Noremacia - Lapeenkoski Border Crossing Incident

2:14am Ruotsan Time,
Gornivetch, Barsol, Alconen, Noremacia

Insurgency Detective Graham Kohloa woke groggily to the blaring of his work phone on the bedside table Next to him. His wife Sarah pushed at his legs with her feet, groaning for the noise to stop. Still half asleep, Graham slapped around on the bedside table for his mobile to shut it off. He hit answer and the noise stopped. His wife, contend curled back into a foetal position. He hadn't even put the phone to his ear yet and he could hear sirens and cries in the background.

Kohloa sat up slowly and the calls for his name on the other end of the phone came louder as he moved the phone towards his ear.

"Ins. Detective Kohloa??... Sir!... Are you therte Mr Kohloa". Graham rubbed his eyes and reached for the glass of water on the bedside.

"Yes, yes, whats the matter? who is this?" He sipped on his glass and waited for the reply on the other end.

"Sir theres been an explosion... An attack. My name is constable Jeremy Holdst from Roncarhver PD. Im at the border crossing into Lapeenkoski and well... Someones bombed the crossing."

With that, Kohloa was awake. A terror attack? Who on earth would target Noremacia. It has been inherently a staple of peace and diplomacy for Millenia. The last terror attack was a mass shooting in Port Hector, but that had been some Noremacian White supremacist with no agenda other than his racism. And that was over 12 years ago. This was big by Noremacian standards. He aslo knew what the Kanadorikans were like. As soon as it involved them, it would be a international spectacle with Noremacian police just a footnote in some Eyjanic Newspaper.
Still having not responded, he jumped out of bed and opened the closet, dragging out an open leather duffelbag out onto the floor and frantically stuffing clothes into it, empty hangars flying left and right. Sarah rolled over and looked at him, he paused for a moment and admired her eyes in the moonlit darkness, glowing like glass. He could see she knew it was something big. He was in a frantic rush and with a face of determination she hadn't seen on him in a long time.

"constable Holdst is it?"

" Yes sir. I believe there is a private plane waiting at Riaan Airfield. I've been told to forward you all the details"

"Good, Im on my way"

Graham pulled the bag up into the bed and sat putting on his shoes. Once he was done he zipped up the bag and turned to his wife, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Now dont you get getting yourself into a heap of trouble mister!" Sarah exclaimed, half jollily and half nervous.

"Dont you worry hun, ill be back in no time." Graham said, picking up his bag and backing towards the door. He reached behind him and turned the handle before pausing. "I love you!" He said, looking at her with an already intense longing, like he had already been without her for weeks.

"I love you too!" Sarah said, blowing him a kiss.

And with that he was out the door. There was a car pulling up as he shut the front door to the house.
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4:26am Ruotsan Time
Somewhere on approach to a private airfield, 10 kilometres out from the Lapeenkoski border.

Graham had just put down the situation brief when his personal phone buzzed. 'God', he thought to himself. The fucking Journo's where already swarming the place, like flies to shit. He opened the Noremacia Sun app in his phone.

BREAKING NEWS: 4 dead and 3 more in critical after Lapeenkohski Border Crossing Truck Bomb

Just hours ago at around 1:34am, Ruotsan time, this morning, a truck bound for Vikita from Roncarhver ran the barricade at the border crossing to Lapeenkohski. Upon impact what is believed to be a homemade explosive device detonated. The blast killed 4 border patrol officers, 3 Noremacian and 1 Kanadorikan. A further 2 Kanadorikan and 1 Noremacian are in critical condition and have just arrived at boka central hospital.



It is not yet known what provoked the attack or whom is behind it, however it is the first terror attack on Noremacian soil in 12 years. Both nations authorities are yet to make an official comment.

Follow us at #NoreSun for updates on this story as it develops

Graham switched his personal mobile to emergency only and put down his phone, looking out the window of the place as it descended into the private airstrip. It looked cold outside. In the distance he could see Smoking, rising in the darkness, illuminated by the remnants of fire and the flashing red and blue of several emergency vehicles. Upon landing, the flight had been relatively smooth, but he couldn't help thinking, this was gonna be a bumpy ride.

Klængur Tandrason
Border Agent, Ministry of Border Security

Spoiler:

A line of cars stretched along Highway 405, creating a ribbon of white headlights that ran into the distance. The moonlight cast long shadows as the rays of light filtered through the pines, extending off the coast beyond the shale bluffs. It was a scene of chaos; sirens screaming in every direction as they frantically weaved their way through traffic to reach the border.

It had been 20 minutes since the blast ripped through the border checkpoint that separated Lapeenkoski from Noremacia. Both sides of the border were abuzz with activity. On the Kanadorikan side, federal helicopters hovered in the air, enforcing a temporary no fly zone over the immediate border region and keeping the media helicopters at bay. Yet the impending traffic was treated as almost an afterthought. A lone traffic officer redirected hordes of automobiles, turning them around in a scene reminding me of David vs Goliath.

The Lapeenkoski-Noremacian border was very lightly guarded. No barbed wire or wall separated the two nations. Yet at this moment more armed guards swarmed the border than had been here in decades. I myself was on duty, an STG-01 assault rifle slung over my shoulder reminding any potential troublemakers that I was authorized to use lethal force.

Of course the citizenry were largely compliant. A few complained when they were asked to turn around, but other than some under the breath muttering, they accepted the orders made by the border agents. The Noremacian nationals attempting to return home were in a particularly tough situation given they were essentially stuck in Lapeenkoski until the border was reopened. While no official solution to this was given yet, we wrote down the contact information and agreed to pay for hotel rooms for those with nowhere to go. After all, it could take days for the government to feel comfortable with opening the border once more.

A fair bit of commotion caught my attention. I turned to face the border, witnessing another agent howling at the driver of a sedan.  His assault rifle was in his hands, pointing directly at the cabin of the car.

"Out of the car! Get out of the car now!"

I rushed over to the scene, breaking out in a full sprint. My gear bounced on my back with each stride I made, making a distinctive thud.

"I said get out of the car!"

As I ran up next to the sedan I noticed that the trunk was open. Inside was what appeared to be several crates, though from my position I couldn't infer what they were. They were nevertheless certainly suspicious.

The agent recognized me and gave an incredibly brief rundown of the situation. "This car is packed with explosives! I'm guessing it was late to the attack and got caught up in traffic."

The driver still remained seated within the car, not complying with the agent's orders. I drew my rifle, fearing that the auto was about to be blown to pieces in a suicide attack. My index finger hovered over the trigger; not quite touching it but close enough I could nearly feel its presence.

"He said get out of the car!" I screeched, lunging towards the driver side window and bashing it in with the butt of my rifle. I grabbed the driver by his tee-shirt, attempting to drag him out but getting caught up on the seatbelt. He did his best to resist, trying to throw me off. I had no clue what his intentions were, but I didn't like the situation at all. My heart was racing, my mind on edge. Was he going to press some hidden button and kill us all?

I didn't want to find out, I smashed my rifle into the man's face, smashing in his nose and splattering blood across the white interior of his vehicle. He swooped over in his seat, knocked out from the impact. I detached the seatbelt and removed him from the car, placing him on the asphalt below.

"Check his wallet. See if he has any ID," the second agent suggested, finally dropping his weapon now that the threat was neutralized. I did just that, patting his pockets to discover a leather wallet. Indeed, an ID card was inside.

"Noremacian," I muttered, intensely studying the card to reveal any additional information. "Look's like he's a Ruot. Dont't they hold a grudge against the other Noremacians?"

"I think," the agent responded, having calmed down considerably. "Let's cuff him and take him in. Maybe he'll squeal on his buddies."

Detective Kohloa,
2:29am Ruotsan Time,
Lapeenkoski Border Crossing, South Ruotsa, Noremacia

I moved along the border chain link fence in a kind of crouched hurry. The plane had landed on a clear strip of dirt about a 5 minute walk from the border checkpoint itself. From the sky there was no chance of landing on the highway on either side of the border due to kilometres of backed up cars. It had looked like a golden snake stretched across the land.

Several men walked with me, guns up and fingers on the triggers. Reports were coming in on my earpiece that Kanadorikan officials had taken a suspect into custody. A lone truck driver. His identity and nationality had yet to be relayed.

As the first agent reached the roadside i immediately saw a horrific site. It was taped of for at least 500m. One could see the firelit smoke billowing from the sky, but as the fire was dying out it was more carnage that inferno. Glass and rubble littered the area directly by the border checkpoint. And blood, stained the road a reddish brown. I was greeted there by Lieutenant Hectar Frisa, who had been in control of the Noremacian side of the checkpoint when the bomb went off.

"Detective Kohloa!" he exclaimed with a weak salute. He was clearly still in shock at the incident. These men were after all Noremacian, and had seen little conflict of any kind. Loosing ones subordinates and friends must have been devastating for the man.

"At ease soldier" I saluted back. He gave a sigh. He was sweating and himself covered in blood. "Why dont you let me take it from here. Get yourself cleaned up and go see the paramedics. Ill keep you posted."

"Thank you sir." the lieutenant saluted again and turned shakily. It looked like the weight of the world had just been removed from his shoulders.

I turned my attention to the entry of the land where the bombe detonated. The burnt out husk of what must have been a mid sized looking moving truck sat smouldering, crushed in part by a collapsed arch of concrete that had supported the roof of the checkpoint. Ash and glass was strewn out for 100m in all directions of the Noremacian side. Less so on the Kanadorikan side. This confirmed that the truck was in fact travelling out of Noremacia and across the border. The explosive was clearly placed in the back of the truck, and with the size and direction of the carnage it would seem it was as big as 5 tons. 4 dead officials, 3 in critical, and over 46 with further injuries, I was surprised more people weren't killed.

I could see through the quivering air that it was still hot. As I moved around to the driver side of the truck there was nothing really left. It looked like there had only been one person in the truck. As i turned i could see the Kanadorikan border security on the other side of the rubble. One of them saw me and said something into their earpieces. I gestured at him, pointing towards the least damaged section of the crossing, near the guard station. here the guards could pass through the border without using the road lanes.

I made my way around to the station just a little further down. Two Noremacian ATO agents guarded the door on the Noremacian Side. They scanned my security pass and authorised my entry, one of them opening the door for me. I stepped into the narrow, sparse hallway and waked towards the Kanadorikan door, the eyes of one aggravated looking Kanadorikan staring at me through the bulletproof 20 by 20 cm window slit.

Noremacian ATO agents: