Dremuchiy Les Village, Republic of Sakha, Russia
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that things had been hectic to say the least, though it could've ended far worse than it actually had. Winston always tried to focus on the positives in life and this was no different, despite a rather rocky introduction with the Russian Federation they'd managed to turn it around into a net positive for both parties. He was slightly offended that they thought he wouldn't be able to see through their half-baked rouse, but global connections was the one thing that Overwatch desperately needed, so he'd managed to push down his own feelings on the matter for the better of the team. The diplomat he conversed with, Gorgoi, had given a vague outline of the situation in Russia, namely a group of 'dissenters' had taken towards causing unrest with the Omnic population. Winston refrained from asking whether these so-called 'dissenters' were actually rebelling within the state or simply progressive reformists seeking greater Omnic rights. Regardless it seemed that a small albeit more radical sect of these dissenters was posing a legitimate threat, bombing the houses of government officials as well as public spaces indiscriminately. The diplomat had rather bluntly stated that normally this would be a matter of the state, however this group was not only extremely elusive but also had ties to Talon which operated globally, thus outside of their jurisdiction.
The request was two-fold; Overwatch would work independently to find where the Talon shipments were originating from around the globe and also help to locate the extremists within Russia. In return, not only would they have access to whatever materials they needed to complete their goals, but successful completion would lead towards Russian acknowledgement of Overwatch legitimacy. Having one of the most powerful countries recognize them as a legitimate organization for the betterment of all would be a massive boon, it had almost seemed too good to be true but Winston and Overwatch as a whole needed them far more than they needed Overwatch. He warily accepted the conditions set forth but told himself to have Athena keep an eye out for any suspicious activity back at Gibraltar. They'd have plenty of time to think things through, Gorgoi had told him that bureaucracy would halt progress for a week at the minimum, but they'd be in contact. Winston took a breath, for the first time in what felt like years he'd had a concrete plan of action for the future, he'd have to thank Adrian for opening this silver lining it what could've been a complete mess…speaking of…where was Adrian?
"Well shit."
Adrian stared down at the massive corpse at his feet, he'd had to remind himself that this wasn't his world and he couldn't just leave the damn split-chin lying around. There was no telling what the people here could do with the technology from his world if they got their hands on it so he'd decided to make sure that wouldn't happen. There lies the problem, how the hell does one injured person dispose of a near four hundred-pound, eight-foot beast. Originally he'd planned to cook the bastard, only to remember that incendiaries were considered a 'war-crime' here, he'd gotten some concerned looks from Brigette when he'd discussed bringing them so he'd had to settle for other brutal tools of warfare that could just as easily maim and kill. Though none of those solved his current problem, his second idea had been to use the Ultra's sword and slice it into dozens of little pieces but the massive mess aside, it still wouldn't help him actually dispose or hide it. Eventually the snow would melt revealing the elite's decomposed bits nestled snuggly within armor never seen before on this Earth. After a great deal of swearing he'd decided to simply bury the body until he'd made it back to the village where he'd be able to use the Orca to haul the lump of flesh back to Gibraltar.
This train of thought led his mind to a second set of problems he'd previously barely considered before moving on, if and where the Ultra could be storing more weapons, gear, supplies, all shit he didn't want to be discovered. Even the discovery of Covenant rations would start a line of questioning that was better left ignored, the Russians seem to care more about Overwatch then the elite that was stalking the woods. But what happens when a completely alien object is found, questions are asked, answered are sought, it would only lead to greater problems. The scrap in Berlin that seemed more Covenant the longer he thought about it, was a miracle in that it was far too small for anything useful to be gleamed from it and too insignificant to be worth investing fully. That's changed now, an elite was here living in these woods for fuck knows how long staying in some shelter, but it'd need something to get it here to this world. It didn't simply pop into existence for shits and giggles, no it traveled here same as him. There's no way that any creature could survive a slipspace jump without being encased, sheltered from the fabric of space and time, so it must have been in a drop pod similar to his. The question now that seemingly kept on giving, was where the hell it was.
He grunted as the plasma burn on his leg flared, these problems need to be dealt with but first he needed to focus on the matters at hand. Burying the elite was grueling, tireless work that felt like it stretched on for ages, it was only worsened by the fact he could only reliably use one hand and walk as fast as an inbred sloth. By the time he finished his HUD told him it was a bit past midnight, he wasn't sure when he'd first left to hunt the Ultra but he wouldn't be surprised if it had been hours ago. Before burying the elite he'd pilfered it's corpse for whatever gear it had with it, he placed the hilt of the energy sword in a secure pocket on his thigh while holstering the plasma pistol to his hip. There'd also been a few plasma grenades tucked away that he more than happily took for himself. Looking around he felt a brief dread passed over him as he realized he'd have to find his way back out of this shit hole forest, the built-in compass & radar would lead him back to the village but it didn't stop the thought of trudging back through this pitch-black forest being absolutely awful. On the plus side, despite the -30 degree Celsius weather his suit's internal heating systems made sure that at least he wouldn't freeze to death, got to focus on the small things he supposed.
By the time the lights from the village became visible to him his left leg felt as though it'd just fall off any second and he'd honestly wished it would. Never before had he felt such a willingness to embrace death to end the pain, he was being dramatic of course but plasma burns were often the most agonizing injuries that one could receive, usually it was followed by an immediate evacuation for said burn victim away from the frontlines to receive medical treatment. Of course he'd been absolutely brimming with luck as he got the pleasure of walking for at least a mile on the previously mentioned excruciating burn. Sighing to himself he knew the worst was yet to come, it didn't take a genius to realize what would happen when molten metal and bubbling flesh met and cooled, especially in these below freezing temperatures. He'd rather have Doctor Ziegler do it but he wasn't keen on waiting to Gibraltar, so he'd just have to hope that whatever field medic they have was competent. It's just like ripping off a bandage he told himself, except that when he ripped off the bandage it'd also tear whatever skin it was fused with, and instead of a bandage it was a calf-sized sheet of titanium metal. Just like ripping off a bandage.
He was almost insulted when he fully entered the village, limping like a wounded animal, because it seemed as if most of the people had been expecting his death. He internally scoffed at their doubt, as if he'd let some split lip take him out in some backwoods village where his squad wouldn't even see him go out in a blaze of glory. The soldiers guarding the perimeter looked on in a mix awe and fear as he shambled past them, violet blood drenched his body and his armor sported several new scratches as a testament to the ferocity of the fight.
Winston and the General quickly approached him, he already knew what they wanted before they spoke. "It's dead, there's no chance of it coming back."
Lieutenant General Valinsky looked him over with praise, "I can see that. It's a shame that so many lives were wasted before you could step in." The General turned towards Winston, "Your team has kept up their side of the bargain and so we shall uphold ours, you'll be hearing from us in the next week or so."
Winston smiled, showing his feral teeth in a sick grin, it seemed the General didn't have the same reservations Adrian had as the two gladly shook hands.
Adrian spoke up, pain lacing his words, "Lieutenant General, I assume your unit has a combat medic or two." Valinsky nodded as he already began to call over two of his men, "Well as a start to this budding relationship, I hope you'd spare your medics because I'm in an unbelievable amount of fucking pain…sir."
He didn't pay attention to what the man said, instead letting his weight fall to the ground as he sat in the snow. Two men carrying duffel bags kneeled down next to him, both seemed to be around his age.
The lead medic spoke as he began to take out his equipment, "Kakiye u vas travmy?" (What are your injuries?)
"Nu, u menya yest' odna bol'shaya dyrka v moyey ruke i rasplavlennaya bronya sroslas' so mnoy." (Well I've got one big fucking hole in my hand and melted armor fused to me leg.)
The two medics eyes widened in surprise before they shared an uncertain look, Adrian spoke up once more, "Ya ne ozhidayu chuda, prosto zalatat' ruku i otdelit' plot' ot metalla. Ya pozabochus' ob ostal'nom." (I'm not expecting a miracle, just patch the hand and sever the flesh from the metal. I'll handle the rest.)
Telling them he would get the rest healed by Ziegler as Gibraltar wasn't important, so he kept ir brief in the hopes that they wouldn't drag out the process. The hand went smoothly enough, mostly just some bandage wraps, medicine, and disinfectant, though that wasn't the part he was worried about. Even the most trained field medics in the UNSC had trouble with fused flesh because of plasma burns, he didn't have keep his hopes up for these two who'd likely never dealt with such a injury, instead resigning himself to the inevitable fuck-ups and pain that would follow. When they moved onto his leg he focused on keeping his breathing even, they give him a couple shots of morphine but that wouldn't do much when the flesh is literally being ripped from your body, but he appreciated the gesture. When they brought the heated blade under the armor to start severing the mix of seared flesh and melted metal he was proud to say he didn't scream, that he'd avoided going into shock, but when they eventually did what they could and the inevitable ripping of the titanium calf plate came, he was not ashamed in the least to say that his scream echoed that of a dying beast clawing itself out of the depths of hell.
A/N: I've returned from my trip and while writing this intermission I found myself ahead of schedule so I decided to continue the story albeit in a very brief fashion. Not much to say about this chapter other than its shortness felt better to me than tacking it onto a longer chapter later on, it wraps up this sall arc while also setting up some future plots so I figured it was a good note to end on. Now for the intermission questions.
AGentleRose: In regards to how much I plan to mix the universes of Overwatch and Halo, there will definitely be more elements of the Halo universe showing up later, however I wouldn't expect a full scale war anytime soon. Tensions and stakes will rise as the situation deteriorates but most encounters I have planned stay relatively small scale, as in there won't be a planetary invasion by the Covenant at any point simply because it wouldn't be a very long story if that happened.
Senor Frizzle: As I'm sure has been evident to most of you, the pairing is eventually going to me MercyxAdrian, however that's going to be a ways down the line for two reasons. One is I want it to feel like a natural slow burn progression where both sides have their own lives and relationships that's occur outside of each other. Two, its not the focus of the story nor Adrian's mission, their relationship will continue to grow and their will be plenty of character building but Adrian's priority is of course getting home no matter the cost.
The big chihuahu: Thanks for info! I looked into the lore of the prelate and found it really interesting, I'm not sure if it will show up in the story but who knows. This goes out in general, I do read every review and PM I get to reflect on criticisms, ideas, and general thoughts by you guys. So please feel free to leave constructive criticisms and ideas. I won't promise that what you say will make it in, but I will take it into consideration, already a number of reviews and PMs have given me inspiration for ideas in the story that I feel make it better than what I had originally planned.
ArbyandtheChiff: There will be greater focus on the Overwatch team in later chapters, I definitely have trouble keeping track of all the characters that have or haven't made appearances so I'll definitely try to focus on expanding interactions to make it seem more natural.
Servexal: Tying back a bit to an earlier review, there will be greater escalation in terms of the Halo universe coming to the Overwatch world. Specfically on your question about Kasporov's squad and Spartans, I can tell you for certain that Spartans are unlikely to make a living appearance in this story simply because it'd be a massive power shift. A Spartan would outclass most characters in Overwatch by a landslide, and in this story would overshadow Adrian's use, why send in an ODST on most missions when a walking titanium behemoth can do it but better. Kasporov's squad will likely appear later, how and when I'm not entirely sure but I crafted most of their characters and like them quite a lot so it'd be a shame to just toss them.
Dude64: I've kept Adrian's appearance pretty vague, I tend to struggle with character descriptions and there was never a point in the story when I felt like a description would flow well or be necessary to the plot. So aside from some vague descriptions of his hair, body, etc. I prefer to let the reader imagine the main character their own way.
Well that's it for the questions in the reviews, if you have more questions please feel free to ask or just comment if you have some ideas you think would be interesting. Reviews give me motivation to write faster so don't be shy, anyway I hope you're all doing well and I'll see you soon with the next update.