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A blast from the past

Rheinbund

Established Nation
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Messages
11,808
Location
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Capital
Fehrbellin
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
 

Rheinbund

Established Nation
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Messages
11,808
Location
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Capital
Fehrbellin
31 December 2018
USD Headquarters
Trier, Eiffelland-Retalia
20:00


Kurzenberg immediately issued orders to visit the family of Jonas Barsano. Then he started to talk to Bastian again.
“How do you know this Jonas Barsano?” Kurzenberg asked.
“He came in my hockey team when I was 10,” Bastian told. “Later on, we appeared to agree on a lot of topics. I was quite leftwing in those days, especially antiracist and antifascist. In those days, the GEL was very active. It organised a lot of protest marches, and there was quite a lot of violence against Jews, migrants and gays in those days. Jonas, I and ten other guys decided to act up. We went to protest gatherings of the GEL to disturb them. Those disturbance actions were mainly carried out by anarchists and far left organisations. We never joined such organisations though; the twelve of us were a far left group in itself. We agreed with the antifascist ideas, but not with the other ideas.”
“And they let you into the Staatsschutz with such a past?” Kurzenberg asked. He used the name of the old Eiffellandian secret service, partly as a mistake, partly because it was the Staatsschutz and not the USD which recruited Bastian.
“I underwent the usual investigational procedures, and maybe even more. Mr Strauss already knew quite a lot about me when he recruited me,” Bastian said. “Furthermore, I am not a member of that scene any more. The last time I saw Jonas Barsano and the other ten, is about seven years ago. I drifted away from them.”
“Hhmmm … You say that your group consisted of ten more people. Do you remember their names?” Kurzenberg asked.
“Yes, I do,” Bastian said. Then he mentioned all of them.
“OK. We are going to follow them up as well. I will also call Strauss,” Kurzenberg said.

After his call with Strauss, Kurzenberg was nicer to Bastian.

“Mr. Holzbrenner, thank you very much. You have been of a great help. There is not much you can do at the moment though. I’d say go home. However, I have to tell you that you won’t be able to celebrate too much tonight. I need you here again tomorrow morning at ten,” Kurzenberg said.

Because he didn’t want to use too much time to go home tonight, Bastian had taken the car today. He had expected that he would have left his work two hours earlier than he did though. Now he walked to the 15 year old DW Mistral he shared with Christoph, thinking about Jonas Barsano. The idea that his former friend had committed a terrorist assault bothered him very much. One of his childhood friends. What had become of this group of friends from his teenager time?

It is always possible to locate a mobile phone over the GSM network. This also applies to smartphones. In this way, police forces can always track somebody down. In Eiffelland-Retalia, however, the police forces are only allowed to do so after approval by a judge based on a suspicion. Without that approval, the network providers cannot grant access to the network. That approval was immediately given for Jonas Barsano’s mobile phone. But it could not be traced. The battery either had been taken out or was empty.


23:30

An EKW E4 rushed over the three-lane Mehringdamm to an address in Trier-Kreuzberg. The people in the car were USD-Hauptkommissar Ingo Kurzenberg and USD-Kommissar Markus Hoffmann. They had crossed half the city. Jonas Barsano seemed to have vanished. His parents didn’t know where he was, but gave his girlfriend’s address. His girlfriend was not at home, but Kurzenberg and Hoffmann had found out where she was: at a party in Kreuzberg.
The EKW made a U-turn on the Lufthafenplatz (called this way, because the main building of the former airport Trier-Tempelhof bordered this place), drove a few hundred meters back, and turned into one of the side streets of the Mehringdamm. The car halted. Kurzenberg and Hoffmann stepped out. It was not really difficult to get inside the building where the party was held. They had a picture of Jonas’s girlfriend on their mobile phones, and managed to find her quite soon. Strange enough, they saw Jonas with her as well. Was it boldness or plain stupidity that the guy showed up at a party after having committed a terrorist assault? Jonas clearly enjoyed the kiss he was exchanging with his girlfriend. Kurzenberg and Hoffmann decided not to call an ASE-team but act themselves. Getting Jonas out of here by means of an ASE-action would have left to a very messy situation. They followed Jonas and his girlfriend to the toilets. They entered a toilet and locked the door.
“I have something against taking your girlfriend to a toilet and fucking her there,” Kurzenberg whispered.
“Well, when a guy of that age is horny, he isn’t pretentious about the location, especially not in this scene,” Hoffmann whispered. “And the girls here aren’t pretentious about the location, either.”
“Can we get him out of here without anybody noticing it?” Kurzenberg whispered.
“Yes, we can. We take the emergency exit,” Hoffmann whispered while pointing at a door.
The noise of two people making love had already sounded clearly through the toilets, but now the screams of Jonas’s girlfriend and the groans of Jonas became really loud. People were coming to the toilet to find out where the screaming came from.
Scheisse,” Kurzenberg whispered. “The people are noticing us.” Then the door was opened. Jonas came out first, holding hands with his girlfriend.
“Hey, you two, are you cops?” somebody shouted. Jonas immediately ran to the emergency exit. Kurzenberg and Hoffmann ran after him. Jonas opened the door and ran outside. Kurzenberg and Hoffmann ran after him, but lost him.
Scheisse,” Kurzenberg said.
Großfahndung?” Hoffmann asked.
Then they heard the sound of a motorcycle. They ran to where the sound came from, but the motorcycle was away.
Mist!” Kurzenberg said angrily. “Mist! Mist! Mist!!!
At that moment, the New Year’s fireworks sounded over the city.
“In any case, happy new year,” Hoffmann said.
“Thanks. You too,” Kurzenberg said.


1 January 2019
Oranienburg, near Trier, Eiffelland
01:00


Mist! You said that it would take the USD at least a day to find out that it was me in the KaVoGe, but they are already after me since before the year change,” Jonas Barsano shouted at Lars Köhler. After having fled from Kurzenberg and Hoffmann, he had sped to his hiding place in Oranienburg.
Lars thought for a moment. Then he said: “Believe me, even if they already have your picture in their system, they can’t have found you there so fast, unless they have really fast computers. The only reason why they found you so soon, is that they have somebody in their team who knows you.“
Fickscheisse,” Jonas shouted. Then he started to think. “I don’t know anybody who works for the USD, or the police. I don’t know of anybody that I met in the past that he worked for the USD or the police, either. Who in Heaven’s name can it be who knows me and works for the government?”
“Who are the people you lost contact with in the last couple of years?” Lars asked.
Jonas started to name them all. That more or less led to memorising things and talking about events of years ago.
“Do you remember when we travelled through the whole country to disturb far right demos?” Jonas asked.
“Of course I do. We did so with ten other guys. Mann, das waren mal Zeiten,” Lars said. Man, those were the days.
“Do you remember that nymphomaniac nurse in Bastian’s hospital? Mann, die hat gequitscht, das war die Nummer ihres Lebens, wir haben’s ihr richtig besorgt,” Jonas said. Man, she yelled, that was the bang of her life, we really did it to her.
“Who were thos guys again?” Lars asked.
“Well, of course Bastian … ,” Jonas said. Then he mentioned the other nine guys.
“Where did they all go to?” Lars asked.
“Well, Bastian left the group while he was revalidating. He also had a relationship with that Von Weizenburg kid, Christoph,” Jonas said.
“Indeed, the Von Weizenburg story. The man got life imprisonment, and his fortune was seized,” Lars said. But then his face became thoughtful. “Now that I’m thinking of it … There are some rumours about Christoph von Weizenburg. Bastian was beaten up because of his relationship with Christoph, but rumours go that Christoph’s role in the Von Weizenburg story was larger than just being the good son of the bad guy, that he also acted as a mole for the Staatsschutz.”
“Really!” Jonas said.
“Yes,” Lars said.
“What is he currently doing?” Jonas asked.
“I don’t know. Probably studying,” Lars said.
“Could he be the one at the USD who recognised me?” Jonas asked.
“I doubt it, to be honest. He may have seen you once, maybe twice, maybe three times. And that seven years ago. We have to think of somebody who spent a lot of time with you, and therefore still remembers you after a couple of years. Let’s check all the people you mentioned,” Lars said.
“Let’s also check Christoph von Weizenburg. You never know,” Jonas said.


1 January 2019
Trier-Prenzlauer Berg, Eiffelland
02:00


“Sorry, Christoph, but I have to go,” Bastian said. He had already told that he had to work the next day because of the terrorist attack. He hadn’t told that one of his old friends was involved, however. And he was still thinking about that. Christoph had noticed that, and asked about it. Bastian had said that he couldn’t talk about it: “Sorry Finklein, Staatsgeheimnis.” Finklein was his pet name for Christoph; after the Schneefink, a little finchlike bird that occurs in the mountains in Northern Eiffelland.
Bastian went home, brushed his teeth, undressed and went to bed. Four hours later, Christoph came home. He made sure that he was silent while preparing for sleep. He brushed his teeth, undressed and went to bed while making sure that he didn’t wake up Bastian. Since the start of their relationship, they always slept naked when they slept together. Unless when there were others in the room where they slept; then they kept their underpants on.


1 January 2019
Trier-Prenzlauer Berg, Eiffelland
08:00


Bastian’s mobile phone rang. He woke up and croutched out of bed as carefully as possible. But Christoph more or less woke up as well. Bastian kissed him on the cheek and whispered: “Schlaf ruhig weiter, ich rette mich schon.No need to come out of bed, I’ll manage.
Bastian made coffee and breakfast for himself, took a shower, brushed his teeth, left the apartment and took the lift downstairs.


1 January 2019
Trier-Prenzlauer Berg, Eiffelland
21:00


Bastian parked the car in the parking garage where they had a subscription for long-term parking. Then he walked to the apartment building, opened the door and went to the 5th floor, where he lived with Christoph. He had already seen on the street that the lights were on, so Christoph was awake. New Years Day was always a calm day in Eiffelland. Even quieter than Sundays, the other classical Day After Partying. Christoph would probably have slept until far in the afternoon.
Bastian had spent the day searching for traces of Jonas Barsano on the internet, and had found some interesting things. Kurzenberg, Hoffmann and a couple of other people were chasing that up now.
Bastian opened the door. Christoph came out of the living room, embraced him and kissed him on the lips.
“Hi Finklein, shall I help you with cooking dinner?” Bastian asked.
“Well, first I would like to have an aperitive,” Christoph smiled.
“An aperitive! What were you thinking of?” Bastian asked.
“Well … You,” Christoph smiled while starting to kiss Bastian, who answered the kiss. While keeping the embracing, they walked to the bedroom, took each other’s clothes off and started to make love.
 
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