The Red Moon Collection - 1 - Starside

Chapter 13

Unlisted Facility, Bashnir Wastes, Logasiri

Everything was confusingly silent. Will's eyes were struggling to adjust as they stared blankly into the black sky that stretched off in every direction. He couldn't feel anything. After a few seconds he shook and drew in a violently deep gasp of air as everything began crashing down upon him. A pulse of adrenaline coursed through is veins. His eyes focused and the growing hum of white noise rose in his ears. Then, almost like a switch had been flipped inside his head, the white noise vanished and the sound of gunfire and roaring thrusters filled his ears. Will drew another deep breath and the sensation of touch poured into his chest and out to his limbs. All he could feel was his skin flush with the interior of his armor until he was stricken by a sharp pain in his right leg. He managed to pull himself into a sitting position and his eyes dropped to the gushing wound in his calf. He shifted his gaze to the two small, blackened craters a few meters in front of him and placed his hands on the ground to begin pulling himself to his feet.

"Hold still!"

Will's head jerked to his left to see Tul'Sorrin kneeling at his side and prepping a dose of medi-gel. He felt a stabbing pain in his leg and snapped his eyes back to see Doctor Tokagi placing her gloved hand on the wound. Without warning she gave a harsh tug and pulled a rather sizable chunk of bloodied shrapnel from Will's leg, causing him to shout in pain. She tossed it aside as Tul leaned over and quickly administered a pain numbing application of medi-gel that sealed over the split flesh.

"It's coming around again!"

Eleena was right. Straight ahead of him Will could see that the Mantis had finished its flight pattern and had circled back toward them. Tul'Sorrin looked down to his still active omnitool and punched in a few lightning-fast commands. A second later his orange drone had materialized and was zipping away toward an empty corner of the landing platform. The gunship fired a second pair of missiles which departed the winglets of the ship on a path for Will, Tul and Tokagi. However, after only a second into their journey, the projectiles changed their trajectory and veered off to the empty section of the platform where Tul's drone had scurried off to. Will watched in disbelief as the explosives detonated dozens of meters away and Tul's drone blinked back into existence at the quarian's side.

"Good thing he didn't target you first." Will coughed up the words as his voice returned to him.

The Mantis soared above them and out of sight as it began positioning itself for another strafing run. Will realized he was wasting the few seconds they had and pulled himself to his knee. Tul'Sorrin and the doctor quickly grabbed his arms to help him to his feet, but Will shook them off and jumped up with bravado. The medi-gel had numbed his leg to the point where he could barely feel it. Strangely, he almost would have preferred the pain. He quickly scanned his immediate surroundings and spotted his rifle laying a few meters to his right.

"Get to cover!" Kallux shouted through their comms.

Will spotted a collection of crates near the side of the pad and made a run for them, scooping up his rifle as he passed it. Tul and Tokagi sprinted with him and all three soon found themselves with their backs pressed up to a shipping container between them and the last direction they saw the Mantis fly toward. Will made a quick check of his rifle and, after finding it to be in working order, raised his comms and peered around the corner that he, Tul and Tokagi hid behind. The outer edges of the platform were lined with collections of shipping containers like the one they had taken cover behind. He reached down to his omnitool and changed his HUD settings to enable a waypoint over each of his squadmates. Two blue triangles appeared on the opposite end of the platform.

"Kallux, Eleena: you guys okay?" Will's eyes continued to scan the landing pad to familiarize himself with the battlefield.

"We're fine," Eleena panted in response. "Kallux and I did what we could to put some shots into that thing while they got you up."

"Clipped it a few times," Kallux added. "But it'll take a lot more to bring it down."

Will finished his survey and began searching the dark sky for the gunship. "Of course," he replied with irritation.

Tul laughed from behind him. "What? Did you think this gunship was made of mud?"

Will's eye caught a glimpse of the second Mantis that sat dormant somewhat between both halves of the squad. "Anyone here know how to fly one of those gunships?"

After a few seconds of silence the enemy gunship blasted overhead and swung around to hover at the center of the platform. The chin turret darted from side to side as it searched for targets.

"I've flown a few gunships before, but never an A-61," Kallux stated with hesitation. "But come on... how hard could it be?"

"I admire the enthusiasm," Will admitted. "But do you think you'd be able to figure it out before the other one realizes what you're doing?"

The airborne Mantis gave a sudden sway toward Will before the mass accelerator cannon on its chin erupted in a burst of gunfire. Will ducked back as quickly as he could, but his shields were reduced significantly by the mere handful of shots that connected. The bullets zipped past the side of the container that they hid behind and into another sending sparks spraying into the air around them. Will pushed himself further back and bumped into Tul as he did so. The quarian gladly stumbled further back into the pocket of protection with Doctor Tokagi to give Will more room.

"Well it looks like you're putting on a decent distraction," Kallux laughed.

Will held his rifle close to his chest as he retorted with a thick layer of sarcasm. "Yeah! That was plan!"

Tul'Sorrin pulled up his omnitool. "This gunship is starting to irritate me!"

The orange and yellow drones blinked up in front of them as Tul worked away on his omnitool. After hovering in place for a few seconds the drones darted off around the far side of the container and out toward the landing platform from the opposite end of where the gunship was concentrating its fire. Almost instantaneously the sparks from the cannon fire ceased and their cover rattled softly as a line of bullets was carved into the container behind them. The gunship had taken Tul's bait.

"Well, that should buy us... five seconds at least," Tul quipped.

"That's all I need," Kallux noted coolly.

Will shimmied back to the edge of the box and peered around to see the krogan charging from his position to the stationary Mantis. The airborne gunship, seemingly unaware of Kallux, continued to spray bullets toward the two drones as they scurried along the wall of the facility. The krogan leapt into the open transport bay on the belly of the docked Mantis and disappeared into the cockpit. Just then, almost as if on cue, their foe ceased fire on the drones and sent its thrusters into a full burn as it moved away to reposition itself. Upon realizing that Eleena had been left alone in her position Will turned back to Tul and Tokagi.

"Stay here and keep doing your thing!"

Will had barely closed his mouth before jumping out and sprinting at full speed across the landing pad to the cluster of crates that Kallux and Eleena had taken cover behind. His fingers gripped his M-15 tightly as he ran as if somehow it would deter the gunship from making an untimely return. He was happy to see Eleena's helmet emerge from behind one of the containers as he barreled toward it at full speed. Will dropped into a slide and rolled into cover, his chest pounding and breathing labored. He glanced to his side to see Eleena still peering over their cover with her SMG drawn up close to her chest.

"The fuck did you run all the way over here for?" Eleena dropped down and gave him a quizzical look.

Will shrugged as he recomposed himself. "Can't let a pretty woman go lonely."

The flirtation was cut short by the sound of the Mantis swooping back in and firing off another salvo of rockets. Will closed his eyes for a split second as he waited for the impact, only to hear them detonate on the other side of the platform. He turned and jumped to his feet to look over the meter-high crate. The gunship's ordinance had targeted the cluster of containers where Tul'Sorrin and Tokagi were hiding, but two large scorch marks on the ground seemed to indicate a less than successful attack.

Will opened his comm to be on the safe side. "Tul, you guys okay?"

"We're fine! I'm going to see if I can hack its targeting systems," Tul replied.

"Kallux, any progress?" Will's eyes fell to the cockpit of the idling Mantis with the silhouette of a krogan in its cockpit.

"I've got everything figured out but the weapon systems!"

"Hey, Will, give me a hand with this thing!" Eleena requested as he cut the comm channel.

Will glanced over to see the asari nodding down to her side where Kallux's cannon lay propped up against the crate. He gave her a grin and nodded as she moved to the opposite side of the weapon and knelt down to get his hands on it. As they heaved the cannon up in unison Will let out a deep grunt; the weapon was somehow heavier than it looked. They set the cannon on the top of the crate, which was conveniently chest-high, and righted it. Eleena slid behind the rear of the weapon and placed her hand on the grip and trigger as Will reached up and grabbed the handle on the top that was normally used to bear most of the weapon's weight. All the while the enemy Mantis fired taunting bursts toward the crates where Tul and Doctor Tokagi remained in cover.

"This might be a little hard to aim," Eleena admitted as she attempted to swing the weapon up toward the gunship.

Will could see why. The weapon, normally carried at Kallux's side, had no sights. To make matters worse, the handle on the top of the weapon blocked any view Eleena might have by simply looking down the barrel of the gun. Eleena gave a tug and pulled the rear of the cannon into her shoulder as she attempted to look down the side of the weapon. Will pulled his hand from the top and grabbed his rifle as Eleena squeezed the trigger of her new toy. The gun shook slightly as it thumped and entered a steady firing rhythm, but Eleena quickly established control of the recoil and sent a series of shots into the side of the hovering gunship. Will raised his rifle to line up a shot with the silhouetted figure in the cockpit of the enemy ship only to pause as a sudden movement on the edge of his vision caught his attention. The airlock door that sealed off the entrance to the facility slid apart and from it came charging a half dozen Sommesh soldiers with weapons drawn.

"We've got hostiles from inside!" Will shouted to everyone.

"Damn it! I figured that lockdown wouldn't last forever!" Tul replied as he peered out from behind his container. "Captain!"

Tul didn't have to finish his warning. Will froze as the squad of batarian soldiers and the gunship both pinpointed the source of Eleena's high-caliber cannon shots at the same instant and turned to face them. Eleena's trigger finger loosened and the cannon fell silent. A hail of gunfire exploded from the batarian soldiers and sent sparks flying all around them. Will's shields flared from a few grazes as he grabbed Eleena by the shoulder and dodged back into a gap between two much larger containers a few feet behind them. They stumbled from a shockwave as two missiles from the Mantis ripped through the crate they had been taking cover behind just seconds prior. Will held his rifle close as he ran to the end of the tiny metal chasm with Eleena on his heels. The two darted around the corner to another smaller crate and slid into cover before their foes could catch a glimpse of their new position.

Will pressed his back to the crate and opened his comm. "Kallux we could really use that air support right about now!"

"The weapons are still offline! They must have some kind of security clearance to activate them!" The sound of gunshots popped behind Kallux's voice.

"I could try to make to the ship and take a look," Tul offered.

"You'll drop the second you leave cover!" Kallux let out a grunt and the sound of a second pair of thrusters filled the landing pad. "That gunship is goin' down."

Will and Eleena pulled up from behind cover with their weapons ready. Kallux's gunship had jumped to life and had entered a rapid vertical climb. The batarian infantry and Mantis were both taken off guard and spun to train their weapons on Kallux, in turn leaving themselves completely exposed. The Sommesh gunship slowly began ascending to acquire a weapon lock on Kallux, leaving the ground squad in the open with no cover. Will wasted no time taking aim and firing off a burst at the closest Sommesh soldier with Eleena following his lead. Across the platform Tul had leaned out from behind his own hiding position and was laying down fire as well. The batarian soldiers found themselves caught in a deadly crossfire that sent two of them to the ground before they had even realized they were under attack.

Kallux's voice exploded over the comms."Watch your heads!"

Above them, the nose of Kallux's gunship had pitched downward and its afterburners roared. Will didn't have time to open his mic and object as Kallux blasted down and into the port winglet of the batarian Mantis. The nose of Kallux's gunship ripped apart as the wingtip of the enemy craft tore into the port side of the friendly's hull. The unarmed Mantis shook but quickly righted itself and began a rapid descent to the far end of the platform. The enemy, however, spun violently as the port winglet was utterly demolished and half of the vertical lift was lost. Before the pilot could react the Mantis had entered a tailspin and was sent hurtling toward the ground below with its left side ablaze. With an ear shattering crunch the hull of the aircraft collided with surface of the landing pad just meters away from the batarian squad and erupted into a ball of flame. An explosion from some of the munitions on board blasted from the inferno and sent one of the nearby Sommesh soldiers to his death. Will, Eleena and Tul took advantage of the chaos and hosed the remaining three batarians with bullets.

"Gahh! Tell me that worked... I don't think this thing will hold together long enough for a second run," Kallux muttered angrily.

Will looked over the bodies on the landing pad as he replied. "That won't be necessary. You okay?"

"Nngghh. Bleeding. And I think I broke a bone or two in my left hand. Damned thing cut right through my scales."

"The military grade armor plating managed to outclass your skin?" Eleena replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. "That is fucking surprising."

A few dozen meters away from them Kallux had stumbled from the cockpit of his severely damaged and idling Mantis and was jogging back to the sight of the firefight with his pistol drawn. Will stepped out from behind the crate and slowly moved toward the burning wreckage with his sights on the bodies scattered nearby. After a few seconds of observation he lowered the rifle and hurried to the center of the platform where Tul and Doctor Tokagi were cautiously running to. As Kallux approached it was obvious that he had indeed been inflicted with a harsh wound on his left arm. Will wasn't an expert of alien physiology, but it was fairly certain that a krogan didn't receive a wound that deep from just any fight. Deep orange blood dripped from the nearly foot-long gash that ran from his shoulder to elbow.

The krogan came to a stop in front of Will and Eleena and held up his arm. "Slap some medi-gel on this damned thing, wouldya?"

Eleena swiftly readied a double-dose and applied it without hesitation. "That'll be a nice scar."

"Damn right it will be," Kallux agreed as he looked the two of them over. "Where's my gun?"

Will looked over his shoulder to the crater where he and Eleena had been hiding earlier. "Uhh.. over there somewhere. At least what's left of it."

The krogan grunted and trotted off to find his cannon as Tul and Tokagi reached them. Will gave them a quick look-over and nodded in satisfaction.

"You guys okay?" Will could tell they were fine, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"A little winded, but I'll manage," Tul replied.

Doctor Tokagi shook her head slightly. "I wasn't so sure we would make it out of this alive. Now I'm convinced."

Will smiled slightly, but it quickly gave way to a wince as his adrenaline rush began to die and the soreness in his numbed leg slowly crept its way back. Heavy footsteps sounded from his side as Kallux joined the squad with his cannon in hand. The weapon had been ravaged by the missile strike, but given the amount of replacement parts that Will had seen him unpack he was pretty sure that Kallux repaired this level of damage on a regular basis. The krogan collapsed the cannon and slid it onto his back with a nod.

"Damn it... we could have been at the ship by now," Will hoped the reminder hadn't come off as too defeated. "Kallux, can that Mantis still fly?"

The krogan let out a concerned sigh. "Half the cockpit's gone so I might catch a bit of a breeze, but I think it'll at least take us over the hill just fine."

"Good," Will nodded as he looked to the others. "Let's move."

It was hard not to feel anxious with the mangled Mantis rattling as intensely as it was. Will and the rest of the squad held tight onto the handles that lined the ceiling of the cramped cargo compartment on the crippled dropship as Kallux piloted them on the quick trip over the hill they had climbed just a few hours before. The open rear hatch of the craft offered the same barren view that Will had seen as Shansa had flown them in. Will had attempted to raise her on the comms before they set off, but once again he was met with only dead air.

"Hume, get up here!"

Will turned as Kallux called him from the open cockpit door and stepped forward to squeeze into the tight compartment. He had just enough room to look over the krogan's shoulder and through the shattered viewport to the base of the hill as they glided over the peak. Kallux didn't say another word. He didn't have to. Will could plainly see the corvette-sized ship that was resting parallel to the Hyperion with its thrusters burning idly. Between the two ships among the dark rocks and boulders he could see about ten figures bustling about. He managed to quell the fear that had leapt from his gut as he nodded in acknowledgment.

"Just take us in," he ordered calmly. "Set us down a few dozen meters away from them."

"Understoond," the krogan replied as he dipped the nose forward.

With a silent gulp Will turned and ducked back through the small door to the cargo bay where the rest of the squad stood with theirs eyes on him. Will reached for his rifle and smiled to himself as he watched Tul and Eleena do the same without a second of doubt.

"They found the ship. I don't know if they've gotten inside yet, but we're going to assume they have and work this carefully, is that understood?" Will looked to the asari and quarian and was answered with curt, determined nods. "Doctor Tokagi, I want you to stay in the dropship until this is sorted out. No sense in getting you involved in a firefight like earlier."

The doctor hesitated before replying with a sigh. "I... I suppose that would be for the best."

Will turned his attention back to his crewmates as he felt the Mantis level off and slow. "Don't shoot unless they do first."

Eleena let out a sigh. "If you think you can negotiate our way out of this-"

"I don't," Will quickly interjected. "But I wanna get as much information out of them as possible before we kill these sons of bitches."

The Mantis shook gently as it set down onto the surface of Logasiri, the black dirt splashing out from where the landing gears made themselves welcome. Kallux killed the thrusters and stepped down from the cockpit to join the others. With his cannon inoperable the krogan pulled reached for his pistol with a sigh.

"I feel like I might not be contributing as much this time," he lamented with a weak grin.

Will reached for his Carnifex and held it out to Kallux with a nod. The krogan slid his sidearm into his offhand and grabbed Will's pistol with a small laugh. He held up the two pistols and pointed them out the rear hatch to get a feel for the aim. He gave a barely noticeable wince from the pain of the broken bones in his left hand.

"Now let's hope my rifle doesn't seize up." Will smirked and took a deep breath. "I trust the three of you. Let's get this done."

He stepped from the Mantis with his rifle lowered but draped across his chest and turned toward the valley that was formed by the two small ships. Eleena, Tul and Kallux all moved with him and quickened their pace to walk at his side as Will led them toward the group of waiting batarians. Will looked over the potential battlefield as they approached. Standing at the center was an authoritative looking soldier with two thick, black lines painted onto the neck of his armor: Narek. Beside him on her knees was a smaller figure that could only be Shansa. She was wearing one of the light and defenseless space-suits kept on board in the case of an evacuation. Scattered around them were five other batarian soldiers all fully armed and armored. Will also noticed a pair of unarmed batarians by the airlock of the Sommesh corvette loading a small crate into the ship.

"You're lucky I'm relatively patient," Narek called to them as the crew reached ear-shot.

There was a short silence as Will walked to what he thought was a good distance and came to a stop with his squad standing at his sides. He had made sure that there were two sizable boulders within a few meters of their position.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Will replied. "Shansa, you okay?"

Shansa looked understandably worried. "I'm fine." Her voice echoed slightly as it drifted from her suit's external speaker.

"Good." Will turned his attention back to Narek. "I'd like to keep it that way."

"Would you?" The batarian inquired as his hands crossed over his chest.

Will smirked and gave a small chuckle. "Look, Narek, let's cut the bullshit, alright?" He nodded toward the closing airlock of the batarian ship. "You've got your damn ball. Just go play with your buddy Ag'aren and leave us the hell alone."

Narek nodded regrettably. "I do wish things could be that simple."

"Hey, shithead, it can be," Eleena responded with venom in her voice. "Just walk the fuck away."

"That's not going to happen," the batarian stated bluntly. "You've killed too many of my people for me to just let leave unpunished."

Kallux let out a laugh and shook his head. "Unpunished? You torture and murder people in cold blood and think we're the ones that can't go unpunished?" He scoffed and his fingers tightened around the grips of his pistols. "You're the very definition of hypocrisy."

"Those who die to further our work have not been 'murdered', krogan." Narek's voice had grown cold. "Project Sommesh follows different rules than you or the rest of the galaxy."

"You're insane," Shansa declared weakly.

Will glanced to her worriedly and quickly attempted to dismiss the comment. "Just tell us what this is all about, Narek. What is that thing and why do you want it so badly?"

The batarian shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you haven't earned the right to that knowledge. And now it's time to us to leave."

Narek reached down to his holster and grabbed his pistol. The batarian's arm then swung across his body to bring the barrel of the gun in line with Shansa's head and wrapped his finger around the trigger. As Will felt himself tense with fear a ball of purple and blue biotic energy erupted from his side and engulfed Eleena as she rocketed forward. In a fraction of a second the asari had charged the dozen meters to Narek and with a deep thud rammed him square in the chest, sending him tumbling backward. A tempest of bullets filled the air as the crews of both ships delved into battle. Will, Tul and Kallux dove for cover while unloading their weapons downrange as Eleena pulled herself into cover with her fists still glowing with biotic power. Half of the batarians, realizing they were standing in the open, jumped for cover as they took fire while the others continued to blast shots into the rocks that the squad hid behind.

Will leaned from cover and looked to where Eleena had charged in to attack Narek. The batarian was pulling himself to his feet and, much to Will's relief, Shansa had quickly crawled away and was pressed up against a rock near Eleena. A chuck of boulder exploded beside Will's head and he turned his attention to the batarian soldier firing on him. Will realized that he and a few other Sommesh soldiers had taken cover near the same rock and reached for the unused grenade on his belt. With a powerful toss the grenade rolled to the side of the boulder and exploded, sending two of the batarians to the ground. Meanwhile, the others found themselves stuck in overlapping fields of fire as Eleena unleashed a burst from her SMG onto them from their flank.

Narek shouted angrily to his soldiers as he picked up his rifle and turned to spray Eleena's cover with suppressing fire. The other batarians joined his lead and trained all four of the remaining guns on her and the nearby Shansa. As Tul and Kallux fired on the batarian's enraged and exposed leader, Will placed a series of well-aimed shots into the head of one of his underlings. Eleena and Shansa, however, had no choice but to cower behind cover as the rocks were chipped away under the intense gunfire. Narek's shields flared and dropped under the pressure from Tul and Kallux and ducked down as he bullets pierced his armor.

"My shields are down!" Eleena yelled over the comms.

Will glanced to the asari to see that her cover had all but deteriorated. A shout of pain rang out over the comms and a stream of purple blood burst from Eleena's left arm. Kallux quickly rose from cover and ran forward in an attempt to draw the fire of the remaining batarians. Narek was still nowhere to be seen, but the three others turned their rifles immediately to the exposed krogan and continued their barrage. Kallux's shields all but depleted in a matter of seconds forcing him to dive for the cover of another rock while the combined fire of Will and Tul brought down two more of the Sommesh soldiers as they exposed themselves in an attempt to finish the krogan off. Will watched from safety as Eleena to rose up from her position, her left arm bleeding, and riddled the remaining batarian with bullets.

With the field empty Will darted from cover and ran toward the spot where he had seen Narek fall, opening his mic as he ran. "Eleena, how bad?"

"Applying medi-gel, I'll be fine," the asari replied.

"Tul, Kallux?" Will slowed as he approached the rock with his rifle at the ready.

"Fine," they both responded.

As Will rounded the boulder he narrowed his eyes at the sight of Narek laying in a puddle of blood, shaking involuntarily. The batarian's rifle had fallen a few feet away, but his hand rested firmly on his pistol.

"Why are you doing this?" Will demanded. "What is this all for?"

The corvette's engines roared and dust clouded around them as the batarian ship rose into the sky with the artifact still safely aboard. Narek gave a feeble cough and raised his sidearm to Will's chest, but before he could pull the trigger a burst from the human's rifle ripped through the batarian's helmet. The commander fell limp.

"Will..." Shansa's voice called faintly.

He lowered his weapon and scanned the rocks behind him for the bullet ridden rock that he had seen Shansa crawl to. Will hurried to her as Eleena stepped out from cover to meet him there. As he walked around the rock he felt the grip on his rifle loosen as the M-15 easily slipped from his hand and fell to the black dirt. Shansa, Eleena and Will all stared in silence at the trio of blood-gushing bullet holes in the emergency space-suit's chestpiece.

Author's Note

Thank you all for the sudden influx of reviews. Not sure why it says the story only has two when there are in fact five or six, but I guess that's technology for you.