"So, Mithrava," Scott asked Jaal as they walked out of the observatory. "Do you know anything else about it?"

"It's a Remnant Tower where some of our elder scholars live," Jaal said. "It's nearby, hardly a day's walk. You'll know it when you see it, as it's the tallest structure around here but," He looks at the horizon, where it had grown dark with the coming rain, "as it is, we must trust on the map Kiiran gave us."

Scott remembered what they've gone through to get there and the idea of walking in the forest floor again filled him with dismay. "Any path we can take aside from walking through the forest?"

Jaal smirked at him and opened his omni-tool to consult his map. "There are the sky bridges connecting each tree. The tree nearest Mithrava should take us to a fifteen-minute walk to the site."

They followed Jaal to a pad on the furthest tip of the branch. A lone guard was there patrolling who looked startled upon seeing them. She was standing before a peg with a fat rope tied to it leading to another one of those gigantic trees far from them, barely visible in the low lying clouds.

Jaal walked to the peg and said, "This is the sky bridge. It leads to a tree north which has a connection with the shortest route to Mithrava." He turned to the guard. "How's the other side?"

The guard raised her gun and looked at the other end through the scope. After a few seconds, she lowered it. "The path is safe. I will watch over you as you pass."

Scott moved closer to the edge and saw empty air underneath the rope. He hoped the rope was a leading line for a cable car not…that.

His hope fell a long way down like the drop from their tree.

Marcus peered past the railings and said, "We can hook ourselves to it and zipline the way there?" he suggested hopefully. Scott answered him with a glower.

Meanwhile, Jaal had hopped on the rope, grasping it with his feet, and tested his weight on it. He took a few steps forward, moving on the rope as easily as a trapeze artist, before craning his head back to them. "It still holds. However, I advise you to watch out for swoopers as you walk."

Scott stifled his growl and stopped his hand from reaching his face upon hearing another group of aggressive animals. It seemed Havarl was a planet that just kept on giving. "Jaal, we're not exactly Angara, you know?" he said, raising his boot to show him while keeping his annoyance out of his tone.

Jaal's widened slightly as he looked at them fully. "Ah. Forgive me. I sometimes forget our things do not work for you as it is for us. I'm afraid we have no choice but to proceed on foot," he said and hopped off to them.

Scott looked around in frustration and saw the small shuttles on a landing pad near them, being tended to a pair of mechanics. "Any chance we could borrow that?" he said, cocking at the shuttle.

Jaal glanced at it and turned away. "In normal weather, we could use the skimmers to fly above the treetops," he answered. "However, in this weather, it is inadvisable. Also, Mithrava emits a strong magnetic field which will interfere greatly with navigation as soon as we get close to it. I'm sorry, but if we need to get there safely, we have to travel on foot."

"As safe as we could with all the crazy animals and Roekaar just lurking around?"

Jaal smiled. "Those you can fight. But not suddenly crashing when your shuttle dies mid-air. It's up to you how we go there."

Scott sighed. They really had no choice but to go the hard way. "Lead the way, Jaal," he said defeatedly.

They went down the tree the same way and trudged through the jungle. Havarl would have been a paradise if it wasn't for its irritating wildlife persistently attacking them every few feet while being perpetually wet, slippery, and balmy. After the first attack, Jaal looked back at them. "Ryder, now that it seems we cannot avoid being attacked upon, I strongly urge you to use quieter weapons. Not your guns."

Scott was picking up the ejected heat sink from the forest floor. Now that he thought about it, perhaps the animals were attracted to the gunfire. "Shit. I expected the shots would have scared them away."

Jaal made a nervous snort. "I wouldn't worry so much if it were only the animals that were attracted. I'm thinking of the Roekaar."

He instinctively clutched his gun tighter and glanced around. As did the other two. "You think they're here now?" he whispered.

"You wouldn't know you'd been spotted until it's too late," Jaal said and looked up the canopy. "Watch out from above. They sometimes travel through the branches. But do not forget to check the ground. They've dug tunnels with false doors and will surprise you."

He didn't warn them about this when they were coming. "I would have thought all the noise we're making going to Daar Pelav would have made them notice us by now," he said, his tone scolding him for just telling this now.

"They wouldn't dare attack us when we're so near the observatory," Jaal answered. "You didn't see them but there were sentries posted around our way there." He pointed in front of him. "However, our destination is going to take us across Roekaar territory so it is extremely important we go as silently as possible."

"Couldn't you have warned me of this earlier?"

Jaal blinked, taken aback from hearing finally an angry tone from him. "I'm sorry. I've thought we were just going to Daar Pelav so I didn't think it necessary to inform you of their tactics. If we were attacked, we would not be the first ones to engage."

As Jaal faced him looking sincerely sorry for the omission, Scott thought he seemed reluctant to volunteer information about the Roekaar. This reserved manner was so different when they first met, where Jaal volunteered their history with little prompting. Perhaps his loyalty to his own kind was still greater than his trust in him, he thought. Trust that was brought low during the events at Prachonyi, though he didn't think he did wrong there. Something about the Roekaar clearly bothered Jaal and if he wanted to know it, he needed to proceed carefully. "Next time, let me be the judge of that," he said, softer than he first wanted.

Jaal showed his acquiescence and turned back to scouting ahead of them. He wasn't sure if that meant Jaal would truly confide in him. He knew the reason he needed Jaal to trust him was part self-interest and if he was in his shoes, he had no reason to give strangers information more than he thought necessary for the situation, like what Jaal did earlier. He didn't know what exactly was the debt Jaal has from him that made him still help them despite the Moshae being saved, but he figured he'd keep pushing on it to know its limits.

Scott pushed those thoughts aside for a later time and focused on where they currently were now. He looked at the Angara in front of him, his whole figure rippling and blending with the dappling light from the glowing plants around them. If he was an indication of what they would expect from the Roekaar, it would be extremely difficult to reach Mithrava. He remembered the sky bridge and wished they've risked that instead, even with the swoopers about.

His companions meanwhile didn't share his feelings. When Jaal said they'd have to use quieter weapons, Marcus grinned and put out his Omni-blades, which materialized in glowing orange along his forearms. "Been wanting to use this," he said, admiring the pronged and pointed ends, which sizzled as drops fell on it. Drack laughed. "You surprise me, kid. Didn't know you were like that. I think I like you better now," he said, bringing out his hammer which looks like a bicycle pedal attached to a stick; a crude appearance that hid a mean punch.

Scott stared at the two who looked so gleeful at the coming melee and scowled at them. "This isn't fair."

"Now you don't have a reason to skimp on your biotic training," Marcus teased. "Seriously, Scott, you're a great shot and all but have you never even thought what would happen if you run out of bullets?"

"This is the 22nd century," he grumbled. "Why are we still trying to bludgeon things like a caveman?"

"Because sometimes, the simplest way is still the best way," Marcus answered.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you heard what Jaal said. Watch your sixes. Internal coms only." He turned away from him and followed after Jaal, with the two behind him. "SAM, I need you to watch out for signs of camouflaging like Jaal is doing," he instructed the AI internally.

"Yes, Scott," the AI answered and began processing what he can see and hear from its node back at the Hyperion. A corner of his visor also lit up, alerting him to the AI's presence as it slipped into his armor and took control over its scans. Times like this made him feel like a puppet dancing on a string of his father.

He huffed out a breath to expel those thoughts away. He shouldn't let the past distract him especially now. Havarl offered many dangers and it just might take a moment of inattention for them to die.

It was not just the animals and the Roekaar they had to deal with. The planet itself seemed to fight them. Aside from the condensation impairing their vision, the moisture was affecting the ground they walked under. Their boots sank in the ground covered with thick litter, slowing their movement either in traversing or defending. It'd be impossible not to leave a trail here. Worse, the soil underneath seemed to be mostly grey colored clay hidden with the dead or decaying matter. Scott couldn't count how many times he stepped on a seemingly stable patch from the spongy floor only to slip and land on his ass when he put his weight on it. All three of them had some tumbles and slips while Jaal looked over them on his stable feet and his armor pristine.

Their trip wasn't a complete waste, however. Havarl had other interesting things to show them if they were in the mood for exploring. The mutations had not completely taken over the planet which it once was. They came upon rolling hills covered with grassy moss on top which Jaal said were not hills but the felled trees during the Cataclysm. There were now burrows made by giant maggots and other creatures. They occasionally also passed by the bones of large animals, their ribs coming down to the ground like pillars of a cathedral. They emerged out of the jaw and Drack would have like to take one fang had it not that it was bigger and taller than him.

"We could probably carve you out of one of those," Marcus remarked.

"Yeah we could do that. Some kind of memorial for surviving in this place," Drack answered and grinned at Scott. "What about it, kid?"

Scott sighed. "If we can solve our transport problems. Also, I don't think it will fit in our cargo hold."

"I'll just come back with a larger ship then," he said and patted the tooth. "Shame we find this when it's dead."

Marcus chuckled at him while Scott smiled and shook his head at him. "Come on, guys. Let's move on or we'll never get out of here."

After the hills, the landscape changed and became more solid with remtech until they reached a flooded canyon made of Remnant walls. It had offered more stability but it was also home to Remnant bots, a group of rylkor and an eiroch.

Figuring they would not reach Mithrava in one day, Scott then had to negotiate with Daar Pelaav to allow them to set up FOBs so they could replenish their armor's stores. At first, Kiiran Dal was extremely against setting alien tech in their homeworld but after persistent negotiation, she allowed them only if they remove it immediately after using it. They spent the night beneath an overhang of rock which was the only dry spot the could find but even so, they didn't get enough sleep due to the animals wandering into their camp at all hours.

The next day, Scott was in a sour mood even when they found the missing scientists in the monolith they ran onto on the way. Apparently they were frozen in a stasis field when they tripped its alarms. They would need someone with expertise in remnant technology to be free. Fortunately, it was their team who found them, and once freed, they were extremely thankful to them. He was grateful they didn't need to escort them back to Daar Pelaav. He couldn't summon a face gracious enough to face Kiiran again.

"Just follow the bodies," Scott advised them on how to get back, figuring to put all that slaughter to good use. When the scientists went out of sight, he signaled his team to prepare to slaughter their way again to the remnant site.

After two days, they found Mithrava at last, which as Jaal said, was the only artificial structure around outgrowing the giant trees. How to find the entrance was the problem. They looked around its blocky, high walls and found no opening on the etched and glowing surface. The entrance Kiiran Dal gave was an alcove of a waterfall. It was already night, the forest lit brighter with the darker shadows and chirps all around them when they found a console behind the waterfall. It opened a false wall; octagonal blocks falling away to reveal a chamber with a gravity well in the middle. It sent them up to the next level which had another gravity well. They climbed numerous levels though the gravity wells until they reached one which sent them sideways to a balcony overlooking the whole jungle. Dark, massive clouds were hanging over it and they could hear the heavy rain like drums on the forest leaves. The wind picked up, whistling through the trees, carrying water to splash on them like sea spray.

They needed to move. Scott led them around to the end, but the balcony ended up with the dark, slick walls of the structure. However, there were basalt-like columns nearby which they could jump on.

"I suppose there won't be ladders here?" Scott said caustically as they looked at those.

"No. We'll have to jump up these columns," Jaal answered, oblivious to his tone.

Drack looked up the smooth walls to its end which were extremely far from them and grumbled. "Ugh. We're climbing again?"

Marcus laughed. "C'mon, Drack. It'd be fun."

Drack continued growling and waved at the walls. "This is the only time I'd say I'm too old for."

After a lot of jumping, they reached the last level with gravity well to the top floor. The floor's walls were open to all sides, with only railings to keep anyone from falling out. Underneath the canopy, the scholars were stationed around the gravity well. They were dressed in a similar white suit with shawls draped over them. Some were studying artifacts in tables in front of them while some were in the midst of a discussion. They all stopped what they were doing when they appeared and stood gaping at them.

Then a male with dull, leathery grey skin with pink undertones and white facial markings and wearing a white shawl hurried over to meet them. "How did you come here?" he asked, surprised, his eyes flicking from Jaal to him. "You are an alien and yet you have bypassed this tower's security."

"I can manipulate Remnant technology to some degree," Scott answered.

The scholar paused, still staring, then he said, in a tone of disbelief and sadness, "No one outside our order has bothered to come here."

Scott shrugged. "Can't see why. It's not like you did not provide enough ladders," he said with a nod at the gaping gravity well in the middle of the structure.

The scholar stared at him, incredulous. "Ladders? Why? Are the gravity wells not working?"

Scott thought that, aside from the ladders, the Angara lacked an understanding of sarcasm. "No, it's working fine. Anyway, I'm Scott Ryder, Pathfinder. A human from the Milky Way. This is Jaal Ama Derav our guide and beside him are Marcus Zola and Nakmor Drack."

He mentally prepared himself for the inevitable crinkling of their face, telling himself it wasn't personal. But he did not need to as it did not happen.

"We've heard of you. You're one of the people who managed to cross the void between galaxies," the scholar said with awe. Scott was pleasantly surprised. The scholar's reaction was very comforting compared to Kiiran Dals'.

This trip wasn't a complete waste after all. At least they'd found one Angara who's happy to see them.

Jaal stepped forward and initiated the salute, which the scholar returned. "I am Jaal Ama Derav. I serve as our envoy to them as permitted by Aya."

"I am First Sage Esmus." He turned to Scott. "So, what business brings you here to our miserable planet?"

"We came here to speak with your Head Scholar."

Esmus blinked. "I'm the head scholar."

"You're the head scholar?" Jaal asked in surprise.

"Yes, I know you were expecting a female," Esmus said, with a little exasperation. "But I am truly the head scholar. Ask anyone of us and they will tell you the same."

Scott looked from Esmus, who had his back up, to Jaal who was looking at him with his mouth slack. "I'm missing something here, aren't I?"

Esmus turned to him with an understanding look. "I suppose those at Aya had not explained our culture to you much, have they? Very well. You should know, human, that to us Angara, males are warriors, poets, artists, singers, and hunters while females are soldiers, engineers, politicians, and farmers. Science also falls to the domain of women so my fellow Angaran here is surprised at my title. That was the system then until the arrival of the Kett-and you-have changed things. Every day, our conception of reality becomes more muddled." Esmus looked over him with a measured gaze. "Yes, indeed, you are causing a great change upon us," he said softly.

"Is that…bad?" Scott asked.

"I do not know. Only that our society is undergoing a great upheaval because of your presence," he replied matter of factly. He seemed neither angry at what their arrival was doing to them or glad. "Your bizarre appearances mystifies us along with your behaviors."

"So you became head scholar because of us?"

"No. It happened much earlier, before your arrival but just after the Cataclysm but your arrival helped this change be accepted a little. You should know that first, all scholars come from Aya and we here in Mithrava are no exception. However, scholarship is mostly pursued by women and it was unheard of then for me, a male, to be one. I admit, I was different from my peers, for I am more an explorer of ideas rather than the world and more inclined to take apart a rock to examine its composition than make songs about it. Still, being of Aya, they cannot prevent me to be one and allowed me to pursue it despite their doubts. It was hard getting to my position, for I have not the advantage of the skills and knowledge passed from mother to daughter by tradition. But still, I persisted and here I am. My achievement was supposed to be a chance occurrence, but now with your arrival, our society is now forced to confront itself and determine whether it can hold up to the new reality."

Scott went silent, astounded at being informed of the ramifications of their arrival. Its scope was much wider than they realized and he reviewed the reactions of all the Angara they had met. Was their dislike not just prejudice but maybe because the Initiative genuinely presented a threat to their way of life?

If it is, they needed to change their approach.

Meanwhile, Esmus peered at him with a hesitant, almost fearful look. "I've…heard reports that you are not one people but of different origins. You grew up under different suns. Did you…face a similar problem like this?"

"We've had some crisis but it's not the same as yours." He felt genuine sympathy for Esmus and his race's issues with them. It was not long ago that humans warred with each other over mere physical adaptations to the environment. Even after a devastating war that engulfed their whole planet, its embers still smoldered until they discovered the Prothean ruins on Mars. Then, there was a brief flare-up, but quickly resolved by the same artifact they were fighting between. An artifact created by unknown people of unknown intentions. Who knew what its creators have planned for the human race? So they postponed this desire to war with each other as they followed the trail from the artifact, leading them to the Charon Relay and to worlds beyond it. The desire flared up again but through a competition to settle as many worlds as they could for their people. But as they traveled deeper between the dark spaces of the galaxy, they started to feel fear which compelled them to draw together, even if they still didn't like each other very much. They had a saying, "Better the devil you know," and this was a reason why they swore mutual alliance. An alliance bound by fear of the unknown before them.

Fortunately just in time for the arrival of the Turians and their introduction to the galactic society, where they must continually strive, together, against the other races to secure a place for themselves.

He was proud to say that this internal crisis has been resolved and the human race had progressed far enough to be confident that they will never regress back to it. After all, why fight among each other when there are people far more alien to fight against?

"I see. Can I ask about the particulars?" Esmus asked.

Scott looked fondly at the curiosity in his eyes. They must have looked to him as the Turians had to them during the First Contact War. Now it was their turn to be the visiting aliens and he hoped they'd be kinder than the Turians had been to them.

"Sure. But perhaps if we had time. The Moshae needed your assistance and asked us to get you."

His skin brightened as much as his dull, tough skin allowed. "I understand. Forgive me, even my own people think me a blabbermouth. I forgot that you did not come here to talk about my personal troubles."

"Yes. I was instructed by Governor Shie to bring you to each vault along with the Moshae to study them."

Esmus went quiet. "Of course," he said reluctantly.

Scott paused at his reaction. "Is something wrong?"

"I know the importance of studying the vaults but.." He looked beyond the railings, at the dark sky where a storm was lashing out at Havarl. Some of the scholars near the railings muttered in dismay and rolled up the manuscripts on the tables. "We were so close to fixing the vault here."

"I thought the location of the vault was lost and Havaarl's too unstable to recover it by our technology," Jaal said.

"Yes. But we knew a way to recover it and the opportunity has come."

Scott cut in. "I'm having trouble understanding both of you. Can you two go over the start?"

Esmus gave a short background on the early days of the Angara. Havaarl was their homeworld and was also a planet where a vault was located. Their ancestors have managed to open it and there they learned science. This was the start of their technological age and they kept learning from it up until space travel technology where it gave the locations of the worlds with vaults like it. Discovering them, they settled there, around the artifacts that brought them so much prosperity, and curious of the being or beings that left it for them.

Then the vaults went berserk; Havarl started heaving. The ground shook and volcanoes erupted. Voeld was covered in ice and Aya was covered in lava. Trillions of people died during the Cataclysm. Only seven hundred thousand managed to get on ships and survive. With tears in their eyes, they turned away from their destabilizing worlds, and fled. They wandered, looking for hope or looking for answers from the being that made them. They thought: was this their Maker's punishment? A warning for a sacrilege they were unaware of? Why give them so much joy just to give them this immense suffering?

They wandered on until they reached planets the vault had made habitable before or others they can inhabit with the help of the technology the vault taught them. Some of them tried to go back to Havarl, but it was a planet they didn't recognize anymore. The mountains they know have sunk; the valleys uplifted and the seas emptied. Havarl was choked with the accelerated growth of life. The vault was nowhere to be seen and due to fluctuations in its gravitational and magnetic fields, it was hard to map where it had gone.

Until now.

"There was one long ago who had knowledge of the vault," Esmus said. "Zorai a champion of the Angara during the Cataclysm. After spending most of her life ensuring the survival of our people, she decided to spend her remaining years looking for the vault in the hopes of fixing it. But she went missing. The last message we have from her was that she was close to discovering the entrance to the vault. Scholars before me presumed her dead. Then we discovered that her soul has returned."

"Wait, returned?" Scott asked.

"Yes," Esmus confirmed with a serious look on his face. So was Jaal. They were not joking at all.

"How do you mean returned?"

"Souls return within families. An object — heirloom — tied closely to that bloodline could cause memories to resurface," Esmus explained.

Scott stared at them both. Their race had not been very spiritual for a long time and this talk of souls made him feel the same way as if their translators did not work and they were still figuring out each other's language. "O-kay…" he said, rather to urge them on than agree.

"This is the opportunity," Esmus continued. "If we can make her descendant recover her memories, we may find the entrance to the vault."

"Did you find her descendant?"

"Yes. The descendant's name is Taavos, a… Roekaar and of course unwilling to participate. We've tried talking. But we can't even get through the Roekaar's defenses. That's why we're stuck here. We're waiting for Evfra to intercede for us but so far, the Kett is taking too much of the Resistance's time."

"That Roekaar may be dead by the time we get Esmus back to save Havaarl," Jaal quietly said. Scott had to agree; Havarl, as it is, is just too dangerous to live on.

"But this is not a concern of yours," Esmus said to Scott with a defeated tone. "Give my group time to pack our equipment before we come with you and make a final attempt to convince Evfra to talk to the Roekaar."

Saving Havarl may quickly get them in the good graces of the few Angara who were friendly with them and convince the rest, Scott thought. Look what saving the Moshae had brought them. Who can say what saving their homeworld can get them.

Besides, he liked Esmus personally. "I'm willing to help but…you say the descendant is a Roekaar. Being an alien, wouldn't I make it worse?"

"Yes. Anything you might try to do to them will make your relations with them worse. But still, there's nothing you can do to make it better since they wish for your deaths. But your help will not be lost to us. Aya will be grateful for your help."

Jaal turned to him, glowing bright with hope. Even without Jaal's support, it would be prudent for the Initiative to do as much favor as they could with Aya. Perhaps they could call it in for a better trade deal or propose a technology exchange. And besides, this might annoy Evfra.

"How will you recover Zorai's memories?"

Esmus called one of his assistants who walked to a chest and took something inside from it. He came back bearing an oblong box with a smooth surface like shellac but as thick as wood. Esmus took it from his hands and opened it to show them. Inside was a gauntlet for an Angaran hand, made of a dark cloth studded with glowing, dark blue crystals. An intricate web of circuitry and silvery contacts ran over its interior and exterior surfaces. "This is an heirloom of Zorai. Make the descendant wear it to sync their memories." As he saw Scott take it and examine it, he turned to Jaal. "You better not come with them," he warned him.

Scott looked up from the heirloom to them. "Why can't Jaal come with us?"

"Since the Roekaar, being their nature, would be unwilling to talk with you, I assume you'd be using force to do it?" Esmus asked him.

Scott hesitated. "If it comes to that," he admitted.

"Then Jaal cannot help you. Your actions would be a provocation and if he was involved, The Roekaar would retaliate against Jaal's family."

Scott's brow furrowed at this. "Why? Jaal's family has nothing to do with what we're doing."

"You don't understand. To us, a family is responsible for all its members. An offense committed by a member will also be a crime of the family."

Scott paused as he tried to understand this. But this is not the time to debate about its merits. "But we might need Jaal."

"Of course you do. I would be willing to go with you, for I have no family, but I do not have the strength of arms you need and so would slow you down. Jaal is fit for your purpose but in this case, he cannot be seen to help you."

Scott paused as an idea formed. "He can't be seen to help us?" he repeated.

"Yes," Esmus said. "Why? Why do you stare so?"

Scott smoothed his features back to normal. "Nothing. I just have an idea of how we can get around that." Scott said his plan to them. Jaal went dark. "You wish me to lie?" he asked angrily.

"For the sake of Havarl, yes," Esmus replied. "Would you be like the Roekaar and deny the salvation of our birthplace for the sake of your pride?"

Jaal glared at him for a little while longer. Their lights flashed back and forth in a silent war until he agreed.

Jaal reluctantly turned to Scott. "Attacking a Roekaar camp would not be easy. We will need to prepare."

Scott nodded. "Agreed," he said and turned to Esmus. "Where is the Roekaar camp?"

Esmus opened his omnitool and tapped on it to send to Jaal, who converted it and sent it to Scott. "They're somewhere past here," he said. A light blinked on the map projected above Scott's omnitool.

"Somewhere past here?" he repeated the vague instruction.

"I wasn't allowed in so I don't know exactly where it is."

"Esmus is right," Jaal said. "The Roekaar would not want anyone out of their group to know their whereabouts and also make it difficult to discover them. Their camp would be hidden."

Their mission became more complicated than they first expected. They'd need more resources than they have now just to find the Roekaar camp. "Then we need to get back to the Tempest."