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\

9. Chapter 9

The Red Moon Collection - 2 - Three Phantoms

Chapter 9

MSV Hyperion, en route to Sharkeer, Somir System

Corsin stood at his locker contemplating which weapon set he would bring to the surface. After a long bout of deliberation he decided on his rifle, as always, and his shotgun for close-quarters effectiveness. Urban environments offered a vast array of potential combat zones, so he made a mental note to advise Vayren in bringing his sniper rifle. The rest of the squad would provide a nice even mix to round out their firepower. The turian nodded to himself and shut the locker door. They wouldn't be arriving for a few more hours, but he liked to have this sort of thing planned out ahead of time. Corsin turned to head back toward the forward hall and let out a grunt of pain. His leg was sore as hell and he was going to have to administer some sort of pain numbing agent before they departed. He shook his head and walked with a small limp to exit the cargo bay. The others would still be asleep in the bunkroom, he imagined. Years of military training had hammered the need for extensive sleep out of his system to the point where he could function at top performance and efficiency with only a few hours each night. He turned left and into the crew's quarters only to stop in the doorway, slightly surprised.

"Tul'Sorrin. I didn't expect anyone else to be awake already," Corsin said as he entered the room.

The quarian was working at his terminal, as always, and glanced over his shoulder to greet the turian with a nod. "Well, If I'm awake, I'm probably here," he advised as he turned back to the monitor. "Not a huge sleeper."

"Heh, me neither."

Corsin crossed the room to the kitchenette and opened up the pantry in search of some morning nutrition. He fingered through a few boxes and packets before shaking his head in dissatisfaction.

"You really don't have a lot of variety in the dextro foodstuffs," he commented.

Tul'Sorrin shrugged to himself as he typed away, busy at work. "I don't have much need for variety. Growing up on the Fleet we didn't have the space to produce 'luxury' food. So it's never been much of an interest of mine."

"Hmm." Corsin grabbed a box of bland-looking nutrient bars. "Interesting. What kind of things did you eat?"

"Anything that filled you up and didn't take much room to grow." Tul chuckled lightly. "So nothing from livestock."

"That's a shame. I was hoping you'd have stocked a few nice Palavenian steaks," Corsin jested.

"I'm sure you can find a supplier on Omega if it's that important to you," Tul informed the turian and shook his head as he mumbled at the screen in front of him.

Corsin retrieved a nutrient bar from the box in his hand and unwrapped it carefully, eying the gray chunk of food. He nibbled at the brittle substance and, upon finding it suitable, looked over to the quarian as he tapped away at his keyboard.

"So, you work on omnitool translators, right?"

Tul'Sorrin nodded affirmatively. "That's correct." He glanced over his shoulder. "Who manufactured your omnitool?"

Corsin looked off to the side for a moment of thought. "One of the guilds in the Armali Council, I think."

The quarian nodded happily. "I was contracted on their proprietary translators. Unless you installed your own translation software, you're probably running some of my code."

"Wow," the turian looked down at his wrist. "So why fight with a merc band? I can't imagine you were hurting for credits."

Tul'Sorrin continued his work in silence for a few moments. "I have my reasons."

Corsin eyed the quarian curiously. "Such as?"

Tul glanced back to the turian briefly. "Perhaps... another time." He looked the Spectre up and down before looking back to his monitor.

"Well, alright..." The turian finished off his nutrient bar and placed the box back in the cabinet. "It was nice chatting." Corsin walked to the door and glanced back to the the quarian. "My gear calls."

Tul nodded silently and continued on with his work.

---

"We're away!" Shansa reported over the helmet comms from the cockpit of the Kodiak.

"Airlocks are sealed," Tul'Sorrin added. "The Hyperion is in full lockdown."

Will looked around the cabin of the dropship through his visor and watched the rest of the squad. They all stood patiently with their hands firmly grasping the safety grips that dangled from the ceiling. The Kodiak shook as it escaped the gravity of Sharkeer's second moon and set course for the planet itself. The Hyperion was secured on the surface of the uninhabited moon behind them with only its baseline systems running. The plan was to keep the ship as hidden as possible until they had completed their mission on the surface of Sharkeer... a mission Will hoped would be quick. Corsin had found a contact used by the Spectres imbedded with the rebellion movement that had forwarded them valuable information. They would be landing in Q'oorin, the capital of the planet's government. The government was unrecognized by the Citadel Council, as it was technically located within the Terminus Systems, but with a population in the tens of millions the planet was nothing to be scoffed at. Corsin's contact had forwarded them the latest reported zones covered by anti-aircraft weaponry to allow them a safe approach into the city. After some doubt from the others, the turian had assured them that the source was trustworthy.

"Alright, we'll be hitting the atmosphere in about five minutes," Shansa informed them as she and Tul'Sorrin exited from the cockpit to the cabin.

Will nodded as they circled up with the rest of the squad. With the Spectres flanking him on either side, Will activated his omnitool to run over the final details of the mission.

"Alright, the goal is to do this quickly and quietly."

He tapped a few buttons on his omnitool and transferred a map of Q'oorin to the briefing screen that hung on the wall of the Kodiak. Will lowered his wrist and stepped up next to the screen to talk while the others looked over the map.

"Corsin was able to outline the areas that we believe to be covered with AA installations," Will continued as a series of red zones appeared on the map. "Obviously, we'll be avoiding those. He also received coordinates from his sister, Tyrixis, giving us a rough estimate of her location in the city."

A blue waypoint blinked up a few hundred meters inside one of the red zones.

Eleena's mic opened as she glanced from the map to Will. "I take it we won't be flying up to her doorstep."

"You'd be correct," Will affirmed. "However, we were able to spot a decent landing zone about seven hundred meters to the southeast, here." Another waypoint appeared, this one green. "It's surrounded by residential buildings that should deter anyone from spotting or meddling with the Kodiak while we move in to retrieve Tyrixis. Shansa, you'll fly us in through the holes in AA coverage and wait at the landing zone. If all goes according to plan, we'll be in and out in twenty minutes."

"So I'm going to land and wait by myself?" Shansa crossed her arms. "Last time we did that, I got three holes in my chest."

Will nodded slowly. "True. But this time, you'll have the engines running so you can get the hell out of there if needed."

Kallux gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Besides, the whole reason we're here is to get a doctor! Imagine how much quicker you'd get fixed up."

The squad remained silent before Shansa let out a small laugh and shook her head, allowing the others finally unleash their chuckles.

The redhead looked up to the krogan and nodded. "Thanks, Kallux. You always know how to make me feel better about nearly dying."

Will smiled and cleared his throat to draw the squad's attention once again. "If we hit the ground and find evidence of nearby action we'll send you back into the air until we're ready for exfil."

Shansa looked back to Will and nodded. "Okay. I'll keep all the scanners running as well."

"Good thinking. Now, any other questions?" Will looked around the circle with a raised brow.

"Are we expecting opposition?" Tul inquired.

"It's hard to say," Corsin replied regrettably. "We're entering an area of the city no one controls. That either means its constantly being fought over, or there's nothing there worth sacrificing men for."

"We'll certainly have a better idea once we hit the ground," Vayren added. "But reports are scarce at the moment."

Will reactivated his omnitool to remove the map from the screen and send it to Shansa's nav console. "And one more thing." He lowered his arm and looked to each of them. "Don't shoot unless you have to. This isn't our fight, and I'd like to keep it that way."

The others nodded in agreement.

"We should be hitting atmosphere any time now," Shansa said as she turned and ducked back into the cockpit. "Tul, give me a hand with the electronic warfare suite."

The quarian darted to the copilot's chair and began typing and swiping at the screens. "Looking clear so far."

The shuttle started to shake as it bore into the light atmosphere that surrounded Sharkeer.

"Everyone strap in," Will ordered.

The squad dropped to the troop benches and reached for their safety harnesses without a word of objection. With a series of clicks and snaps the locks connected and secured them to their seats as the shaking of the Kodiak grew stronger. Will could see into the cockpit where Shansa and Tul talked to one another over their private channel about the progress of their descent and, presumably, anything their scanners were picking up along the way. Will could feel the artificial gravity phase off as the weight of the planet took over. It was noticeably lighter, maybe eighty-five percent of Earth's, but it would function well enough for a short mission.

"Leveling out," Shansa reported. "We're about a minute from the outskirts of the city."

"Understood." Will glanced to the rest of the squad. "Let's do this one by the books."

"By the books?" Eleena laughed from her seat on the perpendicular bench. "When have we ever done something by the books?"

Will smirked. "I thought it might be fun to change things up and give it a try."

"I'm picking up the AA batteries on long-range scanners," Tul'Sorrin informed them. "Looks like we should be able to skirt around them."

The shuttle gave a slight drop as it hit a pocket of turbulence. Will closed his eyes and drew a deep, calming breath.

"ETA?" Will opened his eyes once again.

"Should hit the LZ in about two minutes," Shansa answered.

They continued in silence for a few seconds before a warning siren began to radiate from the cockpit.

"That can't be right," Tul'Sorrin muttered.

"What's the problem?" Will called nervously.

"We're getting traced," Shansa answered.

If that answer wasn't enough to worry Will, Shansa's tone was. Whenever things in the cockpit were particularly difficult she fell into a state of extreme concentration and focus. It reflected clearly in the tone of her voice, and the tone was more than apparent now.

Kallux gripped his safety harness. "Traced? What does traced mea-"

"We've got a lock!" Tul'Sorrin interrupted. "Enabling electronic countermeasures!"

"Too late!" Shansa yelled as the Kodiak jerked to the side.

Shansa's attempt at manual evasion nearly worked. An explosion shook the shuttle and sent it twisting off its path as she struggled to keep the Kodiak in the air. The shuttle shook violently after a few seconds with a hissing and popping coming from outside the hull to round things out. Sirens began blaring from the flight control panels in the cockpit.

"Rear thrusters are hit," Shansa reported quickly, evenly and calmly. "Port-side is not responding. Starboard is wavering between twenty and thirty percent capacity."

Will clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, hoping that the rattling hull was not severely damaged as well.

"We're not getting any more locks!" Tul'Sorrin was not as collected as Shansa. "But there's no way we're staying in the air at this-"

"I'm setting us down," Shansa interjected.

The Kodiak, which had already begun descending involuntarily, nearly dropped out of the sky as Shansa nosed them into a sharp decline. Will could see a portion of the forward viewport from his seat and shook his head slightly as he saw the ground approaching far too fast. The forward thrusters ignited hard as Shansa nosed up and attempted to stop their fall just meters above the rooftops of the war-torn structures of Q'oorin.

"Hold on!" Shansa shouted.

Will drew in a deep breath as the Kodiak impacted the ground and slid with a grating screech as the metal hull tore into the street. With the forward thrusters burning at full force the shuttle halted only a second or two after touching ground, sending Will jerking to his side as momentum continued to pull him forward.

Shansa panted into her mic and nodded. "Heh, no problem."

After shaking his head, Will looked around the cabin to see everyone strapped in and seemingly safe. "Everyone alright?"

Eleena raised a gloved hand and rubbed her neck. "Fucking whiplash..."

Corsin had already unbuckled himself and jumped to his feet. "Better than on the ship." He adjusted himself on his wounded leg. "Gotta love the low-grav."

The others pulled themselves up as Will stood and leaned into the cockpit. "Shansa, how bad?"

The pilot shook her head. "The rear thrusters are out. Won't know the extent of the damage until Eleena and I can take a look at them."

Will nodded and shifted his attention to Tul'Sorrin. "Anything on the scanners?"

Tul let out a small groan and shook his left hand. It looked like he might have hit it against part of the console in the crash landing. "Multiple heat signatures in the area... most likely soldiers. Nothing within fifty meters, though." He shook his head and flipped through a few windows. "I don't know how we were hit... the closest AA installation is kilometers away."

"Portable AA," Kallux suggested as he stepped up behind Will. "There are plenty of shoulder-fired pieces that can take down a Kodiak."

"That's a possibility," Will answered with a sigh. He turned and drew his rifle as he crossed the cabin to the side hatch. "Let's check and clear the LZ so Eleena and Shansa can take a look at the thrusters. Everyone: weapons ready."

He glanced over his shoulder to see the squad had already drawn and prepped their firearms. Tul'Sorrin drew his pistol as he exited from the cockpit and nodded affirmatively. Will reached for the hatch controls and with a few taps, unlocked and opened the door. He raised his rifle and held his sights on the hatch as it hissed and raised to open the cabin to the outside. As the door parted the squad was met with the wall of a building three or four stories in height. Will stepped forward and glanced toward the front and back of the shuttle to see that they had crashed in the courtyard of a U-shaped building which, much to his satisfaction, gave only one entrance and exit to their position. Will looked aft where the opening of the building lined perpendicular with a roadway. Across the street was another building at least five stories tall, but worn with scorch marks, bullet holes, and missing chunks of construction. All around them heavy clattering of distant gunfire and thumps of artillery echoed down the streets and over the rooftops.

"Atmosphere compromised," Shansa noted from the cockpit. "I'll cycle the canned air back once we've lifted off."

"Understood," Will answered. "No one take off your helmet... no matter how bad that itch gets."

Vayren carefully stepped out of the Kodiak and scurried to the end of the shuttle. "We're alone," he announced as he surveyed their surroundings.

Will stepped out after him to look around the courtyard for himself. It was about thirty feet wide and fifty long, scattered with crates and debris that would make decent cover if company were to arrive. The sky above them was a dull, dreary gray, made up of cloud coverage and smoke. Will motioned for the rest of the squad to follow as they stepped out of the Kodiak and moved past the aft end of the shuttle and toward the street. He glanced to the rear of the Kodiak to see the thruster in better shape than he had anticipated, indicating that the damage may have been limited to a few nuts and bolts coming loose. Or so he hoped. Will stopped after a few meters and nodded to a thick piece of concrete that jutted out of the ground to his side.

"Kallux, Vayren, setup behind cover and watch our backs while we figure out where we are," Will ordered.

The krogan and salarian nodded and took up position to watch the roadway as Will turned back to the others. Corsin, Tul'Sorrin and Eleena stood behind him while Shansa waited in the shuttle.

"Shansa, you're clear to come out," he mentioned over the comm.

The pilot peered out for a moment before jumping to the ground and stepping up with the others. She reached down and activated the shield generator on her utility armor, just to be safe.

Will nodded to Shansa and Eleena and before he could give the order they were already turning to get a look at the thrusters. He smirked lightly and looked to Tul and Corsin.

"Tul, do you have our location?"

The quarian pulled up his omnitool and nodded almost instantly. "Yes. Just give me one second to overlay it onto the map we have... and... there."

Will and Corsin stepped up to Tul's side as he held out his wrist and displayed the area map. According to their previous plan they had gone down roughly five hundred meters from their intended landing zone, putting them over a kilometer from their target.

"Damn," Corsin muttered.

"Agreed," Tul added as he let out a sigh.

"Tul, see if you can map a decent route from here." Will gripped his rifle as he looked over the map for a long moment before looking up to the rear of the Kodiak. "Eleena, Shansa, what's the situation?"

Shansa was scanning the starboard thruster carefully with her omnitool as Eleena knelt on the roof of the shuttle and inspected the thrusters from there.

The asari let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "The shockwave from the explosion blew some hoses and ruptured a few nozzles on the starboard side. Nothing I can't take care of in half an hour. But the port side..."

Will realized he had not seen the port side of the Kodiak and walked over to get a better look. As he rounded the back of the shuttle he saw the problem: an enormous gash had ripped into the thruster housing and taken a good chunk of the engine with it.

"I think we can safely say the port engine is fucked," Eleena noted as she looked down at the damage from the roof of the shuttle. "We should have the parts and equipment to repair it... but they're on the ship."

Shansa deactivated her omnitool. "But you can fix the starboard side, right?"

Eleena glanced to the human. "Yeah, it's just lots of simple fixes."

"If that's true... I can fly us out," Shansa declared confidently. "The stabilizing thrusters on the belly look fine, I'll just burn them to capacity to keep us in the the air until we break from the surface."

Will raised a brow. "Is that gonna work?"

Eleena and Shansa shared a quick glance and shrugged nearly in unison.

"I don't see why not," Shansa answered as she looked back to Will.

He smirked lightly and nodded. "Alright, get it done. We'll get the repairs in order then move out."

"Hume! I've got Tyrixis on comm," Corsin called. "I'll patch you in."

Will turned on a dime and hurried to the turian and quarian. Corsin pulled up his omnitool and made a few adjustments to feed the audio from Tyrixis's call to Will's comm channel. He winced as a hiss of static broke into his helmet along with the crackle and pop of gunfire.

"Tyrixis, you there?" Corsin called, his voice louder than normal.

A few seconds later a response came in that flickered in and out of comprehension."-irmative... lots of …-fire. Rebels are... -a push nearby. -ery hot, I... -peat, the area is taking.. -eavy fire. I need extraction!"

The channel cut silent a moment later and Corsin shook his head. "It's dead. We need to get over there, fast."

Will could tell Tyrixis was in danger, but shook his head reluctantly. "It'll take time before the Kodiak's ready."

"Forget the shuttle," the turian argued. "We can find her while they make the repairs."

"We can't just leave them here alone."

"We don't have to," Tul suggested. "I've laid out a path that should keep us relatively hidden by sticking to alleyways and moving through buildings. If we split up, a small group can make it there quickly and undetected."

Will considered the option carefully. "A small group? How small?"

"Two people... three maybe?" Tul shrugged. "The fewer the better, really. You'd create less noise and could stay out of sight easier."

"I don't know," Will shook his head lightly. "What if we run into trouble?"

"The way I see it we have two options," Corsin began as he slowly paced to the left and right. "Move to Ty's location with the majority of our firepower, or leave it here. I'm willing to bet that someone saw our shuttle go down and they're going to be here to investigate any minute now. There's a chance they could be friendly, but there's also a chance they won't be. On the other hand, this path Tul'Sorrin has set for us could keep us concealed and allow us to avoid most of the action." He shook his head. "Or it might not. So the question is... where do we bet on needing our guns?"

Will looked to the side and thought in silence. Corsin was spot on with his analysis, and they were wasting precious time debating on a plan.

"Okay," Will finally answered. "A small group will head to Tyrixis, the rest will stay here. I'd rather bet on keeping the shuttle safe. As far as I'm concerned, if the extraction team gets into trouble they can always just fall back to this position. The other way around? Not so easy."

Corsin nodded in agreement. "Good. So who is doing what?"

"I spent a good four hours studying the maps of the area. I'll probably know it better than anyone." Will glanced to Tul. "Send me the route, I'm going."

Tul'Sorrin nodded and sent the map from his omnitool to Will's. "And who will accompany you?"

"I should go," Corsin interrupted. "She won't recognize anyone else. If she's in the middle of a war-zone then there's a good chance she won't hold off on the trigger if she's never seen you before."

Will nodded in agreement and glanced around the courtyard. Kallux had found a chunk of debris the perfect height to rest his cannon on and was carefully watching the street that their "U" opened at. He was far too much of their firepower to take away from their defensive position and, of course, the largest and most obvious target. He would have to stay. Vayren, on the other hand, was relatively small and even used a stealth generator. Couldn't get more discrete than that. But he could also pack a serious punch with his sniper rifle. As it was now, the salarian had climbed up into a perch a few meters above the ground and wedged himself into a corner that made him virtually invisible to a passing glance. On top of that, it would be useful to have someone who could make calls and act as the squad leader for the time being. He would have to stay as well. Will looked back to the turian and quarian.

"Corsin and I will go. Everyone else will stay here."

"Are you sure?" Tul'Sorrin drew his pistol. "If you need subterfuge, I can certainly work that angle."

Will smirked. "It's appreciated, Tul, but I need you here in case Eleena and Shansa need technical assistance with the shuttle."

The quarian nodded. "Yes... you're probably right."

Corsin cleared his throat. "We should move."

Will nodded in acknowledgment and opened his comm channel to the entire squad. "Alright, everyone. Corsin and I are going move out and extract Tyrixis. Everyone else is going to stay here and cover Eleena and Shansa while they get the Kodiak back in working order." Will readied his rifle and stepped into the middle of the courtyard so he could see everyone by turning in place. "Vayren is calling the shots, understood?"

The response was reluctant, but in agreement.

"Good luck," Kallux stated. "Stay low."

"And watch your backs," Eleena shouted from the roof of the Kodiak.

Will looked back to Corsin and motioned him along as they trotted toward the street. The turian hurried up ahead of Will and raised his rifle as they neared the corner of the building. Will glanced back to the others one last time.

"Last chance to let me know if anyone needs something from the store." Will grinned lightly as he waved to them.

Shansa looked up from the exposed thruster housing and made a shooing motion. "Just go!"

Will chuckled lightly and turned his attention back to Corsin. The turian had made a quick sweep of the street and was pressed with his back against the wall, ready to move.

"Looks clear," he informed Will. "I've got Tul'Sorrin's path on my HUD. Looks like we're moving to the end of this block, then across the street and into the alley."

Will brought up his omnitool and overlaid the directions on his own HUD. "I see it."

"I'll take point." Corsin raised his rifle.

Before Will could object, Corsin had rounded the corner and was moving down the street, hugging the wall. Will readied his own weapon and hurried to catch up with the turian, his eyes watching the windows of the surrounding structures as they moved. The cracks and thumps from hundreds of guns of dozens of calibers continued to rattle on in the ambiance around them, though it was clear that they were headed towards the loudest of it. Corsin slowed as they reached the next intersection and peered around the corner cautiously.

"Looks like a dug-in firing position about thirty meters down." The turian leaned back into cover and looked to Will. "Looks unoccupied."

"It looks that way?" Will raised a brow. "Does that mean it is?"

Corsin chuckled. "Let's find out."

Will's eyes widened as the turian gripped his rifle and sprinted out into the street without warning. Somehow, Corsin's bandaged leg gave him only the slightest limp.

Corsin slid into cover as he reached the opposite sidewalk and grunted over the comm. "It's clear, Hume. Come on."

Will shook his head and stepped out to the cross the street. "Are all Spectres insane?"

The turian pulled himself to his feet as Will approached and began walking toward the alleyway. "Relax, my HUD didn't pick up any heat signatures or movement."

"I didn't realize you had that kind of equipment."

Corsin paused briefly as they reached the entrance to the alleyway and quickly scanned for targets. Seeing it clear, he led Will into the narrow hall and toward the exit at the opposite end of the block.

"It's pretty standard for a Spectre's loadout." Corsin's rifle remained up and ready as they moved hurriedly down the alley. "But, I have a few non-standard upgrades as well. I'm trained in combat engineering as well as biotics."

Will raised a brow. "Like Tul?"

Corsin chuckled lightly. "I'm nowhere near his expertise in the same way my biotics would never hold up against Eleena's, but I can hack my way through basic security in a snap."

The pair came to a stop as the alley ended at another debris ridden street. The sound of gunfire had grown louder as they approached the hotspot that Tyrixis had found herself in. Will and Corsin took up positions at each wall and glanced in opposite directions to look for targets.

"Looks clear," Will reported.

"Not this way," Corsin muttered.

Will turned quickly to get a look at the other end of the street. "Shit.."

There was movement at an intersection about fifty meters down street. Will raised his rifle and used the zoom optics to see that there was a group of at least twenty soldiers running in the same direction that he and Corsin were heading. The group looked as rag-tag as they come, but were surprisingly well armed.

"Looks like reinforcements for whatever is happening near Ty," the Spectre reasoned.

Will lowered his rifle and nodded. "Probably."

After a few moments of waiting the last of the troopers disappeared around a crumbling structure and out of sight.

Corsin readied his weapon. "Let's move."

The human and turian sprinted for the opposite side of the street and to a half blown apart doorway. Tul's path directed them into the structure that took up the entirety of the next block, and Corsin quickly began working on prying the two halves of the door apart. Will stowed his rifle and gripped the lip of one half firmly to give Corsin a hand. He grunted and gave a hard tug, causing the door to screech lightly but part far enough to allow them passage into a dark hallway. Will retrieved his rifle and activated his flashlight.

"Captain Hume, do you read, over?"

Will stopped and opened his comm. "I hear you, Vayren."

"We've made contact. Group of scouts belonging to the local regime thought we were rebels and attempted to move into the crash-site by force." The salarian paused. "We scared them off, but I image they will be back soon."

"Then I'm glad we left you all there to watch over things." Will looked back as Corsin stepped through the door and into the hall. "Let me know if things start getting hairy."

"Affirmative. Vayren, out."

"I'll lead for a bit," Will stated as he closed the comm channel.

Corsin nodded as he activated his own light. "Sounds good."

It was hard to tell, but Will guessed that whatever structure they had entered was once a shopping center. The walls were lined with abandoned stalls, some open and scattered with boxes of long-looted products while others were blocked off by large security walls. Will took a quick glance at his constantly updating path information that Tul had integrated to his helmet's HUD. If the quarian's directions were correct, the long hall that Will and Corsin were moving through should exit at the street just a single block away from Tyrixis's location.

"So, you served with your sister?" Will glanced to Corsin.

The turian nodded. "For a few years. I wasn't in the turian military for long." He laughed and shook his head. "Well, not as long as her."

Will smirked lightly. "Why'd you leave?"

"I had some, uh... disagreements with the command structure." Corsin shook his head. "Plus, I got offered this job and, quite frankly, I think I've done a lot more good than I could have on Palaven waiting for another krogan rebellion."

Will eyed an overturned table as they passed it and noticed dozens of scattered bullet holes. Apparently things had fallen out of control quickly here.

"Did you serve in the First Contact War?"

The turian clicked his mandibles for a moment. "Ah, you mean the Relay 314 Incident." Corsin shook his head. "No, I started Spectre training about two years before. Tyrixis, on the other hand... she was on Shanxi."

Will raised a brow. "Do you think she'll be okay working with me? I've heard a lot of turians mistrust humans... especially those who fought against us."

Corsin paused briefly. "She's a little old fashioned at times, but she's not ignorant."

The pair came to a stop as they reached a closed door. Corsin stepped to the middle and raised his omnitool.

"I should be able to feed some power into this thing and force it open," he muttered as he worked.

A few seconds later the security panel on the door flickered to life and pinged. The door slid apart to reveal another dark stretch of hallway nearly identical to the one they had just finished traversing through. Corsin grabbed his rifle and nodded.

"Let's go."

Will moved onward and looked over the turian. "You started Spectre training before our first contact?"

Corsin nodded. "That's right. I've been an active operative for twenty-one years."

"Wow." Will shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't realize Spectres served for that long."

"Well your length of service depends on a lot of factors. Your species, the kind of missions you conduct, injuries..." He gave a small shrug. "I don't think about it much."

"How many turian Spectres of your age are there?" Will looked back ahead as they neared another door.

"Not many," the turian admitted.

Will halted at the door. "This is the end of Tul's path... she could be anywhere around here."

"Sounds like gunfire," Corsin noted as he raised his omnitool and prepared to hack the door. "Let's see what's going on."

"I'm ready." Will held up his rifle.

The security panel blinked and parted, allowing light that shone from the gloomy sky to pour past them. The sounds of gunfire both close and far exploded around them from the street. Will narrowed his eyes as they adjusted to the light.

"Hey!" I voice called from in front of them.

As Will looked down into the street he could see a group of five soldiers behind a bunch of debris that had been set up as a barricade. The group was diverse in almost every possible way: from their body shapes it appeared as though the group consisted of three batarians, a human and a turian. Their armor and weapons were a wide variety of old and new as well. Will figured they had to be rebels, given their inconsistent gear. Bullets impacted everywhere around the soldiers as they attempted to return fire on an unseen enemy. The trooper that had seen them, a batarian, raised his rifle and took aim on Will and Corsin.

"Who the hell are you?!"

His voice was hard to make out over the sound of firing rifles and impacting bullets. A second soldier, a female human, caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye and turned her weapon on the newcomers as well while their comrades continued to fire downrange. Will quickly pointed his weapon to the ground and raised a hand in an attempt to diffuse the situation. He ducked to the side slightly to hide part of his body behind the door, just in case.

"We're looking for someone!" Will shouted in return.

He glanced over to see Corsin had mimicked his action and had pressed himself into cover.

The woman ducked as bullet impacted near her head, but kept her weapon trained on them. "Who you fightin' for?"

Will and Corsin locked eyes for a moment before the turian looked back to the rebels. "We're from off-world. We're trying to find someone and get them out of this mess."

The other soldiers had noticed them by now, but continued on their duties in hopes that their batarian and human comrades would deal with the situation.

"So if you're not here to help, why should we let you come through?" The batarian yelled.

"Do you really want to pick a fight with a Spectre?" Corsin replied almost tauntingly.

The human stared up in shock. "You're... Spectres?"

Corsin gave Will a sideways glance. "I'm a Spectre. This is my partner."

The batarian shook his head and waved them down. Will and Corsin gave each other a nod and darted through the doorway and down into the street. They slid down behind a burned out skycar where the human was crouched. She looked Corsin and Will up and down with wide eyes. Will glanced up over cover to see at least a dozen enemy soldiers at various positions down the street laying fire down toward them. As he stared, a bullet impacted near Will's shoulder and caused his shields to flare up. The batarian that had first spotted them looked over from behind his nearby cover.

"What the hell are Spectres doing here? What do you want?"

"As we said already, we're looking for someone," Will answered truthfully. "A doctor."

The human tilted her head to the side. "A doctor?"

Corsin nodded. "A turian. Tyrixis Rentarius."

The batarian perked up. "She's still here? I thought she'd have gotten the hell out of here by now."

Will furrowed his brow concernedly. "She's nearby, right?"

"Her triage center is nearby." The batarian held up his rifle and fired off a burst. "But our front has been pushing this way for weeks. She must have known the lines were closing in on her."

"Sounds like her." Corsin let out a sigh. "Can you tell us where her clinic is, exactly?"

The batarian motioned behind them. "Back down this street and to the right one block. She was set up in an old motor pool."

Will looked to Corsin and nodded. "Alright, let's go."

"What? You can't leave!" The woman behind cover with them shook her head. "You've gotta help us fight!"

Corsin looked around the group of rebels. "Sorry, we've got a mission."

The batarian lined up another few shots. "We're gonna get overrun! You can't just leave us to die!"

"Look, I'm sorry... we've got no stake in this war." Will reluctantly pulled himself to his feet and rolled into cover at the far side of the street. "Don't worry, you've got reinforcements moving in on that enemy squad's flank. Just... hold your line!"

The woman gritted her teeth angrily and rose up to unload a series of shots. Corsin waved for Will to follow him as he jumped to his feet and stepped around the debris that made up the rebels' position. Will fell in behind Corsin as he sprinted away from the firefight and down the street in the direction that the batarian rebel had told them to go. A few stray bullets impacted around them and occasionally on their shields as they made their way to the next intersection until they were all but clear of combat. Corsin stumbled slightly on his wounded leg and pressed himself against the wall as they came to a stop. The turian looked around the corner as he caught his breath.

"I think I see it," Corsin stated.

Before Will could get a look for himself an ear-shattering crash rang out and shook everything around them. He shook his head and placed his hand on the wall as his balanced returned while dust billowed through the air. Will looked back down the street toward the rebels' position to see nothing but fire and rising smoke.

Corsin grabbed Will by the shoulder. "It's artillery, we've gotta move!"

Will nodded and followed Corsin as he turned and ran out into what would hopefully be the final street they would have to cross. Will glanced to his side as they ran at full speed to see that the block ended at what had once been a massive park. He stared in a mix of amazement and terror at the utter destruction that had befallen the area as hundreds of tiny figures and dozens of vehicles exchanged fire. He and Corsin slammed themselves into the wall as they looked out into the battle. They only watched for a moment before Corsin set off once again, running down the side of the street toward the park. A few dozen meters from where the road ended he turned and darted into a large opening on the wall that Will quickly realized was a set of bay doors. Corsin paused a few feet into the room and doubled over as he caught his breath with Will doing the same beside him. Will glanced up around looked around the warehouse-size room they had taken refuge in.

"It... it looks like a garage," Will panted.

"A motor pool," Corsin corrected him.

A door on the wall to their left pinged softly and parted. Before Will and Corsin could raise their weapons they were met by the barrel of a rifle and the armored figure holding it. The newcomer spoke with a voice that was noticeably strong, and clearly turian, but also feminine.

"Well, it's about time, Corsin. I thought you'd never show up."