Do You Know What I Know: a Holiday Timeline

[lordroel]

Dec 17, 2017 12:56:01 GMT stevep said:

Dec 17, 2017 12:38:54 GMT lordroel said:

Also the Elf's are on the North Pole so they might be effected less than the humans, had not toughed about that until now.

  Well a nuclear winter might actually be good for them, if the story was set about OTL rather than 50+ years ago.  Would really hinder global warming and ice-cap melting. 

Unless the United States and the Soviet Union know about them and decide to send some A-bombs towards the North Pole.

[spanishspy]

Livingston Baubler had escaped with enough punch cards, at least he thought. There ought to be somebody interesting in these records, both in the US and in the Soviet Union.

They had retreated to the wastelands outside of the main settlement on the North Pole via an unmarked, covered sleigh, and regrouped with some of his followers.

His followers were quite legion, really. A lot of the North Pole Defense Forces was disillusioned with the continued service of anti-religious regimes.

They agreed that the Red Menace had to be dealt with.

These elves, in the chaos of the explosions and the siege of the Stocking, had made off with a few sleighs. But these were not just sleighs.

They were, in the parlance of the NPDF, troughs. Taken from the reindeer feeding bins, their munitions were those of human tanks, and with the cannons to match. The reindeer needed special hearing protection and body armor, and they pulled the massive armored contraption, still on blades, into battle.

There were six of them, as well as the machine guns and mortars and military-grade rifles that they had plenty of.

The surrendering elves were at their core a diversion. Santa Claus was away from his compound, and so the time to strike was now.

"Elves! Loyal Elves!" he called out. The general muttering ceased.

"We stand here today to restore our birthright. We stand here today to take back what is rightfully ours, and to oppose the forces that attempt to render us obsolete.

To replace us.

So long as Bolshevism continues to exist, the world will leave its spirituality and go towards ways of celebration that make our time-honored purpose nothing more than a hackneyed memory of childhood nevermore to be undertaken. The secularists the world over want us to become obsolete.

So I say to them: you will not replace us.

Claus' own sense of misplaced compassion is why we did not destroy the Soviet Union. At least the Nazis professed a faith, as impure as it was.

Over yonder is where the traitor Santa Claus keeps his computer. We need to secure that computer to decapitate our enemies.

The reason why we give coal to naughty children is that it is not fun, but it was necessary in the age of coal-burned fire. Now, in this current age, the tradition remains, for it is that, tradition.

Now, what we are about to do is to give coal to millions of people, for their naughtiness in allowing the menace of Bolshevism and secularism cannot go unpunished.

Now, we march. Why?

Because they will not replace us!"

The crowd of elves cheered, and got in formation. With Poleman behind him, Baubler began to lead his march. The troughs formed a line.

Soon enough they reached Claus' compound. It was walled; that's why they brought the cannons.

Six blasts, all within five seconds of each other, fired off from the troughs.

The wall came tumbling down.

If they were to be replaced, they would not be easily.

[lordroel]

Dec 18, 2017 6:33:29 GMT spanishspy said:

Livingston Baubler had escaped with enough punch cards, at least he thought. There ought to be somebody interesting in these records, both in the US and in the Soviet Union.

They had retreated to the wastelands outside of the main settlement on the North Pole via an unmarked, covered sleigh, and regrouped with some of his followers.

His followers were quite legion, really. A lot of the North Pole Defense Forces was disillusioned with the continued service of anti-religious regimes.

They agreed that the Red Menace had to be dealt with.

These elves, in the chaos of the explosions and the siege of the Stocking, had made off with a few sleighs. But these were not just sleighs.

They were, in the parlance of the NPDF, troughs. Taken from the reindeer feeding bins, their munitions were those of human tanks, and with the cannons to match. The reindeer needed special hearing protection and body armor, and they pulled the massive armored contraption, still on blades, into battle.

There were six of them, as well as the machine guns and mortars and military-grade rifles that they had plenty of.

The surrendering elves were at their core a diversion. Santa Claus was away from his compound, and so the time to strike was now.

"Elves! Loyal Elves!" he called out. The general muttering ceased.

"We stand here today to restore our birthright. We stand here today to take back what is rightfully ours, and to oppose the forces that attempt to render us obsolete.

To replace us.

So long as Bolshevism continues to exist, the world will leave its spirituality and go towards ways of celebration that make our time-honored purpose nothing more than a hackneyed memory of childhood nevermore to be undertaken. The secularists the world over want us to become obsolete.

So I say to them: you will not replace us.

Claus' own sense of misplaced compassion is why we did not destroy the Soviet Union. At least the Nazis professed a faith, as impure as it was.

Over yonder is where the traitor Santa Claus keeps his computer. We need to secure that computer to decapitate our enemies.

The reason why we give coal to naughty children is that it is not fun, but it was necessary in the age of coal-burned fire. Now, in this current age, the tradition remains, for it is that, tradition.

Now, what we are about to do is to give coal to millions of people, for their naughtiness in allowing the menace of Bolshevism and secularism cannot go unpunished.

Now, we march. Why?

Because they will not replace us!"

The crowd of elves cheered, and got in formation. With Poleman behind him, Baubler began to lead his march. The troughs formed a line.

Soon enough they reached Claus' compound. It was walled; that's why they brought the cannons.

Six blasts, all within five seconds of each other, fired off from the troughs.

The wall came tumbling down.

If they were to be replaced, they would not be easily.

Santa is not going down without a fight i think.

[stevep]

Dec 18, 2017 15:20:39 GMT lordroel said:

Dec 18, 2017 6:33:29 GMT spanishspy said:

Livingston Baubler had escaped with enough punch cards, at least he thought. There ought to be somebody interesting in these records, both in the US and in the Soviet Union.

They had retreated to the wastelands outside of the main settlement on the North Pole via an unmarked, covered sleigh, and regrouped with some of his followers.

His followers were quite legion, really. A lot of the North Pole Defense Forces was disillusioned with the continued service of anti-religious regimes.

They agreed that the Red Menace had to be dealt with.

These elves, in the chaos of the explosions and the siege of the Stocking, had made off with a few sleighs. But these were not just sleighs.

They were, in the parlance of the NPDF, troughs. Taken from the reindeer feeding bins, their munitions were those of human tanks, and with the cannons to match. The reindeer needed special hearing protection and body armor, and they pulled the massive armored contraption, still on blades, into battle.

There were six of them, as well as the machine guns and mortars and military-grade rifles that they had plenty of.

The surrendering elves were at their core a diversion. Santa Claus was away from his compound, and so the time to strike was now.

"Elves! Loyal Elves!" he called out. The general muttering ceased.

"We stand here today to restore our birthright. We stand here today to take back what is rightfully ours, and to oppose the forces that attempt to render us obsolete.

To replace us.

So long as Bolshevism continues to exist, the world will leave its spirituality and go towards ways of celebration that make our time-honored purpose nothing more than a hackneyed memory of childhood nevermore to be undertaken. The secularists the world over want us to become obsolete.

So I say to them: you will not replace us.

Claus' own sense of misplaced compassion is why we did not destroy the Soviet Union. At least the Nazis professed a faith, as impure as it was.

Over yonder is where the traitor Santa Claus keeps his computer. We need to secure that computer to decapitate our enemies.

The reason why we give coal to naughty children is that it is not fun, but it was necessary in the age of coal-burned fire. Now, in this current age, the tradition remains, for it is that, tradition.

Now, what we are about to do is to give coal to millions of people, for their naughtiness in allowing the menace of Bolshevism and secularism cannot go unpunished.

Now, we march. Why?

Because they will not replace us!"

The crowd of elves cheered, and got in formation. With Poleman behind him, Baubler began to lead his march. The troughs formed a line.

Soon enough they reached Claus' compound. It was walled; that's why they brought the cannons.

Six blasts, all within five seconds of each other, fired off from the troughs.

The wall came tumbling down.

If they were to be replaced, they would not be easily.

Santa is not going down without a fight i think.

  It sounds like their breaking into the compound but the repeated references to 'had to be replaced' makes me wonder if their actually breaking out.  Basically a kind of armed strike, refusing to help Santa any more?  Suspect they are attacking but not totally clear to me.

[spanishspy]

Good. Claus was still at the Stocking. That is what went through the head of Livingston Baubler.

His men still had the punched cards, as they should have. "Rummage through the building and find the computer in here!"

"Yes, sir!" his men cried out. "The rest of you, stay outside and make sure that loyalists cannot interfere! I'm going in!"

But of course their plan did not go uninterrupted. Soon, there were artillery shells from the NPDF landing around Claus' compound, but none hit the compound proper. The mortars that his elves had secured fired back in their general direction.

"No matter!" blurted Baubler. His right-hand elf, Poleman, was feeding cards into the computer, which they had found before too long. It was in an unmarked closet, but that sort of thing was what they were expecting.

The cards were being fed into the computer, and it was producing bushels of paper with names and addresses, all of these in the Soviet Union.

"These are in Armenia, sir!" remarked Poleman. "We aren't even close to Moscow yet."

"Damn it!" seethed Baubler. His plan was failing. The Moscow team would not be able to complete its mission. "Keep on! Everyone not working the computer, arm yourselves!"

The rifles were drawn.

Their work continued, and the artillery kept coming.

"Attention, all Baublerist rebels! This is Minister of Defense Claudius Bellringer!" blurted out a voice from what sounded like a very loud speaker. "If you lay down your weapons now you will be spared. If you do not, you will be killed. This is your final warning."

Even for someone so convinced of his righteousness, Baubler was scared. "How many sleighs do we have still flight-ready?" he asked.

Poleman relayed the question via radio. "We could have one of them take off if you needed to. But where?"

"Keep at it. We'll get Khrushchev eventually if we can hold out long enough," ordered Baubler. "But if we do fail, and that is a possibility, the Berlin team is too fragmented."

"So Hohman?"

"If we have to."

...

The sirens were omnipresent. Police cars barged onto Shepherd Street, and the officers came rolling out, all with guns drawn.

One of the police stations, the one on McGavin Avenue, had been stormed by the militants. The other, on Dillon Street, was still in police hands. Chief of the Hohman Police Department Harold Flickinger was observing the chaos.

"Chief!" said one of his younger officers by the name of Wilczek, "Everyone's in position!"

"Sound off the horn."

And so through the airhorn went, "Occupants of Hohman City Hall, surrender now. Indiana National Guard units are descending on your position via Billingsley Avenue with weapons better than anything we have. You will not maintain occupancy of this building."

Without warning, machine gun fire burst through some of the windows. Multiple police officers were killed in the gunfire, but Flickinger ducked. He wished he could say the same about Wilcek.

"You don't understand, capitalist dogs!" called a voice from the city hall, "we are loyal to the Soviet Union! We will not surrender!"

[lordroel]

Dec 21, 2017 6:23:08 GMT spanishspy said:

Good. Claus was still at the Stocking. That is what went through the head of Livingston Baubler.

His men still had the punched cards, as they should have. "Rummage through the building and find the computer in here!"

"Yes, sir!" his men cried out. "The rest of you, stay outside and make sure that loyalists cannot interfere! I'm going in!"

But of course their plan did not go uninterrupted. Soon, there were artillery shells from the NPDF landing around Claus' compound, but none hit the compound proper. The mortars that his elves had secured fired back in their general direction.

"No matter!" blurted Baubler. His right-hand elf, Poleman, was feeding cards into the computer, which they had found before too long. It was in an unmarked closet, but that sort of thing was what they were expecting.

The cards were being fed into the computer, and it was producing bushels of paper with names and addresses, all of these in the Soviet Union.

"These are in Armenia, sir!" remarked Poleman. "We aren't even close to Moscow yet."

"Damn it!" seethed Baubler. His plan was failing. The Moscow team would not be able to complete its mission. "Keep on! Everyone not working the computer, arm yourselves!"

The rifles were drawn.

Their work continued, and the artillery kept coming.

"Attention, all Baublerist rebels! This is Minister of Defense Claudius Bellringer!" blurted out a voice from what sounded like a very loud speaker. "If you lay down your weapons now you will be spared. If you do not, you will be killed. This is your final warning."

Even for someone so convinced of his righteousness, Baubler was scared. "How many sleighs do we have still flight-ready?" he asked.

Poleman relayed the question via radio. "We could have one of them take off if you needed to. But where?"

"Keep at it. We'll get Khrushchev eventually if we can hold out long enough," ordered Baubler. "But if we do fail, and that is a possibility, the Berlin team is too fragmented."

"So Hohman?"

"If we have to."

...

The sirens were omnipresent. Police cars barged onto Shepherd Street, and the officers came rolling out, all with guns drawn.

One of the police stations, the one on McGavin Avenue, had been stormed by the militants. The other, on Dillon Street, was still in police hands. Chief of the Hohman Police Department Harold Flickinger was observing the chaos.

"Chief!" said one of his younger officers by the name of Wilczek, "Everyone's in position!"

"Sound off the horn."

And so through the airhorn went, "Occupants of Hohman City Hall, surrender now. Indiana National Guard units are descending on your position via Billingsley Avenue with weapons better than anything we have. You will not maintain occupancy of this building."

Without warning, machine gun fire burst through some of the windows. Multiple police officers were killed in the gunfire, but Flickinger ducked. He wished he could say the same about Wilcek.

"You don't understand, capitalist dogs!" called a voice from the city hall, "we are loyal to the Soviet Union! We will not surrender!"

Wonder if the rebels will face Claus himself in a epic showdown.

[spanishspy]

"I want an entire press blackout. No press in or out of Hohman. After recent events we cannot risk it." The aid nodded and scurried away.

Kennedy turned his attention to the McNamara's presentation. "Mr. President, our surveillance initiatives have found very little; Hohman seems homegrown. However, we have received an urgent call from Moscow, which informed us of an interesting new development."

"Go on with it, then!" blurted Kennedy.

"They told us that they found the assassins of the Moscow policemen we told you about earlier. They're elves."

Kennedy's eyebrows rose. "Elves? From the North Pole?"

"Yes, sir. Intelligence indicates that there is some degree of civil strife up there. We have attempted to contact Santa Claus but there has been no response."

...

"Once more, this is General Claudius Bellringer. You have one more chance to surrender. Santa Claus is en route and will be leading the attack personally, if the artillery barrage does not destroy the compound."

The computer was still printing out addresses. It was now at the Amur oblast.

Still an infuriatingly long way from Moscow, and that was with a tremendous amount of discarded cards.

The artillery kept coming. "No, no, NO!" screamed Baubler. He heard nearby gunshots.

They were about to be captured. "Poleman! Tell our sleighs to prepare to take off!"

"Where too?"

"Hohman! We can still inflict punishment even if both Berlin and Moscow have failed! To hell with the computers, go!" He brandished the rifle and shot the computer console, which began to emit smoke.

They ran, the troops shielding Baubler from harm. They fired at some loyal elves who had entered the building, but made it into their line.

They boarded one of the smaller sleighs, armed with nary but a machine gun. "Add more guns to the sleigh! Move it!"

His elves did so. "Now get on to Hohman! You have the location, right!"

"Yes sir!" responded the conductor.

"Then go!"

The conductor reoriented the reindeer, to an open route, and they began their gallop. It was fenced in so nothing fell out, but it was still lightly armored and lightly armed.

They thought they would get away.

But down on the ground, the red coat was unmistakable.

Santa Claus had seen them escape.

[lordroel]

Dec 22, 2017 2:38:53 GMT spanishspy said:

"I want an entire press blackout. No press in or out of Hohman. After recent events we cannot risk it." The aid nodded and scurried away.

Kennedy turned his attention to the McNamara's presentation. "Mr. President, our surveillance initiatives have found very little; Hohman seems homegrown. However, we have received an urgent call from Moscow, which informed us of an interesting new development."

"Go on with it, then!" blurted Kennedy.

"They told us that they found the assassins of the Moscow policemen we told you about earlier. They're elves."

Kennedy's eyebrows rose. "Elves? From the North Pole?"

"Yes, sir. Intelligence indicates that there is some degree of civil strife up there. We have attempted to contact Santa Claus but there has been no response."

...

"Once more, this is General Claudius Bellringer. You have one more chance to surrender. Santa Claus is en route and will be leading the attack personally, if the artillery barrage does not destroy the compound."

The computer was still printing out addresses. It was now at the Amur oblast.

Still an infuriatingly long way from Moscow, and that was with a tremendous amount of discarded cards.

The artillery kept coming. "No, no, NO!" screamed Baubler. He heard nearby gunshots.

They were about to be captured. "Poleman! Tell our sleighs to prepare to take off!"

"Where too?"

"Hohman! We can still inflict punishment even if both Berlin and Moscow have failed! To hell with the computers, go!" He brandished the rifle and shot the computer console, which began to emit smoke.

They ran, the troops shielding Baubler from harm. They fired at some loyal elves who had entered the building, but made it into their line.

They boarded one of the smaller sleighs, armed with nary but a machine gun. "Add more guns to the sleigh! Move it!"

His elves did so. "Now get on to Hohman! You have the location, right!"

"Yes sir!" responded the conductor.

"Then go!"

The conductor reoriented the reindeer, to an open route, and they began their gallop. It was fenced in so nothing fell out, but it was still lightly armored and lightly armed.

They thought they would get away.

But down on the ground, the red coat was unmistakable.

Santa Claus had seen them escape.

That is interesting, the real world knows about the Elves and Santa Claus.

[stevep]

Dec 22, 2017 10:32:18 GMT lordroel said:

Dec 22, 2017 2:38:53 GMT spanishspy said:

"I want an entire press blackout. No press in or out of Hohman. After recent events we cannot risk it." The aid nodded and scurried away.

Kennedy turned his attention to the McNamara's presentation. "Mr. President, our surveillance initiatives have found very little; Hohman seems homegrown. However, we have received an urgent call from Moscow, which informed us of an interesting new development."

"Go on with it, then!" blurted Kennedy.

"They told us that they found the assassins of the Moscow policemen we told you about earlier. They're elves."

Kennedy's eyebrows rose. "Elves? From the North Pole?"

"Yes, sir. Intelligence indicates that there is some degree of civil strife up there. We have attempted to contact Santa Claus but there has been no response."

...

"Once more, this is General Claudius Bellringer. You have one more chance to surrender. Santa Claus is en route and will be leading the attack personally, if the artillery barrage does not destroy the compound."

The computer was still printing out addresses. It was now at the Amur oblast.

Still an infuriatingly long way from Moscow, and that was with a tremendous amount of discarded cards.

The artillery kept coming. "No, no, NO!" screamed Baubler. He heard nearby gunshots.

They were about to be captured. "Poleman! Tell our sleighs to prepare to take off!"

"Where too?"

"Hohman! We can still inflict punishment even if both Berlin and Moscow have failed! To hell with the computers, go!" He brandished the rifle and shot the computer console, which began to emit smoke.

They ran, the troops shielding Baubler from harm. They fired at some loyal elves who had entered the building, but made it into their line.

They boarded one of the smaller sleighs, armed with nary but a machine gun. "Add more guns to the sleigh! Move it!"

His elves did so. "Now get on to Hohman! You have the location, right!"

"Yes sir!" responded the conductor.

"Then go!"

The conductor reoriented the reindeer, to an open route, and they began their gallop. It was fenced in so nothing fell out, but it was still lightly armored and lightly armed.

They thought they would get away.

But down on the ground, the red coat was unmistakable.

Santa Claus had seen them escape.

That is interesting, the real world knows about the Elves and Santa Claus.

  To complicate matters further a sledge hrough of elves will be headed that way with a man in a red suit in hot presuit!

[spanishspy]

Ralph Parker had never been tied up. Or gagged, for that matter. There was a first time for everything, he supposed.

The hapless mayor of Hohman was awaiting his inevitable execution, or maybe being saved. Being saved would be very nice, but alas that did not appear to be happening.

He could hear gunfire outside. He wondered if they'd get to him in time.

He saw the man who appeared to be their ringleader walking through the hallway his office opened into, flanked by two others. He began screaming, or what he could do through the gag.

The ringleader looked. One of his henchmen asked him "what should we do with him, Farkus?"

Farkus was perturbed. "Don't say my name in front of the captives!" he yelled.

Parker knew that name. He had thought that the ringleader sounded familiar. He tried to make the words "Scut Farkus" through his his gag.

Farkus glared at him. "Okay, you two, come with me." They followed.

He had his men untie Parker. "So you know who I am. I knew who you are as soon as I saw the campaign posters."

The gagged was pulled off. "Scott - or should I say, 'Scut,' Farkus, how did I know you'd be a communist in your older years?"

"Not exactly a communist, but for you it doesn't matter. You're the man who ruined my life!"

"Really?" asked Parker. "What made you think that one well-deserved retaliatory beating ruined your life?

Farkus began to breath heavily. "It fucked me over for life. You destroyed my ability to mentally function. You destroyed my social life, which destroyed my school life, which destroyed everything else. I couldn't get into Harvard like you. Hell, I couldn't even get into a state school!"

"Stop projecting, Farkus. We both know that broader issues are at play here."

"No! Let's reenact that fight. I'll show you who is boss here in Hohman! Dill! Schwartz! Stay back! Let me at him!"

He took his gun and threw it to the wall, where it lay. He lunged at the mayor.

The Mayor was almost pleased. As a child he had fantasized of being a frontier ranger, fighting bandits and Indians and who have you. This was the best he could do.

He did know however that this fight could be over quickly. As Farkus pummeled him, he kicked up with his knee, throwing the latter man back. He made a run for Farkus' rifle in the meantime.

Farkus ran at him. Parker knocked Farkus in the chest with the butt of the rifle, and then ducked. He already saw Dill and Schwartz raising their guns.

With Farkus down, he raised the rifle, still ducking. "It's clear to me you're not going to learn any lesson. Soap in your mouth would be far too harsh."

He raised the rifle and shot Farkus in the stomach. He'd probably survive for a bit longer, so he could be turned over to the police.

Like the serials he used to watch as a child he knelt as he put the gun over the desk, using it as cover. The bullets from Dill and Schwartz buzzed by him.

He aimed, missing several, but ultimately hitting them in the chest or stomach.

They screamed. He knew that the others must be coming, so he slammed the door shut, locked it, and pushed some bookcases in front of it.

He wasn't the Red Rider, he thought, but it was something.

[lordroel]

Dec 23, 2017 7:39:29 GMT spanishspy said:

Farkus began to breath heavily. "It fucked me over for life. You destroyed my ability to mentally function. You destroyed my social life, which destroyed my school life, which destroyed everything else. I couldn't get into Harvard like you. Hell, I couldn't even get into a state school!"

This person really has some issues.

[spanishspy]

The plan was going as was intended, thought Gerald Giftbearer. The occupation in Hohman was going well enough.

And Hohman was the perfect town to besiege. It was close enough to a big city for the elites to care about, but not enough for the US armed forces to be there so quickly. There was no military presence at all in Hohman. So Giftbearer kept to his place in Lake County and waited.

“Giftbearer! Giftbearer!” spewed from the radio.

It was Baubler. “What the hell do you need? You’re clearly in trouble.” Giftbearer responded.

“Damn it, Berlin and Moscow have failed. I am currently in a sleigh bound for your location with as many loyalists as I could muster. I would reckon that Claus is behind me. Make sure everything you have is brought to the Hohman City Hall to help our allies there.”

“But why? The nukes aren’t flying. Why would they be flying? We haven’t started a war yet!”

“We still can. Might have to take the North Pole down, but it would be better than letting Bolshevism survive.”

Giftbearer paused. “Are you mad?”

Baubler was incensed. Why was his loyal agent questioning him?

Poleman, who was also on the sleigh, looked at him. So were the rest of his men.

“Certainly somebody would keep the tradition alive,” he said, deflectingly. “Even then, why would they target the North Pole?”

They all looked away. The rest of the ride was silent.

Until they came up to Hohman. The sirens were blaring, and the police cars were taking up the majority of that stretch of Shepherd Street.

There was also gunfire. Before contacting Giftbearer, he had told the occupiers of the police station to attack the police. They were there admirably, firing off the machine guns and rockets they were given.

But there were also tanks. The Indiana National Guard had deployed, and had brought in the big guns.

Baubler inhaled, and deeply.

“Brothers!” he proclaimed. The elves on the sleigh looked at him.

“I have doubts we will be victorious. If that is the case, let this be our Thermopylae. Let this day be when the world beheld the last stand of Elfdom and Christendom. It will be the last stand of those who wish the rising tide of secularization would finally withdraw to the depths in which it belongs. Now, my brethren! We will live in death!”

He was hoping for applause. His compatriots only gave him a somewhat exhausted look. He cursed them in his own mind.

There were several machine guns on the sleigh. He grabbed one of them and began firing on the police, and on anyone who may be within the path of the bullets.

It felt good. Perhaps too good. But here he was, fighting and dying for his people. For his tradition.

But was that worth it?

Of course it was worth it, he mentally told himself. The guns kept firing.

And then he saw the jet fighters coming in.

“Baubler, you idiot! They can see us! They will shoot us down!”

“That does not matter! You will land when I tell you to land, and only when I tell you to land!”

As if on cue the sleigh lunged downwards, avoiding fire from the jets.

“I am not having any more of this, Baubler. I am landing on the roof of the city hall. I am done with your theatrics.”

“No! NO! Keep flying! Keep flying!”

The pilot did no such thing. He maneuvered, dodging bullet after bullet.

One of the other elves was hit by one of the bullets put out by American fighters, and fell down to the ground limply.

It didn’t register with Baubler.

They landed on the roof. Baubler was screaming.

“Oh, to hell with the rest of you!” He grabbed his gun, and reloaded just to be sure. He’d fired some of his bullets when escaping Claus’ compound.

He found a door to the inside of the building and was mentally preparing himself to die. He found some degree of excitement in being able to go down in a blaze of glory.

He expected to find his allies, the masked white supremacists, to support him. He only found corpses, dressed in all black, lying on the floor.

There were several.

“Farkus! Anyone? Are you there?”

From one of the side rooms stepped a man. Not one of his.

He was in a suit. He was brandishing a gun, and had several more on his belt. He also had a machine gun slung over his arm.

“Who the hell are you?” asked Baubler, in whatever English he could muster.

“Ralph Parker. Mayor of the City of Hohman. And you?” Parker brandished the gun.

“I’m the elf that orchestrated this whole thing.”

“Give me one reason not to kill you.”

Big mistake. It dawned upon Baubler that admitting he was the ringleader of this whole thing was a big mistake.

“Because he must face justice at home,” came a voice behind him.

Santa Claus with an armed escort stood right behind him, guns aimed at him.

“Now would you care to explain to me why a man dressed as Santa Claus would be here?”

“I doubt you believe me. I doubt you even believe I exist. I just know that when you were eight years old you wanted a Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time for Christmas.”

Parker stood in stunned silence.

“How?”

“I just know. And with those guns I see all around you? You’ll shoot your eye out, sir!”

Parker just shook his head. “He’s still a threat, and so are the Commies.”

Claus peered right into Baubler’s eyes. “You have one reason to tell me why I should not have you in chains this instant.”

“Oh, so you plan to spare me?” asked Baubler. “What I wanted to do was to send the world’s nuclear bombs at each other. Why, you may ask? To punish secularism. To promote Christmas. To save Christmas. To save ourselves and our livelihoods. And to punish those who let it happen.”

There was silence.

“I knew you had doubts about our war against the Nazis, but this is another level, Baubler. This is ridiculous! We were never going to go along with Unthinkable! And here you are, trying to start a war. A war that would kill millions, and indeed likely ourselves.”

He paused.

“Surrender, Baubler, and you will be tried. You will live. I cannot say that it will be pleasant, but you will live. You will stand trial, and probably be found guilty of treason, murder, and several other crimes.”

“No!” screamed Baubler. “I will not be replaced! I will not surrender!”

He brandished his gun and turned around, and fired several shots.

It was a blur. He fired. They fired. Parker fired.

And then he could fire no more.

There would be no trial. He would not go to prison.

But he was right about one thing. Santa Claus had no intention of replacing him.

[spanishspy]

And so ends my holiday timeline for 2017. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

[lordroel]

Dec 25, 2017 6:17:03 GMT spanishspy said:

And so ends my holiday timeline for 2017. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Nice timeline and to you and everybody, a Merry Christmas.