Hey all! It's been a while, sorry. Life, right? Anyway, cutting to the chase here.
This is my interpretation of how I think Blizzard will introduce Liao to the game. The 6th and final founding member who we've heard little to none of.
"Winston, I have successfully extracted the information from the classified file. Would you like to view the results?"
"Oh!" Winston jumped as he was halfway into a jar of his lavishing peanut butter. "Athena, you scared me. Heh... Uh, Yeah. Sure. Give me a moment." spoke the gorilla. Recently, the hyper-intelligent silverback had been digging around in Watchpoint: Gibraltar's old archives. Mostly all he found were simple documents, stuff which he already knew. There were a few that stood out that Athena had easily cracked open, it was the stuff that the Talon agent Reaper had been trying to pry out of his beloved AI.
All of the Agent's locations.
Some of them were pretty obvious. Of course Tracer would be down in the canteen at the watchpoint, and Torbjorn in the hangar. Mercy or Angela of course was currently down in Mali, helping relief efforts in the area, from what he heard. Others were not so obvious. Winston was not expecting Reinhardt and his squire Brigitte half-way across Russia. "I wonder why he'd be halfway across the continent? Hrm... Not important." Winston thought aloud.
However. Just next to Jesse's entry last recording him being just due north of Corpus Christi, there was an interesting name. 'Spectre'.
Winston had never known this agent. They had been around since the beginning but had disappeared very quickly, with no sign of them being killed in action.
What was more worrying to the scientist was that they were currently recorded to be in Venice. Winston knew there was a Talon base there, and no simple outpost. No, it was a large underground complex that stretched underneath the canals of the district of Rialto. He could recall as such from the mission archives. What could they be possibly doing there? Could they be a defector? On the council? No, maybe it was something more sinister, like...
"Winston, your brain activity is spiking. You are thinking far too hard and risk-" Athena spoke before being cut off by a once again startled Winston. "Athena, please stop recording my vitals."
Winston glanced off to the side. The Recall beacon had gone out, and Overwatch was slowly but surely coming back to fruition. There were a few people who had yet to respond, and others who were on their way.
Somewhere in Croatia...
The Recall beacon bleeped to life once again. An old weary sigh echoed among the small shack. "I thought I had disabled that thing."
"Clearly not, Jack. You know Torbjorn's creations rarely broke down."
"Hmph. What about the time in King's Row?"
"...Alright, I stand corrected. Maybe this is a sign we should be making our move to Gibraltar? Winston has been making some good points about the world recently."
"Really Ana? You've been listening to him? He isn't fit to lead, Overwatch will not last long with him in charge."
Ana sighed. "You haven't given him a chance, nor have you seen what he can do. Isn't it a bit unfair of you to say such a thing? I remember when you first inducted him into Overwatch. I have never seen his kind so happy before."
Jack grunted. "I didn't take you as the safari type."
Ana scoffed. "How is Spectre doing?" "You know that's not his name." "I know, but he's undercover, no? Surely it's appropriate to use our code names." "You tell me, Shrike."
Ana simply scoffed once again. "Remind me why he's over the sea, again?"
"Infiltration, Ana. He was part of a highly secretive mission to infiltrate the then-budding Talon, and has worked his way up the ranks, to be on their council. He's the best source of data we have, and it's all thanks to Operation Shadowtalon."
"Scan Complete: Results of scan show that 'Spectre' is related to one file. And it's locked behind a password."
Winston mused. A Password? He had no time for such things. "Athena, override code number six-four-three." Athena did not respond. But the screens showed attempts to open said file using Athena's built in overrides. "I'm sorry, but it appears I do not have access to this file." responded Athena after a long wait.
No access? That means the files must have been classified long before Athena was even uploaded onto the Overwatch Database. These were some very old files. Perhaps Torbjorn would know more...
The Red-Helmed Talon Trooper, designation TT-0142 was patrolling the rooftop. There was an important meeting that Doomfist had called for the council, and he was on guard duty, The orders had however been buzzed in from offshore, and as such a simple "Yes." in his native language was enough to begin. It was about time to kick the party off. He began to make his way down to the roof access, but not before leaving an inconspicuous device, a miniature beacon of sorts, hidden behind an air vent. It would be needed later for sure. But as for now, it was do or die, because Shadowtalon Finale had just been given the go.
Liao smirked underneath the mask. It was time at last.
Morrison placed down the communicator. "Come on Ana. We need to get moving. We'll brief Liao on the way to Gibraltar." The Egyptian sniper merely nodded. "I was wondering when you'd have your change of heart, Jack."
"Well, you are right Ana. I do need to give the old gorilla a chance. If it doesn't work out, well, i'll show him how it's done. Who knows." Jack responded, before bringing up the communicator again. "Oh, and if you get the chance, Liao, please punch Gabriel in the face".
"Will do, Commander."
TT-0142 stepped into the meeting room, taking position by the large seat at the end of the table. A seat that had once been occupied by a vile, greedy man named Vialli, but now had a new owner.
"Members of the council. We have a problem." boomed a deep voice. Doomfist had walked in and made his way to the seat. "I've had Agent Sombra digging around in our security feeds, and it appears there are some concerning inconsistencies." This raised eyebrows, both organic and mechanical around the table.
"We have a spy among us. Maybe closer than we think." the Talon Leader said as he critically eyes all the members present at the table. "It must be the Mad Scientist!" pointed out Maximilien. "She is constantly off elsewhere in the Middle East, conversing with others, She could've leaked our information off easily!"
"Solid reasoning, but surely an Omnic of your stature would be passing off trade secrets more frequently at your own casino, maybe to win a hand to line those pockets of yours?" accused Moira.
"Nonsense. I have been working with him closely to complete project of the Dreadnaught and-"
"SANJAY! You need to remember we have a spy among us, such mention is prohibited." interrupted Doomfist.
"Well maybe you are the spy, Akande. Someone who we'd least expect to be-"
A Loud shotgun echo rang out. Interrupting the entire argument. Reaper grunted and put his shotgun away after firing directly upwards. "You will not get anywhere bickering like Schoolchildren." spoke the dreaded Reaper. He glared slightly at Moira who snickered something about the two former commanders of Overwatch.
The sound of a Talon Agent falling to the ground behind Akande disrupted everyone's train of thought, before the big man himself felt the searing silencer of a silenced energy pistol pressed against the back of his head. The Council Members got up, weapons drawn. Those who did not have weapons merely stood in shock.
Doomfist remained seated with a neutral expression on his face, as the Talon Trooper behind him, shimmered away in a blue, hexagonal energy pattern, revealing a relatively tall, fair-skinned, bald-headed man, sporting a navy-blue visor across his eyes, with three yellow blips darting sideways across certain slits on the front of said visor. The man also still wore a high ranking member's Overwatch Trench Coat, with a large wrist-mounted projector on his left hand, with the pistol in his right.
"It seems our spy has revealed itself." growled Doomfist. Nobody could move, nobody wanted to shoot. "Nice place you have here, 'Members of the Council'." Spoke Liao in a soft but firm voice. The Taiwanese man glanced around the room, his visor, implanted onto his eyes to overcome blindness, relayed tactical data to him.
Doomfist did not even wince as one of the trigger-happy council members, namely an Italian Buisnessman named 'Mario' attempted to fire at the Overwatch Veteran. Liao merely leaned to the side, his visor feeding him the data and brain-activity of said council member. Without missing a beat, he quickly flicked his pistol out from behind Doomfist's head, and fired. A mere blue flash from the barrel, and without any sound, the man collapsed to the ground, a wound between his eyes.
This however was all Doomfist needed, with a quick spin, he charged the gauntlet around, to attempt to catch Liao off-guard. Liao was aware, and spun around, grinning. However, a loud shotgun blast rang out. Time slowed down, but something clicked inside his visor, sending out an unknown signal. Then, he felt the impact of Reaper's trademark hellfire shotguns strike him in the back. Liao buckled over on the meeting table. "Sorry, but you're too late." he grinned through the pain. "Gàobié" was all he said in his native language, before his form disintegrated into glowing blue dust that dispersed in the air.
"What!? Fan out, find him!" boomed the now angry voice of Doomfist.
On the rooftop where TT-0142 once patrolled, the beacon flickered to life, revealing the intact form of Liao. He immediately vaulted off into the streets, as alarms rose around him. He had to move quick.
"Jack, I've been revealed. Where am I meeting you?" he hastily spoke into his visor's comm function as he ran. "San Marco, to your east! Go! We've got a boat by Di Pisis Restaurant!"
"On my way, i'll be a few... Tā mā de!" Liao was interrupted as a dark mist coalesced infront of him.
"Hello Liao." Spoke Reaper who's voice dripped with malice. "I've been looking for you. How long have you been hiding I wonder?"
"That's none of your business, Gabriel. I'm disappointed in you though, not only for betraying our family, but for not even being able to find me!" Liao spoke, diving behind cover and returning fire at the bringer of death, as shots rang out. Liao was waiting for a perfect strike, before bolting forward, quickly disarming Reyes with a swift roundhouse kick, Reaper stumbled back, before slashing with his claws.
Liao grunted as he tried to dodge, a few claws scraping across his visor with a horrible screeching sound and nipping the skin around it, before spinning around Reaper whilst he was attacking, and manifested something on his wrist-mounted projector. He fired it into Reaper's back.
The Talon Assassin stumbled forward with a grunt of pain, before drawing his weapons and unleashing another volley onto Liao, who had bounded back into cover. "I'll make your death excruciating for that one..." grumbled Reaper. "Not likely."
Liao once again stepped from cover, this time unleashing his current clip of energy rounds into Reaper. However, when the Wraith tried to phase out and avoid the damage, a quick burst from his back had resulted in an EMP, preventing the wraithform from taking effect. Reaper buckled down in brief shock as the bullets impacted his chest, followed by the quick footsteps of Liao, and a left hook straight into his mask, taking it off his face.
Liao stepped back, seeing the former Blackwatch Commander's face exposed, sickly as if Reaper had been carrying the bubonic plague. He grimaced. "You've changed."
"We all have, but death never changes!" roared the now angry Talon assassin. Ominous red and black energy began to swirl around his feet, as Reaper drew new shotguns...
"Die... DIE... DIE!" he bellowed as a flurry of bullets shredded the air around Liao. However, the man was prepared. Utilizing the data from the projector, he dissolved into his own Wraith Form, and the black fog with a blue hue retreated away from the unknowing Reaper.
Liao re-materialized in a distant alley, hunching over with nausea, wondering how his former friend managed to do such a thing and hide away the side effects so well. He began to make his way towards the rendezvous when his comm crackled to life again. "Liao, Ana here. I have you in my sights, You need to hide, now. You've got two heavy assaults with a posse of enforcers each about to sandwich your position!" spoke the Egyptian lady frantically.
Liao groaned, before looking around. His solution to the problem came in a fluffy and small ginger form. Pointing his projector at it, he muttered to himself "Tāmen bù huì kàn dào wǒ lái!", before a quick beam of light shrouded the now terrified stray cat, before Liao himself turned into a ginger cat, and scurried by the approaching Talon forces.
A few moments of strained running later, he lept onto the boat that had Morrison on it, before phasing back into his normal form. "Remind me to never do that again, Jack." he panted out, exhausted. Ana slipped silently in beside him, and then the speedboat sped off into the night.
"Reports in the city of Venice last night, as an unknown commotion in the Rialto area saw the unfortunate death of known entrepreneur Mario Barbieri. Witnesses say..." droned the news report on Winston's Screen.
It was dawning on morning now, and Winston had still made no progress in unlocking the classified files. Torbjorn knew nothing either. It seemed this would be a mystery for another day.
"Winston, Incoming signatures detected." spoke Athena. Intruders? This couldn't be good. Winston grabbed his Tesla Cannon just in case, and moved outside. He saw three on the horizon. He recognised two of them immediately. Outlaws known as Shrike and Soldier: 76, but there was a third. A tall man, in an Overwatch Trench Coat and a seemingly familiar Visor from the promotional posters...
"Agent Spectre, responding to the recall. Commander Winston."
Soldier: 76 scoffed off to the side, before promptly getting a subtle slap to the back of the head by Shrike.
"But you can call me Liao."
So there it is. I've had this concept of Liao being undercover the entire time, and I thought i'd get it out there before this theory is stomped on by Blizzard doing something else. For those curious, he's a Taiwanese man, aged 59. He'd be an Offensive Hero, similar gameplay to Sombra. His passive would make his footsteps and abilities have significantly reduced sound range, so you could only really hear them if you were right next to him.
His basic abilites include a Mimic Module, which when fired at an enemy, damages them slightly, but also EMPs their next ability used, putting it on cooldown instead of actually using it, and granting Liao a one-time use of said ability.
He would also gain a Decoy Beacon, which when placed, allows him to reactivate it at any time during its active phase, which will disable any abilities/weapon fire, but make the next time he takes damage, he would feign his death and quickly re-appear at the Beacon. Whilst the enemy sees his so called death on the kill feed.
Finally, his ultimate would be Deception Protocol, allowing him to disguise as an enemy hero for up to 30 seconds, basically temporarily becoming the enemy hero for that time, granting access to every ability, along with however much ultimate charge the target player has. He appears like a regular teammate to enemies until he attacks or is attacked.
I also had another few ideas for hero concepts, but I don't think i'll write out oneshots like this for them just yet. Anyway, remember to review, and cheers for the read.