Jason is seated at the bar, propping his head up with his hand as he stares blankly into a half-empty glass.
#Miner'sRespite – August 7, 2014
Kim steps into the Respite after being absent for several months in a row. She's in fairly standard clothing while her hair is neatly tied into a braid. She doesn't look around directly right away, but instead moves towards the bar to get a quick drink. She looks slightly tired judging by her posture.
Jason straightens up somewhat as he hears a new arrival. He glances over and nearly does a double take. "Tess? Shit, where the hell have you been?" he asks, sounding more surprised than angry, "Almost thought you took off on us..."
Kim jolts upon hearing her name, but a quick look at the source calms her down nearly immediately. As soon as the bartender returns with her drink, she grabs it and strides over to where Jason is sitting.
Jason winces a bit, realizing his mistake as soon as she says her name. "Sorry, sorry." he says, "Hard to-... I'm just used to ca-..." he sighs and shrugs, gesturing towards his glass, "I've had a bit to drink." he finally settles on. "We've had a bit of action since you took off... Not the good kind, either." he sighs, "But we can get to that later. Everything alright with you?"
Had some personal problems to take care of. Remember what we talked about briefly before I took off? That type of problem.
Jason remains quiet for a moment before nodding slightly. "Yeah, yeah. But it's-... Taken care of? She okay?"
Jason follows suit, draining the rest of his glass as he listens, and silently nodding to the bartender to get him a refill. "...Complicated?"
Yeah, I can't manage to sit in one spot for very long nowadays. Finding someplace to settle down and farm for the rest of my life is looking more appealing every day.
Jason raises an eyebrow as a smirk tugs at his lips. "Farm?" he asks, followed by a short snort, "I never had you pegged as the 'farming sort'. The way you handle a weapon... Well, just sounds like a waste of talent."
Weapons are just tools. If I can learn how to use tools for killing people, I sure can use tools for killing the dirt. It just takes a little effort is all.
Jason bursts into a short chuckle. "Guess you're not wrong... But why farming? Out of everything you could do, where's the appeal there? It's-... Dirty."
It's peaceful, at least. You don't have to be on top of what's going on all the time, you don't have time to think, and you can be productive to society as a whole at the same time. Not much that can go wrong with that.
I get that, I guess. Maybe it's not for me. After everything that happened back on Omega... And Illium... I had no choice but to give up the life. Had to take care of Linda. Moved back to Earth. Settled into a little place of our own. Worked an honest, blue collar job...
Well, if there's one thing I'm good at it's getting screwed over... Think I've already proven that more than enough times.
But it's more than that, I think. I'm-... good at this, you know? And I'm able to do some good... Help people... It may not always come down to that, but I sure as hell try.
Kim smiles weakly in response, but doesn't say anything right away. She takes a slow gulp of the drink as she averts her eyes to the table.
I mean, hell, I'm not even 30 years old... My hearing is shot to hell from all the gunshots, explosions, shouting- I wake up with aches and pains of someone twice my age- and I've lost so many people along the way that I can barely get a full night's sleep without seeing their faces. And ya know what? I can't imagine doing anything else... Maybe I'm just fucked in the head.
Hm... I'm guessing it was amplified when you were back to doing simple work? Sounds like the army life got into your bones and now won't leave without taking your bones with them.
And it will. I know this. It scares the hell out of me, but I think I've made a certain... Peace? With it. It's all I'm built for... Outside of this life, I'm fucking useless. You know what's funny...?
While you were gone, we had a job... It went sideways. We lost two of our own people. One-hundred-twenty-four other casualties. One-hundred-twenty-four. Linda lost it. Told me I was washed up. I felt horrible. Been wrestling with it ever since we got back... That sort of shit will eat at you, but I've gotten used to it. I can manage it. But it's Linda that got to me. The thought
Here's the way I think about it... If you're still able to get up in the morning and do your rounds without having to stop for a break constantly throughout the day, then you're still fit enough to do your job. Either way, you can't just put down your weapons and quit when you still have shit to do. It's senseless at times... but mistakes happen and will continue to happen until you make one big enough to get you either killed or arrested. That's how it works in this business and it isn't going to change anytime soon.
But hey... I'm still fairly new to real life fighting compared to everyone else in the company. Who knows how much that relates.
Enough depressing shit, though. I've had enough for one lifetime these past few months. You planning on sticking around long enough to get some work done? Sounds like Linda has a few things lined up.
I'll see what I can do. Like I said, I... might have to leave at any moment. Otherwise, I'm available at any time for a mission. Hell, even for a talk. Oh...
I... might have accidently taken the sniper rifle with me when I was gone. I still have it in a safe place, so it's available if it needs to be inspected or confiscated for any reason. Otherwise, I managed to practice with it a bit, so hopefully I'll have better results than last time.
No big deal. Our last job wouldn't have found any use for it anyway, so it would've just been sitting in the armory. Besides, it'll probably come in handy to have someone around who can actually use the thing.
Well, hey, if I'm going to be part of the company as well, I should probably be able to do something that's not sneaking around and punching people.
If you end up in a situation where that would be a good help, I'd be offended if you asked anyone else.
Jason drums his fingertips against the countertop for a moment and rotates on his stool to face Kim.
There's a-... Small matter I do need to discuss with you. Nothing concrete yet, but it's gonna be an 'all hands on deck' situation...
Victoria walks into the Respite wearing her standard shirt and long pants outfit. She notices Kim and Jason and walks over to them ''Yo, you guys.''
Jason goes to respond to Kim, but the familiar voice catches his attention. He swivels around to face the new arrival.
Kim glances over to Victoria and raises her hand in a slight greeting, all while giving a small, slightly strained smile.
''Hey I ain't a stranger, just trying to figure out away to get my ship back. If anyone is a stranger it is you.'' She then looked at Kim ''Hey Kimmy.''
Uhh-... Right? How's that going, anyway? Any progress on the stolen-ship-front? Could really help Redrock expand our reach if we had a good space-faring ship available to us... Just sayin'.
Easy, breezy. Served a few tours out in the Attican Traverse during my time with the Alliance. Boarding slaver and pirate vessels was ninety-percent of the job.
Jason clears his throat as he realizes that meant he built his career on killing people like Victoria and gives a somewhat apologetic smile, accompanying a tilt of his head.
Uhh-... Just... Run it by Vasquez. There's a whole lot of set-up that's involved. She can assess whether or not we've got the budget for it right now. We'll need to know it's location, and access codes would be nice. Any idea if they've been changed since your.... Dethroning?
Victoria lookes at Jason's smile and decides to reply back ''Don't worry 25% of my life was punching Alliance soldiers in the dick after they failed taking my ship.'' She then stopped to think about if they did ''They would not be smart enough to change them.''
Fair enough. That makes things a whole lot easier. Like I said, run it by Vasquez and see what she thinks. We're sort of treading water at the moment when it comes to finances. Barely skimming by. We've got a few jobs lined up, though. You planning on disappearing on us again, or can I count on you to work for your paycheck?
Well you've been a wonderful job the past couple months. Feel like we've been paying you to stay away.
So I'm not the only one who has been AWOL lately? Looks like there's more personal problems than meets the eye around here.
Jason swivels back around in his seat. Once facing the counter, he takes a swig of his drink and sets the glass down slightly harder than intended upon hearing Kim's comment.
''Hey, I just want my ship back. Then I can sleep on my beauty again.'' She said as she sat down next to Kim ''Not my fault that some bastards stole my beautiful ship.''
You have no idea. You two disappear. Been months since I've heard from Zaylus. We-... lost a couple on our last job. We're barely getting by on security contracts right now, Kim. We picked up a new employee today, so that's good I guess... But we need some credits rolling in.
Jenya. She was an asari we signed on just before the job. And-... Maria. The woman we managed to save from those slavers... A lot of good that did...
Kim nods softly. She wasn't very attached to Maria and had never known Jenya in the first place, but the company losing manpower was enough to dampen the mood anyway.
There are those who did not want to kick me off. Mainly the head enigneer. She just went along with it. She is also feeding me the information.
Jason raises an eyebrow at Kim and shakes his head. With a sigh, he returns his attention to Victoria.
Alright... Keep us updated on the situation. Once we've got a couple more jobs under our belt and the credits to make a risky move, we'll discuss it further. In the meantime, like I said, mention it to Vasquez.
Jason taps the counter to get the bartender's attention. "My friends here aren't drunk yet." he says with a smirk, "Let's see about changing that. Put a round of drinks on my tab."
That would be the one. Yeah... This last job we were on... We ran into more of those-... He lowers his voice and glances around again ... Those things. And, well, you heard how that all turned out. Linda thinks she may have a lead on where they're coming from. Someone is behind this. Can you fucking believe that? Someone is actually releasing them on people... We don't have a lot
to go on, but when we do I plan on putting an end to them. The others aren't so eager after what they saw out there... We could use all the help we can get.
Son of a bitch... you can count on my support to put that fucker away. I almost lost a leg to one of those things already. I don't want anyone else to get worse.
Jason slams a gauntleted hand against the counter, causing a loud thump. His face reddens and he gives the bartender an apologetic look.
Jason takes a deep breath, instantly feeling better knowing that it others have his back. He turns to Victoria and notices the confused look on her face.
It's a long story. Not something to really go into details about over a beer... But when the time comes, you can be damn sure we'll be needing a pilot. I'll fill you in on everything when we've got more info to go on.
You know how this line of work is, Vicky. That's never a guarantee... I can promise you that 'certain death' is definitely in my 'avoid' pile.
Hey, I don't think anyone here wants to die. We just do our jobs and hope we can survive long enough to spend our paychecks.
''Well, I mean just as long there is some chance of life. Won't be getting me going on a certain death mission.''
''Maybe if your were a chick, better butts. Just think in another universe you could be a chick with the name of Janet.''
Jason stares blankly at Victoria and blinks a few times. After a loud sigh, he pushes his nearly-full drink aside.
Alright, we'll talk more a bit later, then. I want to hear the details the moment it becomes viable...
''Bye Jason.'' She then looked at Kim ''Well clearly, I need to take a brake and find myself a companion.''
Jason raises an arm as he heads towards the door, giving a wave over his shoulder to the two women before disappearing through the door.
Victoria bumps Kim with her elbow ''Is that you offering?'' She asked with a coy smile and a flirtatious tone.
Victoria pouts at Kim ''But.... I want it now.'' She then shrugs with defeat. ''Well the offer is always on the table.''
Kim winks once before draining the rest of her glass, shivering from the overload of alcoholic aftertaste, then strides over to the exit before slipping out.