The D.A.G. Phantom Army

This thread traces how Mowry invents a resistance organization and makes the Sirian government treat it as real.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

An Imagined Membership

A Party Without Members Reading the public mood Mowry senses that fear keeps dissatisfied citizens silent, not that dissent is absent. He imagines gathering the disaffected under Dirac Angestun Gesept. A useful fiction The supposed party has no enrolled membership and no actual officers beyond Mowry. Its emptiness becomes protection: authorities cannot extract meaningful secrets from people unaware they belong.

Printed Defiance

Messages on Public Surfaces A manufactured movement Mowry distributes D.A.G. propaganda stickers and marks walls with the party’s initials. Their polished printing and stubborn adhesive imply an organization with resources. Public suspicion Passersby interpret the notices as evidence of coordinated resistance. A minor police response helps turn a lone saboteur’s work into a story citizens can repeat.

The Registration Trap

A Law Meets a Phantom The government’s counterstroke The authorities require organizations to register their officers, members, and meeting places, threatening death for illegal affiliation. They hope fear will expose D.A.G. An impossible confession Mowry submits a mocking form with no genuine membership list. Because the organization is imaginary, the law’s demand for names produces no useful intelligence.

Rumor Becomes Evidence

The State Confirms the Threat A resistance across the empire During a street cordon, Mowry hears a Kaitempi agent refer to D.A.G. as a danger on Diracta as well as Jaimec. The fiction has become larger than his local campaign. A strategic gain The regime’s language suggests that it is reacting to perceived empire-wide resistance. Mowry gains morale from discovering that other wasps may be creating similar pressure.

An Army in the Enemy’s Mind

The Phantom Army’s Effect Escalating repression Officials arrest people and publicize supposed D.A.G. victories without establishing a real chain of command. Their measures make the invented movement seem ever more formidable. A manufactured burden D.A.G. occupies the attention of police, troops, and senior officials. The phantom army’s influence lies less in its members than in the resources diverted to find them.

Mowry’s first night in Pertane

Mowry’s first full day in Pertane

About a month after Mowry’s arrival

After the first street searches

As the Jaimec crackdown intensifies