A Battle Unseen

[hyraemous]

Sometime in December 5624

A couple was driving down the road in northern Etxea. They were listening to some Kazulian pop as they were singing along. The streets were a bit bumpy, but at least the rubble that characterized this road was being removed. At least this stretch was clean enough for the couple to ignore the remaining rubble and look at the lovely trees. It was a quiet night; they were headed home to a soothing campfire near a small one-story home. The windows were closed, the doors locked, though the car was loud.

Suddenly, a man ran onto the road. The car was going too fast. Of course, the couple pressed the brakes as hard as they could.

But the man was too slow and the car too fast.

A carnage of a scene. The couple turned off the music and got out. They called 000, and an ambulance arrived soon after. The trio would be in the back of the ambulance as they arrived at an area clinic. But it was clear the man was dying.

The couple couldn't hurt, however, to stare at the man's bloodied body. Yes, it was a lot of blood and guts, but there were some papers and a gun. It was not surprising that he had a weapon; you could find a gun-wielding person in northern Etxea, but the papers were unusual. They were in a folder. The couple managed to open the folder.

It was a flag of the Kundrati Union. An actual mini flag. The papers contained locations in Jildrati City with a title called "FAMIY MEMBURS" and some Xs in the city's center.

The man also had a phone. It was on, but of course, they didn't know the password. The phone background was of Kasaema, though, which was strange given that nobody the couple knew had been to Kasaema in a long time, and the background photo looked awfully different from what their parents remembered.

The couple called the police soon after, before they put the stuff where they had found them. Or almost.

The ambulance, of course, arrived at the local clinic. The doctors took in the man, but he had been long gone. God had taken him.

Some police officers arrived soon after and took the phone and the contents of the body. They also requested the body itself, and the clinic allowed it soon after a discussion with the supervisor of these cops.

A few days later, they began to work on the phone's contents. The time between that night and this day was contacting the appropriate authorities in the police and the military, especially the Etxean Garrison Command, to get the warrants and those permissions. In the meantime, those areas marked by those papers were staked out, and everyone who entered and exited were monitored alongside airports and known ports.

The phone's contents were worked on over the next few days. Suddenly, after finding some of the phone's contents that showed more locations, the EGC seized the phone and its contents. The police were then forbidden to touch the body or its contents. The EGC was concerned that this was now a national security matter and that they had to deal with it. The couple was told that the man was an adventurist roaming around the woods and that his death was an accident. Nothing more.

These locations were staked out over the next few days, and all communications were tapped or monitored in those areas. Suddenly, they managed to crack a few very concerning communications. The EGC found that some of these locations were safehouses.

Safehouses for the Legion.

The Legion was attempting to infiltrate Etxea.

Some agents had gone through, although they weren't careful, admittedly, and they spoke in unusual accents. This was not to mention that their communications were tapped, which implicated their friends and colleagues. Some work later, and those were identified. Those communications also showed plans to bring in equipment at the start of the new year, equipment for secure communications, weapons, and various other materials that would be required for potential future operations.

This is a call to the military and National Police on 25 December, an ordinarily festive day full of gifts and cheers...

...twenty-eight suspected agents were arrested. Another 30 were arrested, suspected of assisting those alleged agents. Soldiers and police seized those locations.

Now, it will be up to justice to determine the fate of those 58 people.