TO WHOM IS IT A BENEFIT?

[Corrigendum]

The Imperial Herald published an exposé over the weekend claiming to have obtained exclusive documents from whistleblowers within the Imperial Intelligence community implicating Chancellor Anders Blaine in a coup perpetrated against the late Emperor Hengist Duval.

Oksana Gora of the Prism Herald, a subsidiary of the Imperial Herald servicing the Prism region, provided an abstract for the article.

“These documents detail at length the usage of obscure toxins derived from a mixture of, among other substances, concentrated snake venom from the serpents of Bast, which are known to have a potent neurological effect that is capitalized upon in Bast Snake Gin, and the distilled secretions of the Kachirigin Filter Leach, which function as a potent general anesthetic. The described cocktail of toxins is alleged to have been administered to Emperor Hengist Duval in order to render him pliable and ultimately comatose for an extended period of time, beginning in late 3300. This is alleged to have played a role in the disinheritance of former Crown Prince Harold Duval which triggered the Imperial succession crisis of 3301, following the assassination of Hengist Duval in August of that year.”

The article goes on to highlight additional ties between Chancellor Anders Blaine and known actors within the Emperor’s Dawn and Neo-Marlinist Liberation Army extremist groups. Chancellor Blaine was considered the strongest candidate for the throne during the succession crisis of 3301, given the deadlock between Princess Aisling Duval and Senator Arissa Lavigny-Duval. The contemporary revelation of his indirect connection to Emperor's Dawn marked the effective end of his candidacy. If true, the allegations of the Imperial Herald’s article reveal just how close the Chancellor came to orchestrating his own coronation.

The incendiary conclusion of the Imperial Herald’s article dovetails with the ongoing ACT investigation and asserts that a second coup directed by Chancellor Anders Blaine against the current Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval, and indeed against the entire Duval family, is nearly complete.



NOTE TO THE READER:
This is not official. Just some fun based on historic and current events.

 

[Julian McCoy]

A fascinating article, I should tune into local newsfeeds more often.

Expect a commline later, Corri, I had no idea you were still doing publishing work.

 

[Araviel]

That a group like Emperors dawn who's main goal was to prevent something like what we see unfolding now would be involved in such way I find to be very unlikely.

 

[Rainbro]

That a group like Emperors dawn who's main goal was to prevent something like what we see unfolding now would be involved in such way I find to be very unlikely.

Not so much Emperor's Dawn themselves, that group is dead. But they and the NMLA were both tools created by the same group for different purposes.

 

[Araviel]

Not so much Emperor's Dawn themselves, that group is dead. But they and the NMLA were both tools created by the same group for different purposes.

oh Rainbro. I know you like to think you know, but you don't. you should not even be certain about all the things going on in NONA.
Have the NMLA and the Emperors dawn been exploited by the same group of people, likely yes.
Where they created by the same? no, very much quite the opposite.
And is the Emperor's Dawn dead? as long as there are CMDR's flying you can't tell.

 

[Corrigendum]

That a group like Emperors dawn who's main goal was to prevent something like what we see unfolding now would be involved in such way I find to be very unlikely.

oh Rainbro. I know you like to think you know, but you don't. you should not even be certain about all the things going on in NONA.
Have the NMLA and the Emperors dawn been exploited by the same group of people, likely yes.
Where they created by the same? no, very much quite the opposite.
And is the Emperor's Dawn dead? as long as there are CMDR's flying you can't tell.

Thanks for your input! And I will tell you that I was of a very similar opinion at one point.

However, in the interest of furthering the discussion I would add some additional context for your consideration. I hope you'll forgive the excessively wordy answer to your comments, but this is something that I have borne in mind for quite some time.

For starters, an old thread on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/73nn5a Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/73nn5a/elite_choose_your_own_adventure_how_cmdrs_shape/


Unfortunately, the cited quote from Drew Wagar no longer links to his blog, so the quoted excerpt will have to do.

‘Whilst Frontier Developments have shown me what they have planned to unfold in Elite Dangerous there are many points at which the story could diverge and go off in different directions. David Braben is very keen on the player narrative and quite right too – but how to write a book where you don’t know what the ending is going to be? It’s a tricky problem. There have been major parts of the Elite Dangerous story-line that have already been chucked into the ‘circular file’ because of player actions – the demise of the Emperor’s Dawn was one of them.’

From this we learn with some authority that Emperor’s Dawn was intended to have played a more substantial role in the game’s narrative than it did, and I have long suspected there might be an attempt to utilize that scuttled content at some point. Personally, I believe that is the role of the NMLA, despite the difference in stated ideologies, as you cogently pointed out.

So is there a way to reconcile that in-universe? Maybe.

In reading the official novel Elite Premonition, we learn of the machinations of Five Oligarchs, colloquially referred to as "The Club". This group is revealed to have been pulling strings and manipulating the affairs of humanity for centuries. This group was not the invention of the author, Drew Wagar. Rather, they were given to him by Frontier.

Among the machinations of “The Club” was the orchestration of the attempted assassination of Denton Patreus by Emperor’s Dawn agents.
‘After all,’ Personnel said, ‘His standing has improved dramatically since someone tried to kill him. He seems to have attracted the sympathy vote.’
‘And full marks for orchestrating that little adventure,’ Infrastructure replied, with a roguish wink. ‘I thought it went down rather well.’

So, if we bear in mind that Emperor’s Dawn was at least at that point a pawn of “The Club”, it stands to reason that they were before that time as well.

What else?

As for Emperor’s Dawn’s stated purpose, they were supposedly ultra-traditionalist, and opposed both Arissa and Aisling taking the throne. This placed Anders Blaine in a prime position to become the new Emperor.

Aisling blew up Blaine’s chances with this reveal:
https://community.elitedangerous.com/galnet/uid/560e4bbb9657baf71746f4ee
In a statement, Princess Aisling revealed that some of Chancellor Anders Blaine's past advisors were connected to the same members of Emperor's Dawn as Patron Damon Clarke. She also highlighted that while Patron Clarke's connection to Emperor's Dawn was historic, those within the Chancellor's team were more recent.

Blaine disavowed and claimed ignorance:
https://community.elitedangerous.com/galnet/uid/560e4cf79657ba356b46f4ee
It is difficult to predict how this development will affect the succession vote. On the one hand, the Chancellor's link to Emperor's Dawn will inevitably damage his standing, despite his apparent ignorance of the connection. On the other, his contrition may go some way toward salvaging his reputation.

But the damage was done:
https://community.elitedangerous.com/galnet/uid/561249259657ba7207f31fd4
Chancellor Blaine was considered the strongest candidate for the throne, particularly given the deadlock between Princess Aisling Duval and Senator Arissa Lavigny-Duval. But the recent revelation of his indirect connection to Emperor's Dawn leaves the two women as the most convincing contenders. The Princess's chances were dealt a blow by the revelation of her own connections to Emperor's Dawn. With Senator Lavigny-Duval receiving public support from Senators Patreus and Torval, some believe she has an advantage. Overall, however, the two are too closely matched to be able to confidently call a winner.


So, we have reason to suspect Emperor’s Dawn was a pawn of “The Club”, and Chancellor Blaine stood to benefit directly from the activities of Emperor’s Dawn. Conveniently, every known contributor to Emperor's Dawn was eliminated despite being under the protection of the Imperial Intelligence complex... #BurnedAssets

And the Neo-Marlinist Liberation Army? What of them?

Well, they provided an effective smokescreen to abduct the sitting Emperor under everyone’s noses. Chancellor Anders Blaine has yet again enjoyed the de-facto powers of the Emperor as he did when Hengist was comatose. And now, if the assassins destroy the Duval lineage entirely, who stands to benefit if he was considered ‘the strongest candidate for the throne’ even with Arissa and Aisling to contend with? Further, the Marlinists themselves have largely been routed from the Empire and have an enclave of their own, rendering whatever internal political influence they had in the Empire much less of a threat.

There is no certainty I can offer (as with anything else here), but I have sufficient reason in my mind to strongly suspect the NMLA is yet another pawn of “The Club” designed to put one of their own on the throne of the Empire.

What I would advocate for is an open mind and a thorough investigation…

In the meantime, we have an Emperor and a major power to save from “The Club” and its tentacles.

Further reading in parting:
https://community.elitedangerous.com/galnet/uid/56e7f7169657badd62b3d3c9
"Many of those who have tried to connect these seemingly disparate events have been silenced, along with their sources. That is why I have chosen to remain anonymous. So far, only pawns have been revealed in this shadowy game. We must discover the king."

Thank you again for your interest and your comments!

 

[Rainbro]

oh Rainbro. I know you like to think you know, but you don't. you should not even be certain about all the things going on in NONA.

...?

Have the NMLA and the Emperors dawn been exploited by the same group of people, likely yes.
Where they created by the same? no, very much quite the opposite.

Actually, that is a fair correction to make. The NMLA was a pre-existing small-scale organisation, before it got picked up by its "benefactors". I doubt much remains of the original organisation's structure, however. Emperor's Dawn seems slightly more artificial, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had a similar origin.

 

[Araviel]

yes the Emperor's Dawn was used as pawns by the club,
It is still unclear if anyone ordered Brendan Paul Darius to kill Hengist, or if he acted alone, but the Club was defiantly involved and exploited the aftermath.
But I think a line has to be drawn between who co-operates with the club willingly, and who does not, otherwise by this point we are all guilty.

One main thing to remember is that the Duval's always been a thorn to the Clubs main goal, going all the way back to Marlin Duval and the Achenar conflict.
There a rift was made and a new world order created, the Emperor's dawn sought to maintain that order.
The NMLA and the club the opposite.

 

[Corrigendum]

yes the Emperor's Dawn was used as pawns by the club,
It is still unclear if anyone ordered Brendan Paul Darius to kill Hengist, or if he acted alone, but the Club was defiantly involved and exploited the aftermath.
But I think a line has to be drawn between who co-cooperates with the club willingly, and who does not, otherwise by this point we are all guilty.

One main thing to remember is that the Duval's always been a thorn to the Clubs main goal, going all the way back to Marlin Duval and the Achenar conflict.
There a rift was made and a new world order created, the Emperor's dawn sought to maintain that order.
The NMLA and the club the opposite.

Again, I appreciate your thoughtful contribution to this discussion.

I suspect we could split hairs over semantics and minutia, but for the most part I think we are in agreement as to the resulting outputs, if not in every particular of the inputs.