Ranger
Chapter 167: Disaffected
By Wanderer D
"It is with our deepest regrets that we find ourselves here, at ground zero, of the New Appaloosa Massacre, where many of our brave, innocent, citizens died at the hands of extremists like XCOM."
Behind the Speaker, Rarity stood, hands clasped, lips pursed and tears trickling down her chin.
"We all have lost so much, including all our friends in the New Appaloosa ADVENT Network Station—the same location where our beloved Sweetie Belle transmitted her daily News show—when it was destroyed. We have disturbing video of the whole tower collapsing with all employees accounted for inside. Not content to let the remains stay unmolested, these terrorists obliterated what little was left with armament capable of destroying a small city, as they did."
Sweetie Belle muted the video. The Speaker continued his diatribe, probably accusing the wrong people of the wrong thing. Again. That was at least one thing that hadn't changed much from what she remembered of the world before the invasion. Politicians, alien or human, never changed.
And neither did, apparently, the masses that just believed what was fed to them. Never mind that the free press had been all but obliterated and they now only got their information from ADVENT-approved sources.
It would be so easy to discredit them by doing a live transmission.
Sweetie leaned back, imagining the scandal. It would be a brand new Watergate. Except, that ADVENT could just twist it around if it was so brazenly done. Sweetie would be accused of being part of the terrorist attack. New "proof" would emerge of her being responsible for something or other that tied her to the loss of life of her coworkers.
Not to mention her sister's life would be forfeited if she did that.
Sweetie studied Rarity's face. Her sister was a master of makeup. There was no hint of scales, and she must be wearing contact lenses of some sort that hid the slitted, almost reptilian pupils. She looked a lot more human than the Speaker.
Not that she wasn't. For the most part.
Rarity was tough. There were videos of assassination attempts against the Speaker where she had quite publicly decimated the attackers. It was surreal, seeing her like that, and knowing that it was her sister, prissy, nervous, creative, dramatic Rarity, efficiently dispatching a man twice her size.
The Speaker hadn't even noticed, and if he had, he had pretended it was a fluke.
Whatever they had been, EXALT had been no slouches when they trained their prime forces, and Rarity had outlived them all, and now had the additional advantage of state-of-the-art ADVENT rejuvenation technology on top of her own formidable meld-created regeneration and redundant systems.
If she had been psionic, Sweetie believed she would be a match for Annette.
Sweetie bit her lip. Having her sister think she was dead… was not a good thing. Now that she wasn't just held back by the threat to Sweetie's life, it was only a matter of time before she took off on some sort of ill-fated attempt at revenge. Her sister could hold a grudge like nobody's business. But what could she do? It wasn't as if she could just send her a message, or call her.
She reclined even further back, studying the metallic ceiling of the drab little office she had been assigned. It actually felt like it was just built, which was entirely possible. Besides her radio show, which Rarity would never listen to, and few people in cities ever did, how could she contact her?
She tapped her chin, glancing around. Other than the computer and pad, her desk, the TV and some basic broadcasting equipment, she didn't have anything around for inspiration. She needed plants or something. Paint the walls. Hang some posters.
She paused, eyes narrowing, inspiration nagging at the edge of her consciousness. Slowly a smile spread on her face.
"Ideeeea!" she sang.
She leaned forward, standing up excitedly and clenching and unclenching her fists with anticipation. Yes.
"Yes! That could work!" Sweetie exclaimed, pumping her fist up. "Now I just need to talk to the others!"
"We already have a PR campaign against ADVENT," Shen stated, "We have those posters we make with the troops."
"Yes," Sweetie said nodding, "And now everyone and their mothers know what Sunset "The Blood Witch" looks like."
Tygan leaned back with a smug smile on his face.
"Don't you dare say anything!" Shen growled.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"So, what are you proposing, Miss Belle?" Chrysalis asked, eyes narrowed. "I assume you wouldn't come to us with just a suggestion."
"Nope!" Sweetie said, her smile steady. "I have a plan!"
She waited for them to run off like Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, or some of her coworkers had done in the past. When they didn't, she continued, "So far your war has been entirely militaristic, hence the propaganda posters with the soldiers. I understand that you want to inspire people with them, but the problem is that it makes your forces known to your opponents more than it does any good in recruitment."
When Chrysalis opened her mouth to say something, Sweetie interrupted.
"I checked." She pulled out a pad, and passed it to Chrysalis who frowned and looked down at it. "We can do better. And we can extend our reach beyond the occasional poster. What I propose is a PR war."
Chrysalis leaned back, arching an eyebrow. "You know we also have a plan. We cannot make your face public yet."
Sweetie smiled. "Of course not, but I, or rather Pleasant Chime can cover a much wider area now. And we need to do a report soon, before people interpret our silence as claiming responsibility for what happened in New Appaloosa."
"Hm."
"Look, it's a matter of creating reliability and relatability," she explained. "You already hold sway over the outskirts and the natives. But they are far from the cities and centers of power. It's fine to get soldiers from there, but your informants, your sources and your political voices will be in the big cities themselves. You need to sway public opinion; give them something to trust before your big reveal.
"Putting a poster on the wall with the phrase: "The Blood Witch needs YOU to join the fight!" is not conductive to this purpose. You need a different message. You want people to pay attention and for it to remain in their minds that they should stand against ADVENT, not proliferate the fact that you actually have a soldier nicknamed "The Blood Witch"."
"She has a point, Commander," Shen said.
Tygan simply smiled, nodding in agreement. "Validation. At last!"
"So how exactly would we do this?" Chrysalis asked, apparently warming up to the idea.
"Simple, in addition to making it possible for me to be able to jump on the air more frequently…"
"Shen?" Chrysalis asked.
"That… is possible. We'd need to have the communications guys make sure to mask the source of the transmission." She hummed. "I believe we could do the opposite of some of the underground missions we've done before; rather than destroying a Psi-net booster, we can install underground transmitters that will make the frequency reachable to some cities."
"That would require some planning, but it's doable," Chrysalis said. "Probably something that Dragon Team can handle."
Shen nodded. "Definitely up their alley."
"Continue," Chrysalis said to Sweetie.
"In addition to that, we need quick and dirty ways to post our message even in the middle of the city. It doesn't matter if it is something that will be erased later. What we want is impact. We want the message to stick to people because it draws their attention to them."
"Hm, we could… I'd have to check how difficult it is to make them…"
Everyone turned to face Shen, who was already doodling designs on her pad. "Lily?" Tygan asked.
"Oh! Sorry… but I do have an idea, based on the GREMLIN protocols we used to paint the Avenger when we were fixing it."
"It is going to use a lot of our resources?" Chrysalis asked.
"No… it shouldn't."
"Besides!" Sweetie spoke up, "We're not going to be the only ones doing it."
Tygan tilted his head, frowning. "We're not?"
"Of course not, if we're the only ones with a presence, people will distrust us. They'll think we're just discontent militants. We need to pass this technology over to the other resistance groups, big and small. They already support us, so their message will be at least similar in spirit. One thing we want to make sure is to have them mention Unpleasant Truths and Resistance Radio, as we're going to be the main source of real information to everyone.
"We can continue our call for allies and soldiers and informants and for humanitarian help for locations in need," Sweetie added, "But we'll be gaining more reach, and more listeners. Not everyone in the cities is content with ADVENT."
"We have seen civilians take notice of us and, rather than raise the alarm, they just walk away," Shen pointed out.
"I'm starting to like this plan," Chrysalis said with a grin. "Shen, Tygan? Can we make this so?"
The pair shared a look, before looking at the commander. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good, I've been planning a mission for Dragon… I want your designs and devices ready if possible by then."
A few Days Later
Rarity stood by the Speaker, half listening as he gave a speech at a recent site of XCOM incursions. People were scared, looking up at him with hope, eating every word he said, not knowing he was just as bad as XCOM, if not worse.
"...and no matter what they do, we must always remember that it is by the will of the Elders that—"
There was a scuffle, and something flew out from the crowds, arching over them and rolling on the stage.
Immediately everyone jumped out of the way, civilians screaming, and ADVENT troopers shouting. Rarity hit the deck just as there was a loud bang, followed by a hissing sound of some sort. She held her breath, confident that her modified lungs could keep her alive for almost an hour if worse came to worst, so if it was poison gas, she'd survive.
She turned around, trying to figure out the damage, but everyone seemed to be alive. She glanced around and her eyes widened. She had to stifle a gasp, and force herself to look uninterested.
On the wall behind them, painted in colorful, bold letters, much like the graffiti she had seen in her youth, was a message.
"ADVENT is like liquid toast! ~Unpleasant Truths"
Chrysalis looked at the picture. "I don't follow."
"It's anti-establishment, disaffected graffiti!" Sweetie said.
"Liquid toast."
Sweetie nodded.
The other woman chuckled. "Fine. I'll let you know when your sister reaches out."
Sweetie blinked. "What-how?"
Chrysalis shrugged. "I'm the Commander. Now, go do your job, Communications Officer."
Sweetie meeped, hastily saluting. "Y-yes, ma'am!"
She was almost to the door when she stopped. "Wait, since when do I have a military title?"
Chrysalis tilted her head. "Didn't you get the memo?"
o.0.o End Chapter 167 o.0.o
Stealth message delivered, Rarity diminished as potential threat, Operation PRoblematic Truth is a go!
Subtle words, and burning other things tonight sweetie.
Well... even the aliens might be hard press how to turn toast into liquid using mundane kitchen equiptment.
now that's how you encode a message to people is hostile territory
Grea idea with the Ending. I can't Imagine rarity does fully believe her Sister is dead. I always wondered how the Propaganda of Xcom Looks like.
her eyes widened.She had to stifle a gasp
1. Forgot your spacing.
Guess the surprise is clearly painted on Rarity's face. Wonder how the rest of XCOM will react to their new CO?
And the Elders are like orange juise, burnt.
9155056
A CO is a Commanding Officer. In this case the acronym would be COMMO ( Communications Officer )
now I'm just waiting for all of the survivors to meet their equs versions and see most of them get a ear full, especially rarity
Know’s what.
Liquid Toast...Liquid Toast?
Like Milquetoast? What does...oh ....OOOOH HAH. It really has been a long time since i heard that reference.
Great work dude.
9155084
I'm still sitting here wondering how the hell Xcom is functioning without a CMO though :/ Tygan may be many things... but he's not a Medical officer...
9155120
I'm pretty sure it's also about Sweetie managing to burn liquids while making breakfast in one episode.
Man How come X-COM had so bad advertisement until Sweetie arrive.
Anyway nice move from Sweetie in contacting her sister. Liquefying toast doesn't seem out of Sweetie's possibility knowing her background in cooking.
Also there's no way in fooling the Commander.
"many of our brave, innocent, citizens died at the hand of extremists like XCOM"
"many of our brave, innocent citizens died at the hands of extremists like XCOM"?
"Appaloosa ADVENT Network Station, where our beloved Sweetie Belle transmitted her daily News show, was destroyed."
"Appaloosa ADVENT Network Station, where our beloved Sweetie Belle transmitted her daily news show."?
I'm not really sure what the "was destroyed" was supposed to be connected to, and I didn't seem to be having much luck thinking of a good way to preserve it there.
"got their information form ADVENT-approved"
"got their information from ADVENT-approved"?
"everyone and their mothers know how Sunset "The Blood Witch""
"everyone and their mothers know what Sunset "The Blood Witch""?
"the source of the transmision." She hummed"
"the source of the transmission." She hummed"?
Heh, awesome! Liquid toast is DEFINITELY a message that Rarity will understand loud and clear.
Not that there is anything wrong with Liquid Toast (tm).... after all, I grew up with "powdered toast".
orig14.deviantart.net/3a29/f/2016/200/8/5/powderedtoast_by_doctorworm1987-daalv16.jpg
(Christ, I am showing my age with this joke lol.)
Though I will be a bit disappointed if no one thinks to use this graffiti, after a big mission against Advent in a population zone, to toss up an XCOM "Vigilo Confido" emblem, with the words: "Remember: We are still watching."
9155084
Exactly the point of the pun.
9155168
Probably because they didn't have any skilled PR people until now; they are a military organization, fighting a fairly desperate war, often with far fewer resources than would be ideal. They never really had the spare time and manpower to look into how well their existing PR efforts were working; and that's on top of the fact that most of their number are soldiers, engineers, and scientists.
I seem to recall once reading of a rough ballpark figure on what makes a successful insurgency. It boils down to something like this: for each armed fighter, you need 10 non combat personnel supporting them directly, and at least another hundred or so informants and sympathizers supporting that fighter from behind the scenes.
Honestly, while Applebloom and Scootaloo are both highly valuable as top rate engineers; Sweetie Belle's talent and skills are worth an entire battalion to XCOM.
And now Sweetie Fucked up, cause they know everything Rarity knows, and now know Sweetie Belle is alive thanks to X-Com, and Advent are now going to probably torture Rarity very slowly over a long period of time, while broadcasting it to X-Com to get Sweetie Belle to finally crack and join them and tell them where X-Com is.
Sweetie Belle. You fucked up.
Heh, and Sweetie thought she was being crafty!
9155230
How? I seriously doubt Rarity would have ever told ADVENT about the liquid toast incident. And even if she did, you don’t honestly think anyone would have actually cared to remember it?
Additonally, Rarity is not part of the psyonic network that enforces compulsory obedience. If she had, then ADVENT wouldn't need to use Sweetie Belle as leverage. Now that Sweetie is free from ADVENT's grasp, Rarity has every reason to defect, or at least leave ADVENT.
Also, as the right hand of the speaker, Rarity has to have heard of the resistance radio, if only in passing. Seeing this coded message from her sister so quickly after Apploosa means that Rarity would guess that Sweetie has been part of the resistance for some time, or at the very least, not a prisoner.
Oh, by the way, is there any chance we can get a solid description on what Apple Bloom/Seed's new body looks like?
9155223
Personally I have allways seen the PR (Photobooth) in XCOM 2 as more of a joke by the devs for some fun.
For the in universe reason for its existance, I allways saw it as aimed at XCOM rather than the civilians, to raise morale rather than recruit new people. Like they would be used as a way to celebrate victory, and whenever they have a hard time they can look at a nice picture of a successful mission and be reminded that they can beat ADVENT.
I just can really only see the posters in the game as the troops having gotten permission to screw around with a camera and make funny pictures for the sake of keeping their spirits up. After all, XCOM is under a lot of preassure with most people downright thinking of them as terrorists.
9155279
Did you forget that Rarity is more Alien, and Machine, then Human? That they don't control, and know everything she thinks? That she can be so close to the speaker, and not have her mind read 24/7? The very Second that Rarity knows about Sweetie Belle, the Speaker, Elders, and Advent knows everything as well. Being so high up in the 'food chain' there is no way they aren't monitoring everything about her, including her mind.
9155151
Yeah ALLLL the way back in Season 1
Next Mission: VIP Retrieval. This is gonna be a doozy.
That said, Rarity would be a hell of an asset if any of what was described here about her is true.
Please tell me she's a Parseltongue.
9155342
I have reason to believe Sweetie Belle, being in the network for that long, would not be stupid enough to, as you say, f*ck up. She's clever enough to calculate the probability of her sister's condition such to ensure the message will only be understood by Rarity.
9155385
You don't seem to get what I am saying. The Elder and many of the races they control can READ and CONTROL YOUR MIND.
And do you really think they would allow anyone even close to the Speaker, and not be reading their mind 24/7 to constantly monitor them to make 100% sure they aren't a secret mole, or ever become a secret mole? The Elder aren't THAT stupid to just let Rarity have any kinda freedom at all, that high up.
9155353
The 'almost reptillian pupils' sounds a lot like the HyperReactive Pupils gene mod from X-com 1. Rarity has been implied to have at least some of Vahlen's modifications from the old days, and given she was implied to be their infiltration expert, HRP would have done more good that the depth perception mod, as I doubt she was scaling buildings often.
As for the scales bit, I believe it is either the mimetic skin mod, or something Advent gave her when she surrendered and became the speakers BG.
9155431
It was stated outright in an earlier chapter that she was part of Exalt.
Sounds like a great future asset for XCOM, assuming we can get there without lots of people dying first or instead.
AKA this.
Hell, with this plan Sweetie is the one who turned out to be a pretty impressive asset. These are some great ideas for upping the propaganda side of the war.
Nice.
9155056 Fixing! And keep the puns coming.
9155116 Fixing! Funny thing, that error—I believe—comes from my internalizing the expression in Spanish and writing it in English without thinking about it.
9155189 Fixed! Also rephrased the ADVENT Network bit so it would make sense.
9155309 Yes, I would agree, although I decided to take it at face value for purposes of this story. In game, Tygan constantly tells people that the photo booth is a bad idea, and you can see the posters you make sometimes rendered into the battlefields. If you pay attention, some of the cities (the poor areas) and the settlements have some of the soldier-posing posters there.
9155431 Also remember that EXALT's meld modifications were a lot more invasive than XCOM's.
9155056
I dont think Sweeties goals are quite that high!
9155404
There’s one glaring flaw with your mind control and mind reading 24/7: the councilman.
We constantly see him passing intel to X-COM in the game. Let’s not forget he was on the original council of world representatives in the first game so AVENT would have every excuse to 24/7 control him if they could do that to those outside the psionic network.
We also know he was a deep mole because during his last transmission to X-COM in game 2 he uses an unsecured channel and is attacked within minutes. So it appears ADVENT doesn’t directly link even people as high up as the councilman.
So no, Rarity is not under mind control since it has never been said she was part of the network. Not to mention we’ve seen her direct thoughts and we’d know through that. Close scrutiny for sure though.
9155404
While they CAN read and control individuals, the story has made it clear they prefer to use other methods of control on key individuals, likely because controlling high level PR opperatives and soldiers 100% of the time would make them less effective. If they wanted to just mind control individuals, Sweetie wouldnt have been able to join a subvversive campaign, considering how important she seemed to be to the advent pr machine.
9155502 9155509 9155404 It is somewhat stated in-game that ADVENT gives more "mental" freedom the higher in the food chain you are. Hence as mentioned previously, the Council Man's ability to inform/aid XCOM. Even the Chosen can think whatever they want, and only get punished when facing the Elders directly. If we go to ground troops, Generals and Captains have a lot less restraints than the rest, hence why most of the first generation Skirmishers (Including Betos) were all high-ranking.
Having said that, they would all be monitored as closely as you would expect from a totalitarian society.
The hearts and minds of the oppressed are a battlefield all their own, and require a very specialized kind of soldier. XCOM was doing its best on that front, but now they have one heck of a general.
9155202
If no one else was going to make that reference, I was.
I’m imagining XCOM sympathizers using crossed fingers (an “X”) behind their back as they turn away as a sort of recognition sign.
9155478
Ah, thanks. :)
And yes, that reads much better to me now.
Best sister couple ever.
So, secret message?
9158751warning spoiler in the vid(for those who dont know what liquid toast is)
look at the table at the beginning there's a cup and no its not burnt orange juice or chochalate milk.....
Yay. Delightful reference. Something bizarre and quirky enough from Sweetie's childhood that nobody except Rarity will get the reference. Sweetie knows her stuff.
Okay, where is the soldier in charge of delivering memos? Because he needs to be fired!
I swear, I will personally deliver that soldier his resignation letter! ...Eventually. When I get around to it...
Liquid Toast. Almost perfect.
I would have done burnt juice myself. I shall hold out for seeing the burnt juice elsewhere.
-Gm, master of burnt juice.
Oh gods, da meeemmmeesss!!!!
Priceless instant grafity to get Advent in trouble!
Batman reference, neat!