NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is meant to highlight something I always wanted to RP-a war between the People's Acolytes, and the puritanical (and banned) True Will sect of the Patriotic Church, which will be my nation's terror group.

IC:

Somewhere in Long Beach, LA County, Earth SSR-

The man sat there, polishing his lasgun. Since the Government switched to railguns, lasguns were plentiful, falling in the hands of People's Militia and police, especially the military kind. So, they ended up in many hands that shouldn't have gotten them as well.

One of these as Albert Kasabian. He stared stone-faced at a picture of the High Sensei of the People's Acolytes, Junko Tadanobu. He hated her with all of his heart, and stared with a glare that would frighten small children and even the biggest of dogs.

Heretics.... he thought. Damned psykers stole the faith. They have it all wrong. They are aberrants, capitalist spawn of Stalin and Pol Pot. They know not of the true nature of the People's Will, they use it to commit the devil's work.

They must be cleansed.

His line of thought was rightly that of a Commissar, or an ex-Commissar from the Patriotic Church, now a member of the True Will sect of the Patriotic Church, banned for preaching hatred against Force users and aliens. Like the old Spanish Inquisition, they would ferret out "heretics," and "free marketers," those who did not accept the People's Will. The coming of MacIntyre led to their demise in the wake of the so-called "liberty" of his regime. As far as Albert was concerned, more capitalist devil-trash.

He had organized a circle together. A group of like-minded persons who would cleanse the People, and bring the True Will out.

He smiled, with a mad gleam, like so many persons seduced by the promise of violence before.

--------

The circle met, armed and ready. They began to talk, starting with light conversation, then upgrading to mad plans and nightmares of puritanism. They then continued, with Albert eventually calling an end to the meet.

He then said, "Gentlemen. We are here to bring out the True Will of the People. We are here to cleanse the Psyker and the Alien, and all those who stand in our way. They may have the upper hand now, but we can unite and bring death to them."

The others said, "Here, here."

Albert then said, his voice rising, "So, let us go on the warpath. We have the tools. We have the guns. Now, we must hunt. Open season on all Psykers, and Aliens."

The others said, "Here here."

His voice rising, to a fevered pitch, "Now, brothers, let us say the Blood Oath."

He then said, along with the others, "I am an enforcer of the True Will. I am a Commissar, like every man in my unit. I will cleanse the enemy. I will not betray my comrades. I will fight for the True Revolution, until every psyker, capitalist, and alien is dead and the People will rise again."

They then got into their cars, and began driving around.....

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A People's Acolyte, meanwhile, was training on his front lawn; such was a common practice, as the Acolytes were accepted and loved by the community. He was in the middle of focusing on his Tan Tien, or his area below the bellybutton where chi was centered, when he heard a car pull up.

He was not unused to this. There were those who came to him for spiritual guidance. But the unknown person had an evil aura around him...

BAM!

The Acolyte ducked and rolled, using his powers to block the railgun shots and fling them to the side. The assailant then fired lasgun shots, wounding the Acolyte in the leg. Before he could respond, the assailant fired a shotgun blast.

The Acolyte was sprawled on the ground, bleeding. Some neighbors ran to help him, and he tried to use Force Healing on himself to speed things up. But it became apparent that he would have to stay in the hospital for a long time....

At the UCLA Hospital-

Junko Tadanobu normally didn't visit her charges, she left that to her lessers.

However, this was a unique case that demanded her attention. An Acolyte had been critically wounded dur to a shotgun blast in Long Beach, one had a limb torn off in Gardena, and one was killed in Inglewood. All were sent here, that was bad enough. But the police reports said eyewitnesses saw cars fleeing the scene after every attack. Like it was a drive-by of sorts.

Junko visited the Long Beach Case. He was in ICU, critical condition, but alright, the Force and tons of medicines were keeping him going. She said to the man, who could barely speak, "Hello, comrade. I am with you."

The man said, "Thanks, Sensei."

Junko then said, 'When you were shot, did you notice anything special about who shot you?"

The man said, "He had an evil aura about him, like he wanted me to die. I could feel plenty of hate and emotion. All at me."

Junko then said, "You can hack it," to the man, who was crying now. She then said, "Hatred........"

Getting up, she proceeded to pace about and say, "This is unusual. Looks like we'll need to check with the LAPD."

Good thing LAPD officers were outside. One was Detective James Kusanagi, who Junko waltzed up to and asked, "Any news?"

Kusanagi shook his head and said, "All we have is a bunch of bodies and wounded. Forensics is examining the dead guy, along with some ballistics evidence found at the scenes. F**kers didn't leave any prints or DNA, but they were kind enough to lend us some track marks left by their autos-we found one torched 60ft away from the scene."

Junko said, "Excellent, keep it up, Detective. I need to know who did this. I want them dead."

She then walked off, going to manage other matters.

Albert himself was satisfied by the unfolding of events. The news, corrupted as it was by the Psykers, was reporting their murders and attacks in full, sometimes lurid detail. He was less than thrilled that some had survived, they would probably snitch and tell that the True Will was going on the warpath. But they would be dealt with soon.

He called the men, and told them to continue their operations. He also told them to leave calling cards, as it were. It was time to show the face of the True Will.

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

By now, the People's Acolytes were preparing for war. They knew of the death and woundings of their bretheren, so they naturally were a little watchful. They bore their lightsabers and shaolin spades now openly, as a show of force to their as-of-yet unknown aggressors.

One Acolyte in Gardena was to soon see the face of the enemy. He was patrolling the Temple grounds when he heard somebody skulking about, and sensed that whoever it was, it was not friendly. He gave silent chase. Skulking about, he saw a man in a balaclava, spraying a strange symbol into the side of the temple wall. Drawing his lightsaber, he addressed him saying, "Sir! Who are you!?"

The man pulled out a railpistol and opened fire. The Acolyte ducked and rolled, and charged the vandal with his lightsaber. The vandal stepped back, and fired again, only to find his shots blocked by the Force powers of the Acolyte. The Acolyte then used his powers to sweep the man off of his feet, and he then Force Choked him, saying, "Who sent you!?"

The vandal said, "I betray my comrades not, foul beast!"

The Acolyte then threw the man down, and then dragged him by the scruff of his neck, to a broom closet, where he was shut in by the Acolyte until the police could come.

As the police came, and as the Acolyte gave his police report, he saw the symbol. It looked like a fist clutching a bloody kerchief that said, "Enemies of the People, beware."

The police made a note of the symbol, obviously since it gave a clue to what the heck the group was that was doing this. To the Acolyte, it certainly gave that impression, and it certainly gave the not-equivocal message that these folks wanted him dead. He shuddered at the thought, what had he done to them?

This was too much, now the assailants had upgraded to vandalism. THere wasn't much evidence linking the temple raid in Gardena to the murder and assaults in Long Beach and other places, but to Junko, it seemed to fit together as part of a master plan. But whose plan was the question.

She had called together the Senseis in LA County to try and figure out a solution. They met in a Temple on Sawtelle Boulevard, where they began to talk shop.

Junko opened with, "Gentlemen, ladies, this is serious. Our Way is being threatened by an unknown force. They have the symbol of a fist clutching a bloody kerchief that says 'Enemies of the people, beware.' They intend to do harm to our students and our masters alike. What will we do about them?"

One man said, "This is a matter for the LA Sheriff's Department and the ISB. We are not vigilantes."

Another said, "The police are too slow. The damned ISB is even slower, and Lord knows they'll shoot the whole place down to kill the foe. Why trust them when we have the Force on our side? We can defend ourselves and vanquish this menace!"

Another said, "Enough! I say we coordinate the war against our foe with the LA Sheriff's Department and the ISB! They don't have many Force-sensitives, we do. We can help them."

Junko said, "Calm down, keep yer pants on. I say we coordinate our offensive with law enforcement. If things get dirty, then we'll start to tussle."

The rest nodded and agreed.

Junko then said, "Gentlement, whatever we do, we cannot afford to lose. This foe will not stop until it sees our death. I want all Acolytes to be on guard. Not just in LA County, but all over the Workers State. Understood?"

They nodded, and said, "Yes."

Junko then sent this message out to all of the Workers State-

"Comrades in Arms-

We are under attack by a foe. These reactionaries seek to exterminate us, and reduce us to mere souls in the Force. This is not acceptable.

We of the Acolytes are stronger than these cowards who intend to do us harm. We are not afraid to operate in the open, while they skulk in the shadows. I want all Acolytes to be on guard, and carry their weapons. Be aware of suspicious activity. Report all assaults upon you or any symbols that resemble a fist clutching a bloody kerchief with the words 'Enemies of the People, Beware!' to the ISB or your local police.

We must join together. We must fight. May the People's Will bless us.

Junko Tadanobu"

(OOC: Tag.)

Albert Kasabian, meanwhile, began ordering his men to commit more attacks. He also ordered more active recruitment of willing agents into the True Will cult. Before long, his men were wandering around schools, recruiting teenage outcasts with promises of drugs and all kinds of goodies, in exchange for entrance into the cult. This began to bear poisoned fruit, as these new recruits and their handlers began more and more attacks.
-----------------------------------------------------------

However, the People's Acolytes and the Government began striking back. The man they had arrested in Gardena revealed that, under duress and abuse using several Force powers, he was part of a cult called the True Will. Matched with government records, the Cult's existence was confirmed.

Meanwhile, even with the news, the Acolytes around the world feared for their lives, and yet did as told. They had always had their naysayers. But active attacks? This was something new, something terrifying. They wielded their Shaolin Spades and lightsabers anyway, and proceeded to defend themselves.

Outside of LA-

By now, Kasabian's house was the HQ for the burgeoning True Will cult. Here, the original men who swore the Blood Oath would now meet, and coordinate their plans for armageddon. They were once thugs, now, they were bigger thugs, commanding legions of men. This was evident as the meeting now moved to a secure spot in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Kasabian drove his Ford up to the meeting area, he was greeted by the rest of his crew, and new faces. He got out and said, "Gentlemen. How are we doing?"

One of the men said, "Comrade Commissar. I have recruited five men into our group. Here they are." The man stepped aside, revealing a band of five scrawny boys in do-rags and other street clothing, with pistols and cigarettes in their mouths.

Kasabian said, "A sorry group. But we will shape them up soon. Howard, train them in our way. Give them decent, 'colors' as it were, and put them to work."

Howard, the man who had recruited the boys, said, "Yes, Comrade Commissar."

Kasabian turned to another man, saying, "Katsura. How fares recruitment for your group?"

Katsura said, "I have recruited men. Two excellent shootists. I have also begun the procurement of weapons for the True Revolution."

Kasabian said "Excellent." He then grilled the other men, who gave similar reports, and said, "Gentlemen, I am proud of your progress, keep on recruiting men, have your existing men recruit and lead men, and get guns or make Stens and zip guns. We will need them."

The others said, "Yes, Comrade Commissar!"

Kasabian then had everybody there swear the Blood Oath, before leaving.

A few days passed and the organization grew. However, it was not unmonitored by the ISB and the Acolytes. Indeed, the True Will Organization had made a mistake meeting in the mountains, that drew the attention of a hiker nearby, who heard everything and reported it to the ISB.

So, when a force of True Will Cultists tried to raid a temple.....they were ready.

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

People's Acolytes Temple, Long Beach-

It was a crisp, clear, warm summer night. The Acolytes were on patrol, guarding their temple entrances and other vulnerable spots against the foe who was now terrorizing their bretheren. A temple had just had a Molotov chucked in it, it did little damage but one man was treated for minor burns by his comrades. And the ISB had tipped the Acolytes of LA County off about incoming activity. So, everybody now had Force powers at the ready, and sabers and shaolin spades at hand, and regular watches were being conducted.

This was good.....one man noticed a car driving up. He sensed something was wrong, and he yelled to his fellow Acolytes, "Get down!"

His fellows followed suit, they all ducked as a flurry of Molotovs slammed into the facade of the Temple, one flew inside. The guard who had discovered the assailants yelled, "Buckets! GO!" Some of his comrades got buckets of water, and hoses to fight the blaze, and used their Force powers as well to control the blaze.

Meanwhile, a force remained at the entrance to await the coming of the enemy. Sure enough, the car of their assailants squeaked to a halt, and footsteps could be heard. One of the Acolytes stopped, and putting his hand to his head, he said, "Brothers! They are coming from...."

He thrust his hand in the direction of the left, saying, "They're coming from the left!"

However, he was a bit unclear on how they were coming from the left. Unaware that the True Willers had split into two groups, one to climb the walls of the Temple and the other to make a direct assault, the Acolytes ran to the left, attacking the group that was going after them. The True Willers fired at them with lasguns and SMG's, and one of the Acolytes died.

The others scattered, and used Force Shock and Force Throw to knock the guns out of the hands of their assailants and disable them, before charging at them with shaolin spades. The True Willers picked up knives and zip guns and tried to fight back, but they were defeated by the blows from the spades, with only a few surviving.

Soon, a cry went out from the Temple, where gunfire was heard. The Acolytes left two men to hold down the captured terrorists, and the rest ran to aid their comrades, who they found locked in intense lasgun and zipgun versus Force Power combat, stalemated in a hail of lightning and railgun fire. The reinforcements then fired Force Lightning to sweep the True Willers of their feet, and then they collapsed their Shaolin Spades and charged forth, unsheathing lightsabers to kill the recalcitrant and bring those who were inclined to surrender to their knees.

Eventually, the sound of sirens was heard outside. LAPD kicked down the remaining doors, and one of the officers said, "LAPD FREEZE!"

The Acolytes put down their weapons and then surrendered the True Willers to the LAPD, explaining everything. The LAPD took down their stories and then had some of the Acolytes taken to LAPD HQ for questioning, as they had after all committed murder, though it was in self-defense, so they would probably get off light.

As one of the Acolytes was escorted to the LAPD HQ, he dwelled on the situation. He had survived an intense battle for his life, against foes that wanted him dead. Now, he understood what his enemy was. They weren't invincible, but neither were the Acolytes.

At LAPD HQ-

"Talk, you scum! Or it'll be the nutsack again!"

"F**k you! I'll never betray my comrades!"

"You asked for it!"

To the tune of screaming, a strong nutpunch was administered to the unwilling prisoner. He was one of the True Will soldiers who was arrested in the Long Beach Raid, being arrested and held without bail or benefit of due process. It was tradition in the Workers State- enemies of the people were denied rights given to the People. Usually, such excesses were excesses. However, this group probably deserved it.

The prisoner fell crying in pain, as the interrogators around him shouted in his ear: "Talk! Talk! You may just survive if you talk!"

The prisoner screamed, "No!"

He was recieved with an array of kicks.

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

From afar, Junko saw these from the viewing room, along with Detective Kusanagi. She said to him, "Is that really necessary?"

Kusanagi nodded, "Sure. We tried being nice to him, he wouldn't speak up. So we decided to give him hell. Lots of it."

Junko said, with some dismay, "Yeah.....but it still seems kinda wrong. Let me try."

Kusanagi said, "You sure?"

Junko nodded, saying in a curt tone: "As the Sensei of the People's Acolytes, I am damned sure." She sauntered into the room where the prisoner was being held, and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, proceeding to probe his mind using the Force. The man sweated, he screamed, he cried for Junko to let him go. She continued, screaming, "Who do you work for!?"

The man said, "Okay, stop! I meet my boss and my comrades in a safehouse in Hawthorne, just let me go!"

And that she did, after getting what she wanted, throwing him to the ground like a moldy sack of beans.

She then left, to plot revenge....

Several hours after the interrogation, a meeting of the PA Senseis in LA County was called by Junko. She then began laying out what she learned, in no uncertain terms: that a True Will cell was hiding out in Hawthorne, and that judging by the mental scan she did, they were mostly armed with pistols, SMGs, and maybe one or two lasguns, and that their group was larger than expected; the group that did the Long Beach Raid only consisted of a small force of True Willers, so maybe the cell was about 20-30 people.

The other Senseis then said, "What are we to do about it?"

Junko then glared at them and said, "Foolish creatures. I want you, obviously, to assemble posses of your best Acolytes, and bring them to Hawthorne, and burn the place down!"

One Sensei said, "As I said before, WE. ARE. NOT. VIGILANTES. We have no business issuing our own brand of justice, and turning the clock back on Los Angeles to the days of the Crips and Bloods."

Junko then said, "Okay, Sensei Johnson, maybe I was being a bit harsh. But damnit, we must do something."

One sensei said, "Sensei Tadanobu? I think that we should launch a coordinated action with LAPD SWAT. Do we have intellegence on the building itself?"

Junko then said, "No. The Force images were clear on numerical strength, but not on exits and entrances."

The sensei then said, "Perhaps we should send an infiltrator?"

Junko then said, "We can't send one of ours, they'd know."

The sensei who proposed the idea then said, "Doesn't have to be one of ours. Could be a plainclothes."

Junko then said, "Plainclothes, eh? Perfect. I'll get LAPD to send a man to do such a job."

The others nodded, and then Junko said, "We wil send a plainclothes man then, to inspect the place and note its vulnerabilities. We will then formulate a plan and deploy SWAT teams and Acolyte teams. Understood?"

The others said, "Yes, Sensei!"

Junko then said, "Meeting is adjourned."

Several Days Later-

The True Will was being quiet now, it had to reorganize and rearm after the disaster that was the Long Beach Raid. However disastrous the raid was, however, the Raid had galavanized anti-Acolyte forces in Los Angeles. As a result, recruitment drives using HoloNet and flyers by the organization began netting not just disenchanted teenagers, but fringe militants who felt threatened by the way things were. Some even began demonstrating on street corners, to varying responses.

Of course, as they recruited, not many cared about whom they got. As a result, LAPD snuck in a detective. He looked the part, he dressed and talked the language of fringe radicalism. He even had a lasgun, modded illegally. His name: Joe Grunson.

Of course, Joe Grunson was not his real name, but the folks on that street corner in Hawthorne who bagged him didn't check. They simply led him to an abandoned building, that resembled a crackhouse. The agents who recruited him knocked, and the door opened a crack, with an intimidating skinhead-type saying, "Password?"

The agent said, "Liberty."

The skinhead nodded, and let the group in. Inside, propaganda for the True Will was everywhere, as was shrines to General Shimura, one of the heroes of early New Dornalia, pamphlets for distribution. A TV was playing, and a HoloNet connection fed propaganda into the HoloNet. Downstairs, replicators, hacked and altered by some of the younger members, made lasguns and railpistols, along with machine railpistols and even Stens.

Grunson was led into a room with two flagpoles, one had a crude banenr iwth the fist logo on it, the other was the New Dornalian flag. A man in a Commissar's uniform looked at him and said, "So, you're the new convert, eh?"

Grunson nodded, saying, "Ready and willing."

The Commissar then said, "Go downstairs, I'll swear you in with the others."

Grunson was led downstairs, where about ten other converts-serious converts- were at attention. Joe ajoined them, and the Commissar came down and said, "Now, raise your right hand."

They did so.

"Repeat after me," said the Commissar.

He then said the Blood Oath, lining it as the other recruits did in step. He then said, "Now, you are members. As your first test, you will be assigned to ideological instruction..."

As the Commissar was saying this, Joe studied the interior, and the windows. He noticed two windows in the basement that a man could slip through, and that root-cellar type door didn't look too stable. Upstairs he saw eaily breachable doors, it was a textbook crackhouse, easy to attack. Its occupants...

"PAY ATTENTION!"

Joe was hit with the Commissar's fist. As Joe got up, Joe said, "Sorry sir."

This would be a tough assignment....

After he was sworn in, Joe soon began to look for the records room. He was told, as his first assignment, to collect pamhplets and distribute them on the street. So, he walked about the ruined house, until he found a room with a busy laser printer and a host of PCs. The grungy looking man there said, "You must be off to distribute the news. Here, catch!"

He threw Joe a large bundle of pamphlets, and he then went on his way. As hee waslked about, noticed that everybody here was defiently well armed. The Commissars, the grunts, the newbies. All had some kinda gun on them. This wasn't so bad, but the fact that all also possessed a fanatical level of devotion to their cause meant that any attack would be made that much more difficult.

He then walked out, and went to his corner. He then began distributing his pamphlets, to the tune of slaps, kicks, and occasional praise. One cop nearly arrested him, until he flashed his LAPD badge, and told him he was from Plainclothes. Eventually, after the day was done, he called in and said, "Guys, I have what yer looking for. The house is a standard crackhouse, in out. The people are armed to the teeth, however, and they're all crazed cultists. So be on guard."

He then went back to the True Will HQ, and took a bunk with the rest, to keep up appearances.

The information was soon filtered to Acolyte Command and LAPD, whereupon Junko went to LAPD HQ to work on a plan.

The plan eventually ended up like this, after hours of negotiations, chairthrowing and coffee-slurping. Two teams of Acolytes would join an LAPD SWAT team in attacking the house. The SWAT and a team of Acolytes would attack first, and the rest of the Acolytes would work to ensure no suspects would escape and provide backup. The effort was more of a compromise than anything else, Junko wanted her men to exact bloody revenge but knew she had to work with the knowledge and tools of the regular government forces to win. She nodded and agreed as the final drafts of the plans were written up, and she then took them to her men, and began picking the best for the mission.

Eventually, about 20 men were chosen for the job ahead. They were skilled in CQB, as it were, and the use of offensive Force powers. They would need it...

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Midnight, near the house/True Will HQ-

The SWAT van drove up silently, and so did the vans full of Acolytes. One deployed behind the building, the other two in front of the house. The Acolytes assigned to perimeter fanned out silently to surround the house, establishing a watch with shaolin spades, Force powers and whatnot. The rest of the Acolytes got their gear ready, and joined the SWAT team to get ready to storm the front.

One of the SWAT men ran up to the front door, and fired a door-opening slug, before proceeding to kick down the door and throwing in flahsbangs. The True Willers inside were caught by surprise, and they began firing away as fast as they could, in their blinded state.

The Acolytes used their powers to cover the SWAT team, throwing the Willers to the side and shocking those who were recalcitrant. The SWAT team, meanwhile, did what it did best, clearing rooms using flashbangs and gunfire, and making life miserable for those who wouldn't quit.

Eventually, the operation was over in a few minutes.....only a few were arrested, the rest had to be subdued or kileld outright due to the heavy resistance they put up. The LAPD confiscated all the propaganda inside, and took all the computers and equipment that the True Willers had, this would provide valuable intelligence and evidence for later.