Fate's Arrow
19 Dec 2022Iridium Nova
I've moved most of my fleet to Pathamon and set up a standard support op in the system with the goal of restabilizing Dogs of Lore authority on this front of the Thargoid war. By chance I made contact with another commander who is working toward the same end and we've coordinated our actions. He will be working to restore DoL influence and infrastructure while I work my usual angle of general political manipulation.To that end, I've decided to take advantage of the momentum the pirates have established in their grab for power. They took the opportunity to exploit the chaos in the system and it's gotten them quite a lot richer and more influential as a result, but with such bold moves comes attention and while most of their former opposition have left the system, those who have moved in to support the war effort now see them as a threat, or easy pickings, depending on point of view. This makes them an ideal political buffer. Pirates, especially ones who have been marginalized for a long time, tend to be desperate and do not make effective use of power and wealth when they get it. So, by doing them some favors and helping them out in their current war, I've managed to ingratiate myself among them. This was aided by my existing contacts within the Society of Pathamon, who were already in debt to me for previous favors.
Using this influence, I've directed them discreetly away from acting against the Dogs of Lore while helping them to steal power from the other factions who have largely given up on the system, eager to escape the seemingly inevitable Thargoid incursion. This has had the predicted effect of directing the majority of intrigue actors in the system against the pirates instead of DoL while also fortifying the pirates against those actions temporarily. Viola, political shield.
Going forward, I will have to try to maintain the situation for as long as possible so that AX forces using the system as a base of operations for the front line can continue to do so without disruption. I might be able to automate some of this if I can direct the actions of the other commanders in the system to assist in the balancing process, but if there's one thing I've learned about commanders, it's that trying to direct them is often akin to herding cats. Eventually, I expect the Thargoids to reach the system and then all bets are off. But hopefully what I've done so far will stave that off for a bit longer. I feel like time is our most valuable resource right now.
Despite a few successes, we are by and large losing this war. We need time to develop the weapons, strategies, and knowledge of the enemy that will be required to turn the tables. Whatever we can do to slow the advance of the Thargoid hordes at this stage is worthwhile.
Well, this is interesting; I just received a message from the Kyosei Gakkai. Apparently they're not too happy with my operations in Pathamon. And here I thought we were on the same side. Seems GAIA has determined that my actions will result in a negative outcome for humanity. I'll admit, I don't really understand GAIA, the hyper-sophisticated political simulator the Kyosei Gakkai uses to determine the course of events in the bubble, and how they can manipulate things to the benefit of mankind. I've seen it in action, and it does work. It's rather unsettling how accurate it is. It can apparently run up to a thousand separate instances of the same universe to analyze the outcomes of different events on the timeline. But I have a hard time believing it can work so well now, with the Thargoids on our doorstep. We've never faced anything like this. No matter how smart you are, or how much experience you have with politics or history, you can't possibly know what's going to happen next. We don't even know what the Thargoids are fully capable of.
So how can GAIA claim to know the future now, when so many variables are missing? And if it can't see the future, why should I believe what it thinks about my actions? I guess I should be asking my friends in the Kyosei Gakkai this. Well, if nothing else, it'll make for an interesting conversation...