The Nexus had massively changed in the few weeks since winning back Heleus. The full installation of all ends was complete and over sixty percent of the population was awake. The last few were those who were brought to help bring the populations up. Though the golden worlds needed to be finished first.
SAM figured it would take at least six months before all golden worlds are viable enough to start building cities and homes on them. Voeld was not going to be populated as the cold weather would never really go. The Angara also don't want to give it up. They would keep Aya, Voeld and Havarl, only allowing so many other species on them.
That left Kadara and Eos for the population building. Elaadan was given to the Korgan, the planet was a hard one to live on but Krogan made it look easy. They also needed time to work through the Genophage issues. They had been able to push their reproductive percentage to thirteen percent, which is a massive difference from before they left the Milky Way.
The Charlatan would always control Kadara, which was the most popular planet of them all. Eos was the golden child of the Nexus. Procreation blockers were starting to be removed for those who wish to try for a baby. However, couples were only allowed to have one baby between them, just for the time being. Twins or triplets were accepted, which cannot be helped with fertility.
Reyes got off the shuttle in the docking bay. They'd landed across from The Tempest, even though they were closer. The ship was just much faster and easily beat them there. Reyes looked out for Ryder as he walked along with Keema. Four of their men kept guard as they all strolled slowly through the bustling docking bays.
More Angara was now living full time on the station, they settled in well and even some romantic relationships were being formed. Most were Turian and Angara, the odd human and Angara. He smiled seeing the couple happy together, they all seemed suited well together.
"Reyes!" The voice screams. Reyes barely has time to catch who it was before a body tackles him to the ground. Ryder had thrown herself on time, she straddles him as she pins him down to hunt his lips down.
Keema only laughs as she looks down at them. Reyes wraps his arms around Ryder, kissing her deeply, his tongue slips into her mouth. Soon it got too awkward to watch, Keema kicked Reyes's leg. People were staring at the Pathfinder making out with someone on the floor.
"Dove, let me get up," he laughs. Ryder sighs but stands up, holding her hand to pull him up.
"Well, you two missed each other," Scott calls as he strolls over. He was now a full-time member of Sara's crew. The Ryder twins caused chaos by roaming the cluster together.
"It's been six weeks, of course, I missed him," Sara pouts as she hugs Reyes. He goes a little stiff when his men keep gawking at them.
"Ryder, come on. People are staring," he says a bit more sternly. His men quickly turned away, seeing he was upset with them looking.
"Sorry, I just missed you. How are you?" she asks. They all walk together towards the lifts, Tann was annoyed that Sara ignored his request to stay on Voeld. She told him she was coming for a meeting to sort this issue out with the Helium-three. He agreed to attend but wasn't happy about it. Moshea would also be there, but she wouldn't be speaking much during it.
"Better, now you're here. Have you seen Evfra?" Reyes and Sara lace their fingers together. Walking a little further ahead with Scott and Keema speaking quietly together.
"Yeah, he's gone off ahead with Jaal and some resistance fighters." The lift arrives and they all get inside, Sara brushes her thigh against Reyes's, getting his attention. "Are you going to tell him?" she whispers.
Reyes shrugs his shoulders, he still hadn't decided. "Not here," he replies. She nods and drops the topic. She'd have to wait for the answer. Keema and Scott continued to speak in hushed tones. "Those two have hit it off," he says leaning back. He puts his arms over her shoulders.
"Oh, no. You're barking up the wrong tree, Scott is just being kind." She looks at her brother, smiling at him. "Anyway, he's found, someone. One of the Tempest crew."
"Cora?" he asks with a raised eyebrow. Sara only giggles and taps her nose, he'd have to wait and see.
The lift arrived at Nexus control, it was swarmed with people. So many new jobs opened up with Meridian being active, meaning more needed to be woken up. They couldn't go far without someone shouting, running or mumbling to themselves. It was mayhem.
They all headed straight for Tann's office, the Pathfinder hall was still open. Now full with all the information and collected items the Pathfinder teams have found. A memorial of Alec had been put up, giving respect to him for his work on creating the Pathfinder role and creating SAM.
Tann's assistant looks up from her terminal. "Welcome, everyone. Director Tann is upstairs if you wish to head up." They all nod and walk the ramps. Reyes had never seen the Pathfinder hall. He ended up taking a sharp left away from everyone to look at everything.
"Pathfinder Ryder, welcome," Tann smiles. He looks at Keema. "Welcome, Charlatan," he adds. Keema smiles and bows partly. Evfra was standing in the corner, the face of an angry toddler written across him.
Scott had gone to stand with Reyes, they both looked at the terminal that had the information about the vaults on it. "Hello, dear one," a deep voice rumbles from behind them. Reyes was about to wonder who it was, but he turns to see Scott kissing Jaal.
He stands there dumbfounded, his mouth dropped into an o. Sara snorts as she walks over, Jaal then holds Scott close. "I wasn't expecting that," Reyes mumbles to himself.
Sara leans against the terminal. "Yeah, I did mention Cora liked Scott. I just didn't add that Scott is actually gay. I just KNEW he and Jaal would hit it off," she laughs. Reyes smiles, Scott and Jaal did look really happy together.
"Congratulations," Reyes says. Scott smiles, standing away from Jaal when Tann clears his throat to get their attention.
"Reyes Vidal?" Tann asks in surprise. Reyes knew he couldn't hide his face from Tann, he was the best pilot in the Initiative before leaving. Tann was pissed when he found out Reyes jumped ship. "What a pleasant surprise. I see you are close to our Pathfinder?"
"He's my partner, Tann," Sara sternly says. Lacing their fingers together. Keema walks over, standing close to Reyes.
"And why are you here? I heard you left to live on Kadara, correct? Left when we needed you," he stiffly adds. Reyes wanted to punch his smug face, he had his reasons for leaving.
"You know why I left Tann. The mutiny was a cry for help from the exiles and you ignored them. Quicking them and the Krogan off the station was the worst thing you could've done. I left with them for my own survival." He then looks at Sara, his expression softening slightly. "I'm glad relations are better, don't drag the past up."
Tann stands stiff, "you are correct. Do you work for the Charlatan then?" Keema was about to speak but Reyes held his hand up. Evfra had now joined the small huddle.
"I am the Charlatan," he sternly says. Tann's mouth drops open, looking quickly between Keema, him and Sara.
"This cannot be true?" Tann near whispers. Evfra grunts.
"It is, Director. I've known Reyes for nearly two years, he's done good work. Hides to operate freely he says." Reyes gives a curt nod to Evfra. He was relieved that the Angara was actually defending him.
"So you hide behind Keema?" Reyes nods.
"I don't do it out of wanting to. I operate better using operatives to be pawns of me. I run most of the business across Heleus. I... killed Sloan to take over Kadara Port." Tann backs away slightly.
"People must know," he mumbles. Sara then steps forward, quickly closing the gap between them both.
"No, you don't speak a word. You are the last person in this room that knows. We have all kept it a secret, you can do the same! Or do you wish for the Charlatan to stop aiding the Nexus and outposts?" Tann walks around to his terminal, he begins to press buttons. "SAM!" Sara calls. SAM hacks Tann's console, turning everything off.
"Pathfinder!" he shouts. "Tell SAM to unlock my terminal." Reyes tries to pull Sara back but she pulls away from his reach. She storms towards him, her hands heavily landing on the black screen on his console.
"Sir, please!" she begins. "Reyes's true identity cannot leave this room. He uses Keema as a front because it brings stability to the native Angara of Kadara. Do you really think they'd allow Reyes to take over as Sloan did? He'd be killed. Reyes brings in so much support for us and the Resistance. Evfra trusts him, you can too." Tann was silent, Sara sighs. "Fine, if you don't agree to my terms. I will leave my post, SAM will come with me."
"Are you blackmailing me?" Tann hisses.
"You leave me no choice. Reyes is my partner, I will not allow you to endanger his life. I love him for who he is, not for being a Charlatan. SAM controls all our systems, I can take that away in the blink of an eye if I wish," she whispers. Everyone stood behind them, watching with mouths opened. It was a tense standoff.
"SAM would not do that," Tann snaps.
"Yes, Director. I would," SAM says calmly. "The Pathfinder is my main priority, I do as she wishes without question."
Tann narrows his eyes and then stares at Reyes. Sighing, he knew he couldn't win this fight. "Fine, Ryder. You made your point, this is a... curve in everything. But I shall not speak a word of this."
"That's all I ask," Sara whispers. The room still felt tense, and Scott claps his hands.
"Right, now that's given us all a bad start. Why don't we get to business on the main issues with the fuel issue?" Sara smiles at him, Scott always spoke out at the worst time. Jaal pulls his hands down, shushing him.
"Let's just get this over with," Evfra growls. They all went back down from Tann's main desk and stood around the large rounded table. "We want agreements in place for the Helium-three Ryder found."
"Both Scott and Sara looked up, Reyes chuckled. "He means you, Sara," he says. Sara chuckles, she was trying to be professional but being with Reyes really wasn't helping.
"I forget you are twins," Evfra adds. "The Helium-three the Pathfinder found," he corrects.
"I knew who you mean, Evfra," Tanns sternly says. "We found it first, why should we share it?"
"Because my alliance is with the Resistance and I want one with you Tann," Reyes answers. "Don't annoy me by ignoring a simple request. This is the Angaras' home, we are still guests."
"We have proved we deserve a place here," Tann argues. Moshea then finally arrives, she takes one look at the annoyed, low and agitated looks on everyone's faces. She only shakes her head and decides to sit next to Jaal on the couch, he didn't want to be part of his either. "Vidal," Reyes grunts at him. "Charlatan!" he shouts in mocking correction. "The Collective has done a lot, yes, but the fuel is needed by the Nexus more. We have more people to wake up and need ships out of cargo and in our skies."
"You can still do that," Sara says. "There is so much fuel, Tann. I don't think you realise that. SAM," she calls. Her AI appears on the console of the table, bringing up states about Helium-three.
"I still do not know how much Helium-three is on the asteroid. But my thermal scans show there is more on the other parts of the belt. It just needs to be found, the current amount we have could support the Initiative for three hundred and seventy years. The Resistance, Collective and Initiative sharing between them would last for two-hundred and sixteen years. By then, we should have technology in place to mine with no issue of shortages." The room fell silent as they let Tann reflect on SAM's words. It was easily doable, but the Salarian seemed adamant he didn't want to share.
"What about other organizations? We have exiles on Elaaden that will need it." Reyes clears his throat.
"Leave that to me," he answers. "I have contacts that can sort them out without straining our own reserves." Evfra throws his arms over his chest, becoming very impatient.
"Moshae, say something," he grunts. They all looked at their ambassador, she had a large say in this as well. Tann and she had great respect for each other and got along fairly well.
"I believe you all make fair points," she says standing up. "Pathfinder Ryder and the others have done so much to help settle Heleus. We would have no home without them." She turns to Tann. "I look out for all species, Director. You know this." Tann nods. "I must side with my own here, we are native to Andromeda and why you are all welcome with open arms. You have no right to hold back resources from us all. Our own children give up places in Aya so yours may live there. We share, why can't you?"
Tann's hands dropped to his side, he sighs and closes his eyes. "You are correct, Ambassador," he says looking up at her. "I was selfish. I apologise to you all. SAM may you come up with percentages to how it should be shared." SAM only took a few seconds to crunch the numbers.
"The Resistance currently has the most space flying ships, but the Nexus would hold more when full personnel are awake. The Initiative and Resistance should split with forty percent each and the Collective takes twenty." Reyes grunted, he was expecting more, but if SAM was right they should have more once it's found. He also had a team ready to start searches throughout the cluster, he wanted to be self-sustainable. No need to deal with everyone.
He looks at Keema, and she nods. "We take those numbers. I would like to speak to you Tann about contracts between us both?" Tann nods. They all looked at Evfra, he looked ready to argue for a larger number but the Moshae gave him a stern look.
"I... we accept that as well," he grumbles, looking down at the floor. "If that is all, I need to return to Aya."
"That is all, we will send contracts over and help your people settle for mining," Tann says. Evfra gives him a curt nod, turning on his feet and stalking off. Reyes looked at Sara, motioning her head to leave, he wanted to see Tann alone.
"I will catch up with you soon," he whispers. She nods and leaves with everyone else. "Tann, have a seat," he grins at the Director.
A/N: See problems can be fixed when talked out. Hopefully, everyone will start playing ball and get along. More issues are still on the Horizon for everyone, this will really test Reyes and Ryder.