Barrio Bangers

[Zem Vymes]

<font size=-3>(Song excerpts from Kid Rock's "Bawitdaba")</font>

<center><font color=red>And this is for the questions that don’t have any answers
The midnight glancers and the topless dancers
The gander freaks, cars packed with speakers
The g’s with the forties and the chicks with beepers
The northern lights and the southern comfort
And it don’t even matter if the veins are punctured
All the crackheads, the critics, the cynics
And my heros in the methodone clinic
All you bastards in the IRS
For the crooked cops and the cluttered desks
For the shots of jack and the caps of meth
Half pints of love and the fifths of stress
For the hookers all trickin out in hollywood
And for my hoods of the world misunderstood
I said it’s all good and it’s all in fun
So get in the pit and try to love someone</font></center>

I passed out the holograms to each of my team members, so they could get an up close and personal view of our punk of the day.

"Take a look at this pendejo and know him by heart. His name is Ott Mandeeta."

The Twi'lek had lived a rough 27 years. Whatever parts of him weren't criss-crossed with knife scars or blaster burns were "decorated" with gang insignia ink and gold. The 24 karat crowns on his sharpened teeth were eye-catchers. They were supposed to be.

"His crew in Ja Paro Deenacha* call him the Trash Collector, and he's got the union job to match, all parole work, and all pre-arranged. Up until today, nobody's bothered to look inside the trash bags he picks up. If I'm right, it's dirty in a whole different sense of the word."

I glanced at the three badges huddled around me in the district motorpool. All ladies. I was the only man in the house, and I didn't want that kind of responsibility.

"Sergeant Burckharf, you've got raid experience. Gallagher, I know you're salty from off-district work. Keep the rookie's nose clean.

This is a frontal raid. We know that Mandeeta has to pass his product to a clearinghouse before he drives to waste management. From there, it gets doled out to the dealers in our district. Red blow, uncut Ryloth ryll. I've done a lot of intel to get to the main pipe coming through Coco district, and I think this is the one. If we hit after the pass-off, we bag any of the dozen or so major distributors of ryll in Coco.

These tail-heads aren't all solidarity. Once we got 'em, at least a few will crack, and drop dimes on their vatos. Once that happens, we roll on bigger fish, like Mandeeta himself."

I gave the team members another pass, as I lit a cigar.

"Any questions?"



<font size=-3>* = Twi'Lek street gang</font>

[Sergeant Dirka Burckharf]

There was no response from Dirka. Adjusting the grip on the telescopic stun baton she carried, Dirka was currently running through another silent inventory check, whilst trying to predict all of the possible outcomes of the evening. There were a finite number of possibilities of how the gang could react. The Sergeant tried to mentally pinpoint them all. Ott Mandeeta’s capture had been a long time coming, according to Vymes, and so in a way she felt quite honoured that the Commander had chosen her to be a part of the team to bring him in.

[Selmena Maus]

Corporal Anne Ravenheart had sat near her partner Gallagher, listening to Commander Vymes brief the rest of the officers.

"Any questions?"

Anne cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Has any of these suspects been arrested and questioned before? If so, have they given us any information we can in our investigation?"

[Zem Vymes]

"Yeah, a few."

I addressed the rookie, crossing my arms.

"Nothing directly related to this, but a few of our model citizens in question are repeat offenders for felony drug charges, or what have you. Some are two-strikers. We turn the screws on these jackholes, they sing. I doubt anybody wants to go back to the pen with a life sentence.

I'm willing to deal if they're willing to drop a dime on their boss."

[Dameia Gallagher]

:: Gallagher looked at Ravenheart, then at Vymes as she stood up ::

"Let's do it."

[Selmena Maus]

Ravenheart also stood up with her partner, nodding.

"I understand, Sir."

She was a rookie, new to beat. She wasnt, however, new to police work. She had police blood running in her veins. Her parents had been private detectives until they died not too long ago, old age, not on the job and was retired.

Being the brat of former police officers and retired private detective, Anne felt she owed it to her parents to follow in their footsteps as a crime fighting policewoman herself. So here she was, Corporal Anne Ravenheart, rookie in the Coco District.

"I am ready for this. I will do my best, as always."

[Zem Vymes]

I glanced sidelong at Gallagher, jerking my thumb at the rookie with a 'Would you get a load of her?' look on my face.

"First raid, Ravenheart? Nothing like getting your cherry popped."

I walked around the cruiser to her side, and slapped the keys in her hand.

"You're on the wheel. Damei, you're shotgun."

Popping open the rear passenger-side door, I stepped in and grabbed a seat, leaning over to open the opposite door for Burckharf.

"Dirk, you're the left butt-cheek. Shake a leg. Lets bust some heads."

[Sergeant Dirka Burckharf]

Dirka eyed Gallagher and her partner for a moment. New additions to the CoCo District Watch, they were wild cards for the Detective Sergeant, and as such set Dirka at ill ease. Pedantic by nature, she needed control – or at least knowledge – of every aspect of a situation to feel comfortable in it. Her discomfort didn’t show and registered only on a subconscious level, yet it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Vymes had known exactly what was going through her mind, even if Dirka herself didn’t. She climbed into the back seat, beside the Commander, and buckled herself in, still silent.

[Selmena Maus]

Anne smiles at Dirka and Yymes in the back seat, then winks at Dameia sitting next to her. She buckles her seat belt and inserts the key in the ignition, starting up the spinner cruiser they were all in.

"Is everyone ready to go? No one is missing, are they?"

[Zem Vymes]

"Cut the foreplay up front. Let's roll."

The cruiser growled forward, leaving the precinct motorpool behind, and beginning a half hour descent to the lower levels. The lower we went, the more rust, barred windows, and graffiti showed up. Still high enough for sunlight, but low enough to know the sun isn't shining for your sake.

At 497, a pair of Zeltrons were turning tricks behind a dumpster. At 441, a droid was hocking boosted apps. A half dozen Ithorians were free-flowing around a boom-box. A fire burned in a rusted-out barrel. Nobody seemed to care.

[Dameia Gallagher]

:: Dameia was clad in light body armor, and was packing some flash bangs as well as her auto-9 and a Seburo rifle. She glances over her shoulder at Vymes then looks back out the side window ::