Chapter 1: Drop Zone

5 November 2060, 1600 Hours (Military Calendar)

Overwatch VTOL Troop Transport CC-594

Above Numbani, Off Nigeria.

Normally, the crew of Troop Transport CC-594 would have been relieved to be heading back to Numbani. Normally it was Overwatch tradition to send a Dropship back to an Overwatch-controlled city on shakedown runs to get the crew comfortable, and ready to get back to the borders fighting off terrorist organizations. Today was a little different. It was true that Troop Transport CC-594 was heading back to Numbani, but there was one issue:

Talon had found it.

The city was under attack.

The crew had heard about the one-sided battle that took place just three days before, where a fleet of just seventeen Talon Dropships managed to breach the city's perimeter, slip past their defense stations (and take some out to boot) then proceed to set up shop in the city, just one city on the planet to be precise.

Their job wasn't intended to be full-frontal assault, oh no. That would be suicidal. So why bother staying in the fight? CC-594 was doing taxi service today.

Overwatch. Tough-As-Nails Private Military Corporation. An all-volunteer service so they said. They were a special squad initially conceived by the United Nations. One ballsy US Soldier Jack Morrison approached the leader of the UN and used every military trick in the book and showed him what exactly was wrong with the world. Omnics. Terrorists. Corrupt Leaders.

The PMC was commissioned immediately afterwards.

"Man, Numbani's OR-14s are really putting up a good fight, huh?" said Private First Class Singh Vaswani. He was hunching over a holographic table which showed the African Utopia of Numbani. Their Dropship was marked approaching close by. Next to said Dropship were multiple box-shaped Dropships almost half a kilometer in length: Talon Dropships.

Corporal Kimiko Fujimara, mid-thirties, with dyed red-maroon hair, scoffed and said to the young agent with a slight twinge of a Japanese accent, "Of course they did, this is the 'City of Harmony!'"

"Well, better late than never. It's about time Talon stepped up to us." Strike Corporal John Bayless said, folding his arms and scrutinizing the carrier, his dark face reflecting off the table. Bayless snarled and said "Hey, just because Morrison isn't here doesn't mean we don't treat each other with respect, John. This is no time to be bitching."

Singh smiled slightly and shook his head. "Just saying, Kimiko, it looks like they missed one, and take it from me, it's kind of hard to miss something of this size."

Bayless checked his heavy pulse rifle. "Yeah, you would know, Kimiko." He said coolly.

Singh broke it up. "They didn't miss it, guys. They left it just for us."

"Ooh, I sure feel special now, John."

The alarms activated and an orange light bathed the main bay. This meant that their mission was confirmed and they were ready to roll.

The pressure door slid open at the far end of the briefing room. In walked in their commanding officer, Strike Gunnery Sergeant Juan-Claudio Valdez. It was the first time this group had gone on a real mission with Valdez. They hated to admit it, but they were what Overwatch called "Secondary" Agents meant to be sent out first before the higher-ups called in to assist. It was no secret that the world was tied up in a knot and now Talon was knocking on their door.

The second person was a woman they had never seen before. She appeared to be in her early thirties, black, curly blonde hair, and a COM earpiece. She was very attractive, though. "Wow, who is that?" John asked, standing rigid.

"Looks important." Kimiko whispered in his ear.

"Oh, she's tight. I can tell by the way she walks." John said, grinning.

"Hold on, you can tell how stuck up a person is by the way she walks?" Singh asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Oh yeah. Ten Credits, she's been with at least Amari."

Kimiko was not amused. "You're an animal, John." He said, to which Bayless gave a growl.

Juan-Claudio Valdez faced his men. "You know the drill, ladies and gentlemen. If you want to go pee-pee in your big boy pull-ups keep it to yourselves."

The woman walked pass the soldiers.

"Hey there." John couldn't help himself. The woman stared at him reproachfully.

Valdez angrily said, "Ten minutes to Drop. GET TO IT."

The Overwatch agents began to get ready for their drop. Routine stuff, free-falling from a hundred miles off the ground in their armor and insulated drop pods, before parachuting to the ground to kick some ass.

Captain Mirembe Cage looked at the men with curiosity. Truth be told, they seemed like run-of-the mill Overwatch soldiers.

"Secondary?" She asked Valdez.

Valdez shrugged, not avoiding an answer. "Hell, first the Omnic Crisis, now this…. who isn't? I must've lost hundreds of men, especially in Oasis."

Mirembe replied: "At least they listen; sure that some appear to be…interesting people but they know how to hear things."

"They listen to me. They know that I tell them what they need to hear. Right now, I don't think they're going to like what they want to hear."

"We have our orders" Mirembe admitted.

"Come on Mirembe, what could be more important than the Talon- "

"My orders." She walked towards the hatch. "And Valdez…Call me Captain. I'll pass on the business break, but you can lead me outside."

Mirembe passed the Overwatch agents who watched her as if the air went icy in her wake.

"What sort of armor was she wearing?" Singh asked. "That isn't standard issue, I'll tell you that."

"Dunno, Singh. Tell you one thing: I wasn't looking at her gear." John walked to the weapons rack where Bayless selected a Heavy Pulse Rifle. He turned it on and attached Helix Rockets to it. "Seriously?" Singh asked laughing.

Bayless didn't flinch. "I admire my choice of weapons, you know. We're going to be hitting the ground loud."

"Exactly." John grabbed a Heavy Shotgun and racked the pump.

Valdez said, "Second to last, right next to me."

Mirembe nodded, altering her course on her arm computer.

"Ooh, Cozy." John said, leaning on the weapon rack. "Are you going to tell us your name, gunny?"

"Miss Enemy Intelligence." Valdez said through gritted teeth. "And our new leader. So check your mouths, find your rifles…" Grabbed a pistol and slammed it into John's chest. "and get SET for drop! Are we clear?"

"Yessir." They all said.

As Valdez walked away, they were left in silence, until Bayless took a few seconds to look at his new weapons.

"What am I supposed to do with this against Talon?" He shook his head and walked towards the drop pod. Inside one of them, still harnessed, was a sleeping Overwatch Agent. "Hey, Singh,get a load of this."

"Spectre" as the squad called their newest member, was a survivor of a recent attack on King's Row, England by Talon. The only one of his platoon to survive an ambush by Talon. When Overwatch found him, he was just hours away from starving to death. When he joined Valdez's squad, he went under this new codename, as he was still fairly new to the Overwatch way of life, and was given a set of thermal goggles to wear, to spot enemies more easily.

At present, he was enjoying a quick nap in his drop seat, until, that is, he was struck hard in the head with a pulse rifle." "Augh! I'm awake!" He exclaimed as he rubbed his goggled head.

"Wake up, Spider Eyes" chuckled John.

"Beat it, Bayless. For God's sake, can't you be serious once in your life?" Kimiko said.

"Not my fault four-eyes here decided to snooze on the job." He grumbled, walking away to his pod.

Kimiko looked at Spectre warmly.

"He's a prick."

"He didn't mean it, Spec. Besides, now's the time, for it pays to stay strong, and stay silent." She handed the young man a Pulse Rifle modified for urban combat.

"Thanks, Kimiko." He said sliding it into a weapon rack adjacent to his chair.

"Thank me when you let me take the first ten agents, Spectre!"

Spectre smiled he saw the top of the hatch and a harness close upon his shoulders. There was an airtight hissing as he knew that he was locked in. His pod was taxied out of the edge of the Dropship. He saw Numbani as it was below him. On his screens he saw voices of Valdez on the left and Mirembe on the right. They were conversing with each other.

"Latest reports from Overwatch commands say that Talon soldiers are massing under the Heritage Museum. Not going to find out anything up here." Mirembe reported.

Valdez responded. "Affirmative. Agents, we are go for drop on my mark."

This was the signal. He knew what was coming. "Mark!"

Spectre felt his stomach shoot up to his throat as the pod thrusted down from the cruiser. He heard Bayless yell "Yee-ha!" As his pod rocked past below him. Suddenly, an Overwatch dropship was seen floating nearby, venting red-and orange plumes of flames.

"I take it back; Higher-ups are getting their ass handed to them!" John said, slyly.

"Yeah?"

"Well, consider it a standing order." He said to Mirembe, "We're about to pass through the magnetic field"

"Standby to adjust trajectory on my mark." Mirembe said, but it was more of a passive thing, as if they wouldn't notice it.

"What did she say!?" Kimiko asked.

"Mark!"

As if on cue, the pods tilted. Spectre didn't know what was happening, but one thing was for certain: they were not headed for the museum.

"We're going off course!" Singh blared frantically.

Mirembe on the other hand evenly said. "Trust me, we're heading where we need to go."

For some odd reason, Spectre had a sudden feeling of suspicion. Where is it? Oh, something is not right here.

Singh also noticed something odd. "Sergeant, we're going to miss the museum!"

"I'm picking up high levels of electricity!"

"Holy SHIT!" Bayless said. "What the hell is going on down there!?"

Mirembe's voice went frantic. "Talon have set off a Sonic Blast!"

Just out of the corner of his eye, Spectre could have sworn he saw the blast's point of origin.

"It's a blast, we need to-!"

Suddenly, the world went reddish-white. They knew this was the color of a Sonic EMP Bomb. In the far side of the city was an expanding red electrical bubble caused by the near-nuclear level blast. The bubble consumed the city, just as the wave reached them and SLAMMED Singh's pod into his. A large crack appeared on his viewscreen, and caused him to spin aimlessly.

"Mayday! I am in a spiral! Repeat, I am in a spiral!" Spectre tried to say.

Kimiko reported his own problems. "Losing Power, fast."

"Alright, agents, this is it! Stabilize your pods now! We're coming in hard-!"

The com line went dead. Spectre held on for dear life as the world was in a constant spiral around him. He heard stories of Overwatch Agents who couldn't stabilize quickly enough and suffered dying on impact, and other faulty pod tales. He prayed that this wouldn't happen and tried to find a way to save him from such a fate, but the G-Forces were too much. He passed out.

After all, he might as well have been dead from the start.