Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Chapter 1: A Women With Words
Pathfinder was by definition someone who led the way for others to follow. They were meant to find the right path that led home. Alec had created the role, but Grace would be the one to define it.
It's a shame she was the one to inherit it.
Ryder was no stranger to stressful situations that were no different to a warzone. She had been on Eden Prime for god sake. She had both asari training and a few year's worth of peacekeeping under her belt. But Grace was not prepared to be thrust into a role she had no training for with thousands, thousands, of lives relying on her. Now she was bumbling through every decision. Second guessing what she should do, if there was a right decision. At moments when her ineptitude showned, Grace could feel the eyes on her the most, judging her for each step she took, each breath she inhaled. Grace walked on a fine thread that was ready to snap at moments notice.
This had happened the moment she had awoken in SAM's node with dry blood on her face and an AI whispering in her mind. All the confusion faded at the announcement of her father's death that followed in quick session with the title of Pathfinder being crowned to her.
She didn't have time to process that her father was dead. That she had died. In a daze state she was whipped into chaos, of finding the nexus in disrepair, of leadership fractured, of arks missing, of all their damn eyes looking to her for help. She had inherited the title of pathfinder, and she had become a lone leader at that moment.
What was she suppose to do! Pull a planet out of her ass?
Grunting Grace flipped onto her back, her muscles protested at the movement. She was finally enjoying a moments peace. A moment where no eyes watched her every movement, of not being afraid of being cooked alive in her suit as she traversed a radiated deserts. Because that had to be the first place for an outpost. Director Tann had given the assignment.
"Prove your worth Ryder, as a Pathfinder, be like your father." Tann smiled, but Grace tasted ash in her mouth at those words.
Like her father, he said. He was a damn moron if he think she would turn out like Alec Ryder. War hero, N7 soldier, disgraced decorated vet No Grace wasn't going to be like him. She was going to get them all killed.
Only she hadn't.
She did what Tann asked, settle the planet Eos. The radiated wasteland that had no hope or future, until Grace found a saving grace. An ancient vault that could terraform the planet. Three months she spent on Eos. dodging bullets and radiation. And big fucking monsters. Three months, three long and hot months, on Eos Ryder's work finally came with a reward.
Prodromos.
But the feeling of victory didn't last a second as Tann called her back to the nexus.
"I knew you could do it." He smiles smugly, as if months ago he didn't doubt her.
Asshat.
He didn't call her for tea however, but assigned more things to her now that she was worthy. Food, resources, the nexus needed to feed hungry people. He wanted her to find more settlements, to bring more people out of cryo. He wanted her to find the arks, all of them.
He wanted, he wanted, he wanted-
Grace stopped listening after a while, Tann was a dipshit. He thought himself above others, and that she was his lapdog. Grace soon proved that she didn't take kindly to being ordered by men who thought they new best. Her father was the same, so when he kindly suggested she make the outpost a science one, Grace pushed for military.
Fuck you elitist douchebag.
Grace reached up and tentatively touched the bridge of her nose, the skin was still puckered and red. Lexi told her that she was lucky the shards of her helmet weren't over just a few more centimeters. She would have lost an eye then.
"It seems some of the...shards from the helmet hit your face." Lexi gave a bit of a strained smile. "It's going to scar."
Scar, Grace didn't care about a scar. At least she didn't think she did, till she looked at herself. It was like a branding, a glaring mark that yelled 'this is how you should have died.'
It sucked.
She hadn't looked at herself since.
"Pathfinder, ETA in fortyfive minutes." SAM's robotic voice chirped from her desk as he blinked into existence before blipping away.
"Thanks SAM." Grace sighed.
This was another thing Grace had to get use to. It turns out Alec did a lot without telling anyone. Including making sure that the chip in Grace's head, and Nebula's too, were advanced enough to house the upgraded AI. The AI he intentionally neglected to tell everyone he had been working on still. Further improved than the other SAMs. Grace shuddered to think what the thing in her head could do. Besides talk to old, ancient terraforming machines.
Which was badass
SAM did inform her that her father had made improvements to her implant that were to help stabilize her biotics more than the L5 implant she had. It was a disconcerting notion that SAM had power over something like her biotics.
"Pathfinder, Kallo is requesting your presence on the bridge."
"This better not have to do with Gil sitting in 'his' chair again. Five year olds I tell you." Grace stood from her bed, this was better than her telling Tann to shove his head where the sun don't shine if he kept inquiring about how fast she could set up more outpost.
Greedy lizard bastard.
"Ryder." Kallo greeted as she stepped on the bridge heading to the galaxy map. "Our scanners are picking up something strange."
"Define strange." Grace tilted her head as she looked at the stars whipping past them.
"Its-shit." Kallo's attention diverted to the controls. "Brace yourself." Were the only words he managed to say before Ryder's diaphragm met the star map as the ship jerked to a halt. She wheezed, grappling to stay standing as the ship rocked while coming to a complete stop.
A deafening silence entered the cabin as all eyes gaped at the large intimidating ship surrounded by the black tendrils of the scourge. "Is that-"
"The Kett armada, Pathfinder."
"Well fuck me sideways." Grace gulped as she stepped away from the galaxy controls. It wasn't just the mother ship they stumbled upon, but a fleet.
"Kallo." Grace snapped as she blinked back into reality. If they didn't leave now, they would be seriously screwed. "Get us out of here!"
"I-they got us pinned against the scourge."
"Shit-shit, double shit. SAM."
"I am attempting to find an alternate route, but they are hacking our systems."
"No,no,no…" Grace felt a surge of panic as the alarms started to blare. Control panels switch from blue to orange as they locked. The ship rocked as the kett pulled them forward on a gravitational field.
"SAM!" Grace hissed as she rushed to her controls, this would prove futile as the systems had gone into lockdown. Not even captain codes would work.
Neb would know what to do with these blasted machines!
"We are being hailed." Suvi piped up, just as a large alien face popped up on the starcharts.
Grace slowly turned her body to eye the strange face. He was kett, but different. He looks like…
A baby faced monkey.
"Where is the one who activated the remnant." Not a question but a demand. An order.
He's killed thousands of my people and expects me to just cooperate with him. Grace thought sourly as she felt the sting of anger as she stared down the monster. She allowed the anger to override her fear, something that allowed her to feel a bit more in control of her emotions.
"Pathfinder" SAM chirps over their private comm. "I am attempting to override the control."
Ryder picked up what he didn't say. SAM needed time, and time she would give him.
"You'll have to be more specific than that." Grace quipped.
His white, dead eyes narrowed. "I have scanned your ship." He spat. "His DNA signal is there. Now answer me!"
Dad.
Gritting her teeth at the realization of who he was demanding. Funny how the thing he sought would forever be out of his reach. And hers.
Grace plastered a pleasant, sneering, smile onto her face.
"Ooooooh!" She tapped her chin. "You mean that guy, mmmm. Nope." Grace popped the p. "He's not here right now, but if you leave a message I'll be suuuure to give it to him."
"Ryder." Cora hissed somewhere behind her while someone else snorted. It appeared she did not approve of Ryder's diplomacy skills.
You could have taken this job. Ryder thought spitefully. She was getting sorely tired of Cora second guessing all her decisions. Grace already did that herself!
Baby face's face scrunched up as he slammed his fist down on the console. "Enough! Your insolent babble will do you no good. In the end you will understand nothing."
"Ryder, I have almost regained control of the ship." SAM informed over their private channel. Grace wanted to kiss him, she was slowly losing the battle of not being afraid in the face of an alien hitler.
It would seem it was time for a fond farewell.
"Perhaps not, since you won't' explain." Grace uncrossed her arms as she stepped closer to the screen where white eyes-moons, they looked like moons- fasten to her form. "But understand this: suck my dick." Like magic words the control panels blinked blue as Ryder disconnected their line.
"SAM!" Grace gripped at the galaxy controls, her palms sweaty while her heart reaced. She was scared. Down right terrified. She just told an homicidal maniac to suck her dick.
What the fuck is wrong with me!
"I have plotted a course through the scourge." SAM's coordinates blinked up on Kallo's screens.
"Kallo get us the hell out of here!"
"On it Ryder!" Kallo's fingers flew across the screens as he maneuvered the ship through the black oily mass, while dodging the kett cruisers dogging them. The ship rocked with each hit. Grace bit her cheek, filling her mouth with the copper tang of blood. Why did they not put any guns on their ships. Not a damn one.
"Ryder!" Liam yelled as the ship skimmed the scourge.
"We'll make it!" She hissed as the ship rocked from an explosion from behind.
That better not be my ship!
"Enemy destroyed." Suvi's voice was tight, yet calm. Her green eyes spoke of her terror as they bounced over the controls.
Grace snorted. "Looks like they aren't made for navigating the death cloud."
"Are we?" Vetra hollard from the back as she tried to find something to latch onto to stay standing. It turned out to be Drack, who was laughing loudly.
"We have another one." Suvi spoke. As they hit a tunnel, the scourge swirled around them, closing in on all sides.
"We have a 67% chance of-"
"Not now SAM." Grace griped as she held her breath, she could feel the moment the second cruiser hit the scourge. The light at the end finally appeared, however it didn't seem like they would make it.
Too close!
Grace gritted her teeth as she spread her biotics into a thin layer, protecting the tempest from the claws that would surely rip her to shreds. Like a whisper she felt the stabs, like knifes, at her barrier as they hit the scourge before breaking free.
There was a sigh of relief as they settled into a drift in the unknown sector they had popped out at.
"YES!" Liam whooped suddenly startling the whole crew before he through his head back laughing.
"I didn't think we would make it." Peebee's voice drifted from the back while she edged out of the escape pod.
"I knew we would." Drack thumped the back of Kallo's chair, nearly sending the salarian threw the console. "Ya' did good kid."
Grace cleared her throat before turning to look at the crew gathered behind her. "That's all well and done, and you both did good Kallo, SAM."
Kallo looked flustered as he glanced around the smiling, relieved, faces before averting his gaze to his lap.
"Thank you pathfinder." SAM took the praise like any robot would, of course.
"Welcome, but who the hell was that guy?" She honestly didn't expect anyone to answer her, but when the comms chimed her heart dropped.
Please no more bad news.
"Ryder," Gil's voice was clip, tight with stress. It was never a good sign when your engineer called right after a close call with mass murdering aliens.
"What's wrong?"
"We need to find a port and fast. The power relays are shot, coils need to be cooled, and the compressor needs to be patched." Gil grunted. "Unless you want to go in a fiery explosion."
"Rather not." Grace sighed. "Suvi did we get anywhere close to a place to land?"
"We might be at the vaults coordinates. I-I can't tell the sensors are down."
"Great, okay. Gil hold her together just a little longer, I'll get us ground. Kallo," Grace pointed at the planet before them. "Take us in, find us a safe place to land."
"Got it Pathfinder."
Ryder almost relaxed as they dipped into the atmosphere, even though half the planet looked cooked with-
Are those tornados on fire?
"Ryder." Suvi glanced anxiously at her. "We're being contacted.
"Oh for gods sake." Grace pinched her nose as she turned to the screen. "Please don't let this be the kett homeworld."
She glanced out of the ships bay window as four-six cruisers dropped from the sky, crowding the tempest, herding it. At the moment they didn't look like kett shuttles, and she didn't have the luxury of picking a different place to land.
"Shit, open the comm."
The voice that answered their call was alien, untranslated. It had a deep rumble to it, rolling it's 'r's. More than that it didn't sound like a tongueless human, which the kett heavily sounded like when they spoke. Translated or not. Grace sighed in relief.
Not kett.
But not a known alien either.
"Um," Grace licked her lips as she glanced around the bridge, all eyes on her. "We come with peaceful intentions." She really hoped they knew what she said. And that they didn't hear the hesitancy in her voice.
I am not cut out for first contact.
Grace felt a lump rising in her throat as the comms remained silent for a moment before a decisive voice echoed over the comms, she didn't understand it but she knew that they weren't about to be shot out of the air as coordinates appeared on Kallo's board.
"Take her in." Grace sighed as she turned to the crew.
"Please tell me you're not going out there alone." Vetra crossed her arms, looking worried as her plates shifted drawing tightly together.
"Maybe I should go with you." Cora offered as she glanced out the window while the tempest started its descent to the coordinates given.
"It's first contact." Ryder pointed out, she would have been more than happy to hand the responsibility over, but the Ryder's were known to be stubborn and never back down from a challenge. "Which means it's on me. And should anything happen-" Grace swallowed as she pushed some of her cyan strands of hair back into place. "You get back to the Nexus."
She really hoped she didn't get shot as soon as she stepped out of the Tempest.
"Ryder," Suvi twisted in her chair.
"Don't worry." Grace chuckled as she looked at all the dowry faces. This was also part of her title, creating hope when there was none.
"It's not like I'm about to start a galactic war….I hope." She joked and hoped that they couldn't see the worry and fear that surely shown in her gray eyes.
"Ryder." Cora growled.
"Relax Number one." Grace laughed, though it sounded high pitched and flighty. "My conversation skills aren't that bad."
"Just don't tell them to suck your dick." Liam joked as he smacked her back.
Grace groaned. "You're never going to get over that?"
"Not in this lifetime, Pathfinder." Liam winked.
Grace wanted to stick her tongue out at him, like she would with Neb. Because Liam reminded her all to much of her comatose brother. but she didn't. She didn't have time for sentimental things. Smiling she turned towards the door and stepped through it. As it hissed shut behind her, Grace took a deep breath, her brave face falling as she smoothed her cyan colored hair down and redid the bun that kept her thick wavy hair in place.
"SAM?" She called quietly while sliding down the ladder.
"Yes Pathfinder?" His monotone voice, though intimately entangled with her own mind as if he was, is, apart of her still filled her with a sense of unease.
"How likely is it I start a galactic war?" She choked on the joke while trying to grasp some of the control she had with the monkey face asshole.
"My data is insufficient to make those calculations." SAM's robotic voice droned.
"I suppose that's good?" Not knowing the chances of dying was less unsettling than known the probability of getting shot as soon as she stepped through. Unless the numbers were in her favor. Which she didn't think they would be.
"If it helps, you are not alone Ryder, I am with you." SAM's tone sounded softer as he offered her an olive branch that allowed her to stamp down on the bubbling fear and face the uncertainty of her possible demise.
"Ya, it helps." Grace cleared her throat as her voice came out harsh, thick with emotions she didn't need at the moment. "Thanks SAM."
Taking a deep breath, Grace stepped out into the blinding white light to face the unknown.
Welcome to chapter one! So I had this whole thing planned for this chapter, but my Ryder jacked the show and took in a different direction entirely. Funny thing, I was going to make this heart on the sleeve women trying to make the best of what she got, but Grace crashed through that door and threw it out. she demanded make someone more, and so here we are!
Thanks for tuning in, see you soon