Daiwu

'Caught' , by an unknown artist. Its unflattering depiction of the Daiwu as pseudo-monsters saw the painting confiscated and artist imprisoned.

The Daiwu (Korukkan: 戴雾, literally: "to wear smoke" or "obscuring") were the secret police that served the CEO of The West Pahadan Railway Company. The police were founded by Zhang Xieren in 1914, two years into his control of the company, following an incident that saw him almost assassinated by the Daughters of Asphotachal. Whilst originally envisioned by Zhang as a personal bodyguard that reported directly to him, his desire for retribution saw their powers expanded by numerous Directives in the months following their establishment. By January of 1915 the had the authority to stop and search, investigate property without a warrant, overrule the judiciaries of local communities (and eventually the client states of the company), had the permission to command local law enforcement agencies for assistance in their endeavors and had license to kill 'terrorists, rebels and insurrectionists'. By the time of the Western War, the Daiwu had an extensive intelligence agency component and were instrumental tools of counterintelligence, espionage and reconnaissance.

The Daiwu were adorned from head to toe in armour fashioned to look like traditional sets of armour from Shihoki. This armour was not only highly effective against small arms fire but its mechanical components and fuel source allowed the Daiwu to increase their own physical strength and endurance. The numerous smoke vents gave them their name 'Daiwu'.

Whilst officially disbanded by the succeeding West Pahadan Repbulic in 1949, their legacy played an important role in the development of police forces in both it and the Imperial Federation. Countless Daiwu agents 'retired' in the Imperial Federation and assisted then-Chancellor Zhang Xieren with instituting his democratic overhaul, arresting numerous 'anti-democracy' and 'anti-republican' individuals.

Creation

The origins of the Daiwu can be traced to as early as 1909, when Zhang Xieren was Grand Commandant of the Great Undertaking in Tungnir. Having worked with numerous of the Empire's Censors during the project, Zhang became enamoured with their status, responsibility and effectiveness. The Grand Commandant tried numerous times to draft up a personal body-guard to mirror the work of the Censors in a more personal level. When Zhang became Chief Executive Officer of West Pahadan Rail, he once again entertained this plan. Whilst originally creating a security detail composed of native Korrukans and -- on occasion -- native 'pacified' Pahadans -- they proved wholly ineffective as to the grander ambitions and aspirations expected of them.

The inability of these guardsmen (mainly attributed to the fact it wasn't their purpose) in detecting the Summer Orchid Plot by the Daughters of Asphotachal ultimately led to their downfall and replacement. On August 2nd, 1914, whilst he was travelling from Nakashigawa to the Xiàjì Lánhuā complex, a summer resort and retreat built by WPR for its upper management, an explosion on the line caused the train to de-rail and kill 18 passengers. Zhang Xieren was ultimately unscathed by the attempt on his life but quickly left the scene back to Nakashigawa.

By August 7th Zhang had issued a Directive that authorised the creation of the 'Daiwu', a conceptual name at first that stuck and became their official title. Whilst originally intended to be a higher caliber of body-guard, their metamorphasis into a secret police force was achieved between September of 1914 and January of 1915. Their powers were extensively expanded gradually by Zhang, to whom they answered directly, until their original duties were removed and replaced.

Authorities, duties and responsibilities

The Directive that established the Daiwu outlined their initial responsibilities as nothing more than "defence of the Chief Executive Officer by any means necessary." However, even within days of their official recruitment, Zhang Xieren was already interested in a greater expansion and specification of their intended roles. Most of their increase in power happened meteorically throughout the months between September of 1914 and January of 1915.

Constables of local police forces, such as the Nakashigawa Police, were expected to follow the orders of the Daiwu without question.

By January of 1915 their official list of powers, granted through no less than 9 Directives, granted the Daiwu: powers of arrest, the ability to stop and search any civilian, the permission to investigate property without an official warrant, the capability to direct, command and utilise local police forces as aides in their own investigations, the permission to openly carry weapons, the legal right to commandeer civilian vehicles with no promise of compensation, access to Imperial military checkpoints, and -- most infamously -- Directives 413: the "licence to kill terrorists, rebels and insurrectionists" and 417: the "authority to overrule incorrect assessments by local judicial courts in both WPR and her client states."

After a period of relative stability in their permissions, by the mid 1920s Zhang once again expanded their powers in the event of a potential war with further states in Pahada and even Pavlostani. Daiwu were trained in arts of subterfuge, infiltration and the creation of spy-cells. By 1930 the Daiwu boasted an incredibly impressive intelligence agency both within WPR and neighbouring nations. Thousands of agents would go on to have a direct role in the Western War, where the Daiwu's Intelligence Branch performed extensively in fields of espionage and reconnaissance.

Daiwu were permitted to conduct business in any manner they pleased; either covertly or overtly. Those who acted overtly were expected to be treated with honour, friendship and hospitality by the native population. Assaulting a member of the Daiwu was a treasonous offence and was punished with death and acquisition of familial property. Daiwu were known to declare themselves as 'sheriff' of rural communities and would often act with impunity.

Organisation

Zhang Xieren

Daiwu Internal

Daiwu External

Clockwork Region Command

WPR Region Command

Department for Corporate Security

Department for Intelligence and Espionage

Local Constabularies

Asphotachal Region Command

Client Region Command

Home Guard

Reconnaissance Division

The Daiwu Watchers

Local Constabularies

Local Constabularies

The Daiwu, in a sense, directly reported to the Chief Executive Officer. In this regard, it evolved to form into that the Daiwu as an institution were not held to the rest of West Pahadan Rail. By 1927 the Daiwu had split into two separate, but cooperative, groups. The first and the original: the 'Daiwu Internal' and usually called the 'Daiwu'. The second was the recent expansion of responsibilities: the Daiwu External, concerned with foreign espionage, counter-espionage and reconnaissance.

The Daiwu Internal: The original and largest of the two, the Daiwu Internal was concerned with all the original functions of their setting up. Eventually, it was broken into two smaller sections; regional commands: the secretive 'Clockwork Region Command', which had agents operate within the empire, and the larger, public and extensive 'WPR Region Command.' The latter was further sub-divided into a command for the agents who worked in WPR's directly controlled territory - Asphotachal - and those who operated within WPR's vassals. Individual Daiwu Agents and Operatives reported to their local constabularies who in turn answered to regional command.

The Daiwu External: The Daiwu's greatest expansion of power came with the inclusion within their duties to 'defend the Empire from all threats both domestic and foreign.' Zhang had granted the Daiwu authority to conduct espionage, defend from it, perform reconnaissance and even undergo assassinations and terrorism in foreign nations. They reported to a separate authority, two Departments that composed the 'Daiwu External'. Agents concerned with defending the empire from foreign espionage and attacks were referred to simply as the 'Home Guard', whilst offensive espionage was broken into the Reconnaissance Division and the 'Watchers.'

Operations

Personnel and recruitment

In 1931 the Daiwu reached their largest number of agents (DA - Daiwu Agents), some 380,000 officially recognised personnel. These figures were released jointly by the Imperial Federation and the West Pahadan Republic in the 'Truth and Reconciliation Document'. In addition to this, they released the figures for informants: over 2,000,000 people spread out across 'numerous territories'. These territories are speculated to include, in addition to WPR's territories, the Clockwork Empire, Pavlostani and the foreign concessions in Clockwork territory. Whilst the TRD did not list the names of the individuals it did, however, give their professions, their ethnic composition, religious beliefs and gender. According to the official documentation, only 0.3% of informants were coerced into being informants: the rest did so due to economic, social and occupational privileges.

There are no figures on any of the personnel in the 'Daiwu External'. During his tenure as Chancellor of the Imperial Federation, Zhang Xieren said "these matters are not for public knowledge."

Most of the recruitment for the DAs came from police academies. However, a specialised training school was eventually set up in Nakashigawa, which became a large section of the Five Star Committee's official governing residences. Reconnaissance units were diverted from the military to serve with the Daiwu. Officially, joining the Daiwu was open to all members of society. However, the number of female Daiwu never breached over 26% of the agents according to the TDR.

Any official way of recruiting the agents involving examinations are unknown, but a former Daiwu agent did link that there were "three physical fitness examinations" and "two academic papers". They also said that "less intelligent candidates were diverted to menial work within the Daiwu: generally supporting staff rather than full on agents."

Zhang Xieren is the highest ranked official known associated with the Daiwu, only because he created them.

Infiltration

The first leader of the opposition in the West Pahadan Republic, Megaduta Kapadia of the Pahadan Unity Party, declared that "every citizen of this republic has been spied on by the officially illegal Daiwu." Kapadia demanded that the Harmonious Coalition, the successors to the Five Star Committee, 'release the information.' The HC denied possessing such information. The TDR did not give concrete answers for the number of agents nor the activities. However, since some agents operated in public they were known to serve as law enforcers in almost every rural community. Many speculate they infiltrated every factory, hospital, school, housing complex, places of worship and even military base.

Leaked information in the West Pahadan Republic revealed that the Daiwu did in fact possess a personal profile (that additionally contained medical and psychological information) of at least 67% of the population of the West Pahadan Rail and her client states. To put it into perspective, by 1927, they had files on over 85 million people. Individuals were also categorised by their susceptibility to 'truth' and the best way to extract information from them.

Any information relating to the levels of infiltration in foreign countries is unknown, but their operation in Pavlostani during the Great War is a fact confirmed by all parties.

It is speculated that a large portion of the public life of the citizens of the WPR were disturbed and monitored by the activities of the Daiwu's 'Home Guard', the official name for internal espionage efforts.

Equipment

All members of the Daiwu Internal were equipped with Hayabusa MK.I 'powered armour.' Most often their notable trait -- as exemplified in the painting 'Caught!' -- the set of armour allowed them to withstand small arms fire from hand-held weaponry, shrapnel and knife attacks. Additionally, given the fact it was powered, it allowed the Daiwu to exert themselves for longer. The Daiwu External were a lot more varied in their equipment. Members of the Home Guard had no official uniform, given their status as internal espionage and monitoring. The 'Watchers' are an unknown in all senses of the word. The Reconnaissance units fluctuated from a lighter variant of the Hayabusa, known as the MK.II, to camouflage and no uniform whatsoever.

The Daiwu Internal were issued a standard issue bolt-action rifle, numerous sidearms and melee weapons such as swords, quarterstaves and some units were even issued with ceremonial pikes. In addition to these standard issue, Daiwu were permitted to purchase their own weapons and some favoured shotguns and increasingly compact sub-machine guns. One agent apprehend numerous members of the Daughters of Asphotachal with "a stick of dynamite and nunchaku". For apprehensive purposes, all Daiwu were equipped with handcuffs, retractable interlocking chains that coiled in their armour, cattle-prods and anesthetic.

• Arisaka rifle family.jpg

  The 'Automata-Zhang' rifle family, issued to the military of the Clockwork Empire, Imperial Federation, West Pahadan Republic and -- famously -- the Daiwu.

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  The 'Automata-Zhang' revolver, standard issue side-arm of the entirety of the Daiwu.

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  'Guan dao' such as these were ceremoniously equipped to members of the Daiwu who were stationed in close proximity to Zhang Xieren as a form of 'honour-guard.'

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  The 'new military sword', fabricated by Automata-Arms, became a staple status symbol for higher-ranking Daiwu agents. It was almost always ceremonially used, however numerous agents reported using it in the line of duty.

Disbandment

Yang Gang, 1st President of the West Pahadan Republic

The first official act of the Harmonious Coalition upon the establishment of the West Pahadan Republic in 1948 was the "complete and total disbandment of the terror organisation known as the Daiwu." The 'Civil Society Bill', which disbanded the Daiwu, granted a pension to any member who came forward. No charges were pressed against the Daiwu, merely their functionality and capability to operate was rendered null by the military forces of the republic. Numerous politicians and members of high-society were often accused of being members of the Daiwu in their youth. Yang Gang, a businessman within WPR and first president of the West Pahadan Republic, was widely criticised in private as a Daiwu apologist given the total lack of punishment for an organisation that had 'kept Asphotachal and Pahada in fear.'

Many Daiwu agents retired into quiet life, though many suspect the Daiwu left in the Republic was a shell of its former self. The theory goes that many of the agents, their expertise and information left with Zhang Xieren as he aimed to stabilise the Clockwork Empire. There was a constant fear throughout the early years of the republic that rogue former Daiwu agents would coup the government.

Whilst almost universally despised by the native population, the Daiwu maintained a positive image in the eyes of the Korrukkan immigrant population, which by the 1950s constituted roughly 45% of the population of Asphotachal. Several attempts to reinstate a Daiwu, or a secret police force similar to them, failed. However, rumours persisted that the chiefs of police for the Pahadan Republic were also all former Daiwu agents.

In the Imperial Federation, the successor state to the Clockwork Empire, the legitimacy of the Daiwu was never recognised. Nor were they ever disbanded, despite the fact that Zhang Xieren -- their founder -- was the first Chancellor of the Federation. Speculation ran wild that Zhang had used his Daiwu to implement his 'forced democracy', 'non-negotiable republicanism' and the silencing of right-wing, nationalist extremists.

In popular culture

The Daiwu feature prominently in Pahadan Art, nominally as monstrous figures and communities' expressions of fears of foreigners. Rural traditionalists and luddites also exemplify the 'combination of man and machine' as a force of terror and 'inhuman policing.' Art such as 'Caught', 'I See You', 'You Cannot Run' and others are a primary account of the terror they inspired across cultures.

Numerous pieces of literature, such as 'Bridge over the River Chungui', make reference to Daiwu agents. The primary antagonist, a Korukkan PoW forced to construct a bridge for Pavlostani forces, fears for his life from the Daiwu more than his captors. The speculatively auto-biographical novel 'Cult of the Phoenix' features a disillusioned Daiwu agent forced to operate on the belief that his family will be murdered if he does not.

Post-war socially liberal and 'rebellious' music genres imported from abroad often made reference to 'the Daiwu' as a synonym for 'the police' and 'the state.' Notable lyrics include things such as: "if i don't pay my taxes, the Daiwu are coming with axes" and "live and die in the eyes of the Watchers."

Aside from inspiring a tide of fire in Pahada, the Daiwu were considered a terror threat to the foreign inhabitants of the occupied Clockwork concessions. A culture of silence dominated social circles in the Island of Pearls, Island of Black Cliffs, Tienhaichao and the Cities of Jade and Wind. These foreign occupied territories instituted laws and repercussions for any one speculated of being a Daiwu agent, and made the discussion of affairs outside the security of the home a criminal offence.

Numerous TV shows, books and films present intelligence services and secret polices based on the Daiwu.