Chapter Text
As the Tempest slowed and steadied its descent onto the surface of icy H-019, Ryder couldn’t help but groan. Another frozen planet. Great. He couldn’t wait to shiver nonstop for three days straight.
At least H-019 wasn’t cold enough to threaten him with hypothermia like Voeld...in most regions, supposedly. Just cold enough to make him miserable.
They had braved the Scourge to reach a planet that was so remote, so forgotten, that it didn’t even have a name proper anymore, just a letter and some numbers, all because of a tip from an Angaran at Kadara Port that there was Kett stuffs just waiting to be collected by anyone willing to unbury it from all of the snow and wreckage. Where villages once flourished long, long ago, there was nothing but ruined framework now. Whoever--whatever--had lived here before was long gone, likely wiped out by the Kett. Or so they’d been told.
The villages, or what was left of them, were plain to see. The Scourge, too; they had had to fly through it to reach the damn planet. But whether these people went extinct directly by the hands of the Kett, or simply died off because of the Scourge’s interference, it was hard to tell. To come to any conclusion, they would have to break out the snow shovels.
There were three villages on H-019 that weren’t completely buried, and it was going to be a team effort to survey them. This was a shaky tip, but a tip nonetheless, and Ryder was thorough. He needed to make sure he looked into everything he could. If it had any Kett involvement at all, he owed it to everyone affected by their terror to give it some attention. Still, the effort was best divided.
Peebee and Drack would be exploring together, Liam and Cora, and Ryder, Vetra and Jaal. Each team came in on their own shuttle with supplies and food enough for one short day cycle and were told to keep in contact and report back to their shuttles by tomorrow morning for extraction. While the teams explored the uninhabited ruins, the Tempest and the remaining crew would scan the icy waters. A (relatively) thorough examination of an entire planet in two days. Efficiency at its peak.
They expected no trouble--scans of the planet from afar showed little to no life forms--but everyone brought their guns, just in case. Shuttles were loaded, and they were off.
“Why couldn’t it have been a tropical planet,” Ryder muttered as he lowered the shuttle into park, “Something warm. Hell, even a desert. I’d take dehydration over chattering teeth.”
“You dislike the cold that much?” Jaal said from the back seat. Vetra sighed.
“Not everyone has evolved cold tolerance like you, Jaal,” She added, “Turians can’t handle it well either.”
“Well,” Jaal turned his head to look out the window, and Ryder pressed a button up front. Their doors slid open with a hiss, and everyone stepped out. Jaal pointed ahead, to a run down building with three out of four walls intact, and a half of a roof left. “At least there is shelter. This is the best preserved of all. We could put our things here.”
“Alright.” Ryder turned and grabbed a small crate and slung his gun over his shoulder. “While we put our stuff up, let’s check in on everyone else.”
“Good idea.” Vetra grabbed a crate of her own and Jaal followed suit. As they carried their things into the abandoned building, Ryder worked the comms.
“Peebee, Drack. How’s it going?”
“...bad....little fucking--o signs of life…”
Vetra whipped her head around. “‘Bad?’ ‘Signs of life?’”
Ryder grimaced. “H-Hold on. The connection is bad. We might not have understood what she said.” He set his crate down, and leaned against the wall. “Peebee? Repeat that?”
“...said it’s….cold as sh--fire--reach Liam and--”
“See? It’s fine...probably.” Ryder crouched down now, drawing in on himself. “Hey, Liam, Cora, come in.”
No response. Static, like it was trying to go through, but nothing intelligible. Jaal groaned in unease.
“It is likely the snow is disrupting our communications. Radio on Voeld can be difficult at times.”
Ryder glanced between his companions, who were standing over him, both looking concerned and unsure. His Pathfinder nature kicked in, and he immediately tried to smooth things out. “Hey, look,” He stood with a grunt, “We’ve been without comms before. No big deal. We all have shuttles and supplies, and the Tempest is flying overhead. The planets dead and empty. We’ll be okay .” As long as he didn’t mention the fact that he couldn’t hear SAM right now, either.
“Alright,” Vetra didn’t sound so sure, but she agreed all the same. “Let’s just get to searching. I want this trip to be worth something.”
Jaal nodded. “Agreed.”