The Darkest Knight
Part I: The Reforming of Overwatch.
Chapter 11: Chain Reactions and Volskaya.
I took in the sight before me. The sight of a woman, beaten and battered, weakened and nearly defiled by the very species I had sworn to protect.
I was no stranger to the dark, crooked ways of man. Even in the Last City, there had been evil men. Men who would rather drink upon the suffering and pain of his fellow man than fight the darkness that threatens us all.
But even experience does little to calm unaided rage.
Pure, cold, Rage.
And in response, my power fluctuated, Arc swirling around me as rage took hold.
"Who did this?" I asked, my voice growing fouler by the second.
Hana only smiled and the smile broke as tears took hold of her one perfect face before she covered her face in her hands.
Something people confuse is that they think rage is this, potent, evil thing, and that only evil deeds can come from it.
But in this moment, rage fueled something else.
Empathy.
And I scooped Hana up in my arms, her head resting against my shoulder and I looked over her leg, which I could tell was freshly broken.
Damn whoever did this.
I turned, still holding her in one hand as my other drew Last Word and aimed it at the guard who was downed and struggling to stand with a bullet hole in his leg.
"Who?" I asked, rage cutting off whatever care for grammar and proper speaking I had.
The man grunted and his mask covered his face from my eyes.
I aimed my weapon at his good leg.
"Don't, Nate."
My eyes turned to the girl in my arms. Her eyes, stained with red strain and tears, met mine even through my visor. "He helped me. It was that man… the Conductor… he did this." She shivered.
I looked back at the guard and tightened my grip on my weapon.
Mercy wasn't something you were taught as a Guardian. The Fallen, the Hive, everything would kill you without it, so you had to do the same. Only one time had I seen mercy in such a situation.
Once, when Kathy spared a mans life, even though he had killed innocents, he had begged for mercy, begged because he had a daughter who had been sick and he needed the money for meds. If she followed our rules, the rules of Salidan, Shaxx, and even Cayde,
the rules they lived and died by, then she would've driven a bullet through his heart and been done with it.
But she didn't then. She understood why he did the things he did.
Now I was faced with a choice.
Mercy, or death.
I grit my teeth and lowered my gun.
"If I ever find you with these guys again, or near Hana," I gestured with my head to his dead friend, "I'll make his death seem like mercy."
The man didn't reply, but I saw his arms tense, fearful of my wrath and what he knew I wanted to do.
I spun away and with Hana in my arms backed out through the doors and started a jog through the long, gray halls. Her hands wrapped around my neck, her head resting against me, eyes closing from sheer exhaustion.
I swallowed hard and opened up the Com channel.
"Tracer, what's your status on rigging that fusion core to blow?"
I walked forward and kicked the doors of the room open, striding out with purpose as Hana rested in my arms.
My feet picked up a jog and I kept a close eye on my sensor as Dig responded in her stead, "firstly its a fusion reactor, not a core. Secondly, I have the surveillance systems under tap but they're jamming her comms. We're linked by light so no affect
to us, and-"
Bang!
I lunged back around the corner I had just turned, pulling Hana to me and twisting so she was covered from the bullets flying from down the hall we needed to go down.
She screamed as the sound echoed off the walls and her hands flew to her ears, naturally flinching from the sound.
I glanced around.
Satirs!
I burst towards the stairs halfway between me and the room I rescued Hana in, my motion tracker blinking furiously as enemies approached us from behind.
"Nate, four of those impostor machines are on the move. If I'm correct there're the only ones powered up, which is good considering how many they have, but its bad since, if I calculated their trajectory right, three are coming for you and one's headed
for Tracer." Dig informed me, his voice edging on worry.
I didn't respond as I took the stairs up two at a time.
"Get out on this floor! You've got guards coming from above!"
Bang!
I flinched as a bullet bounced off my shoulder into the wall, and jumped at the nearest door, kicking it open before storming in.
"Dig, where's the nearest safe zone so you can transmit Hana out of here?"
"One moment."
I grit my teeth and backed up against the wall, one hand holding the Last Word up and pointed at the door I had come from.
A flash of black and red passed the small window and I fired on instinct. The bullet tore through the flimsy metal and I heard a thunk and yell, which was my cue to sprint down the hall and down the nearest corner.
"All right go left!" My ghost yelled.
I followed his direction and sprinted down the next hall.
"Right, then take the next set of stairs up two floors!"
Again I listened and slammed the door open with my shoulder before taking to the stairs. I glanced down at Hana and noticed she wasn't moving. My heart rate shot up by dozens of BPM's.
Not again!
This couldn't-
"She's just unconscious! This floor!"
My head warped back into reality and I entered the next floor, greeted this time by a moderately sized lobby with an abandoned desks, a fountain and even a few potted plants.
What kind of evil base was this?
"You've got twenty seconds." Dig informed me and I ran behind the desk and laid Hana down.
My ghost appeared not a moment later and stated, "all right transmatting in five."
I huffed and leaned back against the desk..
"Shit. Nate, you need to find Tracer. Some one else is in the system, and they'e good."
"How good?"
"Well, they're not a real threat, more of an annoyance. They manually shut off the surveillance systems on the floor for the fusion reactor and I can't see Tracer. If we want her to get out of here alive you need to find her and hold out so I can transmit
you both back to the ship."
I nodded. "Just get Hana onboard."
His light started to wash over Hana and I backed out from behind the desk aiming my weapon at the door, my motion tracker warning me now of approaching hostiles.
"Get her on the ship and get her wounds treated with whatever gel we have left. I'll get to Tracer and then you can transmat us both out."
The door opened and two clean shots ended the first two guards.
A flash of white glowed on the walls and I knew Hana was safe.
Bullets flew through the open door and I ducked under them, hurling another grenade at the opening and grinning darkly when the flash of orange was accompanied by ash and yells.
Suddenly five guards charged into the room, immediately opening fire and I blinked backwards behind the desk, drawing another grenade.
I tossed the grenade into the air, where it detonated and filled the air with poisonous gas before I leapt over the wooden cover I had and took three shots. Each hit the necks of their targets and the flash of blood was enough to for me to ensure they
were dead.
The other two crumbled under the weight of the poison.
I started to the door.
"Which way?"
Lena grunted as she kicked the guard in the chest, blinking behind him and unloading her entire clip into his backside. It was quick, efficient, and the guard was dead before they hit the ground.
She sighed and glanced around the room, four other bodies lying lifeless in their own pools of blood. Her stomach twisted and she ignored the gag in her throat as she looked up to the giant reactor behind her.
It was swirling green, contained inside several layers of machinery, glass, and metal. It looked similar to the drive that had powered the jet she had flown several years ago… the one that ended up with her traveling through time.
But this was much larger, and she blinked over to the nearest control panel careful to keep an eye on the doors.
She wasn't nearly as good as Winston when it came to pure tech, but she knew she had to destroy this thing. Powering it down would only delay the inevitable, and if she set this thing to blow she could take out the entire base and all the Talon agents
and project located inside.
Considering how large this base was, they were bound to have important assets here, and taking them out would deal a massive blow to Talon's operations.
But Hana and Nate we're in the building… and then Emily….
What could she do?
What should she do?
Something, something suddenly went off in her heart.
And her sixth instinct suddenly went off and Tracer blinked forward towards the Reactor, turning as she did.
she landed on her feet and watch as…
Her eyes went wide and she froze.
As… well…. as she, stood with a sword arm raised and posted to have struck right where her heart had just been.
The… other, Tracer, stared at her with cold unmoving eyes behind the same orange goggles she had.
It looked like Hana wasn't the only one who had a clone.
She grit her teeth as her clone took a step back and shut the doors, but not before she caught a glimpse of the guards outside with their weapons aimed at the room.
Not only was she trapped but now she had to figure out how to deal with this… impostor and blow up the reactor.
She aimed her guns at the machine and put her left foot behind her.
She blinked forward.
"You know what my question is Dig?" I said as I drove my heel into the throat of the last guardof a group of four who had ran into me whiletrying to head down, and I assume, take out Tracer at the reactor.
The fourthguard, the last one standing fired at me, and his shots bounced off my shields. I drew my blade and with abuts of Sol, sent t flying at his heart. He tried to move last moment but it still caught the left side of his heart and the power
of fire ripped through him, sending him flying back and to the ground.
I kept my weapon up and jogged past the dead fourth guard, pulling my knife from his corpse, and headed straight for the elevator at the end of the hall.
"What would Talon need all this shit for? Why take Hana?"
I could feel my Ghost shrug in my head. "Hell if I know, but Tracer's on the level below, opposite side of the "
I grit my teeth and slowed to a stop before the steel doors of the elevator, swinging my rifle onto my back. I jammed my fingers in between the doors and pried the steel doors open, putting my arms out and pushing them open.
"How's Hana?" I grunted as the doors clunked to a halt as they reached their maximum retraction.
I rolled my neck and stepped into the darkness, simultaneously drawing my knife as I fell into the elevator shaft.
"She's fine, Lucio's bandaging her up and her vitals are all stable."
Air rustled by me and my cape fluttered up, before I slammed my knife into the next set of doors with a perfectly timed blink strike. I grunted as I pulled myself up, looking up and down real quick to ensure no elevator was coming towards me.
"How bad do you think the torture was?"
There wasn't so I pulled my leg up, placing it so I was able to anchor myself as I pushed the steel doors open. It took a bit but once the doors were open I climbed into the hallway and reoriented my rifle against my shoulder.
"Bad. If it wasn't for our Gel, she'd definitely have scars for the rest of her life. But…. I doubt her mental states going to be any good. She's going to have a lot of problems."
I sighed, readjusting my rifle so my line of sight was absolutely perfect.
"I can only imagine. See if you can find any sort of counseling for this thing. She's probably gonna need more help than we can provide."
"Yeah. Poor girl. Getting caught up in all this shit. Take a right."
I chuckled darkly as I turned a corner, my footsteps silently gliding over the metal floor. "She sounds like a guardian. Pulled from peace to just get shit on."
"Oh don't be such a bitch."
I laughed. "Yeah Yeah."
In my second year of being a guardian I had these thoughts often. I hated being the Travelers lackey, of being chosen without my consent to fight this never ending war. There were some Guardians that just up and quit. But, at the end of the day I didn't.
It took me a few months but I finally understood why I was chosen.
The Traveler had seen something in me, something good that made me worthy of fighting the darkness and saving what was left of my people.
But Hana… she didn't suffer for something like that. She suffered because of evil men that wanted nothing more than to see her suffer and die. There was no glory for her suffering, no godsend reason for her suffering like me.
And that made me feel like shit.
"Another right."
I turned the next corner and stopped.
"Shit."
I licked my lips and let out a slow breath, my finger hovering over the trigger.
In front of me stood Hana. Well not the real Hana. Another impostor, this one though lacked the proper decency of wearing clothes. Its compatriots on the other hand didn't even have skin. They were just sleek metal bodies in the shape of a human, glowing
red eyes displaying their hostility towards me.
I tightened my grip and in the span of a second, read the entire situation.
First off was the obvious problem…. A single impostor had gone toe to toe with me without any real problems, even showing me that it was slightly stronger so I had to compensate for that. But they weren't invulnerable.
Secondly, if memory serves correct, they went toe to toe with me because of its maneuverability. It the open space of the death trap set for me and Tracer, it had the capability to twisting and turning whatever way it liked to ensure my shots missed.
Here however, in this cramped hallway, that advantage was gone which gave me a better chance of landing a hit.
Thirdly, there was three of them. Which did not look good at all. But, there was no one else around…
Which meant I didn't have to hold back for the fear of injuring my own friends or allies.
I blinked back, my rifle barking off five shots as the machines lunged for me. I was still out of reach as they came and felt the weight of two grenades on my hip. I blinked back again, this time utilizing the motion to drop my rifle and grab the explosives
off my armor and prime both at once.
But now the machines were on me.
I ducked under the swipe of the Hana machine, before rolling towards the closest metal skinned one and slapping a grenade onto its chest. I blinked forward and through it, then the explosion went off.
Boom!
I was thrown forward but still managed to roll to my feet, my cape fluttering behind me and the second grenade still primed and ready in my left hand.
Two impostors still stood, the third having been melted by the power of Sol in such a close range.
The remaining metal skin charged me, its legs and movements precise and mechanized. I easily side stepped its first punched, and blocked its kick meant for my kidney.
What surprised me was the fact I wasn't pushed back like before, but I had compensated for it, and the distraction cost me as its fist flew into my visor and I stumbled back. The machine struck at me and again I easily blocked, before trapping its arm
in a hold and twisting around before kicking it and blinking back.
I landed on my feet as the machine hit the ground and the Hana impostor narrowed its gaze at me.
"Dig, is it me or-"
"Metal face is a lot weaker. I'm thinking it might not be fully complete. It seems only the skinheads are technically complete, and this one looks brand new."
I watched as the metal head once more charged and this time the skin head came with it, though the skin head was more precise and smooth in its motions. The metal head's strike was rough and of pure strength, no technique, and I easily ducked under it,
slipping past it and towards the real threat.
The skin head met me head on with a headbutt, unconventional, but got the intended results and forced me to take a step back. It took the moment and crushed its heel into my sternum, which knocked me back further, only for its friend to punch me twice
in the back with enough force to throw me forward and off balance.
"Fuck this."
I released the primed grenade, and blinked forward past both, to where I stumbled into the wall and… then…. the machine, the Hana impostor, did something I didn't expect.
It grabbed the metal head and spun it around, between itself and the grenade.
Boom!
The Sol fire consumed the metalhead but within a second it the skinhead kicked through its ally and charged straight for me.
I went wild eyed and blinked back before drawing Last Word. I fired the entire clip at it, and the larger rounds at least made visible dents in the metal. How the fuck this thing even took Last Words clip so easily was beyond me.
Its arm twisted, and a blade appeared in its place, which it then proceeded to swing at my neck.
With a quick flick of my arm I drew my knife and deflected the blade, ensuring its momentum forced it into the wall behind me before I jammed the blade in between its ribs.
The machine didn't slow at all and simply placed one leg on the wall and pulled back while it kicked me with its free leg, forcing me back and pulling my knife back from its body.
The momentary disorientation was enough for it to turn and sucker punch me in the gut. The blow was hard and my feet scraped the metal floor as I slid back. It lunged for my torso, the biggest target, and I threw out my hands just in time to catch the
blade.
I kept its motion going, and heaved, before throwing the machine down the hall.
It clanked as it hit the floor before smoothly catching itself and rolling to its knees, its back to me.
It stood and turned to face me.
I felt the familiar weight of Raze Lighter on my back.
Its eyes narrowed at the weapons appearance and it charged.
"Nate, more guards are starting to head to your level. I've also managed to restore the audio to the AV of your level and Tracer's definitely still alive, but she's dealing with her own impostor at the core, and she's trapped in by over a dozen guards.
You need to hurry."
So Dig restored the Audio from whoever managed to take it down, which…
Which meant they could've been listening into the fight…
Time for some theatrics.
"Mistake one, challenging me in an enclosed space!" I roared as I drew my own sword and blocked its space. A sense of approval washed through me and I knew Dig was onboard with my idea.
I used the weight of Raze Lighter to press against the enemies sword and with a shove forced it back before twirling and trying for a decapitation. I missed because it back stepped in time but that didn't mater.
"Mistake two!" I continued with my spin and spun Raze Lighter in a wide arc, faking a strike for its torso that ripped open the flesh of the machines leg as it failed to dodge the real strike, cutting it wide open and forcing it to step back a few times
in a retreat. "You stabbed me!"
Sure it specifically didn't stab me, but the jab is more for whoever had to be listening in on us fight.
Whoever the mastermind behind all this was.
Suddenly I glowed with Sol power. The first impostor I had ever fought had gotten lucky, it had space to dodge my Golden Gun, but this one… Oh it didn't have that luxury.
I held my sword in one hand and felt the power of Golden Gun in the other. I fired off one shot and the machine barley side stepped it.
It could dodge still, but it couldn't dodge two things at once.
"Mistake three…" I growled low and dangerously. I blinked towards my foe.
It struck at me and the blade connected with my shoulder, slipping past shields and armor and piercing flesh.
I grunted but pushed forward and swung with my sword, the machine ducked, only to find itself face to face with the barrel of my Golden Gun.
Bang!
The head of the machine blew off in a spectacular display of light and molten metal, before its disintegrated into ashes.
"You fucked with my friends and innocent people." I looked at the ceiling as the ashes floated to the floor. "So, I'm coming for you."
I popped my neck and started forward, as Sol left me and Raze Lighter disappeared.
"Nice touch, whoever it was just left the system. But whatever they did to the video was probably manual since I still can't remotely turn it on."
"Any idea who they were?"
"No clue, but those impostors… well the skinhead, was definitely weaker than the first." Dig stated.
"Figured," I huffed, "wasn't complete was it?" I replied as my feet started to pick up the pace, my shoulder throbbing from the stab wound.
Dig grunted, "or it was inexperienced. What machine do you know values its self preservation that much?"
"You." I quipped.
"Besides me and the Exo's." He drawled.
"Not many." I pursed my lips together. "But we can worry abut that later. How much further?"
"Not far. Take another right."
Lena sucked in two gulps of air before she was once more forced to blink back from her opponent as it tried once again to take her head off with its makeshift sword.
The machine wore a choral accelerator, but…. it had yet to use it. So she had the advantage of speed and time, but its durability was insane! She had emptied four clips into it and all she could see were the tears in the jacket and the dents in the skin!
She considered using a pulse bomb but that could set off the reactor and she was very fond of staying alive.
So that was out of the question.
She blinked around it in an arc and flipped over a computer station, simultaneously unloading her clip into the machine, to which it used its blade to block the shots to its face.
"Bugger…" She huffed before blinking at it.
She ducked under its first swipe then-
Swick!
A blade went thorough her gut. She went wide eyed.
Blood.
Warm blood started leaking from her, it crept into her mouth and-
Time moved back.
Three seconds it crawled back. She was blinking already, but instead of dodging, she blinked up and over the machine in a series of blinks to keep distance between them, once more firing away at its backside.
Every time she tried to get close she ended up getting stabbed.
It's like this thing was programmed to think like her, to be like her. It anticipated her every move, and the only reason she was abel to stay alive was her recall ability and the fact she was keeping a distance.
Took the whole impostor thing to a new level.
She landed on another computer station and frowned as it turned to her.
This thing lacked her abilities but even if it lacked the capability of hitting her at range, it seemed more than capable of absorbing all the damage she was trying to output.
Bang!
She looked at the doors as did the machine.
Ra-ta-a-at-ta!
Machine gun fire…
Bang!
Heavy single fire weapon.
"Ah!"
A muffled scream.
It was Nate!
Together they could beat this thing like last time!
She blinked towards the door, but appeared just as blade was arching for her head, she slipped under it, and spun on her heel, kicking the machine in the neck.
It stumbled back and she fired her weapons at the locked doors. The handle shattered and her ammo tore through the metal.
She felt the presence of the machine behind her and blinked to the side, and just out of its reach as it tried to stab her in the heart.
She grinned, "sorry love, looks like you're out of-"
Thum!
The machines mouth had opened and fired…. nothing at her, but her ears suddenly were on fire and she felt tears instinctively blind her vision and her heart speed up. Her legs wobbled and-
Boom!
The doors flew open, breaking off their hinges as the familiar form of Nate in his armor and cape walked into the room.
"Nate!" She and…. the impostor cried.
She looked at the machine. It was mimicking her very movements, her pain, her tears forming, and a pained grimace on its face as it stumbled to the ground.
It pointed at her. "Nate… this thing looks like me! It sounds like me! Don't let it fool you!"
Lena gasped. "Nate! It's me you daft bugger! I'm the real Lena!"
She felt her heart speed up even more.
This was bad.
Very bad.
I blinked.
"Shit."
Two Tracers. Each wounded, and each sounding exactly as I remembered.
"Dig…"
"Without going in there and scanning each personally, I can't tell the difference. They both have heart beats, both have thermal signatures, both seem to be breathing…"
Unlike with Hana, who I'd spent the past couple weeks with, I had only spent a few hours with Tracer at most. I didn't know her at all, and her appearance was still new to me so I couldn't see any physical differences.
I raised my rifle and kept a steady pace of switching between the two.
"Shit shit shit." I muttered.
Who was real!
"Shoot her foot." Dig suddenly stated.
And the idea of her reaction filled my mind. I nodded, realizing that he was hoping that the real Tracer would simply blink out of the way.
"What if the impostor blinks too?" I asked.
"Well then we improvise some more."
I shrugged and with a quick switch fired off two shots at the respective right foot of each Tracer.
One blinked backwards and the other stepped back as the bullet hit its mark but did nothing more than dent its metal.
My rifle swung to the Tracer on my right and I opened fire, to which the machine raised an arm and lunged at me, its arm poised to strike for my chest. I waited till the last second and spun around its advance, letting my rifle fade and drawing my Golden
Gun once again.
I fired at its back but it leapt toads the reactor, towards our right and my round sunk into and through a computer. I twirled and took aim but didn't fire as the machine looked me dead in the eye.
This one was calculative, like the one in the death trap. It was aware of its self survival, and hell they both could dodge my golden gun shot.
But now this thing put itself between me and the reactor. If I fired and hit the reactor, I'm almost sure this place would blow, and with me and Tracer inside it.
Fuck.
"This thing's waiting for the guards! It's stalling man!" Dig warned and I glanced at my radar. Nothing appeared but I knew the the guards were getting close. Hell I had taken out like fourteen just getting in here.
They probably had a whole army on its way down.
I glanced around, the machine taking a lowered stance as its eyes continuously watched me.
What options did I have?
I frowned. There was only one option.
"Tracer, close the doors." I ordered.
"How!" She cried.
"Just do it!" I growled, and I heard the woman blink behind me, but what she was doing I had no idea.
"Dig," I started through the Coms, as I fed him images of what my end game was through my mind, "in about ten seconds I need you to appear at the far end of this room okay? Get Tracer aboard the ship."
"You know that they're gonna want to-"
"I know." I interrupted, the weight of Raze Lighter once more gracing my back, "but we have to take this place down, and no way am I letting her die when I can save her."
"Tracer," I then stated over my loudspeakers, "obviously your Comms are down, but I need you to listen to me very carefully." My right hand lowered down and slid to my back as it gripped Raze Lighter.
The machine narrowed its gaze, trying to figure out what my plan was.
"Move!" I yelled, spinning on my heel and blinking right at the door as I pulled my sword from my back and drove its blade upward, right at seam of where the two metal doors met.
The heat of Sol melted the two doors together and-
Wham!
A metal foot hit the side of my head….
It was dark…
I stumbled to the side-
Then there was Green fire…
It was the inside of a building… golden age technology lying about in droves…
-the image was mixed with reality, with the impostor and Tracer. I not so gracefully raised Golden Gun and fired off another shot towards my opponent.
There was a Guardian walking forward. A warlock.
Dressed… Kathy!
I didn't see whether or not it missed because another foot hit me in the chin and knocked me back as a sudden red blip appeared on my sensor. I barely noticed it.
Instead I saw the minotaur… I saw it's weapon, its gray and black eye…
There was a portal… Gray… White.. Purple…
My cape, fluttering out of it…
Another blip broke the shroud and Dig's voice shattered the remains of the sight, "Nate, at least thirty guards have positioned themselves outside! You have to take out the impostor now, or you're both dead!"
My eyes shot to my radar.
Too many enemies to count.
Another kick from the impostor arced for my head, and now rooted in reality, I blocked with my forearm, a grenade appearing in my hand, a snarl on my face and I wrapped my other arm around the machine before yanking it close.
No way was this thing getting away. It wouldn't hurt anyone else.
Thunk!
Thunk!
"Open the doors now!" A rough voice ordered from outside the doors, and more banging started to echo through the room, the guards obviously trying to break the makeshift metal wall I had forged with my sword.
A flash of light behind me and I heard Tracer gasp, "Dig! What're you doing here!"
"No time! Hold still!"
I glanced back as light washed over the Brit. She looked to me, her eyes wide.
The machine flexed its arms and kicked at my chest, but I tightened my hold, and felt a rib snap as it kicked again.
I scowled under my helmet, and only tightened my grip even more. I felt metal bending under my strength.
Then she disappeared in a flash.
"She's secure." Dig stated in my ear. "Hana and Lucio too."
"Good."
I looked the machine in the eye, and primed the grenade in my hand, several more appearing on my waist as I did.
"Fuck you."
Chain reaction's are beautiful things.
Lena gasped for air as she stumbled into the main room of Nate's ship. Her hands landed on the table and she gripped them for dear life as her world spun for a moment.
"Sorry. Disorientation's coming when its a fast transmit like that. Usually takes seven seconds. Did it in five." Dig's voice informed from somewhere behind her.
"Why?" She asked glancing back at the floating construct.
"No reason."
She narrowed her gaze then-
Bbbboooooommmmm!
The ship shook and she heard a curse in Lucio's voice from what she knew was Nate's room.
"What the bloody hell could've that…"
Her eyes went wide. Nate had been in the reactor room. She had seen the grenade in his hand.
No…
She blinked to the cockpit, ignoring whatever warning Dig gave her and she looked through the viewing port and down.
The side of the mountain had erupted and chunks of rocks flew up into the air, dust and dirt flying high and looking almost like rain in reverse. The fire and light of the explosion hung in the air for another second before it started dying and she…
How much earth had been destroyed in that blast?
"Bloody hell… How… how much…" She wasn't able to finish as she covered her mouth.
"I'm assuming from the glance of the reactor I got, that this fusion reactor in particular, had a larger fuel capacity than normal, probably to help with the production of those machines. Probably blew half a kilometer to hell." Dig stated as he floated
by her and too the very front.
She didn't look back, instead watching as the earth around the explosion cracked and trees burned, smoke blocking out the sun's warmth and birds flying every direction in fear for their lives.
No way Nate survived.
He was probably in several hundred pieces. Actually… he was probably vaporized.
Lena sighed and rubbed her forehead. And… and Hana! Had he even gotten her out?!
"What happened to Hana?" She asked, looking back to the Ghost, only to receive an answer from Lucio, who had limped out of Nates room.
He tilted his head to the room, "she's in there. Banged up and asleep, but Nate got her out. Speaking of the devil, where is the dude?"
She sighed and shook her head.
The man's face dropped. "Damn."
"If you could move please."
Tracer blinked away her weariness, and stepped to the side as Dig floated by.
The ship jerked, and she caught her balance before it suddenly started lowering itself towards the ground.
"What're you-"
"Oh you'll see soon enough." The Ghost eerily responded.
She swallowed hard and looked back to Lucio who simply shrugged. Great. Now the machine was being finicky. Last thing they needed was it going rogue and trying to kamikaze them into the mountain in revenge of Nate.
But as she watched, nothing extreme happened.
The ship simply lowered down about a hundred feet from where the explosion had taken place, close enough to where she could see the charred earth, and the chunks that had flown up and down.
Heaps of metal and ash and dirt, laid all around, trees on fire and a few others miraculously untouched.
She wondered how much of the base they destroyed. Hopefully they took out that army of machines.
Those machines alone could equal five battalions of Omnic troops from the war.
Humanity didn't have the strength to fight another war like that.
Not yet at least.
"Excuse me." Dig stated and again she was forced to move as the ship hovered and the little machine floated to the back.
She followed, curious to see what he was doing.
"What's up?" Lucio asked as she walked by, picking up her piqued curiosity and confusion.
"No idea, love."
She followed and as they entered the cargo bay, noticed that even the machine, the Bastion, was curious and followed to the ramp, which Dig had apparently opened and was currently floating down towards the earth.
Maybe the machine was getting somber over the death of his friend.
She sighed.
"Dig, love. He's gone."
"Nope." Dig replied, his tone bored and not even remotely worried.
She stopped in her tracks and looked at Lucio, who returned the same flabbergasted look she had.
Dig stopped about ten feet from their ship and his parts split, twirling around the ball of light in the center that she guessed was his core, then his own beam of blue light spewed out into several larger beams of white light and his parts started twirling
faster.
She took a step forward and particles of light, literally stared to pull together.
Her eyes grew wide, as piece by piece, a glowing figure was pulled together from the ruined forest and mountain.
From the charred earth gathered shards of light.
From the dark, sun kissed sky, floated the strands of light that formed the tendrils of a man.
Glowing, pure light, that formed a cape, a helmet and all that made up the man she had sworn just died.
This…. should've been impossible.
She'd seen Angela raise others from the dead… But she was the only one, and even then, they at least needed to be partly whole for her technology to work, and to add onto that, it didn't always work!
Nate… he had been blown up in an explosion powerful enough to ruin the mountain side! There was no way he could'e survived something like that!
Suddenly Dig's parts stopped moving and the last bit of light latched onto the form of the man, before the light blipped out of existence in a glorious shower and before them…
Stood Nate.
The man coughed and stretched his arms.
"So I guess this is going to require some explaining huh?"
I yawned as I leaned on the table, my T-shirt tugging at my arms and my scars, particularly the one on my left arm, which was now itching up a storm.
"You're an idiot." Dig stated in my mind, though he floated nice and quiet next to me.
Tracer paced back and forth before me, Lucio sitting on a chair with his legs up on the table, and an accusing gaze pointed ta me.
I guess keeping secrets from people was a bad thing.
"So… you can bring yourself back to life?" Tracer looked at me and I rolled my eyes as her gaze narrowed, obviously suspicious.
"Yes," I drawled, "and if I couldn't then we'd probably be in a much worse situation, as in you and I would probably both be dead."
"How?" She asked, crossing her arms and pursing her lips, "And why keep it a secret?"
I sighed.
"Told you. Idiot."
"Shut up, Dig."
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my own arms. "How would you started the conversation? Hey, I'm Nate, and I can't die because I can be resurrected an infinite amount of times. You'd probably think I was crazy if you hadn't seen it for yourselves."
"Angela can bring people back. But the way you came back…" She shook her head and Lucio took over for her, "dude you were blown up. No one should be able to come back from that."
She wasn't wrong…
"Better come up with something better than, I'm from another dimension thats like seven hundreds years further ahead in time and tech. That'll go well now that they don't trust you. Again."
I scratched the back of my neck and yawned, "All right… I was in an accident. Chemical plant off the reservation in South America that a couple of friends and I were dicking around in. I fell into a batch of whatever they had and well… I died."
With that dramatic que, I stood up and shook my head, looking to the viewport and imagining my team.
"I woke up days later inside the tank. Don't know how, or why. I just… did. And they next thing you know they're pulling me from the tank, and they have my friends."
Green fire filled the edges of my vision and I close my eyes.
Why was a lie bringing up memories?
"And well, we escaped, but I got shot. Died. Then I came back. Same way as you saw, except it was only the wound that glowed."
I shrugged. "Honestly though, I was gambling. I wasn't sure if exploding would be something I could come back from. Dig, just kind of… speeds up the process."
"Not the worst bullshit I've heard you come up with. Still stretching it."
"Like you said… I don't think talking about alternate realities and dimensions would go over well with them right now. Especially since we don't know how we got here."
I felt Dig pause, and only the slightest of movement from him let me know that we were both thinking the same thing.
"You think someone, or something sent us here?"
"Yeah." I frowned then continued my bullshit story, "and well, after Kathy died, I made Dig here and started up the whole Vigilante thing to find out who did this. Couldn't find them, not even the plant. I was in Rio hunting a lead when
I ran into skull dude and the sniper chick and, well you know the rest from there."
"What makes you say that?"
"Just… a feeling…"
"And why should we believe you?" Tracer asked, her frown only growing as she spoke. "You kept secrets from us, and we trusted you."
I glared at her and stood up, "don't act like you're some sort of saint. You didn't trust me and a few days ago you would've arrested me sooner than you would've trust me. You only trusted me because I was the quickest way of finding Hana, and we both
knew she needed to be saved from those assholes."
"Did she know about you being basically immortal?" Lucio asked.
I pursed my lips. "No."
"Why?" He asked, his eyes narrowed, but his voice softer than before. He at least… seemed, like he was trying to understand.
"Who would've believed me?" I replied with shrug. "Hell, you two are acting like I'm some sort of double agent who just killed the president just because I tell didn't tell you."
Tracer scoffed with a shake of her head, "bugger that! You kept it from us! Don't you think an ability like that would've been useful to know about?"
I laughed, but my voice held no joy. "Because dying isn't fun. Sure I can come back, but I would prefer avoiding it, so I don't want to broadcast that to the world, especially to people I trust about as far as I can throw them."
"So now we're the bad guys?" The Brit asked, pointing to herself and Lucio, confused as to why I would dare accuse them.
"You're not bad guys." I huffed, annoyed with her accusations and blatant mistrust of me. "But it doesn't mean I have to trust you."
"What could've sent us here?"
"Plenty of things. The Vex, the Traveler, some voodoo warlock magic… anything could've brought us here."
The woman got quiet but her eyes never left mine. Lucio shifted uncomfortably as the silence in the ship took over, but mine and Dig's conversation only ramped up.
"It's possible, but neither of us have any memory of the day before we came here."
"I don't know…" I sighed silently and my mind flooded with memories of the vision from earlier. Of the broken and old computers. Of the Minotaur. Of the green fire.
Of Kathy, and my cape.
I felt Dig's confusion. "When did that happen?"
"It's a vision. Had it when I walked into the Fusion reactor room. I don't remember anything like that ever happening for real." And I fed him the memories of what I saw.
"How didn't I notice… Is that even possible? We're mentally linked. And what the hell did you see?" He rambled on in my head, his voice staying steady but the edge of it dipped into panic, into fear.
"I don't know man… I think it was…"
"Kathy… but… if that's not a memory… that's impossible. She's dead."
It's not just a human trait to fear what we don't understand.
"Well, at least Hana's alive." Lucio stated with a loud sigh, standing up and starching his legs. "Any idea what they did to her?"
I nodded. "Nothing good." Part of me wanted to say what I had saw… to tell them about the man that had tried to… rape her… but… it wasn't my place to say it.
I didn't know how to talk about something like that. What if Hana didn't want me to say anything about that? It could bring her a lot of unwanted attention to her, so I'd leave it up to her. If she wanted to talk about when she woke up then fine, but
I wouldn't say anything.
"Look, man," Lucio looked at me and he rubbed his neck, "I get why you didn't tell us, but you definitely gotta tell Hana when she's up. Last thing she needs is someone she trusts keeping secrets from her."
For a moment I hesitated, but I resigned my pride and nodded. "I'll tell her."
"We should eventually tell them the truth."
"I know, but first I want to find out who sent us here, we don't know what the bigger plan is. Plus, we should gain their trust. It'll be easier to explain if they're not doubting our every move, especially if it involves this world in any way."
"In some twisted way, you've got a point."
Tracer sighed and I moved my gaze to her. "Well, not that this wasn't a joyous conversation, but we should probably get moving. I doubt the military will miss this."
"Good idea." I stated, spinning on my heel as I stood, "Dig, lets head for…. uh." I glanced back at the other two, "any ideas?"
"Several." Tracer replied, "Germany."
"Germany?" I raised an eyebrow.
She smiled softly, "you said we'd talk afterwards right? Well, I know a place with a few more people who'd want to hear your story."
I looked at her and stopped in place.
In her defense I had said that I would talk to her and the rest of Overwatch when we got Hana, but I kinda didn't want to. Then again, I keep my word. I always do.
So with huff I replied, "where exactly in Germany?"
The ramp lowered.
My heart started to speed up, and my hands balled up into fists.
Tracer had told us of the base, of Gibraltar, and here we were. Parked in the every hangar of a group of people who had tried to kill me only a week ago.
Now, I don't hold a grudge, and Tracer swore it wasn't some sort of trap but I was still very uncomfortable being here.
Damn me and keeping my word.
The ramp of my ship finished lowering down with a clang, and I walked a few steps down, casting my gaze out over the hangar we were in.
It was large enough for at least three of my ships, and was built with dark colored steel walls and floors. Above the lights were long and unforgiving in their radiance, and a second level of walkways and railing sat abut twenty feet high against the
walls. Doors line the ground floor and the walkways on the second, and in the center of the Hangar facing me, were the members of Overwatch.
The cosplaying Angel was on my left, arms crossed and her staff pressed against her chest. On my right was the man with a giant hammer, his armor shining and his helmet clasped in his hands, white hair and beard on full display.
I didn't see Terminator, but I saw four others I didn't know; a man with a cowboy hat, a poncho, and a metal arm leaning on the railing of the second floor walkway as he stared me down with a cigar popped in his mouth.
The second person was a woman at the back of the hangar working on something I couldn't see She had a thick coat tied around her waits and a blue tang top on her person, and pushed her glasses up as her head turned to look at me, brunette hair framing
her face.
And next was the short man sitting on the table where she was working, an eyepatch covering one eye, a frown etched across his face, his long beard twitching as he stared me down.
The last person… well…. beast… thing? All right its a giant fucking gorilla standing in the center of the three up front and staring at me like I was some sort of science experiment. Oh did I mention he's wearing glasses?
Yeah that's not weird.
I felt someone push past me and watched as Tracer slid by and down the ramp, giving me a soft smile and nod as she did so.
"Overwatch…" Someone mumbled next to me, and I spared a glance to them.
Hana coughed once, grimacing as she did. She wore some of my older clothes, and Lucio was holding her up as he tried to support his own weight. Dig had checked him out and found out he had fractured two ribs. It was no wonder the dude was having a hard
time walking around.
I didn't reply to Hana's statement and even barely glanced back as Bastion's stepped echoed out from behind us, the whirr of his joints and steps proclaiming his presence to the world.
The giant man, the one with the hammer, tensed at the sight and I saw him wrap his hand around his hammer, his eyes narrowing dangerously in preparation for battle.
Immediately I stepped in front of my robot friend and raised my hands, "he's with me."
"Relax, love." Tracer stepped passed me and ambled towards the group assembled before us, and without looking the Angel placed a hand on the arm of the man and he reluctantly relaxed, though his frown never left.
"Hana Song?" The Angel asked out loud.
I glanced at the girl besides me and her eyes lit up with recognition, yet instead of answering to her name, instead of moving forward, she stepped back and towards me, putting her arm even further behind Lucio…
PTSD… Damn, she wasn't even able to trust the supposed heroes now.
"Dig, we're gonna have to keep an eye on her."
"Agreed." He replied through our mental link. He was currently in the cockpit, ready to kickstart the engines and the shields just in case.
"It's okay, lets get you to a room and check out your injuries." The Angel stated softly, a sweet, sad smile on her face as she stepped forward.
I could see Hana gulp and her eyes start shooting back and forth.
"Nate her heart rate's increasing. Get the attention off her, its fucking with her mind."
I stepped forward and the groups eyes fell to me.
"So you all wanted to talk?" I announced.
Suddenly the giant man, his voice rumbling with power, asked,
"Lena, vhy is he here?"
"He agreed to talk to us." Tracer stated with what I knew must've been a grin, "just try to not to squish him."
With another smile she stated, "his name's Nate. Short for Nathaniel I think?" She looked at me and I nodded my confirmation.
You could almost grab the tension in the air.
"So," I drawled, crossing my arms and lifting my head so I stood taller, "what do you want to know?"
"Heart rate lowering. I think attention is going to get to her for a bit. Makes sense since she was probably tortured and had all sorts of unwanted attention."
"Is there a trigger?"
"Might not be one. Depends on the person."
I wasn't willing to beat around the bush now. I was here now, might as well get this shit done with so Hana didn't have a heart attack.
"What happened in Korea?" The Angel asked, her brow lowering in concentration and accusation.
I glared from behind my visor and crossed my arms, "which time?"
"Both," the Ape answered in a deep voice, though his lacked the accusation the Angel's had.
I spared a subtle glance to Hana and saw her lean forward, her eyes closed and heavy breaths leaving her.
Exhaustion and pain.
"Well I can tell you I didn't stab her on purpose." I replied before looking back at my 'jury'.
"Care to explain?" The Angel asked, her voice hard again now that it was pointed towards me.
I sighed. "I was trying to disable her mech and was surrounded on all sides by her friends, all in similar mechs. I've had bad experiences with being surrounded, so I freaked and just reacted. There was no thought, and hell if you actually paid attention
then you'd see how I tried to shield her from getting shot by her own friends."
The Ape narrowed his brow and the giant hummed something under his breath. The Angel simply glared at me but pursed her lips together and responded, "and what happened to her?"
I looked back at Hana and she closed her eyes, and I could see her cheeks flex as she dealt with… well I knew what she was dealing with.
"Well their top… tormentor had her for almost twenty four hours. What do you think happened?" I replied, my scowl only growing.
Again the woman glared at me and stepped forward, "I think-"
"Enough." The Ape huffed, stepping down with one of his hands and looking at the Angel then at me, the nodded towards Hana. "Is she all right?"
I looked back and saw she still had her teeth clenched and her eyes closed.
I shook my head, "she needs a room, and medical attention."
He nodded again, "Angela if you would?"
I saw the Angel smile sadly and step forward, motioning towards one of the doors at the far end of the Hangar. I looked at Lucio, "get her some help."
He nodded and slowly helped Hana down the ramp.
The Angel lead them away and I turned my gaze back to the Ape.
"So who're you?"
He grinned and pushed his glasses up.
"Winston."
Katya Volskaya stood staring out the window of her office, hands clenched behind her back, brow furrowed in utter anger and disgust.
"Mam, zhe British Prime minister is on zhe line for you." A man stated from the door of her office, his warm attire and hard, scarred look contrasting with her perfectly organized and neat office.
She sighed. "Keep him on zhe line, for a few moments. I need a moment."
"Yes, mam." The man nodded with perfect military discipline and closed the door, leaving her alone once again.
She sighed and turned back to the window. She had heard of the destruction of a mountain in the United Kingdom.
And the moment she had she had received a ping in her email…
A sign. A purple glowing one that meant her… friend was-
"Ello, Mrs. Volskaya."
The voice from behind her sent a chill up her spine.
She grit her teeth and spun, a fire in her eyes as she faced the Talon operative.
"Vhat do you want?"
Sombra smiled, her eyes glowing darkly. "I need you to… find someone for me and, find out everything ju can about him."
The darker woman placed a picture against Katya's chest, and the woman grabbed it before the hacker stepped back.
Katya instantly reached for the pistol on her thigh, but before she could even grab it a sub machine was placed against her skull and she frowned.
"Oy chiquita, no need for violence! We're friends." The hacker grinned again and lifted her palm, a holographic video of her daughter forming. "Boop, remember?"
Katya scowled and the hacker took her weapon and stepped back once more.
"I'll be waiting for your call."
And with a flash Sombra disappeared.
Katya huffed and looked at the picture in her hand.
A man in strange armor…
Wearing a dark cape.
A/N
So took me a while but the next chapter is finally here. It's slightly shorter than the ones before, but thats because there wasn't much else I could write because of where the break is supposed to be.
The story unfolds and now Sombra has her eyes on Nate. But why? What's her end game? And whats with this vision Nate had?
So not a lot of Hana in this, but D,Va's gonna be out of it for a while. She was tormented and all that jazz. Also Nate isn't a total dick and spared the good guard from last chapter.
Reviews:
Foxcomm: they may not use gunpowder, but looking at Zarya's and Tracer weapons, they also don;t use conventional ammunition with ever weaponry so, eh. Maybe they found a replacement source?
Highlord: Nate may seem slightly underpowered but here we see a bit more of his strength. A lot of fights so far he's held back or been caught by shear surprise, because you know alternate dimension and all that. Either way, he shows some of his teeth here and, though he may be slightly underpowered for the sake of making the story better, he will show his true strength eventually.
Thean Bitter Crowe: Um okay. Tracer being a bitch… she's a secret operative of a powerful organization. No person is always cheery, and she hasn't stayed alive this long without being smart and distrusting of some people. About hana being in love… you obviously haven't paid attention to the dialogue or her own thoughts. She has no feelings for him, she has a sense of gratitude because you know… he saved her life more than once without asking for anything. Context clues buddy. It's a thing.
Julbot1" Well shit. Didn't know that… oh well, I'll probably run with it since its established in the story.
saekdk: Thanks! :D
Captain Fsteak: Explained here. They have the numbers, but not the resources to power the machines, also even though they have the numbers, (truthfully) they don't want a full out world war on them. If they won, then what would be left? (nuclear war is always an option against such forces)
Aquos dragon: So far I think its only the machines that have? I hoped I showed why this time.
Guest: Um Guardians tend to be emotional. Cayde? The lady with the green eyes? Zavala? They all show anger, fear, excitement, giddiness, etc… They're still sentient, feeling beings.
TheMetaReborn: Thanks! :D
Redentor : Aw thanks!
Wardog 4: Well thats all answered here.
NoOneInParticular17: Bye. :)
For the rest… thanks for all the reviews! I promise I read each one, but its late and I unfortunately don't have the time to reply to all of them, hence why if you have specific questions or anything you should PM me. Either way, thank you to every one who reviewed and keeps up with reading this! You all are the best!
Next time we'll get more of Overwatch and Nate, and uh… well more characters will defiantly start to make an appearance.
I'll do my best to try and update a chapter of similar or longer length every month or so. Unfortunately I'm actually staring a full time type job to finish my degree, so I have to do that now and it really takes a toll on me.
Fear not for I will not give up on this fix! NEVER!
Part I only has about four chapters left!
Get ready for Part II… the Claws of Talon.
Thanks for reviewing! God bless!
-Metal4k