The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire

Chapter 25

ISV Trueshot, Omega

Will had spent an hour watching Eleena as she meticulously replaced the small yet crucial components of the starboard ship-to-ship cannon. He was growing impatient waiting for Vayren and Fynnis to finish formulating their plan. After deciding to wander he stood and gave Eleena a kiss goodbye, which she accepted before quickly jumping back into her work without skipping a beat. Will walked toward the cargo bay's exit and looked over to the wall where the armory was located. Kallux worked at his workbench while Kay stood at his side, eagerly watching and asking questions about his weapon as he broke it down for maintenance. Will continued through the hallway and into the crews quarters where he saw Shansa sitting with her elbow on the table and cheek resting in her palm. Her eyes were locked on the holopad in front of her as the door opened, but soon flicked up to see Will standing in the doorway.

"Heya," she said with a small smile.

He smiled in return and walked to the kitchenette. "Hey yourself. How are you doing, Shan?"

Shansa shrugged softly and looked back down at the extranet page she had been reading. "I'm... okay."

"You don't sound entirely convinced," he said with a small chuckle.

Will grabbed a drink from the cooler and turned to sit at the table beside her. She continued to stare down at the holopad with the hint of a frown hanging on her lips. He took a sip from his drink and raised a brow in concern.

"Shansa?"

She blinked and looked up. "Sorry. I'm a little distracted."

He furrowed his brow. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing major," she said meekly. "I've just been thinking about how nice it is to see everyone together again." Shansa let out a small laugh. "Even my sister! God, I never in a million years expected that."

"And seeing everyone is making you said?" Will asked, audibly confused.

Shansa shook her head. "No! No, of course not." She sighed softly. "I just... I wish Tul'Sorrin was here with us."

Will looked down to the table and nodded softly. "Yeah. Me too."

She shook her head. "I just don't... I don't understand why he left. I thought we needed each other after you were gone."

"Maybe he didn't have enough reason to stay?" He suggested.

Shansa gave him a pained frown. "That can't be it. We were..." She let out an exasperated sigh. "We becoming so close just before you died."

Will raised his brows. "'Close?'"

She shot him a quick glance. "Yes."

He paused for a moment. He knew that Shansa had been interested in Tul'Sorrin, but he had never found out of the quarian felt the same way.

"You never told me where he went," Will reminded her.

"Because I promised I wouldn't," Shansa replied.

He shook his head. "But you just let him leave? Even after you two were-"

"I didn't think he would be gone for so long," she interrupted.

Shansa placed her hand over her eyes and took in a deep breath to collect herself.

"Sorry. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I just miss him."

"I didn't realize how much he meant to you," Will said quietly.

"We were just getting to know each other on that... really personal level, you know?" Shansa sighed and looked down to the table. "And he promised he'd come back. But how long am I supposed to wait for him?"

Will shook his head in uncertainty as he responded. "As long as you want to. How long do you think you can wait before it's just not worth it?"

Shansa frowned and shook her head. "I don't know! I don't know, Will. If I knew the answer to that question I wouldn't have this problem." She looked over to him. "I don't even know if we were really compatible or just lonely."

"Then maybe that's your answer," he said. "Maybe you need to see how you feel about some other people before you decide Tul's the one to wait for."

Shansa nodded gently. "You may be right, Will. I should meet some people. I need to find out what I really want."

Will smiled and reached over to put his hand on her shoulder. "How about after all this is over we head to the bar and you start chatting up some cute strangers," he suggested while sipping down the last of his drink.

She blushed and shook her head quickly. "Oh, no, I couldn't do that. Talking to strangers face to face is bad enough, you want me to flirt with them? No, no, no."

He laughed and stood up from the table. "Maybe you can join a piloting club then. Find some people with common interests."

"Okay, okay, you've already solved my initial problem," Shansa objected with a chuckle. "I'll figure out the rest!"

"Let's get to business," Vayren said curtly.

Will and Kay stood on one side of the meeting table while Vayren and Fynnis stood on the other. The salarian was bringing up files and correlating pieces of data while the turian leaned back with his arms crossed.

"We have the names of a few ships," Vayren continued. "We believe they belong to the Blue Suns and operate within the Omega Nebula, given how frequently they dock with the station."

"So, do you still think our best option is sneaking onto one of the ships and stealing their records?" Will asked.

"Yes," Vayren answered.

Kay grinned. "So we head on down to one of their berths and perform a little smash and grab?"

"That is where I object," Vayren stated firmly. "Infiltrating an outpost or base is one thing, but a ship is something else entirely. A standalone structure provides dozens of possible entry points and methods of infiltration. But a docked ship typically only has one or two ways in and out."

"Sounds like you know from experience?" Will inquired.

The salarian chuckled. "For better or worse, yes."

Kay narrowed her eyes. "So the port is a no go? Then how do we do it? I mean, we can't just roll up next to them when they're out in space and ask to come aboard. Seems like catching them while they're docked is our best option."

Fynnis leaned forward to enter the conversation, speaking slowly as though he was convincing himself of his own thoughts. "Docked, yes. But in a port? Not necessarily," he said. "What if we camped out at one of the fuel depots on the edge of the system and hit them there? Think about it: if things go south, they'll be hours of FTL away from reinforcements. Plus, jamming a comm signal that relies on a buoy for transmission is way easier than a short-range, point to point connection that you can use over a few miles. You know, the connections they use here on Omega."

"How exactly would we do that?" Will inquired. "Do fuel stations even allow people to come on board?"

"Not typically," Vayren answered as he considered the option. "We may have to convince the platform's operator to let us dock and disembark for an extended amount of time."

Kay glanced over to Will, clearly unconvinced. "Sounds like we need to investigate whether or not this is even possible."

He nodded in agreement. "Definitely. Vayren, could we contact the fuel depots in the system and find out if we can disembark while fueling up? And how often they typically see a Blue Suns ship?"

"I suppose we could," the Spectre answered. "But those questions may come off as rather suspicious."

"Yeah, scrap the first one," Fynnis suggested. "I think we'd have a better chance if we faked a mechanical failure while fueling." He looked around to the others. "That would let us sit around for a little while and 'make repairs.'"

"That's actually not a bad idea," Vayren complimented. "Alright. I'll send a message out to all the fuel stations in the system asking about Blue Suns activity. Under the guise of an official military inquiry, or something like that."

Will stepped back with a smile. "Great. Kay, let's get the crew ready for departure." He looked back to Vayren and Fynnis with an appreciative nod. "Good work, you two. Let me know when we've got a target with the highest potential."

Kay and Will turned and marched toward the stairs at the back of the operations center.

"Damn glad we have Vayren with us," Kay mentioned.

Will chuckled as they hurried down the stairs. "Come on now, Fynnis is doing a damn good job as well."

"Yeah, I guess so," Kay said with an air of pride. "Feels good that he's able to do more than just hack bank terminals and safes on Omega."

Will decided to keep the information that Fynnis had revealed to him quiet. If Fynnis had not told his sole crewmate the truth about his past employment, he certainly wasn't going to go spouting it off to her.

"Hit the cargo bay and make sure everyone there is set to go," Kay said as they reached the end of the hall. "I'll get the crew's quarters and bunkroom."

He nodded and continued on. Will stepped into the cargo bay and crossed the room to where Eleena was still working on the starboard battery. She gave him a sideways glace as he approached and put her omnitool in standby.

Eleena grinned and turned to face him. "Hey, Willie."

He came to a stop and groaned. "Eleena..."

"Teasing," she said with a snicker. "Vayren and Fynnis find anything?"

"Yep. I'll fill everyone in after we've cast off," Will replied. "You need anything before we leave port?"

The asari shook her head and planted her hands on her hips. "Nope. I've got everything I need."

He smiled at what looked like a smudge of oil across the purple skin of her cheek. "How's the work going?"

"Damn good!" She answered excitedly. "I'm glad you asked. This battery should be operational in a few hours. It'll need some major calibrations to really pack a punch, of course, but it will shoot."

Will raised his brows. "Really? That was fast."

Eleena gave him a cocky grin. "Will, please, you've seen my work before. No need to feign surprise."

Will smirked and stepped closer to her, placing his hands on her hips. "Alright, alright, don't gettoo full of yourself."

They pressed their bodies together and she brushed her lips to his ear. "Confidence is part of the package, Will. You should know that by now."

"Confidence or cockiness?" He teased.

Eleena chuckled softly and slid her hands around to his backside. "Does it really matter when I can actually back it up?"

The gruff voice of their krogan companion called from across the room. "You two need me to leave?"

They quickly separated and turned to face the rear of the cargo bay where Kallux was leaning against the workbench. Will cleared his throat and shook his head.

"Uh, no. Sorry. I kind of forgot you were in here," he said nervously.

Kallux smirked. "Uh huh." He shook his head and looked back to his workbench. "Glad you two are back to your normal selves."

Will and Eleena shared a quick glance and smile.

"It took a little while," she said. "But I'm glad too."

Will gave her a wink and held up a finger as he started off across the room. "By the way, Kallux, we're going to be heading out of port for a few days. You sure you want to help? If you need to stay on Omega..."

The krogan turned back to Will once again as he approached. "No, I'm with you, Hume. I'm not going to help find Janson by sitting in a safehouse on Omega. I've already placed Malylen in command until further notice."

Will took a deep breath and cracked a tiny smile. "Thanks, Kallux. I really do appreciate your help."

Kallux parted his lips just barely, but decided against speaking and simply nodded in return.

"Do you need anything before we leave?" Will asked.

"No. I'm ready," he replied in gravelly determination.

Will smirked. "Good. Now let's hope the Blue Suns aren't."

After casting off, Shansa brought the Trueshot out of the asteroid belt and waited for a destination. Less than an hour later, Fynnis and Vayren had decided on their destination: Sahrabarik Fuel Depot 3. It was by far the most isolated of the fuel stations in the system, which lent credence to the reports of frequent gang presence. The flight took only six hours, most of which time Will spent talking to Eleena as she worked tirelessly on the starboard gun battery. After receiving a ten minute warning for their exit out of FTL, Will returned to the upper deck and stood behind Shansa as she prepared for deceleration.

"Bringing us out... now."

Shansa sat comfortably in the pilot's seat as she controlled the ship with unflinching grace. Will leaned down to get a better view out the forward viewport. Dead ahead of them the behemoth fuel station floated along with nearly a dozen ships attached at various points like slick, metallic remora fish suctioned to the belly of a whale. Shansa tapped a few buttons on the comm panel and cleared her throat as she waited for a soft ping to indicate the connected channel.

"This is ISV Trueshot, requesting permission to dock for refueling," Shansa declared calmly.

A few seconds later the voice of a turian replied. "Request received and accepted. Proceed to dock at bay 16."

"Proceeding to bay 16," Shansa repeated. "Thank you."

The Trueshot arced into a turn that would bring them in line with their assignment. Shansa's eyes darted between a pair of monitors as she controlled their smooth approach into the docking armatures of the station. Will looked back to one of the crew stations on the port side of the operations center where Fynnis sat tapping away. Kay and Vayren stood behind him watching in silent approval.

"Any Blue Suns silhouettes?" Will asked.

"Not one," Fynnis answered slowly.

"We're docked," Shansa announced.

Kay yawned and gave her a thumbs up. "Great. Prep the 'mechanical failure.'"

"Already done," Shansa said with a nervous smile.

Together they waited patiently as the depot made contact with the ship and began refueling, a process that would normally take between thirty minutes and an hour. After ten minutes, however, Kay crossed her arms and gave Shansa the signal to proceed. The pilot reached for her prepared actions on the flight control system. She tapped through the multitude of warning dialogues that appeared before finally executing their plan. The ship shook as two of the recycled air tanks on the starboard side of the ship violently vented their contents into the vacuum of space.

"Think that was convincing enough?" Shansa asked hopefully.

"Scared me," Fynnis replied. "And I knew it was coming."

She laughed nervously. "Alright, everyone quiet. Ahem." Shansa opened a comm channel to the station and put on the most startled tone she could. "Station control! This is ISV Trueshot, we have suffered a catastrophic system failure in one of our life support systems!"

"Affirmative," a voice responded immediately. "We saw it from here. Do you require emergency aid?"

"Negative, negative," Shansa replied. "The failure was isolated to the main system. It looks like our backups are holding at acceptable levels."

"Understood."

Shansa bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Requesting permission to remain docked while our engineer investigates the failure."

The controller waited a second longer before responding with clear reluctance. "Granted, Trueshot. Keep us updated on your progress. If it helps, our scanners were clear of debris in collision range."

"I'll pass that along," Shansa replied. "Thank you for your assistance, control. I'll report when we determine whether or not the failure was internal or external."

She reached for the comm panel and terminated the signal before spinning in her chair to face the others with nervously clenched teeth.

"Well?"

Kay reached forward and gave her a smack on the shoulder. "Sounded convincing to me."

Vayren nodded in agreement. "Quite. Now, Fynnis and I need to work on getting into their network."

Shansa spun back to her controls. "And in a little over two hours I'll send our update requesting permission to fully dock for power, air and water."

"Let's wait a bit longer," Vayren suggested. "They must be convinced that the problem is severe and that spaceflight is too risky for us to undertake."

"Okay... six hours?" Shansa asked.

"Sounds good," Will said. "But send them one or two bullshit updates before then. Ask Eleena for some technical terms to make it sound legitimate." He turned and walked back toward one of the crew stations. "I'll get on the scanners and watch the arriving ships."

Vayren motioned to Fynnis and the two returned to another crew station to begin working their way into the fuel depot's internal network. Kay furrowed her brow and looked around the operations center.

"What about me and rest of the crew?" She asked.

Fynnis looked back over his shoulder and laughed. "You all get the hard job: sit and wait."