Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - MechWarrior/BattleTech - Mass Effect multicrossover. Thank you for your continued support and feedback. I deeply appreciate the feedback y'all give this crossover. As for my other one, don't worry. I haven't forgotten about it; once I've got the book that I'm going to buy, you'll be seeing content coming out again. One of my reviewers also gave me an idea of using the time travel plot device in the Terminator franchise to add more material. Shoutout to Maxthekiller123 for that idea. Either way, thank you for your support, and I hope to see you on the next chapter. As always, leave a review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo, MechWarrior/BattleTech or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Game Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Electronic Arts, BioWare, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs and Piranha Games Inc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
Kar'shan
Near Imperial Estate
May 26th, 3075
The interior of the Hermes-II was silent, with the only sounds being those of personnel performing final checks as the VTOL flew on to it's destination. Sitting near the entrance to the VTOL, Terrence Conrad was looking out over the landscape of Kar'shan, or at least a small part of it. While it was nighttime, Terrence had ever reason to believe that Kar'shan was a planet that was best admired from a distance. Up close, one could see the result of the Batarian's heavy use of petroleum during their version of Earth's 20th Century. The area they were flying over now still had remnants of pollution in it, as certain areas that they had flown over were still devoid of plant life.
Hearing some sound nearby, he turned to see his team, Team Sigma, finalizing preparations for their mission today. Sitting next to him was Verina Rhix, a female Turian that had been born in the Federated Commonwealth shortly after her parents had migrated to New Avalon. In addition to her green eyes, she wore gold, white and cobalt blue facial paint that curved and bent along with her facial plates, the signature colors of the Federated Commonwealth. She was the tech specialist of the team, having been trained by the finest instructors in the Federated Commonwealth.
Nearby was her friend Corenus Voran, a male Turian with purple and blue facial paint that was arranged in blocky, geometric patterns, signaling his citizenship in the Free Worlds League. He was the biotic of the team, having been equipped with the most advanced biotic amps that the Star League had devised. Spotting Terrence looking at him, he nodded in acknowledgment that he was ready. The other members of Terrence's team were Richard and Wright, both of whom were soldiers. Finally, there was Ian, a Clan Wolf Elemental, who was the heavy weapons expert on the team. That left Terrence as the infiltrator of the group, having been trained by Star League personnel that had trained for special operations, just like all of them.
As they flew along, Terrence said, "Alright, people. Listen up. Today, we're going to be capturing an enemy HVI, who happens to be the Emperor of the entire Batarian Hegemony. Our objective is to either kill or capture the Hegemony's Emperor and bring him to the Star League in order to cripple the Hegemony's political leadership."
Pulling up a briefing on the team's helmets, he said, "This is the plan. Once we've disembarked from the VTOL we are currently in, we will move through the nearby forest and through the enemy's perimeter defenses. Once we're through, there'll be a cliff that overlooks the Imperial Estate, where the Hegemony's Emperor is located at. We'll hold position here until Phase One of FRACTURED TERMINUS goes into effect. Once the first phase begins, we will move in and capture the Hegemony Emperor, and kill anyone that gets in the way. Intelligence data indicates that he is present at the Estate. Pulling up a map now."
Moments later, a map of the Imperial Estate came up, showing the layout of the property that the Hegemony's Emperor had. The estate was divided into five sections, with four of those sections surrounding the last one, which was in the middle. The northwest section was primarily devoted towards a firing range, as well as an armory and dormitory for the Hegemony Emperor's personal guard, known as the Royal Guard. The northeast section of the Estate was primarily used for sporting events, as there was an empty field, along with what appeared to be a golf course of some kind, if Batarians liked golf that is. The southwest section of the Estate was primarily where the slave quarters were, as well as where some of the animals on the property were kept. Finally, there was the southeast section of the Estate, which was where most of the utilities besides water and sewage were located at, including the emergency power generators for the Estate.
"This is the plan," Terrance continued. "We will split up into two, three man teams that will tackle each objective. Once the cyber attack begins, Verina, Richard and Ian will move to the southwest section of the Estate and destroy the emergency power generators, thereby preventing the Estate from calling for help if we're spotted. During this time, I, Corenus and Wright will move into the Main Mansion and locate the Hegemony Emperor, after which we will extract to the designated LZ and head back to the WarShip. Understood?"
"Understood," the others replied.
"Alright," Terrance beamed. "From here on out, we will identify ourselves by our callsigns. Once we land, we'll head directly for the mansion. Move out!" As soon as he said that, the Hermes-II VTOL landed, allowing them to disembark and begin the mission. As soon as they landed, Terrance contacted the cloaked WarShip that was in orbit. "Overlord, this is Sigma One. Do you copy?"
"Affirmative," came the reply. "We read you five by five and we have you on scanners. Move up to the mansion and wait for the cyber attack to begin. Phase one of Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS is about to begin."
"Roger that," Terrance replied. "Sigma One out." Closing the COM link, he took a moment to get a look at his surroundings.
The area they had landed in was a section of land that was reclaimed from the more polluted sections of Kar'shan. The grass here was tall, coming up to Terrance's waist, a useful trait if they had to avoid patrols by lying down in the grass. Up ahead, he could see what looked like the edge of the forest, with the distance on his HUD indicating that it would take them five minutes to reach the Imperial Estate. Infrared scans of the area indicated that there was no one present, besides himself and the others in his squad.
Looks like we're good to go, he thought as he got up from his kneeling position. He motioned forwards with his hand as he began to move forwards, with the others following him moments later. Ian moved up as quietly as he could, despite the fact that he was an Elemental, meaning he was larger than the others by a good margin. Wright and Richard moved silently, barely making any noise, while Verina and Corenus, thanks to the structure of their legs, were completely silent, with only the sound of grass brushing against their armor betraying their location.
Two minutes after they arrived, Terrence spotted what appeared to be a guardhouse, with a path nearby. Two Hegemony guards were outside, talking to each other, while a third was located inside of a guardhouse, monitoring some camera feeds as he ate something from a bag in his hands. Nearby, a tall fence prevented anyone from moving through, and scans indicated that it was electrified. "Three guards," Verina reported. "One in the guardhouse, and two more by the barricade. Permission to terminate?"
"Affirmative," Terrence replied. "Mark your targets and fire on my mark."
"Sigma 3 here. Target marked."
"Sigma 4, ready to engage."
"Target locked," Verina replied. "Ready to terminate."
"Fire in three… two… one… now." Moments later, three silenced Gauss weapons discharged, killing the guards before they had a chance. The heads of each Batarian exploded, with their bodies slumping to the ground moments later. The guard inside the guardhouse slumped against a computer console, just as Verina walked over. Pulling him off, she gave the others a thumbs up once it was clear he hadn't triggered the alarm. "Good work so far," Terrance remarked. "Move through the checkpoint. Hide the bodies." As soon as Wright, Corenus and Ian had hidden the bodies, they moved up along the path, making sure to stay in the shrubbery nearby as they moved forwards.
This caution was well warranted, as several more patrols passed by, oblivious to the fact that there was a Star League Special Operations Command squad moving past them. Once each patrol had left, the team would get up and continue moving forwards. So far, things were going well.
As they moved along, Terrence thought he heard something coming their way. "Get down," he ordered, with his team complying almost immediately. Looking through the pre-dawn morning with his night vision, Terrence could see another patrol heading their way. A few moments later, it passed, with the guards none the wiser as to what was really going on. "Let's go," he ordered. "The cliff side is nearby, and we're right on schedule."
"Affirmative," the others replied. Following Terrence, they moved through the forest some more, moving around large tree trunks and large clumps of brush. After two more minutes of traveling through the area, they came to the cliff overlooking the Imperial Estate.
It was already clear, even though it was still nighttime, that the Imperial Estate was opulent. The estate was large, covering the same amount of area as a large football stadium from the 21st Century on Terra According to the map, they had arrived at the southeastern section of the base, as Terrence could see what he realized was an electrical substation, complete with a backup power supply inside a large, metallic building. To the left, he could see the slave and beast quarters, with the slave quarters being just barely larger than the animal pens. To the right, he could see the area where the Hegemony Emperor tended to have his sports and games. He couldn't see the other quadrant, but he knew that it was present on the base. He could also see what were a number of footpaths and small roads that led to other sections of the Estate, with guard checkpoints at roads leading to the rest of the planet.
Finally, there was the Mansion itself. The Mansion was a work of art, with sculpted Kar'shan marble columns supporting a large overhang. Marble steps led up to a door that was located on the southern side of the Mansion, with similarly ornate steps leading up to other entrances in the building. Plant plots surrounded the Mansion, forming half walls that had trees, flowers and other exotic plants native to Kar'shan. The roof was domed at the front, with a large, bronze colored dome surrounded by less ornate, angled metallic roofs that were a similar color scheme.
Terrence shook his head at the sight. He knew the Batarians reveled in their so called supremacy, but this was something else entirely. What a vain idiot, he thought as he looked around at the place. I guess this 'Emperor' thinks he's the hot shit rolling into town. Boy is he in for a nasty wakeup call.
As he thought this, he took a look at the guard patrols down in the area, in order to get an idea of what was going on. Apparently, the Hegemony was either paranoid, or aware of the fact that their initial attack had failed, as Terrence could see a number of guards patrols that were moving about down in the area. It was clear, though, that they were keeping a poor eye on some obvious points of entry, as they were calm and relaxed, more so than would be normal. I don't think they realize that we could attack them on their own damn turf, he thought as he saw how relaxed the patrols were. Turning to Corenus, he asked, "What are we looking at?"
"I've got a UAV flying over right now," Corenus replied, looking at a scanner feed from his UAV. "We've got guard patrols near the dormitories and slave quarters, with a higher concentration at the power substation and emergency power generators. I've also got a higher concentration of thermal signatures in the center building than previous scans detected. Looks like the Hegemony knows their assault on Elysium failed."
"That's what I was thinking," Terrance remarked. "Fortunately, they'll have other things to worry about soon. Phase One is about to begin, and we're right on time. All we have to do now is wait." With that, the team prepared to begin it's assault.
. . .
At the same time that the team was getting ready to strike, Odysseus and dozens of other Neural Intelligences were infiltrating the extranet and planetary networks in the entire Batarian Hegemony. Dozens of others were also infiltrating computer networks that were located throughout the Terminus Systems, from Omega to other planets that were inhabited. So far, the Hegemony had no idea as to how much trouble they were in.
In terms of cyber security, the Hegemony might as well have painted a target sign on the backs of their heads. In Odysseus' honest opinion, if the Council's cyber security was bad, then the Batarian Hegemony's cyber security was the worse of them all. There were holes in the firewalls that were large enough for a WarShip to pass through with complete ease. In addition, the cyber defenses that the Hegemony used were not designed to stop an AI that was determined to get what it wanted.
Moving through the computer networks on the planet, Odysseus quickly located the target networks that he needed to find. According to the Operation's goals, he needed to infiltrate the military computer networks in the Hegemony in order to perform a crippling cyber attack on the Hegemony's military infrastructure, namely their power plants and manufacturing facilities, which made extensive use of computerized equipment. Other AI's, like Daedalus, would infiltrate the economic networks of the Hegemony, in order to plunge the Hegemony into an irrecoverable economic depression. This, and many other cyber attacks, were all part of the Star League's plan to not only destroy the Hegemony's current regime, but to weaken the Terminus Systems, allowing the SLDF to move in with minimal casualties and occupy the Terminus Systems.
So far, the plan was going off without a hitch. We're inside of the economic networks, Daedalus informed Odysseus. The Hegemony has a fairly small economy, minuscule in comparison to that of the Star League and it's member Great Houses.
I agree, another AI reported. The cyber security in these networks is just awful. I guess this is what happens when you copy another species technology instead of coming up with your own, homebrew, technology.
Agreed, Odysseus replied. Detecting other AI's in the network, he said, Welcome to the party, Geth. I assume you got in with minimal difficulty.
The Hegemony's information networks were highly cooperative, the Geth replied. We will be able to cripple the Hegemony's military-industrial complex with ease. We are ready when you are.
Roger that, Odysseus replied. Ladies and gentlemen, you may begin at your leisure.
Yes, sir, the others replied. Beginning Phase One of Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS in three… two… one… now!
As soon as the AI's said that, all hell broke loose for the Hegemony. All across Hegemony space, computer networks began to fall apart, as the AI crafted cyber attack tore through the entire computer network of the entire Hegemony. Stock market's literally crashed, with the economy of the Hegemony falling apart as the cyber attack destroyed every section of the Hegemony's economy. At the same time, factories and power plants shut down, completely commandeered by the AI's cyber attack.
. . .
At the same time, Phase Two of Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS commenced. On a Hegemony controlled world, a Star League Intelligence Command assassin was lying on his stomach, waiting for the moment to strike to arrive. Peering through the scope of his M70 Black Widow, he patiently waited for his target to come into view, tapping the trigger guard of his rifle all the while.
It was a simple job for someone of his talents, almost too easy as a matter of fact. Having worked for the Star League for over 20 years, he knew all the ins and outs of his job as a Asset Liquidation Agent, which was a fancy way of saying 'assassin' or 'hitman' in laymans terms. While the term was fancy, the work wasn't and this Agent was an artist with the tools of his trade.
There you are, he thought as he spotted his target in the window. His target, Admiral Torvak, was the lead Admiral of the Hegemony Imperial Navy, which was the Batarian Hegemony Defense Force's main interstellar fighting force. During the initial search for HVT's, the SLIC had identified Torvak as a major political and military leader in the Hegemony, before having a Priority Alpha kill order placed on his head, leading to the current state of affairs.
Placing his finger on the trigger, the SLIC Agent continued to wait for the right moment to strike, which was when the cyber attack would begin. Moments later, the moment arrived, as he saw the Admiral's jaw drop open, presumably on hearing the bad news. As soon as that happened, the Agent smoothly squeezed the trigger on his rifle. An invisible beam of energy tore through the air, penetrating the window with ease and coring through the Hegemony Admiral's chest. The Batarian fell to the ground moments later, the alien dead before he hit the ground. Target neutralized, the SLIC Agent thought, getting up before grabbing his gear and moving out. RTB for debrief.
. . .
All across the Hegemony, assassinations and abductions were commencing, as the military and political leaders of the Hegemony were captured or permanently eliminated. A group of Hegemony Generals were enjoying a toast, only to fall over dead as a powerful, nanite based poison tore through their bodies, breaking them down into viscous, gelatinous masses of organic material within the matter of a couple minutes before the nanites self-destructed. On another Hegemony controlled planet, one of the political leaders of the Hegemony was enjoying a night out on the town, only for him and his wife to be surrounded by armored personnel before being tossed into the back of a moving van moments later, with the van whisking them off to an unknown fate.
On another part of Kar'shan, Chief was behind a tall tree that was standing near a private road, weapon in hand as he and the other members of Blue Team got ready to begin their part of the operation. When he'd been briefed on Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS, he knew that the Star League, once more, needed Spartans to get the job done. Their Elementals were currently tied up with dealing with other HVT's on other planets in the Hegemony, which meant his team was needed.
Their primary objective was to capture a group of Hegemony VIP's that were heading to a meeting at a fortified bunker at the outskirts of Kar'shan's capitol city. Their mission was to capture the VIP's before they got to the bunker and 'escort' them to a Hermes-II VTOL that was waiting for them. Since they were out in the forested parts of the planet, they were granted permission to use explosives and standard weapons on this Op.
"Incoming convoy," Linda reported over the COM. "Looks like those are the HVT's. Permission to blow the mines."
"Granted," Chief replied. "Mercy, get ready to blow the landmines."
"Affirmative," Mercy, the Spartan in question, replied. As soon as the convoy was close enough, she depressed the switch on her detonator. A powerful series of explosions ripped through the air as the explosive charges and landmines detonated, blowing apart the road and sending the military vehicles escorting the Hegemony HVT's flying. Troops poured out of an APC, only to be cut down by Chief and the others.
Moving forwards, Chief advanced up to the vehicle the VIP's were in, tearing off the door by the hinges moments later. "Hands in the air," he ordered firmly, with the HVT's immediately complying. "You will come with us immediately. Attempt to call for help and you will be terminated. Understood?" The HVT's quickly nodded in agreement, not wanting to test the Spartan's patience. As they moved out, Chief keyed his COM. "SLS/FWS Orion, this is Sierra-117. All HVT's captured."
"Affirmative," the Orion replied. "Escort the HVT's to the Hermes-II and return to the ship. Mission accomplished."
"Affirmative," Chief replied. With that, they moved out, heading directly for the VTOL that was in the nearby clearing.
. . .
As soon as Terrence looked at the Imperial Estate once again, he heard the signal. "Commence Phase Two now. Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS is a go."
"Alright," Terrence remarked. "That's the signal. Split up and complete your objectives. We'll rendezvous at the LZ."
"Affirmative," was the reply, with Verina, Richard and Ian moving forwards towards the power substation, while Terrence, Corenus and Wright began moving towards the Mansion, MPL rifles at the ready as they moved forwards. Hooking up a pair of ropes, they began to rappel downwards, keeping an eye out for any patrols that might come near the base of the cliff. Fortunately, none came their way, as they reached the bottom without further incident.
Disconnecting from her line, Verina moved forwards effortlessly, her movements as silent as a ghost as she moved towards the power substation. Behind her, Ian and Richard moved forwards as well, their feet and armor barely making a sound as they advanced towards their target. Reaching part of the perimeter wall, Ian boosted Verina over the wall, before helping Richard out with the same. Once they were all over the wall, he jumped up enough to grab a handhold of the top of the wall, climbing over and into the southeastern quadrant of the Imperial Estate.
The power substation was massive, with electrical equipment and power lines arranged in an orderly fashion, presumably to make maintenance easier. The entire substation was shaped like an O, with the power transformers on the left side of the complex, while the emergency generators were on the right side of the complex. Power cables from the city's power plant connected with the power transformers on the complex, while the emergency power generators were separate from the city's power grid, a smart move for a Common Tech species.
As they moved forwards, Verina spotted what appeared to be a guard patrol moving in their direction. "Four guards moving in our direction," she told the others behind her. "Wait for them to pass, then we'll move into the building and fry the generators."
"Affirmative," Richard replied, holding position behind a power transformer, with Ian taking cover behind another one. The guards moved past their position, completely oblivious to their presence as they went about their patrols. One guard, however, stopped by the entrance into the building holding the power generators, smoking what appeared to be a cigarette of some kind.
Holding up a hand, Verina moved forwards silently, a quiet sshhnnkk sound coming from her direction as metallic blades extended over her talons. As soon as she was close enough, she charged forwards, covering the guard's mouth with a hand before plunging her talons through his back, the nanocomposite metal covering her talons easily cutting through the flimsy ceramic armor on the Royal Guard and into his heart, tearing it apart immediately. The Royal Guard slumped to the ground, his eyes fading as his body ceased functioning. Gently lowering the body, Verina dragged the corpse behind a power transformer before motioning for the others to follow her. Activating her omni-tool, she used a SLIC hacking program to break the cyber security on the door's lock, granting her administrator level access to the system. Once the panel flashed green, there was a click as the door unlocked, allowing her and the others to get inside.
The emergency power generators were deceptively small, each one being about the size of a large workbench, with a control panel on each one that was used for activating individual generators, while serving as a diagnostic tool. On their own, they only produced enough power to fully power a small house; in a large array, however, they could produce enough energy to power the Imperial Estate for one year, which was more than enough time for main electrical power to be restored. There were about twenty of these generators, each one stacked in columns of three in a single file row. A computer terminal was located in the back of the building, which was the main control for all of the generators.
As soon as Verina and the others entered the building, the emergency generators kicked in, having detected the power outage affecting the city's electrical grid. The generators were surprisingly silent, as each one gave off a quite humming sound as they reached full power output. "We're in," Verina told the others. "Plant your EMP charges and evac the building once they're in place." Looking at Ian, she asked, "How well shielded is this building from an EMP?"
"Tighter than a sergeant's asshole," Ian replied. "We won't have to worry about the EMP affecting our equipment once we're outside."
"Good," Verina remarked. A moment later, she pulled out a flat, disk-like object that was roughly 1.1 times the size of her hand. Planting the EMP charge on a generator, she twisted the top of the disk to the right, arming the charge for remote detonation. Once she planted that charge, she planted a similar one on another generator, with Ian and Richard doing the same. Soon, all of the generators had EMP charges placed on them.
With that, the team began moving towards the exit, leaving the building before closing the door behind them. "Charges placed," Ian remarked. "Ready to detonate."
"Affirmative," Verina replied. "Detonating EMP charges in three… two… one… now." Moments later, she pressed a holographic icon on her omni-tool. There was a flat, electrical crackle that emanated from the interior of the building as the charges detonated, creating a powerful EMP inside of the generator shed. Moments later, the generators were fried, as the lights across the entire estate went dark, shrouding the place in complete darkness. Keying her COM, she said, "Sigma Two to Sigma One. Objective completed. You should be good to go."
On the other side of the COM channel, Terrence beamed. "Affirmative, Sigma Two," he replied. "Sigma Four and Five are moving inside with me. See you at the LZ." Closing the COM link, he and the others began to move up, reaching the back entrance to the mansion moments later. Pulling out a small robot, Terrence placed it on the door, with the robot using a laser cutter to cut a man sized hole in the transparent alloy. Moments later, Corenus used his biotics, a blue aura surrounding his body as he gently pushed the cut alloy inward, gently lowering it onto the ground before his biotic aura faded. Both Terrence and Wright moved inside, with Corenus following them.
The interior of the mansion was lavishly decorated, with expensive furniture arranged neatly in every room they moved through. The walls were made out of exotic woods from other regions of the galaxy, and there were a number of stuffed animals, each one from different planets in the galaxy. This guy really lives high on the hog, Terrence remarked as he moved forwards. Still, he doesn't live nearly as high on the hog as the Star League does.
As they moved through, Terrence could hear people inside of rooms that were attempting to break out, having been trapped by their locked doors when the EMP disabled the generators. One such doorway opened up, with a Royal Guard scanning the area. The Royal Guard dropped to the floor dead, his chest pierced by an infrared pulse laser beam from Terrence's rifle.
Another Royal Guard exited the room, expecting a fight, only for Corenus to freeze the Guard in a biotic Stasis Field. Unlike standard Stasis Fields, however, this one allowed damage to be inflicted to an individual, though at the cost of not lasting nearly as long as a standard Stasis Field. Walking up to the Batarian, Corenus stood up and drove his talons through the bottom of the Batarian's chin, the sharp, nanocomposite sheathed talons piercing through the roof of the Batarian's mouth and into it's brain cavity, killing the Royal Guard instantly. As they moved up, another door managed to open, with what appeared to be a civilian quickly vacating the area.
Ascending a pair of stairs, the team quickly entered the upper floors of the Mansion, with UAV scans indicating that a pair of individuals were located in a room on the uppermost floor of the building. Reaching the door, Terrence used the manual release lever on the door to unlock the mechanism. On a signal from him, Corenus used his biotics to quietly pry the door open, allowing Wright and Terrence to get inside without causing a stir.
True enough, Emperor Taran of the Batarian Hegemony was inside of the room. Apparently, he had been getting freaky with an Asari before falling asleep, as his arm was slung over the body of the alien woman that was with him in his bed. Party time's over, bastard, Terrence thought as he and the others surrounded the bed. "Check to make sure it's him," he whispered over the COM.
"Affirmative," Wright replied, using a scanner on his omni-tool to verify that this was the target. A moment later, he said, "Target identity verified. This is Taran alright, and it looks like he got busy."
"Won't be for long," Corenus replied.
As soon as he said this, Taran began to stir, rising into a sitting position moments later with the Asari slave he was getting busy with. The Hegemony Emperor's eyes went wide, along with his consort's eyes, before he attempted to bolt for the door. That was promptly stopped when Wright lashed out with a fist, knocking the Hegemony Emperor onto the ground and rendering him unconscious in the process. Aiming his weapon at the Asari, he said, "If you attempt to scream, I will kill you. Understood?" The Asari nodded her head, shaking in fear as she gazed at the men that had gotten inside without tripping the alarm.
Walking over, Corenus slung the Hegemony Emperor over his shoulder as though he weighed no more than a feather. Moving towards, the door, he walked out into the corridor with Terrence and Wright following him. Closing the door, they began to moved down the stairwell, reaching the bottom floor without causing a commotion. Exiting the Mansion, they proceeded out of the Estate, quietly moving over the wall before heading for the LZ.
The LZ was another five minute walk away, only it was two and a half minutes since the team was running. Corenus, thanks to his leg structure, moved faster than the others, his legs a blur as he effortlessly ran across difficult terrain. Behind him, Terrance and Wright thumped along behind him, leaving footprints in the ground as they followed behind the male Turian. Eventually, they reached the LZ, where a Hermes-II VTOL was ready to go for then. "Good work, people," he told the others as they got in, with the VTOL lifting off moments later. "Mission accomplished." The others smiled at that. Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS was a go.
