Today was the day that Hyperion launch, already people were boarding shuttles towards the Ark that was orbiting around the dark side of Earth's moon. Alec Ryder, the Pathfinder for the Human Ark, was currently talking to his nephew Rick Ryder for what would be for the final time.

"Are you sure that I can't convince you to come?" Alec asked.

Rick his head. "I'm sorry, but I feel as if I needed more here. Anderson is planning to step down as Councillor and he's already told me that he's going to make me the become the military attaché to the Citadel."

Alec folded his arms. "So you're going to have my old job."

"Ironic, isn't it? The only reason he's doing this is because the other very strong feeling that you Udina is going to take over as Councillor and he doesn't trust that man one bit, he hasn't quite forgiven him with the little stunt he pulled two years ago."

Rick then began looking around, no doubt make sure they weren't being eavesdropped. "Besides, we both know that the Reapers are coming and I'm not one to turn away when people are in trouble."

Alec sighed. "It's a bit daunting, I suppose they had somebody do with Shepard actions in batarians space?"

Rick nodded. "If he hadn't destroyed that Mass Relay, the Reapers would already be here. To put it bluntly, we missed a bullet, but no doubt the Reapers of ready to fire a second round and there's no guarantee we'll be able to stop them this time. Did the twins know?"

Alec shook his head. "No, the only one initiative know anything about the Reapers are me and Jien Garson. Though we'll eventually have to tell everyone eventually, but of course by which time we'll have no idea what the state of the Milky Way will be."

Rick nodded. "I wish you the best of luck, because I think you're going to need it just as much as we."

Alec placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good man, Rick."

Once that was done, Alec joined his son and daughter, along with many others as they made their way to Ark Hyperion. Once they were all on-board he began to broadcast a message to everyone.

"Every great moment in our history began with a dream. Each bold leap forward was archived by those willing to do anything to attain it. We are all of us leaving behind families, homes—the birthplace of our species. Some for discovery to see the unknown—others for a new start… But today, whatever our reasons… We take the first steps forward a new future for humanity. Today, we begin to make our dream reality."

With that everyone entered their stasis pods as they began the long 600 year journey to the Andromeda Galaxy.

634 years later, Ark Hyperion had finally reached the Andromeda Galaxy, more precisely they were now in the Helios Cluster were a good number of golden worlds were located. Already personnel were being revived, including one Scott Ryder in the first thing he did was ghastly breath.

"We made it…" he said once he managed to catch as breath.

He tried to stand up, but his legs felt like jelly and a split second later to technicians approached him. No doubt the two of them were in charge of stasis revival, one was may only other female.

"Deep breaths," said the male technician softly. "You're gonna want to take it easy."

Scott was more than a little impatient to see what was out there. "I've been taking it easy for 600 years…"

The female technician was looking at the data pad, no doubt looking for his credentials. "'Ryder, Scott, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Mission Team.'"

The male technician looked up upon hearing this. "Pathfinder Team, eh? The ones finding us a home."

"Can you make it somewhere tropical? Nice warm ocean… summer year-round…"

"How about we get a cup of coffee first?"

The two techs then helped him up and guided him towards the medical ward.

Scott was sitting down next to one of the medical beds, he saw several people hanging around. The technicians had graciously gave him a cup of coffee and after being in stasis for 600 years he really needed it.

While he sat there the Welcome Video was playing in the depicted pictures of tropical planets which draw the attention of many. "The selection process all the Andromeda Initiative Eve I wait thousands of potential habitable planet within the galaxy."

Then an asari in a doctor's uniform approached him, he was more than a little surprised to find an asari on the Human Ark. However, he remembered that this was Dr Lexi T'Perro, he knew that their medical officer, Harry Carlyle, had insisted that she'd be on the Human Ark due for her knowledge of human anatomy.

"Scott Ryder?" she said facing him. "Let's get you checked out." She then held out her omni-tool. "Look here." She began to scan him.

While she was doing this the Welcome Video was still playing. "After discovering an unusual high ratio of potential candidates, or 'golden worlds,' the Helios Cluster was selected as our destination. Now you are part of the first wave of arks arriving in Andromeda our new home for humanity."

"Makes it sound so easy doesn't it?" said Lexi as she continued with his examination.

Scott merely smiled at her. "I hope not. I signed up for the adventure before we settle down."

"Well buckle up. Sounds like you'll get your wish."

Ryder looked at her curiously, she clearly knew something he didn't. "Yeah?"

She then raised her finger. "Over here now." Scott began to follow her finger while she began to explain what was going on. "The Pathfinder want you or your feet right away. He said 'mission ready within the hour.'"

"Any idea why?"

"No, but I'm guessing that's where your 'adventure' comes in," she said with a small smile.

Scott began to take on his surroundings and saw a young man with dark skin with short black dreadlocks, who waved at him. He couldn't quite remember his name, but he was very certain that he too was on the Pathfinder Team began to wonder why his father wanted them already in such a hurry.

"Okay, everything checks out," said Lexi taking him out of his thoughts. "Just one more thing before I send you on your way… Let's test your SAM implant. SAM, are you monitoring?" There was utter silence. "SAM? Are you online?"

There are no real blue lights appeared just above the medical bed. "Yes, Dr T'Perro. Good morning, Ryder. Are you feeling well?"

SAM was a very advanced AI designed by his father, in fact it was one of the main reasons why they were out here. He knew very little about SAM, except for the fact that he was opposed to support the Pathfinder Team and was linked by their implants, which were designed by his mother.

"I just need a second to get my bearings," said Scott, unsure the reason why they needed a check his implant. "What's this about my implant?"

"A routine check," Lexi assured. "After being in stasis, we want to make sure the connection's still live."

"As the team's mission computer, your well-being is my primary concern," said SAM.

"Assuming the implants were advertised. SAM sees what you see—in theory. We won't know for sure until we get you in the field." She then looked at Scott. "How you feeling otherwise?"

"I'm ready to get to it," said Scott with a mixture of enthusiasm and impatience.

"Readings confirmed. I detect an increase the level of adrenaline in your system. The neural implant is functioning properly," said SAM.

Scott merely shook his head as he put his cup of coffee down. "Caffeine always did make me jumpy."

"You're all done," said Lexi. "Let's get you on your way. Though you may want to hang around what we revive your sister." She gestured to a stasis pod that was on the other side of the room. "It always helps to see a familiar fa—"

She stopped when they heard something and it was in the very comforting sound either as it seemed to be echoing throughout the entire ship.

"I don't like the sound of that," said Scott.

The lights flickered for a few seconds and then suddenly the entire ship shook violently as if they had hit the side of a mountain. Everyone toppled over and they could hear definite scraping sound outside, Scott looked up and saw an escape hard sliding towards them. Then suddenly the gravity turned off and the stasis pod flew over their heads, seconds later they found themselves in suspending in midair.

"What's happening?" said Lexi.

"Just hang on," said Scott calmly.

Everyone in the room seem to be panicking, understandable considering the circumstances. Though the comm system seem to be still operational and apparently could be heard from all decks as they heard the voice of the captain.

"Engineering report!" said the captain's voice over the loudspeakers.

"Gravity in cryo bay is off-line!" said the engineer.

So it was only their section that had lost gravity, the guard suspected that there were problems all over the ark.

"I'm almost inside! Hold on!" said a third voice.

Scott recognised the third voice as Cora Harper, his father second-in-command. Seconds later the door opened and Cora was floating in midair, she was about Scott's age and she had short blonde hair and Scott wouldn't deny that she was quite attractive.

"This is Cora! I'm at the cryo bay! Brace for reset…" Cora then floated towards the controls and reactivated the gravity controls, seconds later everyone found themselves on the floor. "Everyone okay?"

"I think so," said Lexi.

"What happened?" Scott asked.

"We're not sure," said Cora looking just as confused as Scott. "Sensors are scrambled. But it's good to see you're up. Feels like centuries since we spoke."

Before Scott could respond that little joke, he heard his father over the loudspeaker. "This is the Pathfinder. Mission teams, continue preparations. Cora, Ryders, report to the bridge."

"You heard him, let's get—"

They were about to make their way to the bridge, but an uneasy technician looked at them.

"Uh, we have a problem over here," he said looking over his sister's stasis pod which looked damaged. "It's Sara Ryder."

Scott's eyes widened, expecting the worst, he, Cora and Lexi quickly rushed over to the technicians.

"What's wrong?" Cora asked.

Lexi quickly activated her omni-tool and began to examine his sister's stasis pod. "I don't know. Have to check it out." She then noticed the concerns on Scott's face. "Scott."

"Is my sister okay?" he asked frantically.

"Sara's fine," she assured. "Her vitals are strong, but the revival procedure was interrupted."

Scott wasn't exactly reassured by that. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Don't worry—it just means the process could take a bit longer than usual." She then activated her omni-tool. "SAM?"

"My connection to Sara's implant was suspended. However, her pulse, respiration, brain activity are all normal."

Lexi no doubt sensed that Scott was still deeply concerned as she looked at him. "To be on the safe side, we'll need to keep her in a low-level coma for a while, then let her body regain consciousness naturally. She'll be fine."

"Glad to hear it," said Scott.

"Thanks, Lexi. Keep us updated," said Cora. She then looked at Scott, knowing that was still concerned about his sister. "Ryder, I'll wait for you at the door whenever you are ready to go."

Scott didn't like to keep his father waiting, so he decided worry about his sister after he understood what was going on with the rest of the ship. The technician asked Lexi what to do about the pods that were damaged during the collision, or whatever was. She suggested keeping them in the pods for now and to monitor them round the clock, just to be safe.

Scott had a talk with the rest of the young man that waved to him earlier, he was fined though a little shaken. Carlyle was tending to the bump on his head that he received from the collision, it was clear that he wouldn't be quite busy attending to the injured and who knows how many others there were on the ark.

Scott was making his way to the trams when suddenly a generator blow, no doubt due to the collision they just received a few moments ago. Cora suggested using his scan in order to find the fault, which turned out to be the compensator relay all he really had to do was just reset it.

After that both he and Cora made their way to the tram in order to get the bridge.

"That was close," she said reference into the overload that nearly destroyed cryo bay. "Barely in Andromeda, and we're already scrambling."

Scott merely smiled. "The adventure begins."

Cora though was looking a bit more serious. "Not sure your dad will see it that way."

It only took them about 30 seconds to get the bridge, it turned out that things were just as hectic on the pages they were elsewhere on the ark.

"Helm control, report!"

"We're drifting!"

"Flight control aren't responding!"

Standing at the head of the bridge was the Ark's captain, Nozomi Dunn, and understandably she was looking a bit frantic.

"First priority is stopping these outages!" she ordered.

"Mainline power's been knocked out! We're on reserves, Captain! They won't last!"

They looked at the view screen and saw dark tendrils directly in front of them, Scott had never seen anything like this and unfortunately it appeared that no one else had either.

His father then stepped up to the plate. "What's our position?"

"Unknown—we lost telemetry!" said Lani, the helmswoman.

"SAM, we need eyes out there," Alec ordered.

"Attempting to adjust sensor array," said SAM.

Dunn, looked a bit annoyed, considering that his father was practically taking charge of her ship was quite understandable. "Alec, please… you may be Pathfinder, but this is my ship."

"Captain, the protocol's clear: in the absence of communication with the Nexus or with the other arks, we proceed to our pointed golden world. Solid ground."

"If it's even out there," she said and then gestured to the dark tendrils outside the ship. "Nobody said about running into an energy cloud—and that's just a wild guess what we hit."

There was clearly a lot of tension in the air, no one had been expecting this kind of spatial anomaly. Of course that was one of the many risks of coming to a new Galaxy, though obviously this anomaly wasn't here 600 years ago which begged the question how did it appear.

Dunn looked at Alec. "Alec, I need to assess the damage. Stop the bleeding. We've got 20,000 people asleep on this ship… Let's give them a chance to wake up."

Cora leaned towards Scott, looking troubled herself. "Can you blame her?"

Scott couldn't blame the captain, her first duty was to protect everyone aboard this ship. There again, they were practically stuck in the only option was to find solid ground before the ark lost all power.

"My father's got a point, though. Solid ground's sounding pretty good right now."

"Yeah, but—"

His father obviously heard the two of them as he turned to face them. "'Pretty good isn't' good enough."

"Yes, sir."

It was just like his dad to bite his head of even if when he was on his side. The truth of the matter was, his father has always been a bit awkward when he and his sister were growing up. Combining that with his mother's condition meant that he wasn't always around which often left his older cousin to look after them.

"We're coming through," said Lani.

Everyone turned the view screen as Habitat 7 came into view, but it wasn't exactly a welcome sight.

"My go…" Dunn gasped. The energy cloud was surrounding the planet as if it was some sort of shroud and it looked as if there were harsh storms covering most of the planet. "Is that our golden world?"

"That Habitat 7. 'New Earth,' if we're lucky," said Alec. If the planet was anything to look at they were out of luck. "All of long-range scans told us it was in the green zone. Perfect for human settlement."

Alec made his way to the holographic projector which was showing a hologram of the planet and then held it out to everyone to see. Comparing the hologram to what they were seeing, there was a major difference.

"It doesn't even look the same," said Cora.

"She's right," Scott agreed. "It looks pretty dicey from here. Are we sure about those scans?"

"It's a good question," Dunn agreed.

"Things can change. It's been 600 years," Alec reminded. "SAM?"

"The energy from the phenomenon is damping our sensors," SAM informed them. "Planetary conditions are unknown."

Scott knew that it had been 600 years inspected the scans, but an entire planet ecosystem can change that rapidly on its own. Part of him wondered if the energy cloud had something to do with condition of the planet, but of course all this was speculation. Judging from the look on his father, he could tell that he was coming to the same conclusion as him, but there was only one way to find out for sure.

"We're marooned," said Alec looking at them. "Twenty thousand souls drift at sea. And when the power runs out and stays out… We need to know if that's safe harbour."

"And if it's not?" Dunn questioned.

"As Pathfinder it will be my job to find an alternative. It's what we trained for. But if this goes well… we're already home."

Dunn looked very reluctant, but the options were quite limited. "All right. Just make it quick."

Alec then started to make his way to the tram, but not before relaying his orders. "Harper, the rest of the team should be awake by now. Have them spin up to shuttles. Planet fall in thirty."

"Yes, sir," Cora nodded and followed him to the tram.

This left Scott alone with the Captain, who was looking very unsure.

"A stubborn one, isn't he?" said Dunn looking at him.

Scott knew that his father was concerned about everyone, he just didn't show it that well. "He cares, in his own way. Enough to give him a chance."

"I suppose you're right," Dunn sighed. "He is our Pathfinder. If it doesn't work out, we'll need him more than ever." She then immediately turned her attention to the rest of her crew. "I need EDT on our ship sensor repairs. We're blind out here."

Before making his way to the tram, Scott looked at Habitat 7 as well as the energy cloud covering it. He knew that starting a new life in a new Galaxy would not be easy, but it would seem as if they had their work cut out for them.

Scott was now getting himself prepped for their mission with the rest of the team, though it felt empty without Sara.

"My sister's going to hate she missed this," said Scott looking Cora.

"Are all the Ryders adrenaline junkies?" Cora joked.

Scott shrugged. "I guess it's in our blood. She beat me into the world by one minute. Couldn't wait to get started."

Cora followed his gaze to his sister's locker. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure Sara will pull through."

"When she does, she's gonna want stories."

Cora then closed her locker door. "So let's get out there and find her some." She then turned and faced him. "Right. You'll need your helmet. And maybe stop at the good luck rock before we go."

Scott gave to her a weird look. "The what?"

"It's an old superstition of your dad's."

It was only the first time he had heard of this superstition, so he grabbed his helmet and made his way to the good luck rock, which turned out to be nothing more than granite. According to Cora, back on Earth his father had been mounting climbing any caught this rock before falling and Scott was inclined to agree with her that they needed all the luck they needed.

They weren't fully alone in the changing room, Scott approached two other members of the Pathfinder team, one of them he recognised and remembered that his name was Kirkland. They met briefly before they boarded the Hyperion, but he couldn't quite place the face of the other.

"Hey, Ryder," said Kirkland as he approached them.

"It's Kirkland, right?" Scott asked, hoping that he got the name right.

"Yeah. I think we met just before the Hyperion left Earth." He then gestured to the man sitting opposite him. "Not sure if you know Greer."

"Hi, there," said Greer giving him a small wave. "Your dad say anything about what's going on?"

The truth of the matter was Scott wasn't sure himself. "Tough to say. Sensors can't get a read on the planet."

"Well, at least it keeps things interesting," said Kirkland.

Greer nodded in agreement. "Yeah, be ashamed to go through all this training and not put it to good use."

"See you guys on the ride down."

Scott then made his way over to Fisher, another member of the Pathfinder team, the two of them had long discussions before they went to stasis. He was an okay guy, though he extremely hated doing nothing was no doubt a bit impatient after the last 600 years.

"Ryder," said Fisher he approached.

"Hey, Fisher, how's it going?"

Fisher looked at him curiously. "Heard a rumour from the bridge that your dad and the captain aren't seen eye-to-eye on this."

Scott was quite interested know where he got this rumour, though considering there was only a small amount of them awake it really wasn't that surprising that word got around so quickly. "She wasn't thrilled with the idea of the expedition, but my dad won her over."

"Glad Dunn came around. Your dad's the N7 here—he's got the most experience. And the best aim. I go whether he goes."

Alec was actually one of the first N7's when the program was fairly new, he actually joined Jon Grissom on his first expedition through the Charon Relay. This meant that he was as experienced, if not more, than Admiral Anderson and Commander Shepard.

After talking to them he grabbed his pistol which was standard protocol for the Pathfinder's team case they ran into trouble. The Scott was really hoping that they did not need to use their weapons, but considering everything was going well so far it couldn't hurt to bring one along.

Cora was standing at the door at ease, like him she had been in the Alliance, but unlike him she actually got to see much of the galaxy. Ryder found most of his time guarding a Mass Relay at Arcturus Station and watched ships taking off on their own adventure wanting to go on one himself.

His sister hadn't had much experience with exploration either, she spend majority of her time at the Sol System on Mars. She was part of a team studying Prothean artefacts that could still be located on Mars.

They had been listening to Dunn sending reports throughout the entire ship, it seemed that they were still having problems to sort out.

Cora chuckled slightly. "So, just another boring day at the office, huh?"

Despite all the problems that had arisen, Scott was still very excited to actually go planet side. "If it was, this wouldn't be any fun. I can't wait to find out what's down there."

Cora smiled at him, sharing his feelings. "I know what you mean. I always wondered what it was like when explorers crossed the ocean. Nothing but stars and dead reckoning to guide them."

"And a map that said 'Here be dragons.'"

"Well, if they made it, we can too. And maybe see a dragon along the way."

"Never know. Let's keep an eye out."

"And our distance," she joked.

Scott couldn't help but laugh. "On that note, time to get to the shuttle."

Everyone soon started to make their way to the shuttle bay, a woman with burning red hair, by the name of Hayes, was already prepping them, and they were quite surprised to find that Dr Caryle was suited up.

"Doctor Caryle, with everything going on, I think the ark need you more than we do?" Cora frowned.

"Pathfinder wants a medic on hand," he informed them. "And if that is home down there, I'm happy to knock on the door."

"If it what we hope it is, it'll be one for the history books," Scott agreed and then he smiled at him. "You got a quote ready? 'One small step…'?"

"I'm pretty sure your dad will handle that honour," he said with a small laugh.

"All right, team, button it up," said Alec as he emerged from the shuttle wearing his N7 armour. "We leave in five."

"Sir. We broke out the weapons as requested," Cora informed him. "Anything we should know about?"

"Seem prudent, given the circumstances. We'll be shorthanded with Sara out." He must have noticed the sad look on Scott's face and approached him. "I heard what happened. Your sister's strong. She'll make it."

"We bet on whose boots would hit the ground first," Scott sighed. "This isn't how I wanted to win."

Alec chuckled. "Well, knowing Sara, she'll want to go double or nothing on who climbs the tallest mountain. Don't let it get you down. I need you sharp."

Scott nodded. "I understand."

"Your mum would've been proud. Of both of you."

With that little heart-to-heart now over with Alec then turned to the rest of the team.

"Okay, team, listen up," he said facing them. "I chose of each of you for the Pathfinder team, not just because you're talented and passionate. But because you're dreamers, like me. We dream of exploring the unknown, of finding the edge of the map—and then discover what lies beyond. When people look back on this—and they will—they'll remember we didn't give up. We kept dreaming. That our first, few faltering steps in Andromeda were the beginning of everything we know. We only get one chance to be first. So let's go make history."

With that inspirational speech still firmly in their minds, all of them began to board the two shuttles that were prepped and ready.

"Been waiting 600 years for this," said the young man with dreadlocks.

He tapped his fist against Scott's shoulder before making his way into the shuttle and then Scott joined him.

"Ark Hyperion, this is Shuttle One, switching to manual guidance," said Alec over the comm as the activated the shuttles.

"Shuttle Two, taking your lead," said Kirkland.

"Good luck, Pathfinder Team," said Dunn.

Soon they exited the shuttle bay and began their first adventure in Andromeda.