Assasination of Sir Nigel Whisketh-Forthersqueue

Sir Nigel Whisketh-Forthersqueue, owner of the Royal Copper mines and Libery Party member, was assasinated by a car bomb on May 11, 1950 while he was escaping a shootout at the Sir Nigel Memorial Labour Camp, then called the Sir David Boyd Memorial Asbestos Mine. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The assassination was planned and orchestrated by the Republian Freedom Corps in cooperation with Tom Krause as a revenge killing for a recent court decision to outlaw communism. Owen Aqwon and Tom Krause were both convicted of the crime and caught - the Krause family was killed around 1952, however Aqwon was able to escape and go into hiding.

## Background

Following a 1950 court decision that led to communism becoming outlawed, many members of the former Socialist Republic of Republia party suddenly found themselves wanted criminals on short notice and with little options of escape. This led to growing hatred from former members of the party against many politicians from other parties who voted for the decison, leading to the formation of the anarcho-communist terror group Republian Freedom Corps, a move spearheaded by former politician Owen Aqwon.

The group's first target was decided to be Sir Nigel due to his involvement in getting communism outlawed, as well as his status as a wealthy capitalist in Republia - many from the former party felt his wealth was unequally distributed, and that said wealth was largely from the exploitation of poor workers. Said sentiment also led to the involvement of Tom Krause, a successful businessman who held a grudge against Sir Nigel.

## Assasination

The assassination happened on May 11, 1950, while Sir Nigel was performing a routine visit of the Sir David Boyd Memorial Asbestos Mine under the supervision of many prison guards. As he was overseeing the facility, two RFC fighters, Musa Masegona and Ade Dlamini, arrived outside the mine in a bakery truck, disguised as bakers. Carrying a Lebel Model 1886 hidden inside a baguette, Masegona broke into the mine and began shooting at Sir Nigel and guards stationed in the control tower, while seeking refuge in the worker barracks. Meanwhile, Dlamini, using the shooting as a distraction, rigged a copper pipe bomb in the trunk of Sir Nigel's 1924 Versta Specter, connecting the bomb's blasting cap to the vehicle's taillights.

Masegona's shootout lasted around 10 minutes, during which he managed to kill prison guard Greyson McDonald, before being gunned down by guards. Sir Nigel and his driver Hermann Himmel was then quickly escorted to his Versta specter to escape, during which Ade Dlamini, correctly guessing that Masegona had died, made a getaway in the bakery truck, going unnoticed due to the chaos. Though it is rumored Sir Nigel may have noticed parts of the bomb, he was ushered in and driven off by Himmel too fast for anyone to inspect the vehicle.

As the specter rounded the first turn down the mountain, Himmel stepped on the brakes, sending power to the specter's tallights and detonating the pipe bomb, instantly killing Sir Nigel, who was sitting in the rear seat, and mortally wounding Himmel. First responders were quickly notified by prison guards, many of which witnessed the explosion, and both occupants were rushed to the City Hospital & Healthcare Centre, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

## Aftermath

National mourning was announced for 3 months directly after the bombing, during which any media or activity that involved humor or joy was banned, the most notable of which was public dancing, an activity that soon came to symbolize communism. Furthermore, martial law was imposed and large bounties placed on the capture of Owen Aqwon and Tom Krause for masterminding the assassination, leading both to go into hiding. Aqwon was later drugged and turned in by narcotics dealer Louis-Philippe Chevallier with the help of Wesley Hamilton, however escaped during an RFC siege of the constabulary during Sir Nigel's funeral parade and went into hiding in the Republian jungle. Krause and his family were able to escape abroad, only to be apprehended in South Africa and killed in Republia by the secret police.

Dlamini, after escaping the scene, barricaded himself in the Krause-owned Brickwall Inn along with its residents following martial law, leading to a siege on the property after he was mistaken for Aqwon. An hour long standoff ensued, during which one resident was seriously injured after being hit in the face by glass fragments caused by soldiers firing warning shots into the building, ending with Dlamini being cornered in the inn's master bedroom and gunned down. His and Masegona's bodies were reportedly dumped in the city landfill. The shootout and Kraus's escape from Republia caused the Brickwall Inn to sit abandoned for many years, until it was bought up and refurbished into the DMC bar.

Sir Nigel's death prompted his brother, Sir Winston Whisketh-Forthersqueue, to come to Republia to inherit his business and much of his wealth.

## Funeral

Sir Nigel's coffin was carried in a large funeral parade that ran the entirety of Victoria Avenue, starting at Parliament and going all the way down to the Royal Copper Baracks, which held a large copper statue made in his honor, before returning back to the local cemetery, where he was interred.