The Praetorians, a fantasy cop drama. (Game thread Started/CLOSED Prologue)

[EnigmaticSevens]

Rory felt his hackles rise. He could feel the bandoleer (a rather nifty solution to frequent bouts of nudity) wrapped around his chest vibrate slightly, the radio holstered there turned down to the near minimum settings, but still clearly audible to Rory's ears. The words pouring from it were none too pleasing. Hunt was rather... overeager, and clearly not a fellow with a mind for criminal thinking. Had the words come from Novak, Rory might have been inclined to lend them an ear, there was experience there, and a beta was a beta. This high strung pup though, this one could be trouble. No matter, Rory was used to trouble, just had to keep things calm and adjust with a steady hand.

The wolf fell away, and the red-haired human reasserted himself in one slithering moment, from fur to flesh in a blur like quicksilver. Rory knelt in the gloom and muttered into his radio, voice low and steady, "Hold off on that, Hunt. Think. We don't need a dozen and change petty thieves. Most of 'em kids, most of 'em scared. We only need one ring leader. Besides... just because some of these lads seem small, don't mean they can't get real big, real quick. And that's a whole other sort of trouble."

Rory spent a moment scanning the space around the door and found what he was looking for. There, near the roof, a ventilation shaft. He lent back into the radio, still wary. The wolf would've smelled anyone near enough to be lurking this close. This little outfit might have a touch of organization, but it was still amateur at best, "Now, give me ten minutes to look around, might even get a shot to tag the boss with something to slow him down and spook the rest, but even that's a risk. 10 minutes bags us the leader, or more importantly, his scent. They'll have at least one bolt hole inside, something leading to the sewer if they can manage it. Cali on lookout, you and Rat against this door. 10 minutes, you bust in scatter the sheep, I'll have the shepherd. If it looks too rough, I'll come out before the count is up and give you the run down."

 

[Belmarc]

The static voices on his radio cut through the night, and Rat grimaced as he realized what he was saying. It seemed that everyone else was perfectly in position, and he... well he wasn't really sure where he was. This part of the city, while nice for picking pockets, was also difficult to blend into when you looked like a vagrant. He'd only come here a few times, including earlier today, and everything looked so strange at night. He wished he stuck by Cali. The Night Kin could see in the night as if it were midday, maybe even better if the stories were to be believed. Perhaps her vision was almost as good. He frowned, realizing he didn't really know as much about his teammates as he should. He could hear Cali's voice crackle in across the phone, giving him the house number, and Jason issuing orders. Sighing, he realized he wouldn't be much help here either, but started jogging towards their scents. The one called Rory had turned into a wolf, it seemed, and he could pick out the predatory scent fairly easily amongst the others, and so headed towards him. Rory joined in on the radio chatter, and Rat picked up his pace slightly. He could still smell the wolf in the air, though Rory must have shifted back if he was speaking, and when he turned the corner, he could see the fellow warg in the darkness. Past him he could barely make out the numbers Cali had reported over the radio. The wolf had gotten almost to the door... "Your predator's scent," he hissed at Rory across the way. "Might have noticed and ran already." They might be amateur, just as Rory seemed to think, and Rat had certainly never heard even rumors of a warg criminal ring in this part of town before. The way they had lazily covered their tracks marked them as green, but... to have gathered this many wargs quietly, and to have stashed them all away for so long... It was much more than he'd ever heard in all his years of surviving on the streets.

Alarms began to ring in his head, and he couldn't help but let his eyes sweep for any sign of danger, though he hoped he was wrong. Hoped Rory was just as right as he was sure of. If he was, they'd be fine. But if not... had they walked right up to the front door, in full view of any well-placed lookouts?

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"And that's what I think is a mistake. We're giving up the initiative. And when you lose the initiative, you'll lose the fight. I'd like it if we could also act, not just react." Sameera said with a heavy sigh. "I'm looking what the food... I mean, the humans are doing and grab a sandwich." She then groaned in resignation and left the room, leaving Mordecai alone in the makeshift medical bay.

'Whilst I understand where your coming from Sameera, sometimes all we can do is react; and need I remind you, that it is my job to save lives, not end them.' Mordecai said sounding slightly down. A minute or two later, he could hear a knock on the door.

"Enter." Mordecai said as he turned around to face the door.

"Vasir. Evening. I was wondering if you got around to that form I had Novak give you, Mordecai. Your skills would be especially helpful in this line of work, and I'd like to start taking advantage of them as soon as possible."

"Ah, evening Captain. I trust you dispensed the appropriate action towards those that were in your office earlier, cause myself and Draven could certainly hear it. And speaking of the requisition form, I was just finishing it up as you entered the room. If you'll bear with me for one more moment Captain, and I'll add the final few items." Mordecai said with a voice of sincerity as he turned back to the form and carried writing on the form for a couple more minutes before turning back and handing the form to Ackerman.

"Here you are. Whilst your looking over that, there are a couple of other items that I'll be needing to operate at any sort of efficiency. The first might seem obvious, but I'll need a dedicated medical room where I can work in; I'd say a room of this size, maybe a little bigger, haven't decided yet. As for the second, well, that can wait till once you've done reading."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"Besides... just because some of these lads seem small, don't mean they can't get real big, real quick."

'Then I guess I'll just have to get bigger.' Jason thought.

He scowled and bit his lip as Rory outlined the rest of it. He didn't like the hint of condescension there, especially seeing how getting someone on the inside had been his idea in the first place. Neither was he keen on Rory's insistence on acting alone. What sort of game was this guy playing? On the other hand, there was good sense in there too. If this outfit was even semi-professional, then chances were that they had escape routes planned, and the Praetorians barely had enough bodies here just to cover the conventional ones. They needed to prioritize.

"Alright." Jason answered "If you're confident that you can get in and out undetected, then we'll do it your way... partly." he added firmly. "You go in, identify the ring-leaders and identify the evidence, but you don't engage. When that's done, you get out and inform us what were gonna find in there. We'll get the guys in charge, but the more underlings we get as well, the more chance we have of getting confessions. If all we do is 'scatter the sheep', then the flock will just have started up again somewhere else in a week. Above all else, it's the evidence that matters. We need confessions, or we need the stolen good in their hands, preferably both. Otherwise, nothing we do tonight is gonna stick."

 

[EnigmaticSevens]

Rory tilted his head slightly, taking note of Rat's concerns. He shook his head softly. There were no lookouts, at least none with a strong scent profile, and if one had been clever enough to mask their scent that throughly, they'd be too clever by far to run with this lot. As for the scent of the predator, Rory shuffled closer to the other warg and whispered low, "You're from the wilds, nae? Ever hunted with a pack? The prey isn't keyed to the scent like the predator, and this lot are prey, whipped into if not born to it. I doubt they could take in the scent clear, and even if they could, they're wolves all over the city, not an unusual oder these days."

A slight frown flickered across Rory's face as Jason's reply crackled over the radio. Why so much fire for so petty a task? No one had been murdered here and the stolen items were the treasured trinkets of the poor, valuable to them no doubt, but hardly a dragon's hoard. Was Hunt still smarting from the dress down he got from the Captain? What was he so eager to prove? This wasn't about confessions, this wasn't even about arrests, this was about solving a problem, enforcing at least some small modicum of justice. Locking up a handful of street punks didn't do a damn thing. The shepherd was key, the organizer was key, without that the rest were aimless. Hell, let them flock to a new banner, that just singled out anoter ringleader for prompt dispatch. Screwing some kid's life sideways over a mess of petty theft, roughing them up and dragging them to the precinct in silver cuffs, what did that solve? Nothing. Was it so easy to forget that? Perhaps there was more work to done here than even Father suspected, if even a warg officer thought so little of his kin. Rory's stomach might've been growling something fierce, and that might've led to a few queer thoughts, but some things ran deeper than even the worst hunger. Some things were basic. Rory shook the thought from his head and focused on the task at hand, "Hunt, if the head man's in there with his hand in the muck and his back turned, I'll take the shot. Please, trust me in this, it'll prove a lot cleaner for everyone. But aye, if its too shift in there, I'll pop back out and let you know what's what. Either way, remember, ten minutes. If you ain't seen me by then, I've either wrapped this or someone's wrapped me and I'd much appreciate a bold and daring rescue."

Rory shrugged off the bandoleer around his chest, reached up and slid it through the rusted out corner of the grill over the air vent, best to keep certain effects as close on hand as possible, even if the hands meant to work them at the time were somewhat nonexistant. He paused for a moment, hesitated for just a second, something still weighing rather heavily on his mind, something that needed to be said. He offered the radio one last whisper before silencing it and stashing it with the rest, "I know everyone's blood's up, the hunt's good and all. Just remember, if it gets rough... had the world turned different, we'd be in there with 'em."

Maybe those words fell on deaf or deafened ears, but Rory hoped they'd make some bit of sense. Protocol could fly a kite and Rory couldn't have cared less about the praise or approval of others, but he could sense that urge in some. He could only hope some deeper sense of right pushed them away from it. A half dozen arrests looked pretty on a sheet of paper, but it didn't fix things. Rory was for fixing problems, all the rest was futile. Ahh but these were two legged thoughts, human concerns, and in a moment at least, human worries wouldn't matter, and the hunt would resume. Rory streched, reached deep into the vent and let himself fall away. The flesh, muscle and sinew shifted and slithered for a moment, and the man was gone, leaving only the suggestion of a serpentine tail that soon slid away into the lungs of the building, quiet as fever and with a bite twice as deadly.

The viper was at home in the dark places, and it wound its way through the building in silence until the darkness gave way to dim light. The shadows in the corner of the vent took shape for the briefest of moments, a diamond shaped head with a forked tounge flicking out and tasting the air. The shadow shape watched the room below. It's eyesight wasn't the best, but it could see well enough, and it could hear well enough, and in the flicking of its tounge it could sense a room full of heartbeats.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Jason clicked off his radio, in disgust at the failure his attempt at compromise had been. Was it always going to be like this; one guy on the squad going off to try and do the whole thing by themselves for one sketchy reason after another? Was nobody else interested in being a team player? Maybe next time the Captain or her Sergeant would have the good grace to name an actual leader to stop the unit from always breaking apart.

He still had no idea what Rory's game was, but he suspected it didn't have the same end goal as his own. Jason wanted the Praetorians to be a force that people could trust to get the job done right. He wanted people to look at his uniform with a measure of pride and respect, not suspicion and prejudice. To do that, they needed to do more than just 'tag the bosses', they needed to convict them, of crimes that were punishable by law, based on cases that were solid and watertight. Rory's attitude seemed to be that suspects were a problem to be disposed of any way he saw fit, or apparently ignored if they were ones he felt sorry for. Quite frankly, he acted more like a rival gang thug than he did an officer of the law. What was the last part of what he had said supposed to mean anyway? Jason was no stranger to the ways the world could turn. He'd grown up in the dregs of the Old Town and seen more kids than he could count turn to crime. Many of them had been his friends once. It was no excuse, the innocent had to come first. Of course he wasn't suggesting that they should be come down on like a tonne of bricks for no good reason, or have whatever testimony most suited the force beaten out of them. How had he been suggesting that? It didn't mean that their wrong-doing could just be ignored however, and how exactly was just scattering them to the four winds and leaving them to their own devices supposed to be helping them either, as Rory was apparently suggesting?

Jason had grubbed in the dirt day in and day out for years, for people who thought he was worth nothing, until they started to look at him differently. He knew what hardship was and he knew how to get out of it. He didn't know what Rory knew, but if anyone had the right to pass judgement on those who would rather steal than earn a living, it was Jason.

"Did everybody get that?" he asked into the radio. He was calm, but in his tone the real question was clear 'Are you guys all okay with this?'

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Did everybody get that?

"Sure sure, guess I'm on watch then. Guess I'll just wait for a back-up call then." Cali muttered, not taking her eyes on the house.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Here you are. Whilst your looking over that, there are a couple of other items that I'll be needing to operate at any sort of efficiency. The first might seem obvious, but I'll need a dedicated medical room where I can work in; I'd say a room of this size, maybe a little bigger, haven't decided yet. As for the second, well, that can wait till once you've done reading."

Ackerman gave a stern "Hmmm." As she took the form. She scanned over it in silence for a moment before folding it up and putting it in one of the pockets that lined her uniform. Ackerman didn't recognize half the longer words but then she wasn't the medical expert. "Pick out one of the empty rooms for yourself, Constable, we've got plenty to go around. I'll
get on the horn to HQ and see what I can wrangle you."

She couldn't promise much but the addition of a properly trained medic and on site facilities could be a big boost to their little precinct and Ackerman knew she had to claw for every boost her little crew could get right now. "While we're on the subject, would anyone else like to make any particular skills or connections known that might have been skipped over during the recruitment process?" She asked the room in general.

*****​

The street stayed quiet, its residents asleep and oblivious to the two parties and their night time antics. Novak, for his part, was content to sit back in the car and listen to the radio chatter as the new recruits were left to work things out for themselves. A little unorthodox but it was all part of the early process, besides this was a relatively small gig. They could be trusted to handle this as a group... at least that's what he thought going in. For now it seemed they were trying to go for the stealth approach. Interesting. It could work so long as none of the wargs had the necessary senses to spot, smell or hear any of them.

Of course that was when Charlie the cat appeared at the window and let out a caterwaul could have raised the dead.

The crew inside the house bolted to attention as the few that were in human form shouldered their sacks and made a break for the various exits and the collection of animals scattered into smaller groups and went to make their escape. Charlie (well, his lookalike) was unfortunately swept up in the confusion by the larger animals and left separated from the gang as each group burst into either the street or out the back of the house.

That sight that greeted the praetorians was something most would have considered interesting. A domestic stampede and a scattering of small children running as fast as their two legs would carry them, bags of loot trailing behind them.

Meanwhile, back in the house a tabby and a viper were left to have a dramatic show down. If Novak had bothered to use a notepad and pen he'd probably be scribbling in it from the sidelines. For now he grumbled as he'd probably have to call this in to the boss.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

'Aw shit!'

"GET THE LOOT!" Jason yelled into his radio to no-one in particular. Anyone who was willing to listen to a damn thing he said at this point. The kids didn't matter. Many looked little older than 6 or 7 to Jason anyway. Rory had been right about at least one thing, arresting this lot would do them no good, they just had to make sure the urchins didn't get away with all the evidence. That was what they needed, if they were going to have any hope of keeping whoever was running this joint off the streets for any length of time.

Hurriedly, Jason half-sprinted to the edge of the roof, where a drain pipe awaited him, offering a fast way down. He took it, swinging down onto it and sliding half the distance to the street, before letting go and half-jumping, half-falling the rest of the way. It wasn't the most dignified landing, but Jason had learned some time ago how to avoid hurting himself with such stunts, and the acrobatics came to him naturally now. He'd landed right in front of a small boy who'd been trying to make a break for it. The kid barely reached Jason's waist in height, and the boy ran right into him, knocking himself back down on his arse as a result. As the boy could do little but stare, with eyes as wide as dinner plates, at the huge specimen who'd just materialised in front of him, Jason snatched the bag he'd been carrying as easy as, well, taking candy from a baby, before running towards the house without a second thought.

"I'M GOING IN TO BACK UP RORY." he shouted again, swinging the bag over his shoulder. He was partly sincere. After all, whatever his misgivings about the man, Rory was still a fellow officer, Jason wasn't about to leave him to contend with who-know's-what was still inside alone. On the other hand, he was also going in after the main perps, who would doubtless be wanting to make their escape too. Anyone remotely important would do. All they had to do was finger them with whatever stolen goods they could salvage tonight in questioning, and they'd have the name of whoever was at the top of this little enterprise soon enough. Jason suspected that 'honour amongst thieves' was a concept rather too romantic for this lot.

Jason barely slowed his pace when he barged into the front door, shoulder first. It was a rickety thing, and the force of Jason's impact wrenched it straight off its hinges. He didn't draw his gun though, for all he knew there might still be kids in there.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Cali cursed loudly, drawing her gun. She heard Jason shout, Get the loot! and hurried to do so... only to stop in her tracks. The Shifters were all kids, and young ones at that.

"Freeze!" She shouted, at a bunch of kids who were approaching, each carrying a small bag. All of them slid to a halt, staring wide-eyed. "Just give me the loot and I promise I'll let you go, I promise." she said softly, praying to any deity that she wouldn't have to shoot...

 

[Belmarc]

They scattered, most of them as amateur and green as Rory had expected, if not more so. Still, it made things easier, in a way. His hand shot out, quick as the snake his teammate had become, and lifted up one urchin, sex unknowable under the cover of night and grime, by the back of their shirt. He could hear Jason shouting from his radio, and Cali shouting from off somewhere. He put them out of his mind. The kid struggled in his grip, even tried to slip off the shirt, but he readjusted his grip onto the child's arm. The other hand grabbed a running mass of fur, nothing he could decipher in the dark but small enough to handle with one hand. It clawed at the air, assuredly finding his clothes and gloves in its attacks, but unable to tear through. He gave it a slight squeeze, a quick reminder who was in control. The weight went dead in his hands, but he could feel the rapid breathing and quivering through the material of his glove. The one in human form had done similarly, and Rat realized he must have squeezed the child's arm tight. Their eyes were glazed over, hiding away from whatever pain there was to be suffered. If it was guilt he was feeling, he had no time for it, and didn't let go. Jason had gone in after Rory, but he trusted the two of them to take care of themselves. His mind refocused on his last teammate. Had she been screaming? Was there something dangerous among the pack of children and prey? For a moment, he considered letting the two of them go and running to her aid, but that wouldn't do them any good. The others might think the kids had little value, and not worth the arrest, but he'd been on the streets, seen how crime worked. Children were often smarter than adults believed, and heard things they shouldn't, and while he wasn't interested in punishing them, they might prove valuable. "Come on," he said gruffly, and tugged the wargling along through the dark. The rest of his pack had fled into the night, and if he looked after them feeling betrayed, he did not let it be seen.

He found Cali holding three children at gunpoint, loot in hand. They were quivering, afraid. He'd even think Cali was frozen in fear if he didn't know better. Rat adopted his best menacing stare and spoke up before things went bad. "Drop it and run," he growled at them, pulling the kid roughly along for emphasis.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Cali started, seeing Rat standing a ways off, dragging another urchin along with him.

"Drop it and run," he growled, and the kids scampered, leaving their bags behind. Letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Cali turned to face Rat.

"Thanks." She said, hoping she didn't sound too relieved. She glanced down at the child Rat carried with him. "What's with the kid?" Cali asked. She couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, so she kept the pronoun vague.

 

[Belmarc]

"Two of them," he mentioned, gesturing vaguely with his off hand. It seemed that he had caught a mouse, or maybe a rat. He certainly hoped it was a warg, and not just some animal that had scattered with the group. That'd certainly be embarrassing. "Are you hurt?" Cali seemed on edge, but what did he know about Talin. He wondered if she had been forced to draw her weapon, or if she had done it to get things done quickly. Whether or not she had made the right choice... well it'd all worked out, hadn't it? This whole thing was a mess, and he wasn't in any position to judge.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"Are you hurt?"

Cali nodded. "N-no, I'm okay, this case just got a bit messed up is all." She glanced back at the house. "Do you think we should back the others up?"

 

[Voidrunner]

"While we're on the subject, would anyone else like to make any particular skills or connections known that might have been skipped over during the recruitment process?"

"I did a lot of work in good old Spring Crest," offered Collin, "still know a lot of people in the industry if that's of any use. I could always ask them if they wanted to buy your life story so we can get some more funding?" Yeah, that was a pretty ridiculous idea. "They love a good crime story over there anyway."

 

[Pappytech]

Archibald inclined his head respectfully as Captain Ackerman entered the main office, still talking to whoever was in the room behind her. Had he still been on duty and in uniform, he likely would've given a full salute. In his civilian clothes, however, such a gesture would be a little inappropriate. Not to mention difficult, what with his jacket taking up his spare hand.

"While we're on the subject, would anyone else like to make any particular skills or connections known that might have been skipped over during the recruitment process?"

The question was an interesting one, and Archibald was more than a little surprised to hear it directed at himself. What, did that mean that the Captain didn't know who he was?

'Well then,' the officer mused as he cleared his throat, a small smile dancing across his lips, 'I'll just have to inform her.'

"Well, Captain Ackerman," Archibald began, closing his eyes and gesturing with his idle hand, "as the heir to the Ampère family, it should hopefully go without saying that I command a sizable fortune and numerous assets. Assets which, at some point in time, may prove to be invaluable to the newly reestablished Praetors. In the meantime, however, I hope that you will be satisfied with some of my more meager talents."

There was only one word that could properly describe Archibald's tone, grin, and posture: Smug. The subtle, cultured lilt that he infused his words with, the way he kept his eyes only half-open, the easy, not-quite-carefree air with which he carried himself; he was a man who fully understood his own self-worth, and who knew without a doubt that he was worth more than anybody else in the room.

"I'm proud to say," the officer continued, his self-satisfied smirk never once wavering, "that I was the salutatorian in my class at the Academy. Granted, most of my studies focused on the methods of business and industry, but I always possessed a healthy curiosity for the arts of investigation, enough to dedicate several semesters to them. Undoubtedly, you'll find my expertise to be quite beneficial.

"What's more, while I must admit I don't have the brute strength associated with some of our more... 'diverse' comrades, I can assure you that I'm quite capable in physical matters as well." Playfully, Archibald dropped into a familiar stance, his feet arranged perfectly and his free hand extended about a foot in front of his chest. "If, by some chance, you ever need somebody to cross swords for you, then I'm more than happy to be of service. Why, I took fourth at the city fencing tournament just this past year, and I'm aiming for the gold at this year's."

Standing up straight again, the officer smiled at the Captain once again. "That's all that comes to mind for now, sadly. Rest assured, if I can recall any other details that you might find helpful, I will be sure to inform you."

 

[Belmarc]

Rat bit his lip in thought. Rory and Jason should be enough to deal with any threats they found inside, and Jason wanted the loot gathered. He wasn't sure what they could find of the rest of the group, though. Even the stragglers had fled out of sight. He had to get these kids to Novak in the car before they wrestled out of his grip, but could he leave Cali to her own devices? "Are you stable?" he asked her, feeling that it wasn't quite the right thing to say but lacking knowledge of a better word.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"Are you stable?"

Rat's words surprised Cali, though she quickly understood his concerned. "Y-yeah, I think I can handle it." She shook her head. "Anyway, I guess I'll go ahead and you can drop the kids off in the car first."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Ackerman gave a stern "Hmmm." To Mordecai as she looked over the requisition form, before neatly folding it up and placing it in one of the many pockets that lined her uniform. "Pick out one of the empty rooms for yourself, Constable, we've got plenty to go around. I'll get on the horn to HQ and see what I can wrangle you." Mordecai gave a respectful nod to her.

"Thank you Captain Ackerman, that is most appreciative of you. Even if you can only manage to acquire some basic supplies, it will certainly go along way in making sure this precinct is prepared for emergencies. I shall be sure to inform you of which room I have chosen before we are done here today." Soon after the pair left the makeshift medical room and headed back towards the reports room were most of the others would be at. Whilst Ackerman was busy addressing the others about any special skills or connections they might possess, Mordecai went back to his desk and sat down. There was the other thing that needed bringing up, but it can wait till everyone here was done talking.

 

[Belmarc]

Rat nodded solemnly. "Stay safe," he muttered, before pulling the brat along behind him, the other in hand (literally). It wasn't long before he found Novak in the car, and grinned sheepishly at his superior. "Found something."