AUTHOR NOTE
Alright, this story is approaching its terminus pretty rapidly. I've kinda lost my interest in OW and fallen in love with the world of Life is Strange, hence my Halloween themed story 'Contagion' being canned. This is likely to be my last OW story before I transition to Life is Strange, as I've already got the basic frame (about 200 words and a clear idea for the chapter) for a story there.
Sorry to those who are OW-crazy as I was, I just happen to have fell in love with the universe of Life is Strange.
RAAF Edinburgh. Adelaide, Australia.
The operatives walked toward several parked aircraft on the edge of the airstrip in what felt like 30 degrees. The aircraft in question were not cargo planes as one would expect, or even RAAF aircraft for that matter, but a flight of RAF Vikings. These were highly advanced tactical bombers, coated in stealth materials and with a payload bay large enough to accomodate small vehicles or very large bombs. Today, they would carry neither.
The arm-twisting it had taken to make this work was unbelievable. Sort of. Omega had been in touch with an old contact of his, in charge of the squadron of RAF aircraft at the base. Convincing him had been easy enough.
"I can't authorise a training sortie of that length without the permission of Wing Command."
"Is that so?" Sombra had asked in a theatrically quizzical tone as she falsified the document in a flicker.
"Ah. I suppose I'll see you in an hour then. And ry? Don't be sodding late. Again."
The hardest part had been- acquiring- the TAS.61 modules. Tactical Assault Systems were the 21st century answer to parachute drops. A capsule designed to look like a bomb and which conveniently fit in the bay of a Viking, with the ability to carry up to 30 with full equipment. It had, however, been accomplished, allowing the squadron to leave the ground on cue. The flight plan called for an arrival over the drop zone around an hour before dawn. Perfect for an assault of this kind.
"By the way, Jack," Gabriel muttered over the shielded comms inside the pod, "I've arranged for the Troublesome Twosome to meet us at the DZ."
"Good. Sombra, what of your contact?"
"Sénor Tandaka? He's got his men in position. And I must say, amiga, these Japanese Intelligence guys don't mess around. They could probably give you a run for your money, Ana."
Ana replied in her usual kind, with a glare of drop dead aimed at Sombra.
"Alright, cut the catfighting in there. Here's how it's gonna go down: The Bastion and Pod 3 will drop first, and take out the checkpoints on the Western approach. 1 minute behind them will be the remainder of the force. The DZ is far enough away to avoid any accidental conpromise, however we'll jam their alarms as a failsafe." Jack could feel the usual lump in his throat, the same feeling he'd had before a thousand operations larger than this one.
This one was different. Rather than fighting for the future of the planet, they were fighting for the lives of two of their own.
Several hours later. Hanamura, Japan.
The Shimada brothers had been arguing for about ten minutes straight as to how best to tackle the problems they'd encountered on the ground. Their argument was cut short by the thunderclap synonymous of an object breaking the sound barrier.
A glance through the optics they had to hand revealed a foe who were confused and terrified. Both emotions could be justified: Confusion at the sound of what one could only otherwise liken to lightning, and terror at the thought of the probably unpleasant and definitely agonising death that was now hurtling toward them. At a little over 700 miles per hour.
The first thud signified The Bastion's pod landing, not applying its kinetic dampeners to reduce the downward acceleration to a survivable level until the last possible moment. The pod door flew open, and even before it had fully cleared the line of fire, a stream of white-hot tracer fire ripped it in two and found its mark in the fire control system of the enemy automated weapons a few hundred feet away.
"Shall we get in there, brother?"
Genji stared across at Hanzo, in what would have been a sarcastic questioning look were it not for his mask. "Naturally."
As the pair moved toward the fray, working as destiny had intended in a past life, another succession of thunderclaps signified the main body's arrival. The pod doors blew off, as one somewhat paler and groggier Sombra staggered out, followed by an inconsolably amused Reaper.
"That's for tormenting me for seven fucking years!" He cackled as he charged to his usual position, dead centre in the mayhem. As anticipated, no alarm bells sounded, no reinforcements arrived and within a matter of a couple of minutes, not one guard stood. The various operatives fanned out in an arrowhead, moving in the direction of their rendezvous with the PSIA operatives Sombra had managed to encourage to join them in their cause.
The team reached a clearing, when Reyes called a halt. "Something ain't right, this is too damn quiet. Even for the countr-"
His sentence was cut off short, as 50 or so figures wearing what appeared to be ome-piece silver-black combat suits materialized from thin air. One with a plasma rifle to Reyes' head.
"There is no fear-"
Gabriel huffed as he recognised the agreed codephrase, as quaint as it was.
"-but fear itself. About damn time."
The figure lowered their rifle, before gesturing the same to the remainder of their forces. "Reyes-san, you are late."
Reaper shot another dagger-like glare at Sombra, as it took little deduction to understnad who had informed this PSIA agent of his true identity.
"Now, my sharpshooters are in position along the north wall, overlooking a courtyard. Amari-san, you will find the position most favourable, as the sunrise will be at a right angle to you. Everyone else, you may form up along the other approaches and near the main gate. My saboteurs will have mined the gate by now."
"Yes sir."
The figure cocked its head, before removing the mask of the suit. "Ma-am, I think you'll find." The leader of the PSIA team replaced her mask. "Now, what are we waiting for?"
The PSIA operatives re-cloaked, the only evidence of their presence being light footprints and a slight hazy appearance to the air. Damn, that was some next level technology. As, jack supposed, were their weapons. Which meant their explosives would likely turn Junkrat green with envy.
The teams moved to establish themselves in their various positions, as the first rays of light appeared from behind the mountain range of Mt. Miyazaki in the far distance.
