As I stepped out of the cave and into the sun, I noticed their 'car.' It looked like a cross between an APC and a tank. Six wheels, an armored body, and a fairly large turret on top. Perhaps the perfect vehicle to use on hostile planets. The only unknown about the vehicle was speed and stability. Both important with a successful military vehicle.

The three of them were waiting outside what must have been the door to the vehicle. As I walked up, the human opened the door and got in. The other two followed after her. Looking around, and seeing no other options, I got in as well. It was a little cramped inside the vehicle, but then again I am close to seven feet tall. There were three seats against each side wall, and what must have been the driver's seat up by the front. There was no gunner's seat, so the driver must also control the turret. The three of them were sitting together up against one wall, so I sat down against the other wall, in the middle seat.

The three of them removed their helmets, and I paused for a second to look at them, especially the aliens. The exotic looking one had a face that somewhat reminded me of an Elite, with a slightly elongated head and mandibles over the mouth, two larger mandibles over a human like jaw structure. The other one just looked like a blue skinned human woman, aside from the tendrils on the back of its head where the hair would be. All three of them looked at me somewhat expectantly. I gave a small shrug, and removed my helmet. They seemed stunned.

The blue skinned one chittered something in a decidedly feminine voice. I couldn't tell what it was though. Probably something in its native language. The human in the middle regained her composure first. "Well then, now that we're all settled, lets get down to introductions, shall we? My name is Commander Shepard of the Alliance military. This is Dr. Liara T'Soni," The blue skinned alien, "and Garrus Vakarian." The Elite like one. "If I may ask your's?"

"I'm Spartan Thompson, of the UNSC. And since you decided to ask the first question, I get the follow up. What's the Alliance?"

"What do you mean, 'what's the Alliance?' Its the human government. The Systems Alliance. I thought just about everyone knew that."

"No, the governing body of humanity is the UEG, the United Earth Government, with the UNSC as the military branch. What year is it?"

"It's 2183. Why?"

I thought about it for a second. It was just not matching up. There was never a 'Systems Alliance,' and last time I checked, the year was 2558. I'd never seen aliens like these before, and these people sounded like they had never even heard of the UNSC, not to mention Spartans. I realized that I wasn't in the same reality that I left. I was either sent very far into the future, sent into an alternate timeline in the past, or sent to a whole other universe. Of the three options, the last one seemed most likely. I've never heard of time altering Forerunner devices, but I have been sent large distances in slipspace portals before. Probably wasn't too hard to turn that into a portal to another universe. Just break out on a different side.

"Because where I'm from, it's 2558."

"You're from the future?"

"I don't think so. I've never seen aliens like those, and I know first contact was in 2525. I think I got sent into an alternate universe. I did come through a possibly damaged Forerunner portal device."

"Okay. I'm not sure I believe you, but lets say I did. Do you have any proof of this alternate universe theory of yours?"

I thought about it for a second. Nothing I had on my person could possibly make her believe me. I could show her the energy sword, or some of the armor ability devices I have, both Forerunner and Covenant, but those wouldn't be definitive. Shepard interrupted my thoughts.

"Nothing? Nothing at all to prove you're just making this up?"

"Aside from my armor, not that I can think of." Then it hit me. "Wait, no. I might have something. Do you have anything capable of playing video?"

"Yes, right over there. What do you want it for?"

"Helmet logs. Will video be enough proof for you?"

"Depends on what I'm looking at."

I picked up my helmet, put it back on, and walked over to the screen. Making sure the external speakers were off, I talked to Saria.

"Can you get in and put footage from the most recent op on the screen?"

"Already on it. Why didn't you mention me to them?"

I thought about the question for a second. "I want to keep a few aces up my sleeve for if things go south. Just in case. Any other theories about where we are?"

"Nope, your idea was pretty much what I came up with. I'm not sure if that was because of the damage, or if this was the device's function."

With that, the video went up on the screen, and I took off my helmet. Probably best if I seem at least somewhat social.

Shepard and the two others watched the video with intense interest. When we entered the chamber, they seemed shocked with the Covenant, staring at the aliens with fascination. Shepard seemed very interested in the plasma that the Covie weapons shot. They seemed surprised when the Prometheans teleported in, and that lasted until the end of the video, cut off right as I fell into the portal

Shepard was the first to recover. "What was that?"

"The op I was on before I wound up here."

"What happened next?"

"I came through the portal, was chased into that cave by some kind of dropship, and held up in there against the assault. The turret on the back of the warthog was a huge help."

"So you killed all those Geth and that Krogan?"

"If the Geth were those robots and the lizard thing was the Krogan, then yes."

Shepard seemed to think about that for a second. "Well, you look like you can fight. And if you are to be believed, then you're stuck here with no way home. How about joining me? I could give you some space on my ship, and besides, I need all the help I can get to take down Saren."

I thought about it for a second, but before I could answer, one of the aliens, Garrus, cut in with something. Shepard replied with a quick "I'm sure, Garrus."

"What did he say?"

"Oh, that's right. If you're from another universe, you probably don't have a translator do you? Do you have an Omni-tool?"

"A what?"

"No? Well, hold on a second, and I'll give you a physical copy of the software."

Shepard pulled out what I assumed to be a data storage device, and then an orange thing appeared over her left arm. I took it to be that Omni-tool thing she was talking about. After a second, she handed me the device, and I pulled on my helmet.

"Saria, can you access the data?"

"Yeah, I'm running tests now. Seems legit, all I can make out is the translating software. Installing now."

A bar appeared on my HUD, and when it was full, it disappeared. Then the HUD rebooted, and when it was done, I made sure to turn the external speakers back on.

"Okay, that should be it."

Liara spoke up. "Does it work?"

That's good. Now I could understand the aliens and they could understand me. Look at me, breaking down language barriers in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, it works."

Shepard spoke up. "Good. Now, we were on our way to investigate a missing survey team. Maybe you'd like to come."

"Sure. Just leave a beacon here so we can pick up the warthog later. There's still some important supplies in it."

Shepard just gave a quick nod, then got up and walked to the driver's seat, while Garrus got up and walked over to what I assumed was the gunner's seat. The vehicle gave a quick noise, and with a lurch, we were off.

Well, that took longer then expected. This was probably the hardest chapter to write so far, do to rewrites and a general lack of motivation. Next chapter probably will not be so long in coming out, but I hold no promises.

EDIT: Minor fixes.