The Prospect of Miner Inconvenience

"There, see the side of that hill?" The batarian - Arepor, as Jane and Samara learned - pointed to the display. They did see it, a square and metallic protrusion from the rocky landscape, half-embedded into the slope. Samara steered the hauler toward it. Shepard checked the radar and confirmed that Ashley and Jack were still on their tail in the Mako.

"We're coming up on the facility now," she informed them over radio. Following their acknowledgement, she addressed Arepor. "Does it have space for both our vehicles?"

"It should," he nodded. "It can accommodate about three vehicles or so. This hauler was the only thing we had in the garage. That's why I wasn't worried about being followed."

Back in the Mako, Jack wiped the sweat from her brow. "Finally. I thought I was going to sweat myself to dehydration." The temperature in the tank had climbed since finding the hauler. Dissatisfied with the air conditioning, she had removed the top portion of her suit, letting it bunch around her waist. Her undershirt was stained with perspiration. "Turn the temp down another notch, will you?"

"It's already bottomed out," Ashley reported.

"Are you kidding me?" Jack briefly glanced away from the path ahead to verify the lieutenant commander's claim. "No way a team could last inside this thing if this is as cool as it gets."

Maybe not if they aren't DISCIPLINED, Ashley thought. She shook the hostile sentiment from her head. She was letting the heat get on her nerves. Jack was understandably agitated and she felt the same way. Snapping at her would not do anyone any good.

"We've probably seen the worst of it," the soldier tried to be optimistic. "From here it should just be a matter of loading up these civvies and hopping back up to the Normandy."

"Don't get my hopes up, or I'll hold you to it," Jack ribbed.

Once both vehicles were inside, the garage sealed and pressurized. Jane, Samara, Arepor, Ashley, and Jack all dismounted and approached the door labelled as the facility's commons. When it retracted, there was something of a welcoming committee waiting on the other side. About a dozen people dressed in as little as they could get away with were waiting for them. There were humans, asari, quarians, more batarians, a salarian, and a krogan. Those that could sweat glistened with perspiration. Of those with their faces exposed, Shepard saw looks of concern, and others of wary tension; like they were expecting trouble.

As a precaution, the commander had had everyone suit up before entering the facility. Looking for a way to put these people at ease, she opted to remove her helmet. People tended to be less anxious when they could see that they were dealing with a living person. When she broke the seal, she very nearly regretted it. The heat that hit her felt twice as bad as what she had been subjected to on the ride over. She could already feel her body reacting to try and cool her head.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance and Citadel Council. Is everyone alright? We got word that some miners were in distress."

To Shepard's surprise, most did not seem relieved to hear this news. Many looked to Arepor, who stood behind Ashley like he was trying to hide.

"Arepor, nice to see you made it back in one piece," the krogan rumbled.

"Where have you been, bud? You kind of took off on us. We were worried about you," a human added. Their tones did not convey sincerity.

"Would anyone care to fill me in on the situation here?" Jane intervened.

"Maybe Arepor can tell you," one quarian proposed. "I bet he's already said quite a bit." His tone was as unfriendly as the others.

Declining to be his shield any longer, Ashley stepped aside, leaving him feeling exposed.

The batarian cleared his throat nervously. "Well, uh, like I said: some of the systems responsible for atmospheric regulation failed, and we needed to get help before things got too bad." Heat was not the only reason he was sweating in his suit.

"Was that all you said to the nice commander?" an asari pried "Surely she's smart enough to know that we could make most repairs ourselves, and we wouldn't bother a busy Council officer over something trivial."

Jane was not sure what the point of all this feigning civility was. It was so thinly veiled that even if Arepor had not told them what he had, she would damn near have pieced it together herself by now. However, the degree of resentment directed at the batarian seemed excessive. One would think they were trying to cover up an organ-harvesting operation, rather than unsanctioned mining. She weighed the possibility that Arepor had not been as honest as he had appeared.

No matter. Minor offenders, or serial villains, Shepard was not going to leave them to cook alive.

The commander raised her hands to get everyone's attention. "Clearly you all have a lot to sort amongst yourselves. Right now though, the priority is to get everyone out of here." She looked around the room. "Is this everyone?"

"We have a few more lying down in the living quarters," the salarian said. "The heat exhaustion hit some of us harder than others."

"Where's your comms centre? I need to arrange the extraction."

The miners traded some uneasy looks before realizing that cooperation was their only option. What else could they do anyway? Fight the armed military personnel? And for what? To get out of a potential charge of mining without a license. None of them were that stupid.

"It's this way," another batarian volunteered.

"Ash, Samara, round everybody up," Shepard ordered. "We're working against the elements here. If Normandy says our window is now, I want everyone ready to meet that demand."

Her subordinates showed their understanding and she went with Jack and the batarian to the communications centre. Arepor tagged along when no one said otherwise. Shepard wanted to use the facility's radio as she did not trust her own to function under the planet's surface.

The batarian set up the station for Shepard then stepped back to stare sidelong at Arepor, who pretended not to notice. Jack half-sat on the computer console, occasionally squiggling as the ambient temperature began to penetrate her suit.

"Normandy, this is Commander Shepard. Do you copy?"

"Your transmission is strong and stable, Shepard-Commander," buzzed the geth voice through the radio.

"Legion? Where's EDI?"

"EDI's mobile platform is still aboard the Normandy, though its specific whereabouts are unknown."

"Unknown?" Jane looked to Jack who simply shrugged.

"Her platform withdrew from the bridge one hour, twenty-two minutes, and fifty-four seconds ago along with Flight Lieutenant Moreau," Legion elaborated. "They have not returned since."

Jack snorted a laugh. "They're screwin'" she confidently presumed.

Shepard shot her a discouraging look. "That's fine," she said dismissively to Legion. "Just get the Normandy ready to receive evacuees."

"Acknowledged. How many are we required to accommodate?"

"Ah..." Shepard pulled away from the console to poke her head out of the centre. By then, Samara and Ashley had just about everyone congregated in the commons area. There were definitely more than the Mako could carry. "On second thought, maybe put together a second drop team too. We're going to need more than one tank to get everyone out."

Nearly an hour later a second Mako arrived at the mining base carrying Jacob, Liara, and Thane. The crewmates oversaw the cramming of the miners into the two infantry fighting vehicles. The civilians had been hesitant to leave most of their belongings behind, but even after convincing them to bring no more than a small personal bag each, it was a squeeze.

It was as the last miners were boarding the second Mako that Shepard realized they would not all be able to leave on this trip. Even if she **** them to unload all of their things, there simply would not be room to carry everyone back off Metgos; not without sending one of the tanks back down again.

The commander moved the communications centre to call the Normandy once again. "Legion, you there? We overestimated ourselves here. We won't be able to get everyone up on this run. Can we get one of the Makos to the Normandy and back before that storm hits?"

"Negative. Time remaining to inclement conditions allows for the return of dispatched landing craft, but not a second deployment. Attempting so would jeopardize the safety of all involved. The advisable course of action would be to withdraw high-importance personnel - namely Normandy crew - and return after the storm has passed to extract remaining persons."

"We put civilian lives ahead of our own, Legion," Jane reminded them.

"Acknowledged."

"How long is the storm going to last?"

"Calculating... Limited meteorological data reduces the precision of estimates, but the projected duration is sixteen to one hundred hours."

"Sixteen to a hundred?" Shepard repeated incredulously. "That's a pretty big range of guesses."

"To reiterate, information available on Metgos' meteorological history does not meet standards for accurate forecasts. Additionally, I do not have access to substantial readings on current atmospheric conditions."

"Never mind. Just be ready to receive the evacuees soon."

"Affirmative."

Shepard terminated the call. One hundred hours? That was a damn long time to sit around waiting for the weather to clear. She had only been in that facility for about an hour and she felt like she was back on Haestrom. If anyone was going to last in this place, they would need plenty of water on top of the typical survival rations.

She returned to the garage. Jacob and Thane were already aboard one Mako, with Liara operating the other. Shepard pulled her other three crewmates aside. "I've got good news and bad news."

"You know, I was just thinking that it had been a while since I'd heard something along those lines," Ashley said cynically.

"We're not all going to fit on this ride back to the Normandy, and the incoming storm is going to delay any follow-ups."

"And the good news?" Samara prompted.

"The good news is that one or two of us can go, so if you want out, now's your chance."

"Shepard, by now you ought to know us better than to think we would abandon you for some small measure of safety." The asari smiled supportively.

Wish I had gotten that impression when putting together a group to come down here in the first place, Jane grumbled internally. Aloud she said "Before you go turning down the offer, you should know that staying behind means potentially being stranded here for upwards of four days."

The gushing sense of comradery swiftly dried up at that. Each teammate cursed under their breath.

"Goddess..."

"Shit..."

"Fuck..."

"I won't hold it against anyone if you decide to go," Shepard said. "You're not doing anyone any favours by staying."

Silence hung in the air at that. This was not about favours, it was about solidarity. Regardless of what Shepard may have said, there was a wrong choice to this. She might not hold it against them, but there was something respectable about willingly adopting the same danger another person was subjected to, even if it did boil down to foolhardy nobility. It did not help that they were all watching the sweat roll down the commander's brow; both an appeal to their empathy, and a warning of what they would have to endure. The trio looked to one another and wordlessly reached unanimity.

Samara spoke for all of them. "We're staying with you, Commander."

"Even if it gets us killed," Ashley added.

Shepard's reaction was mixed. Part of her wanted to scold them for the unnecessary gesture, and another part wanted to embrace them for the message conveyed by their decision: your life means as much to us as our own. Ever stoic though, she did neither, instead nodding acceptance.

Jane filled in the other three on the situation. Liara very nearly stepped out of her Mako and refused to go, but firm words and some negotiating convinced her otherwise. She only conceded when they accepted water, food, and power rations from the Makos' stores.

"We'll be back for you the first chance we get," Jacob promised.

"I'd fucking hope so," Jack responded.

Minutes later, the Makos were gone along with their guarantees of wellbeing. Jane, Samara, Ashley, and Jack were stuck at the mining base with its faulty thermoregulator until the impending storm passed - whenever that might be.