Retribution.
Eight years ago. Reyes, McCree , and Gérard discuss their plan to kidnapp Antonio Bartalotti in order to bring charges against him. An undercover Talon agent plants a bomb in the Blackwatch facility that Reyes, McCree, and Gérard are in, injuring Gérard and killing many others. Later, Jack and Reyes debated whenever or not to kidnap Bartalotti, with Jack being against the plan, saying they couldn't risk this attack going public. Jack ultimately decided to leave the call up to Reyes, asking if it would help Overwatch keep the world safe. Reyes decides to go through with the plan, and organizes his team. McCree, Genji, Moira and another member of Blackwatch who joined them a few months ago, where the ones who would join him on the very sensitive mission.
Some time later the team had arrived in Venice, Italy. The area was patrolled by Talon Troopers. McCree punches a trooper. Another trooper tries to shoot him from above, but Reyes grabs him from behind and silences him, giving a small nod to McCree. Eslwhere, Moira, a geneticist and the team's support member, defeats three troopers from behind with her Biotic Grasp. I another area, the floor is flooded with the bodies of troopers. One remains standing as Genji inserts his blade into its trooper collapses suddenly, and Genji walks away.
Near the entrance of Antonio's office, several more troopers were standing guard. Until they saw something move through the darkness. Two of the guards shared a look before rasing their rifles and approached the spot. But the moment they got there, a red haired woman jumped down from above, stabbing both of them through the chest. The remaining guards where about to shoot her, but the woman quickly threw several five high tech throwing knives in to their heads, killing the remaining guards.
This woman was Katarina, an young assassin that was once hired to kill one of Overwatch's supporters. She was caught and was going to serve life in prison. But after the group that employed her to carry out the assassination was taken down, Reyes approached her, believing that her skills could prove useful for their less than clean operations, he gave her a choice: Rot away in a cell, or join Blackwatch. The choice was easy to make.
Katarina retrieved her knives as the rest of the team arrived "What took you guys so long?".
"Just stopped to admire the view for a bit. Italy is nice this time of year" McCree answered jokingly.
Katarina rolled her eyes but smiled non the less "Well, the area is clear. Shall we meet our most gracious host?".
"Of course. It would be rude to keep him waiting" Reyes said as the team enter the office.
Antonio was looking out the window. He notices Reyes' reflection in the glass "Good evening, Commander Reyes. How will this look on the news? Overwatch unlawfully abducting a respected businessman? Even if you take me now, my friends would have me released within the week. All these theatrics... have been a waste of our time".
Reyes hesitates as Antonio looks at him "You're right".
Out of nowhere, Reyes suddenly fires at the corrupt businessman. Antonio's body crashes through the window and flies out, startling a nearby trooper on patrol. Alarms are blaring inside the office, alerting the whole area to their presence. Safe to say their cover was completely blown.
Surprised and angry, McCree walks up to Reyes and glares in to his eyes "Reyes, what did you do? This was NOT the plan!"
Reyes was not affected by his student's anger "Well, looks like we're going with Plan B".
McCree looks at Reyes angrily, before withdrawing his peacekeeper revolver as the rest of the team stands in a straight row. With their cover blown, there was no other option, they would need to fight their way out of this situation.
"So much for a simple mission" Katarina mumbled.
"Nothing is ever simple with these guys" Moira said calmly as they moved out of the office, only to encounter an reinforced exit.
"Looks like they got this place sealed tight. Someone start a breach on the front door. We need to get out of here before the whole base is on top of us" Reyes ordered.
"Almost like someone woke 'em up" McCree reminded as they placed an explosive welder on the reinforced door.
"We got company!" Katarina called out as several troopers charged in, guns blazing.
The team took cover as Reyres and McCree returned fire, managing to hit several troopers that got to close. But the troopers soon became smart enough to not try an rush the team and took cover themselves. With a silent order from Reyes, Katarina and Genji used the gun battle as a distraction to move behind their enemies. One trooper noticed Katarina to late as she quickly stabbed him in the chest, the second trooper turned to fire at her, but Katarina cut his rifle in half before slicing open his throat, killing him within seconds. Meanwhile, Genji showed up behind the other troopers, they quickly turned and fired, only for the bullets to be sent right back at them.
"So. What do we do now, Boss?" McCree asked.
"We get out of this room, then head through the city to the extraction point. After that we sit tight and hope someone comes to pick us up" Reyes answered.
McCree scoffed "Quite a plan B. Not sure why I was even worried".
"Why are you so concerned about one death, McCree? It's not the first time we've had to kill" Genji pointed out.
"This was an execution" McCree answered.
"Dead... is dead. I believe you found an expedient solution, Commander" Genji said.
Reyes smiled "See? The Ninja agrees with my decision".
"And to be fair, that approach worked well on dealing with my former employers" Katarina added "Otherwise we might still be enemies by now".
"You are very comforting, Katarina" McCree said sarcastically.
Katarina shrugged before another wave showed up, forcing another fight. The enemies were relentless, but ultimately, the team where able to deal with them as the door was getting closer to being broken down.
"We're making progress on the door. How's everyone doing?" Reyes asked.
"Ha ha. Couldn't be better!" McCree answered.
"Just grand here" Moira added.
"No need to worry about us, their weapons aren't to good in close combat. Harder to aim that way" Katarina said before she heard something "Son of a... how many guns did that fat jerk have?".
"Enough for a small army" Reyes answered as another wave of enemies arrived.
"You know, I think I've changed my mind about killing the man. Or at the very least you could've done it more quietly" Katarina said in annoyance.
"I'll take that under advisement" Reyes said as he quickly shot down several troopers. After another taxing shoot out, the door finally came down "Everyone through the breach. We're getting out of here".
"Heard you troublemakers might need a ride. Head for the art gallery. I'll pick you up there" Their pilot said over the com link.
"You heard her. Let's move" Reyes ordered.
They hurried through the streets, fighting over several more enemies on the way, even having to avoid snipers, who were dealt with by Katarina and Genji who managed to sneak around the line of sight and take them out. They finally reached the extraction point near a cafe, but many more enemies were hot on their heals.
"We're at the extraction point. Where are you?" Reyes demanded.
"I'm just entering Venice airspace. It shouldn't be much longer" The pilot answered.
"If you're not coming soon, you may as well turn around" Reyes said in mild annoyance.
"Woah, don't listen to him. We're getting out of here" McCree quickly cut in before dodging a shot "This is your fault, Commander. We had a plan. We could've walked Antonio
right out of the city. I didn't sign up for this".
"Can you two stop measuring dicks long enough for us to get out of here!?" Katarina demanded as she dodged around some gun shots and threw several daggers in to some of their enemies.
"Language" Moira said as she blasted away some enemies that tried to flank her.
Katarina ignored her as she kept killing the incoming enemies. She then noticed several Talon Assassins approaching her. These ones were tricky since they were fast and could appear just about anywhere they wished. Katarina prepared her blades before quickly blocking a strike from behind. But she had to avoid an strike that almost took her head of. She kicked one of the assassins away before stabbed the other in the chest. When the assassin she kicked recovered, Katarina quickly threw a knife in to the assassin's head.
Suddenly, a Heavy Assault unit arrived, equipped with a pair of chain-guns. It began unloading at the team, forcing them to dash for cover as the powerful bullets tore through anything they hit. Katarina was pinned down by the hail of bullets, and her cover was crumbling fast. If she stayed it was only a matter of time before he cover was destroyed and she would be gunned down. But if she tried to move, there is no guarantee that she would be able to get far before she was hit. She may be fast, but even she would have a hard time avoiding such powerful weapons for long.
"I wouldn't be offended by a little help!" Katarina called out to her team.
"Working on it!" Reyes replied as he used his special ability to turn in to smoke and travel behind the heavy assult soldier and unloaded several blasts in to his back.
Finally free form the hail of bullets, Katarina was ready to rejoin the battle. However, she did not expect another assassin to show up. Katarina had just enough time to look up as the assassin jumped down towards her. Katarina could not dodge in time and the assassin swung it's blade... A scream echoed through the area as Katarina fell to the ground, holding her now bleeding eye. The Assassin got ready to kill her, but Katarina let out an enraged scream as she tackled the assassin down before stabbing the helpless talon to death with one of her daggers. She took up her blades and with another scream she charged and began butchering every talon trooper in her path, some even tried to run away, only to be mercilessly stabbed from behind.
Reyes and McCree finished of the Heavy Assault Tropper before they noticed Katarina's rampage, with Reyes calling out "Katarina! Pull back now!" When Katarina ignored him he cursed "Damn it! Moira!".
"On it" Moira said before getting in front of Katarina and used some kind of gass on her, making Katarina fall to her knees, breathing hard "Good, it's still working. Are you calm now?".
"Yes..." Katarina replied before holding her eye in pain.
Moira walked up to her and moved her hand away "Hmm. I believe your eye can be saved. There will be a nasty scar though".
Katarina didn't care much about that as she got up "Where is the damn extraction?".
As if on cue, their pilot was heard "Commander. I have visual on your position. I'm coming in for a landing, but it's gonna be a little hot".
"Everyone, get ready to get on board" Reyes ordered.
"'Bout damn time!" McCree said in a tired tone before he noticed Katarina "Damn, are you ok?".
"I will be when we get out of here" Katarina said, her eye still hurting.
"Blackwatch team. Head to the roof of the restaurant for immediate evac" Their pilot said.
"This is it. Don't do anything stupid" Reyes ordered.
"Well, you clearly have that covered" McCree said as they hurried up to the roof and their ride finally arrived.
"Doors are open. Everyone get on board so we can get out of here" Their pilot said
"Not a second too soon" Reyes said as they piled in to the transport and finally got out of there.
Things did not get much easier after the mission. Reyes had to deal with Jack and Ana who were less than pleased by what he had done. This mission would mark the beginning of the end for Overwatch.
Back in the present day, Katarina was now a member of Talon. After Overwatch was shut down, there was no other place for an assassin like her. The irony was not lost on her that she was now helping the people she used to kill. But it was not all bad, Reyes was still her commander and he made sure her talents were not wasted. Katarina never looked back on the old days, because those days where far behind her now.
And now. Katarina lived for only one thing: Killing whoever she was told to kill.
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Katarina in this story has her Project skin but retains her red hair from her original look.
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Tell me what you think.