(*Disclaimer: FYI: The place where this chapter takes place is directly Northeast of Kadara Slums in the narrowed passage that is inaccessible to reach in gameplay. There is also an alternative conversation to this chapter, if Ryder did not romance Vetra, in Chapter 23 - Alternative*)

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Scott Ryder put the modified Nomad vehicle through its paces by traveling directly eastbound from the location of the city under Kadara's port, gradually turning the vehicle to follow the trail leading north. The all-terrain vehicle began the steady climb up the small steep slope that came under the shadow of one of the grand standing mountains.

The serene silence was abruptly broken by the Asari's voice rising up from the backseat, "I'm curious to know; why didn't we get a vehicle with weapons? Wouldn't it be a lot easier to blow up bad guys instead of climbing out every time to shoot at them?"

Vetra's low growling voice expressed annoyance as she firmly demanded, "Did we have to bring her?"

The Asari gunslinger offered protest from the rear seat, "What about me, Vetra? What about you? Why did you have to come along?"

The female Turian scornfully quipped, "That's SO mature, Peebee. For your information, Scott asked me to. Not because I'm his girlfriend, of course. That's beside the point. You should feel lucky that he wasted the second spot just for you."

Peebee quipped sarcastically, "Ha, funny, Vetra. If I had known that you had such a dry sense of humor I think a Drell would have found that funny."

Both of Scott's hands firmly clenched onto the steering wheel causing his unseen knuckles to become white, while gritting his teeth, and having the feel of a throbbing vein slowly protruding out from the side of his head.

"Are you two finished or do I need to pull over?"

Vetra Nyx half-turned in her seat and glared at the Asari, answering with a scolding tone, "Don't worry, Scott, We're finished."

Peebee smirked slyly, "Wait- does that mean you and Ryder are breaking up? I even got that on a recording!"

"Fuck you, Peebee. Did you get that on the recording?"

The Asari gleefully chuckled, "I sure did, Vetra. Thanks! I think I'll put that phrase to good use."

Scott narrowed his eyes, supplying his agitation, "That's it- I'm pulling over! You two can WALK home!"

Peebee contorted one of her eyebrows into a questionable expression while offering a mocking tone, "You're joking, right?"

The transmission receiver speakers spiked with the crackling of an urgent-sounding voice, "They ha-... -inforcements... surround... send the mes-.. for help.."

Ryder dropped his boot down onto the breaking pad bringing the Nomad to a complete stop. The human man regained military form to ask out loud, "This was Reyes' last known coordinates. Vetra, can you make anything out of that message?"

The Turian mercenary raised up both arms in front of her chest armor, crossing her right arm over to the other to ignite the orange light from her Omni-tool to appear and began drumming her fingers across the hologram's surface. Vetra announced with reformed composure, "I'm trying to boost the signal. It's an emergency relay. His group is getting pinned down by the Roekaar- it looks like it might have been a trap set up after Jyarra escaped. We're heading into the right direction if we continue to follow the transmission's frequency."

The Pathfinder released the breaking system before hard stomping the flat of his boot onto the acceleration pedal compelling the vehicle into a swift dive from the top of the slope into the small clearing within the terrain of rock. The Nomad followed the trail gradually rounding into the northwest direction which contoured into another steady incline. The vehicle deterred from the trail going directly north off of the path toward a formation of rock consisted of a short climb for the modified Nomad vehicle to make an ascent. The tires' tread compressed their grip down onto the roughened surface as the Nomad began the climb over the composition of rock bringing the Pathfinder squad into the direction of an enclosed gaping valley between high-standing mountains. The narrowed valley was filled with the exchange of red-glowing bullets zipping from all different directions. Angaran figures stood upon a network of walking platforms that were raised high above the battlefield and firmly set into the rock faces of the stone mountains. The sniping positions followed along on both sides of the boxed-in canyon while providing the vantage points for Angaran snipers to easily pick off ground targets.

Pathfinder Ryder announced command, "We gotta get in there and find Reyes." Scott briefly shifted his eyes down onto his left arm, glancing upon the long dark silver bracer attached onto his armor between his wrist and elbow. A wide black circle lay in the center of the silver metal with an inner circle that glowed bright green.

The Nomad lined approach for the narrowed valley, swiftly zipping down the steep rock, and charged toward the fray of the gunfight. Scott strongly turned the steering wheel to make a sharp spin and quickly stomped onto the breaking pedal. The Nomad's shielding affects rapidly appeared over the vehicle, providing a brief protective barrier over the Pathfinder squad as they hurriedly climbed out of the vehicle to join the skirmish.

Scott gripped the handgun into one of his hands in his charge forward, bounding over the fallen bodies of Collective members, outpost militia, and Angaran alike, to rush toward the tail end of the battle. Pathfinder Ryder pressed forward drawing closer into the sounds of rapid gunfire exchanging between the different factions. He sighted the spray of red blood scattering into the air as a humanoid figure was struck through by a searing bullet. The man collapsed onto the ground, immediately convulsing with the dying shakes. The glowing rainfall of bullets started toward the squad's direction, Scott quickly dashed behind one of the boulders that offered as a form of cover, pressing his backside into the large rock, and quickly glanced toward the Pathfinder squad following up to huddle closely behind the enlarged boulder.

The Asari's voice exclaimed, "Ryder! The snipers are shooting at us!" Peebee added warning, "We're not going to make it if we can't take them down!"

Ryder shifted a narrowed gaze toward Peebee and retort, "We'll have to strafe around to avoid their gunfire! We need to get in closer and try to locate Reyes!" The human Pathfinder stepped out, swiftly returning forward, and made for another dash forward. Another spray of deadly projectiles rained down upon the squad and had quickly broke through Ryder's shielding systems. Scott used the jet thruster propulsion to swiftly strafe in a zig-zag advancement and quickly raced forward to take cover behind a disable Initiative vehicle. He whirled around, pressing his backside against the exterior hull of the shambled vehicle and whipped his helmet's direction toward the female Turian whom had remained behind.

Vetra Nyx momentarily stepped out from behind the boulder and shouted out, "I can't get in any closer! They're locking us down!" She quickly dipped back to avoid the singe of a bullet from cutting through the orange glowing shielding matrix.

Ryder knelt down to one knee, raising his left arm to bring the dark silver plate bracer closer toward his helmet's faceplate and loudly demanded, "Sky, we've got snipers out of our range. We're getting pinned down! Do you have something that I can use from this thing?"

Sky's voice received over the communication transponder, "The Tri'sar Energy Bracer amplifies your abilities and also includes a shielding boost system for the entire squad. There are weapon modifications that can extend onto your currently equipped weapon converting the ammunition into a Tri'sar-plas'conic energy signature. Be warned, this type of energy was created by the Ethar-Juson and has a highly impactful force that will erupt into a wide radius shockwave. The energy beam is very lethal upon living lifeforms. I recommend not using it for close-ranged combat."

Ryder acknowledged, "Good to know. How do I activate that shield boost?" He quickly lifted his helmet to look up to the faint silver glow of a transparent shield suddenly appearing into a spherical shape around him. He shifted his sight toward the blue Asari and the Turian mercenary whom both received the similar protection affects. The human man returned his attention onto the silver bracer igniting a circular-shaped green holographic glow above his arm and displayed an array of different weapon modifications. Scott selected the ranged refit.

The dark silver plate rapidly molded into a liquid form to swiftly crawl over the Pathfinder's armor to consume the handgun under molten metal and reformed the firearm's shape into an extended barrel, including a modified scope that briefly glowed with green lines racing over the dark silver metal. Scott's body was under the full affects of the enhanced shield boost protecting him from the flying projectiles and enabling him to swiftly regain into a standing posture. Ryder lifted the altered firearm to view through the scope peering through an infrared sighting that blackened out all of the surrounding terrain and lighted up the living targets. The scope's incredible sight seemingly brought the targeted Roekaar sniper to appear within a ten foot proximity range and displayed the every detail of the Angara's armor. Ryder locked down his finger onto the trigger suddenly releasing a green-glowing beam of light to sear through the air and struck upon the layer of the Angara's shields. The human Pathfinder quickly lowered the weapon to watch an invisible bubble suddenly become enlarged into a spherical distortion in midair, rapidly shifting its shape into an implosion before erupting into a vast shockwave that suddenly expanded within the narrow girth of the towering mountains. The silent shockwave caused both of the mountains' tops to shudder, stirring boulders and rocks to thunderously tumble down into the valley. The shockwave's devastating blast suddenly pried the sniping platforms out of the solid rock, the condense of pressure forcibly shred apart the metal into splintered shards. The Angaran snipers that were within the shockwave's radius were instantly disintegrated, becoming reduced down into large gobs of blood and falling like a sudden red rainfall into the valley below.

The surprised exclaim hailed from one of the human mercenaries, "HOLY FUCK! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

Scott quickly moved his finger away from the trigger and shared the same shock factor, "WOW! Someone remind me not to piss Sky off! Now I understand why he refused to use these type of weapons." He lifted his left arm to ignite the green glowing circle above his bracer and switched off the sniper's refit. After the dark silver metal returned to solid form upon the Pathfinder's armor Scott gripped the handgun into both hands.

Vetra roughly swallowed, prior making the anxious-sounding statement, "Yes, let's actually avoid using them, Scott. That's dangerous shit!"

The Asari gunslinger inquired eagerly, "If you don't want it, Ryder, can I have it instead?"

Pathfinder Ryder snapped, "HELL NO, Peebee!" Scott swiftly moved away from cover position and raced around the broken down vehicle into a hasty charge forward coming into an area where the Collective and outpost military forces were gathered together behind obstacles that provided protection from the Roekaar's barrage of weapon fire.

One of the human feminine figures in white and dark blue-colored armor suits whirled around, diverting her attention onto Scott and proclaimed, "Pathfinder Ryder! Holy fuck! You're here! Were you the one who made that shot? It was fucking intense! Thanks for taking out those God-damned snipers!"

Ryder quickly ducked down behind the tall-standing obstacle with the military trained soldier. He began in realization, "I remember you; you made the call when the Roekaar and Outcasts attacked Kadara's port."

The Initiative officer responded with a force-composed Scottish accent, "Yeah, I'm Lieutenant Terris Sanders from outpost Grace. I still owe you that round of drinks."

Pathfinder Ryder inquired, "Outpost Grace?"

Terris supplied diligent response, "The windmill facility. We upped its defenses and established it into an outpost. It's a whole hell lot bigger now, Pathfinder."

Scott injected command, "What's the situation down here, Lieutenant?"

The Lieutenant responded angrily, "These fucking Roekaar are the situation, Ryder! That bitch Jyarra took out some damned good soldiers in our attempt to apprehend her! Those snipers were the main concern of our problems. I have several wounded, a list of more dead than living, and who the fuck knows how many more Roekaar! If you can pull off another one of your amazing stunts then I'll owe you two rounds."

Vetra Nyx added into the list of questions, "Where's Reyes?"

Lieutenant Sanders quickly shook her helmet, "He's not on the list of dead if that answers your question. Other than that, I have no idea."

Ryder gratefully nodded toward Terris, "Thanks for the info, Lieutenant. Get your wounded out of here!" The Pathfinder acknowledged the orders to the squad, "We're moving forward! Let's go!" Scott Ryder stepped out from behind the obstacle and dashed around to continue through the battlefield. Several red glowing strings of bullets abruptly hissed as they struck upon the silver barrier and evaporated. Ryder caught glimpse of a male Angaran figure stepping out from his hiding place with an assault rifle's barrel targeting into the human man's path. Scott firmly gripped the stock of the handgun into his right hand, clenching his left hand into a fist, and ignited the brightly Biotic blue glow of a Vanguard Charge to slam his left shoulder into the Roekaar warrior. The body slam compelled the Angara to be thrown through the air, flailing his limbs wildly about. The timing enabled Ryder the opportunity to launch the Shockwave ability to swiftly follow after the thrown Angara. The Shockwave's energy force had expelled out a greater glowing affect suddenly seizing the Angara's body into an eruption of exploding blue light that rapidly faded and left a spray of blood to splatter upon the ground.

Vetra took a step beyond the Pathfinder's peripheral view and gaped into surprise, "Spirits! Scott, what the hell-" The Turian wheeled onto a small group of Roekaar quickly stepping out to surround the Pathfinder squad.

Ryder shouted, "GET BACK, VETRA!"

Both the female Turian and Peebee dipped back behind cover prior Scott's motions to thrust his clenched hand into the air above his head before dropping down his fist to the ground igniting a vibrant blue glowing circular force of energy surrounding the human man. The enhanced Biotic Shockwave rapidly expanded with thrashing waves of light, quickly ripping through both the shielding and the armors of the Roekaar forces, and wildly flung the small group of Angara outward from the point of the impact. The armor sets immediately deteriorated and left the Angarans' bodies to rupture into spews of spraying blood.

Scott stood upright into a standing posture, slowly stepping back while expressing a bewildered look under his helmet's visor and softly whispered astonishment, "Whoa! Too bad Drack isn't here to see how cool this is! He might put in a requisition order from Sky to get one of these bracers."

The sound of gun blasts sounded all around forcibly compelling Pathfinder Ryder to regain his battle senses. Pathfinder Ryder diverted into the direction for the battlefront and continued to press forward into the gunfight. Scott gripped the handgun into both hands, slowing his pace to a steady approach, and lifted the scope's sight upon an unsuspecting Angaran figure knelt down behind a large rock. The human Pathfinder quickly popped a bullet to cut through the shielding and armor layers into the back of the Angaran's helmet. After making the kill shot the Angara collapsed into a lifeless heap upon the ground. Scott whirled around diverting the point of the barrel toward another Angaran emerging upright into a standing posture, the Pathfinder triggered both his index and middle finger together to unload a round of bullets that clashed upon the Angaran's shielding systems before breaking through to the armor. The Roekaar stumbled backwards to fall onto her backside and relapsed into a convulsion of the dying shakes.

The Turian mercenary unloaded several blasts from her favored assault rifle and momentarily ceased fire to shout, "INCOMING EIROCH!"

Scott loudly cursed, "AH, FUCK! I hate those things! Sky, I need something to stop a BIG ugly beasty!"

Sky's voice responded through the squad's broadcast transponder, "The Tri'sar Energy Bracer has augmentations that can be shared between squad members to enhance ammunition capabilities, however, the shielding systems will not be functional while more than one augment is activated."

The massive large blue wild animal charged in and reared up its large protruding horns toward the squad. The Pathfinder group propelled with their jetpacks to quickly dash out of the way.

Scott hastily dived for cover behind a large rock and yelled, "KEEP IT BUSY WHILE I FIGURE THIS OUT!"

"Easy for you to say! You're the one who has the cool toys, Ryder!" Peebee's voice quipped as the blue Asari briskly strafed around to the creature's backside while unloading a few bullets into the thick blue hide.

The bright green glowing circle hovered above Pathfinder Ryder's arm and displayed its holographic interface allowing Scott to choose from an array of augmentations. The transparent silver glowing shields rapidly dimmed down from around each squad member.

"Wow, I have no idea what these will do but why the hell not? Let's give them a go! Hey, Vetra, would you like to try this Tri'sar-plas-whatever thing?"

The female Turian quipped impatiently, "I told you we should AVOID using it!"

"Fine.." Scott grumbled and called out to the Asari, "Peebee, you get to be the Guinea pig!" Ryder selected the augmentation refit to equip onto the Asari's firearm.

Peebee glimpsed upon her handgun suddenly becoming enveloped under a bright green glow. She lifted the point of the gun, taking a random aim upon the beast's large body, and pulled down the trigger. The modified weapon's barrel suddenly released a single stream of green light to zip through the air and penetrated through the Eiroch's thick hide. The similar bubbling affect appeared into a smaller-sized spherical distortion around the Eiroch's body. Bright blue flesh was ripped from muscle tissue with dense gobs of blood quickly being vacuumed into the implosion that also impacted a crushing force to splinter and break the Eiroch's large bones, pulling in the bone fragments, including innards, into the tall-standing bubble. A brief shockwave compelled out after the distortion bubble's eruption. The distortion's force suddenly knocked Peebee's body several feet back and instantly dropped the Asari onto the ground.

Vetra shouted, "PEEBEE!"

The Asari lightly shuddered as she regained into a wobbling standing posture. Peebee shook her head, composing herself, and out loudly exclaimed, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" The Asari gunslinger whirled her direction toward Scott and delightfully demanded, "I WANT to keep this, Ryder!"

The Turian firmly proclaimed, "NO! There's NO fucking way that we're keeping something like this!" Vetra turned her narrowed head toward the human Pathfinder and offered objection, "Scott, we can't keep this tech- we hardly know anything about it or how to operate it!"

The Asari broadly smirked, providing a mocked retort, "Pfft, what are you talking about, Vetra? Sky practically gave it to us! What's the harm in making target practice out of the people who are trying to kill us? Now I'm really curious.. we HAVE to try it on the Kett next!"

Pathfinder Ryder caught sight of the Roekaar forces moving forward onto the squad's position, quickly diverting his attention onto the opposing units, and injected his scornful tone, "Let's focus on the task at hand, Peebee."

The Angaran group fanned out into different directions seeking cover behind fallen boulders while few gathered near a dismantled vehicle. Scott firmly gripped the handgun into both hands, steadying his aim to pick off a shot at one of the rising Angaran Roekaar that emerged from its hiding place. The deadly projectile landed a headshot, alternatively, forcing the Roekaar's body to drop and disappear behind its form of cover. Ryder marked the scope's sight onto the next Roekaar warrior, pulling down both fingers down onto the trigger, and watched the red-colored trail zip passed the Roekaar's wide helmet as the figure side-stepped away to narrowly avoid the propelling round. Scott quickly dipped down to one knee seeking safety behind an empty ammunition crate which provided protection from the barrage of glowing bullets swiftly turning onto him.

Vetra Nyx stepped out from the obstacle she had chosen for protection, swiftly locking aim onto an opponent that stood within range, and released a series of projectile slugs to scatter and quickly broke through the Roekaar's shielding system impacting through to the armored layer.

The Asari gunslinger pin-pointed a fatal shot through the Angara's exposed throat, expelling out a spray of blood from the backside of the opponent's neck. The Roekaar dropped his weapon and raised both of his hands to cover the bleeding out hole in his neck. The Angara's voice had become replaced with gurgles in his struggle to take in a breath of air. A bullet hole was next placed into the middle of the Roekaar's helmet permitting the male Angara to have a quick death. The body toppled over into a motionless heap upon the ground with thick drizzles of blood rapidly oozing over the rough surface of rock lying under the Roekaar's head.

The human man moved into a hunched forward motion, racing out from behind the crate in order to quickly stand into an upright stance. Ryder swayed one of his hands away from the stock of the small firearm and flung a brightly glowing Biotic Shockwave that spontaneously overwhelmed the remaining Roekaar figures into an eruption of blinding blue light. The powerful impact ruptured the shielding and armoring systems before the Angarans' bodies were forcefully pitched from their placements to land several yards away into motionless heaps.

Pathfinder Ryder and squad momentarily scouted around the perimeters in search for any hidden Roekaar survivors. The team proceeded forward in haste through the remainder of the narrowed valley to finally come upon an dead end area between the mountains. The rock-covered terrain was filled with Initiative-issued weapon crates, ammunition boxes, and survival equipment. To the left, a very steep incline was covered in loose crumbled rocks that appeared as a risky climb for the Nomad vehicle. Located on the squad's right the formation of a cave mouth opened up into an unexplored landscape that lay beyond at the other end of the short distance tunnel. The Pathfinder group directed a swift cautious approach into the gaping mouth of the cavern, points of the gun barrels raised and stocks steadily gripped. A shadow cast over the small unit. The sound of weaponry gears loudly clicked all around the Pathfinder squad.

Vetra whirled around and muttered under her breath, "Shit.."

Scott abruptly stopped, lowering the gun's point toward the ground, turning his head from side-to-side to glance over the many Roekaar figures emerging from their hiding places and quickly surrounding the Pathfinder group.

A male Angaran's voice commanded with a cold disposition, "Drop your weapons!"

Ryder very slowly raised his free hand into the air to signify the surrendering gesture and slowly bent down at the knees to set down the handgun onto the stone ground. Both Peebee and the female Turian followed the human man's motions by setting down their weapons at their feet. Scott gradually regained an upright stature and returned his head forward to set his sight upon the female Angara fully clad in dark green armor coming forward from the light of day to join Scott under the shroud of the cave.

Jyarra's dark blue lips curled into a wide grin, "We meet again, Pathfinder." The female Angara briefly half-turned away, grabbing a figure from the Roekaar that followed at her heels, and quickly returned forward bringing a humanoid figure staggering forward to drop onto his knees in front of the Roekaar resistance leader.

Scott distinguished the human man's appearance under the bloodied and bruised marks across his deeply tanned face and had taken immediate notice of dried trails of blood under the left eyelid. The Initiative Pathfinder exclaimed, "Reyes!"

Reyes Vidal's arms were bound behind his back while he was forced to stand upright on his knees as Jyarra held him steadfast by a handful of his black hair in the grip of her fist.

Jyarra displayed coy demeanor, "Is this what you're looking for? Well, in the great anticipation for your arrival I took the pleasure of keeping him entertained. He doesn't scream much but after gouging out one of his eyes I was able to break the silence."

Vetra Nyx quipped angrily, "You're not proving yourself any better than what the Kett have done to your people, Jyarra!"

The Roekaar turned her glare onto Vetra, "I'm not trying to prove a point, Turian. I'm eradicating the pests that have invaded Jave Jarevaon."

The human man argued with a hint of sarcasm, "What about the Jardaan? You're not exactly setting the greatest example.."

Jyarra responded with dismissal, "The Jardaan are dead, human. Their ideals and beliefs are no longer ours to follow. What they have built for us was meant to be ours. We, the Angaran people, were created to make our own destiny which does not include the Jarevaon Imasaf's affairs. You have portrayed a very good deceiver, human, but I'm not so easily fooled." The female Angara pulled out a handgun from its holster and jabbed the gun's point into Reyes' temple.

Scott quickly injected "Wait!"

Jyarra grimaced an annoyed look, her smooth lips curling into a disapproving frown.

"What do you wish to bore me with now?"

The human Pathfinder, lowered both of his arms to his sides, taking a bold step forward and proclaimed, "It doesn't have to be like this, Jyarra. Think of what has been accomplished for the Andromeda galaxy since the Initiative has arrived. The Kett numbers have been reduced down and the planets are viable for not only the Angara but for everyone.. all thanks to yours truly.. The Archon is gone but we continue to be faced with a common enemy- the Kett. The Primus is in the spotlight now which means this war is not yet over."

Jyarra rolled her eyes in a display of carelessness and provided a snide remark, "I should thank you for the efforts but the reward appraisal would be wasted on the likes of an unwanted pest." The Roekaar leader directed the point of the barrel toward Pathfinder Ryder's direction. Jyarra suddenly gripped her finger tightly around the trigger.

Scott was abruptly shoved out of the way by one of the Roekaar figures that took the place of the human man and accepted the flying bullet. The male Roekaar planted both of his hands onto his side where the sting of the projectile had seeped through his dark blue-colored armor and embedded into his skin.

The unknown Angara grunted in discomforting sound as he gradually dropped down onto his knees.

Jyarra demanded, "What the hell are you doing?!"

The male Roekaar supplied bitterly, "Creating a diversion you Skkuten bitch! Stop her, Ryder!"

The Angaran group came up from behind the Pathfinder squad, raising their rifles up to the Roekaar resistance leader. Scott, Vetra, and Peebee quickly reclaimed their weapons and returned their attention toward the female Angara.

Jyarra expressed an enraged shrill, "HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME! KILL THEM!" The Roekaar released Reyes' dark hair, forcefully kicking him in the back, and compelled the human to suddenly drop front side down onto the hard surface of stone.

The allied Angaran group turned against the Roekaar forces and unleashed the exchange of flying bullets. The small cavern became filled with the red glowing strings of projectiles. The covert Angaran force pressed aggressively forward, pushing the Roekaar back, and made approach for Reyes' fallen body. One of the Angara carefully scooped the unconscious human's body up and hurried out of the fray of the gunfight.

Scott, with the Pathfinder team, aided in the effort to brace the wounded Angara onto his feet and rushed together for cover behind one of the stalagmite pillars. Ryder carefully brought the male Angara to sit and rest his backside against one of the rock formations.

The Turian mercenary inquired in earnest sound, "Are you alright?"

The male Angara nodded his helmet, softly expelling a grunting reply, "I'll be fine.. I've had far worse inflictions than a bullet wound." He turned his helmet's direction up to Scott, "Tava says hello, by the way, Ryder."

Pathfinder Ryder's eyebrows lifted into showing his wide surprise through his visor and inquisitively demanded, "Pravalo?! Is that you?"

Pravalo slowly raised both of his hands to either sides of his head and removed the helmet. A dark red material had taken place over his missing eye. The Angara's smooth green lips curled into a smirk, "It's good to see you again, Ryder. Although, this probably isn't the best circumstance but I suppose being held up together in a Kett prison cell wasn't any better."

The human Pathfinder smirked and stated, "Looks like my irresistible charm might have rubbed off onto you.. I forgot to warn you it's contagious. Sky's become immune to it."

Pravalo offered a light chuckle and responded, "I'll give you the details of my heroic deeds once we're in the clear. Right now the others may need your help."

Scott responded with a nod, "Just sit tight, Pravalo. We'll take care of this."

Vetra quickly injected warning sound, "Scott, you shouldn't use your abilities here! The Angaran might get caught into the crossfire!"

Pathfinder Ryder stood up, exposing his torso above the rock formation's coverage, and swiftly steadied his aim toward the Roekaar resistance leader whom had disappeared out of the handgun's scope sight. Scott glanced between the opposition forces, depicting the Roekaar from the allied Angaran group, and took the shot upon one of the Roekaar pin-pointing a bullet hole through the helmet's center. The Initiative Pathfinder locked down the next target and unloaded a single shot that instantly broke through the protective barriers landing a perfect headshot. He glanced from the corner of his eyes to witness the Asari gunslinger zipping out from her cover placement immediately taking a stance at point blank range to unload a few firing rounds into her chosen target's chest.

Peebee ignited the orange glow of the Omni-blade on her left arm and swiftly swayed the glowing weapon into an upward arc, quickly turning herself around into a single spin, followed by a lunge attack. The transparent blade steeped through the Angaran-fashioned battle armor landing the final blow that dropped the Roekaar into a forming pool of its own blood.

Vetra weighed her foot down onto the chest of one of the fallen Roekaar and triggered a kill shot slug into the wide helmet. The female Turian dropped her foot onto solid ground and lifted the point of the gun's barrel toward the ceiling.

"I think that's the last of them." Vetra turned her head to look upon Scott with the sound of a relieved growling sigh.

One of the allied Angara motioned toward the other end of the cave's short tunnel, "Jyarra! She has escaped! We need to go after her!"

Scott lifted the point of his weapon toward the ceiling in the grip of his right hand and began the race toward the stone landscape bathed under sunlight. Once Scott had come out of the cave's shadow the female Angaran figure had suddenly body slammed into the human man to topple him over onto the hard ground. Pathfinder Ryder had lost grip of the handgun's stock as he was forced upon his backside.

Jyarra had placed her full weight upon Ryder's chest by sitting upright on his armor. The enraged Roekaar raised a triangular-shaped knife and prepared to thrust the sharpened blade.

The human Pathfinder's reflexes were swift to raise both arms and braced his hands' grips under the Roekaar's wrists to prevent the deadly blade's point making its mark. Scott resisted against Jyarra's strength, gritting his teeth while in the forceful struggle.

Jyarra balanced her weight, leaning slightly forward in the attempt to push against the human man's strength. She bared her clenched teeth and growled angrily, "You will DIE, human!" Fiery hatred seemingly glowed in her starry eyes as she grimaced bitter rage in her glaring expression.

Scott made the advantage by suddenly dropping down the flat of his boots upon the ground, compelling his body to briefly lift up, which had caused sway in the Roekaar's propped position forcing her into unbalanced composure and suddenly tugged both of his arms over his head to throw Jyarra's body overhead. Ryder quickly rolled over onto his front side to brace his hands upon the ground to swiftly prop himself into a standing position.

Jyarra had also regained into an upright stance and had whirled around to face Ryder. She stepped forward, swinging the blade into a downward arc that Scott easily stepped back to avoid, however, wasn't provided ample time to dodge the second strike. Jyarra had suddenly flicked the attack into an upward strike slashing a deep cut across Ryder's crafted armor plate.

The human Pathfinder counter attacked by swinging his fist that was abruptly parried by Jyarra's raised arm to defend the blow aimed for the side of her head.

The Roekaar aimed for another slash but was swiftly blocked by Scott's left arm. The dark silver metal rapidly crawled over the Angaran-fashioned blade and instantly consumed the deadly knife.

Jyarra began to question with surprise, "What the-"

Scott whirled into a spin kick, extending out one of his strong legs to kick the Angara's legs out from under her.

The Roekaar was caught into a bewildered state as she was suddenly dropped onto her backside and quickly raged into a coughing fit from the impact of having the air knocked out of her lungs.

The human man pulled out the second firearm and aimed the barrel point toward the Angaran's wide head. Scott stated firm order, "Stand down, Jyarra!"

Jyarra had rolled over onto her side, quickly regaining herself, and slowly peeled her smooth eyelids open. She slowly turned her head to look up to the Pathfinder with a glaring look.

"Kill me then, human. Just as you have killed the others who have followed the Roekaar cause."

Scott protested slight sarcasm, "Look, the Roekaar haven't really left the option open for me to not want to shoot back. In my defense, I don't like dying.. it's easy to do but who else is going to run the Pathfinder babysitting service?"

The squad mates cautiously approached and stood over view of the Roekaar resistance leader.

Vetra stared the Angara down with a narrowed look and brought into question, "What are we going to do with her, Scott?"

Peebee piped up, "Throwing her in a jail cell obviously doesn't work, she'll just escape again."

The voice of the artificial intelligence transmitted over the Pathfinder squad's broadcast, "May I suggest placing Jyarra Vonx into the custody of the Angaran Resistance."

Scott announced his excitement, "SAM! You're alright! It's good to have you back!"

Sam calmly responded in gratitude, "Your concern is appreciated, Pathfinder." The artificial intelligence continued into explanation, "I have completed the process of running the defragment diagnostics and have sent the results to your private terminal. During the progress of system scans, Sky initialized a direct uplink into my systems to eradicate the worm virus that had integrated into my software."

"A worm? How did you get a worm virus, Sam?"

The calm robotic voice supplied, "Unknown. The implication of this virus being installed into my network without detection is of great concern. The virus program could have possibly been developed by Kathrine Nigh or another who has accepted the succession to lead the Anti-AI revolution. However, there is little confirmation to prove this hypothesis. Sky has put in the request to receive the Pathfinder's authority to install a firewall program that will enable prevention from all sources of interference frequency waves and protect my software systems from future possible virus attacks. There will also be included a tracer program to track invading programs. If another virus should attempt to integrate into my systems there will be a trail to follow."

The Pathfinder holstered the firearm and stepped back to allow the Angaran forces to gather around Jyarra and bind her arms behind her back. The female Roekaar leader shot a deathly glare onto the human man, sneering lowly with a wicked smirk crossing her lips, "This isn't over, human." She was soon guided away with gun points.

Scott offered no regard for a comment and instead answered the artificial intelligence, "Yes, send Sky my approval. We cannot risk losing you, Sam, otherwise we'll have bigger problems than dealing with a simple lighting malfunction. I'd very much like to keep the oxygen vent flowing, if you know what I mean." Pathfinder Ryder turned his head onto the two male Angarans that approached.

Pravalo had an arm slung over a comrade's shoulders in providing the supported leverage for the dark green Angara to balance his wobbly stature. The corners of Pravalo's dark green lips formed into a small smile in his statement, "I owe you an explanation, Ryder.."

Scott removed his helmet and rested it under one of his arms. The human Pathfinder broadly smirked, "I'm very surprised to see you here, Pravalo, but I'm also very glad."

Pravalo B'shond expressed a generous smile, "Tava was right to have trusted you, Ryder. You saved our lives and.. I never properly thanked you and Sky for it." Pravalo's smile slowly dimmed, "However, I must disagree the idea of Jyarra being placed into the custody of the Resistance. My comrades and I agree that Akksul would certainly be the best choice for Jyarra to go to. His admonition has helped us to turn from the Roekaar's hateful ways and he has asked that we offer our assistance to help others that continue to follow in the cause. We were undercover in order to join Jyarra's band trying to find a way to reach out to the new recruited Roekaar to bring Akksul's reason to them.."

Vetra Nyx shook her head and respectfully objected, "You can't cure crazy, the only option would be putting a bullet between the eyes."

Pravalo nodded agreement with the female Turian but politely quipped, "As easy remedy as that is, Jyarra's hateful influence has left a mark and the only solution to stop it from spreading further would provide her the chance to change. In doing so, she may be able to share Akksul's wisdom to the few remaining Roekaar." Pravalo returned his attention onto Scott and injected, "Akksul wanted to extend his thanks to Jaal and to you, Ryder."

Scott cocked his eyebrow into a curious manner, "Me? I don't understand.. I'm kind of the reason why he had fallen from grace as the Roekaar founder in the first place."

Pravalo smiled again, "The answer would be best provided by Akksul himself. I'll give you the coordinates.." The dark green Angaran lowered his voice into the sound of reluctance, "And.. Tava wants to see you.."

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(*Disclaimer: edited Fiend to Eiroch. Edited 9/15/2017*)