Vetra stood at the top of the cargo bay's ramp and watched the repair crew from the Nexus lugging up heavy tool boxes that were briefly drenched under the heavy snowfall from outside. The Turian stepped back granting the crew passage through the cargo bay and turned her head returning her eyes onto one particular figure that stood out from the rest Nexus workers. The human female's dark brown hair was let down and grown to below her shoulder blades, a gust of cold wind evenly flowed through Sara Ryder's hair as she appeared from the bottom of the cargo bay ramp. Sara raised her head up and broadened a grin as she immediately spied the Turian. The human woman hastily weaved between the repair workers coming to the top of the runway and quickly wheeled into Vetra's direction with flinging arms to tightly wrap around Vetra's torso.

"Vetra! It's good to see you again!"

Vetra nodded and lightly chuckled, "Likewise, Sara.. I'm a little surprised that you came." The Turian slowly pulled away from Sara's embrace and dawned upon the short human with a wide-eyed look.

Sara faintly smiled, "If Scott's in trouble I'm going to be there to help him. It's what we big sisses do."

Vetra chuckled with a light-hearted sound, "At least Scott doesn't argue with you at the worst opportune times."

The Pathfinder's sibling made an anxious look and hesitantly spoke, "He's in no position to argue at this point.. I can't believe this happened. Is he... is still alive, Vetra?"

"Sam just reported in not too long ago; Scott is alright. He is being held in the same cell with two Angaran prisoners aboard a Kett flagship." Vetra answered shakily, her shoulders momentarily shuddering.

"What do they want with Scott? I thought that after the Archon was stopped that the rest would have retreated. I don't get it." Sara slowly shook her head displaying an expression of disbelief.

The Turian mercenary lowered her head looking away from Sara and stepped back. Vetra sighed quietly in her turn away and began walking slowly through the cargo bay with the human following in stride. Vetra's voice lowered to a stricken whisper, "The Kett... plan to exalt him."

Sara Ryder halted in her footsteps as she exclaimed a sudden gasp and widened her eyes into a fearful look.

Vetra additionally spoke, "We don't know how long we have left. Sam's relays are boggled down, from Scott's end, because the Kett flagship is traveling out of Sam's sensor range. We're not quite sure where it's going since the Scourge is covering its tracks."

"Then there isn't much time to waste." The familiar voice of Vetra's younger sister had directed both Vetra and Sara Ryder to spin around and faced the young Turian coming up from behind.

"Sid! What are you-" Vetra dropped her jaw out of surprise.

Sidera waved one of her hands into the air in dismissal, "Before you finish asking why I'm here, the answer is this; Scott is important, not only to the Initiative and all of Andromeda because he is the Pathfinder who saved everyone's asses from the Kett, but mostly because he is an important person in my sister's life. You've been there for me, Vetra, and so has Scott. Now it's my turn. I'm going to help you, big sis."

Vetra's mandibles joyfully wiggled, "Sid, for once I'm glad that your stubborn streak hasn't dwindled. We have a lot of repairs to get done."

Sid nodded agreement and cheerfully proclaimed, "I brought a big team with me, Vetra. We'll have the Tempest top shape and flight ready in no time! We have a Pathfinder to rescue!"

Vetra adoringly laughed, "Damn straight!" She started to spin toward the direction of the long stretch of the Tempest's lower deck with Sara walking between the two Turian siblings. Vetra looked forward as Sidera lowered her head gazing upon the human woman and spoke gleefully, "Hey, big sis number two."

Sara stifled a giggle and replied, "Heya, Sid! It's good to see you again. Did you ever get that approval to start cloning cats?"

Vetra whipped her head to glare toward her sibling and demanded, "Who are you calling big sis number two? And just how did you get an approval?"

Sara grinned up to the Turian mercenary, "Sid and I were talking about certain things when we were on the Nexus."

Vetra rolled her eyes, "What kind of things?" She turned a glare onto her sibling and demanded, "What's this about, Sid? What ELSE are you plotting?"

The young Turian answered in cheerful sound, "Sara and I were talking about how adorable it would be if Scott-" Sidera suddenly stopped herself in midsentence and deeply sighed, replacing her cheerful disposition under a darkened cloud of sorrow, "Sorry, Vetra, I'm trying to keep the spirits up. It's difficult to think about when Scott is... Let's just focus on saving him first."

Vetra gave an understanding nod, "You're doing alright, sis. Thanks. It helps."

Sara struggled to hide a devious grin from crossing her lips and returned the conversation into a lighter mood, "I think what Sid was trying to get at was making it an official thing; the three of us becoming sisters."

Vetra stopped in front of the medical bay door to wheel onto the human woman, "What are you implying, Sara? And how can that be possibly be done?"

Sara pursed her lips, shaking her head, and murmured slyly between her pinched lips, "Not telling."

Vetra's sister broke out into a giggle fit and quickly raised one of her hands to cover her mouth.

"Sidera Nyx, are you also in on this?" Vetra growled in frustration. Her sister shook her head and replied between chuckles, "I don't know what you're talking about, Vetra."

Vetra exclaimed a defeated sigh, shaking her head, "I'm going to drill you later.. We have a ship to fix and AFTER we rescue Scott I'm going to drill him, too!"

"That is a bad image that I don't want in my head, Vetra." Sara muttered and made a disgusted look by closing one eyelid and gaping her mouth open with her tongue sticking out.

"I didn't mean it that way, Sara!" The older Turian protested. She slightly drooped her head momentarily before returning her attention onto her younger sister and forced calm into her words, "Sid,"

"Yes, Vetra?"

"Thanks for coming."

Sidera nodded with wiggling mandibles, "It's the least I can do, Vetra."

.

.

The moments were slow passing after Scott had re-equipped the Initiative's battle exo-suit onto his body. He quietly walked toward Tava whom was knelt beside her brother's shivering body as the male Angaran continued to lie in the corner of the room. The long silence was suddenly disrupted by the prison cell door flying open permitting a large group of Kett soldiers to charge into the room. Their weapons turned onto the trio, quickly surrounding the Pathfinder, and began butting their weapons' points into Ryder's backside motioning him toward the door.

"Move, human!" One of the Kett loudly shouted from behind Scott and shoved the gun's barrel to sharply stab into the back of the human's exposed neck.

Scott hunched slightly forward from the sharp jab into his spine and hesitantly raised both arms into the air, "Okay, okay. I guess it's my turn. I'll go quietly, you don't need to shov-" The weapon's point jabbed into the base of Scott's neck and the Kett's voice ordered again, "Now, human!" The human Pathfinder gradually turned his direction and started for the opened doorway with the surrounding Kett heavily stomping behind him. One of the Kett Anointed soldiers walked ahead of the group leading onto a path through a long corridor. Ryder shifted his eyes back and forth in studying the interior of the ship while looking for anything that stood out that may become a familiar landmark serving purpose for memory recall. The Initiative Pathfinder was guided through another series of corridors until coming into sight of the Kett Cardinal standing within an enlarged room with computer consoles and Kett scanning devices. The view of the Cardinal stood facing into the direction of an orange brightly glowing light.

Ryder realized in thought, 'Orange light? Is this the chamber that Tava was talking about?'

"Your silence will only make so much easier for exaltation." The Cardinal hissed in a frustrated manner and swiftly turned away diverting her attention onto the group of Kett approaching with the human man. The soldiers halted in their steps, moving into formation, and slowly broke away allowing a clear path leading between Scott and the Cardinal.

The newly Kett dictator soothed evenly, "I have provided you with the opportunity to consider accepting our gift, human."

Scott gave not hint of hesitation upon his approach, lowering his arms to his sides, and answered coolly, "There's still a lot to think about. I'm actually curious to know what job I'm applying for."

(*Disclaimer: edited 5/14/2019*)

The Kett turned her back to Ryder and walked away giving Scott the chance to swiftly divert his attention toward the source of the orange glow. The Pathfinder had come to quick realization that he stood within the chamber area that Tava had described. Scott raised his eyesight to gaze upon the humanoid floating within the stasis field.

The figure within the glowing field took on the physical representation of a tall male human with a medium-slender masculine body build. The man's arms were bound by electrical glowing shackles holding his limbs outstretched apart to either side. His body was covered in a dark silver overlay taking the appearance as a second layer of skin that shined like reflective metal. The entire head and face were fully concealed under a helmet with a flat-surfaced faceplate that gave no physical description to determine the man's facial appearance.

A sequence of patterns of solid black lines were seamlessly inlaid into the flawless silver metal which had began at the top of the head with two horizontal parallel-running solid lines running down the front of the face plate to the chin. The width of the solid lines separated on the underside of the tall figure's chin and followed each underside of the jawline before contouring out to the sides of the neck and broadening out over the top of the broad shoulders and dipped behind both shoulder sockets. The black lines progressed to wrap around each other and both legs. Following the length of each line, a sequence of brilliant green glowing symbols streamed over the solid black surfaces, similar to an electronic message being displayed across the armor suit. The glowing green symbols gradually pulsed, darkening and lighting up, as if to match with the figure's steady heartbeat.

(*For a better visualization; picture the Silver Surfer from Fantastic Four but with a helmet instead of the showing of the outlining of bone structure and facial expressions. Refer to image search; futuristic helmet model: Blender. But with a seamless design.*)

Scott wondered in thought, 'Is... is he alive?'

The reflective silver faceplate lifted and turned into the Pathfinder's direction that suddenly caused a cold shudder to crawl up Scott's spine.

'That was weird.' Scott Ryder thought in surprise. He began to violently shudder feeling the sense of a thousand unseen eyes turning their focus directly onto him. The composure of fear overwhelmed Scott for only brief amount of seconds but were instantly replaced by the sense of pure calmness that pulled the Pathfinder's entity out of the Kett flagship and flung his astral form across the darkness of open space returning the human man to hover above the view of Earth. 'What the fuck?! How-' Scott began to wonder in a state of shock, however, his thoughts were abruptly returned to his physical form by the sound of the Cardinal's footsteps approaching across the metal floor. The Pathfinder quickly faced up to the tall Cardinal whom had her arms together and holding in firm grip of both of her hands a heavy long object that Scott easily recognized as a syringe needle that was used for serum injections into transforming victims to become exalted Kett.

"This is the very lifeblood of our once noble Archon. You will receive this blessing at our most sacred temple, the place in which the birth of our people had begun."

Scott made worry in his asking, "Um, the birth place of your people? Where is that exactly?"

"Beyond the reaches of this accursed cluster. The origin of Kett." The Cardinal's voice sounded happily as if she was relieved to leave the Andromeda galaxy.

Ryder silently swallowed and forced himself into a composed form, "Can we make a detour? I'd much like to be dropped off at the next stop."

The Kett turned her back onto the Pathfinder once more, gently replacing the Kett syringe casing into a hovering large dark bronze container that sealed shut by the wave of her hands. She wheeled her attention toward the human man but slowly diverted her approach toward the stasis field.

"This creature awaits to be exalted, regardless of how much it resists us. Exaltation is inevitably the cure for you lesser creatures to become aware to the fullest potential." The Cardinal walked forward, outstretching one of her hands to plant her palm upon the orange glow of the stasis field. Upon her touch visible electrical volts appeared and zipped toward the humanoid figure with many jolts crawling up and down his silver body causing it to violently shudder and force clenching his hands into fists.

Scott counted the digits on the mysterious man's hands and softly gasped realizing in thought, 'He has a total of ten digits... is he also human? How can it be possible?' He outburst, "Wait! What are you doing?!"

The Kett Cardinal lowered her hand to cease the method of torture and slowly turned to look upon Ryder with a seemingly devious look in her eyes, "Humans have such a despicable compassion, a weakness that needs to be cured." She spun again facing toward the orange stasis barrier and outstretched her hand to firmly press against the field's orange glow. The humanoid within was seized by electrical surges grappling around his body locking him into violent convulsions.

The human Pathfinder gaped his mouth watching in horror as the feeling of helplessness sunk deeply into his chest. He shouted, "WAIT! STOP! I... I'll accept!"

Taking a step back, quickly dropping her long boney hand from the stasis field, the Cardinal whirled into the direction of the human Pathfinder.

Scott Ryder continued to speak in a forced calm, "I'll accept... on the condition that all, and I mean every single prisoner, be released and set down planet side."

"Your nobility continues to astound me, human. You spared the sacred temple on Voeld and now acclaim the blessing for the exchange to spare these accursed."

"I don't know how many times I've said it but I'm full of surprises. Maybe you should keep me as I am, perhaps I can offer more insight to human nobility from human perspective." Scott smirked in hopefulness that the proposal would provide enough distraction while he figured out a plan for escape. He took another glimpse toward the dark silver figure in time to see the helmet slightly tilt as if to display a curious manner.

"I will honor the conditions, human. However, this particular one must remain for further study." The Kett Cardinal objected with coldness in her voice.

Ryder crossed his arms and slowly shook his head, protesting, "Nope. This isn't how the deal works. He is included on the prisoner list and I said specifically every prisoner."

The Cardinal charged at Scott suddenly lashing her hand out to grab a tight hold around the human's throat and lifted his boots from the ground. She came face-to-face with the Initiative's Pathfinder sneering angrily and suddenly flung Ryder forcefully throwing his body upon his backside to slide across the metal floor coming into the middle of the group of Kett warriors. The tall Kett demanded in a roaring growl, "Return it to its cell!"

Scott softly grunted leveraging himself upon his elbows into a half-upright sitting position and reopened his eyes into the view of gun points quickly overshadowing him and blocked his view toward the Cardinal. He very slowly stood, taking another glance over one of the Kett's shoulder toward the stasis field. The feeling of the unseen eyes still lingered upon Scott as the human was escorted from the chamber.

'Scott,' Sam's voice began to speak within the private channel with Ryder, 'losing you to exaltation would greatly dampen the Initiative's moral. The Angaran would also suffer the loss of a hero who had relinquished them from under Kett regime. There is likelihood that the Kett will continue to reign upon this cluster if you become one of their own. I cannot prevent the exaltation process, Scott.'

Scott lowered his voice to a very low whisper, "It's a diversion tactic, Sam. Just play along until I come up with a plan."

'So I see. The chances of success are very minimal, Scott.'

The human quietly sighed and continued to a very low whisper as he replied, "If worse comes to worst then... I'll transfer you over to Sara as a last resort. The only hope left will be with her."

"SILENCE, HUMAN!" One of the armed soldiers enraged with a shout and hard bunted the back of Scott's head with the gun's point causing the human man to briefly stumble forward. Ryder was quick to regain composure and turned his head calling out over his shoulder, "HEY! I accepted to become the new all powerful Archon! The least that you can do is be more respectful to your new leader! I DEMAND for respect!"

"You talk too much, human. Stay silent!" The Kett soldier growled.

The human man was guided into the familiar zone where the imprisonment chambers were located and brought before a closed door that hissed open upon approach. Scott was abruptly shoved by a forceful hand pushing him into the room. He scrambled forward before losing his balance and quickly fell to his hands and knees upon the floor. The door quickly slid closed behind him sealing Scott in the prison chamber. Scott carefully propped himself onto sitting upon his knees and grumbled, "And here I thought that they'd have a little change in manners after I accepted the offer..."

"Scott? Are you okay?" Tava immediately appeared coming down onto her knees in front of the human.

Pathfinder Ryder let out a deep sigh, gradually nodding in his response, "Yeah, I guess. I have good news and... not so good news. Which shall I start with first?"

"Do you have a plan?" Tava asked in hopeful enthusiasm and began to expose a wide smile.

Scott began, "Not exactly-"

A deep growling voice spoke from behind the human Pathfinder quickly adverting Tava's eyes into the direction of the doorway, "Do you truly plan to give your life for all of these prisoners?"

Scott swiftly stood, spinning around, and quickly turned his head back and forth looking for the source of the mysterious voice. Ryder loudly demanded, "Who are you?!"

"Do not be alarmed by the presence of this creature. I have come seeking an answer. I will offer my assistance if you have desire to save all of the innocent lives that are entrapped within this ship." The low growling voice responded. The figure of a tall slender Destined Kett revealed itself from a brief blue mist and stood within the chamber in front of the closed doorway.

Tava regained into a standing posture, quickly stepping back, and hurriedly rushed to Pravalo's side.

Scott balled his hands into fists preparing to melee strike if given the chance but remained at a distance, "You're Kett. Why do you care?" He lowered his eyebrows into a glowered expression.

"Do not let the presence of this creature alarm you. The minds of these creatures are weak-willed under the influence of manipulation." The Destined Kett replied in steady calm.

"Something like... mind control?" Scott anxiously asked.

"First answer my question; are your intentions for the good of saving the prisoners?"

The Kett acknowledged Scott's agreement as the human made a single nod. The Destined continued to speak, "I have secured weapons and armor for you and the other two. There is another creature stationed outside of this holding cell in waiting. The lock will be released when you are ready." The Destined Kett slung around from behind its back a heavy container and set it down upon the floor before the human's legs.

Ryder exchanged quick glances to the Kett and the container, cautiously kneeling down, and opened the filled container finding Kett-fashioned armor and weapons within. The human man gaped with an astonished look, "Whoa! How did you lug this thing around without being found? And I'm very curious to know why you're helping. You're a Kett... Kett generally don't help."

"I am not Kett. The stealth abilities of this creature have enabled me to observe these lifeforms to understand their methods. They are cruel. I can no longer idly watch as they harm the innocent." The Kett unveiled a profound demeanor in its words as it explained, "You were the first one to have willingly offered to stake your own life for an exchange to save the innocent. I commend you for this selfless act."

Scott listened to the Kett's words and finished preparing himself with gear and weapons. Ryder offered return response, "Well, thanks. It's kind of a bad habit of mine... being selfless and helpful. I just can't help it."

With great amount of hesitation, Tava also dressed by placing gear pieces upon herself and helped to equip another set of Kett armor upon her brother. She continued to glance from Ryder to the Kett with a watchful eye. She turned to her sibling and soothed, "We're going to get out of here, Pravalo."

Pravalo was standing closely with his sister, exchanging anxious looks with his remaining eye between the Destined Kett and the human but made had not made any notion for a reply.

Ryder pointed to the Destined Kett and demanded, "I need to know why you're helping us... and who are you? Have you found a way to keep your memories when you were exalted?"

"Your questions are counter productive. Come to the chamber that I am held within, release me from my confinement, and I will become a further asset to your escape." The Destined Kett responded as it stepped away from the doorway.

"I knew it! It is mind control!" Scott blurted out.

The door swiftly hissed open revealing a Kett soldier standing outside of the door. Scott immediately raised the assault rifle's point to take aim at the creature's head but quickly lowered his weapon as the tall Kett spoke, "This one is included under the affects. It will provide as a shield protecting you and the others. Follow it." The Destined Kett ordered with a patient voice before vanishing into the blue mist. The bulky-sized Kett in turn spoke with a deepened voice, "My voice will be in this creature. The one capable of stealth will take back cover." The Anointed soldier slowly turned its back to the human and braced up a heavy Kett-fashioned mini gun class weapon in both of its powerful arms.

"Um, okay. Just how are two Kett being mind-controlled at the same time?" Scott worriedly asked.

'The idea of mind controlling is troubling, Pathfinder, but also very improbable that such an ability exists. It's highly doubtful that one single person can hold control over two separate persons simultaneously.' Sam's voice explained into the Pathfinder's private communication's transponder.

"Where are we going? What is happening?" Pravalo demanded in a panicked voice.

Tava soothed in a whisper while she walked and guided Pravalo by holding onto his wrist with one of her hands, "Sh, Pravalo. It's alright. We're getting out of here."

"We... we're going to be free?" The dark green Angara made a hopeful look toward Tava. She gently shook her head and answered, "Not yet but soon. We have to escape first, brother-" The female Angaran's voice was cut off as a series of shouts arose from a Kett patrol unit rounding a corner within close-range proximity.

Scott quickly stepped out from behind the controlled Kett soldier and unloaded bursts from the assault rifle as the Anointed One included the sound of sputtering gun metal gears that unleashed zipping bullets upon the group of Kett. The surprised patrol unit dropped one after the other into black-bloodied heaps that swiftly drizzled pools of blood upon the floor where the creatures fell. The controlled Anointed One gradually proceeded forward continuing to unleash the raining barrage while walking shoulder-to-shoulder with the human Pathfinder. Ryder took aim for headshot damage upon any remaining Kett that stood and gunned down the final creature.

The sound of the sputtering metal swiftly rattled down to a halt and the Anointed One turned its large head to glare down upon Scott, "They have raised the alarm. We must leave this sector and return to the chamber that I am held within."

Scott muttered under his breath, "So much for the taking the scenic route. I really wanted to have a quiet stroll."

"Do you oversee all situations with derisive remarks?" The Kett soldier asked with an upmost patient mannerism.

"Well... most situations. I get by with my charming personality, it usually wins things over." Ryder responded with a smug smirk pulling the corner of his lips.

The Anointed One turned its attention face forward and proceeded to walk away with a mutter, "Nobility is not your metaphor."

The Pathfinder started to follow but stopped in his tracks, "Aw, come on! That's hitting below the belt."

"If it gets the point across." The controlled Kett lowly replied.

Scott grimaced a frown, "I must be losing my touch or you're immune to my charm."

The Anointed One regarded no further comment and hurriedly stomped with heavy footsteps guiding the rest of the way to the chamber within the flagship where the stasis field was located. The Kett warrior immediately dashed into the grand chamber, Scott and the two Angaran following in pursuit. The bulky creature spun into the direction of the control console in front of the spherical stasis chamber and lowered the heavy gun releasing hold for one hand to stretch out and pressed its large fingers into a sequence of buttons upon the console.

"Wait! Are you sure you can-" Scott started to ask but quickly raised his head up to the sight of the orange glowing stasis barrier suddenly dispersing allowing the dark silver figure to touch down onto solid flooring. The tall figure's wrists became freed as the electrical shackles also vanished. The mysterious alien swiftly approached enabling Scott to make comparison of height with the dark silver armor suit whom stood six feet and three inches tall.

Scott stepped back, lowering his gun to hold in one of his hands, and carefully studied between the controlled Kett soldier and the tall alien, "Hold on a sec... You're the one controlling the Kett? Why didn't you just free yourself sooner?"

The Anointed Kett answered, "Your questions will have time to be answered after we escape. Relinquishing the stasis field has additionally added to the alarm systems. The creatures now have something to be afraid of with my release."

The silver man came into the way of the bulky Kett and pressed the flat of his left palm upon the control panel. The Kett's voice continued to explain, "I require only a moment to program the prison chambers to release the prisoners but once opening the doors these creatures will surely kill them."

Tava gasped before protesting anxiously, "Then this cause will be for nothing if they're only going to be freed and killed by the Kett!"

"I can override the system lockdown in which will require that we manually open the prison doors when we go into the prison cell blocks. I am able to provide a protective barrier while using the two creatures as firearm support." The silver figure wheeled onto Scott's direction staring the human Pathfinder down with the reflective surface of the faceplate, "There is a point of interest we must go to. There is an information database that I require to download from, this may prove valuable for you as well."

Tava shook her head and defensively argued, "My brother is in no condition to fight!"

The Anointed Kett continued to speak in the silver figure's stead, "Neither of you are conditioned for battle. Stay in cover."

Scott swiftly raised his gun's point to the mist cloud as the Destined Kett emerged out of its cloaking ability. The human deeply sighed relief, reluctantly lowering his weapon's point, as the controlled Kett turned to face its direction toward the wall cover. Scott slowly shook his head, "Shit, I thought it wasn't with us for a second."

The unknown alien revealed his true voice as a softened tone that was filled with calming sound, "Direct the creatures and protect the two with us while I initialize the override for the release locks on the prison chambers."

Tava made a surprised look toward the taller alien's direction and loudly gasped, "Your voice! It's not what I expected."

"I am not one of these creatures.." The softly echoing voice replied without turning his helmet to face into Tava's direction

The human Pathfinder turned his head toward the sound direction of heavy foot beats becoming increasingly louder as he realized the enemy was rushing from the other end of the corridor. Scott fully spun and quickly strafed to stand with the Destined Kett behind the solid wall cover. He took firm grip of the assault weapon into both hands, leaning out to peer around the slender creature and spied a large number of Kett charging toward the chamber area. Ryder beckoned loudly, "We've got company! You, the one in front of me, go into stealth and find a standing point with cover to pick the others off. Big guy, take the other side. We'll make our stand here!" He returned his attention onto the Destined watching its body become enveloped into a mist allowing Ryder to take its place behind the wall's cover. Scott cautiously leaned briefly out to take view of the opposing Kett forces quickly panning out their positions behind any obstacles in the long stretch of the corridor. He swiftly took aim upon one of the creatures as it gradually looked over its place of cover. Scott pulled the trigger rapidly unleashing a string of glowing bullets upon the vulnerable Kett. Scott's finger released giving him time to watch the creature's body slowly collapse after popping off an explosion of blood in place of the Kett's head. Ryder ducked back behind the wall before a wave of gunfire came upon him from the band of boney creatures as they stepped out from their hiding places taking shots at the Pathfinder. Scott turned his attention toward the controlled Anointed One that stepped away from its form of cover offering itself as a distraction by unloading a rain of bullets from the loudly sputtering Kett-fashioned mini gun. Ryder took the opportunity to round the corner of the wall, finding another target, and barraged the Kett's body with bullets. The human man raised the weapon's barrel before ducking for cover once more and called out over his shoulder, "We can't keep this up! There isn't exactly a limitless amount of ammo just lying around."

"I have completed the programming. We must leave from this area and begin our way to the location of the database." The mysterious humanoid spoke in a hallowed sound of voice.

Tava shouted in objection, "What about the prisoners?! We're not going to leave them!"

Scott nodded agreement with the Angara, "We are going to save them, Tava. You, whoever you are, do you know where the other prisoners are being held?"

The silver figure's voice answered promptly, "We cannot risk saving them at this present moment. There will still be more patrol units that must be relinquished otherwise the prisoners will come under the cross fire. The chamber doors can no longer be opened by the creatures, the locks require a manual override with the proper authority provided by me." He stepped away from the control console, coming to stand between the Pathfinder and the controlled Anointed One, and raised his left arm out as if holding a shield. A transparent wall, with a silver glowing hue, suddenly dropped down in front of the unique crafted armor. The silver lining provided as a projectile dead-stop as the opposing forces unloaded another wave of bullets that struck upon the translucent barrier like hitting into a solid unbreakable wall.

"No fucking way.. that barricade is no joke." Ryder murmured in a state of awe.

"Follow." The echoing voice ordered.

Both of the controlled Kett warriors emerged from their places, the Destined reappearing from the wisp of blue smoke, and took placement on either sides of the tall humanoid. The two different Kett walked in stride with the silver-armored man turning their weapons away and unleashing showers of flying bullets upon any opposing creatures that became unveiled from their hiding places as the silver figure gracefully walked through the corridor.

Scott stepped out from behind cover to continue to watch the massacre unleash through the long hall leaving fallen bodies and pools of black blood to drench upon the bronze metal flooring. He widened his eyes and whispered to himself, "Holy fuck. This guy's ruthless! If Drack was here to see this it might make him a little jealous."

'Pathfinder,' Sam's voice was received over the private transponder, 'I am having trouble attaining a stable connection to your implant. There is a disruption in the frequency waves caused by the amount of distance you have traveled out of my processor range.'

"Sam! I was just starting to wonder where you went! Wait, if you're having trouble with the connection to my implant wouldn't I be dead or dying like the last time the Archon severed our connection?" Scott wondered out loud in response to the AI.

'No, Pathfinder. I have established a counter measure in my programming to prevent that occurrence from happening again if I were unwillingly disconnected from your implant. Doctor T'Perro would not appreciate the Pathfinder having another unexpected death.'

"Well, thanks, Sam. I do like not dying. Are you able to get anything from my position?"

'I cannot provide any assistance at this time, Scott. My long range scanner does not reach beyond the Heleus cluster into dark space.'

"That's great.. so we're in dark space. Isn't there a way to turn around and go back into the Andromeda galaxy?"

'The only reliable advice that I can offer is finding the starboard command console will enable you to take control of the Kett's flagship. I cannot provide any further assistance beyond my capabilities while you remain in dark space.' The artificial intelligence answered.

Ryder deeply sighed, "Alright, I guess I'll figure things out on my end. I'll keep you posted this time round, Sam." He returned his attention forward onto the long corridor coming to realization that the sound of gunfire had ceased into the serenity of silence. Scott cautiously walked forward, lowering his weapon's point toward the floor taking hold with both hands, and lowered his eyesight rapidly looking back and forth to take glances upon the Kett bodies left in their own pools of black blood. "It's... like a graveyard." Scott whispered to himself, a deep feeling of uncertainty began to welt within, as he wondered how to perceive the outcome of the battle, 'Dead Kett is better than alive, I guess, although, this method to mind control is definitely creepy.'

"Scott Ryder?" Tava's voice arose from the chamber room.

"We're clear!" Scott turned his head and called over his shoulder taking a moment to watch Tava gently pull her brother with her from their hiding place and began their approach toward the Pathfinder. He swiftly faced forward by the sound of the Kett Cardinal's voice angrily shouting, "How dare you betray us!" The human Pathfinder lifted the assault rifle closely in front of his chest and hurriedly charged into the sound direction of the Cardinal's shout. Ryder rushed into the general location to find the Kett standing between the controlled Destined and Anointed One. The man in silver armor half-turned, lowering his helmet's faceplate to look down with an unseen gaze as Scott slowed his pace as the human came into the area. Ryder walked forward to stand beside the Anointed Kett in front of the Cardinal.

"This creature is under our capture." The mysterious humanoid spoke softly.

Scott narrowed his eyes, fixating his glare into the Kett's dark eyes, and bared a sneering expression in his scoff, "See what happens when you don't meet with demand? Pissing off the wrong guy gets you into a lot of trouble. I've let you live once. I'm not so sure I might be so forgiving this time round."

"This is how you pose threat onto these creatures?" The man in dark silver armor questioned in a state of disbelief.

"They're called Kett. That's.. also the point of being irresistibly charming; throwing your enemies into aloof with sarcastic humor." Scott answered without turning his gaze away from the Cardinal's hard stare.

"Sarcasm has no meaning to them and serves no purpose... What shall be done with this Kett?"

Ryder lowered the weapon's barrel pointing it to the ground and shook his head, "Not sure. I'm now starting to regret my decision for letting it live."

Tava walked together with Pravalo coming up behind Scott Ryder. The dark green Angaran quickly slipped away from his sibling and shoved between Scott and the other humanoid figure in order to stand directly in line of sight of the Cardinal. Pravalo lifted a Kett-fashioned shotgun's gunpoint to the Kett's throat and growled in pure bitterness, "Let me kill it! I want revenge for all of the pain that I've endured and for all the suffering that my people have been put through!"

"Pravalo, sto-" Tava's voice was drown out by a single-shot blast instantly combined with bones shattering upon impact.

Scott silently gaped as the Kett's head fragmented immediately into a large gush of black-colored blood that suddenly splattered across the Destined soldier's front side covering it with bits of bone drizzling together under goblets of blood. The decapitated body gradually slumped to the floor falling onto its knees before tipping to the side and coming down with another splash of still flowing blood to spatter upon the floor that quickly formed into a thick pool under its missing head. Pravalo wheeled onto Scott with the point of the shotgun and quickly waved the weapon back and forth between the Pathfinder and the unknown man, "You... you are all aliens! You must die!"

"Pravalo, please stop!" Tava cried in fear and rushed to come into the way of the gun's point. Facing her brother Tava expressed a worried look as she pleaded, "They are not our enemy, brother! Scott Ryder has helped us become freed! We will no longer suffer."

"You... you're an alien sympathizer, Tava. You betrayed your allegiance to your own people!" Pravalo screamed as he became enraged. The shotgun was suddenly ripped from the grip of the dark green Angara's hands by a brief silver shimmer. The male Angara quickly looked into the direction of the taller humanoid and growled loudly, "How dare you!"

"You were about to kill your own sister. What purpose will it serve your cause to kill one of your own family?" The structure of the shotgun's long barrel became crushed in the grip of the man's left hand.

Pravalo abruptly gasped with a wide terrified look. He slowly stepped back, lowering his gaze onto his sibling and softly whispered, "Tava... I.. I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to..."

Tava stepped closer and quickly slung her arms around her brother's head, "It's alright, brother. Everything will be alright. We're going to find a way home." She whispered in a shaky voice, retaining her own composure to remain calm.

"Speaking of which.." Scott carefully lowered the point of the gun toward the floor away from the group and continued, "we need to find a way to turn this ship around. We're going into dark space and from what I understand the Kett were returning to their place of origin... something about their most sacred place and exalting me into their new leader."

The hallow voice imposed dryly, "I do not believe that these Kett would have any desire to have you become their figurehead of power... unless they had intended to exalt you because they are not sure what to make of your definition of humor, thus, they want you to cease from doing it any further."

Scott gaped again making a bewildered look and replied in a state of disbelief, "That was an incredibly painful shot below the belt! That actually made my balls hurt! Call me impressed."

"Impressed? I thought that your name was Scott Ryder." Tava expressed a puzzled look glancing between Pathfinder Ryder and the second humanoid man.

Scott dropped his head, expelling a heavy-sounding sigh, "It's a metaphor... I thought Jaal would have explained this... never mind. Let's just find a command console to turn this bucket around." He lifted his head again to face his own reflection from the faceplate with glowing green runes fading out. "I know, I know... You want me to save my questions but I have a very important one; do you know where to find the controls that drive this ship?"

The silver helmet motioned a single nod, "This way."