*Gibraltar: Watchpoint*
Standing on the top of the highest building, Reinhardt looked down with a smile, enjoying the wind caressing his hair as the base was once again a flurry of activity.
Like a well-oiled machine, groups of armed men boarded while many more scurried about, each carrying materials to repair or maintain or load the shuttles.
Besides transportation, the base had also been granted some fighter aircraft for additional fire support. Even from this distance, he could spot Torbjorn directing the crews how to install weaponry and armor onto the jets, which made him laugh in relief to see his friend up and about with the same fiery passion.
With the Pax Aeternum Ceremony just around the corner (less than 4 weeks), Morrison had the base on high alert and, with Adawe's permission, placed Peacekeepers in key areas around the globe as a contingency plan should this 'Mother' or 'God Program' or whatever It calls Itself succeeds to uproot it.
Leaning on the rails, Reinhardt stretched, enduring the pain that still rippled through his body. Annoyed, he smothered it with the code of the Crusaders.
Live with honor. Die with glory.
These were the codes he lives by. The last words he exchanged with his mentor.
In many ways he envied Balderich. He was the leader of the Crusaders when posters about them were still being passed around, he was the one selected to join the ranks of Overwatch, he was the one who truly embodied their code, leading to his demise in his prime.
It was he who passed the legacy of the Crusaders to him…
What of the Crusaders now? Under Reinhardt's leadership, even after he sacrificed everything and more for the Order, nobody seemed to care, ultimately making his victories hollow. In fact, Germany (or even the world) sees them as 'old fashioned heroes', unworthy to even be considered for any of its military discipline.
This has borne a concerning reality. The coverage of his involvement in both Omnic Crisises were not minimal nor neglected. His tales of battle and victory, though inspiring, had not garnered the response he was hoping for, with only Brigitte responding to the call for Squires, and he suspected that she only did so because he is her step-father.
How he had hoped and imagined the Crusaders to evolve from being a wartime era Order to peacetime guardians, perhaps even replacing the need of hammer and shield into something more elegant… Perhaps a spear?
At this moment however, it is all fantasy. Glorious battles no longer have the same effect and without sizable manpower, the Crusaders will fade away quietly into history...
"Heh… I wonder what would Balderich say…" he thought to himself.
He was halfway through his pondering when he saw his armor being pushed out for loading. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he made his way down.
"Good morning Reinhardt!" Lox said when he looked up from his clipboard.
"Ahh Lox, good to see you, how is the loading process?" he asked.
"Just securing your armor, wouldn't be too long now"
"You seem to be in a good mood"
"Well, after you've been grounded for too long, you'd be happy when you can spread your wings"
Reinhardt laughed with him and patted him on the shoulder, making him buck, just when Ana came into the scene.
"Careful, we may still need him" she said.
"Captain Amari!" Lox said, immediately saluting and preparing himself for Reinhardt to reply loudly, as he always does when someone sees him off.
"Ana, just in time to see me off" Reinhardt said.
Lox felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. Normally Reinhardt would say those words louder, like… Way louder than that.
"Of course, here, something for the road" she said, holding out a blue pouch.
"Excellent, are they the same flavors as before?" he asked, checking the contents.
"As if you ever taste them" she laughed.
"Of course! I've always enjoyed the things you're able to cook up!"
"Well, aren't you sweet…"
Then they looked at each other, longer than most people would be comfortable with, least of all Lox, who was still saluting and his arm was getting tired, but he didn't dare to make a sound or move.
He had never seen either of them acting like this before. Ana bringing food, Reinhardt is uncharacteristically quieter, everything felt off… But thankfully it didn't last.
"Take care of yourself out there" she said.
"Haha! Live with honor!"
"Die with glory!" Lox finished, causing them both to look at him.
"Oh sorry… It's just… I heard that so many times its just felt like it needed a finish" he said sheepishly.
"Now this one has the makings of a Crusader!" Reinhardt roared with laughter and pushed him into the shuttle.
She watched as they took off, shielding her eyes from the bright morning sun and before their silhouette even disappeared, she saw from her peripheral vision that Jack was approaching her.
"You know, it wouldn't hurt if you just sit in your office instead of walking around the base all the time" she commented.
"And that is why you're the sniper and I'm the grunt. Sitting in one spot for too long is nothing but hell for me"
"I'd imagine that it is a nightmare to have you verify documents"
"Not really, they'd just leave it on my desk" he said as he looked towards the direction she was looking "How'd he take the news?"
"What news?"
"Didn't you come to talk to him about the Pax Aeternum? Seeing all of this activity must be weighing down on him"
"He is fine"
"Strange, didn't think he would have a change of heart so soon"
"Is that why you are here? In case he starts yelling at me?"
"Yelling at you? That'll be the day…"
When she stared, he merely grunted and walked away.
"You were never good at admitting to your feelings" Ana commented.
That has always been his weakness. He always lead by example, but that example included the image of the perfect soldier, one who would follow orders without question, but still bears the independence to adjust to any situations.
Though this had inspired the average men to perform beyond the call of duty, it has created conflict with leaders of men. Though he will never admit it, she has no doubt that he was the one who caused Overwatch to tear itself apart, as he did not adjust his ways to lead someone like Reyes.
But the fault is not entire on him, she saw the cracks but did not say anything, trusting that these men will learn overtime. She knew she should've acted but her naivety that they will eventually put their differences aside held her back and she regretted it to this very day.
She hoped that after all these years, Jack would've learned something to better lead the others, especially Reinhardt or Angela, as they themselves have strong leadership or opinionated qualities. Perhaps that is why he sent McCree and Genji out to missions instead of others.
Regardless, he had learnt nothing and opted to use his old methods, which is creating cracks again. She knows that Reinhardt would never confront him the same way Reyes had done, but she will not stand idly by and let Jack ruin him.
"Reinhardt. Be safe…" she thought to herself.
*Volskaya Industries*
"So that's it"
"Yup" Sombra replied, reaching over for another cookie.
"You want me to help build a rocket"
"Yup"
"That does not only go to the moon within the hour, but to return with little to Earth at the press of a button"
"Yup"
"Then lie about it being stolen by terrorists… Which would be you and your 'friends'?"
"You got it"
"I assume if I do not do this, you will release the pictures?"
"Oh Katya, did you already forget? I've already said that I will not do that anymore" Sombra smiled and dusting her hands "I would never take my word back from a friend, think of this as… A favor"
Katya could only stare. The last thing she needs is to help Sombra with any of her problems, wishing deeply that she could just end the hacker's life right now, especially when she is just sitting across her and eating cookies.
It should be easy.
The rest of Sombra's group had been confined in the library by Zarya and Sombra has been disarmed. To add to her advantage, there are only two of them in her office. But the fact that Sombra did not come alone, bringing not only the same assassins that had haunted her dreams for countless nights, but other internationally dangerous criminals as well, she must not act hastily.
As confident as she is in Zarya's abilities, she doubts that even she alone would be able to handle all of them at once, especially when one of them literally absorbed an enhanced Graviton Surge for his own powers.
For now, she must not give them a reason to attack, she will have to wait until the time is right to act. Until then, she is forced to play the game of patience.
"When do you need it?" she asked finally, almost spitting out each work like its poison.
"Great! I knew I can count on you" Sombra said with a snarky smile, making her stomach turn.
"Anything else to discuss?" Katya snarled.
"Yes actually, I was wondering if you've seen these symbols before" Sombra said, using both hands and drag a hologram that hung in the air "Have you ever seen this language before?"
"No"
"Aww common, you didn't even look at them!"
Swallowing her disgust, she pulled the screen closer and studied the swirling symbols. Many of them were common shapes; squares, circles, rectangles. But others were just seemingly random glyphs that did not belong to any language she is familiar with, there was even one that looks like a gardening rake.
"If this is a joke, it is not funny" was all Katya could say and threw the hologram at Sombra's face, but it merely floated lazily back to its original place.
Sombra hid her disappointment. She had hoped that Katya would recognize this Omnic language since she dabbled with their technology to create her Mechs, but since she did not, this had put the whole operation at risk.
If she could not use this language before they attack, their chances to succeed had become much slimmer, especially when she could not even hack simple Omnics under the God Program's control, what chances would she have against the It itself?
"You haven't answered the question. When do you need the rocket?"
"Before the Pax Aeternum Ceremony" Sombra replied, pulling out a digital calendar.
"Thats… Less than 4 weeks!" Katya exclaimed, looking at the date.
"23 days to be sure, better get to it then"
"No, that's impossible, the finances, permits… They would take at least three months"
"Already got them covered" Sombra assured, flipping out another hologram of documents.
Katya could not hold back her scowl anymore, showing her full disapproval on her face at Sombra's arrogance. All this time, she did not once try to blackmail her, as if her arrogance had reached to the point that she does not even need to do anything to get what she wants.
How dare she look down on Katya Volskaya?
"Hey hey what's with that look? Trust me, this is the last favor I'll ask from you"
"That's what you always say again and again and again, when will it be the 'last'?"
"This is it, I give you my word"
*Library*
Constantly on high alert, Zarya watched them with caution. She had expected them to put up a fight, or at least try to walk out the door, but they were surprisingly cooperative. However, just to be safe, she had all her guns pointed to all three exits and made sure they were constantly on full charge.
Reaper and Moira merely leaned against the pillar, while the others explored the library, saved for Baptiste who used his Exo Boots to jump to the upper levels and had been there ever since. Hours crawled by before Quillion and Amelie finally felt they found a place where they could talk privately.
"I'm surprised that so far into the future and with all this tech, there are still books in a library" Quillion said, grabbing a random book and flipping the pages with his thumb.
"Were you surprised we had books in the chateau?" Amelie asked.
"That's more of a personal choice, a library is government funded. Just thought they'd wanna save cost and make everything electronic"
Pulling out another book, he beckoned her to come closer to ask the question that had buzzed in his mind since the briefing on the shuttle.
"Why do you want to go back to base?" he asked quietly.
"Because everything's wrong"
"The fact that Morrison lets Sombra lead the mission and breaking them out of a UN sub?"
"Yes. Why would he want to do that? He hates them, especially him" she said, tilting her head slightly towards Reaper.
He grunted in agreement. He had noticed that the lack of communication with the Commander has always been an act of faith more than anything… Makes him wonder if this was the reason why he had such a falling out with his subordinates.
"Since it's a suicide mission, might as well send him" he guessed.
"And if they survived? What does he plan to do should we return from the moon? Would he really welcome Reaper into the base? Or destroy the rocket whilst it is still in orbit?"
"He wouldn't-"
"Think about it. Who will be in the rocket? Talon agents and you, a single unknown who is not an Overwatch member. He would lose nothing and still be hailed a hero for killing terrorists"
"Terrorists?"
"Officially the HLC is still owned by Lunar Ops, and China will not be happy to see it destroyed"
"Right right… You really think he would just destroy the rocket?" he started but his voice trailed away with each word.
"If not him, then it'll be Katya, we did try to kill her before"
"Alright… Ok, I suppose you have an idea?"
"You first"
"Hmm… We are facing some 'God Program' or whatever they're calling it in a seemingly isolated and defenseless base up on the moon… I suppose we just launch a missile at it"
"And what if it relocates itself?"
"Then it'll be on Earth, which will swing the advantage over to us"
"Agreed"
"Funny you didn't ask where we can get a missile instead"
"I have money and connections" she said so nonchalantly that he can't help but chuckle.
While they were discussing their next course of action, they did not notice that Lena was being followed by Sigma, who had developed a keen interest in her. Or more specifically, her ability to manipulate time.
"But you must at least understand the very basics of your chronal disassociation!" he said.
"Oh sod off will ya? Grab a book or something!" she shouted.
"Listen! You are an inconsistent fabric of reality that has been made consistent! Your molecules have been desynchronized from the flow of time! I must study you! Just let me strip you and secure you to the table"
"Excuse me?!"
"Do no worry, I am confident that with my calculations, I can hold you down even without the Chronal Accelerator"
"That's not what I'm getting at! Leave me alone!"
"Do you not see the discoveries we would make? I can help you understand your body in ways you would never dream of!"
"I understand my body well enough, thank you very much! Go away!" she yelled, her face reddening with each word and Blinked away.
"Smooth" Reaper commented when Sigma levitated over, his face downcast.
"She is a fool… She must've seen that this is a way to send objects back through time... Instead of harnessing the Laws of Relativity, we can now break it… This is a whole new branch of science… This is an opportunity for our generation to be pioneers! This is…"
"Why don't we just get out of here? I'm sure that Russian would be no match for you" Moira asked Reaper, ignoring Sigma's muttering.
"We stay"
"You couldn't possibly believe Sombra or Morrison or even Katya would keep their word"
"If you don't like it, the door is right there"
"Alas if only I could" she said, raising her handless right arm.
"Make that excuse again, I'll shoot off your other hand" he said before turning his attention towards Quillion.
"You're very interested in that one aren't you?" she asked.
He did not reply, hiding his discomfort.
The combination of his enhancements, training, and decades of experience were not the only things that made Reaper dangerous. He also has an innate ability to sense the strength of those around him, which was the true secret to his lethality, as he could always adapt to any foe.
In fact, he, Sigma and Moira can make short work with everyone here if not for the man they call Quillion.
He had heard of that name in passing multiple times last year from Talon's combat reports and each of them were not only somewhat significant to Talon's plans, but apparently, this 'Quillion' was left in a near death state in every one of those reports.
The first was the hunt for Overwatch Base led by The Owl, someone whom he personally trained. He reported that he captured a random operative who killed his whole squad, before he himself was KIA. All that they knew from that incident was that this operative could endure a tremendous amount of pain and possess inhumane speed.
Months later during a post-mortem meeting, he noticed that Widowmaker's report was vastly different from the others, as her report claims that an Overwatch agent, though failed to protect the target, had single handedly defeated Sigma, Moira, and her pet experiment. Once again, a familiar description, someone who could fight, endure enormous damage, and even dodged bullets.
And again, months after that, he attacked the base with Sombra and someone else, and the three of them actually forced their way to the Arena through the middle hallway, which was no easy feat. When that attack failed and Moira had her fun with him, she confirmed his identity when they were in the UN Submarine that he was the same man who fought against them in London.
The most impressive part was not only that he was cut open by Moira, Sigma said in his many ramblings that he was the one who came out to challenge him when he attempted to kill everyone back in Venice. Not only was he successful, he even survived the event.
And now… Once again, he made an appearance, accompanying Sombra and Widowmaker to break them out of prison under Overwatch's orders.
It is plainly obvious that this Quillion is Morrison's new secret weapon, someone who is very skilled not only in combat abilities, but leadership, evident at his close partnership with Widowmaker.
A man like this cannot be ignored.
So why can't he sense anything out of him? Was he putting up an act of weakness back in the sub or was it all part of an act?
His questions however, will have to be answered another day when the doors swung open.
"Get out" Zarya ordered.
As they exit the building, they see Katya and Sombra walking towards them.
"Alright, we've got a ride!" Sombra called to them happily.
Even with her face hidden, they could tell that Zarya turned her head towards Katya underneath the glass of the cockpit.
"When do we leave?" Reaper growled.
"In about three weeks"
"Three weeks? Then I presume that our hosts will make sure that our stay will be comfortable?" Moira asked, looking at Katya.
"Nah I got that covered, don't want to stress my friend out too much ya know?" Sombra said as she threw her arm around Katya's neck.
"No, you will not leave these premises" Zarya interjected. There was no way she would let them leave her sight.
"Don't worry, I booked us all a nice hotel just across the street"
"You are not going to any hotel!"
"They will behave" Katya said, though not without hints of doubt laced in each word.
"I assume each of us will have our own rooms?" Lena asked.
"Nah, you and those other two will be going back today"
"Really? How so?"
"Because I am here!" a loud voice boomed.
Everyone looked and saw that it belonged to none other than Reinhardt, who looked taller than he used to. It was only then Quillion realized that this was actually his second time seeing Reinhardt in his armor, the first being when they thought he was a Talon spy.
"Reinhardt? When did you get here?" Lena asked happily.
"Haha! Well, I've heard that there are a few bad apples here that are in need of discipline, so of course Jack sent me to keep an eye on them" he said, deliberately turning his head towards the ex-Talon agents.
"Is anyone else with you?" she asked while looking around.
"Nope, I am more than enough" he laughed.
Quillion could see Lena's discomfort at that fact and shared it. Reinhardt may be courageous and willing, but those alone would not deter someone like Reaper.
Before any of them could voice their concern, Reinhardt walked directly towards the Black Mercenary and, either he was showing a force of dominance or just recklessness, took off his helmet before leaning down, directly facing him.
"You are going to behave, aren't you?" he asked.
"Keep pushing and you'll find out" Reaper growled back after what felt like a minute.
"See? We will be fine" Reinhardt laughed "Oi! Big Russian lady! Where am I staying?"
While Zarya gave a scathing reply, everyone let out a sigh of relief and holstered their weapons.
*Hangar (30 minutes later)*
Lox paced around under the shadow of the shuttle, wishing that Reinhardt would hurry up. Though it is autumn, he could still feel hints of the summer heat and he brought nothing but thick clothing.
"I thought it's always cold in Russia" he thought bitterly.
Another strange thing was that he thought that there would be some kind of a welcoming committee, since Reinhardt was coming in, but the hangar was as quiet as the grave, which was odd since he heard that Volskaya Industries are usually very active and busy.
"Hey Lox! Been a while eh?" a familiar face called out.
"Lena! About time!" he called back when he saw her, Quillion and Amelie walking out from a door.
"Yeah, lets get outta here, I've had enough adventures for the week… Can't wait to see everyone back in base!"
"Yeah about that… We're gonna need to make a quick stop through Paris"
"Eh? Why?"
"We need to refuel. I thought there would be someone here to do it but…" he said, looking around at the still empty hangar.
"Yeah sure, both of you don't mind I hope?" Lena asked.
"No, I would like to stop by there as well, there's someone I want to meet" Amelie said.
Without asking, they knew where and who she meant.
"Alright, lets go"