Chapter Two:
Tactical Strikes
July 2016
Sly's Point of View.
It was some sort of reunion after that, we all went to a tavern that was close by after we were "placed" with our roommates for the sole reason of security. What do they think I am, a "cat burglar"? Anyways, I had to share a room with Pliskin, Reinhardt and Sunny. We all sort of work out as a small family, Sunny is always there when you need her, technology or life issues, Reinhardt always knows how to be a jokester, even in the most inappropriate conversations and Pliskin and I? We handle just fine together as seasoned veterans of the battlefield, even though his singing could use a bit more work on hitting the high notes, and I'm just here hoping that he doesn't become another Don Octavio. We were at the GMT Tavern in Bleecker Street, New York and man, it was a party. There was a new upright piano situated against the wall, and guess what, Evie Frye and her brother Jacob started to play the piano when Jacob began to sing a tune about Maxwell Roth, that businessman who died in a theater fire three months back. And if things wouldn't get more hectic enough, Reinhardt joined in, even after drinking three or four mugs of beer, then Pliskin and Arno joined in, then the entire tavern joined in our little sing along that we started.
After that hustle we all decided to hit Central Park even though it was around eight at night. We all had a fine time discussing how life went on in the past six months in the cool summer breeze of New York. We haven't even seen Wolf London at all in the past three months, even Wolf O'Donnell or Star Lord has managed to contact London according to both McCree and Otacon who had been trying to establish a connection with his manor fifty miles up north from here in Tarrytown. Reinhardt, Sunny, Kitty and Q were all playing with a dog that our "Landlord" keeps as a pet, yet Q doesn't seem to like playing with dogs, since he is overall a cat person and Colonel Reinhardt had managed to get his armor back up in action, making him taller and stronger than the man he already is. I seemed to have made the right choice, even though I was uncertain with it at first.
By the time it was around ten o' clock, the group had decided to retreat to their quarters. With Reinhardt, Sunny, Sly and Pliskin, luckily at the penthouse floor with Q, James, Moneypenny and Morrison sharing the room directly below them. Even at eleven o' clock it still couldn't keep Pliskin and Q from playing and practicing in their favorite MMORPG's and MOBAS late into the night. Everyone was soundly asleep, with the exception of Q and Pliskin of course, however something was wrong with Sunny who was staring out the window with her lights still open in her room.
"Sunny, what's wrong my friend?"
Reinhardt said.
"Nothing, it's that I'm scared for tomorrow's first mission debriefing, I mean, what if I'm picked for the task? I'm not really that good at field work."
"Sunny my friend, we all feel that feeling in our gut some days, I mean the first time I joined Overwatch, I wasn't really sure about my abilities, but I'm one of their most highly decorated soldiers now. Trust me, you'll be fine."
"Reinhardt, can I tell you something? I'm actually nine, not thirteen; I only do that to fit in with the other guys."
Sunny said in an embarrassed tone, not wanting to be enthusiastic about it.
"Well, that makes you even more unique, I remember that we had people in Overwatch that came from different parts of the world, Charr, Elf, Orc, Wookie and yes, good ol' Winston, wonder where he is now."
Reinhardt replied to Sunny.
"I'm going to go to sleep now, better be paying attention to briefing if I do get selected, Gute Nacht."
Reinhardt said, yawning as he exited Sunny's room, turning off the light.
However things downstairs were much more monotone, Moneypenny was already sleep in her bed and Q well, was on his phone checking on his cats on Neko Atsune while writing fanfiction. He wasn't that good of a writer, just writing whatever he thought of on paper and calling it his "magnum opus" whenever James walked by. Adventures in Paris and Moscow, most of his fanfictions were in reality, heavily edited stories of he and other adventures battles and adventures. His room was much like his flat in London, not too spacious and not too cramped.
"Are you writing fanfiction again Q?"
James said, looking idle at his computer before moving on into his room, the master bedroom.
"No I am not James!"
"That's cute."
James said, giving a rare smirk while he closed the door to his room.
"Interesting, I've always wanted to see events through others eyes. Yet stories like those give ways for shadows to blot out the truths behind reality."
Q looked at Jack Morrison, now known as Solider 76, disheartened for a moment, but now with questions, does media only favor the gold and the glitz in comparison to the ebony and the hollowed diamonds? Was the media simply manipulating events of the old Overwatch in able to present them as the villains in a tragedy written by its so called "writers"? He then went to sleep a few moments later after typing out six hundred more words, thinking about those words Morrison said to him.
The others were either already asleep or exercising in the gym on ground floor. Arno, Elise and The Frye Twins were in one apartment while Otacon, Snake, Meryl and Tracer were in another apartment. It was a very new experience to some however, while some such as Pliskin and Snake had no problem adjusting to it in a matter of hours. Some people were still bewildered that Morrison had survived the assassination attempt with the help of MI6 and Reinhardt, to which Reinhardt boldly proclaimed. Even if this neighborhood was usually crowded, people usually did not mind what was happening underneath or above their heads while walking the dark streets of New York at this time or hour, besides there were plenty of taverns and bars to divert people's attention from what could be described as an "Reformation".
Temporary Overwatch Headquarters.
8 A.M.
Sly's Point of View.
We were summoned to General Ross' office underground, and boy, walking from the top of a ten story building down to the basement level, only using the stairs was incredible at the time of five minutes in my opinion if you ask me. It was the same old things again, people at their desks, sending out telegraphs, broadcasting fake radio messages, the usual stuff you'd expect from a headquarters. Inside his office, Reinhardt, Pliskin, Moneypenny and Tony were sitting down in waiting for whom they expected to be me.
"Great for all of you to be here on first notice, now all of you will be performing the first Overwatch Tactical Strike in over eight months and we have a target that is relatively close to here."
"Ever heard of Colonel Volgin? Expect him to be here at DeWitt Clinton Park in Hell's Kitchen at around eleven P.M where barely anyone will notice him bringing up four armored cars carrying potential illegal weapons."
General Ross said while pointing to screens displayed on a powerpoint near his desk.
"Your first priority is to make sure that the deal is called off. Second, obtain the weapons so Q Branch can study them or add them to our arsenal. Third, capture anyone involved in the deal or Volgin himself. Any questions?"
"Sounds simple to me."
"No sir."
Reinhardt and Moneypenny both said.
"Good, now report to Q in the garage nearby. Good luck soldiers."
The group then walked into the garage where Q, in a blazer and slacks was busy working on some sort of exploding pen, presumably for Bond. It was a mess of a place, clutters of papers everywhere, scrapped designs littered the floor and a cache of a variety of weapons was locked in a case to the left of the room, presumably more was hidden along the right wall of the laboratory. It room was arched in particular with lights hanging from the wall in small chains and Reinhardt's armor at the service elevator to the back of the room where it was once said that cars for a crime syndicate would be lowered and stored from that elevator.
"Oh good you came, I was wondering when you showed up."
"Well, we needed all the time we needed to plan the best strategy."
Tony said in response to Q's sarcastic tone.
"If you would follow me please."
Walking to a cabinet near the entrance to the lab, Q opened one of the many silver cases that lined the shelves and opened one of them, a specific one that was the fourth from the right when entering the room on the second shelf. Flicking a small silver switch, the walls of the lab turned over, revealing an arsenal of weapons and armor ready for any strike team or covert ops unit. Guns ranging from pistols to missile launchers and swords from simple daggers to great two handed swords and warhammers.
"Now you are going to be facing what can be described as "Armed criminals" or more commonly terrorists. The guns here either contain rubber bullets or tranquilizer round and in some cases, actual live rounds. The majority of swords here are as you expect, single or double edged, and if you are asking or will be asking, no we do not carry lightsabers or gravity-hammers."
Q said, acting if he was a tour guide in his own exhibit.
"Sly, please, put that energy sword down; we're under loan from the Covenant's Elites. Now Reinhardt, we've modified your amour to become more flexible and added a flamethrower to your left gauntlet, it's hidden by the way."
Reinhardt walked towards his suit of armor, cleaned and polished once again, looking at it and seeing his reflection in it while stroking his dark blond hair.
"Now Sly, we've added a custom cane sword to your already existing cane, given Bentley's permission to do so, and modified it to included a hidden blade to spring out of it, giving it a bit of a scythe feel to it. And of course, you can use your other cane without the modifications to it."
"Pliskin, I trust that you are used to your Sauer 38H, but you will definitely need a primary weapon to suit your, "resistance" fighting style. I honestly recommend that you either go with the FN F2000 of Belgian design or the Steyr AUG A1 of Austrian origin."
"I'll go with the Steyr Q, the FN looks way too complicated and ugly for me to handle."
Pliskin said, with Q sighing discontent at the reason why he chose one over the other.
"Moneypenny and Tony, I trust that you both are capable with your tech and arms, and Moneypenny, try not to miss."
Q said, smirking as she knew what he meant.
"I'd recommend that you try to improve your marksmanship skills while waiting for evening to arrive, it's only eight thirty, you are going to need to wait around twelve more hours if you are to get in position."
Pliskin decided to try out his new weapon on some targets in the lab that were lit up with lights once he stepped within fifteen meters of the targets, standing at the six meter line. Of the thirty rubber bullets he fired, seventeen made it on the target a decent amount for someone who hasn't been fully train with a weapon like that. Sly congruently was training with holograms generated by a person in a control center like room in up and front of him. Sly swiftly defeated the majority of the holograms with the combination of his martial arts prowess and his cane. With one hologram charging at him, Sly quickly unsheathed his sword from his cane, and sliced through the projection, fading out of view when two other holograms ran towards his position. Sly then tapped the end of his cane on the floor before spinning to confuse the enemy, slicing through them as well with the simulation ending after both of them had been defeated.
After walking back into the lab his hat and his signature navy blue jacket, he noticed that nearly everyone in the room was either watching him or in awe at his abilities. Seeing that his teammates were trying to hide their smirks, Reinhardt had to break the silence by saying,
"You're pretty good."
Q responded, quoting Revolver Ocelot.
New York City, New York
6 P.M.
The team had to decide when and where they were going to strike, however that couldn't stop them from quickly discussing their plans and a most unconventional area, at an open air café near the park where the targets were to proceed. It was highly non suspicious that armed mercenaries would sit down at a café and talk however, that changed nearly twenty years ago where people became hired guns or swords when the advent of villains and heroes fighting each other became as large-scale in comparison to the days of World War II where heroes such as Captain America fought, now presumed to be deceased. A seven foot knight, two casually dressed people with military vests, a man in a full suit of armor that could fly and a raccoon talking in the middle of the street, now that was a sight to be in awe at. Six months ago, this city was under occupation from Russian Separatists who allied themselves with the Burning Legion and Skull Face along with Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C, but was liberated with the cost of some members that belonged to original Overwatch team, Bail Organa, Wolf London and Garona Halforcen were a handful of names that died or went MIA, or Missing in Action.
"You know, I have a lot of memories fighting in the streets with the Barricade Unit, Reinhardt, Rytlock and Thrall here six months ago. "
"Pliskin, or Chris I should say, when you stood there with airstrikes hitting those buildings instead of retreating, you held your ground! You deserved a medal I should say."
Reinhardt said, giving a toast to his fellow brother-in-arms.
"Hey you two. Let's just say that I didn't do anything special in Uptown Manhattan."
Tony said, putting both of his legs on the table.
"Stop it, you didn't take the bloody shot on poor Skull Face did you?"
Moneypenny rebuked, succeeding in putting in her own highlights of the Second Battle of New York.
Their table then howled in laughter, reminiscing about past battles, while other mercenaries and adventurers discussed about their own adventures. After a few more hours, the team left preparing to set up for the interception. Now it was eight o' clock, not that many people were at that park as many tourists were in Midtown Manhattan enjoying the tourist hotspots. Moneypenny was on a roof on 52nd street, directly having a clear view of the street and the park, bare with any civilians.
"Do you see anything yet Moneypenny?"
Sly radioed to her, adjusting his earpiece.
"Sly, I can see you and your ears, so don't try and move your earpiece or else you'll blow our cover."
"Got it."
Sly radioed again, this time with minimal movement.
Reinhardt was in an alley, close to the opposite end of the park in reach of Pliskin who was hidden in the trees to prepare for an ambush. Sly was on a bench near the street that was the route that the arms dealers would take. Tony was up above in the air, stealthily flying around in able to spot out the caravan of vans that were to arrive and Moneypenny, she was up on that roof with a R93 Tactical sniper rifle made for tranquilizing targets. The hours flew by everyone was still in their positions by the time it was eleven o' clock barely anything had gone by or had hardly changed.
"Wait, I'm getting something. That definitively looks like the Colonel, prepare to engage Moneypenny."
Tony radioed, noticing a stealth painted, camouflaged jeep drive down from 12th Avenue to 52nd street. A military dressed man stepped out of the car, waiting for what seemed to be the caravan of arms dealers, with another man stepping out, heavily stylized in black and skulls with two short barreled shotguns in on his hips.
"Is that? No it can't be."
Reinhardt radioed, seemingly in disbelief.
"I can't confirm if it is the Reaper or not, and I can't get any closer at the moment. JARVIS can you run a scan on him for me?"
"Right away sir."
JARVIS replied, beginning a diagnostic with the photographs taken while in flight.
Jet black vans later began to pull up next to the jeep all in order and out came twelve men in total, wearing nothing but simple hoods and carrying simple sub-machine guns. Sly then broke mission procedure unknowingly, he got up and moved opposite to where they were facing, gaining the attention of one of the bodyguards. He began to speak in German, with Reinhardt thankfully translating that he was asking who he was and to show himself.
"Sly! No, stop right there and put your hands up!"
Moneypenny radioed in, with Sly raising his hands up, slowly. Fortunately for him, it was only one guard who was positioned at the end of the last van to guard the weapons stored in there. The guard moved slowly towards him, holding his flashlight he could clearly see the raccoon put his hands up.
"Get on the ground and you will not be shot!"
The guard said in German.
"Take him down."
"With pleasure."
Moneypenny moved in and took the shot, knocking him down, with a loud thud on the floor giving Sly a time to hide in the bushes. Two other guards immediately became suspicious of their fallen comrade, broke off from the rest of the guards and moved to the body, with Moneypenny lining them up in complete darkness. They began to speak in Russian, then in German to wake him up but were failing to.
"Pliskin, smoke them out now."
Gunshots rang out, piercing the air like the howl of a wolf, the flashes of gunfire as luminous stars. Pliskin fired more rubber bullets into the entourage, knocking out a two more guards while another sniper shot tranquilized the other guard who was closing up on Sly, with its silencer removed, the rifle made a signature crack in the air. Reinhardt then charged on another guard, using his rocket thrusters to gain more momentum to knock him into a wall unconscious. More guards were cursing in either Russian or German as another guard fell victim to Moneypenny's rifle. Volgin could only look in disbelief as one of his personal aides shoved him into the jeep before he'd get shot by Pliskin in his right arm, nearly causing electric discharge. Only four more guards and Reaper remained at the park as chaos was silently centered on that area.
"We're going to have fun with this."
Reaper growled before unholstering his dual shotguns from his hips and unleashed it's fury on them.
"Tony, I have a plan, and it's incredibly stereotypical in action. Get down here from chasing Volgin and distract him with Sly so Reinhardt and Moneypenny can take him down."
"Pliskin, that sounds incredibly dangerous and nonviolent. I like that."
Tony radioed in breaking pursuit of Volgin's jeep to help assist Sly and Pliskin with their plan. Sly was holding on his own for quite some time now, his erratic jumping from tree to tree had confused Reaper on where to aim his shotguns, yet made Moneypenny incredibly hard for her to hit him, the only way that she could take the shot if they drew him into her line of fire, which is precisely what Tony and Sly did backing him up into a tree with Pliskin laying down suppressing fire. Reaper kept firing franticly, constantly missing shots that was not intended to harm both Tony or Sly, but at Reinhardt who had finished with the last of the guards, He began to fire quicker, trying to stop him in his tracks and make him think twice, but as level headed as always, he used his rocket boosters to grain more momentum, and swung his hammer at Reaper, who felt noting, nothing at all as he then hit the tree with an incredible amount of blunt force was knocked out cold. There only remain two vans left for the team to return back to HQ with and to compensate for that third vehicle, they had a top priority prisoner.
"By the order of New York Police Law and of a reformed Overwatch and S.H.I.E.L.D. you're under arrest."
Tony said, before grabbing a pair of handcuffs from Pliskin's utility vest. Reaper didn't say anything, he was knocked out cold and couldn't even use Shadow Step while he was unconscious.
"Who wants to drive the van?"
Moneypenny said, looking at both Sly and Pliskin.
"Fine."
Both of them said, rolling their eyes in boredom. Reinhardt had another victory to gloat now, despite cheering to himself much to the amusement of his team.
"Let's load him up into the second van, and make sure that we contact the Brotherhood of Steel about this, shall we?"
Sly said, looking over at Reinhardt.
"Overwatch is back isn't it. Overwatch is back."
This so far has been one of the longest chapters I have ever done so far with the current number of words clocking in at around three thousand six hundred eight words!
Remember to review and follow this story for some new recruits next chapter!