Ninth: A Tactical Decision (Text; anon)

[corpsewarblade]

(TW: Murder/Sororicide, Betrayal, DR Spoilers)

[The last few months had given Mukuro a lot to think about- especially with regard to her own death back home. One part still didn't make any sense to her:

What had she done wrong? Why had Junko killed her?

...It was with those thoughts swimming around in her head that she sent another late night message to the network.]

27 AUG XX, 0324

Reviewing the strategy from a recent battle at home. I want to understand the rational for the decisions taken.

A soldier is engaged in a stealth/undercover mission. However, they have made a mistake that risks the operation's success, and have not realised their error.

The mission commander is in a position to eliminate the operative to preserve their mission, without exposing themselves in the process.

Is that course of action reasonable? To put it another way- under what circumstances would you consider sacrificing one of your own men to ensure a mission's success or to prevent it's failure?

Don't feel you have to answer.


🔪

Comments

[corpsewarblade]

Because

Because I care about my work. About performing well. Being useful.

On the battlefield I feel confident and capable. It's
the only time I do.

Um. That doesn't answer your question does it?

[yunxiguang]

Not exactly, but you're not obligated to answer in a specific way. Your answers can't be wrong, so long as they're sincere.

Allow me to ask a different way: Why do you follow these standards? Is there meaning behind wanting to preserve your own life, or that of your companions or your commander? Why is your mission objective important to you? What value is there in eliminating your enemy?

Insert computer fan noises

[corpsewarblade]

Which standards? I want to do well because I'm proud of my work and I don't want to disappoint her.

I want to preserve my own life because I don't want to die.

My mission objective is important to me because it's important to my Commander. I want her to succeed, because she's someone very important to me.

Eliminating my enemy is part of the process. I kill her enemies and mine, or the enemies of those paying me when I served as a Mercenary. It had value as a means to an end.

[yunxiguang]

Are all means equal, then, if they produce the same ends? I can't see how that could be true, especially in conflict. A peace achieved through violence is fragile. It doesn't address the motivations behind the conflict, and therefore hasn't resolved it in the same way that a peace achieved through understanding could.

As someone who is proud of their work, should you not also be proud of how you achieve it? Is the process of producing your end result not also as important as the result itself? Take a craftsman as an example. Whose work would you place more value on, one who is efficient by any means, or one who takes time to consider their work and the future it might have?

[corpsewarblade]

No, means are important for minimising collateral whilst causing the greatest harm to the enemy in the process.

I...yes. I value efficiency. But most of the work once a conflict has begun is based on muscle memory. There isn't time to consider in the moment. I would place value in the one who can perform most efficiently.

Unless you're talking tactics. Of course that's important.

...What...are you trying to understand?