As the clocks struck midnight on November the 5th, the statue of Lady Justice, which
sat atop the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, more commonly known as the Old
Bailey, was ceremoniously destroyed.
While claimed by the government to be a scheduled demolition, the act was in reality, the work
of a masked anarchist.
Over the following year, this man would almost single-handedly dismantle the fascist party
which ruled over the United Kingdom, ending the reign of repression, persecution, and
terror of Norsefire.
The rise of Norsefire as the central and later only pillar of British politics came amidst
worldwide economic collapse and war.
Great Britain was able to avoid the worst of the devastation which swept across the
rest of the word, but still suffered tremendously.
In a biological attack, a virulent pathogen was released in the Three Waters treatment
plant, a station in the London Underground, and a primary school named St. Mary’s.
Over 100,000 people were killed across the British Isles by the “St. Mary’s Virus”,
and the entire country fell into fear and paranoia.
Promising to restore order and bring those responsible for the virus to justice, the
Norsefire party came to power after winning a stunning 87% of the popular vote.
Advocating far-reaching policies centered around the tenets of fascism, Norsefire suppressed
and eventually removed the democratic institutions of the nation, replacing them with a more
centralized apparatus of a totalitarian single party state.
The party leveraged ethnic, racial, and religious tensions to perpetuate the atmosphere of fear
that had gripped the country and used this to justify opening a network of detention
centers and concentration camps.
Minorities were quickly cast as scapegoats and Norsefire began drawing a list of “undesirables”
who were sent to these camps on mass.
Africans, Asians, Jews, Muslims, homosexuals, political leftists and anyone who spoke out
against Norsefire were taken from their homes, imprisoned, and often tortured.
In addition to this systematic persecution, Norsefire introduced a thinly veiled concept
of Nordic superiority.
England and the Anglo-Saxon race was seen as the heart of the nation, espoused in the
common slogan “England Prevails”.
Such actions horrified the more moderate elements of the nation, but the miraculous discovery
of a cure for the St. Mary’s virus shortly after their election bolstered support for
Norsefire and gave them the credibility necessary to remove the last institutions which might
oppose their continued governance.
The office of Prime Minister was abolished, and the position of “High Chancellor”
was created in its place.
Adam Sutler, who had served as the Under Secretary for Defense, was named the first High Chancellor
of the new regime.
While Sutler wielded considerable power, the effectiveness of his office was obstructed
by the often-competing ambitions of other powerful state institutions.
The largest divisions either reformed or created by Norsefire were given anatomical nicknames,
such as the Finger, Eye, Ear, Nose and Mouth.
These were intensely specialized branches, intended mainly to keep Norsefire in power.
The Finger served as the nation’s intelligence and security agency and was perpetually involved in
covert operations against the government’s political opponents.
Agents of this division, known as Fingermen, regularly patrolled the streets of London
and other major cities, conducting security sweeps and enforcing a nationwide curfew.
The Eye and Ear were responsible for maintaining the country’s pervasive visual and audio
surveillance networks respectively and often dispatched alongside one another to maintain
Norsefire’s grip on its citizenry.
The Nose acted as the nation’s police force, overseeing a reformed Scotland Yard and other
elements of former British police services.
Its officers were often at odds with the Fingermen, and inter-service rivalry was rife between
the two groups.
The Mouth was Norsefire’s state propaganda apparatus, charged with overseeing the nation’s
media networks and censoring or altering potentially damaging news stories.
Pro-Norsefire political commentators were the foundation of every major news show, repeating
government talking points and ridiculing any opposition to the regime.
The final year of Norsefire’s existence was marked by the failure of these divisions
to capture the man responsible for the destruction of the Old Bailey.
Branded a terrorist by Norsefire, the man known only as V nevertheless captivated the
general public and his dramatic actions against the government revitalized opposition to the
state.
V even briefly seized control of the Mouth’s propaganda network, and in an address broadcast
nationwide, demanded that all those opposed to Norsefire march on the Houses of Parliament
on November 5th the following year.
Through their investigation of V, less radical elements of Norsefire discovered that some
of the highest members of the party, including Adam Sutler himself, had been directly complicit
in the release of the St. Mary’s virus.
The virus had been developed through the torture and medical experimentation of prisoners,
while its cure profited those same party members who had heavily invested in various pharmaceutical
companies.
Amidst the unravelling of this conspiracy, the increasingly harsh measures undertaken
by Norsefire to apprehend V enraged the British public.
The nation descended once more into anarchy and when November 5th finally arrived, hundreds
of thousands marched on the Capital.
With Sutler and his cabal of party leaders already executed by V, the demonstrators arrived
at Parliament unopposed.
As the clock struck midnight, an explosive laden train was detonated below the building,
ushering in a new era and forever destroying the reign of Norsefire.
In this final act, V rekindled the ancient truth that ideas are more powerful than bullets,
and that people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid
of their people.
The Templin Institute investigates alternate worlds and realities.
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