The Darkest Knight
Part I: The Reforming of Overwatch
Chapter 10: The Breaking of Hana Song Part I
I blocked with my forearm, stopping the impostors punch at the cost of a few feet.
They lunged at me and I was forced to back step before sweeping around my left arm in a wide hook, which it effectively deflected with a back hand before jabbing at my gut.
I ducked and drove my fist upward, only to have it dodged as well. With a growl I pressed and tried a few punches to the head and neck before being forced back on the defensive when the impostor tried a sweeping kick.
A quick leap over it allowed me to avoided being tripped but the impostor didn't hesitate and followed through with a slash from its sword arm. I stumbled back, barely avoiding the slash for my head and countered with a blink strike.
My arc powered blade slammed into its forearm, but the impostor retaliated with a low kick to my gut which sent me reeling back.
I hit the metal floor and rolled to a crouch. A heavy sigh escaped me as pain thumped in my lower stomach courtesy of the impostors earlier stab.
The impostor pulled my blade from its arm and tossed it away.
Well there goes my second knife.
I stand up and raise my fists. I only have only blade left now. Can't risk using it unless its for a for sure kill shot.
Then again…
What the hell's a kill shot for this thing!
I back stepped a the impostor charged forward, anticipating its first strike. My gamble paid off and I avoided its punch with time to spare before returning a well placed kick to its head. the head of Hana snapped back but the impostor went with the blow and spun around before delivering a round house kick to my neck.
It hit and I flew to the side, gaging as my throat closed up and I hit the floor before rolling to a stop.
The impostor was on top of me before eI could blink and drove its sword down at my neck. I barely moved out of the way in time then boosted so I shot out from under the machine and away.
I growled as I landed.
My Arc powers hurt it, but unless I overloaded it I doubt I could truly kill it like that. Plus from the amount of energy it was outputting, I doubt I could generate enough Arc to overpower that. My Shadowshot could possibly slow it, but if I missed, God only knows if it'd hit someone else like Tracer. Slowing her down would be a death sentence.
So I had one option; Golden Gun. A triple powered kill shot.
I blinked once as it stepped towards me to ensure I had enough space to let off several more shots to which the impostor simply charged at me. Of course my bullets were useless, but I wasn't trying to hurt it like that anymore.
I needed it to doubt my intentions. It was smart, thinking, so I had to trick it into dodging somehow.
"Nate, behind you!"
The voice of the Cheerleader caught my ear and I instantly blinked up.
A giant sword swept through the air of where I had been and I boosted to the left, spinning mid air as I fired off a few more shots. Gravity pulled me back down and I landed in a roll, getting back to my feet in one swift motion.
The impostor was idling walking towards me, no emotion gracing its face, but the background was what caught my eye.
Tracer was blinking back and forth, doing what she could against two of the massive machines with her high powered sub machine guns. What sucked is that she seemed to be distracting them more than anything else. Her weapons just didn't have the punch to beat that armor.
Then Bastion was basically fist fighting the third giant machine. Unfortunately the machine was far more nimble than him, and he was losing, his armor dented and cracked despite the fact his machine gun gave him a range advantage.
I grit my teeth.
We were losing. We needed a Hail Mary.
Of course Gjallarhorn would be great for finishing these things off but-
I cursed and ducked under and around the impostor, deflecting one of its strikes with a palm heeled strike.
Damn it! I just didn't have the room to pull it out! If I missed Tracer or Bastion could get vaporized!
They succeeded in pulling us apart, in forcing us to fight alone rather than together!
I traded two punches with the impostor before it anticipated my attack, caught my arm and kicked me hard in the chest, sending me flying to the ground.
I used the momentum and haphazardly stumbled back to my feet.
Wait...
My eyes went wide.
They separated us, because together we're a threat! Hell when the impostor jumped me,but together Tracer and I were able to push it back with ease!
If I could get my allies together…. If I could let off an arrow from Shadowshot when they gathered to fight us…
It would be game over.
But that still left me with the problem of getting past the impostor and getting them in a group.
The thing walked towards me, its left arm forming into its sword. It lunged, this time a soft white glow surrounding it.
I stepped back, and twisted my arm so I grabbed its arm and yanked it forward, my fist meeting its face head on. It's head snapped back, but its other hand simultaneously flew up and latched itself around my throat!
Shit!
I lurched back, hoping to slip from it's grasp, but its grip held firm and It's sword arm slipped from my grasp! I let arc power burst out from me, briefly empowering Arc Blade, and the impostor stumbled back, releasing me.
The moment gave me a chance so I blinked forward and slammed my grenade onto its chest. It stuck and I blinked back as it tried to grab me, where a second later my grenade exploded and sent the machine flying back in a flash of white.
The white power surrounding me flashed and orange flames engulfed my person.
My hand shot up and Golden Gun formed. I let one shot fly, but the impostor had recovered and it simply twisted around the shot, letting the solar powered bullet hit and melt part of the wall.
I growled and flicked my gaze to Tracer and Bastion. They were still fighting, but Bastion losing big time now! He stumbled back and the machine before him drew its sword, preparing to take his head off!
"Shit." I spun on my heel and fired at the knee of the machine.
My second shot hit, and the knee buckled, melting metal instantly, and the machine toppled over.
Wham!
Something hit me in the head and I tumbled to the floor, my sol power evaporating and my head spinning.
"Holy-"
Crack!
A blade pierced my shoulder and I howled.
The impostor drove the blade further, the glow somehow allowing it to move seamlessly through my shields and armor! I grabbed it with my hands and tried my best to push it back.
But as I said earlier, it was stronger than me, so my resistance barley did anything.
I looked at the thing above me and its head tilted as if questioning me.
It's eyes started to glow bright, and its lips curled into a smile as a voice suddenly emulated, "you failed. Let that knowledge die with you."
"Fuck you!" I yelled and Arc surrounded me once more. My strength increased with the power of light and I pushed the blade up before releasing a surge of arc. The impostor's blade pulled out entirely but it still hovered, only being knocked back by inches this time.
It was enough though, and I drew my knife with one hand, jamming it underneath the blade as it once more tried to impale me. The force was enough to throw off the machines momentum and it tumbled forward allowing me to drive my knees into its gut and kick it away.
A moment later I was back on my feet, one hand covering the gaping hole in my shoulder, the other holding my knife by my side.
Two hits it had gotten on me, and I had yet to land anything to that would harm it.
Fucking shit.
"Dig, any ideas?" I asked though clenched teeth.
I blinked back as the impostor raced at me once more, and I tried to roll-
"Duck!"
Wham!
I flew forward and the impostor raised its leg to catch my throat, close lining me, and I flipped, tumbled, and crashed into the ground with less grace than a crashing plane.
"Fuck." I growled getting back to my feet as a blue flash landed next to me.
Tracer stood there, chest heaving as she tried to breath and sweat beading her neck and forehead. "Luv, these things just don't die."
I looked at the two massive machines standing behind the impostor now, Bastion off to the side limping as he continued fighting the now legless third machine.
"Sorry for the late warning." Dog's voice filled my ear, "unless you can hit them with a Shadowshot arrow or Golden gun bullet, theres not much else we can do. Gjallarhorn could vaporize them but I know you don't want to risk it."
"Fuck it, give it to me."
I felt the weight of the rocket on my back and grimaced as I was forced to adjust my stance to compensate for the pain.
The machines stared forward.
"When I yell now you get as far from these three as you can." I ordered, low and menacing.
The Brit glanced at me but said nothing. I knew she heard me though when she blinked forward multiple times, and flipped over the impostor, hailing the two larger machines with bullets before blinking behind them as to avoid being hit.
The impostor wasn't fazed and came right for me.
"Shit." I blinked backwards, but was cut short by the wall. "Shit!"
It struck at me and I ducked, driving my elbow into its side with the hope of throwing it off balance. It worked and I blinked away from it, simultaneously drawing Gjallarhorn.
I took aim but the impostor barrel rolled towards the larger machines, as if anticipating my hesitation with Tracer in the midst.
"Now!"
Blue blinked away from the three and I smirked.
"Fuck you." I fired and the rocket sailed forth and-
Slick!
I watched in horror as a bolt of energy hit the rocket mid air and detonated it. The trackers flew outwards and hit the ground, creating even more of a haze.
How the fuck had it done that!
The haze parted and the impostor leapt through the remnants of smoke, right for me.
I may not like dying, but fuck it.
I raised the rocket.
The impostor raised it's sword.
My finger hovered over the trigger and-
"Look out!" Tracer slammed her heels into the impostor mid air and the machine flew by me, my finger cramping as I resisted my jump reflex and barley avoided blowing the woman into a million pieces.
"Damn it!" I roared, knowing my victory had just been taken and I spun on my heel, raising the rocket at the impostor again.
Boom!
My shields flared and flew back once more, the sound of Tracer shouting barley audible through my ringing ears. A hard thump let me know I hit the ground and I rolled to my side, my hands free of my weapon, and groaned as I pushed myself up.
"Fucking, mother, fucking shit." I hissed as I looked up to see one of the large machines aiming its canon at me. My rocket lying on the ground between me and it.
"You failed. Let that die with you." The voice once more stated, loud and for all to hear.
"Oh fucker." I growled and arc swirled around me. "I'm not gonna be the one dying today."
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta!
The sound of machine gun fire filled the air, well the sounds of one that I didn't know, and I watched as bullets slammed into the back of the larger machine machine before a trio of rockets hit it and forced it into a stumble.
The impostor spun on its heel and flipped back and away as more bullets suddenly riddled its position.
I looked up and saw two people standing at the edge of the control room, where I had leapt down from in a rush to save the fake Hana.
One was a man from his stance and build, gray hair and a visor with a red slit in it, a blue, red, and white jacket over him. He was the one shooting.
The sound of steps nearing me caught my attention and I barley blinked back as the impostor tried taking off my head once more. I landed and primed another grenade before tossing it at the ground as it lunged at me.
The trip mine detonated and the machine flew back, its own shields flaring as it flew back into the ground.
It tried to stand and suddenly another trio of rockets slammed into it, sending it into another tumble.
I took the advantage and spun on my heel, dark power swirling around me as a bow formed in my hands.
"Tracer, get the rocket!"
I fired once and the arrow slammed into the impostor, but I kept turning and a second arrow hit the machine that was just getting back to its feet after being hammered by, what I guess were the two new guests and Tracer.
The second arrow sprouted tendrils that wrapped around the machine nearest it and Tracer barley blinked away before she too was caught, scooping up my weapon from the floor in the process.
"Take the shot!"
Gjallarhorn unleashed its payload and in a brilliant flash the two large machines were vaporized.
I didn't celebrate and looked back at the impostor, who was struggling to rush forward at me. The dark power of the void was replaced with burning fire and I raised Golden Gun.
But the impostor broke free and my first shot missed as it ducked, sword scraping the floor as it rushed me.
I took aim again and fired, it once more dodged and I let the fire dwindled down to a flicker, dark void once more engulfing me as I lunged forward to meet its attack.
It struck at me but I twirled around it, and fired an arrow straight into its back.
Bullets riddled it, a trio of rockets slammed into it, and I tossed a grenade into the mix just to add to the fun.
The explosion swallowed the immediate area and I stepped back drawing Golden gun once more, its last shot ready to go as thin smoke filled the air.
It was still standing, metal dented and the fake skin and hair scraped clean. It turned towards me and its sword twitched.
Zip!
Something hit the machine and its eyes went wide before it slumped over, twitching awkwardly.
I didn't wait and fired.
The machine was gone in a flash of golden fire, no part of it left as the light claimed its prey.
I sighed and looked around for Bastion. He was still standing… limping, but alive, and the third machine was down for the count. Whoever had taken it down I didn't know but who cares.
We did it.
"Are you okay?"
I glanced to my right and saw Tracer standing next to me. Huh. I hadn't even heard her get near me.
"I'll live." I grunted, my side and shoulder throbbing.
"Here." An arm slipped around my waist before raising up and holding the lower part of my chest. Her other arm pulled mine over her shoulders.
I laughed as she helped me up. "I'm fine."
"Barely." A new, old voice filled the air.
We both looked up and saw our two new 'friends' standing before us, their weapons down as they watched Tracer help me over to them.
Granted I could get around fine on my own, but having some help was nice.
"You're bleeding internally." The hooded one, a woman with an eyepatch, stated.
"I can take care of it." I replied, but continued, "thanks though. Made things easier for the three of us."
The gray haired man nodded and the woman gave us a tired, but heart filled smile. "It's the least we could do."
I nodded as Bastion walked over to us and I saw them tense up. I raised a hand. "He's with me. Saved my ass several times."
"He's an omnic soldier." The man raised his rifle.
I pushed Tracer off me and took a step in front of Bastion. "No he's not. His model is, he's not. He saved my ass multiple times, and you can ask cheerleader here how he spared her life before."
The mans head tilted to Tracer.
She nodded gently, "it did have us pinned but never went for the kill shot. It's not all evil, I think..." Her voice was far off and she seemed... distracted. Whatever.
It was quiet for a moment, aside form the krinks and creaks of Bastion's joints.
The man finally accepted the explanation as he lowered his gun, but now I had questions. "So, not that I'm not grateful, but who are you guys?"
"Jack Morrison… Ana Amari…" Traced stated from my side.
I looked down at her then back at them.
So apparently she knew them?
Huh.
Lena couldn't believe her eyes.
They…. They had died! Both of them! Ana died in a sniper fight and Jack…. She had been there when the fight happened! She saw Gabriel and him go up in flames!
She felt the water behind her eyes and a snarl formed on her usually cheery face.
"How!" She demanded before she pointed accusingly at those that at one point, were her mentors. "How?"
Her voice was ragged. Her mind confused.
"Lena." The elder man stated, his voice gruff as always, his stance commanding and powerful. But he carried another vibe about him…. something far different than before.
"Jack…" She started, blinking as she tried to assess her emotions. "I saw you die. I saw the HQ go up in flames."
The man didn't reply and she shook her head, a giant sigh escaping her as her emotions reigned themselves in and a small smile appeared on her face. "At least you're alive."
"Jack Morrison's dead." The man replied. "Take care, Lena," he turned and she went wide eyed before looking at Ana.
The older woman gave her a sad smile. "Lena, he's… different, but he's still Jack. Even though he refuses to admit it."
The man let out a huff as he continued walking away.
"We saw you come in here and thought, he" she pointed at Nate beside her, "was going to harm you. Guess it was good we decided to come and help out after all, though it was because of rogue omnics and not him."
"Not Rogue omnics." Nate suddenly interrupted.
The elder sniper glanced to him and she saw Morrison stop in his tracks.
"Some radical group. No idea who they are, but they've got this weird dude with a skull mask and-"
"Talon." She and Nate both glanced at Morrison who was looking back at them over his shoulder.
"Yup. Up to no good again." She responded, glancing at Nate once more.
The taller man looked back and forth between her and Morison before speaking up, "Okay who the hell is Talon? You said a group that's been fighting you for years but that doesn't explain why they'd want Hana?"
He was referring to her early explanation of Talon…. Maybe she should've elaborated on who they were.
But she wasn't the expert.
So she shot a look at her old Commander and to her exact expectation he spun around and fixed Nate with a hard glare one could feel from even behind the visor. "They're an international terrorist organization thats been operating in the shadows ever since Overwatch was taken down. Whatever it is they want there've been incidents like this across the globe. Scientists gone missing, Gibraltor being broken in too," he fixed her with his glare, "high ranking military officials from several countries disappearing and reappearing overnight, covert weapon shipments in the Favela."
"And what does this have to do with Hana?"
"High ranking military official. Take a guess." The Commander stated.
She looked at Nate, who tensed up and replied, "information, that, I get. But why her? She's still not that high ranking. Just a squad leader, not enough to warrant kidnapping and assassination."
"A squad leader of a Mekka team that's capable of driving back the largest Omnic on the planet." Ana answered for Morrison.
"They want to shut the Mekka squad down?" She finally asked, confused as to where Morrison was going with this. "But, there's no gain in that! What could even Talon get from taking Song?"
"That's what I don't know. But no matter what it is, there's a massive security breach in the worlds intelligence communities. Talon's going unchallenged, but," Morrison looked at her and sighed, "looks like Winston decided enough was enough."
She smiled. "What'd else you expect love?"
"For you all not to be idiots."
She blinked. Thats… not at all what she expected.
"Jack." The elder woman of the two warned, her own voice soft yet demanding.
"No." The man replied. "They both need to hear this." He looked at her then at Nate, "you're going to get yourselves and a lot of people killed. Talon's not playing around, and the UN won't stand for Overwatch intervening anymore. It's finished, accept that and let us deal with it."
"I'm not apart of Overwatch. I'm just looking out for my friend." Nate replied.
"Overwatch helps everyone. We're the ones who stopped Gabriel from getting Doomfists gauntlet and Winston stopped Talon from getting all former agents locations." She shot back, ignoring Nate's comment.
Morrison shook his head. "And now people are disappearing across the globe and you all are running after this man on a wild goose chase." His finger shot at Nate and she felt the younger man tense.
"We thought-"
"Overwatch shouldn't be around anymore. It was disbanded for a reason. This whole vigilante thing, this hero thing, it doesn't work Lena." Morrison interrupted.
She scowled, "says the man running around trying to stop Talon."
"Because I know what I'm dealing with. We're not heroes. We're a means to an end." He replied, his voice controlled and empty.
"Love, that's a thin line-"
"Leave it alone Lena," Morrison interrupted again, causing her to glare at the man, "this isn't a game, you know that. So stop acting like a child, and go home."
"Don't treat me like that nineteen year old girl you used to know. I'm not naive, Jack. " Lena frowned.
This wasn't the Jack Morrison she knew.
This one was… he wasn't a leader.
He wasn't the man who saved her life.
"All right," I growled, thoroughly annoyed with this old hag and his constant bickering with Tracer, "I'm done with this, so I'm finding Hana, and I don't give a shit about your family squabble, and unless you want to help us, you better get out of my way."
I instantly stepped forward and pushed past the two old soldiers. Fortunately they weren't trigger happy and just let me go, the loud steps of Bastion following behind me as Dig appeared in front of me.
I glanced back, and Tracer met my gaze.
"You coming?"
I mean… She had come with me, so I wasn't just gonna leave her here.
She hesitated and glared at the obviously older pair, a deep sigh escaping her chest.
"We'll stop Talon, Jack… but, we could use your help. The others… they…"'
Huh impressive. She as still able to acknowledge the advantage of having their experience in a war, despite having been basically insulted by this guy.
Seems like she still respected him.
Last time I saw someone insult a girl subtly, despite being her senior, was with Kathy. She knocked the fucker out cold. Then again he kinda called her a bitch…. probably calls for more drastic retaliation then being called naive.
Like the dude called her a bitch for winning at a game of pool! Who does that!
"Say what you want. I'm doing this my way." The man spun away from her and headed towards the door at the far end of the room.
The elder woman frowned at both of us. "Be safe Lena, and find Song. Who knows what Talon's done to her."
There was something implied by the words but the woman followed after Jack before either me or Tracer could question her further.
I saw that Tracer looked after them, her shoulders slumped slightly as the Morrison dude blew the door open with a trio of rockets and headed through, disappearing in the halls beyond, the older woman following him closely.
"Tracer?" I asked, my voice softer this time.
Sure I may be a dick sometimes, but I knew when something was personal. Obviously she had history with those two.
"Let's go." She said turning away from the doorway and walking over to me.
I nodded and Dig's light washed over all three of us, and a moment later we were in the bay of my ship. The low hum of the engines filled the air and I made my way towards the front of the ship, giving a brief thanks to Bastion for having my back to which he beeped at.
Guess my translator got damaged, but Dig said he was happy to help but would need to repair himself for a few hours.
Which was good so I didn't feel bad as we left him alone in the hangar.
"Dude what the hell happened?" Lucio's voice shoed off the walls, the man in question raising his arms as if we were crazy as got off the couch and walked towards us.
"Ran into some trouble." I replied. "Couldn't risk having either you or Dig down there. Fortunately, some old friends of hers showed up and helped us kick ass."
"That I get, but where the hell's Hana? Last I heard Dig said you found her," He motioned to us, "but she's not here. What happened?"
"Well," I drawled, my armor disappearing and being replaced with my lazy clothes as I walked over tot he couch and plopped down, "long story short, they set a trap, and made a robot thing that looked almost exactly like Hana."
I groaned as the dull pain in my side and shoulders returned. "Fuck. Yeah the shit got a few good hits on me too."
I sat up and Dig appeared with another case of sealing gel. I waved him off and said, "save it. I'll heal in a day or so."
Dig's voice then popped up in my head, "Nate, your wounds are mortal. Not as drastic as the last time, but unless you wanna try killing yourself again in front of these two then go ahead! See how explaining to them that your fucking immortal works out."
"Give it to me." I growled in my head and took the floating gel packet from the ghost.
"So," I started, as I opened the packet and started applying the gel after I took my shirt off, "who the hell were your friends down there? I'm grateful, but the dude seemed like a real prick."
Lucio follow my gaze and looked to Tracer who frowned and wiped away the last of the sweat from her brow. She pursed her lips. "His name's Jack Morrison. He was the head of Overwatch before we were shut down."
"Wait, the Jack Morrison?! He died!" Lucio exclaimed the moment she stopped talking.
I frowned. This man had died apparently…. but was still here. Maybe I wasn't the only immortal on this Earth.
"I thought he did." Tracer frowned and she blinked over to the kitchen table, taking a seat as she continued, "but…. I don't know how either him or Ana are alive. Ana was shot through the eye. Jack died in an explosion… But Gabriel's still around, so I guess its not surprising that he made it too."
"Gabriel?" I asked with a flinch. Dig feed my mind a stream of information about my wounds and... huh, apparently the sword to my gut had struck a kidney. No wonder it was a mortal wound.
"He was Jack's friend. All of ours' friend. But… Something happened. I don't know what." She replied with a sadness I hadn't seen in long time. "But, they died, we were shut down, and… well we were all on our own. Till Winston called us all back in."
"And now Overwatch is getting back together." Lucio replied, the hint of a smile on his face as he grunted and sat back down at the table near Tracer.
"We are. Someone needs to stop Talon." She smiled.
I groaned as my hand gripped my shoulder and applied the last half of the gel. "Well, that's all fine and dandy, but we still have no idea where Hana is, not to mention the fact they set a trap for us!"
Lucio frowned and Tracer's smile died like a wilting flower. The woman hand went to her chin as she obviously started thinking, "then there was that machine."
Forgot about that…
I nodded. "That thing was advanced." And since I was from the future and all…. that was saying something.
"You said there was a power source in that facility right? Do you think that machine was protecting it?" She asked.
I shook my head, "no, it was the power source. How that thing even managed to contain that kind of charge was ridiculous, but its probably why that thing was so damn hard to kill."
"And it looked like Hana." She added.
I ran my hand over my face, trying to piece the puzzle together. "Why though? These people.. Talon, tried to kill her, why build a robot, an impostor that can pass off as her?"
"Maybe they were trying to replace her?" Lucio offered up.
"Maybe." Dig added over the intercom in my ship. "Hit her with a close kill shot, have her transported to a hospital…"
Where the fucker was I didn't know, but I nodded and continued for him, his thoughts flowing together with mine, "…then have someone on the inside kill the real her, replace her with an impostor, then like magic you have a pawn in control of one of the strongest military units on the planet."
Damn…
Not a bad plan.
"We need to find her." Tracer stated firmly.
I nodded but sighed, "but we have no idea where she is."
"Actually, thats not true!" Dig yelled from what I assumed was the cockpit.
Huh, guess he was doing something in there.
"What do you mean?" Tracer asked for me.
"What I mean," Dig said as he floated into our conversation from behind me, his parts twirling as he looked at all of us, "her Facebook feed's been empty for several weeks, but guess what popped up only about half an hour ago."
"Hana." I stated wide eyed, tossing the remaining gel away and sliding my shirt on.
"Well, more specifically she typed 'Nate', but yes. Unless someone broke into her account, and knows your name, then I'm pretty sure it's her." The Ghost replied.
"Well where is she!" Lucio exclaimed, his face bright now that he knew his friend was still alive.
"It could be a trap." Tracer spoke softly, her words foreboding.
I shook my head. "I doubt it. They sprung this on us, and no one but you two and her know my name."
"The post came from a backwater sever, but I was able to track it down while you were out here bitching about your wounds." Dig stated and holographic map popped up in front of us. I ignored his jab and stood up.
A glowing blue line appeared and traveled form our current location all the way to the country north of us, right in the smack dab middle of it.
"The United Kingdom?" Tracer asked crossing her arms.
"What about it?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Aside from one incident in the past few months, it's one of the few places I thought we eradicated Talon from. I'm surprised they're already up and running again."
"How long will it take us to get there?" I asked Dig.
"About five hours, but we'll be using the last of our fuel."
"Get us there." I replied without hesitation.
He, well did the equivalent of what would be nodding for a Ghost, and spun his parts. "I'll let you three know when we're close."
"You good?" I asked Tracer and Lucio.
"Ready for payback man." Lucio grinned. The dude was still hurt, but gotta admire his spirit.
She nodded once. "Just cheeky, but remember we still need to talk after all this."
Shit I forgot about that. She wanted to have a therapy session with her buddies.
Yay…
"Fine," I stated, "so long as we get Hana out alive. If we don't…" I sent her glare and she frowned.
"I want you to know that it's not just Talon I'll be blaming."
She nodded.
It was harsh, but I needed to get my point across.
I didn't care for their politics, or their quarrels.
I owed a debt.
A debt that meant saving my friend.
No matter the cost.
(WARNING: Graphic content contained. If you have a problem with detailed [though it may not even be detailed], even slightly detailed torture scenes, this section may not be for you. You have been warned.)
Her stomach clenched, she felt the tingle as it ran through her spin and the feeling of nausea washed over to the point her gut twisted and she once again, puked.
The taste was vile, but it was nothing more than yellow bile that came out at this point. She coughed and gaged at the taste, before sealing her resolve once more and shooting a glare at the soldiers watching her.
She had taken a beating for killing three soldiers, and now the Conductor… he was pressing his experiments on her.
Her eyes shot down to the IV line attach to her arm, which was sub-sequentially chained to the ceiling, like her free arm.
What they were pumping into her was… well she had heard something about Pentothal… whatever that was. All she knew is her eye sight was all out of whack, the colors were changing, her stomach was twisting, and the air smelled foul no matter how much time passed.
It was terrible concoction for nausea, which wasn't helped by the fact that a solider was-
Wham!
She trembled, her stomach clenching once again and a gasp escaping her. She clenched her teeth and sucked in a breath as pain radiated from her gut, the soldiers fist retracting from where he had punched her full force.
She had spared before, she knew some hand to hand combat, but being hit by a large, trained soldier over and over was draining… and very painful.
The pale skin of her gut was bruised, a brilliant mix of purple, black and blue, from all the punching.
Maybe she should start her own punching bag line.
Wham!
Her head snapped to the side, pain lancing up her cheek into her skull as a throbbing heat pounded against her eye.
She looked back at the soldier spitting out what blood had flowed into her mouth from the cuts caused by her teeth.
"You hit like a girl." She managed, despite her back eye and swollen lip.
Wham!
Swack!
Two consecutive punches caused her head to snap side to side, and the light grew hazy, her mouth hanging open as she tried to stay conscious.
"Enough." The Conductor ordered, who was at the side of the room tinkering with something metallic like… it was a hook… a giant hook! It was barbed it had serrated edges and and!
She started to pull at the chain binding her arms to the ceiling and legs to the floor.
He walked over to her a the solider backed up and lifted whatever he was tinkering with up to her eyes.
It was a thin razor and a wire.
She could've sworn it was a hook….
Her hallucinations were definitely getting worse.
"Now Ms. Song," the mans voice was quiet and he grabbed her by the cheeks, forcing her face to his, "you are going to scream. You are going to beg, but I won't let anyone help you. Not until you tell me what I want to know."
He pulled the razor down and swiped it across her arm, cutting open skin on a superficial level. He did it thrice, then suddenly the wire was gone and she-
"Gah!" It was around her throat and someone was pulling it back, choking her, before her teary eyes caught sight of the conductor. He was carrying a powder… something like… salt!
He lifted the bag and sprinkled a handful of it on her open wounds.
She screamed and thrashed, her throat straining against the wire, her body gasping for air, her nerves on fire and aching from the constant abuse.
Suddenly she was able to breath and she sucked in the precious giver of life before gasping and growling as she tried not to scream from the pain.
It was so much, it was-
Swick!
The blade slipped through the skin on her thigh and suddenly was covered in salt.
"Ah!" She roared, thrashing her leg back as if to avoid getting more salt on it.
"I told you." The Conductor shrugged, a dainty smile on his face. He twisted the blade in between his fingers.
The wire was once again around her throat and she was yanked back, not hard enough to choke her out, but was enough to keep her head back, despite her consistent thrashing.
Suddenly the Conductor was over her, and the blade was at her throat.
She went wide eyed and still.
He was gonna slit her throat!
She was going to bleed out here…
This is where she would die. Nate would find her body her and the legend of would end her.
Captured and tortured like a failure…
The cool metal was then at her throat, labeling lightly against her skin, then she felt it press.
She felt the pain start and she gasped, clenching her teeth as she waited for the feeling of her throat being opened and blood spewing out like a fountain.
Then the metal bit in, ripping skin and she screamed.
But there was no opening, no blood spewing forth, just a small gash on her throat, more of something like her being…. skinned.
Her eyes went wide.
He was going to skin her alive!
The conductor lifted up the small chunk of her skin and raised it to the light. The wire on her throat was released and she was allowed to look up, gasping as she breathed in and tearing up as she saw what the sociopath was doing.
This man…
God he was going to skin her apart piece by piece!
"Fascinating. Flawless. Perfect. A beautiful woman, a specimen!" The man exclaimed. He turned to her, a grin spread across his gaunt features. "Miss Song, all you need to do is sing, and this will be quick and painless! That, I promise."
Hana grit her teeth and held back her words. All she had to do was wait. If she told them she knew nothing… then that was it. She would be of no use and they'd kill her.
"So be it." The Conductor frowned and the soldier stepped forward, raising his fist before driving it in her gut.
She recoiled, grunting as pain shot through her again, then jerked to the right s another fist slammed against her face.
Wham!
An uppercut dazed her, and the room stared to spin.
Suddenly a piercing pain blitzed through her lower half and she cried as the conductor slashed his blade through her thigh.
There was salt.
A fist.
The flash of metal.
Pain.
A fist.
Pain…
Metal.
Salt.
Pain.
Pain. Pain. Pain!
Drugs pumped into her.
Pain twisting her judgement.
A piece of metal slowly skinning her alive.
Her gut twisted.
She wretched again. Bile raced down.
God who were these men! What did they gain from her talking!
How long had they been doing this? How long had the tears gone dry? Was Nate even coming? Was he even trying to find her?
A fist met her cheek again. Blood leaked from the bruise.
It was taking too long…
He was taking too long…
God all she wanted was for it to stop. Or for the cold embrace of death to take her.
But all they were doing was superficial. Physically, she could heal.
Another fist.
Another slash.
More tears. From where, she couldn't tell. But they came, and she gasped and cried as they continued.
Then the wire was wrapped around her throat and water was poured on her face. Constant, beyond the point at which she could hold her breath, and she was drowning.
They stopped on the brink and she gagged and hacked and yacked up the water from her lungs, expelling the intruder as her body struggled to keep going, as adrenaline failed, and only pain and fear took place of hope.
The man raised the razor again, this time to her throat.
Her eyes went wide.
And finally…
Hana Song broke.
"I'll talk!" She pleaded, the pain from all over her, from the salt piercing her wounds to her aching muscles and bruises, and fractured bones. "Please… I'll talk."
Then the guilt hit her.
She gave in.
She gave up on Nate.
Then again… he wasn't here was he. She hoped he would come. That he actually cared, and it wasn't all just talk… But she was wrong.
He had been all talk.
"Then Miss Song, vhat beautiful melody vould you like for me to 'ere?" The Conductor stepped back.
She trembled and bit her lip. Her resolve had faded. What was she doing giving in? How could she-
A pain pierced her side and she screamed as another soldier literally jammed a hook through her skin.
When he had gotten there she wasn't sure.
"Okay, okay okay! Please stop!" She cried, her resolve steeled. She had to tell. The pain was… it was far too much.
Who could stay quiet after all this…
After days of this…
"Tell me the-"
"There is no code!" She yelled, tears streaming down her face. "Please just stop!"
"No code?" The man raised an eyebrow. "But I-"
"Only the general knows it! I never knew it, just…" She sucked in a wet breath and sobbed, "just please stop."
The man frowned. "As expected." He turned away from her and put down his instruments, to her relief.
"Lock her up till I 'ave this… news, settled." He sneered at her and left the room.
The two soldiers let her down, not gently mind you, and yanked her over to the cell, opening it once more and throwing her in like a rag.
She shoulder hit the ground, but the pain was minimal compared to what she was already feeling.
The cold embrace of the concrete was welcome, and sucked her pain away.
Well… it sucked part of it away.
She winced as instinctively she curled up into a ball. She gasped, and the tears kept flowing. Her arms wrapped around her legs and she pulled herself closer.
The pain never left.
The fear, never left.
And her friend, never came.
She cried.
(WARNING: Graphic content OVER. Maybe it wasn't too graphic, but hey, still wanted to have a warning incase anyone is squeamish, ya know?)
I looked out of the cockpit and down to the mountains below us.
Dig had made it pretty clear with his maps and waypoints. The bastards were below the mountain, far below it, hidden beneath thousands of tons of rock and stone, hiding right underneath one of the supposedly most powerful nations in the world.
Guess their intelligence community sucks.
It took us like… a day, to find this place.
Then again we did have Dig, and the little dude was far more advanced than anything they had on this planet.
But even Dig couldn't scan accurately enough to see if Hana was down there still.
So we had to go down, we had to find her ourselves, or at least get deep enough for Dig to hack into their system and find her.
"Take us down." I stated, pulling my rifle off my back and resting it lightly in my arms as I walked back into the main room where Tracer and Lucio were still at.
Tracer was messing with her guns, something about increasing the rate of fire, and Lucio was trying his best to heft up Gjallarhorn despite his injuries. Dude was almost as dedicated as I was to finding Hana.
It probably helped that Dig and I used the hours we had to repair his equipment, hence why he already seemed so ready to get back at it. Dude really felt guilty that Hana got nabbed on his watch.
I mean shit, I felt bad about it too. Imagine how he felt?
My thoughts wandered to Hana.
You know, I had made her a promise. I promised to help and protect her. Right now I was doing a pretty shit job at it. I mean, I'd known her for a little over two weeks now, and half of that time she probably spent either unconscious, kidnapped, helping fix me up, fixing herself up, or…. well fuck.
Like come on! She'd been unconscious for three days after I stabbed her, she'd been kidnapped for….. for….
How long had she been gone for?
I blinked and tried to remember.
It'd been… shit, what, like ten, eleven hours now? Maybe half a day. Maybe a day?!
Fuck if I know! Maybe it's been-
"It's been almost twenty hours since we've seen her." Dig informed me as my helmet appeared over my head and my comms powered up.
"So almost a day." I replied. Almost a day of probably being tortured for information. I'd never been tortured, and the idea of someone being tortured for twenty hours straight...
It sounded very unpleasant.
"Almost." Dig replied.
I frowned and stretched out my arms. I had a feeling I was going to need them nice and warmed up.
"Ready?" I asked, sparing a glance over to the Brit.
"Let's do this." She nodded, standing up and twirling her weapons once.
"I'm ready man." Lucio replied.
My frown got longer, "dude I really don't think you should be going anywhere. You're still pretty banged up."
"I'm fine man."
I didn't feel completely reassured. We had repaired and upgraded his equipment enough that it would provided at least some protection, so at least one bullet wouldn't down him. Hopefully he didn't slow us down…
"You sure man?" I again asked. "Like, this is going to be a shit storm, and being slow, being hurt, isn't going to help."
He glared at me, obviously taking a slight offense to my implication that he would be a hinderance.
A few moments of a tense stand off passed, but the man deflated and closed his eyes.
"Fine, but if you need any backup, you get me down there." He demanded, crossing his arms with a frown.
I nodded and looked at Tracer, who in turn blinked over to me.
"You good?"
She nodded in response.
White light washed over us and the next thing we saw were massive trees all around, a small cabin sitting in the middle of a clearing as the sky was blocked by grey clouds and a chilly wind whipped by us.
"Come on." I stated, raising my rifle and sweeping the immediate area in front of us. Nothing was caught on my motion sensor, but it wasn't a perfect tool obviously.
When Dig had scanned the area we had garnered the locations of a least two dozens guards out on patrol and the cabin with its inhabitants. Fortunately we were able to teleport right next to the cabin, and by extension bypass all the patrols.
Our steps were quick and light, crunching the dead leaves and sparse grass beneath our feet. We made it to the cabin, where did had managed to track another giant elevator too, and we each got on a side of the door, readying ourselves to breach.
Dig's scan had revealed a few people inside the cabin and we had all assumed it was a group of guards, no matter how they were dressed or talked.
Tracer hadn't been exactly fond of the idea of killing first, asking questions later, but…
I looked at her and she sighed before giving me a small nod.
My hands tightened their hold on my rifle.
Then I spun and slammed my heel into the door, breaking it wide open.
She was in before me, blinking last the wall and driving her heels straight into the chest of a man sitting in a chair. I was only a split second slower, aiming my rifle right where I knew a guard would be sitting thanks to the scan Dig had provided. My aim was true and a man, dressed in overalls and a red cap, went wide eyed before a bullet tore through his throat.
Even before the red splashed on the wall behind him my sights turned to the third guard who was raising a rifle of his own.
My shot was first and ended him just as quickly.
A flash of blue and another grunt assured me that Tracer had taken down the fourth guard, and after a quick final sweep which assured me those were the only guards, Dig appeared in a flash of light.
"All right give me a sec." He stated, twirling higher and sending one flash of light around the cabins interior, scanning for a control panel for the elevator.
He stopped as his light washed over the fire place, and he zoomed towards it. "Got it."
His light shined on the wall and I gently broke it open, revealing the panel so my ghost could hack it.
I glanced back at the two men Tracer had taken down and raised my rifle.
I should kill them.
Thing would be far easier, far less dangerous with them dead.
"Got it." Dig announced and with a hiss the walls next to the panel slide open, revealing an elevator large enough for at least six people.
My rifle hovered for a moment over the bodies and brown eyes looked at me, disapproval radiating off them.
"You don't have to." She stated and I shook my head.
"Fine." I turned and walked into the elevator, Tracer following me with a blink, and then the doors slid close as Dig disappeared.
With a jerk, the elevator started our descent.
Digs voice then entered my ear, "Nate, I'm getting comm's traffic from below. Securities scrambling to find out why the back entrance is being used."
"Back entrance?"
"Yeah. I moved the ship a few miles east, and did another scan. Apparently theres another entrance off the side of a mountain, much more heavily guarded though."
"Guess it's good we only found this one then." I twisted my neck.
"Oh yeah. If it wasn't for the fact-"
Beep!
The elevator suddenly stopped, and red light filled the compartment.
"So those guards woke up…" Dig stated and I rolled my eyes. "And they killed the elevator. Also they set off a alarm so every guard knows you two are here now."
"Well, shit." I glanced at Tracer. "I told you we should've killed those guards."
Normally I'd be more inclined to give her more shit about it, but right now really wasn't the time.
"Can you get it started again?" I asked.
"Hold on." Dig appeared and starting flashing his light on the elevator.
A few seconds later the regular lighting returned and our descent continued.
"So if I were you two I would probably hide on the sides of this thing. You've got about twenty guards waiting for you on the main floor." Then my Ghost disappeared.
I slipped over to the side of the elevator, out of sight of the doors and Tracer did the same.
"Any other advice?"
"Well, I can't get any deeper scan's, but, from the video feed I hacked, I haven't seen Hana anywhere in the base. Just some stock evil scientists, guards, and a few other personal that I have yet to identify."
I frowned. "Find Hana, and let us know as soon as you do."
"Probably gonna need more direct access to their network, oh captain my captain!"
Ass hat.
Then, again with a jerk, the elevator started to slow.
"Ready?"
"Always, love."
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open.
Rat ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-at!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Cak ka-ka-ka!
I instinctively flinched as bullets riddled riddled the elevator compartment, ripping the back wall apart as the guards continuously fired upon us, hoping to take us down.
They obviously weren't stupid, hence their immediate attack and overwhelming numbers, but I had plenty of things they didn't know about.
A grenade appeared in my hand, and purple darkness of void surrounded my fist. I wanted for a lull in the gunfire, which was more of just less bullets being fired that a complete stop, and I quickly tossed the grande through the doors and into he mass of guards gathered.
"Grenade!"
"Down!"
Two different voices were shooting orders, but anything else was drowned out as my device detonated and a blinding poison filled the air.
I twirled around, rifle raised and looked on as at least half the guards were stumbling about, coughing, gagging, and trying their best to wipe away the poison currently binding them.
However that meant the other half was recovering from the initial shock, and was still capable of fighting despite the scare.
I didn't wait any longer and put my sights on the first guard I could tell was unaffected.
Two quick shots dropped him and like clock work I took down two more in the span of a few seconds. My advantage was shot lived and gunfire opened up on my position, automatic rifles peppering my shields with bullets.
I rolled out of the way and behind a concrete column, firing back at those who had retaliated.
I heard sub machine fire enter the fray and knew Tracer had joined me in the fight. Where she had teleported to I had no idea.
My eyes took in the area, a large room with nothing more than several large concrete columns, a few stairways leading up into the various hallways on the second floor, one of which was about twenty feet to my left, and dozens of lockers spread about.
With the layout memorized I dove out of cover and spun to a quick couch firing at three more guards who had their backs to me and were firing on a column on the other side of the room.
Bang!
One down.
Bang!
Two down.
Rat-ta-ta-ta!
My shields flared again and I turned my sights tot eh guards shooting me, taking one out with a shot to his neck and another to his head.
I blinked backwards, behind the nearest stairway and hurdled another grenade over my cover.
A flash of white echoed out with a pop and I took the offensive again. Bright white trackers zoomed from where my grenade had vaporized one unlucky guard, and search for more unlucky targets. Tow guards were still opening fire on Tracer's position and a third turned they attention to me.
A quick jab of my trigger ended his life and I shot down the two other as my trackers hit their respective targets and took out at six other guards, holes blown into their chests by the overwhelming power of Arc.
I looked around and the last three guards were already dead with bullets holes riddling their bodies like they had been pin cushions.
I frowned at the blood and the scorch marks.
It wasn't often I used my powers against humans, and the results were always… bloody. At least with my grenades they tended to be.
"Dig, anything?" I asked, pushing down my discomfit as I turned my weapon up to the stairways, waiting for more guards to charge us.
"Uh… no, but I found a control center. Its on one of the lower levels, full access to computers and the like, plus I found Last Word there. Some Guard has it. I'll get you a waypoint."
I nodded and felt Tracer's presence behind me.
"Does Dig know where she's at?" The brit asked form behind me.
I shook my head as I started up the stair well in front of me. "No, but he found a control center, and my gun."
"Your gun?"
"The one I gave her."
(WARNING: possible trigger with idea of sexual assault. Clarification: Simply an idea, not an actual action.)
It wasn't the yelling,or the scrambling footsteps of the soldiers that caught her ear. It wasn't even the blaring alarm of the red lighting that caught Hana Songs attention.
It wasn't the fact that her cell opening, and two soldiers grabbed her and dragged her out of it and into the room of nightmares.
She shivered as the thoughts of pain returned.
No it was the words of one guard that caught her ear.
"What the fuck did you guys do to her?"
She blinked. What did that even mean? This guard… she glanced up. The one on her right was looking down at her, but his face was hidden behind a visor.
"What she deserved." The deeper voice of the second guard replied.
Their was hesitation then the first guard started, "but-"
"Vhat're you doing!" The voice of the conductor suddenly bounced off the walls and she cringed, keeping her eyes low. "I said to dispose of her quickly and cleanly! No evidence of her existence! We need every available guard at section 6! Move!"
Then the light footsteps of the man faded away as he left the room and she blinked.
Oh no…
Dispose of her?
Her eyes went wide. She was going to die.
One of the guards yanked her to her feet and the other roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.
She stumbled and her legs gave out after only a few steps.
It's what happens for not eating in like twenty four hours and being tortured for hours on end. You lose a lot of strength.
"Fuck." One of the guards, the first one, grunted.
"Get up fucking brat." The second growled, kicking her in the gut.
She coughed in response, jerking backwards away form him. Her teeth clenched as the pain was only amplified by her bruises.
"Stop." The first guard snapped. He wrapped his hand around her waist and hefted her up, carrying her like a sack of laundry over his shoulder. "Come on, Jenkins. Hydraulic acids on the?"
"Eighth level. Section ten." The other guard replied.
The Guard carrying her failed to respond and hauled her out of the room.
It was the first time seeing the outer parts of her prison and she wasn't impressed. It was concrete, bright lights, various doors spread about, concrete columns every once in a while, and scientists dressed in white lab coats running about like their heads had been chopped off.
They came to a stop and she looked over the guards shoulder as he slipped what looked like a keycard through a scanner.
There was a beep and the sound of bolt unlocking cried out, and the guard moved forward, pushing the door next to the scanner open and starting down a flight of stairs.
Each step bounced her up, her gut aching and her muscles already begging for relief. Each step, her heart started to pound faster, the age old instinct of survival rearing its head in the back of her mind.
Once they were down two flights the guard turned and re-entered the base, the adrenaline started to race through her veins.
She felt the fear now, and her eyes grew wide as a set of wide gray doors stay at the end of their current hallway, and if she was to judge where they were going, that was the place.
That room, was where she would die.
So she did what any person would do only a dozen feet from their death.
She fought back.
With a violent thrash she kicked outward, and swung her head in an arc as if to headbutt the guard. Her arms shot out at the side arm the guard had holstered, and the abrupt change in her persona caught both of them men off guard.
Unfortunately she had no plan, and was acting purely out of instinct. Her kick freed her lower body, but the second guard grabbed her by her arms and lifted her up, effectively canceling out any surprise her 'attack' had had on the first guard.
But she wasn't finished, and drove her knee upward, right into he second guards groin.
A squeak echoed out and the man instantly released her, and she let a grin sketch itself across her face.
Hands grabbed her arms from behind, but her smaller figure allowed her to slip out of the grasp before it was firm, and she clumsily dove forward, knocking the second guard down with her momentum.
She stumbled up, turning to face the first guard who was lunging for her.
It was flight or fight.
She drove her fist at his chest.
He caught her punch.
"No!" She yelled, trying to pull away but was only pulled forward.
"Just," the man grunted before her punched her in the gut, hard enough to knock the wind out of her, "stop! You're only making this harder than it needs to be!" He lifted her again, tossing her over his shoulder once more before starting towards the door.
She heard the second soldier stand and growl, "I'm gonna kill the bitch."
Once her lungs were once again filled with air, she tried again to thrash her way out of the mans hold.
But he was prepared and only tightened his grip, keeping her locked against his shoulder.
The set of doors slid open and she stopped to looked at her execution room.
It wasn't anything special. It was dimly lit, crates scattered about, pieces of paper lying sporadically across the concrete floor, and the heater and cooler system sitting at the back of the room, surrounded by more crates.
The guard dropped her onto her feet and pushed her back. Her balance was gone and she fell back against a pile of wooden crates, resting her head and back against them.
The man drew his side arm and cocked back the hammer.
Hana started to hyperventilate. There was no where to go now. She didn't have the strength to try and run. She was tired.
But she didn't want to die!
The tears started to form.
She didn't want to die…
Her life started to flash.
She remembered Christmas with her family, opening up her presents as her mother made her family hot chocolate.
The sights of international Star Craft competition, the feeling of victory as she finally won the title of best in the world.
Her first kiss, in the rain because her date, Wey' Tushi, had forgotten to bring na umbrella or coat.
The first time she fought in her mech against the Omnic monster, and the rush of defeating it in a one on one fight that garnered her the position of squad leader.
Of the heart to heart talk she had with Nate, and the pain she saw and felt as he spoke about himself, remembering how she could relate to his loss.
Laughing with Claire as they stayed up late in the bass, talking about nothing more then who was the best Avenger.
She felt a single tear roll.
Maybe she had given in and given up the only information, or lack of, that was keeping her alive.
Maybe the pain had been too much.
But she wouldn't beg to be spared.
Like always, Hana Song would stare death in the face.
She would go out defying death.
Till the very last breath.
With a heavy sigh the guard aimed his weapon at her and mumbled, "think of something happy. Of the best memory you have."
Her breath started to slow and she eyed the man carefully.
"Just… anything happy, and close your eyes. It'll be quick." The man was short of breath, but she didn't give him the time of day.
She stared him in the face.
She would never give death anything.
She would defy him till the end.
"Put the fucking pistol down." The second guard suddenly stated, pushing the first guard aside and walking right up to her.
She instinctively backed up further against the crates, but the man grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up.
"This bitch killed my best friend."
She wondered which gaur that had been. She had killed three.
"She should pay for that, in every way."
The tone of his voice…
The glint she could feel in his eyes as his head looked her up and down.
Oh god.
She was suddenly tossed onto the crate and the man pinned her by the throat, and grabbed the remnants of her shirt before ripping it off and leaving her in her bra and shorts.
Her eyes went wide and she immediately fought back, clawing at her throat and face, trying to pierce his visor and gouge his eyes out.
The tear started to roll.
This was worse than death!
Oh god!
Suddenly the man was grabbed and yanked off of her, and she gasped for breath, having not realized she was being choked.
"Dude what the fuck?" The first guard, the one who had been ready to take her life, stood in front of her, his back to her.
"What?" The second man grunted as he back to his feet after being thrown. "I told you, the bitch killed Eric. I'm getting my fair share of payback."
She saw the first man clench his fists.
"I get that, but you aren't going to fucking rape her! We didn't sign up for anything like that!" The man yelled, emphasizing his words by throwing his arms up.
"Say what you want." The second man growled, standing tall and stretching his neck. "After Linda died…. I'm not letting any spoiled fucking brat like this bitch get away with whatever she wants. I'll make them pay. In whatever way I want."
There was silence and Hana bit back a groan, a shooting pain in her gut suddenly hitting her. She pushed herself further back on the crates, to get as far from the two as possible.
"You're not gonna touch her man." The first guard stated, his voice low and dangerous.
The Second man straightened his back and cracked his knuckles.
"And who's gonna stop me? You?"
"If I have to."
I drove the side of my hand into the neck of a guard, his windpipe tearing from the force of my blow, and I twirled around before sweeping his legs out from under him and shooting him twice in the chest.
A quick sigh left my throat and I flexed my wrist as he dropped in a heap.
The hall was lined with seven bodies, all of which were guards that I had dropped with my gun or bare hands.
"Gah!"
Crack!
I glanced back and watched as Tracer leapt off a guard and the man tumbled to the ground lifeless.
She wiped a drop of sweat from her brow and gave me a frown. She was still against the killing, but she was just as willing as I was now, probably because of the whole idea of self defense and we'd die if we didn't kill them first.
Survival's one hell of an instinct…
See guards had been charging us and trying to stop us at almost every choke point. Unfortunately not a single group was as large as the first and with only hallways as their choke points and my shields and Tracer's speed…
Well the assholes didn't stand much of a chance.
"Dig?"
"Control centers down the next hallway to the right."
Dig still needed to find a computer to hack into since their network was local, so we needed the Control room of this place. Not to mention it would be easier for him to locate Hana from the heart of this place.
I nodded and jogged down the rest of this hall, then turned right at the next intersection. Two guards raised their rifles and instantly fired on me the moment I was around the corner.
With a flash of void power I rolled forward and under the trajectory of their shots, while blue lines raced across the roof as Tracer used her abilities to leap above and over the bullets and right to their source.
She landed her feet on their chests, knocking both back as she fired her weapons at point blank at them, tearing through their body armor and ending them before they even hit the ground.
I followed through and rolled to my feet as their bodies landed, stepping over them as I continued the jog to the Control Center; which was separated from the hall by two large metal doors, each of which was easily ten feet wide and just as tall.
Raze Lighter appeared on my back and I swept it into my right hand and burst forward with the power of Sol, slamming into the metal doors and melting right through the steel like it was butter.
Instantly my motion sensor went off, twelve different red dots appearing and I was forced to raise my swords shield as gun fired greeted me.
The shield stared to drain as a heavy bullet… Last Word I realized, slammed into my shield, and I grit my teeth as heavily armored guard moved in front of his companions and continuously unleashed his ammo onto me.
Once more Tracer blinked past me, just like she had at the base in Mexico, and engaged the hostiles at close range.
In that moment I gauged our enemies. Only five were shooting at us, one of which was the heavily armored guard using my gun, the others were all dressed in coats, white or gray, that had seemed to be working on the computers but were now cowering and fleeing for their lives through another set of doors on the other side of the room.
Tracer alone took down one with her surprise, but in the close quarters, and with such superior positing, and me being forced on the defensive, she was forced to take cover, as three guards turned their fire to her.
The bullets coming at me greatly decreased, so I dropped the shield and lunged forward at the heavy guard, effectively cutting off the support from his allies since they couldn't fire on me without hitting him.
I twisted around, before pushing forward and rammed my shoulder into his chest and forcing him to drop my gun.
He stumbled back with a grunt and I continued on with my momentum, sipping my sword into his side and disintegrating him in one fell swoop.
The two guards still focused on me opened fire once more.
I blocked their shots and blinked forward as Digs voice filled my ear, "Nate?"
I drove my sword through once and locked the shots of another, who was then taken down courtesy of Tracer.
"It's clear."
A bright flash and my ghost appeared again, this time moving to the computers and breaking into them as I grabbed Last Word off the floor.
Never knew I'd miss this thing.
Huh. Go figure.
I watched the door we had come through and I assumed Tracer had her eyes on the other one.
"All right, one second…"
I waited with a frown as he searched their systems for Hana.
"I found her!"
"Where?"
"Five minutes ago she was in a hallway only one level down." He informed me, and I instantly started towards the door, "But… Nate, there something else!"
I stopped, "what?"
A picture appeared on my visor, and Tracers voice then asked, "what is it?"
I went wide eyed as I took in the sight.
Hundreds… Hundreds of impostors, several of which looked like Hana stood on the video I was looking at. Hundreds…. "are those?"
"Impostors like the one you fought? Yes. From what I'm getting there's over a thousand, and a dozen that look like Hana. They're only five levels down in the largest hangar here all waiting I guess to be deployed somewhere." Dig replied, louder this time so Tracer could also here him.
"What would they do with all those… things?" She asked from across the room.
"Who knows… almost anything." I replied narrowing my gaze. "Can you hack them?"
"Not unless I'm close. It seems like they're on closed networks. Nothing I can do about that." Dig sighed.
"What do we do?" Tracer pipped up.
I shook my head. "No idea, but," I turned and started towards the exit, "we're getting Hana and getting out of here. They're already on high alert and no way we can fight that many. Hell we could barley handle one!"
"We don't have to fight them all!" Dig yelled, as if he just realized something, "the base has a power source, a fusion reactor! If we overload it we can blow this entire place up! No more impostors!"
Before I could've even think of a reply the Brit replied, "I'll do it love."
I glanced back at Tracer and stopped right before the doors.
She smiled and gave me a nod. "Find Hana. I'll take care of the reactor."
I nodded. "Dig, help her find the reactor and get back to the ship. Be ready to transmat us out once I find Hana."
"Got it."
And with that I sprinted forward through the hall, a waypoint appearing on my visor as I headed to Hana's last known location.
Almost there Hana…
Almost…
Hana yelped as the men fought, hiding behind a crate as her leg bent awkwardly from being broken by the second guard.
"Gah!" The first guard, her protector, yelled as he flew back and hit a wall. The second charged him but was met with a kick to the gut, then was charged himself and the two reengaged in closer quarters boxing match.
She had tried to help, to intervene… but she was drained and the second guard had snapped her leg with three extremely well placed kicks. She was now down to crawling away from the fight, hoping beyond hope that her protector would win the tussle.
If he didn't…
Who knew what would happen to her.
She watched as the first guard slammed his fist into the second chest and followed up with a kick to the side, driving his heel far into the other mans ribs.
The man then uppercut the second.
The Second man stumbled back.
She felt hopeful.
Then the Second man puled his side arm.
Bang! A bullet tore through the second mans leg and he screamed.
She trembled and backed up, her eyes shooting all around the room, looking for any way she could escape, any way she could protect herself.
"Fuck!" Her protector yelled then he fell back, clutching his leg. "Fuck!"
"Told you to stay out of my way." The second man growled, and he kicked her protected down into a crate and stared over to her without breaking a beat.
She went wide eyed and tried to scrambled back.
The man grabbed her leg and pulled her forward.
She screamed.
Tracer blinked forward, bouncing off walls, and filling another guard with bullets. She flipped mid air and spun, kicking the second guard that had tried to stop her in the head and rendering him unconscious.
She didn't stop and continued forward, blinking past another pair of guards who were left confused as to where she had gone.
Dig had said the reactor was only a few levels down, but towards the back of the base, which is where she was headed.
She would set the reactor off, but…
She really hoped Nate found Hana.
That's what they were here for. For her.
But she knew they needed to stop Talon.
Whatever the cost.
Hana screamed as the guard pulled her to him, punching at him and clawing at his clothes as if to tear him limb from limb.
The guard lifted her and threw her onto a pair of crates.
"Get off!" She yelled, trying once more to knee him in the groin.
He effectively blocked her attack and snarled, "shut up!"
And his palm met her cheek with a crack.
She gasped and her vision was dazed long enough that the man managed to turn her around without any retaliation.
She went wide eyed.
This was it.
She felt the tears again.
Good God why…
Why was this happening to her?
She gave once last thrash of her legs, but the man was completely unaffected by her. She cried, "no!"
Crack!
The man stilled and she froze.
Drops of a warm, thick liquid landed on her back and she shivered before looking back.
A blade, a knife, stuck out from the man's helmet, blood dipping from the tip of the knife that had broke out the front of his face plate.
The blade slid out from the back, a pop ringing out as his skull cracked again and then someone pushed the dead guard over.
"Hey, Hana."
She smiled as the sight of armor and a cape field her vision.
"Sorry I took so long."
A/N
So I will say, this chapter was actually really hard to write, (sorry it took so long, this past month has been hell) like its long and really uncomfortable.
To be real, this is probably the darkest I'll ever go, I can't actually describe or write too detailed torture or 'assault' scenes (I'm not Game of Thrones and George R.R. Martin), and it was hard to write it, but these scenes are legit needed to progress the story.
In case anyone hasn't noticed yet, the main protagonists right now are Nate and Hana, and the things that happen are for each of them to grow, or fall. Hana wasn't as much of a badass here cuase of well, you know, torture and shit.
So yeah… I won't go much darker, if at all, and if I ever have these kind of scenes again there'll always be warning in case anyones super uncomfortable or legit triggered but such scenes.
Anyway, thanks for reading guys! You guys are the reason I keep writing this and hey I appreciate your positive criticism and reviews!
Again I'd like to remind everyone that everything that happens is connected to something else in the future, whether it be character development, a plot point, etc…
Also, the Guest who said there was an obsession with D'Va, I don't know what you mean? Because she's a protagonist? Because Dig's a shit head and make fun of Nate, which is explained to keep him light hearted?
Oh well. Can't please every one I guess.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'll answer to the best of my ability.
God bless and Happy thanksgiving!
-Metal4k