Once the door shut down, some form of silence suddenly cut them from the reality of the moment. Many of them were wounded by bullets and energy pellets and Angela was quick to react, deploying her Caduceus Staff and a medical kit from the plane. Akande stared at the dark mist as it reformed into the shape of Gabriel. He was panting and fell on the ground. Amélie quickly ran to his body to hold him, removing his mask to see if we was still conscious. « He's been shot too, Angela please!
- Everyone needs medical attention, I can't do everyone at once, Amélie.
- He's not alright in here. »
Gabriel coughed and shook his head. « It's nothing… I'll get over it. Get the others first. »
Akande had only now realized his shield had failed him in the middle of the brawl as he had taken a few bullets in his shoulder as well. He didn't feel any of them during the battle, but now that they were safe, the pain was coming back, making him cringe hardly.
Pharah was looking though the plane's window, she was devastated. « I've protected this city for years. This was my life… »
She closed her eyes and sighted. She then turned to Akande and her expression changed completely. « You will pay for this.
- We will take it back. We will find a way to fight Anubis and we will come back.
- No, not you. You will return in the prison you deserve. I will make sure of it. »
Angela, who was treating one of the Helix Security guards, said : « Fareeha, there is no need to fight among us right now. We are all in the same sea of trouble. »
She turned to her and shook her head again. « I'm sorry, doctor Ziegler, but I can't do this anymore. All of this happened because of you. The city is lost because you've messed with something you shouldn't have.
- We were trying to fight off an invasion further down in the south. We needed Anubis's processors for our plan.
- I told you he was too powerful. It was never going to work.
- It would've worked if we had done it all together instead of fighting against one another and discussing about legality and laws. »
Pharah seemed angry. « You are trying to put the blame on me, is that it?
- No, Fareeha, it's just… We can't put the blame on anyone, everyone did something wrong. We have to accept it and move on, find a way to fix it instead of complaining. »
Pharah sighted and sat down on one of the back seat, looking down. « Alright then, what do we do now?
- We have to get back to Gibraltar. Tell Morison about what happened.
- No, this plane is going to Helix's Egyptian headquarter.
- Then tell the pilot to turn around. We will be safer and will have a better position for our next action in Gibraltar.
- I have to report what happened to my boss.
- I'm sure he is already aware of that.
- I'll lose my position as head of the guard… I'll lose all the things I worked all my life for.
- He can't fire you for that, you tried to stop us.
- The entire city fell under my command… Half of my men just died… I failed everyone. »
Akande stood up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. « We will go to Gibraltar and find more men. We will get Sombra back and, once that is, we will take on Anubis and destroy it for good. Do not be one who gave the city to the Omnics : be the one who fought to get it back. »
Pharah was in tears, but was trying to hide it away. « We've already tried to destroy Anubis many times, but he can just come back, always. They store their memory and their data in many hidden places and build Omnics that hold that same memory all the time. If we wanted to fully destroy it, we'd have to destroy all of these storage at the same time, which is impossible.
- Then we'll make it so weak that it won't be able to fight us, and we'll put it back into quarantine. Either way, letting it rule the city and loosing your title and honour should not be an option. »
He walked all the way across the plane until he was face to face with her. « Get up, he told her.
She was shorter than him, but Akande knew that was because he was much taller than most men. Still, her armor rose her up to his level and she looked at him in the eyes with tears falling off the side of the face. « Look at me, and tell me : you will get this city back.
- I will.
- There is no going back now. We've lost this battle, but we haven't lost the war. At the end of the day, that's what matters. As long as we're not dead, we're not defeated. Those who die will be forgotten, but those who survive will rise stronger and overcome their opponents. That is what we are : we are survivors. We will become stronger, and we will fight back. Look at me and say it : you will rise again, stronger.
- I will. »
He made sure to keep the eye contact. It was necessary when trying to bring back a broken soldier after a fight. The eyes were the key to the soul. Adeyemi would always do exactly that : force him to stand up and make a speech about what really mattered in life. He never realized how much he emulated him, even going so far as to also kill his mentor to take the gauntlet for himself. « But I won't be emulating him during his final days. I will not be defeated. I will not die a monster. I will not fight for my selfish desires, but to make the world stronger, to create a better one. »
« Now we have to turn back and go to Gibraltar, he said.
- I'm not going to Gibraltar, he heard coming from behind. »
He turned around and looked down : Gabriel was resting his head on Amélie' lap, visibly in pain. « As much as I respect your decision to come and help us, we cannot afford to let your personal trouble get in the way of our plan.
- If I even put a foot in that place, Morison will shoot me down.
- We will hold him off.
- You don't know him.
- I've had my fair share of talking with him and I can already tell you that he is tougher than I thought he'd be for his age, but he is still a man, and I can stand off against men like him.
- Just drop me somewhere else instead. It'll make it easier for everyone. Oasis would be the best for me right now.
- We can't afford flying all the way there and back to Gibraltar. We'll contact Moira directly once we land if this is what you're looking for. »
Angela scuffed at the mention of the Minister of Genetic, but didn't say a word, instead hesitating between Gabriel and Akande and deciding to treat Gabriel first. « Once we are in Gibraltar, we'll have to find another way of dealing with the Omnics coming from the south, now that we do not have the processors. I've talked with Torbjörn in case such an eventuality would happen, Akande mentionned.
- And what did he say? Angela asked.
- He said that he could reinforce the base in case we are attacked, but it would take him more time and ressources.
- Do we have those ressources?
- I may have to get some more money from my own pocket, but if that means we could keep Gibraltar…
- And what if Sombra decides to attack us once we're there? Could Athena fight her off?
- With Anubis on her side, I doubt they might have the strength advantage. We need to be smarter, not face them face to face.
- What do you propose?
- For now, we'll need to secure everything we can, regroup and, only then, make our plan of action. We have too many wounded soldiers, they need to rest for a moment. I'm sure you'll agree. »
Angela acknowledge as she was closing the many cuts and bullet holes onto Gabriel's body. He sighted and shook his head. « I guess there's no point in arguing against all of you, he said.
- What are you looking for in Oasis? Akande asked.
- The city is ran by scientist, we might as well see if they have something to deal with the god-program in the first place. Who knows?
- That is a good point. We'll contact Moira once at the base. »
Akande took a look around the plane : although everyone seemed demoralized, at least they were alive. He sighted himself at the thought of what had just happened. Now he had to find a way to fight a war on two sides while making sure his own allies weren't killing each other.