The Red Moon Collection - 2 - Three Phantoms

Chapter 8

Ar'saan Station, in orbit over Tuchanka

As someone who had lived his entire spacefaring life in the Attican Traverse and Terminus Systems, Will knew almost nothing about the all-politically-powerful Council. He was aware that it was made up of an asari, turian and salarian, and that they had only the smallest interest in the well being of his former colony home of Arvuna. He had rationalized this by noting to himself that, in terms of raw numbers, the amount of people under their governance that actually saw or interacted with the Council was a handful at most. Two of those people, however, were standing before Will at this very moment.

Corsin's operation had been a relatively simple procedure and the doctor had discharged him after giving the turian a long list of instructions to ensure his leg would heal properly over the next couple of days. Vayren had wasted no time informing Corsin of the new developments in their search for Antarian and the pair agreed that a conference with the Council was paramount. Will, Vayren and Corsin all agreed that they could not jump to the conclusion that Antarian was a rogue Spectre, but it was hard to ignore the evidence. The Spectre security network was virtually impenetrable, and Vayren believed that tunneling into it undetected so many times over four years was simply impossible given the ever-updating security systems.

A quick hour after Corsin was discharged, the three found themselves waiting patiently in the communications center that Commander Firullus had graciously given them free reign over. Vayren and Corsin stood side-by-side in front of a large viewscreen as they waited for the Council to assemble for their conference. Will stood just outside of the vid-range to watch both the Spectres and the screen. He hadn't bothered to argue for a voice in the conference and was certain that he would have nothing to say that Corsin and Vayren would not convey more professionally. Nevertheless, Corsin had given him a quick overview of how the meeting would go down. The turian gave a small laugh of surprise when Will had asked for the names of the Council members, but quickly recomposed himself and answered, much to Will's relief. After a few minutes of waiting, Corsin glanced to Vayren and shifted his weight with a small grunt. Will was certain that the turian's wound was painful, despite whatever anesthetics he had been given.

"You really think opening with an accusation is the best idea?" Vayren asked as he looked back to the turian.

"Of course," Corsin replied bitterly. "The only way to get the Council to pay attention is to hit them with the heavy stuff."

The salarian looked back to the screen. "I hope you're right."

The screen pinged softly to indicate that their transmission was being established. The orange holoscreen flickered lightly and the image of the Council filled the screen. There was the asari, Tevos, the leader of the Council and beside her was the turian representative, Sparatus. On her other side stood Valern, the newest and youngest member of the Citadel Council. The Spectres waited for the image to sharpen before bowing their heads respectfully, a gesture the Council returned quickly.

"Agent Rentarius, Agent Vayren," Tevos greeted them with a diplomatic smile.

"Ar'saan Station?" Sparatus inquired. "That's not exactly where I expected this operation to lead you."

"I wouldn't have guessed it either," Vayren replied. "Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice, Councilors."

Valern raised an irritated brow."Well, with a request so urgent, how could we not?"

Will didn't think he was going to like Valern.

"I'll try to make this quick," Corsin shot back.

"Mm. Your message stated that you would like to discuss a significant development in your mission," Tevos informed them. "Is that correct?"

"Yes, Councilor," Vayren replied with just a hint of nervousness. "Agent Rentarius, would you care to-"

"Absolutely," Corsin interrupted. He turian raised his omnitool and tapped a few keys. "I'm sending you all a report that we collected from the CDEM. As you can see, this report seems to suggest something quite shocking."

The image of Tevos reached forward to retrieve the file on the Council's screen. All three Councilors gave the data a quick look-over and shared knowing looks.

"So," Corsin began. "Is Narenthus Antarian the greatest hacking specialist in the galaxy, or did you forget to tell us a thing or two about him?"

Valern and Sparatus looked to Tevos and the asari simply raised a hand to indicate that she would answer for them. "We apologize for the deception. We were hoping that this mission could be completed without this information coming to light."

"Yes, well, we're sorry to have dashed your hopes," Corsin replied sarcastically. "How could you keep information this crucial from us?"

"The Council must think of galactic stability before all else," Tevos answered calmly. "Word of a rogue Spectre is not something that inspires order among the people."

Vayren cleared his throat. "During our preliminary investigation we found no evidence of Antarian's involvement with the Spectres..."

"Yes," Sparatus replied slowly. "We... scrubbed all data concerning his involvement with the Spectres from any databases he had access to or was referenced in."

"But you forgot to clean the CDEM's records," Corsin finished.

"Actually, no," Valern corrected as he looked to Tevos. "We should tell them everything."

The asari nodded. "I suppose that would be for the best, as our secret has already been exposed." She turned her attention back to the Spectres. "We were aware of Agent Antarian's business as an arms dealer while he operated as a Spectre. For all we knew his business was entirely legal, and given that it operated in the Terminus Systems we had little interest in monitoring it."

"But it wasn't all legal," Vayren argued. "Not only did he make sales to clans on Tuchanka violating Citadel sanctions, he did so by exploiting his authority as a Spectre."

"Information the Council was unaware of until now," the asari added. "Which means there is most likely more that he kept from us."

"If I may ask yet another question," Corsin interjected. "You haven't told us the specific reason Antarian was stripped of his Spectre status. You also haven't given us the evidence that proves he instigated the civil war on Sharkeer. Should we assume that those are linked?"

"You don't need to assume, Agent Rentarius," Sparatus answered. "We received word from a reliable source indicating Antarian had instigated the war and we relieved him of his Spectre status shortly afterward."

"A 'reliable source,' huh?" Corsin asked, unconvinced.

"I am sorry, Agent Rentarius, Agent Vayren." Tevos averted her eyes momentarily. "For the security of the Council and other Spectres, we cannot elaborate any further."

Sparatus raised his chin. "However, I assure you that we have not withheld any information that might aid in your hunt for Antarian."

Corsin shook his head. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe." He looked up to each of the Councilors and narrowed his eyes.

"That said," Vayren interjected quickly. "We are Spectres. We are capable. And we will complete the mission, Councilors."

Tevos nodded once. "Good. We are confident in your abilities, agents. Now, if there is nothing else you wish to discuss.."

Corsin let out an irritable sigh. "That's it. Thank you for your time."

"Good luck, agents."

Tevos's image reached forward to an unseen control panel and terminated the call. Vayren did the same, turning off the communications console and looking to Corsin.

"So what did we learn from this?" Vayren asked.

"Sounds like we learned that you can't trust the Council," Will remarked as he stepped up to them from the shadows.

Corsin scoffed. "That might be what you two learned. I was given that lesson years ago."

Vayren let out a slightly offended sigh. "The Council had their reasons. And does knowing that Antarian was once a Spectre really affect our mission?"

"Look, Vayren, you're new to the game," Corsin began as he turned and paced back and forth. "And I'll admit... I once thought like you do. But the Council is not infallible. We are not infallible."

Will looked between the two and raised a brow. "'New to the game?'"

Vayren irritably crossed his arms. "I received Spectre status nine months ago. Agent Rentarius has been a Spectre for two decades. Apparently he thinks that makes him the more superior operative."

"Ah, putting words in my mouth. Very professional." Corsin stopped and stared at the salarian. "I have more experience as Spectre. More perspective."

"You're not more experienced," Vayren retorted. "You're just a cynical, old soldier who is past his prime."

Will rolled his eyes. "Can you two stop with the posturing? We've got work to do."

The Spectres glanced to one another and then back to Will.

"Yes, fine," Vayren answered. "We need to establish a new course of action."

Corsin shook his head. "Let's run over what we've got."

"Honestly? I don't think we got much from Tuchanka," Will said with a shrug. "Knowing that Antarian was a Spectre gives us perspective, but no new intel."

"Unfortunately, I agree," Vayren admitted. "But knowing that Antarian was supplying, or even constructing, the caliber of weapons that were sold to Raik is... unsettling."

"I think it gives us a better idea of what we're dealing with," Corsin added. "It's obvious why they put two Spectres on this assignment."

Will nodded in agreement. "So what's our next move?"

"We still have the location of Antarian's third and final known facility." Corsin pulled up his omnitool to retrieve the data. "I suggest we make that our priority and set course immediately."

"Actually," Vayren began, "I believe there is another issue we should discuss first."

Will raised his brows. "Go on."

"We had a close call on this excursion." The salarian nodded to the medical wrap on Corsin's leg. "If we hadn't been so close to the CDEM, it would have taken hours, maybe days, to get him proper medical attention. Obviously, that would have severely delayed our mission." Vayren glanced to Will. "We're seeking a dangerous foe, Captain Hume. We need someone with medical training on the crew."

"Yeah, I agree," Will said with a sigh. "We nearly lost Shansa to a few simple gunshot wounds while we were gunning for Sommesh. But doctors are expensive, especially the ones willing to run with a merc group. Or a Spectre."

Corsin's mandibles twitched a bit. "I... might know somebody."

Vayren looked to the turian expectantly. "Someone you've worked with before?"

"On more than one occasion," Corsin answered with a nod. "She's a combat medic I served with back when I was still in the turian military."

Will crossed his arms. "Can we trust her?"

"I hope so," Corsin chuckled. "She's my sister. It's been a while, but we still keep in touch."

"Excellent." Vayren seemed pleased for the first time in hours. "Do you know where to find her?"

"As luck would have it, I do." Corsin activated his omnitool once again. "Tyrixis has been working as a freelance field doctor since she left the service. A few months ago I informed her of the outbreak of civil war on Sharkeer and she booked passage immediately. Last time we spoke she was still there. Antarian's little game has torn the place apart."

Will pursed his lips for a moment. "Sounds dangerous."

Vayren smirked. "That's what we have a fireteam for." He turned his attention to Corsin and gave him a nod. "I like the idea."

"I definitely wouldn't mind having a medic on board," Will admitted as he looked to the turian. "Let's get back to the Hyperion. We'll plot a course for Sharkeer as soon as we're done refueling."

Corsin turned and headed toward the door. "Sounds good. I need to take some weight off this damned leg."

Will waited for Vayren to fall in behind Corsin before doing the same. He took one last glance back at the communications console then exited the room and headed back toward the elevator that would take them to the docking level.

The rest of the crew was already on the Hyperion when Will, Corsin and Vayren had arrived. The four others were sitting around the table in the crew's quarters, listening intently as Kallux told them story after story of his exploits as a young krogan. Silence fell over them as Will and Spectres appeared in the doorway.

"Were you able to get out of Rakarn on good terms?" Will inquired as he stepped into the room with Corsin and Vayren at his side.

Kallux raised the glass in his hand and downed the last of his krogan alcohol. "Vartin was not happy about Taxalur. But we did find him, as he had requested." The krogan nodded lightly. "We departed... amicably."

"Good." Will glanced to Tul'Sorrin. "So, Tul, have you told them anything about the information we gathered from Firullus?"

Shansa and Eleena looked to the quarian quizzically. He averted his gaze and looked up to Will. "No, Captain. I figured it would be best to wait until you had spoken with the Council."

Eleena blinked. "The Council? The Citadel Council?"

"In all their pompous glory," Corsin replied.

Shansa's eyes grew wide as she stared at Will in disbelief. "You talked to the Council?"

Will quickly shook his head. "Of course not. Corsin and Vayren took care of that."

Kallux narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And why were you talking to the Council?"

Vayren let out a sigh and took a step forward. "After receiving the shipping manifests from Raik and discussing them with the station's commander, we were led to believe that... Narenthus Antarian is a rogue Spectre."

"A suspicion the Council confirmed just a few moments ago," Corsin added as he crossed his arms, clearly still irritated.

The Hyperion crew sat up in surprise and became visibly upset. Will bit his bottom lip nervously as he looked around the table.

"So it's true," Tul'Sorrin finally spoke. "You heard the confirmation yourself, Captain?"

Will crossed his arms and looked to the ground. He gave a small nod of acknowledgment. "Yes. They were trying to cover their own asses. Didn't want anyone to know one of their Spectres was throwing entire planets into upheaval."

Corsin shook his head. "It's not the first time."

"So this isn't just some arms dealer we're looking for." Eleena's eyes darted around the table and then back to Will.

"Nope," Will affirmed. "It's an arms dealer who had all the resources of a Spectre up until a few months ago."

"That's not so bad," Shansa said with a hopeful smile. "Project Sommesh was run by batarian special forces, remember?"

Vayren nodded. "That's true. And you all managed to destroy them without the help of two Spectres."

"We're not backing off the mission." Will stepped up to the center of the room. "Antarian is on the run and we've only scratched the surface of his operations." He placed his hands firmly on the table and looked to the squad. "We're not gonna let him keep up this sick game he's playing."

After a few moments of silence, Eleena nodded. "You're damn right we're not."

Will gave her a sideways glance and small smile.

Kallux's eyes were filled with determination. "Where are we headed next?"

"Sharkeer," Will answered as he stood back up and stepped away from the table.

Tul'Sorrin sat up in his chair. "Are we looking for evidence?"

"Not quite," Corsin answered. "Captain Hume, Vayren and I agreed that with the mission stakes as high as they are, we're in need of a medical professional on the crew."

"Corsin's sister is a field doctor," Will explained as he looked to the turian. "We believe she's working on Sharkeer."

Corsin nodded and raised his omnitool. "I sent her a message few minutes ago. Hopefully we'll get a response that confirms we're headed to the right place."

Shansa smiled hopefully. "Are you sure she'll help?"

"Luckily she owes me a favor or two," the turian answered. "It might take a little convincing, but she's worth it. Best combat medic I've ever worked with."

Will glanced to Shansa. "Are we ready to depart?"

The pilot activated her omnitool and looked over a few pages of information. "We're done with refueling. If I start now I can be done with the pre-flight checklist and underway in ten minutes."

"Do it," Will ordered. "Everyone else, rest up. If the situation on Sharkeer is as bad as the reports suggest, we might have to go in hot."

Will stood to the side and watched in silence as the crew filed out. Shansa and Eleena hurried to the bridge to begin their departure preparations while Kallux headed back to cargo bay. The Spectres crossed the hall to the bunk room where they could work at the meeting table and write up their after action reports. Tul simply walked to the far wall of the crew's quarters and sat at his info console. Will followed him and leaned against the wall beside the large computer terminal.

The quarian glanced to his side. "Captain."

Will motioned toward the computer. "Tul, I need you to do some digging for me. I need anything you can find on Sharkeer and the current state of the war." He paused momentarily. "And see if there is any information floating around on Tyrixis Rentarius."

"Corsin's sister?" Tul had already begun to type away at his console.

"Just wanna know who we're looking for," Will assured him.

The quarian nodded. "I'll forward anything I find to you."

"Thanks."

Will watched Tul work for a few seconds before turning and stepping into the forward hall. His body was starting to ache from the earlier hours of exertion. With a satisfying stretch he decided to make his way to the cargo hold and strip down out of his combat suit. Kallux was standing at his workbench when Will stepped into the cargo bay, diligently working on his cannon as always. Will felt a pang of sorrow for the krogan's loss and changed his course from his own locker to Kallux's. The krogan's eyes darted to the human briefly as he approached, but quickly returned to the task at hand.

"Sometimes the maintenance on this thing makes me wonder if it's worth using," Kallux grumbled.

Will chuckled lightly. "That thing does more damage than the rest of us combined. I think it's worth the inconvenience."

The krogan smirked lightly as he looked over the half-assembled weapon. "Don't sell yourselves short. This thing packs a punch, but your knack for command, Eleena's biotics and Tul'Sorrin's tech all working together is what really gives us our edge."

"I'm glad you appreciate my ability to yell at people," Will mused.

"You haven't gotten us killed yet," Kallux countered with a grin.

Will nodded with a soft smile. "Kallux, you okay?"

The krogan's hands paused for a moment. "I'll be fine."

"You sure? Taxalur clearly meant a lot to you."

Kallux pulled the troublesome heat sink from its compartment on the cannon and looked the piece over. "He did. But I'll be okay." He set the component on the workbench and turned to face Will. "I never expected to see him again after I left Tuchanka. It was... nice to at least get the chance to say goodbye."

"I wish I'd had the same chance with my father." Will frowned lightly.

Kallux studied the human's face. "You've never talked about him. At least not to me."

Will nodded. "He died before his time."

"Can't say Taxalur did," Kallux admitted with a sigh. "He was old and stubborn. He had a lot of enemies both in and outside of Raik." The smirked lightly. "I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did."

Will stepped forward and gave the krogan a slap on the shoulder. "You've done him proud, Kallux. He said it himself."

"I'm not done yet, Hume." Kallux grinned and turned back to his work.

Over the next few hours Will sat in the loft reading through all the information Tul had forwarded him on Sharkeer. The world had started out a gateway trading hub between the Traverse and Terminus Systems, but a powerful batarian family had eventually risen atop all the others and taken control of the government. The family was in power for nearly three hundred years until the rebellions started just a few months earlier. The majority of the fighting was taking place in the capital, Q'oorin. The few news reels Tul could find showed that the city of three million inhabitants was in rapid decline, so much so that the most recent images looked nearly as bad as Tuchanka.

Tul had also been able to find a substantial amount of information on their possible new recruit. Much of Tyrixis's service record was public, and very impressive. She had joined the turian military at the age of sixteen and entered the medical officer training program a year later. She had served on the front lines of dozens of conflicts both as a combat medic early in her career and a field doctor later. Six years ago, at the age of thirty seven, she had retired from active duty at the rank of Major with numerous commendations for her service. After that, however, information was scarce. Corsin had mentioned that her work took her to the fringes of civilized space, and her lack of a trail after retiring from the military was a strong indicator that this was the case. Will was still sifting through documents when the bracelet on his wrist began blinking to indicate an incoming transmission on his omnitool.

He activated the call. "This is Will."

"Captain Hume, I received a response from Tyrixis." It was Corsin.

"What's the word, Corsin?" Will continued to look over his holopad.

"She's willing to help, but we're going to have to extract her from Q'oorin. She's deep in no man's land operating a triage center for wounded on both sides."

"And here I thought things would be easy," Will joked. "Shouldn't be a problem. Tell her to expect us within the next solar day."

"Sounds good."

Will terminated the call just as a soft knock sounded from the entrance hatch.

"Come on up," he called.

The latch spun and unlocked before rising open. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Shansa had poked her head up cautiously.

Will smiled and stood up from the couch. "I wouldn't have said, 'Come on up,' if you were." He held a hand out for her.

She reached up and took the hand with a smile. "Thanks." She climbed up into the small room with Will's help. "We've got a good half hour before we're in range of the Aralakh Relay. Wanted to do some folding to pass the time."

Shansa turned to the compartment on the wall where she kept her origami paper and selected a few sheets. Will took a seat back on the couch and picked up his tablet as he watched her.

"I spent a lot of time today thinking about the colony," Will mentioned.

Shansa looked over her shoulder and raised her brows concernedly. "Oh?"

"Just seeing Kallux and Taxalur... made me think a lot about my dad. And home."

"I miss them too." The pilot set her origami paper back down on the shelf and turned to face Will. "But look how far we've come since then."

Will smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I think they'd be proud."

Shansa grinned and dropped down next to Will on the couch. "Are you kidding? My mom would have been pissed if I'd told her I got shot three times and ruined a perfectly good shirt."

Will let out a small laugh and shook his head. "She definitely would have given us a stern lecture on how hard it is to wash blood out of clothes."

"And don't get me started on your dad's talks about trigger discipline." Shansa closed her eyes and leaned her head on Will's shoulder with a sigh. "This is gonna be a tough one, isn't it?"

He took in a deep breath and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a gentle sideways hug. "Probably. But I think we can do it. So long as you don't get shot up again."

Shansa giggled softly and nodded. "Yeah, I'll pass on that. The scars are pretty cool, but I think three is enough for me." After a few moments she let out a sigh and released herself from Will's arm. "You gonna be okay, Will?"

He nodded as she stood and stepped up to the shelf to retrieve her origami paper. "I'm fine. Thanks, Shan."

She dropped down onto the ladder with a warm smile and give him a small wave as she descended back down to the bunkroom.