(Mega Narrative Warning. You may enjoy what I wrote more than what I said in the videos - there are a few days separating the videos and narrative, and my quality of speech towards the end of Video #16 noticeably... uh, deteriorates. Regardless, folks, it's your call, and I hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave feedback.
Also, there may be typos and weird quirks of speech in the narrative I've written; for those, I apologize. I do know how to proofread, but such review is always best when there are days of separation regarding the matter. They won't affect the meaning behind the narrative too much, though.)
The next morning, during the regular Liberal briefing, Kurt said to the group, "By Liberal calculations, we are responsible for the deaths of one hundred sixty-four Conservative automatons. We've also Enlightened six others to serve the cause as need be."
"Conservative propaganda," Patricia stated, "has stated we are directly responsible for thrice as many deaths, not to mention thousands of others through our supposed irresponsibility in raiding Corporate sites - particularly the Nuclear Power Plant. However, such propaganda only serves to bolster our prowess in the public's eyes."
"Not to mention," Julia offered, "a vast majority of the masses do not believe we are as Evil as the government suggests. They have felt the weight of the yoke of this Nightmare for a long time now. They know what we're doing is right."
Soft-spoken Rudy added, "Per Grimith's polls, we have made considerable progress in motivating Public Opinion against the Conservative masses. But there is much left to be done. Until the elections dispose of the Evil in office, we remain under peril of being snuffed."
Daniela scoffed. "We don't have reason to fear the ignorant, backwoods automatons. Grimith has made an incredible showing on-site, proving time again how incompetent and capable the Conservatives are. The Fates find our cause Justified, and we wil only know success as long as we are on the side of right."
I didn't feel like wasting my time listening to words kicked around in a Downtown apartment. While the others made their opinions known and quibbled over specifics, I dressed and left to visit the Nuclear Power Plant once more. If any had heard me leave, they didn't bother to comment.
With my continued experience in the field, I easily bypassed security measures, grabbing everything of interest in the plant before once again powering down the reactor. Security discovered my identity while I made my escape from the facility...
...not that it helped them stop me...
...or even pose a challenge.
To be fair, one guard (luckily) managed to graze me with his SMG. But his bullets failed to stop his death, or the deaths of the other security guards I killed. I escaped from the site - first on foot, then on car to lose the Death Squads - and successfully returned back to the safehouse. Though the others may have been somewhat upset of my early escape from their debate, they rejoiced my success that night all the same.
I followed up my power planet strike with another assault on the Ministry of Love. Using data obtained from my newly placed Liberal sleeper, I had marked all points of interest on a map of my design. Intel showed the FIA hadn't moved its regional super-computer, giving me a straight-shot to infilitrate its databanks once more.
The stealth mission succeeded without incident, although I had only been able to Liberally confiscate half the Ministry's loot before I had been identified. Although I took pains to flee as quickly as I could, one FIA Agent managed to follow me and pursue me in his luxurious, ill-gotten, Corporate-funded sportscar.
Rest assured, Liberal Journal, it didn't save the bastard. The Lady of Liberalism smiled upon my loyalty and granted me blessed accuracy. I managed to escape pursuit without needing to bail from my vehicle. And, as had been on many nights in the recent past, we of the Cause celebrated our continued success through another round of partying and the like.
But I have grown worried. Worried that such success isn't meant to last. Worried that, despite all of our successes, despite Conservative ineptitude, the Forces of Evil will manage, somehow, some way, to land one blow... just one... but it'll be enough. Enough to cause the Cause to shudder and collapse.
These recent worries were engendered in the CEO Residence, after another successful looting. The enslaved animals couldn't detect me this time, and I pilfered the loot which so rightly belonged to the masses. On my way out the door, however, I spotted one of those arrogant pricks, one of those bastards who didn't just serve The Man but were a part of The Man, and I couldn't help but raise my rifle and fire at him.
Not only did I fail to hit him, but he answered my brazen attack upon him not with surprise, not with return fire, but with a smug grin and a flash of cash. To show his dominance. To illustrate his power. To prove to me that money still moved mountains in Corporate America and had been far more capable in asserting control over the country than a man with a gun had been.
I shot wildly at him, clearly missing him, and the smugness on his face grew inconceivably so. He smirked at me while pitching his lack of support for tax cuts against the poor classes, how they only deserved to be worked, how their funds were needed to support our great country. Whatever wisdom inherent in his words shouldn't have connected, shouldn't have made sense, for it had no heart, no true glory... but I faltered all the same.
My hands trembled. I wasn't sure of myself any more. Maybe what I was doing was wrong. Maybe... maybe I wasn't really serving the Liberal Cause. Or maybe there was no hope. Maybe I would never succeed. The Conservatives still had control. Maybe they always would.
...But he kept approaching me, kept getting close, kept pressuring me with Reaganomics, with Corporate successes, with flashes of cash and a trillion dollar smile. My battered heart refused to accept the pressure, and, in a Fight or Flight response...
I shredded The Man with my AK-47.
Momentarily stunned, I stood over his fallen body for the greater part of a minute, looking over him and what he had done to me. Flashes of anger and emotion poured through my soul, yet... they felt so much weaker than what they had once been. From this one automaton, a seed of doubt blossomed within me, whispering to me of the failures of the Liberal Cause.
When I came to my senses, however, I frantically fled the place and drove as fast as I could back into the city. Not to the safehouse immediately, but instead in a cruise around downtown, looking at the fantastic structures, imposing and powerful, which the Conservatives had built.
Were they really so Evil? Of course they had to be. Yet they regulated and controlled society so thoroughly... and the masses had accepted it so willingly. How could I, or anyone else, hope to repeal the Nightmare? Had I begun the fight too late? Were we already doomed from the start?
The questions haunted me all through the night, and my sleep, when had, produced only fitful nightmares. As I prepare myself for the Cause's next target, the AM Radio Station, I again can't help but question if what I'm doing is right. The others would say: "Surely you jest, Grimith; Avatar of the Liberal Cause, Marshal of Liberal Justice, Crusader at War with the Intolerant Automatons." Yet I can't help but tremble now when dwelling over my face-to-face encounter with The Man. My accuracy had failed me, my Lady had failed me, and He had loomed over me with a smirk on his face, warning me of how resistance to Conservatism was futile.
...Kurt already eyes me strangely, and, if I do not leave for the radio station soon, he will corner me and force me to speak of these fears. I can't let him or any of the others see this welling doubt within me, not until I answer these questions on my own. So, for now, I go. May the Cause give me vigor and the Lady bless me with the courage in which to carry it.
Grimith's journal ends there.
Likely, he used his disguise to slip easily into the station, fooling all of those who had observed him, all of the incompetent automatons who proved themselves incapable of recognizing The Avatar. His mission, as it had been before, was to return to the Radio Broadcast Room and once more enlighten the people of the horrors of Conservatism. Liberal polls had shown how much success our cause had gained, but there were still gaps in the depth of our impact, gaps which we felt Grimith could fix through his own charisma and influence.
Rather than leaving to carry out our own tasks, we stayed in the apartment after he left, turning on all the radios so we could hear Grimith when he took control of the station. While the others argued about the ignorant drivel on the radio channel, I sat alone and kept to my own thoughts. I didn't want to share with the others that a certain malaise had crept through me, a feeling of dread spawned by how Grimith had looked before he left. He had offered few words, and, when he had spoken, they seemed hollow, unsure, as if his confidence in life had been shaken somehow. My attempts to reassure myself were failing, and I had wished - even moreso now - that I had confronted him before he left.
In time, our beloved leader and founder incarcerated himself within the radio broadcast room, kicking out the fearful Conservatives who recognized his intentions as soon as he had given his name. The others in the safehouse were excited, but the unshakeable worry continued to fill me.
He confirmed my worry from the moment he engaged the audience. Though he tried to present a solid case for the injusticies of the Corporate government regarding affirmative action, his speech was clumsy, and his words were hollow. I knew, as we all knew, how much he believed in the Liberal Cause, yet, that morning, as he vainly attempted to convey to listeners how inhumate Conservatism had been to minorities... all of us - including him, from what we heard in his voice - could sense how mediocre and crass his arguments were.
He punctuated his final argument with a long sigh, realizing how he had failed the Cause at that moment. Silence reigned for a few minutes on the airwaves, but, to our horror, what had broken the silence was far worse:
"Jesus C. Kaltenbrunner; you are surrounded, out-manned, and out-gunned."
"In the name of Wisdom, I demand you throw down your weapon and surrender yourself immediately to Judgment before we are forced to open fire."A security force for the radio station, more open-minded than the brutal Death Squads, but far more dangerous than the mobs which were surely on their way to crush our founder at that moment, had surrounded Grimith and were demanding he turn himself over at once. Yet, for as stupid as I knew Conservatives to be, they must have known that the offer for surrender would be refused. Even now, their hands would be gripping their weapons, fingers trembling over triggers, preparing for the slightest hint of resistance so they could open fire and murder our Comrade.
The vociferous bark of Grimith's rifle, followed by a sharp, pained cry proved there would be no quarter from either side.
Our beloved leader hadn't become the Dispenser of Liberal Justice through chance and circumstance - he had repeatedly proven his automaton-crushing capabilities. But we all sensed, as perhaps did he, that this was more than any of his encounters with security forces. Entrapped as he was within the booth, it was only a matter of time...
...before the Conservatives scored their hits...
...and then scored their goal. A cry of which I had never heard the likes of in my life threatened to shatter the radio speaker, followed by a noticeable slump to the ground and the immediate silence of fire.
Weakly, only heard due to the microphone's proximity, echoed:
"You. Conservative. Bastards... won't... won't st-.. stop......"
Then, after his voice faded into murmurs, he fell completely silent.
Julia immediately burst into tears. Phillip started screaming at the radio, refusing to accept the validity of what he had heard, while the rest of us were shell-shocked. Transmitted to the public, transmitted to us all had been the final firefight, the final confrontation between Grimith and Arch-Conservatives, a battle which our glorious friend and comrade had failed to win. We had all known the risks, him especially; that, at any moment, the Conservatives could seize us and end our lives, but he had been so successful, so near damn invulnerable, that all of us had refused to believe it would ever happen to him.
Our lives were flipped upside-down in one morning. The Conservatives had put the screw to us all again, just as we were starting to feel hope... and, when the initial shellshock broke, we in the apartment entered a hell of our own.
Being the most profound supporter of Grimith, and the one most devoted to helping him realize the agenda, I naturally assumed I would help guide the others after his death. What I hadn't expected, however, was to be leading an Army of One.
One by one, throughout the night, each of the others living in the apartment decided to leave and go it on their own. Phillip, consumed with anger, teetered on the brink of insanity, and he marched out of the apartment almost immediately to pursue... whatever it was, I don't know, and I still hope he's alive and safe somewhere. Most of them, like Rudy and Julia, recognized their own criminal connections to Grimith and realized how in danger they were of meeting the same fate our Comrade had; rather than pursue the cause with heart, they fled from it and sought to return their lives to a semblance of normalcy. Others, like Daniela and Patricia, resolved to continue fighting The Man with all the strength they had, but they reasoned Grimith's violent assaults were fundamentally flawed; he should have given up and submitted himself to Corporate Judgment - at least for at time, until we could break him free. They splintered away from the safehouse to continue fighting Conservatism in their own manner. And then there were the others like Lynette: Too shellshocked to muster an argument, just floating out of the apartment like ghosts. Regardless, before the night had ended, I realized I was the only one left to carry forth the Cause the way Grimith would have wanted. I had even placed calls in an attempt to contact the sleepers, both Liberal and Enlightened, but had received no success. They, too, were so shaken that they sought to sever all contact with the LCS and go as far underground as they could.
Not only did I have to lead the Cause; I had to rebuild it from scratch.
There had been no chance the Conservatives had on hiding what had transpired - nor would they want to, really. Concrete proof had been presented to the masses through the airwaves that the founder of the Liberal Crime Squad, the leader of the Cause whom everyone had respected, had perished at the hands of Conservatism. Finally, after so long, what had plagued the government so had been terminated. Such, they hoped to portray, was the fate of all traitors.
Despite all the progress we had made, on the morning of June 20, 2009, I was painfully alone.
The Conservatives knew of me and I had a crime sheet attached to my name, one which included counts of murder from the day Grimith had ordered me forward to kill Conservatives for the possibility of a day like this. Though I had some skill and experience through my wealth of years, I knew I was far less capable than he had been. To rebuild the Liberal Crime Squad, I would need a copious amount of luck.
But there was one more thing that needed doing before the reconstruction could begin.
Every Liberal who heard the new slogan would be filled with reverence, and every Conservative who heard the slogan would be consumed by terror.
With that done, I set forth to return to a location Grimith had ventured so long ago, when he had tired of his life as a Professional Thief and sown the seeds which would bring us all together serving one Cause:
The Latte Stand.
Long ago, the place had been filled with Conservative scum and sleazeballs or moderates who didn't give a damn about our country so long as they got theirs. But the Liberalization Movement had manifested in many of the people, and, while they hadn't yet begun to oppose openly the Corporate-controlled government, in the right hands, they could be guided to do such.
Some of them.
Perhaps not her, though. The bark of pistol fire from the unassuming lab tech had frightened her, and she sought to escape while I combatted, alone, as had Grimith, one of the numerous automatons plaguing our country.
He fled in the face of Liberal Justice.
So did he.
Offhand, I never thought I'd see a Gang Member flee so cowardly in the face of combat. Considering his Liberal leanings, I thought he'd join me in fighting the Menace. Regardless, I hadn't needed his help, and I returned alone to the quiet Croft Apartment complex, where the joy of laughter and Liberal merriment had existed but days ago. I found it difficult to sleep that night, so consumed I had been with worry, so the early morning found me jogging in a local park...
...engaging fellow Liberals in conversation...
...and delivering a few solid thumps upside Evil's head. But I had no illusions about the purpose behind the violence: not to remind the masses or the Conservatives in power that the LCS still existed, but to remind
myself that the LCS still existed. Grimith had done practically everything of key importance for the Cause, and, with his absence, I found it easy to believe that the Cause was dead. By engaging in such assaults, though, I rekindled the blaze of Liberalism within my own heart and found greater resolve to continue the fight.
But the fight couldn't be won with random acts of violence. Consequently, the next day, I created a Liberal poll as Grimith had done in order to find the Cause's weaknesses.
My efforts were incomplete, true, but I had a better idea of where to focus my energies when I restarted the Liberal raids on Corporate sites. Those wouldn't commence with the gusto and severity in which Grimith had conducted them for a while yet, as I still needed to focus on rebuilding the Squad.
I continued to engage Liberals in discussion, in the hopes of finding quality personnel who would help me carry on the cause. The impact the LCS made upon the populace continued to show, for I found a greater wealth of potential recruits than had existed back in January.
My first selection was Kathy, a fellow mutant like myself. Her genetic corruption wasn't very severe, however - just a few spots of discoloration and some musculature weakness. She had a heart of lime green, however, and I knew she would serve the cause well.
Unfortunately, not everyone approved of the Cause to which I had devoted myself. Remembering the violence Grimith had lived in and died by, there were those who elected to keep their distance from me and maintain the normalcy of their lives.
The second person I extended the offer of membership to was a man named Cesar. He had lived life so far as an engineer, although, when he read me off a list of things he could do, I found myself perplexed as to why he stayed in business as an engineer. His answer? "Being an engineer is what I did. Being a sneak/programmer/tailor/nurse is what I AM."
The third recruit? Another engineer. He called himself Isaac, and, from his own description, he was ridiculously skilled at knife-fighting and making a living in a Conservative world. Though not as heart-filled as the first two, his charisma convinced me he would be a good help in the fight against Evil.
Isaac DeLorean, a ridiculously skilled computer programmer, joined the cause soon after. Recognizing the potential confusion which could stem from two Isaac names under the same roof, he requested that we all refer to him as "Doctor DeLorean," or Doc for short.
I'm not sure why, but he found his new name incredibly amusing.
The last person to join the Cause was a former journalist for the popular Arch-Conservative magazine
Walk with Jesus. When I asked him what had interested him so about joining the LCS, he told me he had been one of the loyal until the magazine pink-slipped him for an article of his they found "too critical and offensive." He had done some soul-searching, found his heart in the process, and knew then that he wanted to devote his life to Stopping Evil.
July arrived without further incident, for the rest of us were getting to know each other and adjusting to living together. However, in memory of how much trouble those of the Cause had living under one roof with Grimith, I resolved to funnel Liberal funds into creating a fine place of our own to stay, away from the prying eyes of downtown.
I established a business front at the head of the site, naming it Vance Health Insurance, and proudly displayed an American flag at the front of the building. Such actions were to serve as a ruse, however, while we all operated and functioned inside.
The others approved of the change of venue, as did I. We had much more space in the building, and we were free to be more Liberal without having to fear alerting nearby Conservatives. It also allowed me an opportunity to escape the apartment so filled with memories, and, furthermore, while I was packing objects to transfer to the new Liberal Headquarters, I discovered Grimith's journal. A fantastic read, providing great insight into the heart and soul of my comrade, the Avatar and Martyr of the Liberal Cause. God, I miss him...
...But, yes. After we settled into our new home, I organized all of the recruits and told them of my plan: In order to indoctrinate them properly into the Liberal Cause and allow their hearts to swell for Liberal Justice, they needed to be exposed to on-site action, fighting The Man in a public - and quite dangerous - fashion.
For that, we returned to the Croft Apartments, not to relax there but to loot from it. And we enjoyed considerable success.
I also personally kidnapped an automaton to Enlighten in the hopes of rebuilding a cadre of Sleepers to work within the system.
Unfortunately, our success ended soon after my attempt at using seduction for subterfuge fell short. We were forced to flee, hostage in tow, though we escaped without further incident.
I ordered all of the Liberals to band together in order to show them how best to Enlighten a Conservative.
They learned quickly. Within three days, the automaton known as Francis Goode caved to Liberal Reason, forsaking the chains of Wisdom, and I installed him to aid us in the AM Radio Station. In the future, when the LCS returned there to right the wrongs done at that site, I planned for us to have total success.
Before I strongly considered visiting one of those sites, however, I resolved to instruct the squad better on stealth and disguise. If a corporate manager could so easily mark us as Elite Liberals in the hallway of an apartment complex, then we would be chewed alive by the more dangerous targets we'd find elsewhere.
But my new recruits did me proud when we attempted our escape and found ourself being pursued by the vanguard of a DS. Knowing the good shape - or lack thereof - that several of them possessed, they resolved, rather than attempting to flee from the Officer, to stand and fight.
Doc lost a lot of blood, but Martyr Grimith would be proud of what we had done. I smiled at the others that night, even as I tended to Doc's wounds, telling them of how well they had embraced Liberal Justice that day. Any worry and concern they held evaporated and turned into relief, even for Doc. They all had certainly done well...
It's now July 8, 2009. Not even a month has passed since your death, and I'm wondering if there will ever be a day that I stop thinking about you. You were a comrade, friend, and mentor, and you did more for the Liberal Cause than I had ever dreamed possible. Through the current state of the masses, in the eyes and hearts of the populace I see when I leave this new home, I witness the impact you made upon all of their lives. Upon my life. Though I never really understood at first what guided you to the Path of Violence and Rage, why you hated so vehemently and physically the automatons, I, in your name, Martyr Grimith, as well as the name of Liberalism itself, am humbled to carry forth the banner and strike Conservatism dead.
You proved before your death that Evil only ruled in this country because no one cared enough to stop it. But now, with your aid, the people do, and I will insure, with each and every breath, that we will never be cowed again.
Kurt Ross, Audiolog: END. 
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Topic: Let's Get On With It - Liberal Crime Squad: A Let's Play Adventure (COMPLETED) (Read 110016 times)