"The atmosphere is breathable for you. You will not need your helmets," Jaal said on their line, as Scott and his team waited before the cargo bay doors. Marcus and Vetra looked at Scott. He acknowledged it and asked SAM for confirmation.

"He is correct," SAM concurred, feeding Kallo and Suvi's findings from the Tempest sensors through their omni-tools. "The atmosphere is not poisonous to races present. Though there is a lower oxygen content in the air, it is enough to remain conscious. I will adjust the rate of your oxygen absorption as soon as you disembark."

"What about Marcus and Vetra?" Scott asked.

"I think I'm going to be fine," Marcus said, reading SAM's readouts from his omnitool. "It's just like setting down on high altitude places."

"Same here," Vetra said, looking at the same readouts. "It's like I'm back on Palaven."

Scott looked up at Gil on the railing above them and nodded. He nodded back and opened the cargo bay doors. They walked out of the Tempest and into the bright sunshine. Scott squinted at the bright light, and his eyes adjusted, he saw Jaal's people meet them on the walkway, armed and armored.

One of them in a dark colored armor stepped forward. "Tas gooj yobe jenvad," he asked. His friend joined him and ran a scan on them. "Tos global tam yehal?"

Jaal had, by this time joined them, coming from his shuttle parked beside the Tempest, and answered his compatriots in their own language. Then he turned to them. "Your ship will not be able to fit into the city. You will have to go in mine."

He was right; beyond were interlocking roads and pipes that would severely limit the Tempest' maneuverability. Besides, if they were to escape, The Tempest would have to be someplace open, not in a place with a lot of obstacles. No; it is better for it to stay here just outside the city limits just in case.

So they transferred to Jaal's shuttle, the other Angara looking over to them to see that they obeyed, before going into their own shuttles.

The inside of the shuttle was large, able to hold all of the Tempest crew. There were two rows of seats back to back. The wall at one hand held a locker and at the other end was a door to the cockpit. Scott wondered why Jaal had a shuttle so roomy when he was just by himself then forgot about that when some of their escorts went in with them, sitting beside them or else joining Jaal at the cockpit. When they're ready, Jaal steered the shuttle off the landing pad and through the city.

They passed on the side of some of the towers. Through the windows, Scott saw on the sides of the towers were wide balconies with Angara walking by with bags or eating in the open-air sections of restaurants, shaded by blue or green wavy roofs, their attention absorbed with their companions in front of them or else turning their heads to stare at their procession with idle curiosity. Through the glass side of the towers, he saw compartments with people moving in it, with tables and chairs and screens in front of their desks. They were working in offices apparently. He then guessed that the "bark" of the tree tower was actually sets of apartments curving around it.

Connecting the towers were train lines which passed through nodes on the buildings in intervals. The lines snake through the city, winding up or down. Inside the compartments, he could see Angara jostling for space, just as hassled and tired as anyone who lived in a city. Scott saw enough of cities like Illium and was pleasantly surprised to see that this city was free of the annoying and clogging presence of cars flying everywhere like a cloud of gnats, ruining the scenery. It seemed the Angara prefer public transportation, using shuttles only for rare cases like the present.

Curiously, he did not find any children about. Try as he might, all he can see were adults.

He craned his neck forward to see more. His attention was caught by something moving near the bottom, at the farthest sides of the towers, facing out. The shuttles weaved through the towers and moved them closer to the outermost ones, where he saw acres of netting standing upright outside the towers with vines on top, the hedges spaced evenly and growing shorter the farther it is from the city. Angara were tending the plants, suspended in midair with wires or holding on to the net behind, where the plants were attached. He came to realize they were gardening, and he was actually looking at a farm. A vertical farm.

Finally, they reached a landing pad at center of the city on a tower smaller than those surrounding it. Five pads stretched out from the center like petals of a flower. There were walkways connecting them to the center supported by arches beneath it. At the tip of the tower was a half open dome made of green glass with tiny shapes moving under it. As they went closer, he saw it was a gathering and by the faces turned to their procession, he realized the crowd was expecting them.

Some of the shuttles landed on each of the pads while the rest hovered above. Theirs landed on the pad directly facing the center. The door opened and they disembarked, their escorts in front and behind them. With motions of their escorts' guns, they were urged to walk towards the center of the tower before the eyes of the crowd.

More people came forth from the stairs winding up onto the top level to join the crowd and stare at them. Scott glanced at them, taking in their varying color, ranging from pale green to the darkest purple. There were some people sharing the same shade of Jaal, but their markings and speckles were different. Some sported tattoos on their faces. And some of them also had a different body type, slender, with a longer torso and a softer face. SAM informed him that they were female in their private channel.

They walked behind their escorts who seem to be lunging with every step on the uneven floor which looked like thick ropes layed out side by side like a rug. He looked downward and saw why. On the heel of their foot was an opposable toe and as they step, their whole foot wrapped around the curves.

They reached a dais where a group was waiting for them with one Angara towering over them all. They were stopped in front of it then Jaal turned to them. "Wait here while I speak with my people," Jaal instructed.

"Sure. We're not going anywhere," Scott answered cheerfully, feeling excitement build. He looked forward to negotiating with them. He saw only half of the city but he was impressed with it. They were still struggling and an alliance with them would be extremely beneficial.

Jaal walked up the dais and stopped in front of the largest one. He was simply dressed in a dark blue vest with white sleeves and a blue shawl, but from the way the crowd defers to him, he guessed him to be the leader. Someone who's going to be a problem, he added with a sinking feeling. His whole demeanor looked mean. The guy has a nasty old scar running on his blue skin starting from his forehead, down his left eye, onto his cheek and ending at his jaw. He was also scowling at them before he turned his eyes away to talk to Jaal.

They spoke together for a long time in their language.

Scott was smiling pleasantly, both to convince the angara around them that they were not a threat and also due to the expectation that they would be welcomed here. The smile faded when he saw leader began glowing a dangerous, bright shade of blue like those of a blue-ringed octopus the longer he and Jaal talked. It was not only him; the people who heard their conversation were glowing brighter as well and they heard crackling in the air.

"Uh, Scott?" Marcus said worriedly as he looked at his bushy hair standing up, seeking a charge. He also felt his hair at the back of his neck standing up and they looked at each other in alarm.

"Guys, please say goodbye to Sid for me," Vetra said sadly.

They looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean Vetra?" Scott asked.

"If the lightning's going to hit, which do you think will it likely strike first: a tall, pointed person or two short and round ones?" she asked them, her sharp, pointy face looking down at them.

They then understood and was about to reassure her when they noticed her non-standard issue armor with the shiny collar and arm guards. They then looked at her in horror when they realized they were placed too close to her like a couple of meat sausages near a lightning rod.

"Tell me that's ceramic plating with a fake metal finish," Marcus said worriedly, nodding at her armor.

Vetra sighed. "I wish."

Marcus turned to Scott, eyes slightly wide. "Scott!" he hissed.

"I know. I'm thinking. Just give me some time," Scott said, furiously thinking up ways to calm the Angara down not only for her sake but for theirs.

"I detect rising levels of electrostatic energy in the Angara. Please be advised that it is close to being discharged onto their surroundings," SAM thought. "You mean us," Scott thought back, feeling cold sweat all over his body.

The leader made a sharp hiss and angrily shoved Jaal back with his arm, nearly throwing him on the onlookers and stomped his way to them until he was in front of Scott. "The vault is ours, human!" he roared in Scott's face. "Who are you to touch them without permission?"

"We didn't know it was yours," Scott stammered, bending back from the towering and glowering alien. Scott isn't exactly short at six feet but he only came to the middle of Angara's chest, which would be pressing down on him if he didn't lean back.

The slits in the alien's eyes narrowed and his face leaned closer to him. "Is that so?" he growled. "But does that mean you are free to use it?"

"Well, no-"

"But you still touched it?"

He hesitated. "Yes?"

The Angara stared hard at Scott for a long moment. "If you know it was not yours then why did you still touch it? Do you always meddle with something you don't understand?" he asked, exasperated.

Scott was about to say that yes, fiddling with unknown tech was what humans do, all the way back from Relay 314 which led to the First Contact War. But he had a feeling that answering truthfully will probably get them electrocuted.

He opened his mouth to give a diplomatic answer but the Angara flung his arms away and turned his back on them. "And now you have ruined it beyond hope! Not only have you have closed it off to us, it has patterned itself after your people!" he said, more for the benefit of the crowd than for them. At his words, the people murmured angrily while glaring at them. The Angara turned to face them and pointed an accusing finger at them. "The vaults are for the Angara people and you stole it!"

The crowd started to glow dangerously, flashes of lightning around them as they faced them, their lips pulled back showing their teeth.

"I'm sorry for touching them without your permission," he said, looking around at the angry faces, trying to placate them while not showing his fear. "We didn't know you existed until now. But it's not a complete loss," he said quickly as the big Angara made a sharp motion at his companions as if to order them to shoot them. "You can see that we can thrive on your environment so it means you can live in ours. You're welcome in Eos. We'd be good neighbors," he suggested hopefully.

"That is not enough. The knowledge within it is more important and you have withheld it forever from us."

Scott had to admit that that the withholding part was true. Ever since they activated it, the central chamber was sealed and refused all attempts to open it.

The Angara made a quick motion to the others and those started to raise their weapons, so Scott started to think quickly. He remembered SAM's findings that there were traces of Angaran DNA inside the vaults but the console at the central chamber remain unused. There were also marks on the outside doors which SAM identified as marks by claws mixed with those from the butt of the rifle and burns of mass accelerated rounds.

"Wait!" he yelled, making them stop from pointing their weapons at them. "You can't make the vault work, can you?" he asked the leader.

The Angara just stared at him, but it was not a hard stare. Wary, almost as if he feared that Scott knew the truth.

"So, if you can't use it, why do you say it was yours?"

He growled. "I am not here to give you a history lesson but since you're so troublesome in your ignorance, then I will explain," he said with annoyance. "The vault was built to teach us and part of its teaching was trying to open it. Each vault is different and gives different tests. We have one here right now. Everything you see here," he gestured to their surroundings, "was built with the knowledge of that vault. And we would have done the same with the one at Eos if not for your meddling," he finished with a sour tone.

Scott wet his lips, sensing there may be a chance they could walk out there alive. "Alright. So, let's go back to my first question. You can't make it work, but I can," he said, hoping he sound more confident and not fearful. "I was the one who activated the vaults." The crowd started to hiss but he went on, making his voice louder as he did so. "I was the one who opened it and I can help you get into the other vaults."

The big one stared at him then glanced at Jaal behind him. "His failure does not excuse your crime."

Jaal turned dark, the speckles of light on his skin disappearing like stars after a supernova. His fellow Angaran however, glowed brighter as they turned to him with angry faces.

"But we can make amends for it," Scott said, looking away from Jaal to focus on the angara before him. He sensed there was some information he was missing between Jaal and his people, but it will have to wait. "We can help you. We came in peace and we mean it. So, let's talk and we'll clear this misunderstanding."

"Your help is worthless," the Angara spat. "Just opening the vault is of no use to us, not without the Moshae."

Scott paused. "The Moshae? Who is the Moshae?"

"The Moshae Sjefa. Our foremost scholar. And she is lost to us." His tone went softer as he talked about the Moshae. "She was captured by the Kett, our enemy, along with many of our brothers and sisters and taken to their main base. It has been many months since anyone has last seen her."

Scott looked around them as the crowd seem to mourn the Moshae. Then an idea occurred to him. "We can take the Moshae back."

The Angara sneered at him. "How can you be sure of that? Do you think you are better than us that you dare take her back when many of our people failed?"

"We can try. You can't let her stay there, can you? And even if we failed, you'd lose nothing."

The Angara stared at him quizzically. "How do you mean?"

"You said we committed a crime, right? And you were just about to punish us," he said. The Angara glanced at his people, where some were still holding their weapons. "If we failed and died at the attempt, then it's as if you punished us. If we succeeded, you get the Moshae back. The friendship of our people will benefit both of us. You need allies against the Kett and we need your help to make a home here. You will greatly benefit without risking much." Then Scott clasped his hands together and adopted a more earnest tone. "Let me prove to you and your people my intentions and what I can do," he pleaded. "If you would allow me, I can help rescue the Moshae. If she knows the way into this vault then her knowledge is vital for not only my people's survival but yours. I'm not asking anymore from you. I only ask that you let me try."

The Angara stayed silent, considering it. But someone stepped forward before he could answer.

"I am Paraan Shie, governor of Aya," a female said from up the dais. She had a regal bearing despite only wearing a plain maroon suit with blue-green accents. Her skin glowed a beautiful lavender color turning to dark purple at her crown and a white tattoo made of two lines arched on top of her brows with an angle between it pointing up. " I speak for all angara and I say that we accept your bargain human."

She stepped down to their level, the crowd murmuring reverentially as she passed, until she reached the big Angara's side. "Evfra will assist you and do what he can to fulfill your quest," she said, nodding at the one beside her.

Efvra's jaw fell then he snapped it back up. "Governor, this is not a good idea," he pleaded at her, his voice losing its arrogant tone and became wheedling. "We do not know these people-"

"We have no other options," she answered. "Our forces have failed to take back the Moshae. If this human wants to try, let him try. It is of no loss to us."

"And if he succeeds?"

She turned away from him to face Scott, her eyes meeting his. He stared into them as if he was looking up at a night sky full of stars, beckoning with an unspoken challenge. "It is of no loss to us either. We need the Moshae and entry to the vaults. This one can give it to us. If what they need is a home and if we have access to the vaults, then we have enough worlds to spare."

She turned away and walked up the steps. Evfra saw her go, then whipped around to face Scott to glare at him with his icy blue eyes. "You have won, human. You are permitted to try to save the Moshae from the Kett," he said, almost spitting the words. He scowled even harder at them when they uttered a sigh of relief and immediately added, "But should you meet Death there, remember, that it was Evfra de Tershaav who sent you."