The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire

Chapter 37

Yalrek

"Those are… better numbers than I was expecting," Kallux said reluctantly. "But still too high."

Malylen gave him a solemn nod and glanced up to the holoprojector at the center of the Aberrant command center. Out of the Collective's seventy-two person team, only thirty-four had survived the assault on the Blue Suns base. Out of them, only a handful had escaped unscathed. The Quindel had been lost with only one survivor and Granther was damaged so badly it had to be scuttled, with another two members of its crew being lost.

"It is regrettable. But every one of them volunteered," Malylen reminded him. "And they knew what we were planning."

"So where does that leave the others?" Kallux asked. "The survivors."

"Approximately half of them were members of the Collective prior to the militarization movement," the salarian informed him. "And the majority of them are eager to return to the old practices. Perhaps with a larger emphasis on collaboration when a heavy task falls into someone's lap."

Kallux looked to the side. He couldn't help but feel guilty. He had been the driving force in what had been both a great rise and fall for the RMC. They had accomplished many good thing in that time, but at such a cost. He wasn't sure it was worth it.

"That's probably for the best," Kallux finally replied. "As we've discussed, any attempt to regroup in a meaningful way would only result in a more rabid pursuit by the Blue Suns."

Malylen swiped through a few lists. "There are a few people not of the original Collective that are interested in becoming part of the network, if we return to such a structure. Captain Dissanayake will be reclaiming her vessel, the Resolute Inquest, of course. She's shown interest in putting together a crew of her own." The salarian nodded to herself as she continued to read through documents. "And I approve. She proved herself one of our best leaders and officers during the two years she served with us."

Kallux looked across the briefing table. "What about you, Malylen?"

"Me?" She shook her head. "I don't know. I'm getting too old for field work. I will probably look into consulting for security agencies."

"Shame you're not a native of Sur'Kesh," the krogan mused. "You'd be a damn good politician."

Malylen let out a small sigh. "Perhaps. But I see no point in dwelling on hypotheticals." She raised a brow and tilted her head. "You Kallux? What are you plans?"

Kallux exhaled deeply. "Once the official order's been given about the dissolution? I don't really know yet. The Collective's all I've really known for nearly a century."

"Are you implying that you wish to leave?" She asked quietly. "Even if returns to its old form, the RMC will always be a home for you."

The krogan shook his head. "I don't 'wish' for anything right now," he answered.

Malylen shut down the holoprojector. "No matter what you end up doing, know that you will have an ally in me."

Kallux straightened himself up. "Of course. And the same goes from me to you, Malylen. Now I should probably get down to the surface. I'll send the official notice to disband within the next few hours."

The salarian walked to one of the command consoles on the Aberrant's rather small bridge. "I will keep the ship in orbit for you and relinquish command as soon as you are willing to take it."

"I don't know what I'm going to do with this thing. The Aberrant has always belonged to the Collective more than me," Kallux said with uncertainty.

"The ship is yours, Kallux. You know that," Malylen assured him. "No one else deserves to take it."

"If you say so." The krogan turned for the lift to take him down to the shuttle bay. "You and the crew should take a little while to relax, Malylen. I'll be back in a few hours."

"If the numbers that Kallux sent me are correct," Fynnis began as he looked through his omnitool, "we're looking at between fifteen and twenty thousand credits per person."

"Damn!" Kay said with a small laugh. "That's better than I expected."

"We got a number of back doors in their server nodes," Fynnis continued. "I drained as much as I could, but it's still barely a fraction of what the Blue Suns have available." He shook his head. "Un-fucking-believable how much wealth they've amassed in only a few decades."

"We have seen what kind of business they practice in order to accumulate said wealth," T'Lees reminded them.

Fynnis glanced up, a little worried about someone overhearing their conversation. The table they sat at in the bistro seemed to be receiving no more special attention than any other, both in terms of onlookers and service. The turian glanced out the window to the busy marketplace one last time before turning his attention back to the data on his omnitool.

"T'Lees, I'll wire your cut as soon as we've got a final tally. Should more than make up for what you spent supplying the RMC," Fynnis informed her.

"Thank you," she replied simply.

Kay sat back in her chair and took a sip of her beer. "So where the hell do we go from here?"

Fynnis closed his omnitool and took a sip of his whiskey. "Honestly, I have no idea."

T'Lees shifted in her seat as her eye wandered the room of tables and dining patrons. "I would prefer to leave Jalnor and Lorek as quickly as possible."

Kay nodded. "Me too. I saw a local news report this morning about a 'conflict' above Yalrek. The military is launching a full investigation and I'd rather not be around just in case they manage to be competent."

"I don't think we have much to worry about," Fynnis assured her. "We got patched up at those medical centers without any problems. I'm willing to bet that random acts of violence are common enough out here that gunshot wounds aren't out of the ordinary."

"I guess," Kay conceded. "But the damage the Trueshot took? Probably not so much."

Fynnis shook his head. "Which is why we should bring it to Omega for repairs."

"You don't need to convince me," Kay quickly argued. "If Eleena says the ship's safe to fly then I'll trust her. But I don't like those holes."

"She said it was mostly cosmetic damage to the armor plating," T'Lees reminded her. "Eleena knows what she is talking about."

Kay glanced over to T'Lees and grinned. "I said I didn't need convincing."

The asari smiled and placed a hand on her arm. "It is alright, Kay. We will not tell anyone that you were worried about something."

Kay rolled her eyes as she fought her grin and took another sip of her drink. Fynnis looked down to his omnitool as it chirped to alert him of a new message. His mandibles flared as he read it and quickly downed another sip of his whiskey.

"I got a message from Kallux," Fynnis said.

T'Lees tilted her head. "Oh?'

"I think it's for the RMC," the turian explained. "But he included us on the message as well."

"What's it say?" Kay asked.

Fynnis cleared his throat and recited the message aloud. "Fellow members of the Collective, I thank you. Those words may ring hollow when one reflects on the years and lives given in service of the hope to do good in a corner of the galaxy that would laugh at the notion. We've lost a lot in the past few weeks, in every sense of the word, but one thing we'll always have is the knowledge of what good we did do together. As of now the Red Moon Collective has officially disbanded as a structured organization, but we will continue on as we did before: a group of people with like-minded moralities, ready and willing to help one another if the need should ever arise. I thank you all again, and wish you luck in your journeys. If you ever need someone at your side, I promise I will answer the call."

Kay quietly finished her drink and nodded to herself. "Normally I'd be cynical, but I'm just not feeling it for some reason."

"I can assure you Kallux meant every word," T'Lees said quietly.

"I don't doubt it," Kay said. "Not anymore."

Fynnis closed his omnitool and finished the last of his whiskey. "Never met a krogan who liked words as much as he does."

T'Lees shook her head. "He is a strange one."

Kay set her glass down. "Strange as he may be, he knew that Janson had to die. And that's good enough for me."

All he could feel as his eyes fluttered open was dull pain across his entire torso and side. Will let out a small groan and reached up with one hand to rub his eyes in a subconscious attempt to cure his blurred vision. He blinked a few times before forcing his eyes completely open to observe his surroundings. He was laying in a moderately comfortable bed with a set of medical equipment blinking to his left. Medical center, he thought to himself. Though it was clearly nowhere as nice as Saneer on Omega. There were no windows, which he was actually thankful for, and only a few soft lights hanging from the ceiling to illuminate the entire room. On the left side of the bed was a turian looking over a glowing orange holopad. The turian did not seem terribly interested in Will. He smiled as his eyes fell onto the two people standing to the left side of the bed, one with her arms crossed and the other with them folded behind her back.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Eleena demanded.

Will's small laugh was stifled by pain. "I guess I'm okay then?" He rasped. "I mean, if you're opening with that then I can't be too bad."

"Yes, you are okay," the turian spoke. "For the most part."

Will shifted to look back to the left. With his eyes now mostly in focus he could see the turian was wearing a standard doctor's jumpsuit.

"You suffered multiple gunshots and a nasty stab wound that punctured a few intestines," the doctor continued. "You're lucky your friends got you here quickly."

"Yes I am," Will agreed with a thankful look to the side.

The doctor finally looked up from his holopad. "Your information says you're from off-world. Next time you visit Jalnor I suggest you stay away from the northern side of town."

Will furrowed his brow slightly and was given a solid stare from Eleena as she gave him a stern nod.

"Yes, he will," she scolded.

The turian passive scratched his neck. "Good." He looked back to his holopad. "Your emergency surgery was a success and you responded quite well to the regenerative therapy, but I'm going to keep you around for another day or so in case any complications arise."

"Thank you so much for your help," Shansa said to the doctor.

He simply nodded in acknowledgment. "Visiting hours end in about half an hour," he informed them. "And please alert us if you need anything, Mister Hume."

Will sighed heavily. "I will, thanks."

The turian looked to each of them before turning and briskly exiting the room. As the door closed behind him, Eleena placed her hands on the bed and leaned forward.

"Now it's time to answer my question. What the hell were you thinking running off like that?" She demanded. "Through the middle of the crossfire? And literal fire?"

Will blinked to himself as he thought back for the first time since he had woken up. What he remembered from the last few minutes came flooding in: the gunfight, the fire, Janson running. He jerked in shock and sat up into a sitting position.

"Janson," he said. "What happened? He was… he was getting on the ship…"

Eleena looked back to Shansa. The pilot put on a straight face and slid up to sit on the bed beside him with her legs hanging off the side.

"He's dead, Will," she said quietly.

Will let out a short exhale as he stared her down. "How?"

"Kay got to him," Shansa explained. "She and Kallux boarded his ship before it could depart."

"And they killed him?" Will asked.

"Kay slit his throat," Shansa answered flatly.

Will closed his eyes and leaned back. He felt a weight slowly lifting from his head and chest as he struggled to keep his breathing steady. As a hand grasped his Will opened his eyes to see Eleena looking down to him with a look of loving concern. Will took a deep, calming breath and smiled softly in thanks.

"What… what about the others?" He slowly asked.

Shansa motioned toward the asari beside her. "Eleena, Fynnis and T'Lees got you to a shuttle and brought you down here to Jalnor as quickly as they could."

"Sounds like you were fast enough to keep me alive," Will said with an appreciative smile to Eleena.

"We were," Eleena said as she narrowed her eyes. "Now answer my question."

"You know why I did it," Will finally answered. "If I hadn't… who knows when I'd have gotten the chance again."

Eleena shook her head and squeeze his hand. "I should be angry, but… instead I'm just going to thank the fucking goddess that you're alive."

Shansa lowered her voice and spoke noticeably slower. "Do you feel better, Will? Now that he's gone?"

He slowly averted his eyes. It was hard to tell. The impact was still sinking in.

"I don't know if better is the right word," Will admitted as he reached up and placed a hand over his eyes. "Maybe relieved. It's like before I could barely see or hear and now it's… clear."

He opened his eyes and looked to both of them. They sat in silence for a short moment until Will spoke once again.

"Thank you for being there for me." He chuckled lightly. "God, I just realized how empty that sounds. I mean, compared to what you two have done for me."

"Not just us," Shansa reminded him. "Some people gave everything."

Will's heart sank. "Ralliston..." He leaned his head back. "Everyone else is okay, right? You're sure?"

"I don't know about the rest of the RMC, but we're all fine," Eleena reassured him. "A few injuries here and there, but we're all in one piece. Well, almost all of us."

The piercing guilt that Will had felt back on the station had returned like the very blade that had cut him down.

"I can't believe, it" Will mumbled. "After everything he survived… to just die like that."

Shansa averted her eyes as Eleena nodded sadly.

"I know. It's hard to deal with," the asari said. "It always is."

Will shook his head. "I should have saved him."

"No, Will," Eleena said firmly. "Ralliston was reckless and cocky." She frowned. "It was only a matter of time before he slipped up. I don't like it either, but you know it's true."

"I should have at least forgiven him sooner," Will said with a sigh. "I felt so insincere telling him while he lay there dying."

"He knew you meant it," Eleena assured him.

"Don't let this take you over, Will," Shansa added. "After you 'died' I had to come to terms with something. Out here, doing what we do, people die. Most of the time it's too soon. But if they're lucky those people die doing something really good for the galaxy or their friends or even one person."

The funny thing was, he already knew this to be true. But there was something about Ralliston's unrelenting desire for penance that made Will feel even more guilty for his death. If he had just forgiven the turian... Will shook his head. Shasna was right. He couldn't let this of all things take over now.

Will looked up to her. "Thanks, Shan."

She gave him a half-smile and nodded. "He was a good guy. Not all the time, but enough to make it count."

Eleena chuckled softly. "Barely."

Will let out a bittersweet smile and shook his head. "I'll miss him."

"Me too," Shansa agreed.

"Yeah. Me too," Eleena admitted.

A silence fell over them. Eleena squeezed Will's hand once before releasing it and stepping back.

"Maybe we should let you get some rest," Shansa said.

Will nodded lightly. "Yeah. That might be nice. I'm… kind of tired."

Shansa slid off the bed. "I'll let the others know you're awake."

"I appreciate it," Will said as he shifted down into a more comfortable position. "Thank you for being here."

"Of course, Will," Shansa chuckled. "We wouldn't be anywhere else."

He smiled comfortably and shut his eyes. Eleena leaned down and ruffled his hair before she and Shansa turned and walked to the door.

Will sat with his back against the cold metal wall of the Trueshot bunkroom. He had reluctantly followed the doctor's orders and stayed the minimum thirty-six hours at the Jalnor hospital before discharging. Now he, Eleena, Shansa, Kay, T'Lees and Fynnis were on their way back to Omega where Will fully intended to take as long as he damn well wanted to feel better. Kallux had already made his way back to Omega on the Aberrant with Malylen and nearly a dozen other RMC soldiers. Ex-soldiers, rather. Like Will, Kallux had also expressed a rather unsure outlook on what he would do once they had recovered. Hopefully the krogan wouldn't mind talking it through whenever they found time, but for now, Will simply looked down to the holopad in his hands and read through the asari novel that Eleena had given him.

The door pinged softly, giving him a slight jump in surprise as he looked up to see Kay stroll casually through the door.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Your turn to check up on me?" Will teased.

Kay smirked. "No, just wanted to see how you were doing."

He raised a brow. "I'm okay. I guess. Why do you ask?"

She came to a stop and sat on the bed across from him. "I can't ask how you're doing?"

"You can," Will said with a small laugh. "Normally you're just not very interested."

"Just because I don't go around actively asking doesn't mean I'm not interested," Kay informed him.

"Then I'm sorry for the suspicion," he said. "And like I said, I'm fine."

She nodded. He could see that she genuinely did care about both the question and answer. Of course, she would have to. Kay wasn't typically one to waste her own time.

"We haven't had much time to talk," she pointed out. "Since the fight."

Will looked across the gap between beds and met her eye. "We haven't."

Kay raised her brows. "You're welcome to start."

He nodded. "I know. I'm just trying to figure out how to thank you appropriately." Will sighed heavily. "You and Kallux did what I couldn't. If he'd gotten away…"

"You don't have to thank me," she interjected. "Seriously. I was more than happy to end that motherfucker."

Will shrugged. "Regardless, if you all hadn't been there for me, he'd still be out there."

"And you'd probably be dead," she added.

"Thanks. I'd almost forgotten about the bullet and stab wounds," he said with a grin.

Kay rolled her eyes. "Joke all you want, but that was some seriously stupid shit. You're lucky we took down most of Janson's backup before they could retreat and catch up with you two."

"I'm aware how lucky I am," Will admitted. "And I've been curious: how did you do it? When you caught Janson, I mean. Last thing I remember before blacking out was them boarding the ship."

She shifted and placed one hand on the bed as she leaned to the side. "It wasn't that hard, actually. Fynnis cracked the airlock well before his ship could cast off, so we just walked on."

"Why you and Kallux?" Will asked.

"Eleena and T'Lees opted to get you out because they could protect you with their biotics if needed. Fynnis went with them to handle any security along the way. You also had three or four RMC soldiers from the squad to help with the escort." Kay shrugged. "Kallux and I were confident we could handle the rest ourselves. We're a pretty tough pair when it comes to close-quarters combat."

He smirked. "No arguments there."

"After we got on we followed the signs to the bridge. Kallux figured Janson would be there." Kay paused and looked down to the blade on her belt. "We found him and then I slit his throat."

Will appreciated the concise, factual honesty with which Kay spoke. Especially now. He looked down and took a deep breath.

"God, I'm tired," he said quietly.

"You've been sleeping for like three days," she laughed. "I mean, a lot of that was in a medically induced coma, but still!"

Will shook his head and looked back up. "That may be true, but what I really need is some rest. And I don't just mean sleep."

Kay stood from the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think you've earned it."

"We all have," Will quickly countered.

"Eh, I'll pass," she said with a stretch of her arms. "Looking forward to hitting the bar for a real drink, though."

"A bar?" Will smiled. "If you don't mind low-key, I know a place we could go to on Omega. Been there quite a few times after nearly dying, actually."

Kay grinned. "Sounds like my kind of place."