The Tempest arrived in the Civki system just hours after leaving Meridian. Sara had contacted the Initiative base that was currently studying the station. Reyes had asked Evfra if he wished for the Resistance to be a part of this, but the Angara weren't all interested in something that had little to do with them.
"Alright," Sara begins as she stands in the cargo bay with Reyes and Scott. "We will drop down and head for the main control base. We have a team meeting us there and well... SAM will do the rest," she says with a smile.
"I hope this works," Scott nervously says. Reyes pats his shoulder reassuringly.
"It will, Scott," he says. Sara turns to head down the ramp as the ship lands on the docking bays. The Remnant station had changed much, SAM had been able to take full control of the resident Remnant as they were now docile enough for people to work around. They even helped around the station, fixing issues and translating information.
"Pathfinder, Specialist Ryder, welcome," an Asari scientist welcomes. "My name is Ashlin Terria, I'm the head scientist for this research station."
Sara then Scott shook her hand. Ashlin looked Reyes up and down, he smiled and offered his hand. "Ashlin, this is my partner Reyes Vidal. Also representative of Kadara." Ashlin gives a curt nod and shakes his hand.
"Welcome, Mr Vidal," she says professionally. Sara turns to look at the station, the same large wards of tunnels, bridges and flowing ferrofluid. The vaults Sara had seen before all had this same fluid, it was still being researched today. Little was known about it, but SAM pointed out it resembled an omni-gel.
"How's it been going here?" Sara asks as they all walk down the long dark halls of the station. Ashlin motions her hand towards the forward station hub they had built for their researchers and scientists.
"It's been... educational. The Remnant is kind enough to help when a structure breaks or their language cannot be translated." Sara looked around the labs, there were terminals in every corner of the walls and people rushing around, shouting information between each other.
"Have you had any problems with Kett?" Reyes asks. Sara knew most of the Kett that followed the Archon had scattered, but some pockets were still lurking around. Though most didn't go far without being killed on the spot.
"We had a run-in a few weeks ago. This time was different, it was almost as if a new Archon was here." Sara and Scott look at each other in worry.
"Explain," Reyes snaps. Ashlin nods, moving them towards a quieter corner of the room. Sara leans against the console as Scott sits down.
"The Kett attack here every couple of weeks, it is usually only four or five of them. They still followed the Archon before you killed him," she says looking at Sara. "The last attack was different, there was one Kett. Tall, leading the group, they wore... red."
"Shit," Sara hisses. She looks at Reyes before pulling her omni-tool up. "SAM, can you shine some light on this?"
"Yes, Pathfinder. If you recall the mission on Voeld regarding another group of Kett moving against the Archon?" Sara nods, she forgot about that. Another Kett group wasn't agreeing with the Archon's ways. "I believe the one Miss Terria is describing is what remains from those who did not fight for Meridian."
"What are you talking about?" Reyes asks.
Sara looks at him rather than Scott, shaking her head in annoyance. "The Kett never came to this cluster to find Meridian. They were meant to exalt the Angara and leave, building their army as they went. The Archon became obsessed with Meridian and the Remnant. It was his second, Primus. He wasn't agreeing with the Archon's choices and warned the higher-ups weren't happy with him." Reyes opens his omni-tool. He is called Keema.
"Reyes?" she answers.
"Can't talk, I want a squad sent to the Remnant station. Their main objective is to keep the people here safe. The Kett are trying to attack them." Keema's brow ridge furrowed.
"They're still here?" Reyes nodded. "Skutt, alright. I'll have a shuttle sent out the next day." She ends the call, he looks up at Ashlin.
"My men will cover the station for you," he says with a small smile. Ashlin bows her head at him, she was appreciative of his kind gesture.
Scott stands up, pulling Reyes away from both women. "You sure, Reyes? You need them people to protect Kadara," he whispers.
"Kadara won't be safe if this station falls," he replies. Sara looks at Ashlin, the Asari was staring steadily at Reyes.
"We will get this sorted, Ashlin. Those Kett bastards aren't winning this one, they are massively outnumbered now." Ashlin smiles at Sara, leading her further through the heart of the hub and out the other side. "Have you been told anything about our visit?"
"Nothing past expecting your visit," Ashlin answers. Scott and Reyes were speaking in hushed tones, walking a little slower behind them. "I hoped you'd explain."
"We might be able to contact the Milky-Way," Sara bluntly says. Ashlin stops on the spot, her face dropped in surprise.
"How is that possible?" Sara pulled her closer. Though, on the other side of the hub, there were still a few people who stood too close to hear their conversation.
"This station is one big comms system. If SAM can configure it, we will send a signal home to see if they can receive it," she speaks in a low voice. Ashlin can only nod, walking with a limp in her step as she processes the words.
They finally make it to the main terminal SAM needs to access. Ashlin shoos all the workers away and back towards the station hub for privacy. "Is there anything you need us to do?" she asks.
Sara looks back at Scott and Reyes, they both stood off to her left, giving her the space needed to do her work. "No, it's alright," she says, finally looking at Ashlin. "We just need to let SAM do his thing and not interrupt the process." Everyone nods and lets Sara turn back around.
Sara looks down at the terminal, her omni-tool activates as SAM accesses the main terminal. It was of Remnant design, but they both had worked so many in the vaults, it was old technology to them. "You ready, buddy?" she asks.
"Yes, Pathfinder. Accessing logs... now," SAM says as Sara's fingers trace the orange glow towards the terminal. SAM was hit with an overload of data, in response, Sara's implant was aching. Reyes stepped forward when he saw Sara slump slightly over the console.
"SAM?" she whimpers in pain. SAM was unresponsive for a moment, he was fighting against hordes of data whilst trying to access the main caches.
"A moment," he replies with a strain to his voice. Scott wasn't liking this, SAM shouldn't be able to feel any sort of discomfort, but he sounded as if he was in pain. "Access granted," he finally says. Sara lets out a breath of oxygen she'd been holding in.
"Fuck, that hurt," she grimaced. Reyes rushes over, towering over her to check she was alright. "I'm fine," she whispers as he rubs her tears away.
"Can we hurry this up?" he asks SAM. Sara looked down at the terminal, the controls were going haywire as SAM worked through them all. Then they all felt the shift in the floor, Scoot slid on his ass as Ashlin fell into a pillar. "SAM?!".
"I must turn the station, we are in the wrong position to face the course of the Milky Way," he explains. Reyes and Sara hold the console as the station finally comes to a slow stop. Ashlin's team were going mad with reports flooding in asking what was happening. Scott helps her up.
"The Pathfinder is working right now, please continue as normal," she says with a station-wide message.
"I have positioned the station, I am unable to accurately say if the nearest Milky Way comm buoy is broadcasting." Sara looks at Reyes, SAM has done it. He'd been able to find a small link, the Milky Way must still be standing. That comm buoy SAM speaks of was too far out for what the normal distance would be.
"Maybe they are expecting to hear back from us?" she asks, looking at Reyes. He nods in agreement.
"We need to send a message," Scott says. SAM uses the console to relay a message, it would be coming through as bits of data, but if someone is listening. They will be able to easily decipher the data into actual words.
"I have a message ready to relay, Pathfinder. It reads: Link established from the Andromeda Initiative. Confirmation of arrival by Nexus control and Pathfinder groups." Sara hated how it was worded, but SAM wasn't able to say how much data the comm buoy could receive and the station was struggling to keep whatever link it was that he'd got.
"Alright, just send it." There was a pause from SAM before his voice came through as static.
"Message failed. Comm Link disrupted." Sara leans in the console, connecting her implant with SAM to work it back through.
"Come on, SAM. You can do it," she loudly says. There was a pause as the message was sent again, but it still failed.
"Pathfinder," SAM's static voice calls. "I cannot send this message. The station's network is corrupted."
"What? How?" she asks in annoyance. She looks over at Ashlin. "What the hell have your people done to the station?" Ashlin shakes her head, holding her hands up as Scott pulls her over to Sara.
"We haven't done anything past what Director Tann wishes for us to do." Sara snaps her head back towards the terminal. SAM was losing the connection.
"Scott, use your omni-tool to connect with mine," she shouts as she feels the console slowly die down from the connection becoming more and more corrupted."
"How?" Scott asks as he rushes over. Reyes moved himself and Ashlin back, the twins needed space.
"SAM can't hold the connection and my implant is struggling to aid him," she grunts in pain. Closing one eye, she continues to speak, "if we both hold the connection, you and my implants should help send it."
Scott opens his omni-tool, letting SAM connect to his implant through it. He groans as he feels the headache attack him with full force. "Hurry this up," he mumbles. SAM finally has a connection strong enough and quickly sends the message. The terminal sparks and overloads, blowing both Ryders to the ground.
The station loses power for a few seconds before the lights come back on and the backup generators kick in. The Remnant continues their previous moves as they shut down just moments ago. "Sara," Reyes calls as he rushes over and pulls them both up. "You both okay?"
"Yeah," they both say in harmony. They look at Ashlin and Sara storms towards her. "What the fuck have you been doing here? SAM shouldn't have lost signal like that."
"I... Director Tann ordered us to do this," she whimpers as the Pathfinder glares at her.
"What did he order you to do?" Reyes asks. He and Scott both surround her, she looks at each angry face before finally breaking down and answering.
"He wanted the best chance for our people, he ordered us all to strip the station and use it for our own gain," Sara growled, turning on her heel as she stormed off.
"Suvi, get me, Tann on the line now," she orders.
"Yes, Pathfinder."
"You don't go anywhere," she says with a pointed finger to Ashlin. "Reyes, find out from Evfra if he knows about this."
Reyes moves off to contact Angara. Sara's omni-tool rings with Tann's name. "Tann, the fuck have you done to this station?" she bellows down the line.
"Pathfinder, may I remind you who you are speaking to," he calmly says.
Sara rolls her eyes at him. "Fuck you, Tann. This station is being stripped for your own gain? You know the Angara study here as well."
"We need every advantage we can get, Ryder. You should not be accessing this station anyway," he says in a flat tone.
"Evfra will find out about this, good fucking luck hiding from him. We sent a message to the Milky Way, though it nearly destroyed SAM by doing so." Tann looks at her in shock.
"I did not grant this, you should have spoken to me first, Pathfinder. I request you return to the Nexus for questioning." Sara rolls her neck, feeling stiff with the building stress.
"Fine, you better have some answers to my questions," she shouts before ending the call. She walks back over to Ashlin, "you are to stop all work here immediately."
"I cannot do that, Ryder," she quietly says.
"Fine," Sara turns to look at the Remnant workers. "SAM, take your control off the Remnant, see how long they can last without your help."
"Wait... no," Ashlin cries in fear. Sara glares at her, her brows furrowed deep. "Alright, we will stop all our work on this station."
"Good, the Angara may continue it. If you hear back from the Milky Way you are not to alert anyone. SAM will tell me if it happens." Ashlin looks at the ground.
"Yes, Pathfinder." Reyes had walked back over.
"Well... Evfra is pissed. He's going back to the Nexus."
"So are we. I'm going to kill Tann," she groans in annoyance. They all leave the station, not wanting to spend another second on it. "Do you have work to do?"
"Mountains," Reyes jokes. Sara smiles at him.
"Get on with it when we get back aboard, SAM is yours," she whispers. Reyes smirks at her, lacing their fingers together as he squeezes her hand.
"Thank you, dove."