NationStates Jolt Archive

The Temple of Jupiter in downtown Leathan City was a massive and ornamental affair, standing six stories tall and intricately decorated to display the wealth and power of the Leathan Roman Church. Within its hallowed halls on a cold weekend morning, over a hundred worshippers gave praise to the mightiest of the Roman Gods. A preacher stood at the front of the large worshipping hall, leading the populace in prayer as sacrificial offerings of fruit and wine were made on a large table.

The man stepped into the temple through the main doors, pulling his collar tight around his neck to avoid the draught that followed him into the entrance like a phantom. He glanced either way from under the brim of a hat, and walked across the wood-pannelled floors towards the Hall of Worship. His footsteps echoed across the room with firm purpose, his hands now jammed into the pockets of his coat.

The worship was beginning to reach its midway point, as the Priest began to invoke the blessing of Jupiter upon the congregation. The man's footsteps echoed around the hall in tandem with the Preist's voice, and several people glanced over their shoulders into the aisle as the noise took their attention.

The man kept walking.

The Priest, who was busy with the ritual, barely noticed the man who had entered the room, assuming him to be simply a late worshipper. He did however notice when the man climbed onto the podium at the front of the room, and walked towards the altar. The Priest stopped speaking, looking up from his texts to give the man his full attention. Puzzled whispering began in pockets of noise.

The Priest cleared his throat. "Excuse me," he said, stepping towards the man. "I'm sorry, my son, but this area is off-limits to the gen-"

He never finished the sentence, as the man pulled his hand from his right pocket with a smooth, black pistol within his hand. Raising the weapon, he fired a shot at point-blank range into the preacher's face, sending him spiraling away. "Rot in hell, heretic," the man snarled.

The crowd began screaming, scrambling for the aisle in a confused mass as they attempted to make for the exits. The assailant stood by the altar, one foot in a pool of blood left by the dead Priest. With a flourish, he threw off his hat and pushed his jacket from his shoulders, revealing a young, tall man with long, bleach-blonde hair and a belt of explosives around his chest. He grinned, surveying the panic of a hundred plus people attempting to climb over eachother to escape, and reached for the switch in the middle of the belt.

"Death to the enemies of Christ!" he shouted, and pushed the switch.

The temple exploded, the force of blast pushing windows and sections of the walls out into neighbouring buildings and the streets outside. The structure collapsed as a fireball pushed its way towards the open in a single exhale of destructive life. The roof crashed down as the supporting pylons were blown from their positions, and the entire temple collapsed like a house of cards onto anyone who may have survived the blast.

-----

The Imperial Times
Web Portal

BREAKING NEWS

Terrorist Attack on Temple; Christian Group Claims Responsibility

http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2006_07_fire1.jpg
Smoke from the destroyed building, captured by an Imperial Television
News Helicopter an hour after the destruction

In a massive and unprecedented act of barbarism, the Temple of Jupiter in downtown Leathan City, the second-largest temple of worship to the God of the Air in the entire Imperial Republic, was destroyed in an inferno of fire and brimstone, leaving almost a hundred people dead within the rubble.

The blast took out parts of neighbouring buildings, destroying vehicles and injuring many more passerbys on the street outside, a main thoroughfare for weekend shoppers and workers entering and leaving the city centre.

Half an hour after the explosion, the Imperial Times was contacted by an unknown source claiming a militant Christian group, the Blades of Christ, was responsible for the attack. The message warned about the possibility of further attacks.

Emergency Services scrambled to the area quickly, with police cordoning off both ends of Jupiter Lane whilst fire and medical crews struggled to rescue and treat the injured. Two people were rescued from the rubble of the temple and are in critical conditions at Tactus Imperial Hospital.

President-General Augustus, who was on a nationwide tour of the regional capitals, immediately cancelled the trip and is returning to the capital city. The President-General has declared Leathan City to be in a State of Emergency, officially allowing the government to declare martial law within the city if required. However, the government has so far refused to comment on this possibility.

Christianity has been a matter of contention in the Imperial Republic for centuries, when it was officially banned under the Leathan Empire. Whilst public Christian worship was legalised in 1945, many Christian groups have consistently claimed that members of the Leathan Christian Church are subjected to institutionalised discrimination by businesses and state organisations over a wide range of issues, although the government has always denied such persecution exists.

The Holy Empire of Zaheran declares it´s full support for Imperial Leathum. We once also had problems with Christian terrorist groups, but we managed to fight them back with the help of a few other nations. We hope that you will catch your terrorists soon, as terrorism is a threat to the whole world. If requested, we can provide you with monetary support and a toptrained counter-terrorism unit of 35 men.

From Her Majesty Queen Morrigan

To President General Augustus

Sir

On behalf of my government and people I offer my deepest condolences. Though there has been little communication between our countries we still feel for your loss. To have innocents at prayer slaughtered in such a ghastly manner is an affront to all civilised people.

Our prayers and thoughts are with you.

I also weep for the majority of innocent people who follow the peaceful teachings of their Christ god. That these terrorists can take the name of this god and pervert it in such a manner is a disgrace.

May your vengeance be swift on those creatures of terror
May the gods aid and guide you in bringing these beasts to justice.

If my country and people can be of aid to you.

I am sir, your friend and servant.

Morrigan. Queen of the isles of Albion
Sister of Danu. Consort of Carnum

"Mister President-General,"

The Presidential Office was filled with various officials and military officers, who stood as Augustus entered abd waved everybody to sit in a dismissive gesture. He walked across the room and took a seat behind the plush desk of his office, looking around the others. "What's the story?" he asked tersely.

Major Brian Wilkes began, clearing his throat. "Sir, about five hours ago, a bomb exploded in the Jupiter Temple of Lethan City, killing approximately one hundred worshippers and completely flattening the structure." Wilkes turned, switching on a projector. The image flickered against the far wall, showing a logo.

Augustus squinted. "What's that?" he asked. The logo showed a Christian crucifix above a pair of crossed rifles enclosed in a circle.

"Sir," Wilkes continued, "this is the symbol of the Blades of Christ, a paramilitary Christian organisation that we've been researching for several months. However, they've turned out to be more organised than we thought."

Augustus raised an eyebrow. "Quite obviously," he remarked. Wilkes glanced nervously at one of the others before continuing.

"Sir," Wilkes said, "We have managed to discover the whereabouts of one cell of this organisation, centered around a church in Brutus City."

Augustus nodded. "Options?" he asked to no-one in particular.

General Douglas, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stepped forward. "Sir, we have a Marine Squad on standby in the area already," he said. "We propose taking the building and eliminating any targets we discover."

Augustus looked at the General for a long moment. "General Douglas," he said, leaning forward on his desk. "We're talking about a place of worship here. What's to say there are not innocents inside as well?"

The General hesistated. "Sir, given the nature of the target and our own surveillance, the Chief of Intelligence and I both believe that a high majority of the targets within this...building are connected to the Blades of Christ. Any innocents inside would be regarded as..." he glanced at Emily Wait, Chairman of the Imperial Secret Intelligent Service. "...acceptable losses."

Augustus sighed, leaning back. He rubbed his face with one palm before looking at the room. "No," he said.

General Douglas frowned slightly. "Sir," he said in earnest, "we have been warned of future attacks. We must act to put down this threat before-"

"General, no!" Augustus said loudly, causing the room to tense. "I am not sending Imperial troops against our own people unless we are absolutely sure no innocents will be harmed in the process." He glared at the General. "Now come back to me with better options."

The General tensed, standing to his full six feet of height and saluting stiffly. He turned and left the room with three other officers. Augustus waited until the door closed before sighing.

"Sir," Marcus Twitch, Minister for Foreign Affairs, stepped forward. "We should send a message through the diplomatic channels, try and find out if this group has any contacts or backing elsewhere."

Augustus nodded. "Very well," he said, "see to it."

---

"God-damn Augustus is gonna destroy this country unless we do something about it," muttered General Douglas as the staff car pulled away.

Major David Adams, the General's attache, looked at his superior nervously. "Sir, this was an isolated incident. We can't just-"

"Isolated," the General snorted. "The Christians have been after our religion since the fall of the Roman Empire. Augustus says our nation is the successor to the greatest civilisation in the world? We need a Julius Caesar, not a bleeding heart." Douglas leant back. "Any wonder the Republic fell?"

Major Adams cleared his throat. "Sir, this is purely hypothetical, of course," he said carefully. There was no telling whether ISIS was bugging the car. The power play between the organs of civilian government, the military, the church and the secret service had been a standard part of Leathan politics for over half a century.

The General waved his hand. "Oh, of course," he said breezily. "However, hypothetically, if the attacks were to continue with greater loss of life, we should hypothetically consider where our wider loyalties lie."

Adams nodded. The Staff Car rolled away through the streets of Leathan City as rain began to fall.

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

Official Communique

As some foreign nations will be aware, the Imperial Republic was attacked by a barbaric militant Christian group known as the Blades of Christ. We would first like to thank those nations that have offered condolences to our dead citizens.

We would like to request the assistance of foreign governments in ascertaining whether the Blades of Christ have any financial backing in foreign nations, bank accounts, armaments contacts and so on. This assistance would be regarded warmly by the Imperial Republic and would be important in raising diplomatic relations.

Furthermore, we have reason to believe that several members of the Blades of Christ have left the country since the incident. The Imperial Republic hereby announces a bounty of Fifteen Million Universal Standard Dollars for any of these terrorists caught and returned alive to the Imperial Republic.

Marcus Twitch
Minister for Foreign Affairs

OOC: This is building up to something, bear with me. Quick post right now, more later.

The Evening Mail

Further Terrorist Attack, Opposition Questions in Senate

Earlier today, two days after the initial attack in Leathan City on the Temple of Jupiter, the Blades of Christ stuck again as Caesar City was witness to a brutal and devastating shooting in a Temple of Venus.

Three masked gunmen stormed the building and killed thirty-five people using automatic weapons during the morning worshipping session. The attack was precise and timed, allowing the gunmen to escape without detection. Pamphlets left at the scene announced the Blades of Christ as responsible. Police suspect that the group had military training.

Oliver Thornton, leader of the isolationist 'Leathan First' political party, put questions to the Imperial Senate today criticising the government's slow response to the attacks and asking what procedures would be put into place. Thornton also called for a vote of no confidence on President-General Juliano Augustus, which failed the required ten other votes to second the motion by only two votes.

The government has refused to comment on the matter, saying that "investigations by Imperial Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) were not open for public discussion."

OOC: Bump

"God-damnit!"

Augustus slammed his hand onto the oak desk, causing a tense silence across the Presidential Office. Rain dripped down the windowpane outside as a storm pushed its way across Leathan City from the east, bringing chilled weather to a sombre situation.

General Douglas stood silently in one corner of the room, eyeing Augustus with a neutral expression. Alongside him was Emily Wait, Chairman of ISIS, standing with a set of papers in her hands that showed recent information on moves by the Blades of Christ. Frederick Jackson, Special Advisor to the President-General, sat in one of the large, plush sofas and examined his palms.

Augustus stood from his desk and turned to face the rain, watching the rivlets running down the imperfections in the glass and staring at his vague reflection in the bullet-proof surface. Moments passed with only the sound of the rain outside.

General Douglas cleared his throat. "Mister President-General, we run the risk of allowing this group of murderers to think we're on the back foot. We must act with our original plan to take the group out."

Augustus sighed, shaking his head. "I will not allow civilian deaths," he repeated wearily.

General Douglas gritted his teeth. Emily Wait stepped forward. "Sir, the Army doesn't even have to be involved in this." She laid the papers on the desk. "We have an ISIS Black Operations Platoon housed in a neighbouring building on full alert. Nobody knows they are there. Nobody will be any the wiser."

Augustus let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "You think this is about blame?" He turned to survey Wait, who pursed her lips. "I will not allow Imperial forces to be used on Imperial citizens."

General Douglas sighed. "Sir, we have no choice," he said in an exasperated tone. "We have been attacked twice, there are threats of further reprisals, and the Senate is on a knife-edge to remove you." He met Augustus' eyes. "Would you prefer a few innocents dead on your conscience, or thirty?"

There was silence for a moment. Augustus kept his gaze with Douglas, the two men communicating silently without a single movement. Finally, the President-General sighed, turning back to the window. "Alright," he said. "Take the place."

Douglas nodded, saluting. He quickly glanced at Emily, who followed him out of the room. The door closed silently behind them.

Augustus took a moment, and then turned back to the room and returned to his seat. He looked squarely across at Fred Jackson, who met his gaze with a weary expression. "When did I have to start ordering our own citizens to die, Fred?" Juliano asked, leaning back and massaging his temples.

Frederick sighed, stretching his legs out on the plush, Imperial Purple carpet. "You wanted this job," he said, shrugging.

Augustus smiled sadly. "I did, didn't I?" he said in a quiet tone, losing himself in his thoughts for a moment.

-----------

The Staff Car pulled away. General Douglas and Director Wait sat silently in the back. Across from them, Major Adams finished sweeping the compartment for tracking devices and nodded.

Douglas sighed, removing his hat and rubbing his brow. "For a moment I didn't think he was going to do it," the General muttered.

Wait smiled slightly. "Give politicians enough rope and they'll hang themselves," she said. "Particularly in the face of public opinion."

Douglas nodded. "Is our man in position?" he asked. Emily merely nodded.

Douglas smiled. "Excellent." He offered a silent prayer to Mars, God of War, before replacing his hat. "Maybe we'll get our Caesar after all..."

-----------

"...is Patron Five, I am in position."

The soft moonlight bounced over the residential buildings of Sepul Street, a peaceful outskirt of Brutus City. The shining buildings in the distance and faint echo of traffic gave the road a deceptively peaceful scene. The brightest point on the street was St. Andrew's Church, which sang with the music of evening prayer.

Gregory Walsh studied the building through night-vision goggles. From his position in a neighbouring building with a three-man detachment of ISIS Black Operations Platoon Six (BlackOps Six), he could see in through one of the stained glass windows at the worshippers inside. He gritted his teeth, offering a silent prayer to Mars before calling in. "Bath House, this is Patron Six, I am in position."

The radio was silent for a moment. Then, "All Patrons, this is Bath House, roger. Water is Hot, I repeat, Water is Hot."

The Go Code. Walsh nodded to his men and urged them forward with hand gestures. The three men left the relative safety of the building and silently made their way across the grass. From the other side of the Church, the other three men of BlackOps Six moved into position.

They pressed themselves against the stone wall of the church. Walsh checked his watch. The team would move in five seconds. The side-door was one metre to their left. Walsh flicked off the safety on his MR-17, counted, and then whispered, "Go."

The team burst through the door, fanning out across the room. Across from them, Detachment One was doing the same. The joyful singing of the Congregation quickly began turning to screams as they noticed the intruders, and began running for the door.

Walsh grinned, raising his weapon. "Open Fire!" he shouted.

Shots echoed across the room as the Black Ops team began firing. Walsh grinned under his darkened visor as he targetted fleeing worshippers, firing off three-round bursts into their backs as they tried desperately to get to the doors.

"Bath House, this is Patron One," Detachment Leader Ivan Tyler was voxing from across the room. "Mission appears accomplished."

Patron Two, Mark Slough, lowered his rifle. He looked around the room, and then a thought struck him. "Why did no-one fire back?" he asked.

Tyler looked across the room at him. "What?"

Mark raised his hands. "This is supposed to be a Blades of Christ safehouse," he said, looking around the dead. "Howcome nobody fired back?"

The platoon was confused. Walsh, taking his oppurtunity, slipped into one of the aisles. From his pocket, he pulled an wallet-sized object and dropped it to the floor.

"Bath House, this is Patron One," Tyler was calling. "We are pulling out."

The team moved to leave as police sirens wailed in the distance. The wind from the open doors caught the wallet-sized case and blew it open, revealing and Imperial Army Identification Card. Rain began to fall once again outside.

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

The Imperial Times

Imperial Forces attack Church, Civillians - Christians in uproar

Last night, Imperial Army forces attacked a church on Sepul Street, in the neighbourhood of Redland, Brutus City.

Police arriving on the scene found thirty-four dead and sixteen injured.

Jenniffer Hewling, Chairperson of the National Association of Christian Leathans, called for protests. "This is intolerable," she said to the IT early today. "The government persecutes Christians and now attacks worshippers in their church."

The government has refused to comment on the operation, citing classified sources. However, Oliver Thornton, Chairman of Lethan First Party, criticised the government's handling of the situation. "The only reason this would have happened is if the government thought Blades of Christ members were present," he said. "So far as the police could tell, there was no evidence of armed personnel."

The Blades of Christ sent a message vowing further attacks due to the "despicable atrocity." Meanwhile, questions in the Senate have called for the removal of President-General Augustus on the grounds of incompetence. Protests by Christian groups are expected to take place in the capital.

OOC: Bump