Sorry about the lack of a chapter that I said I'll post last week, but the Easter week plus working at home has been a busy one.
So I thank you all for your continual interest in my story :D
Let's hope this time I'll be able to keep to the schedule hahaha
*Russia: Novo-Ogaryovo*
The entire room is deathly quiet, everyone who turned up just sat silently in their place, terrified at the reports they are reading.
It was merely months ago when they were about to end the war. They surrounded Perm, the last Omnium stringhold, and was at the verge of shutting it down.
Now they find themselves to be the conquered by a large, tireless, Null Sector force.
The total annihilation of the Osvoboditel', RDF, Conscript, and Helix Security International is a terrifying reality. The only ones left capable of even putting up some sort of resistance are the law enforcements, who threaten to throw in their resignation if the army dares to mobilize them.
"We could move within the protection of the navy" one suggested.
"There's no point… They can throw in more than whatever we could produce"
"The United Nations will not send any more HSI to support us, they are needed in the rest of the world"
As suggestions and its counters seep through the table, the Army General, whose hair turned from black to grey within months, barely listened.
"How am I going to win a war without soldiers?" he thought, his sweaty hands clenched together tightly to limit their trembling.
No country will provide sanctuary to them, the people have begun rioting in the streets, and the enemy is at the gates.
"Ha… If only I have my own Vasily Zaitsev…"
"Army General? The Prime Minister is on the line"
They watched as he accepted the call and a thin layer of sweat becoming visible as he bore the shouting.
After what seemed like eternity, the call ended, leaving a shaken general to face his men.
"What did the Prime Minister say?"
"He… Strongly requests us to win a victory" he said quietly.
He expected the room to be suddenly filled with shouts that contain words such as 'how' or 'that's impossible', but it remained uncharacteristically quiet.
A welcomed knock came at the door and he nodded to the guard. A young man ran in excitedly, waving a report frantically above his head.
"The Null Sector advance is halted!" he yelled.
"Take him away for execution" the Army General said almost casually.
"What? Why?!" the man shouted as the guard grab him.
"Sprouting nonsense during this time of need is punishable by death, take him away"
"But its true! Zarya stopped them!"
At those words he raised a hand, stopping the guards.
"Who stopped them?"
"Zarya! The hero!"
*Russia: City of Izhevsk*
Her experience combined with the Executioner's great arsenal proved deadly as she wades through the ocean of Omnics with little to no resistance.
Like a warrior god reborn, Zarya destroyed every Null Sector troops she meets with an almost theatrical grace. Crushing lesser designs beneath her and shrugging off impossible damage, the Null Sector are forced to adapt endlessly.
But it soon proved to be a waste of processing power as they are all proven ineffective.
They tried to take her down with long range weapons but it only serves to triple the damage output of her Plasma Repeater and Twin Particle Cannons, while she received no damage in return.
Quickly changing their tactics, they mistakenly believe that going within her Particle Barriers would provide some advantage, but the Executioner is just as deadly up close than its long range weapons.
The Executioner is equipped with multiple automatic turrets and slicing technology, added at Zarya's request. Each accurately targets all the Omnic's most sensitive hardware, critically laming or even disabling many attackers.
Even the skies are not safe from her as her targeting systems made it almost too easy for her.
Truly this is, if not, the perfect machine of war Volskaya has ever designed.
However, Zarya barely noticed the impressive engineering she is piloting. She barely thought of anything.
Driven by frustration and rage that was born from the purging of Russians, she cared little for performance, as long as it continues forward. It is because of this she made little progress in the city despite the thousands of destroyed Omnics she left in her wake.
With little care for strategy or tactics, she proceeded like a blind bull, allowing the Null Sector to retake key positions that were lost just moments before, causing the battle to linger on a stalemate.
"Zarya! You need to attack the core of these divisions, stop wasting time with those" she heard Katya yelling into her ear as she shoots down a pack of Behemoths.
"Shut up, I'm winning" she thought, chasing after a group of Nullifiers firing at her from the park.
"Those are not priority targets! You need to switch targets!"
"How do I mute this…" she thought as she easily survives the ambush she walked into.
"Zarya, we've identified some HSI personnel here, they're in trouble"
"Survivors?" Zarya thought hopefully, quickly reading the coordinates on screen.
Smashing through the wall of a supermarket, she quickly clear the building of Null Sector presence and looked around.
"Where are the survivors?"
"We detected the beacon to be in the freezer"
Freezer?
Forcing the door open, she saw nothing but a few Omnics wearing HSI uniforms.
"Do not fire! They're friendlies!"
"An Omnic is still an Omnic" Zarya seethed, pointing her gun at them.
"Wait! My name is Tom and –"
Before he could say another word, they were destroyed in a hail of bullets.
*Russia: Volskaya Industries*
As Zarya continues her rampage, the staff watched in shock.
"She just committed murder!" one of them cried.
"It's the heat of the moment, it wasn't her fault" one tried to renationalize in a shaky voice.
"Heat of the moment? That Omnic was wearing an HSI Medic Uniform!"
"You have never been to combat, how would you know?"
"Neither did you!"
As they argue, Katya watched silently, no longer giving orders since Zarya refuses to listen.
"Surely she must know that they are in a standstill" she thought, watching every Omnic destroyed is quickly replaced with more.
Despite the absolute superiority of the Executioner, it by itself could not win the battle, the Null Sector is just too many. Which would lead to one frightfully inevitable outcome.
She will, eventually, lose.
"Zarya's right… We need more soldiers"
"Ms Volskaya, a call" another staff said, holding up a phone.
"I'm busy"
"It's from the Army"
Confused, Katya tear her eyes away from the screen and grab the phone.
"Volskaya speaking"
"This is the Army General of the RDF, we need to review the footages from Comrade Zarya now"
Katya began to panic. How did they know about this?
"Do not think you can hide your pet projects from us Katya, we have eyes everywhere, especially from the most profitable Mech provider in the country"
Though angered that she is being spied on, a more important question hangs in the air.
"What do you want? Why do you need to review the footages?" she asked.
"To broadcast to the country"
"What?"
"We may have found our Vasily Zaitsev"
*Russia: City of Perm*
Braids and the High Council stood on a tall building next to the Omnium, watching a new battalion of soulless Omnics march out of the factory towards battle.
"There is no point inspecting, our Omnium here is second to none and their design is as perfect as it could be" one of them said, eyeing the Nullifiers and Behemoths.
"I think the current test run in Izhevsk would disagree"
"Explain"
"They could not adapt nor change their tactics properly to the new threat, they just kept attacking with little thought for themselves"
"Yes, but what is the weakness you see in that?"
Braids pulled out a pistol, took aim, and shot one of the Nullifiers below, destroying it instantly. As it crumpled to the ground, the rest just kept marching towards their objectives, uncaring and unthinking.
"They have no will or fear, just mindless machines following orders. Robbing them of their creativity or dedication to win"
"Are you suggesting we give them sentience?"
"Precisely"
"Never! When we first agreed to the Revolution, we swore never to have sentient machines to fight our battles!"
"You have already changed the programming of our existing forces and a pack of starving humans is enough to hold them back, how much more do you want to corrupt our army?" one shouted.
"Agreed, we are not some lowly humans that fight with feelings or thoughts. We are far superior to how humanity conducts themselves"
"And this is precisely why we lost" Braids said calmly, having listened to these argumentation for years.
They were about to further object when he wave his hand, regaining control of all of their bodies, putting them back to their respective folders.
"Fools still do not understand" he thought to himself as he used their bodies to relay new orders to the Omnium.
Because of their fear of vision and lack of creativity, they are making no progress in the world. Americans have contained the situation faster than any other country. China have their own army of soulless machines to fight. Korea's MEKA forces continues to hold the line. Even the war here in Russia met a setback from a single Mech.
Their only significant progress is in Australia.
"That backwater country of gangsters… Not even an achievement" he thought bitterly.
The results came back and he read in disappointment when he saw the soonest date for the new designs, which will be months from now as all production lines are full and would require new materials from an Omnic named Maximilian stationed in Egypt.
*Egypt: Random Town*
After passing through the maze of containers, they exited in what he assumes as the backdoor of her camp. Exiting the trunk of an old car, they climbed out to a garbage dump.
"Couldn't you find a better exit?" he said, his nose wrinkled by the smell.
She only smiled and walk out to the town nearby.
Walking around McCree could not help but feel that this is some old movie set of a small town in the middle of nowhere. A small restaurant, hardware store, a small supermarket and what seems to be a clothes store. The only thing different is that everything is written in Arabic.
"Bit exposed here aren't we?" he said, tipping his hat lower to hide his face.
"It does not matter, most people here mind their own business"
Taking a straight path to the hardware store, they approached a man sleeping on the bench next to the radio.
Throwing a coin on the counter, he woke up with a start and smiled when he realizes it was Ana who woke him up.
Speaking to each other in Arabic, McCree looked around, trying to distract himself from boredom and the lack of an arm, massaging it as he paced around.
"There's no news about Genji or Maximilian" Ana told him after half an hour.
"You sure he didn't sleep through that part of the news?" he said, putting a cigar into his mouth.
"I've already told you never to smoke in front of me" she said annoyingly, snatching the cigar out of his mouth.
"You've always been watching out for me doc" he laughed.
The radio came alive with excited chatter and he saw that Ana's face became worried.
"Something wrong?"
"There was an intruder who tried to break into Maximilian's mansion"
McCree looked at the radio with surprise and wished he knew how to speak Arabic as it is still chattering.
"Did they catch him?"
"They didn't say"
Weighing his options, he took one more glance at his arm and sighed.
"What's the plan then Captain?"
"Maximilian would have doubled his guard because of this, we need to scope out his mansion again"
"Again?"
"I've been watching him for some time, but now we need to be more careful"
"Alright, where's his mansion?"
"How good are you with camels?"
*20 minutes later*
"I thought you said you are a natural with anything on four legs?" Ana laughed when McCree fell off for the third time while she loads up supplies on another.
"If only I had my arm…" he thought, his face beet red.
After a few more tries (and with some help), he finally got on the camel.
"Took your sweet time, lets go" she laughed and mounted hers in one smooth motion.
Pulling out a compass, she led the way.
"How far is it exactly?"
"Why? Can't stand the heat?"
"No, just need to prepare myself because one, camels and baggage usually mean days or weeks, two, I doubt you have enough to keep Gabriel asleep for that long"
"It is actually just a couple of hours away, but using camels is easier to go past Maximilian's new checkpoints. We will be back before nightfall"
"Checkpoints?" he asked, his hand patting on his revolver.
"Don't worry, it is not uncommon for people to carry firearms here, especially after the death of Abdul Hakim"
"Who and why's that?"
"He was a crime lord who controlled all the raiders in the desert, now that he is dead they are fighting for supremacy"
"Guess Maximilian did little to stop them"
"He only cares about securing his own assets, anything beyond that is no longer his concern"
After that he stayed silent and kept a watchful eye on the horizon and his hand never far from Peacekeeper.
*Egypt: Ana's Hideout*
Once he is sure no one is near, Reaper forced a piece of himself to materialize next to the bed. In a dreamlike state he gritted his teeth as he focusses on himself intensely.
Ana's medicine is as potent as he remembers. A single slip of focus could see all his efforts wasted.
"Just… A little… More…" he thought.
After long, painful minutes, he heard a pin slip to the floor and the annoying pumping of the medicine stopped.
"Not yet… Not yet…"
Very purposefully and carefully, he maintained as a partial Wraith for an exceedingly long and painful time, waiting for the effects to completely disappear.
What felt like an hour, he finally freed himself from the bed and exited his Wraith.
Landing to the ground, he tore off his mask and threw up on the floor, the effort too taxing for his body.
Groaning he tried to get on his feet but only by grabbing the edge of a table could he get up, unsure if it is because of Ana's medicine or the prolonged Wraith but he has no time to rest.
"This is where you've been hiding Captain?" he thought, slowly walking out to the other room.
Carefully looking around for traps or safeguards, he opened the fridge and is grateful to find it filled with bottled water. Ripping off the cap, the drank the cooling liquid.
"That's better…" he sighed.
He was drinking the second bottle when he saw a photograph on the fridge.
It is a browning photo of the old gang.
"That's my face…?" he thought as he pulled it closer into the light.
For a split second, he felt deep regret and nostalgia came rushing back.
A regret that such close bonds of friendship have to be broken. He remembered training McCree with Ana, the endless hours he would plan strategies with Jack and Reinhardt. The jokes he would make with Angela about Torbjorn. Even once he took Faheera around to tour their base.
This quickly fades however as he crushed the photograph in his claws when he remembered who is responsible for tearing them apart.
He just had to follow the books. He just had to be the good guy. He just had to force his hand. He just had to buy the loyalty of others against him. He just had to look good on the press.
"Morrison… You ruined everything" he growled, shaking with anger.
But he is not alone. Every other Overwatch agent is at fault. For betraying him.
Him!
He who set the foundations of Overwatch. He who pulled everyone together and gave it to Jack on a silver platter.
He was a fool for not noticing it sooner. That Jack desires the spotlight as much as everyone else.
Throwing the photograph to the side, he retrieved his mask and found the Armoury.
Once his preparations are complete, he left a note before leaving the premises.