Lombax Effect—Chapter 8
"So, you want to know about the turians? Didn't you see any before me?"
On their way to Citadel Security, or more commonly known as C-Sec, half of Shepard's team were talking with Garrus Vakarian, asking questions about his alien race the turians. Apparently, many years ago, turians were resembled as a race derived from birds, and were the first aliens humanity had ever encountered once they became capable enough to travel beyond their solar system.
"No," Ratchet answered. "Guess you could say we're not the kind of aliens many people see around here."
"Seems fair enough. So tell me about your own species. What are the Lombaxes like?" Garrus asked.
"Well, I don't really know much about them," Ratchet said, lifting a hand to rub the back of his head, then adjusting the pilot's helmet he wore. "I think I'm the only one alive right now."
"Oh." Ratchet's pace slowed slightly, but Garrus noticed it too, his pace matching the Lombax's. They soon jogged back to their usual walking speed, catching up with the other five ahead of them. "Well, then, can you tell me what you know? Are all Lombaxes like you?"
This brought a boost of enthusiasm for Ratchet. "Well, they can be short or tall. I think I'm one of the shorter ones, but I can't say for sure on that. Oh, and they're seen in different colours, too."
"Such as...?"
"Well, there's me in gold with brown stripes. A couple years back, I saw one in silver with red stripes."
"Actually, that's not all," Talwyn said to both Ratchet and Garrus. "Colours could be a representation of age or family. The colours could fade slowly when they get older. At least, that's what I know from my father back when I was a kid, and from what I researched on when I got older."
Garrus looked to Talwyn with curiosity. "Strange. That's not too different from my own race. You see, different facial mark patterns and colours can usually define a turian by their family or rank in society. Obviously, you can tell that any turian with a single dark blue line on both sides of the face would belong to the Vakarian family. So what about your race, Miss Apogee? What are you called again?"
"Markazians. We're very popular back in the Polaris galaxy, and we're also supposed to be very diplomatic people, especially in stuff like politics."
The turian nearly chuckled. "That sounds a bit like the asari, without the monogender characteristic."
"Asari? Monogendered?" Ratchet asked with slight shock.
"Of course. They're the blue-skinned women you see around here with the tentacle crests on their heads. You could see some have a violet-coloured tan. Asari are all female but they're very advanced in most major areas—political, military, economical, scientific... They're as smart as they are beautiful." Both Ratchet and Talwyn gave a blank look at Garrus. "Not that I'd be, well, interested in an asari right now..." He soon dropped his voice, as if he had turned the topic around and embarrassed himself.
"They must be very lively," Ratchet finally said.
"Yeah," Garrus said, no longer mortified. "They truly are."
Later, they all reached the elevator leading to C-Sec, with Garrus indicating the sign for the distinctive C-Sec emblem on a neon sign hung above them. The seven were silent, though they all felt they had to keep their senses sharp in case anything important happened.
"Binary Helix has settled out of court with a krogan group that had accused the generics corporation of fraud," a news broadcast sounded over the soft elevator music. "The krogan group had contracted Binary Helix to perform studies with a long-term goal of curing their generic sterilisation. The group later sued for a return of investment money when the study produced no viable results."
All were silent for only a few moments.
"What's a krogan?" Ratchet finally asked.
"You will know, Ratchet," Clank answered. "I saw two while I was just with the Commander and Chief."
"Just keep your eyes out for a big alien with the red head crest," Garrus advised. "As some humans would say, 'when you've see one krogan, you've seen them all'."
The elevator doors slid open, granting the seven entry to the C-Sec Academy.
"Right," Shepard said. "We've got a krogan to find. Keep your eyes peeled." And just by coincidence, the big alien in red was there with two humans in blue uniform, along with one turian in the same uniform as Garrus but with a black cap on his head.
One of the human officers was with the krogan face-to-face. "Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar," he said. "Stay away from him."
With a tone this strict, about anyone would follow his suggestion. However, the red krogan did not approve, saying calmly, "I don't take orders from you."
"This is your only warning, Wrex," the officer said again, his tone slightly harsher.
"You should warn Fist. I will kill him." Again, Wrex was still calm, as if accepting a sort of challenge of wits.
The officer was now fed up with him. "You want me to arrest you?"
Wrex almost chuckled. "I want you to try." He seemed like he was having fun until he noticed a group of seven—three humans, a turian, a two-feet-tall synthetic and two aliens he didn't recognise—and walked over to them, his eyes trained on the brown-haired woman.
"Go on," the human C-Sec officer called out as Wrex walked away. "Get outta here." He then stalled off with his two partners.
"Do I know you, human?" Wrex said to Shepard as the eyes of Citadel Security had left him.
Garnet showed little fear—if there was any fear to begin with—and responded calmly, "My name's Shepard. I'm going after Fist. Thought you might want to come along."
"Hmm… Shepard. Commander Shepard… I've heard a lot about you." The krogan's expression hardened. "We're both warriors, Shepard. Out of respect, I'll give you fair warning. I'm going to kill Fist."
"Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better chance if we all work together," Garrus said, noticing Wrex looking to him, Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn in a somewhat suspicious manner.
"Making friends with some aliens, Shepard? I didn't know you were the type." Wrex said, his voice kept low. For an alien brute that was said to be threatening, he was quite cool-headed. Wrex turned back to Shepard. "My people have a saying: seek the enemy of an enemy, and you find a friend."
"Glad to have you on the team, Wrex," Shepard said, offering a hand for him to shake.
He took it, shook it welcomingly and then flexed his neck. "Let's go. I hate to keep Fist waiting."
And so they all turned to the elevator they used before, making their direct trip to Chora's Den where Fist was expected to be found.
As the eight were heading down the red-lit alley towards Chora's Den, the krogan hunter was talking with Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn.
"So, where did you guys come from?" Wrex asked Ratchet and Talwyn.
"We're from another galaxy," Ratchet answered.
The krogan froze, surprise nearly overwhelming him. "Another galaxy? That's not possible."
"Well, it is with us," Talwyn said back.
"Then why are you here?"
Clank stepped towards his friends, looking up at Wrex. "We are on an important mission to apprehend a criminal. However, it seems that our mission had become tied to Commander Shepard's investigation—the one named Saren is allied with our arch enemy Doctor Nefarious."
Wrex looked to Shepard. "You sure you're not trying to make friends with the Geth, Shepard?"
"Very sure, Wrex. Clank's part of the team. If you have any problems with that, say so now."
Wrex said nothing. They all continued their short journey until they came through the field of blue, the high-pitched, whirring sounds of hovercars—or skycars as Shepard had explained to the Polaris aliens—passing by below the railings the only sounds that could be heard.
"Looks like it's shut down," Kaidan said, noticing the neon sign dimmed.
"Fist knows we're coming," Wrex said. He reached for his shotgun, looking for anyone who may be hiding behind the railings.
"How can you tell?" Ratchet asked.
The krogan didn't even exchange a glance at the Lombax. "A bounty hunter's instinct."
"OK," Shepard said. "We'll have a chance of getting through the bar if we all work together. Garrus, Ashley, Ratchet, cover us at the back. Wrex, work your way up and let us know of any enemy activity within Chora's Den. The rest of us, including me, will cover your six."
Wrex moved to the entrance to Chora's Den, holding his shotgun ready. Ashley, Garrus and Ratchet stayed behind as the rest proceeded slowly.
One bullet was fired past the entrance, followed quickly by a dozen more. Wrex peered through and fired his shotgun at an approaching thug. Clank snuck inside and hid behind a table on the left, watching for any other hostiles coming close. When one of them had his back to the robot, Clank quickly and quietly snuck up to him and zapped him at the ankle, almost electrocuting him to the point where he couldn't stand on his feet anymore.
Wrex soon decided to move in, followed by Shepard, Kaidan and Talwyn while Ratchet, Ashley and Garrus took over at Wrex's old position at the entrance. Garrus drew his pistol up at a thug standing on the elevated platform where the dancers used to be. The turian fired and his enemy was out like a light, tumbling down to the bar that encircled the centre of the club.
Ash, on the right, gunned down whoever dared to get in her way with her assault rifle, releasing the fire trigger whenever she felt the barrel begin to heat up at her hand. Talwyn covered her at the rear, watching for any more thugs and shooting them down with her laser pistol. As the lasers were not typical ammo like bullets, the hostile men who got hit would be pushed back by the first hit, and then knocked out on the second.
Garrus and Ratchet moved ahead. Ratchet had adjusted his pistol before shooting at another enemy at the bar, the laser knocking him out and then bouncing off to take down a second at the side.
Wrex and Shepard reached the other side first, reading the "VIPs only" sign that hung from the ceiling in the dim hallway. More thugs were there, but were a lot fewer than those who occupied the main club room.
The other six followed and caught up with the Commander and the bounty hunter. They heard shouts from two men, probably Fist's personal bodyguards. The two had guns loaded and aimed at Shepard and Wrex, but compared to the team of eight—including the two their guns were aimed at—they had become vulnerable, their chance to fight and survive later thrown outside.
Shepard, knowing these were the only guards she and the others hadn't shot down, lowered her pistol. "This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work."
The two guards didn't seem shocked, but their guns were lowered as they glanced at each other. "Yeah," one of them said. "Yeah, right. That's a good idea."
"Yeah, I never liked Fist anyway," the second guard agreed with his friend. Both quietly left walking past the team of eight.
"It would be better to just kill them," Wrex suggested once the guards were out of earshot.
"Why?" Ratchet asked in scrutiny. "That wouldn't get us anywhere."
"You haven't been in this galaxy for long, have you, boy?"
Ratchet looked down, as if too mortified to look at the big bounty hunter who made him feel small, feel much younger than his own age.
Suddenly, a voice called out across the hall. "I'm giving you one last chance, criminal! Where is Doctor Nefarious?"
"I don't know anything about him! Please, I only know about the other conspirator, Saren! Besides, I've already told you where to find her!"
"Yeah, that girl in the... uh, the hood and the... suit, for..."
"Oh, she's a quarian, for God's sake! Jesus, you're an idiot..."
"Hey!" the Commander called out far from the room. As she and the rest of her team approached Fist, the thug leader was instantly in a position that showed fright, seeing as how his bodyguards were nowhere to be found.
"Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender!" Fist called out, throwing an arm to cover his face.
Shepard had a pistol and aimed it at Fist, making sure he didn't plan any tricks against her. "Where's the quarian?"
As Fist was being negotiated, Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn were staring at the ten-foot tall person dressed in green at the side—their old ally Qwark.
"Qwark?" Ratchet said approaching him. "What are you doing here on the Citadel?"
"Hey, Ratchet," Polaris' president said cheerfully. "Glad to see you, Clank and Miss Apogee are here and looking well. By the way, have you seen all the new people around here? They've been given me some weird looks, staring at me like they haven't seen me before."
The three simultaneously slammed their palms against their shaking heads.
"He's no use to us now. Let me kill him," Wrex's gruff voice said. They all turned to the krogan in shock, but quickly relaxed as the red-clad alien was referring his comment to Fist instead of Qwark.
Fist, meanwhile, was as agitated as a dog that never stopped barking. "Wait, wait! I don't know where the quarian is but I know where you can find her. The quarian isn't here, said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself!"
"Face to face?" Wrex questioned. "Impossible. Even I was hired through an agent."
"Does this sort of thing happen all the time here?" Qwark asked nervously.
The Lombax had had it. "Qwark, listen. You've got to be more careful around here. That thing you said about people staring at you? Of course they don't know you—you're from another galaxy. And why are you with that Fist guy anyway?"
"Well, gee… I-I don't know. I was just trying to get a place here in this galaxy, hoping I'd get known somehow. I mean I gotta start our somewhere, you know? And I could've sworn he was in league with Doctor Nefarious at one point or another—that's why I turned on him! Speaking of which, who the heck this Saren everyone's been talking about?"
"You've got to be kidding," Kaidan commented, joining the Polaris aliens. "If you're trying to get popular, then you're doing it the wrong way. You need to actually do something, like helping people or signing up for charity. Fist isn't a good guy at all, and I'm not surprised you didn't figure that out already."
"That's Qwark for you, LT," Ratchet said to the Lieutenant.
A shotgun was shot. Everyone turned to see where the gun had been fired, only to see Wrex holding a shotgun and Fist lying on the floor, motionless.
Ashley drew her assault rifle at Wrex. "Drop the gun, krogan," she said crossly.
"What are you doing?" Garrus nearly shouted in shock.
The krogan all but lowered his shotgun and looked at the large, shocked group and said casually, "The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half-done."
"We don't shoot unarmed prisoners," Shepard replied sternly. She showed the same frown she had shown to Garrus when he shot the thug holding Doctor Michel hostage.
"How many people died because of him?" Wrex asked her, ignoring her protest. "He brought this on himself. Besides, we have more pressing matters."
"That quarian's dead if we don't go now!" Garrus called. He was already heading out with his pistol held by his side. Ratchet followed suit and peered around, then quickly brought his head back as a bullet almost hit his ear.
"Whoa!"
"You alright, Ratchet?" the turian asked.
"Yeah. But that was a close one."
Chora's Den was now littered with over a dozen gunmen, most likely those from Fist's army of thugs who weren't at the club earlier. Now the clock was ticking for the eight to take them down and reach the endangered quarian. Things were about to get rough—very rough.