Day of Rage (Benacian Union)

The Day of Rage was a series of mass rallies and demonstrations held across the Benacian Union on 12.I.1731 AN in reaction to the shocking public execution of the head of the Benacian legation in Shirekeep, Abner Shas, by Kaiseress Salome of Shireroth days earlier. Attendance at the primary rallies in Ardashirshahr, Chryse, and Merensk was mandated for all able-bodied and meritorious subjects of those urban bailiwicks.

Background

On 1.I.1731 AN, after the Journey to the West ended in tragedy with the accidental downing of an Imperial aircraft carrying Shirerithian princes Rubin and Ichirō, a furious Salome summoned Shas to the Great Hall of Raynor's Keep. In a shocking breach of diplomatic protocols, the encounter was broadcast live across Shirerithian media channels.

Upon Shas delivering the expected formulaic message of condolences and acknowledgement of responsibility, Salome skipped the anticipated platitudes of reconciliation. Instead, she accessed the Mobile Command System "Chrysos" and appeared to activate a series of strike orders. In a chilling statement, she declared "as smoke vanishes, so let them vanish, as wax melts before the fire" - widely interpreted as the authorisation of massive conventional or nuclear retaliation against the Benacian Union.

In the final horrifying moments captured by the broadcast, Salome had Shas and his entourage forcibly brought before the dais and beheaded by the palace guard. The gruesome scene, and implication of imminent apocalyptic Shirerithian retaliation, sent shockwaves across the Benacian Union. It prompted the Benacian Security Council to immediately institute the highest level of alert short of armed conflict.

Buildup

In the days after the incident, outrage and calls for vengeance against Shireroth grew throughout Benacian society amidst the prospect of looming armageddon. Shas' murder represented an unimaginable defilement of diplomatic norms and Salome's actions were viewed as those of a deranged tyrant risking civilisational cataclysm with her threats of "smoke and wax."

With incredible swiftness, the cadres of the Nationalist and Humanist Party and domestic security apparatus of the state moved to capitalise on this visceral public resentment. Plans were laid for a massive public spectacle that could channel the outrage into popular support for a hardline stance against Shireroth and prepare the populace for whatever may occur next.

To maximise impact, attendance was mandated for all able-bodied and meritorious subjects who were physically able to attend the mass rallies planned across three of the core population centres of Ardashirshahr, Chryse, and Merensk. Severe civil penalties and privation were threatened for any resident in those bailiwicks who failed to present themselves without authorised dispensation. Workplaces, schools, universities, and public venues were shut down while public transportation arranged to convene everyone in the designated locations.

The Rallies

A vast crowd of the loyalist cadres marching through the streets for an anti-Shireroth rally

The three rallies were streamed across the Benacian Home Service Network, with stages and viewing platforms constructed to host the gathered throngs of outraged subjects. Ranting speakers took to the podiums, whipping the masses into fervour with furious denunciations of Shirerithian perfidy and mockery of Salome's capricious instability. Towering effigies of the Kaiseress were burned as onlookers chanted ritual curses in all the permissible languages.

In Ardashirshahr, the crowds stretched along Victory over the Elfinshi Avenue and surrounding boulevards despite the chill winter weather. Chants of "Death to the Snake" and "Avenge Shas" shook the air as banners with slogans like "Never Forgive" and "No Mercy for Madness" waved above the multitudes. Sporadic violence saw pacifist groups subject to assaults and dispersal by security forces.

The atmosphere in the capital Chryse was no less fevered, with waves of raised fists greeting each fresh call for retaliation. The focal point was a colossal-scale parade float recreating Shas' murder, with periodic enactments of his decapitation met by howls of outrage. When finally set ablaze and pushed into the sea, the float's fiery ruin was cheered as a harbinger of Shireroth's certain destruction.

Meanwhile, in Merensk, the assembled crowds endured hours of fiery rhetoric from high-ranking officials and party cadres. The Humanist ideologue Thorstein Edmundsøn railed against Shirerithian depravity in an epic three-hour diatribe, declaring the time for patient endurance at an end. At its crescendo, thunderous chants of "Endsieg" shook the bitterly cold air as the raucous defiance of the masses echoed across the Centrum district.