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Hearst Fire

The bombing at the MDT&H Building. The fire consumed most of the western façade and the upper ten floors.

On the 6th of February 301, the Ordlandic protectorate of Nova Luxa was the site of a terrorist attack. At about 9am, an explosive device detonated on the 60-store-high Melanian Dream Tower & Hotel (MDT&H), at the time the tallest building in the continent of Melania. In the ensuing chaos, over two hundred people died.

The attack[]

The plastic explosive detonated on the 52nd floor of the MDT&H office building, at an office leased to the Pereira & Mustaffa law firm. Altough most of the building was quickly evacuated in a matter of fifteen minutes, the fire quickly spread to the upper floors, killing most of those trapped between the 50th and 60th stores.

Immediatly after the attack, the entire Nova Luxa fire department was mobilized, as well as the Nova Luxa detachment of Ordland's Royal Ambulance Service and the medical corps of the Maurestani Expeditionary Force. By the first hour, local emergency services already had controlled most of the fire, at the cost of 230 dead and 35 injured.

Aftermath[]

Hearst3

The MDT&H Building under renovation shortly after the attack

Hearst2

The Melanian Dream Tower & Hotel as it stands today

The first international news of the attack were broadcast by Royal Ordlandic Television roughly one hour after the explosion. The action was immediatly claimed by the religious-inspired Master's Army, a terrorist organization active in the Ordlandic hinterlands. The leader of the group, General Luminous Sunshine, who had been arrested two days prior in Ordland, stated that the attack was prepared to be executed in case he was ever detained by Ordlandic authorities. Nova Luxa was chosen as the target due to its vital role for the economy of the Kingdom of Ordland. General Luminous Sunshine also confirmed that more attacks would follow, unless he were to be released and a new independent state was created in the Copernicus region of Ordland, with government attributed to the Master's Army and other leaders of the Sun and Moon Cult.

Shortly after the attack, Field Marshall John Glideswell-Oliveira of the Maurestani Expeditionary Force; Phillip Pataneira, Mayor of Nova Luxa; and Ibrahim Oliveira, Imam of the protectorate, released a joint statement. They reasoned that further terrorist attacks against Nova Luxa would only be stopped once the Ordlandic government ceded to the demands of the Master's Army. The government of Nova Luxa also announced that, if the demands of the Master's Army weren't met in five days, it would declare the territory's secession from the Maurestani Empire under Ordlandic protection.

On the 7th of February, the government of Ordland ceded to the demands of the terrorist group. A communique from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that independence were to be conceded to the Theocracy of Ordland, a new country ruled by the leadership of the Master's Army and the Sun and Moon Cult, carved from the westernmost half of the Copernicus province. General Luminous Sunshine and other members of the Master's Army were released from prison and sent to the Theocracy.

The new country was organized as a Theocracy led by General Luminous Sunshine and hundreds of other priests of the Sun and Moon Cult. After this statement, Field Marshall John Glideswell-Oliveira was relieved of command of the MEF's Nova Luxa detachment.

According to a subsequent report by the Ordlandic government, confining the Master's Army and the Cult to one single stretch of poorly-developed and isolated territory was the most secure way of controlling the group. Roads leading to the region were cut and electricity, water and other modern utilities were no longer supplied after the 9th of February.

After the investigations were over, the MDT&H building underwent reforms. The affected floors were reopenned after six months.

International responses[]

The Kingdom of Ordland was a founding member of the Anti-Terrorist Organization (ATO). The fact that a country commited to the fight against political terrorism had bowed to the demands of the Master's Army was met with astonishment by the international community. The Sultanate of Feniz declared the Ordlandic response "an irresponsible and disgraceful genuflection before the terrorists which should have better been defeated by all military means." The independence of the Theocracy was the reason for a major discussion within the government of Utania, as the parliament was split between support for Ordland's "peace initiative" and concerns over Ordland's leadership of the ATO, now shaken after "bowing to terrorists".

The several theocrats of the religious states of Xochimechatl have expressed mixed responses, ranging from applaud to condemnation. Solelhada and Ezo also condemned the Ordlandic response. The Ezoan government went as far as to announce that all citizens of the Theocracy were to be expelled from the country. Roads leading from Aros and Sempervirens into the Theocracy of Ordland were also cut.

Another statement by the Ordlandic government in the 11th of February denied that the independence of the Theocracy ammounted to folding to the terrorists' demands: "It has created a simple solution for the end of terrorrism in Ordland without any heavy cost to our national identity, as no one did actually care much about the area inquestion. If it's true it is rewarding terrorism, it is also true that, ultimately, served as a brake in this [terrorist] activity".

The Secretary-General of the Anti-Terrorist Organization, William Almeida, announced his resignation following the independence of the Theocracy.

Sources[]

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13472
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13477
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13482
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13487
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13492
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13496
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13504
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13507
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13508
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13509
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vexillium/conversations/messages/13527

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