NationStates Jolt Archive

SIC:

One Week Ago
Emerald Palace, Golddale, Riverrod Province, New Vantania

"Your Imperial Grace, the Congress has just approved the use of the Black Hand in the coming war against the Gholgoth and NATO scum." a random imperial aide said, handing Hawthorne a report.

Of course, Emperor Hawthorne III gave the report back, and told the aide to give it to the Shadow General.

Tinraya, Burwood Province

The Shadow General had taken the report, and silently activated a sleeper cell in Ambrose-Douglas. He then filed through some reports on Gholgoth, and decided to send an agent to The Ivory Jaguar, the only Gholgoth state they had penetrated before.

Bustoke, Riverrod Province

The agent didn't exist in New Vantania, no. He had been completly wiped from the system. No way to trace him back to the Free Empire.

Agent Pixie stepped onto the pirated cargo ship, cramped with twenty other odd people, mostly illegal immigrants, and of course crates full of illegal drugs. There was another small cargo ship, across from theirs, filled with the same things. In between them was a slightly smaller ship, illegally modified with machine guns.

Pixie sighed, grabbing the fishing pole that was issued to him and started to catch his dinner.

Present Day
University of Ambrose-Douglas

Agent Point looked down on the crowd below, watching as the President of Ambrose-Douglas gave his speech to the young academics and the old proffesors. He was flanked on either side by some high-level government officials, and in the shadows the presidential guards hid.

Agent Point's spotter, Agent Eagle, pointed out secondary targets, before waiting for the shot that would end the president's life. Yet, at the instant the shot fired, silenced of course, the president raised himself up in a cheering motion, instead of looking down on the crowd. This single action saved his life, so that the bullet would hit him not in the forehead, but in the collarbone.

Enraged, Point fired again, this team hitting the president's stomach, yet neither blow would kill him if they were fast enough. Which they were. Five guards quickly collected the wounded president, getting him into an ambulance to go to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Point and his four guards went on a killing spree, firing at guards, students proffesors, member of the press, and government officials, killing twenty-five people. While they did this the guards found their location, and charged up the tower. The men heard them bashing at the door of the tower. Desperate the six of them detonated their bomb vests, exploding violently, turning the men into char, splattering their mixed bloods everywhere, and burning apart any evidence of who attacked.

One Hour Later
The Ivory Jaguar

Meanwhile, in a much less dramatic scene, Agent Pixie sat on a chair in the front row of the presidents speech, tuning out the pro-Gholgoth/NATO propaganda. Before long, the stealth hidden bomb where his left kidney was supposed to be sent an explosion ripping out. He and the people sitting next to him were liquified, leaving no trace as to who, let alone who he was, set off the bomb.

The president, fortunately, was blown back by the explosion, landing on the floor harmlessly. What wasn't harmless was the fact that the podium went back with him, landing atop of him and breaking a few ribs. However, it was the podium, iron covered with wood, that saved his life, as it took the hot shrapnel without anything hitting the president.

The others weren't so lucky, as a few government officials and guards, not to mention innocent civilians behind him and a few members of the press.

"Damnit!" Christopher Benson, Premier of Ambrose-Douglas and second in line for the Presidency slammed his fist on the table. A glass which had been resting on it shook and then fell off, shattering on the floor. "Fuck, fuck FUCK!" He yelled pacing back and forth. "Why wasn't there better security? How could something like this happen to the President of Ambrose-Douglas?"

"Sir, we followed all of our usual security procedures. No threat was found or detected prior to the shooting." Daniel Ressler, head of security for the government officials, spoke.

"Then you'd better damn well increase your usual, Ressler, or you're going to find yourself out of a job. As it is, the 23rd Special Forces Brigade will be assigned the task of Presidential security for the foreseeable future. Now, get the fuck out of my office and start doing your god damn job." With that, Benson turned his back on Ressler. Elections for a new Premier were coming up in a week. He truly didn't need this. He wasn't going to run, but now he might be president. Should he resign and let someone new take over, on the brink of a world war? Or should he stay on when he was ready to retire...

He shook his head. What he had to do now was address the Federation.

Two hours later, Presidential Office
Arkanis, Ambrose-Douglas

Slowly, Benson breathed in and out. This was it. He had to address the nation now. Live. Swallowing, he cleared his throat as the cameraman counted down.

"Three... two..." The cameraman held up one finger and then pointed to Benson as the camera light turned on.

"Citizens of the Federation, good evening. By now I'm sure you've all heard of the horrific attack that occurred today at the University of Arkanis. This is what we know at this time.

At approximately four p.m. this afternoon, President Ambrose was speaking before students, professors and the press about the Federation's decision to support NATO/Gholgoth and mobilize its military when an assassination attempt occurred. The assassination was not successful. I have spoken with doctors at the hospital where the President is being treated. He is out of surgery, and resting comfortably. The President took one bullet in his collarbone, and one in his stomach/large intestinal area. However, he is listed in stable condition and expected to recover fully.

Unfortunately, the terrorists who carried out this act did not just target the President. Twenty five civilians were killed in this thoughtless attack, including three presidential security guards, four Arkinis U. professors, and ten students. Others killed were innocent bystanders and members of the press. Our hearts go out to all the families who lost loved ones today.

The terrorists, cowards as they are, blew themselves up to avoid capture. The blasts vaporized the bodies as well as anything that could identify them, including weapons. We are currently analyzing a bullet casing that fell from their tower hideout, as well as the bullets recovered from the victims and the scene of the act.

A video camera from FNN News also managed to focus on the area the terrorists were firing from. We are currently analyzing this video to see if we can match any faces or clothing, to try and find out where these terrorists originated from.

We ask that all Federation citizens remain vigilant during this time. Anything suspicious or out of the ordinary should be reported to your local authorities immediately. We also note that, to whoever did this because I am sure they are watching, our resolve has not wavered. We will weather your attacks and come out stronger. The mobilization of our military to support our allies will not cease. And we will not cease until the people who carried out this act are brought to justice.

I thank you for listening to this broadcast, and I know all of our thoughts and concerns are with the family members of the victims. May the Federation prosper."

With that, the camera shut off. Leaning back in his seat and sighing, Benson looked at the Director of Internal Affairs, Samuel Darcy.

"Any word on the President, Director?"

"He is in critical condition, still in surgery. There was lots of internal bleeding. They don't know if he'll ever make a full recovery."

"And the mobilization?"

"Proceeding as planned. Our forces will be ready to deploy wherever NATO needs them within the week."

"Excellent." Benson rubbed his eyes again. "I need sleep... contact me if anything comes up from that video."

"Yessir. Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Director."

SIC:

The Shadow General sighed, turning off the television. The president lived, unfortunately. However, the group got in quite a bit of casualties in, and did some damage to the tower level they were on. He wasn't worried about the bullets or the faces.

IC:

A forensic scientist working on the bullets sighed, realizing how proffesional the terrorists were. He handed a summary of his descriptions to his employer:

Bullets have no fingerprints, handled with gloves. Any markings that were there have been sanded out. Bullets are standardized, so they could be anything from a large pistol to a standard rifle.

Meanwhile, a detective looked at the videos, scratching his head. There were faces, but they were partially covered by hockey masks. Still, they used what data they had and ran it through the UN databases. They got some fifty results, all from neutral, NATO, or Gholgoth nation. He handed in his report:

Faces partially masked with hockey masks. Used partial data to check UN databases, all from neutral, Gholgoth, or NATO nations. Either erased from databases or plastic surgery on faces.

OOC: Right- letting the first bit go, but let me make one thing absolutely clear. I don't know if you came to some sort of agreement with Ambrose-Douglas, but don't even try RPing as my characters, or as any character in my nation. If you want to post something about how awesome your precautions are for making the people can't be traced to you, go right ahead. But do it from the point of view of your characters.

IC: Phenex, the Warlord of the Peoples of the Ivory Jaguar, was enraged. His face, heavily tatooed, and now bearing an angry scar just above his right eyebrow, showed it. So did his voice. It wasn't the blazing fury that had made his name across the Island during the War of Reunification. It was a cold fury, and all the more dangerous and frightening for that.

"Peoples of the Ivory Jaguar, I stand before you today as a man who has survived a cowardly and murderous attack on my life. An fanatical assassin, doubtless in the employ of the vile Questarians or the cringing lackeys, killed himself in an attempt to bring me with him. As you can see, he failed." He gripped the podium, the same one that had saved his life, in fact, the burn marks still visible.

The image of Phenex was replaced by security footage from a camera behind Phenex. It clearly showed the explosion, and then replayed in slow motion, a red circle appearing around the face of the man who had been at the center of the blast. The image changed back to Phenex. "That is the man responsible. Thus far, we have not been able to identify him, but we have sent copies of the footage to our the intelligence agencies of our allies in Gholgoth. Rest assured, whoever aided this man will be found."

For the first time, something more human than the cold rage entered his voice. "Although his attack on my life was successful, the murderous assassin slew a dozen audience members, and two of my personal guard. With the death of our citizens at the hands of a terrorist supporting the Questarian Commonwealth, we are left with no option.

"We never intended to ask the Questarians for quarter, but as of today, I am announcing that, unless all those responsible for the attack be speedily delivered into the custody of the Peoples of the Ivory Jaguar, no quarter will be given. As they are not above attacking the guise of civilians, they clearly cannot be trusted. Therefore, no surrender will be accepted. They have driven us to this- they have built the coffin, now we will lay them in it."
***
"You're certain you're all right, sir?" Asked Astaroth. He had demanded to be allowed to guard Phenex personally until they could be reasonably certain there would be no further attempts. Currently Phenex was sitting more or less limply in the back seat of an armored car.

"I'm fine," he replied. His voice was hoarse. "But I nearly got a rib through the my lung. I never was one for big speeches, but..." he laughed bitterly. "And now I've added a whole new dimension of barbarism to this war. Whoever was behind this attack can't reveal themselves without being ostracized by their allies. And we cannot merely accept the protestations from any one nation that they are not responsible. Thus, we can take no prisoners at all, and can expect to have none taken. We will be brutal because it is the only way to ensure that they learn not to attack us that way, but we will be brutal. And if- the Three forbid- we should lose, our enemies are not likely to forget that."

OOC: Right- letting the first bit go, but let me make one thing absolutely clear. I don't know if you came to some sort of agreement with Ambrose-Douglas, but don't even try RPing as my characters, or as any character in my nation. If you want to post something about how awesome your precautions are for making the people can't be traced to you, go right ahead. But do it from the point of view of your characters.


OOC: I have to say I quite agree with Ivory. I will let your one post slide, but do it again and prepare to be blasted with my IGNORE cannon. Doing that type of thing is extremely bad RP form. I actually had something planned, but whatever, I'll let that first one slide.

OOC: I have to say I quite agree with Ivory. I will let your one post slide, but do it again and prepare to be blasted with my IGNORE cannon. Doing that type of thing is extremely bad RP form. I actually had something planned, but whatever, I'll let that first one slide.

OOC: Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just, well, I RPed my precautions with a little bit of IC fluff. It's not like I had your nation surrender to an army of invading wolves.

If you were talking about the first post, we both agreed that it would happen, so it's basically means to an end.

OOC: Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just, well, I RPed my precautions with a little bit of IC fluff. It's not like I had your nation surrender to an army of invading wolves.

If you were talking about the first post, we both agreed that it would happen, so it's basically means to an end.

No, I was referring to the second one. The first I was fine with, I was able to add in all the details I needed to later. It was the post about the bullets and the tape that I had a problem with, especially since in your first post you made no mention of the guys wearing masks.