Hey everyone I'm back! This is my first jump into the Mass Effect fan fiction universe. I plan it be introducing two of my main OCs in this series. I'm going to keep the chapters small, so I can work on them faster and still proofread/edit them. This chapter isn't very intense, but I still rated it M due to what I plan on putting in future chapters. (Just violence/language) I hope you enjoy, and leave feedback. If anyone wants to collaborate or do an RP, feel free to let me know. Thanks!
"All right... We just crossed out of range from the last communications buoy. We're cut off from here on out." Davis announced, typing away at her console. "Hey, O'Neil. Go check on the cargo... We're only a few minutes out from entering orbit."
Nicholas O'Neil grumbled a response, slid his seat back, and unbuckled his harness. He made his way out of the cramped cockpit, and into the narrow passageway. After about 20 meters, the passageway widened to a set of sliding double doors. He reached out, and punched in a few numbers on a wall mounted keypad. The doors slowly slid open with an awful screeching noise. The lights in the large room turned on, and then fizzled out with a sound of an electrical pop.
"God damn it..." O'Neil sighed. He stumbled out into the darkness, only hearing the sound of his boots stepping on the rusty metal floor. He found another wall mounted panel. Hoping to find the secondary lights, he blindly mashed at the panel. There was a click, a deep hum, and the room was slowly bathed in a dark orange light. The cargo hold came into view. Crates of all sizes were stacked to the ceiling.
O'Neil grabbed a data pad, and started walking down one side of a row of crates. Food, medical supplies, building supplies, heavy construction equipment, and even a few standard issue Alliance assault weapons of... unknown origin. It was certainly very precious cargo, and it was headed to a distant and unofficial human colony. Rumors were that Cerberus was behind the establishment of this colony, but it was best not to think about those things. The less you knew, the less the Council or Alliance would be able to screw you on if you got caught. O'Neil was being paid to transport the cargo, and not to ask any questions.
"Make sure ya get the containers on the other side." A deep, scratchy voice growled from only a few inches away.
"Already got those ones." Nick snapped back, not looking up from the data pad.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" The voice responded, raising in tone.
"How many times do I have to tell you." Nick looked up from the data pad, and into the elderly man's face. "I'm not going to call you captain, or sir, or any title I don't think you deserve. The recruiter for this job said I was to help with moving the cargo, and providing any emergency medical care if needed. Nothing else."
The older man stared back intensely, a look of anger growing behind his clouding eyes. There was a tense moment of silence as the old man took a step back. He suddenly broke into a hacking laugh that transformed into an uncontrollable cough.
"If I were 20 years younger, I woulda beat the shit out of and fed you to the vorcha for that!" The old man poked a bony finger into Nick's chest, still hacking and laughing. Nick responded with silence. The old man left with a grumble, still coughing as he disappeared down the passageway. Nick turned back to his work. He typed a few more entries into the data pad. He rubbed his eyes slowly. He realized another headache was creeping up on him. Not something he wanted to deal with in the midst of trying to offload cargo.
He tossed the pad down on top of a crate, and headed back down the narrow passageway. He took a sharp left into a very small kitchen and dining area. He grabbed a bottle of water off of the counter, and opened a cabinet. After some rummaging, Nick found the bottle of painkillers he was looking for. He tossed back a couple of pills, followed by a large swig of water. He turned around to look at another contracted crew member that had been sitting at a table on the other side of the mess area. The slightly fat, and very pale man sat at a table. His hair and clothes were unkempt, it was obvious he had slept in them without bothering to change or shower afterwards. He chewed slowly while staring absentmindedly at a small viewing screen built into the table.
"Miles." Nick cleared his throat as he tried to get the man's attention.
"Yeah." Miles answered, with almost more of a grunt than a coherent word. He continued staring at the view screen in the table.
"The primary lights aren't working in the cargo hold again." Nick waited a few seconds for a response. "Maybe you could actually get around to fixing them? When you have time, of course... You seem pretty busy."
"Yep" Miles responded in the same grunting voice.
Nick was about to press the issue further, when the ship gave a slight bump. It shuddered and creaked as Nick began to feel the sensation of mild deceleration. They must be pulling into orbit. He decided to head to the cockpit, he would need to help with the landing process. He kept a hand on the wall as he made his way back across the cargo ship. Everything was barley working on the aging vessel, including the inertia canceling systems.
"Cargo vessel calling human colony, come in... Cargo vessel calling human colony..." Davis spoke into her headset. Nick sat at his station next to the elderly captain of the vessel, and strapped into his harness. Davis leaned back in her seat, and shot a worried look to the two other crew members.
"Capitan, I'm not getting a response from anyone down there. Are you sure there's even a settlement out here?" She said, covering the microphone of her headset with her hand.
"Of course its here... I helped build the damn thing..." The captain studied his own console, not hiding the confused look on his face.
"Wait a second..." Nick's attention was drawn to a new blip on his screen. "We have another vessel coming around the planet..." He typed something hurriedly. "... Its' Turian."
"Shit!" The captain swore, fighting yet another one of his oncoming coughing fits.
"... Small scout frigate... In a low orbit over one of the main land masses. You should be able to see it out of the port side window." Nick continued.
"You think they'll want to search us? Davis mused, looking out of the window to see the alien ship.
"What the hell kind of question is that? Of course the Council's errand boys aren't going to pass up a chance to search us." Nick responded with an annoyed tone to his voice. He managed to get out of the Alliance without any jail time, no way he wanted to go back for some small time smuggling.
"Wait a minute..." The captain spoke, still looking intently at the information that was on his console. "They don't seemed to have noticed us yet... They must be busy looking at sumthin' on the surface down there."
"Great." Davis said with a hint of relief in her voice. "Lets see if we can get the hell out of here before they notice us." Everyone was surprised by the sudden loud alarm that sounded in the cockpit. Bright red flashes drew nicks eyes back to his own screen.
"We have a weapons lock!" He typed commands into the computer at a panicked pace. "Impact in 20 seconds!
"See if you can pull the ship out of the way!" The captain shouted. Davis hit a large button, which caused a loud klaxon to sound in the rear of the ship. She pulled hard on the controls, and the ship groaned in protest.
"Thats not gonna be enough... Impact in 10 seconds!" Nick shouted, now pulling the straps of his harness tight. He flicked a switch, which closed the sliding door to the cockpit.
"Brace for impact!" The captain bellowed.
Nick leaned back in his seat, and continued the countdown. "Five …... Four... Three... Two... One..."
The impact was much more than any of them had expected. They were thrown violently against their harnesses, and then pinned back into their seats within the space of half a second. All of the lights and control screens went dark. The only light was reflected from the planet outside of the windows. The ship began a tight spiral as it began to enter the atmosphere. Nick fought as hard as he could to stay conscious as the ship spun faster and faster, pushing him with immense force into his chair. He hoped the heat shield would protect them while entering the atmosphere, although he had some serious doubts. Nick passed out just as a soft orange glow flickered throughout the cockpit.