This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#FreedomFalls – May 27, 2017
It is late afternoon of the 16th. Another chilly, winter day in Freedom Falls. As the day's light slowly begins to fade over the horizon, Litae remains behind. The relatively cloudless sky allows the moon's soft glow to shine through. People are still out and about, though the cold weather keeps anyone from lingering in one place for too long.
Renala is currently on her way home from work, making hasty steps to minimize her time out in the cold weather. Her red winter jackett does a poor job of covering her face and hands. The asari isn't bringing anything home from work, the holstered submachine gun (Tempest) is the only external baggage. She's paying attention to where she's walking – helped greatly by the moonlight –, in part due to the
fragile nature of the Terminus Systems, but mostly because she slipped on a frozen-over pothole a few weeks back and doesn't want to reproduce that error.
There's a few people heading the same way as Renala, but they peel off here-and-there as her journey continues. As Renala begins to near the apartment she shares with Steve, she feels a hand clasps over her shoulder. "Ms. T'Iavay." comes a voice from behind. It's a man's voice. He's speaking English with a sharp accent, not that Renala would necessarily be able to discern such. His grasp is firm but his tone is casual. "Good afternoon."
Renala stops completely, tensing up a bit due to the surprise of it; at least that's how she'd excuse it. She's managing to keep herself calm aside from that, however. "Good afternoon to you too," she says, looking over her shoulder. "Anything I can help you with?" It's only after speaking that she starts turning around to face him.
The man in question is tall. Light skinned. He has short, blonde hair and crows feet frame his tired blue eyes. He looks to be in his mid-40's. He's dressed in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket over a hooded sweater. "Apologies. I hope I did not startle you." he says, casting a brief glance further down the street. "But, as a matter of fact, there is. My name is Henrik." he offers, forcing a smile into place that doesn't quite meet his
tired eyes. "I realize it's cold, so I will do my best to keep this brief." He gestures further down the street, nodding towards a woman standing just outside of Renala's apartment and then to a man across the street from her, pointing them out to Renala without context. They're both idly standing around, only out-of-place due to the cold. They're both in plain clothes, though a pistol is holstered on each of their thighs. They don't even
look in the direction of Renala and Henrik. "Do not be alarmed." he says, his breath visible in the cold, "We don't mean you any harm. We only wish to talk. As I understand it, you and I have a mutual friend?" Though phrased as a question, it's quite clearly a statement.
Renala glances around to follow his gestures, easily picking out the two people not moving. When he asks his question, she sighs and folds her arms over her chest. Her list of friends has only shrunk in the last few months, making the guess easy enough without knowing the collection to compare against. There's no way their approaching her wasn't deliberate, so an attempt to shake it off would most likely be an
Henrik seems unaffected by Renala's change in posture, though he removes his hand from her shoulder. "You know he isn't well." he says, though his words are cut short as an asari passes by on her way home from work. Henrik gives her a friendly smile and waits until she's out of earshot before continuing. "I may be able to help. I only wish for the chance to speak with him. Unfortunately the last time I attempted to reach out to him-..."
he sighs, his gaze lowering briefly, "...Well, I can only assume he killed the people I sent. We haven't even been able to recover their bodies." It's a fact he doesn't seem particularly pleased by, but whatever frustration it causes him, he bites back on it.
Renala offers the passer-by a small smile, as well, even though the holdup in the conversation is probably just attracting more suspicion. She sighs at the mention of bodies, trying to convey that she's not surpised rather than that she knows about it. "He's a cautious man, I'll give you that," she says. "How about you give me your contact information? If he's interested, he'll call you and take it from there."
Henrik sighs once again, clearly not in agreement that her suggestion is the best course of action. "I don't blame him. He is sick." he explains with a sigh, "He believes Eclipse is still after him. Now, I don't know how well you keep up with current events, but Eclipse was pretty much wiped from Omega. It's unlikely many of us are even left who know of Briggs' existence, let alone willing to devote the resources to hunting him down. But
he's irrational. Paranoid. Mention my name and I guarantee you he will run." he explains, sounding quite sure of his theory. "Briggs is a dangerous man. But I know about his recent injury. He's in no position to fight right now. I'm hoping that maybe this will encourage him to finally hear me out, but I'm afraid that your presence may just further aggitate the situation. So all I ask is-..." he pauses, searching for the right
words. The right phrasing. "You have a long night at the office tonight. Maybe you had to stay late. Or maybe-..." he leans to one side, pushing a hand deep into his pocket. After a moment, he produces a credit chit. He holds it between his index and middle finger, offering it to Renala. "...Perhaps you went out to get a bite to eat after work. On me." He offers that same friendly smile he gave the asari. "Come back in a couple of
Renala listens carefully to his words rather than formulating another excuse. Upon his promise, she looks down for a moment. "I hate lying to the people I see every day," she says. "There's someone at work getting mixed signals because I'm trying to make up for trouble she has no idea is my fault." She reaches out for the credit chit and pushes it back a bit with her flat hand. "Besides, if he runs away,
wouldn't that outcome match the one where he doesn't hear you out anyway?" she says. "I don't want him running away, but I don't make his decisions."
Henrik bites down as his offer is refused, though he doesn't put the chit away yet. "Nobody is asking you to lie. Merely... walk away for a couple of hours." he says, "I understand your hesitation. Armed, unfamiliar people waiting for you outside of your apartment. Not the sort of welcome you want after a long day of work." he says, that fake smile returning, "You're worried. But understand that I am simply trying to avoid the situation
escalating. Had I meant to cause Briggs harm, I could have had my men enter at any point today. But we had no idea when you would return, so I felt it was better to ensure you were removed from the equation before trying to speak with him." With a sigh, he finally addresses her statement, "If he runs, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to track him down again." There's an uncomfortable pause before Henrik continues, as if he's
struggling with himself about what he's willing to reveal. "Briggs.... meant a lot to someone close to me. I made her a promise that I would do my best to take care of him." He's clearly not comfortable handing out such personal information, but it's obvious that he's losing Renala's cooperation and he's doing what he can to get through to her. "If he says no, at least I can say I kept my promise."
Renala listens intently to his words, frowning part-way through. He's not doing much to ease her concern, even less so when trying to bring her out of the equation. She retracts her hand, without taking the chit. "You're not making it easier, Henrik," she says. "I think the way you're going about this is wrong. Just tell me what you offer, and I'll pitch it to him, and we can handle this honestly and directly
Henrik's composure shakes for a moment, but soon enough that fake smile returns and he looks towards the credit chit. "Can't blame a man for trying." he says as he tucks the chit away, "Just remember this moment. I tried to let you walk away." He glances down the street towards the other two and raises his hand, finger pointed upward, and rotates his wrist to make small circles. "Move in. Make it quick." he says, presumably to the
others over comms, "Remember. We need him alive." The two people outside of the apartment immediately draw their pistols and begin moving inside. The usually-locked front doors of the apartment slide open as they approach- already hacked- implying Renala's return was less of a planned incident and more a matter of on-the-spot improvising as a result of her catching them in the act. Henrik remains in place, calmly folding his
Renala waits for the other two to get inside before quickly sending up a biotic throw Henrik's way, a surprisingly strong one for the short notice it was conjured at, her omni-tool starting to glow around her right hand. "Call Steve," she shouts into it, and the omni-tool gets to work as her voice passes for authentication.
Henrik clearly wasn't expecting her to attack him. Rush into the building? Maybe. Run away? Possibly. Overconfidence on his part, perhaps, or a misread on Renala. Either way, the throw sends him onto his back in the center of the street. He lands less-than-gracefully, skidding to a painful stop. Thankfully there's nobody nearby to get hit by the German-projectile.
It only takes a few seconds before the call is answered and Steve can be heard. "What's up, Ren?" he asks. The television can be heard in the back.
Renala draws her locust and fires off a few carefully aimed shots at his center of mass. This really was a case calling for a warp field to match how she's feeling, but she wanted to leave a small chance of an interrogation. Instead, she uses her biotics to form a personal range barrier around herself. It's by no means a replacement for proper shields, but it would give her a chance to get into cover if fired
upon. If the gunfire wasn't enough warning, Renala says, "Two armed people moving on the apartment! Asshole introduced himself as Henrik."
Henrik rolls onto his side as Renala opens fire at him, drawing a Predator from inside his jacket in the process. His movement allows him to avoid the brunt of the assault, but a round still manages to catch him in the side. A pained grunt is all that escapes him as he scutters back to his feet. He opens fire wildly on Renala, holding the pistol with one hand as his other clutches at the wound while he backpedals towards an alley across
the street for cover. "The asari bitch just opened fire on me!" he shouts to an unknown party on the other side of his comms. "I need an extraction. Now. And send someone out here to deal with her!"
There's a moment of silence as confusion sets in on Steve's end. "Henr-... Fuck!" The call ends abruptly. A few seconds later the apartment door slides open once again and out steps an unfamiliar human male clutching a Tempest. He immediately scans around until spotting Renala and raises his weapon. The location doesn't afford him much protection so, once he has sights on Renala, he reels back to use the apartment entry as cover.
Renala keeps firing while sidestepping towards the entrance to the building. As much as she wanted to shout at him, now wasn't the time. If only he knew how badly her job drains one's patience, he would probably have expected her to resort to voilence. The barrier catches one of the wild shots, but others strike the wall behind her and sidewalks. "I think they're about to call in reinforcements," she says.
"Should we, too?" Once her ammo runs dry, she starts running towards the front door. "If you're not with him, out of my way!" A biotic shimmer forms around her left hand, Renala clearly not expecting his compliance.
Henrik presses flat against the alley wall, turning his head away from the gunfire as Renala's shots pepper his cover.
The man in the doorway is quite obviously with Henrik. The goon waits until Renala's shots have died down before leaning out to fire. Once again, however, her bold decision seems to have been unexpected. Her charge towards the front door puts her nearly on top of the goon by the time he leans out to fire off a shot. He, too, is in plain clothing. There's no response from Steve. The call has been terminated.
Renala sends a throw field his way when he peeks out, angling it to smash him against the wall. And this time she had time to prepare and the range helps with precision. Her barrier is just a hit or two from going out by the time she reaches the door, but that'll be enough for now. "The next asshole to stand in my way gets warped," she shouts as she prepares for another biotic display. She has no idea the call
The goon's body slams against the inner corridor wall with a crunch and his weapon skitters across the corridor floor as his body crumbles to the ground. The close range and the force of the throw was more than enough to put him out of action. If he's not dead, he's definitely unconscious. No armor. No insignia. He doesn't even seem to have a shield generator. There's nobody else in sight from the front entrance. The digital readout on the
elevator at the intersection signals it has just stopped on the second floor, though, leaving the stairs as the only way up unless Renala calls the elevator back down and is willing to wait for it.
Renala reloads her own weapon on the way along the hallway, picking up the goon's and holstering it to avoid it being used by him should he come to. "Fuck!" she says as she sees the call being terminated. She makes a gesture with her fingers to bring the omni-tool's interface up again, and starts speaking, "Start a distress call, all available open and encrypted channels. Message: Armed men in and around
apartment building. Possible reinforcements. Lost contact with Briggs." She stops by the elevator and taps it to call it to the first floor. Instead of waiting, she draws her weapon and starts making her way upstairs with somewhat quiet steps.
Before Renala can even make it to the elevator, a couple of muted gunshots sound out upstairs. A bit of commotion can be heard behind one of the closed apartment doors nearby. Residents panicking over the nearby gunshots, undoubtedly. As she begins taking the stairs another gunshot can be heard.
Renala gets more nervous with each passing gunshot. At least they were told to take him alive, that might give her a chance to contain this situation. The panic might also mask her footsteps, she hoped, as she continued up the staircase. Renala uses her biotics to strengthen the barrier again, she doesn't have range on her side this time.
Renala's omni-tool pings with a message from Jason. "Got your call. I've got Ten and Tank on-hand so they'll be there ASAP. Hunker down and stay safe. If you're in a position to relay any intel, send it our way. Numbers, locations, anything that might help. I'll try and see who else is in the area that can assist."
No more gunshots sound out as Renala reaches the second floor. From the staircase doorway, the corridor appears to be clear. A door briefly opens and a frightened man peers out into the hallway but quickly closes the door again, wanting no part of whatever is going on. The interface to Renala's apartment shows that the door is unlocked.
Renala casts a glance down at her dimmed omni-tool, the on-board VI showing the message for only as long as it tracks her eyes reading it. She shakes her head to herself, because there's no way the Eclipse reinforcements are going to politely wait for a fair fight to set up. That's not Hernik's style, the coward. She glares at the man peeking out as she approaches her own apartment, but any further gestures
seems to not be necessary. She stacks up next to it, holding her breath as she listens for sounds beyond the door.
The only sounds audible from the apartment is a loud biotiball game on the television. Louder than acceptable.
Renala exhales. No sound. Either Steve has dealt with them and they're all dead, or they've already gotten out. Renala couldn't wait out in the hallway in any case, the apartment is a more defensible position. She hits the interface and leans out of cover into the apartment.
As the door opens and Renala leans in it's immediately apparent that a fight took place and, judging by the three bodies strewn across the apartment, that Steve was in a much better position to put up a fight than Henrik had assumed. The sofa has been moved from its original position and is now in the entryway between the living room and the kitchen, as if dragged aside for makeshift cover from the apartment's front door. There's a pair of
bullet holes in the sofa as well as a couple in the living room wall opposite of the front door. To the left of the front door, the body of the man Renala saw across the street is slumped against the wall with a trio of gunshot wounds in his chest. Across the counter separating the kitchen from the living room is the body of the woman Renala saw outside. A fork is embedded in her eye socket up to the handle. The kitchen drawer containing
all of the silverware has been ripped from the cabinet, leaving spoons and dinner forks all over the kitchen floor. A third body, that of an unfamiliar human man, is on the kitchen floor in front of the sofa. The red marks around his neck implied he was choked, though there's a single gunshot wound in the center of his forehead as well. All of the bodies are human. No armor. No insignias. Lightly armed.
Steve is seated on the sofa, hunched forward and breathing heavily. He's shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans and his boots. His knuckles are bruised and bloodied, split open on every finger, and he's clutching his casted arm close to his body. He's holding a cold beer against his eye and there's a bit of bruising already starting to show across his side. He continues to suck in a few deep breaths as Renala makes her
appearance. "Shit, Ren... Good lookin' out. Just-.... just let me catch my breath and I'll make a few calls... Get this mess cleaned up..." he says between breaths as if it's little more than a spilled drink. "I heard some shootin' outside. You put that shitbird down?"
Renala breathes a long sigh of relief and closes the door behind her, locking it as well with a new code. "We're not 'cleaning this up'," she says, without taking her eyes off the door interface. "The asshole got away, and there might be reinforcements coming. And since you hung up on me instead of answering my question, I had no intel and had to make a decision." The asari is clearly frustrated with the whole
situation, especially as she believes she made the wrong call. The interface turns from orange to red as it resets everything, hopefully including whatever the mercs have tampered with. "Redrock's sending people over here. Tenhausen and Tank..oh...vich."
Outside, old reliable Betsy, the Redrock shuttle, slowly sets down just out front of the apartment and the doors slide open. Renala's omni-tool is hailed with an attempt to establish comms between her, Nathan, and Tank.
Tank jumps out with a loud thump as soon as the doors open. She has forgone fully armoring up for the sake of expediency, as evidenced by the fact that several pieces of her armor are missing - namely shoulderpads, arm plating and thigh plating. She immediately activates her omni-shield, gaze darting around to assess the situation while her right wrist remains close to her face for comms.
Steve's attention snaps up to Renala and he mouths a 'fuck'. "What was I gonna do, Ren? Wasn't exactly ready for a firefight. I was layin' on the couch watchin' the game-..." he gestures to the screen behind him, wincing slightly at the pain the movement brings him. "You said people were movin' on the apartment. I got movin'." He gives a sigh as he sets his beer down on the floor. "It's fine, it's fine..." he mutters, trying to run
Nathan jumps out, his Argus pressed tightly against his shoulder as he sweeps the area. His HUD is already detailing the environment, the interface gracing over the surfaces of the buildings and any people present in an attempt to ID potential hostiles, non-combatants and friendlies. The mercenary, given the urgency of the call-out and the fact his shift ended a
while ago, had merely thrown on a spare combat vest and a visor to grant at least some semblance of technological assistance. "This is Ten," he says over comms, briefly twisting his right wrist to speak into the unit. "We've touched down."
There are no clear combatants visible, only a few brave (Or stupid) locals who have gathered to watch the commotion unfold. The man who Renala threw is still right where she left him, quite dead from the impact of having his head slammed against the wall.
Renala opens the channel to listen in on it while Steve speaks. "The bare minimum," she answers. "Armed people, location, reinforcements." She sighs and stands up, turning towards Steve. "I read you, Ten," she says over comms. "I got into the apartment, Steve's still alive. It's clear for now, but their leader is still outside somewhere and he mentioned reinforcements."
Tank starts moving towards the door at a careful but deliberate pace. She waves the observers away. "Stand back. This area is not safe." she says. Sure, it wasn't her job anymore, but some things stick. When she reaches the door she makes a quick visual inspection of the dead man without lowering her shield. She speaks into her omni-tool in response to Renala: "We have reached the entrance. There is body just inside, but no sign
Nathan moves behind Tank, keeping his weapon pressed to his shoulder as he sweeps once more. The news of potential reinforcements causes a stir of discomfort within his stomach, feeling almost naked without his armour or ordnance. All he has is his rifle, pistol and enough thermal clips for a brief firefight. He stops and falls to a crouch behind Tank, keeping his
gaze focused on the street as he presses to one of the lobby walls. "Copy that, Renala. We have the shuttle ready for exfil. Might be an idea to pull out and let the militia handle this."
Steve nods a couple of times, his gaze moving among the bodies. He lowers himself to the floor, taking a knee beside the dead body by the couch, and begins the tedious process of going through his pockets with his one good hand. "Quick." he says, looking up to Renala, "Check those two. Get whatever ya can off 'em before the others get up here and check 'em. We just-.... I don't know..." he sighs.
The few observers continue to gawk for a few moments before complying and backing away. A couple disappear into the building next door but a few of the remaining onlookers merely move across the street and continue to spy from a more reasonable distance. The dead man is, as is the case with most dead men, dead. The cause would be pretty clear to Tank as his slumped posture gives a good look at the damage on the back of his head. He's
Renala crouches down by nearest body to the door, checking their pockets. "You need medical attention," she says. "There's witnesses everywhere, and they've got a body downstairs. I can't see trying to cover it up leading to anything but more trouble, Steve."
Renala speaks into the comms while transferring her coordinates over the channel, "Copy, sending apartment coordinates."
Tank makes a quick sweep of the area immediately inside the entrance and then deactivates her shield, bringing comms back up: "We have the entrance secured for now. Do you need help moving?"
Nathan glances over to Tank, briefly taking his gaze from the street. He lowers his Argus, still keeping it to his shoulder but at rest. He crosses over to the dead John Doe, briefly parting open the jacket and making a quick search of any pockets. His HUD flashes with the apartment coordinates and he nods despite Renala not seeing it. "Coordinates received." He
Steve removes an omni-tool from the body he was checking and pockets it. He returns to his seat on the sofa, having a little trouble standing back up at first, and frowns at the asari, clearly not happy with the idea of more medical attention or discussing his personal business with Redrock. "Ren... Look at 'em." he says, gesturing over the bodies. "No armor. Light on the hardware. This ain't Eclipse's style." He shifts a bit,
his hand moving to his wounded side. "I recognize him..." he says softly, giving a short nod to the man Renala is checking. "Her too, I think..." he continues with a glance at the woman he forked up. "They're definitely Eclipse, but-... But it don't make no sense sendin' 'em in light like this. And listen..." He leans to one side, as if listening intently. "You hear that?" Aside from the television, there's nothing to be
Renala looks up, but averts her gaze when he frowns at her. She is about to speak when Steve interrupts her, and isntead tilts her head to try listening, only to hear nothing. "Hear what?" she asks.
Tank shifts in place as she waits for the comms to sound. "No response... I'll check it out. Keep our exit clear." she says to Nathan before moving off at a jog down the corridor, ready to reactivate her shield should it be needed. "T'Iavay, Briggs, do you copy?" she calls out over comms.
Nathan nods to Tank, moving back to his spot by the wall after stowing a few spare thermal clips and the omni-tool. He presses against the wall once more and holsters his Argus, instead switching to his pistol as he examines the omni-tool he retrieved. He makes to activate it and see if it is locked or encrypted. If it is... well, he tried a few times in the past.
Steve reaches down for his beer before responding. "Exactly. Doesn't sound like those reinforcements of yours are comin'." he says. "If they were makin' their move, why just stop after we kill a few of their men?" He sighs and shakes his head. "I know Henrik. Me and him-..." he pauses, considering his words before continuing, "...Well we ain't exactly seen eye-to-eye in the past. There's a little history there..." he explains,
underselling the bad blood between them, "After what went down on Omega recently, what with Eclipse bein' pushed out the back door and all? And this halfassed attempt? I'm willin' to bet he's on his own."
Renala nods. "He's a slimy coward, I know," she says. "He knew you were in bad shape, too." She sighs. "So, yeah, I wouldn't be surpised if he was full of shit again." Renala takes out the omni-tool from his pockets and puts it ontop of him. "Let them have the omni-tools," she says. "They'll end up at my desk anyway." She stands up and walks over to the door. "I hear you, Tankovich," she says. "We need a secure
Tank stops in the intersection, her gaze scanning both directions before she responds. "We have your path. Get moving." she says over comms, glancing back towards the entrance to confirm that Nathan is still fine.
The omni-tool is password protected. His first two attempts fail. His third attempt, however, also fails. But his fourth one fails. He fatfingers the fifth attempt and enters a password of '1'. Fail.
Steve sighs, making it known that he doesn't agree, but he nods. He rises from his seat and tucks the unopened beer under his arm before digging into his pocket and tossing the omni-tool onto the dead body at his feet. "I'll tell 'em what I know, Ren..." he agrees begrudgingly as he brings the beer back up to the eye he was punched in. "And.... Thanks for the heads up." he adds, giving a glance in the asari's direction. A slight
smile crosses his lips, despite his obvious frustration over the situation in general. "I mean it. You really saved my bacon back there." Given the one-sided comms chatter he can hear, it's clear what's expected of him and he gives a sigh before he begins to slowly limp towards the door. "Guess it's back to the mad doctor I go..." he mutters, beer still pressed against his eye.
Nathan clucks his tongue and merely stows away the omni-tool. Well, it was worth a shot. He clasps the pistol in both hands, keeping his gaze sweeping back and forth, up and down the street. Nathan is indeed, still fine. He even glances over his shoulder and gives Tank a thumbs up before resume his sentry duties.
Renala brings up her omni-tool and unlocks the door. "Alright, we're coming down," she says over comms before shutting it off again. She gives a long sigh. "Had that orchestration template not worked...," she mutters with a chuckle. "Anyway, this Henrik is only going to get more desperate, so it's probably best if you relocate to the infirmiary at work."
Tank takes another quick look around the intersection before returning to the entrance, joining Nathan in keeping a lookout for any hostile reinforcements. "Anything?"
Nathan shakes his head, glancing up and down the street once more with a huff. "Nothing. A couple of onlookers, but nothing." He waves a hand towards the shuttle. "We make a move to the shuttle as a group. I take left, you take right, Renala up the rear with Steve in the middle. Just in case someone decides to jump into the fray while we are extracting."
Steve hits the interface with his casted hand, grimacing as a bit of pain shoots through his arm. "I don't need to stay at the infirmary, Ren." he insists as he steps out into the hall, "I'm fine. Lil' banged up, but I ain't any worse off than I was a couple hours ago. Let's just get this over with so I can get back home." He casts a glance over his shoulder at Renala as he steps through the door, "And I certainly ain't afraid
of Henrik. Hell, if he does decide to take another shot he might just be doin' us a favor. Save me the trouble of trackin' him down myself..."
Renala steps out into the hallway after him, locking the door behind her. She'll have to give a temporary key to someone to clear out the bodies, but that can wait. "You might have been one typographical error away from being captured or killed," she says. "Maybe that kind of dumb luck will favor him the next time."
Steve continues down the corridor to the elevator. As Renala complains, he sighs and glances her way. "I ain't lookin' to argue with you, Ren. But I also can't lock myself away, worried about when that bastard is gonna make his next move." He taps the interface to the elevator and limps inside. "We'll figure it out. We always do." He leans against the wall, none too eager to get to the explaining he's about to have to do.
Nathan remains quiet too, not really able to do much of anything right now. It's quiet, a couple of bystanders and John Doe laying off to the side. He glances to Tank, smiles, then looks back to the shuttle and street.
Tank briefly returns Nathan's glance. "Eyes on street." the massive woman mumbles, shifting a little. Her almost medieval armor looks awkward and incomplete with the missing pieces, the oversized boots and exposed exoskeletal limbs especially strange without the armor plating to go with it.
Renala gives a shrug. "I wasn't expecting you lock yourself in there every day, just for tonight," she says. "He'll need to seek medical attention too, so maybe he'll show up at the hospital where our 'mad doctor' works." She leans against the wall next to the elevator, distantly watching the hallway. "The property owner is not going to be happy about this," she says, before adding in a mutter, "If only he'd
Renala (retcon) gives a shrug. "I wasn't expecting you lock yourself in there every day, just for tonight," she says. "He'll need to seek medical attention too, so maybe he'll show up at the hospital where our 'mad doctor' works." She enters the elevator after him, though she watches the hallway outside until the doors close. "The property owner is not going to be happy about this," she says, before adding in a
Steve hits the button for the first floor, giving a tired, pained snicker at Renala's comment about the door. In his current condition, today's excitement was more than enough to wear him down. "Maybe he'll reconsider after today..." he says, casting a weak smile Renala's way that quickly fades away as the elevator begins to descend, "Don't worry 'bout the owner. I'll give him a call tomorrow and pay for whatever damages I need
to." He gives a few glances Renala's way but falls silent as the elevator reaches the bottom. As if wanting to get it out of the way before the doors open, he says, "Sorry I got you mixed up in this, Ren... I'll stay at the Agency tonight. Maybe you should, too." Not wanting to dwell on it for too long, he quickly begins to limp out of the elevator and towards Tank and Nathan.
Tank glances back as she hears Steve and Renala rounding the corner in the corridor. She quickly turns back and scans both street and sky again.
Nathan glances over his shoulder and nods to the pair emerging. He taps Tank on the shoulder as he draws his Argus, prepping himself to make a move towards the shuttle. "This is Ten, we've secured Briggs and T'lavay. Moving to exfil."
Renala places an arm over his shoulder, even though the half-foot height difference might make it look a bit awkward. "I knew what I signed up for when I moved in with you," she says. "If that idiot's got any sense left, he'll cut his losses and leave us alone."
Steve uses Renala for support as he limps down the corridor. "Henrik ain't ever been the brightest bulb..." he says, his voice somewhat distant. It's pretty clear that this ghost from his past surfacing has him a bit rattled, but now isn't the time or the place for him to dwell on it. Instead, he focuses on Nathan as they exit the building. "Well, shit. Look who finally decided to mount a rescue. Where were these balls back on
Rakhana?" he taunts. It's said in a tone that implies it's a joke, but there's obvious hard feelings beneath his statement. "You just forget to pack 'em before the trip?"
Tank glances from Steve to Nathan, the slight rise of an eyebrow hinting at some curiosity as to what he's talking about, but she doesn't comment on it. "Let's go." she exclaims instead, keeping a watchful eye on their surrounding as she starts to move towards the shuttle, staying on the side since she's at least mostly armored.
Nathan glances at Steve, perking an eyebrow as he turns back to watch the street. "We're moving over now, Jasper." He taps Tank on the shoulder and motions right, following behind her as he takes the left. "Never going to accept the fact that there was nothing we could do for you, Steve?" He replies in a casual tone, keeping the Argus raised as he watches their
flank. "For what it's worth, though, I am sorry. I could've tried something, in the end. That's all."
Renala gives his shoulder a squeeze when Rakhana is mentioned as if to say this isn't the time, a frown showing up. "Could you contact the doc, Tennhausen?" she says, possibly serving the same goal, "see if she's got a moment to look at Steve at our infirmiary."
Steve clasps a hand on Nathan's shoulder as he reaches the shuttle. He puts his weight on both Nathan and Renala for the moment. His shirtless nature gives a good view of all of the damage he suffered on Rakhana. Numerous smaller scars accompany the large gash across his side. "Apology accepted. Water under the bridge." he says with a grunt as he gets situated. He doesn't sound very sincere, but the squeeze on his shoulder serves
as a reminder that he gave Renala his word that he wouldn't stir the pot. With a pained groan, he uses Nathan and Renala to support his weight as he climbs into the shuttle. "You're here tonight. Guess that counts for something." With a heavy limp he makes his way into a seat across from the open door.
Nathan merely nods as he acts as support for Steve to jump into the shuttle. He climbs in second to last and sends a call to Halisi, detailing the situation and where she is needed.