The Red Moon Collection - 2 - Three Phantoms

by TSarr

Five months after the events that drew them together the crew of the MSV Hyperion has found their place in the lawless underbelly of the galaxy. However, they soon find themselves in deeper than they had anticipated after accepting a deal offered by two powerful strangers. /Volume 2 of the Red Moon Collection\

7. Chapter 7

The Red Moon Collection - 2 - Three Phantoms

Chapter 7

City of Rakarn, Tuchanka

Will could hear his father's voice as if he was standing right next to him here on Tuchanka.

"Will! Can you give me a hand with something?"

He had already been one foot out the door of the prefab when his father's call rang out from the back room. Will stopped in his tracks, let out an irritated sigh and stared up into the cloudy Arvuna sky. He was running late and he had no doubt that Shansa was already waiting for him at the launch station. Their shift on the harvester was due to start in fifteen minutes and he really didn't have the time to help out his father.

"Dad can it wait? I'm late already," Will shouted in return.

"I just need help lifting something. It'll take ten seconds."

With a reluctant sigh, Will turned and hurried back through the living room to the small storage closet in the back of their prefab. Will's father, Alec, was standing near a shelf in the back with his hands on his hips as he waited.

"What is it?" Will looked around the room impatiently.

Alec nodded to the heavy crate he kept at the top of the shelves. "I'm bringing this down to the floor to put in the corner. Come grab a side."

Will shook his head. "That's it? Why couldn't this wait until tonight?"

"Because I'm doing this now, William." Alec gave him a stern stare. "Now give me a damn hand with this thing." Alec turned and raised his hands to grab one side of the heavy metal container.

"You know my harvester is leaving in ten minutes, right?" Will barked angrily as he crossed the room to the shelf.

"Then why the hell are you arguing with me?" Alec demanded.

In truth, Will did not know. He could have helped his father and been out the door already, but today there was just something in the back of his mind, antagonizing him. He hadn't slept well the night before, for starters, and he had already missed a harvester launch and his shift that month.

Will shook his head and reached up to grab the crate. "Forget it."

The two men lifted the container from the shelf and quickly brought it to where Alec had intended to place it in corner of the room. Will recognized the crate as they set it to the ground: his father's old footlocker from when he served with the Alliance. Inside was a set of outdated armor, a sidearm and an M-15 Alec had purchased before they moved to the colony, just to be on the safe side.

"Sorry about yelling," Will muttered as he stood up and straightened his jacket.

Alec looked up as he knelt by the container. "Are you alright, son?"

Will gave a small shrug. "Past few days have kinda sucked."

The man on his knees pulled himself up and stepped around the crate to where his son stood. "Why don't we talk about it when you get back from your shift?"

"Goddamn, dad, I'm twenty years old. I can't unload all of my problems onto you like I'm a kid."

Alec smirked lightly and put his hand on Will's shoulder. "I didn't say anything about fixing your problems for you. You're gonna have to deal with 'em yourself." Alec gave his son a firm pat on the shoulder and dropped his hand back to his side. "Doesn't mean I can't help talk you through them, though."

Will smiled to himself and nodded. "Thanks."

His father glanced to the door. "You'd better get to the launch station, quick."

"Yeah." Will turned and hurried through the door. "See you for dinner."

Will frowned as the memory of his colonial home on Arvuna and the last moment he had spoken to his father disappeared in a literal blink of his eyes. His eyelids fluttered a few times and shook his head as he recomposed himself. He was surprised that the sight of two krogan simply exchanging a handshake and weary smiles could trigger such a vivid memory. It made sense, though. Kallux had made it obvious that Taxalur was like the father to him that most krogan never have.

"Still using that prototype, huh?" Taxalur asked as he eyed the cannon that Kallux held idly in his offhand.

"You kidding?" Kallux laughed. "I'm surprised every soldier in Raik isn't outfitted with the latest model."

Taxalur waved a hand dismissively. "Bah. It's too bulky and impractical for widespread use. Plus, I could never work out that issue with the overloading heat sink."

Kallux chuckled. "Trust me, it never went away."

Will could hear the happiness in Kallux's voice. He'd never heard the tone so strongly from him.

The elder krogan laughed and shook his head before glancing over Kallux's shoulder. "Now what in the Void is this..."

Kallux looked back to the squad and stepped to the side. "Ah, my apologies. This is my squad."

"Your squad?" Taxalur's voice and tone had a clear age to it. "I knew you'd make your own way, Kallux, but I never expected to see you with an asari, turian, salarian and..." The elder krogan narrowed his eyes. "Ah, you must one of the newcomers. Human?"

"That I am," Will replied. "Captain William Hume. Kallux, and Eleena here, are members of my crew." He looked to the other two. "And these two are Corsin Rentarius and Vayren. Spectres."

Taxalur let out a long, slow laugh. "Spectres. Kallux, you never cease to bewilder." The elder krogan took a few weak steps up to Will and the rest of the squad. "I am Raik Taxalur. Since Kallux finds you to be worthy of his companionship, then it's an honor to meet you."

Will stepped up and extended a hand that the krogan gladly shook. "The honor's ours, Taxalur."

The elder krogan smiled and stepped back as Kallux moved up next to Will. "So what brings you and your band of aliens to the Maw?"

Kallux smirked. "To find you and ask the same question."

Taxalur's smile faded slightly. "I see. And who sent you?"

Will could see the shame in Kallux's eyes as he replied. "Vartin."

"Bah." Taxalur waved a hand dismissively. "He's the reason I'm out here and he's the reason you left Tuchanka. And you've come all this way to find me for him?"

"Vartin made you leave Tuchanka?" Will looked to Kallux and raised a brow. "How?"

Kallux debated silently on whether or not to answer before shaking his head angrily. "He took a bounty and killed a bystander in the process, an infertile Raik female. I reported it to the kral, but he laughed in my face. An infertile female was no great loss, I was told. Vartin got a slap on the wrist." The krogan let out what almost sounded like a hiss. "I couldn't be a part of... them... anymore."

"I told him that he shouldn't doom himself to an existence on Tuchanka," Taxalur added. "That he was worthy of a greater calling."

"So I booked passage off-world and never returned," Kallux finished with a sigh. "Until now."

"Yes, until now," Vayren repeated impatiently. "I feel I should remind the Captain that we have precious little time to spend here on Tuchanka."

Corsin nodded. "I agree. We've got what we came for. Let's return him to the kral, gather our information and get out of here."

"Is that what this about, Kallux?" Taxalur narrowed his eyes and looked the younger krogan up and down. "You're here to hunt me down in exchange for a favor from Vartin?"

"Of course not!" Kallux objected vehemently. "I'm here because I was afraid you were in danger."

Taxalur shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Then why are you here?" Kallux asked with a hint of defeat.

"Because my time is short," Taxalur answered after a brief pause. "My final days are upon me, and I do not wish to spend them in the company of Raik. I wish to spend them here." The krogan looked up to the ruined library around them. "Where I belong."

Kallux stared in silence before speaking slowly. "You're dying?"

Taxalur gave him a small nod in return. "I'm fifteen hundred and seventy two years old and I can feel it approaching." He took a deep, calm breath. "It should be any day now."

Will shot a look at the Spectres to see they had stepped down from their push.

"Are you sick?" Kallux stepped closer to the elder krogan. "We can find a doctor."

"I am not ill, Kallux," he replied. "It is simply my time to join the Void."

"No, no," Kallux objected weakly. "There's gotta be something we can do."

Taxalur smiled slightly and shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Kallux. And I won't be accompanying you back to the Bastion, if that is truly why you were sent here."

Kallux looked to the side and shook his head. "We're tracking a dangerous fugitive and Vartin has information we need. Finding you was the only way he would give it up."

"A fugitive?" Taxalur looked to the turian and salarian and nodded knowingly. "I see. And why does Vartin have this information?"

"He's a weapons dealer," Corsin answered. "A turian named Narenthus Antarian."

Taxalur raised a hand to his chin. "Antarian... that name is familiar." He looked down and began mumbling quietly to himself. "Oh, yes... he's the one who provided the resources for the project..."

Will's eyes widened slightly. "You know who he is? Do you know what he sold to Raik?"

The elder krogan nodded and began to open his mouth when a small rumbling shook the walls and floor around them, sending a gentle rain of dust down from the upper floors. The squad raised their weapons instinctively and scanned the room. Will raised his arm and opened the comm link to the Kodiak.

"Tul, this is Will, do you read?"

"Affirmative, Captain."

"We just had a tremor here," Will informed him. "Are you getting any seismic readings? Is there an earthquake coming?"

"Negative, sir, but I do see what you were talking about. It looks like some debris collapsed nearby." The quarian talked at what seemed like a million words a minute. "And it looks like there's some more shifting happening..."

"'Shifting?'" Eleena asked with a hint nervousness in her voice.

"Yes, I'm not sure, but.." Tul fell silent for a moment. "I think something is moving toward you."

Will could feel a slight vibration growing in the floor below him. "We've got incoming, people!"

The squad was clearly already aware and looking over every inch of the chamber that towered around them. Will was holding his rifle on the third level and scanning across the ancient shelves when a cracking and clattering rang out behind him. He spun to face the door they had entered from and realized that whatever was coming to join them was headed up the same way the squad had.

"It's coming up behind us!" Vayren had heard the disturbance as well and was backpedaling away from the doors.

Will waved the squad into the room. "Get to cover!"

The group turned and ran for the closest overturned table or chunk of stone debris they could find. Will leapt over one of the heavy reading tables and took up position with his rifle aimed at the center of the split doors, his finger curled around the trigger. Corsin joined him behind the table with his turian assault rifle in the same position, but his eyes darting to all corners of the room just to be sure they were not going to be flanked. To his right, behind a fallen portion of column, Kallux was leaning out slightly from cover with his cannon humming. Taxalur grabbed Kallux's pistol from his holster and took up a position over the top of the column, his old eyes squinting in determination. Eleena and Vayren had found a large metal beam on the far left side of the room. A red hue appeared around Vayren's rifle as he activated his incendiary ammunition which formed a beautiful contrast to the blue and purple biotic halos forming around Eleena's hands. Will turned his attention back to the doorway where the noise had grown louder and dust was now shaking and falling from ledges surrounding it.

A near-deafening hiss exploded from the dark hallway as something enormous scrambled up from the stairwell they had ascended just minutes earlier.

"Kallux!" Will shouted. "Please don't tell me that-"

Before he could finish the doors burst from their hinges, taking chunks of wall with them as one of the half-insect, half-reptilian creatures they had met by the monorails came charging into the room. Unfortunately, this one was at least five times the size of the others. The beast dug its hind legs into the stone floor with ease and reared up, hissing angrily. On its hind legs, the creature stood at least ten feet tall.

"It's an arasik queen!" Kallux yelled to the others.

"No shit!" Eleena shouted in return.

Will shook his head. "Shoot it!"

Gunfire exploded from the weapon barrels around the room and sent a figurative tsunami of bullets into the arasik as it dropped down from its intimidation stance. The bullets practically bounced off the hard, organic armor of the beast, save for Kallux's cannon, which seemed to cause a small dent each time one of the projectiles hit. With another angry hiss, the arasik leapt from its position on the ground and up to one of the walkways a few stories up. Its claws dug into the floor and sent stone and books tumbling down to the ground as it scurried around to face the squad.

"We're not getting through that armor," Vayren reported.

Kallux redirected his aim toward the creature as it crawled across the wall. "Just aim for the legs!"

The arasik turned and hissed once again as it arched its neck toward Will and Corsin's cover. A stream of black liquid burst from its neck and splashed down onto the table as they dove to the side. A fine spray of the liquid splashed onto Will's leg and passed directly through his shielding to his armor. The dark red paint melted away to the bare silver metal of the plating. Luckily, the armor held. Will and Corsin slid into cover behind a different table as the first melted away from the acidic attack and locked their weapons onto the arasik's legs.

Taxalur's pistol overheated after unleashing a quick barrage into the creature's legs. "I've got something that might help in my camp!"

The elder krogan shoved the sidearm back into Kallux's holster and jumped out from their cover behind the column. Will could see the krogan's supplies in the far corner of the chamber. It was a long run and Taxalur clearly wasn't moving as fast as a krogan in his prime.

"No!" Kallux darted from cover and ran after Taxalur at full speed.

The arasik saw the two exposed krogan and leapt from the wall at the opprotunity, landing with a crash in front of Taxalur at the center of the room. The creature's claws ripped into the floor as it spun to face them. Taxalur let out a determined roar and dove to the side in an attempt to circumvent the arasik as Kallux readied his cannon and squeezed the trigger. Kallux aimed the heavy rounds at the creature's legs and, after a few repeated hits, finally tore through a chunk of armor and sent thick, green blood spraying from the back of the appendage. Will cursed to himself as Taxalur crossed in front of his line of fire and forced him to lay off the trigger. A shot from Vayren's sniper rifle ripped through one of the beast's hind legs a moment later, making it buckle slightly in pain from its two wounded appendages. The arasik let out a sound that fell somewhere between an enraged screech and a hiss.

"Nice hits! Keep it up!" Will shouted nervously as he waited patiently for Taxalur to clear from his shot.

Kallux roared as shot after heavy shot ripped into the beast's leg until it gave out and sent the arasik stumbling forward. Furious, the creature whipped out one of its legs toward Taxalur and struck him in the chest, sending him flying toward the far wall where Eleena and Vayren had taken up position. Kallux roared in bloodlust as Taxalur was cast aside and leaned his head forward to charge the queen. The twin omniblades at the front of Kallux's weapon ignited as he sprinted toward the arasik, the cannon still firing, but now wildly and off-target.

"Kallux, get into cover!" Will still held his fire.

The rest of the squad's weapons fell silent so that nothing but the thumping of Kallux's cannon, his angered roar, heavy footsteps and the pained screech of the arasik could be heard. The krogan leapt forward behind the weight of his cannon, aiming straight for the beast's throat, only to be swatted to the side by the weak and bloodied leg that he had crippled just moments before. Kallux rolled to the floor, sending shots in all directions and forcing the others to duck to avoid any stray bullets. The arasik hissed and scrambled toward the table where Will and Corsin were waiting with their rifles trained on its head. They fired off a few quick bursts before realizing that the creature was not intent on stopping. The human and turian jumped to their feet and sprinted to the right to avoid their raging foe.

Eleena's voice burst through the comms. "Look out!"

Will didn't have a chance to look for the danger before a massive piece of stone crashed to the ground a few feet to his side. He and Corsin rolled away in surprised and looked to the ceiling. After squinting to focus on the shifting debris he quickly identified their problem: a series of impact points from Kallux's cannon had destabilized the debris that lay over the skylight.

"Move!" Will shouted as loud as he could. "Get to the entrance hall!"

Will hugged his rifle to his chest and sprinted with Corsin at his side for the destroyed double-doors that the arasik had burst through. Kallux let out a grunt as he pulled himself up and fell in beside them as they passed by. Will looked over his shoulder to the far side of the room where Eleena, Vayren and a clearly disabled Taxalur were now cut off from the tunnel by the queen arasik. Will came to a stop a few feet from the hallway and turned back to his allies.

Eleena fired off a burst into the creature and caught Will's eye. "Go! We'll be okay!"

A metal support beam at least five feet wide and twenty feet long came crashing down between them. Will nearly ignored Eleena's demand, but stopped when the asari let out a yell of exertion as she lifted her hands and erected a small biotic shield around herself, the salarian and the wounded krogan. Will reluctantly turned and dashed the few remaining steps to the hallway where Kallux and Corsin were waiting.

"Where are the others?" Kallux shouted as Will passed by and nearly tripped into the hallway.

Will panted and turned back to see another few pieces of debris had fallen. "Biotic barrier," he managed to speak.

Seconds later a thunderous roar filled the chamber as the entirety of the ancient wreckage that covered the skylight came crashing down. A wall of dust rushed through the doorway, blinding Will, Corsin and Kallux as the heavy impact of falling debris deafened them. Will felt chunks of rock and other small pieces of rubble scatter past and around him as well as a few pieces of metal clattering onto the floor. More disturbingly, the whip and twang of flying metal rang out after a deep crunch. Will wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Corsin cry out in pain after a particularly loud collapse just outside the door. After about twenty seconds the sound of falling rubble gave way to the occasional pitter-patter of pebbles as they rolled off of newly formed mounds and onto the stone floor. Will could hear his heart racing as he stared into the milky light that shone in from the doorway, the dust slowly settling around him.

"Captain! Is everything alright down there?" Tul's voice broke over the comms.

"We just saw a collapse near your waypoints," Shansa added nervously.

"Yeah, we had a cave-in. I'm okay, but I need to check on the others." Will switched to squad-wide broadcast and closed his eyes in an attempt to let his other senses catch up. "Everyone alright?"

As his eyes reopened he could vaguely see Kallux's silhouette climing over the pile of rubble just outside the hallway and into the chamber. "Fine," the krogan replied over the comms as he disappeared into the slowly disappearing blanket of dust.

"We're... okay," Eleena answered weakly over the comms.

Corsin let out a groan from a few feet away and Will realized that he was laying on his side near the door. Will hurried to to the turian's side and knelt down, waving the thin dust to the side as he looked him over.

"Corsin, can you hear me?" Will lowered his hand. He wasn't going to settle the dust any faster waving his arms around.

The turian let out a slight gasp of pain. "My.. my leg."

Will looked down his body and let out a small sigh of shock. A metal rod approximately a half an inch in diameter and nine inches or so long and pierced straight through Corsin's leg and become stuck.

"Fuck," Will cursed under his breath. "Can you move it?"

Corsin drew a deep, determined breath and pushed himself to his knees. It was hard to read emotion from the face of a turian, but Will was certain he was in extreme pain. Corsin gave the ground beside him a few pats with his hand to locate his rifle and, upon finding the grip, lifted his weapon and stowed it on his back.

"Give me a hand," the turian requested.

Will held out his arm and helped Corsin to his feet by holding his balance. The turian set his foot on the ground and shifted his weight onto the leg, only to shake his head in rejection.

"It's no good," Corsin admitted reluctantly. "I.. I need some help."

"Give me your arm." Will grabbed Corsin's arm and slung it over his shoulder to give him a place to set his weight. "Let's find the others."

The pair turned from the hallway to the destroyed doorway that led to the library and began a slow, paired limp. Will guided them over the small mound of rocks that had piled up by the entrance and stopped to survey their surroundings. The sun was now as painfully bright as it had been on the surface given the enormous hole that now gaped in the ceiling. Nearly every inch of the floor was covered with levels of debris ranging in height from a thin layer of dust to a couple meters. Will immediately looked to the far corner of the room where Kallux was just reaching the others.

"Just set me down here," Corsin grunted. "Get over there and make sure they're alright."

Will looked to the turian. "Are you sure? Your leg..."

"It's in deep. There's nothing you can do about it right now," the Spectre argued. "I need someone who knows what they're doing."

Will walked them to a slab of rock that Corsin could lean against. "We don't have a medic..."

"Then call for evac and we'll look for a doctor." Corsin waved him off as he situated himself on the slab and pulled his arm from Will's shoulder. "Go find the rest of the squad."

With a nod of acknowledgment, Will turned and hurried over the pieces of jagged debris and opened his comm to the shuttle again. "Shansa, Corsin is wounded and I'm moving to check on the others. Do you think you can land the shuttle down here?"

After a brief pause she replied. "Yeah, I'll circle around and head down."

Will sighed in relief as he looked around the room to where the motionless queen arasik lay crushed beneath a stone pillar that must have weighed tons. He jumped over a fallen metal beam into what appeared to be a circular refuge clear of debris. At the center of the non-cluttered patch was Eleena, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling. A few feet away Kallux knelt over Taxalur, blocking Will's view. Vayren stood at the back, his rifle stowed and his eyes looking down to the others in silence. Will stumbled to Eleena's side and looked down to her visor. Her eyes were closed but moving slightly.

"Eleena." Will touched her gloved hand with his.

"I'm fine," she replied weakly between breaths. "Just haven't... exerted my biotics like that... in a long time..."

Will nodded thankfully and glanced to where Kallux looked over Taxalur. His heart sank. The elder krogan's torso had been sliced clean open by the arasik's claws and orange blood poured from the wound onto the dirty floor. Kallux shook his head slightly, his expression somewhere between anger and guilt. He had never seen Kallux truly sad before, either. Perhaps this was it.

Will crawled up to Taxalur's side and looked to Kallux. "Is it..?"

Kallux looked from the elder to Will and nodded. "Won't be long, now."

"It's about time, really," Taxalur coughed. "Haven't been hurt in a fight in years..."

"Guess you can't change everything about a krogan," Kallux mused with a small chuckle.

Taxalur smiled and closed his eyes. "Kallux... I'm glad you decided to help Vartin." He let out a bloody cough, his speech slow and deliberate. "Seeing you with your 'squad'. Heh... you've made the krogan proud. You made me proud."

"I didn't even get to tell you the good stuff," Kallux muttered with a small frown.

"You didn't need to," Taxalur assured him. "I've always known you would find something great."

Above them the sound of thrusters peeked into the chamber and filled the room as the Kodiak began descending into the ruins of the library.

"Thank you for everything, my friend." Kallux stared down to the elder krogan.

Taxalur didn't respond.

Will looked up to Kallux to see the krogan had closed his eyes and was muttering something too quiet to be heard over the growing roar of the shuttle.

Eleena had pulled herself up and stepped up beside Will. "Should we bring him back to the Bastion?"

Kallux shook his head. "No." He opened his eyes and nodded toward a set of doors a few meters away. "I'll put him in one of the private study rooms and seal it shut."

Vayren cleared his throat and stepped up, speaking flatly and deliberately, but loud enough to be heard over the thrusters behind him. "We were sent here to retrieve Taxalur. If we don't return with him, Vartin may refuse to-"

"We'll get the information," Kallux interrupted with a growl. "I will not bring him back there."

"I agree." Will stood with a nod. "I'll help you move him, but we need to move fast. Corsin is wounded and needs a doctor." He turned to Eleena and Vayren and motioned to where Corsin was waiting across the room. "Help him into the shuttle."

Eleena nodded immediately and waved for Vayren to follow. The salarian waited momentarily as he debated arguing the point before conceding and jumping over the beam after Eleena. Kallux put his hands on Taxalur's shoulder and pulled him to a sitting position. Will moved to put his hands on the dead krogan's opposite side. The roar of stablizing thrusters indicated that the Kodiak had leveled off and was hovering to load in the squad somewhere in the middle of the chamber.

"Thank you," Kallux told Will simply.

Will looked to the krogan. "What for?"

"For being on my side," he replied gravely. "This is where he belongs."

---

This was the first time Will had been in a Citadel Military controlled installation. After loading the squad into the Kodiak, Shansa had quickly delivered Corsin, Will, Vayren and Tul'Sorrin to Ar'saan Station, the largest CDEM facility orbiting Tuchanka. Will, Vayren and Tul rushed Corsin to the medical center while Shansa shuttled Kallux and Eleena down to the surface where the krogan could deliver the news of Taxalur's death and, more importantly, retrieve their intel from Vartin. The turian was admitted to the medbay immediately and the attending physician was performing surgery to remove the metal rebar within minutes. It was amazing how quickly security had turned from hostile to willing servants after learning that not one, but two Spectres were passing through.

"It should be a short procedure," Vayren informed the others as he stepped into the observation room.

Will looked over to the salarian as he stared through the viewport to watch the already underway operation. Vayren's face was stoic and emotionless as always. If he had any personal feelings toward Corsin, he certainly did not show them. Will doubted that he did, however, as the salarian had seemed to show nothing but the attitude of professional cooperation toward Corsin since they had contacted the Hyperion crew. Will let his eyes wander over the salarian for a moment as he and Tul stood watching the operation in silence. The medical lights that filled the adjacent room gave a sheen to his dark green skin and black eyes that gave him the illusion of being wet. After a moment of being watched, Vayren gave Will a sideways glance and raised a brow.

"Yes?" He asked flatly.

Will shook his head and looked back through the viewport. "Sorry, kinda got lost in my thoughts."

"Captain, I'm getting a message from Kallux," Tul informed them.

The quarian activated his uniquely crimson omnitool and made a few taps on the screen to bring up his messages.

Tul'Sorrin let out a sigh of relief. "He got the intel. He's transmitting it now."

Vayren and Will shared a quick glance before stepping to the quarian's side and crowding around the omnitool curiously. After a short wait the data packet arrived and Tul opened the list of shipping manifests dating back nearly four years. He opened the most recent and final shipment and held out his arm to give them all a better view. The list mainly consisted of numbers that Will could not recognize: military designations of dozens of weapons he had never heard of. He looked to Vayren for his reaction and saw the salarian shaking his head slightly in disbelief.

"Tul'Sorrin, open up an earlier manifest," the Spectre ordered.

Tul closed the document and scrolled down to a delivery made two years ago. Vayren continued his bewildered stare.

"This... doesn't seem possible," the salarian admitted.

"What is it?" Will finally asked.

Vayren pointed to one of the items on the list. "This is an anti-armored vehicle weapon. That kind of hardware is prohibited for importation by the CDEM." His finger dropped to another sequence of numbers and letters. "And this... this is an incredibly versatile high-explosive compound, also illegal. And according to these records these deliveries had been not only routine, but growing in quantity."

Tul'Sorrin shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. How could that much illegal cargo possibly get through CDEM's screenings?"

Vayren narrowed his eyes. "The krogan must have falsified this information."

"Why would the krogan falsify records to indicate that they were receiving illegal shipments?" Will argued.

The Spectre clenched his jaw. "A fair point." He turned from Tul'Sorrin and toward the door. "Follow me. We're going to get this sorted out. Now."

Will and Tul didn't hesitate in running to catch up with the salarian as he marched determinedly from the medbay and into the hall. After a short walk the trio stopped at the elevator and waited as the car traveled to their level.

Will looked to Vayren curiously. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to have a chat with this station's commander," the salarian replied as the doors opened before them. "Because if this information is correct, this entire operation is either incompetent or corrupt. And I'm not sure which one I loathe more."

Vayren, Will and Tul stepped into the elevator and waited silently as it took them up to the command level in just a few seconds. A soft ping rang out as the doors parted to reveal a long hallway flanked by office doors that ended at a wide door labeled "Command Center." Vayren walked out the elevator and into the hall as though he had done so a hundred times already that day. Two armed guards, one asari and one turian, stood at either side of the Command Center doors and quickly blocked the squad's path as they approached. The asari looked down at them and held up a hand.

"Do you have permission to be on this level?" The asari looked over the three sternly.

Vayren came to a stop a few feet from the guards. "Agent Vayren, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. These two are with me."

The asari glanced to the turian briefly and shook her head. "I'm going to need to see-"

"Here." The salarian had already pulled up his identification on his omnitool. "Scan my damned authorization package if you need to, but right now you're just standing in my way."

The asari held fast for a second before taking a step to the side. "My apologies, Agent Vayren."

The turian turned to the door controls and entered a quick passcode that phased the control panel's orange hue to green.

"You're free to enter, sir," the turian informed them as he moved from the doorway.

The doors gave a gentle hiss as they slid apart and Vayren led the others into a small room much like the one the Hyperion crew had stumbled upon in the Sommesh facility on Logasiri months earlier. A half dozen officers scattered around the room at computer terminals looked up as they entered, including a turian standing at the center of the room behind a large command console. The commander looked over his shoulder and, upon realizing the three newcomers were not members of his crew, turned to face them with crossed arms.

"Normally I need to know who insists on barging onto the command deck," the turian informed the squad. "But my guards seem to have let you in despite the fact that you are clearly not members of my crew. Now I'm curious to know."

"Spectre Vayren, that's who," Vayren answered. "Are you the commanding officer of this station?"

The turian seemed slightly taken aback, but nodded in response. "I- yes. Commander Firullus. What's the meaning of this incursion?"

"My associates and I would like to have a word with you in private," Vayren informed the commander.

Firullus blinked in surprise. "Yes... yes, of course." He stepped away from the command console and toward the squad. "My office is just down the hall."

The turian stepped passed the salarian, human and quarian and made his way out the door they had just entered. The squad turned and followed his lead to another security door half-way down the hall between the Command Center and the elevator. Firullus tapped a few buttons on his security console and waited as his ID was confirmed before opening the door and motioning for the others to enter.

"Please, have a seat," he requested.

Vayren looked to Will and Tul'Sorrin. "Let me handle this."

Tul shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever you say."

Will followed Vayren into the small office and looked around. It was utilitarian, as any military office would be, and lacked virtually any and all personalization. A plain, metal desk sat at the center of the room with two chairs on the side nearest the door and a slightly larger one on the opposite side. The only thing in the room that would indicate that it belonged to a single person was a picture frame on the desk that faced away from the door. Vayren stepped up beside the desk chairs and waved for Will and Tul to sit, which they did without argument. Firullus stepped in and shut the door behind him before rounding the desk and sitting straight and militarily.

"It's been a while since we've had a Spectre come out to visit," the turian admitted.

"Let's hope for the sake of galactic security that you won't meet another for a long time," Vayren began as he looked to Will and Tul'Sorrin. "My... associates and I have a few questions we were hoping you could answer, Commander Firullus."

The turian nodded once and somehow managed to make his posture even straighter. "I'll answer what I can."

The Spectre glanced to Tul and motioned toward the computer terminal on the desk. "Tul'Sorrin, would you pull up the relevant data?"

Tul nodded and activated his omnitool. "Transmitting the information now," he reported.

Firullus looked from Vayren to his monitor and activated the screen. "What am I looking at?"

"Four years of deliveries made to Tuchanka's surface," Vayren answered. "The contents and the IDs of the ships that brought them in."

Firullus narrowed his eyes and scanned the screen in silence. He looked perplexed for a moment before reaching forward and bringing up another window. His expression quickly changed back to normal, then shifted his gaze back to Vayren with a look of slight confusion.

"I... I'm not sure I see the problem, Agent Vayren," the commander answered slowly.

Vayren narrowed his eyes. "Did the CDEM intentionally let these illegal materials through, or did you simply let hundreds of deliveries take place without searching a single ship to verify its contents?"

Firullus shook his head. "Agent, as I'm sure you are aware, Spectres are permitted to move any materials to or from Tuchanka they see fit."

Will perked up in surprise. "I'm sorry, what?"

The commander nodded to his monitor. "According to our records, the ships that made these deliveries provided appropriate Spectre authorization and were allowed to move cargo to and from Tuchanka uninhibited." The turian looked to his three confused guests and attempted to explain further. "It's standard procedure for Spectre vessels. The ship you arrived on, the..." He pulled up another window. "Hyperion, was given the same security clearance."

"Commander," Vayren raised a hand to stop the turian from speaking further. "Who is the Spectre that authorized these vessels?"

Firullus looked back to his monitor. "Four separate ships were used in the deliveries in question, all authorized by Spectre Narenthus Antarian." He recognized the problem and looked to the others. "Forgive me... I was under the assumption that you were aware these vessels had Spectre clearance."

Vayren spoke slowly and deliberately as though he was struggling to form each word. "Commander, I would like a copy of your records for our investigation."

"Of course," the turian answered. "Is there anything else I can answer for you?"

Tul'Sorrin raised his omnitool to retrieve the data.

"No. Thank you for your cooperation, Commander Firullus." Vayren glanced to Will. "But my comrades and I will need to use your communications center in an hour or two."

Will raised a brow. "We will?"

"Yes," Vayren answered. "We have a few questions we need to ask the Council."