Glitch In The System
Watchpoint Gibraltar- Outside agents barracks
It didn't take Widow long to make the journey from Winston's lab to the agents barracks, gaining the attention of almost every soldier she passed. No one knew for sure why Widow was sprinting through the base, yet they all could guess why.
As she neared the barracks, she readied a pistol, which had been in its holster all day. With Talon forces still at the base, every agent had been told to be armed in some form. Since carrying her rifle around would have been inconvenient, Widow had kept a pistol on her instead.
Upon arriving, Widow was surprised to see she wasn't the first agent there. Torbjorn was already outside the building, knelt down next to the door, with its control panel open. Next to him was Echo, who was using her focusing beam on the door, trying to weaken it. Sat nearby was Widow's rifle, along with a few rounds of ammo, her thermal goggles and her grappling hook.
"Had any luck?" Widow asked Torb, as she placed her pistol back in its holster and picked up her gear.
"Not yet." Torb replied, not looking away from the control panel. "Surprisingly, the doors were made to be difficult to hot wire."
"And difficult to damage it seems." Echo added, as she continued using her focusing beam.
"We don't have time to wait." Widow said, placing her thermal goggles on and checking they were working. "Do you have a backup plan?"
"Actually, I do. He's on his way. Until then, I'll keep trying to get us in."
Although she didn't like it, Widow had little choice but to wait. There wasn't another way inside, or at least a way in that didn't lead to a locked door. She quickly put her grappling hook on and picked up Widow's Kiss, making sure to grab the extra ammo before checking the weapon over. While she was doing this, Ana arrived at the barracks, her biotic rifle slung over her shoulder.
"Winston filled me in. Heard anything from inside?"
"Nothing." Before Widow could continue, Sombra contacted her.
"Widow, can you hear me?"
"Oui, I can. What's the situation?"
"I'm certain that there's someone else in the system. I've secured your comm channel, so no one else but you can hear me but I can't promise they aren't listening to any others."
"So don't use the comms unless we have to." Widow said aloud, gaining a nod from Ana. "What about the barracks? Any chance you can help us get inside?"
"I'm not exactly sure what's going on in there. All the cameras are down but I can see doors locking and unlocking throughout the building. Any agents in there are also stuck, since their rooms won't unlock. As for help getting you in, I've taken control of most of the bases systems but the agents barracks is taking a bit longer. Someone's actively trying to keep me out."
"So we have an enemy hacker in the base?" Widow asked.
"Possibly. I'll update you when I know more. For now, I'll keep working on regaining control of the barracks, though you might need to find another way in."
"Got it. What about defences inside the barracks?"
"They're not active as far as I can see but be careful. Until I have control of them, someone else could easily turn them against you."
"Understood."
Widow deactivated her earpiece, passing on what she'd been told to Ana, before looking over to Torb, who was still working on opening the door. Both her and Ana watched him for a few minutes, before the sound of loud, armoured footsteps drew their attention away.
The two women looked towards the source of the sound, seeing Reinhardt approaching with his armour on and his hammer in hand.
"What's the situation?" He asked, as Mercy joined them, wearing her Valkyrie suit and holding her staff. Pharah was not far behind, dressed in her Raptora suit with her rocket launcher in hand.
"We've lost control of the systems inside the agents barracks." Ana began, speaking loud enough so that everyone could hear. "We believe the missing Talon agents are inside and are looking for Tracer and Emily. So, we need to find them and get them to safety."
Ana paused, receiving a nod from Reinhardt, Mercy and Pharah before speaking up again.
"Torbjorn, any luck on the door."
The engineer sighed. "Nothing. I probably can open it but it'll take too long... Echo, what about you?"
"I have managed to weaken the structural integrity of the door. However, it will still need a large amount of force to open."
"Plan B it is." Torb announced, standing up and turning to Reinhardt. "Smash it open. I'll fix it later."
The crusader looked to Ana, who simply shrugged at his silent question.
"You heard him Reinhardt. Smash it open."
"Consider it done."
The crusader moved to the door, stepping to the side and placing his hammer against it, while everyone else moved a short distance away. Once the other agents were clear, Reinhardt moved his hammer back and then swung at the door, his hammer crashing against the metal door.
The door didn't break so easily though, as it was still built to withstand a small amount of damage from any intruders. Reinhardt took another swing at it, this time using the hammers rocket and causing some damage. The door began to crack open and the inside of the barracks could be seen through a few larger gaps. After a third strike, the door gave way, granting the agents access.
"Nice work Reinhardt." Ana commented, before speaking to the rest of the agents present. "Torbjorn stay out here and make sure no one enters or leaves through this door."
"Got it."
"Fareeha, go and cover the other door. I don't want anyone sneaking in or out without us knowing."
Pharah gave her mum a quick nod, before boosting up into the air, flying over the building and out of sight.
"The rest of us will go inside and find Tracer and Emily. Widow, you're our eyes in there. Keep your thermal vision up and make sure we don't walk into a trap. Reinhardt, Echo, hold back with Mercy and keep her covered. Until we know for sure what's going on in there, we don't engage unless absolutely necessary. Understood?"
The team nodded, while Torb began setting up a turret, making sure the main door was covered.
"Good. Watch your backs in there."
The team began to move inside, Widow activating her thermal goggles and taking the lead. She did a quick check around the main door, confirming that any defences were currently turned off before signalling the team inside. As the rest of the team entered, she activated her earpiece and contacted Sombra.
"Sombra, we've entered the barracks and are moving further inside."
Winston's lab
"Copy that."
Sombra was busy typing away in the office, trying to secure as much of the Overwatch system as she could.
At this point, Sombra was basically in control of the entire watchpoint. She'd set every door that she could to require security checks, the defensive systems were online and she had Winston watching the base through the cameras. She'd even locked down access to the computers, making sure no one else could access any important files without her knowing and was in the process of securing the comm channels.
The only thing she still didn't have control of was the agents barracks. That was taking much longer, thanks to something actively working against her efforts.
With the level of control she currently had, anyone else would probably be very nervous about what Sombra was doing. Thankfully, Winston seemed to trust her and hadn't objected to her doing so much so quickly. He understood that it was the only way they could be sure nothing else was breached.
The truth was that with so much access, Sombra could easily cripple Overwatch with a simple push of a button. Not that she had any intention of doing so. In fact, she was discovering a few weaknesses in the system that she fully intended on fixing later, after discussing it with Winston of course.
"How's it going?" The gorilla asked the hacker, scanning over the various images on his own computer screen. He's just finished talking with Morrison, informing him of the situation and what they knew so far.
Since they didn't know if Talon had anything else planned and the number of agents available was limited, Morrison was staying put in the cell block along with Sojourn, letting Ana take the lead at the agents barracks but staying ready in case anything else happened.
"I've managed to secure most of the base's systems and I've restricted access to the files on the database. With Athena down, I've had to take over some things she was in control of, though it's nothing I can't handle. The agents barracks is taking a bit longer though. I'm almost certain there's someone or something in the system actively fighting me for control."
"If that's the case, will you be able to regain control?"
"I should be able to, though until I know exactly what's in the system, it'll take some time." Sombra replied, typing away on her computer as she worked to restore control.
As she typed, Sombra thought over how Talon could have breached Overwatch's systems without anyone realising. With so many people at the base, some one would have noticed if anyone was attempting a hack from inside the base and Athena would have realised the moment anyone tried from the outside.
she took a moment to consider what Athena had suggested just before she shut down. Maybe a virus or even a back door had been left after Reaper's attack.
"Winston, back when Reaper attacked the base just before the recall, what exactly did he do?" Sombra now asked, briefly stopping what she was doing and turning to the gorilla. "Did he attach anything to one of the computers or servers?"
"He did."
"Any chance you still have it lying around?"
"Afraid not, I destroyed it."
Sombra sighed. "Okay, little more difficult. Do you remember what it looked like?"
"Not fully but I remember it was black and cylinder shaped."
"I think I have an idea what you're on about." The hacker quickly opened another window on her computer, bringing up an image of a device similar to what Winston described. "Do you think this was it."
Winston looked over the image, analysing it quickly but carefully. "I think so."
"Then we might be in luck." Sombra turned back to her computer, typing as fast as she could. "When I was at Talon, I helped set up a number of those devices. What they didn't know was I set up another hidden programme that scanned for anything that I might find interesting."
"So if the particular device Reaper used was one of them, you might have a back door for their back door."
"Exactly. Now, the device didn't finish what it was doing, so it might not have fully installed the programme but if we're lucky and Talon did hack in this way, I might be able to use that programme to regain control of the agents barracks."
Winston considered for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "It's the best shot we've got right now. Transfer control of some of the base's systems to my computer and I'll handle them. You focus on regaining control of the agents barracks."
Lena's quarters
Lena was still aiming at the door, keeping a pulse pistol ready while keeping as much of herself hidden as possible. She didn't know how long had passed since Winston had called, though right now she didn't care. All that mattered was keeping whoever was in the barracks away from Emily.
Knowing that help was coming, Lena held position, keeping her eyes on the door at all times. She couldn't help but have a feeling, telling her that something was going to happen. Eventually, after an agonising wait, that feeling was proven correct.
The door to her room gently slid open and Lena tightened her grip on her pulse pistol. With how silent it was outside, she knew that it wasn't Overwatch out there.
After holding her nerve for a few more moments, a single soldier appeared from the side. They were dressed in an Overwatch uniform and had a standard issue rifle in their hand. The only thing that wasn't standard Overwatch gear was a mask, which hid their identity. The unknown trooper aimed inside and slowly began walking in, scanning the room for any sign of movement.
Lena was all but certain this was one of the Talon infiltrators for two reasons. No Overwatch soldiers had access to this part to the base and with the risk of any soldier being a potential Talon agent, Winston wouldn't send any Overwatch soldiers in here.
So, when the trooper was far enough inside, Lena pulled the trigger. The soldier may have been taken by surprise, yet they were still able to respond, returning fire in the general direction of Lena, forcing her to take cover. The trooper rolled back outside of the room, taking cover next to the doorway as Lena reloaded her pulse pistol. As she did so, she could hear the trooper talking to someone.
"Tracer's in there and she's covering the door."
"That means the target's likely in there too. Go to plan b."
Lena knew there were at least two troopers outside now, though she still didn't know how many there were exactly or what this plan b was. That was until something was thrown inside the room.
Not taking any chances, Lena immediately recalled. Thankfully, the item thrown in turned out to be a stun grenade and caused no real damage to the room. However, since she'd recalled in order to avoid it, she'd couldn't stop the troopers from entering.
When she reappeared, one of the troopers was already on top of her. She went to fire her weapon, only for it to be slapped out of her hand before she could do much with it. Lena was forced backwards, having to drop her other pulse pistol and engage her target in hand to hand combat, all while more enemies entered her room.
It turned out that there were in fact more than just the two troopers outside. Lena now had three attacking her in hand to hand combat, while another held back, taking the opportunity to search around, clearly looking for Emily. Strangely, none of them seemed to be using any lethal weapon and they all instead opted to use their fists for now.
Thankfully, Lena's speed was a major advantage here. Even with three Talon agents attacking her, she was able to avoid most of their attacks. This gave Lena the chance to blink towards the fourth agent, forcing them to engage her instead of looking around the room.
With all four agents now focused on her, Lena began attacking more aggressively. Even though she wasn't one of the strongest Overwatch agents and hand to hand combat wasn't her go to strategy, she could hold her own in a fight.
She made sure to keep using her speed to have the edge in the fight, moving about unpredictably and landing hits on the enemy troopers as often as she could. Partway through the fight, she blinked towards the nearest wall and used it to launch herself upwards, spinning and kicking one of the troopers in the head. The trooper was sent falling to the floor, giving Lena an opening to focus on the other three.
However, these agents had clearly been trained well and soon started to adapt their strategy. While two rushed forward and attacked Lena, the other reached for their belt and armed themselves with a baton. While Lena was busy ducking and dodging, they attempted to land a strike.
Lena managed to avoid the incoming strike from the baton and continued to avoid the groups attacks, landing her own where she could. She blinked around to gain some space between herself and the attackers, yet they quickly made up the ground, continuing their assault.
Despite her speed advantage, she couldn't avoid every attack and eventually, the attackers managed to land a few hard hits, knocking Lena back against the wall.
Before the troopers could follow up their attack, Lena was able to recall, healing up the minor injuries she'd sustained moments ago and reappearing behind her attackers. She took the opportunity to land a kick to the one enemy, pushing them forward and stumbling into another, the both colliding into the wall and barely able to stay on their feet.
At this point, their was a brief pause in the fighting, the three troopers taking deep breaths as they looked at one another. Lena took the opportunity to briefly check behind her, seeing that the fourth trooper had stood back up and was in the process of reaching for something.
She wasn't able to see what though before the fight resumed, the trooper with the baton taking a swing at her head. She managed to dodge the attack and kicked the trooper in question backwards. However, the other two attackers in front of her had now armed themselves, both now wielding combat knifes.
Lena was forced to become more defensive, having to avoid the combined attacks of three of the troopers. The fourth seemed to be holding back for now, though Lena was wary not to get too close to them, not knowing what their plan was exactly.
The three troopers made sure to coordinated their attacks, forcing Lena to keep blinking, dodging their weapons while trying her best to land hits of her own. However, with how aggressive the attackers had become, this was becoming more and more difficult.
Eventually, Lena was backed into a corner and was left with nowhere safe to blink to. As the two troopers armed with combat knives rushed forward, she was left with no choice but to recall, reappearing behind the group of soldiers.
The three attackers all turned around, ready to continue. However, before Lena could react, the fourth trooper suddenly joined the fight, quickly wrapping his left arm around her neck.
She instinctively began trying to pull his arm away, until she felt something being stabbed into the side of her neck. She managed to hit it away and free herself from the troopers grip, blinking and putting some distance between herself and the group of attackers.
It was now that she saw what exactly the fourth trooper had done. In his right hand was a syringe, which now contained only a small amount of liquid. Clearly, he'd predicted where about she'd reappear and had either drugged her or poisoned her. Either way, with how much she had used her accelerator in such a short amount of time, the device wouldn't allow her to recall again so quickly.
She was in trouble.
The trooper which had just injected her chuckled, dropping the syringe. "Give it a few minutes and that'll kick in."
"Just enough time to kick your arses." Lena spat back, raising her fists, ready to attack.
"We'll see."
The troopers all moved to attack, yet Lena moved faster, blinking forward and punching the one trooper straight in the face, sending him tumbling to the floor. She then blinked towards the other three, dodging a hit from a baton and then blinking behind the group. The two that originally had knifes had since swapped them out and were now both wielding batons.
She kicked one of them forward and then aimed at another, landing a direct hit on the back of their head. As the trooper fell to the ground, Lena followed up with kick to their head, knocking them out and leaving three targets left.
With one trooper now out of the fight, Lena looked up at the remaining three, who seemed to be waiting for her to make the next move. Before she could though, Lena suddenly found herself becoming drowsy, blinking a few times and shaking her head to try and reduce the feeling, though to little effect. At least she now knew she'd been drugged rather than poisoned.
"Feeling a little sleepy?" One of the troopers taunted, the same one who'd drugged her moments ago.
"Not even close."
Before the trooper could reply with a smart remark, Lena blinked forward, swinging her right arm towards the nearest trooper. The soldier managed to avoid the attack, dodging as another swung a baton at Tracer. She also managed to avoid being hit, blinking backwards and then forward again, scoring a hit on the next closest trooper.
They continued fighting for a short time, Lena blinking to avoid being hit as much as possible, while the troopers struggled to keep up. However, the effects of the drug were starting to kick in and soon Lena made a mistake.
She didn't see a one of the soldiers attacks, leading to a baton being struck against the side of her face. The force of the hit managed to knock her down, the Brit having to drop a hand to the floor to keep her footing.
Before she could recover, another one of the troopers landed a kick to her stomach, causing her to stumble over and hit a door. She was left lying on her front, groaning from both the pain and the effects of the drug, which were now much stronger than before.
"So, that's where she was hiding."
Lena suddenly realised what exactly she'd been kicked into. She quickly turned her head to the wardrobe, seeing that the door had opened enough from the impact to reveal Emily's hiding position.
Without a second thought, Lena jumped to her feet, the hoodie she wrapped around herself falling off as she found the strength to stand and raise her fists.
"You want her, you go through me."
"That won't be very difficult soon." The one trooper replied. "Ignore Tracer. Grab the girl!"
The three troopers ran forward, though one was quickly stopped in their tracks, being hit by a small, metal object. Snowball had rushed out of the wardrobe, impacting one of the troopers heads and making them stumble back, before floating back over to Lena.
The two troopers still on their feet continued towards Lena, reaching her moments later and forcing her to defend against them. She blocked and dodged numerous attacks, yet the troopers were just wearing her down, waiting for the drug to fully kick in. Thankfully, the third trooper was kept at bay by Snowball, who'd rushed forward and was hitting the attacker as well as using his freezing abilities to slow them down.
Despite only having two targets to worry about, Lena was beginning to struggle, the effects of the drug slowing her down and reducing her energy. She managed to avoid a good number of attacks, yet she was making mistakes, which her attackers always exploited.
Eventually, the two troopers began to gain the upper hand, forcing Lena to be more and more defensive. She blinked and dodged as much as she could but she in the end, she made one mistake too many and one of the troopers was able to kick her straight back into the wall.
The trooper went to follow up their attack, preparing to hit Lena straight in the face with their baton. However, before they could land the strike, she was suddenly dragged out of the way, the trooper instead hitting the wall.
Lena immediately looked to her right, seeing that it was Emily who'd moved her out of harms way. She silently gave her a thankful nod, before they both focused back on the two troopers, Lena shaking her head again in an attempt to keep the drugs effects at bay.
With the drowsiness still getting stronger, the Brit knew she couldn't continue this fight for much longer, especially now that the troopers had found Emily. With no other options available, Lena decided that the safe room was now their best bet.
"We need to go. Snowball! Little help!"
The small robot turned upon hearing Lena call out, forgetting his original target and rushing over to the other two. Without needing to be told, he activated his freezing abilities, slowing the two troopers down long enough to let Lena and Emily escape.
However, just as Lena passed through the doorway, an arm extended into her path and she was suddenly sent spiralling to the floor, being taken down by a single trooper, who'd been waiting outside her room.
Before Lena even had the chance to recall, the trooper went to grab Emily. Yet she had enough time to react, surprising the trooper by hitting his arm away and then kicking him backwards.
The trooper regained his footing quickly though and this time went to attack Emily. However, he was surprised when she managed to block his attacks and was more surprised when she landed her own hits in return. The training sessions she'd received had done their job well and after a short fight, the unprepared trooper was knocked to the ground.
Using the brief few moments she'd gained, Emily helped Lena to her feet, placing one of her arms around her neck to help support her. Just as she did this, Snowball came flying out of Lena's quarters, the troopers from inside the room only a few moments behind.
He stopped briefly when he saw the two women, seeing Lena's current condition. Without needing to be told to do so, the small robot immediately turned back around, activating his freezing abilities again to slow down the pursuers. They weren't nearly as powerful as they used to be, yet he was determined to buy Lena and Emily as much time as possible.
"That way." Lena told her, pointing down one of the darkened corridors, thanks to all of the lights being turned off.
"Are you okay?" Emily asked her, as the both moved as quickly as possible.
"Honesty, I've been better. That drug's really starting to kick in..."
Before Lena could continue, she was suddenly cut off by the sound of two heavy metal doors closing. Without needing to see it, both women knew that it was a set of security doors closing up ahead, blocking off their escape route. With no other options available, they both reluctantly turned around, facing the troopers behind them.
One of the troopers, the same one that Snowball was attacking a few moments ago, was holding a touchscreen tablet, which was clearly what they were using to control this part of the base.
Snowball himself was currently trapped under another troopers foot, one of the three that were attacking them inside Lena's room and had chased after them. The small robot was still struggling though, trying to break free. However, this soon stopped when the trooper reached down and grabbed him, throwing the robot into the wall, damaging its propulsion systems and taking it out of the fight.
"We should just kill her now." One of the troopers said.
"Or better yet, kill both of them." Another suggested. "We won't get a better chance to kill Tracer."
"And how exactly do you plan on escaping once you've done that?" The trooper with the touchpad asked them. "No, we need a way out. Besides, we have orders not to kill Tracer and she appears to be struggling."
Lena, who by now was beginning to lean on Emily for support, turned her head towards her. "Em, I'll hold these guys off. You get out of here."
"You're struggling to stay on your feet Lena. You can't win this..."
Just as Emily said this, Lena felt the effects of the drug get stronger again. At this point, Lena knew she couldn't put up much of a fight, let alone one long enough to give Emily the chance to escape. Yet as three of the troopers moved towards them, she knew they needed to fight.
Lena removed her arm from around Emily and raised her fists, preparing to use what little energy she had left. Her attention was drawn when she noticed Emily doing the same, standing next to her, ready to defend herself
"Together."
Lena nodded her head. "Together."
The troopers edged closer to them, the one with the touchpad stopping a little further back, while the other three continued to approach them. Once they were close enough, one made a move to grab Emily, which quickly resulted in Emily hitting them back.
The other two went to respond, yet Lena was ready, placing herself in the way and defending as best she could against them. However, her energy was quickly being drained and her punches were wild and erratic. Emily meanwhile was doing quite well, remembering what she'd been taught in her various training sessions and managing to both defend and attack against her opponent.
Eventually though, the Talon troopers gained the upper hand. The effects of the drug became too strong and the troopers attacking Lena managed to overpower her. It didn't take much to make her fall to her knees and the Brit fell onto her stomach shortly afterwards. She simply didn't have any energy left to keep fighting. Once she was down, her two attackers began moving towards Emily, while the trooper with the touchpad walked over to Lena.
"How does it feel Tracer?" The trooper taunted. "Knowing you can't protect her? Knowing you've failed?"
The Brit attempted to push herself up, trying to get back on her feet, yet the trooper made sure she couldn't do so, placing his foot on her back and pushing her back down. Having nothing else she could do, she weakly turned her head to Emily, seeing her keeping the one trooper at bay.
She managed to land a heavy blow to the troopers lower head, making the trooper stumble backwards. They raised their mask slightly, wiping away a small amount of blood from the corner of their mouth, before grinning at the redhead.
"They trained you well, I'll give them that... but you can't win against the three of us."
"Stop screwing around and grab her!" The trooper with the touchpad ordered. "We don't have all day."
Lena watched as Emily began backing up, her head darting between the three troopers in front of her, all while Lena herself was powerless to stop them.
"Don't worry. I'm sure Talon will send her back... Once they're done with her that is."
Agents barracks- Five minutes earlier
The team had only managed to get partway to Lena's quarters before being stopped, with a security door blocking their way forward. With little time to spare, Ana decided that they were going through this door, one way or another. Now Echo was busy weakening the door, using her focusing beam to damage the locking mechanism enough for Reinhardt to smash it down.
Behind her, Mercy used her staff to give Echo's beam a damage boost, hoping that it would help with the door, while both Widow and Ana were crouched, both aiming their rifles down the hallway. Reinhardt meanwhile was standing in front of the team with his barrier raised, protecting them from anyone that might try to sneak up on them.
"How long on the door Echo?" Ana asked, not taking her eyes off the corridor in front of her.
"I'm almost..." Echo began, firing her beam for a few more seconds, before shutting it down and floating backwards, turning towards Ana as she did so. "There. That should be enough for Reinhardt to easily break through."
"Widow, are we clear?"
"I think so. I don't see any movement." Widow answered, looking down the hallway using her thermal goggles. With the lights in the building still out, her goggles were proving an invaluable tool.
"Good. Reinhardt, get that door open. We'll cover you."
Reinhardt lowered his barrier, waiting a couple of seconds in case Widow saw anything, before moving to the door and readying his hammer. Like before, he placed his hammer against the metal door and swung it back, before activating the rocket and hitting the centre of the door. This time, the door only took two hits to open, the metal bending enough to allow the team to pass through.
Once they were through, the team wasted no time and began moving towards Lena's quarters again. Widow took the lead, keeping her goggles active and her rifle raised, while Ana was a few steps behind, keeping her own rifle ready and checking for trouble as best she could. Behind them, Reinhardt kept his barrier raised, keeping Mercy covered as they moved, while Echo floated behind them, watching in case anyone tried to sneak up on them.
After a short amount of time, Widow's earpiece came to life, as Sombra contacted her.
"Widow, come in."
"Go ahead."
"Status update for you. I've managed to find a way to regain control of the agents barracks but it'll take some time until I have complete control again. So far I've managed to disable access to the defensive systems, so you don't need to worry about them being used against you, however I've had to turn them completely off for now, so I can't offer any support with them."
"Good work Sombra." Widow said, making sure to keep her voice down. "Any chance you can unlock some of these doors? They're slowing us down."
"I'm working on it but I don't know how long it'll take. I'll contact you when I have more to tell you."
"Copy that."
The team continued to move forward, Widow quietly informing them of what Sombra had told her. Thankfully, they didn't come across any hostiles, nor did they find anymore sealed doors blocking their way. However, their luck didn't last. As the team neared Lena's quarters, one of the security doors suddenly began shutting.
"The doors are shutting! Move!"
Widow didn't hang around, immediately sprinting forward and passing through the closing doors. However, the rest of the team weren't as fast as her. Reinhardt had turned and grabbed both Echo and Mercy, throwing them forwards and the two were flying towards the door as fast as they could. However, they simply were too far away to get through in time. Only Ana was able to get through, managing to squeeze through the doors just before they sealed shut, trapping the other three agents behind them.
"Well... that's not helpful. See if Sombra can get this door open."
"Stop screwing around and grab her!"
Before Widow had the chance to contact Sombra, their attention was drawn to the sound up ahead. Lena's room was just around the corner, meaning it was obvious what the commotion was.
"Second thought, don't bother. We'll deal with it."
They didn't waste any time, both raising their rifles and moving to the end of the corridor. When they reached it. Widow carefully peaked around the corner and saw Tracer on the floor with a Talon agent standing over her, while Emily was backing away from three more hostiles.
Widow leaned back into cover and readied her rifle, crouching down and aiming at one of the three closest to Emily. However, just before she fired, Ana stopped her.
"No, take out the one furthest away. I've got Emily."
Widow didn't argue and changed her target, yet she wondered what exactly Ana had planned. As far as she knew, Ana was carrying her biotic rifle and it wasn't known for eliminating hostiles quickly. However, moment later, her plan became clear, as Ana raised her arm and fired a single dart.
Emily suddenly began glowing, being hit directly by Ana's nano boost. With the sudden surge of power, the redhead immediately went on the offensive. She attacked the nearest Talon trooper, overpowering them and knocking them to the ground, before changing to the next closest target.
The soldier standing over Lena could only watch as Emily took down her three attackers. The fight didn't last long, with the redhead making short work of the three enemy troopers. After a few moments, all three soldiers were on the ground, one groaning in pain while the other two were out cold.
Knowing they were beaten, the last trooper reached for his sidearm, aiming it towards Emily. Lena attempted to stand up, trying to stop the trooper, yet she just didn't have the strength. However, the soldier was never able to fire, as Widow fired her own shot, hitting the trooper in the centre of their chest and dropping them to the floor, releasing Lena.
As Emily's nano boost wore off, she looked at her hands and took a few deep breaths, surprised by what she just did.
"Wow. That was... different."
Ana chuckled. "Seems we trained you well."
Widow meanwhile moved over to Lena, keeping her rifle aimed at her previous target, though lowering it once she confirmed they were dead. She began checking the area, looking for any more threats but thankfully finding none.
"We're clear."
With confirmation that they were safe, Emily rushed over to Lena, who'd managed to flip herself onto her back and sat down next to her. The two immediately hugged each other, separating when Widow spoke up a few moments later.
"Is she okay?" Widow asked, seeing how Lena looked worse for ware.
"They managed to drug her." Emily explained, as Lena shook her head again, trying her best to stay awake.
"I'm alright..." Lena added, sitting herself up slightly but ending up leaning against Emily, her arms still wrapped around her. "Just struggling to stay awake if I'm honest..."
"Try to stay awake a little longer. Ang will be here soon."
Lena nodded, before raising her arm and pointing to the dead Talon soldier. "He had a tablet..."
Widow turned to the downed soldier, noticing the tablet Lena was referring to. She leaned over and picked up the device, quickly seeing an image of the agents barracks, along with a number of buttons, some of which weren't exactly clear what they did.
"Sombra. I'm holding a tablet which appears to be controlling the agents barracks." Widow said, pressing a finger to her earpiece.
"That's useful. Need a hand opening the doors?"
"Well since you offered, you might as well talk me through it."
While Widow worked with Sombra, Emily turned to Ana, who had been in the process of firing sleep darts into the other three soldiers. She'd started with the one groaning in pain, before making sure the two unconscious ones stayed that way.
"There's one more in there." Emily told Ana, pointing towards Lena's room as she fired her third dart.
"I'll make sure they get their beauty sleep." Ana replied, waving her dart gun, before reloading it and walking into the room. Emily meanwhile turned back to Lena, instantly noticing the grin she had.
"What?"
"My fiancée's a badass..."
Emily couldn't help but laugh. "Says you, the real life Tracer."
Lena chuckled in response, placing one of her hands around Emily's cheek and leaning up to kiss her. Unfortunately, the effects of the drug were still taking hold and a few moments later, Lena could no longer keep her eyes open, falling asleep in Emily's arms.
"Lena?" The redhead gently shook her, trying to wake her up but failing. Instead, she placed a kiss on Lena's forehead. "Sweet dreams babe."
It fell quiet for a few moments, until the tablet in Widow's hands suddenly started bleeping. A couple of seconds later, the lights in the barracks switched back on and the sound of the security door opening could be heard.
"Got it. Thanks Sombra. I'll bring this round as soon as I can." Widow looked up from the tablet, noticing Lena fast asleep. Knowing they were out in the open, she turned around and aimed down the corridor, making sure no one else could sneak up on them.
Thankfully, it was a task she wouldn't have to do alone. With all the doors in the barracks now unlocked, the other agents trapped inside could now help.
The first agent out of their room was Genji, who had three of his shuriken's in hand, followed shortly by Lucio, who was fully geared up and ready to fight. Their rooms weren't far from Lena's and so they immediately saw the situation, rushing over to help.
On top of that, the rest of the team that had entered the barracks could now reach them. Mercy was the first to arrive, using her Valkyrie suit to fly over before kneeling down next to Lena and Emily. Echo wasn't far behind, flying over herself, while Reinhardt walked behind them, keeping his barrier raised and covering their rear, just in case.
"What happened to her?" Mercy asked, placing a hand against the sleeping Brit's neck to check her pulse and relaxing slightly when she realised it was normal.
"Talon managed to drug her." Emily answered.
"Probably using this." Ana added, holding a syringe as she walked out of Lena's room and over to Mercy, passing the item to the medic.
The medic quickly looked over the item, noticing the small amount of liquid still inside the syringe. "Echo, find out what was in this thing."
Echo, who had floated over to where Snowball was and had picked up the small robot, spun herself around. "Yes, doctor Ziegler."
Echo passed the small robot to Emily, before taking the syringe from Mercy and began analysing the item and the liquid inside it. While she did this, Mercy activated her caduceus staff and began healing the few injuries Lena had taken, while Emily looked over the damage Snowball had. Amazingly, the small robot was still functioning, looking straight up at the redhead with a relieved look.
"Hey Snowball. Thanks for what you did back there."
A happy face appeared on Snowball's screen, causing Emily herself to smile, before the robot glanced around at the other agents. By now another agent, Hanzo, had appeared, joining the rest of the group a short time after the others. With more likely to arrive, Ana decided to put them to use.
"Genji, take Hanzo, Lucio and any other agents you find and search this building. If you find anyone who shouldn't be in here, capture them."
"Understood."
Genji motioned to Hanzo and Lucio and the three agents moved out, each with their weapons ready. As they left, Echo spoke up.
"My initial analysis indicates that this is the same drug used in the medical bay to put patients to sleep. However, since I don't currently have access to the drug, I would recommend double checking before taking any action."
"Assuming you're correct, it means I should be able to bring her around, though I still want to move her to the med bay."
Ana didn't miss a beat, issuing another order soon after.
"Widow, Echo, escort Mercy and Emily to the med bay, then one of you make sure Sombra gets that tablet. Me and Reinhardt will stay here and guard these soldiers."
The group didn't wait around, Widow taking the lead and keeping her rifle raised, Emily and Mercy weren't far behind, Emily carrying Lena while Mercy kept a healing beam from her staff active. Echo meanwhile brought up the rear, keeping her weapon systems ready.
Once only Ana and Reinhardt were left, Ana activated her own earpiece, swapping it to her personal channel with Morrison.
"Jack, the situation in the agents barracks is under control. I've also got some captured Talon soldiers for you."
There was a short pause, before the strike commander replied.
"How many?"
"Four. One of them was killed."
"There were five of them? Some of them had to be here before the attack... How did they slip through undetected for so long?"
"I expect Winston will have an answer to that soon. For now, I'm having agents sweep the barracks for any other Talon agents that might be in here."
"Good. Me and Sojourn will head over and pick up the ones you've found. Keep me informed of any other developments."
"Will do. Any luck with the agents we already captured?"
"Some but they've definitely been holding back. I'll tell you what we found out later but now that we foiled this plan and captured more of them, we might be able to convince them to talk."
"And if they don't?"
"Then we'll have to convince them to. Morrison out."