Disclaimer: I own no franchise mentioned in this work. Halo belongs to 343, Overwatch belongs to Blizzard.

So, it's been a while. 6 months or so. I apologize for the wait, and I will try to have another chapter out to celebrate the One Year Anniversary of publishing this fic. Seems a lot shorter than that, though.


"Gents," the officer greeted as he stopped about five feet from the two heavily armed and armored soldiers. The markings on his uniform matched the UNSC equivalent of Colonel. Both the Chief and Arbiter looked back silently, neither feeling the need to speak up. The Colonel glanced back to his troops before continuing, "While I appreciate your assistance with the defense, only ADF troops are authorized to conduct military operations within the country."

Chief muted his helmet speakers and inquired, "Cortana?"

"Exfil is inbound. Air patrols have taken notice but no interception has been attempted," the AI responded smoothly.

A flick of his eyes to the marker projected on his HUD showed his acknowledgement to Cortana. With an exit plan inbound, the Spartan unmuted his comms and turned his attention to the military officer, "Understood. Extraction inbound."

"That's just nice, but I've been ordered to bring you to UN Headquarters on suspicion of Overwatch activity. There's a heli on the way for you," the ADF commander replied.

Thel huffed at the human, obviously doubtful of their intentions and capability. The Sangheili responded, "We have our own craft. Our presence will be gone swiftly."

Before the Colonel could argue, the UNSC transport appeared from the clouds, the roar of its engines already audible to those on the ground. Instead of landing, the dropship just turned and opened its door to the two warriors, allowing them to board easily. Any protests from the natives were cut off by the hovering craft or ignored by both Chief and the Arbiter.

As the door closed, Chief inquired, "Destination?"

"According to the information I've gathered, New York is the headquarters of the United Nations. We'll be there in a little under an hour," Cortana reported.


It was around 2100 Eastern Standard Time when the Pelican began descending from the atmosphere. At twenty kilometers up, the UNSC transport had been running along the lower side of the stratosphere, allowing Cortana to open the throttle.

As they approached their destination, Chief could feel the subtle relent of gravity as the small craft began the descent. Punching through the cloud-cover was quite noticeable as well as the moisture tried to jostle the ship, to little avail against Cortana's direction and the dropship's considerable mass.

117 rose from his seat and made his way to the cockpit, aware of the Arbiter looking up at him for a second before the Elite lost interest. Before the Chief could get settled in to manually steer the ship to wherever they needed to go, a transmission sounded from a frequency used by ancient radios.

"This is NY Center to Unknown aircraft, you are entering controlled airspace, identify immediately."

Cortana replied, "Center, this is UNSC Pelican Alpha One Actual on approach, authorization UNSC FFG-201, prioritization code Bravo 7-2-Sierra 117."

A short silence followed as the controller tried to figure out whether any of those were actually on record. Of course nothing was found as the ATC responded, "Alpha One Actual, permission is not granted for approach. Break off and stand by."

"Negative, Center. On vertical approach to UN 03," the AI argued, taking the landing spot from Ground Control's list of vacant ramps.

"Alpha One Actual, we read your ground speed at 3304 knots, three three zero four knots. Confirm vertical approach."

Chief could hear the amusement in Cortana's voice as she spoke, "Vertical approach to UN 03 for Pelican Alpha One Actual." Considering that UNSC Pelican's were capable of orbital re-entry, along with transporting large vehicles such as Scorpions, an unladen Pelican had a top speed that was easily sufficient to reach escape velocity, which was well above their current speed.

The main body of the airport quickly became visible off to the side of the dropship as Chief took over and circled around the landing spot designated on his HUD. Although he had never seen the New York spaceport himself, Chief knew that it would look vastly different from the relatively simple building before him. Instead of long runways and clustered ramps, it would have a massive terminal on the ground for those arriving or taking off while the main docking area would be in orbit, connected through the Orbital elevator.

Ignoring this difference, the Spartan brought the ship to a hover before beginning to gently lower it to the pad. From the looks of it, UN 03 was a landing space designated for helicopters or other vertically-capable vehicles.

No one was visible around the area, which was preferable considering the possible media presence that could have been waiting for them. Perhaps it was a scare, much like the Covenant had been for the UNSC, or maybe just that no one expected the Pelican to arrive so quickly. Considering that the Australians hadn't reacted too negatively to the Arbiter, it could be either one.

As the bird hit the deck with a hiss of pneumatics from the landing supports, the Spartan rose from his position to inspect what he could outside. While it was dark, his augmentations made such lighting a small concern rather than the hinderance it was for common soldiers.

Nothing moved, at least not anything within engagement range. Several ancient aeroplanes moved in the background, either taxiing, taking off, or landing on the busy runways. Chief took a second to watch the organized chaos, at least compared to the regimented UNSC Navy.

Bringing his focus away from the old transportation method, the Spartan made his way into the back of the Pelican, causing the Arbiter to glance at him. The Sangheili was already standing, ready to deploy and meet whoever it was that had requested their presence.

Chief made his way past the Elite, doing a mental equipment check before deploying the Pelican's ramp. As the two stepped off onto the concrete pad, they scanned the area, only to find nothing of note facing them.

Due to the high traffic in the area, there were no buildings or other features, with the closest one being a hangar near ramp UN 01, almost 300 meters away.

After a few seconds, the Arbiter asked, "Your Construct is sure of these coordinates?"

"I don't make such mistakes. Ground Control is calling for an Overwatch Interdiction Force, which might be a problem at some point soon," Cortana replied, slightly insulted that a mistake on her part was considered.

Chief quickly picked up on the threat as he questioned, "Estimated approach and composition?"

"Ground has given them priority clearance, estimated arrival in twenty seconds, approach from southeast, angle of 160 degrees on north orientation, force composition of two armored vehicles, one Main Battle Tank and one large troop transport, about forty total individuals," the AI reported.

Thel moved off to a flanking position, engaging his cloak as he did so. From the borderline hostile reaction, it was highly probable that combat would ensue. With no cover to fortify behind due to the flat ground created for the runways, Chief stood in the open. If hostilities commenced, his speed would allow him to escape harm far more easily that the Arbiter.

Within seconds the Spartan's enhanced hearing could pick out the sound of a turbine engine and pounding treads above the constant roar of jets in the background. Chief could also see the silhouette of the inbound forces against the large aircraft moving across the area.

As the large military vehicles came to a halt, fighters jumped off, guns in hand. Seeing this, Chief subtly tensed, ready to move if any showed an inclination to attack him. None did, although several moved their barrels in his direction, cautious of the unknown soldier.

From his prior thirty years of war, the Spartan easily recognized the group as a private security force. Some had obviously been in a formal military before, as evidenced by how they moved, but most were significantly less disciplined. Mismatched armor as well as custom additions to weapons were the easiest pieces to spot, though there were other clues as well.

Why they had a Main Battle Tank was mildly concerning, as if this was how private firms were equipped, actual militaries would have far better.

The attention of the supersoldier changed to the top of the tank as the hatch opened, revealing what looked like a leader. Various patches welded onto the pauldrons on his shoulders, along with the obvious air of command, allowed Chief to label the individual as a High Value Target.

Instead of firing, however, the man spoke up, "I'm going to make this simple. We're part of Helix Security International, hired by the UN to take care of people like you. Now, your stupid little 'Overwatch' club is dead, so surrender so that you can be sentenced for breaking the Petras Act."

"We're not Overwatch," Cortana replied, utilizing the MJOLNIR armor to communicate for the Spartan. Several expressions of surprise ran across the group at the female voice, though they did not stop their slow advance.

"We already asked the boss, and he has orders to bring you in. Don't know what this whole 'UNSC' crap is, but you sure as hell aren't part of the Security Council. This is your last chance to come quietly."

Cortana muted the outside speakers and quietly told the Chief, "Try not to damage the Pelican too much." The AI then addressed the Helix force once again, "We will not surrender UNSC assets. Leave, or this will not end well."

The commander snorted and replied, "You people were always full of yourselves. You may have your special toys, but a bullet will kill you as surely as anyone else. Fire!"

Before any soldier could react to the order, the Chief was already moving. The greatest threat was the tank due to its capability to heavily damage or destroy the Pelican transport. As such, the Spartan rushed straight towards the large military vehicle, hopping up on its chassis as he covered the short distance easily.

Several members of the hostile force fired at him as he ran, but their unaugmented movements couldn't keep their barrels focused on the fast-moving target. The commander of the Helix force was already attempting to close the hatch, although he had done little more than reach back and grab the flap of metal.

Knowing that he couldn't waste time by forcing his way into the armored vehicle, Chief pulled out a fragmentation grenade and shoved it through the circular opening before slamming it closed as he moved past. The surprised shouts of those inside were cut off as the hatch shut, only for a loud thump to emanate as the weapon detonated.

As he stepped off the back of the disabled vehicle, Chief pulled his MA5 from the magnetic strip that had been holding it. Since most of the Helix personnel had been expecting a hail of gunfire to quickly down their opponent, the sudden location of the Spartan at their backs had them in disarray.

The two soldiers that were not concealed from the Spartan's view by the tank were quickly downed, their armor doing little to protect against the armor-piercing rounds meant to break through Covenant shields and armor. Shouts echoed about as the security force attempted to deal with the loss of their leadership as well as the change in the enemy's location.

Ignoring that for the moment, Chief quickly put three rounds into each of the two soldiers positioned in the cab of the personnel transport. While the glass appeared to be reinforced, it was not enough to stop the rifle rounds like actual bullet-resistant glass would do.

Now that both vehicles were out of the fight, 117 could turn his attention to eliminating the ground element. From his motion tracker, Chief could tell that Thel was dealing with the enemies to the right side of the Pelican, leaving the left side for him.

Using the dots on his HUD to keep track of enemy positioning, the Spartan kneeled down, keeping his profile hidden behind the treads of the disabled vehicle. Several blips were closely clustered together as they advanced, something that the supersoldier disapproved of immensely. Spacing was key to survival, as all he had to do to eliminate those hostiles was throw a grenade or simply fire blindly and he'd probably hit someone.

However, for his plan to work, the large human kept his position, waiting for the group to draw near. While the four brave but ignorant souls approached the far superior foe, the other 23 hired guns arranged themselves in a somewhat organized, if not strategically intelligent, manner. There were several fields of overlapping fire that were obvious, but Chief could also spot where possible friendly fire might occur.

Of course, that immediately became the prime location for the Spartan to head for, as friendly fire was an easy method for mental degradation of the enemy. Drawing his attention back to the closer group, the supersoldier tensed and got ready to go back into the action.

The first member of the party swung his barrel over the Chief's head, obviously expecting the large human to be hiding behind the tank. While he wasn't wrong as to the general location, the mercenary never got to find out the Spartan's exact position as his gun was ripped from his hand and used as a makeshift club.

With the first member now sporting a sizable dent in the side of his helmet as he bounced off the corner of the tank, Chief moved on to the second target. Flipping around his acquired weapon, the Spartan fired it off at point blank, sending a hail of pellets into the side of the hostile.

Due to their lack of spacing, the force from the blast sent the now-deceased member of the party falling into his comrade, throwing off his aim. This gave Chief the opportunity he needed as he emerged from his crouch, batted aside the weapon of the fourth target, and hoisted the man up by his armor as a meat shield.

Chief could feel several rounds impact the mercenary, proving that this Helix Security did not teach proper identification to avoid hostage deaths. When the fire halted for a second as the man's allies realized their mistake, the Spartan took a second to casually eliminate the last member of the group with the shotgun he had stolen.

A quick survey of the battlefield revealed that the Helix force had deployed some form of mobile barrier. Two blocks of what looked to be heavy metal shields protected fourteen hostile targets, though it also made them immobile. If they wished to move positions, they would have to cross the flat and unmarred surface of the UN landing pad.

Now ready and with his six clear, the supersoldier could easily deal with the enemies at his front. Several steps and he was on top of the first group that had taken cover at the front of the armored vehicle. Chief threw away the dead body that had taken multiple hits in his rush, another tool that had served its purpose.

Without an unwilling body in the way, the energy shields around 117 lit up as stray rounds glanced off as the Helix force desperately tried to eliminate him. Unluckily for the first person hiding behind the tank, the small group was a ways off from being anywhere close to able to accomplish such a feat.

Even as the automatic weapon that the man held fired several rounds into the Spartan's shield, the Chief was already starting his next attack. With his arm already pulled back and the barrel of the Helix shotgun pointing away from his targets, the supersoldier simply punched forward with the butt of the weapon.

While a normal strike would have simply bounced off the man's armor, the MJOLNIR-enhanced blow simply continued on, crushing the chestplate and pulverizing ribs. The man's body finally caught on that it was being acted upon by an outside force as it went flying back, causing the others to shift their aim as they were hit by their deceased comrade.

The weapon itself, however, was also not built to withstand such force and came apart in the Spartan's crushing grip. A quick heft to the side sent the useless tool flying towards another group, though Chief didn't look to see if it connected with anyone. Now that he was once more only left with his own weapons, 117 went for the close-quarters solution.

A quick motion with his left hand and the large blade that was stored on his thigh came out, already slashing towards its first victim. A dull thunk sounded as the sharp blade was embedded in the skull of a hostile, killing the woman instantly.

Following the motion, Chief stepped forward and threw his armored fist into the chin of the last person. It was instantly clear that the victim would not be recovering from the blow as his head snapped back and caused shards of bone to poke through the skin of his cheek. Pulling his hand clear of the man's lower cranium, the Spartan caught a glance of several pieces of bone disintegrating against his energy shield.

The sight did not distract him long, however, as several rounds pinged off the armor of the tank. MA5 rounds answered the shots as the supersoldier shouldered his weapon and took aim. From his current position, the group that were in covered behind the transport truck were unable to fire at him, but that left fourteen others with a clear line.

While the Helix forces had held their fire while their allies were alive, they now opened up on the Spartan. Anticipating this, Chief began systematically decapitating any target that appeared while keeping a close eye on his shields, which were slowly draining under the strain of well-aimed rounds from Helix forces.

Nine more bodies were added to the growing number of dead as the Chief went through a full clip of ammunition to suppress and eliminate targets. This left a total of eleven Helix members, with six in cover out of Chief's engagement cone and five that had realized their inevitable fate if they took a glance over their cover.

As for 117, he continued to stay in cover, waiting for his shield to regenerate so that he could engage the rest of the hostiles. By the sounds coming from the other side of the field, or lack thereof, it seemed that the Arbiter would be joining him in a short time.

Before the Sangheili could rejoin the fray, one of the remaining soldiers threw a grenade from behind the mobile cover. Apparently the brave soul was one of the better-trained or more experienced members of the Security force, as the explosive device went off several feet from the Spartan.

Most of the fragments were blocked by his energy shield, but several pinged off the unyielding titanium beneath as the barrier gave out. With his main line of defense breached and a decent number of enemies still on the field, Chief stopped his cautious approach.

The MJOLNIR armor reacted to the Spartan's thoughts almost instantly, sending 117 bolting around the armored vehicle towards the group of six behind the truck. While Helix personnel were trained to deal with criminals and some Overwatch agents, the sudden appearance of an unknown hostile that had slaughtered more than half their force was the last thing that they realized before their death.

On his way into the group Chief had shouldered one target aside, sending the woman into the truck and disabling if not outright killing her. This left five hostilities, of which all were only now beginning to realize the absence of their comrade.

A quick stab with his combat knife to the base of the skull of one man brought the hostile down and set the supersoldier up for the next attack. Without bothering to limit his strength, Chief kicked the target he had already eliminated into another hostile. Even if the unconventional strike didn't kill the target, it would put her out of the fight long enough.

Using the kick to propel himself back, Chief wrapped an arm around another target's neck, grabbed the man's chin, and twisted. A sharp crack and the hostile's head was facing the wrong direction, straight back towards the last standing Helix soldier.

Since the Spartan was already moving towards the target, there was little that the unaugmented Helix member could do as the Spartan struck out. A quick twist and pull dislodged Chief's knife from the skull of its victim and allowed the supersoldier to bring it to bear as he spun around. Even with the Helix armor, the target couldn't hope to save himself from the blade as it pierce his faceplate and sunk into his brain.

A quick glance at his motion tracker showed that the Arbiter had joined the battle, as the last five soldiers were already dead or well on their way from whatever the Sangheili had visited on them. Assuming that all other Helix forces were eliminated, the Spartan turned towards the two fighters that he had beaten but not outright killed.

One glanced at the woman he had shouldered aside showed that she would not be talking, judging by the trail of blood left by her misshapen skull. This led the Spartan to move towards woman that he had kicked into the transport with the corpse of her ally.

Before the UNSC soldier could reach his destination, Cortana spoke up, "Just letting you know that I'm fending off an attempt to access your suit. Thought I would wait until you were done beating up the children."

Chief ignored the insult to his enemies and asked, "Status?"

"Really, you expect someone to be able to beat me? I must be getting slow if you think so little of me. If I could use the power from your shield, I can boost your transmitter, access the Pelican, and counter on multiple fronts," the AI suggested.

The Spartan nodded, knowing that Cortana was already beginning her counterattack. With all targets down, the use of his shields in such a manner was a matter of convenience for speed rather than truly necessary. Cortana had fought off attacks from Forerunner monitors, a human, even one as advanced as a Spartan, would never be able to break her defenses.

Bringing his attention back to the Helix member in front of him, Chief casually slapped aside the rifle that had been trying to aim for him. The force of the blow sent the weapon flying, causing the woman to grunt as her grip was broken on her firearm.

Kneeling down next to the woman but keeping his distance so he could act if needed, Chief looked at her glaring face and asked, "Overwatch?"

"Fuck you, just kill me you freak. It's obvious that you're not Overwatch," she replied vehemently.

As the Arbiter appeared around the vehicle, he heard the last few words and answered, "Indeed, we are not, as the Spartan said."

Upon seeing the Sangheili, the woman declared, "Talon is the only one that would use a freak like you."

Thel growled at the statement, "Answer our questions and you shall live."

"Fuck you." With that, the women went for some weapon on her leg. Before her hand had even touched whatever it was, Chief had pulled his pistol and fired a round into her head. Since the M6D that Chief used was loaded with Semi-Armor Piercing High Explosive rounds, the results were less than pleasant.

Both warriors ignored the headless corpse as it fell back, discarded and worthless for information. With nothing else to do, the two began to head back to the Pelican. 117 knew that Cortana would contact him when she was ready, so he would wait for her signal.

It was only instinct and reactions honed by years of training, augmentations, and decades of war that caused the Spartan to turn towards the UN hangar. Less than a second later his decision was rewarded as a round blasted off the paint on his chest piece, though the molecularly reinforced titanium beneath was unaffected.

From some quick mental calculations, Chief figured that the round would have struck between his shoulder armor and heavily plated chest if he had not seen the muzzle-flash in his peripheral. While the bullet probably would not have punctured the titanium-weave undersuit, it still would've been sloppy to be hit by such a shot.

117 knew from his experience with Linda-058 that the sniper would not take a second shot, as he had made it obvious that the nest was spotted. A few more steps and the Spartan was aboard the dropship, with the Arbiter close behind.

"Cortana?" Chief inquired as he closed the hatch and started towards the pilot's seat.

"On it," the AI replied. The small ship gave a jerk as it accelerated directly from the ground, a maneuver that could only be pulled off by the steady hands of an experienced pilot or AI without scraping against the ground.

Within seconds the transport was passing over the hangar, allowing Chief to look out and see the sniper that had scored a hit on him. The figure was distinctly female and dressed in some kind of purple outfit, though it looked too thin to be armor. Currently she was running across the hangar, though where she thought there was escape was unknown to the Spartan as the closest building was a good way away across several runways.

Cortana provided that answer as she spoke up, "Aircraft on approach, likely stealth as Ground isn't communicating with them. Picking them up on motion tracking and infrared, though our friend down there doesn't seem to register too well on the scopes."

"Understood. Location?" the human asked.

"Unknown, we can follow them or pretend to break off and keep the Dawn's sights on the bogey," Cortana suggested.

Chief's agreement was to sit in the pilot's seat and take control of the craft. As he did so, 117 noted the Arbiter coming up to the cockpit to look at the events outside. The Sangheili quickly took a seat, however, as the Spartan began to harass the sniper.

Vibrations were evident even through the hull of the Pelican as the chain-gun on the nose fired off several salvos. None were close enough to kill, but clouds of sparks kicked up as the bullets impacted the metal roof. The purpose was not to kill but instead to keep her from reaching the ground to exfil. If her craft was up by the roof, then it would be much easier to establish a beacon or consistent ping response for the Dawn to track.

In response to the burst of gunfire, the unknown hostile halted her run and raised her rifle to begin shooting at the UNSC dropship. Much to the surprise of both warriors on the craft, the fire was automatic instead of the single-fire sniper round that had hit Chief. Even so, the small rounds had no effect on the UNSC craft built to withstand Covenant weapons.

Several more exchanges of fire followed before the woman's escape vehicle finally arrived. With the unknown vehicle now close enough to pose a threat, the Spartan brought the Pelican around and away from the fight.

As predicted, the sniper took the chance to leap into the aircraft that had pulled up next to the hangar. Since it was obviously built for stealth and speed rather than combat, the enemy transport turned and tried to outrun the UNSC ship.

While such a strategy might have worked for any aircraft here short of a fighter jet, the Pelican was not so easily thrown off. The radio calls from NY Center quickly cut out as both ships blasted out over the harbor and rose into the air.

"Second hostile?" Chief asked as they rose, referring to the software attack on his suit.

"On board the enemy aircraft. The attack cut off after I began my assault, left some undesirable backdoors to that system but left it in working order," Cortana explained.

Chief nodded and went silent as he kept the dropship on the tail of his prey for a few more minutes before beginning to drop back. The prolonged contact would allow Cortana to establish the ship's signature for the Dawn's superior sensors to keep track of.

With their first intelligence gathering mission complete, the Pelican rose into the atmosphere to return to the Forward Unto Dawn. Below, the enemy ship veered off towards its true destination, believing that it had lost its determined pursuer by way of stealth or fuel attrition.


This statement is false.

-evevee