As part of their campaign to drum up support for them from the Angaran populace, the Pathfinder team undertook some errands for the Angara. The Angaran government did not ask more from them of course but the Initiative was counting of having done enough good deeds with their people, that if the Angara decided in the future to evacuate the cluster, they would not forget to take their new friends with them. The errands were nothing complicated, mainly investigations and fetch tasks Aya for some reason did not find compelling to do.

Then the Moshae made a request to them to fetch a group of scholars to help her with the vaults. So the Pathfinding team along with Jaal went to the Angaran homeworld in the Nol system to get them.

"We're approaching Havarl, Pathfinder," Kallo announced from the helm. Scott jogged from the research center and stopped before the viewscreen to see for himself the home of the Angara.

"Okay. What kind of planet are we looking at?" Scott asked, looking at the ball of blue-green moon hanging on a field of stars beside a gas giant with many orange bands like a tabby.

"Havarl is one of the many moons of a gas giant in the Faroang system," Suvi answered and looked at her readouts. "It's a garden world with scans indicating dense vegetation and abundant water." She paused and pouted at the data her console was showing her. "There's also signs of life but strangely, no marks of civilization."

Scott moved over to her side to read her scans while Kallo frowned at the vidscreen. "It's perfect for life. Why would the Angara abandon it?" he asked, confused, he who grew up in a lush jungle planet.

"We'd need to study it at the surface," Suvi suggested, her eyes bright as she read the scans longer. "Perhaps a disaster has occurred which does not make it pleasant for them?"

Scott opens his mouth to answer but someone has spoken first.

"That disaster was the Cataclysm," said a purring voice. He turned his head and saw Jaal behind them, looking at the moon, his eyes glinting by the light of the vidscreen as he moved forward. "A hundred years ago, the vault malfunctioned and made the planet swallow itself up," he told them. "Some of the plants survived but it grew wild and malformed until it covered the whole world." he returned his gaze back at the viewscreen and sighed. "There's nothing there now that could be recognized as once a home for my people."

Suvi turned slowly back to Havarl. "Oh. That's so sad," she said to it.

As Jaal looked at their home with a wistful look, Scott remembered about Earth and what would it have looked like now, six hundred years on. His family mostly lived on space stations, but he tried to spend as much of his vacation down there than anywhere else. Though the Milky Way offered more exciting and exotic locales for any trip he could imagine, there was still something different about just sitting at an Earth beach, watching its sunsets, the sand underneath your feet the same sands which had supported countless humans for many millennia and which would always be theirs. Some would scoff at that, calling it an idle fancy, but for him whose life had frequently involved aliens, going back to Earth helped him from preventing his identity as a human from being lost due to frequent dealing with aliens. Living in exile was like being unmoored, and Earth was like the north star he could turn to when lost and a point of reference he could always count on wherever his journeys would take him.

Would Earth had survived and overgrown with centuries worth of development? Or would it have tried to look the same as possible, despite the passing of the years? Ridiculous of course; other generations of people would have existed, with different needs and interests and they would change Earth to fit them. It's extremely selfish to halt the change just so you could have something as you remembered them, even if you wouldn't be alive anymore.

Heaviness descended upon him as he realized there was nothing on Earth that would be recognized as home, if they manage to make contact with the Milky Way. It was creeping on the edge of his mind, like a shadow when the light was waning, bringing things he had kept in the dark for too long. Then he caught himself before it could overwhelm him. He shuffled his feet and cleared his throat and tried not to look too doleful just looking at a vid of an alien moon, or else they would ask questions he did not want to answer.

No one noticed him as they were also absorbed with thoughts on their own home.

Jaal turned to Scott. "I should warn you, there are many Roekaar hiding in the jungle. You may want to be heavily armed."

The sadness was completely banished at this new information. "What's a Roekaar?" Scott asked.

Jaal fidgeted and made darting glances around as if looking for an exit. Scott could see his skin turning murky with shame and fear and he grew more alert, fixing his stare on him. "It's a…group of fighters that oppose all non-Angarans," Jaal finally answered although his words stiff. "And those who help them."

He was tempted to raise a brow at him. "And your people just allow them to?"

Jaal bristled and looks at him with eyes bright and pupils turned to slits. "They had split from the Resistance. They are not governed by us and do not share our goals or views."

It seemed like handwashing to him. But seeing Jaal's heightened color, he'd have to work carefully to get what they needed out of him. "Will they still attack even if we bring an Angara with us?"

"Yes, unfortunately. They have a..rigid view of friendship."

There was a lot Jaal was not saying. And he was tired of being in the dark and walking on eggshells, not knowing when he would take a step too far and be scolded for it. "Help me out here, Jaal," he said, sounding overwhelmed. "To protect ourselves, I need to know exactly what they are."

"No," Jaal said firmly, and he went back to his conflicted color, with bright spots of uncertainty added. "I'm not in authority to discuss them. Perhaps you can ask later at Aya," he said and walked away before Scott could ask again.

"That's helpful," Scott muttered when he was out of earshot. Suvi and Kallo watched him go out of sight then Suvi turned to him. "Another enemy we don't know?" she asked, looking worriedly at him. "Are you going to be alright down there?"

Scott shrugged. "Eh. It's just another day at work," he assured her. "I mean, have we ever been welcomed warmly for once?"

Kallo smirked and shifted in his seat to make himself comfortable. "He's right. We're not really popular around these parts."

Suvi finally smiled and resumed her task. Scott nodded at their pilot. "Set us down, Kallo," he instructed and called to prepare his team.

For this jaunt, Scott took Drack and Marcus and they waited on the cargo bay for the Tempest to finish its landing cycle. The four of them did last-minute checks on their equipment as they waited for the light vibratory hum to be silent and decompression to commence. A few seconds later, the ship's underside hinged open, making a walkway for them to disembark. Jaal hopped out of the ship swiftly and they followed soon after. Remembering his warning, Scott instinctively raised his gun as he moved out and then stopped in awe when he saw where they were.

They found themselves in a cleared patch in the midst of a bioluminescent jungle. With Havarl's abundant liquid water, its sky was covered completely with clouds, cloaking it in perpetual twilight. When the clouds part, the gas giant's purple bands can be seen, rising in the sky.

Condensation immediately formed on his helmet as soon as they stepped clear of the Tempest. His hand let go of his gun to wipe the dew of his visor. SAM beeped and said that although the atmosphere was compatible with their physiology, it advised them to wear their suits at all times due to the effects of ultraviolet light on unprotected skin. Though visible light cannot penetrate deep into its atmosphere, Havarl's biome survived on intense ultraviolet light. With the cloud cover, heat was trapped on the planet, making it very humid.

He almost didn't hear SAM's warning as he admired his surroundings. There were tall fern-like trees standing over them, its undersides lit with many lights beside big stalks of glowing fungi. There were some normal looking plants but they were mostly in shades of violet, pink or blue.

"Wow. I've never seen this many plants ever since we left Earth," Scott remarked as he looked around.

"Look, I don't care if you're all saps for this but can we keep out of this stupid rain?" Drack grumbled as he wiped at his visor angrily with a splayed hand. Scott smiled and moved on, opening his scanner to get some data on the plants as they walked.

Though their data said this vigorous vegetation was caused by genetic mutations running rampant, he thought he wouldn't mind them staying here longer. There were so many interesting things popping on the readouts that even SAM was chattering nonstop about each and every finding. Havarl was so full of life unlike the mostly barren rocks they encounter and try to make a home. That is, until they kept getting attacked every few feet by giant, green bugs called challyrions, rylkors which looks like a dark beige pachylosaurus with stegosaurus spines. Sometimes an eiroch, an extremely mean hulking giant rhinoceros-ape-whatever, would be crashing through the trees towards them. Scott had jungle training and knew that there was a great number of animals to be encountered in the jungle, but even he thought the attacks were excessive. They moved as carefully as they knew how but they keep getting attacked every few steps as if the very animals were deranged at their presence.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" he finally shouted as he shot their fifteenth camouflaging, pouncing animal in five minutes. The animal whimpered until it died from its flowing wounds. "Jaal!" he called out. "Are the animals supposed to act like this?"

"No. I have only observed this today," Jaal answered from somewhere in the foliage. Scott looked around but cannot find their Angaran contact. He craned his neck to and fro until he caught movement. He focused on the movement until he could trace a monocle, then an Angaran body shape. "Jaal?" he asked it.

Light flickered on it, then the correct color on his helmet emerged, making him look like a floating head. The colors shifted until his body appeared and then they were looking at the Angara they knew. "Yes?" Jaal said, his color back to normal and not blending in with the surroundings.

Scott put his hands on his hips and stared openmouthed at him. "Camouflage," he said, referring to the color change.

"That is correct," SAM said. "Prior to revealing himself, I detect only small differences in color composition to distinguish Jaal from his surroundings. I also find little differences in his temperature to the ambient temperature."

A thought popped into his head. "Is this why we keep getting attacked and he doesn't?" he asked SAM.

"Yes."

Jaal put his hand over his visor to wipe the dew off it. Now he could see them clearly, he said, "The unchanging color of your armor marks is making you conspicuous to the animals' sight. It is the color of dead things. You should not be moving and yet you do. This is why the animals are excessively attracted to you."

Scott pointed at the carcasses all around them with his pistol. "Do both of you meant to say that this is just the animals going "oooh, blacky!" at me?"

Jaal cocked his head at him. "Forgive me. I didn't really understand what you just said."

Scott was too pissed to explain cultural expressions."Ah. Nevermind."

"Hey, Jaal. Those wouldn't try to attack us, right?" Marcus said and pointed up the break of the foliage where they saw a flock of massive animals flying above them, looking like a school of manta rays with many flapping wings. From their distance, these would be humungous if it landed near them.

"Ah, no. They are tame and eat only plants," Jaal answered and moved on, slipping silently between the leaves.

"Oh, that's lucky. Even with Drack here, I don't think we can take those on," Marcus said as he followed.

Drack snorted. "Speak for yourself. Though I'd demand we do it in the open. This is just cheating," he said, taking a swipe at a broad leaf in his way.

They heard growling in the shadows around them. Then chittering and leaves rustling as another round of animals were coming for them.

Scott took one look behind them and walked faster, closer to Jaal. "How far is Daar Pelaav anyway?" he asked him, suddenly feeling anxious to get out of the forest he previously admired minutes ago.

"Not far. In fact, it's just over the clearing," Jaal replied unconcernedly.

After wading through the thick foliage and encountering another round of animals which they turned into corpses, they finally reached the base. Which is at the top of a giant tree.

Marcus whistled as he looked up the tree taking up much of the sky. "Wow. That's big. That's gotta be at least a hundred meters tall and thirty meters thick."

The tree was a beginning of a forest of giant trees, though none as big as the one in front of them. They hadn't realized it then as their way was chock full of vegetation that blocked their line of sight every few meters. Vegetation that seemed oversized, now that he thought about it. Some of the leaves were large and wide enough to wrap over them. With its dark shadows hanging over them, it was as if they've been miniaturized and set in an overgrown backyard.

"Daar Pelaav is up there," Jaal said, pointing up to a dwelling high up the branches. Then he pointed at the trunk. "Here's the way to it."

The "way" was nothing but well-worn holes to use as handholds as they climbed. Unfortunately, it was tailored to Angaran hands and feet. They looked up from the trunk then up into the canopy where they saw that the lowest branch was too high for their jetpacks to reach.

Scott stared long at the tracks they're supposed to use to get up to the station then turned to Jaal. "Can you do me a favor? If you can get up there and throw us down a rope, that would be great."

Fortunately for them, Daar Pelaav has a lift for their cargo. Jaal radioed in the station and it came creaking down to the ground. They went on it quickly before the animals find them and waited as the lift pulled them steadily up until they arrived at the top of the nearest branch. The lift stopped and they saw a group of buildings built on the branches of the giant tree, with roofs sweeping down to the eaves and tapering away and the central beam curved to a point to keep out the incessant rain of Havarl.

Two Angaras in matching blue and green armor were waiting for them at the landing and greeted them. They approached them cautiously as Jaal explained their business. "Yes, you were expected. Evfra sent word of your arrival," the taller of them replied, glancing at them curiously now that they have established themselves as friendly. They gestured for them to follow and escorted them to one of the buildings through a winding path that seemed to be woven from vines but felt solid beneath their boots. They passed several Angarans inside other buildings build over the branches like wasp nests. Heads poked out of windows to stare at their visitors.

They arrived at the observatory where their contact was. Their guides left them and they walked up the platform into the facility.

There were only three people inside: a grumpy shuttle controller on a room to their left, an archeologist at the back in front of a large machine at the other end of the hall, and the head of the station standing in front of a large screen. She spun around in surprise when she saw them come in.

"Jaal? What are you doing here?" a female asked her fellow Angaran, her skin humming as she looked at Jaal. Then her eyes darted from him to them and her glow disappeared. "And in the company of these…people?"

Scott kept his face still, wondering if her reaction was merely being offended from accepting help from a foreigner as Commander Do'Xeel had or she really didn't like them.

"Kiiran, this is Pathfinder Ryder and his team from the Milky Way," Jaal said, introducing him to her. "Ryder, this is Kiiran Dals, lead scientist at Daar Pelaav. I had accompanied her and her team on some of their expeditions before."

"Nice to meet you," Scott said to her politely, figuring they would lose nothing by being polite and much if he wasn't.

Her pupils narrowed at him as her light flickered on her purple skin with grey and white stripes. "Really? I cannot tell with your…alien skin so I cannot be certain of your sincerity," she said as she searched his face beneath his visor. She glanced at Jaal. "But I trust Jaal and assume that you meant well."

Scott also glanced at Jaal. Jaal seemed to coincidentally know a lot of important people. Which worked out great for them but just how well-connected was he?

Jaal spoke quickly to smooth over the building hostility. "We've come here because the Moshae requests scholars to assist her in deciphering the vaults. Ryder is here because he and his AI can open the vaults for us."

"So I've heard," Kiiran answered, looking over at Scott, with the same offended tone he heard from Commanders Do Xeel and Heckt when they first met. "But I cannot help you. My scientists were lost investigating a power fluctuation deep in the jungle. I have not heard from them for a long time and with the current state of the wildlife, I cannot venture out to search for them. However, there are the sages still at Mithrava. Look for the head scholar. Maybe they will agree to your request."

"Sorry, what's Mithrava?" Scott asked.

"An old Remnant structure they have managed to control for their own use. You will find it here." Kiiran opened her omnitool and tapped on it to send a nav point. Jaal's omnitool beeped and he tapped on it to show a blinking light on a grid, indicating the location of the sages.

"And your missing scientists?" Scott asked.

She looked at him with a start. "What about them?"

"Surely, you can't allow them to be lost forever, do you? Will you give me their location so if we happen to run across them we'll send them back to you?"

Her cat-like eyes searched him, sharp as if on a prey, but opened her omnitool to give a nav point. "Here's their last known location." She then closed her omnitool and said, "I did not think you, an alien, to help us on such small matters as this. Do you then expect a reward?"

Scott made a wave of his hand. He would have offered even if there was no diplomatic benefit to do so, but offering help may help ingratiate themselves to the Angara. And even if they wouldn't, he wouldn't mind so he lost nothing by offering. "Keep it. I'm really just a helpful alien."

"I see," she said, her color softening a bit. "Then I wish you success."