Chapter 8, the Moshae
Stephanie Ryder looked at her gathered crew. She sensed the mild tension hanging in the crowded comms room. They knew what this was about.
"Listen up everyone. We've got a solid lead on the Moshae. She's being held captive inside a large Kett facility. This will not be easy." She fiddled with the computer and the location of the base appeared on-screen. "Our scanners cannot penetrate their defenses. Therefore we will bring a large squad, to be ready for whatever is hiding in that base."
Drack coughed and his huge voice boomed through the ship. She waited patiently till he was finished.
"Needless to say this mission is incredibly important. Jaal," she stared at the Angaran who gave a small bow with his head, "you're definitely on the team. You can identify the Moshae and your knowledge of Kett technology will be crucial."
She nodded at each person as she listed their names. "Drack, you're coming. Peebee. Vetra."
"Me! Me! I wanna go!" Liam was frantically waving his arm in the air while bouncing up and down. "You never pick me!"
"Liam... " she grinned, "we need someone onboard the Tempest to monitor our progress. That's your job."
"Ryder, I wanna be in the field!" He whined pitifilly. "Why not?"
She felt bad for letting him down. Again. She didn't want to do this in front of the team but he didn't give her a choice, standing right in front of her with an accusing finger pointed at her chest.
"I'm sorry Liam, but I honestly don't believe you're ready for the ground team. I don't know who selected you to be a part of our crew. I think you're very impulsive, immature and too easily distracted."
Out came the sad puppy eyes. Ryder sighed.
She would feel even worse if he got killed in action. She had to protect him like a good commander would. "Please understand. I cannot risk your safety. Nor can I risk the safety of the team. For everyone's sake it's better if you stay on the Tempest."
He glared at her and she realized he was angry. He's so unprofessional. I might have to kick him off the Tempest altogether.
Kallo interrupted her thoughts. "Errr... Ryder, you're breaking protocol."
"What do you mean?"
He gestured at her ground team. Four! Too many. Protocol says two companions for the pathfinder."
She hadn't expected anyone to bring that up. Why was Kallo even in this meeting? "Oh that. Who made that stupid rule?"
"Probably director Tann. I wouldn't go against him if I were you."
Something in the way he spoke caught her attention. Is he actively working for Tann? Reporting my actions?
She took a good look at Kallo. He intrigued her. Could he be even be capable of being a spy? She found it hard too believe. Oh well. She shrugged. She couldn't worry about it now. There was too much on her plate already and if Tann had some eyes and ears onboard the Tempest she would have to deal with it later.
Before she could do anything, Peebee confronted Kallo, her eyes spitting fire. "Well Tann's not here right now, is he? Who are you to tell Ryder what to do? I think she can do whatever she wants for the sake of the mission."
"But... but..." Kallo stepped away from her fury, trying to disappear into the background. He squeaked "forget I said anything."
"Oh we will." Peebee stated, cutting of her words, "I already forgot."
Ryder flashed an evil smile. She secretly enjoyed the asari's fierce loyalty.
"Allright, listen up! We're leaving in thirty minutes. Get ready."
Each room revealed more pods but only very few corpses. Where did all the Angarans go? The fire in Jaal's eyes grew stronger and stronger. Stephanie could feel his barely contained fury. For his sake and for the sake of the team she hoped he could hold it together. Encountering minimal resistance they followed the trail of pods into the facility.
"Must be the next room," Peebee whispered when the squad stopped next to a large metallic door, "hear those machines? We've been approaching them for the last 10 minutes."
"Let's go," Jaal nodded, "the Moshae is in distress. I can sense it."
Ryder didn't think it was the right time to ask how he could sense that. She simply wanted to help Jaal and the Angarans. She raised one finger. "On my mark. Go!"
They quickly slipped through the doors. When their eyes adjusted to the view, their mouths fell open.
One by one the line of pods was being fed into a chamber. The Angara inside the pod screamed and twisted in pain before being deformed - no, transformed into...
"Kett... " Peebee stammered, frozen in shock, "the angarans... "
"No!" Jaal cried out, shaken to his core. His voice was filled with horror. "They are turning them into Kett!" He openmouthedly stared at the evil machine.
Even Drack was quiet. For 10 seconds they observed the unthinkable before Ryder urged them into action, just in time as two groups of Kett poured into the room.
Jaal was still frozen and only moved after a bullet hit his arm. "Grr!" That kickstarted him and he growled in anguish as he cut down his opponents, knowing that one day they might have been his brethren. He finally got to the machine's controls. "I must stop this... I must!"
Vetra shot more Kett. Ryder disappeared into a blur of Blue biotics to knock a guy of a balcony. Peebee sneakily lifted a guy from behind a panel. A flying Kett showed up who kept blabbering about 'exaltation' and the 'uplifting' of the races. Drack ripped him in half.
"Now," Jaal panted, "how do I stop this?" In bewilderment he looked at the machine's control panels. "I don't..."
Drack roared and with a few massive blows destroyed the entire apparatus. The line of pods grind to a halt.
"That worked." Jaal blinked. "Thanks... where is the Moshae?"
They opened the remaining pods and Jaal cried when he found the beloved Elder. Dazed, but alive. "We did it," he whispered, tenderly holding her in his arms, "I will forever be grateful Ryder. We will be."
It was crystal clear that 'we' meant the Angaran race. Stephanie smiled from ear to ear. Liberating the prisoners felt great, seeing the Moshae alive and well felt even better. An alliance with the Angarans was becoming a very real possibility.
"You're very welcome Jaal." She gently touched his shoulder, sharing in her new friend's happiness.
That night all of Aya was celebrating but for Stephanie Ryder and her companions it felt bittersweet. Yes, the day had been a victory. But the horrendous discovery of Kett 'exaltation' felt like a punch to the gut. Were the angarans the first species they'd used it on? Could they potentially use it on other races? Ryder felt her stomach turn when she considered her friends being taken by the Kett. This has to end. Soon. More than ever she felt the need to craft an Alliance with the Angarans and take the fight to the Kett.
All this went thru her head as she followed the Moshae into Aya's vault. She heard Peebee humming right next to her and smelled the moist, nearly tropical air. The sounds and smells brought her back to her current mission. Aya's a paradise. We can do that for Eos. And Voeld.
She got a sweet, strong vibe from the Moshae and this was only strenghtened as the old woman gently took her hand.
"This way. We're almost there." The angarans' large eyes were twinkling with excitement.
"I truly appreciate this."
"It's the least I can do. You set me free. You can defeat the Kett. From here on, we work together." It was a statement, not a question.
Steph couldn't agree more. "Yes. But Evfra still doesn't trust me."
"Leave him to me. He's been hurt, which makes trusting strangers difficult."
The Moshae stopped in the center of a huge room. Once she placed her hand on the panel a large, illuminated star chart started swirling above their heads.
"Wow." Peebee took a step back, whistling in admiration. The constellations slowly circled above her head, reflecting in her huge golden eyes. "Just wow. This is a map of the Remnant network..." She took a few seconds before pointing out Aya. "We're here."
"Yes." The Moshae agreed. "My captor, the Archon kept talking about Meridian. Find Meridian and you could unlock the secret to the entire terraforming network."
Using her index finger she followed the main Line, bringing her to...
"Kadara." She whispered thoughtfully. "Who would've guessed? The key to finding Meridian is in Kadara's vault."
"I've heard that name a few times." Ryder mused, "looks like that's our next stop."