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\

24. Chapter 24

The Red Moon Collection - 2 - Three Phantoms

Chapter 24

Northern coast of Kanirk Island, Yamm

The squad barely fit inside the cramped prefab building that Vayren and Tul'Sorrin had stumbled upon. Thankfully, the storage room had no windows and only one door that opened into the compound. Will leaned his head through the outer doorway to do one last quick check of the jungle they had passed through. The body of the turian that Tul'Sorrin had shot and killed a few minutes earlier was concealed beneath a pile of large leaves they had assembled beneath a tree nearby. Satisfied that it would suffice, he leaned in and shut the door behind him.

"Do we have a plan for leaving this shack?" T'lees asked as she looked around crowded prefab.

Vayren and Tul had already made their way to the door on the opposite end of the room. The salarian glanced back to the others and nodded.

"Yes. Kallux, give me a hand, would you?"

The Spectre stepped up to one of the towers of crates that lined the walls and, with the help of the krogan, pulled the stack into the center of the room. The crates had effectively cut off Tul and Vayren from the others. Will peered around the stack to watch as they turned to face the door.

"We'll call if it's clear," Vayren said as his cloak activated.

Tul'Sorrin stepped up to the door and activated his cloaking generator as Will stepped back into hiding. A few seconds later he heard the door slide apart. There was a long pause before Vayren's voice sounded over the comm once again.

"Bring everyone out and turn directly to your left," the Spectre instructed.

Will looked to Kallux and nodded. They stepped up and pushed the crates back into their original position before hurrying through the door and to the left with the others trailing behind them. Will led them into a small inlet in what looked like the back corner of an enclosed area, blocked off on two sides by the compound's outer wall and a third by a large shipping container. He turned and waited as the rest of the squad filed in before Vayren uncloaked at the back of the group. The salarian waved Will over as he turned back toward the corner of the shipping container.

"What've we got?" Will asked as he stepped up beside Vayren.

"Tul'Sorrin is skirting the edge of the wall to get close to a security camera I spotted on the far side. He should be able to spoof a feed." The Spectre motioned to the corner. "As for the rest, see for yourself."

Will moved up to the edge and peered around cautiously to see that they were only a few dozen meters from a landing pad vast enough to fit a ship even larger than the Hyperion. Beyond it was a cargo shuttle slightly longer and wider than the Kodiak and twice as tall. Two technicians, a human and a turian, were perched beside the cargo shuttle working on one of the thrusters. Beside the shuttle was an idling red skycar.

"Anything else?" Will asked as he motioned toward the direction obstructed by the cargo container they hid behind.

"Another building," Vayren answered. "It has a set of bay doors, so I assume it is a maintenance facility."

"I don't see a ship," Will mentioned.

The Spectre nodded. "Neither did I. While it is one less obstacle to worry about, it may also mean Antarian is away."

Will looked over his shoulder. "Eleena, c'mere. We've got some things for you to take care of."

The asari stowed her SMG as she approached them. "My pleasure." She glanced around the corner. "The shuttle and a skycar? I can have them out of commission in three minutes."

"Glad you're as good at breaking them as you are at fixing them," Will mentioned offhandedly.

"They kinda go hand in hand," she replied while leaning back into cover and turning her attention to Will and Vayren. "What about the two mechanics?"

"They look unarmed," Vayren said as he looked out once again. "Tul'Sorrin and I can take care of them."

Tul, who had just darted into the shadow of the container and uncloaked, turned to face him. "You don't mean kill them, do you?"

The Spectre shrugged lightly. "Not immediately. I was planning on interrogating them first."

Vayren once again flickered into invisibility. Tul let out a small sigh and did the same. Will watched as their squad indicators rounded the corner and out onto the empty landing pad. He peered around the corner to watch as they approached the two mechanics inspecting a partially disassembled thruster on the side of the cargo shuttle. As Tul and Vayren came to a stop behind the turian and human, one of them turned as if he had heard a noise. Vayren and Tul's cloaks deactivated in sync, both with their pistols raised and pointed at the heads of the mechanics. They jumped in surprise and backed themselves against the shuttle, quickly raising their hands and shaking their heads. Vayren said something and motioned toward the squad with a quick jerk of his head, prompting their captives to nervously make their way to the shadowy corner. Tul gave the turian a slight nudge on his back, urging him to move faster as they crossed the landing pad. Will stepped aside as they stumbled around the corner, eyes wide with fright.

"What the fuck is this?" The human asked as he saw the full group.

"Answer our questions and you'll be fine," Will informed them, ignoring the question.

The squad formed a semicircle around their captives as they backed against the wall. Their eyes darted around the Hyperion squad, each member confusing them more than the last.

"What questions?" The turian managed. "What's this about?"

"We're looking for someone," Vayren replied curtly. "Do you know anyone by the name of Narenthus Antarian?"

The human and turian exchanged a quick glance.

"Yeah, he owns the place," the human answered earnestly. "I get the feelin' ya'll aren't fans."

"Excellent observation," Tyrixis said icily.

Will stepped forward to the human. "So this is his facility? Is he here?"

Their captives paused briefly before the turian answered. "We... we don't exactly know his personal schedule..."

Vayren eyed him suspiciously, still holding his gun on the pair. "Is that the best answer you can provide?"

The human looked down to the ground and then over to the turian. "C'mon, Len. You really care 'bout this job that much?"

"I..." The turian shook his head. "I guess not. Good pay and easy work isn't worth..." He stared at Vayren's gun.

"If it'll make you feel better, he won't be around much longer regardless of what you tell us," Will said in as confident a tone as he could muster. "But we'd be a lot more inclined to let you two run if we knew we weren't wasting our time here."

The human mechanic nodded. "He's here. Least, he flew in a few days ago and sure as hell hasn't left."

The entire squad shifted and perked up. Will and Vayren looked to one another briefly, anticipation growing in their eyes.

"Where's the ship?" Eleena asked.

"Flew out a few hours ago," the turian answered. "Did some routine checks on it beforehand."

"Any idea where it was headed?" Vayren asked.

The human shook his head. "No idea. Swear to whatever ya believe in."

The turian gulped and looked around the squad again. "Who... who exactly are you?"

"I'm a Spectre," Vayren answered.

"A Spectre?" The turian shook his head. "What the hell do you want with Antarian?"

"Your boss has done some rather distasteful things," T'lees informed them as she motioned toward her eye.

"What he did isn't pertinent to the situation," Vayren added. "What is important is that he not be allowed to escape."

The human mechanic finally lowered his hands slowly. "Look, I don't know what the hell this guy's done, but I don't want any part of it. Len and I got hired on a few months ago after workin' freelance in New Karnak. We just thought he was some rich bastard with a lotta security."

Will glanced to Vayren and nodded toward his gun. The salarian sighed and lowered his weapon, still staring the captives down.

Eleena stepped up beside Will. "Ya know, I feel like this has happened before..."

"Hey, you're right," Tul said as he looked over to them. "Remember? Sommesh?"

Kallux nodded. "Oh riiight! That dock worker who called in buddies."

Will looked the mechanics up and down. "I don't think Antarian is practicing brainwashing."

T'lees finally shook her head in confusion. "I'm sorry, but I am terribly lost. What is this about brainwashing?"

"I'll tell you some other time," Will answered with a smirk.

Tul stepped up to the pair and of captives and raised his omnitool. "And just to be safe..."

He waved his wrist over their arms, causing their omnitool bracelets to pop and spark. The human and turian jerked involuntarily and grab their wrists.

"There. They won't be calling anyone," Tul said contently.

"Yes, but now we can't pull any data from them," Vayren chastised with a sigh.

The quarian froze for a second. "Oh. Right."

"We're wasting time," Tyrixis said irritably. "For all we know, Antarian could have spotted us when we landed in New Karnak."

Will nodded in agreement. "She's right. We have to move." He turned his attention back to the captives. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

The turian and human shook their heads nearly in unison.

"Look, man, we're just mechanics," the human said with an air of desperation. "We've told you everything."

"Not everything," the turian corrected.

He stepped cautiously to the side and pointed to the building around the corner of the supply crate. "You can get into the compound through that building. Just be careful... the security barracks are right on the other side."

Will looked to him and raised a brow. "Anything else?"

The turian shook his head. "No."

"Then I suggest you leave now," Vayren said as he holstered his pistol and retrieved his rifle. "Things might get violent around here."

"Leave?" The human shook his head. "We can't leave! We're out in the middle of the jungle and you fried our omnitools!"

Kallux looked to Will and motioned around the corner. "We're gonna disable it anyway, why not let them take the skycar?"

Will eyed the mechanics up and down. "If we let you take that car, will you fly to New Karnak and never come back here?"

The turian nodded quickly. "Yes, yes! We'll sell it and buy a passage off this place."

Will glanced to Vayren and raised his brow. The salarian let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, fine. Now go."

The mechanics remained in place for a moment before stumbling over themselves as they sprinted around the corner and for the far end of the landing pad. Will waved for everyone to follow as he and Vayren stepped out and raised their weapons, moving toward the building that led to the rest of the compound.

"Shansa, you'll have a skycar flying nearby," Will said as he broadcast to the shuttle. "Let it pass."

"Understood! But I'd probably have missed it anyway. I'm still too low to run the scanners." She paused nervously. "Should I be running the scanners?"

"Not yet," he reassured her. "I think we're still undetected."

The human and turian jumped into the skycar and had blasted off into the sky toward the city in the blink of an eye.

"That was... a foolish choice," Vayren lamented.

Will narrowed his eyes. "And what else were we gonna do? Kill them? Throw them out into the jungle?"

"We didn't owe them anything," the salarian argued.

"And now they have a reason to trust us over Antarian," Will countered.

"Since you two are just gonna bitch at each other..." Eleena stepped past them and jogged across the landing pad toward the cargo shuttle. "I'm gonna make sure this thing isn't taking off anytime soon."

As they approached the bay door at the center of the maintenance building, Will glanced nervously up to the idle security camera just beside it. Tul noticed Will's concern and raised his omnitool to do a quick scan.

"It's still hacked," the quarian informed him.

"Good." Will raised his rifle and stood back from the door. "Eleena, how much longer?"

She responded over the comm from somewhere on the other side of the shuttle. "Just cutting the last fuel line. Done."

The squad readied their weapons as Vayren stepped up to the security console and began working to bypass the lock. A few seconds later, Eleena came jogging up to the group with her SMG ready. T'lees held her shotgun to the side and began to summon a ball of biotic energy in her palm. As the security panel turned green, Vayren whipped up his rifle and stood back. The doors slid apart to reveal a large room littered with various crates and mechanical components. Luckily, no one was standing among them. Will stepped forward into the room with the others behind him, cautiously scanning their surroundings. Unlocked doors waited on the left and right side of the room. Will picked the left and moved toward it.

"I'm picking up some comm traffic," Tul'Sorrin announced. "Unencrypted."

"Anything worth our attention?" Tyrixis asked.

"It's just chatter," he answered. "I'll patch it into our channel."

Tul'Sorrin raised his omnitool to redirect the comm traffic as Will reached the door and tapped the controls. It slid apart to another gray, nondescript hallway with a turn to the right about ten meters down. He stepped forward into the hall as the comm traffic began feeding into his headset.

"I don't know. He seemed worse than normal yesterday," a female voice said.

A male voice responded."Yesterday?" It sounded batarian.

"Ah, right. You were in town all day, yeah? Musta been about thirty hours ago. He called for everyone to pack up. Mandatory evac."

"Seriously?" The male seemed utterly perplexed.

"Oh yeah. Obviously he called it off."

Will listened intently as he led the group around the corner and toward a door at the end of the hallway. It had a security lock like the one they had seen on the bay door and most likely opened to the outside.

"They ever find out what happened to Talon Company?" The batarian asked with a hint of anger.

"Yeah. Pirates." She spoke through gritted teeth. "Apparently they started lookin' for him after they found out he's got a lot to steal."

The batarian snorted. "They probably pull in less than we do."

"A bunch of pirates aren't cut out for this job. They might know how to kill, but they don't know how to do it like us."

The squad came to a stop at the door. Will looked over his shoulder as he reached for the door controls.

"Everyone ready."

With their guns raised, Will opened the door and stepped back.

"Who is-" The female voice echoed in the comm and the opening door.

Two figures, a male batarian and human female in heavy, dark-red armor, stood just outside the doorway. They turned to investigate with their rifles drawn to see the Hyperion squad staring back with weapons ready. Behind them in the yard beyond the door, another four troops sat on a collection of crates, looking down at a holopad. One of them looked up and, upon seeing the threat, alerted the others.

"We're not here to hurt you!" Will shouted immediately. "We want Antarian!"

The batarian froze in place briefly before raising his omnitool. "It's them! Alert! We've got-"

Tyrixis drowned his voice as she squeeze the trigger of her rifle, only to have the rest of the squad join her in silencing the batarian. The human female returned fire, but was cut down quickly by a blast from Kallux's shotgun. The four soldiers behind them had grabbed their weapons as they jumped for cover and were lining up shots on the tightly-packed doorway. Will identified the danger and ran through the door at full speed, hoping the others would follow. He rolled to the side as he exited into the courtyard and acquired a target as the others came charging through the door beside him. Antarian's men unleashed a burst of gunfire as Kallux and Tyrixis barreled through the door, firing in return. Will squeeze his trigger while Eleena and Vayren stepped up to the corners of the doorway and opened fire as well. The crossfire was intense, but the Hyperion squad vastly manned and outgunned their foes. The odds tipped further in their favor as T'lees sent a shockwave toward the enemy squad, knocking them off balance. Two of the soldiers in blood-red armor fell within seconds. Will was switching to a new target when a heavy shot impacted his shoulder and threw him to the ground.

Eleena's eyes widened. "Will!"

Tyrixis pointed to the bullet contrail. "Sniper!"

Before Vayren could even located the target, Eleena had blasted up to the second-story balcony of a prefab building across the courtyard. The windows that lined the building shattered as she impacted the turian sniper and sent him tumbling to the ground below. Vayren scored a shot as the turian rolled onto the ground and secured the kill. Eleena sprayed SMG fire from her new, elevated position with reckless abandon. The two remaining soldiers fell in seconds. Tyrixis sprinted forward and dropped to her knees at Will's side.

"Captain-"

"I'm fine," he groaned as he pushed himself up. "Just got the wind knocked out of me."

His shields, already low from the crossfire, had not fully intercepted the sniper's bullet. Instead, it had impacted upon his now heavily dented, but still barely intact, right bicep armor plating. Kallux stepped up to Will and offered him a hand as the others filed into the courtyard.

"That's gonna shatter if it takes another hit," the krogan advised as he eyed the armor plate.

Will grunted and grabbed his rifle from the ground as he stood. "Thanks for the warning. I'll avoid getting shot next time," he cracked.

Eleena leapt from the balcony of the small prefab and ignited her biotics to slow her descent just before hitting the ground. She ran across the courtyard and looked Will up and down with nervous eyes.

"You scared me!" She shouted accusingly.

"Relax, I already told Kallux I'd avoid bullets from now on." Will smirked and raised his rifle. "I was thinking of trying out that new fad. What was the name of it? 'Cover?'"

"We don't have time for chatter," Vayren interjected. "If they didn't get a message through, someone certainly heard the gunfire."

"You're right," Will admitted. "Where to?"

"The estate," the salarian answered. "T'lees, you said it was on the water?"

The asari nodded. "That is correct."

"It's that way," Eleena declared confidently as she pointed toward the setting sun. "I could see the ocean from up on that prefab. The coast is only a hundred or two meters away at most."

"On me!" Vayren ordered as he ran for the next building.

Will opened his comm channel to the shuttle as he and the rest of the squad fell in behind Vayren. "Shansa, you copy?"

"Loud and clear!"

"Things are getting hot and they probably know we're here. No sense in hiding anymore," he informed her as they entered what looked like a storage facility. "Get out of that ravine and start up the scanners. If you see any activity let me know. If you see something you can handle... take it out."

"You got it, Will."

The squad carefully scanned their surroundings as they moved toward the opposite end of the room and a large, double-wide cargo door. Stacks of crates marked as munitions seemed to indicate that they had entered an armory, but the dim lighting and lack of opposition was beginning to worry Will.

"I am surprised at the lack of confrontation thus far," T'lees said as though she had read Will's mind.

Kallux grunted in agreement. "There's no way we took out that much of Antarian's security force on Lorek."

"Tul'Sorrin, is there any comm activity?" Vayren asked as he held his rifle on the door at the far end of the room.

"A little, but it's all encrypted," the quarian answered worriedly.

The Spectre reached for the control panel of the cargo door as they came to a stop before it. The six others assumed their positions with weapons raised and ready as Vayren quickly bypassed the lock and stepped back. Will stared suspiciously through the opening doorway to a large, open yard. On the right a long building ran all the way from the armory to the far wall of the yard, approximately fifty meters in length. Throughout the middle were training dummies and obstacles that made up what looked like a training course. The left wall was split into two halves, one part being a building similar in construction to that on the right, and the other being a shooting range. The far wall, closest to the coast and the supposed location of Antarian's villa, was a plain gray with a single, open door at the center. In front of the doorway, a lightly armored turian stood patiently with his arms behind his back.

Will took a step forward with the others following at his sides. "Who are you?" He shouted across the yard.

"It's rude to shout," the turian called back. "Then again it's also rude to show up uninvited." He paused. "And to kill my security detail."

Vayren recognized the voice and stepped up to Will's side as they slowly and cautiously made their way into the yard. "Narenthus Antarian. Just the person we were looking for."

"And so valiantly, at that," the turian commended mockingly. "It's a shame you didn't take up my offer to put this sorry business to rest."

"Maybe a shame for you," Kallux remarked as he gripped his shotgun tighter.

The group had made their way to the middle of the yard as Antarian raised a hand in a halting manner. "I'll have to ask you to stop right there."

Eleena laughed. "Are you serious?"

Antarian tapped his omnitool once, signaling over a dozen mechs to rise from out of sight on the rooftops of the buildings surrounding them. The Hyperion squad came to a dead stop and looked around them to the new targets. Will quickly noted the mechs and their positions: seven on the large building to their right, four on the armory and three on the smaller building to the left. A crash rang out in the armory behind them as an enormous crate fell apart to reveal a heavy YMIR mech, stomping toward them with its weapons humming.

"Another step and they fire. Spirits, do you perform any reconnaissance?" Antarian crossed his arms. "What about 'special tactics?' No?" He looked around the group and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, but of course. You're one Spectre down. I was starting to believe that my contacts had obtained false information regarding a Spectre turning up KIA. Perhaps he took all of the expertise with him." The turian shook his head, "No, no, that was the older fellow, wasn't it? Rentarius? I remember looking over many of his case files when I first received my Spectre commendation." He let out a small laugh. "They were old then!"

"Bite your tongue," Tyrixis lashed. "You killed a good man."

"I killed a great man?" Antarian repeated. "If he died during your attack on my Lorek operation, then the blame lies with him. I did nothing. He, and the rest of you, chose to continue this nonsense after I explicitly gave you an alternative that would have benefited everyone. Well, everyone but the Council."

"And when exactly were you going to send the assassins for me?" T'lees asked boldly. "Because that certainly would not have benefited me."

The rogue Spectre let his jaw drop slightly in disbelief. "Is that... by the Spirits, Fayneer, you're with them? At least I could respect your civility before, but now?" He shook his head. "On the other hand, you have delivered yourself to me, so I can't argue with the convenience. You're one of the only loose ends left to tie up."

"Loose ends? How many loose ends do you have?" Tul asked. "You must have workers and soldiers in your employ who-"

"Do you think I tell everyone on my payroll about my past?" Antarian nearly snorted in amusement. "As for the others..." he glanced toward T'lees. "I will admit, Fayneer, that I was always rather fond of you. Unfortunately, you and a few select others will have to be removed, lest I be followed once again."

"It's a shame you'll never have the opprotunity," Will asserted. "You're under arrest."

"Of course I am. Though I suggest you do not attempt to take me into custody under the current circumstances." Antarian looked toward the mechs on the rooftops around them and crossed his arms. "Though I am curious... what are the charges?"

"You know the charges," Vayren spat. "You can't start two wars and not expect to pay the price."

"You have no idea how ignorant you sound, do you?" The rogue Spectre asked, his tone becoming more accusatory. "Oh, but then why would the Council tell you everything. The war on Sharkeer was a necessity. A matter of galactic stability. The regime was months if not weeks away from launching an offensive on a nearby asari colony on the borders of the Traverse. I did what I had to do in order to protect Council space."

"I find it hard to believe you chose that option objectively," the salarian countered. "Or is it just a wonderfully beneficial coincidence that your business profited from selling weapons to both sides of the conflict?"

"It had to be done!" Antarian shouted angrily. "And if I could stand to profit from the action, why would I not grasp the opportunity?"

"You're deranged," Tyrixis snarled. "You can rationalize Sharkeer all you want, but that's not the only war you've instigated."

Antarian narrowed his eyes. "They were inevitable. And the war on Lorek will break out with or without my hand playing a part." He raised his chin and exhaled in aggravation. "You've wasted enough of my time and I still have some last-minute business to take of. I can't leave any trace of this compound if I'm not to be found again."

He looked up to his mechs on either side of the yard and tapped his omnitool while stepping back through the doorway behind him. The door slammed shut and the sound of mechanical servos hummed as the mechs acquired targets.

Will turned for the small building to their left and shouted. "Run!"

The mechs opened fire before he had taken his first step. Bullets rained onto the squad as they sprinted toward the building. Will eyed their options as he sprinted: there were doors on each end of the building, and a series of floor to ceiling windows lining the wall between them. Not wanting to waste time on the doors while his shields tanked from the incoming gunfire, he raised his rifle as he ran and unleashed a hail of bullets into the center-most window. The glass splintered as a dozen bullets impacted the pane, but did not shatter. As he slowed to keep himself from impacting the glass, T'lees passed him by, still sprinting at full speed. The asari had her arm cocked back with a ball of biotic energy in her palm. She thrust her fist forward as she reached the glass panel, shattering it in a biotic explosion and leaving her to tumble over the small lip and into the room.

The window to the left met the same fate, but not at the hand of biotics. Kallux charged the glass after a series of shotgun blasts, impacting with his crest and sending the glass into thousands of pieces. Will, Tyrixis and Eleena followed T'lees into the building as Vayren and Tul did the same behind Kallux. Luckily, the YMIR mech had just finished making its way from the armory building. It fired off a missile that detonated just outside the window, sending glass and metal shards spraying toward the squad. They dove behind cover and Will scanned the room as he sat up with his back pressed to a support column. They seemed to be in some kind of rec room.

"Is everyone okay?" Will shouted into the comm.

He glanced to the shield monitors. They were all either low or depleted.

"Hit!" Eleena said through pain and gritted teeth. "Had my barrier up and everything... fuckers!"

The dozen mechs that still had line-of-sight on the squad's cover continued to spray bullets haphazardly into the building. Will ducked lower and prayed for his shields to recharge quicker.

"How bad?" Tyrixis asked.

"I'll be fine," the asari answered. "Dropping some medi-gel on it."

"Minor armor puncture, but no flesh penetration," Vayren reported. "Left calf plate compromised."

Will shut his eyes, drew in a deep breath and nodded assuringly to himself. Another missile from the YMIR and exploded just outside the building, rocking him from side to side. He opened his eyes and glanced around the corner of the column.

"We need to take that YMIR down," Will said.

"I can lock it up," Tul'Sorrin stated confidently. "At least for long enough to clear some of the LOKIs."

The YMIR raised its arm and fired a burst from its mass accelerator cannon into the room. The squad ducked back into cover as the furnishings rapidly depleted from the torrent of gunfire.

Will readied his rifle against his chest. "Waitin' on you, Tul!"

The quarian's fingers danced across his omnitool for a few seconds. "Ready!"

"Parallel building," Will ordered preemptively. "Move down the line as they fall! Three, two, one-"

He rose up from cover and locked his sights on the LOKI mech at the far left of the the roof of the building across the yard. His shields flared and wavered under the fire of the mechs as the Hyperion squad returned the favor. In the corner of his eye, Will watched the YMIR grind to a halt as Tul hit it with a lockdown hack. Will concentrated on his target, landing a shot to the mech's head that toppled it to the ground. Eleena sprayed SMG fire toward her mech as T'lees caught it in a singularity. A perfect shot from Vayren's sniper rifle blew off his target's arm, leaving it helpless and sparking. Kallux was out of range to use his shotgun on the LOKIs effectively, and opted to grab a grenade from his belt and hurl it toward the currently disabled YMIR.

Will monitored the squad's shield levels nervously. "T'lees, Kallux! You're low!"

Kallux ducked back into cover behind an overturned couch, while T'lees simply bolstered her biotic barriers and continued firing. Will turned his attention to the four mechs that fired down from the roof of the armory as Vayren did the same. He fired straight and methodically until his shields finally cut out, forcing him back into cover. Metal shards sprayed past his visor as gunfire continued to disintegrate the column.

"YMIR is back online!" Tul'Sorrin shouted. "I can't hold it any longer!"

Tul had bought them enough time to take down seven of the eleven visible LOKI mechs. Will watched as his shields finally climbed past the fifty percent mark. That was good enough. He brought his rifle up and stepped out from cover once again to see the heavy mech raising its weapons to line up with the squad.

"Finish the LOKIs!" Kallux shouted. "I'll keep it busy!"

Before anyone could object the krogan blasted his shotgun into the already cracked window on the side of the building and rammed his shoulder into the glass. Kallux tumbled through the window as the glass shattered and ran toward the armory building. The YMIR's sensors locked on and began tracking the exposed target eagerly. Gunfire rained down on Kallux from the roof of the building the Hyperion squad had taken refuge in, reminding Will of the three mechs above them.

"Outside!" Will shouted. "Take out the LOKIs!"

As he jumped forward and into the yard the others followed without hesitation. They each picked their targets and fired as they strafed toward crates and target dummies that might provide even the smallest amount of cover. Will turned and backpedaled, firing on the three mechs perched on the small building they had occupied. The rec-room had been decimated by bullet holes. Tyrixis, who was moving at Will's side, recognized the targets and spun to aid him as the rest of the squad finished off the two mechs that remained on each of the other rooftops. As the final LOKIs fell, the group turned their attention to the YMIR to see Kallux blasting the heavy mech with his shotgun at near point-blank range. The YMIR was clearly having trouble rotating fast enough to line up a shot as the krogan strafed a few feet away. The heavy mech finally managed to bring one arm to bear, quickly blasting off a rocket straight at the krogan. However, the attack was telegraphed as it mounted a foot for stability, giving Kallux warning and allowing him to dive to the side just as the rocket fired. The projectile missed him by inches and was sent hurtling into the armory behind him. It impacted a munitions crate and set off a small chain-reaction as another three or four detonated in turn.

"Hit it with everything!" Vayren ordered.

They were already on it. Their weapons roared and hissed, close to overheating, causing the YMIR's shields to flicker and die. Kallux had jumped to his feet and was sprinting back toward the rest of the squad as their bullets whizzed all around him. The heavy mech had rotated back toward them and raised its arms. A rocket roared from one while the mass accelerator exploded to life on the other. Dirt, pieces of the training obstacle course and chucks of metal target dummies were thrown into the air in the intense crossfire. Just before the rocket struck, Eleena erected a biotic barrier around herself and Tul'Sorrin to protect them. As Will's rifle finally overheated he dropped to his knee and tossed it to the side. He reached down to his belt, primed a grenade and threw it in a perfect arc toward the mech before reaching to his holster and retrieving his Carnifex. He brought the pistol to bear and squeezed off five or six shots before the YMIR's forward armoring suddenly and violently ripped open. With the structural integrity gone, the mech's armor quickly tore away under the combined firepower of the Hyperion squad.

"That's it!" Will shouted in relief.

Seconds later, the YMIR fell limp before exploding violently and sending shards of metal across the yard. Smoke billowed from the burning carcass of the heavy mech as Will slid his pistol back into its holster, grabbed his rifle and jumped to his feet. His breathing was heavy and stressed as the adrenaline spike started to fade.

"Everyone okay?" He called as he turned to the others.

Kallux laughed heartily as he leaned over to catch his breath. T'lees shook her head, panting as she watched the krogan.

"You... you enjoyed that, didn't you?" The asari asked in bewilderment.

"What? Of course not," Kallux retorted with a mischievous grin.

Eleena stretched and eyed the krogan suspiciously. "I'm starting to think this 'calm and rational krogan' act is bullshit."

"It appears as though everyone is fine," Vayren reported. "We need to keep moving."

Will could see the gash in Eleena's lower torso armor where she was injured. A decent amount of blood had seeped from the wound before a heavy dose of medi-gel seemed to have sealed it. Tyrixis was already jogging toward the door that Antarian had stepped through. Tul'Sorrin was brushing the dirt from his suit as he and T'lees hurried toward the others.

"Antarian said he had some 'last-minute business,'" Will reminded them as he turned toward the doorway. "I have a feeling that's not something we want to see reach fruition."

The door, like the wall that surrounded it, was peppered with bullet holes from their exchange. Tyrixis had already discovered that the door was unlocked and stood to the side as it pinged and slid apart. Will took point and stepped past her onto a simple pathway in what looked like a trimmed and maintained portion of jungle. About a hundred feet ahead a slick, wide house stood at the end of the path.

"That's it!" T'lees exclaimed as she passed through the door.

Vayren picked up his pace to catch Will. "Hurry!"

The Hyperion squad was nearly running by the time they came to a stop at the door of the villa. Vayren went to work cracking the lock as the rest of the squad paused to catch their breath.

"Get ready," Vayren advised as he lifted his rifle and stepped away from the door.

The door opened to reveal an open foyer and, much to Will's surprise, no opposition. He moved forward and stepped into the house with the rest of the squad on his flank. Aside from two doors on either side of the room that looked fairly unremarkable, the only significant feature of the room was a wide staircase at the center of the room that ascended to the second floor. Without discussion, the entire squad climbed the stairs with Will and Vayren in the lead. As they reached the top they entered a wide room that seemed to expand a dozen meters in either direction. The wall directly ahead of them was floor to ceiling glass, offering a breathtaking view of the sun as it set over the ocean. The room was filled with stylish furnishing, a bar and even a rock garden that lined one wall. At the center of the room sat a large crate much like those they had passed in the armory with a collection of wiring that coiled from the top and sides. The group spread out, looking carefully and noting the doorways on either side of the room that led into other areas of the house. Tul approached the crate at the center of the room as Will hurried to the glass wall and looked down.

"He's here!" Will shouted as Vayren stepped up to his side.

Below them and a few dozen meters away along the cliffside was a landing pad with a trio of figures approaching a skycar parked at the center.

Will opened his comm to the shuttle. "Shansa! Get over here!"

"On my way!" The pilot replied.

"Well, I've certainly learned a thing or two from this encounter," Antarian's voice echoed through the room.

Will and Vayren looked down to see the turian standing beside the open hatch of the skycar, his omnitool activated as looked up to the human and salarian in the window above him.

"Fewer mechs, more bodies," he finished with a small laugh.

Vayren rammed his rifle stock into the glass, but was met with nothing but a small shake by the sturdy window.

"You won't break it," Antarian advised assuringly. "Now please be courteous and die this time around."

"It's a bomb," Tul'Sorrin declared nervously from beside the crate.

Antarian lowered his omnitool and entered a few commands before waving up to Will and Vayren. The turian slid into his seat in the skycar and nodded to the batarian pilot.

Will gripped his rifle. "Come on, Shan..."

Behind him, the crate beeped and the small control panel blinked to life. Tyrixis stepped up beside Will and raised her rifle at the skycar as the door slid shut, firing off two shots into the window that were stopped by the reinforced glass. Will looked back over his shoulder to see Tul'Sorrin kneeling beside the crate, working furiously. He glanced back at the skycar briefly before tearing himself away and running to the quarian.

"Can you disarm it?"

"I'm trying!" Tul'Sorrin answered desperately.

"Contact!" Eleena shouted.

Will looked up to see the doors that lined the walls of the room opening. LOKI mechs began marching through the doors and shooting as the squad turned and searched for cover. Will remained beside Tul to protect him as he worked and picked a target. Vayren turned from the window and fired, destroying a LOKI with a perfectly placed shot from his rifle.

"He's getting way!" Tyrixis shouted, the distress apparent in her voice.

"We have more pressing issues!" Will replied as he squeezed off a burst from his M-15.

He glanced over his shoulder and felt a sinking feeling in his gut as the skycar jumped to life and lifted into the sky. Its engines roared to push it up out of sight and over the house. Will was about to force the loss into the back of his mind when a flash of light cut through the skycar and sent fire and debris spraying from the back of the vehicle. Will let out a joyous laugh as he watched the Kodiak fly past the window with Kallux's cannon thumping on the nose of the craft before turning back to the encroaching mechanical horde.

"Right in the thruster housing!" Shansa shouted over the comm. "Tell me someone saw that!"

"She got it!" Tyrixis exclaimed. "It's going down."

Across the room, Eleena grunted and charged toward a LOKI in a ball of biotic energy. The mech smashed into the wall and exploded as the asari turned and sprayed her SMG fire into another one nearby. T'lees and Kallux stood between a pair of doorways, blasting the mechs with their shotguns as they passed through one by one. Will turned to call Tyrixis over only to see the turian sprinting toward the stairwell they had ascended minutes earlier.

Will furrowed his brow. "Doctor? Where are you-"

He cut his thought short as he turned his attention to a mech lining up a shot with Tul'Sorrin. He beat the LOKI to the punch and destroyed it with a series of shots to the head. Will looked back in Tyrixis's direction just in time to see her disappear down the stairwell.

"The hell is she going?" Eleena yelled.

"Forget it!" Vayren answered as he fired another shot. "Keep them off of Tul'Sorrin."

Will looked down to see the progress bar on the bomb's control panel shrinking. He swallowed hard and turned his attention back to the task at hand. Across the room, a mech exploded as Kallux placed a point-blank shotgun blast into its chest. The krogan roared in pain as a large chunk of shrapnel impaled a lightly-armored portion of his thigh while T'lees turned and blasted the next LOKI with a biotic burst while it raised its weapon toward the doubled-over krogan. Nearby, Eleena let out a yelp of exertion as she charged another pair of mechs, dropping them both to the ground. She sprayed them with SMG fire as they writhed and struggled to pull themselves up.

"I've got it," Tul muttered. "I've got it!"

The panel on top of the crate blinked and went blank as the quarian forced an override onto the last system. Tul'Sorrin jumped up and blasted a nearby LOKI with an overload as he drew his pistol and joined the fight. Thirty seconds later, the last mech fell and the doors around them automatically slid shut. Across the room, Kallux sat with his back to the wall as T'lees leaned at his side and applied a dose of medi-gel to his bleeding leg. Eleena holstered her SMG and stumbled back to the center of the room, passing by a half-dozen destroyed LOKIs that lay sparking on the floor. She looked as though she was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"We're not done," Vayren reminded them in a strained voice. "Shansa, did you see where the skycar went down?"

"Into the jungle nearby," she answered. "I see the smoke. I'll do a quick flyover."

Will had hurried to Kallux's side and helped him to his feet. The krogan grunted and nodded in thanks as he pushed the human aside.

"I'm fine," Kallux assured him with blood pouring from his leg.

T'lees winced and looked away from the wound.

"We've gotta find the crash site," Will declared. "And where the hell is the doctor?"

---

"Tyrixis? Do you copy?"

The doctor ignored her calling and reached down to her wrist to disable the comm channel. Captain Hume would have to wait. She steadied her rifle and walked carefully as she passed through the heavy flora of the jungle. The sound of a roaring fire and the path of crushed vegetation guided her around a tree trunk at least three meters in diameter to her destination. She narrowed her eyes and remained alert as the sight of the crashed skycar came into view. While the sun had almost set, the light of the fire burning in the aft section of the vehicle provided just enough light to illuminate the freshly formed clearing. She came to a sudden halt and closed one eye as the hatch of the skycar moved. The door shook again and jerked upward as it was pushed open manually, allowing Antarian to gasp for the fresh air. Smoke poured from the wreckage as he climbed from the fuselage and rolled onto the ground, panting for breath. Tyrixis slowly approached the turian and came to a stop a few feet from where he lay.

"Get up," she ordered.

Antarian jumped in shock and stared up as Tyrixis loomed over him. He coughed heavily and pushed himself painfully to his knees before standing and looking her up and down.

"You... you're really going to let them win?" Antarian managed to ask as he coughed up blood. "The Council that gets to decide, all on its own, what is or isn't just?"

"I don't report to the Council," she answered calmly. "That was one of the last things my brother reminded me of. As a matter of fact, I don't report to anyone."

"Then what is this all about?"

"Before, it was about the misdeeds you performed on the galaxy." Tyrixis nodded toward him. "Now, it's about you. And me."

"It's going to take a lot more than one old hag to take me in," Antarian taunted.

Tyrixis let her mandibles flare gently in amusement. "Then it's a good thing I have no interest in taking you alive."

He met her eyes cockily to call her bluff. "As if you would-"

She squeezed the trigger and sent a bullet through his head. Before his body could fall limp she slammed the stock of her rifle into his chest, causing him to tumble over backwards and into the skycar that was now engulfed in flames. Tyrixis stared down at the burning body for a few seconds until the sound of crunching twigs and leaves echoed behind her.

"Her indicator is just ahead," Vayren's distant voice declared over his helmet's local broadcast. "I see the fire."

She activated her comm. "I found the wreckage," she reported.

"Doctor, are you alright?" Will asked.

Tyrixis did not answer. She slid her rifle onto her back and took a few steps away from the growing inferno. She folded her arms over her chest, closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath as she waited for the others to arrive.