As the sun rose over the Outlands near City 17, the team began their trek once more, weapons at the ready. Overhead, finally heard after the first hours of the trip passed, Combine aircraft patrolled the skies. Chief saw the strange, armored, grey helicopters flying overhead, with added sphere-shaped bombs in their undercarriage. The Overwatch's Hunter Choppers had strange patrol patterns and, for now, those tended to miss the group.
"Huh." Nadya stared up at the Choppers from under the canopy of the trees. She looked at her team, then said "Either their advanced cameras are malfunctioning, or they aren't tracking us. And I do not know how to feel about either option." and continued forward, following the Chief. Alyx was right beside her as they advanced. To their right was a ruined, overgrown road that once served as a Highway toward what one would assume where the suburbs and villages surrounding the East-European city.
Far away, the fading remains of civilization outside the city were barely visible under the dense packing of shrubs and assorted small plants that covered it. An old, abandoned house in the middle of the forest, made of rotting logs and with windows boarded up. The broken glass, John assumed, was also hidden under the greenery or had long-ago broken into pieces. 20 years of mankind being stuck behind the walls of only a handful of cities. He had to admit. It was eerie.
The distant drone of a helicopter engine once again came and went as the team moved past another overgrown shack near the old road. Gunfire echoed in the distance, presumably from whatever Rebel Outpost was engaged by the Combine while trying to do whatever they did. Chief had a nagging feeling that they were gonna be next in the line of fire, if and when the Combine decided to pop over in front of them, for a courtesy visit.
Another few hours of walking, with minor exchanges of chatter, found the team taking a rest under one of the thicker parts of the forest's large canopy. The Chief once again stood at a distance from the team as they prepared to eat. In the corner of his eye, once again, he saw it. That faint blue figure in a suit and tie, with a grey briefcase. Cortana chimed in "John." and she seemed off... "We should patrol for a bit... I need to talk to you."
"... Mm." He murmured, turning toward the outer area and seeing the figure had vanished... He stepped forth, trying to take a route parallel to the one the figure had probably taken, go around and find where they had been. Whoever this was, they'd been on his team's back this entire day. They needed to give some explanation. Slowly walking out into the patrol, the Spartan had vanished from the team's Line of Sight into the treeline. Raising his rifle, the man scanned his surroundings, slowly walking and turning to the left, until he reached the spot where the thing watching them had been...
He felt uneasy... His stomach turned inside out as he started "You said you wanted to talk, Cortana. What is it?"
"Wait..." She said, her voice sounding as uneasy as he felt at the moment... The Spartan paused, feeling his stomach churn, then blinked and... He saw naught but darkness surrounding him. Flicking the flashlight of his rifle on, he tried to look around, but the darkness that surrounded him swallowed even the powerful light mounted below the barrel of his weapon.
"Cortana." he demanded. No answer.
"Mister Johnathan." He heard a raspy, creepy voice speak from behind him. Swiveling about and turning his rifle, he doubled over upon seeing it vanish clean out of his hand. The figure that trailed him now stood in front of him, about a head below him in height. A man in a blue suit, with a purple tie and a grey briefcase in his right hand sat in front of him, smiling eerily as his strange, turquoise eyes peered into John's visor like they could see past it, into his eyes... And into his very soul. The man arranged his tie, then said "It is so good to... Finally meet you face-to-face. Forgive my tardiness, I have been... Rather busy with my preparatory work here."
The Chief said nothing as his hand slowly went for the M6D Magnum on his thigh. That too, apparently, was gone, as he didn't find it attached to the plating. The man's smile, one which sent the first ice-cold chill in forever up the Spartan's spine, remained. He continued "Please, there's no need to... Resort to violence. I am merely here to speak to you on behalf of my... Employers." And then he inhaled sharply, almost as if he'd forgotten how to breathe, and arranged his tie again. His speech seemed... Impaired. As if English wasn't his first language.
"... Who are you?" John asked in a cold, impartial tone. How did he know his name?
Placing a hand on his chest, the 'man' before John started "Me...? I am but a simple worker looking for more... Suitable employees to handle matters beyond my... Expertise... Believe me, mister Johnathan, I have no intention of... Causing harm to you or anyone you know. I am merely here to assist things in..." He breathed in sharply again and clicked his tongue "Securing the future of this world... My employers have been watching your actions in your own plane of existence and they are... Thoroughly impressed by how you handle yourself... Even here, you seem to possess the same... Uncanny luck and abilities of identifying friend from..." He exhaled out of his nose "From foe..."
"... What exactly do you want from me?" The Soldier asked, blunt, hostile...
"Cutting straight to the point, I see..." The businessman noted with that creepy smile still withstanding. "What I want has already happened, mister Johnathan... Your cooperation with the Resistance, which has begun in earnest with this mission to find the..." Another sharp inhale "Secrets of the Old World hidden underneath the muck and grime of the New Order. My attempt to bring you here has been relatively successful. What your work now entails is, however, not entirely my choice..."
... If he'd at least speak normally, John would be way more at ease.
With the man making a handwave motion to the right, a small tear opened, showing John City 17s inhabited areas, blocks, civilians milling about in their blue, drab clothing and the massive skyscraper that was in the center... He spoke calmly still "Within three months, I will bring forth another asset... One which will provide the biggest shift in this world's destiny since... Well, since the Black Mesa incident, in which he partook, not of his own volition... Much like you are currently not partaking in your job... What I and my employers need you to do, mister Johnathan... Is gather those you know... And assist this man in his endeavors to liberate mankind... Much like you already are..."
"What?" The Spartan raised a brow. "What others?"
"Oh, forgive me..." His infatuation with the situation was clear in his smug demeanor. The suit-wearing man spoke softly "I will be providing... Reinforcements... As often as I can. Many will be people you know or have... Previously worked with in your reality... Some are already on-site, just awaiting for you to... Rediscover... Them. Others, well... You will have to see for yourself how to find..." He checked what looked like a wrist watch, then said "Forgive me, mister Johnathan, but our time in this... Meeting... Seems to be at an end. We will meet again when my new Asset is put in the field. Until then, I wish you good luck. And farewell, Mister Johnathan. I hope this business partnership will be... Beneficial... for all those involved."
"Wait." John demanded, staggering forward and blinking... Around him, the world reformed into the one he knew, with the green, brown and colors of the forest focusing into view. On his back and on his thigh's armor, his weapons had returned and Cortana's voice cried in worry, clearly back to her usual self "John! John, are you alright?! I just had a fluctuation in my Matrix for a moment! Almost as if some kind of anomalous entity just tried to do me in..."
"I'm okay." He responded. "You didn't see anything?"
"No, I was trying to counteract that little intruder or... Whatever it was. Why?" Cortana inquired, surprised. "Did something actually happen...? I'm detecting a minor radiation leak just in front of us."
"I don't know what happened." He answered.
"Hey!" They heard a voice call out. Jess appeared, her SMG in hand, then exclaimed "Chirst, Chief! You scared the crap out of us! We didn't know where the hell you went."
He nodded, then showed her to lead. She rolled her eyes, then said "Alright, say nothing after you nearly vanish... That's cool." in a murmur. The pair walked back to the Chief. The drone of another set of engines overhead sent everyone into combat status, with Nadya and the others grabbing their weapons as, overhead, what looked like a combination of a gigantic bug and advanced technology with a black carrier pod attached to its underbelly, moved in to land.
"Overwatch Drop Ship!" Jess called out.
The pod-mounted pulse cannon let loose a burst of automatic fire that swept the trees below, readying itself to touch down in a more open area. With a click and a short bout of static, John's helmet soon picked up a multitude of Radio transmissions. One of the first to speak was a highly-modified voice "Overwatch, be advised, we have reached target area. Contact with at least 5 biotics."
"Affirmative. Maintain objective:Verify, Identify, Expunge." The voice of a woman spoke. "Additional containment teams deployed to reinforce."
As the ramp of the drop ship opened, the first soldier's boots touched the muddy ground and a burst from his SMG raked the tree behind which Jess was hiding. Five more soldiers, one of which with a different color scheme and a shotgun, joined their compatriot. Chief raised his Assault Rifle and let loose half the magazine to keep the enemy pinned.
"Transhuman Entity is confirmed hostile, tag as Anticitizen and engage Restrictors." The voice of whom John assumed had to be the leader of the soldiers. "Go sharp, go sharp."
A pair of grenades bounced off the trees... The Spartan tossed both back with intent to kill, snapping his rifle to where the throw had come from and sending a burst of AP rounds through the air. A Combine trooper staggered, slipped and fell, followed by another falling to his knees. The bark of SMGs and rifles echoed around the Spartan as his teammates raked the enemy with round upon round.
Alyx was quick on the draw, kicking one of the Combine hard enough in the knees to bend his leg, before putting her auto-handgun right between the man's eyes and squeezing off a shot. She turned her pistol and snapped of a burst, only diving into cover after she'd seen to wounding another enemy. Chief continued to send bursts of AP ammo from his Assault Rifle toward the foe...
The crack of a high-powered sniper echoed. An enemy Elite found itself with its brain matter splattered across the tree on his left. The follow-up was the roar of a Shotgun and the crackle of a Battle Rifle, all of which John soon realized were UNSC weapons...
The Spartan saw two soldiers pop out of the shrubs, wearing full MJOLNIR armor whose design was very familiar. Two IFF Tags flared as the two soldiers brought their weapons to bear on the Combine assault team. Another bark from the SRS-99/99 almost half a mile away and John soon realized. He ran up to the team, took point and showed them to form up.
The two Spartans, Fred and Kelly, took to Chief's flanks, letting their weapons do the talking as Combine infantry attempted to flank them. Kelly's shotgun plastered the modified insides of one of the Combine troopers to a fucking tree, while the Resistance soldiers around them joined in on the assault with renewed vigor. Jess was wearing an overjoyed grin as she hosed down the bastards with disregard.
"Contact. Three new Anticitizens, possibly transhuman. Overwatch, this is Razor requesting permission to disengage."
"... Permission granted. Execute and evacuate. Razor lead, report immediately to Citadel for Relocation."
The bastards started pulling back, those few of them that weren't getting nailed by assault rifles, SMGs or Linda's distant sniper. With a motion of her hand, the commander of the Resistance crew stopped her comrades from pursuing, instead choosing to take to John's side, a grin on her face. She gave quick salutes to the Spartans just as Linda managed to get to them, then said "Well, Chief. Looks like you have plenty of introductions to take care of."
"She's not wrong." Cortana quipped, grinning "Hello, Blue Team."
The Chief made the 'Spartan Smile' hand gesture at his team, all of whom answered in kind as they stowed their weapons. After a brief moment of explanation via comms with muted mics, the Spartans took quickly to assisting the team of Resistance members. The Resistance members soon figured out the Spartans weren't gonna be very talkative, which was to be expected. Different armies and jobs and whatnot.
Jess and the Old Man joined the Chief and his team on point, with Jess starting "Sooo... Y'all friends with the Chief?"
"Teammates." The three answered in unison. Out of that, Jess(and Alyx behind her) got that there was one more guy and two girls.
"Right..." The girl chuckled "Welcome to Earth, I guess."
"Strange to see Resistance so friendly to what one would assume are aliens." Fred noted, his helmet's speakers off. His com was online, however. "Though I'm glad we don't have to kill random folks either... Got any information for us, Chief?"
"I can probably help brief you, Blues." Cortana joined in "It's a short story from what info we have."
"Please." Fred requested as the group marched, with the Captain and Spartans in the lead now. Cortana ran through what little info she had with the Blues:A really nasty war took place that had humanity on the backfoot for most of the run. So much so that they surrendered and were now under occupation from the Combine, bastards who use Dark Matter weaponry.
"Well... That answers that." Kelly sighed "21st Century Earth?"
"Yep." Cortana shrugged "I'll need access to a Combine computer mainframe to get more information, but right now, that's what we got."
"Sounds like another job for us, doesn't it?" Linda quipped, pulling out her pistol and checking it. The silence was a positive answer to the sniper of the team, who looked to the Chief and said "What's our current objective, Chief?"
"We're heading out to secure an old weapons depot. The Rebels think it has old world weapons in it." John noted, feeling for the mags in his armor's belt. Satisfied with the fact he still had just about enough, he drew the rifle, dropped the near-empty mag into another 'pocket' and loaded in a fresh one. Behind him, he saw Alyx chatting with Jess and the Old Man, while the Captain stayed rather close to the Spartans.
The Captain, speaking of her, smirked "Didn't think you brought friends."
"It was luck." John answered "I'm as surprised to see them here as you are."
"Sure doesn't look that way." Nadya shot back, checking her old AK "They took to working with us immediately. Must trust you a lot."
"Yeah..." John nodded.
"Right." Nadya nodded "Let's keep moving, folks. We gotta get to that depot as fast as possible. Going by how we're moving... If we're gonna reach it by tonight, we should haul ass."
And without further words from the Spartans, the squadron, now with 3 extra members, marched forward at best speed. And as the trek through the eerily-empty forest continued, the sun began to set. The forest of the Badlands was as quiet during nightfall as it was during daytime. Sans the blowing wind and the rare Combine patrol they had to avoid, the team slowly made their way to the outpost. So much so that, by the time the Half-Moon was high up in the sky, the team had reached a smooth hill.
Chief formed the team up, with Nadya beside him, then the two lead the way around the 'hill, rifles raised... Only to find that on the other side, there were concrete walls and a rusted, reinforced steel door. Chief and Nadya nodded to one another, with the Spartan taking point and going to open the door. He turned the main handle, which unlocked with a sharp metallic creak, before he pulled the door back. A deep whine reverberated, but was muffled out by the sound of a chopper flying overhead. The team had managed to run inside just as the Chopper passed overhead, its spotlight scanning the trees and the hill in the middle of the forest, but finding nothing.
Inside, just as John had closed the door, darkness had set in. Nadya chuckled and flicked on a flashlight. She pointed up, then said "Alright, gang, form up."
"So, boss... We're here." Jess smiled excitedly. They could hear Old Man silently cheering to himself, too, so Jess simply continued "We expecting any resistance?"
"Well, it's an old base. Expect Headcrabs and maybe Zombies?" Alyx noted, pulling out her autopistol. She looked to the Spartans, watching them as they drew their weapons, with the Sniper drawing her handgun. Their helmet visors seemed to light up for a moment, but then their helmets' flashlights powered. Chief looked to Nadya and Alyx, both of whom nodded, readying themselves to advance.
A long concrete hall awaited ahead...