Interim. (5)

It sounded like the Chief stepped away from whatever podium he was standing at, because he was suddenly bombarded with a plethora of questions. Most of them centered around the 'Lawman' he had mentioned and his identity, however the sound of the heavy footsteps walking away made it clear those questions were not going to be answered. For his part, Relovan just scoffed before looking out of the window again. The cab driver however had an expression on his face as if somebody had just cracked an Acid Slug's egg over his head. He looked into the rearview mirror every few seconds, glancing at Relovan each time. As much as it was an unconfirmed assumption, he was more than certain that the Lawman mentioned just moments ago was sitting in the back of his cab.

"S-So where exactly in the Fourth Planet will I be taking you, Sir?"

"Chartwell Heights." Relovan answered simply.

"Understood, Sir. Isn't that building only three or four stories high?"

"It is."

"Not very tall then, is it?"

"It isn't."

The cabbie appeared to become flustered as the conversation with Relovan was beyond dry. It was so dry in fact, that the cabbie was contemplating driving in awkward silence as opposed to continuing to try and have a conversation with Relovan.

"So…" Relovan said as he started the conversation this time. "…I will need you to wait outside the building as I go and fetch the cash inside."

"Okay, I understand."

The conversation dried up once again, and Relovan once again looked out of the window. The drive back to the planet that Relovan lived on was quite a bit longer than the one with the motorcade, and by the time they began their descent to it, Relovan had not only fallen asleep, but had even woken up a few times. Due to the cabbie being familiar with not only the Fourth Planet, but also knowing exactly where the Enforcer lived, he didn't ask too many questions or even resort to using navigation to make his way to the destination. After driving through a rather slum looking part of town, and past a different Rank, they arrived at Relovan's apartment building. Just before the Enforcer stepped out of the cab however, the driver looked back at him.

"Excuse me Sir, will you be going anywhere after this?"

"Possibly. Why?"

"In that case, there is no need to rush back to pay – I will wait for you here and take you there."

"You don't need to do that."

"I'm well aware Enforcer, but I must insist. I will wait for you out here, even if you pay me and go back inside."

There was yet another period of silence as Relovan looked at the cab driver with an annoyed look on his face.

"Why are you so insistent about this?" He asked the cabbie.

"…it's the very least I could do, Sir." The cabbie simply answered.

It didn't take another word for Relovan to understand just what the cab driver was talking about. He let out a small sigh and nodded at the driver before stepping out of the cab and making his way to his apartment. Once inside, Relovan set about going to the loo, having a shower and changing out of the clothes he had been wearing for the brief period he had been conscious. The clothes that he changed into were not much different, but they certainly did fit him better. He wore a brown tee, blue jeans and black boots. The process of showering and getting dressed was a somewhat slow one, with Relovan instinctively favouring his left side a touch. His outfit was… capped off by a hat that was not dissimilar to the ones issued with his uniform. The one he was wearing now however was much older, far more worn and was extremely faded. He slid it onto his head, and it just fit, as if it had been made specifically for his cranium. Once fully dressed, Relovan opened a drawer in his bedside table, inside which were a number of items both of a technological as well as a miscellaneous nature. He reached into the drawer and pulled out a few things, including a few beaten up leather containers. He opened one which contained a physical version of his police badge, which was in immaculate condition, unlike its case and the other was a wallet. He slid the wallet into his left pocket while he used a clip to secure the badge onto his belt. He then stared at a rather large and thick electronic device that looked like a mobile phone. It had a small screen on the front, and Relovan looked at it as if contemplating whether or not to take it with him. After a period of internal deliberation, the Enforcer decided to take the phone with him and after ensuring that he wasn't leaving anything important behind, he was out the door and making his way back down to the cab.

"Where to?" The cabbie asked Relovan as he slid into the car and fastened his seatbelt.

"…do you know of Ralph's?" Relovan asked.

"But of course, Sir." The cabbie responded with a nod.

"There."

"As you wish."

The driver pulled off and the pair drove towards the only watering hole on the Fourth Planet that was cop friendly. In fact, there was a Ralph's on each of the planets and law enforcement drank there almost exclusively. The drive over was silent, thankfully for the driver, the awkward drive did not last for all that long as Relovan actually lived rather close to the bar. The bar itself couldn't be missed even if one tried as it looked more like a mini fortress than anything else. It had a thick wall for a fence, what looked like guard towers, fortified windows, cameras, gun turrets and so forth. When the cab pulled up to the gate, a red light scanned not only the plates of the vehicle, but the cab drivers face as well. This only lasted a matter of seconds, before the large gate slid open and gave them access. The car drove in and found a parking spot. Even before he had finished parking, the cabbie spoke.

"Please go in and have yourself a nice time. I will be waiting here to take you home."

This time, Relovan didn't even try to protest in the slightest – he just nodded and then hopped out of the car. The moment he set foot on the ground below, bright lights suddenly switched on followed the Enforcer as he walked. The lights not only shone on him and illuminated the parking lot, they also revealed a number of details such as the condition of the building. The bar had seemingly been attacked on so many different occasions, that there had been no choice but to turn into a fortress. Damage from bullets, missiles and whatever else told a tale of quite the volatile environment, and when Relovan reached the thick, heavy door to the bar, he unclipped and held up his badge to a scanner. A confirmation beep or two later, and the door unlocked with a deep, heavy sound. The door opened and in the Enforcer walked as he slid the badge back onto his belt. The interior was markedly different from the exterior, with there being different parts of the bar designated for different levels of law enforcement. Regular Officers had their own bar and tables, Regulators had their own, Enforcers had their own, and so on. The higher their ranking in the Police Force, the shinier the designated area.

Relovan walked silently as he didn't even look towards the entrances of the other areas. He walked directly towards the area known as the Enforcer Lounge, and upon entering it, noise from the hallway immediately died down. There were a number of off-duty Enforcers sitting in there, enjoying a drink and meal, and Relovan quickly made his way towards the bar without kicking up a fuss or drawing any attention to himself. The bartender's eyes grew wide as he recognised Relovan, however he received a signal to not make a fuss before he could say or do anything. Relovan reached the bar and sat down on a bar stool.

"Ralph." Relovan said as he nodded at the man behind the counter.

"Enforcer." Ralph responded.

Ralph was more humanoid looking than many on the planet, most likely due to him being of mixed race. He didn't even wait for Relovan to say anything as he pulled out a glass as well as a bottle.

"I heard you were laid out in a hospital somewhere on the First." Ralph said as he poured the drink into the glass.

"Until around three hours ago, I was." Relovan replied as he watched the glass fill up.