Chapter Text
The youth of this great nation were the future of the country, and now they were here to take it into their own hands!
That sounded like a good introduction…
Just a group of Chinese Americans on the rise from their start as nothing more than a bunch of teens watching the local news as the reports of brutality rolled in as the city behind them burned itself to the ground to the amusement of a certain section of Californians
Their future had gone up in smoke and they had the opportunity to fight back and take it from them, using all their talents they would make an equal America that would never allow for such a riot to devolve into full blown war!
In LOS ANGELES the story was much worse than whatever outdated information was getting out onto the airwaves.
Riots had broken out against the bills those racists continued to try and pass, removing the minorities from the rights they only had at the ‘mercy’ of their oppressors. Even the youth had turned out against such bills and if you knew the youth that was saying something.
Maybe if you were a retiree.
Organizing the disenfranchised youth had been relatively easy, for as long as they continued to lack rights because of their age the more they bubbled up against the status quo, getting them into a respectable force was another issue entirely.
It was to be their first march against the fate set out before them because a bunch of racists couldn't stand to see a bunch of kids being a different race before they all got sent to hell, a bit naive admittedly yet an ultimately harmless gesture.
Violence was the realm of the adults.
It was an unknown who had fired the first shot between all the fanatics and the police only that they had been forced to watch as the last veneer of a peaceful solution went up in flames like the city itself.
Long into the first night, before the rest of the state would get whatever outdated information about the riots they had before being attacked, they convened the first meeting of their youth group about what exactly to do in the face of the war.
Together they could communicate much faster than having to dispatch runners now that communication had been destroyed, no one would know who made it out of Los Angeles until they announced themselves to the world.
Out there the rules of engagement were non-existent and they would rather die than be conscripted into the war, the youth had to protect themselves from anyone who would look to do them harm, accidentally or not.
Their role in this war settled the only other pressing issue was the nature of a leader, someone they would willingly cede some authority to in an attempt to avoid the nation wide failure of their confederal system.
Leadership is much less an election than convincing someone to do the job and coordinate the honorable troops in the defense of their homes in this war, which does not stretch much more than where they had decided to send all the minorities when designing the city.
Standing before his honorable troops with their weapons in their weak arms, Xingqiu can’t help but worry over the reality of the situation.
Why wouldn't he?
Overall they stand little chance to change much of anything unless they focused on expanding their ‘territory’ into open conflict with the others and their well equipped armies, for now they have what could be considered hand me downs and whatever the adults had failed to take for themselves before their children got into their cabinets.
But they were not like the other factions, they had no desire to run this city.
In the face of their hopeful smiles what was there but to play the role of a leader who has no fear in his heart as they give a voice to the voiceless with his loyal companions next to him in lock step with one another.
Any good organization needed a name and that was something he would leave up to the rest of them as the plans were drawn up to try and fortify their position as much as they could so they would be left alone in the face of someone thinking they were easy.
This part of town was a small island of peace in the sea of chaos only held by the teens who would make sure to never surrender the land to the police or the terrorists, anyone else was fair game.
Out there the fighting was much more intense, no qualms about dying for their chosen faction, leaving no room for people that didn’t want to be involved in the murder of civilians in the chase of enemy combatants.
Here they stood on watch but allowed themselves to play games and sing songs of their forefathers along with the modern music that captured the youth movement in its entirety, like a scene out of one of his books!
Transported to the pages of his favorite books with him as the protagonist!
Centering his mind to avoid showing anything he comes back to the reality of their little neighborhood watch, unlike those fantasy words there was to be no magical power that could overturn the disparity in ability.
For now they kept their weapons ready as the refugees continued to make way from the other sides of the city with more violence than their otherwise peaceful part of the city.
Yet they were running out of what could be considered neutral territory. Sure they took in volunteers traumatized by their own experiences wanting to make sure such a thing couldn't happen again but now they would have to contend as an actual force.
They would now show up on the map of radicals as one for the many gangs for the police to crush under their boots.
Already straining the charity of a people just trying to survive where the people are forced to share whatever space they can find in people's homes and spacious buildings they occupied in the eyes of the law.
God knows it is already too late for them to retreat at this point.
Sirens indicated what was coming for them, always underestimating the trouble they could get up to when actually organized for something bigger than themselves. A fight would break out and they would have to come out alive for everyone who had no desire to be involved.
His call went out to the rest of them to engage the troops so to speak in the background while the leadership of their organization went up ahead to run whatever could be done to give them just a little more time.
Only those willing to dirty themselves immediately joined him as their leader was to do when taking charge; his own nerve notwithstanding. Up on that nest it was like a final toast before going to war entirely.
Seeing the smiles of all his friends reminded him why he did what he did.
Smiles were something that was quickly going to die out in this city.
It was up to them to keep them going.
The time had come as prophesied.
All hands were required for the plans to protect themselves from the chaos going on outside from the moral failings of the police and the terrorists threatening their fine organization, no one would be coming to save the CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY.
It was time to find out who was a true believer and who was a traitor.
Ever since their leak of information the Seniors had started chasing ghosts from the past in the name of protecting the organization from ‘dissenters and infiltrators’. The allegations he knew to be true while they tried to hide the reveal of the upper echelon of their religious beliefs.
Scientolgogy had stretched a hand out for the lost and confused against the world that did not want them to exist, many people just like him had joined in search of something greater and the ‘science of the mind’ had been great bait.
It was only until the leadership had been shaken up after the retirement of their founder for health reasons that some of those pushed out had gone and released the truth of the religion which they all followed.
Certainly they had a smoking gun with the official auditor of the founder themself, and it worked well enough to have their little church survive a few years away from the main money.
A self-inflicted wound once they had decided to no longer need the person holding all the records and knowledge even they didn’t know, but they had fought back until their excommunication from the rest of the church.
And in all of that restructuring and purging he had been promoted high up the ladder becoming a Senior to almost every single person except for the innermost circle. Tons of perks were to his name now that he had been given the privilege of the truth.
Such as the position inside of Los Angeles…
Whoever it was that was attacking them specifically was right to worry about their followers, some of the most fanatical despite their otherwise calm religion. Who else had an actual navy as part of their organization?
Once Los Angeles had fallen it became clear there was a vacuum they could fulfill with their numbers if they could only get out of the headquarters in the city. Under siege from the outside terrorists they huddled up attempting to avoid any obvious entrances.
Democracy had led to this world that made it their mission to fix one country at the time, the resources of America were the greatest in the world and such an arsenal had to be used for the goodness of mankind.
Only under his leadership could the people come to understand Scientology and the true mission statement, none of that crazy religion stuff beyond the basics. Cells were waiting for their call to join the fight against the police.
Investigating their services for such small issues as crimes against the dissenters…
Obviously they were under the orders of the enemy so they had to be pushed back against now that they had the blank check, how was anyone supposed to know the brutality of the LAPD extended to a bunch of poor religious followers?
It was impossible for them to have realized this beforehand!
The official party line pulled at his brain but he knew the time to strike would not be yet, at the moment all together in this office it was clear no moves could be made when everyone trapped with the new leader also had a gun.
Dying to anyone in this room was more offensive than losing to the terrorist outside.
Standing on top the throne of Scientology would feel so great so long as they dealt with the attacker outside that had now set fire to the building in an attempt to smoke them out.
Each man had their weapon as the fire forced them down the main hallway towards the front exit where the shooter would have free access for the first moments to claim as many casualties as they could.
Of course the seniors were in the back, in their place were some of the most fanatical members in the building that did not have their positions to think of.
Something had to be wrong on a fundamental level to allow these people to fall for their tricks.
It only takes a few seconds for them to discharge their bullets until the magazine is empty and they can afford to provide cover fire.
The direction of the bullets give him all that is needed for his brain to run the calculations of their relative position to their bodies.
They run a quick head count to find if they have lost anyone in the hail of bullets, just one of their seniors much to his surprise. An unexpected gift but he will take the offering.
Standing out in the open is not the optimal move for them so they give their final goodbyes while they move towards the parking lot with their cars, hopefully soon enough they can get a message out to the rest of them for help and deployment of some of their technology.
In his mind he gives a thankful prayer for the recently departed for helping him move one step closer.
The city of angels had fallen into sin.
Like a trial facing her soul and what she should do in the face of violence, picking up the weapon was against her moral values but the scene before her required some compromise on the nature of what was truly possible.
Was it right to advocate for violence against your fellow man?
Was she meant for nothing more than a lost voice for peace in the crowd of deviants desiring nothing more than to paint the town red with their debauchery and lust for violence?
Barbara Pegg was a lost soul in the face of reality. She paid her dues, led the procession, and preached the good world of the universal religion. Numerous familiar faces crowded together in their churches while the rest of the city went to war with one another.
No soothing words could escape the reality that went on just outside, how was she going to face the challenges ahead with only her words to guide her people? Gathering even this many followers had been a tough sell in the first place.
Peace was a tough sell when everywhere you went someone was always trying to have someone else killed in the name of some organization, leader, or religion.
Yet by the grace of god the people had come to see her faith as something desirable in the face of the dangers of this world and the offerings had come in to support her getting off the ground for a place of worship.
Without them nowhere would be safe for their religion that advocates for peace between the people of their great land.
All alone she had been when founding the religion in the first place, missing her sister after her inexplicable move to Vegas away from what she had known all her life before joining that church. She hadn’t even given her any mention of her religion until a bunch of men had asked her about her sister!
She had no idea she had followed the church of Scientology until those men had interviewed her about her last whereabouts.
Money flowed through their organization that was set up to support her new age faith that had touched the hearts of some rather wealthy individuals; beggars couldn’t be choosers when allowed to create their own place of worship.
She was glad to simply run a place of worship held together by some of the wealth of their city, even insisting on paying dues despite her special status as the founder of the religion that faced a tough challenge in controlling the city.
Peace had to be an appealing message?
She wasn’t some insane terrorist, cult leader like those that had a hand in her sister’s mind, or even the LAPD with their heavy handed work going on against the people of the city for a long time.
These riots were a long time coming yet no one could’ve predicted the war.
Strength came from the collective will of the people.
Barbara Pegg was in the middle of the worst part of town with the highest activity and she had a following that could do their best to maintain some kind of informal order if she wanted to flex her forces.
A church with actual provisions for the people was certainly an tempting offer in the face of the war outside their doors, some of them had experience with the numerous wars occurring on the planet every so often.
Let the call be made.
History has never been kind to anyone trying to promote peace in any part of the world. Take the Europeans, currently promoting peace on the continent but before that could be completed they would have to destroy the French and any of her allies.
A humanitarian tragedy but such radical anti-theists were a danger to every single person that believed in any form of faith, destroying faith was impossible but they were certain to try with their army.
She had proven examples yet she went looking for the faithful with any kind of experience even if it was in the form of distasteful combat experience. The rules of war were almost nonexistent on the planet, anything could be fair game.
She could theorize while watching on the sideline but it was clear she would have to do what she must to keep her followers alive.
For now the police were focusing most of their attention on her area with the highest number of criminals keeping an illusion of space while inside the terrorists continued to be on the verge of overrunning the detachment meant to keep the pace in the area.
Already at war with the police before the rest of the city joined them in burning down itself they had moved with shocking speed and brutality against the symbol of oppression.
Their speed only unlocked the worst of the authorities in responding to their violence.
And still they continued to be a thorn in the side of the authorities, no matter the attack they would always be able to respond in kind to the escalating violence, it was an odd war from an outsider's perspective.
The police may love the violence they got to inflict on the less fortunate but whoever led the terrorists was like a vessel of war and violence made manifest.
What they stored in the basement made her skin crawl but her mission had become clear.
Unite the people in the desire of peace, protect what could be protected and make sure the people had a chance to come back from the war spreading the world of their religion in the face of all the others.
And then create a nation perfect for anyone fleeing the oppression at home and the dangers lurking in the silence.
The sin of violence for their CRUSADE OF PEACE.
Los Angeles was a microcosm of the problems facing the rest of their country, one which she would have to fix with her own hands.
Systemic problems rocked the country since its birth, on the local level the police were built for the comfort of those people already holding power that wanted the riots out of their minds.
But someone out there had mishandled the response.
Now the people of this city had to play her game that she had long since mastered.
Terrorism and all out warfare was easy for the members of the SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY who had long been waging their war of revolution before the oppressors had inspired an open revolution.
For over a decade they had been fighting and while the pigs assumed they had broken them back in 1975 a decade on they had become even more terrifying in their tactics because of the introduction of a newer member only a year ago.
It had been building inside of her since her birth if she was allowed to self aggrandize. Normal people didn’t see the dangerous state of the city as a kind of opportunity, where the guns ran free and you could find someone willing to sell as long as the money was good.
Yet she had taken to violence like a man dying for their next hit. No signs made themselves obvious that this was what she had been put on this earth for. But what they did it all for was doing some good for the oppressed people of this city.
Never again would the police go around this city looking for an excuse to beat someone almost to death because they were ‘having a bad day’. Justice made itself known when they found the burnt up body inside a burnt out car.
Watching them scratch their heads at their survival tugged at her mind to keep escalating their attacks on the despotic police and their backers. The media could never get enough of their exploits against the ‘fine’ men and women in their uniforms that were nothing but bright targets.
Not to say they weren't heavily excited to kill the terrorists, they had struck first after all. Justice had come for them after ending the lives of people only trying to protect and serve.
That was when it became personal to her.
Death was inevitable but the slander drove her to enact revenge on those that thought they could get away with what they wrote down on the papers, lies about her comrades would not be tolerated when she was in charge of their operations.
She would be called any manner of words before she allowed them to get away with their slander against their fellow revolutionaries taking down the pigs that these media personnel had an incestious relationship with.
It all led to them supporting one another in the world's ugliest dance.
When she moved against them it was clear this was a whole other beast once the multiple squad cars came down on them because she was taking on this specific building, her first attempt had seen her out numbered fearing for life for the last time maybe.
When she came to, it was to the scene of multiple officers dead and not but a scratch on her own person despite the memory of the bullets entering her body, the casing is even on the ground with her blood.
She felt nothing beyond her own exhaustion after that day.
In this country we teach individuals that the common message that good will always win.
That kind of naivety is needed for society to function, god knows what the world would be like if it was full of people like her only.
From her own experience the kids’ mission was only going to lead them to disappointment and radicalization against the system, which while good was a bit too early for their young minds. Adults were a much better group if they had to go about recruitment efforts.
It was unknown how exactly they had convinced those teens to come together but it did make her appreciate their efforts, a bit too young but with their numbers the landscape of the state could be changed should they ever decide to engage in efforts outside of the law.
But for now they attempt to join the deteriorating situation that was the riots that had extended past the predicted few days. A blessing for her organization as any increase in numbers only meant less attention on their movements.
Loud voices kept barking about what should be done to these minorities and their traitorous allies; good to know what should be done to the elite.
But anyone with a brain knew escalating the incident could only go so far and this last step seemed to be the final one before the Rubicon had been crossed and everyone had to pay for the city's failure.
In the end she hoped if things were to go wrong her nephew didn’t have to see it personally but rather see it through the television screen, just like the next line of attacks against the police.
If she was right soon he would have no choice but at the current moment that little worry of hers could be pushed aside for the moment while she prepared to go outside and do what she did best against those that deserved it.
It was an easy outlet for her anger that flowed through her, a minority, systemic oppression, and a symbol for everything wrong with the country. Truly she just needed to satiate her curse yet it was almost morally the right decision.
A new day would dawn on the oppressed people of the nation while she got to tear down all that was wrong with the world, against her power there would be no force of man that could ever bring their mission down.
They had already tried and failed.
It was fate that allowed for their two roads to meet and it would be that same fate that allowed for them to make the citizens answer for the crimes of their nation since its inception.
Let’s see how they liked what they inflicted on the defenseless populations just for being different.