Law and Order: Leanbox- Prologue

In Leanbox's criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important, groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
This is one of their stories.

*CHUNG-CHUNG*

It was a clear, starry night on the outskirts of Leanbox City.
A red convertible pulled up to a rocky out cropping, an NPC male driving with a female NPC in the passenger seat.
"Here we are," the shadow-man declared.
"What sort of place is this for a romantic getaway?!" his date complained.
"Aww, don't you remember? This is where we first met," the man attempted to jog his girlfriend's memory. Pointing, he continued, "See, I was standing right up there trying to steel myself to do a daredevil stunt by jumping off there... and then you pushed me."
"Oh!" the woman gasped. "Now I remember! You ended up with a broken arm and some fractured ribs. You were in the hospital for weeks..."
"And you were at my side every day," the NPC man finished.
"And I'm still at your side every day," the woman said suggestively, leaning over to kiss her love...
Only for several reports to ring out beyond the cliff. "Wh-what is that?!" she gasped.
"Sounds like gunfire...!" her boyfriend replied. Suddenly, what appeared to a be a yellowish- swirling ball of energy appeared from atop the small cliff, thankfully angling to the left as it descended, before disappearing behind some boulders. "What the hell-?!" Coming to a decision, the NPC unbuckled his seat belt before opening the car door. "Call the police!" he ordered.
"What are you doing? Don't be stupid!" his girlfriend protested, even as she pulled out her cell phone.
However, instead of foolishly trying to follow the energy ball, the-shadow-man began to quickly climb the cliff where it had come from... reaching the top, he looked around, soon spotting what appeared to be a human shape laying on the ground. Running toward the downed figure, he seized up in horror as he got a better look. "Oh, dear Goddess...!"
It was a man decked out in full Leanbox military combat gear, holding a machine gun in one hand... with a large, sizzling hole through his chest.
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"Oh, man, not again," Detective Eddie Green moaned as he got out of the car. The tall young Caucausian ran a hand through his combed blond hair as his partner got out of the passenger's seat.
"What's up, Eddie?" stated said partner- an older man with grey-brown hair, a few wrinkles surrounding his gray eyes, standing a little shorter than Green. "You seen this sort of thing before?"
"Well, it's just, my first homicide case involved Leanbox military- but that time he was the accused, not the victim. Anyway, JAG ended up hijacking the investigation, things got so outta hand, Lady Vert herself had to get involved!" He heaved a sigh. "All because I overlooked a critical contradiction in the evidence..."
"Well, hey, that's what you got me here for," Eddie's partner reassured him. As the two detectives approached the body, he called out to the ME, "Hey, whadda we got?"
"Exactly what it looks like," the medical examiner- a black-shadowed NPC- deadpanned. "Leanbox Army officer, one shot through the chest, instant game over."
"You know what weapon was used?" Eddie's partner inquired.
"Well judging from the burnt flesh, and the size of the hole, I'd have to say it was a high-powered plasma cannon of some sort," the ME explained.
"Aw, nasty!" Eddie Green groaned as he looked over the body.
"What about his gun?" the older detective pointed.
"Several rounds expended," stated the ME. "He went down shooting, at least..."
"You got an ID?" Eddie asked a nearby NPC officer.
"Yeah, just ran his armor's serial number," the policeman muttered as he checked his mobile device. "Second Lieutenant Joseph Starr, 82nd Unit. No next of kin."
"Detectives!" another officer ran up. "We got footprints back here!" The two men followed the NPC a few feet behind the body, seeing several footprints in the ground.
"Looks like the same sole pattern as the victim's boots," Eddie's partner observed.
"So he wasn't fighting alone?" Green mused. "So where do the footprints lead to?"
"Well, it looks like they ran back here... and then vanished," the officer stated. "But given the pattern that the sand was blown away here..."
"Hovercraft," the older detective sighed. "Figures, can't ever be easy..."
"Yeah, but if the victim was fighting alongside several of his colleagues, that means we'd have a bunch of witnesses, right, Mr. Crisco?" Eddie pointed out.
"How many times do I gotta tell ya, it's Bennie," his partner insisted. "Feel old enough without you calling me 'mister'..."
"You old enough to remember when Leanbox soldiers *didn't* cut and run at the first casualty?" the NPC officer snarked.
"Yeah," muttered Bennie as he looked back at the corpse. "So much for 'never leaving a man behind...'"
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LAW
Starring Bernard Crisco
Edward Green
And Lita Von Braun

ORDER
Starring Jared McCoy
Rizzoli Isles
And Allen Curmudgeon

LAW & ORDER: LEANBOX

Authored by Derald Snyder
Original Concept by Dick Wolf
Hyperdimension Neptunia by Idea Factory and Compile Heart