The Journey to Meridian

''The Archon's map shows the way to Meridian. However, this issue affects the entire Andromeda Initiative, and leadership should be consulted before proceeding further.''

Acquisition
This mission is acquired immediately after completing Hunting the Archon.

Speak to the leaders on the Nexus
Return to the Nexus and head to Tann's office/Pathfinder HQ. A cutscene begins as Ryder enters a meeting with the  Nexus leadership. Ryder tells them that she wishes to immediately go after Meridian, but the leaders are skeptical, not wishing to provoke open war with the kett. The other Pathfinders enter the meeting and support Ryder, but Tann vetoes the plan anyway.

Following the meeting, the other Pathfinders tell Ryder that they have an alternative, but the conversation is interrupted by an urgent call. Ryder's sibling has suddenly awakened. The Pathfinders will meet Ryder later in the tech lab, and Ryder is immediately trasnported to the Hyperion's cryo bay.

Meet Ryder's sibling
The conversation is a bit different depending on what Ryder told her sibling during their earlier conversation, but the upshot is the same. Ryder's sibling still needs to rest and isn't cleared to leave the medical facility yet. An optional conversation with the sibling is now available, and Ryder can meet with the other Pathfinders at her discretion. Ryder Family Secrets may now be completed if all memory triggers have already been found.

Meet the Pathfinders
Head for the tech labs, on the upper level of the Docking Bay. The other Pathfinders and Dr. Aridana have a plan. A new technology called Ghost Storm will confuse kett sensors with multiple fake targets, allowing the Tempest to approach Meridian and land Ryder. Once the Tempest is upgraded, the mission can proceed.

Integrate Ghost Storm with the Tempest
Return to the Tempest. The Ghost Storm upgrade doesn't use the standard R&D console. Instead, look for a console on the side of the console room near the tech lab entrance. Once this is activated, the Tempest is ready for the mission.

Call a Meeting
Use the vidcon in the meeting room and inform the crew of the upcoming mission. The Civki system now becomes available on the Galaxy Map. Fly there and approach Khi Tasira, as the kett call Meridian. Scans reveal that Meridian is a large Remnant space station.

Land on Meridian
Manual saving will be disabled for the duration of this mission.

It proves impossible to actually land the Tempest on Meridia, so Ryder and squadmates are simply dropped onto the station, which has artificial gravity, atmosphere, and even, for some reason, rain. The only way forward ends at a chasm, but scanning the floor will reveal a power conduit leading to a nearby console. The console creates a bridge across the chasm and permits SAM to detect a central command hub for the station, which is currently inactive. Proceed across the bridge, through the door and to the console in the next room.

Activating the console opens a window ahead with a view of the central command hub and secondary towers to the north and south. SAM informs Ryder that the two secondary towers will need to be activated before activating the hub, similar to how Vault activation has worked. Use the nearby gravity well and head down to "ground level."

At the bottom of the well, you ''ll overhear kett transmissions and see enemies on your radar. A Remnant device on the ledge behind Ryder can be scanned for 10 Remnant Research Points. Proceed forward towards the hub, and into a small kett force of a few Wraiths and Chosen and one Anointed. Be careful of enemies on platforms above you who can shoot over your cover. A shuttle with more kett will arrive as you advance. Further forward the path splits, with ramps leading up to the north and south. You'll need to hit both towers eventually. Either route works, although the tactical challenges differ somewhat. For this walkthrough, we' ll go north first.

To the north tower -- Sector 17: Exploration
A power conduit under the floor marks your path. Be careful not to walk into Scourge Energy Pockets along the way. You'll see dead kett further along. Near an area with missing floor plates; don't fall through. Just past this you'll encounter more kett, fighting Remnant defenses. Let them fight-- you get combat XP whoever makes the kill -- and finish off the survivors. A console here will spawn a friendly Observer; unfortunately, it won't follow you out of this area.

Further along you'll find a wrecked console and a torn-up area of floor, with Scourge pockets about. There's nothing for it but to jump down. Try not to land in the electrical fluid or the Scourge tendrils, since both will wipe out your life support and then your health. At the bottom, SAM tells Ryder that he believes the Scourge spread from here to the rest of Heleus. Either the Remnant builders did it, or someone did it to them. The raised platform on the right offers a way around the Scourge tendrils and electrical fluid. From the western portion of the platform you may see another kett-Remnant fight, including a Behemoth and a turret. Don't get involved; anyone you kill now will simply respawn and have to be killed again later. Proceed to the east. A console here extends a bridge which will take you to the south tower later. For now, head north to a console and door, with a turret and a couple of Observers and Assemblers standing in your way. Defeat them and use the console to open the door.

Exploration Systems
Your target is the console on the far side of this room. Make sure to scan the Adaptive Remnant Core Device (worth 100 RRP) under the console behind a support pillar. There is a data pattern just east of the central cube.

Activate the console. Turns out it isn't quite working yet; Ryder needs to reconnect power to restore full functionality. The console helpfully projects a wiring diagram for you. Activate the four consoles on the east and west balconies in the order shown to restore the power. (Activating consoles in the wrong order will spawn in attacking Remnant.) Return to the north balcony and activate the main console.

Flight Controls are now online, and a bunch of Remnant exploratory vessels power up. Unfortunately, kett immediately show up and start boarding the ships. The console informs Ryder that it can't receive commands from the Meridian Engine. What that actually means will have to wait, because Remnant defenses are now activated. Specifically, several Assemblers and a Destroyer. Defeat them and head south.

To the south tower
As you exit Explorations Systems, Observers fly in to attack. The turret in this area has also been rebuilt. Fortunately, it now fights on Ryder's side, apparently believing that Ryder is the new Administrator. Proceed south over the bridge, which turns out to be damaged and pointing downward into electrical fluid. Jump up to the platform the bridge should have connected with. The southern half of the bridge is shot too, so you have no choice but to head west.

Here you'll find a kett-remnant fight in progress, with a Behemoth and several lesser kett fighting a turret and some Observers and Assemblers. The Behemoth is the biggest threat here, so let the Remnant help you with it. After defeating everyone, jump down to a platform on the west side to scan an Adaptive Remnant Core Device (worth 100 RRP) and loot a couple of containers, if you wish, and then head south.

Entend a bridge to reach Core 17: Central. Your final destination is to the east, but until you activate both towers it's blocked off by an energy barrier. Before heading south, you can go west to scan a Remnant data pattern which explains the rain.

A kett shuttle drops some enemies in front of you as you enter the south tower.

The South tower: Sector 17 - Research
The south tower is full of trees and other plants; some can be scanned for Remnant Research Points. Also, keep an eye out for rare mineral deposits such as Uranium and Vanadium.

Dispatch the few kett in front of you and enter the courtyard. The layout of the catwalks here is a bit confusing, if not downright irrational. The western route gets you into a rather pointless fight with a Fiend and assorted other kett, and the southern route is a little more difficult to vavigate. The simplest route is to head east, and then up the catwalks, staying on the east side. After possibly figthing off a kett ambush, you'll afind yourself looking down on a kett camp. A console here will activate a nearby turret and help you dispatch the kett.

Just north of the kett camp your scanner will ping for a nearby target, Over the east edge of the catwalk you'll see a doorway and a broken bridge. Jump down to this and then jump over where the bridge used to be. This brings you to a locked door, opened by a decryption puzzle which is not only difficult, but also won't respond to a Remnant Decryption Key. (Opening this door counts towards the Cryptographer achievement.)  After solving this, enter to find two loot containers and a pod containing an unknown creature which can be scanned for 10 RRP. This may be part of a cut sidequest, since the creature's scanner description is simply ???. Return by climbing to the top of the doorway for extra height and jumping the gaps.

Proceed west from the kett camp and through two sets of doors. The next area will greet you with a heavy kett assault;  multiple Destined, Anointed, and Wraiths, with a second wave including a Behemoth. SAM tells Ryder that Remnant defenses in the area can be activated to repel the kett. Up on the left-hand catwalk(north) a console will activate a turret, and a console on the other catwaly will activate shield generators on the south side of the room. Defeat the kett and use the console on the southern end to open the door to the Archives.

The Archives
Scan the Monstrous Fungi as you enter for 10 RRP. The room beyond contains two alcoves blocked with energy barriers, a locked door, many storage pods, and a console. Activating the console powers up the Archives, and reveals exactly what is being archived. It turns out to be prototypes of the angara, who are a synthetic race created by the builders of Meridian.

With the Archives activated the energy barriers go down and some Observers activate nearby; they're currently non-hostile and will remain so if you avoid them. Scan the nearby Angara prototypes for 10 RRP.

There is a console visible on a platform over the western alcove. By jumping onto the tree at the back of the alcove, you can reach the side platforms and then the console itself. Activate the console to open the door on the east side to find a Remnant Data Core and a Data Pattern:

The southern alcove contain a gnarled tree which can be scanned for 10 RRP, and a squadmate conversation.

When you're done, return the way you came. Activating the Archives has changed something in the room with the turret and shield generators. The central pool of electrical fluid has drained, revealing Remnant equipment. Jump in and scan the data pattern and a storage pod. The pod gives 10 RRP; SAM says it contains a plant, but the scanner text says it's an egg. The data pattern reveals something about experiments on, presumably, the angara.

Proceed south into the kett camp, and a battle featuring an Ascendant and a shuttle full of arriving Chosen and Anointed. The shuttle group arrives bunched together, making a convenient target for AoE abilities. Defeat them and head for the bridge to Area 17: Central; go north and west until the path ends, and jump to the upper catwalk to proceed.

As you approach the bridge, you'll see a kett assault force consisting of a Fiend and several Chosen and Anointed racing for the tower, where they're confronted by Remnant defenses including a Destroyer. Best to let the big boys tear each other up before getting involved; finish off any survivors.

Further along, you'll find several Nullifiers and Assemblers. The first group is best taken from the catwalk above. The two Nullifiers near the door are probably best taken out from below, where there's more cover. Assemblers will continually spawn in until the Nullifiers are destroyed. Destroy the Remnant and go through the doors, where you'll discover a gravity well leading to Meridian's central command. Before heading up, you can scan a Remnant data pattern on the platform behind and above the well. SAM reveals that the Remnant language is similar to angaran.

The Command Hub
As you enter the space, an adaptive Remnant Core device below the right side of the ramp up can be scanned for 100 RRP; the device on the left side is damaged and useless. Take time to survey the room before activating the main console and not the positions of health, ammo, and explosive objects, since there's going to be a fight here in a few minutes.

Activating the central console is somewhat anticlimactic; the console does nothing because the "Meridian Engine" is no longer present. SAM discovers a log revealing that the creators of Meridian, who you discover are named the Jardaan, sent the functional part of Meridian far away from the command center to hide it from the Opposition, in hopes of returning one day to continue the "work of renewal."

At this point the kett have had enough of Ryder's interference and launch a major assault, both on the ground and from space. SAM and Ryder order Meridian's defenses to attack the kett fleet, leaving Ryder to fight off the ground assault.

Defeat the Archon's Sword
The Archon's Sword enters with a wave of Anointed and Chosen. She's heavily shielded, has lots of health, and will cloak and evade when she takes too much damage; fortunately, she won't use cover much and isn't very mobile. When she cloaks, another wave of kett will spawn in to cover her. The second wave is Wraiths and Destined, the third wave is a Fiend and more Chosen. Kill the Archon's Sword to end the battle

With the Archon's Sword dead and their ships taking heavy damage, the kett retreat. Thanks to the Scourge disrupting flight paths, there's no easy way to determine exactly where Meridian itself is now located. There's nothing left to do at the command center, so Ryder and party return to the Tempest.

Director Tann contacts Ryder over the vidcon. He's surprisingly apologetic, admitting that Ryder and the Pathfinders were right, and he and the Nexus leadership were wrong. Tann offers Ryder whatever support he can. After the call ends, Suvi calls Ryder over the comm, saying that she's got an idea. This concludes the mission, and begins Meridian: The Way Home.

Aftermath
The kett have taken losses and been driven from the Meridian command center. Meridian itself is still missing. Ryder must now search for it.

Mission Rewards
1000 Andromeda Viability Points