The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire
Chapter 38
Omega
Kay leaned back in her chair and scanned the room with narrowed eyes. A low growl emerged from her throat, low enough not to be heard by anyone over the music and ambient drone of the chattering crowd. She stared at a pair of armored asari at the bar for a good ten seconds before the woman sitting to her right cleared her throat to get her attention. Kay's eyes snapped back to the asari beside her, Fayneer T'Lees, and raised a brow.
"Huh?"
"Ogling all the asari in the bar now?" T'Lees teased with a small grin.
Kay held back a snarl. "Those Eclipse bitches? Not a fucking chance."
"Keep the guns holstered," Shansa said from across the table. "I was planning on unwinding tonight."
Kay cracked her knuckles. "Didn't bring a gun. But I can't promise I won't-"
"No fists either," Shansa interrupted.
Fynnis darted through a few of the patrons surrounding the table while carefully holding the two drinks in his hands steady to keep them from spilling. He stopped and placed one in front of Shansa before taking his place in the fourth and final seat at the table.
"Thanks, Fyn," Shansa said with a smile.
The turian sat back and gave her a nod. "My pleasure."
She watched him take a sip of his own drink from the corner of her eyes before turning her attention to the drink he had delivered. Shansa kept her smile as innocent as possible as she reached for the glass and indulged.
"I agree with Shansa," T'Lees said, bringing them back on topic. "Let us focus on us for a night."
Kay lifted her beer to her lips and took a few long sips. "Right, 'us.'" She looked to T'Lees and bit her lower lip for a brief moment. "I guess I can do that. But you can't really blame me for getting restless. We've been sitting on this shit-hole station for a week now."
"Because Kallux wants everyone close by in case the Blue Suns are able to track us down," Shansa quickly reminded her. "It'll only for a few more days."
Kay grumbled. "Fine, whatever."
T'Lees reached over and placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Thank you, Kay."
Kay felt a soothing warmth from Fayneer's touch and took another sip of her beer. "Still, we've got a lot to figure out."
Fynnis took a sip of his drink. "Like?"
"Like what the hell we're doing when Kallux gives us the 'all clear.'" Kay sat forward excitedly. "I've still got a ton of leads on some gang raids, bounties, smuggling opportunities… anything! The Trueshot is opening up shop once again! And this time I've got a crew."
T'Lees chuckled. "Kay, darling, I do not want to speak for the others, but I know that I have plenty of obligations that I must attend to as soon as possible. Obligations such as my business."
"I guess you're going back to Rellistora?" Shansa asked as she sipped her cocktail.
"I have been in contact with a few members of my organization. After the commandos attacked, my contingency plan proceeded perfectly as planned." T'Lees finished her glass of wine. "But to answer your question, no, I will not be returning to Rellistora or Invictus. I will be meeting my lieutenants at a rendezvous location in the Argos Rho system."
"Where are you headed after that?" Fynnis inquired.
"I have a few options," she replied with a sly smile.
Kay's face caught Shansa's attention. Her sister wore an expression she had seldom seen since they were kids. Though, admittedly, there was nearly a decade or so long gap between then and now. Shansa had trouble pinpointing the look. Jealousy? No, she tended to act out more when she was jealous. Was it simply sadness? Shansa made a note to pester her sister about it later and took another sip of her drink.
"Sounds exciting," Shansa said. "I wish you the best of luck! And if you ever need help with anything, you know who to call."
"I will keep that in mind," T'Lees replied. "I should not be in any significant danger like those few months after Cerberus. But if I ever need a few drinks handled, I would be more than happy to call on my friends to assist me."
"Aww, we're your friends?" Fynnis asked with just enough sarcasm.
The asari nodded quite matter-of-factly. "But of course. I trust you all, Will, Kallux, and Vayren far more than I trust anyone in my own organization, sadly. But such is the life of a businesswoman in my industry."
Kay cleared her throat. "Well, uh, I'm sure you'll do great. You know, with the business stuff."
T'Lees grinned confidently. "I am sure I will as well."
Fynnis downed the last of his drink. "Ah! Good stuff. Who wants to dance?"
Kay and T'Lees perked up and turned their attention to the turian.
"Turians can dance?" Kay asked.
"If we're feeling like it," Fynnis answered. "And if you loosen the technical definition of 'dance.'"
"I would love to," T'Lees said as she stood and held a hand out to Kay. "Would you care to join me?"
Kay grabbed the hand and pulled herself up. "Hell yeah. But I should let you know right now that you ain't ready for some of these moves, Blue."
"I will be the judge of that," T'Lees laughed as they scurried off toward the dance floor.
Fynnis looked to the side as he stood. "Shansa?"
She looked up to him and nibbled the cocktail straw protruding from her glass for a moment. Shansa took a deep breath and nodded, reluctantly at first, before emptying her glass and bouncing to her feet.
"Yeah… yeah, I think that sounds fun," she said with a hint of excitement.
Fynnis motioned toward the dance floor, and she followed.
Will gasped desperately and shot up into a sitting position. His hands gripped at the sheets around him as he drew and exhaled a few loud breaths. The faint, ambient light of Omega shone through the window of the motel room and illuminated just enough for Will to see his surroundings. He was still in bed. The room was still as he had left it when he crawled into bed a few hours earlier. His arm ached terribly where he had taken a shrapnel wound during the battle with the Blue Suns. As Will closed his eyes to calm himself he felt a rustling to his side as Eleena rolled over to face him.
"Everything okay?" She managed to mumble.
He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair to bring his bangs out of his face. Will opened his eyes and looked down to see her reluctantly opening her own.
"I just had a bad dream," Will said just above a whisper.
"A 'bad dream,' huh?" She asked while pushing herself up to sit next to him.
Will's hand slowly clenched and released the sheet between his fingers.
"Ralliston was in it," he replied.
Eleena reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder. Somehow she knew that Will didn't need her to say anything. He appreciated the quiet consolation until he reached up to squeeze her hand before sliding from the bed and walking to the center of the room.
"I thought it'd be easier by now," Will admitted.
"It's barely been a week since he died," Eleena reminded him. "It's okay to mourn someone for longer."
"It's not just him," Will replied. "I thought it'd be easier to deal with Welkinn and Vayren… hell, even Corsin. I mean, it's been years for some of them."
The asari gave him a tiny, reassuring smile. "It's okay to miss someone."
"I wouldn't say I 'miss' them," Will said as he walked toward the window. "It's that I can't shake that feeling that I did something wrong. That I could have prevent all of this." He reached forward and cracked the blinds a tiny bit to look out to the Omega skyline.
Eleena put her feet on the floor and walked to Will's side. "We've had this conversation before, Will. I don't know what else to tell you. Remember Sommesh? Back when Shansa was hurt and we were rushing her back to Omega? I told you that sometimes you just can't control what happens out here." She shrugged. "I don't know if what I said back then is entirely true. Things aren't always that black and white. But I still think the basic sentiment holds true."
Will nodded shamefully. "And I feel like you've had to tell me this a thousand times."
"Don't be silly. It's been a few hundred times at most." She took her hand in his. "Everything is going to be alright, Will. Really. And for what it's worth, I still think you've been a damn fine leader. I wouldn't have been fighting at your side for so long if I didn't."
"I don't want to be a leader," Will said. "Not right now. Not in the way I have been. I don't want people's lives depending on what I say or do anymore."
Eleena looked out the window with him. "Then don't do it. No one is going to make you."
"And you're okay with that?" He asked.
She cocked a brow. "Me? Why wouldn't I be?"
"You fell in love with Captain William Hume, the rogue mercenary captain," Will said, half-jokingly. "I don't want you to think lesser of-"
Eleena pulled her hand from his and smacked his arm. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would I think less of you for something stupid like that?"
Will rubbed his arm. "A few years ago we were both young, adventurous people. And that person I was… is different from who I am now."
"You haven't lost your thirst for adventure or experiencing the galaxy, Will. Trust me." She smirked and ran her fingers through his hair. "I see and feel it in you whenever we're together. But I also know that you're scared."
He looked over to her. "That's probably all true. But I know that right now, at this moment, I just need to take a break for a while. I need some rest."
Eleena leaned over and kissed him. "Then rest as long as you want, Will, and I'll be right there with you."
"You're sure you aren't going to get restless?" Will asked worriedly. "Or bored?"
"I don't know if I can answer that, Will. It depends on where we go and what we end up doing," Eleena answered. "But if I do, we'll talk and figure out what to do about it. We have mouths and the means to use them, remember? We know how to converse with one another."
"I don't ever want you to feel like I'm holding you back," he restated.
She shook her head. "Are you always this fucking paranoid?"
Will chuckled. "No. We were just apart for so long… I don't want to lose you again."
Eleena reached up and put her arm around his shoulder. She turned and looked out the window as she rested her head on his with a small sigh.
"You won't. Now let's get some sleep. We'll have a lot to talk about tomorrow."
A siren blared somewhere off in the distance. The sound rang from far enough away that only a faint echo reached Kallux as he walked down Omega street. The krogan kept his eyes wandering. Whenever he saw a shape of blue or white he couldn't help but lock onto it for a short time. Usually it was nothing. A piece of cloth, paper or a sign. But once in a while he would see the colors slathered across a set of heavy armor with the Blue Suns logo emblazoned somewhere prominent. Kallux did his best not to bare his teeth. Luckily, as a krogan, he did not strike passersby as atypical when he wasn't able to keep his glower contained. He slowed as he approached his destination and looked up to the sign hanging above the door of the bar.
"Nal's Place," he read aloud.
Having arrived at the correct bar, Kallux passed through the door and did a quick visual sweep of the seating area. About a dozen people sat scattered around the tables. Two humans at the far wall. A turian and salarian at another table. A group of three asari that looked to be dancers having just come off a shift were gathered and talking at the table closest to the bar. Kallux shifted his attention to the bar itself where he saw who he was looking for. The krogan stomped across the room and pulled himself onto a rather small stool.
"Think you can balance on that?" Nellie asked.
"I'll be fine," Kallux grunted, slightly unsure.
"If you say so," she replied.
The krogan got the bartender's attention and motioned toward a bottle of ryncol with one finger raised. The batarian grabbed a glass and filled it with a shot the liquor before sliding it down to the krogan and turning his eyes to one of the asari dancers who had approached the bar with an empty drink.
"Surprised you can drink that stuff," Nellie commented. "My throat burns just smelling it."
Kallux lifted the glass and downed the shot in one quick gulp. "Ahh. Well, krogan aren't as squishy as you humans."
He'd always liked Captain Dissanayake. She was determined, level-headed, and actually kept her people in line. Unlike a number of the officers in the Collective.
Kallux looked over to her. "So what'd you want?"
She seemed slightly taken aback by the blunt comment. "I… am not inconveniencing you, am I?"
He let out a sigh. "No. No, you're not. Sorry."
Nellie shifted in her seat and looked to her own glass. "I asked you here for your advice."
"My advice?" Kallux repeated. "On what?"
"I've told you my plans now that the RMC is no more," Nellie began.
Kallux shook his head. "The Collective isn't gone. It's just back to what it used to be."
"That's the crux of my dilemma," she continued. "You recruited me only a few years ago. I don't know how or what the Collective used to be! You've told me and the other members of my crew, those who are staying with me at least, that we'll always be welcome as members of the RMC." She let out an exasperated sigh. "What does that mean? What… what am I supposed to do now as a damned member of the Collective?"
"You go back to what you were doing before you joined," Kallux answered as he waved down the bartender again. "Or something like that. You were a smuggler, right?"
Nellie nodded once. "Yes. With the outfitting my ship has, we were exceptional at holding our own on dangerous runs."
The krogan held out his glass as the bartender filled it. "There you go," he replied. "You do that."
"But where does the RMC fit in?" Nellie said, now on the verge of irritation. "Are you not just telling me to return to my old life?"
Kallux lifted the glass and closed his eyes as he downed the shot. He took a long, deep breath as he enjoyed the burning liquid. The krogan set the glass down and opened his eyes while collecting his thoughts.
"You do whatever you want," Kallux reiterated. "But you can also reach out to the network if you're unsure or need help. You can answer the call if someone else needs help." He turned to face her as he continued. "If some nameless fool that's in trouble reaches out to the Collective, you can volunteer to help them."
"How is that supposed to keep my ship running?" Nellie asked. "It's not cheap to fly out here."
"You hope they can pay," Kallux laughed. "And if not? Well, we're realists, Captain Dissanayake. No one in the Collective is going to judge you if you don't put it all on the line for nothing in return." He considered this for a moment. "Though I'd be lying if I said most of us hadn't done that once in a while."
The human woman turned back to her drink and took a sip. Kallux couldn't tell if the look in her eyes was confusion, doubt, regret or maybe just mild apprehension. The krogan leaned slightly closer to her and cleared his throat.
"You want to know the most important thing?"
Nellie gave him a sideways glance and waited.
"Despite everything I just said, there are no 'rules' for the Collective. Not anymore. We tried that and it didn't work. You aren't required to do anything, and you aren't going to be punished if you don't." Kallux continued to hold his eyes on her steadily. "All you need to concern yourself with is doing the right thing as often as you can."
"This sounds less like an organization or guild and more like a code," Nellie observed.
"No harm in looking at it that way," Kallux replied. "You can see it however you want. Let the RMC be to you whatever you think it should be. I tried to make it what I wanted it to be for everyone else and that was a big mistake."
"I see." Nellie turned back to her drink and finished off the last few sips before sliding from her seat and giving Kallux a nod of thanks. "I'll keep all that in mind. But I should be on my way. My crew is waiting for me."
The krogan chuckled. "I didn't scare you off, did I?"
She shook her head with a smirk. "No, sir. I mean… Kallux. You don't intimidate me."
"Hah!" Kallux laughed. "I like you, Dissanayake. Good luck."
Nellie gave him one last quick salute. The krogan nodded in acknowledgment as she dropped her hand back to her side and held it out in offering. Their hands met in a firm shake.
"Don't forget to call on me and my crew if you need to," Nellie reminded him.
Something about her optimism put a small smile on the krogan's face.
"You too," Kallux replied.
Nellie pulled her hand back before turning and making her way to the door. Kallux motioned for the bartender to give him another shot, which he soon receiving and drank. After sitting quietly for a few minutes longer Kallux paid his tab and followed in Nellie's footsteps back into the street. He had just enough ryncol in his system to bring his spirits up just a tad higher than they had been most of the week. Kallux activated his omnitool and looked down to the clock. Still early in the afternoon, at least for Omega time. He hadn't eaten in a while, perhaps he would call up Malylen or Hume to see if they would be interested in grabbing a bite.
The krogan slowed as a faint grunt and shout of exertion rang out. He looked up and down the street. Only a few people, mostly walking along and minding their own business. He heard another shout and this time he could narrow the point of origin to somewhere up ahead. An alleyway about twenty meters down the street. Kallux quickened his pace once again and turned around the corner into the alley. It was filled with crates, empty boxes and garbage. But no people. At the end of the alley, however, was a T-intersection where the faint sounds of a scuffle echoed across the metal walls. Kallux walked toward the intersection as quietly as he could and cursed the fact that he had left his sidearm in his hotel room. As he reached the intersection he looked around the corner to the left where he a poorly dressed batarian was scrambling to fight off a pair of turians. Kallux gritted his teeth and stepped around the corner.
"What the hell are you doing?" The krogan rumbled.
One of the turians spun to face him and lifted a pistol. Kallux halted a few meters back and narrowed his eyes.
"Just get the fucking cred stick," the armed turian snapped.
The other tackled the batarian to the ground and delivered a swift punch to his stomach before digging into his pockets. Kallux growled and began closing the gap between them.
"Stop!" The turian demanded.
"I'm in no mood to take orders from you," Kallux snarled.
The turian's eyes widened as he realized the danger that had befallen him. He held the gun steady and began firing into Kallux's chestplate, but it was far too late. The krogan had already broken into a charge. In barely over a second he had reached the belligerent and headbutted him square in the face. The turian flipped over backward from the impact while his gun flew off and hit the wall nearby. His accomplice looked over his shoulder and cursed in shock. The two turians scrambled to their feet, one cradling his broken and bleeding face, and ran. Kallux panted angrily and looked down at his chest. The shots had not punctured his shields.
"Please… please don't hurt me…" The batarian mumbled weakly.
Kallux shifted his eyes back to the batarian. He had been beaten badly. The krogan lowered his shoulders from their locked and aggressive position.
"I won't," the krogan replied. "Get up. They're gone."
The batarian looked down the alley where the turians had escaped and pushed himself up. Kallux stepped back and crossed his arms. The batarian brushed himself off and wiped some blood from his chin before turning to face the krogan.
"Thank you," he mumbled. "It's a bad neighborhood, I should've known."
Kallux simply stared him down for a moment before nodding toward the gun on the ground a few meters away.
"This is Omega. There's only bad neighborhoods and worse neighborhoods. You need to watch out for yourself around here."
The batarian looked to the gun and shook his head. "No, no, I'm not going to…" He turned back to Kallux. "I should go."
"Why do I even bother?" Kallux sighed as the batarian darted past him. "This is just going to happen again!"
The batarian disappeared around the corner. Kallux turned and looked back down to the ground in front of him. Debris had been scattered around from the fight, and a few spatters of blood now accented the dull, dirty metal beneath his feet. The krogan stared for a minute before finally taking a deep breath and turning to make his way back to the street.
"Day in, day out," he muttered to himself.