07-01-2020, 08:51 AM
July 1st
Project Tilmahcoatl, the Xiomeran system of surveillance, censorship and monitoring of the internet and media, took its name from the Huenyan phrase for "cloaked serpent". Its creators, Xiomera's infamous Information Security Technology Corporation (ISTC), liked the name they gave their all-encompassing program because it described their intent very well. Like a hidden serpent in the shadows, it wrapped its many coils around every possible avenue of communication in and out of Xiomera, shrouding the country behind its protective scales.
Project Tilmahcoatl was administered from a series of operations centers around the Empire, with its main headquarters in the city of Tlilotl'pac. The bustling suburb of Tlālacuetztla was Xiomera's silicon city, the beating heart of its technocratic tendencies. Most of Xiomera's major tech corporations, including ISTC, were based there. It was therefore a perfect location for the Huaxtepan Center for Technological and Social Harmony, the innocuous name that ISTC and the Secretariat of Security gave the sprawling high-security facility.
Normally, things at Huaxtepan were relatively calm. In the past few weeks, however, Huaxtepan had been the scene of frantic activity. Thanks to Legionite and Eirian hackers, keeping unwanted media from intruding into the Xiomeran 'net was becoming increasingly hard. It didn't help that the Crown Prince had put together his own team of eager Xiomeran hackers in Laeral who wanted to fight the Xochiuhue regime. Amongst the Crown Prince's team were a few foreigners who also wanted to make life hard for the junta. But by far, the most eager hackers on the Crown Prince's team were a group of Necatli, Tepiltzin and Itotemoc hackers who were spoiling for revenge against Xochiuhue and his ethnocentric government.
The Xiomeran 'net was being bombarded by a series of videos and social media posts. Video from the attack on the Palace of Flowers, and from the heavy-handed suppression of protests around the country. Videos of the Teyatia resisting the Manauia Island Project and the efforts of the governor there. Videos bluntly questioning Xochiuhue's legitimacy, and asking how someone who had basically just made himself Emperor for life was upholding the supposedly meritocratic values of Xiomera. Messages from the Crown Prince taunting the junta. Scenes from protests by womens' groups angry at the sanctions being levied on Kerlile, and by environmental groups angry about the Manauia Island Project, being shut down by force. Videos from Xiomeran universities, increasingly becoming the scene of violence between students and the security forces. And now, the video from the Eirian Chancellor challenging the junta. It was all becoming a bit much. The nerves of both the ISTC employees and ASI agents manning Huaxtepan, and its satellite sites, were being stretched both by the constant game of whack-a-mole they were having to play to try to shut down the hacks, and the increasingly angry demands from the junta leaders for them to uphold Xiomera's much-vaunted firewall.
And still, the videos and the posts somehow managed to slip through. It was becoming quite wearying for the Huaxtepan employees who were expected to stand virtual watch on that firewall. More whack-a-mole. More whack-a-mole. More whack-a-mole. Every day.
---
For another resident of Tlilotl'pac, the wealthy tech city was becoming more of a prison than a comfortable home. One employee of Cala Computer had decided that it was a prudent time to relocate.
Comilō, one of the Auroras that Yauhmi had given amnesty to, had been surprised that she hadn't been picked up yet by the junta's minions. Wisely, however, she decided that she wasn't going to stick around for them to catch on. With her husband Miztal and daughter Zia in tow, Comilō fled the city, just ahead of a group of ASI agents who had indeed been sent to pick her up. Her destination: Chuaztlapoc. The word had gotten out on the Xiomeran underground that city was the center of what little formal organized resistance to the regime remained inside Xiomera itself. Comilō knew that their chances of getting out of the country were slim. But at Chuaztlapoc, they might have a chance to survive - and she might have a chance to fight back.
---
Camp Maluco, Ixtenco
Headquarters, 21st Battalion, Xiomeran Imperial Army
Major Huatli had a dilemma.
Her meeting with General Yāotlah'lotl of Military Intelligence, just under a month ago, had given her the beginning of a plan. She wasn't sure that the month of preparation for her plan was enough.
What she was sure about, however, was that she didn't have more time to plan. A follow-up message from General Yāotlah'lotl had warned her that ASI was about to arrest her, on the orders of Security Secretary Calhualyana. If she was going to act, the time was now.
"It's a go," she told Atezhuatl, her sergeant major and second in command. Atezhuatl simply nodded, and left to issue the orders to mobilize.
As the battalion mobilized, Major Huatli and Atezhuatl, along with several of her command staff and soldiers, were finalizing the preparations to leave when the doors to the command center burst open. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Major?" Cecatli, second lieutenant of the battalion and its assigned political officer with XMI, stalked in. Huatli sighed. I was hoping we could get out of here without Cecatli noticing. Oh well. I have always wanted to shoot this idiot. Maybe today's the day.
"We've been ordered to mobilize the battalion to help put down protests in Tacuitapa. You're to remain behind and prepare the camp for a new battalion being moved here," Huatli replied blandly.
Cecatli snorted. "Bullshit. No battalion deploys in the field without its political officer. You're up to something, Major, and I'm here to put a stop to it."
Huatli sighed to herself again. I guess today really is my lucky day. She pulled her sidearm from its holster, pointing it at Cecatli's head. "You're right, Cecatli. I am up to something, and I can't let you interrupt it."
Cecatli glared at the Major. "Treason! You're choosing to betray the Empire. And I know for who."
Huatli shook her head. "I assure you, you really don't. But go ahead and tell us what you think anyway."
"I received an alert from Security. You're to be detained. And do you all know why?" Cecatli sneered at Huatli. "You're an Aurora. You're working for the Kerlians. Yauhmi knew, and she betrayed the country and let Kerlian spies stay here and work for her. Your treason goes far deeper than anyone in this battalion knew." The political officer triumphantly pointed at the Major. "Now you all know who has really been commanding you. I order you soldiers to arrest the spy, on the orders of the Emperor and the General Staff."
"Arrest yourself, you freaking idiot," Atezhuatl replied, looking at Cecatli with disdain.
"So, you're a traitor too, Atezhuatl? Fine, we have enough cells for both of you. Arrest them both!" Cecatli shouted, pointing at the other soldiers in the room. And waited. And waited.
No one moved. After a moment, one of the other soldiers, a private named Catlixcui, shook his head. "I don't care if she was an Aurora. I know who she is now. She's our commander. And she's never led us wrong. I will not comply," Catlixcui said.
"You'll hang for treason too, then, you donkey!" Cecatli shouted.
"Seems to me you're the one with a gun pointed at his head," another private, Xayacahu, sighed. "You don't seem in a very good position to be making threats, lieutenant. But in case that's not clear, let me help clarify." Xayacahu raised his rifle, pointing it at the political officer.
"Traitors, all of you! You and you families will all pay for this. Why are you risking that? Why are you betraying the Empire?" Cecatli demanded. "We're not the ones betraying Xiomera, and as far as we can tell, neither is the Major," Xayacahu replied. "We know the Major. She leads fairly, and well. She's a soldier. You're just a worm who managed to snag a lieutenant's rank because you were willing to spy on us. If you're asking us to take the Major's word, or yours, I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll take hers every time. And I will follow wherever she leads."
"Is that what you all think? Will no one help me arrest these criminals?" Cecatli shouted. Six more rifles pointed in his direction were the response.
"I think you have your answer, lieutenant," Huatli said calmly, "but let's make it official. Arrest the political officer, please," she told Atezhuatl, who was more than eager to comply. Quickly disarming Cecatli, Atezhuatl yanked his arms behind him and tied his wrists together. "You know those cells you were so eager to put us in, Cecatli? Why don't you try them out first for us? Let us know what you think of them," the sergeant major laughed as two soldiers dragged a protesting Cecatli off.
In the ensuing silence, Atezhuatl turned to his commander. "So, Major, let me guess. We're off to Chuaztlapoc, aren't we?"
"Indeed we are, Atezhuatl," Huatli said with a grin. "But we're going to be making a side trip first."
Under cover of darkness, and under the noses of the Emperor's regime, the 21st Battalion left Camp Maluco.
Project Tilmahcoatl, the Xiomeran system of surveillance, censorship and monitoring of the internet and media, took its name from the Huenyan phrase for "cloaked serpent". Its creators, Xiomera's infamous Information Security Technology Corporation (ISTC), liked the name they gave their all-encompassing program because it described their intent very well. Like a hidden serpent in the shadows, it wrapped its many coils around every possible avenue of communication in and out of Xiomera, shrouding the country behind its protective scales.
Project Tilmahcoatl was administered from a series of operations centers around the Empire, with its main headquarters in the city of Tlilotl'pac. The bustling suburb of Tlālacuetztla was Xiomera's silicon city, the beating heart of its technocratic tendencies. Most of Xiomera's major tech corporations, including ISTC, were based there. It was therefore a perfect location for the Huaxtepan Center for Technological and Social Harmony, the innocuous name that ISTC and the Secretariat of Security gave the sprawling high-security facility.
Normally, things at Huaxtepan were relatively calm. In the past few weeks, however, Huaxtepan had been the scene of frantic activity. Thanks to Legionite and Eirian hackers, keeping unwanted media from intruding into the Xiomeran 'net was becoming increasingly hard. It didn't help that the Crown Prince had put together his own team of eager Xiomeran hackers in Laeral who wanted to fight the Xochiuhue regime. Amongst the Crown Prince's team were a few foreigners who also wanted to make life hard for the junta. But by far, the most eager hackers on the Crown Prince's team were a group of Necatli, Tepiltzin and Itotemoc hackers who were spoiling for revenge against Xochiuhue and his ethnocentric government.
The Xiomeran 'net was being bombarded by a series of videos and social media posts. Video from the attack on the Palace of Flowers, and from the heavy-handed suppression of protests around the country. Videos of the Teyatia resisting the Manauia Island Project and the efforts of the governor there. Videos bluntly questioning Xochiuhue's legitimacy, and asking how someone who had basically just made himself Emperor for life was upholding the supposedly meritocratic values of Xiomera. Messages from the Crown Prince taunting the junta. Scenes from protests by womens' groups angry at the sanctions being levied on Kerlile, and by environmental groups angry about the Manauia Island Project, being shut down by force. Videos from Xiomeran universities, increasingly becoming the scene of violence between students and the security forces. And now, the video from the Eirian Chancellor challenging the junta. It was all becoming a bit much. The nerves of both the ISTC employees and ASI agents manning Huaxtepan, and its satellite sites, were being stretched both by the constant game of whack-a-mole they were having to play to try to shut down the hacks, and the increasingly angry demands from the junta leaders for them to uphold Xiomera's much-vaunted firewall.
And still, the videos and the posts somehow managed to slip through. It was becoming quite wearying for the Huaxtepan employees who were expected to stand virtual watch on that firewall. More whack-a-mole. More whack-a-mole. More whack-a-mole. Every day.
---
For another resident of Tlilotl'pac, the wealthy tech city was becoming more of a prison than a comfortable home. One employee of Cala Computer had decided that it was a prudent time to relocate.
Comilō, one of the Auroras that Yauhmi had given amnesty to, had been surprised that she hadn't been picked up yet by the junta's minions. Wisely, however, she decided that she wasn't going to stick around for them to catch on. With her husband Miztal and daughter Zia in tow, Comilō fled the city, just ahead of a group of ASI agents who had indeed been sent to pick her up. Her destination: Chuaztlapoc. The word had gotten out on the Xiomeran underground that city was the center of what little formal organized resistance to the regime remained inside Xiomera itself. Comilō knew that their chances of getting out of the country were slim. But at Chuaztlapoc, they might have a chance to survive - and she might have a chance to fight back.
---
Camp Maluco, Ixtenco
Headquarters, 21st Battalion, Xiomeran Imperial Army
Major Huatli had a dilemma.
Her meeting with General Yāotlah'lotl of Military Intelligence, just under a month ago, had given her the beginning of a plan. She wasn't sure that the month of preparation for her plan was enough.
What she was sure about, however, was that she didn't have more time to plan. A follow-up message from General Yāotlah'lotl had warned her that ASI was about to arrest her, on the orders of Security Secretary Calhualyana. If she was going to act, the time was now.
"It's a go," she told Atezhuatl, her sergeant major and second in command. Atezhuatl simply nodded, and left to issue the orders to mobilize.
As the battalion mobilized, Major Huatli and Atezhuatl, along with several of her command staff and soldiers, were finalizing the preparations to leave when the doors to the command center burst open. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Major?" Cecatli, second lieutenant of the battalion and its assigned political officer with XMI, stalked in. Huatli sighed. I was hoping we could get out of here without Cecatli noticing. Oh well. I have always wanted to shoot this idiot. Maybe today's the day.
"We've been ordered to mobilize the battalion to help put down protests in Tacuitapa. You're to remain behind and prepare the camp for a new battalion being moved here," Huatli replied blandly.
Cecatli snorted. "Bullshit. No battalion deploys in the field without its political officer. You're up to something, Major, and I'm here to put a stop to it."
Huatli sighed to herself again. I guess today really is my lucky day. She pulled her sidearm from its holster, pointing it at Cecatli's head. "You're right, Cecatli. I am up to something, and I can't let you interrupt it."
Cecatli glared at the Major. "Treason! You're choosing to betray the Empire. And I know for who."
Huatli shook her head. "I assure you, you really don't. But go ahead and tell us what you think anyway."
"I received an alert from Security. You're to be detained. And do you all know why?" Cecatli sneered at Huatli. "You're an Aurora. You're working for the Kerlians. Yauhmi knew, and she betrayed the country and let Kerlian spies stay here and work for her. Your treason goes far deeper than anyone in this battalion knew." The political officer triumphantly pointed at the Major. "Now you all know who has really been commanding you. I order you soldiers to arrest the spy, on the orders of the Emperor and the General Staff."
"Arrest yourself, you freaking idiot," Atezhuatl replied, looking at Cecatli with disdain.
"So, you're a traitor too, Atezhuatl? Fine, we have enough cells for both of you. Arrest them both!" Cecatli shouted, pointing at the other soldiers in the room. And waited. And waited.
No one moved. After a moment, one of the other soldiers, a private named Catlixcui, shook his head. "I don't care if she was an Aurora. I know who she is now. She's our commander. And she's never led us wrong. I will not comply," Catlixcui said.
"You'll hang for treason too, then, you donkey!" Cecatli shouted.
"Seems to me you're the one with a gun pointed at his head," another private, Xayacahu, sighed. "You don't seem in a very good position to be making threats, lieutenant. But in case that's not clear, let me help clarify." Xayacahu raised his rifle, pointing it at the political officer.
"Traitors, all of you! You and you families will all pay for this. Why are you risking that? Why are you betraying the Empire?" Cecatli demanded. "We're not the ones betraying Xiomera, and as far as we can tell, neither is the Major," Xayacahu replied. "We know the Major. She leads fairly, and well. She's a soldier. You're just a worm who managed to snag a lieutenant's rank because you were willing to spy on us. If you're asking us to take the Major's word, or yours, I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll take hers every time. And I will follow wherever she leads."
"Is that what you all think? Will no one help me arrest these criminals?" Cecatli shouted. Six more rifles pointed in his direction were the response.
"I think you have your answer, lieutenant," Huatli said calmly, "but let's make it official. Arrest the political officer, please," she told Atezhuatl, who was more than eager to comply. Quickly disarming Cecatli, Atezhuatl yanked his arms behind him and tied his wrists together. "You know those cells you were so eager to put us in, Cecatli? Why don't you try them out first for us? Let us know what you think of them," the sergeant major laughed as two soldiers dragged a protesting Cecatli off.
In the ensuing silence, Atezhuatl turned to his commander. "So, Major, let me guess. We're off to Chuaztlapoc, aren't we?"
"Indeed we are, Atezhuatl," Huatli said with a grin. "But we're going to be making a side trip first."
Under cover of darkness, and under the noses of the Emperor's regime, the 21st Battalion left Camp Maluco.
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