"Athena," I whispered. "When I arrive at the dining area I want you to move Genji."
"Understood, shall I open the blast doors?" Athena said.
"One at a time, they make much noise. Open random doors as well to throw Talon off."
"Very well."
The plan itself was simple. Genji had been moved to a portable table and a small utility robot had been attached to it. I would go one way, attracting Talon's soldiers, and Genji would quietly be taken to Reinhardt and Winston at the other side of the base. Athena would use whatever security systems remained to protect Genji and help me move along, I would go around the entire base and eventually arrive at the ship, right after Genji. I had already donned my Valkyrie quick response suit, but for once, the staff was on my back and my pistol was in my hands. I was a pacifist, but I had long ago accepted that fact that I'd need a bit of violence to save myself or others. These enemies would not hesitate, and neither could I.
"Athena, begin," I ordered.
"Operation Stealthy Angel: In progress."
Before I could question the name the doors opened and I ran out. The suit itself seemed to weigh nothing and I quickly made my way through the halls. These halls were now peppered with blast doors, but every time I approached one the blast door would open to let me through and then close behind me. After I made it through the fifth door I was beginning to wonder where they opposition was, but then Athena spoke.
"Caution: Talon agents ahead. Engaging," Athena said. I stopped at another blast door and heard the peppering of bullets, men yelling, and then silence. The door opened to reveal a bloody hallway with at least five bodies.
"Sometimes I truly hate this job," I murmured, being careful to step over the corpses. I heard something behind me and turned, seeing one man groan and sit up. His arms had been mangled with bullets and his legs also seemed injured, but aside from that he seemed fine. A miracle.
"Engaging," Athena chirped.
"Nein!" I yelled, immediately jumping in front of him. "Do not! He isn't a threat!"
"Doctor, he is a Talon agent," Athena argued, and if AI's could be sound annoyed I bet she would have.
"We do not kill to kill; he has been dealt with. That is final," I said, giving a certain firmness to my voice. The same kind of voice I gave patients when they refused a certain medicine or treatment. Athena didn't answer, but the turret retracted into the ceiling. I turned to the man and he involuntarily scooched back. I had never imagined myself as threatening, but when the enemy was standing in front of you in a small space with a weapon in hand, even if she was dressed as an angel, it must be scary. I pulled my staff off my back and pointed it at him. A golden stream encased his body and his wounds began to heal. When the stream of light ended he looked at his arm in awe, then looked up at me. His expression was indiscernible through that mask but it didn't matter. Before he could react I hit him on the head with my staff and he fell to the ground.
"Why did you save him, doctor Ziegler?" Athena asked, and she sounded genuinely curious.
"One thing is to kill in defense of yourself, or others," I said as I put the staff on my back and continued towards the dining area. "Another is to kill someone who is hopeless, the minute we begin to do that is the minute we lose who we are. We must act better than that."
"…I see; I will make sure to remember that."
Who ever thought I would be teaching an AI about morals? The thought was enough to make me smile, and as the last door opened I entered the dining room. The door closed and I was completely sealed off from everyone and everything else.
"Athena, run the video," I ordered. I sat on the sofa and raised my weapon, trying to look desperate (which wasn't too hard, given the circumstances). I pulled out the communication device and tried to contact Alessandro and Hana. It didn't work, of course, but assuming Talon was monitoring our communications and some of our systems they would see me here and come to retrieve or murder me. A lone, desperate doctor attempting to call for help? Why would they resist? I stood up and made my way to one of the doors, pretending to inspect it for a release or opening.
"The video has been saved, doctor," Athena informed me. "I will keep the last part of you trying to open the door on loop, but they won't be fooled for long. Someone will realize you aren't reacting to their arrival."
"It will buy us enough time, yes? Open the door and lead me towards the hangar. And where is Genji?"
"Genji is halfway to the hangar, I was forced to send him on a detour. The Talon soldiers are beginning to take out the security turrets. As you approach the hangar you may encounter resistance."
"Understood, I'll be ready," I replied.
The door opened and once again I dashed out, running swiftly and as quietly as a could through the bases hallways. I passed the recreational room, the training room and a few dorms. A pang of sadness struck as I realized we would be forced to leave what little items we had again. Luckily none of us had brought much to the base, deciding to leave our things at home. Perhaps we all knew this would happen.
"Three enemies have broken through the next door, no security turrets available. Stay still and make no sound," Athena said, and I did as I was told, pausing right before turning the corner. I had to cover my mouth because I was panting now, and I made a mental note to join Fareeha, Lena, and Alessandro for exercise. I wasn't in the same shape I used to be. I heard several pounds from blast doors in the opposite direction I was, some murmurs, and then I could hear the men running off in the direction of the doors. "All clear, hurry doctor."
"Danke," I whispered, continuing my run through the next blast door and making a left. Things seemed to be going well, I was halfway there already and had encountered little resistance. "Athena, have you been able to reestablish communications with the others?"
"No, but I may have located the source of the problem," Athena answered. "It is a virus in my system, but it is heavily protected by firewalls. I cannot break these firewalls in-system, however, I can upload a sub-algorithm for you to insert into the main console. It should be registered as a new, harmless program that is not connected to me, and managed to sneak undetected through the firewalls as a simple routine message."
"I'll trust you on the technicalities," I said, stopping at the cross of three hallways. "Tell me where to go, Athena."
"Access to the main console is in the lower levels, but access to the lower levels is heavily guarded. You will have to sneak, and most likely fight, your way through."
"Very well," I said with a sigh, double checking my plasma pistol to make sure it was charged. "If you can distract the enemy in any way, it would be appreciated."
I was a doctor, a combat medic, a pacifist too…but I was also a hero and this was a title I carried with the utmost respect, dignity, and honor. Most people assumed I would not fight, or fare well in a fight, due to my profession and my views on the world. These enemies were the same, they all thought that, but I was a hero. I would not fail on my mission, no matter what. I would (as some say) fight like hell.
These thoughts went through my head as I ran through the hallways toward the elevator. Assuming Athena had a good distraction going, I'd be able to run to the elevator with little resistance. I stopped at a corner, hiding behind it. I could picture the area when I rounded the corner there'd be an elevator in the hallway, embedded in the wall. From the sound of it at least a dozen men were guarding the door.
"Athena, I'd very much like a distraction now," I whispered. On cue, music started blaring.
"Um Gottes Willen," I muttered. "Really, Athena?"
I listened in pain as…Rick Astley; Never gonna give you up played throughout the hallways. It was torture to my ears, and apparently, it was also tortured to the enemy because I began to hear gunfire. They must have been trying to shoot the sound systems, which were luckily very hidden and guarded. The bullets pinged off the walls but the soldiers carefully kept trying.
"You may want to move, doctor."
"Yes, I'm going." Was my response, doing my best to ignore the music as I turned the corner and raised my weapon. It felt wrong to pull the trigger, but I wouldn't waste this advantage. All the men were distracted by that stupid song, and they began to fall to the ground. Plasma bolts after plasma bolt hit their bodies, taking them completely by surprise as I ran through the hallway. My aim wasn't the best, not nearly as good as Fareeha's or Alessandro's, but in these close quarters even I hit my marks. I was merciful, aiming for their legs or arms, but never their heads or center body masses. I managed to take half the men down, rush past the rest of them in their confusion and press the elevator button. The door closed just as the remaining men turned around and opened fire, the bullets pinging against the metal and their sound disappearing as the machine took me deeper into the base.
"No casualties and you survived," Athena chirped, and if AI's could sound impressed she would have.
"Barely," I replied, taking a deep breath and blowing a strand of hair out of my face. "But I'm glad I didn't have to kill."
"You may regret that someday; you realize this don't you?" Athena asked.
"Trust me, Athena, I live with regret from my actions already," I murmured, reloading. "Are there any more enemies?"
"Not on these levels, the security is too heavy for them to enter with their current forces. I assume they will bring more men, later on, to try and access the files, which I have already purged."
"Excellent work, Athena," Angela said. "Remind me once more what I am doing here."
"You will retrieve a drive with a sub-algorithm of mine, and then plug it into the main console. The enemies AI will see this as a routine message and let it pass through the firewall. After that, the sub-algorithm should purge the enemy's virus."
"Very well, guide me."
The elevator stopped and the door opened, revealing an extremely large and extremely dark room filled with computer hardware. It was like those rooms in the movies, the ones that the spy entered to hack. Towers of hardware, all with blinking lights and soft noises.
"Walk straight, and after the third tower turn left," Athena ordered. I did as she said, briskly yet carefully making my way forward. I turned after the third tower but everything looked the same. "Now go straight and after the fourth tower turn right." Again, I did as she said and that's when it came into view.
The main console was nothing less than a super computer, and it occupied nearly the entire wall. The machine itself seemed to be the source of a very insistent hum, and it flashed with multiple lights here and there. A heard a small pop and noticed a small disk was sticking out of the machine, just to my right. I carefully took it, making sure not to touch the bottom or top with my fingers (Hana had nearly killed me for ruining one of her games this way) and looked around. I heard the soft sound of something being ejected and saw a slot to my left. I put the disk on top and it automatically closed. For a few moments nothing changed, but then I heard the internal machinery speed up and more lights flashed.
"Enemy virus is currently being purged, mission accomplished. They are waiting for you at the hangar. I recommend you exit through the maintenance lift; Talon agents haven't found it yet."
"Roger, keep me-"
"Mercy behind you!" Athena suddenly called, her voice distorted. "Systems distorted, e-e-enemy t-t-teleportation!"
Too late, I felt the barrel of a gun against my head.
"Don't move, amiga," A female voice with a Mexican accent said. For some reason, I could smell smoke, and I heard sizzling.
"This area is sealed off," I said carefully, slowly raising my hands. "How did you make it here?"
"Turn around," The woman ordered, and I did as she said. Instantly, my mind shifted to the past. I was quite younger. Overwatch had just ended the Omnic Crisis, people still saw us as heroes. I was working in Switzerland once more, excited because soon I'd be shipped back to Overwatch headquarters when a woman had walked in. She was only a few years younger than me, but she seemed incredibly stressed and tired. She had come to ask me questions about a rather difficult…procedure. She pulled plans out of a dirty backpack she has and shows them to me, and I remember feeling incredibly worried. The procedure was something odd, putting very delicate machinery complete with an internal power source in a human body, such "upgrades" would allow the person to do things others couldn't. We had spoken a bit of this, had a small argument over the risks and such. Finally, she thanked me for my help and prepared to leave, but I asked for her name.
"Sombra," I whispered. She smiled wider at my shock, winking at me. The woman's hair was smoking a bit, her jacket had been peppered with holes and she was breathing hard. All in all, she didn't seem to be at her best.
"In the flesh, how have you been doctor?" She asked. "By the way, I'd drop the weapon if I were you."
"You went through with the procedure I see," I said, slowly bending down and putting my gun on the ground. "I also see my suspicions were correct, you had nothing good planned."
"Oh I've done plenty of good, Doctor Ziegler," Sombra argued with a smile. "Not that I'll tell you what, of course. I prefer to stay anonymous."
"How did you get in here?" I asked again, lowering my arms. "And what do you want? I can't imagine you of all people would be working for Talon."
"Well, we never did get to know each other well." Sombra shrugged, keeping the gun aimed at me. "I think you know how I got here, no?"
"Translocation, it was one of the many abilities we talked about so long ago," I answered, to which she nodded. "But translocation rips the molecules of the body the farther you are translocated, if your body is smoking then you must have come from far away, outside of the country at least."
"More like outside the continent," Sombra corrected, raising her weapon and yawning. "Translocation from that distance is painful, and it makes me feel sooo tired. But I couldn't miss the party, eh? Besides look at all this software. I'm going to have a fantastic day going through the information my AI stored and sent to me before yours purged the data."
"Athena," I murmured. "Is she damaged?"
"Of course not, her core isn't in this base after all. She simply cannot speak because I fried every bit of hardware when I came in here."
"EMP?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "That was another one of the abilities we spoke of, although we both agreed such a thing would kill the host."
"Yes, well, after another year of planning and research I managed to make what I needed to use these abilities and stay alive," Sombra said. "It wasn't easy, but I kept going back to something you told me."
"I'm sure you can accomplish it if you keep trying," I said, feeling something drop in my stomach. "That's before I knew you'd join Talon, had I know I would have stopped you on the spot."
"Talon wasn't my first contractor, and they aren't the only people I work for," Sombra admitted. "Anyway, we've gotten distracted. I need your help, doctora."
"My help? Am I right to assume your upgrades have affected your body negatively?"
"No, you're wrong," Sombra said with a chuckle, her free hand rose and opened a small holo-pad. "I need information, and I'm very mad so I wouldn't try to be the hero if I were you." The holo-pad flickered and showed Alessandro in some basement, hiding in the corner. Hana was also there.
"You came from Brazil," I murmured, eyes wide with surprise and sudden worry. "Talon is there, with them, you knew."
"They surprised me," Sombra said, pulling her hand back. "And I translocated here. Now I want to know how your little group, weak as you are, managed to break through my firewalls and who this boy is. I've never heard of or seen him before."
"As if I'd ever tell you!" I scoffed, crossing my arms. "You won't get anything from me!"
"So be it, I'm sure the data my AI collected can give me the answer," Sombra shrugged, aiming her gun back at my head but as she did so I swatted it aside with my hand and spun, pulling out my staff and hitting her hard on the side with it. She yelled out and fell to a knee, quickly rolling back to avoid my second blow and get on her feet.
"You didn't believe I was defenseless, did you?" I asked innocently, spinning my staff with practiced ease and pointing it at her. Normally this would be good, I'd be healing the person in front of me, but not today.
"Maybe a little bit," Sombra admitted, and her fingers turned into purple claws. They looked digital, they should be harmless, but as she lunged at me something told me they were quite capable of slicing me to ribbons. I raised my staff to block her first blow, stepping backward time and time again as she tried to hurt me. Fighting is like a dance, you need correct footing and posture and the correct technique. Sombra was vicious and wild, seemingly uncoordinated, and although this may be troublesome for some people it wasn't for me. I took another firm step back and suddenly pushed her away with my staff, spinning and using the momentum to hit her in the face. The impact sent her into one of the computer towers next to us and as she pulled herself together I hit her in the leg, forcing her to a knee. I aimed another blow at her face but she grabbed the end of my staff and pulled me forward, rolling backward herself. Suddenly she was on the floor, and I was being held in the air by her feet. She winked at me and kicked me upwards. I lost the grip on my staff but instead of falling my wings kept me afloat.
"I have wings, remember?" I asked. Sombra clenched her teeth and got to her feet, dashing for one of our weapons. I immediately flew towards her and tackled her from behind, sending us both forward. We rolled over one another's bodies until we finally hit another computer tower at the end of the room. I heard her yell out in pain, but I could also hear the click of a gun. I sat up and grabbed the gun in front of me, and suddenly we were both wrestling for the same weapon.
"Impressive, doctora, I didn't think you'd be so tough," Sombra admitted with a grin. "Guess I should've done more research."
"Sombra, it doesn't have to be this way," I hissed, groaning as I tried to keep the weapon's barrel away from my face. She was stronger than me, the gun was slowly being directed to my head. "I helped you once, I can help you again."
"You said this wasn't possible," Sombra countered, narrowing her eyes at the doctor with sudden distaste. "And you said it was wrong. I'm not saying that isn't true, but since then I knew we wouldn't be allies."
"That isn't true, Sombra," I argued, although it sounded desperate even to myself. "You have determination, even before Talon, you had a goal. We can help you with that, Overwatch can help!"
"Ha! You heroes can't even help yourselves, look around doctor!" Sombra yelled, sitting up so our faces were mere inches apart. "You've been gone for years, and now that you're back you run from place to place, never safe! Talon is hunting you, and I think I'll choose the winning side."
"Talon will never win," I murmured angrily, my arms shaking from the effort.
"Oh you'll see, none of you will be prepared for what comes next," Sombra replied, suddenly head-butting me.
It was so unexpected I couldn't do anything about it. I felt blunt pain on my forehead and lost my grip on the gun, falling back. I quickly tried to get back up but a bullet tore through my left shoulder. I yelled in pain and fell to the ground once more. I kept my eyes closed, not daring to move. I could hear Sombra slowly standing up and…walking away? I opened my eyes and sat up with a groan, watching the Mexican walk away.
"You did help me once, despite what you said," Sombra admitted with a grin. "So I won't kill you, not today at least. Don't expect mercy next time." She put a hand on her chin and looked up, suddenly smiling wider. "Don't expect mercy next time…ha! That was good, no?"
"You won't win," I muttered painfully, one hand gently gripping my shoulder. "We won't allow it."
"Sigue soñando, doctora." Was Sombra's answered as she waved her hand in the air and disappeared, vanishing in a flash of a purple.
"Athena! What's going on? Is Genji ok?" I asked, looking around the room. Right, the machinery had been fried by her EMP blast. Had she meant to EMP? Or was that what happened when she translocated from such a distance.
Alessandro, Hana. Sombra had come from Brazil, they most certainly must be in trouble.
"Focus Angela, you cannot help anyone if you stay here," I whispered, forcing myself to stand up. "Athena said the to take the service lift, and it's my only option."]
With this in mind, I retrieved my staff and my weapon. Too late I realized the reason I wasn't healing. My suit was designed to heal me if I ever got injured, using the latest in nanotechnology. It was the same concept as my staff, actually. But Sombra's EMP had disabled both the suit and the staff. It's a miracle I could still use my wings, although how they survived the electromagnetic pulse is beyond my comprehension. I sighed and put the staff on my back, making sure my gun worked before making my way to the lift. My left arm was limp, and I knew I'd have to do something about the bleeding soon, but right now I had no way to fix it. I needed to make it to the hangar. As the lift slowly rose through the building I could hear gunfire getting closer and closer, and men yelling. It wasn't long before I heard Athena again.
"Mercy! You are near the hangar, but there are plenty of Talon soldiers. If you go to the east entrance Winston can retrieve you," The AI said.
"Understood, I'll be there in a minute," I replied. "Where is Genji?"
"He is by the west entrance, currently being retrieved by Reinhardt," Athena answered. "He will be fine, just get to the east entrance."
I didn't bother answering this time, making sure the hallway was clear before getting off the small lift and jogging to the sound of bullets. Now I recognized where I was, and I knew where to go. I turned right and quietly made my way to the east entrance. More than once I had to stop, pressing myself against the wall and crouching as Talon soldiers ran by. Right before I made it to the entrance some soldiers actually ambushed me, but a security turret popped out of the roof and tore through them.
"Mercy!" Winston called as I walked through the door, taking cover behind a column. "I'm coming!"
"Do hurry, Winston!" I called back, flinching as bullets whizzed past me. I heard Winston grunt as he boosted himself through the air and landed next to me, hard enough for me to stumble. He deployed his dome shield and pulled me close, careful as to not touch my wound.
"Are you ok?" He asked, worry flashing in his eyes. "Did they get the data?"
"No and yes, I'll explain later. Let's just escape first, yes?"
"Roger, hold on!" He pulled me closer and let my wrap my good arm him before leaping back towards the ship. As we landed he spun, letting the bullets hit his armored back as I scrambled into the ship.
"Barrier destroyed!" Reinhardt called, and my curiosity got the best of me. I carefully peeked out the entrance, making sure I didn't get hit by Winston as he tried to protect it, and looked for Reinhardt. My eyes focused on his large form in front of Genji's cart, he roared a mighty battle cry and boosted himself forward, crushing three of the smaller Talon soldiers against a wall before swinging his hammer around himself, taking another dozen out. He laughed heartily and roared in German. I'd need to have a word with him about his foul language later on.
"Agents, Genji is unprotected!" Athena called, and my eyes turned to see one Talon soldier with a knife approaching Genji. Reinhardt was busy, Winston couldn't make it in time, and Athena's security turrets had been destroyed in this area. I don't know what came over me, how I even managed to do it, but I raised my pistol with my good arm and fired a single shot. The next second the soldier fell down, a hole in his head. Winston leaped toward Genji and grabbed him, returning and running into the ship. I also got back in, making my way next to the ninja.
"Reinhardt! We need to go!" Winston called, and a second later Reinhardt had charged through the door and hit the wall, cursing in German from the impact.
"I'll feel that in the morning," He muttered as the doors closed, letting himself collapse on the floor. "Ah, Angela! You're wounded!"
"It's fine," I murmured weakly, leaning back on the seat. "Winston, I need you to stop the bleeding and bandage me. Once we arrive to wherever it is we are going I'll be fine. And here, try to contact Hana and Alessandro. Talon is in Brazil." I pulled the communication device out my pocket and offered it to Winston, who took it and turned it on. During this Athena had taken control of the large aircraft and taken off, we were now too far for Talon to get us. Unless they had jets which (thank god) they didn't.
"Diva, is that you?" Winston asked. "We're having interference."
"It's me, Winston," Hana confirmed. "What's wrong? You seem worried."
"Talon cut off our comms, we barely made it out of the base alive," Winston said, pushing his glasses into place. "Set course to Spain, or the closest area possible, and we'll go get you."
"Is everyone ok?" Hana asked quietly.
"Mercy is wounded, but she'll survive. The rest of us are fine, don't worry," He answered with a chuckle. They'll have to try harder than that to defeat us."
"I'm glad, we'll see you guys in Spain then. By the way, we got Lucio."
"Winston! How's it hanging?" Lucio called in the background.
"Oh, eh, ok I guess. We have this big mission coming up- Oh…I get it…"
"Winston! I think you should contact the others in town before they return to the base." Reinhardt reminded him.
"Oh, of course, we'll talk later Diva, you guys be safe."
I sighed in relief as Winston contacted the rest, who seemed to be completely oblivious to what just happened. Talon hadn't gone to town then, probably didn't know most of us would be gone. We could get them in a bit then head to Spain with the other three, everything would be fine. Reinhardt had pulled off his helmet and gloves, doing his best to stem the bleeding and bandage me. Before I knew it, my eyes were closing and I fell into a deep sleep.
That's it for this chapter! Sorry I've been gone so long, the holidays killed me and I was busy before that too.
But now I'm back baby, woot woot! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter with our little battle medic~ Don't forget to fav, follow and most importantly review because your opinions always matter!
Like seriously, comment your wonderful thoughts, go for it, it'd be awesome whether it's criticism or compliments.
Oh, and since it was requested last chapter I will give the English translations of what the characters say from now on!
Um Gotten Willes = For God's sake
Doctora= Doctor
Buena suerta, doctora = good luck, doctor
Nein= No
Danke = Thank you