AN: A plot bunny that will be continued if there is sufficient interest in the concept.

=== Sky-ranger 01, Berlin, Germany – 12 Jan 1999, 21:23 PST ===

Blinking blearily at the light and faces above him, Jason struggled to get everything in focus as he heard a familiar but impossible voice calling out with annoyance in her tone.

"…ason, get your skinny arse off the ground this instant. We are reaching the drop-zone, this is no time for your antics. Damnit. You asked for this."

Huh that sounds ominous, Sgt Harper. Still remember your violent tendencies during boot camp… Too bad, you are de-

"OW Motherf- YOU NEARLY NAILED ME IN THE BALLS" Jason screamed as he shot up to a sitting position and a sharp jolt of pain came from his groin nearly coming into close contact with Sgt Harper's steel-capped boots.

"Glad you are back with us boy, ETA is one minute to drop, we have no time for you to pussy out on us and faint." Harper's melodic voice in that familiar contrast with her harsh tone came back to Jason as he stare stumped at her cute face which has fooled many recruit into getting curb-stomped by the harshest boot camp trainer ever.

"But you... are dead, you was killed in our first contact miss- UGHH!" As he tried to remember what happened before he blacked out, a series of disjointed images and voices came into his mind.

Volunteering. Connecting with the Device. The Temple Ship. The Uber Ethereal connecting to him as he stopped the black- Wait it wasn't a black hole. Concepts from the telepathic connection flooded into his head. Time-space loop. Growth. Stronger. Fight the true enemy. Wait underlying the concepts was a trace of… human emotion?

"-ike 1, you are go for drop."

"Get your head back in the game Jason, I don't want to lose my first rookie on this run." Harper's voice following the radio announcement jarred him back to focus on his surrounding.

Nodding instinctively, he hefted his plas- wait, is this a normal assault rifle… Damn what is going on here. Operation Devil's Moon? First contact again? Wait, these things can wait till we are back in base… Though if this mission is not a dream perhaps I can save everyone this time. Just keep my head down and let things run out first before I step in…

SHIT, don't go near that body Garrick. Dashing quickly out of his cover, ignoring Central's orders over the radio, Jason tackled Garrick to the side a bare instant before the grenade blew.

"Holy shit, Jason yo-" Without pausing or listening to Garrick, Jason tossed his friend into cover and leapt towards Harper's position firing inches away from her head… the rounds driving deep into the Sectoid's body, causing its laser shot to hit the roof with a loud sizzle drilling through the bricks.

Sensing psi-energies from the side, Jason's eyes widened… The Sectoid Commander? But he retreated immediately the last time- Of course, I changed things. As he sensed psi-energies hitting Garrick, Jason snarled and shot his free hand out with purple energy pulsing disrupting the mind control with a mindflay and shooting with his assault rifle.

Splattering the commander, Jason turned around to be faced with Harper's rifle in his face while Garrick and Thomas wiped out the last Sectoid.

"X-ray down. Central, we have Jason secured, do you copy. For emission of unknown energy and possible rogue actions, we are taking you in."

Oh shit, of course, we haven't discovered psionics yet…