Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mass Effect do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely Viacom and Bioware.

"The Lair", the Sewers under Tayseri Ward, the Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula.
February 5th, 2183.

"Beware my sons. The surface world, will be a strange, foreign world to all of you. It's inhabitants will not understand you, for you are different in so many ways to them".

Tonight was the night. Tonight, four teenage mutant ninja turtle brothers, would rise up to the 'surface world'.
They had spent the rest of the day, preparing for that time, practicing their katas, sparring with one another, getting into shape, and in Donnie's case, kitting up for the surface venture.
In his laboratory, he had been at 'the workshop', located just in the opposite end of the laboratory, working on some equipment that he said, "might be handy for when we get up there". He had locked the doors, wanting not to be disturbed, and his brothers, knowing high strung Donnie could be, left him alone to his own devices.
When finished, he had been carrying a carrier bag on his shell, slung on a strap, near the sheath of his bō staff, and when asked what was in it, Donnie had just replied simply, "It's a surprise" and his brothers left it at that.

And as Splinter walked in front of his sons, who were standing in a line, near the entrance of the sewers, that connected their lair to the sewers, ready to go up and face whatever the surface could bring them, Splinter could tell that Leonardo's twin Ninjatō had been sharpened and polished, for Leonardo liked to take good care of his swords, Donatello's bō staff, and Michelangelo's twin nunchaku/kusarigama, were in top mint condition, and finally Raphael's twin Sai, were still looking as sharp as ever, despite not being as polished as Leonardo's Ninjatō.
His sons looked at him, ready for their Sensei to 'say the magic words', as Michelangelo had put it.

Closing his eyes, continuing to think furthermore on allowing his sons to go to the surface, he then opened his eyes and said simply, "Good luck, my sons".

All four of them, cheering and fist bumping, bolted for the entrance to the sewer, but Splinter wasn't going to let them run amok on the surface, not without giving them some ground rules.
"YAME!"
Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo all halted to a complete stop, turned around, anxious to listen to what their sensei would say next, and hoping that he wouldn't at the last minute, change his mind.
"But, before you go up to the surface world, I cannot stress this enough. Leonardo is your leader. Anything he says, you follow. And furthermore, here are a few ground rules before you go up".
Then Michelangelo and Raphael started groaning, at the potential of having their fun ruined by whatever Splinter was thinking (or in Raphael's case, being bossed around by Leonardo).
Addressing Leonardo, but his message still was intended for all four of them, Splinter stated "Firstly, you must maintain awareness at all times, and always mind your surroundings".
"Secondly, stay in the shadows. Because, if you may recite, Leonardo"?

Bowing to his sensei, his eldest son replied "The darkness give the ninja their power, but the light is a weapon of it's own, able to be used against the ninja".
"Good". Splinter then continued listing down.
"Thirdly, my sons, whatever you do, DO NOT REVEAL YOURSELVES OR MAKE YOURSELVES KNOWN TO THE PEOPLE OF THE SURFACE"!
Splinter's rising voice had made all four of them jump, at the fact that he spoke in a stern, serious voice that pretty much indicated 'You do as I tell you, or there will be severe punishment'.

Bringing his voice to a calmer level, Splinter continued on.
"And finally, if you are revealed, and those who discover you, have hostile intentions towards you, you must rely on each other, as a team, as brothers. Never fight alone. There is nothing you cannot do if you set about working together".
"Do you understand, my sons"?
In a bored voice from Michelangelo and Raphael, "Hai, Sensei".
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND"?
All four raised their voices with "HAI SENSEI"!

"Then, good luck, my sons. But do not take too long out there".

Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael left through to the sewers, whilst Leonardo hung back and faced his sensei, "So, when do you want us to be back by, Sensei"?
"2 hours from now, Leonardo. And don't worry. I have full confidence in your ability to lead your brothers effectively, but I suppose, only time will tell. Nevertheless, good luck, Leonardo".
Smiling, Leonardo bowed and Splinter bowed back, as Leonardo left the lair, into the sewers, to catch up with his brothers.

Walking down the sewer, Leo still felt some unease with his new bandana, given that the red one he had worn, he had worn that for pretty much almost his lifetime.
Feeling a bit of itch at some areas, given that he would need to get used to having his new blue bandana, Leo rubbed his fingers over those areas and went back to finding his brothers. Earlier, during a break in their sparring, he and Donnie had discussed where they would go, to get up to the surface. They had decided to use an access hatch that led to an alley, out of sight of the inhabitants, for very few people would use an alley regularly.

Taking a few left and right turns, Leo managed to catch up with Donnie, Mikey and Raph, who were waiting by the ladder, that undoubtably led up to the 'surface'.
Greeting Donnie, Leo went "well, shall we"?
Mikey beamed at this, excitedly saying how cool it was going to be, all the while about to climb up the ladder first. But Leo stopped him, "Uh, Mikey. I know how excited you are, but someone will have to go up first, and see if the coast is clear".
"But there is no coast, last time I checked".
Donnie slapped a hand on his face, while Raph cuffed the back of Mikey's head.
"OW!"

Leo however, stepped in. "Enough, Raph. Anyways, the point remains that someone needs to go up to the surface first, then call down to tell you lot that it's safe to come up. And as your leader, that responsibility falls to me. When on this venture, I shall be the first up, and when going back, I will be the last one down".
Addressing all of his brothers, but slightly looking at Raph, he then continued "I trust that no one has any objections"?
When no one voiced an objection, including Raph, Leo then went "Then, let's do this".

Getting to the ladder, Leo climbed up it, eventually reaching the hatch and checking to see if it was open.
He struggled to get it open, which meant it had a lock of some kind, and thus, Leo got his omni-tool out and remembered Donnie's lessons on decryption, due to that many locks were electronic in nature, nowadays.
Starting the bypass, he now had to move an arrow to the center of a series of rotating rings, all the while trying not to be hit and also doing it within a specific time slot.
After navigating through 4 of these, the hatch was loose and Leo slightly opened it, to see out through the gap. Taking a look around, he could see that the coast was clear, and soon pushed the hatch right open. Moving out of the hatch, Leo then said "Alright, guys. Coast is clear. You can come up now". Soon, Donnie came up, then came Raph, and then came Mikey.

And now they could savor the moment, that they were on the surface, after all these years of having lived down in the sewers. And with the buildings blocking any sort of view, they decided to move out, and take a look around. Leo however, reminded his brothers "Alright, let's remember our training, and remember Splinter's instructions. Maintain an awareness, mind the surroundings, stay in the shadows and stay away from people. Okay"?
Raph, groaned and retorted "Leo, we get it! Geez, we got it the first hundred times"!
Mikey butted in, again, "But Leo didn't say it a hundred times..."
But before Raph could tell him to shut up, Leo glared at both of them, and went "Enough. Let's get a move on".

Slipping to and from the shadows of the alley, they soon were in approach of the entrance/exit of the alley that they were in, and immediately, Leo saw a problem.
Out that way, was a busy street, full of humans, asari, salarians, turians, as well as an occasional Hanar, Drell, Volus and Elcor.
Leo, frowned. They would be too exposed out there, and so it seemed that their trip had ended, before it had even begun. Mikey saw the crowds, moaned and whispered "Awww, man! How are we going to avoid all these people"?

Leo opened his mouth, but was beaten to the punch, by Donnie, who then whispered back "I've got a solution".
All three brothers turned to him, and after a while, Leo then asked "Well, what is it"?

Getting the carrier bag from the back of his shell, he soon unzipped the bag. Reaching into it, he grabbed something from inside, and handed it to Leo, before doing the same to Mikey. Leo examined what he had got in his hands, which appeared to be a weapon, not like any that he had seen on the vids. He'd say that it was close in design to both a pistol and submachine gun, but size-wise, it was more like a submachine gun. And several things proved that.
For one, the pistol grip, and the adjustable vertical foregrip, were big enough to fit their hands. The trigger was big enough for their index fingers' to fit in, and of course, on the end of the weapon, was what appeared to be a grappling hook designed like a Kagi, but probably had additional features apart from having four hooks.
Donnie looked at Leo's face, smiled and said eagerly "Cool, isn't it"?
"Yeah, I designed it myself. I figured that we may need to cross the rooftops and this will do us the trick".
Raph butted in, "So it's pretty much take this gun, point it at something, it'll hit, and we can use it to cross over wide spaces".
Donnie frowned and angrily went, "No, Raph. It depends on how you want to use it. If you want to cross rooftops, aim it at a specific point, then fire it and then attach the other end at a certain point, so we can cross. Don't worry, I'm very certain that the cable's strong enough to hold our weight. I did test it's strength myself. But I wouldn't use it as a zipline or a tightrope, just yet. I may need to do further improvements later, but this'll have to do. And if you want to climb up a building, there's a little device which can be attached to your belts. Just clip the cable on that device, and when the hook hits it's target, press the device and it'll winch you up".
As Donnie continued on, Leo, in the middle of thinking, then suddenly asked, "Could this also be used to grab an enemy and pull them closer"?
Donnie, stopped, rubbed his fingers on his chin, deep in thought and stated "It's possible. But I haven't tried it out. But there's no reason that it shouldn't. But I didn't design it that way".

Mikey soon examined the object in his hands, which was mainly, a big handheld box device, with a screen, but currently turned off at the moment. And also, there was two sets of what seemed to be earplugs.
He then asked "Hey, Don, what's this stuff"?
Donnie looked over, and stated "The motion tracker is what we'll be using to detect anyone coming near us. Those earplugs are so that the tracker's beeping sounds will not be heard by anyone in the general area. But don't worry, when the tracker's off, you can hear the outside world just fine. It's only when the tracker's on that the earplugs will work. Anyways, you need to also, point the tracker at a certain direction, if you want to track anything coming at you".

Raph then asked, "well, is that it"?
"Yeah, pretty much. But don't worry. All of us will have one of our own of these devices, so we don't have to share. And if any of them malfunction or break, I've only got two spares in this carrier bag", and turning his head to address Mikey, "so don't break them"!
The turtle in question pouted and replied "Oh, Donnie, would I ever do such a thing"?
But before Donnie could reply, Leo intervened, "Guys, let's get off the street, and onto the rooftops. Use the grappling gun"!

Getting 4 devices from the carrier bag, they soon clipped the devices onto their belts, then they readied their new grappling guns, and when Donnie saw them trying to aim directly at the ledge, he then said quickly "Oh, guys. One quick reminder, press the big green button on the side of the barrel. It'll activate the magnet within the hook. And then, aim over where you want to hit. That way, it overshoots but the magnet will help latch the hook on".
Following the instructions of their third eldest brother, Leo, Raph and Mikey fired the grappling guns, and then so too, did Donnie.
The lines were secure, and they attached the cable to the devices on their belts. Pressing a small button on the top of the device, they soon find themselves being propelled upwards, as if they were being winched up.
And when they approached the edge of the rooftop, they soon grabbed the rooftop edge, steadying themselves and soon, after using their arms to propel themselves over the edge, onto the rooftop, they soon got their grappling hook and cables, collected them, and were about to get ready on using them again, when they saw suddenly, a sight that could be described by words, for the words, beautiful, magnificent and impressive, did not do it justice.
Standing side by side, the four brothers watched the view of the stars, the Serpent Nebula, and the Widow System's single star, and they just stood and watched the view, not breaking the silence for a while.
But Raph however, stated what he was thinking, and probably what his brothers were thinking as well.

"Now, that, is the greatest thing, I have ever seen, in my whole life".

Whew! Now that was some chapter to finish. Apologies for the delay, but anyways, chapter ten is here. The brothers are on a rooftop with a clear view of the surrounding sky from Tayseri Ward, and I'd imagine that someone seeing the view from the wards for the first time, would be like someone seeing the Northern Lights for the first time. I of course haven't seen the Northern Lights in person, but I guess, from common sense, when you see it in person, it is such a breathtaking view and words cannot describe how beautiful it is.

Anyways, back to work on the next chapter, where strange happenings are around at Stocktronics...

Update: (24/4/2014) Fixed up a bit of grammar.