Widowmaker looked over the group. An intensely fat man armed with a shotgun and some sort of hook; a beautiful blonde woman who used magic to heal the others (now wounded by an arrow shot); a small, skinny rat of a man with a grenade launcher; and a darkly dressed individual with a mask like a skull.
They weren't so intimidating. Much less intimidating than her own group, which consisted of Soldier 76 – a clone well past his use-by date – and three more of his kind, led by Widowmaker herself.
Then again, she reminded herself, it wasn't so much an us and them scenario. Technically both groups were working together. If you could call watching an enemy warship flying into the distance working.
'Over here!' the fat man, Road Hog, called. They were standing atop a plateau at the Northern end of the mountain, the back exit. It was a small door that didn't really lead anywhere, but apparently their enemies had found exactly what they wanted here. From what Widowmaker could tell, though she hadn't exactly asked, their enemies had wanted a man named Genji. Though what possible value a single man could hold she didn't know, even if he was the son of…
She shook her head to clear that particular thought. Everyone has a past, and the last thing she needed was to be thinking of that part of history.
Mercy's team hurried over to where Road Hog was now leaning. Before him, draped unconscious on the unforgivingly hot stone, was a young woman with short cropped hair. This must be Tracy. Widowmaker had heard the name.
'Great,' Junkrat threw his hands up. 'Mercy's been shot, Tracy's dead, Genji's been taken…'
'And you killed McCree, didn't you?' Road Hog asked, voice low and guttural. Then, when Junkrat didn't answer, he repeated: 'Didn't you?!'
'Yes!' Junkrat snarled. 'Yes I did, and I'd damn well do it again, 'oright?'
Road Hog scowled, but said nothing further. Reaper also remained silent. Widowmaker glanced in 76's direction, but he was already leaning over Mercy to supply her with a biotic field. The energy field it created was having a healthy effect on the blonde woman's skin. Soldier 76 gently removed the arrow from her upper chest. Widowmaker was surprised by how gentle the grizzly soldier was.
Mercy opened her eyes. 'What happened?' she asked.
'You were shot. Hanzo's arrow. And now Genji's gone.' Soldier 76 spoke quietly, his voice grim.
The blonde struggled to her feet, her left arm holding onto 76's muscled bicep for support. She looked up at his sharp blue eyes. 'Well, thank you. It's not often someone else heals me.'
Widowmaker's eyebrows raised. She was certain she had just seen Soldier 76 – who had not flinched in the face of a thousand dangers – blush.
'You're welcome.' He mumbled.
The ground shook beneath their feet. Road Hog scooped Tracy into his arms. She was still unconscious, and Mercy didn't look ready to use her magic yet – if it really was magic. Widowmaker looked around, waiting for someone to say something, but many of them were looking at her. Widowmaker realised, with no small degree of surprise, that she was considered a leader here, though she had been a raving undead monster only a few hours ago; a memory she did not relish, and was trying to keep from her busy mind.
'We can't stay here.' Widowmaker said, finally, sounding much more sure than she felt.
'We all know that, sheila.' Junkrat's accent was infuriating, a parody of an idiot. 'Any forthcoming suggestions?'
'Actually, yes. There's a ship hidden beneath the facility. If we can get to it we can fly far from here. We could fly around the world three times on that amount of fuel. And there are provisions to last a small team close to a year.'
For the first time she saw their grim, dirty faces crack into something resembling a smile. These desperate, homeless warriors finally felt like they had a chance.
'We can go after Genji.' Mercy breathed.
'We can go after answers.' Reaper responded, his voice echoing unbidden in their minds.
'There's a catch.' Widowmaker slam-dunked their hopes. 'To get to the ship we have to go back into the facility, and my assumption is that we will face many enemies.'
76 nodded grimly, looking at the three remaining clones. Each of them, in turn, nodded. There was no question in their minds, no doubt that they had been built for this purpose and none other.
'We'll take point,' the old soldier said. 'But we'll be moving fast.'
They did move fast. Almost faster than Widowmaker could keep up. Once, not so long ago, she had been at a pinnacle of fitness and authority. Now she was an insecure, shivering, sore, blue shadow of her past self. Again, she shook the thoughts away. There was no time to dwell on them.
She just hoped that her new allies didn't regret bringing her back. They didn't know, after all, that Widowmaker's torture had been much more than just that. They didn't know her mission.
Soldier 76's men were incredible. They raced ahead at twice the speed of any normal man, and still had reflexes fast enough to dash left, right, roll ahead, fire constantly. Enemies fell on all sides. But the further they moved through the facility the less Japanese they found. In fact, if anything, the Japanese seemed to be running.
But from what?
The answer came swiftly, but it was not welcome.
Omnics. The robotic monsters must have attacked the facility while Soldier 76's clone army was busy with the Japanese intruders at the front gate. So much damage had been done already, and so many warriors had been engaged in battle, Widowmaker could only imagine it had been a massacre.
Soldier 76's men continued to lead the way, but they were slowing now, taking each corner much more carefully. The omnics, though devoid of actual thought, were extremely dangerous. A few shots to the head or body would not necessarily bring them down. Some had been built so that their primary processing functions were contained within their skinny limbs, or near their rolling treadmill tyres, which made them very difficult to stop without completely destroying them.
The clone's guns were fitted with helix rockets, but even so…
Soldier 76 kept up with his younger, almost identical brothers. He was there, leading the way, his blue and white uniform a gleaming beacon of hope. Widowmaker watched him with new respect. For months they had run this facility together, and she had always taken his assistance for granted. But now, seeing him in action, she realised that his abilities extended far beyond the management of the facility, of the clones. He was a true leader, right down to his bones. The sort of leader that led from the front, and expected nothing of his army that he would not do himself.
'Use ya staff, Mercy.' Junkrat said. Widowmaker turned to look at the skinny Australian, who was in turn looking at the beautiful blonde healer.
'The Caduceus staff?' Mercy asked, looking down at the long rod in her hands. 'What about it?'
'Use it to heal Tracy. Look at Hoggy, the fat bastard's carrying the girl, how long do you expect him to keep that up?'
Mercy shook her head. 'There is no magic in the staff. It just channels the healing energies, helps me to project where I want to project.'
'So where's the magic come from?' Junkrat frowned.
'Me.' Mercy answered simply. 'And I do not have the energy to walk and heal Tracy, so unless you'd rather be carrying me…'
Both Junkrat and Road Hog looked as though that was a preferable option, Widowmaker noticed with a smirk. But neither said anything, as Mercy did not give them a chance. She increased her pace to jog alongside Widowmaker.
'How are you feeling? It must not have been easy, realising what you had…'
'We don't have time to talk about that.' Widowmaker scowled. 'Focus on the…'
The path opened up onto a great hangar, on the far side of which was a sleek looking ship of modern design. There was some wear and tear to the wings, but otherwise it was almost new. Widowmaker smiled. She new that particular bird like the back of her own hand.
'Meet Mantis.' She gestured for the benefit of the others. 'And yes, I named her after a bug who eats her…'
Gunfire erupted. The Omnics were ahead and behind them. Road Hog unceremoniously dropped Tracy, and whipped his hook-chain around to knock two of them down. Junkrat flung a trap down. Soldier 76 and his three clones leapt into action. One of them was almost immediately shot down. No one, Widowmaker noticed, went to his rescue.
'We need to get over there.' Widowmaker said. 'Or at least, I do. There's an EMP emitter inside built for situations exactly like this. If I get close enough I can…'
Mercy's surprisingly tough arm, linked around Widowmaker's slender waist. They locked eyes for a moment, only centimetres apart, and Widowmaker was unable to help being overcome by a feeling she had not felt in a very long time…
It did not last. Mercy leapt into the air, her wings spreading, and they shot forward.
The hangar was perhaps one hundred meters wide, and twice as long. It was designed to hold a dozen planes the size of this jet, but now it, having been evacuated long ago, it was nothing more than storage. Trucks, cars, and transport-buggies of all shapes and sizes littered the floor, some with hovering capabilities, some without. There were also piles of crates that stretched almost to the roof, and more discarded machinery than Widowmaker could even name. In short, it gave the machines blocking their path plenty of places to hide.
'How did they reach this place before us?' Widowmaker asked, though she knew Mercy would have no answers. Perhaps the Omnics had overtaken the entire facility while they were outside looking for Genji and Tracy. It would explain why they had seen so few Japanese soldiers on their return journey through the facility, and not a single living clone.
'I'm hoping we can fly right across.' Mercy stated, ignoring the question. 'It will take us hours to fight through that labyrinth of…'
A shot hit Mercy's wing. A stray shot; a lucky shot. But that was all it took. Mercy dove, crashed against the top of a pillar of crates, and both women rolled. Widowmaker managed to stop herself, but Mercy kept on rolling, before disappearing over the edge.
'No!' Widowmaker called, unable to stop herself. But Mercy was gone.
Two options remained; Widowmaker could climb down, try to help Mercy reach safety; or she could continue. She was over halfway to the jet now, and if she made it inside a few simple button clicks would save them all.
She glanced behind her. The towering figure of Road Hog was there, crunching his way through the Omnics as though they were toys. Around him explosions and shouts were hints of Junkrat's grenades, or the destruction of Omnics, or perhaps helix rockets.
Time was running out. Widowmaker made her decision.
She pulled her recon visor down over her face, and the crowded hangar lit up with brilliant red splotches. The Omnics. They had a very distinct heat signature deep in their processing units, and the recon visor could spot it from a mile away. It also had the helpful function of distinguishing Omnic heat signatures from that of humans. Widowmaker wondered what her own signature might look like, considering she had hardly even been alive a few hours ago.
No. No time.
She raised a hand and launched her grappling hook. It snatched a hold onto the next pile of cartons and she was flung forward. Beneath her, red light patterns waited patiently… but she was faster. With her gun she fired once, twice, three times, and three robots fell. All she had to do was shoot out their processing units, which her recon visor allowed her to specifically aim for, an advantage over the robots that the others didn't have.
She ran along the next line of crates, then leapt down, sumersaulting through the air to land on top of a speeding robot. She raised her rifle, swapped it to fully-automatic mode, and fired a flurry of bullets which cleared her path forward. With some difficult she stood, jammed the heel of her boot into the head of the machine she was riding so that it stopped dead, and then fired her grappling hook again.
This time she hit the top of a tall truck. She landed on top, ran a few meters, then double-flipped onto the next idle truck. She was practically within reach of the Mantis now. Just one more shot and…
An Omnic shot caught her thigh and she dropped, sprawling on the ground. The machine responsible hurried over and, before she could attack it, pointed a gun at her face. Widowmaker did not make any sudden movements. There was no telling how these robots were programmed, the last thing she wanted to do was scare it…
'Target identified.' The Omnic spoke in an electronic parody of a voice. 'Special Agent Lacroix, code-name Widowmaker. The Dragon has been looking for you.'
Widowmaker smiled. Nice to know that they were looking for each other, then.
A pillar of black smoke arose from the ground behind the Omnic and from it stepped a grim figure, dressed in darkness, his face an expressionless, bone-white mask. Reaper raised two Hellfire shotguns and, without delay, fired.
He held out a hand. 'Come on.' He said. 'Where the hell is this EMP device?'
Widowmaker nodded gratefully, but wasted no time on thanks.
'This way. And don't slow me down.'