The African Savannah at the afternoon was a breathtaking sight. The flat grassland stunning even with its mostly beige complexion. Barely a mountain, or hill, in sight to break the mirage. Maybe a few trees in the middle of empty-openness. Made little difference, even as the agents took a more conventional means of travel this time. No fancy whale of a ship to cart them around Western Africa.

Instead, they drove in a mammoth of a black van. Floating across the grassland with a city behind them. The grass rustling slightly as they drove by, speeding off towards an outpost on the outskirts of Numbani. The interior was big and roomy, enough space for all the agents, their equipment, and some extra supplies to fit in. But by that point, it got a bit packed.

Brigitte was driving the van, sharing the front cabin with Torbjörn and Reinhardt, trying to keep her eyes on the road and ears to the radio. Their incessant chatter unfaltering throughout the entire drive. Fortunately, it was sometimes more entertaining than the radio.

"I'm only asking for you to consider, Torbjörn," Reinhardt said, pleading to his friend.

"I have better uses of my time than pursuing such an outlandish idea, Rein," Torbjörn dismissed, buried in a holopad. "You do realize how much time is spent on the upkeep of your armor? Adding physical modifications is going to increase it two-fold."

"Please, you could practically do it with both your eyes gone. Besides, it could be a nice pet project for you and Brigitte! Father and daughter bonding-time."

"Don't bring her into this."

"I don't know pappa. Sounds like it would be fun," Brigitte added, casting a smirk to him. "Tesla Coils… Definitely different from what we usually work with, nej?"

The Head-Engineer groaned, seeing that he might have to add another task to his to-do list.

"Helvete…" he muttered. "I'm an engineer, not an electrician. Where did you even get such an idea, Reinhardt?"

"From the Ödländer, of course!" the German boasted.

"Oh… of course. An imagination as wild as yours. If he can conjure up a viable power source for such an attachment, I'm all ears."

"Sure, but he might have some trouble hearing you from where you are."

The Swede punched Reinhardt in the shoulder, resulting in more laughter from the much larger German. Brigitte could only shake her head as both father-figures bickered even more, hoping they don't shake the van too much.

Eyes on the road and seeing they were getting closer to their destination, she pounded the wall behind her with a fist. On the other side, Fareeha Amari pounded the wall in response, turning to the other agents in the back.

"All right, everyone, gear up! We're almost there," she said, stepping to her Raptora Armor, suspended by a set of clamps.

As she was halfway through getting her armor on, she felt someone tap her on the arm and turned to see Lúcio.

"Hey, Fareeha, I just wanted to say 'thanks'," the Musician went on with a grateful smile. "For rounding up everyone and coming along on this one for me. It really means a lot."

"Don't mention it," she said, returning a smile. "Besides, we've had reports of activity occurring here for weeks. It's about time someone like your friend acted on it."

"Yeah, she's great. Hope all goes well when we see her. She might freak seeing Reinhardt and Torb, though."

Fareeha smiled at the thought, but that faded away for a second when she looked to the other side of the cabin to spot Satya Vaswani. Quietly reading a book as she sat on a glowing white chair she made appear out of thin air. If the mission hadn't taken them to an area without people in need, she would've objected to bringing her along. Not the only one with that sentiment.

"Just tell me if there's any trouble, all right?" she asked.

"Sure thing, Cap!" Lúcio said, sliding back to his corner.

So, almost everyone was gearing up for their stop. However, sitting upon a large toolbox against the wall, Nathan sat with his armor and gear by his feet and stared at a holopad he held. He hasn't extensively used these 'tablets' that practically everyone in this world seemingly possessed, but today he swiped his finger and scrolled through an image gallery of guns. One of many galleries he found.

Specifically browsing a handgun, as he looked at dozens of images of M1911's. Remembering what happened to his 1911 the last time he was in Numbani. Seeing many examples with slides as silver as the finish on his. Remembering how it glinted in the Mojave sun at dawn. All the times it saved his ass. Although, he found many attractive examples in this search.

"See something you like?" a gravelly voice asked as McCree walked over and reached up to some supplies hanging over him.

"Nah, just browsing," Nathan responded, not taking his eyes off the catalog.

"Can't blame ya'. .45's like that run for a fortune, these days. And I'd imagine shipping'll be a pain. Still, wouldn't mind having one."

"Price ain't the problem. Replacing it is."

"You already did, didn't you?"

"With another 1911, I mean. Would feel insulting to do that to something I've had for so long."

McCree tilted his head, glancing at the holster on his hip

"Can't blame ya' for feeling that way," he admitted. "Imagined you two have been through hell together. Where did you pick her up, anyway?"

"Utah."

"Heh, fitting. Bought it?"

"From a praying man."

Nathan kept silent as he took one last look at the page of handguns until shutting it off, the holopad becoming clear. He got up when the van came to a stop, everyone huddling up to the door. Before it opened, Nathan noticed Satya next to him and staring at the door. Her face was still, as if deep in thought about the next course of action needed to be taken. Yet, she also seemed disconcerted as she took quick glances around the space. The tight, cramped back of the van they had to share with each other and loads of equipment. Didn't seem completely at ease, if a few of the comments she made beforehand about the state of the van were any indication. Meanwhile, on his left, Lúcio couldn't wait to see his "contact".

The van's door opened and Brigitte was the first to greet them.

"We're here," the driver announced.

One-by-one the agents filed out for a breath of fresh savanna air, stretching their legs after a long drive.

They were at an outpost, a security checkpoint posted not too far from Numbani proper, complete with buildings and personnel. Despite being tagged as "international criminals", Overwatch wasn't immediately fired upon by them. In fact, there was a group waiting to meet them. Accompanied by a little girl and her towering robot. Nathan already groaning as he saw them.

"Efi! Orisa!" Lúcio exclaimed as he broke through and skated to the two.

"Lúcio!" Efi called out, hugging the skating man. "Thank you for coming!"

"No problem, I came here as soon as you called. How have you guys been? Got to work on those new upgrades for Orisa you've been messaging me about?"

"Enthusiastically so!" Orisa answered, walking up to him. "This morning, Efi was finally able to update my pathfinding routines and I can navigate off-road terrain 65.239% more efficiently."

"Really?"

"Yes, and she listened to your entire album on loop as she did."

Efi's smile dropped when Orisa said that, spinning around to yell at her and speak in hushed tones. Her creation wondering what she did wrong.

By that time, the rest of the squad caught up to Lúcio and saw the two for themselves. When they all did, Efi fell silent again and stared in awe at some of the people that were now standing before her and Orisa. Not even the first time she met Overwatch agents in the field, but some of them were new faces to her. Lúcio noticing her reaction.

"Oh, yeah. Brought back up with me, too," he added, boasting a proud grin.

"I have heard much about you, young lady!" Reinhardt exclaimed, stepping over to meet Efi. Yet, he took care to crouch down and get as close to her eye-level as he could. "And is this your guardian? Quite an impressive machine."

Like when she first met Lúcio, the young girl seemed awestruck by the large old man greeting her. Knowing full well who he was.

"I know who you are!" Orisa suddenly burst out, sounding cheery and her eyes snapping into joyful arrows. "Reinhardt Wilhelm; Veteran of the Omnic Crisis and served in the German Bundeswehr as a lieutenant in the Crusaders. Subsequently serving in Overwatch for many years until mandatory retirement."

"Ah, a fellow fan, I presume?" the old Crusader asked, standing up to face the large machine. Naturally at eye-level. "We have much to discuss, then!"

"Maybe we should discuss the job, instead…?" Torbjörn was quick to interject, walking between them, casting wary looks towards the omnic.

Meanwhile, the security personnel that Efi waited with were off to the side and conversed with Captain Amari, her helmet held under her arm. Their dialog simple and to the point, learning why they were here. Nathan stood by and watched, waiting for her. Unfortunately, metal hooves stomped behind him as the sun was blotted out. Taking a deep breath beneath his helmet.

"Yes?" he asked, turning around to Orisa who towered well above him and was closer than he preferred.

"Hello, Mr. Boone!" the large Omnic greeted, waving her hand. "It has been a long time since we have seen each other. How are you, today?"

"Like shit."

Orisa's "pupils" became round and wide, acting surprised by his response. Especially one so vulgar.

"I am very sorry to hear that, then."

"Yeah."

Having enough of waiting for Amari, Nathan broke off from the group and walked back to the van. Orisa watched him and looked back at Efi, still chatting happily with Lúcio and now Reinhardt. After, she looked back at Nathan and began to follow him. The mechanical quadruped easily catching up.

"Mr. Boone, I would like to apologize for the transgressions that occurred the last time you were in Numbani. Where I mistook you for an offender," Orisa explained, walking by his side. "Efi has improved my programming greatly since, so such an incident should not repeat. I hope you have it in your heart to forgive me."

"Okay, apology not accepted," Nathan merely responded. Orisa's eyes clicked in surprise. Then, they rotated and "squinted" as he dropped some of his gear back into the van and poked around to retrieve something.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't understand," the omnic admitted, her eyes still fixed on him.

Nathan groaned again before retrieving his Vault 13 canteen.

"Fine, let me break it down for you," he started, to get her to leave. "For starters, my last name isn't 'Boone'. It's Brin."

"You lied?"

"Yes."

"But lying is wrong."

Brin stared at her as soon as the huge robot said that, shaking his head as he took a sip from his canteen.

"Whatever you say… And the second reason I don't forgive you is because you haven't earned it. It isn't easy to forgive someone who threw me like a ragdoll and nearly ripped my arm off. Especially when I was on your side the entire damn time."

"It was not my intention and I certainly would not have acted so aggressively had I known earlier."

"Doesn't change the fact it still happened. If you want my apology, saying 'I'm sorry' ain't gonna cut it."

"'Ain't'? Is that a word?"

He just took another sip and groaned internally.

"Yes, it's a word, used in a similar fashion to 'isn't'," he explained in a deadpan tone.

"I see. Well, what will it take to earn your apology?"

"Maybe you don't fuck up, next time? Or fuck me up? I don't know, do whatever your programming allows."

"I see, now. Thank you, I will mark that objective as a high-priority from now on until your apology."

"Cheers. Now can you piss off-"

"Updating Internal Dictionary…"

"…Seriously?"

"Analyzing recent social performance… Complete! 'Social Butterfly Subroutines' updated. Thank you, Mr. Brin, I will inform Efi of these improvements."

Orisa then cantered off, apparently unfazed by Nathan's somewhat subtle attempts to get her to leave him alone. Clearly expecting too much from a machine designed by an 11-year-old. Then, poking his head out from the van with a rag, Manuel looked on and watched the omnic go.

"You don't have to be so hard on her, you know?" the man in the blue jumpsuit commented, wiping his dirty hands.

"I'll consider it when she stops being annoying," the tall Waster replied, taking another hearty sip.

"I'll hold you to that. Oh, eyes-on! Captain's coming back."

Manuel tapped Nathan on the shoulder and made him look ahead to see Capt. Amari finally returning to the van, done talking with the Numbanian personnel.

"What's the skinny, chief?" Nathan asked, putting his canteen away.

"I've been informed that a village on the edge of Numbani's local government area had been recently attacked by unknown assailants. As well as the security personnel camp assigned to be that village's guardians," the Captain explained.

"Let me guess… Talon?"

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised. However, the big difference is that the villagers are fine. Barely any casualties. Could be a good start to ask some questions."

"Could also be a trap."

"I won't deny that, either."

"At least we have the girl and her pet tank to come along."

Amari looked back at the mentioned duo, watching as Reinhardt tried to teach Orisa one of his many audacious poses. Pointing his large arms high to the sky and Orisa trying to mimic the movement as Efi looked on. Brigitte and Torbjörn next to her – one Lindholm clearly more amused than the other.

"About that… Efi will have to stay behind," Fareeha said.

"Why?" Nathan asked.

"It's too dangerous to bring her along. She might be useful and a valuable ally to have on the field, but I'm not going to risk bringing a little girl into a war zone. Winston was very adamant about that before we left, but I didn't need to be convinced."

Nathan looked at Fareeha, then to Efi. Watching as she laughed at the silly poses.

"You should tell her that, then," Brin said, climbing back into the van. "She seemed really excited when we got here."

She looked over her shoulder at him. With a sigh, she dropped her launcher back in the van and walked over to Efi and Orisa.


The agents had arrived at the village, and not too soon. Despite an advanced municipality with a population of bipedal machines miles away, they came across a quaint little town made of more wood than metal. They didn't have stick roofs or muddy roads and had modern amenities, but were much humbler than their neighbors across the yard. That quaintness betrayed by some smoke and people walking around in bandages. Other than that, the Arroyo tribal thought it looked cozy.

"Okay, everyone, let's spread out and help these people any way we can," Amari ordered. "Vaswani, you help rebuild anything and put their homes back in working order. Reinhardt and Orisa, help unload some of the supplies they gave us so we can distribute it among them. Torbjörn, Brigitte, see if there's anything that needs fixing. The rest of you, do whatever you can."

With that said, the others wasted no time following orders, at the ready to provide aid. Nathan was about to help the unload the crates of Numbani supplies, seeing Reinhardt, Orisa, and Manuel on top of things, but Fareeha had other ideas.

"Brin, I need to ask something of you," she said, walking up to him. "During your… wandering days… How good were you at asking questions from the people you would meet?"

"Good enough, I guess?" the Wastelander confessed. "Why?"

"I'm wondering if you could do the same here."

"You want me to interrogate these people?"

"No, nothing that severe! Just ask around the village. See if you learn anything about what happened here. Intelligence gathering. Numbani security couldn't. Can you do that?"

He very much would prefer hauling boxes of shit as opposed to conversing with the locals, but it still served a purpose. Would probably get them out of here, sooner.

"Fine," he begrudgingly accepted, walking away from Fareeha and into the village. She frowned, before putting her helmet on and shooting up to get a bird's eye view of the perimeter.

Nathan walked into the town and along its main street, taking off his helmet to get a better look. Many residents were outside and trying to help clean up the place or help their neighbor rebuild things. Few of them seemed to be in high spirits, and even fewer looked like they were in the mood to chat. They did acknowledge his presence, some staring at him and some nodding to him. Finally, seeing someone who didn't seem too busy or shaken, he went up to someone standing idly at her front doorway.

"Excuse me, ma'am, have you-?" Nathan couldn't finish as the woman hurriedly stepped back inside and shut the door in his face. "…Fuck you, too, then."

He went on, going door-to-door to see if anyone else had anything to say. Any information they could use to get a better grasp of the situation. Maybe figure out why Numbani is letting them operate within their jurisdiction and let them borrow their guard dog. A few other doors did shut in his face, but thankfully, there were more people who were willing to cooperate. They varied in helpfulness, however.

"Do you know what happened here?" Brin would ask.

"I don't know. I just woke up and heard shooting, screaming, and explosions. Honestly, I just hid until morning came around."

Next house, over.

"Do you know what happened here?"

"No. There was suddenly fighting and gunshots from the camp. Could barely see anything in the dark. Just a lot of… Sparks."

"Sparks?"

"I'm not sure. It could've been an energy weapon going off, but I didn't want to poke my head out to see."

Next house, over. Same story… Wildly different interpretation.

"It was like a bomb had gone off and the ground shook! Powerful enough to level a city block. A terrible, thunderous noise," an old woman went off, sounding like she had seen the end of the world. "As if the Crisis was gearing up, again!"

"Did you see anything else?"

"No, but my neighbor might've since a car was thrown through his roof."

"…What?"

Sure enough, the next house over was missing a roof. With the door already wide open, Nathan knocked and peered inside to see a large car in the living room and turned on its side. Wondering how it got there.

"Can I help you?"

He turned his head to the left and saw an omnic standing in a hallway, wearing a brown sweater vest and khaki pants. His hands in his pockets.

"Yes, was wondering if I could ask you a question?" the human responded.

Suddenly, a child's voice echoed out from the hallway and a little human girl appeared from behind the omnic's legs.

"Daddy, what's going on? Who is that man?" the little girl asked, clutching his pants.

"HD? Who are you speaking to?" another voice sounded out, an adult woman appearing behind him.

The omnic then picked the little girl up and handed her to her mother.

"It's nothing, I'll take care of this. Just get back inside," he reassured.

The mother still looked unsure, but she retreated further into the house with their daughter.

"Is this a bad time?" Nathan asked, witnessing the entire thing.

"No, but it always seems that way. Every time there's a dilemma or trouble going on. Always your group involved in it, somehow," the omnic said, walking up to the front door.

"Uh huh… So, you don't know what happened?"

"No, I don't know much about what happened last night. All I know is that it sounded like a war zone just occurred in my front yard and there's a fucking car in my living that almost crushed my wife and child. Iris be damned, I wish I knew!"

The omnic accusingly pointed a metal digit at Nathan. His static faceplate betraying his frustration.

"But what I do know is that you and your little group of misfits are responsible for this, one way or the other. Can't clean up your own mess, properly! So, it spreads and ruins someone else's day. Sometimes their life. Why can't Overwatch and Talon and everyone just fuck off already and leave people in peace?"

The omnic stopped ranting, letting down his arm and taking a more eased stance. Nathan stared at him, his expression unchanged from the beginning of their conversation.

"Well?!" the omnic demanded.

"So… Do you want to actually to be useful and do something or are you just gonna stand there with your mechanical thumb up your ass?" the Courier asked, not caring for an answer.

The omnic stared at him, the faceplate static.

"I understand. I'll leave you to it, then," Brin said, leaving him at his doorway.

Back outside, he looked around to see if there was anyone else that needed questioning, someone that would be cooperative and tell him what the hell is going on around here. Instead, he spotted Vaswani across the street, engaging in an apparent argument with some old woman. Well, the old woman was the one arguing, yelling at a poor translator who recited what she was saying back to Vaswani in English. Nathan went over to see what all the fuss was about.

"What's going on?" he asked, joining the conversation.

"This old woman is refusing to let me reconstruct parts of her home," Satya answered, subtly displeased.

"She doesn't wish for Ms. Vaswani to work on her home because of her employer," the translator answered, gesturing to her. "She said, and I quote, 'would rather not have another corporation ruin her home'."

"I am not ruining her home!" the Vishkar employee took offense to that. "I am making corrections and improvements so that her residence will be in habitable order, again."

The translator recited that to the old woman, but she just threw up her hand and grumbled. Satya shut her eyes and breathed out of her nose but maintained her composure.

Nathan said nothing as he looked up to see the house for himself, examining obvious signs of damage. What caught his eyes was a chunk missing from the roof – not car-sized but enough to be problematic during bad weather. Sure enough, he could see certain clouds begin to form high up in the sky. He wasn't familiar with West African climate, but it looked like they would be expecting some rain soon.

"I don't care what she does, but you should probably tell her that if she doesn't think of something soon she might wanna get an umbrella," Nathan said, pointing to the clouds.

What he said was relayed back to the old woman, and she looked back to see the encroaching weather. She grumbled even more, before throwing her hand up and speaking.

"She'll let you fix the roof, but nothing else," the translator said.

"Not optimal, but if that's all she requests, so be it," Vaswani relented, before turning to Nathan. "Thank you, Mr. Brin."

The Vishkar employee spun her hands around to form a blue hologram of a three-dimensional shape. Then, beginning to make structures appear out of thin air. Nathan watching as she conjured materials from the palm of her hand. He thought it would take a while for her to finish, but the Architect gracefully twirled and twisted her hands and formed a large polygonal hologram that hovered in the air above her. The shape matching the hole in the roof. Then, with another twirl, the shape materialized into a bright white block and fill in the hole on the roof. Almost effortlessly. A moment later, the old woman poked the new roofing job with her cane and found it sturdy. Still grumbling about the help.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Vaswani bowed towards the old woman, before swiftly turning and heading to the next home in need of renovations.

However, as she went, Nathan heard someone clapping behind him.

"Great job," he hears, turning around to find a man in military gear sitting upon a crate. With a shiny bald head and rough beard on his face. A deadpan expression as he clapped.

"Don't know how we've survived without you lot," the man went on, in an accent the Waster never heard before. Sounded vaguely British, vaguely Australian, but most likely from neither. "Overwatch here to save the day… Fookin' right."

"And who're you?" the New Californian questioned.

"Civilian contractor hired to protect these people by the city of Numbani, along with a bunch of other guns for hire. Came here after those OR15's got scrapped. Our camp isn't too far from here."

"So, you know what happened?"

"I was right in the fuckin' middle of it when it all started. Was out on a patrol when our main base lit up like a laser show. Ran back and before you knew it, we were outgunned and outmanned in a matter of seconds. Had to run back to the damn village where they followed us but stopped."

"Stopped?"

"I don't know, other than some gunshots and that damn car, the fighting stopped as soon as we went into town. Been quiet ever since."

"They chased you?"

"Yeah, and they probably had a fucking laugh about it all the way here."

"Do you know who attacked you?"

"Could barely see them in the dark, but the reds of their eyes gave me a pretty good idea."

"Oh, goddammit…"

At this point, he wasn't surprised. Anytime it seemed like something was broken or wrong, those bastards seemed to be behind it. As if they had it out for not just Overwatch, but the entire world. He was still unsure what their angle was supposed to be, his Internet searches mostly fruitless and leading him to some strange websites. Although at this point he had little reason to care as they always shot at him. As tedious as Legionaries.

"Fucking everywhere, aren't they?" he cursed.

"Yeah, and you'd have better luck surviving if you switch careers," the mercenary stated, producing a can of beer and opening it. "I'm sure Helix has safer working conditions than the hell you have to go through. Better benefits, too. Shame some of our coworkers apparently didn't get the memo."

The mercenary glanced up to the sky, spotting the glint of blue armor as it hovered over the village and provided a watchful eagle-gaze.

"Yet, here we are taking over," Nathan bit back, looking at the sky. "Guess Numbani doesn't think you are as useful, anymore."

The mercenary didn't say anything else as his expression became more stone-like, only taking another gulp of his beer.

Nathan heard a garbled noise come from his hip, where his helmet was hanging off his belt. Grabbing it and placing it upon his head.

"Brin, do you copy?" Amari's voice was calling out.

"Loud and clear," Brin responded, looking up at the sky.

"Were you able to dig up anything?"

"Most sources are muddled and confusing, but they mostly point to Talon. Big surprise. Don't know how the car got there, though. You?"

Nathan expected a quick, straightforward response after he asked, but got a few seconds of silence.

"Amari?"

"I have a good idea," she admitted. "Be on high alert. I see smoke in the distance, probably the mercenary outpost that Helix set up. We'll have to go and investigate."

"Sure thing. Ain't too far. I'll-"

"Hold on."

Nathan stopped, and then heard the rumbling of jet engines as the Captain descended to the ground and landed right next to him.

"Someone has to watch your back," she said as she began walking towards the camp. "Jesse, want to tag along?"

"Sure thing," McCree called out over the radio. "People here are lacking some hospitality."

"Let's get a move on, then."

"Hmph, alright," Nathan scoffed, about to go until Lúcio ran in front of him, being followed by a gaggle of children. Chasing him as he expertly dribbled a soccer ball between his feet, before one of the kids reached out and was able to kick it out from under him and continued chasing after the ball, screaming and laughing as they did. Lúcio turned to Nathan and shrugged.

"Gotta keep spirits up," he said, before skating after them.

Nathan watched them as he raised his hand up and summoned his rifle's stock to it, heading outside the village.


The three walked along the grassy field towards the mercenary camp, not too far from the village and posted along what seemed to be some type of forest. The trees forming a border, almost. Despite having a longer gait, Nathan hung back and watched the group's rear, scanning their surroundings and watching for anything among the grass. The pace being set by Fareeha as she took point, with McCree in the middle. For the first half of their short trip, it was silent. Only grass rustling by their feet. Nathan kept his eyes on their rear, though, occasionally glancing back to the village and spotting the group of children chasing after that soccer ball with the Brazilian leading the group. Spotting others, including Manuel, joining them

"Amari, I got a question," he said.

"Yes, Brin?" she responded.

"Was it really a good idea to bring both dos Santos and Vaswani along?"

"No, but they both have their uses for this mission and I'm willing to tolerate any conflict that comes up between them. As long as it causes little disruption. I entrust them to be professional about things."

"What if you don't?"

"Then I entrust either myself or Reinhardt to try to amend and quell any insubordination… God, I hate that word."

Nathan hummed in response, still watchful of the rear but taking a second to glance at the front where she was.

"Speaking of subordinates," he began, turning away from their rear for a moment. "What happened to Hoosic?"

"Hoosic? From Guizhou?" Captain Amari responded, a little bit surprised that Nathan even remembered him.

"Who else? I haven't really seen him since then, and I expected we would bring along more backup. Did he recover?"

"He did… But he wasn't in a condition to keep working with us, so he left."

"Lucky bastard. Probably happy he's not in the muck with us."

"Hoosic left at my behest, actually. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to keep going on missions with us, get payback for what happened. Even when Angela explained to him that his wounds did not make him combat-ready in the slightest… And probably never will."

Fareeha fell silent after saying that, her eyes staring at the ground in front of her as she continued walking. Unable to think of anything else at that moment. McCree, who stayed silent the entire walk between them cast glances at both. Pulling on his cigar.

"In my opinion, it was the right call, Fare," Jesse said, puffing out smoke. "In this line of work, it would've done more harm than good to keep him along."

"I agree, and my earlier point still stands," Nathan added, as they had now crossed into the camp.

They saw that it was mostly a smoldering ruin with partially destroyed buildings, torn tents, and wrecked security vehicles. The barriers that surrounded the perimeter and acted as its walls were riddled with gunshots. The fires had died out, but smoke still rose from a few damaged structures.

"I'll get high up and scan the perimeter, provide overwatch. You guys cover the ground and tell me if you find anything," Captain Amari ordered, her wings clicking and flexing as the thrusters began to warm up. "And… Thank you. Stay frosty."

She thrust up into the air, beginning to encircle the area but stay relatively close to the ground. Jesse then hit Nathan in the arm, frowning a little.

"Wouldn't kill ya' to not bring up something like that during a mission," he lampooned.

"I'll remember not to ask questions, next time," the Waster retorted.

Brin and McCree walked into the mercenary camp, watching their step as they carefully navigated around pieces of rubbles and debris. Nathan had All-American in his hands as he shuffled his eyes between the ground and around, while McCree kept one hand on his cigar and the other on his leather.

"How much you willing to bet one these are booby-trapped?" Jesse prodded, smirking.

"$20 NCR," Nathan responded, stepping over a sizable hole in the ground.

"How much is that?"

"Enough to not make stupid bets like that, again."

They explored more of the mercenary camp, going to different corners to cover more ground. They still couldn't find much other than all the damage. However, constantly finding nothing wasn't as comforting as one would usually hope.

"Brin, do you… See any bodies around here?" McCree called out, finding nothing but dirt.

"Nope, not a single one. There's a lot of casings, though," he responded, picking up and examining brass shells. "No one was dead back in the village, right?"

"Nope, they all seemed pretty alive to me. Somethings up."

The Courier flipped the safety off after he said that, getting ready for anything. Already envisioning himself gunning down a dozen Talon foot soldiers before dinner. Slowly inching his way to cover as he held the barrel level.

"Amari, you see anything from up there?" he asked.

"Stand-By… To the east, at the tree line. My HUD is picking up multiple heat signatures. They seem faint, though. Are those birds?" she questioned, descending to get closer to the others.

Nathan turned and held his rifle towards the tree line, right where the camp was set up against. Now noticing that there was no barrier where he was facing. Where the camp was facing. The forest dense enough where he couldn't spot any movement through it, but he could still listen.

"I don't hear any birds."

Before anyone could even do anything, explosions erupted throughout the camp and their world was enveloped in a cloud of fire and smoke. The shockwave from the blasts nullified any feeling Nathan had as he was thrown across the air and landed with his face down on the dirt. Only after a few moments of feeling like a mountain had fallen upon him, he stirred to his hands and knees. Reaching to his belt and pulling a little white triangle with a gentle blue glow in the middle. The shield module having held through the blast, leaving him relatively unscathed.

'I need to buy Vaswani a fucking drink…'

"Jesse! Brin! Are you all right!" Amari yelled, flying down to the hover above the camp. Her head swiveling to find them.

"Hell-fucking-no!" the Cowboy exclaimed, stumbling to his feet and clearing Peacemaker from its leather.

Immediately, he started firing towards the tree line and at the dozen or so red eyes running towards them and shooting. Brin and Amari wasted no time joining him, running headlong into the firefight. The camp once again immersed in a war zone, drowning out all other noise.

"Torbjörn, get your defenses up and running! Reinhardt, get over here and give us some cover! Everyone else, protect the village!" the Captain commanded, her jets roaring to life as she began to strafe the enemy.

"Right away!" Reinhardt's voice boomed over the comms.

Brin and McCree fired upon the advancing Talon troops, quickly dispatching anyone they could get a clear line of sight on. However, as he was engaging them, Nathan could tell there was something different about these guys. In the past couple of months, he killed dozens of men in black uniforms and silver heads, these troops were covered head to toe in armor padding and plates, and their helmets seemed more advanced and intricate than the silver domes he was used to popping off. The weapons they were holding were different, too, some type of compact rifle. Their uniforms covered in a digitized forest camo that helped them blend in with the tree line they rushed from.

They acted differently, too; Taking care to find and stay in cover, not grouping up and keeping their spacing amongst each other, and not trying to get too close to the Overwatch agents and the Courier. Apparently having their sights focused on the latter, as a hail of gunfire was suppressing his position.

"Amari, I can barely move!" Brin called out, metal pinging close to his head. "I might need some help here!"

"Copy that! Barrage strafe incoming!" the Captain in flying power armor responded.

Her thrusters thundered and roared as she was about to make another pass, but towards the enemy. As she got within 100 meters of their position, panels on her armored pauldrons and thighs opened and began raining tiny missiles upon them, a flurry of explosions decimating the Talon caught under it. Bodies, body parts, and even their cover flying.

Noting the drop in gunfire on his position, Nathan ran out with his rifle up. Already firing upon targets as he moves closer to another barrier, getting a better view of where they were spilling out. The sound of a weapon charging caught his attention and he ducked behind cover as a shotgun blast went off and peppered his position. He hurriedly loaded a fresh mag into his carbine as he listened to some heavy footsteps on the other side. The barrel of a large shotgun was hoisted over the barrier and towards him, but he narrowly avoids a direct blast as he knocks it away with his Pip-Boy. However, the stock gets swiped across his face and he falls against the barrier as a large man in armor and bandoliers with shotgun shells jumped over to his side. Measuring almost up to Nathan's height. The Waster quickly swiped the shotgun and got up to drive a blade into him, but the Talon operator swiftly blocked the arm and punched him where his ranger armor didn't cover him, making him lurch forward. The operator clearly punching above his weight. Then, he headbutts Nathan right in the helmet and offsets his balance enough to make him fall on his ass. He kicked him in the chest, those blades on his boots scraping against the armor but the force enough to make him roll back from the blow. The Courier quickly recovers on his feet, though, and as his foe was about to deliver another blow he swiped a strong leg underneath his clawed boots. Falling and banging his head against the cover, the Talon shotgunner was dazed as a powerful punch drove him into the ground. The large Waster scooped him up into a stranglehold and struggled for a moment until he drove his blade straight into his gullet, tearing through fabric and flesh with warm blood starting to pour down onto his hand. Hearing his victim gurgle one last time before he swung it outward and made it splatter across the dirt, letting the body flop down. While he was distracted, more Talon troops came out to confront him but were quickly dispatched by a series of precise magnum shots.

Jesse McCree ran and rolled to cover next to Nathan, who dove down with him.

"That was close," the Cowboy commented, flipping his revolver and getting all the spent cartridges out simultaneously.

"No shit! These guys are different. Never seen 'em like this before," the Courier growled, snarling under his mask as he poked his head from cover.

"I have, and I don't exactly miss this 'return to form'."

"Really? They haven't always been jackasses?"

"They've always been that, but these bastards are getting organized, again. Don't that beat all!"

McCree peeked over cover and fired a few rounds, landed a blow for each of them. In between a reload, Nathan looked at the corpse he made and reached over to the shotgun. It was a big, hefty thing that felt decent in his large hands, fiddling with it until he opened the breach and ejected two spent shells. He then reached over to the corpse and started looting all the ammo he could find for it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" McCree exclaimed, noticing what was happening next to him.

"He's dead and an asshole, so fuck him! Not gonna waste a perfectly good gun," Nathan responded, inserting two fresh shells and locking it.

An explosion went off uncomfortably close to where they were, Jesse poking his head from cover and firing off retaliatory shots.

"Fine, then cover my ass!"

Without hesitation, McCree bolted from cover to find another hiding spot, occasionally firing off with his revolver towards the forest. Brin provided the cover he promised, watching a few of these troops fall as he shot them down with his rifle. Ducking, he loaded a fresh mag and planned to run from cover to rejoin McCree, but a thundering noise from the sky changed that.

Literally, just a few feet from where he was, something clad in white crashed to the ground and made him stumble of his feet. As dirt and dust spewed everywhere, Nathan shielded himself until the smoke cleared and he looked up.

His blood became cold and he felt the sweat on his body freeze when he saw the outline of a large figure clad in armor towering over him, seeing the smoke whisk around the spinning barrels of a minigun. He felt the sun's heat bearing down on him, feeling the Mojave take hold. The Courier snarled and drew his sidearm.

"Fucking raiders!" the man screamed, bloodthirsty and going wild with the pistol.

However, when the smoke finally settled, it instead revealed a man in a large white exoskeleton with armor padding and a bright red helmet. It sported two miniguns attached to its arms that were bigger than some cannons, connected to large glowing red pylons on its back. Rounds only pinged off the behemoth's armor until the slide locked back, leaving him with an empty pistol. Instead of using its miniguns, a thruster on its back ignited and the large thing charged towards him. About to crush the Waster.

Thankfully, another set of power armor collided with the behemoth and stopped it in its tracks, before swinging his large rocket hammer into it. The strikes were fast and powerful, but the heavy quickly recovered and began firing its miniguns toward the challenger. Reinhardt quickly deploying his barrier and shielding himself and the others from the barrage.

"Just in the nick of time, hah!" the old German exclaimed, reaffirming his grip on his hammer.

As Reinhardt provided cover, Fareeha flew down and crouched right next to Nathan.

"Brin are you alright?! What-?"

"Focus!" he exclaimed, instantly getting back up and running to the fight.

Running up to Reinhardt's barrier, Nathan held his new shotgun and fired it towards the behemoth, sending crackling pellets of energy and breaking it open to insert fresh shells. The recoil somewhat rougher than he expected. Learning how to manage the kick of the thing. Soon, the others joined him and lined up at Reinhardt's barrier. Their combined fired taking out multiple Talon infantry and impeding the heavy's ability to attack. Then, in a final effort, the behemoth tried charging again but the Crusader was even quicker.

"No, you don't!" Reinhardt yelled as he spun around and swung his hammer directly into the behemoth. Sending it flying much further than before and even crashing into the tree line.

The Crusader's thruster ignites, and he went charging into their lines, veering himself as he plowed through their forces and crushed them underneath his hammer or threw them around like ragdolls. Capitalizing on the situation, Fareeha blasted off into the sky again and delivered another payload of missiles as she strafed around them. Even through the explosions and German laughter, McCree and the Courier fired their weapons and took out any stragglers they saw. The latter much wilder with his rifle shots.

Through the Overwatch agents' combined might, the Talon troops seemed to be finally taking a hint and were running back into the forest. Disappearing among the brush and tree trunks. The backs of their fancy armor being the only things they saw. There was still some occasional fire from them, but they eventually became more concerned with their own survival. After it seemed things were settling, the agents lowered their weapons and slowly eased. Except for Nathan Brin, who had his rifle still up with a fresh mag.

"Fuckin' pussies!" he growled, his eyes scanning the forest edge and running towards it. "Come on!"

"Woah, woah, woah! Where do you think you are going, my friend?" Reinhardt said, holding out a large metal hand to block Nathan's way. "They are running away from us. We've won this round… I hope."

Nathan looked at Reinhardt, then back at the forest to see no red among the green. He growled and walked away from the forest edge.

"Let's get back to the village. See if everyone else is all right. Don't let your guard down, we're not out of this, yet," Capt. Amari ordered, still wary of the situation as she boosted herself off the ground.

In a hustle, the others got back to the village and found that everything was still the way it was when they left, only with fewer people this time around. When they arrived, Lúcio was the first one to greet them.

"Hey, welcome back!" the Musician greeted, decked out in his gear this time. "You guys all right?"

"All accounted for," Fareeha stated, looking back at everyone with her. "You?"

"Can't complain. While you guys were busy fighting, we were able to evacuate the people and get them out here safely. Sent Orisa along with them, too, to be extra safe. To be honest, I was getting worried there for a second. With all the fighting that went on. Thought you guys were in knee-deep trouble."

"Preposterous," Vaswani suddenly interjected, walking up to them. "I had good faith they would be able to resolve the situation in a positive outcome. You should have a little more faith."

"Right," Lúcio rolled his eyes. "You fix that guy's toaster yet?"

"Guys…" sighing, Fareeha was about to step over to them and intervene to make sure they don't end up bickering with each other until they got back to Gibraltar, but she stopped when they heard the low-humming of an aircraft approaching their position. Turning around, they all looked up to see a dark ship against the blue sky – high above them.

"Take cover!" Reinhardt yelled, deploying his barrier against the sky.

"No, wait!" Fareeha Amari exclaimed, her visor letting her see more clearly what was in the sky. "Is that… A man?!"

Before Overwatch could even react, the figure had plummeted to the ground right in the center of the village. The impact of shattering the concrete, erupting the ground, and collapsing some nearby walls. Literally quaking the ground and knocking a few off their feet. Fortunately, for the ones left standing, the shaking stopped as quickly as it began.

Unfortunately, they looked ahead from where they stood to see through the cloud of dust and smoke the silhouette of a large dark figure. Standing alone among the agents.

Security-Chief Fareeha Amari boosted up into the air to get a better vantage point, her rocket launcher with a fresh clip. Even with her HUD, she had to wait for the dust to settle to identify who it was. And when it did, the daughter of Ana Amari widened her eyes when she saw the gold tint of a large, mechanical gauntlet.

They all did. Everyone in Overwatch – veterans and newbies – recognizing who that dark man that stood tall with an impressive upper body forged of muscle and machines. Yet, wearing a traditional red and white garb around his waist down to his knees, before even more technologies adorned his legs. When more dust settled, he finally showed his face with a shiny, bald head and white warpaint running from the bridge of his nose to the sides of his jaw. His expression in a permanent scowl as he brought the large gauntlet up and pumped it into a fist, making it spark with several machine parts clicking into place.

"Everyone, hold fast! Get behind me and-!" Reinhardt Wilhelm exclaimed, trying to rally everyone to him but was cut off as the large man rocketed into the Crusader, fist first. Sent flying across the road and being thrown through multiple houses.

"Reinhardt!" Torbjörn screamed after him.

"Son of a bitch!" Jesse snarled, clearing leather and firing upon the attacker.

The magnum revolver had little effect on him, the rounds pinging off a blue aura that seemed to have manifested around his large frame. The man then spun around and slammed his metal fist into the ground in front of him, the earth-shattering as it made it ways to the Gunslinger and threw him up into the air and off his feet. Immediately after, everyone retaliated by firing their weapons upon him. The partially-destroyed village engulfed into an even larger frenzy with Nathan's rifle, Lúcio's Amplifier, and Fareeha's rocket launcher among the weapons firing at the assailant. Their target betraying his stature and swiftly dodging their attacks or tanking them with no harm done to himself. His movements making the metal gauntlet seem weightless.

"Everyone, keep your distance and do not engage him directly!" Capt. Amari radioed to the entire team, strafing around the village and sending down rockets.

"Who the fuck is this guy?!" Nathan exclaimed, his Brush Gun thundering after every swing of the lever. The man shrugging off the .45-70's like they were BB's.

Unfortunately, that may have caught his target's attention as he looked over his shoulder and spun around to deliver another powerful punch with his fist. Brin narrowly dove out of the way, the attacker crashing into a home and demolishing its front walls. He didn't even have time to reorient himself when the bastard then uppercuts through the roof and flies up into the air. Spotting Nathan, he thrusts his fist towards him and flies down to the ground. Nathan rolls away, once again, the fist crashing into another building with more rubble falling. Rolling to his right, he gets up and levels the muzzle of his Brush Gun directly at the fist, getting off a few quick shots to disable the weapon. It achieved nothing, and the back of the golden fist swiped his entire body, sending him flying across the neighborhood. Landing on someone's partially collapsed roof.

Before he could do anything else, multiple sentry shots erupted and the fist turned around to see an assortment of defense systems set up along the road and pointed at him. Annoyed, the large African man ran towards the turrets, dodging and twisting out of the way of gunfire. Once he closed the distance, he swung an open palm in an arch and destroyed all the turrets in one fell swoop. Scrap flying in all directions. However, someone yelled from behind and Torbjörn jumped up on him and grappled the man's neck with his claw, proceeding to bang his hammer against his bald head. He winced, literally taking the Engineer's hammer head-on and a bit caught off-guard, but he quickly recovered when he reaches up with his gauntlet and grabbed the stout man and threw him off. Torbjörn screaming and about to crash into a wall until a field of blue energy woven like a net caught him, before slowly levitating him back down to the ground. Lindholm a bit wobbly on his feet as he turned around and regarded Vaswani, who made the net fade away with a wave.

"Are you well, Mr. Lindholm?" the Vishkar Architect asked.

"I'm fine!" the Engineer curtly responded, turning away as he grumbled. "But we need another plan, now!"

"Would a tactical retreat, suffice?"

"Retreat?! Running away from this isn't going to solve anything."

"I'm sure throwing more of your crude creations at him will fix the situation."

"'Crude'?!"

As the two argued, the aggressor took this as an opportunity and arched his fist back. Charging it as blue energy sparked around the metal. He let loose, the fist taking him to his target and he felt it impact but with no shattering. He opened his eyes, seeing there was a blue bubble of energy surrounding Torbjörn and Satya – who maintained the shield with her hands just in time.

"And may I suggest discussing this in a less precarious location?" the Architect proposed, maintaining the shield under the stress of repeated blows from the fist.

As the attacker kept pummeling the ball of energy to no avail, he jumped up high into the air and guided his fist directly down towards their shelter. Then, expertly gliding off walls that were still intact, Lúcio hopped and intersected their foe and blasted him into the building next door. Getting him away from them.

He landed on the floor next to them, the blue ball dissipating and revealing the occupants who took shelter.

"Yeah, I'm inclined to agree this time," the Musician stated, pointing to the rubble. "Cause I'm pretty sure he's just angrier now."

When the rubble stirred, Lúcio flipped his systems to green and ran to cover with Torbjörn. However, the Vishkar Architect stayed and began forming shapes out of the air again and constructing around the demolished site. Working fervidly to build a cage and hopefully contain the threat. Her tools combined with her technique building a formidable structure. It was a commendable effort, but futile as one punch was enough to break the cage and she had to quickly summon her shield again to block another powerful fist. The face of her attacker snarling inches from the transparent barrier. Then, the blue aura around him began to shudder as bullets bounced against it, turning to see the two men firing upon him, one in black armor and one in a red poncho.

They got his attention but didn't faze him much.

"Okay, now what?" McCree questioned.

Without another word, Nathan reaches to his backside and pulled out a glowing green plasma grenade. Tugging on the pin, he arched back and threw it towards the large man, knowing it was going to land at his feet. Waiting for the green plume to scorch his body, and hopefully, leave Vaswani relatively unscathed. His hopes were dashed in an instant when the gauntlet simply arched up and caught the grenade before it ultimately exploded inside his closed fist. It was still intact after it did, green vapor and goo stemming out from between the fingers.

Nathan was floored. The gauntlet-wielder simply smirked.

Not wasting another moment, the man grabbed the blue energy ball with his fist and lifted it with Vaswani still inside. Next, he spun and hurled the sphere towards them, Nathan barely having time to react as he reached out and caught Satya's flying body as the ball dissipated, sending them both to the ground.

Jet engines screeched overhead as Amari flew over their target and fired down at him, the rockets having more of an effect as he used his fist to shield him from the blasts. She spun around to have another pass, but that is when her target grabbed a large chunk of concrete from the ground and hurled it at her. Fareeha tried to veer out of the way but the rock nicked one of her wings and it began smoking. Soon enough, she began plummeting to the ground and towards Nathan and Jesse.

"McCree!" Nathan yelled, pointing to the falling Egyptian.

"I'm on it! I'm on it!" Jesse exclaimed.

The Cowboy scrambled and kept his eyes focused on his falling friend, before finally jumping up and grabbing onto her. Both dragged along the road. Her armor knocked the wind out of him, but he helped cushion her fall and give her a softer landing. Eventually, skidding to a stop and covered in dirt. The group did not have time to celebrate their success when a punch to the ground knocked them off their feet, and Nathan was swiped away and driven through a wall. He felt the large metallic hands wrap around his torso, constricted, and held in a vise. Then, having his entire body slammed to the ground and have pain rock throughout. His hand clawing at the metal. Seeing the attacker was much larger than the Wastelander.

"Come on, you piece of shit! Do it!" Nathan snarled, trying to gain any leverage but feeling like he was chained in stone.

The man only perked an eyebrow, tugging at the corner of his lip.

"Suffered through so little, and already giving up?" the man questioned, his voice a low pitch and in a cadence, sounding almost like the locals.

The man effortlessly picked Nathan up and slammed him against the wall, making cracks in the concrete.

"I heard you ask who I was? Do you not really know?" the man with the fist questioned, looking at him earnestly in the eye.

"I know you're a fucking asshole. That seems obvious," the Courier responded, snarling under his mask

"Hmm… I figured you would at least keep up with current events, because of how much in the spotlight you and your friends are. Always hearing about Overwatch and the 'Man in Black Armor'. That title is quite a mouthful, you should shorten it to make it easier for the public to read on their holovids. It can roll off the tongue, easier, as well. Makes it easier to remember you."

"Fuck you…"

"Not much of a conversationalist, are you? I hope you're a better fighter."

Suddenly, the Courier's right arm swung out from his back and bared the heavy gauntlet of his own Ballistic Fist, on a course for his bald head. Unfortunately, the man's augmented left arm stopped it from reaching his face but sets off the pressure plate and getting a shotgun blast in his face. The blast was powerful enough to penetrate his shield but not kill him, as his face, neck, and parts of his arm had wounds. Where Nathan could see exposed metal and wire in place of blood and flesh, learning he wasn't the only cyborg around this neighborhood.

The larger cyborg then retaliated by grabbing his wrist and applying pressure with his left palm, making Nathan gasp and wince in agony as he felt the shotguns barrels and the metal surrounding his wrist get crushed and dig into his skin. His bones getting close to snapping.

And he would've broken his wrist in two if someone didn't then smash a block of rebar over his bald head.

Looking over his shoulder, he sees Brigitte wielding a makeshift rebar club and rearing to give another swing.

"Let him go!" she screamed, midway through getting another swing in but the metal gauntlet turned and threw her and Nathan across the room. The two flopping on each other.

Their foe then cracking his neck and knuckles.

"I did not come here for you, girl," he said, pumping his gauntlet into a fist, and getting ready to annihilate her.

However, before he could even move an inch closer, the walls caved in and he was seized in a Crusader's large metal hand that held him against the ground as the power armor skirted across the ground.

"You. Will. Not. Touch. HER!" Reinhardt roared, dragging him through dirt, rocks, and concrete. Then, stretching his arm out and carrying him through multiple brick walls before stopping and chucking his body into a spare building, nearly toppling it from the force.

While her Godfather took care of that, Brigitte helped Nathan up and immediately saw what happened to the Waster's right hand.

"Oh my God, are you all right? We need to get you some help, right now!"

"I'm fine…"

"Angela would not call this 'fine'!" she exclaimed, pointing to his wrist and the mangled metal sinking into it. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here."

"What about that fucking bastard?!"

"We'll worry about him later, let's just go!"

She grabbed his non-broken arm and hoisted him over her shoulders, helping him get up and guiding him to outside where the others were. Nathan winced through the pain he felt in his wrist and in his ankles. Despite that, he felt a bit relieved someone came to his aide.

"That was really fuckin' ballsy of you," he said, grunting through the pain. "Taking that sonofabitch on your own. With rebar, no less."

"I haven't had the greatest of role models," she quipped, smirking for a moment but wincing as she focused on hauling the large Waster. "I just hope they're doing okay."

She said that just as they walked out into the open and saw Reinhardt and their adversary were fighting it out on the street, the Crusader prepared this time. Brigitte's father was there, as well, providing back-up for his German friend. However, even after everything they had thrown at him, the man with the fist still seemed ready to go another dozen rounds with the team. Almost in disbelief at how long he lasted against them. They're shock making them oblivious to the mechanical gallops from behind.

"Hello!"

They all turned around to see Orisa was back, her eyes forming upward-pointing arrows. As if oblivious to what had transpired in the past hour.

"Oh, no…" Nathan let out aloud.

"Orisa! You're back!" Lúcio exclaimed, skating up to her in a hurry.

"Of course!" Orisa cantered over to them, her eyes switching back to their natural circular shape. "I had received the distress call and ran here as fast as my navigation systems could allow."

"'Distress call?' What distress call?"

They got cut off as Reinhardt was thrown to a pile of rubble on his back, with Torbjörn running over to help him up. Everyone else looked back to the perpetrator and saw the large dark man with the fist still sparkling with energy. Those who still could hold them drew their weapons and pointed it at him. He didn't so much as flinch.

"A musician and an architect… Really?" he questioned, almost sounding in disbelief himself. "That is who is left standing? I honestly had higher expectations than this. Would hate to leave disappointed."

"Orisa, you better get the others and go," Nathan said, clutching his wrist and trying to get the glove off. "…Orisa?"

The robot centaur did the exact opposite and walked further into town. Towards the man in the middle of the village, walking by the others and not missing a beat in her step. As soon as she got in front of Lúcio and the others, her eyes clicked into two solid, horizontal lines. Making her look like she was glaring at her foe. He looked at her with sullen interest, so brazen and foolish. Even for a machine.

"Ah, the little girl's toy pet. I don't have time for this…" he said, winding up his fist.

"Doomfist!" the Guardian Omnic bellowed, the internal speakers operating at the maximum setting. "You are trespassing on- Ah!"

The poor thing couldn't even finish as the villain rocketed into her head-on and she was knocked straight into a building, then having it topple over her. "Doomfist" flicked his wrist to get the excess dust off as he watched the rubble pile on her. Barely broken a sweat from that.

"Wait… That's 'Doomfist'?! That's his fucking name?!" Nathan questioned aloud, bringing almost all eyes on him.

"Hmph," a bit of air escaped Doomfist's nose, his eyes focused on the rubble, before turning around to face Overwatch once again. "Name's can be deceiving, but I assure you, not everything is what it seems-"

Suddenly, a powerful metallic fist erupted from the pile of rubble he had created and sent him tumbling across the street. Catching everyone by surprise, especially Doomfist. However, he quickly recovered and got to his feet. Now snarling towards the newest opponent in the ring.

Rising from the rubble with only a few scratches on her paint, Orisa walked out onto the street to face Doomfist once more. Shaking her head and body like a dog to shake the dust off.

"That was not very nice!" she scolded, her eyes clicking into a scowl, again.

Doomfist only growled as he arched up his fist once more, making more energy spark around the gauntlet before launching forward at breakneck speeds towards her. However, upon impact, he was stopped in his tracks as Orisa's metal palm caught his large fist. Her entire body now fortified in a sheen of gold.

Orisa then swiftly propped herself up and kicked Doomfist away with her front legs. After giving herself breathing room, her right arm opened and fired upon him. Machine gun fire pelting the broad side of his golden fist. Advancing ever so slowly and trying to close the distance.

"You will surrender to the people of Numbani and-!"

Doomfist this then rocketed up into the air with an uppercut and reoriented himself to dive directly into the Omnic, but a rocket hammer batted him away like a fly. Reinhardt stepping in front of her with his hammer and the shield at the ready.

"Good one, Orisa! Efi built you well," the Crusader complimented, not letting his guard down. "Come! The odds have tipped in our favor, let us not waste the opportunity."

"You got it! Come on, everyone!" Lúcio exclaimed, rushing ahead of everyone and speeding away on his skates. Satya and even Torbjörn following suit.

"Not bad! Well, for a machine…"

As they went on to continue the fight, Brigitte helped Nathan get to cover while McCree did the same for Fareeha. Eventually situating themselves by the village entrance where the van was parked along with crates of relief supplies. Brigitte set Nathan down first, next to some large crates.

"I'm gonna head inside the van and get the med-kit. Don't do anything rash, will you?" the Mechanic asked of him, Nathan nodding in response.

As she ran back to get the meds, Manuel ran up and gently held his afflicted arm out to look at it. Examining the damage done to him.

"Shit, dude, you're messed up real good," Manuel stated.

"I've noticed," Nathan grumbled.

He felt it sting like hell every time he slightly moved his hand. Pain somewhat subsiding when he stilled, even as his arm slightly trembled.

Nathan could still hear things raging on behind him, back in the village, and he poked his head out from the corner to see the rest of the team taking on Doomfist. Faring much better than earlier and with more success. Reinhardt and Orisa dealing the heavy damage and taking most of the blows, Lúcio encircling their foe as Satya shielded them when needed, and Torbjörn laying down machines to hinder his movements and fighting ability. Doomfist was still holding on his own and things didn't look certain. Brin watched as the large African man was able to evade all their attacks for one moment, getting closer to Orisa before uppercutting her and making her fly. Following up with a punch and knocking into the ground.

"Huh!"

A meek little gasp suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Nathan immediately distracted from the fight and looking around to discern where that came from. He was only distracted again for a moment when he looked back and saw the four-legged Omnic get back on her feet and charge into the fray, once more.

"Did you hear that?" Nathan asked aloud.

"Yeah…" Manuel said, staring at something to their right.

Nathan looked and saw a big rectangular crate that they had unloaded when they got to the village. They were other crates and boxes around it, but none of them were large enough to fit a person… Not even a girl.

Manuel got up and stepped over to the front of the crate. He bent down, putting his ear directly on top of it and trying to listen for anything. Nathan soon joining him. They hovered there for a few seconds, long enough for Brigitte to come back and wonder what was going on. Finally, Manuel got up and opened the latch, flipping the lid open to find Efi Oladele stashed inside. Her eyes becoming as wide as plates and holding a holopad close to her chest.

"Umm… Hello?" Efi meekly greeted, feigning a smile.

Nathan said nothing as he just narrowed his eyes at the young girl in the box, making that smile of hers slowly turn into a grimace.

"Am… I in trouble?" the little girl meekly asked.

"What do you think?" the adult man asked.

That was when Fareeha, Jesse, and Brigitte also came up to peer inside the box. The three other adults visibly surprised.

"What are you doing in there? You were supposed to wait back home!" Amari exclaimed.

"I know but-" Efi began, stumbling on her words. "I j-just wanted to see Orisa work in the field. To make sure she would be okay and that she would function properly for this mission.

"But this is a dangerous place, especially for a child. Why would you do this?"

"I just didn't want Orisa to be alone. And…"

"And what?"

"…I just wanted to see you guys in action for myself. Come on the mission and work with you guys for a day."

Amari's stern demeanor faltered for a second, frowning as she thought about what the little inventor said. Knowing from the second she met Reinhardt that she held her and her colleagues in very high esteem. A lot of young people like her did. Why else would Orisa be out there, fighting the bane of Numbani alongside her friends?

"Oh, kid, you got heart and brains, but you don't seem to use 'em together that much," Nathan said, shaking his head.

"Well, she's got spirit. Can't deny that," Jesse added on, looking at her. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know who sent out that 'distress call' would you?"

"Oh, that was me!" Efi answered, her eyes lighting up as she stood up with her holopad in hand. "I was the one who summoned Orisa back when I heard the fight with Doomfist start. I knew we couldn't miss an opportunity to help like this. Look, I even updated some of her subroutines just now to make sure she would be extra prepared for the fight!"

She turned her holopad around to show the five a set of readings, graphs, and numbers that not all of them could wrap their heads around. Also seeing on the holopad was a first-person view from Orisa, literally broadcasting the current fight live to her screen. Doomfist prominently showcased within it. However, it looked like the omnic was in some trouble as her opponent delivered a flurry of attacks that made the video feed shake. Her creator quickly lost that smile.

"Oh no!" she shouted, then suddenly hopping out of the crate and running out towards village.

"Oh shit, hey!" Nathan shouted after, running after her but tripping over a stray piece of equipment.

Quickly getting back up, he and McCree ran after Oladele, surprisingly fast and already taking them halfway to the fight. They stopped when they noticed she had stopped as well and was fervidly tapping against her holopad and watching the fight at the same time.

"Kid, what are you…?"

"Okay, deploy your barrier!" she spoke to the holopad, focused tapped on icons in the screen. "Wait, and don't shoot too fast… Now, fortify!"

They watched as Orisa did everything Efi told her to do, simultaneously attacking Doomfist. As the omnic strafed, attacked and deployed defensive measures, Doomfist was having a harder time trying to keep up with the machine and the rest of the team. Every punch, uppercut, and slam he tried to deliver either being countered or denied. Every blow he'd land either softened or nullified by armor or shields. Everyone doing their part to keep him on his toes. Despite all of that, it looked like it would be awhile until he and his big fist get taken down. Unless they had something to do about it.

"Okay, kid keep doing what you're doing," Nathan said, crouching down next to her and swinging his pack around. "McCree, can you shoot?"

"Is that a question?" the Gunslinger replied.

After rummaging through his pack for a few more seconds, he retrieved the shiny casing of a Pulse Grenade. Efi looked over and immediately recognized the device, then grinning when she started thinking what that entailed.

"Ooh, I like this plan already, mister!" the little inventor said.

"Good, because you're gonna make sure he doesn't stay too close to the others, and when you do," Nathan stood up to regard Jesse. "I'm gonna throw this at him and you're gonna shoot it. Doable?"

"That thing, at fifty meters?" McCree asked, before smirking and pulling out Peacemaker. "Just say the word."

The Waster nodded, standing and yanking out the pin with his teeth but keeping a grip on the spoon. Watching the fight play out in front of them, watching how the man with the ridiculous name evaded Reinhardt's hammer, broke through Satya's shields, and crushed Torbjörn's machines. Waiting to give them one more edge to tip the balance.

"Now!"

After that, Efi yelled a command making Orisa fire a ball of salmon-colored energy into the air until it collapsed on itself and pulled Doomfist up to it. At the same time, Nathan arched back and hurled the grenade to the sky with his left-arm, but the grenade still was able to hit its mark as McCree shot at it and detonated it directly on their target. The field of Pulse Energy made him wince and became powerless to do anything as he then plummeted to the Earth, weighed down by his large fist. With a loud thud, he landed in the middle of the demolished village in a plume of dust and dirt. Things weren't completely out of commission as he was able to get on his knees and balance his heavy fist on the ground, but the sparks around his arm and the dimming red lights over his augmented body betrayed any notion of getting on top.

Footsteps began to gather all around him and he was eventually surrounded by most of the agents of Overwatch plus a girl and her project. A lot of weapons pointed at him. Then, stepping in front of him, the "Man in Black Armor" pulled out his handgun and held it directly against his head.

"Anything else to say, dickhead?" Nathan asked, trying to restrain himself from popping one in his head.

Doomfist only rolled his eyes, sighing heavily as he looked at his fist.

"Yes," he said, looking up at him straight in the eye without a worry in the world. "I've learned what I needed to know here. And you shouldn't use the same trick twice."

Before anyone could even question what that meant, his fist suddenly surged with energy and pounded the floor with force of an earthquake. Making everyone stumble and Nathan fire off a round into the air. As everyone lost their footing, Doomfist used up the last pockets of energy he had and launched himself into the sky.

"Meteorstrike!"

When he landed back on the ground, again, everything became a blur as the road was thrown into the air. The last thing Nathan sees is Orisa running to Efi and grabbing her, shielding her from the falling rubble.


Things were dark for a while, Nathan just alone with his thoughts as he watched the dark ceiling above. Listening to his breath brush against the walls surrounding him, listening to the earth shift above him. Feeling confined and constricted in this tomb of rubble and dirt. It could've been for a few minutes or maybe even a few seconds, but it felt like he was entombed for hours in the dark. Feeling every fleeting moment of it. Being back in the ground.

Which is why when the large slab of stone shifted, and a minute sliver of light got through, a wave of silent relief overcame the Courier almost to the point of joy.

The slab twisted and stirred for a few more moments until the giant metal hands finally moved it away, letting the sunshine through the hole. Blinding at first, but Nathan's eyes quickly adjusted to see Manuel poke his head over the hole to look inside. He began to call people over to him, telling them he had found Nathan. Eventually, Orisa's and Reinhardt's heads poked through, too, and they helped scoop up more rubble from the pile and get Nathan out from there. After they did, Reinhardt reached down, and Nathan grabbed his metal forearm and lifted himself back up to ground level. Covered in dirt and grime. With his good arm, he reached up and took off his helmet, breathing in fresh air as he looked around and saw what the village had become: a crater.

Exhausted, Nathan patted Manuel on the shoulder before walking across the ruined street back to the van. Watching his step as he walked over pieces of rubble as large as his leg. Almost wanting to put his helmet back on to not breathe in the dust that was still in the air. It was a short walk, back at the entrance and finding the others near the van. All of them tuckered out and ready to get out of here, as well.

Captain Amari was one of the few still on their feet, shedding her damaged power armor and wearing her skinsuit. Her eyes on her holopad when Nathan walked over to where she was.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Nope," Nathan responded. "Where the hell did that fucker go?"

"He got picked up by a dropship after he created the crater. He is long gone."

"Typical. Now what?"

"Now we go back home and report what happened. Something we certainly shouldn't neglect to tell Winston and the others."

"Yeah, some fuckhead with a fist is back, I guess…"

"Yup."

They stood in silence for a few moments, just tired.

"How're you holding up?" Nathan asked.

"Could be better," Fareeha admitted. "Jesse needs his arm reattached, Reinhardt's armor is all banged up, and I'm going to have to explain to my mother that I accidentally let a child into battle."

She was silent for a few more moments after she recited her most recent woes before she just broke out into a fit of laughter. It was short and quaint, finishing as quickly as it began. Nathan staring at her, as if he had seen a different person.

"Cowboy's still all right, ain't he?" he asked.

"Yes, but we still have other crap to worry about," she grumbled walking over to the wall with a bunch of crates. "We have to haul all of this back to the checkpoint, but we barely have enough room in the van. Got any suggestion?"

Nathan looked at the crates – quite a few of them – but heard feet stomping behind him to see Orisa walking side-by-side with Rein. The Wastelander noting the bottom half of her body.

"You got any rope?"

A few minutes later, after retrieving some rope from the van and gathering up all the crates they had, Nathan – with help of other who had both arms still functioning - had bundled and tied most of the crates and supplies all over Orisa's body. Packed into tight and neat "baggage" over her backside. The remaining that couldn't be stored on her person were put on a makeshift sled made from a dish and some spare wood, hauled by her as more rope tied it to her. Orisa upper body spun around on its axis to get a better look at the set-up, not quite sure to make of this new "job". Meanwhile, Efi was laughing at the sight.

"I must say, these are some pretty good knots," Reinhardt commented, tugging at the rope. "Quite an interesting talent you have there."

"Something you pick up on the road," Nathan responded, looking at Orisa and can't help but to be amused. "Heh, she does kinda look like a Pack Brahmin."

"Excuse me, a pack what?" the Indian Architect suddenly asked, surprised to hear that title used that way.

Everyone barring looked at Nathan when he said that, but some of them more confused than others. The Waster losing his smile and trying to think fast.

"Oh, uh, that's what we call 'cows' where I'm from. I know, it's kinda odd," the New Californian explained.

"Really? I never heard cows referred to as that when I was touring in Cali," Lúcio stated, furrowing his brow. "And I saw a ton of them!"

"According to my databases, cattle have not been used to transport goods and valuables in the Western United States since the 1800's. Is it still a common occurrence over there?" Orisa then asked, tilting her head at him.

"Yeah, at least the rural, bumfuck parts I'm from."

"Hmm, interesting. Thank you for the information. Updating my databases."

The New Californian groaned, just wanting to go back home.