Dealings

[EpicToaster1]

These events occur within the Corporate State of Tanus. Please speak to EpicToaster1 or Apocrypha before posting here.

As the day came to an end and the sun hovered above the horizon, the people went home. They did not stop. They knew to be off the streets, as did most in any urban development in the nation. As night descended, that's when they walk the streets.

Congressmen Derek Trulivola and Richard Colsa would be waiting outside the Lucky 12 Bar, watching the empty streets. Their car was parked in back, hidden from public view. Peering through the window, the bar was dead. The only noticeable person was the bartender, who seemed to have his eye on the window out towards those outside as he cleaned.

A car, black as night, would pull up to the curb, followed by a larger vehicle of similar color. A tall man would step out of the car, lighting a cigarette before taking a few paces over and standing before the two congressmen. He'd look them both in the eyes before blowing his smoke off to the side.

"Is it done, Mr. E?"

"As it always is." The man would take another drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out slowly. "The money is moving as we speak. We thank you kindly for the help."

"How much?"

"Forty-five million each."

The two congressmen would nod. Two more men would step out of the other vehicle, both of them armed. They'd walk over, standing on either side, facing down either way of the road, looking.

[Deleted]

 Two men rested their backs against the seats inside of the bar, eyes drifting about idly as one would hold his camera tight to himself, and the other would idly check over their pockets to ensure that they hadn't yet been robbed of it. Satisfied he had it, he remained however paranoid. His friend would be keeping watch of his camera, having already lost his wallet, though thankfully kept his ID. He'd settle into his seat a little more, though the second man, both being Demi-human Festria, notices the two men outside of the building. 

 They'd catch them both through the window, but not seem to immediately recognize them, the two deliberating quietly in their native language before they both figure out who they are, and they would look at each other, and listen a little more closely, but not move from their seats. They'd already paid the bartender for their drinks, and weren't doing very much other than sitting and making gestures to each other and quiet passing comments about certain things, so they were not going to be easy to notice. 

 They'd wait for now, the two of them not looking at the window directly, but remaining hidden in their booths as they kept their ears angled outwards to catch whatever sound they could, even slowing their breathing to minimize the noise as much as possible. Both men would look at each other as they catch the chatter, the other one quietly grabbing a recorder from their pocket and silently hooking in the microphone, turning on the recorder and then holding it just far enough out to catch the noise, but not enough to be immediately seen unless someone was actually looking directly at their booth for long enough to notice the slowly rolling spools and dangling microphone held by a couple of fingers to prevent it from swaying.  They'd turned them on just at the tail end of "We thank you kindly for the help." 

[EpicToaster1]

The man supposedly named "Mr. E" would step back to his car, grabbing something out before walking back over to the two men. "As it stands, the Los Siatos* are blocking our expansion to West Forla and the state of Rii. For ten million each, we'd like you to pass this." He'd hand over the envelope. "Contained is a bill that will make it more difficult for them to get their supplies from the Teriaga**, which in turn will also help our expansion to the north, but they're a little better off than Los Siatos so it'll take longer. But with us removing one of their buyers, it'll get the ball rolling."

The two men would pull out the paperwork, looking at it. Colsa would look up at Mr. E. "Thirty million each."

One of the guards would seem to turn away from the road and look at the group, staring at them before Mr. E would brush it off. "Fifteen million."

"Thirty million."

"Twenty million."

"Thirty million."

"Twenty-five million or we'll go find Yulosi and Pormol to do it for us instead."

Colsa would look at Trulivola, who would nod, and then look back at Mr. E, the guard turning to them again. "Deal."

*Pronounced See-ah-toes

**Pronounced Teer-ee-ah-gah

[Deleted]

The cameraman would keep a hold of the recorder, shifting slightly in his booth, leaning out a little bit before he would slowly hook the microphone onto a spot on the shoulder of his seat and then move back after a moment more. The other man would shift slightly as well, and lean to the side, poking his head out briefly from cover before then pulling himself back into the coverage rendered by their seat. They would look at each other as this went on, silently exchanging glances and raised eyebrows.

When they settled on Twenty-five million, the two of them would look at each other, one mouthing "did you get that?" and the other nodding his head in response, the two then resuming their eavesdropping to see what else they could catch, if they could get anything more out of them.

[EpicToaster1]

Mr. E would stare at the two before nodding. "As per usual, you have seventy-two hours to complete this before we pull out and hand the task over to someone else. And I like you two, so I'd hate to do that." He'd up and turn, walking back to his car and getting in. He'd start up his car, letting the engine rev a bit before taking off, flying down the road and turning off down the street.

The two guards would remain with the two congressmen, the two congressmen speaking low to each other. The driver of the other car would step out, lighting up a cigarette as he leaned against the car. "You politicians have it easy!"

The two would stop speaking and turn to him. "Without us, you wouldn't be able to operate!"

The driver would scoff, returning to his cigarette. One of the nearby guards would turn to the congressmen. "Don't mind him, he just believes that if you're not the one on the field you do nothing of importance."

"I can tell." The guard would say some further stuff to the two, though too quiet for the recorder to make out, before there would be a squeal of tires.

Before anyone could react, a black SUV would barrel down the road, though on the far side of the street. The windows would roll down before reaching them, when several barrels would be pointed out of them and open fire, spraying bullets across the sidewalk and into the bar. After a few moments they'd stop, the drive-by complete as they hurriedly continue down the road, leaving the bloody mess at the scene.

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The police would arrive several minutes later, four police cars parked out front while two police trucks pull in to block off the street. A lone ambulance would be there, the medics draping the bodies in sheets to cover them. The bartender would be sitting on the sidewalk with two cops, hunched forward as he shook, occasionally ridding his body of his prior meals as the police tried to calm him.

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The nearby commander would receive a call. "Several dead in drive-by. Two of ours among the bodies."

[Deleted]

Potlav Installation - Rovuellian Embassy

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 The Festria sat at his desk, hands resting on the wood as he listened to the radio feed and kept his eyes to the reports on his desk. SITOC had been busy, but so far nothing he saw was of relative interest to him. 
He was here on business, or supposed to be anyway, and he had so far been stalled not by deliberate action but by a fuck up. He had been familiar with this, he called it 'screwing the pooch' while most others called it a 'logistical error'. The package he was to oversee the transport of would be days away now, and he had been more or less fucked and had to extend his stay as such. 

 Their red hair was curly, not uncommon for most Festria, though it was noticeably longer than normal and done up in a pony tail of sorts to keep it out of his eyes and away from the sides of his head. He wore the standard BDU on his frame, given he had no reason to wear formal dress. The clothing was patterned for the Rovuellian mountains and its red foliage, with white, red, black and gray. Strange for Tanus, but he wasn't expected to be fighting here, so they didn't care to send him nor anyone else with a proper uniform. At least not on any official business anyway. If SITOC was using their toys to ruin lives somewhere he'd never know about it anyway, nor would anyone else. 

 His mind would be dragged out of thought as the radio would flick off, and the door would open, a man stepping inside wearing a similar uniform. He'd hand to the Lieutenant, serving as the commander of this installation for the time being, the phone, it hanging by a long wire for this explicit purpose, and then click the side-thumber, taking the person on the other end off of hold and speaking into the microphone after they had finished speaking themselves. 

"Two." They'd stop for a moment, and then grab their hat, putting it onto their head before grabbing their holster and info-pouch. "Give me the location, time and known circumstances." He would order into the phone. 

[EpicToaster1]

"The Lucky 12 Bar in Res Airia, thirty-seven minutes south of Savograd. We've already got transports waiting, you'll be briefed in full there."

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The drive there would be uneventful, a higher than usual police presence, but all-together not much out of the ordinary. There would be a solider sitting across and briefing the commander as the ATVs would fly down the highway. "At approximately eleven fifty-two, an unknown vehicle drove past the Lucky 12 and fired several rounds at the bar. Two politicians, a Mr. Derek Trulivola and a Mr. Richard Colsa, were shot. Presumably the main targets of this drive-by. However, there are also three unknown men accompanying them, two of whom had weapons of their own on their person. We know not much else about them, but we can presume they're potentially bodyguards of some degree. Inside the bar, two of our citizens were identified. The only survivor from the site is the bartender, though they're still shaken and as such have not been of much help identifying the culprits at the moment."

The vehicles would pull up to the makeshift barricade made by the police trucks, the men waving the ATVs through as one of the trucks moves out of the way. The scene would have several police cars strewn about, the disarray allowing the drivers to just park the vehicles anywhere and not be in the way. As the commander would step out, a nearby clock would read 12:08 AM.

[Deleted]

 He sat and listened for the time, his hands resting in his lap, shifting his cap a bit for comfort as his ear would twitch beneath it. When their ATV came to a stop, they would be the first out of the vehicle, ignoring the guard that would have had to open the door for them otherwise as they simply wrenched the release and it popped open. He was out and on his feet, speed walking his way towards the bodies. The other guards would follow or stay with the cars, the officer shifting their cap slightly and coming to a stop a few feet away form the line of body bags on the sidewalk. 

"I want to see the two of ours." They'd bark out. "Now."

[EpicToaster1]

One of the police officers would look up from the five bodies in front of them and point inside. "In there. Still being photographed."

Inside, there would be two investigators, one writing down everything while the other is just finishing up their pictures. They'd have the documents of each corpse on a nearby table, opened and some notes written on papers laid next to them. They would have several bullet wounds, many of which pierced through the booth's back and into their torsos, though the closer one also has two bullets lodged into their head. Without looking at the Festrians, one of the investigators pipes up. "I see the military has finally made their way here... Too bad it's not our own when we need it." He'd continue his work, as if he never said anything.

The other would speak up. "Media equipment. Appears to still be on." He'd snap a picture of the recorders in their places, marking it.

[Deleted]

The two guards that had accompanied the officer as he marched into the bar would look at the man, raising their eyebrows together and then looking at one another, before turning forwards again. The Commander himself would walk over to the booth, looking at the blood trail and pool of it, the purple-red color making him grimace. It'd been sitting for awhile, and it was freshly drawn Festri, or.. well, Homo-Festri blood. They'd breathe out through their nose, and then look at the man that was writing on the paper and examining the space around it, as well as the recorder.

He'd look at it, and as they snap a picture, he would then look at them.
"I need that recorder if you don't mind." He'd say. "As soon as possible, preferably now." He says, crossing his arms. The other two Festria in the room look at him, though they say nothing, the two of them walking over to the puddle of blood and leaning in a bit as the Iron smell grows stronger.

"..It's starting to congeal already." The right one says, as tiny splotches of black begin to appear a few seconds later. They don't spread very far, but they are appearing slowly as the blood coagulates and congeals. 

[EpicToaster1]

The two investigators look to each other, before turning to look at the Commander. "We're not allowed to give it to you now, as it could shed some potential light on hopefully anything that happened here if it's sensitive enough. So we'll be bringing it back to the station with us. However, if you so choose, we don't mind any of your men coming along and listening or recording it for themselves so you have a copy. But we're not allowed to give up evidence before it's been looked at unless the commissioner says so, and sadly he isn't here right now."

The one with the camera would walk over, taking a picture of the black splotches in the blood. "That's a new one..."

[Deleted]

"I'll send Jericho." He'd say, the guard that commented on the congealing blood looking up. He'd step back, the other would look down at the pool of blood as Jericho came over.
He'd put on his own cap and then uncover his stripes so that one could see the sergeant markings and his nametag, putting the velcro covers into his pockets.

The commander would step back and cross his arms, as Jericho would take out a small recorder and some tape.
"I'll go to the station and give it a listen." They'd say.

"It happens. The air must be humid, iron is rusting quicker. Either that or they had a disease that made their blood congeal quicker." The other guard shrugs. "It happens."

[EpicToaster1]

The investigator not taking photos would whistle, an officer walking in from outside. The officer would put on gloves before opening a bag, the investigator having already had gloves on. He'd grab the recorder, turning it off before placing it gently in the bag. "Mr. Jericho, please follow Mr. Trey. Trey, bring this to the station immediately and begin listening to it." The officer would nod before turning and walking out of the building, Jericho in tow. They'd immediately get into one of the police cars, driving off the scene to the station.

The other investigator would turn to the other guard. "Mind explaining what that means?"

[Deleted]

"The blood, when it sits for long enough and gets thin enough, and has enough exposure to air, begins to coagulate." They'd say. "It's too cold, the cells are dying off, and the blood is turning to a goo-like rotten mass." They'd say. "It's kind of like the process to make scabs, except the blood is rotting." They'd say.

Jericho would plant themselves into the seat, and then cross their arms, waiting idly in the seat as they began to drive.

[EpicToaster1]

The investigator would nod. "Interesting." He'd snap another picture before walking away. He'd look over the scene once more before finally setting the camera down. "Now comes the gruesome part."

He'd look out the door, motioning. Two officers would come in, both carrying bodybags. They'd set them down on the ground, waiting for their next command. The investigators would turn to the commander. "Do you mind us bringing these two to the morgue for autopsies, or would you prefer they went back with you?"

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Eventually, the escort vehicle would arrive back at the station. It was more a compound really, not so much an inviting little area that one could rush to in their time of help. The large concrete barricades and armed officers surrounding the place offered a much more grim reality of the locale.

The vehicle would eventually come to rest in its designated spot, Trey stepping out of the vehicle with the evidence and waiting for Jericho before heading inside.