[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5300572][img]https://i.imgur.com/QkMMMga.png[/img][/url][/center] [h3]--Tiger Hunter--[/h3] [@BrokenPromise] [@Izurich] Later that afternoon following [url= https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5350526]this[/url]… While most agents were fairly diligent, there were others that lived and breathed to exterminate. Monsters, terrorists, mobsters, they were all equal, and all deserved to be laid low. Silmeria had learned her lesson from hunting the weretigers. GEMINI was interested in getting the biggest bang for their buck. If she was going to justify to Fritzi that scum like Tony and Viper needed to die, she needed to tie them to something bigger. Something that her superior could use to get uncle sam to invest more in their operation. That wasn’t going to happen taking out ground level criminals. But Silmeria knew there was more at play here. She just had to uncover it. There weren’t too many leads to follow. Viper wore a disguise over her esper form, so she was notoriously hard to track, and she knew little about Lenore. But what she did know was that the weretigers used magic circles to transport goods into the elemental chaos. The one at the dock had been carved into the asphalt. Just like the one in this defunct parking lot. It wasn’t hidden in plain sight. Two trucks had been parked over it. Or perhaps rolled is a better term, as neither one had an engine in it. But what did this mean? Where should she go from here? Perhaps deep in her heart, Silmeria knew that there was something wrong with her, that the combination of Helena's death, dad's crippling, and the disintegration of her college hopes and dreams shattered everything, and then at her lowest point, working at a shitty job, literally so since she cleaned toilets among other things, the crumbled pieces of her self-worth were mended together by this grimoire that she found when dumpster diving. Only she never really came back, at least not exactly like before. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, let alone a woman scorned given supernatural powers. But it's fine, if her existence could have a meaning, if she could make others avoid the same fate as herself by culling those responsible, then it's a life worth living. Tony the Tiger's pack might've been nothing but small fries compared to Justin and his coven, but the fact remained that women and their families suffered because of his human trafficking operation, actual living people subjected to a fate that no good citizen should ever experience. This gross crime against humanity perpetuated by creatures who didn't belong, it would claw at her conscience if she didn't do anything about it when she had the power to do so. And by the Allfather, she [i]had[/i] the power. [color=ff991c][i]Hmmm...[/i][/color] Crouched down near a magic circle carved into the parking lot's asphalt, concealed by a pair of motorless trucks, [i]Valkyrie[/i] engaged a self-targeted Magic Sense melody to ascertain any clues from the location. Magic circle, magic residue, wouldn't take a Sherlock to put those twos together. Unfortunately, the magic circle had little to reveal to Silmeria’s magic sense. Much like how espers are only magical when they hold a grimoire, Magic circles are only magical when they are containing magic. But that did tell her something. These deep groves in the asphalt were not made with a spell. They were also too perfect to be made by a weretiger's claws. It had been grinded, given the abrasion marks deep inside the asphalt.. Something physical was used to cut into the asphalt and make such marks. They had to buy or rent something. Peculiar, so the magic circle hadn’t been active recently or else it’d still contain some traces of magic at least. However, the close examination still unearthed a clue, the grooves weren’t a magical construction, and she imagined weretiger’s claws weren’t built for fine engravings; which meant these xeno scum used some kind of tool… now if only she could identify its location. Standing up, the esper-formed agent decided to examine the trucks first, looking in the driver’s seat, under the hood, underneath it, and last but not least, their cargo. The trucks hadn’t been driven in a while in addition to missing engines, they had their transmissions, catalytic converters, drive shafts, and axles pulled too. The pricer electrical components had been pulled too, such as the body control module. It looked like the vehicles had been raided for parts. There were also no plates, and any registration assigned to the vehicle had been scraped off the windshield. There were some wooden pallets that could be erected into a crate with a few nails in the bed of the trucks. They looked to be just like the ones Silmeria saw the weretigers use at the harbor. The fact that they went so far in stripping the vehicles into nothing but its frame [i]and[/i] going the extra mile of filing off the numbers told her that they were serious, a deliberate move to get as much profit as possible for their makeshift magic circle cover. [color=ff991c][i]Subhuman scum...[/i][/color] Silmeria mentally growled as she examined the wooden pallets, they looked awfully similar to the ones used to pack up the hostages. Yep, as if she needed anymore confirmation that Tony's gang was behind this. This is definitely going into her "evidence" album. Hopping off the bed of a truck, the brunette perused the pictures she had taken so far with her phone: the magic circle, the trucks, their missing parts, and the wooden pallets. However, this didn't seem to be enough to make her case against Fritz, especially after the stunt she pulled earlier. Scanning the vicinity once more, Valkyrie used her marksman-trained eye to scour any details she might have missed previously. Aside from some marking here and there that [i]may[/i] have belonged to a weretiger, it seemed like the scene was pretty clean. But surely Silmeria wasn’t going to give up now. There had to be somewhere else she could follow this. Whatever made those groves in the asphalt was no hand held grinder. It was likely made specifically for a job like this. If she could figure out what it was and where she could buy/rent one, that would go a long way in getting a break, maybe. Putting a hand to her chin, she deduced that there's nothing more in the immediate area, thus she pulled out her phone to use the service of Totally-Not-Spyware-Company's search engine to have a visual reference to what kind of tool is capable of creating an asphalt groove of this size. [color=ff991c][b]"Oh..."[/b][/color] [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/874364687599403028/965296375686389810/unknown.png]That[/url] is definitely a big boy alright, yep, no way they'd store it here in plain sight, but then again, those xenos might have rented it. Now let's see if a businessman or two had been playing naughty with monsters... Thus, she used Google Maps to search for the nearest "Asphalt Grinder" rental location. Asphalt grinders are the sort of thing that you don’t need to use often, and are expensive. But if you need one, you need it. In all of Pax Septimus, there was a single heavy equipment rental shop that specialized in paving equipment. It looked like Silmeria’s next stop was decided. [hr] The shop for “Joseppi's Equipment Junction” was pretty small, but was only because the bulk of the equipment was stored outside under a pavilion guarded by a chain link fence. The store front in comparison was just big enough for a store clerk and a seating area. There was a tiny play pen to keep kids engaged while the adult patrons asked about equipment, some vending machines, and a table set up for free coffee. Free to paying customers at least. At this hour, the only person there was a skinny Italian man sitting behind a counter. His hair was jet black, and there were some stains on his hands from servicing some of the equipment. He was flipping through a newspaper when Silmeria walked into the store front. He must not have heard Silmeria, or was intentionally ignoring her. He held a cup of coffee in one hand and read the paper with the other. It was a bit peculiar that there was such a thing as a heavy equipment shop - in itself a specialized establishment - that further specialized in paving equipment, was there really enough people renting paving equipment to make a viable business out of it? Regardless, the fact there was only one such shop in this shithole of a metropolis could be saying something. Fortunately, she wasn't here to wonder about such things. The untransformed brunette entered the shop and immediately beelined for the clerk, who also seemed to be the owner, and place one of her hands on the counter, [color=ff991c][b]"Excuse me, I'm looking for Tony the Tiger, and in case you don't know who he is, he's a human trafficker who might've rented one of your asphalt grinder machines, I'm currently tracking him down."[/b][/color] No use beating around the bushes, her cause was just and she's working for a legitimate agency, unlike that Maiden bitch on both accounts. The counter man turned to look at Silmeria as soon as she started speaking, and raised an eyebrow as she concluded. [b]”Tony the tiger, eh?”[/b] The man set down his paper. [b]”Yea, I saw him, we meet up pretty frequently.”[/b] He made a pouring gesture with his hand. [b]”Every mornin’ he fills my bowl with frosted flakes. Always smilin’. Had no idea the son of a bitch was into that shit.”[/b] The mechanic folded his arms. [b]”You a cop or somethin’?”[/b] Huh, well, what do you know? The xeno filth kept his cover well, and of course she's thankful that - presumed - Joseppi was being cooperative. At his inquiry, she simply leaned ever so slightly forward and lowered her voice to just above a whisper, for effect more than anything else, [color=ff991c][b]"Detective. Keep it clean, okay, sir? Someone out there missing their daughter and it's all because of him."[/b][/color] [color=ff991c][b]"Now then, Mr. Joseppi?"[/b][/color] She leaned back and took out her smartphone with her Notes app active, [color=ff991c][b]"What do you know about the suspect?"[/b][/color] [b]”That ain’t my name on the building. That’s my dad. I’m Angelo.”[/b] He set down his mug. [b]”Got no idea who this Tony Tiger is, but there ain’t too many folks who rent the asphalt grinder.”[/b] He tipped his head. [b]”What was ya name? I didn’t see a badge either.”[/b] Silmeria had an inkling that the man was trolling, what with the Tony the Tiger mascot reference, but she treated him seriously in a deliberate move to assert the point that she's [i]not[/i] fucking around, the ball had always been in her court. The brunette glared at Angelo, waiting until he's done speaking, then paused some more to really let him know that there's no amusement to be had here. [color=ff991c][b]"Are you done? Good. I'm Silmeria, GEMINI, monster control bureau…"[/b][/color] She put her GEMINI badge down onto the counter... ...then suddenly slammed one fist on the counter while using her other hand to yank his collar towards her, her face contorted into a murderous stare as she channeled part of her hatred towards Tony to fuel her tone, [color=ff991c][b]"Listen here, chicken shit, I ain't going to have someone's kid's death on my conscience because a cunt like you decides to be funny. If your dung-covered brain can't remember the suspect, then you better have some kind of ledger and you will show it to me, or would you prefer to be accused with Obstruction to Criminal Investigations? Your move, creep."[/b][/color] The man hadn’t taken his eyes off Simeria the entire time. Though the edge of his brow dipped towards his nose as she screamed in his face. [b]”Assault, threats, impersonation’ an officer, and invasion of privacy are also against the law.”[/b] Angelo stood up slightly, just enough to pull Silmeria’s waist into the countertop. He might have been skinny, but it was clear he was stronger than Silmera was, at least out of the esper state. [b]”I’m enjoying’ an afternoon coffee, and you come bargain’ in here talkin’ about cereal mascots and slavory. When I don’t know nothin,’ ya assume the worst. He probably doesn’t tell everyone he’s ‘Tony the Tiger?’ Maybe he had someone else get it for him? ”[/b] He shoved Silmeria away from the counter. [b]”Never said I wouldn’t cooperate, but ya actin’ like a nut job. Ya think this is the movies or somethin?”[/b] He picked up her badge and flicked it back at her. Angelo kept his left hand on his mug at all times. [b]”You gunna make me call the police, or are ya gunna leave peacefully?”[/b] Holy shit... this goomba motherfucker was [i]in[/i] on it! The thought raced through the impatience and annoyance running in her mind even as Angelo pulled her forward. Right... that made perfect sense, renting such a big equipment without the help of an inside man would be less than ideal, but not like this surprised her. If most of the citizens in this goddamned city were decent, it wouldn't have been such a shithole in the first place. As if to further home it in, monsters were attracted by negative emotions and Pax Septimus was a hotbed for them, yeah? Exactly. Silmeria's widened eyes only lasted for barely a second before she 'relaxed' into a small grin, stepping back after he pushed her, [color=ff991c][b]"Don't bother, I get it."[/b][/color] There were plenty of reasons to presume that the PSPD were also a bunch of corrupt fuckwads, who got a slice of the pie for turning a blind eye to Tony's operation, huh? She had to admit that subhuman scum was smarter than his goons. The brunette caught the badge and left back where she came from. Once she was gone, Angelo placed a hand on his head. [b]”Christ on a crutch!”[/b] If the people here couldn't be cooperative, then she just had to do it herself. Time to stake this shop out until closing time, see if something juicy happened, and then once they closed, infiltration. Yep, that's what she'd do. To that end, Silmeria rented herself a motel room with a window facing the shop. [hr] Fortunately, the rental didn’t stay open much longer than it had to. A few hours later, five O’ clock rolled around and Angelo was ready to go home. He locked up the front of the store from the inside, then went deeper inside before emerging from the back of Joseppi's Equipment Junction. He had a shallow box, likely containing the businesses earnings for the day and keys to all the equipment, and drove off. The building itself was left unattended, save for a few aging security cameras that had to have been out in the elements for at least a decade or two. Peeking through the blinds using a binocular, Silmeria saw the idiot son packing up and leaving with a car. Good, very good. It was only until an hour or so after the sun had truly set that the brunette set out from the motel, in esper form of course, as she traversed through the streets and using her speedster-fueled enhanced body to jump over the fence. From there, she'd find a way to enter the office first, either through a window or the back door. All while doing this, the sniper made sure to keep herself out of sight from the security camera's viewing angle as best as she could, but nevertheless, she was going to do something about the recordings once she's inside anyway. The security measures outside were barely enough to deter a serious criminal, and the inside didn’t have any security at all. Silmeria didn’t even trip an alarm when she smashed a window to climb into the place. Though with the bulk of the equipment outside, and the keys and cash safely home every night, was there much reason to invest in interior security? Silmeria would have a hard time finding a security room. There was an old IBM computer that looked like it was as old as the cameras were, and was plugged into a box that might contain security footage if it was being recorded. It didn’t appear to be functional. Touching the power button did nothing, and the wires going to the cameras themselves looked worse for wear. Alright, the sniper didn't exactly expect bleeding edge security measures ala GEMINI HQ, but this was just... sad. Silmeria frowned as she absent-mindedly tapped the power button of this fossil of a PC. Damn, this Joseppi person might think that there was nothing here worth taking, nothing that didn't need heavy duty equipment to move anyway. That's fair though, that useless son of his brought all the smaller valuables with him, most likely a routine procedure instead of a specific one he did just today. The security cameras were a non-issue then, nor were there even alarms when she 'opened' that window. Of more interest to Silmeria would be the storefront computer, which looked far newer by comparison. Silmeria was not familiar with the software they were running on it, but some poking around did reveal that they kept records on all rented equipment. It was simple enough to locate the asphalt grinder and look at the logs. It had not been rented very many times, but in the past year, it had been rented by one individual. Now the PC that Angelo was manning proved of more immediate value as the esper searched through the business records. [color=ff991c][i]Grinding equipment... asphalt... aha.[/i][/color] Simple enough, no need for Mr. Robot here. Orange eyes perused the logs for a moment before she decided to copy the document into her phone. [color=ff991c][i]Pax Landscaping, huh? Let's see how legit you actually are...[/i][/color] No, not an individual, a company. “Pax Landscaping” made good use of the machine this year. This “Pax Landscaping.” was likely a cover for the weretiger’s operation. With that done, she left back where she came from and out of there, only detransforming once she's in some dark backalley. [hr][center] 20 | Female | G.E.M.I.N.I. | The Faceless Teslic Gauss | Long Gun | Physical | Nibelung Valesti Northern Sentinel | Government Agent Electromagnetism | Lightning | Static Shock [Paralysis (4), Speedster (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Push (2), Pull (2), Piercing (2), Bend (0) DAMAGE: B | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | Max Mana: 500 PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: E | CHAOS: D | Current Mana: 500 [/center]