Jaal Ama Darav was not pleased to hear Sara's voice. Jaal Ama Darav did not miss her. Jaal Ama Darav sounded stressed and frustrated and like he had far too much on his plate with no time left to explain any of it to her.

"Ryder? You can not be here right now." No 'hello,' Jaal seemed even too exhausted for any understandable confusion at her arrival.

Sara offered everyone else with her on the bridge a tight-lipped smile. "If you say so, but as I'm already docked on the landing pad, it's a little bit late for that."

"Skkut!" Did Jaal just drop his device? "What was Evfra thinking giving you my location?"

"Who said Evfra gave me anything?"

"No one else who knew I was here would have spoken to you!"

"Well, I mean, maybe the Moshae..."

"Evfra, specifically, did not want to antagonize the Roekaar," Jaal continued on as if she hadn't said anything, "so he sends you, a human, down to the Forge?"

"Jaal," Sara began, shifting in her seat, "I know you're dealing with a family issue, but-"

"You know nothing!" he snapped.

"Pretty accurate," she replied with a shrug as Kallo slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle laughter.

"What did Evfra tell you?" Jaal demanded.

"Nothing," Sara said. "The Resistance wants you back. I want you back. You've got some shit you're dealing with, so how can I help?"

"You shouldn't be here." It sounded like they'd made it past initial outbursts, at least. Jaal exhaled a weary sigh. "My brothers and sister joined the Roekaar and our mothers want me to bring them back home."

"You mentioned a forge," she reminded him.

"The Forge," he clipped at her.

"The Forge," Sara repeated. "That's Roekaar territory, I take."

"It should be no one's territory!" Jaal exclaimed. "It's a holy site, said to be the birthplace of the angaran people."

"And the Roekaar have it now?" she asked, frowning.

"There was a science team studying it, and there are always pilgrims- everyone makes a pilgrimage at least once in their life-" He muttered something quickly that her translator didn't pick up before clearing his throat. "Just come surface side; too much traffic on and off planet will call their attention."

"Right." Sara nodded. "See you soon."

After his angry words, Sara was surprised when the first thing Jaal did upon seeing her exit the ship was to clasp her hand in his and pull her into an embrace. "It's good to see you well," he told her before startling at the sight of Cora.

"We made up," Sara said quickly.

"I hope so," he replied. "I don't have time to sort your problems." He turned abruptly and without waiting for them to follow, strode toward a small transport shuttle. "We cannot go in guns blazing."

"Because you don't want to damage the Forge," Cora agreed.

"Because my brothers and sister are with the Roekaar," Jaal snapped. "I don't want to accidentally kill them in a shootout."

"Okay, sure, but what about them accidentally killing us?" Sara asked.

Jaal just stared at her. "What makes you think when they shoot at you it will be accidental?"

"Kind of my point, Jaal," she replied. "I hope you've got a plan a tad more elaborate than let the Roekaar play whack-a-human while you make nice with your siblings."

"We take a small shuttle and go in quietly," he said, gesturing at the transport. "Since the occupation, pilgrims are being turned away and the science team has gone dark. I don't like it."

"We'll get your siblings back, Jaal," Sara told him as she climbed into the shuttle. Not that she knew how, exactly.

Maybe it showed on her face. He shook his head at her. "I would have said occupying the Forge would validate their cause and draw more fanatics to them. But the science team always communicates and pilgrims are always welcome. This has nothing to do with aliens. Even most Roekaar would be outraged to see the Forge being denied to their brethren."

Sara shrugged at Cora, but her second just silently slipped into her safety harness. "So it sounds like any path a pilgrim might take must be heavily guarded," was all Sara could say.

Jaal nodded as the shuttle began to lift off the ground. "We're going to land by the site of the science outpost. If they're not even requesting food and supplies, they must be gone. Or dead."

"And there's no chance of the science team working with the Roekaar?" Cora asked.

"I don't think so," he replied. "They were studying artifacts, the origins of this place, how people may have lived. It had nothing to do with today's conflicts.

"If they were anything like the teams I was with in the Milky Way, they'd be neck-deep in research without enough time or money to catalogue everything," Sara said. "Unless the Roekaar were offering more grant money, they wouldn't do anything to help or hinder unless their work was interrupted."

"I can't imagine Akksul funding that kind of research," Jaal muttered. "Ever since he abandoned the Moshae's teachings, Remnant technology and our history haven't held much importance to him."

"That's the Roekaar leader, right?" Sara remembered. SAM helpfully provided the quote. "The one from the dagger on Kadara. 'A home filled with strangers-'"

"-becomes a prison,'" Jaal finished for her. "Yes."

"I know it's SAM doing that for you, but you've got to know how unsettling that is to see your eyes flutter and then just have you spout out all sorts of things," Cora said and shuddered.

Sara tried not to grin. Instead, she turned her attention back to Jaal. "It sounds like you know Akksul personally."

"Yes." It must have been important; Jaal began to fiddle with the scope of his rifle and moved on to meticulously checking all of the settings. "We studied together under the Moshae. Unlike me, he was a good student. The best, actually."

She felt her lips purse. "But you're here now, so what changed?"

He shook his head. "Too much to tell you right now." He cleared his throat and stared at both her and Cora. "I need you both to understand that he is a zealot that lacks any pragmatism. He will try to make you angry. He will want you to kill him and turn him into a martyr. Do not. I need you to trust me and follow my lead."

"Without any information?" Pretty, little worry lines creased Cora's brow.

"Can you do that?" Jaal asked.

Sara shrugged at Cora. "You got it, boss," Sara said. "We'll follow your lead."

What choice did they have?

"Thank you." Jaal reached forward and clasped her hand a final time as the shuttle landed, an outcropping of trees and vines swaying to welcome them. "Let's go get my family."

The science outpost was a strange aberration on the wild landscape. Metal huts with clear borders separating them from the sprawling greenery. Their shields were still in place, but it was quiet enough for Sara to hear her footsteps rustling through the fallen leaves.

"The shields are to protect the site from the wildlife," Jaal explained. "They shouldn't be alarmed."

"Uh huh." Sara paused. "SAM? Your professional opinion?" She didn't move again until the AI gave the go ahead, a small section of the pink dome opening wide enough for their bodies. "Even if the Roekaar didn't hook the shielding up to an alarm system, they probably have scouts who would notice the entire dome vanishing."

Jaal and Cora just fell in line behind her. Sara hadn't expected a pat on the head, but it was nice not to be argued with.

Within the dome, the humidity dropped sharply. Aside from the hum of the shield's generator, it was quiet. No equipment, no conversation... no Roekaar, either.

"Well, this stinks," Cora murmured.

"Yeah," Sara agreed. "We're the only immediate life signs within this dome."

"Our objective is to get my siblings," Jaal insisted. "We're meant to be crossing through here on our way to the Forge, not investigating this area- when we get my brothers and sister, they can explain what happened to the science team."

"Okay..." Sara peered through the window of the closest structure. "You're not even a teensy bit curious as to why there's an angaran blood splatter on the floor there?"

"What?" That got Jaal's attention. "Yes- but that's not why were here. The Roekaar wouldn't kill fellow angara for no reason."

"Maybe, but they're not above roughing them up," Sara muttered, lingering by the window. "The blood stain's too small to be an obviously fatal wound- not anything like that crime scene in Kadara- but it still seems a little excessive. It'd be easier to lure a science team with snacks."

"Ryder-" He stormed over to her, but paused at the window. Whatever rebuke he'd planned stilled in favor of a frown. He gestured at some stems, potted and wilting beneath artificial lights. "Those plants were taken from the Forge. They would have been treated with the utmost care; they haven't been watered in days."

"It's a ghost town," Cora confirmed. "No one's here."

"We need to get to the Forge," Jaal insisted. "There's a bridge to the ruins."

Sara trotted after him as Jaal continued on. Beyond the neat and tidy researcher's station, the path became increasingly overgrown and sloping toward a deep ravine. The bridge he spoke of was less of a formal bridge, and closer to massive planks laid from one end of the ravine to the other that had molded into the soil after years of footsteps tromping across. No railing to cling to, just a wide gulf below them littered with vines, glass stars and another tiny, scrawling white flower Sara couldn't identify.

As they left the safe dome and crept across the bridge, SAM perked up. The AI alerted her to multiple radio frequencies. "I think our cakewalk is over," Sara told them. "I'm starting to get comm chatter."

"The mouth of the Forge is just beyond this bridge," Jaal said. "At the very least, I expect scouts."

"So maybe let's hurry off this bridge so we don't careen to our deaths if we're shot at," Cora suggested in that sweet tone that Sara had started to recognize as snippy rather than syrupy.

It put a little hustle into Sara's step. "She has a point," she muttered to Jaal as she hopped off the edge of the plank and touched solid ground on the other side of the ravine.

"Look for cover," Jaal said. "The Roekaar will have the advantage here."

Past the bridge, dead vegetation had been trampled and kicked aside to form a simple dirt path uphill. It wasn't a steep incline, but it was easy to see how the only walkable path could funnel them directly into a sniper's sites. "Yeah, not really a fan of this," Sara murmured.

"Shields on," Cora commanded. "Looks like we're running exposed until we hit the Forge."

Following Jaal's wave, they hugged the surrounding foliage as best as they could as they made their way up. The mouth of the Forge was a cave face. Between vaults and krogan seeds and Draulir, it seemed like underground worlds were all Heleus had to offer. Sara insisted to herself that she was certain the Milky Way had plenty of caves, too, she'd just skipped out on the vast majority of them in favor of dive bars.

So, the Forge. A cave. With several sandbagged barricades in place for the Roekaar to bunker down. Cora slammed Sara against the side of a tree as gunfire began to pepper down on them.

"Intruders have reached the nest!"

"I count three."

Maybe it was the circumstances, but Jaal wasn't calmly tucked away and waiting for a clear shot to systematically eviscerate an enemy. He looked frazzled. He rushed at Cora and pushed her rifle down before she could spray. "Wait. I know those voices."

"Lathoul, go for backup."

"Lathoul!" Jaal hollared loud enough for his voice to crack. "Wait! Stop!"

"...Jaal's here?" The gunfire stopped and a deep blue head peeked out past the barrier, hesitantly at first, gaining more confidence the longer the ceasefire held. "Jaal? Is that you?"

Without gunfire, there was an awkward quiet. A single male Roekaar hopped the barricade, while the rest of his companions kept ducked and hidden. Jaal hissed a single, tight breath and then stalked toward who Sara could only assume was his brother.

The younger angara laughed and opened his arms and instead of embracing him, Jaal balled his hands into fists and slugged the other man.

"Baranji," Jaal growled.

Baranji gingerly rubbed his jaw. "Our mothers sent you, didn't they?"

"Yes." Jaal spoke slowly and emphasized every syllable, "All of them."

The other Roekaar were becoming more comfortable with the situation. Lathoul had lingered and now draped his arms over the barricade to watch them from afar. A tall and spindly woman popped up and stormed past the barricade and towards them.

"Did our mothers send this human too?" she demanded.

"Jaal, this is your sister, I take?" Sara shrugged and held out her hand.

The angaran just glared. She bent down to get nose to nose with Sara and sneered, "Your people are a joke."

Jaal sighed. "Teviint-"

"Humans, yeah," Sara agreed with a smirk, "but that's why we made buddies with the krogan."

"Ryder, please."

"Why'd they send you?" Teviint demanded, turning away from Sara sharply.

"Because we've lost enough to the kett," Jaal said. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he continued. "They're afraid to lose you to this insane cause."

"But Jaal-"

"I want you to meet Sara-" Jaal placed his hands on her arm.

Baranji recoiled. "You mean the cult leader?"

"Cult..?" SAM filled in the blanks. The Tavetara Uni. Sara only hoped her eyes weren't nearly as bulging as they felt. "No, no, no. I'm not a cult leader, I just rescued him. I didn't know he was, well, I guess he wasn't until he was freed..."

"My friend, Sara." Jaal put an uncomfortable stress on 'friend' as he squeezed Sara's arm. Nerves got the better of him and he yanked her over before them all, presenting her in sacrifice. "-So you can see that Akksul is wrong."

Sara attempted to turn her grimace into a smile. "We need to work together against the kett. We're here to stay. I want to get along."

All three of his siblings exploded simultaneously in protest, their words a dizzying barrage.

"Who cares?"

"The angara don't want anything you have!"

"We don't need you."

"Good to see we're getting along," Cora muttered.

"What?" Sara wanted to know. "You have something better to contribute?"

"Maybe something a bit more sincere than a grade school speech for class president?" The lieutenant shot the Roekaar an apologetic smile. "They are all adults."

"I was being sincere!" Sara insisted "I do want us all to get along! I'm sorry my speech sucked, but if they're anything like their brother, they'll be decent enough to see past my lack of people skills and understand my intent."

Cora only answered with a sigh. Jaal's siblings thankfully ignored their bickering. His sister still gripped her pistol, but seemed to be waving it about more demonstrably than in a threatening manner.

"Jaal," she said. "Our mothers want us to live truthfully."

It emboldened their brother, Baranji. "It's because I love my mothers that I would die for this cause!"

It was the other brother's turn, "Akksul is going to blow this place up!" Well. That admission was unexpected.

"Lathoul!" Apparently, Teviint and Baranji found it unexpected as well.

"That's why he sent the researchers away!" Lathoul kept glancing over his shoulder- like he hadn't already been scolded for tattling- as he dashed over to Jaal.

Teviint aimed her pistol at him. "Stop talking." Her jaw was set hard and she had that petulant curve to her lip of a kid sister fed up with not being listened to.

Like any good brother, Lathoul ignored her. "He has bombs stolen from your people."

"Those bombs go off, it'll look like the Initiative did it," Cora realized.

Sara shook her head. "So, we disarm them."

It made her second snort. "Oh, we just disarm them. Easy!"

"Lathoul..." Teviint thrusted her pistol forward as if to remind him.

He kept his back to her and addressed Jaal and the others. "I'll take you-"

The crack of a bullet shattered the air and Lathoul crumpled face first into the dirt. Pistol arm still extended forward, Teviint blinked at it wide eyed like it had betrayed her. She shook her head violently and dropping the pistol, she turned and ran into the cave.