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bloojayoolie · 5 years

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Cats, Children, and Dogs: At Manhattan ACc waiting for Love Panko 61823 6 years old, 55 lbs Hansome, Cat Friendly, Social, Affecationate, Housetrained **** TO BE KILLED - 5/11/2019 **** BEEN WANTING A DOG BUT YOU HAVE A CAT? Well then Panko just might be your furry guy. He's social, affectionate and playful and he happens to be cat friendly. ACcording to his notes, Panko lived in harmony with a male cat and is said to be relaxed, playful and respectful with him. It doesn't get much better than that. His real name is Drako and he has lost his home and family through no fault of his own because the landlord decided he can no longer stay. Panko lived with two adults, a teenager and a cat and he did well with everyone. He's very housetrained so there really isn't much to do but give this boy a second chance, time to decompress and reacclimate and then love him unconditionally. Please help us share this handsome 6 year old for a solid home and awesome family. PANKO@MANHATTAN ACC Hello, my name is Panko My animal id is #61823 I am a male black dog at the Manhattan Animal Care Center The shelter thinks I am about 6 years old, 55 lbs Came into shelter owner surrender May 4, 2019 Reason Stated: Landlord won't allow Panko is for new hope partners only Panko is at risk, new hope only determination, for behavioral reasons. Panko has remained fearful at the care center and has displayed high levels of dog reactivity with the potential to re-direct onto the handler. Panko would be best suited for placement with a new hope partner that can provide the necessary behavior modification. Medically, Panko has a growth which may need follow up care. My medical notes are... Weight: 55.2 lbs Vet Notes 5/05/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age:5- 6 years Microchip noted on Intake?no Microchip Number (If Applicable): History : owner surrender Subjective: fearful Observed Behavior - fearful; sedated Evidence of Cruelty seen - Evidence of Trauma seen - Objective sedated PE- dexdormitor - 0.8ml im and Butorphanol- 0.8ml IM P = 50hr R = 30 BCS 7/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: mild tartar PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: mi w/ 2 down MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, pedunculated mass noted from the right antebrachium, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate -sedated Assessment pedunculated mass- r/o b-9 growth Prognosis: good Plan: neuter and remaval of pedunculated growth r medial antebrachium SURGERY: Okay for surgery Details on my behavior are... Behavior Condition: 4. Orange Behavior History Behavior Assessment Behavior upon intake: Drako was hard barking in the office while owner was holding him. Counselor was unable to collar or take a picture but able to scan for a microchip while owner was holding his face towards him. Date of Intake: 5/4/2019 Spay/Neuter Status: Not Applicable Basic Information:: Drako is a large mixed unaltered male approximately 6 years old who was surrendered due to owner having landlord issues. Owner had Drako for 6 years. Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 1 child, 1 cat How is this dog around strangers?: Previous owner stated Drako is friendly and outgoing with strangers but does not do well other dogs. How is this dog around children?: Drako previously lived with a 17 year old male who is described as relaxed, playful and respectful. How is this dog around other dogs?: Drako will hard bark and lunge at other dogs when on a walk. Drako is hard to control when he is in the zone and focused on the other dogs. How is this dog around cats?: Previous owner had a domestic short hair altered male who Drako is described as relaxed, playful and respectful. Resource guarding:: Owner stated Drako isn't bothered when his food, toys or treats are taken away while in his possession. Bite history:: No known bite history. Housetrained:: Yes Energy level/descriptors:: Very High Other Notes:: Drako is anxious when he sees other dogs on a walk. Has this dog ever had any medical issues?: No Medical Notes: No known medical during the time of intake. For a New Family to Know: Drako is described as friendly, affectionate, playful and excitable with people. He was fed a can of wet food in the morning then one at night. Drako is house trained and rarely to never has any accidents in the home. Date of intake:: 5/4/2019 Spay/Neuter status:: No Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner surrender Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 1 child (age 17), and 1 cat Behavior toward strangers:: Friendly, outgoing Behavior toward children:: Relaxed, playful, respectful with 17 year old in home Behavior toward dogs:: Hard barks, lunges, hard to control around him Behavior toward cats:: Relaxed, playful, respectful Resource guarding:: None reported Bite history:: None reported Housetrained:: Yes Energy level/descriptors:: Friendly, affectionate, excitable with a high energy level Date of assessment:: 5/7/2019 Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: Hard Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs Extreme Leash walking comments: Lunges, growling and barking as soon as he sees a dog. Begins to circle repeatedly and jump up, snapping wildly. Unable to settle after this encounter, continuing to howl and pace when brought into the assessment room. Due to this continued high level of arousal, Panko is not a good candidate for a handling assessment at this time. Please see his owner surrender profile for a full report of his behavior in his previous home. Summary:: Due to observed reactivity toward other dogs and potential to redirect, Panko is not a candidate for off leash playgroups. A single dog residence is recommended. Date of intake:: 5/4/2019 Summary:: Hard barking ENERGY LEVEL:: Panko is described as having a high level of activity. We recommend long-lasting chews, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek games, in additional to physical exercise, to positively direct his energy and enthusiasm. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only Behavior Asilomar: TM - Treatable-Manageable Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Single-pet home,Recommend no dog parks,Place with a New Hope partner Recommendations comments:: Single pet/no dog parks: See DOG-DOG Place with a New Hope partner: Panko has displayed an extremely high level of reactivity towards dogs and a potential for redirection towards people. He has also displayed an inability to settle down after becoming aroused by dogs. For this reason, we the behavior department recommends Panko be placed with a New Hope placement partner who is able to provide an experienced adult-only foster home. A period of decompression is recommended to allow Panko to acclimate comfortably to his new environment; force-free, reward based training only is advised when introducing Panko to new and unfamiliar situations. Consultation with a professional trainer/behaviorist is highly recommended for guidance to safely manage/modify any behavior Panko presents with outside of the care centers. Potential challenges: : Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration Potential challenges comments:: Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: Panko has displayed fearful behavior at the care center and barked at handlers. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration: Panko has displayed a very high level of reactivity towards dog at the care center, a behavior that was also reported in his previous home. When he sees dogs, he lunges, barks, and snaps wildly, spinning around and jumping up, displaying a potential for redirection. He continues to bark and whine for a long time after the dog the dog is out of his sight and is unable to settle. Due to how extreme this behavior is, the help of a professional positive reinforcement trainer will likely be needed. Please see handout on On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration. PANKO IS RESCUE ONLY…..TO SAVE THIS PUP YOU MUST FILL OUT APPLICATIONS WITH AT LEAST 3 NEW HOPE RESCUES. PLEASE HURRY!!! IF YOU CAN FOSTER OR ADOPT THIS PUP, PLEASE PM OUR PAGE FOR ASSISTANCE. WE CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH LINKS TO APPLICATIONS WITH NEW HOPE RESCUES WHO ARE CURRENTLY PULLING FROM THE NYC ACC. PLEASE SHARE THIS DOG FOR A HOME TO SAVE HIS LIFE.

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natsora · 7 years

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The Cetus Arc - Chapter 49

Showdown

[AO3] | [FFnet]

It was set. They would have to split up. There were two targets. Kadara and Remav, both equally vital. The first to safeguard the Moshae and the Leadership and apprehend Tann, the second to take the fight to Perseus and hopefully get more intel.

It was past time they put a face to Perseus. With every base they hit, they were unravelling Perseus like a tapestry. All they need was one good thread to pull on.

The teams were decided and not everyone was happy. Evfra wasn’t about to let them go after the Moshae without angara backup. That or he still didn’t trust them, because he was coming along. Cora and Evfra would have joint command of the team heading to Kadara while Jaal and Scott would command the team heading to Remav. “You are my second, you are the obvious choice here,” Core pointed out.

Scott nodded though his frown deepened. The Tempest crew would be split between the two teams. Vetra, Liam and Peebee would join Scott while Drack, Cora and Ryder would remain on board the Tempest. Evfra brought along his own team of Resistance fighters and Jaal had his own as well. Dex, well Dex went where Ryder did.

Ryder stood at the docks watching Evfra, Jaal, Cora and Scott conferring. Probably working out the logistics or something, Ryder mused as she watched. She had contacted Wrench and got her to put feelers out for intel. With the size of Tann’s ego and arrogance, it was probably next to impossible for Tann to travel anywhere without the entire world knowing.

Dex was the only one not busy. He was looking at the docks of Aya with slack-jawed wonder. She smiled. At least there was one person she could make happy. Ryder snorted and walked over to him. “Was it all you expected?” she asked.

Dex grinned. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” she said. “It’s much better beyond the docks.”

It didn’t dampen his mood. “We can come back here after and I’ll get to visit the markets and eat all the angara food I want!”

Ryder matched his grin but it didn’t reach her eyes.

They were underway. The Tempest felt cramped. The angaras kept to themselves in the cargo bay. Even Evfra had eschewed the privacy of the empty tech lab when Cora offered to move Dex to the crew quarters. Ryder was more or less used to people watching her every move on Kadara but never with so much suspicion. The angaras always had a hand on their pistols whenever she was within sight of it. It made her hands twitch for her own which was never there. Who the hell walks around armed during downtime? Her own hidey-hole was no longer private. One night sleeping among them was enough for her. Ryder didn’t want to find out what happened if she had a nightmare while sleeping among them.

Lexi walked into Ryder dozing in the galley on the second night. She sighed as Ryder woke up to the sound of the door opening. “I’d offer you the med-bay but I think you had enough of the place,” Lexi said as she got herself a cup of water.

Ryder laughed. “You got that right.”

It was the third day into their sprint towards Kadara. Home and yet not quite. Ryder cloistered herself in the meeting room if she wasn’t supervising Dex with his biotics training. The map of Kadara was always on her omni tool allowing her to pore over it. There were plenty of likely places that were viable for a meeting between dignitaries. Ditaeon would be the likeliest but it was too public for people who were technically still under lockdown. Then there were the countless of old Collective outposts just sitting there. She sighed and ran her hands over her face. Someone cleared their throat. Her left hand slapped her hip to find no pistol there while her right hand flared. “Ryder,” the voice called.

Her eyes darted and found Evfra standing with his hands up at the opposite end of the table. With a steadying breath, she let the energy go. “Shit, sorry,” she said.

Evfra didn’t move. He kept his eyes on her. Ryder sighed, “Maintaining this level of alertness, isn’t it tiring?”

Evfra blinked, taken aback by her light tone. He snorted and sat down without invitation. “It’s the difference between life and death on the field.”

“Touché,” Ryder said. “This isn’t the field.”

“Isn’t it?” His voice cold.

She studied him. Evfra, commander of the Resistance, he was no greenhorn to the burden of command and tough decisions. He’s been at it longer than her.

“Tell me,” Ryder said as she pushed the stacks of datapads between them to aside.

Evfra narrowed his eyes at her as she shifted several seats closer to him. “Would you have run?”

“You mean escape.”

“To-mah-to, to-meh-to,” Ryder countered.

The angara frowned. Clearly, this wasn’t translating well. Ryder waved her hand, “Sorry human idiom.”

“Yes, I’ve heard a lot about these idioms,” Evfra grimaced. “They are confusing.”

“Not recently I figure.”

“No,” he admitted.

“So would you?” Ryder pressed, leaning forward.

Evfra’s lips flattened as he thought about it. Ryder waited, her fingers tapping to mark the time. A soft sigh escaped Evfra after a while.

“Yes,” he admitted.

Ryder raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t expecting that. She was expecting him to walk away, brush her off or just plain ignore her. Angaras are truly different.

“I would have fought to the end,” Evfra said, looking her evenly.

“And I’m innocent.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“What more do you want?” Ryder asked exasperatedly, forcing her hands to remain loose and relaxed. “You have the vid, the intel. All of it.”

“Yes but these things can be fabricated given enough time and effort. You were missing for months. Now you appear with a story about the Moshae being in danger, you being innocent, as are the other Pathfinders. It is very convenient don’t you think so.”

Ryder glowered at Evfra. He didn’t even look the slightest discomforted by it. “You sound like Tann,” she said flatly.

“Do not,” Evfra immediately surged to his feet. “Compare me with that incompetent fool.”

A bark of laughter erupted from Ryder. “On that, we agree, Evfra,” she said. “If I could open my head up for you to have a look around, I would.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment. The words hung in the air like a barrier between them. “What’s in it for you?” Evfra asked, sitting down on the chair again.

“What? The good of the cluster isn’t good enough for you?” Ryder countered.

“That’s not all there is to it. There is something more.”

Ryder looked away, unable to meet his eyes, afraid he would see past all her defences and walls. “I want that chip out of my head. I want to see Tann pay for his utter stupidity. I want to take down Perseus. I want a lot of things, Evfra,” she said, flicking her eyes to meet his. “Most of all, I just want some fucking control back.”

Evfra grunted. He didn’t push for something more concrete. Ryder didn’t have it for him. Control was something nebulous and intangible. What was it really? Other than to live the way you see fit, within reasonable limits of course. Not to be the most wanted person in the cluster, not to be saddled with the horrible title of the Bloody Blade, not to be synonymous with betrayal. She wanted to fit in her own skin again. Everything else could wait. They must.

“I guess talk is cheap. All I have is my actions to prove to you that I’ve never wanted to betray the trust you personally, you the angara people, have given me. After this mess is over, I hope whatever happens I’ve at least proved that much.”

Evfra nodded. “For all of us, I hope what your Pathfinder has told me is true,” he said as he leaned over the Kadara map opened on her omni tool.

She pulled the map onto the holo-screen and went through her thoughts with Evfra.

Jaal glanced at Scott. He was buckling his armour. They were making planetfall in 30 minutes. Everyone was checking and double-checking their gear. “Let me help you with that,” Jaal offered, his hands familiar with human armour.

The buckles snapped easily into place. “Thanks,” Scott muttered.

Their joint command for the mission was rocky but professional. The ice Scott had for him hadn’t thawed in the slightest but at least he had stopped glaring daggers into the back of his head at every chance he got. “Do you want to do it, or should I?” Jaal asked.

“By all means,” Scott said with an “after you” gesture.

Jaal nodded. He clapped his hands together once. The assembled teams gathered. Glancing at them, many of them familiar. All of them no stranger to a dangerous mission. “Right, the target is the outpost,” he pointed at the holo-map.

Everyone shifted closer to take a look. The holo-map expanded to show the scan they had taken from orbit. It was fuzzy and lacking in details. “The scanner had picked up two main ingress points. We will be splitting up and hitting both points at the same time. Scott will take the Tempest team through the front, while we will cover the back.”

Jaal paused. Everyone nodded their understanding. “Our goal is to gather intel. Preserve all terminals. Take captives where possible but your life is worth more than the Perseus operatives.”

Jaal glanced at Scott, he raised a brow at him. Scott stepped forward. “Take special care, Perseus operatives are known to have poison embedded in their mouths, so if you manage to capture them make sure you get the poison capsule out,” he said. “You all know what is at stake. It’s more than taking down another Perseus outpost. This may be their headquarters. Resistance is sure to be tough. The harmony of the cluster hangs on this. You’re all professionals and you have your orders. There is only one order I’d give, come back alive.”

Wrench met them at her villa, dressed for battle. “This isn’t your fight,” Ryder hissed. “What the fuck do you think you are doing? I specifically kept you out of this.”

“I don’t need to know the why, the who, the how and the whatever else. All I know you needed help,” she replied, looking Ryder with her arms on her hip.

“I needed intel, not you throwing yourself into this fight that’s not yours,” Ryder said, her brow furrowing. “You don’t even know what’s the fucking is happening.”

“Dex can fill me in,” she said as she shouldered her way into the Tempest.

As she passed Ryder, Wrench clapped her hand on her shoulder. “Learn to accept help when it’s offered, Ryder. You don’t have to do everything on your own.”

Kiba trailed happily behind Wrench. Ryder stood at the ramp and watched everyone else fussed over the husky. The lump in her throat refused to go away no matter how much she swallowed. Ryder wouldn’t deny it, having Wrench along for the mission would help. It was at least another pair of eyes she could trust implicitly but it felt wrong to drag Wrench into this mess.

Wrench had the intel they needed. Ryder watched as Wrench and Dex speaking with much gesticulation as the others took in the intel. Dex was probably filling Wrench in. Ryder was glad that she didn’t have to do it herself, she didn’t think she had the mental capacity to relieve it all over again, even for Wrench.

Ryder turned to the business at hand. As expected, there was no such thing as a quiet entry for Tann. They had indeed docked at Ditaeon. Would the meeting be actually held there remained to be seen. There was no telling how many at Ditaeon were Perseus operatives in secret. If they could infiltrate the Nexus so thoroughly, what was an outpost?

They waited while Cora had a quick vid-comm with Mayor Tate. She managed to surreptitiously probe for Tann and the Moshae’s location. There was no telling who was chipped and who wasn’t. 15 minutes later, she had the location. The meeting was held at a re-purposed outpost at Spirits’ Ledge. After SAM had a chance to scan it to confirm heat signatures, they were quickly on their way over.

The Tempest landed a distance away. It would do them no good to alert Perseus of their intentions. Squeezing in everyone into the Nomad was a nightmare even though Dex and Kiba were left behind with the non-combatants of the Tempest. Ryder was glad they had picked up a second Nomad while docked at Aya. At least Evfra had the foresight to count heads.

Ryder glanced at her omni tool again. She had the map up, showing her the local topography of Spirits’ Ledge. Nestled among the deep valley of Spirits’ Ledge was an old outpost. Who it belonged to initially didn’t make a difference now. It had been repurposed for Tann and the Moshae.

“We’ll take the rest of the way on foot,” Cora ordered over the comm channel.

The armour still felt odd on her body. It shifted when she moved, it’s not snug like it used to be. There was no help for it. Her legs moved in time with the others. Their formation loose, no sense getting spotted by clustering together. Cora was ahead of her. Ryder kept her grip relaxed on her Mattock, her heartbeat calm and even. She was ready to see this through. Her music soared in her helmet.

Maybe believe Or maybe don't care

Shit, maybe there is no god in the big white clouds up there

Sand crunched beneath her boots. Ryder turned, Wrench was at her six, sniper rifle at the ready. The salarian nodded at her. She returned the gesture.

Maybe live long Or maybe die young

Her father walked beside her. His gait long, purposeful and it ate the distance. He turned and met her eyes. Today she didn’t find judgement, it was purpose, approval and pride. Ryder took a breath and allowed herself to just be for a moment. Before the battle was joined, before she lay everything that was her on the line again.

Or maybe live every day like it's your last day under the sun.

The clear voice sang in her ears as she turned her attention back to the outpost.

“Scott,” Jaal called.

“What is it?” Scott yelled over the comms, the bark of rifles filling the air. “A little busy here.”

“I need you over here,” Jaal insisted. “It’s about Sara.”

Jaal could hear Scott cursed under his breath. “Give me a minute.”

The channel went dead. He turned back to the terminal as far as he could tell, he was looking at medical case notes. It was the full vid of was recovered previously. It had complete annotations, notes and best of all schematics of Ryder’s version of the Cetus chip. With this, Lexi could begin figuring out how to remove the chip from Sara safely. Jaal tapped through the screens on the terminal. There were similar notes for all the Pathfinders here.

Hope fluttered in Jaal’s chest. It was like the light at the end of the long dark tunnel, they were all stuck in. Jaal tapped on his omni tool to download the files.

They had left Wrench and one of Evfra’s men a distance out to cover their exit. Nothing felt right as Cora glanced at Ryder. They made it without trouble to the outpost. There was no opposition, no ambush, no spotters. Nothing. The hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach got worse.

Ryder’s completely opaque face plate had turned her into a faceless sentinel. Cora couldn’t tell if Ryder was even looking at her. Her eyes snagged on the scratched out insignia on Ryder’s armour. Cora shook her head, this wasn’t the time to get distracted.

“Shall we?” Evfra rumbled behind her, interrupting her thoughts.

Cora nodded and she overrode the lock with her Pathfinder authorisation codes. The doors slid open and they walked in. Seven fully armed and armoured people walked in. The outpost was a barebones structure. It was a single large space with a large table in the middle and scattered crates and furniture at a corner. On one side sat the Leadership. Captain Zaex and his squad lined the wall behind them. On the other side sat only the Moshae. Her team of Resistance fighters was likewise lining the wall behind her. Instantly, the guards had their weapons up and trained on each other.

“What is the meaning of this?” the Moshae asked, her usual serene voice tight.

Cora pulled her helmet off to reveal her face. “Moshae, we are here to secure your safety along with the Leadership,” she said, her hands held up loosely in a semi-surrender pose.

She turned to Captain Zaex, “Have your men put their weapons down,” she ordered.

Zaex looked uncertainly at her then at Tann but he gave no order. Cora’s jaw twitched. Of course, take your cue from your patron. She glanced at Evfra. He stepped forward and pulled his helmet off as well, “Moshae, please follow us, Perseus is targeting the meeting for an attack.”

The Moshae flicked her wizened eyes between Cora and Evfra, betraying nothing of her thoughts. She turned to Tann, “It seems we will have to do it another time.”

With that, the Moshae turned to her guards and stood. Tann glared at in her direction before smoothening his features to speak. His voice purposefully louder than necessary “This is awfully convenient for Pathfinder Harper to have located us.”

Cora’s still raised hands clenched into fists at what Tann was trying to imply. “You know how vital the talks are, Harper,” Tann pointed out. “Is the threat credible?”

Addison and T’vera both looked at Cora, suspicion creeping into their eyes. Cora didn’t blame them. She would be paranoid too if she had been targetted by Pathfinders for what was the fifth time. Tann, on the other hand, was a whole other story. Cora tightened her grip on her temper. She didn’t want to debate this now. The priority was to get them all out and gone. Sneaking a glance at Ryder, she couldn’t begin to imagine the utter rage Ryder must be feeling. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly through her mouth, her lips parted to try and talk sense into them again. Her eyes caught a flicker of movement. Tann’s aide, Siegfried brought his arm up and tapped on his omni tool. Cora frowned.

Then time seemed to speed up and crawled at the same time. Ryder stepped forward. Her weight shifted as she bent her knees, her grip on the Mattock tightened. No! Cora’s mind flashed to Ryder’s interrogation of Vidal, the violence, the bloodlust. Blue enveloped Ryder. She’s going to beat Tann into a pulp!

Cora gasped as Ryder surged forward - towards the Moshae. She wasn’t expecting that. Evfra growled, “I should have known!”

Is she having an episode? Goddess! “Shoot the betrayer!” Evfra yelled.

As rifles lifted to train on Ryder, Cora reached for the controller. Time stretched as the telltale buzzing of a tech attack being launched filled the air. Ryder knocked the Moshae down with her charge. An Incinerate shot across the room and slammed into the Moshae’s guards. All hell broke loose. “Cover the Moshae!”

A layered blue shield flashed to life over Ryder and the Moshae. The bullets thudded into the shield. It flickered and flashed but it held. “A little help here, Cora,” Ryder grunted with effort.

“Stop!” Cora yelled as she sent a Push out in a circle around her.

It threw most of them down on their butts. “Stand down!”

Nobody moved for a moment. The scent of burning flesh and armour filled the air as screaming soldiers writhed on the floor before becoming still. Deathly still. The Moshae’s guards were down. Those who weren’t immediately killed by the blast were badly burnt. Evfra’s squad rushed to render first aid.

Ryder glanced at Cora before getting up from over the Moshae. She stretched a gauntlet down to the angara. The Moshae put her hand into Ryder’s and she pulled the Moshae to her feet. “Stick to Evfra,” Ryder said.

The Moshae narrowed her eyes at Ryder but nodded. She quickly made her way over to Evfra.

All Cora saw was a quick hand signal before Ryder Charged again. This time heading directly at Tann. No, not Tann. “Raeka!”

Ryder was the blue bolt of lightning barreling right into the group. Her target was clear and it didn’t matter who got caught in her wake. She saw Tann’s aide twisting away with fear as she crashed into them. Siegfried fell taking Tann and T’vera down with him. Ryder paid them no heed, her hands grappling for Raeka.

“Take Raeka down!” Cora shouted. “Unharmed!”

Drack’s battle roar rocked the hall but Ryder’s attention was wholly occupied by Raeka. She was confident in her hand to hand skills especially after regular sparring sessions with Drack previously. However, where Drack was all brute strength Raeka was quick, slippery and sharp. Every blow delivered with precision.

Ryder grunted as another blow broke her balance. She didn’t know if Raeka was ex-STG or a Council spectre but her moves were vicious. She grunted as Raeka’s fists broke through her defences. Ryder hunched over to recover but Raeka never let up on her onslaught. She raised her arms to block another blow.

It was a mess. Limbs and body tangled together. Neither could gain an upper hand. “Get clear!” Cora’s voice came through the comms.

Ryder twisted away but Raeka’s hand shot out jabbing her at the back of her knee. It was exactly at the joint of her hard shell. Ryder’s knee gave out. Raeka’s fingers flashed across her omni tool. Her ears filled with a buzzing as an Overload hit her, shattering her shields. Her knee flared with pain as she straightened. A shot rang out, Ryder barely had time to twist out of the way. Pain flared up her arm.

A large mountain stepped between Raeka’s pistol and herself. A roar reverberated her body as Drack forced Raeka away with his shotgun.

Raeka moved back towards the Leadership. “Harper is with Perseus. Protect the Leadership!” she shouted.

She turned herself into the rallying point for Zaex’s men. Ryder hastily pulled a shield over herself and Drack as the rest dove behind cover. Ryder had her Mattock in her hand but there was nobody she could fire upon. Nobody here was an enemy, not really.

Siegfried, pinned between Tann and T’vera, was frantically speaking into his omni tool. Ryder’s eyes widened with sudden realisation. What better position to be in than right next to Tann. Siegfried the faithful, trustworthy aide was always around, always present. Listening in on all the high-level meetings, privy to every fucking single thing that’s being done to combat Perseus. He had all the information passing through his fingers. Just a nudge here and a suggestion there, Perseus could insert their operatives in place like fish into water.

How much had been manipulated by him? Mis-fucking-information and manipulation.

Before Ryder could act, there was a loud clank and a rumble. Soldiers came pouring out from an underground level. Of course, there was no ambush outside, they had their people in here the entire time!

“Perseus!” she yelled.

Evfra and his team were taken by surprise. The holo-lock turned red the moment they reached it. Perseus operatives had them and the Moshae pinned against their only exit. Ryder saw the exact moment Siegfried’s face turned from fear to satisfaction. Anger surged within her chest but she had bigger problems. The angaras were surrounded and out of cover.

Everyone else was rapidly forced behind cover under the Perseus’ hail of bullets. There was nobody to take the pressure off Evfra’s team. Raeka was temporarily forgotten as Ryder and Drack turned her weapons to cover them. It was her mistake. She shouldn’t have dismissed Siegfried.

Siegfried pulled a pistol and aimed it at Tann, Addison and T’vera. “Stop!” he shouted. “Or I’ll shoot!”

Ryder ignored it, firing her Mattock into the backs of Perseus’ operatives. They fell but there were plenty more to fill the gaps. Then a cry of pain as a shot rang out. She turned back and found Tann on the ground clutching his thigh, green blood staining his clothes. “No!” Ryder growled. “He does not belong to you.”

Ryder aimed her Mattock at Siegfried. Drack shifted his shotgun between the operatives and Siegfried.

“The next one goes into his other leg,” Siegfried said, staring Ryder down through her opaque faceplate.

“What are you doing, Siegfried?” Tann gasped through his pain, his large eyes impossibly wide.

“Shut up, Tann,” the normally mild-mannered aide sneered. “Your usefulness is up. You have one last role to play here then your work is done.”

Zaex’s men had their weapons pointed alternately between Perseus operatives and them. Ryder risked a glance at Evfra. He was bleeding from his head and his men weren’t faring any better. His team was down to just him and one other. Both of them shielding the Moshae with their bodies. Cora was hidden behind cover, her breath loud via the comms. Drack’s armour was reassuringly pressed against her back, covering her six.

By then, the medi-gel had kicked in. Ryder’s arm was nice and wonderfully numb. She spared Tann a glance, Addison and T’vera were at his side trying to keep him from bleeding out. He cried as Addison pressed hard on his wound. Ryder snorted and rolled her eyes though nobody was able to see it. She was more than ready to end this stalemate.

“What are you talking about?” Tann asked, his voice shrill due to the pain and confusion.

“Get the Moshae over here,” Siegfried ordered, ignoring his ex-boss.

One of the operatives strode forward ignoring the rifles pointed in their direction. Evfra lifted his rifle ready to fire. Ryder tensed her body, ready to move at a moment’s notice.

“Don’t,” Cora’s voice came over the comms.

Evfra’s hands jerked and fell. He must have been linked to their comms too. “If you do this, the Moshae dies either way,” she went on. “Let’s wait for an opening.”

The Resistance fighter visibly sagged. This went against everything he knew. Evfra took two steps to the side while his solo remaining soldier baulked. “Step down,” he growled.

The Perseus operative didn’t wait for an invitation. Rough hands dragged the Moshae from between the angaras. She walked with her head held high as she was marched over to Tann and the others. Addison conferring with T’vera even as she applied pressure on Tann’s thigh. Ryder had to admit Tann wasn’t looking too good and to let him die like this would have been way too easy. Her hand went to her hard shell’s medi-gel slot. “Ahh!” Siegfried said, at her movement.

“Medi-gel for him,” Ryder said by way of explanation. “You can’t possibly want him to just bleed out.”

He nodded but Raeka kept her weapon trained on her. Ryder’s jaw tightened but she kept her movements slow and deliberate. T’vera nodded her thanks as she tossed the pack of medi-gel over.

“Siegfried, explain yourself!” Tann shrieked, his attempt to bluster falling flat when his voice carried the edge of fear.

“It’s simple, Tann,” Ryder said evenly. “If only you would just fucking think. They have the entire set. All the Pathfinders have fallen. It’s Raeka’s job to finish all of us. Taking out the Resistance commander must be the cherry on top.”

Siegfried cocked his head at her. He frowned then a grin split his face. “Yes, astute. It’s was so easy really to get the Pathfinders one by one. Tann had been very helpful.”

Betrayal from within by fucking greed.

Ryder prayed Cora was making full use of this time to come up with something, anything. Tann won’t last long without medical attention. As much as Ryder wanted to strangle Tann with her own two hands, seeing him bleeding on the floor brought her no joy. Addison demanded an explanation even as she applied the medi-gel to his wound. He bucked as medi-gel hit his wound effectively sealing it. Tann hissed, “We’re all going to die and you ask me that?”

T’vera’s eyes narrowed but she was still as unreadable as before. Addison, on the other hand, was incensed. “You asshole! Tann, what the hell have you done? The Pathfinders’ attacks had something to do with them?” she hissed, jerking a hand over to Siegfried.

The Leadership was tearing themselves apart in front of her. All the while, Perseus operatives were divesting them of their weapons. A tug of war started between Evfra’s remaining soldier and an operative. “No!” Evfra roared as a shot rang out.

The soldier slumped to the ground dead. “Why are you still fighting? It’s over,” Siegfried said. “We will prove to the cluster once and for all the AI implants are an abomination and they deserved to be ripped from the Pathfinders.”

Ryder’s eyes narrowed. That rhetoric sounded exceedingly familiar. Evfra, Cora and Drack were herded to one side of the hall while Zaex and his two remaining soldiers stood next to the Leadership and Moshae. Ryder was the only one left standing in the middle of no man’s land between the two groups. The Perseus operative wrenched her rifle from her unwilling hands.

“To think you wanted to implant them into the rest of the Leadership,” he went on, his eyes boring right into Tann’s skull. “We had to step up the timeline after that. Keeping the Leadership too busy with everything else to even continue that dangerous line of thinking. And you provided us with the perfect opening.”

Ryder glanced at Cora. Her fingers moved in a familiar gesture. It was a hand signal they developed a lifetime ago. It said only one thing.

Delay.

SAM must have been informed. Ryder held no high hopes for a rescue. There was nobody left on board the Tempest capable to do it. Maybe Wrench and Evfra’s soldier who was stationed outside. They must have guessed something was wrong. Ryder did a quick count of the operatives in front of her. There were too many for Wrench and the angara solder. Their only hope was Scott and Jaal’s teams but they were three days away. Ryder knew they had to get themselves out of this.

Siegfried spun and laid his eyes on T’vera. The asari frowned, probably racking her memories. “Don’t remember?”

He laughed. “You recalled Rix back to the Nexus for a little briefing about life with the SAM implant,” he reminded, as he waved his pistol, gesturing. “And we have implanted the Cetus chip into his head just a few weeks ago. The timing was just excellent.”

“Cetus chip?” T’vera echoed, her eyes widening. “All the Pathfinders? That means Ryder too?”

“Of course, Ryder had been chipped. She was our first and she performed so well for us. I’ll admit we were sloppy. Tempting Tann to send a team down to Havarl and then getting our dear captain and his team stranded on Havarl took some doing.”

The Moshae shot Tann a look. Tann’s already pale face got whiter and it wasn’t due to blood loss. He ducked his head, quelling under the combined glares of T’vera and Addison. Ryder’s reaction to her encounter with Vidal had satisfied her bloodlust on a certain level but in the end, it made her felt dirty to be brought to his level. Now, with Tann trying to sink into the floor as his lies were exposed one by one. Ryder couldn’t deny feeling vindicated but it brought her no satisfaction. Tann was just a pawn and Ryder wanted the fucking king.

“Getting her tortured to cover our tracks was probably the best we could do at the time. But we learnt oh so much from that experience,” Siegfried wagged his finger at his ex-boss. “You all didn’t even know what was going on even with the trial. You did as we had expected, you removed the SAM implant. It’s a step in the correct direction. Still, it’s a pity that you’ve lost her. We had so many plans for her.”

Ryder stiffened. Listening to Siegfried’s ramblings was worse than Vidal’s goading. Then, it clicked. “You’re part of Knight’s group,” she blurted.

“Yes!” Siegfried said, “But we are Perseus now. Re-branding and all that. No sense in clinging to our dearly departed leader’s vision.”

Ryder’s jaw clenched. Past mistakes coming back to haunt her. Each one worse than the last.

“You have such a good memory. The ex-Pathfinder Ryder killed our dear leader. Someone had to follow her vision through right? Poor Alain wanted revenge oh so badly,” Siegfried went on, his eyes gauging everyone’s reaction. “Mixing something as dangerous as an AI in a human, such hubris!”

This whole fucking thing began because of my own incompetence. If I had just found another way then none of this would have happened.

“Steady,” Cora whispered over the comm. “This isn’t your fault.”

Really? Her father that had been missing through all the commotion flirted into her view. His eyes confirmed everything she was feeling. Right, my fault. For sure.

Siegfried walked towards Ryder. “Who are you really?”

“Someone with a good memory,” she retorted. “So, kill us and somehow people will turn away from AI technology? You’re naive.”

Cora’s hands stiffened. Not signalling for her to delay, not discouraging her either. In any case, Ryder was committed. “Nobody even blamed the SAM implants for the attacks.”

“True,” Siegfried said as he advanced towards Ryder, his pistol held loosely in his hands.

Ryder kept her eyes on Siegfried but made sure the pistol was always in her view. T’vera was whispering to the Moshae as she shifted to allow the Moshae to help Addison keep pressure on Tann’s thigh. T’vera looked away from the Moshae and glanced in her direction. Their eyes met through her opaque face plate. She could feel T’vera was trying to tell her something but she didn’t know what. Mind melds didn’t work through eye contact. Ryder wrenched her eyes aside to keep Siegfried’s attention away from them.

“With Tann out of the way and the entire Leadership gone, who would they turn to?”

“You?”

“That’s right.”

Ryder blinked.

Did they really think that would work? With the angaras at our throats with the Moshae’s death, it would be open warfare. The kett threat might be diminished but it isn’t eliminated. How can a fear of AI morph into this?

She had questions. So many more questions she wanted to ask. The Obsidians, what were those about? It was so far out of Perseus’ known methods. It was clear to Ryder, Siegfried wasn’t the be all, end all of Perseus. He was at best a knight, nothing more.

Ryder gritted her teeth. The situation was fast winding towards a crescendo. She could feel it. Her hand formed a single gesture in Cora’s direction. Ryder prayed Cora caught it.

On my signal.

“No matter,” Siegfried said as he spun back towards Raeka. “Shall we get the show on the road?”

Raeka nodded at Siegfried as she turned her pistol on the Moshae. Evfra growled deep in his chest as he made to rush forward. As Siegfried turned his attention on Evfra, Ryder Charged.

Lyrics taken from Big Bad World by Kodaline

#Mass Effect Fanfic #Mass Effect Andromeda Fanfic #Mass Effect Andromeda #Sara Ryder #Mass Effect #Mass Effect Fanfiction #ME:A #Me: Andromeda #ME: A #OC Sara Ryder #FemRyder #SisRyder #F!Ryder #The Cetus Arc #Trials of Ryder

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diagk · 7 years

Photo

Mako’s adventures in Remav system.

‘Give it a break, Pathfinder’.

#mea #me: andromeda #mea cinematics #mako #lol #you cannot leave the vehicle

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offerito-blog · 5 years

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quwallacare-blog · 6 years

Link

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pathfindersemail · 7 years

Text

Pregnant - Chapter 1

Summary: Marriage. Babies. Happily ever after. That’s how it went, right? Maybe for some. But for Sarianna, some of that happiness was left behind. A small piece of it was still with him, and nothing - not even her own wedding and baby on the way - would stop her from seeing him gain.

Pairing: Sara/Sarianna Ryder x Reyes Chapter rating: T for teens (mild language and heavy concepts) Warnings: future NSFW; angst; running away; cheating; heartbreak; rekindling past relationship.

*Ate = tagalog word for older sister; pronounced Ah-teh

There was no mistaking the seemingly harmless plus sign blinking on the stick. Sara was pregnant. There, at the bottom of her sink, the stick kept on blinking what should be nothing more than a sick, practical joke. Yet nobody popped from the compact storage closet next to her in impish glee. Neither did a soul peep from the bathroom door to yell, “Surprise! We fooled you!” She leaned over the counter, head sunk low into her shoulders, in dejected shock and wholly unable to even face the tired woman standing before her in the mirror. Besides, the almost clinical pallor of the bathroom light had a nauseating effect, like a tightness in her throat threatening to spew at any given moment.

Three well-meaning knocks thudded from outside the door. “Hon, you okay?” Loving fiancee and partner of three years, prim and proper Geoffrey was no doubt awaiting his turn. They had a busy day, after all, and dealing with an unplanned bastard in the making was not on the itinerary.

“Yes! Everything’s fine!” she yelled. Sara grappled with the unholy stick as it bounced around the sink in her inept rush. Shit. Her hand finally won, and it wasn’t long before she disposed of it with an unseemly contempt into the small, almost aesthetically pleasing roundness of their wastebin. She made sure to plop a few sheets of toilet paper over it for good measure. “You can come in!” The door slid open the moment the faucet hissed with a pressurized stream of running water. Sara diligently made as if she had been washing her hands.

A rather sleepy Geoffrey, his normally coiffed hair tousled in bedridden weariness, stepped into the light with a rather unflattering and squinty expression. Yawning, he inched behind Sara and placed a rather doting kiss on the back of her neck as he reached for his tooth brush. His other hand found its way to her waist in a rather backwards embrace. “Good morning to the most beautiful woman in Heleus.” The superlative was followed by a languid smile, somewhat short and saccharine for an otherwise mundane ritual before cleaning one’s teeth.

“Just Heleus?” she teased with a suspecting eyebrow. They both laughed, Geoffrey knowing in his heart that she was the most beautiful even outside Heleus (the entire universe, for that matter); and Sara not knowing why and how to juggle about the daily antics of domestic life while silently panicking at the news she scarcely had time to process. Her thoughts raced to the still blinking stick hiding under a heap in their wastebin. “What are you gonna wear?” She wiped her hands dry with the lush cotton hand towels dangling from from a sleek platinum ring next to the mirror.

Geoffrey looked at her from the mirror, toothbrush jammed into his mouth in a sidelined battle against germs and plaque. “I was thinking that suit Tann had tailored for me. Authentic cotton grown from Podromos.” Sara would’ve judged that he was grinning too widely given the occasion, but she couldn’t fault him for it, especially when he could have been just as easily widening his mouth for the necessary work of moving his toothbrush from one side to the other.

“Fancy,” she said in a low whistle. In truth, Sara hated anything that screamed so… luxuriously. To some, ten years wasn’t a very long time. Many, the ex-Pathfinder included, still remember the harsh pangs of hunger, the measly parcels of rationed food and water, and the overall hopelessness of a people resigned to the little that life dealt them. The choice of touting a retrofitted outfit made of the finest and rarest of fabrics would’ve added insult to a still healing injury.

But looking at Geoffrey, at his rather well kept shadow of a beard (the facial hair style of the month, apparently), his chiseled nose, and defined jaws, Sara realized that not all remembered the same, especially when, like her fiancee, some had the fortune to be dreaming rather peacefully in that hour of need. Geoffrey never knew need. He knew nothing but expenditure, and their rather sleek life in a prime real estate apartment on Meridian was proof of it.

“Listen, I’m going to run some errands. We have a couple of hours anyway.” She hovered next to the door as if waiting for that sure sign of approval.

Geoffrey gargled and spat into the sink. He splashed water onto his face and let the ivory foam meld in a swirl in the running water. “Just be back in time. You know how I hate being late.” He ended his concern with a rather indifferent shrug. A mere reminder is all one needed in life, after all.

Sara laughed. “Sure thing.” Her foot was almost out the door.

“Hey!”

Her foot paused mid-air as she hung by the thread of his words.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” His head bobbed to the side. On the counter, tucked away on that marbled corner, glimmered a golden band with nothing save a sparking diamond for decoration.

His trophy wife-to-be grinned in sheepish bemusement. “You’re right.” Without skipping a beat, Sara swiped a hand at the counter and grabbed her engagement ring. She slipped it on, lithe finger in full view as Geoffrey watched from the mirror. And when he garnished the moment with his own satisfied smile, Sara planted a delicate, dutiful kiss on his stubbly cheek. “I”ll see you later.”

She barely heard him shout “Love you!” as she spirited away from the door.

The almost harsh ringing, incessant as it was as it screeched through her omnitool was filling Sara with dread. C’mon Scott… The line continued, yet no answer gave her a reprieve from the monotonous beeping of a call that was yet to be answered. It took only a few clicks, and she was once more redirected to his voice mail. “Hey, Scott Ryder here. Busy at the moment, but hit me up by the *BEEEEP*.” Sara hung up before the call could record any further.

Shit. Dread was coiling in tight, stifling knots in her stomach. And it was just her luck that her normally available twin brother was somehow unreachable at that very moment.

Vetra? No, she’d be in the Remav right now still rooting out derelict mines.

Liam? Cora? But both would be gone with Scott as part of the new and rebranded Pathfinder team, seeking out more exploits in neighboring clusters. A bitter note seemed to ring just saying it out loud. New. Pathfinder team. Many didn’t think of Scott filling in for Sara as some kind of affront, but in a way, she did. Complications with cerebral lesions be damned, she didn’t want to have to be replaced - least of all by a brother who somehow came out less damaged than she.

The list moved on. Jaal maintained work with the Resistance as one of its three generals. Though in truth, she suspected he’d be the most pleased with news of her untimely conception. Suvi, on the other hand, was much too far on the Nexus and no doubt stressed enough as it was with her new pet project - classified, unfortunately (one of the many channels Sara was no longer privy too). There was Gil, who parented as best he could from Podromos, and Kallo was on the Nexus training more pilots now that Scott had paved the way. Peebee too, last she checked, was lost in some vault with an archeology team. The asari would be more amused than panicked, Sara thought. And Peebee was always more prone to pithy banter than any real, solid advice.

Drack? Surprisingly enough, he would have made a good shoulder to lean on. But his grave was much too far, and the dead could hardly impart their wisdom to the living. There was always Lexi and Dr. Carlyle, but having been immensely happy and proud for her when news of her engagement with Geoff spread, she doubt she’d find likely allies in the two, well-meaning doctors.

Suddenly she found herself missing SAM - the AI implant once inextricably woven into the very tissue of her nerves. But he too left her for better, brighter things, as everyone eventually did.

Her hands stayed quietly on her lap through it all. Sitting as she did in the atrium, pleasantly blending in with the very inanity of the bench and happy folk crowding around on such a beautiful and busy day, Sara found it rather difficult, actually, not to fidget. A trembling of her lip seemed to hint as much. That, and a well suppressed tear building up in the corner of her eye.

A ping notified her of a sudden change. Sara hurriedly fiddled for her omnitool, hoping Scott at least tried to call her back.

An email.

To: Sara From: Geoffrey Richards Commemoration is in an hour. Where are you?

Sara didn’t really read the email - sparse as it was. All she needed to see was the question mark demanding of her something she didn’t really want to give. She shut it off before any sort of argument could sway her.

More and more civilians seemed to crowd out as high noon signalled the morning’s passing into lunch. Laughter now echoed in the main hall, and the Hyperion was abuzz with newfound life. How quickly time went by, forgetting the formative seconds that built up to it.

Be somewhere else. Anywhere but here.

Another ping.

A call.

“Hello?”

“Sara?” Scott’s concern was more audible than her name. Static pervaded their channel, and even the pauses had a brush of white noise. “Sara, what’s going on? You called me like five times!”

The initial trembling soon devolved into fingers winding and curling tightly in a ball. A scrunched fist on her lap. Sara sucked in and bit her lip. She tilted her chin upward up so as to keep withheld tears from falling as she emphatically nodded her head.

“Hello? Sara?” The line was threatening to cut.

She inhaled a sharp breath, finally relenting with the allowance of a single tear to drop from large, unbelieving eyes. “It’s so good to hear from you little brother.” She sniffled through the words, a mistake she didn’t really want to make.

“Sara are you-... are you crying?!”

“What?! No!” She wiped her eyes and sniffed again. Around her, intermittent eyes from the amorphous crowd of people began to notice too. The jury was out. She was indeed crying.

“What’s wrong? Tell me!”

The urgency was slightly intimidating, if Sara had to be honest. She remembered a time when Scott wasn’t always in such a rush, and when he would gently call to her in their hour of need. “Is there something wrong with wanting to talk to my baby brother?”

A radio silence told her he didn’t really buy it.

“Did Tann yell at you?”

“What?! No-”

“Do you owe money?”

“Of course not! I-”

“Is it Geoff? Did you two fight?”

It was so typical of Scott to never listen. Not a word. But still he was always the one who could come closest to understanding a little of what had been plaguing his sister through all these years. “Scott, listen to me,” she commanded. A more stern voice suddenly took over. “I just… I just wanted to ask how you were doing.”

Another pregnant pause followed. This time, she could hear him breathe with a nervous, almost quickened rhythm, even through the static of their omnitools. No doubt he was processing things; trying his best to maybe figure his elusive sister out. “I’m fine.”

“Good!” She almost laughed at how feigned her excitement was. “Where are you now?”

“We’re actually back in Heleus. Kadara, to be specific, and- … Hey, Sara, listen. If something happened, you’d tell me right?” Scott was pleading this time. Impatience could never stop him from worrying.

Again, Sara laughed off his concerns. “Scott, I’m your Ate. Listen to your Ate.” Her knuckles wiped at the watery beads pooling in the corner of her eyes. “I’m telling you. I’m fine,” she declared, smiling as if to an unconvinced audience. “Now, tell me. What brought you to Kadara?” There was an eagerness to her question that she didn’t quite expect. It was puzzling, to say the least.

“Well…” Scott hesitated as he let out a sigh. His exasperation was more than pronounced in it. “We needed something. It was for a mission, actually.”

“Oh?”

“I-... I really can’t tell you about it.”

Sara felt her heart crumble a little; like a withered flower quivering from the pressure of an unwitting yet nevertheless callous thumb. “I see.”

“I’m sorry, Sara.” But Scott was never one for protocol - least of it all when it came to his dear sister. “But you know, we came to Kadara, because we needed something a little special for it. It’s classified, and all that bullshit. But if you want…” He paused to listen in for her withheld breath. “Why don’t you come over? Let’s hang out. I have five days of shore leave, and I’m sure the crew would love to see you. SAM included. I just figured you’d be busy with wedding stuff, and all. I didn’t want to bother you.” A string of excuses erupted from his end of the line, which did not at all reach Sara. There was something latent in his reasons. It was palpable from the nervous ticks of his inflection, but neither of them were going to push it.

Her hand fell gently on her stomach. Somehow, sitting where she was in an almost Edenic slice of Meridian, the world itself was beginning to feel small. Something of a rush overtook her. The offer was a surprise, to be sure, but it came with the prospect of a tantalizing freefall - that sort of thing pregnant women like her shouldn’t partake in.

“I’d love to.”

Five years ago.

“I heard the news. Are you alright?”

She ran an agitated hand through the knotted curls of her hair. The purple dye was running thin. Anemically pale.

“Sara.”

“As fine as I can be.”

He sat by her side. The bed always sank when he put his weight in it.

“I’m fine. I promise.”

He held her by her ear. The line of her jaw was soft in his palm. “You’re a bad liar.”

“And what does that make you?”

He laughed, at a loss for the unexpected snark. But there was something more important to discuss. “Stay with me.”

“Reyes…”

“You have everything you need here. A home, Dr. Nakomoto, your turian friend-”

“There’s nothing for me here. I… I’d just get in your way.”

He had no argument for that.

“You can come with me.” This wasn’t the first time she made that offer.

“And the Collective? I need to be here.”

The same circular reasoning. Sara opted for the other debate at hand.

“It would look bad for the ex-Pathfinder to shack up with a smuggler. And, who knows what that might mean for you.” The word ‘you’ always took on different meanings when speaking with him.

He scoffed. “Who cares about that?”

“I do.”

“And that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

He left the bed shortly thereafter.

#fanfic #Sarianna Ryder #Reyes Vidal #Reyder #Reyes x fRyder #pregnancy pic because why the fuck not publish an angsty one on mother's day

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