Sergeant Zynn Nordum hated mid-day patrols.

Even more than he hated being stuck with greenhorn recruits. And he despised greenhorns.

First of all, absolutely nothing happened. Criminals didn't 'work' a whole lot in the middle of the day, for fear of cameras getting a good look at their faces. And secondly, even though it seemed childish, working late-night shifts is what Zynn really wanted to do. He liked the grittiness of the Wards as opposed to the serenity of the Presidium. Other veterans called him crazy, saying that a mid-day shift was a blessing to be assigned to.

But Zynn wasn't like the other veterans. Not at all. He liked the fact that his life was on the line every night, no matter who called him crazy.

Which included his current partner, a drell by the name of Kaza…something or other. He never bothered to remember his last name, only had this kid for a week.

The drell was green around the gills, no pun intended, graduating from C-Sec Academy about a month ago.

"I'm telling you," Kaza began, leaning back in the passenger seat of their patrol car. "There ain't no way two dozen turian commandos could take on a trained drell assassin, let alone one dozen."

"And I'm tellin' you," the turian shot back gruffly, "that they could easily take on one of your little frog boys easy. They'd butcher him in a stand up firefight."

"Too bad an assassin would never be caught in a stand up firefight in any case." The drell cleared his throat before continuing, "All he'd hafta do, is pick 'em off one atta time."

Pulling his patrol car into an open landing port, Zynn shook his head. They had been going at this for half an hour, the drell still claiming their famed assassins were much better than a dozen of the best turian commandos. "All we'd have to do, is shoot him."

"He's too fast-"

Zynn turned to Kaza, "Too fast for a bullet? No freakin' way."

The engines slowly hummed to sleep as Zynn opened up his door, stepping out into the Wards. He took a deep breath, and shook his head again. Air tasted better at night. Less people and cars around to pollute it.

Kaza got out on his side, "What're we doin' here?

"I'm going to see a good friend." The elder officer stated with a smile as he turned and walked forward. "You can come too, or wait in the car like a good frog boy."

"Screw you, pal." Kaza chuckled, jogging to catch up with his superior.

Zynn clicked his mandibles and shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. You shouldn't talk to anyone in the force like that, especially not to your Sergeant, froggy."

The drell huffed, black eyes hiding the skeptical look behind them, "Yeah, yeah. Trust me, though. One day you'll look back and regret calling me 'frog boy,' sir."

Zynn laughed out loud, "What? You thinkin' about taking my job?"

"Please." Kaza rolled his eyes, or at least Zynn thought he did. Couldn't tell with those black eyes anyways. "By the time I'm your age, I could be running C-Sec."

"Yeah…Executor Froggy. I'll send in a recommendation form to Pallin, see what he thinks."

He had seen it all before. Kids brimming with confidence the day they got their badges and pistols, ready to fight the good fight and take on all the crime on the Citadel. Sad fact though, the universe doesn't work like that. At all. Down in the Wards, all it took was one cocky move, one arrogant decision, and that likeable kid fresh out of the Academy had a bullet lodged in his brain.

Zynn let his boys have their fun, but he brought the hammer down when needed.

"So," Kaza slowly began after a few minutes of silently walking with his partner, "where are we headed?"

"A bar. Meet up with an old friend."

The skeptical look returned to Kaza's face as they pushed through the oddly thin crowd of citizens. "A bar? While out on patrol? That won't look good on our records."

Spirits, what a moron. What did I do to get this kid?

Zynn sighed, "We're not going there to drink. Just want to talk to a friend. A quick five minutes and then we're out again."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.'" Zynn clicked his mandibles again, scratching his chin as they approached the bar in question. Gavin's Keep, the best place for rotgut on this Ward. Hell, in Zynn's opinion, it was the best place on the whole damn Citadel.

He dodged past an asari and human female, the human looking especially distraught. The turian halted as he watched the couple flee from the bar, the asari holding her partner steady as they slowly retreated. Shrugging, the cop turned to find a group of turians stumble out the front door of the Keep in a hurry.

"Officer!" The first one, who seemed the most sober, shouted at Zynn. "Arrest that damned bartender!"

Zynn couldn't help but laugh. He had seen Gavin throw people out before, and every time they deserved it. This was probably one of those times.

The citizen's eyes narrowed, "What's so damned funny, huh? He pulled a gun on us!"

"Well I don't blame him." The Sergeant stated matter-of-factly. "You guys don't look like fun company."

Snarling, the turian motioned for his buddies as the hobbled off, "You're no real cop! Just a lazy nathak! We're gonna go find some real officers."

Zynn just shook his head and chuckled as the drunks wandered off. They wouldn't go near C-Sec, more likely they'd stumble over to Chora's Den and harass a few strippers. But word of Gavin pulling a gun was a little disturbing. The barkeep wouldn't pull a weapon on those three. Not very intimidating.

But if what they said was true, then something was wrong.

"Wait here, froggy." He ordered, marching for the front door. It wouldn't open when he approached, the metal portal was locked tight. He then tried pressing in the access code on the nearby keypad. A rejection tone sounded off. Zynn's brow furrowed.

Gavin supposedly forced people out at gunpoint, locked all the doors, and changed the pass code.

That usually wasn't a good sign.

He banged on the door with his fist, "Gavin? It's me, Zynn. Open up."

Silence.

The Sergeant pressed his head against the door. He heard something rustling on the other side. He knocked on it again, "Come on, man. I can hear you."

"Go away, Zynn."

Zynn huffed, "You know, I could just hack the door open. I have an omni-tool."

"And I have a shotgun."

"Threatening a buddy, huh?" The Sergeant pondered with a small grin. But he steeled away the smile, his tone dead serious, "Gavin…come on, man. What's got you spooked?"

"Don't you ever watch the vids?"

Zynn snorted, smile returning, "No, not recently. I'm up to my ears in paperwork on most nights, you know how it is."

"Yeah…well you should take some time to watch. Real fuckin' enlightening."

His headset beeped in his ear, indicating Dispatch needed him. Growling, Zynn pressed a finger against the headset, "Unit Four-Twenty, go ahead."

"Unit Four-Twenty, this is Dispatch. We need you to head to Tayseri Ward, apartment complex six. Reports of gunshots in one of the buildings, so we need you to go check it out."

"Roger that. What's going on up on Citadel Tower today, Dispatch? It's got a couple of humans here spooked."

But the female on the other end wouldn't answer his question. "Check out those gunshots, Four-Twenty. Over and out."

Shaking his head, Zynn turned back, Kaza falling in behind him. Gavin would have to wait, but he'd be back to figure out what the hell was going on. Right now though, he had to find out who decided to start shooting down in Tayseri.

Sliding into his seat, Zynn lit up the sirens and punched in their destination. The car lifted off the ground and flared its engines, firing off towards the apartments. Kaza smirked as he grabbed his pistol, priming the weapon, "Think something big is goin' on down there, sir?"

"First of all," Zynn hissed, yanking the gun from Kaza's hands. "Don't ever prime a gun inside a moving patrol car. Especially my patrol car. Ever." He re-engaged the safety on the weapon, and then shoved it back into the drell's chest. "And second of all, no. I don't think anything 'big' is going on. Probably just some dumb-ass who shoot himself in the foot."

"What crawled up your ass and promptly died, sir?"

Zynn sighed, "A mid-day patrol did, kid."

With that, the turian leaned back in his chair and waited for the car to find its way. A few minutes later, it touched down near a large housing complex. Zynn shut off the siren and exited, Kaza eagerly jumped out.

A lot of humans stayed within Tayseri Ward, ever since the Council let them in five years back. This is where a majority of them were more or less dropped off, and many hadn't strayed far. A large crowd gathered around one of the entrances, at least two dozen or so. All humans.

They turned to the C-Sec car as it touched down, and immediately focused on the two cops that stepped out. Zynn actually froze for a moment.

All of them were, as humans would say, staring daggers at them.

"Uh, C-Sec." Kaza announced. "Where did the shooting take place?"

A human stepped forward to answer. Male, impeccably dressed in a fine suit and neatly done dirty blond hair. His jade green eyes seemed like they could bore a hole through titanium as he hissed a reply, "There was no 'shooting.' Only one shot was fired. Seventh floor, room 212."

Zynn put on his best smile for the civilians. "We'll take it from here people, go on about your business." He turned to the oddly well-dressed human, "And you…if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being somewhat hostile towards us. Care to explain, Mister…?"

The man approached, waving a hand to his companions, "You think you aliens can get away with what you did to us?"

"Get away with what, sir?"

Getting in Zynn's face, the human kept on ranting, "Your crimes will not go unpunished!" He grabbed the neck guard of the Sergeant's armor, bringing his green eyes to Zynn's gray ones, "My name…is Jacob Krieger. Remember it!"

With that he stormed off, his legion of compatriots followed, each giving both officers deathly glares as they passed.

Kaza kept his eyes on the group, hand drifting to his sidearm. "Good gods. What the hell was that about?"

Zynn shrugged, "I don't know. They'll probably blaming a turian for the crime." He glanced up at the complex, scratching his right mandible slowly, "Well, come on, froggy. We're not gonna find out what went down from out here."

The pair marched inside, to find the main lobby deserted, save for a few pieces of trash and pieces of furniture. A holo-screen once hung on the far, gray wall, but someone apparently smashed it to pieces, very recently. Kaza noticed something, and he patted Zynn on the arm to get his attention. Turning, the turian found large black letters painted on the wall. They were in English, one of the more dominant human languages.

"What does it say? My translator can't decipher this." Kaza explained with a furrowed brow, intrigued by the markings.

In his younger days, Zynn's father made him take a foreign language course in prep school. He had a choice between the Elcor's body language, or several human dialects. A friend told him English was the easiest, so he took it. Turns out, if Zynn had a choice between learning another language again and gouging his eyes out, then his eyes would have to go.

He was rusty, but the teacher's lessons came back easily enough, "It says… 'We are not animals.'"

Kaza asked what did he think it meant, and Zynn simply said it was probably written here a long time ago.

The officers then proceeded to the elevator and selected the seventh floor. When the doors parted, a cold hallway greeted them, room 212 just down the hall. No souls were anywhere to be seen. Just dust and echoes.

Kaza stepped out first, only to have Zynn's meaty arm hold him back.

"Wait." He ordered, squinting as he scanned the corridor. "I don't like it. Too quiet."

Slowly, the Sergeant reached for his pistol and drew, the weapon unfolded at his touch. Disengaging the safety, the gun hummed to life, ready to fire.

Kaza did the same.

"Stay behind me." The elder officer moved forward, knees bent slightly both hands wrapped around his firearm as he silently moved down the hall. His partner mimicked him, yet his eyes darted around nervously, his breath becoming labored with a combination of fear and excitement.

The hallway met at an intersection, each of the four corridors branching off deeper into the apartments. Room 212 just ahead. Zynn stepped out, directing the barrel of his pistol to the left.

"Hallway clear."

Kaza immediately about-faced, mentally berating himself for leaving his Sergeant's six, and his own, exposed.

"Ha-Hallway clear." He shakily reported.

Still glaring down his own passageway, Zynn called out, "Kid?"

No response, just more labored breathing.

"Kid?"

Kaza snapped out of it, "Y-Yes sir?"

"Settle down."

A hard swallow, "I'll try, sir."

"Try harder. I've been around long enough to figure out there are three ways out of C-Sec." Kaza glanced at his Sergeant, the elder continued, "Retirement, getting fired, or in a body bag." Color drained from the drell's face, but Zynn quickly reigned him back in, "Just settle down, or you'll end up like number three."

"Yes, sir."

It wasn't the most calming piece of advice, but it was the only advice the man could give.

Swiftly turning again, Zynn moved to the designated room. He pressed his back against the wall to the left of the door's frame, Kaza took the right.

Zynn's eyes looked at the keypad for the metal portal, and then to the door itself. "Hmpf."

"What? What's wrong?" Kaza asked, words spilling out quickly.

"No signs of forced entry." The Sergeant brought his omni-tool, casting a green glow over the matte walls. "Tool says no hacking attempt either." Dragging the tool over the keypad, he glanced at his screen as new information appeared. "Owner of room two-twelve is a human, female. Alex Yurr."

"Alex?" Kaza began, brow furrowing. "Isn't Alex a human male's name?"

"Nah." Zynn shook his head. "It's one of those ambiguous names, it goes both ways, ya know? Like Steve."

"Steve?" The drell smiled. "Never met a girl named Steve."

"Trust me, kid." Zynn began, sounding like an old salt. Hopefully the kid wouldn't notice he was talking out of his ass at this point. "Once you've been around as long as me, you'll see just about everything."

"You don't know the first thing about humans, do you?"

Damn it.

"I know the women have the funny bumps on their chests."

Kaza just shook his head as Zynn opened the door, silently letting himself into this Alex Yurr's apartment. It was a neatly kept place, clean floors, furniture in the right place, not a speck of dirt to be found. He smelled food cooking, burnt food.

Burning food was never a good sign.

He glanced back at his drell partner, "You head for the kitchen. I'll take the bedroom."

Kaza slowly broke off. Zynn moved down a tiny corridor to his left and found two doors, he took the first one.

A retracting mirror greeted him, startling the Sergeant for a moment. He saw his face, rough and weathered. His worn-down clan markings that scrawled over his face mimicked that, once bright and vibrant, now faded and scratched. He should really get those repainted at some point.

Pushing the mirror out of his way, the room opened up to reveal a single bed sitting at the head of the room, clean white sheets and a tiny pillow. A muted video screen showing some news program, a beautiful asari probably rambling on about the weather or something.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed splotches of red all over the bed. His heart began to race.

"Miss Yurr? You in here, ma'am?" Zynn risked calling out, hoping for the best.

Sadly though, C-Sec officers knew they'd rarely get the best.

At the other end of the bed, lay a woman on the floor, a gun next to her petite frame. The cop didn't dare to look up, but morbid curiosity and a need to know what happened overrode him.

Blood and gray bits of flesh.

He immediately stumbled back, shutting his eyes tight and covering them with his hand, "Oh spirits…"

Suicide. Damn it, why suicide?

Slowly, he regained his composure. Couldn't let the kid see him like this. Shoving his gun back in its holster, he pressed a talon to his headset, "Kid, what do ya got in the kitchen?"

The drell sounded as if his mouth was full, "No one here. Lady makes a mean varren steak though, if a little burnt."

"Yeah, well quit stuffing your face and get in here." He didn't want to, but the kid was going to have to see this. You would have to get used to the bodies if you were going to stay sane. Too bad Zynn couldn't take his own advice sometimes, suicides always got to him.

Turning his attention back to the body, he kneeled by it. The gun wasn't military or police issue, if it was, the lady wouldn't have a head right now.

Not like there was much left, in any case.

The body itself, was in remarkably well condition. She took care of herself, judging by her finely toned muscles. Loose-fitting workout clothes wrapped around her tiny frame, cloth darkened with a combination of sweat and blood.

"Oh my gods…"

Zynn didn't look up, already picturing the kid's reaction. He'd seen it before, with all the others. Slowly, he cupped each cheek of the corpse with his thumb and fingers, turning it side to side. "Shame…she was pretty, too."

"Why did she do it?" Kaza asked, black eyes trailing to the stained ceiling.

Zynn clicked his mandibles and glanced at the vid screen, back to the woman, and then…back to the screen.

The news was on.

'Breaking News, Council Rules on Act 24-21H'

"Turn the sound on." The Sergeant ordered. Kaza did as he was told.

"…humans will be given four days to collect belongings from their respective businesses and homes. On the fifth, C-Sec officers and Council representatives will guide human citizens to transport shuttles, taking them to the border worlds for temporary housing and-"

The Sergeant's jaw dropped.

What. The. Hell?

Kaza couldn't seem to find the words right away either, but he put it together faster than his elder, "They're doing this to humans?" He looked down at the girl, "…S-She did this…because of t-th-that?"

"I think so…" Zynn slowly nodded, shutting off the vid. Too many questions rushed into his brain.

Why? Why was something this big, kept quiet? He should have been informed about this! Did other officers know about this order from the Council?

Why humanity? Sure, they're were a bit overzealous as a species, but Zynn figured they integrated well enough on the Citadel, even with the Relay 314 Incident considered.

"Do you think she did this, because she didn't want to go back out there? To their colonies, I mean." Kaza reasoned, asking the question more to himself than his superior, "Is the Attican Traverse that bad?"

Shaking his head, the Sergeant answered, "No, no. Humans can't go into the Traverse, or anywhere in Council space."

"Where would they go then?"

"The Terminus Systems, most likely." Zynn explained as he rose back to his feet.

Kaza couldn't believe that, "The Terminus! That's damn near suicide!"

"Guess that's what this lady thought too." The Sergeant scratched his chin as he made his way for the door, pressing a finger to his radio. "Get me a coroner down at Tayseri Ward, ASAP. Apartment complex six, seventh floor, room two-twelve."

He turned and grabbed Kaza by the arm, guiding him away from the grisly sight. A newfound anger rose up in him, the drell yanking his limb free.

"Why weren't we told!" He demanded, turning to his Sergeant, rage in his eyes. "Why is it so horrible, that the woman in there had to shoot herself! Why!"

The turian wasn't having any of it, grabbing the kid's throat, "Settle down!" A finger went to his radio again, "Dispatch, you mind telling me what the hell is going on with the… Deportation order?"

"Sorry, Four-Twenty. Wasn't supposed to let the news spread until the higher-ups gave the go-ahead."

"Yeah, well a woman apparently blew her head off over this. So thanks for keeping me out of the loop."

"Sergeant Nordum, I suggest you settle down-"

Zynn huffed, "Or what? Turians get the boot next?"

The girl on the other end stayed silent for a moment, before quickly responding, "Unit Four-Twenty, we got a three-sixteen in progress near your position and other units in the area need your assistance."

Three-sixteen. Civil unrest.

He grabbed Kaza again, "We need to move."

"Fuck you, pigs!"

A firebomb soared overhead, Zynn barely had time to grab Kaza and drag him to the ground. Behind them, a pool of flames erupted where the stood moments ago.

Three other officers appeared, and fired upon the human, forcing him to retreat. After the last gunshot rang out, silence followed. Zynn kept his partner on the ground as he looked up.

Looks like they were late to the party.

Whatever happened here, the damage had been done long before Zynn and Kaza arrived. A C-Sec outpost was lit ablaze by humans in protest to the Council's ruling, killing several inside. Before nearby officers could mobilize, the humans were almost completely gone, save for the prick who tried to set Kaza on fire.

Helping his partner back up, Zynn looked for Captain Korten, who commanded this district.

He found him by an ambulance, getting patched up by a medic.

Quickly jogging over, Zynn saw the extent of the damage. Korten was badly burnt, his right arm was bloodied and charred, the lower part of his face had received the same treatment. His armor was all over the ground, all of it blackened.

"Quit twitching." The medic ordered.

"I'm not twitching." Korten said calmly, as if he was just reading a report. His untouched left hand slowly stroked his left mandible, also undamaged. The Captain's green eyes found Zynn, a ghost of a smile appeared, "Hey Zynn, can you believe it? Some rat threw a firebomb at me."

Zynn shook the man's hand and knelt next to him, "You look like shit, sir."

"You don't look too good yourself, mate. Look like you've seen a spirit."

Sighing, the Sergeant took another quick glance at the still-burning C-Sec outpost, "So, give me the rundown."

"Well…" Korten began, shoving the medic away as he ignored the pain that erupted in his right limb, "You've probably heard of the order to remove the humans from the Citadel?"

Zynn nodded.

"Yeah…" Korten nodded over to the burning building. "There you go. If you ask me, the Council fucked this up, big time."

"You can say that again." He agreed.

It was only going to get worse from here, both officers knew that. Blood was going to be spilt before this was over, and they were going to have to clean up the mess. And Zynn was confident in one thing. It was going to be a big mess.

Korten flexed his burnt mandible as he ordered the medic to bring him a shirt, then he turned to his friend, "You know, there's an old human saying… That we just kicked a hornet's nest."

Peace.