09-12-2019, 03:55 PM
When the Shorn One who had gotten hit with the brick shouted out his order to disperse the crowd, the XIP officer who had been trying to get more police on the scene sighed. "Well, we're screwed," he muttered under his breath. It was too late now.
Violent disorder was the one thing that the Xiomeran authorities were not prepared to tolerate, ever, on their streets. Social harmony and order were not just expected, but required. When the situation descended into chaos, the soldiers and Shorn Ones present were not trained in crowd control or policing. They responded in the way they were trained - with military force.
With rifles raised, the Xiomeran Army solders and Shorn Ones quickly formed a series of lines, with more of them pouring out of the nearby Palace by the second. They advanced on the protesters, using sheer numbers to force them out of the plaza and clubbing anyone who resisted to the ground with their rifle butts. The soldiers roughly detained anyone who didn't exit the plaza quickly enough, yanking their arms behind them and placing plastic handcuffs on their wrists and ankles and carrying them to military vehicles to be taken to jail.
The only way down from the Palace area from its main entrance was to take the Avenue Huatlcoapahua back down from the foothills, into the nearby Montelin neighborhood. Montelin, being the home of Xiomera's wealthiest and most powerful people, had a municipal police force that was more robust than most Xiomeran cities - and even some tribal police, for that matter. The Montelin police had already received warning about the wave of escaping protesters, fleeing from the chaos and violent response of the Palace guards, that was heading their way. Those trying to escape would be running headlong into a trap.
The Montelin police, now backed by arriving reinforcements of Imperial Police, were not about to let the protesting rabble intrude upon Xiomera's most rarified real estate. As soon as the fleeing remains of the protest reached the outskirts of Montelin, they were immediately set upon and detained as roughly as those in the plaza had been. Very few protesters, mainly those who ditched their black clothing and disguises, would manage to escape arrest.
The protest, which One Huenya would later grandly overstate as the Battle of the Plaza, came to an abrupt and unglorious end. But it would serve the purpose of One Huenya, as convenient images of Xiomeran security forces beating the crap out of protesters would make for excellent propaganda.
For one other person, however, the protest would serve his purpose as well. Tepilcayotl, the Secretary of Security, had long maintained that things had gotten too lax in Xiomera. Now, in the wake of an Emperor's attempted assassination and a violent riot at Xiomera's most significant symbol of authority, he would find plenty of evidence to make his own argument for a crackdown.
Violent disorder was the one thing that the Xiomeran authorities were not prepared to tolerate, ever, on their streets. Social harmony and order were not just expected, but required. When the situation descended into chaos, the soldiers and Shorn Ones present were not trained in crowd control or policing. They responded in the way they were trained - with military force.
With rifles raised, the Xiomeran Army solders and Shorn Ones quickly formed a series of lines, with more of them pouring out of the nearby Palace by the second. They advanced on the protesters, using sheer numbers to force them out of the plaza and clubbing anyone who resisted to the ground with their rifle butts. The soldiers roughly detained anyone who didn't exit the plaza quickly enough, yanking their arms behind them and placing plastic handcuffs on their wrists and ankles and carrying them to military vehicles to be taken to jail.
The only way down from the Palace area from its main entrance was to take the Avenue Huatlcoapahua back down from the foothills, into the nearby Montelin neighborhood. Montelin, being the home of Xiomera's wealthiest and most powerful people, had a municipal police force that was more robust than most Xiomeran cities - and even some tribal police, for that matter. The Montelin police had already received warning about the wave of escaping protesters, fleeing from the chaos and violent response of the Palace guards, that was heading their way. Those trying to escape would be running headlong into a trap.
The Montelin police, now backed by arriving reinforcements of Imperial Police, were not about to let the protesting rabble intrude upon Xiomera's most rarified real estate. As soon as the fleeing remains of the protest reached the outskirts of Montelin, they were immediately set upon and detained as roughly as those in the plaza had been. Very few protesters, mainly those who ditched their black clothing and disguises, would manage to escape arrest.
The protest, which One Huenya would later grandly overstate as the Battle of the Plaza, came to an abrupt and unglorious end. But it would serve the purpose of One Huenya, as convenient images of Xiomeran security forces beating the crap out of protesters would make for excellent propaganda.
For one other person, however, the protest would serve his purpose as well. Tepilcayotl, the Secretary of Security, had long maintained that things had gotten too lax in Xiomera. Now, in the wake of an Emperor's attempted assassination and a violent riot at Xiomera's most significant symbol of authority, he would find plenty of evidence to make his own argument for a crackdown.
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