Chapter 5: Zurich
"We really must stop meeting like this, sir." Said Minerva as she maneuvered the medical droids.
"I can't believe it. She has me by the fucking balls." I said, hopelessly frustrated.
"I'm sorry about what happened sir, maybe if I had been more careful with my hacking, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
The droids finished wrapping the band aid around my stab wound.
"Don't blame yourself, we couldn't have possibly known how powerful Sombra really was." I told her.
I sat down at the control panel and rubbed my eyes. What had I gotten myself into?
"What are we going to do now, sir?"
"I don't know... "
The Cloud was gently floating above the beautiful city of Rome, the morning sun washing over everything in its nourishing rays.
I stood in the observation deck and looked at the breathtaking scenery, the Lazio landscape never failing to impress.
"Talon is up to something. And judging by what I saw in that warehouse, it's really really bad"
"But sir, how will we fight them without risking being exposed by Sombra?"
I thought for a second.
"We can still fight Talon, but Sombra said she would warn me if I started to mess with any of her missions."
"I don't like this sir, being told what to do and what not to do by the enemy."
"Well, tough shit Minerva we don't have many other options."
I sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping on a can of beer.
"Look on the bright side sir, you are a national hero."
I looked at news headlines about how Italy was grateful to have a hero again.
But I didn't feel like a hero.
I felt like a puppet, that Sombra could play around with however she Pleased.
"Maybe this is bigger than you sir. Even Overwatch was unable to bring down Talon, how do you suppose you could succeed where they failed?"
"Overwatch drowned itself in politics and red tape. I on the other hand, don't have to worry about either."
"You're not thinking straight sir, you can't fight a terrorist group alone"
I stood up
"you're right", I admitted
I sent a message to my journalist friend.
"Perhaps they might have some relevant information on Talon's operations" I said
"Sir, I don't approve of this, you are going to get yourself killed."
"What is it I'm always saying Minerva?"
Minerva 'sighed'.
"You will delete me, sir?"
I smiled sarcastically.
"Glad we understand each other"
I finished my beer.
"I'm going to war with Talon." I said.
And it wasn't just the alcohol talking.
The next day I was back in my penthouse, searching for clues once again.
I was looking into everything from old Blackwatch investigations to outright impossible conspiracy theories online. Rumors about a second omnic uprising, God AIs, theories about the abandoned Lunar colony you name it. I was truly desperate.
After hitting my millionth dead end, I yelled out in range and flung my computer at the chandelier, shattering it.
"Sir, I hate seeing you like this." Said Minerva.
"WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? THERE ARE COUNTLESS LIVES AT RISK! AND I CAN'T UNDERSTAND A DAMN THING!"
I got up and punched the wall as hard as I could, yelling out in rage.
"Sir, please, stop"
I couldn't be sure, but I thought I heard a hint of sorrow in her tone.
"I can't." I whimpered. I slid down to the floor and sat against the wall.
"If I don't stop them. I'm, nothing." Tears began to form in my eyes.
"Don't you dare say that, sir." Said Minerva.
"For someone who had suffered as much as you, you didn't owe this world a damn thing." She said.
I looked at my fists, now bloody from punching the wall.
"How many people do you think would have done what you did? How many would devote so much of their time, effort and resources to helping others?" She said.
"Minerva-"
"NOBODY, sir. Most people would just give up on life and see the world as an irredeemable monstrosity." Minerva said, before I could object.
"I'm just a man, Minerva. If I can do it anyone can."
"Exactly how many masked vigilantes do you see around these parts sir? That is what separates you from most men. Anyone can, but you actually do."
I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood up.
I looked at the Carraro family portrait that hung on the living room wall. I looked at my parents faces.
"For most people, loss and pain only means sorrow. But you took your pain and loss and used it to create a superhero." Said Minerva.
"Please, don't call me that"
"No sir. I will call you that. Because it's what you've become."
'Superhero'. It didn't really suit me… did it?
"Do you seriously think so?" I asked.
"Sir, have I ever not been serious?"
I laughed a little at that.
"Thanks for making me feel better Minerva. I needed that."
"What are A.I assistants for, sir?"
"Does Emotional support come standard?" I joked.
"Not in AI assistants. But definitely in a friend." She answered.
I had just received a message from everyone's favourite journalist.
"What does it say?" I asked Minerva.
"They say they've got an 'inside source' at Talon, who leaked the mission briefing of Talon's next major attack to them." She replied
"Holy shit really? Can we have the contact info for this secret informant?"
"No sir. Our journalist says the inside source will only talk to them."
"Dammit. Never mind. What about this attack? What's it about?"
"Well, it says here that the next upcoming Talon operation will take place in Zurich, Switzerland. The actual objective is only known to mission commanders, but our source thinks that it is most likely linked to stealing old overwatch assets at the former Swiss HQ."
Talon was stealing overwatch tech? That explains the surprisingly advanced weaponry back in the factory.
"When does it say this attack is supposed to take place?" I asked.
"A few days from now sir. But they are sending in a scout unit first."
Good, they would be easier to take down, meaning I could get to the 'punching information out of them' stage much quicker.
"Minerva, set a course for-"
"Let me guess… Zurich?"
"Nicely done, now let's go"
"You're going to just faint on the battlefield out of exhaustion at this rate."
"Hey, I hear Zurich is a lovely tourism spot. I guess I'm finally taking that holiday you're Always asking me to go on."
"Fine. But if you go to Switzerland, people will wonder where Leonardo Carraro is."
"Let's tell the public that I'm touring South America." I said "I always wanted to say that I've been there."
"I'm booking you a fake ticket to Argentina as we speak, sir."
I triple checked to ensure that the Cloud was stocked with enough supplies to last at least a week. Food, water, weapons, armour and xenon.
Your typical vacation checklist.
"Let's show the Swiss what some good old fashion Italian vigilantism can do, sir" said Minerva as the Dark Cloud soared northwards.
It was now 3 days since we had arrived at Zurich. And absolutely nothing had happened yet.
The Cloud hung high above where the old overwatch base one used to be. Since overwatch disbanded it's been refitted into what is now called the Petras museum, which had plenty of information on overwatch and its history. But more importantly, there were vaults underground where the more sensitive info and tech was stored. If Talon could attack any place in Zurich, it would probably be here.
On the first day I set up a network of surveyor drones to monitor various points of interest in the city.
On day two, I asked Minerva to monitor the radio channels and look for any suspicious activity.
Twice we thought we heard Talon agents, and I dropped in to check, only to find that both times we were just listening in on random street criminals.
I beat them up anyway. For justice.
But also because I was quite frustrated.
Day three was when I decided to just stay at the Petras museum and wait. And I had gotten so bored from waiting, that I wished I was back at the warehouse, getting stabbed. Anything to disturb the peace, to break the silence.
What is it they say? 'Be careful what you wish for'?
I should have been careful.
Because on day four, something happened.
Something that would change everything.
They called it the 'Battle For Zurich'.
That day started out pretty normal.
The city was at it's usual quiet self, the morning seemed the same as the countless mornings that came before.
I was sitting in my control panel chair and updating my social media with some convincing looking fake selfies that Minerva had made to cover for my absence.
Minerva then pulled some footage from a surveyor drone.
"Sir! We've got a Talon scout ship! Heading east near the city center."
"Finally. It took them long enough." I said, relieved.
"You seem a little too happy to hear that there are terrorists in the city, Sir."
"Minerva, let's kick their asses before I get sick of your crap and delete you."
"Right away, sir."
We tailed them from above at a safe distance. I wanted to know where they were going before I dished out any of that famous 'Italian vigilantism'.
We were quite high above them, so I had to use a telescopic camera to monitor them. Sacrificing quality for range.
But I noticed something quite strange. A little behind the Talon ship, was a civilian hovercar that had followed them for several blocks. Why?
Eventually the scout ship landed in an abandoned construction site, approximately 3 miles south of the museum. I watched as 6 Talon scouts unloaded supplies from the ship and began to set up some sort of temporary base.
I was just about to suit up and get down there, until something surprising happened.
The hovercar had stopped a small distance back, and two figures stepped out of it. A man, and a woman.
The man started firing lasers at the scouts from his… arm? They came in to attack him, but he systematically took five of them down, one by one. And his friend assisted him with taking down the last one by using some rather dirty tactics.
"Okay, who the fuck are they?"
"I can't get a clear read on their faces, the quality isn't high enough on this zoom"
"Then enhance!"
"Sir, I told you I can't fucking do that"
I growled in frustration.
"I'm going in, get us down there" I ordered.
But the cloud stood still.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Umm… sir, you should see this"
Minerva turned the ship to face the horizon.
A meteorite was approaching, and it was headed straight for the city.
It landed a short distance from where our mystery couple was standing.
And something climbed out of the crater.
A gigantic robot the size of a 10 storey building. It had cannons for arms and eyes as black as death. It started yelling something at the couple, but we were too far up to hear what it was saying.
The man told the woman something, and she turned and ran.
The mystery man then focused his attention on the monstrous machine.
Was he ...taunting it? Was he insane?
The robot then lunged towards the man, it's arm ripping through a nearby building as it did.
The building collapsed and sent up a dust cloud that consumed the entire section of the city.
"Minerva what is going on?"
"I can't get visuals, there is too much dust"
All we could see were flashes of light coming from within the dust, gunfire most probably. For about fifteen minutes the battle waged on below, sounds of explosions and more buildings collapsing filed the air. As the time went by I was contemplating whether or not to go down and join the fight. But I knew nothing about this robot, and I was unprepared to take on something of such a massive nature. All I could do was watch in horror.
Eventually the flashes and sounds died down.
"I think it's over, they killed it." I said.
"No sir, it's trying to retreat."
"What makes you say that?"
"It's headed straight for us."
I looked down and saw the damn thing approaching us at insane speed, It looked severely damaged since when we first saw it. But that wasn't relevant to me at the time. So, I politely said:
"GET US OUT OF ITS FUCKING WAY MINERVA!"
The Cloud was a fantastic machine capable of many things. It was engineered to be able to stay in the sky almost indefinitely, while also being invisible. It had a fantastic top speed, it excelled at long distance trips and could do many more incredible things with ease.
But acceleration was not one such thing.
The Cloud was unable to get up to speed fast enough, and as a result.
CRASH
The robot had collided with the rear section of the ship and busted two of the main ion engines.
"MINERVA, DAMAGE REPORT!"
"Severe damage to the rear hull section, pressure loss imminent, main engines destroyed, fires in cabins 3, 5 and 6."
"Get to the point!"
"If we dont explode, we'll definitely crash, sir."
"Cazzo, try and aim the ship away from the city, we can't risk a crash there."
I tried to regain my balance, the entire ship was tilting to the back, Minerva implemented some course correction on the ship that knocked me straight into the armory.
I stumbled through the armory, carrying as much equipment as I could, and brought it to the front of the ship. I then quickly grabbed a few of my suits and took them to the front too.
"Sir, we've got 20 seconds till impact."
"Execute emergency procedure c12"
"Oh yeah, I've always wanted to try this one" she said.
The forward cockpit section of the cloud sealed itself off from the rest of the ship. Then it ejected itself from the main body of the Cloud and launched itself skyward.
Moments later, what was left of the Cloud crashed into a green field, going up,in flames.
We were no longer in the Cloud, but rather its new daughter-ship The Novula. A high speed jet craft designed to be used when abandoning the Cloud was the only option. It had just enough space to squeeze in some important equipment and a few suits.
However, the Novula is very fuel thirsty and runs out quick. Soon enough it had to set it down.
Once we were clear of the explosion. I turned the Novula around and landed some distance from the wreckage.
"Minerva what was that thing? What crashed into us?"
"I'm not sure sir, it's nothing like anything I've ever seen before. Scans indicate high levels of radiation, and what I can only assume is a gigantic alien omnic lodged in your once flying base."
I looked out the cockpit window at the wreck, from where I was, I watched the twisted heap of metal burn. The familiar appearance of black metal of the Cloud fused with the mysterious alien body of the monster omnic.
The sun was high above us.
This was bad, soon enough authorities would easily be able to arrive to investigate the crash.
"We can't let them find the Cloud, there's too much sensitive information and technology in there" I said.
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting, sir?"
"Yes. Yes I am" I knew what I had to do. I hoped I wouldn't regret this.
"Sir I estimate that we have close to 45 minutes before the crash site is found. The contamination suit that we have could possibly block most of the radiation, Im 80% sure. You are going to have to be fast, sir."
The plan was simple, investigate the crash site, learn as much about the strange omnic, and salvage whatever was left of my base that still could serve a purpose.
While wearing a bulky contamination suit. In just 40 minutes. Scratch that, this plan is nowhere near simple.
I suited up and ran to the wreckage as fast as I could. I switched on the cameras built into the suit. Everything I saw here was going to be important.
With me, I carried a few tools to help me get as much as I could from the wreck. Including a set of containers that could hold irradiated materials, 16 charges of TNT and a crap ton of scanners that monitored everything around me.
My first order of business was to set the TNT charges, this part was more crucial than the rest.
I then went through the Cloud. Gathering anything that wasn't completely barbecued.
Then I scanned for any interesting materials from the Omnic.
And I found what could only be explained as a purple liquid that covered most of the insides of the entire damn thing.
"This must be what fuels it." I said.
"It's chemical composition is nothing like any compound on earth. Sir, this is a new element!" Said Minerva.
I set about getting as much of the stuff as I could, I scooped up enough to fill all that my containers could carry.
"Sir, I'm detecting a large concentration of it near the center of the omnic's body." Minerva said.
I cut my way through it's chest and found what looked like it's 'heart'. There was enough of the stuff in there to fill a gas tank.
Wait a minute…
"Minerva, Jettison all the fuel from the Novula."
"Forgive me sir, but what the fuck?"
"Just do it you glorified toaster."
"Yes, sir."
All the fuel from the jet's tanks was dumped.
I grabbed the fuelling nozzle and stuck it into the 'heart' of the omnic. It sucked up every drop.
"Sir, im getting a lot of interference in the Novula, the substance is messing with our systems"
"Cazzo. How bad is it?"
"Don't worry sir, I'm adjusting the frequencies on which everything operates. It's fine now."
I heard the sounds of sirens approaching.
I quickly got back into the Novula. Since it was out of jet fuel, we had to operate on electricity alone. This meant we couldn't fly anymore.
"Engage all terrain mode." I said.
The wings and jet engines jettisoned. The entire fuselage shifted closer to the ground and the wheels extended out to the side. The Novula took on the appearance of a large armoured 6 wheeler.
"I still don't understand why you don't just call it tank mode, sir."
"Shut up and drive."
We drove away from the wreck, just as I detonated the charges. The entire thing went up in flames.
The Novula activated it's cloaking and we headed back toward the city.
"What the hell is going on." I buried my face in my hands. My entire base of operations had just been blown to bits, I was stuck in the middle of an investigation into Talon, and now I had the most amount of information regarding a giant alien omnic that had just attacked Zurich.
"Sir, I have some sort of good news."
"Whoop de fucking doo"
"Remember our recon drones? One of them managed to get a clear image of the faces of that couple who took out the Talon scouts."
Minerva pulled up the images on the screen.
The man had light skin, spiky brown hair and blue eyes.
The woman had bright blonde hair and light features.
She seemed familiar somehow, I couldn't tell exactly why.
"I'm sure you've run facial recognition. Who are they?"
"The male is 'Jayce Primus'. He works in a local upscale establishment as a singer." She said.
"Huh… didn't take him for such a pansy, taunting an alien omnic like that." I said.
"But there's something odd about him sir. I can't get any information about him from before the last 7 months. No family, no criminal record, no legal residence, no mention of his existence until approximately 7 months ago."
A false Identity. Not suspicious in the least.
"And the woman?" I asked.
"I recognized her myself sir. She was a doctor and field medic at overwatch. Her name is 'Angela Zeigler' she went by the codename 'Mercy'." she replied.
Overwatch… The thought of them sent a pang of disappointment through me.
"However, she does have a legal residence. Maybe you could stop by and ask her a few questions?" she suggested.
"Maybe. But I have some research to do." I said.
The Novula came to a stop in the same construction site where the Talon scouts had set up base. The police had just arrived. Two of them were guarding the scene.
Rest must have been busy helping with evacuations in the rest of the city.
I knocked the two of them out.
"Did you really have to do that sir?"
Did I have to? No. Did I want to? Abso-fucking-lutely.
"Shut the hell up. I've had a crappy day, cut me some slack. Besides they probably wouldn't let me investigate the scene." I said.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with, sir." she said, defeated.
Inside the scout ship I found a bunch of computers with a ton of encrypted data on them.
"I can't get into these, sir. It's probably only readable by Talon agents." Said Minerva.
"Maybe our investigator friend can ask his inside man to read it for us."
I took all the hard drives with me into the Novula.
"Minerva there's no way we can fight talon without the Cloud. Does our offshore construction zone still work? We might need to assemble a new base."
"I'm pretty sure they do. But it could take a really long time to get another Cloud up and running."
"Well, I need you to get right on that. And there are a few modifications I would like you to make for the new model."
I gave her a list of changes that I wanted her to implement.
"Holy shit sir. Are you planning on invading a country?"
"It's just in case there are more giant omnics like the last. I don't want to just sit back and watch the next time something like that happens."
"Fair enough, sir. I'll do my best to have the Cloud 2.0 up and running." she said.
The original Cloud was manufactured in a remote construction site in Mumbai. It was a revolutionary design and a lot of people were looking forward to seeing it come into service.
But the night before it was revealed to the public, it 'mysteriously' disappeared.
Call me selfish, I don't give a fuck.
But since then I decided that maybe it would be less risky if I had my own construction rig out in the ocean, manned by builder droids. Which I promptly put into service claiming it was an oil rig. All my equipment is manufactured there now. And now the droids were going to start working on a new and improved Cloud.
I spent the next few hours inside the Novula designing blueprints for new equipment. Minerva continued to assemble the ship.
I tried visiting Primus' restaurant only to find that the building had collapsed.
Fucking of course. Why the hell wouldn't it be?
I got so frustrated I threw a cinderblock at a car.
"Why don't we just go to Dr. Ziegler's residence. You unstable lunatic."
"Yeah you're right, except for the lunatic part."
As the sun dipped I stood on the roof of an apartment building opposite the street from the doctor's home.
I waited patiently to see if anyone would show up.
Then, I saw him.
Mr. Primus himself. He seemed to be coming home with an envelope.
Right before he stepped into the building, he turned his head and looked in my direction.
I ducked down quickly. He may have only seen me for a split second. He walked into the apartment building without a second glance.
Cazzo i'm getting sloppy.
I waited till all the lights went out in their appartment.
I set the suit to interrogation mode. Red eyes and a deep rumble of a voice. Most folks are lucky not to shit themselves.
I quietly opened the window and climbed in.
I found myself in a medium sized apartment, quite moderate. But then again they don't pay government doctors jack shit.
Ugh it's so bland. I miss my penthouse.
"Why is it that barely anyone has good taste these days?" I said
"Because barely anyone is a multi billionaire" said Minerva.
Focus.. focus. I'm here for a reason.
I looked around the cheaply decorated apartment (ugh) and found Mr. Primus sleeping on the couch.
"Trouble in paradise?" Said Minerva in my ear.
"Shut the fuck up" I whispered.
I walked up to the couch and pulled out one of my first ever gadgets. It was a pellet that acted like smelling salt of sorts that causes victims to experience their emotions in a highly amplified manner.
I used it a lot in the past to amplify fear and scare my enemies into giving me info.
I cracked one of the pellets open under Primus' nose.
A cold sweat broke out over his face. His eyes flew open and focused on me.
He screamed out of sheer terror at my sight.
I missed terrifying my victims. I don't enjoy what I do as Gat but I would be lying if I said I didn't like this part.
Oh yeah... this is going to be fun. I needed to take out my frustration on something after the events of the last few days.
And it looks like Mr. Primus just volunteered.
(A/N)
This is the end of the Gat solo arc for now.
I am working with the author of the fanfiction story 'Disciple Of Primus' to write a crossed arc featuring both of our character's.
Here is the link to Disciple Of Primus by Aadidoestfp
/s/12651093/1/Disciple-of-primus
