Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter for this story. Enjoy.
Snapping his eyes open, Tristan awoke from his state of unconsciousness.
After lying on the bed for a few moments to regain his bearings, Tristan slowly sat up and looked at his surroundings to notice that he was in the Medical Center of the base. He noticed that he was wearing a hospital gown with wires coming out from under the gown and towards various machines that were monitoring his health. Groaning from a sudden headache, Tristan lied back onto his pillow and enjoyed the comfort of a soft bed.
As he began to relax, that was when he noticed that he could not feel his right arm. Turning his head slightly, Tristan was shocked to notice that his entire right arm was missing from his shoulder and was left with nothing but a very skeletal metal arm. The arm really did not stand out in any way other than being a full grey and all the joints he would need to use his arm effectively until he got a replacement.
Testing out his new arm, Tristan slowly began to move his fingers, to see how well they would react. It took a few minutes and tries, but eventually he managed to flex his fingers as well and as fast as if he had a normal fingers. He then moved towards his wrist and began to twist and turn it slowly. As he did so, he could barely hear the wires and gears all moving and shifting as he twisted his wrist. Once he was satisfied with his progress, Tristan tested his elbow joint and shoulder until he was satisfied with his entire progress.
The sound of the door opening caught his attention causing him to turn to face it to see one of the medically trained Regulars walking in, looking down at his tablet. Tristan watched as the Regular looked up from his tablet and finally noticed that his patient was awake.
"Oh, you're awake I see. How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Good, though a little weird considering I have only one arm left and the other is entirely robotic. I tested out the new arm and it seems to fit my needs currently." Tristan answered. "How long have I been out?"
The Regular nodded in acceptance and understanding as he pressed a few things on his tablet. "You've been knocked out for a week. Three of those days were for your injuries, while the rest was for us to replace your missing limb and make sure that there were no side affects or degradation. What about any pain? Any sudden jolts of pain around your arm or anywhere else?"
Tristan shook his head. "No."
"Alright." The Regular said as he typed away at his tablet before turning back to Tristan. "Well, it would seem that you are cleared to leave, though I would still recommend bed rest and to not do any strenuous activities for at least a week, to adjust to the new arm and to also recover."
"Will do doctor." Tristan said as he slowly got off of the bed.
As the doctor left the room, Tristan noticed a set of civilian clothes folded up for him, as well as a a pair of socks, fresh underwear, shoes and the rest of his belongings. Quickly changing into his clothes, Tristan soon exited the now empty room and made his way to the main lobby of the Medical Center.
Upon entering the lobby, he was escorted by a pair of guards into a military van and brought to the main headquarters of the base. As the van traveled the through the base towards it's destination, Tristan began to recount on the battle and the reason Talon was attacking it in the first place.
It confused him, why would the world's largest and most deadly terrorists attack a military base. As far as he knew, there was nothing of value for Talon to find. Maybe some documents concerning Top Secret information, or plans for future projects but most if not all of the truly dangerous secrets would be found in the Headquarters of the Military branch of the government.
As the vehicle came to a stop, he was escorted to the office of Lieutenant-General Aaron Chee Szan. Said Lieutenant-General was sitting behind his desk, reading a report on the attack. As he entered the office, Tristan snapped off a crisp salute and waited for his superior's acknowledgment.
Lieutenant-General Szan stood from his desk and returned the salute. Lowering his arm back to his side, he indicated for Tristan to sit on the chair in front of him. "I just finished reading the report on the attack. I wish to thank you personally for your courageous actions that day. You saved many lives."
Tristan nodded in thanks. "Thank you sir. But I was only doing what I swore to do."
"Maybe so, but your actions that day, and by extension, the men that followed you, deserve rewards for your actions." Lt Gen Szen "Officially, you and the other men are to be given a promotion and medals for your bravery. Unofficially, you are going to be redeployed as an agent for the newly revived Overwatch."
That quickly got Tristan's attention as his mind came to a screeching halt. "Unofficially, sir?" he asked.
"Yes. While Singapore may have signed the Petras Act for show, Many in the Government did not believe on such an agreement. With the recent attack by Talon and with the confirmation of the newly revived Overwatch coming to the rescue, the Military branch is asking you to represent our country in the fight against Talon." Lt Gen Szen reported.
"How? Any Overwatch activity is deemed illegal." Tristan asked.
Lt Gen Szu nodded his head i agreement. "True. However, since the breakout of the Second Omnic Crisis in Russia, Doomfist's breakout in Numbani and the subsequent rise in Talon attacks have the UN scrambling for ways to keep the public safe. But the UN does not have the manpower to keep them safe. So when news about Overwatch being revived was brought to their attention, the UN made a decision to simply watch Overwatch and step in should things turn sour like they did years ago."
"What are the public's opinion on this?" Tristan asked.
""There are many in the world who remember the 'Golden Age of Heroes' as many termed it. They remember how it was Overwatch that ended the Omnic Crisis and how it brought stability and peace to the world. Many of those same people also remember how it also fell to backdoor politics and shady operations. Truthfully, public opinion is mostly hoping that with the newly revived Overwatch, the world will be safe once again." Lt Gen Szu answered.
"What do you think of all this sir?" Tristan asked.
Lt Gen Szu said nothing as he stared at Tristan, not really looking at but rather in his own thoughts. A few minutes passed before the Lieutenant General spoke. "Truthfully, I just hope that it doesn't end like last time."
Tristan nodded in understanding. He remembered how the world was filled with heroes from all backgrounds and that they kept the world spinning. He remembered how he was happy and proud that his parents were part of Overwatch, keeping the world safe from the bad guys, the stories they told and the lessons they tried to teach.
"Tristan!" A voice called out.
Turning to face the call, Tristan was met with the face of his older brother walking towards him at a steady yet quick pace. His brother, Ian was eight years older then him and was a big part of his life even as he grew older. Despite the large age gap between them, that did not stop either of the brothers from playing together or getting into trouble whenever mischief was around.
Ian was very much like their mother, always caring for people but when push comes to shove, she would not hesitate to defend her family from anyone or anything. Ian was very much like that, however, he also had a very stubborn head when it comes to decisions. He always believed that what he was doing was right and that anyone who disagreed with him was wrong. Normally it would take either their parents or his superiors to get him to see when he was wrong. After the fall of Overwatch and their parents death, that task fell on Tristan.
He did not often get to see his brother, what with him always on business trips for Veron Industries, a company that dealt with infrastructure and networking with other companies. Due to his constant absences, Tristan would normally spend a great deal of time with his brother just catching up and teasing each other about being unable to find a woman to be with him.
Today however, on the day where he was given not only a promotion but also a medal and thanks by both President Yahoma, the current President of Singapore, but also the families of the soldiers that defended the base. he brought a woman with him. The woman that was standing next to him was very beautiful, what with her mocha colored skin and exotic purple eyes.
"Tristan! How's my baby brother doing!" Ian asked as he pulled his brother into a fierce hug.
Tristan chuckled as was lifted slightly above the ground from his brother's bear hug. "I'm doing well Ian. My injuries are fading and I should be good within the month." he said as he was let back down on the ground.
Ian's gaze flickered towards Tristan's right arm. "How's the arm?" he asked.
Tristan simply flexed his fingers and hand around to show Ian. "I don't even notice that it's there half the time. It feels just my normal arm was, just there, not noticed until you consciously think about it." He answered.
Ian looked to the ground and sighed. "I'm sorry about what happened Tristan."
Tristan merely scoffed and placed his right arm on his brother's shoulder. "What's done is done Ian. I was doing my duty by defending the base from Talon's attack. Besides, can you honestly tell me that you would not have done the same if you were in my shoes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, challenging his brother to refute him.
Ian sighed in resignation, knowing that his brother was right. "No." he answered. Ian then looked back up to his brother's face and gave a slight glare. "But that still does not explain why you decided to go and have a one on one fight against Doomfist!"
Tristan simply shrugged at his brother's outburst. "It kind of just happened. Not like I asked for him to fight me."
Ian groaned in frustration at his brother's lack of understanding about the situation he was in. In many ways, he was reminded of how their father was like when things happened to him. He would simply shrug his shoulders and give some sort of excuse about the whole situation. It wasn't that he did't care about what happened around him or to him, only that it happened and that he would deal with the problem in his own way.
"Still, it was a brave thing you did. I mean, facing the actual Scourge of Numbani in a one on one battle. Even if you did not win, that is not something that can be overlooked by anyone." the girl next to his brother said, in a slight Mexican accent.
Tristan turned his attention from his brother to the female. "Thank you ma'am. If you don't mind me asking, are you here with my brother?" he asked.
That seemed to bring Ian back to the present. He quickly turned to face both of them and decided to begin introductions. "Oh! Tristan, this is Olivia Colomar. She's my girlfriend."
Tristan's eyes widen before he smirked. "Really? Well then, my sincerest condolences to you miss Colomar for now being with my oaf of a brother." he said with an exaggerated bow.
Olivia giggled at Tristan's antics. "Thank you Tristan. I'm sure I'll manage somehow." she replied.
Ian just crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Haha, very funny little brother. At least I have a girlfriend. What about you?" he asked.
Tristan simply shook his head. "No, not yet. I'm in no rush to find someone." he answered.
Closing and locking the front door, Tristan quickly took a shower and changed in to a fresh set of clothes. He then sat in his room and went through some of his parents old Overwatch gear that he had only just recently found when he went through his parents old belongings.
What Lt Gen Szu said about him being assigned to find and help deal with the Talon threat weighed on his mind. On one hand he was honored that he was being assigned a mission to help the newly revived Overwatch take down Talon, but on the other, he was almost afraid to return to Overwatch. He remembered his many trips to the Overwatch HQ. How he would meet many of the famous members of the organization.
His father was a weapons engineer, his mother was a medic and his brother was part of Blackwatch. His entire family had a history with the organization that did so much for the world, it made him nervous to even think that he could contribute anything to the group.
Sighing, Tristan put aside of the useful equipment, gear and information in one pile to be sort through and tested later. However as he was about to continue, he noticed both of his parents Overwatch badges blinking with a red light. Picking his father's badge, Tristan hesitated for a second before pressing down a button.
The orange part of the circular badge flipped up and from within a hardlight screen was displayed in front of him, just about the size of a tablet screen. Nothing was shown for a few seconds before the Overwatch logo was displayed. Another few moments passed before a video began to play.
He recognized the person in the video immediately as the intelligent scientist gorilla, Winston. From what he remembered, Winston was part of an experimentation to genetically enhance gorillas to be as smart as humans themselves. It was pretty much a real life version of Planet of the Apes, except it happened on the moon and to only one gorilla was considered a success.
He watched in amusement, fond remembrance, sadness and finally thoughtfulness once Winston's message was over and the video was replaced with a simple question.
Answer Recall?
Yes / No
Tristan stared at the question as he replayed the message sent by Winston over and over again. Over and over again his thoughts would return to his parents and his brother and how they had played their part in keeping the world from falling apart. Now with the opportunity quicken his mission in finding the elusive group, he thought about what his parents and brother would do if such a question was asked to them.
Ian, he knew would consider the options he had before eventually joining. His parents would answer the quickest with a resound yes. Even after the organization's fall, they still believed in it's mission on world peace. Now the opportunity lay in front of him to continue their work in not only ensuring world peace, but keeping it.
He was not stupid. He watched the news about the war within Russia, the problems that occurred throughout the world. Civil wars, hunger, increases in fleeing refugees, unrest between the Omnic people and their supporters against those who detest the robots. The most recent of these unrest was when Tekartha Mondata, the Omnic monk who preached for peace and unity between human and omnic was assassinated.
Pressing the 'Yes' button to the question, the screen changed from the question to a map of the world. It began to zoom into southwestern Europe before zooming in once again to where the Rock of Gibraltar was located.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Sorry for the long wait, but I am really having difficulty continuing my stories as I seem to have lost my drive for writing. The ideas for new stories always pop into my mind, but whenever I try to continue them, the drive seems to just vanish. Most of the time I have to force myself to write.
Don't get me wrong, I love writing, but I just don't know what to do to get my mojo back.
I don't know if any of you have ever had this problem and how you deal with them. If you have any ideas, share them.
Anyway, please leave a review on your thoughts about this chapter or the story so far. If you have any questions, PM me.
And remember to have an AWESOME DAY!