Reyes finally got the location of the Tempest. He met from halfway to Meridian, only bringing a few of his operatives who knew his true identity. The ships both dock together, Reyes was still shocked to see the dozens of Remnant ships following the Tempest. Ryder had done the impossible.
He let his ship continue following as more ships, Nexus and Resistance fighters joined the armada. "Where is she?" he asks as Liam meets him by the docking doors.
"Follow me," he quickly says as he waves with a charge in his step. The crew on the Tempest were running in all directions trying to sort everything out. Suvi was talking to all species across the cluster as more and more joined the fight.
Liam takes him to the med-bay, the doors were already opened. He sees Sara sitting up as Lexi scans her implants. "Pequeña Paloma," he whispers. Ryder instantly looks up, her tired eyes brightens at his soft stare.
"Reyes," she cries. He runs to her, leaning down to hold her as she breaks down. "He's gone," she cried. "Reyes, SAM has gone. I lost him and Scott. I lost them both," she whimpers. Liam leaves, but Lexi stays. She needs to run these tests, Ryders implant was struggling without SAM.
"I know, dove. We will get them both back. I promise." He rocks her against his chest as she quietly cries.
"I love you, Reyes. Please don't leave me. I can't lose you as well," she whispers. Reyes pulls back, putting his hands steadily on her shoulders.
"I am not going anywhere," he sternly, but softly replies. "I love you too, little dove." Lexi clears her throat.
"I need to finish these tests," she says with a smile. Reyes tries to stand up, but Ryder only cries again, she has a death grip on his armour. He nods, sitting behind her on the medical bed and widening his legs for her to lay between him.
"This alright, doc?" he asks. Lexi sighs, but nods. If it kept Ryder calm and still, it'd have to do. Ryder snuggles to his chest as Lexi scans her biotic implants and takes some blood. Ryder nearly falls asleep, but Reyes moves uncomfortably under her. His armour really wasn't suited for this. "You want to talk about?" he whispers into her hair.
Ryder blinks a few times, nodding slightly. "I got the location of Meridian. The Archon found out about SAM, and attacked his node on the Hyperion." She then stops and whimpers.
"No more," Lexi sternly says. "You need to rest," she whispers. She looks at Reyes, and he nods. Ryder needed some sleep. "I'll be back soon, we are still two hours out from Meridian," she states before dropping the lights and leaving.
"You okay like this?" Ryder asks as she feels Reyes constantly move under her. He pushes her up, quickly getting his upper armour off before laying back down.
"Sleep, dove," he soothes. Reyes wasn't tired at all, but he'd hold her if he needed to. Ryder nods, yawning as she snuggles further into his chest.
Reyes waits until her breathing levels out, then opens his omni-tool. The orange glow illuminated her face, he checks she doesn't wake up before going to his emails.
To: Keema Dohrgun.
From: Reyes Vidal.
Keema,
I'm with Ryder on the Tempest. Have all our forces joined her forces? What news of the Resistance and Nexus.
Reyes.
He doesn't have to wait long for a reply.
To: Reyes Vidal.
From: Keema Dohrgun.
Reyes,
All our available forces have joined, they are following you as we speak. Evfra has sent all available forces. The Nexus seems to be holding back.
Do you wish for our forces to follow your or Ryders' orders?
Keema.
Reyes smiles at the message. Of course, Tann was holding back. He looked down at Ryder, she was out cold. He knew without a doubt his forces were hers for whatever she needed. She worked so hard and helped just about everyone in Heleus, it was time she cashed all her chips in and pulled all those favours back.
To: Keema Dohrgun.
From: Reyes Vidal.
Let Tann kindly know that the Charlatan expects the full Nexus forces to help his Pathfinder or our generosity of their food and water supply will be stopped. I don't care if he doesn't know it's us, tell him it is if you have to.
All forces are under Ryder's command. You tell them all that she is their main priority and must be kept safe at all costs.
Reyes.
Reyes knew he was babbling about letting Tann know those crates of food and water he got each day was actually coming from the Collective. He'd never bothered to ask before, the man didn't like to thank anyone for help. Only made sense he'd pretend he never noticed it.
To: Reyes Vidal.
From: Keema Dohrgun.
Done. He was far from happy, but respected your wish and has sent the full forces of the Initiative. I have relayed the message to our men.
Good luck,
Keema.
Reyes closes his omni-tool, happy with the news. He laid his head back, stroking his hand up and down Ryder's back. He told himself he was tired, but soon his eyes ended up closing and he fell asleep as he held her tightly.
"Vidal," Cora hisses as she shakes Reyes's shoulder. He almost goes for her as his eyes snap open and he nearly sits up. Cora steps back several steps, finger to her lips as she points at Ryder. She was still asleep on his chest. He nods as he rubs his eyes.
"Sara," he whispers. She burrows her face further, groaning into his undersuit. Reyes smiles, kissing her head. "Come on, time to save the galaxy," he mutters.
"Can we do it tomorrow?" she half-jokes as she stretches and opens her eyes. "You're such a handsome person to wake up to." Cora chuckles, cleaning her throat. Ryder looks at her, eyes going wide and quickly sitting up. "Oh, Cora. Sorry, I didn't know you were here."
Reyes snorts as he climbs over her to get his armour back on. Cora passes Ryder her commando armour. She stares down at the matt black, red coloured pieces. She was so scared, scared that she couldn't save Scott or SAM. Scared the Archon would win.
"It's time," Cora says as she leaves. "The crew are upstairs waiting for you." She smiles before leaving.
"You ready?" Reyes asks as he starts helping Ryder clip her armour together. She sighs, shaking her head.
"No, I haven't got SAM and feel useless without him." Reyes chuckles.
"You fought without him before, you can do it again," he says. Ryder keeps a stern look, nodding once. She had fought for years before getting SAM, she had the experience and knowledge. The feeling was just odd without him.
"Whatever happens," he says, pulling her head to his. "I'll be waiting for you at the end of this. You better not be late." Ryder wraps her arms around him, kissing him passionately.
"I love you, Reyes," she whispers. Reyes holds her protectively.
"I love you too, dove."
The crew all stood upstairs around the crew table. Reyes and Ryder both arrive, hands laced together tightly. The crew smiled at them. Reyes lets go, deciding to stand between Jaal and Liam. He was part of Ryder's crew for this mission.
Ryder leans heavily into the table, looking at each of her crew before finally speaking. "I know Andromeda threw us into a loop. He came here expecting golden worlds and easy living. Everything went to shit the second we got here. We have lost people along the way, but also made so many new friends that we can call family. The Archon won't win today, he will die on Meridian," she says slamming her hand down. "He has got my brother and our crew member, SAM. We have to get them back, no excuses!"
"We will get this done, Ryder," Liam cheers. The whole crew shouted in acknowledgement.
"Let's kill this bastard."
Ryder wasn't sure what she was expecting when she got to Meridian, but it definitely wasn't a planet that was made entirely of metal. IT had a hard plating around the outside, the Scourge had hid it very well. The Ghost Storm has cleared it for the Remnant to surround it.
The Archons army stood in the way of that. Ryder sees the visuals of all the ships following them. "No signs of the Hyperion," Kallo announces. The Archon's armour was massive, they were definitely outnumbered.
"Open a commlink," she orders. Moments later the Archons face covers the main terminal in front of Ryder's console. "Archon, give up!"
"Pathfinder, you live. I am surprised. But... no, I have what I need to access Meridian. You will either kneel or die trying." Reyes scoffed at him.
"Scott? You alright?" Sara shouts, hoping Scott was there with him.
"Sara! He's crazy, he wants to use SAM and the implant to destroy the golden worlds!" he shouts. Sara couldn't see him, she could only hear the sadness and pain in his voice.
"Since you want to defy me. I'll give you my full attention," the Archon says. Moments later his armada starts moving forward, they fire their weapons. It was slow-moving in the vacuum of space, but it hit the ships. Everyone broke off, the Remnant thought back the best they could.
"Ryder, we need covering," Kallo shouts. "The ship isn't designed for this," he adds. Reyes opens a channel.
"Left flank, cover the Tempest!" Soon enough six ships surround the Tempest. Sara commanded some Remnant ships to come cover as well. The Archon was head-on attacking the Tempest, but Kallo was dodging everything pretty well.
Ryder then heard the panicked voices of everyone around her. Their flanks were dropping, she closed her eyes. Concentrating, then Alec's words hit her. "If your back is against the wall, don't hide from it. Use it." Her eyes snap open, turning to Kallo.
"Kallo, how close can you get us to the scourge?" Kallo looks at her in surprise.
"Too close. Why?" Sara types on her console.
"Get us close enough, I want to use this cluster's biggest headache to our advantage." Kallo does as she asks and drops the Tempest. The scourge barely skims the ship as the Remnant joins. Soon it starts picking up, following the ships. "That's it, now go straight up, higher than the Archon!"
The Tempest shoots up, the Remnant and other ships doing the same. A blanket of the scourge follows, the Archons ships cant rise quick enough. The scourge swallows over half his army, they erupt into flames. No technology was safe from the scourge.
"Yes!" Kallo yells in joy.
"Never been so glad to see this stuff!" A Nexus pilot says over the comms.
"Kallo, get the Archon back." She waits a moment for the comlink to reappear. "Archon, don't blame anyone. This clusterfuck is all you, buddy," she jokes. Reyes leans against the escape pod door, chuckling lightly to himself.
"Pathfinder, you think you have won. I've already got what I need to win. You continue to cause me problems, very well," he mutters as he turns away from the vid call. Moments later she hears Scott screaming. "This implant will do as I wish," he states.
"Scott!" Ryder screams. Scott can only groan and grunt in pain, but soon Meridian opens. The Archon was forcing Scott and SAM to open it. The Hyperion drops through, and the Tempest follows close behind. "Get us to the ground now!" she orders.
"We need to cover the Hyperion, it is not designed to land," Suvi shouts. Moments later everyone starts to slide from their standing and seated positions, the ship had stalled. They'd just entered Meridian, which was a green paradise, but they'd entered from the ground upwards.
"Sorry, gravity inverted," Kallo announces as he and Gill fight to get the ship jump-started. Luckily the engines kick back in moments after hitting the ground. The Hyperion was dead ahead of them, though Sara could see a few frigates leaving.
"Let's go," she says to Reyes. "We will take the ground, you lot stay up here and protect the Hyperion at all costs. There are twenty thousand people asleep on there," she says with a pointed finger. She and Reyes rush to the cargo bay, they'd have to do a full drop from the ship. The grasslands were too dense to land the ship.
Ryder couldn't believe how much of a paradise Meridian was. It was like Earth's rainforest. Tall trees, planet life, and even some Manta glided through the sky. She even saw Architects, but they were all docile. Just lazing through the sky.
The scenery was nice, but they couldn't stop admiring it. They drove at high speeds through the woodlands, nearly taking hits from destroyed ships. Reyes's fleet was doing a brilliant job at stopping Kett from attacking them from above. All the other Pathfinders were also helping, fighting alongside Evfra, the Moshea and Resistance.
The worst happens when the Hyperion's drive core fails. It starts a slow, long descent to the ground. The cryo area was covered, and Captain Dunn was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. Making sure the whole cryo bay was protected from the cockpit. But thanks to Pathfinder Vederia was able to biotically protect the full ship, saving Dunn and all on board.
The fighting took them inside, it was hard enough to find their way through without a map or SAM. But Scott was helping them, fighting against the Archon as SAM finally comes back to life and kept warning Ryder just how much pressure he and Scott were under. Scott led them through the tunnels, opening doors and hacking Remnant consoles for them.
Sara finally made it, the whole Tempest ground crew with her. Scott was screaming in pain as his implant was being forced to power the Archon's new set of weapons. It also came with its own killing architect. Ryder and the crew had to fit them all, she had to also take control back and get SAM back.
Each node she hacked slowly took the Archons defences down. Soon enough she got SAM back and was able to overpower him. She hacked the architect, turning it against him as it fried all his connections and burnt him alive.
"Scott?" Ryder calls as she comes out of cover, the loud cries of pain have stopped. The Archon dangled from the ceiling, motionless.
"Here," he muffles. Reyes climbs the mountain of stairs to the upper platform to get him. He pulls him over his shoulder, carrying him back down. "You're strong," he groggily comments.
"Why thank you," Reyes chuckles. They all huddle together, and Scott and Sara hug each other.
"God, I thought I lost you," she cries. Scott winces in pain as she squeezes a little too tightly.
"I'm all good. My big sister saved me," he says. Reyes kept a good hold of him as they all slowly made their way back outside.
"I thought you were twins?" Peebee comments. Sara laughs and nods.
"We are, but I'm eleven minutes older. I make sure he always remembers." Everyone snickers to themselves. "SAM? What can you tell me about the network?"
"Killing the Archon unlocked Meridians' full settings. I have reports from all known golden worlds, the network is up and running at peak performance. You did it, Pathfinder." Everyone cheered, they got close to the outside when the light hit them. The main bodies from all fighting corners came to surround them.
"We did it," Sara corrects. Lexi rushes over, grabbing Scott from Reyes. He needed to be checked straight away.
"Well done, Pathfinder," Reyes says. Sara cups his cheek. "Anything to say to everyone listening?" he asks.
"Tell them, we are home," she whispers before kissing him. They both held each other tightly, their lips passionately moving together. "I love you," she says with a smile.
"I love you too, dove," he replies. They both held each other tightly, knowing everyone was watching. But they didn't care, this was their moment.
A/N: There we go, that's the main story done. I loved retelling their story, adding my parts to it. I know I didn't go into full detail about the battle, but it's a VERY long battle and I'd be here for days writing it. Course you can experience it all first hand playing the game. Until next time!