Dragon Valley Politics

"There weren't always dragons in the valley..." My superior's voice was drowned out by my very loud thoughts.

I was NOT pumped for my meeting with Flander, Grenette, Asserto, and Maximil. Unfortunately, these VCAC leaders were among the highest-ranking security levels in the central villages.

Let's face the truth, over in the eastern and western territories there were not any large stakes. The VCAC could sip booze and swim all year long and as long as the fashionistas made new designs, and the musicians, new music no one would notice, either in the villages or the kingdoms.

But, these leaders of the central villages, had to be slightly more competent considering the higher demands of governing the central villages. There were the very busy and populated educational districts, that remained the mecca of profits for the wealthiest merchant families. The central villages were also responsible for the paper record-keeping system for the CLR. Last but not least the Central Villages, were home to a CSS headquarters, and let's not forget the CLR's main secret of the valley entrance being located in the Central Villages.

Maximil, Grenette, Asserto, and Flander, in order of effectiveness, had become a noteworthy team that I had looked forward to working with. We have had a few interesting rides over the team's six-year stint as the Central Village VCAC, but mostly satisfactory results from the crew.

I knew the news that I had to discuss with them today could put all of the team's marks, and reviews at risk. They had never encountered a mission or issue that they could not resolve with a satisfactory report, I was worried this meeting would remind them of the mistakes they made.

I had been extremely anxious about briefing the team about the suspected use of the tunnels. Even worse, they were suspected to be improved upon by a new Anti-VCAC team that was hell-bent on accessing the valley entrance.

Maximil was the most competent village leader I had ever met, but I was still very concerned about how the group would respond to this bad news. I myself was not excited at the prospect of another Anti-VCAC resistance mission.

The last time an Anti-VCAC group started to gain prominence it led to a war, which marked several CSS soldier fatalities. That group was a very aggressive and militant group. Honestly, I would trade for that group again in an instant.

The new Anti-VCAC group was the complete opposite of that last group which was already creating many challenges for my department. The past group was loud and sloppy, this group was quiet and neat. The past Anit-VCAC group was very unorganized and this new one was very organized. The last group was violent and attempted unplanned attacks out of anger. The new leadership seemed to be into plans and long-term practical choices.

There was so little known about the leaders or any members of the new group. This Anti-VCAC group was actually a threat and one that might take longer than three months to neutralize.

There was good news, the most important piece of good news being that this Anit-VCAC group was not militant and we were not under the threat of a violent attack. That same fact led to one of my biggest concerns, that this group could carry out a long-term plan to expose the core of our organization's shortcomings.

Being so behind and having almost no real evidence to go off, really made me feel less confident than usual. I hoped that the VCAC leadership was ready to give me confidence, but our odds of success were low. Worse, the only executive strategic planning Flander had ever been good at was creating scapegoats.

See, being Flander, and being completely unqualified for every single project, task, or mission, Flander learned early on the art of delegating. His most impressive skill was finding an individual to blame and to take credit for all his failures and shortcomings. Simultaneously Flander would take credit for all of Grenette's successes, but anyone competent sees right through Flander's "Guy in charge" act.

Usually, these were professional associates that I enjoyed specifically Maximil, Asserto, and Grennette. Flander, well, he was a unique personality type, we can leave it at that. But, today I was not looking forward to our meeting.

I glanced out the window to discover...