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« on: January 12, 2021, 06:48:03 PM »
January 1st, 2021
Lordsgate, Greater Eskild
Imke was fond of the quiet. So often the Party's headquarters were full of the sounds of people; the muffled & indistinct words of people talking, footfalls as they made their way through the building, the incessant clattering of keyboards. It wasn't awful by any means, and Imke was fond of that too, in its own way. But she appreciated the quiet & stillness even more. And the building was currently *very* still. It was New Years Day after all, and while she had no obligation to let people stay home the boost in morale more than made up for the work wasn't done. She was busy reading over a report from the Burgomaster of Lordsgate, well nominally from the Burgomaster. It was written competently and lacking in inane platitudes so she was certain the man had gotten one of his aides to write it. Then the quiet was broken by the ringing of the phone on her desk, which she picked up immediately.
"The FNB-Brigadelieder has arrived, ma'am," her secretary said.
Imke sighed, she knew the meeting with him was today but she hadn't been looking forward to it. She despised that worthless excuse for a man. "Send him up," she said, then hung up the phone.
She waited patiently for his arrival, growing more impatient as the minutes ticked by. He'd been to her office *many* times before, he couldn't have gotten lost. So why was he taking so long? Five minutes turned into 10 into 15, and by the time he arrived nearly 20 minutes had passed and she was certain he had done it on purpose just to anger her. He was dressed in the green uniform of the FNB and, from the way he was sweating heavily and squeezing his eyes shut when the light from her windows struck his face, hungover. Imke wasn't surprised. Not when it came to him.
"Hail Gebietelieder," Gerrit Lyks said with a salute, "I apologize for the delay."
Imke ignored the insincere apology and saluted back, "Hail, Brigadelieder. Take a seat."
Lyks took the seat across from Imke's desk, with a long moment spent as both stared at the other in disdain. "Lyks, you know why I called you here today."
"Truly, I have no idea Gebietelieder. Though I am sure that it's important, seeing as how you pulled me away from my duties running the Lordsgate's Militia."
"So, are you simply unaware that a gang of yo-"
"Squad," Lyks corrected.
"A *gang* of your men brutally beat a police officer last night? After brutally beating the owner of a bar."
Lyks sighed, "Oh, *that*. Look Gebietelieder I am truly sorry for what happened last night. However, the officer did interfere in official Militia business."
"I am sure the fact that your men had several large tabs at the bar had nothing to do with it."
At this Lyks scowled, "Excuse me? With all due respect, the Miltia help defend Eskild against any threats that may present themselves. Your implications are, to put it frankly, downright insulting to our prestigious organization."
"Then do you care to share what 'official Militia business' they were taking care of?"
"I am sorry but that is information privy only to the Miltia," Lyks shrugged, "And, unfortunately, you are not a member."
Imke fought back the urge to punch Lyks in his smug, sweaty face. She was about to say something further when her phone rang again. She picked it up without sparing a second glance to Lyks.
"Ma'am, the, um, some officers from the Geheime Steatspolysje just arrived and they're, uh, heading up to your office."
Imke was silent for a moment. The secret police? Here? Now? As realization hit her she managed not to grin; she had no idea that she would get to see this in person. "I understand," she said and hung up.
Much to the credit of the State Police, they managed to find their way to her room in less than 5 minutes. There was a knock at the door, which opened before Imke had any chance to say anything. In strode 4 members of the Geheime Steatspolysje: the Secret State Police. With their black coats & sunglasses it was clear who they were even to Lyks, who did a double-take upon their arrival.
"May I ask what business the Geheime Steatspolysje has with me?" Imke asked cordially.
One of the men nodded at Lyks and two of them hoisted the man out of his chair and slammed him onto the floor. "Wh-what the hell ar-" he began to say, before one of the agents punched him square across his face, "You are under arrest for treason against Eskild & conspiracy to assassinate an official of the Party," said the other. Lyks attempted to say something else, but was unable due to a boot connecting with his head.
The agent who was obviously the leader of the group stepped around the commotion and saluted Imke, "Hail Gebietelieder, I am truly sorry for the disruption. But it was imperative that we take the former FNB-Brigadelieder into custody as soon as possible."
Imke acted confused, "Treason? Assassination? What exactly is going on her?"
As Lyks was hauled away the leader gestured to his vacated seat, now lying on the ground, "May I?"
Imke nodded and the man stood the chair back up and took a seat. "In shall be straight to the point. We at the State Police uncovered a plot by senior members of the FNB to assassinate you."
"Assassinate... me?" she feigned shock & surprise at the news, "But... Are you sure?"
"I know this must come as a shock, but yes. We found proof in his home as well testimony from an eye-witness he had intimidated into silence. Now, I know this is a lot to take in but if I could ask you a few questions?"
"Of course."
Imke spent the next hour pretending that she did not utterly despise Lyks, pretending that she thought he was a decent man who only did what he thought was best for the country. Anything to make it seem as though the hatred & disdain only flowed one way. After all, she had been careful to never talk badly about the man outside of private conversations. Anyone who worked here could attest to that. She talked about the numerous incidents that she believed was the FNB overstepping their bounds and how she simply wanted the FNB to rein themselves in, not mentioning her personal opinion that the FNB were thugs in uniform. At the end of the hour she looked beyond reproach whereas Lyks was nothing more than a power-hungry thus with a vendetta. Just how she had planned it *months* ago. Only once the agent left and she was alone did she finally let herself smile. So much time spent planning, the effort of planting evidence, convincing Lyks' poor abused wife to lie to the State Police in return for safety. And everything had gone off without a hitch! She wondered how long it'd take for the State Police to extract a confession from Lyks. And she wondered if it was too much to ask that he implicate any other troublesome FNB officers she hadn't gotten around to framing.
She briefly glanced at the report still sitting on her desk, before putting it away. She had more important things to attend to. Like ordering another investigation into the FNB's "excesses". And hopefully with the disarray that's come from their upper leadership being arrested, they wouldn't be able to stonewall this one. Imke smiled once again at the possibility of finally finding a way to rid herself of the thorn in her side that was the FNB.
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