Rheinbund
Established Nation
31 December 2018
Altburg, Eiffelland-Retalia
04:00
Residential quarters are generally very quiet at 4 in the morning. It is the moment of the night that most people sleep. Occasionally, a car, motorcycle, scooter or moped starts; those are the people who have to start up public transport at 5am. Occasionally, a light is switched on in a bedroom; those are the nurses who have to attend the morning shift at the hospital, which starts at 6am. Occasionally, somebody arrives at home after a night out, or after having worked in a pub. But those are only small interruptions of the quietness. So small that nobody notices them. So small that they don’t disrupt the serene quietness of a residential quarter at 4 in the morning.
It was also very quiet in the early morning of 31 December 2018 in the Mozartstraße in Altburg. Serenely quiet. The whole city was holding its breath for the New Year’s Party, when all brakes would get loose. Also the Mozartstraße, a street in a quarter built in the beginning of the 1960s, with three-storey apartment buildings containing three-bedroom apartments. When the sky would have been cloudless, the waning moon would be shining in the southeast. But the sky was cloudy. The only light that was seen, was the greyyellowish white light of the tubes in the street lamps, and the light of the occasional christmas decorations that people forgot to turn off when going to sleep.
But then, suddenly, a blast sounded in one of the apartment blocks. At the same time, the sound of windows cracking was heard. Footsteps, another blast. Then the sound of screaming voices, shots and fighting in one of the apartments. Then the for Eiffelland-Retalia usual two-tone sound of the sirens, blue flashlighs in the street and a few helicopters above the neighbourhood. The sirens stopped sounding, but the blue flashlights kept flashing. Then the word “Gesichert” was heard through the walkietalkies. Red-white bands with POLIZEIABSPERRUNG / SBARRAMENTO DELLA POLIZIA were spanned across the street. Then again some sirens, and five ambulances arrived. As soon as the helicopters confirmed that nobody was trying to escape over the roofs or through the gardens, the leader of the team gave the command to end the action.
The newly formed Abteilung Sondereinsätze (ASE) of the united secret service Unionssicherheitsdienst (USD) carried out actions like this in Losena, Köln and Bremen. Two groups, however, remained out of the hands of the USD. One of those would make itself known on the same day. The second group remained in the dark.
Kaufhaus von Germanien, Wittenbergplatz
Trier, Eiffelland-Retalia
14:00
The Kaufhaus von Germanien (shortly called “KaVoGe”) is Trier’s most luxurious department store, surely the most luxurious department store of the Kingdom of Eiffelland, and maybe even more luxurious than the most luxurious ones in Altburg. It is surely one of the largest department stores in the world. It was grounded in 1907; the grounder had the intention to “serve the spoiled demands of the upper ten thousand, the uppermost one thousand, the upperuppermost five hundred“. From the 1920s onwards, it has an enormous delicacy department. It has also a restaurant at the top floor. It is located at the Wittenbergplatz in the city distict Schöneberg.
Of course the KaVoGe has a jewellery department as well. It was this jewellery department who received a young customer today. He was looking for an engagement ring, because he wanted to propose to his girlfriend. After five minutes, he said that he hadn’t found what he was looking for, and walked away. But the saleswoman hadn’t seen that he had left his bag behind. The explosion took her by surprise.
USD Headquarters
Trier, Eiffelland-Retalia
20:00
“So these are the images of the security cameras in the jewellery department of the KaVoGe,” USD-Hauptkommissar Ingo Kurzenberg said. He was from the department of counterterrorism of the USD. He was leading the investigations, but of course it could be that he would have to make use of other departments. “Now look here. This guy here walks away, and then the explosion takes place. But there is something I noticed. Could you roll back to the point that he walks to the desk?”
Bastian Holzbrenner did.
“Now look here,” Kurzenberg said. “He is carrying a bag. But he walked away without a bag. Roll forward, then you see it.”
Bastian did.
“Now you see him walk away,” Kurzenberg said. “Without a bag. This is our man. Could you enlarge the images so that we see his face clearer?”
“Of course. One moment,” Bastian said. He rolled the movie back until he had a clear picture of the face. Then he enlarged the image. And frightened up. As a result, he didn’t hear Kurzenberg thank him and ask him to pull the image through the images database for a comparison with known people. Bastian realised with a shock that he knew the guy on the picture. They were friends when they were adolescents. They were both in a far left group fighting against what they considered racism and fascism.
But then Bastian was beaten up so severely that he had to revalidate for a year. Now he could walk normally again, but he was told to be very careful with everything he would do, because the next pelvis fracture would be irrepairable.. No motorcycling, no extreme sports, no fast running and no fighting. His left upper leg bone had been replaced with a titanium leg bone, and his left knee stood 2 cm higher than his right knee, because his left lower leg had been extended at age 22 to cover the last centimeters his right leg grew between his accident and his 22nd birthday.
After his revalidation period, he lef the far left group, because he could not take part in fights any more, and because his opinions had changed. From a radical leftwinger, he had become a Sociodemocrat, partly under the influence of his boyfriend Christoph von Weizenburg, who descended from a noble family.
“Herr Holzbrenner?” Kurzenberg asked sharply.
Bastian frightened up again. “Sorry,” he said.
“Is there something wrong?” Kurzenberg asked.
“I can already tell you who this guy is,” Bastian said. “This is an old friend of mine. Jonas Barsano.”
OOC: For an additional explanation of Bastian Holzbrenner’s past, please see
Altburg, Eiffelland-Retalia
04:00
Residential quarters are generally very quiet at 4 in the morning. It is the moment of the night that most people sleep. Occasionally, a car, motorcycle, scooter or moped starts; those are the people who have to start up public transport at 5am. Occasionally, a light is switched on in a bedroom; those are the nurses who have to attend the morning shift at the hospital, which starts at 6am. Occasionally, somebody arrives at home after a night out, or after having worked in a pub. But those are only small interruptions of the quietness. So small that nobody notices them. So small that they don’t disrupt the serene quietness of a residential quarter at 4 in the morning.
It was also very quiet in the early morning of 31 December 2018 in the Mozartstraße in Altburg. Serenely quiet. The whole city was holding its breath for the New Year’s Party, when all brakes would get loose. Also the Mozartstraße, a street in a quarter built in the beginning of the 1960s, with three-storey apartment buildings containing three-bedroom apartments. When the sky would have been cloudless, the waning moon would be shining in the southeast. But the sky was cloudy. The only light that was seen, was the greyyellowish white light of the tubes in the street lamps, and the light of the occasional christmas decorations that people forgot to turn off when going to sleep.
But then, suddenly, a blast sounded in one of the apartment blocks. At the same time, the sound of windows cracking was heard. Footsteps, another blast. Then the sound of screaming voices, shots and fighting in one of the apartments. Then the for Eiffelland-Retalia usual two-tone sound of the sirens, blue flashlighs in the street and a few helicopters above the neighbourhood. The sirens stopped sounding, but the blue flashlights kept flashing. Then the word “Gesichert” was heard through the walkietalkies. Red-white bands with POLIZEIABSPERRUNG / SBARRAMENTO DELLA POLIZIA were spanned across the street. Then again some sirens, and five ambulances arrived. As soon as the helicopters confirmed that nobody was trying to escape over the roofs or through the gardens, the leader of the team gave the command to end the action.
The newly formed Abteilung Sondereinsätze (ASE) of the united secret service Unionssicherheitsdienst (USD) carried out actions like this in Losena, Köln and Bremen. Two groups, however, remained out of the hands of the USD. One of those would make itself known on the same day. The second group remained in the dark.
Kaufhaus von Germanien, Wittenbergplatz
Trier, Eiffelland-Retalia
14:00
The Kaufhaus von Germanien (shortly called “KaVoGe”) is Trier’s most luxurious department store, surely the most luxurious department store of the Kingdom of Eiffelland, and maybe even more luxurious than the most luxurious ones in Altburg. It is surely one of the largest department stores in the world. It was grounded in 1907; the grounder had the intention to “serve the spoiled demands of the upper ten thousand, the uppermost one thousand, the upperuppermost five hundred“. From the 1920s onwards, it has an enormous delicacy department. It has also a restaurant at the top floor. It is located at the Wittenbergplatz in the city distict Schöneberg.
Of course the KaVoGe has a jewellery department as well. It was this jewellery department who received a young customer today. He was looking for an engagement ring, because he wanted to propose to his girlfriend. After five minutes, he said that he hadn’t found what he was looking for, and walked away. But the saleswoman hadn’t seen that he had left his bag behind. The explosion took her by surprise.
USD Headquarters
Trier, Eiffelland-Retalia
20:00
“So these are the images of the security cameras in the jewellery department of the KaVoGe,” USD-Hauptkommissar Ingo Kurzenberg said. He was from the department of counterterrorism of the USD. He was leading the investigations, but of course it could be that he would have to make use of other departments. “Now look here. This guy here walks away, and then the explosion takes place. But there is something I noticed. Could you roll back to the point that he walks to the desk?”
Bastian Holzbrenner did.
“Now look here,” Kurzenberg said. “He is carrying a bag. But he walked away without a bag. Roll forward, then you see it.”
Bastian did.
“Now you see him walk away,” Kurzenberg said. “Without a bag. This is our man. Could you enlarge the images so that we see his face clearer?”
“Of course. One moment,” Bastian said. He rolled the movie back until he had a clear picture of the face. Then he enlarged the image. And frightened up. As a result, he didn’t hear Kurzenberg thank him and ask him to pull the image through the images database for a comparison with known people. Bastian realised with a shock that he knew the guy on the picture. They were friends when they were adolescents. They were both in a far left group fighting against what they considered racism and fascism.
But then Bastian was beaten up so severely that he had to revalidate for a year. Now he could walk normally again, but he was told to be very careful with everything he would do, because the next pelvis fracture would be irrepairable.. No motorcycling, no extreme sports, no fast running and no fighting. His left upper leg bone had been replaced with a titanium leg bone, and his left knee stood 2 cm higher than his right knee, because his left lower leg had been extended at age 22 to cover the last centimeters his right leg grew between his accident and his 22nd birthday.
After his revalidation period, he lef the far left group, because he could not take part in fights any more, and because his opinions had changed. From a radical leftwinger, he had become a Sociodemocrat, partly under the influence of his boyfriend Christoph von Weizenburg, who descended from a noble family.
“Herr Holzbrenner?” Kurzenberg asked sharply.
Bastian frightened up again. “Sorry,” he said.
“Is there something wrong?” Kurzenberg asked.
“I can already tell you who this guy is,” Bastian said. “This is an old friend of mine. Jonas Barsano.”
OOC: For an additional explanation of Bastian Holzbrenner’s past, please see
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