NationStates Jolt Archive

Shards of metal ripped through the ground, cutting gashes in the elaborate wooden floors, leaving trails of blood where they passed through still-warm bodies of the dead, and even more so, those of the living. Bullets ricocheted off the walls, explosions drowning out the screaming of those that still lived.

In the last few moments of life for those who continued to stubbornly cling to its last strands, plaster began to collapse from above as the ceiling slowly and horribly fell in, the living by now beyond screams, staring mutely at the ceiling with open mouths for the last few milliseconds of their lives, before steel girders and six hundred kilograms of C8 planted in the roof collapsed upon them.

With a great crash the roof fell in, fires sweeping throughout the Gardens and the inner courtyard of the Imperial Palace, and even more so through sewers and underground pipelines. The whirring of choppers overhead became audible over the sounds of flames now crackling around the pillars of the Imperial Palace itself, as did the pocketa pocketa pocketa of SmartFlak rounds exploding against the helicopters, knocking them from the sky one by one.

The carnage continued as flames continued to ravage the Imperial Palace, sweeping through the hallways of the ancient buildings and burning everything in their path, still leaving the hallways themselves intact, but permanently blackened, eerie mists and smoke still rising from a few pits where the fires had found eternal fuel. Highly volatile C8 and C9 deposits continued to spark small fires here and there, one such deposit causing the former Throne Room to completely explode, to such a degree where not even the faintest traces of its former majesty and glory were left, the walls crumbling towards a deep and not quite crater-like pit, from which a waterlike liquid is beginning to bubble up—a hidden mineral spring under the former throne....

Helicopter after helicopter attempted to make it to even the internal courtyard, the highest point of the Imperial Palace, where the initial attack took place, but the SmartFlak and SAM cannons turned each one in swift succession into a pile of smoking rubble—ironically, the same cannons that once defended the Imperial Palace against its enemies. Meanwhile, the Sol Marii continued to comb the internal courtyard for survivors, systematically shooting each one and leaving the bodies where they lie, some still burning alive, begging for mercy; but the Sol Marii merely swept by in their long black robes, 7.62mm pistols drawn: the personal guard of the Dark Lord.

The sky over the Imperial Palace was bloodred as Cio Marié, leader of the Sol Marii, knelt before his master, his black robes falling back to expose his silvering hair, belying his scant thirty-four winters. The voice from above him said gently, "Rise."

Cio slowly rose to his feet, his eyes traveling up the black robes undoubtedly concealing heavy body armour—the uniform of a Sol Marius Captain—to the silver skull chain, the gloved hands, and up to the kindly but firm face, the piercing blue eyes, outcropping of darkish hair protruding from under the skull helmet and unshaven chin of Thane Darlash, the Dark Lord, and de-facto ruler of the Tenurian Imperium.

"Are they all dead?" Darlash asked, a note of—could it be sorrow?—in his voice.

"Yes, sir. All."

"How.... unfortunate. The Imperial Senate did some great things for Tenuria... indeed, great things." Darlash turned his gaze away reflectively. "But they had to go. Too ineffective. A pure monarchy is the only efficient way for a nation to be ruled."

Cio stood in stony silence, waiting for the Dark Lord to notice him once more.

Darlash continued to muse now. "Naturally, as head of the Imperial Guard, I shall be... required... to take control of the government, perhaps quite permanently. This will be in effect, of course, until we hunt down the... terrorists... who launched such a scandalous and unprovoked attack upon the Imperial Senate, the Palace, and the late Emperor himself..."

Sudden doubts crossed Cio's mind, and he said rather shakily, "Sir... you wouldn't... mention the... Sol..."

Darlash laid a comforting hand upon Cio's shoulder. "My boy, the Sol Marii are like children to me... fear nothing."

Cio wondered very much whether Darlash would shirk from betraying his own children should he feel the need to, but he avoided comment, instead attempting bravely to smile. Darlash clapped him on the shoulder.

"My boy, kindly distribute the following message to the brave folk of Tenuria..." He cleared his throat and produced a pen and paper for Cio. "Erm... 'Today a most wicked, vile, and abhorrent terrorist attack was performed against the Imperial Senate, the Emperor, and virtually all of his officials. As commander of the Imperial Guard, I—Thane Darlash—have declared a state of emergency within the Imperium. During the duration of this emergency, the following temporary laws will be enacted:

- Freedom of speech, expression, assembly, and the press will be temporarily curtailed in the interests of national security;
- The provisional government to be installed reserves the right to monitor the activities of any Tenurian it believes to be suspicious;
- Military units may be mobilised to deal with internal affairs;
- A draft may be instituted;
- All legitimate citizens of Tenuria will be barcoded to allow law enforcement agencies easier tracking;
- Illegitimate citizens will be deported or sent to re-education camps;
- The provisional government has the right to enact any other laws it feels necessary to fight the terrorist threat to the Tenurian Imperium.

These laws will be in effect until such time as the state of emergency passes and the perpetrators of this vile incident are found.'" He paused for a second. "Got that?"

"Yes, sir," Cio nodded emotionlessly, rose to his feet gravely, and bowed twice. Darlash watched him disappear into the rising darkness to deliver his message, then began picking his way among the bones and wreckage towards the ruins of the internal courtyard until he too vanished into the darkness, leaving only silence.

The Dark Imperium would rise, and with the blessings of Athuron, Darlash would make it happen.

.:bump:.

Mind if i join in? i can't IC now, but i will later.

one last OOC, is this FT or Modern Tech? Also, what is Athuron?

[ooc: Modern tech. And all will be explained as I come to it.]

OOC:Hope you don't mind me joining but this RP looked interesting.

Kia woke up from a troubled sleep. He was sure he had heard gunshots during the night but then again it could have been a dream. He got out of bed and looked out of his window just to make sure it had been a dream. Everything looked and seemed normal. Kias thoughts were interrupted by the shouts of his sister calling him downstairs. "Yep", thought Kia,"just another day."

He descended downstairs to see his family huddled around the TV. They hadn't even noticed him so he went into the kitchen and got something to eat. As he ate he heard the rest of family deep in conversation in the next room.

"I can't believe what has happened", remarked Kias father Rid,"Who would do such a thing and for what reason?"

"Rid", said Tia ,Kias mother," I'm worried. What does this mean for all of us? What provoked these terrorists?"

"Terrorists?!", spluttered Kia. This was the last thing he had been expecting to hear. He joined the rest of his family who sat silently watching the TV as if their lives depended on it. The news reporter on TV looked pale as he was speaking.

"Today Tenuria mourns for its Royal Family and Government who were all killed last night in a heinous attack by terrorists. Noone knows who they were and what their aims were. But this was a full scale assault on the Palace. Bodies lie everywhere and the Palace lays in ruins. Thane Darlash, Head of the Imperial Guard has declared a state of emergency and has brought in new laws that will be in effect immedialtly. These new laws and I quote are

- Freedom of speech, expression, assembly, and the press will be temporarily curtailed in the interests of national security;
- The provisional government to be installed reserves the right to monitor the activities of any Tenurian it believes to be suspicious;
- Military units may be mobilised to deal with internal affairs;
- A draft may be instituted;
- All legitimate citizens of Tenuria will be barcoded to allow law enforcement agencies easier tracking;
- Illegitimate citizens will be deported or sent to re-education camps;
- The provisional government has the right to enact any other laws it feels necessary to fight the terrorist threat to the Tenurian Imperium.

As I said before these will be in immediate effect. On the day Tenuria mourns."

Kia couldn't believe what was happening. Today had seemed to be normal when he woke up. But everything had changed literally overnight. What did this mean for his family and all the other people but more importantly what did this mean for Tenuria?

[ooc:] That's fine Londim.

Kia would find out within literally minutes. The door soon began to shudder under the harsh knocks of the Sol Marii, plaster dust cascading from its flaking white paint. As the family rushed to open the door, it was flung open by the powerful arm of a Guardsman, and three men in black robes blotted out the daylight as the leader smiled down in a way that was neither friendly nor warm towards the patriarch of the family.

"Sir, do you have your papers?"

As they watched the silhouettes of assault rifles at the sides of the Sol Marii became visible in the half-light of dawn.

Kia looked at his father who seemed to have broken into a sweat. Kia could understand why. The Sol Marii were not to be messed with. They were an elite fighting machine.

"Papers?", asked Rid nervously,"Of course we have papers.Let me just go and get them"

Rid left the room for a few minutes to retrieve the papers. During this time the rest of the family stared at the Sol Marii. They had heard tales that the Sol Marii killed without mercy and sometimes without reason. While Rid was gone the Sol Marii simply stood silently with their rifles by their sides. Rid returned to the room with a handful of papers. He presented them to Guardsman.

"Everything should be in order", said Rid a little more nervously than he would have liked to.

The Sol Marius leading the patrol watched the family keenly. Displaying signs of guilt and nervousness... he would make a note of that, of course. It would be taken to the Captains for them to decide. In a moment Rid re-entered the room, bearing the necessary papers. The Guardsman nodded silently and seized them, flicking through them one by one with his thumb, then glanceing back at Rid.

"Your papers seem to be all in order, sir," the Guardsman said. "Do not be alarmed; we are using a mild gaseous anaesthetic to prevent you from feeling any adverse effects of the barcoding." The room filled with a misty gas and the family slowly began to topple into prostrate positions, limp and unconscious for several seconds. A Sol Marius handed the leader a strange piece of equipment resembling a branding iron, and the leader knelt by the prone bodies of each member of the family, stamping them with a permanent barcode on the back of their necks. They would wake up in time to see the door slam as the Sol Marii went on to the next house over.

Only a few minutes after that, trucks full of the "illegitimate" citizens began to pass, people herded together within like cows, the trucks seeming black and menacing of themselves, the drivers all expressionless members of the Imperial Guard.

Kia woke upto see the Sol Marii slam the door behind. He must of been out for a few seconds as they barrcoded him.

"Barcoded?" ,Kia thought, "What did they mean by barcoding?"

He got up feeling a slight pain on the back of his neck. He felt in tha area and wiced at the small sharp pain he felt. He could make out some kind of sign on the back of his neck. He looked around at the rest of his family and noticed they also had signs on the back of their necks. He watched as his younger sister touched the sign and saw tears in her eyes as she winced. His mother and father seemed dazed by what happened.

"Dad?", said Kia," What happened? Why all this sudden attention for papers and Sol Marii knocking at everyones doors?"

Rid looked at his son going through the same things in his mind.

"Their looking for people who do not belong in Tenuria and those they think do not belong.It looks like Tenuria has entered a new age. An age of despair."

The Imperial Palace, Tengrad.

Ben Azstír walked slowly and deliberately up the passageway, a trio of Sol Marii at his back, his cloak sweeping the ground like a panther's tail as he climbed up through the burnt and blackened passageways, the walls crackling slightly with remnants of the heat of several days previously. Asztír climbed along through the winding passages of the castle. Above the Throne Room part of the wall had been knocked out, and he looked down to see that it had become like a lake, filled with a bubbling liquid, exuding the putrid smell of decadence and decay. Azstír was not impressed. He glanced at the Sol Marii. "Keep on."

They exchanged a silent glance and trudged after Azstír, emerging behind him into the Internal Courtyard, stopping by the entrance. The Courtyard was unroofed, the sky permanently boiling crimson and black over it from the fumes and smoke; in the dark light the towers and castle around it seemed to loom like gargoyles and monsters out of a nightmare, grinning down at Azstír. Skeletons and bones littered the ground, as Azstír discovered when one snapped under his foot; burners wafted strange-smelling substances into the sky, but Azstír looked only for the Dark Lord.

Thane Darlash was seated in a massive, altar-like stone throne along one end, like an animalistic deity of ages gone by. A pure white light seemed to emerge from his very form, although Azstír knew it to be only iridescent lighting based within the throne itself. Azstír spoke first.

"Darlash, kindly dismiss your lackeys."

Darlash waved a hand and the Sol Marii behind Azstír disappeared silently.

"Ah, Ben, my old friend. How goes it in Isavin?"

"It goes ill, Darlash," Azstír said grimly. "The Imperial Guard is ransacking the country. Fifty thousand detained from Isavin alone. Another hundred thousand from Dokanhi."

"And? It is necessary to detain and interrogate illegitimate citizens; they may very well be terrorists or supporters of terrorists."

"Come now, Darlash. I worked with you in the Imperial Guard; I know your ways. There was no terrorist attack. You engineered this yourself."

Darlash laughed lightly. "My friend, you are unwell. Why, what a ridiculous idea!"

"I am as healthy as a horse, Darlash. And you do realise that you will have to return power to the Imperial Senate eventually."

"Of course I will, Ben," Darlash said softly. "As soon as the state of emergency is declared over."

"Exactly. You funded these 'terrorists' in order to gain power yourself."

"Ben," Darlash said softly, approaching him and picking his way through the wreckage.

Azstír smiled. "I am not the only one. Other people will know too. One does not need to mobilise ships and fighter jets to deal with a small group of terrorists."

Darlash smiled too, looking straight into Ben Azstír's eyes. "Perhaps not. But perhaps... I have another reason for doing this."

He jerked his head imperceptibly to the right. Azstír realised what was happening a second before it actually did—a second too late for his reflexes.

Darlash turned away from his friend, knowing that Ben Azstír would never be a threat to the Dark Imperium, and watched as Cio Marié descended from his position in one of the higher towers, his pistol still smoking.

"Excellent work, my boy: another sacrifice for Athuron," Darlash said. "Have the camps start working on these."

"Yes, sir." Cio nodded emotionlessly and wandered off, glancing at the sheaf of papers Darlash had handed him. They were drafts for the production of tanks, of airplanes, of warships. He half-smiled to himself and proceeded to mail these as instructions to the heads of the detainment camps. Tenuria had just found itself another workforce of slave labour.

Kia walked the streets and looked around as darkness started to cover the area like a cloak. Just a few days before these streets had been full of people enjoying life. Now they were almost deserted except for a few who stayed in their homes fearing anything outside. Many homes lay empty as the occupants had been taken away. Away to where, Kia did not know.

"Psst you boy",someone called from the shadows. Kia looked around not sure where the voice was coming from. He was afraid but put his hand in his pocket to see if his trusty knife was still there. The streets had become dangerous in the past few todays. Reports of people being killed and kidnapped were common.

"You don't need to reach for that boy. I am harmless and wish to help."
"Show yourself.", said Kia slightly worried and wondering how this person knew he concealed a weapon, "Show yourself and tell me why you are calling me."

As Kia said this an old man stepped out of the shadows. The old man stood up proud like a soldier and his arms were covered in scars. He was well built which made him stand out from the rest of the people.

"Who...who are you?" Kia asked waringly now he had seen the person who was confronting him.

"I am someone who is upset and angered by what has happened in the last few days in Tenuria. My name is Anze, a former....Sol Marius. He said those last words with spite as if he hated all things connected with the Sol Marii. " I know how military and terrorist strikes work. There is a key difference between the two."

Kia who was puzzled at this point by what this old man was saying asked, "Why are you telling me this?What possible ideas are you telling me through these ramblings?" The next thing |KIa knew was he was being held up against the wall by this old man. Kia was scared.

"Ramblings?Raamblings?! I am telling you this boy because you sense something wrong with this situation and in you I see someone who wants to do something about it. The difference between the two situations is that terrorists attack public places. The military attack key targets."

"What do you mean? Key targets? Like the palace? You must be crazy."

"Think about it boy. By now some terrorist cell would claim they carried out the attack but none have. A state of emergency has been called. And who is in charge of the state in emergency?"

Kia thought through this. It couldn't be possible but anything seemed possible now.

"The military?" Kia answered still not believeing what was happening to him and the thoughts he was thinking.

"Exactly boy.Exactly"

During the night posters began to appear, tacked up on the sides of houses, on streetlamps, on bulletin boards. The posters read in block script:
Attention, citizens of the Imperium:

The socialist terrorist group, the Red Hand, claimed responsibility for the abhorrent terrorist attacks upon our Imperial Palace late last night; the video will be broadcast on government TV this evening.
We call upon all Imperial residents of age to sign up for the Imperial Guard and Defence Forces to help fight this menace, which is based in the southern town of Isavin; already IDF units are en route to drive the socialists from our glorious nation.
Tenuria will weather this trying time, I promise you.

~ Thane Darlash ~
CinC, Imperial Guard
There were more of the posters in southern cities such as Kia's own hometown of Zaiudi and Outer Terria, and the streets soon became dusty as soldiers marched thoughtlessly ahead towards Isavin, many fresh from the years of brainwashing and training required to enter the IDFT. Tanks and trucks dominated highways, rumbling along southwards as days wore on. Regular troops and even Sol Marii began patrolling the streets to keep out criminals.

Even as all this went on, one day the Tenurians would look up to see new structures rising in their cities. Like massive obelisks, dominating the entire skyline, laboured upon by prisoners and criminals, inside complexes of the highest security: and painted on the very top of each one, or arranged in coloured bricks, a symbol to strike fear into the hearts of wrongdoers; a single, massive eye.

The largest of the obelisks rose from the wreckage behind the great throne of Thane Darlash, inside the walls of the former Imperial Palace, now a place of horror and death.

The age of the Dark Gods was only just beginning.

Kia didn't like what he was seeing. Ever since the night he had met Anze he didn't know what to think. He had seen posters saying the Red Hand group lay claim to the attacks so surely Anzes claims were outrageous? Everywhere Kia went there were checkpoints and soldiers marching up the streets. It was a common scene to see people, people Kia had grown up with, to be dragged out of their homes and taken away. People had tried to stop this but all had failed and were also taken.

"Dad", Kia called as he returned home, " I've seen the patrols increase. There are a lot more soldiers on the streets and I'm sure I saw Sol Marii walking the streets.

"Son I have also seen this. And the buildings that are being built.", said Rid.

"What about them? I mean their just buildings. New ones are built every week." Kia was puzzled of what his dad was getting at.

"I know that but have you noticed the signs on the buildings. Theres an eye on top of these buildings. Legend has it that the Eye is a sign of the Dark God. According to these legends when this Eye starts to appear in large numbers a new age will begin. An Age with despair and destruction with one man controlling it all. An Age when noone is safe and when the land loses its soul."

"But Dad its just a story. I mean it can't be true. Its all fantasy and someones imagination.", Kia was slightly scared.

"Maybe you're right son. Maybe you're right...."

These words did not comfort Kia and made him think somemore. He had to find Anze to know if he knew anything.

[bump for post to come later]

[OOC: Sigh, not again....tagged thread for future post though....]Czardas, I know it's YOU, I swear it....*shakes into inhuman rage and tries to burst through PC screen to rip Czardas apart*

The dossier dropped around a foot, slamming down on the surprised President's desk with a noise that echoed around the office. The startled man looked up to see the almost expressionless yet slightly anxious face of his Defence Minister, Thomas Narshe.

"President Torshan, a word?"

The President studied the older man for a second, noticing that although he had kept his professional composure, urgency flickered in his steel grey eyes. Besides, he knew Tom well; as one of his original political allies, they had worked together for many years; and so he knew that they wouldn't normally need to meet like this. If the matter was of little importance, he would act within party policy without consulting him, instead firing off congratulations or condemnations of his own accord.

"Certainly. Have a seat."

The minister pulled up a chair and sat down opposite the President, before opening the folder.

"President, riddle me this. A terrorist attack destroys much of the Imperial Palace of Tenuria, wiping out the entire senate, as well as killing the Emperor and most of his officials. The commander of the Imperial Guard declares a state declares a state of emergency, and essentially locks down the country to search for the terrorists."

"Well, its a tragedy, certainly, but..."

"President, if you'll let me finish?"

President Torshan nodded, and the Defence Minister cleared his throat to continue.

"Although reports from the region are hazy, we know for certain that the freedoms of assembly, speech, and the press have been curtailed. We've also had reports of mass barcoding of so-called "legitimate citizens" to track them. "Meanwhile, SatIntel have reported apparent troop mobilisations within the country. What the purpose of these mobilisations is, we have no idea. However, I find it slightly suspicious that the military is being mobilised to deal with a threat that would ideally be handled by law enforcement.
"Finally, and this is most worrying, the provisional government has the right to install any new legislation deemed necessary to deal with the terrorist threat so long as the state of emergency is in place. Said provisional government consists of the aforementioned General."

The Defence Minister coughed again, then looked the President straight in the eyes.

"I can't say for certain, and I hope I'm wrong, but this situation looks incredibly suspicious. The entire country is at the dictatorial control of one man, for as long as he wants that control."

"So, what would be your ideal course of action?"

"We need to take a closer look at the situation. I'd like to insert an operative into the country. He doesn't need to do anything special, just keep tabs on the situation and report back if the situation hots up. We don't even need to arm him, just give him a few concealed communications options. Of course, I'll need you to sign the document..."


ooc: Tenuria, are passenger flights still running, or will I have to insert him more exotically?

The Taldaani operative leaned back in the airline chair as the aeroplane made its final descent towards Tenuria. Like most of his colleagues, he had made a career out of being the sort of person who no-one would pass comment on. He was slightly above average in height, although not enough to stand out in a crowd, and although not handsome he was also not noticeably unattractive. He wore charcoal grey trousers with a white collared shirt, once again nothing outlandish that would cause him to stand out or to be remembered by anyone who saw him. His expertly forged passport gave him the name of John Waters, as did his credit card, giving him access to a three year old account in Zarbia. Unlike the romanticised popular spy he carried no weapon, although he was an expert in several martial arts disciplines as well as an accomplished firearms user.

His mission, rather than the usually portrayed assasination or sabotage, was simply to stay in Tenuria for a month, perhaps more, and report back to Taldaan should anything untoward happen using the tightbeam databurst transmitter cunningly concealed in his back teeth and upper jaw. Travelling as a businessman dealing in household tools, his cover story was all ready and rehearsed. Noticing that they would be landing in five minutes, he pushed his paperback novel back into his rucksack and prepared to face customs. If the government's suspiscions were correct, the checks could be fairly gruelling.