Canterlot City Police: Major Crime Task Force

Phantom sighed as he stood shoulder to shoulder in the crowded passenger cart of the metro train. The train was always like this, standing room only in the mornings and early evenings on weekdays.

The train was one of Phantom’s least favorite ways to travel around the city. It was always so crowded pretty much every day. Standing shoulder to shoulder, chest to chest, or back to back with a stranger was pretty much intimate in this type of space. Phantom’s body size made it even harder to avoid touching people.

Times like this, Phantom missed his car. It was a POS, but it was his and it worked. However, after years of driving it was starting to slowly die. The A/C went out, the trunk won’t open, and starting the car is pretty much a coin flip. The one dependable vehicle is now parked in his driveway awaiting its fath.

There were a few benefits that the train had over a car. There was no traffic going both ways, it was pretty fast since it was a straight shoot and it was way better than the bus. Cheaper too. Finally, his stop is only three blocks from the new station where he worked.

Phantom still wondered why he was picked to be a part of this special unit. He didn’t have anything to show that he was capable of being a part of this unit. Unlike the others, Storm helped track multiple people with outstanding warrants, Star assisted the narcotics unit regularly, Comet led many high-risk raids with HTR and is certified with various weapons, Clover is the best sniper in the department and Buck has many medals for outstanding serves. Phantom didn’t have any of those things. They all started around the same time. Just in different districts.

One thing he did know. He was selected out of all the other officers in the city. 100+ other officers and Phantom was picked out of them for this spot. That means he has something they didn’t. He was a perfect fit for this unit and won’t let his team down.

Looking out the window, Phantom realized that his stop was next. Squeezing through the crowd of people to get to the door. Right on time the train stopped and the doors opened. Phantom along with others poured out the train.

A short walk later Phantom arrived at the station. After giving his normal greeting to the front desk he went to the squad room. Everyone was already there at their desk making small talk with one another.

“Alright,” Night said clapping her hands. “Everyone is here. We have another assignment, but first, there is something we need to discuss. I’m having a meeting later today about what areas of the city we should focus on. I want to hear all of your suggestions.”

“I say we pick up where we left off on District 6,” Star announced. “That neighborhood we went to is a real mess. Also, isn’t there some smuggling going on there too?”

“The smuggling is more in District 7 than in District 6,” Storm corrected. “District 5 is the city's real problem. That place has been a free-for-all before I was born.”

“You want to liberate one of the worst neighborhoods in the city let alone the entire district?” Comet asked. “Good luck with that. The gangs pretty much run that whole place.”

“We did liberate District 4,” Buck reminded. “It may have taken a few years and the help of the National Guard, but it worked. Now it’s one of the safer districts.”

“I’m not talking about liberating it,” Storm said. “Crime is never going away. I’m talking about targeting the gangs and areas there. Police, Fire, and EMS won’t respond there let alone basic delivery services. Hell, it’s getting to the point the trains and buses won’t go too deep and I don’t blame them.”

Night nodded. “That’s been on the agenda for a while now. District 5 used to be a pretty calm place. However, after the scandal that caused the district to lose alot of money, it didn’t have in the first place. People who lived there lost their jobs and homes in the same hour. It was very sad to see and hear.”

“Hey Phantom, didn’t you use to work in District 5 for a while before coming here?”

Phantom sighed. “Yeah, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. We were pretty much guarding the main train and bus station. We were in full-on riot gear with shields, long sticks, lethal and less lethal weapons on hand.”

“Expecting trouble?” Star asked.

“The East 44 Street gang and Black Bird gang were going at it at the time. For whatever reason they liked fighting near the stations. At one point they wanted us to set up a checkpoint like at the airport. District 5 is a bad spot. It won’t be easy cleaning it up. Like Comet said gangs control that area.”

Night nodded. “I’ll take everything you all said to the meeting today. On to our new assignment. We have been assigned to watch over a witness who is testifying against a gunrunner. He’s also giving us the others who transporting weapons with him.”

“Oh, goodie we're babysitting,” Star said flatly. "That's everyone's dream."

“Not exactly,” Night corrected. “Our witness doesn’t want protection, but when you're putting away traffickers there’s always someone coming after you.”

“Where were the weapons delivered? Clover asked.

“We have several locations where they might be along with the other runners. I’m going to need one pair to track down the weapons, another pair to help with the arrest, and the last pair to watch over our witness. I’ll let you all decide that part. Have fun.”

Night left the room leaving the six officers to decide who gets what job.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Buck asked.

“I can’t believe you lost twice,” Buck said leaning in the driver's seat.

“It was your idea,” Phantom reminded.

After they were dismissed, Phantom and Buck drew the short straw being the witness shadow for the assignment. Storm and Star were helping round up the rest of the runners. Clover and Comet searched the areas where the runners made their drops.

“Why do you think this guy didn’t want protection?” Phantom asked.

Buck shrugged. “Beats me. What I do know is that he’s gonna need protection if his crew finds out he’s the one who ratted them out to the cops. On top of that we are taking weapons from god knows who.”

“That’s some serious collateral damage,” Phantom said. “Speaking of collateral damage do you know what happened to that guy when we found out that he was the one giving the dogs to the Gold Kings?”

“Oh him? Turns out he kept the dogs at a house somewhere in Talltree County. He turned the house into a dog pound. He admitted to selling the dogs to multiple people. Most of them to the Gold Kings for dog fighting along with others for who knows what. He’s looking at 10 years at least.”

“Well, that’s some kind of justice I guess,” Phantom said. “When is this trail anyway and are the two of us enough to protect this guy?”

“Three days,” Buck answered in a bored voice. “We're not the only ones. We have a few guys inside watching his room along with video and audio in the halls.”

“Honestly, I think we have the easiest job on the assignment,” Phantom remarked. “We just have to watch outside and follow him till the trail starts. Most witnesses don’t even leave their room most of the time.”

The silence lasted for almost the whole day till White Stripe decided to go out to eat at the restaurant across from the hotel. Phantom decided to follow him inside. He could have stayed in the car and watched him from there. Phantom wanted to stretch his legs. These cars are nice, but they are too small for someone his size.

Phantom decided to wait on the other side of the street in the restaurant. Buck had the perfect position from his side of the road to jump in if he needed to.

Within minutes White Stripe exited the hotel, crossed the street, and entered the restaurant. Phantom leaned against the light pole and pretended to be on a phone call. Stripe came out pretty quick with a to-go bag in hand waiting for the walk signal to change.

The moment the signal changed Stripe began to walk. Phantom followed behind him. Stripe led by a few paces in front most likely to hurry back to his hotel room.

The sound of a car accelerating got Phantom’s attention it sounded close by and approaching fast. Phantom looked and left and saw a yellow convertible coming straight for them at a high rate of speed heading straight for them.

Without thinking Phantom grabbed Stripe by the back of his jacket just seconds before the car zoomed passed both of them.

The car didn’t even slow down when it passed them. It swerved before making a turn a few streets down. The car disappeared as soon as it appeared leaving only the sound of the engine fading away.

Stripe thanked Phantom before returning to his hotel room and Phantom got back in the car with Buck.

“Did you see that?” Phantom asked.

“Yeah,” Buck confirmed. “That car was waiting at the light behind us for a while. It was a Camaro. Get the license plate.”

Phantom put his seat belt on,” Let’s go after him.”

“No way. It took a right so that means they could have taken the entrance to the Highway. We have no idea if they took the upper deck or the lower deck. It’s a lost cause.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Let’s head back to the office,” Buck said starting the car. “We need to report this. It could be something or it could be nothing. With us being witness protection we need to let the team and DA know that could lead to something more.”

When they arrived everyone decided to regroup tomorrow morning since everyone had a pretty exhausting day and Night won’t be back till much later in the evening.

“Alright everyone, how's our latest assignment going?”

“All suspects are in custody,” Storm reported. “No incidents or injuries reported. All arrests were quick, quiet, and discreet. No one should expect anything.”

Night nodded. “Good. Clover, Comet what about your end? Were you able to find all the weapons?”

“We did. Alot of handguns, SMG’s and a few AR’s. We found some serious firepower. We also impounded a few cars. I’m running everything through our database now.” Clover explained. “We didn’t find anyone at the locations we were given. It’s a possibility that the Warpigs were the ones that were supposed to receive the weapons.”

“What about our witness?”

“His been quiet,” Buck began. “We have his phones tipped and access to the hotel’s camera system. He’s been staying in his room for most of the time. Besides a nut job’s driving he’s safe.”

“A nut job’s driving?” Comet asked.

Phantom spoke up since he was involved in the incident. “A car nearly hit us when he crossed the street to get his dinner. I pulled him out of the way before he got hit by the car. I ran the car’s license plate it came back to an address in Woodway.”

Woodway is a medium-sized town in Talltree County. It borders Canterlot City from the west by about 18 miles. Seeing cars or people from Woodway isn’t uncommon, especially on the weekend and summertime.

“That’s interesting,” Clover said. “The information about the cars we impounded came back just now. They're all registered in Woodway as well.”

“I don’t know if this helps or not, but our suspects were all from Woodway as well,” Star added. “This could be something.”

“We get people from Woodway all the time, especially during this time of year. With school and college about to start back up.” Night reminded.

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t rule it out,” Storm urged. “All of the suspects, the cars that were impounded along with the car that ‘missed our witness’ are from Woodway. This could be a cover, but the IDs we got are real and in the system.”

“Information must have leaked or someone made him,” Buck guessed. “Either way Strips is in more danger now. Somebody is after him.”

“Bucks right,” Night agreed. “If all of this is connected then somebody could be out to kill him. Buck, Phantom get back to the hotel and watch the surrounding areas. Clover, Comet look into our Strips records, the weapons that were found, and their locations I want to know where they were from. Storm Star found that car and used the highway and toll cameras to get the drop on it.

Everyone acknowledged their orders and went their separate ways.

For the past two days, Buck and Phantom have followed Strips throughout his daily routine. Whether it was on foot or by car they were there. Assuming he doesn't know he's being followed.

The car was never found. The others searched for days on end for it. Waiting for another attempt, but none ever came.

How word got out is still unknown. The DA who ordered the secret protection wanted more security but was denied. More help or not the team holds till the time of the trial.

"Well, that assignment was a total bust. Star said leaning back in his chair.

"Was it a bust because nothing happened or because we didn't find the car?" Storm asked.

"Both."

"Let’s just be glad that our second case didn't turn into a Shootout." Clover pointed out. "I don't want our squad to have that kind of reputation."

"Clover, we're going after the worst offenders in the city. Most of our cases are going to be shootouts or at least, someone getting shot." Buck reminded.

"I'm just worried about the information we got. My contact in the gang unit told me that the weapons might be from our friendly neighbor county Lombardia cartel. They were originally given to the Mockingbirds, but apparently, they were sold to the Warpigs and this group from Woodway did their dirty work for them." Comet explained.

"The Warpigs bought weapons from the Mockingbirds that were given to them by the Lombardia cartel?" Storm asked. "What kind of a deal did those three make?"

"Really," Star added. "Are they criminals or sports teams making a three-way trade?"

"I couldn't believe it either trust me," Comet agreed. "On the bright side, ATF thinks that we recovered all the weapons that were trafficked.

"At least it's not all bad news," Night muttered. "What about Strips? Any skeletons in the closet that we should know?"

"Nope. Besides this and a few traffic tickets he's clean,” Clover said.

"Not clean enough if he’s in this mess," Phantom added.

"Save to say that's a wrap," Night concluded. "We'll follow up on the weapons from Lombardia and the Warpigs later. Your dismis...."

Night was interrupted by everyone's phonevibrating all at once.

This was never a good sign since this phone was used for work-related tasks and city-wide emergencies.

"This can't be good." Star comment.

"It's not," Comet confirmed. "Reports of gunshots are coming from inside the courthouse. They're calling all available units."

"Could this be related to the witness?" Buck asked.

Storm jammed his gun in his hostel. "Doesn't matter. There's an active shooter in the courthouse. Let's go."

When everyone arrived the block surrounding the courthouse was in full chaos, to say the least.

HTR surrounded the building and blocked off the exits. The shooters realized this and decided to take a few hostages to prevent HTR from coming in. The situation turned from an active shooter to a hostage situation.

Emergency vehicles, mostly police cars surrounded the courthouse. A pack of officers watched the entrance ready for anything at any given moment. Snipers watched the roof and windows from the parking garages between the courthouse.

A hostage negotiation team has been in talks with the shooters for almost an hour now with no ending in sight.

Inside one of the mobile command centers, a group of men wearing similar body armor to the ones outside stood around a table. Behind them were multiple TV screens.

"Talks are breaking down," The negotiator informed. "They're getting jittery. I don't know how much longer till something happens. Their request is unreasonable. We need to make a move now.”

Twister, the HTR commander grumbled. Similar to Phantom, Twister is tall and well-built. Size alone will make anyone think twice about messing with him.

"I'd send officers in if there was a way to access the roof," Twister admitted. He stared at the blueprints of the building as if the paper would give him the answer. "If there getting nervous we need to move now and hit them hard, but I don't know how."

"I can help with that."

Everyone turned and faced Comet and Clover in their HTR uniforms along with everyone else behind them.

A smile immediately formed on Twister's face. "My girls," he bellowed before embracing in a hug. "Great to see you both again."

"We missed you too," Clover said returning the hug.

"Great to see you too boss," Comet admitted. "Work comes first though big guy."

Twister released them both and cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. Anyway back to business. Five gunmen are holding two hostages. Talks are breaking down and we need to move now. Our best option is the roof. The plan of action is still unknown. Care to help Clover?”

Clover looked at the blueprints for a moment before placing her finger on the large paper. "There," She said. "That’s the spot, the front left corner stairwell and the back right corner stairwell. That's how we’ll get in.”

"What are you getting at?" Comet asked.

"The negotiator will distract one of the men while two teams take the rest of the shooters. Ideally quiet and nonlethal to not alert the others. We don't want to put the hostages in the middle of a gunfight."

“But the stairwells?” An officer asked. “Are you sure?”

“We have numbers advantage as well as firepower,” Clover reminded. “Besides they don’t look like pros. I doubt they sealed all the doors let alone know where they are. We hit them hard and quiet before they know what happened.”

Twister nodded. “I like it. Let’s move out.”

Ten minutes later two teams of ten officers were sent to end the situation. All of them are armed with weapons, gear, and a first aid kit in case things go south.

Night stood behind the negotiator waiting for both teams to get in position. The multiple screens showed the inside of the bank and the locations of the hostages and at least three shooters. The other two were unaccounted for which is not a good thing.

Team 1 in position.

Team 2 in position.

Twister took a headset from a nearby table. "Alright team remember, use less lethal if possible. Do not engage if they are near a hostage. Negotiator on your go."

The negotiator pressed a button.

Moments later a man wearing a mask grabbed the phone.

The negotiator started talking with him about getting what they wanted to keep him distracted.

"He's on the phone. All teams move." Twister ordered.

Night tried to focus on all the screens to see where the teams were moving and the shooters. One of them quickly moved through one of the stairwells and ambushed one of the shooters who had his back to the door.

He was put in a headlock, a hand covering his mouth, and yanked back into the stairwell.

One is in custody.

Night was relieved that one of the four was taken out. Even if they had the number advantage like Clover said the shooters can still get the drop on them. Night experience it more than once.

On another screen, a gun was walking out of the bathroom. He walked pasted the stairwell door. An officer followed right behind him. The shooter turned around as if someone called for him. The officer punched him right in the face knocking him out cold.

“Ouch.” Twister winced. “That gotta hurt.”

Another is in custody.

“Damn it, Star.” Night muttered.

"Good work. Two are still unaccounted for. Team 2 will move in on the hostages and secure them. Stay alert. Team 1, search the building for the others." Twister warned. "Get me eyes on the hostages."

One of the screens turned to the office where the two hostages were being held. They were on the second floor in some kind of office.

Night watched the screen with anticipation. If they can rescue the hostages without alerting the shooters would be perfect. The shooters lose their leverage hopefully surrounded.

That scenario lasted a whole ten seconds before a set of gunshots echoed through the speakers and the area.

Shooter down. Hostages secure. Go loud.

The shooter on the phone noticed the gunshots. He dropped the phone and rushed back.

"One on the way from the lobby. Be advised!" Twister shouted into the headset.

We see him.

The shooter that was on the phone stopped in his tracks. Dropped his weapons and raised his hands in the air. Officers moved in for the arrest.

Team 1 another one in custody. One more at large.

Team 2 all hostages rescued with no injuries and found our final shooter. He's injured. Send in medical.

"That’s what I'm talking about," Twister cheered. "Mission complete."

"Well that was fun," Storm said putting the last of his equipment in the truck. "This should make the news tonight."

"I'm just glad no one got hurt," Clover said with relief. "The two shooters that were shot are gonna live. So will the guards."

Buck nodded. "We could have had no injuries if someone didn't have an itchy trigger finger."

"He was coming right for me," Star said in his defense. “Besides nobody complained when I sucker-punched that first one.”

"Please tell me you're not gonna say that in your report," Comet said.

Star replied with a smile.

"There's your answer," Phantom said.

"Let's just get back to the office and call it a day, Storm sighed. "I've had enough surprises for one day."

The group got in the vehicles they came in and left the area.

“Hell of a job, Twister.” Night said. “HTR is keeping the area safe and sound.”

“It would be even more safe if we were in there. Remember like the good old days?” Twister asked.

Night laughed. “Yeah, the good old days. When we had to get up and change the TV.”

Twister smiled back and turned to the courthouse. “Even though the situation is over I’m not calling this a win.”

“About the weapons and the Lombardia cartel supplying them?”

“That and the fact that the Warpigs had them. That’s some serious cash and firepower. The shooters were after that witness guy your team was protecting.”

“How do you know?” Night asked.

“Camra footage and people inside the courthouse at the time said they all made a B-line for him. Some of them even tried to shoot him. They were about to give chase outside till we started to show up.” Twister explained. “Since the Lombardia cartel is invalid the F.B.I. is taking over this case.”

“Let’em have it,” Night said calmly.

Twister looked back at Night. “Time does change people. Back in the day, you would have been heated.”

“Yeah, I would of,” Night admitted. “But there’s bigger fish to fry. Either the Warpigs have ties to the Lombardia cartel or they’ve been making more cash on the streets than we believed. Which ever one it is it’s not good.”

Twister's face darkens. His normal poker face he had during the whole hostage situation changed. “I know it’s your team's main job and all, but I want to help any way I can. I’ll do anything and everything in my power to keep the Lombardia cartel out of the city.”

Night stared back at Twsiter with the same look. “Neither do I.”