C03: I have good news and bad news.

To all our loyal soldiers,

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The good news is that we were able to defend Atlas against the riots with the Circuits happening near our border. It was something about “stopping the tyranny of your oppressive regime”, which is rich coming from the territory that was just invaded by a foreign army. 

We also managed to capture a few of the rioters. Their families will be receiving their fingers in the mail soon. Apparently, someone in the Prisoner Coercion Department started referring to our postal service as “Jerit’s Depot of Digit Delivery”. I, for one, think this is brilliant, and am now using this to sign off all finger-related correspondence.

Now for the bad news. Because we had to remove forces from the Reeds, our lines collapsed. The villagers tried one last manic push and it worked. We had to withdraw, but not before capturing a few villagers for interrogation.

When we sent the villagers to the Prisoner Coercion Department, we received reports that they had been infected with Dionea’s seeds.

From what we can tell, Dionea’s seeds take over the mind of those infected, letting them hear the voice of that telepathic venus flytrap. We don’t yet know if there’s a cure, but we can try and make one. However, the boys in R&D have their hands full with their “military innovations”, so it might be a while before we get a breakthrough.

Now, since we lost the Reeds, we will need to change our targets. There are a couple of viable options: We can either push into the Smoke or Rivers End.

The Smoke is an android factory that's been running without human input for about a year now. While we still haven't been able to control it, the idea of having a potential android army on our doorstep is unnerving to say the least. We've failed to capture it in the past, however, recent developments could give us the opportunity to overtake the facility if we act now. The Underworld Collective have reportedly invaded the area, but are struggling to seize the factory’s production controls. This would be a good opportunity to barrel through the rebels and catch them by surprise. However, we will be meeting the resistance of two armies (the Underworld Collective and the androids). We will need to be prepared for this.

Rivers End is the water treatment plant that supplies the entirety of Atlaunder. We've held this region in the past, but they claimed independence quite a while ago. We've found that the last time we tried to recapture it, they sent Atlas into a three-month long drought. If we attempt to capture it, this will likely happen again. However, if we act fast enough, we may be able to shorten the drought by capturing it before they're able to deprive us of water for too long. Capturing Rivers End would also give us an advantage if we decide to retake the Reeds, as we can attack it from both Atlas and Rivers End. Make no mistake, the workers have shown heavy resistance before, and this will not be easy.

In terms of how we go about this, we can either go for invasion or stealth.

Invasion is quite simple; we charge into there with all our troops at once and catch them off-balance. It's quite simple really, fast and effective. However, it does burn our resources all at once and means we're unable to sustain a siege for too long, or pivot if anything unexpected comes up. This is the most entertaining option, and I already have the popcorn ready for the spectacle.

Stealth involves dropping troops in small pockets during a night raid. This will ensure that we can cover enough ground while not burning through as many resources. However, there is a chance that the operation is discovered, and the enemy has time to prepare. If the enemy knows we're coming, it will turn into a longer siege.

The Council of 20 can't afford another loss, choose wisely.

Jerit | Head of Public Relations and Target Elimination