Domination Journal #3

Operation Darkflower

The Second Domination Operation in Wisconsin, 2004

The Domination of Eiler is exploiting the success of Operation Waka Pig, by scheduling a series of similar operations of armor and cavalry to reinforce Domination control near the Core Territories. Based on traffic and weather considerations (several days of region-wide rain), Wisconsin has been chosen again as a target, with Rockford, Illinois as a staging area.

The Domination has now discovered the wisdom of writing a journal publicly, on its favorite pocket calculator, in parallel with its usual cyber-space conquests, on every mission.

Day 0: Wednesday 17 November 2004

Unlike the Waka Pig operation, Domination forces were able to deploy to Rockford immediately after work, under cover of night. (Operational music "Black Flowers".) Opposition was strong from Scumburg through Elgin, but the Route 20 Elgin bypass proved its viability by avoiding traffic in Elgin itself. After Elgin, at the edge of Chicagoland, resistance evaporated.

Barracks at "Super 8" motel near State Street in Rockford. Mess hall at "Big Al's Bar", which is attached to a fancy Italian restaurant and has impressive pasta, plus cute barmaids to serve it.

Day 1: Thursday 18 November 2004

Surprisingly, Rockford has enough points of interest to require multiple days to entirely subjugate:

Good thing it was Friday, otherwise there'd be something closed.

Dinner mess was combined with evening infantry maneuvers for a progressive dinner. Troops were fortified with free wine at the barracks, equipped with Domination-grade rain gear, then deployed throughout town.

1. Target: Irish pub "The Pub" for Fish Night. (According to local intelligence, every restaurant in Oconomowoc observes Fish Night on Fridays, except maybe the Chinese, Thai, and Mexican restaurants. Possibly most of Wisconsin does the same.) Irish dishes for dinner, and microbrew on tap. Operated by an Irish proprietor, and filled with Domination militiapeople who provided advice towards a future Domination of Eiler conquest of Ireland. Summary: Bicycle conquest may be dangerous due to narrow roads.
2. Target: Lakefront pub "The Spinnaker" for desert. Mostly frequented by senior citizens and their slightly younger ladyfriends. Fine imports on tap. Pub is mostly distinguished by its co-residence with town public parking and an American Legion hall.
3. Target of opportunity: barroom and billiards hall "Wingers Tap". The fine Milwaukee beer "Miller High Life" on tap, with a not low-record-setting but still highly competitive price. Cute barmaid, too. Also a jukebox, which gave opportunity to expose patrons to Offspring satanic anthem "Pay The Man" as well as Johnny Cash prison anthem "Folsom Prison Blues". The difference between those songs being, exactly what?
4. Target: pub "Main Street Depot" from lunchtime; it had declared "Deer Hunter's Widow Night". But the pub was actively conducting a rebellion against the Domination by putting on particularly bad karaoke. Occupation there was about 50%.
5. Target of opportunity: barroom "The Next Bar". Respectable prices for cheap beer, some cute servers, and there is a considerable unescorted-woman factor here, possibly due to deer hunters' widows avoiding karaoke. There is a deejay, but mostly not obnoxious.
   • Domination forces swapped information with militia staffwoman Kandy. (Yes, it's her real name, according to her birth certificate; Kandy reviewed this dispatch.) Staff was particularly interested in how Karaoke night was going down the street.
   • In turn, the Domination was interested in where the local women go to dance when they don't want deejays or karaoke. The dance target was sadly outside mission parameters for the night.
   • Still, women young enough to have been the Dominator's children flood the pub near midnight, sporadically escorted. The Domination chose not to try to exploit this possible vulnerability in local society.
6. Target of opportunity: pub "Lakers". In truth, Domination troops required a diner by that point, but decaf coffee and jalapeno poppers should hopefully suffice. Domination staff Minnie provided, and militiaman John and Al took an unusual interest in the provisioning.
7. There is reportedly a late-night diner, roughly six blocks east of the center of town. The Domination did not investigate these reports.

Day 3: Saturday 20 November 2004

Domination day of rest. Thanks to local intelligence obtained in Delafield, the Domination selected Cedarburg and Port Washington as the day's targets. After attacking both (operational music "Token of My Extreme"), Domination troops went into "Holiday Inn" (formerly "Harborside Inn") barracks in Port Washington for rest and relaxation.

On the way to Port Washington, Cedarburg defied the Domination. The main target in town was "Cedar Creek Winery", whose very small parking lot was filled to overflowing. The town supposedly has two nice inns, but these both overlook the main drag and did not seem to be restful. The rest of the town is cute shops, and was bypassed.

Port Washington came to the Domination's attention by (1) being a ferry terminus with scenic lighthouse, and (2) having two brewpubs according to intelligence reports. Sadly, those reports are out of date. The lighthouse is closed to tourists even on weekends, and the "Port Washington" brewpub left town for Sheboygan, leaving behind a fish restaurant with "Budweiser" and "Kids Eat Free" signs in the windows.

As for "Harbor City" brewpub, it is actually a brewery, not a pub, and only open for retail sales on Saturday afternoons, 12-4. Fortunately, it was Saturday afternoon, and Brewmaster Jim (being the entire staff) was giving tastings. This turned out to be more fun than any pub or any two museums.