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>>4639060
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Sun%20Belt%20Crusaders

>>4639061
>UN
>Marxist
>Leninist
>CANADIAN

Fuck all these factions. We should light'em up.

>>4639061
I was thinking about linking up with the Republic of Texas.

>>4639995
>>4639944
I say we fuck up the Downtown Phoenix socies and pull some bullshit to justify adding in Maricopa to our Churchlands.

>>4639060
Thanks for posting the OP. For anyone wondering, I am the QM of this quest, which was made by some guy who abandoned it in a week. Even though there was some questionable stuff >>4639944 caught onto (no true American would dare dignify the status of Canada as anything significant!) there was a photoshop of Walter White leading the Imperial Fists, which was enough to make me revive it. Alcohol may have also played a role in the decision.

Anyway, with that out of the way, let's continue the quest [update coming]

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>>4640296

OPTIONS SELECTED:
>Yourself
>Cardinal Trkulja
>Both Equally

You decide to personally lead the group to Maricopa. While you have been to Maricopa before, it was during the less than ideal circumstances of the raid. This time, you intend on meeting with the head of the independent town, Mayor Preis, and conducting proper diplomacy. Even though he is nominally your boss in the sense that your faction has accepted a generally subordinate and cooperative role, you have never properly met him. From what your trusted diplomat Cardinal Musella has told you, it should be fairly standard.

The troops, two platoons of Crusaders and a platoon of Mobile Infantry, drive east along the 238 to Maricopa. Their uniforms are older (but no less effective) suits of SWAT armor in the case of the Crusaders and lighter pieces of armor for the Mobile Infantry. The Crusaders wield semi automatic .308 caliber rifles suited to long range engagements against enemies behind light cover that characterize battles in the desert, as well as basic sidearms to be used if bayonet rushes are unfeasible. The Mobile Infantry, meanwhile, has a wider array of weapons and miscellaneous gear befitting of their role in recon, screening, and support. Both unit types have personalized gear, especially the Crusaders with their guns and armor covered in a multitude of holy symbols (some of which you have personally blessed.) Much of the equipment and ammunition comes from Maricopa's militarized police and their large supply of surplus equipment.

As you leave, you formally hand over authority to Cardinal Trkulja. It's maybe an unorthodox choice, but he has proven himself to be reliable. Ideally, your absence should be just more of the usual, except without you there to manage affairs personally. Who better to oversee such mundanity other than a former logistical officer? The chance of an outright attack on Mobile should be low. To the east lies your ally, Maricopa, and to a lesser degree this is true as well to the north in Goodyear. The south just seems like unsettled desert wastes, and the western region of Gila Bend seems to be dealing with a war between locals and what you think are escaped convicts (you are dealing meth to.) Still, you understand that the situation can change literally overnight (as was the case with your faction relocating to Mobile from California) or that you may be gravely mistaken about things. In light of this, you order Trkulja to remain vigilant and guard both territories (Mobile proper and the Sierra Estrella base) equally, even reorganizing defenses, such as getting a machine gun from the "black site" over to Mobile's highway defenses...

[1/2]

>>4640298

[2/2]

From your position at the head of the group, you give a small speech emphasizing the importance of everyone being on his best behavior and of submitting yourself to God's plan (which they can only know via your orders.) You tone down the overt religious references a notch due to the presence of the less religious Mobile Infantry, but the speech would still be considered radically zealous by the standards of the sinful old world you seek to renew. Once finished, you lead the company east. It's a quick and uneventful ride due to how close Maricopa is (barely over ten miles) and the garrison at Maricopa's highway defenses let you all in without problem.

As you enter, a group of police officers bearing the emblem of the M.M.P., now standing for Maricopa Militarized Police rather than Maricopa Metropolitan Police, escort you to their headquarters. Once there, they will do a headcount, note down details on troops/equipment, do a briefing, process various data, and generally do a bunch of boring, but necessary tasks before starting the joint training exercise. Due to your position, you do not have to attend, giving you a brief period of free time. As you go through town, you notice how surprisingly normal everything is. While the Badlands are nominally (and truthfully) lawless and dangerous, this town had managed to preserve their pre-War lifestyle to a significant degree. While there are obvious cutbacks and signs of austerity, the town has not fallen under the influence of a revolutionary republic, foreign government, military demagogue, or radical religious cult just yet, even if all of those are very real possibilities.

The company you are leading soon reaches the heavily fortified M.M.P. headquarters and begins the aforementioned process. There you see the leader of the M.M.P., a gruff former police chief, "Brigadier General" Greger. Apparently, he is looking to capture the presence of a long dead WW2 general by sporting a pair of aviators and a large cigar he's chomping. The mayor is also nearby, and you could almost certainly get an immediate audience with him, if you really wished to speak now. There are also a number of other things you could do in this free period you have, such as visiting a specific location in Maricopa, taking a stroll about town, praying, or even telling that one radio host to play more music and rant less about mundanity like hippos fighting rhinos or whatever. Of course, there is always the option of just staying with your men during this boring process despite having better things to do.

You ultimately decide to spend this free period:

>Discussing military matters with Brig. Gen. Greger
>Take a brief trip to city hall and try to talk to Mayor Preis
>Confront Carl Redfield
>Visit an area in Maricopa [Specify]
>Pray the rosary
>Stick with your men during the boring procedures
>[Write-In]

I just want to comment real quick regarding some of the post thread stuff from last thread. I wasn't trying to insinuate that anyone was inserting magical realm stuff. I just wanted to say that fetish/waifu type stuff is not going to be allowed, in large part because it turns everything it touches into shit. Battle nuns are fine, but keep the whips and chains on the nsfw boards. Unless they're for flagellation, I guess. Wait, not THAT kind of flagellation! Ah, why must Catholicism make this so difficult!

Also, last update was a lot of repeating stuff we were already exposed to/know. That's intentional, since I wrote that from the perspective of somebody who's new dropping in and wondering what this is all about. The intro post/map is very big picture/"lategame" in focus, so I want to bring things down to scale. We are currently small as fuck, and if we were to try and do something like invade California, our only saving grace would be that we would be so small they might just send the police instead of the military...

>>4640299
>>Visit an area in Maricopa [Specify]
radio station to do some recruiting over the air waves.

>>4640299
>Discussing military matters with Brig. Gen. Greger

Discount MacArthur is here, and we're going to be working with him for the foreseeable future. Might as well take stock of his character and thoughts of the military situation, as well as see if he's susceptible to conversion. The Mayor was very tempting, but he's a bit further away and we can hit him up after the exercises, maybe do some radio preaching as well.

>>4640306
Hey man, I came for the blood, meth, tears, and Christ. Waifus are only garnishes in comparison to the gourmet story we have in this quest.

>>4640307
I think you mean 'Confronting Carl Redfield', as he is the radios station manager and host in Maricopa.

>>4640299
>Pray the rosary
May as well see what passes for a "church" around these parts.
>Discussing military matters with Brig. Gen. Greger
Never hurts to have an ear to the ground

>>4640306
Baby steps.

>>4640299
>>Discussing military matters with Brig. Gen. Greger

Perhaps it would be a good time to mention our mortar men in training?

Either way he's the real power here, once shit hits the fan he's going to be the one calling the shots, we should work extra hard on befriending and converting him.

>>4640299
>Discussing military matters with Brig. Gen. Greger

>>4640299
>>Discussing military matters with Brig. Gen. Greger

>>4640532
Mortars are our ace in the hole. Plus, the Mayor believes there are leaks in his organization, and a cult having a mortar team would definitely raise some eyebrows.

>>4642268
They are our ace in the hole that could be utilized to great effect fending off an attack by the POZ troops, and we need to coordinate their use with the MMP defense plan. If Greger is the leak then fighting them off is fucked anyways.

>>4640337
>>4640528 (can't do both, sorry!)
>>4640532
>>4641133
>>4641209

OPTION SELECTED:
>Discussing military matters with Brig. Gen. Greger

You walk away from the company being inspected and towards the former police chief styling himself as a military commander. Not only might it be useful to know with whom you may be fighting, but you suspect he may have quite a bit of influence in the town.

As you approach him, he notices you and dismisses two officers near him and looks you over. "You are Brigadier General Greger, correct?"

"Well I'll be damned, they weren't kidding when they said you were a pope," he says referring to your cassock. "Yes, that is who I am, the leader of Free Maricopa's armed forces!"

You resist the impulse to call him a knock-off Patton and let the disrespectful address slide with a smile. "We have much to discuss, Let us speak in private during the pre exercise inspection."

"I have time to chat, sure," he says puffing the cigar. "Follow me."

You're lead into the M.M.P. HQ and leave the crusaders behind. On the way to Greger's office you note how the changes to the interior seem minor. While the outside had sandbags, razor wire, gun placements and other aggressive symbols of strength, the inside is more subdued and at times fairly normal. You're ushered into his office on the third floor. The large wooden door closes behind the two of you and you both sit down to talk.

He opens one of the cabinets, exposing a wide assortment of various liquors. "What'll ya have? Scotch, cognac, rum..."

[1/2]

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>>4643497

[2/2]

"I'll have the Dimple Pinch. Neat, of course."

"Scotch it is then." He puts two glasses on the table and pours a rather generous amount for the both of you. He still has the cigar as well as the aviators. You're not sure if this is some kind of diplomatic ploy or just an eccentricity. Before you can get into the matters you wanted to discuss, he immediately starts talking. "Preis likes you guys, says you get shit done. How'd you take out the injun base up in the mountains?"

"Ah, the raid. We managed to overwhelm them with an ambush on their own raiding party. Then, we stormed their fortified position using a smokescreen to nullify their defensive advantage. A bayonet charge forced them into submission and secured victory."

"Bayonet charge? That was real?"

You cock a grin and sip some of the scotch. "With God all things are possible. I presume you're asking because of the battle that might be upcoming."

"Hell yeah I am. For a while Phoenix was happy just slaughtering itself. Now those bastards in the P.A.Z. or whatever the hell finally feel like going down the 347 across the open deserts," he too sips some liquor while looking out of the large window towards the mass of troops below. "Maybe they're running out of food or some shit. Maybe they're just nuts, who cares? Anyway, they're using those Indians as their proxies, I just know it! That reservation we got's a fifth column!"

"Well actually," you start in correcting him. "We haven't found direct links between the P.O.Z. and anyone in that area, at least from what my trusted underling, Cardinal Mueller, has to say. The raids certainly weren't being coordinated. There are revolutionary elements, sure, but they're lurking everywhere. That hospital bombing proves Maricopa has its fair share."

"Ah, whatever. I-"

"I came here with some questions," you interject. You've entertained him long enough and are going to force your way before he totally hijacks this conversation.

Select a maximum of two topics:

>His personal thoughts on Preis' leadership
>Information on M.M.P. troop numbers/quality
>Estimates on POZ troop numbers/quality
>What he expects the response to be
>His feelings on God
>Possible weak-points in Maricopa
>Drop the news that you have an arsenal of military grade mortars Are you sure?
>[Write-In] Always highly encouraged!

>>4643502
>Estimates on POZ troop numbers/quality
>His feelings on God
>Specifically, there are those who are Christians and those who aren't. We need to stick together to overcome the heathens who would try to infiltrate and tear down our communities once again as they did in the past.

>>4643502
>>Estimates on POZ troop numbers/quality
>Possible weak-points in Maricopa

>>4643502
>>Information on M.M.P. troop numbers/quality
>>Estimates on POZ troop numbers/quality

>>4643502
>His feelings on God
>His personal thoughts on Preis' leadership

Was going to ask about what the response may be, but I'm more curious as to personal motives.

>>4643502
>>His feelings on God

>[Write-In] Always highly encouraged!
>[Endgame Talk] How far can you actually sustain the P.O.Z with out God?

>>4643502
>Possible weak-points in Maricopa
>Information on M.M.P. troop numbers/quality

We don't have to say mortars, but rather a large amount of explosive firepower.

>>4643502
>>Estimates on POZ troop numbers/quality
>Possible weak-points in Maricopa

By my count, we currently have a tie for our second topic between religious talk and potential weaknesses Maricopa might have (first topic is almost certainly on the POZ's military). I'll delay the update for a bit. Feel free to switch or vote if you haven't already. Or don't, I'll break the tie either way.

>>4643850
I presume you mean "sustain against" or "survive," since I think it's safe to say the Maricopans aren't propping up/bankrolling the POZ or are they?!?!

>>4645126
Ill change from maricopa military to religious

>>4645126
you presume correct, forgive my empty head.

>>4643520
>>4643577
>>4643637
>>4643799
>>4643850
>>4644319
>>4645328

OPTION SELECTED:
>Estimates on POZ troop numbers/quality

"First, I need to know who I'm dealing with. What do you know about the P.O.Z. forces?" you ask. "Numbers, equipment, training. What kind of tricks do they have up their sleeves?"

"It's hard to get hard numbers. Phoenix is fucking huge. They could have a million people in their territory, hell more. A lot of their guys are tied up fighting in the metro area, but you can bet they'll be sending a lot of guys. We should expect to be outnumbered."

"And is this a trained fighting force or an unorganized rabble?"

"It's a mix. From what we've spotted, there're four different unit types. They got these guys driving around on vehicles shooting from the backs. Those're from the Gila Reservation they got north. I think they're technically separate from the P.O.Z. but that don't mean shit. Same as you guys with us, kinda. Anyway, you've seen them during the raid way back when."

You remember them. They made sure to always keep driving and seldom dismounted unless there was a good reason, like looting a building. They weren't the best of shots and were always ready to get off of a sinking ship, but lightning attacks are never to be underestimated.

"Second," Greger continues, "they have former Phoenix law enforcement. When the mayor of Phoenix went red, she took the boys in blue with her. That includes their SWAT teams and other guys like that. They're damned good at what they do, with the best weapons and armor the city had. And trust me, the big cities get all of the fanciest hand me downs from the military. Scouts haven't seem too many of them in the South Phoenix area, so fingers crossed we don't have to come up against too many of them if a fight breaks out."

This reminds you of the naïve optimism many had in the early years of the war, back when they thought that neither the military nor law enforcement would go against them. Nobody with serious power thought that anyone would even think of going against the institution of civilian control over the military. That changed with Paxton, but by then it was too late to matter in the Badlands.

"Third, we got what you called the 'unorganized scrabble' I believe," he says. You don't bother correcting him and continue sipping the scotch. "It looks like they make units of basically anyone, give 'em guns & commie stuff, and shove 'em onto the field. Mixed in tend to be a few actually competent sons of bitches I think bossin' 'em around. Scouts say they're fierce out there, but I'm skeptical."

As you suspect, they are mass mobilizing and utilizing all of the manpower they can. You suspect those 'competent sons of bitches' he talks of refers to political commissars used to keep them in line and make up for poor quality with leadership. Having a mass of expendable troops willing to die for the cause in addition to skilled ones opens up a lot of strategic options for them...

[1/3]

>>4646671

[2/3]

"Finally, there are some uniformed troops. Not uniformed like law enforcement or military, but they got their own homemade stuff. I don't know much about them, but apparently they're a cut above the scrabble. Probably have better weapons or armor or some shit, I don't really know."

"Thank you," you tell him. "That was quite informative." You consider throwing a comment about hoping the two factions don't come to blows, but judging from this man's character, he might be a bloodthirsty sort.

"Well, any other questions?"

"Yes, actually.."

OPTION SELECTED:
>His feelings on God

"What are your views on God? Are you a believer?"

"Eeh," he lets out. Greger pours himself just a bit more scotch right as he disposes of the cigar butt. "I don't really believe in a 'God.' Is there some higher power or some mysteries out there? Sure, but I sure as hell haven't seen one. And I doubt anything up there gives a shit whether you pray to him or jerk it or whatever."

"I see." He's a run of the mill, spiritually weak and misguided pseudo-atheist, so it seems. "But don't you think people need something higher themselves and brute materialism?"

"It don't matter whether or not someone needs it, if it ain't there it ain't there."

"And that's where I'd disagree. If people need something, then it must be real. If a man thirsts, then that means water is a real thing. Indeed, it is the single most real thing and its conspicuous absence only heightens how real and how important it is."

"But don't you think it's an outdated idea? We have other things that do a lot better job of giving people what they need, like science."

"And what were the fruits of science of progress, if not the era of the massed man? The era of man forgetting his humanity, and the humanity of his fellow men. The era of world wars, death camps, and blind allegiance to the false gods of 'Communism,' 'Fascism,' and 'Liberal Democracy' in a vain pursuit of utopia, that which the Lord freely grants to those who seek it from Him. And to not adhere to something simply means you're going to be too weak to hold fast against those who believe in anything. Tell me, how long can Maricopa hold against the P.O.Z. without something to truly galvanize it? Without God?"

There's a conspicuous silence. By this point, both glasses are empty and there's an uncomfortable stillness. You briefly wonder if you took the wrong approach...

>>4646672

[3/3]

A few quick knocks cut through the silence. "Greger, they're done. Training's going to begin soon," a female voice, no doubt a secretary, says through the door.

"We'll see," Greger tells you, looking you straight in the eyes as he does so. You can't quite make out what he's feeling from his face as he gets up from his chair and puts the bottle of scotch in its place. "We'll be there soon!" he calls out.

>Effect: ??????

In any case, the joint exercise is going to begin soon. You have made plans for this beforehand. Specifically, you have told the M.M.P. that you want to train your troops for a specific tactic or stratagem in particular, and they have accepted.

Select the tactic you will be training your fighters for:

>Strike First, Strike Hard: Bonus to ambushes and preemptive strikes
>Overwatch: Bonus to suppressive and covering fire
>Cut Them Down: Bonus to pursuing routs
>First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire!: Bonus to shooting when stationary
>Desperate Breakout: Bonus against flanking maneuvers and encirclements
>Fix Bayonets: Bonus to melee combat
>[Write-In Within Reason]

Disclaimer: I am not a missionary. I am not trained in how to convert people to religions and don't really know if what I'm writing makes sense or is how people generally do these things. I tried to incorporate the Write-In of using the argument that you need religion to survive as a group and mixed it in with various stuff I got from the Internet. Hopefully, all of the other weird stuff (like the stratagems ripped straight from WH40K) distract you from these issues!

>>4646674
>>First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire!: Bonus to shooting when stationary
awesome update! Thanks QM!

>>4646674
>>Strike First, Strike Hard: Bonus to ambushes and preemptive strikes
we are always going to be outnumbered we need to hit hard

>>4646674
>>Strike First, Strike Hard: Bonus to ambushes and preemptive strikes

>>4646692
>4646674
>>First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire!: Bonus to shooting when stationary

>>4646674
>>Fix Bayonets: Bonus to melee combat
It's become our signature tactic. Something everybody knows us for. If we refine our guy''s skill with things, we'll give them something to remember.

>>4646674
>Fix Bayonets: Bonus to melee combat

In all honesty, all of these are pretty good, so I'm, not that picky. It looks like Overwatch, Cut Them Down, and Desperate Breakout will not be considered for the moment, despite being good in their own right. And while Fix Bayonets is contrary to our strategy and our limited manpower, I feel like I gotta give it some love here.

>>4646674
To clear something up (noticed it late), the 'Desperate Breakout' option is an "against" and not a "to" unlike the others. That is to say that you get the bonus when you get encircled or flanked, and not when you flank or encircle an opponent. The name refers to punching through against the guys surrounding you to fall back not get slaughtered.

>>4646674
>>Strike First, Strike Hard: Bonus to ambushes and preemptive strikes

While I like the idea of fix bayonets because of RP our lack of numbers does kind of detract from the usefulness of it. Bonus to ambush on the other hand works well with our smaller numbers and mechanized forces.

>>4646674
>Strike First, Strike Hard: Bonus to ambushes and preemptive strikes

>>4647566
Changing to
>Aim for the Head: Bonus damage and accuracy against enemy leaders

>>4646674

>>4647569
Do we have mass sniper capability? Or is that just a Boogie Boiz specialty?

>>4647592
I'm just thinking if you can aim a mortar a little bit better, why not take out the general on the first go?

>>4647592
>Do we have mass sniper capability?
iirc our units have a fair number of high-powered rifles

>>4646674
>Fix Bayonets: Bonus to melee combat
I feel like we are fighting the Tau, so they should be weak pussies when it come melee.

I believe we have another tie in a contested vote between doubling down on melee and banking on a strong first round (with FRFSRF at a close third). I'll leave the vote open a bit longer in case you guys want to talk things through, ask questions, shitpost, etc. If the tie isn't broken, I'll probably go with Strike First Strike Hard since reading the replies it seems like it has a slight edge.

>>4647592
>>4647697
>>4647711
Yes, our forces are mostly using high powered rifles and we have decent quality/amounts of optical equipment. That said, we don't have the kind of snipers I think you guys have in mind, both in specialized equipment and in training. The Boogie Boiz, being the types who got their pre war rocks off to assassinating hypothetical federal officials, definitely would be specialized in that. The little side adventure from earlier should have shown how they're pretty effective at long ranges most others can't fight effectively from.
Also, no mortars were brought to training and so no artillery tactics/stratagems are available (i.e. they're not within reason). As far as you guys know, the Maricopans don't know you even have them and you guys have just barely started forming units with them.

>>4648346
I don't mind it, as Strike First Strike Hard make the mosr sense for the moment, considering our manpower and mobility. I fully accepted that Fix Bayonets wasn't going to win, but I still gotta show it some love, if only for our history of battle charges.

>>4648438
...most* sense...

>>4646706
>>4646737
>>4647304
>>4648438

OPTION SELECTED:
>Strike First, Strike Hard: Bonus to ambushes and preemptive strikes

In addition to the regular course of marksman training, mock battles, practice with special weapons and a variety of other mainstays, you made sure to lobby for preparations for ambushes and lightning maneuvers designed to secure quickly and decisively. Without the luxury of manpower factions like either of the big Phoenix powers, you cannot afford sustained fighting. As much as you would like to see your crusaders cutting down your enemies with cold steel, you know better than to waste those whom God has trusted to you and send them into a repeat of Light Brigade's infamous charge.

The combined forces march through Maricopa due south towards Stanfield. The joint exercises are to take place in some kind of large, open space used to test cars nestled within the endless fields. On the march, you notice many townsfolk looking at the group and taking in the sight. It's nothing particularly impressive, but without functioning telecommunications most people don't have much better to do. The M.M.P. obviously couldn't deploy their entire force since they still have to maintain a watch along the fronts and police the town, but they still vastly outnumber you.

There, at the automotive technical center, the training begins. As the commander of the Crusaders, you must be here for the entire duration. With its location being far away from anything relevant, you cannot reasonably multitask and any side activities will have to wait until after its done. Given the event will take most of the half week to complete (still shorter than most military joint training exercises) such activities will have to wait.

For the next twenty four hours you're going to be overseeing the crusaders as they take on the role of attackers alongside the M.M.P. trying to secure a fortified position manned by M.M.P. personnel. From time to time, the defenders will need to send out small groups to broadly represent their own scouting groups, logistical convoys, reinforcements, and whatever else. The area is quite large and bleeds into the surrounding farmlands quite a bit. With artificial constructions representing certain types of terrain and various other adjustments, it's quite better than what you imagined. The two sides will be given an opportunity to sleep, analyze the results, and blow off steam until the two sides switch positions. Given the veterancy of those under your command, you have no doubts that it'll go well.

>Event to be continued later...

[1/3]

>>4649683

[2/3]

>POV SWITCH TO CARDINAL RICHARD MUELLER

>BONUS SCENE UNLOCKED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION ACTION [Media Center: Level 1]

Last week you told the Messenger that you could greatly benefit from being able to produce propaganda for the Crusaders to aid in your efforts at the Reservation. To your surprise, he fully approved of your plan, even when you told him that the idea was to make false propaganda portraying the Sun Belt Crusaders as a radical left-wing commune of Christian Anarchists. The actual owner of the former print media center, some guy named Nick, is also fully supportive and is glad to help you, even on such a short notice.

The two of you are sat down in front of a table with a variety of different posters of all kinds to draw inspiration of, as well as a dozens of news articles and books (the Holy Bible of course included.) Even if some of the materials are questionable in subject matter, it's more than made up for by the sheer breadth of content. This guy wasn't kidding around when he said that he believed "the Feds are going to take down the Internet and electronics, you gotta print and store EVERYTHING before the New World Order arrives!" Given the Internet actually WAS taken down and telecommunications seem dead, you can't fault him.

"How about Matthew six twenty four? I think that could work."

"Which one was that?" Nick asks.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon," you say from memory.

"Yeah, yeah, that's a great one! Maybe only put in that last part though, the whole thing's kinda long. Anyway, what kind of designs do you think would work, like what did you tell him about us?"

"Honestly, I don't really remember. I just kind of spouted off a bunch of slogans and buzzwords with some Christian stuff mixed in. He laughed at my face one time, so it's not looking great."

"Hmm, yeah, we should probably just stick to solid, dependable stuff. Lots of red and punchy slogans. Also, it sounds like you were known more as a Christian than a communist, so we should really play up the Catholic angle..."

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>>4649685

[3/3]

"Some good advice there. Got any good socialist literature to read, by the way?"

"Oh sure! I got a bunch. Here," he says while rifling through the absolute mess of books and articles. "Yeah, this one. Section four has a bunch of stuff on the communists, it's a pretty good introduction."

You look at the pamphlet "Heralds of the New World Order: The Survival Guide." You take a look at section four, and already in the first paragraph there are no less than three references to lizardpeople as well as a footnote mentioning "Lunarians," whatever that's supposed to mean. "Uh huh," you tell him. "I'll maybe read some more of it later. Right now, we got work to do."

"Right! Let's get on it!"

And with that, the two of you get to work. Whether this scheme will work or whether the only treasure you will get is some interesting stories to tell is going to hinge on how hard you two work, how well you can lie, and more than a little luck.

>Roll three d20's to determine success
>[Write-In] suggestions will be considered if they fit the overall scenario. They may help or harm efforts depending on quality

>>4648156
No bayonet fixings today! And here I was readying myself for pic related! Although if I understand how overwatch works with Tau in 9th ed, you might not want to charge their lines unless you can handle getting blasted by a fuckoff huge battery of guns!

Rolled 12, 14, 20 = 46 (3d20)

>>4649687

Rolled 8, 19, 11 = 38 (3d20)

>>4649687

Rolled 6, 14, 1 = 21 (3d20)

>>4649687

Rolled 12, 5, 6 = 23 (3d20)

>>4649687

>>4649687
>>4649696

The media center is slowly built up with support from the townsfolk and assorted materials made, gathered, or looted over the weeks. Most of the infrastructure is in place, so the project finishes very quickly, enough for you to begin producing (false) propaganda almost immediately after creating the designs. This is a major help in selling your outrageous lie that the Sun Belt Crusaders (a group that most would place so far to the right it wouldn't even be on the spectrum) are actually a radical far left anarchist Christian group. Without the props and material to draw from, it would be much, much more difficult.

>Roll type changed from a secret roll to an active three d20s [already reflected]

Now that you have the support, you have to do the hard work of actually figuring out the details. First, you need to actually have an idea of what you're talking about, which you really don't. Many people would at least have some cursory base of knowledge from (pretending to) read literature on Marxist political theory in university. You, unfortunately, have no university degree and did only the bare minimum during high school. Likewise, the citizens of Mobile seem to be similarly unaware of such issues and most of the Sun Belt Crusaders have little knowledge of such matters outside of crude stereotypes. You end up having to go to Maricopa and digging through the libraries to try and find something useful.

Browsing one of the Maricopan libraries, you find a book that serves as a general introduction and go with that, having found the actual materials to be a little too dense for your comfort level and way too long to bother with. You're surprised with how many different strains of radical left thought are out there, some of which you can't even pronounce since they seem to be Albanian. It kind of reminds you of the various heresies within the Christianity you learned about from the Messenger. You recall radical religious groups such as the Diggers and the Mennonites before Münster had similar views. In the end, you feel that you get no more than the equivalent of the first few paragraphs of an online encyclopedia you'll forget within a few days.

You're not really too sure which ones would fit the best and everything kind of feels like bullshit to you, so you just kind of go off of gut feeling. There's a section on the different flags, and you swear you've seen the "Anarcho-Syndicalist" flag with some protestors you saw on T.V., so you're definitely going with that.

>-12 Malus for having no idea what in the hell you are getting into and being part of a faction with nothing approaching familiarity with this
>+1 Bonus for basic familiarity with street violence from watching T.V. at least...

[1/3]

File: Anarcho Catholic Propagan(...).png (1.13 MB, 1474x943)

1.13 MB PNG

>>4651342

[2/3]

With a basic sense of what to do, you get back to Mobile and start working on the propaganda with Nick. You both start working on the poster design and quickly come up with some designs. The format is pretty simple. It's just about finding a good slogan or two and putting a picture there to catch the eye. You think up the content, Nick does the graphic design, and various folk from Mobile give their opinions as well. Overall, you're glad to have the help and put out what you think is the best product you could.

>+3 Bonus for having a proper media center with a proficient head

You end up having what you consider to be a very good set of props. In particular, you're proud of a poster you and Nick designed. It has all of the buzzwords, nice colors, and a Bible quote taken out of context. As confident as you'll ever be, you go to the Reservation jail and meet the radical.

You won't lie and pretend you are not nervous, but you also go on with the full confidence of the Lord's blessing. "Mister Endo, I said I'd return," you tell him. You bring up everything you know about theory, confidently citing authors you have never read and have no intention of reading. As deftly as possible, you dodge through difficult questions and transition to areas of knowledge you do have, especially Bible quotes. The question is whether or not your deception was the kind favored by the Lord as with the case of Jacob, or if the Devil was exerting his perfidious influence.

>-5 Malus for incredulous audience
>Malus reduced to -2 due to previous attempt "softening" him

>Final Result: 20 - 10 = 10
>A Trifling Success (but a success nonetheless!)

"Well," the prisoner says. "I'm not going to lie. I legitimately thought you were completely bullshitting me this entire time. I just entertained this in the hopes of getting some more whiskey." This isn't good. "But I'll admit, I was wrong about your faction."

"Oh thank God," you think to yourself. You'll spend extra time praying when this is over.

"I still don't think you have a full grasp on the theory, but you have your heart in the right place and we're not in position to throw away an opportunity. Nobody can hear us, right?"

"Not a soul," you tell him...

>>4651345

[3/3]

"Good. We have a major safehouse out in the farms. We got guns, ammo, armor, you name it. We managed to move a lot of equipment over there before the raids on the other two safehouses. The pro-agriculture council members should be there, along with another guy who worked in public service, I don't think you know him. It's at the site of the newly renovated temple out on Brewer and Warden, right by the mountains."

So it was the agricultural/rural council members behind this, of all people. You would've suspected it was just the bureaucrats with maybe an opportunist among the Casino bloc, but you look to be proven wrong.

"Be careful on the approach. Both roads along the way are loaded with IEDs. Go on foot, tell them Iron Hedgehog sent you."

"Iron Hedgehog?"

"I don't have time to tell you about the NKVD's history. Look, you should join up with them as soon as possible. We're planning a big attack when the POZ gets here in like a week. I suspect you guys will be helping us from the side as you infiltrate Maricopa. Just don't do anything stupid and make sure the cops are NOT on your tail."

"Understood," you say, not even hiding your grin.

Well, the one in a million gambit payed off due to hard work, a good investment, and a critical instance of poor decision making on the part of your enemy. Now, the question is what you will do with this information.

Select your plan of action:

>Tell Dolores and organize a final raid with law enforcement
>Go there yourself and clean up the place on your own like you're in an action movie
>Call in Crusader backup and storm the safehouse [CURRENTLY UNAVAILIBLE]
>Call in the mortar and blow the safehouse up from afar to guarantee success
>[Write-In] Always highly encouraged!

I fucked up that last update. It was supposed to read "fewer than" three references, not less than! Also, you guys really lucked out with that nat fucking 20 coming in at the right time. This scheme was absolutely not supposed to work, and it would have been nigh impossible without the Media Center construction. But, they say if you commit hard enough and faithfully execute even a stupid plan, it can bear fruit.

Also, if you saw three posts before that were basically identical to this but got deleted, that was because I fucked up writing in the right numbers for the modifiers. It's what happens when you do your maths on the back of a receipt and end up deleting/rewriting them because of the associated messiness. If the maths still don't add up, the tl;dr is that you guys just barely fucked passed, even with a nat 20...

>>4651350
Should we raid and seize the equipment, or just blow it away with he mortars?

Im torn

>>4651350
>>Tell Dolores and organize a final raid with law enforcement
>>Go there yourself and clean up the place on your own like you're in an action movie

Can we do a mix of these? Basically keep it tight knit in order to prevent word getting out. Dolores and 3 or 4 trusted men, something of a middle ground.

>>4651376
I'd say we need proof that all of the indian leadership involved is taken care of and most importantly proof that the rez is no longer a threat to Maricopa, allowing all defenses to be focused on the incoming POZ attack, hopefully with some assistance from the rez for that matter.

>>4651394
>>4651350
theres cleaner ways to go about this. i say we
>[Write-In] Always highly encouraged!
>do what the guy told us to do, and once we're on the inside and completely aware of the their plans we can formulate a better plan to kill them from the inside.

>>4651394
Ill support this a mortar seems a bit much for one safehouse

>>4651482
I highly doubt all of them will buy our bullshit, lets not hope on a nat 20 again. Seems like a lot of risk for no reason.

It's time to be done with this charade.

>>4651482
>>4651592
What if we pretend to be a small faction within the crusaders hoping to take over or convince leadership along a new path.

>>4651394
Aye, I'll support this. We should keep the Anarcho-Syndicalist Christian angle when we start dealing with those nutjobs in Oregon.

>>4651482
If we were playing Nick Mahoney, I'd say hell yea! But as we're playing not!Nick Cage, gonna have to go for an action scene for this one.

>>4651394
>>4651560
>>4652380

OPTION SELECTED:
>Form a small squad to get the job done

[Crime Squad Clash]:

Objective Complete:
>Ferret out the high leadership of the radicals

New Objective:
>Successfully seize the final safehouse

You leave the jail and drive over to Dolores'. You would have ordinarily travelled with him, but given the circumstances, you opted not to. Not only would it potentially cause conflict (the Reservation is still very much a powder keg) but you're more than a little paranoid. As you drove, you mulled over what Endo said.

"We managed to move a lot of equipment," you think to yourself, repeating what he said earlier. "How could they do that before the raids? First time could've been a fluke, but the second time? No, it can't be a coincidence."

You pull up about a block away from Dolores' home and now de facto base of operations. As you exit the very well preserved 90's roadster (thanking God cars hardly rust in the American Southwest) and walk over there, you become sure of what was just a hunch. Checking over your shoulders real quick, you walk into his residence and into his basement. There, amid a mess of papers, Dolores greets you.

"Dick, you're back! How was the car!"

"Pretty good. Handles great, gears don't grind, no complaints. I can tell the thing's been babied."

"Babied the car was and is. I want to pass the thing on to Anon, but I'm not sure about it anymore."

"C'mon man!" you say giving him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "I'm sure the War will be over before we know it. Not like the Chinese or the Sen-"

"It's not the War, it's Anon! I tried getting him interested in cars from my generation, but he seems to more interested in the games. He spends all day playing games from my time. I mean, he just plays the same levels again and again, mumbling something about a 'leaderboard' or whatever. I tell you, something ain't right!"

"Well, I'll tell you what is right," you say smiling. "I got Endo to spill the beans..."

[1/3]

>>4654778

[2/3]

Dolores cocks an eyebrow. "Really? You mean-"

"Yeah, really! I'll be honestly, it was a one in a million, but it worked." You can hardly contain yourself. "I think it was this that did it," you tell him while you pull out the poster from earlier.

"What th-, the hell is a, uh, Siddlicism?" he asks, trying to decipher the strange text and symbols.

"I don't really get it, but he seemed to! Anyway, I got the location of the last safehouse. It's the newly renovated temple out in the farms."

"Newly reno-, you mean the one on Brewer and Warden?"

"That's the one. Apparently, it's the agricultural guys who were behind this the entire time with a couple of guys in the bureau. They're also planning on some kind of attack when the POZ gets here."

"That'd cause total chaos, both here and at Maricopa, especially if the rumors about the bloodthirsty police chief there is true. Still though, why would those guys even be the ones to do that? You know what, never mind, we got more important things to worry about now."

"Oh yeah. We got to deal with it alright. Look, I got something important to tell you. You might not believe me, and it's just a hunch, but-"

"Don't worry about it," he says, gesturing for you to get on with it.

"I think they got a man on the inside. He very specifically mentioned they moved supplies out of safehouses in time for raids. There were two raids, and both times they just happen to get the real dangerous, and necessary, stuff out? It's too lucky to be luck."

"Well, we did make arrests and get materials."

"That's true. But at the same time, they could have just placed some guys who didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. The stuff you guys found was mostly just confirmation of existing materials or things that would've been obvious 'connect the dots' work." Dolores just sits there listening and scratching his handlebar moustache. You continue. "Apparently, this last safehouse they have now is fucking loaded. He mentioned weapons, armor, even IEDs placed on the roads. I'm pretty sure whatever armored vehicle we arrive with could be turned into half melted, twisted metal. I don't think a standard approach is going to work here, and no matter what we do, we're going to need to keep it careful relegated to a small group you can absolutely trust. You think you can get a gang like that?"

>>4654780

[3/3]

"I got some guys I trust a hundred and ten percent. I can get a five man squad, the two of us included. You're fine with a gun right?"

"I can handle myself. Once a marine, always a marine. I can get some pretty good stuff from back home, so don't worry about equipment. I'll probably have the best stuff of all of you." You neglect to mention that one of the pieces of "equipment" you have access to is a set of mortars that the Devil himself might as well have dropped off. Lucky for you, that particular devil is currently out on "medical leave" for just a bit longer.

"Good to hear. I can maybe get the crew together tonight. That should leave you with more than enough time to do your things, right?"

"Oh yeah. Mobile ain't so far. Checkpoint guards might find it weird, but it shouldn't matter. Besides, it's not like there're that many of them with that training exercise they got going."

"I see. Well, we might as well come up with a plan now. That area is going to be tough to crack since it's just an open area and they can deny us the use of vehicles. Not saying you have to, but can you get inside."

"I got Endo's blessings and a passcode. I think I can get in pretty easily. How long until they realize I'm not one of them and how I can get out is another story. Do you guys got any long range firepower?"

"Of course. One of my guys used to be a law enforcement sniper. He's retired, and I'll have to call in a hell of a favor to get him out again. But when push comes to shove, he'll do it."

"Good to know. I'll ask any more questions if needed."

With all of that out of the way, it's time to come up with the actual plan. The stability of the greater community and possibly even the result of the Maricopa-POZ encounter is at stake. The general plan is:

[Write-In]: Highly Encouraged...

Or if you want some structure, try using the below selections:

Time of attack:
>Night
>Morning (tomorrow)
>Daytime (tomorrow)
>[Write-In]?

Approach:
>On foot
>Off-road vehicles
>Drive up in a civilian car
>Infiltration
>[Write-In]

Priority:
>Seize/deny defendable points
>Secure resource storage sites
>Kill as many as possible
>[Write-In]

Two Additional Crew:
>[Auto-Select]
>[Write-In]

Again, the above is more of a framework to help you guys come up with something. The update should have most of the relevant information, but feel free to ask and I might clarify/answer within reason.

>>4654785
>>4654785

Damn I wish we had some chemical weapons now.

Way I see it we have three main options, we could firstly wait for them to leave and hit them, go in loud, or we could go in using the cover we worked for and gather more intel before executing the raid. I am honestly not sure if they will fall for it, if they have a guy on the inside then they probably know of our involvement with the MMP, especially as we are currently in the middle of war-games.

So i would suggest the following:

We approach slowly under the cover of night, conduct reconnaissance for a full day. Based upon intel obtained we can act more effectively.

I would suggest a night attack, if we can figure out guard rotations all the better. Lets go for an attack between 2 and 4 am.

If we do not have any NVGs then we should beg/borrow a few from the Boiz. Mabye we could even get a squad to help us out? Big ask but we may be able to make a deal with them, and they would love to Boogie with these reds.

Approach would be on foot, keeping everything nice and quiet.

Priority: Neutralize all VIPs, if some of the enemy troops escape that is not ideal but not a priority. We will have over-watch for that. I would say order of priority is Capture > Kill > Escape. Capture is useful but we only really need one alive, and alive does not mean intact.

For crew: Preferably guys who were in Fallujah or part of the guys kicking doors in the middle east. Really I just want some door-kickers for this.

As for equipment: If we could get NVGs that would be ideal. If not, flash bangs would be very useful. Teargas too, if we have. If so, then we need gas masks. Maye go heavy on both?

Plan of assault: Surround enemy compound, have a stack of 3 guys enter from one side. Sniper support to cover and another keeping watch on the other door in case of fleeing enemies.

What do you gents think?

>>4655010
this sounds as good as anything we could do ill support it

>>4655010
i like it

>>4655010
We could just mortar the place to shit and not bother with any casualties.

>>4655010
Yea, sounds good mate.

>>4655397
We're going to need some of them alive, just to help us find and dismantle the IEDs from the countryside. You'd be surprised how much damage they can cause if left unchecked, and I'm certain the community will thank us for it in the end. Plus, intel is useful.

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>>4655843

QM here, just dropping in to say that an update is coming. It's taking a bit longer than usual due to minor personal stuff and it being a decent sized update (might not be what you expect)

>>4657745
excited

>>4657745
Hype!

>>4657745

Looking forward QM!

Finally caught up from the archives, looking forward to the update!

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[Warning: Fucking Giga sized update coming up]
[Seriously, this is basically three updates, but only one of which had a choice that would make me stop writing the narrative. It's part of the reason it took so long, in addition to the usual bullshit.]

>>4655010
>>4655339
>>4655380
>>4655843

>PLAN DESCRIBED BELOW

"First of all, I think we should spend a day just doing recon. We could get up in the hills and check for when they generally go in and out, get an estimate on how many there might be, that sort of thing. Best time for an attack would be tomorrow early morning, something like three in the morning and get the drop on them."

"We don't have much time to get this done," he says. "Still, a day of recon shouldn't be that big of a deal, as long as nothing big happens and we don't get spotted and no sort of delay comes up. I take it you want to do this on foot to get the most out of the surprise angle."

"Exactly. That, and we'd also avoid roadside dangers. I want to go in there and bust down some doors. I knew some real pros at it back in Kandahar, and I think we can do some of that here." You are the first to admit that your involvement in the War on Terror was far from a good thing. Nonetheless, the Lord finds ways to take the evils of man and bring good out of them. "Would you happen to know anyone who would be good with that?"

"Hmmm." Again, he scratches his moustache. "The best guy I can think of for the job isn't available. I worked with him in a few meth lab busts. I think he was in Phoenix when everything got locked down for the War, so he's out of the picture. The other guy who might fit the bill, well, I'm not a hundred percent on him. If you're worried about an infiltrator, which makes sense if what you say is true, then I'll be sticking to the guys I had in mind. If we're doing a night raid, you do have night vision stuff, right?"

"Sure. They're maybe not first rate military level, but they'll do. Maricopa let us use a bunch of their stuff since we've been helping them out." Your night vision will be limited to single lens stuff with a limited field of view and no depth perception. Still, looking through what feels like a shitty toilet paper roll is better than nothing. Part of you wants to go to the Boogie Nights Boiz and borrow some of their stuff, since they seem crazy enough to have the type of hardware the SEALs would get. On this short of a timeframe, however, that sort of thing is simply not possible, so you scrap the idea.

[1/???]

>>4662879

[2/???]

"Good to hear. I think Kai'll be able to work with that if you want him to do over-watch."

"Kai?" Is he talking about-

"The retired sniper I mentioned before. You don't know him." Never mind that. "Anyway, I want at least one of their higher ups alive. And I do expect more than one to be in there. With Endo's arrest and the death threats, everyone's off the radar, so I expect them VIPs will all be holed up in the safehouse until their big play. Not only is justice something best dispensed on the living, but I suspect getting one of them alive will help us mop up and tie loose ends."

"Of course. Yeah, the idea is to surround them, kind of. Your Kai on one entrance, another guy watching the other, and three busting down one of the doors. They won't be prepared for a late night doorbuster, and even one guy should be enough for each entrance."

"Hmm, they might have more than three exits. Even if they didn't build their own thing in secret, the building might just have more than that on its own. It's not like a have a floorplan or general idea of it," he says while scribbling down a few notes.

"Well, that's what gathering intel is for. I'm sure you could dig up floorplans or get some pictures or something."

"Of course I can! You worry about getting the equipment and stuff, I'll take care of things on my end!"

"I will, but I'll need to see those guys you're talking about first. It's hard to ask the Maricopans to give you SWAT armor for someone you've never met. That, and a bunch of other shit." To deal with the chance that the mysterious infiltrator detects an upcoming raid by figuring out supplies have been taken from the armories, you'll make sure you get the equipment from Maricopa. Given your faction's close relationship with the M.M.P., it's a trivial task that will only require your time.

"Good to hear. If you have anything else to add, just say so before we do the raid. Otherwise, I think we're about done here."

>Mention anything you specifically want before the Night Raid scene, if you have something to add (otherwise proceeding with things as normal)

"Oh, and one more thing!" Dolores says as you're leaving the basement. "Thanks for taking the time to help with this. I mean, the first time-"

"I'm just doing my job," you interrupt. "Before Saint Patrick could convert the Irish, he had to banish the snakes, right?"

He looks like he's about to say something, but he ends up holding his tongue and just bids you farewell.

>Event to be continued...

>>4662881

[3/???]

>POV SWITCH TO CARDINAL DRAGOMIR TRKULJA

LOCAL EVENT 17:
>Warden of the Wastes

When the Messenger appointed you to act on his behalf during his absence, you had mixed feelings. On one hand, it's an honor to have been given the position as de facto second in command and all of the prestige that comes with it. On the other hand, you are not very comfortable having to be a proper leader. You're much more comfortable out of the limelight, preferably behind a computer screen or stack of papers. You wonder if he thought that this would be a laid back mission given the lack of conflict since the Sierra Estrella raid, or if this was his way of getting you more accustomed to a proper leadership position.

In any case, things have been fairly quiet on the home front, as it were. The majority of your faction's forces are at Maricopa for a training exercise with their own M.M.P. units. Many of the townsfolk are going about their lives normally (as much as possible) and the newcomers are being accultured to the Church at as fast of a rate as possible. Normally, it could potentially take years for a person completely outside of the Church to become a member, but extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. You much prefer the Messenger's policy of rapidly bringing people into the Church of the previous "Pope's" policy of rapidly expanding the Church by watering it down to include everyone. There's also the matter of whatever project Mueller's working on and the issue of the captured base. The Sierra Estrella site is something you wish to avoid thinking about much, given how it reminds you of some of the rather unsavory realities of war. You hope that things don't get as bad as they were in the old country (or that you at least don't have to look it in the proverbial eyes.)

>Event shaped by policy decision: Test Flights

Your musings are interrupted by a radio message from one of the pilots taking a test flight.

"Cardinal, I'm seeing a bunch of vehicles entering on the 238 from the west, around the Gila Bend area. Is there some kind of visit going on or something, over?"

"Negative. Pilot, what are their numbers, over?"

You hear what sounds like confused muttering under his breath. "Uh, a lot, the 238's looking all filled up. And they're coming in fast. I'm not going to lie, this looks pretty bad. Over."

"Damn it," you say under your breath before dismissing the pilot. There was nothing like this planned, and so this has to be treated like a potential attack. You quickly head out to the defenses...

>>4662884

[4/???]

>Automatic success at organizing a defense from early warning combined with trait [Gifted Administrator]

While you doubted this would happen, you nonetheless planned for it. Despite your general feelings about the situation, you're glad you did. Weapons are quickly gathered from the armory, the highway defenses are reinforced, and even civilians are given weapons with which they can at least present a threat (even if you really pray they don't have to see combat.) The forces are woefully inadequate compared to what you should have available (even the mortars are not yet trained/readied enough for a rapid response) but it should hopefully act as enough of a deterrent.

During the rush to organize the defense, one of the Mobile Infantry on guard duty starts to curse like a sailor.. "I recognize that guy," you hear him say.

"Recognize? Who are these people?" you ask.

He lowers his binoculars. "I recognized one of the heads on the cars. It was the guys we sold to. This isn't good!"

"Heads? What are you talking about?"

In response the Mobile Infantryman gives you the binoculars and points at one of the vehicles. You put them on and see one of the cars, a heavily armored beast of iron with a massive engine block protruding out from the hood. Spikes have been welded to its body, and on the ends of them are the decapitated heads of what you surmise were the raiders your faction sold to earlier.

"Your orders, cardinal?"

"Fire warning shots, force them to slow down and consider their actions." One of your main advantages is the high quality, large caliber rifles which have significant range compared to the generally lesser quality weapons most factions use. In the open desert, it's no small edge. As the mass of vehicles gets close a hail of warning shots, the universe "yield" symbol, greet them and force them to either slow down for a proper discussion or commit to an attack...

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>>4662887

[5/???]

>Processing ??????'s Decision...
>...
>Diplomacy

The unknown forces slow down and eventually halt. They're within the outer edge of your defenders' firing range, and your probably within the very far edge of theirs's too, with cover and the like giving you an upper hand. A group of people wearing what look to be prison corrections officer body armor under ragged vests and equipped with rifles get out of their cars. They form a group around the large armored vehicle with the impaled heads as that car's door opens. Out comes a gigantic beast of a man with biceps the size of his head, a vest of armor dwarfed by his massive bare torso, and a metal mask over his face.

The masked man slowly, silently walks towards your highway defenses with his "honor guard" following him. Nobody says a word, as the desert quiets enough to hear the individual footfalls. The Mobile defenders have their guns trained on the man and his guard, ready for them to make one wrong move. Their opposing faction's side is no doubt ready to retaliate, making any unwarranted aggression on your part very unwise, just as it is for them.

One of the guards nudges you, motioning for orders. You gesture at him to just keep watching. You figure the big guy is the leader, and if he's putting himself out there like this it means he wants to talk. This is confirmed when he motions to his honor guard, which causes them to lower their weapons. In response, your order the defenders to lower theirs, or rather rest them on the sandbags instead of having them trained on the leader.

"Who are you?" you call out loudly. He's obviously in earshot, but he chooses to walk forward some more, no doubt as some sort of power move. You must admit, the man certainly has an intimidating presence and the balls to back it up given how close he gets before speaking.

"I go by many names," he says in a deep, booming voice. "The Scourge of Arlington, the Conqueror of Cotton Center, the Butcher of Gila Bend, and the Warden of the Wastes. You, however, may call me the Warden of the Lewis Correctional Protectorate."

Warden? As far as you were told, the prison was taken over by the inmates. Seeing this "warden" and thinking about the title of "Lewis Correctional Protectorate," it's clear that things aren't quite so simple.

The Warden points behind him towards the impaled heads on his car. "Those men made the mistake of dealing behind my back. They made the mistake of capturing slaves for themselves and selling them behind my back for product they wished to use and profit from without my authority. I am a merciful and fair man, so I gave the first one to speak the mercy of death before I decapitated him..."

>>4662888 [Hell yeah, got the trips!]

[6/6]

"Oh Christ," you think to yourself. This is difficult to hear. You thought you escaped this sort of terror when you moved out of the old country, and even during the War you thought you could make it out doing logistics behind a desk. Increasingly, it is more and more clear that God has other plans for you.

>?????

"As for you, those whom the traitors bought from," he continues, "I have seized the product for myself. It has been found worthy. Before any formalized trade, we seek redress for our damages."

"What do you want?" you ask, putting the negative thoughts to the side and focusing on your job.

"I want the slaves back. All of them. In addition, a supply of product equal to what they were bought for will suffice."

So, he wants the slaves back and two M.U. You're really not sure if dealing with this "Warden" is a good idea, but given the sheer size of his armed forces and how they vastly outnumber the comparative skeleton garrison at Mobile, you're not sure how much of a choice you have. The price in meth is trivial given how much of it is produced, but seeing the prisoners go would be disappointing. They had just been freed from bondage and had begun the process of being acclimated to the Church's ways. In any case, with any potential help way too far away to be meaningful, you must choose how to act:

>Give the Warden what he wants [Lose 2 M.U. and the slaves from earlier]
>Ask one single question of the Warden [Write-In] [Can be taken along with another choice]
>Tell the defenders to open fire [Initiates a battle, odds are extremely unfavorable]
>Radio for the mortarist to fire [Mortar team highly untrained and untested, extremely likely to blow up friendlies/Mobile/you]
>Try to negotiate terms [Specify how] [Specify decision if offer rejected]
>[Write-In]?

This is what was meant by "decent sized" and "might not be what you expect" earlier. I would've normally asked for rolls to prepare defenses, but with early warning and Trkulja's trait, it automatically passes, so you guys got a big update instead. Also, if you're wondering why exactly the mortars couldn't have been used on their way to the 238, it's because they're really, really untrained and not at all fit to indirect-fire moving targets with little notice.

>>4656364
One day we shall have the industrial capacity to make cool shit like this tank... one day...

>>4661471
Welcome aboard! You came in for a pretty lengthy update, although it's still nothing compared to the size of the backlog (I might actually do a wordcount on that...)

>>4662891
>>Give the Warden what he wants [Lose 2 M.U. and the slaves from earlier]
Based QM for the 6 parter update. As for justification for my vote, I don't see us getting out of this one scott free. Most of the troops are in Maricopa, we should just conform for now.
>Ask one single question of the Warden [Write-In] [Can be taken along with another choice]
Could we double the meth in exchange for keeping the prisoners? Unless anyone has something better.

>>4662914
I guess this will do, I'd really prefer to keep the prisoners but its not going to be a fight worth fighting, worth trying to pay extra for them i guess tho.

Perhaps we can invite the warden to mass once the messenger has returned.

>>4662891
>Try to negotiate terms [Specify how] [Specify decision if offer rejected]

Double the meth to keep our guys, if that fails triple it (as we must have produced some MU in the 'downtime'), and throw in a Bible as well. We can recoup the MU rather easily, and I'd rather not turn us into a deceitful blasphemer by send men freed in God's name back in chains.

>Ask one single question of the Warden [Do you believe in God, Warden?] [Can be taken along with another choice]

Because we do, and we refuse to turn against His word in this matter of free men. (Conviction in God and a boatload of meth will get us out of this mess just fine lads.)

>>4663019
Also, add some medical supplies before we triple the meth, as I'm sure the conflict he's engaged in around Gila Bend would make such supplies mighty useful to him.

>>4662891
>Radio for the mortarist to fire [Mortar team highly untrained and untested, extremely likely to blow up friendlies/Mobile/you]
The shock alone would be enough.

>>4663019
Support.
We should think up some points like deal has been made the the slaves have been freed something.

Pretty sure the power moves/demands he pulling like with the demand for extra product even after we paid for the slaves will set the tone for future interactions so we better be ready to draw a line that we can't allow them to cross or something.

Can't let them steamroll us and take what they want for free, so offer double M.U., medical supplies, and bibles in return for keeping the bikers and getting the right to preach and a promise of more deals in the future. If it falls through have the mortar team on standby and the pilots ready to buzz the convoy.

>>4663019
supporting.

Oh and ask if he believes in God, and if he's done any fighting against the Californian commies.

>>4663024
It would I'm sure, but more meth given mean a faster spread of addiction, which makes them ripe for subversion. A show of force visa mortar should be used as a last resort, to both keep it as a hidden trump card as well as preserve ammunition until we can get the Explosive addition to the factory up and running.

Interesting thing to note, they must have a Machine workshop and a vehicle modding station already set up.

>>4663652
It might also make him more powerful if he controls the supply and distribution on his end.

>>4663687
On his end, yes. He doesn't control the supply though, we do. He'll have to make some concessions if he wants a continuous supply. Plus, his control over the prisoners isn't absolute, so I'm sure some will indulge themselves. Maybe he planning on getting his men addicted to increase his control over them, who knows? Either way, we can leverage our products towards preaching rights, WP payments, merc work, etc.

>>4663705
Well he's only a few hundred meters to take over wholesale supply and production so....

>>4664147
We'd blow it up before he could even try. When our forces come back, our vengeance would be swift. And that's assuming they aren't bloodied by our forces stationed here in the first place, regardless of whatever conflict he's fighting near Gila Bend. I think he was either looking for an easy mark to hit or a show of force to intimidate us, not a conflict that'll leave his men more bloodied and battered with nothing to show for it.

>>4662891
>>Try to negotiate terms [Specify how] [Specify decision if offer rejected]
[Short Term]
Offer 2 M.U to keep the Slave. Tell the Warden that a lot of Power will come from our future Cooperation, and in a week we will come to them with more M.U as a thank you for coming all this way to start friendly negotiations.

From a Non"TRKULJA-POV" standpoint, We need to protect the Holy Land. if we cant protect our children from slavers, then in the eyes of God himself we are failures. We should have DRAGOMIR discreetly tell all forces to ready for a massive Motercade Charge before any negotiations begin. i think this would also set TRKULJA at ease as far as PTSD goes(the civilians are safe Bro) .

>Ask one single question of the Warden [Write-In] [Can be taken along with another choice]
Do you of the one true power obtained though God? A Man of your might could grasp it.

[Long Term]
>[Write-In]?
Calling to attention the slavers acting openly in the greater POZ territory can benefit us a lot. IF we can alert the angry masses of the POZ about Slavers it could easily shift their focus away from Us and Maricopa. It would also put us in a good light to the unwashed liberal masses because we are ANTISLAVERS. Who knows these days, just an Idea. We could cover up the M.U trail by shifting the blame on them and saying that we only wanted to free some slaves who sold meth before they went to jail and slaves? Commies need something to join together and fight. we should make it these jail fuckers that tried to fuck with us.

I just want to play it super cool for now and then murder these thugs for flexing on us like we cant even fight.

>>4664512
>Calling to attention the slavers acting openly in the greater POZ territory can benefit us a lot. IF we can alert the angry masses of the POZ about Slavers it could easily shift their focus away from Us and Maricopa. It would also put us in a good light to the unwashed liberal masses because we are ANTISLAVERS. Who knows these days, just an Idea. We could cover up the M.U trail by shifting the blame on them and saying that we only wanted to free some slaves who sold meth before they went to jail and slaves? Commies need something to join together and fight. we should make it these jail fuckers that tried to fuck with us.
i dotn think the commies care. its always been about power (like the rest of the factions)

>>4664512
Remember, the goal here isn't to flex our military might at them, it's to subvert them to our cause. Better they die for our cause than by our hand, I say.

There's a good bit of discussion, but I had/have to get a single, final result out of it all. It seemed like the general idea was "offer him lots of non prisoner/slave stuff," but to ultimately acquiesce to demands from lack of strength if the presented terms were not accepted. I typed up the (somewhat large and somewhat tardy) update based on that, but I checked back and noticed that it seems like I may have misread/misinterpreted things, since a last second check before posting indicates you guys seem to be pretty divided or even gung-ho on fighting them.

Maybe it's the whiskey I seem to be perpetually drunk on, but it's enough to where I'm not comfortable doing the update until this is sorted out, since it's a pretty big (potentially thread ending) decision. To clarify, what was meant by [Specify decision if offer rejected] was that you guys should clearly say what you would do if what you guys proposed was totally rejected in whole (as can happen in every negotiation) and not just a set of things that you guys would prefer.

Also, if the situation seems a bit unfair/strange, it's supposed to be. The Lewis Correctional Protectorate is not tiny and is very much on the warpath (would be a difficult fight for you guys at full strength if the update didn't make it obvious). The timing on that local event roll was pretty shit.

>>4663652
>they must have a Machine workshop and a vehicle modding station already set up.
American prisons have a lot of pretty insane industrial equipment and a lot of stuff in general. Based on what you've seen and common knowledge about prison industry, it's a more than safe assumption.

So my vote is offer up an extra two M.U. (4 total) to keep the freedmen along with a small amount of medical supplies and bibles, in return for the right to send a preacher into his protectorate in the future as well as the establishment of further deals for M.U.

If that deal isn't taken we can up the ante with M.U., even if he's strongarming us his troops will suffer longterm from the stuff.

If all that fails, have our artillery and aircraft ready; we don't have armaments on the planes yet but simply buzzing the convoy as if we're strafing/dive-bombing them will likely cause them to break ranks, and have the garrison at the prison lock all the prisoners up immediately just in case and be prepared to reinforce us.

Also, if Maricopa and our troops are carrying out exercises, if need be we can call them in along with the BNBs, the exercise will just change to live-fire.

^I meant the black site when I said prison. Once again, use the moment to ask if he believes in God and has done any fighting against the godless Californian heathens.

>>4666133
If offer is rejected give in, is my vote.

>>4666133
If the offer is rejected, the choice is one of pragmatism vs morality, and it would be disingenuous of me to change my vote now, despite the foolhardy (suicidal, even) nature of it. The smart choice would be to give in. My vote is to fight. I'm not happy with it, but such is life. I can only hope I don't damn us all with my vote.

>>4666163
I will say, I do hope that I don't win. We have a lot to lose, and we have a skeleton garrison here. I'm sure the Messenger wouldn't fault us in our choice, maybe he would even praise us giving in. Maybe it is in Dragomir's personality to choose the lesser of two evils, the practical choice with the least harm done and most lives spared. I don't know. I'm just voting with my gut, not with my mind or out of Realpolitik.

I would usually vote for giving in, but that's not the decision that a Catholic meth head cult would make. So if they decline our offer, i say we launch the artillery.

>>4666260
Well so long as the mortar crew can do basic math and adjust or estimate distance well we can still land shells fairly close. Plus they are a larger grouped up blob and in larger vehicles.

We can always fallback to directfire, even fire from the hip with them.

Heaven yeah borthers, glad to see God didn't create a bunch of cowards.

OPTION SELECTED
>Try to negotiate terms [Try to pay them off with more meth]

"The people we ransomed are already free men, however, we would be willing to provide product equiv-"

"No," he interrupts. "Whatever deal you made with the traitors is null and void. Their return is not negotiable."

"I was going to offer double the product. Since you refused, I'm willing to increase our side of the deal to triple the amount, medical supplies, some Bibl-"

"Am I not clear? Return them to us and you will be spared from the horror. Otherwise, we will not hesitate."

"Damn it," you think to yourself. You would very much rather not have to return the newly freed slaves, but it's clear you are dealing with an impossible choice. Their numbers are massive and your forces are severely lacking. While you can tell yourself you did the best job you could be expected to in organizing a defense, and it can even be true, that doesn't change the reality on the ground.

The force you are up against seem to heavily outnumber yours, to understate it. Their vehicles fill up most of the highway and extend for quite a distance since they need to keep enough space around themselves to maintain maneuverability and not be in a permanent traffic jam. If they could take Gila Bend, they're certainly no pushovers and must be a competent fighting force. The skeleton garrison is a significantly smaller and lower quality force than the one that had trouble with the raid what feels like a months ago (despite it only being weeks) and the mortar crew is so untrained and unprepared they're as likely to blow you up as they are to score a direct hit. Put it plainly, not giving in is suicide.

"Very well then. I'll give my men the order."

FALLBACK INITIATED:
>Radio for the mortarist to fire [Mortar team highly untrained and untested, extremely likely to blow up friendlies/Mobile/you]
>Tell the defenders to open fire [Initiates a battle, odds are extremely unfavorable]

Nonetheless, you feel like it is the right thing to do, so you go ahead with it. Returning the prisoners to this madman to be enslaved just seems like the wrong choice, and you're willing to stake the very survival of the Sun Belt Crusaders on it. You radio to the mortar crew and tell them to ready themselves.

"Are you sure?" you hear on the other end. You're not sure if it's hesitation on his end, radio static, or projection from your side.

"Affirmative."

"Uh, understood, sir. How far away are they from us?"

You turn back to look at the Warden and his guards looking around confused and chatting among themselves. The façade that you are giving him what he wants is wearing thin, and they obviously think something's going on...

[1/???]

>>4666862

[2/???]

"How far? How am I supposed to know? There's no time for that, it's a large group of vehicles ahead of us, maybe for a hundred meters, maybe more, I don't know exactly. How hard can it be to hit them, isn't it just basic math? Follow the order."

There's a brief pause before he responds. "Understood."

"What is going on?" the Warden asks in his booming voice.

"It's on its way." By now, the situation has grown more tense, as the defenders are bracing themselves. The raiders, for their part, are also readying themselves for something, although they could not predict what would come next.

>Determining mortar fire outcome
>Woefully Inadequate

Two massive columns of debris erupt from the ground, destroying all in their blast radii. One of the blasts went way over, hitting the far end of the group of vehicles and inflicting what seems to be minor damage. The other shell must have veered off to the side, as all that's caught in the blast is a bunch of sand and desert shrubs. No miracle occurred, and the understrength, undertrained, and underprepared mortar operators without anything approaching real forward observers did not nail their indirect fire shots. Your heart sinks.

The Warden reaches for his gun and the defenders open fire. A hail of bullets fly into the small group ahead of the main raider force. Two of the "honor guard" are rendered into a barely held together mass of gore. The other two guards use them as human shields to protect the Warden with as he runs back towards cover. You have no way of telling if he made it out okay, and you don't have the time to either as you're taking shots as well.

You didn't expect a total slaughter, but you rather hoped that a strong initial strike would break their morale and send them running home.

>Processing enemy morale check
>Pass

Instead of doing what you wanted and running away, they instead seem to fly into a frenzy and rush at Mobile's motley defenders. Their vehicles speed forward towards the mess of sandbags, razor wire, and other highway defenses. You shoot at one of the drivers, scoring a direct hit and presumably killing him. It does not matter, as your efforts alone are the equivalent of trying to drain a lake with a bucket. If the horde is to be beaten back, it will be done so by the strength of the defenders.

>Processing allied morale check
>Failure

Sadly, these are not the best fighting men and women available. In fact, they are the bottom of the barrel. The Mobile Infantry and Crusader platoons are both at half strength, and the civilians pressed into service are those who were considered unfit for service. This last group, in particular, fails to even properly fight. The elderly folk and teenagers pressed into service either totally lose their composure or outright flee...

>>4666866

[3/???]

A few more mortar blasts can be seen and heard. This time, they seem to be very slightly more on target, but that means little as the raiders have already started to charge. They clearly have experience doing this, as they rush forward, keeping enough distance between themselves to prevent crashes while maintaining top speeds. Moreover, they make use of suppressive cover and limit your ability to properly fight back. Even though they still take loses charging headfirst, it's much less than you would have liked.

The defenders, yourself included are swept up into close range, practically melee fighting. The fighting is too chaotic to properly figure out what's going on, but you can vaguely tell that some of the gatecrashers have brute forced past the defenses and are in town. The mortars are useless now as allies and enemies are essentially right next to each other. Given the rest of the fighters are very far away (Gila Bend is closer to Mobile than the training area in Maricopa is, and the issue of city miles make it even worse) and in no way able to arrive in time to do anything, you are completely out of trump cards with which to change the situation.

"This is hopeless!" one of the Mobile Infantry calls out. "We surrender!" She is soon after shot. The Mobile Infantry is totally overwhelmed at their defenses and are either killed or captured. Or so you presume. You won't let yourself and the remaining Crusaders go down so easily.

"FIX BAYONETS," you shout. You manage to buy some time by tossing one of the few grenades the Maricopans supplied you with, enough to at least affix the cold steel blade to the end of your rifle's barrel and chew on some ice. "DEUS VULT!" You and your fellow crusaders charge forward. The nearby raiders are overcome, as you sink the bayonets into their insufficiently armored bodies. It is, of course, a lost cause. Soon, their numbers overwhelm you all, with your fellow men dying one by one to close range gunfire or the raiders' own blades.

You yourself are overwhelmed as you find yourself in a three against one scenario. One of them you manage to run through with your bayonet, and another your hold back in a frenzy. The third one, however, knocks you to the ground with the butt of his weapon and proceeds to kick you repeatedly while you're down. You briefly hear them talk among themselves before they drag you, hollering incoherently as they do so.

As you're dragged along the hot asphalt and almost trampled over, you wonder where things went wrong. In your drugged state, your mind moves from topic to topic, memory to memory at a mile a minute. Nonetheless, there's the constant question of where you went wrong. You think of the various aspects of the Christian faith and morality, knowing that you must have failed somehow to end up in this situation...

>>4666867

[4/4]

"Here he is, their boss!" the raider dragging your blood soaked self calls out before propping you up on your two feet. You find yourself face to face with the Warden. You can see his bloodshot eyes and what appears to be scar tissue covering the bits of his face you can make out.

"Pathetic," he says, looking down at you. "I imagined you had most of your troops in reserve and that sending the young and the elderly to the defenses was a ruse. I clearly overestimated you, both in forces and wisdom. I gave you a way to avoid the horror, and you lacked the wisdom to take it. No matter. Those prisoners will be mine and with them the I-8 shall fall. As I speak, my men are seizing the town, including whatever explosives you no doubt have, and the townsfolk are now my property. As for yourself-"

You gather strength to interrupt him and at least save face, but he stops you with a quick punch to the gut that would have sent you reeling had you not been propped up.

"As for yourself, I would recommend you pray to your god, but it is useless, as he could not save you from me."

The raiders continue ransacking Mobile, with every noise from breaking glass, dying screams, and the lamentation of women assaulting your ears. As you are unceremoniously 'bagged' tossed into the back of what you believe to be a pick-up truck, you feel your consciousness fading out slowly. You think about the words of the mad warden, fixating on one in particular - 'wisdom'. It is indeed one of the seven virtues (prudentia in Latin) and you meditate on this subject in what might very well be your last moments. You have doomed the very people you were trusted to protect, went against the orders of Christ's vicar (the Messenger), and you have managed to totally destroy any hope your faction (and the former slaves) could have to make a difference. During the Crusades and other holy wars, there were many instances of surrender or concessions given to similar types (indeed almost all of their adversaries were massive slavers) and you feel a deep regret as your actions only gave you the briefest feelings of self satisfaction. As your vision fades, you pray to Christ for forgiveness and mercy with every ounce of your being.

>Mobile Has Fallen
>All Infrastructure Has Been Seized
>Remaining Power & Influence Insufficient For Sovereignty
>Faction Death: Guaranteed
>Crusade Status: Lost

>GAME OVER
>BAD END

Do you want an epilogue?

>Yes
>No
>Fuck this, I could write better shit myself! [You, the reader, continue the quest yourself as I picked up this formerly dead quest. I ask only that you do not ghost the fellow anons and at least have the courtesy to tell them what's going on if you have to abandon it]

>>4666870

So, good news and bad news. The good news is that I had some extra free time to write up an update with. The bad news is that this update is a "game over" one and probably the last one except for an epilogue at some undetermined date later.

So, yeah, basically quest over. I checked to see if you guys would get a lucky crit outcome at the last second to save you, and it did not happen. You guys mostly rolled badly and botched the first morale check, hence why a lot of the woefully inadequate "militia" fled and the battle ended so quickly. Really, you guys were fucked from the very moment you decided that a severely undermanned garrison with help not coming any time soon could take on a massive force of raiders at their doorstep. Mortars are not magic, especially not in the hands of such inexperienced operators and this was made very explicit in the choice selection (you guys actually rolled decently on the mortar, hence getting a single glancing hit that ultimately made no difference).

>>4666163 and >>4666165 was mostly correct with his posts, except for the framing of it as "foolhardy (suicidal, even)" instead of as a quest ending act of pridefully overestimating your power in the face of an unstoppable foe (and assuming it's somehow disingenuous to change your mind after thinking about something). It may sound harsh, but that's the situation. Civil Wars are brutal as fuck for small factions.

I also considered doing a "return to previous save" and winding the clock back or even doing some kind of asspull where they only damage the town severely but you guys could live to see another day. I decided against this, since if I'm not going to let you guys fail during something like this, I might as well announce that none of the choices really matter and just flash forward to literal God-Emperor Walter White. For the record, these raiders are total chumps compared to the POZ and other medium sized factions, so the same attitude of invincibility carried forward would just result in the same type of thing later on.

Since the quest is all but over, I'm open to any questions you guys might have. I mean, I always was/am, but now that "spoilers" and "metagaming" aren't an issue nothing's really off limits. I haven't planned every detail meticulously (I'm literally just an anon who liked the Walter White edit in the 1st thread and decided to continue it in a moment of drunkenness, I don't even post my own OPs) but there was some cool stuff I had in mind. I was going to do a GTA box art style photoshop as a "rare" OP picture for Christ's sake! Also, sorry to the guy who just read through the archives and had the quest end in 2 updates. I wish it didn't end up this way!

Fucking retards, fuck you all.

>>4666872
Too bad we couldn't focus everything on the warden and take him out. Something else might have been salvageable if we took him out.
Well most of the crusaders are still alive and out there so we could set up shop elsewhere, the other is we do a last balls to the walls desperate assassination of the warden.

Honestly if we had a more pragmatic cardinal, or we didn't combine meth + religious fanaticism I think it be more in game character for us to accept the deal.

Poor choices like this probably lead to the fall of Maricopa so we lost the civil war lads.

>Yes

I really surprised at how badly we did and how quickly everyone got rolled. How many failed rolls did we get? What type of dice were you using?

>>4666872
Well we didn't exactly have a lot going for us due to our poor resource start since we were such a small faction, sooner or later we were gonna slip up, and the thin margins we operated when compared to the scale of a civil war in the USA with a pop of 300 + mil people, we would have never been a significatan enough force even if we mainly focused on building ourselves up as a faction since by the time we got big enough' other things would have progressed past us being able to do anything meaningful in the "wild west" times of the conflict.

I'd like if possible play as another faction within the same universe. Maybe as a corporate CEO turned warlord trying to sell an honest living to the downtrodden consumers, or as a Police officer turned Commie and try to live with his live choices under the POZ occupation and life.

>>4666872
I thought this would happen, and I'm horribly depressed at the outcome. I'm sorry for my part in all this.

I was surprised that most of the lads voted with me, but I guess that gut feeling was too strong, huh?

>Yes

I'm afraid I won't be reading it now. It was a fun ride though, OP, and it's a shame there won't be a continuation of this quest. You're a good QM, and it's a shame to lose you. I guess I'll have to pick up some whiskey myself now.

>>4666872
And to be fair, you said thread ending, not quest ending.

>>4666909
And out of everyone, I would have thought Dragomir would be the one to give in, having lived through the horrors of a previous Civil War, and being the cautious, meticulous type.

>>4666923
And I would say the build up was the most interesting part of it all, and I don't have the heart to play as a different faction in-universe mate. It was either Walter White or nothing.

I am curious if the anons here would like to keep the quest going, or to let it end like this?

>>4666870
Really fucking Game over?

Whelp whatever, GG was a good run but rip.

>herp de durr how could this happen??? QM only hinted multiple times that we stood no chance

>>4667062
Hey now, there's no need for that.

>>4666985
I would be I think RL is banging on everyone's door so things had to come to an end one way or another. At least this came to a (somewhat abrupt) ending.

Until the next Civil boogalo war themed thread comes around sticks for a while.

>>4667196
I knew RL would creep up on us eventually, I just... didn't expect a deep sense of regret to come with it. This quest was a great escape from reality for me, as my life went through quite a drastic change in between the beginning and end, and... I don't know. It's just a shame it had to end this way.

>>4667232
True, but it plays in to it somewhat.
Its a shame with all the effort and building we did character and lore wise go to waste.

We died as we lived; crusaders to the end! Surely God will have mercy upon our souls.

Would love to see some sort of continuation but I respect that the QM isn't pulling punches. Still, I wish that asshole had stayed in Australia.

>>4667077
Go play in traffic.

>>4667232
>This quest was a great escape from reality for me
Same man, super sad to see it come to an end. But let not go beating ourselves up. :)

>>4666870
>>Yes
QM this quest gave me a reason to keep living when my life got the darkest. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. u r an Angel.

>>4667524
I support the sentiment man. I say a final plus one is in order.

+1

+1

Even if nothing else comes of this, the memory of the Sunbelt Crusaders will live on in my post-apocalyptic tabletop campaigns.

Man I helped kill this quest.
I feel empty man.
>Yes an epilogue would be great.
Maybe the faction survived is one way or another or a local legend.

>>4666955
>I guess I'll have to pick up some whiskey myself now.
I got a half a liter of bottom shelf vodka left over, mate
>>4666968
>I would have thought Dragomir would be the one to give in, having lived through the horrors of a previous Civil War, and being the cautious, meticulous type.
Proud of the man for ordering to affix bayonets, busting out some speed and leading the charge
Not what I expected
As for the fate of the quest, could we get a desperate final meth fueled charge on the prison with the main force of Crusaders after they hear of this? No fucking way the raiders will learn to use the mortars in such a short time-frame

>>4666909
>Too bad we couldn't focus everything on the warden and take him out
Not for a lack of trying if the two guards getting turned into a lead induced human salsa is anything to go by.

The dice rolls were done in secret, and were mostly to check if you would get a lucky crit that would save you. It was the kind of situation where the situation that materialized was so bad that no matter of luck outside of a true miracle would change the outcome of a real fight.

Again, I will say that you guys massively overestimated your position. For some reason, you thought that a very small, weak force (as most were at Maricopa, and half of the remainder were at the Sierra Estrella) could somehow resist a large raider force that was known to have mostly defeated Gila Bend (a town about an order of magnitude larger than the village of Mobile). A small group with a mortar or two will not single handedly win you this sort of hilariously lopsided situation (almost no training, no proper support/forward observers, only vague idea of measurements, friendlies in pretty damn close range, etc.)

Recalling the only other time those mortars were used, White blew up the crashed plane by making sure to get a near exact measurement, making sure he had everything right, and then precisely adjusting after an initial miss. There was no danger outside of a misfire, no chance of the plane moving, no potential risk to friendlies, etc. That, and he's a literal genius who would probably consider solving a complex triple integral with trigonometric substitution and a swap to polar coordinates about as difficult as tying shoes. The point is that this encounter was a scenario where mortar use and really any sort of engagement was a very, very risky move that was not likely to succeed, which I was explicit about.

I don't think there's much more to say about the loss (probably wrote too much, but what else is new), so I'll leave it at that. And about most of the (fighting) crusaders being alive and maybe doing (another) exodus somewhere else, well, that'll be addressed in the epilogue. It probably won't come in for some days since it'll probably be pretty long. You can only condense the story of everyone, the country, and the near future so much if you want to get any meaningful details.

>>4666985
Similar sentiment on the faction/build-up stuff here. I did really like going into detail and "cheating" the POV by "switching" to certain people (esp Musella for a more "pro-normalcy" perspective and Mahoney for letting me write ridiculous conspiracies about Lunarians or w/e)

>>4668372
>Not what I expected
Not what he expected either! It was a desperate, near psychotic act pretty much intended to make him a martyr (even that failed.) A sort of last hurrah of the bayonet.

One last thing: Keep your eyes peeled for the epilogue and maybe some bonus/behind-the-scenes content afterwards. I can say that you guys won't want to miss it!

>>4669096
>I will say that you guys massively overestimated your position.
True, I didn't realize just how badly we would do and how well they would, or how badly outmatched we were. Didn't think we get a one bad choice event and be done like that, and the only combat reference I had in my mind was the team of crusaders who held off that massive horde wave of POZ troops. I figured we'd have additional choices to make during battle and if our cardinal even sacrificed himself to take out the warden the forces would falter a bit, like I'm talking everyone doing everything the can to just focus on taking out that one dude because those types of leaders tend to be the only ones holding thoses types of groups together.

>Gila Bend
I don't remember what kind of power or force they had and thought maybe the prison dudes lost a lot of strength taking it over.

>>4668372
Maybe the mortar guys blew up their stockpile before getting overrun.

I hope the ending is left open ended enough in case anyone is willing to take over or resume at a later date.

>>4669096
>Again, I will say that you guys massively overestimated your position. For some reason, you thought that a very small, weak force (as most were at Maricopa, and half of the remainder were at the Sierra Estrella) could somehow resist a large raider force that was known to have mostly defeated Gila Bend (a town about an order of magnitude larger than the village of Mobile). A small group with a mortar or two will not single handedly win you this sort of hilariously lopsided situation (almost no training, no proper support/forward observers, only vague idea of measurements, friendlies in pretty damn close range, etc.)

Fucking retards

>>4669279
>I hope the ending is left open ended enough in case anyone is willing to take over or resume at a later date.

No QM has done the right thing punishing you idiots.

>>4669096
>One last thing: Keep your eyes peeled for the epilogue and maybe some bonus/behind-the-scenes content afterwards. I can say that you guys won't want to miss it!

I hope you don't begrudge me too much if I do miss it. I'm still in mourning, and I can't bring myself to really read most of it to be honest.

>>4669279
>I hope the ending is left open ended enough in case anyone is willing to take over or resume at a later date.

Even if someone else was willing to take up the cause, it still wouldn't be the same Sunbelt Crusaders I grew attached to over the course of these threads. The QM who picked this up had brilliant way of running/writing the quest, and I can't really imagine anybody else really having that magical spark of fleshing things out so well.

>>4669541
>>4669549
Your largely right, it was a lapse of judgment on our parts, myself included, but I had expected (and hoped) that we would choose the wiser course, or for it to be a close vote, not almost unanimous. I'm still beating myself up about it.

>>4669549
Well I'm glad we ended the quest just so you can spite anons to make you feel better.

>>4670109
I thought there would be more options after it and a more finalized options to pick before such a big drastic change.

We never got to see Muller take out that barn house.

>>4670472
Never got to see a lot of things. Kai, Redfield, the Russian. It is interesting to note that the only two choices were submit or violence, despite there being 5 options plus write-in.

Hey, maybe there will be a return to save one of these days. Who knows what the future may bring?

I feel that despite it being a foolish move, it made sense in-character.

Musella would've gone for the smart play, Mahoney may have come up with some wacky move that miraculously worked, The Messenger would have been more level-headed, with Mueller it could have gone either way.

But with "Drakula", who has faced the horrors of mass executions and concentration camps, I can't see him allowing men to be enslaved when he can do something about it.

God fucking dammit this is one hell of a thing to come into after so long, I trusted you bastards to not blow everything up...literally.

Not actually all that mad, just disappointed.


>>4669096
To be frank QM, I'd quite happily take a roll-back / "this was all just the thoughts of Dragomir" or even a new faction maybe...but if possible I really want to stick with the Christian Crusader Crew and their Complete Catholic Crusade, fighting the Criminal, the Cruel and the Crazy.

>>4670753
Same mate! I'm man (and drunk) enough to admit it! But I understand that life has been getting busier, so I suggest (drunkenly) that you choose what's best for you, mate (QM). You are the arbiter of your life, not a couple of (great) anonymous smucks from 4chan!

>>4670461
Oh no, fuck you I'm legit mad at you idiots.

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>>4669279
>I hope the ending is left open ended enough in case anyone is willing to take over or resume at a later date.

Still writing up the epilogue, but I'd like to make a general clarification. If this quest is to be continued in any form, I fully expect it to be by rewinding/recontextualizing the last bit. Again, as I make no claims of ownership over this quest that I did not start, and I could nor would stop somebody from outright ignoring that last update or large portions of what was previously written. That said, I recognize (and am flattered by) the idea that after hijacking/necromancing the first thread way back that I've, whether I've wanted to or not, "made the quest my own" in the process. Given that I was just some random anon who decided to continue and not a wizened /qst/ veteran (never made a quest) I would like to think that out there, perhaps even you the reader, are great future QMs!

To anyone looking to necro a quest or start his own whole cloth, I'll say that it's pretty enjoyable. I do believe in the idea that a portion of your free time will no matter what go into pointless or even destructive pursuits (as much as I hate the idea of the Accursed Share), but I think that the best way to deal with that is to make something that you can look back on and which involves participating with others. I think participating in and even running quests is among the better, more fulfilling ways of spending your time bullshitting on imageboards.

Anyway, back on topic. The epilogue will go into the story of what will happen to the world if things proceed as normal given the events of the quest (mostly the almost totally unknown Global Events rolls) and will give "endings" to most of the main characters. As any continuation will necessarily alter that (be it a rewind or someone choosing to make his own faction) then the events will necessarily be null and void. I deviated so far off from the original QM's initial plans that I can only expect the same of others.

>>4670109
>I hope you don't begrudge me too much if I do miss it
No issue! I too have taken breaks from quests after disastrous outcomes that put me down. One was so bad, it's been months and I still haven't mustered the strength to read through the rest and get back to participating.

>>4670753
>God fucking dammit this is one hell of a thing to come into after so long, I trusted you bastards to not blow everything up...literally.
I imagine you as the guy in the background center there with the pizzas thinking "hey everyone, I'- OH GOD, WTF!"

>>4670485
>It is interesting to note that the only two choices were submit or violence, despite there being 5 options plus write-in.
Those were choices that could have been good ideas in other situations. Ex: if you guys had your full forces. The write-in is always there, at least if you want to come up with a zany scheme like calling for backup, delaying the transfer, and trying to pull off a pincer (still a longshot but just an example)

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Also, I saw some comments about, well, how do I put this without actually using the word? the self committing of not alive. I'm not going to pretend like I'm some close person who really knows what you individuals are going through in any of your specific situations and can give some deep personal commentary. In fact, I would rather not be privy to such things. I'm pretty much just some chucklefuck online. That said, I'll try to relay a story/concept that speaks to those in the midst of despair. Even though I'm absolutely not qualified to do so, I'll still try to put this in a Christian sort of framework befitting the quest's topic.

There is this concept in Christianity called the Divine Ladder. You may recall it from a meme I made earlier during the election if memory serves right. It's depicted in the East Christian icon in the pic, but its roots go back to the 600s. There's a lot going on, but let's consider what's going on with those demons poking people off of the ladder. What on earth is that supposed to be? Seriously, how can a demon cuck God from letting somebody go to Heaven? The guys who came up with this were either total morons or getting at something deeper. I'm not a real Christian or anything, but I think I can take a jab at this one.

If there really are a race of evil creatures trying to steal your soul, they'll ramp up their efforts to the max in the final stretch because there's no reason to hold off at that point. Whether that time is in your final moments of life or after death or whatever, that part's pretty obvious. Still, how does that even work since it's ultimately supposed to be your choice? Well, in some traditions (again, based on shit I've read on the Internet, sorry if I'm mischaracterizing) it's said that they will read off every single bad thing you've ever done in your life and tell you how much of a piece of shit you are to convince you that you're already theirs. That is a genius tier strategy.

The reason why that makes sense (again, if you buy into the lead up, if you don't that's another thing) is because you actually are guilty of doing all of those bad things. You actually are indeed a horrible piece of shit who has totally failed to live up to expectations. Yes, all of those things you did were actually horribly fucked up and cringeworthy. Yes, especially THAT one. All of the suffering you've been though? Yeah, you deserved that, and worse, it's because you're a sinful dumbass who is too fucking retarded to do the smart thing follow the orders of a totally powerful, knowing, and correct being. It's an effective strategy, because there's a lot of truth to it...

[1/2]

>>4671721

[2/2]

But it's not the whole story. Even if you are totally fucked up and deserve the worst, that doesn't mean you aren't also worthy of love and redemption and climbing the Divine Ladder up. In that paradigm, you were explicitly told that you were worth mercy and redemption, so why on earth would you (again) go against the wishes of the same person and tell Him that He's wrong and made a mistake with you specifically? It's pretty dumb, but when you're only looking at and being told half of the truth it becomes pretty enticing. I mean, it's even easier to just stop climbing and to throw yourself off. Of course, you're just being retarded again, and this time there's no coming back because you yourself decided to reject the way up and out.

Probably the only thing worse than jumping off of the ladder because you're being poked at, is not even taking the first step and just hurling yourself straight into that monstrous looking thing in that hole in the ground. That's what "self committing of not alive" (I refuse to call it anything less silly) is. It's a really bad fucking idea, and you shouldn't do it. Again, I don't know who you are or how badly you've fucked up, but I hope that this analogy of the Divine Ladder communicated something of worth. Other faiths and traditions have analogies you can draw comparisons to, like escaping Samsara or Gnosticism in general, although I'm not an expert in those realms and I have no intention of becoming one. I would argue that you could even come to a similar view through brute materialism, but this is already way, way too long as is. The short of it is: You have no right to despair.

Now, does rejecting despair, and climbing the ladder mean that you will be suddenly better off? Absolutely not, you're still going to get poked at. You'll probably be poked at harder, if anything, and if that guy almost at the top falling off is any indication, it won't stop until you're at the end. As much as there is always time to set things right, there's always time to permanently fuck them up. And your fuck up wills still be your fuck ups, and things won't necessarily get easier for you just because you're making the right moves. Expecting everything will be totally great and amazing in the old sense is not a good move, and you're not accepting the essence of reality. Don't be one of those guys who gets through a horribly rough patch to just join some cult and pretend like everything is only going to go up. On a purely personal note, stuff like that really pisses me off, almost as much as the whole topic I've been ranting about this whole time.

I'll cut it off here since I'm going way too much into it and this rant is absolutely out of control. I can only hope that one person can even slightly benefit from it, and if that happens, it will have been more worth it than all of the hours I've spent writing all other 4chan posts put together and will be worth the delay in getting the epilogue out.

/GigaRant

Doing God's work QM Anon, and I'm not even Christian. Deus Vult!

>>4671427
You should be more mad at yourself for not voting.

>>4671721
>>4671725
Now I'm sad we didn't have more theological meth fueled discussions in game.

I imagine a tweaked out crusader swinging a sword from the bottom at a bunch of recruits climbing a rickety ladder over a pit of boiling tar screaming "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!" over and over again.

>>4671821
I'm the only person who voted to give in.

Honestly a rewind would be nice

>>4671721
>>4671725
Despair comes when you feel that you don't have any control over a situation, when you wish desperately you had some control, or at least that the situation would stop spiraling downward into a personal hell. But the most important thing to keep in mind, when we're spiraling in that whirlpool of depression, is that we can control one thing. Yourself. You decide how you live your life, and though there will be forces beyond your control that will push and pull on you, it's by your own actions that you navigate the currents that life puts in your way, that will allow you to slog out of that spiral of darkness into a better, more stable flow forward. Life is about making the best of a bad situation, not being subjected to it. You may not be able to choose your trials, but you can choose your reaction to them, and often that's enough to make life more tolerable every day we live. No one is saying that it'll improve massively in a day, but a little improvement everyday will make a massive impact on your lives, anons.

There's my two cents spent.

>>4672167
I dislike rewinds but I'd prefer to keep playing and not lose everything we've made and contributed to build up till now, plus this quest deserves another go, but I don't think the QM is up for it. He seems busy and needs a break and this seems like the best chance for him to end things as I don't think has got things planned that far ahead.

>>4673154
I agree on all points. So much time invested in this quest down the drain, sucks ass.

>>4673154
Don't be a sniveling passive-aggressive coward by trying to project onto the QM. You are one of the morons who caused this bad end to happen. Accept it, embrace it, and stop trying to deflect from it, idiot.

DOnt know what the fuck is going on but yeah. good quest.

>>4673375
Lol your one to talk with all your projecting.

Quest would end sooner or later if you paid attention to the pace and speed of updates its been slowing down and things keep coming up with long delays between posts. No defection, no non-acceptance. You seem to be the one unable to accept so you lash out.

>>4674824
I largely agree that our time in sun with this QM was waining, but I do understand the other anon's frustration as well. It's like if you've enthusiastically watched Firefly, only to realize they cancelled it before a proper resolution could happen. I can sympathize with his plight, even if I disagree with his reaction to the events unfolding atm.

>>4674872
I completely agree the ending was fairly unsatisfied and felt a bit anticlimactic with most of the shit we've pulled and the general balls to the walls way we like to do things with. I don't think I've said otherwise, but being on /qst/ for years and trying to enthusiastically play threads that literally die after the first post let alone after 1 or rarely 2 threads after putting effort to play or participate just doesn't faze me all the much anymore.

We're not at the bottom of the catalogue yet, but if this thread does fall off the board I'll start a new thread and post the header so that you can post the epilogue Drunk Anon QM. Take your time.

>>4676762
Ye. Better to end it properly than hastily.

>>4674824
>I dislike rewinds but I'd prefer to keep playing and not lose everything we've made and contributed to build up till now,
>but I don't think the QM is up for it.
>He seems busy
>and needs a break
>and this seems like the best chance for him to end things
>as I don't think has got things planned that far ahead.

You insulted him 4 times in two sentence. You downplayed any contribution made by the QM, DESPITE him being the one RUNNING the quest. You implied he wasn't man enough to finish a quest. You insinuated his life was spiraling out of control and couldn't handle the load of running a quest. You literally called him a bungling moron who can't see past his nose.
You are a garbage person and I don't care that you have a little circlejerk going around trying to stroke you e-peen, I want you to know that you, the person, reading these words, sitting at your computer, are an insufferable human being.

>>4679570
What is wrong with you?

Having an opinion is insulting people to you apparently, or you're projecting all that shit from your little tantrum because you've got no where else or anyone else to scream and cry at like a child.

All that shit in your post is stuff you've draw up in your mind from your own ego. You are describing yourself.

>You implied he wasn't man enough to finish a quest.
>You insinuated his life was spiraling out of control
>You literally called him a bungling moron who can't see past his nose.
Perfect example.

If I thought poorly of anyone if would be you and how you display yourself neurotically in public.

>>4679570
It's kind of funny how much he's tried to play off his own stupidity.

If you don't have anything nice to say, say it anonymously and alarmingly via cryptic letters to journalists, academics, and elected officials, not fellow autists.

>>4679719
Being an autist does not excuse stupidity, point of fact I don't know why anyones surprised when dumbass decisions ended something some people have been invested in for months.

>>4679953
I've invested months into this as well anon, as did most of us. You're not the only one upset to see it go.

This is going to be a long one. Get comfy, maybe put on some tea and a nice background track of your choice, and do be sure to at least check out the end if this is all too long for you!

Just dropping this since I've been in a Vice City mood as of late:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u02tycroA30

>Yes

>Crusader Outcome: The Subsummation

After the disastrous defeat on the 238 and the subsequent scouring of Mobile, the Sun Belt Crusaders were doomed. With their entire civilian support base and painstakingly built infrastructure gone, the faction became totally and utterly reliant on Maricopa. In this state, the small force remaining had no ability to go against their masters and lost any sovereignty. Its tough image of a vital, powerful Christianity that could take the fight to Christ's enemies and move ever forward was shattered and subsequently its ability to win over converts was as well. The Crusaders became little more than an elite, if eccentric, wing of Maricopa's M.M.P. with little to no autonomy.

In the hour of the scouring the Messenger did his best to try and round his men up and send them back to Mobile in time. It was a completely hopeless effort. By the time the exercise could be halted and everyone rounded up, the battle had already turned into a slaughter, such was the lopsided engagement the defenders chose to take. From the last messages and subsequent radio silence, it was clear that by the time any forces could be sent it was already too late. The Messenger was denied even one last 'Hail Mary' charge to dislodge the raiders when Maricopa's leadership forbade them from doing so and totally rejected lending any of their forces to help in a doomed endeavor so close to the date of the P.O.Z. meeting.

The remainders were largely scattered. Most of Mobile was caught up by the raiders and their fates were predictably tragic. A few managed to reach the Sierra Estrella base with detailed accounts of the chaos. The skeleton garrison there decided that maintaining the location was simply not possible, and what was left fled to Maricopa using the northern route. The prisoners, of course, ended up getting captured by the raiders, including the dozen or so battered ex-bikers for whom the decision to sacrifice the entirety of the Crusaders was made for. The Mobile Infantry previously stationed there chose to retire from fighting and integrated into the Maricopa population. With time, most of the Crusaders ended up sharing a similar fate of being subsumed into Maricopa, either as civilians or M.M.P. members.

[1/?????]

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>>4691747

[2/?????]

>Messenger Outcome: ????????

After his attempts at retaking the wrecked ash heap once called Mobile were rebuffed, the Messenger stuck around Maricopa a little while longer. With Mobile gone, it was the only place left. The encounter with the P.O.Z. came and went without violence, as the crusader remnants and the M.M.P. were able to present enough of a threat to make negotiation more tempting than brute force. During the weeks following the disaster on the 238 the Messenger attempted to breathe new life into the Sun Belt Crusaders. It was a lost cause, however.

With the horrendous damage done to the Crusaders' reputation, few were willing to dedicate themselves to the faction. The hardline, more traditional community saw them as weak losers who were just dogs of the M.M.P., a sentiment that had largely come true. The more moderate types willing to overlook the more strange claims in the interest of safety and proper governance obviously lost interest once they had lost Mobile. Even the failsafe strategy of offering vagrants and similar types drugs in exchange for service wasn't an option, since the massive meth operation simply could not be restored while under the careful watch of the Maricopan government.

One day the Messenger simply disappeared along with some of his men. Why they left, how it happened, their destination, and other questions were left unanswered. One of the crusaders left behind mentioned that when he asked the Messenger what he would do after the fateful day everything collapsed, the answer he received was to "finish what I started." What that means and the fate of the Messenger remains an open question,,,

>>4691750

[3/?????]

>Cardinal Mueller Outcome: Going Native

On the day of the attack, Cardinal Mueller was making preparations on a major raid that would get rid of the radical organization that had infiltrated the Native government. Mueller, a law enforcement official he befriended, and a few good men were to conduct the attack and end the menace that night. Needless to say, the destruction of Mobile proved to be a major complication. The use of advanced equipment such as night vision lenses was out of the question, and the M.M.P. was certainly not going to get involved. Despite the major setbacks, Mueller decided that he would follow through. Even if his original goal was to convert and recruit as many as possible for his extremist faith, he had developed deep bonds with and a fondness for the community. He wasn't going to let them down.

The original plan was completely scrapped due to the complications, and the group resorted to a plan that more or less consisted of walking through the front door and shooting everyone. With the knowledge obtained from the creative ploy used to deceive one of its higher ups, it actually went off to a good start. The group of four either subdued or slaughtered the initial guards once allowed in, and reinforcements from behind were suppressed with a former SWAT sniper acting as over-watch. In a situation reminiscent of an action movie the four moved through the building, cutting down those in their path, and getting into a final high-stakes firefight in front of a fortified room used as an armory. Mueller was savagely wounded by what was assumed to be the enemy's leader, but was spared from death when his partner Dolores managed to kill him through a well placed shot through a wall that retained enough power to get through his heavy armor (made possible by the revolver's ludicrously large caliber). Once taking the final safehouse, things fell into place.

Using documents obtained from the area, law enforcement managed to prove the existence of sleepers working in their own departments and interfering with investigations. In addition to stockpiling weapons to take over the town and force enough chaos to cause a P.O.Z. invasion, there were also long lists of civilians and other neutral parties to be purged in the takeover. Everyone from law enforcement to local business owners to random casino workers were on the proverbial chopping block. The result was a hard reaction against the radicals and their ideological allies. Mueller and Dolores became heroes, with Dolores having enough clout to heavily influence policy choices and with Mueller being the one to facilitate the community linking up with Maricopa again.

>>4691751

[4/?????]

Mueller, despite being mostly confined to his (complimentary) suite at the casino, was very effective at actually making converts and bringing people to the faith. While the Sun Belt Crusaders had ceased to be an independent faction, Mueller had largely succeeded in turning the community Christian. The M.M.P. used its influence to make sure that this couldn't be used as a source of manpower to revive the faction (distrusting both factions) and developing events in Maricopa meant that there was little attitude for active participation in the war. Going forward, the Native community found itself in a comfortable position internally and with regards to its neighbors. As he went through a months' long healing process that almost saw his leg amputated, Mueller was glad that he could at least help them, even if his original faction essentially fell apart.

In the end, Mueller found himself at the head of a devout and somewhat sizeable Catholic community in the Reservation which even managed to draw outside converts over the years of the Civil War. With the Messenger gone and the complete disarray of the broader church, Mueller's successor to the Sun Belt Crusaders' faith was notably toned down in zeal and became a sort of mixture between hardline traditionalist Catholicism in its doctrine/practices with a generally Protestant evangelical manner of expression. Even after the Civil War was done, Mueller stayed true to the faith and never abandoned the community he had found himself at home in.

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>>4691753

[5/?????]

>Nick Mahoney Outcome: Lunar War III

When the highway defenses on the 238 were overrun by raiders, Nick Mahoney was working on propaganda at the newly built media center. Hearing mortar shells blasting and seeing the defenders being overrun, he realized that his worst fears were coming to pass. By his analysis of the true situation and deep study into astrological events, it should have been impossible for such a thing to happen. After all, the forces of the New World Order were currently busy fighting off the Lizardfolk in the east coast, and the Lunarians were interfering with both sides enough to make sure the Sun Belt Crusaders had time to become a strong faction in time to save the world. This much is obvious, completely true, and needs no further elaboration, except that something went wrong in the divine plan. Seeing this, Mahoney decided he would have to resort to plan A: hiding in his bunker until things blew over.

Luckily, the media center was based in his bunker and he was easily able to lock himself in before any raiders got to him. In his bunker, alone and completely safe behind a ludicrous amount of concrete and heavy steel, Mahoney began to furiously work to expose the truth. He had absolutely no contact with the outside world (the government is tracking all of that anyway) and next to no entertainment or anything to occupy himself with other than writing. For over a decade he spent roughly twelve hours a day with vacations or days off furiously writing like a madman. There were times when he questioned whether or not he was in the right, or whether or not he was sane, but he made sure to always move forward. The result beggared belief.

When Mahoney had finally left his bunker, the Civil War was long over. America had finally been reunited and the world was mostly in a state of peace. Sure, there were multiple wars raging across the world, but a man could once again drive from California's Central Valley to Nevada's mountains, continue towards the Texas plains, take an unexpected trip to Florida's Everglades, and then go all the way up the Eastern Seaboard without once leaving the control of the U.S. It was in this peace that Mahoney would unleash the opening salvo in the war for the mind.

During his time underground, Mahoney had written four hundred & fifty nine movie (459) scripts, one hundred & thirty eight (138) propaganda pamphlets, forty seven (47) epic length novels, one thousand three hundred & seventy seven (1377) news articles, six hundred & eighty eight (688) television show scripts, and one (1) book of poetry. Many of the themes were repetitive, the quality was mixed (to put it mildly). and rate of any of his work being accepted at any publishing house or other such entity was quite depressingly low. Nonetheless, with literally tens of millions of words worth of material, some of it was bound to stick. And in Mahoney's case, he had something unexpected going for him...

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>>4691754

[6/?????]

The Second American Civil War was by far the single most brutal, devastating war ever fought on American soil. The casualties were mind boggling, with tens of millions dead and entire cities totally wiped off of the map. The horrors America avoided in the first half of the twentieth century were more than made up for in the horrific slaughter that was its second civil war. Even under a new order and with a new peace, the country would take generations to recover. More than ever, there was an appetite for escapism.

Whether or not it was Mahoney's intention, his works were considered totally insane, fantastical, and fun. A movie about intricate conspiracies involving a hidden race of lizardfolk terrorizing small towns by means of stealing cattle and altering the ratios of heavy metals in drinking water was perhaps not the best written or most logical story, but the short film made using the script turned out to be a surprise cult hit. The seven part epic about a small time alchemist becoming a warlord in the abandoned hinterlands of a collapsing empire actually got its first book published and had enough sales to justify publishing the rest. While Mahoney was saddened that the political and sociological work he had put so much time into was almost totally ignored outside of fringe groups on some of the internets, it really didn't bother him too much. The sadness was all washed away when he saw the first episode of an obscure Japanese animated series - Legend of Lunar War: Part One - about the historical adventures of a Japanese princess and the prophet of the Islamic faith on a mission to stop the evil race of moon people (based on true stories.)

Mahoney didn't become the next great American novelist or director, but he did have a impact in the world of pop culture. Soon enough, he felt, the truth was going to come out and the world would know. The New World Order might have won the Second American Civil War, but they had not yet won the War for the Mind.

>>4691756

[7/?????]

>D.E.A. Agent Robert Mazur Outcome: Into Hell and Back

Agent Robert Mazur acting as "Bob Musella" while undercover was smart enough to conveniently disappear when he saw the massive army of raiders at Mobile's doorstep. The way he saw it, the worst case thing that would happen if he passed on a fight was that he'd make up some kind of excuse and receive a few sideways glances. The reality, however, quickly sank in as he heard mortar blasts and the subsequent storm of gunfire. He stormed out of the building with his trusty briefcase and ran off to escape. He wasn't sure where he would go since he knew staying with the insane crusader faction about to get slaughtered wasn't an option anymore. He considered Goodyear or maybe just making up some story and going to Maricopa anyway. When he saw a familiar face limping out of the small town clinic, however, he decided to take one last chance and go for the unknown.

The devil who fell from the sky, "Nikolai Ondrejko," was in the processes of escaping. The sight of the bandaged man awkwardly moving as quickly as possible with crutches with a pair of obviously stolen keys in his hands would have been comedic had not been approaching. After a brief, tense conversation where the both of them acknowledged one another as rats fleeing a sinking ship, the two joined forces. Mazur had no idea where he could even go outside of the Badlands, and there was no way in hell that the crippled devil could reasonably escape on his own. The escape was tight, but successful. Mobile burnt behind them as they sped off road into the endless sea of sand.

As Mazur looked from the rear view mirror (obviously as the driver) knew he the Sun Belt Crusaders were as good as dead. Without that factory their meth operation would be crippled, and these sorts of losses were truly fatal. He was glad that those insane lunatics were finally rid of, even if he had grown a certain attachment to their lot over time. He had slipped into the mindset so much that didn't even plan for the contingency of him needing to totally abandon them on a dime. Thankfully, the Russian agent (or whoever he was) had done just that, and was even lucky enough to find somebody willing to cooperate without being held at gunpoint as was originally planned. The two of them had quite the interesting conversation on the way to Goodyear...

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>>4691758

[8/?????]

The two of them proceeded to have a wild, bloody adventure of sorts. Ondrejko knew that if he could get to New Vegas, then he could get his "people" to send Mazur and himself wherever they wanted. With the hellish state of the Badlands, this was easier said than done. The highlight for Mazur was when he had to rob one of the mercenaries with whom he had worked not long ago. While they were in his eyes terrorists who deserved a bullet for killing (or joking about killing) federal officials such as himself, he did see them as human. While his whole view on life wasn't changed by a single conversation about a tabletop wargame, it was enough to make him at least leave something behind.

In the end both of them made it to Kingman, where Ondrejko's smooth talking and knowledge about New Vegas got them safe passage. The city, totally reinvented and in many ways as unrecognizable as places like Phoenix, simultaneously awed and terrified Mazur. It was at the least certainly a bold vision for what America could be, and one that Mazur wasn't totally on board with. In any case, Ondrejko thanked Mazur for helping him escape alive and, as a parting gift, helped connect him to somebody who could give him work while he waited for the situation to evolve such that he could fly home. In their last chat, before Ondrejko got on the plane to leave America for good, he told Mazur his supposedly true identity. Mazur couldn't be sure if this was indeed the truth or just a second layer of lies, but it did ring disturbingly true to him. When he asked why he would be told this, Mazur received the reply that even if he told the world nobody would believe him and that it wouldn't matter. For what it was worth, Mazur did convince himself to believe the man with the alias of Ondrejko, if only to believe that he had made at least one candid friend.

Everything after that passed by quickly and might as well have been irrelevant for all that Mazur cared. After what ended up being years, Mazur did manage to reunite with his family. He was a changed man, having gone to hell and back. He had betrayed friends who had been nothing but kind to him. The group he had dedicated his life to was gone when he returned. The family he came back to was itself not without scars. But Robert Mazur was home among people he could truly be his sincere self around. Somehow, he felt that this would be the happiest ending he would receive.

>>4691765

[9/?????]

>Other Cardinals' Outcome: ????????

?????????????????????

>>4691769

[10/?????]

>Maricopa Outcome: Staying Alive

With the destruction of Mobile exposing Maricopa to a major danger to the west, Mayor Preis knew he had little choice regarding the Phoenix Occupied Zone.

During the meeting of the two factions a large force from the P.O.Z. outfitted with armored vehicles, heavy weaponry, and large numbers marched on Highway 347. Opposite to them was the full strength of Maricopa, including the remaining Crusaders. In spite of his strength, Preis fully gave into the P.O.Z. demands of promises of non-aggression, shipments of weapons, providing manpower, and most importantly shipping its large agricultural excess to the revolutionary republic.

As the war in Phoenix raged on, Preis and the Maricopans pursued a policy of diplomacy and meekly submitting to the P.O.Z. The P.O.Z. demands grew increasingly bold and strenuous, especially as food scarcity became a larger and larger problem. Nonetheless, a combination of corrupt underreporting of production and inviting influential P.O.Z. officials to relocate to town kept Maricopa in better shape than most other places in the Sun Belt. For all of the ideological bluster, Maricopa's de facto conquerors proved remarkably practical and willing to carve out exceptions to further the overall mission.

The Native issue that looked to be the fifth column to bring Maricopa down was, to the surprise of most, solved in the nick of time. The liability turned into a major asset as the P.O.Z. grew its influence. Most obviously, it freed up military resources Maricopa would have had to use watching their backs instead of presenting strength to the P.O.Z. or watching for threats from the Sun Belt. But more importantly, it proved to be a major help in diplomacy. The casino was a prime place to invite officials and get them invested in the long term health of the community (with bribes, alcohol, and even the occasional lady of the night helping). Less tangibly, the dogged advocacy of a group P.O.Z. leadership had a hard time scapegoating as oppressors and with deep blood ties to a significant part of the P.O.Z. military was invaluable. The Crusader preacher's efforts had done wonders in turning the population against the ideological position that slowly dominated Phoenix, and Maricopa would benefit from that faction running interference on their behalf.

Maricopa did not make it through unscathed. The majority of its food was sent to Phoenix, even when its own population was on the verge of starving. Its weapons and manpower were increasingly funneled into the raging war in Phoenix. When hordes from south along the Sun Corridor descended on Stanfield and threatened to wipe away the breadbasket, the town was hard hit and barely recovered. But despite it all, Maricopa did make it through.

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>>4691771

[11/?????]

>Lewis Correctional Protectorate Outcome: Energy Nightfall

When the masked madman was forced into a battle with an unknown foe on the 238, he could not have predicted just how much of a windfall he would receive. Not only did he crush the surprisingly overconfident defenders and receive hundreds of slaves, but he also got a motherlode of loot. His personal army was boosted by the stockpiles of weapons and armor the Crusaders had been given by the Maricopan government, and the various goods (including the massive supplies of meth) provided a sizeable injection of wealth. Most interestingly, he had obtained a large supply of military artillery pieces with a large supply of ammunition. He laughed like a madman on seeing this, seeing just what had deluded this faction into such a false sense of security. He did not know how they came across this, nor did he care. What he did know was that his grand plan was looking more realistic than ever, and that he would not make the same mistake.

The Warden continued his conquest of the region of the Gila River following the I-8. His forces rode west, seizing key towns and pieces of infrastructure. The successful scouring of Mobile was a major help to this. Not only did it remove one faction that could have challenged his rule, but the burning ash-heap seemed to act as a sort of buffer zone. From what his scouts reported there was no threat from Maricopa, a hornet nest the Warden had no intention of antagonizing. In the large, sparse wastes of western Arizona, the Lewis Correctional Protectorate was in its ascendency.

As it gained power momentum, other factions had figured out the Warden's plan. In particular, the Electric Union had kept careful track of a number of locations the Warden had attacked and could only conclude the worst. The Warden was systematically taking key pieces of infrastructure for utilities. Everyone knew that the last thing the Badlands needed was more infrastructural devastation and there was a universal, if tacit, agreement on part of all factions to not target things like electrical infrastructure. The Electric Union realized that the keystone in the Warden's plan was without a doubt the Palo Verde nuclear power plant and the massive network of electrical infrastructure that was the faction's home...

>>4691778 FUCK, missed the trips

[12/?????]

The Electrical Union called for aid from all over. The faction was largely composed of engineers and other neutral workers, which meant they had a broad appeal. While they failed to gain the interest of the P.O.Z. and had even less success with the Phoenix Coalition for Restoration, they did manage to build up a sizeable force to meet the Warden's forces in battle. While the fighters were mostly inexperienced locals, they weren't prepared to let the madman hold the Badlands hostage.

The battle was tense, with the defenders being generally outgunned and outmaneuvered, but with the attackers outnumbered and having difficulty getting through the hardened defenses the engineers had built. It was then that the Warden unleashed his secret weapon. A concentrated barrage of mortar blasts rendered a whole chunk of the defenses into nothing but bits of concrete and gore. Many of the defenders were confused until the second barrage came. The result was devastating, as defenders fled the battlefield in terror. The battle was lost, and the Warden seemed to have obtained total victory against the coalition. Yet, he did not win.

For reasons nobody knew, after the second barrage of mortar blasts, the raiders operating them seemed to start dropping like flies. From seemingly nowhere, high powered bullets shredded anyone manning the mortars and anyone looking to replace them. Panicking at their secret superweapon being suddenly rendered moot, raider morale shattered. This gave the defenders a chance to regroup, reorganize, and repulse the attackers. Behind the metal mask, the Warden's expression could not be known, but horror would have been a good guess.

With a strange, but decisive victory, the Electric Union's coalition launched a counter attack. The Lewis Correctional Protectorate lost momentum and faced a crippling internal power struggle. The meteoric rise was met with a devastating fall. After the brutal Siege of Lewis Prison, the Warden's men were finally defeated and the man himself was found having failed to commit suicide. His corpse would be seen swinging at the prison's entrance for some time to come.

With the nightmarish state defeated and the plans to terrorize Arizona through its infrastructure foiled, the coalition disbanded. The mortars were simply too valuable for any faction to trust allowing any other to have, with one exception. The Electrical Union itself was deemed to be worthy, as everything it had done was by all accounts truly for the preservation of Arizona's infrastructure. The only loose end in the story was how the mortars were foiled in the first place. Colorful rumors have it that a group of marksmen appeared in the desert with foreknowledge of the mortars and with the ability to kill from a mile out, but all most people really cared about was that the lights and air conditioners kept running.

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>>4691780

[13/?????]

>Phoenix Outcome: Keep the Red Flag Flying

Phoenix, the beating heart of Arizona and it's rapidly growing megaregion, was caught up in a massive conflagration along ideological lines. The two factions of the aforementioned P.O.Z. (nominally the successor government) and a loose right wing coalition called the Phoenix Coalition for Restoration (P.C.R.) fought bitterly against one another. The P.C.R. had the advantage in territorial size and food production, but the P.O.Z. had a number of other advantages.

For all of its faults, the P.O.Z. was excellent at executing plans on a strategic level and maximally utilizing their resources. The P.C.R. would be locked up in disputes regarding end goals between the myriad of sub-factions, which ranged from rigidly bureaucratic successor governments in places like Goodyear to fringe, borderline schizophrenic regimes in places like Fountain Hills. With the need to constantly mediate between coalition members while simultaneously playing favorites, the strategic success of the P.C.R. suffered. While the P.O.Z. would often suffer on a tactical level, they made sure each of their losses contributed to a grander plan of securing momentum, much like a skilled chess player sacrifices pieces to maintain tempo and outmaneuver his opponent.

The P.O.Z. was rewarded for its prudence, and the P.C.R. suffered for its hubris. While the fighting was devastating, Phoenix remained a coherent, mostly intact urban zone. As Paxton's gambit removed the presence of heavy weaponry, most of the infrastructure remained in place and allowed Phoenix to somewhat thrive once order was restored. That order, to the joy of those on the broader left, was under the black and red flag flying proud above the steps of the Phoenix capitol building.

To those not part of the broader left, the result was not so positive. The general punishment for P.C.R. fighters and other combatants was generally harsh correctional labor. For particularly notorious, recalcitrant, reactionary, or simply effective units, the sentence was a quick show-trial and subsequent execution. For civilians in formerly P.C.R. held areas, heavy surveillance and a zero tolerance policy towards dissent backed by heavy force kept things orderly, productive, and generally miserable. Some clung to the idea of some kind of new uprising or to the idea that internal reform could be achieved through pointing out the rank hypocrisy of what they viewed as a tyrannical anarchy. It was totally moot, as that side of the Phoenix metropolitan area was utterly crushed, totally powerless, and totally negligible going forward...

>>4691782

[14/?????]

>Badlands Outcome: The Stagnation

Once Phoenix was secured, the P.O.Z. began the process of rapidly seizing surrounding territories. With the heavy industry, technical expertise, and sheer numbers the urban center could deploy, the fighting was trivial. While Tucson could have proved a challenge, it was simply too fractured to mount a real resistance. In a matter of months its armies managed to spread across Arizona and unify one of the most broken states in the former Union. The era of a diverse Badlands with factions such as the Stanton Psychedelic Sovereignty, the Florentine Fortress-Monastery, the Electric Union, and the Sun Belt Crusaders had been crushed. While small sections of territory such as New Vegas' mountainous buffer zone avoided assimilation, this was more than made up for by the relatively painless annexation of New Mexico (a state less than half as populous as Phoenix's metro population.)

After its success at conquering, the new revolutionary republic ran into issues in actually administering its realm. During the expansion phase factional divides were held at bay toward the end furthering the revolution. A hardline believer in scientific socialism ready to die for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat could fight side by side with radical racial separatist seeking redemption for racial injustices through violence. That was the case, at least, until hard decisions had to be made on policies such as funneling resources towards heavy industry or consumer goods. A railway modernization effort was ground to a halt amid accusations of prioritizing existing rural communities over newly created communes, and the failures to break the stalemate in the mountainous north provided endless opportunities to safely blame opposing parties and try to accrue power...

>>4691784

[15/?????]

The end result was a loose alliance with Chinese-controlled California and the broader "Red Coast," as the West Coast was nicknamed. An invasion of Northern Mexico, a region faring badly in the Mexican Civil War, was heavily considered by some. With Canadian rebels having crossed into the Mid-West, Paxton's subsequent invasion of Canada, and the utter breakdown of the old international order, there wouldn't have been serious consequences if they could win and secure territory. With the region's vulnerability and neither independent Texas nor California wanting to expand, it was perhaps the only real way for the revolution to maintain momentum. Nonetheless, the ethnic makeup of the Badlands made such a plan a third rail given the ideology of the faction. After an explosive entry onto the scene, the Badlands quickly became a third rate power as the Civil War intensified.

The third rate power was largely seen as a junior partner to California along with the Oregonians, and rightfully so. In a process facilitated by internal divisions and the odd Chinese peacekeeper unit, the Red Badlands came under increasing Californian influence as the region was used for heavy industry. With its plentiful mines and inland position protecting its infrastructure from piratical raids, the southwest became a major production center for the West Coast. Even with ammunition, small arms, and armored vehicles being churned out of the production lines, the Badlands was no match for the terror to its east...

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>>4691787

[16/?????]

>National Outcome: The American Caesar

A man such as Paxton III should have been impossible in the modern era. The times where military leaders could decide fate on their own was long gone. Civilian control of the military was such a core institution that nobody could even conceive of the idea that a four star would forge his own faction and choose his own fate. Yet somehow, that is exactly what Paxton III did when he literally walked into the Chicago Anarchy and gave the warring factions the choice to either let themselves and the world get trampled under the old world order or to forge a new one. A new faction, General Paxton's "Militia," emerged.

Almost overnight, the situation changed. The old government was totally caught off guard and unable to respond. Remaining generals chose to unite on their own, throw off the shackles of Washington, and absorb the militia groups they were fighting to set their sights on the U.N. dominated Mid-Atlantic. And that's nothing to say of the Navy, which proceeded to morph into the unholy combination of mercenaries and pirates known as Sailors Without Borders. Indeed, it was the Navy's actions that had more impact on the world than anything else, as few things are as important to the modern order as international shipping networks.

In any case, it was Paxton's original faction that ended up gaining the most momentum. His leadership took the totally shattered Rust Belt and forged it into something stronger than could have been imagined. Factions that had blood rivalries set their ideologies aside and worked towards the goals of furthering Paxton's vision for the world. Everyone projected his beliefs onto the newly emerged state. The hardcore left saw him as the man to institute the Dictatorship of the Proletariat as he seized the means of production. The hardcore right meanwhile saw the extreme militarism and vital masculinity as a sign that Paxton was really on their side. Those wishing for the old ways to return took heart in the fact that Paxton was a restorationist seeking to reunite the country as the U.S.A. Those who hated the idea of America emphasized the principle of a new world-order.

To Paxton, all that he did was done for power. The cheering masses interpreted him stringing up politicians and billionaires as a thousand different ideological messages, when in reality he was just purging the old elite to secure power for himself. The careful use of both overt and covert propaganda as well as his sheer charisma kept the masses happy, and more importantly the new elite he was forging among those helped him were happy at the power they were gaining. The power was, of course, directly linked to Paxton's continued success. Whenever the Paxtonites would seize a new area the old elites, which to Paxton III included anyone from politicians to university professors, were given the choice of totally subsuming themselves to his will or being violently replaced by the barrel of a gun...

>>4691788 Eh, I'll take the dubs

[17/?????]

With the entirety of the new society he built focused on the success of the state, a united elite working tirelessly to advance his goals, and a ridiculous amount of arms he managed to gain through a grand act of deception, Paxton made constant gains. The victories were hard fought, with millions perishing as rolling tank battles consumed the largely flat Eastern Seaboard. Summary executions were standard fare as whole cities were made examples of. The purging of Canadian rebels in America may have taken longer than expected, but the massive counter attack that ended up with the entire country eventually annexed was brutal enough to give even the Sailors Without Borders elements paid to provide fire support pause, including those who participated in the infamous "Operation: Delilah."

Eventually, the entire Eastern Seaboard fell to Paxton III. Even as bones were bleaching under the hot Floridian sun or being buried under the snows of Pennsylvania, Paxton kept moving forward. The revived Texas Republic was once again annexed by America, except this second time was done with tanks rolling through the boulevards of Houston. The western factions were given the ultimatum of peaceful annexation or death. The smart ones such as New Vegas chose annexation. Others, notably Chinse controlled California, were devastated. While California's offered terms of annexation were worse than that of any other's on account of their semi-foreign status, it would have been considered a great act of mercy compared to what happened. Once Portland was fully secured, the nation had finally been united.

Paxton's New Order, officially just the United States of America, was a state unlike anything America had experienced. Freedom was no longer the highest value professed by the state. That had become order. Criticizing the state was a crime and theoretically could land a person in prison for years. The rights afforded by the old constitution's Bill of Rights were gone, as a "Third Continental Congress" totally rewrote the fundamental rules of the country. Of course, these rules did not truly matter since whatever Paxton or his eventual successor wanted would become law. There was still a Congress that met in Washington D.C. and that even pretended to actually matter. In reality, the real center of power was in Paxton's seat of power in Chicago...

>>4691789 1789 is when the Constitution was ratified, so I guess that fits

[End?/End?]

Many had seen America as the new Rome and its second civil war as its collapse. This was partially correct, except the collapse was not of the Roman Empire, but of the Roman Republic. Likewise, the American Empire was a vital state at its inception. Having "rehabilitated" the mad dog that was its predecessor's navy in exchange for amnesties for its heinous crimes, American naval power dominated world trade and effectively looted large amounts of wealth for the country. The American land forces licked its wounds as it set its sights to utilizing its immense strength in ways scarcely impossible to imagine except perhaps in the worst nightmares of world peace advocates. As horribly devastated as the country was, America was still an absolute powerhouse, especially as many of the other world powers suffered similar levels of damage. American hegemony was not going anywhere.

To most of its citizens, these issues did not matter. Most Americans were simply glad that the fighting was over and that somebody had won. The country's collective willingness to slaughter itself over ideology had seemingly dissipated and a spirit of optimism emerged from the ashes. People came together under the new state and tried to focus on the positives in their lives. The common sentiment was that tens of millions were enough corpses, and that things could only go up. Many did lament the loss of freedom, likening the new America to something closer to contemporary China (a very astute observation.) Some religious zealots saw Paxton as the Antichrist, especially once the state mandated AmeriCoin chips began to roll out. Nonetheless, most people were just happy to be safe, have jobs, and enjoy that the high speed rail trains ran on time.

Whether his name went into the history books as a hero or a villain, Paxton III had proven himself one of its great men. Once his peace was secured, which one his people saw him as was of no concern to the American Caesar.

>>4691793

[19/?????]

>...

>...

>Aren't we forgetting someone?

>>4691796

[20/20]

The man once called a cardinal, Dragomir Trkulja, shivered on the cold floor in his threadbare rags. He could hear the screams of the dying, but whether or not it was real or just the crazed hallucinations of a madman he was unsure. He had lost track of time. He had lost track of himself. The man who thought he could run away from his demons by sailing across an ocean only ended up creating worse ones in his new land. The unshaved, disheveled form murmured the words to a prayer, although he did not know if anyone would actually listen to him. He clearly wasn't listening to himself. He had not killed himself, but he did not have the strength to keep living.

In his delirious state, Dragomir saw visions of untold horrors. He saw Satan and his army covered in light and bringing death to the world as it cheered. Christ could be seen above, but He did nothing. Dragomir saw His face but could not read His expression. A deep sense of panic overcame him as he felt himself responsible. The entire world was responsible, but that did not absolve him. In his vision Christ's gaze stared penetrated his very soul and he felt the greatest feeling of despair in his life. It pierced through his belly and radiated out in a spiral as if his soul was being twisted and churned into nothing. Dragomir felt that if he was not in hell, then he was merely one step away from it.

>????????

In the briefest of moments, Dragomir found himself able to think and see clearly. He was still writhing on the floor in pain, but he could now at least think. Somehow, he felt like he had been given the ultimate gift of mercy, and that the mountain of sins would all be forgiven if only he would accept his reality, accept the mercy, and accept his duty to pick himself up.

>Accept [Quest continues as to be soon described]
>Reject [Make the QM very sad!]

>>4691799

Wew frens, that was a big one! I didn't expect it to be something like seven thousand words when I set to writing it, but I wanted to hit on a variety of points. One of those points, the one at the end, might need some explaining.

So, I actually was planning on ending the quest. Nothing I wrote before is false or was written untruthfully. You guys actually did make a giga fuck up and the logical result is basically the death of the quest. That said, I took a break from /qst/ (not just this quest, but in general) to clear my thoughts and do some thinking. I've decided that I actually really enjoy qming and that not qming kinda sucks. I don't have the heart to do another faction or some shit, and I refuse to make threads in general. I want to continue the quest, presumably some people out there want it to, so fuck it, why not?

Will there be in story/gameplay consequences to this? Sure. Will I say what they are? No. Can you make some good guesses? Oh yeah. And is the epilogue above "canon"? Sure, but not really, unless you want to reject. But if anyone accepts, I'll continue. When will I continue? That would be around June 20th USA time June 21st AUS time. Why then? Well, it's because that's a time of personal significance to me. It's also the summer/winter solstice depending on your hemisphere and the day of Pentecost if you happen to specifically be an old calendar Christian. It was also apparently the day in 1756 when over a hundred British soldiers were thrown into the Black Hole of Calcutta, at least according to the Internet.

Point is, I'll most likely have a good friend post an OP of Sun Belt Crusaders: Season 2 June 20th. It will probably be a different OP pic. I'm thinking of doing something in the style of a GTA cover, so be on the lookout for that. I might even shill in the /qtg/ as much as I loathe to even think of doing that, but whatever. Mark your calendars!

Also, I'll stick around in the thread for however long it's up to answer questions. Also, I haven't actually opened the thread in something like two weeks or whenever I gigaranted, so I'll answer anything I see of relevance while the thread is still up. We're on page ten, so it'll probably not last too much longer.

Looks like there's been a good ol' fashioned flamewar while I've been gone! It makes me proud to know our imageboard still has it in us! Anyway, getting to the stuff

>>4671824
>Now I'm sad we didn't have more theological meth fueled discussions in game.
Mixing drugs and theology is a powerful thing! That's actually kind of the idea behind the "oubliette" line of upgrades to the black site (it should be very obvious which video game I'm ripping off here) and a definite way to get a loyal (i.e. brainwashed) army from otherwise disobedient prisoners.

Also, I do highly recommend people read works of the various religious. You obviously will not believe in all of them because it's ludicrous and incoherent to believe in a million things that go against each other (unless you go down some specific rabbit-holes I ain't even going to bring up). That said, it's good for understanding philosophies and getting a general look into different ways of life. Some of the works are also very short and pretty easy to get into. Tao Te Ching is something you can read in less than a day and get a lot out of. I think Christians in particular would find that one interesting since the concept of the Tao is a strong parallel of the idea of the Word/Logos, so much so that most Chinese translations of the Bible will use Tao as the closest translation of the Word. They're obviously not the same thing (most obvious difference is that the Word is a person and Tao isn't) but it's something to philosophize on if you're already interested in theological subjects.

Also, some of those texts have some pretty dope stuff, like the moon literally being split in half in the Quran (54:1) which is baller as fuck.

>>4673154
So, I'll address the strange delays and me seeming to be strangely busy at times. Sometimes a thing happens in my professional life which is an almost hard stop to my ability to /qst/. It's a once a month sort of thing, and not a bad thing (it's actually quite good for me.) Does the pace suffer at times? Yes, as I try to be open about. Do I have stray thoughts about not doing the quest? Not really, no more than I have stray thoughts of jumping into a river if I see one.

Is me dropping a quest a valid concern? Yes, absolutely. You generally should not trust a qm to not drop, because they very often do. I have seen qms swear up and down that they will not drop to then drop within the same thread. It's absolutely pathetic and you are very right to be concerned with any qm dropping. I will not do it since I am irrationally angry at people dropping quests without even saying anything (it's an anonymous imageboard for pepe's sake!)

Also, I'm not sure if I made this clear, but I am basically forced to make shit up as I go along. I could not have possibly planned this quest out from advance because I did not even start the quest. I literally decided I would continue it because drunk me decided to post that, and I feel obliged to honor the word of drunk me.

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>>4679570
>You literally called him a bungling moron who can't see past his nose.
I mean, well, that's not an unfair characterization! I say it jokingly, but I do mean it when I say that I don't think writing for a quest is anything special. Genuinely, a moron such as myself (I often forget things, brain-fart, or just don't think things through rightly) who constantly bungles things (I've done it plenty of times in this quest) can do it. Many of us are at least a little retarded!

>>4676762
Thank you for your service! Thankfully, it has not been necessary. I in fact had a lot of the update written, but decided to sit on it since I was ruminating on the idea of a continuation and other /qst/ things. Hopefully a full epilogue for both named characters, the way the regional situation plays out, and the fate of the nation has been to the satisfaction of >>4676905 and not excessive

>>4679719
Aaaah, I want to be against this post and say that people should constantly shitfling, but I also want to support sending cryptic messages among other things to individuals!

Note to the intelligence officer reading this after seeing the pic: I am in no way condoning the actions of a certain Theodore. The image attached is just a joke posted for purposes of autism, as is everything else I have ever posted, even if specified otherwise.

>>4691799
>Accept [Quest continues as to be soon described]
You're an amazing QM. We killed ourselves with our hubris and Fanatisism. Really You may have sucked us in in such a way that we lived it. You should consider writing a book man. You're good at telling stories.

>>4691799
>Accept [Quest continues as to be soon described]
God wills it!

>>4691855
Don't let me what or other anons say bring you down. If I upset or offended you in an I apologize.
You have done an incredible job at this quest, more so than anyone else could have hoped for. You were the only one who could have done it and pull it off at all.

Heisenberg in minecraft.

>>4691799
>Accept [Quest continues as to be soon described]

I'm willing to continue if you are, QM. Consider it penitence for my sins of stifling this quest in its cratel.

>>4691855
I'm sure the epilogue will live up to expectations, mate. I'll endeavor to read it all by tomorrow.

>>4692341
>>4692486
+1

>>4692486
>Don't let me what or other anons say bring you down. If I upset or offended you in an I apologize.
I would just like to make it clear that I have not been offended by anything anyone has said about me or this quest. In fact, I'm in sincere agreement with a lot of the negative comments since I really have a lot of bad writing habits. Notably, I have a pathological aversion to proofreading that results in a lot of typos and sometimes missing things (which is worse in non updates posts, with stupid/funny shit like typing "pepe's sake" instead of "pete's sake"). It doesn't help that I write in short frenzies often fueled by alcohol. What I'm trying to say is that I don't feel like you guys are particularly bringing me down at all and I actually enjoy the discussion.

>>4692511
>stifling this quest in its cratel.
I wouldn't say the quest is in it's cradle at all. The SBC have fought multiple battles and are dipping their toes into the wider world of Arizona (which you guys will almost necessarily have to wrangle before getting into the shitstorm that is Phoenix). I actually feel like it's a decent time to have a "season break" since you guys will see a significant rise in recruitment once Mueller sorts out the radical issue on the Reservation while the dangers in the Sun Belt (such as the Warden) are starting to make themselves known.

Having a "fake end" by the way might actually be a blessing in disguise. It's pretty much a guide of what works and doesn't work at different stages and gives a glimpse at some of the upcoming dangers and is a road map as to how things could play out. The Badlands is pretty much Hard Mode, and playing a minor warlord faction in the Badlands is like playing Lunatic Difficulty, so I'm fine with you guys having some extra insight into things. Besides, they're intentionally kind of vague/barebones since if I went into anymore detail I'd basically would have written a book (although damn me if I didn't want to write some actual dialogue for Mazur/Ondrejko and more on the Warden attacking a nuclear fucking reactor)

>>4692654
>damn me if I didn't want to write some actual dialogue for Mazur/Ondrejko and more on the Warden attacking a nuclear fucking reactor

I wouldn't mind some mini-stories if your up for it, because both sound interesting as all hell!

>>4692868
Well, those events are described in the epilogue, although I won't lie and say that I haven't thought about doing a one-shot in that vein in an abandoned quest. I'll try and avoid the temptation and save things for when the quest actually starts "season 2". Also, the thread is at "page 11" so this will probably be the last post in the quest until it resumes around June 20th USA time unless something goes wrong (would make a token /qtg/ post in such a case, although it probably wouldn't matter).