"INTRUDERS! IT'S THE PATHFINDER!" The rumbling shout of a surprised Krogan beckoned abruptly allowing his voice to be carried throughout the wide span of the gigantic stalactite cave that had, in turn, raised for an alarm that quickly traversed through the lengths of the surrounding hollow tunnels. The group of Jorgal forces promptly gained battle composure, preparing weapons, and taking up stances behind the scattered piles of stacked crates and large storage containers.
The heat of combat had begun with the echoing sound of bursting projectile slugs audibly erupting from the barrels of Krogan-fashioned shotguns and assault rifles.
Scott muttered to himself, "Success even after a six hundred year journey to a new galaxy the Trojan Horse tactic never ceases to amaze.. a second time!" He quickly made the transition into military composure to proclaim order, "Get to cover, everyone! Keep them at range! Move! MOVE!"
The Angaran Resistance Lieutenant Jaal Ama Darav and Lieutenant Cora Harper followed after the human Pathfinder as the squad emerged from the enlarged storage container, taking initiative to arm themselves with their favored firearms and supplied the exchange of retaliation by unleashing sprays of glowing bullets to fly into the direction of the Jorgal Krogan clan as the Pathfinder team quickly spanned out for cover behind closely-placed supply crates.
Scott firmly gripped the handgun's stock into both hands, swiftly stepping out from behind the tall standing crate pile, and pinned the scope's sight onto one of the visible Krogans fully adorned in blue-colored armor. Ryder rapidly drummed his index and middle finger simultaneously upon the trigger igniting a burst string of bullets to quickly break through the Krogan's shielding system. The bewildered Krogan soldier took refuge from the glowing projectiles by dipping behind one of the piles of crates. Another Jorgal mercenary had leaned around the corner from his hiding place to provide a counterattack with an assault rifle that sprayed a wide spread of red glowing slugs. Pathfinder Ryder returned to seek shelter behind the stack of storage containers narrowly avoiding the red-colored spray that burst upon impact against the obstacle of cover. The human man spun his body around to press his backside against the supply containers, quickly turning his helmet side-to-side in order to briefly survey his surroundings finding that the grand-scale cave consisted of solid limestone stalactites and stalagmites while the stone walls were covered with sharp-jagged helecites. The great-sized area of the unexplored cave was lighted aglow with free-standing excavation lamps which provided as light sources throughout the present area.
Lieutenant Harper propelled herself with a swift thrust from the propulsion jet to come up beside Scott and spun her helmet's direction onto the Initiative Pathfinder.
"Ryder, this probably wasn't a good idea based on the fact that we're facing up against Krogan. For once, I think we should have come up with a backup plan! There's an endless supply of ammunition around us but we're limited on first aid rations- SHIT! LOOK OUT!" Cora quickly propelled backwards with the jet system to clear herself out of the Pathfinder's way.
Scott spun his helmet onto the oncoming charge of a Krogan that swiftly overwhelmed the human Pathfinder with a shoulder bash attack. Ryder made effort by planting his boots down and braced his strength against the stronger and greater-sized competitor. Pathfinder Ryder's backside struck with a brunt force against the solid surface of one of the supply containers that was obstructed against one of the cave walls. The Krogan's hard bash immediately ruptured the crafted armor's shielding systems, in addition to knocking the wind out of the Pathfinder's lungs, and onset a sudden daze to overcome Scott's senses.
'Shielding systems are offline, Scott. Life support systems have been rendered down to seventy-five percent.' Sam's robotic voice expressed calm warning in the Pathfinder's private channel.
The Jorgal warrior took a step back, lifting one of its great-muscled arms to ignite the orange glow of the Omni-blade in preparation for a lunge strike. The large Krogan expressed a loud pained growl from the sudden swiping strike provided from the Angaran's blue-glowing glaive as Jaal supplied a divisory attack enabling the human Pathfinder ample amount of time to regain himself.
Jaal shouted, "GET OUT OF THE WAY, RYDER!"
The Krogan swung its free arm to slam into the male Angara's torso abruptly expelling a heavy-sounding grunt to escape from Jaal before his body was flung aside. The Angara Resistance Lieutenant landed into a stacked pile of supply boxes causing the empty containers to topple over.
Scott gathered himself in time to swiftly raise up a fist overhead and brought his clenched hand down to slam upon the ground springing the shockwave eruption of a Nova to spew out glowing blue Biotic energy. The powerful wave spanned into a wide circular radius quickly taking up the Krogan's body to be forcefully be thrown out of the way.
Lieutenant Harper advanced with a Biotic Vanguard charge to shoulder bash into a Krogan figure that had presented itself into visible line of sight. The human Biotic lunged her fist to the ground to unleash the similar affects of the Biotic Nova attack. Cora hastily zipped back and took a defiant stance before unloading a round of glowing bullets into the Krogan mercenary's shattered protective layer. The Krogan staggered in his steps forward as drizzles of blood quickly ran down his dark blue-colored armor. A red glowing slug struck into the center of the Krogan's helmet landing the final kill shot with a spray of blood recoiling from the bullet's entry point. Lieutenant Harper lowered the point of her handgun toward the ground, giving no regard to the Krogan's collapsing body, and raced for the direction of the fallen Angaran.
Cora anxiously called out, "Jaal! Jaal!" The human woman knelt down to one knee beside the Angara's body and outstretched one of hands to offer support.
Jaal accepted the leverage to stand upright with Cora's aid. The male Angara adverted his sight upward and began to instigate a warning, "Cora! Behind you-"
The voice of Lieutenant Harper loudly cried out with the sound of agony riding her voice as a powerful large hand tightly gripped around her waist and compressed around her slender frame. Cora squirmed in the attempt to break free from the crushing grip while the strong Krogan gradually began to lift the woman's body into the air.
The low growling voice of a male Krogan proudly proclaimed from behind, "Gotcha!"
Scott's voice echoed through the cave, "CORA!"
Jaal swiftly moved forward before fully spinning around and taking aim upon the large figure of the Jorgal warrior. The Angara firmly ordered, "RELEASE HER NOW!"
Pathfinder Ryder had began to react into the motions of a Vanguard charge but had been stopped by a Jorgal Krogan's formidable presence coming into Ryder's way and blocking the pathway toward Cora Harper. Scott's helmet had come under the large grip of the Krogan's hand suddenly lashing out to take a full hold over the human man's entire head. Ryder dropped his weapon to the ground in the quick reaction to grip both of his hands around the Krogan's wrist as the powerful mercenary lifted Scott's body into the air. Scott's vision became obscured by cracks spreading across his helmet's protective visor in the event of his helmet being crushed. The Initiative Pathfinder swiftly brought down his hands, from around the Krogan's wrist, and unlocked his helmet's seal from the armor to allow him to quickly drop down onto all fours. Scott made a swift reach out to retrieve his firearm, gathering himself up to stand upright onto his knees, and directed a point-blank shot into the Krogan's groin.
The Jorgal Krogan's voice loudly groaned in the event of a bullet's discharge ripping through both layers of shield and armor.
Scott murmured, "Sorry, big guy, I know exactly how that one felt." The human Pathfinder swiftly turned away and propelled forward out of range of the Krogan's likelihood for a close-ranged strike attack. Pathfinder Ryder landed and quickly regained into a standing posture. Firmly gripping the handgun's stock, the human man made a full spin around and rapidly drummed both of his fingers upon the trigger unloading a round of bullets to break through the remainder of the stunned figure's armor that had inevitably brought down the Krogan. Ryder spun his head to one side in order to quickly glimpse over his shoulder toward Cora's direction.
The human Lieutenant jabbed the point of her firearm into the joint of the Krogan's thumb and tightly gripped down the trigger allowing for the weapon's discharge to impact with a point-blank shot that easily penetrated through the assailant's shielding and armor wear.
The growling pitch of rage filled the entire span of the cavern. The Krogan's hold around Cora's midsection became abruptly loosened by the affects of the projectile impaling through the appendage's joint. The Krogan relinquished hold of Lieutenant Harper, permitting her to drop onto her feet. Cora swiftly contorted her posture down into a roll to escape from the infuriated Jorgal figure. The Initiative Lieutenant regained onto her feet but had quickly slouched her posture forward, drawing one of her arms across her abdomen. Cora firmly pressed the flat of her palm onto the lower portion of her ribcage with the expressing sound of a pained grunt escaping.
"YOU BITCH! YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE!" The Krogan enraged into a battle roar and made a swift charge into the human Biotic's direction.
Jaal Ama Darav shouted, "STOP!" The Angara intercepted into the Krogan's path, swiftly locking the sniping scope's pin-point upon the center of the Jorgal's helmet, and pulled down the trigger. The silently sizzling bullet jettisoned from the long barrel before making its mark to instantaneously break through the protective layers of armor and impaling through the Krogan's thick skull with a killing shot. The large figure slowed into a staggering approach to stand before Jaal Ama Darav and immediately began the rise of violent convulsions. The Jorgal warrior's body quickly crumbled onto the ground before Jaal's feet. The male Angara diverted his focus onto Cora Harper finding the human woman collapsed down onto one knee in the effort of struggling deep breaths.
Ryder anticipated for another attack as a Krogan's thunderous voice expressed a battle cry quickly directing the Pathfinder's attention toward the large warrior starting for a charge. Scott released his left hand's grip to rear his arm back, forming his hand into a tight fist, and ignited the orange glow of the Omni-blade as he took a side-step to narrowly avoid the Krogan's line charge. Turning with the Krogan's swift passing, Scott quickly plunged the sharpened melee weapon into the side of the clan member's torso. Just as swiftly as Ryder had made the lunge strike he pulled the blade free permitting the Krogan figure to continue running forward while bleeding out. The Initiative Pathfinder steadied the weapon's aim in the grip of his free hand, pinning the target on the Krogan's flank, and relinquished another round of bullets to sear through the Krogan's armor gear.
Jaal provided cover fire to protect the human Lieutenant by taking defensive position in front of Cora Harper.
Cora's voice pitched staggering breaths over the broadcast, "I think my ribs are broken.. it's difficult to breath... Ryder, we need backup."
Scott murmured silent curses and quickly dived for cover behind one of the large storage crates. Ryder recollected his martial disposition and hailed the artificial intelligence, "Sam, do you have our position? Send in reinforcements-" Ryder was suddenly body-slammed into by an unanticipated charge attack from a Krogan warrior that had come up directly behind the human man and forcefully compelled the front side of Ryder's body to slam into the nearest wall of stone covered in helecite crystals. The fragile rock easily crackled under the Pathfinder's armor as he was pinned against the stone wall. Scott heaved a heavy grunt, instantaneously having the wind knocked out of him. Sharp slivers of helecite had cut across Ryder's exposed skin as the Krogan's powerful hand had shoved the human Pathfinder's face against the wall. Scott's mind became overwhelmed under the sense of dizziness quickly setting in and rapidly blurring his vision.
The calm voice of Sam's robotic voice announced over the Pathfinder's private channel, 'Initiating life preservation program sequence. Adrenaline levels are steadying climbing, Scott.'
Ryder's eyesight turned to crimson as the human's strength peaked into a berserker's state. He quickly dropped the sidearm onto the stone ground and raised both of his arms to reach behind his head to grip onto the Krogan's enlarged digits. In the attempt to pry the clan member's hand away, Scott suddenly snapped the appendages back causing the Krogan's fingers to forcibly break. The Jorgal clan member howled with agonizing sound and released his hold on the back of Ryder's head. Once the Pathfinder had been freed, Scott pressed his hands up to the stone wall in order to rebound off of the solid surface expeditiously rounding himself around to face up to the Krogan and unleashed a powerful Biotic Shockwave. The eruption of blue energy flung the Jorgal figure aside, swiftly trailing straight forward to smash into a stacked crate pile. The enhanced power attack brought the crates tumbling down into revealing a small gathered group of Jorgal forces. Ryder advanced with the Vanguard charge to shoulder bash against one of his selected targets and followed up with a devastating Nova explosion by slamming one of his fists into the ground. The empowered ability cut through the Krogans' shields and instantly broke through their armored layer, abruptly forcing the mercenaries to be thrown from their placements and crushed the integrity of storage containers under their lifeless weight.
Scott Ryder's attention immediately drew to the echoing roar of a Krogan angrily yelling in demanding sound, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" The Pathfinder adverted his gaze onto the enlarged figure hastily stomping into the immediate cave area. The emerged Jorgal warrior was fully clad in blue and grey-colored armor with a solid black stripe running down the middle of the narrow-shaped face and center of the thick neck, providing a distinguished visual apart from the rest of the Krogan warriors.
Jorgal Strux stopped and turned a deathly glare onto the human man's direction. The clan leader's growling voice continued to roar with agitation, "YOU FUCKING IDIOTS! YOU'RE PATHETIC! YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TAKE DOWN A DAMN THRESHER MAW EVEN IF IT WAS CRAWLING ON THE FUCKING GROUND! I'LL CRUSH THE PATHFINDER MYSELF!"
The Initiative Pathfinder propelled himself into the air with the jet pack's propulsion system, openly coming into view high above the obstruction of storage crates, and suddenly flashed across the room to shoulder bash against the Jorgal Krogan leader. Ryder slammed his shoulder directly into the Krogan's torso causing Strux to stumble backwards into a briefly stunned state. The Biotic energy eruption was next to follow up as Scott brought both of his fists together over his head and smashed them upon the ground to unleash the Nova ability's enhanced power.
Jorgal Strux planted both of his heavy boots down into an defensive stance allowing the expanding wave of Biotic energy to disperse upon the Krogan's first layer of armor protection, offering only a minimal amount of damage. The angered Krogan prepared counter by raising a heavy shotgun into the grip of both of his large hands and unleashed a brightly yellow-glowing bursting spray onto the human's direction.
Scott's adrenaline rush granted swift reaction time enabling him to repel the glowing burst by using the enhanced forceful power of the Biotic Shockwave to break a wide line through the spray of bullets. The Shockwave erupted across the stone floor into rapid flashes of blue light and lastly struck against the standing Krogan's body, suddenly enveloping Strux with a cascade of Biotic energy that had burst upon impact. Ryder's body quickly became weighted down by an unknown force compelling him to drop onto his hands and knees. His heart soundly thumped within his eardrums in unison together with the sound of heavily huffing breaths escaping from his gaped mouth as the affects of the adrenaline rush gradually began to wear off.
The sound of a murmuring voice slowly brought Scott's senses back to a fatigued awareness, "Ryder! Ryder!"
Pathfinder Ryder's muscle strength had rapidly diminished leaving the human's body to collapse flatly upon his front side. Scott slowly closed his eyelids letting his mind delve into complete darkness.
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Scott had very gradually stirred awake, having the familiar heaviness weigh down upon on his entire body as the human man regained into the first stage of consciousness while in the attempt to pry his eyelids open. He breathed out a very quietly pained sigh from his gaping mouth and slowly closed his mouth into gently clenching his teeth together. The human Pathfinder momentarily blinked his heavy eyelids to clear out the haze from his field of vision enabling him to take view of the surrounding interior structure of smoothly formed walls. In Scott's realization, he was looking up to the cavern's very high ceiling while he had been splayed upon his backside. The height of the limestone cave seemingly appeared to be beyond fifty feet tall. Ryder shifted his eyes back and forth glimpsing around to the different stone surfaces that were under illumination by softly blue glowing sources. The vibrant glow traveled through the vastly wide scale of the cave and offered the display of distinguishable layers of limestone and calcium that had been oddly contoured by an apparent underground water supply that had undergone a slow drainage. Ryder slowly turned his head to one side and adverted his gaze up to the site of an overhanging composition of solid stone expanded into a crescent shape elevated above a pool's deep sea green surface. Dark green patches of algae had grown across the wide girth of a stone wall out skirting the other side of the pool. Scott lowered his eyesight onto the grown underground foliage consisting of thriving plant life. His eyes shifted their focus onto the light sources that had brought light onto the underground landscape quickly finding towering mushroom stalks vibrantly glowing with soft blue-colored light.
Pathfinder Ryder wondered in private thought, 'Is this real? Have I finally died? Wherever this is IS definitely not Kansas.'
"Scott?! SCOTT!" The Asari doctor's voice expressed into an exclaim of hopeful intent. Lexi's face came directly over the human Pathfinder's view with a broadened smile and deeply sighed her relief, "Oh, thank goodness! Scott, you're finally awake. You've been out for three hours! Luckily for you, the life support system that Sky had installed into your implant has sustained you long enough for us to find you."
Ryder slowly closed his eyes and softly grumbled, "And here I thought that I had finally find you, Dorothy.. I didn't expect you to be blue, though."
Doctor T'Perro cocked her thin eyebrow into a puzzled look and questioned warily, "What are you talking about?"
"Never mind, Lexi.. Are we on the Tempest? If so, I think the plants in the Bio lab might have taken over."
The Asari medical officer scoffed in her retort, "You know, your sarcastic nature is becoming as uplifting as Peebee's deflections.." Lexi suddenly gasped with a surprised expression covering her face, "Did I just say that?! Oh, God.. Scott, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that!"
Scott reopened his eyes into a sly look with his lips beaming into a wide smirk, "It was only a matter of time before you cracked, doc."
Lexi dimmed her eyebrows into a narrowed furrow and sharply retort, "That's enough, Scott." Doctor T'Perro dipped out of Ryder's sight and made slightly concerned inquiry, "Are you able to stand, Scott?"
"I think so." Ryder carefully braced both hands down onto the ground to either sides of his hips and slowly leveraged himself into an upright sitting position. Scott turned his head side-to-side taking a moment to glimpse over the exotic forest grown in the underground cave. The human Pathfinder muttered in a state of awe-struck, "Wow! There's an entire ecosystem down here?! How is this possible?"
Doctor Lexi T'Perro regained onto her feet and provided response, "It's amazing that something like this has survived under Elaaden's surface. It brings me to wonder if this forest had grown before the Vault's deactivation. There appears to be an entire lake of water down here with plants that are baring fruit."
Pathfinder Ryder gradually motioned into a standing posture and slowly spun his head to look around. He sighted few members of the Tempest and several clan Nackmor Krogan gathered into the area. Scott muttered lowly mostly to himself, "Looks like Morda's already staked claim here."
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Scott slowly followed the ascending ramp way leading into the Meeting Room with a steel metal cup in the grip of one hand and an orange-colored projection tablet in the other. He approached the large circular electronic table and set down the cup onto a flattened surface beside the rapidly flashing light portraying a pending video communications relay while he retained a focused intent to read over the recently sent message;
'Nexus, I just received your 'little' gift. As we agreed, I'll hold up my end of the bargain. Drack has accepted to do the babysitting 'job'.. mostly out of the respect he has for you... In my own form of respect and for the efforts to continue to build our alliance, a new settlement will be established within the 'paradise' that you have found. It's a remarkable find that will certainly provide for both of our people for the future generations to come. I'm very glad that you FINALLY killed Strux. You and I both knew that he was a big pain in the ass and 'needed' to be dealt with... You have my gratitude, Nexus.
Drop by New Tuchanka. I have another request. 'Sooner' than later.'
Ryder smirked to himself and set down the electronic device onto the table top's surface. Scott murmured, "It's nice to know that I'm finally on Morda's good side, only took several months to convince.. I'm curious to know what else she wants me to do..." He redirected his attention onto the flashing light's display and hailed the artificial intelligence, "Hey, Sam, go ahead and patch in the transmission."
The artificial intelligence's robotic voice acknowledged, "Establishing connection."
Scott spun his head's direction onto the image of the Salarian Pathfinder and implied his curiosity, "Pathfinder Hayjer, what do you have for me?"
Lumont responded with cheerful sound, "Good news of course, Pathfinder Ryder. The new ship project is complete! The Salarian science teams, together with the Angara, have successfully combined Angaran tech with Initiative system networks into building a Destroyer class size ship equipped with turret weapon capabilities and missile launch bays. The structural and armor integrity has been adapted and enhanced with explosive and kinetic resistance against Kett projectiles, which means that this ship is meant to take direct hits and at least able to fight back. Sam's program has also been installed and operates at maximum capacity. I'm accepting the best crew applicants for this. I'll provide verification diagnostics after the new model has been put through its paces."
Ryder expressed astonishment, "Wow, Hayjer, I'm kind of jealous."
The projected image of the Salarian Pathfinder crossed his arms and responded, "Don't be, Ryder. I just want to make sure this ship is up to standards before it's handed over to you."
Scott displayed an obvious state of surprise, "To me?"
Hayjer cordially quipped, "The Tempest has served its purpose for stealth recon but the situation has become real now. We need protection and a way to keep the Kett, or any other threat, out of our new home. Who else would suit the job better than our very own savior of the Andromeda galaxy?"
Pathfinder Ryder upturned the corners of his lips into an excited smile and genuinely praised, "Wow, really? I can't wait to tell the crew! When do we get to see the new ship?"
"Like I said, Ryder, it'll be put through a few test runs, foremost. After we have dealt with the present Kett situation in the Dar'Hegah System the new ship will be yours."
Scott raised into questioning, "What's their status?"
Lumont offered response, "The Kett appear to be waiting for our next move. Nothing has happened, yet. We'll have to move into position eventually soon, Ryder, otherwise I'm not sure what will happen if we don't play into their ploy. On that note, I have asked Captain Nozomi Dunn to round up a fleet in preparation."
Ryder turned his head to spy the female Turian's approach and quickly returned his focus onto the Salarian Pathfinder to inject, "Keep me updated, Hayjer. We'll figure out a strategy soon enough. I've got a few things to take care of in the mean time."
Lumont Hayjer gradually nodded his acknowledgement, "Understood, Pathfinder Ryder. I'll send messages with status updates. Pathfinder Hayjer out." The projected image of the Salarian quickly faded leaving Scott and Vetra Nyx alone in the meeting room.
The female Turian expressed anxious sound, "I heard new ship, Scott. Is it true?"
Scott beamed a grin, providing a correspondence, "Yep. We'll get to see it after the Kett party is over."
"I'll make sure to have balloons and sparklers ready." Vetra slowly approached the human man and braced up her hands to rest upon the tops of Scott's shoulders.
Ryder looped his arms around the Turian's waist to pull her in closely for an embrace.
Vetra continued to speak in a lowered voice, "There's a surprise present waiting for you in the Pathfinder's Quarters."
"Please don't tell me it's a Pathfinder prank.. I'd rather not have my good mood crushed under a false pretense.. Peebee and Gil have become exceedingly good at that."
The Turian lightly laughed, wiggling her mandibles in great anticipation, and began to slowly pull away from Scott as she soothed, "Don't worry, it's not that kind of surprise. Come on, I'll walk with you."
Scott's eyebrow cocked to show his puzzlement while displaying a coy smirk. He dropped his arms from around Vetra's waist and gradually turned away to start for the direction of the ramp way in order to proceed down into the lower deck going into the Research Room and started direction for one of the ladder wells.
The human Pathfinder had ultimately emerged through the doorway leading into his private quarters and slowly walked forward while looking around.
"Okay.. where is the surprise? I was expecting either a caffeinated Angaran to jump out in his birthday suit or a certain Asari ready to spring out and knock me over.. again.."
Vetra lovingly chuckled, brushing one of her hands over one of Scott's shoulders in passing, and approached the nightstand located beside the large bed. The Turian motioned to a standing statuette taking resemblance of an undressed Asari's front side braced against and embracing a crescent-shaped yellow moon fixture.
The corner of the Scott's smirk stretched upward, slowly shaking his head, and crossed his arms over his chest. The human man injected suspicion into his question, "Isn't that the lamp you wanted to get back?"
Vetra Nyx muttered, "Yeah, this is it. Ugly isn't it?"
Ryder quipped, "Maybe.. Well, luckily I have a beautiful Turian to add to my growing lamp collection."
The Turian's mandibles wiggled wildly, dipping her head down in the attempt to hide her bashful demeanor, "You're making me blush, Scott."
Scott dropped his arms to his sides to gradually approach, walking around the foot of the wide bed, and came before the female Turian to take up her hands into his. Once Vetra had raised her head to meet into Ryder's stare the human man promptly pressed his lips upon her scale-covered lips. Scott delved into a loving kiss with Vetra for several moments before slowly breaking away their kiss. He raised one of his hands to place his palm onto the side of Vetra's face and offered an adoring smile, "I love you, Vetra."
The Turian had wrapped her arms around Ryder's torso and held the human Pathfinder very closely.
"I love you, too, Scott."
Pathfinder Ryder wondered in private thought, 'Is this an appropriate time to pop the question?' His eyes briefly shifted onto the Asari sculpted lamp and mentally shook his head, 'Maybe not..'