A/N:Okay, so I'm sorry about the wait. This story is only a side project at best.

The World We Wrote

Looking down at this barren land
Once known as home before
Destruction, all the world
It's an ending we have brought

The world we wrote a million times before
And what we allow to break this all down
The world we broke a million times before
What should have been stunned is now all struck dumb

Chapter 3: The Girl in the Golden Dress

Tali really hated the Mako. She hated the vehicle with a burning passion, along with the driving skills of the only person qualified to operate it.

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya gripped the sides of the Mako as she struggled to stay in her seat, and that alone was nearly impossible to do, as the Mako was swerving and jumping with the agility and impulsiveness of a lemur.

Honestly, the Mako was essentially a tank; A tank that could travel at insane speeds, be inserted from low-orbit, and could jump. Who builds a jumping tank?! Some sadistic bastard, that's who.

"The road's blocked," Commander Romana Shepard called out over the rumbling of the Mako's engines, "We'll have to continue on foot."

"Yes, let's walk on foot on the volcanic planet," Garrus quipped sarcastically, "I can't see any problems with that."

"Shut it, Vakarian," Shepard shot at him, snapping her helmet on over her red-haired head, "Just watch your step or lava will be the last thing you see."

The rear of the Mako opened, the ramp slamming down onto the volcanic crust with a loud thud. Tali, Garrus, and Shepard filed out of the armored personnel carrier. All of them were packing serious firepower, and had every intention of using it.

"Alright" Shepard's voice crackled over the radio, "I'll take point. Tali, follow me, and Garrus should bring up the rear. How good a shot are you with that sniper, Vakarian?"

"I'm accurate with it up to a mile," the Turian's dual-toned voice cockily replied, "You can count on me."

"Let's go."

The trio began to move forward, when a deafening boom echoed over Therum's surface.

The sound came from above, and the three began to scan the skies for the source.

Then, just over the ridge, a gigantic golden ship that looked like it had no business flying streaked over their heads, jettisoning small pods as it did so. Off in the distance, it crashed into a pool of lava, and slowly sank.

"Holy shit!" Joker's voice shouted over the radio, "Are you guys okay?! That thing came out of nowhere! It almost hit the Normandy!"

"We're fine, Joker," Shepard replied, "What was that thing?"

"I'm not sure, Commander," Joker replied unsteadily, "the Codex doesn't have anything like it on file, but I sort of recognized it, and I might know why it wasn't in the Codex."

"What do you mean," Garrus asked curiously.

"Well," Joker continued, as if afraid at being laughed at, "It looked like a Prospitian Battleship."

Inside her helmet, Shepard frowned, "A Prospitian Battleship? Come on, Joker, those are just stories."

"Stories or not, that's what it looked like," Joker countered, "That crash may have triggered some seismic activity, you might want to find Liara, and quick."

"Understood," Shepard cut the connection, and turned to Tali, "That ship jettisoned some pods, I want you to check them out. Garrus and I will go on ahead."

Tali was a little bit wary at being left behind, but in all likelihood she probably got the least-strenuous job. Tali nodded, and Shepard and Garrus ran towards the dig site. The sound of muffled gunfire in the distance signaled that they encountered resistance.

Many of the golden pods had landed in the lakes of lava, and were slowly sinking. Three had landed near the Mako, and so Tali went to go check those out first.

Surprisingly, her Omni-tool was unable to interface with any systems on the pods, and they were devoid of Element Zero! It took Tali several minutes to find the wires responsible for the Pod's door mechanism. With a little shout of triumph, she got the door to slide open.

The pod was empty.

So was the second.

Tali was beginning to wonder why the ship jettisoned a bunch of empty escape pods when she managed to open the third pod.

That one wasn't empty.

A young woman no older than 20 lay inside, unharmed yet unconscious. Her short blonde hair stopped at her neck, and was held in place by a golden headband. Her robes were woven together with what looked like starlight, and emblazoned on the front of her robes was a heavily stylized star.

She was also human.

Tali began to panic. The human had no suit, and all the breathable atmosphere in the pod was now tainted with the noxious fumes of Therum!

Quickly as possible, the young Quarian dragged the unconscious Human out of the capsule, intending to stuff her in the Mako until the Normandy came to pick them up.

The Human female groaned, twitching slightly. Tali hoped she didn't wake up yet, they were almost halfway to the Mako.

The young woman's eyes snapped open, and looked at Tali.

"Uh," Tali started, unsure of what to say, "Don't breathe the air…"

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine, Tali," the stranger spoke in perfect Khelish, "It would take more than an inhospitable atmosphere to harm me."

Tali was speechless. Therum's atmosphere was scorching, not to mention completely incompatible with the Human respiratory system! How was this Human alive, let alone speaking?!

"You're surprised," the Human female spoke, smirking in amusement, "I'd be too. Is it alright if you let me down?"

"Oh, okay," Tali stammered after a moment of silence. She let the Human down gently.

The Human stood upon the scorching ground of Therum, wearing only blue slippers, and just smiled like nothing was wrong. Tali's mind was working at the speed of light. What was going on here? Who was this young woman who defied every single law of science she ever knew?

"I'm Rose Lalonde," the Human extended her hand in greeting, "Nice to meet you, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"How… how do you know my name?" Tali asked uncertainly.

"I know everything, past, present, and future. I'll explain later when Commander Shepard gets back."

[413]

After having sent Liara to the medbay, Commander Romana Shepard turned to the extra person they had picked up on Therum. She looked no older than 20, and sat daintily on her chair. Her golden dress appeared to be made out of starlight, and her blue slippers sparkled faintly. Her blue hairband held her long hair in place, and her purple eyes seemed to eerily shine from within. On her dress, a golden symbol was emblazoned that, prior to that day, Romana had only seen in books and temples.

"I have my suspicions about who you are," the Commander began, "but I think I'd like to hear it from you first."

"I am Rose Lalonde," the young woman replied smoothly, "Seer of Light. May I say that it is a pleasure meeting you Commander."

"The Seer of Light?" Ashley spoke up, clearly confused, "Forgive me saying, Goddess, but I hardly think this mission is worthy of the attention of the Gods."

"You're right," Rose replied instantly, "It isn't."

Ashley's face fell a bit.

"How can you prove who you say you are?" Romana snapped. She didn't like people stirring up trouble, and quite honestly, she never truly believed in the Gods.

Rose shot a scathing look at Shepard, "It doesn't matter whether you believe or not, Romana," Shepard bristled a bit at the use of her first name, "What is, is. Belief does not factor into this."

As she said this, golden light swirled momentarily around her, providing a pretty light show. Kaiden was amazed. Ashley was in awe. Garrus was confused, and so was Tali.

Shepard wasn't impressed.

"So why were you on Therum anyways?" Romana drummed her fingers on her thigh. Something wasn't right here.

"An accident," Rose replied, looking a bit despondent, "I had no intention of traveling to Therum… but it is not as if my intention means anything anyways."

Shepard massaged her forehead. This was going nowhere.

"Fine, be that way," she snarled, "Ashley will watch you. Don't do anything stupid."

She left in time to miss Ashley becoming a religious fanatic.

A/N: So sorry about this short chapter. Vote on what planet they visit next! Feros or Noveria? Who should be on the away team with Rose and Shepard?