Russian Thunder.
Aleksandra Zaryanova, one of the world's strongest women, a celebrated athlete who sacrificed personal glory to protect her family, friends, and country in a time of war. Now she serves her country as a symbol to some, and a stalwart fellow soldier to others. But for Aleksandra, it is a chance to use her great strength to protect the ones she loves. While she is sad she had to give up her athletic career, and even holds a small grudge against omnics, she has never regretted sacrificing the fame she could've had if it meant she could do some good in the world, and now she is known as Zarya.
Right now, she was sent on a mission to shut down an Omnium, an automated factory built by the Omnica Corporation and governed by self-improving software algorithms, marketed as a revolution in robotic manufacturing; however, the factories were unable to meet the Corporation's promised output due to malfunctions and were shut down after Omnica was investigated for allegations of fraud. Despite this, several omniums somehow reactivated themselves and produced a new race of intelligent military-grade robots, which also lead to the Omnic Crisis.
The omniums were shut down once again, and permanently, by Overwatch and other groups working against the omnics during the crisis. However, reports suggest the factory is up and running again for an unknown reason, so Zarya and some of her fellow soldiers were sent out to confirm and shut down the place in case it really has been reactivated. Once they arrived, they noticed the dead bodies of the guards stationed there in order to watch the factory in case something might happen.
Saddened by the death of her fellow protectors, Zarya inspected the bodies "They've been dead for a while now. Did the omics do this?".
"I'm not sure about that" One of the soldiers said "Look at how they were killed. It seems like they were killed by stealth attacks. Omnics aren't exactly known for subtle kills. If this were the omnics, these men would've been in far worse shape than this".
"Omnics are always evolving and changing so we can't rule them out. But you have a point, there is a chance someone else did this... someone who wanted the omnium to be reactivated" Zarya said.
"Who would do that? And more importantly, why?" The soldier asked.
"If we find them we'll just have to ask them. But if they are not here, all we can do is hope they left trail we can follow" Zarya said before readying her Particle Cannon. Ripped from the hull of an armored vehicle during battle, the Particle Cannon is far too heavy for most soldiers to carry unassisted, Zarya nicknamed it Mstitel', which means Avenger.
The soldiers followed her as they entered the factory grounds. It didn't take long before rogue omnics besieged them, forcing them to take cover from the hail of gunfire. The soldiers fired back and Zarya needed to get closer in order to use her cannon. Luckily for her, the omnics did the job for her as they approached her and her team. Once they were close enough, Zarya jumped out of cover and fired her canon, destroying all omnics within range. But of course, they kept on coming, no surprise that a facility known for building Omnics, would have an near unlimited supply of them.
Zarya got behind cover as bullets sores through the air, and two of her squad mates were gunned down "No!" She put a finger to her ear "We're taking heavy fire down here, send him in! Now!".
On a plane circling the area, someone was waiting, the pilot received Zarya's order "Copy that, Zarya. Alright big guy, you're up".
A pair of animal eyes opened, followed by a growl.
Back on the ground, Zarya did her best to hold of the onslaught of omnics, but she was starting to get overwhelmed, thanks to bigger and stronger omnics showing up. But she heard something and looked up to see a container fall from the sky and landed right in the middle of the omnic force, crushing some of them under it. The omnics stopped their attack and quickly aimed at the container. Moments later, a bang was heard from inside, before the container was blown open, followed by an powerful electric attack which fried the nearby omnics.
The omnics began firing again, but something massive charged through the bullet storm and powerful claws sliced through the smaller ones like a hot knife through butter. The bigger ones did not fair much better as the beast grabbed the arms of one and tore them of before grabbing what remained and threw it in to several more omnics. One of the bigger omnics took out some blades from it's arms and charged at the beast. But the beast stopped the blades with his paws, before using his powerful jaws tear out the circuits in it's neck, disabling it. He then lifted it above his head and ripped it clean in half. He let out a victory roar as that was the last of them.
"Good to see you made it, Volibear" Zarya said with a smile.
Her back up was named Volibear, a genetically enhanced Polar bear. He was part of an illegal experiment that focused on enhancing the intellect of animals, kind of like the experiment Winston was part of, only this experiment was made specifically to turn animals in to soldiers. The animals was subjected to inhumane experimentation which killed over half of them. Volibear was the strongest out of them all, and once the facility he was being held at was attacked, he took the chance to break free and helped the attackers take down the bastards that tortured him for so long. At first he was detained until they could figure out what to do with him. After confirming he had human level intellect and was capable of speaking like a normal human, he was ultimately offered to join the Russian military, an offer he did not hesitate to accept. War and fighting is what he lives for. It's easy to get used to having a bear in the platoon. He never gets cold, he sleeps all the time when he's not eating or fighting, and he can tear through a fully armored regiment of enemy soldiers and omnics in about six seconds. It's very easy to get used to having a bear in the platoon.
Volibear looked at Zarya "I hope for your sake you didn't bring me down here to take care of a couple of tin cans. This wasn't nearly enough to get my blood going".
"I would've have suggested that you should come along unless I was certain we would need you. I think the worst is inside" Zarya said.
"Fine, let's see what happened here. And maybe I will get to bite the head of the idiot who caused all this" Volibear said.
"I am tempted to let you do that" Zarya said, since she was more than a little mad at whoever would do this.
"That better not be a joke, because I will" Volibear declared as they moved deeper inside along with the remaining soldiers.
Of course the gate to the inside was locked. Not that it mattered as Volibear just pried it open. The experiments did a lot more than increasing his intellect, it also made him much stronger than any normal Polar bear, a notable feat given how strong polar bears normally were. They walked inside, ready for whatever might come. But surprisingly, they didn't meet any resistance. That was suspicious indeed, they expected at least a small army, but there was nothing. They reached the control room and saw a hooded man typing away on a computer.
"Hmm, I expected those left overs to slow you down a little longer than this. Guess that's what I get for relying on old scrap" The man said without turning around.
"Are you the one who reactivated them?" Zarya demanded.
"Guess there is no point in denying it. Yes I did reactivate them because I knew your superiors would send their best here after I disposed of those guards" The man answered, still not turning around.
"Why would you do that!? Do you want another war?" Zaray demanded.
"If that's what it takes for the evolution, then yes I would cause as many wars as I need to" The man answered.
Volibear snarled "And what kind of evolution is that?".
The man finally turned around "The glorious evolution, the one that will free humanity from the weakness of flesh".
Zarya got wide eyes "Wait, you are-".
Before she could finish, the man pressed a button and a screeching sound was heard "Sorry, I am a busy man. I'm sure Rek'Sai will be happy to keep you company".
With that, the man vanished and a Rek'Sai omnic showed up. Rek'Sais were the most violent known omnics ever built, acting a lot more like feral animals than a robot. Whenever one was discovered, they were always a prime target for termination. Zarya and Volibear got ready for a deadly battle, but Rek'Sai burrowed in to the floor.
"It's coming from below!" Volibear shouts before Rek'Sai launched out from the floor and quickly killed the remaining soldiers "NO!".
Rek'Sai avoided his charge and jumped at his back. Volibear roars as Rek'Sai clawed at him, if it wasn't for his armor he would've been torn to shreds. Zayra quickly fired a blast at Rek'Sai's back, allowing Volibear to throw it of. Rek'Sai landed on it's feet like a cat, it screeched before going underground again. Zarya and Volibear got ready for wherever the feral omnic would turn up next. But they were separated when Rek'Sai sent some energy through the ground which exploded between them. Zarya recovered quickly and gasped when Rek'Sai burst out of the floor and rushed her. She quickly put up her barrier, which saved her from being sliced in half by Rek'Sai's deadly claws. But the force of the blow still sent her tumbling across the floor.
Rek'Sai got ready to finish her of, only for Volibear to grab her by the tail and threw her in to a wall. He then showed of his special ability he used earlier. The experiments granted him the ability to generate high voltage, equal to that of a real lightning bolt. He then unleashed it, but the feral omnic managed to avoid it. It was to fast, and Volibear could not pin it down. Zarya got back up from her earlier beating, and she knew there was only one way to slow the deadly omnic down, Graviton Surge. Zarya launches a gravity bomb that begins to draw Rek'Sai in, and finally halting it's insane speed. This gave Volibear enough time to charge up up a stronger surge of power before blasting Rek'Sai with full force, finally destroying the feral omnic.
"Are you alright?" Zarya asked.
"I'm fine... but our platoon..." Volibear answered as he looked at the dead bodies of their comrades.
Zarya's face saddened at the sight "They were good men... they did not deserve that. Just another one of that man's crimes that he will answer for".
"Was it really who we think it was?" Volibear asked.
"No doubt about it. The Man who wants to turn humanity in machines" Zarya answered.
"I hope there is enough human left of him, so I can spill his blood all over the ground" Volibear growled.
"If you get the chance, I will not stop you. But why was he even here?" Zarya wondered.
"I am not a super genius, but if I were to make a rough guess, he must have come here for whatever information remained after this place was shut down".
"If that is the case... just what is he planing to do with it?" Zarya wondered.
A question neither of them had an answer to.
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And that was the second chapter, introducing Volibear, I needed to make this chapter since Volibear's rework helped giving me the push to make this story. As for how he looks, he looks like a cross between his new rework design and his Northern Storm Volibear skin.
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Tell me what you think.