The SRD that Garrus referred to was C-SEC's Special Response Division. The officers who worked for that division were trained to handle hostage situations, bombs and heavily armed criminals. In the event the Citadel was ever under attack, they also served as the stations front line defense force on the ground. They were essentially the equivalent of Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) teams used by law enforcement organizations of the United North American States. A police organization that used military weapons and tactics. As Shepard glanced at the eight officers riding in the transport with him and Garrus, their armor and weapons almost made him feel he was on a mission with a squad of soldiers rather than with C-SEC officers.
Further adding to the feeling of being on a military operation was the fact that Shepard himself was dressed in battle armor. But unlike the other officers whose armor bore C-SEC colors, Shepard was wearing his Alliance battle armor. When Shepard put the armor on before they left, he took one moment to admire the view of the N7 logo displayed on his chest. The Alliance marines had an expression that said there was no such thing as an ex-marine. Once a person became a marine, they were a marine for life. That was why, even though Shepard was no longer a part of the Alliance military, he didn't think it was inappropriate for him to be wearing Alliance marine armor. He was Shepard, C-SEC detective, Spectre, N7 marine.
Clutched in Shepard's hand was a freshly signed search warrant on a datapad. He and Garrus had drafted the warrant shortly after they arrived at HQ with Kaban. The warrant, when signed, would give them permission to search and seize any and all terminals at the Citadome to search for proof of Wilkinson's embezzlement and gambling. While they worked to find a judge to sign it, Bailey was already placing the call to the SRD to put a team together. As Garrus had anticipated, it was tough convincing the judge they reached out to of what the Peacekeepers were up to. The judge quickly changed his tune when Shepard and Garrus put Kaban on the comm. Hearing one of the Peacekeepers' star players confirm everything Shepard and Garrus said was true was more than enough to convince the judge to approve the warrant. In a moment of perfect timing, the judge sent the signed warrant to Shepard and Garrus just when Bailey informed them that a SRD team was assembled and waiting for them.
The driver of the transport called out the distance until the team would be at their destination. Shepard used the remaining ride time to perform a final weapons check and put on his helmet. Garrus and the other officers did the same thing. The tight quarters of the transport made the clicks of the weapons echo inside but the officers paid it no mind. They were more concerned with what was potentially going to happen after they reached their destination. As a sort of final roll call before the mission, each officer gave their callsign and said they were ready once their weapons check was complete. Shepard and Garrus, being detectives, gave themselves the callsigns Delta-2 and Delta-1 respectively. Delta because it was the phonetic alphabet representation for the letter "D" and the numbers assigned by their respective seniority. The SRD officers were given callsigns SR1 through SR8 based on their seniority. The transport's engines powered down indicating they were about to land. Upon touching the ground, the transport's doors opened and the team was greeted by the sight of the Citadome.
It was a practice day at the Citadome so there weren't a lot of skycars in the parking lot. Fortunately there were still a decent amount to provide cover for the SRD officers. The plan was for them to move slowly from cover to cover until they were as close to the entrance as they could be without being seen. Once they were in position, Shepard and Garrus would exit the transport and stroll right up to the door with their search warrant in hand. The SRD officers would then remain hidden and listen through the comm. that Shepard and Garrus would leave open. In a perfect world, Shepard and Garrus would serve the warrant and be allowed to go inside unhindered. However, in the likely event Shepard and Garrus encountered resistance, they would say the code word and SRD would come to their aid.
The SRD officers filed out of the transport and got to their positions in almost record time. Shepard and Garrus followed suit. Shortly into their movement towards the door, they noticed some scurrying figures in the windows. If they were lucky, the figures would be alerting security that they were coming and security would meet them at the entrance. The more guards that came to the door to greet them, the less they would risk running into once they entered the building. Suddenly the familiar figure of Vala Isali appeared at the entrance along with four security guards. Shepard and Garrus were forced to stop when Vala and the guard stormed out of the building and approached them.
"DETECTIVES!" Vala shouted. "YOU WERE EXPLICITLY TOLD NEVER TO COME BACK HERE! The executor told me that Shara's murder case is closed so you have no reason to be here. If you don't leave now, I will call the executor and see to it that he has your badges."
"Spare us your threats Ms. Isali," Garrus replied, "my partner and I have a warrant that not only compels you to let us in the Citadome but allows us to seize any and all terminals."
As Garrus spoke, Shepard handed the warrant to a stunned Vala.
"What?" Vala said as she glanced through the warrant's content. "This can't be real. What does any of this have to do with Shara's murder?"
"It has everything to do with it," Garrus continued, "we finally found out what the big secret was that Shara uncovered and it didn't involve Robert Napier. She found out that your boss, Mr. Wilkinson, has been placing bets using organization funds against his team and fixing the games so that he wins. We believe that the evidence that Shara used to make the discovery is in this building and that warrant in your hands allows us to look for it. Now you and your entourage need to step aside and let my partner and I inside."
Vala appeared too stunned to make a decision but a voice in her ear helped her regain her senses. The detectives had a feeling that Wilkinson was calling Vala on her comm. She listened to the voice for several seconds. Each thing she heard seemed to increase her confidence and a smile slowly appeared on her face.
"Okay detectives," she said, "we'll let you in. You'll just need to wait until Mr. Wilkinson says he's ready for you."
Based on what Kaban had told Shepard and Garrus, they figured that Wilkinson had told Vala he was already working to destroy the evidence and wanted her to stall them while he finished. That explained why Vala had suddenly became cooperative. Albeit she was taking her time to do so. The detectives needed to make their move soon. But first, they were going to try at least one more time to avoid a firefight.
"Ms. Isali," Garrus said in a commanding tone, "we're not going to tell you to step aside again. We're executing this warrant…right now!"
The command promoted Vala to snap her fingers which caused the guards behind her to pull out their weapons and aim them at the detectives, "I'm sorry detectives. I must insist that you wait until Mr. Wilkinson is ready for you. The guards are a bit trigger happy and I would hate for you two to be 'accidentally' killed."
Garrus shot back a smile of his own, "looks like we have no choice. Guess that's what happens when we don't have a…failsafe."
(BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!)
Four shots were fired and the heads of the four security guards exploded. Before Vala could comprehend what had happened, Shepard and Garrus grabbed her and forced her to the ground. Garrus held Vala down while Shepard handcuffed Vala's hands behind her back. The moment Vala was restrained, the SRD team had circled up around them. Shepard handed Vala to one of the SRD officers.
"Hold her in the transport until we've secured the scene," he said, "everyone else, we're going in."
Shepard, Garrus and the SRD team walked single file into the Citadome with their weapons raised. Their first objective was to get to Wilkinson's office. Once they ensured that evidence was no longer being destroyed, then they could focus on securing the rest of the stadium. The team marched through the concourse, passed the concession stands and found the door that lead to the stairwell they were looking for.
Suddenly the stairwell door opened and more security guards emerged from it. Each one started firing their weapons once they were through. The team ducked behind whatever cover they could find. The members who got to cover first quickly returned fire. Two security guards were gunned down while the rest found cover. To the team's great luck, the guards didn't disperse among the available cover and hunkered together near one of the concession stands. While the team kept them pinned with surprising fire, Shepard tossed a grenade towards the guards hiding place.
(BOOM!)
The resulting explosion sent every security guard flying. Most of them were killed by the blast. The few that were still alive were too wounded to be a threat to the team. Shepard and Garrus led the team to the stairwell but were stopped by gunfire coming from behind them. After the team was back in cover, they saw what looked like a platoon of guards approaching from the back. The door to the stairwell was out of reach of the rest of the team but Shepard and Garrus could easily reach it from their positions. As much as they didn't want to leave their comrades, they couldn't afford to wait until all the guards were dead before continuing on. If they did, Wilkinson would have all the time he needed to completely destroy the evidence.
One of the SRD officers seemed to read their minds and called out to them between shots, "we've got this detectives! Go on ahead and we'll keep these bastards from following you."
After giving the officer a respectful nod of admiration for the team's bravery, Shepard and Garrus charged for the stairwell while the team gave them covering fire. They didn't slow down as they made their way up the stairs. When they reached the administration level, they both hugged one side of the doorway. Garrus gave a silent three count and opened the door. Silence came from the other side of the door. Shepard and Garrus carefully peaked inside and down the hallway. They realized too late that they should have looked around the corner of the doorway first.
(GASP!)
A pair of hands emerged from around the corner and grabbed Shepard and Garrus by their throats. The detectives managed to hang onto their weapons but they were too distracted with struggling to breathe. A quick glance down revealed the source of the strong hands was none other than Maul, the brutish krogan security chief. He gave the detectives a sinister grin as he turned and threw them down the hallway. The rough landing caused the detectives to drop their weapons and they continued to roll across the floor just enough to put the weapons out of their reach.
"I should have done that to you two the first time I saw you," Maul growled, "now I'm going to make you both regret ever coming here."
As Shepard and Garrus struggled to catch their breath, they looked up in time to see that Maul was preparing to charge. Normally a charging krogan meant they needed to gun it down before it could reach them. With their weapons out of reach however, that left that option off the table. In that moment, dodging was their best course of action. They waited until Maul was close and then did a dodge roll to the side. Maul ran past them and collided with the wall. Krogan being the hard headed species they were meant that Maul wouldn't be stunned for long and attempt another charge. There was no way Shepard and Garrus could keep the dodging strategy up forever. They weren't thrilled about it, but they were going to have to fight Maul hand-to-hand. It wasn't their ideal method for engaging a krogan but the two of them combined had enough combat experience that gave them a chance of coming out alive. Shepard and Garrus had a brief, silent exchange to plan their attack and charged before Maul had a chance to do the same.
The detectives forced Maul up against the wall. Upon impact, Garrus threw a right hook. Shepard followed up by kicking Maul's leg. Maul dropped to his knees. Garrus punched Maul one more time, knocking Maul down to the ground. The detectives then piled on top of Maul to pin him down. Maul put up a fight but Shepard and Garrus' combined strength kept him from being able to get back up. It was time for the detectives to execute the critical part of their plan. They never intended to incapacitate Maul as that would take too long. Instead they wanted to scare Maul into surrendering. While Garrus kept holding Maul down, Shepard moved so that he was in Maul's line of sight. He then deployed his omni-blade and inched it towards the plate on Maul's head. Zaeed Massani, a former squadmate of Shepard's, had once told him the threat of removing the plate from a krogan's head was a good way to make them talk. The hope was that the same logic would make Maul stop resisting. Sure enough, the minute Maul saw Shepard's blade moving toward his head, he realized what Shepard planned to do and froze. The pause in Maul's struggling gave Garrus enough time to put handcuffs on him. They were a kind of handcuff specifically designed for krogan. Maul would not be able to break them off and with his hands behind his back, Shepard and Garrus didn't need to worry about him getting back up again. The fight had been rough but the detectives had to press on. Wilkinson's office was in their sights.
After retrieving their weapons, Shepard and Garrus took up positions on both sides of the door. This time they weren't going to risk being surprised by someone on the other side. Shepard pulled out a flash grenade and nodded to Garrus to indicate he was ready. Garrus pushed the button to open the door and Shepard threw the grenade inside. A bright flash and a loud bang followed. Both of which Shepard and Garrus expected to hear. What they didn't expect to hear were several screams reacting to the explosion. There was more than one person in Wilkinson's office. Not wanting to give any of them a chance to recover, they walked into the office with their weapons raised and shouted orders.
"C-SEC! EVERYONE ON THE GROUND! NOW! HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"
Besides Wilkinson, the office was filled with six people all in sharply dressed suits. Each one had a briefcase on the floor next them. From the way the contents were spilled out on the ground, the briefcases had been dropped by their owners in response the flash grenade. The contents themselves were something Shepard and Garrus did not expect to see. Hard copy credits. It was more secure for credit transactions to be done electronically. The only people who carried hard currency were people who didn't want their transactions to be tracked. If everyone in the room was carrying hard currency, it was likely they were not conducting legal business. With what they knew of the operation Wilkinson was running, Shepard and Garrus suspected the six individuals were bookmakers. Their presence raised a red flag in Shepard and Garrus' head but they couldn't worry about that just yet. First they needed to secure the scene.
The detectives kept their weapons trained on the seven people in the room until they were all on the ground with their hands on the head. Once everyone was in a non-threatening position, Shepard went around handcuffing them while Garrus kept his weapon raised to keep them from trying anything. Shepard and Garrus then helped everyone up into a seated position against the wall. Convinced that no one was going anywhere, Garrus went to work on Wilkinson's terminal while Shepard activated his comm. to check in with the SRD leader.
"Delta-2 to SR1," he said, "we're secure up here. What's your status?"
"We just took out the last hostile down here," the SRD leader responded, "I'm sending up two of my men to provide security for you and your prisoners. The rest of us will split up and do a thorough sweep of the stadium to ensure there aren't any hostiles hiding elsewhere."
"Copy that, SR1. Good work holding the line for us. Keep us posted if you find anything."
"Will do, Delta-2. SR1 out."
After signing off, Shepard joined Garrus by the terminal. On route, he noticed that Garrus seemed puzzled by what he was seeing. He realized why once he got a look at the screen himself. Garrus had found the evidence they were looking for. Every record of Wilkinson embezzling money from the Peacekeeper organization to fund his illegal gambling and then putting the funds back with a profit after he won. A quick glance at Wilkinson's message box revealed emails between Wilkinson and the Peacekeeper's coach where they discussed how a specific game was going to be thrown to ensure the team lost and Wilkinson win his bet. Their entire case against Wilkinson was on his terminal…and that was what bothered them.
Wilkinson did have a program deleting files when Shepard and Garrus had stormed into his office but barely anything had been deleted before they stopped it. It was like Wilkinson started the program upon their arrival to the Citadome. Plus there was the fact that they seemed to have interrupted a meeting between Wilkinson and bookmakers. With all the heat that Shara's murder investigation was bringing the Peacekeepers, why was Wilkinson keeping business going as usual?
Garrus walked towards Wilkinson while Shepard kept working on the terminal, "it's over, Wilkinson. There's enough evidence on that terminal to prove everything. You and every other crooked Peacekeeper staff member are finished. I can only hope that once the organization gets some honest people working for it that the team might start having the winning season they should have had long ago."
"Spare me the guilt trip Detective," Wilkinson said while refusing to make eye contact, "the organization should be thanking me. I found a way for us to make a profit every year regardless of the team's performance."
"And also net a significant personal profit for you as well," Shepard said sarcastically.
"What the hell are you two doing here anyway? What does any of this have to do with your murder investigation?"
"Come on Wilkinson," said Garrus, "we know that Shara was investigating you. She couldn't understand how you were giving her team such a generous budget every year. Upon investigation, she found out that you were embezzling organization funds to make illegal bets against the team. Then you fixed the games so the Peacekeepers would lose and you'd make out like a bandit with the bookmakers. Despite all the money that this allowed you to give her and her team every year, Shara couldn't stomach that the money was gained through illegal means. She was going to expose what you were doing to the biotiball league commissioner. We believe that you found out what she was doing and arranged for her to be killed."
The story made perfect sense to Shepard and Garrus but Wilkinson looked like he was having trouble following their logic, "you're lying. This office is protected from wireless hacking and my security camera has no record of Shara ever being in here. There's no way she could have accessed the content on my terminal. I don't care what your warrant says. I think you two are using Shara's death as an excuse to investigate me. Vala will find some way to get your warrant thrown out and then all the 'evidence' you've gathered will be useless to you."
"Partner," Shepard said with a slightly worried tone, "As much as I hate to say this, Wilkinson may have a point. I found the camera's footage and so far I have not found any time where Shara was in this office."
Garrus returned to the terminal and looked over Shepard's shoulder while he continued scanning the footage. At first glance, it was looking like the one person that wasn't seen in Wilkinson's office was Shara. Suddenly Garrus hit a button to pause and rewind the footage. To Shepard, it seemed like a weird place to do so as no one was in the office during the segment in question. When Garrus had rewinded as far as he wanted, he started play the footage again but at a frame by frame speed. A couple of frames went by before Shepard saw what had gotten Garrus' attention.
By slowing down the footage, a glitch in the footage became more couldn't help but be amazed at how Garrus caught the glitch on his own. Then again, Garrus had once mentioned that there were several times in his career where he had to scan security footage for leads. During that time it became second nature for him to look for glitches. He could also tell Shepard exactly what caused the glitch they were seeing. Someone had cut the live feed and quickly spliced in looped footage of an empty office. The loop lasted for about twenty minutes and then the live footage was restored. More than enough time for someone to sneak into Wilkinson's office, find whatever they were looking for and leave without anyone knowing what had happened.
It was at that point that the backup the SRD leader promised arrived. They informed Shepard and Garrus that other C-SEC vehicles were arriving, including a prisoner transport vehicle. Garrus then ordered them to take the seven people in the room and Maul, who was still handcuffed outside lying on the ground, out to the prison transport with Vala and have the transport take them back to HQ. Wilkinson protested the whole time while demanding to know what Garrus and Shepard saw on the footage. Once they had the room to themselves, Shepard and Garrus compared notes on what they had learned.
"So Wilkinson really didn't find out about Shara's investigation," Garrus began, "it always did seem weird to me that Shara, being as careful as she was, would fail to take into account that Wilkinson's office was monitored."
"Yeah," Shepard replied, "but if Shara really did manage to avoid being detected, then why was she killed? Could it actually be that her death was not connected to Wilkinson's scheme?"
Garrus pondered on Shepard's question for a second. His eyes suddenly widened when a thought suddenly came to him. He went back to Wilkinson's terminal and found a particular file. The file contained a list of a names and Garrus' eyes crossed with anger when he saw a specific name.
"Son of a bitch," he growled.
"What is it?" Shepard asked with concern.
"Answer me this partner," Garrus replied, "Wilkinson may have been the top man in this conspiracy but who else would be negatively affected if Shara had told the commissioner what she uncovered?"
Another test from Garrus to see if Shepard could come to the same conclusion Garrus did on his own, "well any administrator who was aware of his embezzling but looked the other way….and the players and coaches who helped him fixed the matches. The latter likely wouldn't get jail time but their career stats would be redacted and they would be banned rom the league."
"Exactly."
"But how would any of them find out? Shara only told…one…player."
Realizing that Shepard was picking up on what he was thinking, Garrus invited Shepard to join him behind the terminal. The screen displayed a list of names that Shepard realized were all the players and coaches that were involved in Wilkinson's scheme. Garrus then pointed to show the name that both he and Shepard had thought of was on the list.
"Son of a bitch," said Shepard.