A/N
Hey everyone. Just wanted to thank everyone for reading up to this point and also to apologize for the wait for this chapter and the last one. Like I said, I get distracted easily.
Since this is the fifth chapter in the story I thought I'd tell you explain Ghost's abilities if by some miracle he was placed in the game since I had this conversation with a reviewer.
Anyways, Ghosts abilities are:
Sprint: self-explanatory, just like Soldier: 76's sprint
Grenade: self-explanatory, hand-tossed grenade to deal a good amount of damage at one moment, good for kicking off a fight or finishing off an opponent in a firefight. If grenade impacts an enemy, it detonates. If not, it bounces once then detonates.
Cloak: Ghost can cloak for around the same duration or close to the same duration of Reaper's Wraith form. Turrets cannot target him while cloak but Ghost can still take damage and activate traps. Firing his weapon or using his grenade ability while cloaked will cause the cloak to end prematurely. Widowmaker's Ultimate and Hanzo's Recon Arrows can also still pick Ghost up even if he's cloaked as well as Mei can still freeze him.
Ultimate: Ghost installs temporary heat sinks into his cloaking device with extends the duration of his cloak by a second or two. Can still take damage and set off traps but Ghost can now fire his weapon while cloaked while the ultimate is active. No damage buff, no armor buff, no health buff. This makes him harder to hit but still leaves him vulnerable to enemy fire and area of effect attacks.
So what did you guys think? I don't know about you but I think that's fairly balance, more or less. Ghost would be good for dealing with turrets or flanking enemy defenders. Let me know what you guys think in a review or comment.
Anyways this chapter is picking up right where the last one left off. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Onto the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: Overwatch is owned by Blizzard Entertainment and its respective developers. All I own is the plot of this story and a few of the characters.
Now onto your story.
Watchpoint Gibraltar
Soldier: 76 and Ghost knelt in the middle of storage room, guarded by half a team of Overwatch agents as Winston paced in front of them. Due to the mixed feelings on the two soldiers, the two were moved to that room make sure nothing happened to them in case someone with a grudge decided to have some pay back. Behind him, Tracer sat cheerfully on a box and watch the scientist question the two vigilantes while Mercy stood off to the side glancing every couple of seconds at Soldier: 76.
"So who talks first? I talk first?" Ghost said finally breaking the silence. One of the guards were getting ready to hit Ghost again when Winston turned toward to the guards.
"You're dismissed. We'll handle it from here." Winston said. The guards looks back at Soldier: 76 and hesitated to leave but knowing full well Winston could handle himself and with Tracer and Mercy watching his back, they knew the scientist would be fine and left without a word. Once they had left, Winston stopped pacing and stared down the two men.
"And then there were five. So what's the plan, Winston? More questions or can we just skip that bit and get to the part where you agree to work with us?".
"And why would he do that?" Tracer asked, hopping off her box and approaching him.
"Because we have two things you guys don't. Experience and intel."
"All of our agents are experienced members of Overwatch from before the collapse of the agency and we currently have agents running field ops gathering intel as well as intelligence Athena and I have gathered." Winston proudly stated.
"Congrats but that's not going to help you guys much when those boys and girls out there get themselves killed. They're sloppy and out of practice. Overwatch has at least six agents that are above par, three of which are in this room. That much is obvious when 76 took down those guys without really trying. 76 and I have been fighting this war longer than you have. With the way Overwatch is now, criminal organizations and gang will chew you guys up in the long run. " Tracer looked at him unimpressed while the others listened without a word. "Bottom line, you guys need us as much as we need you."
"If you two are doing so well, what do you need us for?"
"Supplies, back-up, allies, way to clear his name." Ghost nodded toward 76, who just let out a annoyed grunt at younger man. "Hey, I'm not the subject of an international manhunt."
"So what are you proposing?"
"Simple, you scratch our back, we scratch yours. You give us supplies, information every so often, and tell your agents not to shoot us, and we give you information and lend our services to Overwatch." This got another annoyed grunted from 76 but 76 knew that is was the best option for everybody, especially them considering their situation. "Deal?" Winston looked at the younger man of the two before looking at the older one. The deal proposed by Ghost was a good deal to say the least, almost too good. Not only do they get two very experienced soldiers into Overwatch, but the intelligence they have could be very useful considering all they're going against.
"How do we know that you'll keep your end of the bargain?"
"How do we know that you won't try to turn us into Helix International or any other world government first chance you get?" 76 said. This was the first time he had spoken and when he did, everyone went silent as his rough voice almost echoed in the small room.
"Look, we're not here to make enemies. Gods know we already have enough of those. I know you don't trust us and that's fair but you have to understand this is best case scenario for all of us. You don't have the numbers to fight this war and soon or later, Talon is going figure out how to counter 76 and I. If we keep on our present course, we're all going to end up dead and there won't be any more heroes to save the world when the Second Omnic Crisis starts." Winston looked at the younger soldier and sighed. He knew he was correct. With the way the world was now, a second Omnic Crisis was bound to happen and Overwatch was in no condition to stop it this time around. They were lacking in several areas, namely funds and manpower. On top of that, he didn't know what to make of the two soldiers in front of him. He didn't trust them and couldn't figure out their endgame. He needed a way to keep an eye on them to make sure their actions are genuine. Looking back to his fellow agents, Mercy looked like distracted as if she had something else on her mind and Tracer just shrugged.
"Give me a moment to talk it over with the others before we come to any agreement." Winston said nodding to the others and the three Overwatch agents walked out of the room.
"Yeah, sure, not like we're going anywhere." Ghost said. Once they were gone, 76 and Ghost were given a moment to take to each other in private.
"So how long have you been planning this?" 76 asked.
"Oh, I made 90% of that up on the spot." 76 let out an amused grunt.
"Impressive, you made it sound like this was your intention from the start." 76 said. "However, I'm not taking off my mask. I can't have any of them knowing who I am. Not yet." 76's thoughts fell back to a certain medic.
"I understand."
Outside the room, Winston and most of the other agents were gathered there to discuss on what to do with their two prisoners. Winston had informed them of the deal Ghost had proposed and the benefits that came with it.
"I can't believe we're discussing this. Those two are criminals. They broke into the base and shot up the place. They can't be trusted. We should turn them into Helix and be done with it." one of the agents said. He got a few murmurs of agreement for a few agents.
"Actually, they never fired a shot. We checked their weapons and not a single round was fired. The only ones who shot were us." another agent retorted. "They only engaged us when we back them into a corner and they were out of options. I say we trust them for now."
"Their skills would be of great use as would their information." Genji reasoned.
"This isn't the first time we've encountered them either. Back at the warehouse, they could have opened fire on us at any moment and taken us out but instead they showed no ill intend toward us and that soldier fellow even help me out of a jam when he came across from me." McCree chimed in while lighting a cigar.
"Soldier: 76 did save my life at the warehouse." Mercy also reasoned.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We should accept their offer but keep watch over them. At least this way we will have some control over their actions." Reinhardt said stroking his beard. More agents seemed to agree with that idea.
"I would trust them more if we can get them to remove those masks of theirs but everyone else is right. I think we should give them a chance." Tracer said
"How do we know they won't betray us once we let our guard down?" another agent asked with his arms folded across his chest.
"They made it clear they needed friends more than enemies and they don't have the supplies to take take on both us and the criminal organizations and gangs they're going up against already." Winston said. "I'm incline to agree with them. It seems like the best course of action for all of us." Majority of the agents seemed to agree with the decision and those that didn't agree grumbled distrust of the two soldiers but accepted the decision. With that concluded, everyone had seemed to wonder off to either get some rest or handle other business. Before she could walk away, Winston stopped Tracer to have a word with her.
"Lena, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Of course, luv. What do you need?"
"I need you to watch Ghost once we agree upon our terms. Get close to him if you can and see what you can learn. He's seems to be the more open one of the two. Soldier: 76 seems too closed up and has too many walls up to let anyone besides Ghost get close to him. While you do that, I'll look into the their agents files and see what I can find out."
"You can count on me." Tracer said, giving the scientist a thumbs up. Winston nodded in response and walked back into the room that held the two soldiers. As they walked in the room, they soon laid eyes on both Soldier: 76 leaning against a wall and Ghost sitting on the box Tracer was sitting on earlier, checking something on his wrist mounted tactical pad, both were out of their binds. Once the door opened, both turned their attention to the two Overwatch agents who walked in.
"So what's the news?" Ghost asked, hopping off the box. "Oh, sorry about the zip-ties. Thought I'd save you the work of having to cut them off so I did myself. We weren't going anywhere anyways." Winston just snored and shook his head.
"A majority of the agents have agreed to give you two a chance." Winston answered.
"And those that didn't?"
"They don't like it but they accepted it."
"So we're all good. You guys agree with the deal?"
"We agree but on two conditions. You two are required to stay here with us until further notice and you two have to help rebuild Overwatch while this deal is in effect." Winston said. Ghost looked back at 76 for confirmation. 76 got off the wall and walked over to them and nodded.
"Alright. We'll play by your rules for now." 76 said, holding out his hand for Winston to shake. Winston looked at the man for a moment before taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "But for to uphold our part of the deal, we have to go back to the US and get back to the our home base to gather up the rest of our supplies and our intel."
"We can bring you back soon. Just give us the coordinates."
"No, just drop us off in the town of New Castle, Indiana, and we'll make our way back on our own. Can't be giving away all of our secrets just yet." 76 said.
"Fine. We'll get you back there as soon as we can. Now I believe we could all use a rest. Today has been particularly exhausting." Winston said.
"Get use to it, Winston. It only goes downhill from here." Ghost said with a chuckle before turning to 76. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later." 76 nodded and left to start preparing a list things Overwatch needed to do to once again become successful.
"Athena, can you tell me where the nearest terminal is?"
"Of course, Agent Ghost. Follow its down the hall on your left."
"Thank you." Following the instructions provided, Ghost quickly found the terminal he was looking for and accessed it. "Athena, can you bring up the base layout and upload it to my tac-pad." Ghost asked, plugging in his device into the terminal. "I don't want to get lost and have to ask for direction every time." Once the download was complete, Ghost got up and walked around the base to get a feel for the base. He didn't really have a chance to explore while running away.
After wandering around for a bit and receiving some harsh and/or untrusting stares from the rest of the few Overwatch agents that were still up, Ghost eventually found himself outside near Winston's lab and garage. Seeing no one else around, Ghost walked over to the cliff and sat at the edge, removing his mask once he was seated. Reaching into his armor and accessing a small secret compartment, Ghost pulled out an old photo. In the photo was his mom and dad with 8 year old James standing in the middle of them with biggest smile he could make while holding both of their hands. Ghost discovered the photo a few months after his father died while he was repairing the armor. When he stumbled upon the photo, he cried for what felt like hours. He knew it was odd that in age of technology they live in, people still had photographs but his father was an old fashion man and wanted something physical to hold on to while he was out on missions, something Ghost was grateful for now that he had something look back at and remember his parent's faces. As he looked at the photo, part of him wished for the days when he just simply James and not a masked vigilante fighting crime in back alleys and small towns. He knew he and 76 were doing good work but some days he longed for the normal life he knew he could never have again. Hearing someone approaching, Ghost was brought back to reality and noticed that while he was mindlessly staring at the photo, tears had formed in eyes, a few even falling down on to the photo.
"Is everything okay, luv?" Ghost heard a familiar British accent behind him. Wiping his eyes and placing his mask on his face, Ghost turned to look at Tracer.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all." Tracer walked over and sat next to Ghost.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Tracer looked up at the soldier, noticing the photo in his hand. "What's that?"
"Hm? Oh its nothing. Just an old photo of me and my parents." Ghost said putting the photo away into his armor. "What's brings you out here? Shouldn't you get some rest?" Ghost asked hoping to change the subject.
"I was with Winston in his lab when I saw you wandering around outside all by yourself from the window. Thought I'd check up on you."
"Well as you can see I'm fine but I thank you for the concern..." Ghost trailed off. He had overheard her name earlier but didn't want to say anything until he had a proper introduction.
"Lena. My name's Lena Oxton."
"Well thank you for the concern, Miss Oxton." Ghost said, smiling under his mask. Tracer just giggled at how formal he sounded.
"Please, just Lena. What's your name?" In truth, she knew his name already since she was with Winston when he was going through Ghost's agent profile. Ghost stared at her for a moment, debating if he should tell her, deciding that it would be better in the long run if he told her.
"James. James Hawke." Ghost held out his hand to Tracer. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you too." Tracer said with a smile and shook his hand. With that, the two fell into a comfortable silence and went back to looking back at the scene before them.
A/N
And that's wrap. No action going on in this chapter. More of just character interaction and forming the shaky relationship between Overwatch and the two soldiers. Both groups aren't exactly the most trusting of each other at the moment and hopefully I can make it interesting to see them working together.
So as I finished this chapter, they released the trailer and origin trailer for the newest character in Overwatch, Ana Amari, Pharah's mother. I found the trailers really cool and while I'm terrible with Widowmaker (I'm actually pretty decent with Hanzo), I'm actually pretty excited to try my hand at her once she arrives. So what do you guys think of Ana? I'll definitely do my best to include her into my story once I'm able to get some more info on her and her personality and once the time is right to bring her into the story. I'm looking forward to that.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading this story. What did you guys think of it so far? Like it? Hate it? Somewhere in between? Leave a comment/review or shoot me a PM if that's more you're style.
Thanks again and have a great day.