Edit: Revisions of some sentence structure and grammar. If you got a notification about this, there's no need to reread.
Edit 2: Another revision. some complaints have been addressed, so if anything about a parachute in the reviews doesn't make any sense, it's cause I fixed it.
"Mayday, mayday! Guardian Russell Dulk under heavy fire, require immediate assistance!" The Fallen Skiff rammed into Russell's ship, sending it spinning in a million directions. "Ah, fu-" He punched the control panel that politely informed him of a section of the ship that mysteriously went missing.
"Jingles what broke!?" Russell screamed out loud.
"Nothing essential! Warp jump in five seconds!" Russell's ghost, Jingles informed him.
"Do what you need! I'll try to get away from these fucks!" Russell jerked the controls, "Never should have trusted Tess!"
Five seconds was no doubt an eternity when a Skiff was actively firing shit at you. Russell hoped that he could fly well enough to buy them five seconds, but that was unlikely as he heard one of the secondary engines fail on him.
Various expletives came out of his mouth as he huddled up to prepare for an emergency evacuation, kicking the control panel that flashed 'Warp Drive Malfunction' in big red letters.
There was a blinding light as Russell screamed his lungs out.
/
Russell continued screaming as the Warp jump finished, but that wasn't the end of his problems. The ship was on a downward trajectory to meet the ground, and Russell wasn't entirely sure what he would do about that. He kicked the glass of his ship, cracking it before pulling a red lever that ejected him straight out of his vehicle.
Russell went straight up into the air, before plummeting back down as he freely fell in the nice, cool air.
"Guardian!" Jingles screamed at him through their mental link, throwing Russell out of his daze. He quickly looked down, panicked inside before shaking himself out of it.
He saw his ship go down and witnessed its crash inside a thick arrangement of trees, inside this massive ocean of green—poking a comparative pinhole inside it.
His cloak got caught in a tree and now he was dangling from a big spruce. Great start, Russell thought. He took out his knife and cut out the part that was stuck, causing him to start falling downwards, and into many big branches on the way to ground level.
Russell yelped as he felt something his tailbone whilst falling he collapsed onto the shamrock green grass. It was soft, and the light breeze tickled his armor.
"Hey Jingles, you mind getting me an idea of where we are?" Russel's head fell to its side as he basked in his state of relaxation.
"…I don't know."
"What?"
"Yeah, I said that right, I don't know. I have no maps to pull up. We're in an entirely new planet."
"You gotta be kidding me. Check for any Vanguard frequencies?" Russell stood up, shaking himself of the grass that stuck onto his armor.
"…None, except for some activity on really ancient radio frequencies." Jingles materialized, his shell a midnight blue, like his Guardian's armor. "Let's listen in."
There was an almost silent beep.
"Uh…R-R Teams one-through-three, we're getting reports of a…space ship that crashed in sector A-Seventeen, around your position. Command is suggesting an investigation."
"Roger that Watch-Two, we are on our way."
"That's our queue to get out of here. I'm detecting multiple electronic signatures. Robots, and they're armed. They look hostile." Russell ducked from a bullet that flew by.
"Yeah, they're hostile alright." He replied. Jingles dematerialized whilst Russell patted the holster on his waist, checking for the Ace of Spades. Upon feeling it, he pulled it out and took aim at his aggressors.
His sights set upon a blocky and thicker version of a Vex Goblin that didn't have the top part. It had a single red eye in a cube head that was flashing as its machine gun arm – covered in moss and dirt – continued firing rounds.
A single shot of the Ace of Spades made it spark and fall over. Russell snapped to his side as his radar lit up red. The robot's friend attempted a punch at his face.
"Not a smart idea buddy." The Hunter muttered as sidestepped the punch and grabbed the barrel of its weapon, pushing it upwards whilst using his other hand to stab the thing in the neck.
Another robot went at him, approaching ominously as it fired several bullets into Russell. His shield sustained the impacts, allowing him to throw an explosive knife at the poor thing, making it detonate in an explosion that would most likely start a forest fire. He hoped that that wouldn't be the case.
"Get me Thunderlord." Russell told his ghost through their mental link.
The Ace of Spades disappeared from his hands as the familiar weight of the massive machine gun was put on his back. Russell reached behind him and readied the electrifying weapon, just as the last few angry robots were shot down.
"Damn." Russell muttered. He looked around himself, spotting various reflections of weapon sights that surrounded him. "Let's not start with a bad impression, hm?" He shouldered Thunderlord, disappearing soon after.
"Alright, I'll raise my hands." Russell did as he promised and raised his hands. "Not like I have the fastest draw on Earth...kidding, kidding!" Nervously chuckling, Russell grimaced under his helmet.
"Alright fine, I'll drop my guns." On cue, Jingles made Thunderlord appear mid-air in front of him, the weapon falling to the ground with a whoomp.
"The revolver too." An unidentified voice from Russell's right said, he felt the barrel of a weapon press against his head.
"Alright fine!" The Ace of Spades appeared and promptly fell. "That's it. All I have." Russell said, slightly annoyed now.
"You're coming with us." The man grabbed Russell's wrists and put them in handcuffs. "Got a lot of explaining to do, boy." A blindfold was wrapped around his eyes and tightly bound.
"Nothing personal."
/
The armed men took him to some dry, and cool building, the air being pure and with no discernible smell. Russell could hear people going about their day around him.
"Another captive?" A woman with an accent that was foreign to Russell asked, to the one holding him. "Be gentle."
His captor grunted in response and they kept walking. A left turn was forced, and Russell was sat down on a chair. The blindfold came off, revealing a white, windowless room that had security cameras looking focused on him in the top corners.
In front of him sat a Hispanic man with facial hair that wrapped around his mouth and covered his chin. His head sported a black beanie, fitting his black attire that glowed red at certain areas.
"Step number one of escaping captivity, don't – and I wanna emphasize – don't piss your captor off. In the unlikely chance a Hunter gets captured, their captors will most likely not be very tolerant of smart-assery. Just stay quiet, stare them all boring style and answer in short sentences." Russell followed Cayde's advice, keeping a neutral face under the helmet as he kept constant eye contact with his captor.
The man seemed to be aware of the contact as his posture shifted forward, moving his elbow onto the table.
"You know what to do. Talk." The man's voice was gruff and sounded like he smoked cigarettes every minute, though his breath told otherwise. "Let's start with how you got here."
"Well..." Russell bit his tongue. He had to think of a cover story, and quick.
"Go on."
"I found this ship abandoned in some defunct hangar…had all these 'no trespassing' signs but I still went in, almost got crushed by a steel beam." Russell paused. "Took this baby out, called my friends for parts and got it fixed up."
"And would you know who your friends are?"
"Uhh…they're a bunch of…shady folk, uh...they somehow find all this advanced stuff, I don't know how, um…" Russell paused once more. "They mentioned working with some other guys…"
"Talon?"
"Yeah! Yeah, them. Talon…that's a cool name." The man grimaced upon hearing that. "Stupid decision of me, ponying up all that money and not even testing it, you saw how big that explosion was?"
The man's brows furrowed, and he was about to say something until he was rudely interrupted by whoever was talking in his earpiece. "What? Alright, I'm on my way. Send a couple of dispatch teams." He turned around and headed for the door.
"You stay here." He firmly said as the door slid open, then closed behind him.
Russell struggled in his handcuffs.
"Step two, now only do this step if your captor's left or if your guard is not paying attention, or else you'll get blasted in the face. Get outta any restrictions. Thankfully, your Ghost should be able to cut any type of electronic lock, and as far as I know, none of the bad guys use rope, you should be fine for this step."
"Jingles, you mind?" Jingles materialized behind him and floated around the cuffs, shooting some light beams at it. The handcuffs unlocked with a clink and Russell promptly shook them off. He stood up, stretched his arms and legs, massaged his wrists and cracked his neck. "Thanks, buddy."
"Now, you have any idea where my guns are?"
"I hacked their security system and it shouldn't be too far from here. Though you might want to be quiet, there are still people lurking around-" Jingles was interrupted as an explosion and ensuing gunfire erupted from above. "Never mind. They're scramming now."
Jingles hacked the door open and Russell stepped out.
"Step three of escaping captivity, find your guns! Most likely they've been taken from you, so take them back."
"Alright, show me the way old friend." Russell chuckled. "I could help out with whatever's happening up there, should I?"
There was an audible interpretation of a shoulder shrug.
A marker appeared on his HUD, pointing him to his weapons.
. . .
Russell felt the grip of the Ace of Spades on his gloved hand as he put it into his holster. Thunderlord dematerialized as Jingles stashed it into his inventory.
"So, what do you say, help out upstairs or wait?" Russell asked out loud. Jingles materialized and floated around his head. The ghost's body nodded. "That's settled then. You wanna stay out here or you want to stay invisible?"
Jingles swiftly disappeared.
Russell made his way towards a staircase. The ground shook. He slowly stepped upwards, making sure to have a tight grip on the handrails. The door that led to the outside world was blown inwards, on a collision course to Russell's head. He dodged the projectile and stood at the doorway, looking towards the outside world.
"We better move, seems like the action's getting intense." Jingles said, hidden from sight.
"Great."
Sunlight broke through acrid and thick smoke, shining some much-needed rays onto Russell. He stepped outside, covering his eyes as the sun was shining straight into them. Upon lowering his arm, a warzone revealed itself. On one side were those robots shooting at the other side, which consisted of soldiers in gear similar to Last City marines as they ducked under cover and returned fire.
Russell, unholstering the Ace of Spades, dove into the action. His first move consisted of throwing an Incendiary Grenade towards a group of androids as he slid under one, firing a few shots into its underside as he passed by. He pushed himself up and gored another in a quick motion, using the robot's corpse to shield him from oncoming fire then hurling it towards another one of its buddies. The throw knocked threw two robots to the side. The distinct 'clank' sound of the Ace of Spades rang as Russell put a few more rounds into more enemies, advancing deeper into the mass of automatons.
Russell primed a throwing knife's explosive embedded in its holster then pushed the pointy bit into the neck of a robot, causing it and everything in its immediate radius to blow up. A robot that went unnoticed attempted to hit him from behind but a burst from an old-school plasma weapon put it down, the smoldering corpse collapsing behind him. Russell turned around to see a blonde man with a blue visor over one eye and a rifle in his hands do a quick nod before going to fight more of these machines. Russell returned with a quick finger salute then went back to massacring his enemies.
"Prep Thunderlord, and map the area for me if you can." Russell told his Ghost.
"Gotcha." The Ace of Spades disappeared and in its place was Thunderlord, the black and blue electric machine gun of legends. Russell only had a magazine's worth of ammunition, but that should suffice to eliminate the remainders of the robots.
He let the machine gun sing its charged song as lightning rained from above upon every kill. The weapon tore through the leftovers of the enemy forces. In a practiced movement, he smacked an android with the butt of his weapon and punctured it with his knife whilst it was recovering. These were one of the last robots, as indicated by the dying levels of gunfire in the area.
Which meant that the other guys would have a line of sight on him once the grey smoke that permeated the area dissipated.
Taking note of the direction that the human soldiers were, Russell ran the opposite way, while Jingles filled him in on his situation.
"So…we're on Earth." Jingles stated.
"Great, directions to the Tower?"
"I would…if there was a Tower. There's no mention of a 'Tower' here." Russell took a turn into the abandoned husk of a fancy hotel building to catch his breath. "We're not in the same version of Earth we know. I'll give you a second to take that in."
The revelation was a bit heavy. Russell wasn't distressed, but confused. How exactly did that warp bring him here exactly? Did the Fallen follow him? He collapsed onto his butt behind a pillar, panting as the adrenaline of the fight wore off and the out-of-breath state kicked in.
"We're in…Germany." Russell furrowed his brows. Germany was a country predating the Golden Age—and the concept of countries fell out of fashion a long while ago. He wondered why far back in time he went. "And those robots we fought earlier, they're called Omnics."
"Good to know." Russell reloaded the Ace of Spades as he heard numerous sets of footsteps pass by on the street the hotel was on.
"And the guys chasing you are part of an organization called Overwatch. They're like the Guardians of this Earth."
A single pair of footfalls came into the apartment building. They were light and quick, which told quite a bit on the type of person this one was.
"Now…he could've gone in here…or here?" The pursuer mused to herself—her voice feminine and high-pitched, of an accent that Russell had never heard before. The steps slowed down as his pursuer presumably was looking around in the lobby.
Russell peeked around the pillar he stood behind. A thin, brunette woman with hair that went straight to one side, wearing a blue cadet cap and visor glasses. On her chest was a round glowing device that glowed a bright blue, complimenting her entire getup. She occasionally blinked a few feet forward – akin to a Warlock – as she searched the lobby, leaving no corner unsearched.
"No way I'm outrunning that woman." He said through his mental link, mostly speaking to himself.
"I have an idea…" Russell took out an explosive knife and threw it at a wall near the entrance. It exploded, and the woman looked towards it as Russell made a dash towards the staircase that led to the second floor of the building. He let out a shot of the Ace of Spades in her general direction as he entered a hallway that led into the rooms.
"I'm on him! Send backup!" The woman screamed into her radio as she gave chase.
Russell dove into an elevator and mashed the button that he assumed led to the top floor. He kept a smug grin on his face under his mask while he mockingly saluted as the door closed on his pursuer.
His smug grin disappeared as he realized he hadn't really thought out his plan very well. The woman would just take the stairs and outrun the elevator.
Another idea popped into his head. He pressed the emergency stop button, pried open the hatch above him and kicked the doors that led into whatever floor he landed on.
When he stepped into the hallway, the woman was waiting for him.
"Not a bright one, are ya?" She quipped before sidestepping with her teleportation ability as Russell sent a punch straight towards her jugular. She then grabbed the arm that he punched with, attempted to twist it, but the gauntlets proved too strong. Russell pulled her towards him and threw her over his shoulder and sent her tumbling to the floor. She quickly caught herself and zipped her way towards Russell, hitting his helmet with the bottom of her pistol.
Russell took the hit and followed up with a side swipe to her hip, knocking her to the side then stricking her with his fist, knocking the woman down. She landed with an oomph but quickly got herself back in the fight.
"I really don't want to break your arms, woman." Russell said as he readied his fists.
"Not a chance, luv! I'd knock ya down pretty quickly!" She blinked towards him and attempted a sweeping kick on Russell's legs. He responded by pushing back, his opponent blinking backwards before she could trip. She blinked forward, then to the side and went for two quick punches to the side of Russell's head, retreating right after. She did this a few more times, varying her attacks and where they landed, and Russell got a bit frustrated.
"Alright, that's enough. Jingles!" The Ace of Spades appeared in Russell's hand as he pointed it straight at his attacker. "Look, I'm not a bad guy, don't mind the gun. Just let me go and we'll both be cool with each other. That sound good?"
"Don't think so." A manly, deep voice said from behind him. "You're coming with us."
Russell really wanted to pull out his Golden Gun at that moment.
"I think it would be a better idea if you surrendered. Not worth the trouble running from these guys." Jingles said. "At least until we find a way out of here."
"Fine." Russell replied.
"Throw the gun down." The man behind him instructed. Russell obeyed and gently put down the Ace of Spades, raising his hands afterward. "We're not going to hurt you."
A familiar set of handcuffs locked itself onto Russell's hands.
/
A few hours later…
On the way to his interrogation room, Russell's helmet dematerialized, revealing his sharp features on pale white skin that hadn't seen the sun in a while. He was mostly clean on the face except for a scar on his left cheek. His eyes were a dull shade of grey that flicked around frequently, observing every minute detail of his surroundings. He kept a distant stare whilst being escorted.
He was sat down at the same white table, except a different man was on the other side. Plus a blonde woman in a white lab coat that held a clipboard and a pen in the corner.
"We should start with introductions." The blonde-haired man started. "My name is Jack Morrison, commander of Overwatch, although I'm pretty sure you're aware of that, right?"
"Uh…yeah." Russell replied, not having a damn clue on who this guy was. "Russell Dulk. Hunter."
"Hunter, you say?" Jack Morrison inquired. "What do you hunt? Doesn't look like you're chasing after animals with that equipment."
"Mostly Omnics. Occasionally some bad people." Russell replied, keeping eye contact with his interrogator. He noticed the man shift defensively.
"You do know that that is our job, right?" Morrison asked. "Dangerous for you to fight alone."
"Of course it is, that's why I do it." Russell said.
Morrison cleared his throat.
"My…colleague, Reyes, says that you have been acquiring parts from Talon." The man said. "To repair your ship? And might I add, what is this ship for?"
"Uh…yeah, Talon. They sold me the engine for my ship, I did the rest. It's for…travelling." Russell replied.
Jack Morrison looked a bit concerned as he took in what was said. "Do you know the contact who sold you this?"
"Uh…guy by the name of The Drifter." Russell hoped the lie would stick long enough so he could figure out what to do next.
"Do you have any physical descriptions of him?" The commander asked.
"Er…wears a bandanna, beard, and mustache, looks grizzled. Has this jade dog tag around his neck most of the time."
"Interesting."
"Yeah, haven't heard from the guy in a while. Heard he runs something called the Gambi…"
"You should stop right there before you dig yourself a deeper grave." Jingles chimed in mentally.
"Sorry, what was that?" Morrison asked.
"Gambit. He runs something called Gambit."
"Do you know what happens in Gambit?"
"Nope."
"Very well. The information is appreciated, now, I have a proposition for you." Morrison shifted his posture, straightening his back and appearing more formal.
Russell was about to raise an objection, but Jingles told him to shut up and listen first.
"I know you don't trust me, or anyone here." The commander of Overwatch began. "And your entrance is…jarring, to say the least. Your armor, weapons and everything about you I have never seen before."
Russell's eyes narrowed. "I'm not from around here." His tone turned cold, he noticed the intimidation from the blond-haired commander.
Morrison frowned. "A private person I take it?"
"Not normally, but you said it perfectly, I don't trust you." Russell answered, showing as little respect as he could in his tone.
The woman in the corner scowled and wrote some more on her clipboard.
"I'll keep it simple. You look like someone fit for Overwatch, and I offer you a chance to join the strike team."
"What for?" Russell asked. "How would this help me in any way, shape or form?"
"Easy, you could either join us, and have your life be exponentially easier..." Morrison said. "Or, you could try your chances at an attorney and deal with the local government about your trespassing and destruction of a national nature reserve."
"However, this is your choice. The door is there."
"I strongly recommend that you join. It will be a life-changing experience." The woman in the corner interjected, her tone polite and neutral.
Russell had the urge to be a smartass and wanted to laugh at the fact that the commander thought he would be arrested by a local police force. Decisions, decisions.
"I think you should take him up on his offer." Jingles spoke up suddenly, invisible to the naked eye. "You did pledge to protect all humans."
"Would that apply to people here? Shouldn't I be trying to find a way home?"
"True, but it'll probably be a while before we figure that out—might as well do our best in another world. Besides, we can try and haggle them to fix our ship."
"Fine."
"Fine." Russell repeated his thoughts.
"Excellent, I'll get the paperwork done, although you'll have to be kept under supervision for a week at headquarters." Jack Morrison stood up, smiled and extended his hand.
Russell smiled back out of politeness' sake and shook the hand offered to him.
/
Angela Ziegler sighed as Jack and the new one; Russell, left the room. She wrote down her last notes before heading out towards Ana, who was watching the entire interrogation from an adjacent room.
"What do you think of him?" Ana asked, turning to Angela who sat down on one of the chairs inside the surveillance room. "He seems sharp."
Angela only sighed as she passed her notes to Ana. "He's hiding something. I know it." Something was…off about this man. Yes, she witnessed his prowess in the battlefield, but his callous and rude demeanor towards the commander set off alarms in her head. She was wondering if they just recruited a rebellious teenager in the body of a twenty-something man, and that was everything she didn't need on top of her usual workload.
"I hope he knows what he's doing," Angela commented. Ana scanned the jotted down notes. "That man will either be our savior or our downfall."
"What makes you think that?" The Egyptian woman asked.
"I have a hunch that something's wrong. He's far too talented in combat for someone at his age, and that's after seeing Genji and Lena." Angela said sternly. "How would we keep him on our side? He admitted that he interacted with Talon before. Have you heard of The Drifter?"
"Hm…I haven't, and our database makes no mention of such a person. We would have to investigate deeper. This man might have some dangerous ties." Ana remarked worriedly as she put down Angela's clipboard.
"I hope Jack has the right idea."
"We all do."
/
The next hour…
Russell was a bit sad when his transport truck passed by his broken-down ship that was being picked up and towed somewhere. The ship was his home for most of his life, and now he would have to live in some posh apartment on the campus of Overwatch's headquarters.
The fact that he had to give the Ace of Spades and Thunderlord to some guy who would most likely mistreat them made him feel worse.
Maybe he was being a bit too sentimental. The Hunter sighed as he sat down and looked at the dark interior of the transport vehicle.
A Wing Contender helmet materialized on his head. The bumping ceased as the truck went onto actual roads instead of dirt. That comforted him a bit, not having to worry about banging his head on the roof of this god-forsaken vehicle.
"Ready to save the world?" Jingles quipped, invisible.
"I will seriously throw you out this truck if you don't shut up." Russell replied. "And you better hope they have a way to fix my warp drive."
"Oh yeah, I know they do. Ask Winston, their lead scientist."
"Duly noted."
"You know they have gorilla scientists in this place?"
"Really?"
"And Winston is their gorilla scientist."
"No way."
The Ghost made a positive chirp. Russell decided to let it go and try and get as much sleep as possible.
/
Lore book unlocked: Russell Dulk, a student of Cayde-6
Entry 1: Initial thoughts
So, I first noticed Russell when he kept on coming into the hangar and eating his lunch there. I was fine with it, what sparked my interest was when Ikora mentioned that he had been doing that for nearly three months, and I did notice that he acted a bit weird when I looked his way. Alright, a bit eerie, but hey, fans are fans. So, we both co-existed, more like acknowledged each other's existence. Then I had a great idea: What if I took him as a student? I mean, what could go wrong? Who said that I, the magnificent Cayde-Six, can't be a mentor? Ikora's been doing it for years now, how hard can it be? So, I went up and talked to him and he was all shocked and amazed, was practically on his knees and crying tears of joy about the fact that I, the legendary Hunter Vanguard Cayde-Six, came up to talk to him.
Okay, slight exaggeration, but still, he was surprised. I asked him if he was interested in being tutored and he was all game. I took him under my wing and…
It didn't go so well for the first week...or two, maybe three but that's pushing it. Let's just settle on four.
How in the world does Ikora do this whole tutoring thing?
/
The armed guards decided to take Russell to their headquarters through the front, which made them go through a vast courtyard sprawling with life as men, women, and children wandered about, living their daily lives.
A particularly young child took notice of Russell.
"Is that one of the bad guys that Overwatch catch?" He heard the girl ask her parent. An innocent question, although it made Russell's eyes roll.
"I don't know honey, but we should let the guards do their business." The parent quickly pulled the kid away, despite her curiosity. She was still looking at Russell as she was dragged away.
He returned the stare with a quick nod and tried to move his hands to do a quick salute but forgot his arms were bound, which made him look like he was trying to shake off his handcuffs.
"Come on buddy, keep moving." The guard told him as he was shoved along.
They eventually passed through a magnificent front door that was as wide as it was beautiful. Two marble pillars were on each side of the entrance. Upon entering, the lobby was massive, with a giant logo of this Overwatch organization emblazoned on the wall.
"Fancy place, huh? Cayde would be rolling his eyes so hard right now." Jingles quipped.
"Yeah, not too fond of it."
"Might as well enjoy it while it lasts."
"Right…"
The guards led him to a plain white room with various medical equipment where a doctor was waiting for him with a tablet.
"Russell Dulk." The doctor began, his voice smooth and warm. "Good to meet you." The man flashed a smile as he looked towards Russell.
"Likewise," Russell replied, rubbing his wrists as the handcuffs were taken off. "So…this a health assessment or something?"
"You got that right. Don't worry, it'll be quick and then you can go to your assigned room and relax for the rest of the day."
. . .
"Is it really that big of a surprise that you're in tip-top shape?" Jingles asked. "It would've been a stupid idea to not revive you at your peak."
"Not really, but with how I've been treating myself lately, I thought something would change." Russell replied.
He walked up to his dorm room, in front of the door was a half-robot-half-human person gazing at him with sharp eyes. There was a sword on the man's back, and the right side of his chest had a circle cut-out that glowed orange. A visor akin to a hockey mask except without the top looked to have been welded on the man's face. His eyes looked at him like a hawk as they scanned him up to down.
"Genji Shimada." The cyborg man said, his words short and polite. "Don't cause trouble and we will get along well."
"Sounds about right. Russell Dulk." Russell extended his hand. Genji shook it begrudgingly. "Security guard for the week?"
"He doesn't seem very happy." Jingles stated offhandedly.
"I can tell."
"Yes. You could say that."
Genji stepped aside and let Russell into his room.
"Man that guy really doesn't like me for some reason."
/
"The directives are simple." Jack Morrison stated over the intercom. "The enemy targets will attack you. Kill them. Take as little damage as possible while taking out as many of them as you can. Move to the biome that is indicated. Good luck."
Russell stepped into the training arena. Decently sized, it was an arena that was separated into four 'biomes': Jungle, Desert, Urban, and Plains. Cover was distributed evenly and was in the styles of their respective environments. Overlooking everything was a massive screen that prominently displayed a countdown.
"THREE. TWO. ONE." Russell pulled out the Ace of Spades as the floodgate opened for him. "GO. JUNGLE."
He headed for the jungle section of the arena. Here there was tons of natural cover, inundated in moss and rain forest trees, the enemies were hard to identify – at least to the normal eye – as they were camouflaged. Russell didn't have a normal eye, he had a Hunter's eye, which meant that he would see things a normal person wouldn't notice.
Jingles would also call out some enemies he didn't notice at first which was helpful.
Russell fired his first shot as an Omnic Bastion peeked from its cover, its head being torn off by the bullt. He rolled into cover as bullets flew around him, the source of which were more Omnics. Lobbing a grenade over his shoulder, Russell quickly changed positions as a pair of Omnics were sent flying and set on fire by the Incendiary Grenade. Russell peeked out once more and scanned the area.
"Behind you!" Jingles called out. Russell quickly turned around and sidestepped the Omnic's downward smash, rolling out the way as he fired two shots of the Ace of Spades into it.
He kept in mind that he had ten rounds left.
"DESERT." The female announcer voice said.
Russell scrambled towards the desert area of the arena. It was sparsely littered with broken down cars and oil barrels and had a more open feel than the previous sector. At the center of the area was a big Omnic. It stood on four legs and had two arms and one head, looking like a horse. On one arm was a cannon of some sort while on the other was a blade made of energy. Two sets of machine gun barrels – a total of four – sat on the sides of the Omnic's head as its four eyes blinked red.
"Golden Gun's ready." Jingles reminded him.
Russell let off a few shots from the Ace of Spades into the giant machine before activating Golden Gun. He reached into the air with his palm cupped, as if he were holding an invisible hand cannon. Flames erupted from within as a hand cannon formed in his hand. As soon as he could bring it to eye-level, he shot flaming bullets full of Solar Light that disintegrated whoever or whatever was unfortunate enough to be in its way.
A bullet hit the Omnic's machine gun arm, completely ripping it off. Another hit the energy weapon arm—this time it sparked and exploded. Two more bullets tore off the front two legs of the enemy. The last two bullets landed inside the head, tearing the part off along with its mechanical spine. The robotic beast sparked and exploded as it fell with a dying beep, having succumbed to the Light.
Russell looked proudly at his handiwork, nodding in satisfaction.
"URBAN."
He better get going.
/
"Impressive." Jack Morrison muttered as he watched Russell take down the larger-than-normal OR-14 Unit that gave nearly every member of the strike team who tried it trouble.
"Put it straight down!" Lena exclaimed as she bounced with excitement.
Torbjörn muttered something in his usual angry voice and took down some notes.
"His abilities are unnatural," Angela commented. "Although, I am not one to comment on the unnatural."
"He's fit for Blackwatch, that's for sure," Reyes said, his eyes observing Russell with an eagle's eye. "Would be a great asset."
"Not so fast Gabriel," Jack replied. "He aims like a seasoned veteran yet acts like a child. I think he'd be a better fit for the strike team. The public would love him."
Gabriel grumbled a bit. Russell had just put down several humanoid Omnics without breaking a sweat, weaving in and out of buildings like he was born to fight in them. "Look at his urban prowess. Didn't even leave a single trace he was there."
"Other than the bodies." Ana quipped. "Blackwatch tend to do that."
Gabriel shot her a quick glare before returning his attention to the screen.
Morrison grimaced as Russell threw one of his fire grenades into the grass of the Plains area, burning down everything around it as the man gunned down the Omnics that hid inside. "That's something he definitely as to work on."
"We seem to have found quite a skilled soldier, a diamond in the rough as you Americans call it." Angela said as she narrowed her eyes when Russell waved at the camera. "We are extremely lucky that Talon hadn't found him first."
"Not to mention…I'm havin' a bit of doubts 'bout his story." Lena added. "I mean, he's sayin' that Talon have a guy smarter than Winston and that they just gave tech that's hundreds of years ahead of us to him? Don't really believe it."
"And he just appears one day, without any of us knowing about him prior." Ana compounded. "There are…doubts to be had with his origins but…"
"But what? We confront him about it?" Morrison butted in.
"No, he would gun us all down."
"We'll have to talk about it eventually, but for now, feign ignorance." Jack finished. The door to their room opened, revealing Russell who had a burnt smell to him.
. . .
"You've held extremely well in the Initiation," Ana said, scanning Russell top-to-bottom. "You've demonstrated incredible skill in combat and abilities that are quite…unique." She paused. "Now, unfortunately, and I'll put it bluntly, we don't know what to do with a man of your caliber. However, we do know someone who can certainly put your potential to full use." The woman turned to Gabriel Reyes. "And that man right here, is Gabriel Reyes."
"Sounds good, commander? Can I call you that yet?" Russell tilted his head, looking towards Reyes who stared him down with vulture eyes. "Did I skip a step or…?"
"We'll just say that you took the offer," Reyes said, standing up and extending his hand towards Russell.
"Welcome to Blackwatch."
Been playing a bunch of Destiny 2 lately. Had a kick to make this. Will work on the other stories, don't worry.
Edit: If I abused the dash too much, let me know. I just found out about it.