A murder has taken place on the Presidium Commons and Executer Venari Pallin wants answers. First post coming once we have everyone ready to go.
The Universe is not a peace. Just months after the Geth attack of the Citadel there has been a murder on the Presidium. It is up to your team to figure it what happened and make an arrest.
Serona Alatil get a call from Executor Pallin at 6:15 am telling her to meet him in his office. There has been a murder and it involves one of her officer’s informants. Specially it involves “Big Red Dread’s” informant and he wishes to inform her about the murder personally. That doesn’t sound good. Despite barely getting any sleep, with in 20 minutes Serona is stepping out of a squad car next to Pallin’s office. The car used emergency lanes. Odd, they are only supposed to be used in emergencies. Pallin is in no mood to wait apperently. When Serona enters Pallin is standing with his back to the door on his office’s balcony. He is looking across the Presisdium at the Krogan Monument. He signals for Serona to join him. Behind the statue the entire area is blocked off by officers and crime scene E-tape. One officer is ordering the others around. This officer is keeping the public at by and letting the Investigator squad enter. He is a young Turian his dark grey skin is marked with a large white clan tattoo. It takes up the majority of his bony face and three of his horns are white. Serona doesn't recognize him. This doesn’t surprise her. After the Geth attack many new officers were promoted in order to replace the ones that fell.
“His name is Varnoc. He discovered the body around 6:00 am and was the first officer on scene. Used to serve in the medical core before he started with C-Sec. There are stories of him holding off and entire Geth wave from some ambassadors. Served for only 4 months before they attack and he survived. I have seen to many good officer’s die the last couple of months, too many. This dead human informant was involved with Dread’s Red Sand drug bust. Him, and his once scoundrel partner, will be involved with the case per C-Sec regulations. They are under your command so you will control them. If this case goes bad, I will not have it pined of Varnoc. I will not loss another one of my officers. I will not let him take the fall because of Valern’s bad idea of a good PR project. You will lead this investigation and it will be done correctly. If not then I have a good reason the fire that walking PR nightmare and you will find yourself on administration leave. Your investigation awaits Sargent. Go and don’t mess it up.”
Serona quickly leaves the officer and makes her way down to the scene. She arrives on site at 6:40 and takes it over. Varnoc seems happy to no longer be in charge. Serona is going over the crime scene notes with Varnoc when Big Red and Fozali arrive and make there way through the crowd.
Big Red gets a call at a 6:10 am from a Presidium officer. He said that he found an informant of his dead on the Presidium this morning. A young human male named Aron Jeem or at least that is the name that he was arrested under. He was a Red Dust dealer but he was turned by Big Red and helped brought down his boss. Word on the street was that he found an amazing deal that was supposed to get him out of the Wards. At least that people were saying. No body had seen him for a couple of days.
Fozali brings the car around and you guys fly off. It takes you while to fly from your ward to the Presidium. Traffic has been congested since the attack. Unless it is a emergency C-Sec vehicles are required to use only approved lanes. Not that you don’t take some short cuts on the way but it still takes a while. On route you get a communication that Serona is to be the lead investigator on this case. She is your Sargent so you already have a working relationship with her. The pair of Ward cops also get a call from a head of the local Ward gambling ring. He is calling about the money that Big Red owes him. The last round of the card game went real bad, real fast. A new young Asari called your bluff and walked away with your money. The pair don’t arrive on scene until 6:45. By then there is a large crowd of people gawking at the sight of blood. Other members of C-sec are trying to push back the crowd and keep the peace. The investigation team is already here. Serona is currently looking over the crime scene notes with a young Turian standing behind her. You have to push your way through the mass of people to get to your scene.
The call goes out to all Investigators in the lab. You and your co-workers get dressed and head out. There is a crime scene that needs to be processed and the faster you get there the better. Not only can the evidence degrade over time but the Keepers and automated air purifiers can clean up the most important parts of the puzzle quickly. That is how the majority of your co-workers see a crime scene. It is merrily a puzzle waiting to be solved. That is the only way they can still sleep at night. It is their way if distancing themselves from the horrors that they must walk into everyday. Old murdered because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Children made examples of in order to scare their parents into paying up. These are the crime scenes that you walk into everyday. In the largest space station in the known universe, murders happen hourly and it is now Crime Scene Investigation Squads number 37 turn to head out. This crime happened on the Presidium in a nice area. This is highly unusual. An ambassador finally snapped and killed someone or has one of the Ward gangs tired to move up? Either way this murder is within sight range of Pallin’s office and every knows that he is going to be angry.
Milomir get told to try and make Avina work and don’t touch the bloody hand print. That is no easy task. She has been messed up since the Geth attack. It doesn’t help that the VI has also been getting been continually hacked. It is becoming a serious problem and the Cyber Crimes devision is trying to find out who is doing it. Word is that it might be coming form the Presidium but nothing has been proven yet. Milomir examines the VI’s code and it is a mess. The VI is currently under going an update for the last 56464646464646464664646464 days or so she says. Just because the VI is almost unusable there should still be camera's and back ups with in the pedestal are out. With your mechanic’s skill you find that the scanners and camera has been tampered with. It apparently has been changed to ignore Humans. That could be why she didn’t report the crime. The hand print that the Turian reported is there and it does have 5 fingers but you can’t tell much else. It looks like it has partly wiped off. As you look up from the pedestal you see Big Red and Fozli trying to make their way to the crime scene. What are they doing here?
Crime Scene
Found here: Crime Scene
-Behind the Krogan Status on the Presidium, it appears like a murder has taken place
-Blood discovered at 6:02 AM when Varnoc started his shift
-Varnoc secured the Crime scene and discovered the body at 6:05 AM
-Confirmed that the body was dead and discovered human’s name: Aron Jeem
-Then called Command and Big Red after identifying Jeem as one of his informants
-Pallin called Serona and she is now the lead investigator at 6:35
-Investigation teams arrive at 6:35
-Big Red and Partner get there at 6:45
-Varnoc notes are passed out through the Omni-tool
--Discovered blood at 6:02 AM
--No body just blood explosion imprints
--Two imprints? Did the killer miss?
--Drag marks lead away from the possible primary crime scene, did the killer move the body?
--Drag marks lead around the corner and bloody Keeper foot prints found
--Keeper found trying the “clean” the body, order to stop and it complied
--Body discovered lying in a massive blood pool
--Subject is human, male. Dressed in cheap clothes
--Has Omni-tool, easily hacked, found identification, Aron Jeem
--Inspected Avina council, she should have reported if shots were fired
--Found bloody Asari handprint but it has been wiped
--Questioned Avina, not working, still messed up from Geth attack?
-Varnoc’s face tattoo idenfies him from the same clan as Pallin
-Valern is the Salarian Councilor is ME, since he is still in power now Shepherd choice to save the Ascension
-I modeled the crime scene map off of the actual area behind the Krogan Statue from the first game. You would have found a Keeper were the pool of blood currently is
-Keepers move dead bodies to pile them up so a new Reaper can been born, you see this is in ME3 near the very end. A Keeper moving a dead body is not unusual
-Red Sand is a illegal drug that is highly addictive and also can grant minor Biotic powers during the high
-I don’t plan on adding this often but feel free to ask other lore questions is the Discussion and I will answer what I can
Officer Varnoc spins around on his two toes and snaps into a salute. A manoeuvre that was learned through years of military service.
"Sargent Alatil. A pleasure to meet you. Executor Pallin said that you were coming."
Varnoc lower his salute and begins his briefing.
"Fast versions, most likely murder. Long version, here we go. I started my shift a 6:00 AM and began from the lift across the way. When I walked up to the embassies I spotted a bright red colour from across the lake. I took the bridge over and found the crime scene."
Varnoc motions to the two weapon discharge patterns in the wall.
"It appears like there was two shots fired. Judging by the pattern I would say shotgun. They destroyed the wall so I would guess anit-armour rounds but that would be from looking at the body more then the wall. One discharge hit the human male and that would be the blood spatter on the wall. The body was then dragged across the floor to the right. I do not know my whom. Once the drag marks get around the corner I spotted Keeper foot prints. From here on I think it was the Keeper who moved him."
Varnoc starts moving down the hallway pointing out the foot prints.
"I found the Keeper back here, um... "processing" the body. I ordered it to stop and it did. I touched the body to try and find a pulse and found none.
Varnoc moves towards the body currently being scanner and process by the CSI team. The amount of blood is sickening to those that are not used to it. Some of the "greens" are trying not to throw up. Varnoc appears to be unfazed. The human body is riddled with holes. The shotgun rounds went right through the tissue. The chest area looks like it took the majority of the blast. It is just a bloody mess.
"Subject is human, male and record says late teens. Cause of death I would guess is bleeding out from a massive chest wound. I have seen this before. Medical core. He was shot with anti-armour rounds or something like it. The rounds ripped straight through his body and was unstopped before it hit the wall. The rounds are small enough that the shot might not have killed him. You will just bleed out no matter how many medics try to plug your holes."
Varnoc stops for a second and looks way. He quickly returns from his memories and back to his briefing.
"By the amount of blood he was most likely alive and heart pumping while being dragged back here before he just bleed out. Other important evidence is that I found a red hand print of the Avina pedestal. I believe a CSI agent is processing it now. I am new to this so please forgive me if I did something wrong, Sargent"
"Witnesses? The Presidium now sleeps at night, Sargent. The repair crews aren't even allowed to start until 6:15. Ambassadors don't get here until 6:30. Usually for stuff like this we rely on Avina or the cameras to show us what happened. However, both have either been destroyed by the Geth or are currently the play things of hackers. Crews are still picking pieces of a Mako out of the lake. Camera repair isn't high on their repair list. You would have to talk to Network about any of the surviving cameras. As for witnesses, maybe someone was here late last night. I can ask around see if anyone heard or say anything. It was a shotgun, that must have made a noise."
Varnoc looks are the growing crowd of people gawking at the blood in disgust.
"They dishonour the boys spirit by standing here. Turning him into a story to tell around their dinner table tonight."
The translator fails to understand the next word that come out of Varnoc's mouth but it was probably a swear.
Urdnot Dredd, or "Big Red" as the locals call him, receives the call from C-Sec Command with a grimace. One of his informants has just turned up on the Presidium, face down in a pool of his own blood. Blasted fools keep getting themselves into more trouble than they can handle, he muses to himself, though his mood is serious. Good informants are hard to come by. Jeem wasn't the best, but Dredd liked him. He had a certain daring that Dredd thought would likely get him killed. Guess I was right about that...
Fozali brings the car around a moment later and the two of them make their way from the lower Zakera wards to the Presidium. Traffic is slow and the tedious pace they are reduced to begins to gnaw on Dredd's nerves. He had always felt uncomfortable sitting in a car: he felt to exposed. Having spent years in the Blood Pack mercenary company he had been in all sorts of war zones and seen all sorts of things go wrong, including watching landing craft being shot down out of the sky. He'd even been in a few. He felt agitated, and his unease was only growing with their slow pace.
To distract himself, Dredd checks over his shotgun, playing with the folding stock, checking to make sure it's loaded with a fresh thermal clip, cleaning the muzzle with an oil rag. He flicks the safety off and listens to it whine as the mass accelerators charge up. He glances over at Fozali driving the car. The Salarian doesn't even flinch. It's been good having a partner like Issi, the big Krogan thinks to himself. Not a lot of Salarians like him, by which he actually means "not a lot of Salarians whose guts I don't hate.
Finally they arrive at the crime scene. Dredd steps out of the car and the turbo lifters recoil at the sudden change in carried weight. A crowd has gathered, and that is something Dredd doesn't like. Dealing with civvies has never been one of his fortés. "I hate Mondays," he grumbles to himself and then slams the car door shut.
Big Red lopes towards the crowd, his heavy footsteps cause a few heads to turn as he approaches. Those that do balk at the sight of him. He stands over 7 feet tall but would be even taller if his race had been blessed with a properly upright spine. His crown boasts a massive red plate, indicative of the older, more matured males of his race. This stands rather in contrast to the blues of the Citadel Security armor he wears. Most people are intimated by Krogans, their brutish reputation preceding them. And while Dredd is a bit of an exception, having taken it upon himself to become a guardian of the peace, he is no less intimidating than any of the others of his race... or perhaps even a bit more so. "All right people make room, you got a Krogan coming through," he growls. He keeps his shotgun checked in front of him so people can see it. The crowd of onlookers only to eagerly parts before him.
As soon as he clears the press he spots the two other agents on site, Officer Varnoc and Sargent Alatil. Dredd consults his omnitool briefly to remember who is who, then approaches the Asari. "Sargent Alatil," Dredd's voice is gruff as he speaks directly, conjuring all the formality he possesses into quick nod, "Urdnot Dredd and Fozali Issi, reporting for duty."
After Serona's commands and the sight of a Krogan wielding a shot gun, the crow mostly dissipates. Some are still standing there taking pictures but soon they realize how late they are for work and leave too. Crowds of cowards are fast to form but quickly fall apart.
Serona checks over the victim. He has an Omni-tool, some kinda of dried snack in his pocket, an empty hostler ad what appears to be a personal artifact. After putting on a pair of gloves Serona finds a pendent in his pocket. It is in the shape of two hearts with chains binding them together. If you open it it shows a picture of a house with the text "Our dream" scrolling over top. The house is a modest house in a nice area of a Ward. The names "Aron" and "Casey" are engraved in the inside.
"Aron Jeem," Big Red replies, pulling up Varnoc's notes on his Omni-tool and scanning over them quickly. "Duct-rat, city-scum. Worked as a ferret for the Blue Suns and other smaller mercenary and criminal groups before he wound up on the wrong side of the law. 'Least that's how I got to know him."
Dredd looks over at the body and sniffs. No expression crosses his face. It's difficult to tell if he feels any sense of remorse. Perhaps the only thing he feels is disgust. Disgust at having yet another civilian turn up in a gutter. Either way it's a sight Red is used to.
"I was the officer that busted his ass out of Chora's den back when Fist was still in operation's there. I knew Fist was no good, but C-Sec couldn't do anything about it openly without risking civilian casualties. Pity. Would have liked to have been there when he finally did get canned. That lucky bastard, Wrex." Dredd's eyes seem to glaze over a bit as he recalls the memory. "But Jeem was a smart kid, I could tell that just by looking at him. He offered to exchange the names of some of Fist's top men in exchange for me not locking him up. So I did. Turns out his info was good, so after we impounded Fist's goons I offered to hire Jeem as an informant. He kept me supplied with names and operation details for almost a year. Busted a lot of scum thanks to him." Dredd gives a nod to the corpse and then turns back to face Sargent Alatil directly.
"He was buying his way out of the criminal world with the work he did for me." Dredd continues, now more hurried, trying to get to his point, "Wanted to settle down with his girl, Casey, buy a house somewhere in the upper wards, clear his name for good. Trouble is, I think he started drawing attention towards himself at the end. Started going after bigger fish. I told him to get his nose out while he could, but he kept saying 'one more job, Red, I just need one more job.' Damn fool. Last I heard he thought he was getting close to uncovering a red sand dealer. And now, well, here we are..."
Red looks back at the corpse and shakes his head, "What a damn mess." he grunts.
”What a damn mess.” Heh. Understatement of the year. I haven’t seen a mess this big since ’77.
Milomir glances up from his investigations at the arrival of the others. Strange, it looks like he got sucked into a memory again. He didn’t even notice the Sergeant arrive, let alone that crazy Krogan and his buddy. With that pair it’s hard to tell who watches who.
”Morning, Sarge!” Milomir chirrups happily, the coffee finally kicking into his system. Serona nods curtly, gesturing for him to get on with it. Milomir smiles politely and opens his omnitool, showing his findings.
”The VI is currently undergoing an update for the last.... 56,464,646,464,646,464,664,646,464 days or so she says.
I checked the camera’s backups, but they seem to be out of service. Avina’s settings have been modified... It apparently has been changed to ignore Humans. That could be why she didn’t report the crime. The hand print that the Turian reported is there and it does have 5 fingers but you can’t tell much else. It looks like it has partly wiped off.” Milomir shrugs. ”I can send you the report if you need more detail.”
"Yes, Sargent."
Varnoc salutes again before moving off to the dead body. He was standing right behind Serona. Once he gets to the corpse he start his medical exam. Omni-tool is set to record his voice.
"Okay, wounds are from what side? Exit wounds on the back so victim was facing the killer when he was shoot. Going off of that it was a shotgun how big is the spread. Very large. Almost covers the entire chest. So either shot from far away with a very long range shotgun or up close with a very inaccurate one. Body is to big of a mess to tell but mot many shotguns have that range so more likely up close."
Varnoc creates a small round dowel with his Omni-tool and pushes it into one of the wounds.
"Do to the mess the shotgun was likely a military model. To hard to tell from the front where the shot came from but... dowel is leaning to the left. So victim was shot slightly from the left."
Varnoc finishes his exam and removes his bloody gloves. A CSI tech walks over with a bag for him to put them in. Varnoc thanks the tech and returns to Serona to give his report. He sends C-Sec the files of his preliminary exam.
"Sargent, I have my report. Victum was either shot from far away with an accurate long range shotgun or from very close with an inaccurate one. Wounds also entered from the left side, 30 degrees off of 90. The shotgun was very powerful, most likely military."
”Tracing connection...”
Milomir's fingers race across his Omnitool, spouting code almost faster than the eye can track.
Milomir shakes his head with a sigh.
"I'm not getting anything yet, Sergeant. Want me to stick around for a more in-depth look?"
Please say yes. Please say yes. This is a Computer Engineer's wet dream here, digging around in Avina's coding. Sam's going to be so jealous.
Milomir:
Use Computer = 18
You find out that Avina wasn't hacked or at least this change wasn't made by a hacker. It was changed by someone with Adim-like access to her files. You don't know when the change took place or by whom. The change was added into one of her patch files.
Perception = 15
You see people taking picture of the crime scene from the other side of the lake. Looks like reporters.
yes ma'am, right away. I'll have his contacts, friends, loose acquaintances, his family, all mapped for you.
Issi approaches the body and scans what's left with his omni tool, taking particular note of his face.
He also searches through the rest of the human's omni tool, looking for calendars, email, voice messages, anything that could determine what he had been doing in the past week, months and year.
Issi also searches the victim's body for any kind of physical notes, old school tactics for avoiding detection, physical notes can't be hacked. Learned from experience.
Unfortunately, with the torso torn apart from the blast, anything that would have been stored in the most accessible pockets was obliterated and beyond salvaging.
Fozali
Use Computer = 20
The victims Omni-tool was already "unlocked" by Varnoc so getting in was easy. You quickly find many notes, calendar dates, and some voice logs. You also find many gaps in his records. Jeem was taking this informant job very seriously and was keeping detailed notes. He would add a name then then cross them off and then add another. It seems like he was trying to work his way towards something or someone. The head dealer or supplier maybe? There are some large gaps in his logs. It appears as if entire days had nothing added. Jeem started this quest 4 months ago and it looked like he was making progresses. The last month however was wiped from the system. Not very well though. You can still find fragments that might be able to be put back together. Network will have to take some time with their data recovery unit before it tells you anything more.
You don't find any email messages. Those also look as if they have been deleted. There were some missed personal notes that weren't erased but those don't seem to give you much. His bank records do however give you the name of a bar down in his Ward. There were many drinks were served on his tab. It also says that he was going to meet a friend of "a" here but nothing else.
Issi walks away from the corpse to report to the sergeant.
"found a few things, many others missing. I'll be following the loose threads. Call if you need me."
It had been awhile since he'd been there, but he does recall that they have a great central bar, with many tables in alcoves further away from the main bar. They also had this one asari server who always did it just right... Her name was Asizti if I'm remembering the right one...
"Officer Dredd, I'm going to need this Casey's location. We'll be bringing some bad news, but someone needs to tell her. We also need to know more about this whole situation, and she might be our way in. I suppose you have a right to come along, as the victim was your contact. Even so, I have a feeling I should be the one to break the news."
"Fine with me," says Dredd, in a resigned tone, "PR was never my strong suit, but I suppose someone's gotta tell her. I suppose I'll come along."p
Dredd clearly dislikes the idea of having to be the bearer of bad news, but not so much because of the bad news. Mostly he just dislikes being the bearer of any news. He knows people don't take kindly to "friendly visits" from Krogan, and really he doesn't like having to deal with people who aren't trying to shoot him. Makes things much more complicated and tactful, something he is rather lacking in - Tact that is.
Dredd pulls up the list of contacts Varnoc recovered from the victim's omni-tool and scans through it. Finding the entry marked Casey he pulls up her contact information and sends the info to Serona's omni tool.
Fozali, Milmor and Varnoc all head for the bar. It is only a little like a dive bar. There is some decent drinks that aren't full of piss. If there are any stabbings they only happen in the alley not inside and there are only 3 good looking hookers allowed inside at once. For a lower Ward bar it is not bad. Fozali has been here before. He did remember the girl's name correctly, maybe he can talk to her. Milomir and Varnoc haven't been here before so this is all new. Like most bars on the Citadel it has a central ring that serves drinks with a smaller tables and more specialized bars off in the side. The Turian drinks are served off to the left, companionship can be bought to the right and the gambling table is to the back. There is a large open floor in front of the ring where you enter but not to many people are standing around. There is no music playing and it looks like a DJ is setting up a booth to the side. The seems to be a game happening in the back but there is a curtain hiding most of the action. When the three of you enter you see a Salarian is being chased out of the gambling area. You recognize him Fozali. This is one of your brothers. From the yelling it seems like be bet more then he had and the other players are angry. He looks around for help and when he sees you he calls out.
"Brother! See gentleman I told you I would have a friend bring something over right away. I am sure that the two us us can help you out. His goes by Fozali and together we are the Issi brothers. Fozali and Zulli are at your service. I am sure we can come up with some form of payment and who know he is a cop... Hehe... please don't kill me. Brother they are trying to kill me!"
This isn't the first time that Zulli has gotten himself over his head. Most of your other brothers don't talk to him anymore and Mom is really pissed. You have had to bail him out of jail before. He runs over and tries to hind behind your back.
She is pickpocket. She nows has some credits that Serona had on her.
She is a really bad pickpocket. Doesn't look like she has done this before. Was she trying to be noticed?
She is trying to be noticed. She could have gotten away she she wanted you to know. You also see the man walking with her hiding a gun. It is under neither his jacket and it is pointed at the women.
From his vantage point, Dredd gets a slightly better look at the exchange. He notes, Not only is the woman a pickpocket, but she is really, really clumsy. Either this chick is stoned out of her mind, or she is some sort of novice footpad working in a low-rung second-rate backwash gang, because clearly, someone who actually knows what they are doing wouldn't try to swipe creds from a C-Sec Officer and a heavily armed Krogan. That's just downright stupid... I might add suicidal, but I really don't think we need another mess to add to this case. I'm guessing the sergeant would be pretty pissed if I did.
Fortunately it seems Serona spotted her first. All the better for it, Dredd probably would have made a bungle of any sort of persuasion. Normally persuasion for Dredd involves a shotgun.
...Still, Dredd pulls out his shotgun just to be safe. Might help convince the thief that this really isn't worth it.
The man that was traveling with the women quickly folded his jacket over his arm and turned around. He quickly grabbed the women's arm and polled her close again.
"I am so sorry that my girlfriend tried to take your money. Please tell me how much she took, officer and I can repay you. I am really sorry."
He turned to the women and said.
"Stay here."
He used his hand not covered by his jacket and reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and took a step away from her and towards the officers. As he turned his head away from the women she started to run away.
Fozali looks towards the gambling area to see if anyone is following Zulli, before turning away, guiding his brother in close.
"What was it this time Zulli? Made another gamble that didn't pay off? Maybe this time you should just disappear without leaving any traces. Leave the system and keep yourself out of trouble."
Seeing Serona lift the would be thief helplessly off the ground, Dredd trains his shotgun on her accomplice. He glares at him menacingly, and growls "Answer the question bud, and make it snappy."
The your omni-tool can find some information about the women. She has been arrested many times before and it was under the name “Jill.” It was for Red Dust dealing as well as many other minor offenses. Small time theft, car jacking, once for public nudity and public intoxication. A charge for “resisting arrest” has been added evertime she has been taken in. This one is a fighter. There is also a arrest for a murder but she was never charged with it. There is more information but this is cliff notes version. She has quite the file, to long to read now.
The man is taken back by the hostility from the Krogan but he doesn’t look scared. He looks directly at the Krogan.
”She has a history of stealing money to answer your friend’s question you over grown meat stick. Now if you just let her go I will pay you back and we can leave.”
Jill tries to struggle against Serona’s biotic power but she is powerless lifted off of the ground.
”You stupid pigs, he has a gun, you idiots. He was kidnapping me you C-Sec scum.”
The man’s face doesn't change with the women’s actuations.
”Stupid women, you betray your own kind.”
He says as he drops a small round object from under his jacket. When it hits the ground it explodes in a massive smoke cloud. The smoke is very thick and impossible to see through.
The thugs that were gambling and throwing Zulli out stop moving when he hides behind a C-Sec officer. They might push their luck and attacking one but when three show up they know when not to start a fight.
”We know where you live, Zulli. We will get our money.”
One large Turian says before they walk back to their game. Zulli turns to you.
”Thank you brother. Not many of us would stick our neck out for one another. I just don’t have the money on me right now. I can take a loan and then win big at another table and then pay them off. I have it all figured out. I just need some start up cash. I can’t leave the system. I can make it big here, make a name for myself. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have some extra cash on you? I know an almost guaranteed way to make money at these tables. I can pay you back in a couple of days. Come on bother. You were always my favorite out of the 16 of us."
He pathetically starts rubbing his hands together.
"Do you have any Red on you? I could really use a fix."
Varnoc just stares at sad creature before him before turning to Fozali.
"I think I am going to arrest him. He can detox in a hospital and we can get him in a half way house and into some therapy. We can't leave your brother like this Fozali and I can't ignore someones asking a officer if he has drugs. We have to do something."
Dredd swears, then fires.
Dredd's shotgun barks as it spews a fistful of flèchete particles into the cloud of smoke where the man was standing.
Milomir pulls open his omnitool, and brings up a copy of C-Sec’s Big Book of Rules. This isn’t actually the file’s proper name, buta result of Milomir’s creative editing.
”Let’s see here: Section 23 B Subsection 4 Clause 123 A states that propositioning an officer for funds to engage in any deviant addiction (See Appendix 4 Section 2 Entry “Detrimental Addictions” for details.) will be met with a fine of 500 Credits per officer per offence. This is of course in addition to the fines for attempting to coerce an officer to abuse his position, and propositioning officers for red sand.”
Milomir pauses thoughtfully.
”Actually propositioning an officer for red sand is only a 50 credit offence. I’m not sure why they bothered.”
With a shrug, Milomir opens another program on his omnitool.
Serona finds some cover in the form of some large raised flower beds. Large concert boxes generally do a good job stopping bullets. She can go into cover her and see behind the smoke cloud. She sees the man turning tail and trying to run away. He hasn't made it that far yet. He doesn't appear to be injured from Dread's hail-mary shot into the smoke. Someone would have heard that round go off though. There might be more C-Sec officers coming. The girl is still yelling at the two officers. Something about their mothers and more empty threats. She really doesn't like cops or not being in control. Dread is still behind the smoke cloud and can't see past it.
Milomir tired examine Zulli to see if he was high but he didn't get anything. A full medical exam or a Omni-Tool scan are both intrusive and beyond what he could do now so he had to rely on his sight. He knows the symptoms to look for but unfortunately he couldn't tell what was an actual symptom or just a nervous tick. Besides, he was for more interested in looking around the room at everyone else to really look at Zulli. There isn't many people in the bar and all of them are looking down and away. None of them want to attract attention to themselves. Weather it is the thugs gambling or the three armed cops they wanted to hind from is unknown. Most likely both. The bar tender is currently pouring himself a drink. Must be a rough day.
Zulli is kinda of scared of the Turian who wants to arrest him and starts to back away.
"No, I don't need help. I am totally fine. I just need some money. Here is an idea give me 50 credits and I will gamble till I get enough to pay you the 50 credit fine. I just need to double my money. Wont take to long."
Dredd grins to himself as he charge blindly through the screen of smoke. There's gonna be hell to pay for this, I know, but what fun would it be if he just have up and came quietly. Besides, now I get to charge him for resisting arrest, and I love charging people for resisting arrest. Usually means you get to have some fun first.
Spotting the runaway again Dredd charges after him. "Boy, you'd better just give up now! Things are only gonna get worse from here on out!" he bellows as he thunders after him, his heavy footsteps pounding the ground as he picks up speed. "Or you could keep running," he says to himself, That would be more fun."
Korkor's timer goes off. He looks down at his Omni-tool and turns off the alarm. He puts down his tea cup and gets up. Human have actually done something right. This tea of their's is very good if you add lots of sugar. Korkor walks up the stairs to the roof of the office building. He could have taken the elevator but at his age he could use the exercise. He is 37 years old and starting to feel it. This is one of the sad parts of being a Salarian. 40 years is not a long time to make your mark on this world. However, dyeing does comes fast. It is sad to see the other races slowly age and lose there spark. Human's skin begins to sag and there movement becomes slow. Their hair falls out and they loss all their dignity. Salarians just die fast. His brief case is starting to get heavy. A sad reminder of age. 20 stories latter he finally get to the roof. He calmly puts down his case and opens it up. His Black Widow sits there looking like she always has. Custom grip, explosives rounds, extend barrel and an all vision scope. Human's have created some fun weapon. The gun expends and Korkor rest the gun on it's bipod. Through the scope he sees an apartment building. The job was to shoot down a car, killing the two men inside. He sits on the roof and waits for the men to appear. What is this. Two C-Sec officers? What is Dread and Serona doing here? A good killer also knows his enemies. His mark exists the building with a women in arm. Interesting, he was only hired to kill the two guys. Let us see how this works out. Oh, a smoke bomb, how dumb. No wonder Korkor was hired to kill these fools. The man tries to run away and Serona chases after him.
"Sorry, to take your arrest." Korkor pulls the trigger. 1, 2, 3 and boom. His body explodes and meat goes flying. High explosive rounds don't leave much behind. Next target, Korkor finds the car. Fire, 1, 2, 3 and boom. A car explodes down the street, burning the man inside. 1 round left. Korkor targets Serona. He could but he wasn't paid for it. Korkor slowly puts away his gun and takes out a beacon. With a simple press his car was summed and he flow off. Nothing left for him there.
As Serona chases after the fleeing man he explodes. It looks like he was hit by a bomb. There is nothing left but hands and feet. Parts of the body that were far enough from the centre mass. The shock wave almost pushes her over and her ears are ringing. The red human blood is a stark contrast against her blue skin. People start screaming. A couple of seconds latter a car explodes down the street. By now there is a panic. The streets are emptying. The third shoot never comes.
Fozali looks at his brother cowering and feels for him. "Maybe you can help us and we can help you."
Fozali moves with Zulli to one of the side tables and talks to him quietly. "We're here on investigation, not for drinks. You answer my questions and we'll see what we can do about your debts."
Fozali waits and watches his brothers eyes.
"Do you know any of the humans who come here frequently?"
Dredd grabs the girl as she is thrown his way. A moment later her compatriot (who he was about to biotic charge) explodes into a cloud of fine red mist. Aww for the love of-
"I got the girl!" Dredd yells above the commotion.
Dredd also looks around for the cause of the explosion. Must be a shooter somewhere.
Zulli looks at his brother and nods extensively.
"Deal! I don't know very many humans that comes here but I know someone that does. His name is Korkor. I can put you in contact with him. Maybe one of the bar tenders knows more. There are not many humans that come here. Are you looking for a specific one? Maybe, I can ask around? What do you need me to do? What can I do to help, brother? Maybe I do know one that come here. He always sits down and buys other's drinks. Nice guy, Usually meets with other humans. Name was something Jeep? Maybe? Had a bar tab, put a couple of drinks on it. He didn't seems to mind."
Zulli likes this idea. He doesn't appear to be lying.
Dread grabs the girls as she struggles to get free. She is a strong human but Dread is stronger and has a good grip. She does not escape despite her name calling and attempts to punch you. Dread and Serona look around for the source of the exploration but you don't find anything. You can guess at the directing that the short was from by the body bits and car scarp scattered on the street. As for finding the shooter either he is too far away to see or you you just missed him. You both hear sirens in the distance. More officers should be here soon. There are a couple of people injured from the car exploding but it doesn't look serious.
Fozali continues watching his brother while he seals the deal.
"Yes, see what you can find out about Jeem and let me know as soon as possible. If you get in trouble, I don't know what else I can do for you, so leave as soon as you can. We don't want your blood on these streets. Get out of here for now, come back to find out more tomorrow. I need to know who he was talking to, how to find them."
With that, Fozali gets up from the table and without looking back at Zulli he sits down at the bar, waving down the bartender.
"I need to know about Korkor. Some way to find him. Perhaps you could help me. I'd like to start a personal tab with you."
As he speaks about the tab, he slides a credit chip (20c) to the bartender.
"Remember, I need to find a way of finding Korkor."
Zulli nods and sprints out of the bar. He now has a propose and he means to see it completed. Fozali is about the only brother that will still speak to him. As for the bar tender he puts down his drink and takes the credit chip.
"Pleasure the meet you. I will need a name for the tab and please don't give you your full name. You Salarians names are way to long and Korkor. Yeah, I know him. Nice guy but he is like 40. Old you you guys. He comes here often but only drink as night. Like 8 to 10ish. Leaves early sometimes. Says he needs more sleep in his old age. He should be here tonight. I ovule tell him that you are looking for him. Used to be STG he says. Korkor has some great stories. You aren't looking to make trouble for him are you?"
Serona and Dread don't have to wait long for more officer's to show up. Many other emergency response officers show up too. Serona can go see one the the medical personal for that ringing in her hears if she wants. The officer that is put in charge is a human named, Ronald. He is a good cop and knows when to charge someone and when to let it go. There has been lots of gang activity in the area so he has been working hard to keep the peace. The first thought was that it was gang related so he came right away. The girl that Dread has been fighting with is taken away after a couple of bruised shins were kicked. She will be in custody if you want to talk to her latter. The officers think that she might have been high so give her and hour to two to detox. Ron has very little information about the shooting so he asks Serona and Dread what they saw.
"Morning Serona and Dread. So first you guys get called to a shooting this morning then find yourselves shoot at. Why does trouble follow you guys? So I know next to nothing here. All I know was that the people around here called in a shooting and an explosion. Do you think it was related to the gang trouble I have been having? Dam gangers everywhere are starting to move."
His large brown jacket flutter in the wind. He reaches inside he jacket for a cigaret but polls his hand back before he actual grabs one. Word is that his wife has been mad it him and now this. Hell of a time to try and quit.
Ron listened to Serona's story then look back the the blood pool that used to be the would-be-kidnapper and sighs. "Sadly, Serona it has becoming more standard issue. There was a Batarian smuggler that got an entire shipment of Raiders loaded with explosive rounds. We got our hands on most of them but we are missing an whole crate. There could be 30 shotguns running around our streets.The dam a** has lawyered up claiming racism so I can't even get the guns off of the station. They are sitting in lock up but who know how long till someone makes a move on them. This wasn't done by any shot gun though. Hell, my street are turning into a bloody battle ground. Anyways why were you here is the first place Serona? I don't want to take up much more of your time.
Looking past the bartender Fozali speaks hurriedly. "No... no. No trouble. I just need to hear some of his stories. Hear about his history. Give him this contact information. I'll expect his call." With that, he gets up and walks back to his companions.
"We should have a lead here this evening. We could investigate the gamblers in the corner, or we could check in with the rest of the investigation."
"Hmmmm... I don't know how to gamble so I wouldn't go but if you want to spend your money be my guest. Do you want back up this evening?
The young Turian looks around the room. He is definitely out of place. "I am not used to bars.