u/papjernik

uuuugghh... why am I nakedss oouggh build structuers wit telepathyyy ougght grey ass officer whateva man.

Story and such:

The following is a transcription of a police interrogation with the suspected assassin of the Empire politician Shinzo Mabe, the killing was religiously motivated, as the suspected admitted himself, he felt as though the Empire is straying away from God and his teachings by, amongst other things, relying on firearms during warfare too much and forgoing the way of the blade established during the crusades, the suspect refused an attorney.

*Police chief enters the interrogation room*

"This conversation is being monitored, anything that you say or do can be used against you in the court of law"

"Understood"

"You previously admitted to having been motivated by faith, care to expand on that?"

"What is there to expand on?, it's a mockery what the Empire is doing in that war"

"A mockery?"

"Of real combat, there used to be a time when a warrior could die on their own terms, looking onto their opponents eyes, making sure that he knows that they are of the Lord and that they shall see the kingdom of Heaven and that nothing but suffering awaits their murderer on the other side, or to gaze onto their fatherland and send prayers to the one waiting for them so that they may know peace after their passing"

"You don't suppose that we can just go back to that time, do you?"

"Who is to say, the Nation is still using swords on a massive scale, Lancers are a core part of military, every warrior is still equipped with a knife, humans yearn to be free, free from the horrors that gunpowder has brought upon us, the horror of unceremonious death, no time to say a prayer so save your soul, no time to apologize to God for spilling blood, no time to think weather it's right to pull the trigger"

"Interesting, but how is Mabe related to all this?"

"... He wasn't my first choice, his open adoration of the crime against humanity that is the 'Judgement' rifle made him deserving of the ultimate punishment but my real target was whoever first created it, unfortunately such information is only available to people more higher up than me"

"Would you say that the incendiary variant of 'Judgement' is somehow more moral to use than the original?"

"The only reason as to why it has gathered such a terrible reputation is that those of weak will are afraid, afraid of pain, of dying, of needing to meet with the Lord, there is nothing more moral than giving the ultimate mercy to your opponent and making him understand that his life is about to end, he can either repent in that time or die a sinner"

"Aren't you being hypocritical? you murdered a man in cold blood, with a firearm no less"

"... I was already a sinner, I don't believe anything can be done to help me, I've come to peace with it"

"Isn't repenta-"

*Interrogation room door opens and a detective asks the Chief to leave the suspect alone, reportedly there was a breakthrough*

"We will continue this conversation at a later date, thank you for your cooperation, we will se each other again shortly"

"..."

*Police Chief leaves the room*

AUTOPSY REPORT:

Tesuyo Matami

Died as a result of self inflicted amatoxin poisoning while being momentarily unmonitored during his interrogation, the amatoxin was sourced, according to a recent uncovering, from his own leftover supplies that were issued to him as an Empire Mortician, he deserted the war three months ago and buried his weapon, 'Judgement' Breech Rifle, near a local church, Tesuyo was posthumously branded as a deserter and his Empire citizenship was revoked.

The story:

Subtlety isn't a word that your average bandit is familiar with, after all why put in the effort to create something sophisticated when a perfectly imperfect tool will do the job just fine, "In our fight for true freedom we shan't surrender to the draconian norms and standard establish by both the Empire and the Nation" wrote Timothy Kaczyński, an infamous train robber, revolutionary and political assassin.

His methods and writings were frowned at by the Empire and the Nation alike, seen as, at the same time, a mad plot to weaken the resolve to fight of Empire soldats with tall tales of world peace and a return to a world long gone and as a scheme created by the wretched cultists to sabotage Nations factories and manufacturing plants by lying to them about their supposed duty to humanity in not producing tools made to destroy it.

But these claims were null when confronted with his biggest offense, numerous assassinations of Nation, Empire and Solace officials, often performed by a package with an improvised explosive inside sent out via courier, these murders were a part of his "God given duty to purge the Earth of the rot that consumes it", his actions inspired numerous bright eyed bandits to throw their lives away in hope of taking out somebody deemed as high up the ladder before they go themselves.

More or less crack-job explosives were always a part of the bandit's arsenal, but after Kaczyński's famous death after his successful suicide bombing of a shock squad assembled to bring him to justice by allied Empire and Solace forces, the amount of bandit attacks involving improvised explosives skyrocketed for a while, with time the difference disappeared but to this day it's common practice amongst the bandits to inscribe some very specific words on their self made grenades.

"The Sleepless War and it's consequences have been a disaster for the human race."

Lore's here:

Empire's pride and glory has seen it's fair bit of modification as a result of it's timeless design, reliability and the sheer amount of the revolvers present on the battlefield. From makeshift silencers to rudimentary stocks, plenty was done to the thing, but a certain modification had a specific upside that put it a level above the rest.

Hunting for small game was a crucial part of life in the caves, food was scarce and expensive, so having a reliable and economical way of putting some grub one one's plate was a necessity and while 'Okhotnik''s and 'Whisper''s of the world did the job just fine, for many it was still a big investment to get an entire new gun just for proper hunting, and so a rather cheap modification that transplanted the SMLE scope from the 'Volk' Scoped Rifle to a 'Grace' Service Revolver found great success withing the soldiers if the Empire.

It's usage was spread out mostly evenly between the ranks accept for one group, Jaegers, the new 'Grace' was a smash hit withing their members and many used it not only for hunting or just as a more cumbersome backup, but utilized the scope to gain an advantage from a distance while having ample space for an additional firearm.

Who exactly came up with the idea of attaching a large scope to a handgun is unclear, Empire maintains that 'Grace' Hunting Revolver is a product of a divinely inspired Empire gunsmith, Nation members uphold that it was the result of worker's in the national 'Talon' factory coming together to plan out a firearm that would end starvation amongst the troops, but the truth was much less glamours, it was a Solace Courier who, in need of food on one of his long treks, first attached the scope to the handgun.