A/N: I wrote up until now off memory of the beginning of the game and the characters. So up until they meet up with Kirkland, it was just from memory, so I know things are wrong. For example, Fisher doesn't exist in this story. Nope. And there was a pilot in a pilot area on the shuttle kind of like in ME3 (I think?). Because why not. Yep. Muffy fucked up. Sorry. BUT I WILL NOT FIX IT. Nope. It's fine how it is; Fisher isn't important to any part of the story except to have his leg injured and be left behind. So. You know. Blah.

Also, for reference because at the time I couldn't remember if it said it early or not:

Tris looks like the default Scott but with blond hair and blue eyes. Erin has lighter blonde hair and bright blue eyes; her hair is usually up in the higher ponytail option. Not that it's really relevant, but there you go.

Also, when I was writing this and posting it to AO3 in 2017, for some reason my laptop decided to add in a bunch of extra characters whenever there was "..." or "-". So if you see random ass symbols - that's why. You know what was there now. Sorry. I tried to catch them all when I first posted this story but a few slipped through.

Chapter length: 2142

CHAPTER TWO: And I'm Free Falling

They have ten minutes to get ready before they are supposed to board a shuttle down to the planet. Tris finds his locker and pulls out dark red armor, smirking to himself. Well, he thinks. At least they remembered I like red. I guess that's a plus. He quickly fits the armor into place with ease of habit, and then attaches his weapons to his back. An assault rifle and a pistol; he'd prefer a shotgun, but this will do for now. He can't really be picky, he supposes. At least they gave him something.

Stop that, a part of his mind chides, sounding eerily like Mom. They don't want you dead. If they did they wouldn't have brought you here in the first place.

Which… yeah. Good point, Mom. They don't want him dead, but he can't see how having them all on the same team can end in anything except disaster. At least no one on the team, except his sister and father (and SAM), knows he's a Ryder. To everyone else, he's just Tris.

Liam tries to strike up a conversation, as do the others going down with them. They all look up to Alec Ryder and are proud to be a part of the Pathfinder team. They have high hopes for Andromeda.

Poor, sorry fucks. You're all screwed if you're looking up to Alec Ryder for answers, Tris can't help but think. They remind him of himself as a kid, back when dear old Dad could fix anything and everything. Back when skinned knees and papercuts were all he had to worry about.

Too bad the second you disobey him, you're off his nice list. They'll learn soon enough, he supposes.

Or maybe his father has changed with age. Maybe he's a better man, here in Andromeda.

The thought almost makes Tris laugh. His face contorts painfully as he bites back the sound. Liam throws him an odd look, one brow raised inquisitively.

"Sorry," Tris says, clearing his throat. "Just thought of something funny."

"So what's your story?" Kirkland asks, pushing to his feet now that he's finished attaching everything to himself. Greer stands next to him. They're supposed to utilize different groups, and different shuttles going down. Tris will be with Liam, Kirkland, and Greer. Erin and Alec will be on the other shuttle.

Small blessings, he supposes.

He realizes everyone is looking at him now. He smiles and shrugs. "No story, really. Just kind of here like everyone else. Nothing special."

"That's not true," Liam says, standing next to him. "He's friendly with the Ryders. Called a personal meeting."

Friendly with the Ryders. It almost makes him laugh. "I've known them for a long time," he says, and it's not a lie. Not even close to a lie, really. "I wouldn't say we're exactly 'friends', though."

"Enough chitchat," Erin says, stepping toward them. Tris glances at her briefly, unaware she and Cora Harper were approaching until then. Cora hasn't changed much since he last saw her 600 years ago; still as beautiful and deadly as ever, with her short blonde hair and piercing eyes, and blue armor. Erin's dressed in her usual black armor, sleek and shiny. Only the best for Daddy's Little Girl. Her light blue eyes scan over him briefly. "I take it the armor fits, Tris."

At least she's using his preferred name. All his life she's called him Tristen, mainly because it doubles as a girl's name. She likes to irk him in any way she can.

He smiles, not rising to the bait. "It'll do for now."

"When do we leave?" Liam asks.

Erin barely spares him a glance as she turns away from them all, moving toward the shuttle bay doors. "Dad's waiting."

They all follow after her, with Tris reluctantly bringing up the rear.

What is their plan? He can't help but wonder. What do they get out of this?

He's a scrapper, a vanguard. All his life his sister and father have used that to their advantage, flung him straight into the fray. He's good in the fray, but he has other skills too. He's good with a sniper; he's good at infiltration. He can hack. He doesn't have to be in the fray. He likes to use his mind; he likes a challenge. Being straight in the fray is all physical maneuvers and agility, which is fine, and filled to the brim with adrenaline... but the quieter moments are good, too. Not that they ever listen when he says that.

Never wanted to be a vanguard. Wanted to stay back and hack and build stuff. Was never good enough like that, though.

Alec Ryder is waiting for them, next to the first shuttle. The shuttles are identical save for the unique identifying numbers etched across the side. He nods at them, once, and climbs into his shuttle, with Erin and Cora quickly following after them.

Still not a man of many words, unless it gets him something he wants, I see.

Tris leads the way into the second shuttle, if only because the others are staring at the Ryders' retreating forms. It's amazing, really, how much people can look up to someone else... how much sway someone can have in so many people's lives. And the fact it's his family, despite their discharge from the Alliance for inventing the SAM units. Here, though... they're legends. They invented the SAM units. Alec Ryder invented the SAMs and he's the human Pathfinder. Without him, the Pathfinders wouldn't be nearly as effective. Maybe this wouldn't have even happened, without SAM. And now everyone looks up to the Ryders.

Glad I'm not one of them.

He never did well as the center of attention. With so many people looking up to him like they are to his sister and father… well, he doesn't envy the pressure they must be under.

Who am I kidding? They love the pressure. They love the attention.

Better them than himself, he supposes.

They sit in the shuttle, and barely have time to sit down before it takes off. Dear old Dad is still as impatient as ever, it seems.

Habitat 7 doesn't look promising, according to the scans. It's a not-so-golden world. They were promised a new home, but instead there's a mess of dark energy in space, encircling Habitat 7 and winding around the ship. It's a miracle they didn't ram into it, but somehow they managed to stop in time. If they'd hit it, it would have been around the time he was being woken, and he shudders to think what that would have done to his awakening process. Perhaps he'd be in a coma.

Tris hates shuttles. He doesn't mind being on ships in space, but shuttles are a little too bumpy for his liking, especially when he already has a headache. He grits his teeth the whole way down through the atmosphere, and tries not to look out the windows.

"Uh... the mountains are floating," Liam announces.

Which... yeah, okay, that's a new one. He looks up. Liam is standing in front of the window, glancing out of it. He sighs and pushes to his feet, throwing his hands out for balance as they hit a nasty gust of wind which threatens to drag him downward. He looks out over Liam's shoulder, and yes, the mountains are indeed floating. He stares at them for a moment, wondering how such a thing is possible, if there's gravity on this planet. There is, of course; otherwise he wouldn't have had that downward pull a moment ago, but the mountains are floating.

He's a little more concerned about the lightning striking absolutely everywhere, though. The sky is dark and gray, and the lightning brightens it every few seconds with strings of electricity shooting through the sky in winding patterns. One gets a little too close to the ship and he takes a step back, away from the window, like that will protect him.

This is why I hate shuttles.

"I don't think this is viable," Liam says, sounding downtrodden.

It's not a golden world, but they knew that from the initial scans. Why are they even going down here? This was a terrible idea, curtesy of Alec Ryder.

"Is there any way we can fix this?" Greer asks, sounding worried.

Habitat 7 is supposed to be the home for humans. If it's this ruined... this out of balance... and there's a dark mass of energy in space surrounding the planet... then is there a way to fix it? Looking at it, Tris doubts it.

But now they're all looking at him. Probably because he's 'friendly' with the Ryders and that must mean he has inside information.

I'm just as clueless as all of you.

He smiles. "Don't worry," he says easily. "We'll fix it. Might take a while, but hey, what good is having a home if you don't have to work for it a little?"

They relax a little, and he looks back out the window.

The lightning is picking up.

We should probably land before we get knocked out of the sky by this storm.

He takes a few steps toward the pilot's area, to knock on the door and tell them to land, Alec Ryder's orders be damned, when lightning hits the shuttle. The whole thing shifts midair, jerking everyone to the side, as the wall with the windows rips open. Liam flies out of the ship with a sharp yell, but somehow manages to cling to the torn side by his fingernails, his whole body dangling out of the ship.

"Help-!" Liam cries, struggling to get back into the ship.

No one else is moving.

Fuck me.

Tris lunges forward just as Liam's grip fails. His fingers find purchase on Liam's wrist and he throws himself backward hard, attempting to yank Liam back into the ship. Instead, another burst of lightning hits the ship, and the resulting shudder leaves them both flying out into open air.

Then they're falling, falling, fall-

"Your jump jets are failing," SAM informs him, and if he wasn't already having a heart attack from his sudden freefall, he would at the sudden voice in his head. "However, with my help, you could use your biotics to jump instead, and slow your fall. It might be enough."

SAM isn't throwing out probabilities, which is probably for the best right now.

"Do it!" he shouts, wind smacking his face. "DO IT DO IT DO IT-!"

And then he's jumping. His hands and feet glow blue and he's almost levitating, the sound of his racing hard hammering in his ears. Liam is... somewhere. He let go when they were both forced out of the ship, unable to stop himself as they were flung further apart. He's lost him in the resulting chaos.

But he's not falling as quickly now.

Steady... Steady...

He hits the ground hard, leaving him crumpling to the ground, and his momentum flings him into a sideways roll, over and over, until he slams into the rocky edge of a wall. The breath knocked from his lungs at the sudden stop, he groans and flops onto his back, staring up at the dark gray sky, illuminated in flashes of lightning that-

"Shit, shit, shit!"

He quickly pushes himself back to his feet, aching body be damned, and throws himself inside an open cave area, where there's a roof but no resulting darkness or enclosed area like a cave usually has. The lightning hits the ground where he previously lay, and he stares at it the scorched mark for a long moment, before he releases a shaky breath.

"Fuck me," he mutters, shoulders slouching. Then, once he's managed to catch his breath, he turns and looks around. "Liam? Liam!"

"Over here," comes Liam's voice, sounding surprisingly alive. The dark-skinned man rounds a corner, coming into view, looking a little sheepish as he rubs at the back of his neck, gaze cast downward. "Um... thanks."

"What?"

"For trying to save me," Liam clarifies. "Thanks."

"I didn't really help you," Tris points out.

"There's not that many people who would fall out of a shuttle with me."

"Well," Tris drawls, smirking, "when you put it like that..."

"Are you okay?" Liam looks at him again.

"I'm... sore, but I'll live," Tris says. "My jump jets failed. SAM helped me use my biotics."

"He mentioned that."

"Oh?"

Liam taps his head. "He told me where you landed."

"What a saint," Tris says, shaking his head. "Any idea what happened to the shuttle?"

About that time, there's the sound of an explosion, and smoke rising from the distance.

"Never mind," Tris says. "I think we found it."

"Oh, man," Liam says, staring at the smoke. "Think anyone survived?"

"Only one way to find out."