12-29-2020, 05:11 PM
“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” Jorge Carballo said grimly, using a form of address considered outdated and odd in Lauchenoiria, “what we feared happened. The United Front attempted an attack in Costeno.”
“They failed, though,” Jimena Secada pointed out. “It could have been much worse, if Slokaisian intelligence hadn’t been on the ball.”
“Ah yes,” Carballo nodded. “That’s the second concern. Slokaisian intelligence saw fit to carry out an operation on our territory without our consultation or approval. Nor that of the federal government. Alvarez has the image of a pushover on the world stage, and that places all of us in danger. Every action she takes is a reaction to something else going on, she appeases foreigners before she does anything else.”
“I don’t think that’s quite…”
“So, an update on the situation,” Carballo interrupted Secada. “The Slokaisian agent plans to return home, leaving us with a number of terrorist prisoners. The Slokaisians have not yet requested an extradition or any special treatment, but we can guarantee they’ll have an opinion of how we deal with them. It’s a federal crime, so whatever happens next is out of our hands.”
“It is out of the federal government’s hands too,” pointed out Secada. “We are not like Kerlile or Shuell; we have an independent judiciary.” Her mention of Shuell was calculated to irritate him, and she succeeded.
“Bullshit!” he glared at her. “Eddington, Tlixō, Xōne. Ask any one of them if our judiciary is truly independent. Oh wait, one is dead, and two are in federal prison.”
“You forgot Peter Bloch,” Secada smirked. “You pick and choose your examples, Governor, as you see fit. President Marwick is gone; his flaws and his absurd extradition act no longer affect us. Much to your disappointment, I’m sure.”
“Are you accusing me of something!?”
“Quiet!” snapped a voice from the back of the room. Jae Chung, representative of Lauchenoiria’s federal intelligence agency stepped forward. “This is meant to be a briefing on the attempted terrorist attack at Carville Ferry Terminal, not a meeting of your coalition’s cabinet. Resolve your political differences later. The federal government is taking over the handling of this matter and the investigation, that is final. Nothing you say now, after witnessing this will convince me to advise Alvarez otherwise. Governor, Secretary, I’ll leave you to your argument.”
Chung left the room quickly and pointedly, leaving the two Costenan politicians to glare at each other and continue their argument. She left the building and walked out onto the streets of Carville, pulling her jacket tight against the strong wind which was blowing in from the sea. She boarded an overcrowded train at the nearest station and rode one stop along, to get closer to the ferry port. She made her way there through the throng of construction workers making their way to the various sites across the city. It had been hit hard in the war, and was now being rebuilt site by site.
At the port, she flashed her ID and ducked under the police tape, walking over to the location where the terrorists had shot one of the security personnel. She introduced herself to the officer in charge, who was naturally displeased about the federal takeover of his investigation. They always were.
“I’ve heard of you,” he grunted to Chung. “You had that Aurora USB in the war.”
“Auroras,” she sighed. “Yes, they’ve been the cause of many headaches since the war. Have you heard the conspiracy theories that Auroras are behind the unrest in Slokais? I don’t believe them, personally. This smells more like home-grown terrorism.”
“You had the chance to speak to any of the prisoners yet?” he asked Chung.
“No, I’m heading there after this, before their transfer.”
“They’ll call you a communist, fair warning,” he looked out at the sea. “They haven’t a clue.”
“Seeking revenge now for actions taken in the 1400s,” Jae nodded. “Yes, I rather think they haven’t a clue. Their grudge predates communism by centuries; it dates back to feudal times. I wouldn’t be surprised if they attempted to seek out whoever would be the heir to the Costenan throne if it was restored, as a target.”
“Weren’t they all wiped out?” he frowned. “The royals.”
“There was a monarch for a long time before the revolution. There will likely be a distant descendant of the previous King, some fourth son’s fourth son’s fourth… I could go on. I’ll speak to the monarchists, they likely know.”
“There’s still monarchists?”
“There’s always monarchists,” she shrugged. “There’s a campaign to restore the Fleuran monarchy and unite Lauchenoiria and Kerlile. Someone was executed in Kerlile for it. It’s shocking what you can find in old filing cabinets. Anyway, can you tell me anything I haven’t already read in the reports?”
“It’s all in there. They landed at Buttercity Airport, had a false gun license to get through security, made their way down here using private vehicles, planned to blow up the terminal. Far-right United Front members. Stopped and apprehended by a Slokaisian intelligence agent who’d infiltrated their group.”
“Any local contacts? Real ones, not the agent.”
“Not as far as we can tell.”
“Thank you, you’ve been helpful,” Jae said then paused. “May I ask you a personal question?”
“I don’t do politics,” he replied.
“You seem to already know what I was going to ask.”
“Chaher or Moore? It’s the question on everyone’s lips, particularly down here. Costeno still has many more divisions than the north of the country. We were hit hardest of all by the war; there’s even an independence movement forming as a result. But as for my own political leanings, I don’t have them. Communists, capitalists, it’s all the same in the end. You live and you die.”
“Thank you, inspector,” she nodded and left, playing with the zip on her jacket, wishing she’d dressed more warmly. The weather was unnaturally cold, far colder than one tended to expect in this part of Lauchenoiria. She wondered what it was like in Slokais, and she wondered if this would be yet another civil war that everyone across the world was dragged into, like it or not.
“They failed, though,” Jimena Secada pointed out. “It could have been much worse, if Slokaisian intelligence hadn’t been on the ball.”
“Ah yes,” Carballo nodded. “That’s the second concern. Slokaisian intelligence saw fit to carry out an operation on our territory without our consultation or approval. Nor that of the federal government. Alvarez has the image of a pushover on the world stage, and that places all of us in danger. Every action she takes is a reaction to something else going on, she appeases foreigners before she does anything else.”
“I don’t think that’s quite…”
“So, an update on the situation,” Carballo interrupted Secada. “The Slokaisian agent plans to return home, leaving us with a number of terrorist prisoners. The Slokaisians have not yet requested an extradition or any special treatment, but we can guarantee they’ll have an opinion of how we deal with them. It’s a federal crime, so whatever happens next is out of our hands.”
“It is out of the federal government’s hands too,” pointed out Secada. “We are not like Kerlile or Shuell; we have an independent judiciary.” Her mention of Shuell was calculated to irritate him, and she succeeded.
“Bullshit!” he glared at her. “Eddington, Tlixō, Xōne. Ask any one of them if our judiciary is truly independent. Oh wait, one is dead, and two are in federal prison.”
“You forgot Peter Bloch,” Secada smirked. “You pick and choose your examples, Governor, as you see fit. President Marwick is gone; his flaws and his absurd extradition act no longer affect us. Much to your disappointment, I’m sure.”
“Are you accusing me of something!?”
“Quiet!” snapped a voice from the back of the room. Jae Chung, representative of Lauchenoiria’s federal intelligence agency stepped forward. “This is meant to be a briefing on the attempted terrorist attack at Carville Ferry Terminal, not a meeting of your coalition’s cabinet. Resolve your political differences later. The federal government is taking over the handling of this matter and the investigation, that is final. Nothing you say now, after witnessing this will convince me to advise Alvarez otherwise. Governor, Secretary, I’ll leave you to your argument.”
Chung left the room quickly and pointedly, leaving the two Costenan politicians to glare at each other and continue their argument. She left the building and walked out onto the streets of Carville, pulling her jacket tight against the strong wind which was blowing in from the sea. She boarded an overcrowded train at the nearest station and rode one stop along, to get closer to the ferry port. She made her way there through the throng of construction workers making their way to the various sites across the city. It had been hit hard in the war, and was now being rebuilt site by site.
At the port, she flashed her ID and ducked under the police tape, walking over to the location where the terrorists had shot one of the security personnel. She introduced herself to the officer in charge, who was naturally displeased about the federal takeover of his investigation. They always were.
“I’ve heard of you,” he grunted to Chung. “You had that Aurora USB in the war.”
“Auroras,” she sighed. “Yes, they’ve been the cause of many headaches since the war. Have you heard the conspiracy theories that Auroras are behind the unrest in Slokais? I don’t believe them, personally. This smells more like home-grown terrorism.”
“You had the chance to speak to any of the prisoners yet?” he asked Chung.
“No, I’m heading there after this, before their transfer.”
“They’ll call you a communist, fair warning,” he looked out at the sea. “They haven’t a clue.”
“Seeking revenge now for actions taken in the 1400s,” Jae nodded. “Yes, I rather think they haven’t a clue. Their grudge predates communism by centuries; it dates back to feudal times. I wouldn’t be surprised if they attempted to seek out whoever would be the heir to the Costenan throne if it was restored, as a target.”
“Weren’t they all wiped out?” he frowned. “The royals.”
“There was a monarch for a long time before the revolution. There will likely be a distant descendant of the previous King, some fourth son’s fourth son’s fourth… I could go on. I’ll speak to the monarchists, they likely know.”
“There’s still monarchists?”
“There’s always monarchists,” she shrugged. “There’s a campaign to restore the Fleuran monarchy and unite Lauchenoiria and Kerlile. Someone was executed in Kerlile for it. It’s shocking what you can find in old filing cabinets. Anyway, can you tell me anything I haven’t already read in the reports?”
“It’s all in there. They landed at Buttercity Airport, had a false gun license to get through security, made their way down here using private vehicles, planned to blow up the terminal. Far-right United Front members. Stopped and apprehended by a Slokaisian intelligence agent who’d infiltrated their group.”
“Any local contacts? Real ones, not the agent.”
“Not as far as we can tell.”
“Thank you, you’ve been helpful,” Jae said then paused. “May I ask you a personal question?”
“I don’t do politics,” he replied.
“You seem to already know what I was going to ask.”
“Chaher or Moore? It’s the question on everyone’s lips, particularly down here. Costeno still has many more divisions than the north of the country. We were hit hardest of all by the war; there’s even an independence movement forming as a result. But as for my own political leanings, I don’t have them. Communists, capitalists, it’s all the same in the end. You live and you die.”
“Thank you, inspector,” she nodded and left, playing with the zip on her jacket, wishing she’d dressed more warmly. The weather was unnaturally cold, far colder than one tended to expect in this part of Lauchenoiria. She wondered what it was like in Slokais, and she wondered if this would be yet another civil war that everyone across the world was dragged into, like it or not.
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