(*Disclaimer: edited the first part 8/13/2017*)

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Lieutenant Cora Harper stated over the communication transponder, "Tempest, we've made it on board the Quarian Ark.. She's pretty banged up in here as well as the outside. It looks like there was a warzone."

The Pathfinder squad had disembarked from the Tempest and entered into the boarding connection leading into the side of the Ark. Pathfinder Scott Ryder walked through the long hallway and began for the half-closed doorway. He swayed his helmet's light slowly back and forth looking over the walls that had been torn out and gutted for their electrical wires.

Scott added, "No lights... at least the artificial gravity is functioning."

"Oxygen levels are very low in this area, however. We have to keep our helmets on. We might have to keep our weapons holstered, Ryder, unless we want to cause any more damage." Cora walked beside the tall figure in dark silver armor. She turned her helmet up to glance toward Sky, "So, Sky, I'm curious to know when you're going to let Lexi share your dossier with the class."

"Dossier?" Sky tilted his helmet as if to express his unseen puzzlement.

Cora responded in upmost diligence, "Dossier is a fancy word for a personal information file. I've noticed that you like playing Chess with Sam a lot but that's not really saying much about what else you can do... Frying Peebee's Omni-tool doesn't count under job qualifications."

"Wait - what?" Scott looked over his shoulder and made a surprised look toward Sky, "You play Chess with Sam?"

Sky displayed a hint of cheerful sound in his response, "It is enjoyable to outwit an artificial intelligence whose purpose is to calculate the infinite amount of possibilities and outcomes. Your Chief Engineer Gil Brody has made request that I play a game called Poker with him."

Cora Harper warned, "Just don't accept to play the strip-version."

Ryder returned his attention forward, passing under the opened wide door and came into the area with the two Generator Power Grids on either sides of the room. He outstretched his left arm and ignited the orange glow from his Omni-tool's scanner to run the diagnostics on the first unit and then the second.

"They're both working, so, that's a good sign that Cryo Bay is still running." The human man sighed silent relief. His transponder receiver clicked on.

"Pathfinder Ryder? This is Pathfinder Lumont Hayjer." The Salarian Pathfinder's voice sounded in urgency.

"Pathfinder Ryder here, Hayjer. Go ahead."

Hayjer began to explain, "My group and I have been monitoring the Kett and their activities. There were a number of their flagships rallying at a specific coordinate. Whenever you get a chance have your Sam show them to you. We've been trying to monitor their transponder frequency waves to decipher what their plans are. It doesn't seem like they're preparing for a launch for the Milky Way just yet but I'm afraid of the worst possible situation to occur."

Scott acknowledged his appreciation, "Thanks for the update, Hayjer. We can talk more in person when I come back to the Nexus. Right now we're on the Quarian Ark."

"What?! You found their Ark? This is good news! We certainly could use the Quarian's tech skills right about now. We may be able to finish this second Tempest project!" Hayjer's voice beamed with excitement.

"You're building another Tempest? Figures that I shouldn't be the only Pathfinder with a really cool ship." Pathfinder Ryder quipped.

"I'll let you get back to it, Pathfinder Ryder. Bring our Quarians home. Pathfinder Hayjer out." The Salarian's transponder communicator dropped.

Scott Ryder returned his focus forward onto the two sealed doors at the top of the small stairway platform. He cautiously approached the door on the right and ran the orange light of the Omni-scanner over the door's battered surface.

Sam's voice cautioned, "Pathfinder, I detect a steady flow of breathable oxygen just beyond these sealed doors. However, in order to gain access into the next room we will have to temporary seal the docking platform to keep a minimal flux of oxygen air flow into this room otherwise the life support systems will undergo a greater amount of strain than the abled capacity."

"Someone is obviously alive on the other side. I hope it's the Quarians." Scott murmured.

The door slowly hissed open granting Pathfinder Ryder and the squad to gain entrance into the commons area of the starship.

"Bosh'tet?! I thought I sealed that-" The sound of a male Quarian loudly shouted. A Quarian in a red-colored environmental suit quickly emerged from the hallway located directly to the right of the group. The male Quarian abruptly froze in a state of complete disbelief, "Keelah! You... you found us?!" The Quarian quickly motioned for the Pathfinder group closer, "Shut the door! The environmental systems are already having trouble keeping the oxygen levels up!"

Cora and Sky quickly stepped through the doorway and let the door quickly seal shut behind them.

Ryder approached the male Quarian directly and asked, "What happened here? I need a status report. Where is your Pathfinder?"

The Quarian shook his helmet and responded softly, "He's dead.. Our Sam was busted before the Pathfinder authority could be passed down."

Cora turned toward Ryder and murmured, "Ah, shit.. this is bad."

Scott agreed, "Without a Pathfinder or their Sam it might have made the journey a lot more difficult getting here." He quickly returned his attention onto the Quarian and earnestly asked, "Who is in charge?"

"I am and who the fuck are you?!" A female Quarian emerged from the bridge room and quickly stomped down the short stairwell. The slender Quarian was fully adorned in a green-colored environmental suit with a solid black silken half-cape draped down to the middle of her back. She suddenly froze to express a state of unseen surprise and gasped, "Holy shit! Humans?!"

The human Pathfinder glanced between the two different Quarians and suspiciously inquired, "Were you expecting someone else?"

The female Quarian approached and quickly shook her head, "No, no! We've had enough unexpected guests for the last six hundreds years. This is a nice surprise. For once."

"I'm Scott Ryder, the human Pathfinder from Ark Hyperion. We've got the cluster settled down, so, hopefully there won't be any surprises sprung on anyone... What happened here?"

"I'm Zeemi'yanya Ren'torai, Zeemi for short. This is Valinn." Zeemi explained in outburst, "Shit! Complete shit storm is what happened! It started with the Batarians and Vorcha stowing away on our Ark before we made departure. A lot of the Quarians were forced from their stasis pods by the fucking bastards! They brought aboard weapons and threatened to kill anyone. A six hundred year journey would still be the bad way to go if some of us tried to stay awake for that length of time... I was still in my stasis pod when the revolt happened. The others that were awakened fought back trying to keep things in order but one of the Bosh'tet Vorcha destroyed our SAM Node by ripping it apart. Pathfinder Rynon calmed things down between everyone by making the agreement for a trading system, like a lotto. Quarians traded years in the stasis pods with the Batarians and the Vorcha. Random years were drawn and traded so that we could reduce the aging process. Rynon gave the rest of his years so that a Vorcha child could live to see Andromeda... I've traded eight years of my life to a fucking Batarian."

Ryder and Cora together made gaped-surprised expressions.

The Lieutenant gently inquired with a nervous sound, "A lotto system? That's impossible. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to be awake for so many years. How did you guys manage to go for six hundred years?"

Zeemi displayed annoyance in her explanation, "Agreements were made that the children, with their mothers, were not to be selected into the random lotto. Only the fittest were meant to be selected... which means anyone who was sick or had a compromised immune system had to give up their stasis pods.. and put out of their misery." The Quarian clenched her hands into fists, trying to force herself into calm.

Scott narrowed his eyes as he demanded angrily, "WHO the fuck made that decision?!"

Valinn provided answer, "I did." He tiredly sighed and began to explain, "We were very limited on supplies and medicine. Feeding the weak and vulnerable would have cost our ration supplies.. This wasn't an easy choice but it was my responsibility to keep as many of us alive for as long as possible."

The human woman quipped in slight anger, "Couldn't there have been another way? That... That's just barbaric-"

Zeemi pointed an accusing finger toward the Lieutenant and snapped, "Don't you dare! Valinn has already been put through enough hell! I will not let you insult him!"

Valinn outstretched one of his hands to touch onto the female Quarian's shoulder and soothed, "Zeemi, it's alright. You don't need to defend this old man anymore. I'm ready to get off this ship.. One hundred years is too many long years to waste spatting about what I've done... My only wish now is to see the new galaxy we have risked our lives for."

Cora swiftly diffused the situation with a composed question, "What's the status on the other races? I believe that the Drell, Hanar, and Elcor were also brought onboard."

Zeemi had crossed her arms under her chest and muttered, "We left them out of the lotto. Our life supports systems had to be appropriately adjusted to sustain the Hanar in a stasis pod. Their pods would have been useless for a Vorcha or a Batarian to sleep in. Drell are lucky to live eighty five years, give or take. Some were awakened to join into the discussion for the years traded. Very few Drell volunteered and requested for the very minimum amount of years out of their stasis pods. The Elcor were very stubborn to give up any of their stasis pods."

Valinn gently injected, "We can finish this discussion for another time. We need to find safe harbor before all of the systems fail."

Pathfinder Ryder gave a nod, "Maybe my Sam can help patch up the systems. Where is your SAM Node?"

Valinn carefully whirled around and motioned the Pathfinder squad to follow through the darkened hallway toward the room where the SAM Node was located.

Zeemi followed in stride with the male Quarian and slowly shook her head, supplying a grim response, "SAM Node has been difficult to repair. We've devoted most of our time to regulate the stasis pods systems ourselves and do what we can to repair the Ark."

The group rounded the corner and came into the dimly red glowing room. Several Quarian figures, with few Batarians, stopped and directed their helmets into the direction of the group coming into the room.

"Keelah! We've been found!" One of the female Quarians exclaimed happily. A woman in a dark blue-colored environmental suit arose and quickly approached. "Zeemi! The distress signal worked! Oh, thank goodness. I was worried that those damn Bosh'tet would find us again!"

"Bosh'tet? What are you talking about? Those scorch marks on the sides of the Ark were caused from missiles and it's very likely they came from the Kett." Lieutenant Harper elaborated.

"Kett... I thought Bosh'tet was a more appropriate name for them." Zeemi muttered disgruntlement.

Scott announced, "I have a fleet of ships on standby. We'll get repair crews onboard and bring supplies. Sam, hail Captain Nozomi Dunn and let her know the situation."

"Right away, Pathfinder." Sam's robotic voice acknowledged.

Ryder returned his attention toward the battered SAM Node and made a deep sigh of relief, "We're bringing the Keelah Si'yah home."

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"The Vorcha and Batarians?! You've got to be kidding, Ryder." The projected image of Kandros stood next to the vid-com console.

The images of Director Tann and Director Addison were also included on either sides of the rounded console.

Foster shook her head and crossed her arms under her bust, "They had good reason for trying to get out of the Milky Way galaxy. Our Sam was able to defrag the transmitted frequency waves last received from the cluster. It's... bad.. very bad. The whole system had initiated an invasion attack... God damn it and there's nothing we can do to help them!"

Jarun quietly soothed, "There's nothing that we could have done or can do now. This happened six hundred years ago, remember? We can only hope that everyone in the Milky Way cluster survived. We'll have to set the concerns aside and turn our worries to the now. There's good news for everyone; we have the Quarians, Hanar, Drell, and Elcor amongst our Initiative. We must do what we can to offer them our support. It's hard to imagine the life long journey that they endured through Dark Space.. and without a Quarian Pathfinder to lead them."

"Ryder can nominate a new one." Director Addison offered suggestion, "He has that authority. However, whoever the Quarian Pathfinder is will be without a Sam for while until the Node has been repaired." Foster turned her head to look toward Scott's direction and added, "There's a lot of Quarians that are qualified for the job but it'll be up to you to choose one, Pathfinder Ryder."

Scott supplied diligently, "I've not had the chance to look over the dossiers but I'm kind of leaning toward Zeemi'yanya Ren'torai."

Addison injected with mockery sound, "You're kidding, right? She has the temper as bad as a Krogan!"

Kandros argued point, "She has the leadership skills that a Pathfinder needs and I believe that she is a valuable asset that the Quarians will need."

Jarun Tann nodded toward the human man, "It's like Director Addison said; Ryder has the authority to nominate the Quarian Pathfinder, so, I'm leaving this decision up to him. I have pressing matters to discuss with Pathfinder Ryder in private." The Salarian turned his head to glance between Tiran Kandros and Foster Addison with a serious look.

Kandros nodded and without objective response the Turian's projected image disappeared.

Addison quickly shook her head, softly sighing, "Addison out." The image of the human Director also blinked before vanishing from the vid-com room.

Scott diverted his full attention toward the Salarian Director, cocking a curious expression, and questioned, "What did you want to talk about in private, Director?"

"The matter of concern is about your recruit; Sky. I have yet to receive his medical profile information."

Pathfinder Ryder shrugged and responded warily, "I thought that medical profiles were restricted to patient and doctor confidentiality-"

"I have the authority to overrule medical officers and their medical protocols, Ryder. As far as I'm concerned Sky is still an alien that I feel that we cannot extend our full trust onto. I have the information in regards to the escape made from the Kett flagship, to the very detail that you explained in your own words, Ryder. The ability to mind control is NOT something that we should ignore! How do you know that he hasn't been influencing your thoughts?"

The human man shrugged again, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Good question but I think if Sky really wanted to control me he would have a while ago... And if he wanted the Pathfinder authority I'm sure he would have found a way to hack into Sam's systems to take it from me but he hasn't, so, I'm not sweating about it. Sky has also helped the crew in more ways than one. The Nanotechnology saved Drack's life... and he's really not that bad of a chef. I actually preferSky's cooking over Liam's and Vetra's.. ahem."

Jarun crossed his arms, one over the other, and raised one of his hands to rub the top of his head. He slowly shook his head and sighed, "Doctor T'Perro is very hyped about the idea to introduce Nanotechnology into our society but I cannot authorize it. There are still too many possible risks to stake and running experiments on live subjects... it'll bring more harm than good, even if Sky provides every detail of information that maintains control over the Nanotechnology. My concerns lie with the amount of possibilities if this technology is handed out to the wrong people. You should know THAT would be a very bad outcome, Ryder."

Scott slowly nodded agreement, "Yeah, I understand why now Sky isn't willing to share any of his medical information. The Nanotechnology is just the tip of whatever else he has reasons to hide."

"BOSH'TET! YOU FUCKING BOSH'TET!" Zeemi's voice shouted from below deck. The sound of Liam Kosta's voice rang out into thrilled laughter.

The Salarian Director narrowed his eyes and lowly grumbled, "So, that's your choice for the Quarian Pathfinder?" Jarun shook his head again and ordered, "Those medical files better be transferred to me before your arrival to the Nexus otherwise-"

"Otherwise?" Scott instigated with a coy demeanor.

Tann warned, "Don't test me, Ryder. I'll be waiting for the Tempest's arrival." The image of the Salarian rapidly faded leaving Scott alone in the meeting room.

Pathfinder Ryder grumbled silent curses, rolling his eyes, and started for the descending ramp. He swiftly jogged through the Research Room and passed through the cargo bay's entrance doorway. He slowed his pace as he came out onto the walking platform overlooking the bay and found Chief Engineer Gil Brody, the Asari gunslinger Peebee, the crisis-response operative Liam Kosta, the Angaran Resistance Lieutenant Jaal Ama Darav, and the enraged Quarian known as Zeemi gathered around a square-shaped crate pile posing as a makeshift table that was draped over with a tarp. The group were sitting upon crates pulled closely to the sides of the table and each person held a handful of cards. Both Gil and Liam were stripped down to their undergarments, the Asari's dark lavender jacket, gloves, boots, and pants had been removed, and Jaal's Rofjinn was placed onto the edge of the makeshift table.

Scott asked aloud, slowly raising a worried look, "What's going on? Do I.. even want to know?"

Liam half-turned and made a brief wave. He muttered in a slight embarrassment, "Oh, hey, Ryder! Just taking some down time. Hope you don't mind."

Jaal added, "We're smashing Gil's winning streak. I didn't know that Quarians were good Poker players."

Peebee gleamed a devious grin, "We should pin girls against boys! What do you think, Zeemi?"

Pathfinder Ryder expressed annoyance in his words, "What was the shouting all about?" He started around the walking platform toward the elevator.

Zeemi motioned to the silken black cape draped over the corner of the table and then pointed toward Gil's direction, "That fucking Bosh'tet actually beat me on the first round but I've been getting my revenge. The only thing left now is his underwear."

The human Pathfinder had come up behind the group and quickly injected, "Not to be a kill-joy but I'm going to have to end this. We're going to be prepping for the Nexus soon, guys. I can't have a half-naked crew representing the Pathfinder squad in their full glory. Birthday-suits are not fashionable enough when welcoming the rest of the alien species from the Milky Way."

Gil provided a candid response, "Representing just the Pathfinder, you mean. You just don't want be embarrassed, Ryder." He slyly winked.

Scott crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes into a furrowed look focused directly upon the Chief Engineer.

Gil Brody sighed defeat, setting down the handful of cards onto the makeshift table, and gathered up his belongings that rested on the crate next to him. "Alright, alright. You're the boss. I guess I should start setting a better example before Meri and Dian come into the world."

The Quarian gathered up the silken half-cape and refastened it onto the backside of her suit. She asked in confused tone, "Who is Meri and Dian?"

Pathfinder Ryder dropped his arms to his sides, turning away from the group, and started across the cargo bay toward one of the sealed doors.

Liam's voice supplied answer from behind, "Oh? That's right. You don't know yet. Gil here is going to be a dad. Twins, right?"

Scott Ryder began his traverse through the long corridor on direct route for the bridge. He asked aloud, "Sam, how is the Keelah Si'yah holding up"

"The Quarian Ark Keelah Si'yah is in working order thanks to the aided efforts of Sky installing the Nanotechnology into repairing the starship's systems. The Quarian SAM Node is seventy-percent recovered. We are almost upon the Zheng He System." The robotic voice of Sam calmly replied.

The human man turned to one of the ladder wells and started the climb to the upper level. Scott made further inquiries, "Were you able to recover any more transmissions relayed from the Milky Way from the SAM Node?" Scott's voice turned down to a softened worried-tone in his asking, "I know it's been six hundred years but... is everyone doing alright?"

"Commander Shepard has taken charge to find a way to stop the sentient beings known as Reapers. The transmissions have informed that there was discovery for a blue print of a Prothean device found within the Mars Research Facility. The Prothean artifact was speculated to winning the odds in the war against the Reapers when the sentient life forms invaded fifty thousand years ago when the Prothean empire was at its peak, however, the construction of the artifact could not be finished in time for the Protheans to activate it."

Scott observed under his breath, "That might explain the main reason why the Protheans were wiped out.. They might not have had enough time to finish the project."

Sam continued, "Admiral Steven Hackett has initiated the begin works of constructing the device. This is as much information that I was able to extract from the Quarian SAM Node. Once the reconstruction has been made complete there may be more transmissions that it has received."

Ryder had made the ascend onto the upper deck and swiftly turned for the doorway leading into the bridge. He whispered in hopeful sound, "Keep me informed, Sam. I need to know if Commander Shepard had succeeded in the fight against the Reapers."