[Academy RP] TNE Hostage Crisis

[Ebrary]

Studio 6, Television National de Ebraria, Ceres

David Michel heard gunshots. He was live, broadcasting around Ebrary, expounding on his opposition to the newest push by the Renaldo administration to loosen restrictions on imports of internet technology. His sharp features and quick wit were on display every weeknight at 7 pm for millions of viewers, and even Sovereign Protector Daniel Lucas watched him occasionally. However, the gunshots cut him short, and he stared blankly at the camera. 

"David, get down!" yelled Orion, his producer.

Michel nodded at the control room and slammed down onto the floor, crawling to one of the cameramen. It was somewhat difficult to move as such in his suit, but he didn't have time to take off the jacket. The cameraman looked abjectly terrified, and Michel couldn't remember the guy's name for his life. 

"Hey buddy, what do you think is happening?" Michel whispered to the cameraman.

"I-I'm not entirely sure," the man replied. "Maybe it's terrorists. The bastards already bombed the bus station in Urtedo last month, remember?"

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of," replied Michel.

Suddenly, a door burst open and three tall, red-haired men wearing blue bandanas and head-to-toe camouflage walked in. They were wielding weapons Michel did not recognize from his time as a conscript, so he assumed they were smuggled into the country. The patch on their chests identified the men as members of the Gallasian Wildcats, a particularly brutal terrorist group which had been slaughtering random people in the name of Gallasian independence for half a century. Michel's blood ran cold, the Wildcats hated people like him. Last year, they had murdered two reporters for the state paper on the streets of Ceres, and the perpetrators had never been caught. He gulped and tucked his head down. Michel himself was a particularly staunch supporter of nationalist, traditionalist policies the terrorists opposed. 

One of the three Wildcats fired his machine gun into the ceiling, and bits of it fell onto the hostages on the floor.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen," bellowed the terrorist from under his bandana. "Welcome to a special episode of the Michel Zone. Your usual host David Michel is a bit preoccupied at the moment, so I'll be your host tonight. You can call me Redhands, because I tend to strangle my victims until my hands are red."

He fired into the ceiling again and all three of them began laughing. 

*     *     *     *

Outside Television National de Ebraria, Ceres

The scene outside the TNE building in Ceres was buzzing with police and officials, cordoning off the area and setting up a perimeter around the building. Julian Ferro, chief of the Ceres City Police Department, had been on the scene almost immediately because his daughter and himself were attending a play nearby. He was not happy he had to leave the play, and he was exceptionally pissed that his authority was being questioned by an outsider.

“No! You are not going in there, guns-a-blazing, and getting everyone killed,” police chief Julian Ferro yelled at the Legionnaire commander standing in front of him.

The paramilitary Christian Defense Legion answered only to the Sovereign Commander himself and was his fist inside (and sometimes outside) Ebrary. Ferro didn’t care; however, because he outranked the commander of the small Legion squadron and didn’t want to see everyone inside the building shot by the Gallasian terrorists. The Legion was competent, to be sure, but not at hostage situations like he’d been dealing with since the terrorist threat had worsened these past few years.

“Chief Ferro… with all due respect,” replied the commander of the Legionnaires. “These terrorists are known leaders of an organization that has been murdering in this country for half a century. We cannot allow them to escape, by orders of the Sovereign Protector himself. We have been tracking their movements for twelve hours but were unable to prevent this… regrettable situation. I request immediate access to the building.”

“The Sovereign Protector himself? He rubber-stamps everything you do, but I’m still the ranking officer here.” exclaimed Ferro. “I’m warning you, if you go in with your usual techniques you use to smoke out Gallasians in their province you will get all these hostages killed. I need time to save them, my SWAT team is en route as we speak.”

“Very well, sir,” replied the commander of the Legionnaires. “But if these men escape, you will be hearing from the protector.”

“I don’t plan on letting them escape,” said Ferro. “I plan on grinding them into dust, but only after we save the hostages. There are some very important people in there…”

To be continued...

Edited August 20, 2021 by Ebrary
added to be continued (see edit history)