Chapter 4

Like father, like son

(Universe B)

(Richard's POV)

Anger, vengeance, just over all pissed off is how I feel right now. I'm over a few miles out from the destination, even from here I can hear my babies being abused by their sadistic masters. The hard whine of the four or five HELIOS battery's going off, the loud whistles of my CHIMERA missile's incendiary disks soaring though the air, the JERRICO missiles booming though the barren landscape. Sickens me to my core to see my beauties being used like this; slaughtering helpless civilians and destroying their way of life. I won't stand for it, not if I have anything to say about it.

"Get all weapon's systems online on the double. Prime and load up the anti-armor mines, we're not holding anything back." I ordered as I bolted forward. 53% remaining, not bad but it could be better. The sandy planes of a once beautiful desert were now littered in mountains of scrap metal from aircraft and rubble of buildings. The air itself seemed to be on fire in some areas. Bloody red sun held high in the sky as whips of smoke trailed across it's view. Quick look at the speedometer. . . I'm going to need to slow down if I'm going to be fighting soon. A three thousand MPH run would make me miss it entirely. Amazing my suit held out this long. Never designed it for high speeds like that. I know my mark VI suit can put these speeds to shame easily. Sadly it will probably be a long time till I see it again. Till then, this will have to do.

"All systems online and operational. Mines are primed and ready to drop. May I suggest you deploy them first, make the best of your surprise first strike. Right over your 'Helios' anti-air-and-armor direct pulse energy batteries should be enough to give you future windows later. With them not expecting you, we got the element of surprise and the first strike advantage on our side. Plus you know your techs weaknesses like the back of your hand, major advantage there." ATHENA informed as my HUD flashed to red. Everything I could need is up. Air-to-air missile targeting, repulsor adjuster, anti-armor laser systems, mine detonation activator, mine deploy. . . . Everything. I plan on using every last bit of it to bring an end to my babies torment. One way, or another.

"Good. Let's give these people something to remember." I smirked flattening my body and bolted forward in a sonic boom, that never gets old. The Helios direct pulse energy battery platform. One of my latest developments in terms of anti pretty much anything artillery. Used primarily to lock down an area and give the owners an unsurpassed amount of fire power. Takes a while for it to lock down into place, but once it does it takes nothing short of a hellfire missile barrage from knocking it down. Four inch fifty caliber titanium rotating barrels mounted over an heavily armored mini fission reactor, with a full 360 field of view and three twenty millimeter automated machine gun turrets to cover it from standard infantry. It can be locked into place by a quad pod type legs. They embed themselves into the ground and effectively making it a immovable object after the driver walks them to their destination. Can not shoot while the operator is moving it, safety feature so no dumb ass tries anything stupid. Miniature controlled fission reactor of my own design hidden deep inside the core of the platform. Runs off hydrogen of all things, have a special device that can separate any basic water based liquid into hydrogen inside it. In simple terms, if the one operating the machine was desperate enough, they could run it off of piss if given enough. Not efficient, but they can use it if needed to as a absolutely last resort method. Not recommended for every day fuel. But good enough in a emergency. The transformers direct the energy produced to the pulse laser systems fused into the barrels themselves. Clocked that thing at shooting at least five thousand bolts a minute with ease, but it needs a few seconds to warm up. That was a pain in my ass to make, even bigger to get it to where I like it. With it being case-less and powder-less, makes easier to maintain in comparison to a Howitzer cannon, but the recoil from a uncontrolled burst makes it a pain to re calibrate without the proper training. Inside the barrel is coated with vibranium flakes in the metal itself. Making the barrels less likely to crack and explode after heavy use. The barrels do get hot after a few minutes of non stop shooting, but the vibranium helps keep it under control for longer periods of time. It needs to wait at least thirty seconds before it can fire again after getting too hot. This can be avoided by using short, controlled bursts. If someone utilized a ten second burst, then those suckers can fire till the reactor runs out of juice or the user runs out of piss to dump in the reactor. It can shoot down planes as small as a crop duster, as fast as a SR-71 Blackbird with the right training and aim, it can take down tanks with absolutely no problems. I did not hold back one bit when making it. Outdone myself too much now that I am against them.

Max range is seven thousand meters with a skilled enough gunner. The main battery can't fire on anything ground based within a two hundred meter range because of the angle, which the turrets got covered. The shooter is protected by four inches of a light weight titanium alloy on my own design. Able to deflect an armor piercing round from a 50 BMG caliber sniper rifle. That alone says a lot about the cab's durability. Wanted to maximize the operator's suitability. Targeting computers let them know when to shoot and at what. Uses satilights and carefully camouflaged cameras to 'see'. The cannon itself can be loaded on the back of some heavy duty hauling equipment, which is why it takes so long to set up without the optional drivers control feature. The whole damn thing weighs over fifty to sixty tons easy if set up fully, bare bones is over forty tons not including all the armor. But it is vulnerable without those turrets to protect it. It is able to be slapped on to a battleship but only as a main battery because of it's size and weight. Only down side to it is it's lack of real mobility once anchored into place and limited to long distance. Had to put some sort of flaw in it's design, feels too unrealistic if there wasn't some flaw to it's design. Aside from the legs, that is it's main flaw.

It has a eight figure price tag per platform minimum, and I limited it to six per buyer to help keep it under control. US military bought some as did the British, I think Wikanda bought five. All for national defense, I had ATHENA do her digging in their national data banks. Only one I even caught whiff of it being used for offensive reasons. They were dealt with quickly and legally. I personally oversaw each delivery and set up of every single platform I sold, as well keeping a close eye on when they're being used. The UN tried to get their hands on it, I wouldn't let them and neither did Dad. We fought them tooth and nail to keep the rights to my babies in my name and only able to be produced by my division of Stark industries. Now it looks like this world has some how gotten their hands on my prized platforms. I want to find who ever is in charge of them, and rip them to shreds with my bare hands; or throw them in a car compactor. Which ever one is more painful. Forget how they got a hold of them, I want to know who all has them.

I've spent the last four or five hours on this flight mentally preparing myself for the bloodbath to come. I'm flying in with a vengeance, I'm not coming out till I am 100% sure ALL my tech there is either destroyed or under my control. I'm more then willing to kill to protect the innocent, I'll do whatever it takes to see those civilians safe and sound . . . even if it means using my horrid curse doing so.

"Sir, we're being hailed by an Egyptian military officer. Says we should pick up or be blown to hell. Shall I respond?" ATHENA asked. Already? It took them this long to notice I was in their air space and to finally call? Wow they must be slow or their equipment is crap. Normally the eqyptian government gives me a call the minute I cross their border. As does everyone basically. This world has got a lot to learn with me.

"Patch them though." I ordered. Just now entering the gun's maximum range, I might be too small for them to see me; both on radar and by the naked eye. Beginning to slow down to fully deploy the mines. Hope I got the timing right this time.

"Unidentified Omnic, you are flying in restricted airspace and into an active war zone. Please turn around or we'll be forced to shoot you down. This is your only warning." A firm female voice demanded, and back to the normal bullshit I am use to. Strange, I swear I heard that voice somewhere before. In a dream maybe? Or somewhere in the past? Now is not the time to dwell on such thoughts. And what the hell is an Omnic? I've never heard that term before. Is it a machine or cyborg or what?

"Sorry to disappoint ma'am, but I'm not going anywhere. I designed those there platforms, I'm the only one who knows how to destroy them effectively. I'll call back when it's time to clean up. Get the coffee started because I might take a while." I replied hanging up, keeping my gaze toward my energy batteries. Strange, they look like one of the earliest models I designed before I started the Ironman project with Dad. For one they're lacking the heavily armored cab, and the leg joints are more exposed, and the barrels are a lot bulkier. Must be the Mark II or III design. Only sold like ten of those because of all the problems I had with the legs and reactor. Stopped selling them the minute said problems were discovered. They're still a force to be reconed with, but nowhere near as tough as the Mark X or XI models. I got the element of surprise, only got one shot at this till they aim those massive guns at my ass. Going to have to try to aim for the legs, the weakest part of the platforms. I take those out, the whole thing comes crashing down. Please hope my mines work right. Please hope this plan work.

"Sir, the platforms are preparing to fire again. This time they're aimed at farthest corner of the city. Looks like they got tired of swatting planes out of the air and are aiming for the highest concentration of civillians." ATHENA warned as she zoomed in on my babies. Sure enough, in view were four energy platforms locked down on top of a large hill overlooking the city. Several chains of missile launchers were littered behind them. I count at least twenty CHIMERA missiles, not even counting Dad's JERRICO missiles. Easily tens of billions in heavy weapons right there. I am going to have a hell of a time destroying them all. I was almost a thousand meters away. Got to go in hard and fast. This suit may have been designed for redirecting energy, but I doubt it will be enough to withstand more then a few bursts from those guns. The shields maybe but I haven't fully tested them yet. Still got major bugs to work out. Mostly with them flickering from lack of sufficient power reserves. Hope I don't need them today. Okay Richard, just like you practiced. This is just like a live field test. Got to see how well they preform to see what needs adjusting. Hopefully I survive that long. If they don't go off like they're suppose to. . . I won't live long enough to beat myself up over it.

"Deploy mines!" I yelled over the loud rumble of my thusters as I flew in lower.


(Soldier 76's POV)

"If we don't shut those guns down soon, we're cooked." Ana noted reloading her bionic rifle from a partially collapsed roof top. Things were not looking good right now. Ana can't get a clear shot on anyone with those big guns, I can't get close enough to fire off any shots, she can't find a camera anywhere to shoot off on it, plus the constant machine gun fire has us pinned behind the ruins of an old clay building. We're basically in the worse possible situation to be in right now. No support of any kind, no back up what so ever, no way to escape or fall back, and absolutely nothing in the way of a fighting back against those cannons. In simpler terms, we seriously FUBAR in every since of the word!

"There has got to be a way to shut them down." I wondered behind my broken wall. Nothing I got can reach those ranges, or even be able to crack that armor. Area between me and the guns is best described as a hellish wasteland. Adobe buildings burned as lasers blasted though them, people ran screaming as a wall of lead poured though the streets, everything was on fire or smoldering. Hell, even the air felt like it was on fire. It is a nightmare. I couldn't have imagined a worse place to be in right now. And the guns are only the beginning. Endless streams of missiles blasted though the air and leveled entire blocks with ease, whether it be by shock wave or by fire. If hell is real, I am pretty sure I found it's gateway.

"I don't see any way to get up there without becoming flame broiled. They're dug in too good." Ana replied firing off a round from her rifle. I let out a sigh of frustration as another missile rumbled in the distance. Wait a second. . . that isn't a missile. Too loud to be one, and the rumble is too low. Had to be low in the atmosphere, few hundred feet up max. But what could be making that rumble? And they sure as hell don't blast AC/DC 'Thunderstruck'

"Wait a second. The hell is that music!" I yelled peaking over my wall. Sure enough, bolting though the sky was an aircraft . . . I think it is one. Couldn't get too much of a glimpse of it. One second a grey and blue blur was flying though the air, narrowly missed one of the still standing buildings, the next it was over the guns as thousand of tiny silver dots fell from it's underside. Coating the legs of two batteries, then they were engulfed in a massive blue fireball. The explosion set out a sockwave powerful enough to turn a building close by to cinder blocks. One of the platforms creaked and groaned as it begun leaning on it's side, slamming into it's partner as it imploded on itself. Well that was lucky, no time to question it now. Got to get to the point. "What the hell was that?" I asked as Ana scoped in on the wreck.

"It seems we got some air support after all. But who would be crazy enough to fly into this mess? And in something that tiny?" She cryptically noted.


(Richard's POV)

"Sir, may I ask what your plan of attack is?" ATHENA asked as I made a wide U turn toward the platforms. The mines went off perfectly, except for the slight 0.3 second longer delay between each mine row. I'll have to look into that when I get back. The remaining platforms concentrated their fire on me. Countless bolts of red hot energy and bullets soared past me. By this point I lost any and all element of surprise. These guys are got good marksmen on tiny targets like me. Going to have to be somewhat careful.

"Hit them hard, and hit them fast. Show no mercy." I replied as I dived down toward the massive guns. I banked right to narrowly avoid being hit by a torment of lasers and flew between the legs my babies. I raised my arm and sent out the anti-armor missile housed in my fore arm. It impacted the area right between where the joints meet and detonated, completely obliterating the ball joint. The entire platform creaked and groaned as it begun tipping over to the lop side. I flattened my body and flew out just as it slammed into the ground. That is three down, one platform to go along side a shitload of missiles. This is going to be messy. "Spin up the wrist lasers. Going to take out those things next." I replied as I spun and twisted to try to throw off their aim. Sending countless repulsor blasts to any and all hostiles I found. All were wearing white body armor with a skull carved into the face guard, all rocking AK's and SKS rifles. Strange, looks like Crossbone's goons sort of. Wonder what he's doing here? I thought Cap kicked his ass last time they meet. Coincidence maybe? I have no idea anymore. Lost track of who kicks who's ass and who needs an ass kicking.

I zoomed in on where the missile chains were being held at. I count at least fifty CHIMERA missiles along side seventy or so JERRICO missiles. I could buy the entire state of Rhode Island with the money it would cost to get this many weapons. Who ever their supplier is, they must be one filthy rich son of a bitch.

"Sir, We've been hailed again. This time by someone on the ground." ATHENA informed as I spun left to avoid being hit by a missile. I raised my gauntlet and sent a repulsor blast at the idiot who tried shooting me down, as well as the missile. Not how I imagined I'd spend my Sunday. Thunderstruck died out as Breaking Benjamin's 'blow me away' started blasting though every speaker ATHENA could hack. Well every one hooked up to a wireless transponder node. Not a bad song to blow shit up to. Honestly think AC/DC's 'TNT' would be better. I'm my father's son alright. Blasting music while in the middle of a serious battle. That has Tony and myself written all over it, wouldn't want it any other way.

"Just patch through anyone trying to hail us automatically. I got too many angles to keep track of." I replied activating my wrist laser and passing though the missile banks. The laser cut through the main body of the missiles and detonated the fuel inside, resulting in a pre-mature detonation. Terrorists cried in bloody pain as the flames of karma seared through their armor and into their flesh. . . . as well as the regular flames from the explosion. Pains me to be destroying my babies like this, but it needs done.

"I don't know who or what you are, but I am going to assume you're on our side by how you saves our asses." An older female voice spoke. Must be the bounty hunter down below. Again, I'm getting the strange feeling I know that woman just by the voice alone. Figure that out later, blow shit up now.

"I'll take care of the guns and missiles, you just get those civilians away from here. I'll talk more when I'm not being targeted by those monstrous platforms." I replied right before one of the missiles hit me dead center in the chest. I was thrown from the sky and smashed into the clay remains of someone's house. Damn does that hurt! Felt like the Iron Monger just beat the living shit out of me with flaming knuckles, then Ultron had his turn doing some beating.

"Notable damage to the abdomen and chest piece. Repair is unavoidable. Reactor power at 41%." ATHENA informed as I forced myself up out of the crater I just made. I looked down to see what damage it had done. I can confirm my reactor is still working, but the segments around it need replaced. Scorched down to the third tier of plating. I'm going to have to be careful. They're better then you're run-of-the-mill bad guy, they're not stormtroopers in any way. These guys can actually hit a moving target. I forced myself up and I was about to take off but a young child's cry pierced the air around me. I looked back to find I crashed not too far from where several civilians of various ages and types hid, at least twenty in all, even a few robot looking ones. All behind a pretty much destroyed building. I ground my teeth as I looked toward the batteries. The last energy platform aimed directly at my position, coils inside the barrels lighting up as they prepared to fire. Damn it, I can't leave them to die like this. Dad would have my ass on a silver platter if he found out I left a group of defenseless people to die like this. Only one thing I can do at this point. I pray it actually works, other wise we're all going to die.

"Divert all power to shields! Make it cover the largest area we can!" I ordered as I pulled up the shield generator tab on my HUD. Going to be power consuming, but I can't leave these civilians to die like this. As a massive tsunami of energy bolts burned though the air toward my location, I extended my arms as a blue hue expanded outward from my suit and hardened into a large hexagon plated bubble three hundred meters wide. The bolts slammed into the shield with a hard crack and boom, each one making the dome echo with each hit. I forced my arms to stay in place with each successful impact. So far so good, shield is holding up. Better then the last hundred or so trial runs. Bad side to the shield is that I can't move at all while it is up. I have to remain stationary. The generators can't handle moving while being active, not with something this massive. Smaller scale like ten meters wide I can move but only short distances. No more then a meter or two. Long explanation made short. The smaller the shield, the less power it takes up, I can move farther, and it lasts longer. Bigger the shield, the more power it takes up, less I can move, faster it depletes itself. Both have their pros and cons, all depends on the situation I'm in to which one I'll use. A large series of explosions slammed into my poor shield and shook me from my place. I looked up to find that they're launching the JARRICO missiles at me. Another large blast echoed though out the dome as it shook the ground around me. Several areas begun to spider web as the blasts just kept on coming from all possible sides, flickering in some areas. Oh no, I didn't calibrate the damage dampeners for cluster missiles. Not sure how long I can keep it up. "GET OUT OF HERE!" I yelled to the group hiding behind me. Couldn't see if they listened or not. If they were smart, they'd run like hell. Another blast from the platform smack my shield around the same time millions of the little cluster bombs from the JERRICO did. Several of the smaller cluster bombs made it though the shield though a flicker and exploded around me, kicking up dirt and destroying building remains. I forced myself to stay put to keep the shield up just a little longer. Every second I buy these people, is a second they can spend getting to safety.

"Reactor levels dipping below 20%. Shield reserves below 15%." ATHENA warned as another volley of energy beams impacted my poor shield. "Recalculating. 9%." These bastards are not making it easy. I got to find a better way to take out those guns. I'm running out of juice, I can't keep this up for much longer. What I wouldn't give to have the Hulk right around now. Or even Thor. . . . I'll be happy with Hawkeye or Black Widow right now. Pretty sure Client has a arrow or two for such an occasion.

"Siphon power from my personal reactor to fly on. Overclock the thrusters for a quick take off. One this breaks we're heading straight for those guns again." I ordered as the reactor levels dipped farther and farther with each passing seconds. Shield can't take much more of this punishment. Personal reactor isn't meant to handle the shield generator, but it is able to handle flight sort of. Just need enough to finish this fight. I'll find a way back to, I guess I can call it home for now. No sooner then I could have ordered ATHENA, another volley of missiles slammed into the side of my shield, completely shattering it. The whole barrier dissipated under the endless stream of fire. I shut down the shield generator to let it rest as I took off once more. Countless bolts of red hot energy slammed into the ground I was at not even two seconds ago. I wasn't even a hundred feet up before I was hit by who knows how many rounds. I could feel every ping and dent they made in the titanium shell. Assuming I survive this, I am going to be spending so much time in the shop repairing this suit. I broke though the wall of lead with a sonic boom as I sped toward the final platform and the remaining missile banks.

"Anti-air missiles armed and ready. Locking on to the laser transponders. Main reactor drained. We are now running off your personal reactor. 76% charge available. I suggest we make this brief." ATHENA informed as the anti-air missile auto-lock sequence popped up as a red diamond flashed along several bays. Locking on to the guidance systems inside. I flipped a hard right to avoid another servo of energy bolts. Then left to narrowly dodge the gunfire from below. Crap, stuck between a rock and a hard place. With the rock being my defense platform, and the hard place being a endless stream of lead. They are bound to run out of ammo eventually. I do not have the juice to stay airborne long enough to find out when that is.

"Fire when ready." I responded sending out a repulsor blast to the jackass manning the turret. One problem taken out, like ninety nine more to go. I straightened myself out so my shoulders are now facing the missile banks. My shoulder pads popped open to ready my mini missiles for launch. Tony's mark VII can hold up to fifty of the little buggers, Mine holds more along the lines of a hundred. Pain in my ass to get them all in there. Had to put two little missiles per tube, pain to do without blowing myself to hell after the first volley. Second set doesn't get armed till the first ones launch. All about timing mostly. Helps that they are launched by repulsor technology. More efficient with them that small than to use solid or liquid fuel burners. Plus less chance of pre-mature detonation. Nearly a hundred of the sneaky little devils shot forth from my shoulders at high speeds and separated to their individual targets. Each one nailing their respected target in a uncanny time. I shot upward away from the resulting explosion. The explosion from the rest of the missiles all going off at once is indescribable. The power of it all shook the very ground under it and the force nearly made me fall back into the ground. Only two things I can think of that can dwarf such a massive fireball. A nuclear warhead, and a MOAB. Only two bombs that can even hope to hold a candle to what I just caused.

"Missiles taken care of. That just leaves the remaining platform and the fighters themselves." I ordered banking right to avoid being hit by gunfire from my platform's turrets. I take back what I said earlier. These idiots are making stormtroopers laugh their asses off. I re-diverted my attention back to the remaining platform. Only have the anti-tank missiles left. Not very many but enough to take that son of a bitch out. My HUD zoomed in on the damaged part of the leg my mines nicked. Perfect.

"Sir, I regret to inform you that we've been locked on by unknown style of anti-air rockets from the ground. I recommend evasive action." ATHENA warned as she popped up a transparent tab. It showed several of the Crossbone goon's shouldering a rocket launcher of some sort. Quad barrels and looked nasty, I want one installed in my next suit. Not entirely sure what exactly it is, but I want one. Quick look at my power situation. 67% and dropping at a steady rate. This chest piece was never designed for flight or combat. Going to have to make this quick.

"Show me a flight plan ATHENA. We're out of flares so we got to use those rockets to our advantage." I ordered making a hard right as a large cloud of smoke covered the squad of goons, and a massive stream of rockets went bolting my way. Not flying, BOLTING! Like a lightning bolt! I flattened myself and shot forward just to avoid being hit by those things. I bank right they followed at the same speed. I go left and they followed. Oh this day just keeps getting better and better. "Damn, those fuckers are fast!" I swore as ATHENA decided to put a distance counter right above the tab keeping track of them. Very funny ATHENA, you know I don't like knowing how long till I'm blown to oblivion. A long red line showed up on my HUD marking where and when I should turn or spin, and the path turns around to my platform . . . . . . I can see what she's doing. I moved the tab aside and shot forward toward my final platform. ATHENA zoomed in on it automatically to show several goons running across the steel catwalk lining the outside to the turrets. I barrel rolled to avoid a large spray of lead flying my way, raised my gauntlet to send a repulsor blast to one of the turret operators. My blast hit the impact shield around the turret as they kept feeding it lead. I ground my teeth the rockets were practically nipping at my heels. Okay, time for plan B.

"Deploy breaks." I ordered. No sooner could I have ordered it, ATHENA extended the air breaks on this suit. I lurched forward with a sudden jolt as I pretty much went from a few hundred to zero miles per hour in a few short seconds. The rockets bolted right past me and all were aiming right at the platform. Hey, this gives me a chance for a snappy one liner for the moment. I've always wanted to say this. "Forecast for today calls for a storm of Justice." I said pretty much to myself with the biggest shit eating grin I could give. Explosion after explosion, rocket after rocket, each and every one hit my platform with a deafening and ear damning boom. A cluster of fire balls erupted from various spots, more importantly the legs. Now the rockets on their own wouldn't do anything to the over all destruction of the machine, but since the legs were already heavily damaged before hand, things got real messy fast. The joint snapped and groaned as it begun to lean over toward where the goons shot their rockets. They tried running away as fast as they could, but I could see that they graduated from the 80's action movie collage with a degree in running away from things. The poor bastards got crushed by the massive machine. I could hear the splat and squish from here along side the crash and boom as the platform slammed into the ground. My work here is done. I flattened myself and begun flying back to the city for a quick scan for the bounty hunter. Want to know who I was working with on this one.

"ATHENA, Call the Egyptian official back. Tell her I am done taking care of their problem and to send the clean up crew soon. We made one hell of a mess out here." I ordered as my thrusters begun to cut in and out on me. I flailed in the air as they reengaged on and off, "ATHENA, why are we sputtering?" I asked dropping another twenty feet. What the hell is going on?!

"Your reactor was never meant for sustained flight. Power fluctuation will occur until the main one is recharged or replaced." She informed as I straightened myself out between sputters. Oh yeah, forgot about that little bug in my system."Also, Captain Fareeha Amari would like a word with you once she gets there. Didn't say on what." ATHENA warned. Fareeha Amari, why does that name sound so familiar? I can't make any sense out of it. It shouldn't by all means, never meet anyone by that name before in my life . . . . . . have I?

"Try limiting the cut off bursts to slow my decent speed to a more reasonable level. Ground is approaching fast." I ordered as I kept a close eye on my reactor levels. Dipping below 50%. Half dead as of right now, I may need a new reactor soon. "Call Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Let Winston or Mercy know we need a ride. I am pretty damn sure I won't survive the four hour flight back. I'll handle the Captain while we wait." I ordered. As soon on my boots hit the cold hard ground I cut all power from thrusters and leaned up against a wall for support. Panting and struggling to catch my breath as I enjoyed the moment of peace I created. Occasional sound of gunfire and explosion but nothing serious enough that a standard military can't handle. "Scan the area for hostiles, is it safe to get out of this power hog." I asked holding my chest in pain. I'm beyond exhausted, that fight had taken a lot more out of me then I thought. Damn I might need a new chest reactor. I better get started on that particle accelerator when I get back, no other way I can create the element I need for sustainable non-toxic cold fission. This is going to be a difficult world to adjust to.

"Scan complete. No hostile signatures in the vicinity, safe to come out of your shell." ATHENA informed as the face plate flipped up as I held on to the wall. Letting out sharp, deep breaths of air. One thing I hate about taking the reactor route instead of getting the extremes surgery done. The more energy I use out of it to power anything. The more it strains my heart and makes it harder to do anything. Well to be fair with myself, I would have been back to square one if I took the surgeries.

"Ramses?" An older female voice spoke not too far behind me. I spun around with my repulsor ready to fire, facing the source of the new voice. In front of me, not even remotely fazed, were two figures. One with a large scar over his face, red tactical visor covering most his features, and a pulse rifle lowered at the ground. The other was female in shape, dark hood with a blue digital triangle in the center. Some type of sniper rifle in her hands as she slung it on her back. I lowered my arm recognizing the voice as the one from earlier. Non-hostile.

"I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone else." I replied as my helmet entirely folded back to revive my face to the two unnamed mercenaries.

"Shrike, he's not Ramses. Ramses has been gone for nearly sixteen years." The soldier informed the sniper as she walked up to me. I took a step back as she got closer. Okay, what is wrong with this lady?

"I never forget a face, no matter how long it's been since I last saw it. The sniper replied reaching a hand forward and tapping my reactor.

"Out of curiosity and humor, why in the world would you remember a face like mine?" I asked as she reached up to her hood and pulled her mask off. Underneath was the aged face of a older woman, eye of Horus tattooed under her left eye, eye patch over the right. Well aged white hair barely flowed past. Her eyes shined something that looked to have been devoid of for years, hope.

"Because a mother never forgets." She replied looking me dead in the eye. I can tell she honestly believe it for three reasons. One, my internal bullshit detector has yet to go off. Two, she just saw what this suit can do and is willing to make a statement like that to my face with me in said suit. Three, I am still getting the strange feeling that I recognize her from somewhere. But I am still beyond confused on a lot of stuff right now. Why the hell do I get the extreme sense of familiarity from this woman? How the hell did my tech get in this world? And what the hell is going on in my life right now? Before I had a chance to get any answers, the old woman grabbed my arm and begun dragging me. "Come, we have much to discuss. Got to leave the area before the military arrives."


That's a wrap people. Richard met is supposed 'Mother' in this chapter. Got some funny skits in mind for that talk to come. Let me know if anyone had any ideas. As for his ultimate and skills, I am still working those out. Thinking on how to balance them out to the rest of the Overwatch crew so he don't seem beyond overpowered. Thinking of something like a mix between a Lucio Ult and maybe a Ana. Not entirely sure as of right now. Got half an idea on how I want him to go. Got a few funny skits involving the sprays and his infinity stone. Long story short. Imagine the cute or pixel sprays coming to life. That is my idea for his passive ability ATM. Would make the Spawn room a lot more fun while waiting for my slaughter due to my moronic teammates (Every. Fucking. FPS. Match. Ever). Left out the Infinity stone this chapter in favor for more research on it. I want a good idea on it's over all limitations before I dive head first into the shark tank knows as the Overwatch and Marvel fandoms. Hope you all enjoy. Will be diving into the Richard/Hana fluff soon. Got a sort of 'Date' idea in mind. Not 100% sure, got two other stories to write for as well, so my attention is split right now. Top that off with Irl crap and work, updates will be painfully slow. I won't lie. I'll leave it off here. See you all next chapter.

~Dgreen20