The King's Freedom

[Nentsia]

Elva, 1588

Ministry of Security Headquarters
Zemaita

''WHERE ARE THEY?!'' a man yelled. He then gave his victim another kick in his stomach as he crawled on the floor in a pool of his own blood. After a while the poor man regained his breath. A tall man was hovering above him. He was wearing a white shirt, tucked inside his black trousers with his sleeves rolled up. His tall, black boots were covered in blood. The black jacket of his uniform was still hanging over the chair behind the metal desk - the only pieces of furniture in this dark cellar with artificial light. The officer placed his fist, covered in a black blood-covered glove, close his victim's nose. When he saw that his victim had already lost his consciousness - again - he took it as a signal for a well-deserved break.

But outside the cellar, there was an unwelcome surprise. An imposing, bearded man with an enormous stomach was waiting outside the cellar. His black uniform was covered under a layer of medals and silver decorations. He was a balding man, but his perfectly-kept beard accentuated his sharp chin, and featured a perfectly-matching moustache. ''General Trep,'' the officer immediately exclaimed, as he straightened his back and saluted his pipe-smoking boss.

''Have you got him talking yet?'', the Minister of Security asked, with some irritation in his voice.

''No, General. But it will not take long anymore. We have almost reached the Source's physical limits. Then he will give up his resistance.''

General Trep coldly stared at the junior officer in front of him while taking the time to smoke his pipe, and to think. He then turned around, heading towards the staircase leading out of the dark basement of the Ministry building. But before going upstairs, he turned his head around. ''You won't break him. He's useless. Liquidate his case.''

The young officer stared at his boss with large eyes, but nodded in obedience. He took his gun out of his pocket and removed the safety switch. He then went back into the cellar, with slightly shaking hands. He had never done this before. In fact, he didn't know of any other officer in his department who had done this before. Times were rapidly changing. The orders that came from above were much more aggressive by the month. The atmosphere at the Ministry was changing. Protocols were being violated, and eventually thrown out of the window. A conspiratory culture was trickling through the hierarchy. The fact that the Minister of Security personally descended to the ''Dungeon'' to attend the torture of a prisoner, and then to privately request his execution, bypassing all formalities, was symbolic for the new climate.

The officer stood next to the unconscious prisoner, bathing in his own blood. His face was beyond recognition - completely swollen and bloodied. He aimed his gun at his head. A single gunshot then sounded through the basement of the Ministry of Security.

---

Elsewhere in the city, a white minivan was slowly passing through the streets. Before a police station it became stationary. The driver got out and walked away. Five minutes later, the side doors of the van opened and six armed men in black stepped out. They wore black ski masks, carried Mordvanian-made assault rifles and wore Severyanian-produced grenades around their belt. They quickly stormed towards the entrance of the police station, forcing their way through the doors.

Once inside, the sound of salvo's and gunshots quickly resonated through the streets. Six armed men stormed their way through the police building, taking the few officers at night shift completely by surprise. Everyone who crossed their path was a target and quickly taken out. The group split up in two units, throwing around their grenades in one office after another - killing or wounding anyone inside. The windows of the building were shattered by the force of the explosions, and several small fires caused smoke rise above the building like a big alarm signal above the neighbourhood.

While one unit was sweeping the upper floors, one unit descended to the basement - to the locker rooms where weapons and ammunition were kept. But most importantly, they kept the archives there, including records of possible police moles within the underground resistance - the so-called Southern Society. The main purpose of the operation however was plain revenge. Revenge for the kidnapping of one of the most trusted members of the resistance by the Ministry of Security.

As the emergency services responded and came from all corners of the capital, including nearby military units to deal with terrorist threats, the Southern Society's paramilitary unit set the rest of the police building ablaze, before vanishing into the night again. They didn't leave the way they came. They dispersed in three pairs, quickly running on foot to the river, where they got into small motorized boats that had been hidden under a bridge in advance. At night, it was so dark over the black river that no one would see three small black boats sneaking away from a burning building. A time-bomb placed in the minivan destroyed the last bit of evidence at the scene, and killed an additional number of servants of the State.

The messages of the terrorist attack in the capital quickly reached the highest echelons of the Kingdom, including General Trep - who smashed his pipe to pieces - but more importantly, the most powerful figure of the country. Prince Azirkas was informed on the phone while he was working late in his private study, to go over some details of the modernization of the Royal Navy. He did not need to turn on the television. He could see the sky turning red above the capital from his palace windows. Contrary to his staff, the Prince felt no sense of anger at all. His enemies were getting desperate. These acts were not a sign of their danger. These were the final convulsions before the eventual and unavoidable death of all opposition inside the country.