Ch. 1 Beginning of the End
An: Recently I've been playing a lot of a Overwatch and I've decided to start a story I've been thinking of. So, without further fanfare lets start the first chapter of this new story.
A gentle breeze wafted the smell of fresh bread and sweet flowers through the air of the busy streets of the city of Stockholm. On either sides of the street sat shops and the bustling morning crowd all cast in the shadow of a few large skyscrapers and bathed in warm spring sunlight.
An averagely built man in his late twenties wearing black steel rimmed glasses and wrapped in a white lab coat weaved his way towards the end of the street. In his arms he carried a bundle of rolled up documents that swayed dangerously on the verge of being dropped as the man almost sprinted down the street. Behind the man's glasses were a pair of gentle and warm clay colored eyes and his hair was short, dark brown, and well combed. His face had a few well-groomed whiskers sprouting from under his nose and on the point of his chin. Under his swishing white lab coat was a dark blue and black military style uniform with a badge of a stylized silver circle with two inwardly pointing prongs.
As the man rounded the bend in the central street he began to pick up his pace as he finally saw his destination in the distance. In the distance stood a large imposing compound of tall white and dark blue buildings surrounded by a perimeter wall and slightly outside the busy city center. Upon the face of the centermost building stood a large version of the symbol on the man's badge. Several dozen men and women patrolled the walls and gate in dark blue and gold combat armor. As the man reached the gate one of the guards approached him.
"Running a little late there aren't we Doc?" said the guard with a small good-natured chuckle. "I've never seen you run this late, you're always so punctual."
"Well there's a time for everything Mathew. I got stopped by a group of protestors on my way here." Said the man as he massaged the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation.
"You know there are bunks and living quarters in the Headquarters for a reason you know." Said the guard as he checked the man's ID and motioned for the gate to be opened. "You wouldn't have to deal with stuff like that if you just stayed at the base Doc, I worry about you every time I let you back out of these gates. These are some pretty bad times we're in." Continued the guard as his voice became solemn.
The man placed a reassuring hand upon the younger man's shoulder. "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." Said the man in a reassuring voice as he walked through the gate and into the compounds courtyard.
The courtyard was like a large garden with small fields of berry bushes, sweet smelling flowers and fruit trees. The smell of spring permeated the air and gave an aura or tranquility to the environment as several other men and women in white coats or blue and gold combat gear rested and walked leisurely around the courtyard. The man savored the atmosphere for only a few seconds before he walked thru the courtyard and entered into the building.
The main entrance way of the complex had a high ceiling and polished marble floors with flags and livery of every country in the world lining the walls alongside portraits of well-known agents and important figures. In the center of the hall was the most prominent feature. A large marble statue of the first strike team of Overwatch with a bronze plaque that read "The world could always use more heroes!".
The man smiled warmly up at the large marble statue. Every time he walked into the base he was greeted by those same words and the steadfast gaze of the six marble figures. Every time he saw the statue a feeling of overwhelming accomplishment warmed his heart, he was a part of that great legacy. It didn't matter what the world thought, he was a member of Overwatch and he was proud of all the good he was doing for humanity.
Suddenly as the man was about to move away from the statue and further into the compound a bright blue, brown and orange blur flashed directly in front of the man causing him to leap backwards in surprise and with a crash he fell to the ground and losing his glasses as papers and bundles of notes tumbled to the floor with him.
"Whoops, sorry luv!" chimed a young woman's voice with a small chuckle like the ring of a bell. "Sorry bout that, didn't see you there." Rubbing his bruised backside, the man picked up his dropped glasses and squinted up at the woman standing over him as she extended a hand to help him up.
The woman was young with wild chocolate brown hair and cheerful brown eyes with a series of small freckles across the bridge of her small nose. She wore an orange jumpsuit under a thick pilots jacket with the symbol of the Royal Airforce on the shoulder and a pair of track shoes. On her chest was a device with a large blue glowing front, the Chronal accelerator.
"What are you doing here Mrs. Oxton? I thought you were still in Nepal on leave." Said the man as he accepted the woman's hand and she pulled him to his feet and started to help him pick up his fallen papers.
"How many time have I gotta tell ya luv, call me Lena." She said as she gave the last paper to the man and crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks in a pout.
"Sorry Mrs. Oxto…. I mean, Lena." Said the man with a small chuckle as he held his papers close to him as to not drop them again. With a wide smile the cheerful British woman clapped excitedly and seized the man in a hug.
"It's been ages since last I saw ya luv. You've gained a right nice set of whiskers there haven't ya." Said the woman as she released the man from her hug and chuckled lightly. "What's all those papers for anyway?" She asked as she followed alongside the man as he began to continue walking thru the compound.
"They're documents and notes in preparation for the test run of the project I'm helping with." Said the man as the pair past by rooms filled with memorabilia and artifacts from the Omnic crisis and other well-known Overwatch missions. "We're beginning the final testing of the new power armor we've designed."
"Who else is workin wich'ya?" Asked Lena curiously as she continued to follow close alongside her friend.
"I'm working with Maximilian and Eckhardt, you remember them both don't you?" Said the man as he adjusted his glasses slightly. Lena rubbed her chin in thought as she walked and then finally her eyes widened and she gazed excitedly at the man beside her.
"Your workin with your old mate and your adopted father aren't ya. Well then I'm sure the test will come out just spiffy. Maybe ya can show me the project when its right as rain. See ya later then Johnny boy." With that said the young woman sprinted off in a flash of blue light with the sound of her chime like laugh following her.
The man smiled warmly as he watched her leave and chuckled slightly. "It's been too long since I've heard that nickname." He thought as he reminisced about some of the older days before Lena's accident when he was a field agent. Suddenly he shook his head and set his face into one of determination. "Today's the day we make history." He said to himself in a determined voice as he reached a circular sealed door into the science wing.
Placing one of his hands awkwardly on the scan pad he stepped back as the large sealed metal door hissed and opened. Stepping over the threshold the man walked down a long white metal hallway past several other sealed doors until he finally reached his destination and opened the door and stepped in.
The lab he and his partners worked was a large white metal room filled with several powerful, state of the art computers and other technical marvels used to fabricate the materials needed. The room was sectioned off into three areas each designated for the three individual parts of the project. One corner had many fabrication devices and a large set of sculpted and unadorned grey power armor resting on an armor stand. Another section of the room had a large chemical station and a streamlined a weapon similar to a rifle but with a large power pack attached by a long black cord. Finally, the last section was his own. The section was the smallest and had a large computer and fabrication station with algorithms and data running constantly. His two colleagues where already present and working on a last few tweaks to their parts of the project.
His colleague and friend since college Maximilian was heatedly at work measuring out and polishing up the chemical assets of his part of the project, the weapon systems. He was a thin man in his late twenty's with dark blue eyes and black hair that was combed into a divide and brushed behind his ears. He wore a royal blue button up shirt with a black and blue striped tie with a pair of black slacks, shoes and belt under a neatly buttoned lab coat. Upon his breast he wore his I.D. card that proudly displayed his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science, and an MS in Theoretical Physics.
His second colleague Eckhardt Elsner was a former member of the Crusader order from Germany and now a professional and innovative German engineer and armor technician. He had short and wild silvery blonde hair almost white with age and stern sky blue eyes with a long jagged white scar across his right eye. He was a huge bear of a man with a broad and muscular physique like the chiseled form of an ancient blacksmith. He was currently adding a few final touches to his "Vonderful Master piece" as he called it.
"John! Vhere have you been all zis time? Ve vere vorried sick." Shouted the large bear of a man in his thick German accent as he leaped from his work and bounded across the room with the athleticism of a much younger man. As he reached his adopted son he wrapped him in a deep bone crushing hug and easily lifted him several inches off the ground.
"I…can't…. breathe!" Wheezed John as he felt and almost heard his ribs cracking from the strain. The older man immediately let go and the John leaned over and coughed as he fought to regain his breath. "I got stopped by a group of protestors on my way here." Said John finally after he had regained his breath.
"John." Said the older man in a worried voice. "You know it's dangerous to regularly commute to ze base every day. Who knows vhat could happen if zoe's protestors start to become violent. Vhen I adopted you I promised you fazer zat I vould protect you." Said the old man seriously.
"I know, it's just, ever since the war I can't live in a place always around soldiers. You know what happened on my seventh birthday." Said John sadly as he sat down on one of the rooms many chairs.
The older man gazed with a saddened and knowing look at the adopted son of his fallen friend. "I know John. I vas there vith you and you fazer on zat terrible day. I know your fazer would be proud of vhat you've accomplished. I only vish he could have lived to see what you've become." Said the old man as he gave the younger man a much gentler hug.
"Not wanting to break up a tender moment or anything but we've got a really important test to run here." Said Maximilian as he finally moved away from the weapon he created for the armor.
"Let's do this!" Said John as he rushed over to his station with his colleagues hot on his heels. As he sat down his colleagues stood behind him as they watched the armor get transported to the testing room and become visible on the visual feed. "Artemis, Initiate Nano-droid integration." Said John as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
"Acknowledged." Responded a smooth robotic female voice. As what looked like electricity encased and started to fuse with the metal. "Nano Machine integration at 20%!"
"Vith zese fancy Nano-droids ze armor vill be even more powerful. You've really out done your self zis time my boy!" Said Eckhardt with a bear like laugh as he patted his adopted son on the shoulder approvingly. As the three started to celebrate what looked to be a breakthrough they felt a shockwave shake the walls around them as dust rained from the ceiling.
"Artemis, What's going on!" Shouted John. As if to answer his question the robotic female voice of the main Overwatch AI Athena Spoke over the intercom.
"Attention all Overwatch personnel, the base is under attack. I repeat, the base is under attack. All Military assets are to prepare to protect against intruders. All Science and medical staff are to lock down and wait for further orders. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"
The three men looked to each other and exchanged a look of worry and dread. "Ugh, brilliant. I suppose that someone would have attacked us eventually." Said Maximilian.