This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#FreedomFalls – March 3, 2016
The militia is operating out of a two-story building has two entrances on the front. One manual door off to the left, and one glass door that looks to be automatic near the center. The leftmost has shooting range opening hours posted beside it, while the other leads into a lobby.
Steve is waiting outside of the building, as he has for the past half hour or so. Fully geared in his dark red armor, he's pacing back and forth near the entrance.
The only person in the lobby is a salarian sitting behind the front desk. He seems absorbed in some sort of space-combat vid game on his omni-tool. He has slgihtly reddish skin with green dots here and there around the horns, and is wearing a green set of light armor. It is unclear whether he has a weapon. There are two doors off of the lobby, one in the corner to the left from the door, and one near the receptionist's desk labeled holding
A few more minutes pass before a large grey shuttle sets down in the parking lot. A black insignia of three lines with a stylized circle in the center adorns each side and the word 'Enforcers' in a large bold font is printed above it. In a much smaller print, the word 'Adrasteia' is to the side of the emblem.
As the doors of the shuttle slide open, a human male in his mid-40's steps out. His hair seems to be about shoulder length, but is tied back. He tugs at the neck of his expensive looking suit and stands aside as a turian in a plain grey hardsuit climbs out behind him. The helmet hides his features as he follows suit behind the human.
Steve hurries to Cross' side, his helmet hiding his panicked features. "Our meeting is in 2 minutes, Mr. Cross. Cutting it kind of close, aren't ya?" he asks, getting out ahead of the man to open the front door for him.
The salarian disables his omni-tool and sits up straight in almost a single motion. He remains behind the receptionist's desk, however.
Cross pats Steve on the shoulder and gives him an appreciative nod for getting the door. "You worry too much, Steve. And how many times do I have to tell you? Just Bryan." he corrects. "It'll be fine. Quick tip, always show up on time. Show up early and you risk coming off as desperate. Which we most certainly aren't." He waits just inside the door for Steve and his escort to enter. "I
have to admit, I was a little surprised to hear from you last night. You're making the right choice. We might be able to do a lot of good for these people."
Steve remains quiet once inside. He passes a glance towards the salarian as he follows behind the suited man.
Cross makes his way over to the desk and places a hand atop it. "Good morning. I have a meeting with Commander Arius." he says, flashing the salarian a bright smile, "Bryan Cross."
The salarian returns a forced smile. "Yes, he is waiting for you," he says and stands up. "Just down the hall. Follow me." He begins walking towards the door to the left from the entrance.
Cross gives a glance over to the turian and nods at the door. The turian returns the nod and takes a few steps back, remaining in the lobby near the entrance. "Perfect." Cross responds as he falls into step behind the salarian. "So how long has this building served as your headquarters?" he asks in an attempt at being friendly and making idle chit chat with his guide.
"I don't know," he says. "Have not looked it up." He holds his omni-tool up to the door and opens it when the interface turns green. It leads to a hallway going right. Right across is a door to the stairs room. "Just started here two months ago." He enters and starts walking down the hallway to the right. The hallway has two doors on the left wall, three on the right side.
Cross continues following behind the salarian, glancing about as the continue further into the building. "That so?" he asks, feigning far more interest in the receptionists life out of politeness than he could possibly have, "And how are you liking the job? Keeping you challenged?"
The salarian chuckles. "Is mostly walking around looking dangerous; anyone with combat gear can do that," he says. "Need to eat, though, so had to sign up." He stops by the first door along the left wall and knocks three times before stepping aside.
Cross gives a short laugh and a shake of his head. "Hey, a job is a job, right?" he says, gripping one hand with the other as he stands beside the door and awaits further instructions. "So long as it keeps food on the table."
It takes a few seconds before the door opens. The room is more of an interrogation room than a meeting room, dimly lit with a table in the center of it with two chairs on one side, one on the other. The latter is occupied by a stone-gray turian with red markings, who is in a blue suit of armor with the militia's emblem on the upper arms. There is a holstered Carnifex strapped to his thigh.
Syram stands up after the door opens. "Welcome, Mr. Cross," he says, then gestures across the table. "Take a seat."
Cross gives an appreciative nod to the salarian before stepping inside. "Thank you for meeting on such short notice, Commander Arius. I hope this isn't knocking your schedule out of sorts." He crosses the room and stands beside one of the unoccupied chairs. Extending his arm for a handshake, he leans over the table somewhat.
Steve steps into the room behind Cross and simply follows his lead silently, lining up at the table for his turn to shake hands.
Syram takes his hand and gives it a firm shake. "It is no problem, Cross," he says. "Things are quiet around here these days, relatively speaking."
Cross adjusts his jacket before taking a seat. "Suppose that's a good thing, given your role." he muses with a smile.
Steve reaches out and shakes the turian's hand in turn before sitting back in his seat. Once seated, he reaches up and removes his helmet, setting it on his lap.
Syram nods. "That it is," he says before sitting down. "I assume the same can be said for Adrasteia. You certainly have a capable security force."
Cross folds his hands on his lap, giving a smile beaming with pride at the turian's compliment. "Well, that leads nicely into why me and my associate here, Mr. Briggs-..." he gestures towards the armored man seated beside him, "...are here today. I don't want to take up too much of your time, Commander, but I have a pending meeting with Matriarch Syranis concerning the future of Freedom
Falls and how we may be able to better help one another. As one man just trying to keep his head above water on this harsh world to another, I know that security is the foundation of any lasting colony. Which is why I thought it would be important to have a sit-down with you. Maybe run a few things by you before the formality of meeting with the Matriarch."
Syram glances at Cross' associate as he is introduced. "That is a harsh lesson we once had to learn," he says, "but why is our security your concern?" He asks. "Before we continue," he adds before the man has a chance to answer, and looks at Steve. "Are you representing Redrock Agency for this meeting, Mr. Briggs?"
Cross smirks, raising an eyebrow at the turian recognizing Briggs. He seems to have his finger on the pulse of his town.
Steve looks slightly flustered at being called out. He glances at Cross, then Arius. "Uhh, no-... I mean... Yeah..." he corrects, sounding somewhat unsure. "There's some business that sorta crosses over-..."
Cross gives a nod. "We'll get to that in a while, Commander. For now, let's get back to that 'harsh lesson' you mentioned. You're running a capable police force. Slap whatever tag you want on them, militia, whatever. At the end of the day, you're left with a police force." he says non-chalantly, giving an apologetic shrug. "Semantics. I call my Enforcers a police force. But that's mainly
because the word 'army' has aggressive connotations associated with it that I'm not too happy with. But, let's be frank, the Enforcers are an army. Make no mistake about it. By my estimation, you have no more than 150 active militiamen. And from what I've seen? Your equipment could do with a few upgrades. And I think I could help with that."
Syram nods, not mentioning any more about Redrock Agency. "Your force is made up of professionals, by the looks of it," he says. "The militia makes it no secret that our numbers are filled by volunteers, who provide their own equipment, while we offer training and compensation in return." He pauses for a moment. "We could always use more funding for equipment," he admits, "but that is not my call to make."
Cross gives a quick shake of his head. "While I'll take that as a compliment, the fact is that our Enforcers are largely made up of people who are looking to turn their lives around..." he says, ever the wordsmith. 'Reformed Criminals' doesn't have quite the same appeal. "We have a good amount of career soldiers who run intricate training programs to whip the rest of my Enforcers into
shape. It's a luxury that I would be more than happy to share with the Freedom Falls militia." He takes a moment to let that sink in before continuing, "I know it's not entirely in your hands, but having you on board for this-..." he pauses, looking off to the side as he searches for a word to use, as if he hadn't already thought of exactly what he was going to say, "...let's call it a
merger? Well, I think it could inspire the others to come on board and get behind a unification between Adrasteia and Freedom Falls. Let's be honest here: Matriarch Syranis has a nice amount of pull, but you're the one who keeps things operating smoothly. Without your militia, it would be no-man's land out here. People trust you. This is a venture that I believe could be beneficial,
not to mention profitable, for both Adrasteia and Freedom Falls, and having you as a partner seems like an obvious necessity."
Steve glances off to the side, propping his chin up with his hand as he rests his elbow on the armrest of the chair. He does his best not to roll his eyes at all of the political bullshit.
Syram takes a moment to consider his offer. "The militia is nothing without the support of its stakeholders and the people of Freedom Falls," he says. "I will advise the Matriarch on this matter, for I agree that it would be of immense help for our military readiness, but the militia will stand behind her decision."
Cross nods, his smile persisting. "Absolutely. A town must work together to function." he agrees. "While I'm not particularly sure how you delegate funding here at Freedom Falls, should this joint venture be agreed upon, I would be more than happy to overlook the funding of your defense force and commit a sizeable chunk of credits to its continued operation. I believe this planet
holds a lot of potential and is far from being beyond redemption, regardless of what some might say. We just need to work together to realize that potential. I would like for you to be able to offer your militiamen full-time positions. No more of them would have to take odds-and-ends jobs to scrape by. In my experience, it raises morale and inspires a loyalty that-... no offense
intended-... but I just don't believe possible with your current setup." He puts his hands up, palms outward, "Not due to any fault of your own, obviously. You're doing the best you can with what you have available to you. And it's quite impressive." Refolding his hands in his lap, he gives a slight shrug, "I'm just interested in seeing what you'd be capable with a fully staffed, fully funded
That is correct. Our force is sufficient for the day to day peacekeeping, but we have not had its merit proven against a large scale external threat.
Syram pauses. "Like I've said already, I will ensure that the Matriarch considers the military benefits when rendering her decision. In addition to her support, the benefits of this merger could be lost if corporations maintaining a local presnce were to disagree with the Matriarch's wisdom.
Cross remains quiet as the turian responds. "Of course. I plan on making my rounds. Doing a little campaigning, if you will." he says with a chuckle, "But that about does it for me. It's good to hear that Freedom Falls has the best interest of their future in mind. Looking forward to the opportunity to work with you." He glances off to the side at Steve. "Briggs has more details on the