Kadara: La Tierra Del Amor.

Quarians.

Everything seemed to be falling in place for the Initiative and Andromeda species. Worlds were flourishing every day, everyone assisted each other and exiles was a name barely used or heard of anymore. 

Reyes and Ryder were working so hard to keep it all together, that sometimes sitting back and relaxing for themselves seemed almost impossible. The Tempest crew, along with SAM's help had been tracking the last known signal sent from the Quarian Ark. Also known to be carrying Drell, Elcor, Batarian, Volus, and Hanar. They didn't have the same numbers compared to the other Ark's, but this was due to their lower population numbers and the Initiative was having issues trying to get the Hanar under stasis with their complicated biology. They left just over a year after the other Arks. 

Sara had been keeping in touch with Scott about their mission to find the Ark and get it home, but even if it did leave just a year later. It's almost three years late on arrival. The last communication was sent under emergency channels of the Quarians warning the Initiative they were being chased by the Kett and had gone total radio silence to hide until the threat was dealt with. 

"SAM, are you sure?" Scott had asked for the eighth time since SAM first told him of the weak signal he had found in the far corner of the Heleus cluster. 

"Yes, Scott. The signal pinged from this direction, however, this star system has some of the worst-known scourge damage we have found thus far." This system was a mess, it hasn't even got a name since it was thought to be a lost cause. 

Scott leaned over the Tempest command console, examining the damage of each planet. Three of them were gas giants, with no minerals or resources on them. However, two of them were known as golden worlds. Only the scourage had left so much damage their vaults were gone and the planets were slowly dying, their star sucking all their gases and swallowing them whole. 

"How come the scourge damage is so bad in this system compared to others?" he asks as he scratches the back of his head. 

SAM brings up an image of the planets, expanding one to explain. "When the scourage first appeared, Angaran reports state it formed in this system as then was expelled out towards the rest of the cluster. It seems this star's magnetic field is stronger than what is expected for its size and age, causing the scourge to leave a tremendous amount of damage on the golden worlds." 

"And their vaults?" Suvi asks as she looks over reports from the little information they know of the system. 

"Gone, they are not active and can't be found on the Meridian systems," he answers. Scott looks at Suvi, she didn't seem ecstatic with the idea of them flying through the little space they had to find the Ark. 

"Will the ship survive being out here?" he asks.

"Yes, as long as we keep a safe distance from the scourge." They both look over at Kallo.

He sighs, shutting his eyes to take a breath. "If I can fight the Kett in with this ship, then this won't be an issue for me." 

Drack roared a laugh, slapping the skinny Salarian on the shoulders almost causing him to fall out of his seat. "Well done, kid. You have some confidence finally," he bellows. 

Scott smiles, stepping off from the console, letting SAM take over so they can scan the planets and surrounding area for the Ark. It could take some time, so he had no rush to get ready to jump ship. 

---

Ryder was leaning over her desk, looking through her omni-tool when the doors to her office hissed open. Reyes walked in, smiling from ear to ear. She looks up, narrowing her eyes at him. "What have you done this time?" 

He stops dead in his tracks, a hand over his heart. "Why you hurt me, Dove. Can I not be happy to just see you?" 

"You can be, yeah. But that shit-eating grin tells me you've done something." Reyes moves to stand in front of her, his hands clasping her waist. 

"I haven't done anything, Dove. I just miss seeing you, we both work too much and have little time for ourselves." Ryder nods, agreeing with his words. 

"I know," she sighs. "But Scott might have found the Quarian Ark, there was a signal that SAM picked up, they are checking the system now." 

Reyes looks at her, searching her face for why she looked upset about it. "And? You look upset about that because?" 

She moves from his reach, walking around the desk to slump into the chair. "This system is by far the worst ever found. The scourge has destroyed all its planets and vaults. The chances a working Ark will be out there is slim." 

Reyes scratches the stubble on his chin, understanding her point. "We can only wait and see. Why don't we get some lunch? Your mum wishes to see you." 

"You and my mum are best friends now," she snickers. 

Reyes smirks, shrugging his shoulders as he began to descend the ramp to the door. "What can I say, I'm a favorite for all the ladies," he jokes. Ryder gets up, giggling as she follows him to the cryo bay. Ellen was still there and doing much better, but the medical team watched her like a hawk as her body slowly fought the disease. 

---

What Scott thought would only take a few hours to pinpoint the signal was turning into nearly two days of flying around and coming too close to the scourge on multiple occasions. The crew was on edge and quarrels were arising at every turn on how they should proceed,

The planets had no signal, the star was too powerful for them to even attempt and the dusty, spiraling asteroid belt had nothing but rocks and scourge coursing through it.  

"SAM, we can't do this much longer. We have come way too close to danger for my liking lately," Scott says as he leans over the back of Kallo's chair. The poor Salarian had been so overworked, that he'd had little sleep, even less than the usual few hours a Salarian would sleep and Gil was helping him as best he could from the engine room. 

"Can we not return some other time?" Liam asks from the command console. 

"No," Scott replied. "We have this chance to find them here, if not we need to turn back and leave this system for good. It's too dangerous and we don't need others getting ideas about coming to try their luck." 

The alarms blared a warning, Kallo had to maneuver the ship to a sharp left as something nearly collided with them. "Ark Keelah Si'yah located," SAM announces 

"The thing we just nearly hit?" Scott asks as he runs to the command console. 

"Yes, Pathfinder. The Ark is offline, only the basic life support is running." Kallo turns the ship back around to get a better look. They turned the external lights on, letting the Ark Illumante at the side name show up in their view. 

"Fuck," Drack groaned as they looked at the damage. "What happened?" 

SAM brings up a hologram picture to better show the damage. "The Ark has lost two engines, caused by the scourge and there are multiple hull breaches from Kett weapon fires. I cannot detect any life signs." 

"What about the stasis pods? Do they still have power?" Scott asks with urgency.  

"I cannot access that information, you will need to board the ship so I can access their full systems to answer that question." Scott shakes his head, closing his eyes to breathe. They've found the Ark but everyone could be dead for all they know.

"Jaal, Liam. Suit up, we are heading in. Kallo get us to the docking bay now," he commands. 

"There is one I can use, however, it's badly damaged," he points out. 

"I don't care, we need on that ship. Take us in slowly." He turns to walk down the gangway towards the armory. "SAM, tell Sara we've found the Ark." 

--To be continued--