*Talon Base: 'Straight' Route*
No words can describe the ferocity of the attack as Winston leapt into enemy lines, his Tesla Cannon made short work of everyone around him, stunning them quickly into submission as it is further reinforced by Angela's Damage Boost. When the defenders threw in stronger opponents that required heavier firepower to take down, Morrison provided with great devotion as years of pent up rage was finally unchained.
Even without his Tactical Visor, Morrison never missed a shot, his Pulse Rifle illuminated the base like a flickering fire, adding another body to the count every passing second. However, that was not what struck fear into the Talon Troopers and Enforcers, it was the silence, their attackers attacked in total silence, saved for their weapons or an occasional roar, as if avenging ghosts just appeared amongst them.
They watched in horror as the last few surviving Heavy Assault Troops were swiftly cut down, either by a Helix Rocket in the face or torn apart by the Primal Rage of Winson. Totally unprepared for an attack of this calibre, they routed.
They were told that the only dangerous foe they would ever face will be Soldier 76, as the rest are mainly non-combatants who could barely hold their own.
But what they had witnessed revealed a haunting truth. The destruction of Overwatch has left a scar on its survivors, a scar that will remind them of the ties that were forged through thick and thin, an almost familia love that has been torn apart, creating in many of the agents the wrath of an avenging child, who had never stopped seeking for the ones responsible.
And now that they have found them, there will be no mercy.
All except for one, who finally broke the silence.
Leaving Winston to deal with a group of Enforcers who attempted to ambush them from a corner, Morrison continued onwards to trigger the next ambush, which sure enough, a group of Troopers revealed themselves, their arms high in a sign of surrender.
"Morrison no!" Angela cried, but it was too late, as Morrison mercilessly gunned them down.
"Keep moving" he ordered in a murderous tone as she inspected the bodies.
"They were surrendering!"
Without saying anything, he kicked one of the Trooper's hands revealing a hidden grenade, its pin almost ejected from its case, much to Angela's dismay.
"Their families are all under the barrel of a gun, that is why they will not surrender here, that is how Talon works" he said coldly, reloading his Pulse Rifle as heavy footsteps approached them from behind.
"Why have we stopped?" Winston asked.
Knowing that she needs a clear mind to perform properly in battle, Morrison pointed to another body on the floor.
"He is the medic, get him up"
Knowing full well he will not offer this opportunity the second time, Angela immediately added a healing stream to the medic, who thankfully seemed compatible as his eyes fluttered open.
"Stai bene?" she asked.
He blinked confusingly as he is now looking into the blue eyes of an angel.
"Sono morto?" he muttered.
"Prenditi cura di loro" she ordered, pointing to the bodies.
He looked around confusingly and placed a hand over his heart, checking if it was still beating, convinced that he was shot somewhere near it when he attempted to surrender with his men.
"G-grazie?" he finally said before moving to check the bodies.
Satisfied that he can move, she looked at Morrison angrily, who pretended to look ahead. He knew that look too well, of all the members who have served in Overwatch, she had always been the most vocal against his methods. Thankfully another group of Talon troops came around the corner, this time their intentions clear as they were all carrying weapons.
As Morrison stepped forward to meet them, a strange movement caught her eye.
"Look out!" she yelled, pulling out her pistol and shot towards the wall, one floor above them, revealing a camouflage figure into view.
The Assassin attempted to escape but Winston was on her immediately, pinning her down on the first floor and knocking her unconscious, not knowing that he fell into a trap. A loud bang rang through the air and a loud ricochet sound emitted from Winston as the bullet tore apart pieces of his armor.
With Morrison occupied with the new wave and Winston pinned down, she reluctantly checked her ammo and flew out to find the Sniper, who she spotted on the other side of the floor. Blinding her with a sudden flash of golden light, Angela took aim and shot the rifle out of her hands before charging. The Sniper pulled out her own pistol and tried to shoot Angela down, but the nimble suit was too fast and she found herself on the ground, looking into the barrel of a pistol.
"Ga vidare, gor det" the Sniper growled, admitting defeat.
"Ar du svensk?"
"Nej, men du ar det"
Her hand trembled at those words, how much do they know? With little time to think, Angela pistol whipped the Sniper across the chin, knocking her out almost immediately, shouting "Medic!" before flying towards Winston.
"Winston! Are you alright?" she asked, looking around them for other Assassins or Snipers.
He nodded, adjusting his suit to better protect the new hole that the bullet tore open as a healing stream is applied.
"I'm sorry" Winston said.
"What?"
"For getting shot, I know it must not be easy for you to take care of everyone"
"Oh don't worry monkey… What does the good doctor always say? Heroes never die" a voice called out from the shadows, his Hellfire Shotguns pointed at both of them "But you are no hero, are you?".
Instinctively, Winston pushed Angela behind him, snarling at the approaching mercenary, who remained unfazed, despite the sight of static electricity jumping to life from the Tesla Cannon.
"Relax monkey, I'm just here to make a deal"
"What deal?" Winston asked, carefully observing the shotguns.
"You're here to destroy Talon, I can help you, but in exchange, you give me Morrison"
"And why should we even listen to you?"
"Because Doomfist is preparing to leave and you will not be there in time to stop him"
"We'll take our chances" Angela said, twisting her staff to emit a blue beam, to which Reaper cackled when he saw it.
"I never understood how a pacifist can have that function"
"Why do you want to destroy Talon?" Winston asked, his weapon never leaving the mercenary.
"Let's just say that some of us know what Sombra has been up to" he replied, fading away.
"What was that about?" Angela wondered.
"I don't know"
A hoarse cry snapped them back to reality when they recognized whose it was, quickly jumping down to the floor below.
Morrison has been knocked to the ground but his rifle is still firing at the enemy, who is floating towards them with an arm outstretched, a black hole absorbing all attacks.
"That's quite far enough" Sigma said before launching a boulder at them.
*Talon Base: Medical Bay*
Quillion strained against his bonds again as another shot of pain bolted through his body, the constant sprays no longer providing any comfort. He is unable to even cry out in pain as his throat becomes desert dry.
This is too much to bear, he does not even want to escape anymore, all he wants is relief from this pain. Widowmaker's plan is impossible, no one would have endured this, no one could, even his pride has been shattered as he tries to beg her to stop, but his tongue has been stuck to the roof of his mouth minutes ago. Unable to faint, his mind settles on the very last thing it begged him to do.
If he could only convince himself that he does not want to kill any of them, to forgive them for all that they had done to him, it could mean that he will finally be free. Once he admits and convinces himself that he will not kill them, he would break the last promise that he now so desperately craves.
However, there is still a silver of control, a control that he has to mentally, deliberately, and consciously make. Through the torrent of pain that threatens to break through this last line of resistance, is what must be either the computer chip in his brain or how he was engineered, and somehow he knew what must be done.
He must make the choice to allow the pain to take over completely or continue the fight. He knew he was at the crossroads, desperately leaning towards going towards insanity, but his fear kept him closer to resist going down that route. Whatever it was, it is the last thing that is keeping him together. And his reasons to continue resisting are quickly deteriorating.
"Let's take a break shall we?" Moira said, wiping the sweat off her brow.
Another explosion shook the room and the doctors looked at the door with concern. Moira barely noticed, eagerly reading the data that she had collected that is displayed on the side.
"This is an interesting discovery… The subject's internal structure seems to have some similarities to a Gabriel Reyes" she spoke out loud to a recorder, attracting her staff immediately as they crowd around to read the data.
"Quillion… Quillion! Are you still with me?"
He barely heard her, but he did, slowly turning his head to look at her, only after his mind registered that she had blue skin and glanced at her body did he remember who she was. With great effort, he blinked.
"You're almost there, the tank is nearly empty, you just need to follow the plan for just another few minutes, can you do that?"
His lips trembled. A few more minutes? Follow the plan? She is not the one being operated alive here! He tried to argue, to make a case that he cannot do this, surely she would understand that they need another plan, there is no human alive that could endure this much and still be asked for more, but only gasps escaped his lips.
"Look at these readings… It really does look similar but Reaper's is much more complex"
"Does this mean he can heal rapidly as well?"
"No… It lacks the properties required to fade, the subject's structure is too primitive, therefore we will not be able to create another wraith…" Moira answered almost automatically as she is immersed into her studies, uncaring who she is speaking to.
"You need to do it again!" Widowmaker hissed.
Quillion did not move, even if he wanted to break his wrists again, his body would have resisted any commands to move anyway.
"Do it! Don't stop!"
He did not move.
In desperation, Widowmaker closed her eyes in disgust for what she was about to do, but if she does not do it now, their window of opportunity would slip away.
"Desole" she apologized sincerely, before hawking up a spit and spat it at his open wounds.
The cold spit brought forth another wave of pain. Bucking his body around he did everything he could to wipe it off, but it was useless. Once again, despite the sprays activating, it brought no relief. So much so that he broke everything else in efforts to distract himself from the main source of the pain.
"Doctor! An Overwatch agent is heading this way!"
"Bring up the screen"
*Talon Base: Left Route*
Slapping a Pulse Bomb on the door, Lena Recalled away as multiple explosions ripped the metal doors open. She pointed her Pulse Pistols at the ruined door and waited for the smoke to clear, taking extra precaution by taking cover next to a water dispenser.
"Fighting indoors is always such a pain" she thought to herself.
Carefully peeking in, she was surprised to see a small room that looked like a children's bedroom. Decorated with bland, faceless dolls, a small bathroom, but the only thing that is out of place is the large bunk bed, which size seems to be for adults rather than children, and the walls either have deep holes or scratches on them.
"That's… New…" she thought to herself, groaning when she saw there are a few doors left down the hall.
Under normal circumstances, Overwatch would rely on Torbjorn on breaching duties, but now she will have to press on alone. She just wishes that Sombra's layout mentioned that all the doors are reinforced steel, dashing away her idea that it would be easy to identify the Medical Bay or the Holding Cell, as those should be the only ones with reinforced doors.
With no labels on the walls or doors, she proceeded cautiously, the distant sounds of battle reminded her that she is not only in the heart of an enemy territory, there is no other backup available to assist her.
The haunting memory of Widowmaker firing a round towards her crawled back into her mind, almost tripping her as she walked. Knocking her head with both hands, she pushed it aside, this is not the time to remember old memories, they finally found Amelie and Quillion could be with her, she needed to focus.
The lights flickered and were put out, throwing the hallways into darkness, leaving only the steady blue light that emits from the Chronal Accelerator, just enough to see the outlines of objects, but not enough to confidently identify what they are.
"Bollocks"
It is too quiet, far too quiet. The lack of defenders in this area is making her more uncomfortable than ever. The lights were not put out by coincidence, this was on purpose. Keeping her weapons steady, she proceeded down the hall, keeping low and close to the walls now that she is literally the only target people could see and shoot at.
Lena was about to plant another bomb on the door when a crashing sound came from further down the hall. Dropping down to a knee, she prepared to Blink as she tried to squint through the darkness.
"Get him! Don't let him escape!"
Turning the corner, a man loomed into view and ran towards her, closely followed by a group of Troopers, who seemed to be carrying batons.
"Help!"
"Quil?"
He is clearly hurt and limping, there is no way he could outrun them. Blinking forwards, she shot at the feet of the Troopers, who quickly retreated as they were not expecting a fight.
Turning around, she saw Quillion have slumped to the ground, holding a bloody bandage over his shoulder, gasping for air. She was shocked how horrible he looked, she had seen him in many situations before, but this is shocking. His once confident face is now sunken and colourless and even his frame looked smaller than ever.
"Quil! What happened?"
"Attacked Talon… Was captured…" he said hoarsely.
"Did you see Amelie?"
"Who?"
"A blue skinned woman" she said quickly as she inspected his wound, which looked as if he had been mauled.
"No, I didn't..."
For a moment she did not know what to do. She could not leave him nor could she give up her search now, her breaching must have alerted whoever is defending this route and would move Amelie the moment they get the chance.
"Do you know where the Holdings Cells are? Or is there a place where they brainwash people?"
Quillion tried to reply but instead he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed.
"Hey! Stay with me!" she shouted, but he has already passed out.
"Please Quil!"
Ripping off her glove, she squeezed his wrist and waited painfully for a pulse. He can't die, not now, not when she finally found him.
"Please!"
Her heart skipped when she felt it, but he needs to be extracted now.
"Hang on luv… I'll get you out, just hang on" she begged, throwing his arms over her shoulder and began dragging him, frightened how light he had become.
"How sweet… Looks like we are safe for now" Moira chuckled, adjusting the screen so that Quillion could see everything from the Operating Table, who is still thrashing.
"Kill her when you have the chance but leave her in once piece, I'd like to run some tests" she spoke into the mic.
*Outskirts of Venice*
"You think they will be alright?"
"Use your eyes Bap, I think they're doing great"
Watching through the lenses of the hacked CCTVs, they were impressed how much progress the few were able to make in such a short amount of time. That is until they met Sigma.
"You should've joined Overwatch, they look like they can get stuff done"
"Join the goody two shoes? No way, being on the run is so much more fun"
"Speaking of which, I don't feel comfortable to be back so close to Venice, mind giving me a ride to wherever you're going next?" he said, glancing out the window.
"I would but…" she said, glancing at Lox, who is now resting on one of the tables "I don't think he is going to wake up anytime soon"
"Can't you just hack in and use the autopilot?"
"The software's in this hand, so we gotta stick around until he wakes up, I told you to go easy on him" she replied, showing him her bandaged hand.
He sat down on the pilot seat and watched in silence as Sigma absorbed another set of Helix Rockets and lifted Winston into the air, but his mind wandered away. He does not believe her for a second that she couldn't hack the shuttle, she has other things in mind, now the question is if he would allow himself to play into her plans or not.
Unlike her, he does not enjoy being hunted by an unknown or an invisible force, all he wants in life is to open a clinic to help the sick and injured without the constant need of looking over his shoulder.
"What is she doing?" Sombra exclaimed suddenly.
Looking up, he saw that the camera is now focused on a Chinese woman with a coat that must be too warm for her own good, pacing around the Harbour nervously in the corner, clearly trying to stay hidden but is failing.
"Never thought Jack would take her along" she continued, quickly hacking into something.
"Is she lost?" he asked.
"She's gonna die if she stays there"
"Why?"
Opening another screen, it showed a man that still creates an uneasy shiver in Baptiste. Surrounded by Enforcers, Doomfist is making his way to the Harbour in full battlegear
"What can we do?"
"Oi! Amiga! Get outta there!" Sombra shouted into the mic, making Mei jump.
*Talon Base: Harbor*
"W-Who is this?" she asked into the air.
"I'm your guardian angel, get outta there! Doomfist is headed your way!"
Mei squeaked in fear. THE Doomfist is heading her way? Morrison only told her to hold here and ensure that they have a boat to escape on! She tried contacting the others but the communicators are silent.
"I… I... I…"
"Just follow my instructions, there is a storage room to your left, just hide there until they leave"
She did not move until the sound of footsteps echoed in the room. It was too late to hide, but she jumped into the room anyway, trembling as she waited. Did the others fail? Were they defeated? Why else would the leader of Talon come himself?
"Come out, I need your help" a voice called through the door.
"Wh-Who is it?" she managed out, pointing her Blaster at the door.
"I received Winston's Recall, I need your help to stop Doomfist"
Winston had said that there are more heroes coming, just that they have not all come to the scene yet. She cautiously opened the door and couldn't help but feel a tinge of hope when she saw who it was, if this man is as powerful as he looks, she may actually stand a chance!
"W-Who are you?"
He merely walked away and beckoned her to follow with his clawed hands, to which she did. Observing him, she realized he must be one of Overwatch's top fighters that she never met during her Cryo Sleep. His stride is confident and reeks with power, the image further improved with a dark robe. When he turned around, she had to stop herself from gasping, not expecting to see a skull for a face, nor with the shotgun shells that are slung by two belts across his body.
"Are… You sure you are with Overwatch?" she asked tentatively, her hand gripping tighter on her weapon, he looked more like the villain more than a hero.
"Let's just say I'm one of their many secrets" he chuckled.
"So you can't tell me your name?"
"Soldier 24, that's all you need to know"
Mei relaxed. Morrison is known as Soldier 76 to the public, so if this man has the same styling for his name, they must know one another. She also remembered when she first met him, he too has a very aggressive vibe about him, so perhaps that is why 24 scares her with his presence alone.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked.
*Outskirts of Venice*
Rapidly pulling up files, the engines roaring to life.
"What are you doing?" Baptiste asked.
"We have to stop Doomfist ourselves" Sombra said angrily, lifting the shuttle off the ground.
"Err… I don't see what's going on here, what's the plan?"
"Turns out everyone is useless! You want Overwatch to kill Doomfist? He is now escaping, you want Reaper to finish the job? He asks a greenhorn to help him! Why do I have to do everything myself?!"
"That guy's with you?! You really need to learn how to pick better friends"
"Shut up!"
He strapped himself in and can't help but smile at his own idiocy. He knew that when Sombra asked him to come, he was jumping into a world of trouble, but if he can get back at the people who are chasing him even once, it would be worth it.
Plus, it would be fun to work next to Dr Ziegler again.
Author Note:
If you think that Mei never meeting Reaper is too far fetch or Deux Ex Machina, remember in Overwatch 2 Trailer, she never met any of the other main team members (Lena had to introduce her), so I think it makes sense she never met Reaper haha