*Bay of Algeciras*
"That's everyone!" Brigitte said as she exited the building, Lena following close behind.
"Excellent! Well done girls! Let's get outta here!" Reinhardt shouted as he squashed a Skirmisher class Omnic with his hammer.
"Right! I'll scout ahead!" Lena said.
"Tracer, wait! Your vitals are-" Angela tried to shout but Lena has already blinked away.
"What's wrong Mercy?" Winston asked.
"Her fatigue levels are spiking" she said concerningly.
"Common Tracer... You can do this" Lena said to herself as she threw a Pulse Bomb into the middle of a group of Nullifiers, destroying them in one swoop.
Blinking rapidly, she singlehandedly cleared multiple alleyways and roads. It was not long before her Chronal Accelerator ran out of power.
"Not now!" she groaned before taking refuge in a building.
Climbing onto the roof, she took an assessment of the surrounding area.
Null Sector has committed most of their forces to battle the Spanish Army, who are steadily gaining ground ever since they made their breakthrough. The Bahia Park is now mostly ignored as the Null Sector began concentrating their forces to the front for their final stand and the best landing zone is what looked like a ruined shopping mall next to the park.
"That's good" she thought to herself "We can regroup with everyone at the park"
The sense of relief came a sudden wave of exhaustion. Staggering she dropped onto the floor, her eyelids heavy.
"No... Not yet... The mission is not complete..." she begged to herself, desperately fighting the fatigue, but even lifting her eyelids took an enormous effort.
"Stupid... Keep... Moving..." she yawned, trying to get back on her feet. But the floor is so comfortable...
"Lieutenant Oxton!" she heard Morrison's voice shouting in her ear.
But she is too tired to respond.
"Lena! Get up!" he shouted again, but now sounded like a distant echo. She will respond after a short nap.
"Quillion needs your help!" he continued.
At these words, she jolted awake.
"Where?" she asked, it's too early for him to die now, especially after what she had to go through to get him here.
In fact, now that she thought about it, she had not seen him throughout the battle.
"Get back to the shuttle, tell everyone to extract next to Bahia Park"
"Got it!" Lena said as she signals the rest with a shout, who have been following her trail of destroyed Omnics.
*Marbella: Nearby Forest*
It wasn't hard to find the shack. In fact, it is too easy.
The shack is located on a small patch of rock in the middle of a roaring river, where the water exited directly off the cliff side into the ocean. Connected to the shack is a small wooden bridge that seemed to be built recently.
"Anton, we found the shack, standby for kill order" the Owl said.
"Yes sir"
He does not like this. The currents are too strong for any attempts to swim through and their only way to the shack is through the narrow bridge.
"Three of you follow me, the rest, wait for my signal"
Switching their weapons to their close quarter variants, they crossed the bridge carefully as the rest of the squad scanned the horizons for any possible ambush.
The bridge swayed back and forth with each step, the panels slippery and moudly, making the progress slow. It is the perfect ambush scenario.
However, they crossed without any obstacles. No guards, no cameras, nothing but the shack.
Opening the door carefully, it creaked open.
"About time you come back, did you do what I paid you to do?" they heard a voice said.
They immediately kicked the door open and scanned the room with their guns in perfect sync, looking for targets.
The shack is small and empty with only a hooded man sitting behind a table next to the window, using the moonlight as the only light source for a book that he seem to be reading.
"What happened to Matthew?" the hooded man asked, seemingly unconcern about their entrance or their presence.
"I will be asking the questions here" the Owl said as he walked forward, his weapon aimed directly at the hooded man.
"That will be close enough, unless you all want to die right here, right now" the man said as a turret activates on his right, pointing directly at the squad.
The Owl stopped and stared at the turret for a moment and realize it is extremely familiar.
"You are with Overwatch" he said.
"Hmm... You are familiar with the turret's design?" the man inquired.
"Yes, there is only one man in the world who makes turrets like that"
"Then you'd know this thing can kill you all in an instant. Who are you?"
"Owl, yourself?"
"You can call me Tim" the hooded man answered.
"Alright Tim, this is what is going to happen, first I am going to destroy that turret, then I am going to torture you. Then I will destroy Overwatch tonight"
Tim laughed.
"What makes you think you can do all that tonight?"
"Rule 1 of many secret organizations: Always hide in plain sight, and you my friend... Are hiding in plain sight"
The roaring river seemed to have become louder as Tim did not speak and the other Troopers began to slowly surround him.
"Tell me one thing before we dance... What makes you think that our HQ is here?"
The Owl smiled in triumph.
"I didn't"
They heard a clicking sound next to Tim and the turret fired.
Heavy caliber rounds spat at the surrounding Troopers as Tim remained seated, watching them scramble for cover.
Two Troopers were killed almost immediately, one did not have time to react while another brave Trooper shot a full slug from his shotgun at the cost of his life, but the round bounced harmlessly off the turret.
"Armor piercing! Above floor level, now!" the Owl shouted into his radio as he dove to the ground.
But no one fired as the message is disrupted by the currents around them as turret continue to pour bullets towards his direction.
Cursing to himself, he pulled out a glow stick, cracked it, and threw it out the window, risking his arm in the process as the turret continues to shoot at their general direction.
Immediately the shack is shredded with deadly firepower from the Troopers outside. Tim did not even know what hit him. The Owl watched in satisfaction as the hooded man was shot by multiple rounds before falling to the ground as the turret, now destroyed, clicked harmlessly at them.
Throwing out another glow stick, the gunfire immediately stopped.
The Enforcer and a surviving Trooper stood up, pushing off the top half of the shack that has fallen on top of them, the moonlight shining down upon them.
To their surprise, Tim is still alive, though coughing and unmoving.
Kicking him to the side, they realized he felt... Hard.
"That's some fancy armor you got there" the Owl said as he noticed a glitter underneath the robe.
"Before you die, tell me, where is the main door?" he continued as he points a gun at Tim's head.
Tim chuckled between his coughs.
"Even if I told you, you won't be able to open it without cutting the power from the inside..."
"Thank you" the Owl said as he pulled the trigger, blood flew out from the hood and pooled on the floor.
Satisfied, the Owl regroup with the men on the side of the river before switching to a secure channel.
"We found it, permission to engage"
After listening for a few moments, he switched to a different channel.
"We are clear, cut the power"
*Gibraltar: Watchpoint*
Satisfied that the Search and Rescue op is nearly complete, Morrison sat down for the first time since the Operation began, the staff all completing their reports for his review.
"Private Alex, tell the crew to prepare for their return" he ordered.
"Yes sir!" the Private said as he took off.
Watching them extract from the field, he could not help but feel a sense of pride in his soldiers. From hours of fighting they have suffered no casualties (mainly thanks to Angela), suffering only a few scratches and bruises.
After a short rest, he walked over to a cabinet and collected his visor hanging on the side of the door and put it on.
Winston's words have had some form of effect on him, especially after watching the performance of every man who gave it their all in this battle. They have fought and bled for him not because of his ruthless leadership or discipline, it is not for reward either as they receive insulting pay. Rather it is for what they believed what Overwatch could become for the world.
He is here to lead professionals, not gangsters. They came here to make the world a better place and they look to him to lead them back towards that goal. Each one who followed his orders at the risk of their own lives is because they know that he could carve their dreams into existence. A dream of a better world.
"Colonel Smith, if they call back, tell them I will be interrogating a prisoner"
The Colonel looked surprised but acknowledged the order as he wrote it down in his notebook.
"And if they ask where is Private Quillion, tell them Lox will take them to him"
Grabbing his Pulse Rifle, he primed it for battle as he exited the room.
Now is the time where he needs to secure the bonds and protect them whenever he could. They fought and bled for him. Now it is time for him to return the favor.
Changing his walk to a sprint, he ran towards the Generator Room.
The moment he is outside, the power cuts off.
*Marbella: Nearby Forest*
"The power has been cut, it's time to move in" the Owl called out "Anton, kill that Matthew and bring the rest over now"
His response is the sound of several gunshots.
"Bit of an overkill there" one of the Troopers said, to which Anton merely grunted in reply.
"Meet up at the shack, we will formulate a plan there, less chance for anyone to intercept our channel"
Ordering the rest to scout the area for possible entrances, the Owl went back to the shack to inspect Tim closer. He could potentially hold some kind of key card which they could use.
Looking around the destroyed shack, he pondered why there aren't any cameras or other defenses besides a turret. Even the most arrogant organization would install something as a counter measure.
What struck him the most is the strange fruity smell in the air, it bothered him as he knew that smell but he could not put a finger on it.
Turning Tim's body over, he began patting down the pockets, there he found something that turned his blood cold. He pulled out a small speaker.
"What the..."
Tim's body is nothing more than a scarecrow wearing body armor and the 'head' that he shot was a watermelon.
"Sounds like you found out, I was hoping you'd give me more time" Tim's voice spoke out of the speaker.
"All units! Regroup!" the Owl said into his coms as he quickly scanned his surroundings. No one gave a reply.
"Anton, report! Mac, report!"
All he heard was static and the roaring river.
For an insight how I picture the location of the shack, the reader may refer to YouTube or Google Image and search for the following:
1. Sørvágsvatn Lake and Bøsdalafossur Waterfall in the Faroe Islands - Aerial Tour