Middle of Nowhere, Udmurt Republic, Russia
Adrian shifted in the limousine he found himself in, the oligarch Boris Gregori was frankly paranoid about outside forces meddling in his affairs though no because he thought he had anything to fear in terms of his illegal activities. No, rather Gregori worried that agents from various intelligence agencies weren't regal enough to attend such a gala, essentially, he worried his enemies were too poor and would bring down the high-class atmosphere of his parties. To combat this, each guest was asked to arrive a randomized distant location to then be picked up by a steady stream of his own loyal men. Hence his current situation, a mixed feeling of disgust and uncertainty as he sat in an unfamiliar vehicle in a stiff suit headed to a place armed with only his SOCOM and his own fists.
"Christ I feel like a clown." He muttered to himself as he looked towards the rest of his squad, Fareeha and Liam dressed in all black suits very similar to his own sat in their own states of discomfort. Angela is her silk dress layered with thick wool coat seemed to be the only one not feeling out of place, though he supposed that it wasn't uncommon to dress up in her line of work, but for the rest of them…
"You look like one too." Liam ribbed.
Adrian kicked him in the shin as his response, Fareeha sighed, "Like dealing with a couple of 'atfal."
"I hope that was an insult." Barbie joked.
"You'll enjoy it more when she breaks your nose you masochist." Adrian retorted. Any further arguing was silenced as the driver announced that they were nearing the house, though when they came into view calling the building a house did it a disservice. The thing was massive, more like a palace than a home, though Adrian supposed that being a powerful oligarch with money up the ass didn't leave much that couldn't be bought.
Angela's voice broke him from his musing, "Now remember what we discussed, we're not here to cause a scene." Despite Adrian and Liam's previous energetics, they were now dead serious, most ODSTs had a hint of crazy in them, hell there's not many else who willingly put their face in a pod freefalling from orbit, but on mission you'd be hard pressed to find a solider more dedicated to completing the mission than an ODST. As for the discussion, Adrian remembered it well, on the books he was not only her head bodyguard but also her interpreter if the need arose. That cover gave him access to go just about wherever she went without raising too many questions and if Gregori's fondness of the doctor was to be believed, then it wouldn't be hard to convince the double-crossing bastard to go for a private conversation. Angela was right, they had to exfiltrate the oligarchic without being noticed, at the least the needed to try and avoid unnecessary conflict. Though knowing how well plans usually went…Adrian patted the area of his jacket with half a dozen magazines sewed in…he was prepared for the worst.
Still he felt out of his element and despite Barbie's joking nature he could tell his brother-in-arms felt the same way, other than his constant musings about the general lack of Covenant, this sort of dress-up espionage was beyond his range of comfort. Hell at least when they got back gunny couldn't give em' shit about going outside their comfort zones anymore. Sighing one last time will still fidgeting with he cuffs on his jacket that felt just a touch too tight, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he spied Angela giving him a reassuring smile, he gave a faint grin in return before the limousine stopped entirely. Taking a deep breath he looked towards Liam who nodded, his face impressively impassive. Adrian opened the car door, stepping out onto cobbled road, scanning his immediate surroundings he had to force himself to ignore the towering stone palace in front of him, instead acting upon his new duties as Liam and Fareeha stepped out behind him taking defensive position as the guest of honor gracefully made her way from the vehicle. Along the cobblestone pathway outside the 'house', there was a line of limousines all identical to their own along with a number of other attendees chatting in the crisp open air. Given that this event publicly proposed as a gathering of the scientific minds, to Adrian it wasn't hard to tell who was in fact an egghead and who was here for their paycheck to make the eggheads look good. Honestly it kind of baffled him, why waste money paying for a high-end escort when everyone knows that it's just some dolled up call girl, the same as everyone else. Fuck this is why he could never make it as one of these high-society types, he just didn't get it.
Still that's not why he was here; closing the door behind Ziegler as she moveout from the vehicle, he took his spot right beside her as they made their way down the luxurious crimson carpet rolled out along the steps as Amari and Barbie walked directly behind them. Above them the night sky was dotted with the stars of the universe, something that Adrian hadn't seen in what felt like ages. The light pollution in Gibraltar usually made it impossible to see the wonders of the night, in a way to see them was comforting, it reminded him of travelling aboard any number of cruisers and being able to look out the window to see across the vast void of space littered with the life of stars across a never-ending expanse.
Nearing the entrance, they were stopped by an armed guard in a white tuxedo, "Name?"
"Doctor Angela Ziegler."
"Ah of course, apologies. Mister Gregori would enjoy making your acquaintance tonight."
She flashed him one of her trademark smiles, "Of course." Noting that he turned his focus to her escort she clarified, "My guard detail, one never can be too safe can they?"
"No ma'am, however I'm going to ask they surrender any weapons on their persons at this time."
"Oh well, they-"
"I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't allow foreign armaments on the premise." The guard looked towards Adrian expectantly, "You'll get them back when you leave."
"Can't very well do my job without my tools can I?" Adrian had no intention of giving up his SOCOM, even if it wasn't prepared for a shitshow bodies would drop before he relinquished it to someone else.
"Guess you'll have to make do with your wits." The guard made a move to grab the pistol from Adrian's holster.
"Touch me and I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in misery." The guard halted, narrowing his eyes at Adrian as he moved to shoulder his own assault rifle.
Angela was about to speak up in a mix of fretting and anger that the mission could already be in jeopardy before a deep Russian voice spoke up from within the entrance.
"Yest' problema, Dmitriy?" An older man stepped into view, they all immediately recognized him as the target and subsequent host of this event, Boris Gregori. Up close he wasn't as tall as Adrian but either he'd been packing some pounds since the last picture or that photographer really knew to avoid his size, because the first thought that ran through Adrian's mind was that he might be a bit harder to nab than he thought.
"Ser, etot merzavets ne sdast oruzhiye." The guard spoke quickly, flashing his eyes towards Adrian who snorted.
"I'm not the dipshit here."
Their eyes shot to Adrian in surprise before Boris' landed upon Angela, his previous mask of annoyance turning to one of immense joy. It seems that the oligarchs favor of Ziegler was true, though all parties involved knew it was simply the man trying to secure her research for himself. It was especially tainted with Gregori's intentions to weaponize and sell her work, an act that Angela found personally revolting considering her effort to save lives and not harm them.
Boris spoke once more, "Doctor Ziegler! I must admit I have a great deal of respect for you, you're work is second to none. I had heard that you sought to come but to meet in person is a joy, I'm most interested to hear your presentation."
"Dankeschön."
Boris waved away the guard as he opened his arms wide, beckoning her into his palace and by proxy the rest of them, "For your guards I think I can make an exception for you as long as you keep your hund on his leash."
Angela shot Adrian a subtle glare, shutting him down from snapping back as the old bastard continued to ramble. Shifting his focus from the two in front of him, he gazed at the massive room that opened up before them, an elegantly decorated space with an ornamental podium standing at the far end with a blank screen behind it. The room itself was a simple square filled to the prim with scientists, scholars, and academics from around the globe with raised second floor encompassing it. Turning his attention back to the target, he caught only the tail end of his conversation as Boris wished Angela a good evening as he had other business to attend. Once he was far enough away Ziegler turned to face the trio, in particular shooting Adrian with an exasperated look.
"Adrian please, I thought you were going to break that man's arms."
"Thought? He would have if there hadn't been some divine intervention on the part of our target." Liam snorted to himself as he made note of the room as well.
"We'll have to thank him later." Amari commented sarcastically.
"Yeah I'm an idiot I get it, for now lets get back on track. Canvas the place, find a good area that the Doc can lure Boris too for a conversation or drinks or whatever but also make sure it's got quick access to outside so we can get extracted by the Russians. We have until the end of Ziegler's speech to figure out a plan because word has it that Boris likes to personally handle all his investments after the big show of new tech. That's the only time we can guarantee that he'll be mingling and available to talk with the Doc."
Amari and Liam affirmed their mission before splitting up to get a layout of the massive house, leaving Adrian and Angela behind in the middle of the bustling crowd.
"Apologies Doc, hold habits die hard I suppose."
She sighed as she turned to smile, "Well what's done is done, besides now it won't be as suspicious at least for you to be following me everywhere if Boris believes its to keep you 'on a leash' so to speak.
"Heh, suppose so." He glanced around uncertainty, the gravity of his uncertainty settling in once more as he stood awkwardly, he was trained to kill and kill well, not to play dress up around a bunch for rich pricks.
"It's unusual to see you anxious, normally you're so confident."
"Must've slept through the part of my training on high society."
Adrian tugged at his collar for some space only for his hand to be swatted away as Ziegler hissed for him to knock it off, "The tough marine can't handle a suit?" She jested as she fixed the tie he'd just messed up.
"This one can't know, I'm actually very sensitive you know."
She smirked, "You can survive countless life-threatening battle wounds, live in the harshest environments for months on end, but deep down is sensitive to a bit of class. The shocking truth is revealed."
"Oh doctor you wound me."
"Alright I say we clear off to get a drink, sound good?"
"Fuck I thought you'd never ask." Before correcting himself as she gave him a friendly glance, "I mean… uh…frick?"
She laughed at his confused look, "Just try to keep your language at bay until we're back at the base or at least away from someone who might know me."
Adrian took the lead as most people took one look at him before quickly moving out of the way, it was easier than struggling through the crowd of people. A couple whispers caught his trained ears the two made their way through, many seemed to recognize the good Doctor while others questioned why she was having special treatment, which led him to snort to himself. He thought to himself that all anyone needed was a veteran of a half-century long war turned bodyguard and they too could receive their very own special treatment.
When they reached the bar, it seemed a couple dozen drinks were already set out in advance, handing one of the glasses to Angela he sniffed it before downing it in one gulp. Grimacing at the taste, some kind of champagne probably but to him it just tasted like nail polish. Wiping his lips with a disgusted expression, he put the glass back down as Ziegler covered her laugh.
"Not to your liking?"
"I was expecting something a bit…more…not awful."
Adrian was resting his elbows on the bar counter as he looked around for a different drink before his attention was drawn to someone calling out the Doc's name, his eyes shot over to Ziegler as she sipped her drink, eyes just as surprised as his own as a man around her age made his way over. He had circle rimmed glasses with light brown hair swept to the side, a faint German accent laced his words.
"Lorne Jacobs?" She questioned.
"The one and only, I didn't expect to see you here, it's been what? Ten years?"
"I didn't expect to be here either, but you know how things can change."
"Don't I know it indeed." Lorne seemed to have noticed Adrian staring as he subtly tried to puff out his chest, "You got a problem buddy?"
Adrian pushed himself off standing to his full height, only a couple inches taller than Lorne Jacobs.
"Ah Lorne please, this is my bodyguard for the event, as well as translator for the Russian crowd. Never can be too safe."
"Makes sense then why someone like him was allowed in." Jacobs said snidely before shifting the conversation towards the last time they met.
Adrian sighed as he questioned if everyone here was a such an asshole, losing interest in their conversation he turned back towards the bar but kept an eye on the recently appearing prick. Pulling a cigarette from the inside of his coat pocket he patted himself down as he struggled to find his lighter, swearing in Russian as he wondered if he lost before a snapping of a lighter appeared in front of him. Looking up the bartender on duty held out his lighter to Adrian who gratefully accepted.
"Spasibo." Adrian thanked the man.
"Anything for a kinsman, especially if he's just as tired of these stick-up assholes as the rest of us." The bartender spoke in Russian, equally as frustrated with local flavor of people.
"I imagine you've got it worse having to deal with this throughout the whole night."
He nodded in agreement, "You've got that right, at least some of them tip well."
The two continued their small talk to pass the time with Adrian keeping a watch out of the corner of his eye. The bartender gave Adrian a glass of whiskey from under the counter, a small blessing Adrian considered the highlight of the night to which he made sure to properly convey his thanks.
"Gotta admit though, your accent is a bit strange, you from the Urals?"
"Something like that…" Adrian wracked his mind around where that might have been, but Russian was a big fucking place and the only thing he knew of Earth was where he was supposed to land all those months ago, "Grew up in a small village though so developed the local dialect." He wasn't worried about a bartender being suspicious but still hoped that his answer would make sense, the less suspicion they had tonight the better.
The bartender thankfully nodded in agreement, "Ah makes sense, plenty of isolated villages around especially in your neck of the woods though I'm sure you know all about that."
Adrian internally breathed a sigh of relief, as he was going to reply he saw movement from the corner of his eye as Lorne tried and failed to flirt with the doctor. Maybe the man thought he was far more suave than he actually was, or that the Ziegler would be an easy catch, but his attempts to sweet talk Angela to a quieter area were hilariously stonewalled against her no-nonsense rebuttals. Excusing himself from his newfound friend, he walked up to them as he laid a hand upon Jacob's shoulder, lightly turning him to put the man's attention on Adrian.
"Leave the lady alone, she refused your company now just accept it like a man and find someone else."
"This isn't any of your business you meathead thug." He jabbed a finger into Adrian's chest, "I'm doing quite well, now just scuttle off to whatever hole you crawled out of and stay there." He said with a disgustingly smug face as if he'd single handedly ruined Adrian's very existence with those words.
He tried to turn back to Angela, but Adrian grabbed his shoulder once more, this time forcefully turning the man to face himself much to the surprise of Lorne Jacobs. Jacobs went to poke Adrian in the chest once more, a slurry of derogatory smears readied at his lips before his finger was caught tightly in Adrian's grip. The slurs died on Lorne's lips as Adrian wrapped his arm around Jacob's shoulder in a friendly manner while also covering the man's mouth with his hand. With his other free hand wrapped around Jacob's finger he whispered in the furiously sweating man's ear.
"I'm sure Doctor Ziegler was glad to see you, but she's busy now and thus too occupied to entertain private conversation. Do you understand?" Jacob's nodded slightly as Adrian continued, "Good, now what's going to happen is I'm going to let go, you're going to leave with this reminder, and not bother us or anyone else for the rest of the night alright?"
Once more the man nodded, relief in his eyes as his body relaxed before his eyes shot open in agony as Adrian bent the finger back with a subtle crack in one smooth movement causing the man's legs to falter. He tried to scream but it only came out as a very muffled grunting that was easily overpowered by the mass of people conversing behind them going on about their business.
Adrian waited a few seconds for the man to calm back down before speaking, "Now that you've been reminded remember what I said, because I will do it again, and I will find you no matter where you are in this building."
The man furiously nodded as sweat profusely ran down his face, Adrian released his hand from the man's mouth as he desperately drank in the air before scurrying off into the crowd like rat all while coddling his finger.
Turning to Angela he remarked, "Germans am I right?" She glowered at him with faint annoyance, "Oh right, you Swiss Germans are alright though."
His poor attempt at humor worked as she let out a tired sigh, "He was an acquaintance from college, much nicer back then but I suppose people can change for the worse as well as for the better. You didn't have to be so harsh dealing with him though, not that I'll lose any tears over his injury."
"He is in a room with some of the best doctors in the world, I'm sure he'll live." They chuckled together as they walked away from their site of altercation, "Gotta admit it was pretty smooth how I handled that though right? Almost like a spy, maybe I missed my true calling by becoming a solider."
"You sure changed your tone from earlier, I thought this was the bane of your existence."
"Still is, but the whiskey was pretty good."
A crackle from their comms drew their attention, "Fareeha here, snuck my way into the library on the east side which should prove a good spot. Its massive with a balcony on the opposite end, unless someone decides to stray from the party for some late-night literature, I think we'll be good."
Angela nodded as she replied, "Understood, I'll convince the Greogri to head there when he makes his rounds."
As if he summoned by the mere mention of his name, Boris Gregori's voice rang out across the room as he stood behind the podium Adrian had noticed upon their arrival. He followed Angela to one of the open tables littered throughout the room, taking a seat next to her as he only kept a vague focus on the oligarchs speech, something about everything having arrived as well as some empty congratulations on all their hard work. He called announced the first panel of scientists to which Adrian zoned out even more, Angela had enough attention for them both, so he turned his focus to tracking Boris' movement. He didn't think the man suspected them but better to be aware of their enemies path regardless. The man stood off to the side with members of his entourage discussing something, he imagined the shady work of the underworld never slept and likely neither did Boris.
How much time passed before he was broken out of his self-focused introspection, he wasn't sure only that he felt himself being shook as if being woken from a daydream. Blinking a couple times, he looked towards the cause of the shaking who was Angela letting him know it was her turn for her speech. He gave her a smile wishing her the best of luck though unlike the others he didn't turn his attention away. It was funny in a way, her research presentation is the most genuine part of her existence here, well perhaps not funny but interesting to think about. Most scientists here have no knowledge of the underlying purpose, they simply believe it is a celebration of the greatest scientific achievements and thoughts in recent times. Yet Ziegler who knows the reality full well, is still going to give an impassioned presentation on her work that she hadn't been able to share in the past couple years for fear of Talon relation, though overzealous those worries may be. He tried to watch with genuine interest in her presentation but most of the stuff she talked about went over his head.
"Well she sounds awfully passionate about what she's saying, so I guess I'll just have to take her word for how great it is." He heard Liam quip over the comms.
"It's a good thing you were brought for your brawn instead…though that also seems to br lacking." Amari jibbed back.
Adrian quietly chuckled at the interaction though forced himself to keep his composer as he saw the balding oligarch himself making his way over to the table. The man made himself comfortable in Angela's chair as he leaned back, watching the presentation with great enjoyment.
"I apologize for my comments earlier, as a working man you must understand how hectic everything can be in a situation like this. Some people just come to stir up trouble."
"Of course, sir." Adrian replied impassively.
Boris nodded, "Though you must know how much weight your employer carries in the scientific community, this recent development of hers especially, I believe it could be revolutionary. As it stands its fantastic, but with a bit more development and a change in direction…the world itself…would change."
Adrian stared at the man unnoticed, it started to make more sense why Russia was willing to disregard one of their political cornerstones if he was still willing to change the statis quo, still Adrian had to keep his facade, "I don't know about that, I just do what I'm ordered to."
Gregori's face fell as a frown of disappointment crossed his lips, "I suppose you wouldn't…". The frown didn't last as it vanished it the blink of an eye before being replaced by the exaggerated excitement as Angela finished her speech to massive applause. Adrian wouldn't be surprised if half the volume came from Boris slapping his meaty hands right only a couple feet from himself. He winced at the noise as Ziegler made her way off stage and through the clapping ensemble, a faint look of surprise upon seeing Boris already awaiting her return. Adrian could only give a halfhearted shrug at her curious look before she turned her focus towards their target.
"Ah Mr. Greogri, I must admit I'm surprised to see you again so soon, I must be drawing the jealousy of many others."
"Not at all Doctor Ziegler, though I admit my motivation to talk is a bit selfish, I have a proposition I'd like to discuss with you."
"As it happens, I was going to ask the same of you, if you don't mind can we got somewhere a bit quieter?"
"Well of course! It seems were cut from the same cloth you and I."
Adrian rolled his eyes at the flowery exchange, it reeked of utter bullshit but he had naught to do but follow the duo as they walked away from the table. He kept a nice enough distance behind them to not stay in Boris' focus, though he did wonder how the doctor was going to convince him to go to the library, ah well it wasn't for him to deal with. He trusted Angela to have everything in hand. Walking out as another scientist took the stage, out of the corner of his eye he spied a familiar black suit appear from crowd and fall in line next to him as well as another suit from the opposite side. As long as they were clustered together, they have free reign wherever Boris and Angela went, a blundering mistake on the part of his security forces but a blessing for themselves.
Barbie leaned in whispering, "Enjoy yourself? Just like back home Kasporov shoots the shit while the devilishly handsome Liam White handles the work."
"If we weren't in public I would strangle you."
"Now you sound like Gunny."
Adrian tried not to smirk as he saw Boris opening a tall oak door in front of them, glancing towards Amari she nodded in confirmation that they were at the right room. Continuing to walk forward, Boris held up his hand as the trio neared the entrance.
"Apologies but she'll be perfectly safe in here, but we must talk of business now."
If they didn't have to bring him in alive, Adrian would kill the bastard right here, alas orders are orders.
"Of course, if you'd allow me to close the doors." Adrian responded.
"Oh well thank you." He spoke somewhat surprised having expected more resistance, turning around smugly he didn't notice as Adrian motioned for Amari and White to enter the room as well. When the door closed, he opened his mouth to speak but found he couldn't as a firm arm had wrapped around his neck, squeezing his throat shut. It was harder than he thought, the man's girth added an extra layer of protective fat around his neck, like a natural cushion; Adrian was squeezing with all his might, but the oligarch was surprisingly resilient. He felt the sausage fingers of the man dragging across his suit jacket as he tried to pry off Adrian's arms to no avail. Just as it seemed the man was going to pass out, he surprised them all by thrusting backwards with all his might causing him and Adrian to barrel through the door they'd just entered. Sending splinters everywhere the crash knocked Adrian off Boris as they both splayed onto the carpeted floor of the palace. As if to exacerbate the problems, a couple armed guards just happened to be making their rounds at the end of the hallway and the loud crash unsurprisingly caught their attention. Rolling out of the way as a burst of bullets erupted the floor where he'd just been, Adrian drew the SOCOM from his hip and unloaded into the legs of the two guards as Boris screamed for help, but not before Amari smashed his face into the floor with her fist. The man laid there unconscious as a blood flowed from the man's broken nose into a small puddle. Frantically Adrian scrambled off the ground, ripping a fresh magazine from the inside of his jacket before executing the two guards as he rushed over to his team to help carry the body. Shouts down the hall calling for someone to check out the gunshots caught his attention as he cursed a storm at their shitty luck.
"Angela call in the exfil, Liam grab his shoulders while I grab the legs, and Amari keep us covered."
They went to do their respective tasks as Adriana and Liam bent down, hefting the heavy man off the ground as they slowly made their way back through the shattered door and into the library. At the door, gunshots could be heard popping off as Amari began to pick off first set of guards. He and Liam tried to carry the body as fast as they could, but the library was lavishly extravagant which meant it was also unnecessarily large.
"Fuck that's a lot of them, someone give me another gun!" Amari yelled as she fired a few more shoots before changing her mag as she rushed into the room, not waiting for an answer she ripped Liam's pistol from it's holster as she opened fire with both her own and Liam's pistol as a set of Boris' private security came into view at the door. Fareeha continued to provide akimbo support as they made their way towards the balcony. Just as they crossed out into the open air, a dark steel aircraft lowered vertically from right above them presenting them with an opened hatch at it's rear with a couple Russian agents who helped provide support as they opened fire as well. Liam and Adrian picked up their pace the final few meters before practically throwing their target into the back of the vehicle where the Russian operatives switched from providing covering fire to dragging the man further into the craft. Adrian took over providing support as he yelled for Amari to make a mad dash for the craft. His SOCOM tore through whatever armored vests the guards we're wearing with ease, reaching within his jacket for the final magazine he watched as Fareeha jumped over the balcony railing and onto the hatch of the aircraft.
Letting out a few more shots on the closest guards, Adrian followed suit and jumped from the railing, landing with a heavy thud upon the metal floor of the aircraft just as it started to pull away. He barely had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief when he felt something wrap around his leg, looking down he saw a clawed gauntlet wrapped around like a snake as it emerged from a trail of black mist. It tugged on his leg sending him to the ground, he desperately scraped the hatch for a grip as he felt himself being pulled out and the wind rushing past him.
"Adrian!" He heard Liam scream as he tried to grab onto his brother-in-arms but just a moment too late as Adrian's nails dragged across metal before they felt nothing but the open air beneath them. The aircraft started to grow distant in his view as the yells of his teammates became drowned out by the rushing wind whipping by is head. Landing with a heavy thud onto a grassy garden below, he struggled to get up only for the raging pain in his back to send him crashing back down to the grown. Groaning in pain, he felt his consciousness slipping from him despite his attempts to keep his eyes open. The black mist materialized to the side as well as a slim purple figure made itself known, fucking Talon he thought to himself.
"Consider this payback from Barcelona." She smirked as Reaper's boot filled Adrian's vision before landing with a crunch. Widowmaker looked a second longer at the unconscious pain-in-her-ass before turning her attention to Gabriel. "What now?"
Reaper thought on his words a bit before thinking, "Now we take him to the doctor, she'll love having a new pet. 'Sides I'm going to have a quick chat with our friend first, so having a doctor nearby will keep him alive as long as we need."
A/N: Well this chapter felt like it took forever, and after numerous revisions this is what's left. I'll be honest some parts I like, other parts I'm not sure how I feel about so I'm curious to hear all of your thoughts. Anyway I'm just glad to be past that chapter and onto something new. With that said I believe we are nearing about 300 pages, so thank you all for the support and in the grand scheme of this whole story I'd like to think we're a bit over the half waypoint now. While a lot of plots points change as time goes on, I've had a definite beginning, climax, and end since the start of this project and I'd say we're definitely over halfway point. Already I have some ideas for a possible sequel or at the least some more Halo content, but that's quite a ways from now so we'll deal with that when we get there. Thanks again for all the support, leaving your thoughts below and enjoy!
ComparedDread12: I'm glad you noticed! One of my favorite shows and I've always thought ODSTs and Band of Brothers had some great overlap, managed to catch that specific episode a few days before writing and figured it would fit right in with the characters of Liam and Adrian. Thanks for the support as well!
Guest: Well for future work I have seriously thought about a straight ODST story in the halo universe. Following my above comment I see a lot of overlap between band of brothers and ODST, so I have toyed with the idea of a Band of Brothers inspired ODST story. Honestly unless I have a great idea for a sequel, I'd prefer to take on an original story but again we'll get to that when we get to it. Thanks for leaving your thoughts!
Sm0keyPanda: Sorry for not getting back to you earlier, but I keep forgetting to add these review chunks at the end of my chapters. Anyway I'm glad you enjoy McCree, I always try to put the most work into making sure the character interactions are enjoyable and flow well, actually its part of the reason I wanted to include an ODST friend. A fresh interaction and set of dialogue to work with in the story, still trying to nail down Liam's character but hopefully I've differentiated him enough from Adrian while still having him as an enjoyable character. Thanks for the constant support from even the very beginning! Best regards my man!