#FreedomFalls – March 13, 2016

Steve is seated atop the kitchen counter, given their lack of furniture, with a six pack of some cheap local beer beside him. His armor plating is strewn about on the counter beside him, but he still has his undersuit and boots on. Given the empty bottles lined up along the edge of the counter, he seems to be a few beers in already.

Renala enters the apartment, without any message ahead of her arrival. She closes the door behind her, and glances around. "There's a party going on?" she asks, before starting to take off the leather jacket. Under it, she's wearing a white fleece jacket zipped all they up with a blue top sticking out under it, and simple black pants.

Steve leans over a bit to get a view of the hall. He reaches back and grabs another beer from the container, holding it out to his side as an offering. "Party? No. But it looks like we might be one step ahead of the game for now, Ren. Made a lil' trip down to the militia today. Cross got me an appointment with Commander Arius." he admits, giving a dismissive shrug. "Sounds to me like

Renala opens her door and throws the jacket into that room, before heading over to the kitchen and taking the offering. "Well, that's good," she says. "Do you mean the turian from the picture?"

Steve gives a nod. "Arius didn't know anything about it, so it wasn't on his orders. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be just as interested in gettin' to the bottom of the ordeal as us. Told him to shoot a message my way if he turns anything up so we could compare notes." He shrugs once more, "Speakin' of which, he said he was gonna check everything out to make sure I was authorized

Renala moves to sit beside hom the kitchen counter while he speaks, and puts the beer bottle on the counter beside her. "If you're staying in touch, you could confirm for him that the double-dipper is no more," she says. "Which may not be a good thing, now that I think about it, because he might have been our only lead to figuring out who his buddies are."

Steve silently nods a few times. "I could. But it ain't gonna be much of a revelation. The asshole didn't show up to his shift, accordin' to Arius. I told him to expect the worst and informed him that his boys fired first-..." he pauses, leaning closer to Renala as he lowers his voice to a stage whisper, "...He did fire first, right?" He interrupts with a dismissive wave of his hand

Renala nods. "Twice," she says. "When Mendez first ran into him, he was putting a few rounds into Atana, and I don't remember any gunfire before I was knocked unconcious out there."

Steve brings the bottle to his lips with a sigh and takes a long sip. "Well, that certainly don't sound like a fittin' way for the militia to react." he admits, "So I think that pretty much confirms it... Even if all these folks you ran into are with the militia, I can't see the militia givin' the orders to just go and pump a bunch of rounds into a resident. So... Question we need

Renala picks up the bottle beside her. "They were collecting a debt," she says before realization hits her. "Oh, wait, there might be a lead there." She looks around for anything to open the bottle with. She hums thoughtfully before frowning. "I'll take another peek at the report tomorrow," she says, "and see if the car rental company is mentioned anywhere."

Steve leans back a bit, retrieving the bottle opener from behind him after watching the asari search for a way to open her drink and hands it over. "Gonna be some shit if this was all over a few credits." he says with a sigh, "But if you're able to give me a name, I can make a trip down there. Make sure they understand the cost of pushin' forward with this bullshit."

Renala takes the opener with a nod. "At least that might mean this isn't about your old friends," she says. "Don't they have their hands full on Omega right now anyway?" She opens the bottle and takes a long sip of the beer.

Steve gives a loud snort. "By the sound of things, that's puttin' it awfully mildly. Let's hope their hands stay full. But a second rate car dealer out in the middle of nowhere?" He grins again and gives a low chuckle, "I'll take that fight. If we're lucky, that's all there is to it."

Renala raises an eyebrow. "It's probably for the best if we handle this with some care, though," she says. "The bosses would probably be very fucking unhappy if they find out we're threatening local businesses."

Steve lowers his gaze once more. She's right. "So we go and talk to them as Redrock reps." he suggests, "And we conduct ourselves real professional-like. Ask 'em politely to drop this whole thing and let 'em know we've recovered the car and we'll see to it that it makes its way home. Hopefully they see reason and decide it'd be better for everyone involved if they took a more peaceful

Renala nods. "They're keeping the car in the hangar, but it's got bullet holes all over from the fight," she says, followed by a long swig of her beer. "If I remember it right, the turian said he was hired to take care of the debt, though, and Jason suspects the car might not be enough."

Steve gives a chuckle and takes another drink from his bottle. "Well, I say we leave all of that up to them to figure out. Seems like we're probably in the clear regarding our lil' problem. Beyond that, it ain't our problem, right? Few debt collectors lookin' to get paid is only our concern if we're paid for it to be our problem."

Renala nods. "Yeah, we can just sit back and let the boss and Mendez take it from here," she says. "You let Wolfe know everything about your chat with the militia commander, right?" She takes another sip of her beer.

Steve gives another nod. "Absolutely. No reason to hide anything." he admits with a shrug, "...Aside from Cross, I s'pose. Didn't exactly lie about him either. Just didn't give Wolfe any details, and he didn't ask. Figure there's no reason to tell him more than he needs to know, right?"

Renala frowns. "I was about to ask about that," she says. "Is this what you warned me about at the bar a while ago? Is he coming to take over this town?"

Steve sighs and looks down, placing both hands around his beer. "I don't know, Ren. I really don't. He seems to want to work with the town. But from the sound of things, if it doesn't go the way he-..." he pauses, deciding against lying to the only person he really counts as a friend. He looks over at the asari and gives a nod. "He's ready to go to war, Ren."

Renala sighs, and looks down at her bottle. "Fuck," she says. "Isn't this town going to lose everything it's got going for it, though? If he turns it into a battlefield, I mean."

Steve gives another shrug and a shake of his head. "I don't know. I'm not even sure what it is that he wants." he lets out another sigh. "The way he talks makes it sound like he'd prefer a peaceful co-existence with Freedom Falls. But he definitely has an agenda. And I think he wants to see himself in charge. I told him I don't see these people just handin' their town over. He said

Renala nods. "I know, but the problem is that the agency's going to join the fight," she says. "Wolfe and the chief are idealistic, too, even when the odds are firmly against them."

Steve lets out a humorless chuckle. "So we hope it doesn't come to that..." he says, "...and we make damn sure we're on the winning side if it does."

Renala shakes her head. "If the agency and Cross end up on each their side of a war, then I hand in my resignation and find another town to settle down in," she says. "Call it cowardice if you want to, but I don't have that kind of loyalty to either of them."

Steve gives a much more genuine chuckle and raises his bottle to clank against the asari's. "It's a date." he jokes.

Renala smirks and drinks the remainder of the bottle. "Best case scenario, the entire agency realizes that resisting this is a mistake," she says. "Problem is, though, if my ex's cousin gets herself killed out here and I did nothing about it, well,... it's going to be used against me somehow."

Steve frowns, emptying the rest of his drink in turn. "Cross expects me to talk them down if it comes to that..." he says plainly, reaching out to set the bottle down on the counter. "Convince Redrock that Cross is good for the town if it comes down to taking sides." He bites his lower lip and nods a few times, "I suspect I ain't his only pawn around here. Probably what this whole

Renala sighs. "Yeah, T'Rea is taking care of a little kid, the bosses have each other, and it looks like Atana is completely dependent on the agency for survival," she says. "I hope even Wolfe realizes there's too much to lose here."

Steve leans back, propping himself up with his hands as his legs dangle off the side of the counter. "Yep. It ain't exactly a hard sell. But the people runnin' the agency haven't really inspired much confidence regardin' their ability to make the smart choice." He gives a roll of his shoulders, tilting his head to the side, "For now, I suppose we just keep quiet and see how it

Renala hums thoughtfully. "Matriarchs are proud creatures, though," she says. "If she agrees to it, then what about Cross's enemies? Those assholes seem content to turn a street into rubble for the cause."

Steve lets out a snort and shakes his head. "If what I've seen is any indication, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Cross is more than capable of defendin' the town from any backlash." With a shrug he hops off the counter, "Might get a lil' trouble here and there, but how is that any different than the problems Redrock has brought to this town? Always gonna be trouble, it's just

Steve about bein' prepared to weather it. Cross definitely has the weaponry to deal with any thunderstorms comin' this way."

Renala nods and hops off the counter in turn. "Oh, yeah, we really have brought our fair share of it," she says. "I wonder if Aylena even knows that at least half the crap that's gone down at her place is because of that."

Renala offers a small smile, although it fades soon after. "Aren't you firmly in the middle of this?" she says. "I mean, I think it's great that you support my position on this, but wouldn't this get you in trouble with Cross?"

Steve furrows his brow. "I survived Omega for most of my life, darlin'. You think I'm worried about a man in a suit?" he asks sarcastically, "I've got enough targets paintin' my back, Ren. One more ain't gonna make a difference. Whatever we do, we do it together, alright?"

Renala frowns. "So did I, and I spent a long time shaking them off," she says. "We'll be getting out of here together, but we have to be smart about it. Find another colony, and live a simple life for a few years. No merc jobs." She picks up another bottle and opens it.

Steve gives a chuckle but nods along with Renala's plan. "Shit, Ren, you're really plannin' this whole thing out. Then what? We have a couple lil' ones? Get hitched? You tryin' to use an impending war to lock me down?" He reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze as another chuckle escapes, "Try not to dwell on it too much. Shit'll work out, or it won't.

Renala raises her brows. "Shit, you got me," she jokes, smirking. "Dwelling on problems is what I do for a living, Steve." She takes a long swig of the bottle.

Steve shrugs, glancing over at the SMG on the counter briefly. "And fixin' problems is what I do for a livin'." he responds with a grin. "....Or causin' more problems, depending on who ya ask." he adds with a wink. "The man has a lot of credits. But he ain't invincible." He removes his hand from the asari's shoulder with a sigh. "But he's been good to me. I'd prefer not to shoot him

Renala hums. "That's why we'll be hiding off-world, so none of us have to," she says. "What about your meds, Steve? Do you know where you can get more of that if not from him?"

Steve frowns and shakes his head. "You just let me worry about all of that, Ren. Like I said. We will figure it out. No sense in stressin' out about shit that may never come to pass. Just relax. If I hear anything else-... about Cross or the militia, you'll be the first to know, alright?" His smile slowly returns as he looks over the asari, "Right now, we're on Cross' good side. No

Renala sighs. "Yeah, fine," she says, and takes a long sip of her drink. "Let's talk about something else, then," she says. "Actually, what about we go do some furniture shopping tomorrow? The Chief's off-world, and she doesn't want Wolfe making decisions about the VI."

Steve glances around the room at the lack of-... anything, and gives a nod. His smile deepens a bit at her sudden switch from warfare to furniture shopping. "Yeah. Sure. Be nice to have somethin' to sit on finally." He reaches out and pats the kitchen counter, "Ain't exactly comfortable."

Renala chuckles. "Exactly," she says. "I haven't noticed that so much when I've more or less lived at the office for the last two weeks." She gives a sheepish smile before taking a long swig of the beer.

Steve sets his beer down and begins pushing all of his gear off to the side so it's out of the way. "No kiddin'. You've been workin' your ass off. Barely get to see you anymore."

Renala raises an eyebrow as he's pushing stuff around. "I'll take that lost time back," she says. "Once I'm done setting things up, and just have to do some maintenance and putting out fires...." She glances down at the bottle, and sighs. "I don't know, part of me will miss having things to do around the clock, something to strive against."

Steve gives a couple nods as he continues to organize his stuff. "I feel ya. Still no word on when I can get back to work down at the Respite." he says with a sigh, "But it ain't any be-..." he pauses and glances over at Renala, crease in his forehead, "Did you say fires? The fuck are you doin' over there?"

Renala smirks. "Figuratively speaking, of course," she says with a chuckle. "You know, sudden critical problems where everything seems to get worse by the second."

Steve recollects his beer once his stuff is moved to one side and gives her a nod. "Yeah, story of my life. One big critical problem where everything gets worse by the second." he jokes with a short chuckle as he slugs back some more of his drink. "I ain't tryin' to leave a mess, but you mind if I clean this crap up tomorrow?" he asks with a gesture towards his cluttered gear, "Feelin'

Renala shrugs. "Yeah, as long as there's room to make breakfast tomorrow, I'll let that one slide," she says. "I am going to mind if it looks like this once we have anywhere better to store it." She downs the rest of her drink and puts it on the counter beside the other bottle.

Steve puts his hands up, palms outward as he clutches the neck of his bottle with two fingers. "Hey now, I ain't a slob. It'll be real neat-like around here. Don't worry about it." he says with a nod. He grabs his SMG from the counter and gestures around the area with his beer bottle. "More than enough room for some breakfast." He winks at the asari and passes by her as he starts towards

Renala chuckles. "That remains to be seen," she says before walking towards her room. "I will. I promised Aeyna I would call her after work, though..., I'll keep my voice low."

Steve gives a shrug of his shoulders as he steps into his bedroom doorway. "Don't worry about it. Ain't gonna bother me none." he says, giving a glance back at Renala before disappearing into his room. "G'night."