Two months in Andromeda, they set off for Voeld. It felt longer to Scott, and every moment he spent with Lexi reminded him that absent of everything else he always had her. The talk with Evfra de Tershaav lead to an invitation to Aya that Sara refused to be excluded from. First they needed to go to Voeld to help the Angara Resistance.
Jaal's genius satisfied Sara's curiosity and allowed Scott one more lifetime of intel. To keep Sara out of the vault's Scott agreed to take Sara to Aya, where she'd 'assist' Evfra in his efforts and learn more about the Resistance in the process. Going alone ensured that Evfra's willing blackmail remained at the mercy of the Angara. Only Sara and Jaal appeared enthusiastic about the plan. Kallo threatened to warn Tann, to which Sara shared she already passed it along and gained Tann's approval.
" I demand videos," Peebee insisted as Sara packed her belongings again.
Sara let out a sigh as she rolled up her uniforms into neat little rolls. " Of course," She worked quickly as they only had an hour before arrival.
Helping move Sara's weapon to the pile of armor, Peebee hovered. By the time they were to disembark, Sara spoke with everyone except Kallo. She stood next to Kallo when the settlement came into view. " You keep Scott flying, I'll make sure the Resistance doesn't put a bullet into his back," She clapped Kallo on the shoulder.
" I have no doubt of your abilities," Kallo answered her. " I only want you to take more than your armor and weapons,"
" I love you too, Kallo," She turned and left Kallo in his seat, moving to the cargo bay with her small crate that carried her past with her. She felt weight lift, shift, and change as she walked toward the welcome party.
Jaal and Scott followed her.
Sara held her hand out to the lead angara. " I'm Sara Ryder. It's a pleasure to meet you and be welcomed into this alliance of goals and minds,"
Evfra glared down at her. She continued to smile up at him unphased. " Sara Ryder?"
" Scott's my twin," Sara explained. " I was born first,"
" She always-" Scott grumbled to Jaal.
Sara held up a hand to both of them. " As I was saying, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Jaal has spoken highly of your prowess and achievements."
" As well he should," Evfra grabbed her hand. She gripped tightly in return not blinking. Scott and Jaal waited for the battle of wills to end. " You'll have help. This is Viraan,"
A female resistance member stepped forward and sized up Sara. Sara glanced her over quickly. Evfra let go of her hand finally. Scott and Jaal started back to the ship. Sara waved over her shoulder knowing Scott would look back one last time.
Viraan cocked her head. " You know how to shoot?"
" Yes. Would you like proof of skill or will we wait until after the tour?" Sara asked, glancing toward Evfra.
Evfra scowled, not damaging his handsomeness in the least. " I have a mission for you,"
Her head cocked. " Go on,"
Viraan fell in step to her right. " We have a team on Voeld,"
" Scott's going to Voeld not," Sara's brow knitted together in confusion. " I fail to understand how this logistically makes sense,"
Evfra lead and people responded to him, viscerally and respectfully. Sara doubted that loyalty is easily earned and maintained. " If we wanted more of our people owing a debt to your organization we would. You're going to learn what it means to be Angaran," He stopped to face her. " Our weapons will replace hers,"
Her brows remained knitted. " I assume you'll give me real bullets too,"
" We don't kill our people," Viraan snorted.
Sara frowned. " Fine. Exchange of weapons. When do we leave for Voeld?" This isn't on her list of to-dos for Aya. It certainly failed to make her comfortable being surrounded by aliens no matter how much she prefers them. Aliens that had every right to reject them from Andromeda, which utterly terrified her. She had nothing to go back to.
" In the hour," Evfra showed her into the headquarters. For the first time in her life, Sara feared for her life and security. " Do you have questions?"
Jaal explained a lot to Sara in the travel time to Aya and she understood a great deal already. " Who do I report to?"
" Me. You will work with your cell and complete missions assigned to that cell," Evfra answered her as they descended down to the armory. Sara surrendered her Initiative weapons temporarily and then the shooting range to familiarize herself with the new toys. Viraan watched her drop targets with moderate skill while Evfra expected the female Ryder to be a detriment to his people.
The transport pilot and cell they were traveling with asked why Sara carried her belongings in a box. She swapped it out for a pack with field efficiency and offered to let them keep the box. The crew stored the box for future use elsewhere. Sara closed her eyes and sleep while she could. The journey to Voeld presented no dangers and when they landed at the Resistance base, Scott and team already set off for the vault.
Sara turned her armor over for modifications to keep her from freezing in field. Before she could slip into a heat coma by a solar lamp two of the Resistance members nudged her awake. " Is she alive?"
" She doesn't look alive. Maybe we should take the human to our medic?"
Sara raised her hand. " All I need is my armor back," The layers of clothing coupled with solar lamp kept her alive against the nature's coldest colds bearing down on them. " And I - shit. Why is it still snowing?" She stuffed her hands under her arms.
The two exhanged shrugs and walked off. Sara almost dozed off again until Viraan roused her and thrust a helmet at her. Sara frowned when her mind registered that they offered her an angaran helmet, not her original helmet. She took it with two hands and pulled it on finding it to be a decent fit. Viraan handed over piece by piece until Sara basked in a gentle warmth. The last items, her new acquired Sandstorm and Ushior, mag locked to the armor. The pack needed restrapped to fit across the armor before Sara even considered herself ready for Voeld.
Viraan acted like Sara would die in the first hour. The other three treated Sara like an unwanted shadow. Keeping her unhappiness and social discomforts to herself, she sat in the back of a transport vehicle with almost zero shock absorption. As they pulled up to the daar Techix, Sara winced at the loud radio comms. " How are our favorite visitors?" A voice that played pleasantly against Sara's ears reminded her of Jaal. Were all male angaran possessing a sexy voice? Even Evfra, grumpy as he is, lured her in with his voice.
" Olev!" Viraan responded quickly.
Sara turned her head to eye up Viraan. Telling everyone apart while they wore the same armor proved a temporary obstacle.
" My darling Viraan! Are you to stay long?"
Why the hell could she not just go back to - aw hell she'd take Havarl over this. Even the Nexus. Sara rubbed her rifle clean for the hundredth time.
" Long enough to introduce our ambassadorial headache,"
Sara cleared her throat. " If you think I'm awful, I hope you never meet Foster Addison," She noted the sniper on the observation deck as they exited the large vehicle. She glanced down at the wrong moment, witnessing a slithering beast beneath the thick ice. Scrambling for land, her heart threatened to leap from her chest through her armor and shield. " What - in the - hell - is that?" she pointed the rifle at the ice, eyes locked on the serpent vaguely visible.
Three rifles pointed back at her.
" It's harmless," The only ally she had finally spoke up. She glared at them all, not that they'd notice, before sliding her rifle to her back again. " We call them yevara,"
Sara edged away from the ice and walked toward the door sheltered from open brutal cold. Her anger boiled internally as she reminded herself of her ambassadorial duties.
" Olev, this is Sara Ryder,"
" The Pathfinder's sister?"
Olev's surprise caught Sara by surprise. " The one and only," Sara interrupted as they approached the observation deck. " How far behind are we?"
" Half an hour at best," Sara let out a controlled breath. " A good sort of alien," Oh how Sara just wanted to shoot something right now. Is this how all her interactions with Angara would be? Clueless, hostile, or nervous?
Sara removed her helmet. " Happy to make your acqauintance, Olev. Viraan, can we proceed?" She ignored the sting of the cold against her face.
The group already reached cover. Sara just wanted to steal Scott's Nomad and run Evfra over with it. She specifically wanted her armor. Not only did Evfra throw her into a winter horror, he stripped her of her armor and weapons in a bid to 'help her think like an angaran'. Olev and Viraan exchanged the arm bump before Viraan moved up alongside of Sara. " You know him?" Sara asked casually.
Fitting the helmet back on, Sara envied the angaran resistance to cold.
" We're going to provide support for daars against kett attacks. You should make peace with yourself before we depart," Viraan ignored the question and proceeded to instruct on mission details.
Sara nodded.
Viraan looked like she wanted to say more and then proceeded to lead Sara into the daar. Heads turned and followed as word spread about Sara's involvement with the Resistance. Sara removed her helmet once again near a heat lamp and sent one more email to Tann detailing everything that she encountered excluding mission details - which she still lacked - and how she felt being surrounded by semi hostile aliens. She hesitated at the end before signing off with her first name.
She wandered and discovered the other part of the team observing a fist fight between two males on the ice. " I know I'm the alien here, but what happens once the mission is complete?" She asked Haddon.
The male turned to her slightly. " We wait for another mission. Our lives are usually short with no time for family,"
" I'm sorry to hear that,"
" It is learned you have lost family too,"
She kept her eyes forward. " Mom died of exposure to something we didn't know would cause long term cancer. Dad gave his life for Scott, and landing on Habitat 7 wasn't easy," Her arms rested on the railing.
" Habitat 7?"
Sara sighed. " We're explorers. Habitat 7 was supposed to be a planet suitable for humans. But the scourge damaged the Remnant tech there, and it caused the environment to go crazy. Air wasn't breathable, and we weren't prepared for the vault's shock wave. We all went over. Dad somehow got control of his jets and I hit mine before landing hard. Broke a rib. But Scott….his face shield broke,"
Hooked, Haddon finally turned his full attention to her.
" No. I struggled to breathe. The medi gel dulled only some of the pain. Dad swapped helmets with Scott. They couldn't save Dad. His body quit as we were shuttling him back to the ark," Sara took a deep breath. The more she talked about the loss, the easier she confronted the emotions. " Nearly lost Scott too. I honestly thought we'd be POWs when we landed on Aya,"
" Your outlaws are criminals, not the Initiative," Haddon said before glancing toward the other two. " You'll have to work hard to prove your words,"
Sara looked him in the eye. " I am under no disillusion what is required. My only regret is that the Roekaar exist. If we arrived earlier...Prevented the Nexus uprising...I want to help end the misery. The Angara deserve better,"
Haddon held out his arm to her. She awkwardly bumped hers against his. They both turned their attention back to the fight.
