Jade Imperium - Afghanistan, Pt. 3

e of pi 2017-09-22 20:20:28
Luis glares at the vox images like they've personally wronged him. "We need to find those Gateways and the people running them, and expose this problem. I didn't think any of them could be that stupid, but...it is the simplest explanation.The issue is that with the ultimatim...our credibility may not be the best. With Hilby gone, for the moment at least, we've disrupted some of their tendrils here, but even so...do you think Cooper would buy it if we just roll up and say there's a rogue Gate, we don't know where, the Chinese might be involved, and so might the Imperials?" He shakes his head. "I wish I did."
Gatac 2017-09-23 05:05:48
Hug'sh harrumphs. "We cannot reason with the paranoid, and we cannot sit them out, either," he says. "Whatever we do, they'll try to twist it around as part of a big bad conspiracy from us against them, because that is how they think. We will appeal to those who are ready to listen, and I think Cooper is one of them. Put the evidence before him - as the finding of an independent investigation by 815. Let the Narsai'i then do what they will with this information." His fur brightens as he meets eyes with Garrett and Angel. "With respect to your success in finding solid proof, it ought to be possible for a suitably motivated military force to locate more such locations and get their own evidence. We may not convince the Narsai'i that what we bring to them is the whole truth, but if they start looking in the same sorts of places, they ought to find the same sorts of evidence. As I've said, this is Afghanistan. One does not allow things to pass within its borders without the understanding that those things will spread far and wide through the country and beyond."

"As to the matter of finding them...I was hoping you would have a clever, tech-y idea, Luis," Hug'sh adds. "Without a means to reliably detect gateways from at least orbit, I don't believe that there is much of anything we can do about the matter now. We appear to be very much at the mercy of China in this."
punkey 2017-09-24 12:37:09
"Not that it matters that much," Garrett says. "Let's stick to what we know for the moment and work our way through that. These weapons aren't from the Bashakra'i, and they didn't come through any gates we control - they're fresh from the Akwhela's Eye and scream 'Imperial Turai. We came across at least a brigade's worth of assholes in the mountains with these things and a few dozen sunmines, and there's no way to smuggle that much weaponry through a foot gate - so we have a rogue Gateway on Narsai. I checked with Samantha, she said that as far as she can tell, the crates have official PRC transport labels, so it's probably somewhere in China. And if that is true, then the Chinese government must have a Gateway of their own, and be working with the Imperium. And once we're there, it doesn't really fucking matter where it is. We have bigger problems."
Ngawai nods. "We need to think about Narsai security - if I was the Turai, I'd be smuggling a freighter through, piece by piece, put a orbital assembler in it, and skip the wait for the Gateship. Anyone with a telescope can see that the Narsai'i don't have any orbital defenses or surveillance. They could have a Needleship here inside of a couple weeks."
"And we don't know how long they've had their Gateway running," Angel adds.

There's a pause while that thought settles over the room.
Gatac 2017-09-24 12:55:40
Hug'sh clears his throat. "It is my understanding that a gate in orbit would be be easier to find - far from trivial, but at least within the realm of what the Alliance could accomplish with an intense search effort and increased orbital presence. Something the Alliance indeed must accomplish, if we don't wish to hand total destruction of Narsai to our enemies this easily. Still, even with the Narana'i restricted to ground gates, which we have established are all but impossible to eradicate with our means..." Hug'sh harrumphs, and his fur darkens. "...perhaps there is nothing we can do for Narsai. I will have security measures at the Whirr gateway tightened immediately and recommend the same to our allies - I can only pray that it is not too late for that, too."
e of pi 2017-09-24 16:46:54
Luis frowns. "The Bashakra'i village is more of a problem. We can defend the other side of a footgate with our existing measures, but a Needleship, or even a land invasion, would pose a risk to every Bashakra'i on Narsai. We need better defenses here, we can't just write it off. Ground, and space." As much as that might start seeming simpler some days, he thinks.
punkey 2017-09-24 22:10:59
"Kill drone batteries, Interceptors, the whole batch," Arketta adds. Her arms are crossed and her brow is deeply furrowed. "One thing we do need from the Narsai'i is orbital surveillance - both in space and of the ground. Since they haven't started shooting down satellites, we need to know as soon as possible if there's any significant Turai presence in this nation. If they've been on the ground long enough to smuggle these weapons to insurgent groups, they've had enough time to build an orbital, so either they're waiting for something or they have other plans - probably some kind of decapitation strike against key targets. Either way, we need them searching the skies and the ground for the Imperial Turai - yesterday."
Admiral Duck Sauce 2017-09-26 10:32:30
Front Toward Enemy's head cocks to the side. "We know where they are, though. Whoever is running this is on the Akwhela's Eye. We ghost onboard, follow a shipment through, and we know where this footgate is here."
punkey 2017-09-26 10:45:56
Garrett looks to Ngawai, who's already turning his way - and they both shrug.
Gatac 2017-09-26 10:49:15
Hug'sh's fur flashes yellow. "Somebody please come up with a good objection before I start to seriously consider that," he says.
punkey 2017-09-26 10:58:55
"The Akwhela's Eye is an enormous station," Arketta says. "There are millions of Turai and civilians on board, automated security and scanning, and they can lock down the gateways at a moment's notice. It is a death trap. We don't even know where -"

She pauses. "Well, we do know where to start looking. The chamakana, the spearbombs, the rods, they're all from the same nanoforge section. We could start there."
Admiral Duck Sauce 2017-09-26 11:01:33
"It's smaller than China," FTE replies. "You're worried about getting proof. I say we fuck the people responsible in their literal back door."
e of pi 2017-09-26 21:51:04
Luis shakes his head. "That is a terrible idea, and I wish it didn't sound better than trying to convince people to look at the evidence and let us move forces here. We'd need to talk to Bello, see what we have that's fresh about the Eye."
CrazyIvan 2017-09-27 16:58:21
Admiral Duck Sauce wrote:

"Whoever is doing this has such a good line on Imperial gear that they can spare some for these randos in your weird sandy backyard practice war," Front Towards Enemy says. "The possibility that they've infiltrated the Akwhela's Eye without being caught or us not knowing about it is really bad. But what we have to assume - because it's worse - is that they are acting in concert with the Imperium. Because that means if it is a rogue Gateway, and if there's one we have to assume there can be multiples, because Hugs is right about tracking space gates and you can't pass a dirtgate through another, which means a keg, well, if that's the case, how can we assume these actors are going to lock their side down like we do if they're buddies with the imps?"


Angel raises a finger. "Don't write this war off as a sandy backyard practice war - Afghanistan has a long and storied history of eating imperial ambitions, and it's also a bottomless black hole of money and resources. The Chinese know that too, and a massive military defeat here is just the kind of thing to suck is in for another decade."
e of pi wrote:

Luis frowns. "The Bashakra'i village is more of a problem. We can defend the other side of a footgate with our existing measures, but a Needleship, or even a land invasion, would pose a risk to every Bashakra'i on Narsai. We need better defenses here, we can't just write it off. Ground, and space." As much as that might start seeming simpler some days, he thinks.


"That I can help with a little more. ExTerran handling a bunch of the security work for Kesh Industries means it won't be that hard to increase our ground presense there. As for orbital..."

Angel pauses for an instant and his gaze goes a little unfocused as he sends a message. Erika, schedule a meeting with Elon. ASAP.

"...working on it."
punkey wrote:

"The Akwhela's Eye is an enormous station," Arketta says. "There are millions of Turai and civilians on board, automated security and scanning, and they can lock down the gateways at a moment's notice. It is a death trap. We don't even know where -"

She pauses. "Well, we do know where to start looking. The chamakana, the spearbombs, the rods, they're all from the same nanoforge section. We could start there."


"And I have really, really been wanting to hit them back for awhile now. Besides," Angel grins at Arketta. "Pretty sure we've done the 'storm a death trap' thing before. Last time it ended up with new and interesting metal friends."
Gatac 2017-09-29 11:01:01
CrazyIvan wrote:

"That I can help with a little more. ExTerran handling a bunch of the security work for Kesh Industries means it won't be that hard to increase our ground presense there. As for orbital..."

Angel pauses for an instant and his gaze goes a little unfocused as he sends a message. Erika, schedule a meeting with Elon. ASAP.

"...working on it."

"And I have really, really been wanting to hit them back for awhile now. Besides," Angel grins at Arketta. "Pretty sure we've done the 'storm a death trap' thing before. Last time it ended up with new and interesting metal friends."


A bit of color rushes through Hug'sh's fur at the mention of ExTerran. "I realize this is a slightly ridiculous question to ask," Hug'sh says, "but I haven't really kept up with ExTerran paperwork. Have I been fired as CEO yet or are you waiting for me to resign? Seeing as I've" - Hug'sh clears his throat - "taken on a different position of responsibility since."
CrazyIvan 2017-09-30 22:16:40
Angel chuckles. "I confess that no, our succession plan did not exactly foresee..." he waves rather expansively to Hug'sh's enlarged form "...this. I believe technically you're still interim CEO, but when it comes down to it, Erika and her team have been keeping the wheels on the train."

He winks. "Your best bet is to check your bank balance. If it's merely 'nice', Erika fired you."
skullandscythe 2017-10-02 12:26:14
Zaef nods gravely. "The issue of China's Gateway - or even Gate network - is such a compromise of our security that I think it would be less risky to try to deal with it than let it linger. Even if we have to go through the Akwhela's Eye. Even if we have to deal with combined Chinese and Turai security once we get past all that. This needs to be dealt with before the Turai can establish a greater presence here."

"Arketta brings up a good point, though - if they're bringing through ship parts, they can quickly achieve air superiority over the Narsai'i. We may need to bring over some parts of our own - not that I don't want Narsai to develop their own ships and designs," Zaef adds with a nod to Angel. "However, if the Turai or the Chinese get enough of an air presence on this side of the Gate, waiting for Narsai'i designs to catch up won't be an option. Maybe we can help them set up proper anti-Manta or starship measures, or bring through ships of our own to patrol, but they'll need help, and we'll need to convince Narsai'i command to accept it. Even if - when - we deal with the Gate in China, because we can't guarantee that they don't already have all the parts."
punkey 2017-10-06 00:10:19
"So, we've got, by my count...three problems," Garrett says. "One, Narsai'i security. ExTerran can bolster the Bashakra'i defenses at the village for the time being, but that's more of a protection against a surgical strike, not a full-on invasion, and doesn't do shit for the skies. Two, these Gateway - or Gateways. We have to find them and prove to the Narsai'i what's going on under their noses. FTE's idea to go through the Akwhela's Eye seems like the most promising way to get proof of it and find out where it is. Maybe drop a GPS tracker on a shipment and get the fuck out of there. And three, the fact that we aren't eating a luminal accelerator shot right now. If they're not trying to get orbital superiority and throw up an orbital Gateway...then what the fuck are they doing?" He taps his fingers on the table. "So, Luis and Arketta get with their leaders for intel on the Akwhela's Eye while Angel gets the ball rolling on Narsai'i security. Anyone else got any ideas?"
Gatac 2017-10-06 06:05:23
"And I suppose we're going to tell the Alliance - or, rather, you will present the 815 in a joint briefing of Alliance representatives?" Hug'sh says to Garrett. "Leaving the question of who to bring in to represent the Narsai'i. I think both Samantha Barnes and General Cooper need to be a part of it. Samantha, for obvious reasons, and Cooper..." He looks around. "Cooper remains a gamble, but if we're going to convince him that we're serious about our investment in Narsai's security, we ought to throw him a bone. And signal to everyone else that working with the Alliance is a two-way street."
e of pi 2017-10-16 22:07:23
Luis shrugs. "He hasn't taken every opportunity yet to spite us, in spite of being pushed to. That might be better than nothing, and...it's not like he can do much to stop us."
CrazyIvan 2017-10-17 17:09:05
Angel ruminates for a moment. "In fairness, I don't actually think there's a force on this planet that can handle a full-on invasion. If things have gotten to that stage, it's time to talk about hardened bunkers and guerrilla campaigns."

"But yeah, I'm with FTE. I'm all for Akwhela's Eye for a smash and grab."