Cloaked In Darkness

Watchpoint Gibraltar- The next morning

It was early in the morning after a thankfully uneventful night at the watchpoint. There had been no reports of any further Talon incursions, nor any issues while the base ran more or less on its own. That didn't stop Winston waking up at the crack of dawn though, determined to get the bases AI back online.

It wasn't like the base couldn't function without Athena. On the contrary, the watchpoint could easily function without her and the temporary systems Sombra had put in place were nothing short of amazing. However, Athena was more than just the bases AI. Not only did she control pretty much all of the main functions of the base but she also helped the agents with most of their operations. Most importantly though, she was a part of the Overwatch family and it was strange not having her around.

So, after having a quick breakfast, which was simply a banana with some peanut butter, Winston began the task of bringing Athena back online. Fortunately, Sombra had already done a chunk of the prep work alongside her upgrades and so the task was made a lot easier. Once he'd completed a final scan, it didn't take the gorilla long to finish the start up process. After a few minutes, Athena's logo appeared on the screen next to the main computer.

"Main systems online. Currently running in safe mode. Hello Winston, how are you?"

Winston found himself smiling, glad to hear the AI's voice. "I'm doing okay, thanks Athena. It's good to have you back."

"Thank you Winston."

"Now, before I bring you back online fully, there were a couple of things I wanted to run through. Firstly, we managed to work out you were infected with a virus and managed to clean your systems. We don't think they were but were any of our files compromised?"

"I do not believe so." Athena explained. "The virus affected my ability to control systems in the base and managed to cut my connection to the agents barracks at the time. I don't believe any unauthorised access of our files was attempted, though I would recommend a full scan to be certain."

Winston nodded. "That's good. I believe Sombra has already done that. That brings me to the second point. Sombra said she'd applied some upgrades to your security. Can you run through them for me?"

"Certainly. Sombra's upgrades include an improved firewall against hacking attempts, alongside an upgraded antivirus, which should be sufficient to stop anything Talon have. She has also done a few upgrades to my day to day security operations, including improvements to the bases security features and improved detection against unauthorised access and modification of Overwatch files."

"Sombra was busy." Winston muttered aloud, surprised by just how much the hacker had done. "In that case, I think we're ready to bring you fully online, though I'm going to take it slow, just in case."

"Understood Winston."

For the next hour, Winston slowly but steadily began restoring Athena's functionality across the watchpoint, making sure to run through any changes and repairs that had been done while she was offline. Thanks to Sombra's prep work, it was a much easier task, with the automatic systems she'd put in place easily transferred back to Athena's control. After about an hour and a half, the AI was pretty much back in control of the entire base. As Winston began transferring control of the final few systems though, Athena interrupted him.

"Winston, I've just received a message with a potential tip off about a Talon base."

The gorilla stopped what he was doing and looked to his left, where the screen with Athena's logo was sitting. "Who was it from?"

"There is nothing in the message to identify them, so I'm afraid I don't know for sure. However, the message was sent directly to us and encrypted using the same method used for Blackwatch communications."

Winston raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. What does it say?"

"It is a set of co-ordinates, pointing to a location in the Australian outback, along with instructions on how to access the base and a message stating that Overwatch should investigate as soon as possible. Records indicate that there are a few structures in this area but it was completely abandoned after the Omnic Crisis."

Athena brought up the message on the computer screen and Winston paused to read through it. The message was short and straight to the point, giving no detail about who the sender was. However, the gorilla had a pretty good idea who it could be.

"Athena, can you ask either Morrison or Ana, whichever of them is awake, to come over?"

"Commander Morrison is currently on duty. I will inform him immediately."

The gorilla expected to be waiting a short while before Morrison appeared. Much to his surprise though, it only took a few minutes before the strike commander arrived, walking in to the office and straight to where Winston was sitting.

"Athena said you had something for me?"

"Yes. We just received this message about a location for a Talon base. There's no sender but the message was sent directly to us and used the same encryption that Blackwatch used."

Morrison nodded, staying silent while glancing over the details on the screen. "Any idea what's in that area?" He eventually asked.

"Records indicate that here are only abandoned structures in this area. I have managed to identify one as an old factory, though there are very few records available." Athena explained, pulling up the relevant information she had.

There was another nod from Morrison, as he fell silent again. The message was extremely detailed, covering as many details as possible but also carried a sense of urgency. Even then, Morrison wasn't sure they could trust this information. Just like Winston, he had a very good idea who this message was from. After all, very few people knew the encryption methods Blackwatch used and fewer still would be willing to even talk to them.

"Do you think we should investigate this?" Winston eventually asked, not able to make out what the commander was thinking, even without his visor on.

"I don't know..." Morrison finally admitted, after reading the message for the third time. He sighed, knowing he wouldn't make a decision anytime soon and leaned up from the desk. "You and Athena look into this. Find out everything you can about the area and what's been going on, no matter how small or insignificant. Report back to me with what you find in a couple of hours."

Medical bay- 8:25

By this time in the morning, it wouldn't be surprising to see Lena up and about. The Brit had a surprising amount of energy and was usually up and making breakfast long before Emily awoke. However, today was different. This time, Emily was the first to wake up, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to the morning light. She was currently cuddled up to Lena, with one arm wrapped around her fiancée and her head against the others.

The two had stayed in the medical bay overnight, with some extra security keeping them safe, while repairs were done to the agents barracks and it was confirmed there were no other Talon infiltrators. For this reason, Lena had been a bit more anxious, not able to sleep as well as usual.

However, that wasn't the only reason Emily had woken up first. The redhead gently removed her arm and sat herself up, rubbing a hand over her face as she continued to wake up. A few moments later and Snowball was floating next to her, the small robot staying active during the night to keep watch. The redhead gently rubbed the top of the robot, seeing a happy face on its screen, before she returned to her own thoughts.

Emily thought she'd managed to lean up without waking Lena, yet she was soon proven wrong, as she felt two arms wrap around her waist and Lena rest her head on her right shoulder.

"Morning." The Brit said, gently placing a kiss on Emily's cheek. "Not like you to wake up before me. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's nothing serious, I've just been thinking about something"

"Wanna talk about it?"

Emily paused, seeing Snowball float next to Lena, with an equally concerned look, before she turned herself so that she was facing Lena. "I was thinking about our wedding... It's probably a bit silly to be doing so with everything that's going on but I..."

The redhead paused again, looking down slightly and taking a breath as she tried to find the words, before looking back up to face Lena again.

"I don't think I want to wait. With everything that's happened, the risks and the fact Talon know about me... I don't want to hold it off."

Lena was somewhat taken back by this. "Are... are you sure Em? I thought you wanted to hold off until things settled down so we could have a big ceremony, with everyone we know invited?"

"Yeah I did... In all honesty, I've been thinking about this for a while now and with what happened the other night, I'm sure I don't want to wait." Emily took a brief moment to place her hands in Lena's before continuing. "I'm not saying we don't have a ceremony like we wanted to and I think we still should once everything has settled down... but right now, I want nothing more than to marry the woman I love."

Lena was left speechless, her mouth opening as she tried to speak, yet no words came to her. Eventually though, her mind was able to catch up.

"I... Wow. I don't know what to say. Not often that happens."

"I'd take a picture if I had a camera."

The two women chuckled, sharing a quick kiss before Lena spoke up again.

"In all honesty I've been thinking about this too. I'd love to get married as soon as but I didn't want to be selfish and I really don't mind waiting if that's what you want. So I know I just asked you this but are you absolutely sure about this Em?"

"I'm sure Lena. You and me. That's all I want and no one is going to stop us."

Lena thought for a moment, before nodding her head. "Okay then, let's do it."

The two women smiled, before leaning in and sharing a kiss. "So, since were pushing things forward, any idea where to start?" Emily asked.

"Actually, I think I might have an idea on what we could do." Lena replied, gaining the interest of Emily.

"Oh really? Do prey tell."

"Well, since we've decided to move things forward, I'm pretty sure Athena would be able to whip up something legally binding for us once she's back online. If she can't then I'm sure Sombra could work something out if I asked her. That would give us a bit more freedom with what we could do. So, since we already spoke about it before, I was thinking we could talk to Zen and ask if he'd be willing to perform the ceremony?"

Emily thought for a moment, before nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah. Yeah I like that idea. That way, we can still have a small ceremony here and there's a lot less danger involved."

"Exactly. It also means we can still have some guests too and I'm sure some of the others will be more than willing to help out..."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, bringing both woman back to reality. Lena called out to the mystery person, giving them permission to enter and revealing them to be none other than Angela.

"Morning Ang." Lena said, with her normal upbeat attitude.

"Good morning you two." The medic replied, stepping in with a tray of food, clearly their breakfasts. "The two of you seem quite cheerful this morning."

"Yeah, we are thanks." Lena answered, with a large smile on her face.

"We were just talking about our wedding." Emily added, with an equally large smile.

"Making plans for the big day I expect?" Angela asked, placing the tray down on the table next to the bed.

"You could say that." Lena began, looking to Emily for the silent permission to continue and seeing a nod in reply. "We're going to push it forward a bit."

"Oh really? So when are you two planning it for now?"

"As soon as we can."

"As soon as..." Angela repeated in surprise, though she quickly regained her composure. The two women had discussed some of their plans with her, so hearing this was a shock. "I thought the two of you wanted to wait?"

"Yeah we did... but with everything that's happened, we were both thinking about moving it forward."

"And when we discussed it, we both decided that we didn't want to wait any longer than we had to." Emily added, followed by a nod of agreement from Lena.

Angela meanwhile paused for a moment, considering her words for a moment before gently smiling at the two.

"To be fair, the two of you have been together a long time now, so I can understand why you wouldn't want to wait too long, even before all this happened. Do you mind if I suggest something though?"

"Not at all." Lena replied, with an idea what the medic was about to say.

"Don't rush into making a decision about this right away. Take a few days to think it over first. I know the two of you can sometimes get a little carried away when you both have an idea..."

"Guilty as charged." Emily said, both her and Lena grinning at the joke. Angela herself couldn't help but chuckle, before continuing.

"So don't rush and make sure you're both certain this is what you want to do before making any plans. It's your big day after all and you shouldn't feel pressured into doing anything... but afterwards, if you're both sure, then go for it."

Lena and Emily paused, looking at each other as they considered Angela's words.

"Ang does make a good point." Emily finally admitted. "We are known to get ahead of ourselves sometimes and we might feel differently about it in a few days."

"Yeah, that's a fair point. So give it a few days then and see how we feel, then go from there?"

"Agreed."

Just then, the familiar voice of Athena spoke up.

"Sorry to interrupt but captain Sojourn is requesting all the agents in Winston's lab."

"Thank you Athena." Angela responded. "We'll be there as soon as possible."

"Glad to see you're okay Athena." Lena added.

"Thank you Lena. I'm glad to see that you and Emily are okay as well."

"Yeah, we're doing good thanks. Just to ask, since I'm at this meeting, what should Emily do?"

"We don't believe there are any other Talon agents here, so Emily should be safe. However, if she would feel safer, Sojourn has stated that she is perfectly fine with Emily being present."

Winston's lab- Twenty minutes later

It didn't take long for Lena and Emily to get ready, making relatively short work of their breakfasts, before they, along with Angela, joined the rest of the agents in the lab. There were already a good amount of agents already present, all of them spread out over the lab.

Reinhardt, Brigitte, Torbjorn and Fareeha were standing near the holotable, while Lucio and Dva were sitting close by, listening to some music while they waited. Widow, Sombra and Baptiste were in their own small group, the three chuckling at a shared joke. At the back of the lab sat the Bastion, Zenyatta and Hanzo, while Ashe stood off to the side, leaning against the back wall with only Bob for company. Nearby sat Wrecking Ball, though Hammond himself remained inside the meck, since most of the agents still didn't know his real identity.

Upstairs, just outside of the office stood Sojourn and Winston, the two talking privately out of earshot of everyone else. However, upon noticing that Lena, Emily and Angela had arrived, Sojourn decided to begin.

"Alright, everyone form up around the holotable."

Lena was left slightly surprised by this, as six agents, Morrison, Ana, McCree, Genji, Echo and Zarya were all nowhere to be seen. Yet she quickly concluded this meeting might very well explain their absence. So, after giving Lena a quick kiss on the cheek, Emily made her way up to Winston's office, with Snowball following close by, while Lena and Angela moved over to the rest of the group.

"So what's all this about Sojourn?" Reinhardt asked, as Winston and Sojourn reached the holotable. "I assume you're going to explain why there's six of us missing from this meeting?"

"Don't worry Reinhardt, Morrison asked if I could fill you all in. But first, Winston has something to say."

"Thank you Sojourn. Now, since most of us are here, I considered this to be the best time to tell you of this. It's about the identity of our newest recruit, Wrecking Ball."

The agents eyes all shifted to the large metal ball, which remained still and appeared unfazed by the attention as Winston continued.

"Now he's agreed to let me tell you, since he doesn't want it to be a distraction while out in the field. His real name is Hammond and he comes from the same place I did, Horizon Lunar Colony."

"He's from the moon? So I take it the big surprise is that he's another gorilla or monkey then?" Torbjorn asked, though the question came across as more of a statement. Lena considered that if he was surprised by this discovery, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Not exactly." The gorilla turned to the meck in question. "Hammond, if you wouldn't mind."

Everyone refocused on Wrecking Ball, watching as the meck seemed to power down slightly, before a hatch opened on the top. After a few more moments, a hamster appeared from the hatch, waving at the group of agents and squeaking out a hello, which was helpfully translated by the meck below.

The room fell silent and Lena took a moment to analyse the other agents reactions. With the exception of herself, Sombra and Winston, no one else knew about Wrecking Ball's true identity. Looking around, pretty much everyone was surprised by this reveal. The one agent who didn't seem too surprised was Widow, who'd simply raised an eyebrow upon seeing the hamster appear. Lena suspected that the reason for this might be because Sombra had already told her.

The room remained silent for a short amount of time, before Ashe was the one who finally broke it, saying what everyone else was presumably thinking.

"He's a hamster? Seriously?"

"And here I was thinking there was nothing left that could surprise me." Angela said, gaining a chuckle from the other agents. "Still, I'm not one to judge and any help against Talon is very much welcomed."

"I'm glad you agree." Winston said. "I know he isn't what you all likely expected but Hammond's an old friend and I trust him. He's more than willing to fight with us and I believe he can bring some helpful skills to the table."

"If you trust him, then he's more than a welcome addition to the team." Reinhardt announced, followed by a number of nods of agreement from the other agents.

"In which case, I'll hand back over to Sojourn."

The gorilla took a step back and all eyes focused on Sojourn.

"Thank you Winston. Now, as I said earlier, commander Morrison has asked if I can bring you all up to speed."

Sojourn paused, typing on the holotable and bringing up an image of what appeared to be a factory, alongside a number of smaller structures around it.

"Earlier today, we received a message that contained the supposed location of a Talon base in the Australian outback. We don't know who sent the message but whoever it was sent it using old Blackwatch encryption methods. After Winston and Athena looked into it, Morrison decided to take a team out there and investigate the area."

The room remained quiet during Sojourn's explanation, taking in the information she gave them.

"That place looks abandoned." Hanzo noted, motioning to the image on the holotable. "Are you sure this location is correct?"

"From what me and Athena found, it's an old abandoned factory, that's been empty for years now." Winston explained. "However, there's been some unusual activity as of late, with a number of trucks parking up around the area. Far too many for it to simply be an abandoned factory."

"It could just be criminals." Torb offered. "Or even those junkers. Though the fact this message was sent using Blackwatch encryption makes me think it's something more."

"Exactly the reason Morrison wanted to check it out." Sojourn said, leaning onto the table in front of her. "While we can't be sure, we can all take a good guess who exactly sent us this intel."

"Which is what worries me."

Everyone's attention suddenly shifted to Widow, who had her arms folded as she frowned at the image on the table.

"When I last spoke to him, Gabriel seemed to be fully intending on fighting Talon alone, without involving Overwatch. If he did send us this, then he's either suddenly decided to help us, or there's something else going on..."

"Do you think it could be simply him 'fanning the flames', so to speak?" Baptiste asked.

"Maybe... I don't see him using Overwatch to simply attack somewhere, especially when he doesn't trust us and could just as easily do it himself... Unless..."

"Unless..?" Sombra pressed, not quite sure where Widow was going.

"When I spoke to him, I asked him what happened between him and Overwatch that made him turn against it. However, he couldn't give me an answer because he didn't know himself..."

"So, if he found something that painted Overwatch in a new light, do you reckon he might be more willing to work with us then?" Lena asked, taking note of the sceptical looks some of the more veteran Overwatch agents had.

"I don't know. Gabriel can be quite... stubborn at times but if he found something that changed his perspective on things, he might be more open to the idea."

"That's assuming he was the one who sent the message." Sojourn reminded everyone. "For all we know, this could be someone else completely. I think it's best not to speculate or jump to any conclusions until we know more about what is at this location. Morrison said he would report what he finds and if necessary, he'll call for reinforcements, so I want everyone ready in case they're needed. Until then, you're dismissed."

Unlike most of the other meetings they had, the agents didn't immediately begin filtering out of the lab. Instead, most broke off into smaller groups and began discussing the situation further, while the rest simply listened to the ongoing conversations.

The idea that Reaper didn't know what happened to make him turn against everyone he knew and everything Overwatch stood for didn't sit right with many of the agents, especially the veterans. Reinhardt and Torbjorn were the most vocal of this and even Angela appeared to have her reservations, though she didn't voice them as loudly.

As the conversation continued, some of the agents made their way out of the lab. Sojourn was the first, having to return to running the base in Morrison and Ana's absence. Zenyatta and Hanzo were next, followed shortly by Lucio and DVa. Winston had returned to his work in the office, while the Bastion remained where it was, watching as the remaining agents continued to talk.

It was at this point Lena walked over to Widow, who didn't appear to be listening to the ongoing conversation and instead was leaning on the holotable, analysing the image of the factory that Athena had put back on for her.

"You recognise that place?" Lena asked her, stopping next to Widow and leaning against the table.

"Non. Talon has a lot of secret bases and only a select few people know about all of them."

"Assuming it actually is a Talon facility, then they've gone to a lot of trouble to keep this one hidden." Sombra added, her computer open as she typed away. "I don't know anything about this one and I can't find anything about it either. In fact, there's very little information about this building all together."

"How much can you find out?" Baptiste asked, walking over to Sombra and glancing over her shoulder, looking at the results on her computer.

"That's the thing, when I say very little, I mean way less than there should be. There's entire gaps in this buildings history where there's just nothing. No owners, no companies. Nothing."

"Okay yeah, that's a little suspicious." Lena admitted.

"If this is Talon, they've gone to great effort to hide this place, a lot more effort then they usually do with most bases. They only go to so much effort when there's something especially important they want to keep hidden." Widow explained, seeing a nod from Lena, signalling that she understood.

"So you think there's more to this then it simply being a Talon base?"

"Oui. Talon have a number of bases with no real strategic value that they can afford to lose and some are even intended to be found. For one to be this hidden, it means they're intending to stay there, which means it can't simply be another random base. This one has to have a different purpose... and whatever that purpose is, it can't be good."

Australian outback- Later that day

Morrison's team we're approaching the abandoned factory, after landing a short distance away and then approaching by foot, hoping to not alert anyone who might be in the area. The team were made up of six agents, himself, Ana, McCree, Genji. Zarya and Echo, along with a squad of soldiers, led by Fox, who were backing them up.

Fox had been chosen to lead the trooper squad specifically by Ana for a few reasons. One was because of how well he'd handled Talon's failed assault on Watchpoint Gibraltar and how he'd basically been thrown into the position of authority. He was a squad leader back in the old Overwatch days but he'd never taken command of so many soldiers before. He didn't seem to be phased by it, in fact he seemed to be a natural. That, along with the fact he listened to Morrison and Ana was something they wanted on this mission.

Fox himself wasn't anyone too special. He was from New Zealand and was in his early forties, though he didn't seem to look that age, with tanned skin, short black hair, brown eyes and a clean, shaved beard. Unlike the other troopers, Fox wasn't using a rifle for this mission, instead preferring to use two pistols instead.

When he'd decided to come and investigate this potential Talon base, Morrison had at first intended to bring a much smaller team. However, when he'd spoken to Ana about the tip off, she'd insisted on coming along. Then when Morrison gave her more details, she then insisted that they increase the number of agents to six and then bring along the squad of soldiers too.

In all fairness, Morrison did understand why she was being so cautious. They were both fairly sure that Reaper had sent the message, though they couldn't know for definite. Even if it was him though, they didn't know with any certainty what he was thinking or planning, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

When they were a short distance away, Morrison signalled the team to stop, before he scanned over the buildings with his visor. Sure enough, nothing was picked up and the place looked to be abandoned. However, Athena had told them of some intel Sombra had found, or rather the lack of it. She was struggling to find out the current or even the former owners of the factory, almost like someone had intentionally removed the information. Clearly something wasn't right about this place and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

With his initial scan showing nothing unusual, Morrison turned to Echo.

"Echo, fly up and see if you can spot anything."

The robot gave a quick nod, before flying up and analysing the area from above. After a short few minutes, she reported back to Morrison.

"I do not see anything out of the ordinary from up here and the area appears to be abandoned. However, there are a number of locations a potential base entrance could be hidden."

"Copy that. Finish up and then regroup on me."

"Understood."

"What's the plan Jack?" Ana asked, as they waited for Echo to fly back to them.

"The tip off said that the entrance was inside one of the buildings, though it didn't say where exactly. Considering our numbers, I'm going to split us up to cover more ground. Ana, take Zarya, McCree and three of the troopers with you and search the northern and eastern areas. I'll take Echo, Genji and the remaining troopers and we'll search the southern and western areas. If either of us find anything, then we'll regroup to investigate."

"Sounds like a plan."

Just as Echo landed next to them, Morrison turned to Fox.

"Fox, split your squad into two and have half go with Ana. You and the other half stay with me."

"Yes sir."

The squad leader quickly organised his squad into two halves, before the two teams split up, both heading in opposite directions. The two teams searched the area, checking all the buildings around the factory but finding nothing inside. Morrison's team were the first to move to the large factory in the centre of the area. Just like the other buildings though, this one was more or less empty, save for the few old, wooden boxes that were lying around. One of the troopers checked the boxes, yet only one of them contained anything and even then, it was only some scrap metal, with little value to anyone.

After searching through the various empty rooms in the factory, it was Genji who finally made a discovery, noticing that something wasn't quite right with one of the internal walls. He gently ran his hands over the wall in question, quickly finding a hidden button and pressing it. Soon after, a panel opened up and a nine digit keypad appeared.

"Commander, I've found something."

Morrison jogged over to Genji's position, seeing the keypad poking out of the wall.

"Good find Genji. Echo, get over here and try to get this open."

As the robot floated over, Morrison activated his earpiece.

"Ana, I think we've found the way inside. Get your team to the main factory."

"Acknowledged. On our way."

It didn't take long for Ana's team to arrive and in that time, Echo had been busy with the keypad, typing in a number of codes the tip off had provided them in order to unlock the door. After a few moments more, she finished typing in the final code and the wall slowly opened, revealing a lift, along with a set of stairs next to it, both leading down to what the team assumed was the base they were looking for.

"Anyone else think that was a little too easy?" McCree asked, his revolver at hand. "Seems a little too undefended for a Talon base."

"Agreed. Something isn't right here..." Morrison turned to the troopers. "Fox, you and your squad stay up here and guard this door and get a sniper onto the roof to watch the area. Last thing we need is someone walking in after us."

"Yes sir."

"The rest of us will head inside, make our way to the command centre and find out what we can there. Genji, you take point. Zarya, be ready to cover him with a barrier if he needs it."

"Acknowledged."

"Remember, Talon might not be aware we're here. So until we know for sure, we'll keep quiet and engage as a last resort. Everyone understand?"

The agents and troopers all nodded.

"Good. Move out."

The agents all began moving to the stairs, Genji moving ahead, while Zarya readied her barriers, making sure the ninja was covered. They could hear Fox giving out orders as they left, though since the squad leader was keeping his voice down, they were soon on their own.

The journey down the stairs was short, far shorter than the team were expecting. After walking down four flights of stairs, they reached a sealed, metal door, which was simply painted black and this time had a keycard reader attached to the wall next to it. Echo once again went to work, this time hacking the keypad in order to open the door.

Since she was now hacking the keypad, rather than putting in codes, the task took longer than before and was made more difficult due to the security on the door itself. Fortunately, Echo was still quite capable of completing the hack and the door soon opened.

If there was any doubt that this was a Talon base, it vanished as soon as the door opened. Standing on the other side were two Talon soldiers, both shocked by the sudden appearance of the Overwatch team. They went to raise their weapons, intending to attack, yet Genji was far quicker. Within moments, one trooper was hit in the head with a shuriken, while the second fell to Genji's sword, both silenced before they could alert the base to the agents presence.

The team did their best at hiding the bodies, dragging them through the door, before continuing on, Genji once again taking the lead. They followed the corridor they found themselves in until it split in two, both heading in opposite directions. The ninja looked between both possible routes, before deciding on going right, the rest of the agents trusting his judgement.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to get far before they were met with another obstacle. Upon arriving at another door, Genji opened it ever so slightly and peered through, seeing a squad of eight troopers on the other side. The ninja silently closed the door and turned back to the rest of the team.

"There are Talon soldiers in our path and there is no way to proceed this way without engaging."

"Then I guess we're going loud. Everyone get ready."

The team readied their weapons and stacked up at the door. Once they were in position, Morrison gave Genji the signal and the ninja open the door. It took the Talon soldiers a moment to register the sight of the Overwatch agents but once they did, they all jumped into action. They raised their weapons and fired at the intruders, yet the agents were more than ready.

One of the Talon soldiers went down before they could even raise their weapon, McCree taking them out with a well placed shot from his Peacekeeper. Genji, like McCree, hadn't given the troopers much time to react to their appearance, dashing forward with his Dragonblade and attacking the first soldier he reached. The ninja raised his sword as the next closest fired their weapon, deflecting their bullets back with little effort. Zarya made sure to keep her barriers on Genji, while Morrison and McCree fired at any troopers Genji wasn't focused on. The squad were taken down so quickly that Ana and Echo didn't need to attack them, instead watching the rear in case anyone tried to flank them.

The battle didn't last long and within a matter of moments, seven of the Talon soldiers were down, leaving only one remaining. Instead of continuing to fight though, this trooper dropped his weapon and raised his hands up.

"Honestly, I hate working here. They're all weird."

"Where's the command centre?" Morrison asked, keeping his rifle aimed at the trooper.

"Keep going down this corridor, turn left and then straight ahead. You can't miss it."

"Good. One more question. How many ways into this base are there?"

"Just the one I think... though I don't know for sure..."

"Thanks. Now get lost."

The trooper didn't hang around, walking past the agents as quickly as possible before sprinting away.

"Didn't think you'd let him go Jack." Ana commented.

"I'm not." Morrison activated his earpiece. "Fox, there's a Talon trooper trying to escape the base. Capture him when he leaves and inform me if he doesn't turn up in the next ten minutes."

"Copy that."

"We need to know if there's any other ways in and out. If he's telling the truth, he'll walk straight into Fox's squad." Morrison explained, all the agents nodding before continuing to the command centre.

By now, an alarm was ringing out throughout the base, alerting anyone who hadn't heard the gunshots that there were intruders. Strangely though, the team were met with little resistance and those they did find seemed more interested in retreating than fighting. It was almost as if the Talon forces were intentionally avoiding them.

It didn't take long for the team to find the command centre, following the directions given by the Talon soldier. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Talon forces that had been retreating had all grouped up and were set on stopping the agents reaching their destination. There were at least three squads worth of troopers in the way, all in defensive positions, which almost immediately began firing once they saw the Overwatch forces.

Once again, the agents engaged, though this time they took a different approach to the situation. Not wanting to take any unnecessary risks, Morrison had Genji step out into the open, while Zarya covered him with one of her barriers. As the bubble fell, the ninja stepped back into cover, using his sword to deflect some of the shots back at the enemy. Zarya then stepped out, bubbling herself while firing her weapons secondary fire, with Echo floating behind and firing some sticky grenades at one of the defensive positions, before the two stepped back into cover. They repeated this a few times, letting Zarya slowly build up energy for her weapon.

Behind them, a squad of soldiers attempted to flank the agents, trying to take them by surprise. However, Morrison and McCree were ready, spinning around and attacking the new threats. Ana meanwhile was busy keeping the squad healed up, swapping her aim between the various agents. She paused briefly to turn and raise her arm at Morrison, firing a nano boost at him, before returning her attention to the agents in front of her. The boost was enough to let Morrison run at the flanking troopers and he made short work of the enemy squad.

With the enemy behind them now dealt with, Morrison and McCree now focused on the rest of the defenders. By now, Zarya's weapon energy had been charged significantly and she decided to use her next trick.

The Russian fired her Graviton Surge, dragging a number of the Talon forces together into the open. With numerous targets now in sight, Echo fired another volley of sticky grenades, while Zarya used her weapons secondary fire, taking out the troopers that the grenades didn't. Those that weren't caught in the Graviton Surge didn't get off lightly though, as Genji rushed out of cover, taking out the remaining defenders with little resistance.

Once the final defenders fell, the team moved to the command centre door, which had been sealed shut. While Echo could likely hack her way inside, Morrison had another, much quicker idea.

"Zarya, get us in there."

The Russian's weapon still had a high charge, so she took aim and fired. The high powered beam melted through the metal door, weakening it enough for Zarya to simply kick it down. Inside the command centre were a few lightly armed Talon forces, clearly the final line of defence against the invaders. They posed little threat to the agents though and they also quickly fell.

"Echo, fine out what you can." Morrison said, pointing to one of the terminals in the room, while he checked for anyone who might have been hiding.

The robot floated over and began her work, hacking into the computer and scanning through the various files on it. The rest of the agents guarded the door, apart from Ana, who began checking any paper documents she found for anything useful. After a short wait, it was Echo who found something first.

"It appears that this facility is not a normal Talon base and is in fact a research outpost." She reported.

"That explains a bit. Anything about what they were doing here?" Morrison asked.

"There are a number of files, though all of them are encrypted. I should be able to break it but it will take time."

Before Morrison could respond, Ana walked over to him, clutching a piece of paper, which she handed to him.

"Seems Talon moved a different operation out of here not too long ago."

Morrison glanced over the document, which turned out to be a communication from none other than Doomfist. On the paper was a small message, confirming that the original team had been cleared out to make way for the new project. What was most interesting was who it was addressed to.

"Moira? Echo, check the system for any mention of Moira."

The robot began a search, finding an answer moments later.

"Moira was put in charge of this facility a few weeks ago to work on a special project. However, all files related to this project are heavily encrypted and require a high access level to view."

"Any chance you break into them?"

"I believe I can but it will take some time to do. Instead, I recommend copying the files and then me, Athena and Sombra can decrypt them at a later time."

"Agreed. Copy everything you can, no matter how insignificant it may seem." Morrison told her, before moving on to another topic. "While your at it, do you know if Moira is here currently?"

"One moment." Echo fell silent, before giving an answer shortly afterwards. "From what I can see in the communication and personnel logs, it appears she is."

"Can you find her?"

"Negative. The cameras in this facility were deactivated before we arrived and I cannot see her now that I have reactivated them. However, there is a large laboratory, which has a security system I don't have any access to. It is possible that she is currently in there."

"That seems like as good a place to start." McCree said, still watching the door.

"Agreed. Echo, stay here and keep an eye on the cameras. If you see Moira, contact me immediately."

"Affirmative."

"Genji, stay here and cover Echo. The rest of us will head to that lab and try and find Moira. She's far too valuable a target to ignore and taking her down would be a critical blow to Talon."

With that, the four agents moved out, while Echo and Genji stayed put, the ninja watching the door while the robot continued to download the bases files.

The four agents didn't waste time, moving through the base as quickly as they could and thanks to some directions from Echo, found the lab in record time. Just before they entered though, Morrison's comm activated

"Command Morrison, come in."

"Go ahead Fox."

"That trooper that was trying to escape never showed up."

"Which means that unless he didn't leave, there's more than one way out. Anything else going on up there?"

"No sir, it's been quiet. Perhaps too quiet. We've not seen any activity up here since you went into the base."

"Something's not right..." Morrison muttered. "It's too easy... Fox, stay alert and be ready for anything."

"Yes sir."

The agents all stacked up on the door, not needing to be told what to do, while Morrison pressed a button on the side of his visor, activating a feature that recorded everything he saw. The door itself was a large metal door, with a wheel that had to be turned to unlock it and looked remarkably similar to those found on submarines. Zarya placed her weapon against the wall and gripped the metal wheel, while the other three aimed at the door, ready in case anyone was waiting on the other side. The Russian turned the wheel and opened the door, quickly reaching for her weapon and joining the other three in aiming through the gap.

Fortunately, there were no hostiles on the other side. Instead, the door lead to a small chamber, with hazmat suits hung up on the wall and had another door opposite the now open one. The suits looked like they hadn't been used for some time, as a thin layer of dust had formed on them. Still, the sight of them alone was enough to unnerve the agents, causing Morrison to contact Echo before they continued.

"Echo, have you found anything on what kind of research they were doing here?"

"A little bit, though not much. From what I can gather, this facility originally focused on experiments intended to improve a persons combat abilities, using various different methods. Since Moira took over, the facility has been working on a different project, though I have yet to be able to decode the files related to it."

"Then what are these hazmat suits for?" McCree asked, wiping away some of the dust from one of the suits helmets.

"They are likely left over from a previous experiment. Considering the nature of the experiments, I suspect they had chemicals they did not want their scientists exposed to. The base has a number of containment protocols in case any subjects attempted to break free. In fact that room you are currently in is designed as a security chamber to keep anyone from escaping the main lab."

"That's reassuring."

"If you find anything related to what Moira's been up to, inform me immediately." Morrison told Echo, as he signalled the team forward.

"Yes commander."

The agents moved to the second door, leaving the first open slightly, in case they needed to escape quickly. Once again, Zarya opened the door, while the other agents aimed their weapons at the entrance. This time, the door lead straight into the lab, however the lab itself was in complete darkness, with Morrison's visor the only source of light.

The team all slowly walked inside, keeping their weapons raised as they looked around the room. The lack of light made this a difficult task, yet it soon wasn't an issue, as the lights suddenly came back on and the lab was revealed.

The lab was shaped like a hexagon, with various sealed doors along the edges of the room, all of which resembled cells. In the centre were tables full of medical equipment, along with a couple of computers. The agents didn't have time to use said computers though, as a familiar voice echoed through the lab.

"Ah, there you are."

The agents eyes all shot up, finding a large observation room above them. Inside stood Moira, who had a machine of some kind strapped to her back. Both McCree and Morrison instinctively fired at her, yet their weapons proved to be ineffective, causing Moira to let out a quick laugh at their expense.

"I'm afraid this is reinforced glass. Designed to withstand a much larger amount of damage than that."

"I'm pretty sure we can get through it." McCree returned, though Moira didn't seem phased by the threat. Instead, she simply started grinning.

"I'm certain you could. Though you might be somewhat too occupied to do so."

The agents glanced between each other, as they watched Moira walk to the side of the observation room.

"I will admit, you found this facility far quicker than we anticipated. Still, I believe this is a perfect opportunity to show you our latest project."

As she spoke, one of the doors beneath Moira opened, revealing a body lying on a table. However, it was a body the agents all recognised.

It was Mei.

Before anything else could happen, Morrison's comm suddenly burst to life, as Echo contacted him with panic clear in her voice.

"Commander, get out of the lab now!"

The team heard a panel open up in the observation room and watched as Moira raised up one of her hands. That same hand soon began glowing purple. If anything, it looked extremely similar to Mercy's resurrection tech...

But it couldn't be.

"One of the files just unlocked itself!" Echo continued, as the events unfolded in front of them. "Moira's been experimenting with Mercy's nano tech but it's gone wrong and she's weaponised it!"

Mei's body began twitching and spasming, before it suddenly stopped. All the agents could do was watch as Mei slowly raised up into a sitting position, before standing up completely, all while she stared at her fellow agent. Yet this wasn't Mei. Her eyes glowed dark purple and dark smoke, similar to that of Reaper yet nowhere near as intense, swirled around her.

"Moira... What have you done?"

"Doctor Ziegler's blood has been very useful in replicating her nano tech... yet I've still yet to perfect it. This accidental discovery though does have its benefits. Such as being a weapon against Talon's enemies."

"You're mad." Ana said aloud, as she discreetly reached for one of her biotic grenades, expecting all hell to break lose any second.

"No. I'm simply not held back by your morals and your rules. If Angela wasn't blinded by her idealistic nature, she'd realise that her tech could have far greater applications... Let me demonstrate it for you."

Moira raised her purple, glowing hand up and pointed towards the Overwatch agents, just as several other doors in the lab opened, revealing another ten people. Each person was different, some were soldiers dressed in Talon clothing, others seemed to be civilian or casualties from other Talon experiments. What was the same though was the glowing dark purple eyes and the black smoke that swirled around them.

The agents were surrounded and as Mei and the other unknown individuals suddenly started running towards them, Morrison didn't hesitate.

"TAKE THEM DOWN!"

McCree was the first to fire, hitting three of the targets with perfect headshots. Yet all this did was stagger the hostiles, before the bullet holes were somehow healed up.

"What..?"

Thankfully, Ana had been paying attention and threw her biotic grenade, hitting the three targets with its contents.

"Hit them again!"

McCree did as instructed, firing and landing another three headshots. This time though, the targets didn't heal the injuries and after a few more hits, fell to the ground.

"It's Mercy's nano tech! We have to kill them quickly!"

Ana slung her rifle over her shoulder and reached for her biotic grenades, resorting to throwing them at the enemy to stop them healing. McCree and Zarya focused on those Ana hit, making short work of them once their healing factor was neutralised.

Morrison meanwhile had heard Ana and had reacted accordingly. He fired a helix rocket at the closest enemy to him, the healing factor simply unable to keep up with the damage caused. The next closest target was Mei, who was running full speed towards the strike commander. Despite the threat and the fact she was attacking him, Morrison knew he had to try and get through to her.

"Mei, stop!" He pleaded, firing another helix rocket at the next closest enemy, before hitting Mei back with his rifle. "It's us! Overwatch! You don't want to do this!"

Mei didn't stop though. She continued her attack, speaking two simple words as she did so.

"Target acquired."

Mei's voice wasn't her own. It was deeper, far more mechanical and sounded like she'd been programmed. Morrison could tell this wasn't Mei. Not anymore.

Reluctantly, Morrison raised his rifle and fired. Due to how close Mei was, he couldn't use his helix rockets. Instead, he aimed up and fired full auto. Yet this didn't stop her and Mei managed to push Morrison to the floor and pull his rifle away.

"JACK!"

Ana threw a biotic grenade towards him, the item shattering as it hit Mei, yet not seeming to phase her. The other agents were too occupied to help him, struggling to take down their targets quick enough to get to him. Now that Morrison was defenceless, Mei raised her arms to attack and the strike commander raised his own arms to defend.

Yet Mei was never able to land the blow, as a shot rang out and the force knocked her back. When Morrison turned to see who'd fired the shot, he was very surprised by who he saw.

Behind him stood Reaper, who'd managed to float through the base and appear in the lab just at the right time. He didn't hold back and fired a further three shots at Mei. With the biotic grenade stopping the nano tech from healing the injuries, Mei fell to the floor and the purple glow vanished from her eyes.

Reaper threw away his weapons and reached for a new pair, as two more targets approached. Moira had been surprised by Reaper's sudden appearance and had order her experiments to focus on him. Yet Reaper more than welcomed the challenge. He entered his wraith form and moved across the room, drawing the hostiles away from the Overwatch agents and more importantly, drawing them all together.

Zarya realised what Reaper was doing and once the hostiles were close enough together, fired a graviton surge. With the targets all trapped, Ana threw another biotic grenade, neutralising their healing ability, as Reaper un-wraithed and death blossomed. The targets were all torn apart by the onslaught of firepower, bringing the battle to an end.

With the battle over, Reaper moved over to Morrison, throwing away his weapons and stopping above him. The agents all raised their weapons, watching the former Talon operative in case he pulled out a new set of weapons on Morrison.

Yet Reaper didn't do that. Instead, he reached down and offered Morrison a hand.

"Get up Jack. No one left behind."

Authors note

And I thought the last chapter took a while to get out...

Still, better late than never. Rest assured that I'm still working on this story. I have a good idea where I'm going with each chapter and the story as a whole.

So sorry for the delay, hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you in the next one :)