Lombax Effect—Chapter 5
As Aphelion docked in the Normandy cargo bay, Ratchet and Clank got out of their starship to take in the dark blue interior, their eyes and retinal receivers looking in every possible direction.
"Wow. This is one heck of a ship," Ratchet commented in awe.
"We should probably go and see the commanding officer and ask them of our location."
"Sounds like a good idea, pal."
Just as the two were taking their first steps on the metal floor, they saw someone awfully familiar approach them from an elevator.
"Ratchet? Clank?" a female voice called out. It belonged to that very person, as the voice was also very familiar. She came into a quick walk and was coming closer every second. Eventually, the figure was in clear view, and her image gave Ratchet a wide-eyed gaze. "Tal?"
Talwyn was laughing lightly in cheer, running over to Ratchet and embracing him in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you two!"
"Yeah, same here," the Lombax said, returned her hug. He broke it up soon when his mind was immediately clicked back in his original train of thought. "Wait, when did you get on this ship?"
"Several hours ago. But most of the time, I was on a colony that fell under attack."
"Were you alone?" Clank asked.
"I was at first, but then I came across three soldiers who were fighting against these robots called Geth."
"Geth?" Ratchet raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What were they doing at the colony?"
"I don't know what, but they were led by a Spectre. I don't know about them—someone on this ship can give you the details—but I think Nefarious may be involved in this, too."
The two heroes ended up shaking their heads in worry. "Who can we talk to about this colony attack?" Clank asked a few seconds later.
Talwyn pointed to the elevator behind her. "I can take you to Captain Anderson. He knows some things about what's going on. He's just one level above us."
The three were making their way to the elevator, all glad of their fortunate reunion. Talwyn pressed the button, taking them up as Ratchet shifted in his feet. "So, Tal, who was with you? The soldiers, I mean."
"They're all human, and they seem to have a lot of skills with guns. There's a guy named Kaidan Ale—
"His name's Kaidan?"
"Yeah. Sounds pretty funny if you think about it. Anyway, there's Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, along with two girls in the group. There's a tan-skinned woman, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, and then there's the pale-skinned woman, Commander Shepard. I don't know her first name yet."
"Sounds like they're the kind of people who shoot bad guys seriously."
"You could say that." The elevator opened, taking them to a new room that was more lit than the cargo bay.
"So, where's... Shepard, was it? Where is she?"
"Last I saw her, she was still in a coma at the medical bay, just on the right of this room."
"I wonder what caused her to go in a coma," Clank said, his spherical head tilted to the side.
"Well, that's something I'm not so sure about myself. Back at the colony, Shepard found some ancient beacon and got caught in its beam and then lost consciousness. None of us will know what really happened to her until she wakes up."
Just as they got out of the elevator, a dark-skinned man in a indigo-coloured uniform was walking from his left. He turned to see them then stopped. "Ah, Miss Apogee. Who are these two behind you?"
"Captain Anderson, these are my friends Ratchet"—Talwyn gestured her hand over to the Lombax—"and Clank. They just arrived at the cargo bay."
"Joker informed me about that."
Ratchet spoke, confusion filled in his voice. "Wait, Joker? Who's that?"
"Joker is our flight lieutenant," the captain answered.
"I thought his name was Jeff... something-or-other."
Talwyn turned to the Lombax. "Jeff Moreau. It's his real name, but everyone just calls him Joker. Don't know why, though. Anyway, Captain, how's the commander doing?"
"I was just on my way to check up on her. I have to inform Shepard that we're making our way to our next destination. In the meantime, Miss Apogee, why don't you introduce your friends to the ground team, including Chief Williams?"
"Aye, Captain." As Captain Anderson headed his way to the medical bay on the right, Talwyn turned around to Ratchet and Clank. "Well, I guess you two better see the Normandy crew. Wanna come see them?"
"Physically, you're fine. But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves. I also noticed an increase in your rapid-eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."
Shepard was leaning against the medical bed she spent her fifteen-hour coma on. From what she'd recently learned when she woke up, she had lost consciousness right after getting caught in the ethereal grasp of the Prothean beacon back on Eden Prime. Kaidan told her that it exploded and is now broken. What disturbed the commander the most was what she dreamt about while she was carried to the Normandy's medical bay. It may have even gave her a fright from what she saw in those "intense dreams" Doctor Chakwas mentioned.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Shepard spoke. "I saw... I'm not sure what I saw. Death, destruction... Nothing's really clear..."
Kaidan looked at his commanding officer in concern, tilting his head to try to read her expression until Chakwas spoke again. "Hmm... I better add this to my report. It may—"
The doors opened behind them and in came the captain in his indigo uniform.
"Oh, Captain Anderson."
"How's our XO holding up, Doctor?" Anderson asked Chakwas.
"All the readings look normal. I'd say the commander's going to be fine."
"Glad to hear it. Shepard, I need to speak with you—in private."
From hearing this, Kaidan felt like he would have to wait for his next conversation with the commander. Getting off the medical bed he was leaning on, he responded to his captain, "Aye aye, Captain. I'll be in the mess if you need me." He headed his way out of the sick bay, but only to be stopped right when the electric sliding door closed behind him, seeing two unfamiliar beings in front of him.
Ratchet and Clank seemed to have just arrived by the sick bay door, but the three didn't recognise each other.
"Uh... You new here?" the lieutenant asked, bringing a hand out to rub his neck.
"We are," the small robot answered. "Talwyn was going to escort us to the ship's team. Would you happen to be one of the crew members here?"
"Yeah, I am." He walked over to a large table with an orange light lit under it. With the two newcomers following, he was leaning against the wall at the front before continuing "Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. What are your names?"
"My name's Ratchet," the Lombax answered politely before gesturing to his synthetic friend. "And this is Clank. I had a father named Kaden."
"Oh, really? That's almost a coincidence there. What was he like?"
Ratchet dropped his head, facing the ground. "I..." he said, voice low with contemplation. "I never really got the chance to meet him. I was too young... and he died before I could even remember..."
"Hey, don't worry about it, Ratchet," Kaidan said, resting a hand on the Lombax's shoulder and giving him a small smile when Ratchet looked up to the human. "About half the ship's experience loss, with family or friends. Huh... 'Welcome to the crew,' I guess, right?"
Ratchet and Clank shared a chuckle at the human's last sentence, knowing that they will share a good friendship with each other. They continued talking about various topics like what they did in the past and what they'd accomplished. Some parts even became a debate whenever Ratchet or Clank brought up how Qwark was always getting himself into trouble, or making the wildest ideas where most of them were unbelievable to a serious mind such as Kaidan's.
But all in all, they became good friends, and they even got to meet up with Ashley while Shepard was busy talking with Captain Anderson. No doubt there would be more for everyone, even the commander, to talk about in the near future.
Shepard came out and in the Normandy's mess hall and talked to Ashley, Kaidan and Talwyn about what their next task would be: they were to embark to the Citadel and present their report on Eden Prime—everything that happened and who was involved—to the Council for analysis. Since there was still some time before the Normandy arrived to the Citadel, Shepard decided to speak to the two beings who docked at the ship cargo bay.
Ratchet and Clank were talking amongst themselves at the large table in the mess hall, speaking about what they had just learned on the Normandy and what Talwyn had experienced. Apart from all of that, they began thinking Nefarious could be involved with the Eden Prime attack, and grew worried for Qwark's personal safety.
They both heard footsteps steadily increasing in volume and the Lombax and robot turned to see Shepard walking up to them, most likely wanting to talk with them.
"I assume your names are Ratchet and Clank?"
"Yep, that's us," Ratchet answered. "So, you're Commander Shepard?"
"Yes, I am. Talwyn told me about you two," she answered, pulling a strand of bronze-coloured hair over her ear. "I just wanted to ask you how you got stranded before Joker gave you entry to the Normandy."
The Lombax was immediately stumped, groaning slightly in frustration when he heard the name "Joker" from the woman's mouth. "Again, why is the pilot called 'Joker'? No offense, but I just don't get it."
"Maybe that's something you should ask him yourself. Anyway, back to my question. Talwyn told me you were stranded in space. From what you told her, you sent out a sort of distress beacon and waited for someone to pick it up. I'd say you were lucky, but how did you get stuck in the first place?"
"Let us just say, Commander, that we were first at a research facility to see a 'mass relay' at the edge of our galaxy." Clank finally said.
"I'm guessing you're Clank?" Shepard asked, turning her gaze from Ratchet to his robot friend.
"Correct, Commander."
"First of all, mass relays can be found in just about every system in this galaxy. Second, how did you get to another galaxy?" she asked, one of her eyebrows raised in question.
There was silence before Ratchet responded. "Well, I guess it's too late to say that... we've got more advanced technology in our galaxies?"
"Hold on, 'galaxies'? You mean you've been to others before?"
"Yeah, but not with a mass relay most of the time."
Shepard sighed. "OK, this is a lot to take in, and I've got more to ask than ever. So, what do you two do for a living?"
"Ratchet and I are mainly freelance commando and infiltrator. We are occasionally sent into missions concerning galactic security and apprehend criminals. A few of them were recently dangerous missions that threatened the stability of the space-time continuum."
"Usually, we deal with stuff less weird than things like that," Ratchet added.
Shepard crossed her arms, thinking over what the two had just told her. "An alien commando, and a synthetic infiltrator..." she muttered to herself. Standing straight again, she looked back to the two sitting at the mess table. "Ratchet, Clank, I think you might be able to help out in this mission gone wrong. Did Talwyn inform you of what happened on Eden Prime?"
They both nodded.
"Then you probably already know that the attack on the colony was intentional and whoever's responsible for this must be found and confronted. There's a turian Spectre who's gone rogue, named Saren, and Miss Apogee believes that he wasn't alone—said something about a robot named Dr. Nefarious..."
Ratchet's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from hearing that name. "Nefarious? No way... He laid an attack on a colony, with Talwyn on it?"
"We're not sure. She thinks they may have joined up, but that's just a small possibility. We're heading our way to the Citadel, and if you know this Nefarious well, you could tell us and the Council about his character and what he might be planning."
"Sounds good. Clank and I have been looking for him for a while now."
"Also, Captain Anderson is thinking of enlisting you to the Normandy. He's already given Talwyn the position of ensign. For now, Ratchet and Clank, you're each a serviceman."
"That is very generous, Commander," Clank said. "We appreciate this offer, and we do hope to present the best of our skills in your service."
Shepard chuckled and lightly raised a hand. "You're welcome, Clank, but you don't have to be that formal. Around the Normandy, people call me Garnet."
"You mean 'Garnet' as in the gemstone?" Ratchet asked for clarification.
"No, Garnet, as in with a silent 'T'." The Lombax still held a confused look. "I... grew up as a colonist with a family with extremely rare names. I'll tell you more once we're done with our business on the Citadel. In the meantime, you two might want to get yourselves ready. I think we're getting closer to the Citadel right now. Meet me at the airlock upstairs.
"OK. Nice to meet you, Commander!"
"Good timing, Commander," Joker said in his pilot's seat. "I was just about to bring us in to the Citadel. See that taxpayer at work."
The purple nebula cloud glowed brighter each second, and within that time period, the very mega-station known as the Citadel was in sight. A smaller station shaped like a concave, four-pointed star was then seen floating above the ring holding the five Citadel arms.
Ashley and Shepard looked through the window at the side, gazing at the star-shaped ship. "Look at the size of that ship!" Ashley exclaimed.
"The Ascension, flagship of the Citadel fleet," Kaidan said, looking out at another window on the other side.
Joker looked out through his own window at the front, not as excited as the crewmen. "Well, size isn't everything."
"Why so touchy, Joker?" Ashley asked.
"I'm just saying, you need firepower, too."
Shepard turned away from the window and went out, catching Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn on their way to the airlock. She nodded when she past them, jogging her way downstairs from the main floor and heading to the elevator on her way to the armoury to suit up, bringing out her N7 armour from her locker.