Skies over New Mombasa, Earth

2552

The plan wasn't any different than anything else Adrian and his squad had done before, land on a covenant carrier, collect what data they could and plant the bombs around the ship. Granted they'd only done in twice before, one of those being a simulation but hey technically they'd done it before, and it wasn't anything new. Easy in easy out, the only difference was that this particular carrier was currently laying waste to New Mombasa on Earth, the Covenant bastards had finally found Earth. In truth it wasn't that much of a surprise that they'd found Earth, for most people in the UNSC it wasn't a question of if but when, he'd just hoped they would've had a bit more time before the Covenant came to Earth but nothing is ever easy. They weren't the only ODST squad on this mission though, command had about three other teams dropping on the same carrier, death rate was 'projected' high and apparently those ONI spooks figured that three squads was enough to take casualties and still complete the mission. Of course, this was never actually said at their briefing, but everyone knew, ODST missions were always high risk, but here over New Mombasa, they couldn't take the chance. That was how Adrian had ended up here, in his pod for the umpteenth drop aiming for a Covenant carrier, while his squadmates' bantered over the comms.

"Look here ya cunts, all I'm saying is with the covvies on Earth, there's no fuckin way that it can't get worse. I'm buggered from the god damn early wake call and now I got you wankas tryin' to have a go at me."

Adrian had to speak up at that, "Listen here Barbie, never ever fucking say it can't get worse. Because it fucking can and it will, you've jinxed us." A round of agreements from his squad

"Oh, piss off Marauder, you fuckin Viking pagans are just spewin because all yer remembered for is raidin' and raping." Barbie said dismissively over the comms, he wanted to argue that his ancestors were Russian, hence his last name Kasporov, but ODST's often weren't known for their book smarts. He ignored the continuing banter as they broke the cloud line, the sprawling city of New Mombasa revealed itself in all its glory, but what was once a jewel of the UNSC was now lit ablaze by plasma fire and crumbled into ruins. They continued their descent, their group being the first of the three made it so they were much closer when it all went to shit.

"Hey guys, what the hell is that squad doing? They're breaking off course, their trajectory isn't even close to the carrier!" Talos spoke out over the comms, and sure enough when checking the radar, one of the three groups broke off. Seemed like they'd land in the streets at that angle, but it wasn't his problem, so he ignored it, seemed like their plan just had a lot higher chance of failing. Not that it mattered much anyway, as soon as his bod was nearing carrier and bracing himself for impact the sensors in his drop pod picked up a massive influx of radiation.

"What the fuck…" He wasn't left guessing for long as he saw a massive slipspace rupture open up in front of him and his drop pod kept on getting closer with every passing second, "Shit! They're gonna jump, everyone break off now!" Adrian screamed into the comms, he hoped that his squad would make it but as for himself, well he'd never had the best of luck and looking back he supposed it was a miracle enough that he'd lived at all after getting caught in a slipspace jump with nothing but his drop pod.

Somewhere in the Wilds of Kenya

2075

Taking a long huff of his cigar, Jesse McCree blew out a puff of smoke and stared up at the late afternoon sky. Winston had sent him down here with Genji to keep tabs on a possible Talon shipment that would be leaving Mombasa, though they'd been here for over a day and seen no signs of any shipment. He wouldn't be surprised if it was a bust, Talon had been quiet for the last month or two and the still forming new Overwatch was eager to take on any projects it could grab. Sometimes it worked out well and they got lucky but sometimes it seemed that Talon was just draggin' them along through the dirt to see how far they'd go. He sighed and was about to turn to Genji to call the mission off when he saw something out of the corner of his eye, it came barreling out of the clouds like a rocket and landed a few miles away with at thud and a burst of dust. It seemed like today was just about to become a whole lot more interesting.

Adrian calmed his breath and took stalk of the situation, looking around at the surroundings and felt a sense of ease come over him, he was still alive in his drop pod, and all the past events hit him in one wave. Adrian let out a deep sigh of relief, it seemed he was still alive after managing the impossible. While he'd come to terms with dying, that didn't mean he wanted to die, any chance he got at living was good enough for him. He'd had no doubts that he'd meet his end in the war, hell it was already a miracle that he lived since he enlisted in 2539. Looking back on it, he wasn't sure what was more dangerous, the fewer but more dangerous missions he had as an ODST, or the absolute living hell of being on the ground as a marine and not knowing where he'd be the unlucky bastard to take a needler shard to the chest. Throwing aside his rambling thoughts, he turned back to the situation at hand, where the hell he was. Clearly, he was on some solid land which was good, blind drops always have a chance of hitting a body of water and there's not much you can do if that happens, well he wasn't going to get anywhere just sitting around. Looking through the viewport all he could see was a clear blue sky, he pulled the lever to pop his hatch, the door blasting off with bang and landed with a crash. Slowly standing out of his pod, it looked like he was still in Africa, yellow savannah grassland spread out before him, maybe he'd missed the slipspace jump and had simply gotten blown off course…far off course? He hoped out of his pod and onto solid ground, grass and dirt crunching beneath his boots, he tried his comms but only picked up static, for now it looked like he'd be on his own.

Turning back to his pod, he climbed in and pulled out his weapons, going into a covenant carrier had him a touch paranoid about being he'd skirted around some of the regulations and put in extra provisions and gear into his pod. It seemed like now it was going to pay off, he pulled out an BR55 Service Rifle, a silenced M7S caseless submachine gun, and a M6C/SOCOM pistol. He holstered his weapons on his bodies and brought out a small duffel bag, he stored his extra ammo and the tech equipment he'd brought in case they hit any roadblocks in the carrier. Each member in an ODST squad is generally well versed in most fields, but each member also has one specialization. Barbie was the field medic, and Adrian was the tech specialist, while he could do a decent patchwork job on himself or others, that damn Aussie was a miracle worker in the field. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, thought about his next move, the Covenant were focused on New Mombasa, but they were attack world-wide, wherever he went there could be covvies in hiding or already attack. Taking a view of the area around him, he saw no buildings or defining markers, his best bet then would be to head East. If he was still in Kenya, and it seemed he was, then going East would bring him to the Indian Ocean, from there he should be able to find a boat or find some civilization. About to turn he stopped when he the sound of footsteps and dirt crunching behind him, swiftly turning he brought the battle rifle to aim at the unknown behind him. The unknown turned out to be a man that was just as confused as him, except this man as dressed like a…cowboy? He'd never been to Earth, but he was fairly confident that cowboys didn't exist anymore, let alone in Africa.

He decided to try and speak first, "Civilian right? Is there a town or city nearby, a place I can use to get in radio contact with my squad?" He fidgeted, this was who situation was strange, he kept his rifle pointed at the man and it was then he noticed that the cowboy had a large revolver upon his hip. The man put a hand up to his ear and spoke, he couldn't hear much but he picked up the words 'talon' and 'capture', he wasn't sure what the importance of the first word meant but the second was no promising.

He slowly started to back up, inching bit by bit, "I'm Lance Corporal Kasporov of the UNSC. 5th Shock Troops Battalion of the 105th Expeditionary Unit." The man stopped talking, the look in his eyes had changed from simple hostility to a bit of confusion, Adrian flicked the safety of his battle rifle and was about to clear up the whole situation when he felt a blade upon his neck. Slowly turning his head he saw…a spartan? No, not a spartan, this one was too lithe and small, his armor too slick and clean to be anything developed by the UNSC or ONI.

When it spoke, its voice carried a robotic edge to it, "You need not sacrifice your life for such an abominable group."

Abominable group? The UNSC? It was then that the pieces started to fall into place in his mind, the knock off spartan armor, the strange clothing, the lack of communication, fucking insurrectionists. He didn't know the innies were on Earth, but they'd never had qualms about starting shit even while humanity was fighting the covenant, so it wasn't a stretch to see that sneaking in all the confusion and trying to use the imminent fall of Earth to their advantage. Putting his hands up in the air, he slowly dropped his battle rifle into the dirt, when he felt the blade ease off his neck, he ducked under it and drew his combat knife, turning to face the tin man he landed a hit into his side, the knife plunging it into his body. UNSC combat knives were rated to cut through a spartan's helmet, these pathetic innie rip-offs stood no chance. Yanking his knife out he assumed a combat stance against armored man, a light stream of blood oozed out of the wound. He knew that the man behind him was like closing in, a two on one fight where he was severely disadvantaged didn't bode well, but at the least he'd be able to take them down with him.

"Your technique is impressive, yet crude. There is no art behind your moves." The synthesized voice spoke once more. The ground shifted behind him, it was the cowboy, if they'd wanted him dead they'd had plenty of times to do it, it seems more like they want to capture and interrogate him. Flipping the balanced knife in his hand, he quickly spun and threw it at the cowboy. The man had quick reflexes he'd give him that, but the surprise was more than enough to throw him off balance. The knife landed in his shoulder with a squelch, Adrian took the pistol from his hip and turned back to aim at the armored figure, it was far faster than he had thought and he'd barely let off a glancing shot before an armored fist came up under his chin and brought Adrian's world to darkness.

McCree gritted his teeth and his yanked a vicious combat knife from his shoulder, it was definitely larger than the average knife, but it felt perfectly weighted in his hand. Initially they'd both though that the man was Talon, and while they idea wasn't off the table just yet…what he'd said was strange. Neither of them had heard of this 'UNSC', it planted a seed of doubt within him, they'd planned to capture and interrogate the guy regardless but now his life was worth considerably more because of the uncertainty. Genji had looked over the man's weapons, armor, and the pod he fell in and had no answers, it was advanced that much was clear, but it felt…off. He wasn't a scientist and he wasn't much for education, but even he knew there was something different about this technology, he'd had to get it to Winston as soon as possible.

"Winston, its McCree."

"Ah my friend, how goes the stakeout?"

"It was a bust, but that's not important, we got something a lot more important." Winston's initial disappointment disappeared in a flash; his curiosity piqued.

"What is it?"

"Less of a what…but a who. I'll explain everything to you in Gibraltar, but we need a dropship to evac and make sure it's large." McCree eyed the pod the man had come from, "We've got a lot to carry."

Skies above the Alboran Sea, Europe

Adrian groaned, it felt like he'd been sacked by a bag of rocks, his head was pounding but his jaw felt the worst. He moved his lower jaw around and heard some cracking, ignoring it he opened his eyes and was immediately blinded, he instinctively went to cover his eyes, but he felt a tug on his wrist. His arms were bound together behind his back, he also realized that his helmet had been taken and was sitting on the chair next to him, just out of reach. Looking around it seemed like he was inside a military ship of sort, it had similarities to a pelican but this was far more spacious, it was also painted in a soft white and gold color palette, a far cry from the grey, green, and black of the UNSC. This only spurred him to ask more questions, if they were innies, then they most have connections or wealth, he'd never seen a ship like this. It was clearly military inspired sure, but it also seemed far too impractical for any serious military operation. The innies were all about guerilla tactics, it seemed odd for them to call attention to themselves with such an extravagant ship, something was off here. If he could just get to his helmet and establish communications – but these bindings were tight, he wouldn't be escaping soon. He heard a door swish open, turning he saw the two men from earlier walk through, they stopped their conversation as soon as they noticed they Adrian was awake. The cowboy had the shoulder he'd hit wrapped with the arm in a sling, the armored man with a glowing green visor had bandages wrapped around his waist, it'd seemed useless to not simply remove the armor and wrap the skin but it wasn't the weirdest thing with this group he'd seen. Taking a closer look at the metallic man, it only confirmed that the armor wasn't anything by ONI. The armor was almost muscular, it was sleek and far too smooth, a bandana seemed to flow form behind his helmet and the sword was a unique choice.

"Can I ask what the plan is? It's not polite to take someone home before you've taken them out to dinner, that's just common courtesy." An edge to his voice, this whole thing was going no to long, the Covenant were on Earth and as hopeless as it was, he'd hoped that even the innies would be able to grasp the shit show going down.

The cowboy grunted at that and sat down across from him, "How about we ask you some question and if we feel you've answered well enough…we'll see were it goes from there."

Adrian snapped a that, "Aghh god you fucking morons, we're in the middle of a war. We don't have time to pussyfoot around and play twenty question. I get it, you guys are pissed at the UNSC, independence and freedom and all that, but can't you see we have a common fucking enemy? The god damn covenant are knocking on humanities doorstep and you guys are dressing up to go to a Halloween party?"

The cowboy looked up towards his metallic friend, "So he's just crazy then?"

"No, there conviction in his words, his eyes are set alight with fury. He believes what he says."

Adrian was baffled, were these people living in an entirely separate world? So dissociated from reality that they didn't know that they'd be strung up by their intestines. Or maybe they'd both suffered such a traumatic shock that they blocked the war from their minds? This whole situation was ridiculous.

"Conviction? Belief? I… what the hell are you loonies on about? Where have you been living to miss thirty years humanity getting their assed kicked back to the stone age. I mean seriously you guys must've lost SOMEONE in the glassings right?" Adrian spoke, increasingly slacked jaw at the lack of response from either of them. With an exasperated sigh he threw himself back into the seat, there'd be no arguing with these people. "Christ fine, what questions do you wanna ask?"

After muttering something to his friend, he turned his steel gaze towards Adrian, "Let's start simple, who are ya'?"

"I already told you, Lance Corporal Adrian Kasporov of the UNSC. 5th Shock Troops Battalion of the 105th Expeditionary Unit. Service number 5347922037-AK."

"Military then."

"Gee what gave it away."

"How about that pod there then? How's that tie into yer military service." The cowboy took a glance at his drop pod then back to himself.

"It's a drop pod, I'm part of the 105th you know?" The cowboy tilted his head in confusion, Adrian sighed, "Right…talking to children. Listen, you're taking me to your commander, right?" The cowboy hesitated before nodding, "Before I say anything more, I want to talk with him. If the rest of your group is as blind as you are, I don't even see a point in explaining." With that he leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes, he'd learned to sleep just about anywhere. Nothing was guaranteed with the covenant and being able to snatch bits of sleep when you could, was a lifesaver. The duo realized that trying anything more was fruitless and went their own ways and waited for the ship to land. The rest of the flight was uneventful, not that Adrian would've noticed much anyway having sleep through just about all of it, only awakening when he felt the dropship prepare for a landing. He wasn't sure much of where he was, only picking up 'Mediterranean' from the duo, further adding to his confusion. This group had reach and reach beyond just Africa then, he'd spent his brief rest trying to come to his own conclusions and a way to ask his own questions, but all his thoughts led to dead ends. He felt the ship land and saw the other two rise, the cowboy came over to him and drew a large bowie knife from his belt, kneeling down he cut the ropes around his legs and yanked him up by the elbow. Happy to just be moving his legs he offered no complaints as he was pushed forward as the ramp lowered to the ground, showcasing a base built into the cliffside. The evening light showered the base in a reddish-brown hue, turning to take in the base as he was walked down the ramp, he saw a vast sea that expanded from the cliffs edge. Waiting at the bottom of the ramp was a dozen armed guards with an attractive dark-skinned woman leading them, she was in a bulky blue armored suit and had a tattoo on her right eye.

"Is this the subject you mentioned earlier McCree?" She looked at the cowboy, so his name was McCree.

"Aye, that's right Amari. He's a strange one, keep your guard up."

"Doesn't look like much to me." Her gaze turned back to him was a cold stare, "Get your wounds looked after by Angela, she'll have your heads if she found out you guys missed her clinic." The cowboy, McCree waved and turned, the armored man gave a small bow before following.

The woman, Amari, gave him by the shoulders and pushed him forward, they walked in silence until they appeared in a planning room of some sort, a large map of Earth laid on one wall in the corner while a holographic globe laid in the center upon a conference table. Strange…there was…no mention of the covenant and even now, his walk through the exterior of the base everyone seemed calm. As if the main hostile was himself, he darkly chuckled to himself, that…there's no way. Its just not possible. He was led up a set of stairs in the same room that opened up into a lab of sorts, there was no one in the room but then he heard a series of resounding thuds and saw it swing into view, a brute. All his earlier skepticsm and doubt was replaced by a blind fury.

"Whoa hold up, you crazy motherfuckers are working with the brutes? This is…ridiculous! Those two assholes in the ship played dumb about the covenant and here you guys are working with some of the worst. Dirty fucking apes." Adrian spat, the Guard Captain had her hand firmly placed upon his shoulder, squeezing harder than she needed to keep him in line.

"Oh…well…that's not how I hoped to begin this conversation." It spoke, it SPOKE, clearly - in English. The longer he looked at it the less like a typical brute it seemed, it seemed…softer and the thing ever worse glasses. His anger faded but simmered, the confusion that had previously left came back in force.

"Who are you people? Where am I? And why aren't you fighting the covenant?!" He yelled; his voice hoarse.

The ape looked at him, unlike with the cowboy, its eyes were not filled with confusion and doubt, but with thought. "Amari please leave us but stay outside the door. I'd like to talk to our guest in private." He thought she would've protested or argued, but instead she gave a firm nod and left, his shoulder cried out in relief. This ape, who or whatever her is, commands a great deal of respect from the people here, but his demeaner seems weak…soft.

"I hoped that we can help each other out, so in a gesture of good faith I'll answer your questions first. We are Overwatch, a group of the best and brightest collected from around the world to combat evil. Or…at least that's the hope. We used to be strong but not anymore, I've had to rebuild what once was and our numbers are still small. As for where you are, this is Watchpoint Gibraltar, the main base for Overwatch." The ape animatedly moved his hands, his face soon taking on an inquisitive look, "As for your last question…that's something that I wanted to ask you about. Who is the Covenant? Or this UNSC that you're apart of?"

Adrian scoffed, "Then your guys who brought me in weren't the only clueless ones? This whole base is full of wackjobs huh? The Covenant are whose been kicking our ass for the last thirty years, planet to planet, we've lost everything. I can probably count on both hands the number of planet wide battles we've actually won, and they're invading Earth RIGHT NOW. They're forces were centered over New Mombasa but they're everywhere and it won't be long until this glass this planet like all the others."

Winston sat in silence thinking on what he'd heard, he agreed with Genji's assessment, that at the least the man in front of him believed what he was saying. But there was more to it than just that, the small glimpse of his technology, weapons, armor, was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Even the more basic things had such a different composition that it was baffling. He'd had some ideas formulating and the more he heard this man's story the more he was sure of his idea…that this man was not of their world, perhaps not even of their universe. Of course, he'd have to run calculations and talk through it more thoroughly with Athena…but there weren't many other possibilities. After what had happened with Lena so long ago, he'd always dedicated a bit of his research to the idea of what lies beyond, and this would fit in with his thoughts. However back to the matter at hand, this man would only believe the truth when he saw it with his own eyes.

Adrian stood in silence as the ape turned towards and computer and typed something in, a large screen appeared in the corner of the room. It showed a typical bustling city, people on their daily routine to work, but that wasn't what caught his eye, it was the lettering in the corner, Mombasa Streets – Live Feed / Date 06-12-2075. Adrian stumbled back, the ape stayed silent and switched through various feeds, each showing different cities on Earth progressing as normal, as if nothing were happening. The date in the bottom never changing, it couldn't…there was no way…the slipspace rupture. He…he hadn't escaped it; he'd been sucked in like he thought only what had happened to him was… unexplainable.

The ape spoke up, his voice softer almost as if he understood what was happening, "Listen…whatever this Covenant is or was, they're not attack Earth. The Covenant don't exist."