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.

Speeches

Notable speeches on the Day of Rage

Speaker	City	Venue	Speech
Daniyal ibn Daniyal	Chryse
Ayesha al-Osman	Chryse		"People of Benacia! I come before you today with a heart laden by the horrific events we have all borne witness to in recent days. Our mission of diplomatic reconciliation to Shireroth, undertaken with peaceful intentions despite prior misunderstandings, has been repaid with an act of abhorrent treachery! You have seen how the deranged Salome, still styling herself a "Kaiseress", welcomed our delegation led by the noble Abner Shas. With mocking disdain for all civilised convention, she publicly executed Shas and his entourage as though they were condemned criminals rather than diplomats! This atrocity strikes not just at our honour, but at the very foundations of international discourse and human decency! Let me be clear - no grievance, no matter how inflamed by accident or mishap, could ever justify such a violation of the most basic codes governing relations between states. Whatever fault was occasioned by the tragic Sansabury incident, that is entirely negated, overwhelmed, and rendered utterly irrelevant by the barbarity Salome and her cronies have since willingly embraced! We had extended the hand of dialogue and rapprochement. Shireroth has responded by revealing itself as a rouge tyranny, enslaved to the whims of psychopathic leadership devoid of any restraint or respect for human values. A force of chaos that threatens to plunge our world back into an age of savagery! Therefore, we can no longer indulge any illusions about the Shirerithian regime. It has forfeited all rights, dismantled all protections, and renounced its status as a member of the community of civilised nations. At what value shall its claims of sovereignty hereafter then be set at? To any Shirerithian nationals presently residing within the Union-State, you are granted a window of forty-eight hours in which to pledge yourselves to the Union Covenant and renounce that decrepit blight you hail from. Any who fail to do so, who do not elect to prudently depart, shall be subject to internment for the duration of this rupture in relations. You will be treated with dignity, but the security implications are too severe to permit unrestrained residency. And to the Shirerithian regime itself - be forewarned that full accountability shall be enacted! Salome and every governing extremist who participated in this criminal atrocity before the Golden Mango Throne will be held to implacable judgement. There will be no hiding place for those whose mania has inscribed their names alongside history's most reviled butchers! Unlike the Shirerithian state, the Union-State shall not abandon all pretences of human morality and civilised values, even in our outrage. Their remaining diplomats on Benacian soil shall be permitted to depart safely with their lives, despite the gross infamy of the Imperial Republic they serve. We are a union of coordination, harmony, and order - not merely savages who would embrace naked vengeance and retaliation without any due process! But let me be equally clear - our restraint and principled conduct is not an act of weakness, but of strength. Of conscious discipline and belief in our cause's purity against such repugnant malignancy! Our patient resolved will outlast the fleeting, desperate fury of those degenerates openly embracing state terrorism and crimes against humanity! We are the inheritors of the greatest struggles for the Human Supremacy and Harmonious Society on Micras, stretching back into antiquity. That noble legacy will not be sullied or overwhelmed by the violent actions of a rabid autocrat in [Raynor's Keep]]! We will remain unbroken by this barbarous act! The menace of the Shirerithian tyranny shall be overcome and civilised community of humanity redeemed from its madness! Justice will ultimately prevail through our persevering determination! We shall endure! Humanity itself shall prevail!"
Jahangir Khan	Ardashirshahr	Palace of One Thousand Columns
Zacharias Avon-El	Merensk