Notes: Hi stranger and thank you for the click, I just want to say a few things before we get started. For starters, this is in no way shape or form connected to my Jack Shepard series. Different Shepard with different crew relationships and who won't appear. I'm not abandoning my other stories but seeing as RotR will end in a very different place, I wanted to show a Post Reaper Milky Way galaxy from my perspective. Expect not very frequent updates to start as I'm going to be cycling between this and my other works. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!
Prologue: Day in the Life
Lem opened his eyes slowly to the sound of an old Human song he had made into an alarm clock. The tune was upbeat yet not over dramatic in it's messaging, specifically telling the listener everything was going to be alright. He needed that kind of affirmation a lot these days when the rest of the world always seemed to be testing that message. When he volunteered to join the Flotila's military forces ten years ago Lem never imagined he, along with the majority of the Quarian military, would be stranded millions of lightyears away from the homeworld forever. The sight of the Charon Mass Relay bursting into flames from his gun emplacement on the Qwib-Qwib still haunted his dreams. Supposedly, engineers from every race were trying to reactivate the Relay but he doubted it would happen in his lifetime. If he had known what was going to happen, would he have volunteered to go? Or would Lem have stayed to enjoy Rannoch longer?
The question had no time to stay in Lem's mind as he was already up preparing himself a nutrient paste breakfast. Unlike the plurality of Quarians who stayed on the Flotila where they were most comfortable, Lem moved to the Kithoi Ward on the Citadel which was now orbiting Earth. Since they no longer had access to the Mass Relay network, Quarians couldn't just use their Pilgrims to grab everything useful from a planet and then run off. Along with all of the other races stuck in the Sol system, Quarians had to learn what it was like to have a symbiotic relationship with the other races. Thankfully Commander Shepard's marriage to now Tali'Shepard Vas Earth kept relationships between their respective species peaceful overall. And the same could be said of most of the societal relationships in general. Dextro veterans stayed on the Kithoi Ward, Krogan and other Terminus vets kept tight control of the Bachjret Ward, the Council Races held the Tayseri Ward, and the unfortunately few Citadel survivors were still trying to repair the Zakea Ward. All the while most of Humanity who used to live on the Citadel moved back to Earth.
While his paste was warming up, Lem activated the vid screen to listen to the morning news, "I'm Katherine Weathers and here are your top stories this morning. Thirty five year old Linea T'Nor was found in the basement of a Volus merchant last night. C-Sec authorities have reported to ENN that the Volus in question, one Artok Bal, intended to sell Linea on the black market. This is what Executor Vakarian had to say on the subject."
An image of his Turian boss flashed on the screen, Lem could see he was exhausted. "Good day everyone, I'm sure everybody has a lot on our minds right now so I'm going to keep this brief. Due to the tireless actions of lead investigator Lem'Nara Vas Citadel and the entire C-Sec Major Crimes Unit, we were able to determine...ahem...little Linea was being held in the home of a wealthy merchant transporting slaves between the Kithoi and Bachjret Wards. We were thankfully able to find Linea before Mr. Bal's next shipment. The investigation will continue to be on going to determine whether or not Bachjret authorities were aware of the slave trade. Thank you."
Katherine's round Human face filled the screen again, "It is still unclear how far an investigation will go seeing as C-Sec has very little jurisdiction over the Bachjret Ward. In other news-"
Lem shut off the vid screen with a sigh wishing Vakarian hadn't name dropped him like that. Sure, he had been the one to figure out Linea's two dead Asari parents had owed credits to the Volus by finding one of their bank statements in the garbage can outside their apartment but, he hadn't worked alone. Everyone from ballistics to the C-Sec fireteam who raided Bal's compound also deserved to be called out at the briefing. He suspected the Executor called him out by name just so Quarians besides the engineers could get some good press. All he felt like he did was get a lead and try to comfort the girl until someone more qualified could arrive. He was never going to forget the way her clothes had been torn for easy viewing for buyers, while she was thirty five, that was just barely a teenager in Asari terms. It disgusted him picturing who would want to touch someone so young in that way and it was going to take him awhile to move on from the case. Because unfortunately the reporter was right, no matter what Vakarian said right now the investigation ended as soon as it left Kithoi Ward.
His paste heater demanded his attention with multiple beeps at the same time his omni tool started to ring, that was fast. "Look whoever you are today is my day off and I don't have time for an interview. Nor do I have the patience to tell you over and over again details of the case are classified."
"I see the fame of being on the vids has already gotten to your head. Here's a hint, most reporters don't try to get an interview for the first twenty four hours after a story drops just because they know that's the tone they're going to get." His stomach twisted into knots hearing veteran Detective Chellick's voice on the other end of the call.
Lem quickly changed his accented tone to something more professional, "Sir, I am so sorry I just thought.. Keelah I must seem like an ass. What's going on?"
Chellick chuckled back at him not offended apparently, "You just broke your first news worthy case, it's fine to be a bit of an asshole, especially with how that case went down. Listen, I know you said today was your day off but, I need you down here."
The Quarian sipped the nutrient paste through his induction port before responding, "Chellick your going to have to be more specific than that, give me a run down while I walk to my shuttle."
Chellick sounded uncomfortable as he began, "Pretty gruesome scene on the lower east side. No forced entry, cheap Turian bachelor pad so no theft, just one Turian in his late thirties hung up on the living room wall ritualistic style."
Lem was about to ask what he meant with that last part but decided he would be there soon enough to see for himself, "I'll be there soon, don't disturb anything until I can have a look."
Although Quarians had a lot of disadvantages in life, one of their only strengths was their ability to get on the move quickly. No need to shower or brush their teeth in the morning, their environmental suit would do all of that for them as long as it was functioning out of necessity. It was one of the reasons he had enlisted in the C-Sec academy over eight years ago now, he was able to get to a scene faster than anyone else. Over the years he had gone from just a grunt guard worker who secured scenes, to lead homicide detective in the C-Sec MCU. According to his peers who recommended him for the position, Lem had an attention to detail that rivalled the best in the department. On the other hand, Lem would just describe himself as a meticulous thinker, not better than anyone else, just able to have a different perspective from the more career officers. The problem was this tendency to see things in more complex terms than, 'the wife must've done it for insurance' could draw jealous heat towards him when he turned out to be right. None of them would admit it but, he was sure a part of it was the fact that a Quarian rookie could possibly surpass the previously Turian dominated force.
Speaking of Turians, the address Chellick provided led him to one of the many Turian apartment complexes on the Kithoi Wards. That wouldn't normally draw extra attention for him since very few Quarian apartments existed with the fleet being so close by, however, this particular Turian building was assigned to former criminals. So it was safe to say his latest victim had a wrap sheet, how long of which he couldn't say but, that fact opened up many opportunities for leads. Drug deal gone bad? Another criminal associate angry the victim ratted him out? Perhaps he had debts from his time in prison that he didn't get around to repaying? All of it was technically possible though the fact that Chellick said something about the scene having a ritualistic component to it made Lem think the location had nothing to do with the crime itself. He had also described the scene as 'gruesome' which was a rare word in the man's vocabulary leading Lem to assume a crime of passion. In any case, he ended up landing at the very barren building ten minutes after the call. Time to empty his mind of all assumptions and get to work.