Heropedia

Law and Order

Law and Order is the tenth issue in the PENTANARCHY line. Our Starlets find themselves in the midst of what should be a very easy case. Wallace Dixon's wanted for murder, a witness has solid proof he didn't do it, and three of the land's best lawyers (debatably) are sent out on counsel duty. However, this case was never meant to be a breeze. As the Bushrangers suddenly attack the courthouse, our Starlets are forced to think on the fly when their key witness ends up a no show. With four hours to spare, they'll need to trek all over New Chiti to try and figure out just what's going on?

Law and Order
Issue no.10
Mission date20 May 2081
Publication date11/13/2024 4:00 PM
MembersJegg Hardly
Jules Knightley
Ripley Pond
Clockwork Owl
Benny O'Hare
Peregrine of Parity
Previous Next
...Must Come Down To Greener Pastures

Everyone alive has a varied, personal definition of law. It's an understood study of human morality. It's a sanction of truth and liberty for all. It's a system of punishment, made for the bad eggs alone. But when a line is forcibly crossed, and an evil so malevolent rears it's ugly head, those definitions are pushed to their very limits.

Synopsis

The Starlets arrive in the bridge at 8 AM to receive a briefing on the upcoming mission. Wallace Dixon, commissioner of the Board of Buildings in New Chiti, had been wrongfully arrested for the murder of Mikah Zhao. Mikah, the victim, was found stabbed to death in Dixon's apartment with the commissioner's skin under their finger nails and blood on the scene also belonging to Wallace. However, a witness acquired by the project states that Dixon couldn't have done it, and that they had photographic proof that no such thing could have occurred. And so, it's up to Project Perihelion to step in on Wallace Dixon's trial and verifiably declare him innocent, else New Chiti loses a really important asset to their infrastructure committee. Starlets Jegg Hardly, Jules Knightley, and Ripley Pond were to act as the defense counsel, as the Clockwork Owl and the Peregrine of Parity stayed outside to watch for trouble. Benny O'Hare was brought in as a backup, not only to help control any chaos, but to also keep the Peregrine in check if she ever goes AWOL. Everyone was given hours to prepare for the case, and they were all sent out into the field at around 1 PM.

The Starlets arrived at the courthouse and immediately got into position. Benny remained in the lobby, keeping her ear to the comms in case of an emergency (While also making friends with some civilians outside!). The Owl and the Peregrine were on the roof, scanning the streets for any sudden attacks. Jegg, Jules, and Ripley all made their way into the courtroom itself, greeted by both their defendant and their judicial opponent, Ice Everly. One attendant was missing, however, as Farrah Nagi was yet to appear. She was the key witness Oscar had mentioned, and her tardiness had left the defense antsy. Ripley stepped outside to try and find her, as Jegg and Jules stayed inside to stall. Around the same time, the Starlets outside noticed a high speed, runaway garbage truck approaching the courthouse. The truck rammed into the side of the building, Bushrangers filing out to loudly proclaim that they were here to find Farrah. The building itself began to collapse, rubble cutting off Ripley and Benny from the courtroom, and the truck blocking them from seeing the Owl and the Peregrine. Jegg helps the commissioner stay down, as Jules continues to stall the trial to the best of her ability. The Starlets outside all began fighting the Bushrangers, Ripley and Benny shoot down a couple by combining their strengths. The Owl and the Peregrine, however, differed in ideology. The Owl took the time to get innocent lives to safety, as the Peregrine saw this as an opportunity to temper the balance. When the Owl refused to let this happen, the Peregrine orchestrated an assassination that ended up killing the Owl without anyone knowing it was really her.

Without much time to mourn, Ripley manages to secure a hostage as Wallace is struck in the head with a piece of falling debris. Seeing as the defendant needs time to recover, and that the court session would need to be relocated, the defense team is allotted 4 hours of recess to try and fix this mess. In that time, Maram dropped off equipment like Benny's weapons and Jules's armor. Jules uses her sword to cut down the rubble blocking the courtroom entrance, and everyone soon splits off into their own investigations to try and locate Farrah Nagi. Staying at the courthouse, Jules proceeds to torture the Bushranger hostage for more information, soon learning that Farrah was once a Bushranger who left the organization. The gang was scared she was heading into court to testify on their secrets, and whipped together a bullish plan to put a stop to it. Eventually, the hostage had begun to bleed out, Jules only offering a quick police call before leaving them behind to suffer. She moved onto Jegg's half of the search.

Jegg Hardly immediately went to the accused's apartment, AKA the scene of the crime. Police were there to stop him, but Jegg used his new-found knowledge of New Chiti culture to bribe the cop into letting him in. There, the crime was much more intricately displayed. In the living room, the victim was stabbed several times with a large knife stolen from the kitchen. The knife was left behind, a large puddle of blood marked out where the victim was dispatched, and the apartment was covered in Dixon's fingerprints. No fingerprints were found to belong to the victim, however, and further search showed that the home office nearby was completely cleaned of any and all fingerprints. Eventually, Jules joined her fellow lawyer to continue searching the area, where they shared small talk about Ice Everly being a failed prosecutor from Apopka. Apparently, they dropped their first case so quickly and had to take up New Chiti law to try and compensate. During this, Jegg got a real bad headache, but managed to find a CY-009 vaccination card, signed JH. With that, they both departed.

At the same time, Benny, Ripley and the Peregrine all headed over to Farrah Nagi's estate. The Peregrine stayed on overwatch, surveying the area with heat-vision goggles as Benny and Ripley would search her motel apartment. When the two got there, they found that the door was open and that her whole apartment had been trashed. Clothes everywhere, shelves torn open, spattered blood against the carpet. Benny found a ticket to the Calliope Wonderfair and Circus, which the Peregrine then abandoned her post to go search herself upon hearing it's importance. Apparently, Farrah had visited the location just recently, so it should at least have some sort of lead toward her whereabouts. Continuing to be thorough, Ripley then found a mysterious, L shaped gem laying conspicuously on her floor. And with the help form Intel, he also managed to find a secret cache behind her mirror, containing a burner phone, a back of drugs, and a recruitment poster for RAGE. Ripley let Benny take some painkillers, then pushed her out of the room so he could fake a phone call to whoever Farrah would reach with this burner. As it turns out, Farrah is now a member of RAGE, a staunch, anti-superhero rebellion comprising of civilians who feel burned by society. Ripley swindled the operator, convincing them he was Farrah looking for assistance, and managed an address to their nearest safe point. As they were leaving to rendezvous there, two Bushrangers arrived to try and see if Farrah returned. What ensued was a tense standoff, where a Bushranger landed a shot on Benny, then was immediately dispatched by Ripley who then helped his friend narrowly escape.

Meanwhile, the Peregrine makes her way to the Calliope Wonderfair and Circus. She gets there in the off hours, as workers gather around a fire to talk shop. Immediately, she makes her presence known and attempts to pressure everyone into telling her about Farrah Nagi. Most everyone here plays silent, but a couple carrying a tarp are caught in the Peregrine's icy stare. After a brief intimidation match, they relent that she should talk to the Stage Director, Ludwig, for more information. The Peregrine agrees, then proceeds to kick down the man's door in a violent display of power. Immediately, Ludwig panics, and the Peregrine takes the opportunity to layer in her demands. The Stage Director agrees, testifying that Farrah was here to see Mikah's car before it all went down. He then offers to take the ex-mil to the victim's caravan, which she accepts as a 'balanced trade'. Entering into the caravan, it's relayed to the group that Mikah, the victim, was a clown at the circus who bunked with the group's strongman. The Peregrine also found a laptop atop an old dresser, and after guessing the password, she found out that Mikah was looking into the Paula Lorimer case. Paula Lorimer was a chitizen who disappeared 5 years before this. There was also an email draft to be sent out to the defendant, Wallace Dixon, begging for more information on a plot of land he was looking to acquire for a water treatment plant. They had also felt that their life was in danger, was asking for Dixon to answer ASAP before anything happened. Before leaving, the Peregrine also finds an L shaped gem atop Mikah's bed. Pocketing it as evidence, she leaves behind her mailing address to pay for any damages, and leaves WITHOUT brutally assaulting Ludwig.

Back to Jegg and Jules, the two made their way to Wallace's office building. When the secretary asked for proof that the two were Dixon's lawyers, Jegg used his expired bar card to briefly give him authority, allowing the two into their defendant's office. There, they found the place torn to pieces. Drawers were pulled out, letters were left open on the floor, and the entire PC setup was stolen from his desk. The lock on the door had been messed up, meaning someone had broken in just recently. Despite this, the receptionist downstairs claimed that nobody had been in to visit. Frustrated, the two lawyers put their brains together in trying to solve this mystery. While searching, Jegg remembered something that Dixon said to him at the courthouse, a clue that helped the two of them find a hidden compartment behind the bookshelf. There, all of Dixon's ongoing cases were greatly documented, and the aforementioned water treatment plant was one labelled with an address. This in mind, they decided to regroup there.

Finally, Ripley and Benny made their way to the RAGE warehouse. There, they found the masked group loading up a truck with soup cans and other such perishables. Taking advantage of their charity, the two ran at them in the guise of needing safety and medical attention. They claimed to be Farrah's legal team, and that they had been attacked trying to get here. RAGE assisted them both inside, where Benny was able to more properly patch up her wound. Ripley continued to press about Farrah, eventually finding out that she went missing while investigating Dixon herself. Her disappearance had nothing to do with the Bushrangers, and RAGE certainly had no idea where she was, meaning a third party had stepped in and caused this mess. It was also heard that Dixon worked closely with Randwell on many projects, so many RAGE members held him in disregard. Information acquired, as well as thanks given, Ripley and Benny quickly departed the warehouse to go join the rest of the group. The Peregrine arrived just as they were walking out, shot three militia members in the chest, and absconded just as quickly as she had entered the situation.

Everyone agreed to meet up at the future site of Dixon's water treatment plant, in hopes to figure out just what was the root cause of all this. There, a loose patch of soil was found, and the Peregrine quickly got to work digging. Underneath, the Starlets found the corpse of Paula Lorimer. As they kept digging, they also found the corpse of Paula Lorimer. Buried just to the right, Paula Lorimer's corpse lay dead. The situation more confused than ever, everyone's focused was suddenly pulled to a mysterious voice behind them. A gang of eleven, clinical looking men stood behind everyone, Farrah Nagi bound in restraints beside them. They introduced themselves as members of the MultiPlicitous Design Guild (MPDG), with Jez Harrington as their leader. They explained that Paula was their main experiment for cloning, as her mark, Feeding the 5000s, could revolutionize world hunger in it's fish multiplying capabilities. The organization specializes in cloning marked civilians, in attempts to better use their marks and attributes towards a greater, more prosperous future. As such, many clones end up failures, and those failure clones end up buried here. The truth is, the MPDG are not allowed to be doing this. Because Wallace was purchasing this plot of land, part of Farrah's testimony would've involved bringing up this deal. And so, in order to impart a peace offering, they ask the Starlets to not bring them up at the trial, else Farrah's family is all killed and they make enemies with a group as powerful as them. The Peregrine snaps, firing a bullet at Jez and watching it be effortlessly deflected by their super-speed bodyguard. Guns are drawn, and Benny uses her mark to force the Peregrine into standing down. The Starlets agree to this deal, as Jegg secretly records every word in the background by using his mark.

Farrah is set free, rushing to her defense team in a panic. She knows what the MPDG were doing, calling it sick, before Jez reminds them of the danger she puts herself in. Everyone loads back into the car, Jules driving, and start to set off back to the courthouse. In a disturbing twist, Jules declares that Benny should use her mark to crash the MPDG's van as they drive away. Benny refuses, but Jules says that it's imperative to do so. The Peregrine agrees, and Farrah begins to freak out with indecision. Jegg's distracted trying to comfort the witness, Ripley vehemently disagrees, but Benny acts out of pressure and uses her mark on the MPDG's driver to make them crash. It works, but nobody actually dies in the wreck. Bullets fly, Ripley's hit in the arm and is unable to focus. The speedster then leaps out from the crash, jumping in front of the Starlets' car and diving through the windshield. This causes the vehicle to flip, as Jules loses control and sends their car flying into the side of the road. Several are injured, Farrah critically so. Benny can barely move, screaming over the panic and accidentally admitting that she's secretly a part of the Cain Royal Family. With MPDG members closing in, Jegg scrambles out of the car and surrenders, hoping the group will simply take him back to the courthouse. The Peregrine exits the car with no injuries, eyes lost to see Ripley in pain. Ripley himself is pulling Farrah out of the wreckage, but is stopped when the Peregrine hoists him off his feet. Jules tries to initiate a hostage situation with a scientists she's able to reach, but it's too late. Jez explains that they'll be taking Jegg Hardly and Farrah as collateral, and that this stint was all just a big mistake. Oscar pulls the plug on the mission, instructing Starlets to enter a nearby dark building to escape with Maram. Benny crawls her way in, the Peregrine and Ripley following soon after, but Jules and Jegg remain out on the field.

Jegg attempts one last ditch effort to try and break free, forcing his way out of their restraints and making a run for it. His bullet proof vest absorbs a single gunshot, but the second snags his leg and cripples him. Unable to run, all he's able to do is stare down at his fellow Starlets in a fury. Jules insists, hostage still in hand, that there's got to be a way to fix this, but a psychic force suddenly influences her to let go. In a fit pitiful regret, she brutally kills her one hostage, and leaves with everyone else. Jegg is kidnapped by the MPDG and doesn't return to base.

Appearing in 'Law and Order'

Featured Characters

Supporting Characters

Antagonists

Other Characters

  • Mikah Zhao
  • Stage Director Ludwig
  • Paula Lorimer
  • Pamela Varga
  • Marianna Queen

Locations

Trivia

  • After the mission, Jegg was found in a warehouse, hooked up to a system that left him awake in sensory depravation. His mark called back blank papers, he had no injuries whatsoever, and there was a note on his chest that read 'Let's be pals'. When asked for more, he also said that the MPDG claimed they DID NOT kill Mikah Zhao.
  • The reason for the coincidental L shaped gems in both Mikah's and Farrah's homesteads are still unknown.
  • Farrah Nagi was a fan of Michael Jackson.
    • And crack cocaine.
Retrieved from "https://heropedia.rectangle.zone/index.php?title=Law_and_Order&oldid=2689"