Operation Ir[a/o]n-Contra

[Gregory B]

Beacon,

The operation is under way. Please maintain operational security, and be mindful of who might be able to hear you when discussing it. Athanasia has the full investigation notes, but I wanted to give everyone a summarized briefing.

The Corporations have been preventing the Weary Wanderers from getting weapons and armor. We will be bringing an abandoned mine back into operation and use its resources to buy arms and armor for the Weary Wanders. The following steps will be taken prior to our next gather:

• Motye will be scouting the location of the mine.
• Athanasia will be altering the land deed to show that Lord Gideon has been the proprietor since the mine's abandonment 10 years ago.
• Antonio will be hiding our activities from the Corporations.
• Lord Gideon will be arranging for Principality migrants to provide labor and security at the site.

We plan to clear out the mine at our next gather, and trade the resources to the walled city and possibly Arcadian nobles for weapons and armor for the Weary Wanders.

The above is the most critical information. The following are objectives we hope to achieve:

• Arm the Weary Wanderers
• Alleviate the Walled City’s lack of raw resources
• Beacon and the Walled City fulfilling treat obligations within the Crossroads
• Undermine the Corporations’ activities
• Accrue political capital with the Republic, Walled City, and The Principalities

The following is important information discovered during the planning phase. The Corporations’ strategy in the Crossroads is to sow chaos, because it creates more economic activity to profit from. The Carmines are producing exalted steel weapons. The Corporations are buying up the Carmines entire production each quarter. They Corporations are probably selling the exalted steel weapons to SEED operatives.

If I have left anything out that should be noted, please amend this report.

[Dylan Coffey]

To clarify, no living citizen of the Principalities will be engaging in manual labor as part of this plan. I have spoken with one of the Lichtors Roon and confirmed that they have with them an appropriate contingent of husks. They await further confirmation of the status of the mine proper before committing to their part in the plan, but they do indeed seem happy to engage in the arrangement.

[Sean Harley]

Just a note. The presence of Exalted steel and it's uses are speculation currently (unless they were later confirmed and I'm unaware) Just that the corps are giving the Carmines a 'new metal' to work with and make into weaponry.

We should also probably look into whether the megacorps have a stockpile of exalted steel they are using, a regular supplier, or of they have cracked the code and found a way to produce it themselves (likely from their takeover of Maker Space).

[Dylan Coffey]

Part of our late-night forum more-or-less confirmed that as the flow of materiel (as well as revealing the matter I have posted a note about separately). Perhaps Athanasia will post her full notes on the matter.

[kenneth_wright]

I'm goin' to do what I can based on what was presented to me. Let's just say the Canary ain't the only songbird these corpos gonna wanna hear from, ya get me?

Antonio Galletti
aka Two-Tone Tony
aka Time Out Tony

[Alice Dodd]

My full notes begin later on in this comment.

If you elect to tell the Corporations what is happening here, there will be much blood on your hands. The anti-SEED task force is not to be taken lightly. Furthermore, if that impacts the situation with The Entity, and they aren't able to fire the giant weapon, frankly, we are fucked.

Do I want to see them burned? Yes.
Do I want that tower turned into rubble? Yes.
Do I want this to blow back on literally everyone? No.

That said, for full transparency, here are my notes on the matter.

For reference in the ongoing discussion, here are the seats on the Falconspire Council.

• The Black Ravens: At Risk.
• The Republic of Anduine: Unbuyable.
• The Principalities of Venecta: Unbuyable.
• The Weary Wanderers: Not Yet Bought.
• The Brotherhood of the Black Flag: Not Yet Bought.
• Dawn Road Traders: Not Yet Bought.
• Sole Proprietors: Bought.
• Makerspace: Bought.
• Once and FlorAll: Not Bought.
• Trailseekers: Unbuyable.

The Plan to Undermine Corporate Presence in the Crossroads.

Ultimate Goal: Prevent the Corporations from taking over the Crossroads. Arm and aid Kaiser and the Weary Wanderers.

Overview: The Corps in the area have an arms monopoly. They are buying in bulk, and using Makerspace to make a lot of myriad tools. The Weary Wanderers have, in effect, been blacklisted by the corporations, but not officially embargoed. We have a plan to handle this, and it starts with a mine.

Question 1: Who owns the mine?
Answer: Unimportant, as they're likely dead or gone. It's just a deed, sitting there.

Question 2: What threats might be kicked up in the area by an increase in the area's activity?
Answer: Giant worms, mole people, various wildlife.

Question 3: Of the corps in the area, who is hated the most?
Answer: Residuum.

Question 4: If we moved out in force to clear out the mine, who would notice?
Answer: The Republic is basically always watching us. The Principalities would have their attention drawn as well, since it's a big movement to the west for us to hit this mine.

Question 5: If this mine becomes a settlement for the Principalities, how will this be viewed by the Crossroads at large?
Answer: While there is still some anti-Principality sentiment among the Crossroads, this will give the settlers a place to stay, and generally will be viewed favorably, as they've been doing good PR work.

Question 6: Cujo is to the south of this mine. How do we prevent him from just rolling in and taking it?
Answer: Cujo doesn't really do straightforward conquering. He comes in after the fighting is done and "conquers" those who would otherwise perish if left to their own devices. If we make sure everything goes well, Cujo will be a non-factor.
Mystery: Ochiti currently has a contract with Mirage.

Question 7: What does the mine actually produce?
Answer: Precious metals or gems, most likely.

Question 8: Who else would be useful to this plan, who else would we consider, and who would be interested in this knowledge?
Answer: S.E.E.D. will be interested in the goings-on of the Corps.
Mystery: The Weapons that the Corps are buying are likely going to SEED, as the exalted steel is used in their augments. As well, the Corps want to have a terrorist force in their back pocket for if they need something done.

Question 9: Can we make the Corps look bad by associating them with SEED?
Answer: Yes, but there will be heavy consequences. The anti-SEED task force does not take prisoners.

Question 10: Do the Walled city and Lost Legion have weapons to sell?
Answer: They do have surplus, but not much. They don't care much for the Corps at all and have no allegiance to them, and would rather buy from us. As well, we could sell the raw materials to the Kitarin holdings to the East for pinions, and use those to have them make weapons.

Question 11: How do we prevent the Entity from interfering with this?
Answer: We kind of already are with our actions against it.

Question 12: What do the Corps actually want in all this?
Answer: Their actions seem to be somewhat random. They'll pick fights and stop at the drop of a hat. It seems bizarre, until you realize...
Mystery: Chaos is good for business. They don't want to take over the Crossroads, but they want things to stay the same so that they can keep selling. They don't want a majority share in Falconspire, but just enough that they can prevent anything from being done about it.

Question 13: Why do they hate the Weary Wanderers?
Answer: The Wanderers are generally speaking, a force for good who want to solve problems, while the problems are what are making the corps money. Also, they are likely being kind of petty. They're still not super keen on Beacon, and Kaiser's recently from us.

Question 14: What will arming the Weary Wanderers do for the region?
Answer: There will be many questions about just how independent the Crossroads really are, when they have to work together like this and require such an influx of power. Everything will largely be safer, though.
Mystery: It will oddly enough put the Weary Wanderers and the Corps on something of the same side. No longer needing to blacklist them, they can work them into their plans.

Question 15: How will the Lichtors respond to the plan to form the settlement outside of the mine?
Answer: They will have more questions, but will probably be quite interested.