Risban
10-01-2005, 23:46
Monday, January Tenth....
A normal morning in the Empire of Risban. Cars drove back and forth; a group of radical animal rights protestors had just been dragged away in a black van; Parliament was meeting to pass some new laws; tourists were flocking all around the Empire.
Business as usual in the Empire of Risban.
8:19 A.M., Risban City: Imperial Mall
A man dressed in blue jeans and a dark blue shirt, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, emerged from a Risban-Auto Pick-Up Truck outside of the Imperial Mall, carrying a backpack like many others around the area; mostly tourists. Imperial High Guards and the Risban Police patrolled the mall, keeping an eye on things as it opened up and the first wave of people entered the massive structure. Video cameras were everywhere; the Emperor had made Parliament pass laws to put cameras on every street corner to watch everything.
This man in the baseball cap strolled into the Imperial Mall, surrounded by a crowd of tourists, most from nations that were Risban's allies.
8:36 A.M., Imperial Palace: Parliamentary Chambers
Lord Richard Gaius Zorag, the leader of the Zorag Company and a member of the Imperial Parliament, sat in the Parliamentary Chambers, listening to the proceedings. The Parliament was just passing a law to put taxes on all churches except the Church of Risban.
Upon reaching a concensus to pass the tax law, Countess Nora Courtney, head of Parliament, thanked the other Risban nobles and went to give the bill to the Emperor.
Lord Zorag stood, exiting the Chambers and going to his office, watching his watch carefully.
It would all begin soon.
8:45 A.M., Shadow Society Headquarters (Somewhere in the City of Copmol)
Lt. Colonel James Ledgar of the Risban Imperial Army paced back and forth in an underground bunker, watching nineteen people work at computers. The Society of Shadows, one of the most secretive yet most powerful organizations in the world, had a very large and intricate super-computer and its disposal. And, right now, that super-computer was being used to prepare an attack on Risban's Internet and disable it, severing communications in Risban abd between Risban and other nations.
The attack would take place soon.
9:02 A.M., Risban City: Imperial Palace Courtyard
The Imperial Palace Courtyard.... Much had happened in such a place. This is where the Emperor and other Imperial officials delivered speeches and made announcements. It is where the Empire was rumored to have been founded. It was where the current emperor, Robinson Antares Scorpius, had publicly executed the former corrupt emperor.
Thus, many people lurked about the courtyard. Some were tourists, other were government workers, and several were regulars. Imperial High Guards stood at every entrance and exit, watching carefully for anything suspicious. After the rebellion of General Charles Lucas and Colonel Antonin Steele, security had been bumped up around the palace greatly. It was made quite sure that no one would be able to sneak a bomb in from the outside.
The Order of the Imperial High Guard did not, unfortunately, expect the attack to come from the inside.
Joseph Aeneas, an assistant to Lord William Plutus, the Imperial Minister of Finance, came from an old, honorable family in Risban. He was connected through blood with various members of Parliament, and was pretty well off financially. It was said that one day he might even hold the position of Imperial Minister of Finance for the Empire of Risban.
That was, of course, before January the Tenth.
Joseph Aeneas strolled out of the Finance Ministry in Imperial Palace, walking into the courtyard, apparently to have some lunch. He was carrying a small garbage back, as what usually held his lunch, and was where his usual green trenchcoat, despite the fact that the sun was now shining in through the fog.
But, Joseph Aeneas was a respectable member of the Imperial Administration, however slightly odd, so the High Guards paid no special attention to him.
He walked over to the wall beneath the Emperor's Balcony, where the members of the empire met to deliver their speeches to the public of Risban City. He sat against the wall, glancing around at the many people lurking about. He looked up at the massive stone structure towering above and behind him. He sighed, removing what seemed to be an I-Pod from his pocket.
He stood up, lifting his lunch bag into the air.
"SIC SEMPER TYRANUS! Death to the Empire of Risban!"
This caught the Imperial Guards by surprise. They responded by raising their pistols and beginning to move past befuddled tourists, nearing the assistant. One guard yelled something about a remote, but it was too late.
Joseph Aeneas, Senior Assistant to the Imperial High Minister of Finfance, pressed a button on the "I-Pod". The garbage back, having been thrust to a corner of the well, exploded instantly, causing part of the wall to crumble down and all of the people to duck, including the guards. Several of the more-hardened guards opened fire on Aeneas, but missed on account to the black smoke and dust that had engulfed the air.
Joseph Aeneas pressed another button, and the C4 wrapped around his body exploded, taking out the wall behind him. The Emperor's Balcony fell one hundred feet, crashing onto the smoldering remains of Joseph Aeneas.
10:13 A.M., Risban City: Imperial Mall
The man in the baseball cap with the backpack sat outside of a small pastry store inside the mall, sipping some coffee, his free hand in his backpack. He was beginning to sweat slightly, as if nervous, but no one noticed, for the Imperial Guards and police around the mall, it seemed, had just had a major problem. Their computer-based communications were done, and video cameras around the city were going out.
The Internet was down.
The man in the baseball cape stood, as many others were doing, and looked around. He was just about in the center in the mall, near the gigantic tree that marked the spot. He looked down at the backpack and the hand inside of it.
Malls didn't have metal detactors... Nor did they have the anti-terrorist security around. Yet, they were always crowded.
The man in the baseball cap closed his eyes and pressed a button in his backpack.
Moments later, an entire section of the Imperial Mall of Risban City was nothing but a pile of rubble and bodies, engulfed in fire.
10:24 A.M., Underground of Risban City
The subway/train station was backed up with angry commuters, complaining about cellphones not working and the digital train schedule being broken. Not to mention that police were running around fantically and not telling anyone what was going on.
A well-known lawyer got out of a non-moving subway train, looking as annoyed as most and carrying his briefcase. He walked to the main lobby of the subway, where the angry commuters were gathering to listen to a magistrate who was about to tell them all what was going on.
That's when this lawyer opened his briefcase, ducking beneath the crowd, and set his bomb.
At 10:28 A.M., the subway station had been enfulfed by an explosion and collapsed.
Shadow Society Headquarters
Lt. Colonel James Ledgar spoke into his cellphone. "Yes, m'lord. The subway, courtyard, and mall have all been destroyed. Our attack on the Internet was perfect. Everything is done."
"Good," came the cold, malicious reply from the other end. "Very good..."
A normal morning in the Empire of Risban. Cars drove back and forth; a group of radical animal rights protestors had just been dragged away in a black van; Parliament was meeting to pass some new laws; tourists were flocking all around the Empire.
Business as usual in the Empire of Risban.
8:19 A.M., Risban City: Imperial Mall
A man dressed in blue jeans and a dark blue shirt, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, emerged from a Risban-Auto Pick-Up Truck outside of the Imperial Mall, carrying a backpack like many others around the area; mostly tourists. Imperial High Guards and the Risban Police patrolled the mall, keeping an eye on things as it opened up and the first wave of people entered the massive structure. Video cameras were everywhere; the Emperor had made Parliament pass laws to put cameras on every street corner to watch everything.
This man in the baseball cap strolled into the Imperial Mall, surrounded by a crowd of tourists, most from nations that were Risban's allies.
8:36 A.M., Imperial Palace: Parliamentary Chambers
Lord Richard Gaius Zorag, the leader of the Zorag Company and a member of the Imperial Parliament, sat in the Parliamentary Chambers, listening to the proceedings. The Parliament was just passing a law to put taxes on all churches except the Church of Risban.
Upon reaching a concensus to pass the tax law, Countess Nora Courtney, head of Parliament, thanked the other Risban nobles and went to give the bill to the Emperor.
Lord Zorag stood, exiting the Chambers and going to his office, watching his watch carefully.
It would all begin soon.
8:45 A.M., Shadow Society Headquarters (Somewhere in the City of Copmol)
Lt. Colonel James Ledgar of the Risban Imperial Army paced back and forth in an underground bunker, watching nineteen people work at computers. The Society of Shadows, one of the most secretive yet most powerful organizations in the world, had a very large and intricate super-computer and its disposal. And, right now, that super-computer was being used to prepare an attack on Risban's Internet and disable it, severing communications in Risban abd between Risban and other nations.
The attack would take place soon.
9:02 A.M., Risban City: Imperial Palace Courtyard
The Imperial Palace Courtyard.... Much had happened in such a place. This is where the Emperor and other Imperial officials delivered speeches and made announcements. It is where the Empire was rumored to have been founded. It was where the current emperor, Robinson Antares Scorpius, had publicly executed the former corrupt emperor.
Thus, many people lurked about the courtyard. Some were tourists, other were government workers, and several were regulars. Imperial High Guards stood at every entrance and exit, watching carefully for anything suspicious. After the rebellion of General Charles Lucas and Colonel Antonin Steele, security had been bumped up around the palace greatly. It was made quite sure that no one would be able to sneak a bomb in from the outside.
The Order of the Imperial High Guard did not, unfortunately, expect the attack to come from the inside.
Joseph Aeneas, an assistant to Lord William Plutus, the Imperial Minister of Finance, came from an old, honorable family in Risban. He was connected through blood with various members of Parliament, and was pretty well off financially. It was said that one day he might even hold the position of Imperial Minister of Finance for the Empire of Risban.
That was, of course, before January the Tenth.
Joseph Aeneas strolled out of the Finance Ministry in Imperial Palace, walking into the courtyard, apparently to have some lunch. He was carrying a small garbage back, as what usually held his lunch, and was where his usual green trenchcoat, despite the fact that the sun was now shining in through the fog.
But, Joseph Aeneas was a respectable member of the Imperial Administration, however slightly odd, so the High Guards paid no special attention to him.
He walked over to the wall beneath the Emperor's Balcony, where the members of the empire met to deliver their speeches to the public of Risban City. He sat against the wall, glancing around at the many people lurking about. He looked up at the massive stone structure towering above and behind him. He sighed, removing what seemed to be an I-Pod from his pocket.
He stood up, lifting his lunch bag into the air.
"SIC SEMPER TYRANUS! Death to the Empire of Risban!"
This caught the Imperial Guards by surprise. They responded by raising their pistols and beginning to move past befuddled tourists, nearing the assistant. One guard yelled something about a remote, but it was too late.
Joseph Aeneas, Senior Assistant to the Imperial High Minister of Finfance, pressed a button on the "I-Pod". The garbage back, having been thrust to a corner of the well, exploded instantly, causing part of the wall to crumble down and all of the people to duck, including the guards. Several of the more-hardened guards opened fire on Aeneas, but missed on account to the black smoke and dust that had engulfed the air.
Joseph Aeneas pressed another button, and the C4 wrapped around his body exploded, taking out the wall behind him. The Emperor's Balcony fell one hundred feet, crashing onto the smoldering remains of Joseph Aeneas.
10:13 A.M., Risban City: Imperial Mall
The man in the baseball cap with the backpack sat outside of a small pastry store inside the mall, sipping some coffee, his free hand in his backpack. He was beginning to sweat slightly, as if nervous, but no one noticed, for the Imperial Guards and police around the mall, it seemed, had just had a major problem. Their computer-based communications were done, and video cameras around the city were going out.
The Internet was down.
The man in the baseball cape stood, as many others were doing, and looked around. He was just about in the center in the mall, near the gigantic tree that marked the spot. He looked down at the backpack and the hand inside of it.
Malls didn't have metal detactors... Nor did they have the anti-terrorist security around. Yet, they were always crowded.
The man in the baseball cap closed his eyes and pressed a button in his backpack.
Moments later, an entire section of the Imperial Mall of Risban City was nothing but a pile of rubble and bodies, engulfed in fire.
10:24 A.M., Underground of Risban City
The subway/train station was backed up with angry commuters, complaining about cellphones not working and the digital train schedule being broken. Not to mention that police were running around fantically and not telling anyone what was going on.
A well-known lawyer got out of a non-moving subway train, looking as annoyed as most and carrying his briefcase. He walked to the main lobby of the subway, where the angry commuters were gathering to listen to a magistrate who was about to tell them all what was going on.
That's when this lawyer opened his briefcase, ducking beneath the crowd, and set his bomb.
At 10:28 A.M., the subway station had been enfulfed by an explosion and collapsed.
Shadow Society Headquarters
Lt. Colonel James Ledgar spoke into his cellphone. "Yes, m'lord. The subway, courtyard, and mall have all been destroyed. Our attack on the Internet was perfect. Everything is done."
"Good," came the cold, malicious reply from the other end. "Very good..."