Raven parked her FBI SUV just outside the massive wall of St. Ignatius Academy, and stepped out.
She crouched down and examined the slightly loose earth, paying no heed to it staining her oversized pants and hoodie.
She dug carefully with her small hands, shifting the loose earth aside.
"Jackpot!" she crowed, as the sight of a decomposing face ca into view, and the sll of decay hit her nostrils.
She quickly pulled out her phone.
"Senator Goldberg, call the press. I’ve found the bodies," she said, vibrating with glee.
----
Father Joseph sat in the Principal’s office. His head in his hands.
Television crews had camped outside the campus, going crazy of the discovery of a mass grave just outside the campus walls.
He lifted his head, powered on his computer, and opened the security cara logs.
He watched the footage of the semi truck crashing through the main gate, and the thugs pouring out of it.
The footage showed them in a firefight with Olga and the campus security officers, before they were captured, tied to Olga’s saddle bow, and dragged around the campus.
He watched as Olga executed them one by one, and the drone scooping up their bodies and dumping them into the pit.
"I should be feeling outraged, but I can’t help but feel a sense of catharsis and satisfaction," he thought, as he closed the security cara logs.
He flicked open the intercom. "Abel, Catherine, can you co to my office please?" he said.
The door opened, and Father Abel and Catherine walked in.
"Have the two of you seen the security cara footage?" he asked.
"We have," said Father Abel, his expression apprehensive.
Father Joseph clenched his fists.
"Those animals tried to break into our house. Our sanctuary, while it was still being built. I ask you both, would they have shown any rcy had they not been stopped?" he asked.
"No. They ca here with intent to kill," said Father Abel, his voice firm.
"I agree with Father Abel," said Catherine.
"Then we are all on the sa page. Abel, get a bullhorn. It’s ti we get rid of that circus outside our walls," said Father Joseph.
----
Father Joseph stood at the top of the battlent above the main gate, a bullhorn in his hand.
"Attention, mbers of the press. I am Father Joseph, the principal of St. Ignatius Academy, you have co here on an ill quest to find a scandal, but you will find none! The bodies you have found are the refuse of scum who launched a vicious and unprovoked attack on this campus when it was still being built.
The security personnel acted with valor and courage. I implore you to leave, and seek the truth, rather than sensationalism," he said, his voice booming through the bullhorn.
Senator Monica Goldberg raised her own bullhorn: "Scum! He called them scum! These were human beings! They had lives! Families! Children! This is the curse of gentrification! Even the n of the cloth have lost their compassion! Demolition! Revolution! Justice!" she shouted, her voice shrill and angry, as the dia and crowd of spectators went into a frenzy.
"That rhetoric sounds familiar," thought Father Joseph, as he watched the crowd grow more agitated.
Stones and mud were soon being thrown futilely against the high walls.
"Mr. von Eisenhart, it appears that we are under siege. Prepare accordingly," said Father Joseph, as he stepped down from the battlent.
"Yes, Father," replied Mr. von Eisenhart, the head of campus security. He flicked open his radio.
"Deploy spike strips, electrify the fence, activate anti-drone asures!" he barked into the radio.
The thin wires that ran along the crenelations of the wall sparked and humd with electricity.
Spike strips sprang up from the driveway between the security booms and the main gate.
The news cara drones that were buzzing around the campus seized and crashed to the ground as EMP generators and signal jamrs in the watchtowers and steeples activated.
----
"Ladies and gentlen, I’ll get right to the point. I’m done pandering to politicians and activists. The last ti I did that, this school was overrun by animals," said Father Joseph, as he stood before the assembled faculty and staff in the main exam hall.
"From now on, we will run this school with the sa discipline and order that it was founded on. If any of you have a problem with that, you can leave now," he said, his voice firm and unwavering.
The hall was silent, and nobody moved.
Father Joseph relaxed slightly, and continued.
"Now, I shall be releasing the security cara footage of the attack on the campus, and the subsequent actions taken by our security personnel. I expect you all to support them, and not cower in fear of the dia," he said.
Jennifer Walters, the head of the Humanities departnt, raised her hand.
"Father Joseph, is that really required? From what I understand, the person who killed those thugs was a Sirius Software security officer, not one of our campus security personnel," she said, her voice trembling slightly.
"Miss Walters, are you suggesting that we throw the woman who led the defense of this campus to the wolves?" asked Father Joseph, his voice cold and steely.
"She dragged those n behind a horse like a barbarian from the Middle Ages!" protested Miss Walters, her voice rising in pitch.
"And thanks to those barbarians in the Middle Ages, defending the Roman Catholic Church, you can sit here and lecture rather than turning tricks for so Sultan in his harem!" shot back Father Joseph, his voice rising in anger.
"But -" Miss Walters began, but Father Joseph cut her off.
"They ramd the gates with a semi truck. They had machine pistols, and they were ready to kill everyone in that video feed! Those ten that you see in the footage were the only ones who survived the crash of the truck, and instead of surrendering, they charged out, guns blazing!" he thundered, as Miss Walters shrank back in her seat.
Father Joseph took a deep breath, and turned to Catherine.
"Miss Davis, I would like you to post this footage on our social dia accounts, along with testimonials from the security personnel who were present during the attack. Let reason prevail over frenzy and theater," he said.
Father Abel raised his hand.
"Father Joseph, I would suggest that we use this incident as an admissions pitch. I’m sure there would be parents who would want their children to be educated in a school that has a zero-tolerance policy towards ard assault and criminals," he said.
"An excellent point, Abel. Miss Davis, add co up with a strategy for that as well," said Father Joseph.
Miss Walters finally found her voice again.
"Father Joseph, I understand your pain from the previous incident, but I feel that you are crossing the line here. We cannot be seen to be endorsing summary execution without due process!" she said.
Catherine stepped forward, her heels clicking sharply against the polished stone floor.
She switched on the massive screen at the front of the hall to show the live security feed from outside the campus walls.
The screen showed the mob of protesters, hurling stones at the walls, while others were spray-painting obscene slogans on the walls.
Police or any form of law enforcent were nowhere to be seen.
"As a professor of history, Miss Walters, can you tell if that looks like civilization where things like due process can work to you?" asked Catherine, as Miss Walters paled.
"Make no mistake, I am not endorsing vigilantism, or summary execution. But what I can, and will defend, is the right of this school to protect its premises and the students entrusted to our care. And if our security needs to use lethal force to do that, then so be it!" said Father Joseph, his tone final.
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