South West Alliance/Archive/Operation Foxtrot
Operation Foxtrot
In the midst of Operation Roadkill, the SWA began to notice an escalating occurrence of PKers in Malton's Southwest. As the group's efforts had been narrowly focused on defending the Cheeke Building, they were unable to also retaliate on the PKer front. As such, they resolved to get together and have a good-old fashioned foxhunt when time permitted.
On May 8th, 2009, that time arrived, and planning for the upcoming operation commenced.
The Plan
Here was the initial idea, quoted from our forums.
- "Tour the southwest, sweeping out the last vestiges of our recent PKer incursion. Smash any zombie resistance in the path of the tour."
- "Meet and greet with groups throughout the southwest, ideally to encourage interested groups to join the SWA, and interested individuals to join a SWA group"
- "Locate Pker ianmckoon and give him a fists-only beatdown, where each SWA member punches him... only one time. Death by frogging!"
Initial reaction to the planned operation was very enthusiastic, and the SWA seemed poised to start on Monday. But something was amiss, and an SWA member requested that the operation be delayed until Wednesday to, "get off to a good strong start". In reality, a terrible truth had been discovered, one that would compromise the entire operation and put the well being of the Alliance to the test.
The Sordid Story of Ianmckoon
The stage was set. The players ready. The alliance willing. Enter Ianmckoon, a PKer who had been specifically targeting members of the SWA. His profile included a scorecard of SWA players killed, and he had a penchant for interfering with the group wherever the SWA was operating.
Unbeknownst to most of the SWA at the time, CAPD was conducting an independent investigation into the identity of Ian, after an alert officer noticed something strange about the email address of an ally registered through their forums. This email provided a trail which was followed across time and space, through the archives of their forums, forgotten screenshots, and info volunteered by Umbrella Corporation.
Revelation
In the end, the trail lead to the SWA's own Arthur Birling. Who had served the alliance with honor in the past. The following case was presented to the senior members of the SWA along with supporting evidence:
- SWA's Arthur Birling is actually Ianmckoon
- Ianmckoon is a PKer who specifically targets SWA members
- Arthur Birling has been knowingly deceiving us about this connection
- Arthur Birling has used the information he has gained as an SWA member to help his Ianmckoon alt hunt down the SWA.
After viewing the details, the group was in agreement of the above propositions. After some discussion, it was decided that TMS should present Arthur with the evidence, which they did. Shortly after, Arthur confessed.
Confession
Arthur posted the following explanation on the SWA forums:
| The truth to be I was bored, and it was easy however now you have found out about Ianmckoon I must move him to pastures new and of course Arthur. |
With that, he left. Some players were very upset to learn of his double-dealing. Others took it pretty well, but in the end he was shown the door under remarkable civil circumstances, and, true to his word, the PKing by Ianmckoon stopped.
The Operation That Wasn't
As a result of the glaring conflict of interest, the operation was put on hold while the details of Arhtur/Ian could come to light. This made sense from a tactical standpoint, but unfortunately, with the operation on hold for more than a week, the will to act had abated. Ultimately, while the plan was solid and the reaction initially enthusiastic, it failed to ever become a reality.
There was a general sense among the SWA of betrayal and discomfort. No one wanted to go on a foxhunt after discovering that the player they most wanted to hunt was in fact one of their own members.
There aren't any templates or tokens for this one, as it never actually happened. Perhaps it isn't a failure as an operation, since it never came to fruition, but it certainly can't be cataloged as a win. The SWA wishes to thank Umbrella for their help in uncovering the truth, and they were able to work across groups to bring resolution to this disappointing chapter in their history.
