NationStates Jolt Archive

7 am, Tranquility City, Keimonia.

John was driving on the wide main street of Tranquility City, his every senses sharp despite the the fact that he had not been able to sleep last night. Through the emerging dawn, he could see people on the sidewalk heading for their daily labors.
John was not interested in them. John had a mission.

***

"This oppression is wrong", Gale had said. "We're living in the 21st century, for Christ sake! This should be time of democracy, not dictatorship!"

The 500 people in the abondoned warehouse had cheered, althought as the members of the violent liberalist wing Total Freedom, they heard this speech almost everyday. It was their guideline.
Their sole goal.
The destruction of the system they considered 'oppressive'. The goverment of Keimonia.

"That is why",Gale had continued after the crowd had fallen silent, "I have made a plan."

The crowd had been completely silent. Total Freedom rarely did anything, but when they did, it was something pretty radical.

"We are going to kill",Gale had said as he activated the data projector on a small stand in front of him, "Him.".

The crowd had inhaled as one. Before them, they had seen the face of Darren Acas, the vice-president of Keimonia.
President's right hand man.

***

John stopped remembering and returned to the moment. On the passenger seat, there was a 7.62mm K-00 sniper rifle. He had used them in the army. He was pretty sure he could hit an apple from a 200-meter distance. On his armpit holster there was an 9mm pistol.
He had only 2 bullets with him: one for each gun. The 7.62mm rifle round was meant for Acas.

The nine-millimeter round was meant for John.

He could not afford getting caught. Keimonian officials rarely used torture to extract information, but when they did, they did it excessively.
They only crime that authorized the goverment to use torture was High Treason.

Which John was about to commit by assasinating the country's secondmost powerful person.

John pulled up the car near a 20-floor office building. He hid the rifle beneath his long jacket, as he walked into the buiding.
In the lobby, there was a single security guard. He didn't even look twice at John.
John walked to the elevator and took a ride to the top floor.
There was not a single person on the 20th floor, as John emerged from the elevator and climbed the staircase up, to the roof.
From the roof, he could see the Presidential Hall right across the plaza. John sat on the roof and started waiting.

He didn't have to wait for long. A black limo soon appeared on the end of the street.

John smiled as he lifted his rifle....



OOC: Continued soon, I'm still thinking if the assasination attempt should succeed or fail.

:: tag ::

The limo stopped in front of the Presidential Hall, and a middle-aged black man exited the car, with two bodyguards, both big and armed.
As Acas walked towards the gate of the Hall, John aimed for his head through his scope.

Although John didn't have bipod, his hands were steady. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger...

The gunshot echoed in the morning light.


---------------------------
OOC:Will continue tomorrow.

;; Tag master ;;

After a small enternity, Acas fell. John had completed his mission.

Or actually, he had no way of knowing if Acas had been mortally wounded.

They must really trust my marksmanship, John thought to himself, To give me only one round to use.

Or actually, two rounds, John thought as he pulled his Beretta from its holster and placed it under his chin.

John smiled as he watched the two panicked bodyguards finally noticed him. Both men whipped out their handguns.

No way they could hit me with this distance.

Not that it would matter anymore...

With a determined smile, John closed his eys.
And pulled the trigger.



First he noticed the pain.

After that, he noticed that he was still alive.

Lastly, he smell the scent of burning flesh.

He touched his chin with his fingers. The guns exhaust had burned him pretty badly, but he could not feel any blood.

For a minute, John was unable to do anything from his shock. Then he realized the only possible explenation.

A blank round.

But why?

He tried to remember who had given him the gun, and the round.
Then a face rose to his memory.

Gale.

As John looked across the plaza, he could see Acas moving. For a second, he thought the round had been blank.

Then why did Acas fall?

John stopped breathing for a second as he the only logical conclusion hit his mind.

Acas knew of the attack.
And Gale knew Acas knew.
Gale had betrayed the resistance.

But why?

John was too in his thoughts to notice the helicopter that had been approaching, until a loud, amplified voice crackled trought the air.

"This is the Order Keepers. Drop your weapon now, or we will have to use force."

On the helicopter, John could see four men; two controlling the helicopter, one using the megaphone, and one man in a full tactical gear, pointing a nasty-looking assault rifle towards John.

John realized that he still had the Beretta in his hand.

There was no second warning. The man in with the rifle just started firing, one, two, three, four.....four rounds.

John looked down.

All four rounds had hit him in a 10-centimeter area on his chest.

John took a step back, watching his own blood spill.

No second warning?

As if they want me dead....

Dead.

What is going on...


John's tormented brains finally gave up as darkness fell into his mind....

Tag.

(OOC: Nice, can't wait to see how it continues.)

************KEIMONIA INTERNATIONAL NEWS************

Tranquility City.

Today, around 7am, the Vice President Darren Acas was a target of a vile assasination attempt. An unknown assasin, believed to be a member of Total Freedom, took a single round with a military-class rifle to Vice President Acas from the nearby rooftop. Acas was wounded lightly, but he was quickly taken to a hospital, and is reported be “alive and well”, by the Redwood Hospital, which he was taken to.
The assasin, whose identity or cause is still unclear, was shot to death by the Order Keepers assigned on the site after the shooting. The O-Keepers reported that the assasin did not surrender his gun, even after multiple warnings, and even tried to attack the Keepers with his handgun.
No group has yet to claim the responsibility from the failed attack, although Total Freedom is a prime suspect. Central Law Enforcements comment that the culprit shall be “found and brought to justice.”

In other news, a fire in an indrustial area in Alaris has resulted in casualties, when a presumably empty warehouse collapsed, killing eight people inside….

SECRET IC
“Nice act, Darren. It was really beautiful.”

“Thank you, sir. I did some acting in high school drama club…”

“Yes, yes, I know that. Well, ahem, now we must just wait until Total Freedom makes its claim…”

“*If* they make their claim, sir.”

“They will. Leave it to Gale.”

“Gale, yes. Are sure that man is to be trusted?”

“Absolutely not! How could I trust a man who sells out his own people? But he's useful, nevertheless…”

“Well….”

“Don’t worry yourself with him. After the claim has been made, he will no longer be useful to us. Then we can put Stage Two into action.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“I trust you in this, Darren.”

“I know you do…..Mr. President.”

Gale Danson was driving his brand-new Ferrari in Alaris. An spontanious smile rose to his face as he remembered the money he had use to buy the car: Goverments money, 20,000 Keimos. His mind went back to in time, to that small room in some small building in some small city of the Gemma Plateau Megalopolis....

6 hours earlier
"We are the Total Freedom", Gale said to the camera. "And we exist to return the power to where it belongs: to the people"

Gale smiled, though it was not visible under his mask. He carried on.

"The execution of Darren Acas, which failed, was our doing."
"Acas is a tool of the wrong, oppressive goverment. He must die. He will die. We will try again. He will die."
"After that, we aim to execute the wicked leader of this country, Keimo Zen."
"Be warned, Zen! Unless a democratic election, with actual candicates, is held within the next month, we shall come after you. Or your family."
"Citizen of Keimonia, fear not! For we are at your cause! We alone, no one else!"
"Total Freedom!"

Gale's smile widened, as a man turned off the camera.

If they only knew...

Gale's smile vanished the moment he took off his mask.

"Send it to the K-Channel", he said to a woman who had been stading by the cameraman.

"Right away" The woman took the tape and walked out.

Present
Gale wondered if their claim had hit the news yet. He turned on the radio.

"....of the assasination attempt of Vice President Acas. The K-channel has received a tape where the militant liberalist wing Total Freedom claims responsibility of the attack..."

Gale listened on and smiled. He turned left and entered a tunnel.

Maybe I'll buy a villa. Off the coast, or something.

He was too keen to listening his own voice and dreaming about the sunrise from the Indian Ocean, that he didn't notice motorbike speeding at him.

He didn't notice the motorbike as it drove right to him.

He didn't notice the motorist pulling a pistol under his jacket.

But he heard the gunshot. And it was the last thing he ever heard.

-------------------------------------------------
Vice President Darren Acas clutched his cellphone from his pocket. It was ringing. Acas flipped it open.

"It is done", a male voice said.

Acas didn't reply. He didn't have to. He turned off the call, and started dialing another number...

hey, this is a very very interesting story its good :sniper: was cool how it was a blank instead of a real shotshoulda used uzi :mp5:

************KEIMONIA INTERNATIONAL NEWS************

Tranquility City.

As the Total Freedom claims responsibility from the assasination attempt of Darren Acas, President Zen has declared Total Freedom as an illegal organization, and a membership of TF can result in High Treason charges....
(fade away)

------------------------------------------
SECRET IC
Zen smiled as he turned off the TV.

Total Freedom would have never made the hit without provocation. Not without Gale.

Now I have declared it illegal,Zen thought.

I couldn't have done that before the attack, because of the constitution...

The Constitution of Keimonia granted the citizens the right to free speech, and a right to form organizations, no matter how anti-goverment they were.

As long as they were non-violent.

Not like 20 years ago, when TF had tried to detonate a dirty bomb. The new TF, formed 6 years ago, had yet not made any violent attacks. Until now.

A perfect excuse to get rid of those dangerous wackos. They are a threat to the stability of this country.

And a perfect example to the rest of the nation.

Zen smiled again.

Time to put Stage Two into action. And get rid of this scum once and for all...

5pm, Unity City

A man in a long leather jacket, black baseball cap, sunglasses and a backpack walked in the downtown Unity. Before him, he saw the Unity-Mall, a huge maze of shops, ranging from small stands to vast shops with lines upon lines of books, clothes, food, anything you could think of.
The man walked to the fountain. He left the backpack near the fountain and walked out.

Five minutes later, he had walked as far as 200 meters. He heard an ear-shattering boom, and turned around.

The mall was engulfed in flames.

The man smiled, and carried on walking as everywhere around him the people screamed and ran...

The Emperor of Layarteb has had much experience in dealing with fanatical pro-democratic groups. The best course of action is total annihilation of them.

The Emperor of Layarteb has had much experience in dealing with fanatical pro-democratic groups. The best course of action is total annihilation of them.
OOC: Which is about to happen, but in a legal way.

OOC: Which is about to happen, but in a legal way.

Even better. As a result of these wings, we have outlawed protesting as they always turn violent.

************KEIMONIA INTERNATIONAL NEWS************

Unity City.

Around 5pm, a bomb exploded in the Unity-Mall. The bomb is most likely to be placed by the Total Freedom, claims the goverment. TF denies this, but a large raids have been made all across country to find and arrest TF members. Meanwhile, angry protesters in Tranquility and Unity demand the Keimonian goverment to the end the violence.
The bomb resulted in 3 dead, and 23 wounded. The Keimonian goverment has declared that any TF members found shall be executed without a trial.

SECRET IC
Peoples support. Now that we have it too, we can put Stage Three into action...

President Zen was sitting in his comfortable chair, watching the TV report about the U-Mall attack, as Vice President Acas stormed in.

"Are you out of your mind?" Acas's face was reddened with anger, if a black man can turn red."There were children in there!"

"Remember who you are talking to, Darren. I'm the president goddamit, I can do anything I want."

"But..."

"No buts! Sometimes the best of the nation requires sacrifices."

"...sacrifices." Acas could not believe his ears. Could this be same man he had fought with to free the oppressed people of southern africa, 30 years ago? That young, healthy man, flowing with idealism.

That man was gone. Years had not been kind to Zen. His head was almost bald, and he was a mere shadow of his former self. But the years had not only physically crippled him.

They had changed him. Into a new man, now sitting in his leather chair, right in front of Acas.

Acas was devastated.

”Y-yes. Sir”, He finally managed to say.

“Good. Now get along with Stage Three.”

“Yes, Sir” Acas turned on his heels and walked out the room.


**************************************
On his way out he ran across Keimo Zen Jr., the President’s son.

“Whats wrong, Mr.Acas?”, the young man asked. “You look…I don’t know, shocked. Did you hear the news?”

“Yes I did.”, Acas could barely keep his face neutral. Zen’s son painfully remind him of young Zen himself. “Terrible business. Terrible.”

“Where’s my father? I need to talk to him.”

”He is…in his office.”

“Thanks.”

The young was about to leave, but then seemed to remember something and turn around.

“Don’t worry”, he said to Acas.”We’ll track down these people. And we will make them pay.”

“Yes”, Acas said, without a bit of strenght in his voice.

He is a good kid, Acas thought to himself as Zen jr. left.

Just like his father had been.

God, what mess I have gotten myself into?

Freedom City

”What is going on?” Zack asked. “I get no response from Unity sub-division.”

“I don’t know….Hey, have you seen Gale lately?” Marion replied.

“Nope”, Zack said.

“He is dead”, said a voice from the shadows.

Marion was halfway from pulling out her gun, when she saw the person who had just entered.

“They found his body in Alaris, most likely a car accident”, Vigar said, emerging from the shadows.

“Dead….”, Zack said in disbelief.

“And that’s not all.” Vigar walked to the television and turned it on.

“…President Zen had declared Total Freedom as an illegal organization, and all member shall be executed without a trial”, the newsreader said.
“This is a result of the Unity-Mall bombing earlier today, which result in total of 4 casualties….”

“What the HELL!.” Zack was now furious. “We NEVER did anything like that!”

“They been killing us everywhere”, Vigar continued. “In Tranquility, Unity, Alaris…even here at Freedom City.”

“Here?”, Marion gasped.

As to answer her words, all three suddenly heard the roaring of a helicopter engine.

“Here”, Zack said with blank expression on his face.”They are here.”

All three were numb. They could hear heavy footsteps on the staircase.

They whipped out their pistols. They might not have a chance against trained government forces, but they would die trying.

Everything happened so fast. In one second, the door was kicked in, and Zack suddenly felt his right hand go numb. He dropped his Glock and looked at his right hand.

A tranqulaizer dart was sticking from his right hand. Zack could feel the cold feeling, as he saw Marion and Vigar fell. Trough the mist, he saw at least four men in full tactical gear, wielding strange looking rifles. An insignia on their bulletproof vests displayed a black raven and the text: SULEF.

Special Urban Law Enforcement Force.

Why didn’t they just kill me, Zack thought as everything went hazy.

Trough the cold mist, Zack's conciousness rose to surface.

Where am I?

As he regained his sight, he could see he was lying in a bed with white sheets, in an almost clinically clean, white room. There were no furniture, expect three beds, one where Zack, and two where Marion and Vigar lay.

“Hmmmmmmhhhrr…”, Vigar made a sound.

He slowly sat up.

“Where are we?”, he asked.

“I don’t know, but most likely in a cell, waiting for prosecution”, Zack replied.

“Execution”, Vigar corrected.

“…yes”, Zack said. There was not a bit of emotion in his voice.

“No.”

Zack turned his head to see who had spoken.

The door had opened, and a man walked in.

A man whose face Zack had seen in TV many times.

Vice President Acas.

“You!”, Vigar shouted. He tried to stand up, but he just couldn’t find the strenght in himselft to do that.

“Listen to me”, Acas said.

“Whyyyy…shooould…weee…dothat?”, Marion mubled, with her eyes still closed.

“Because you have been framed”, Acas said.

“Well, we could tell THAT…”, Vigar said under his breath. “But why?”

So Acas told them. About Zen’s plan to avoid the constitution by provoking TF to make the fake hit. About Gale’s betreayl. About the U-Mall bombing, about his disagreement with the President.

“Wait,”, Zack stopped him.”Why are you telling us this?”

“Because I need your help.”

OOC: Shit, I've just written myself into a dead end. This probably wont continue until I figure a reasonable solution.

OOC: Here we go.

IC:
”Why us?” Zack asked.

”You three were the only three Total Freedom members, that I could contact, and that were still alive”, Acas anwered. “Also, I believe your are among TF’s top ranks…”

Zack spoke:

“Not just among, I am the leader of the resistance in this country. Actually, I’m surprised you didn’t contact me until now.”

“That is because I have more information of TF than President Zen himself”, Acas said.

Something moved in Acas’s expression.

“We haven’t got much time. Zen still thinks I’m with him….but the official armed forces, from street-duty Order Keepers, to PP Agents are absoluty loyal to him.”

“How can they?” Vigar asked. “He violated the constitution by setting us up, right?”

“Yes, with the fake news report, he violated the Freedom Of Speech. He has also assigned illegal assasinations to everyone who knows too much. Your man Gale, and the four men in the helicopter that took down my ‘hitman’. And the U-Mall bombing is a crime against the whole nation.”

Acas looked suddenly very tired.

“But its hard to prove.”

“But if you could prove it….”, Marion said.

“Yes. That would qualify as high treason.”

Acas face was now neutral.

“And high treason means a death-sentence.”

Zack spoke again.”But you need our help for what…?”

“There is still one witness left”, Acas said. “The man who place the U-Mall bomb.”

Zack was stunned.

“Would he be willing to testify? I doubt.”

“He was told that the bomb he was placing was only a harmless pyro-effect bomb. Imagine the shock after he went home and turned his TV on.

Acas smiled.

“Oh yes, he’ll testify.”

“How do we know he is still alive? You mentioned a hit against him”, Marion asked.

“I don’t know if they’ve gotten to him yet, but the last I heard, the assasin or assasins had not been dispatched yet. There’s a chance he is still alive”

“But what could he have? It’s still his word against the president’s.”

Acas smiled again.

“My word and his. Besides, he is a careful man. He kept records of all his conversations with the president. He should have them. I can’t publically accuse the president from high treason, until you bring the proof to me.”

“You forgot one thing”, Zack said. “We’re locked up here.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out…”

01:30 AM, Military base, close to Alaris

A small, green, dirty Volkswagen drove over a dusty sandpath a few hundred yards away from a small military base near Alaris, which is located in the northern part of Keimonia. It was night. The driver, a man in a long leather jacket and black baseball cap took off his sunglasses and grabbed a crumbled paper from the seat next to him. He double checked the time roster for the so-maniest time, and mumbled:

"One thirtyfive. Changing of the guards. I must be quick. Heh, I should not forget to thank Hans for this usefull information..."

He was very nervous and drove as fast as he dared too, releasing the accelerator now and then to prevent the car from making that horrible noise. "I should really get this thing fixed..."

He parked the car behind some bushes, a little bit away from the base. He checked his watch. Damn, he should hurry. He took a small, round package (wrapped in dusty cloth) from the backseat and got out of the car. He tried to run as quickly and quitely as he could, towards the eastern wall of the military campment. He could see the spotlights moving around, though they moved in a close peremiter around the walls - he had not reached them, yet.

Too focused on not making any noise, he did not see it coming. It was approx. as high to his thighs, but it was dark. It was about 100 metres from the walls. He was also distracted by the spotlights stopping to move, a sign that the guards were changing shifts.

"AARGH, AUW, VERDOMME!!"

He fell to the ground, both his legs entangled in the barbed wire which surrouned the base. Pain surged through his lower body. Dogs started to bark. An alarm was activated. Yelling from pain and frustation, he dropped the package while pulling at his legs. He heard and almost felt bullets hitting the ground around him. His teeth clenched together he managed to pull one leg free. The blood was coming through his jeans. Trying not to think he was a good target, standing up like that, he pulled at his other leg. It gave a nasty tearing sound when it came loose. He grabbed the package, and started to run away.

But - no! I must place it first! Or the whole plan will be ruined! I must distract the guards!

He heard the bullets flying through the air just before they hit him straigt in the back of his head. It was the last thing he ever heard. His body fell to the ground.

"Don't move! You are under arrest!"

"I don't think he is still alive, Igor..."

"Tell the commander."

"Sir, we got him. He is dead, sir."

The walkie-talkie responded:

"Was he armed?"

"No sir. But... wait... what the heck is this? It looks like a small pack-"

BOOM.

An explosion rumbled through the thin, cold air. The alarm was activated again. Soldiers and medics came running for the ones who had stood next to the man's body.

No-one saw a shadow jumping from the western walls of the military camp and landing safely on the grass. Everyone was yelling and looking for fire extinguishers - the jeep which the soldiers used to get ouside the camp was on fire and thrown away a hundred metres.

She ran to the woods, she ran, ran, ran. Finally she reached a black sports car and got in. She put the briefcase on the seat next to her and pushed a button on the armrest.

"I got it."

"Good. Resume the mission as planned. Get to the airfield."

"Doing that now. Did Jan managed to get out!?"

There was a silence on the other side of the phone.

"Well??"

"No, he did not. Sources have just confirmed that he is dead."

"Thats... he's... no, it cannot be, it's... how? I heard shots, but he..."

"We shall honour him when there is time. This is more imporant. Get the briefcase to the airfield."

"Y- yes, Hans..."

OOC: Eh...nice.....but doesn't fit into where I intentent to continue this story. Or where the story was.

Unless that's some third faction, trying to benefit from this chaos.
If you can't properly explain where this fits the story, I'll just have to ignore your part, which would be a shame, since its good text.


And, I'd appreciate if you would consult Keimonia World Factbook Entry (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=352685) before you assuming anything about my country.
Alaris is in the northern part of Keimonia. :rolleyes:

OOC: Sorry I shall edit it there hehehe :rolleyes:

IC:

Time: unknown. Location: unknown.

"Was the mission a succes? Did she managed to take the briefcase?"

"Yes. Hans just told me the... stuff is safe and well underway to the rendevous-point."

"Exellent. Tell Jan to come and see me asap, I need to talk to him."

"Err... there is a little problem. Jan got killed in the attempt to place the bomb. He must have screwed up in some way."

"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me!? Jan is important, he might just be more important that you!!"

"Sir, I ... I can't help it! How could I be held responsible for Jan's death?!"

"You'd be surprised, you, I could let you --"

"SIR, I know of a very good person to do the next assignment, instead! He might not be so well-connected, but he sertainly has the skill... and talent..."

"For your sake... I hope he has..."

"I'll talk to him."

------------------------------------------------

somewhere else

"So... they have been arrested now... would that pose as a problem? I mean, they are still..."

"Yes. We should prevent them from getting themselves killed. They are too important to lose, escpecially now Jan's gone. I have the feeling that they will be alright, though..."

"But you can never be sure. We'd better send someone watch their asses..."

A long silence. The two men look at each other, as though trying to read each other's mind.

"Just make sure they won't see you."

bump, i want to see how this story continues

obviously you are not willing to continue this story?

well without your help its dumb to finish this story on my own. no one will care anyway.

so i give up now on this 1, 2.