[Archived] Statement and Apology from the New Pacific Order to Lazarus

[Lord of Darkness]

To the region of Lazarus, its Delegate, its government, and its citizens,

Your last demand was that the New Pacific Order officially apologize to the regions affected by the recent revelations. We are here to offer this to you, and other regions are being individually addressed as well. The first point to address is the Lazarus Task Force. This was an operation intended to counter what the Order saw as votestacking by Funkadelia in favor of Lone Wolves United. The intent was to bait Funkadelia into making this evident, so that it could be used against him. As a result, both sides in this situation were played by former members of the Senate and the Order. The actions here were a violation of Lazarus’ regional sovereignty and a betrayal of Lazarus as a fellow Game Created Region. That the intent was to counter influence from Lone Wolves United is no more an excuse for that violation than was the attempt to remove the Founderless Regions Alliance from Lazarus in 2015.

We were not aware that Stujenske had temporarily reclaimed the Delegacy of Lazarus under a new disguise, nor that Adytus was Feux before April. Feux had become a member again well before we were aware that he had taken up an alternate ego and had been using that in other regions in the years when he was exiled. Feux was used by Aleisyr as insurance so that any people opposed to Imki might endorse him instead of any alternate candidates trying to supplant Imki. Adytus was allowed to fade away and no mention of him was made again. Aleisyr later told Feux to keep Adytus dead as a persona when the possibility of reviving him to troll people was brought up. We should have addressed to Imki and her government when this transition completed and Imki secured the Delegacy that Adytus had been Feux. If his identity was not welcome there, it was nonetheless relevant to Lazarus’ security to be aware that one of our members had been behind the scenes in the region for some time.

During the Peacekeeper phase of Lazarus under Imki, the New Pacific Order insisted that Feux be given a place among them. This was doubted by many and called a power play by us. The purpose of this was to hopefully have someone advocate for a middle line instead of a hard raider or defender stance. There was no intention to coup Lazarus during this time or control its events by placing Feux in the government in the future. The objective was justifiable to us, but ultimately we respected the wish of the others to not include someone viewed as a couper and who might have given the idea that NPO was running things. This would give the government more legitimacy, and the NPO members involved accepted that. As you can gather from the Adytus revelation, that was a valid concern, although none really were aware of it at the time. There was no malicious intent behind the inclusion of Feux. Simply the desire to keep Lazarus from swinging ideologically or falling vulnerable to a governance system that could endanger the newfound peace in the region.

Because of these incidents, whether the fault of our members or that which occurred with full knowledge and consent of the former Senate, we offer a sincere apology to Lazarus and everyone in the region. The New Pacific Order wants to make it clear that this is not a direction it will engage in or encourage in the future. If any of our members in the future think to sneak into Lazarus for a repeat of Feux’s actions, they will be chastised and their identity will be given to Lazarus’ leadership for the sake of transparency.

Signed on behalf of the New Pacific Order,

Lord of Darkness, Emperor
Xoriet, Legatus
Shnailand, Censor
Jar Wattinree, Tribune
Svezjacael, Quaestor
Community, Pontifex Maximus

 

[Cormac]

And what will be done about Senator Svezjacael, who signed this apology? One of Lazarus' terms was his removal from the Senate.

 

[Arlo]

I'm curious as to what the word "chastised" means to you? To me it is not a very serious word at all, and I generally see it used to refer to flippant/fleeting punishment.

 

[Cormac]

One does wonder as well how serious the NPO actually is about its apologies (they posted one in Osiris too) when a Senator newly appointed by this Emperor is running around making comments like this

Consular wrote:
What are you guys trying to accomplish?

Make us like the NPO even less?

 

[Imaginary]

Greetings Lord of Darkness,

Thank you for delivering this apology.

We also ask that you permanently remove Svezjacael from office in your government. Svezjacael was directly involved in Task Force Lazarus, whose operations you denouce. Our trust in the New Pacific Order has been broken too many times and, for our security, we no longer give members of the NPO second chances when it concerns violations of our sovereignty - or tolerate an NPO that does.

 

[Lord of Darkness]

Side note, I need sleep, but I will check this thread when I am around again later.

And what will be done about Senator Svezjacael, who signed this apology? One of Lazarus' terms was his removal from the Senate.

Greetings Lord of Darkness,

Thank you for delivering this apology.

We also ask that you permanently remove Svezjacael from office in your government. Svezjacael was directly involved in Task Force Lazarus, whose operations you denouce. Our trust in the New Pacific Order has been broken too many times and, for our security, we no longer give members of the NPO second chances when it concerns violations of our sovereignty - or tolerate an NPO that does.

Would you instead have preferred that he not sign it and avoid taking some responsibility for his actions? He has also expressed interest in coming forth to issue a more personal apology for his involvement with the "Lazarus Task Force". (OOC: How exactly this will work remains to be seen; he has been occupied over the past few months due to the passing of a close mentor and other personal issues.)

This statement also is just that: an apology. It is not a response to all demands that have been made, only a starting point delivered in respect to the two regions whom our past actions have wronged the most.

I'm curious as to what the word "chastised" means to you? To me it is not a very serious word at all, and I generally see it used to refer to flippant/fleeting punishment.

I think you will like what I have planned in this regard. It should hopefully be announced at some point within the next day or two - keep in mind we have had to deal with government changes, start deciding how we want to move forward, write statements, respond to messages (I think I'm up to about 70 unique people responded to so far in the past couple days), all on top of our lives outside of the game. Naturally rectifying the current situation will not occur overnight. It will be a long process which takes many months and perhaps years to rebuild trust.

Since you're interested in this matter I will share a spoiler with you. I am and have always been against acts of espionage. We will be outlawing all forms of government sanctioned espionage and future offenders will be expelled regardless of their standing within NPO. It has never brought us any good and the cycle of something like this or the NLO happen every few years needs to end.

Furthermore, to explain advance of any comments on this matter, despite my root admin access I have never sought to utilize my role to be involved in making decisions related to the governance of NPO in NS. I consider impartiality and autonomy be important virtues of such a position. Nor did I have any role in organizing the "Lazarus Task Force", which I was only added to a few days ago. I will say that I have not agreed with every policy enacted or promotion made under the leadership prior to me (or, for that matter, those further in the past), but it was not my place to intervene.

One does wonder as well how serious the NPO actually is about its apologies (they posted one in Osiris too) when a Senator newly appointed by this Emperor is running around making comments like this:

Consular wrote:
What are you guys trying to accomplish?

Make us like the NPO even less?

You seem fine as is with no help from ebil me.

NPO dewenda est ;;w;;

Our members, including government, are entitled to have their own opinions on matters besides our official stance. Some are less interested in settling our differences than others. It is important that a government is not an echo chamber of people who will sing the same chorus, for such an institution is incapable of effectively weighing different viewpoints, ideas, and approaches to problems.

Out of courtesy and to alleviate your concerns he has been asked to tone back on the bantering.

 

[Cormac]

I don't think your response is sufficient, to say the least, but I'll just leave it at that and bow out until after our government has formally responded.

 

[Lord of Darkness]

I don't think your response is sufficient, to say the least, but I'll just leave it at that and bow out until after our government has formally responded.

Given your history of criticizing us it is difficult to say whether you will ever be fully satisfied.

Nonetheless we can respect that you have your opinions and fully intend to rectify some of those which we can both agree upon.


This is merely the beginning of our response for we have other regions whose relations with us have soured or become strained as well as the remaining requested terms to address. (And obviously to also start taking corrective steps on our own.) Some matters, such as the fate of Aleisyr, Pergamon, and Svezjacael are subject to differing demands from various parties and, at this time, remain under deliberation between us and them.

 

[Lord of Darkness]

Pending negotiations with Osiris and an announcement from Svezjacael, all of your terms can be considered fulfilled.

 

[Cormac]

 

[Arlo]

Pending negotiations with Osiris and an announcement from Svezjacael, all of your terms can be considered fulfilled.

I honestly just feel like you could have phrased this better. It kinda reads like you are deciding when we are happy...

 

[Milograd]

Rest assured, the Senate will be very deliberate in its dopamine allocation.

 

[Lord of Darkness]

Pending negotiations with Osiris and an announcement from Svezjacael, all of your terms can be considered fulfilled.

Nah, I merely stated that everything you asked of us will be done and that we are waiting on two items. Whether and when that makes you happy is your prerogative. Imki suggested that I provide an update for those particularly eager to hear news about our progress after I informed her that we are in agreement with all of Lazarus' desired terms.

 

[Lukatonia]

See I want to hope that LoD can change the NPO in NS but truly I am still wondering what he has to say about the screenshot on the page before this one of his nation in Lazarus during the time all that jazz happened

 

[Svezjacael]

I, Svezjacael, do honestly and solemnly declare the following to be true ; effective today, December 1st of the year 2018, I am retiring my position of Quaestor to The Pacific Senate of my own free will and accord. Included in this will be a self-exile from The Order on NationStates. I will remain only as a Comrade in The New Pacific Order, holding no positions of government nor power within The Order. The only reason for my decision to maintain Comrade rank in The Order is to ensure that should a foreign party wish to know where I am and what I am doing, I may be reached easily. I will also have all puppets that are not the primary Svezjacael Cease To Exist, regardless of region in which they are located now. Should I be soundly found to be residing in any other region than that of my exile (which, for the record, will be the quiet and peaceful region of Haiku so I might write poetry in my remaining time on NS) I will be banned from The Order, declared Persona Non Grata. I will not interact with foreign entities during my exile, which while it has no definitive date will likely extend several years due to away-from-game events which also added to the decision to leave The Order as stated above. This means that away from my exile region, I will not reside within nor speak to foreign entities.

• My WA will be locked to Svezjacel, which will be in a UCR region. Should it receive endorsements in such region, endorsees will be asked to unendorse me.

• My infiltrations were orders of previous senates. Though I understand that is not an excuse, that is my reasoning for such operations. I do not take anything I have done as personal, and only hope that those of you who were wronged understand it as such. I do apologize for any duress these operations have caused and hope that your grievances may fall entirely on myself if anywhere.

As stated above, I will not be answering questions to this post. Any questions foreign parties may have can be redirected to the current government of The New Pacific Order. All forms of communication met by foreign entities will be ignored from this point forward. Thank you, The Greater Confederate Republic of Svezjacael and The Dependencies of The Fatherland.

 

[Lord of Darkness]

See I want to hope that LoD can change the NPO in NS but truly I am still wondering what he has to say about the screenshot on the page before this one of his nation in Lazarus during the time all that jazz happened

Check here on down to the next page: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=34984522#p34984522

 

[Lukatonia]

See I want to hope that LoD can change the NPO in NS but truly I am still wondering what he has to say about the screenshot on the page before this one of his nation in Lazarus during the time all that jazz happened

Check here on down to the next page: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=34984522#p34984522

Hmm ok so I have a question for you, is the NS NPO different from the rest of the NPO or do they all have similar characteristics

 

[Lukatonia]

See I want to hope that LoD can change the NPO in NS but truly I am still wondering what he has to say about the screenshot on the page before this one of his nation in Lazarus during the time all that jazz happened

Check here on down to the next page: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=34984522#p34984522

Hmm ok so I have a question is the NS NPO different from the rest of the NPO or do they share similar characteristics

 

[Cormac]

It's almost like no one in the NPO is really serious about this, and they're just going through the motions hoping we're all stupid enough to be placated. Because people who are talking about how much they hate all of us and vaguely threatening future retribution aren't people who are serious about apologizing, accepting responsibility, and honestly pursuing reform. They're people biding their time until their next opportunity to attack our regions.

No one should fall for any of this.

 

[Arlo]

I don't really understand. Maybe the new Emperor can help me out here. Why will Pergamon forever hate us? Is it because he and his friends orchestrated acts of invasive espionage and destabilisation in our regions? Is it because he was caught doing so and we said that wasn't really acceptable? Pergamon is not the victim here.