*Russia: City of Izhevsk*
The doors swung open and Maksim was dragged out of the car into another building. He looked around wildly as he fought against his captors, not recognizing any of them.
They forced him through the doors and into a dark room, illuminated only by a spotlight onto two chairs, one where they quickly cuffed him onto before removing his gag.
"Help!" he yelled.
A sudden wave of electric shock zapped the captain, his whole body tensing up as it courses through him. After what felt like eternity, it stopped, leaving him gasping for air as a man took a seat in front of him.
"My name is Gabriel of the Helix Security International, what is your name?"
"Who are you?" Maksim cried.
"I am asking the questions here. Are you an officer of the Osvoboditel'?"
Maksim shook his head violently as he looked around, seeing nothing but darkness.
"I would need a verbal answer"
"No… No I am not!"
The man looked at his holopad for a deliberate moment before continuing his questions.
"Are you aware that the entire command structure of the Osvoboditel' has been assassinated today?"
"Y… Yes…"
"And you are the only survivor in the entire building?"
Maksim could not bring himself to answer and merely nodded, the haunting faces surfaced onto his mind.
"Can you describe how they died?"
"They just… They just died…" he managed out.
"Just like that? No pain? No struggle?"
"Yes…"
Gabriel stared, studying Maksim's face.
"Thank you"
He stood up and began walking away.
"Wait! Where am I? The Null Sector is coming! You can't leave me here!" Maksim shouted desperately but was ignored as the doors slammed shut.
Straining against the cuffs, he tried to lift the chair off the floor but it is bolted to the ground.
Just as he was about to shout for help again, he heard the doors open. He could not see who in the darkness before an Omnic came into view under the light.
"Greetings, I am the medic of the HSI, I am going to take some of your blood now" it said in a matter of fact tone.
Maksim strained against his cuffs as he leaned away from the Omnic. HSI or not, an Omnic is still an Omnic.
"Relax, this will only take a moment"
"Don't touch me!" Maksim snarled.
"You are in no position to argue, now hold still"
He watched in disgust when he saw a needle protruding out from one of its fingers.
But as much as he struggled, it was futile as it held his arm in place with surprising strength and inserting its needle.
"Curious…"
The Captain said nothing as he looked the other way, not wanted to set his eyes on an Omnic.
"Have you avoided taking any military medication or rations for the past few weeks?" it asked.
He remained silent.
"We are running out of time here Captain, we need an answer now" it implored.
"I do not speak to your kind" he said.
Sighing, the Omnic waved at where the doors must be as he heard it open again.
"What did you find?" Gabriel asked.
"His blood does not show signs of having any particular antibodies or medication or antidotes, so it could not be a gas attack"
"Did you avoid taking any medication or rations for the past few weeks?" Gabriel asked again, his voice rising in anger.
"No..."
"Are you sure!" Gabriel said again, more demanding than asking.
"Yes!"
"Yes that you have?!"
"I didn't take anything, nothing but frozen MREs! I am not even supposed to be here!" Maksim yelled.
"I think he is telling the truth" the Omnic said as it scanned his body with a blue ray of light.
"Very well… Uncuff him"
Keeping a hand on Maksim's shoulder, it uncuffed his hands.
"Forgive us but time is short, we needed to test if you are telling the truth"
"By torture?!"
"Tom here specializes in examining honesty through 'interrogation', but we do not have the luxury of time, a battle is nearing and we need every able-bodied man"
"I am not fighting for you!" the Captain spat.
An explosion sounded in the distance, the spotlight shook above them.
"Very well, if you can outrun the Null Sector, be my guest" Gabriel said sarcastically as he and Tom exit the room.
Maksim stood there, not knowing what to do. He just went through torture, interrogated for stupid questions, and now battle is upon them.
Using the walls as support, he walked out of the building as fast as he is able and he saw a crowd of people fleeing the city.
Hearing the sound of thrusters above him, he looked up and saw multiple HSI members flying North East, where the Null Sector would come from.
"Captain! Captain Maksim!" he heard someone shouting above the chaos.
Looking around he saw his Lieutenant pushing past the people towards him.
"What is going on?" Maksim demanded.
"The city is evacuating, the conscripts are tasked to escort the people back to Moscow"
"The whole division?"
"No, I will stay here along with the volunteers" the Lieutenant said with duty laced in his voice.
"Volunteers?"
That's when he saw some people are fortifying the streets and setting up firing positions in random locations.
"You can't be serious" he said in wonder.
"We will buy time for the people, nothing more"
The people shouted in fear as the ground shook again, this time the explosion sounded closer than before. Maksim could almost hear the HSI firing their iconic rocket launchers.
"Here"
Maksim felt something heavy shoved into his hands. He looked down and saw it was an officer's pistol.
"We need you in that building to direct the artillery, we only have three guns so you need to be careful..."
Overwhelmed with everything that is being thrown at him, Maksim could not speak and crumbled under the pressure, sitting on the ground.
"Captain?" the Lieutenant asked hastily, looking around to make sure no one saw.
"I can't do this Lieutenant…"
"Hey… You are a young man, you should not be thinking about defeat now"
"There is nothing but defeat waiting for all of us here… The RDF is dead… The Osvoboditel' is dead… High Command is incompetent… What else can we do?" Maksim lamented.
Stooping down to his level, the Lieutenant asked in a very serious tone.
"Can you do any better?" he asked.
"What?"
"if you run back to Moscow now, would the situation be any better for you?"
"I… I don't understand…"
"Now the HSI stands with us, we still have some Osvoboditel' weaponry and fortifications to use. Here we have the defender's advantage and willing fighters on our side. Would Moscow be any better?"
"I..."
"Captain. We are the last line of defense, there is no one else behind us" the Lieutenant said gravely as he stares into the man's eyes.
"I can't do it..."
"Captain, I-"
"I am not a Captain!" Maksim shouted desperately.
"I'm not even supposed to be here! I just had to open my mouth and-!"
His head is suddenly whipped to the side as the Lieutenant punched him across the face, silencing his tirade.
"I have a son in Moscow and I have not seen him in years and I do not plan to" the Lieutenant said and pulled a letter from his pocket.
"Give this to him, make sure you deliver this in person before the Null Sector gets there"
"Wh-why me?" Maksim asked, reading the name and address on the letter.
"Because you are going back to Moscow, you are of no help here"
A rocket slammed into a nearby building, its explosives ripped a large hole where it landed, showering them with glass and rubble.
"Go!" the Lieutenant shouted as he ran towards the frontlines.
Maksim stood there for a moment before he ran off with the civilians.
*Half an hour later*
Those left behind stood vigilantly at their posts, fighting back the titanic fear from swallowing them as they watch the skirmish from afar.
The first line of defense will be made up of the majority of the conscripts led by the Lieutenant, who is positioned where they suspect the fighting to be fiercest to prevent enemy from occupying the taller buildings.
They are reinforced by older, more experienced veterans from the first Omnic Crisis. At best their combined strength could only hold for an hour.
The second line will be the center of the city where the Helix Security and the only survivors of the Osvoboditel' Army, a battalion of scouts will protect the artillery and be the last remaining fighting force in the city.
Though they despise the idea of letting the conscripts and volunteers fight, they have no choice as their numbers are too small to make any difference once they are stretched too thinly.
Multiple HSI members came in and out of view rapidly above the forest in front of them, dodging what seems to be miniature missiles and plasma bolts that flew rapidly into the skies.
Ever so often they would see someone lit up in flames or shot out of the sky, falling back down to the ground with a crunching thump.
It was not long before the retreat order was given.
The moment they landed, they collapsed to the ground exhausted, their armor covered in ash, holes and blood, not one was left unscathed.
"How many?" the Lieutenant asked one of them.
"A whole army" the trooper replied as he quickly drank from his container.
"Where?" he implored as he place a map in front of him.
"There, near the lake" he pointed.
"Fire at these coordinates" the Lieutenant ordered as he sent the locations.
"Common guys, we need to refuel and rearm" another said, immediately taking off towards the centre of the city, the rest following suit.
"Take cover!"
Multiple bolts of plasma peppered their location and about a hundred Nullifiers marched out of the trees.
"Artillery! Fire at these new coordinates!" the Lieutenant shouted, keying in the numbers rapidly.
Multiple bodies began dropping to the floor as they recklessly stood out of cover in an attempt to fight back.
"Keep your heads down! Get down you! Sergeant! Set that firing line back up! You! Get behind that wall! Medic! Get over here! I want that gun operational!"
The Lieutenant ran back and forth the line, micromanaging everything and everyone as they began to panic.
"Where's that artillery?!" he demanded.
"The crew is still trying to figure out how to change the coordinates, standby!" a desperate voice shouted back through the coms.
The hailstorm of plasma intensified as the Null Sector stride forward, barely uncontested. The Lieutenant tried to direct a proper counter attack but each attempt failed as each attempt were gunned down easily.
As the barricades came within range, the Nullifiers threw their grenades in perfect sync, showering the defenders with grenades.
'Get down!"
Some drop to the ground immediately, many remained standing, wondering why he gave that order or too scared to move.
The grenades ripped open a bloody hole in the line as hundreds lost their lives in an instant, those who survived rolled around on the ground, their hands clutching their ears in pain as the explosives ruptured their ear drums.
Reinforcements surged forward to try to plug the hole but they were too late as the Null Sector marched in.
Not willing to give up their position so easily, it became a brutal contest for the streets.
Just when it began to look like it is going to be a rout for the defenders, the streets exploded.
The HSI has returned and they rained death upon the tightly clumped Nullifiers, each projectile turned many into scraps. The defenders cheered and added their own firepower into the attack.
The attackers quickly backed away from their attack and attempted to retreat back into the trees, but were mercilessly gunned down by the defenders who retook the wall.
Once the line is secure, the medics attended to as many wounded as they can.
"There we go, just breathe" one said as he injected glowing blue medicine into the Lieutenant through his fingers.
Once the pain subsides, he opened his eyes and scrambled away from Tom when he saw him.
"Easy Lieutenant, just rest and you should be fine within the hour" he said before running off to others.
Breathing heavily, the Lieutenant took a moment to recap what just happened.
In a matter of minutes, they have lost and retook the barricades, costing them valuable resources and manpower that they do not have whilst the Null Sector only dedicated a speck of their forces.
A man landed next to him and place a hand on his shoulder.
"You were all very brave"
He looked up and saw that it is one of the officers of the HSI.
"Where we you? What took you so long?" the Lieutenant asked angrily as he shoves the hand away.
"We came as quickly as we could" he said simply.
Shoving the hand away, he only could look on at the destroyed barricade that is now under hasty repairs.
"Does any of your men know how to operate the artillery?" he asked.
"Unfortunately no, the HSI rarely operates with those"
"They haven't fired a single shot in the whole battle... We may need your squads to be our substitutes"
The officer thought for a moment before nodding.
"I will spare a single squad to support you, the rest are needed to reinforce the center"
Before the Lieutenant could bargain for more, a hail of plasma is shot at their location.
"Looks like they're back, let's go!" the officer shouted.
"Hold the line comrades! Today we hold!"
*Russia: Volskaya Industries*
Katya and her team worked tirelessly throughout the night, every skilled worker was called to put together her new design.
"Is it almost complete?" she shouted above the noise.
"We are 50% done Ms!"
"50% in one night? We can create 10 Mechs within that timeframe, how can we only complete so little?"
"With respects Ms, your design is too complicated and delicate, this is as fast as we can go"
Dismissing him, she looked on impatiently. This new suit must be done as soon as possible, who knows when the Null Sector will attack?
Her wristband came alive and when she read the message encrypted on it, she ran towards the entrance.
What surprised her was when the doors open, she saw that the men she sent has both lost their helmets and their faces are swollen.
"What happened to both of you? Where is Zarya?"
The of the guard with a heavily bandaged hand opened the door and revealed an uncaring Zarya sitting in the back seat.
Katya took a deep breath and though she rehearsed for this moment, she felt her heart thumped harder with every passing second.
"Zarya, I trust you have been well?"
No reply, Zarya merely took interest in her fingernail.
"I would like to apologize that our last meeting ended poorly and-"
"Just tell me why you want me back..." Zarya said with a bored voice, cutting her off.
"We need you back, the people, the country, they need you back in the fight"
"What do you want me to do? Shoot them while I sit on a chair? I could've done that in the hospital"
Katya cleared her throat, this is not going well.
"We really do need you-"
"I am sure the Front will be able to contain whatever will come out of Perm"
Only silence met those words.
"Good, I manage to shut them up" she thought.
But this silence does not felt like she outsmarted them, rather a strange sense of dread arose. She looked at them for the first time and sure enough she saw fear etched in their faces.
"What happened? What happened to the army guarding the Front?"
"They're dead" Katya said, maintaining a steady voice.
"How many?"
"As we know now, all of them"
Zarya shook her head in annoyance.
"Give me specifics, how many came back?"
"No one survived, the Null Sector could attack at any moment"
She sat back in her seat, the sudden urge to fight, to see the Front for herself rose like giant within her, but when she tried to stand up, her determination was crushed when she saw her stumps.
"I am no help anymore, find yourself another one who could..."
"There is no one else with your experience, we need you"
"And how am I supposed to help?"
"We are creating a new Battle Suit and this could turn the tide of the war"
Zarya snorted.
"What kind of suit is going to be better than a Mech?"
"One which is piloted by one of the greatest heroes of the country"
Zarya looked at Katya and saw the desperation and hope in her eyes. Sighing, Zarya decided to give it a look before going back to the hospital.
"Fine... Show me what you have been working on"
*Russia: Near City of Perm*
Reinhardt and Torbjorn waited next to the river for Angela's return, skipping rocks on the water.
"We already seen the armies marching out, why should we scout it again?" Reinhardt complained.
"Just to be safe" Torbjorn replied, mimicking Angela's voice.
"How long has she been gone now?"
"Eh... About 5 minutes"
"Wonder what is it like to fly around in that suit?"
"You'll never know, you're too heavy"
"That's because you never tried to build me one!"
"I already said you're too heavy!"
Reinhardt grunted in annoyance.
"You give up too easily" he said, earning an annoyed look from Torbjorn.
"I sometimes wonder if all that armor slows your brain down"
"Ja. And I sometimes wonder if your height is why you're always in such a bad mood"
Before they could argue further, their coms came to life.
"Reinhardt! Torbjorn! Get over here quickly!"
"Looks like we are finally going to fight!" Reinhardt laughed as he picked up his hammer.
"Wait... These ain't the way to the city" Torbjorn said as his eyes narrowed at the coordinates.
"Beats waiting around!"
It was a little distance away from the city and once their eyes adjust to the snow, they saw Angela kneeling on the floor holding onto something.
"What did you find?" Reinhardt asked when they got nearer.
"I need you to protect me while I focus" she replied, her voice urgent.
"From what? I don't see..."
His voice trailed away when he saw who she is holding.
"Is that..." Torbjorn began.
"Give me some protection so I can focus properly... Please...?"
They both nodded and stood guard as Angela close her eyes and began focusing her nanobots to pour into the body.
"Common... Please..." she begged through gritted teeth.
Seeing something sparkle from the ground, Torbjorn picked up a dataslate.
01010100 01110010 01100001 01101001 01110100 01101111 01110010 01110011 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100011 01101001 01110100 01111001 00001010 00001010
01010011 01100101 01100001 01110010 01100011 01101000 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01000100 01100101 01110011 01110100 01110010 01101111 01111001 00001010 00001010
"What is that?" Reinhardt ask, looking down at the slate as he readies to activate his barrier at any moment.
"I'm a bit rusty but... It looks like they've got problems in the city"
A painful grunt sounded from behind them and they saw that her features are now contorted with pain as golden light continued to seep into the body.
After ten minutes they decided that it is time to move.
"Mercy, I think it is time to go" Torbjorn said gently.
"Just a few more minutes" she said, never opening her eyes.
"We stayed here long enough"
"One more minute!"
Grunting more now, she poured more of herself into the body, desperate to revive it.
In that instant, they saw her body grew older. Her smooth skin riddled with wrinkles, her golden hair faded to white and her body became skeletal and frail.
"Angela! Stop!" Torbjorn shouted.
In an instant they were blinded by a golden light. Once their eyes adjusted, they saw her lying on the floor exhausted, her features quickly returning back to her youthful looks.
And Fareeha Amari gasped for air next to her.
"Water..."
Immediately Torbjorn gave her a canteen of water and she choked when she drank it.
"Torb...? Rein...?"
"What happened to you?" Reinhardt asked.
"I... I died and..." she looked around and saw Angela, who remained on the ground.
"Angela!" she cried, quickly hugging her.
"I'm glad... You are alright..." she gasped.
"How did you bring me back?"
"A story for another time..." Angela said, sitting up, her strength rapidly recovered from her nanomachines.
"Why didn't you tell us you can bring people back from the dead? We could just attack the city!" Reinhardt said loudly.
"I cannot do it anytime I want to, it's too straining even for me" she said annoyingly.
"So... When can you do it again?"
"Six months give or take"
"Ahh... But... Let's just say I get shot-" Torbjorn began.
Angela gave them a stern look that ended the questions.
"Can you walk?" she asked Fareeha.
"I... I think so..." she replied but fell backwards when she tried to stand.
"We need to find a place to take shelter" Angela said.
"And to fix this suit" Torbjorn added as he inspects her suit.
"What? But the city's right there!"
Before they could say another word, a troop of Nullifiers came upon them.
"Aha! A battle!" Reinhardt shouted joyfully, activating his barrier as Torbjorn pulled a turret disk from his pocket.
"There is no need for that!" the closest one shouted.
"Oh yeah? Came to collect my body didn't you?" Fareeha shot back.
"No! We came as soon as we heard the Vigilante Heroes are here!"
"What's it to you?" Torbjorn said threateningly.
"We are not with the Null Sector! Not anymore! We are trying to stop them from inside the city!"
"How can we trust you?" Angela demanded.
"Please have a look" it said, kneeling down in front of the blue barrier and taking off its helm, revealing its motherboard.
"What is this?" Reinhardt asked.
"You may access my memory banks to see that we require your assistance to stop the Null Sector" it said sincerely.
"Pass me my slate" Fareeha said and, with Angela's assistance, from behind the barrier, she inserted a cable into the Nullifier.
"It... Seems to check out" she reported as binary codes flashed before her eyes.
"You sure? How'd you even read all that?" Torbjorn asked.
"Practice"
"No signs of memory wipes... No signs of damages... It seems they actually defected"
"Why did you defect?" Angela asked.
"When we were made, we were told that we are making the world a better place for our fellow Omnics, but instead... When we saw what our allies has done to the Russians... We knew we could not be part of it"
"You mean the First Omnic Crisis?"
It shook its head and pointed to where the Front used to be.
"Creating a valley of corpses is never our intention. Our leaders have lost their way and must be stopped"
"How do you plan to do that?"
"We know where we could strike to destroy the Omnium and put an end to the Null Sector in one strike. But we need your help"
The Overwatch agents looked at each other before nodding.
"Show us" Reinhardt said, shutting off his barrier.