Demon of War

Mayors Office

It had only been half an hour when Levi walked back over to the Secretary with Detectove Drake, and the Guard had already confessed that the receptionist had signaled him for removal.

"This time why don't you signal the Mayor that you were just terminated." He said as she smirked at him.

"Better yet," Drake said as 3 more Officers entered the building and two walked over to him while she watched the third go into security. "I will do that after I inform her you have been arrested." he finished signaling the two officers just as the Mayor got off the elevator.

"Detective, what is the meaning of this?" she asked as she walked over.

"Patricia Marston, you are under arrest for abuse of governmental power, conspiracy to commit k********g, conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, filing false police reports, and any other charges the JAG investigation uncovers while they look through your entire employment record here." Drake said to her before he read her the rights she had as an Imperial Citizen.

"Mayor Wanda Germane?" Levi asked her making her turn to look at him.

"Yes, what does scum like you want?" she demanded as he recoiled from her.

"Detective, I think we now know where the orders for the receptionist to do this came from. Under order of the Imperial Governor she us to be held along with her conspirators while the investigation occurs." Levi replied as the Mayor took a step back.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Mayor Germane asked as her guards stepped between her and the Detective.

"I think I am the newly appointed Imperial Governor of this district, sent to investigate all the local complaints of government corruption. Good to know it starts at the top and most likely pervades your entire government." he said giving the guards a look that made them move away from her. "Levi Daemon, perhaps you were expecting me?" he asked as her eyes went wide.

"This can't be." she said shaking her head as she looked at Detective Drake.

"Afraid it is ma'am. He really is Levi Daemon." Drake replied as he took out a pair of handcuffs and she shook her head harder.

"Turn around and place your hands on your head." he instructed her as the local news crew that covered the Mayors office got it all on camera. The news reel would show all 3 of them being lead out of the building in handcuffs.

Levi looked at the building and shook his head as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number he wished he didn't have to at this point.

"Speak." the voice said as it answered immediately.

"Huntington corruption purge has began, Mayor is most likely involved and is in custody now." Levi relied simply. He knew the man cared little for the details, he wanted results.

"I will appoint an interim Mayor in 3 weeks, until than the Deputy ir yourself will fill the role." The Emperor replied before ending the call.

Levin walked over to the elevators, and used his military ID to call it to this floor. The ride did not take long as he got off on the top floor.

"Who are you?" the woman behind the desk asked bluntly.

"Where is Deputy Mayor Marsha Woods?" he asked her in response.

"In her office, may I ask who would like to see her?" the receptionist asked barely polite.

"Levi Daemon." he answered as her eyes went wide before she got up and essentially ran into a nearby office. He heard the hushed conversation because of hearing implants he had received during his service.

"Wasn't he supposed to meet the Mayor?" the second woman asked while the secretary nodded. "Send him in." she said before the woman came back out nercously.

"Ms. Woods will see you now." she said standing beside the door and inviting him in. She shut the door as soon as he entered.

"How can I assist you today sir?" she asked having been informed of who he was.

Levi looked at her with a smile. "We shall see in a moment. First I would like to ask about your perceptions of how this office is run." he said as he saw something dark cross her face.

She covered it quickly, and he knew she was debating with herself. "I cannot give my personal opinion on that sir." she replied professionally clearly covering her ass in case it didn't go well.

"If your concerned the Mayor will discover what you have told me, I assure you that is not the case." he replied as he sat down without asking her if it was ok. "I need information about this office because of an incident earlier."

Gretchen Woods looked at him as if she were assessing the odds of him being honest before she replied after nearly a minute. "Inwould need far more assurance than you could possibly give me to divulge what I know about this office." she replied coldly.

Levi smiled as he leaned forward, and looked her straight in the eye. "There is only one person in the entirety if the Empire that can overrule me, and I assure you he is much to busy to even care about an issue as simple as a corrupt Mayor being revealed by her underling. Now, if you wish to quit wasting time, I have much more important matters to deal with than the local government offices and who runs them. If it is about retribution, I assure you that Mayor Germane will not be returning to her duties any time soon." he said just as coldly as she had said she needed more assurances.

Ms. Woods however was far smarter than the average employee here, as hers was a position of merit, not elections. She knew by how and what he said that she would not have a choice in the end. She however wanted to stall for some time while she discovered what had happened. "If that is true than my-" she began when he raised his hand.

"Due to the circumstances you are not being automatically advanced to her position under the law, as there is currently a massive corruption investigation being launched into the workings of this office. As such you have two choices at this moment.

"First, you can tell me what you know and suspect, beforenwe decide how best to move forward with this controversy. Second, you can refuse and join Mrs. Germane in the suspended pending investigation category. Choose wisely." he told her as he sat back and her eyes went wide with how bluntly he had told her that.

She unlocked a drawer of her desk, and from it pulled out a locked file box. She sat it on the desk before opening it, and handing him a file 3 inches thick. "Everytjing you need is there." Gretchen Woods said as she looked at him seriously.

Levi opened it, and saw that not only was the evidence extensive, it went back to the Mayors first day in office. "If this has been an issue for 6 years, why have you not filed the proper reports?" he asked as she slid another file across the desk from the same lock box that contained over 60 complaints.

"I did, sometimes two and three of them a month." she replied evenly as she was assessing his reaction to the news he just received.

Levi glanced through some of the other files in the folder, and shook his head when he read exactly what had been happening. He closed it before he sat it on the other one, knowing now she had done everything she could, and the corruption was not limited to this office. "Veey well Ms. Woods, you will still need to provide a statement about the case. In the meantime however I have reviewed your file and would ask you to become interim Mayor of Huntington until such time as the Emperor appoints a replacement until the next election." he offered her.

"When will the selection take place?" she asked him bluntly.

"2 weeks before the review process begins." Levi answered quickly knowing the process already.

"Can I use those two weeks to show Inwould be a great choice?" she asked hoping she could pull it off.

Levi smiled as he looked at her. She had yet to realize he was seizing her up as well. "Normally I would say no off hand and regret that later." he started before he looked at her again closely while she wisely remained silent about the matter. "Something tells me however that you have soent your time here learning how it should be done, and could be of great benefit to this city. Show me you are capable, and I will ensure you get the appropriate review." he said as she smiled and rolled back from her desk to grab 3 different binders she had sitting there and sat them on the desk in front of him.

"If you have time, I would like to review a few changes that could be made. Also some projects that need approval from the Imperial Government as well as funding." she said warmly actually managing to surprise him within a few seconds of him saying that.

It was 4 hours later when he emerged from the room with copies of those binders, as he had requested, with the news going berserk that the Mayors AND Governors office had yet to make a statement about the Mayor being arrested for corruption.

The news crew spotted the Deputy Mayor getting off the elevator with Levi, and rushed to get her view on what was happening as it was unusual for there not to be a response already.

"What is the position of the City Government in regards to the incident today?" one of the first reporters to get to her asked as Levi slipped away from them.

"Thank you everyone for coming, this saves the need for a press conference. As you are all very much aware, Mayor Germane was arrested today on very serious charges including Corruption, k********g, and False Imprisonment. What is not widely known is that this is not a random act, but is just the beginning of a proper investigation by the new Imperial Governor of our District." she said as the others began shouting questions as she raised her hands for quiet. "At this time I will not be taking questions, but to answer one that is most likely on everyone's mind is why it has taken so long for a statement today. The reason is that immediately following the arrest of Mayor Germane, I was thoroughly questioned by the investigator sent by the Governor, to determine my own culpability in this situation, and the current state of the City Government.

"I am pleased to announce, that after questioning I have been cleared of all wrong doing, and appointed Interim Mayor until the Emperor appoints a Mayor to finish the 4 years remaining of her 5 year term. At this time we cannot make any further statement in direct regards to the investigation, but let it be known that those with dirty fingers in the corrupt end of the political element of this city, your time has reached its end. In conjunction with the Imperial Governor and a newly appointed JAG Investigator assisting us, we will root out every strand of corruption in every aspect of our government.

"It is time this great city once again became a beacon of prosperity for our great Empire, and in that spirit on the next few weeks we will be opening up a bidding process for what will be phase one of the Huntington Improvement Plan. Details will be released later this week, and we ask for your patience as we investigate this matter further. Tomorrow morning at 11, we will be holding a press conference, and will be releasing further details." she said before she started walking away.

"Who is the new Governor?" one of the men asked standing on front of her.

"I am not at liberty to disclose that, as only the Emperor may make that announcement when he is ready. Thank you everyone." she said before she did walk out of the building, assisted by the security who was now surrounding her as she was lead to a secure car.