Eos

The Outland Spire

Midnight

The trip to the Outland Spire was uneventful as far as combat went, a few of the local fauna had made themselves known, but nothing of note occurred on the journey. As they neared the lake, however, things began to get interesting. Lights at the edge of the lake drew the group's attention, and they crept towards the edge of a rocky outcropping on bellies or in crouched forms. Said lights belonged to a small Kett outpost that was under construction; a pair of landing pads connected to a small offloading zone were already erected. They sat over the water, held aloft by two pairs of support beams, and a pair of boats floated next to the dock with a single Kett dropship hovering slightly above the right landing pad. What drew the group's continued attention was the addition of a small dock with what they assumed to be a pair of transport craft bobbing next to it. It was Sergeant Macnus who noticed the other lights in the center of the lake, propping his M-13 Raptor on a pair of rocks and adjusting his scope.

"Kett structure in the center of the lake, thousand meters out…looks pretty big." He said, alerting the rest of the team. Scopes and binoculars moved to the structure, and a low chorus of varied curses and swears went through the group.

It was big; four landing pads connect to a central hub and several smaller platforms, in addition to a series of several small docks for the boats. Bright lights illuminated the base, Kett moved about in patrol, and a cluster of search lights mounted atop the central structure scanned the water around it. It was, in essence, a staging hub, and the small instillation on the shore was just an extension.

"At least there's no turrets." Jefferson noted.

"Look closer at those lights." Colt instructed, and the scout did so, cursing under his breath as he saw turrets attached to the spotlights.

"Pull back twenty meters, regroup on me." Natanian instructed. The group slide backwards, away from the edge, and circled around the turian. "Sergeant Clarke, engineering assessment."

"Ehh, by the looks of the base out there, it's tied to a central pillar, probably mounted on some high rock or reef or something similar that would allow for ease of construction. We don't have enough to blow it sky high, but if we can get out there and scrounge up enough Kett explosives, I can make it work." Colt said.

"Short of that, we could always ram a dropship into it." Vi'Soro suggested. Colt shook his head.

"The Kett build tough; we need to collapse the structure and ramming a shuttle into it would be a waste of good engineering."

"I didn't say it needed to be ours." Vi'Soro pressed.

"The sergeant is correct; we need to get out to that base for a full assessment, then we can devise a plan to destroy the base." Valaor insisted.

"How do we get there, though? We need a shuttle or one of their boats to make it out there, and even if we get to the base, the firefight that's bound to happen is gonna put them on alert." Vic said.

"A firefight has to happen regardless; Priorities Two and Four dictate the necessity of it." Barbadonis said.

"Yeah, but a firefight, not a full out battle." Vic insisted.

"Agreed," Natanian said, taking control of the discussion, "our first priority is obtaining transport to the Kett base, preferably on that shuttle. Sergeant Clarke, can you hack it?" Colt grimaced.

"Blink, do we have the Pathfinder data on Kett software?" He asked, and the VI drone materialized next to him. A series of beeps caused a further grimace. "I can try, though we don't have all the right data for it to be…smooth."

"All I needed to hear; here's the plan," Natanian began, drawing an outline in the sand, "the mission will be set in three phases. Phase 1: Capture of transport. Sergeant Clarke, I'm designating you Charlie-1 for the mission, everyone else has their assigned callsigns."

Colt noted that the names began to change to the mission designations; Natanian was Alpha-1, Corporal Tel'Arra was Alpha-2, Vic was Alpha-3, and Specialist Jefferson was Alpha-4. Lieutenant Valaor was Bravo-1, Sergeant Barbadonis was Bravo-2, Specialist Vi'Soro was Bravo-3, and Specialist Macnus was Bravo-4. Colt changed his name to Charlie-1.

"Charlie-1 will secure transport to the Kett base; primary method of transport is the Kett shuttle on the landing pad, secondary objectives are the boats should the primary transport turn into a dead end. Alpha-3 will provide cover for Charlie-1 while Bravo-2 moves ahead and clears the transport of hostiles." Barbadonis nodded and patted his Vindicator subconsciously, while Vic removed something metal from his back. Colt watched as the metal object unfolded into what seemed to be a ballistic shield. He nodded approvingly at Vic's shield, who grinned beneath his helmet.

"Alpha-4 and Bravo-4 will remain at the rear providing long range support, while myself, Alpha-2, Bravo-1 and Bravo-3 engage and suppress the enemy. Phase 1 ends once transport is obtained and we are en-route to the Kett base. Phase 2 begins once we arrive there; Charlie-1 is responsible for determining how to destroy the base, Bravo team will locate the Kett control center and begin data acquisition to fulfill Priority Three, while Alpha will engage and destroy the enemy to fulfill Priority Four.

Phase 2 ends once we have determined how to destroy the Kett instillation, Bravo team has secured the enemy control center, and Alpha have cleared out the enemy forces. Phase 3 begins upon completion of Phase 2; Charlie-1 will destroy the enemy base while Alpha and Bravo teams provide support as needed. Phase 3 is complete when the Kett base has been destroyed and we are en-route back to Prodromos. Are there any questions?"

"One; are we kicking this thing off guns blazing or are we trying to be sneaky about this?" Colt asked.

"Excellent question; can your drone determine what the Kett have in terms of early-warning systems?" Natanian asked. Colt grinned.

"Hey Blink, do me a favor a go take a looksie for me, please?" He asked the VI drone. Blink chirped and hovered away, dimming his holographic image to hide from prying eyes. Colt brought up his omni-tool and watched as data began to flow to it. "Ah hell…they've got motion sensors hooked up to floodlights; anything moves in this area," Colt passed the sensor feed to the rest of the group, "the lights come on and the party starts."

"Can we jump it?" Tel'Arra asked. "Or can a biotic charge through it?"

"What about disabling it? Can your drone hack their system inside the shore camp?" Valaor asked.

"Not sure about that second one, and no to the first and third. Apparently, they got tired of the Pathfinder's shit when he jumped over most of their security last he was on Eos. As for hacking, like I said, I don't have a full picture of the Kett software like I want to; hacking it could alert the whole planet for all I know. Biotics though…maybe a charge could pass through the field too quick for it to catch?"

"Why 'maybe'?" Barbadonis asked.

"Cause the Kett don't know about biotics."

"How do you figure?"

"We haven't seen much in the way of biotics from them, so it's a safe bet."

"That's not much of a theory."

"So what do I need to do?' Tel'Arra asked, cutting the argument short. Colt projected a small map of the area, focusing on the edge of the sensor field and the Kett instillation.

"Blink says the sensor field ends just short of these barricades; you'll need to charge just past the edge and hit the dirt pretty quick to dodge the Kett that'll come looking." Colt said.

"If push comes to shove, I want you going for that shuttle." Natanian ordered. Tel'Arra nodded, cracked her neck, and rolled her shoulders. "Everyone move into position. Phase 1 begins with Alpha-2." The nine crawled back to their spots overlooking the Kett, with Tel'Arra in a crouch. Jefferson and Macnus, Alpha and Bravo-4, took up overwatch positions and began moving rocks around to prop up their rifles, an M-97 Viper, and an M-13 Raptor, respectively. Tel'Arra glanced at the overlay on her HUD; the charge should we have to make was sixty meters…and she'd only ever done a biotic charge at twenty. She rolled her shoulders again.

"Alpha-2 beginning in three," biotic energy gathered around the asari as she prepared to charge, "two," Colt glanced sideways and watched as small rocks and dirt began to float around her, "one." Tel'Arra shot forward in a flash of blue-purple light, hurtling sixty-two meters forward. She landed, collapsing to the ground just shy of a Kett barricade and smiled. The smile died on her face as an alarm klaxon began to blare and floodlights bathed the area in harsh light.

"Showtime!" Colt cried, almost cheering, as Kett infantry whirled to ascertain the source of the alarm, moving for cover. The two Milky Way marksmen set the tempo of the early fight, their rifles booming, the last thing the a few of the Kett heard.

"Charlie-1, fall-in on me!" Barbadonis called as he threw himself from cover and sprinted across the open ground. Colt was already moving across the open ground, but the turian overtook him with Anders following behind them. The Kett began to return fire; Barbadonis' kinetic barrier flared as several of the Kett's plasma rounds splashed against it. One of the Kett leaned from cover, only to discover the barrel of Tel'Arra's Disciple shotgun.

"Sup?" She said as she pulled the trigger, blowing the head away in a shower of bone, brain, and alien blood. Colt and Barbadonis slid into cover next to her.

"Looks like biotics still pick up!" Colt observed, activating a charge of Incendiary rounds on his Avenger rifle.

"No shit!" Tel'Arra snapped back. She stood from her cover, pulled a hand back, and unleashed a blast of biotic energy at a Kett Chosen, throwing it backwards into a crate. Barbadonis finished with a burst from his rifle as Anders arrived with his shield, already pock-marked with plasma burns.

"Focus! Charlie-1, continue with your objective; we'll cover you!" The turian ordered. Anders hurtled the barricade first.

"On me!" He called, thrusting his shield forward and mounting his M-358 Talon pistol on a side rest. Colt followed with Blink appearing off to his side as, RATT hovered just above the pair. As Anders neared a corner, RATT shot forward, mounted itself on the edge of a crate, and let loose a small volley with its gun. A Kett Chosen fell with a tight cluster of holes in its side, Anders moving past it without a second thought. His Talon boomed twice, and another Chosen fell, the chatter of Colt's Avenger sent another scrambling for cover.

"Charlie-1 double-time it! You've got a Kett moving to the shuttle!" Macnus alerted. Indeed, a Kett Destined was making a break for the shuttle, casting furtive, fearful glances at the firefight. Colt snapped his Avenger towards the Destined and fired a prolonged burst, lighting up its shield with a small barrage of gunfire. Nearby, Tel'Arra unleashed another biotic charge, slamming into a Kett Chosen. A pair of Wraiths decloaked and pounced at the asari; one fell to her Disciple as the other's front paws pushed against her shoulders, throwing her to the ground. Colt, in the process of changing the heat sinks, saw this out of the corner of his eye. Kett pilot valuable to the mission or asari teammate…easy choice, right?

Colt slammed the heat sink home, then extended his arm towards the Wraith, his omni-tool forming around his forearm. He curled his hand into a fist and pulsed it twice, the key for an Incineration blast to fly from the omni-tool and smack into the Wraith's face. It roared and twisted around, allowing Tel'Arra to bring her shotgun to bear and blow its head off from the bottom. Colt turned back to the Destined, spraying rounds from his Avenger at it as Anders fired his Talon ineffectually at it. The Kett slipped inside the shuttle, and a moment later, as Colt stormed up the ramp to the landing pad, it took off.

"Damnit!" He cried. "Charlie-1 to Alpha-1, primary transpo is no-go, moving to alternate."

"Affirm, Charlie-1, moving to cover." Natanian's voice was calm and level, betraying no hint of frustration or anxiety. Colt respected that as he vaulted the landing pad's rim and down to the main deck. A Kett Chosen taking shelter behind a crate jumped backwards as Colt landed behind him.

"Boo." Colt's Omni-Blade, sparkling with electricity, stabbed into the Kett's midsection, electrocuting it for a second before it fell limp.

"Alpha-1, they're making a break for the boats!" Vi'Soro called. Indeed, the last four Kett were falling back towards the two boats. Colt led them a bit and threw a proximity mine just ahead of them; it detonated in midair, spraying the back pair with the front pair's blood and guts. A sniper round to the back of the head killed one while a burst from Valaor's N7 Valkyrie put the other down.

"Area clear of hostiles." Valaor reported.

"Rally on the boats, move." Natanian ordered. Colt was already there, omni-tool on, Blink off to one side as RATT settled on his shoulder.

"Blink, use what we have to break the system lock on the other boat." Colt told the VI, who hovered down into the second boat and began interfacing with it. The team gathered near the two boats, ready to climb in when the engineer was done.

"Charlie-1, I recommend you focus on mission critical objectives next time, instead of wasting time." Barbadonis said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Colt paused for a moment before looking up at the turian, who had already earned glares from the rest of the team.

"Do we not define casualty prevention as mission critical?" Colt asked.

"Casualties are acceptable, so long as the mission is complete."

"Would it not make the mission more difficult to complete if casualties are sustained, particularly those of biotic nature?" Colt retorted, Blink chirping as he finished his work.

"Enough; Bravo, in the left boat, Alpha and Charlie-1, with me in the right boat." Natanian said sharply. The pair ceased their argument temporarily as they boarded their respective boats, made difficult by their constant shifting. "Until this mission is complete, I want no further argument or debate from either of you; I shouldn't have to explain to you why. Am I understood?

"Crystal, sir." Colt answered.

"Affirmative." Barbadonis replied.

"Good; Charlie-1, how do we navigate these vessels?"

"I have them slaved to Blink, he can drive for us."

"Will he respond to commands from me?"

"So long as you're marked as friendly in the IFF, yes he will, sir."

"Good to know; Blink, let's get moving to the Kett base…please?" Natanian ordered, uncertain of how the VI would respond to him, considering Blink's maker was…not the usual military type. Colt chuckled as the VI chirped an affirmative, and the two small boats loosed their magnetic moorings and cast off. Around a hundred or so meters from the boat, Tel'Arra opened a private channel to Colt.

"Hey, thanks for saving me back there." The Asari said.

"No problem; you watch my back, I watch yours," Colt replied nonchalantly, "It's part of being a in a team."

"You don't seem to mind jumping in the line of fire for others." Tel'Arra observed.

"Like I said, part of being in a team; I'll jump into hell if it means pulling a teammate from the fire." Colt answered.

"Three hundred meters to go." Valaor reported from the other boat.

"Why haven't their turrets opened up on us yet?" Natanian asked aloud. His question was answered as the turrets swiveled, shining bright light on the two boats, and opening fire.

"You had to say something, didn't you boss?" Macnus called as the teams opened fire. It was inaccurate, but it was return fire, forcing the Kett to hunker down as Blink weaved the boats between the incoming plasma rounds. A Kett Anointed mounted his gun on a bulwark and hosed Alpha's boat with fire. The group ducked down, Anders planting his shield and absorbing some of the fire. RATT mounted itself on the shield rim and valiantly returned fire against the Kett, spraying the defenders as much as it could.

The boats neared the first dock, meeting them there was a team of four Chosen with rifles. Tel'Arra leapt off the boat, surrounding herself in the blue hue of biotic power, and charged, hurtling across the water to the dock. One of the Chosen was blasted backward, its body going limp. The one to Tel'Arra's left pivoted to fire, but her shotgun cut short its movement. Another attempted to do the same but was instead met by a biotic throw. The throw sent the third Kett careening into the fourth, and together they splashed down into the lake.

The boats pulled alongside shortly, all of the APEX operatives dove out using their jump jets, not willing to wait longer in one spot to be shot at. The two marksmen traded their rifles for shorter range weapons; Jefferson drew an N7 Hurricane whilst Macnus surprised Colt by whipping out an M-76 Revenant, which was, in effect, a light machine gun and not a typical marksman's tool. Macnus noticed Colt staring.

"What? Admiring how the girth?" He asked coyly. Colt choked backed laughter as the teams diverged. Colt wen this own way; spraying nearby Kett with fire as he remained on the lower parts of the base.

As soon as he was clear, he started inspecting the support structures of the base; finding that most of the base held itself up with a web of support struts and pillars, all connected to one central pillar at the heart of the base. It was a very thick pillar, holding the entire base above the water, and Colt estimated it to be about three meters across in diameter. He sucked his teeth as he crouched down, his eyes darting across the spiderweb of connections, his brain shutting off the outside world and homing in on the issue at hand. RATT and Blink stood guard behind him, watching the battle through the teams' sensors, and determining if their creator was safe or not.

"Charlie-1 to Alpha-1, how copy?" Colt said after a minute of silence.

"Alpha-1 is reading, what's your status, Charlie-1?"

"Affirm on original theory; base is held up by a central pillar. Estimate is three meters in diameter; too much for either my charges or yours."

Natanian let out a turian swear that went untranslated. "What's your suggestion?"

"We can't blast all the way through, but we don't have to; recommend using your charges on these support structures," a group of eight support struts on the northern half of the base were highlighted yellow, "and using all of mine on the central pillar. The working theory is that the imbalance of weight will cause the base to topple."

"Agreed; move to support Bravo team; we'll deal with the demolitions after we eliminate the Kett. Out." Colt returned to the real world and thundered off in the direction of Bravo team, Blink and RATT zooming behind him.

The fight was weighted against APEX; the Kett were entrenched with a quo of turrets raining fire down up Bravo team; their guns charging, pulsing, and firing with a boom. Colt slid into cover next to Valaor, who was firing at a duo of Chosen. One went down, clutching his arm as the salarian team leader came back into cover, changing thermal clips.

"Room for another, boss?" Colt asked.

"Always! Those turrets are the main problem, if someone can destroy them or take them offline, I can make for the control room." Valaor stated. Colt nodded, tapping his omni-tool. Electrical arcs began to jump from his fingers as an Overload charged up. Valaor noted the charge, tapped his own omni-tool, preparing an Energy Drain to follow up. The closet turret pulsed and fire, blowing Vi'Soro's cover away as she slid away, using her biotics to push her away. While the turret was distracted, Colt stood and unleashed the overload, followed by Valaor. The overload fried the turret and the energy drain that followed shocked the system, frying it and causing an electrical detonation. The blast caught the other four, damaging them as well, but not destroying them. Nor did it destroy the first turret.

"Bastards are tough!" Colt remarked, ducking back into cover as a Kett's rounds pinged off his barriers.

"Bravo-1, permission to use explosives?" Barbadonis asked, breaking his silence.

"Granted; use of grenades and Cobra ordinance is authorized." Valaor answered.

"Wait, YA'LL HAVE ROCKETS?!" Colt cried as Barbadonis stood with a Cobra-class RPG in one hand, pulled it back, and fired at the cluster of turrets. The rocket exploded one the left most turret, bathing it and the other three in harsh red light, destroying all of them.

"Does it matter?" Macnus asked, mounting his Revenant on a railing and hosing a group of Kett.

"Yes, it does! I'm the man blowing this thing to hell and high water; I need to know everything that I can work with!" Colt exclaimed. Before anyone had time to continue the discussion, the door to the command center opened, and brand-new type of Kett emerged, hovering in the air.

"New hostile identified!" Valaor reported over the team radio, opening fire on the strange new enemy. As his bullets hurtled towards the Kett, a shimmering orange shield materialized around it, an orb orbiting the center of it. Macnus pivoted his Revenant towards the new Kett, changed thermal clips, and opened fire. He dumped an entire magazine into the Kett's shield without it so much as wavering.

"Negative damage, that shield is tough!" Macnus reported, changing clips again. The Kett in turn raised a hand, and a spear of orange energy shot towards the turian. It impacted against his barriers, draining them, and staggering him. "Barriers down!" A second lance of energy seared through his shoulder armor, sending him spinning to the ground. Macnus' vitals flared on everyone's HUDs.

"Bravo-4 is down, Bravo-4 is down!" Valaor reported.

"Blink, stabilize." Colt ordered, and the VI drone zipped towards the downed turian, RATT in tow.

"Bravo-3 moving to assist." Vi'Soro reported, moving from her place near Valaor towards Macnus thirty meters away. An Anointed opened fire on the asari, attempting to halt her progress. Instead, the ex-huntress began to biotically weave through the hailstorm of gunfire; sliding and dodging as she made her way to Macnus. Blink arrived first, hovering low and applying medi-gel to the wounded marksman. Macnus, to his credit, was still conscious and had dragged himself into cover, leaning against the railing with a M-3 Predator drawn in his left hand. His right shoulder had a decent-sized hole in it, the wound cauterized by the energy blast.

"It looks worse than it is." Macnus said weakly, cracking a grin as Vi'Soro inspected the wound. The blast had torn up his shoulder to be sure, but the bones were blessedly still intact; he'd live and fight again.

"But it's bad enough," Vi'Soro said, "Bravo-3 to team, Bravo-4 is breathing and conscious, but combat ineffective. Recommend moving him to a safe location."

"Affirm, Bravo team, pull back and return Bravo-4 to the boats." Valaor ordered.

"Negative; I'll take him, stay on task." Colt said, moving from his cover to where Macnus sat. "Ready?"

"No but take me anyways." Macnus said, raising his left arm. Colt holstered his Avenger and drew what looked like an old-Earth revolver from his hip.

"Charlie-1 moving with Bravo-4." Colt pulled Macnus to his feet and led him back towards the boats. Blink hovered nearby, boosting their shields as RATT hopped from railing to railing, spitting fire at the Kett as they appeared to threaten the pair. Vi'Soro followed them, providing covering fire with her biotics and X5 Ghost, keeping the Kett return fire sporadic and inaccurate.

The new Kett, however, was not overly fond of the idea of letting them live, so they began to target Colt and Macnus. The orb that rotated on the shield's center sudden swung to the Kett's front and began to follow the pair as they staggered away. Barbadonis noted the orb's sudden change in behavior and leveled his Vindicator at it and fired. The satisfying sounds of damage done told the turian that he was shooting the right thing.

"Bravo-2 to team, target the orb on the floating Kett." He said as he continued to fire the Vindicator at the orb. Said orb was creating a large ball of energy that was growing in size, and its focus had shifted to the sole individual firing upon it. Barbadonis ducked back into cover, reloading his Vindicator, and preparing to shift cover when the ball of energy was unleashed. Valaor watched as the ball passed through two railings before sweeping across the taciturn turian. His barriers collapsed and he screamed in shock and pain as the energy burned him, his eyes wide with surprise. His vitals flared and stabilized.

"Bravo-2, are you alright?!" Valaor cried into the radio, terrified that his team would be reduced by half in their first operation.

"Bravo-2 is still upright," Barbadonis replied, gritting his teeth as he moved further away from the strange floating Kett, "that energy ball passes through cover."

"Bravo-1 to Alpha-1, we need support; new hostile is giving us more trouble than expected." Valaor asked over the radio.

"Almost finished; directing Alpha-2 and 3 to you now." Natanian answered. The state of the battle was somewhat in the air; on the one hand, many of the Kett had been eliminated by the surprise attack, but on the other hand, enough remained in support of the new threat to provide significant distraction for the APEX team, especially with a man down. As the battle continued above and behind the pair, Colt set Macnus down gently in one of the boats.

"You know what's gonna happen now, right?" Macnus asked as Colt further inspected his shoulder injury, taking data analysis of it to send back to the Nexus. Blink hovered with machine patience on standby while RATT flitted about, actively searching the area for threats.

"I'm gonna go back up there, kick ass, blow this place to kingdom come, and we'll all have a fun drink over this?" Colt answered. Macnus laughed, wincing at the pain it caused.

"That too; they're gonna make you Bravo-4." Macnus said.

"And?"

"You'll have to work with Barbadonis."

"And?" Colt looked at Macnus expectantly.

"You're…you're not worried about him?"

"Should I be? Just because we disagree doesn't mean we can't work together." Colt answered.

"Yeah well he doesn't see it that way." Colt bandaged up the wound and made sure it was treated as much as he could before looking the wounded turian dead in the eyes.

"Well then Mr. Barbadonis can kiss my country-fried-ass." Colt said, thickening his accent with a grin, on his face. Macnus laughed again as Colt left, the sidearm still in his hand. "Bravo-4 is secured and stable, moving to assist Bravo team." Colt ran back towards the fight, his two VI in tow. Through the network he had established, Colt could see that the battle hinged on eliminating the shielded Kett, who was in the process of creating another energy ball. Vi'Soro and Barbadonis were attempting to get out of the way as they were being fired upon by the Kett, whilst Valaor attempted to draw attention away from them. Colt went for cover, holstered his sidearm and drew his Avenger; falling in near Valaor.

"What's the word?" He asked the salarian. Valaor turned to Colt, and the engineer saw the fear in the team leader's eyes. Fear that his team was going to die before his eyes. "What can I do?"

"We need to find a way to take down that Kett; Barbadonis was making progress on the rotating orb before he got hit." Valaor answered. Colt nodded, watching the floating Kett for a moment before keying his radio.

"Bravo-2, got any more rockets?" He asked.

"One more in reserve, what's the plan?" Gone was the anger and disagreement the two had experienced before; they were united in one purpose: killing that floating Kett.

"I'm gonna try and break that orb, see if that drops the shield. If it goes, I need you to be ready to give it a slap in the face with that rocket, just to be sure it goes down, clear?"

"Crystal." Colt moved without another word, raising his rifle and burst firing at the orb as it rotated. The floating Kett turned its attention to Colt, its arm glowing as an energy blast was prepared. Colt fired one more burst before activating his jump jets, leaning to the side and allowing the burst of speed throw him to the side as the energy blast impacted against a railing. Colt's left arm pulled back, his omni-tool glowing as it generated heat, then released it in an Incineration blast. The blast hurtled towards the rotating orb, impacting on it, and exploding in a plume of orange. The orb stopped, floated in midair for a brief moment, then shattered in a shower of sparks and what sounded like broken pottery. The shimmering orange shield flickered and died, and the Kett abruptly fell to one knee.

As it stood, Barbadonis stepped out from his cover, the Cobra RPG pulled back in his right hand, his kinetic barrier shimmering as it received enemy fire, and fired the RPG. As the Kett returned to its feet, it heard the sound of the oncoming Cobra, turned to find the source, and practically ate the RPG. The Kett leader vanished in a sudden ball of flame and a shot of smoke, leaving the others in disarray. The APEX team mopped the floor with the remaining Kett troopers, finishing them off as the aliens scrambled to recover from their loss of leadership. Tel'Arra and Vic arrived just a hair late to the party.

"Bravo-1 to Alpha-1, Kett eliminated, moving into the command center." Valaor reported after preforming a cursory sweep of the area. He led the way into the Kett command center, wherein they were greeted with a short room with a long terminal beneath a window. "Charlie-1, mind giving me a hand?"

"Not at all; Blink, start running Kett hacking programs." Colt said, moving with the Salarian to the terminal. Blink scanned the terminal, indicating two separate input points for the pair to access.

"Duo authentication? A wise measure, but I hope that doesn't mean there's another of those things floating around." Valaor said.

"Yeah, that'd make life difficult. You ready?"

"Of course; beginning in three, two, one, go!" Colt and Valaor's fingers began moving at lightspeed across, their eyes rapidly processing the data Blink was translating and feeding to them. Barbadonis swept the room once more and glanced over at them, watching the pair mutter to themselves and give small gasps and curses as they went. Out of curiosity, the turian, maintaining his prescribed silence, figured out how to send a query to Blink, asking how he was helping the pair hack. In response, he was sent a small FAQ section of Blink's "Hacking" abilities.

Program: Assisted Hack

In the event of encountering a new encryption variant or a foreign system, this program is enacted. Entity "Blink" provides friendly parties with assistance in gaining entry, analyzing patterns and occurrences within the system, and providing them in the form of "hints" to the friendly parties. The intention of this process is to assist friendly parties in breaking into systems while teaching them at the same time. In this manner, friendly parties may rely less upon Entity "Blink" for assistance, and pass on their knowledge to other friendly parties. All knowledge gained on the hacking process is stored in Entity "Blink" with the intention of passing it on to higher command.

Barbadonis frowned as he closed the FAQ; on the one hand, it greatly annoyed him that ex-Sergeant Clarke was executing a hack on a foreign system in a dangerous and inefficient manner; putting the mission on the line. On the other hand…the turian could not argue with the process; the less they had to rely on a machine that could be hacked by the enemy, the better. As he thought, Blink hovered over, its gaze leveled at Barbadonis' midsection.

"Can I help you?" The turian asked.

"Entity "Bravo-2" has sustained injury to abdominal region. Preparing to administer medical aid." The VI answered, scanning Barbadonis' torso. Looking down, he noted the injury; a puncture in his armor, nothing too serious. "Plasma round has penetrated beneath Bravo-2's carapace and into his abdomen, recommend immediate field-treatment before evacuation to a dedicated medical facility."

"Not necessary, I don't even feel it." Barbadonis said. This was not a lie; he did not know he had sustained the injury, and even with the knowledge of it, the wound gave him no pain. Blink processed this briefly before applying medi-gel regardless.

"Noted in logs. Please keep Entity "Blink" informed of any changes." The VI said as Colt let out a whoop of delight.

"Broke through! Downloading to Blink now!" Valaor cried. "Bravo-1 to Alpha-1, breakthrough achieved, downloading all available intel now!"

"Copy that, maintaining perimeter." Natanian replied. "Make it fast; Kett reinforcements could be coming at any time." It took a little longer than hoped, but the team made their exit from the command center in short order, hustling out into the night. "Charlie-1, how long will it take for you to set those charges?"

"It'll take less than five on the needed support struts if everyone helps out, the main pillar may take slightly longer." Colt answered.

"Then let's get it done; everyone, plant charges at the designated support structures, Charlie-1, set charges on the central pillar." Natanian ordered.

"Hey; scrounged these up for you," Jefferson said to Colt, handing over an overloaded belt of Kett explosives. Colt took them gratefully, slinging them over his shoulder before thundering off to the central pillar. He vaulted over one of the walkways and dove downwards, using his jumpjets to throw himself towards the central pillar. He collided with it, using some his hardsuits magnetics to latch himself onto it. Once he was sure of his magnetics, he began the somewhat difficult task of planting all the explosives he had made and brought with him. In hindsight, maybe he should've made a bigger bomb, instead of two dozen little ones. The process took longer than he'd like; seven minutes, but eventually, he had lined the charges in what he hoped would be a deep enough gouge into the pillar to topple the Kett base.

"This is Charlie-1 to all friendlies, detonating directed charges in 3," as he began to the count down, Colt dropped down a few meters below the charges, "2, 1, detonating." He keyed his omni-tool, and the charges, placed in a narrow-semi circle, detonated, drilling into the central pillar and disgorging their payload, blowing out a large hunk of metal. It fell to the lake below, and Colt climbed back up, tuned the Kett explosives to his omni-tool, threw them into the hole he had just made, before climbing back up top.

"Charlie-1, detonating secondary explosives in 3, 2, 1, detonating." Colt set off the explosives as he hurried to the boats, and the hole in the pillar deepened, the pillar groaning under its unbalanced weight.

"Alpha-1 to Charlie, Kett reinforcements inbound, get back to extraction, ASAP!" Natanian said urgently. Colt gave an acknowledgement and hustled up, throwing himself down to the boats over a railing.

"What's the furthest you can detonate those charges?"

"Not far, 100 meters or so, and I'm already fifty away from the central pillar." Colt said. The air filled with the thrum of Kett dropships, five of which appeared in the sky on the other side of the base. Jefferson leveled his rifle and zoomed in on the dropships, hissing.

"Fiend dropping in!" The scout reported. Colt stopped abruptly, his eyes flicking inside of his helmet.

"Reposition the boats on the other side, I'm gonna make sure this base tips over!" The engineer said rapidly, leaping back onto the dock and running back towards the center of the base. The rest of the APEX group looked around in shock and surprise as the man hurtled across the Kett facility, Avenger in hand.

"Do as he says." Natanian ordered, shaking his head in frustration. Blink, who had been ordered to stay with the boats, moved the two vessels around the base, as the dropships descended, the Kett troopers firing at Colt the whole way down. The sergeant kept running until he saw the Fiend; a chitin covered monster that roared and spat at Colt. The Kett watched in surprise as the lone soldier threw an Incineration blast at the Fiend alongside a whole thermal clip of Incineration rounds.

"Come on you ugly-oversized sack of shit! Come and get me!" Colt taunted. The Fiend, more enraged by the burning bullets than the insults, charged as Colt ran towards the furthest platform from the center. He came to the edge of the platform and waited as the Fiend approached, and it was only at the last second did he jump off the edge. The Fiend halted it's headlong charge as the base shuddered, the other half of the base fell into the lake, and the central pillar groaned loudly. The Kett looked around wildly and scrambled for their dropships as the base began to fall down into the lake, taking them all to a watery grave.

Initially, there was no celebration from the APEX operatives; Natanian had Blink circle the boats around the sinking base, picking off any survivors that came to the surface. The teams then quickly exfiltrated the area, landing at a point half a mile away from their initial departure point and using their jump jets to scale rock formations, attempting to leave as few tracks as possible. This effort was slowed by Macnus' injuries, but they made it to a secluded outcropping not too far from Prodromos as the sun began to rise.

"APEX, rally here." Natanian ordered, and the eight other operatives settled into kneeling or crouched positions around the turian officer, who was keying his radio. "This is Alpha-1 to Prodromos, do you read me, over?"

"Prodromos here, we read you Alpha-1, send message, over." Replied the radio-distorted voice of Mayor Bradley.

"Prodromos, we have retrieved Kett intelligence and destroyed the enemy base. Mission accomplished."