Anti Deathworlder Crime Unit
The Arbiter fumed quietly as they rode the hyper-rail to the edge of Shell city-07 where an interstation ferry took them back to Unity’s core. The Arbiter knew Ozzath’s condescending attitude very well, he was always skulking around their parents dinner parties. He was still just as slimy as the Arbiter remembered, but he also had an unusual glint in his eyes, like a cat eyeing a mouse. He was playing a game and the Arbiter was involved no matter what they wanted.
As they waited for the ferry to dock with the inner core of Unity the Arbiter began to wonder what kind of game Ozzath was playing. He was a very skilled politician and often played games on multiple levels, the kind that went both above and below the Arbiter’s station. This could turn into a big problem if not nipped in the bud, the Arbiter would have to tell Judge.
Judge had started the anti-deathworlder unit and had used the units success to rise to the position of Chief of security. To most he was now Chief Jin, but to the Arbiter he would always be the stern mentor who had guided their career as a station security officer. Judge had been the one to recruit them and save them from a life on the streets when the Arbiters parents kicked their own daughter out of their house. He had even given them their new name, a new name to forge them into an Arbiter of justice.
The ferry docked with the giant core of Unity station with a shudder and the Arbiter rose to exit. People dressed in fine and formal clothing stepped aside to let the dark figure of the Arbiter pass. Unlike every other part of the station the core was bathed in perpetual sunlight. Even as the light from the suns passed by the other sections of Unity station this one place was always illuminated. The core section was a single plane of supported by a tall seamless silver tower that attached to the Shell section city-01, or Silver tower city. The broad flat section of the core was unattached to any other section of the station except for that one tower and was mostly covered by the largest parks in the entire station.
The core city was the least densely packed section of the entire station, much of the space was taken up by large alien manors with large, cultivated gardens, and forests from their home worlds. At the center where the Silver Tower met the large flat surface of the core city was a grand terminal for arriving dignitaries and the government officials from out of system. Directly outside of the terminal was Lake Unity, the largest freshwater environment on a nonterrestrial object and was stocked with a thriving ecosystem. Along the waters of lake Unity were a slew of different embassies, important government buildings like the Council halls, the Office of the Navy, and the Central Security Precinct for Unity station .
The CSP had once been located in a tower among the luxury residences of Silver tower city, where it was better suited to police the whole station. But a terrorist attack within the core caused a mass panic amongst the powerful people who made the rules. They had a new ostentatious building added to the lake front and moved the Precinct headquarters into the new building.
Unity station had a population in the billions, and every section within the station had hundreds of precincts that more or less managed their own affairs. So while moving the CSP to the core added a whole extra layer of bureaucracy it didn’t affect the other precincts. It did however complicate the daily lives of the special units headquartered within the CSP. The anti-deathworlder crimes unit was located in the CSP along with the anti-terrorism, anti-smuggler, anti-narcotics, and anti-piracy units. But since the new building for the CSP was so large the special units hardly interacted with each other despite working in the same building. The Arbiter walked along the crystal-clear shore of Unity lake, past the public entrance for the CSP and into a hidden side entrance away from the public’s eye.
The Arbiter stepped through the door and began to climb the seven sets of stairs until they reached the floor where the anti-deathworlder unit was housed. Standing guard at the plain steel door was another cloaked figure like the Arbiter. Their cloaks were all designed to obscure their figure, making it very hard for anyone to guess who was under the hood or even what species they were. All the Arbiter could tell for sure was that the person was twice their height, with a large frame.
They glanced at each other but didn’t exchange any pleasantries, the Arbiter stepped past the cloaked figure and pushed the door open with little effort. When the Arbiter had first joined the unit the heavy steel door had been far too heavy for them, even with the innate strength of their species. It was the Unit’s way of testing whether a person was worthy of entering on their own.
Once within the Arbiter reached under their cloak and flicked the switch to the privacy field. Their was a moment of disconnect before the Arbiter faded away; and Rachel Heart came out of her shell. The alien feeling Arbiter persona was a handy tool while out in the field, the cold aura of barely contained aggression unnerved people, put them on the back foot and made them easier to manage. Unfortunately Rachel could only summon up that kind of rage while wearing the full ensemble of the Anti-deathworlder crimes Unit. It was akin to how an actor could put on a costume and completely become their character.
Rachel wasn’t unique in her approach to her persona either, all the officers of the ADCU wore a different persona while out in the field. When Judge had formed the special unit he realized early on that his identity was too high profile to do his job effectively, any decision he made as Jin Hanzo would always reflect back on his father, the Terran Council representative at the time. So instead he wore a heavy lead lined cloak and adopted the cold but fair persona of Judge, and to help hide his identity the rest followed suit. The secrecy had gone a long way to create an air of mystery and fear around the unit, and made their jobs much easier.
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But a person couldn’t wear a persona like that at all times of the day, they needed refuge, a place where they could be themselves.
There was something eerie about the sudden change in demeanor when they took off their privacy fields. One minute Rachel was the genderless and alien seeming Arbiter, and next she was just an exhausted detective waiting for the next break in her cases. It was even stranger when she went out with a partner, one minute Council was a silent shadowy figure, and then he was the same wise cracking Caleb who had guided her through her first patrol.
Rachel walked past the walled cubicles of her fellow officers, most were humans like herself, but there were some other species who had signed on. She walked past Beric, the Balikstro who had been exiled from his home world for sacrilege of some sort. He had ditched the cumbersome bone plates of his people and instead wore brown Terran slacks and a simple button-down shirt. He was pouring over some processing reports on his data pad, a defeated look on face.
Rachel diverted her path and stepped up to his desk. “Well, you look like shit.” She commented plainly.
He lifted his lupine head away from his work, “And I feel like it too.” He said wearily.
Rachel raised an eyebrow, urging him to elaborate.
He sighed “We got a lead on the serial rapists in Shell city 09, hairs found on one of the victims bodies matched the DNA of a Chimp we busted eight years ago. We staked him out and followed him back the lair of the Black Fang gang.”
Rachel scowled, of course the serial rapists were a gang of Chimps. Of all the species uplifted on Earth, Chimps were the most detestable and violent. Well known for gang violence, for them it was usually a matter of when they crossed the line, not if. “I take you busted them.”
“Sort of, a big group of them swung out overhead, only shot down a few of them. But that’s not the worst part, turns out the bodies we’ve been finding were only the sloppy leftovers.”
Rachel winced in sympathy “How many were still alive?”
“Five, out of the sixty odd bodies we found.” Beric said with a snarl. The disgust plain on his face.
“Guh, sorry I couldn’t help.”
He perked up, his long-pointed ears swiveling her way “Yeah, where the hell were you.”
“Human steel worker got over worked and shoved his asshole foreman too hard, broke the guys spine.”
“That’s rookie stuff, why’d they call you?”
“Not sure, Councilman Ozzath was waiting for me after I finished.”
His ears turned back until the points were facing completely away from his face, a Balikstro look of contemplation. “Sounds shady, you tellin’ Judge.”
“Yeah, Ozzath’s playing a game way above my paygrade, and I want no part of it.”
His ears twitched, his version of nodding assent. “Good, you should talk to Ben on your way to the Chief. He found another horror scene from your assassin.”
Rachel groaned “How many this time?”
“Eight, all chopped at the limbs and left to blead out, Silver Tower city this time.”
Before Judge had been promoted to Chief he had removed the Arbiter from street patrols and enforcement to an open detective position. Ever since then she had been working her way through a stack of cold cases, one of which led her to a warehouse where some Terran smugglers had set up a new narcotic distribution center. But just before the Arbiter and an army of station security could round up the whole operation someone had taken care of the smugglers. The warehouse reeked of ten different kinds of alien blood, and every one of the smugglers had their legs severed out from under them as they tried to flee. Since then Rachel had seen four other scenes of similar carnage. Ever since then she had been working to find the perpetrator.
“Alright, I’ll grab the file from Ben. See ya” she said with a wave as she walked off, leaving Beric to finish off his paperwork.
She walked down the aisle of desk until she reached a big shaggy Kaydic male. Ben’kodic was one of the oldest members of the anti-deathworlder unit, and had worked his way up from being a normal Security officer from some slum precinct. He had been there when Judge formed the unit and had taken his place as their leader. Under the hood he went by the codename of Inquisitor, which had been the Kaydic equivalent for a judge during their era of global holy wars before they made first contact. He was a stern but fair boss, just like Judge had been.
“Boss” Rachel greeted as she approached his desk.
He glanced up and turned his head to the side so that he could get a full view of her. The Kaydic were bipedal herbivores, their faces were long like a horses, but structured more like a buffalo with three stubby horns and shaggy fur. They had outward facing eyes that had served them well in watching for threats but made it hard for them to focus on one single thing, it took lots of practice for a Kaydic to achieve the same proficiency with firearms that Terrans of Balikstro had. Ben’kodic, however, was the exception to the rule, he was the best sharpshooter in the unit and had plenty of little tricks to pass on.
“File’s in the corner.” He grumbled slowly, not wasting words on why she was there .
Rachel nodded and picked up the file and began to scan its contents. “Fits their MO. Anything unusual?”
“No, just another brutal slaughter with no witnesses. Are you still certain its only one person?”
“Yeah, the way they kill and leave the bodies is pretty telling. It could be a group of assassins killing only one at a time, but that feels like a stretch in logic.”
“Hmm” he grumbled; the low bass of his voice rattled in her chest “Alright; before you dig in, the Chief wants to meet with you.”
“Good, I needed to speak with him as well.”
“I’ll send word.” He said and gave her a dismissive gesture.
Rachel nodded before turning, she walked past her desk and set the file down before walking back to the plain steel door. She pulled up her hood and flicked on her privacy field, and felt Rachel fade away as the comfortable, but alien persona of the Arbiter took over.
The Arbiter pushed the door open and stepped out, not even glancing at the tall, cloaked figure standing guard. The Arbiters clipped bootsteps rang through the hall as they stepped down the stairs and towards the Chief’s office.