The Kalidasia Universe

Episode 3 – Facing the Public

Cadre Three, Albion Economic Prefecture, Sarlet District, Heragul Empire…Two weeks since the fall of Verlanda.

“Good Evening and welcome to the Cadre Central News. I’m Abbi-Lynn and the developing story tonight has been a stampede outside of a grocery center that has left three Heragul dead and two seriously injured, including one Heragul who reportedly shot another in the leg. Only a short while ago, the governor of Cadre Three, Tay-Lyn-Ly, held a press conference discussing the event.”

Video of the governor started to play.

He approached the podium, shot a glance at the teleprompter in front of him and began his speech, “Earlier today, a tragedy occurred outside of a grocery center where many Heragul were lined up looking to purchase food. A disturbance caused by one individual resulted in a shooting and a mass stampede. Three Heragul were killed and another was seriously injured. The injured Heragul is currently under going treatment in a local hospital and they are expected to make a full recovery. Also injured was the individual who started the panic by drawing a weapon. Thanks to the heroic actions of one of the Heragul soldiers at the scene, the attacker was subdued very quickly and there is no doubt in my mind that he saved the lives of many Heragul. The thoughts of Cadre government officials are with the victim’s families of this tragedy.”

As the Governor made a short pause, the camera panned to Kee-Lix-Hale, who was standing motionless like a tree trunk in a line of Heragul behind the Governor.

Tay-Lyn-Ly continued his prepared statement, “Nether the less, safety of all the citizens of Cadre is my top priority. The threat of a Surakari attack is real and while I have complete confidence is the navy’s of the Albion economic prefecture, I must also be confident in Cadre’s own military to provide protection of its citizens. In re-evaluating my military budget, I realized I have overlooked the needs of the ground security forces. A new budget will be submitted to the assembly that will make sure our ground troops not only have equipment needed to do their job, but the training to approach and resolve all dangerous situations. Thank you for attending today. Any further questions about the charges facing the suspect from today’s incident will be addressed by the security chief who will be up here shortly.”

As the camera zoomed back from the podium, the Governor quickly stepped down from the podium and hurried away into the nearby building.

Abbi-Lynn started to add her commentary, “There you go, that was the Governor speaking moments ago about the tragic situation that occurred earlier today. After the Governor finished his speech, the security chief took the podium to answer any questions about the current case. Based on what he said, we know the attacker operated alone and that he is believed to be suffering from some type of mental illness. Currently, the suspect is undergoing an evaluation and the details of the charges will not be released until the completion of the tests. When we return from the break, we will be joined by our team of panelists to discuss not only what the situation that occurred today means for Cadre, but also what the new effect the new budget will have on our military forces.”