#RedrockAgency – August 8, 2014

Vaden enters the Redrock Agency reception, and upon verifying that it is empty, makes his way to the conference room.

Mendez is seated at his desk, performing maintenance on his disassembled Katana. He glances back as he hears the door open, but otherwise pays no mind to Vaden.

Vaden nods at the human and stops to ask: "Have you seen Jason?"

Mendez grunts a response without looking up from his weapon, "In his office."

Vaden nods once more and heads out into the corridor, moving towards Jason's office. Once he reaches it he taps the door panel to open.

Jason is seated at his desk staring blankly at his terminal, looking quite bored. As soon as the door slides open, he straightens up his posture and lifts his gaze to the salarian. "Oh, sure. Just come right in. Who needs to knock?" he asks sarcastically, "How do you know I wasn't in here tuggin' on it? How awkward would that have been?"

Vaden blinks, his gaze moving around the room as if looking for something. "On... what?" He asks in an oblivious manner.

Jason raises an eyebrow and stares stupidly at Vaden for a few moments before he recalls his numerous conversations with Tarlon. "Oh... Right... You guys just have the frog hole..." he mutters with a sigh as he gestures towards the seat on the other side of the desk, "Nothing... Nothing... Have a seat. What's up?"

Vaden seems rather confused by the conversation, but proceeds to take a seat. "Well... Renala suggested that I... talk to you. About my hand." He shows his stump to Jason with a troubled look on his face.

Jason looks somewhat grossed out by the stump. "Uhh-... Sure..." he says, "What's up?"

Vaden puts his arm down. "I need a replacement hand. I cannot work like this. When I signed on, you said injuries on the job would be taken care of, but... Chief Vasquez said no when I talked to her."

Jason sighs loudly and sits back in his seat. "Yeah, we can't have you working with that thing... What exactly did she say?"

Vaden nods at the first comment and then responds. "The Agency does not replace lost limbs."

Jason chuckles inappropriately at the absurdity of the comment. "Sorry, sorry... That's not funny. Do you have any estimates on how much it would cost?" he asks, a smirk still plastered across his face.

Vaden brings up his omni-tool and sends Jason an extranet page detailing several options for growing and attaching replacement limbs - all expensive procedures. He looks rather disheartened.

Jason looks over the page for a few moments silently, his eyes widening as he sees the prices. Finally he returns his attention to Vaden. "Shit, man, you see how expensive these are? Can't you just-... I don't know, shove a glove over the thing? You've still got the other hand. Start wearing laceless shoes or something." he says, possibly joking.

Vaden waves his omni-tool. "I need this to work. And I cannot use it properly with one hand. Please... I thought the Agency looked out for its members."

Jason puts a hand up and waves him off. "Calm down, Vaden... I know. And you're right. I'll talk to her and do my best to give you a hand in any way possible." he says, a smirk slowly creeping onto his face as he holds back a chuckle, "I'm sure you noticed we haven't had much going on lately. We're not where we want to be funding-wise at the moment, and I'm guessing she was just talking out of frustration. We'll get you that hand. Just hold on..." he pauses for a moment and furrows his brow, "Figuratively, I mean."

Vaden gains a wide smile. "Thank you. I'm glad you understand... I can wait if it's needed. But I cannot do any work like this."

Jason nods in agreement. "Wouldn't expect you to, so don't worry about it. You may have to sit out a job or two while we figure this out, but I'll make sure you get your replacement. It benefits us anyways as well. We're struggling to find new members, and you're quite an asset. But in your current state, you're only about half as handy to have around." His grin widens as he studies the salarian to see if he picked up on the epic pun.

Vaden nods in response to Jason's statement. The pun does not seem to have made it through. "Thanks again." He says as he stands up and starts to head towards the door.

Jason frowns, looking quite disappointed. "Yeah... No problem, Vaden. Take care."

Uvena walks through the gate outside the building, making her way towards the entrance. Her armor covering her from crest-tip to toe, offering no visibility of her face. A pistol holster is on her right hip.

Vaden exits into the corridor and soon finds himself in the briefing room once more. He proceeds towards the reception door after giving Mendez another nod.

Mendez doesn't even seem to notice Vaden as he goes about reassembling his weapon.

Uvena arrives at the door and knocks on it three times before waiting patiently fro a response

Vaden moves into the reception and notices the door knocking. He moves up to it and presses the panel with a confused look on his face.

Jason sighs and stands from his desk. He exits his office and makes his way over to Vasquez', not particularly looking forward to the argument sure to come from discussing Vaden's hand. He taps the interface and waits for the door to open.

Vasquez is standing in the middle of her office when the door opens, practicing manuvering with the Confetti Maker. She looks at Jason as if he's interrupting. "What?" She says in an annoyed tone, adjusting her grip of the gun with a grunt.

Uvena stares at the salarian for a moment; the helmet makes her expression undiscernible, however. "Hello," she says, the helmet giving the voice a metallic sound to it. "I'm looking to hire mercenaries, do you know whom to speak to?"

Vaden blinks, caught a bit off guard. "Of course. Just a moment. Also, next time, may want to use the panel." He moves over to the terminal at the desk and notifies Jason that there is a potential customer waiting. "Someone should come soon." He says before heading out past Uvena.

Jason mutters to himself as he steps into the room. His omni-tool makes a short beep. "Vaden came and spoke to me about his hand." he says, raising his forearm. An orange glow surrounds it and projects the omni-tool's interface. "He said you-... told him no when he asked about replacing it." he continues slowly as he attempts to multitask, "You know we have to replace his hand, Linda. He lost it on the job."

Uvena nods. "I didn't want to just barge in if there were people in here," she says, walking inside and standing near the wall beside the exit. "Thank you. I'll wait here, then."

Vasquez lets out a frustrated sigh as she moves over to the desk and puts her gun down. "Look, it's not that I don't wanna help him, but we're not obligated to replace limbs, and the fact is we can't afford it. We haven't had a real job since... since that fucking mine." She throws a hand up in frustration, still turned towards the desk.

Jason raises an eyebrow as he looks over his omni-tool, only half listening to Vasquez. "I told him we'd replace it when our funds looked a bit better. Maybe after a job or two comes in." he says before allowing his omni-tool interface to dissipate. Without giving her a chance to respond, he continues with a puzzled look on his face, "Hey, you expecting someone?"

Vasquez turns around with a mix of frustration and confusion. "What? I-... no. No I'm not."

Jason shrugs and starts back towards the door. "Apparently someone's here to see you. I'll go see what they want. You might wanna start doing some price matching on hand replacements." he says, raising his eyebrows, "That shit's expen~sive." He exits the room and heads down the hall.

Vasquez seems about to start yelling expletives at Jason when he leaves. Instead she mutters something to herself as she starts to put the Confetti Maker away in preparation for the guest.

Jason continues through the briefing room and stops just inside the lobby doorway. He crosses his arms and leans against the frame, looking the guest over. "Uhh-... Hi. What can I help you with?"

Uvena takes a step away from the wall, towards the man. "I'm looking to hire mercs to follow a lead," she says without introduction. "I assume you have been informed of my... meeting with one of your mercs at the Miner's Respite?"

Jason 's posture eases up a bit as he realizes who she is. "Ahhh, yeah... Steve told me about your little incident. Sounds like we've got a mutual 'friend'." he sighs, giving a nod over his shoulder in the general direction of the offices, "Follow me." He turns on his heels and starts back through the briefing room towards the door.

Uvena nods and falls into step behind him, or at his eight when possible. "So, what do you know about him?" she says. "I didn't get a chance to read most of it before the datapads started deleting their content."

Jason passes through the door and continues down the hall towards Vasquez' office. He gives a snort at the asari's question. "Not much. We did a job for him, then happened across him at the Respite. He didn't seem too concerned with risking an innocent person's life at risk for his own gain." he says, stopping just outside Vasquez' door. He turns to face the asari as he taps the interface, "Unfortunately for him, the person he nearly got killed happened to be a close personal friend of mine."

Vasquez is sitting by her desk waiting as the door opens. She's wearing her uniform and the desk is somewhat clean.

Uvena stops as she sees him turn around. "He did leave unharmed, right?" she says. "The intel I got on that incident ended there, unless I missed something."

Jason gestures for her to enter the room and gives a nod. "He did. He seemed to be targeting an asari at the bar and using my friend to lure her out. My team managed to stop him, but he didn't seem too happy about us stepping in."

Vasquez gestures at the seat in front of her desk.

Uvena enters the room, still wearing her helmet. "I can imagine," she says. "I don't know where he is, but I have a solid lead that may get us to him." She moves over to sit down, nodding in greeting to Vasquez, "Hello."

Jason enters the room behind the asari, but remains by the door, intent on simply listening. He folds his arms across his chest and leans against the wall.

Vasquez nods in return. "I'm Chief Vasquez, head of the Redrock Agency." She stares at the helmet and adds: "I prefer to look people in the eye when discussing business. Mind taking your helmet off?"

Uvena tilts her head, pondering it for five seconds before giving a nod. She bows her head a little to remove it, before placing it on the floor just beside the chair. Her head is of a dark-purple hue with faint green markings above the eyes and on the crests. "You can call me Uvena."

Vasquez studies the asari for a moment before replying: "Uvena it is. Now... what did you want to discuss?" She says, crossing her hands on the desk.

Jason eyes the asari from his position behind her, attempting to place her.

Vasquez seems to process the information for a moment before responding. "That's-... Wolfe, you handled that... situation. I don't think you mentioned Uvena here." She glances over at Jason with a questioning look.

Jason gives a shrug, "Never met her before today. The Darennon contract went smoothly. No problems. Wasn't until after that I had a problem with the little shit."

Vasquez nods at Jason. "Yeah, yeah, I know..." She turns her attention back to the asari. "...so, what's your interest in him, then?"

Vasquez raises an eyebrow at the asari. "And you want to hire us to deal with the security?"

Jason remains in his spot and listens, giving Vasquez a concerned look upon the asari expressing her secrecy.

Uvena nods. "Yes," she says. "I seek information on Rellis' location, and the salarian in charge there is also a Darennon."

Vasquez leans back in her chair, pondering. "Alright, send me the information you have and I'll look over potential operational costs as well as the risks involved and get back to you. But I want to know why you're after this salarian, and how you knew about our incident with him."

Jason nods silently in agreement with Vasquez' questions, although due to his location, the asari would be unable to see him.

Uvena tilts her head. "Didn't... Steve inform you?" she says. "I told him how I got ahold of the information. I don't know how N-... the Thessian investigator learned of it, though."

Vasquez looks rather confused, and glances at Jason. "Wolfe... do you know what she's talking about?"

Jason shakes his head. "Not a clue. All Steve said in his report is that two people were letting loose at you over some datapad you had. He said you knew about Redrock, and mentioned that you were looking for Rellis. Said it seemed like you had a bone to pick with him, so he directed you our way."

Vasquez is about to start typing on her keyboard when she seems to realize something, and instead takes out her omni-tool, bringing up the sent files and starting to look them over.

Jason lifts his forearm and enables his omni-tool. He begins skimming over the messages, moving his lips silently as he reads. He furrows his brow as he looks up from it. "So... Why do you have this?" he asks, sounding somewhat confused, "You said you stole it... And it's apparent that whoever you stole it from seems to have their own issues with Rellis. Who is this-..." he glances down at the haptic interface once again, "Yar-thol and T-... T... Vessen?"

Uvena looks up at Jason. "Yarthol is the investigator she speaks of, and T'Vezan... I have no idea; another interested party, I suppose."

Vasquez looks rather sceptical upon reading through the messages. "I don't like the sound of this. How'd you find out these people are after Rellis too? Do we need to worry about them interferring with the mission?"

Uvena shakes her head. "I don't know about this T'Vezan," she begins, "but I got in contact with the woman... I stole it from. She feared I knew about her security measures and cracked it."

Jason allows the interface to dissipate as he retakes his position against the wall. "I feel like I'm missing something here..." he begins, "Why were you stealing this information from the woman in the first place?"

Vasquez nods at Jason's question and looks at Uvena expectantly.

Uvena sighs, picking her words carefully. "I wanted to make things right for someone I wronged so many years ago," she says, "the investigator was just sitting on intel and did nothing. I could take action, and I sure as hell intend to."

Vasquez seems content to sit back and let Jason handle the questions for now, but she's listening intently.

Jason shakes his head a few times, clearly missing some integral part of the story. "So... The bottom line is that you're not going to tell us what you need out of Rellis, huh? He almost got my friend killed, if we're gonna work together, I'd like to know why."

Uvena frowns. "The reason... I kept my helmet on," she begins, but it takes a few seconds, "was so that friend of yours wouldn't recognize me."

Vasquez glances at Jason to see if he knows what she's talking about.

Jason raises an eyebrow, looking even more confused. "What are you talking about...?" he asks.

Uvena sighs. "I've told you more than I wanted anyone on this rock to know," she says, "but very well. I tried to move on, but I just failed more people. So..., I thought I'd make it right for the one I failed the most." She looks at the table, pausing for a few seconds before adding, "My daughter. Va'ynna."

Vasquez , having been a bit of a recluse as of late, doesn't know who Va'ynna is. She looks to Jason once more.

Jason looks shocked for a moment, but eventually moves away from the wall and approaches Uvena's side. "And as soon as you're done here, you're gonna go let her know you're here, right?" he asks, but it comes across as more of a demand than a question.

Uvena shakes her head, looking up to him. "No, I don't deserve that," she says. "I was looking for her, yes. I might have thought about meeting her, yes. But now..." She lowers her gaze to the table again, and sighs. "Now, I'm not so sure anymore."

Jason furrows his brow. "She's going through a lot right now. She could use a familiar face." He looks at Vasquez almost apologetically before returning his attention to Uvena, "Your daughter is a good friend of mine, Uvena. You can't expect me to just keep this from her. If that means losing a job..." he bites his lower lip once again and glances at Vasquez, "I'm sorry..."

Uvena moves a gauntleted hand up to her forehead. "It won't do her any good, as much I'm certain of."

Vasquez shoots Jason a look that seems to say "What are you doing?".

Jason tilts his head to the side and winces a bit at Vasquez.

Vasquez begins to speak through her teeth. "Jason... our business is combat, not family counseling."

Uvena sighs. "There's no stopping you, is there?" she says. "If she's going through a lot already..., you're doing her a disservice." She clears her throat before continuing. "So, how much would I owe you if you agree on the job?"

Jason glances back at Vasquez and a smirk returns to his face. He raises an eyebrow and shrugs, as if to say 'No harm done, right?... Right?' and moves back towards the wall, looking very pleased with himself.

Vasquez is quite obviously relieved that Jason didn't scare the client away, but she does her best to mask it. "I'll need some time to evaluate the risks involved before we can agree on a price. I'll contact you soon, but know that you've made a good decision coming to Redrock. We'll handle this."

Uvena nods, reaching down to pick up her helmet. "I hope I did," she says, glancing slightly towards Jason. She enables her omni-tool and sends over her contact information. "I should have enough credits to afford it."

Jason remains in place, leaning against the wall. "We'll be in touch." he says, giving the asari a nod.

Vasquez leans back in her chair, bringing her omni-tool up to verify the receiving of Uvena's contact info.

Uvena stands up from her seat. "I take it that's all for now?"

Vasquez nods. "Yes. As I said, we'll get back to you soon."

Jason nods as well, "And in the meantime, you should probably consider stopping by the Respite..." he adds.

Uvena shakes her head before putting on the helmet. "She deserves better than that," she mutters before making her way out of the room.

Jason watches as the asari leaves. Once the door closes behind her, he puts his arms out at his side and his smile grows, "Sounds like we've got work to do!"

Vasquez looks rather angry to start with, but it soon fades away, ending up only a sigh. "Yeah, thank god. This is exactly what we need. Six mercs and a handful of mechs? We can handle this, no problem."

Jason nods firmly, "No problem." he repeats, "What do you think the job's worth?"

Vasquez leans her chin on her fist as she ponders. "I'm not sure. I'm going to give it some thought. We're going to need a plan for additional payment if her intel ends up being faulty and resistance is heavier."

Jason takes a seat where Uvena was sitting and leans back, "We need to make enough off this job to put some aside for Vaden." he insists.

Vasquez sighs, leaning her head back and looking up at the roof. "Jason..." she begins. "...funding that procedure is going to consume a considerable portion of the payment. I have to think of the Agency. We're not exactly doing well."

Jason leans foreward somewhat, resting his forearms on his knees. "I get that, Linda. I do. But we ensured them that we'd cover any injuries sustained in a field. I don't know what technicality you think lets us off in the event of a severed limb, but that's on us. I'm not saying we pay it all off now, but we need to put some aside to take care of him."

Vasquez lowers her head, looking down at her desk instead. "Look, I know, okay? I know. I-... of course we're gonna get him fixed up. I just-... I don't know where we're gonna get the money." She runs a hand over her head with a frustrated sigh. "I need to work." She mutters.

Jason stands from his seat and approaches her desk, placing his hands on the edge. "Hey, it's gonna be fine." he assures, "We'll put away as much as we can without chopping ourselves off at the knee, and go from there. Just-... Calm down."

Vasquez nods faintly but doesn't say anything, reaching for a nearby datapad and starting to type.

Jason sighs and pushes away from the desk. "Just-... Keep me up to date with all this, okay? I'll leave you to your work..." he says as he turns on his heels and marches towards the door.