The holovids across Caperion switched from whatever program they were hosting and a short bleep managed to capture most people’s interest even before the “LIVE NEWS BROADCAST – BREAKING STORY” banner flashed across everyone’s vids.
A duo of well dressed news anchors came on screen moments later.
“We apologize for interrupting your scheduled programming, but our field office in Nardash has the following breaking news. Marissa Geitz is reporting live on location. Marrisa, the new Scholae Empress has given the people in Meraxis an ultimatum only 30 minutes ago, how are people taking the news in Nardash?”
The vid switched to a young woman holding a microphone, waving a strand of brown wavy locks away from her face as she waited for the signal to start her report. After an awkward moment where she listened intently in her earpiece, the woman turned her attention back to the holocamera. “Not well, I’m afraid! The city has erupted into chaos, civilians are marching in the streets, tearing down statues of the Meraxis monarchs, breaking windows, pillaging, and storming military positions. Moments ago, disgruntled civilians stormed into the Chancery and executed High Lord di Castelli.”
The holo zoomed past the reporter’s face to a gothic style building that was engulfed in flames, people behind her were running and throwing improvised weapons like Molotov cocktails: “As you can see, the Chancery is burning, and there’s smoke coming out of Adoniram’s palace. People are rebelling against their Miraxis masters,” she said before an explosion surprised a scream out of her. The holocam followed her as she ducked behind an overturned military vehicle, where you could clearly see the graffiti of a skull painted in white over the vehicle’s black and green camo paint job.
The screen switched back to the news anchors in the newsroom, “Marrisa, are you alright!?”
“That was Marrisa Geitz reporting that Nardash city is …”
“I’m ok,” Marrisa reported, and the holo switched back to the reporter’s view of the embattled city. “There are conflicting reports. Some witnesses have mentioned that they didn’t recognize the people that were leading the charge against the Chancery or the imperial palace. Some believe the only way the Chancery or the palace could have been breached is by someone on the inside, while some speculate that the imperial guard itself has turned on the very nobles they are supposed to protect. Others say that those same imperial guards were themselves victims, that someone provided precise intelligence about the imperial guard’s location and the tactics they’d employ.”
“Why did Scholae suddenly decide to overthrow the Meraxis nobility, Marrisa?”
“That’s a very good question! After the Scholae-Elayan war against the Meraxis empire on Ragnath, the Meraxis were forced off Maqor, relinquishing everything from the Nethal Archipelago and the Northwestern portion of the continent was ceded to Elaya and Scholae.
"Talks between the two Empires were tense as anyone would expect after such a short and bloody war, but analysts believe the recent attack on the Scholae fleet in Caperion, combined with the death of Scholae’s Empress Rei has prompted total and complete retaliation. However, some people in the intelligence community believe that there is evidence of covert operations at play within the Meraxis state itself, and that these operations have been going on for much longer than initially believed given the current turmoil.”
The cam switched back to the newsroom: “That was Marrisa Geitz reporting live from Nardash. We’ll have more coverage of the Scholae invasion at six. We now return you to your scheduled programming. Thank you for listening.”