Chapter I
Apart from the distant whirring of passing cars as they sped down the free-way the area was quiet. The low hanging sun overlooked arid farm land and distant dots of light from homesteads littered the horizon. Remote, isolated, so it was exactly what Overwatch desired when it needed secret safe-house locations to restock and re-arm on the way to global hotspots during the first Omnic crisis.
No one around must have cared enough to ever inquire into the run down factory that sat next to the free-way. Probably an offensive eye sore that normal people overlooked. The sun was setting fast, the free-way casting a dark shadow beneath it that made it perfect for concealment.
From what he could survey from the shadow of the free-way, all that was protecting the old safe-house was a busted up chain link fence. A tree had even fallen and crushed a portion of the fence and it had clearly been that way for awhile.
Other Overwatch facilities namely those that had been public knowledge had fallen into government hands. Data about the more secure Overwatch safe-houses had been lost in the destruction of the Overwatch HQ.
Sprinting across the open field, vaulting the fallen fence and closing the distance to abandoned factory in a matter of seconds, it never used to take a toll on him but with age came the slight shortening of breath, sore and bruised muscles that never seemed to heal right. He wasn't a young man any more but he knew his limitations were still more than any other normal soldier.
The factory was run down and littered with debris, marked with anti-Omnic graffiti, complete with some empty crates and barrels. On a far wall a metal safety sign hung on a crooked angle. He pried the sign back, revealing the dusty keypad. He dialled it in and the wall popped open and when he pushed it the door yielded to him and opened.
He shut the door behind him and descended the old metallic stairs into the darkness, tapping the side of his visor and switching to night vision. The place was as silent as a tomb, the outside ambience completely absent now. He cleared the place hall by hall, room by room. Storage closets, a room of spare bunks, more storage that implied ammunition. He stopped and opened the cabinets which swung open to reveal nothing but a few spare casings for outdated weaponry. Nothing of use.
In his mind the doubts began to arise that this was a wasted effort. How many other former agents had come scavenging through this place before he had. It was less risky than raiding the currently occupied facilities but this time it had only costed him valuable time. He slammed the cabinet door with a grunted curse, the echo travelling through the empty halls. In the wake of the echo a muffled banging noise from somewhere in the facility snapped him out of his daze. He focused and checked his pulse rifle. He crept around the corner and down the hall towards it.
No sound apart from his light foot falls. Then he heard it, the light hum of a generator. Navigating the halls he reached the last door, labelled Hanger-001. The door featured a keypad that prompted him to enter another code which he punched in before the door slid open to reveal a well lit hanger bay and sitting right in the centre of the huge room was an Overwatch drop-ship, bright white with it's logo stamped proudly on the side. It had been too long since he had laid eyes on one.
A loud crackling electric beam struck the ground near his boots, searing the ground
"Hold it right there!" the voice was deep and resonant, "Drop your weapon".
He turned to the right of the drop-ship where a large gorilla, armoured in a white space suit clutching a Tesla cannon stood. He didn't drop his weapon but he didn't raise it either, instead turning to face the ape.
"Or you'll do what? Kill me in cold blood? Turn me in to the authorities? We'll see how that goes" he growled, eyeing Winston cautiously. He was gambling with his luck and he knew it.
"Ohh I wouldn't test him love, now mits up" the cockney accent chirped as a gun barrel poked him in the back. Growling he complied and dropped the pulse rifle which clattered to the ground.
"Smashing job now kick it over to 'im" the voice commanded. He sighed and kicked the rifle to Winston who scooped it up and placed it on a desk behind him. Tracer stepped out from behind him and circled to his left. Tracer hadn't aged a day since he had last seen her. Still the shining picture of optimism that had been featured on so many propaganda posters.
"Soldier 76, outlaw, vigilante. Thought you'd be too busy killing petty street thugs to bother us" Winston growled.
"I'm not the only vigilante here so you can get off your high horse Winston" 76 bit back.
"You're ex-Overwatch, I've gathered that much about you. Wouldn't have gotten in here otherwise. But something tells me you're not here because of the recall" Winston kept his Tesla cannon trained on him.
"Just stopping by for some supplies thought you wouldn't mind" 76 replied.
"Those supplies belong to Overwatch" Winston grunted.
"Nobody is going to answer the call. Overwatch is dead" 76 responded flatly.
"I'm standin' right 'ere y'know?" Tracer stood with her hands on her hips.
"We can't just stand by and do nothing any more. Look, we could use someone like you. This second Omnic crisis could escalate dramatically unless we intervene and we may have not have a choice either, Talon is involved" Winston lowered the cannon and set it aside.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"My lab at Gibraltar was attacked by Talon agents. A mercenary, Reaper was with them, he tried to hack into the database for a list of Overwatch agents and almost succeeded. I've been following his activities for awhile and it's become clear he's hunting down former members of Overwatch for Talon" Winston turned to a small console of the desk and with a few button presses brought up a global map of Overwatch agent listed as murdered or deceased since the shut down of Overwatch. It was a long list of names.
Alongside it was a security recording of the lab attack. It stuck out like a sore thumb. Talon agents using Blackwatch tactics, clear as day and unmistakable and the grim reaper lookalike in charge of them fit the bill for the infamous mercenary that had been responsible for committing terrorist attacks around the world.
"We stand a better chance together than letting him pick us off one by one" Winston turned back to him.
"The world didn't ask for our help. Gathering everyone together will make us a target. It was a mista-"
"How could you understand?" Tracer's sudden outburst startled him, "This may be hard for somebody like you to understand but our team was like a family to us. To me. I can't walk out on them" she stared up into his visor, unwavering. He met her hard stare.
"Reaper is dangerous, the two of you don't stand a chance" he tried to reason.
"I'll fight him alone if it comes down to it" she replied, an equal mix of stubbornness and determination. It almost threw him off on how much Lena hadn't changed. Still the same girl when she had joined Overwatch after Winston had rescued her from phasing in and out of time.
For him Overwatch was some bad memories but he couldn't ignore his gut feeling that Blackwatch was involved. Gabriel Reyes' hand picked team of murderers and cut throats were working with Talon?
"I'll come with you" he said suddenly. Inwardly regretting his decision already.
"What?" Tracer and Winston questioned in unison.
"I suppose I'd rather not be on my own when Talon comes knocking. I'll help you, if only to put and end to this Talon death squad and then I'm gone" 76 justified to himself.
"As good a reason as any I suppose, beggars can't be choosers when allying themselves with dangerous fugitives" the ape sighed.
Xxx
Been a very long time since I've sat down and written a fan fic.
I can only seem to write them very late at night so forgive me if there are a few spelling, punctuation, dialogue errors since I have to be pretty tired to write these.
This is probably going to be very Soldier 76 centric and may not include the whole cast as it's too challenging and a lot of character relationships haven't been fully fleshed out by Blizzard yet which makes writing them from scratch very difficult.