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« Last post by Sindobook on May 19, 2014, 11:00:46 pm »
When Cat A took over the gang, most of Cat P's former minions switched sides just like that.
Perhaps it was Cat A's notoriety among small animals that caused other cats to follow her lead without a thought. Or perhaps it was her allure, among the toms[1], she had a lot of support. Cat T (T.l), who rarely showed interest in other cats, seemed to take a special liking to her, catering to her every whim. Cat A quickly earned the title of 'queen', and while she flaunted this title, she rarely did much or otherwise exercised her power.
Surprisingly there were no purges under Cat A's reign, with many tacitly acknowledging that she was high on catnip for most of the time. Ironically, the normally backstabbing, manipulative, and ruthless cat that had led the effort to purge many from the gang also had one of the most uneventful reigns, short as it was.
[1] male cats.
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This is misreading, the term "escort" is only used in the purely operational sense. It has none of that meaning when used by small animals.
And the operation was completed some months ago, without incident. Probably largely due to a diversionary raid led by Samantha.
"We didn't know it at the time, but Cat A was running the gang at that time. That would explain the very slow response of those cats in phase 3. We expected heavy resistance in phase 5, but actually managed to slip through their security line on the northern border undetected. And by the time those hapless cats realized we were long gone, it was too late.
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Not true, he has plenty of social skills, he just chooses not to use them most of the time.
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With Cat A in power, the gang's command structure simply evaporated. The winter time has historically been slow for the gang, as the winners of the election seek to consolidate their power and secure allies in secret for the big push during the spring and summer seasons. However, with Cat A in charge, absolutely nothing happened as she and a large portion of the cats in the gang were either high on catnip or simply swooning over her and trying to attract her attention.
On the outside, these were dark times for the gang. Garrisons and Patrols within their territory all but ceased, since they had neither supplies nor the will to conduct them. All around, their borders were collapsing, at least in three of the four directions. To the west, Cat P had made peace with their rivals when he was in charge, so this border remained stable.
Unable to defend their territory, enclaves of small animals, stray dogs, and others started to appear within internal areas they still claimed as theirs, but were unable to control. They could not send out patrols or parties to counter them. What limited stores they had left were raided, leaving cats that had once grown fat off wild food forced to depend on their owners supply of second-rate, dry cat food.
This state motivated the gang's rivals to take advantage of the situation and they started to develop their own plans for long-term expansion, primarily at the expense of the gang. Most of these rivals were on good terms with each other, so they simply divided sections of the gangs territory among themselves. Even today, these plans are in motion and the result is sporadic fighting.
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Yes, intelligence reported this yesterday.
The bunny brigade and the other individual security forces are aware. But they honestly can't do much until something actually happens. They're definitely watching for it, though.
Honestly, a lot of the forces are not even going to be there. With only a skeleton crew, resources are pretty limited; they can't really afford to get involved in every potential or 'virtual' problem out there.
Most likely, it will be suppressed before it even starts. Bunny brigade has shown ability to adapt and act quickly in the past, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
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It was just discovered today.
After disposing of Cat A and taking back control of the gang, Cat P attempted several attacks on his enemies to the south. However all of them were beaten back, and after repeated losses morale was too poor to carry out any more attacks.
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It's actually a bit more complicated than that, you have to admit that [deleted] bunny has never been any good when it comes to diplomacy. She tends to make any situation worse through her abrasive nature.
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I don't think so. While it is certainly in decline, the gang has also proved itself resilient over the years. Many believed it was dead about one (cat) generation ago, but it managed to bounce back. But everyone knows that things will never be the same for them, their glory days are long past. It used to be their leader held real power, in that he could give an order and cats would follow. Today, in the last 6 (cat) years, they have not won a single battle with any of their foes, and the infighting gets worse and worse.
From Samantha: "Defectors from the gang have been expecting that the purging this year will be worse than any other year to date. But nobody fears the gang's leadership anymore. Being removed from something that is ineffective to begin with, what is there to fear about that?"
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Cat A's reign would end only a couple of [cat] years after it began. Cat A reportedly passed out due to overdosing on a "bad batch" of catnip. There was a fight for her position, but most of the contenders appeared spaced out or otherwise incapacitated, probably due to the same thing.
Cat P showed up late in the battle and declared himself victorious at a time when most cats were either unable or unwilling to fight. Many suspected him for poisoning the catnip in the first place, but there was no clear evidence how this took place, so most of the cats just kept their mouth shut.
Some general order was restored to the gang, patrols could function once again, and cats were no longer relegated to having to eat dry food or whatever little subsistence their their owners would provide them with. Cat P had been restored to his position, but his actual power was very questionable, and the gang had lost a lot of territory to its rivals and had rebellions pop up within its own boundaries that had grown too large to suppress with any quick action.
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Yes this is true. Before losing power, around 3-4 [cat] years ago, Cat P tried to negotiate with a number of groups to stabilize the gang on several fronts, but ultimately failed. He did however manage to negotiate an understanding with a smaller gang to the west, but even that agreement is now called into question due to several factors.
The most significant of the two gangs, referred to hereafter as 'B' and 'C', refused to negotiate with Cat P directly due to his reputation among most cats. They did offer to negotiate with some former members of the gang that Cat P had purged over a [cat] decade ago, but despite his begging, Cat P couldn't get those guys to help him. So the alliance was pretty much off.
During the [cat] years when Cat A was in control, the gang lost vast swathes of territory, much of which could have probably been abated by reaching an understanding with their rivals. Another thing that became obvious was that Cat P had earned such a negative reputation among other cats that few would even spend time to listen to what he had to say. When Cat P took back control of the gang from Cat A, the position he got back was largely symbolic, he quickly found he holds little actual power and the gang itself functioned more like a chaotic mob rather than any kind of force.
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All I can say at this point is we have no substantive idea of his status.
Heard a few things but haven't been able to confirm anything.
From Mikey: "Everything we've heard isn't good, in his respect, that is. A lot of people have been saying the cat went 'off the rails' or 'full tilt.' But we're trying to get confirmation. Every single source gives a different story. These [rats] aren't the most reliable sources, and there's really not a lot of small animals who could get close or cats that were close enough and talking."
From Samantha: "Rob said that he had gone into full paranoia mode, blaming a newly created gang of about 25(?) animals to the south for everything. Apparently a master hacker was able to take down their network for several hours, Cat T.a made the claim, probably to cover his own incompetence but Cat P latched onto it. Once the network was back alive, Cat P claimed that the supply routing had been infiltrated by the enemy and bogged down, in reality it is simply suspected that the supply vehicle was [stuck in traffic]. Another rat close to Cat P said he was also going [full paranoid delusional] but could not comment any farther on how or what his [delusions] were targeting."
From Albert: "His next action could trigger a full revolt. One thing we know is that Cat P is planning a substantial purge in the near future, which might be a poor [tactical] decision considering the state that the gang is in."
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While the neighborhood cat gang is experiencing several uprisings within its own territory, probably the most significant at this time is one slightly to the south, within striking range of their main base.
From Mikey: "Their ranks grow every day, currently almost a thousand small animals in all; even though it is little more than a disorganized mob, there is much gnashing of teeth and with every attack by the neighborhood cat gang, they have gained ground and grown in number. Nearby cats within the area of this uprising seem to have a policy of ignoring the uprising and even attacking cats from the gang when they dare to venture nearby, so it's likely the two groups at least working in common interest."
From Samantha: "It's said that several prominent bunnies are assisting them, but how much and in what capacity is anyone's guess."
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In their defense, their supply lines were hideously long[1].
Even loyal troops who could have possibly made a difference could not get to where they needed to be in time. Instead they had to rely on mercenaries and not exactly top dollar mercenaries at that.
[1] Around 5 miles long, and the only vehicle they had to service them was a mini countryman.
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The Vanguard is weak, they have poor combat ability and readiness. Only one cat that is still capable of managing anything.
Cat P recognizes the sorry state of his organization, but does very little to fix anything (not that he could even if he tried). The gang has serious problems with territorial integrity right now, morale is poor and finance is only barely in the black.
Any extra money is spent on mercenaries, because right now the gang does not have any kind of fighting force worth mentioning. All their rivals recognize their territory is up for grabs.
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This is still fresh, it just happened today (as far as I know).
Since several cat years ago, Cat P had negotiated an non-aggression pact with his western neighbor, a small but relatively tight gang of local cats.
At a time when the gang was losing territory, this helped the gang's forces since they did not have to defend their western border against their rival.
But in Cat P's absence, the gang as run by Cat A lost track of what was happening in the background.
While they sat idle, their territory collapsing on all other sides, their western rival also plotted and acted behind their back.
In one major operation, it served as an insertion point for known enemies of the gang[1].
When Cat P returned, the pact still stood, however he became incredibly suspicious due somewhat to recent events, but mostly due to his paranoia.
Still he could not afford to station combat units on the western border. What limited forces he had were needed for internal security matters. And the gang was already bankrolling as many mercenaries as it could afford.
And then today, the opening shot. The gang to the west all but revealed that their cats were also actively supporting a gang to the south that was in active contention with the neighborhood cat gang over territory.
From Mikey - "It started as a proxy war. Roughly one [cat] decade ago, a gang to the south allied themselves with the neighborhood cat gang. But the tides quickly shifted, and things turned sour. Most of the cats rebelled, rallying behind their own leader and fighting began in earnest roughly 4 [cat] years ago."
"Now it was probably happening all along, but it turns out that the tripartite coalition consists of the rebellion group to the south, another uprising of now more than a thousand small animals in the heart of neighborhood cat gang territory, and the group to the west that the neighborhood cat gang had made a non-aggression pact with. All have been working in concert, and it's likely been that way for several years."
[1] The operation led by Bunny A, described a few posts prior.
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