Jason lets out a deep breath, gaze lowering to a random spot atop Renala's desk. He gives a small, frustrated shake of his head. "Yeah..." he agrees with Uvena's final sentiment softly. "But what's the play there?" he asks, almost more so to himself than to anyone else in the room. "What's the connection?" he asks, lifting his head to glance Uvena's way. "Rellis specifically sent Siveya after V but-... Why?" he gives a small
#RedrockAgency – September 29, 2019
lift of his shoulders, "Fuck if I know. Sala Piros? Again, asked her people to grab V specifically. The asari I questioned said Piros was working for someone else but-..." he trails off with another small shake of his head, leaving the sentiment that he doesn't have the slightest clue what's going on with that unsaid. "Piros tried leveraging V to get us to do her dirty work with her. At first, that made me think that maybe
the target was me or Vicky-... Redrock specifically." he clarifies, "And V was just the quickest way for her to get what she wants. But the more I thought about it, the more that just seemed like a means to an end. We kicked in their doors, freed V, and Piros was just grasping at straws. I mean-... she had PMCs working for her to grab V. Wouldn't make sense to pay a bunch of PMCs to kidnap somebody to leverage against
another group of PMCs to get them to track down some asari for you when you could-... could-..." he stammers, seeming to grow confused by the twists and turns in his own logic, "...just... pay the first set of PMCs to track down the asari in the first place... right?" he asks, squinting slightly as he looks back to Uvena as if hoping she'll check his work and make sure that all adds up. "I mean... it had to be about V
Uvena listens as he goes through the events leading up to this. She had read up on as much information as was available to her, but she hasn't given much thought to the bigger picture. "It could be," she agrees. "Or they know that Nari is working against them, and these people think Va'ynna is potential leverage." She shakes her head, and looks down at the table. "I know Nari well enough that it wouldn't work,
but they may not." Uvena lets out a deep sigh as she considers the other details. "Maybe Va'ynna and Wenera aren't part of the same goal," she says. "For all we know, she would have gone back on her word had you carried out her request." She looks away. "Siveya's attack, though, I'm not sure if that's related, but if it is, then maybe it was my job that got you in trouble with them." She gives an unsure
hum as she adds, "They promised to leave us alone after giving back the salarian, didn't they, though?" She frowns, "Sorry, I wish I could be of more help."
Jason gives a few small nods as Uvena mentions the potential Nari connection. That was the first thing that came to his mind as well. Uvena's apology garners a small shake of his head. "I know you do..." he says, offering the asari a small, if strained by the frustration of coming up empty handed with Nari, smile. "Best as I can see, that's the most solid connection we've got. Nari pissed off the wrong people and now they've
decided that targeting V is their best shot at getting to Nari." He gives a sigh as he straightens up and folds his arms across his chest, falling quiet as he mulls it over in his head. "I think you're right about Wenera. Like I said, it felt like Piros was grasping at straws. I don't think Wenera was the end goal when she had Avoren's people grab V. So maybe she was just trying the leverage the situation as best as she
could so-... so maybe all of that is unrelated..." He trails off once more, tucking his chin against his chest, eyes slowly scanning back and forth along an arbitrary spot on the wall as he continues to try and work things out. "So... so Rellis has some beef with Nari. Siveya was secretly working against him from the inside. He gets wise of it, sends Siveya to off V and he's right there to put down Siveya... Two birds with
one stone..." he muses softly, almost to himself before furrowing his brow and looking back to Uvena, "...But... What does killing V get him? I mean, Siveya didn't sound like she was there to grab V. So what kind of leverage would that even give Rellis? Trying to send a message to Nari? He had to know killing her dau-..." he stammers, taking a second to correct himself given Uvena's previous reaction, "...step-daughter
probably wouldn't be the best way to get her off his case... As for Piros? I guess as far as we know she very well could've been working for Rellis. Or the other way around, or-..." he sighs, "...or just more of Nari's baggage falling onto V, entirely unrelated to that slippery salarian..." he concedes, well aware that he's making tentative connections where there very well might not be any. He gives an apologetic tilt of
his head to Uvena, "I'm sorry. I just-..." he shakes his head as he draws in a deep breath, unable to escape the feeling that he's letting Va'ynna down, "...I feel like I'm running in circles."
Uvena does give him a stare at the use of that word, but relaxes when he corrects himself. "We are," she says. "All we know is that Sala Piros could be coming back to finish what she started, and she gets the luxury to choose the time and place. It also sounds like Wenera is in the same situation, and Siveya swore to never come back to Freedom Falls, so... I don't think we have any actionable leads." She
glances away in thought for a moment. "What about Janysa Aehan? If she's connected to Nari, maybe she's also working with her."
Jason gives a few small nods as Uvena speaks, her final statement getting a larger nod. "Aylen-... Janysa..." he corrects, giving a small roll of his eyes as he does, "...throws a little bit of a wrench into all of these theories. Given her relation to Nari and her ongoing shitstorm-of-a-lawsuit, for all we know this could just be about strongarming her. She's related to Nari. Nari is related to V." He gives a tentative tilt of
his head from one side to the other as he weighs the situation, "It adds up. Hell, maybe Nari's only direct involvement in all of this is wanting to clap back at the people who took a shot at her-... at-... uhh-... V..." he stammers, not wanting to further sour Uvena's mood. "But if that's the case then why in the fuck would Nari give us the cold shoulder like that?" Another loose end that garners another frustrated sigh.
"At any rate, Ay-... Janysa." he once again corrects, sounding the slightest bit peeved at having to even do so given the web of secrecy the asari has weaved, "...is off-world for said shitstorm-of-a-lawsuit. With her usual brand of 'Don't tell the people you're paying to protect you a goddamn thing and just take off in total secrecy'." he adds sarcastically, sounding none too happy about that. "So we're not getting
anything from her until she's back. Hell, maybe by then it'll be settled if she's able to put a cap on all of this." If it's even connected. He gives a humorless snort and a shake of his head, "...As if we're ever that lucky."
Uvena sighs as the only lead turns out to have up and left. "Because Nari is doing her own thing and doesn't want our help," she says. "That's what I got from her answers. I also didn't expect her to come up with words of encouragements, though, so what do I know." She gives a bit of a hopeless shrug. "Do we have any other options in the meantime?"
Jason falls silent as Uvena speaks, and remains silent for a few moments after, not wanting to outright say 'no'. But they're not exactly rich with choice at the moment. "Short of trying to reach out to Rellis himself? I-... don't think so." he admits reluctantly with an apologetic wince. "And I wouldn't count on that shitbag returning any calls. Pretty sure I'm not his favorite person. You know, if the multiple firefights,
kidnapping, and the fact that he turned our building into rubble wasn't enough to clue you in..." he sighs. He tilts his head back, working the tension out of his neck by rotating it in a small circle before looking back to Uvena. "So Aylena seems like the only lead we've got right now." Well aware that it won't sit any better with Uvena than it does with him that they've reached a dead end, he gives another small tilt of
Uvena lowers her gaze after listening to the answer she was expecting, but wasn't hoping for. "I... It's... okay," she says. "I and Victoria will keep walking her to and from work in the meantime, even if I... don't really like our chances against Piros." She looks back up at him. "And you and I both know that mustering reinforcements will take time," she says. "I'm sure Va'ynna knows that too."
Jason lowers his gaze in turn, nodding softly a few times. She's not wrong. Piros could take another shot at any time. And what could they do to stop her? They don't even know what she's capable of. "You know that there's no situation in which shit goes down and I don't show up, right?" he asks as he lfts his head in search of Uvena's eyes, hoping his support and the support of Redrock looking out for Va'ynna is enough to provide
some semblance of comfort for now. "I hope it doesn't come to that but, if it does?" he gives a single, stern nod, "You can bet your ass that I'm gonna do everything in my power to keep V safe." There's no guarantees. He knows that. Uvena undoubtedly knows that. But it should be clear by now that he has no intention of leaving Va'ynna high and dry. Ever.
Uvena does meet his gaze, and gives a nod after he stops talking. "I can believe than, Jason," she says. "We rescued her once, and you brought Li back from something much worse than Sala Piros." It doesn't bring her much comfort, though, as that still meant Va'ynna could go through something like the previous kidnapping again..
Jason forces a small, somber smile as Uvena recalls their 'accomplishments'. Va'ynna is scared shitless after everything and Li will probably live with irrepairable trauma. Somehow those don't quite feel like straight up 'wins' to him. But you take what you can get. "You're damn right we did." he offers with a bit more confidence than he actually feels for Uvena's sake. Li's rescue required a whole lot more luck than he'd be