MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS BELONG TO ME. DON'T STEAL THEM, THEY ARE ARMED AND DANGEROUS.

Hi, everyone! Here's a new story for the new year! Before I begin, I'd like to share a little story about… well, this story. I had no plans to make this. I was watching Netflix, and suddenly, this idea popped into my head. After that, I couldn't get it out, so here it is. It's a little outside my wheelhouse, since I'm typically more into sci-fi and fantasy war stories, but I wanted to expand my horizons.

Also, keep in mind, since I'm not actually using any CSI characters, and was mostly just inspired by the shows, I don't consider this a true crossover. In fact, I could totally see something like the following story actually happening in Mass Effect. I just really liked the title. Enjoy!

CSI: Citadel

Episode 1

Pilot

Citadel, 2179

The Zakera Ward docks were unusually empty. Large crowds often passed through, usually heading somewhere else, either to leave or to drop off goods. Today, a large section of the docks was barred by Citadel Security, either by holographic warnings or shuttles to physically wall off a large circular area.

At the center of the circle were two people; one of them was dead, and the other was examining the body for answers.

The dead man was a Turian, his body splayed out on the ground and spattered with his own bluish-purple blood. Fragments of his carapace dotted the area in a way that looked like a grenade had gone off.

Standing over the dead man was a human. He was tall and fit, though his muscles were hidden underneath loose civilian clothes—black pants, a button-up blue shirt, and a brown coat that went down to his knees. He was in his forties, though his close-cropped black hair had a premature salt-and-pepper quality to it. His arms were crossed as he looked down at the body, his eyes concealed by wide sunglasses, though his thoughtful frown was on full display.

"What happened to you?" he asked the dead Turian, his voice coming out just a few degrees short of a rasp. He pulled a pair of sterilized gloves from a bag in his pocket and put them on; he then reached for the Turian's right mandible.

"Hold it!"

The man stood up and turned to the source of the voice. Two Citadel Security officers were marching towards him. One was armored in the blue-black armor of C-Sec, while the other wore just the uniform.

The armored one, a large Turian with red face paint curling around his eyes and around to his chin, was glaring at the human like he had done something horrible. The other officer, a purple-skinned Asari with white freckle-like dots under her eyes, was the one who had spoken.

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

"You can step away from the body," the Asari demanded. "You almost contaminated the crime scene."

The man waved in the general direction of a pair of officers at the perimeter. "Don't worry, I waited until they documented everything and said I could come in."

The Turian—the living one—looked at those officers, then back at the man. "And you are?"

"Detective Jake Halloway," the man said. "You should have received a notice a couple weeks back about me coming here."

The Asari relaxed a fraction, and even smiled. "Oh, sorry, there wasn't a picture of you in the notice. I'm Detective Ria T'ressa, acting head of C-Sec CSI. Well, I guess I can give you the job, since you're here now." She gently slapped the Turian on the arm. "Relax, Trevian."

The Turian, Trevian, seemed to genuinely try to do so. "Sorry, Detective Halloway. I'm Trevian Sorennis, liaison between CSI and the rest of C-Sec."

Jake nodded. "Detective, Officer, nice to meet you. Shall we get to work?"

"Sounds good," Ria said, and then knelt by the body. "What do we have so far?"

"Turian, male, but it's hard to get more than that," Jake answered. "Even if his carapace wasn't shattered, it's degraded somehow, so it's impossible to guess his age. No face paint, either, so we can't tell what colony he's from. He's not from the Citadel, his DNA didn't match anyone registered as living here, so we still don't know who he is."

"Cause of death?" Trevian asked, activating his omnitool and taking notes.

"Again, hard to say. We'll have to get him back to the morgue for that." Jake sighed. "I know what did all this damage, though; eyewitnesses say he fell from the sky, hit the ground from about a hundred feet up. From the way they described it, he was dead before he landed."

Trevian looked up and saw the line of air traffic. "Someone just dumped him as they drove?"

"You know, a lot of humans call Turians birds." Jake took off his sunglasses, revealing intense green eyes. "I guess this one couldn't fly."

…

An hour later, Ria led Jake in a tour of C-Sec's crime lab while they waited for the medical examiner to inspect the victim. At first glance, Jake was underwhelmed. The lab had decent equipment, but there were only a few overworked technicians manning their stations.

"I can already see what needs to be improved on," he commented.

"Manpower, right?" Ria sighed. "Believe me, I've been trying to expand the budget for additional personnel for months, but Executor Pallin won't sign off on it—he says he needs more officers in the field, not the lab."

"Officers can only do so much in the field without proper lab work," Jake growled. "Otherwise, we'll have to rely on witnesses or trying to be there as crimes are committed. Neither option works."

"What's wrong with witnesses?" Trevian, who had been walking behind them, asked.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Witnesses can be wrong, or they can lie. Evidence never lies." He shook his head. "As for manpower, I have a few contacts in the Alliance who would be happy to transfer humans here."

"The Executor won't like it," Trevian said, though he didn't sound too upset.

"If he actually cared about this department, he'd have it fully staffed to keep any humans from joining," Jake countered. "Seeing as he hasn't, and I have authority here, I get to make that call. And he won't complain after we start getting results."

"What results?" Ria asked. "We don't have any leads."

"Not yet, but we will." Jake looked around. "Where's my office? I sent a few things ahead of me, and I'd like to get it unpacked."

Ria and Trevian glanced at each other at the sudden change in subject. "Uh, this way," Ria said.

Jake's office wasn't too large, but it had enough room for a desk and several chairs, and enough space to comfortably walk around them. Sitting off to the side were several boxes, which Jake opened.

"Good, everything is here," he said, and pulled out a human skull.

"Spirits!" Trevian hissed, his hand automatically reaching for his pistol.

Jake shot him a look. "Relax, it's acrylic. I like to put it on top of things I need to do."

"Do you also use it to freak people out?" Trevian asked.

"That is a bonus, yes," Jake admitted, and then planted the skull on the corner of his desk. As he reached for the next box, his omnitool beeped. "That'll be the ME. I sent him a message to alert me as soon as he found something. Detective T'ressa, could you come with me? Officer Trevian, please go to the tech department and see if they've pulled surveillance for the Zakera docks."

Jake walked out of the office, but the other two remained for a moment.

"How did this guy get put in charge of CSI?" Trevian asked.

Ria chuckled. "I got a look at his file. If he's solved half as many cases as it claimed, then I might actually get a chance to use those leave days I've been saving."

"Huh. Okay." Trevian's mandibles flared thoughtfully. "Can you send me that file? Something about the name Halloway reminds me of something."

"Sure, I'll send it to you during my lunch." Ria patted his back. "Come on, let's get to work."

Ria followed after Jake, and caught up with him halfway to the morgue. She wondered if he always walked that fast, or if it was just because they had a case.

"Hey, Harry," she said as she and Jake walked through the morgue doors.

Harry Wilkes, the assistant ME, smiled nervously. He was a twitchy man, barely twenty years old, but a certified genius in his field, which was how he earned his position so quickly. He was short and skinny, with a ragged mop of blonde hair that wasn't regulation, but he always looked so stressed that no one got on his case about it.

"H-hey, Detective," he stuttered.

Ria smiled knowingly; Harry had an obvious crush on her, but he was so nervous that he could barely talk to her. Still, in the year he'd been in C-Sec, they'd worked together fine, so long as the conversation didn't turn into small-talk.

Harry turned to Jake. "I don't know you. I'm Harry Wilkes."

Jake smiled. "Jake Halloway, new head of CSI. I was told Doctor Kirus was the ME."

"He's on vacation," Harry said, "but I can do the examination just as well as he can."

Ria nodded. "He's not wrong."

Jake inclined his head. "Then let's see the body."

Harry led them to a table, where the dead Turian was covered up to his waist by a sheet. The body was still in the same position as it had been found. In a small bowl on a side table were the collected fragments of shattered carapace.

"What was the time of death?" Jake asked.

"Going by internal temperatures taken by first responders, he was dead about two hours before he was, uh, dropped off," Harry answered.

"Anything in his system? Drugs or alcohol?"

"I've scanned our friend here down to the bones, and I've done a tox-screen," Harry said. "He was a perfectly normal, healthy Turian."

Jake gave him a look. "Other than the fact that he's dead, you mean."

Harry sputtered. "Oh, um, right. Yes." He swallowed nervously and continued. "What I mean is that he had no diseases or toxins in his system."

"Did you find cause of death?" Ria asked.

"Y-yes, I did!" Harry walked around to the body's left side and grunted as he lifted the entire body up by the head. Even when his arms were lifted off the table, they didn't move; Turians didn't come out of rigor. "Ugh, this guy is heavy!"

Jake glanced at Ria. "How good are your biotics?"

"Good enough to lift a corpse for a while." Ria reached out with one hand, and a purple glow surrounded the body, lifting it several inches above the table.

"Th-thank you, Detective." Harry poked the suspended body and turned it so that they could see the back of the neck. "Now, it wasn't the fall that killed him, but this incision, just at the base of the skull. Turians have a series of arteries in this area, and the blade that hit him here cut all of them. Death would have been almost instantaneous."

Jake leaned in to see the thin, wide cut. "It's a clean cut, only one blow. The killer knew what he was doing."

"Well, that's something," Ria said as she lowered the body back onto the table. "At least he didn't suffer."

"Oh, I didn't say that." Harry tapped a finger against the Turian's head. "See how weathered the carapace is? This isn't normal for a Turian, not unless he was over a hundred years old and not receiving any kind of medical support, but this guy was in his thirties and according to his bloodwork, had just renewed his vaccinations." He looked slightly ill, and despite the fact that he worked with dead bodies, Ria was reminded that Harry was very much a kid. "Something tore layers of carapace off over the course of several hours. He has ligature marks on his wrists and ankles, so he was restrained."

"He was tortured," Jake said, and Ria envied how calm he sounded, because the idea of torturing a living being made her stomach turn. "I've heard that getting pieces of carapace torn off is one of the most painful things a Turian can go through."

"What could do that so slowly, though?" Ria leaned in to look at the eroded carapace. Up close, it looked like the surface of an asteroid. "Acid, maybe?"

Harry shook his head. "There were no chemical burns."

"Biotics," Jake declared. "A low-power warp field would shear off a thin layer of outer carapace. This guy went through this several times." He tapped his chin. "I don't know if the torturer and the killer are the same, but an Asari is most likely the former."

Ria frowned at him. "Just because biotics were used on the victim doesn't mean it was an Asari."

"No, but this torture technique is exactly what high-level commandos are trained to do," Jake countered. "It's slow, painful, but easy to treat to make sure that the victim doesn't bleed out. It's likely that our victim here was interrogated, and then quickly and silently executed."

Ria stared. "How do you know about Asari commando techniques?"

Jake shrugged. "It's my job to know things."

Now it was Ria's turn to swallow nervously. Apparently, Jake Halloway was far more capable than even his file suggested.

Jake turned back to the body. "Someone tortured this man because they wanted something. They were careful and methodical in his abduction, since no one has reported him missing or saw him get taken, and they were meticulous in executing him and cleaning up, because we found no forensic leads on a suspect. However, whatever they got out of him made them sloppy, and they dumped his body in a public place."

"Then whoever the killer is, they don't plan on sticking around long enough to get caught," Ria finished.

"Only until they have what they came for." Jake crossed his arms. "We need to find out who the victim is. If we do that, we might be able to find out why he was killed, and who killed him." He looked at Ria. "Send his genetic profile to the Turian Hierarchy. There's a good chance he served in the military, which means they have him on file."

"That's outside our jurisdiction," Ria said, not for the first time hating the bureaucracy of the Citadel. "We can't access outside files unless offered first."

Jake smirked and typed something out onto his omnitool for several minutes. "That should help."

"What did you do?"

"I sent a message to Councilor Sparatus and explained a few things. If he doesn't authorize the release of the information we want, and we find out the truth anyway, we'll be forced to make our findings public, which means that any dirty laundry gets aired to the whole galaxy."

Both Ria and Harry went wide-eyed. "You're blackmailing a Councilor!?" Ria demanded.

"Not at all. In fact, I'm following procedure." Jake's smirk became a full-faced grin. "If this becomes a joint investigation, the Hierarchy can claim that it's sensitive material, and can claim ownership of all evidence and withhold all information after said investigation is concluded." He raised his omnitool. "It's all here in the regulations. Section thirty-three, subsection eleven-B. I'm just using it to our advantage."

"You are a scary man," Harry muttered.

"And here I thought all humans liked to break the rules," Ria joked.

"I find it's better to make the rules work for you," Jake said. "That way, you get what you want without getting in trouble."

Ria shook her head, and then her own omnitool pinged, and she checked the message. "That's Trevian. He says the tech boys found footage of the shuttle that dropped off our corpse."

Jake motioned for her to take the lead. "After you."

…

"You're our new boss?" One of the two Salarians grinned up at Jake. "Cool. Never worked under a human before. Should be fun."

"Don't mind him," the other Salarian said, his voice much less enthusiastic. "He's like a kid with a shiny new toy."

"Detective Halloway, meet the twins." Trevian pointed to the happier Salarian, and then the other. "Miker, and Sirvon."

It wasn't hard to believe that the two were twins. They were completely identical, down to the brown speckles on their horns. The only difference was the Miker was all smiles, while Sirvon looked downright depressed.

Jake nodded. "What can you give us about the case?"

"The Turian who got tossed out a shuttle?" Miker's fingers were a blur across his console. "Yeah, we pulled up surveillance records; docks are supposed to have every angle covered, but it only extends to about thirty meters away."

"It's to dissuade smugglers," Sirvon added. "Now, I think the driver knew this, because we only got images of the left half of the shuttle."

"The half that the body was dumped from, I assume," Jake said.

"Yep." Miker brought up the video file. "Watch this."

The three officers watched the footage of a shuttle quickly entering the screen; the door popped open, and a stiff corpse tumbled out, flipping end over end, until it hit the ground.

"I'd say 'splat', but Turians don't really do that," Miker said. "More like 'crunch'."

"He was in rigor before he was thrown out," Jake said, almost to himself. "Turians go into full rigor about an hour after death."

"He's still in the same position in the morgue, right?" Trevian sighed when Ria nodded. "It's going to suck for his burial."

Jake nodded. "That's why any Turian who works in the funeral department has to either be a biotic or have the same exercise regimen as professional bodybuilders. The amount of force needed to move a body into the right position for burial is extreme."

Trevian stared at him. "How do you know about Turian mortuary practices?"

Jake glanced at Ria, and then shrugged. "It's my job to know things." He turned back to the twins. "Can you get anything from the inside of that shuttle? Reflections, shadows, anything?"

The Salarians looked at each other. "Give us a moment," they both said.

Ria leaned over to whisper in Jake's ear. "This is the best part. Watch."

It was almost like watching a dance number. One Salarian would write a piece of code, and then send it over to the other, who would add it to whatever he was doing. In seconds, an algorithm was written, and the footage returned.

"Okay, we'll freeze it just as the stiff gets tossed out…" Miker began.

"And we'll input our algorithm to calculate for the best reflective surface…" Sirvon continued.

A nearby shuttle was highlighted—specifically, a tinted rear window. The window was enlarged, and a blurry image could be seen. The image was warped by the curve of the window, but as the algorithm did its work, the picture resolved into a blue face with stiff crests on the back of her head.

"And there we go!" both twins cried.

Ria sighed. "I guess it was an Asari."

Jake nodded. "One who is, was, or picked up tips on interrogation from a commando. Can we run facial recognition on her?"

"We can try," Miker said, "but there are a lot of Asari on the Citadel, and our algorithm can only do so much to clear up the image."

"Narrow it down to those with military service, or had close family who did," Jake said. "We can narrow it down as we go. For now, can you give us a rough estimate of where that shuttle could have come from?"

Sirvon tapped furiously at his computer. "Going by the direction the shuttle was going, there are only so many legal places a shuttle could be parked in that part of Zakera. I can narrow it down to a three-block radius."

"All right, send it to our omnitools." Jake turned to the others. "We'll need a few officers to join us and speed up the search. The longer we wait, there's more chance that any evidence will be compromised."

"I'll make a few calls," Trevian said.

"You two," Jake said to the Salarians. "Great work. Focus on identifying that Asari; right now, that's your only priority."

…

The ride back to Zakera didn't take long, especially with C-Sec shuttles blaring sirens the entire way. When they landed, Jake led the way, until they met up with six more officers, led by a female Turian.

"Hey, Praxis," Trevian said with a little wave.

The female nodded. "Good to see you, Trevian." She turned to Jake. "Officer Septima Praxis, sir."

Jake shook her hand. "A pleasure. We're only a block away from where our victim was being held. Split up into pairs and go to the middle-class apartments first for information."

Septima frowned—at least, she appeared to, but Jake sometimes had problems reading Turian facial expressions. "Why not the more run-down places first?"

"Because whoever our killer is, she knows we'd start there." Jake's omnitool pinged, and he looked at it. "The twins just sent me more information. They were able to narrow it down to a single building; the landlord complained about an Asari tenant that nearly ran him over as she was leaving the parking lot about two hours ago." He raised an eyebrow as he read on. "And she has a Krogan roommate."

That made the officers pause. A Krogan was easily worth a squad of officers, especially if he was armed.

There was another ping on the omnitool. "Well, looks like Councilor Sparatus saw things my way. We've got a warrant to investigate the premises."

Jake drew his pistol and unfolded it, then activated the shield generator on his belt. "Weapons out, barriers up, let's not take any chances."

The group hurried towards the apartment, but Jake and Ria let the others lead. They were the only ones not in armor, and they were potentially about to run into a Krogan. The twins had already given Jake the Asari's room number, which led them to the second floor.

Ria studied the schematics of the building. "She rented the room closest to the fire escape. Why not the first floor, then?"

"It would have given her time to set up defenses if she was discovered," Trevian said. "She's smart."

They stacked up around the door, and Jake nodded to Trevian. The big Turian pounded his fist against the door.

"C-Sec! Open up!"

When it didn't open, Jake hacked the door controls with his omnitool. As soon as it slid open, the officers rushed in, weapons drawn.

"Clear!" Trevian called out. "Halloway, Ria, you're going to want to see this!"

Jake was already hurrying to the Turian's location. He noted that the apartment was relatively clean, though the kitchen looked like someone had been in the middle of a large meal before leaving in a hurry—probably the Krogan.

Trevian was in the bathroom. The shower had been completely demolished and cleared away; a chair was positioned over the drain, but there were still plenty of bloodstains that had dried before they could drip away.

Jake sighed. "I think we just found our primary crime scene."

…

In twenty minutes, the entire block was swarming with C-Sec. Murders happened on the Citadel just like any other city—more often, actually, because of the vast amount of political and economic activity. However, violent torture was less common, and attracted far more attention from law enforcement.

Though the apartment was tidy, it was far from clean. Officers found plenty of forensic evidence in every room, and once Ria and the other two Asari officers combined their biotics, they pulled out even more from the shower drain.

"Lots of carapace here," Ria said as she helped sort through the gory mess. "Looks like a few teeth, too."

"Any Asari DNA yet?" Jake asked. "I doubt she destroyed her shower that long ago."

"Well, my omnitool found some skin that definitely isn't Turian." Ria tapped at her omnitool. "I just sent the genetic profile to the twins. They'll compare it to every Asari in the database, starting with any military or criminal records." She and Jake both blinked with the omnitool pinged. "That was fast, she must have a serious record. Here, I'll transfer it to you."

Jake brought up a mugshot of a blue-skinned Asari with pale, jagged lines going down her crests. "Marnan B'fal, four hundred and nine years old, born on Thessia… served in the Asari commandos for forty years, was discharged for 'improper conduct'."

"That's commando code for either doing drugs or going native while undercover," Ria said.

Jake nodded. "She worked a freelance merc for twenty years, then as a bounty hunter for ten more. She's wanted on eleven planets for murder, trafficking, and kidnapping."

"And now she's the prime suspect for more." Trevian shook his head. "Going by that record, she was a… what's that human phrase? A bad fruit?"

"Bad apple," Jake said absently.

"Right, a bad apple, right from the start."

"We don't know that," Jake said. "And it doesn't matter right now. What matters is the evidence. We follow that, we get our suspect."

"Detectives!" Septima waved Jake and Ria over. "We found traces of red sand in the closet."

Jake frowned. "This could be about drugs. How much could fit in that closet?"

"About fifty kilos could be easily hidden inside the drawers," Septima scowled. "That's worth at least two hundred thousand credits."

"That's a lot of money." Jake looked down at the blood and shredded carapace. "I've seen people do a lot worse for a lot less." He turned to Trevian. "Contact the ports, have B'fal's face everywhere. We need to keep her from leaving the Citadel. Until then, we'll take everything here back to the lab for analysis. We can work leads from both the lab and the streets."

"I'll take the streets," Trevian said. "I'll bring anything we find to you."

Jake was already heading for the door. "Then let's not waste any time."

…

Hours passed, and the lab analyzed everything brought or scanned in the apartment. Unfortunately, there was nothing to suggest where B'fal or her Krogan roommate—who, for all C-Sec knew, was already dead—was going. The trail of the shuttle had gone cold, so the CSI lab was left with little to do until they caught a break.

Still, Ria found Jake hunched over in the lab, totally engrossed with something. "What's got you so interested, Detective?"

"You know you can call me Jake," the man said absently, then moved over to allow her to see the scanner. "I'm looking at a sample of the red sand from the apartment. Notice anything odd?"

Ria looked at the molecular bonds of the drug for a moment, and then frowned. "This doesn't look like regular red sand."

"That's because it isn't," Jake said, and then brought up two images. "The one on the left is normal red sand, but the one on the right has an added compound of heterochain polymers—a high-grade plastic."

Ria frowned. "Why would someone add plastic to red sand?"

"To make it easier to travel. The scan showed that a lot more plastic was filtered out, but there are still traces remaining. If red sand was literally woven into enough plastic, it would probably slip past customs undetected."

"Our dead Turian might have been a smuggler," Ria said. "If this is a new way to smuggle in red sand, B'fal might have tracked him down to figure out his process. Even if she's using, she'd need a way to get the stuff past customs in Council space."

"Exactly." For the first time since Ria had met him, Jake was smiling, and she understood why. This was a man who loved solving problems and answering questions.

"We'll have to forward this discovery to the rest of C-Sec," she said. "Customs needs to know about this new smuggling method."

"If we're lucky, we'll get ahead of the drug trade, for once." Jake shook his head. "Lord knows we had a hard time of that when I was working on Earth."

Ria nodded in sympathy. Being behind the curve of crime was something all police could relate to, regardless of species or government. "Hey, wait a second. Wouldn't plastic in the red sand cause health issues?"

"Probably, especially in long-term users." Jake made notes on his omnitool. "The plastic buildup would cause havoc with the lungs of most species, even a Krogan, not to mention the long-term damage of the red sand itself."

"Then this will kill even faster than red sand." Ria shuddered at the thought. "I'll call the hospitals and have them look out for anyone with plastic in their lungs."

"Good call," Jake said. "After that, I want you to go home and get some rest. We'll start tomorrow with fresh eyes."

"Sure thing," Ria said. "Goodnight, Jake."

"Goodnight, Ria."

Not long after that, Jake told everyone else to go home and get some sleep, but he remained for a while longer. When Trevian entered his office, he found the human sitting at his desk, eyes fixed on his computer screen.

"Detective," he said stiffly.

Jake looked up. "Officer Sorennis, what can I do for you?"

"Just letting you know that I'm heading home for the night, but I'll call if any leads turn up between now and tomorrow morning."

"I appreciate it." Jake paused. "Was there something else?"

Trevian's hands clenched into fists at his sides. "You're not the only one who reads up on things." Jake only raised an eyebrow, so Trevian continued. "Your name sounded familiar, so I read your file. I didn't realize I was working with a relative of Hunter Halloway."

To his credit, Jake only leaned back in his chair. "His real name was Felix, but yes, I'm his brother."

"So you're aware of what he did on Shanxi?"

"Of course I'm aware, I read his court transcripts. I agree with the sentencing; what he did was inhumane, regardless of what happened to his wife."

"Fifty-two Turians were executed by him," Trevian snarled. "Eighty more suffered permanent injury."

Jake frowned. "You were close to one of them."

"My father lost his arm because of your brother."

Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sorennis, I could read out how many humans died to Turians in executions that don't exist on record, just like I'm sure you know about what desperate humans did in that siege. We could repeat every argument that's been used by historians, civil rights groups, and military analysts on both sides for decades, and I think we're both smart enough to realize that, like them, we'll never come to an agreement on the matter."

Trevian narrowed his eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I had nothing to do with what happened to your father, just as you had nothing to do with my sister-in-law's death." Jake opened his eyes and stood up; he still had to tilt his head up to look Trevian in the eye, but he didn't have to crane his neck as much. "We don't have to like each other. The only thing I ask is that we leave our personal issues at the door so that we can do our jobs. Now, I'm willing to do that, and I hope you are too, but if not, say so now. If you honestly can't work with me, I'll sign your transfer papers right now."

Trevian blinked. "Really?"

Jake shrugged. "All I ask is that you're honest with yourself. If you can do that, and you still want to transfer to a different unit, I won't hold it against you."

"I'll… think about it," Trevian said. "Let's just finish this case, first. I'd hate to leave any unfinished business behind."

"Fair enough." Jake motioned towards the door. "Get some sleep, Sorennis. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

…

When Ria walked into the crime lab, she immediately noticed how thoughtful Trevian looked. Normally, he had the face of a man with a mission, but now, he seemed remarkably introspective.

"Morning," she called out.

Trevian twitched in surprise, but he smiled. "Good morning, Ria. Get enough sleep?"

"Enough to get me through the day," Ria said. "Any new leads?"

"A few people called in, saying they saw B'fal, but they were false alarms." Trevian huffed. "I've got a lot of unhappy officers complaining about all the extra work."

"They're getting overtime, so they shouldn't complain." Ria stopped mid-stride when she saw who was in Jake's office. "Oh, Goddess."

Trevian followed her gaze. "Spirits, what's the Executor doing here?"

"From the look of it, reading Jake the riot act."

Trevian almost smiled, though he was a little surprised at Ria's use of the human's first name. "I don't think Halloway cares."

The two walked closer, so that they could find out what was going on. It was unprofessional, but they were heading in that direction anyway.

"Never go over my head again, Detective," Pallin panted, clearly winding down from a lecture. "I had to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions from the Council this morning."

"Oh, really?" Jake looked totally nonchalant. "Such as 'why does the crime lab only have two detectives and eight technicians?', or 'why are no C-Sec officers available full-time for CSI-led cases?', because those were the first two issues I mentioned. Let's not go into the fact that the head ME seems to take a vacation whenever the mood suits him, leaving only a single medical examiner to run the entire morgue."

"Watch your tongue, human," Pallin snarled.

Jake crossed his arms. "I joined C-Sec because the CSI division desperately needs an overhaul. Yes, most C-Sec officers are capable of performing basic CSI work, but without an extensive lab and dedicated personnel, officers can't focus their energies on what needs to be done. Stop trying to run this department like a military, and treat it like it is: law enforcement!"

Pallin pointed one talon at him. "You just keep in mind that you report to me, and I report to the Council, not you!"

Even though the Executor had had the last word, Jake's criticisms seemed to take the wind out of his sails, because the head of C-Sec had the tiniest slouch as he left. It wasn't too noticeable, but Ria and Trevian still caught it.

"You two can come in, now," Jake called, and smiled when the door closed behind them. "I take it you enjoyed the show?"

Ria grinned. "I'll admit, I've been wanting to say that to Pallin for years."

"Well, maybe if we solve this case, we can get the funding we need." Jake sat down and activated his omnitool. "I got an ID on our vic. Pallin found out I'd gone straight to Sparatus, but he didn't fire me because I hadn't actually done anything wrong, and I got a lead."

"So, who is he?" Ria asked.

"His name is Aurelius Maltus," Jake read out. "Served two years as a fighter pilot in the Turian Third Fleet, but was discharged for going AWOL to meet up with a girl. He took a few classes in chemical engineering at a Palaven university, but dropped out after six months. He's barely older than some kids. He's been flagged as a smuggler, but he was never caught."

"If he was a smuggler, then the drugs make sense," Trevian said. "But why was he killed?"

"Fighting over product?" Ria suggested. "There was a huge red sand bust just a few weeks ago, which means prices will skyrocket."

"It might not be about money, but the red sand itself," Jake said. "B'fal's record suggests she's been a drug mule for a long time. She might be an addict."

Trevian nodded. "That could explain why she was so brutal with Maltus. She could have been going through withdrawal, and that's never pretty."

"Our mystery Krogan could also be involved," Ria added. "They could have agreed to split the red sand. A former commando and a half-decent Krogan would make a really good team."

Jake tapped his chin. "Let's stop trying to find B'fal for a minute, and focus on the Krogan. Aren't all Krogan visitors tagged by surveillance when they come to the Citadel?"

"Yeah, and permanent residents are observed for the first six months after they move in," Trevian said. "The surveillance goes on longer if they have a criminal record."

Jake gave him a hard look until Trevian broke eye contact. "Putting aside racial profiling for the moment, this could work in our favor. If this Krogan is connected to the drug trade in any way, he'll have a record, and we might find out where he could be from that."

Trevian activated his omnitool. "I'm looking at the records from the landlord of the apartment… got it. The Krogan's name is Yaln, no clan to speak of. He's got a pretty long record, but nothing that would get him locked up for more than a few days."

"What has he done?" Jake asked.

"A few drunk and disorderly charges, one resisting arrest, and a few bar fights. He's mostly just a cranky Krogan… so, a typical Krogan." Trevian leaned back from the look Jake was giving him. "What? Have you ever met a Krogan that didn't want to rip your head off?"

"Can't say I've ever met a Krogan in person before," Jake admitted. "Still, I'd like to think that gives me some objectivity. Back to the case, though. Why would Yaln want to work with B'fal? Krogan biology would fight the red sand well enough. Do we have access to Yaln's financials?"

"One second…" Trevian tapped away for a moment. "He hasn't held a steady job in months. Maybe B'fal is keeping her half of the red sand for personal use, but Yaln is planning on selling his half?"

"Even half of that much red sand is worth a lot," Ria said. "We can put out an APB on both of them. An Asari command can blend in if she wants to, but an Asari and a Krogan together stand out."

"Do it," Jake ordered. "Even if Yaln is actually innocent, he's our best lead on B'fal."

The sound of rushing footsteps caught their attention, and Miker burst into the office. "Detective, we just got something! There's a report of a Krogan tearing up a customs office just past the port."

"I'll bet that's our guy," Trevian said.

Jake frowned. "It can't be that easy. This is even less subtle than tossing out our victim from a moving vehicle."

"It's better than nothing," Ria pointed out.

"You're right, and Pallin will get off my case if he sees us doing something." Jake stood up. "Grab armor and whatever weapons you need. I'm not taking any chances with a rampaging Krogan."

…

It didn't take long for the three of them to reach the scene. As Jake stepped out of the C-Sec shuttle, he rolled his shoulders and pulled at his collar.

"Something wrong?" Ria asked.

"I hate putting on new armor," Jake said. "It always feels stiff."

Trevian gestured to the sniper rifle attached to Jake's back. "Do you know how to use that?"

"You read my file," Jake said. "I was an N7 Infiltrator. They don't give you that kind of role if you're not a good shot."

Rather than draw the rifle, Jake pulled out his pistol and led the way. Trevian had a standard-issue assault rifle in his hands, a shotgun on his back, and a backup pistol, while Ria had a shotgun, a pistol, and her biotics.

The sound of a raging Krogan could be heard almost half a block away, followed by the sound of breaking glass. When Jake turned the corner, he found Septima and two human officers waiting by their own shuttle.

"Good to see you again, Detective," Septima said. "I was hoping you'd bring more backup, though."

"Sorry, we're all you've got," Jake said. "What's the situation?"

"We've got an angry Krogan tearing up the place, but no sign of B'fal." Septima sighed. "And we don't have enough officers to search the entire area."

Jake looked away from the building in front of him; instead, he scanned the streets until he spotted a shuttle garage.

"Ria, come with me," he said. "I think Yaln is making a scene so that B'fal can grab a new shuttle and make a break for it. Sorennis, stay here and try to keep Yaln contained. Only go in if you think you have to."

"Got it," Trevian said. "Good luck."

…

Jake and Ria hurried across the street. Civilians saw two armed C-Sec officers and quickly parted for them. The garage had three levels, and was dimly lit, but Jake immediately saw a dead human by the door. He knelt down to check the man's vitals, but shook his head.

"He's gone," he said.

Ria sighed; like all police officers, she hated it when anyone died, especially civilians. She double-checked her barriers, drew her shotgun, and entered the next room. The two detectives cleared each room, and for a few minutes, Ria worried that Jake's hunch was wrong, but when they reached the third level, she saw a blue-skinned Asari in armor heading for a shuttle.

"C-Sec!" she shouted. "Get on the ground!"

"Not a chance!" B'fal called back, and hurled a sphere of biotic energy.

Ria and Jake rolled out of the way. Jake fired his pistol several times, forcing B'fal to hide behind another shuttle.

"I can get her," Ria said quietly.

Jake nodded, then exchanged his pistol for his sniper rifle. "I'll cover you."

With methodical precision, Jake fired shots at the top of B'fal's cover, keeping her pinned down. Ria kept low as she crept towards the former commando; she turned the corner of the shuttle, but B'fal kicked the barrel of the shotgun away and out of her hands as it went off.

"C-Sec bitch!" If Ria hadn't raised her barrier, B'fal's biotics-charged punch would have broken her jaw. Even so, it hit hard enough to knock her on her back. "You should have walked away!"

Ria caught B'fal's knee with her feet and pulled, knocking her off-balance long enough for Ria to plant her boot into B'fal's face. She then curled up and rolled backwards before springing to her feet. B'fal recovered quickly and unleashed a barrage of punches, but they were all blocked or deflected; her eyes widened when she recognized Ria's stance.

"You're not the only ex-commando," Ria said, breathing lightly. "The difference is, you got kicked out—they didn't want me to leave."

B'fal snarled and tried to hit her with another biotic throw, but Ria ducked under it. She held her hand a few inches away from B'fal's chest and used her most powerful warp. It detonated B'fal's own barrier with enough force to slam her into the wall of the garage. Ria jumped on top of her, clocking her across the jaw to stun her, and then rolled her onto her stomach.

"Marnan B'fal," she said as she handcuffed the other Asari, "you are under arrest for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Aurelius Maltus."

B'fal struggled, but the cuffs were designed to dampen biotic powers. She finally gave up when Ria put a second set of cuffs around her ankles.

"Got her!" Ria called out, but got no response. "Jake?"

"Hang on, in the middle of something!"

…

"We can't just wait here," Trevian said. "Yaln is going to realize something is wrong when B'fal doesn't pick him up. He may just decide to go out in a blaze of glory."

Septima nodded. "What's the plan?"

"I'll go in, try to draw him to a location where we have tactical advantage. Just be ready to take him down."

Septima looked at the other officers; they were all armed with pistols. "That might be a challenge."

"We'll have to make do," Trevian said, and cautiously walked inside. "Yaln? I'm Trevian Sorennis, C-Sec. Come on out, there's nowhere for you to hide."

"Who's hiding?" The hulking Krogan stomped into view. He was average-sized, for a Krogan, which still meant that he was bigger than most people on the Citadel. His orange crest and thick skin were covered in scars. He wore a battered suit of armor, but instead of a gun, he carried a jagged chunk of metal welded onto a pole. "I was hoping one of you would come in here."

Trevian raised his rifle. "Put the weapon down, or I will open fire!"

Yaln just laughed. "Try and take it from me, Turian!"

The Krogan roared and charged. Trevian opened fire, but only got a few shots off before Yaln was close enough to swing his weapon. Trevian ducked and dropped his rifle so that he could draw his pistol. He pushed the barrel of the weapon into Yaln's neck and pulled the trigger as quickly as he could. The Krogan's shields stopped a few bullets, but the rest buried into thick flesh.

Trevian's pistol overheated before he could capitalize on Yaln's lost shields, and without time to grab another weapon, he settled for punching him in the face. It was about as effective as punching a wall. Yaln smashed the haft of his weapon into Trevian's head, breaking his shields in a single blow. Too close to use the most dangerous part of the makeshift spear, Yaln dropped it and grabbed Trevian by the collar with one hand. With the other, he began punching him in the gut.

Winded and rapidly running out of options, Trevian fought dirty. He jammed one talon into Yaln's eye, but rather than immediately drop him, Yaln just roared in pain and charged forward, smashing through the wall with Trevian as a battering ram. Only once his charge lost momentum did Yaln stop, but only so that he could slam Trevian into the ground.

"I'm gonna enjoy—"

Whatever Yaln was going to enjoy, it certainly wasn't the high-powered bullet that ripped into his uninjured eye and liquefied his brain. The Krogan stood there for a moment, as if his body was still trying to regenerate from death, but then he slumped over with a thud.

Panting, Trevian sat up as Septima and the other officers ran up to him. "Nice shot. And you were worried about only having pistols."

Septima helped him to his feet. "That wasn't us."

Trevian frowned; then he realized what had happened and turned to the shuttle garage across the street. There, resting his sniper rifle on an open window, he saw Jake Halloway. The man collapsed his rifle and nodded, and then hurried back inside.

"Suspect is in custody," the human said over the comms. "Nice job, everyone."

…

The case ended quietly after that. B'fal was locked up, and once a doctor confirmed that she had plastic in her lungs, she gave up the location of the red sand in exchange for medical attention. Yaln's body was taken to the morgue before being laid to rest, though no one planned on going to his funeral; he had been a worthless thug in life, and that was all anyone would remember him as in death.

Jake was more concerned with the two officers that had been hurt. Ria had some bruises, though the worst was to her jaw, and Trevian had two broken ribs. Thankfully, both would be fit for duty in a few days.

"Hey, Detective?" Trevian said as he was being loaded onto a shuttle for a ride to the hospital. "Can I have a word?"

Jake waited until he got a nod from the EMT. "What is it?"

"I wanted to say thanks," Trevian said. "I'm pretty sure you saved my life today. And I'm sorry about anything offensive I might have said yesterday."

"Water under the bridge." Jake smiled when Trevian tilted his head in confusion. "Human saying. It means it's all forgiven."

"Thanks for that." Trevian held out his hand. "I'd like to keep working with you, if that's okay."

Jake took the hand and shook it. "I look forward to it. Now get out of here and get better."

Trevian saluted and smiled. "Yes, sir."

The shuttle closed up and flew off. Jake watched it go, until Ria rested her arm on his shoulder.

"Interesting first week," she said. "What did you think?"

Jake looked around at the busy crowds. The Citadel was huge; the odds were good that more crimes were being committed even now.

"I think I'm going to like it here," he said.

Ria patted him on the shoulder and walked away. "Welcome to the Citadel, Jake."

Jake Halloway smiled.

And there we go! First chapter/episode is done! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Now, there are some things I should mention. First, I'm not a CSI, nor am I in any way affiliated with law enforcement. I took one criminology class in college, so expect me to be wrong about stuff. Also, there is almost no information about how C-Sec works in Mass Effect, beyond what Garrus complains about, and a couple of missions across the games that have you work with C-Sec. On the other hand, that gives me a lot of room to say stuff. After all, just because the game doesn't say that something does happen doesn't mean it doesn't happen. The same could be said about Asari commandos, Turian physiology and burial practices.

As much fun as I had writing this chapter, updates are going to be infrequent for a few reasons. I'm not used to writing chapters as long as this anymore, and I have other things to write. However, if you liked this and want to read a complete story, please buy my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find a link to my website on my profile, or buy it on Amazon. The more purchases I get, the less I have to worry about money, and then I can devote more time to writing fan fiction.

See you all next time!

People lie, muffins don't.