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#Hospital – December 22, 2016
Jason gives a snicker of his own, suddenly feeling like he must have lost an Illium court case in a past life with how often he finds himself having to fix other people's problems. "Spent a little time on each." he says, "And your buddy wasn't wrong. On Omega, what you see is what you get most of the time. Illium is a bit more.... Eh.... Deceptively beautiful, I guess..." He opens the door and steps inside.
Halisi takes the omni-tool and nods before turning to the door, trailing behind Jason and Nathan as they enter Aylena's room. She glances to her datapad and gives another sigh and a glance down the corridor, heading off.
Aylena starts sitting up in the bed as she sees the new arrivals, her lack of expression belying any feelings she might have about meeting them in this state. "Hello, Wolfe," she says. "I appreciate how well your team handled the situation."
Jason nods to himself, crossing the room to take a seat before looking to Aylena. "It's what you pay us for, right? Good to see you're doing alright." he says, cocking a thumb towards the wall separating them from her attacker, "We just got through talking to your BFF. Doesn't sound like you're gonna be on her Christmas card list this year..."
Halisi returns a moment later, entering Aylena's room and standing in the back without interrupting the others. She glances occasionally to her datapad, only partially paying attention to the conversation.
Nathan merely props himself up against the wall, leaning against it with hands shoved into his jacket's pockets. "Well, considering that half of the handling was improvised...". A crooked grin plasters his face as he looks to Aylena. "Seriously though, glad that we could help out. And good to see you're doing alright."
Aylena gives a soft chuckle, seeming to understand what that human holiday is. "I can't imagine she's particularly happy about how this turned out, even if her life was spared," she says. When Nathan speaks, she nods. "I don't believe her attack was planned, either. She wouldn't have been so oblivious about the numerous armed mercenaries in the room if it was."
Jason remains silent for a moment as they all get their pleasantries out of the way, tapping his fingertips against the armrest before glancing briefly to Nathan and addressing the elephant in the room. "Look... She came clean with us, Aylena. Janysa. We know about the lawsuit. About the indentured servitude. About-...." he waves dismissively, giving a brief shake of his head, "You need to fix this. When you hired Redrock to look
over the Respite, the assumption was that we'd be reigning in rowdy drunks and keeping the occasional Terminus thug off your back. If you've got a target on your chest, you're not only putting my people at risk. You're putting your customers at risk. Lema? That asari kid they forced into pulling a gun on you? She almost died this morning..." He sighs and leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees, "I'm not here to give you
my two cents on how I feel about the culture where you're from, or pretend to know my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to legal cases like this. Your personal business is just that. Your business. But when that business starts getting my people and the people of Freedom Falls caught in the crossfire, it stops being so personal... So what are you gonna do about this?"
Halisi 's attention turns fully to Aylena as she hears Jason speak, and she lowers her datapad for the moment as she studies the asari's response.
Nathan now falls silent, eyes settling on the asari as he drums his fingers against his forearm. However, the news about the kid seems new to him and he gives Jason a curious look through narrowed eyes. He focuses back on Aylean, eager to hear her explanation.
Aylena is quiet for a moment, but her expression does not change. "Waiting is all I can do, Wolfe," she says. "The court date is in less than a month, and I am leaving two days prior. That should be the end of it." She pauses for a moment. "How about your enemies? Their combines assaults on my establishment far outnumbers Oritern's mercenaries."
Jason cocks an eyebrow. "My enemies?" he asks. "Enlighten me, Aylena. Which assaults are we talking about? The attack on Va'ynna's life? Which had nothing whatsoever to do with us? Maybe you mean the fact that we went looking for answers in response, which brought them back? Suppose it would've been better for us to just let them shoot Va'ynna if it would've caused you less of an inconvenience? Is that it?" He furrows his brow,
clearly frustrated by Aylena's attempt at misdirection. "How about we talk about the manipulation used to get Redrock to drag you out of Illium? The fact that you're willing to hide behind my people while your enemies continue to take shots at you? Tear apart this city? Fuck whoever else gets caught in the crossfire, right?" he scoffs. He bites down hard, lowering his gaze to the floor as he works to calm himself down. "Look..."
he continues, speaking very deliberately as he attempts to keep his frustration reigned in, "I'm not saying Redrock hasn't made its mistakes. But at least we're willing to man the fuck up and try and fix them. We're not your personal bodyguards, Aylena. Talk to these people. Come to an agreement. I don't care what it takes, but if innocent people keep finding crosshairs on their backs over some stupid lawsuit, then you're going
Nathan nods in conjunction with Jason's words. Unfortunately, what with only being apart of one of those events, he can't really throw much more into the pot that Jason hasn't already. But, kudos to Jason for managing to reign it in. He merely adds to it by staring at Aylena through narrowed eyes. Although he seems to be hiding it rather well, anger threatens to
boil over at the revelation of a kid nearly getting killed for some... petty trial on another damn planet.
Halisi gains a subtle smirk as Jason's retort reminds her why she's continued her work for Redrock, but her attention is inevitably diverted back to her datapad as another ugent message comes her way, and she's forced to step out of the room.
Aylena stares at him while he piles on more accusations. "But they did not retaliate until you kidnapped one of their people," she says, raising her voice slightly. "This isn't about a stupid lawsuit, it's about the destruction of two hundred years of work, families who lost their loved ones and those that-..." She sighs, going quiet for a moment.. Her diminished state is hampering her more than she thought. "I
apologize, this is not helping anyone," she continues. "I will do what I can to minimize the risks faced by my employees, guests and the members of this community, until and after my situation is over."
Jason's frown deepens as the asari continues to play the blame-trade game with him. It looks as though he's going to snap back at first, but he returns his gaze to Aylena, his features softening somewhat as Aylena apologizes. "...I just don't want to see anybody else hurt over this, alright Aylena?" he asks. "I have no idea what the stakes are regarding this lawsuit, but it's hard to trust you when you keep so much from us. We're
responsible for the safety of you and everyone else in that bar so this should've been something you came to me about the moment it became an issue. If I had lost someone in that shootout, we'd be having a very different discussion right now." he assures, "So if you're saying that there's nothing we can do about this other than sit back and weather the storm for another month, then I expect a damn good explanation." He sits
Nathan finally pipes up, scratching his chin. "To be honest, given how desperate these people seem, another month could be too long. Who knows what extremes they will go to? How many people they would be willing to hurt, even kill to make sure -you--" he says, pointing to Aylena, "-don't see another sunset. So, aye, there better be a good explanation and I
Aylena nods. "There is no one left to hide from, after all," she says. "I'm Janysa Aehan, founder of Aehan-Tech on the then young colony of Illium. Mr. Oritern was a friend of mine for decades, at times almost more than that." She sighs. "We made the mistake of allowing the professional and personal to intersect, but.... To be honest, I never expected he'd lash out like that after I rejected a security contract with
his company." She looks away. "I wish for the people that lost their livelihood, or worse, to get their just reparation," she continues, "and for me to start over without this looming over me."
Jason sucks in a deep breath, giving another glance towards Nathan. "So all of this is because you turned down a security contract..." he says. "...I'm guessing that when you say 'he lashed out' you're not talking about this current situation? What is the lawsuit actually about? What do you mean about 'reparations', Aylena?" he asks before quickly correcting himself, "...Janysa."
Nathan meets Jason's glance, giving him a shrug. "And since you turned down a security contract..." he says, looking back to her. "...I'm guessing that this 'Mr. Oritern' has considerable resources at his disposal. Does he run a PMC like Redrock? Or is the company something more, less or something else entirely?"
Aylena shakes her head. "They only handle security details and postings, not all the services you offer," she says. "And no, Wolfe, you are skipping ahead a year. He sent people to assault and sabotage my business' property." She pauses for a moment as she chooses her words. "I can tell you the whole story another day when I don't have to fight the medical side effects of aenesthesia every step of the way, but the
short version of it is that I could not immediately link it to his company and my only option was to escape off-world and work towards finding evidence that'll hold up."
Jason sighs and nods a few times as the bigger picture begins to present itself. "So people got hurt..." he says, calling back to her statement of people losing their loved ones, "...and you're just trying to do right by them." He shifts a bit in his seat as he considers the information. "I just wish you would have come to us sooner so we could have been prepared when the shit hit the fan..."