July 1st, 2010 12 P.M
Avignon, Hobit
The sun shone down upon the city. The boats in the harbor floated, rolling with the waves. The beaches were packed with families enjoying the warm summer day. The beaches of Avignon were famous throughout Judea, for having the best weather. But what really made them remarkable was that the houses of Hobit’s rich and famous were scattered along. One could walk for half a mile and spot at least ten celebrities jogging or surfing.
But King Henri was not out enjoying the day like many others. Instead he sat in his office. Today would commemorate the first anniversary of his reign. One year ago he became emperor after the death of his father, Emperor Peter II. But during his first three months of his reign, Hobit lost most of its power it had once held. It lost colonies, protectorates, and allies. By the fourth month of his reign, Henri declared the Empire of Hobit to be no more. Instead, it would be succeeded the Constitutional Kingdom of Hobit.
In hopes of gaining public support, Henri reduced the power of the monarch. But the people were still not happy. No one would be after the loss of their beloved emperor and empire. With Peter II dead, so too did the dreams of world power and peacefulness. But, Henri had made some reforms that were warm welcomed, but others no so.
Today would mark the largest reform of Hobitan history. Today, Henri IV would abolish the monarch forever, and introduce the Federated Democratic Republics of Hobit. This would be the last bill signed by a monarch of Hobit. And if all went well, the region would welcome the new government with warm hands and accept the new form of Hobit.
Once again, the world would see another monarch abolished, and a republic created. Henri could finally thinking of putting the family fortunes to work and buying the dream house he wanted up in the north. But his thoughts of cool summers and year round skiing were interrupted by heavy knocking on the door.
“Yes? Who is it?” asked the king.
“Sir, we must move you. Now!”
“Let me sign this bill and we will. All I need is to write the sentence.” The king hastily wrote down a few words, but didn’t finish as the colonel pulled the King away.
“Sir, we have reports of a rogue general…” The colonel stopped mid-sentence as a bullet sliced through the air and struck the colonel in the head, spraying blood and brain matter. Then one after another more bullets were fired into the office.
The king immediately took cover hiding behind his chair and desk. The glass shards were flying everywhere. Several struck the King.
Henri ran out the door into the hall and looked out the window into the streets below and the surrounding buildings. He saw soldiers marching on the ground firing into crowds of citizens and several tanks heading down the boulevard. While most corpses were scattered into piles, some remained in the street and the tanks ran over them.
The King looked further down the street and saw several civilians firing guns into the advancing troops, but they too were killed.
In an effort to escape, Henri ran towards the back staircase of the floor for servants. As he reached the corridor towards, Henri felt a searing pain in his right shoulder. He looked down to see blood trickling from his shoulder. Then he felt another sudden pain from his leg and saw more blood trickling. Finally Henri realized he had been shot. When he turned around to see who was shooting at him, he was then punched in the nose. Suddenly Henri felt war liquid trickle down his face. Then everything went dark.
"Hello, I am Harold Raffelhassen from HNN. We have breaking news from Avignon, the capital of Hobit. It appears that troops have invaded the capital. It is unknown who they are or where they're from. But casualties number in the fifties, and there has been no word from King Henri IV. It may appear that he is either dead or captured.
"The attack occured as King Henri would've been signing the final Royal Decree into law, declaring the country a Federal Republic. But due to the bill not being submitted to the Interior Ministry, the country is in political limbo, as the Kingdom was dissolved at midday.
"It appears that the attacks may be related to the dissolution of the Kingdom.... Wait this just in. It appears that Defense Minister, General Robert Ford, has been behind the attacks and has declared himself King of the Militaristic Kingdom of Hobit. It is unknown whether the entire military partook in this, or just a few. But at this time that is all we know... Wait more breaking news!
"It appears that rebels in the Venzion Province have announced that their leader, Kyle Berscudor, is the legitimate ruler to the Kingdom. And skirmishes have been fought between Ford's military there, and the military that is backing the Berscudor. That is all we have as of now. I think now more than ever our motto will ring true, Strength through Unity, Unity through Faith. This Harold Raffelhasson reporting from Avignon saying 'Good Night Hobit. And may you remain safe tonight.'"
