Hi there, Mr. Smallville here.
This is a collection of shorts based on original characters my brother and I designed during our discussions regarding the game. Each character is an exercise in videogame and character design on our end as much as it is just for fun. We (mostly myself) have always wondered what would happen to Overwatch's lore, meta, and balance had these characters been introduced. While it is quite unlikely that these characters will ever become playable in game, it is still quite possible for me to write about these characters and see how the world reacts to said character.
Thank you in advance for giving these shorts a chance, and without further interuptions, let us begin.
-000-
Hunting Season
It was almost night and under a crimson horizon a squad of mercenaries clad in white armor scoured the snowy hills and woods for their target. These mercs, armed with advanced weapons and armor, have no discernible identifications aside from a small patch, faded to white in order to match their snowy camouflage stuck on their right shoulders.
A vague silhouette of a bird of prey stood out upon a larger circle which enclosed upon it.
This was TALON.
This TALON squad was on the hunt, not for a wild beast, but for a man. A man who has been in hiding since the fall of Overwatch itself. Fleeing from the Watchpoint in Åland, he has hidden in his homeland of Finland ever since.
The squad, out of their element and a long way from home, trudged further uphill in the thick snow typical of winter times. Their lack of knowledge regarding their surroundings, and lack of information regarding their target has led their hunt on a rather unsatisfying streak.
This hunt was only about to get worse.
Burried under the thick snow were a set of charges, designed after ancient WWII era German landmines and were laced with chemical agents. The lead merc unknowingly triggered one of these mines, causing it to launch into the air and detonate, spreading all of these chemicals around a 3 meter radius.
The TALON squad dove for cover after the detonations, seeking for what little cover they could get. One of the mercs inspected himself and his squadmates and, to his surprise, found that no harm was done.
This was their first mistake.
The TALON operators carried on with their hunt, not suspecting anything had gone wrong and believing that the mine was simply a deterent for animals and lesser minded people. Surely all that smoke and noise was to scare off lost hikers and animals from potential intrusion, right? No way in Hell a real outfit like TALON was going to be scared off by some cheap homemade fircrackers.
Little did they know that the chemicals which had been dispersed by the bomb had done it's intended purpose. At first, it would seem as though the bomb had not done anything significant to the mercs, but looking at the TALON squad using a special pair of goggles set on a certain frequency, they lit up like a Christmas tree.
These goggles were being worn by the squad's very target; the very man they were hunting.
And just like that, the hunters have become the hunted.
A soft crack, if a crack could ever be described as soft, was heard right after a bullet smashed right through the lead merc's faceplate.
"Sniper!" One of the mercs exclaimed.
The TALON operators dove for cover once more as they frantically searched for the sniper that they were hunting. The new leading operator used the zoom function on his visor and scanned the treeline uphill, where the shot had presumably come from. The merc slowly turned from right to left, scrutinizing every single detail he could see. Unable to find anything, he flipped a switch on his helmet to activate his visor's thermal imaging systems. Just as he did so, a light orange glow became visible by a bush he had previously dismissed.
"He's over there!" the merc said as he opened fire on the bush. As he did, he could narrowly see a bit of snow fly off from a mound by the bush, following that a bullet whizzed right past the now leading operator's left ear and smashed right onto the tree behind him. The merc instinctively dove for cover once more as his squad opened fire on the bush too.
Peeking back up, he could see the sniper pull up some kind of canister and pull a pin off of it. Immediately, a blue cloud of smoke obscured the orange glow of the sniper, thus rendering his thermal vision useless.
Grunting out in frustration, the leading merc now got back up and joined the rest of his squad in storming uphill. As the mercenaries moved up hill, the sniper fired again. This time the bullet struck a mercenary in the right kneecap, blasting his leg off. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on one's opinion, whatever chemicals were used to propel the bullet also generated immense heat with it. For better or for worse, the now crippled merc's wound was immediately cauterized.
A bloodcurling scream rang out as the incapacitated merc fell to the ground. Instinctively, one of the other mercenaries rushed in to aid his wounded comrade. This proved fatal as the sniper fired again, this time striking the side of the assisting TALON operator's torso. The bullet blasted clean through the body and exited the other side as it continued to hurtle off.
Three of the mercs were downed, this was not looking good for TALON.
The legless merc was now continuously screaming out in pain as he lay on the ground helpless. Unable to help their fallen comrades, the TALON operators decided to push on against the sniper, with one laying down supressing fire to cover his comrades' assault.
Another shot from the sniper, another merc downed. The sniper had fired his shot clean through the operator's heart, leaving a tennis ball sized hole where it had once been. The TALON operators were dropping down like flies, and at this rate they'd all be dead before they get to 5 meters closer to this bastard.
Unable to see any other option, the leading operator opted for what he considered was the wisest course of action.
"Viper, this is Havok 2. We're pinned down and require air support!"
The gunship pilot replied very quickly.
Perhaps too quickly for his liking.
"Copy that Havok 2, we're coming in low!" the pilot answered.
Fast as the wind, the previously stealthed gunship dropped it's optical camouflage and revealed itself. It opened fire upon the sniper's general location as it swooped low, forcing the sharpshooter to duck and run for cover. Using this opportunity, the mercs pushed on ahead making sure that the sniper was kept on the backfoot.
The sniper had hidden behind a fairly large tree and the TALON squad, with gunship support, moved in to complete the job. As they closed to within 3 meters of the sniper, the pinned down sharpshooter slid out of cover with a strange cylindrical device mounted on the barrel's end of the rifle.
"Rifle grenade!" One of the TALON mercs called out quickly.
The sniper fired the rifle grenade and Havok 2 watched in slow motion as it flew towards his squad. Those directly in it's path were able to quickly dodge the oncoming projectile. But as he threw himself to the side and looked back to where the grenade was going, he realized that the gunship had been flying too low.
The rifle grenade, missing all of the mercs on the ground, struck the gunship on it's left side. Upon detonation, the grenade dispersed a nasty looking cloud of red chemicals which seemed to latch onto whatever it touched. On contact, the chemical began superheating and burning the metals and other components touched by it, turning them white hot.
"Oh hell, what was that? My instruments are going nuts!" The gunship pilot cried out over the radio.
The chemicals now touched upon the gunship's weapons and engines, burning and wrecking them too.
"I'm loosing control... Get clear!"
Heading the pilot's warning, the TALON mercs scattered away from the gunship's potential crashzone. The gunship spun out the air and ran itself right into the ground exactly where the mercs were at a few seconds ago. At the same time, the superheating chemicals set off the engine and weapons.
Havok 2 looked back on the split second between when the gunship was intact, and when it turned into a fiery ball of nightmare. A split second later, he felt the heat and shockwave wash over him, and he felt himself get picked up from the ground and struck something hard with his back. The shock from the impact sent the merc unconcious.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been out. A few seconds? A few hours? Havok 2 couldn't be sure. As he opened his eyes, the sky was dark, compared to the crimson red that painted the sky earlier. Clearly enough time had passed.
He tried to move his body, but all he could feel was pain. He craned his neck and scanned the are around him.
It was a mess.
A sizeable crater was close by with the wreckage of the gunship scattered around it. He could feel immense pain from his back and turning his head back revealed that he had been launched by the shockwave and slammed spine first into a tree. While the armor he wore had taken the brunt of the impact, he was sure his back was fractured badly. He was about to try and get up when a gunshot interrupted his line of thought.
The sniper.
He struggled to push his body and look at his target. Now that he had time to look at his target closer, he saw that he was clad in a white fur cloak, with a leather shoulderpad and an ammo bandolier slung over his chest. His cloak seemed to be slightly singed by the explosion.
Good, he didn't get away from it unscathed then.
He watched the sniper intently from the ground as he walked towards one of teammate's bodies. Only upon further inspection, his teammate was still quite alive. The teammate struggled to crawl away at first, but was stopped by the sniper who slammed his foot down on the teammate's back, causing him shout out in pain. The shouting was silenced by a gunshot as the sniper quickly executed the teammate.
The sniper then turned towards Havok 2, revealing his face... or at least a covered one. He was masked, of course he was. Some kind of respirator was covering the lower half of his face, no doubt to protect himself from whatever chemicals he used on a day to day basis. The upper half of his face was obscured by his goggles, which surely served as more than just eye coverings. On top of all this was a hood made out of the same material as his cloak.
Havok 2 scrambled and fought through the pain as he struggled to pull his pistol out of it's holster. Just as his sidearm was freed, the sniper kicked it out of the merc's hand, sending the gun clattering away.
The merc's breathing started becoming heavy and labored as the sniper drew closer and closer to him. White cloaked figure loomed over the injured TALON operator, and simply shook his head. The sniper proceeded to unsheathe a long and nasty looking knife, then mounted it on the end of his rifle. It was a bayonet.
"Consider this an act of mercy." The white cloaked sniper said as he drove the bayonet right through the merc's stomach.
The merc let out a garbled scream as the pain jolted through his body. Slowly, the pain faded away as his body went numb. Shortly after, Havok 2 was no more.
The sniper was about to leave, but as he did, a static noise came from Havok 2's body.
A deep, gravelly voice greeted the sniper.
"Havok squad, report in! What is your status?"
The sniper picked up the communicator from the corpse and pressed the transmit button. He waited there silently as he gathered the words he thought would be fitting to say.
"Reaper." the sniper called with venom. "You should visit every once in a while, you know? These goons of yours aren't that big of a challenge these days."
"Simö... big words coming from a coward like you." Reaper countered.
The sniper, Simö, just sighed.
"Kind of hypicritical of you, considering that stunt you pulled off in Germany." He said cutting off the call, then smashing the communicator.
Taking a deep breath, Simö slung his rifle onto his back and mover away from the wreck. A snowstorm had began to pick up off in the distance, and was bearing upon the location fast. As Simö left the scene, the storm swallowed up the forest and hills, engulfing the crashsite. In the midst of all that snow, the sniper... Simö, dissapeared.
Character Abilities and Lore Details
Name: Simö Korhonen
Aliases: Tapio, Huntsman, Whiteout
Current Age: 47
Nationality: Finnish
Occupation: Sniper (formerly), Overwatch Scientist (formerly), Vigilante.
Affiliation: Finnish Military (formerly), Overwatch (formerly).
Role: Damage
Health: 200
Overview: Using a modified hunting rifle and surplus military equipment, Simö's hunting and scientific knowhow turns him into a hidden, long ranged marksman of death.
Abilities:
Hunting Rifle: A powerful, long ranged rifle, Simö's weapon is most suitable for longer ranged engagements. The rifle fires a projectile based bullet which drops after a certain distance after firing. The rifle comes with no scope, instead, Simö aims directly down the rifle's sights. The rifle is a single shot, bolt action. A reload animation will play for 3 seconds after every shot.
Painter Mine: Simö can deploy a quickly arming mine on any surface. When an enemy triggers this mine, it detonates for 5 damage around a 4 meter radius, revealing anybody affected by the explosion for 15 seconds. It cools down for 18 seconds.
Cloaking Gas: Simö activates a gas dispersal device on himself which renders himself invisible to various sensors and other equipment for 30 seconds, but still visible to other heroes in the field (though the red outline that usually highlights enemy heroes will not be on him). While under the effects of cloaking gas, Simö cannot be targeted by auto-targeting attacks (the likes of Torbjörn's and Symmetra's turrets, McCree and Soldier's ultimates, BOB, etc.) and he will not trigger traps (Widowmaker's mine and Junkrat's trap). Simö can fire his weapons without breaking cloak, but taking fire will reveal him as well as walking too close to an enemy. A cooldown of 10 seconds starts after Simö is revealed
Venom Bayonet: Simö's bayonet is laced with dangerous fast acting neurotoxins which will deal damage over time. Striking with the bayonet will deal a flat 10 damage, but will poison the enemy for an extra 30 damage over 5 seconds. This replaces the usual melee attack and has a slower recharge of 2.2 seconds.
Firebomb: Simö fires a rifle grenade loaded with special chemicals. The grenade detonates in a 6 meter radius, and burns enemies affected by the explosion for 250 damage over 10 seconds. The burning can be mitigated by healing or by activating immunity abilities (Reaper's wraith form, Mei's cryo freeze).
Backstory: Simö grew up as a gifted student in a small town north of Helsinki before the Omnic wars started. He had been accepted into a prestigious science institution before the war spilled over from Russia. Realizing he needed to do his part, Simö enlists into the Finnish military to help however he possibly could. During training, his scientific aptitude and skill using a rifle got him fast tracked into sniper school where he learned how to operate behind enemy lines alone and without support. After graduation, he was shipped to the front lines where he and other snipers like him wreaked havoc upon the Omnic forces in the forrested mountains of Finland. Simö's outstanding performance earned him an invitation into Overwatch, where he would develop a competitive, though less than friendly, rivalry between himself and Torbjörn Lindholm.
After the Omnic Wars ended, Simö was assigned to several counter-terror and counter-insurgent operations. However, now that he was no longer fighting Omnics, people eventually questioned the legality of his methods when dealing with threats. This eventually got him removed from the active duty roster and relegated to research in Watchpoint Åland, where he would dilligently work until Overwatch was disbanded.
Author's/Designer's Notes: This originally started as a challenge from a friend of mine to create a character after a lengthy session of discussing Blizzard's character design choices. Originally, I designed the character to become a sort of "Anti-Tanker" with a massive damage output, but a slow rate of fire. First, I envisioned Simö almost like a musket user. He would have a very lengthy reload after every shot, but after some discussion with my brother, realized that it would leave him almost useless in CQC environments.
A one-trick hero was not my goal.
So I did some revising with the help of my brother, and when he went back to his studies (the concepts were laid down a year ago or so) I decided to work on the ideas some more. So I plugged my earphones on and blasted music for an hour straight as I worked. It wouldn't be until Sabaton's White Death song came up during some of my ruminations that I realizes just how to further expand his kit. At the time he was designed to be more of a WWI era trench fighter. In this incarnation his bayonet and bolt action weapon was already in place, but his extra abilities was an area denial gas grenade, and he had a bayonet charge ability (which would have been similar to Reinhardt's charge, though without the pinning). With the song stuck in my head, I went about reworking how he worked and this is the end result.
Anyways, that's all for this entry. This is a side project I work on whenever I catch writer's block on my other projects, so don't expect me to update very often.
As always, tell me what you think about what I did here. Regardless if you loved it or hated it, I'd like to know what you think. Again, thank you very much for reading through the entire thing. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Good luck, and Godspeed.