Confederation of Corrupt DictatorsBoard

Minister Qiu Enola Flemniging gauged Medical’s reaction as the Kirin held his cigarette in his cloven hooves. Despite being a stallion holding three jobs, Medical was the type that would actively seek out news jobs in order to fill time. Continuing his family traditions of being workaholics, Medical invested himself in paying attention to the educational status of the Empire. It was a known fact that the Empire was a leading beacon of intellectualism and science. Being able to quip just as much as a Twilight could. However, the rest of the Empire… weren’t exactly pillars of intellectualism. With a mean of 43 quips per hour, it was a demeaningly low number. On par with the Confederation, and a mere 10 quips above the rest of the World known to the World Assembly.

The MineLegoEquestrians always presented themselves with a sense of superiority above the rest of the Commonwealth. The history of the Empire and the fact that they helped build the rest of the Commonwealth from the ground up was more than enough to make them indulge in some good old fashion arrogance. This arrogance was ironically accompanied by a deep sense of imposter syndrome found within most of the leaders of the Empire. MineLegoEquestrian orators, writers, and artists were able to create an image of an idealised version of themselves in popular culture, and many would believe themselves to be said idealised version. However the rulers would know well that they weren’t the people that they claim to be. This imposter syndrome would grow and fester, and be well utilised by them in order to continuously build up their people. And as the Empire began its tango onto the International Stage, this claim of being superior requires proof, and the Empire is more than willing to prove they are worthy of calling themselves superior. This mentality of being superior extended to the Commonwealth. As their caretakers, the MineLegoEquestrians believe themselves to be superior to everyone else via their hard work. They also believe that the Commonwealthians are also superior to everyone else but them, but this is where the grim reality sets in. The fact was, the Commonwealth was highly underdeveloped in comparison to the Home Empire. The MineLegoEquestrians' old promise of autonomy had led to the flourishing of the cultures of the Commonwealth, but their standards remained low. The Kaisar was content to let the Commonwealth figure it out themselves, but Medical was not the Kaisar, and had the idea to begin actively intervening in the matters of the Commonwealth states, mainly through Imperial-Sponsored Enterprises.

Minister Enola wouldn’t dare admit that he fully understood how the ISEs worked. He was a psychologist and sociologist first, bureaucrat second. Admittedly that was the reason why the Ministry of Administrative Affairs existed, to help the experts transform their idealistic plans into actually practical plans. One thing that she loved about the MiniAdmin was how… excited they were in helping him carry out his plans. In stark contrast to what popular culture portrayed the bureaucrats as. And that led him to this current situation.

Medical was interested in improving education across the Commonwealth, and had conscripted Enola into developing a long term development plan within five weeks. And now Medical was inspecting the plans his committee had cooked up. It’d be a lie if he wasn’t scared.

“So… to sum it up, you want to utilise the presence of the ISEs in the Commonwealth and colonies, to help prop up education through Quangos or Nongos. Am I correct?” Medical asked and Enola nodded back.

“Indeed… this does mean we are susceptible to regional government interference, however this is the only realistic way in order to implement any… pan-Commonwealth initiative to improve educational standards,” Enola explained, “Any other effort would either fail to properly enforce unified standards, anger the local governments, or be too inefficient. By utilising the free market and the existing methods, we will be able to export our standards to the rest of the Commonwealth.”

“This does leave us a huge gap for exploitation, however that is the price we pay for a free society,” Medical commented with a shake of his head. “Hopefully no one would want to intervene against our educational efforts, no?”

“Nescis, fili, quam parva sapientia mundum regit??” He remarked. Medical blinked, before nodding.

“I didn’t know you had a classics education, Enola,” Medical chuckled. “That is quite interesting.”

“Well, that’s what happens when you attend Xiahe University. You get a choke full of old Equestrian.” Enola laughed back, “So this plan is approved?”

“Approved indeed, and I severely doubt anyone would want to oppose such a thing,” Medical said as he packed up the papers. “Who would be insane enough to do that? Contact Minister Arne and Timofei, and send them an advance copy first regarding the plan before you begin announcing it on your website. I’d say this project can be started within eight weeks, if it all goes well. If it works, well I dare say we’d have enough credibility to pull off some more pan-Commonwealth projects. Arte Et Marte, this project will succeed.”

Enola nodded as he picked up the manila folder containing the plan. “I’m glad to see you place such high trust in me, Medical. And I didn’t know you too knew old Equestrian.”

“Well, when you read enough bureaucratic papers you’d end up reading a lot of latin phrases,” Medical shrugged, “Started from the small ones, and now I could reasonably pull off longer ones. parvis imbutus tentabis grandia tutus, no?”

“‘Once you have accomplished small things, you may attempt great ones safely’, indeed Medical, indeed. Also, I have a question to ask,” Enola moved closer, his ears pointing forward. “I heard there was this potential scandal around Stylus, regarding an old paper of… your beloved.”

Medical’s eyes widened for a moment before retreating back down. “You heard it, eh?”

“Of course, bureaucrats gossip among bureaucrats. And… I heard that someone heard from someone else in Crystallia that one of their friends’ bosses’ who heard it from a relative in Hippogriffia remarked about making sure of keeping their pasts safe and covered so that a scandal cannot emerge. It’s not really proof, of who did it, but the person might come from over there,” Enola whispered. “Do you want me to keep an ear out for that?”

“Well if you can remember in between drinks, go ahead,” Medical said with a small smile. Enola nodded before leaving Medical’s office. Leaving Medical alone… to work, and to plot.

Emerald wasn’t a simple mare. Being the heir of a collapsing changeling kingdom, she had to strategically marry into the biggest colonial empire around in order to keep it alive. Emerald would marry Platinum II Telomerase, a stallion who was in a situation similar to hers. With an aluminum processing company on the brink of bankruptcy, he would court the local heir upon hearing news of the recently discovered Changeling Kingdom of Tavrell Pass. The two didn’t love each other, that was clear from the start, but they both recognised the use of a marriage would have if they pretended to be in love. The marriage gave Platinum funding, and Platinum’s Company ensured revived economic prosperity within the region and legitimacy to Emerald’s kingdom, eventually culminating in a coup where armed mercenaries stormed the palace and installed Emerald as Queen of the Kingdom. And history followed as one expected, MineLegotia and Equestria came upon the Kingdom’s shore with the claim that since Platinum II was part of the Imperial Family, it was part of the greater Empire. Emerald folded, and it became a Crown Colony of the Empire.

She would find herself dancing the same dance she did back home in the Kingdom. Political shenanigans and backstabbing between the ruling elite. And in order to protect her home, and build it up more, Emerald had to cultivate relationships. And boy did Platinum II know people. Economists, captains of industries, bankers, and media moguls.

All of this culminated in Emerald, here in Hippogriffia. Platinum II had to meet with a relative named… Wleian, the second if she remembered correctly. Platinum II said that he had planned to secure a market for their small kingdom’s exports. This meant that Wleian and Platinum had disappeared to wherever stallions made deals. So here she was, chatting with Powder II, Wleian’s wife. She was a delightful mare to talk with, that Emerald knew well.

“I heard that Tavrell is considering upgrading to Protectorate status, no?” Powder for her part wore a bright sundress, yellow in colour like a dandelion. The pegasus mare was fair in complexion, but Emerald could pick out the signs of fatigue. Children, were the most likely culprit.

“Mhm yes, we’re trying our best to jockey with the Ministry of Colonial Affairs to get us upgraded to such a status,” Emerald remarked with a hint of sadness, tapping her lips with a piece of tissue as she set her teacup down. “We’ve been a loyal colony for a good part of… a hundred and sixty years now, haven’t we?”

“The Ministry would argue back that the Colony of Nusrin had been loyal and profitable for six hundred and never did they ask to be changed from any status they’re currently in,” Powder replied with a sip of her tea. “You have to remember dear, a colony doesn’t ask to be upgraded, they are rewarded. We may be a democratic society, but we are still an empire.”

“It’d be easier if you weren’t one, the damn Blackshirts roaming my countrysides searching for gold are enough trouble,” Emerald exclaimed. “At least you lot don’t have such shenanigans here.”

“Well, we have different shenanigans than such colonial shenanigans, Emerald,” Powder leaned back into her chair, as if reminiscing. “We have the old pals clubs all around the Empire in the most powerful positions. People knowing each other from university, schools, and extracurricular activities form strong bonds of favours and deals. Who you know back then decides where you must dance now… Wleian II rolled a terrible dice. Despite being an immortal, he only knows the typical party leaders. Not the bureaucracy where power really lies.”

“Really? I thought party politics was important?”

Powder shook her head. “They aren’t if you’re an immortal. Wleian doesn’t understand, he’s a lawyer first and a bureaucrat second. Wleian thinks like a mortal, not like an immortal. He doesn’t understand that the bureaucracy only answers to the Kaisar. He wants to rule the Empire, but he thinks it can be won through the game of democracy. He’s playing the wrong game…”

“And you’re not?”

“Dear, I’m the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Administrative Affairs Section of South-East Hippogriffia, I’d think I know what game I’m playing,” Powder exclaimed, “And I know you’re in this game too. And let’s be honest, mare to mare, what do you want?”

“Simple… security and prosperity for my people. I don’t care what happens here as long as my people flourish,” Emerald stated, her voice actually sincere for once. “And you?”

“Power to shape this country. And to get rid of the pretender on the throne…” Her voice was sharp, there was anger, and resentment. “But I know full well Wleian can’t get there with his tactics. How about an alliance dear?”

“Straight to the point with no guarantee? You sound like you’re new to this game,” Emerald remarked with a smile, keeping her facade up. “But yes, that does sound good… but what guarantee?”

“You need legitimacy in the eyes of the Ministry of Colonial Affairs, that’s best done by proving you’re a good ruler that can care for their people and cooperate with MineLegotian Canterlot… “ Powder exposisited, her eyes twinkled with a shine that only bureaucrats could have. “I heard that the Ministry of Education is setting up an… Inter-Ministerial Committee with the Ministry of Imperial Owned Entreprises, and the Ministry of Commonwealth Affairs. I’d hedge a bet that they’re planning on improving educational standards across the Commonwealth. Notably, the colonies are excluded since they fall… under the jurisdiction of…”

There was a lull in her speech as she looked towards Emerald, who chipped in. “The Ministry of Colonial Affairs. So you’re saying that I should copy their efforts?”

“Indeed… and I can… get you a good word in, since I do know the Minister from University, if you can do something for me,” Powder said, “I want you to record every f*ck up that the Ministries do in your homeland.”

“And what if I don’t?” Emerald asked, and Powder chuckled.

“Well, I’m not gonna reveal to you anything else…” Powder took another sip of tea. “But that is my deal. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Emerald nodded. “Indeed, indeed… I’d say this is a start of a beautiful relationship, Powder.”

Powder just chuckled in response.

---

“I presume you got the deal?”

The limo’s engine revved up, the car jerking forward a bit before properly gaining traction. Platinum II raised an eyebrow at Emerald before speaking.

“Yes, Hippogriffia’s gonna be a marketplace where we export the kingdom’s metals,” Platinum II stated, “That’s gonna be enough revenue to help us modernise the electrical system at the very least. Wleian states he’s gonna contact a few friends to start importing from us.”

“That’s good to hear, Powder, did approach me with an offer,” Emerald noted, piquing Platinum’s interest. Reading his raised eyebrows, Emerald continued. “She said the Ministries are planning on improving education efforts, if we… can show our commitment to improving education, I’d say we can fast track our kingdom’s ascension to protectorate status.”

“In exchange for?”

“She wants us to take note of every mistake done by the Ministries in our land,” Emerald stated, “She’s clearly searching for information to attack the Regent. Wleian wants to rule, she said. In exchange she’ll convince the Minister of Colonial Affairs to fasttrack us to protectorate-ship. “

“Imperial Regent Wleian II… doesn’t have a nice ring to it…” Platinum gathered, “Imperial Regent Telomerase… does however…”

“Grand ambitions?”

“Grand indeed… but he’d be a useful idiot no doubt… one that we can exploit…”

Silken II Pennings-Liviness chuckled as he put down the Tripad. Wleian II was definitely new to playing the Bureaucracy. He had heard from his old friends Moue in the Editor’s of the MBC. An ‘anonymous source’ revealed to the MBC about an old paper of Stylus’ that promptly got lost in the depths of editing. An easy investigation by a private eye told him a tabloid writer wrote it, and the anonymous source was promptly given when offered a small bribe. With the piece of information now roaming the internet, Medical and Stylus could with ease dismiss it as a hoax and the Department of Information Confirmation would cook up a story about how it was indeed a hoax.

There were two things one needed to prove in order to remove someone from power within the bureaucracy. A bureaucratic wrongdoing, and/or immoral acts.

And Silken II here had a suspicion.

Medical’s secretary.

Who was she? How did she get into power?

And why was she gone for fifteen years?

The room is typical for a facility that never knows what it could be dealing with. The walls are whitewashed concrete, the table, and chairs utilitarian steel and plastic. A Kempetai officer sits in one of the two chairs, facing the door. Someone knocks respectfully. The officer looks up.

"Come in."

A man opens the door, careful not to crush the doorknob with his left hand. He nods to the officer.

"Alfred said you wanted to debrief me as well."

"Correct. Take a seat."

The man takes a step into the room. As he does, the officer moves his right hand slightly. The man freezes. The officer looks up.

"Take him."

The other officer drops from the ceiling, where he'd been hanging. He lands on the man's shoulders and grabs his right arm, tearing it from the socket. A stream of crimson and silver gushes from the torso. The man is doesn't move. The first officer shakes his head.

"Don't bother making a show. Get it."

The second officer grunts in affirmation, then flexes his fingers. Short spikes rip out from his flesh at the end of each digit. He latches onto the man's face, preparing to rip his head off.

crunch

The officer finds suddenly finds himself without a hand, as a matte-black metal arm crushes and rips his wrist. The man throws himself out of the room, and the top of the doorway makes a satisfying thunk as it hits the officer who was on top of him. Scrambling up, he turns the corner, hoping to lose any pursuit in the depths of CUFAFEDI Headquarters.

Back in the room, the officer at the desk examines his hand.

"The mechanism is undamaged. He should still be immobilized."

The other officer raises the stump where his hand was. Swarms of black dust cover it, creating a tourniquet.

"Clearly, he was not."

"Correct. Therefore, we can assume that other conventional methods will not work. Our best option is total dismemberment. Sorting through the remains is preferable to him surprising us again."

Both officers leave the room, following the trail of blood and nanobots left by the man's missing arm.

The camera zoomed one last time on El Presidente Guillermo Sanchez's face and then the interview began:

"Welcome, citizens of Pamero, Today exclusive interview with our good leader who was kind enough to accept our many interview requests. Presidente hello and thank you again! "

The camera shifts to the El Presidente: A bearded man, cigar in hand, short dark-gray hair, sunglasses and a neat suit. He smiles and begins to speak in a deep but charismatic voice:

"You know, I have very little time to spare. Being the president is not an easy task..."

He theatrically checks his gold watch and smiles.

"Of course, Presidente. Let's get right to the point, the World Assembly accuses you of, I quote: " Crimes against humanity, repression, slavery and electoral fraud. "
What do you think?"

Guillermo takes a whiff of his cigar and responds in a slow and sharp manner:

"The World Assembly, this assembly does not know anything about Pamero. It does not know anything about the sacrifices I made to rebuild this archipelago, I put my heart, love and order into it. When Paremo will be a paradise, people will no longer care what ways I worked to rebuild it. "

"And what do you do with the charges of slavery? It is said that you use political prisoners and other opponents to work in iron mines and oil wells in unsanitary conditions."

El Presidente gets up and turns towards the large bay window which gives a bird's eye view of the capital.

"Lies coming from the opponents. I can assure you that no citizen of any kind is enslaved like cattle or even executed."

The interview ends on the image of the President from behind.

With the recent tragedy of one of the nation's beloved members of the C.C.I.P (Cape Canavral Imperial Senate), the Emperor-King, in the first time since the previous war with Ecrosha had begun, has come to make a public announcement. It would be noticed that the Emperor looked much more worn down than previous conferences, and he appears thinner. Standing in front of a podium at a press conference, the room is loud with noise from the talking of reporters and interviewers. As the Emperor-King enters the room, his presence commanded those in the room to fall silent, and the room did so. Lockhart adjusted the microphone, and cleared his throat.

"The tragedy that has befallen the nation following the death of one of our beloved senators. While the situation is very tragic, and I give my condolences to the Senator's family, and I have received reports that it is an underground sect working alongside the Republicans, more specifically, their much more radical group, the Caper Republican Army. We are already in the process of looking into it, however we are also trying to manage a deeply unstable country following the war with Ecrosha, and as such any investigation may get held up by other issues. While we certainly are keeping a keen eye out for any suspects, the police force is currently dealing with a string of other murders as well, so our criminal investigation unit of the police force is currently full. If you as a citizen have any information that you believe may help the investigation, please do not hesitate to report it to the police. Now then, I'll take some time to answer questions before I must return to my duties, so let us start."

The conference suddenly burst into a mix of talking and shouting, as the Emperor-King scanned the room, looking for the slightest semblance of a reporter being calm. Eventually he saw a young man who was holding his hand up silently, and he pointed at the man, ushering him to stand and ask his question as the room quieted down now.

"Seeing as this is a fairly recent announcement and has been the talk of discussion across the political sphere in Cape Canavral, what are your thoughts on The Xaviet Empire leaving the Omsk Treaty Organization for the NTEP?" He said, looking at a notepad.

"While it is deeply unfortunate to see a member of our alliance leave, we do understand that we will not force them to return. Though I did find it funny how we called us "Communists" despite the fact the vast majority of the alliance itself hardly harbor's any socialists at all, the real exception being two of the oligarchs themselves. Regardless of this, we do hope the Empire well in their future endeavors. Any other questions?"

A woman in the crowd raises her hand, and the Emperor-King again gestures for them to stand and clears her throat, before beginning her question.

"Seeing as the recent string of murders has also led to the disappearance of Senators Leon Basset, Alfred Valiante, & Ripley Monroe, what are your thoughts on the disappearances of these Senators, and do you believe their disappearance correlates with this string of murders?" The woman asks in a soothing voice.

"While the murders, as I said, are deeply tragic, the sudden disappearance of these three is deeply alarming. We have no idea whether or not these are a series of murders from a group, or just a series of incredible coincidences, we don't know. But these three are not only influential senators, but also incredible people who have achieved a great deal during their time in the senate. Whether or not they're kidnapped or not is also unknown, but if they are currently kidnapped, know we are trying our hardest to look for you, and if not, then the nation is sure to have your backs, no matter where you are, and that I myself am wishing you the best of luck. Now then, it appears I must take my leave, I thank you very much for your time. Hail the Empire."

The Emperor-King now walks off-stage with his armed guards, as the hall fills with chatter again as the people began to file out. For now, the Emperor-King slinked back into his quarters, trying to push the investigation to high priority. Meanwhile, the three senators watch the conference on the TV intently, hidden deep inside the bunker. The trio exchanged looks at the television was turned off.

Suddenly, a knock was heard from the door.

"-Huh?" Octavia said, as he looked over towards the door, startled by the sudden knock. "Oh, uhm- come in." He cleared the cigarettes and empty bottles off his desk, and adjusted his tie.

Lieutenant Reuss opened the door, stepping into Octavia's office. "Good morning, Sir." He said, he proceeded to shut the door behind him, and then walked over to sit down in front of Octavia's desk.

"Care for a cup of coffee?" Octavia said, as he poured coffee into a cup and handed it to Reuss.

"Well of course, Colonel. I haven't had a drink since I left the mainland, which was roughly around... five hours ago?" Reuss said. "But never mind that, I didn't come here just for a cup of coffee, I've come here for an important discussion with you, concerning our nation."

Octavia raised a brow at Reuss' statement. "Go on..." He sipped his cup of coffee.

"The state is planning an invasion of the bordering nations of Cetus and Aquila, the Government has grown concerned of political corruption due to growing influence from other nations, such as Orion." Reuss said.

"An invasion, you say? It's about time we returned to some good old warfare... send the word to the mainland that I'm willing to assist in this operation." Octavia said, standing up to look outside his window. "We must carry out this operation for the sake of our dear nation."

"Understood, sir." Reuss said, soon standing up and walking to the door. "I'll be departing now, I must return to the mainland at once." Reuss then proceeded to walk out of the office, and shut the door behind him.

"Very well." Octavia said, before sitting back down on his chair and continuing to drink his coffee.

Meanwhile, Reuss walked towards the base's port, escorted by a few soldiers of the Imperial Army. He was soon inside of his boat, pacing around inside of his cabin. The boat now departed from the port, and set course for the mainland.

Octavia watched from his office, as the boat sailed away from the island, and was consumed by the thick fog surrounding it. "Good luck out there, Lieutenant."