2184, Illium - Janiri Skyscraper Crimescene
Lieutenant Anxus
The door of the aircar opened and Lieutenant Anxus of Illium Upper District Police Department stepped out. The scene in front of him was holo'd off and few curious onlookers were milling around on the edges of the scene. There was a faint metallic smell in the air. One Anxus was too damn familiar with, having worked 23 years in Illium PD.
Blood.
He walked through the holo cordoning off the scene, the scanners detecting his status as a officer and blinking green. The front of the building had two police cruisers parked in a V formation forming a textbook barricade in front of the doors. Between the doors and the cruisers was a large pool of purple blood and a inert holoprojector. No doubt when activated showing the state of the victim from before it was cleaned up.
Anxus couldn't help and feel a bit of pride at seeing the efficiency of his men and women. Everything was done as well as it could have. He earmarked to give a bonus to the officers involved in this scene.
"Lieutenant. Good to see you." Said Officer Hemes, a salarian subordinate of his, walking out from the building. A good man and excellent at his job.
"Likewise Hemes, even if the circumstance is as it is." Hemes nodded gravely. "Run me through what happened here." I said looking at the pool of blood.
"Certainly lieutenant. After techs went through the camera feeds and the scene we have a pretty good picture of what happened here." Hemes said in a quick voice that was typical to salarians. "The perp, a human male, came walking from that direction and went straight inside." He said pointing to the left of the building. "There was no hesitation in the perp's movement. It was clear he had prior knowledge of this place. I've already put the techs looking at older recordings to see if we can spot him." I nodded approvingly but said nothing, letting the salarian continue. "How he got inside is interesting. You see lieutenant, he had a key."
"A Key?" I said in surprise. I had expected that the man would have hacked his way inside.
"Indeed lieutenant. The key is to room 327 which belongs to a volus stock trader. We have not been able to find the man yet, but I've put out a notice to our patrols."
"Do you reckon the volus was involved?" I asked.
"Possible, but with the ruthlessness of the perp, I fear the volus did not part with it peacefully." Hemes said and started walking toward the elevator. "The perp continued with the elevator. He went to the 71st floor, more specifically, room 711. Please follow me lieutenant."
We went together to the elevator and Hemes pressed the button for 71st floor. I noted a bloody fingerprint on the button, but it was too smooth to have any actual patterns on it.
A professional most likely with no prints.
When we got to the correct floor, Hemes continued: "The human walked to the end of the hallway to room 711, and promptly blew away the door. This alarmed the neighbours who called the police. Though no one of them saw anything."
I blinked in surprise. "Blew away the door?" Definitely professional.
"Indeed lieutenant. Military grade breaching charge. Camera caught it all. Clearly the perp has prior experience with such ordinance, suggesting military experience." They kept walking until they were in the bedroom of the apartment. The body on the floor was in rough condition. Lying in a large pool of red blood his right arm and left knee both nearly torn off by a powerful gunshot. Right knee was bent un-naturally for a human and to top it all off the back half of his head seemed to be missing.
"Who is the victim?" I asked, voice serious as I scanned the room.
"Mr. Andrew Barnett. Age 64, business manager of Limitless Exports Noveria Inc. No known criminal history. Seems that Mr. Barnett was having nightly company of two as of yet unidentified asari when the perp hit." Hemes took a breath and continued. "After entering the perp shot Mr. Barnett who was holding his gun in the right arm with a large caliber hand gun. Carnifex most likely by the wounds. The two asari were either let go, or managed to escape. Neither appeared wounded so I would support former theory. After that, we suspect Mr. Barnett was interrogated. This theory is supported by the close range of the two latter shots and their interval. His right knee was kicked in and the left shot with the, same as earlier, gun. After this he was finished with a point black shot to the head."
We stood there in silence for a moment, as I pondered the scene and Hemes waited for my reply.
"Find everyone who might have carried a grudge against the victim. Business partners, loved ones, everything. This reeks of a paid professional." I said after forming a reasonable theory in my head.
"Will do lieutenant. Shall we continue?" Hemes asked.
"Lead the way Hemes." I replied.
Hemes kept speaking as we went back to down the elevator: "The perp took his leave immediately after finishing off Mr. Barnett. He went back down to the lobby and almost ran into our first responders."
"Almost? What do you mean? As far as I know there is only one way out of the lobby." I replied.
"Indeed, but the perp thought quickly on his feet. He hid behind this pillar as Officers Quinin, Vete and T'Soma went up on the elevator." He explained pointing at the pillar.
"They did not sweep the lobby? That is standard procedure!" I barked angrily. How could they have forgotten? Vete I could have understood, with only a 16 months under his belt, but both Quinin and T'Soma were senior officers. They are up for a asschewing of a lifetime once i get back in the office.
"Apparently they thought the perp was still up the building, and rushed to capture him, sir." Hemes explained, ignoring my burst of anger. "They reasoned that Officer L'Sania could stop from going in, or coming out."
I held my palm on my face for a moment until I calmed enough to speak without snapping again. I took a heavy breath and asked Hemes to continue.
"After this the perp moved to leave the area but Officer L'Sania managed to get the jump on him. As she was radioing the others for help she walked too close to the perp who turned her own gun on her and shot her in cold blood." Hemes finished sadly. Sona L'Sania was a rookie, having worked less than a year but already she had managed to endear herself to most of the precinct with her enthusiasm.
"Damn kid. What did you go and do." I lamented whilst shaking my head sadly.
"The move he performed on Officer L'Sania gives us near rock hard evidence of the fact that the perp has extensive military training. Likely special operations." Hemes reasoned as we stood over the hologram of L'Sanias corpse. "After the murder, he left the way he came from and vanished into a camera blindspot not far from here." Hemes concluded his walkthrough.
I sighed wearily. 15 years ago I would have not been able to sleep until the suspect was caught, but now I felt like doing nothing more. But the wicked do not rest, and neither will I. "Thank you Hemes. Continue with the investigation and keep me informed. I'll have to go and inform Officer L'Sanias family."
Hemes bowed his head respectfully and we parted ways. I sat back into the aircar and set the destination back to the department. I got a feeling that this was not the last time I'd be dealing with this unknown human assassin. And next time, I would catch the man.
2184, Illium - The Perpetrators Safehouse
Thomas Fulton
After getting back to my temporary lodging I took a quick, cold shower and put my bloodied clothing in the washing machine and turned it on. Munching on a ready-to-eat meal I sat down to search through the extranet for everything I could, about the current whereabouts of late Commander Shepard's crew.
Jane Shepard, the golden girl of the Alliance and the first human spectre. Killed little over a year ago when her ship was attacked in space. I amusedly thought about how very different our military careers had been. She almost single handedly saved the colony of Elysium from batarian slavers. Afterwards, any mission that had public eye on it, they would send Shepard.
And in the end she was made a spectre. A veritable legend in her own right.
I, on the other hand did all the shit the Alliance didn't want anyone to know about. Black-ops, interrogation, assassination. You name it. And my career ended with my legs being blown off by a batarian slaver on Torfan and a just about honourable discharge, with a 'We're sure you understand'.
I looked back down at my omni-tool where in the midst of my thinking I had managed to make a list of all the members of Shepard's close circle during their mission to hunt Saren.
Kaidan Alenko, killed during their hunt for the rogue spectre. I put a line over his name.
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, returned to the quarian migrant fleet apparently. No way in hell am I going to get access there. Another line.
Ashley Williams, still serving with the alliance. I could ask from my old contacts in intelligence of her whereabouts. Strongest lead so far. I made a circle around her name.
Urdnot Wrex, krogan merc. Located in Tuchanka according to latest info. Even if I could get in to the krogan DMZ, I very much doubt he would talk to me. And interrogation is a no go against a fucking krogan battlemaster. Yet another line.
Garrus Vakarian, served with c-sec until recently. Apparently resigned and left Citadel to a unknown location. I could go and subtly ask about his location from his former colleagues. Pretend to be an old friend. Potential. Circle.
And lastly, Liara T'Soni. Located right here on Illium, working as a information broker. Easiest to access but I'd rather not deal with her if I don't have to. Information brokers are rarely trustworthy and I don't want her to inform my potential target of me. Regardless I put a circle around her name too, but she would be a last choice.
I closed the list and opened my contacts list, selected one named William Rook and pressed call. Few seconds went by until a brusque voice answered: "What do you want Fulton?"
"It's been a while Bill, how're you doing?"
"Cut the crap Tom. You only call me when you need something and god knows I owe it to you but I'm a busy man so get to point." Rook answered.
"Allright then. I need the current location of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams." I explained to him.
"Of Shepard's crew? Hm. Gimme a sec." I could hear the pinging of a holo-keyboard as Rook no doubt typed in her name to dig up any info that Alliance Intelligence servers had on her. He and I used to be real close, years ago. Back when he was the intelligence liaison to my company. In fact, the missile that took my legs was meant for him.
6 years prior, 2178, Torfan - Assault Zone Echo
Major Thomas Fulton
Our insertion had been fairly successful. The batarians had been taken by surprise as we came in. Most of their AA-guns hadn't even had time to start blasting before we secured them. Of course that was only the top of the batarian iceberg. Most of the enemy forces were bunkered nice and good in their holes in the ground. My unit was split up into squads across the moon to do maximum damage. Me and Magpie Squad were tasked with getting in and accessing the databanks before they could wipe them.
We were gathered at a 'secret' side entrance to the bunker where the main servers of the complex were. Our anticipated resistance was light as we presumed that most enemy personnel would concentrate on a company of the 355th Marine Corps, lovingly codenamed Team Hammer, that was assigned to assault zone echo with us.
"Got it, Sir." said Corporal Eline from the door as the lock turned from red to green. For this mission I had hand picked the best individuals from the company; Cpl. Eline, best damn tech specialist I have ever seen. Sgt. Mitchner, medic from 3rd platoon. Quiet man, but got job done with no hassle. Lt. Holling, a top scoring marksman and a good friend at your back. SSgt. Radcliff, taking the role of support gunner for this mission. And last but not least our Alliance Intelligence Service liaison, Lt. William Rook.
"Allright everyone. You all know what to do, Holling take point, on one. Three. Two. One." the door opened with a clang, courtesy of Cpl. Eline and we moved in. Two batarians were just approaching towards the door as we came in. They didn't even have time to lift their guns before both were shot down.
We moved quickly. Only scanning the hallways and disposing of any slaver-soldiers or pirates we met. There was a very real danger of getting cut off this way, but we were on a timer. This info could bring down the whole slaver scene in the Verge and we could not let a chance like that slip between our fingers. So into danger we went.
As we moved through the tight hallways of the facility on our way to the server room, we met almost no resistance. That made put me very much on edge: "Expected enemy presence was small, but this is nothing compared to what intel said there'd be. Where hell are all of them?" I asked Rook who was moving at the centre of the formation with me.
"Our distraction must have been more efficient than we anticipated." Rook reasoned with me.
"Maybe, but I don't like this. Keep alert." Rook nodded in answer.
The way to the server room stayed clear for the rest of the way. Eline went to hack the door as we kept the vicinity secured. Once done we swept in the server room, and found it empty as well. Despite the feeling of impending doom in my stomach, I calmly ordered my squad to act: "Eline get to work. Radcliff get some explosives on those doors. Holling, Mitchner side door. Rook and I take the main one. I don't want a single batarian to enter this room alive until were done and gone!"
My squad got to work like the well oiled machine they were and I too settled to overlook the door we came in from with my rifle ready to fire. Tense minutes passed. Radcliffe had already moved to the second door when Eline came to the radio: "Major, theres something wrong with the server th-"
BOOOOOM!
A huge explosion suddenly shook the room from behind me and cut off what the corporal was about to tell. I was thrown forward and struck a railing with my head, disorienting me badly. I could faintly hear gunfire being exchanged and a secondary explosion somewhere around me and tried to point my rifle in at the noise as my vision spun violently. A shot hit my barrier making them flare bright blue. I fired a burst towards where I was fairly certain it had come from. As my vision started to stabilize I could see a batarian in armour entering the room. I sent two bursts at him, the first one breaking his shields and the second bringing him down. On my right Rook was firing at the door to keep anymore from entering. I took the time to let my gun cool and opened my radio: "Sitrep!" I yelled into the commline.
"They've surrounded the room! It was a goddamn trap! Eline is down and Radcliff is wounded!" Holling's winded voice came through the line. I couldn't see their position as the servers were blocking the view but the constant gunfire told me all I needed to know.
The word fuck went running through my head as I tried to reach Team Hammer, that was assaulting the main entrance of the facility, on the comm.
"This is Magpie Squad calling Team Hammer! We're pinned down in the server room! I've got a man down!" I received only static in response.
"Shit." I said out loud as I took my turn at keeping the batarians at bay when Rook's rifle started beeping a overheat. Some dumb-as-shit pirate took the beeping as a invitation to enter but was immediately put down by a precise spray of bullets from my rifle. I tried to think about a way out of this mess whilst keeping a steady coverfire aimed at the doorway. We were closer to the main entrance by now than the side one we came through and if we managed to punch through we could get a connection to the main force assaulting this facility. In any case we couldn't stay here. Sooner or later the batarians had to get smart and start throwing granades at us, and I didn't want to be in the room when that happened.
"Holling keep firing! Mitchner grab Eline! Radcliff, can you shoot?" I barked into the comm.
"Yes sir!" came my reply from Radcliff. "Good. Then when I give the word empty your granade launcher through the side doorway. Rook get ready to clear any stragglers. I'll keep this door covered. Afterwards, we'll go up the elevator at the end of the hall and link up with Team Hammer" I quickly explained and once I got a row of affirmatives and Rook had reached the side door, I primed a granade in my hand and gave the go ahead.
As I heard the first blast from the granade launcher explode I threw my granade at the door I was watching and started sprinting to the side door. Atleast a half a dozen batarian bodies lied in the doorway as I reached it and another 5 in the hallway outside. My squad was already moving towards the elevator that would take us on the upper levels. I joined them and shot a long spray into the hallway behind us as I saw batarians starting to emerge from the room we had vacated. One of them fell down and the rest stopped their advance for the moment. We managed to reach the elevator just as the batarians got combat shields up and started to advance against us. A lucky shot managed to find it's way in my arm just as the doors closed and I hissed in pain. My suit's medi-gel dispenser whirred into work to contain the damage and dull the pain until it could be treated.
"The corporal's not good Major." Mitchner said to me from behind. I turned around to see her state myself.
Her armor had shredded and melted on her and all visible parts of her body were horribly burnt. Few deep lacerations marred her torso and helmet. Must have been a really big incendiary explosive to make that kind of damage. I turned my head to look at Radcliff's wounds. He had a bulletwound on his left shoulder and thigh, but nothing too serious.
"We'll go as fast as we can. Do whatever you can for her in the meanwhile." It was a given that he would even without my explicit order, but it kept my thoughts straight to keep on top of the situation. The sergeant just nodded without looking at me as he kept treating her.
After a short while the elevator reached the top floor and we entered straight from the frying pan and into the fire. In front of the elevator were 6 batarians behind a barricade, with their backs to us shooting at the other end of the room. They had clearly been waiting for reinforcements and their presumed commander was looking at us all four of his eyes wide as plates before he snapped back to it and started firing.
We surged out of the elevator guns blazing, but as the enemies noticed us at their backs, we became target number one. We managed to clear the barricade in front of us quickly, but I saw next to me Holling go down before we reached cover.
I kept popping in and out of cover and shooting at any batarian I could see. On the other side of the room I saw members of Team Hammer firing at the batarians too. Long range comms were still out but I managed to reach them on close range: "Friendlies in front of the elevator! Watch your fire!"
"Copy!" A feminine voice replied hastily.
The battle didn't last long as the remaining 30 or so batarians fell in the crossfire. After the shooting stopped the marines moved in to mop up any stragglers. I sat heavily against the barrier that we were holed up behind. My eyes fell onto the body of Holling, lying face down on the dirty concrete floor. On my left I heard Rook curse as he moved to check his body and after scanning for life signs shaked his head slowly. I just sat there looking at him for a moment, when heavy footsteps came past the barrier to stand next to me.
"Captain Hedge, 1st company, 4th battalion of the 355th, Sir." The tall woman next to me said saluting and then offered her hand to pull me up.
I took her hand and she pulled me up on my feet. "Captain." I nodded at her. "Get them a evac ASAP." I said to her nodding at the direction of Eline and Radcliff. She nodded her assent and barked orders for his men to transport them. After that she turned back to me; "Major, there's a situation at zone delta. The enemy is heavily entrenched and the 401st has been unable to break through. Whats worse, is that their AA is functional and they have a long range jammer. Were completely deaf here, hell, we are using runners to organize the assault. You are the most senior officer I've heard from in an hour so, what are your orders, sir"
I nodded wearily as I mulled over the new info for a few moments. We had to get that jammer offline. This whole operation was in danger as long as it was on. Attacking blind was almost suicidal but it was about our only choice at the moment.
"We need to get to that jammer fast. Rig the entrance of this place to blow, afterwards gather your men and rally at these co-ordinates. Doubletime! Mitchner, Rook with me." I ordered and transferred co-ordinates of the rally point I chose to her. I was about to turn away when a soldier came running at us. "Captain we got prisoners. Where do we take them?"
Before the captain could answer, I spoke: "Shoot them."
The soldier looked at me in surprise and then at her captain; "Sir?" he said in a unsure tone.
Captain Hedge looked at me seriously. "Sir with all due respect. We cannot do that. It is a warcrime."
I snapped at her. "If we do not move quick, our soldiers will be fighting deaf in the field. Every minute we stall, our soldiers DIE preventable deaths. If you want to watch over some batarian slavers while your comrades fall to their friends because of your inaction, I will have no choice but to see you unfit for command." I said to her with intensity, looking her straight at where her eyes would be under the helmet.
I didn't wait for her answer as I moved towards the entrance, but before I could exit the facility I heard faint gunshots echoing from the walls behind me.
The raging of battle could be heard in the artificial air of the moon's surface. The generators that kept up the atmosphere around the base had been another priority mission. Apparently a lot more successful one than ours. Rook moved to walk next to me as we moved towards the regrouping point some way from facility echo.
"You wont get any criticism from me Fulton, but you know that someone will report that, right?" Rook asked me, making sure that Sgt. Mitchner couldn't hear him.
"And if the Alliance cares more about the lives of batarians than humans, I've been fighting for the wrong side for all this time." I said in a clipped tone. Not in the mood to debate at the moment.
"Jesus Tom, I know you're not a big fan of the top brass or the politicians, but you have to atleast see how that could be used against the Alliance as ammunition by other races, ESPECIALLY the batarians."
I just kept walking and didn't answer. After a few moments Rook moved away from me, swearing at my 'obstinacy'.
After about fifteen minutes the, by my count 71, marines had gathered and we had met a runner from the 401st informing us of their attack schedule. I gave the all clear message to activate the trigger of the explosives the marines had set and we watched as the main entrance to facility echo crumbled on itself, forcing all would be reinforcements to take the long way round through the side entrance.
"Captain Hedge, ready your men. We move in five." I informed the captain, who after my outburst at her, had only interacted with me the minimum amount necessary, as was the case now too. She answered with a clipped 'Sir.' and went to follow her orders. I didn't care, as long as she did her job.
Facility delta was about 300 meters from our position. It was next to a small ridge on the surface of the moon that would give us cover until we were mere 20 meters away. I used my helmets tactical lens to zoom in for a closer look. It was larger and more heavily armed than echo had been. It looked like a large square bunker, with only one entrance and lots of small holes for shooting. On it's roof sat a few turrets and a massive AA-gun was blasting ordinance up the skies like the re was no tomorrow. Which was probably true for the operator of the gun.
One whole battalion from 401st had been sent against the facility. Now apparently two companies from the 113th had joined in from the north-east, and of course, what remained of Team Hammer and Magpie Squad, acting under my command. Over 500 men were going to assault the building in just a few minutes. We had to break through, no matter the cost. The jammer had to be shut down.
Five minutes went by as I analyzed the defenses and finalized the strategy. Once the time was up, we started moving. As we got near the facility we could hear the fighting start. Once we reached it, I moved on top of the ridge and saw that no enemies were in sight. They were all concentrated on 401st and 113th's assault. I gave the signal and eight marines moved in pairs of two to the wall. Their job was to create an entrance, and their tools; high-powered explosives. Same ones that brought down facility echo. After a tense minute or so of setting the ordinance, the marines retreated back behind the ridge to take cover from the explosion.
"Do it." I ordered and someone counted from three down. The explosion threw pieces of vacuum-reinforced concrete over the ridge in front of us. I immediately stood up and started running towards one of the openings. "GO GO GO!" I heard Captain Hedge shout behind me as everyone started moving.
The surprise didn't last long. Not even half of us had made it in when the defenses started turning towards us. I was on of the first ones in. A few nearly unrecognisable batarian corpses lie in the hallway that was opened to us by the explosives. I shot one that was trying to get back on it's feet. Rook and Mitchner were right behind me as we spearheaded the assault deeper into the bunker. The hallway ended into a barrack filled with beds and lockers. Five batarians inside started firing as the door opened, cutting down a marine that was following us. I slammed against the wall next to the door and took a granade from my belt. After a few seconds of cooking it, I threw it into the room. It exploded still in mid-air, killing one of the pirates and forcing the others to cover. Charging in to the room I shot two of them before my gun overheated. I threw it away and activated my omni-blade just in time to cut the second to last batarians gun in half as he tried to lift it. But the gun didn't stop the blade and it sank deep into the batarians torso.
"Watch out Major!" Mitchner yelled from the doorway, shooting at something behind the body in front of me. As the batarian slid off my blade, another one behind him fell sideways with a hole in the side of his head, his large gun clattering to the ground. A sniper. At this range it would have gone through his comrade and skewered me without much extra effort.
I took a few heavy breaths. "Thanks Sergeant." He nodded back and moved towards the end of the room. Some marines passed us as I was picking up my gun but were halted as gunfire ripped through the opening they were trying to enter, taking the two of them with. Mitchner rushed to one of them and dragged him to the side, beginning to scan him for injury list so he could begin to patch him up. Rook was already by the door, shooting into the room when I slammed on the opposite side of him.
I had a quick glance in when there was a lull in the incoming fire. It was large-ish comms room. The jammer had to be there. I signed the positions of the enemies I saw to rook and waited for the next pause in the batarians shooting. A few seconds passed by and their firing eased again. I leaned in and unloaded as much of my gun, as accurately as I could, before it overheated. I had barely made it back to cover when rounds started ripping at us again.
"They are too heavily entrenched. I'll granade them, cover me." Came Rook's voice through my helmet. I nodded at him and leaned out to fire again. This time managing to get one of them through the weak point at the neck and he fell down dead or dying. Just as I was leaning back into cover, my eyes widened as I saw a glimpse of a missile launcher being aimed at the doorway. Rook was already leaning out to throw the granade with his upper body straight in the way of the incoming missile.
Shit.
I didn't think. I just acted on reflex.
Just as the granade left Rook's hand I slammed into him, pushing him back behind cover.
A flash of light.
I felt agonizing pain for a split second, until it morphed to a sensation of flying and then yet again, to falling. I saw a grey blur approaching quickly and then... Just darkness.
Present Moment, Illium - The Perpetrators Safehouse
The sound of Bill's voice brought me out of my memories.
"Shit, Tom. I don't know what you're doing, and I don't want to." I was sensing a but coming. "But whatever it is, it's got some serious security clearance. O-10 or special permission. Damn."
"Can you crack it?" I simply asked.
"Can I fucking crack it he asks... Look I'd love to help you, for old times sake if nothing else but if I open this, I can say goodbye to my career and a hearty hello to a jail cell for a long damn time. So, no. I can't crack it." He explained to me, like I had something wrong with my head.
"Well, there goes the easy option. Thanks anyway Bill." O-10 or higher was serious fucking clearance. And if even Bill declined to help with it, I very much doubted I could get anyone else to agree.
"I'd say be careful with whatever you're doing, but you're not gonna listen to me anyways so, see you around Tom." With that Rook cut the call.
I blew air heavily out of my nose. Well looks like I'm going to visit the Citadel.
