Welcome back to Lombax Effect, and this chapter's the longest so far, so there will be a lot of things to be seen! Also, I have you guys to see what Shepard really looks like, save her hair, of course. Suggestions on future chapters are welcome in reviews or via private messsages.
Lombax Effect—Chapter 4
Talwyn, along with Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams, was on the monorail closing in on their arrival to the other side of Eden Prime.
Before that, the four had stumbled across a transit worker named Powell who became the luckiest man alive—all because he was sleeping on the job and witnessed one turian Spectre get shot by another unseen, not to mention overhear the Spectres' names. He also gave the three humans and the unknown female alien some grenades to help their fight against the Geth. Ashley was a bit harsh on him but Shepard kept the conversation cool, telling Powell that the grenades could help a great deal on their way to the Prothean beacon. It seemed that extensive conversation with the farmers like Cole and Blake was worth their luck.
The Markazian looked to Shepard. Even though the commander was wearing a helmet, Talwyn could see some distinct features about her. Shepard had pale skin, but she also had bright brown eyes, with eyebrows of nearly the same colour above them. Her lips were a light colour but not as pale as her skin, and light enough to tell that she didn't wear lipstick. Her nose was straight but it held a scar that ran across it from the top down to her right nostril. The scar was faint but it could be seen at a short distance, leaving a light pink line. As for the rest of her face, there was some dark eyeliner complimenting her brown irises and her cheeks didn't have a bright blush, which made her skin leave a little glow. Her jaw even seemed to make her face look like it was in the shape of a heart.
In a way, Shepard looked like the kind of soldier who could get someone's attention by not just her words. And if it were not for the scar running across her nose, she'd have had the face of an angel.
Shepard looked to Talwyn who was looking at her. She walked towards the alien, leaving her two comrades to each other on the other side of the monorail. "You OK, Talwyn?" she asked. "You seem nervous."
The Markazian nodded before replying. "I am, Commander. Before I ended up here in this colony, I was chasing after a robot with some close friends by my side. We were after Dr. Nefarious, an organic-hating scientist who's always up to trouble. My friends, Ratchet and Clank, knew him very well and so did our galactic president Qwark."
"What was Dr. Nefarious doing when you went after him?"
"I'm honestly not sure. All I know is, every single one of his plans involved torture and destruction. But now, he was going on about a Mass Relay we found at the edge of the Polaris Galaxy and he went off. And then there's the part of me ending up here and getting separated from my friends, like I mentioned before. I'm worried about Ratchet and Clank. I hope they're OK..."
Shepard nodded in understanding, but her eyes also held curiosity. "What can you tell me about Ratchet and Clank? What sort of friends were they?"
"Ratchet is a Lombax, probably the last of his own kind. Lombaxes were supposed to be those bipedal, feline aliens who were the protectors of the universe. Anyway, Ratchet's a skilled mechanic and can even hold off waves of enemies with heavy weapons. He's also a very good friend, and he never jokes around when it comes to dealing with enemies. Clank's a little robot, but he's friendly—and he can even tell a joke or two. From what I heard from him recently, he's got this thing where he can manipulate time in a number of ways. I'm not sure if he can do those anymore since he left his... creator to help Ratchet out."
"Sounds like they're two very extraordinary friends to you."
"Yes, they are." Talwyn's expression turned from one of wonder to one of past frustration. "And then there's Qwark. He's the galactic president but he's a bit of a goof-ball, and also a coward. He even has this thing where he can persuade people that he can do all these heroic things that Ratchet mainly does. You probably don't want to fall under his taking credit for your achievements."
Ashley stepped in behind Shepard. "If that guy starts trying to take credit for my job, I'd make him get on his knees and give me two thousand push-ups." This learns a smile to the tanned woman's face as she says this.
"That's one way of making him think twice before he says anything," Talwyn commented. "Qwark's sort of like you but taller"—she looks at Ashley's hand, quickly counting four fingers and a thumb—"and with two missing fingers."
Shepard sported a slight frown, the last few words reminding her of turian talons. "There are a few aliens here in the Milky Way with two less fingers than us, mainly turians and krogan."
"And quarians," Ashley added.
"And quarians, too," Shepard acknowledged with a nod. She turned back to Talwyn. "You mentioned this Dr. Nefarious. What kind of trouble had he been up to before you went out to go after him?"
"Trust me, Nefarious is not the kind of robot you'd like to negotiate with. He's done stuff like contaminate water supplies, creating machines to turns organics in robots and making them obey his commands, taking control of a huge clock to turn time into his own view—this basically tells you how ruthless he is. And the weird part is, he wasn't a robot to begin with."
"I'm guessing becoming a robot was an improvement for him?"
"In some ways, yes. In others, not really. Get him really mad and he'll start going in a fit and suddenly freeze up while his auditory processors generate audio from overrated soap operas. Only way to stop that is if you give him a good whack at his head."
Kaidan was next to step him. "I probably wouldn't want to be in his position. That might mean more headaches than I could bear."
The monorail steadily came to a halt at the end of the rails. All four got off at the side and looked around the area for any Geth lurking around. It seemed quiet. Talwyn listened in for any sounds that could indicate a possible danger in the area. All she heard was a steady, high-tone beeping sound coming from her side, but as she carefully followed it, the beeping became louder and she was closing in on what looked like a case of explosives placed on the exterior.
The case had a timer counting down at four minutes. This put the Markazian on full alert, shouting to get the attention of the three humans. "Shepard, the place is armed with bombs!"
They all turned to Talwyn, running over to the bomb she found. Kaidan was the first to get there, along with his commander and Ashley. "Demolition charges! The Geth must have planted them," he said, voice raised in alertness.
As soon as the two female soldiers saw these, they bolted to look for any more armed bombs in the area. Ashley soon found a second on the other side of the compound. "Hurry! We need to find them all and shut them down!"
Shepard looked to Talwyn. "Talwyn, do you have any experience in disarming bombs?"
She nodded quickly.
"Go with Chief Williams. Do what you can to disarm the demolition charges. According to our radar, there's only four within the area—two of them not far from here. Move out!"
Talwyn and Ashley were soon sprinting to the far side of the area to disarm the second charge while Shepard stayed with Kaidan to work on the first. The lieutenant would have to use the skills he's required for to disarm them as his commander does not share his same expertise.
Talwyn saw the charge ahead and quickly took in as little time as possible for her to figure out how to disarm it. Once she found what was needed, she was soon working at the bomb system and finding its respectable coils to cut off. For her first try, it took her just forty seconds.
"Done!"
"Quick, there's another one upstairs!" Ashley called out, quickly heading her way up a metal stairway then onto the catwalk leading to the third demolition charge.
The Markazian got to it before the gunnery chief as she quickly flew there with her jetpack.
"A jetpack? Now that's handy," Ashley commented.
"Yeah. 'Never go anywhere without a jetpack,' my father always said." She turned her attention back to the demolition charge, remembering the procedure she used from the second charge and soon disabled it in less than half a minute. She saw Shepard and Kaidan running pass her and on the catwalk towards an area on the other side, using their pistols to shoot at any Geth that got in their way.
Ashley got out her assault rifle while Talwyn got her respectable pistol, running towards cover at a few metal crates and peeking out to see a Geth trooper heading towards her direction. She aimed and fired, the lasers hitting at the chestplate and at the neck. Another shot hit his flashlight head and the trooper stumbled down to the ground. Shepard got out her shotgun and pulled its trigger, the blast hitting two Geth at a time and knocking them out. Kaidan finished them off with a pistol shot in their heads.
As the catwalk was cleared, Talwyn activated her jetpack, hovering over the area and looking for the fourth and final charge. She spotted it and then called out from above, "Shepard, move ahead and after a left turn, go take a right! There's a demolition charge at a corner where there's a green glowing pillar at the centre of the area!"
"Thanks! Let's move!" Shepard and her two soldiers headed through an opening on their left and following in on the right turn Talwyn indicated. The Markazian followed, her jetpack directing her to the area the demolition charge was found.
Kaidan was at the charge first, his left arm lighting up with his omni-tool as he keyed in several commands with his right hand. A spark lit up on the bomb, indicating that it was now disabled.
"That's the last of them."
Everyone was releasing held breath, the tension turned down for them. Soon, the three humans and the Markazian were looking and approaching the green glowing pillar. Ashley looked to Talwyn, a black eyebrow raised. "'Green glowing pillar,' huh?"
Talwyn was confused at the chief's comment. "Well, isn't it a pillar?"
"Nope. It's the Prothean beacon we were looking for."
"Oh. Sorry."
"That's OK. No one's practically seen one of those in their lives, except for us, the colonists here and maybe another person or two out in the galaxy."
Shepard looked to the beacon, knowing that it is still intact. She raised a hand to her helmet, a finger touching her communications unit. "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac."
"This is amazing," Kaidan commented in awe. "Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!"
"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up. Something must have triggered it." Ashley's eyes were slightly squinted in focus, noticing the green glow from the beacon a brighter tone than before.
Kaidan was still in awe and was walking slowly towards the beacon itself; he didn't even noticed he was getting closer until the green glow got brighter with every step he took.
Talwyn noticed this but kept a safe distance, fearing the beacon could perform something dangerous to the male soldier. But before she could even act on anything, the beacon's glow got even brighter than ever and an electrical force was caught within Kaidan, drawing him in.
The two female soldiers were soon on high alert, the commander running towards Kaidan and grabbing him, throwing him out of the way with whatever strength she had in her. But even if she was successful in pulling Kaidan out of the beacon's pull, she soon took his place, only this time she was lifted a few feet in the air.
"Shepard!"
"No! Don't touch her! It's too dangerous!"
Shepard was trapped not being able to move a muscle. Her breathing hitched but could somehow only take small breaths, her limbs trembling from the beacon's ethereal grasp. What affected her more was her mind—she felt her head throbbing at strange images appear in her mind, acting out as if looking at them with her own eyes, now dilated. All she saw were images of black, red and orange, the colours forming indescribable pictures in figures. The pain ensued, the images becoming darker in contrast.
Ashley, Kaidan and Talwyn stared in fear for their commanding officer. But soon, an explosion lit up the beacon, causing pieces of white metal to fly over the area and the green glow vanishing as the beacon's energy released Shepard, making fall to the ground.
Kaidan got to her to see if she was alright. He saw that she couldn't open her eyes, but he did notice her eyelashes flustering every second or so. This gave the lieutenant the indication that Shepard was alive, and eventually he was calming down.
"Is she hurt?" Talwyn asked him.
"I don't think so. I better get her to the med-bay as soon as the Normandy arrives."
"That's your ship, right?"
"Yeah, but not in the way that you'd put it. The ship belongs to a military faction called the Alliance. Captain Anderson's in charge of the Normandy."
Just when he'd finished answering the Markazian's question, a monochrome ship came down and hovered over the area. The ramp was lowered, giving Ashley and Kaidan to pick Shepard's unconscious body inside. Talwyn was hesitant when she was the last to approach the cargo hold, but went in knowing she may not get another opportunity like this if she stayed behind.
As Saren directed his flagship to their new destination, Nefarious was surprised to see another person other than Saren to meet. The woman he was just talking to, Benezia, was an asari Matriarch. Of course, Nefarious new nothing about the aliens in this new galaxy, other than what humans looked like and knowing Saren's form, but he was perplexed when he met another organic, and a female one at that.
Benezia was teaching the robot about her own race, the asari. They were all female and they could live for a thousand years. The Matriarch rank came within age, but they were also known to be the most respected of their mono-gendered race.
Nefarious went to talk with Saren a bit more about their goals while the Matriarch looked over their progress on Eden Prime. The last known footage she was able to pick up from the monitors was the sight of three humans and a pink-skinned alien of unknown origin. Seconds later, she saw a ship with the tag "Normandy SR-1" painted on the hull. This would not look good for the turian Spectre.
"If I may say a word," Benezia said, grabbing the attention of the turian and the psychotic robot. "There happens to be a... complication with the plan. Four marines were sighted on our radar—one of them, however, was not a human. I do not know what type of species it was, but I would say that it was allied with the other three, who were humans."
"Tell me about the fourth marine," Nefarious said.
"It's on the radar," she indicated with a hand.
The robot looked on the screen, identifying the fourth being shown from the footage seconds later. That Markazian! he thought in an outrage. She can't be that same one with Ratchet!
"What else have you learned, Benezia?" Saren asked, eyes looking out into place, his back towards the asari Matriarch.
"We identified the ship that touched down on Eden Prime—the Normandy, a human Alliance vessel. It was under the command of Captain Anderson. They managed to save the colony."
"And the beacon?"
"One of the humans may have used it."
Nefarious turned towards Benezia, then to Saren who held his head in frustration, then turning into a fit of rage, throwing items around him around the cockpit. The objects thrown hardly touched the asari or the robot, but the room was filled with the Spectre's yells and shouts. Just as the eventual silence took place, Saren had his talons around Benezia's black crown, piercing blue eyes staring at irises of ice. The Matriarch showed no emotion relating to fear, nor did she budge or blink an eye. Tension grew even with the turian's outburst dissipated in quietude.
He growled, letting go of Benezia, "This human must be eliminated."
With the silence still impacting on the Lombax, Ratchet was becoming worried. Clank offered his optimistic words but they didn't stop the steady loss of hope. Would they ever be found?
During Ratchet's time, he reflected on his life and how it came to the point that he was a hero to many lives in multiple galaxies. There was so much he could remember—the first time he met Clank, getting assigned for a mission outside the Solana Galaxy, battling against an enemy that Qwark had some knowledge and experience with, fighting for his life when forced to compete in a viral holo-vision sports show, taking down an emperor who created clones out of his own DNA, being thrown in gaol for a crime he never committed and waiting for Clank to help find the real culprit as well as getting him out, entering a brand new galaxy and finding out about how he was part of an endangered species, his search for Clank when he was abducted by the Zoni, meeting a Lombax general with ties to his own father then died thinking changing time could do more good than harm when the facts indicated otherwise, restoring the alignment of the planets in the three galaxies he knew from a Markazian candidate gone rogue when Qwark became Polaris' galactic president—he remembered clearly what each adventure he and Clank went on, along with those with Talwyn and Qwark, and what they all meant.
The two shared those memories together, and they even exchange little pieces of history they had when they were apart.
They were soon interrupted when Aphelion told them, "I'm picking up a signal from an unknown ship. It is not marked as hostile, but their systems indicate it to be a stealth vessel."
This immediately alerts Ratchet, making him nearly jump out of his seat. "Bring up the transmission, Aphelion."
The communications systems were active on the small ship's screen, viewing a blue line around horizontally. A voice was heard from the speakers. "This is SSV Normandy, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau speaking. Do you copy?"
"I copy, lieutenant," Ratchet answered. "This is the starship Aphelion. We got stranded and we're requested a pick-up."
"Affirmative. Open ship cargo bay doors. You may proceed and dock there."
"Roger that." Ratchet was now pumped with adrenaline as he steered Aphelion ahead to the Normandy ship. The ramp to the hull opened up, leaving enough room for Aphelion to fly in.
It brought a cheer to the two heroes as they knew their distress beacon had been recognised and they were no longer stranded in the unknown.
But, as Aphelion was docking in the Normandy's cargo bay, little did Ratchet and Clank know was that their friend Talwyn was onboard the larger ship.