2253 HOURS, 19°C, THUNDERSTORMS
27th of APRIL, 2018
OPPERWACHTMEESTER JAN VAN DER BERG
Left: Oostfalean Mounted Policeman swings at a group of demonstrators. Right above: an injured policeman is nearly assaulted by violent protestors. Right below: protestors tear down barricades and destroy police cars
Over half a million protestors lined the avenues of the Metrostadt, vehemently demonstrating against the tyrannical rule of President la Santos. Jan had been an officer of the Oostfalea Federal Police (OFPOL) for the past 20 years; a grizzled Mustang of numerous operations. His face slightly singed by the flames of a Molotov cocktail thrown by a demonstrator a few hours earlier.
Jan was deployed, along with 7,900 other OFPOL, National Police (NATPOL) and SWAT, in an attempt to control the crowd from reaching the government quarter in the south of the City. Police helicopters circled above, bright searchlights casting bright halos on the ground, before quickly zooming away. Police sirens blared, and loudspeakers pleaded with the protestors to disperse. Double-decker busses had been requisitioned, their windows opened, and police officers stationed on the second floors, guns trained onto the throngs of people.
The steady pelting of rocks and pipes hadn't stopped. And the pleas for the protestors to disperse had turned to threats of the police opening fire. Although Jan was one of the few police officers licensed to carry submachine guns in Oostfalea, he never thought he would have had to use it in the 20 years of service. His rugged old MP5 had weathered as much damage as Jan himself.
"Verspreiden! De politie opent het vuur om middernacht! Please leave the area! The police will open fire at midnight! By order of the President Miguelito la Santos, a curfew has been enforced, leave the premises immediately!"
He could hear the doors of a black armoured van open, and out the back, men in balaclavas and tactical gear hopped off, assault rifles in hand. Jan turned to the officer to his left, "Hey, David, you think they're really going to fire into the fucking crowd?"
The officer just shook his head, "I know I won't, those assholes are NATPOL, it's not our call anymore. They're the president's cronies. Just stay out of their way."
As his watch hit midnight, he could hear the clicking of the assault rifle safeties being turned off. A NATPOL agent snatched the loudhailer from the police inspector, and shouted one last warning.
"You have five minutes to disperse! We are prepared to use deadly force! Disperse!"
Jan switched the safety of his own weapon off. Over his radio he heard the Chief Inspector, "When they start firing stay close to the protestors and cover them. The NATPOL can use deadly force, but not against police officers. You're the protectors of Oostfalean citizens."
At five minutes past midnight, the ominous black barrels of the assault rifles poked through the gaps in the shield wall of the police. Small bursts of fire punctuated the air, before the gunfire bellowed until the screams of the protestors could not be heard.
As the NATPOL fired on the protestors, a whistle rang out, along with two white flares. On this signal the Oostfalean police ran forward, taking particular care to obstruct the shots of the NATPOL agents. As the front row of police crashed into protestors, batons brandished and tear gas thrown into the crowds, police vehicles moved between the protestors and police, and the agents. Horseback police charged forward, herding the protestors away from the fire.
Behind the police lines a teenaged girl was crawling on the sidewalk. A NATPOL agent walked up to her and pointed his rifle down at the helpless girl. He pulled the trigger, and Jan pulled himself away from the action, staring at the girl's lifeless body on the sidewalk. A horseback policeman moved behind the NATPOL agent, and waited till he was behind a police van out of sight of the other agents before hitting him across the head with his baton, cracking his skull.
On that night 57 people were killed, along with 3 police officers. Over 900 people were arrested, and a further 6,744 people were injured.