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\

21. Chapter 21

The Red Moon Collection - 2 - Three Phantoms

Chapter 21

Miarin Mountain Range, Lorek

The Kodiak shook as the shock wave finally caught up with the speeding shuttle.

"Keelah! What happened?!" Tul'Sorrin shouted from the cockpit. "The entire plateau is gone!"

Will swallowed hard and looked to the squad status on the left of his HUD. Corsin's indicator had changed to a placeholder reading, "No data available." He raised his wrist and activated his omnitool to bring up the comm channel settings. Corsin's node was no longer receiving or transmitting data.

"Corsin? What in the hell is wrong with you?" Tyrixis's voice was growing worried.

Eleena pulled off her helmet and clenched her fist. "Goddess..."

Kallux reached for the door controls and shut the hatch as Will stepped back, barely holding back his utter panic.

Tul'Sorrin jumped through the doorway to the cabin. "I'm not getting any readings from Agent Rent-" He froze and stared Will, Kallux and Eleena down. "Where... where's Corsin?"

The trio exchanged silent looks. Will shook his head slowly and looked back to Tul, his breathing labored from shock.

The quarian took at step back. "Oh... oh no... are you sure that..?"

Kallux nodded grimly. Shansa, who had been listening closely, peered over her shoulder with wide eyes and a slightly-open lips. Tyrixis sounded in Will's ear once again.

"Corsin? Are you-"

"Tyrixis, we... we'll be back at the ship in a minute," Will interrupted.

"That doesn't answer my question," she reiterated.

Will looked down to the floor. "We'll see you in the shuttle bay." He pulled off his helmet and let it fall to the floor.

Eleena raised a hand to cover her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "That son of a bitch... he could have run with us!"

Kallux looked to her and shook his head gently. "No, he couldn't have. You know that."

The asari let her hand fall as she dropped to one to the seats. The others stood in silence as Shansa guided the Kodiak smoothly through the winding valleys of the Miarin mountain range. A couple of minutes later she slowed the shuttle to a hovering stop while waiting for outer cargo doors of the Hyperion to open. Tul had leaned his back to the wall, Kallux and Will stood in the center of the cabin, and Eleena remained on the bench, all of them lost in thought. After docking, Shansa stood from the pilot's seat and stepped out of the cockpit with a look of dread on her face.

"We're docked," she said gently.

Will nodded in acknowledgment and reached for the door controls. As the hatch slid open they were met by Vayren and Tyrixis standing a few feet from the shuttle, clearly anxious. The turian had stripped the armor from her hands and arms at some point, replacing them with medical gloves that were stained with wet asari blood. Will stepped up to the center of the doorway and tried his best to meet the doctor's eye.

"Where is Corsin?" Tyrixis asked immediately.

"He..." Will trailed off and shook his head, searching for words.

"He didn't make it," Kallux finished. "He stayed behind to keep Antarian from starting another war."

Tyrixis managed to remain visually stoic save for a small twitching of her mandibles. "He 'stayed behind?'" She repeated quietly.

Will nodded as he answered, finally able to form a sentence. "We got their plan out of Russon, but there was no time. Corsin made the decision before we even realized there was one to be made..."

Every eye in the room had fallen on Tyrixis. After a few moments the turian's eyes fluttered gently as she nodded in response.

"I see," the doctor finally spoke. "T'lees is still in need of my attention. Please... e-excuse me."

The crew watched as she turned and walked briskly to the forward hall. Vayren turned his attention back to Will and shifted his weight around on his now bandaged leg.

"Captain, we need to have a debriefing," the salarian declared solemnly.

Will dropped to the floor and nodded. "In a bit, sure. I have to make sure Tyrixis is okay." He glanced back over his shoulder to the others. "Everyone send us your omnitool mission data."

The squad filed out of the Kodiak as Will stepped up beside Vayren.

"We'll need to contact the Council," the Spectre added.

Will looked to Shansa as she stepped out of the shuttle. "Shan, get us to a comm buoy."

She nodded quietly and hurried off toward the cockpit as Will turned his attention to Tul, Kallux and Eleena.

"I will be in the crew's quarters," Vayren informed them.

"What should we do?" Tul'Sorrin inquired.

"Just... relax for a bit. Might not have the chance for a while." Will lowered his voice. "I'm going to check on the doctor."

Will turned and made his way to the forward hall, loathing to the forthcoming conversation. He looked into the bunkroom to see Tyrixis in a seat beside one of the lower bunks. She held a small medical device and scanned over what looked like a still unconscious asari. Will stepped into the room and quietly walked up behind the turian.

"Hey, Doctor." Will came to a stop just over her shoulder.

Tyrixis lowered her instrument and glanced over to the human. "Captain."

Though it was hard to discern feeling or emotion from the turian face, Will could see the pain in Tyrixis's eyes. It was apparent in her voice as well. While she was normally firm and commanding in her words, now she was soft and reluctant. He swallowed hard and shifted his attention to T'lees as she lay in bed with a thick bandage wrapped around the left side of her head.

"How is she?" Will asked.

Tyrixis looked back to her patient. "I was just running a few scans. Her condition is... not optimal. But it could be much worse."

"'Not optimal?'" He repeated worriedly.

"Her barriers absorbed most of the detonation, but the blast was in a very close proximity," the doctor explained. "Shrapnel from the grenade as well as her destroyed helmet caused the majority of her injuries." Tyrixis motioned toward the bandages. "Unfortunately, she will not regain sight in her left eye."

Will's jaw sunk in shock. "Are you sure?"

The doctor nodded solemnly. "Virtually all of the optic nerves, tissues and the eye itself were damaged severely. There's nothing I can do for her with traditional medicine."

"We can get her to a med center," he offered immediately.

Tyrixis shook her head. "Unfortunately, optical injuries of this magnitude are far more delicate and difficult to repair than those of most organs." She looked back to Will. "It would take months or years of precise regenerative therapy and a small fortune to repair the damage she has suffered. I have cleaned and dressed the wound. Now it will just have to heal."

Will closed his eyes for a moment. He had hoped to use the doctor's work on T'lees as a lighter conversation starter before moving on to the rough topic. So far, things were not working out the way he had planned.

"What about Vayren?" He asked.

"His condition is incomparably better," Tyrixis answered to Will's relief. "His leg will be fine within a day."

Will nodded thankfully. "Good, good." He stepped to the side and knelt by the bunks so that she would not have to turn to face him. "What about you, Doctor? You don't seem to be reacting to..."

The turian averted her eyes momentarily. "I..." She looked back to him. "I'm not sure what I feel. I haven't had much time to think. I only just finished removing the last of the shrapnel from T'lees."

"That's... impressive." Will cursed himself as he attempted to correct his phrasing. "I mean, it's admirable that you can focus so intently on your work."

"It comes from decades of field work," Tyrixis explained as she reached down to set her medical device into her bag. "One gets used to the frequent death of comrades. A doctor must be able to function despite emotional bearings."

Will frowned softly. "This wasn't just a comrade, Tyrixis."

The doctor sat up and nodded slowly. "I'm aware, Captain."

He watched her in silence for a few moments. "I know you two didn't always get along... but he died saving thousands of lives. That's how you should remember him."

"Remember him..." Tyrixis stared straight ahead before raising a hand to cover her mouth and letting out a distraught gasp. "Oh..."

She shuttered and shook her head slowly. Will could see in her eyes that the reality of the situation was finally catching up to her.

"That's all I have now... isn't it." She mumbled weakly. "Memories?" The turian grasped her face in her palms and leaned forward. " Oh, spirits!"

Will stood and quickly placed a hand on her still armored shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. The turian looked up with visible moisture forming at the base of her eyes.

"Please, Captain," she objected with a small weep. "I... I wish to be alone."

Will shook his head in objection. "Tyrixis, I can sit with you. We can talk about-"

"No," she said firmly. "I'm sorry, Captain Hume, but we do not... know each other. Not well enough for that. I wish to be alone."

He slowly pulled his hand from her and let it drop to his side.

"I- I meant no harm," Tyrixis added, her voice barely holding. "I appreciate your offer of kindness, but I..." She shook her head once again and let her head fall back into her hands. "Please. Leave me."

As much as Will would have liked to help, he knew that he could not force consolation upon her. "If you decide you want to talk," he let himself trail off.

"Thank you," she said between quiet sobs. "I will... remember that."

Will forced himself to step away, watching her until the last possible moment before turning to walk through the door and into the hall. He tapped the panel as he exited and shut the door behind him.

---

Over the next hour Will and Vayren worked alone in the crew's quarters combing through the data they had collected from the team. After Will had explained the circumstances of Corsin's sacrifice, the salarian was determined to find a fault or error in their execution of the mission. A mission resulting in two severe injuries and a death was a staggering change of pace from their normal but short operating history.

"I was wrong," Vayren finally relented.

Will nodded. "I told you... there's nothing we could have done."

The salarian looked up and shook his head. "No, I mean I was wrong in suggesting such a stupid and reckless mission plan." He looked back down to his holopad and began reading over data he had already investigated twice. "We should have prepared. We should have known what we were getting into."

"Come on, Vayren." Will sat back and crossed his arms. "If we hadn't gone in when we did that launch would have gone off just like Antarian wanted."

"You don't know that," the Spectre countered. "They might have expedited their mission after we began our attack."

Will looked across the small dining table to where Vayren sat staring back to him. "Or, it might have been right on schedule. All we know is what we saw. There's no point in making speculations that we have no evidence to support."

The salarian looked down to the table and let out a defeated sigh as he resumed tapping away at his holopad. Will sat nearly motionless, his chest rising and falling beneath his crossed arms. The only sounds to accompany them were those of the ship. Just as the silence began to grow unsettling, Vayren shifted his gaze back up to Will.

"I've finished my preliminary report," he said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I'm sending an audience request to the Council."

Will pushed himself up and began to stand. "I'll get out of your hair then. Well, not hair. You know what I mean."

Vayren raised a hand and ushered Will to sit. "Please, Captain Hume, I would appreciate it if you stayed. I will do most of the talking, but you were the last of the crew to see Agent Rentarius alive and the Council may wish to question you."

"'Agent Rentarius,' right," Will let a tiny smirk spread onto his lips. "We knew each other for less than a month and I was on a first name basis with a Spectre. Never saw that coming."

The salarian remained silent for a moment. "Are you ready?"

The smile faded from Will's lips. "Yeah. I guess."

"Good." Vayren looked down at his tablet. "They're ready for us."

Vayren entered a few commands on his holopad and set it at the center of the table as Will cleared his throat and straightened himself his chair. He took a deep, calming breath as the tablet pinged softly and the image of the three members of the Citadel Council materialized out of blue static. The Councilors appeared only about six inches tall from the small projector in Vayren's holopad.

"Agent Vayren," Councilor Tevos acknowledged.

"Yes, hello, Councilors." Vayren bowed his head to them quickly.

"And a new face," the asari continued.

The Spectre nodded once again. "This is Captain William Hume. He leads the crew that has provided transport and fire support during our hunt for Narenthus Antarian. I believe Agent Rentarius and I have mentioned them extensively in our reports."

"Ah. Yes." Councilor Valern seemed unfazed. "Speaking of Agent Rentarius, will he be joining us? There are a few discrepancies in his most recent after-action report that I wish to discuss with him."

There was a short pause.

"Unfortunately, that won't be possible," Vayren said slowly. "Regrettably, the purpose of my call is to inform you all that Agent Rentarius was killed approximately two hours ago while preventing a missile strike that would have instigated war on the planet of Lorek. As I'm sure you have gathered, this was part of a plan put in place by Narenthus Antarian." His eyes shifted in a nervousness that Will had not seen from the salarian. "I... have sent my preliminary report on the action."

Councilor Tevos lowered her eyes slightly. "That is very unfortunate news. Agent Rentarius was a loyal agent of the Council for over two decades." She drew a breath and raised her chin. "His skill and experience will be greatly missed."

Will bit his tongue upon hearing the suggestion that the most significant loss was Corsin's 'skill and experience.'

"This does not bode well for your mission," Valern added.

Vayren leaned forward. "Councilors, I assure you that we are in fact closer to apprehending Narenthus Antarian than we have ever been. The data we recovered from this latest action may very well be the last bit we need to complete our pursuit."

"While I sincerely hope that is true, we have yet to see the evidence of such claims that you have made in the past," Sparatus argued.

Will decided it was time to speak. "Excuse me... if I may interject." He shrugged his shoulder slightly. "I agree with Agent Vayren. Things might look bad from where you're standing, but we're close to finishing this, I promise you." Will nodded across the table to the Spectre. "And keep in mind, I'm just some merc captain. I don't have any kinda reputation to maintain with you or a mission record to keep clean."

The three Councilors exchanged speculative glances before Tevos turned her eyes forward once again. "Very well, but you must consider this the limit of our faith, Agent Vayren. If this mission is not completed soon, we will be forced to intervene."

Vayren tilted his head in confusion. "Intervene?"

"If necessary, yes. Be that removing you from the assignment, sending another agent to assist, or both." Tevos nodded firmly. "Now, if there is nothing else, the Council has other matters to attend to. We will read over your report and summon you if we have any further questions."

"Yes, of course," Vayren nodded understandingly. "I will submit my full report within the next standard day."

"Thank you. Good luck, Agent Vayren. I sincerely hope for better news the next time we speak."

After waiting just a few seconds in case there were any unmentioned issues, Tevos reached forward and terminated the call. Vayren reached forward to retrieve his holopad and looked up to Will.

"We need to search the omnitool data that Corsin was able to recover from Russon," Vayren declared.

"I'll send Tul'Sorrin over," Will answered as he stood. "I need to check up on everyone."

The salarian nodded, but had already turned his attention back to his tablet. "That would be wise. If you could, please assure them that this is by no means the end of our mission."

Will turned for the doorway. "I'll do that," he mentioned.

He unlocked the door and stepped into the forward hall where the sound of hushed voices to his left caught his attention. Will turned to see Shansa and Tul'Sorrin sitting in the cockpit, talking and nodding to one another. As he approached them and leaned on the bulkhead, Shansa looked over with a small frown.

"How'd it go?" She asked ruefully.

He shrugged lightly. "Fine, all things considered." Will glanced to the quarian. "Vayren wants your help with the data we got off of Russon."

Tul pulled himself to his feet. "We'll finish later," he said to Shansa.

The pilot sighed and nodded in agreement. "Sure."

Will stepped aside as the quarian exited the cockpit and hurried into the crew's quarters where Vayren was waiting. He turned back to Shansa and felt a tinge of pain in his heart as he saw the sadness on her face.

"Tul and I were listening in on the comm," she said quietly. "He feels terrible."

"Who? Tul?" Will raised a brow. "Why?"

Shansa shook her head. "He thinks he should have been there with you. He's convinced he could have finished the hack faster and gotten out with you."

Will crossed his arms. "Vayren tried to blame himself too."

"I told him he was being ridiculous," Shansa said agreeably.

They fell silent. After a few seconds, Will reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She rested her hand on his for a moment before looking back to the control console to check over her instruments.

"I'll be back in a few if you want to talk," Will mentioned as he stepped away from the cockpit.

Shansa nodded to herself, but continued her work on the flight controls. "No rush... we've got time to drift."

As Will walked down the hall he could hear Vayren and Tul talking to one another in the crew's quarters as they began parsing through the data. Will took in a deep breath and continued on toward the cargo bay. He still had more people to see. As he stepped through the door into the cargo bay, which was now more hangar than anything, he looked over to see Kallux standing at his workbench, as always. He blinked in surprise when he realized that the krogan was not wearing his silver torso armor, but instead a nondescript replacement of dull black. Will made his way to the krogan and placed his hands on the workbench as he stepped up beside him.

"How are the others doing?" Kallux asked as Will approached.

Will let out a small sigh. "Well enough, I guess."

"Damn shame," the krogan said. "I actually liked that turian."

"Yeah," Will nodded slowly. "Me too."

"He was a good man," Kallux added. "A Spectre out in the Terminus Systems. He didn't owe anything to those people on Lorek, but he died to save them." The krogan shook his head slowly. "He must have been forced to make decisions like that before. You don't go two decades as a Spectre without a few hard choices. But this was the one that he went out on." Kallux looked over to Will and shrugged. "Why?"

Will looked down to the floor. "Like you said, he was a good man. That or maybe he just couldn't stand the thought of Antarian winning."

"True enough," Kallux admitted. "Gonna be a lot less cocky around here without him."

"Heh." Will couldn't help but smile softly. "We'll see. I'd rather not think about that until this is over, though."

The krogan gave him a sideways glance. "We are gonna finish this, right?"

Will put on a mock-offended face. "Who the hell are you talking to?"

"Sorry," Kallux chuckled deeply. "Just wanted to make sure you weren't getting cold feet."

After a short pause, Will cleared his throat. "I mean, you do think we can finish this, right? We can't take another mission like that..."

The krogan nodded in agreement. "You're right. But if Vayren and Tul find what they're looking for, it might only take one more. All we've gotta do is survive longer than they do."

Will frowned and looked down to the deck. Now that they had actually fought Antarian's men he could see that the crew's mortality was at a far greater risk than it had ever been. Barring perhaps their tangle with Project Sommesh. He looked down to see the chestplate that Kallux normally wore laying on the workbench before them. It had suffered a severe hit from Russon's shotgun during their attack, leaving a least a dozen puncture holes. The insignia of the Red Moon Collective that was displayed proudly at the center of his chestplate, a red circle with three silver craters in the lower left quadrant, had received at least half of the shotgun pellets. Dried blood that had seeped from Kallux's already recovering chest wounds left stains across the logo.

"Took a bit of a beating," Will mentioned as he looked the armor over.

"Just a bit," Kallux agreed jokingly. "I'm working on getting the under-weaving back in decent shape. I'll have to get the armor itself done on Omega."

Will let out a small chuckle. "Kallux, have I ever told you how goddamn lucky we are to have you carrying all the extra weight on this crew?"

The krogan grinned as he flipped the armor over and continued to examine it. "There's no extra weight around here, Hume. Everyone's got a place, and they all fit it well."

"You keep saying that, but we wouldn't be able to do... pretty much any of what we do if didn't have you around," Will argued.

Kallux ran his hand over the torn under-weaving of his armor. The grin on his face slowly began to fade.

Will raised a brow. "Something wrong?"

The krogan flipped the armor back over as he looked over to Will. "You remember all that thinking I did on the Citadel?"

"Sure."

Kallux turned to face him. "Well, it brought me to a realization." The krogan paused for a long moment. "The Red Moon Collective has been passive for too long. It's time someone stepped up and put the organization to good use."

Will furrowed his brow. "Meaning..."

"I mean, the Collective needs a leader and a direction. Right now it's nothing more than a mailing list." Kallux crossed his arms. "We do good by ourselves. But a unified RMC? It could do a lot more." He looked over the bloodied emblem on his chestplate. "I've already spoken to most of the other long-standing members and they agree. After we finish our mission to capture Antarian, I'll be taking up command and directing the RMC into a more organized and active entity."

Will nodded. "That sounds like something I can get behind."

Kallux smirked. "Don't speak so soon. In doing so... I'm afraid I'll have to step down from my position on your crew."

"Goddamn, Kallux," Will shook his head with a small laugh and placed his hand over his mouth for a moment. "Could you have picked a worse time to tell me this?"

The krogan frowned worryingly. "I'm sorry. Truly. I'd hoped to tell you earlier, but we just haven't had the time."

Will leaned back against the workbench and let out a sigh. "Well, that's not good news for us." He glanced over to the krogan and managed a small smile. "That said, I think if things work out you could do a lot of good."

Kallux smiled warmly. "I appreciate that, Hume. We haven't worked out the details yet, but I want a group of advisers to help with the organization." He nodded to Will. "I'd like you to be part of it."

"Woah, an adviser?" Will let out a small laugh. "Just because you want off this boat doesn't mean I do."

"Relax," the krogan said. "Just the occasional vid conference will suffice. After all, I need to know I've got someone I can count on in the field."

Will tilted his head curiously. "Where did this come from, Kallux?"

He let out a sigh. "A few places, I suppose. The most significant was seeing Taxalur again. I don't think I've been striving to reach what he thought I could be."

"You're already doing a hell of a lot," Will reminded him.

Kallux shrugged. "Not enough for me." He glanced to Will and gave him a reassuring slap on the shoulder. "We don't need to linger on this now. We've still got business to take care of."

Will gave him a small nod. "And you've got armor to patch back together."

The krogan grinned and looked back to the chestplate. "That I do."

Will stepped away and turned for the far end of the cargo bay. His eyes were growing heavy due to the lack of sleep he had endured the past few days. He approached the door of the engine room and curiously leaned his head inside. After seeing no one in the center room, he looked to the small passageway that led to the starboard engine and smiled to see Eleena leaning against one of the walls. Her arms were crossed and her eyes closed as she leaned her head back. Will walked quietly to the entrance of the passage and put an arm against one of the walls for support.

"Tired?"

The asari's lips curled into a tiny smile. "Yeah. You?"

"Exhausted," he answered.

Will slid into the passageway to stand at her side, leaning his back against the wall with her.

Eleena opened her eyes and looked over to him. "Do we know where we're headed next?"

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Good." She let out a sigh. "It'd do everyone good to have a little downtime."

"As much as we can spare." Will closed his eyes. "Damn... I really fucked that one up."

Eleena scoffed. "Goddess, Will, you know that you did everything you could. It could've gone a lot worse."

In truth, he did know. He just wanted to hear it from someone else.

"Thanks," he said hollowly.

"How are the wounded?" Eleena asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Vayren will be back to normal in a day or so," Will answered. "T'lees..."

"She looked bad," the asari noted as he trailed off.

"Yeah. Bad." Will opened his eyes and shook his head. "Tyrixis says she'll lose the eye."

Eleena exhaled in shock and muttered under her breath. "Fuck."

"My thoughts exactly," he replied.

"Speaking of Tyrixis..."

Will let out an exasperated sigh and raised a hand to run through is hair. "She just wants to be alone. I tried to help her, talk to her, but she just didn't want it."

As his hand fell back to his side, Eleena's hand found it and laced their fingers. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and shut her eyes.

"I'm sorry for the questions. You probably came in here to get away from that shit."

Will did his best to smile. "I came in here looking for someone, not to get away from anything."

"Well, I'm here," she said quietly.

He nodded to himself. "Good. I really need you right now."

Will and Eleena let their eyelids sink shut with nothing but the noise of the engine room between them. Their entwined fingers gripped ever-so-slightly tighter together.