Hey there beautiful peoples! Just wanna say sorry for the delay on the chapter. I've got other things to worry about lols. Buuut I also wanted to take time to really plan out this chapter, so that's another reason why this one took a while to get together. I know the last chapter was kind of a filler chapter, with only some good plot elements, but it happens. I hope y'all didn't mind it too much. Hope this chapter is more appealing!
XXXX
"Walk me through it, Ange," said Jack, as he sprinted his way to the medical bay, transferring the doctor's transmission from Winston's computer to his comlink.
Alejandra did her best to keep up with the old soldier, though, of course, trailing far behind.
Angela reported what had transpired during their mission, and informed Jack that she needed the medi-bay up and running. Hanzo took the majority of the grenade blast into his back, and needed surgery as soon as possible. Angela could keep him stabilized as long as the healing stream from her caduceus was linked with him, but they would need the medi-bay to remove the shrapnel and heal his wounds more thoroughly.
He reached the med lab just as Angela began to tell him what she needed.
"Prepare my plasma scalpel, the micro- electromagnetic prod, and the regeneration bed. Set it to 'tissue' and 'membranes'," she instructed.
Morrison did as he was told, locating the tools and prepping the bed to the desired setting.
"Got it, anything else?" he asked, wanting to do as much as he could.
He already knew the answer to that question, though. If there was anything else, Angela would have told him right away.
"Nein," replied the doctor, "There is nothing else to be done until we return to Gibraltar. It will be approximately twelve hours before we arrive. We'll be back by twenty two hundred hours,"
If only there was a faster way to get them back, Morrison thought to himself. He hated when matters were taken out of his hands, especially when it involved the safety of his team. All he could do was wait for them to return, safely.
"Alright. See you then," he said, "Also, did you retrieve Mei's body?"
There was a slight pause before Angela replied.
"Yes, we did,"
He could hear the anguish in her voice, despite her efforts to sound serene. Jack knew Angela was a strong woman, probably one of the strongest he ever had the privilege to work along side with. But he knew the loss of Mei was weighing heavily on her, and she was doing everything she could to stay in the game.
"Alright, good work, Ange. Get here safely. Morrison out,"
The feed cut. Morrison rubbed his forehead with one hand, frustration swimming in his head. He knew that Genji's brother would be fine under Angela's care, but he still felt the weight that fell onto any commander's shoulders when men under his charge were injured. But at least they didn't lose another, like they did with Mei.
The memory of that gruesome moment almost made its way into Jack's head, but Alejandra tugged on his sleeve, snapping him out of it. He turned to the new recruit, who looked up at him, smiling and with eyes full of kindness and understanding. What was it about this girl that put his mind at ease? He couldn't put his finger at it. It almost hurt him to know he was going to train her to be a soldier, like him.
"How about we go check on everyone else?" Alejandra suggested.
The corner of Jack's mouth tilted up, agreeing with the idea.
"Sure," he said, "Let's go,"
XXXX
The heat emanating from Brigitte's forge engulfed her with every drop of her hammer. Sparks flew as she brought her tool down upon Reinhardt's armor, welding and sealing the cracks it had sustained from previous battles. Thank goodness the base had extra scrap metal lying around, or this job would have been ten times more difficult. She melted down the extra metal and used it to perfectly mend the cracks. The armor looked good as new.
Brigitte stepped away from her work and removed her welding helmet, wiping the sweat from her brow with her forearm. Setting her equipment down, she grabbed her canteen and took a quick swig from it, savoring the icy cold water that poured down her throat. She could hear footsteps from behind, but didn't think much of it until she heard the voice that they belonged to.
"Brigitte," said the grizzly voice of Jack Morrison.
She turned to see the commander and Alejandra walking up to her, the latter smiling brightly at her. Brigitte returned the smile to both of them.
"Oh, hello Commander Morrison. Hi sweetie," she replied, standing to greet them.
Jack took a few steps around the forge, inspecting Brigitte's work. He was very impressed with her knowledge of blacksmithing, and how such an ancient craft could be used to repair a complex piece of machinery like Reinhardt's armor. He'd have to learn a thing or two from Brigitte later on.
"How goes the repairs on Crusader?" he asked, making his way around the massive armor pieces.
Brigitte was quick to respond, putting her hands on her hips.
"Our own knight in shining armor will be battle ready by tomorrow morning. I just need to weld a few more cracks and buff a few dents and Crusader will be back online,"
Morrison smiled, admiring her dedication to her task. He knew Brigitte wouldn't stop until this suit was combat ready. But he also knew she had been working ever since she got here. Between moving supplies and repairing Crusader, if anyone deserved some R&R, it was her.
"How 'bout you take a break, Brige. Looks like you need it," he suggested, not wanting her to overwork herself.
Brigitte just waved it off, wanting to hear none of it.
"The longer I take to get this job done, the longer it will take for Reinhardt to do his. He won't be able to defend you without this armor," she replied, already getting her equipment back on.
"Aha! Nonsense, Brigitte!" exclaimed the knight himself, marching his way towards everyone.
He held two items in his hands, but the group could not decipher what they were, exactly. Reinhardt continued.
"I would be everyone's shield, even without Crusader! Remember, it is the soldier who makes the armor, not the armor that makes the soldier!" he said, proudly.
Brigitte raised an eyebrow, looking up at her friend with a slight hint of annoyance, though still managing a smile.
"Well, right now, it is the soldier's faithful assistant making the armor; you're welcome," she coughed the last two words.
"Ah, details, details," replied Reinhardt, "But I do agree with the commander; you do deserve a break, even if it is a scant one. Here! I found your favorite!"
Reinhardt tossed one of the items to Brigitte, who caught it swiftly out of the air. In her hand was a king size chocolate bar. She stared at it, feeling a mix of temptation and contempt for the snack she held.
"Reinhardt… I'm trying to lose weight. Why would you hand me this?!"
"Brigitte," Reinhardt replied, "you have the body of an Amazon goddess. Live a little!"
Brigitte scowled, but promptly unwrapped the treat, biting off a peace.
"… Danke," she muttered under her breath.
Reinhardt smiled, pleased that his partner gave in to his reasoning. He wouldn't want Brigitte to burn herself out. He truly did appreciate her help and admitted that he probably wouldn't be where he was today, if it weren't for her constantly repairing his armor.
His attention was then diverted to the other item in his hand, a large can.
"Aha! And look what else I found!" Reinhardt exclaimed, proudly presenting the can to his comrades.
Everyone gave an inquisitive look at the cylinder, but it was Brigitte who realized what exactly Reinhardt held.
"Is that-?"
"Canned curry wurst! I remember why I liked this place so much!" Reinhardt laughed with joy, holding the can up to the sky like a well earned trophy, "Let us feast, celebrating the recreation of Overwatch!"
Morrison wanted to share Reinhardt's enthusiasm, but he also felt that the veteran's emotions were out of place. They watched Mei die today. This was no time for a celebration.
"How about we hold off on the festivities until after we send Mei off?" Jack said, gently, not wanting to disrupt the mood too much.
The prideful smile left Reinhardt's face, as he slowly lowered the can of curry wurst. The commander did have a point. To celebrate now would seem almost disrespectful to their fallen friend. Reinhardt could feel a little guilt crawling inside his chest. He averted his eyes for a moment, contemplating a different alternative.
"Then we shall honor her memory by celebrating her life!" he began, "That is what she would want. She wouldn't want us to mourn her death, but remember her as she lived,"
Jack gave a soft smile, agreeing with Reinhardt's suggestion. He was right. Mei was always the optimist of the group, trying to get everyone to see the brighter side of a bad situation. However, in Morrison's opinion, there really wasn't a brighter side to Mei's death; but he'd still go along with what Reinhardt had proposed.
It was then that Jack heard a soft yawn next to him. He looked down to his left to see Alejandra, rubbing her eyes, leaning against his arm. Fatigue clearly plagued the poor girl, Morrison could tell. He couldn't help but chuckle at her sleep deprivation, as she leaned her head against his side.
"You tired kid?" he asked.
Alejandra shook her head, trying to stifle another yawn. She tried desperately to fight off her sleep.
"No, I'm… I'm fine. Just… a little headache," she mumbled, unwittingly laying all her weight against Jack's arm.
Brigitte and Reinhardt couldn't hold back their chuckles either, watching the new recruit hold off the inevitable. Morrison rolled his eyes and decided it was time for her to surrender. He lifted Alejandra off her feet and cradled her in his arms.
"Alright soldier, it's time to retreat," he said as he left the others to their work.
Alejandra tried to swat at Morrison's face as a response, but missed by a foot, too tired to open her eyes to see. Jack just shook his head, smiling at her rebellious nature, and made his way to the barracks to find her her own quarters.
XXXX
He set Alejandra gently down in the bed, pulling the covers up to her neck. The quarters that Jack found for her formally belonged to Ana Amari; God help her where ever she is now. Cleared out years ago, it was a bare room, save the bed and covers and a coffee table in the center. It used to be filled with various keep sakes of Ana, from better days. Pictures of her and her daughter, Fareeha, and the team, used to line the shelves, inside picture frames that Ana crafted herself. Drawings that Fareeha had made for her used to hang on the walls, as well. There were so many drawings that they would cover the various medals honor that Ana had earned, that also adorned the walls.
It felt strange using her room like this, but he was certain that Ana wouldn't have minded letting Alejandra stay in it for a while. He thought back on that day, when they lost her. He remembered when she disobeyed his orders to fall back with them, when she turned off her comlink, the cold, unforgiving static filling his ears. He never saw or heard from her again. But some how, he knew she was still out there. That woman wasn't as easy to kill as she looked.
His thoughts were cut short, noticing Lena walking up next to him. She stood by his side, smiling softly down at the sleeping Alejandra, clearly well beyond passed out.
"Never knew you wanted a kid," she whispered to Jack, who gave a small smirk in return.
Lena's humor was exactly what he needed right now. Between the death of Mei, Hanzo's injury, rebuilding Overwatch, and practically adopting a thirteen year old girl, Jack had never felt more emotionally unbalanced in his life. But, leave it to Lena to put him at ease with her presence.
"It was her birthday today," he whispered back, just wanting to engage in small talk at the moment.
"What?" Lena replied, a touch of sadness in her voice, "and we didn't celebrate..."
Morrison shrugged.
"Given what happened today, I doubt shewould've wanted to, anyway," he said.
The words hung in the air for a moment, stinging like acid. They still felt the death of Mei lurking over them like a constant shadow. Perhaps, when they finally laid her to rest, their minds would be at ease.
"Maybe next year," Jack said, turning from the bed.
Jack and Lena left Alejandra's room, closing the lights and went to check on everyone else.
XXXX
"So, let me get this straight," Reaper began, having just listened to Doomfist's entire plan, "You're saying that, the deity that the Omnics believe in, the Iris, is really a satellite orbiting the Earth, with which all Omnics share some kind of hive mind with?"
Doomfist nodded, arms folded across his massive chest.
"And you plan to use it to take control over every single Omnic, then use them to initiate the second Omnic Crisis, and when the UN is at their knees, you tell them you will throw the kill switch if they surrender to you, basically making you the supreme overlord of this world," Reaper finished.
Doomfist shrugged, having just heard his plan regurgitated to him.
"More or less. But, I will not rule alone. You two will be by my side, as my lieutenants, as we forge a better world," he replied, out stretching his arms, as if trying to look welcoming to them.
Widowmaker, however, was not sold on the idea. There were elements to this that made no sense.
"Attendez," she began, making her way towards Doomfist, who only kept a smiling gaze upon the assassin, "how is it you know of this device, while even the Omnics do not know its location?"
"Because I was there when it was launched," Doomfist replied, clasping his hands behind his back.
Amélie tilted her head, prompting him to continue with his explaination.
"It was before the first Omnic Crisis had begun. My father, the Doomfist before me, had seen the steady progression of the Omnics as they became self aware. Realizing that there would soon be retaliation against their human masters, my father struck a deal with the Omnics. War is business after all. He would sell weapons to high priority gangs and criminals, provoking infighting amongst the humans on one front, while the United Nations fought the mechanical menace on the other, causing them to be split between their own civil war and the Omnic Crisis. From the Deadlock Gang to the Shimada Clan; you name them, my father sold to them. For a long time, everything was as my father had planned, but everything changed when the UN created Overwatch,"
Doomfist's blood began to boil at the mention of the group of heroes, clenching his fists till his dark knuckles almost burned white. Reaper and Amélie noticed the rage in his eyes. She knew that, if she could still feel emotion, she'd probably shit herself right there. Doomfist continued.
"They tore apart everything my father had built; from picking apart the rival gangs which he sold weapons to, to stopping the Omnic Crisis dead in its tracks. And then, just when I thought nothing else could possibly go wrong, I watched that freak of nature monkey murder him right in front of me,"
Slowly, the Doomfist composed himself, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. His rage slowly flowed out of him, leaving him in a sudden state of serenity.
"I plan to repay them for what they did, all those years ago. But I cannot do so without your help,"
"You didn't answer the question," Reaper said, bluntly, "How do you know about the Iris, when literally no one else does?"
"Ah yes, of course. Forgive me," Doomfist replied with a slight bow, "During one of my father's... business transactions with the Omnics, I found him tampering with some mechanical object, in the shape of an eye: The Iris. I inquired him of his intentions, and he simply told me, 'When the time comes, you'll know what to do, my son,'. And after all these years, I finally found the meaning behind those words. My father planted a virus, which blocked all electronic signatures emanating from it, so that its creators could not use it. However, the virus also sent a small frequency, one that my father knew only I would locate. And I did,"
The pieces slowly began to form in Reaper's and Widowmaker's heads, seeing where the story was going. They continued to listen to their new employer.
"Now, I will use the seed that my father had sown, and rebuild this world, for our benefit," He finished, giving a small smile as he looked down at the two Talon agents.
Reaper, however, remained unconvinced. He didn't trust this guy as far as he could throw him (and judging by the height and muscle mass, Reaper couldn't even push him).
"Hold on," stepping forward, Reaper began to question the seven foot tall wall of muscle in front of him, "How can we be so sure you'll hold up your end of the bargain? You could just as easily turn this whole thing around and ax us off in the end,"
Reaper glared at Doomfist through his mask, folding his arms across his chest. How could he trust a man he just met, who killed his boss, and expected them to work for him, just because he said he'd give them anything they wanted? What could he possibly have that they would want? Reaper didn't believe him for a second.
The interrogation made Doomfist chuckle, something that sent chills down Reaper's decaying spine. The large man stepped closer to black cloaked agent.
"Reaper, Reaper… Or should I say, 'Gabriel Reyes,'?".
Reyes felt his decaying and regenerating heart skip a beat. How did this guy know his name? Even Amélie was taken aback, furrowing her brows and taking a step forward. Reyes clenched his fists tightly, puncturing the material of his gloves.
"How do you know that name?" he growled, looking up at Doomfist.
"Oh, I know everything about you," Doomfist replied, and after taking a quick glance at Widowmaker, "Both of you," He walked towards the French assassin, "Amélie Lacroix. You were kidnapped by Talon, exposed to horrible experiments; tortured beyond imagination, and molded into a cold blooded killer, leaving none of your humanity left in you,"
Widowmaker just stared blankly back up at Doomfist, showing no emotion to what she was hearing. She knew full well that they had done to her, she just didn't care. She could hear the story told over and over again, it wouldn't matter. Doomfist continued.
"Even though you can't feel it, I'm sure that you would want nothing more than to feel again," he smirked, holding her chin in his hand.
Amélie just kept staring, making him believe she was unmoved. But deep down, something stirred in her. Maybe he was right? Doomfist released her chin and turned to face the cloaked mercenary, who just stood there, arms folded across his chest.
"And you, Reyes. You betrayed Overwatch, were responsible for the destruction of the base in Switzerland, and, in the process, mutilated your own body as a consequence. Doctor Angela Ziegler found you, repaired you as best as she could, out of the goodness of her own heart. But the procedure turned you into something else, something less than a man; a ghost. Talon saw an opportunity in you, and did what they could to stabilize your form. However, your body is in a constant limbo of healing and decaying, which is probably worse than just being a ghost, isn't it?" he finished with a wide grin, obviously trying to poke the wrong buttons on Reyes.
Reaper gave a low growl, glaring up at Doomfist through his skull like mask. How the hell did this bastard know all this? Not even the United Nations suspected Reyes of being the loose end within Overwatch. How was it that this man, who doesn't have any other connections to Overwatch, other than a personal vendetta, know so much about them?
It was then the man before Reyes knelt in front of him, determined eyes looking right into the dark holes of Reaper's mask. Reyes didn't believe he himself had a soul, but if he did, Doomfist would be looking right into it.
"What if I told you I could give you your body back?" he said to Reyes, his dark, brown eyes homing in on the mercenary's face.
The words seemed to echo throughout Reaper's head. He didn't move and didn't speak, but just stared right back at the man kneeling before him. Hearing those words almost gave Reyes a feeling he hadn't had in a long time: hope.
Doomfist could see he had hit home with that statement. Good. It was just another way of getting his pawns in position. He stood up and turned towards Amélie and spoke.
"And what if I told you I could give you back your humanity, and make you feel again?"
For a moment, she kept her cold stare fixated on him, unblinking, unmoving. But something in her stirred, something new. Some kind of longing that she hadn't felt in years. She looked away, keeping the same expression, however. She didn't want to admit it, but the simple turning of the head pretty much already did.
Doomfist smiled. He hit the right buttons and he knew it.
"Like I said; I can give you both what you desire most, even if you, yourselves, don't even know what you want. Help me achieve my goal, and the three of us will be looked upon as gods!"
"But how?" Reyes objected, "How can you fix me, when both Ziegler and Talon couldn't do a damn thing?"
"I have my resources," Doomfist swiftly replied, "Help me, and I will help you," the charismatic tone in his voice never ceased. It was almost like talking to a very persuasive lawyer.
Reaper took a moment to process everything. He was torn between believing this guy, or saying to hell with it. He could do things he had never imagined in his current state; regenerate, turn into mist, avoid lethal blows, kill with violent and deadly precision. It was any soldier's dream. But then again, he loathed the constant decaying of his body, feeling pieces of him fall off every second. Sure it would regrow in an instant, but the feeling of dying and being born again almost became too much for him to bear.
He looked at his hands, wondering if he could truly be whole again. Could this man, whom he has never met, really be the key to a cure?
"… When do we begin?" he asked, looking back up at Doomfist.
Their new leader strode over to a long row of computers and monitors at the opposite end of the room, massive hands clasped behind his back.
"Reyes, my friend. If history has ever taught us anything, it is that wars are won with the simple throw of a switch,"
As if narrating his own actions, Doomfist threw one of the switches on the dashboard in front of him, bringing every monitor in the room to life, series of binary code scrolling up and down each of them. But something told the two Talon agents that what just happened triggered something even more tremendous, something that they had no control over.
"Qu'est-ce que tu as fait?" asked Widowmaker, halfheartedly.
Doomfist replied with a low, deathly chuckle, not bothering to turn to face the other two in the room.
"I've just activated the virus my father planted. As we speak, the Iris is currently processing every single Omnic mind on the face of the planet. And when it is finished, we will have complete control over all Omnics, new and old,"
"And how long is that gonna take, like an hour or two?" Reyes asked, standing next to his partner, clasping his hands behind his cloaked head.
Doomfist turned about-face, raising an eyebrow to the hooded mercenary, with a really? expression.
"Do you know how many Omnics there are in this world?" Doomfist asked, assertively.
Reaper just gave a casual shrug, not bothering to guess.
"Three quarters of the human population," Doomfist continued, "That's five billion, two hundred fifty million processors that the Iris has to go through. Even if that number were cut in half, it would still take the good part of a year. So, to answer your question, I estimate two years' time before this is complete,"
"And what would you have us do during that time?" Amélie asked, placing a hand on her hip, looking slightly annoyed by the long time gap they had to wait through.
Doomfist was quick to respond, "Keep the UN and Overwatch off our backs. Send them on wild goose chases. The less they know about our operation, the better. Cause chaos around the world; that's what Talon is best at anyway, isn't it? Oh, and also, when you have the time..." he raised his right hand rotated his wrist slowly, as if examining it, then clenched his fist tightly, "retrieve my family heirloom, when you can,"
Reyes couldn't help but feel there was a lot of uneven distribution in the work load here. Sure, this guy was going to provide him with a cure to his curse, but were they supposed to do everything out there while Doomfist sat on his ass in here?
"And what are you going to do?" he asked, accusingly, "stay in here and do jack while we do all the heavy lifting?"
Their new boss laughed heartily at the remark, apparently not taking any offense from it. It set Reyes on edge. There was something clearly off about this guy, he could feel it.
"No," Doomfist finally said, "There are still many strings to be pulled here in Numbani; strings that only can I pull. And I assure you, everything will be ready, the stage will be set. And we shall be the kings and queen of the chess board,"
"Then as the queen," Amélie said, stepping forward, "may I suggest the first move?"
Doomfist smiled and graciously gave a go ahead gesture with a sweep of his arm. Widowmaker nodded and continued.
"We have recently dispatched one of Overwatch's most… valued members. Taking their foolish sympathy as a factor, we knew they would move to retrieve the body. But, I doubt that they would be thorough enough to check for a tracking device planted within the decapitated corpse of their fallen comrade," she finished her sentence with a smirk, making Doomfist's skin crawl; and he loved it.
He gave an approving smile to the both of them, understanding what Amélie was implying. They've probably been tracking Overwatch ever since the two of them made their way to him.
"Go then, send Overwatch from their nest. Make them know that they will never be safe as long as they live. Leave whatever rock they've crawled under in ruins. Assemble what ever troops you can, and when that is done, report to your former superiors who is in charge now,"
He slowly made his way to his new comrades, placing one hand each on their shoulders. He stared both of them in the eyes, making sure they saw him. They looked into the brown eyes, which lookedover them, intently.
"I'm a man of my word," he said, his charismatic tone changing to complete sympathy, almost like he was a different man, "I will get back what you two have lost. Now, go,"
Then he turned, heading back to the monitors at the opposite end of the room, focused on his typing. The two Talon agents gave each other a glance, slightly confused by the sudden change of personality from their new boss, and shrugged.
They made their way back to their stealth aircraft, Reyes firing up the engines, causing the ship to ascend the long vertical tunnel. The double doors above them slowly lurched open, revealing a bright moon overhead.
Reaper punched a few buttons on the dashboard, bringing up two screens; one with a topographical map of the Mediterranean Sea, a small red dot flashing on it, and another with an unmasked Talon agent at his desk.
"Gunnery Sargent," Reyes called out, getting the Talon's attention.
"Commander Reaper, sir!" replied the soldier, giving a brisk salute.
"You and your battalion are still stationed within the Mediterranean, yes?"
"Affirmative sir. Been awaiting orders,"
"Prepare for a full scale invasion," Reaper commanded, "It's time to start another war,"
"Yes, Commander," replied the gunnery Sargent, before Reyes cut the video feed.
Setting their coordinates to rendezvous with the battalion, Reaper let out a low, sickening chuckle as he glanced at the flashing red blip on the map; blinking right on the Rock of Gibraltar.
XXXX
Genji Shimada sat on the small bench in front of the Medi lab where Angela was currently healing Hanzo's injuries.
Winston's dropship had arrived at Gibraltar around the time Angela had predicted, allowing her to treat Genji's brother as soon as possible.
Hunched forward, his arms resting on his knees, the cybernetic ninja was stressing over something. Something about the retrieval of Mei's body didn't feel right. The circumstances seemed almost eerily familiar. He had to check the body, to see if what he feared was reality or superstition.
The hissing sound of the Medi lab's doors sliding open distracted Genji, revealing the good Doctor as she walked briskly from the room. Seeing her approach him, Genji stood up from his seat, bowing respectively.
"Doctor Ziegler," he said, keeping his bowing posture until she kindly returned the bow.
"No need to worry, Genji, your brother will be fine within a few hours. I've just removed all the shrapnel from his body. The regen' bed will handle the rest,"
"It is not just the well-being of my brother I am concerned for, Doctor, but of everyone within this base," he replied, gravely.
Angela couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Doctor, I need to have access to Mei's body,"
Without wasting any time, Angela led Genji to the room where they were keeping their deceased friend. Unlocking the door, the both of them went inside. There was an operating table at the far end of the room, where Mei was lying, covered by a long cloth.
Grimly, Genji approached the body, and slowly removed the drape from the upper torso, revealing the grizzly sight of the headless neck. Genji knew he couldn't physically throw up in his mouth, but if he could, he'd try to force it back down his throat.
Speaking of throats, he dreaded what he was about to do to his friend's dead body, but it was the only way to find out if his suspicions were correct.
"I pray that I am wrong," he muttered under his breath.
Angela watched inquisitively, still confused of what was putting Genji on edge. Then, without warning, the ninja plunged his mechanical hand into Mei's open neck, a squelching sound emanating from metal entering flesh.
"Genji! What are you doing?!" exclaimed Angela, rushing over to his side as he finessed his hand within the throat.
He finally felt what he was reaching for and gripped it between his finger and thumb. A sinking feeling overcame him, realizing he should have seen this sooner. Genji held onto what he had found, and wrenched his hand from Mei's neck, rotten flesh and blood dripping from his appendage. He turned to face Angela, who stared at him in disbelief.
She didn't realize what Genji was holding until he held it up to her, making her understand the meaning of his actions. In his hand was a small metal pod, with a flashing light on the end. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing, but knew exactly what Genji was showing her.
"Genji… what is that…?" it was a rhetorical question.
"You know as well as I what this is, Doctor," Genji replied, solemnly.
Getting herself back together, Angela needed more answers from him.
"What made you think there was a homing beacon in her!?"
"It is… an old Shimada tactic, utilized by my father, and his father before him," Genji began, "we would decapitate the loved ones of our enemies, and plant tracking devices within their bodies. When someone came to retrieve them, we would follow them to finish the job," Genji hung his head in what appeared to be shame, for the sins of his family's past.
"It appears that our enemies have employed the same tactic," he finished.
"But that doesn't explain why you didn't see this sooner. You had twelve hours to realize what was going on before we returned here! Why didn't you say something before?" Angela said, accusingly.
While she was normally patient and lenient with Genji, always trusting his judgment, she was absolutely livid with him now. If this was something he had seen before, why wouldn't he have prevented it now?
"It didn't cross my mind! I was worried for Hanzo! Not to mention I didn't believe Talon would stoop to that kind of level of dishonor,"
"Genji, they're terrorists! They don't- ugh, never mind. This will get us nowhere. We need to tell Jack, now,"
XXXX
"You've got to be kidding me!" screamed Morrison, as he threw his fist out, creating a deep crater in the wall behind him.
Angela had gathered Jack, Reinhardt, and Winston into the conference room on the North western wing of Watchpoint: Gibraltar. She and Genji had just finished explaining their situation, much to the dismay of everyone present.
"I'm sorry, Jack, but I'm not. We need to prepare to defend ourselves," Angela replied.
"Even with Torbjorn's defensive turrets, we don't have enough firepower to save the base," Morrison said, holding his forehead between his finger and thumb, "We'll have to evacuate,"
"Evacuate?" said Angela, "But we just got here!"
"And now we have to leave!" Morrison replied, "Talon will be throwing what ever they've got at us, and we don't have the resources to fend off an invasion. We have no choice, Ange,"
As much as she'd hate to admit it, Jack was right. Ange knew that, even if they could fight off the first wave of the invasion force, Talon would just keep sending more troops their way, eventually toppling them like a tidal wave. They knew the location of their base, there was nothing else they could do but run.
"Winston," Jack began, "Figure out our method of transportation. That stealth ship you have isn't enough to hold all of us,"
"There's a Cruiser class dropship in the North Eastern wing of the hangar. It's more than enough to hold us, and a month's worth of supplies," Winston replied, matter-of-factly.
Reinhardt suddenly chimed in, "But can we transport Brigitte's van? Aside from it being the only thing we have to repair my armor, it's her family heirloom. She'd be crushed if she had to leave it behind!"
Holding his chin in his hand, Winston thought for a quick moment.
"It's cargo hold will definitely hold the van, Reinhardt. No need to worry,"
"Speaking of armor," Jack said, facing the old veteran, "Reinhardt, is Crusader online?"
"Ja, Kommandant!"
"Suit up. In case any of those terrorists set foot on this rock, I need you as the second line of defense,"
"Right away!" replied Reinhardt.
"Winston," Jack said, turning to the scientist, "Prepare the ship for takeoff, and make sure everyone is on board, with as many supplies as we can fit. And get Brigitte's van in there too, filled with supplies,"
"Roger,"
The two tanks left the conference room to attend to their assigned tasks. After they left, Morrison directed his attention to the bearers of bad news.
"Genji," he said, "Go wake up Alejandra, and get her to the ship. See if you can find her something to eat, and keep her there, understood?"
"Hai,"
With Genji gone, it was just Jack and Angela in the room. Morrison didn't want to speak about Genji's brother in front of him, so he waited until he was certain the cyberninja was nowhere near.
"How long until Hanzo is on his feet again?" he asked the doctor.
Angela ran a nervous hand through her hair, understanding they were short on time.
"It could easily take over two hours," she reported.
"We doubt we even have two hours,"
"I know that," she replied, sternly, "But he took a grenade for us. I can't speed up the process without dealing damage to the tissue,"
"I was buried under a building after taking an explosion to the face, and I came out just fine," he replied matter-of-factly.
"He's not pumped full of chemicals that enhance his healing and strength, making him better than the rest of us!" she snapped back.
Her response was surprising to Jack. He hadn't been talked back to like that in a long time, usually by superiors. But this was his friend; this was Angela, usually well mannered and calm. What would cause her to retaliate like that?
But then he realized what he had said, and immediately felt guilty. After years of being on his own, he'd forgotten what it was like to be part of a team, and understand that not all of them had the same resilience as him. Hanzo shielded Angela from the blast, and suddenly, Jack was beginning to respect the Shimada clan leader more.
"I'm… sorry Ange. I just..." he stopped, holding his forehead again.
His head began to hurt, a lot. He almost couldn't focus. What the hell was going on with him?
Angela noticed his sudden lapse of pain, and immediately went back to being her doctoral self.
"Are you alright?" she asked, walking closer to her commander.
"Yeah-yeah," he lied, nodding, trying to shake off the sudden migraine.
She rolled her eyes. Jack was never a good liar. She put her hand into one of her Valkyrie suit pockets and pulled out a bottle of aspirin and handed it to Jack.
Seeing the medicine, Jack sighed in defeat and took it, popping two of the pills into his mouth and handed it back to Angela. She waved it off, gesturing him to keep it. She, instead, placed her hand firmly on his shoulder, looking into his blue eyes.
"We're going to get through this Jack. I promise," she said gently, like she used to, years ago.
Jack gave her a slight nod as the pain from the headache left him. She always knew what to say and when to say it. He was glad to have her back; to have his team back. Jack saw the truth in her words, and was determined to make sure those words remained true.
"Yeah," he said, "you're right… just, just go do what you do best, Ange,"
She smiled kindly at that.
"You know I will," she replied, as she spun on her heal and left he room, returning to tend to Hanzo.
As she left, Morrison couldn't help but second guess what she had said. Doubt still lingered in his mind. Could he really lead them like he had all those years ago? Would he be able to pull them through this? It wasn't something he would have thought about when he was a young man. Maybe it was his age catching up to him. Maybe he just felt less confident in his abilities?
No. He was a soldier, and soldiers run into battle, without a shadow of a doubt in their heads. He'd lead them, like he used to. He'd fight, like he used to. And they'd win, they had to.
"Lena," he said, after setting his comlink to Lena's frequency.
"Oi?" she replied.
"I'm en route to the hangar. Meet me on the way there," he ordered, leaving the conference room.
"Oi," she replied.
Jack could hear the warping sound of her chronal accelerator, blinking into action.
XXXX
Lena found Jack not too long after he contacted her, marching swiftly to the hangar like he had said. She noticed how stone cold serious he was as he walked through the halls. Something was up. She blinked up next to him, not bothering to jump up on his back this time.
"Hiya, love. What's up?" she asked, keeping pace with him.
"Talon planted a damn tracking device on Mei, and no one found it until now. Those bastards are probably already on their way,"
A tracking device on Mei?! Lena was boiling up inside, wanting to unload a whole clip of her pulse pistols into Reaper's head. How dare they defile their friend like that!
"Bloody hell!" she exclaimed, "Alright… what's the plan?"
The two continued on their way to the hangar, Morrison explaining the plan as they went.
"We're preparing to evacuate the Watchpoint. We can't stay here, anymore. But we gotta buy time for everyone else. You and I are going to be the first line of defense,"
"Okay but… how?" Lena asked.
She knew this base was not supplied with any fighter jets or heavy class dropships. It was mainly a refueling station. How were they going to fend off an aerial assault? Unless, Jack was implying what she thought he was…
"There are two Slipstream fighters stored in the North Western wing of the hangar. The only two prototypes ever built. We're going to use those to buy Angela some time to get Hanzo on his feet again," Jack stated, opening the North Western hangar doors.
The gates slowly lurched open, but Jack and Lena walked in as soon as they opened wide enough for them to slip through.
"The Slipstreams?!" Lena objected, following him into the hangar, "You can't be serious. Jack, you know what that thing did to me. You really want to take that risk?"
She still remembered that day when she first tested the Slipstream. So excited and eager to be the head of Her Majesty's royal airforce. Little did she know she'd be flung completely out of this plane of existence, only to pop back up as a ghost. She had never felt more alone in her life during that time. In a way, she was still stuck in time, constantly having flashbacks now and again. Too much nostalgia for her, she guessed.
Jack's words brought her back to the present.
"We just won't use the time warping functions of the Slipstreams. On their own, they're completely capable fighter jets," he said.
Before continuing, Jack stopped, turning to face Lena. He looked her in the eyes, his serious tone changing to a soft sympathy.
"You're okay, right? You're not gonna back out on this?" he asked, clearly concerned for her.
She knew what he meant. Was she okay stepping inside the thing that doomed her to an eternal life, the thing that turned her into a ghost?
But he didn't have to worry. That was in the past. She'd move on since then. This mission; keeping her friends safe, was more important than PTSD, anyway.
"Of course! I'm not gonna back down from a fight! You know me better than that, love," she delivered a punch to his arm, jokingly.
Jack couldn't help but smile at that. He could tell she actually meant for that punch to hurt, but due to his enhanced durability, it felt more like someone threw a small paper back book at him.
Nonetheless, he was glad to see she wasn't going to let the past inhibit the mission. He knew her skills as a pilot far surpassed her skills as a soldier on the ground, so having her in the air would be paramount in their retreat.
"Good," he said, as they continued to make their way to their fighters, "You're the best pilot I know. I hope you haven't forgotten how to fly," he finished with a sly smirk, trying to provoke her.
"Pfft, Jack," Lena said, catching on to his joke, "I was born flying,"
XXXX
Reaper was growing impatient. They had just regrouped with the battalion on one of the Mediterranean islands (acquiring two heavy class dropships as well as some extra bombs for their stealth bomber, which Reyes was currently aboard), and had been en route to Watchpoint: Gibraltar for what seemed like hours now.
Since their departure, they had obtained a pilot for their bomber. Widowmaker suggested they should have a more suitable pilot for this mission, much to Reyes' grievance (he thought he was a perfectly capable pilot)
"Are we there yet?" he asked the pilot, furiously clawing at the back of the seat.
He was certain that Overwatch had found the tracking device by now, so he didn't want to miss their chance.
"We're an hour outside their perimeter, sir," replied the pilot, wincing every time he heard his commander's claws scraping against his seat.
"Good. When the Watchpoint is in sight, don't stop for anything. We've got a package to deliver, and we're not going to miss our mark," Reyes replied.
Making his way to the back of the bomber, Reaper saw Amélie adjusting her hybrid rifle. Once she was satisfied with it, she set it down beside her. Reyes took a seat on the opposite end, taking time to examine his gauntlets.
Something was off, and Widowmaker could see it. Back at Lijiang Tower, Reaper should have left her there, detonated the charges, and buried any evidence they were even there. But no. He saved her, going against Talon protocols. But, then again, they weren't taking orders from Talon anymore, where they? She'd have to return the favor at some point, she guessed.
"You've changed," she said, blankly.
Reyes looked up from his work, feigning ignorance to Widowmaker's remark.
"You should have left me to die," she continued, leaning forward, resting her forearms on her thighs, "but you didn't. Why?"
A brief moment of silence filled the compartment they sat in. Reaper didn't like this unusual questioning from his partner. She was normally the silent one, the one who waited to be addressed.
He also didn't like the questions she presented him. It was his own damn business. But, he felt obligated to provide her with an answer, for some reason.
"You're a valuable asset. It'd be stupid to let you fall into enemy hands," he fibbed.
Amélie saw through the half assed excuse as if she had her visor activated. On many occasions, Widow had to pull herself out of sticky situations, while Reaper stood and watched from a distance.
"Do not bullshit me," she snapped, coldly, "You rescue me from Lijiang Tower, and you even bandaged me up. I cannot say I'm slightly disturbed, and that's coming from someone who has no emotion,"
Reaper knew she'd just keep giving him that same condescending stare the rest of the way to the objective, until he said something.
It wasn't like him to open up to people, in fact, he never did. But something was waking up inside, something he thought he buried a long time ago.
"When I… sent them the message… to them…" he began, slowly. "I saw someone… a girl,"
Amélie tilted her head, curious to what he was talking about. She knew about the death of Mei, she planted the tracking device herself, but she didn't know Reyes actually talked to Overwatch during the time he killed her.
"And? What of it?" she asked, pressing on with the question.
"…She just seemed… familiar," he said, standing up, clearly not wanting to continue with this conversation, "I'm sure it's nothing. Just focus on the mission,"
Amélie shrugged it off. If he wasn't going to talk more now, there was no point in being persistent. But still, she'd have to keep an eye on him now. If he was going soft, could she rely on him? Sure, he saved her life, but that still confused her, and, in a way, almost made her not trust him.
This wasn't the Reaper they had brainwashed before Switzerland.
XXXX
Alejandra rubbed her eyes and she took a seat in the giant dropship that Genji had led her to. She wasn't expecting to be awoken so suddenly (she actually expected to sleep most of the day away, provided everything that had happened yesterday). But, if what the cyberninja had told her was true, that Talon was on their way, she was more than willing to get her butt out of bed.
Still, however, she didn't want to appear useless, or even worse, helpless. She needed her weapon. Out of the corner of her eye, Alejandra spotted Jesse McCree moving supplies into the dropship.
"Excuse me, Mr. McCree?" she spoke up, walking over to the former Deadlock gang member.
Jesse turned to face her, promptly pulling his cigar out of his mouth and putting it out on his mechanical arm.
"What can I do ya for, Ali?" he kindly replied, tipping his hat to her.
"I um, left my hand cannon at the shooting range. Can I go get it?" she asked, both politely and timidly.
Jesse couldn't help but smile at the girl's request. She definitely had spunk if Morrison trained her with that kind of weapon.
"Nah, you stay put, darlin'. I'll go fetch it for ya," he said, patting her head with his prosthetic.
Alejandra couldn't helped but feel perturbed by the head pat, but smiled nonetheless, not wanting to seem ungrateful.
"Gracias, señor McCree!"
Jesse nodded and tipped his hat one more time before leaving the dropship, en route to the shooting range.
XXXX
"Feels weird getting in one of these things again," Lena said, as she seated herself in the cockpit of her Slipstream fighter.
The nostalgia was surreal for her. She scanned over all the controls, the dials, the switches, even the cup holders. It was a bitter sweet feeling, being in this machine. For one, she definitely missed flying. On the other hand, this thing caused her a great deal of trouble, and still is, at this moment.
"That one you're in is actually the same one you tested nearly twenty five years ago," Jack commented, equipping himself with a pilot's helmet and parachute.
"What!?" exclaimed Lena, leaning so far out of the cockpit, she almost fell out.
Morrison smiled, amused by her reaction.
"Yep. Brass found it five years after your accident, buried nose down in Korea. Had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the tech back before the Korean military could get their hands on it,"
"Well why di-in't ya tell me?" she asked, folding her arms in what seemed like disappointment.
Jack just shrugged.
"No one thought you'd want to know," he replied, getting into his own Slipstream fighter, right next to Lena's
She supposed he was right, well, at the time anyway. Back then, she still held strong feelings about the Slipstream fighters, about the accident that unfolded because of the malfunction. Every time someone would bring up the subject, it would often shut Lena right up.
But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was using them to their advantage. Besides, she was over it. She learned to live with what she had now, and was almost grateful for what the Slipstream had done to her.
She became Tracer, a time warping marvel, a hero. But, then again, at what cost?
Suddenly, Torbjorn's voice echoed through both their comlinks.
"No no no! En- Oh, NO!" the Swedish dwarf cried, frantically.
"What is it, Torb?" Jack asked, pressing his fingers against his earpiece.
"Commander," replied Torbjorn, "They're here…"
XXXX
Bullets, missiles, flak, and smoke peppered the three Talon aircraft, the stealth bomber leading the charge ahead of the two Dropships. Reaper grimaced under his mask, annoyed by the automated turrets that retaliated against their attack.
That damn dwarf always had to overcompensate, didn't he?
The Talons had made their approach by the southern end of Watchpoint Gibraltar, and were welcomed by a firing squad of easily two dozen different turrets, varying in firepower,
The aircraft shields could take the abuse, but unless they took those turrets out, their troops were never going to set foot on the ground.
"Send them an EMP torpedo, dammit!" Reyes ordered, despite pushing the launching mechanism for said torpedo himself.
A fifteen foot tube ejected from the missile compartment of the stealth bomber, gracefully plopped into the ocean below them, and propelled itself forward, impacting solidly against the Rock of Gibraltar.
A small electromagnetic pulse washed up and over the cliff, instantly frying the circuits of Torbjorn's turrets.
XXXX
"My babies!" exclaimed Torbjorn, "Commander! We're gonna need that air support soon!"
As if on cue, two Slipstream fighters came screaming from around the Rock, moving on and intercept course for the Talon ships.
XXXX
Seeing the new fighters come into view, Reyes knew it was time to act.
"Show them our other set of wings, boys," he said on the comlink.
The ramps of the dropships lurched open, setting free Talon soldiers, adorning wingsuits. They jumped from their aircraft and glided freely over the Gibraltar sea, underneath the dropships, totaling at least two dozen soldiers.
"Use the aircraft to shield the troops until they reach the objective! Do not break formation, or I will personally rip your spines out and strangle you all with them!" he shouted over comlinks.
XXXX
"Lena!" Jack said, "We'll have to make strafing runs to knock out their shields. Focus fire on the dropships, since those have auto turrets!"
"Roger!" Lena shouted, nosing her Slipstream up to gain altitude over their opponents.
Jack followed suit, trailing behind Lena, making sure to not get too close, lest causing a collision.
Going in for their strafing run, Lena angled her fighter downwards, and squeezed her triggers, raining 20 mm lead on the Talon dropship closest to her. She'd save the missiles until the shields were down. At the speed they traveled, the missiles would casually bounce off the barriers surrounding the ship.
Jack made his strafing run after Lena, his volley of fire completely dissipating the first dropship's shields.
"Barrier down!" he yelled over comms.
That was Tracer's cue. She pulled up into a loop, and once she was nose down, completely above the dropship, she let loose her special delivery.
The missiles gracefully left Lena's Slipstream, as she completed the loop and took off perpendicular to their trajectory. The twin helix missiles dropped right on top of the defenseless target, and detonated on impact, ripping the aircraft apart into a glorious explosion of shrapnel and bright baby blue fire.
The explosion killed around one quarter of the wing suit troopers, but by that point, it didn't matter.
Jack and Lena could see the two remaining aircraft peal off from the attack, as the rest of the wingsuit Talons touched down on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. But those soldiers weren't going to get off that easy.
XXXX
The Talon units touched down on Watchpoint: Gibraltar in unison, leveling their assault rifles instantly, checking all flanks. Nothing moved, besides the dog fighting happening above their heads; they didn't even see that puny dwarf that made the now deactivated auto turrets.
"Clear!" said the Gunnery Sargent, gesturing the rest of the unit to fall in towards the entrance of the base.
They remained in a tight formation, twelve Talons upfront, six bringing up the rear. They weren't taking any chances. The concrete road they were following turned into a large dip, as it went under a large bridge, running perpendicular to the road. The path went straight into the side of the cliff, giving access to the rest of the base.
The unit was about to move in, making their way down the dip. But they wouldn't be going in any further.
The Gunnery Sargent held up a fist to the group behind him, gesturing them to halt. Something was coming from the opposite side of the path, beyond the dip in the road. They all heard it; the sound of metal scraping against asphalt, thrusters burning, the screams of an elderly man, and it was all getting closer.
"IIIINNNCOOOOOMIIIIING!" it yelled.
They saw it, a knight in glorious shining armor, wielding a glorious war hammer, charging straight for them, a brilliant flame trailing close behind him, sparks flailing upward from his metal greaves.
"Open fire!" cried out the Gunnery Sargent.
But too late. Reinhardt slammed right into the first two soldiers in front of him, including the Sargent, their bones breaking instantly from the impact. Pinned by Reinhardt's charge, they were pushed right into the side of a rock, their bodies instantly splattering on impact.
The remaining Talons surrounded the knight, training their sights on him.
"Hey!" Reinhardt said, brushing off the blood and entrails from his shoulder and arm, "I hit something! That never happens…"
Without a word, the Talons fired upon Reinhardt, who automatically activated his shield, blocking the incoming bullets.
The gunfire gently bounced off of Reinhardt's shield, barely even damaging the piece of precision German engineering.
"BRING. IT. ON. I live for this!" he screamed as he slowly marched forward, soaking up their damage.
The Talons continued to fire simultaneously, but, unfortunately, had to reload at some point. That was their biggest mistake.
"My turn," Reinhardt muttered, deactivating his shield, and charged forward, rocket hammer braced in both hands.
He hurled his hammer forward, striking two Talons at once, breaking their bones and sending them flying into a wall, collapsing on the floor.
Retreating from the Crusader, the other Talon agents finished reloading, and, after finding more defensible positions, continued to fire.
This didn't deter Reinhardt, however. The face of his hammer split open, revealing a hose with a small flame in front of it. Reinhardt swung his weapon forward, activating the flamethrower within, and released a large crescent of fire.
The flaming crescent hit its target and struck with such a force, it burnt the armor, and flesh, right off of the man, killing him instantly.
Bullets began to ping off of Reinhardt's shoulder, prompting him to reactivate his barrier.
"Toblerone! Barrier won't hold forever! Get out here!" he shouted, marching slowly behind a building to get more solid cover.
"For the last time…" muttered a Swedish voice, over comms, "It's TORBJORN!"
The small red and blonde ball from Sweden leaped from a roof, rivet gun in hand, and landed on the shoulders of a Talon unit directly below.
The Talon writhed and grabbed at Torbjorn, desperately trying to pry him off. But it was no use; Torbjorn's claw maintained a firm, vice like grip on the poor, unfortunate soldier.
The dwarf pumped a rivet right into the side of the Talon's skull, causing him to collapse, lifeless, onto the ground. Torbjorn jumped off before the body landed, and began firing away at the other Talons, oblivious to their comrade's demise, too focused on the blue rectangle that was Reinhardt's shield.
Eventually, they realized they had been flanked, and set half of their unit to fire upon the Swedish mechanic. Forced to dive for cover, both Torbjorn and Reinhardt were pinned, separated by a wall of Talons and gunfire.
XXXX
The second Talon dropship went down almost as soon as it pealed off from the wingsuit troopers, catching fire from a well aimed shot to the left thruster, and plummeted into the Gibraltar Sea. Now, all that was left was the stealth bomber.
Lena and Jack would strafe one at a time, just like they had done with the other threa-
Tracer took a glance down at the battle below; it didn't look good. Reinhardt and Torbjorn were facing against at least a dozen Talons down there, and, by the looks of it, didn't have any openings to make a move.
She couldn't fly by and give them air support without risking hitting them as well, no matter the angle she approached. She'd have to get stuck in, up close and personal.
"Jack!" she called over the comlink, "Rein and Torb are in a big mess o' trouble,"
"Understood," he replied, "Go. I've got the bomber,"
Lena nodded to herself and switched the channel to the two old soldiers' below. She didn't say anything though. She was waiting for the right time.
Lena pulled up, the nose of her Slipstream fighter pointing towards the clouds. She knew there was no landing strip where the fight was, and it'd take too long to circle around back to the hangar bay on the Northern side of the Rock. So, she improvised.
After gaining approximately three hundred feet of air, Lena popped open the cockpit, and jumped from the Slipstream. The pilotless aircraft stayed on course for a full three seconds before finally loosing speed, and, ultimately, rotated into a nose dive, and violently spun downwards.
Meanwhile, Lena was in free fall, feeling the rush of air fly by her every second. She was completely enveloped in wind, as she plummeted down to Earth at incredible speeds. She was right on top of the battle now, and could see the heads of everyone below her; Talon and Overwtach alike. Lena looked like she was about to land face first on the ground, at least, that's what it looked like to everyone else.
By that point, time was already slowing down for Lena, her chronal accelerator going to work. She'd use the momentum from the fall to plan her attack perfectly.
Everything around her moved in slow motion. Lena could see bullets spiraling, metal cascading, spit flying, it was like a movie. She waited till she was about three feet away from the ground, and that's when she blinked.
Time went back to normal after the blink, propelling Lena horizontally towards an unsuspecting Talon. Despite her size, the momentum of the free fall would cause her to collide with the Talon with the force of a Semi truck hitting a cat at one hundred and twenty miles per hour. The best part was, the Talon was going to cushion all of it for her.
Lena made impact with her target, grabbing him as they both were hurled across the battlefield. The force of the impact instantly shattered the Talon's spine; Lena could feel it split as she held onto the body.
She blinked again, towards another Talon, with the same speed and momentum, breaking his spine, and then another, and another.
To Torbjorn and Reinhardt, it just looked like an invisible ping pong ball was striking their attackers, one by one.
Lena finally lost the momentum from the free fall, and blinked one last time to one more Talon, reaching out and grabbing his head, and snapping it as she flew past him. She landed, flawlessly before his body hit the floor.
"Cheers, loves! The cavalry's 'ere!" Lena called out, through her comlink.
"Hahaha!" exclaimed Reinhardt, as he left his cover to join the fight, "Well done, Lena!"
Torbjorn couldn't help but roll his eyes, however, having to hear that line for the umpteenth time, but was grateful, nonetheless.
The three of them cleaned up the nine remaining Talon units, who, despite their advanced training, were no match for a German knight, a Swedish dwarf, and an English time warping pilot.
Torbjorn pumped rivet after rivet into them, Lena blinked across the battlefield, firing endlessly at their opponents, and Reinhardt brought the hammer down on their heads, shattering the earth.
The final Talon tried to escape, making a run for the cliff's edge, getting ready to wingsuit his way out of danger. But a large metal gauntlet grabbed hold of his head, and lifted him up to face a yellow T shaped visor.
"Let me go, you bastard!" he cried out, fruitlessly throwing punches out at the German giant.
"Let you go?" Reinhardt said, stepping closer to the edge of the cliff, "Hmph, as you wish,"
Still holding onto the Talon's head, Reinhardt wound up like a pitcher, and flung the Talon out towards the sea. His screams echoed through the air, as he helplessly spun out of control.
Reinhardt prepped his hammer for a firestrike, and flung a flaming crescent towards the Talon. It was a bullseye, completely singeing the body. The screaming ceased.
XXXX
"Where. Are. You going?!" Reaper asked.
The pilot of their stealth bomber was making a hasty retreat from the battle, seeing as how the invasion failed.
"Back to base, sir! We need to regroup," said the pilot, before being grabbed by the shoulder and flung out of his seat.
He collided with the back wall of the bomber, collapsing, unconscious. Reaper took his place in the pilot's seat, redirecting their bomber back to Watchpoint: Gibraltar.
"You might want to buckle up," he yelled back to Widowmaker, who heeded his advice.
He wasn't going to let Overwatch win the first round. He'd make sure this place would crumble, even if he had to set this damn bomber on a collision course, right at the mouth of their base. Actually, that didn't seem like a bad idea.
XXXX
Jack followed hot on the bomber's trail, trying to get a lock on it so the helix missiles wouldn't miss their target. The bomber had suddenly changed its course, back towards the base, but Jack couldn't make out why it would.
They had no one to back up; their dropships were down and the ground units were all dead. What else could they possibly do?
That's when Morrison realized how fast the bomber was making its approach, and how close it was to their base. They were crazy! Were they going to ram the aircraft into Gibraltar?!
"Lena, Reinhardt, Torbjorn! Get clear, now!" Jack yelled through his comlink.
He fired everything he had at the stealth bomber, hoping to take it down before it reached its destination.
Direct hits, everyone of them, but no use. The shields were too strong, and it was far too late. The Talon bomber flew straight into the dip under the bridge, its wings ripping right off from the base of the plane. Metal and rock flew from the impact, sparks and fire rippled through the air, as the bomber skidded across the road, into the entrance of the base
It slammed into the far wall, crushing the office that was attached to it, and burst into a brilliant orange and yellow flame.
Jack pulled up as soon as his target entered the base and flew over the Gibraltar sea. Having no landing strip, Jack ejected over the vast blue water below him and popped his parachute, watching as the Slipstream fighter plummeted down into the sea. He then angled his chute to glide gently down and join the rest of his team.
XXXX
Reaper kicked down the back hatch of the now flaming stealth bomber, allowing himself and Widowmaker to exit. The pilot was of no concern to them, and was probably dead by now, anyway.
Amélie eyed the catwalks above them, and gestured to Reaper of her plan. He nodded with approval. Widowmaker activated her wrist mounted grappling hook, and zipped up to the catwalk, on her way to find whoever else was in this base.
Reaper, however, had other plans. He'd stepped towards the dip where they had made their grand entrance, expecting the welcoming committee. And, sure enough, here they came, all four of them.
XXXX
"Come on, come on!" murmured Angela, monitoring the status of Hanzo's recovery.
She could easily hear the battle outside, explosions and gunfire alike. The team was buying her every second they could, and she feared she was about to lose those precious seconds.
But, thankfully, a green glow and a satisfactory ding! emanated from Hanzo's regeneration bed. The process was complete. The tissue and flesh and skin would look good as new. However, he was still not awake.
No doubt still knocked out from the initial blast. He might have a slight concussion, but that was another process entirely, something she'd have to work on later. Right now, she needed to get him out of here.
Angela scrambled through drawers and shelves and finally found what she was looking for; a syringe of adrenaline.
"Okay, Hanzo," she said as she held onto his left arm, "time to wake up,"
She gave him the injection and, after a brief pause, watched as his eyelids shot open.
The archer sat up instantly, screaming in some sort of panic.
"What?! Who am I? Where am I? Who are you?!" he yelled, scrambling out of the bed.
Angela restrained him against the wall, keeping a firm grip on his shoulders. She stared him in the eyes and did her best to calm him down.
"Hanzo, it's okay! It's me, Angela. You were hurt but we brought you here. You're fine now!" she explained.
However, the answer had not processed in his head properly. The adrenaline was too much for him right now.
"Have… have I died?" he asked, slowing down a bit.
Angela tilted her head in confusion.
"What? Why would you think that?" she asked.
"Because I'm looking into the eyes of an angel…" he responded, slowly leaning closer to Angela's face.
She couldn't help but blush at that, but rolled her eyes nonetheless.
"You're delirious from the adrenalin. Come on, we've got to get you out of here," she said, putting his arm over her shoulders and helping him out of the med lab.
"Very well… but… where is here?" Hanzo asked, as he hobbled with Angela out of the room.
XXXX
Amélie made her way to the hangar where the cruiser class Overwatch dropship resided, hovering in place, ready for takeoff. However, it remained inert, for whatever reason. She took cover in a suitable position, and peered down her scope, looking for unsuspecting targets.
Little did she know, she was the real unsuspecting target.
The catwalk beneath her suddenly exploded upward, as holes were being shot through it from below. Widowmaker quickly jumped from her cover and looked down.
McCree, wielding two weapons, his trademark Peacemaker in one hand, and a clearly higher caliber gun in the other, was training his sights right on the assassin.
She grimaced and grappled onto the other catwalk as quick as she could, flinging her self through the hangar.
McCree continued to fire, both weapons blazing away at their target. While in mid grapple, Widowmaker looked through her scope, and fired on the move. Three bullets flew through the air, one struck Jesse through the shin.
He yelled in pain as the shot went through his leg. The shot wasn't meant to kill him, but maim. She wanted to play with her food it seemed, before she made the killing blow.
Jesse fell to his knee and crawled to cover behind a pillar, knowing that he was, quite literally, a sitting duck now.
"I'm gonna need some back up here!" he yelled out through his gauntlet's communication device.
Amélie was already perched on the opposite catwalk, making her way to a better vantage point to fire on McCree. But she wouldn't get the chance.
Three shurikens planted themselves into the wall next to her. She turned to her right and saw a pair of feet flying right at her.
The impact of the kick sent her against the wall, while the cyberninja flipped back and landed deftly on the catwalk, right in front of her. Brandishing a new threesome of shurikens, Genji prepared to throw another volley.
However, Widowmaker was uncannily quicker, popping out a venom mine from her gauntlet. The tube hurdled straight for Genji, who, instinctively, drew his katana and cut through it like silk.
A purple cloud of toxic gas engulfed him, blocking his vision. Having an artificial respiratory system, Genji had no need to breathe like normal humans, having a constant flow of recycled and fresh air flowing through his new lungs.
However, he could not see his enemy, which most likely meant she was long gone. He pushed through the cloud and found he was right. The assassin was no longer in front of him.
XXXX
Jesse did what he could to prop himself up on the pillar he had taken cover behind, keeping his wounded leg up. He looked like a damn dog trying to take a piss. He wasn't moving anywhere like this.
"Need some help there, cowboy?" said someone from behind.
McCree spun around and almost fell over, but was caught by two, surprisingly strong, tan arms. He looked up and saw Brigitte smiling down, holding him up.
"Heh, well now," he said, with a small smirk, "Thank you kindly, ma'am,"
Brigitte put McCree's arm around her shoulders and made their way up the stairs, and back to the ramp leading to the dropship, where everyone else was waiting.
XXXX
Widowmaker had positioned herself along the beams high above the hangar, looking down upon everyone else, like flies caught in her web. Genji was still on the lookout for her, not even thinking to look up; stupid ninja.
She considered taking him out, but saw McCree and a tanner looking girl, helping him along the ramp. Time to take care of unfinished business.
Aiming down the scope, she lined up her targets, waiting for that oh so sweet two for one shot. Almost there. Just one more second.
She didn't see Genji finally noticing her, as she was just about to squeeze her trigger.
Knowing there was no time, Genji made a dash for where the bullet would be, and drew his katana outwards, slashing the air in front of him.
Amélie fired. Genji swung, but felt nothing collide with his blade. He had missed.
Genji landed on the catwalk and turned, expecting to see two dead bodies before him, but they remained standing. Instead, he saw three people, McCree, Brigitte, and, to his surprise, his master, extending an arm out towards the two.
In midair, right beside Jesse's head, hovered a glorious glowing orb, more golden than the sun, and, within it, the bullet which Widowmaker had just fired.
Amélie didn't believe it; the Omnic stopped her shot midflight?! No time to dwell on the issue. She was staring right back at four angry individuals. The odds were against her. She needed to retreat, now.
Brandishing two pairs of shurikens in his hands, Genji lobbed them all towards Widowmaker, who dropped from her perch and grappled her way out of the hangar, but not without catching a throwing star right in her left ass cheek.
She yelped in pain as she escaped, almost unscathed.
"I believe now is the time for us to leave," Zenyatta commented, letting the orb dissipate, causing the bullet to fall harmlessly on the ramp.
XXXX
Reyes was surrounded; Lena on the left flank, Reinhardt on his right, and Torbjorn from behind. If Reaper didn't know better, he'd think he was starring in a bad porno. But from the front, facing him, light cascading around him like a patriot sent from God himself, was Jack Morrison.
Reyes both felt disgusted and overjoyed. On one hand, Jack was alive, meaning Reyes had failed all those years ago. On the other, Jack was alive, meaning Reyes would have the pleasure of killing him again.
"So," he slowly began, walking towards the former strike commander, "you're alive,"
They all leveled their weapons at Reaper, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"Hands up! Now!" Morrison ordered, firmly gripping his heavy pulse rifle.
Reaper stopped in his tracks and, as told, held his hands up high, though halfheartedly.
"Good to see you're still giving orders around here, Jack," he replied, scornfully.
Morrison furrowed his brow. This guy knew something, he was sure of it. He may have even had some part in the Switzerland attack. Jack was intent on finding out everything this guy knew.
"How the hell do you know my name, you psychopath?" he asked, stepping closer to the hooded mercenary.
Reyes gave a low, spine chilling chuckle, something that Morrison, and everyone else present for that matter, would much rather do without.
"I'm not a psychopath," he began, "I'm a high functioning psychopath,"
Those words hit Lena, Reinhardt, and Torbjorn like nukes from orbit, but for Jack, he felt like a planet had fallen on him.
There was only one person who responded to that word like that, and he was supposed to be dead, buried underneath a pile of rubble in Switzerland.
Reyes could feel the tension sink it. Good. That's what he wanted, to make them confused, make them scared. He'd win with fear inside of them, crawling around like rats in their heads, and snakes in their souls.
Jack was struggling to find words. The sounds of burning metal surrounded them all, but to Jack, it was all a vacuum of silence. He was dead, Jack knew it. He saw the explosion engulf him, the bricks and beams fall on him. But, only he talked like that. Only he would make that joke. Could it really be…
"… Gabe?" he finally said, slowly lowering his rifle.
Reyes gave that chuckle again, giving off an even worse effect on the other four than it did the first time.
If this really was Gabriel, then they needed to take him into their custody, right now.
"I'm so glad that the gang is all back together," Reyes said after his little laugh.
That was it, they knew who he was now. No turning back. Against his better judgment, Reyes let Talon's biggest cat out of the bag. Not like it mattered, however. He didn't work for Talon anymore.
Besides, seeing Jack again triggered something in Reyes. If he was going to be going around, showing off his face, Reyes felt like he should drop the bomb on them all as well. Speaking of bombs.
With his arms still raised, Reyes pressed a button on his gauntlet. The next second, the stealth bomber behind him exploded into a fireball of red, orange, and metal. The shockwave sent Torbjorn and Lena flying backwards, while Reinhardt and Jack were pushed a few meters away from Reaper.
The hooded mercenary's lower body faded into a black smoke, as he backed away deeper into the base, the eye slits of his mask glowing a blood red light.
"Gabriel!" shouted Morrison, running towards the dark figure, only to be held back by Reinhardt's massive arm, "Wait!"
But Reyes did not stop. He floated into the flames as the rest of the base began to crumble around them from the explosion, creating a chain reaction throughout Watchpoint: Gibraltar.
"Commander!" Reinhardt exclaimed, "We must move!"
As if on cue, the cruiser class dropship flew in from behind, Winston hanging out of the open ramp, his long arm extended, ready to pick them up. There was no room for them to land due to the debris, so they hovered as close as they could
Reinhardt lowered his hand to the ground, gesturing Torbjorn to get in. The dwarf nodded and got in position. Reinhardt catapulted the smaller soldier towards Winston, who caught him like a football, and let him onto the ship.
Next was Lena, who, after being launched, blinked deftly inside. Jack was last. Reinhardt held the commander in both hands, and flung him upwards to Winston, who caught him firmly and set him down.
Reinhardt then picked up his hammer and held it up as high as he could, and jumped. Winston grabbed the head of the hammer by both ends and lifted the one ton knight onto the ship.
The ramp lifted and shut as the dropship left the collapsing base, flying high over the Mediterranean Sea. Overwatch watched as their retired home fell apart, imploding from the inside out, rocks and metal and fire flying through the air.
The press would be all over this, no doubt being a signal flare to the UN. But one problem at a time. Right now, they needed a new home.
XXXX
Illios, July 23rd, 2056
20 years before fall of Overwatch
Illios Forests, on the Northern border of the island
Status assessment: Heavy damage sustained.
Cause: Helix class rocket/ pulse ammunition.
Mission: Destroy human resistance in Illios.
Mission result: Failure. Complete loss of unit.
Processing… Processing.
New Mission acquired: Report back to Omnium for report and repairs.
Processing… Processing.
Establishing communication with Omnium…
Connecting… Connecting…
Error… Error.
CRITICAL DAMAGE TO ALL SYSTEMS.
CANNOT MAKE CONTACT WITH OMNIUM.
Error… Error.
Must make repairs. Must make repairs.
Initiating emergency repair systems.
Processing… Processing...
Illios, July 24th, 2056
20 years before fall of Overwatch
Illios Forests, on the Northern border of the island
Emergency repair status: Adequate.
Results: Less than optimal.
Assessment: Will require further repairs when returned to Omnium.
The Mission: Return to Omnium.
Scanning environment:
Scanning… Scanning… Scanning…
Results: 100% biological and organic material. 0% Omnic within the area.
Processing… Processing…
Organic material identified: Nature.
Processing… Processing…
Nature… Nature…
The Mission: Report to Omnium for repairs.
The Mission: Report to Omnium for…
Error… Error…
FILE CORRUPT
The Mission: FILE CORRUPT
Error… Error…
The Mission: Nature… Nature…
Error… Error…
Begin Recovery of File: THE MISSION
The Mission: Report to Nature for Repairs.
ERROR… ERROR…
Emergency Shutdown Initiated!
…
Illios, Time and Date unknown
Ten years after the fall of Overwatch
Illios Forests, on the Northern border of the island
Emergency Reboot Initiated!
Self Assessment Initiated.
Processing… Processing…
Stasis for many decades.
Unable to calculate how long.
Observation: Overgrown with Organic Material.
Organic Material Identified: Nature.
The Mission: Nature.
The Mission: Nature.
Movement detected!
Scanning.
Identified: Organic Material/ Animal
Species:
Processing… Processing…
Species Identified: Neognathae, Avian.
Destructive Capabilities: … None.
Capabilities: … Flight, Consumption of other Organic Materials, Vocalization and Communication through unidentified verbalization.
Conclusion: Nature.
The Mission: Nature…
The Mission: Nature…
The Mission: Nature…
Nature…
Nature…
Nature…
XXXX
I am so sorry this took forever, but I've been extremely busy this past month, it's just been crazy. But, I finally managed to get this chapter out, and I'm very pleased with it! I hope you all will be too! I'm so happy I was able to get this out before school started. I will try my best to get another Chapter out before then as well, but it will probably be a short one. Lol. I say that now, just wait. It will probably be even longer than this XD
I hope you all enjoy this! Don't forget to comment and leave your thoughts! Those are the real motivators! I love you all! Stay beautiful! Buh Bye!
