*India: Utopaea*
Vishkar Corporation has faced intense backlash and investigations from the Russians ever since its armies perished to its tainted crates. With endless, almost possessed investigations on a daily basis, it only became worse when the lead architect for the product in question, Sanjay Korpal, was found assassinated in his office.
The company has lost millions of dollars due to the lack of productivity and bad PR, they had to quickly introduce a new brand of Hard-Light to recover it all. To do this, they have invited hundreds of potential investors from around the world to witness their new project that would reshape humanity.
At least that was the marketing.
The main presentation will be held in the Community Center and from the hundreds of invited guests swelled to a thousand, as they came with their aides or protection. Waiting in the impressively large hall, they waited to be guided to their seat by number and standing in the crowd, stands two of the most hunted individuals in the world.
"I can't believe that the trail leads us to this place" Baptiste said, grabbing a chicken tikka and some samosas from a passing waiter.
"Just don't eat too much, don't want you puking halfway through the next firefight" Sombra said after hacking the last camera in the room.
"I thought you said we'd take it easy here?"
"Well, as safe as two most wanted people would be in a public event"
"Remind me" Baptiste said after swallowing "What is our objective here?"
"The trail leads to an attendee here, our objective is to find out why"
"Why didn't we bring our weapons then?"
"This ain't a run and gun mission, we are just here to observe"
"That's what you said everytime…"
"This time I mean it"
"That's what you said last time…"
"Attention everyone!" a voice called out through the speakers "We will now guide you to your seats, if you would kindly step forward when we call out your number…"
In a constant flow, people stepped forward and were escorted to their seats, including Sombra and Baptiste, who had the best seats in the house, a private glass room above the crowd and full view of the stage. The walls are completely transparent and if it were not for a single control panel attached to it, they could not tell where it could've been. Immediately toying with it, Baptiste figured out the light controls and even how to raise the seats from the ground.
"Fancy" he commented when champagne was offered from the waitress.
"Since we're on the run, might as well do it with style" she said, leaning back and kicking off her heels before resting her feet on the glass.
With the extra time they have as the room below is only half filled, he took the time to observe the people and was impressed to see so many investors in one place.
"I realize there's no Omnics down there"
"Not surprising, considering what happened during the First Omnic Crisis"
"My history's a bit blurry… Mind refreshing it a bit since we're waiting?"
"Just a few Asian countries coming together for a counter attack" Sombra yawned "Then the Null Sector found out about it and struck first"
"Oh yeah… One of them was totally destroyed right?"
"Yyyyyuuuuppppp" she replied as disgusting images of Agong came back to haunt her.
"Amazing how the people here can recover so well" he marveled, having seen the glittering city when they flew in.
"That's what happens when you have Hard Light in the military"
The lights darken and the crowd became silent as two Architects stood up and bowed before waving their hands in the air. Like magic, a stage of their design was weaved into existence, beginning with the foundations, then the pillars, completing it with a beautifully crafted podium and escalators that lead to it, which the CEO of Vishkar Corporation used.
"He's looking fancy" Baptiste commented, counting the many ornaments of the cone shaped helm that the CEO was wearing.
"Don't let that fool you, that thing has more processing power than this entire city"
The man started with a welcome, followed by a boring recount of the achievements of Vishkar and how it impacted the world. At a particular point he was droning a little bit too long regarding the debacle in Russia that Sombra raised a hand and hacked into the system.
"... and once again, we, the Vishkar Corporation, take safety measures seriously and onto the next slide because I am… Dragging…?" the CEO read and snapped a look at his aides, who were all horrified as the prompter and presentation began flicking by quickly.
Helpless, they stood and watched, trying their best to remain composed as the audience began to laugh, some even applauding, thinking that this was part of the event. Flickering through boring stock information and whatever could be found in the public media, it finally stopped at the highlight of the event.
The Vishkar Space Station.
"Well that's interesting" Sombra commented, putting her hand down as the room broke into excited whispers.
"Err… Ahem… Yes, the Vishkar Space Station" the CEO mumbled, flicking through his notes and writing a personal one to himself regarding who to issue a letter to later.
Using the same concept of a submarine, he boasted that the space station can be manned at minimum, by a single, requiring little to no maintenance as Hard-Light has been proven to be nigh unbreakable and extremely flexible, expanding as easy as a simple thought in the hands of a skilled architect.
This revolutionary step into space travel captured the imagination of the room, many of them have dreamt of creating their own cities within the expansion of space and before them are the very means to do it. However, this was not received without scrutiny, as a substantial number of people still remember the disastrous Hard-Light poisoning in Russia.
"This is great, I've always imagined what space looks like" Baptiste said excitedly.
"Oi, don't forget why we're here"
"Oh common, there's hundreds of people down there! How are we going to find who we are looking for even if we know what he/she looks like?"
"Just watch and learn Bap, we will know after the presentation"
The rest of the day was boring, Sombra even slept for most parts of the latter presentation, where it was mostly an introduction of the Architects involved in it and their past achievements, only waking up when the crowd applauded and some VIPs were speaking to the CEO.
"'bout time…" she yawned.
"Wait, none of that was important?" Baptiste said annoyingly, having forced himself to listen to the entire presentation.
"Would it make you feel better if I said it was?"
"Maybe?!"
"In that case… Maybe... Now put these on and press the button when you get a clear look at their face" she said, tossing a pair of binoculars with a red button on it before looking through her own pair.
"You're lucky we're partners…" he muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing"
After that they sat silently, pressing the button whenever they had a clear look at anyone's face talking to the CEO, each click crossing out the names that Sombra had floating out in front of them.
10 minutes later, the room began clearing, including the VIPs.
"So how many are off the list?" Baptiste asked, putting down the binoculars.
"All of them except this one… Which is interesting" she said, pointing to the only man in the list whose name remained uncrossed. An Adam Smith.
"Why?"
"Security is strict, VIP seats are full, and yet these aren't on the list, which would mean-"
"He managed to sneak in, killed the real Adam and used his identity card!"
"Err… Yes" Sombra nodded, slightly taken aback at his enthusiasm "Though might've just knocked Adam out but… Yes, accurate"
Baptiste sat back and drank the last of the champagne from his glass, satisfied that he had earned one of her rare approval before standing up when she did.
"Ready?" she asked, putting on a pair of sunglasses.
"Ready" he said, putting on his own.
"Happy that I asked this time?"
"Just do it…"
Apagando las luces
Darkness and platforms all collapsed in an instant, forcing everything and everyone to stumble and fall as the EMP destroyed every Hard Light material it touched. However, the response from the Architects in the room was impressive, all of them quickly creating another wall or roof to protect the people from the falling debris.
Peering through the panicked red highlights, it took them only a moment to spot the green glow standing under one of the Architects. With his Exo Boots, Baptiste leapt into the air while Sombra threw a Relocator down towards them.
"Hey there" she greeted the shocked faces.
A soft thud made them look up and saw Baptiste smiling and waving down at them.
"Identify yourself!" the Architect shouted, pointing his Photon Projector at her.
"Chill, both of us are his protection" she said, pointing to Adam.
"What? Who sent you?" he asked suspiciously, clutching to his suitcase tighter.
"The H and the L and the C"
Like a switch and without hesitation, he stood up to follow her, an action that disgusts her. If he was an Omnic, it will be an expected reaction, but to see a human turned into a machine will always be distressing.
"H-Hey! It's still dangerous out there!" the Architect warned, but was ignored.
"I am honored that the Iris has her eyes on me" Adam whispered.
"Yeah yeah, common"
So tall are the structures of Utopaea, that random debris continues to fall, making it dangerous for anyone without hard hats. Crawling over some chandeliers, they walked out of the danger zone, and soon, out of sight from everyone else.
Still, they remained quiet until they reached the hotel that Sombra and Baptiste used as their base of operations. Decorated with Shambali ornaments and even a short prayer from Baptiste, who memorized a passage from a prayer book and Adam was utterly convinced that they were agents of the Iris.
"What news from above?" Adam asked.
"They are getting impatient and find you have been lacking in your duties" Sombra replied aggressively "So they want your report now in case the next attack would take you out"
"That attack was directed at me? Impossible… I made sure that no one could find me"
"Looks like you ain't as secretive as you thought" Baptiste added.
"I… I await my penance" he said, his head hung in shame.
"It all depends on your report amigo, the less detail, the lighter your penance"
"Lighter?"
"You're saying that you reject the Iris's mercy?" she asked.
"Never!" he replied and fumbled about his briefcase.
"Talk about toying with his mind" Baptiste mused.
"He brought it upon himself" Sombra replied, watching them unlock the briefcase "All fanatics always think that more pain equates to purity or holiness"
"Even the Shambali?"
"I said fanatics, not the religion, though you can sometimes argue that some do share the same principles"
"Here! Everything is in here"
Out of everything Sombra and Baptiste were expecting. The object that Adam held up with reverence and awe was so shocking to them, that he realized his mistake.
"You… You are not Shambali!" he shouted.
Stashing away the Floppy Disk into his coat, he pulled out his pistol and fired at them. Diving behind cover, his shots were absorbed harmlessly into the Hard-Light walls and furniture. Seeing this, Adam bolted to the door and tried to force it open, but the hardware controlling it has been hacked.
He looked around desperately, knowing he was no match for them, he came to an exciting conclusion. These heretics must never look into the blessed case or the disk, to corrupt the holiness of these gifts that were granted to him by Mother. No doubt they would subject him to the most painful of tortures to assist reveal its secrets, he prayed a quick prayer, and pointed his pistol at the window and shattered it with a single shot.
This was the sign he had been looking for. Every building here is made from Hard Light, and to destroy it with a single bullet is nothing short of a miracle. He knew what he must do.
He had lived a meaningless life. All the wealth and power he had gathered in his youth has been absolutely meaningless, filled with sin. Now was the moment that could give his life meaning, the death of a martyr that will surely inspire the next generation of followers.
Today, he will be one with the Iris.
Sombra and Baptiste counted that was his last bullet and peaked out of cover just in time to see him running out the window.
"I hate these locos!" she shouted and before Baptiste could stop her, she leapt out the window.
"Sombra!" he cried, pulling out an Immortality Field as he ran to the window..
Equations bounded all over in his head like a pinball machine. If he throws it to the ground too early, it would deactivate before she hits the ground, a second too late, she will die. He must be absolutely sure when and how hard to throw it, or else…
"Don't even think about jumping out that window" Sombra said calmly, hacking the suitcase open to reveal an ancient laptop inside with a Floppy Reader.
He skidded to a halt and winced, not because he heard the faint splatting sound and screaming from below, but he would've been too late anyway to save her.
"I think we gotta go, that would attract some attention" he said, hiding his shock.
"Not until I read what's in here" she said, inserting the Floppy Disk into the computer.
"Why? Can't you just hack into it?"
"Floppy Discs are unhackable"
"I thought you always say anything can be hacked?"
"Not these!" she snapped.
"Alright… Then let's go someplace safer"
"It'll be fine Bap, this will only take a few minutes"
He kept quiet as she worked, not wanting to distract her and waste precious time. They had already taken down a building and the authorities are no doubt on high alert, it would not take them long to realize there is a pancake of a man who jumped out of the only room with its Hard Light glass destroyed.
"Man, haven't these guys heard of a folder? The files are everywhere!" she complained, scrolling through hundreds of files that filled the entire screen.
"Just use the search bar!" he said nervously as the sirens grew louder.
"There are hundreds of HLC in here, search bar ain't gonna help"
To make himself feel better, Baptiste began barricading the door with furniture, hoping that it would buy them some extra time. Halfway through his attempt, a loud bang came from the door, the force so powerful that it shook the room and black smoke seeped in from underneath the door, causing even Sombra to glance at it with an inquisitive look.
"If that was the police, they would've just deleted the door" she said, turning her attention back to the screen.
Looking through the peephole with his glasses, he scanned and counted two figures planting another bomb and three others in the back, all heavily armed.
"Got it"
Baptiste could not have been happier to hear those words and ran to her side to look at the screen, his jaw dropping when he saw what was in it.
"Is that…" he began.
"Yes"
"That is why we can't find them anywhere"
"Yup"
"I suppose we are going after them?"
"Yes, but we need more manpower to take this one down"
"Who do you have in mind?" Baptiste said, already thinking who she might call to help them.
"Just some old friends I'm keeping tabs with, however..." she said, enlarging the picture "We need to go to this temple first"
"A trail?"
"Yup, this Floppy Disc came from there and I'd like to know why... Then after that we will break my friends out of prison"
The second bomb ripped through the door and five mercenaries ran in, their weapons humming with electrical energy, and checked each room with an air of professionalism that can be found only from the most dangerous of groups. After a quick search, they confirmed that the room is empty, the only thing out of place is the broken window and a suitcase on the table.
*Overwatch: Armory*
In a shower of sparks, Brigitte smashed apart another Training Bot. She had been training without rest for an hour and her knees shook as she pants heavily while Reinhardt watched from the side.
"Again" Reinhardt instructed.
To his dismay, her physical performance has become weaker once again, barely up to the standards of a Squire, let alone a Crusader. Ever since her decision to lighten her shield to follow his example, she had missed the finer details that he had weakened his shield in favor of more speed and armor, two traits that she does not have in her kit, thus resulting to her having a weaker body than when she had heavier gear.
However, there is still hope, as she can still knock him down with a Shield Bash when he charges, a fact that still confuses him to this day. She can still become a Crusader if she-
"Will the future need the Crusaders?" he thought.
The Crusaders were created to exploit the Null Sector's weakness, which were its slow or stationary troops. He remembered that all they needed to do be the impenetrable wall against their enemies as his fellow allies attack from behind the shield. Sadly, those tactics are long gone.
The Second Omnic Crisis had shown that even with his wealth of experience, he nearly met his end in Russia when he tried the same methods, finding himself to only provide a temporary barrier in the open and forced to take cover more with Angela instead of being in the front where he belonged. As glorious as the tale is that he survived the encounter with the Behemoth, it became clearer that the old ways are fading out.
"Reinhardt?"
He blinked and saw all the Training Bots are still floating in place.
"Why are all the bots still standing?"
"They just repaired themselves, are you alright?"
"Me? Always!" he laughed, stretching his arms and picked up his Hammer "It's just that standing around here is so boring"
As Reinhardt started swinging around at the training bots, Tobrjorn walked out of his office, having just repaired some weapons.
"How are the bots?" he asked.
"They're fine papa, though I still feel bad that they say 'ow' and 'ouch' whenever we hit them"
"They're just some cute sound effects, nothing more"
"Can't you mute them?"
"That would make everything boring, besides, if the sounds make you uncomfortable, it ain't too late for you to start using my turrets"
"I already told you, using turrets or ranged weaponry is not the Crusader way"
"Then how about this, I can mount a little shield generator on your back" he said, pulling out a blueprint "It'll create a 'bubble' of protection for everyone near ya"
"No papa…"
"Why not? A Crusader's job is to protect everyone ain't it?"
"With my barrier! Not some shield generator!"
"This ain't gonna take your barrier away, just a little help"
Before Brigitte could give her angry reply when a loud crash sounded from the other side of the room.
"Aarrgh!"
"Reinhardt!" both of them cried and ran to the Crusader, who is now on his knees, his hammer lodged into the wall across the room.
"What happened?" Brigitte asked.
Reinhardt tried to answer but he couldn't, his teeth gritted tight in pain. They tried to pick him up but he remained on the ground, indicating that his back is the source of the problem.
"Athena! Get the doctor here now!" Torbjorn called.
"No… Belay that order" Reinhardt growled immediately.
"But you need to get that checked out!" Brigitte cried.
"No, I just need to catch my breath…"
"But!" she protested, stopped only when Torbjorn grabbed her shoulder.
"You heard him, grab us some water"
Seeing that he was not asking, she nodded reluctantly and ran out of the Armory. After making sure that the door was locked did Torbjorn tap Reinhardt gently on the head with his claw.
"Common get up, can't be that bad"
"Hehehe…" Reinhardt chuckled weakly and shook his head "This one is bad"
"Look, I know everyone has told you before" Torbjorn said, looking quickly at the door again "You've done enough, you have earned your rest"
"Never… I will not give up the fight" he groaned, slowly getting back up to his feet as the pain subsides.
"At least get the doc to look at ya"
"No, I will be alright"
Torbjorn watched as Reinhardt limped to the wall, even winced just by looking at the amount of effort needed to pull the hammer free. His first clue of his health weakening was last year when he asked for the barrier to become lighter, but now as he looked at his old friend properly, he was saddened by what he saw.
His once golden hair has become pure white and he hid much of his wrinkles behind his beard. His armor has been repaired more times than he could count, many a time Torbjorn swore he was building a whole new suit entirely when Reinhardt returns after a particularly difficult battle. Torbjorn has seen lions before in zoos and he could not help but feel that the man standing before him is just like them, however, instead of the strength and pride that they emit, Reinhardt felt more akin to an old lion fighting desperately to remain relevant in an age that is, once again, leaving behind the need of knights or honourable combat.
"What was that you said to Brigitte? A shield generator?" Reinhardt asked.
"Oh that, just something I cooked up in the drawing board… Don't worry, I won't put it on her, wouldn't wanna break your stupid code"
"How soon will it take for you to mount it on her armor?"
"Wait what? You approve?"
"With only one condition. Instead of shield generator, call it an armor generator"
"Deal"
"What deal?" Brigitte asked, having just ran back with a bottle of water.
"Ahh, thank you Brigitte, this is exactly what I need" Reinhardt said, accepting the drink. Just when he finished it, Athena made a basewide announcement.
"All agents of Overwatch, report to the War Room. All agents of Overwatch, report to the War Room"
*Gibraltar: War Room*
Once everyone was seated, Morrison motioned for Athena to bring up the slide, showing the city of Utopaea. According to the translated reports on screen, the local authorities are calling it a terrorist attack. After everyone had read what was needed, Morrison began speaking.
"As you can see, there has been a terrorist attack in Utopaea so-"
"We are going to go after them!" Reinhardt shouted enthusiastically, making some in the room jump at his sudden outburst.
"No, that is not why I called for this meeting"
Disappointed, Reinhardt sat back down and fought the urge to slump in his seat.
"The reason why I called this meeting, was to warn everyone that this terrorist is someone who is careful, articulate, and purposeful, someone whom we know very well, even fought alongside her in Venice"
Winston shifted in his seat. What is Jack planning here? Just a few days ago he told Winston that no one else must know about his private operation to hunt Sombra down and it is unlike him to change his mind so suddenly.
"Why would she be a concern for us? Is she planning to attack Gibraltar?" Angela asked, prepared to lockdown all the research they have recovered.
"We have no evidence that she will infiltrate HQ, but all agents need to be on guard against her, especially when out in the field"
"Where are we needed?" Winston asked.
"At this moment, remain in the base, once we have more information or if Sombra shows herself again, then we will take action"
"Then what is the point of us having this meeting?" Reinhardt asked.
"The United Nations and the Omnics will hold a Peace Treaty Ceremony, which they are calling it the Pax Aeternum Treaty, in a month's time, we are in charge of their protection"
Everyone in the room looked at one another when they heard those words. They had been so used to living the life of a criminal that to be the UN's sanctioned bodyguard is a very strange thing to hear, especially so soon after their reinstatement.
"Until then, we were also tasked to investigate this" Morrison continued, changing the slide to a picture of a ruined building in the middle of a lake "There has been an unprovoked attack in France yesterday and the United Nations are keen to know where it came from"
"Can't the local authorities handle that?" Brigitte asked.
"They have, which is why they called the UN, then in turn, us to find out who did it"
"That sounds easy enough" Torbjorn voiced out.
"Unfortunately, it will not be that easy, as the projectile is a complete mystery"
"What could be so mysterious about a few scraps of metal and the chemical it uses?"
"Because it is not scraps of metal"
"Excuse me?"
"According to the local authorities, the projectile was a boulder, inside was filled with flammable liquid and explosives"
"Whatcha saying? Someone launched a rock with a catapult?"
"Very unlikely, but this is why we are here. All teams are to figure out what it is, where it came from, and most importantly, who carried out this attack"
"There wasn't much left, but everything they had confiscated has arrived a few hours ago, all teams are to..." Athena began.
20 minutes into the presentation, Reinhardt stood up and made his way to the door.
"Where are you going?" Morrison called out.
"I have heard what I needed to hear, this is not something for a Crusader" he said simply and exited the room.
Everyone looked at Morrison fearfully, dreading his wrath, but it never came, he merely nodded and continued the presentation without any changes in his tone.