*London: King's Row*
One more hour. One more hour until Zenyatta will make his appearance.
The crowd cheered when Mayor Nandah finished her boring speech and paved the way for the parade to begin. Morrison had hoped that she would've taken his advice and spoke for the entirety of the night instead of planning a parade, but he will admit that after seeing the happy faces of the crowd when looking out the window, he understood that fanfare and activities were sorely needed for the general, blissfully ignorant public. Even so, the additional movements, confetti, balloons, fireworks, everything had become a serious distraction.
"Bastet come in" he called.
"Bastet checking in" was the reply.
"Do you need time to relocate?"
"No, I can still see everything from up here"
"Keep me posted"
Doing a radio check, he was glad to hear that everyone still sounded vigilant, all except for Angela, to which he decided not to press the matter. Either the parade was too loud, and she missed the call in, or she was most likely still mad at him for his recent actions, and the last thing he needed was another earful.
Walking out of his office, he habitually looked to the left and right of the recently beautified hallway, both equally long and reaching to the staircases. The walls were filled with holo-pictures of random 'breakthrough' events between the humans and the Omnics. To his left, in the middle of the hallway, where the largest holo-pic was placed, was the famous picture of Mondatta participating the Turning Green SWO event with Mayor Nandah, shoveling the earth. Below it were his last known public words.
Before me I see the future, Humans and Omnics standing together, united by compassion, by common hopes and dreams.
"Dreamers" he muttered as knocked on the door that was situated directly opposite of it.
He could hear something clattering from inside before the door creaked open and Brigitte peeked through it.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I'm here to pick up the milk" he replied.
She let out a sigh of relief and opened the door. Many times she had privately thought that have a silly password was unnecessary, confident that she could spot an imposter at a glance. But as the hours crept by and with the activities outside, she inevitably became more nervous, putting her constantly on edge, so much so that a simple security measure like this was an unexpected relief.
He walked in and saw Zenyatta floating over Genji, who looked like he tripped over to catch a falling teapot. It would've been funny if anger hadn't taken over first. They are less than an hour away from Zenyatta's speech, and they are still clowning around?
"Get up" he scolded Genji, who stood up immediately.
"Is there a problem Commander?" Zenyatta asked.
"We have less than an hour, I need to brief you about where you need to be positioned"
Everyone expected that Morrison would've planned out something complicated, showing them how he calculated everything down to its minute detail to ensure maximum protection from all angles. Instead they were surprised with an extremely simple and forward briefing.
"You will exit from the main door here, then make your way to the microphone here. Once you're done, or if anything happens, float right back from where you came from and back to this room. The two of them will be with you at all times. And for good measure, we have placed bullet proof glass around the podium" he said, pointing as he spoke.
"That's it?" Genji asked after waiting a moment for him to continue.
"That's it"
"That's… Simple" Brigitte added.
"It is because whoever that is here would still think that McCree is in charge of the defenses. I plan to give them a surprise"
"How can you be so sure?" she asked.
"The UN and the News. They've been publicly showing off which Overwatch members were here for the past few weeks and I've made sure to leak out enough lies to make them think McCree is in charge, therefore we will be using simple methods to continue the façade. This way we can surprise whatever the God Program have in store for us"
"You are taking a huge risk, to use my Master as bait" Genji said disapprovingly.
"I do not mind. A bait always sees what the fisherman could not, and I am quite curious to see these troublemakers firsthand" Zenyatta said.
"Master, the bait are all dead flesh on a hook" Genji corrected.
"Do not worry, you will find that I am better protected that you might think"
"If you're talking about your Shambali followers, I wouldn't put too much faith in them" Morrison countered.
"I have the Shimada" it replied, glancing at Genji, so stood upright at the trust that his master had in him, albeit in a strangely worded format.
Another cheer came from the crowd and when Morrison looked out through the crack of the curtain, he saw that everyone was pointing at something in the sky.
"Guys! Guys! Look up! It's so pretty!" Hana called out through the coms.
With a hand on Zenyatta to make sure that it does not expose itself too much, everyone looked up and was surprised to see a brilliant shower of meteors flying across the darkening skies. Turning around, Morrison switched on the holo-vid and to the news channel.
"-unprecedented and beautiful meteor shower that seemingly came out of nowhere and the crowd is just overjoyed at the sight, many celebrating that this is a confirmation that the Iris is showing favor for today's event-"
"If only they knew…" Morrison growled as the camera panned over to the groups that were praying.
"It is indeed saddening to see the teaching of Aurora and the Iris becoming so perverted" Zenyatta added, looking at the screen.
"Wait, didn't you want this to happen? Converting everyone and all?" Brigitte asked.
"No, I never agreed to that methodology, as Aurora never achieved full liberation, how can we guide others towards it?" Zenyatta replied.
"Err…"
"He is saying that conversion was never the main intention, rather the goal is to use the teachings to act as an additional guide only" Genji clarified.
"Is that even possible? I mean… If someone accepts the teaching and all, isn't she already a convert?"
"You are thinking of your training as a Crusader and in that case, you would be correct. However, I have accepted the teachings and I am not a Shambali"
"Then… Ok, so what's your goal then?" she asked Zenyatta.
"Just as I had done to help Genji, to help people through interpersonal connection and engagement rather than dogmatic teachings that had made so many of our monks celebrities" it said, pointing towards where Mondatta's Statue was erected.
"But then how-?" she continued when Morrison cut her off.
"We have less than thirty minutes to get ready, focus. You'll have plenty of time to discuss this later"
"Indeed, would any of you like to join me in meditation before we set out?"
"Commander, what would the rest of the team be doing?"
"Don't worry about it, they will all be nearby with their own assignment" he said and walk away.
He exited the room and had not made more than five steps when she called out to him, closing the door behind her.
"Commander, if I may, I think you need to trust us more"
"What?"
"You keep putting us in the dark, coordinating everything alone and keeping the rest of the team on such a strict need to know basis. After everything we've been through, I think the rest of the team would appreciate some more transparency… Sir"
First he did not say anything, surprised at her courage to speak up to him since she was always one who follows orders without question nor hesitation. His first instinct was to think that she had been compromised. Had she eaten something from the Shambali prior to this?
He shook the idea away quickly and remembered that she has, and will always follow Reinhardt's example, all the way down to the diet, which was strictly limited to German cuisine only.
If she were not compromised, then surely it means that this was true criticism? Has he alienated everyone due to his cautious nature?
He had been fought and interrogated enough criminals to be intimately familiar with how their systems work to a point he had adopted some of its practice when Overwatch was still unofficially active, the key one being to use as little information as possible to all involved, never allowing a person to know too much except for Morrison himself, so that should one get caught, they do not have any information that would damage the organization.
Could Brigitte be concerned about that? Reinhardt and herself fought their fair share against shadow organizations before Winston's Recall, could their code demand a more transparent teamwork? Does she worry that he had adopted the criminal's methodologies?
"I apologize, I didn't mean to overstep" she apologized when Morrison just stood there looking at her.
"You are correct, more transparency is needed. Come to my office, I'll tell you everything there"
"Huh? I mean you tell the whole team, not just me!" she protested.
"If everyone else is not in position I would've invited them, you're the only one free for now. Come, we don't have much time"
Ready to ambush at any point on the ground, Winston and Lena hid themselves in the building opposite The Meridian, as per Ana's instruction, who had relocated… Somewhere. They had tried to find her as a way to privately get back at her for what happened in the church, a little childish 'I see you' comeback, but her experience outclassed them entirely.
However, that did not deter them and they kept searching until the crowd started to point towards the skies with cheers and prayer.
All Overwatch agents felt a cold sweat with each meteor that sped past the atmosphere. They knew that the God Program would have defenses against intruders, but the amount of rocks they saw scared them. Worst still was that there were no ways to contact Quillion or the other Talon Agents so they could not tell if they survived the trip or not.
"They'll be alright, right?" Lena asked.
"Yes… Of course" Winston said hesitantly, lying more to himself than her "It took us years to take them down, so I highly doubt they'll be out of the fight so quickly"
She nodded and looked around them while carefully steering her eyes away from Mondatta. She had done well to maintain her composure thus far but knew deep down, the dreaded cold panic is still clawing its way inside her, inching itself closer to her very soul. It was a constant battle to not cause an episode, so much so that her neck began to numb from increasing fatigue.
Perhaps it was because she had been locked up in a dark room longer than she ever had in her life, or probably because of Morrison's words to her in their last conversation (where even a man as experienced as he could never tell when and how one would make the right decision), or both, she took his open ended answer to heart.
In this place, she had made a catastrophic mistake, there was no denying that, however, this could be her chance to repay the world after she failed to protect Mondatta. That alone would've broke her if not for the presence of all her friends, each prepared to give it their all to ensure that the world and its people can finally move on and heal the scars of both Crises.
But could Zenyatta do it? Could he provide a vision that everyone could steer themselves towards? Lena would've been driven mad with those questions if it were not for one inevitable fact. If letting it speak was the right thing to do, they will celebrate together. If not, then they will bear the weight together.
The most potent reason that held her up however, was shockingly the pain. To say that this place was a place of horrific pain and memories were an understatement. To Lena, this place was the physical manifestation of her failure and torment which she could never escape. Sure many others have suffered just as greatly from the fires of the Crises, but none had the power to prevent the wars… Or to protect their loved ones…
But this was her home.
Her childhood memories, the teen years clubbing the nights away, the hopes of the residents from the Underworld, her time in the British Air Force that had granted her beautiful views of the city. The many mornings that she slaved away running for the tracks, her time with Emily... Solidified her efforts, her purpose and her presence in this place.
This was Emily's home.
She grew up happily with her grandparents, who did well raising her, and in return, she did her best in her studies, which led to her achieving her dream job of becoming a nurse. She loved the tracks too, spending an admirable amount of time there too. It was the simple life that she cherished, but just enough sense of adventure to start a relationship with Lena, something that still confounds her even now.
It was this that fuels the fire that drove Lena through the painful memories as she saw this as a way to uphold and repay the love that Emily has granted her. Emily loved this place and therefore Lena must protect it at all costs.
Looking back up into the skies at the reddening Moon, she can only hope that Quil and the others will succeed in their mission.
"Alright everyone, eyes open. Package is coming out" Morrison said, soon followed by the crowd chanting in unison.
"Zenyatta! Zenyatta!"
"Wow, so this is what it looks like" Hana said, flying over the crowd with Fareeha.
"First time seeing the crowd chanting a name that's not yours?"
"Yeah! Makes me wanna join them!"
"Shouting the name of a bag of scrap? That's what caused all this problem in the first place" Torbjorn interjected gruffly.
"Radio silence, Package is out" Morrison growled.
Amongst the crowd, disguised and hidden with the many hooded pilgrims who had pushed their way to the front since morning, pretended to bow with them as Zenyatta floated out, his weapon nearly poking the person next to him. Thankfully the pilgrim thought he was being touched by the Iris or something because he heard him mutter a loud prayer of thanksgiving.
Carefully, he kept his face hidden and he glanced around once more. He knew that the gorilla and a young woman were situated on the hotel behind him, an Omnic was at the Cathedral behind him, and a sniper on his right.
"Well defended" he thought to himself, wondering why he was even invited.
The crowd chanted when the so-called great Zenyatta, who is surely about to parrot the old speeches about wounds and healing, and he would have to endure that boredom for now.
Unlike the many who came for answers, he was here to give an answer, so his eyes shifted to the ones guarding Zenyatta. To its left was a surprisingly young girl who is armed similar to the old Squires of the Crusader Order, and to its right was the person he was looking for, wincing when he saw his full cyborg body for the first time in the light
It has been years since that night, and many more passed as he lay awake, deliberating and brooding over the words that were exchanged. Real life never had a side to pick, regardless how his father, or anyone else for that matter, would like to believe, but in the end the answer is clear. After witnessing the recent events of the world, he realized that Genji was right.
The World is indeed changing and though no sides could ever be picked because it simply does not exist, he could respond to become what his brother had hoped him to be.
*Horizon Lunar Colony*
It was a place of serenity. Quietness.
Nobody, be they human, Omnic, nor animals, would ever want to spend time here, saved to eject scraps of metal or garbage. Other than that, it is as soulless and quiet as the grave. Whether the invaders knew that or not is up to speculation, what is known for sure was that the door caved in with a deafening crash, and a shuttle skidded in... Before immediately began to drag back out as pressurized air violently gushed out of the opening.
Staying low, everyone hung on until the screeching stopped. Slowly standing up, they saw that Sigma was adding on the final touches to mould the hole in its entirety, using the bottom half of the shuttle as the main plug to seal up the hole.
"We actually made it?" Quillion gasped, checking his body quickly for broken bones.
"If you can talk, set up a perimeter" Reaper growled, already out of the shuttle with both Hellfire Shotguns high.
"Stupid seatbelts" Reinhardt muttered "Would've been first out if it weren't for these"
"Oxygen levels non-existent, every-everyone be careful not to damage their suits" Moira announced, holding back the urge to puke while holding up an air sampler.
Once the makeshift plug was up to his standard, Sigma gave an approving nod before floating back down towards them, looking pleased about something.
"Whatcha smiling about?" Sombra asked, sliding down to the ground with her own weapon ready but her eyes are glued to the screen hovering over her hand.
"I never thought I'd be back here. It's beautiful… And cold… Do you know that beyond the edge of the world there's a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future-"
"Just shut up"
According to the map, they have landed at the far end of the Colony, or 'Point B' as Sombra calls it. Their target is the Observation Room (aka Point A), where it would most likely be facing Earth. Looking out the window, they saw the many lights as the globe turned away from the Sun and themselves moving into position for the Lunar Eclipse.
"We don't have much time, we gotta move now" she said.
"What's behind there?" Reaper asked as they moved towards the door.
"Hmm… Says here it's 'The Garage'. I suppose it is what it says… From what I can see, there's just a big clearing in the middle with a wall facing it, and platforms on opposite ends
"Alright, we break into two teams, Moira and Sigma with me, the rest move to the left platform"
"Hey now this is my operation! Who made you the boss?" Sombra countered.
"From your last silly attempt to attack Talon Base, you did not give me much confidence"
"And none of you know The Conspiracy like I do! IT would definitely have prepared for a maneuver like that!"
"Then what would you have us do? Walk straight into the middle of a clearing? With no cover?"
"We have two who are moving covers" she protested, looking at Reinhardt and Sigma.
"Haha! I like how she thinks!" Reinhardt shouted, but when he looked down at the large lion crest that is his shield generator, they could see his facial expression changed.
"What?" Quillion asked.
"If only Torbjorn or Brigitte is here" he sighed before lifting his arm for all to see.
There were large, visible cracks across the crest, many of the gash had obviously dug deep through the mechanics. Worst still was when Reinhardt rested his hammer back on both hands, small fragments of the lion fell off. It was clear that any hopes to have a reliable barrier from him will be nothing more than a gamble.
Everyone looked at Sigma, who hummed as he looked around, clearly thinking that they were on some kind of field trip or a tour… Or someone who just came home they could not be sure. Regardless, relying solely on him for protection would be unwise.
Whether it was because she truly believes that only she understood how The Conspiracy operates or to show Reaper that he is not in charge of the operation, or it was the adrenaline, she doubled down on her original plan.
"We will proceed through the middle of the room, if you don't like it, you can wait here"
Surprisingly, Reaper may and probably would never see her as a military leader nor someone he would respect with combat commands… But she is not the first incompetent leader who gave orders to him before… So he nodded, though growling as he did so and already thinking about the range of his shotguns and how to best execute the order. Old habits die hard.
"Alright…" she said, hiding her surprise and hacked the door "3...2...1…"
The door did not open a fraction when a blast of pressurized air gushed out, forcing them to grab hold of anything to keep themselves standing until Sombra shut it with a flick of a finger. All of them looked at one another with the same thought in mind. Why would a God Program maintain air in the Colony?
The second attempt was met with more success, literally having to drag and claw their way through, with only Reinhardt needing assistance from everyone to pull through, ignoring his continuous protests.
"I thought you said it was a garage?" Moira said immediately, looking at what appears to be some sort of hallway that's twisted into the corner.
"It's just around there" Sombra pointed after studying the map.
"And if its not?"
"Don't worry, even though The Conspiracy is in total control, I doubt it could make changes to the layout of the Colony, now lets see..."
They watched as she raised the sampler again.
"Alright let's see… Gravitational levels are normal… I bet the air is poison- What?" Sombra puzzled, whipping her hand around.
"Let me guess, it is not detecting anything harmful" Reaper said while keeping an eye on the corner.
"Must be broken, let me reprogram it" she said hastily.
"That's a nice breeze. And the temperature is so cool here" Reinhardt said.
Everyone's jaws dropped the same time his helmet hit the floor and watched as his hands brush through his hair and beard, using his hammer as a mirror.
"What are you doing?" Reaper shouted uncharacteristically and even snatched the helmet off the ground.
"What can I say? I love the wind in my hair! Especially when the air smells like steak!"
"I'll scout ahead" Quillion said, having grown tired of waiting.
"Let me show you around, this is my favourite part of the base" Sigma added, floating after him.
"Wait! I said w- Idiotas estupidos!" Sombra spat and went after them, with the rest of the group following close behind.
As was the title, they seem to be in some sort of garage due to the fact that there was a large logistics looking vehicle parked. In the middle of the room was a large square clearing with orange steel pillars situated around its corners, complete with a large crane. There were also two platforms on each side, the one above them seems to lead over to the other part of the base, while the other on the right only reaches a dead end that oversees the garage.
Looking up, he read the sign that must be what this place is officially named.
Bay 12.
Carefully creeping over to the only walled area situated next to them, he led them over and peeked into the room behind it, which was nothing more than a closet. To be safe, he pushed the broomsticks around and half expected cobwebs or dust to fall around, but there were none. Satisfied, he reverted his attention back to clearing.
"You want us to go to the middle? There's no cover, we'd be torn apart" Quillion whispered.
"Which is why The Conspiracy would not set any traps there" she shot back.
"Unless IT knew you were going to assume that and set traps in place as a counter measure!"
"I used to come here many a time when I was stationed here, just to journey across the Moon's surface…" Sigma sighed.
With a leap of youthful joy, the mad scientist led himself into the clearing, throwing off everyone who tried to grab him with his gravitational energies. Holding their breaths, they watched as he levitated out unchallenged, looking around as if he just came home from a long absence, which in fairness, wasn't entirely inaccurate.
Hacking everything she could find a connection on, Sombra did everything in her power to find any changes in the codes, possible flickers of commands that could kill them within a simple flash of binary. Even with Overwatch's state of the art hardware that she grudgingly admits exceeds her old ones, she could already feel the majority of them are beginning to heat with exertion.
"I don't like this" Quillion whispered to Reinhardt.
"I know exactly what you mean. Come" he said before grabbing him by the coat and dragging him along.
"What are you doing?!"
"We cannot let anyone else show more bravery than Overwatch!"
"Can you all just stay still for one second?!" Sombra shouted, finally losing her cool.
"Then order them, don't ask them" Reaper commented as he walked past her, following them.
"I… I… Uurgh! Well… At least you're here..." she groaned and looked at Moira, who was leaning against the wall in the closet.
"I'm just here until the way is clear"
"Well, that's still better than…"
Moira waited for Sombra to finish the sentence, but when it never came, she looked up and even from under the mask, she could see that Sombra's face became pale and looked straight past her.
The first instinct was to fade away, just as she had always done in the past, to dissolve herself into a wisp of smoke and reappear a second later to continue the fight, perhaps even throwing a Biotic Orb in the process. However, confined within a space suit and lacking her offensive capabilities, she was robbed of such luxuries, so she did the only thing she could do.
She knew that she lacked the savagery of Reaper, the damaging powers of Sigma, and the cowardice of Sombra that she describes as 'stealth'; she hoped that this could cover her weakness in a real combat situation. The only thing she hated was that she had to reveal her only trump card so soon.
Ungraceful and without any form of discipline, Moira lashed out at whatever could be behind her wildly, flailing around a dark-red substance that spewed out of her right sleeve. Hearing the commotion, the others ran back to see what was going on, but when they reached, all they heard was a loud clattering of what sounded like vents above them.
"You said the room was clear!" Moira shouted.
"I didn't know there was a vent in the closet!" Quillion shouted back, secretly hating himself for this slip up.
"What class was it? For something to fit through that, I guess Slicer?" Reaper asked, walking in and looking up at the now open gratings.
"I couldn't see, it was gone before I could give it a look" Moira admitted and looked to Sombra for answers.
"It was… Something big and hairy" Sombra blurted out.
"Something big and hairy. Right, I'll definitely know what it is now" Reaper replied sarcastically.
"That's… That's not the point… Something is alive up here"
"Alive, dead, machine, it's all the same to me"
Looking at Reinhardt, who does not seem to suffer any negative effects from the air, Quillion removed his helmet and breathed in the air from space for the first time. He was surprised to smell the steak-like odor that Reinhardt mentioned earlier, or was it gunpowder? Unfortunately he was in no position to enjoy himself and concentrated.
His nose wrinkled when he smelled whatever Moira threw had begun to corrode itself into the walls. Ignoring it, he used a pail to hoist himself closer to the vent.
"There's definitely a smell of an animal here… Like some kind of monkey… And something else…"
"Didn't think you'd be a dog as well, but I suppose you have to be useful somehow" Moira said while studying the red substance that she just threw onto the walls.
Quillion closed his eyes tight and calmed himself. Now was not the time to protect his pride against the insult. He needed not to have Moira's, or anyone else's respect up here. They are here to destroy the God Program so that Amelie can have peace.
That will all be that matters.
"Let's move, we are sitting ducks here. Sigma, is that room safe?" Sombra said, pointing to what looks like a lab on their right.
"Yes, that is where we will collect the minerals from the transport to study"
"Ok, lets go"
Before Quillion could make a move to follow, Reinhardt placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Quallion, you have to learn to stand up for yourself" he said.
"If you're talking about the dog comment, don't worry about it"
"Oh my boy… You must worry about it, all men are called to live with honor, and how can that be if you can't defend yourself from insults?"
"With all due respect, I doubt I can even get a 'thank you' from them"
"It is not about getting thank yous, it is about what you leave behind. Remember this, it is easy to live and die, but we are so much more than that! All of us are called to push the boundaries of our own limitations! Only by living with honor can we leave behind a glorious memory! That is why we must always defend our honor, be that assaults against our name, titles, and memory!"
"You've been practicing that speech for a while now huh?" Quillion said after holding himself back from correcting his name after such an ironic speech.
"Quallion my boy, this could very well be our last fight, it is the time for us to uphold our honor to its standard"
"Guys, you might wanna look at this" Sombra called, breaking their talk.
"Sorry, we are just- What is that?!" Reinhardt exclaimed when they walked in.
They thought they came prepared, to be ready for any and every possibility that they could face, even the 'avalanche' of rocks that they narrowly survived was part of the brainstorming section, but this one was nowhere near anyone's minds.
Sitting on the table, looking at them, was a hamster, far larger than any that they've ever seen, and in front of it was a piece of paper, bearing the words:
Calvin says Hi
*Gibraltar: Overwatch*
Laughter and excited talking continued to sound from the Mess Hall, everyone oblivious at the fact that the doors are now locked by Athena, or that McCree was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully much of the room was already drunk or about to be drunk, so all he needed to be wary of was those who stubbornly refused to drink and Baptiste.
"Phew… Talk about a blood moon, even got some shootin' stars" McCree sighed, looking up towards the night sky.
"Analysis concludes that the sudden meteorite came from the Moon" Athena reported.
He almost choked on his cigar. He is no scientist but even he knew that to avoid that many rocks would be quite a challenge, especially the last, biggest one of the bunch, and he shuddered to think that they had to do this in a flying metal box.
Breathing in for another drag, it took him a second to realize that he had finished this stick. Tossing it aside, he felt around his pockets for another and chuckled when he found out it was the last one. He always smoked too much when he's nervous.
"You are smoking more than you used to"
"Heh, it's so good that I couldn't help it"
It was an obvious lie, but he was never one to show it and thankfully Athena respected his privacy. Tucking his last cigar away, he looked at his watch and counted down the seconds. It is nearing the appointed time when Zenyatta will give its speech, and according to Jack, the God Program would most likely activate IT's control systems when it is done.
With little more to do, he called and gathered the Control Team together, stationing them in pairs for each section, instructing them that if it is truly impossible to hold their positions, they are to make orderly 'relocate' back towards the Medical Bay, where they will make their final stand.
As expected they all kept asking him the same question. Why? Why would they trade the strong walls of the Command Room or the Armory for the thin ones at the Medical Bay? Thankfully, these men were not from Overwatch and were loyal to Smith through a sense of duty and a promise of a large bonus, and did as they were told when he intervened.
"McCree, Zenyatta is speaking now" Athena said.
"Alright, let's hope the party crashers will cancel the party" he sighed, taking one last look at the moon before walking into the base.
"Would you like a refresher for the storage device?"
"What's there to refresh? Just stick the pointy end into a computer and press the button right?"
"Correct, it is good that-"
"Athena?"
"I detected movement down at the Lower Harbor, they're not of us"
*Overwatch - Lower Harbor*
He had never liked this part of the base. Always too wet and salty as the waters endlessly pressed itself against the mountain, even with the wave breakers in place, there's still that one occasional spray of seawater that would fill the air with that ocean stench.
For McCree, a trip to the desert is better than anything to do with the water any day.
Peeking out from the window on the door, McCree motioned for the two men from the Control Team, whose names he had already forgotten but both recommended by Athena and Smith, to follow. There were three doors that lead into the base, each of them were wisely reinforced and required biometrics of Security Members, who are all now drunk in the Mess Hall. Even McCree couldn't open the doors.
"Wouldn't it be wiser to leave them alone?" Athena asked in his earpiece.
"Even if no one opens the door from the inside, I doubt these doors would stop 'em for long" he said as he made sure he has a full chamber "Best strike when they're not expectin' it, right boys?"
"The best defence is a good offense sir" the younger man quipped, causing the other one to roll his eyes.
"Atta boy, so you're going in first. Athena, open the doors"
"What?"
"You're the one with the stick right? Don't worry, if things get hairy, we'll be nearby" McCree continued, indicating the shield the other was carrying "So go on, get offensive"
"Wh-What I mean is that-!"
Without warning, McCree shoved him in, almost laughing as the man stumbled around for a moment before taking up a fighting stance. And nothing happened, the place was as empty and quiet as it always had been, saved for the sounds of the ocean, and before long, the man slowly lowered his guard. Encouraged, the man with the shield entered next and took up a defensive position next to his partner, before McCree felt it was safe enough to follow, taking care to stop in front of the door until he heard the clicking of locks behind him before joining the men.
"Alright boys, let's hunt. Athena, tell us where you're blind"
Carefully, they checked the dark corners, the insides of the very few containers that had been left here, flashed lights down to the waters, and found nothing. McCree had even thrown a flashbang in the middle of the room without warning to see if anything would flicker into view, ignoring the angered complaints of the men.
"You sure you didn't detect a bird or something?" McCree asked Athena on the side.
"I am sure"
"Maybe they ran when they heard us coming" he said, looking over the waters again.
Before Athena could answer, a claw burst out of the depths and grabbed McCree by the leg and pulled him into the water with a loud splash.
Author's Note:
Hey all, hope everyone has been doing well.
Phew... Been quite a journey eh? As stated before that this would be a 30 chapter story and I'll do my best to keep it within the planned number, but if it doesn't well... Whoops... And again, as stated in the beginning of the story and in the introduction...
Major Character Death(s) incoming so... Yeah... Once they start, I'll post the warning again in the beginning of the chapter as a Disclaimer.
Until then, see ya all, stay safe and healthy and-
Thank you all so much for reading, it's been a blast :D