Chapter 3: Unity Plaza

5 November 2060, 1610 Hours (Military Calendar)

Ngume District, Numbani

Immediately after Drop….

The EMP wave generated by the bomb was intense. A solid wave of electromagnetic particles and wind buffered the Overwatch Agents and scattered the pods like they were dust. Valdez and Mirembe managed to stay together, despite the amount of sudden turbulence.

"Mirembe, I can't hold it much longer!" Valdez said, gritting his teeth, fighting the spiral.

"Just hold on a little longer, Valdez. We're getting close to the LZ!"

"I can't hold it! It's not going to wo-"

The pod slammed into an office building. Juan-Claudio's pod managed to survive the impact and was flung right off it. Unfortunately, he also slammed into Mirembe's as well. He flipped over again until he slammed into a wall.

Valdez managed to keep consciousness as he looked around his pod. He felt as if he was upside down.

He was.

It wasn't the most glorious landing for an Overwatch Agent, but he couldn't do anything about it. If he tried to activate the jump jets, it would work like someone crushing a soda can, crumpling his tiny pod. He coughed and looked around for the hatch controls. He coughed, and looked around for the hatch controls.

"Squad, what's your status? Did anyone get clear of that EMP Blast? Damn…you still with me, Valdez?

"Yeah, just a second. I had a bit of a rough landing."

"I think I hit something hard. My hatch won't open and I'm low on fuel. No emergency jumps for me, I'm locked in"

Slight pause.

"How about yours?"

Valdez found the controls and opened the hatch. His seat belt had ripped away on impact so he tumbled to the floor. Valdez looked into the sky, which was an unnatural blue, with sapphire particles drifting through the air.

Snow? In Africa? Can't be. Must have been from the rupture.

In truth, the city was in less of a mess than Juan-Claudio expected. In truth the lower levels were barely touched. Trash cans undisturbed, few cars spotless, and even a small family of parrots cawed excitedly in one of the trees.

Juan-Claudio took of his Overwatch-emblazoned beret and wiped his forehead. " "Works great." He said with a small sarcastic bite.

"Well, when you're done fooling around, I can use some help. I'm not exactly fighting noble here, Valdez."

Valdez frowned angrily. The last thing he needed right now was for Dare to chew him out for something that wasn't even his fault. Landing upside-down in his pod was questionable, to say the least. Valdez was a hardened member of Overwatch. He knew better than to fall for some rookie mistake. Something most newbies screw up once….

"I sense I did something wrong, because the only thing that I regret about you and me is not knowing that you were a haunt when I first met you." He grinned to himself. "Would've been a lot less charming with dinner and all that, now would it?"

Mirembe didn't seem fazed by Valdez's reminiscence.

"That's what I found charming about you, Juan: when your mouth was faster than your brain."

Then she gave a small sigh, as if she was holding something back.

"Look, don't start about my current relationship. You know what's been happening with my husband. We both agreed to end it soon enough."

Valdez noticed that his heavy pulse rifle was stuck in its wall brace in the pod. He grabbed the bottom grip and the trigger. He gave it a good tug but the weapon was still stuck. He stretched his arms and grabbed the weapon again.

"I realize that, Mirembe." He grunted, pulling with all his might. "I'm a little unclear on details!"

The rifle came loose and Valdez crumbled to the ground. He smacked his unarmored head off the concrete flooring. He got back up.

"You could've chosen at least one of the higher ups to give us proper guidance. Shimada. Oxton. Hell-even Blackwatch could've sufficed. Why did you choose me to lead this wild animal hunt?" Valdez chuckled. He realized he was in Africa.

"First, you're the best Strike Sergeant I know. Might as well be up there with Morrison or Reyes. I will admit that. Secondly-"

There was static.

"-If you don't remember that night all that well-"

Static again.

"What you said to me that morning?"

Valdez remembered that night. Overwatch's Agent Homecoming in Switzerland. That night, he had a few drinks and it was a blur in his memory. He remembered dancing, a wonderful dinner, and later on….well, let's just say he felt alive in the morning. He remembered looking upon Mirembe, still sleeping. Juan-Claudio rustled up her curly blonde hair. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled.

His thoughts were interrupted by a Talon Dropship that was hovering above the building, scanning the area.

"I remember no answer."

"Could you repeat that, Valdez? You're breaking up on my side."

"I said say put! I'll be right there."

Valdez grabbed his Heavy Pulse Rifle's charging handle and pulled it up hard. The digital ammunition counter displayed a full magazine inserted. Valdez personally was more of a standard issue fan. Sure, the ones used by Blackwatch were sleeker and more intended for stealth use, but it was if someone sanded away the power in the bullets.

He grabbed a few more magazine cells from the pod and started down the road. The street was deserted. Juan-Claudio not once saw a civilian, human or Omnic….nor a civilian corpse for that matter.

"We were way off our intended LZ. There are Talon operatives all over the grid." Mirembe said, coming in over the earpiece. "Stay low."

"Thanks for the advice." Valdez said.

"Well, it's not much of a rescue mission if you're dead, now is it?"

"Well. Now you're coming in clear."

A few seconds of silence elapsed before Mirembe's annoyed voice came back. "Just pick it up, Valdez."

Valdez went a few hundred more feet until he came to a corner. There were a few smoking cars riddled with bullet holes and laser burns. Valdez knew it when he saw it. Talon-Controlled Omnics. Valdez heard stories where the heavy tanks could rip men apart. He saw them and killed them.

He was about to go down the open street to investigate when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Hey! Agent! Over here!"

Valdez hurled around and saw a few agents huddled behind a destroyed Overwatch armored car.

"Man, we saw your pod come down and crash into that other one. You're a lucky sonuvagun, you know that?"

"Luck was on my side for sure." Valdez admitted. "Strike Sergeant Juan-Claudio Valdez, Strike Force Double-O Seven-Seven. Who's the leader?"

The soldiers looked at each other. "Uhh…..That'll be you, sir." One of them said. "Our platoon leader was reduced to ground meat by those turrets."

"Damn. So did you see anyone else come down after me?"

"No sir. I couldn't see a thing after the blast."

The city went to hell mere minutes after the rupture.

"OK, Soldiers on me. We need to find my Intel Specialist."

"Yes sir!" they said and followed in step. One of the soldiers said,

"Sir, you know, some of these buildings are open on the ground floor. You could use them to flank Talon."

Valdez looked skyward. A few stories above him, there were some walkways which connected some buildings to others. He squinted, and saw some Talon Tanks lumbering down the street, shooting some Overwatch agents who had the misfortune of getting in their way.

"Thanks for the advice." Valdez said. "Come with me, and wait for me to drop a point."

The soldiers nodded and stayed behind Valdez, trying to stay in the shadows, despite their heroic blue uniforms sticking out in daylight like black sheep. The last thing these soldiers needed were to be spotted by Talon, then Mirembe would die for sure.

The hallway was dark and narrow. Valdez switched to his heavy pulse rifle. The close quarters plus the armor piercing rounds would be excellent against the shielded tank robots and even the snipers who hid behind their shields. A 25 round magazine seemed sufficient to take a Tank down, that and a healthy kick in the head.

Valdez rounded a corner and saw something that disturbed him. Lying on the floor was the boodied corpse of a Talon Agent. While the wounds were caused by projectiles, what struck the ODST odd was that they were caused by Sniper bullets. Maybe some Agents got lucky taking them down, or maybe something very strange had just happened...no, it couldn't have happened like that.

"What happened here?" Valdez asked out loud..

"Whoa. Yeah, this wasn't the first time we've seen dead Talon guys around here." The Australian Agent gave it a good kick in the mandibles. "Rotten git. I want to shake the hand of the bloke who ended these guys."

Valdez yanked one of the bullets from the corpse. The blood started to dry already. "Well, whatever happened, it wasn't too long ago. Come on, Agents."

They emerged in the afternoon light and crept across the bridge. "Agents, take up positions here and here." Valdez said marking two locations on his map, his arm computer reflecting against his sweating forehead.

"Roger." The Australian Agent said.

Valdez and his allies took cover for a minute, and then Valdez fired a bait shot at a soldier. Before the soldier hit the ground, he had already retreated behind an outcropping. Using his map, he watched as the Tank lumbered right in front of them.

"AGENTS, HIT 'EM NOW!"

The Humans unloaded a hail of power cell rounds on the approaching patrol. Valdez armed a grenade and tossed it down there. He counted to three and heard a thump from behind his cover. He poked his head out and saw that all that was left of the soldiers was a strange mixing paste of blood. If Bayless were here, he would have called it 'art'.

"No targets visible, sir." one of the Agents said over the com line. Just when he poked his head out of cover, a red beam of energy went through his head, causing him to fall off the platform to his death thirty feet below.

"Sniper!" the Australian said. "Hit that bugger, sir!"

Valdez carefully went into cover and activated his 5x zoom on his scope. Scanning ideal hiding spots; broken windows, rooftops, piping, and even bushes, he looked for the assailant. He noticed that the beam intercepted the Agent at roughly thirty degrees from the soldier's Northwest. He scanned that direction while trying to remain hidden.

"Gotcha" Valdez said happily.

The sniper in question was hiding on the top floor of a bus station. Thank God the soldier wasn't looking at him right now. Judging from the angle, the sniper appeared to be fixating on the surviving Agents.

"Strike Sergeant. Show yourself for a split-second, just hold your hand out to the right."

"What?!"

"Just trust me. You'll be fine."

The soldier did as he was told and sprung his arm out for half of a second. Valdez's gamble worked. The Talon agent looked straight at the arm and did one better, he fired off a shot that missed the soldier. Valdez then switched to his pistol and sent a single shot into the Talon Operative's head. The enemy agent teetered and fell of the bus station's roof, crashing into a parked car below it's position. The alarm went off unfortunately and the annoying horn spread all the way down the street. The frightened agents rejoined Valdez.

"You alright, guys?" he asked warmly.

"Y-yeah, thanks." The Strike Corporal whom he used as bait said.

"Told you would be fine." Valdez said, clapping the young recruit on the shoulder. "Come on, let's roll."

The walk should have been uneventful at most, but Valdez did come across more dead Talon agents. He was about to dismiss it when the Australian soldier held up.

"Hey, Sergeant, I think you may want to see this."

Valdez walked to where the young woman was. It was true that there were Talon corpses, but there were also Tank Spiders scattered about, and even more odd was that they seemed opposite of each other

Okay, seriously, what IS going on here?

"Hey, Mirembe, what's with all the dead Talon agents?"

"What do you mean?"

Good, she's not dead. At least not yet.

"Looks like a family feud, like they were killed by the Tanks. Is there something I should know?

"Sorry, Valdez. That's classified."

Valdez frowned.

"Guess things never change." He thought out loud.

There was a large square down the road. Valdez and the surviving Agents kept an eye out for either Tanks or surviving Talon agents. They found some. A couple of Tanks were charging a single Talon who was squaring off with a fusion cannon. A full Tank pack shot at him continuously. The Agent's black armor reflected off the bright light of his cannon. He fired through two Tanks, decapitated the third, and reduced a fourth to shreds, but it was the fifth, a larger Tank, who wielded a heavy machine gun slammed it into the Agent, who was propelled into the air and landed nearly fifty feet away, his precious cannon slipping from his fingers and shutting down from the failsafe.

"Goddamn…." One of the agents was starting to say, but there was a small rumbling.

A Talon dropship descended from the sky, with agents coming out, carrying the corpse back to the ship.

"Valdez! Report!"

"I'm almost there!" He hissed.

I got multiple hostiles closing in on my pod! I need some support! If I don't make it…."

"I'll make it."

"Too late! They spotted me!"

"Mirembe? Mirembe!? Can you hear me!?"

"Sir…" The Australian Soldier said.

Valdez saw what he was talking about. Two heavily armed Omnic Titan Units dropped from a Dropship. They were imposing, near twenty feet tall, covered in rockets and heavy machine guns, and a huge pulse cannon. They were the closest thing Omnics could come to giant monsters.

"Titans! Oh, I do NOT have time for this." Valdez thought. He knew the only way to take down a beast of this size was to shoot them in special weak spots where the exposed wiring resided. Valdez had only taken two pairs down in his lifetime, with only a small platoon. He felt ready for a third. "I'll bait it here. Switch all weapons to full auto and when the Titan turns around, unload. Do you copy?"

There was a second before the survivors responded. "Yessir."

Valdez nodded and started running. "Alright. Wait for my command."

Juan-Claudio Valdez ran from behind the cars. He sighted his assault rifle on one of the monsters. He pegged one of them in the weak spot around the neck. The Titan rumbled in defiance and charged up its Energy Cannon. The beam of red light blasted a car next to him into the air, crashing to the ground in flames. Once he was sure that the beasts were facing him, Valdez called out, "Agents, fire now!"

The farther Titan however seemed to notice this, and flipped around using his shield as cover against the bullets. Valdez watched in horror as the bot shot its weapon into the tall grass where the Marines were hiding. That area burst into flames and the BIOMETER went dead for both those men. He shot the Titan away from him in the back until his magazine went empty. The beast roared and fell to the ground.

That Titan's bond brother roared and swiped the car Valdez was hiding behind away, with bloodlust in its voice.

"Oh no..." Valdez said getting to his feet.

The robot gave a vicious swipe which Valdez sidestepped. The shield slammed into the ground and made a large crack. Looking past this, he used this window to reload and fire a few rounds into the unprotected back of the Titan. To his fright, the mechanical beast took its shield and swung it over his head. Valdez quickly ran around the Titan. He spotted a few grenades on the ground that came from the dead Talon soldiers. He sprinted for one and kept it handy. When the Titan came for another swipe, he waited until he saw the wiring, and then tossed it there.

Perfect toss.

The Grenade landed on the wired spot and detonated, spraying the insides of the creature with white-hot spikes. It roared in pain as oil splashed on the ground. It twitched a few times and then died.

Valdez couldn't catch his breath though as he needed to get to Mirembe. he could never forgive himself if she died.

He went through the only door that was open and was treated to another computer message:

Attention, Travellers, please be reminded that goods can be recovered on the lower level.

Valdez looked over a railing and saw a crashed pod. He realized that whatever this computer was, it was trying to help him.

"Thanks."

"Thank you for the review of Numbani Directory Services."

Valdez skipped down the stairs two at a time. Mirembe's pod had a few curious Talon agents in front of it, firing their rifles into the frame. Valdez calmly shot all of them in the head.

He ran for the pod and looked for an outer emergency release. Finding it, he struggled to pull the door off.

"It's alright, Mirembe. I'm here….I've got you…"

He got to the door off, only discovering that the pod was empty.

"Oh, Dammit!...What?"

Behind him, on the concrete floor, was an gauntlet or glove of sorts. Valdez hadn't seen anything like it. It was big. It was shining like a beacon, and it was covered in some sort of golden armor. Nearby was a piece of Mirembe's armor, with a huge crack in it.

"Whoa…" Valdez said, his arm inching closer to touch it.

Suddenly, a sniper shot from a distance rang off, causing him to jump back. Valdez looked for who took that shot. On one of the catwalks was another Overwatch agent. Even from this distance Valdez could tell that this was Kimiko. She gave a friendly wave to Valdez, who returned it.

Something then got her attention. The gauntlet that Valdez was approaching started to make a whirring sound. She knew a time grenade like that. She took a leap to the ground and the gauntlet blew up, propelling the armor through a window, and stuck into the screen. There was only a few metal chunks left of the thing. It was if some giant homemade bomb went off.

When he got back up, Kimiko was in front of him,

"What was that? You think Talon had something to do with it?"

Kimiko didn't say anything. Valdez, remembering the drop, said "Oh, I get it. Permission to speak."

"No, I don't know what that was." Kimiko said.

Valdez looked at the pile of metal on the ground.

"Why'd you shoot at it, Kimiko?"

"It may have tried to kill you, just like it did Mirembe."

"Maybe. Did you hear from Bayless or Singh yet?"

"Ie. Their communication links went dead just after the explosion."

"Well, what about Spectre?"

She shook her head. Valdez looked up into the sky. These red particles still hung in the air. We need to get above this, link with Command. One of the drones must have seen where they hit the city."

Kimiko slung her sniper rifle over her shoulder casually. "So, we're infiltrating Mirembe's mission? Quite risky, Valdez." She went more serious. "Did she tell you what she wanted?"

"No, never did. That's not the point now. The only thing I care about is getting my Agents out of the city, including you, Kimiko."

Kimiko smiled. "Very well. Let's go, then."

They walked up the stairs and searched for an open door.

"Valdez, where did you land?"

"I was just going to ask you. You smell that?"

"Yes. Is that you?"

"Well, let's just say it involved taking down a giant robot and oil spewing around."

"Valdez, permission to stand ten feet from you for the rest of this mission."

"Kimiko, Please.