politicalworkdepartment

[politicalworkdepartment]

[Battle Report for a game as part of the Operation Hungry Walrus global fan campaign for Infinity the Game] THEATRE: O-12 Crisis Center MISSION: Prison Escape PLAYERS: Shiwen (Yu Jing White Banner) vs. Paris (Nomads Corregidor). SIZE: 300pts.

Zhou Shiwen did not, of course, object to detentions as a matter of principle. The Yu Jing political officer knew them to hold a vital place. Persons were complex, after all, and sometimes that complexity demanded correction to reshape them into something better. But the report sitting before him on arrests by O-12 could not be accepted, this was not corrective incarceration for its targets already acted towards salvation of humanity through service to the StateEmpire of Yu Jing! Yes yes, perhaps the prisoners being stopped for photographing facilities and scraping data was technically a violation of local laws and ordinances, but they had been sending that information to the Yanjing, a clear moral good!

The chaos in New Hypatia presented opportunity for correction of the error, at least. Infiltrate, exfiltrate, redeploy, simple, a misstep of justice corrected.

Yu Jing banked a lot, clearly too much, on the deterrent factor of camo tokens. Deployment left one side of table to a core ShangJi-Jujak link, the other to 4 Guilang and a minelayer'd mine from one of them, in hope uncertainty over which might be a sniper, which a Daofei, would constrain Nomad maneuver. This… did not work, McMurrough and Jaguars simply advanced and dismembered the Huangdi skirmishers in short order.

Those losses constrained Yu Jing from then on, both because of the orders lost and because they left a whole side of the table entirely free for Nomads to keep a console and evacuate prisoners. Paris was a lovely friend for enduring far too much time contemplating and muttering as various possibilities to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat were contemplated, but alas none were viable… even the desperate possibility of rushing the objective room with the link and eating shots to get two prisoners in civevac, already unlikely, died when activating console to open doors and befriend guard took multiple orders leaving too few for survivable escape.

Instead, all that could be done was mitigation, part of which showed that a Warcor's press credentials are sturdy stuff able to shrug off a very large influx of AP HMG shots.

While the math was not going to let Yu Jing secure the MOST victory points, enough shots landed and enough threat of more could at least keep them from zero and suppress the Nomad total reaching skyscraper heights.

The game end at least let Yu Jing keep some points on the board… their console was left uncontested, careful movement meant the Nomads had certain victory but White Banner could safely secure and pull back at least one prisoner.

Final Result: Nomad victory!

Objective Points: Nomads 5, Yu Jing 2.

Zhou Shiwen sank back into his seat with a sigh. A travesty, despite one target exfiltrated the soldiers of Huangdi had been soundly outmaneuvered. There would surely be a wave of footage bubbling up on Arachne as a result, and while the Nomads' beloved alternative network had paltry numbers versus the tens of billions affixed to Maya the memes and jokes emerging there inevitably made the jump to the wider Sphere. Very inconvenient… this was going to be a long night.

[politicalworkdepartment]

Right This Way

[Battle Report for a game as part of the Operation Hungry Walrus global fan campaign for Infinity the Game]

THEATRE: Selentra Residential Compound MISSION: Public Peace PLAYERS: Shiwen (Yu Jing Invincible Army) vs. Paris (Nomads Jurisdictional Command of Corregidor). SIZE: 300pts.

"Of course madam, the Party cares deeply for the well-being of all the StateEmpire's subject-citizens. If you would allow our officers to escort you, we will ensure your safety while the situation in the Compound is stabilized. Yes, of course your baby will be cared for as well, our children are our treasures, we have arranged baths and groomers…"

Another wealthy resident relocated, another name crossed off Zhou Shiwen's list. This one the daughter of a vice-minister in the Ministry of Information on Yutang, it would not do to see them compromised were she to be taken in the current chaos at Selentra. Something there would be much less need to worry over if the powerful kept their families fully in the embrace of Yu Jing and its security services, but alas they did love their luxuries, and one had to admit that this WAS a very lovely beach.

Only a few targets now remained to be retrieved… a few remant executives from Chenma Pharmaceutics, an ambassador's mistress, a PanOceanian journalist whose work was favourable to the StateEmpire. Once removed, they would no longer present a risk, and Yu Jing's hand would be freed for further operations in the Residential Compound. The Invincibles deployed chafed at such 'babysitting' work, and the caps binding their flamethrowers which it required, but such was one's duty to the StateEmpire. Still, best not to delay.

"Zhongwei, order the troops into position, our subject-citizens await."

Yu Jing won initiative and chose to take first turn. Deployment saw the Invincibles fireteam take one side of the board, Bixie and the Zhencha the other, while Nomads sheltered their core link and McMurrough in cover while overlooking the approaches to the civilians with two TR bots and a prone engineer between.

The Invincibles fireteam rushed up the field, engaging in firefights with the TR REMs and Lobos to try and clear a path to two civilians. Though they were rather successful in the maneuver, and not too bloodied in the firefights, they did not manage to clear all the opposition. Bixie made a rush forward on her own, and while felled before reaching a civilian she managed to down the opposing Mobile Brigada, putting the Nomads in Loss of Lieutenant.

The Invincibles fireteam broke to civevac two civilians, and then Coordinated Ordered to retreat back into the Dead Zone towards the deployment zone, and the Bashi Bazouk survived its landing but did little else.

Corregidor makes its advance, ending the Bashi and Discovering the Zhencha, though the camouflaged Invincible wins a firefight then a duel of Panzerfausts with the Jaguars ending two of them. The Diablo berzerks its way through a Zuyong wth its trench hammer and locks Tai Sheng in close combat while McMurrough crushes another Zuyong. The Nomad Bashi and a Tomcat make their landing near the Zhencha and Yu Jing HVT.

From here, the Zhencha SMG takes out the Tomcat while it shrugs off retaliatory fire, and Tai Sheng wins out as the Diablo runs out of hammer charges. Two civilians are escorted back fully into the Yu Jing deployment zone

Unfortunately at this point we were running out of time, and though the Nomads still had a few units on field odds they could manage a tie or win seemed slim so we agreed to call the game there.

Final Result: Yu Jing victory!

Objective Points: Yu Jing 5, Nomads 0.

Zhou Shiwen looked over the list on his comlog with some satisfaction as names were marked 'Retrieved'. Transportation was enroute and soon these civilians would no longer be his responsibility. Though not soon enough, as the cacophony of complaints continued to gain volume, the offerings of local kitchens seemingly insufficient for the palates of the wealthy. He suppressed a sigh, turning towards his charges. Such was one's duty to the StateEmpire.

"Ladies, gentlemen, the season may present us a chance at a rare delicacy while we wait for departure. Have you ever had the chance to indulge in lobster..."

[politicalworkdepartment]

Dinner at the Docks

[Battle Report for a game as part of the Operation Hungry Walrus global fan campaign for Infinity the Game]

THEATRE: Dock #619 MISSION: F.U.B.A.R. PLAYERS: Shiwen (Yu Jing Invincible Army) vs. Paris (Nomads Jurisdictional Command of Tunguska). SIZE: 300pts.

The scent of lobster was in the air… or rather megalobster, not quite the same as the old Earth variety. Still, the man looking out over the docks had no doubt a good chef could make proper use of the things: the USAriadnans seemed to favour dousing in celery and whipped egg, a strange practice, he was more partial to traditional Yujingese fare tossed with ginger and scallions then served over noodles. If the local kitchens were not up for the task, he would have to seek out the dish among the eateries of Yutang once this crisis was over…

"Commissar, the troops are ready, we await your command."

Thoughts of culinary delights were set aside as Zhou Shiwen, functionary of the Political Work Department in the StateEmpire's Ministry of Defense, turned attention back to the matter at hand. Events on New Hypatia had become most interesting of late: a wayward artificial intelligence making itself known, a blockade disrupting trade and shipping, conflict sparking fires and spires sparking the spawning of the megalobsters whose scent wafted on the smoky breeze. There were many interests at play, the powers of the Sphere and the factions of Yu Jing alike jockeying for position. The primacy of the Party must be assured for the good of the StateEmpire of course, and for the good of all humanity.

Going into the game, the strategy was all-or-nothing: rush to put out two fires in the first turn and then try to cover the bridge consoles for the rest of the game to preserve that lead. Nomads won initiative and took deployment, Yu Jing chose first turn.

The Invincibles fireteam took position on one side of the table, Bixie on the other, with the Daoying overlooking the consoles and the mech-engineer hiding in cover to make a mad dash to the console if there was an opening towards game end. Nomads mostly kept in cover, though a Grenzer from a Cheerkiller link was keeping the centre of the board covered, and an Interventor and two HMG-armed Kriza Boracs would bring a lot of pain to the Invincibles when they made their move.

Invincibles launched forward, the fireteam grabbing an extinguisher and taking cover in the smoke of the burning fire. Bixie did the same on her side of the board, but hers was a less cautious approach, extinguishing the burning engine on her side and then the central one, until the wounds from the fires and fire from a Kriza took her down.

The Nomad advance then began. The Riu Shi had been unable to quite make it to smoke cover, and so a Kriza moved to end the exposed REM. Here luck did not favour Tunguska, as an extremely unlikely boarding shotgun ARO from a Zuyong at the edge of maximum range felled the Special Crisis Unit. Without a doubt the Worker of the Game.

The second Kriza was slowed slightly by a Zhencha hack, but it gunned down the Armoured Recon trooper and with the Invincibles link in smoke cover without their multispectral REM it was free to advance out and position itself in suppressive fire to await their eventual emergence into its sights.

And that they did, at cost of the link and its Zuyong HMG leader before the Daoying revealed to end the exchange. Free of the threat, the Shangji advanced through the danger of Interventor hacking to take it down, placing the Nomads in Loss of Lieutenant.

The Nomad fireteam attempted to make an advance towards the consoles, but with the Daoying and Shangji now aligned to cover their route the effort was bloody, Yu Jing mopping up the threat and moving to secure the bridge consoles with the Shang Ji and mech-engineer.

Final Result: Yu Jing victory!

Objective Points: Yu Jing 9, Nomads 0.

The smoke of the extinguished fires had begun to dissipate in the sea breeze, letting Zhou Shiwen take in the results of the engagement. The threat of damage to the docks had been reduced, and the StateEmpire was now well positioned to ensure its' interests in this sector, a resounding success! One could only hope the rest of the crisis in New Hypatia would be so readily solved…

The blare of alarms and a gurgling roar brought the political officer's attention back towards the waterfront, where a looming shape was emerging as Invincibles dashed to take up firing positions. A reminder that while the Hypatian megalobster had some similarities in flavour, a true lobster it was certainly not.

"A spawning queen, how lovely. Zhongwei, grenades and flamethrowers if you don't mind… and quite a lot of scallions and ginger."

[politicalworkdepartment]

[politicalworkdepartment]

An Introduction to the Political Work Department of the StateEmpire MoD

"The Political Work Department of the StateEmpire Ministry of Defense is the chief political organ within the military of Yu Jing, responsible for overseeing political and cultural work across military organisations such as the fleet, Invincible Army, Banner Armies, and Yanjing, as well as the Imperial Service and (formerly) the nationality Sectorial armies. Among its duties are organizing Ministry of Defence central bands and performance troupes, the production of documentary and entertainment content for Maya relating to the StateEmpire's military units and history, inspection and discipline to ensure proper functioning of military units, and political education to ensure all soldiers and officers of Yu Jing act within the spirit of unity that is core to the StateEmpire's stability, prosperity, and continued ascent towards its rightful place as leader of the Human Sphere."

--- 'Spears on the Wall: An Introduction to the Ministry of Defense', documentary by the Ministry of Information, available on Maya!

"Political Work are the Party's fingers in the pie of Yu Jing's military, commissars sent to make sure officers and units don't threaten the Party's control of the state. On paper their oversight covers the ISS, but the Service's place as arm of the Court means MoD organs have less power over them, while ISS military police functions overlap Political Work's 'discipline' responsibilities… a rivalry which keeps the Court from exerting power over the regular army while making sure Political Work itself can't challenge Party control."

--- Inyat Kaushik, section chief Hexahedron Oriental Desk, in conversation with a new colleague.