Sorry for the long wait! Here's chapter 4!

Null Sector Network

Target has moved.

They've moved several times. Try and catch up.

Any leads on their location?

Orbit.

Orbit?

That's all we know from satellite data. Anything else is unknown.

What's he up to?

Well, for one thing, there is some sort of wide-area transmission being played up there.

Did you decrypt it?

Already got coordinates. Sending in agents now.

More agents, huh? You just love wasting valuable resources, don't you? Hollywood wasn't enough of a lesson?

Shut up.

(-)

Low Earth Orbit

"...Are you with me?"

Akira sat back for a moment. "Tyr, anything else?"

Tyr paused for a moment, scanning through the transmission. "Coordinates. Encoded, of course. And… a countdown timer?"

"Probably a rendezvous of some sort. What's the timer?"

"Three hours from now. I'm already plotting a course that gets us there relatively undetected. And before you ask, I've already got a beacon planned to grab their attention. Unfortunately, it's a wide-area beacon, and is rather unprotected."

"So be ready for a fight, got it."

As they began on their course, Tyr decided to strike up a discussion. "So, you worried about what's going on back home?"

Akira seemed to sag slightly, as if a great weight had suddenly been placed upon his shoulders. "I think it's safe to say that anyone that knows is worried." He took a moment to reflect on what had happened. Asher had apparently called him back down to Io for one last experiment, involving that odd device that had landed him here. By the time they'd gotten back to the Tower with it, they'd heard that Asher had headed back into the Pyramidion. Sloane had last been seen in that power suit they'd found, tearing through as many Hive as she could. Vance had apparently headed into the Infinite Forest, and locked the door behind him. Ana was on her way to the Tower with what remained of Rasputin.

All in all, things were not looking good for the Last City. "It's because of that that we have to get back home as soon as possible. The City already has enough to worry about without me going missing."

"Pyramids are still out there, you know. Plus, there's the issue of whatever's waiting for us on Europa."

"I know. All the more reason."

Several miles outside Ceuta, Spain

Genji ran through a basic Kendo kata . "Winston, you're sure this is safe?"

Winston looked up from his tesla cannon, screwdriver in hand. "Of course not. That's why we brought our weapons." He took off a side panel and began fiddling with the electricals. "While our contact might be non-hostile, the same can't be said for anyone that might be trying to tail him." Ka-chunk! The weapon came to life with a powerful hum. "Everything that's happened in the past few weeks means that all eyes are on him, right now."

Sojourn nodded. "We have no idea what exactly to expect, so it pays to be prepared." She paused for a moment. "Speak of the devil…"

"We're being followed, aren't we?" Winston asked. Sojourn nodded. "Right, then. We should probably take care of them first before we find Mr. Alien."

(-)

"Radar pings." Tyr said, voice low.

"How many?"

Tyr was silent for a moment, before responding. " We have three, grouped up, approaching our general direction. A larger group seems to be following them."

"Any surveillance footage?" It took Akira a moment to process his statement. "Alright never mind, that was stupid. We're heading out. If they're Overwatch, we say hi. If they're not-"

"We blast 'em."

"Yep."

(-)

They're splitting up. Probably saw us coming.

The Null Sector Omnics grouped up, each scanning the environment around them for anywhere that their quarry might have been hiding.

Don't see anything ye- "ARGH!" The sudden vocalization made the others whirl around to see one of their own collapse to the ground, shuriken embedded in their forehead.

Eyes up, it's the Shimada!

The forest lit up with weapons fire. Even then, however, it was decidedly ineffective. Three more shuriken found new homes in more heads. Two Omnics were pulled into the underbrush with a scream.

The squad leader's eyes flicked around the forest, panicked, as his squadmates were cut down, one by one. There was a sound of metal striking metal. The last thing that he saw was his own body slumping to the ground.

(-)

One squad's already down, taken out by the Shimada. Keep an eye out for the other two. No telling where they are. HQ out.

The leader relayed this to her squad. A loud whistling came from overhead. She barely had time to register an object approaching at high speed, before it landed with a mighty crash, sending the squad flying.

As dust obscured the squad's vision, a loud hum cut through the air, shortly before a powerful electrical arc flashed, frying several of them

The leader railed, frantically trying to regain her bearings, firing blindly. At that moment, a large grey fist collided with the side of her head.

(-)

Several bolts of energy slammed into some of the squad members. A powerful kick sent the leader into a nearby tree.

The other squad members opened fire at the woman, who rapidly dodged out of the way.

A few moments later, their weapons began to malfunction.

Ka-chik! Pow! Pow!

Twin explosions rocked the area.

(-)

They met back up at the ship. "That takes care of most of the incoming Null Sector agents, but there's still one more group coming."

The other two nodded, their weapons at the ready as the agents began to reveal themselves from the surrounding forest.

Chut-Chut-Chut-Chut-Chut!

Each of the enemies were swiftly cut down by a single shot to the head. The three Overwatch agents turned towards the source of the noise.

"I assume you're the alien we're meeting?" Winston asked.

There was a rustle in the trees, before an armored figure glided down. Winston noted that he seemed to lack any sort of equipment that would allow him to do so.

"Depends on who's asking. I'm assuming you're with Overwatch?"

Talon HQ

Kuiper hadn't slept in several days. How could he, with all this new information to pore over? All of it was immensely interesting, of course, but most importantly, he could see, not just hear!

It was as if the universe itself had become an open book, each page full to bursting with knowledge. The constant influx would have overpowered any lesser man, but not him, no. He already had notes upon notes of what he had discovered, constantly writing them down whenever they came, which was often.

Two concepts in particular stood out to him, namely, the concept of "Sky" and the concept of "Deep." Both were in eternal conflict. Both seemed to be ever-present forces that existed in and around the universe itself. He had spared himself a small laugh when he discovered this - maybe these were the reason behind the music that seemed to constantly fill his mind.

Sky, however, was mostly ignored. It was Deep that he was most interested in.

It seemed to directly support the ideologies of Talon - Those who are defeated therefore have lost their right to exist, thus giving their strength to the winner. Progress and evolution through conflict, eventually resulting in a perfect, final existence. This "Deep" served as if to facilitate this, separating the strong from the weak like a winnower does grain from chaff. A phrase came to mind. Sword Logic. He hastily jotted this down.

Second, it seemed to be sapient. Capable of communication. It was not a force of nature, like gravity. It actively enforced its will, and, if some of the notes he had taken were any indication, could be communed with.

"My my, doctor. You've certainly been busy, haven't you." He spared a glance over his shoulder. Moira. Of course. The walls of his lab were coated in jottings, notes, diagrams, and more. Moira examined one. "Who is "Toland the Shattered?" Certainly not anyone you know, I hope?"

The world seemed to flicker for a moment. Moira grinned. "Hmm. Seems that you've made some form of progress. Well, then, I'll leave you to it."

As the door closed behind her, he mulled over what he had discovered. Perhaps he could use this "Sword Logic." Commune with the Deep, if it were possible. The world flickered once more. For a brief moment, Kuiper thought he could see a bright light in the distance, watching him.

And that's that.

Who knows what's going to happen next? I don't. I still have to write out that chapter.

For those of you wondering why Sojourn's combat scene is so short? It's because I don't really know much about her. I don't think anyone does at the time of writing.

Also, just a warning, it's probably going to take me years before I finish this, at the rate I update.