Location: Somewhere on Mars, fourth planet from the Sun, Sol system
Did I have a choice? No, I didn't. It was either this or death for both me and Katherine.
Kynarus sat in silence as the rover rumbled along the rough Martian terrain, bouncing about and occasionally getting airborne slightly. The young turian hadn't said a word since he had boarded the rover, the rover and its passengers being dropped a shot distance from Dieter's frigate and onto the red, dusty surface of Mars. He preferred to keep quiet, surrounded by humans he didn't really want to talk to and on a planet he didn't really want to be on.
There were eleven others in the team but only one had actually told him their name. The one that had told him his name was in fact the team's leader, some dark blonde-haired human named Klaus Mueller. He was sitting across from Kynarus inside the not-so spacious interior of the troop transport, humming quietly and occasionally eyeing the turian with noticeable distrust. He was yet to say much more to Kynarus and had told the other team members not to talk to the turian.
Kynarus, when he had finally accepted upon Dieter's second visit to his quarters, had been given a quick guided tour of Dieter's ship. Dieter had been happy to show off his pride and joy, showing Kynarus around the ship and spent the most time in the engineering section, Dieter going on and on about the new stealth systems. Kynarus didn't particularly care but had decided to keep the information and layout of the ship fresh in his mind just in case he ever needed to refer to it.
Once the tour had finished Dieter had taken Kynarus to a locker room and introduced him to the rest of the team. None of them had been interested in talking to him, not that Kynarus cared too much, and had instead gotten changed into the black, bulky suit of armour he now wore. The team had then been briefed on the plan but Kynarus had managed to simplify down to something easier to follow.
Apparently there was a surface sensor grid that went for two standard miles around the prison. These sensors could detect any unscheduled heat and movement and alert the base to a possible escaped prisoner of intruder. It would be minutes before a patrol was sent out in a rover to investigate the disturbance and thus disabling this sensor grid was imperative to the plan. There was one guard post on the very edge of this sensor grid and from the guard post it was possible to disable the sensor grid. The team would be dropped off a few kilometres from the guard post and would trek cross country to the guard post before eliminating whatever guards were there and using the computers to shut down the sensor grid.
From there they would continue to one of the maintenance tunnels that went straight into the prison. The tunnel itself would most likely be guarded but that would probably be a relatively easy obstacle to overcome, the team having to be sure no guards raised the alarm. The maintenance tunnel would take them into the lower levels of the prison and from there they could search for Herbert von Schraeder who would probably be in the biotic prisoners section. This was apparently a highly secured section of the prisoner full of the dangerous biotic prisoners and would probably be tough to get into.
Kynarus really had no idea what was so important about Schraeder but he did know that this human may be the only one with useful information concerning the location of the package. Since Dieter's other plans failed they had to fallback onto this one, freeing the previous head of the Zahni Corporation from one of the toughest prisons in the Human Systems Alliance. It was a high risk operation but apparently the only plan Dieter had left, meaning that it would have to work.
The escape plan was fairly simple, involving the team escorting the prisoner back to where the rover was parked and making a getaway back to the insertion point. Upon arrival at the insertion point, Dieter's frigate would come down and pick up the rover before heading back into orbit. Hopefully nothing would go wrong and complicate the plan although Kynarus was sort of hoping something did go wrong. That way he could seize the opportunity to make good his escape and try and rescue Katherine from Dieter's frigate.
Kynarus, prior to leaving the frigate in the rover, had made sure to read up about the planet so he knew what to expect. From orbit the planet had appeared as a standard-sized barren world, appearing as an orange-red colour from above. Both its polar caps were of white ice and completely frozen over while the planet itself was apparently quite cold. Of course, the climate control systems inside Kynarus' armour would keep him comfortable during the upcoming walk across the surface.
The planet was smaller than most other worlds and thus had less gravity than what Kynarus and the humans were used to. This would allow movement to be a bit easier on the surface but this also meant the guards at the prison would have the same advantage, possibly making any firefights more about outmanoeuvring your opponent than the usual flanking procedures.
The surface itself mostly consisted of a sort of red iron-ore, leading many humans to nickname the planet as the "red planet" because of the reddish look it had. The planet had its fair share of land formations, from craters to towering mountains and a massive gorge that ran across half of the planet's equator. Today though their movements would be in a region mostly flat and rocky, with a few ridges here and there but otherwise somewhat easy terrain compared to the rest of the planet.
The atmosphere had slightly less pressure than what Kynarus and the humans could survive in and the atmosphere itself was ninety-five percent carbon dioxide. No human or turian could survive in an atmosphere like that so the armour they wore would be completely sealed from the exterior atmosphere once they had placed their helmets on. If one were to walk out onto Mars' surface without an environmental suit they would die of asphyxiation within a minute while their nose and eyes bled from broken capillaries because of the lower air pressure. It wasn't exactly a grisly death but it wasn't the way Kynarus had envisioned himself dying so he knew he would have to be extra careful while out on the surface. If his shields were compromised he would end up expelling the precious air he needed to survive.
Mars was an important planet in human history, being only fourth from the Sun in humanity's home system. Earth, humanity's home world, was only third from the sun and thus Mars had been one of the first planets human had reached. On Mars they had found the cache of Prothean technology that had allowed them to reach even further stars than before, their first voyages causing the First Contact War as a result. The humans had made a bit of a nuisance of themselves since the beginning, spreading throughout the galaxy and stubbornly trying to colonize worlds on the edges of known space and complaining when they were attacked. Kynarus knew he couldn't exactly complain about the humans though, he was in love with one after all.
Humanity had considered Mars an early terraforming possibility, having plans to make the planet more habitable and give it a breathable atmosphere. Of course, these plans had been put on the backburner after the discovery of the Prothean technology and Mars had remained the same as it always had been. It was practically no different to other barren worlds in the galaxy save for its orange-red appearance.
These days, Mars had been closed off to most general traffic. The large colony that was located a considerable distance from the prison was governed by an Administrator and the law was enforced by the Mars Colonial Authority, a Human Systems Alliance sub-organization created solely for the purpose of controlling the population of Mars and keeping an eye on the Prothean ruins. This organization was more or less the police force of Mars, keeping guard at the many scientific research outposts dotted around the planet and making sure the population of the colony was under control. There had been numerous rumours of corruption in the colony's government but they were only rumours and as such shouldn't be easily believed.
The Mars Colonial Authority (known as the MCA for short) had officers guarding and running the prison where Schraeder was being kept. According to information that had been given to Kynarus and the rest of the team many of these officers would prove to be trained in the use of light weapons, equipped with light protection and have only limited combat training. They were more or less the rent-a-cops of Mars, being transferred to places they probably didn't want to be. They were probably as reluctant as Kynarus was; the turian was not at all comfortable with working with these humans. He hadn't much choice though but was still annoyed at himself for being so stupid in the past and falling for the "anonymous" phone call. He should have just stayed in the motel room with Katherine and protected her.
Kynarus couldn't help but blame himself for Katherine's capture. She had been hurt seriously enough judging by the picture Dieter had showed her that the human wasn't joking when he said he would kill her if Kynarus didn't cooperate. Kynarus didn't like the idea of being forced to work for Dieter and become part of whatever twisted scheme he had devised but it was a matter of limited choice for the young turian. Currently he was unable to try and escape safely, after all he was on some alien world and surrounded by people who would kill him if he so much as disobeyed an order.
One other thing that was eating away at the young turian's mind like a parasite was the things the now twisted Rellin Kia'Shan had told him. According to him Lalias had been the type who slept around the military base and that Kynarus had only been another of her partners. This had come as both a shock and severe blow to the young turian and at first he had had no idea what to think. To cover up his surprise he had tried using lies against Rellin and had succeeded in riling up the half-synthetic turian but deep down Kynarus was angry at himself for all that had happened. Lalias had been less faithful than he had first thought and that his whole life since meeting her had become an utter shambles. He had quit the military, blaming himself for her death while in fact she probably would have simply moved on to another turian male after the battle finished, if she survived.
Cerberus, on the other hand, had helped facilitate his downfall from decorated officer to washout mercenary. They had been the ones to attack the labs at Hallian and they had been the ones to destroy the turian military base there. They had disfigured Rellin and left him to be found by Dieter, rebuilt into a twisted hulk of flesh and steel. Cerberus had played such a major hand in Kynarus' life and he hadn't even known about it until recently.
Kynarus hung his head low, looking down at the floor of the rover as it rumbled over the uneven Martian terrain. He was yet to see what the surface looked like, having only seen the planet from orbit. There were no view-ports in the passenger section of the frigate and thus the only things even vaguely interesting to look at were himself and the other team members, most of which were ignoring him.
Kynarus realized that the only thing he had to live for now was Katherine. She had shown him that maybe his life was worth living after all, the pair being genuinely in love. Kynarus knew it was a love that should not have happened but it had and at a surprising pace as well. It seemed only yesterday that he had found her on Talerian, wounded and dying before he had carried her to the medical clinic. It hadn't been too long ago the pair had lain in bed together in the motel room back on the Citadel, snuggling up close and warming each other. He didn't want to lose her too and it seemed he would if he did anything wrong on this breakout operation.
He knew that a human and turian relationship was the uncommon type and possibly even unheard of. The two species distrusted each other but Kynarus knew that something like this, if it got out, would probably either help bring the two species closer together or completely destroy human and turian relations. The memories of the First Contact War were still fresh in the minds of people affected by it, whether directly or indirectly, Kynarus' grandfather having been an officer killed in one of the early battles of the war. Klaus Mueller, the crazy looking blonde-haired human sitting across from him, had apparently had both parents killed in the war since both had served in the human military. No doubt he hated Kynarus' guts, a prejudice not uncommon amongst humans.
Kynarus sat back in his seat, taking the chance to check over his assault rifle. It was the same model that the other team members were equipped with and appeared to be different than most others Kynarus had used before, with a grey-black finish and short zoom scope. The weapon itself worked on the same principles as common assault rifles but rather than fire small, pin-sized rounds launched in an accurate mass effect field these weapons fired large, razor sharp rounds that chewed through "magazines" quicker than other weapons. Whereas a regular magazine may last several months in active service, the magazines used for these weapons may only last a couple of months. However, the shape of the rounds and size added more power and armour-piercing capabilities than standard bullets. It seemed Dieter liked to give his men an advantage with the weapons they used, seeing as the weapons Kynarus and the team members had been equipped with were of a custom Zahni Corporation design. As well as these weapons, Kynarus had also been stuck with holding a few specially made breaching charges which were clipped to his waist. He didn't trust them though, they may go off unexpectedly when he was holding them.
Kynarus watched with only slight curiosity as Klaus slipped a metal slab of a magazine into the hilt of his rifle, the slight orange glow from the metal indicating that they were some form of incendiary rounds. Incendiary rounds were capable of eating through any known material and vaporizing their targets. Such rounds were often only used in the military and were banned within civilian populations but obviously the Zahni Corporation had managed to become part of the exclusive community that used such harsh weaponry. Klaus only glanced up at Kynarus, seeing the turian had taken some interest in what he was doing. The distrust was clearly evident in the human's blue eyes but he didn't say anything, the pair exchanging glances before the turian was back to fiddling with his own weapon.
Kynarus was carrying a standard Zahni Corporation sidearm as well, as a backup. All weapons the Corporation used were built by its subsidiary Zahni Weapons Research and Development, as it said on the hilt of the weapons. Kynarus un-holstered his pistol, taking note of how new and shiny it looked. It certainly beat the Stinger pistol he had become accustomed to using over all of these years, doing his best to maintain it but finding that as the years wore on so did the wear on the pistol.
Checking that the pistol's magazine was in tight the turian put it back into its holster, noticing that the other team members were checking their weapons as well. The team marksman, a human with dark hair and looking of a fairly young age, was adjusting the calibration on his sniper rifle's scope. He would probably be the one to fire the first shots of the mission, covering the team when they arrived at the guard post within the next hour. The marksman noticed Kynarus' gaze and nodded his head towards the turian, a friendly expression on his face as he made sure the weapon was ready to fire.
Kynarus nodded back, figuring that not all of the team members hated him. He guessed that they were simply following an order by not talking to him unless absolutely necessary, an order Klaus had given the team when they had first started getting on board the rover back in the garage bay of Dieter's frigate. Kynarus guessed a soldier that spoke to him voluntarily would get a mouthful of abuse from Klaus, who seemed the type of officer that treated his men like dirt. That may explain why no one was talking, occasionally muttering under their breaths and checking their weapons and armour but otherwise not actually speaking aloud.
Kynarus shifted where he sat, trying to find a comfortable enough position for his backside. The armour he had been given had been made the fit a turian frame but not necessarily his frame, the young turian having found it was tight around the waist and put unnecessary pressure on his backside. He doubted comfort had been something in the mind of the manufacturers, protection having been a far more pressing issue. Regardless Kynarus didn't think he could last a full day in this armour and hoped he would be able to get dressed into something more comfortable soon; otherwise he might end up being unable to sit down for a while.
Damn human armour design, Kynarus thought. He noticed Klaus was watching him carefully, not at all fazed by the fact the young turian knew he was staring at him.
"Ever been to Mars, Kye?" Klaus said, using a shortened version of Kynarus' name. It was the sort of nickname that Kynarus wouldn't normally have a problem with except that Klaus used it an awful number of times and said it in a tone of voice tinged with dislike.
Kynarus figured he would be better off if he replied to the human's question, shaking his head in response to this one. Klaus was keeping himself calm and collected although Kynarus could still see the dislike on his face.
"No, no I haven't," Kynarus replied, "why?"
"Just curious," Klaus said casually, "I was thinking maybe you had been here before. That way there would be more point if for you to tag along…"
"It wasn't my decision," Kynarus replied, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. He didn't like the way the human was speaking to him but knew he couldn't do much about it; any insubordination would probably lead to him getting shot.
"I didn't have a choice," the turian added quickly, "so, if you want to complain about it to someone, complain to your boss. Don't talk to me about it since I really don't care."
Klaus simply nodded, probably a little amused at the effect he was having on Kynarus. Annoying the turian seemed to have been one of the goals he had had in his mind.
"You're lucky my boss has a thing for dumbass turians," Klaus said calmly, smiling a little, "otherwise you would be dead already. Hell, you managed to kill that krogan and maybe Dieter just wants to use you as a sort of replacement." Klaus paused, seeing that Kynarus was only just listening.
Kynarus didn't really like the idea of being a sort of "replacement" for the krogan he had killed back on the Citadel. That would mean Dieter had a plan of hiring Kynarus long-term and that was definitely something the young turian didn't want. He had been told that after this breakout operation was done he would get Katherine back and the pair could go their own way.
"How did you kill Kalax?"
"Who?" Kynarus looked up, his own thoughts interrupted by this question. Klaus frowned for a moment before rephrasing his question.
"The krogan. How did you kill him?"
Kynarus could now distinctly remember the brawl that had occurred between him and the burly krogan, the military issue talon having been right at his throat before he had managed to gain the upper hand after spitting in the krogan's right eye.
"I slit his throat," Kynarus said bluntly, "it wasn't as hard as it sounds. Especially if you have something sharp enough for the job."
"Your talons?" Klaus asked.
Kynarus looked town at his clawed fingers, shrugging. They hadn't done the job and probably wouldn't be able to on a krogan without needing a fairly strong amount of effort.
"No, not my talons. Just a military issue blade that the krogan had been planning on using against me. I grabbed it and spat in his right eye for good measure. Why do you want to know all of this?"
Klaus laughed a hearty chuckle, regarding Kynarus with some noticeable dislike but he did look a little impressed.
"You must be a hell of a fighter," Klaus said, "even resorting to such classic tactics as spitting in the opponent's eyes! Why didn't I think of that?" Klaus laughed again but Kynarus failed to see the joke, the turian sitting quietly and watching the human through narrowed eyes.
"Anything else I should know about?" Klaus asked, "Because I can certainly see what my boss saw in you. He likes a ruthless fighter, that's why he hired me. Maybe having you on the team isn't a terrible mistake…"
Having you on the team certainly was, Kynarus thought with a subdued grin. He kept his face mostly neutral, deciding to only reply to Klaus' questions if absolutely necessary. He didn't like the human much and wasn't about to change his perception of him anytime soon.
"I read about your military years," Klaus said, "some interesting stuff there. You were a decorated war hero but left for some reason soon after. Why is that?"
It seems everyone knows my history, Kynarus thought. So many people had decided to read up on his background that now he was being faced with more and more personal questions than before. The last person he wanted to discuss them with was Klaus and so the young turian simply shook his head, seeing a slight frown form on the human's face.
"It's really none of your business," Kynarus said bluntly.
Klaus seemed insulted at first but his face quickly returned to its normal, slightly smiling state.
"You really don't want to talk about it, do you?" Klaus asked, "I did hear it had something to do with a Cerberus raid or something. I also heard it was because of some female turian…"
Kynarus didn't like having his personal life being probed like this. So far his perception of the female turian in question had been shattered by what Rellin had told him earlier and he didn't need Klaus to find out about it. He didn't care what the human thought, Kynarus just wouldn't clarify any of the obscure facts he was mentioning.
"What are female turians like, anyway?" Klaus asked suddenly, his eyes looking a little brighter than usual. Kynarus looked at him with a bemused expression, having been thrown a little off-guard by the question.
"What are they like?" Klaus asked again, "Go on and tell me, I haven't seen one before. Are they hot?"
"It's a matter of what you like," Kynarus said, "and I doubt you'd like female turians. They aren't too much like your human females…"
Klaus shrugged.
"Tell me about them anyway," Klaus asked, "for instance, do they have breasts? I've always been curious about that…"
Kynarus only shot him a strange look, not really sure whether this was the best thing to be discussing right now. Klaus looked eager to hear the answer and Kynarus only replied with a single word, watching with some amusement at Klaus' reaction.
"Really? Are they big?"
"It depends," Kynarus said. He found it a bit hard to believe he was discussing this with a human but he guessed that times were changing and that this sort of thing would begin to get more common. After all, he and Katherine had become more than just friends so he guessed it wasn't the first time this sort of relationship had turned up.
Klaus looked somewhat more attentive now. He was like a teenager, choosing to listen to only what interested him, ignoring most other topics of conversation and finding the whole "turian female" topic of conversation fairly amusing. Kynarus didn't think it was all that funny but he couldn't help but crack a slight smile.
"Just like with humans, huh?" Klaus asked, "Size differs, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Kynarus replied, realizing he seemed to have fallen right into this conversation. He paused briefly, trying to figure out what had originally compelled him to answer Klaus' questions in the first place.
"Anyway, I've never really liked you turians," Klaus said, his voice changing from the light-hearted tone it had just had to a darker, more serious one, "sure, no turians have actually done anything to me but your kind did kill my parents back in the war. For that I cannot bring myself to trust any of you turians, regardless of who you might be." Klaus paused, thinking about what else he should say. "I must have been only one when it happened. Both of them had been serving on the same ship and the ship itself was destroyed when it was ambushed by a few turian cruisers. No survivors apparently."
Kynarus had the idea that maybe Klaus had been trying to overcome his distrust of turians by talking to one. Now Klaus had reverted back to rambling on about himself and his life, something which he had been doing before they had been dropped onto the surface from the frigate. He seemed to think people actually cared about his life which he made out to be tough, despite the fact that he lived an easy and well-paid life as a career soldier for the Corporation. He was full of himself in other words, a "quality" Kynarus had noticed was quite evident among humans.
Klaus shifted the rifle that was on his lap so the barrel was pointing at Kynarus. The turian didn't take much notice of it, paying more attention to the wicked grin that had appeared on Klaus' face.
"That's why I don't trust you, Kye," Klaus said, "we may share a bit of a conversation here and there but to me you're just another untrustworthy turian. One wrong move when you're in my team and I'll kill you without even batting an eyelid. Is that understood?"
"Sure," Kynarus said without really paying attention, "why do you ask? Do you think I want to get killed?"
"You'll end up that way if you don't follow orders," Klaus said, his voice serious but with a hint of some sort of sadistic pleasure that he probably got at the thought of killing someone, "and you'll also end up that way if you decide to go all John Wayne and try and escape while gunning people down…"
"Who's John Wayne?" Kynarus' curiosity had been piqued but Klaus only looked at the young turian strangely before shaking his head.
"Never mind about who John Wayne is. Just make sure you don't try and stab us all in the back, is that understood?"
Kynarus hadn't been planning on doing such a thing. He would probably not get an opportunity to and besides, even if he did manage to kill the whole team who the hell would he get back onto Dieter's frigate? The frigate itself was in orbit around the planet, they wouldn't come down just to pick him up and let him aboard. No, Kynarus knew he needed to play this out for a while and see where it got him. Another thing Kynarus would have to do when he got the chance was look up who this John Wayne character was.
There was a moment's silence before Klaus spoke again, this time having reverted back to his calm and casual mood. Kynarus figured he wasn't too mentally stable, especially judging from these unpredictable changes of mood but of course the turian wasn't about to say anything to complain about it. Rather he would just have to take whatever Klaus threw at him.
"So, Kye, you don't mind if I ask a question?"
"Do I have a choice?"
Klaus frowned, thinking about this for a few seconds.
"No," he said bluntly, "so, I'll get to my question…" He trailed off briefly, a grin appearing on his features. It was the sort of grin that Kynarus didn't particularly like since it reminded him of Dieter's crazy looking grin. Klaus was almost the same as Dieter personality wise, albeit a bit more on the reckless side.
"Tell me, what do you turians have…'down there'?" Klaus' eyes went to Kynarus' lap briefly and it took the turian a moment to figure out what he meant. When he did he felt a little embarrassed but smiled anyway.
"Why would you want to know?" Kynarus asked, deciding to play along with what Klaus had to say.
"Well, do you have a…you know…?"
The human sitting on Kynarus' right tapped the turian on the shoulder, speaking close to the turian's head as he went to talk. Klaus only frowned but didn't say anything, the order of not talking to the turian having been long forgotten.
"What he's trying to say is 'do you have a dick and how big is it?'" The young human said quite bluntly.
Kynarus didn't think he should give a straight answer, preferring that Klaus would stop asking him questions about turian anatomy. Of course, Klaus was of the unpredictable type and probably wouldn't like it if Kynarus told him to shut up which the young turian really wanted to do. Right now Kynarus only wanted to stay alive and what seemed like an impossible situation. He would be helping Dieter's plan if he succeeded and killed if he didn't.
"It's probably bigger than Klaus'," Kynarus said with a smile. The few humans closest laughed when they heard this while Klaus only remained sitting, an annoyed expression crossing his face.
"Smart ass, I see?" He said, a grin replacing his annoyance. Kynarus only gave the turian equivalent of a smile, seeing that the human was trying to get on his nerves.
"Alright boys, who wants to sing a song?" Klaus said aloud suddenly, the human team members turning their heads while some nodded and murmured positive replies. Kynarus sat with some doubt on his face, trying to figure out what Klaus could possibly want to sing about.
"You all know this anthem but our turian friend here won't," Klaus announced, "so, be sure to sing extra loud for him." Klaus looked at the young turian with a smile, some of the men stamping their feet on the floor of the rover in a simple rhythm.
"This song dates back from the First Contact War, during the attack on Shanxi," Klaus said to Kynarus, "you'll probably love it, no doubt."
Kynarus had a feeling about what was coming but didn't say anything as Klaus and the men started chanting in irritatingly loud voices. Most of them were out of key and sounded terrible but it was all part of the plan, the plan being to annoy the turian with them as much as possible. Kynarus sat listening, curious to hear what the anthem was about but he already a good feeling it was something racist.
"I don't wanna go out on night patrol…I wanna stay here in my hole…If I go out in the long tall grass those lizard faced bastards will have my ass!"
Kynarus immediately realized what the "lizard faced bastards" the anthem was referring to actually were. He didn't say anything though, instead he sat back and tried doing his best to ignore the annoying singing and yelling humans seated around him. He could tell Klaus was enjoying himself from the smile on the human's face.
When the anthem finally did finish Kynarus seized the chance to take a nap. If he was asleep then there was less chance of Klaus bothering him with more annoying questions and hopefully, when he awoke, it would be time to get out of the stuffy interior of the rover and outside onto Mars' surface. It took some time for Kynarus to actually fall asleep though, the young turian closing his eyes and sitting back for about ten minutes before he was finally asleep. The interior of the rover had fallen silent with the end of the anthem, making it much easier to drift off into sleep.
Kynarus ended up dreaming of Katherine and not for the first time either. He knew he would have to rescue her sooner or later but he also knew he would have to ride out this whole Mars mission, seizing the opportunity to find her when he was back on Dieter's frigate. At the moment though he was stuck on Mars in the company of annoying humans until further notice.
"Wake up sleeping beauty."
Kynarus was jolted from sleep by a hand on his shoulder that shook him around a little. Brought out of his slumber Kynarus found himself looking straight into Klaus Mueller's face, seeing that the human was grinning as usual.
"What?" Kynarus was barely aware of his surroundings, only just remembering where he was. He could see that some of the other team members were putting on their helmets, their suits hissing as they sealed their interior environment off from the exterior one.
Klaus sat back in his seat, taking up his rifle in one hand and his helmet in the other. The rover, having travelled at a fairly fast speed and having bounced along the Martian terrain for most of the journey was now travelling at a slow and steady speed. Kynarus knew this meant they were nearing their destination and realized that was why Klaus had woken him up.
"Get your gear on, Kye," Klaus said simply, using his right hand to place the helmet over his head. The helmet itself had the same black design as the rest of the armour, its visor a thick and almost completely reflective when the polarity was increased. The visor itself adapted to changes in light to help protect its uses and right now, because of the little interior light inside the rover, it was almost perfectly see through. Kynarus could see Klaus' face quite well in the dim light and figured he would be better off doing the same.
Kynarus slipped on his suit's gloves, making sure they clicked and sealed into place at the sleeves. The young turian picked up his helmet which had been lying at his feet on the floor, placing it over his head and finding his vision briefly obscured before the visor itself was in front of his eyes. His helmet was understandably suited for his turian body shape, the helmet having plenty of rooms for the horns that went over the top of his head. He didn't have a full-face visor; rather he had a small view-port for his eyes that only partially blocked out the corners of his vision.
The inside environment of his suit sealed and he found his breathing had suddenly been amplified. Outside noises had become somewhat muffled but he was sure he would get used to it soon enough. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, his senses on edge as he realized what was coming. The mission was starting proper and that would mean crossing the surface of a barren planet with an unbreathable atmosphere. This was one thing Kynarus had a fear of, his mind always addled with thoughts about how his suit might malfunction or how his visor might break. He knew there was little chance of this happening but the fears were still there and would always be at the back of his mind, causing unnecessary fear and anxiety.
Calm down, things will be fine. He tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths and able to hear them quite well inside the near claustrophobic interior of his helmet. He could see the humans seated around them and now fully suited up were as right as rain, not at all showing their fears if they actually had any. Kynarus probably looked like a nervous wreck to them but if they had noticed none had said anything.
Klaus knocked on the door that went into the rover's cockpit, signalling the driver beyond that it was safe to open the rear ramp. There was a few seconds silence before the ramp at the far end of the passenger seconds clicked and whirred as its mechanism started working. It slowly unfolded forth, sunlight streaming into the inside of the rover and causing the visors of the armoured humans and a single turian inside to darken.
It took Kynarus' eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden light, his visor darkening seconds later. Through the now open ramp he could see the red-orange surface of the planet, the rover appearing to have been parked on a ridge overlooking some sort of valley. The view wasn't good from inside the rover and Kynarus knew he would be seeing it better soon enough.
Klaus was the first to stand up, signalling the rest of his team to get moving. Kynarus could still feel his heart beating wildly in his chest, knowing full well that any trace of breathable atmosphere outside of his suit had been expelled outside and lost. Now the only thing between him and a nearly full atmosphere of carbon dioxide was his kinetic shields and his thick, bulky armour. He only felt moderately safe, the fear of a broken visor or suit malfunction still very fresh in his mind.
The suited-up Corporation soldiers stood and departed the rover, stepping outside into the sunlight and onto the red planet. Kynarus was the last out, tagging along behind the group and taking a moment to take in the view they had from atop the ridge.
The ground was a dark orange with traces of red, depending on the amount of light shining on it. Rocks of varying sizes littered the valley before them and sheer cliff faces were on all but two sides. Jagged, rocky outcrops were common and all around them. Standing atop the short ridge, Kynarus could make out the shapes of hills and mountains on the horizon. The whole vista around them was one of barren plains, gorges, hills and mountains and almost all of it was a dark orange.
The ground crunched underfoot, this area being covered with plenty of small rocks compared to the sandy desert-type ground Kynarus could see on the plains rolling out in an easterly direction. Looking up the young turian could see that the sun was high in the sky, probably being about noon local time judging by the sun's height and distance covered. The sky itself was a dull purple-blue and was almost cloudless. All in all it seemed a very barren planet and Kynarus could see why there weren't many humans here save for a single colony, a prison and some scientific research outposts.
"Quit admiring the view," Klaus said suddenly, having stopped at the edge of the ridge and looking down at the rocky valley below. He had been referring to the team in general, Kynarus having thought for a second that Klaus might have just been telling him off. Stepping towards the edge of the ridge Kynarus looked down, noticing the many jagged rocks below that would spell certain death for anyone stupid enough to jump down or unlucky enough to fall.
Klaus toed a fist-sized rock with the tip of his right boot, gently nudging it and sending it falling to the rocky ground below. He watched it as it fell before looking up again and out across the valley and surrounding plains.
"What a shithole," he said bluntly, glancing over at Kynarus whom he noticed was standing only a few metres to his right. The young turian was looking down at the possible death-drop with noticeable uncertainty, keeping his distance from the edge.
"What's the matter, Kye? Afraid of heights?" Klaus asked.
Kynarus glanced at the human, stepping back from the edge and turning towards him. He regarded the human briefly, his expression impossible to tell because of the helmet. Only his blue eyes were visible through the eye-level slit of a visor and they did contain a fear that made Klaus feel a little satisfaction.
"Not really," Kynarus said, "I just hate heights when they're the type that can kill you." He was telling the truth, having encountered such precarious positions before and having gotten through them fine. This time around a fall down there would at the very least cripple someone and such a thing wouldn't be too good on a planet which didn't even have a breathable atmosphere.
Kynarus kept his assault rifle gripped firmly in his right hand, looking at the other team members and seeing that they were also admiring the view. There was indeed a strange beauty about the orange-red landscape which may explain why humans had been so fascinated with the planet before their star-faring days. Kynarus had never been on a planet that had a mostly red landscape, usually preferring planets that had breathable atmospheres and colonies of some sort.
"We've got a bit of a walk to the guard post," Klaus said, starting along the edge of the ridge, "so everybody is to stay in a scattered group formation." He had begun walking down the other side of the ridge which was a much easier slope and went into a series of winding natural passages. The rest of the team started following, Kynarus staying at the rear and being sure to take in the environment around him.
His heart-rate had since returned to normal, the fears that had been at the back of his mind now long gone. He felt relatively safe now, seeing that the environment of the planet itself wasn't especially harsh. He had no idea how far they would have to walk but he didn't care, he was used to walking long distances. This had come from his military years, especially during his training where twenty kilometres marches had been quite common.
His mind wandered to all the things that had happened since he had first accepted the assignment from Colonel Sommers. Of all places he hadn't expected to end up here on Mars, a planet in the human's local system. He hadn't expected to be forced to become part of Dieter's plans but then again it had been the sort of thing that was almost impossible to expect. He knew he would have to be careful during his time here, especially when with these humans.
He had no idea what the prison would be like. There was no sign of it anywhere, just more of the dark orange landscape and more rocks. It wasn't any wonder that the humans would put a prison way out here in a place like this, seeing as there was no one else around. It was one of the most backwater-esque places Kynarus had been and would most likely remain that way for some time to come.
Klaus, at the front of the group and leading them along, was holding some sort of device with a holographic screen. It turned out to be some sort of map from what Kynarus could see, thus proving that Klaus did have some idea of where they were headed. They continued through these winding passages for about ten minutes before the passage opened up into a rocky, slightly rising plain. Hills were further in the distance and if Kynarus wasn't mistaken he saw a metallic glint amongst the rocky hills, coming from some square looking shape. Kynarus and the team were way too far away to actually be able to make out what it was but the young turian figured that it might have been the guard post or at the very least some sort of communications dish or power generator.
Klaus didn't seem to notice it, instead trudging along the mostly open ground as the team followed. He held up a hand suddenly, signalling the rest of the team to stop behind him as his gaze scanned the horizon ahead. He fiddled for a brief moment with his helmet and seemed to look in the direction of the distant metallic object for about a minute. Kynarus realized a holographic heads-up display had appeared across the inside of his visor, zooming in on the distant object and displaying all sorts of information.
Kynarus fiddled with the few pressure sensitive buttons on the neck of his helmet. He did manage to get some sort of HUD to appear which displayed information such as what was in the air at the time and his elevation. He switched it off though, finding it to be more of an annoyance than anything else. However, he was suitably surprised about the fact these armour suits had their own in-built holographic displays seeing as only the most elite military groups received such commodities. The Zahni Corporation, being the type of corporation that researched in weapons development, understandably had access to such technology. They obviously had access to their own private army as well.
"I can see the guard post," Klaus said through his helmet's radio, his voice coming into Kynarus' helmet as a rather clear but static-edged voice, "on our approach we'll try and cut around its right flank." The human switched off his helmet's HUD and gave the signal to start moving, the group beginning along the sloping rocky plains again. Kynarus remained at the rear, looking around the barren landscape with some fascination. He had never been in such a place before, especially one as different as this.
Kynarus was comfortable inside his armour suit, save for the tightness at his waist and backside. The climate control systems inside his armour kept him at a comfortable and normal temperature, one that was quite different to the freezing temperatures of Mars. The sand at Kynarus' feet billowed a little in a slight breeze that picked up across the plains, kicking up dust clouds further ahead.
Kynarus could see that some of the human team members were walking together; talking quietly about anything that came to mind seeing as they're wasn't anything better to do. Kynarus made sure to keep some distance behind the main group, having been told earlier by Klaus that he was to be the "rear guard" for the team as they made their way across the Martian landscape. The young turian was happy enough with the position, having no problem with tagging along at the rear. Here no one would bother talking to him and he could try and formulate some sort of plan to escape the situation he was in.
So far he had figured he would have to breakout Schraeder and get back onto Dieter's frigate. From there he would need to resort to the tried-and-true method of starting trouble, having to make sure Katherine didn't come to any harm. He didn't have much of a plan in his head now but he did know he would have to start thinking up one; otherwise he would end up working for Dieter on a permanent basis. Sure, he may be safe from Cerberus but he really didn't want to work for the very man that had tried to kill him so many times in the past.
The thought occurred to Kynarus that maybe Dieter had sent him on this mission to simply get duped by Klaus and his team. According to what he had heard he would be taking the sole blame for organizing the breakout which would place him on the Citadel space's "most wanted" list. Dieter and his goons would get away scott-free, something which annoyed the young turian but he knew he could do little about it. He had no idea how he would get out of the trouble he was in and the massive trouble he would get in once this mission was over, if he survived it.
Kynarus had that feeling at the back of his mind that maybe something would go unexpectedly wrong. It was his bad luck that often his assignments went awry and they had done so many times in the past. Maybe something Dieter hadn't foreseen would come up. After all, even the best laid plans could go awfully wrong.
For another half hour the team continued across the rolling, rocky plains before finally arriving at the once distant hills. The metal object in question was in clear view now, appearing as a sort of partially buried bunker with a door in its side and a tinted view-port at the front. Klaus was intelligent enough to keep his team away from the view-port's field of view, leading his team as well as Kynarus around the right flank and to the very edge of the cleared ground that went for about twenty metres around the bunker. A pair of MCA officers suited up in light combat suits and sealed helmets were patrolling outside the bunker, looking awfully bored from the slow and detached way they were walking. The pair seemed to be talking to each other, stuck with nothing better to do than to stand in the Martian sun all day and guard the guard post.
The team scattered along the naturally made ditch that went along the right approach to the bunker, every member of the group lying prone and out of sight as the pair of MCA guards walked past. Kynarus lay with his assault rifle raised; he knew full well that if he ended up killing any officers from the Mars Colonial Authority then the law enforcers would just have more of a reason to track him down. After all, he would be a "cop killer". The rest of the team had their weapons at the ready while Klaus lay in the dirt, scanning the vicinity for any extra targets but finding none.
He turned to the team's marksman, the young human with the sniper rifle who was currently lying on Kynarus' left. Klaus gestured to the two bored, patrolling MCA guards and then shifted his gaze back to the marksman.
"Get into a good position and tell me when you're ready to fire so you can take out both guards," Klaus said, the marksman nodding in acknowledgment. Klaus shifted his gaze to Kynarus, pointing to the marksman who was now crouched and moving around to somewhere of a higher vantage point.
"Kye, you go with him and keep him covered," Klaus said, "don't try any funny stuff."
Kynarus nodded and began following the marksman, staying low and out of sight of the two patrolling guards. He followed the marksman up the nearby hill, watching as the marksman found a partially hidden position overlooking the bunker and the guards below. Klaus and the rest of the team were still lying where they were, awaiting the marksman's first shots before assaulting the guard post. Surprise would have to be essential here since the guards inside, if they caught wind of anything, could easily raise the alarms and alert the entire MCA contingent at the prison. Something like that would indeed send the plan into an awry state.
The marksman went prone, flicking his sniper rifle's bipod into place so that it rested stably on the rocks in front of him. Kynarus kept watch at the rear, making sure no one came up behind the marksman and compromised their position. His years of being in the turian military had given him experience with this kind of squad work, many of these memories having long been forgotten during his career as a mercenary. When it came to a situation like this Kynarus usually went in all guns blazing, hoping to score a victory. He always did but since he was more or less under command of Klaus he couldn't exactly do that without Klaus himself shooting him.
"Are you in position?" Klaus' voice filtered through the helmet's in-built radios, the human having taken on a serious business-like tone. The marksman replied positively, acknowledging Klaus' question.
"Yeah, I'm ready," the marksman replied simply. He peered through his sniper rifle's scope and took aim at one of the patrolling guards, slowing his breathing down considerably as he began to concentrate on the target.
Kynarus turned around to watch the scene unfold, occasionally glancing at their rear approach in case anyone was coming up behind them. No one was and no one would be the look of it, allowing Kynarus to pay more attention to the bunker and the guards below as well as the marksman's eventual action.
"Fire at will," Klaus said.
The Martian landscape was quite bright in the sun, Kynarus' visor having to darken to help reduce the glare. The shot that erupted forth from the marksman's sniper rifle was barely seen in the glare of the sunlight upon the landscape and barely made a sound, the in-built suppressors doing their job of silencing the shot. Kynarus watched with some morbid curiosity as the head on one of the guard's exploded partially, the shot having ripped right through his light armour's shields. Seconds later his body was reduced to nothing but a dark smudge, being reduced to his component atoms in some sort of red haze thanks to the incendiary rounds. The guard's dusty remains fell to the ground and the one he had been walking with stopped and did a double take on the corpse, reaching for the assault rifle clipped to his back but receiving a sniper shot in the face for his troubles.
Immediately Klaus and the rest of the team were up and racing towards the bunker. He heard Klaus' voice over the radio, telling the young turian to get back down to the bunker and leave the marksman. Kynarus didn't reply, he simply stood up and raced towards the door in the side of the metal bunker which Klaus was standing at, fiddling with the panel by the side of the door while a few of the squad members watched with some amusement. Klaus banged a fist against the panel angrily, swearing under his breath in his native language before looking up at Kynarus as he approached.
"You have the breaching charges, don't you?" Klaus asked, referring to the charges Kynarus had received prior to boarding the rover, "put one on the door and blow it down. We haven't got all day."
Kynarus, remembering that he was actually carrying the charges, removed one from where it was clipped to his waist and attached it to the lock on the door. Klaus and the squad members went to a safe distance, Kynarus standing around the wall of the bunker before detonating the charge. The charge itself wasn't filled with standard explosives; those would have been far too noisy. Rather, the charge detonated into a spray of caustic chemicals just like the ones featured in "Inferno rounds" ammunition upgrades. They chemicals easily melted through the door, causing an air leak and inclining Klaus to rush up to the sizzling door and kick it down. Kynarus followed him inside, assault rifle raised as he went.
Behind it was the airlock but the door here wasn't locked, sliding open and allowing a sudden rush of air to hit Klaus and Kynarus in the face. There were only two rooms to the guard post, the first one being a room with several important computers in it, some of which received readings from the sensor grid that went for miles around the prison. The other room was the small barracks built solely for the guards stationed here, two of which were now dead and the other two were inside the bunker's main room, only just standing up as their air supply billowed out through the open airlock and outside into Mars' harsher atmosphere.
These two guards were going for their helmets but Klaus had already opened fire upon stepping into the guard post. The first of the soldiers fell under the volley of assault rifle fire, the other bringing his pistol up and about to return fire. Kynarus instinctively raised his assault rifle and pulled the trigger, the rifle bucking back slightly against his shoulder. The other guard fell, his kinetic shields failing under the fire and his body spinning slightly from the force of the shots. Once he was down Klaus stepped over to the large set of computers and panels by the view-port and began to fiddle with them, keying in specific buttons.
Kynarus stood watching for a few minutes, noticing how a few of the panels switched off as Klaus managed to hack into the computers here. It didn't look too difficult but he doubted that the MCA had expected a hostile force to try and raid a prison on this planet and thus security systems on the outside were fairly lax. There was a harsh beeping sound from one of the panels, the words "WARNING: SENSOR GRID SHUT DOWN" appearing on the main computer. Klaus stepped back from his handiwork with a satisfied grin before unexpectedly raising his rifle and firing into the mass of panels and computers, sparks flying and glass spraying everywhere as the panels sizzled and exploded. Kynarus only watched with some surprise as this happened, able to hear Klaus chuckling madly as he did so.
"It should take them a while before they figure out what happened here, especially when their alarms at the far side of the prison go off in about ten seconds," Klaus said, lowering his rifle and starting on his way out of the guard post. He noticed Kynarus' uncertain expression, only pushing the turian aside as he walked past while grinning.
"Keep your helmet on, Kye," Klaus said as he went, "otherwise you'll go outside and your head will explode."
Klaus begin laughing loudly again, Kynarus with no other option but to follow the human outside. He could tell that Klaus wasn't in his right mind and probably hadn't been for quite a while. Kynarus knew that he would be stuck with the human for some time to come though, especially through this breakout operation. The next part involved getting inside the prison, something which Kynarus had a feeling wouldn't be going all to plan.