Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - MechWarrior/BattleTech - Mass Effect multicrossover. I've got some good news. I've bought the book I need and it will be in my possession in about ten days. Once that book arrives, I'll do some reading, and then new chapters will be uploaded. Thank you for your patience and continued support. I deeply appreciate it. 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 it's original 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.


Ground Combat Scene – SABATON – The Future of Warfare

Kar'shan

Underground Military Bunker

June 27th, 3075

"What do you mean, the Emperor is missing," General Tovran growled at the person on the other side of the screen he was facing. Around him, in the bunker that he and the others were in was dimly lit by red emergency lighting, as the electrical grid for the entire area had gone down completely. It had been roughly two hours since a massive cyber attack had completely downed all COM buoys in the Terminus Systems, with the cyber attack shutting down all military power grids, while sabotaging the economic system that the Hegemony used.

When the attack occurred, Tovran had been holding a conference with other, high ranking personnel on how to best effectively counter the Star League should it attempt to invade the Terminus Systems and, by extension, the Batarian Hegemony. Most of the Generals and Admirals in the room had agreed that the only way to fight back was to use the technology inside the Leviathan of Dis in order to gain a tactical advantage. Halfway through the meeting, however, the lights had gone out, with emergency lighting coming online a few seconds later, which immediately indicated that the power grid had been downed. An hour later, technicians confirmed that the cause of the blackout was a massive cyber attack, with the attack destroying the COM buoys the Hegemony used as well. Now he was talking with a Royal Guard, who had gone to check in on his Emperor, only to find that the man was missing, with only his Asari slave in the room, trembling as she muttered something about armored men kidnapping him.

"That's exactly what I mean," the Royal Guard replied. "During our shift change, we found a number of Royal Guards that were killed by unknown assailants. We also found out that the security systems were deactivated when the emergency power generators were fried by a massive EMP. When we investigated the Royal Mansion, we found Emperor Toran missing, and the rest of the Estate in a daze as to what had just happened."

Torvran growled as he heard those words. Pacing back and forth, he tried to determine who would be crazy or stupid enough to attack the Hegemony in this manner. Just as he paced for the fifth time in the room, the answer hit him like a Thresher Maw attacking a supply convoy. The Star League, he realized. They have the resources and means to pull off an attack like this. Only they would be foolish enough to attack the mighty Batarian Hegemony in the manner that they have. Snapping his head towards the screen, he said, "Contact the Hegemony Imperial Navy now! Have them get into formation in order to defend Kar'shan. I know who attacked us!"

"Yes, sir," the Royal Guard replied, with the screen winking out of existence.

"You know who attacked us," Admrial Vorwir asked Torvran.

"There's only one faction that could pull something like this off," Torvran replied. When he said that, everyone in the room realized what was happening: the Star League was responsible for the COM blackout.

"Those inferior bastards," one Hegemony Admiral growled. "How could they be so foolish to do something like this?"

"Because of their vaunted technology and coalition," Torvran growled. "They think they have free reign to do whatever it is they please. We'll show them who is the rightful ruler of the Terminus Systems, and anyone that disagrees with me is a traitor!" Looking at the others, he said, "Inform the rest of the Hegemony that we will soon be under attack. Also, we will use the technology from the Leviathan of Dis in order to give us an advantage. We will not allow them to win!"

The others promptly nodded in agreement, before leaving the bunker in order to head to their assignments. With that matter settled, Torvran pulled up a camera feed, which showed an image of a massive shipyard that was currently at work disassembling a large, squid shaped ship. The crews were having to be careful, as it was discovered that a quantum field was emanating from the ship, causing electrochemical alterations in the brains of whoever worked around the ship for too long. More than once, Hegemony Imperial Army troops had to go in and neutralize any workers that were around the ship for too long, with most resorting to expendable slaves in order to get at the ship's secrets.

After that, the Leviathan of Dis had slowly begun to yield it's secrets, with technological breakthroughs resulting from reverse engineering the technology they had pried from it's cold, metallic husk. Were it not for the Star League, the Hegemony, despite being small, would have become the most technologically advanced faction in the galaxy, surpassing even the Asari Republics, which would've allowed the Hegemony to invade Council Space and dictate their terms to the rest of the galaxy. Then those fucking Humans had to come and screw things up, Torvran thought as he looked at the camera feed, his hands clenched into fists. We'll show them that Kar'shan belongs only to the Batarians, not the Humans or any of their allies.

. . .

What Torvran didn't know, was that the Star League was already invading the Batarian Hegemony. A large, roughly rectangular region of light appeared at the Zenith of Kar'shan's star system, before extruding out into the silhouette of a ship. When the light faded, it revealed a large ships that had the words SLS/FWS Argo stenciled onto the armored hull of the ship. The SLS/FWS Argo was one of the ships in the Star League that had been directly inspired by the UNSC's Halcyon-class Light Cruiser, as the Neural Intelligences in the Star League determined that, with some alterations to the design, the ship could easily match other ships of the same class.

After seeing how much damage the ship could take, and still remain operational, Lockheed-CBM, one of the Star League's top WarShip manufacturers, had bought the design from the original owner, Dr. Robert McLees, who had been compensated with both a massive royalty, as well as a full time job at Lockheed-CBM. This resulted in him creating the Autumn-class Light Cruiser, named so in honor of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, which had been destroyed in order to destroy Installation 04.

The Autumn-class Light Cruiser was one of the few ships in the Star League that could comfortably attack ships well above her tonnage. The ship made use of the latest technologies that money could research or buy, from the use of a new, Forerunner inspired formula of Advanced Lamellor Ferro-Lamellor armor, to a compact and powerful Advanced Element Zero Core. The use of the new, Perseus V Energy Shield System meant that the ship had, effectively speaking, another layer of the newly reformulated armor, which was nearly 200% more effective than the original formula.

It was also thanks to technological innovations gained from studying Forerunner and Covenant technology that the ship came fully equipped with an new, Advanced Void Signature System. As soon as the SLS/FWS Argo, the ship in question, exited Hyperspace, the hull of the ship shimmered briefly, before seemingly fading into nonexistence, as the light rays hitting the ship were bent around the hull by the modulation refraction field created by the AVSS. In a few seconds, the ship was almost perfectly invisible, with only a slight distortion indicating that something was there.

For Captain Alexandria Wright, this was a comforting thing to know, as her ship moved engaged the AEZC, with the ship moving faster than light moments later. A few seconds later, the ship came out of FTL, with the AVSS preventing the thermal signature that would've announced their arrival from escaping into space. While this would eventually become life threatening, the capacity of the internal heat sinks was massive enough that they could jump nearly a hundred times before the internal heat pumps were overloaded, necessitating a discharge of the excess thermal energy.

Looking around on the holographic screens before her, she could see that none of the Hegemony WarShips knew that they were there. They might as well be trying to search for a wormhole out in deep space, she thought as her ship passed effortlessly by the Hegemony's WarShips, with not a single one changing course as she flew past them. While that was somewhat nerve wracking, Alexandria had gone through intense training, allowing her to remain cool and calm in situations like this.

Still, she thought, I have to admit, Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS is a stroke of genius. The use of a cyber attack, in addition to a military invasion, in order to overwhelm the Hegemony and stop the Terminus Systems. That is why Dimitry Kerensky is a General: he's a brilliant strategist.

Remembering the briefing, she remembered the reason why she was at Kar'shan and not another Hegemony controlled planet. According to the Star League, while they had captured the Hegemony's Emperor, there were still sufficient generals, despite the overwhelming success of Phase Two, to instigate an armed resistance against any invaders. That was where Phase Three, which was an armed, military invasion of the Batarian Hegemony, came in. After analyzing SLIC Intelligence Data, Dimitry Kerensky had determined that a simultaneous, blitzkrieg attack on all Hegemony planets would be sufficient enough to destroy the Hegemony's military, as well as the will of the Batarians to fight back.

Since Kar'shan was the Hegemony's homeworld, it was decided that a blitzkrieg attack on Kar'shan would greatly harm the Batarian's will to fight. The Fifteenth Naval Fleet's mission was twofold; first, they would blockade the Mass Relay that led to Kar'shan's star system, preventing any stragglers from fleeing into the Terminus Systems. At the same time, the other half of the Fifteenth Naval Fleet would directly assault Kar'shan, and any Hegemony WarShips in orbit. During this time, DropShips full of SLDF Army and Marine Command personnel would land on the planet and take key strategic locations. Once the remaining Hegemony Generals had been captured, the Star League would force the Hegemony to surrender, formally dissolving the Batarian Hegemony and rendering it an occupied territory of the Star League. Similar attacks would happen on all other Hegemony controlled planets at the same time, with the Geth coordinating the assault on the Hegemony.

Now that she was here, Alexandria could tell that the Hegemony didn't stand a chance. Looking at her readouts, she watched as more SLDF WarShips arrived in orbit around Kar'shan, with the Batarians completely oblivious as to what was going on. She watched as the WarShips began to move into an encirclement maneuver trapping the Hegemony ships in a ring, which was slightly tilted to prevent friendly fire incidents. Similar rings were forming around other Hegemony WarShip fleets around Kar'shan, until all of the Hegemony ships were surrounded by invisible, Star League WarShips.

One of her crewmen snickered as they entered position in the middle section of the WarShip ring. "They have no idea what's about to hit them," he snickered, even as they moved alongside the oblivious Hegemony WarShips. "Finis Hegemony."

"Indeed," Alexandria remarked. "Once the signal has been given, we will strike, and end the Hegemony's reign of terror once and for all." With that in mind, she settled in, ready to uncloak and strike once she got the signal from the Geth that were helping to coordinate the attack. She didn't have to wait long, as moments later, she got a communique on her screen. Once she saw the code word, she knew it was time. "All personnel, man your battle stations," she ordered, even though everyone was already at their station. "Operation FRACTURED TERMIMUS is a go!" As soon as she said that, all hell broke loose.

Within seconds, the AVSS onboard the SLS/FWS Argo deactivated, causing the ship to fade into existence within the matter of a few seconds. Before the Hegemony WarShip she was flying alongside could react, the Advanced Naval Gauss Cannons on the hull of her ship opened fire, sending ferro-osmiridium slugs directly at the enemy WarShip at a fraction of the speed of light. The kinetic barriers on the enemy WarShip failed almost immediately, unable to even slow down the projectiles that were being fired at it. Gauss slugs tore into the hull of the enemy WarShip, tearing massive rents and holes into the armor. At the same time, Advanced Naval Pulse Lasers fired, with pulsing beams of light cutting through the flimsy composite hull with ease. Capital Grade missiles tore into the enemy WarShip, further compromising the Hegemony WarShip. After a half minute of intense fire, the enemy WarShip's Element Zero Core went critical, blasting the ship apart in a blaze of blue-white light. Despite the power of the explosion, the shields on the Argo held strong, with the ship flying away to engage another target.

Nearby, other SLDF WarShips engaged their Hegemony counterparts with equally devastating results. The SLS/CCS Yangtze and Beijing flew towards a pair of Hegemony WarShips, with the two enemy WarShips trapped in the center of the SLDF WarShip formation. Both WarShips fired their Light Mass Drivers, tearing through the Hegemony WarShips and destroying them almost immediately.

For a full ten minutes, the Star League WarShips proved their superiority in a one sided, naval engagement, with the SLDF WarShips completely trouncing the Hegemony WarShips with ease. After ten minutes, the Hegemony WarShips were reduced to large debris fields, which impacted harmlessly against the powerful energy shields that the SLDF WarShips used.

As she flew her ship along, one of her crew members said, "Ma'am, we have Hegemony escape pods approaching our position. Orders?"

"Bring them aboard, but make sure we have armed SLDF personnel attending each one," Alexandria replied. "We will order them to surrender and that, if they do so, they will be treated in accordance with the Ares Conventions of 2800. If they resist, they will be terminated. This is their last chance to surrender."

"Aye, ma'am," the ensign replied, before relaying the instructions to the hangar bay crews moments later.

Turning to one of her officers, Alexandria said, "Inform me of when we are able to deploy DropShips."

"Good news on that, ma'am," the officer replied. "We have been granted permission to begin landing Leopard-V and Union-V DropShips onto Kar'Shan."

"Inform the DropShip Commanders to begin landing now. Kar'shan will be ours by nightfall," Alexandria ordered. As her crew got to work on their newest assignments, Alexandria focused on making sure no stragglers escaped.

. . .

The deck of the Leopard-V that Urdnot Wrex was inside of shook and shuddered as the DropShip barreled through Kar'shan's atmosphere, with every square inch of the ship shaking as the heat from reentry and the turbulence from the maneuver buffeted the ship. He wasn't bothered by it, however, as he was inside the cockpit of the 'Mech that he had trained for, a Nightstar-V BattleMech that he had customized for his own personal use. Ignoring the shaking, he calmly went through the checklist on his omni-tool, making sure everything on the 'Mech was ready to go before he went out for an engagement.

It had been 17 years since he'd been hired by the Star League Intelligence Command at the Citadel, during First Contact with the Star League. When he'd arrived at Docking Bay 45-b, he had met one of the new squishies, a Human by the name of Agent Stennings, who was a member of the SLIC. Stennings had offered him the opportunity for employment in the Inner Sphere in whatever job he wanted, as long as he signed a Nondisclosure Agreement with the SLIC due to the nature of technology that they had. Having signed similar NDA's before, he'd agreed to work for them, for a suitable fee of course.

Once he'd signed the NDA, Wrex had been taken to New Avalon, located in the Federated Commonwealth, beyond the reach of any Mass Relay. He'd been impressed by the FTL technology that the Humans used, more so when he learned that it was named after the pair of scientists that had discovered this new method of FTL flight by accident. Once he'd gotten to New Avalon, he had been taken to the New Avalon Institute of Science, where he'd donated samples of his DNA as per his contract, before being offered a choice of occupation. He'd noticed that a lot of the mercenaries in the Inner Sphere were what were known as 'MechWarriors, leading him to naturally decide to become one himself. Once he'd made his choice, he learned that he was going to the Sakhara BattleMech Academy located on the planet of the same name. Having made his choice, he had decided to go.

I'll never forget the time I saw my first BattleMech, Wrex thought as he completed his checklist, confirming that his 'Mech was ready to go. When he landed at Sakhara, he'd been fortunate enough to spot an Annihilator-IV BattleMech that was out on the Sakara Gauntlet, the name given to the training area that aspiring 'MechWarriors used for practice and training. When he saw the massive war machine being used with great skill and expertise, his jaw, for the first time in his life, had dropped wide open, which he learned was a perfectly understandable reaction, as most people that had never seen a 'Mech had the same reaction. He'd even asked if he could have his own, which prompted the people with him to laugh in an happy, understanding, manner.

For the next year and a half, Wrex had been put through the wringer, as the toughest, meanest and most experienced BattleMech instructors put him through training to prepare him for BattleMech combat. He couldn't remember how many times he had been pushed to the limit, with only his willpower and Krogan biology getting him through the training, and narrowly at that. At the same time, scientists, as per his contract, studied and analyzed him during the training, as he'd learned that his performance would be setting a standard by which all other aspiring Krogan 'MechWarriors would be measured by. As such, he decided to give everything that he had, to make a good impression of his species physical and mental capabilities.

By the time his training was over, Wrex was at the top of his class in every category. Funny enough, he found that he actually enjoyed the time he spent at the academy, and it was easy to see why. In addition to physical training, the instructors had also helped him work on his critical thinking and tactical skills, with some even engaging in philosophical discussions with him, discussions that he found were, oddly enough, refreshing. He had also attracted a lot of friends, who had eagerly helped him in areas that he struggled in. One woman he wouldn't forget, a woman named Natasha Sokolov, had helped him improve his ability to think strategically, often coming up with highly creative scenarios that had him using his head so hard, he often got headaches. In the end, he had graduated with flying colors, with the SLIC giving him an Atlas-IV BattleMech that he'd traded for the new Nightstar-V when it was destroyed during one of his missions in the Draconis Combine.

For the next seventeen years, he had cruised the Inner Sphere, performing contracts for a number of Great Houses and corporations throughout the Star League. He'd learned that, while the Star League was able to keep conflict from getting out of control, it wasn't able to stop every conflict. He'd participated in a hidden war between House Kurita and House Steiner-Davion, helping to break up the fight before it spilled out into the rest of the Inner Sphere. In addition to this, he had gone to work neutralizing pirates and other ne'er-do-wells in the Inner Sphere as well as the Periphery and the Kerensky Cluster.

By the time he was hired to assist in Operation: FRACTURED TERMINUS, Wrex had become the commander of his own mercenary company. Known as Aralak's Dragoons, the name was inspired by his home star system, as well as the name of a famous mercenary company known as the Wolf's Dragoons, a fitting name since his own merc company had been sponsored by them. The merc company was mostly made up of Krogan 'MechWarriors, but Wrex was an equal opportunity employer, as there were a few Turian 'MechWarriors, with the rest being Humans that had come from the same academy he'd graduated from. Now he, and the other mercenaries in his company, were in their DropShip, the FCS Talons of Tuchanka, heading to the surface in order to fulfill their contract, which was to assist the Star League in taking Kar'shan.

A moment later, after fitting on his modified M45 Titan AIAK, he heard one of his employees talking over the COM. "About time someone went after these Batarians," a Turian 'MechWarrior remarked. "They've been causing the rest of the galaxy a lot of trouble since they became a junior member of the Citadel Council. I'm not part of the Hierarchy anymore, but it still makes me happy to see them getting their just desserts."

"I agree," a Krogan 'MechWarrior beamed. "It's good to see that particular species of squishes getting their quads hammered. This will be fun."

"I can imagine," Wrex remarked. Keying his COM, he said, "Urdnot Bakara, we're ready for a fight. What's our ETA?"

"We're about to land," Bakara, a female Krogan that had been hired by Wrex after she graduated from an academy in the Free Worlds League, replied. "Get ready for a jolt. Once we've landed, we'll deploy your Lance and take off. Your primary orders are to assault the Combat Vehicle regiments located in Kar'shan's capitol city and to assist in either killing or capturing the remaining Generals on this planet. We've also got orders from the SLIC."

"What do they want," Wrex asked.

"What you're about to hear is classified as Star-One," Bakara replied. When she said that, Wrex's eyes widened somewhat. Star-One was the highest authorization level in the SLIC, which was information that was extremely sensitive. Apparently, because he was handpicked by them, they trusted only his Lance to carry out this mission. "SLIC Agents have detected a massive, derelict ship that's currently at a Batarian Shipyard near the capitol city. Your orders are to clear out any Combat Vehicles, and to secure the site for an SLIC retrieval team. Your Neurohelmets and 'Mechs have been modified to protect against what appears to be a quantum field coming from the ship itself."

"Roger that," Wrex replied. "If the SLIC is concerned enough to give us that assignment, then it's big. We'll secure whatever it is they've found." As soon as he said this, he felt a sharp jolt, indicating that they had landed.

"Attention: Clear The 'Mech Bay," a voice on the PA announced. Moments later, Wrex felt the floor under his 'Mech jolt, with his view changing as the floor underneath rotated around, rotating his 'Mech towards the doors. "Warning: 'Mech Bay Doors Opening," the PA announced once again.

As his 'Mech turned, Wrex powered up the systems in the 'Mech. "Reactor Online," the 'Mechs systems reported. "Sensors Online. Weapons Online." After a brief pause, he heard, "All Systems Nominal." With that, the doors fully opened, revealing the landscape that the Leopard-V had landed at.

Kar'shan wasn't a pretty planet, and it was easy to see why. Decades of abusing fossil fuels, and poor enforcement of environmental laws, had left this area of the planet a polluted wasteland, with large sections of the area still uninhabitable by Star League standards. Nearby, the capitol city of Kar'shan was a stark contrast, with gleaming skyscrapers, large parks and a number of trees surrounding the city. While some areas of the polluted wasteland were being reclaimed, the area was still reminiscent of a scene from a popular human video that Wrex had seen before, something about a massive city with militant policemen on the streets. Either way, it was a fitting description of this place.

"Wow," Richmond, one of the Human 'MechWarriors in Wrex's lance, remarked. "The Cursed Earth."

"You've seen that film too," the Turian in the Lance asked Richmond.

"Of course I have," Richmond remarked. "I know a lot of people that still like that franchise."

"A fitting name," Wrex remarked. "Still, we're not here to give names to polluted wastelands. We're here to crush the enemy and get paid. Qentorus, Richmond, you take point. You're in the lighter 'Mechs, so scout out ahead and report back on what you find. Nakmor Drack, you're with me."

"On it," the now named Drack replied. Nakmor Drack was, arguably, the oldest Krogan in the Lance, surpassing even Wrex in terms of age. He'd been born sometime before the Krogan Rebellions, and was around when the Genophage had been unleashed. Normally, he would've died a long time ago, but he'd been placed in an experimental form of stasis, known as cryogenic stasis, in order to stop a disease that was spreading through his body like wildfire. Since it would take a good thousand years to find a cure, Drack had volunteered to go into cryogenic stasis with his daughter, Kesh.

Unfortunately, a cure hadn't been found, resulting in those individuals remaining in cryonic stasis for nearly 950 years. When the Star League came around, however, they managed to gain access to the stasis pods, using their nanotechnology to cure many of the illnesses that those individuals were suffering from. After being cured, Drack had immediately requested that he become a citizen of the Federated Commonwealth, which was immediately granted by the inheritors of the project. By the time he'd become a 'MechWarrior, Wrex had his own merc company up and running, with Drack joining Aralak's Dragoons shortly after. While Wrex was in command of the merc company, he greatly respected Drack, often asking him for advice, which the older Krogan gladly gave.

Moments later, any thoughts on the past were banished, as Wrex began to move his 'Mech forwards. Up ahead, Richmond and Quentorus, both of whom were using Stalker-V BattleMechs, moved forwards, disappearing off into the distance. Wrex simply accelerated to the 'Mech's top speed of 74.2km/h, with Drack in his Mad Cat-Vb following along at roughly the same speed. Once they were a suitable distance away, the Leopard-V DropShip behind them lifted off, before zooming off into space moments later.

As they moved along, Wrex looked around to see what was going on. Already, he could see Union-V DropShips landing on Kar'shan, with what appeared to be Star League BattleMech and Combat Vehicle regiments moving out into the city. As his 'Mech drew closer to the city, he could hear COM chatter as SLDF forces began encountering and fighting soldiers from the Hegemony Imperial Army. When it came to the SLDF, Wrex had nothing but admiration for them. They had repeatedly dug themselves out of the dirt during the Amaris Civil War and Succesion War, becoming an elite fighting force that was more than capable of defending the Inner Sphere from any threat.

As he drew closer to the city, Wrex spotted enemy Combat Vehicles moving out from the city center. "Contact," Drack reported. "Enemy Combat Vehicles. Heading 0-5-0."

"Take them out," Wrex ordered, turning his 'Mech in the direction of the enemy. Targeting one of the closer vehicles, he fired off the A-PPC on his 'Mech, sending a bolt of charged particles directly at the enemy contact. The Batarian Combat Vehicle stood no chance, as the bolus of high energy particles ripped into the vehicle, vaporizing a good portion of it within seconds. Moments later, he fired off an Advanced Gauss Rifle, tearing another vehicle apart with a 120mm ferro-osmiridium slug.

That was when Drack entered the fray. As soon as he spotted the enemy vehicles, he locked on with his ATM-20's, firing off a salvo at the Batarian vehicles. Explosions rumbled in the area as the missiles tore into the enemy vehicles, ripping them apart in a single salvo. A moment later, Wrex heard his 'Mechs computer announce, "Target Destroyed."

"Target neutralized," Drack confirmed moments later. Continuing onward, he said, "Wow, I really like these BattleMechs. If I had been told that there was a faction that used these all the time, I would've laughed at them."

"Good thing we met them then," Wrex remarked as he moved forwards. A moment later, he spotted Richmond and Quentorus returning to their location. "Report," Wrex ordered.

"We've got a lot of enemy Combat Vehicles up ahead," Richmond replied. "Most of them are Batarian MBT's, but a few of them are a little heavier than that. We managed to do some damage, but we had to retreat when our shields began to dip in strength. They're relying on en mass fire in order to strip our shields and armor. An Assault class 'Mech should be more than enough to take them out."

"Good work," Wrex replied. "We'll head in there and trash them up. Once we've reached the objective, we'll head for our other one, then extract out of here."

"Roger that," Quentorus replied. "We'll move up with you and head to the objective." Nodding in agreement, Wrex began moving forwards once again, the feet of his 'Mech crushing the ruined enemy vehicles flat.

Eventually, they reached the area that the others had told him about. Wrex could clearly tell that there was an underground bunker here, as penetrating scans were picking up an underground elevator shaft. Up ahead were dozens, if not hundreds, of enemy Combat Vehicles that were present, with the Batarians inside ready to sacrifice themselves to preserve their decadent and corrupt regime. "There they are," Drack shouted. "Light 'em up!"

"Open fire," Wrex shouted. "Alpha Strike!" With that, he depressed every firing stud on the handlebar in his 'Mech, with the others doing the same thing. Gauss slugs, laser beams and missiles tore through the air, smashing any vehicles ahead of them into scrap metal, while others were melted into slag. When the Alpha Strike ended, only half of the enemy vehicles from before were present.

Apparently, the sight of an Alpha Strike had proven to be extremely detrimental to the enemy, as multiple Batarians immediately got out of their vehicles. Some of them fled the area, not wanting to be killed by the towering, robotic war machines that were present, while others surrendered on the spot, dropping their weapons and raising their hands into the air. Only a few dared to keep fighting, with those being killed by Wrex and his Lance. Keying his COM, he said, "Urdnot Wrex to any SLDF forces in the area, we have Batarians that are surrendering to us in the city center. We've also got what appears to be an underground bunker in the area here. Can you assist?"

"Roger that," an SLDF Lieutenant replied. "We've got a number of squadrons that are on their way. Is the area secure?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright then. Thanks for the help. We'll be sure to inform your employers to give you a nice, fat tip of C-Bills when you're out of here. Rock on, man."

"You too," Wrex replied. With that, the COM link ended. Just two minutes later, SLDF Combat Vehicles rolled up into the area, allowing Wrex and the others to move out to their next objective.

The next objective turned out to be a long ways away, about four kilometers to be precise. On top of that, the Batarians seemed to know what Wrex and the others were up to, as Combat Vehicles came to harass them at every turn, only to be blown into scrap metal as Wrex and his Lance neutralized them in short order. Slowly, but surely, they came closer to the target area.

Eventually, they found the shipyard that the Batarians were fighting so hard to keep control of. When they got close enough, Wrex felt a little dizzy, which he realized was the Neurohelmet activating it's upgrade, blocking out what appeared to be an energy field according to his 'Mech's scanners. A moment later, the dizziness faded away, as he spotted the ship inside. Huh, he thought, It looks like a giant squid of some kind. Good thing that the SLIC spotted this.

When it came to that, Wrex noticed that there were a lot of Batarian Combat Vehicles that were present, including VTOL's and Conventional Fighters. "Engaging," he shouted, firing his VS-LPL's, VS-MPL's and his A-PPC at the enemy targets. A Gauss slug ripped out of his Advanced Gauss Rifle, effectively turning an enemy VTOL inside out. Nearby, Richmond and Quentorus fired off their 'Mech's weaponry, while Drack provided long range Gauss Rifle and ATM-20 missile support.

Eventually, all of the Hegemony Combat Vehicles were destroyed, with one having been punted by Drack a good 250 meters away when it got too close to his 'Mech's left leg. Pulling up their objectives, Wrex noticed a frequency that was attached to the file, with specific instructions to use it once the shipyard was secure. Changing frequencies, he keyed his COM and said, "Urdnot Wrex here, shipyard secure."

"Roger that," an SLIC Agent said over the COM. "Good work, Wrex. Looks like you've proven that you're well worth the investment we've made. Once you've returned to your DropShip, head to New Avalon. We've got some exciting news for you."

"Really," Wrex remarked. "I'll take you up on that. I hope it's good."

"It is," the Agent replied. As the COM fell silent, Wrex knew one thing. Things were getting good.

. . .

If anyone had told Saren Arterius that he would be witnessing his very first glimpse of advanced Star League technology, he would've laughed at them. It was a completely different thing to be seeing it for himself for the first time. Both of his eyes were as wide as they could go, as he watched a 'Mech tear apart a Batarian APC with what appeared to be weaponized lighting.

It had been about a few days since he'd been sent to the Terminus Systems on an assignment from the Council. It was one of multiple missions that he had done, ever since he'd been chosen to become a Spectre, a member of the Council's Special Reconnaissance and Tactics Corps. Becoming a Spectre was seen as one of the greatest honors that a member of the Council Races could achieve, and it was easy to see why. The Spectre's were the Council's top agents, an extension of their will in a number of cases, and were usually the last measure used before all out warfare was considered.

Saren, in this case, had become a Spectre due to the Star League's refusal to join the Citadel Council. The Council felt that, by using the Spectres as a form of covert espionage, they would be able to gain access to Star League information and/or technology, which would then be reverse engineered in order to allow the Council to counter the Star League on equal footing. Unfortunately, as Saren could tell them from experience, any Spectres that tried to enter Star League territory covertly were usually found out and sent back alive, but with their armor and weapons confiscated as 'contraband.' In his case, he had only done it once, and that was because, unlike older Spectres, he knew when to leave well enough alone, and had even told the Council not to do that again, or he would resign from the Spectres. On top of that, he had a positive opinion of the Star League, which was due to both his positive experience with them at First Contact, as well as the historical information inside of the SLE.

That got the Council to listen, as they didn't want to lose their best Spectre yet. As a result, Saren had been reassigned to areas of the galaxy that were around, but not inside, the Star League's territory. During the past 17 years since, he had successfully completed a number of missions for the Council, while rearing and training other Spectre candidates that he had chosen.

Which was why he was on Kar'shan in the first place with one of his former apprentices, a Turian named Avitus Rhix. They had been sent to investigate what appeared to be a technological revolution that was going on in the Hegemony, a worrying development given the Batarian's attitudes towards the other Council Races. As a result, they had sent Saren and Avitus to determine what was going on, as well as to gather information in order to counter the Hegemony's newfound advantages. They were about to head to their ship when the Star League invaded Kar'shan, prompting the two to stay and see what was going on.

Now that they were in a safe-ish location, they could see their very first glimpse at advanced Star League technology. "I knew the Terrans were advanced," he remarked, "but not this advanced. Advanced mechanized walkers? Now that is something I didn't expect to see."

"Me neither," Avitus remarked, both his green eyes staring directly at the Star League 'Mech that was in their line of sight. "How does that thing move? It can't be via hydraulics or motors. They would fall apart quickly?"

"I know how they move," Saren replied, "mostly due to my prosthetic." lifting up his right arm, Saren removed some of the armor to show Avitus the architecture underneath. "The Terrans make use of what appear to be advanced artificial muscles, which they call Myomers." A moment later, he moved his arm around somewhat, showing Avitus the dark gray Myomers.

"Really," Avitus remarked. "That would explain why their mechanized walkers move around so… fluidly." After a moment, he asked, "Where did you get that, if I may ask?"

"One of the few technologies that the Star League is permitted to share," Saren relied. "About the only major technology they decided to share was Myomer technology. Beyond that, they haven't shared anything else, other than their equivalent of medi-gel, which they call Nano-Gel. As for their mechanized walkers, that is something that I didn't expect to see."

"Indeed," Avitus remarked.

As they looked out at the 'Mechs, Saren began to remember some Human heavy metal music that described the arrival of a new way of war during the Terran's First World War. Before he knew it, he was idly humming the tune to himself, before an odd look from Avitus prompted him to stop. Human music is quite catchy, I must admit, he thought. A new way to wage war indeed. After a moment, he said, "We should probably leave while we still can. They'll be locking down the system soon."

"I agree," Avitus remarked. "Either way, we have to tell the Council about this. At least we now know that the Star League is trashing the Hegemony." With that, both Turians scrambled to their feet, before leaving the area. They had to tell the Council about this.

. . .

Dimitry Kerensky knew one thing: he loved it when a plan came together. Looking at the tactical map of the Terminus Systems, he could tell that his strategy was working like a charm, a smile on his face as the reports continued to come in. His fingers began to idly tap on the railing preventing him from falling head over heels into the holoprojector.

So far, everything is going to plan, he thought as he watched the invasion continue without hindrance. On the map, every one of the Batarian's colonies were displayed, all of them flashing red and white, indicating the fact that they were currently being invaded by the Star League Defense Force. Moments later, one turned white, with the symbol of the Star League hovering over the planet moments later. Seconds later, another one turned white, indicating that planet had been taken by the Star League. This will be the shortest war that the Star League has ever fought: The Hegemony-Star League War.

As he drummed his fingers on the railing, an aide came up to him with a data pad. "Sir, the invasion is proceeding as planned," he reported. "We will soon control all Hegemony planets within a few days."

"Excellent," Dimitry remarked, looking at the data pad after taking it from the Lieutenant General's hands. "This is the shortest war that we've ever fought." Looking at his subordinate, he said, "I take it the Council now knows of what's going on."

"Yes," the Lieutenant General replied. "SLDF Army Command personnel spotted a pair of Turians watching one of their 'Mechs rip apart a regiment of enemy Combat Vehicles. ID scans indicate they're Spectres working for the Council. Should we blockade them?"

"No," Dimitry replied. "It's difficult to hide secrets that are a good fourteen meters tall, especially during the heat of battle. I'll hold a meeting with the House Lords to determine this new development. In the meantime, continue monitoring the invasion, and inform the SLDF Naval Command that they have a new target."

"And this new target would be?"

"Omega Station in the Terminus Systems."