Scott went to see how Jaal was acclimatising to his new accommodations, he had practically all but taken the tech lab. Scott suspected that he chose the labs especially because it was as far away from the others has possible.
"So… Jaal," said Scott as he entered.
"So," said Jaal as he turned to face him.
"We haven't had a chance to talk alone." Scott then looked around the tech lab. "You comfortable in here?"
"I took it. It feels strange to stay with the others. They're—you're—aliens," he said sounding a little uneasy.
"And you're alien to us," Scott reminded. "So, there, we have something in common."
"We can look at it as a place to start."
Scott nodded. "Got it."
"Perhaps then, if we're all aliens it's about what kind of alien we are."
"You had no idea about us… but you signed up to help us anyway," said Scott looking at him curiously.
"Perhaps it had nothing to do with you."
"Care to elaborate?"
"I do not."
The two of them just stood then awkward silence, it was hard to make small talk when neither one of them knew about the others culture.
"How do you know Moshae Sjefa?" Scott asked.
"She's our greatest mind on the Remnant. I was a student," Jaal explained.
Scott looked up. "You studied the Remnant, too?"
Jaal chuckled slightly. "A little. I was terrible. I quit. Or she threw me out. One of those." His face then saddened. "We're still very close."
Once again there was another awkward silence, Scott then turned his eyes to Jaal's rifle. "So… is that your rifle?"
Jaal picked it up. "It is now. It's kett. With my own modifications. I like to tinker—to get my hands on something and take it apart."
"That's a skill I know we can use," said Scott. "But I have one request. Please don't take apart my ship."
Jaal chuckled. "You're right. I signed up—volunteered—for this. It's… exciting. There's something unique about you—uneasy, raw—but somehow profound."
Scott beamed at the progress they had made. "Face value, that sounds like a compliment. A nice one."
"It is. Angara feel deeply. We have more trouble hiding our emotions than showing them," Jaal explained. He then turned to the gear that he was still unpacking. "I should get back to work."
Scott now had some idea why the Jaal emotion expressions became radical when talking with them, it was also pretty confusing. "As if I did had enough on my plate, add deciphering alien psychology."
Jaal frowned. "What plate?"
Scott smiled. "Exactly. See you later."
Scott then made his way over towards Liam when they heard Gil talking over the comm.
"What you think of the angara, doc?" Gil asked.
"Still compiling my first impressions, but even their body language is so… emotional," said Lexi as Scott passed her. "I can't wait for my first session with Jaal."
"Try not to scare him away, huh?" said Liam. He then turned as Scott approached him. "One hell of a trip this turned out to be. Hostiles, ruined worlds, no home in sight… Everyone is getting toasty. There was a two-hour argument yesterday and no one even knew how it started."
"That's not good," said Scott, knowing that infighting this early on in the game would be disastrous.
"Luckily, I have the perfect way for people to unwind. Movie night," Liam smiled.
Scott felt the idea had merit. "Taking a breather for good movie? I could get behind that."
"Best part is: it doesn't need to be good. Still get mileage out of the bad ones. It's worth it to jumpstart everyone's pioneer spirit and all that." He then turned his head towards the console. "The Tempest's database is pretty dry. Could you download a movie library from the Nexus Ops? To see what I've got to work with."
"If I have time," said Scott not wanting to promise anything.
"Thanks. Everyone will appreciate it."
Scott then made his way into the cargo bay and heard Jaal over the comm, apparently he was having problems to figure out the ships layout.
"Your ship's layout confuses me," he said over the comm.
"Bridge is fore, engine room's alft, medbay starboard," said Cora.
Peebee rolled her eyes. "Smart stuff front, power's in back."
"That… helps!" said Jaal, though he sounded even more confused.
Peebee then noticed that Scott was next to her and sat up. "I did not like the look of that Archon. Maybe the angara will let me pitch a tent on Aya for the duration."
Scott had to admit that he was concerned about the Archon, according to Jaal, he was the one that blocked their path and almost captured them. Though he wasn't going to turn tail and run at the first obstacle and he was surprised that Peebee would.
"Didn't think you are the type to run from trouble," said Scott folding his arms.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Peebee sighed, indicating that he had struck a nerve. "All right. Next time, keep on the line—I might have something to say."
Scott shook his head. "Thanks were chatting. We'll talk again later."
"You know it."
Scott then made his way into the engine room and found Gil fiddling with the console.
"Ah! There you are… Gotcha!" he said as if he was trying to grab a mouse.
"Do I need to get Lexi to do a psych review?" Scott asked.
"Ha, maybe. People have been telling I'm crazy my whole life. Just dealing with some Scourge issues. That Archon fella tried to warn you not to joyride into it, but you were just 'la-la-la.' It was an 'act first, think later' move. I respect it—well, more like I resemble it." He then looked at Scott curiously. "Hey, you play poker?"
Scott blinked. "Come again?"
"Poker. Card game with bluffing. Betting. It's an age-old measuring stick for person's character, fortitude, guts. Used to think maybe it was my calling. Turns out I'm just good at it. Never lost, heads up. We should play some time."
"Willing to put your streak on the line?" Scott asked raising an eyebrow.
"Ha. I'll risk it. Next time we port up, and you're in the mood, I'm always in the mood."
Scott then made his way to the cargo bay and found Cora going over their weapon mods.
"That Archon," she spat. "Arrogant son of a bitch. Maybe that's redundant for a kett."
"It's damned lucky there was a path through the Scourge right there," said Scott.
Cora nodded. "Yeah. We can't count on ever been that lucky again." She then took a deep breath and looked at Scott. "So. What else is new?"
Scott asked how her search for the asari ark was going, but nothing had appeared on comm mentioning it. Scott then asked if she had any more commander war stories and she smiled telling him that she always liked Janae. Apparently with her in the commandos, she was no longer considered 'the kid' anymore due to the fact that she was 200 years old. She mentioned that she was a biotic prodigy and that she once managed to yank AA gun of its housing and used to crush bang of slavers. She told him that she was a good friend and probably still is back home, though she would no longer be a 'kid' any more.
Scott then made his way over to the bridge and Kallo looked up from his controls as he approached him.
"SAM's been compiling star charts," Kallo informed him. "The other pilots on the Nexus will have plenty of new trails to follow."
"You can drop the charts off next time we're there," said Scott.
"Funny. A few months ago, that station was like a war zone," said Kallo thinking back on those unpleasant memories. "Flying was my only way to escape the chaos. Now it's become a haven, just as it was meant to be."
"Every good space station needs a big lake," said Scott thinking back to the Citadel and the lakes in the Presidium. "Maybe some fountains."
Kallo nodded. "Indeed! Even non-amphibians need a little water." He then turned his attention back onto the Scourge. "Regardless, the worst threat to the whole Initiative is still that monstrosity."
"You mean the Scourge?"
"I still see it crippling the Nexus in my memories," said Kallo shuddering at the thought. "I had to train other pilots in hazardous flights techniques, just to look for food and water. It's a cage that eats good ships—and good people. Heleus won't be home, so long as it's a threat."
Scott agreed, they needed to find a way in order to eliminate the Scourge, but the fact the matter is that in itself would be quite a challenge. "It's a huge space anomaly, it's not going away in anyone's lifetime."
"If we could… somehow neutralise it, or if I ships had defences against it… Still!" A small smile then appeared on his lips. "That's what we do, isn't it? Find a way where there is none? Just see the Nexus, for proof of that."
Scott wanted to know more about Jaal, personally, but regretfully he declined saying that Evfra told him to be wary. Clearly Scott could see his point of view, he hadn't exactly done anything to earn his trust just yet. However, he did learn that Jaal had problems understanding a joke or more precisely maybe they had a different sense of humour.
Liam also approached Scott, informing him that he had a project that he wants to work on with Jaal and needed his approval.
Scott then made his way to his room and contacted SAM by his node.
"Hello, Scott," said SAM as he approached him. "Meeting with the angara is truly historic."
"I'll say," said Scott as he sat down at his desk.
"My only comparison is Alec Ryder's experience in the First Contact War, a time of uncertainty and cultural misunderstanding. We are arguably in a similar time, yet your encounter was peaceful. I can see what humanity has learned."
Scott really appreciated SAM saying that and then asked him how his jokes were working out. This time SAM asked him why was so hard to find a good steak. When Scott said that he did not know, SAM merely said that it was rare medium, well done. Scott didn't find the joke particularly funny, clearly SAM still had a lot of work to do.
Scott soon returned to the engine room and Gil began to inform him of his encounter with the angara when they got the ship prepared.
"The angara were super curious about the ship," Gil informed him. "A few were pretty bold. Asked me questions."
"What do you make of them?" Scott asked.
"They know their shit. Quick-minded. Sharp. They'll make good allies."
Scott was a little concerned after the little experience with the Scourge. "Are you sure you can keep the Scourge damage under control?"
"Never seen anything like the Scourge… what it does to our tech," said Gil rubbing the back of his head. "It's keeping me on my toes, but that's when I do my best work. In a way, I guess I'm grateful."
"Are you just telling me what I want to hear so I don't freak out?" Scott asked.
"Oh, of course not," said Gil and then he chuckled. "Don't worry, Ryder. You're in good hands."
Scott was also little concerned with the infighting between him and Kallo. Gil merely explained that they had different contrasting styles when it came to the ship. Kallo was more into blueprints while he was into gears and guts. He admitted that having the two of them on board even detail out.
Scott soon returned to the bridge in order set a course, but Suvi approached him for his a chance. She explained that they had about seventy extra kilos on board, and enough mass for an entire person.
Scott immediately went to investigate and found some sort of exoskeleton and Kallo had some idea of what it was. He explained that the project leader for the Tempest, Lucille Diawara, broke her back during the construction, but she wouldn't let a broken back stop her. She converted a construction mech into a rig she could wear and Kallo surmised that she must've wielded it into the Tempest hull before they left.
SAM also managed to find an audio log in when they played it it was Lucille Diawara's voice. It was a message to the original Pathfinders that they were the best of them. Kallo was a little overwhelmed, never in his dreams would he believed that he would hear her voice again. Scott decided to keep the rig inside the Tempest seen how she cared so much about the ship she designed.
Scott soon made his way to the bridge, but will fall leaving the Onaon System, Scott wanted to do a bit of exploring. The first thing they discovered was an asteroid that contained beryllium and the immediately began to mine it. They then scanned the planet Obayro and were able to find a graphite deposit and on the planet Sanseyol they were able to detect a kett satellite orbiting around the planet and they quickly disabled it.
Jaal was able to give them some extra star charts of other systems and Scott was eager to investigate them. Their first stop was the Sabeng System, it was a little out of their way to Havarl, but it was only a short jumper way.
"This system is mostly unexplored," said Suvi as they entered the system
"It was chartered, once," said Jaal as he made his way onto the bridge. "Then the Scourge happened. What's old is new."
The first thing that were able to scan was a deposit of element zero and they wasted no time to get as much on-board as possible. They then headed towards the planet Pas-15 and they were able to detect a sheet of ice that was in fact frozen helium, the planet had a very low temperature and heavy gravity which made it entirely possible. They then headed towards the gas giant Pas-33 and were able to find an initiative satellite orbiting around the planet and it provided detailed studies of the planet.
They then finally made a jump to the Jirayder, if it one for the star charts Jaal gave them they will even know that the system was there thanks to the Scourge.
"A lonely system," said Kallo as they entered. "It's almost lost in the Scourge."
"What else could be lost out there?" Suvi pondered.
One of the first things they were able to scan was a wreckage of a starship, upon closer examination it had Remnant technology embedded in it, sadly the damage was too extensive to determine whether it was fully automated or designed for crew. They salvage what they could and immediately made their way to the planet Candavorni and centre probe down towards the storm that was raging around a gas giant which contained an enormous quantity of helium-3.
With that done they made their jump towards the Faroang, where Habitat 3 or as it was now known, Havarl was located.
"This is… home," said Jaal as they entered the system, which was the home system of the angara. "Our ancestors came from this system, from Havarl. It looks smaller from here."
The immediately managed to find a comet which had a platinum deposit, something they were quite eager to mine. They then headed towards the planet Yilfaen and were able to find a graphite deposit. They then flew towards the planet Farrum and they were able to find a biomass growth more precisely a massive fungai forest which stretched for kilometres in the moist and hot air.
Finally they headed towards Havarl which was basically a lush jungle, but according to their scans everything growing on the planet was unstable.
"Sending the navpoint of Daar Pelaav," said Jaal as he accessed the bridge controls. "That's where the Moshae's team should be."
They soon headed down towards the planet or more precisely to the research base, though trying to find a place to land in this vast jungle was going to be quite a challenge.
"It used to be an angara town," Jaal explained. "There'll be landing pads and good sight lines for a safe approach."
"Anomaly on the sensors!" Kallo cried out. "Something big! Possibly hostile. Taking evasive action."
Suvi looked at the readings. "Wait, I don't think it's…"
She stopped when they all stared with a view screen as they were approaching the same creatures that Scott saw on Habitat 7. The Initiative had decided to nickname them Manta and they were heading towards an entire flock of them.
"Well, that's something you don't see back home," said Scott breaking the silence.
Fortunately they didn't appear to be hostile and just simply flew past them they started head towards the landing coordinates provided by Jaal.
"Bringing us in," said Kallo.
There was just enough room for the Tempest to land a landing site. Scott had Cora, Liam and Peebee to join him and Jaal as they made their way to the research station.
"Now this is a planet," said Liam as they stepped outside.
A small smile appeared on Jaal's face. "It is… beautiful. But the wilds can also be deadly."
They started to make their way towards the Pelaav research station and Scott can help but notice that most of the infrastructure was consumed by plants. Even the bridge they had to cross was damaged by the plant life.
When the entered the research station Scott found the scientist looking over a data pad. She was completely baffled as you try to make sense of the readings.
"None of these readings show any change," she said worriedly. "How could there not be a change?" She then eventually noticed that she had company and looked up from her data pad and turn to Jaal. "Jaal? What are you doing here? In the company of these…" She paused as she looked at Scott and the others, "people?"
"Kiiran, this is Pathfinder Ryder, from a long way away," he said gesturing to Scott. "Ryder, Kiiran Dals, lead scientist at Daar Pelaav."
"I am honoured to meet you, as a representative of the Andromeda Initiative," said Scott.
Kiiran looked at Jaal. "Are all their people this formal?"
"I don't think so." He then looked around noticing the absence of personnel within the research station. "Where's the rest of the team? Ryder has experience with Remnant. We might be able to help investigations."
Kiiran looked at him surprised. "You haven't heard? While the team was exploring the monolith, something went terribly wrong. They were caught in some kind of Remnant stasis field. Frozen in place. Unresponsive."
"I know how to work Remnant tech. I can help you," Scott offered.
"Ryder has seen of old and apparently reset it. Somehow," Jaal confirmed.
"Ocean of fish, one will have gems in its mouth," said Kiiran looking quite sceptical. "But if you think the alien can help, I'll set scepticism aside." She then looked at Scott. "The monolith is not far from here. See what you can do. But be careful. We don't know what triggered the stasis, and it might happen again."
Scott then encountered an archeoastronomer, she explained that she studied ancient cultural records of stellar phenomena. She was hoping in order to discover undiscovered colonies they lost contact with, hoping that they could assist them in their fight against the kett. Apparently some wildlife destroyed her home, but she only recently discovered that her research might've survived but it was too dangerous for her to go back there. Scott immediately offered his help, knowing how important it was to find this research.
They left the research station and began making their way to Raashel's home, which was in utter ruins. They had a fight off the wildlife just entered the room and building, bird the computer was damaged beyond repair meaning the data was lost.
Raashel regretted that she risked their lives for nothing, but Scott wasn't going to walk away that easily. Fortunately, there might still be a chance that the data was still salvageable, but to do so they needed to find the network memory centre, which was buried underground.
In order to access it Scott had to find a network node above ground and with luck he was able to find one. By some miracle Raashel was able to retrieve the data and there was a chance they would be able to access even more data that was lost when the settlement went down.
They then started to make their way towards the monolith and countering more dangerous wildlife on their way. Became abundantly clear that there was a natural growth going on around the entire planet.
Scott looked at Jaal curiously. "Kiiran Dals said something about, fish and gems to me. What was that all about?"
"In an ocean of fish, one will have gems in its mouth. Meaning that your success Remnant is probability, not skill," Jaal explained. "As the number of cases in approaches infinity, the unlikeliest outcomes becomes likely."
"Oh, thought it might like that."
They soon began to proceed into the Remnant vault and were immediately attacked by Remnant bots. It was a hard fight, but they started to gain ground and eventually entered the chamber where the scientists were located. The scientists just stood there motionless and it was slightly unnerving, he scanned them and found that they were very much alive though there was no way to know whether they were consciously aware of what was going on.
"Found them," said Scott as he approached them. "The researchers caught in the stasis field. Exactly where Kiiran said they would be."
Scott immediately made his way over to the interface console in the centre of the room, but first he needed to find the Remnant glyphs that were littered across the place. Fortunately finding them was not too difficult and once he managed to match up the letters together the stasis field around the scientists disappeared.
"Reading off the monitors and—" said one of them, he then stopped and saw Scott and the others. "Skkut! Skkutting stars! What? Who are… How are…"
Scott raised his hands calmly. "Pathfinder Ryder, with the Andromeda Initiative. I'm… from another galaxy. Take a moment. Find your bearings."
The scientist just stared at him in confusion and fear. "More aliens? Out of nowhere… and Jaal?"
Jaal looked at them curiously, noting that they were all looking perplexed. "Do none of you remember getting frozen?"
The scientist's eyes widened. "Frozen? I don't understand. We were just working on the monolith, and then… and then you appeared…"
Clearly they hadn't even realised that they had been trapped in the stasis field so the confusion was understandable.
"You should return to Pelaav. Kiiran will want to speak to you," Scott advised.
"Maybe you're right. I feel a head splinter coming on."
"We should make sure they return to the station. Who knows what lingering effects they might suffer," Jaal suggested. He then looked at Scott curiously. "This SAM of yours, in your head. How is it allowing you to interface with Remnant?"
"SAM helps with analysis and translation, among other things," Scott explained, though admittedly there was only the tip of the iceberg. "It's… complicated."
They began to escort the scientists back to Pelaav, though they gave Scott and the others quite the wide berth. Once they returned to the research station, they began to tell Kiiran everything that had happened and she filled in some of the gaps. However, they then mentioned encountering an over alien species they did not recognise.
"Would you mean 'grey, spiky aliens?' Kett?" Kiiran asked.
He shook his head. "No, these were different. We were doing a survey of the area and saw them. Before the freeze."
Scott recognised the description of these aliens is eyes widened. "You mean Turians? You saw Turians?"
"Why don't you and Torvar talk about that later," Kiiran advised. "Right now I want to thank you for saving my team."
"You weren't lying," said Torvar. "Kiiran told us everything. She even had pictures."
"I apologise for the indifference welcome you received from the earlier," said Kiiran apologetically.
Scott waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You had no reason to trust me. The last aliens you met were kett."
"Ryder, what you've accomplished here, your Remnant understanding and your SAM should convince Evfra you're an asset," said Jaal enthusiastically. "We should speak to him as soon as we can. Perhaps on the Tempest?"
Torvar looked at Kiiran. "Kirran, I've been thinking. If Ryder can use Remnant, couldn't we fix the monoliths? Stop Havarl's decline?"
Scott frowned. "Havarl's decline?"
"This will take time to explain. We can discuss it further, when you have time," said Kiiran. "And don't forget to talk to Torvar about those, what did you call them… turians?"
Meanwhile on the Nexus, Adam was briefing the Nexus leadership on the angara, and more specifically on the difficulties that Scott was experiencing.
"Apparently there first alien contact was the kett," Adam explained. "Are not entirely certain the details, but it's clear that the kett appeared friendly to them at first and then stab them in the back. As you might expect, they are now distrustful of aliens."
"This is disastrous," said Tann has he sat in his chair. "Are you sure there's no way we can prove to them that we are not afraid?"
"Pathfinder Ryder is working on that as we speak," said Adam.
"If we can create diplomatic relationships with these angara, we could very well get the resources needed to get the Nexus fully operational," said Kesh.
"They can also provide us with some excellent intel on kett movements and battle strategies," Kandros added.
"More importantly, we might be able to trade food, which we are still short on," Addison reminded.
"All a moot point until they start to trust us," said Tann bluntly. "Until then we are on our own, but I agree that we should create some sort of preparations when the time does come."
"Let us just hope that it doesn't take eight years like it did humanity," said Adam.
Tann looked at him. "Need I point out that your species received an Embassy faster than any other species?"
"No, but the situation is entirely different now," Adam reminded. "This is the first Andromeda species that are open to negotiations, it'll set the precipice for future interactions with other species in this galaxy."
"I inclined to agree with Kingsman," said Addison. "We need to set up space for angara that wish to stay on the Nexus."
"We're still trying to get hydroponics operational, my team hasn't done much work to Commons areas," Kesh reminded.
"Fortunately Eos is proving to be quite the provider, we're getting resources and materials to speed up construction," said Tann. "We also need the cooperation with the angara if we wish to establish any outposts on their territorial."
Addison stared at him. "You're not honestly suggesting that we should try and colonise Havarl?"
"Of course not, but the other colony worlds is another story," said Tann. "Of course that is your department and it is up to the Pathfinder whether it is all right for us to establish an outpost."
"I do recommend that we should start formulating some joint military operations with their Resistance," Kandros suggested. "Showing that we are allies against the kett is the best way to prove to them that we are to be trusted."
"We also have to show they were not invaders," Adam added. "We can't make the same mistake as my people when we first started colonisation. We need to show that were not aggressors."
"Then I suggest we start getting preparations underway," said Tann looking at them all. "You're all dismissed."
