Mass Effect: The Requiem Saga: Genesis

Mass Effect: The Requiem Saga: Genesis.

Volume 1.

Chapter 5.

 

“Give me a quick recap again why we’re here.

Jervis and I were taking cover near a warehouse and Jervis was using his omnitool to hack the door next to us. After some small preparations, the two of us left hurriedly. I just followed Jervis; he said something jumbled for the reason as to why we’re going, so I assumed it was something important.

Jervis: You didn’t hear me? Jesus. I was able to locate where the first distress call was coming from, maybe we’d run into someone who could help us out.

“Right. Sorry.”

Jervis and I readied our weapons.

Jervis: We’re gonna breach. Ready?

I nodded.

Jervis: One… Two… Three!

After opening it with his omnitool, we burst through the door and held our weapons at the ready.

????: Shit! Holy shit! The Batarians are here!

We then saw two Turians holding their guns at the ready, both wearing full armor. One of them was holding an assault rifle and had purple heavy armor on, the other was holding a submachine gun with slim and black light armor. The latter obviously the younger of the two.

“Whoa whoa whoa, Jervis, let’s stand down.”

Turian: Damn… you’re not Batarians.

Jervis: I’m Gunnery Chief Jervis Proctor; this is my friend Lieutenant Sam Shepard. We’re from the Systems Alliance.

Turian: Where the hell have you humans been?

“Been a little preoccupied. Who are you?”

Turian: I’m Major Vahan Octavian, this is Sergeant Galen Tyzuris.

I looked at the both of them along with Jervis and we relaxed our guard.

Jervis: You’re part of the Turian Legion that had been stationed here for a few weeks, right?

Vahan: Right. However, my friend here, Galen, is black ops. He’d been accompanying us for our mission, but he was supposed to get off when we got to Illium.

Galen nodded his head.

Galen: Yeah. But uh… things kind of got fucked.

“That’s an understatement.”

Vahan scans us with stone-cold eyes for a few moments.

Vahan: All right, c’mere.

The two of us walked up a small staircase and past a barricade made of various things around the warehouse, we’re led to what looks like a lounge with a communications console nearby.

Jervis: Were you two the people who sent out the distress call?

Vahan: No. And if you’re not the one who sent it out, we’re probably here for the same reason.

Jervis: Yeah. I guess so.

We sat down and Galen did as well, but Vahan chose to stand up.

“So… where’s the rest of you?”

Vahan: You’re looking at it.

“Oh.”

Vahan: We were all resting and the next thing I know, shots were fired.

“Same thing with us. I was sleeping and I was woken up by… screaming.”

Vahan shook his head in frustration.

“At the moment, we’re trying our best to make sure this colony does not fall. We’re trying to see if we can rally a resistance force.”

Vahan’s eyes darted from between the two of us.

Vahan: You shitting me?

Jervis: I don’t think so.

Vahan: Shit, I don’t know how you’re going to do that, but…

Vahan looked at Galen and he nodded.

Vahan: Fuck it, we’ll try and help out as much as possible.

“…Really?”

Vahan: Yeah. We’ll give it a go. It’s our duty and shit to help out the civilian populous.

Jervis: Thank you.

Galen: It’s our pleasure.

Vahan: So what’s your plan?

“Well…”

Jervis: We were going to see if we could meet up with the people who made the distress call, but… that doesn’t seem to be an option.

Vahan: Hrm…

Galen: But we… still could help you out.

Jervis: Hm?

Galen: After the legion… fell, we were able to get away and took refuge with a large group of civilians. I’d probably say they’re all that’s left at this point or at least the majority.

“Are you serious?”

Galen: I wouldn’t lie about something like this.

I turned to Jervis, who was just as shocked as I am.

Jervis: What’s their status?

Vahan: Barely holding out. They’ve been in the docking port, holding out and waiting for reinforcements. I believe someone there might have sent off the distress call here.

“But… how have they not been found?”

Vahan: It’s quite brilliant, really. In case of emergency, there’s a service tunnel that runs from the Council Embassy to the docking port for evacuation.

Jervis: You and I know that tunnel, Shep. We found it when we first got here, on Elysium.

“Uh… right.”

Vahan: So when the pirates sealed the docking port out, some of the local community leaders were able to get as many people as they could round up and had them go through there.

“That’s smart. Very smart.”

Vahan: The pirates don’t know they’re in there and they have no way of knowing… yet.

“…We need to get to them fast.”

Jervis: Why? I know we do but… aren’t they safe?

Galen: Your friend’s right. We do need to get to them and I think he knows why too.

“It’s simple, they’re hiding out in there, right? But the docking port won’t be sealed forever. If, for any reason, it’s opened up, if they’re found out, when The Pirates are done with pillaging the colony and appropriate a ship… there’ll be a lot of bodies to clean up afterward.”

Jervis: Shit.

Vahan: We need to get to the embassy, then.

“How?”

Vahan: I’ll leave that to Galen.

Galen: Don’t worry; they’ve already been through the embassy at this point. They might have a few people stationed there but if we get there quickly and silently, we take ‘em out, I think we’ll have a straight path to the port.

“But won’t they notice the people there are not reporting in or are just silent?”

Galen: That’s the gamble. Hopefully, they’ll think that they’re just slacking off for a little while. They’re pirates and raiders, so that’s to be expected, right? But even then, we wouldn’t have a lot of time. They’d figure out that we wanted to get in here, do a bit of hard searching as to why, and they might find the tunnel.

Vahan: If we seal it off, they won’t be able to get through from there, but they’ll still know it leads to the docking port.

“So… we’re on a time limit.”

Jervis: Should we really do this? If we go there, it’s a definite they’ll be found out, but if we don’t…

Vahan: They get shot later. I don’t think it’ll matter.

Jervis: But we have alliance reinforcements coming in.

Galen: Spirits, really?

“Yeah, we do.”

Galen: When will they be here?

Jervis: The fleet’ll be here in the morning.

Vahan: They’ll be dead by then. No question.

Jervis: I guess… we have little choice then. They die now or later.

I looked at Jervis for a moment and realized something. I couldn’t pick it up at first, maybe because I only met him today, but… it became obvious. He was trying to hide it with annoyance and dry humor, but he couldn’t do a very good job about it.

He was scared.

So I grabbed his shoulder abruptly and he turned to me. I gave him my best hard and stern look.

“Or… we save them.”

Jervis: Hrm… Always the optimist, Shep.

Jervis took a deep breath.

Galen: I’m with… I forget your name?

“Shepard.”

Galen: Shepard, then. I’m with him. We go and push back.

Vahan: I was going to go whether or not you people cared to, so, we might as well do it together.

Jervis glanced back at me and I met his eyes for a moment. He nodded.

Jervis: Then I’m going with as well.

He stood up and we all did so afterward.

Jervis: No use sitting around then. Let’s get ready and go.

Galen: I’ll be taking point.

Jervis: Of course.

Vahan and Galen walked out from their makeshift barricade, near the door and began to speak. Jervis looked at his sniper rifle and fiddled with it, so, I decided to approach him.

“You all right, man?”

Jervis gave me a small look, then nodded, still fiddling.

“Just making sure. You uh… you’re looking a bit nervous.”

Jervis: Tch. Could you blame me?

“No I couldn’t.”

Jervis took a deep breath.

Jervis: I uh… I never got trained for this shit. They never told us that all of our friends would be shot to death in front of us. You know?

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

Jervis: I just… I saw Junior there and… I didn’t know what to do. He was my best friend.

Jervis looked me hard in the eyes.

Jervis: How are you doing it?

“What?”

Jervis: You’re… you’re completely hardened right now. I haven’t seen you break or get nervous. You’re not even scared. How? You saw what happened in the CIC… those were our friends.

I thought about it for a moment. I didn’t want to admit it… but maybe, just maybe, it’s because I didn’t know them? Am I that numb? That just because I didn’t know someone well and they were shot means I don’t care?

No… no that’s not it at all. I wanted to cry back there. I wanted to break down. But I couldn’t. And I still can’t.

“We… we still have work to do, right? So I can’t afford to be scared.”

I’m lying to him. I’m scared. I’m so, so very scared. I’m probably more scared than anyone in this room.

He was never trained for things like this? I was never trained period. I’m not ready for this… I still don’t know why I’m here, not even exactly sure how. And now… I have to save the rest of a human colony in a futuristic world I only knew through a video game?

I’m in over my head.

“But uh… come on. Let’s go. We got a colony to save.”

Jervis nodded and I walked past him.

I felt like a piece of shit.

To Be Continued…