The sudden spike in energy naturally hadn't gone unnoticed by HSI, or the Egyptian government, and Fareeha Amari found herself walking cautiously at the head of her team through the old ruins. Her visor alight with information as her eyes scanned the old buildings and sand dunes. Wondering if the private company that owned the land had known of the activities going on as she stepped over the helmet of a talon agent, and the remains of strange robotic parts. Some sort of crudely built Omnics, perhaps. The firefight had been quicker than she'd expected, less hostiles than what she would have thought. It seemed strange, but perhaps that was the point. The operation had gone unnoticed until the closest town to the ruins had suddenly lost power. It almost had seemed if they had been hurriedly trying to pack up and hide the evidence.
There was a strange, large metal circle embedded into the ground as she passed, a red light softly glowing in its center. Ominous, but as far as anyone could tell from their brief sweep, harmless. But harmless or not, it was strange, and it would have to be investigated more thoroughly after they were sure they cleared the area. Whatever it was, it was still running power, but this place as far as the records went, was abandoned long before she'd been born. It had a source of power somewhere that would need to be sussed out. It was strange, the ruins here were far, far older than whatever technology had been left behind here. It deserved to be preserved, not just sitting on some long forgotten land. The place looked like it had been through a war. She carefully brushed her hand along one of the old sandstone pillars, chipped and cracked from something more than just the teeth of time. She hadn't gotten a good look at the place when they were clearing the area, but she knew the damage had already been there long before their own fighting.
"Captain Amari!" Fareeha turned, watching the "Lieutenant Saleh, whats the report?"
"Captain, you're gonna wanna see this. We found a chamber, they must have been doing some serious testing here."
"Show me the way."
Sand crumbled beneath the heels of the Raptora suit as She followed her Lieutenant through the runs. Coming to a small passage between some of the ruined buildings.
"This must have been what they were guarding and what caused that power outage." The old chain link gate creaked as Saleh pushed it open further to allow both of them through. The gate itself seemed fairly new, but the hardware it was attached to was old and rusted. Apparently they hadn't thought they would need to go as far as a full replacement.
Did they not expect to be here long enough to need a full overhaul?
Fareehas eyes roamed over the hieroglyphs etched into the large stone door before it was opened.
She froze at the sight of the small jet within, thick wires and cables jutting from within opened spots in the hull, running off further into or leading towards the door of the chamber, or snaking off to meet the computer towers scattered through the room or what was obvious a control station, or the strange, large, metal container positioned next to the jet.
She always loved walking into the unknown, but this unknown had revealed itself to be a ghost that was better left forgotten.
"Captain Amari?"
"Keep this quiet. This information cannot fall into the wrong hands."
"You know what this is, Captain?"
"What they were doing with it, no. But I know that jet. Do not let anyone touch it, it might be highly unstable." She was young, she hadn't been there, but she'd seen pictures, documents. She knew the jet that had almost stolen Lena Oxton from the world. "It looks like they were running diagnostics… or perhaps trying to figure out how to reverse engineer it. This is what caused the power surge, no doubt."
"What are your orders, Captain?"
"Secure the site, and no one is to enter here without my orders. Its too dangerous."
"We at risk for another Anubis situation, Captain?"
"No, nothing like that." She assured. "But this jet was highly experimental, and the experiments it was involved in ended in catastrophe. I don't want anyone running the risk of getting hurt."
"Understood, Captain."
The decision was made to stay, under the worry that Talon would yet return once it became clear that the operatives at the site were no longer communicating.
Fareeha paced about a small chamber of the ruins, debating on whether to press the button on the Holopad and go through with the call. Would it be the right call?
The Slipstream didn't belong here, but did it belong in Helix's hands? Did it belong back in Overwatches?
It ought to be destroyed, in her opinion, but if it was, they would never know how it had gotten here, what had happened to it all those years after it vanished, or what Talon was doing with it, or planning to do with it.
Her brows furrowed as she steeled her decision, pressing the button. The silence of the night air broken by the soft ringing from the holopad. If anyone could potentially offer an answer…. It would be them.
"Hello?" Winstons deep voice sounded groggy, and given the time of night and it being an hour ahead there she wouldn't have been surprised if the Gorilla had been sleeping. "Pharah! This is an unexpected, but more than happy surprise. It's so good to see you again, Fareeha."
"It's good to see you to, Winston." She replied, offering a small smile before she turned the happy reunion to the matter at hand. "But I'm afraid this isn't a social call. I cannot say much, but, but there is something you need to know about. We found something you lost."
"Something we've lost? Do elaborate."
"Winston, its the Slipstream. It's here, in Egypt."
"The Slipstream!" The feed shook as Winston became a blur off screen, the sound of papers and things being shoved about before he returned, a pen and pad of paper in his massive hands, all the excitement of a researcher on his primal features. "Where did it reappear? Is coming in and out of Temporal focus as Tracer did? What condition is it in? Is it still run-"
"It was in Talons hands." She said, cutting into his questions. "It's mostly in one piece, and certainly looks solid, but they were doing something to it, Winston."
"Talon… Were there any operatives of known importance there?"
"No. To be honest I would have expected more agents, but they seemed to have left behind a skeleton crew… but there was a number of unusual Omnics."
"Unusual how?"
"Their designs, they were far more…. Boxy? Sharper, than the standard Omnic? Almost looked like something you'd expect a robot in old movies to look like. But they have been taken care of. Now the matter comes to what to do with the revelation, and what to do with it. I thought since you had a hand in it, you might have some advice on the matter, or maybe some insight on what they might have been hoping to accomplish with what they were doing."
"Without seeing it, I can only theorize. What are the coordinates? I can have the Orca ready to go within the hour to come."
"That would be inadvisable, Winston." She said, fingers drumming over the top of a long abandoned crate. "They're not going to accept Overwatchs presence. You know this."
"I know…" Winston sighed "But whatever plot Talon has hatched, this was clearly instrumental. Fareeha, you know how dangerous it is. There must be something, anything you could do to help."
"I wish there was, Winston. For old times sake. But the UN would have our heads if we knowingly let Overwatch set up here."
"Then we don't set up there. Only a select few know whats here and what that is. We come in, load it onto the Orca, and go back to Gibraltar."
"If anyone found out I brought you have access and allowed you to take the Slipstream…. But... I believe you will do what is right, Winston."
"Pharah, you could come with us. Join us. Overwatch could use someone like you, y'know."
"Winston… If you had asked me another time, I would have loved to say yes. You know I dreamed of following mums footsteps, but I can't. This team, they need me."
"I understand, Pharah." Winston said, giving her a small smile. "You've found a family worth protecting. You've done well for yourself, Fareeha."
She gave him a small smile of her own. "Thank you, Winston. Now, go, get who and what you need to. I'll send you the coordinates."
"Thank you, Pharah. I'll make sure we're careful. If all go wells, no one will be the wiser."
"I hope so, Winston. If not, you know I'll be in touch. Stay safe, Winston. Let me know what you discover."
"I will. Winston out." Fareeha sighed as the holocall ended and Winston's face turned to nothingness, leaning against one of the pillars supporting the chamber. How long had she dreamed of having the chance to join Overwatch, to join the ranks that had once been so dear to her mother. But she had her duty to Helix, to her strike squad. Her team. Too many had fallen in the line of duty before she had realized that the man could come before the mission. She couldn't abandoned her fellows now. She was already putting her head on the line with this. As it was, she was going to have to explain things to her team and hope they would understand.
She waited for them on the outskirts of the ruins, watching the Orca kicking up sand as it descended.
"I hope you know what you're doing captain." Saleh said beside her. "I know I don't need to tell you the trouble we could all get in for this."
"I do too, Lieutenant." Fareeha murmured, eyes trained on the ship as it touched down.
The hatch was barely opened before there was a flash of blue, and a metallic thunk as a body collided with the hard shell of the Raptora suit. "Pharah! Oh it's good to see you again!" Nobody could deny the happy lilt to the English accent of the pilot with her arms wrapped around her waist.
"It is good to see you again as well, Lena. I hope you have been well." Fareeha replied, finding herself smiling as she was finally released from the hug.
"I gathered everyone as quickly as I could. It's imperative this operation goes quickly and smoothly." Heavy steps accompanied Winston as he descended the ramp, finding herself chuckling as Saleh stiffened besides her. She supposed she couldn't blame him. It was not every day one saw a Gorilla, much less one who wore glasses and spoke.
"Everyone? How many did you call for this, Winston?" She knew there would have been many who would have answered the recall, but how many had, and how many had he told of this?
"Only Tracer and Torbjörn. Though there is one more, he can't tell anyone. Now, I know this may be a surprise, so I implore you, both of you, to give him a chance. He's proved himself very useful, and surprisingly gentle." Winston said, holding up a large hand, looking over his shoulder. "Okay, bring him out."
"Winston, what are you-" The question dies on her lips before she can finish it at the sight of the familiar dwarf stepping out from the ship onto the ramp, each step followed by cold machine. Much of the chassis and parts had been changed, rounded out and softened, but there was no mistaking what it was, and the danger it could pose.
"Don't be alarmed." The swede called out. "He might look scary, but he's a big softy."
"You can't be serious. That thing is a killing machine!"
"This thing," replied the dwarf, pointing a lazy finger up at the wicked looking turret upon its back, "Doesn't go anywhere without its tiny little birdie friend." It was then, she noted the little yellow ball of fluffy happily nestled into the opening of the turret, its small black eyes watchful and curious. Offered me a damn flower when I caught up to it. Somethings wrong with it. Aint tried to kill any of us yet."
"And if does?"
"Well, if it does, then we deal with it, but for now, He's going to help of load the hunk of junk we're here for. Can't expect me to do all the heavy lifting by myself." Torbjörn laughed. "Now, we're wasting night light. Show us where it is."
"Right. The sooner we get this done, the better." Fareeha nodded, motioning for the others to follow.
"You know, I declined the recall when I received it," Torbjörn said quietly as they fell into step. "Winston called me for this. He was lucky I was decently close by. Figured if it really is what it is, I should take a look at it."
"Thank you, Torbjörn. This… It can only cause more trouble if we leave it in the hands of those who did not see the suffering it caused." Fareeha said quietly, eyes flitting over the younger pilot and the machine strapped to her chest. How would things have turned out for her, if she'd never gone on that test run?
Together she and her lieutenant lifted the door up, carefully propping it open before she led the others inside.
"It… I can hardly believe it. It really is here." Lena murmured, taking a tentative step towards the jet. "After all these years."
"I suppose if you reappeared, albeit in and out of time, there was always a chance the Slipstream could have reappeared as well." Winston replied, drawn to the haphazard looking control setup. "It doesn't appear to be undergoing the same effects of the Chronal disassociation you did. But I can't tell if it's because of any tampering that's been done to it or not."
"Well, that would be a bit unfair, wouldn't it. I get my cells all mixed up and wibbly wobbly with time, and the jet comes out without a scratch." Lena's eyes followed the trail of wires and tubes leading up to the jet, noting the patchjob over where the wings of the fighter jet had once been. "Well, maybe not without some scratches. They really did a number on it, didn't they."
"The question is, what was the purpose? We know some of their operatives already possess some teleportation technology." Winston said, his hand on his chin as he leaned in to look closer at the buttons and switches on the array.
"Well that's what we're going to find out." Torbjorn declared. "Now, lets get this hunk of scrap unhooked and pack her up. Bastion, mind giving us a helping hand, eh?" He nodded towards the mess of cables and parts, earning a serious of small beeps from the towering Omnic before it moved forward, the optic in its head clearly scanning everything it saw before it began dismantling wires and bolts with surprising precision and mindfulness alongside the engineer.
"Bastion and I will move the larger parts once we've gotten everything ready for loading. If you three would help move all these tubes and wires. We may need them to reconstruct what they've done." Winston said, gathering up a large coil of cable neatly.
"Tracer and I can do it." Fareeha said stiffly. "I do not want to put any more of this on any of my team than I already have."
"With all do respect, Captain," Saleh said, bending down to grab one of the cables the Omnic had already pulled loose. "We would already be in deep enough trouble as it is if someone found out. I don't think they could add any extra charges for tidying up some wires. Besides, you want this to go faster, right? The more pairs of hands working, the faster this will go."
It took far longer than Fareeha would have liked, but eventually the room was dismantled, and with the help of a hovercart, Winston and the Omnic loaded away the jet, the control station, and the strange metal pod.
"Whatever they were doing, we're going to find out." Winston said, determination in his deep voice as the strange group stood at the base of the ramp. "We'll figure it out, and put a stop to whatever plans they have."
"Maybe if we can study the slipstream itself too, we can learn more about what happened to me, and fix it." Lena said hopefully. "At the very least it'd be nice to not have to cart the accelerator around with me everywhere."
"It was good to see you again, Pharah." Winston said warmly. "The offer is always open, if you ever change your mind."
"Thank you, Winston. But for now, I still must decline. But it was good to see you all again."
"You know, Fareeha, one of these days, I could take a look at fixing up your suit if you'd like." Torbjörn offered. "And let you mess it up with a bunch of scrap metal bolted on the side? No thanks. I like it the way it is." She replied with a small laugh. With one last wave, she watched the quarter walk up the ramp, it slowly rising behind them until it sealed firmly shut. Bracing herself against the sand the wind began to kick up as the ship lifted into the air.
"Now, we figure out how we're going to write our reports." She muttered, turning to return to their own ship. "And perhaps do a bit of digging to see who this land belongs to. If nothing else, these ruins should be put under protection from any further damage."