Vitakara: Organizations
The Aui'Vitakar
"It would be a mistake to call them figureheads, but the Aui'Vitakar know who is really in charge."
- Zar'Chon'ravarian'vitiary
XCOM File V880
Authorization Level: XCOM Intelligence
Subject: The Aui'Vitakar
Threat Level: Low
Assessment Author: Shaojie Zhang, Director of XCOM Intelligence
Approved By: The Commander
Preliminary Note: All information contained within this document is based upon the descriptions and knowledge from Nartha and the current Vitakara captives. As such, much is speculative and subject to change upon further encounters with this individual or others.
SECTION 1: Overview
The Aui'Vitakar is the closest thing to the species-wide government of the Vitakara. The only disqualifying aspect of their government is that they do not have control over the Zararch or law enforcement of any kind. Nevertheless, they are the official voice of the Vitakara, at least the civilians and are a rather important political power.
It is extremely likely that the Aui'Vitakar is now aware of Earth, as we have clearly encountered Runianarch and Lurainian soldiers in the field, both of whom are under the official authority of the Aui'Vitakar. In terms of how the legislature is composed, it is a curious composition of the United States and former United Nations Structure.
Each race is afforded the same number of representatives, but how said representatives are chosen varies heavily between races and their local governments. The Aui'Vitakar makes decisions that generally affect supply, trade, intergalactic travel, diplomacy and any matter that affects the species as a whole. They rarely interfere in local governments, provided they are not doing anything illegal.
SECTION 2: Representatives
As mentioned earlier, each race has an equal number of representatives, fifty per race, adding up to a combined total of three hundred. They all converge in the Assembly Chambers, where they introduce, debate and pass legislation. Generally, the motivations of the representatives can be readily determined by their race. Vitakarians, Dath'Haram and occasionally the Cobrarians tend to represent specific blocs of their race since they were elected democratically. Oyariah, Sar'Manda, Borelians and sometimes the Cobrarians again are generally little more than mouthpieces for the local government.
Conduct between the representatives is surprisingly cordial. Nartha was clear to emphasize that, unlike Human politicians, Vitakara representatives really do have an interest in working together for the good of their people. Duplicity and dishonesty is the highest scandal to them, and offending representatives are usually turned over to the Zararch as punishment.
Despite the oddly honest nature of the Aui'Vitakar, there are definite disagreements between some of the races, but not on anything we would consider major. Those largely relate to trade and resource investment for various projects. But again, many disagreements are solved through compromise and construction of a better deal that benefits all parties.
Some specific issues such as healthcare, employment and crime have near-unanimous support from all races, and problems are solved within days. It is rather impressive, to be honest. Issues that affect specific races are rarely introduced unless there it is a clear positive, such as the introduction of scientific projects that would allow Oyariah and Sar'Manda to live above ground, and in rare cases, heavily moderated and localized genetic modification (Still a touchy subject for many of them).
SECTION 3: Authority and Limitations
On the surface, the Aui'Vitakar seems like something out of a utopia. The ultimate pinnacle of a democratic government that truly works for the betterment of all.
That appears to be all by design, and purposefully allowed by the Ethereals to keep the Vitakara complacent. The Aui'Vitakar have shaped Vitakar into a utopia, as well as many sectioned colonies, and provide whatever their citizens need. According to Nartha, they don't use currency like we do, everything is determined by resource cost. Things like utilities, food, drink and clothing are provided for free and most Vitakara are free to choose which job they want (In theory, there are social pressures and stigmas that vary from race to race).
But the Aui'Vitakar have absolutely no power or influence beyond their planet. On paper they have control of the Runianarch and Lurainian, but in practice those are also directly controlled by the Ethereals and are branches of their power, much like the Zararch is. This is unknown even to most Zararch agents. Nartha himself didn't know, and I learned from interrogating several of Vahlen's Vitakarian helpers.
Naturally, the Aui'Vitakar have been instructed to keep this quiet, and the Zararch is the public force that works for the Collective. But every aspect of the Vitakara military is directly under the control of the Ethereals, which means the Aui'Vitakar is completely helpless against pretty much anything. Most Vitakara know nothing about this arrangement aside from high-ranking Lurainian and Runianarch officers.
The Aui'Vitakar additionally, and secretly, works with the Zararch to help identify potential dissenters in the population, thanks to a planet-wide surveillance system which every citizen just accepts because they trust the Aui'Vitakar. Although this does not extend to the Oyariah and Sar'Manda territories, but largely because the Oyariah are fanatically loyal, and the Sar'Manda could care less about anything above water. In truth, the Aui'Vitakar only provides logs and information on each citizen, but is nonetheless complicit in the slow culling of the Vitakara.
What the Zararch does with this information varies. Usually those identified as potential issues are approached over a period of years, in attempts to groom them to take a position in the military. This has the effect of weeding out the more violent and dangerous Vitakara and turning them into a weapon for the Ethereals.
Clever. ADVENT could find some use in that.
In short, the Aui'Vitakar is little more than a front to keep the population in a complacent and easily controlled state. They are not complete puppets, but they know that the moment they even display a hint of curiosity, defiance or concern, they will be removed and replaced without question.
And everyone will shrug and go about their day.
REPORT: 100111110101
ORGANIZATION OF INTEREST: THE AUI'VITAKAR
SPECIES: VITAKARA
GOVERNMENT TYPE: REPUBLIC
MEMBER COUNT: 300
LEADER: OVERSEER OF THE ASSEMBLY
CURRENT STATUS: FRIENDLY
VULNERABILITY TO EXPLOITATION: UNKNOWN – REQUIRES FURTHER INVESTIGATION
VULNERABILITY TO PENETRATION: HIGH
VULNERABILITY TO COLLAPSE: UNKNOWN – REQUIRES FURTHER INVESTIGATION
INFORMATION OF NOTE: ZARARCH INDEPENDENT OF AUI'VITAKAR
INFORMATION OF NOTE: SUSPECTED ETHEREAL INFLUENCE OVER AUI'VITAKAR POLICY
INFORMATION OF NOTE: OPERATIONS/INFLUENCE CONTAINED TO VITAKAR AND COLONY PLANETS
THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN – ESTIMATED LOW TO MEDIUM
ADDITIONAL MANUAL COMMENT: There is something off about the Aui'Vitakar, but we have yet to be able to determine what that is. The attitudes of this government are…suspiciously benign. They fit no logical format, and appear to give the illusion of appearing to actually and genuinely care about advancing the Vitakara species.
However, while penetration of government facilities is impossible due to the Zararch completely securing any vulnerabilities, and watching every Aui'Vitakar representative makes interrogation impossible without attracting attention. The citizens are soft and weak, yet their militaries are not insignificant and the Zararch are always watching.
It is concerning.
Without knowing just how much influence the Zararch has over the Aui'Vitakar, or the Ethereals for that matter, it is difficult to determine the extent to which the Aui'Vitakar has influence. They do not appear to be purely puppets, but do act as though they have limits. All activity is restricted to Vitakar, and the occasional colony. But the majority of Collective-Aui'Vitakar relations is conducted through the Zararch.
It is difficult to tap into the criminal element, as there is almost no crime whatsoever, save for the terrorist organization known as the Nulorian. The motivations of such a group appear to be small and petty, revenge or vengeance for people killed. But there might be something more that has not been identified yet. Perhaps it warrants contact with them if we wish to begin conducting operations against the Aui'Vitakar. A Vitakarian front will serve far better in removing suspicion than one with obvious Andromedon influence.
However, I would recommend we also focus our attention to the forces that are even stranger and more unknown than the Aui'Vitakar. The Oyariah fanaticism concerning with the Ethereals is suspicious, yet infiltration of their underground cities is surprisingly difficult, and requires further planning. Furthermore, attempted penetration of the Sar'Manda Empire resulted in the sudden destruction of Special Operator 091. A loss of that magnitude without warning warrants further and careful investigation.
This planet and species is not benign or unimportant. It is a planet of lies and finding that answers will not be easy.
RECOMMENDATION: MAKE CONTACT WITH NULORIAN; BEGIN PENETRATION OF OYARIAH HEGEMONY; BEGIN PENETRATION AND THREAT ASSESSMENT OF SAR'MANDA EMPIRE
REPORT COMPILER: SPECIAL OPERATOR 011; ANDROMEDON FEDERATION; [ERROR: DATA NOT FOUND]
END REPORT
AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS
Operation: Black and White
Division: Reconnaissance and Observation
Report Author: Zar'mallin'horst
Authorization: Zar'Chon
Zar'Chon,
As requested, I have put together the current compilation of Aui'Vitakar political policies and racial objectives that the observers and handlers have been able to gather. I can understand why you have raised observation on some of them, due to the significant uptick of troubling activity, but everything remains well under control. The Aui'Vitakar have not, and will not, pose any issues to the Ethereal Collective or Zararch.
That being said, the fact that some of them are becoming so brazen in their questions, perhaps a warning to the local governments is needed to keep their focus on our species, not what lies beyond it. So without wasting more time, here are where the current races stand:
The United Vitakarian Republic: As always, it is difficult to fully form an agenda for what the Republic wants to accomplish in the Aui'Vitakar, and varies by elected representative. Republican representatives generally represent their constituents to the best of their degrees, which leads me believe that there are certain districts that are wanting answers regarding the war with the Humans, and the representatives are merely following through.
That is a systemic problem then, and one the Republic will need to address if that is the case. I have already ordered agents to begin investigation of the respective districts. Outside of that alteration, the Republic seems focused on trade, research and benign projects for Vitakar. They are pushing for a new colony as well, but that is not in conflict with any operations, so in most respects, they are clean.
In short, the Republic is more of the same and I note no major changes in their agenda.
The Borelian Authoritative Council: The Borelians are not happy, and I cannot entirely blame them. We should expect that a militant species is going to demand answers should a war suddenly happens and they have little to no knowledge at all. The issue, of course, is that it does appear like there is unanimous consent within the Council and they are not going to back down anytime soon, and their military has no doubt made contingency plans should we act to silence their government.
It is a tricky situation, but not an uncontrollable one. For now, they are not making this public, but it is likely that should things proceed without answers, they will go public and outside the Sar'Manda, Borelia is one area where our reach is much shorter. It might be worth letting the current Chief Diplomat know of the current status so he can placate the Council, unless you would prefer direct action against the Borelians.
I would not recommend that.
The Council of Dath'Haram: Nothing of interest to really note here. As usual, the Dath'Haram are more concerned with improving the Vitakara than anything else. The war is not a concern for them, and even the representatives flagged for review only appear to be doing it out of curiosity than anything else. In fact, the Dath'Haram Council has privately told the rest of the representatives that this concern doesn't affect the Vitakara species and they need to focus on their own.
Naturally, this went over very well with the Borelians and Cobrarian. Speaking of which…
The Cobrarian Hierarchy: We might have an issue here. You do recall that almost their entire legislature is under review, so I won't repeat it. But that many Cobrarians compromised definitely means that the Hierarchy wants answers, and intends to get them one way or another. This might be a desperate political move to force the Aui'Vitakar to intervene in their little cultural crisis, in a "help us and we'll shut up about this" kind of deal.
It's a mildly clever one at that. The Hierarchy isn't stupid, and they've no doubt learned we keep an eye on them, so this is something of a dare to try and remove their representatives without anyone asking questions. So I would say it's almost more of an engineered message to us. I highly doubt you're going to halt that current operation, since it's been a resounding success so far, but perhaps you could dial the rhetoric back and make the exodus seem a little less extreme.
Though I doubt the reptiles would be happy with that. Perhaps they need a lesson in humility?
The Oyariah Hegemony: Entering their underground cities is bizarre, and it strikes me just how much different they are to the rest of us. They pose no threat, but I'm seeing things down there that are definitely not standard Vitakara, or even Collective tech. Their religious fervor for the Elders has actually gotten more extreme if you can believe it.
Here's some examples of the stuff they're saying to the population:
"Those who cannot understand the wisdom of the Elders, and who raise their hand in defiance must be purged from the galaxy!"
"The enemies seeking to undermine our faith are everywhere, be vigilant, for the ones bearing the face of friends will come with lies falling from their lips."
"The taint of disbelief is strong enough to affect those in our own species, those who are blinded to the truth cannot be allowed to lead us!"
I have recordings if you wish. It is…unsettling. And the one "with the face of friends" could be a reference to the Humans since they are similar to the Vitakarians. Which would beg the question of just how the Hegemony knew about this. And if you want my opinion, that last sentence definitely seems to refer to the Aui'Vitakar if they…defect? Question? I'm not entirely sure, but while we don't have to worry about their loyalty…they are definitely being used.
If the Ethereals are behind this, perhaps you should suggest to them to tone down the rhetoric unless they want a civil war.
The Sar'Manda Empire: You would think that an Empire that spans the entirety of Vitakar's oceans would have a weak point, yes?
No.
The damn fish (I do like these Human words) are just as secretive and isolated as always, and as usual they are not complementary to outsiders. The only way I was entering their cities was officially, and I would be watched the entire time and learn nothing. Their representatives are equally as stonewalling, and don't seem to have any interest in the Aui'Vitakar other than a formality. They never introduce legislature, and only vote when it actually affects them.
They definitely aren't a threat since they clearly don't care about anyone but themselves. But at the same time, I think we've made a mistake writing them off. We have no eyes in the Empire whatsoever and that is a problem. Outside of the handlers for their representatives, I'm not sure why we haven't had more Sar'Manda agents infiltrating down there.
We don't have numbers on their military, tech level, motivations or really anything of use. If I'm going off just what I've seen, they are easily equal in power to the entire Aui'Vitakar combined since their Empire spans the entire ocean. I don't know what they're doing, but I only see us continuing to ignore the Sar'Manda as ending in a way we do not like.
Think on it at least. We can always threaten an Ethereal visit if they're uncooperative.