Deaths of the Inner Circle

Here are my thoughts on what it would mean if the Demon lost any member of her inner circle.

Prevailer:

If the Demon herself dies, then an enormous opportunity arises.  The only thing that would stop us from unifying the world at that point would be if the Ultras of consequence fall into the Union’s hands.  To that end, it would be incumbent upon us to snatch up Copyer and Linker, immediately.  Cassandra’s vendetta aside, Answerer would also probably be useful to collect.  Remover and Adder should be killed as quickly as possible, lest they follow through on Prevailer’s apocalyptic threats.

The remainder of the Regime is much less important.  Many will likely join up, functioning as lesser lights in our Pantheon, holding the Americas for us.  Perhaps it would be worthwhile to let one or more onto this Council, in time.  By contrast with the previous actions, it would be of little consequence.

Adder:

Adder’s death would, in and of itself, hurt the Regime badly.  Its industry, such as it is, is primarily Adder generating materials which Copyer replicates.  A system akin to our dear Gaia’s efforts.  If he was lost the Regime could no longer add materials to the set that it could replicate.

Further, Adder is precious to the Demon, and she would likely be unbalanced and lash out if he were to perish.  It is my personal belief that Adder’s passing would lead to the Great War, and consequently I would urge you, upon receiving word of such, to muster the Army of Sunset as swiftly as you can.

Subtracter:

The death of this brute would be of little moment, save for lowering the casualty total that would be incurred by a power which subdued the Regime after Prevailer passed on.  Her combat strength is prodigious, but nothing that we haven’t dealt with before.  It isn’t Subtracter who holds back the spawn of our camps.

In fact, the Regime would probably be more effective in her absence.  Intelligence reports that she is the primary counter to Adder’s wiser and more effective council, and her absence might let him manipulate Prevailer more effectively.

Snitcher:

Snitcher’s death would allow unprecedented opportunity to engage the Regime without engaging the Demon directly.  It is Snitcher which she relies upon to let her know when to use her accursed Gift to go forth to battle, Snitcher who polices the actions of her underlings.

In his absence, and considering the centralized nature of power in the Regime, it is likely that the Demon’s forces would be paralyzed.  She wouldn’t be able to take action in response to an attack or provocation until word was brought back to her, but owing to Snitcher’s utility there is no one who has that responsibility.  It would take them weeks to cobble together a mostly functioning command and control system, and in the meantime the Regime would be essentially on autopilot.

Linker:

Linker’s death would mean the end of the Fist system, which means that Prevailer would be an army of one.  Her subordinates would no longer be able to engage their more numerous adversaries, and attrition would swiftly destroy her vaunted Fists.  This would make acute the danger of Prevailer’s omnicidal threats, and would require her to be dealt with immediately.

As with Adder, I recommend attempting to take Prevailer’s life as soon as Linker is confirmed dead.  There will be no second chance if she realizes that she is defeated.  Peggy Martin will absolutely destroy the world in a fit of pique.  She must never realize that she has lost until she is dead, and Linker’s destruction would be a giveaway that even one as dim as Prevailer wouldn’t fail to understand.

Torturer:

Torturer’s death would have a difficult impact to measure.  Would the traitors restrained by her conditioning retain their freedom of action?  Or would the implanted fear remain?  There is no way to know.

Worst case, Torturer’s absence does almost nothing, save to stop our foe from creating any more sleeper agents.  Best case, a sizable segment of her populace becomes even less loyal than they currently are.  We’d expect sizable leaks at that point, but I believe our penetration of the Regime network is currently sufficient.  It is difficult to see a material advantage to Torturer’s passing, save that the fear of one day being subjected to her power would pass from us.

Copyer:

The Regime could not exist without Copyer’s gift.  If he were to perish, starvation would scythe the Regime down to its core components in short order.  It would be an appalling waste of human life.

The Union maintains an agricultural capability commensurate with their technical edge.  We have Gaia and a few others.  The Regime is ENTIRELY reliant on the protein powders and replicated medicines of the Company.  If Copyer dies, the Regime goes with it.

It is unclear what Prevailer and her elites would do in that case, but the locust scenario seems most likely.

Answerer:

You know the discussions we’ve had about how influential the Demon’s pet actually is.  I’m a skeptic.  Its death would presumably cause the Regime to lose some of its efficiency, become more clumsy in its dealings, but it is hard to imagine how that could be the case.

Given how inept the Regime is, on a day to day basis, it is clear that its resident soothsayer is just as unreliable as ours.  Divinations are overrated.  I wouldn’t expect any particular action as a result of Answerer kicking the bucket.

In service,
Itzamna

One thought on “Deaths of the Inner Circle

  1. Divinations is overrated; should be: Divinations are overrated; or: Divination is overrated
    Thx 4 the chapter!

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