In a world constantly embroiled by strife and violence, there is always some profit to be made on the side.
As an insurance investigator for defense company Crystalstar in Hippogriffia, Azerda Zamarata is responsible for investigating overseas cases for military assets, with some…corporate legal liberties. Seeing her home lost twice in one lifetime, the zebra only has her eyes for monetary gain – but with each case, she can only hope to make something of herself in a rapidly changing world.
Note: This story takes place in the Equestria at War universe, a mod for grand strategy war game Hearts of Iron 4. While the universe's lore helps supplement the story, you don't need to fully understand it for this fic. Feel free to check out the mod!
Chapters (6)
Frightful start to her turn to private investigation, and I don't think this will be the last we'll be hearing of her last hours in Zumidia. You've also managed to convey a stuffy sort of pressure rallying against her as she's leaving, what with having to share room with griffs that aren't exactly friendly to her kind, but it's nice to see that she still has a good heart.
Well, still had a good heart. The hope is that it's still there, of course.
It's a nice beginning, and I'm looking forward to see how things unfold! Thanks for it.
Won't be starting things off easy, then. I already think that there is a big kind of conspiracy if Azerda's final thoughts here are true, but still, that means the perpetrators are still amateurs to an extent because... well, no body to be found, no trace of where that body could've gone, and the crime's too perfect...
I'm thinking it might be corporate sabotage from a rival company. That's my first bet, especially with careful mentions of things like where Spotlight's car came from, of Squall Line, Azerda's comment about Crystalstar putting its logo everywhere... it'd at least fit thematically.
And deeper into the darkness we go. I didn't expect "Zephon" to not only show up so soon but to also put up a serious fight. Still, though Azerda won for now, it's still rather sad to see how much is burdening her, from the zebra outsourcing conundrum to having such a pessimistic outlook. I'm calling it that Trace is going to be her good cop, and hopefully, they'd rub off on each other.
But yes, something is off. It's not just corporate sabotage but maybe corporate espionage, too, that's going on.
HOL UP LET EM COOK
Lovely story. I'm very interested in this.