The Red Moon Collection - 5 - The Empty Night
Chapter 29
Zakera Ward, The Citadel
"Eleena."
The elder asari spoke the single word at barely more than a whisper, but it was all one needed to hear to tell that long life of manual labor had coarsened it. The younger asari stood and moved out of her shadow to stand beside her.
"Mother?" She asked. "Is this…"
Eleena stepped forward and turned her eyes from her mother. "Menaere?"
The younger asari stared back to Eleena and took in a deep breath. "You're Eleena," she stated.
Will and Eleena's mother watched silently as the two sisters met one another for the first time.
Eleena smiled softly and slid her SMG into the holster on her back. "Yeah." She nodded and stepped forward. "Yeah, I'm Eleena."
Menaere looked her sister up and down. "Mother doesn't talk about you much."
Eleena let out a small laugh. "I only found out you existed last week."
"Yeah… I made her tell you," Menaere said with a soft smirk.
After a brief moment of silence, the two sisters closed the gap between them and embraced one another in a gentle hug. They held it for just a few seconds before parting. Eleena took a deep breath and shook her head.
"This is a lot to take in," she said.
The elder asari cleared her throat and asserted herself. "Eleena. Is it safe out there?"
Eleena shot her mother a look. "No. It's not." She stepped back and turned her head to Will. "Mother, Menaere, this is my bondmate, Will."
He reached up and removed his helmet. "Uh, hello. It's nice to meet you," he said as he extended a hand. "William Hume."
"Sevora Tessolae," Eleena's mother remarked as she took his hand. "Eleena, I… did not expect you to have a bondmate."
"Glad I could surprise you. And, by the way, he means damn near everything to me," Eleena stated rather bluntly. Her voice was sternly serious. "You had better treat him with more respect than you ever treated dad."
Sevora slowly retracted her arm as their hands parted. "Eleena-"
"Don't," she interrupted. "Whatever it is you have to say can wait."
After a short pause Will offered his hand to Menaere. The younger asari looked him over curiously as she obliged in shaking his hand.
"It's nice to meet you," Will said.
Menaere gave him a sympathetic smile. Clearly she felt as awkward about Eleena and her mother's reunion as Will did.
"It's very nice to meet you, too," she replied. "Are you a C-Sec officer?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "Sadly, no. Someone just leant me the armor. Eleena and I just run our own cargo hauling company."
Menaere smiled softly. "That's wonderful."
Will glanced to Eleena. "I'm going to send off a message to Shansa and get an update on their situation."
Eleena nodded as Menaere turned back to her and Will stepped back to begin typing a message out on his omnitool. Menaere nodded to a crate sitting outside their shelter before taking a seat with Eleena just beside her. Sevora crossed her arms and watched quietly as her daughters looked to one another and spoke.
"What, um... what are you doing these days?" Eleena asked. "I mean, what were you doing before the war started. When I was your age I was already getting contract jobs in the local shipyards."
Menaere smiled bashfully. "I'm attending university."
"Whoa, really?" Eleena laughed warmly. "You're the first one in the family! I mean, assuming I don't have another sister that you didn't tell me about," she said, looking toward her mother.
Sevora shook her head. "No. She's the only one."
Eleena frowned and looked back to Menaere. "I can't believe I haven't asked, but… your father?"
The younger asari looked away. "Oh. He died a few years ago. It was his time."
"Alentus," Sevora added.
Eleena raised a brow. "Turian?"
Her mother smirked softly. "I have a type."
Will stepped back toward the group and cleared his throat. "Shansa says C-Sec is in the process of taking back control. Now that the networks are back up they're able to coordinate properly. By the sounds of things Cerberus is already beginning their retreat."
"Any way to verify that?" Eleena asked.
"It was Vayren that told Shansa all of this," Will replied. "I have to imagine he's in the loop."
Eleena let out a sigh of relief. "How are the others?"
"Sounds like everyone is fine," he answered. "They're making their way back to the ship."
Sevora and Menaere listened intently.
"There's a lot about our lives that I'll have to fill you two in on," Eleena informed them, seeing their interest.
"It's not just you," Menaere reminded her.
Eleena smiled and turned her attention back to her sister. "I guess that's true. So, university, huh? On Cyone?"
Menaere nodded. "Yep."
"One of the best on the planet," Sevora announced proudly.
"Aheh, it's a good a school," Menaere countered.
Eleena leaned back on her hands. "Whatcha studying?"
"I'm actually starting law courses this semester," she answered. "Well, I might be if the university still exists when this is over."
"Wow!" Eleena beamed. "You want to be a lawyer?"
Will stood to the side and leaned back against the wall of a neighboring refugee shelter where he remained alert and stood guard as the sisters talked. He had not heard any significant disruptions since they had arrived, lending more credence to Vayren's report that Cerberus was being driven off of the station. Occasionally, Will looked over to see Sevora watching her daughters from the doorway with a look of contentment hanging upon her features. However, along with that contentment came the slightest bit of what looked like anxiety and guilt. He could not know for sure, but it was fairly easy to assume why she was having such conflicting feelings. Over the next half hour Eleena and Menaere seemed to forget that Will and Sevora were even present, instead focusing entirely on learning about one another as though they would have no other opportunity to do so. Will periodically checked in with Shansa to see that the good news was indeed getting better: Cerberus had been pushed off the station in all but a handful of locations, and those that remained were currently being pursued by C-Sec for capture.
"Isn't that right, Will?" Eleena said with a laugh.
Upon hearing his name Will blinked and looked up from his omnitool. "I'm sorry, what? I was reading this message from Shansa."
Eleena raised her brows. "What's the news?"
"Sounds like everything is under control," he answered. "For the most part."
"Shit, thank the goddess," Eleena said with a sigh of relief.
"The C-Sec public emergency broadcasts seem to indicate the same," Will added. "They're still advising people stay in their homes for the time being, though."
"Hmm, just advising though..." Eleena paused for a moment and glanced over to Sevora. "Will, would you be willing to link up with Shansa and the others while I spend a little more time with them?"
Will furrowed his brow. "Are you sure?"
Eleena nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's time I had a private conversation with my mother."
"If you need to speak with her privately, perhaps I could accompany Will," Menaere suggested.
Sevora and Eleena scoffed and spoke in unison. "Absolutely not."
Menaere narrowed her eyes. "I've been confined to this shipping container for weeks! I need to get out for even just a few minutes." She glanced over to Will. "And I would like to be able to talk to someone while you two bitch at each other."
"I… we aren't going to just 'bitch' at each other," Eleena remarked, clearly flustered.
"Whatever you want to call it," Menaere said. "I know you two have a lot of air to clear. Mother, you know that I was exceptional in all of my self-defense courses so there's nothing for you to worry about. If anything comes up I'll be fine."
"You don't even know where he is going," her mother countered.
"Probably back to our ship," Will replied. "It's docked on one of the other wards."
Sevora shook her head. "Menaera-"
"Mother." She interrupted. "I am an adult."
Sevora glanced to her elder daughter. "Eleena. Can your bondmate keep her safe?"
"Absolutely. I'd trust him with anything," she replied.
"Fine," Sevora relented. "Now if you wish to talk, Eleena, then let's talk."
Will locked eyes with Eleena. The asari gave him an apologetic frown and crossed her arms.
"We won't be long," she assured him.
With a nod of acknowledgment, Will glanced to Menaere and gave her an amicable smile. "Then I guess we're leaving. Do you have an omnitool?"
She nodded as they set off down the aisle of refugee shelters. "Of course."
"Here, I'll send you my contact information," Will said.
He tapped a few commands into his omnitool to send her a message before opening a comm channel to Shansa. After a few pings the connection opened and a familiar voice greeted him.
"Hey Will! Everything okay?"
"Assuming the Cerberus situation is as contained as you say it is," he replied.
"Vayren is sure of it," she said. "Did you find Eleena's mother?"
"Yeah, actually. Any chance you would be able to come pick me up from Zakera?"
"In the Kodiak? I'm a little busy, but I bet Kallux would love to!" Shansa answered. "I'll ping him."
"That'd be fantastic," Will said. "Let me know if he can't and I'll figure something out."
"Can do. See you in a bit," she replied.
He cut the transmission and looked over to his sister-in-law. From somewhere in the back of his head Will recalled knowledge of asari body language that he had inherited subconsciously from numerous bondings with Eleena. Menaere's movements were clearly not as mature or confident as some of the other asari he knew such as Eleena or T'Lees, but they did indicate that she was well into her early adult years.
"So," Will said, breaking the silence. "How long have you been in university?"
The asari kept her eyes ahead as they marched toward an exit. "Five years. Well, five and a half."
"I'll admit, I don't know much about asari education standards," Will chuckled.
"A typical university education is ten to twelve years, but if do end up going through with the law degree then it'll be longer," she replied. "I actually started a little late… the standard age is early to mid-fifties."
Will tilted his head in consideration. "Huh."
The pair slowed as they approached the doors. Will held up a cautious hand and stepped ahead.
"Let me go first, just in case," he said.
She nodded and stepped behind him as they walked into the short hall and through the opened set of doors on the street. Will looked up and down to see no sign of Cerberus movement, and quite a few civilians returning to the street.
"I think we're safe."
Together they stepped out onto the sidewalk.
"I hope you're ready to meet a lot of people," Will laughed.
Menaere glanced over to him as he led the way toward a public landing pad. "Oh? You have a large crew?"
"Huge now that the war is on," Will answered. "And technically we're traveling with two ships."
"Goddess, are you the admiral of an armada?"
Will snorted and shook his head. "No, just friends banding together."
"So how many of you are there?" Menaere inquired.
They came to a stop beside a landing pad that Will had suggested as the pick up location. Kallux had sent him a simple affirmation upon receiving the coordinates, answering the question of whether or not the krogan would be their designated pilot.
"Damn, let's see," he answered, pondering the question. "There's Shansa, of course. My oldest friend and the captain of Aberrant. Our other ship, Trueshot, actually belongs to her sister, Kay, but Eleena and I had been using it for our business for the past couple of years. There's Kay's bondmate and our old friend, T'Lees, as well as their daughter, Rosie. Kallux, the krogan who is coming to pick us up. Bo, a member of Shansa's crew. Fynnis, who up until recently commanded another ship in our 'armada,' and one of his crewmates, Binta. There's Sai, a raloi that we're working with under the authority of the Turvess government. Tul'Sorrin, another old friend. And of course, Seltara and Vayren, the unstoppable salarian duo."
Each name and description had received a different reaction from the last. Upon realizing that the list was complete, Menaere gave him a slow nod.
"So fourteen of you?"
"I think that's right," Will replied. "I guess I don't really keep the tally going in my head."
Menaere crossed her arms. "What have you all been doing since the war broke out?"
"Gathering up all of the people I just rattled off," Will answered with a small laugh. "Many of them from combat zones."
"Really?" The asari peered at him curiously. "You've been fighting? Regularly?"
"Pretty damn regularly, yeah," he answered. "And that's all because of how Eleena and I met and how that steered the past decade or so of our lives. But I'll let her have the honor of telling that story."
Menaere raised her brows in surprise. "Color me intrigued."
"You'll have to wait. I don't want to steal her thunder," Will said with a smile. "What about you and your mother? When did you arrive on the Citadel?"
"Two weeks ago?" Menaere answered, clearly unsure. "It's hard to keep track, honestly. The days here are so different."
Will recalled Eleena's mentions of her home planet's extended nights. "They're long on Cyone, right?"
"Very. Almost twice a standard day," she said.
"And you've just been confined to the refugee camp?" Will asked.
Menaere smirked. "Not officially, but we didn't want to stray far. Mother retired from the fuel platforms a few years ago, but they're running non-stop refueling the fleets now. She might get called back to work if they get desperate for labor."
"I hadn't thought much about that," Will said. "The civilian side of total war."
The asari frowned softly. "It's all I've been able to think about in the refugee camp. I talked to people who had left half of their family stay behind to continue working the mines or farms or factories. If you think about how much automation those people oversee, losing just one of those organic cogs from the machine could leave hundreds of thousands of people without food."
Before Will could respond a Kodiak roared out of the sky and down toward the landing pad in front of them. The shuttle settled to the ground with the thrusters still idling.
"Wow, you have your own military shuttle?" Menaere asked.
"It's not technically mine," he answered. "And we actually have two."
The side hatch hissed and lifted up to reveal Kallux and Tul'Sorrin.
"Damn glad you're safe!" Kallux declared as he jumped to the ground. "And… I thought you had met with Eleena?"
Tul'Sorrin dropped to the ground beside him. "Will, did you already forget what she looks like?"
Will smirked. "Hilarious. Kallux, Tul, this is actually Eleena's sister, Menaere."
Kallux straightened his posture. "Sister? I… wasn't aware she had any immediate family."
"We only just met each other about an hour ago," Menaere remarked.
"And that means Eleena is… where, exactly?" Tul inquired.
"She and her mother are talking privately," Will answered. "There's a lot that they need to say and they don't want to have to do it while juggling introductions."
"Fair enough," Kallux remarked while stepped forward. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Menaere. As Hume said, my name's Raik Kallux."
He extended a hand to the asari. She was obviously not particularly phased by the krogan as she smiled warmly and shook the hand courteously. Tul soon offered his hand to the asari as well, to which she also reciprocated kindly.
"Tul'Sorrin," the quarian repeated.
"It's nice to meet you both," Menaere said, retracting her hand. "You are both acquaintances of my sister?"
"A lot more than that," Will answered. "We've known each other a long, long time."
Menaere smirked and gave him a sideways glance. "Is that so?"
"Well, maybe not a long time for an asari or krogan," Will answered with a grin. "Now come on, let's get to the ship."
Kallux nodded in agreement and turned to lead them back into the shuttle.
It was a short flight back to the Aberrant, but Will made a mental note to thank Vayren once again for enabling them to bypass a C-Sec security checkpoint thanks to his Spectre-granted security clearance. Most of the crew had already returned to the ship by the time they landed, with more arriving shortly afterward. Vayren and Sai were the only two that reported they would not be returning immediately. Menaere followed Will as he toured the ship and checked in on the crew, introducing Eleena's sister as he did. Eventually he wound up on the bridge where Shansa and Fynnis were standing over the holoprojector at the center of the command center. Will overheard the tail end of the conversation as he and Menaere approached them.
"It's just unbelievable," Shansa said to Fynnis. "If Cerberus could cause this much chaos on the Citadel, imagine what a full-scale Reaper assault would do."
"It's hard to compare. They snuck in," Fynnis pointed out. "Most of the Citadel's security from the Reapers is based on have the fleets protect it."
"You and I both know that the Citadel fleet would be wiped out of existence the second the Reapers arrive en masse," Shansa said solemnly. "And unless they get the ward arms shut and prevent Reaper troops from getting inside…"
"Mind if interrupt this uplifting conversation?" Will asked as he came to stand on the opposite side of the projector.
"Will!" Shansa raised a brow. "Where's Eleena? And who…?"
Will held a hand toward the asari that stood beside him. "Shansa, Fynnis, this is Menaere. Eleena's sister."
Fynnis responded to the introduction with a small nod of consideration, while Shansa's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"Her sister?" Shansa remarked. "Sister!"
She hurried around the holoprojector with wide arms. Although clearly surprised, Menaere graciously accepted the hug that Shansa offered and chuckled softly as she leaned back and nodded.
"Yes, Eleena's sister," Menaere confirmed. "And judging by your reaction I'm going to assume that she and you are good friends."
"One of my best!" Shansa affirmed gleefully. "It's so wonderful to meet you! Menaere, was it? I'm Shansa!"
Menaere bowed her head. "Wonderful to meet you as well, Shansa." She looked over to the turian who stood on the opposite side of the table. "And Fynnis."
The turian nodded. "Great to meet you." He glanced to Will. "Is Eleena alright?"
"Yeah," Will answered. "She and her mother are back at the refugee camp talking over… well, a lot of things."
"Hmm." Fynnis glanced over to Shansa. "I should probably go check in on Binta. She sent me a message saying that she made it back to the ship."
Shansa smiled in response. "Sure."
As the turian left Shansa looked back to Menaere and took a deep, excited breath. "So you're Eleena's younger sister, I assume?"
Menaere nodded. "That's right."
"And she's been cooped up with the other refugees for a few weeks now," Will added. "So she decided to tag along with me to see what kind of degenerates her sister slums around with."
Menaere scoffed. "Oh, please. You all seem like lovely people." She looked around and shook her head. "And this ship is amazing!"
Shansa beamed and placed her hands on her hips. "Isn't it, though? The way we managed to get our hands on it… now that's a story!"
"One that Eleena is going to tell Menaere all about," Will interjected.
"Do you mind if I look around?" The asari asked.
"Not at all," Shansa replied.
Menaere smiled and turned to walk toward the cockpit with curious eyes as Shansa turned to Will and spoke with a lowered voice.
"Is she going to be coming with us?" Shansa asked.
Will shook his head. "I don't know what Eleena's plans were. Honestly we only rushed into finding them because of the attack."
Shansa nodded understandingly. "I mean, I would feel bad leaving them here…"
"I thought the same thing," Will said. "And it made me think about what Kallux said back at the research station on Lorek. You know, about having a base of operations?"
"Oh, right," Shansa recalled. "That village in the mountains on Lorek."
"Exactly. If we have a permanent place to stay we wouldn't have to relegate one of the ships to just ferrying around people like Rosie, or Eleena's family."
"I'll send a message out to the others about it," Shansa decided. "I think it's worth investigating."
Will crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby console. "Have you heard anything back about Bo or Lectus?"
"Only that they made it to the hospital shortly before Cerberus attacked," Shansa replied. "I haven't heard back since, but Vayren says the hospitals have additional levels of security that might have them still on lockdown."
"We should find out sooner rather than later," Will said. "If we're going to Lorek to investigate that village I want to do it fast. Hearing what you and Fynnis were talking about… I don't know, I just always felt like the Citadel was the safest place to be. Now I'm not so sure."
Shansa frowned. "Yeah… I think the others will be open to the idea. Do you know when we're expecting Eleena to get back?"
"No idea," Will said with a sigh.
"Eleena's mother must have done something really terrible for Eleena to cut her out of her life like that," Shansa pondered aloud.
He raised a brow. "Did she never tell you?"
Shansa shook her head. "No."
Will glanced over to see Menaere had wandered into the hall behind the bridge and was seemingly poised to explore the remainder of the ship. Feeling that she was out of audible range, Will looked back to Shansa and glanced toward the ground.
"This is all Eleena's side of the story, of course, but apparently Sevora was… a bit of a party girl when Eleena was young. She worked on the fuel platforms and made all sorts of excuses to stay there instead of spending time with Eleena and her father," Will explained. "She gambled away a lot of their money and was less than faithful to Eleena's father."
Shansa frowned and crossed her arms. "I guess I can see why Eleena cut her out now."
"Eleena was able to put up with all of that," Will said. "But the final straw was something her mother did years after Eleena's father had passed away. The two of them, Eleena and her dad, they had spent most of his later years working on an old skycar. Fixing it up and all that was the way they could spend time together. Well, while Eleena was away on one of her first tours as an on-board engineer, her mother sold it to pay off some debts."
"I'm guessing she didn't ask for Eleena's permission," Shansa presumed.
Will smirked bitterly. "Worse, she lied about it. Said it had been stolen. It was a year or two later that Eleena found out what had actually happened and… well, that was when Eleena took off for good."
Before Shansa could respond a chime rang out from her omnitool. She glanced down and took in a small breath.
"It's Vayren," she informed him. "Tokagi made it to the Citadel just before the attack and she's handed off her data."
"Thank god," Will muttered.
Shansa nodded in agreement. "It sounds like Vayren and Sai are on their way to the raloi embassy. Turvess left a token contingent of diplomats to handle relations while they began preparations to cut ties with the rest of the galaxy."
"Then I guess we wait."
Shansa looked out the forward viewport to the arms of the Citadel. Will knew what she was thinking. Those arms no longer offered the protection they once had just hours before.
"We'll wait for a little while," Shansa said. "But we're not staying here for long."
Another hour passed before Eleena sent a message requesting a ride back to the ship. Kallux obliged and returned soon after with both Eleena and her mother. Will didn't know exactly what they had spoken about, but it seemed Eleena had at least agreed to remain civil. While she made the rounds introducing her mother to members of the crew, Vayren sent a messaging informing them that he, Sai, and Doctor Tokagi would be arriving at the Aberrant shortly. Will, Kallux, and Shansa met them at the airlock and quickly escorted the group up to the bridge where Vayren took charge in leading the debriefing.
"We received both good and bad news from the meeting," he informed them all. "First, the good. The two diplomats that we met with were quite concerned with the data collected from the geth memory cores. They outright acknowledged that the geth's interest in Turvess was alarming. The bad news, however, is that both diplomats are relatively insignificant in the Turvess political hierarchy, and it could take time for this intelligence to make its way up the chain."
"Typical bureaucracy," Kallux chuckled.
"Not typical," Sai corrected. "Our governance has an immense amount of inherent trust from raloi citizens. Many officials take the trust, along with granting of power based on merit, to think their judgment is sacrosanct."
"The government operates in near-absolute transparency," Vayren added. "And citizens can petition various motions to be re-evaluated, but such petitions occur at a surprisingly low rate."
Doctor Tokagi nodded in understanding. "So if a member of the government dismisses this while it is proceeding up the ladder the entire process is arrested temporarily."
"Yes," Sai affirmed. "And there are reasons this may occur."
"That reason involves the other bit of bad news," Vayren explained. "Both of the diplomats were quite dismissive of the idea that the recording we had of Lady Neira was authentic."
Shansa scoffed. "What? Why would we fake that of all things?"
"Leaders are trusted in ways unlike other species," Sai reiterated. "Lady Neira… she went missing in battle just as the invasion began. Turvess presumed her dead. A heroine at the time. Reaper pawns do not communicate, do not negotiate. They found her unique actions suspicious."
Kallux sighed irritably. "If the Lady Neira angle would cause problems then just tell them not to include it in their report."
"They already have," Vayren said regrettably.
Sai shook his head. "I… should have known. There was my own strong doubt when you all told me of what happened at Lorek. I listened to her recording. I did not want to believe that this could happen. Others will react the same way."
"But they do take the threat seriously?" Tokagi asked. "In the end that is all that matters."
"For the most part," Vayren replied. "But they are skeptical as to how much danger they are truly in. Apparently the Reapers have actively avoided Turvess. Last week… a raloi vessel was on its way to the homeworld when a Reaper appeared out of nowhere on their scanners, but it simply observed them as they executed an emergency jump to FTL."
"Then how do we proceed?" Will asked. "Is there anything we can do while we wait for the raloi government?"
"Yes, evidence," Sai asserted. "More evidence will speed the process."
"But where do we look?" Shansa asked.
Kallux looked to the raloi. "Lady Neira. Where did she go missing?"
Sai clicked his beak. "Elaborate."
"You said that she went missing in action a few weeks ago," Kallux recalled. "It couldn't hurt to investigate where she disappeared."
Sai nodded. "Yes, I see." He looked to the side. "Consulting on Palaven when the Reapers attacked. Military advisor of some kind."
"Palaven?" Vayren repeated. "That is peculiar."
"We should get in touch with the Turian Hierarchy," Will suggested. "Vayren, could you look into it?"
"Certainly," the salarian replied. "But diplomatic channels are clogged, and the attack on the Citadel will no doubt slow things further. It could be a few days before we get in touch with who we need to."
"That's okay," Shansa said. "Will and I were just discussing a little detour to Lorek that could occupy us for the time being."
Kallux gave her a small smirk. "Put some thought into that 'base of operations' idea, eh?"
Shansa nodded in affirmation. "Yes. And there's a certain little village in the mountains of Lorek has been in the back of my mind ever since Will mentioned it."
