"Ready to see what Tann gave us?" Sara asked without turning from the display in front of her. Images of the Nexus and Ark Hyperion shone brightly beneath her fingers, showing options to direct the tram she and Cora occupied around the two enormous structures. They were currently on their way towards the Nexus docks to take a look at the sole surviving Pathfinder ship. She felt a fluttering building in her stomach, like butterflies, but it was ridiculous to feel so nervous. Despite her best efforts the feeling only increased with each second they moved closer towards the docks. Closer to the moment she had to actually start making decisions that would have massive impacts on their life in Heleus. She tried not to think of the tens of thousands of people depending on her to not screw up…
"I hear it's something special," Cora replied with a soft smile. Sara glanced back at her, then finally turned fully to face her second in command. The floor panels vibrated softly with power through the thick soles of her boots as the tram smoothly glided along its tracks, carrying her from the Hyperion cryo bay, away from her comatose brother, towards the docks and the final piece of equipment that would make her a full-fledged Pathfinder; a ship. Her ship. She swallowed hard and clenched her hands into fists at her sides to hide the faint tremble that had started, watching as Cora swiped her omni-tool awake and the gauntlet filled the fast-moving tram with a faint orange glow.
"Pathfinder en route," Cora spoke into her omni-tool, and Sara wished people wouldn't call her that. She didn't deserve the title, not yet. Cora's self-assured demeanour usually served to force a calm over Sara, though currently it was doing nothing to soothe the bundle of nervous energy she had become. Sara had hoped her…slight breakdown in SAM node might prove cathartic. It had not. She was fast realizing her father had thrown her in at the deep end and it was making her skittish, forcing her to question herself. Was she really the best person for the job? Her father seemed to think so. Why else would he have transferred Pathfinder status to her? But was she a better choice than Cora? Unlikely, but Sara would at least try. Still, she couldn't help thinking her father had made a terrible mistake.
Her father… A hollow feeling settled in her chest, and she dropped her gaze to her feet to hide the look in her eyes.
"How's the ship?" Cora continued, thankfully oblivious.
"In final checks and looking great," a female voice responded, turian by the sounds of it.
"We won't be long." Cora tapped the gauntlet and it disappeared. "The way things are going, we'll be on our own out there," she said, looking up at Sara, who quickly arranged her features into a mask of stoicism.
She managed a bitter smile. "In other words, we're making this up as we go." She was glad to have Cora around, looking out for her. Cora never seemed rattled by anything, not even after learning Alec Ryder had passed on the mantle of Pathfinder to his daughter. All the training, all the time and effort, giving her all for a position that had been palmed off onto someone that had zero clue what they were doing. Sara hadn't seen the moment Cora had been told, but she suspected her friend had taken it in her stride, probably acknowledged it with a nod and moved onto the next topic at hand without so much as a blink.
Cora gave a snort of laughter. "We used to call that 'tactical improvisation'. But at least we'll be doing it in style."
Sara gave a wry smile. She had spent the time since meeting up in the cryo bay searching for any sign, the barest hint, that Cora harboured a simmering rage or slow burning hatred of her due to her father's decision but as yet had noticed nothing amiss. Sara wasn't sure if Cora was simply biding her time or if she truly didn't care about losing the job she had trained for to Alec's daughter, but for the moment Cora's presence was more than welcome. It was almost comforting. It did nothing to stop the squirming in her insides, but it still somehow made her feel stronger. It was confusing to say the least. The whole damn situation was a mess.
"Quit your scowling and put your game face on," Cora teased her. "We're nearly there."
Sara looked up at her and stuck out her tongue. "I'm not scowling, I'm brooding. There's a difference." Cora rolled her eyes good naturedly, rocking to one side as the tram halted. Sara took a quick step back to keep her balance, arranging her features into a carefully neutral expression to face the world outside their little bubble of privacy. The shuttle doors hissed open and they stepped out onto a platform bordered on two sides by green bushes and trees, an attempt to break up the endless white panels and glass and metal of the Nexus and its Arks. Heavy metal crates were stacked at the foot of a corrugated ramp that stretched up to a viewing area with a waist-high glass railing where a handful of people clustered, overlooking a large landing platform. The sterile air held a hint of fuel, sharp and acrid, the only difference to the rest of the Nexus which smelled almost clinical.
She could hear the rumble of engines approaching, and the small crowd waiting at the railing across from the tram stop turned their heads to look at a ship gracefully wheeling in the distance, heading towards them. Sara's blue eyes homed in on the flash of chrome and she blinked in surprise.
Cora smiled, eyes raised expectantly in the direction of the approaching ship. "They call her the Tempest," she announced grandly.
Sara felt nerves turn to excitement, her step halting as the sleek scouting ship came in to land and she stopped to stare in wonder, a slow grin spreading across her face as her eyes roved the gleaming hull of the ship, her ship. There was no doubt it was built for speed and manoeuvrability, gently curving with wings that spread out at the rear in an arrowhead. White, black and red paintwork shone beneath the lights of the docks as the landing ramp lowered and the ship delicately touched down on the platform below.
Sara jogged to catch up with Cora as the blonde reached the railing and leaned against it, looking down at the ship and the dock workers scurrying around below, lifting crates and carrying them towards the ship.
"Oh, that is a sweet ship," Sara commented, staring in wide-eyed wonder at the Tempest. She just couldn't stop looking, blue eyes greedily devouring every detail.
Cora looked sideways at her and grinned. "And it's yours."
"That's so awesome…" Sara whispered without taking her eyes from the Tempest, lost in her own world. She had a ship! She had never had her own ship before. And what a ship it was. She felt a flicker of pride as she heard the gathered crowd exclaiming about how impressive the ship looked and how well it clearly handled. Her lips quirked up on one side, a smug smirk.
Cora chuckled and nudged her shoulder playfully with the knuckles of one hand. "Come on, let's take a closer look."
"Let's pick it up a bit, people! We're fourteen months late!" Sara recognised the voice from Cora's comms. Her eyes found the turian woman as she hefted a crate and carried it up the ramp, disappearing briefly inside the Tempest. Sara craned her head back, staring up at the smooth expanse of hull plating above her, mouth open slightly.
"You're drooling," Cora said playfully.
"Shut up," Sara replied without looking at her.
"So, you're the one who's making everything happen."
Sara snapped her head back down and quickly closed her mouth as the turian strode back down the ramp, looking pleased to see the two human women before her. Purple stripes were tattooed from her mandibles to the middle of her forehead and her eyes were hidden behind a blue-tinted visor.
"Vetra. Vetra Nyx," she introduced herself as she approached. "Initiative wrangler, provisioner, gunner, and everything in between." She came to a halt at the bottom of the ramp and Sara had to tip her head back to look up at her. "Are we ready? The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"You're coming with us?" Sara blurted, suddenly realising she had no idea of who would be joining her on the Tempest crew. Her crew. That was a crazy thought… She shoved aside the flicker of anxiety it caused. Did they even have a crew? Would it just be Cora, Vetra and herself? And Liam, of course, wherever he had gotten to.
Vetra nodded once. "Yes, otherwise there's no way they're letting this ship of the station."
Sara cocked her head to one side, eyeing the turian suspiciously. "What's the rush?"
"Just don't want to waste any more time," Vetra said as though that explained everything, turning and making her way back up the ramp. Sara glanced at Cora, not believing that for a second, then hurried up after Vetra.
"Hold it! Hold it!" A male voice called across the dock. "You're not going anywhere!"
Vetra froze as Sara and Cora halted and looked back down the ramp at a rapidly approaching stuffy-looking human man clutching a datapad.
"Damn it!" Vetra hissed, turning again to face the man and expertly hiding her irritation behind a charming smile.
"Whatever happened, it wasn't me!" Sara said quickly and held up her arms as though the man had pulled a gun on her, earning a raised eyebrow from Cora. "I just got here."
"Director Addison wants to see a complete report of the Tempest's supplies, munitions, and crew," the man informed them, ignoring Sara's remark as he paused at the bottom of the ramp, looking up at them expectantly.
Cora crossed her arms over her chest, biting back an impatient sigh.
"Director Tann overruled Director Addison," Sara told him slowly, piecing it together even as he spoke. The two directors were playing off each other, struggling even now to exert dominance over each other. Typical bureaucratic crap. Worse was the fact they had allowed it to spill over into the mission.
"The ship's loaded out with equipment for outpost discovery- squarely under Director Addison's purview," he shot back, lifting his datapad so they could see it as though that was all the evidence he needed to keep them grounded. Sara pursed her lips. That was a very good point, but still.
Vetra brushed between Cora and Sara, eyes on the man and hips definitely swaying. "Seen you around. Ben, right?" She gestured passed him as he looked up at her in confusion. She lay a hand on his shoulder, turning him around to walk back along the landing platform, away from the ship. Ben allowed himself to be guided. Sara suspected he was more used to following orders to the letter, allowing himself to be pushed without question.
"What's she doing?" She whispered, leaning towards Cora while keeping her eyes on the turian and the young man as they spoke out of earshot. He was looking up at Vetra hopefully, while she appeared the picture of sympathy.
"Whatever she's doing it's working," Cora replied, nodding her head towards the datapad in Ben's hands as he heaved a sigh and began swiping a finger against the screen. He then looked up at Vetra with a wry smile and headed back the way he had come, shaking his head as he left the landing platform, as though he couldn't believe what he had done, and Vetra sauntered back over to the ship looking incredibly smug.
"You got him to okay it?" Sara asked as Vetra climbed the ramp.
"All things considered, it was an easy ask." The turian turned to face them as she walked backwards, raising her hands in a shrug. "And right now, you need people tearing down obstacles, not putting up more." She faced front again.
"Finally," Cora hissed at Sara as they followed Vetra, "someone who cares about doing stuff, and not just talking about it."
They found themselves in the cargo hold of the Tempest, a wide open area with an upper walkway that hugged the walls, showing the deck above. The air was cool and smelled clean, a definite improvement over the warm docks of the Nexus and the scent of metal and fuel. The crates that had been ferried from the landing platform up the ramp had been stowed away. The ship was flight ready.
"I'll show you around," Vetra said to Sara. Cora pressed a hand to Sara's shoulder, squeezing comfortingly and smiling at her encouragingly as she crossed the cargo bay, leaving her friend with the turian.
The Tempest wasn't a large ship, but it seemed almost empty. So far the only other crew members Sara had met had been the blue skinned asari doctor Lexi T'Perro, and the stocky human engineer Gil Brodie. She knew the ship was in use, it didn't have that sharp, slightly chemical 'fresh off the factory floor' smell to it any more and some of the floor panels were scuffed. There were more crew members lurking somewhere. There had to be. They hadn't come across anyone capable of flying the thing yet.
The idea that it was hers left her trailing after the tall turian woman in a slight daze, staring around herself and barely taking in any of the reams of information Vetra had apparently memorized. The idea that it should have been Dad's left her feeling sick, that Scott should have been there too, walking beside her behind their father, left her empty.
They climbed a short flight of stairs and a doorway opened up before them automatically. Vetra lead her through, out onto another open deck with a round desk in the middle, projecting a glowing blue model of the Nexus above the surface. Further rooms branched off from the central space, hidden behind closed doors and the walls shone with banks of computer consoles. "We call this the research room. There's space for upgrading equipment, gathering intel."
"Router engaged," SAM spoke through speakers hidden within the ceiling panels somewhere. Sara found her eyes drawn upwards at his voice, searching for the source. "Securing connection to Tempest."
Movement tore her gaze away from the sloping ceiling high above.
A young woman was making her way down a curved ramp from somewhere above them, fiery red hair brushing her jaw, turquoise eyes bright with excitement. "Welcome aboard, SAM," she said, English accented with Scottish. "And Ryder, of course!" She slowed as she passed Sara, throwing a bright, enthusiastic smile her way as she realized she must be in the presence of the human Pathfinder she had been hearing so much about. Sara found herself grinning back automatically, turning to track the other woman's path through the research room as Vetra lead her up the ramp.
Vetra followed Sara's gaze, noted the interest, and hid a sly smile as she introduced the next member of their crew, "all headed by the talented Suvi Anwar, our science officer." Sara turned her gaze back to the turian, as though only just remembering she was there. "Your quarters are below. Plenty of space up here to get everyone together." She gestured to the area around them. Sofas were arranged around a large circular desk with the Andromeda Intiative logo stamped into the centre of its surface. Windows curved around the room, filling the area with bright light and offering wide views of the docks outside. Vetra moved over to the glass barriers that marked the edge of the room, overlooking the deck below. Sara followed her, wrapping her fingers around the cool metal handrail and looking down. "It's all yours. She's light, stealthy, and the fastest ship in her class." Judging by Vetra's tone, the turian loved the ship as much as Sara already did.
Sara nodded her head faintly, trying to take it all in. She spotted Suvi leaving the research room, heading towards the bridge, and wondered vaguely where Cora had disappeared off to. "It's really going to be something, isn't it?" She murmured. Tempest was an amazing ship, manned by a crew who were the best in their respective fields. She was finally beginning to believe that perhaps she could do this, lead them in finding a home in Andromeda. She didn't have to do it alone. Hell, Cora would probably drag them to victory through sheer determination.
"I haven't even shown you the best part yet," Vetra replied with a grin. Sara looked sideways at her. "Everyone's on board. When you're ready to fly, head over to the bridge. Our pilot should have everything good to go." She pointed one claw towards the walkway Sara had seen Suvi moving along, then turned to go. Sara heard her footsteps retreating down the ramp.
The Tempest. It should have been her father's ship. Sara felt a dull ache in her chest, tainting the excitement that had slowly replaced her nervousness and uncertainty. This moment shouldn't have been hers. But it was. Weird and horrifying as that was, as alone in a strange new galaxy as Sara felt, she just had to deal with that. Moping and worrying wouldn't change the facts. She let out a soft sigh, tapping her fingers against the railing, then pushed off and turned, crossing the vidcon to jog down the ramp and head for the bridge.
She slowed to a walk as she neared the door. The heavy panels hissed as they slid open automatically to admit her and she stepped onto the bridge, pace slowing further until she stood still in the centre of the room, mouth dropping open slightly. The window wrapped the bridge, huge, higher than she stood. She could see the Nexus outside, the docks marching away into the distance. There were two large consoles beneath the windows, covered in elaborate controls and screens illuminated by orange lights. A salarian sat at the one to her right, but she ignored him as she stared around herself. There was a platform in the centre between the pilots' controls, the area she was meant to stand at, she supposed, as she controlled her ship, gave orders. She felt emotion well in her chest, feeling overwhelmed. It was really happening, then. She was the human Pathfinder, currently the only Pathfinder known to the Nexus. Sara Ryder, daughter to a legend.
"Departure trajectory locked, Nexus control."
Sara jumped as the salarian spoke, his long fingers flying over the buttons in front of him with practiced speed. He twisted in his seat to look at Sara, who merely blinked back at him. "Ah! Time for introductions!" He rose to his feet and strode briskly towards her. "You must be Ryder. Kallo Jath. A pleasure to be here- and to meet you, of course." He seized her hand and shook it enthusiastically. Sara opened her mouth to greet him, but he forged on, "I'll be piloting the Tempest at your word. Quite the ship! But it'll take a Pathfinder's guidance to see us through Heleus."
Sara smiled wryly, and waited a beat to make sure he would actually allow her to get a word in. "Yes…I'm still kinda figuring out the whole 'Pathfinder' thing," she admitted, and realized a second after saying it that that was probably not something her crew wanted to hear from their leader. "But I'll do my best to keep us out of danger," she added quickly, though Kallo seemed unperturbed, nodding along to her words with a pleasant smile on his face. He seemed so unlike Tann. Much more approachable.
"That's reassuring. Wouldn't want to lose my finest work to that angry cloud," Kallo replied, glancing towards his work station.
"Your work?" Sara repeated curiously.
"Yes," he smiled proudly, drew himself up higher and even puffed out his chest a little, "I was test pilot for the Tempest's earliest prototypes. I admit, I'm itching to see how she performs out here," Kallo motioned for Sara to follow him as he crossed the bridge towards the centre platform between the consoles. As they approached, a loop of thick metal rose up from the floor, halting at waist height. Computer icons and buttons came to life along its surface, a dazzling display of the Tempests systems. Sara looked blankly down at it all, a sense of panic welling in her chest, followed by a flash of annoyance. She was supposed to know what to do. She would have better luck decoding ancient asari texts.
Kallo looked expectantly at her.
"Uh," she cleared her throat awkwardly, feeling her cheeks flame, "so, how do I…?" She glanced up at him, gesturing to the myriad controls.
She had expected to see surprise that the Pathfinder had no idea what she was doing, but the salarian simply turned to the controls and reached out for them. "The console syncs with your implant," he explained patiently. "Just swipe, touch a destination here," he indicated a panel with one finger, "and the nav system calculates everything. Very efficient." He flashed a quick smile at her.
"It was optimized for a Pathfinder," Cora spoke from behind her. Sara turned to find most of the crew had assembled behind Kallo and herself. She hadn't heard them enter.
Suvi had taken up position at the console on the other side of the room and was busily typing commands in. Cora, Liam and Vetra stood directly behind Sara at the ready.
"Everything's secure, if you're ready," Vetra told her.
"Is anyone ready for something this big?" Liam asked with a shrug, dark eyes playful as they found Sara's.
Sara raised an eyebrow. They didn't have a choice. It was now or never. "I guess we have to be."
"All right," Kallo said, satisfied. He left Sara's side and dodged around the gathered crew to return to his seat. Cora swiped her omni-tool on and glanced over the display.
"Command access is transferring successfully," she announced, then clasped her hands behind her back, standing to attention.
"Um, science and monitoring stations look fine. Lexi is reporting in," Suvi said, looking up at Sara from her chair. Sara caught her eye and offered a faint smile of encouragement, sensing Suvi wasn't as used to giving status updates as the others were.
"Helm is green," Kallo added. "Gil reports the drive core is online."
Sara realized then they were all reporting to her. The butterflies in her stomach had turned into bats.
"This is it, Ryder," Cora said. "The Tempest is yours. Unless you've got something to say, for the log?" She added pointedly.
Speeches. No one had told her she would have to make speeches. She felt a bolt of panic. Public speaking was not her forte, especially not on the fly. "We've got this," she blurted, and could almost hear Cora cringe. She scrambled for more to say. "Things seem bad, but we've already beaten the odds," she said. That sounded good. "And we'll beat them again." She shook her head and turned away from the Pathfinder's controls to face her crew, meeting the gaze of each person as she had seen her father do while delivering his speech before the Pathfinder team departed for Habitat 7. That already felt like so long ago… "You know it, I know it, so let's show them what we've got."
Cora flashed an encouraging smile, nodding once and giving her a discreet wink. Sara grinned at the silent praise and faced the controls once more, locking in their destination with a swipe of one finger.
"Nexus control, this is the Tempest- ident two-five, two-seven, prepping to depart," Kallo said. Sara could feel power thrumming through her ship as they began to rise smoothly off the platform. Excitement swelled inside her chest as the deck rumbled faintly beneath her feet. The landing struts and ramp retracted as the Tempest slowly angled away from the docks and pulled away, heading out into open space.
"Departure vector verified, Tempest," the Nexus responded."Godspeed, Pathfinder."
Sara grit her teeth in an effort to contain the excited grin she felt tugging at her lips, trying to maintain an aura of indifference, to look calm and in control. This moment should have been her Father's, she should have had Scott at her side, so much should have been different. She would make them proud. She thumb-hooked her belt, watching the bright lights of the Nexus give way to black emptiness, dusted white with stars and the ever-present angry red and purple tendrils of the Scourge. The engine's pitch increased and then, with a faint jerk, Kallo jumped them to FTL, and all she could see was rippling light spiralling around them.
"To Eos, then," Sara said. "What would have been our Habitat 1." She heard Cora, Liam and Vetra leave the bridge, the door whispering closed behind them.
"Two failed outposts put an end to that idea," Suvi replied grimly, swiping at the display in front of herself.
"Maybe we can turn things around," Sara said hopefully, and turned to leave the bridge.
Suvi hopped out of her chair. "Ah, Pathfinder?" Sara paused, halfway to the door, and looked at the redhead curiously as she hurriedly closed the gap between them. "It's so good to finally meet you." Suvi smiled at her, head tipped back slightly to look up at her as Sara was a few inches taller.
"We've already met, in the research room," Sara gestured over one shoulder vaguely in the direction of the research room. "Remember?"
"Not properly," Suvi said, reaching out and taking Sara's hand, shaking it. Her hand was warm through the soft fabric of her gloves, her grip firm. "I'm Doctor Suvi Anwar, assigned to act as liaison between your crew and the Nexus science team."
"What do you mean 'liaison'?" Sara asked, placing her hands on her hips and giving Suvi a playfully suspicious look. "Are you going to spy on me?"
Suvi looked horrified. "Of course not! I'm not interested in politics," she said hurriedly, worried she had insulted the Pathfinder, but Sara just grinned. Suvi blushed and glanced down. A tease and attractive, no one had warned her about that. Then again, they had all been expecting Alec Ryder instead.
"Well, pleased to meet you, Suvi," Sara told her, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm Sara Ryder." She flashed a mischievous grin, playing along with the 'proper' meeting.
"Of course," Suvi gave a soft laugh. "I can't wait to get to work," she announced suddenly and Sara cocked her head curiously. "There hasn't been much to do so far, unfortunately. I've studied all the planetary scans, I've even had some hands-on experience with Heleus soil samples." Sara raised her eyebrows at the eagerness of her science officer, which Suvi mistook as being impressed. "If you want I'll send you my analysis on the native bacteria and microfauna. Sixty pages," she added almost proudly.
Sara hadn't really been listening, rather she had been enjoying the Scottish lilt in Suvi's voice. However, that last part caught her attention and she blinked. Suvi was clearly waiting for her response. "That's…A lot of pages," she said eventually. "About dirt." She hoped Suvi wouldn't press the matter, she really didn't want to read a sixty-page report on dirt…
"Oh, you don't have to be kind," Suvi waved off the remark and smiled at her and Sara was lost once again. Kind…? "I know it's barely more than a summary." Sara's eyebrow twitched. Sixty pages was a summary…? "Anyway, I've waited months to get out there to see Heleus," Sara coughed to cover up her sigh of relief that Suvi had let the offer to share her report drop. "It's why I joined the Initiative. The Milky Way was just a corner of a vast universe. A corner of a tiny corner. We're the ones who got to step out of that corner. It's incredible!" She gushed, sounding truly awestruck while gesturing enthusiastically.
Sara found it infectious and nodded in agreement. She wondered vaguely if Suvi always spoke so much, or if it was just the excitement at finally being able to get away from the Nexus and actually do what they had come all this way to do. "It's definitely been eventful," Sara remarked, thoughts of her first foray into the experiences Andromeda had to offer dimming her smile somewhat. "Not quite what I expected, but hopefully things improve. Anyway, will you be joining us on missions?" She asked. She suspected the answer was no, Suvi really didn't give the impression of someone used to action, but didn't want to assume.
"Oh!" Suvi gave an embarrassed laugh. "That's funny…Me, out there, with the guns and the danger and everything…" She twisted her hands around each other, the idea clearly making her nervous.
Sara gave a cocky grin. "I'm good with guns and danger. I could teach you. And make sure you're okay out there." She jerked her head towards the windows, indicating the outside world.
"Really?" Suvi tried to tamp down the hope in her voice. Spend time with Sara? Yes please, where did she sign up for that? "I couldn't imagine a better teacher!" She blurted gleefully. Why? Why say that?! You've only just met, you dork. Sara looked bemused by the overly eager reply, raising one eyebrow as she smiled. Suvi glanced at the faint pink scar that marked the right side of her face, looked back to distractingly blue eyes. "Um, I should go," she could already feel herself blushing bright red and hoped Sara didn't notice. "I have…data from the Nexus science team to look through."
Sara nodded, still grinning. "Sure, okay. Talk later," she said, lifting a hand in farewell to Kallo as he glanced over curiously, turning and heading out of the bridge as Suvi scurried back to her work station, feeling as though her cheeks matched her fiery hair. She dropped into her chair and blew out a low breath through her mouth. That hadn't quite gone to plan. She had hoped to give the impression of calm intellectual, suspected the result had leaned more towards babbling nerd.
Kallo looked over at her.
"Don't say anything," Suvi warned him without even looking up from her work.
Kallo merely grunted and shook his head, marvelling at the weirdness of humans.
A/N: Yep, so if you hadn't noticed, anything Andromeda related that I write will never be anything but Suvi/Sara :P