The shuttle gently shook in the harsh wind, slow flew by the window as they began their descent. The shuttle stopped a few feet above the ground, John slid the side door open, shivering as the frigid winds pelted him. He hopped out of the shuttle, his boots crunching the snow below him as he surveyed the building before him. Any doubts will be dispelled? John sighed, glancing at his new firearm as Widowmaker dropped from the shuttle. "You're going in on foot, I'll be giving you some cover, that way you can't say we tampered with the evidence." Widowmaker smirked as she grappled to a nearby ledge, climbing through a window into the building. John made his way towards a small door, he never did care for gadgets, a good gun was all you really needed. He slowly slid the door open, glancing inside before shutting it behind him, a guard was posted at the end of the hall, thankfully facing away from John. He quietly snuck up behind the guard, placing his hand over his mouth and firing three shots into his back, lowering the body to the ground. I guess if I'm with Talon I don't have to worry about casualties. John sighed, part of him enjoyed not limiting himself for the "greater good" as Overwatch would put it, but killing still felt wrong, even after his recent revelations. He glanced around the corner, two guards stood watch in front of a large door, he spotted a small laser pointing at the side of the left guard's head, Widowmaker was ready. John fired a shot into the right guard's head, his blood splattering against the wall behind him, his partner quickly looked over in shock before he suffered the same fate. John made a two-fingered salute to the window, earning a chuckle from Widowmaker. John rummaged through the guards' uniforms for a keycard, sliding it through a small scanner next to the door. The door slowly parted, revealing a large warehouse, lights along the ceiling lit up as John stepped into the room. John slowly walked down the center of the warehouse, large mechanical suits lined the walls, a gigantic suit of armor stood at the end, a table placed at its feet. John made his way to the table, placing his pistol in his holster as he flipped through the papers left there. Well, this certainly isn't made for construction. John sighed, the suit held a large arsenal of weaponry, meant to be piloted from within, it was a war machine. Hidden beneath the schematics was a map, John pulled it out, revealing a detailed layout of Russia's southern border with Kazakhstan. What the hell… John flipped through the pages attached to the map, detailing their plans to attack Omnic settlements in the northern mountains of Kazakhstan to prevent them from ever being a threat. Russia had opted to fight the Omnic Crisis alone, refusing the help of other nations and even Overwatch, their wounds ran the deepest of all the nations affected in the war. A single signature dotted the bottom of the official orders, Makarov. This isn't defense, it's going to start a war all across the southern border. All this just for some peace of mind?
"So, did you find what they left?" Widowmaker spoke, her voice ringing in John's ear. He pressed his finger into his ear to reply, letting out a deep sigh.
"Yeah, and I'm assuming you know where this Makarov is?" He heard a small chuckle from the other end of the line.
"Yes, meet me back outside, the shuttle is waiting." John folded up the files, slipping them into his jacket as he made his way back outside, hoisting himself into the shuttle as they lifted off. He sat down, glancing towards Widowmaker as she stared out the window. "We're heading straight to him, there will be a few guards, but nothing we can't handle." John swore he saw a smile on her lips.
"So what's their endgame? Why risk starting a war over some Omnic settlements?" John questioned, unsure of why Russia would plan something so overtly aggressive.
"The Omnics are just a cover up, there's some valuable metals near those settlements that they use in their machines. They're quite impressive." John chuckled, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette, he must've dropped the pack during the past day.
The Overwatch shuttle landed outside the dim building, the snow slowly glided over the hull of the ship. Lena hopped out into the snow, glancing at a small object protruding from the ground. She picked it up, throwing it to McCree as he stepped out of the shuttle. "He was here, only person I know who smokes this crap." McCree placed the pack into his pocket, joining Lena inside the building. A guard laid dead on the floor close to the entrance, several bullet wounds could be seen in his back. McCree sighed as he turned the corner, another pair of dead guards laid in front of an open door. Lena blinked past him, craning her neck to examine the warehouse, staring at the large mechanical suits that lined the room.
"You don't think he-" Lena began, turning towards McCree.
"I don't know, but someone killed those guards." A noise rang in his ear, he pressed his finger into it to receive the message.
"Jesse." Winston spoke, "We've gotten word that a high ranking officer named Makarov is under attack by Talon, we need you two there now, he's not far."
"I hear ya." McCree removed his finger from his ear, "Come on, we've got a lead."
John hopped out of the shuttle, they had chosen to go in from the roof, there was much less resistance than at the front door. Widowmaker would give him cover from a nearby building, there was no shortage of windows she could fire through. He had been given a choice; take Makarov alive and bring him to Talon, or execute him and leave the body. He sighed, stepping down the stairwell into the building below. A guard stood around the corner, quietly humming to himself. John quickly pulled the man into the stairwell, inserting a knife into his neck before dropping him to the ground. "You're a natural fit for Talon." Widowmaker spoke into his ear, clearly pleased with his performance. John didn't respond, crouching low as he continued down the hallway. Makarov was in a room at the end of the hall, a small office, but one Widowmaker couldn't fire into. He passed by a break room, several guards sat inside, laughing amongst themselves.
"How many can you take out?" John questioned, he'd be able to take care of three before they noticed him.
"As many as you need me to." Widowmaker's cold confidence rung in his ear, he let out a small chuckle.
"Get the four closest to you, I'll get the three on my side. 3, 2, 1." John counted down, grabbing one of the guards as a human shield, quickly firing into the chests of the two guards facing him. Widowmaker's shots were quick and deadly, each one piercing through the skull of their target. John snapped the neck of the guard he held, leaving his body amongst the others. "Be ready to extract me from the office window, I'll be quick." John spoke into his communicator, stopping just before Makarov's office.
McCree and Lena sprinted into the building, the distress call had been urgent, and it sounded like the guard who warned them was bleeding out. They ran through the hallway at the top of the stairs, bodies littered the ground of a room nearby, a crash from further inside hurried their pace. The door to Makarov's office had been kicked in, the portly man sat in his chair with a man at his side, holding a pistol to his head. "Drop it!" McCree shouted, pointing his revolver at the figure.
The window behind the man shattered, a zip line could be seen as light from the dropship flowed into the room. The man fired a shot into Makarov's head, his limp body slumping onto the desk. The light of the dropship illuminated his face, a pair of green eyes stared at the Overwatch agents. He grabbed onto the line outside, hooking on foot into the loop at the bottom.
"John?" Lena spoke, bewildered at the actions of her commander. He paused for a moment, seeming to tremble as he stood on the line, before pulling on it to ascend into the dropship. "No, no, no!" Lena shouted, sticking her head out of the window as the dropship flew away, "This isn't right!" Tears began to well in her eyes, she had never expected John to work with Talon, they had all assumed he was kidnapped. McCree sighed as he picked up a map off the table, detailing plans of an invasion of Kazakhstan, pulling Lena into a hug as he placed the file into his pocket.
"You didn't have to leave them intel." Widowmaker coldly spoke, her gaze penetrating John's own.
"It's always good to have more help, even if they won't do what we need to." John didn't meet her gaze, staring out the window. He missed her, he wanted nothing more than to just abandon all this and go back to London, but he couldn't. He was a different man than the one she had fallen in love with, he was a killer, but he was still going to protect her.