Justice Switches Arms

Just then the double doors burst open with a bang, there is a clack of armored boots, and a familiar voice says, "Superintendent Br'am! Are you busy now?"

The superintendent's eyes widen and then furrow.

"What in flames are YOU doing here?" demands Constable Panith.

"Betham!" snaps the superintendent. "You gl'imm! You were ordered to patrol..."

"...to patrol the eastern side of the Park," interrupts Betham as he strides in flanked by three other armored constables. "Not that there was anything there. You have an important message, but it seems your com is down. I came here to deliver it personally."

"Right, whatever!" snaps the superintendent. "Give me the message, and be quick about it!"

"Com silence and blockers too?" asks Betham playfully as he and his team thread their way through the tables. "And the Night Guard? Is this normal procedure for our district?"

"The situation calls for special measures," replies the superintendent. "Now give me the message and get your ass back out on your bikes!"

"Very well," says Betham. He waves his team off just as they're passing by the party. He himself comes to a stop directly in front of the superintendent. Then he glances back at Par'deth and shifts a bit to the side. "There are two parts to the message. I'm guessing the first is evidence. The second part is probably instructions. I'll play 'em in that order."

"Fine!" snaps the superintendent.

Betham holds up his wrister, taps in a sequence, and then pauses as a holo display appears.

(From behind the party there is a sound of carefully shifting stools.)

"All lies!" cries Keil'i. "Lies and betrayal! How can you call yourself a representative of..."

There is a flash and crackle of a stun bolt, and Keil'i collapses to the ground, blue sparks playing about her form.

Bina lets out a verbal and psychic scream and runs to her companion's side.

"Just an unfortunate precaution," says the superintendent with a sigh. "She'll be alright. Your name is Bina, right? At least you're a local, so you should understand."

[cut]

"Extreme..." sings Wari in Her-galad (mimicking Constable Panith). "Even more extreme when controlled...not by the Temple, but still controlled! Poison in the air..."

"Shut up!" snaps Constable Panith, switching on his stun baton.

"Who pulls your strings, Constable?" sings Wari as if in a dream.

"I said shut up!" growls Panith, and he moves toward her menacingly.

"Wari, don't!" hisses Blaghl.

"Smile for the cameraaaaaas..." Wari sings, glancing around the room.

Panith hesitates, glancing around, each breath a growl of rage, then, with a most un-Hergoth howl, his control gives way, and he jabs the Bolgan violently with his baton. Her attempt to dodge is unsuccessful. There is a crackle of stun fire, and she quietly collapses.

Breathing as if on the verge of hyperventilation, Constable Panith wheels around, brandishing his baton as if half berserk, and growls, "You...will...all...obey...authority!"

An almost tangible wave of tension spreads through the club.

"And now the second part," says Betham as the holo image changes. [His other hand can be seen to move closer to his sidearm.]

"Superintendent Br'am," says the face as it fades into focus, "you, Panith, and Ter'nbath are relieved of all duties and under arrest, effective immediately!"

"TRAITORS!!!" yells Panith.

At the same time, a psychic scream like "KYAAAAAAATH" echoes through everyone's mind as Par'deth becomes a thing of fire.

(I'll be needing speed point rolls. Use the number and type of dice indicated for 1st exchange according to your SPD attribute. The table is here.)

The Wrong Arm of Justice

Zeton and Lirassa are still fussing over the computer when both Widjgleeby and Ham announce that the approaching force has made it to the room outside.

A moment later, an amplified, Hergoth-sounding voice speaking Her-galad blares, "Peace Force! This area is under security! Stand down and present yourselves!" The order is then repeated in Yangae.

"Should we take cover?" whispers Pru anxiously.

"No," says Bina. "We'd better do what they say."

"Show no resistance!" advises Keil'i.

Suddenly Mek screams hysterically, "IN HERE! IN HERE! HELP US! THEY'RE ROBBING THE PLACE!"

Boots can be heard scrambling toward the entrance to the chamber. Then the order to stand down and present is repeated from the doorway.

Mek continues, "STOP THEM! HURRY! THEY'LL RUIN EVERYTHING!"

"We are from the Temple!" shouts Bina. "We offer no violence!"

"Stay where you are," says a relatively deep Hergoth-sounding voice in Her-galad but using a telepathic translator. "Make no aggressive moves! This area is under security!"

Two Peace Force officers in armor step through the door with pistols drawn. Keil'i steps forward carefully to present herself, hands held open. Bina rises painfully to do the same.

"All of you," says one of the officers (though not the deep-voiced one), "move to the open area! Do it now!"

There is a nice, cheerful bleep of confirmation from Lirassa's wrister. Muffling her sigh of relief, she quickly shuts it off.

"You there," says the officer, "move away from the machine! Hands where we can see them!"

As he speaks, a third Peace Force officer swaggers in behind the first two. He is a bit brawnier. His markings also show him to be of higher rank than the others.

"Come on now," he says in the deep voice heard before. "I know you don't want trouble, so don't make any. Let's see all of you move over there so we can see you, nice and easy. And while we're at it, why don't we just see you leave your weapons on the floor as you go. It's safer for all of us that way."

"Superintendent!" says Pru with surprise. Then she smirks. "Why aren't you at your desk?"

"Why aren't you in a hospital bed like the rest of your team, Pru?" asks the superintendent. "Or a box? You, too! With the others! Move!"