Post by EmperorMyric on Jun 13, 2021 10:48:57 GMT
AME076
Lost Star: Fidun District
“And you’re sure it was by the same person?”
“Positive, the same marks and inscriptions were made on this body as well, it matches all the other cases”
The man sighed. His desk was small and he was criminally underpaid. A half smoked cigar sat in a tray along with some untidy papers and the holographic projection that now hung in front of him. The small room with its single slatted window let in little light and cigar smoke gave it a dull haze. He wore the uniform of a Lost Star sheriff. Which would actually be worth a damn if he was on any of the other districts. Fidun was located on the third ring and it was equivalent to a slum district. People came here when they got to Lost Star, but could never afford to live anywhere else and did not have a job to go to, it was the detritus of the galaxy. Not so different to how the old Lost Star used to look all the time before things got spicy and then fancy.
“Then it’s definitely him. Man if only the brass actually gave us the resources we needed… Any luck on leads yet or identity?” Sheriff Martel was a big man, well built and stocky, but he was depressive and knew that his job was a total dead end.
“I have a potential lead, the attack was witnessed by two people but neither have appeared for questioning, looks like both want us to go to them” The man before the sheriff was known as ‘Todd’ he wasn’t an enforcer but he was a private investigator who had been hired on by the district. He was a good man and knew his stuff, he had been a read asset to Martel over the last months.
“I see. I can’t spare any men from their duties as you well know, the weekly food riots will begin within the hour and I need everyone I can to help quell those bastards before it gets out of hand. I’ll put a bulletin up and throw some monetary incentives, once we get some people in you go and question those leads and get me something to go off. Use these guys as backup or hired guns either way they will be yours to lead” Martel picked up his cigar and gave it a good puff.
“Understood I will await their arrival”
------///-----------
Alt'ias knocked back another shot, slamming the glass down in front of him to join the others. A nearby bartender taking them away on a tray before returning with more. The drinks were mostly for show; Alt'ias's body would burn through the drink before the alchohol could take effect, but he was waiting on someone and needed to keep himself at a low profile.
Another drink.
His ears picked up his informants voice, a human by the name Holester Craad.
The dark haired man was not much of a sight, but his demeanor suggested a man of cowardess, which he was. While back Alt'ias had spared his life after slaughtering his gang, indenturing him into his service until he proved himself.
As he took a seat next to Alt'ias, he took a shot himself.
"Found a little weight here for you. Looks like the typical stuff but you never know, maybe it'll lead to something interesting."
Holester sent the pict to Alt'ias's macrys, taking another shot as he went.
"Looks simple enough, pays pretty good as well."
The Echo slapped the smaller man on the shoulder, making the man wince in panic before saying more.
"You've done well. You may return home. I'll come find you when your service is required."
Holester nodded, slamming back his last shot just as he and the Echo got up from the bar.
-------///--------
The place didnt look like much, but Alt'ias was certain he was in the right place.
Security seemed interesting, but it did not concern him as he entered the enforcer building.
With a barely audible whirring noise, an occasional glance to the passerby and back down to his feet, Brun kept mostly to himself as he re-read the details put forth in the bulletin he found an interest in before being shooed away by the locals. His clothes where worn and faded, if he walked down an alley, he could blend in with the various squatters and homeless littering this area. His concentration was interrupted by a rude shove on his shoulder, a younger male with a red checkered bandana continuing on his way with his group of friends, hooting and hollering obscenities about the law enforcement, before turning the corner and out of sight, their annoying voices continuing to be heard as Brun looked down again to access his internal database.
He needed some money, Credits where worth nothing out here and he could possibly put old skills back in use. Backing out of his database, his hand gingerly reached to his back, down where his belt was snugly securing the 3D printed firearm he bought with what little cash he managed to score. He tapped it a few times, making sure it wasn't about to fall out, before heading out to the building mentioned in the bulletin.
In the corner of the room, a silent individual stands, leaning against the wall, reading something from an unidentified book that looks old. He weared odd looking clothes with darker shades of colors overlapping one another, mostly dark brown at the bottom, and a dark shade of grey at the middle and top, with a dark red belt around his middle seperating the 2, with many small tools and blades attached to it. Some grey cloth seem to hide his face, and a large proportion hiding his black hair.
His age and race is unclear, since most of his face and skin tone is hidden, only his red fierce eyes and part of his face is visable, but burried inside the book he holds up with a single hand, covered by dark brown cloth.
He looks fierce, with a long blade attached to his back, a guy one shouldnt mess with. He hasnt talked at all in the room, and can easily be missed since he devides himself from the group. But even if he seems to read a book, he already knows all one could gather from the room and the people inside of it, and would be prepared for a sudden attack.
Kara was just another dime an Argent spy working for the Federal Intelligence Bureau sent to lost star as one of over hundred feelers sent to investigate every inch of the place. When she saw the Lost Star Sheriffs ad she was given orders to take the job. She wore plain clothes to blend but each piece of clothing was made of specialised fibres not only created that way but spun into intricate patterns to absorb and disperse kinetic energy and heat, she was far from invulnerable as two or three direct hits to the same area would have her waking up in a hospital with a new body. But it was enough to give her time to go on the offensive with an artificially aged Pistole 3110 used by Federation agents en masse for it's concealability, weight and hefty punch despite it's size. Although Kara was sent out by herself she wasn't alone with one the Agency's AI's watching over not only her but the other agents sent to Lost Star, Arthur's job was primarily to record and transmit valuable information back to the Agency as well as insure the integrity of the Agents sent.
"Nervous Kara? I've detected increased heart rate in your body." Arthur said calmly directly into Kara's head through the implant inside her skull.
"A little. I don't like cops and going to work with them for who knows how long is not what i had planned here." She replied back as she walked her way through the streets where no one could hopefully no hear their conversation.
"Don't worry, once we have the information we need you'll be done with them and can move onto the next district, the Agency looks out for it's own."
"Well that i'm glad about once we get this job started and finished the better."
It was with no fanfare but with the loud crash of an electromagnetic sliding door that the woman known as Yvette stepped aboard the bridge of her ship.
"So, how goes the ship?" she asked, stretching her arms. The woman bore a longcoat more deserving of a wealthy 18th-Century privateer and high-rising boots, a row of hand cannons strapped to a bandolier like a pirate would his flintlocks, and a lavishly decorated tricorn she put down on a rail.
"Well," the first officer started, though she insisted on referring to him as first mate. "The main engine's fixed, as is the main fuel feed. We can fly about this place freely now."
"And the FTL drive?" she asked. The man shook his head.
"Catalyst injector's locked up and the containment chamber is cracked. If we try to fire it, even if the injector fires the ship'll just atomise itself across the sector. We can't quite afford the repairs."
"Shit..." she sighed, rubbing her brow. "Well then. Anything on the local net offering anything that could help?"
"Erm...usual shady crap, Fidun sheriff's offering a job of some sort. Won't do it entirely but it'll be a good start." one of the other crewman shrugged, looking at a screen. Yvette approached, head sat next to his as she looked it over.
"Well, it's better than a lot of em."
"You heading out there, Cap?" the helmsman asked.
"Guess so. Watch the ship for me, eh? First, she's yours until I get back."
"I'll keep her in shape." the first mate smiled and made a loose salute, returned in kind by the captain as she strolled back out, back into Lost Star as she headed for the sheriff's building.
Evidently, the image of a whimsical fictional pirate character strolling right up to a law enforcement building was lost on her.
The enforcer building was the blandest and dull place in the entire galaxy, or at least it felt like it.
The halls and rooms were slate grey, no adornments or colour. It was busy with enforcers, clerks and general staff moving to and fro and yet it felt empty as if the building had no soul. Or perhaps it was the fact the enforcers of the Fidun district were overworked, underpaid and critically short of staff. The waiting room itself was so boring and bland that it might have been more torturous than the actual holding cells, with rows of vacuum formed plastic red chairs laid out in rows. It was one of many used by the enforcers, cleared specially for a debrief while the proper rooms were in use by all of the districts enforcers getting updates and information on the likely outcomes and starters for the food riots that would be shortly occurring.
Todd wore a loose fitting white shirt, and an almost antique brown trench coat, an old Stetson covered short brown hair and his appearance was one of a grizzled investigator. He wore a badge showing his provisional independent licence, he worked with the enforcers here but was not hired by them. As the various individuals came into the room he gestured for the last of them to shut the door. Seemingly uncaring about their looks or idiosyncrasies he lit up a cigar and started to speak.
“Alright welcome, I’m going to be really blunt with you because we don’t have much time and we need to get out and get to our leads before the food riots start. You’re here because these fine men are down on staff and can’t get the boots on the ground to follow up some leads. The situation is as follows, we have had several particularly brutal murders over the past few days, 17 to be exact. Each one appears ritualistic in nature and specific runes and carvings have been seen on the victims which also seem to match some found occasionally throughout the district. We have two witnesses who saw the latest attack but we got to go to them, we go to them, get the information and testimonies and go from there, we can discuss payment when we get back. You’re here because this is a multi-person job and to be a little extra muscle if shit goes to hell. If you have any questions ask me in transit, come on lets go”
He was already in motion as he opened the door and beckoned them to follow him. They had to get a head start before they got bogged down in rioters and malcontents storming the streets, or worse got caught in a cross fire with the enforcers.
Alt'ias stirred immediately, glad that the work wasnt going to bog him down with needless pleasantry or pomp.
He stood from his chair, having one of the first to arrive, observing the assembled "team" he was to be working alongside. In all honesty, they didnt look like much. Even with his experience with alien races, these were... a disappointing turnout to be sure.
He set his timer on his wrist mounted macrys unit, and strode after the man.
As he entered the building, Brun felt as close to home more than he had in some time. The drab grey and featureless interior felt secure to the Dectrothian, a sense of safety in the otherwise lawlessness of the outside was likely only felt by him. Glancing around, he didn't notice as many augmented like he had in other sectors of Lost Star, mainly when he looked for work with the Shipbreakers. Many of his more labor-focused Dectrothian brothers and sisters found their way there, and where busily working on the ships. Though his augmentations where simply not up for the extremes of the Shipbreakers, being more oriented with Law Enforcement.
He shook his head, clearing the webs from his mind to reassert the attention towards the investigator, listening intently and recording the conversation in his database. It honestly felt like he was back in work, without all the red tape associated with the Stratocracy, and with the conclusion, he followed and began to ask questions. "Do the victims share anything in common and are there any possible links to the ritual mentioned? If we find any patterns, I'm sure we can narrow our potential list of suspects.. Which I assume that you have a list of possible perps that we should be looking out for? In any case, they might investigate the scene of the crime if we come snooping around, or try to sever our only witnesses if they don't want loose ends."
Inside his database, Brun was connecting all the information that he currently had, something that he learned from his time in DCI, assigning priorities, possible motives, etc. Though his attention focused inwardly, meant that he hadn't made the time to study or investigate his other team members, something that could be done once he had more answers to the case.
"A murder mystery wasn't what i was expecting, i hope you'll be able to help me a little more then usual here Arthur." Kara told the lingering AI
"I can indeed, I'll just download a set list of classic murder mystery media and I'll have all the knowledge i need to help" Arthur mocked
"Thanks Arthur, but i think i can handle it from here" She returned the mocking tone.
"Have you identified the victims, there last know whereabouts, did they have family and friends? What about murder weapons? If it was ritualistic, what cults and religions operate here that would perform such sacrifices." Kara rattled off to Todd
Yvette had her hands in her pockets, whistling quietly as she walked as everyone else loosed off questions like a multi-part verbal machine gun. The woman, once everyone else had ceased their verbal assault, had but a single question of her own.
"Who're the witnesses, anyone interesting?"
As the group moved to the entrance of the enforcer building and began to head out onto the streets they had seen repeated rooms of enforcers donning riot gear, and in many cases picking up live lethal fire arms rather than suppression gear. Things looked like they were going to turn ugly, and this itself was reinforced by the sentiment out on the streets, already enforcers were forming up into squads, Sentry LAVs were parked ready to move squads out all painted in dull grey enforcer colours. Some carried suppression weapons, water cannons, grenade launchers with tear gas and some were armed with light microwave or sonic weapons. But some had heavy machine guns on board, and judging by the huge throngs of people who moved throughout the streets beyond all of this seemed like it wasn’t enough. Todd didn’t seem fazed.
"The victims share nothing in common, some have been poor and unknowns, some have appeared to be gang members, some were rich, or what amounts to rich here but in each instance nothing was taken from the corpses although they were quickly stripped by the people here. Each kill was ritualistic, a single killing stroke after being beaten up conventionally before they died. Family and friend leads have turned up nothing of note, of the murder weapons mainly fists and blunt objects, but a strange stab wound seems to indicate a ritual knife of a kind I’ve never seen. I have images of the scenes as well as the runes, here” He mentally pinged the images across from his own mental implants to each’s connection to the Anc net.
“As for what cults, who knows? It isn’t exactly rare knowledge to know the CDG were operating on Lost Star before the rebirth program, although they never worked like this they were always methodical in the cases I oversaw where they did this. There are a few other theories but this plus the runes seem to indicate something new maybe. As for the witnesses one is a regular women, a new mother who happened to be there when it happened. The second is a supposed link to the crime network who this latest victim and another previous were linked to.”
"Did the witness statements reveal anything of note or just more of the same?" Kara asked Todd directly
Walking through the streets, Brun did enjoy the dull grey colors of the enforcers, always had once he landed in Lost Star. Though his attention jerked inwardly back to the answers being spoken, a slight twitch of movement visible to the others as his attention switched between the two subjects. "So we're talking about suspects that are either too poor or religious for more modern ways of attacking and murdering their targets. I assume from the previous departed that the wounds inflicted where defensive in nature, as in the individual struggled, rather than being restrained or threatened with a firearm."
Taking a look at the runes, he assigned them values based on commonality and useage to try and connect them to any type of religious figure, or use them to form an alphabet if they where words. The scenes where as described, but Brun took extra time to check the wrists, neck and ankles for signs of restraining marks, as well as ensuring the bruises and impacts where in fact defensive or if they where odd in any other way. "Are there any similarities on the locations of the stab wounds? Vital organs specifically or are they as random as the targets?"
Yvette nodded as her personal question was answered, seemingly having nothing more to say. Cults and underground crime rings, huh? Well, her day was certainly getting more interesting. She didn't have all the fancy brain implants she was sure some of her newfound colleagues did, which she supposed had its ups and downs. A lot harder to get into her head without a computer sticking out of it. She thought so, anyway. On the downside it meant she had to think on things unassisted.
Total randoms, some sort of ritual stabbing. Well, if nothing else, cultists was pretty high on the list of things she didn't really mind putting a bullet in.
A small smirk came to the corner of the pirate's mouth.
No words came out of the individual’s mouth the entire time he stood there. He only gazed at the floor, listening to everyone that spoke, trying to gather information. To this point, he was just as useful as a plant to everyone, just standing there, giving no input.
After questions and answers were going around the room, he gazed upwards towards Todd. “What was the time between all those murders? When did it start?” He asked in a worried and soft tone. It was clear that he felt sorry for the victims and those around them.
“Furthermore, did anything happen around the time it started, anything big that could have set this in motion? Did anything change as each murder happened? And did the murder happen at the same place where the body was found, or was it moved?” His questions were fast, giving little time to respond between each question. He reached for a pocket in his back that was hanging from his shoulder, and took out a pen and notebook, ready to write things down.
"Witness statements indicate that the assailants were covered in robes, although apparantly the person we are going to see has optical implants and managed to take a quick snag of the assailants face in a brief moment of scuffle. And yes all of the deaths had some measure of struggle, nobody takes death willingly in this place. As for similarities of stab wounds yes, the ritual movement is straight to the back in the middle of the spine before slicing upwards cutting the back open, it has a resemblance to a very, very old practice called Blood Eagling" He smiled "If you have ever heard of such a thing. And no there was no massive event that let off these string of murders and nothing majors been reported since, all of the murder locations remain the same. Its like none of the bodies were moved after they were killed only deformed with symbols"
The group had to move into the crowd as the enforcers opened up a channel for them to pass. People were angry and pushed back, they demanded increase in food shipments, more medicines and other basic needs that individuals require. This sector was horrifically overpopulated for its size, and despite the inflow of resources here from the authorities it wasnt enough, those within had little jobs and could not afford to bring in their own and so every week when the shipments came the food riots began.
"Come move quickly! Things will get ugly if we stay here too long!" He communicated over a coms network as the shouting of the crowd drowned out any normal speak.
Blood eagle, the term was placed into the browser for Ancnet, as well as the local databases that he could still connect with, and searched for everything he could on it, he could connect the strings of 'too religious' to the method of torture and death. The deeply religious ties to the ritualistic sacrifice lead Brun to the conclusion that the killings could not be totally random, while connections where difficult to attain, he- "You! Asshole! I got a sick kid at home you piece of aug garbage!" An object was thrown at Brun, hitting him on the side as his dermal armor mitigated the kinetic force, and he withdrew back into his mind, letting his legs follow the group autonomously.
He could make some assumptions that the killings where possibly due to religious conflict, or the individuals had other connections that only the suspects knew of. Whatever the case, the intended meeting would have to fill in the gaps quickly, and Brun would have to inspect more than just the witness, but the household as well, for anything involving religious practices or even the lack thereof.
Or perhaps it went further, Brun would have to investigate any possible career paths, legitimate or not, involving armed work. The part of the entry that Brun read of the Blood Eagle described the act being performed sometimes on defeated warriors, according to vague sources. Brun reached out to Todd via the comms link "Is there a chance I can review the victim's employment histories or criminal records? Specifically the use of weapons or training for any type of conflict."
"'Blood eagling', that's a gruesome way to go. At least i would be fine and you'd just wake up in resus, although you might need to spend a bit of time there for trauma therapy." Arthur joked
"Interesting way to go indeed, there has to be a reason why they do it that specifically. Could it be to let something out of the body? If you look at it that way a cut there would be the perfect exit for a person if they were to leave their own skin." Kara replied seriously
"It is possible yes, but as the man said after death they were just deformed with symbols, nothing has been leaving their body. Something like that is too much in the realm of science fiction to be possible."
"Regardless, this witness may reveal a lot more once we meet them."
As this conversation happened inside cyberspace Kara followed the group as she had been, she didn't have any more questions for the time being as it seemed that Todd was just as much in the dark as they were.
Yvette's brow furrowed as she followed, her pace quickening to get away from the increasingly restless crowd. A pleasant lot, by the sounds of it.
"So what's the plan if we happen to run into these cultists? Shoot to kill?" she asked.
The man followed the group, while he looked around at the crowd. “Judging from the needs of the crowd, what if it is involved with the problems involving the overpopulation?
Or what if they tried to send a message?” He remained silent for a moment. “I hope when we arrive, we are able to cross out some of the theories, there is too little we know currently.”
Todd narrowly avoided a thrown bottle as the crowd began to rapidly push in. Tensions were quickly reaching their breaking point. One single spark and the whole situation would devolve into a crisis. Todd pinged across the location of the rendevouz point with haste in case any of the group got split up by the crowd. It was a good call, especially since a single gun shot was all it took to ignite the power keg of people. The crowd rushed the enforcer positions, water cannons, tear gas grenades, rubber bullets and non lethal energy weapons opened up on the crowd, forcing swathes of them to the ground or to try run back but it was no use, the stampede kept coming, trampling any unfortunate enough to have been taken off their feet. Rocks, rubble, bottles, molotovs and even some weapons fire met the enforcers who continued to hit back.
"Keep moving! Get to the rendevouz!" Todd shouted over the racket before someone in the crowd grabbed him and punched him in the face. Despite being dressed in normal clothes and inspector was known to many.
"You fucking scum trying to starve us!" The man hit Todd again, who in turn pulled out a large revolver and without any hesitation blew the large mans face out, scattering blood and gore over the crowd behind. Instantly 12 people rushed him, and Todd began to blast away.
"Go to the site! You know the mission, dont worry about me-" He was cut off as the man was dragged underneath the mob, several more dying to his gun shots. The group had to move, and quickly. One of the side alleys proved the best way, it wasnt too far and they could get there off the main streets.
Yvette's stride advanced almost into a hurried prance; sprinting through or into crowds rarely ended well for anyone involved, and it didn't take a genius to realise the floor was the worst place to be right now.
It briefly flashed into the space pirate's mind that being dressed like some fictional cosmic highwayman was probably not the smartest decision.
Nonsense I look fantastic. came the next thought, squashing the first.
Regardless the first thought seemed to be the more pragmatic, Yvette twirling around a rock tossed at her head, sailing on past and comically knocking out one of the stampeding civilians on the far side with a crack to the head. A grab to her sleeve, her mind vaguely registering a yelled insult about her being a degenerate thief, was met by a spinkick to the gut and a crack from the butt of one of her hand cannons to the head sent the man reeling into the crowds behind him.
She had briefly considered firing, hoping it would send a message. Yvette's great distaste for unnecessary violence, and the knowledge all it would do was make others angrier, is what stayed her trigger finger.
She picked up the pace, headed for the alley, instead.
"Move Kara! Go! Don't worry about him, he knew what he was doing when he fired that shot." Arthur shouted over their link
"Right, moving, leaving a man to get torn apart by a crowd. Rodger that." Kara replied
She took off down the alley in a dash to get away from the crowd using the distraction Yvette created to quickly bypass any interaction with oncoming crowd.
Being more at the tail-end of the group, the Dectrothian was subjected to the crowd's fury, though the unfortunate person that first grabbed him and began throwing blows found his hand throbbing in pain as he punched the augmented humanoid, Brun retaliating with a flurry of slaps and pressure point attacks meant to incapacitate the attacker, before then being stabbed by another attacker, the blade being swung low and wide of the man he was paralyzing. The blade sunk into his lower left side before the dermal armor stopped it short, the Aug turning swiftly to grab the man's wrist, twisting it cruelly to fracture it and took the knife out of his side to stab the attacker in the leg, visually confirming his placement was non-lethal, before kicking his attacker in the gut to put him down and took off in a sprint towards the alley.
"Well, so much for that, I'll have to just confirm things with the witnesses." He said in his mind, he thought of saving Todd, though with the crowd as it was, and the need to get to the rendezvous before they lost their only lead, lead Brun to follow his last order instead of going against it. Hopefully the rest of this.. crew, will get to the alley unscathed and continue on.
The alley was mostly empty as the group rushed into it, only a few meters wide it was populated by haphazardly set up cooling units which worked to help enviromentally stabilise the homes around them, some poor chain fences and abandoned boxes also filled the space making it a perfect place to easily hide and catch a breath. The crowds roar could be heard easily broken by the sounds of proper gunfire and the unintelligible sound of enforcer loud speakers trying to get the crowd to withdraw. Many would die today, likely just how Todd had gone. And yet this was a weekly occurance in the Fidun district.
The actual objective was only 3 blocks away from their location, easily navigatable via back streets and out of site from the huge baying crowds. The only thing of note however was a red symbol dabbed like graffiti on the side of one of the cooling units. It was stark, harsh and grating in aspect and seemed entirely out of place with the other typical gang and art shit which had been plastered down the alley over the last months. Judging by look it was similar to those found at the crime scene, and by knowledge of the cult uprising which had occured a few years earlier did not appear to be Draconian in origin.
Afriel laughed giggling like a school girl as she strolled down the alley after the people she’d watched make a break for freedom from the clawing hands of the sinful masses that choked the gutters of this foetid station like writhing maggots on a long dead whore.
She’d made her way through the crowd with her usual flare, a wave shotgun made for an excellent path clearer when applied directly to the unprotected mortal, her pristine white and gold clothes were somehow untouched despite the carnage on the streets, she thanked her weapons explosive clearing abilities for that.
“My my my look at all you good boys and girls!”
She calls out down the alley as she paces after the runners.
“Not rioting and not ripping my old dearly departed friend Todd limb from limb before he can even explain the job to me!”
In truth she hadn’t really known him all that much, she’d only picked his name up via osmosis.
“Are you all here for the job as well?”
She stopped at what most would describe as a polite distance for someone that’d just followed a bunch of post riot strangers down a dark alley.
Taking a moment to stop and metaphorically catch his breath, he took a quick tally of the members of the group that had been lost, before resetting the group's status as far as their injuries, their perceived emotional state and their personality notes as far as what they had done while in contact. It was interesting to say the least that his profiling software was getting dusted off a bit to be used in potential combat scenarios, until his attention was alerted to a person behind them.
He spun around quickly, as fast as any augmented human could, and quickly analyzed the newcomer. She was definitely not from the angry mob that had torn Todd apart, nor did he immediately recognize her from the last update he had with the Dectrothian Network. It took an Ancnet search to realize the species she was, and he was astounded at first, but pleased the next. "Yes, and I apologize for not being as capable enough to save your friend. Had I been with the ATAF or Nightstalkers, I would have tried to save him, but I'm not." A gloomy look brushed over his face before raising it back up to her, his body had turned around to address her, but was walking backwards in pace with the others, as if in automatic mode. "Though, I don't think you had introduced yourself. I'm Brun, of the DCI, and you?"
"Look Kara a new friend and she's very mentally stable." Arthur said jokingly to Kara
"Can't talk, running for my life, see you, at the rendezvous" Kara shouted back to the stranger as she kept running
Yvette blinked in Kara's direction as the woman sprinted off ahead, slowing down with the others.
"Someone's eager to get mugged." she muttered, spinning on the spot to look at the newcomer, walking backwards similarly to Brun though at more of an angle.
"Yeah, we are. And who might you be?" she asked. Her normally more energetic and jovial tone was...much more subdued. A man they'd met mere minutes ago was most likely dead, and this strange woman in uncomfortably recognisable symbols was toting some sort of longarm.
“Ohohoho.”
The white haired women laughed a hand covering her mouth as her shoulders shook.
“Aren’t you all just so lively!
She half raises her wave gun as she leans backwards rocking on her heels with a shark like grin.
“Afriel Gardessi, Ex confessor of the Eostine church and lost stars most popular religious figure head!”
She bows rather deeply the barrel sweeping the alley again as she did so, muzzle awareness was apparently a skill lost on this zealot.
With the sudden union of Afriel into the group the gunfire intensified outside, leading to many on the streets who were trying to riot and push their way towards the precinct now found themselves wanting to run for their lives. A large explosion rocked the entire area and the crowd turned like the tide, everyone looking for a way to escape. Within moments people were swarming down the alley trying to find a way to escape the enforcers. It was just like every week here. The group had to get out, get to the scene and carry out their job, before the crowd once again swamped them.
Again the loud speakers sounded "A curfew is in effect, return to your homes immediately. Any who refuse will be shot"
Red flags went up in his HUD, checking barrel direction and speed of it's movements. He was now left with the other human, after the other member took off, ironic, as it would seem to the Dectrothian. He was going to ask further into the newcomer's Eosian background when the situation worsened, now needing a faster path to the target location, his processors quickly devised a route, pre-calculated detours, shortcuts and escape routes before Brun took back control and increased his stride, seeking to use his augmented body to outpace and outmaneuver the frothing crowd of panic coming their way.
His hand once again felt for the 3D printed firearm, tapping it gently as he made another mental note of it's condition and position, before he jumped over garbage containers, debris and other obstacles in pursuit of Kara's footsteps.
Afriel looked over her shoulder rather contemptuously at the oncoming crowd a single arm raising with the wave shotgun levelled at the wall of people.
“OH YEE CONTEMPTUOUS SINNERS WHO DO CRAWL THROUGH THE FILTH LIKE WORMS IRREVERENT OF THOSE YOU WOULD CRUSH UNDER YOUR SEETHING MASS.”
Her proselytising was cut off by the firing of her weapon as the entire alley behind her turned into a blended mush of blood bone and gristle as the Eosian weapon tore through the narrow alley killing everyone within the straight she was in, bounced bone fragments and flying limbs injuring several around the corner as well.
“Perish!”
She finishes her prayer as she turns to run after the augmented creature, the mob behind them would be slowed by the now blood slicked and corpse soaked ground, they’d slip and fall and climb over the dead while trampling each other to death she was sure but that would take time.
“Come on my new allies lets out pace these maggots writhing in the blood of their fellows so we may condemn these ineffable heretics to an early grave.”
Yvette's first response was to...well, retch. She may have shot a fair few people in her time, but there was a stark contrast to the unsightly scenery between a man with a hole in his chest and very abruptly enough blood and gore to fill a small pool. The space pirate stumbled after the group, both to avoid falling behind and to put some distance between herself and the sights and smells Afriel had just left behind. After a moment, the scent failing to catch up and with the scenery behind her, Yvette's pace picked up into a commendable sprint.
The faster they got to where they were going, away from the crowds, the better. Yvette made a mental note never to come back to the Fidun District if she could help it.
As the kinetic wave gun shredded what was easily around 70 people in a cacophanous blast of shattered bodies and pulverised flesh the crowd changed direction as the people behind who had not been quite close enough to be killed and who had been thrown back through the air ran away screaming. Still the crowds were dispersing and speed was needed.
With the objective only a few blocks away the route to it was one of small alleys and even climbing up onto a few sides of buildings along grated walkways and poor quality ladders, Fidun was relatively new and how such a run down looking area could exist despite its relative age was a mystery. All everyone knew was that it was a shithole and as such everyone tended to avoid it. As the group climbed down from a third story gantry back down into a small and very dark alley the crimescene became apparant, covered in a large white tent and with several barriers surrounding it. A few guards from the precinct stood watch, and the grafiti of runes and symbols on the walls became very much apparant. The actual witness house was just on the corner, a large block of flats which overlooked the small and dark cross roads between alleys. The enforcers noticed the groups approach immediately and seemed to bring their weapons to the ready, these were not anti crowd weapons, these were proper railcarbines.
"Halt. Who are you and what are you doing here?" One stepped forward to ask.
For a moment, Yvette simply froze.
She was, after all, a space pirate, and these were law enforcement. Sure, she frequently ran down the more pragmatically minded pirates and cut them down for 'ruining the image', but she was still a space pirate. Then she blinked a few times, and straightened up.
"We were sent by Todd to help investigate a string of murders. Suspected cult activity. He fell behind, though." she explained, as confidently as she could.
"Right, I'm with the lass, as well as these two here. I can provide the credentials here." Brun opened his palm, slowly, as his RAVD displayed the various texts of the conversations with Todd, Todd's credentials that the group was given in their unfortunate short time with him, and Brun's own investigative credentials, as much as they where worth now.
Kara was knelt over breathing heavily, the sprint to the crime scene took a lot out of her.
"Same... as... them." She got out before taking a moment and standing up right again.
"Yeah, same as them, here to investigate the murder and talk to a witness." She said again more coherently
The guards, roughly 4 in number eyed the group up as one stepped forward and pinged Bruns credentials.
"I see. You may pass" He stepped away and the four guards continued to stand around talking, they continued to glance at the group suspiciously but paid them no heed. After all countless strange and eccentric people came and went in Lost Star, the strange and crazy was the norm here despite how they were dressed.
"Your allowed to look at the scene, and the witness is just in there" The guard pointed "We aint allowed to interview her, standing orders to maintain site security"
With the entire area daubed in runes they all formed concentric circles spiralling inwards towards the tent. It was a basic concealment white tent for law enforcement with holographic barriers preventing entry. The group were allowed through and in the tent were confronted with the gruesome scene within. The victim lay splayed across elaborate and intricately carved and painted rune circles which hurt to look at. An ever present psychic field seemed to hang in this area, one which screamed abject terror and carnage. The victim was still blood eagled, their lungs ripped through their back and splayed across as wings. Nothing had been touched it seemed.
"Gross" Kara said to Arthur plainly
"You've got lungs inside your body too, its not that gross." he replied sarcastically
"I'm going to talk to the witness, i haven't got anything on me to analyse a crime scene." Kara said to the others before she walked out of the tent and towards the witness.
The Dectrothian felt that his skills where useful once more, as he set about investigating the crime scene, the runes where quickly sifted through his database and compared to others that he was shown by Todd, looking for similarities, any different hand movements to signal haste or calm, the 'writing material' being examined closely, before analyzing it all together, pushing it to a background process to examine the area itself, vantage points, signs of unusual disturbance, like that which could be caused by a struggle in the crime scene, looking for blood spatter associated with a cutting utensil and where the blood flowing from the blade could have went.
Holographic projections assisted him in his studies, files that Todd had given to the side of the RAVD, the runes being processed. Unfortunately for the Aug, he was not able to feel the psychic field, but his attention soon shifted to the victim, comparing the images from the other victims, here, then to the runes on their body, adding them to his database, before letting himself enter a static state, his eyes glowing orange as he sifted through the new information.
Yvette has imperceptibly breathed a sigh of relief as the others confirmed the reason for their presence.
Thank fuck someone brought IDs
She'd taken a look over the corpse, having to avoid breathing at all to minimise the space pirate's chance at retching, before nodding at Kara. Talking to people was always easier and, in her experience, more effective than poking corpses with sticks.
"Yeah...me neither..." she breathed, following behind.
The scene revealed based on the blood spatters, surprisingly little blood had actually been spilled compared the sheer level of mutilation which had taken place. Obviously the area was covered in it, but with the average amount in a human body it was not enough, the blood had been taken. The killing had happened gruesomely it seemed, hacks and slashes to kill before the mutilation and seemingly ritualistic killing had begun, each slice was part of a pattern but what that pattern was could not be discerned.
As Yvette and Kara exited the white tent they walked over to the small flat entrance, buzzing the side access panel the door opened and a small lobby was before them. The receptionist office was empty, leaving them to take the stairs with the elevators out of order. The witness was on the 4th floor, a seemingly good overview of the scene and the surrounding alleyways. No.28 was the flat, knocking on the door it was met by a small diminutive women with long ginger hair and freckles.
“Uh… Hello? Are you from the police?” She looked terrified.
Looking around him, studying the area, Brun tried to decipher why there wasn't enough blood, the question now stuck onto him like glue, where did the blood go, why was it taken, maybe vampirism? Or to be used in another ritual? What he'd give to have some of the resources he had while working under the DCI back. An Enigma would have proved wonderful to crack into secured networks here and investigate deeper.
For now his hands shifted into some semblance of surgery tools, taking the victim and examining the wounds, the body cavity, trying to gain insight on the cutting tool, the shape, blade groove, any further information on the murder weapon. Maybe some marks of what was used to drain the body would be found as well, the humanoid body might still be able to have imprints of materials, bruising, fibers or foreign objects on it. He might as well search, just to be sure.
"Yes ma'am, we're investigators looking into the recent murder that happened outside your apartment and we have some additional questions to ask you." Kara said professionally and politely to the woman
"Lying now Kara, real professional." Arthur said jokingly
"HA HA, real funny Arthur. Its not like my whole job revolves around lying and manipulation." She replied mockingly
"That we are! You got a name? Gotta have something to call you by." Yvette grinned warmly in an open and admittedly a little unprofessional manner.
She was a space pirate.
"As my companion here said, we need to know as much as you can tell us about what happened outside."
The victims body had seemed to be sliced open in critical places where major arteries had been located, the shape and type of the wounds indicating that whatever type of blade it was had been extremely jagged and non symetrical in its cutting edge. This was reinforced by the ritualised cuts and slices which had been engraved in and the large slices on the back through the ribs which had allowed them to blood eagle the poor soul. The murder weapon had been sharp despite its jaggedness, wickedly sharp. Perhaps monomolecular in nature? There was no quarterising so it couldnt have been any energy or plasma based blade. But for any specialised blood draining tools no evidence was found beyond the arterial cuts.
There was however a plethora of fingerprints on the victim, it would take time to analyse given that there was many different ones from different individuals some not even human.
--
"Uh my name is... Liz, come... Come in" She gestured for Kara and Yvette to enter her apartment, checking the corridor before closing the door. Liz seemed extremely paranoid.
The apartment was small, a studio esque affair with an en suit bathroom, kitchen, bed and living room all in one open space. It was quite drab, greys and more greys although she had tried to brighten the place up with some sports posters from Lost Star circuits, Union Grand Racing team images and Notable racing Serstine. On her table was a mug of hot coffee and a large drawing interface.
"I know its not great but please sit" She gestured to the sofa in the corner by the window, which looked down onto the scene below.
"Can I get you both anything?" She seemed to be shaking. Liz was terrified.
The interesting shape of the cuts drew some interest to the Dectrothian, kneeling over the body to analyze the cuts closer. Pushing open the wound slightly, he glanced over his shoulder to keep an eye out for security, while his finger opened up to form a sort of miniature scissor and cut a small 1 inch square of the affected skin that was cut by the blade. He deposited the sample into his wrist, the cybernetics already making a scan of the flesh and performing tests.
Meanwhile, his eyes glanced over the multitude of fingerprints that where exposed to his adjusted vision, making scans and copies of the prints, noting their locations and any residual bruises around some of the prints to determine which belonged to potential assailants. Also of note was those prints that seemed linear to the cuts, as if bracing themselves against the body to make them, if they had.
He was almost done here, looking around, making a few more scans of the environment, looking for any cameras or surveillance objects that could give him an image of what the crime scene looked like before and after the assault. He would like to find footage of the attack happening, but these seemed to be professionals.
"Nothing for me thank you." Kara replied taking a seat.
"So i wanted to ask about what you saw in regards to the murder that happened just outside. More specifically i wanted to try and form a timeline of events, if you could take us from the start of your recollection." Kara asked politely
"Nah, I'm good." Yvette waved off the offer with a smile, leaning on the back of the sofa. "Place reminds me a little of home, actually." Yvette mused, the corner of her mouth pulling into a smirk. "Wonder how it's doing."
"Anyway!" she snapped back to the task at hand. "Yeah, what my companion here said. Every detail helps. Don't rush, every detail could be critical, alright? Take a minute to collect your thoughts."
The tests yielded no discernable drugs or changes in the subject that may have indicated if they were drunk or under the influence of something else. Natural decay was seemingly the only thing occuring and nothing seemed out of place. There were however other prints on the victim, some were human but others were not, clearly these attackers were multi species possibly as some sort of trans species cult given the situation and general overview of what Tod had told them before his untimely death. As for any cameras there were none, although the lobby of the building in which Kara and Yvette had entered appeared to have a camera, perhaps it had seen something even if it had not seen the entire thing.
Liz nodded quietly, pouring herself something in what seemed to take an age in silence before she turned away from the small kitchen of the unit and back towards the two of them. Sitting in a small chair she took a sip of a hot beverage before beginning.
"I had just finished a large commission for someone and was about to head to sleep at around two in the morning when I heard a violent scream. Something like that you dont really forget, so I looked out of my window cautiously and saw some figures assaulting a poor guy I dont know who he is or was I swear. The lighting was poor and I was terrified but the attackers were wearing dark hoods and a few of them were rather large probably not human." She stopped for a moment "The screams that followed... I didnt know someone could make those noises, they tortured the poor person, I saw them drawing things into the ground that hurt to look at but by then I had barricaded my door. I was scared that they would see me and try get me too" She looked petrified and she had gone somewhat white from remembering the events.
The camera was a breath of fresh air for Brun, the prints on the body lead him to Ancnet search for violent, religious trans-species cults operating in and around Lost Star, it was a long shot but even a group name would be a breakthrough, or other groups related to this one. He took one last glance over the crime scene, still running the fingerprints in the background of his mind to search the criminal database for who they might belong to, before heading into the building's lobby. Upon just stepping into the door, his head suddenly flared in pain, making the Dectrothian grab his head and grimace. He hadn't put his mind to use this much since he was in service, and after months of inactivity, the augs didn't like sudden usage amounts being thrown at it. His head clicked and whirred in anguish, he clenched his teeth, his temples flexing, before the pain slowly cascaded away, leaving him panting heavily in the doorway.
He let out a loud sigh, dialing back the ongoing processes to priority searches and use only, before looking around the lobby, getting a feel for the camera view and any other witnesses, even a person behind a desk, who may have seen additional evidence. If no one was around, he'd move to the camera.
"Dark hooded figures, blood curdling screams and symbols on the ground that hurt to look at, that last one is an interesting one. I recommend we follow up with that for more clues, take me to the window so i can see the scene from here and visualise the incident" Arthur said with a more serious tone.
Kara stood up and walked over to the window taking in a long and focused gaze of the surrounding area so Arthur could look into it with more detail then what the human eye could. Kara feeling bad for the woman went over and put her hands on the woman's shoulders.
"Thank you very much for the information, you've been a great help to us. We'll talk to our superiors and have patrols increased around this area so you can sleep soundly at night." Kara said comforting Liz.
"When you're done here go to the roof of the building so i can get a full view of the surrounds, please" Arthur interrupted
"Hmm..." Yvette rubbed her chin with a gloved hand, moving to the window once Kara moved away, looking down at the scene and furrowing her brow. She wasn't an investigator by trade, but knew they needed everything they could get.
"I know you said it was dark, but is there any detail about these, uh...figures, that you can remember?" she asked. "Any symbols on their hoods, any particular phrases they uttered that stood out? Understandable or otherwise, like something they might've repeated a lot? You can write it down if you don't wanna risk summoning a demon or something." she joked with a chuckle. "Every detail helps."
The lobby was practically empty, only a few fake pot plants and some posters were the things which garnered the most attention and both were already worn. There was no one behind the desk, and judging by the thin layer of dust there likely hadnt been for several days at least. Still the searches came up with numerous religious cults, the CDG and others but none which really matched the MO of this, but one of the sets of finger prints did come up with a name.
Emanuel Vant. Supposedly he was a dock worker, quite low down and with a previous criminal record in drug running. It was a lead at least.
The camera itself however proved less of a help, its view range was just outside of where the event had happened but it was a simple affair and accessing it remotely for the footage was childs play. The playback revealled the camera catching 5 individuals walking past the lobby entrance all in black attire and some being fairly large, the unmistakable frame of an Auraxii could be made out, and the lithe frame of a Cylaurian in all likelyhood.
---
Liz nodded cupping her brew tightly "Thank you." She nodded to Kara.
"They were not talking galactic standard, some sort of... I dunno special langauge? Could be alien I suppose... Two of them were not human one was very tall the other very large. They kept repeating the same phrase again and again" She took a sip.
"'Alg Drath Ortan' I dont know what it means sorry"
"I've done a search of the net to cross reference those symbols on the ground, they've been seen on multiple planets here in the Ancerious galaxy but it seems that they were seen during an event in the Union of Worlds called the Draken War. There's not much here availiable for public acess beyond this. I'll forward it up the chain, this is likely a job for that malaise Diplomatic AI, i can't stand that pretentious line of code." Arthur said with a tone of disgust when talking about the other AI.
"I won't worry about the roof then, but can you run a search on that phrase 'Alg Drath Ortan'. See what it means and what language it is." Kara replied plainly ignoring the AI's gripes.
"I've got nothing more to ask her Yvette, if you're done too we should meet up with our other co-worker. I'll be outside waiting if your not done yet." Kara said to her as she made for the exit
"Adieu Liz, you've been a great help." Kara waved to her as she left the apartment.
"Nah, that's all I've got too. Stay safe Liz." Yvette shook her head to Kara, before spinning and, as she strode backwards out the door, gave the woman a smile, a wink and a finger pistol with a click of the tongue.
"Well." she sighed as they moved off. "More than we had before. I think."
Having logged the name of the dock worker, and getting the images from the camera, he was able to convert them into files that he could then easily share with his other co-investigators. He soon began to walk up to the witness to check on the progress before encountering the two, very mismatching figures coming down the way "I've got several leads, first of which would be Emanuel Vant, a Dock Worker who's fingerprints where on the victim."
He moved to follow them back into the lobby "There was a total of five assailants, one Auraxii and possibly one Cylaurian in that mix. The weapon used might have been a monomolecular blade, and while the blood was drained from the body, there was no use of specialized tools used for that purpose." He glanced over the two, looking them over "What did you two uncover?"
Liz nodded "Thank you, thank you for listening I thought nobody would come. I hope you get them and give them the justice they deserve but more importantly stop them so that this never happens again" She smiled as she saw them out the door. With a click the apartment door locked once more.
With that the three of them were alone in the corridor.
With the information on Vant it appeared his apartment was worlds away, located in the docks over on Ring two, it would be a serious journey but one which delayed the question, how did such a lowly dock worker on Ring 2 get to Ring 3 so easily and for what purpose?
"We got a phrase the assailants were muttering; 'Alg Drath Ortan'. Which means 'Only as One', the translation comes from some old runes and the symbols they carved everywhere have similarities to those found by the Union of Worlds in their home dimension in a conflict called the Draken war. We got the same number of assailants as you did from the witness." Kara explained flatly.
"If we can find these Vant, we should go question them immediately." She remarked seriously.
"If they're there to be found, at least." Yvette shrugged once Kara was done explaining. "Still, if we can find their home, we might be able to find something there. If we need transport, I got a ship over in the docks. FTL drive's a bust but she can fly around here just fine. If we don't want local transport, that is. Tends to be kinda, er...how do you say 'unpleasant' kindly?" she asked, semi-rhetorically, offering a humoured smile.
A slight chuff of a laugh escaped his lips at the thought of public transport here in Lost Star, Yvette's ship would be a good idea to lay somewhat low, which was ironic considering the flashy flair of the pirate's dress. The questions for the rest of the information could wait, and they could all dissect them once they where out of here "Sounds like a good start, let's work our way back out of the riots here and get to this ship of yours, Yvette. I'm actually curious to see how your ship looks."
Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure to take another facial scan of the members of the police force while they where heading out. If this group had infiltrated into the ranks, having a database on file of who they talked to would be a boon. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use it, but he could never be too cautious.
The group moved out from the area back down the various small alley ways and backroutes avoiding the main thoroughfairs but it was rapidly becoming clear that the weekly food riots had ebbed out and that the enforcers had managed to attain the upper hand. People lay or sat in small alley ways, covered in dirt, some with blood, resting from the days events or too scared to go back out to try get home. They would have to make their way past the enforcer precinct on the way to the docks again and stepping out into the main road where they had come before the scene was a total warzone.
Bodies of either dead or injured lined the street, remains of plaques and boards saying 'give us food' and 'end the tyranny' lay strewn about the place broken and discarded when they mob had broken and run from the gunfire. A few individuals rushed around, checking bodies and the injured, some attempted to provide aid where they could, others were just looting what they could find.
Up ahead a wall of riot shields signified the enforcement detatchment, behind them a small APC mounting both a microwave anti riot device and a .50 calibre machine gun. They didnt move at all, and in fact carefully watched the group as they made their way out onto the street.
"Identify yourselves" The call came over a loudspeaker from the APC "Keep your weapons where we can see them"
"This is how it ends, mowed down by the people who emplyed you in a misunderstnading. I'll see you at resuss i guess." Arthur said bemused with the situation. Kara simply ignored simply ignored the AI.
"We're private investigators hired by Todd to help the precinct with an investigation." Kara yelled back at the APC.
"What she said!" Yvette added, keeping her hands in the open. "We're just on our way back to speaking to a witness!"
Only now did it occur to her maybe she'd brought the wrong kind of attire.
Whatever.
Brun gave a sigh, it'd probably do these Law Enforcement Officers some good if they had integrated IFFs. Though to be fair, he wasn't sure that they didn't. He'd love to have the ability to connect to the network on Lost Star that some of the other Dectrothians had set up, but it was a little too closed-in for his taste. He put both of his hands up "I have our credentials here." pointing to his palm with the outstretched finger of his other hand, the hand in question glowing dully, providing the same information he had given to the Enforcers at the crime scene.
"Any news on the food riots? Seems you gents are kitted up for an attack." He added as small talk, hoping to cool the jets of the other officers.
"Yea, they got put down what are you blind?" Shouted one of the members in reply.
There was a few moments before some sort of laser light onto Bruns hand before disappearing.
"Your clear to pass, as far as we are aware Todd was likely killed, but the fucks have run off with his body. Seems to be a regular occurrence when one of ours goes down" Another called out. Two enforcers stepped back, opening a hole in the shield wall for the party to move through. Once they were past the enforcers resealed the line, but most eyed them with suspicion anyway, after all these folks were used to near constant warzone conditions with the locals.
Several enforcers stood behind the wall with the APC, two carrying grenade launchers although whether they were loaded with crowd dispersing gas or actual fragmentation explosives was another matter entirely. The last man seemed to be in charge and was who had answered them. He was taking a smoke before stubbing it out on the floor.
"Where are you guys going? This entire areas pretty dangerous, dont want our boys to accidentally shoot you" There was a murmur of laughs from the shield wall "You tell me and I can help you get there quickly and without issue, precinct? Docks? Hell the cafeteria?" He chuckled.
Kara looked around at the enforcers as they passed through the shield wall, looking directly at their equipment and weapons before she looked at the one that was talking to them.
"We're headed to the docks where we hope to question a person of interest in relation to the case." She said seriously having another look around
"Tell me, do you ever find the bodies they take?" She questioned the enforcer
Ignoring the negative banter from the enforcers, Brun gave a look at the men who he saw, continually adding to the facial recognition list he was compiling, the dull orange glow of his eyes sweeping over the lot of them. His eyes soon locked to the grenade launchers, giving them careful study, going over every detail he could and constructing a wireframe copy of the details he could see, meshing it together with known grenade launchers in service with the DCI and he soon had a template, if he could access a 3D printer, that is. This would allow Brun to construct a grenade launcher that wouldn't need the complicated RAVD or gyrojet ammunition the Dectrose had employed.
Still, he had nothing but his pistol and his augments to rely on, perhaps he could obtain a rifle at some point, though he figured access to a printer would be better as it would work around any possible censorship of designs in Lost Star.
"Aye, we're going to the docks. Have our own way to progress from there, away from the streets 'n all." Yvette nodded with a lackadaisical smile. "Though I'll keep the cafe in mind for after, eh?" she added with a chuckle.
Normally police and law enforcement--if you wanted to call it law enforcement here--didn't much bother Yvette, either they'd leave her alone or she'd have to make her gun a little lighter and practice some cardio.
This many officers, and with such weaponry, put the space pirate on edge. But, she refused to let it show. She was on a job for them after all, wasn't she?
"Docks aye? Yea we can do that, here come with me" The enforcer gestured for them to follow him down to another tiny side street where several squads were resting or receiving medical treatment, and where three APCs had been parked. He pointed for the group to climb aboard.
"Nah, we don't usually find the bodies. Occasionally we find bits of equipment but the rest is always gone, the fucks wont even let us bury our dead. I guess its their way of getting revenge on us" He shrugged before turning to the man inside the APC drivers seat "Take these to the docks, they have clearance." The man then saluted.
"Good luck out there" He commented as the doors were shut and the APC head off. Inside it was surprisingly spacious, but then it had to contain full riot gear armed enforcers and their equipment. The APC otherwise was a box, its sides and bottom sloped to prevent IED damage and this particular variant had a grenade launcher RWS on top, supposedly armed with teargas. It wasn't too far from the docks, thankfully the enforcer HQ was close to the area mostly for ease of handling ins and outs, and during the riots the docks were always locked down tight until it was over. As such the APC drove down various streets, many lined with enforcers moving to new locations, barely visible through the tiny vision slits until the driver activated a system which turned the entire vehicles interior invisible. Using special screens and holographics they could now see outside as if the vehicle skin was not there. A handy feature to help survey and drive.
Still the docks were like the rest on Lost Star, huge open regions of multiple vertically and horizontally tiered ship berths, only here it seemed less built up with infrastructure. The APC pulled up and the driver turned around.
"We are here" The rear door opened, revealing whole teams of enforcers and other APCs keeping an eye on the crowds around the dock.
"Seems the docks is no different. We should get to the suspects apartment quickly." Arthur said quickly to Kara as she disembarked
"Thanks for the ride over here." Kara shouted to the driver before turning to her co-workers.
"We shouldn't tarry around here for too long in case things go south again and more of us get dragged away by the crowds." Kara said affirmatively to Brun and Yvette.
"Right." Brun replied, following the group, and more importantly, the ship owner to her vessel. The docks brought back a lot of old memories. He could still recall with his stored memories of the first day he took on his job in the DCI, and took a moment to review it as he awaited the pirate lass' direction to her ship.
Yvette strode to the lead, hands in her pockets and a smile on her face, giving the driver a thankful wave and a wide grin as she headed off. Away from the enforcers and approaching her ship, the space pirate felt a damn sight more comfortable. She turned, glancing at the people following her.
"She should be in, uh...Berth D-18. Not, too far from here, I don't think. Don't fall behind!" she laughed, picking up the pace.
Indeed it wasn't, and the ship Yvette apparently owned was a far sight from what the usual freelancer pirate did.
Long and needle-like with a fin on the dorsal prow and five engines on its rear, the vessel looked largely built for speed. Three twin-barrelled gun turrets sat on a rotary ring near the engines, just ahead of a seemingly decorative tower and a ventral fin and behind the two apparent intakes just below its middle, a pair of torpedo tubes near its nose. It was a noticeable bit smaller than those fielded by many colonials, but this vessel was quite clearly a destroyer, 'AER ARCA ARCHA' proudly emblazoned on its prow.
Yvette seemed quite proud of it.
The crew, maintaining Yvette's style mixing age of sail and spacetech wear with the XO wearing a durag, gave the guests strange looks as she led them to the bridge, Yvette dismissing them with a wave.
"Don't mind my friends, laddies, we're just making a short trip."
"...Alright, your call. Where we going?" the XO nodded as the assorted readouts and digital viewports lining the CIC lit up.
"Breaker Yards. Quicker and safer than this place's public transport." Yvette shrugged.
"That it is. Alright. Helm, inform the dockmaster and bring us out."
"Aye aye sir. Hauling anchor and hauling ass."
The leaving of Fidun district docks wasn’t exactly an easy affair, getting leaving clearance took around half an hour and going through 5 different dock managers. Half the ships coming and going didn’t even acknowledge the clearance or protocols and there was one near fatal collision as the vessel got out into open space between two haulers. But in the end they managed to escape the hell hole of Fidun and made it out into the area between the great rings.
Out here it was clear to see the sheer scale and majesty of the triple ring world, wrapped around the Accirus systems star like a giant comic rendition of an atomic nucleus, the capital of the galaxy or so it was called. Quite fitting, but despite its lick of paint still the hive of scum and villainy it had always been. The trip wasn’t that long, only 7 hours to travel between the rings on a designated course route along with countless other ships all heading to their destination. The difference was that most of the ships which now travelled beside them were old, very old. All junkers, cast offs, damaged vessels or sold scrap every single one being taken to the monolithic Breaker yards for scrapping and processing. The Breaker yards were renowned on Lost Star and for good reason, those that worked there modified themselves to break down the ships they were given with the leadership of the place belonging to those who had augmented themselves with bodies the size of military Colossi or even small space craft, able to break ships on their own.
Their target, Emanuel Vant was a worker of the processing docks. Those individuals who straddled the line between official breaker and dock worker. He helped bring the ships in to dock and held them ready for when they were brought in for proper breaking, handling incoming and docking paperwork for the organisation. He had as the records showed, joined up with the organisation due to a criminal record in drug running and several assault cases, given the Breakers did not care about background and protected their own it seemed to be a smart move.
But why would he travel to Fidun? Let alone commit a cult killing.
As the vessel came into one of the civilian docks near the Breaker yard they were going to have to find him, and then discover why.
Kara was surprised that Yvette had such a pleasant ship and with a unique style. It did leave a little to be desired but she put that down to just being apart of the Aesthetic.
"Just a small peek?" Arthur pestered Kara. He had wanted to rummage around the system of Yvette's ship as a means of satiating his curiosity, but Kara had denied his request several times already.
"No means no Arthur, if you ask me again I'm going to go to your data centre and put my foot into what ever looks like it your ass." She rebuked annoyed.
"I know you're just as curious as i am to find out more on Yvette, it'll just a probe nothing more." Arthur replied sarcastically.
"I'll tell Monica that you were being annoying again and she'll have you defragging for a week again." Kara responded proudly to Arthur, having played her trump card.
"Very well, consider the subject dropped." There was a hint for worry in the AI's simulated voice.
Kara took in the view of the breaker yards as the ship made its final approach, she hoped that the authorities here were made aware of their investigation and would wave them through if they were confronted.
The ship was.. appealing, to say the least. Fitting even for the pirate lass. But for the most part, Brun kept to himself, and kept quiet, settling himself in a corner to relax, or 'shut down' as other humans would call it. He reviewed the day's events, logging and cataloguing everything neatly, going over details inside his augmented mind of the evidence they had collected. He was doubtful that their target was anything more than possibly a bystander, or even involved. But as far as leads go, he was the only promising one.
Without much in the way for any real entertainment, he idly fiddled around with what he had on him, the makeshift pistol, his slowly receding dermal armor, tune-ups on his limbs that hadn't seen an actual Aug Specialist since the Stratocracy collapsed, connecting to various networks to see what the latest news was. Where he was going, he knew there would definitely be Dectrothians, and he's aware many have sympathies to the Brass Anvil Fleet. He wasn't one to get involved with that sort, anything that kept his head down and out of the line of fire for most of the galaxy was preferable. Though this job was promising, better than he has had in a long time here on Lost Star.
Only time will tell if he was right. Ancestors know what would happen if he chose poorly.
Yvette had made sure to keep an eye on the others during their trip--or at least keep someone else keep an eye on them. Guests or not, they were still effectively strangers and the space pirate didn't want them rummaging around her ship.
Still, she didn't seem tremendously fussed, legs up on a table as the ship came into dock. She swung her legs off and bounded to her feet, cracking her fingers and finishing the last of her drink as she was pinged to let them know they'd arrived. The captain raised her hand to her ear.
"Arright lads, same as before. XO, you've got the ship till I come back. Keep 'er safe."
"Aye aye, cap. Don't die out there."
"Will do." she nodded, lowering her hand and starting off for the airlock. She glanced over her shoulder as they walked, a beaming grin on her face.
"Alright lads and or lasses, let's get goin'! We've got a right spooky fella to track down."
The docks here were at least in better condition than those at Fidun, although the quality of the ships entering them were very much barely able to fly. In some cases not even able to do that as they were dragged in via tugs. Still just pulling up and entering the docks wasn't as simple as just finding a berth and parking it up. Park in the wrong berth here and your ship was as good as signed off to be salvaged, instead there was a dedicated sub section for directed traffic where deliveries of new workers, resources and essentials were brought without their ships 'mysteriously' ending up in the scrap breaking yards, although there were plenty of instances of those 'mysterious' disappearances happening anyway.
It took another hour to negotiate a landing berth with the Breaker yards as they were currently having a large inflow of essentials and new workers and the coming and going of large transporter ships showed just how tightly packed things got. Still once it was done a berth was freed and the vessel was able to properly dock.
This section of the entry dock was kept moderately well, and the cacophony of sounds with the large starship engines and the moving of resources around from the docks themselves made it so things were barely audible. Still they had to find this Emanuel Vant, or at least someone who knew him, not an easy task in one of the major faction segments of Lost Star. The docks led to several areas, the actual breaker docks for the starships that were moored and stored for breaking, the actual Breaker yards themselves, the supporting maintenance and living areas for such, the great forges and processing units and of course there was the dockmaster office of these docks themselves. Plenty of options for those who needed to track the bastard down.
"Alright, since I'm the only augmented humanoid here, I think I'll look for him around the breaker areas, head to the office and apply for a job, hopefully I'll get a free tour and we can find our man that way. If either of you wish, you can keep in touch with me on my network frequency, and I can give you updates on my progress. Otherwise we can meet back here in a few hours, sound good?" Brun brushed off his shoulders, listening to the other's plans.
"We should talk to local law enforcement and try to see if we can find where this guy lives, and get background information on him. If these people are dangerous it might be better to have some sort of backup." Kara said plainly to Yvette and Brun.
"Arthur can you check the net for this guy and see if he has anything on social media we can use." She asked the AI politely
"Just for you Kara, I'll run the check now." Arthur responded proudly
"He works in the Yards, right?" Yvette piped up, thumbs hooked in the pockets of her coat. "What makes you think the enforcers know this guy much? If anyone knows him it's his coworkers. We should find out where in the yards he works and work from there." she suggested. "Though they might not be inclined to tell strangers much if they think we're up to something. Let's try and not mention the enforcers, aye?"
The check on social media was fairly quick, Emanuel had several accounts on game sites and also two of the largest social media sites on the Ancnet including AnceriousHub. He didn't post that much and a quick go over of his history was mainly him posting shares of his game exploits or the occasional comment about the repression of unaligned at the hands of the colonials. Judging from the details on his page he was middle aged and from some back water world once part of Metropolis space but had left quite early on. Still his last post seemed to be only several days ago, some new game achievement or some such, it was a good sign that he was at least recently active and that there was a good chance he was still here.
But as for local law enforcement, it was easy to check up. There was none, not in the Breaker yard. The Breakers like all the other closed clique organisations on Lost Star kept their own domains to themselves and ensured that whatever happened there was their business alone, so long as it didnt affect the rest of Lost Star. It seemed there was no help coming from that quarter.
Information on his social media outlet once again yielded his supposed position. As described before he was a dock worker, meant to help more and ready the ships to be taken on to the breaking yards proper but they had no idea of his shifts, exact position within such or exactly where he was within the docks. It was still very much up in the air.
"Alright, I'll go check out the apartment. Hopefully i find something there." Kara said plainly as she turned towards Yvette.
"Where are you gonna go pirate queen?" Kara asked the woman sarcastically.
As the shuttle doors opened a Relic women walked out calmly, her arms crossed as she looked around a bit " mhm seems like the place...okay...lets see what i can get hm" she thought as she sighed softly seeming a bit tired but shook it off as she walked to the breaker yards hoping to find some people to get a idea on where Emanuel is at or at least where he was seen the most.
Aoi Yoshida stepped lightly off the shuttle, hand tight on the hilt of her hikatana as she squinted against the changing light levels. As a mercenary and private investigator she had found that a full-length vitredeur sword stuck out like a sore thumb, so these days she carried a rare holoblade model, a simple hilt which generated a blade of pure hardlight, much smaller and easier to conceal but useless when deactivated. Beneath her skirts was an old model Bretannish pistol, and a tanto knife was hidden in one of her sleeves.
Despite all this, in her embroidered silks she looked like the definition of a tourist, well-dressed and slightly out of place. Her dark eyes took in the scene around her, even as the alien that called herself Lori strolled off into the dockyards. Aoi considered following her, but dismissed the idea briefly. The Relic woman seemed to be following her instincts rather than any deductive reasoning, and besides Aoi had no desire to split the reward money if she had to. Instead, taking her time to observe the area, it took Aoi only a moment to figure out the rough 'uniform', such as it was, of the dock workers and spot a building in the distance that had figures loitering outside, quite possibly the area's foreman office or a canteen, something like that. If she was going to find a single dock worker in this giant place, it was going to be there.
She set out, her pace casual and her steps short, her pristine red-white-black clothing with its gold embroidery practically gleaming.
His mind made up already, the Dectrothian was simply waiting for the pirate lass to decide where she was going before departing. It definitely seemed that the lass would go with him, and he would just have to improvise based on her plan. Though with the commotion in the yards, his eyes caught the odd pair out as they exited a nearby shuttle, the dull, orange glow crossing over them both, looking them over and quickly coming to the realization that they where likely competitors, or more than likely, looking for roughly the same thing. It was curious that they knew to come to the yards first, meaning whoever they where with, had some impressive intelligence skills. Without a word, Brun started to follow the pair, with his augmentations, beaten appearance and several other Dectrothians in the yards, Brun would slowly fit right in with the crowd of breakers, tailing the newcomers.
Yvette shrugged as she scanned their surroundings.
"That depends. I'm no master detective and not everyone likes speaking to a space pirate." she muttered, rubbing her chin with a gloved hand. Admittedly, this maybe wasn't a job she was entirely suited to. Still, she didn't intend on backing out, or being a burden.
"Either o' you two need some company?" she asked, glancing in Alice's direction.
"Our mutual friend might have buddies who wouldn't appreciate you snooping out his apartment, you wanna risk dealing with that by your lonesome?"
As the two new arrivals and the three who were now planning went about their discussions the crowds of entering ships continued to lead on. The huge open space before them had only one exit but that branched out into all the various locations of the Breaker yard. Up ahead was a security customs like arrangements, with entry and exit gates, only instead of traditional security guards large Breaker Ironheads stood overseeing the automated system watching people go in and out.
It was an interesting affair as those with and without weapons were allowed inside without issue. After all the Breaker yards was a mostly ‘lawless’ zone with emphasis on personal freedoms, but if you upset the balance or the code you were disposed of extremely quickly. The crowds moved through the in and out gates in simple enough fashion and they would have to go through them too, until an alarm sounded on one of the exit gates, and a man quickly pushed through several people and tried to make a break for it.
“Hey get back here!” The Ironheads shouted in their gruff deep tones, two of them vaulting the perimeter to chase after him.
“Someone stop him! Anyone!” One of them shouted while another unholsted his large semi-automatic weapon and levelled it and the man running away. Immediately the crowd tried to clear seeing the weapon being drawn up and not wanting to get in the line of fire. The runner seemed to be a dockyard worker, unaugmented and carrying some large object in a carry bag. He zig zagged as he tried to make himself a hard target, trying to run for any ship he could. A burst of fire came out from the security but none hit.
“We will pay for his capture or death!” The second shouted as several more security came out and frantically ran to keep up.
All now heading towards the two groups.
Aoi stopped in her tracks and watched the man. Once, perhaps, she would have paused for thought, but her days of moralising were over. Disorder was disorder. Waiting for his path to bring him close to her, she gripped the hilt of her holokatana with one hand, discretely turning a selector which dialed down the power of the hardlight blade to 'stun', another convenience not available to conventional vitredeur hikatanas.
As he staggered past she struck. With one fluid movement she swept out the sword, a bright red blade coalescing in the air even her left hand came up to grip the hilt as it swept in a two-handed flat arc towards the fugitive's chest.
There was a hiss, a crackle and a bang as the man was knocked down, his feet flying up in the air as he tumbled under the blade.
She continued the swinging motion, releasing her left hand and raising the glowing blade into the air as a marker for the pursuing Ironheads, standing silently over their quarry.
Yvette had been caught somewhat by surprise by the incident. Not its happening in and of itself--this wasn't even worthy of a footnote in Lost Star news--but more that it headed in their direction.
Still, the space pirate had been halfway drawing one of her hand cannons when Aoi stepped in, dispatching the man in one fell swoop.
"...I still woulda shot him in the leg in time if Miss Fantasy hadn't done...that." Yvette muttered, circling around to the scene, eyes locked onto the carry bag. Her pistol had been slid back into it's holster, but her hand remained on its grip.
"Watcha tryin'a run off with here, buddy?" she chuckled.
"Take a look at the man before these other two crazies make him unrecognisable. I'll run a check to see what he's guilty of." Arthur said plainly.
"Will do." Kara said
She simply walked over to the man now on the ground and lifted up his head to her face for a second before pushing it away and looking up at the maniac with a sword.
"What's your name stranger?" She simply said to Aoi.
Aoi lowered the blade, the tip hovering near the captured runaway. People were flocking to the scene like carrion birds around a corpse, and she had no intention of letting anyone make off with his cargo before the Ironheads caught up to them. It had not been a huge effort on her part, but she was already anticipating the reward money and, in her current state of affairs every scrap of coinage counted.
She turned an impassive, cold gaze towards Kara. "I am Alcea," she said, using a pseudonym she occasionally employed from time to time. Ingrained habits died hard and she was not willing to simply snub the woman, but nor did she intend to actually divulge any information.
lori looked watching at the man was taken down and walked over looking carefully as she looked to the others and crossed her arms keeping some what silent as this happened so she looked at the man who was out for the count, something about this felt odd....why did this man run?? why did thoses people care for this guy...didn't help she got a uneasy feeling before looking back at the others.
the Relic kept quite but her cat like eyes watching the others didn't help give that uneasy feeling to she was a bit creepy......but then again this was a relic thing most were able to have animal eyes like lori's most don't and have normal human eyes, so it could be seen she had questions she wanted to know.
Within the crowd, and having been one of the people halfway toward the newcomers, Brun had watched as the man was put down. Walking briskly to the downed man, he waited for Kara to release him before grabbing the man's hand and running his fingerprints through his database from those at the crime scene earlier. Doing so as quickly as he can to beat the arrival of the Ironheads to ensure that this was or wasn't their target.
He wasn't very talkative as he did so, simply checking the man to see if this was Vant or not. If it was, he'd have to talk fast to the Ironheads approaching, if not, then he would have to continue the plan for searching the yards for him. He looked around as well into the crowd, running the facial recognition program to see if any standing around him where the target.
The man grimaced as he was stunned and hit the floor, now restrained he looked back to see the Ironheads slowly and methodically running over. He looked up to those around him especially Yvette who had asked him a question.
“They have to know! Get it out of here!” He just managed to discreetly throw a small chip across the floor, hoping to have it stop under Yvettes shoe to be concealed before Brun began to take his fingerprints and Kara had come over to him. Immediately it became clear that he was not Emanuel Vant which was at least a start and none of the surrounding faces in the docks who were observing the commotion were either, but for the briefest moment Bruns software and his own sight thought he could make out Todd before he disappeared. Whether it had been a glitch or he had actually been there nothing came up now it seemed.
The search for whatever had happened did not come up on the Ancnet or local net, clearly whatever this crime was could either be way too sudden to have been put up yet or it was something that nobody wanted public. The man twitched with Kara holding his head.
“If you’re going to kill me do it, it will be more painless than what they have planned for me. Do it! Do it!” He pleaded. The two Ironheads now finally got close, their footfalls of the hugely bulked out and augmented individuals thumping the ground.
“We appreciate your efforts, you may move along now and we will handle this from here. Collect your reward at the post up ahead” One of the two said moving over to where Alcea, Kara and Brun were almost on top of the guy. The second walked to Yvette and Lori who were off to one side.
“He didn’t say anything to you did he?”
Yvette, while she fancied herself as more moral than a lot of pirates out there, being the sort to leave you unharmed and with an intact--if in fresh need of comms equipment--ship if you cooperated with her, but she knew a plead that knew well what was being said when she heard one. Her face remained unmoving, but indeed her boot shifted ever so slightly, allowing the chip to slide and remain pinned under the sole without her weight crushing it.
The space pirate perked up when the Ironhead spoke to her, pausing ever so briefly.
"Hm? Nah, just the usual 'the sheeple need to know' drivel some conspiracy theorist or crackhead spiel out every now and again." she shook her head with a smirk, hooking her thumbs in the pockets of her longcoat.
"Probably some crap about spiders being the government or something."
Shaking his head, the Dectrothian tried to clear out the cobwebs, true his augmentations hadn't seen this much use in a long while, but visual glitches, if Todd was one, was alarming at best. Still, this wasn't his target, and though the chip was slipped past his gaze, he stopped and paused for a moment as he tried to decide what to do with this new development. He straightened up, looked around again before starting to speak out "Yve-" before quickly shutting that train of thought down.
He glanced at the pirate, true, he did internally trust her the most, mostly because, well, there's absolutely no way she had ulterior motives. They would be clearer than her style of dress if that was the case. Still, he decided to tell the group later about the Todd bit, if they thought he was on the fritz, they might drop him off, and he was much too invested to stop now.
Kara simply stood back and let Yvette do the talking, it wasn't the man they were looking for but now they had something else they could look into with whatever was on the chip under Yvettes foot. She shuffled over to Alcea and offered her hand.
"I'm Kara, so do you normally make a habit of stopping people in the streets." She said cheerfully to the woman.
Aoi raised an eyebrow as Kara shuffled closer - she had seen the man pass the chip to Kara, but had no intention of intervening. She deactivated her holoblade, the weapon disappearing back into its own hilt, and stepped away from the commotion.
"If I am paid to do so, yes," she replied stiffly, shaking Kara's hand for a bare second. "Speaking of which, please excuse me,"
With that she turned and began to stride towards the office the Ironheads had indicated, her rich bottle-green ponytail swaying as she walked, the two orbs of light over her head clearly marking her position in the crowd, drawing attention. At the office, she presented herself at the front desk.
"I just stopped that fugitive outside. Your men said there was a reward?"
Lori looked at the ironhead that stood to her and Yvette she crossed her arms and looked at the man softly who was pleading to them before looking at the person ahead of them now “ yeah...just crap of a crazy man....” she said to the ironhead ,looked to Yvette a bit before looking back, it had made her slightly uneasy the man was begging them to kill him...what were they going to do to him? She wondered to herself not saying anything else but keeping close to Yvette just in case something was to happen tho.
The man seemed to see Yvette purposefully conceal the chip, and for a brief moment his face of desperation turned to one of relief before then to one of terror as the Ironheads went to try take him.
As Aoi released the man the Ironheads picked him up, their hyperstimulised muscles and huge implanted exoskeletons making them far more powerful than the small person who was in their custody. They smelt awful honestly, but they were paid for security not looks and hygiene. They turned to Yvette and Lori who had both indicated some sort of incessant nonsense and they nodded almost in concert.
“Thank you for your honesty, we apologise for the disruption.” With an almost clinical fashion they turned as one and dragged the man away back towards the main entrance for the docks. With the commotion now over the crowds seemed to slowly disperse just going back to what they were doing. Still the datachip was still under Yvettes foot, picking it up would reveal at a cursory glance quite a large chip memory size, whatever was in it likely was a large amount of data. The Ironheads didn’t seem to even be watching as they took off the man who had not even been able to give his name.
While they had walked off both Bruns searching and Karas AI had come up with a name for the man who had been captured, clearly the crime alert had gone out too late and had been dealt with. The name of Ulus, strangely without a surname, ex Capitol citizen who had escaped to Lost star after the end of the war, but the intriguing part was that he had operated out of Aedleshaven during the Uprising incident, clearly he had been an ex soldier.
Still with the disruption over the gates to the Breaker yards continued to flow, none of the sensors going off when Aoi walked straight through with her weapons. The office was just to the left, overseen by another Ironhead who seemed exceptionally bored and clearly stuffed into an office way too small for his bulging size and with only a small desk fan to keep him cool. At the mention of a reward he seemed to look up, his chin resting on his palm.
“Oh yea alright here you go” He printed off a small ticket and put it through a cashier like revolving section behind the glass. On the ticket was a stamp indicating that Aoi and 2 others had gained a full family meal at Abigails Pizza House.
Yvette pretended to be brushing some dirt and detritus off her boot, seemingly almost tossing 'whatever' was under her boot away, keeping it in the palm of her glove and letting it fall into her pocket as she hooked her thumb in it.
Sleight of hand was something any self-respecting pirate should be good at. In her eyes, anyway.
The space pirate didn't move for a moment, letting her head roll in a circle as she thought about their next course or action.
Abruptly screwing about with a card out of nowhere--in public right after an incident, no less--would be mighty suspicious, so Yvette decided to keep it snugly in her pocket for the time being.
The space pirate spun on the spot, leaning over to Alice as she made to stride on past.
"Now then, with that kerfluffle done and dusted, we have some apartments to investigate, hmm?" she smiled, clicking twice through a lopsided grin with a wink, leaning back and moving on.
No time to waste.
"Right then, I'll check the Breakers with the new people." Brun replied idly in Yvette's direction, his face blank as he internally re-played the entire event over and over in his databank, unable to shake the chilling feeling washing over him of the.. glitch? He was still unsure what to call it. Though time and time again, as his steps mechanically pushed him towards Aoi and Lori, he seen Todd in the crowd, it was starting to give him another headache, his head warming up and he winced before his steps stopped him right in front of the two. His mind blanked for a moment, unusually long as he muttered out "Hi."
He blinked twice, shook his head and made a proper introduction "I'm Brun, former DCI Officer, my colleagues and I have been looking for a person named Emanuel Vant, a suspect in relation to several crimes, would you happen to know anything about them, or would you also be looking for this person of interest?" His eyes washed over the two now that he was closer. Lori seemed to have feline-like eyes, and against Brun's natural orange glow, they seemed to reflect some light back. Aoi however was dressed very out-of-place, like Yvette, but not as flashy, he figured her to be some private gun or bounty hunter of sorts, seeing that anyone dressing as she would, would most likely have run into large sums of money lately, but decides to visit the dark, gritty corners of the galaxy.
Aoi took the ticket and examined it for a moment, as if wanting to check what she saw was correct. She forced herself to remember the River of Peaceful Conveyance, and then scowled.
"You said pay. The definition of payment includes money, not like-for-like. I do not even like pizza. Please take this coupon and instead provide me with the promised currency reward." she said quietly, delicately laying the paper coupon back on the table.
She glanced at Brun, registering his pale skin and augmentations and his momentary lapse of focus.
"I am here for the bounty on Vant, yes. Although it seems that paying out bounties is not considered mandatory in this part of the galaxy," she replied, the faintest sliver of distaste creeping into her otherwise calm and polite-sounding voice.
Lori crossed her arms and looked over seeing Brun and and nodded at him " im Lori...nice to meet you" she said before keeping quite once again and looking to the others and followed them a bit before hearing...pizza.....okay yes she was hungry but dang not something she wanted to hear now " i got to say that isn't what i thought i hear right now...kinda shit if you ask me your welling to pay people this.....and people ask me why i won't live in lost star..." she said glaring at the ironhead and sighed softly looking to the others a bit.
"Aye Aye pirate queen. we've wasted enough time here as it is." Kara said chasing after the woman and keeping pace with her.
"We'll meet up later and exchange notes." Kara shouted back to Brun as the disappeared into the crowd.
She walked with Yvette for several hundred metres sure that they were far enough away from the scene of the crime.
"I think we're far enough way, if you're curious we could find a quiet spot to see what's on there. The little voice in my head is screaming in anticipation about what that guy was hiding." She spoke excitedly
"Ha ha, very funny Kara. But my whole life is knowledge and data and when i see people fighting over it it gets me hot under the collar... metaphorically speaking" Arthur said to her when she made a reference to him.
The clearly overheating Ironhead locked in the small security office up front eyed Aoi, Brun and Lori with the look like his brain had been completely fried before looking down at the handed back coupon for a time period that seemed to stretch into minutes before leaning down and opening some kind of safe. When he came back up he place a credit chit worth 100 and then smiled.
“Sorry about that Ma’am, keep the coupon” Ironically, there were not even any Abigail joints within the breaker yard, although there were several just outside it.
Nobody else seemed to notice or give the group by the security stand any serious notice other than glances over given what happened but with the event out of the way they still have a man to find. Vant was somewhere in this place they just had to find him.
To one side out of the way of the security gate and over by some abandoned crates which were empty both Kara and Yvette could gain at least some privacy. The chip they had recovered was encrypted but Karas Ai Arthur immediately got to work, it wasn’t easy, it took at least 20 minutes to finally finish the decryption and to get inside to the actual data. And there was a lot of it, much of it itself seeming to be encrypted but this time with much harder data security. They could be here for days. Still several files appeared to be open for viewing, one of which was a video file. It was of the man they had catch Ulus. He appeared to be in a dark place, his face illuminated by some mobile device.
“I don’t have much time but I need someone to know. I was on Aedleshaven during the Uprising incident, I fought there, not just against the would be AGA but other things too. My unit was destroyed in one such engagement, it wasn’t against that Abberation or whatever it was called, but by some wacky Unioners. I’ve never seen Union soldiers hunt people down like animals, tear them open, eat their… corpses. Covered in red to… Apparently they were called the Red Angels, I can see why but we all thought they had been destroyed on Aedleshaven. Their holdout was taken down by the AGA and remaining forces hunted down by the Union. But some survived… Here on Lost star, I have belief they are still operating, and that somehow, someone or something is helping them. Theres no way they could have gotten away with operating openly without some patron. I am continuing to dig and I have files on here that may yield clues. I lost my home for this, and if your reading this probably my life too. Goodbye”
"Yep, I'll be in touch." turning his head back towards the two lasses, momentarily watching them walk away before turning his head back to the two new lasses. "You'd be surprised what people around here won't pay for." Brun grunted out. Mostly to himself, as the two where engaged with the Ironhead. He waited until the situation was remedied, before talking to them again.
"I'm only interested in talking to him about events related to several murders in Lost Star, I have no interest in keeping him from you. Though, if required, I will definitely assist you in searching for him, I could blend in with the rest of these laborers and help find him, then you will have a larger payday on your hands, does that sound acceptable?"
Aoi nodded, pocketing the credits and stepping out of the musty office into the barely less fresh air of the yards.
"Mr Vant has been busy it seems. I have been contracted to bring him in for a number of bad debts, so it looks like two paydays are resting on one head."
She took a look around the busy scene, taking in the augmented man next to her, and then nodded again.
"Agreed. We can work together to find him, I can help you interrogate him about these killings, and then I can take him away to explain what he did with all of the money he has borrowed. I have some images of him but very few other leads. What do you have?"
The usually drab, dull orange eyes lit up as he went back into his database, pulling the information back out. "Emanuel Vant, worker at these breaker yards, specifically the processing docks, handling paperwork for the organization. Previous criminal record in drug running and assault, possible association with five individuals, wearing black attire that are implicated in a spree of ritualistic homicides, species analysis points to an Auraxii and Cylauran."
"Fingerprint scan is on file and can be referenced on objects in the yards, target may be armed and is considered dangerous." Brun's eyes flickered, before continuing. "Suspect resides on Ring 2 in an apartment complex, likely has transportation or shares transportation to Ring 3, possible associates in traffic control." The eyes went dull again, as Brun blinked a few times and nodded to Aoi "Does that help much?"
Yvette's eyes remained fixed on the screen, a gloved hand absentmindedly stroking her chin.
"Worrying. I don't know a whole lot about the Union but I'm pretty sure eating people isn't part of their usual repertoire. Nor do I like said cannibals...or whatever...being here." the space pirate sighed, brushing her forehead and turning the screen off.
"Still, this place is secluded but still not 100% private, so unless you'd like to aggressively make out against a wall to dissuade the curious, I'd suggest we get a move on and leave them behind, no?" she raised an eyebrow. "We can look more into this when it isn't working about as fast as the last percent on a video game loading screen." she added, gesturing for Alice to keep up.
"I'm sure our friends will catch up."
"Agreed" Kara said plainly catching up to Yvette
"Arthur, keep trying on that encryption the best you can." Kara instructed the AI.
"I'll need more then the synapse connectors processing power to do it in any decent amount of time dear, when we get back to the pirate ship see about getting a connection into their computers so i can boost my own processing speed or we can risk a transmission back to HQ and have the data forwarded to us later. Its your call." Arthur replied astutely.
Lori looked around as she left, she sighed trying to figure out a corse of action at this point it seem rather unnerving after what happened, the man from before made her wonder what kind of things they do here...what Would they do to people like that guy? All this seem odd to her “ I guess....I could try and stick with these guys....or go my own way and find some clues....hm” she thought trying to figure out the best option before looking to Aoi and Brun listening to them talk.
With the encryption now running steadily the route to the apartments was a decent one, the streets leading through the outer regions of the Breaker Yards got steadily bigger as they went further in. This did not become apparent until they got into the inner regions, Breakers themselves walked to the huge yards further ahead while others went back towards the apartments and maintenance areas, and they were huge.
Some were just augmented individuals with robotic arms and legs while others had much more bulky implants, but it was the most extreme examples that caught the eye. Breakers who had given up their normal existence to be directly implanted into heavy power armour frames, military mech suits and even colossi as the footfalls shook the entire region with their passing, striding overheat uncaring of what came under feet as they moved about. It was truly a place of giants on Lost star. It was a point of status to break a ship yourself, and as such Breakers would continually improve and make themselves larger to ensure they could single handily break larger ships and rise through the ranks. Thankfully it seemed like their quarry Vant, wasn’t such a giant.
Back at the security office Brun had motioned towards Yvette and Kara as they had made their way inwards towards the apartment and had suggested to follow so that they could move together, the Dectrothian smiling to Lori.
“You may join us if you wish, the more in the team the better. It seems Yvette and Kara are heading to the apartments. We should join them, if he is not there we may be able to check the traffic control logs to find him” He then began to follow the two along with Aoi the secondary group trailing slightly behind the others.
As Kara and Yvette closed in on the apartment complex it became clear this was no ordinary area, for the others they were not far behind. Traditional apartment buildings rose on either side of the streets, branching out into a wide open space of square blocks. Not all of the apartments were normal however, and what looked like hangars and garages of all sizes were spread across the area, some were even occupied by large Breakers who underwent maintenance and slept inside them as smaller work crews tended to their needs. But it was Apartment 62B they were looking for, and it didn’t take long to find it. The building was unbelievably bare, the lobby being somehow even more depressing than the small apartment they had gone into on Ring 3. Vant was supposedly on floor 5 or at least his room was, it could be empty but the men and women going in and out of the stairs and elevators kept eyeing the two new arrivals with suspicion.
"Well." Yvette muttered, eyeing the building with a dreary tone. "Not gonna find much out here, are we?" she sighed, taking the lead, going for the stairs rather than the elevator, everyone who passed her by given a faint passing smile, if they bothered to look at her at all, hands kept to pockets, eyes on their route. Roaming about with one's head on a swivel did none to soothe the concerns of passer-by's, and she didn't feel like starting trouble with strangers. Not right now, anyway.
"Anyone else wanna knock or should I do the honours?" she chuckled as they reached the door.
Aoi, in contrast to Yvette, moved as if the rest of the world was not present. The lobbies could have been empty for all the regard she gave the odd stranger who cast a suspicious eye towards the party of bounty hunters. When they reached Vants apartment she did not hesitate and banged on the door with her fist. "Delivery!" she called out in her most artificially bored tone.
She glanced about her to check that the others were ready to pounce if he answered, standing slightly clear of the door.
Kara stay quiet once they entered the complex and looked around the lobby, the bareness of it seemed unusual but she was used to more elaborate uses of space to give it exotic decoration. Nevertheless she gave it a good look over so Arthur could see and point out anything unfamiliar. When they arrived to the door and Aoi knocked Kara drew her pistol, keeping it behind her back and stood to the side of the door waiting for it to open or if need be one of the others to kick it in.
Lori figured there wasn’t much left besides follow them and help when needed she agreed and kept with them, once there at the complex she got herself so seeing if anyone would open the door if not she gladly kick it open at this point, she reached around her sides to pull out a dagger it had the hold marking and a scratched out symbol of the Relic empire, she held it ready if needed.
As the group went up the stairs, so bare that it was just concrete slabs embedded in the wall without any handrail, other Breakers kept eyeing them with suspicion as they passed by. Eventually the long corridor of the 5th floor branched off, with bare gunmetal doors on either side signalling rooms each with a stamped number into their frame.
As Aoi began knocking and shouting delivery the door to Vants apartment surprisingly swung open. Inside a weary eyed man stared back at them for a brief moment clearly having been woken up. He looked around for a package to grab before his eyes widened and he saw the group clearly, horror and anger flooded his face. This was Emanuel Vant, and they had caught him with his trousers down, so much for being any sort of big criminal hot shot. He was dressed purely in underpants as he reached behind the door and pulled out a large knife, the man clearly wasn’t smart in any conceivable way as the knifes appearance matched perfectly the one that had been used at the crime scene. It even had the etchings of blood on it.
“Who the fuck are you!” He shouted. Brun stepping forward with a frown.
“We are here investigating the recent murders in the Fidun district. We were going to ask you some questions but I think that more or less proves what we need. Step aside and put down the weapon or you’re going to get hurt” The Decthrothians voice laced with pride that they had finally caught him.
“The hell you are” Vants eyes flashed a vivid orange as he stepped forward with frightening speed, stabbing Brun in the chest, the knife effortlessly cutting through the armour he wore. With a grunt of effort he pulled upwards, once again the weapon seeming to cut with terrible ease as it bisected Brun in a spray of arterial blood.
Yvette had stood a little back as Aoi rapped on the door and Brun stepped forward, keeping a hand on one of her hand cannons. She didn't know what this Vant man was capable of or how cooperative he would be.
The respective answers were, evidently, 'enough to kill a cyborg in one blow, and uncooperative enough to warrant killing a cyborg in one blow'. She couldn't tell what the knife was, aside from the obvious answer of a bladed weapon, but if it could so effortlessly shear through a man it was at the very least either a nanobladed or harmonic weapon. Troublesome, for sure.
On that note, Brun was quite clearly dead, Yvette raising an arm to shield herself from the spray of blood. The hand cannon was evidently a good idea.
"Skipping the pleasantries then, eh?!" she grinned grimly. "Alright, I can work with that!" she added, the gun drawn with a blurring move as the targeting system in her eyes lit up, a shot snapping off with the low, heavy thud of an electrochemical firing echoing down the halls, the shot aimed for Vant's shin. The intent was simple; sweep his leg out from under him, break the shin in all likelihood, and get the man on the floor.
Kara's ears rang as the sound of Yvettes gun reverberated in the hallway. She quickly shook it off and moved in to get in front of the pirate to disarm the suspect. To do this she took the simply approach and fired her particle pistol directly into his hand holding the blade.
"I think that cyborg was more org then cy if the amount of innards and blood is a tell tale sign." Arthur said cheekily to make light of the situation.
"Not the time Arthur, the body isn't even cold yet." Kara replied back keeping her focus on Vant.
"Ah my mistake i lost track of how my time and your time work." He replied
As Vant brandished his knife, Aoi slipped her hikatana into her palm, and before she was even finished the criminal lunged forwards and ripped Brun apart in a spatter of blood and gore. She pivoted to her back foot, powering up her blade, but the click and clatter of weapon safeties and slides behind her gave her pause and she stepped back.
Sure enough, a miniature volley fired right past her shoulder, the thud of a solid slug and the crack of a particle gun going off almost simultaneously. Aoi held her hikatana in a defensive stance, powered to stun and ready to stop Vant should he try to move past her towards her pro tem colleagues, or towards herself.
lori had gotten ready to strike when the Cyborg showed signs of aggression so it didn't help before she even got close Brun had made quick work....though being so close to them she got herself a bit more...bloody then she had liked " UGH!...really?! first being in his damn underpants and now this?! " she said cursing herself for being close at all and shaking some of the blood off her, though she looked to Vant unsure if they were dead or just...down for now she never actually saw a Cyborg until now so this be a first
Vant had barely finished slicing Brun in half when he tried to move for Aoi, the defensive posture would easily have had her able to avoid being caught off guard and Vant was clearly not a trained fighter. Still his sudden burst of impossible speed and strength had been way beyond what a normal human was capable of, and yet he did not seem to have any of the extra augments which most Breakers had to increase their physical capabilities.
Still he cried out as the simultaneous shots from Kara and Yevette rang out, the first round took his shin out and caused him to collapse onto the floor, the second blowing a hold into his hand and causing him to drop the black and strangely designed blade to the floor. The moment it left his hand his eyes returned to normal and he looked to be in even more pain.
“You bastards, you bastards ill kill you!” He roared. Bruns body had slumped to the floor creating quite a mess in the corridor and already several of the nearby room’s occupants had come out to see what’s going on.
“Hey! What the fuck is going on here!” A big brutish man called out from a couple of doors down pointing at the group but clearly directing the question at Lori as she was closest. It seemed they needed to diffuse the situation and get Vant and everything else inside before anything else kicked off. Vant himself writhing in pain on the floor.
"Get-them-inside!" hissed Aoi under her breath to the others, before turning to face the big man and taking a decisive step towards him. She did not level her blade, but nor did she let it fall to her side. She held it wide from her body, one-handed, tip down and grip firm.
"Go back inside. This is not your affair." she said calmly, her tone imperious, as if she were stating incontrovertible fact. Her gaze was hard to fathom, her large dark irises masking her pupils
"What she said, bucko." Yvette added, calling over Aoi's shoulder. "What's going on here is none of your fuckin concern, so go back the fuck inside, shut your trap the fuck up, and keep your nose out of business it doesn't belong in, you understand?" she added, her tone threatening and dead serious, before the space pirate leaned down, roughly grabbing Vant by the collar, dragging him into his apartment and virtually flinging the man into a conveniently placed armchair.
Moments later, Yvette's boot found itself planted into his chest, intending to wind the man alongside knocking the armchair--and him--onto its back.
A second later, the quiet but audible click of a revolver hammer rung out, the barrel lining up with Vant.
"Alright motherfucker, listen up. I dress the part of a space pirate and I damn well act the part too. So unless you'd like me to increase the number of holes in you more than me and my associates already have, you're going to fucking well speak up. I know where to shoot a man where it won't kill him, but he'll wish it had."
A pause, for effect.
"Where'd you get the knife? And why the fuck have you and your shady pals been butchering some poor sods around here?"
Kara merely watched the affiar between Aoi and the man play out with her gun still in her hand. She wanted to just shoot the big bastard and be done with diplomacy for the moment but she resigned herself to backing up Aoi in case anything happened.
Lori stood there a bit as Yvette spoke and pointed “ what she said “ she said before going ahead with them and stood by looking and crossed her arms a bit looking back to the door unsure of theses people will back off.
The group dragged the bodies of both Vant who was raging in pain clutching his wounds and the destroyed remains of Brun. Surprisingly Vant was almost fully conscious and seemed to be more angry about his wounds than being actually fazed by the pain. His gritted teeth had him raving about how he was going to skin the party apart, he was particularly fixated on both Kara and Lori who he was convinced were bystanders willing to let this happen.
The inside of the apartment was disgusting. He hadn’t cleaned up anything in months let alone probably from when he moved in. Half-eaten food and drink just piled up along with rubbish and more, it was filthy here and while it likely wasn’t great anywhere here it was particularly bad. As the door was closed and the big guy backed off from the threats of the armed party Vant focused on Yvette who had asked him the question.
“I found it! Fair and square!” He shouted, “On one of the old Capitol Hydras they brought in to break!” He kept looking at the strange blade, his eyes signifying as if he almost needed to touch it.
“Look there’s nothing you can do to me which is worse than what it has already shown me” He began laughing, an awkward mix of pain, laughter and uncontrolled sadness, tears of a mixed nature running down his face.
Yvette nodded, listening intently, leaning on the armrest of the upturned chair.
"Alright. Credit where credits due, that's more cooperation than I was expecting. I wasn't suggesting you stole the knife, either. I couldn't give a shit if you nicked it, I rob peoples ships in front of their own eyes for a living. Anyway, the unfortunate matter is I asked, uh, three questions, and you only answered one." Yvette started, twirling the gun and leaning down a little.
"Maybe I can't spook you more than that knife can, however the fuck that works, but I can sure as shit make existence as unpleasant as I can. Because don't worry, I don't intend on raising this apartment's body count. But, if I put my gun just here," she reached down, pressing the still warm muzzle of her gun against the pelvic bump on his hip, opposite the leg she had shot.
"And fire, it'll obliterate that side of your pelvis. You won't lose control of your legs, least of all the one I've already shot, and there's no risk of organ trauma, but anything that so much as shifts that side will put your sorry ass in agony. Just to sit down you'll have to position yourself juuuust right so as to put the shards roughly in the shape of a pelvis, and even then it'll be anything but comfortable. And since it won't be life threatening, I doubt the Enforcers would be in much of a rush to get it seen to. And even once it is, if it ever is, you'll have a gammy leg for the rest of your life. " she explained.
"So, unless you'd like more than a slight limp for a day or two while your other leg recovers, speak up. Who are your friends you've been killing people with? If you remember which Hydra, that'd be swell too."
Aoi waited until the neighbour had gone back inside before deactivating her blade and stowing it inside her kimono with a deliberate, slow motion. She turned to follow the others into Vant's apartment, which was utterly disgusting. She watched as the rumbustious pirate interrogated their prisoner, but her eyes soon slid towards the knife that was still sneared with what had once been Brun.
She crouched by it where it had fallen on the floor near the doorway, taking a closer look. Vant's eyes kept sliding towards it as if it exerted some kind of pull over him, and she wanted to see why...
Kara took a moment to walk around the apartment to investigate while Yvette carried out her observation. The small alone was ghastly let alone the sight of it.
"Arthur keep a look out too in case i miss anything. We want a personal computer correspondence or anything else that might be useful." She said to the AI who agreed silently.
Vant listened to Yvettes threats and smiled, his teeth were rotten and his gums bleeding. The man clearly didn’t just not take care of the apartment but of himself either. But his eyes… His eyes showed a man who had seen the depths of madness and pain that only few would ever encounter. His smile turned into a grin when she finished.
“I have felt pain the likes of which you have never even dreamed of, a blast like that is nothing compared to the despair it shows you” He chuckled to himself like it was on the brink of a breakdown.
“Herakles Passion, don’t bother looking for it the ship was broken up ages ago” He laughed “I don’t know anything about the others, I just go where it tells me to go and do what it tells me to do or I suffer, do you understand suffering? I bet you don’t, I bet you have no idea of what it can do” He continued to grin but interspaced with pain on his face.
The knife itself as Aoi crouched down was distinctively non-human in origin. It was a deep black, made out of jagged spines and sections that almost looked like black human bones, it curved slightly, and the handle was almost polished to a shine. Looking straight at it Aoi could almost see movement in the blade, like something just beyond the material was uncoiling or even looking back at her.
“No! Don’t touch it for fuck sake Argh!” Vant had shouted staring at Aoi before twitching and instantly going unconscious, his body going into full spasms for a moment before he came too, panting heavily with his body sweating. His eyes showing utter terror, the man who had been so defiant a moment ago burst into tears.
While Vant was having his breakdown Karas investigation of the apartment continued, mostly it was just unending filth like a drug addict who had given up on life and only lived for the next fix with no heed of even personal hygiene. And yet in one of the small cupboards in the kitchen she found something. A tiny personal communicator, still very much active and judging by the information on it having been used recently. There were two contacts on it, one of which had been contacted at around the same time as the death they had investigated, it was solid evidence.
"Arthur can we get a trace on these contacts without having to call them." Kara asked patiently as the AI went to work
"Let me see what i can do and i'll get back to you" Ger replied before going silent.
"Hey i found a communicator over here, couple of contacts. One was called around the same time as the murder, interestingly enough." Kara informed her co workers.
Aoi stopped as Vant yelled out his warning. For a moment she was tempted to ignore him, assuming that his protest was some kind of jealousy or possessive instinct, but then she looked at the blade again. She felt unease, as if it were looking back at her, and glancing up at Vant she saw the genuine terror in his eyes.
She looked around the apartment and then found an old leather bag, the kind used to tote all the assorted crap one would need for a day on the work site; lunchbox, gloves, etc. She turned it upside-down, emptying it, then grabbed an old hat and used it to gingerly pick up the knife, dropping both into the bag and zipping it up before standing and crossing back over to Vant.
"What's so special about this knife?" she asked quietly, patting the bag that hung by her hip.
Lori stood their glaring a bit at Vant as she soon made a small hissing sound “ I’m sorry. But at this point...yeah honestly what is so Special about the knife......where did you get it” she asked now taking this to her own hand as she stood near Vant her eyes almost acting cat like as they they turned slit almost making herself look like a demon in a way due to it so “ who...GAVE it to you! Start talking! “ she soon grabbed him also to not only make him talk but make him stop having his break down “ if you tell us not only will this end sooner for you but you being doing yourself and us a favor....now..TALK! “
Yvette almost seemed startled by Lori's abrupt aggression, blinking a couple times.
"Yeah, just about what she said. Hold on a minute." she grunted as she stood, drawing another one of her hand cannons and slapping it into Lori's hand.
"Here, put a bullet in him if he tries anything. I want it back when we leave." she deadpanned, strolling over to Kara, one hand hooked by the thumb in her pocket.
"Communicator, huh? That's interesting. What've you found?"
The immediate traces became apparent as Arthur went to work over the Ancnet, the AI sifting through countless call logs from the communicator and others across not just the local networks but across the whole of Lost Star. It took two minutes before the results came back in with locations and details of the others although some seemed much easier to find information on than others. No patterns appeared in the individuals, they were quite literally nobodies, random people across multiple districts who didn’t share any banking connections, personal connections, or social connections. It seemed whatever was driving them was external at least. But for the most part they were heavily spread out. Apart from one cluster that seemed to be established around Fidun, where they had travelled from. They were all spaced around a group of manufacturing centres that specialised in household equipment.
The Knife didn’t seem to respond as Aoi placed it inside something else, although as she did so there was a brief moment where she could hear inhuman voices. At her question Vant, who was still in the middle of tears streaming down his face turned to her before he was grabbed by Lori and shaken up to try and snap out of it. With some internal realisation he tried to calm himself before he spoke.
“It… came from the Capitol ship we broke like I said. I found it so I decided to take it…” He tried to breath slower “It, did things to me. It spoke to me and it tortured me unless I did what it said. It still does even when I don’t touch it” The man was clearly terrified, although if that terror was at the interrogators or what the knife might do it wasn’t clear.
“It told me to go places, kill specific people in a specific way. If I didn’t it made me suffer in ways you can’t imagine. There were others... I don’t know them, but I think they are affected same as me. Please, you have to destroy it before it gets what they want!” He shouted the last part.
"I have a list of people he communicated with, might be worth rounding them up at the local cop shop." Kara said to everyone walking back into the room with the others.
"They're all spread out so it'll be a while before we can get them to one location... or maybe its best to keep them separate if they're all crazy like him." She said said a little disturbed looking at the mutilated Vant.
Aoi nodded in agreement. She noticed that the individuals all seemed to be located around the one household equipment factory sprawl, perhaps the companies there had something to do with it?
She left that to the others though, turning her attention to Vant. "Is it telling you to do something now?" she asked gently, raising the bag to eye height with a false expression of concern on her face.
Lori looked at the cannon a bit before looking at Vant listening, she almost was tempted to see this Knife at this point, even wondering if what Aoi asked was also true was he still hearing it??? And....Capital ship? She had learned of them, hearing rumors about them even some things about them and her people working to get her at some point as well.....it made her wonder....who else was was her people working with once they allied with the Capital?
She shook her head before looking at him carefully “ do tell us,....is it still talking in your mind and if it is this dangerous.......do you have a idea where or who it may truest be from? “ she asked she seem very interested in this knife now.
Yvette's eyes narrowed, a musing hand rising to her chin.
"Destroy it, huh...I'm gonna guess a hand cannon isn't gonna cut it, not without alerting the entire block." she grunted. "I'd say a fusion reactor might do the job--if we do decide to destroy it--but I'd rather not find out what that might do to my ship." she muttered, thinking.
"Welp! Unless anyone has anything else they'd like to ask, I suggest we wrap this up here." she sighed. "Whaddo we do with him?"
Vant looked at Kara as she strode back into the room, his communicator in her hands. He looked defeated for a moment, as if he knew that by that one device, he had condemned the rest to also suffer some terrible fate. He was taken out of his stupor however as Aoi put the bag with the knife into his eye level, he looked away unable or unwilling to stare at the blade now it was out of his hands. At this point Vant was shivering, blood loss was starting to take hold of him.
“No, it isn’t saying anything, but please don’t put it near me” It appeared like his hands were twitching as if he was trying not to grab it out of pure need.
“I don’t know where its from! It came from Capitol but it clearly isn’t like anything of theirs maybe its some alien thing I got no idea it didn’t tell me anything about itself! It just tortured me and made me do things!” He was starting to cry again but he was almost too tired to do so. But at the mention of Yvette destroying it he perked up somewhat.
“I tried to destroy it but it stopped me every time… Please destroy it, anyway you can maybe it will free me. Please don’t kill me I never wanted to do the things I did!”
"I think this is enough!" Kara said to the other sternly
"Call the cops and medics, let them take it from here. We've done our job and its time to get paid." She said, starting to make the call for the police and medics.
Aoi straightened, slinging the bag over her shoulder.
"We should look into this Capitol ship he says he got the knife from. The Hydra. If we can get its tags maybe we can find out where it had been and track down places it could have come across this knife, or even find out if there are any crew members left who could give us a clue."
lori kept silent for most of it, she soon stood up and goes over to where the knife was she looked carefully at it "......hm.." she wondered if they even could destroy it? was their a way at all ? she had many thoughts before hearing the others "....i got a feeling this thing has a reason......Capitol? so.....i heard rumor's they were allied with a few people...even...my race sadly.......so i wonder if they also got a few things like that knife? " she said softly so she didn't care if anyone answered her question or not...it was a open question something she might look into as well.
"Alright, I agree, we're done here. I, uh, don't think I should be the one to give the authorities a nice little ring so someone else can do that, and then maybe we can take a nice little jog down to the breaker yards." Yvette nodded, deciding she was done with Vant.
A beat.
The space pirate then held out a hand towards Lori.
"The gun. Please."
The call to the enforcers that had hired them answered quick, a young lady on the phone to Kara listening as the situation was described and the location of Vant was given along with the communicator which contained the information. While the Shipbreaker yards did not have normal police itself a very loose set up on Lost Star allowed different enforcer districts to send officers out to another to collect a particularly wanted individual. Given that Vant was just a major suspect and the communicator was such a key lead to others they didn’t hesitate to send officers. Using a dedicated enforcer cutter, they would be here within several hours.
But just after Kara had finished getting off the phone to the police it seemed her AI Arthur found something. Deep within the encrypted data chip they had found from the running man was information on a supply operation for a large location in Fidun… Exactly where the cluster of other killers had been located. Supplies included basic materials from stripped down and broken ships, along with more precision parts. Scrolls of manifests from the Breaker yards to this place were shown all going to this mysterious location, including the materials from the Capitol vessel Vant had supposedly found the knife on board. The vessels broken down and sent were not ordinary however, they seemed to be wrecks from the battles of Rubikon, Histirion or found within the Golden Expanse, Vants Hydra was part of those found deep within the Expanse. Everything else was rejected.
Something big was going on in Fidun in this location, and they practically had a big arrow of evidence pointing to it. A piece like this was hot money on the Ancnet.
“No please don’t let them throw me in a cell for the rest of my life…” Vant tried to sound alarmed but he was on the verge of passing out “Destroy the knife, then kill me if you have to… Don’t let me rot with this thing inside my head”
Aoi glanced at the others. "Should we destroy the knife? If we let the enforcers collect it, maybe it will help them work out what exactly is happening at this mysterious spot in Fidun....but it could also corrupt more people."
She glanced down at the pale, desperate Vant. "As strange as it sounds, I think the murderer may have a point."
Yvette sighed, twirling her pistol once in her hand.
"Sorry, friend. Generally, as strange as it sounds coming from someone like me, I only prefer to kill in self defence." she replied, giving the man a strange look.
"As for the knife, it depends. Destroying it would make sure nobody else got their hands on it, but we also don't know what would happen when we destroy it."
Lori had looked to see Yvette and points the gun at her before flipping it in her hand and giving her the butt end of the gun to her " here you go, thanks" she said before giving a soft smile to her before looking to the rest then back to Vant, hearing what he wanted as much as she wanted to grant his wish she felt they needed to learn more of the knife " i feel as much as i want to grant his wish......we should see what we can learn from it....if we Destroy it now like our friend here said we won't know what happens when we do.....i rather study it before we do this " she said to them before rubbing her left arm a bit " lets keep it just in case...." she added
Kara simply looked on as the others made their decisions. She would be content with going with the overall group decision, she felt that she had played the part of a private investigator well.
"I've recorded everything and sent it off back home for the records. I'm sure they'll get some amusement over your charade." Arthur said sarcastically
"Right, i may stay in this role a little longer. This is a very interesting chain of events." Kara replied back to the AI.
For the mean time she would try and triage Vants wounds so he wouldn't bleed out before the authorities arrived.
As Vant ranted and raved, begging the party to kill him or prevent him from being locked up the enforcers finally arrived, a little while after Vant finally blacked out from blood loss. Backed up by two of the Shipbreaker thugs who were counted as ‘officers’ around here they first removed the dead form of Brun before medics came in to tend to Vant even as they picked up his now unconscious form and put him on a stretcher.
“Good work gang, its tough dealing with these situations with criminal underfunding and an overtaxed police force” One of the enforcers began to talk, taking off her helmet to reveal an Annolidian women. She gestured at Vant.
“I am Investigator Kaline ,We are taking him back to Fidun to interrogate and if necessary, do a deep mind dive. We will get everything out of him. I reviewed the data you sent us, seems like this runs deep but I can’t spare anyone. Payment should be going into your accounts now, but I would like to keep you hired on, I need you to go to Fidun and find out what the hell is going on. Again you will be paid for your efforts and we will keep you updated with what we find” Her smile was textbook as the rest of the enforcers checked out the room and kept things secure.
“Seems like it was quite the tale, although now one of you is down it’s a better split for you four. Still I wont keep you, and you will hear from me soon enough” She gave a curt nod before leaving, her details appearing on the groups PDAs.
With that the enforcers left the room, and the group was free to move on. They had found Vant, but it seemed the rabbit hole only ran deeper.
Whatever was in Fidun was clearly not good news.
And if the knife was any indication, it was where even Fallen Angels feared to tread.
Lost Star: Fidun District
“And you’re sure it was by the same person?”
“Positive, the same marks and inscriptions were made on this body as well, it matches all the other cases”
The man sighed. His desk was small and he was criminally underpaid. A half smoked cigar sat in a tray along with some untidy papers and the holographic projection that now hung in front of him. The small room with its single slatted window let in little light and cigar smoke gave it a dull haze. He wore the uniform of a Lost Star sheriff. Which would actually be worth a damn if he was on any of the other districts. Fidun was located on the third ring and it was equivalent to a slum district. People came here when they got to Lost Star, but could never afford to live anywhere else and did not have a job to go to, it was the detritus of the galaxy. Not so different to how the old Lost Star used to look all the time before things got spicy and then fancy.
“Then it’s definitely him. Man if only the brass actually gave us the resources we needed… Any luck on leads yet or identity?” Sheriff Martel was a big man, well built and stocky, but he was depressive and knew that his job was a total dead end.
“I have a potential lead, the attack was witnessed by two people but neither have appeared for questioning, looks like both want us to go to them” The man before the sheriff was known as ‘Todd’ he wasn’t an enforcer but he was a private investigator who had been hired on by the district. He was a good man and knew his stuff, he had been a read asset to Martel over the last months.
“I see. I can’t spare any men from their duties as you well know, the weekly food riots will begin within the hour and I need everyone I can to help quell those bastards before it gets out of hand. I’ll put a bulletin up and throw some monetary incentives, once we get some people in you go and question those leads and get me something to go off. Use these guys as backup or hired guns either way they will be yours to lead” Martel picked up his cigar and gave it a good puff.
“Understood I will await their arrival”
------///-----------
Alt'ias knocked back another shot, slamming the glass down in front of him to join the others. A nearby bartender taking them away on a tray before returning with more. The drinks were mostly for show; Alt'ias's body would burn through the drink before the alchohol could take effect, but he was waiting on someone and needed to keep himself at a low profile.
Another drink.
His ears picked up his informants voice, a human by the name Holester Craad.
The dark haired man was not much of a sight, but his demeanor suggested a man of cowardess, which he was. While back Alt'ias had spared his life after slaughtering his gang, indenturing him into his service until he proved himself.
As he took a seat next to Alt'ias, he took a shot himself.
"Found a little weight here for you. Looks like the typical stuff but you never know, maybe it'll lead to something interesting."
Holester sent the pict to Alt'ias's macrys, taking another shot as he went.
"Looks simple enough, pays pretty good as well."
The Echo slapped the smaller man on the shoulder, making the man wince in panic before saying more.
"You've done well. You may return home. I'll come find you when your service is required."
Holester nodded, slamming back his last shot just as he and the Echo got up from the bar.
-------///--------
The place didnt look like much, but Alt'ias was certain he was in the right place.
Security seemed interesting, but it did not concern him as he entered the enforcer building.
With a barely audible whirring noise, an occasional glance to the passerby and back down to his feet, Brun kept mostly to himself as he re-read the details put forth in the bulletin he found an interest in before being shooed away by the locals. His clothes where worn and faded, if he walked down an alley, he could blend in with the various squatters and homeless littering this area. His concentration was interrupted by a rude shove on his shoulder, a younger male with a red checkered bandana continuing on his way with his group of friends, hooting and hollering obscenities about the law enforcement, before turning the corner and out of sight, their annoying voices continuing to be heard as Brun looked down again to access his internal database.
He needed some money, Credits where worth nothing out here and he could possibly put old skills back in use. Backing out of his database, his hand gingerly reached to his back, down where his belt was snugly securing the 3D printed firearm he bought with what little cash he managed to score. He tapped it a few times, making sure it wasn't about to fall out, before heading out to the building mentioned in the bulletin.
In the corner of the room, a silent individual stands, leaning against the wall, reading something from an unidentified book that looks old. He weared odd looking clothes with darker shades of colors overlapping one another, mostly dark brown at the bottom, and a dark shade of grey at the middle and top, with a dark red belt around his middle seperating the 2, with many small tools and blades attached to it. Some grey cloth seem to hide his face, and a large proportion hiding his black hair.
His age and race is unclear, since most of his face and skin tone is hidden, only his red fierce eyes and part of his face is visable, but burried inside the book he holds up with a single hand, covered by dark brown cloth.
He looks fierce, with a long blade attached to his back, a guy one shouldnt mess with. He hasnt talked at all in the room, and can easily be missed since he devides himself from the group. But even if he seems to read a book, he already knows all one could gather from the room and the people inside of it, and would be prepared for a sudden attack.
Kara was just another dime an Argent spy working for the Federal Intelligence Bureau sent to lost star as one of over hundred feelers sent to investigate every inch of the place. When she saw the Lost Star Sheriffs ad she was given orders to take the job. She wore plain clothes to blend but each piece of clothing was made of specialised fibres not only created that way but spun into intricate patterns to absorb and disperse kinetic energy and heat, she was far from invulnerable as two or three direct hits to the same area would have her waking up in a hospital with a new body. But it was enough to give her time to go on the offensive with an artificially aged Pistole 3110 used by Federation agents en masse for it's concealability, weight and hefty punch despite it's size. Although Kara was sent out by herself she wasn't alone with one the Agency's AI's watching over not only her but the other agents sent to Lost Star, Arthur's job was primarily to record and transmit valuable information back to the Agency as well as insure the integrity of the Agents sent.
"Nervous Kara? I've detected increased heart rate in your body." Arthur said calmly directly into Kara's head through the implant inside her skull.
"A little. I don't like cops and going to work with them for who knows how long is not what i had planned here." She replied back as she walked her way through the streets where no one could hopefully no hear their conversation.
"Don't worry, once we have the information we need you'll be done with them and can move onto the next district, the Agency looks out for it's own."
"Well that i'm glad about once we get this job started and finished the better."
It was with no fanfare but with the loud crash of an electromagnetic sliding door that the woman known as Yvette stepped aboard the bridge of her ship.
"So, how goes the ship?" she asked, stretching her arms. The woman bore a longcoat more deserving of a wealthy 18th-Century privateer and high-rising boots, a row of hand cannons strapped to a bandolier like a pirate would his flintlocks, and a lavishly decorated tricorn she put down on a rail.
"Well," the first officer started, though she insisted on referring to him as first mate. "The main engine's fixed, as is the main fuel feed. We can fly about this place freely now."
"And the FTL drive?" she asked. The man shook his head.
"Catalyst injector's locked up and the containment chamber is cracked. If we try to fire it, even if the injector fires the ship'll just atomise itself across the sector. We can't quite afford the repairs."
"Shit..." she sighed, rubbing her brow. "Well then. Anything on the local net offering anything that could help?"
"Erm...usual shady crap, Fidun sheriff's offering a job of some sort. Won't do it entirely but it'll be a good start." one of the other crewman shrugged, looking at a screen. Yvette approached, head sat next to his as she looked it over.
"Well, it's better than a lot of em."
"You heading out there, Cap?" the helmsman asked.
"Guess so. Watch the ship for me, eh? First, she's yours until I get back."
"I'll keep her in shape." the first mate smiled and made a loose salute, returned in kind by the captain as she strolled back out, back into Lost Star as she headed for the sheriff's building.
Evidently, the image of a whimsical fictional pirate character strolling right up to a law enforcement building was lost on her.
The enforcer building was the blandest and dull place in the entire galaxy, or at least it felt like it.
The halls and rooms were slate grey, no adornments or colour. It was busy with enforcers, clerks and general staff moving to and fro and yet it felt empty as if the building had no soul. Or perhaps it was the fact the enforcers of the Fidun district were overworked, underpaid and critically short of staff. The waiting room itself was so boring and bland that it might have been more torturous than the actual holding cells, with rows of vacuum formed plastic red chairs laid out in rows. It was one of many used by the enforcers, cleared specially for a debrief while the proper rooms were in use by all of the districts enforcers getting updates and information on the likely outcomes and starters for the food riots that would be shortly occurring.
Todd wore a loose fitting white shirt, and an almost antique brown trench coat, an old Stetson covered short brown hair and his appearance was one of a grizzled investigator. He wore a badge showing his provisional independent licence, he worked with the enforcers here but was not hired by them. As the various individuals came into the room he gestured for the last of them to shut the door. Seemingly uncaring about their looks or idiosyncrasies he lit up a cigar and started to speak.
“Alright welcome, I’m going to be really blunt with you because we don’t have much time and we need to get out and get to our leads before the food riots start. You’re here because these fine men are down on staff and can’t get the boots on the ground to follow up some leads. The situation is as follows, we have had several particularly brutal murders over the past few days, 17 to be exact. Each one appears ritualistic in nature and specific runes and carvings have been seen on the victims which also seem to match some found occasionally throughout the district. We have two witnesses who saw the latest attack but we got to go to them, we go to them, get the information and testimonies and go from there, we can discuss payment when we get back. You’re here because this is a multi-person job and to be a little extra muscle if shit goes to hell. If you have any questions ask me in transit, come on lets go”
He was already in motion as he opened the door and beckoned them to follow him. They had to get a head start before they got bogged down in rioters and malcontents storming the streets, or worse got caught in a cross fire with the enforcers.
Alt'ias stirred immediately, glad that the work wasnt going to bog him down with needless pleasantry or pomp.
He stood from his chair, having one of the first to arrive, observing the assembled "team" he was to be working alongside. In all honesty, they didnt look like much. Even with his experience with alien races, these were... a disappointing turnout to be sure.
He set his timer on his wrist mounted macrys unit, and strode after the man.
As he entered the building, Brun felt as close to home more than he had in some time. The drab grey and featureless interior felt secure to the Dectrothian, a sense of safety in the otherwise lawlessness of the outside was likely only felt by him. Glancing around, he didn't notice as many augmented like he had in other sectors of Lost Star, mainly when he looked for work with the Shipbreakers. Many of his more labor-focused Dectrothian brothers and sisters found their way there, and where busily working on the ships. Though his augmentations where simply not up for the extremes of the Shipbreakers, being more oriented with Law Enforcement.
He shook his head, clearing the webs from his mind to reassert the attention towards the investigator, listening intently and recording the conversation in his database. It honestly felt like he was back in work, without all the red tape associated with the Stratocracy, and with the conclusion, he followed and began to ask questions. "Do the victims share anything in common and are there any possible links to the ritual mentioned? If we find any patterns, I'm sure we can narrow our potential list of suspects.. Which I assume that you have a list of possible perps that we should be looking out for? In any case, they might investigate the scene of the crime if we come snooping around, or try to sever our only witnesses if they don't want loose ends."
Inside his database, Brun was connecting all the information that he currently had, something that he learned from his time in DCI, assigning priorities, possible motives, etc. Though his attention focused inwardly, meant that he hadn't made the time to study or investigate his other team members, something that could be done once he had more answers to the case.
"A murder mystery wasn't what i was expecting, i hope you'll be able to help me a little more then usual here Arthur." Kara told the lingering AI
"I can indeed, I'll just download a set list of classic murder mystery media and I'll have all the knowledge i need to help" Arthur mocked
"Thanks Arthur, but i think i can handle it from here" She returned the mocking tone.
"Have you identified the victims, there last know whereabouts, did they have family and friends? What about murder weapons? If it was ritualistic, what cults and religions operate here that would perform such sacrifices." Kara rattled off to Todd
Yvette had her hands in her pockets, whistling quietly as she walked as everyone else loosed off questions like a multi-part verbal machine gun. The woman, once everyone else had ceased their verbal assault, had but a single question of her own.
"Who're the witnesses, anyone interesting?"
As the group moved to the entrance of the enforcer building and began to head out onto the streets they had seen repeated rooms of enforcers donning riot gear, and in many cases picking up live lethal fire arms rather than suppression gear. Things looked like they were going to turn ugly, and this itself was reinforced by the sentiment out on the streets, already enforcers were forming up into squads, Sentry LAVs were parked ready to move squads out all painted in dull grey enforcer colours. Some carried suppression weapons, water cannons, grenade launchers with tear gas and some were armed with light microwave or sonic weapons. But some had heavy machine guns on board, and judging by the huge throngs of people who moved throughout the streets beyond all of this seemed like it wasn’t enough. Todd didn’t seem fazed.
"The victims share nothing in common, some have been poor and unknowns, some have appeared to be gang members, some were rich, or what amounts to rich here but in each instance nothing was taken from the corpses although they were quickly stripped by the people here. Each kill was ritualistic, a single killing stroke after being beaten up conventionally before they died. Family and friend leads have turned up nothing of note, of the murder weapons mainly fists and blunt objects, but a strange stab wound seems to indicate a ritual knife of a kind I’ve never seen. I have images of the scenes as well as the runes, here” He mentally pinged the images across from his own mental implants to each’s connection to the Anc net.
“As for what cults, who knows? It isn’t exactly rare knowledge to know the CDG were operating on Lost Star before the rebirth program, although they never worked like this they were always methodical in the cases I oversaw where they did this. There are a few other theories but this plus the runes seem to indicate something new maybe. As for the witnesses one is a regular women, a new mother who happened to be there when it happened. The second is a supposed link to the crime network who this latest victim and another previous were linked to.”
"Did the witness statements reveal anything of note or just more of the same?" Kara asked Todd directly
Walking through the streets, Brun did enjoy the dull grey colors of the enforcers, always had once he landed in Lost Star. Though his attention jerked inwardly back to the answers being spoken, a slight twitch of movement visible to the others as his attention switched between the two subjects. "So we're talking about suspects that are either too poor or religious for more modern ways of attacking and murdering their targets. I assume from the previous departed that the wounds inflicted where defensive in nature, as in the individual struggled, rather than being restrained or threatened with a firearm."
Taking a look at the runes, he assigned them values based on commonality and useage to try and connect them to any type of religious figure, or use them to form an alphabet if they where words. The scenes where as described, but Brun took extra time to check the wrists, neck and ankles for signs of restraining marks, as well as ensuring the bruises and impacts where in fact defensive or if they where odd in any other way. "Are there any similarities on the locations of the stab wounds? Vital organs specifically or are they as random as the targets?"
Yvette nodded as her personal question was answered, seemingly having nothing more to say. Cults and underground crime rings, huh? Well, her day was certainly getting more interesting. She didn't have all the fancy brain implants she was sure some of her newfound colleagues did, which she supposed had its ups and downs. A lot harder to get into her head without a computer sticking out of it. She thought so, anyway. On the downside it meant she had to think on things unassisted.
Total randoms, some sort of ritual stabbing. Well, if nothing else, cultists was pretty high on the list of things she didn't really mind putting a bullet in.
A small smirk came to the corner of the pirate's mouth.
No words came out of the individual’s mouth the entire time he stood there. He only gazed at the floor, listening to everyone that spoke, trying to gather information. To this point, he was just as useful as a plant to everyone, just standing there, giving no input.
After questions and answers were going around the room, he gazed upwards towards Todd. “What was the time between all those murders? When did it start?” He asked in a worried and soft tone. It was clear that he felt sorry for the victims and those around them.
“Furthermore, did anything happen around the time it started, anything big that could have set this in motion? Did anything change as each murder happened? And did the murder happen at the same place where the body was found, or was it moved?” His questions were fast, giving little time to respond between each question. He reached for a pocket in his back that was hanging from his shoulder, and took out a pen and notebook, ready to write things down.
"Witness statements indicate that the assailants were covered in robes, although apparantly the person we are going to see has optical implants and managed to take a quick snag of the assailants face in a brief moment of scuffle. And yes all of the deaths had some measure of struggle, nobody takes death willingly in this place. As for similarities of stab wounds yes, the ritual movement is straight to the back in the middle of the spine before slicing upwards cutting the back open, it has a resemblance to a very, very old practice called Blood Eagling" He smiled "If you have ever heard of such a thing. And no there was no massive event that let off these string of murders and nothing majors been reported since, all of the murder locations remain the same. Its like none of the bodies were moved after they were killed only deformed with symbols"
The group had to move into the crowd as the enforcers opened up a channel for them to pass. People were angry and pushed back, they demanded increase in food shipments, more medicines and other basic needs that individuals require. This sector was horrifically overpopulated for its size, and despite the inflow of resources here from the authorities it wasnt enough, those within had little jobs and could not afford to bring in their own and so every week when the shipments came the food riots began.
"Come move quickly! Things will get ugly if we stay here too long!" He communicated over a coms network as the shouting of the crowd drowned out any normal speak.
Blood eagle, the term was placed into the browser for Ancnet, as well as the local databases that he could still connect with, and searched for everything he could on it, he could connect the strings of 'too religious' to the method of torture and death. The deeply religious ties to the ritualistic sacrifice lead Brun to the conclusion that the killings could not be totally random, while connections where difficult to attain, he- "You! Asshole! I got a sick kid at home you piece of aug garbage!" An object was thrown at Brun, hitting him on the side as his dermal armor mitigated the kinetic force, and he withdrew back into his mind, letting his legs follow the group autonomously.
He could make some assumptions that the killings where possibly due to religious conflict, or the individuals had other connections that only the suspects knew of. Whatever the case, the intended meeting would have to fill in the gaps quickly, and Brun would have to inspect more than just the witness, but the household as well, for anything involving religious practices or even the lack thereof.
Or perhaps it went further, Brun would have to investigate any possible career paths, legitimate or not, involving armed work. The part of the entry that Brun read of the Blood Eagle described the act being performed sometimes on defeated warriors, according to vague sources. Brun reached out to Todd via the comms link "Is there a chance I can review the victim's employment histories or criminal records? Specifically the use of weapons or training for any type of conflict."
"'Blood eagling', that's a gruesome way to go. At least i would be fine and you'd just wake up in resus, although you might need to spend a bit of time there for trauma therapy." Arthur joked
"Interesting way to go indeed, there has to be a reason why they do it that specifically. Could it be to let something out of the body? If you look at it that way a cut there would be the perfect exit for a person if they were to leave their own skin." Kara replied seriously
"It is possible yes, but as the man said after death they were just deformed with symbols, nothing has been leaving their body. Something like that is too much in the realm of science fiction to be possible."
"Regardless, this witness may reveal a lot more once we meet them."
As this conversation happened inside cyberspace Kara followed the group as she had been, she didn't have any more questions for the time being as it seemed that Todd was just as much in the dark as they were.
Yvette's brow furrowed as she followed, her pace quickening to get away from the increasingly restless crowd. A pleasant lot, by the sounds of it.
"So what's the plan if we happen to run into these cultists? Shoot to kill?" she asked.
The man followed the group, while he looked around at the crowd. “Judging from the needs of the crowd, what if it is involved with the problems involving the overpopulation?
Or what if they tried to send a message?” He remained silent for a moment. “I hope when we arrive, we are able to cross out some of the theories, there is too little we know currently.”
Todd narrowly avoided a thrown bottle as the crowd began to rapidly push in. Tensions were quickly reaching their breaking point. One single spark and the whole situation would devolve into a crisis. Todd pinged across the location of the rendevouz point with haste in case any of the group got split up by the crowd. It was a good call, especially since a single gun shot was all it took to ignite the power keg of people. The crowd rushed the enforcer positions, water cannons, tear gas grenades, rubber bullets and non lethal energy weapons opened up on the crowd, forcing swathes of them to the ground or to try run back but it was no use, the stampede kept coming, trampling any unfortunate enough to have been taken off their feet. Rocks, rubble, bottles, molotovs and even some weapons fire met the enforcers who continued to hit back.
"Keep moving! Get to the rendevouz!" Todd shouted over the racket before someone in the crowd grabbed him and punched him in the face. Despite being dressed in normal clothes and inspector was known to many.
"You fucking scum trying to starve us!" The man hit Todd again, who in turn pulled out a large revolver and without any hesitation blew the large mans face out, scattering blood and gore over the crowd behind. Instantly 12 people rushed him, and Todd began to blast away.
"Go to the site! You know the mission, dont worry about me-" He was cut off as the man was dragged underneath the mob, several more dying to his gun shots. The group had to move, and quickly. One of the side alleys proved the best way, it wasnt too far and they could get there off the main streets.
Yvette's stride advanced almost into a hurried prance; sprinting through or into crowds rarely ended well for anyone involved, and it didn't take a genius to realise the floor was the worst place to be right now.
It briefly flashed into the space pirate's mind that being dressed like some fictional cosmic highwayman was probably not the smartest decision.
Nonsense I look fantastic. came the next thought, squashing the first.
Regardless the first thought seemed to be the more pragmatic, Yvette twirling around a rock tossed at her head, sailing on past and comically knocking out one of the stampeding civilians on the far side with a crack to the head. A grab to her sleeve, her mind vaguely registering a yelled insult about her being a degenerate thief, was met by a spinkick to the gut and a crack from the butt of one of her hand cannons to the head sent the man reeling into the crowds behind him.
She had briefly considered firing, hoping it would send a message. Yvette's great distaste for unnecessary violence, and the knowledge all it would do was make others angrier, is what stayed her trigger finger.
She picked up the pace, headed for the alley, instead.
"Move Kara! Go! Don't worry about him, he knew what he was doing when he fired that shot." Arthur shouted over their link
"Right, moving, leaving a man to get torn apart by a crowd. Rodger that." Kara replied
She took off down the alley in a dash to get away from the crowd using the distraction Yvette created to quickly bypass any interaction with oncoming crowd.
Being more at the tail-end of the group, the Dectrothian was subjected to the crowd's fury, though the unfortunate person that first grabbed him and began throwing blows found his hand throbbing in pain as he punched the augmented humanoid, Brun retaliating with a flurry of slaps and pressure point attacks meant to incapacitate the attacker, before then being stabbed by another attacker, the blade being swung low and wide of the man he was paralyzing. The blade sunk into his lower left side before the dermal armor stopped it short, the Aug turning swiftly to grab the man's wrist, twisting it cruelly to fracture it and took the knife out of his side to stab the attacker in the leg, visually confirming his placement was non-lethal, before kicking his attacker in the gut to put him down and took off in a sprint towards the alley.
"Well, so much for that, I'll have to just confirm things with the witnesses." He said in his mind, he thought of saving Todd, though with the crowd as it was, and the need to get to the rendezvous before they lost their only lead, lead Brun to follow his last order instead of going against it. Hopefully the rest of this.. crew, will get to the alley unscathed and continue on.
The alley was mostly empty as the group rushed into it, only a few meters wide it was populated by haphazardly set up cooling units which worked to help enviromentally stabilise the homes around them, some poor chain fences and abandoned boxes also filled the space making it a perfect place to easily hide and catch a breath. The crowds roar could be heard easily broken by the sounds of proper gunfire and the unintelligible sound of enforcer loud speakers trying to get the crowd to withdraw. Many would die today, likely just how Todd had gone. And yet this was a weekly occurance in the Fidun district.
The actual objective was only 3 blocks away from their location, easily navigatable via back streets and out of site from the huge baying crowds. The only thing of note however was a red symbol dabbed like graffiti on the side of one of the cooling units. It was stark, harsh and grating in aspect and seemed entirely out of place with the other typical gang and art shit which had been plastered down the alley over the last months. Judging by look it was similar to those found at the crime scene, and by knowledge of the cult uprising which had occured a few years earlier did not appear to be Draconian in origin.
Afriel laughed giggling like a school girl as she strolled down the alley after the people she’d watched make a break for freedom from the clawing hands of the sinful masses that choked the gutters of this foetid station like writhing maggots on a long dead whore.
She’d made her way through the crowd with her usual flare, a wave shotgun made for an excellent path clearer when applied directly to the unprotected mortal, her pristine white and gold clothes were somehow untouched despite the carnage on the streets, she thanked her weapons explosive clearing abilities for that.
“My my my look at all you good boys and girls!”
She calls out down the alley as she paces after the runners.
“Not rioting and not ripping my old dearly departed friend Todd limb from limb before he can even explain the job to me!”
In truth she hadn’t really known him all that much, she’d only picked his name up via osmosis.
“Are you all here for the job as well?”
She stopped at what most would describe as a polite distance for someone that’d just followed a bunch of post riot strangers down a dark alley.
Taking a moment to stop and metaphorically catch his breath, he took a quick tally of the members of the group that had been lost, before resetting the group's status as far as their injuries, their perceived emotional state and their personality notes as far as what they had done while in contact. It was interesting to say the least that his profiling software was getting dusted off a bit to be used in potential combat scenarios, until his attention was alerted to a person behind them.
He spun around quickly, as fast as any augmented human could, and quickly analyzed the newcomer. She was definitely not from the angry mob that had torn Todd apart, nor did he immediately recognize her from the last update he had with the Dectrothian Network. It took an Ancnet search to realize the species she was, and he was astounded at first, but pleased the next. "Yes, and I apologize for not being as capable enough to save your friend. Had I been with the ATAF or Nightstalkers, I would have tried to save him, but I'm not." A gloomy look brushed over his face before raising it back up to her, his body had turned around to address her, but was walking backwards in pace with the others, as if in automatic mode. "Though, I don't think you had introduced yourself. I'm Brun, of the DCI, and you?"
"Look Kara a new friend and she's very mentally stable." Arthur said jokingly to Kara
"Can't talk, running for my life, see you, at the rendezvous" Kara shouted back to the stranger as she kept running
Yvette blinked in Kara's direction as the woman sprinted off ahead, slowing down with the others.
"Someone's eager to get mugged." she muttered, spinning on the spot to look at the newcomer, walking backwards similarly to Brun though at more of an angle.
"Yeah, we are. And who might you be?" she asked. Her normally more energetic and jovial tone was...much more subdued. A man they'd met mere minutes ago was most likely dead, and this strange woman in uncomfortably recognisable symbols was toting some sort of longarm.
“Ohohoho.”
The white haired women laughed a hand covering her mouth as her shoulders shook.
“Aren’t you all just so lively!
She half raises her wave gun as she leans backwards rocking on her heels with a shark like grin.
“Afriel Gardessi, Ex confessor of the Eostine church and lost stars most popular religious figure head!”
She bows rather deeply the barrel sweeping the alley again as she did so, muzzle awareness was apparently a skill lost on this zealot.
With the sudden union of Afriel into the group the gunfire intensified outside, leading to many on the streets who were trying to riot and push their way towards the precinct now found themselves wanting to run for their lives. A large explosion rocked the entire area and the crowd turned like the tide, everyone looking for a way to escape. Within moments people were swarming down the alley trying to find a way to escape the enforcers. It was just like every week here. The group had to get out, get to the scene and carry out their job, before the crowd once again swamped them.
Again the loud speakers sounded "A curfew is in effect, return to your homes immediately. Any who refuse will be shot"
Red flags went up in his HUD, checking barrel direction and speed of it's movements. He was now left with the other human, after the other member took off, ironic, as it would seem to the Dectrothian. He was going to ask further into the newcomer's Eosian background when the situation worsened, now needing a faster path to the target location, his processors quickly devised a route, pre-calculated detours, shortcuts and escape routes before Brun took back control and increased his stride, seeking to use his augmented body to outpace and outmaneuver the frothing crowd of panic coming their way.
His hand once again felt for the 3D printed firearm, tapping it gently as he made another mental note of it's condition and position, before he jumped over garbage containers, debris and other obstacles in pursuit of Kara's footsteps.
Afriel looked over her shoulder rather contemptuously at the oncoming crowd a single arm raising with the wave shotgun levelled at the wall of people.
“OH YEE CONTEMPTUOUS SINNERS WHO DO CRAWL THROUGH THE FILTH LIKE WORMS IRREVERENT OF THOSE YOU WOULD CRUSH UNDER YOUR SEETHING MASS.”
Her proselytising was cut off by the firing of her weapon as the entire alley behind her turned into a blended mush of blood bone and gristle as the Eosian weapon tore through the narrow alley killing everyone within the straight she was in, bounced bone fragments and flying limbs injuring several around the corner as well.
“Perish!”
She finishes her prayer as she turns to run after the augmented creature, the mob behind them would be slowed by the now blood slicked and corpse soaked ground, they’d slip and fall and climb over the dead while trampling each other to death she was sure but that would take time.
“Come on my new allies lets out pace these maggots writhing in the blood of their fellows so we may condemn these ineffable heretics to an early grave.”
Yvette's first response was to...well, retch. She may have shot a fair few people in her time, but there was a stark contrast to the unsightly scenery between a man with a hole in his chest and very abruptly enough blood and gore to fill a small pool. The space pirate stumbled after the group, both to avoid falling behind and to put some distance between herself and the sights and smells Afriel had just left behind. After a moment, the scent failing to catch up and with the scenery behind her, Yvette's pace picked up into a commendable sprint.
The faster they got to where they were going, away from the crowds, the better. Yvette made a mental note never to come back to the Fidun District if she could help it.
As the kinetic wave gun shredded what was easily around 70 people in a cacophanous blast of shattered bodies and pulverised flesh the crowd changed direction as the people behind who had not been quite close enough to be killed and who had been thrown back through the air ran away screaming. Still the crowds were dispersing and speed was needed.
With the objective only a few blocks away the route to it was one of small alleys and even climbing up onto a few sides of buildings along grated walkways and poor quality ladders, Fidun was relatively new and how such a run down looking area could exist despite its relative age was a mystery. All everyone knew was that it was a shithole and as such everyone tended to avoid it. As the group climbed down from a third story gantry back down into a small and very dark alley the crimescene became apparant, covered in a large white tent and with several barriers surrounding it. A few guards from the precinct stood watch, and the grafiti of runes and symbols on the walls became very much apparant. The actual witness house was just on the corner, a large block of flats which overlooked the small and dark cross roads between alleys. The enforcers noticed the groups approach immediately and seemed to bring their weapons to the ready, these were not anti crowd weapons, these were proper railcarbines.
"Halt. Who are you and what are you doing here?" One stepped forward to ask.
For a moment, Yvette simply froze.
She was, after all, a space pirate, and these were law enforcement. Sure, she frequently ran down the more pragmatically minded pirates and cut them down for 'ruining the image', but she was still a space pirate. Then she blinked a few times, and straightened up.
"We were sent by Todd to help investigate a string of murders. Suspected cult activity. He fell behind, though." she explained, as confidently as she could.
"Right, I'm with the lass, as well as these two here. I can provide the credentials here." Brun opened his palm, slowly, as his RAVD displayed the various texts of the conversations with Todd, Todd's credentials that the group was given in their unfortunate short time with him, and Brun's own investigative credentials, as much as they where worth now.
Kara was knelt over breathing heavily, the sprint to the crime scene took a lot out of her.
"Same... as... them." She got out before taking a moment and standing up right again.
"Yeah, same as them, here to investigate the murder and talk to a witness." She said again more coherently
The guards, roughly 4 in number eyed the group up as one stepped forward and pinged Bruns credentials.
"I see. You may pass" He stepped away and the four guards continued to stand around talking, they continued to glance at the group suspiciously but paid them no heed. After all countless strange and eccentric people came and went in Lost Star, the strange and crazy was the norm here despite how they were dressed.
"Your allowed to look at the scene, and the witness is just in there" The guard pointed "We aint allowed to interview her, standing orders to maintain site security"
With the entire area daubed in runes they all formed concentric circles spiralling inwards towards the tent. It was a basic concealment white tent for law enforcement with holographic barriers preventing entry. The group were allowed through and in the tent were confronted with the gruesome scene within. The victim lay splayed across elaborate and intricately carved and painted rune circles which hurt to look at. An ever present psychic field seemed to hang in this area, one which screamed abject terror and carnage. The victim was still blood eagled, their lungs ripped through their back and splayed across as wings. Nothing had been touched it seemed.
"Gross" Kara said to Arthur plainly
"You've got lungs inside your body too, its not that gross." he replied sarcastically
"I'm going to talk to the witness, i haven't got anything on me to analyse a crime scene." Kara said to the others before she walked out of the tent and towards the witness.
The Dectrothian felt that his skills where useful once more, as he set about investigating the crime scene, the runes where quickly sifted through his database and compared to others that he was shown by Todd, looking for similarities, any different hand movements to signal haste or calm, the 'writing material' being examined closely, before analyzing it all together, pushing it to a background process to examine the area itself, vantage points, signs of unusual disturbance, like that which could be caused by a struggle in the crime scene, looking for blood spatter associated with a cutting utensil and where the blood flowing from the blade could have went.
Holographic projections assisted him in his studies, files that Todd had given to the side of the RAVD, the runes being processed. Unfortunately for the Aug, he was not able to feel the psychic field, but his attention soon shifted to the victim, comparing the images from the other victims, here, then to the runes on their body, adding them to his database, before letting himself enter a static state, his eyes glowing orange as he sifted through the new information.
Yvette has imperceptibly breathed a sigh of relief as the others confirmed the reason for their presence.
Thank fuck someone brought IDs
She'd taken a look over the corpse, having to avoid breathing at all to minimise the space pirate's chance at retching, before nodding at Kara. Talking to people was always easier and, in her experience, more effective than poking corpses with sticks.
"Yeah...me neither..." she breathed, following behind.
The scene revealed based on the blood spatters, surprisingly little blood had actually been spilled compared the sheer level of mutilation which had taken place. Obviously the area was covered in it, but with the average amount in a human body it was not enough, the blood had been taken. The killing had happened gruesomely it seemed, hacks and slashes to kill before the mutilation and seemingly ritualistic killing had begun, each slice was part of a pattern but what that pattern was could not be discerned.
As Yvette and Kara exited the white tent they walked over to the small flat entrance, buzzing the side access panel the door opened and a small lobby was before them. The receptionist office was empty, leaving them to take the stairs with the elevators out of order. The witness was on the 4th floor, a seemingly good overview of the scene and the surrounding alleyways. No.28 was the flat, knocking on the door it was met by a small diminutive women with long ginger hair and freckles.
“Uh… Hello? Are you from the police?” She looked terrified.
Looking around him, studying the area, Brun tried to decipher why there wasn't enough blood, the question now stuck onto him like glue, where did the blood go, why was it taken, maybe vampirism? Or to be used in another ritual? What he'd give to have some of the resources he had while working under the DCI back. An Enigma would have proved wonderful to crack into secured networks here and investigate deeper.
For now his hands shifted into some semblance of surgery tools, taking the victim and examining the wounds, the body cavity, trying to gain insight on the cutting tool, the shape, blade groove, any further information on the murder weapon. Maybe some marks of what was used to drain the body would be found as well, the humanoid body might still be able to have imprints of materials, bruising, fibers or foreign objects on it. He might as well search, just to be sure.
"Yes ma'am, we're investigators looking into the recent murder that happened outside your apartment and we have some additional questions to ask you." Kara said professionally and politely to the woman
"Lying now Kara, real professional." Arthur said jokingly
"HA HA, real funny Arthur. Its not like my whole job revolves around lying and manipulation." She replied mockingly
"That we are! You got a name? Gotta have something to call you by." Yvette grinned warmly in an open and admittedly a little unprofessional manner.
She was a space pirate.
"As my companion here said, we need to know as much as you can tell us about what happened outside."
The victims body had seemed to be sliced open in critical places where major arteries had been located, the shape and type of the wounds indicating that whatever type of blade it was had been extremely jagged and non symetrical in its cutting edge. This was reinforced by the ritualised cuts and slices which had been engraved in and the large slices on the back through the ribs which had allowed them to blood eagle the poor soul. The murder weapon had been sharp despite its jaggedness, wickedly sharp. Perhaps monomolecular in nature? There was no quarterising so it couldnt have been any energy or plasma based blade. But for any specialised blood draining tools no evidence was found beyond the arterial cuts.
There was however a plethora of fingerprints on the victim, it would take time to analyse given that there was many different ones from different individuals some not even human.
--
"Uh my name is... Liz, come... Come in" She gestured for Kara and Yvette to enter her apartment, checking the corridor before closing the door. Liz seemed extremely paranoid.
The apartment was small, a studio esque affair with an en suit bathroom, kitchen, bed and living room all in one open space. It was quite drab, greys and more greys although she had tried to brighten the place up with some sports posters from Lost Star circuits, Union Grand Racing team images and Notable racing Serstine. On her table was a mug of hot coffee and a large drawing interface.
"I know its not great but please sit" She gestured to the sofa in the corner by the window, which looked down onto the scene below.
"Can I get you both anything?" She seemed to be shaking. Liz was terrified.
The interesting shape of the cuts drew some interest to the Dectrothian, kneeling over the body to analyze the cuts closer. Pushing open the wound slightly, he glanced over his shoulder to keep an eye out for security, while his finger opened up to form a sort of miniature scissor and cut a small 1 inch square of the affected skin that was cut by the blade. He deposited the sample into his wrist, the cybernetics already making a scan of the flesh and performing tests.
Meanwhile, his eyes glanced over the multitude of fingerprints that where exposed to his adjusted vision, making scans and copies of the prints, noting their locations and any residual bruises around some of the prints to determine which belonged to potential assailants. Also of note was those prints that seemed linear to the cuts, as if bracing themselves against the body to make them, if they had.
He was almost done here, looking around, making a few more scans of the environment, looking for any cameras or surveillance objects that could give him an image of what the crime scene looked like before and after the assault. He would like to find footage of the attack happening, but these seemed to be professionals.
"Nothing for me thank you." Kara replied taking a seat.
"So i wanted to ask about what you saw in regards to the murder that happened just outside. More specifically i wanted to try and form a timeline of events, if you could take us from the start of your recollection." Kara asked politely
"Nah, I'm good." Yvette waved off the offer with a smile, leaning on the back of the sofa. "Place reminds me a little of home, actually." Yvette mused, the corner of her mouth pulling into a smirk. "Wonder how it's doing."
"Anyway!" she snapped back to the task at hand. "Yeah, what my companion here said. Every detail helps. Don't rush, every detail could be critical, alright? Take a minute to collect your thoughts."
The tests yielded no discernable drugs or changes in the subject that may have indicated if they were drunk or under the influence of something else. Natural decay was seemingly the only thing occuring and nothing seemed out of place. There were however other prints on the victim, some were human but others were not, clearly these attackers were multi species possibly as some sort of trans species cult given the situation and general overview of what Tod had told them before his untimely death. As for any cameras there were none, although the lobby of the building in which Kara and Yvette had entered appeared to have a camera, perhaps it had seen something even if it had not seen the entire thing.
Liz nodded quietly, pouring herself something in what seemed to take an age in silence before she turned away from the small kitchen of the unit and back towards the two of them. Sitting in a small chair she took a sip of a hot beverage before beginning.
"I had just finished a large commission for someone and was about to head to sleep at around two in the morning when I heard a violent scream. Something like that you dont really forget, so I looked out of my window cautiously and saw some figures assaulting a poor guy I dont know who he is or was I swear. The lighting was poor and I was terrified but the attackers were wearing dark hoods and a few of them were rather large probably not human." She stopped for a moment "The screams that followed... I didnt know someone could make those noises, they tortured the poor person, I saw them drawing things into the ground that hurt to look at but by then I had barricaded my door. I was scared that they would see me and try get me too" She looked petrified and she had gone somewhat white from remembering the events.
The camera was a breath of fresh air for Brun, the prints on the body lead him to Ancnet search for violent, religious trans-species cults operating in and around Lost Star, it was a long shot but even a group name would be a breakthrough, or other groups related to this one. He took one last glance over the crime scene, still running the fingerprints in the background of his mind to search the criminal database for who they might belong to, before heading into the building's lobby. Upon just stepping into the door, his head suddenly flared in pain, making the Dectrothian grab his head and grimace. He hadn't put his mind to use this much since he was in service, and after months of inactivity, the augs didn't like sudden usage amounts being thrown at it. His head clicked and whirred in anguish, he clenched his teeth, his temples flexing, before the pain slowly cascaded away, leaving him panting heavily in the doorway.
He let out a loud sigh, dialing back the ongoing processes to priority searches and use only, before looking around the lobby, getting a feel for the camera view and any other witnesses, even a person behind a desk, who may have seen additional evidence. If no one was around, he'd move to the camera.
"Dark hooded figures, blood curdling screams and symbols on the ground that hurt to look at, that last one is an interesting one. I recommend we follow up with that for more clues, take me to the window so i can see the scene from here and visualise the incident" Arthur said with a more serious tone.
Kara stood up and walked over to the window taking in a long and focused gaze of the surrounding area so Arthur could look into it with more detail then what the human eye could. Kara feeling bad for the woman went over and put her hands on the woman's shoulders.
"Thank you very much for the information, you've been a great help to us. We'll talk to our superiors and have patrols increased around this area so you can sleep soundly at night." Kara said comforting Liz.
"When you're done here go to the roof of the building so i can get a full view of the surrounds, please" Arthur interrupted
"Hmm..." Yvette rubbed her chin with a gloved hand, moving to the window once Kara moved away, looking down at the scene and furrowing her brow. She wasn't an investigator by trade, but knew they needed everything they could get.
"I know you said it was dark, but is there any detail about these, uh...figures, that you can remember?" she asked. "Any symbols on their hoods, any particular phrases they uttered that stood out? Understandable or otherwise, like something they might've repeated a lot? You can write it down if you don't wanna risk summoning a demon or something." she joked with a chuckle. "Every detail helps."
The lobby was practically empty, only a few fake pot plants and some posters were the things which garnered the most attention and both were already worn. There was no one behind the desk, and judging by the thin layer of dust there likely hadnt been for several days at least. Still the searches came up with numerous religious cults, the CDG and others but none which really matched the MO of this, but one of the sets of finger prints did come up with a name.
Emanuel Vant. Supposedly he was a dock worker, quite low down and with a previous criminal record in drug running. It was a lead at least.
The camera itself however proved less of a help, its view range was just outside of where the event had happened but it was a simple affair and accessing it remotely for the footage was childs play. The playback revealled the camera catching 5 individuals walking past the lobby entrance all in black attire and some being fairly large, the unmistakable frame of an Auraxii could be made out, and the lithe frame of a Cylaurian in all likelyhood.
---
Liz nodded cupping her brew tightly "Thank you." She nodded to Kara.
"They were not talking galactic standard, some sort of... I dunno special langauge? Could be alien I suppose... Two of them were not human one was very tall the other very large. They kept repeating the same phrase again and again" She took a sip.
"'Alg Drath Ortan' I dont know what it means sorry"
"I've done a search of the net to cross reference those symbols on the ground, they've been seen on multiple planets here in the Ancerious galaxy but it seems that they were seen during an event in the Union of Worlds called the Draken War. There's not much here availiable for public acess beyond this. I'll forward it up the chain, this is likely a job for that malaise Diplomatic AI, i can't stand that pretentious line of code." Arthur said with a tone of disgust when talking about the other AI.
"I won't worry about the roof then, but can you run a search on that phrase 'Alg Drath Ortan'. See what it means and what language it is." Kara replied plainly ignoring the AI's gripes.
"I've got nothing more to ask her Yvette, if you're done too we should meet up with our other co-worker. I'll be outside waiting if your not done yet." Kara said to her as she made for the exit
"Adieu Liz, you've been a great help." Kara waved to her as she left the apartment.
"Nah, that's all I've got too. Stay safe Liz." Yvette shook her head to Kara, before spinning and, as she strode backwards out the door, gave the woman a smile, a wink and a finger pistol with a click of the tongue.
"Well." she sighed as they moved off. "More than we had before. I think."
Having logged the name of the dock worker, and getting the images from the camera, he was able to convert them into files that he could then easily share with his other co-investigators. He soon began to walk up to the witness to check on the progress before encountering the two, very mismatching figures coming down the way "I've got several leads, first of which would be Emanuel Vant, a Dock Worker who's fingerprints where on the victim."
He moved to follow them back into the lobby "There was a total of five assailants, one Auraxii and possibly one Cylaurian in that mix. The weapon used might have been a monomolecular blade, and while the blood was drained from the body, there was no use of specialized tools used for that purpose." He glanced over the two, looking them over "What did you two uncover?"
Liz nodded "Thank you, thank you for listening I thought nobody would come. I hope you get them and give them the justice they deserve but more importantly stop them so that this never happens again" She smiled as she saw them out the door. With a click the apartment door locked once more.
With that the three of them were alone in the corridor.
With the information on Vant it appeared his apartment was worlds away, located in the docks over on Ring two, it would be a serious journey but one which delayed the question, how did such a lowly dock worker on Ring 2 get to Ring 3 so easily and for what purpose?
"We got a phrase the assailants were muttering; 'Alg Drath Ortan'. Which means 'Only as One', the translation comes from some old runes and the symbols they carved everywhere have similarities to those found by the Union of Worlds in their home dimension in a conflict called the Draken war. We got the same number of assailants as you did from the witness." Kara explained flatly.
"If we can find these Vant, we should go question them immediately." She remarked seriously.
"If they're there to be found, at least." Yvette shrugged once Kara was done explaining. "Still, if we can find their home, we might be able to find something there. If we need transport, I got a ship over in the docks. FTL drive's a bust but she can fly around here just fine. If we don't want local transport, that is. Tends to be kinda, er...how do you say 'unpleasant' kindly?" she asked, semi-rhetorically, offering a humoured smile.
A slight chuff of a laugh escaped his lips at the thought of public transport here in Lost Star, Yvette's ship would be a good idea to lay somewhat low, which was ironic considering the flashy flair of the pirate's dress. The questions for the rest of the information could wait, and they could all dissect them once they where out of here "Sounds like a good start, let's work our way back out of the riots here and get to this ship of yours, Yvette. I'm actually curious to see how your ship looks."
Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure to take another facial scan of the members of the police force while they where heading out. If this group had infiltrated into the ranks, having a database on file of who they talked to would be a boon. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use it, but he could never be too cautious.
The group moved out from the area back down the various small alley ways and backroutes avoiding the main thoroughfairs but it was rapidly becoming clear that the weekly food riots had ebbed out and that the enforcers had managed to attain the upper hand. People lay or sat in small alley ways, covered in dirt, some with blood, resting from the days events or too scared to go back out to try get home. They would have to make their way past the enforcer precinct on the way to the docks again and stepping out into the main road where they had come before the scene was a total warzone.
Bodies of either dead or injured lined the street, remains of plaques and boards saying 'give us food' and 'end the tyranny' lay strewn about the place broken and discarded when they mob had broken and run from the gunfire. A few individuals rushed around, checking bodies and the injured, some attempted to provide aid where they could, others were just looting what they could find.
Up ahead a wall of riot shields signified the enforcement detatchment, behind them a small APC mounting both a microwave anti riot device and a .50 calibre machine gun. They didnt move at all, and in fact carefully watched the group as they made their way out onto the street.
"Identify yourselves" The call came over a loudspeaker from the APC "Keep your weapons where we can see them"
"This is how it ends, mowed down by the people who emplyed you in a misunderstnading. I'll see you at resuss i guess." Arthur said bemused with the situation. Kara simply ignored simply ignored the AI.
"We're private investigators hired by Todd to help the precinct with an investigation." Kara yelled back at the APC.
"What she said!" Yvette added, keeping her hands in the open. "We're just on our way back to speaking to a witness!"
Only now did it occur to her maybe she'd brought the wrong kind of attire.
Whatever.
Brun gave a sigh, it'd probably do these Law Enforcement Officers some good if they had integrated IFFs. Though to be fair, he wasn't sure that they didn't. He'd love to have the ability to connect to the network on Lost Star that some of the other Dectrothians had set up, but it was a little too closed-in for his taste. He put both of his hands up "I have our credentials here." pointing to his palm with the outstretched finger of his other hand, the hand in question glowing dully, providing the same information he had given to the Enforcers at the crime scene.
"Any news on the food riots? Seems you gents are kitted up for an attack." He added as small talk, hoping to cool the jets of the other officers.
"Yea, they got put down what are you blind?" Shouted one of the members in reply.
There was a few moments before some sort of laser light onto Bruns hand before disappearing.
"Your clear to pass, as far as we are aware Todd was likely killed, but the fucks have run off with his body. Seems to be a regular occurrence when one of ours goes down" Another called out. Two enforcers stepped back, opening a hole in the shield wall for the party to move through. Once they were past the enforcers resealed the line, but most eyed them with suspicion anyway, after all these folks were used to near constant warzone conditions with the locals.
Several enforcers stood behind the wall with the APC, two carrying grenade launchers although whether they were loaded with crowd dispersing gas or actual fragmentation explosives was another matter entirely. The last man seemed to be in charge and was who had answered them. He was taking a smoke before stubbing it out on the floor.
"Where are you guys going? This entire areas pretty dangerous, dont want our boys to accidentally shoot you" There was a murmur of laughs from the shield wall "You tell me and I can help you get there quickly and without issue, precinct? Docks? Hell the cafeteria?" He chuckled.
Kara looked around at the enforcers as they passed through the shield wall, looking directly at their equipment and weapons before she looked at the one that was talking to them.
"We're headed to the docks where we hope to question a person of interest in relation to the case." She said seriously having another look around
"Tell me, do you ever find the bodies they take?" She questioned the enforcer
Ignoring the negative banter from the enforcers, Brun gave a look at the men who he saw, continually adding to the facial recognition list he was compiling, the dull orange glow of his eyes sweeping over the lot of them. His eyes soon locked to the grenade launchers, giving them careful study, going over every detail he could and constructing a wireframe copy of the details he could see, meshing it together with known grenade launchers in service with the DCI and he soon had a template, if he could access a 3D printer, that is. This would allow Brun to construct a grenade launcher that wouldn't need the complicated RAVD or gyrojet ammunition the Dectrose had employed.
Still, he had nothing but his pistol and his augments to rely on, perhaps he could obtain a rifle at some point, though he figured access to a printer would be better as it would work around any possible censorship of designs in Lost Star.
"Aye, we're going to the docks. Have our own way to progress from there, away from the streets 'n all." Yvette nodded with a lackadaisical smile. "Though I'll keep the cafe in mind for after, eh?" she added with a chuckle.
Normally police and law enforcement--if you wanted to call it law enforcement here--didn't much bother Yvette, either they'd leave her alone or she'd have to make her gun a little lighter and practice some cardio.
This many officers, and with such weaponry, put the space pirate on edge. But, she refused to let it show. She was on a job for them after all, wasn't she?
"Docks aye? Yea we can do that, here come with me" The enforcer gestured for them to follow him down to another tiny side street where several squads were resting or receiving medical treatment, and where three APCs had been parked. He pointed for the group to climb aboard.
"Nah, we don't usually find the bodies. Occasionally we find bits of equipment but the rest is always gone, the fucks wont even let us bury our dead. I guess its their way of getting revenge on us" He shrugged before turning to the man inside the APC drivers seat "Take these to the docks, they have clearance." The man then saluted.
"Good luck out there" He commented as the doors were shut and the APC head off. Inside it was surprisingly spacious, but then it had to contain full riot gear armed enforcers and their equipment. The APC otherwise was a box, its sides and bottom sloped to prevent IED damage and this particular variant had a grenade launcher RWS on top, supposedly armed with teargas. It wasn't too far from the docks, thankfully the enforcer HQ was close to the area mostly for ease of handling ins and outs, and during the riots the docks were always locked down tight until it was over. As such the APC drove down various streets, many lined with enforcers moving to new locations, barely visible through the tiny vision slits until the driver activated a system which turned the entire vehicles interior invisible. Using special screens and holographics they could now see outside as if the vehicle skin was not there. A handy feature to help survey and drive.
Still the docks were like the rest on Lost Star, huge open regions of multiple vertically and horizontally tiered ship berths, only here it seemed less built up with infrastructure. The APC pulled up and the driver turned around.
"We are here" The rear door opened, revealing whole teams of enforcers and other APCs keeping an eye on the crowds around the dock.
"Seems the docks is no different. We should get to the suspects apartment quickly." Arthur said quickly to Kara as she disembarked
"Thanks for the ride over here." Kara shouted to the driver before turning to her co-workers.
"We shouldn't tarry around here for too long in case things go south again and more of us get dragged away by the crowds." Kara said affirmatively to Brun and Yvette.
"Right." Brun replied, following the group, and more importantly, the ship owner to her vessel. The docks brought back a lot of old memories. He could still recall with his stored memories of the first day he took on his job in the DCI, and took a moment to review it as he awaited the pirate lass' direction to her ship.
Yvette strode to the lead, hands in her pockets and a smile on her face, giving the driver a thankful wave and a wide grin as she headed off. Away from the enforcers and approaching her ship, the space pirate felt a damn sight more comfortable. She turned, glancing at the people following her.
"She should be in, uh...Berth D-18. Not, too far from here, I don't think. Don't fall behind!" she laughed, picking up the pace.
Indeed it wasn't, and the ship Yvette apparently owned was a far sight from what the usual freelancer pirate did.
Long and needle-like with a fin on the dorsal prow and five engines on its rear, the vessel looked largely built for speed. Three twin-barrelled gun turrets sat on a rotary ring near the engines, just ahead of a seemingly decorative tower and a ventral fin and behind the two apparent intakes just below its middle, a pair of torpedo tubes near its nose. It was a noticeable bit smaller than those fielded by many colonials, but this vessel was quite clearly a destroyer, 'AER ARCA ARCHA' proudly emblazoned on its prow.
Yvette seemed quite proud of it.
The crew, maintaining Yvette's style mixing age of sail and spacetech wear with the XO wearing a durag, gave the guests strange looks as she led them to the bridge, Yvette dismissing them with a wave.
"Don't mind my friends, laddies, we're just making a short trip."
"...Alright, your call. Where we going?" the XO nodded as the assorted readouts and digital viewports lining the CIC lit up.
"Breaker Yards. Quicker and safer than this place's public transport." Yvette shrugged.
"That it is. Alright. Helm, inform the dockmaster and bring us out."
"Aye aye sir. Hauling anchor and hauling ass."
The leaving of Fidun district docks wasn’t exactly an easy affair, getting leaving clearance took around half an hour and going through 5 different dock managers. Half the ships coming and going didn’t even acknowledge the clearance or protocols and there was one near fatal collision as the vessel got out into open space between two haulers. But in the end they managed to escape the hell hole of Fidun and made it out into the area between the great rings.
Out here it was clear to see the sheer scale and majesty of the triple ring world, wrapped around the Accirus systems star like a giant comic rendition of an atomic nucleus, the capital of the galaxy or so it was called. Quite fitting, but despite its lick of paint still the hive of scum and villainy it had always been. The trip wasn’t that long, only 7 hours to travel between the rings on a designated course route along with countless other ships all heading to their destination. The difference was that most of the ships which now travelled beside them were old, very old. All junkers, cast offs, damaged vessels or sold scrap every single one being taken to the monolithic Breaker yards for scrapping and processing. The Breaker yards were renowned on Lost Star and for good reason, those that worked there modified themselves to break down the ships they were given with the leadership of the place belonging to those who had augmented themselves with bodies the size of military Colossi or even small space craft, able to break ships on their own.
Their target, Emanuel Vant was a worker of the processing docks. Those individuals who straddled the line between official breaker and dock worker. He helped bring the ships in to dock and held them ready for when they were brought in for proper breaking, handling incoming and docking paperwork for the organisation. He had as the records showed, joined up with the organisation due to a criminal record in drug running and several assault cases, given the Breakers did not care about background and protected their own it seemed to be a smart move.
But why would he travel to Fidun? Let alone commit a cult killing.
As the vessel came into one of the civilian docks near the Breaker yard they were going to have to find him, and then discover why.
Kara was surprised that Yvette had such a pleasant ship and with a unique style. It did leave a little to be desired but she put that down to just being apart of the Aesthetic.
"Just a small peek?" Arthur pestered Kara. He had wanted to rummage around the system of Yvette's ship as a means of satiating his curiosity, but Kara had denied his request several times already.
"No means no Arthur, if you ask me again I'm going to go to your data centre and put my foot into what ever looks like it your ass." She rebuked annoyed.
"I know you're just as curious as i am to find out more on Yvette, it'll just a probe nothing more." Arthur replied sarcastically.
"I'll tell Monica that you were being annoying again and she'll have you defragging for a week again." Kara responded proudly to Arthur, having played her trump card.
"Very well, consider the subject dropped." There was a hint for worry in the AI's simulated voice.
Kara took in the view of the breaker yards as the ship made its final approach, she hoped that the authorities here were made aware of their investigation and would wave them through if they were confronted.
The ship was.. appealing, to say the least. Fitting even for the pirate lass. But for the most part, Brun kept to himself, and kept quiet, settling himself in a corner to relax, or 'shut down' as other humans would call it. He reviewed the day's events, logging and cataloguing everything neatly, going over details inside his augmented mind of the evidence they had collected. He was doubtful that their target was anything more than possibly a bystander, or even involved. But as far as leads go, he was the only promising one.
Without much in the way for any real entertainment, he idly fiddled around with what he had on him, the makeshift pistol, his slowly receding dermal armor, tune-ups on his limbs that hadn't seen an actual Aug Specialist since the Stratocracy collapsed, connecting to various networks to see what the latest news was. Where he was going, he knew there would definitely be Dectrothians, and he's aware many have sympathies to the Brass Anvil Fleet. He wasn't one to get involved with that sort, anything that kept his head down and out of the line of fire for most of the galaxy was preferable. Though this job was promising, better than he has had in a long time here on Lost Star.
Only time will tell if he was right. Ancestors know what would happen if he chose poorly.
Yvette had made sure to keep an eye on the others during their trip--or at least keep someone else keep an eye on them. Guests or not, they were still effectively strangers and the space pirate didn't want them rummaging around her ship.
Still, she didn't seem tremendously fussed, legs up on a table as the ship came into dock. She swung her legs off and bounded to her feet, cracking her fingers and finishing the last of her drink as she was pinged to let them know they'd arrived. The captain raised her hand to her ear.
"Arright lads, same as before. XO, you've got the ship till I come back. Keep 'er safe."
"Aye aye, cap. Don't die out there."
"Will do." she nodded, lowering her hand and starting off for the airlock. She glanced over her shoulder as they walked, a beaming grin on her face.
"Alright lads and or lasses, let's get goin'! We've got a right spooky fella to track down."
The docks here were at least in better condition than those at Fidun, although the quality of the ships entering them were very much barely able to fly. In some cases not even able to do that as they were dragged in via tugs. Still just pulling up and entering the docks wasn't as simple as just finding a berth and parking it up. Park in the wrong berth here and your ship was as good as signed off to be salvaged, instead there was a dedicated sub section for directed traffic where deliveries of new workers, resources and essentials were brought without their ships 'mysteriously' ending up in the scrap breaking yards, although there were plenty of instances of those 'mysterious' disappearances happening anyway.
It took another hour to negotiate a landing berth with the Breaker yards as they were currently having a large inflow of essentials and new workers and the coming and going of large transporter ships showed just how tightly packed things got. Still once it was done a berth was freed and the vessel was able to properly dock.
This section of the entry dock was kept moderately well, and the cacophony of sounds with the large starship engines and the moving of resources around from the docks themselves made it so things were barely audible. Still they had to find this Emanuel Vant, or at least someone who knew him, not an easy task in one of the major faction segments of Lost Star. The docks led to several areas, the actual breaker docks for the starships that were moored and stored for breaking, the actual Breaker yards themselves, the supporting maintenance and living areas for such, the great forges and processing units and of course there was the dockmaster office of these docks themselves. Plenty of options for those who needed to track the bastard down.
"Alright, since I'm the only augmented humanoid here, I think I'll look for him around the breaker areas, head to the office and apply for a job, hopefully I'll get a free tour and we can find our man that way. If either of you wish, you can keep in touch with me on my network frequency, and I can give you updates on my progress. Otherwise we can meet back here in a few hours, sound good?" Brun brushed off his shoulders, listening to the other's plans.
"We should talk to local law enforcement and try to see if we can find where this guy lives, and get background information on him. If these people are dangerous it might be better to have some sort of backup." Kara said plainly to Yvette and Brun.
"Arthur can you check the net for this guy and see if he has anything on social media we can use." She asked the AI politely
"Just for you Kara, I'll run the check now." Arthur responded proudly
"He works in the Yards, right?" Yvette piped up, thumbs hooked in the pockets of her coat. "What makes you think the enforcers know this guy much? If anyone knows him it's his coworkers. We should find out where in the yards he works and work from there." she suggested. "Though they might not be inclined to tell strangers much if they think we're up to something. Let's try and not mention the enforcers, aye?"
The check on social media was fairly quick, Emanuel had several accounts on game sites and also two of the largest social media sites on the Ancnet including AnceriousHub. He didn't post that much and a quick go over of his history was mainly him posting shares of his game exploits or the occasional comment about the repression of unaligned at the hands of the colonials. Judging from the details on his page he was middle aged and from some back water world once part of Metropolis space but had left quite early on. Still his last post seemed to be only several days ago, some new game achievement or some such, it was a good sign that he was at least recently active and that there was a good chance he was still here.
But as for local law enforcement, it was easy to check up. There was none, not in the Breaker yard. The Breakers like all the other closed clique organisations on Lost Star kept their own domains to themselves and ensured that whatever happened there was their business alone, so long as it didnt affect the rest of Lost Star. It seemed there was no help coming from that quarter.
Information on his social media outlet once again yielded his supposed position. As described before he was a dock worker, meant to help more and ready the ships to be taken on to the breaking yards proper but they had no idea of his shifts, exact position within such or exactly where he was within the docks. It was still very much up in the air.
"Alright, I'll go check out the apartment. Hopefully i find something there." Kara said plainly as she turned towards Yvette.
"Where are you gonna go pirate queen?" Kara asked the woman sarcastically.
As the shuttle doors opened a Relic women walked out calmly, her arms crossed as she looked around a bit " mhm seems like the place...okay...lets see what i can get hm" she thought as she sighed softly seeming a bit tired but shook it off as she walked to the breaker yards hoping to find some people to get a idea on where Emanuel is at or at least where he was seen the most.
Aoi Yoshida stepped lightly off the shuttle, hand tight on the hilt of her hikatana as she squinted against the changing light levels. As a mercenary and private investigator she had found that a full-length vitredeur sword stuck out like a sore thumb, so these days she carried a rare holoblade model, a simple hilt which generated a blade of pure hardlight, much smaller and easier to conceal but useless when deactivated. Beneath her skirts was an old model Bretannish pistol, and a tanto knife was hidden in one of her sleeves.
Despite all this, in her embroidered silks she looked like the definition of a tourist, well-dressed and slightly out of place. Her dark eyes took in the scene around her, even as the alien that called herself Lori strolled off into the dockyards. Aoi considered following her, but dismissed the idea briefly. The Relic woman seemed to be following her instincts rather than any deductive reasoning, and besides Aoi had no desire to split the reward money if she had to. Instead, taking her time to observe the area, it took Aoi only a moment to figure out the rough 'uniform', such as it was, of the dock workers and spot a building in the distance that had figures loitering outside, quite possibly the area's foreman office or a canteen, something like that. If she was going to find a single dock worker in this giant place, it was going to be there.
She set out, her pace casual and her steps short, her pristine red-white-black clothing with its gold embroidery practically gleaming.
His mind made up already, the Dectrothian was simply waiting for the pirate lass to decide where she was going before departing. It definitely seemed that the lass would go with him, and he would just have to improvise based on her plan. Though with the commotion in the yards, his eyes caught the odd pair out as they exited a nearby shuttle, the dull, orange glow crossing over them both, looking them over and quickly coming to the realization that they where likely competitors, or more than likely, looking for roughly the same thing. It was curious that they knew to come to the yards first, meaning whoever they where with, had some impressive intelligence skills. Without a word, Brun started to follow the pair, with his augmentations, beaten appearance and several other Dectrothians in the yards, Brun would slowly fit right in with the crowd of breakers, tailing the newcomers.
Yvette shrugged as she scanned their surroundings.
"That depends. I'm no master detective and not everyone likes speaking to a space pirate." she muttered, rubbing her chin with a gloved hand. Admittedly, this maybe wasn't a job she was entirely suited to. Still, she didn't intend on backing out, or being a burden.
"Either o' you two need some company?" she asked, glancing in Alice's direction.
"Our mutual friend might have buddies who wouldn't appreciate you snooping out his apartment, you wanna risk dealing with that by your lonesome?"
As the two new arrivals and the three who were now planning went about their discussions the crowds of entering ships continued to lead on. The huge open space before them had only one exit but that branched out into all the various locations of the Breaker yard. Up ahead was a security customs like arrangements, with entry and exit gates, only instead of traditional security guards large Breaker Ironheads stood overseeing the automated system watching people go in and out.
It was an interesting affair as those with and without weapons were allowed inside without issue. After all the Breaker yards was a mostly ‘lawless’ zone with emphasis on personal freedoms, but if you upset the balance or the code you were disposed of extremely quickly. The crowds moved through the in and out gates in simple enough fashion and they would have to go through them too, until an alarm sounded on one of the exit gates, and a man quickly pushed through several people and tried to make a break for it.
“Hey get back here!” The Ironheads shouted in their gruff deep tones, two of them vaulting the perimeter to chase after him.
“Someone stop him! Anyone!” One of them shouted while another unholsted his large semi-automatic weapon and levelled it and the man running away. Immediately the crowd tried to clear seeing the weapon being drawn up and not wanting to get in the line of fire. The runner seemed to be a dockyard worker, unaugmented and carrying some large object in a carry bag. He zig zagged as he tried to make himself a hard target, trying to run for any ship he could. A burst of fire came out from the security but none hit.
“We will pay for his capture or death!” The second shouted as several more security came out and frantically ran to keep up.
All now heading towards the two groups.
Aoi stopped in her tracks and watched the man. Once, perhaps, she would have paused for thought, but her days of moralising were over. Disorder was disorder. Waiting for his path to bring him close to her, she gripped the hilt of her holokatana with one hand, discretely turning a selector which dialed down the power of the hardlight blade to 'stun', another convenience not available to conventional vitredeur hikatanas.
As he staggered past she struck. With one fluid movement she swept out the sword, a bright red blade coalescing in the air even her left hand came up to grip the hilt as it swept in a two-handed flat arc towards the fugitive's chest.
There was a hiss, a crackle and a bang as the man was knocked down, his feet flying up in the air as he tumbled under the blade.
She continued the swinging motion, releasing her left hand and raising the glowing blade into the air as a marker for the pursuing Ironheads, standing silently over their quarry.
Yvette had been caught somewhat by surprise by the incident. Not its happening in and of itself--this wasn't even worthy of a footnote in Lost Star news--but more that it headed in their direction.
Still, the space pirate had been halfway drawing one of her hand cannons when Aoi stepped in, dispatching the man in one fell swoop.
"...I still woulda shot him in the leg in time if Miss Fantasy hadn't done...that." Yvette muttered, circling around to the scene, eyes locked onto the carry bag. Her pistol had been slid back into it's holster, but her hand remained on its grip.
"Watcha tryin'a run off with here, buddy?" she chuckled.
"Take a look at the man before these other two crazies make him unrecognisable. I'll run a check to see what he's guilty of." Arthur said plainly.
"Will do." Kara said
She simply walked over to the man now on the ground and lifted up his head to her face for a second before pushing it away and looking up at the maniac with a sword.
"What's your name stranger?" She simply said to Aoi.
Aoi lowered the blade, the tip hovering near the captured runaway. People were flocking to the scene like carrion birds around a corpse, and she had no intention of letting anyone make off with his cargo before the Ironheads caught up to them. It had not been a huge effort on her part, but she was already anticipating the reward money and, in her current state of affairs every scrap of coinage counted.
She turned an impassive, cold gaze towards Kara. "I am Alcea," she said, using a pseudonym she occasionally employed from time to time. Ingrained habits died hard and she was not willing to simply snub the woman, but nor did she intend to actually divulge any information.
lori looked watching at the man was taken down and walked over looking carefully as she looked to the others and crossed her arms keeping some what silent as this happened so she looked at the man who was out for the count, something about this felt odd....why did this man run?? why did thoses people care for this guy...didn't help she got a uneasy feeling before looking back at the others.
the Relic kept quite but her cat like eyes watching the others didn't help give that uneasy feeling to she was a bit creepy......but then again this was a relic thing most were able to have animal eyes like lori's most don't and have normal human eyes, so it could be seen she had questions she wanted to know.
Within the crowd, and having been one of the people halfway toward the newcomers, Brun had watched as the man was put down. Walking briskly to the downed man, he waited for Kara to release him before grabbing the man's hand and running his fingerprints through his database from those at the crime scene earlier. Doing so as quickly as he can to beat the arrival of the Ironheads to ensure that this was or wasn't their target.
He wasn't very talkative as he did so, simply checking the man to see if this was Vant or not. If it was, he'd have to talk fast to the Ironheads approaching, if not, then he would have to continue the plan for searching the yards for him. He looked around as well into the crowd, running the facial recognition program to see if any standing around him where the target.
The man grimaced as he was stunned and hit the floor, now restrained he looked back to see the Ironheads slowly and methodically running over. He looked up to those around him especially Yvette who had asked him a question.
“They have to know! Get it out of here!” He just managed to discreetly throw a small chip across the floor, hoping to have it stop under Yvettes shoe to be concealed before Brun began to take his fingerprints and Kara had come over to him. Immediately it became clear that he was not Emanuel Vant which was at least a start and none of the surrounding faces in the docks who were observing the commotion were either, but for the briefest moment Bruns software and his own sight thought he could make out Todd before he disappeared. Whether it had been a glitch or he had actually been there nothing came up now it seemed.
The search for whatever had happened did not come up on the Ancnet or local net, clearly whatever this crime was could either be way too sudden to have been put up yet or it was something that nobody wanted public. The man twitched with Kara holding his head.
“If you’re going to kill me do it, it will be more painless than what they have planned for me. Do it! Do it!” He pleaded. The two Ironheads now finally got close, their footfalls of the hugely bulked out and augmented individuals thumping the ground.
“We appreciate your efforts, you may move along now and we will handle this from here. Collect your reward at the post up ahead” One of the two said moving over to where Alcea, Kara and Brun were almost on top of the guy. The second walked to Yvette and Lori who were off to one side.
“He didn’t say anything to you did he?”
Yvette, while she fancied herself as more moral than a lot of pirates out there, being the sort to leave you unharmed and with an intact--if in fresh need of comms equipment--ship if you cooperated with her, but she knew a plead that knew well what was being said when she heard one. Her face remained unmoving, but indeed her boot shifted ever so slightly, allowing the chip to slide and remain pinned under the sole without her weight crushing it.
The space pirate perked up when the Ironhead spoke to her, pausing ever so briefly.
"Hm? Nah, just the usual 'the sheeple need to know' drivel some conspiracy theorist or crackhead spiel out every now and again." she shook her head with a smirk, hooking her thumbs in the pockets of her longcoat.
"Probably some crap about spiders being the government or something."
Shaking his head, the Dectrothian tried to clear out the cobwebs, true his augmentations hadn't seen this much use in a long while, but visual glitches, if Todd was one, was alarming at best. Still, this wasn't his target, and though the chip was slipped past his gaze, he stopped and paused for a moment as he tried to decide what to do with this new development. He straightened up, looked around again before starting to speak out "Yve-" before quickly shutting that train of thought down.
He glanced at the pirate, true, he did internally trust her the most, mostly because, well, there's absolutely no way she had ulterior motives. They would be clearer than her style of dress if that was the case. Still, he decided to tell the group later about the Todd bit, if they thought he was on the fritz, they might drop him off, and he was much too invested to stop now.
Kara simply stood back and let Yvette do the talking, it wasn't the man they were looking for but now they had something else they could look into with whatever was on the chip under Yvettes foot. She shuffled over to Alcea and offered her hand.
"I'm Kara, so do you normally make a habit of stopping people in the streets." She said cheerfully to the woman.
Aoi raised an eyebrow as Kara shuffled closer - she had seen the man pass the chip to Kara, but had no intention of intervening. She deactivated her holoblade, the weapon disappearing back into its own hilt, and stepped away from the commotion.
"If I am paid to do so, yes," she replied stiffly, shaking Kara's hand for a bare second. "Speaking of which, please excuse me,"
With that she turned and began to stride towards the office the Ironheads had indicated, her rich bottle-green ponytail swaying as she walked, the two orbs of light over her head clearly marking her position in the crowd, drawing attention. At the office, she presented herself at the front desk.
"I just stopped that fugitive outside. Your men said there was a reward?"
Lori looked at the ironhead that stood to her and Yvette she crossed her arms and looked at the man softly who was pleading to them before looking at the person ahead of them now “ yeah...just crap of a crazy man....” she said to the ironhead ,looked to Yvette a bit before looking back, it had made her slightly uneasy the man was begging them to kill him...what were they going to do to him? She wondered to herself not saying anything else but keeping close to Yvette just in case something was to happen tho.
The man seemed to see Yvette purposefully conceal the chip, and for a brief moment his face of desperation turned to one of relief before then to one of terror as the Ironheads went to try take him.
As Aoi released the man the Ironheads picked him up, their hyperstimulised muscles and huge implanted exoskeletons making them far more powerful than the small person who was in their custody. They smelt awful honestly, but they were paid for security not looks and hygiene. They turned to Yvette and Lori who had both indicated some sort of incessant nonsense and they nodded almost in concert.
“Thank you for your honesty, we apologise for the disruption.” With an almost clinical fashion they turned as one and dragged the man away back towards the main entrance for the docks. With the commotion now over the crowds seemed to slowly disperse just going back to what they were doing. Still the datachip was still under Yvettes foot, picking it up would reveal at a cursory glance quite a large chip memory size, whatever was in it likely was a large amount of data. The Ironheads didn’t seem to even be watching as they took off the man who had not even been able to give his name.
While they had walked off both Bruns searching and Karas AI had come up with a name for the man who had been captured, clearly the crime alert had gone out too late and had been dealt with. The name of Ulus, strangely without a surname, ex Capitol citizen who had escaped to Lost star after the end of the war, but the intriguing part was that he had operated out of Aedleshaven during the Uprising incident, clearly he had been an ex soldier.
Still with the disruption over the gates to the Breaker yards continued to flow, none of the sensors going off when Aoi walked straight through with her weapons. The office was just to the left, overseen by another Ironhead who seemed exceptionally bored and clearly stuffed into an office way too small for his bulging size and with only a small desk fan to keep him cool. At the mention of a reward he seemed to look up, his chin resting on his palm.
“Oh yea alright here you go” He printed off a small ticket and put it through a cashier like revolving section behind the glass. On the ticket was a stamp indicating that Aoi and 2 others had gained a full family meal at Abigails Pizza House.
Yvette pretended to be brushing some dirt and detritus off her boot, seemingly almost tossing 'whatever' was under her boot away, keeping it in the palm of her glove and letting it fall into her pocket as she hooked her thumb in it.
Sleight of hand was something any self-respecting pirate should be good at. In her eyes, anyway.
The space pirate didn't move for a moment, letting her head roll in a circle as she thought about their next course or action.
Abruptly screwing about with a card out of nowhere--in public right after an incident, no less--would be mighty suspicious, so Yvette decided to keep it snugly in her pocket for the time being.
The space pirate spun on the spot, leaning over to Alice as she made to stride on past.
"Now then, with that kerfluffle done and dusted, we have some apartments to investigate, hmm?" she smiled, clicking twice through a lopsided grin with a wink, leaning back and moving on.
No time to waste.
"Right then, I'll check the Breakers with the new people." Brun replied idly in Yvette's direction, his face blank as he internally re-played the entire event over and over in his databank, unable to shake the chilling feeling washing over him of the.. glitch? He was still unsure what to call it. Though time and time again, as his steps mechanically pushed him towards Aoi and Lori, he seen Todd in the crowd, it was starting to give him another headache, his head warming up and he winced before his steps stopped him right in front of the two. His mind blanked for a moment, unusually long as he muttered out "Hi."
He blinked twice, shook his head and made a proper introduction "I'm Brun, former DCI Officer, my colleagues and I have been looking for a person named Emanuel Vant, a suspect in relation to several crimes, would you happen to know anything about them, or would you also be looking for this person of interest?" His eyes washed over the two now that he was closer. Lori seemed to have feline-like eyes, and against Brun's natural orange glow, they seemed to reflect some light back. Aoi however was dressed very out-of-place, like Yvette, but not as flashy, he figured her to be some private gun or bounty hunter of sorts, seeing that anyone dressing as she would, would most likely have run into large sums of money lately, but decides to visit the dark, gritty corners of the galaxy.
Aoi took the ticket and examined it for a moment, as if wanting to check what she saw was correct. She forced herself to remember the River of Peaceful Conveyance, and then scowled.
"You said pay. The definition of payment includes money, not like-for-like. I do not even like pizza. Please take this coupon and instead provide me with the promised currency reward." she said quietly, delicately laying the paper coupon back on the table.
She glanced at Brun, registering his pale skin and augmentations and his momentary lapse of focus.
"I am here for the bounty on Vant, yes. Although it seems that paying out bounties is not considered mandatory in this part of the galaxy," she replied, the faintest sliver of distaste creeping into her otherwise calm and polite-sounding voice.
Lori crossed her arms and looked over seeing Brun and and nodded at him " im Lori...nice to meet you" she said before keeping quite once again and looking to the others and followed them a bit before hearing...pizza.....okay yes she was hungry but dang not something she wanted to hear now " i got to say that isn't what i thought i hear right now...kinda shit if you ask me your welling to pay people this.....and people ask me why i won't live in lost star..." she said glaring at the ironhead and sighed softly looking to the others a bit.
"Aye Aye pirate queen. we've wasted enough time here as it is." Kara said chasing after the woman and keeping pace with her.
"We'll meet up later and exchange notes." Kara shouted back to Brun as the disappeared into the crowd.
She walked with Yvette for several hundred metres sure that they were far enough away from the scene of the crime.
"I think we're far enough way, if you're curious we could find a quiet spot to see what's on there. The little voice in my head is screaming in anticipation about what that guy was hiding." She spoke excitedly
"Ha ha, very funny Kara. But my whole life is knowledge and data and when i see people fighting over it it gets me hot under the collar... metaphorically speaking" Arthur said to her when she made a reference to him.
The clearly overheating Ironhead locked in the small security office up front eyed Aoi, Brun and Lori with the look like his brain had been completely fried before looking down at the handed back coupon for a time period that seemed to stretch into minutes before leaning down and opening some kind of safe. When he came back up he place a credit chit worth 100 and then smiled.
“Sorry about that Ma’am, keep the coupon” Ironically, there were not even any Abigail joints within the breaker yard, although there were several just outside it.
Nobody else seemed to notice or give the group by the security stand any serious notice other than glances over given what happened but with the event out of the way they still have a man to find. Vant was somewhere in this place they just had to find him.
To one side out of the way of the security gate and over by some abandoned crates which were empty both Kara and Yvette could gain at least some privacy. The chip they had recovered was encrypted but Karas Ai Arthur immediately got to work, it wasn’t easy, it took at least 20 minutes to finally finish the decryption and to get inside to the actual data. And there was a lot of it, much of it itself seeming to be encrypted but this time with much harder data security. They could be here for days. Still several files appeared to be open for viewing, one of which was a video file. It was of the man they had catch Ulus. He appeared to be in a dark place, his face illuminated by some mobile device.
“I don’t have much time but I need someone to know. I was on Aedleshaven during the Uprising incident, I fought there, not just against the would be AGA but other things too. My unit was destroyed in one such engagement, it wasn’t against that Abberation or whatever it was called, but by some wacky Unioners. I’ve never seen Union soldiers hunt people down like animals, tear them open, eat their… corpses. Covered in red to… Apparently they were called the Red Angels, I can see why but we all thought they had been destroyed on Aedleshaven. Their holdout was taken down by the AGA and remaining forces hunted down by the Union. But some survived… Here on Lost star, I have belief they are still operating, and that somehow, someone or something is helping them. Theres no way they could have gotten away with operating openly without some patron. I am continuing to dig and I have files on here that may yield clues. I lost my home for this, and if your reading this probably my life too. Goodbye”
"Yep, I'll be in touch." turning his head back towards the two lasses, momentarily watching them walk away before turning his head back to the two new lasses. "You'd be surprised what people around here won't pay for." Brun grunted out. Mostly to himself, as the two where engaged with the Ironhead. He waited until the situation was remedied, before talking to them again.
"I'm only interested in talking to him about events related to several murders in Lost Star, I have no interest in keeping him from you. Though, if required, I will definitely assist you in searching for him, I could blend in with the rest of these laborers and help find him, then you will have a larger payday on your hands, does that sound acceptable?"
Aoi nodded, pocketing the credits and stepping out of the musty office into the barely less fresh air of the yards.
"Mr Vant has been busy it seems. I have been contracted to bring him in for a number of bad debts, so it looks like two paydays are resting on one head."
She took a look around the busy scene, taking in the augmented man next to her, and then nodded again.
"Agreed. We can work together to find him, I can help you interrogate him about these killings, and then I can take him away to explain what he did with all of the money he has borrowed. I have some images of him but very few other leads. What do you have?"
The usually drab, dull orange eyes lit up as he went back into his database, pulling the information back out. "Emanuel Vant, worker at these breaker yards, specifically the processing docks, handling paperwork for the organization. Previous criminal record in drug running and assault, possible association with five individuals, wearing black attire that are implicated in a spree of ritualistic homicides, species analysis points to an Auraxii and Cylauran."
"Fingerprint scan is on file and can be referenced on objects in the yards, target may be armed and is considered dangerous." Brun's eyes flickered, before continuing. "Suspect resides on Ring 2 in an apartment complex, likely has transportation or shares transportation to Ring 3, possible associates in traffic control." The eyes went dull again, as Brun blinked a few times and nodded to Aoi "Does that help much?"
Yvette's eyes remained fixed on the screen, a gloved hand absentmindedly stroking her chin.
"Worrying. I don't know a whole lot about the Union but I'm pretty sure eating people isn't part of their usual repertoire. Nor do I like said cannibals...or whatever...being here." the space pirate sighed, brushing her forehead and turning the screen off.
"Still, this place is secluded but still not 100% private, so unless you'd like to aggressively make out against a wall to dissuade the curious, I'd suggest we get a move on and leave them behind, no?" she raised an eyebrow. "We can look more into this when it isn't working about as fast as the last percent on a video game loading screen." she added, gesturing for Alice to keep up.
"I'm sure our friends will catch up."
"Agreed" Kara said plainly catching up to Yvette
"Arthur, keep trying on that encryption the best you can." Kara instructed the AI.
"I'll need more then the synapse connectors processing power to do it in any decent amount of time dear, when we get back to the pirate ship see about getting a connection into their computers so i can boost my own processing speed or we can risk a transmission back to HQ and have the data forwarded to us later. Its your call." Arthur replied astutely.
Lori looked around as she left, she sighed trying to figure out a corse of action at this point it seem rather unnerving after what happened, the man from before made her wonder what kind of things they do here...what Would they do to people like that guy? All this seem odd to her “ I guess....I could try and stick with these guys....or go my own way and find some clues....hm” she thought trying to figure out the best option before looking to Aoi and Brun listening to them talk.
With the encryption now running steadily the route to the apartments was a decent one, the streets leading through the outer regions of the Breaker Yards got steadily bigger as they went further in. This did not become apparent until they got into the inner regions, Breakers themselves walked to the huge yards further ahead while others went back towards the apartments and maintenance areas, and they were huge.
Some were just augmented individuals with robotic arms and legs while others had much more bulky implants, but it was the most extreme examples that caught the eye. Breakers who had given up their normal existence to be directly implanted into heavy power armour frames, military mech suits and even colossi as the footfalls shook the entire region with their passing, striding overheat uncaring of what came under feet as they moved about. It was truly a place of giants on Lost star. It was a point of status to break a ship yourself, and as such Breakers would continually improve and make themselves larger to ensure they could single handily break larger ships and rise through the ranks. Thankfully it seemed like their quarry Vant, wasn’t such a giant.
Back at the security office Brun had motioned towards Yvette and Kara as they had made their way inwards towards the apartment and had suggested to follow so that they could move together, the Dectrothian smiling to Lori.
“You may join us if you wish, the more in the team the better. It seems Yvette and Kara are heading to the apartments. We should join them, if he is not there we may be able to check the traffic control logs to find him” He then began to follow the two along with Aoi the secondary group trailing slightly behind the others.
As Kara and Yvette closed in on the apartment complex it became clear this was no ordinary area, for the others they were not far behind. Traditional apartment buildings rose on either side of the streets, branching out into a wide open space of square blocks. Not all of the apartments were normal however, and what looked like hangars and garages of all sizes were spread across the area, some were even occupied by large Breakers who underwent maintenance and slept inside them as smaller work crews tended to their needs. But it was Apartment 62B they were looking for, and it didn’t take long to find it. The building was unbelievably bare, the lobby being somehow even more depressing than the small apartment they had gone into on Ring 3. Vant was supposedly on floor 5 or at least his room was, it could be empty but the men and women going in and out of the stairs and elevators kept eyeing the two new arrivals with suspicion.
"Well." Yvette muttered, eyeing the building with a dreary tone. "Not gonna find much out here, are we?" she sighed, taking the lead, going for the stairs rather than the elevator, everyone who passed her by given a faint passing smile, if they bothered to look at her at all, hands kept to pockets, eyes on their route. Roaming about with one's head on a swivel did none to soothe the concerns of passer-by's, and she didn't feel like starting trouble with strangers. Not right now, anyway.
"Anyone else wanna knock or should I do the honours?" she chuckled as they reached the door.
Aoi, in contrast to Yvette, moved as if the rest of the world was not present. The lobbies could have been empty for all the regard she gave the odd stranger who cast a suspicious eye towards the party of bounty hunters. When they reached Vants apartment she did not hesitate and banged on the door with her fist. "Delivery!" she called out in her most artificially bored tone.
She glanced about her to check that the others were ready to pounce if he answered, standing slightly clear of the door.
Kara stay quiet once they entered the complex and looked around the lobby, the bareness of it seemed unusual but she was used to more elaborate uses of space to give it exotic decoration. Nevertheless she gave it a good look over so Arthur could see and point out anything unfamiliar. When they arrived to the door and Aoi knocked Kara drew her pistol, keeping it behind her back and stood to the side of the door waiting for it to open or if need be one of the others to kick it in.
Lori figured there wasn’t much left besides follow them and help when needed she agreed and kept with them, once there at the complex she got herself so seeing if anyone would open the door if not she gladly kick it open at this point, she reached around her sides to pull out a dagger it had the hold marking and a scratched out symbol of the Relic empire, she held it ready if needed.
As the group went up the stairs, so bare that it was just concrete slabs embedded in the wall without any handrail, other Breakers kept eyeing them with suspicion as they passed by. Eventually the long corridor of the 5th floor branched off, with bare gunmetal doors on either side signalling rooms each with a stamped number into their frame.
As Aoi began knocking and shouting delivery the door to Vants apartment surprisingly swung open. Inside a weary eyed man stared back at them for a brief moment clearly having been woken up. He looked around for a package to grab before his eyes widened and he saw the group clearly, horror and anger flooded his face. This was Emanuel Vant, and they had caught him with his trousers down, so much for being any sort of big criminal hot shot. He was dressed purely in underpants as he reached behind the door and pulled out a large knife, the man clearly wasn’t smart in any conceivable way as the knifes appearance matched perfectly the one that had been used at the crime scene. It even had the etchings of blood on it.
“Who the fuck are you!” He shouted. Brun stepping forward with a frown.
“We are here investigating the recent murders in the Fidun district. We were going to ask you some questions but I think that more or less proves what we need. Step aside and put down the weapon or you’re going to get hurt” The Decthrothians voice laced with pride that they had finally caught him.
“The hell you are” Vants eyes flashed a vivid orange as he stepped forward with frightening speed, stabbing Brun in the chest, the knife effortlessly cutting through the armour he wore. With a grunt of effort he pulled upwards, once again the weapon seeming to cut with terrible ease as it bisected Brun in a spray of arterial blood.
Yvette had stood a little back as Aoi rapped on the door and Brun stepped forward, keeping a hand on one of her hand cannons. She didn't know what this Vant man was capable of or how cooperative he would be.
The respective answers were, evidently, 'enough to kill a cyborg in one blow, and uncooperative enough to warrant killing a cyborg in one blow'. She couldn't tell what the knife was, aside from the obvious answer of a bladed weapon, but if it could so effortlessly shear through a man it was at the very least either a nanobladed or harmonic weapon. Troublesome, for sure.
On that note, Brun was quite clearly dead, Yvette raising an arm to shield herself from the spray of blood. The hand cannon was evidently a good idea.
"Skipping the pleasantries then, eh?!" she grinned grimly. "Alright, I can work with that!" she added, the gun drawn with a blurring move as the targeting system in her eyes lit up, a shot snapping off with the low, heavy thud of an electrochemical firing echoing down the halls, the shot aimed for Vant's shin. The intent was simple; sweep his leg out from under him, break the shin in all likelihood, and get the man on the floor.
Kara's ears rang as the sound of Yvettes gun reverberated in the hallway. She quickly shook it off and moved in to get in front of the pirate to disarm the suspect. To do this she took the simply approach and fired her particle pistol directly into his hand holding the blade.
"I think that cyborg was more org then cy if the amount of innards and blood is a tell tale sign." Arthur said cheekily to make light of the situation.
"Not the time Arthur, the body isn't even cold yet." Kara replied back keeping her focus on Vant.
"Ah my mistake i lost track of how my time and your time work." He replied
As Vant brandished his knife, Aoi slipped her hikatana into her palm, and before she was even finished the criminal lunged forwards and ripped Brun apart in a spatter of blood and gore. She pivoted to her back foot, powering up her blade, but the click and clatter of weapon safeties and slides behind her gave her pause and she stepped back.
Sure enough, a miniature volley fired right past her shoulder, the thud of a solid slug and the crack of a particle gun going off almost simultaneously. Aoi held her hikatana in a defensive stance, powered to stun and ready to stop Vant should he try to move past her towards her pro tem colleagues, or towards herself.
lori had gotten ready to strike when the Cyborg showed signs of aggression so it didn't help before she even got close Brun had made quick work....though being so close to them she got herself a bit more...bloody then she had liked " UGH!...really?! first being in his damn underpants and now this?! " she said cursing herself for being close at all and shaking some of the blood off her, though she looked to Vant unsure if they were dead or just...down for now she never actually saw a Cyborg until now so this be a first
Vant had barely finished slicing Brun in half when he tried to move for Aoi, the defensive posture would easily have had her able to avoid being caught off guard and Vant was clearly not a trained fighter. Still his sudden burst of impossible speed and strength had been way beyond what a normal human was capable of, and yet he did not seem to have any of the extra augments which most Breakers had to increase their physical capabilities.
Still he cried out as the simultaneous shots from Kara and Yevette rang out, the first round took his shin out and caused him to collapse onto the floor, the second blowing a hold into his hand and causing him to drop the black and strangely designed blade to the floor. The moment it left his hand his eyes returned to normal and he looked to be in even more pain.
“You bastards, you bastards ill kill you!” He roared. Bruns body had slumped to the floor creating quite a mess in the corridor and already several of the nearby room’s occupants had come out to see what’s going on.
“Hey! What the fuck is going on here!” A big brutish man called out from a couple of doors down pointing at the group but clearly directing the question at Lori as she was closest. It seemed they needed to diffuse the situation and get Vant and everything else inside before anything else kicked off. Vant himself writhing in pain on the floor.
"Get-them-inside!" hissed Aoi under her breath to the others, before turning to face the big man and taking a decisive step towards him. She did not level her blade, but nor did she let it fall to her side. She held it wide from her body, one-handed, tip down and grip firm.
"Go back inside. This is not your affair." she said calmly, her tone imperious, as if she were stating incontrovertible fact. Her gaze was hard to fathom, her large dark irises masking her pupils
"What she said, bucko." Yvette added, calling over Aoi's shoulder. "What's going on here is none of your fuckin concern, so go back the fuck inside, shut your trap the fuck up, and keep your nose out of business it doesn't belong in, you understand?" she added, her tone threatening and dead serious, before the space pirate leaned down, roughly grabbing Vant by the collar, dragging him into his apartment and virtually flinging the man into a conveniently placed armchair.
Moments later, Yvette's boot found itself planted into his chest, intending to wind the man alongside knocking the armchair--and him--onto its back.
A second later, the quiet but audible click of a revolver hammer rung out, the barrel lining up with Vant.
"Alright motherfucker, listen up. I dress the part of a space pirate and I damn well act the part too. So unless you'd like me to increase the number of holes in you more than me and my associates already have, you're going to fucking well speak up. I know where to shoot a man where it won't kill him, but he'll wish it had."
A pause, for effect.
"Where'd you get the knife? And why the fuck have you and your shady pals been butchering some poor sods around here?"
Kara merely watched the affiar between Aoi and the man play out with her gun still in her hand. She wanted to just shoot the big bastard and be done with diplomacy for the moment but she resigned herself to backing up Aoi in case anything happened.
Lori stood there a bit as Yvette spoke and pointed “ what she said “ she said before going ahead with them and stood by looking and crossed her arms a bit looking back to the door unsure of theses people will back off.
The group dragged the bodies of both Vant who was raging in pain clutching his wounds and the destroyed remains of Brun. Surprisingly Vant was almost fully conscious and seemed to be more angry about his wounds than being actually fazed by the pain. His gritted teeth had him raving about how he was going to skin the party apart, he was particularly fixated on both Kara and Lori who he was convinced were bystanders willing to let this happen.
The inside of the apartment was disgusting. He hadn’t cleaned up anything in months let alone probably from when he moved in. Half-eaten food and drink just piled up along with rubbish and more, it was filthy here and while it likely wasn’t great anywhere here it was particularly bad. As the door was closed and the big guy backed off from the threats of the armed party Vant focused on Yvette who had asked him the question.
“I found it! Fair and square!” He shouted, “On one of the old Capitol Hydras they brought in to break!” He kept looking at the strange blade, his eyes signifying as if he almost needed to touch it.
“Look there’s nothing you can do to me which is worse than what it has already shown me” He began laughing, an awkward mix of pain, laughter and uncontrolled sadness, tears of a mixed nature running down his face.
Yvette nodded, listening intently, leaning on the armrest of the upturned chair.
"Alright. Credit where credits due, that's more cooperation than I was expecting. I wasn't suggesting you stole the knife, either. I couldn't give a shit if you nicked it, I rob peoples ships in front of their own eyes for a living. Anyway, the unfortunate matter is I asked, uh, three questions, and you only answered one." Yvette started, twirling the gun and leaning down a little.
"Maybe I can't spook you more than that knife can, however the fuck that works, but I can sure as shit make existence as unpleasant as I can. Because don't worry, I don't intend on raising this apartment's body count. But, if I put my gun just here," she reached down, pressing the still warm muzzle of her gun against the pelvic bump on his hip, opposite the leg she had shot.
"And fire, it'll obliterate that side of your pelvis. You won't lose control of your legs, least of all the one I've already shot, and there's no risk of organ trauma, but anything that so much as shifts that side will put your sorry ass in agony. Just to sit down you'll have to position yourself juuuust right so as to put the shards roughly in the shape of a pelvis, and even then it'll be anything but comfortable. And since it won't be life threatening, I doubt the Enforcers would be in much of a rush to get it seen to. And even once it is, if it ever is, you'll have a gammy leg for the rest of your life. " she explained.
"So, unless you'd like more than a slight limp for a day or two while your other leg recovers, speak up. Who are your friends you've been killing people with? If you remember which Hydra, that'd be swell too."
Aoi waited until the neighbour had gone back inside before deactivating her blade and stowing it inside her kimono with a deliberate, slow motion. She turned to follow the others into Vant's apartment, which was utterly disgusting. She watched as the rumbustious pirate interrogated their prisoner, but her eyes soon slid towards the knife that was still sneared with what had once been Brun.
She crouched by it where it had fallen on the floor near the doorway, taking a closer look. Vant's eyes kept sliding towards it as if it exerted some kind of pull over him, and she wanted to see why...
Kara took a moment to walk around the apartment to investigate while Yvette carried out her observation. The small alone was ghastly let alone the sight of it.
"Arthur keep a look out too in case i miss anything. We want a personal computer correspondence or anything else that might be useful." She said to the AI who agreed silently.
Vant listened to Yvettes threats and smiled, his teeth were rotten and his gums bleeding. The man clearly didn’t just not take care of the apartment but of himself either. But his eyes… His eyes showed a man who had seen the depths of madness and pain that only few would ever encounter. His smile turned into a grin when she finished.
“I have felt pain the likes of which you have never even dreamed of, a blast like that is nothing compared to the despair it shows you” He chuckled to himself like it was on the brink of a breakdown.
“Herakles Passion, don’t bother looking for it the ship was broken up ages ago” He laughed “I don’t know anything about the others, I just go where it tells me to go and do what it tells me to do or I suffer, do you understand suffering? I bet you don’t, I bet you have no idea of what it can do” He continued to grin but interspaced with pain on his face.
The knife itself as Aoi crouched down was distinctively non-human in origin. It was a deep black, made out of jagged spines and sections that almost looked like black human bones, it curved slightly, and the handle was almost polished to a shine. Looking straight at it Aoi could almost see movement in the blade, like something just beyond the material was uncoiling or even looking back at her.
“No! Don’t touch it for fuck sake Argh!” Vant had shouted staring at Aoi before twitching and instantly going unconscious, his body going into full spasms for a moment before he came too, panting heavily with his body sweating. His eyes showing utter terror, the man who had been so defiant a moment ago burst into tears.
While Vant was having his breakdown Karas investigation of the apartment continued, mostly it was just unending filth like a drug addict who had given up on life and only lived for the next fix with no heed of even personal hygiene. And yet in one of the small cupboards in the kitchen she found something. A tiny personal communicator, still very much active and judging by the information on it having been used recently. There were two contacts on it, one of which had been contacted at around the same time as the death they had investigated, it was solid evidence.
"Arthur can we get a trace on these contacts without having to call them." Kara asked patiently as the AI went to work
"Let me see what i can do and i'll get back to you" Ger replied before going silent.
"Hey i found a communicator over here, couple of contacts. One was called around the same time as the murder, interestingly enough." Kara informed her co workers.
Aoi stopped as Vant yelled out his warning. For a moment she was tempted to ignore him, assuming that his protest was some kind of jealousy or possessive instinct, but then she looked at the blade again. She felt unease, as if it were looking back at her, and glancing up at Vant she saw the genuine terror in his eyes.
She looked around the apartment and then found an old leather bag, the kind used to tote all the assorted crap one would need for a day on the work site; lunchbox, gloves, etc. She turned it upside-down, emptying it, then grabbed an old hat and used it to gingerly pick up the knife, dropping both into the bag and zipping it up before standing and crossing back over to Vant.
"What's so special about this knife?" she asked quietly, patting the bag that hung by her hip.
Lori stood their glaring a bit at Vant as she soon made a small hissing sound “ I’m sorry. But at this point...yeah honestly what is so Special about the knife......where did you get it” she asked now taking this to her own hand as she stood near Vant her eyes almost acting cat like as they they turned slit almost making herself look like a demon in a way due to it so “ who...GAVE it to you! Start talking! “ she soon grabbed him also to not only make him talk but make him stop having his break down “ if you tell us not only will this end sooner for you but you being doing yourself and us a favor....now..TALK! “
Yvette almost seemed startled by Lori's abrupt aggression, blinking a couple times.
"Yeah, just about what she said. Hold on a minute." she grunted as she stood, drawing another one of her hand cannons and slapping it into Lori's hand.
"Here, put a bullet in him if he tries anything. I want it back when we leave." she deadpanned, strolling over to Kara, one hand hooked by the thumb in her pocket.
"Communicator, huh? That's interesting. What've you found?"
The immediate traces became apparent as Arthur went to work over the Ancnet, the AI sifting through countless call logs from the communicator and others across not just the local networks but across the whole of Lost Star. It took two minutes before the results came back in with locations and details of the others although some seemed much easier to find information on than others. No patterns appeared in the individuals, they were quite literally nobodies, random people across multiple districts who didn’t share any banking connections, personal connections, or social connections. It seemed whatever was driving them was external at least. But for the most part they were heavily spread out. Apart from one cluster that seemed to be established around Fidun, where they had travelled from. They were all spaced around a group of manufacturing centres that specialised in household equipment.
The Knife didn’t seem to respond as Aoi placed it inside something else, although as she did so there was a brief moment where she could hear inhuman voices. At her question Vant, who was still in the middle of tears streaming down his face turned to her before he was grabbed by Lori and shaken up to try and snap out of it. With some internal realisation he tried to calm himself before he spoke.
“It… came from the Capitol ship we broke like I said. I found it so I decided to take it…” He tried to breath slower “It, did things to me. It spoke to me and it tortured me unless I did what it said. It still does even when I don’t touch it” The man was clearly terrified, although if that terror was at the interrogators or what the knife might do it wasn’t clear.
“It told me to go places, kill specific people in a specific way. If I didn’t it made me suffer in ways you can’t imagine. There were others... I don’t know them, but I think they are affected same as me. Please, you have to destroy it before it gets what they want!” He shouted the last part.
"I have a list of people he communicated with, might be worth rounding them up at the local cop shop." Kara said to everyone walking back into the room with the others.
"They're all spread out so it'll be a while before we can get them to one location... or maybe its best to keep them separate if they're all crazy like him." She said said a little disturbed looking at the mutilated Vant.
Aoi nodded in agreement. She noticed that the individuals all seemed to be located around the one household equipment factory sprawl, perhaps the companies there had something to do with it?
She left that to the others though, turning her attention to Vant. "Is it telling you to do something now?" she asked gently, raising the bag to eye height with a false expression of concern on her face.
Lori looked at the cannon a bit before looking at Vant listening, she almost was tempted to see this Knife at this point, even wondering if what Aoi asked was also true was he still hearing it??? And....Capital ship? She had learned of them, hearing rumors about them even some things about them and her people working to get her at some point as well.....it made her wonder....who else was was her people working with once they allied with the Capital?
She shook her head before looking at him carefully “ do tell us,....is it still talking in your mind and if it is this dangerous.......do you have a idea where or who it may truest be from? “ she asked she seem very interested in this knife now.
Yvette's eyes narrowed, a musing hand rising to her chin.
"Destroy it, huh...I'm gonna guess a hand cannon isn't gonna cut it, not without alerting the entire block." she grunted. "I'd say a fusion reactor might do the job--if we do decide to destroy it--but I'd rather not find out what that might do to my ship." she muttered, thinking.
"Welp! Unless anyone has anything else they'd like to ask, I suggest we wrap this up here." she sighed. "Whaddo we do with him?"
Vant looked at Kara as she strode back into the room, his communicator in her hands. He looked defeated for a moment, as if he knew that by that one device, he had condemned the rest to also suffer some terrible fate. He was taken out of his stupor however as Aoi put the bag with the knife into his eye level, he looked away unable or unwilling to stare at the blade now it was out of his hands. At this point Vant was shivering, blood loss was starting to take hold of him.
“No, it isn’t saying anything, but please don’t put it near me” It appeared like his hands were twitching as if he was trying not to grab it out of pure need.
“I don’t know where its from! It came from Capitol but it clearly isn’t like anything of theirs maybe its some alien thing I got no idea it didn’t tell me anything about itself! It just tortured me and made me do things!” He was starting to cry again but he was almost too tired to do so. But at the mention of Yvette destroying it he perked up somewhat.
“I tried to destroy it but it stopped me every time… Please destroy it, anyway you can maybe it will free me. Please don’t kill me I never wanted to do the things I did!”
"I think this is enough!" Kara said to the other sternly
"Call the cops and medics, let them take it from here. We've done our job and its time to get paid." She said, starting to make the call for the police and medics.
Aoi straightened, slinging the bag over her shoulder.
"We should look into this Capitol ship he says he got the knife from. The Hydra. If we can get its tags maybe we can find out where it had been and track down places it could have come across this knife, or even find out if there are any crew members left who could give us a clue."
lori kept silent for most of it, she soon stood up and goes over to where the knife was she looked carefully at it "......hm.." she wondered if they even could destroy it? was their a way at all ? she had many thoughts before hearing the others "....i got a feeling this thing has a reason......Capitol? so.....i heard rumor's they were allied with a few people...even...my race sadly.......so i wonder if they also got a few things like that knife? " she said softly so she didn't care if anyone answered her question or not...it was a open question something she might look into as well.
"Alright, I agree, we're done here. I, uh, don't think I should be the one to give the authorities a nice little ring so someone else can do that, and then maybe we can take a nice little jog down to the breaker yards." Yvette nodded, deciding she was done with Vant.
A beat.
The space pirate then held out a hand towards Lori.
"The gun. Please."
The call to the enforcers that had hired them answered quick, a young lady on the phone to Kara listening as the situation was described and the location of Vant was given along with the communicator which contained the information. While the Shipbreaker yards did not have normal police itself a very loose set up on Lost Star allowed different enforcer districts to send officers out to another to collect a particularly wanted individual. Given that Vant was just a major suspect and the communicator was such a key lead to others they didn’t hesitate to send officers. Using a dedicated enforcer cutter, they would be here within several hours.
But just after Kara had finished getting off the phone to the police it seemed her AI Arthur found something. Deep within the encrypted data chip they had found from the running man was information on a supply operation for a large location in Fidun… Exactly where the cluster of other killers had been located. Supplies included basic materials from stripped down and broken ships, along with more precision parts. Scrolls of manifests from the Breaker yards to this place were shown all going to this mysterious location, including the materials from the Capitol vessel Vant had supposedly found the knife on board. The vessels broken down and sent were not ordinary however, they seemed to be wrecks from the battles of Rubikon, Histirion or found within the Golden Expanse, Vants Hydra was part of those found deep within the Expanse. Everything else was rejected.
Something big was going on in Fidun in this location, and they practically had a big arrow of evidence pointing to it. A piece like this was hot money on the Ancnet.
“No please don’t let them throw me in a cell for the rest of my life…” Vant tried to sound alarmed but he was on the verge of passing out “Destroy the knife, then kill me if you have to… Don’t let me rot with this thing inside my head”
Aoi glanced at the others. "Should we destroy the knife? If we let the enforcers collect it, maybe it will help them work out what exactly is happening at this mysterious spot in Fidun....but it could also corrupt more people."
She glanced down at the pale, desperate Vant. "As strange as it sounds, I think the murderer may have a point."
Yvette sighed, twirling her pistol once in her hand.
"Sorry, friend. Generally, as strange as it sounds coming from someone like me, I only prefer to kill in self defence." she replied, giving the man a strange look.
"As for the knife, it depends. Destroying it would make sure nobody else got their hands on it, but we also don't know what would happen when we destroy it."
Lori had looked to see Yvette and points the gun at her before flipping it in her hand and giving her the butt end of the gun to her " here you go, thanks" she said before giving a soft smile to her before looking to the rest then back to Vant, hearing what he wanted as much as she wanted to grant his wish she felt they needed to learn more of the knife " i feel as much as i want to grant his wish......we should see what we can learn from it....if we Destroy it now like our friend here said we won't know what happens when we do.....i rather study it before we do this " she said to them before rubbing her left arm a bit " lets keep it just in case...." she added
Kara simply looked on as the others made their decisions. She would be content with going with the overall group decision, she felt that she had played the part of a private investigator well.
"I've recorded everything and sent it off back home for the records. I'm sure they'll get some amusement over your charade." Arthur said sarcastically
"Right, i may stay in this role a little longer. This is a very interesting chain of events." Kara replied back to the AI.
For the mean time she would try and triage Vants wounds so he wouldn't bleed out before the authorities arrived.
As Vant ranted and raved, begging the party to kill him or prevent him from being locked up the enforcers finally arrived, a little while after Vant finally blacked out from blood loss. Backed up by two of the Shipbreaker thugs who were counted as ‘officers’ around here they first removed the dead form of Brun before medics came in to tend to Vant even as they picked up his now unconscious form and put him on a stretcher.
“Good work gang, its tough dealing with these situations with criminal underfunding and an overtaxed police force” One of the enforcers began to talk, taking off her helmet to reveal an Annolidian women. She gestured at Vant.
“I am Investigator Kaline ,We are taking him back to Fidun to interrogate and if necessary, do a deep mind dive. We will get everything out of him. I reviewed the data you sent us, seems like this runs deep but I can’t spare anyone. Payment should be going into your accounts now, but I would like to keep you hired on, I need you to go to Fidun and find out what the hell is going on. Again you will be paid for your efforts and we will keep you updated with what we find” Her smile was textbook as the rest of the enforcers checked out the room and kept things secure.
“Seems like it was quite the tale, although now one of you is down it’s a better split for you four. Still I wont keep you, and you will hear from me soon enough” She gave a curt nod before leaving, her details appearing on the groups PDAs.
With that the enforcers left the room, and the group was free to move on. They had found Vant, but it seemed the rabbit hole only ran deeper.
Whatever was in Fidun was clearly not good news.
And if the knife was any indication, it was where even Fallen Angels feared to tread.