Mass Effect A Mood In Blue

by judodave

Sequel to Choice and Consequence, two years have passed since Reya's bounty was ended and things seem to be fairly normal, however something sinister lurks in the shadows that will reunite several unlikely allies.

3. Family Matters

It was the day after the Ardat-Yakshi had killed Felix and Anola, Varnus, Andrews and McKansa were busy chasing up leads at C-Sec HQ, however in another part of the Citadel some citizens were taking matters into their own hands.

"Damien, for the last time are you sure that it was Chelsea?" A woman who was a few years older than Chelsea asked as she got out of her brother's car, the two occupants were Damien and Sophie Francs, Chelsea's older siblings who were aware of their sister's drug addiction but not of the fact that she had turned to prostitution, that was until last night. "She wouldn't sell her body to pay for her addiction, she's smarter than that!"

"I'd like to believe that Sophie." Damien said as he produced a data-pad from his pocket and showed it to her, the data-pad had a picture taken from a security tape on it which depicted Chelsea about to get into the Asari's car. "But I'd recognize my sister anywhere." Damien added and Sophie looked at the picture.

"Oh my god…." Sophie trailed off as she handed it back to him. "What do you plan to do?"

"The only thing we can do, stage an intervention and get her into rehab." Damien sighed as he walked towards the building and Sophie followed him. "It's all my fault, if it weren't for my biotics she wouldn't have gotten addicted to red sand in the first place."

"You had no way of knowing that she'd get addicted in the first place, don't blame yourself." Sophie reassured him as the siblings entered the building and went straight up the stairs. "I'm guessing that she doesn't know about this?"

"No, I called her last night and told her that I was bringing some food and some money to help with rent." Damien responded as they reached Chelsea's floor and walked up to her apartment door. "What's that smell?"

"Doesn't smell like any drugs she's taken but it reeks in there." Sophie responded as she used the collar of her top to cover her nose. "Maybe she's with a client and they're getting high?"

"If they are I'll toss the client out." Damien responded before knocking on the door. "Chelsea? It's me Damien, I have the food I promised." Damien called out to her only to get no response. "Chelsea?"

"I'll get the landlord and see if he can help." Sophie said as she started to walk away. "I know you can hack at the door but I need an excuse to get away from the smell."

"No need." Damien said as he started hacking the door, after a few minutes the door opened and Damien entered. "Chelsea? I brought Sophie with me, we need to talk." Damien called out to her only to once again get no response, the apartment was fairly large with the small kitchen making up most of the space and Chelsea's bedroom on the other side of it separated only by a doorway. "She's probably sleeping off some sex she had, well I'm going to have to interrupt her beauty sleep." Damien thought as he approached the doorway.

"Damien? Have you found her yet?" Sophie called out as she neared the apartment whilst still using her top to cover her nose, suddenly Damien bolted out of the room and started throwing up into a nearby trashcan. "Damien?"

"Sophie, call C-Sec….." Damien said before throwing up again. "It's Chelsea, she's been murdered."

*meanwhile at C-Sec*

"Anola, McKenna's finished her scan of the Asari." Reya said as the young Quarian walked up to Anola and she looked up. "Hopefully the stats she got from the CCTV camera will help Varnus track her down before anyone else is killed." Reya added before handing over the data pad.

"Great, thanks for the update Reya." Anola thanked her as she read the info."5ft 9, 120, often seen in skimpy outfits, great, now I have to keep an eye out for an Asari who works at a Strip Club that should narrow it down to about half the Citadel's Maiden population." Anola thought before handing the data over to Varnus. "How have you been since you started working for C-Sec anyway?"

"It sure beats being chased all over the galaxy by mercenaries and bounty hunters." Reya responded as she leaned back. "Seriously though, it's been great, I've learned a lot from the older Quarians and I can actually afford to get my suit upgraded once in a while."

"Glad to hear that you're happy." Varnus responded as he entered the info.

"Attention all officers, a woman has been found dead in her apartment, Modus Operendi matches murder of Felix Truman." The dispatcher's voice rang out and the two officers frowned before turning to each other.

"I'll go get McKansa and Andrews, see if you can find out more info." Anola said before standing up and walking off and Varnus nodded before picking up the radio.

"Officer Varnus Travekian here, requesting more information over." Varnus said into the radio as he entered the info.

"Victim's name was Chelsea Francs, a prostitute with a history of drug abuse. Her brother found her." The dispatcher responded and Varnus frowned when he heard that. "I'll send you the address when you get to your car Officer Travekian."

"Understood." Varnus responded as he finished entering the info and hit the send button, once he was done Varnus let out a deep sigh.

"Did you know her Varnus?" Reya asked and Varnus turned to her.

"One of my first arrests when I joined C-Sec was of Chelsea Francs, caught her in the red-light district getting into another human's car and pulled them over." Varnus responded as he leaned back. "Normally she would've just spent a night in the cells since I pulled them over before they could have sex but I found drugs on her person, she ended up spending a two year prison sentence." Varnus explained before sighing. "When she was in her car she begged me not to release the prostitution charge to the public, she was worried about what her siblings would think, since I had no proof that she was going to engage in sexual activity for money I had no choice."

"That wasn't her only arrest was it?" Reya asked and Varnus nodded.

"I wasn't present for her other arrests but I can tell you that she was in and out of prison since the age of eighteen and she is….was twenty two years old." Varnus said before shaking his head. "The rest of her family cut her off after her first arrest but her siblings, Damien and Sophie, never gave up on her."

"And now they discover her body, can't imagine what's going through their minds." Reya said as Anola, McKansa and Andrews approached them. "I'd better get back to the Cyber-Crimes unit." Reya said before turning around and heading down the hallway, Varnus turned to the three officers and stood up.

"We have a positive ID on the victim, Chelsea Francs." Varnus told them as they left the building. "Her brother found the body."

"Man, that's must've been rough." Andrews commented as he followed Varnus. "Did she have a record like Felix and Roberto?"

"Yes, she was in and out of prison since she was eighteen for prostitution and drug possession, my guess is that the Ardat-Yakshi saw her as an easy target." Varnus responded as they headed towards the parking lot. "Andrews, McKansa, follow us in our patrol car, the dispatcher will send the address to me."

"Got it." Andrews nodded before he and McKansa got in the car and Varnus and Anola did likewise, as they drove off Anola turned to Varnus.

"A womanizing conman, a convicted rapist and a prostitute, I can't be the only one seeing a connection between the victims here." Anola commented as Varnus drove along the road. "I was initially assuming that she was only going after men?"

"Didn't you say that Ardat-Yakshi aren't picky about their victims?" Varnus asked and Anola nodded.

"I did but since Roberto and Felix both had their genitals mutilated I assumed that she was using her condition to go after men." Anola responded before realizing something. "Chelsea Francs, didn't she swing both ways?"

"Yes and no, when I arrested her she told me that she was straight but was willing to sleep with other women if they pay was high enough." Varnus responded as he shook his head. "You think that's why the Ardat-Yakshi targeted her?"

"It's the best explanation I've got at the moment." Anola responded as Varnus drove along. "But even then the connection is iffy at best, the three victims we know about didn't exactly run in the same social circles, saying that I wouldn't have put it past Felix to have been a regular customer of hers."

"True but that might mean that she's picking criminals with active sex lives at random." Varnus said before realizing something. "Why would she leave Chelsea's body in her apartment and not dump the body like she did with Felix?"

"I can think of a couple of reasons, either she didn't know that area of the wards that well and figured that leaving her at the scene of the crime would be easier or she treats her female victims better for one reason or another." Anola said as Varnus turned into the Red Light District. "I know this isn't the time for jokes but do you ever tell your wife about going here?"

"I take it you mean as part of an investigation?" Varnus asked and Anola nodded. "Yes but it's to avoid rumours potentially damaging our marriage, I've seen several officers marriages end badly when their wives got wind of them going into the Red Light District as part of an investigation but then again those officers were already cheating on their wives to begin with from what I hear." Varnus explained with a nod. "I'd still rather not take the risk, especially with a third child on the way."

"I hear that." Anola nodded in agreement as a message popped up on the screen and she opened it up. "Good, the coroner's at the scene."

"And that means that we won't have to wait for him." Varnus said as they rounded a corner and came upon the apartment complex where Chelsea lived, once Varnus parked the car the two officers got out followed by Andrews and McKansa. "Okay, just need to find the person who called it in."

"Are you with C-Sec?" Sophie asked as she approached the officers, Varnus nodded and Sophie sighed. "I'm Chelsea's older sister Sophie, her apartment is on the third floor and the coroner's already there."

"Thank you Sophie, would you mind if I asked you some questions?" Varnus asked and Sophie nodded. "I understand that the morning has been rough for you but we need to know what happened."

"I can't really tell you much." Sophie said as she folded her arms. "Me and Damien knew that Chelsea had an addiction problem but we left her alone under the naïve hope that she'd overcome it, that was until last night when Damien received CCTV Footage of Chelsea getting into someone else's car in the Red Light District."

"Two questions, one why did he receive a picture from the CCTV footage and two if he received that picture last night why did he wait until now to act on it?" Varnus asked and Sophie frowned.

"Well its part of Damien's job, he works for the government operating the CCTV footage but he doesn't monitor this area." Sophie responded as she shifted her weight. "He's friends with the guy who monitors the area and he asked him to let him know if Chelsea ever fell off the deep end, that's how he got the picture but even then he had to make sure that the footage was accurate and it was."

"So you came here to do what exactly?" Varnus asked and Sophie sighed.

"To stage an intervention, the rest of our family had given up on her but we weren't about to do that, when we reached her apartment there was a nasty smell coming from inside." Sophie said as she started to cry. "That smell was coming from her body."

"Who called it in?" Varnus asked as he wrote down his notes.

"I did, Damien was too busy throwing up in a nearby trashcan after seeing the body." Sophie responded before shuddering. "I went in to see for myself and when I saw her…." Sophie said as she lowered her head. "Look, I work at Huerta Memorial's hospice ward so I see a lot of dead bodies but I've never seen anything like that, it was like something out of a horror movie."

"Rest assured, your sister's killer will see justice." Varnus assured her as he wrote down the info. "That'll be all for now Ms. Francs, do you know where we can find your brother?"

"Upstairs on the third floor, he hasn't come down since he found Chelsea's body." Sophie responded and the officers nodded before entering the building and climbing the stairs.

"Two victims already, three if you count Roberto." Katherine commented as she climbed the stairs. "Our Ardat-Yakshi is moving fast."

"Maybe a bit too fast, she'll slip up eventually especially since I sent her description out to the local news outlets before we left." Varnus responded as they reached the third floor and saw Damien standing near the trash can he was throwing up in. "Damien Francs?"

"Yeah, and I'm guessing you guys are with C-Sec?" Damien asked when he looked up and the officers nodded. "Her body is in her apartment and so is the coroner, didn't touch a thing and I bolted out of the room when I saw the body."

"We understand that this has been a rough evening for you but Katherine and Francis have some questions for you, Anola and I will see to the body." Varnus responded and Damien nodded before Anola and Varnus entered the apartment. "She wasn't kidding about the smell."

"Yeah but that's likely from the decomposition." Anola responded as they neared Chelsea's bedroom, however despite being seasoned veterans of the police force they were both taken aback when they saw Chelsea's body. "Goddess…."

Chelsea's body was handcuffed to the bed by her wrists and ankles with the ankle cuffs leaving her legs spread and like Felix's body Chelsea's had been stripped naked and mutilated, however her vaginal area wasn't the only mutilated area as large chunks of her flesh had been torn out all over her body, when they neared the body they saw the familiar look of horror on her face.

"She's escalating, she didn't inflict this much damage on Felix's body." Varnus commented once he got over the shock and Anola shook her head sadly, Trokus looked up when he heard their voices and nodded towards them. "What have you got Trokus?"

"I'll know more when I finished the autopsy but the cause of death appears to match Felix's." The Salarian responded as he looked at the body. "Took her body temperature whilst I was waiting for you to arrive, I'd estimate her time of death at about twelve hours ago."

"Which means that the Ardat-Yakshi is long gone by now." Anola commented with a frown and Trokus nodded. "Did you find any evidence on the body?"

"Aside from the excessive cruelty? Found some fingerprints on both sets of handcuffs, two sets of fingerprints on each cuff, did a field test on them but whilst the first set matches Chelsea's the second didn't produce any matches." Trokus responded with a frown as he checked his notes. "The most the database was able to tell me was that the second set came from an Asari."

"And I'm guessing that the Asari's prints were the most recent?" Anola asked and Trokus nodded. "When you return to C-Sec get the second set to Fobaf, see if he can find a match."

"Will do." Trokus nodded in response before checking his notes. "I noticed some Red Sand paraphernalia around the apartment but from what I've heard she was addicted to the stuff, correct?"

"Yes, she was." Varnus nodded before glancing at the blood around and on the bed. "Just as we're clear, is that blood from the victim too?"

"I tested it, matched the DNA sample from her on record." Trokus commented with a deep frown. "If I had to guess the Ardat-Yakshi told her that she wanted to have sex with her whilst Chelsea was handcuffed to the bed, Chelsea likely didn't object since she'd get paid either way and likely provided the cuffs herself explaining the first set of prints, at least in her mind."

"And whilst she was restrained the Asari grabbed a knife from the kitchen and started cutting her up before doing the mind meld and ultimately killing her." Anola commented with a disgusted look on her face. "Judging by amount of blood that must've been going on for a couple of hours which begs a couple of questions, why was she so brutal with Chelsea and not with Felix and why did no one hear them."

"This is the red light district, maybe she wasn't the only hooker using her apartment for sex?" Varnus wondered as he looked around. "Even then these walls are pretty thin, someone must've heard her screams but didn't interfere either that or she was gagged."

"I looked, didn't see any gags but doesn't exactly mean that the Asari didn't take it with her." Trokus responded before standing up. "I'm done in here, I'll find out more when I get her to the morgue and complete the autopsy but in the meantime I'll have CSU search for anything that could have been used to cut her up."

"Understood." Varnus nodded before noticing something he had missed. "Is that a tripod?"

"For a camera? I didn't see any recording equipment in the room so it must belong to the Asari." Trokus said before realizing something. "She's making snuff films?"

"Hard to say since Felix's death was a dump job." Anola responded with a frown. "But if she is then she might try to sell it to an adult store."

"Didn't you tell me that one of your contacts is an Elcor Porn Store owner?" Varnus asked and Anola nodded. "I still can't get over the fact that an Elcor would open a store like that."

"Trust me, it took me a while to get used to myself." Anola responded before nodding. "I'll give him a call and ask him to keep an eye out."

"Good, I think I'll ask around the apartment and have Andrews and McKansa do the same." Varnus responded before leaving the crime scene. "From what I remember Chelsea was just a troubled woman who had made some bad choices in her life, what did she do to deserve such a horrible death?"

Whilst that was going on Anola left the crime scene and turned on her Omni-Tool, she made the call and waited whilst CSU entered the crime scene and Trokus and his human assistant carried Chelsea's body out of her apartment in a body bag. "Come on Tralin, answer already." Anola thought before an image came on screen, it the unmistakable face of an Elcor though this one had a cigar coming out of his mouth. "One of these days I'm going to ask him how he gets that thing in his mouth in the first place."

"Cautious greeting, hello there Anola, what can I do for you?" The Elcor asked her and Anola sighed.

"Tralin, I'll spare you the details but I'm outside an apartment were a prostitute was gruesomely murdered." Anola started and the Elcor nodded. "We found evidence of video equipment in the apartment."

"Shocked, you think the killer made a snuff film?!" The Elcor asked and Anola nodded. "Regrettably, I haven't received anything in the post yet and I told you about how often I get snuff film hoaxes."

"Yeah, I know but this one won't be a hoax." Anola sighed in response before sending over a picture of Chelsea. "If you receive a film "starring" this woman and an Asari call me immediately."

"Reassuringly, I will keep an eye out." Tralin responded with a nod and Anola grinned. "Admittedly the woman looks like some of the girls that star in my regular porno vids, anything specific I should look out for?"

"She was a known red sand addict, signs of red sand addiction should be the first thing you look out for, however she might start the video with her hands and feet handcuffed to a bed." Anola responded before thinking for a bit. "I realize that the second scenario is popular in some of your….kinkier vids but still."

"I will keep an eye out." Tralin responded with a nod. "By the way, your father was in here just an hour ago."

"Why am I not surprised?" Anola sighed to herself before shaking her head. "Please don't tell me what he masturbates too, I'd rather not know what an aging Krogan looks for in terms of porn."

"Amused, understood." Tralin responded before he heard a door opening. "I have to go, customers are waiting."

"Speak to you later Tralin." Anola responded before hanging up. "At the rate he's going my dad's going to drive me to alcoholism by the end of the week." "Anola thought as she messaged her forehead in annoyance.

*later on*

Katherine and Andrews had just finished their chat with Damien and were asking around Chelsea's neighbours hoping to find someone who knew something about her death, unfortunately most of the apartments were empty leaving the two human officers without much to go on.

"Okay, last apartment on this floor and we'll be done." Katherine commented as they reached the last apartment on the third floor. "Am I seriously supposed to believe that the rest of the girls on this floor are out street-walking?"

"Either that or they are still sleeping off the sex they had the previous night." Andrews shrugged before knocking on the apartment door, when the two officers heard movement inside the apartment they shared a grin. "Looks like we woke someone up."

"Either way get your badge ready." Katherine responded and Andrews nodded before getting his badge ready, the door opened a few seconds later and a half naked Asari stood at the door.

"Can I help you? If you're looking for a three-way it'll cost you a hundred credits and you'll have to wait for my client to leave." The Asari said and Andrews shook his head before showing her his badge. "Oh son of a bitch!"

"Don't worry ma'am, you're not in any trouble but we have some questions." Andrews added as he pocketed the badge. "I'm Francis Andrews, this is Katherine McKansa, we're with C-Sec and can we come in?" Francis asked her and the Asari remained unconvinced before stepping aside to let them in. "Did you know Chelsea Francs?" Francis asked as they entered the apartment.

"Yeah, I chatted with her a couple of times, occasionally invited her over for a three-way when a client requested it." The Asari responded before frowning. "All though last night she turned down one of her best customers who ended up going home with me, last time I saw her she was getting in an expensive Skycar." She added and the two officers shared a look.

"Can you describe the Skycar?" Katherine asked and the Asari thought for a moment.

"It was red, looked expensive like I said, I figured that one of the big wigs on the Presidium had come down for a bit of fun." The Asari responded before frowning. "Did something happen to Chelsea?"

"I'm sorry but she was found dead this morning." Katherine said with a sad sigh and the Asari covered her mouth in shock as it hit her. "We have strong reason to believe that the driver of the Skycar was her murderer."

"Oh goddess, no." The Asari wept as she sat down on a nearby chair. "She was new to the area, had only been doing it for four years, I showed her the ropes when she started street walking." The Asari added before shaking her head. "I didn't get a good look at the driver, sorry."

"With the upmost sadness, I did." An Elcor said as he entered the room and the two officers turned to him. "I was the client that Chelsea turned down."

"First Felix and now Chelsea, I swear if the common thread between the victims is that they have had sex with an Elcor I'll scream." Katherine thought as she walked up to the Elcor. "How about we start from the top? No pun intended, why did Chelsea turn you down?"

"I approached her with the usual amount to pay for her services but she refused, saying that her drug dealer had raised his prices." The Elcor responded and Katherine nodded before writing it down. "Regrettably, if only I had the money, she'd still be alive right now."

"Unfortunately it's likely that the driver would've killed someone else if you had." Katherine responded and the Elcor nodded. "Speaking of which, you said that you got a good look at the driver?"

"I was walking away hoping to find someone else when I heard the car approach, I turned around and saw Chelsea get into the car." The Elcor responded and Katherine nodded. "The driver was an Asari, likely in the maiden stage, there was something that rubbed me the wrong way about her when I looked at her."

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked as she wrote it down.

"When the driver parked the car I saw a crazy look in her eyes, like she had captured her prey when Chelsea approached her car." The Elcor responded before sighing. "With the upmost regret, if only I had negotiated with her."

"Look, this Asari has killed before and we are certain that she'll kill again." Francis said before turning to the prostitute. "Have you heard of Ardat-Yakshi?"

"Yeah, it's rare to find an Asari who hasn't." She nodded in response before it hit her. "Chelsea was killed by an Ardat-Yakshi?!"

"Yes but there's one thing I don't understand." Katherine said with a frown. "I'll spare you the details but Chelsea was basically tortured before the Ardat-Yakshi finished her off, did you hear any screaming?" Katherine added and the Asari shook her head.

"There's a reason why this apartment complex is so popular with the local prostitutes, the bedrooms are completely soundproof." She responded and the two officers frowned. "It comes in handy, that's all I'm saying."

"I think we're done here." Francis said before producing a data-pad and showing it to the Asari. "Warn the other girls in this apartment complex about her, if she comes back call Katherine." Francis added as Katherine handed her a business card.

"Will do." The Asari said before shaking her head. "Look, Chelsea was sweet girl who had made some bad choices in her life, do me a favour and catch that bitch before kills anyone else!"

"You have our word." Francis said before turning to the Elcor. "As for you big man, you're coming with us."

"Shocked, what?!" The Elcor responded as he stared at the two officers. "I cooperated with you and gave you valuable information!"

"You also admitted to soliciting prostitutes and last I checked that's still a crime here on the Wards." Katherine pointed out and Francis nodded to confirm it.

"Distressed, oh shit!" The Elcor said before sighing in defeat. "I could run but there's no point in it, I'll cooperate."

"That's what I like to hear." Katherine said before the two officers escorted the Elcor out of the Asari's apartment, they saw Varnus and Anola ahead of them and waved them over. "Where's Damien?"

"He left to notify the rest of his family." Varnus responded before turning to the Elcor. "Who's he?"

"He was one of the last people to see Chelsea alive and he confirmed that she got into an expensive Skycar being driven by an Asari." Francis responded and Varnus nodded in approval. "Unfortunately he was soliciting prostitutes when he last saw Chelsea so we have to book him in."

"I'll call for a police van to pick him up." Varnus nodded in response before walking off, Anola looked over the Elcor before turning to Francis.

"I'm assuming that he was with a prostitute?" Anola asked and Francis nodded.

"Yeah, an Asari, she knew the victim pretty well." Francis responded as he pointed out the apartment. "We already questioned her but she didn't get a good look at the driver, fortunately he did."

"I'm half tempted to ask that Asari why she would have sex with an Elcor but I guess she had little choice." Anola thought as she glanced over at the apartment. "Did you tell her to keep an eye out for the suspect?"

"Yeah, even told her that she was an Ardat-Yakshi for some extra incentive." Francis nodded in response before frowning. "That reminds me, we have a reason why no one heard Chelsea screaming and you're not going to like it."

"Basically every apartment in this complex is soundproof, the local prostitutes must have some kind of deal with the landlord, that or he's their pimp." Katherine chimed in and Anola frowned. "Either our suspect got lucky…."

"Or she targeted Chelsea because she knew that no-one would hear her." Anola realized as Varnus returned with two other Turian Officers who promptly escorted the Elcor out of the building, once Varnus was brought up to speed he frowned at the new info. "On the plus side I managed to get through to my contact who runs an adult store and he's on the lookout for any snuff films from the Ardat-Yakshi."

"Good, if we catch her before she kills anyone else that will be ideal." Varnus said before frowning. "I think we're done here, let's head back to HQ." Varnus added before they left the apartment.

*meanwhile*

Over the past twelve hours Andrea's crew had left Ilium and were on their way to the Citadel, the only member of the crew who was staying behind was Alicia and that was for two reasons, to keep the Black Widow running with temporary staff and to make sure that Marcello and his group didn't try to take over whilst they were off world and at the moment the crew members (including the pilots who had left the ship on autopilot) where holding a meeting in the meeting room.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Sardir said as he stood towards the front of the room in front of a laptop connected to a projection screen alongside Andrea and Alicia who was watching via video chat through the visor Andrea used during her last trip to the Citadel. "Here's what we know about the Ardat-Yakshi." Sardir said as the logged in to his laptop, however due to the fact that he wasn't paying attention the screen was showing a porn site with an auto-playing video featuring two Asari. "Right here is our target." Sardir said as he pointed to the screen without looking, unfortunately for him he was pointing to a pair of naked Asari breasts. "Now I know this will be hard but…..why are you snickering?"

"Turn around." Ricky said with a giggle and Sardir looked up seeing the video.

"Yeah let's just pretend that that didn't happen." Sardir responded before closing the web browser only to show another vid featuring an Asari and a Hanar. "Now as I was saying…."

"This one will now use its tentacles to pleasure the Asari." The video interrupted him as the Hanar's tentacles wrapped around the naked Asari.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Sardir grunted under his breath before closing the web browser, the Quarian sighed to himself before straightening up. "Now as I was saying…."

"With undeniable pleasure, oh baby, oh baby, I know you like it." An Elcor's voice rang out and Sardir turned to the screen which was showing another Porn Site an Elcor having sex with an Asari.

"I knew I forgot to do something." Sardir grunted under his breath before closing the web browser, he went to say something but then saw the looks on the other mercenaries faces. "There's another porn vid isn't there?"

"Come on you big dumb Elcor, shit all over my face." Sardir looked up for a brief second before seeing an Elcor positioning himself over a chained female Krogan and quickly rushed to his laptop.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FLYING FUCK SARDIR?!" Alicia yelled out as Sardir closed the web browser which, thankfully was the last one.

"I don't know what's worse, the fact that I'm never going to live this down or the nightmares that last vid will give me." Sardir grunted under his breath before loading up the slideshow. "You know what? Andrea, why don't you take over before I make myself look like an even bigger idiot?" Sardir said before pausing. "I just opened myself up to so many smart ass comments."

"If it makes you feel any better I was about to suggest that." Andrea responded as she stepped to the side. "As Sardir was saying, we're looking for an Ardat-Yakshi, unfortunately there's pretty much nothing distinguishing them appearance wise from a regular Asari but Sardir did do his research, didn't you?" Andrea asked and Sardir nodded.

"Okay, so this Ardat-Yakshi seems to be a serial killer in the making and she's already claimed two victims, well, two victims that we know about." Sardir responded as he typed away at his laptop and Felix's mugshot appeared on the screen. "This is her first known victim, Felix Truman, Cajun Con-Man, thinks he's god's gift to women….."

"I know him." Nicholai interrupted Sardir as he leaned forward. "I met him when I travelled to the Citadel to spread word about the Black Widow, we had a contest of sorts."

"What? Did you challenge him to a contest to see who could fuck the most women in one night?" Sardir asked and Nicholai nodded. "Okay, first question, will we have to worry about any children of yours popping up? And second, you beat him right?"

"Last I checked the trip from Ilium to the Citadel wasn't nine months long and besides, I did make sure to use condoms." Nicholai responded before frowning. "Unfortunately I was defeated."

"Defeated?" Sardir asked as he stared at Nicholai. "Let me guess, he capped off the night with a massive gang bang?"

"No actually, I forfeited the contest." Nicholai responded and the other mercenaries blinked in confusion. "Because he slept with an Elcor and no, that's not an exaggeration."

"…come again?!" Sardir asked after a few seconds of silence before he started to think. "I mean, Elcor are a lot bigger than any human I know and they do have those long legs so how would you…..you know what? I'm going to stop myself before I give myself more nightmares." Sardir said as he shook his head. "Andrea, what do we know about Felix's murder?"

"Not a lot, he was found naked in an alleyway not far from Steele's Bar and Grill with his genitals mutilated." Andrea responded and the male mercs winced in response. "Sardir, can you bring up the second victim?"

"On it." Sardir said as he moved to the next slide and showed Chelsea's mugshot. "This is Chelsea Francs, the Ardat-Yakshi's second victim and she was a known prostitute and drug addict." Sardir said before wincing. "Oh boy, if you guys are eating anything then I'd suggest that you stop immediately."

"Oh come on, how bad can it be?" Ricky asked as Sardir loaded the slide.

"Look, words can't describe how fucked up this is so I'm just going to let this crime scene picture do the talking." Sardir responded before switching slides and the screen showed a crime scene photo of Chelsea's body still handcuffed to the bed. "Basic details match Felix's death, nude, genital mutilation, same cause of death, however….."

"Okay, now I'm convinced that this bitch needs to be stopped." Andrea said with a disgusted look on her face. "What do we know about Chelsea's death so far?"

"Well, if what Tasara told us about the Ardat-Yakshi's preferred killing method is true then nearly all of those wounds were inflicted when she was alive." Sardir said and the other mercs winced. "What I don't understand is why no one heard her screaming especially since she was murdered in her own apartment."

"She was a prostitute, right?" Alicia chimed in and Sardir nodded. "Me and Andrea met a few prostitutes when we were working at Afterlife, most of them, well, the ones who could afford it, soundproofed their bedrooms on the off chance that they ended up taking a client home." Alicia added and Andrea nodded.

"And if that's popular in a lawless place like Omega then it must be even more popular on the Citadel." Andrea added and the others nodded in agreement. "Let's get the obvious point out of the way, aside from the whole death by mind meld thing there's pretty much nothing to distinguish the Ardat-Yakshi from a regular Asari."

"Yeah, like Tasara said, it's a genetic condition and there's pretty much no way that we can detect it without diagnosing her or catching her in the act." Sardir added as he stood up. "Okay, first objective is fact finding, Ehis, you have the best memory in the group so learn what you can and relay it back to us."

"I will do my best." The female Drell nodded in response before frowning. "You do realize that a potential strategy for us catching the Ardat-Yakshi is to use someone as bait, right Andrea?"

"And if it were any regular Asari who had pissed off Marcello somehow I bet Sardir would volunteer for that job faster than you can say "twenty six year old virgin"." Andrea commented with a smirk and Sardir glared at her. "Seriously though, it's a viable tactic but it's one that we are only using as a last resort, you are all valuable members of the crew and I'll be damned if I lose one of you to the Asari's version of a Succubus."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Sardir grunted as he folded his arms. "My role will be simple, I'll be on the ship keeping an eye out for anything related to our target, extrarnet, news reports, secret Ardat-Yakshi forums that are only known about by the members and if the info's there I'll find it." Sardir added before remembering something. "Ah yeah, our friends at C-Sec have given out the top suspect's description." Sardir added as he activated his Omni-Tool. "Sending it to your tools now."

"If this is a porn link then you'll be volunteered for Ardat-Yakshi bait." Andrea warned him and Sardir gulped nervously, fortunately for him it wasn't a porn link. "This doesn't narrow it down but it's a start, Crarnus, how long before we reach the Citadel?"

"Should be docking in a few hours Andrea." The Turian pilot responded and Andrea nodded.

*two hours later on Citadel*

A couple of hours had passed since Chelsea's body had been discovered and the wait was on for the autopsy results to confirm what the C-Sec officers had suspected, namely the cause of death and whether or not the Asari who was last seen with Chelsea was the Ardat-Yakshi that had killed Felix the day before.

Off course that wasn't the only thing on their minds.

"Let me guess, the press is still out there?" Anola asked when she saw Varnus approach her desk, it didn't take long for word of a serial killer being on the loose on the wards to reach the ears of nearby journalists and they were camping out outside C-Sec HQ hoping to get official word on the serial killer. "I swear, those guys are going to end up slowing down our investigation."

"If that does happen we can always leave via the underground parking lot." Varnus responded as he sat down at his desk. "Any word from the coroner?"

"No word yet but the landlord has been demanding to know just how long it'll take before CSU is done with the Crime Scene." Anola commented with a frown as she took a sip from her coffee. "The fact that a young woman was gruesomely murdered in that apartment didn't seem to faze him one bit."

"Considering the neighbourhood that Chelsea was living in before her death that doesn't surprise me." Varnus commented with a sigh as he checked his computer. "From what Francis said the Asari prostitute that he and Katherine spoke with was close friends with Chelsea so with any luck she'll put him in his place."

"I don't doubt that for a second." Anola nodded in response before spotting Bailey approaching them with a frown on his face. "Something wrong Bailey?"

"You could say that." Bailey responded before picking up a TV remote and turning on the TV, it showed a scene outside C-Sec HQ where a man in his early forties with short black hair and blue eyes was standing in front of the crowd of journalists, he was clad in an expensive suit and had a sad luck on his face.

"My name is Thomas Francs, my youngest daughter Chelsea was gruesomely murdered last night by a serial killer." The man said as he wiped away a tear before holding up a picture of Chelsea when she was younger. "C-Sec may be working around the clock to catch her killer but I am here to help, therefore I am offering a reward of one hundred thousand credits to anyone who provides C-Sec with information that'll lead to this monster's arrest!"

"Wait, what?!" Anola asked once it hit her. "Varnus, didn't Sophie say that the rest of her family aside from her and Damien had disowned Chelsea?"

"She did, this makes no sense." Varnus nodded in agreement with a frown on his face. "Setting aside the fact that our investigation will be slowed down by several hoax callers hoping to cash in if he had that kind of money why didn't he try to get his daughter out of her current living conditions?"

"You can ask him yourself." Bailey responded as he turned off the TV. "Once he was done I had Katherine bring him in for questioning, feel free to have a chat with him." Bailey added and the two officers nodded before standing up. "I would've told you sooner but he insisted on having his lawyer present."

"He probably realized how bad it looked for him considering what we know about his youngest daughter." Varnus commented as the two officers followed Bailey to the interrogation room and entered the room where Thomas was sitting next to a Turian. "Thomas Francs? I'm Officer Varnus Travekian and she's Officer Anola Tr'Santi, we are investigating your daughter's murder."

"Yes, I am well aware of the state her body was found in." The Turian commented as the two officers sat down. "I assure you, my client wants her killer brought to justice just as much as you do."

"We understand that." Anola commented as she checked her notes. "But there are things we don't understand, her body was found by her older siblings and her sister told us that the rest of her family had basically washed their hands off of her due to Chelsea's criminal activities." Anola added and Thomas lowered his head. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Look, I'm not about to say that Chelsea was perfect." Thomas sighed as he turned to Anola. "But these past few hours since the discovery of her body have been something of a revelation for her extended family." Thomas added as he leaned forward. "I should've gotten her into rehab years ago but I was worried about my family's reputation."

"So rather than help her you left her in the red-light district." Varnus commented and Thomas lowered his head. "Do you see why we are so confused now?"

"I failed her, I'm not denying that." Thomas responded after a couple of minutes. "But whilst I failed her in life I can at least see to it that her killer will be brought to justice."

"Here's the thing, Chelsea wasn't her first victim." Anola said before showing him an old mugshot of Felix. "Meet Felix Truman, he was found dead in an alleyway yesterday evening and the MO matches Chelsea's." Anola explained as she turned off her Omni-Tool. "As tragic as her death is this is about more than just Chelsea's murder, if you want to help bring her killer to justice then call off the award."

"I can't, the money was pooled together through my other family members and it'd take me years to pay them back." Thomas responded with a frown. "I didn't know Mr. Truman all though I wouldn't put it past him to have approached my daughter for her…."services" based on his looks, but that doesn't matter, all that matters is that their killer is brought to justice."

"Off course and trust me Thomas, we will see to it." Varnus responded before he and Anola stood up. "We're done here but don't leave the Citadel, we will be in touch."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Thomas said before handing Varnus and Anola business cards. "You can contact me at that number if you have any other questions."

"Off course." Varnus said as they pocketed the cards and Varnus handed him one of his own. "And I'll say the same to you." Varnus added and Thomas nodded before taking the card and pocketing it, once the two officers left the interrogation room Anola turned to Varnus.

"I get that Chelsea broke the law for years before her untimely death." Anola commented as she folded her arms. "But would it have killed them to at least try to help her? Pun not intended but mistakes or not she was still family to them."

"You don't follow politics much, do you?" Varnus asked and Anola shook her head. "Her uncle is Raymond Francs, he is an up and coming politician and his career was just taking off when I arrested Chelsea for the first time and that's not all." Varnus commented before showing her a picture of the man, he had short grey hair with a matching beard and brown eyes but what caught Anola's attention was the Asari he was with.

"Isn't that the Asari councillor's daughter?" Anola asked as she looked at the Asari and Varnus nodded. "So having a niece whose drug problem had gotten to the point where she turned to prostitution to support it damaged his reputation but a well-known party girl isn't? What's her relationship with Raymond anyway?"

"They got married last summer in a private ceremony." Varnus responded as he took back the data-pad. "He released a statement saying that he had promised to "tame" her to get in favour with the Asari Councillor, considering that she was pulled over just last week for drinking and driving with a prostitute in her car I don't think it's working."

"Master of the understatement as always." Anola commented as she shook her head. "Wait, what if the Ardat-Yakshi decided to target her next?"

"That would be quite a leap up the social ladder, Chelsea and Felix where small time criminals and whilst the councillor's daughter hasn't been convicted of a violent crime, well, she is the councillor's daughter." Varnus added with a frown. "Killing someone that close to the council might get them to send a Spectre to apprehend her."

"Just when I thought the reward couldn't complicate this case enough." Anola sighed in annoyance as Trokus approached them. "Do you have some good news Trokus?"

"Depends on your definition of good." Trokus responded as he motioned for them to follow him. "I just finished the autopsy and I can confirm that Chelsea's cause of death matches Felix's." Trokus added as he led them into the coroner's office. "But here's where things get complicated."

"It'll take a lot to further complicate this case." Anola commented and Trokus nodded.

"I found evidence of sexual activity with another woman that likely took place four hours prior to her death, the DNA I found didn't have a match in the system but it was Asari DNA so it's likely that Chelsea engaged in sexual intercourse with the Ardat-Yakshi before she started torturing her." Trokus explained as he scratched his chin. "I was under the impression that Ardat-Yakshi went straight for the kill so I called Thessia's coroner to see what she thought of it."

"What did she say?" Varnus asked and Trokus frowned.

"She couldn't give a definite answer but she did say that there have been cases of Ardat-Yakshi saving the mind meld for after the intercourse." Trokus explained as he checked his notes. "I thought for a moment that that explained why Felix was disrobed as well except for one thing, there was no evidence of recent sexual activity on the day of his death."

"Didn't the Bartender at Trikaro's say that Felix was drunk off his ass when he left?" Anola asked and Varnus nodded. "Maybe he passed out before the fun stuff could happen and she decided to cut to the chase?"

"That is possible." Trokus nodded in response before frowning. "But I found something even more disturbing in Chelsea's system, Titikagen X."

"Is that name supposed to mean anything?" Anola asked and Trokus nodded.

"It was a pain killer developed by New Dawn Pharmaceuticals about twenty years ago but it never made it passed the trial stages and for good reason." Trokus responded as he handed them a data-pad. "It was supposed to nullify pain but something went wrong during the production, instead the pill intensified pain to extreme levels."

"So something as simple as stubbing your toe on a chair would be as painful as having your leg broken?" Varnus asked and Trokus nodded.

"Yes and I found three pills in her system, the effects take place over the course of two hours." Trokus responded with a frown. "Here's the thing that drug has been illegal on the Citadel for years and even possessing such a drug on your person carries a hefty prison sentence."

"Is it possible that the Ardat-Yakshi has connections to New Dawn?" Anola asked and Trokus shook his head.

"McKenna already checked and she said that New Dawn halted production on the pill because the problem couldn't be solved, unfortunately someone stole the pills that had already been made before New Dawn could destroy them." Trokus explained before frowning. "As you can imagine they are very popular on the Black Market."

"Such a drug would be a god send for any would be torturer." Anola commented as she folded her arms. "What about Chelsea? We saw the extent of the damage she the Ardat-Yakshi inflicted on her."

"Like I said, I found three of those pills in her system and it likely felt as painful as being flayed alive." Trokus responded with a deep frown. "We're dealing with a sadist here, there's no other way around it." Trokus added as Anola's ring tone went off.

"Mind if I take this?" Anola asked and Trokus nodded before answering the call. "Trallin, do you have something?" Anola asked and the Elcor nodded grimly.

"Grimly, indeed, come by my shop and I'll show you." The Elcor responded and Anola nodded.

"We had better get going, call us if you find anything Trokus." Anola told him and Trokus nodded before the two officers left the coroner's office.