Chapter 2: Ngume

5 November 2060, 2300 Hours (Military Calendar)

Ngume District, Numbani

Eight hours after Drop….

Spectre slowly regained consciousness, his head spinning. He didn't figure out that he wasn't in heaven until he felt a very strong, sharp pain in his back. Good. He was still alive. He had a brief flashback of training where Strike Commander Jack Morrison himself, leader of Overwatch, barking at the troops,

"Just because you'll be used on occasion doesn't mean that you miserable lumps still have the strength to fight! Pain is just as part of life as love and death! Work it off!"

He embraced the pain and used it to get back into his situation. He turned on a button on the side of his goggles, which illuminated his view with a blue filter and highlighted night vision. The sky was dark outside. Must have been some hours since the drop, and a light rain shower had come over the city. Spectre could hear the pitter-pat of droplets against his shattered canopy.

First, he had to get the bearings in where in the city he was.

"Status" he coughed dryly, his throat giving a hoarse tone.

"Single-Seat Atmospheric Drop Vehicle at 15% operational capacity. Warning: Jump Jets Disabled. Warning: Emergency Sensors disabled. Warning Hatch Ejection Door Disabled."

"Bollocks." Spectre growled. He was stuck in the middle of Numbani, unsure of what the hell happened, and he couldn't even release his harness and door.

Suddenly, from the corner of his vision he saw emergency bolts designed for this occasion. Usually, when the ejection door conked out, Overwatch Agents could detonate the bolts in the doors, allowing it to forcefully spring forward. It served also act as a projectile to anyone stupid enough to stand in front of the pod. A large metal door hurling over one hundred miles an hour wasn't something you could just shrug off easily.

Spectre armed the charges. He pulled each one of the levers.

A beeping was heard. Suddenly, an earsplitting bang was heard as the hatch of the pod flew out. It also fell about fifty feet before slamming into the roof of a transport bus.

"Bloody hell, that's a drop…." Spectre said as he cautiously peered over the pod door. He decided the odds. This pod coming down wouldn't be a pin dropping to enemy forces. He would have to move.

On the other hand, it had been quite a while since the impact. If Talon had been scourging the city for Overwatch agents, let alone him especially, they would have found him by now. Again, he countered that if he stayed, it would be easier to wait for his squad, then the thought-

"Screw it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained." He said, leaping over the edge.

He free fell for a second or two, landing hard on the concrete floor. He exhaled sharply as he heard a bone crack. It was true Overwatch Combat Uniforms were protective, but they were nowhere near as efficient or powerful as the armor Strike Team leaders wore.

Spectre seethed in hard to stop a scream of pain coming through. He looked up and down the street, carefully looking for Talon or snipers, and then he ran for it, pistol drawn.

"Well, Tom, what are you going to do?"

"Require Medical Attention? Caduceus Health Packs provide top-of-the-line medical attention for half the cost, or your money back!"

This caught Spectre by surprise. He jumped and accidentally put pressure on his wounded leg. "AUGH! COCKWOMBLE!"

Please visit a nearby Caduceus Dispenser for immediate medical treatment." A computerized voice said.

Spectre was in too much pain to bother arguing. He limped helplessly across the illuminated street where he saw one of the medical stations, with a waiting health pack. He grabbed it.

"Thank you for your patronage." The voice said again. It seemed to be coming from the machine.

Spectre chuckled, and plopped himself down next to the machine. He unclipped his shin-guard and rolled up his suit leg. It appeared that the fall jammed his fibula against his femur and patella. He opened up the pack and found a small canister of gel-like substance. He rubbed some on his kneecap and found a moldable brace in the pack as well. After applying some heat via rubbing, he wrapped the brace around his leg, but not before adjusting it to its proper position.

"Ah, good." He said, rolling down his pant leg and clipping the armor back on. "Where am I?"

"Numbani, City of Harmony" The computer voice replied.

"No, I meant, where am I? In the city?"

"Ngume District, Numbani."

Spectre felt annoyed. "Can you give me anything more specific?"

The Machine just responded in the same monotone African-accented voice as it did previously, not showing any sign of proper emotion. Must have been getting sick of so many questions.

Tourists new to the city are advised to obtain a map from a Numbani Information Terminal."

Suddenly, a waypoint appeared in his visor display. It showed that there was an item of interest some distance away from him. He nodded slightly, and rose to his feet, feeling better.

This suit actually works! He thought. He started toward the waypoint.

"Please Keep Right. Obstruction prevents transit at this time. Thank you." The same computer voice said at this time.

Spectre came to the fork in the road and saw what exactly the obstruction was: A crashed Talon Troop Carrier blocked the entire road with black smoke spewing out of any crack that was on the damaged ship.

A yellow warning sign activated above Spectre's position.

"Please Keep Right."

"Right, I'm going! Don't get pushy."

Spectre jogged a bit up an inclined road and made into a small square. He did a quick glance down the street with his pistol carefully gripped. Satisfied that there was nobody out there, he trotted to the safety of the square.

It was dark here. He activated the night vision on his visor. Also, he noticed that a terminal was outlined in orange. Orange was usually color-coded to describe mission-critical objectives.

Did this AI just intercept his suit's systems and repurpose them?

This was one Harmonious city.

Spectre made his way towards the orange data terminal. He did occasionally look over his shoulder. He was jumpy. It was King's Row that did this to him, that was it. Ever since that day he cheated death, he had become much more cautious, much more aware of his situations. In many cases, this helped him. Other times (which was most of the time) It just plainly made him freak out.

As the keyboard fluctuated between English and Omnic, he tapped the ENTER key on the terminal. At once, a yellow-green sphere appeared on the screen. He had to assume that this was the AI, or as it said on the screen, the Protector.

"Welcome! Numbani Information Terminal Online."

"Yes, hello. I'm here.

Within a second, there was a green light from the terminal.

"Thank you for accessing! Please enjoy your stay in Numbani, City of Harmony!"

"Right then." Spectre said, walking away.

He activated his map, which now gave him a visual of the entire city of Numbani. Needless to say, it was kind of hard to see it at first, until he zoomed in on his position. Then, something caught his attention.

Laying nearly a kilometer away, he saw a blip. An Overwatch drop pod. Best of all, it was Mirembe's.

This seemed the best course of action. If Mirembe was there, she could help find out where any of the other Agents were in the city. If she was dead, well…better to confirm than ignore.

"Attention to any Overwatch forces or Civilians in the Area, this is Strike Corporal-"

The humming of a gravity drive cut his transmission short. He made a beeline for some cover and looked skyward. The one thing that could make his day worse just showed up. A fully functioning Troop Carrier was bearing right above his position. A powerful searchlight on its nose combed the buildings.

So they were looking for survivors. Spectre breathed a sigh of relief. If he had stayed any longer in the pod, he would've been taken prisoner or shot on the spot.

The Talon cruiser went low to the ground. Out of its troop bay came a squad of grunts, five in all, led by a squad leader. Spectre gulped, and then thought. Perhaps the night could work to his advantage. Sneaking past was not an option, so different measures would need to be taken. He holstered his pistol and drew out his heavy pulse rifle. He unclipped the silencer on the side of the weapon and began screwing it on just as he reached a tuft of tall grass, and took aim using the smart-scope on his visor.

He targeted the soldiers first, compensating for their weapons down. Spectre exhaled and pulled the trigger three times.

The pistol breathed three times and three soldiers fell dead from headshots. All within a matter of seconds. Before the others could do anything, the back two soldiers were dead. Spectre managed to clip one of their methane packs and send it in a gaseous corpse on the ground.

Enraged, the leader pulled out his rifle. Spectre held his breath and ducked low under the tall grass. The leader urgently began looking around the square barking out curses. When the leader came close to him, Spectre crept behind him and stabbed his combat knife in the side of his neck. The leader screamed at first but then collapsed.

Spectre pulled the knife out of the leader's head with a wet shnk, and wiped it out on his sleeve. Satisfied, he placed the knife back in his sheath, and crept up the road.

The place he needed to get to was located behind a building. The Protector had sealed the doors leading anywhere so he assumed that it wanted him to see something. A door leading into a hallway suddenly opened.

"Please proceed with caution."

Spectre walked in the doorway and down a hall. Lacking a Motion Tracker those fancy Primaries had, he had to rely on his visor. A few dead Overwatch soldiers lay dead on the ground, suggesting a battle had taken place. He confirmed this with accompanying Talon forces, blood splattering the walls.

He got even higher until he got into a room with windows, overlooking what was Unity Plaza, according to the map anyway. In the very center of the plaza was a crashed Overwatch pod, and several Talon corpses around it. He didn't see any Overwatch corpses down there so either the occupant survived the crash, or someone came along and took them.

Spectre continued to search for clues in the building. After a few minutes, he saw a broken screen on the wall. Usually, a screen like this wouldn't have been of much importance to Spectre.

But then again, how many wall-mounted screens had a piece of armor wedged in it? He stepped closer and yanked out the armor. Using both hands, he pried it from the screen. It came away after a good tug and the gash in the screen spat out sparks. Looking at it, he saw a huge crack down the center of the chest piece and emblazoned on the left, he saw the name: CAGE.

So this was Mirembe's armor. Did she make it out alive? Did someone come to look after her, or did Talon capture her. More importantly, how the hell did the armor get up here, wedged in the computer screen, no less?

Spectre looked at the helmet and ran his finger through the large crack. What did happen here?