I made a mistake in a Little Things That Matter, but I have fixed that by adding extra content in Kadara Port.
When they returned to the Tempest they found that Gil and Kallo had got the ship up and running and they soon took off.
Scott then checked in with Drack to find out exactly how the negotiations were going between the krogan colony and the Nexus.
"Just talked to Kesh," said Drack. "Looks like some of the clan are back at the Nexus. Hired on as mercs instead of part of the Initiative, but still. Good call you made, letting her keep the drive core."
"New dawn for the krogan, huh?" Scott smiled.
"Never thought I'd see the day. Sovereign krogan as equal allies. My mother would have improved."
Scott then asked a bit more about his combat experience and he revealed that fire worked well against heavy armour. He then slightly mentioned that he himself had been set on fire once. Scott immediately asked for more details and Drack was more than willing to share, apparently 400 years ago that he and his outfit had been pinned down with a skirmish against the never merc group. Drack then did his usual thing, charging in head-on to breach their barricade and then let loose with his flamethrower and the immediately began running away screaming. It was only until after the battle that he realised that he had crashed through a shipment of turian brandy which had ignited and due to his fixed skin he didn't even notice.
Scott then decided that it was time to contact Avitus, he needed to inform him on what he found on Elaaden.
"Ryder," said Avitus as his hologram appeared. "I was just about a call you."
"Everything all right?" Scott asked.
"I've got numbers—coordinates—flashing in my head. I think it's an SOS… from Macen," he explained.
"It could be coming from your SAM implant," said Scott.
"He's sending me his location."
"We did find evidence that Natanus may be intact."
Avtius looked up. "What evidence?"
"A bunch of stasis pods were jettisoned from the ark. No survivors. Bart the log shows that it happened long after Natanus hit the Scourge."
"Someone still flying the damn thing."
Scott felt as if 'flying' was a bit too strong a word for this situation. "Or keeping it floated, at least."
"Here are the coordinates from my implant," said Avtius as he send the coordinates. "Meet me there. We'll find answers."
Before leaving the system, Scott decide to scan the system for any trackers left by Dr Kennedy and indeed found one in the system.
"Just detected a ZK Tracker," said Suvi as she launched a probe.
"Scans ready," said Scott. "We need Dr Kennedy's location."
"Understood. Believe me."
They managed to get the tracker and for once and explode. Unfortunately it had been tampered and they had received a radio signal which sounded angaran.
"—attached. We find the source, this tech will give us Initiative access. The breeder is also a symbolic target. No mercy."
"Roekaar targeting Dr Kennedy," said Scott horrified. "Suvi, do we have her?"
"Negative! We need another tracker."
"Damn it."
They also discover that hovering over Elaaden was the Architect which was now completely harmless.
They then set a course towards the coordinates that Avitus gave them and they found themselves at the Remav System. Scott had a feeling that it wasn't a coincidence that they were brought the same system which housed the former turian golden world and on a hunch he began scanning over the ruined planet.
That's when they found the Natanus and it looks in pretty bad shape, there were multiple hull breaches and there was no signs of any life support.
"That's… the turian ark," Scott stared. "It seemed better days."
"Incoming call," said SAM.
"Pathfinder. Think we're on the right track," said Avitus' voice.
"No kidding," said Scott. "Is it safe to board?"
"Only one way to find out. I'll meet you inside."
They soon made their way to the docking bay and landed very carefully. According to initial scans the Natanus was practically falling apart, there was no way they would be able to tow the ark back to the Nexus, but it was possible for recovery team to retrieve this stasis pods.
Scott found that Avitus was already waiting for them in the docking bay.
"Limited power. Life-support's busted. Surprise there's any gravity at all," said Avitus as they made their way down the corridors.
Scott looked at him. "This can't be easy to see."
"I'm not really a feelings type of guy, Ryder."
"Even so…"
"Let's just find Macen." He then frowned slightly as it would the window and saw H-047c in front of them. "H-047c. It was supposed to be the turian homeworld Heleus."
"Like Habitat 7," Scott nodded.
"Whoever was piloting the ark wanted to get here no matter the cost."
"They wanted to find home."
"It's not really a home if no one is left to live there,"Avitus pointed out. He then turned back down towards the corridor. "Come on. Speculation won't get us anywhere."
"We're lucky this part of the ark survived," said Scott.
"Looks can be deceiving, Pathfinder," said SAM. "The hull is barely holding together."
"Thanks, SAM. Always a ray of sunshine," said Scott sarcastically.
"I could provide an analysis via the scanner, Pathfinder," SAM offered.
Scott activated his scan and scanned the door and discovered that it still had power.
"Hey! This door still got power," he said.
"I wouldn't open that, Pathfinder—it leads to space," SAM advised. "Perhaps you could divert the power to a different door?"
Scott then made his way to the door that would lead them to the research room, but the power was out.
"Locked," Scott looking back at Avitus. "Needs power to open."
"Something's gotta still be online in this wreck," said Avitus.
Scott made his way to a terminal began diverting the power from that door to the door that would lead them to the research room. Scott made his way to the door and entered the room and found a console that still had some power.
"This one's still got juice," said Scott as he began to access it.
"Looks pretty busted," said Avitus looking over his shoulder. "Think your SAM can get us in?"
"Only one way to find out."
"I found the log from Dea Praeton, the ark's captain," SAM informed them. "The video is corrupt, but I can recover the audio."
"Play it," Avitus ordered.
"Something's tearing the Natanus apart—half the cryo-chamber is gone," said the voice of Dea Praeton. "Trying to get everyone awake to the escape pods. Spirits, there's no time. Find Macen!"
"Dea was abandoning ship," said Scott once the recording finished.
"She wouldn't leave unless the situation was dire," said Avitus. "Natanus didn't get hit on its own. We need to know what happened next."
"The rest the date on the console is corrupt," said SAM. "Perhaps we find another—or the ark's SAM node…"
"All right. Let's keep looking," said Scott.
They soon made their way out of the research room and Scott began to access the door that would lead them to the atrium, unfortunately there was no power.
Scott groaned. "This one also needs power."
"Maybe we can use the same trick as last time?" Avitus suggested. "Divert power from something else?"
Before doing that Scott wanted access the other door and found that it did have power, unfortunately the entrance was blocked.
"Well, we're not going that way," said Scott.
Scott made his way back into the research room and began diverting power from the blocked door to the door with no power. With the door now fully powered they could now enter the atrium and found the place was as much as a wreck as the rest of the ship.
Scott then noticed a working console nearby. "Avitus, over here!"
"There's still life in this one," said Avitus as they approached the console.
Scott immediately began to access it and managed to play a recording.
"SA… SAM. How are we doing—" said a voice.
"Macen," Avitus gasped. He then looked at Scott. "Bring it back!"
"The video's is corrupt on this one too," said Scott.
"What about audio?"
"Repairing now. One moment, please," said SAM.
Scott then looked at Avitus and can help but notice that he was anxious. "We're going to find him, Avitus."
"Macen. He's… more than Pathfinder to me," said Avitus.
Scott got that impression, but he was really hoping that he was prepared for the worse. That being said they really needed a Pathfinder in order to locate the remaining turian stasis pods that have been scattered throughout Heleus and they needed a new home now that Habitat 5 could only support life.
"Playing audio," said SAM.
"SAM. How far to Avi's pod?" Macen asked.
"300 metres," said the SAM of the turian ark.
"An easy stroll, then," Macen joked.
That's when they heard something in the background and it didn't sound particularly good.
"Dammit," Macen cursed. "Maybe not so easy."
"Where's the rest of it?" Avitus demanded.
"That's all I could recover," said SAM.
"Damn it!" Avitus cursed.
"He was looking for your pod," said Scott looking at him. "Do you remember, anything before waking up on Havarl?"
Avitus shook his head in frustration. "I told you. My first memory was clawing out of my stasis pod."
"Then we keep looking."
Scott was having doubts whether they would find Macen at all now, because from what they could hear he was injured. Plus Scott imagined that walking through the corridors of the ark was a bit hazardous considering that they had just hit the Scourge.
With that they decided to make their way to SAM Node, hoping that the Natanus SAM could provide them with more answers.
"That door leads to the SAM Node," Avitus informed them pointing at the door in question. "We've got to get in there."
"Surprise. It's locked," said Scott as he tried open the door.
Scott then re-disputed power from the door that led to the Pathfinder's quarters to the door of SAM Node and it immediately opened. Without hesitation the opened the door and rushed inside and approached the SAM hologram which was thankfully still online.
"SAM! Where's the Pathfinder? Where's Macen?" Avitus asked frantically.
"Avi. Avi. Avi. Commence. Stars," said SAM of the Natanus.
"'Avi,' isn't that what Macen called you?" Scott asked looking at Avitus.
"He's the only one who calls me that," said Avitus.
Clearly their relationship was more than just mentor and protégé, though Scott had an inkling even before they step through the door. It made Scott wonder how intimate the relationship truly was, but now was not the time.
"My counterpart is suffering from severe trauma," SAM informed them. "If I partition the damage, it may be able to speak with us."
"Be careful," Scott warned. "I don't want to lose this SAM because we rushed for answers."
It took a few moments, but SAM was able to stabilised his counterpart in the hologram appeared to have stable.
"Avitus Rix. Welcome home," said SAM.
"SAM, Macen sent coordinates to this location. I need to find him," Avitus explained.
"You are mistaken. I send the coordinates."
Scott didn't like with the way this conversation was turning. "What do you mean you send the coordinates?"
"The Pathfinder ordered me to help Avitus find a home for the turians. I located our destination, H-047c, then sought out Avitus.
"Why would Macen do that?" Avitus frowned.
"It was his last request."
Avitus turned to Scott. "This thing's still busted. It doesn't know what it's talking about."
Scott had a feeling that this SAM was working just perfectly and Avitus was just refusing to accept the truth. In true Scott had a feeling that this might have been the case the moment they step foot on the ark, but there was only one way to fully know.
"We should have access to Macen's logs. Maybe there's something in there," said Scott.
SAM men began playing the rest of Macen's logs for all them to hear.
"Avi," said Macen coughing ferociously. "Whatever we hit, a piece of its shredded my suit. Stings like hell, but spirits, it's beautiful. I need you to go on for both of us. Don't let that temper get the better of you. SAM. Commence transfer."
"Yes, Pathfinder," said SAM.
"Even the stars look brighter—"
That was the end of the log and suddenly everything started to make sense.
"He died before the transmission was complete," said Scott looking at Avitus. "That must be the source of SAM's trama."
"Why bring me here? What was the point?" said Avitus shaking his head.
"To complete the transfer. The turians need a Pathfinder," said SAM.
Avitus shook his head. "I can't."
"What do you mean you can't?" said Scott loudly.
"I never thought I'd get the job," Avitus admitted. "My whole career, I worked alone. I don't know how to lead people. I don't want to lead people."
"Avitus. I've seen you protect settlers. You found the turian ark," Scott pointed out. "You've already been playing the part of Pathfinder. Just without the title."
"Title that belongs to Macen."
"Which he wanted you to have. Rejecting it won't bring him back."
Avitus still looked uneasy. "What if I let him down?"
"You can only do that by walking away."
Avitus groaned in frustration. "Damn it. You're right."
"Shall I begin transfer?" SAM asked.
Scott shook his head. "It'll be safe on the Nexus. Suvi, call Tann. We need a shuttle to pick up the SAM node." He then looked directly at Avitus. "Tell him we found the turian Pathfinder."
With that they left the ark.
On the Nexus, Adam had just informed Kandors of the situation of the Natanus.
"I can't believe it, Macen is dead," said Kandros shaking his head.
"That makes three Pathfinder is now," Adam sighed. "We're going to need a set of arrangements for the SAM Node, I've already talked to Kesh on this matter. We're thinking of placing the node in one of the abandoned warehouses, until we can find something more suitable."
"And the ark?"
Adam shook his head. "It's barely holding together, large chunks of it is missing not to mention half of the stasis pods."
"Sounds as if the next step is trying to locate although stasis pods."
"And that will be Avitus' mission now as well as finding a home. Not only for them but for the quarians when they show up, it had been agreed that they would share the world until we could find another suitable plan for colonisation. Sadly all those plans are now out the window."
"We don't even know when they'll were live," Kandros pointed out. "I suppose we should be grateful that we have a Pathfinder at all."
"You should thank Scott for that, it had a little persuasion for him to take the job apparently," said Adam.
"I understand that when you are working with Commander Shepard you were hunting down his mentor," said Kandros looking at him.
Adam sighed. "Believe me I still have nightmares about it, I keep on thinking that so much death could have been avoided if the Council had listened to the Commander in the first place."
"I've heard the stories, but I wouldn't mind a first based account of the events."
"Maybe one drunk sometime," Adam chuckled. "Right now we need a make sure that Avitus has everything he needs to carry on his mission."
"More paperwork," Kandros groaned.
"That's the downside with these jobs, spend most of your time net high in paperwork," Adam joked.