Defense of Our Way of Life: Chapter 2 – Hidden Actors and Ambushes

Chapter 2 – Hidden Actors and Ambushes

Ever since the police and SIB have been publicly arresting members of the Slavic political party more than those of the Vorfahren, certain members of the public and those in office have turned against us and the administration we serve. There are protests happening all across the city, from City Hall to the police headquarters and even the Mediterranean district of the city, since they’ve been known to work with us. There have also been clashes between the two political ideologies of Vorfahren and Slavs in the city, with vigilante groups like Astorre’s men of honor and the police doing their best to keep the peace. Currently, my squad and I are waiting for word from the SIB and our leaders in police headquarters to tell us what to do next, and we're just sitting around our office.

“Who even is our contact in the SIB anyway? He never gave us his name, and when I asked him, he said it wasn’t important,” Cole says.

“It’s not important. Not to people like them. They keep their secrets, get what they want, and vanish as if they never existed,” Max says.

“Xander, what are your thoughts on all this?” Cole asks.

“I just like to go back to simple traffic duty and guard duty at events at this point rather than see the city in chaos,” I say.

“No, I mean in terms of the Vorfahren, the Slavs, and the SIB.”

“Eh, he gave a good answer. I’d like the simpler duties of what we were doing before, too,” Max says.

“I prefer this. There’s more action and more criminals are being punished,” Cole says.

“I thought you wanted to live in a more peaceful country with fewer people ruining it,” I say.

“I do, and that’s best done by arresting or putting down all the criminal scum in it.”

“You should listen to your peers, Cole, but I understand where you’re coming from,” Kurtis says as he walks out of his office. “I heard from our friend in the SIB about what they found yesterday. The most interesting thing was that many of the suspects were official government workers and ballot counters, and the ballots themselves weren’t entirely fake because they were made from the same machines that the legit ones are made on.”

“So, the problem is more internal than we thought?” I ask.

“Yes, but that also means that the SIB itself is going to handle it while we still have to handle the outside of it.”

“How can we trust them to do it? How do we know that there isn’t an internal issue within the SIB?” Max asks.

“We’ll have to trust them to deal with that.”

“This is why we need another organization, or more power in our own, to check other law enforcement and government organizations. I don’t think they should be the only ones who can check themselves,” Max says.

“There are laws that allow it if we can find the evidence,” I point out.

“But in this situation, they’re keeping the investigation to themselves, and we can’t interfere with their work. Doing so without evidence of our own would disband our squad, and our badges would be nothing more than useless metal.”

“Alright, alright, you know what to do, Max. Get your friends on it and have them find our probable cause,” Kurtis says.

“I’m already on it.”

“Then there’s nothing else to worry about.”

Our office receives a call from police headquarters. They say the SIB knows another violent protest is about to happen and want us to go to a certain area to keep it under control. My squad gets in our truck, heads out to the location, and gets there just in time as a riot is breaking out. It’s another group of Slavic rioters who are wearing colors associated with the political group and gas masks, medical masks, and cloths to cover their faces. The rioters are starting fires, throwing over trash cans and recycling bins, breaking car windows and store windows, and being a general menace to the public.

My squad and the other squad we’re with are wearing gas masks, medium armor, and are armed with riot shields and batons, and have tear gas, guns loaded with pepper balls, and a lethal pistol and rifle, just in case things escalate further. We yell at the rioters to go home and cease; however, they start getting crazier and turn their attention toward us.

“We should be using more force. They’re attacking people and their livelihoods,” Cole says to Kurtis.

“Not yet. We’ll knock some sense into them soon enough,” Kurtis says.

The rioting crowds start pushing against us, and we give them one last warning. They don’t listen to us, so we shoot out tear gas and start using our batons and pepper ball guns on the crowd, especially the ones attacking us. This pushes the crowd back a bit, but then one of the people from another squad notices another crowd of rioters coming from behind us. Now, all our squads are surrounded by groups of angry rioters who really want to try to fight us.

“Do the gloves come off now?” Max asks.

“They’re about to,” Kurtis says.

Just as Kurtis finishes speaking, people in the surrounding crowds start firing their pistols at us before others in their crowd charge us with knives and bats.

“You have the green light to use lethal force!” the familiar voice of my squad’s SIB contact says. “Put down those rabid dogs and bring order to the streets!”

All officers start taking out their lethal pistols or rifles and start firing at everyone who attacks us. Officers like Kurtis and I try to take out the rioters non-lethally by shooting them in the leg or lower body, while officers like Cole and Max have no mercy on them and execute them with head and body shots. After dropping more than twenty rioters, the crowd finally disperses, and most of the officers cheer.

“That’s right! You better run!” Cole yells out.

“Professionally done as always, gentlemen. Secure the wounded. EMTs are on the way,” our SIB contact says.

As we check on the civilians and cuff the rioters who are still alive, one of them stabs the officer cuffing them with a hidden knife. Cole is about to shoot the rioter in the head, but Kurtis stops him.

“Why not? He wants to martyr himself for his stupid cause, so let him!” Cole says.

Kurtis shakes his head and uses the butt of his rifle to knock the rioter out before cuffing them and walking away to care for everyone else who is injured, whether they be a cop, civilian, or criminal.

Max walks over and says, “He may be a bit different now, but he’s still the same Kurtis we know and love.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand when he kills and when he spares. If you want to fight till the death, that’s what you get. Live by the sword, die by the sword, and all that,” Cole says.

I understand when Kurtis kills and spares, and I employ it myself. Kurtis has also explained himself multiple times as to his mindset and way of enforcing the law, so I don’t say anything and try to let my actions speak louder than words, just like Kurtis does. After the EMTs pick up the injured, my squad barely makes it back to our truck before Max gets a call from Astorre.

“Go ahead,” Max says with Astorre on speakerphone.

“I’m glad you guys are still alive and kicking. I heard police squads everywhere got ambushed by rioters,” Astorre says.

“Everyone was ambushed?” I ask.

“Yes, which leads me to a lead I want to inform you about. You may not like what I’ve discovered.”

“Tell us where to go and what to look for,” Kurtis says.

“I’ve just texted the address to Max. Who you’re looking for are cops and people with SIB badges.”

“What about them?”

“The Slavs have insiders in the government who want to bring down its law enforcement, and given what happened today. Well. You can put two and two together. My people and I will be there to assist you. This is something that requires our attention.”

“No. You keep your people away from this. It’s too serious for-”

“The Mediterranean people don’t back down from what we know is right, especially when the lives of people we care about are in danger. We’ll see you guys there.”

Astorre hangs up and the phone and Kurtis tells us to rush to the address he sent us. Cole drives us as fast as possible to the location, but when we get there, we see Astorre and his men of honor already confronting a group of police and people wearing SIB logos on their shirts.

“Excuse me, officers. I have an issue I’d like to report,” Astorre says.

“And that is?” one of the SIB agents asks.

“A flock of birdies told me you guys are working with the Slavs to rig and influence the country to be like the Slav Federation, and I’d like you to stop it whether you’re willing to or not.”

“Heh. It’s funny you say that, because we have proof of our own that you and your so-called men of honor are corrupt. Do you want to see the proof we have of your murders, theft, and pushing people to vote for your side? Ah, here come your most ardent defenders. Good afternoon, Angel’s Trumpet squad. Are you here to save your friends in crime?”

“We’re here to bring peace to this situation,” Kurtis says. “You both can fight it out in court instead of with violence.”

“That’s the thing, though. They have judges and people in the courts on their side. This needs to be dealt with and settled here and now.”

“I can say the same thing about you. The difference is in our positions and responsibilities. You’re supposed to know and be faithful to the laws, whereas I need to use the new ones to get my friends here to arrest you,” Astorre says.

“We’re not going anywhere. You are, though.”

The SIB agents and police pull out their guns, forcing Astorre and his people to do the same. Both sides are pointing their guns at one another with their fingers on their triggers. My squad and I also have our pistols out. Kurtis and I point our pistols at both groups, while Max and Cole point their pistols at the SIB agents and police.

“Pick your side, Sergeant,” the SIB agent says.

“You can’t shoot them without due cause. There’s not even a single warrant out for their arrest!” Kurtis says.

“Come on. Both you and I know their crimes. We can write the report later.”

“They’re just going to turn on you, Kurtis! They’re the reason why the police walked into a trap today, and need to be stopped before they can corrupt the system further!” Astorre says.

“You say that while the president, who is a man of honor, twists the system in his favor. He, along with the rest of you, needs to be stopped.”

“Kurtis!”

“Sergeant. Do your duty, and bring this criminal scum to justice.”

Looking at both sides to see who shoots first, Kurtis seems unsure where to point his pistol until he suddenly points it at an SIB agent and pulls the trigger. We don’t have long to sit with the shocking decision as both sides start shooting at each other, and we, along with Kurtis, shoot the other SIB agents and police. After the smoke settles, Kurtis immediately moves to care for Astorre’s wounded and dead, while I just stare at the people we’ve just killed.

“Xander!” Kurtis yells at me. “Help me over here with these people!”

I run over to help Kurtis patch up a wounded man, and Cole and Max do the same.

“Thank you for trusting us, Kurtis. I know it was an impossible choice to make,” Astorre says.

“Not really. I saw one of them about to pull the trigger on you, and no one who believes in due process resorts to violence as the first course of action,” Kurtis says.

“But this’ll have ramifications for you and your squad. You may have your badges taken away from you.”

“I didn’t sign up to be a police officer to enact the state’s laws. I did it because I thought it was the right thing for me to do. Because when I lost my friends to criminals and prayed to God, I felt the pull of the calling. If this is where it ends, then so be it.”

“Same goes for me. After the war, I wanted to continue to protect this country,” Cole says.

“I don’t need to be an officer to protect my friends and family. They can take my badge if they have a problem with me doing the right thing,” Max says.

Everyone looks at me, expecting an explanation for me becoming an officer, so I say, “I became an officer for the same reason Kurtis, Cole, and Max did. We’ll clean up this mess, Astorre. Just be sure to make your testimony to the public about the corruption within the police and SIB.”

“I will. This whole mess has to go deeper than these few people, and they’ll pay for it.”

My squad and I agree with Astorre: get EMTs here to take care of the wounded and dead, write our reports, and get ready for the next few long days.