Sara Ryder Meme or Something
I was tagged by @pinkcatpaw
Put my own (verbose) spin on it by answering everything with a tiny drabble...
I donāt even know who to tag who wasnāt already tagged? So all ye MEA luvlies following me consider yourself tagged if ye werenāt already. Show me your Ryders! :D
1. So, the basics! Name? Preferred nickname, if any?
Sara.
She had never felt any special connection her name. It was just that. Her name. She couldnāt imagine having another but that didnāt mean she wouldnāt feel exactly the same if the parents had decided to call her Vanessa.
But it was different when SAM said it. It felt significant. She was Sara. Not the Pathfinder, not Ryder, not her fatherās daughter even. She was Sara and that in itself made her important. To SAM. Probably to Scott as well. It was a feeling of identity she didnāt know she had been missing.
āThank you SAM,ā she said, wondering if it was similar for the AI and if they knew how it made her feel.
āYouāre welcome,ā they replied. āSara.ā
She smiled. They knew alright.
2. What was their first impression of Nexus leadership?
Well now that was a downer. The whole of the Nexus leadership was not planning to help her out. After all she was Pathfinder for a whooping 7 hours or what already? No problem, she had it down. No need to interfere with her plans. Here, take the ship and go. And donāt mess it up or weāll all die.
Sara couldnāt enjoy the view of the Tempest with those thoughts running through her head on repeat. Was a little more advice or guidance too much to ask? Or had none of them gotten their head out of their arse since their arrival. In a way, she was a mirror to them all ā come into responsibilities they were not prepared for by a long shot.
That didnāt have to mean you bungled it automatically though. Even if most of them seemed ready to prove this at any cost.
3. Who are they closest to on the Tempest?
āTrouble, kid?ā Drack rarely came up to the vidcon table. Nobody it. So Sara used it as a refuge in plain sight when she wanted to be alone but not really be alone.
āYeah,ā she sighed, making unnecessary room at the table as an invitation.
Drack took it. His bulk right next to her felt like a bulwark against everything; a small cone of safety in a galaxy that had none.
āYou had nothing but since you arrived,ā Drack said. āWhatās different now?ā
Sara sighed again. How was he so observant? Was is raising Kesh?
āA man, right? Or a woman? Someone?ā
āIs it that obvious?ā
āYou should have seen Kesh when she realised she liked Vorn.ā Drack laughed. āThat squishy piece of brains and she fell for him anyway.ā
āWell, humans are all squishy, so-ā
āA human, then,ā Drack interrupted her. āInteresting.ā
āWhy?ā Sara asked almost offended. āDo I look so thrill-hungry that I wouldnāt take anything but the newest adventure? Did you expect to run off with Jaal or something?ā
āHe likes you,ā Drack just replied.
āI know.ā Sara sighed again. Half her vocabulary seemed to be sighs. A thing to sigh about all on its own. āItās Reyes.ā
Drack broke out into laughter, clapping her back.
āItās not funny,ā Sara said. āHeās shady at least. That he works against Sloane is nice but not a redeeming quality in and of itself. And-ā
āAnd you like him anyway.ā Drack finished laughing.
āI do.ā She smiled when she admitted it. What could she do? And Drack seemed to think it funny.
āBe careful, kid,ā he said. āHe is shady. Donāt get blind-sided into crap. And if you do ā bring me. Iāll teach him some manners.ā
That was an image Sara would treasure. āWill do, Drack. Thank you.ā
āAny time, kid.ā
They stared ahead in shared silence.
4. How did they react to becoming Pathfinder?
If there was anything worse than losing your father to your own incompetence it was probably inheriting his job contrary to any sense and procedure. Plus a headache.
āI apologise for the headache,ā SAM said in her head. It didnāt improve the pain but at least she knew where it came from. āI am adjusting to your physiology. Your hormone levels differ from Alecās significantly, as does the general make-up of your brain.ā
How nice to know that you were your own person. Probably. Why did she have to be Pathfinder? The transfer worked through half a galaxy; Cora had been right there! Sara was ready to curse her father. It wasnāt a new urge but now it was somewhat dampened by him being dead. It was not proper to curse the dead.
Even if they were the most selfish, block-headed, distant, thoughtless tit you could think of. Why would he do that to her? Arriving in Heleus had been difficult enough, nothing looked like promised. And now it was her job to make everything work. Everything!
How could he ever think this was a good idea? What did she have that Cora did not? The other way round, Sara could come up with a very long list of relevant abilities to being a Pathfinder. She only had herself and ā well.
Sara put her head in her hands. Two hours was not long to come to grips with her new role. On the other hand, all she had to do was get herself killed to move the role of Pathfinder back where it belonged. That didnāt sound too difficult.
5. How is their relationship with their family?
If somebody had told her a day ago that the last thing she saw before almost dying was her father sacrificing his own life for her, Sara would have laughed. She would still laugh if only to avoid crying.
Alec Ryder had been distant, even when Ellen had tried to bridge the chasm. It had not worked. The awkward family reunion dinner was only one proof in an endless row. Alec Ryder cared about the success of his children, their careers, their progress, the mark they made for themselves. There was always a measuring edge in his eye when he looked at you. And frankly, most of the time you felt you did not measure up.
Having him die so she could live did not really convince Sara of the opposite. If she had measured up, if she had been the daughter he wanted, she would not have brought him into such a situation. The Sara Ryder he had wanted, would have found a way to let them both survive.
It didnāt explain his last actions. But Alec Ryder had always been distant. Who could hope to understand his motives?
6. Did they have any other personal reason for coming to Andromeda?
Nope.
7. Do they have any scars? Whatās the story of how they got them?
Yes, but theyāre purely for my personal aesthetic so no story behind them.
8. What do they usually do to relax?
āWhat do you mean this doesnāt count?ā Sara looked around. They had just mowed through the huge kett facility north west of Prodromos. She felt pretty good.
āItās not relaxing is all Iām saying,ā Liam insisted.
āI consider it relaxing,ā Sara replied. āFeeling really relaxed now.ā
āBut what do you do to wind down? Kick back? Calm down?ā
āYou mean like slowing down until your head starts to think thoughts?ā Sara winced. āI donāt do that. I know why, trust me. Better like this.
She scanned the battlefield once more. Only dead kett and the first of the Initiative people come to take what they could use in Prodromos. The colony was floating on enough blood to tide the Armada. So did everything the Initiative had built. And the Pathfinder was their spear- and figurehead. No, she would not slow down to think. Not ever.
9. Do they have a favourite planet?
āWe canāt even live there yet!ā Liam said.
āDoesnāt matter,ā Sara replied with a happy grin. āItās called after me, so itās my favourite now! Ryder-I. I like it.ā
She looked down at the storm covered planet. It would take years to terraform it manually. She would certainly never see it viable enough to buy a home down three. But it was a legacy. The garden she would never see in bloom.
āI like it,ā she repeated to herself.
10. Do they have an LI? What is their ideal date with them?
āI donāt think this counts as a date.ā
āWhat?ā Reyes spread his arms in surprised hurt. āThere is music-ā
āCicadas of doom.ā
āA romantic fire-ā
āWe blew up an Outcast outpost.āāThere is even-ā
āIf you suggest that the burnt flesh of our enemies makes for a nice picnic, Iāll scream.ā
āOf course I brought provisions,ā Reyes replied still pulling off the hurt act.
āFor what?ā Sara asked exasperated. āIn case we had to starve them out?ā
āI see how it is,ā he said. āLet me ā just allow me.ā He took her arm and led her away from the flaming wreck that had once been an Outcast stronghold.
Sara let herself be led away. She was not angry per se. Fucking shit up with Reyes fun. Winding down afterwards was even more fun. Or at least fun in a more satisfying way. But calling the razing of an Outcast base a date was taking it a little too far.
They climbed a small hill and on the other side lay a string of springs, some steaming, some throwing an insane amount of bubbles, some lying still like dark blue crystals. Reyes walked straight towards them.
āI could not risk having the Outcast disrupt out date, could I now?ā He grinned slyly. āAnd I know you get so high strung fighting. You need a safe way to blow off steam.ā Without waiting for a reply, he pulled her into an embrace. āI hope you forgot your bathing suit, yes?ā
11. What is their preferred fighting style?
āSara donāt...ā
She didnāt hear the rest of the sentence. With an excited grin, Sara charged into the group of kett jumping from the incoming shuttle. Then she scattered them with a Nova and turned to find the nearest target with her flame-thrower activated. That took down another enemy.
Still ginning Sara pumped a load from he shotgun into the closes Chosen before charging away again. The Anointed never had a chance, stumbling under he impact the full force of her krogan hammer smashed him into pulp. Scanning the immediate surroundings, Sara cam up with absolutely zilch kett. What a pity.
Then the noise of another incoming shuttle caught Saraās attention. This party was far from over.
12. Finally, did they bring anything important with them from the Milky Way?
āScott!ā
Sara didnāt slow down until she had her arms locked firmly around her brother, almost keeling him over. He was alive. He was alive. He was really, really alive.
āWhoa there, big sister.ā He returned the hug as intense. āYou might think I was dead or something.ā
āYou almost were, you idiot.ā She sat down next to him, checking for any signs of hurt.
āWouldnāt dream of infringing on your territory.ā He laughed but it was uneasy.
āI promised my doc Iād stop dying.ā Sara looked at her hands. āAlso, I canāt leave my little brother alone in this nasty new galaxy.ā
Silence fell and Sara leant against her brother. He felt so real it was painful. She really coudnāt imagine being stranded in Heleus without him. Sheād be more alone hĀ“than ever, friends and lover or no. Nobody could ever replace Scott.
āDo you want to know how dad died?ā Sara finally asked.
āLater,ā Scott replied. āLetās just,ā he hesitated, āyouāre here.ā
āYeah.ā Sara closed her eyes. She was here. And so was he ā finally.
