After the celebration, the Tempest was fully repaired and the team left Aya to report at the Nexus. As Kallo and Suvi ran checks for lift-off, Scott stopped by Jaal in the right cargo room to ask him if the Kett had brought in reinforcements outside the Shroud.

"Not that we know of," the Angara replied, cloth in hand as he cleaned the parts of his rifle on his desk. "Their ships, powerful as they are, had not been able to pass through it and no new Kett fleet has joined the war." He stopped wiping and looked curiously at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," Scott answered as nonchalantly as he could. "Just worried that there were more destroyers out there."

"As far as we have found, they only have that one at Prachonyi and the Archon's flagship," Jaal assured him. Scott nodded and thanked him though he didn't think two destroyers with those powers were reassuring.

At last, all checks were completed and the Tempest flew away from Aya with the Angara waving their arms after them.

They were escorted through the Shroud and released. The Tempest immediately flew straight to the Nexus. Once they docked, Captain Dunn immediately told them to report in the conference room. Scott, Cora, and Marcus disembarked and passed swiftly through the lobby on the way to the tram station. They arrived at the conference room with the Nexus Management and the science team already seated there The Podromos administration was also present through the holographic projections of Bradley and Abrams. Seated beside them was a grey-skinned Salarian with pink-colored skin around his eyes. They later learned it was Jarun Tann, the one who was supposed to be the director of the Initiative until Sloan fridged him and thus his career. Scott wasn't surprised Tann was seated as far away from Sloane as possible.

"So, what happened?" Captain Dunn asked them immediately, almost demanding, after calling the meeting to order.

Scott told them about the bet in Aya, going to Voeld and assaulting the Kett base. He then finished it by informing them that by winning the bet, they were now allowed to establish negotiations with them.

"That was an extremely reckless idea but I'm glad you've managed to do it. Now, let's go over the results of your mission," Captain Dunn instructed with a wave of her hand. "By saving the Moshae Sjefa, you are now sure that they will not be hostile against us?"

"Yes. Apparently, the vaults were built for them. By saving the Moshae, they agreed to let us activate the vaults and change the worlds for our own needs. In return, they asked that the vault are theirs to study and we are only allowed to activate it. That was their offer," Scott explained.

She turned to Addison. "Do we have a diplomat ready?"

Addison shook her head. "Our primary ambassador died during the riots. There is his assistant, Ambassador Rialla, but she is still in cryo."

"Have her awakened then. We'll need her to negotiate with them." Addison nodded so the captain turned back to Scott. "But are you sure we can trust them?"

"I think so. They're mostly…transparent." Literally and figuratively. He and SAM had collected enough observations regarding the changing of the Angara's skin to be able to tell their emotional state about 90% of the time. The Angara show their thoughts much more clearly than they do and he idly wondered what benefit could there be for a race that physically cannot lie?

"What else?"

Scott tapped at his omnitool and showed them images from the Kett base. He also forwarded Dr. Lexi's preliminary analysis of a Kett corpse. The captain told him to share the study with the science team and instructed Addison to bring in a xenosociologist, who later entered the room. She was an Asari with dark blue skin and freckles like frost on the base of her crest. She was plain with a thin face, which was unusual with her race, except for dark eyes ringed with thick lashes. She took her seat and the Nexus science team poured over the data along with her.

"By assimilating DNA of organic species they encounter, they ensure adaptation to any environment they happen to be in," Professor Henrik remarked, with a hint of awe as he read the report. "However, the state of their genes also makes traditional reproduction impossible." He paused as he came to the end of the report then frowned. "Yet, it is possible, that by their very nature, they have no other means of reproduction except assimilation."

"Don't try to pity them now, Professor," Sloane drawled as she leaned back into her seat. "You have just as good as said they were parasites. All the more reason we should eliminate them."

Professor Radijn eyes narrowed at her. "Just because they act differently from us does not warrant their slaughter."

"Act differently?" Sloane asked, indignant. She now sat straight in her chair as she spoke to the professor. "Have you seen what they do? They capture people and they transform them against their will. It's evil, plain as day. And now you want us to try to reason with them?"

"They may not have the same understanding of evil as us. To them, this may be natural."

Sloane stared at her, unable to speak from extreme anger and bafflement, but before her anger won out, Captain Dunn cut in. "Whether what they're doing is evil or not, it is still a fact that they are dangerous to all sentient beings in this cluster," she decided, stopping the debate firmly. She turned to Professor Radijn. "Do you think there is a chance of peaceful coexistence with them?"

The professor leaned back and crossed her arms. "It's hard to say. There's a lot we don't know about the Kett. Without contact with their leader, we can't establish dialogue where we can convince them of other ways to coexist."

"Convince them of other ways?" Sloane sputtered. "Are you suggesting we should go talk to them?"

"I'm only suggesting we should not act rashly, with incomplete information," the professor replied evenly, struggling to remain calm. "And stop advocating genocide as if it's the only course of action left."

"Yes. Let's not go kill them for trying to kill us and go talk to them. Nevermind that they're trying to KILL US ALL," Sloane jeered. "Your idealism is going to kill us all, Professor."

"Enough!" Captain Dunn thundered. "It is dangerous for now to try talking with them." Sloane started to smirk so she spoke again to cut it short. "It is also not feasible for us to fight them directly. Podromos is barely running. So for now, we'll collect information from them discreetly while we pursue an alliance with the Angara. About them, we need your expertise, Professor," she said, directing it to the Asari.

She nodded. "Of course, Captain."

"You can request to have a team with you. Also, you'll be joined by an ambassador. She'd need to be briefed, so be ready in a week." To Sloane, she said, "In light with the revelations from the Kett, we'll need to upgrade our defenses in case they will retaliate. If they can adapt to any environment, then I want to know how we can counter that. Go over and see what you can find. I expect a report soon." Captain Dunn then turned to Scott. "Then, Pathfinder, inform the Angara that we're honored for their offer and we'd be sending our representatives to Aya soon."

Scott nodded. "There's also something you have to know about the Kett." He tapped at him omnitool and the image of a Kett appeared again but now with an Angara beside it. "The Kett was made from the Angara."

Captain Dunn's brow rose as they looked at the comparison between the two. "I thought the Angara said the Kett were another race from outside the cluster? Were they lying? Or is this just to save face?"

He thought of Jaal and his uncontrollable outbursts when he learned where the Kett came from and slowly shook his head. "I don't think so. They're likely telling the truth."

"I agree with the pathfinder," Professor Henrik said and brought up the Kett reports. "DNA analysis of the Kett shows splicing from many genetic sources. It is possible that the Kett truly is foreign from the Angara and only use them as a host."

"Like a virus mutating," Sloane muttered. "They're ugly enough for it."

Scott continued his report. "Which leads me to my second discovery. I have good news and bad news."

Sloane narrowed her eyes. "What kind of good news is there with that around?" she asked, pointing at the image of the malformed Kett.

"They can't pass through the Shroud, unlike the Angara. This means they can't get reinforcements from wherever they come from. And if you know their level of technology, you wouldn't wish to."

"And the bad news?" Captain Dunn asked, her expression apprehensive.

"The same thing. They can't pass through the Shroud. Which means they're stuck here, same as us. But," he tapped at his omnitool and a video of the Angaran fleet escorting them into and out the Shroud around Aya played, "the Angara can leave if they like which leave us-"

"-to battle it out with the Kett or turn into them," Captain Dunn finished. She closed her eyes, then leaned on the table with her arms, as if trying to push away the bad news with her hands. Her head bowed and sighed deeply. Then she raised her head. "This keeps getting worse. As soon as we solve one problem, another one pops out," she said irritably. "We have allies we can't trust but can't afford not to have." She turned to Professor Radijin. "Professor, it is imperative that you and Ambassador Rialla secure the Angara's cooperation. You must encourage them to stay and fight. This is a life and death situation and any issues about this will have to wait."

Professor Radijin looked hesitant but after a while, she nodded.

"Anything else?" she asked Scott.

"You need to see the battle at the Kett base. It's about the Kett capabilities," he answered, putting up a recording of the battle over Prachonyi. When the destroyer appeared, the Nexus science team leaned forward.

"So that was the source of the gamma-ray explosion we detected," Dr. Aridana said over the sounds of the Tempest crew yelling in panic.

"I was hoping you could explain to us what it was. We didn't have the time to find out back then," Scott answered, as the recording showed him asking desperately from his crew for a miracle. He tapped at the console and the recording paused.

Dr. Aridana clasped her hands and set it on the table."A few days ago, we detected that explosion on the same system you were fighting in. But that wasn't the strangest thing that happened that day. If you were right and it was caused by the arrival of a Kett destroyer, then what we suspected regarding its origin was right." Dr. Aridana looked sorry at Scott. "That wasn't an attack; that was a side-effect."

Scott gaped at her. He looked at the screen, which showed flashes of lights that meant ships exploding then back to her. "What?"

"We detected gravitational warping coming from the Remav system going to Vaotessa, which is the system where you were. Now that you've confirmed that it was a traveling ship that made it, our suspicion of its cause is more definite." She paused and her voice became less confident. "There is a theoretical mode of travel that compresses space in front of a ship and then expands behind to propel it. The ship travels by riding the wave produced. However, it was extremely inefficient and required so much power compared to our FTL technology, that it wasn't pursued. Also, it was inherently destructive to the surrounding space as you will see later. But that does not mean other races won't develop it." Dr. Aridana tapped on her console and replayed the scene where they were hit with the burst then paused the vid to explain."As the ship travels, it collects particulate matter, which is then turned into a hyper-energetic radiation slurry that is released upon the arrival of the ship. In essence, a gamma-ray explosion that atomizes most things, depending on field intensity and travel time. That was what hit you."

"So it wasn't even a weapon," Scott said softly. To be destroyed so easily without the use of a gun. "The Angaran fleet also said they can use gravitational waves to attack."

Everyone jerked up in their seats. "That's impossible," Captain Dunn breathed.

"It isn't impossible. If we are right in guessing the type of technology they were using, then they can do it by using the same principles." Dr. Aridana said and went still when she caught the hopeless expressions around the room.

"We appreciate all the reports you can give us," the captain said without much joy. She put her hand over her temple and rubbed it, then glanced at Prof Radijn. "It is extremely critical that you and the ambassador get the support of the Angara or their secret of passing through the Shroud. Prof Radijn appeared to hesitate, but she glanced at the vid then nodded.

Captai Dunn turned to the Podromos team. "I hope there's some good news from your end."

"Good for the most part," Bradley answered in his warm dulcet tones. His smile was warm despite the flickering light. "No major incidents. The Kett colony has been a silent neighbor so far. As long as we keep out of each other's way, we're good. Though I don't know how long we can keep that up. This is one thing I want to talk about with all of you."

Captain Dunn nodded grimly and turned to Sloane.

"We can't get rid of them with shuttles alone," Sloane answered Bradley. "And we don't have enough force if they retaliate. I can only assure you I have a team with an asteroid nearby to nuke the bastards if they try to bite you."

"That's a serious criminal offense," Bradley gravely replied, referring to asteroid dropping on garden worlds.

"Yes, well, we aren't in Council space anymore," Sloane said. "And we're all alone out here. Once we're gone, that's it."

"Couldn't we ask the Angara for help?" Scott suggested. "We do have a mutual enemy."

Captain Dunn cocked her head at him. "Could you? How much credit did we earn saving this Moshae?"

"Well, the Moshae cost two fleet so a lot, I guess?"

Captain Dunn thought this through and turned to Addison. "Tell Ambassador Rialla when she wakes up if she can manage to include the liberation of Eos on the accords." Addison nodded so she turned to Bradley. "Anything else to report?"

Bradley leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin which was rough with stubble and white hair growing among the black. "Our silent neighbors isn't just our only concern. I'd rather have Hainly to explain," he said, nodding at the Podromos' administrator beside him.

Hainly cleared her throat and laid her forearms enthusiastically at the table. "We haven't been on schedule because the planet had finally rained. Unfortunately, it's been raining for months now. We had to move to higher ground as the canyon got flooded. But before we relocated, let me show you something."

She tapped at her omnitool and the projection changed into some kind of plant. "A lot has happened. We had our first rain a week after the Pathfinder left. Then another, but filled with minerals so we had to scramble to protect the camp or the acid will eat it. Then another one a week later but this time with additional things. The storm did not just bring water, it also brought out bacteria with the water," she finished, looking at them expectantly.

The scientists leaned forward and the non-scientists looked at each other. "Should we be worried about that?" Captain Dunn asked.

Hainly stared at them. "Sorry. I forgot I wasn't talking to a scientist," she murmured. "Do you know when life first started on Earth?"

"For the sake of the non-scientists, do tell," Captain Dunn said, catching Dr. Henrik's mouth moving.

"Life started about 3.5 billion years ago. It's just simple bacteria then, but it was the precursor for complex life which arose after billions of years of evolution."

"It's much earlier on Thessia and Sur'Kesh," Prof. Henrik remarked.

Hainly nodded at him. "Yes. Regardless, life appeared unexpectedly. And now we're seeing the same thing here. The vault was pumping out bacteria that can live on Eos. It's different from bacteria from Earth and most of it died after a while. But the ones that survived…they may become the precursors of life here in Eos."

"And this is important because…?" Captain Dunn asked. She was of a practical turn of mind and this talk about bacteria didn't interest her very much.

"Think about it. A vault, making bacteria that takes billions of years to make naturally. It makes you think what exactly is the nature of that vault."

"The Angara said they came from the vault so bacteria wouldn't be hard for the vaults to make," Scott said.

Everyone turned around at him. "What?" Captain Dunn asked him while Professor Radijin sat straighter and leaned towards him.

"They said they were made by the vaults and that they seem to have a religion based on the belief that the vaults have a Maker," Scott explained. "They explained that was how the Kett tricked them at first by showing off their superior technology and pretending to be their Maker. My contact says they have a copy of the vault they came from at Aya."

Professor Radijin sank gratefully back to her chair. "An intelligent species made by another one? This is interesting. Very interesting," she mused. "I shall be looking forward to our mission in Aya."

"The Nexus administration is happy to oblige," Captain Dunn said drily, with an amused glance at the Nexus team who were buzzing excitedly in their seats. "Abrams, please continue."

"I am now sure that bacteria are not the only thing the vault is capable of making," Hainly remarked. "As weeks passed, it became apparent to us that it's making organisms that are getting complex at every output. Here, let me show you."

She tapped at her omnitool and a leaf turned. On the underside, they saw a shiny, silvery-blue patch on it. They stared at it and Captain Dunn shook her head. "I'm sorry, Hainly, but I just don't understand what it is we're supposed to be looking at."

"This is a lichen. It's a step up from bacteria. It's not all from the Milky Way either but one of the things the vault produced. Pretty soon, we predict that more complex life forms will appear. The reason I'm showing it now is to point out the fact that the vault produced a fungus that has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria from our galaxy. This isn't the only example. We've also conducted tests on the soil from this plant and for those who are still thriving and compare it to those who don't. We've found Eos bacteria living in their roots. We've taken samples and inoculated them to others. Our test farms thrived."

"Thus, establishing an ecosystem for more complex species to thrive on," Professor Henrik finished, the projection reflecting off his wide eyes.

Hainly nodded. "The batches of bacteria had inoculated the soil for our plants to thrive. It would make establishing settlements easier as food production wouldn't be energy-intensive like how we do it currently. It'd be just as easy as farming in Earth without advanced technology. Of course, it's not all good news. If we follow our predictions, we may be going to encounter pathogens. We have to accept the possibility of disease and prepare accordingly."

"So basically, we show these creatures who's the boss," Sloane replied, her arms crossed and seated deep in her seat.

"Something like that. The vault is integrating us into the planet as if we've always been here. As if we're finally home."

Everyone stared at the projection, which seemed to be the light out of the very dark tunnel they've been trying to escape from. The fact that finally, something was welcoming them was so gratifying, it made their heart swell and their throat catch so that they could not speak. Then Captain Dunn cleared her throat. "I hate to break this magical moment, but we've still got things to talk about," she said, still the voice of prudence.

Hainly blinked a few times. "Yes. As I said, it's been raining for a while but we can endure being wet if this is what we're getting in return. We're hitting our mining quota but not food production, unfortunately. You'll have to bear with us a little longer."

"So we're back to nutri-paste," Sloane remarked. "People's gonna riot over the blandness of the food."

"Then I trust you'll reassure them that this is temporary," Captain Dunn said to her mildly. She looked around the table. "Anyone else has something to report?"

Dr. Aridana raised a hand. "We have some findings of the vault and an anomaly at Remav. To start, something big has happened at Remav."

"How so?"

showed the map of the cluster. "We detected shifts in the gravitational field in the cluster and small but significant shifts in the position of the stars. Upon investigation, we discovered it was due to a great loss of mass in the Remav system. A planet to be exact." The projection displayed a system with a planet missing between the second planet and fourth.

"The Angara said they were conducting an operation there to lure the destroyer away from Prachonyi," Scott said. "Maybe the Kett were the ones who destroyed the planet?"

Dr. Aridana pursed her lips. "Probably. But the gravitational distortion was more intense than the warping we detected. The Kett destroyer's technology may be powerful, but not powerful enough to destroy a planet."

The room fell silent as they puzzled over this. "Everything's going worse and weirder," Sloane muttered.

"Thank you Doctor, for that interesting report," Captain Dunn said to the astrophysicist, "but I don't think it's relevant to our issues at the moment. Is there anything else we need to know?"

"yes. We have conducted studies regarding the vault at Eos," Dr. Aridana said, nodding at her colleague.

Chief Lucan tapped a claw at his omni-tool and the projection changed to show something that looked like a stout turnip with the stems folded at the top. On closer inspection, Scott recognized the stems as the monoliths, which poked above ground while the rest of the arms were buried deep underground. "We have reason to believe that the vault is not formed on the planet by its unusual and compact shape but it must have been placed there millions of years ago. If the Pathfinder's contact is correct, then we hit on the correct conclusion. " He zoomed the projection and pointed at the lower bottom of the picture, where the vault was embedded at the bedrock. "We've conducted some seismic readings at its base and mapped them to show you these results. Look there; there's no trauma here; the bedrock looked carved. Also, judging from the structure of the arms and its bottom which looks like it has an exhaust, we think it may be able to extricate itself. Even capable of space flight."

They all stared at it.

"You mean that thing can move?" Scott asked him incredulously.

Chief Lucan nodded. "We have evidence to believe that it can. There were traces of extraterrestrial material stuck in the grooves of its walls. Perhaps this is the reason why this cluster has plenty of habitable worlds beyond normal expectations."

Scott was about to say aloud the next logical thing but stopped when he remembered a sobering thought. He looked around the table and saw, from the captain and the others, that they have arrived at the same conclusion too. Imagine, a terra-forming vault, under their control, able to transfer to other planets! But-

"Too bad our allies made it their condition for helping us," Sloane said, speaking for them all. "I was wondering why they'd give up a planet so easily. Now we know it's because they got the better part of the bargain."

"But we have a planet of our own," Scott pointed out. "That should be enough, right?" he asked, looking around the table.

No one rushed to answer him, looking at the projection of the vault, the virtual image of a cornucopia, with hungry eyes. It reminded them too much of the Prothean artifacts left by a long-dead civilization and seemed to exist only to benefit them. Just like the Angara, the Hanar laid claim to the artifacts by stating that the Protheans uplifted them so it was theirs by right of inheritance, but their government's enforcement of this claim was as weak as the slap of their tentacles. Everyone ignored it and the whole galaxy had benefited greatly from its free use.

However, unlike the Hanar, the Angara are very capable of inflicting damage they cannot afford to have. They are also few and alone, a tiny minority in this galaxy.

"The Pathfinder is right," Captain Dunn said reluctantly as if refusing food during a famine. "We have planets for our homes and allies for protection. It should be enough."

Even though their final decision was announced, there was still a bit of dissatisfaction hanging in the air.

"The mystery of the vault does not end there," Chief Lucan continued, studiously ignoring the pang of possessing it for their burning curiosity, "My colleague, Dr. Aridana will explain what we found."

"Since we cannot access the inside of the vault, we've been collecting data as best as we can, even if we were confined outside of it. The results were greater than we ever imagined," the Asari scientist announced, her eyes gleaming. "We tried to determine how the vault does its terra-forming by monitoring the input and output of the monoliths. From the way it produces materials that cannot be made from those it took in and their estimated mass more than its inputs, we can think of two explanations: either it follows different rules of physics or it has a perfect energy-matter conversion."

"If it only has perfect conversion, it does not explain the quantity of the output," Chief Lucan argued. "Its output is greater than we expect from its input."

"Perhaps it has a greater store of energy to supplement it," Dr. Aridana countered.

"Or perhaps there's a wormhole inside its central chamber where an exchange of materials happens with another universe," Professor Henrik suggested.

"Nonsense. That wormhole would have to be intelligent in seeking out the necessary universe to get the necessary materials for this specific planet as if it's browsing in some multi-verse supermarket," Chief Lucan huffed and looked gravely at his colleague. "We're scientists, not writers."

The Nexus team started squabbling, getting increasingly heated as they threw science gibberish at each other. As they quarreled, Scott leaned back in his seat, feeling as though they had stumbled into something big. Something infinitely vast, outside anything they have expected to find but ill-equipped to deal with. And it's making him nervous.

What exactly were they dealing with here?

Captain Dunn rapped her knuckles loudly on the composite table. "This meeting is for reporting results, not for generating one. If you need to discuss among yourselves, then do it in your lab," she said to the scientists.

They stopped bickering immediately. "Then that's all we have to report for now," Dr. Aridana said while her two colleagues nodded in agreement.

"Anything else who'd like to report?" Captain Dunn asked around the room. "None? Alright. Our problems seem not to be ending but it cannot be denied that everyone had done a good job. Now we're finally able to breathe easier after a very long time."

AN: I can't upload a new chapter from a separate document. I have to overwrite old chapters. Does anyone has a solution to this problem?