Recap / Guangdong Hitachi Coup

Guangdong Recap:
Index | Suzuki's Guangdong | Yasuda Crisis | Sony's Guangdong | Matsushita's Guangdong | Fujitsu's Guangdong | Lam Haau-cyun's Flashbacks | Opium Trade War | Hitachi Coup | Hitachi's Guangdong | Flavor Events | General Oil Crisis and Guangdong Riots | Imperial Japanese Army's Guangdong

Hitachi, Chief Executive. We're fighting Hitachi.

"In this time of great crisis, it appears that our last line of defence has failed. Despite his dedication in ushering in a new age of prosperity and freedom, the Chief Executive has... underestimated just how grave the situation has become. It is to this end, the Chief Executive has enlisted the help of the Kenpeitai to assist in destroying these bandits. But, with a heavy heart, I must announce that the Chief Executive feels that he is no longer able to deal with the situation and has resigned. And I am to become his successor."

— Komai Kenichirō

Following the success or failure of the Guangdong Police to end the opium trade, word spreads throughout the Legislative Council about Hitachi Limited. A Manchurian outsider who's brutality surpasses even Fujitsu, many know that its executive, Komai Kenichirō, is up to something, but no one can put their finger on it. That is, until three men in the Council suddenly switch allegiances to Hitachi in a betrayal of their own company.

With each passing day, Hitachi's hold on the Council tightens with more seats cropping up in favor of their agenda, while their allies in the Kenpeitai grow more bold on the streets. Pro-Hitachi headlines also begin to circulate in the media as propaganda and, while every other company suffers from sell orders, Hitachi's stock remains untouched and strong. These efforts do not go unnoticed by the sitting Chief Executive, who must halt their disturbingly rapid rise by preventing Hitachi from accumulating more than 35 seats in the Council.

Everyone's worst fears are finally confirmed as Hitachi planes from Manchuria begin landing at Kōshu Airport under the pretense of an "emergency landing", hijacking control of the facility and canceling all other flights in preparation of a coup. The Chief Executive must act quickly before the Kenpeitai strengthens their influence over Guangdong and make the Hitachi Coup even more likely. There are five sources to turn to, each of which requires specific conditions to be met: the Kenpeitai, Manchuria, Japan, China, or the Guangdong Police. Successfully appealing to any of them will put Komai on the ropes.

The success of the Hitachi Coup also depends on the muscle provided by Miyazaki Kiyotaka from the Kenpeitai and Nagano Shigeto from the Imperial Japanese Army. However, successfully resolving the prior opium war will convince these figures to pull back support from Komai's coup, not wanting to be implicated in a seemingly doomed, treasonous plan. Without either of them, Komai will be more vulnerable than ever.

Should the Legislative Council be preserved from Hitachi dominance, the Chief Executive will retain their power. Having exhausted most of his resources, Komai will no longer pose an imminent threat and Nissan's economic growth will stagnate.

However, if the Chief Executive fails, their days become officially numbered. One night, bombs explode all across Kōshu, presumably due to a terrorist attack. In the confusion, Hitachi's men continue to flow into Guangdong and take the sitting Chief Executive away, forcing his resignation. Unknown to most, the entire attack was orchestrated by Komai to sow panic and a power vacuum that he can fill. Backed by the Kenpeitai and deeming his predecessor a failure, Komai publicly declares himself to be the new Chief Executive of Guangdong. Thus, in just one night, the fate of Guangdong has changed for the worse and Komai sits on the silicon throne, laughing in triumph.

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• Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: One of the Kenpeitai’s motivations in aiding the Hitachi coup is to prove that it is a more effective law enforcement than the police. Failing to prove this claim will damage the Kenpeitai’s legitimacy and weakens the plot.
• Blatant Lies: Amongst the other news broadcasts covering the Hitachi Coup, the Manchurian government gives a statement wishing that Guangdong “destroys the pestilence of terrorism” before claiming that they too were liberated from banditry by the Japanese in 1932 and that they would be glad to return the favor to Guangdong.
• But Thou Must!: Downplayed.
  • Suspicious of the lack of sell orders on Hitachi's stock, the reigning corporation in the Council can either request the Treasury to intervene or maintain the course of preserving their stock for the time being. Besides some status effects, this choice ultimately doesn't have an effect on the narrative and the congestion at Kōshu Airport proceeds anyway.
  • Failing the initial investigation of the Hitachi Coup causes it to be uncovered anyway in a cursory investigation of a Yakuza smuggling ring, backed by Hitachi. However, it does have tangible in-game effects by strengthening the Kenpeitai's influence across the country.
• Card-Carrying Villain: After being told a story of an American who refused to believe that the United States could become a dictatorship, a Hitachi executive tells his comrade that they're not so easily deluded with their cause, acknowledging his own immorality in helping Komai.
• Cavalry Refusal: The Chief Executive can turn to the Kenpeitai, Manchuria, Japan, China, or the Guangdong Police to unravel Hitachi's plan for a coup. However, if certain conditions are not met with any of them, they will refuse.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Completing the security national focuses initially doesn't seem any more important than the other possible options, but this can potentially be a lot more significant during the Hitachi Coup. Relying on the police to foil the plot will require at least nine of these focuses to be complete; otherwise, the police will come to a dead end with their investigation.
  • Successfully stopping the opium war prior to the Hitachi coup will make the Kenpeitai more reluctant to support the scheme and thus easier to stop Komai's plot.
• Conspicuous Trenchcoat: The detective sent by the Chief Executive to question Miyazaki wears a trench coat and glasses, something which Miyazaki mocks him for by calling him a “faux-noir, cigarette-smoking, pulp fiction protagonist”.
• The Coup: The main conflict of this event chain is Komai calling in support from Manchuria to seize control of the Legislative Council and start a False Flag Operation terrorist attack so that he can take power as an emergency authority.
• Dissonant Serenity: With the coup plot going off, Komai stands by his office window, drinking sake when his assistant barges in telling him to get to safety. Komai simply walks to the assistant and tells him “I’ll be fine” as explosions rock the city from outside.
• Dropping the Bombshell: During a drive with a silent Police Commissioner, the sitting Chief Executive will express concerns about the challenges ahead and how they will not repeat Suzuki’s mistakes. It is not until the ride is over that the Commissioner prepares to leave and reveals that they are fighting Hitachi.
• Dull Surprise: Chun doesn't even know what to think about the Hitachi Coup when he hears about it, unable to formulate an idea or even a reaction to the shocking turn of events. If anything, he's more concerned about reminding his sister not to go to school.
• Easily Forgiven: Nemoto Tadamori and Onishi Akihiro are known participants in the failed Hitachi Coup, yet they're invited back to the government because the Chief Executive needs to rebuild their support base, no matter with who.
• Emergency Broadcast: After the manufactured crisis set by the Hiachi coup, Komai gathers various journalists, including Yoshiko, to witness an emergency broadcast where he decries the “terrorists”, announces the Chief Executive’s “resignation”, and proclaims himself to be their successor.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: If the Guangdong police are tasked with investigating the coup and have more than 9 security focuses completed, the detective will interrogate a Kenpeitai veteran who refuses to sell out his comrades. However, when the detective implicitly threatens his wife and child, the veteran gasps in shock and folds from there.
• Every Man Has His Price: High ranking military officials and Legislative Council members are given substantial bribes by Hitachi to indulge in their luxuries. Even the policeman guarding the Chief Executive's office starts sporting a golden tooth. With garrison colonels near the capital and senior bureaucrats being targeted by Hitachi, the ruling Chief Executive suspects that Hitachi is planning something, with support from their Manchurian superiors.
• False Flag Operation: Should Hitachi's influence grow too powerful, Komai will enlist the aid of the Imperial Japanese Army to launch a false flag attack on Guangdong, with bombs exploding throughout Kōshu in an event that Yoshiko calls the largest terrorist attack since the Second Sino-Japanese War. The chaos forces the current Chief Executive resigning and let Komai take charge.
• False Reassurance: Many citizens try to go about their lives as normal or reassure each other that nothing has changed, but most know how fickle their future has become, now that Hitachi is in power.
• Foreshadowing: The Chief Executive's factional whip reports to him that Hitachi is investing significant money into late night meetings and bribes with the Kenpeitai and Legislative Council officials for weeks on end. Seemingly, the only result is a greater presence in the Legislative Council and additional amendments on ordinances. The Chief Executive is left wondering what all this activity is for, unaware that Hitachi is setting the stage for a coup attempt.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: When signs of an impending Hitachi coup erupt, Guangdong will no longer be able to subsidize Hitachi in the product cycle to reflect the growing animosity felt towards them.
• Godzilla Threshold: When the Chief Executive accuses the Kenpeitai and Hitachi of having ties to the Yakuza smuggling ring, Miyazaki vehemently denies it and starts an argument. However, both sides silence when a frustrated Takashima threatens to get Japan involved, which would end badly for everyone involved.
• Gratuitous Latin: One of the events building up to Hitachi's coup is titled "Annus horribilis," Latin for "horrible year" and an ominous warning of what Komai might do.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: If the Hitachi Coup is foiled, it will be virtually forgotten by history and only remembered by those who directly participated in the investigation and its dismantlement. For everyone else, they will continue their daily routines as normal.
• Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: If the Kenpeitai is reluctant to support the Hitachi coup, the detective that can be sent to question Miyazaki will take notice of how he has prepared statements that fall apart once the interrogation is pressed further, making Miyazaki pause to think of a response. This is enough to suggest to the detective that the Kenpeitai are being used by someone else for a larger scheme.
• Interservice Rivalry: Thanks to their overlapping jurisdiction, the Guangdong Police Force and Kenpeitai rival one another due to differences in personnel, loyalty and professionalism. In particular, the Kenpeitai is known for its brutality and corruption, which it uses to one-up the local police force with advanced knowledge on the drug trade and withholding crucial information from the police. Once Matsuzawa’s successors begin empowering said police force, the Kenpeitai grow closer to Hitachi and back his coup plot by upstaging the police and making preparations to strike.
• Kent Brockman News: Hitachi-backed newspapers start printing headlines exaggerating the difficulties faced by the other three corporations while promoting Hitachi’s stability in the stock market as a “voice of confidence in Manchurian quality.”
• Long Game: After the warehouse raid and the Hitachi middle-manager gets shot, the Chief Executive and Police Commissioner deem the evidence damming enough to convincingly accuse Hitachi or the Kenpeitai of treason. However, rather than conduct a massive purge right away which may make them look incompetent, the Chief Executive plans to contact the Kenpeitai and Takashima first to build his case.
• Luck-Based Mission: The Chief Executive can uncover the Hitachi coup before it fires by bringing it up with Manchuria. Its success is entirely dependent on Aisin-Gioro Yuyan being the head of government in Manchuria, which is up to chance by the AI. If Aisin-Goro is present, Manchuria will send Guangdong a clue in Hitachi's financial activities. Otherwise, Manchuria will snub Guangdong.
• Mood Whiplash: An air traffic controller notes how strange it is when a Manchurian plane lands and the mechanics will not speak about its sudden appearance. However, before he can think on this further, dozens of other planes appear heading straight for Kōshū and the Kenpeitai suddenly barge in to hold everyone at gunpoint.
• Mystery Episode: The mystery surrounding the suspicious rise Hitachi’s influence and the subsequent investigation is a major plot line that will need to be resolved in order to prevent a coup by Hitachi
• Non-Standard Game Over: Failing to prevent Hitachi from gaining 35 seats in the Council will trigger the Hitachi Coup and overthrow the sitting Chief Executive. However, the playthrough doesn't end with a contentless failstate, but continues with the player now controlling Komai.
• Oh, Crap!: The reigning Chief Executive expresses shock when he realizes the scale of the Hitachi plot, while looking at documents showing Kenpeitai intimidation at Kōshū Hakuun International Airport and Manchurian planes landing, concluding that Hitachi is escalating because they have pieces for their conspiracy are in place.
• Plausible Deniability: As Hitachi's influence builds, Komai calls upon more support to be flown in from Manchuria, creating a congestion at Kōshu Airport and canceling all other flights. It's very suspicious, but Hitachi maintains a level of deniability by claiming that these flights are "emergency landings" and the Kenpeitai's seizure of the airport is excused with "special orders from the government".
• Pragmatic Villainy: When the Hitachi coup plot is uncovered, Miyazaki will order much of the Kenpeitai’s strength to be redirected to the Home Isles and away from Guangdong to divert suspicion away from them and let things cool down, especially with Tokyo beginning to get involved.
• Precision F-Strike: When the Guangdong police are tasked with the investigation and fail, the Chief Executive coldly dismisses all of the excuses presented by the Police Commissioner and snippily calls him "fucking useless".
• Resigned in Disgrace: If the Hitachi coup plot goes off, the Chief Executive is ambushed by his own armored convoy, as explosions engulf the surrounding streets. The soldiers flanking the convoy approach and force the Chief Executive to come with them to resign, allowing Komai to usurp them.
• Rudely Hanging Up: If the Manchurian bureaucrats snub Guangdong’s requests for their financial records, the Chief Executive will try to personally call Manchuria’s Head of State. Upon hearing the request, Manchuria’s leader mocks the Chief Executive for failing to manage their own internal affairs and asks him to stop wasting their time before abruptly hanging up.
• Seinfeldian Conversation: A Kenpeitai officer and a Hitachi executive banter over a cigarette, where the former describes his cousin’s time in America before the war, where he attempted to negotiate a trade deal. During this trip, the diplomat asked his American counterpart what he would do if America was under a dictatorship, to which the American claimed that it was impossible for America to be ruled by such cruel men, the arrogance of which amuses the officer.
• Shoot the Hostage Taker: During a police inspection of a raided Yakuza warehouse, the detective gets held at gunpoint by a young man with a Hitachi pin on his lapel. While the detective pleads with him to surrender and the gunman refuses out of a twisted sense of family honor, the latter fires somewhere to the left and gets gunned down by the police in response.
• Short-Lived Leadership: A successful Hitachi coups means that the sitting Chief Executive will have only held the position for two years.
• Spotting the Thread: If the Manchurian government agrees to Guangdong’s requests for their financial records, the documents themselves don’t appear to be suspicious on their own, but when combined with Guangdong’s records, they suggest that the transactions played a large part in the movement seen in the stock market and Legislative Council. The accounts are found to be linked to Hitachi and are subsequently seized.
• The Stool Pigeon: With Hitachi now in power, two bureaucrats who once opposed one another now quietly discuss their opposition to Hitachi. But in a few days they are mysteriously replaced by Hitachi, when they are ratted out by a colleague, staff member, or even each other.
• Tantrum Throwing: If the army and Kenpeitai withdraw support from his coup, Komai will vainly attempt to call his Manchurian benefactors for help before throwing the phone in a fit of anger.
• There Are No Coincidences: A team managing investments on behalf of the Chief Executive try to stabilize the stock prices of their companies after a series of sudden sell orders. This, combined with the fact that every other major corporation except Hitachi is experiencing similar drops in their stock, suggests to them that Hitachi is the one behind the sudden peculiarities.
• Torture Is Ineffective: The detective attempts to get information from a suspect during an interrogation through torture, but said suspect is a Kenpeitai veteran now in his 40s who is Not Afraid to Die will protect his comrades and refuse to spill. Still looking for details of contacts within the Kenpeitai and who they might be bribing in the Legislative Council, the detective instead resorts to showing the suspect a picture of his loved ones and threatening.
• Turncoat: During the very early stages of the coup plot, three members of the Legislative Council suddenly leave their caucuses and join the Hitachi bloc, leaving the Council suspicious as to why they defected.
• Up Through the Ranks: After the Hitachi coup's discovery, Miyazaki promotes a lieutenant who instructs a room full of overworked and underpaid secretaries to comb through lists of Kenpeitai personnel in Honkon to prepare for their reassignment outside of Guangdong.
• What Were You Thinking?: If the Chief Executive tries to ask Song for assistance in the investigation and China’s opinion is below 50, the latter will rebuke the Chief Executive after telling him he cannot investigate the Manchurians, asking how arrogant the Chief Executive is for requesting China’s help while they continue to exploit their people.
• You Lose at Zero Trust:
  • The Hitachi Coup may be uncovered by asking for Japan's help, but this option requires Guangdong to have a minimum 65 approval by Japan and have met at least one annual financial goal. Failing either of these conditions means that Takashima will not be convinced to search into these "paranoid rumors".
  • Alternatively, the Republic of China can be a source of help, but it will require China to have an opinion value at least above 50 towards Guangdong. If not, Song Zhiguang will not be convinced to help Guangdong, barely able to hide his contempt that they would have the audacity to think that they are equals.

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