Ryder got her mental health in a much better place by the end of the week. She spent most of her time with Reyes and sorted her relationships out with the crew. She and Cora finally hashed their problems out and were friends again, she even spoke to Liam. He'd understood her reasoning for keeping Verand under close observation. Even she said she agreed with Ryder's choice in doing it.
SAM found Meridian, but it wasn't what they expected. It's was more of a massive space station. Sara and the crew left Kadara and headed straight there. The first time going wasn't what they expected, so many questions were left unanswered. The Jardaan, another Heleus race, was responsible for 'creating' the Angara and Remnant, they were also the last known administrator to use the console to try to find the main neural network. The space station wasn't Meridian, it was just a stopping point to find the real place.
With the mission on ice, Ryder returned to the Nexus with the news of what they found. The Angara were seething about what they found, their whole life had never evolved. They were all created and no one knew why. Tann didn't want Ryder going back, even when she argued that she could with SAM's help find the real Meridian.
With the final answer as no, Ryder thought she was at a loss. But the other Pathfinders stood by her, even the Nexus scientist helped. A new technology called Ghost Storm was the answer. SAM was able to quickly configure the technology and all they had to do was go back.
But doing so meant going behind Tanns and the Initiative boards back. The other Pathfinders along with Ryder decided to do it anyway, they'd caused the distraction to make the Kett think the space station was under attack whilst Ryder and the others snuck in and uploaded Ghost Storm.
Ryder currently stood in front of the main console, last used centuries ago by the Jardaan. "SAM, you ready, buddy?" she asks as she stands with her hand out over the remnant terminal.
She looks down at her omni-tool, Ghost Storm was ready, though there was a chance it wouldn't work. She looked up at the consoles, it was dark in the main hub. Just small lights of dust and specs of blue floated, it reminded her of Element zero particles. The Remnant inside were deactivated, not noticing any activity.
"Yes, Pathfinder. Once rerouted, the Remnant should divert to Meridian and give us the path," SAM explains. "I apologise for any discomfort," he warns. Ryder sighs but starts the reroute. Her implant burns against her skull as SAM enters the controls and uploads the data.
Vetra and Jaal both watch out for any Kett as Ryder grunts to the pain. The console fully resets and the main hubs all turn on. Meridian, the real one appears. It's a location. "It worked!" Vetra cheers.
Ryder rubs her head, looking up as she sees the Temnant around them activate. Though they don't attack, they just float up and out. "SAM, where are they heading?" Ryder asks.
"I detect the movements, they are heading to Meridian. I have the location, Pathfinder," SAM says with some happiness in his voice. Jaal throws his arms in cheer, after decades of fighting. It would all soon be another. "Caution," SAM warns.
A bullet barely misses Ryder as she falls into cover. A Cardinal walks in, his guard of Kett following. "Bring the great Archon the Pathfinder, kill the rest," he orders. Ryder and the others started to fight their way out of this. The Cardinal was the hardest, with strong shields, their weapons were nearly useless in taking it down.
Ryder uses her biotics, finding her novas to do the most damage. Soon enough they pushed them back, however, the Kett had been able to lock the doors behind them. "They forget I can unlock this thing right?" Ryder jokes as she walks towards the console.
She holds her hand out, the normal procedure to unlock the door. But then it hit her, and her head almost exploded. She screams as she doubles over in pain. "SAM?" she cries in pain. He doesn't reply.
"Sara?" Vetra shouts as she runs over, trying to pull her up. Ryder falls to the ground, she feels her implant burn through her skin, and her chest, muscles and brain all hurt with the slightest movement. Jaal pulls her into the recovery position as she starts to seize on the ground.
"SAM? Tempest?" Vetra calls, but all comms are dead. Sara hears that voice, it's the Archon.
"I give your respect, Pathfinder. You almost won, you almost beat me. Once I found out just how you worked Remnant, it didn't take long for me to figure out your hidden secret. AI's are wonderful creations and your SAM is the one behind all my problems." Ryder screams even louder, feeling her vocal cord strain.
"SAM?!" she screams. Jaal is trying to hold her still, but it isn't working. Her biotics are trying to react at the same time. She glows dark blue, his shields burn down as she nearly lets off a shockwave. He holds her tighter, groaning in pain.
The voice continues. "I just need an implant, the same as yours. Luckily, with your Nexus logs. I just know where to get that." Ryder screams, he was talking about Scott. He was on the Hyperion, he took it and hacked SAM node.
Ryder knew she'd die, SAM nor she could live without each other. "SAM!" she screams before her brain near shuts down. She sees the light before darkness takes her.
Scott hurt, his body ached so much. But the Hyperion was under attack, he was trying to get everyone to the escape pod before the ship took off from Nexus control. "Scott," SAM's voice calls on his omni-tool.
Scott almost bumps into a doctor as he's startled by the voice. "SAM? What the fuck is going on. Where is Sara?"
"Scott!" SAM near shouts to hush him. "The Archon has severed my link to your sister. I need you to head to this nav point. She will die if we don't reset her implant." Scott groaned in anger, this couldn't be happening.
"Where is this Archon?" he asks as he looks at the location before taking off in a sprint. The Hyperion was struggling, people screaming, shouting and shooting the Kett. The ship itself was overheating, fires were forming in all directions. They were overworking the main drive core.
"He is here looking for you. He needs your implant and me to control Meridian," SAM explains as Scott is forced into cover from the Kett trying to kill me.
"Fuck! You've found Meridian then?" he shouts over the gunfire. Though the Kett were shooting at him, they were aiming for parts that would only wound him. The Archon needed Scott alive.
"Yes, now the Archon knows as well. He has shut down my main node. I cannot do anything past using the comms." Scott carried on running before he bumped into Dunn, the Hyperion Captain.
"Ryder! The hell is going on? SAM said you need to get to comm control? They are swarming there." They both get into cover as the Kett come from the doors across from them. They both kneel down, shooting random bullets in hopes of catching one.
"Sara's implant has fried, I need to reset it." Dunn swears under her breath.
"Alright, everyone cover Scott." She pushes up. "Go, it's just down the hall on the left." The Kett were now throwing what they could at them, Dunn and the crew wouldn't last long.
"SAM, what am I doing? Dunn won't last," Scott exclaims as he sees the terminal. He had no idea what he's meant to press.
"Download this file from your omni-tool and press the main red button. It will send a reset to Sara and wake her up. She only has minutes left, please hurry." Scott typed as fast as his fingers would let him.
"Does Reyes know?" he whispers. There was silence from SAM. "SAM! Does he know?"
"No... Scott-" He shook his head.
"Tell him, now. I will do this, the Archon will know." He pushes the button, the same time he hears the alarms blare around him.
"I'm sorry, Scott," SAM whispers. He shuts the omni-tool down. Going straight to Reyes, he could only do one thing at a time at the moment.
"Me too, SAM. Me too," he mumbles. The doors open, and two Kett soldiers run in. Scott aims his gun at them, he looks at the terminal. The reset was complete, he only hoped it worked.
Reyes was going through his emails when SAM practically hacked his omni-tool. "You could've just called, I would answer," Reyes laughs as he sits back.
"Reyes, Ryder is down. The Archon has taken the Hyperion and severed my implant link to her." Reyes almost fainted at the words thrown at him. He stands up, running out of Tartarus and towards the lifts.
"How? I thought you both can't be disconnected?" He opens a second tab, getting every single Collective soldier up and out of Kadara. He would bring a whole fucking army to protect Sara.
"He hacked my main node on the Hyperion. He wants to kill Sara, Scott has reset her implant. She is alive but struggling without me. He has me and Scott. Reyes," SAM pauses. "You need to find her," the last words came out as static when SAM disappeared.
"SAM!" Reyes shouts as he shakes his arm. "Fuck," he mutters. The Archon must have fully gotten control of SAM now. He was on his own. "Keema, get every damn gun we have. Sara is in trouble!" he orders over his comms.
"On it," she replies without hesitation. Reyes tries to contact the Tempest, but the call cannot connect. He'd head straight to the Nexus if he had to.
Ryder's eyes snap open as she gasps for air. She thought she was dead, but Vetra was staring down at her. "Ryder?"
"Tempest," Jaal's voice is heard shouting as background noise. "The Pathfinder is down, do you copy?"
"We need... to get... back," Ryder groans as she is pulled up. She fell into the console, she was cold, felt sick and shivered in pain. She felt as if a Krogan had trampled her over and over.
"Sara, no. SAM isn't here, don't try it," Vetra warns. Ryder waves her off, leaning her full weight on the console.
"We. Need. To. Get. Back," she sternly says. She puts her hand out, trying to reset the console. It moves, but barely. "AH," she cries in pain. Her implant was burning and throbbing.
"Ryder, stop!" Jaal shouts.
"We need to get... back. They have... SAM, Scott... the Hyperion." She tries again, grunting as it gets halfway and fails. "Fuck!" she spits. Jaal and Vetra stand close, holding their arms out to her. She then finally does it, the console resets and the doors open.
"Careful," Jaal whispers as she tries to walk. Her legs shake and give out, her muscles are weak. He picks her up bridal style, and they all walk towards the exit. The Kett and Remnant have all but disappeared.
"Pathfinder?" Cora shouts for the tenth time over the comms. The Tempest had landed on the upper levels when word spread that the Kett cleared off the Remnant and stopped fighting. They lost contact with everyone and were at a loss on what to do.
"There they are!" Liam shouts as he sees Vetra and Jaal walk towards them with Ryder in his arms. "Ryder?!" he shouts with worry as they all rush over.
"I'm fine," she mutters when she pushes herself off Jaal. Her body ached, but she could at least stand and talk again. The crew surrounded her, and Lexi was pissed. Scanning her and doing all sorts of checks. "The Archon," she starts. "He's taken the Hyperion, Scott and SAM. He knows how I work Remnant."
"Well, what do we do?" Peebee asks.
"We head to Meridian," Drack answers. Everyone looks at Ryder, she firmly nods.
"How?" Cora says with her arms over her chest. "We have no army or backup!" The whole crew then started bickering, everyone shouting over the other about what they thought should be done.
Ryder rolls her eyes, looking over at the console at the edge of the platform. She could get them back up. She backs away from the crew and limps over to the console, using her implant. She summoned the Remnant, it hurt like hell, but it worked.
Everyone fell silent when the ground shook. A Remnant ship appears, huge in scope and had enough weapons to take out just about anything the Nexus had. Everyone looks at Ryder then the ship. "Can you do that again? Get them to fight for us?" Vetra asks.
Ryder nodded, but then she felt the warm liquid drip down her nose and over her lip. She was pushing herself. "I just got a fucking army," she whispers. She wipes her nose bleed away and marches toward the ship. "Call everyone, tell them to head to Meridian. We will fight that bastard and take back what belongs to us. It's time we got some fucking payback!"
A/N: Eekk, the suspense!