C08: A Storm Brewing
To those with our cause in their hearts,
It seems that both the Governed and the Cultivation Society starting to get desperate.
Our scouts have spotted the Governed re-fortifying Atlas with heavy artillery. They’re anticipating an attack from either us or the Cultivation Society, the Council of 20 is clearly scrambling.
They entrusted the majority of their defences to the androids, as soon as that evaporated, they had to do some major repositioning of forces, leaving Rivers End wide open.
We shouldn’t underestimate their heavy artillery though, even if we had the androids up and running, any kind of full frontal assault on Atlas would be suicide. The sheer amount of arms that they have scrounged up is honestly impressive, it makes me worried that the Governed might have struck some kind of deal with some merchants in the Circuits. That would be a matter to look into after we’ve dealt with Rivers End.
In response, we fortified the exterior defences of the Smoke (i.e. placing down standing turrets, establishing outposts for troops, thermal detection devices throughout the tunnels etc.). We have effectively made the Atlas border a hellhole to fight through (for them, not us).
For additional security we tried to upgrade the console but that seems to be easier said than done. From the looks of things, the coding language used in the operating system of the main terminal seems to pre-date Atlaunder itself. It’s been difficult to figure out but we have our tech people decoding it now (apparently breaking it down to machine code isn’t making things any clearer).
On the other hand, the tech team has managed to ready the androids for upgrades, meaning we should be able to install Anti-EMP armour on the androids (based on the poll in the war-room) before we push the Governed out of Rivers End. However, the main terminal in the Control Room displayed something as soon as we tried to access one of the android’s internals, all it said was “Running OPROT”. We were able to dig around and find the file but we can’t seem to get it to run. I have posted an extracted text document of the program’s code in the war-room on our Communications Server so you might have more luck understanding it than our tech team.
After our fortifications were done, one of our scouts handed in a treaty from the Cultivation Society.
They want us to launch a joint attack on Rivers End, then we would jointly occupy the territory under the following terms:
Both parties will agree not to perform military actions or acts of espionage on each other’s territories while the Governed controls Rivers End.
Both parties will supply their own detachments of soldiers to guard and defend the water treatment plant.
These troops can’t be made up of mercenaries or anyone who have previously worked for the Governed.
The equipment of these troops can’t be supplied with any weapons and armour of a higher calibre than an average ground soldier.
Both parties will elect two proxies to oversee the operations of the powerplant.
The proxies can’t have a military background and must be supplied from an engineering team.
The proxies can’t have any previous affiliations with the Governed.
The proxies are rotated out every 5 years and either faction will have access to the full history of both upcoming candidates.
In the event that Rivers End is invaded by a third party, neither party is permitted to move additional troops into the water treatment plant, only stationing soldiers at the border and exterior structures.
The restriction of water to any territory has to be agreed upon by both parties.
If any party breaks these agreements, it will be considered an act of war, giving the inflicted party the right to invade the territory with none of the former conditions applying.
The biggest thing we need to decide right now is our response. From what we can tell, it’s a favourable deal as it would prevent any additional conflict from arising after the Governed has been pushed out of the water treatment plant. The deal also seems to be favourable, considering that an additional conflict would most likely lead to a mountain of unnecessary casualties on both sides. However, we want to consult you all first.
This is a choice I suggest you discuss in the Communications Server first because there are various pros and cons to each clause in the treaty.
As always, the choice is in your hands. Make us proud!
Atiley Ona | Level 99 Cell Leader