Chapter 9: Metgos
0200 Hours
February 13th, 2183
SSV Normandy SR1
I finished writing up my report on the Moon incident, and sent it along to Alliance Command. I leaned back in my chair, and sighed. I've been spending hours trying to write this report. I've rewritten it at least 10 times now. I grabbed the nearly empty coffee mug from my desk, and finished off what was left of the black coffee inside. I set it back down, and stared at the ceiling. Is my past going to continue to haunt me like it did back in the Killhouse? I rubbed my face, and got up from my chair. I stumbled over to my bed, and collapsed on it. As I began drifting off to sleep, I heard the door open.
"Commander, you ok?" I sat up, and looked in the direction of whoever was speaking. It was Ashley. "Yeah. You need something?" She had a datapad in her hand. "Did inventory of the armory. Everything's in order." She left the datapad on my desk, and turned to leave. I wanted to stop her, ask her to stay. She knew what it was like to lose your entire unit. But then again, she has work to do, too. I watched her leave, and I passed out on the bed.
0930 Hours
Down in the cargo bay, Wrex, Ashley and I were gearing up to go down to the surface of Metgos. When they slipped their helmets on, I began briefing them. "Alright, guys. The distress signal we found a few days ago leads down to the planet's surface. We'll be dropped in the Mako nearby, and make our way over to the wreckage." I opened my omnitool. "We've got a Hazard Level 2 warning. This planet's environment is hostile, so don't go outside of the Mako unless absolutely necessary." Both of them nodded, and we climbed into the Mako.
When inside, I turned on all the systems, and made sure that Wrex and Ashley were fastened in. "You guys haven't been dropped in this thing before, so I'll say it now. You'll never want to drop in it again." I could see Ashley raise her eyebrow behind her helmet. "Why?" I sat back down in the driver's seat. "You'll see." Joker came over the comms. "Approaching drop point." The cargo bay door opened, and I drove out. We began falling towards the ground, so I turned on the boosters to steady our fall. We hit the ground with a massive thud.
I turned on the map next to the driving wheel. Alright, it seems like the crash site isn't that far away. I turned around to check on Wrex and Ashley. "See why?" Wrex was smiling. "I expected worse, Commander. Mind making the drop harder next time?" Ashley shook her head. "No. That drop hurt enough." I turned back to the driving wheel, and began driving towards the crash site.
The dot indicating the location of the distress signal got closer and closer on the map. The further we came, the more debris there was. But then, as we came close, the signal stopped. Wrex climbed into the turret. "I have a bad feeling about this, Shepard. We better stay on guard." Ashley was looking out of the windows in the back. We sat near the debris for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen.
There was a slight rumbling of the ground. I began driving around, making sure that it was nothing. But then, out of the blue, Geth began popping out of the ground, armed with rockets and machine guns. They even had armatures waiting for us. Ashley rushed back into her seat. "Geth! They must've set this up as a trap!" I nodded, and began driving around them, avoiding rockets, shockwaves and gunfire as Wrex emptied tons of rounds into them. He was only using the autocannon. "Wrex, there's a heavy cannon mounted on this thing, too! Use it!" He didn't respond, so I took that as good news. The Mako was shaken as he fired the cannon into an armature, knocking it over. Taking advantage of this, I drove over it, crushing it under the weight of our IFV. We kept downing Geth and running them over until they were all destroyed. I parked next to the main crash site, and got out.
I knew I only had a few minutes to check, but it was clear from the damage done that there were no survivors. There weren't even any survivors to rescue. Dammit. I hoped we could get here in time to help them. I climbed back into the Mako and opened comms with the Normandy. "Normandy, this is Shepard. Requesting extraction." There was a pause, and then Joker answered. "Roger, Commander. We're inbound, ETA two minutes."
2100 Hours
Back aboard the Normandy
I finished my report on Metgos and sent it to Alliance Command. I got up from my chair, threw my shirt on the couch, and collapsed on my bed. Holy shit, I'm so fuckin' tired. I began to drift off to sleep... no. I woke up, got up, and slipped on the shirt I had thrown on the couch. I opened my door, and went out.
The crew deck was relatively empty, considering how late it was. I stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for Cargo Bay/Engineering. The elevator began descending. You know, you'd think that by now, we'd have improved elevators to some extent. But no, they still go at the same shitty slow speed. It's always bothered me since I came on board. The elevator door opened after what seemed like forever, and I stepped out into the cargo bay.
The cargo bay was empty, too. The others must've gone off to their quarters by now. I paced around for a bit before remembering that I had picked up a pack of cigarettes on the Citadel before we left. I pulled the pack out of my pocket, slipped one out, and put it between my lips. I pulled a lighter out of my front pocket, and lit the cigarette. I took a drag, and released the smoke into the air. Damn. It's been a long time since I've had a cigarette. I stopped on my 17th birthday as a promise to Finch. I know how unhealthy they are, but hot damn do they feel good.
I heard the sound of the door to engineering opening, followed by footsteps. I didn't bother turning around to look at whoever was coming. I took in another drag, and breathed the smoke out. "Commander?" It was Tali. I put the cigarette in my mouth and turned around. "Hm? Need something?" She had a datapad in her hands. "I finished working on the drive core. It should work better now." She handed me the datapad, and I had a look over it. Impressive, to say the least. She certainly has talent, alright. I nodded, and took the cigarette out of my mouth. "Impressive, Tali. Very impressive." I kept reading the report. When I finished it, I shifted my eyes up at Tali. She had her hands behind her back, and was swaying slightly. She was also staring at me with some sort of look, one that I've seen before. I remember Riley giving me that look more than a few times all those years ago. I took the cigarette out of my mouth and blew some smoke out. "Is there something, wrong, Tali?" She seemed startled. "Oh, sorry Commander. I was just thinking." I raised my eyebrow. "About what?" She looked away for a moment. "Oh, nothing." I took another drag from my cigarette, and blew out the smoke. "Ok then?" The cig was already a stub, so I threw it on the floor and put it out with my foot. "Tali, I have a question." She looked back at me with a sort of eagerness. "Yes?" I checked my omnitool. "Your shift ended a couple hours ago. Why are you still up so late?" She began rubbing her hands together nervously. "Well... I kind of like being down here. It reminds me of home." I looked around. "Well, I hate to say it, but I gotta go. I have a lot to do." She looked down at the floor. "Oh. I understand." She looked back up into my eyes. "Talk later?" I smiled. I don't know, I can't help it. "Sure." We just stared at each other for a moment, and then she decided to head back into engineering. I stepped into the elevator, and went back up to the crew deck.
