By: Daiyu Tang
On the 29th June 2024 a confrontation between the Hathian Police Department (‘HPD’) and the Rejects (A notorious Hathian gang) culminated in a vicious explosion of violence at Rader Records that apparently involved a destroyed HPD vehicle and extensive damage to property.
Within Hathian I am reminded of a game I played once (I forget the name) where you move a small blob to try and absorb food to grow, eventually absorbing other player blobs in a race to become the biggest blob. Hold that mental image with me reader as we will return to it in a little.
Guns
No, not the kind that I’d be happy to photograph for the next Mr. Hathian competition, we’re talking about the deadly kind and in particular the long-guns, those that have no purpose other than to take life. Pistol wounds? You might survive those, especially in Hathian, but AR-15 and AK-47s? That’s bringing heat that really has no place here.
Now, within Hathian it’s not that hidden that these type of guns do from time to time get traded or appear. Whether it’s rumours on the Dark-Web, or actual tangible proof in grainy photos of deals down by the docks… we know they are out there, but we all rather hope they’re not being pointed at us. Of course this also concerns HPD themselves, who when required, have been known to arm-up to the point of being able to invade a small country. Some will however have sympathy for law enforcement having recourse to an extensive box of tricks, especially when the danger they face is so high.
The Observer was contacted by the HPD in relation to the recent raid and provided both an officer to interview and other relevant details, including evidence of what was alleged to be recovered from the raid. Sadly, the Observer had not been able to be present during the actual raid itself, and considering the level of resistance and violence, that was probably no bad thing, but this does mean our report is based on limited corroborative evidence.
Interviewing
Observer: “So, we heard there was a big deal down with the Rejects? Can you shed any light on the whys and wherefores? Why move on them, how did it pan out and what tripped them into being arrested this time?”
The officer paused and having met Hiroshi before he has a certain way about him, that is a bit different to some of the other officers. Certainly not an attention seeker, he never-the-less has invited curiosity before with his wearing of ceremonial swords at Krystal’s party and ever polite, he has not come across as some of the ‘dark names’ might have done in this paper before…
CPL. Hiroshi: “Well… this city has a gun problem but as long as the pistols are being used most gunshot wounds are survivable, considering that an AK-47 gives even the US military pause as their armour is not always going to be able to stop that round, imagine if the Rejects were using them on ordinary citizens? Also I’m not sure if they had a one shot rifle or a rocket launcher, but a police SUV was destroyed and that is not that easy to do as they are built to withstand most of the weapons in this room for a time..”
It’s a fair point readers, one group (blob?) has to be the best armed and the largest and the question is who do you believe that should be? People will fall with their families, or their blood or their sense of morals or duty and in Hathian there cannot be any clear answer. We’ll come back to this more in time…
Observer: “Mass murdering guns… not good to have these things around at all… So I guess a good thing to have them cleared from the streets for now. I also heard you were leading part of this raid then, what can you tell me about that? Is it your first time in command of something like that?”
Hiroshi: “Yes these are the bad guns the city of Hathian does not need on our streets being used against everyday folk. The HPD may use them from time to time but each case we do is carefully considered, debated and monitored and often even if a rifle is authorized it is only with rubber bullets or rock salt. Far less lethal options then the bullets these weapons were made to shoot and were being shot as us… I know a number of Rejects and officers were injured in the encounter and the Rejects made things worse by retreating to the roof of Rader Records at one point attempting to force us to collapse the building.
I’m grateful that the Rejects will not be able to use these weapons on everyday law-abiding citizens.”
Observer: “They wanted to collapse it on themselves? Was that not an inviting target for HPD? And also, you missed the bit about you, about you being a leader of a team? Shy? You can tell our readers something cool… how did it feel, what was the best part and what, one thing, would you tell them about yourself to help build positive reputation in this city that, no offense, mostly thinks all of HPD should be gone… It’s good to have positive outcomes and positive role models!”
Hiroshi: “Collapsing maybe would be the right decision but nature abhors a vacuum and who knows if what replaced it would be worse. As for being a leader… the feeling of being in charge of something especially something like this is a very intense and exciting feeling. That said, it is a nerve wracking one as well as you have to worry about your mission, the objective, the men and women under your command. A good leader feels responsible for them… it can be a heavy weight. The best part of being the leader though is at the end of the day you can point and say directly I and my team did this and it made a difference. As for me personally at the end of every day I want to be able to look at the city and say ‘Yeah I made it better then it was in the morning.”
‘Nature abhors a vacuum’, a fair statement in the context of humanity. Things will fill a space, much like that blob that will eat and eat until it is the largest. I wonder though if removing, or rather reducing the Reject blob and increasing that free space for either HPD or ‘A N Other’ group, would be a good thing. Based on Hiroshi’s reply, the answer should be yes; it was a statement of faith and of good order and of respect…
Hiroshi: “As for the HPD being gone… It is not perfect, far from it but when things like this happen, we are the ones who get called to clean it up. So I would ask each one of you to try to leave the city better at the end of the day then it was at the beginning, doesn’t have to be something massive like being a mayor or business owner but I’m sure everyone can think of one thing they can do to make the city a better place together.”
Music to my jaded ears dear reader. Leave something better than when you found it. Make the city a better place… And a ring of acknowledgement that HPD isn’t always as good as it can be, and is far from it sometimes… Truth, but also truth that we turn to 911 when he need their help, so as I (and most of my Observer colleagues) have said, reform of the HPD and praise of the good they *can* do is important and Hiroshi here shows a calmer exterior than many others… Good on him.
Heading For Jail Or Bail
Eyewitnesses reported that the HPD arrived in numbers are had gas and high powered weaponry ready. It wasn’t clear who was inside the store during the confrontation, although a few runners were seen fleeing towards the Projects.
Our investigation and evidence provided indicated that the raid not only collected the firearms on display above but also involved the arrest of quite a few of the Rejects on various charges. Those arrested appeared to include quite a few, although we do understand that bail was forthcoming for some.
“May their family lines be cursed with a hundred years of dishonor for their actions, most disappointed.”
Hiroshi – When speaking about Piper, Bryce and Donta
It seems that not all the Rejects were accounted for in this raid, HPD informs us that some fled (escaped might be a fairer word?) and were not pursued a tactic HPD indicated was to ensure that stray rounds weren’t fired at civilian areas. Two females were also involved heavily, but at the time of the interview their names were not provided, though some may know them from photos.
After the event, in later July I visited Rader for a comment from the Rejects:
“We were all having a peaceful BBQ out on the lot when SWAT showed up. Rather heavy handed while none of us were doing anything but enjoying some food. After opening fire on us, we all scattered for safety. They went as far as starting a fire that has taken us weeks to repair and get the store back open. Started a fire to simply get people off the roof that scrambled up there so they would not be shot… So as far as these guns you’re asking me about, I’m trying to figure out how they are offering up photo evidence of them…”
Bryce
A fair view if it was true and as Bryce said to me after this quote, people make up their minds, the news just gives different approaches. It’s been a few weeks as well, perhaps Hathian citizens this has already firmed into your thoughts one way or another? Heroic HPD or Hapless Assault On BBQ? You can decide…
We also obtained various CCTV and other shots of the raid, which show how action packed it was. ((Photos would be blurred where injuries exist, and for faces of both HPD officers and Rejects… apologies did not have OOC time to do this! Many thanks to the provider of the photos! All images can be expanded by click and can also be viewed on Donda’s photo stream oocly!))
The Blob
Reader, I said we would come back to this… This graphic from a popular game (which as I got to the end of the article I had remembered as agar.io) perhaps sums up both what Hiroshi was speaking to when he talked to a vacuum and what I speak to when I talk to the blob.
We have to be sure that the blob that is the largest is the right one as citizens and despite success and good sorts, we should not forget Hathian Against Corruption and the litany of other issues the largest blob attracts.
Dear reader, be safe and perhaps in a way you are for a bit this week and the next with less guns and danger in the streets, but watch out, lest you be consumed by the growing blue blob. Unless that’s your kink… For me? I just will hold onto the words that could be said by anyone, “Leave Hathian Better Than You Found It”. If we all did that? We’d all have plenty and not need to prey on each other.
– Daiyu Tang; Editor.
((OOC: Thanks to all Reject and HPD players. Many thanks to Dontavius Streeter (joshua.mccallister) for photos and logs and Hiroshi as well and Aubin. Also all noted below, apologies if I’ve missed anyone –
Team HPD: Phillip Aubin, HvzeResident, AiyanaElara, Daergothresident, BlitheblueResident, IllusionEternalResident, MarsKesslinger, Xanderdraft117Resident, alexandermiloresident, JefferyResident, AphroditeShieldmaiden, cedricfraltoResident
Team Reject: ChasielResident, BryceCandenResident, CoyoteDawnResident, Piper Rewell, JoshuaMcCallister, MissYummyCandyResident, KotoMohindi, iseeyoub4 Resident ))
