must have many questions. Answering is a small price for my life."

He hasn't tried to escape, kill himself, or kill you. So far so good. You think about what you should ask him and where to take this interrogation.

>Who are you? What's your name? [Personal info]
>Who do you work for? [Faction info]
>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]
>Why did you fly here with a cargo of mortars? [Goal info]
>Why shouldn't I kill you right now? [Escalate]
>[Write-in]

Forgive any mistakes with the post. No proofreading was done and weekend whisky is fueling me atm.

>>4488696
>Who do you work for? [Faction info]
>Why did you fly here with a cargo of mortars? [Goal info]
>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]

Who he is, isn't really relevant and we don't seem to need escalation just yet.

>>4488696
>Who are you? What's your name? [Personal info]

Start small and move up. He seems Christian enough.

>>4488701
Just to clarify, this is for how you want to open up the conversation. You'll obviously have the ability to continue and pick dialogue options later.

You can select multiple and I'll try to do them in the order they're selected from top to bottom. Of course, there will be less "agency" with this, that is you won't be able to select how you react since it'll all be in one mass update.

I just thought I'd clarify that while I'm still here.

>>4488701
I disagree with the relevancy of personal info, but do agree that escalation isn't needed yet. I'm willing to concede for speed sake.

If the whiskey hasn't gotten the QM completely black drunk yet. On a side note, it was really well written.

>>4488696
>Who do you work for? [Faction info]

>>4488707
Supporting, though I do expect us to ask personal questions about him later in th conversation.

>>4488701
>>4488707
>>4488709

OPTION SELECTED:
>Who do you work for? [Faction info]

"Oh," he says, smirking weakly. "Going right for the big questions, no foreplay, eh?"

"I'll ask you again, who are you working with?"

"I'll answer you," he says, pausing to clear his throat. "But first, tell me this. Who do you think I'm working for?"

You scratch your chin and think about this. "Well, you came from a plane heading north from the southern border. It was a turboprop, something like what The Cartel would use to transport drugs from across the border."

"Mmm, so you think I'm Cartel?"

"You did speak Spanish to me. That was probably before you heard any of us speaking English. Must've thought you were on the southern side or something."

"Es cierto, sé hablar español. Sin embargo, ¿todos los que hablan español son miembros del cártel?" he says, casting doubt on his possible Cartel affiliation while flexing his Spanish.

"That's true. I know the Cartel mostly works with drugs and small arms transport. This was significantly more than small arms. Either they raided a military base and decided to start selling, or you're not working for them."

He nods his head.

"Besides, you don't speak like a Cartel member. It just doesn't sound right to me."

"Ah, good insight. Not many would pick up on that. You-" he starts to cough some more. You hand him the water and he continues after a sip. "You must be experienced with the Cartel, then?"

This guy's clearly smart. You choose to ignore the stuff directed at you and power through.

"You must obviously come from south of Mexico. Definitely not Iberian or Cono Sur by the accent and word choice. But those places are too far anyway. I know you're from some place that would have its hands on spare late Soviet era weapons and is willing to sell." You pause, thinking for a moment. "I'm guessing Nicaraguan, working with the Sandinista government."

He smiles. "Very good guess. But not quite. Venezuela's the answer you're looking for."

That does make sense. Venezuela is a notoriously cash strapped Latin American country that aligned itself with the Russians. They would definitely have bought some of their outdated weaponry.

"Why would Venezuela sell their weapons, though?" he asks, clearly toying with you.

You shake your heard and smirk. "Is that a trick question? They're poor as hell. Their economic mismanagement and trade gap means they're desperate for any hard currency. Why wouldn't they engage in arms deals?"

"The collapse of Pax Americana and the need to deal with internal dissidents is good enough a reason to hold off on selling weaponry, no?"

He got you there. No point in selling off weapons for money you'd use to buy weapons anyway. "So you're NOT working for the Venezuelan government?"

"Did you notice how I crossed myself?"

"What does that have to do with anything..."

[1/2]

File: Is THIS the Mystery Man ((...).png (1020 KB, 2880x1590)

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>>4488731

[2/2]

"I don't know, I just thought a religious man such as yourself would notice that. Your people seem very religious to me." You nod, confused. He crosses himself again, and you notice a strange detail. Instead of crossing left to right, he crosses right to left. This is a detail you would normally never notice as an atheist, but having infiltrated a radical Catholic cult and having this specifically pointed out, you figure it out. It all falls into place.

"Those eyes. You've figured it out."

"You're Russian intelligence," you say with confidence. "Venezuela is a deep Russian ally. You guys are loading off excess military equipment into the country and fueling the war using existing networks in Latin America. If you're out here, then there must be some kind of organized operation going on with a lot of others like you."

He chuckles. "Took you long enough. May I make some conjecture too?"

You don't like where this is going.

"You're clearly knowledgeable about the Cartel. About the geopolitical situation, and about economics. Most people don't realize the hard currency problem of Venezuela's economy. It's obvious when you realize international trade must be conducted with dollars and that the country has a major problem selling oil profitably and importing nearly everything else. Not like they have significant foreign exchange reserves, right? But it takes somebody with significant training in economics and a focus in Latin America to know about this."

Does he know of yo-

"So a trained economist with deep knowledge of the Cartel not openly working for the American government? That can only mean one thing..."

You reach for your backside, where your firearm is holstered.

"You're working for a criminal syndicate. Rival drug pushers, most likely. And you're the one who cooks their books. Am I wrong?"

You guide your hand towards your normal pocket instead. "I don't need to tell you anything. But, in the interest of being frank. You're basically dead on."

"This is an interesting talk," he says. "I like it, let's keep it going. What else do you have to ask of me?"

This man is dangerously intelligent. He deduced your identity from a few inferred details and educated guesses. Questioning him makes you feel like you're the one being interrogated. Still, what he says is very interesting and points to powerful forces. That is, if he's telling the truth.

There's only one way to know more about him, or catch him in a lie, and that's by asking more questions. Where do you take the conversation now?

>Who are you? What's your name? [Personal info]
>What do the Russians want from this all? [More Faction info]
>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]
>Why did "The Russians" send you here with a cargo of mortars? [Goal info]
>Why shouldn't I kill you right now? [Escalate]
>Why should I believe a single thing you're saying? [Address Suspicions]
>I think we're done here [End] [Decide what to tell the Messenger]
>[Write-in]

>>4488704
Not riding the porcelain express today! Maybe tomorrow, but probably not going to go that far... To prove it I shit out an update real quick since there was a lot of early voting this time...

>>4488732
Don't know a bout this one. If he is telling the truth, the motives are obvious, fragmenting US. Seems we should get more details and try to catch him in a lie, to see if he is telling the truth.

>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]

>>4488734
Support, we can address our suspicions at the end.

>>4488734
Though I will say, as I'm just going with the flow, that [Goal info] is probably more useful at this stage then [Incident info]. Just going with the flow. Just flowing flowing flowing...

>>4488732
>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]
>Why should I believe a single thing you're saying? [Address Suspicions]
Can you prove or back up anything your saying?

So, the way I see it, this guy is;
-telling the truth and Russian
-an arms-dealer trying to bulshit us
-agent of another country trying to bulshit us

He seems way too calm to be just a random untrained guy, so probably not 2.
But he gave up his background way too easily for that to be the truth. I am pretty sure a Russian spy engaged in pretty serious international crimes would say anything other than that he is a Russian spy. They would operate under guise of independent dealers or another country for that work.
I am leaning towards 3. If that is the case we are unlikely to get the truth out of him, he would be trained for that sort of thing.
Ethnicity and accent doesn't mean anything, they recruit foreigners for that reason and accent is trainable.
Russian weapons also doesn't mean much, standard practice is to provide arms that can't be connected to you and Russia has been selling gear to many countries.

>>4488856
What point is there in lying? The US is in shambles and he thinks we're Cartel, or close enough to them to not matter. Either way, we'll close this interrogation with the [Adress Suspicions] route. But not before we get more information out of him.

>>4488888
US is not the world.
These actions would still be in violation of many treaties. Other countries would have a field day with these allegations. Besides, being a drug gang (he knows we are not cartel) would make us less reliable not more.

>>4488927
The world is on fire. Europe and Russia are probably at the brink of war. Africa was in shambles before the US fell apart. Israel probably nuked Iran at this point. Asia's probably a dumpster fire that may turn nuclear. Half of South America was already run by dictators and drug warlords when the US maintained it's dominance. And you think Russia would give a shit that it violated a couple treaties? IRL, they still don't give a shit, and the world lets them play their games.

The US isn't the world, but the world without the US is darker and stranger than it has any right to be.

>>4489022
Besides this being an extremely US centric view I very much disagree with, we have had no real confirmation of this. We only heard about the virus, a possible India-China war and 'something bad' happening in Canada. Hardly the stuff of apocalypse.

Russians still makes at least a show of observing the international laws. Actual proof of this kind of wrongdoing (a captured agent, witnesses and weapons) would still be bad for them. Especially when there is no reason for them to get into this trouble and it is trivial to stay out of it.

>>4489046
You have heard of Crimea, right? Goregia? And without US being a superpower, or it's military umbrella across half the world, how do you think the world would actually upkeep the UN international law? What about the Chinese invasion of the South China Sea? How many more nuclear armed nations would there be, and how many would be willing to use them?

Frankly, I can't see how such an international system would be upheld, especially considering how outnumbered these democratic, law-abiding nations are against the dictators and despots of the world.

>>4489111
I disagree with you on all mentioned matters (especially US role in these), but I have not come to a quest thread to discuss world politics.

>>4489118
Alright. I can respect your wishes, but I do question your knowledge of world events and politics. I know for a fact that China doesn't care about any treaty, international ruling, or even opinion at the end of the day, if it doesn't benefit China in a way. But that's China, and not anything we were discussing. I do wish you to reflect on what a world this would be if the US remained isolationist to this day instead of intervening in WW2, as it can be argued that this was one of the many critical points in our history, atleast as we understand it. You don't have to imagine it if you don't want to, and if you want the discussion to end here, it ends. Just be wary of you words next time, as many will disagree and tell you quite loudly why.

>>4488856
Honestly I very much doubt people care anymore. If the chinese have occupied California and they're not being given shit for doing that, I very much doubt they would if say they knew about a few Russian spies dealing weapons.

>>4488732
>Who are you? What's your name? [Personal info]
>What do the Russians want from this all? [More Faction info]

>>4488732

Changing my support from this >>4488740 to >>4489448.

>Who are you? What's your name? [Personal info]
>What do the Russians want from this all? [More Faction info]

>>4489448
+1

>>4488732
>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]
>where were you headed?

>>4489751
Supporting just so in isn't considered a tie.

>>4489448
>>4489751
>>4489810
>>4489941

OPTION SELECTED:
>Who are you? What's your name? [Personal info]

"Well, since you've asked about my background, it's only fair that I ask about yours. My name's Bob Musella. What is yours?"

"My name is Nikolai. Last name, Ondrejko. Are handshakes allowed, or are we still under mandatory distancing protocols from the Wuhan Viral Pneumonia?"

"You're awfully calm you know, just joking around like that," you say. "Did Russian Intelligence teach you that?"

"Oh, of course," he says with a big grin. "Why shouldn't I be calm! Those Cartel savages would have started cutting me up for information, and back at home, ha!" He breaks out into a small laugh. "You know what a real intelligence agency does? Ever heard of getting electric clamps put on your balls and hooked up to a car battery? Here, I get a nice comfortable pillow and a glass of water. Very nice."

You actually know what he's talking about. In Syria the government would actually do that. The U.S. would send terrorists over there so the Syrians could do the torture and send the info back. You remember a guy from the State Department you briefly worked with a while back, when news of these methods was coming to light, and he just wouldn't shut up about the stuff. "Nikolai," if that's his name, technically is not lying, in that intelligence agencies do this sort of thing. But he is potentially being duplicitous by framing it in such a way as to make it sound like HE and people were trained in doing or receiving these sorts of torture tactics.

"Electric clamps to the balls, eh? Crazy stuff. Why did you choose your line of work?"

"It's the usual story. I joined the army, I got a few promotions, more responsibilities, more training. They sent me to Venezuela where I learnt español and did some work. Also learnt English," he says. You pick up on the slight British accent, and the contradiction.

"You mean you joined the Air Force?"

"Good catch. My English isn't perfect. Small mistake..."

[1/4]

>>4490026

[2/4]

"It's a small mistake alright, just like crashing a plane into the middle of the desert? What the goal here?"

OPTION SELECTED:
>What do the Russians want from this all? [More Faction info]

"The goal? For me, the goal is to survive. Considering I wasn't blown up into a red mist by the cargo, I think I'm doing a good job."

"Not for you," you say. "For 'the Russians'. What's the point in flying a cargo plane filled with military equipment into a civil war zone? Who are you guys propping up, and to what end?"

He raises an eyebrow briefly. "Propping up is a dirty term. Helping. Would you believe it if I said we are looking to help independent Americans secure their freedom in these trying times?"

"I'd believe that's probably the propaganda." Even so, the word choice is notable. He emphasized freedom as opposed to, say, equality or fairness. This automatically makes you think he's not on the side of the left. It could just be more confusing mind games, though. You press further. "And who might these be?"

"Hmm, it could be anyone, right?"

"Answer the question," you tell him in an assertive voice.

"I did," he responds. "The plane was heading for Las Vegas. From there, an auction would commence among those my associates would approve of."

Las Vegas? You're pretty sure you've heard "New Vegas." But that's not the big issue here.

"Your associates?"

"Of course! I'm not working alone, I have a friend in Vegas, name is Ivan."

"So let me get this straight? You planned to fly a plane full of military hardware into Vegas and just auction it off? While working for the Russian Intelligence apparatus and having a fellow agent there?"

"Sure, why not? Continue," he says gesturing for you to go on...

>>4490030

[3/4]

"Why not? Your story's full of shit, that's why not! I'm supposed to believe you're just going to go to a major American city with a plane full of explosives and start a fucking auction?! First of all, Vegas is probably a burning shit-hole just like Phoenix is and Los Angeles was before the Chinese moved in. For all you know, the Revolutionaries could take power any time and seize everything and kill you for your troubles. And you're doing this as part of a foreign fucking government? You'd be crucified if found out, and your operational security is so lacking you're telling some random guy you don't even know! What a load of shit! The international community-"

He breaks out into a deep laugh, before loudly crying in pain and clutching his rib. The medic opens the door and tries to move in, but you signal for him to stop and get out. He does so. You're not letting this kid in on the conversation.

The man known as "Mr. Ondrejko" calms himself down before speaking. "Oh, that's rich. 'International community' is dead, if it was ever even alive. What do you know of the Kaliningrad Conflict? It's a major global event."

"Kaliningrad? That's Russia's territory around Poland they have cut off from the rest of the country, right?"

"Yes. You're surprisingly knowledgeable about geography. For an American. So, Americans and their dogs in the E.U. thought Russia tried to kill the president, don't know why, but the idiots put a big military force on the Kaliningrad border. Little time passes, and one of their quickly made ammo depots happens to blow up, no clue why. They start crying. One thing leads to another, and stupid Poles are trying to invade us!" he's noticeably holding back laughter.

"Sounds like a Russian provocation with a thin cover to me. If that even happened..."

>>4490031

[4/4]

"Who knows? Point is, countries do whatever they want now, nobody's holding them back. Does our country want the West in a state of chaos? Of course we do! America didn't care when it back-stabbed the Soviet Union. You know the U.S.S.R. breakup wasn't all peaceful, right, and that America had its hands all over it? China taking over California should teach that well. Russia wants to support good American patriots and do the right thing, what's wrong with that?"

The smirking bastard does have a point. When the Chinese government de facto took over California there was little done about it other than some seething from the usual countries. But even so, the Chinese did it under the cover of "peacekeepers" and rule through mega-corp proxies. And China has a lot of people in high places, whereas Russia's run foul of other countries since forever ago. To think that the Russians are willing to risk something like this is strange, to say the least. But Russia's always been strange, so who knows. You have a feeling what he's saying is a mix of truth, selected truths, omitted truths, and outright bullshit. Still, it's hard to fault him. You're in a similar position yourself as a stranded federal agent stuck with your enemies, your survival entirely reliant on them. You may not have broken bones healing, but you're in no less precarious of a situation.

Where do you choose to take this interrogation?

>Threaten to get this information out to public.
>Explore the possibility of working with him.
>Threaten or torture him to try and get the truth.
>Continue the "chat", directing it in a certain direction [what?]
>Cut it off here and go to The Messenger [tell him what?]
>Reveal who you truly are. You are tired of living a lie!! (please for the love of God do not do this)
>[Write-in]

I'm liking the discussion. Interesting points brought up by all sides, as always.

And a little clarification about mechanics: When a global event roll outcome is unknown, there's still something happening behind the scenes, even if it's the status quo (as shown by the American Southwest global roll). I do try to make up for it by trickling in some background information you would know about the place in question, like saying how there seemed to be a major Sino-Indian conflict brewing. I don't want to do a "words words words" wall of backstory text, and this is a fun way to drip feed information.

>>4490033
>Explore the possibility of working with him.
>Threaten or torture him to try and get the truth.
>[Write-in]
Offer to get him proper medical treatment and fully heal him up and fix his broken body if he talks and spills the beans.
Use carrot and stick method.

>>4490057
It a good idea, so I support.

>>4490033
If you lads want, I could go into more detail on it. I don't mind either way desu.

Ivan? Really, Nikolai?

>>4490057
+1

Hey guys, I have the update about halfway done, but I can't quite finish it up due to time constraints. There should be an update out earlier tomorrow, and if there's early voting, likely a second one out. Sorry about the delay, but things pile up.

Do feel free to vote, by the way. In general, voting windows are open pretty much until the next update hits. In the unlikely but not unprecedented event that a bunch of last second votes come in and change the outcome, I'm more than fine with rewriting the update in progress.

>>4490057
In this line of work, I think it's more often called "Plata o Plomo." It's a common strategy, but not a bad one... especially if the behind-the-scenes rolling I've done is any indication

>>4491072
Isn't that from a famous cartel guy who would try to get officials to co-operate, "take a bribe or get shot" basically?

I figure since we won't be killing him directly or can't it wouldn't entirely fit..... But I guess it could work. Plata o Plomo/silver or lead.

>>4492570
Crippling is just another form of death, and torture.

>>4490057
>>4490141
>>4490687

OPTION SELECTED:
>Explore the possibility of working with him.

"Let's get down to brass tacks. Nikolai," you say using finger quotes. "You say you're working for powerful people. People who want to support certain groups in the U.S. to divide the country. You came here with a cargo of heavy weaponry, so I can believe that much. I see potential here. The people I work for, we're an independent group that's not working with a government or revolutionaries."

His eyes narrow. "Go on."

"We've gotten a lot of influence ourselves. We've secured a sizable territory and have crushed anyone trying to attack us," you say to him, stretching the truth a little. Sizable is relative, and Mobile did suffer one attack where the attackers were slaughtered. "We have a large, secure power base, and the only reason we haven't made big waves is because we're simply waiting for our enemies to grind themselves into dust. We sell drugs to both sides, growing stronger as they expend resources. The Cartel doesn't have the kind of power it used to with this chaos, and we are in ascendancy." You're basically spinning some of the larger goals of your factions has as actual realities. He likely will catch on to the fact that you're bs'ing him to an extent, but it's expected in these kinds of talks.

"Are you setting me up to offer work to you?" he says. "Usually it's the other way around."

"I'd like to do business. You're in the business of arms shipping, and we're in the business of conquest and power. It's your best bet, especially in the position you're in now. Don't forget that you're stuck with us, it's in your personal benefit to not piss us off."

"And what would you be able to do th-, AHH, AAAHHHH!!" He starts screaming as you firmly press your hand on his broken rib, causing immediate and severe pain.

>Threaten or torture him to try and get the truth.

"We can cause a lot more pain than some faraway faction can," you say, easing off of him, your point having been made. "We can also help you out. Your body is battered and broken, literally. We saved you from the plane crash, and we can get you back to good condition. Currently, we have no incentive to do more than the bare minimum. Your current 'doctor,' if you can even call him that, is considering the amputation of your legs due to improper healing. We could, of course, invest the resources to get you more premium medical treatment. If you're willing to cooperate."

"Okay, okay, no need for the 'plata o plomo' speech," he says, adjusting himself. "I take it you want to keep the hardware. I will arrange that."

"How will you do that?"

He looks in frustration. "Look, I'll figure it out, I just woke up. We can work on something, and if you want, when I get in contact with them I'll have you in the room." He opens his mouth to keep talking, but holds his tongue.

"You were about to say something?"

"I'm thinking. Actually, tell me more about your faction. A quick run down..."

[1/???]

>>4492642

[2/???]

You look at him suspiciously, but give him the elevator pitch. "We're the Sun Belt Crusaders. The Messenger is the true successor to the Papal Throne after the so called Ecumenist Council of Lagos. We seek to overcome the false, demonic divisions between left and right by uniting everyone under God. No matter what it takes."

"What are your thoughts on California? Tianyi, as they call it, as well as the Oregon Providence?"

"Firmly against them. We seek the retaking of the land occupied by the godless Chinese puppets." You consider mentioning your faction has a special hatred for them considering your origins in California, but decline to do so.

"Hmm," he says scratching his stubble. "And what is the situation on the border?"

"Californian troops have set up checkpoints and local forces have patrols in the region. The Californian forces are few, but concentrated on the Colorado River and a small buffer zone in parts. Why?"

"I think I can work with that. Yes, my people are interested in weakening California's position. They were more focused on the mountainous parts north of here, but I think I can convince them of the need for a presence here. You have control over an airport, right?"

You nod.

"So we can deliver supplies here. I think it's possible..."

"What exactly are you proposing?" You were the one who proposed the possibility of working with him, but this guy gives you some dangerous vibes...

>>4492645

[3/???]

"So, here is what I say. First, get me a real fucking doctor. Not this kid. He can't even grow a real beard. Second, I want a level of acceptance from you and your people. No, my real name is not 'Nikolai Ondrejko' and my New Vegas contact is not named 'Ivan' either. Do I even work for the Russians? I don't know. But you seem smart enough to know that an agent might not want to give the full truth to his captors. Point is, I don't want too many questions. If those above me decide I can talk, then I can talk. Otherwise, I won't say anything."

You look at him with suspicion. "What's in it for us though?"

"First of all. You can keep those weapons. Use them however you like. From the information I have, most military assets have been moved elsewhere, so they should be quite effective. Second, I will arrange for arms and ammunition to be flown in. I can't promise specifics, but I think the cargo you've taken should be an indication of future rewards. More, perhaps, if my employers really like you. Which they hopefully will, for both of our sakes."

"And what's in it for you?"

"What's in it for me,? he repeats incredulously. "For starters I won't end up in a wheelchair. I can tell something is really wrong with my legs, now that you mentioned it. You offered medical services, and I'm taking you up on that. Second, I don't want my employers finding this stuff out on their own and taking it the wrong way. I want to be able to frame the situation myself and prevent a 'messy' situation from emerging. Ivan's probably already looking for me. Tell me, what was done with the plane?"

"We used the mortars to blow it up. All that's left should be scrap metal and shifting sands."

"Good move. Hopefully you didn't use too much ammunition. Anyway, the big thing in it for me is personal advancement." You give a confused look, wondering how he can advance from this. "If your faction does what is asked of it and becomes a useful ally to my people, then I will get the credit and prestige. That means promotions, and in these sorts of times, a man can rise up quickly. It's a risk for me as much as it is for you, but risks are all I have..."

>>4492647

[4/4]

This is a very dangerous proposition he's bringing up. He's basically asking you to shut up and take orders from "The Russians," who could be anything from Latin Americans, Middle Eastern dictatorships, rogue U.S. agencies, or even the actual Russians. He's blatantly self interested and explicitly looking to make out well from this all. Then again, it is tempting. Your faction is currently tiny, even if you talk yourself up. The acquisition of military grade hardware, however, would immediately propel your forces once you get your hands on them. And your men were looking at taking on the Californians anyway at some point. By the time Mr. Ondrejko heals up and gets in contact with them, you could already have control over multiple settlements and enough manpower to launch successful attacks at the Californian frontier. It's a big risk, but the rewards could be staggering.

Taking into account everything, you decide to respond to the offer:

>With all due respect, go fuck yourself. We don't need some mysterious boss telling us what to do
>We accept your deal. I'll arrange for a medical professional and contact the Messenger [pay 15 W.P. for medical services]
>That's a good starting point, but I would like to alter some terms [specify what to change] [will result in another secret roll]
>I suspect you're working for the U.S. Federal Government. Look, I'm on your side, I'm a fellow agent infiltrating this cult... [this option is a trap, do not select it] [seriously, why on God's Green Flat Earth would you ever do this]
>[Write-in]

You can't stop me from posting forever, ISP! Seriously though, sorry about this going up later than anticipated.

Post again deleted and redone because formatting. Turns out it's easy to mess up spoilering text on 4chan. If it doesn't work this time, fuck it, I'm leaving it up as is

>>4492570
Yeah, I was just making a Cartel joke since that's analogous to the carrot and stick

>>4492659
>We accept your deal. I'll arrange for a medical professional and contact the Messenger [pay 15 W.P. for medical services]
>Assuming the deal is only maintained as long as it benefits both parties and if one side decides it's not worth it then the deal is broken off with no hard feelings
Idk if this counts as 'altering terms' or not but I think it's important to have an exit clause to our deal

>>4492659
>That's a good starting point, but I would like to alter some terms [specify what to change] [will result in another secret roll]

Financial assistance and other material benefits (to be disclosed [determained] when necessary). Military-level training for the equipment and potentially the officer and regular corps, though I'm not and may never be willing to admit this as our weakness or intention.
Help with intel and other covert bullshit we think up.

We have an Economics Degree, so that should help us a little.

I figure why not go balls to the wall on this. But if you lads don't want to rock the boat, I can get onboard with >>4492669 as well.

>>4492659
>>4492738

>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]

I'm adding this out of personal curiosity.

>>4492659
>>With all due respect, go fuck yourself. We don't need some mysterious boss telling us what to do
We're fucking tiny. Even if we got waht we needed, we lack men. That's the best case scenario.
The worst case is they come back and kill all of us for taking their mortars.

>>4492757
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Frankly, some risk-taking would benefit us. Plus, it not like meth-fueled Christian zealots would play it safe...

>>4492659
>We accept your deal. I'll arrange for a medical professional and contact the Messenger [pay 15 W.P. for medical services]
OR what >>4492738 and >>4492669 said.

Something to consider is this gives us a link to the outside world and therefore knowledge of what the event rolls are actually doing.

>>4492786
Keep in mind, this would be until after he's healed enough to make contact. Plus, it'll be whatever they deem to give us, and it'll be a guessing game as to what is true and false, as the Russian so helpfully pointed out.

>>4492761
this one is evident. the minute this guy is out of our sight they're coming back to kill us.
we have to kill this guy.

>>4492659
>>[Write-in]
We would have the weapons on the plane either way, even if you died so I consider the plane stuff freebies, the other is we should be talk this over with our boss or something, and third we should ask or trade for intelligence and information or get them to give us information in turn.

>>4493391
Agreed in full, but keep in mind we're not the only ones he has to please. Nik has to deal with his bosses as well, and saying he fucked up and let a bunch of meth-head crusaders take his cargo wouldn't be the best move for either of us.

Keep in mind, we now have leverage, in the form of... personal interest, over him in future dealings. Can't keep looking good if we aren't happy, Nikolai...

>>4493559
Can just say most of the cargo was lost when the plane blew,
We can claim we salvaged and cannibalized the surviving mortar tubes to make get a few functional or some other bs, or just hide it and tell him to bring another shipment of mortars so we have an excuse to have them.

>>4492669
>>4492738
>>4492756
>>4492786
>>4493391
(going to try and combine as much of this all as I can)

OPTION SELECTED:
>We accept your deal. I'll arrange for a medical professional and contact the Messenger [pay 15 W.P. for medical services]
It's a devil's bargain. But damned if you're going to pass it up. If you can attract enough followers and assimilate smaller regions like you're doing with Mobile, then being able to equip them with hardware only the military remnants could compete with would turbo charge any expansion plans. Perhaps they could also send officers, or provide channels and contacts to sell good with.

Of course, you're not going to agree right away though. You still want to milk just a little bit more information from him.

>What happened with the plane? [Incident info]

"To point something out. Those mortars are ours. I don't think you have the right to use those as bargaining chips. If you're stuck on that, consider those mortars as payment for us dragging you out of the burning wreck," you say. He rolls his eyes, just a little. "And about your ability to send supplies over... I'm not fully sold. Your plane did crash, after all. What happened with that?"

"Oh, that. It's nothing. Planes have mechanical problems all the time, right? And we were loaning that one from some of the Mexicans along the way. Can't just take a one way from the Orinoco Delta to the Mojave, of course. It's a freak, one off event. Don't worry!"

This all sounds very wishy-washy, but before you can go deeper, he keeps going, eager to change the subject. You have a feeling he isn't going to say much about this topic, especially this late in the interrogation. "Is there a secure route to New Vegas?"

"Perhaps," you respond. "Why?"

"That's where I would have to go to contact my people. I don't trust wireless communications for this, it's too risky."

"We'll handle that when the time comes."

"Oh. When, not if? Is that a yes?"

"On one condition. That this be strictly transactional. You'll have the ability to cut off ties with us at any time you want, and we will have the same right. No 'friendships' and no 'hard breakups' for either of us."

"Of course. This is business, right? And since you have that mindset, you surely don't care where the equipment is coming from, or from whom. I'm expecting fewer questions about my people, 'The Russians' from now on. Understood?"

"Understood. I'll arrange for the trained doctor to arrive and take over. Rest up until then."

You leave the room and tell "the kid" that an expert will be brought in from Maricopa. Until then, he is to told to continue in restricting access to the man and keeping non-medical information from him. He swears to God that he will follow the orders, which means a lot for others in this community...

[1/2]

>>4494095

[2/2]

Soon after, you talk to the Messenger and relay the details of the negotiation. He's understandably shocked when the details are revealed. But he's also intrigued by the possibilities. He trusts your judgement, citing you as one of his moth faithful and rational advisors. If you believe something to be in the interest of the Crusaders, then he will believe you. If only he knew. He arranges for a trained orthopedic doctor to arrive from Maricopa for the equivalent of 15 W.P., 5 up front and 10 on completion to be held in a sort of escrow. And, of course, knowledge of Ondrejko will be kept limited with a cover story to be determined by the Messenger.

>15 W.P. deducted
>Time until we return to this depends on recovery time (weeks)

As you retire for the night, you wonder why you're always stuck with the high stakes shit. Your fellow cardinal just had to deal with selling meth to some wannabes S.S. while you're stuck with what feels like the plot of some action movie. Or maybe a dark comedy.

>END OF POV SWITCH

>RETURNING TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES

>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 Maricopa, Gila Bend, the Indian Mountains (?!?!), or [write-in].

You decide to send a group of missionaries out to Maricopa. It's a decently large settlement and you've already secured rights to preach. The more you can increase your presence in this town, the more you can grow your followers. This means more resources, more manpower, and more souls receiving God's salvation. As another benefit, having a presence in Maricopa means more influence over what goes on in the town. You already are building up good relations with the elite via the mayor and the M.M.P., so influence over the masses could balance things out nicely.

The mission is readied with religious texts, symbols of the faith, and most importantly of all, a cardinal. Each of them have a specific skill, from diplomacy, to sales, to (meth enhanced) zeal. The one sent out on this mission, however, is a learned man, focused on matters of faith and the chief advocate of the One True Faith other than yourself.

>Select a name, personality, and background for the cardinal to be in charge of missionary work. Suggested is a dogged advocacy for the faith, being hopefully not shit at theology, and ideally not 100% insane. But really go for whatever you think would be fun/interesting to play.
>If you don't select a custom cardinal I'll have to figure something out. My knowledge of Catholic religious figures is limited. There's Anderson mentioned earlier in the thread, and I think Bishop Sheen mentioned in the WW3 song was a Catholic? Oh, and there's Kino!

Alright, that should be it for the plane derailing everything for a while. That was a pretty unlikely event to occur and one that was basically guaranteed to hijack the plot.

>>4494097
I'm thinking of a Nickolas cage based type of character combination of roles hes played over the years...

>>4494097
Might as well thow my hat into the ring as well. I intended this one to be the militant cardinal, but the idea I had in mind can do preaching very well...

>Richard Mueller

>Religious, Patriotic, Fanatical, Tough, Thoughtful, Faithful, Potential PTSD

>A soul lost in the tides of the world. A man from a broken household, he joined the U.S. military to give his life structure. After serving faithfully for years, becoming a decorated vet and experienced elite (what branch is up for interpretation), he was lost again to the currents of the times, his life yet again spinning out of his control, until he met and made peace with the Lord. Becoming a Reverend, he faithful tended to his flock, until the currents of his life voilently changed again with the 2nd Civil War. But, unexpectedly, he found an old friend, recently (and seemingly zealously) having turned to the Lord, and saved his soul from death, and was thus saved in turn. Again, his life in turmoil as his nation burns, Richard can't help but think it's a sign from the Lord to help his old friend, the Messenger, reunify the US under one banner, no matter the cost, no matter how unorthodox his ways... Unbidden, an old memory resurfaces. It was a foolish error of his youth, back in basic training, when his life was still spinning out-of-control, that he and his friends partook in drugs. A mistake made on his part, and a close friend dishonorably discharged, his guilt has never ceased since, nor his distrust of the narcotics... Richard hates his old nickname his friends gave him... 'Morpheus'.

This was my idea for a cardinal, though I do have some more ideas running though my mind, one or two that I wish to show you... but for another time. As for his military experience, I'll leave it up to you (though I can't get Rambo: First Blood out of my head, damn it was a great movie).

>>4494106

When you say Nicolas Cage, I can't help but think of his role as a fake priest in the beginning of 'Face/Off' (though his roles in 'Running with the Devil' and 'Lord of War' come to mind here as well).

You know, I'm not opposed to a Nicolas Cage style character like that either...

>>4494756
Damnit, spoilers! Foiled yet again...

>>4494097

Damnit, the thought can't get out of my head. I blame you for this, >>4494106 anon...

>Aaron Paul

>Charismatic, Spontaneous, Pretender, Addictive, Malleable, Potential Mental Illness

>A celebrity actor with a wide body of work, his rise to fame was predicated on his performance on a highly celebrated show about the creation underworld drug empire, with him as a drug-addicted sidekick and eventual kingpin. Unfortunately, or ironically, his success led to his raging meth-addiction and subsequent association with the Messenger and his... church... yea, lets run with that. When Hollywood was taken over by literal commies (Like it wasn't before, am I right?), Paul got lucky, and managed to flee with the Messenger to Moblie, where he formally became a cardinal to a cul- I mean, the totally legit religion, based upon of the freedom of pharmaceuticals (as every totally legit religion is, this is known yes). Unfortunately, Paul has a problem. Do to trauma from being a child actor in Hollywood, Paul has dissociative episodes when he's stressed out or has anxiety. This fueled his success as an actor, but led to him being a mess of a man trying to hold it together. And that was before the Chinese invaded...

I had this idea awhile back as the addict/morale cardinal, and a bit of a meme. The disassociation allows for a chaotic element throw into the mix, as in social situations he may thrive due to his acting ability and celebrity status, but during the Mobile raid he became so stressed that he believed he was Colonel Custard at the Battle of Little Bighorn, which continued on for 3 days straight with no rest, though the men didn't know and were inspired by his performance. You can think of him as a mixture of Jesse Pinkman and Nicolas Cage, with a dash of originality.

Reposting OG cardinal list for consistency
1: meth addict cardinal / morale cardinal
2: meth dealer cardinal / money-motivated cardinal
3: planning-oriented war cardinal
4: planning-oriented peace cardinal (Bob Musella)
5: "doesn't make plans until he has all the info" cardinal

>>4494840
So this guy then for cardinal 1
"Meth! We need meth!" One of the cardinals says, slamming his shaking fist on the table. "We didn't hole ourselves in a chemical plant for nothing. If we can get this place up and running, we'll be swimming in meth. You said we just need to fix some of the machinery with the right supplies, about 100 wealth units worth, and then we'll be able to use leftover chemicals to mass produce the stuff. Our troops could use the boost to their fighting spirit!"

>>4494756
And this guy for cardinal 3?
"All this pie in the sky talk of mass drug production's useless until we secure the town," a third Cardinal mentions. "We need to focus on crossing the 238, securing the entire town, and especially that airport. Even if only 1 plane's still there, we got to get our hands on it as fast as possible. Focus on building up our forces, make some armor out of scraps, and take the town by the end of the week. It'll be a bloodbath, but we'll be stronger after it. And the dead will find their way to Heaven."

>>4495156
Can confirm that as being the OG cardinal list. The guy you send just has to be a very religious type, and so can fit for any of the above (expect Musella/Mazur who is of course taken). I was thinking he'd be number 5, as a "fuck this shit it can wait, I just wanna preach the Meth Gospel for Christ's sake!!" sort of guy. Then again, anyone else is reasonable.

Personally, the Cardinal Nic Cage idea >>4494106 brought up has put my sides into low earth orbit and no matter what happens, I'll try my damnedest to find a way to fit him into this. I've never seen Face/Off, but I've heard it's so bad it's good, and would watch it like I did with The Infiltrator. And on the point of N.C.'s earlier movies including Lord of War, I considered using shots of that movie for the arms supplier interrogation scene earlier, but I just barely decided against it.

I also want to say, as a bit of an aside not necessarily related to this, that the number of cardinals isn't fixed. That is to say that if you ever want to award the position of cardinal to somebody else, it's always a possibility. Probably not now, since we're still small fry, but you never know...

>>4494840
One of the leaders at the Defense of Mobile going full Gen. Custer in a meth fueled frenzy, but everyone just interpreting it as a bout of impassioned inspiration is not only hilarious, but fitting. Hollywood CA is actually filled with crazy/delusional dudes that I expect somebody like "Cardinal Aaron Paul" to be not only possible, but fairly likely as I've seen it. Pic related?!?! Being a little crazy, being very charismatic, and able to convince yourself to be somebody you're not is often the recipe to a successful career in show business.

I'm going to leave this vote open for just a little longer in case there's some discussion or some last second ideas (less than a full day in all likelihood). If there's no consensus, I'll just mash shit up from and try to make something interesting from the ingredients given. Is this me just interested in other possibilities or just the product of my endless Friday alcohol benders? The world might never know!!